12K Attend Rally in Times Square; 600 Turn Out For AIPAC Briefing in Closter
Teaneck—As the Jewish Link went to press Wednesday evening, 12,000 activists from all over the metropolitan area crowded into Times Square to hear speeches and talking points to take to their elected leaders, in the hopes of convincing Congress to disapprove President Obama’s Iran deal. At a separate event sponsored by the Jewish Federation of Northern New Jersey, 600 crowded into Temple Emanu-El in Closter for a report and further directives from Ambassador Bradley Gordon, director of policy for AIPAC. The message from both events was clear. “The question is: Do we bomb Iran, or does Iran get the bomb?” asked Gordon. If we allow the deal to go through, “we will spur a nuclear arms race in one of the most volatile regions in the world,” he said. “If not us, who? And if not now, when,” said Gordon, invoking the vaunted words of Rabbi Hillel.
“We are already at war with Iran,” Frank Gaffney, founder of the Center for Security Policy, who spoke at the Times Square Rally. “And it’s not just Israel and the other allies in the region who will have a problem if Iran gets the bomb. Iran is one nuclear bomb away from being able to destroy the American power grid,” causing death, destruction and that ‘death to America’ that Iran has been talking about all along, he said. “This deal must be defeated,” he shouted, to thundering applause. Among the many speakers at the rally, which was organized by the Jewish Rapid Response Coalition and many sponsoring organizations, were journalist Caroline Glick and author/activist Alan Dershowitz.
At Congregation Bnai Yeshurun on Monday evening, Congressman Scott Garrett (R-5-NJ) with help from Rabbi Steven Pruzansky, rallied community members to take action against the Obama Administration’s so-called “Bad Deal,” with Iran. Garrett delivered a briefing to over 200 rapt attendees, indicating that the House Republican leadership will most likely recommend a vote to disapprove the deal and that the vote will pass in the House and the Senate, but, Garrett stipulated, “the question is whether the vote will pass with a two-thirds majority or not. My guess is not. The president has already told us he will veto the bill.”
A two-thirds majority is key to making the legislation veto-proof. The assembled group was surprised to hear that the Iran Nuclear Agreement Review Act of 2015 (H.R. 1191), the Menendez-Corker Bill, passed in May overwhelmingly by both houses of Congress and with active support from the national Jewish community, has in fact worked in the current administration’s favor and not against it. While it does allow a 60-day Congressional review period of any deal with Iran, Garrett indicated he was one of only 24 House members who opposed it, indeed going against his own Republican leadership in the process. “Instead of requiring a two-thirds majority to approve the treaty—as prescribed by the Constitution—this legislation turns the Constitution on its head and requires a two-thirds majority to block the administration’s treaty,” he said.
The congressman added that only an upholding of sanctions and continued pressure on Iran will yield a better deal.
“As a member of the Iran Sanctions Conference Committee, I have long fought for strict sanctions against this dangerous totalitarian regime, and I will continue to work to prevent them from fulfilling their nuclear ambitions,” he said.
Rep. Garrett, with several well-placed comments from Rabbi Pruzansky, then suggested that while this is an uphill battle, it is in the community’s interest, Israel’s interest and the interest of all who seek peace in the Middle East to actively fight against the ratification of the treaty.
“This type of surrender to the hegemony of the nefarious forces of the world is destructive to America itself,” Rabbi Pruzansky told the crowd. “We have to do whatever we can to oppose this deal.” He added that the agreement depicts the U.S. as weak, that it legitimizes the nuclear ambitions of Iran and paves the way for Iran to acquire a nuclear weapon and ballistic missiles, thus engendering a power shift across the Middle East. He also indicated that it will allow for future funding of terror activities on the part of Iran-sponsored terror organizations Hezbollah and Hamas.
“With Theodore Roosevelt, we had the `Square Deal,’ with FDR the `New Deal,’ under Harry Truman the `Fair Deal,’ and now we have the `Bad Deal.’ So keep in mind we have to label it as the `Bad Deal’ going forward and every reference to this treaty, we have to call it the `Bad Deal,’ so at least we attain clarity,” said Pruzansky.
Over the course of the presentation, the two laid out several concrete directives to the community. Physical letters, on paper, sent to undecided members of both houses of Congress are recommended over emails, as emails are too easy to answer with a form letter and too easy to file away. They indicated that calling senators and representatives who are not on record as opposing the Bad Deal is key. Emails or letters can be put away, but a phone call takes time from congressional staff who could be doing other things.
“A staff member might tell his or her boss that he couldn’t get anything done because so many people called about the Iran deal,” Garrett said. “After you call and share your position, if you have any friends/relatives/people who live in that particular district, get on the phone with them and say, ‘have you called your senator about this?’” suggested Garrett.
Pruzansky added that the Wednesday evening rally at the United Nations and the AIPAC event in Closter were also important for community members to attend. “But the worst thing is thinking you’re done after you go to the rally. You have to go home, make phone calls, write letters (real ones), and perhaps even make an appointment and go down and meet with congressmen about this,” said Garrett.
“We are starting a countdown for when Iran can acquire ballistic missiles and a nuclear bomb,” Garrett said.
“We are in the midst of an historic betrayal of Israel,” said Pruzansky.
Yali Elkin, a member of Bnai Yeshurun and one of the event’s two organizers, told the Jewish Link that the meeting helped people appreciate the significance and importance of the moment. After hearing the principled and articulate presentation of Congressman Garrett, Elkin said he hoped it would inspire everyone to get out there with their elected representatives, express themselves and make themselves heard.
“If the House and Senate refuse to ratify the deal and sink it, then it would mean that we would be able to sanction any country that trades with Iran. We would be able to alter our trade agreements and not trade with countries that trade with Iran. Sanctions would remain in place [against Iran] and we would still have some leverage to get a better deal. Iran would still be treated as a pariah state and the sponsor of international terror that they are,” he said.
By Elizabeth Kratz
