Open letter to Mr. Justin Trudeau the Leader of Liberal Party of Canada
By: Narges Ghaffari
Mr. Justin Trudeau on June 23, 2015 you went on record on CBC's "Power & Politics" http://www.cbc.ca/player/News/Politics/Power+&+Politics/ID/2670344858/ to say that you would stop bombing ISIS in Iraq and if elected as Prime Minister you would normalize relations with the Iranian regime. As an Iranian-Canadian woman I find your trace of thought to be very dangerous at a time that we need to be tougher on terrorism not softer. It's true that Canada has played non combat roles in conflicts in the past but we have to understand that we're not facing the same enemy this time around. Dialogue with ISIS/ISIL will take us nowhere. We can not give in to this beast that has risen from the dead. I think the rise of ISIS or ISIL is a direct result of appeasement policy with the dictators in Middle East specially the Iranian regime. Normalizing relations with Iran and reopening their embassy in Ottawa a place where truly was a house of terror to Iranian dissidents in Canada, is not in the best interest of Canada. The day we heard of the closure of the Iranian embassy we staged a celebration in front of the Foreign affairs in Ottawa and thanked our government for listening to us after years of advocating for the closure of the Iranian embassy. That day was the day I truly felt as a Canadian Citizen. Our hard work had paid off and our efforts was recognized by our government. How could anyone have asked for anything more. A Canadian value that is cherished by thousands. Don't you think normalizing ties with the Iranian regime would undermined our Canadian Values and it would questioned our advocacy for the voiceless?
The Iranian regime is perceived rightfully so by many as the "Godfather" of ISIS. Iranian regime established the first Islamic State in 1979 by its leader Ayatollah Khomenei.
Canada recognized the 1988 mass executions of thousands of Iranian political prisoners as Crime Against Humanity in 2012. It doesn't seem any thing has changed since then. In fact since Hassan Rouhani took office in 2013, some 1800 individuals have been executed. On Saturday June 27, 2015, 90 university students were arrested for celebrating their graduation day in Tabriz!. The list of violations of human rights by this regime goes on and on and they are as horrifying as images of ISIS killing machine. The difference is ISIS commit atrocities in front of the world to see, the Iranian regime does it in hiding. The punishment for broadcasting is imprisonment and death.
Every time dialogue with the Iranian regime is mentioned, it seems the Iranian people pay the price. A few months a go, in April 2015 to be exact, the Australian Foreign Minister traveled to Iran and as part of Iran/Australia agreement which was revealed later on by Iranian dissident group NCRI*, the Australians agreed to deport Iranian refugees back to Iran. The appeasement Policy which tried to keep Hitler in Power as shameless as it is, it's still runs into veins of some politicians around the world. When are we going to put human rights and human dignity ahead of business? When are we going to say enough is enough and take a stand against dictators. May be they think it's not Canada's problem. I'd like to remind you of what happened in Ottawa and in our Parliament in October of 2014.
Mr. Trudeau; have you heard of Reyhaneh Jabbari who was executed for defending her honor against her rapist who was an agent in the intelligence ministry? Have you heard of Farinaz Khosravani who jumped from the Tara Hotel in Mahabad* to escape rape attempt by another Intelligent Minister? Not to mention the terrorist attacks of June 26, 2015 on 4 different countries. It's been proven time after time that talking to ISIS or its Godfather the Iranian regime, will take us nowhere. The Iranian regime was engaged in talks with the west (P5+1)when they increased the number of their centrifuges. They're still in the middle of talks while sending money and arms to dictator of Syria, Bashar Assad, killing innocent Iraqis who are fed up with Iran's meddling in their country's affair and supporting Houthis is Yemen. The goal of Godfather of ISIS is to conquer and rule. And the best way to do this is to build the nuclear Bomb. And we must not give them time to reach their evil plan.
As a Canadian woman, permit me to ask you as a representative of a riding in Montreal, how can we ever forget what happened to Montrealer photojournalist Zahra Kazemi? Even purely from a human rights principle and a prerequisite to any even consideration of talks with this brutal regime I would ask you to clarify your position and state that Iran has to respect the rights and wishes of the Canadian family of Zahra Kazemi and return the body of Zahra to Canada immediately. Anything short of that is condoning hostage taking, torture, rape, and murder of our citizens in the hands of fundamentalist mullahs in Iran
It's time Mr. Trudeau, to open your eyes before it's too late and stop dreaming of sitting down with a regime whose main interest is to build the Nuclear Bomb, a global threat.
Mr. Trudeau; as a Canadian woman I have the right to ask you how would you engage with this regime? What would you talk to them about? And on what common ground? There is a popular saying in Farsi: We can't hope for your good will, please don't harm us. I think not only Mr. Trudeau but all Canadian politicians and parties must recognize that what we decide today, will effect our future generations in our little global village and they will hold us to that decision.
Respectfully Yours
Narges Ghaffari
July 1, 2015
* National Council of Resistance of Iran
** Mahabad is in Iran's Kurdistan province
Narges Ghaffari is a woman/human rights activist and host/producer of Radio Irava, the first and only Farsi/English radio show in Ottawa since 1995. www.radioirava.com
