August 07/2015

Playing for Peace

This week I had the pleasure of participating in an amazing event in Philadelphia.  It was an event that I believe gives us all hope for a possible co-existence in the Middle East.  A group of 6 Israeli teenagers came to play tennis with American teens.  That sounds exciting, right?  Well, the story is much more than that.  The Israeli teenagers were compiled of 3 Jewish teens and 3 Arab teens.  They came here through the Israel Tennis Center Foundation, an organization helping to build bridges in Israel between communities and provide recreational activities for teenagers and children from underprivileged areas.  Here, in Philadelphia, they play tennis, not with Jewish teenagers, but with teenagers from the Legacy Center, an organization that serves all ethnic groups.  Last month the Israelis hosted the Americans in Israel, and now the Israelis are hosted here.

This is a true example that if engaged in a positive activity, you can help build bridges for understanding and peace.  On the T-shirts the players wore it was written: “Playing for Peace.”  They found a common language despite many disagreements and cultural gaps.  These teenagers are our future.

I wanted to share this is because of the ongoing debate regarding the Iranian Nuclear Deal.  Many things have been written and said about the deal.  I want to refer to one of the many reasons I oppose this deal.  While the teenagers playing tennis for co-existence here in Philadelphia are the future, Iran’s regime and this nuclear deal are the past.  With this deal we give Iran the financial means to continue to sponsor terrorist organizations, and spread fear and instability in our region.  Iran will continue on the opposite path of what we stand for: freedom and liberty.

This has been a profound week: the more time goes by, more and more people, including our elected officials, oppose the nuclear deal with Iran.  The more we read and the more we hear differing opinions, and the more that details of the agreement come to our attention, it becomes clear that this is a bad deal.  More and more leaders, Democrats and Republicans, are speaking out against this deal.  It’s not a political issue.  It’s not a partisan issue.  Even in Israel, the head of the opposition, Yitzhak Hertzog, said that on this issue he is backing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

I don’t trust Iran.  I don’t trust a country that helps export terrorism and doesn’t respect basic human rights.  I urge you to read what New York Senator Chuck Schumer (D) had to say about the deal. Opposing this deal is a must if we want to strengthen the moderate forces in the Middle East.  Opposing this deal is a must so Israeli Arabs and Jews can continue to play tennis together, and maybe one day it will be possible with other nations in the Middle East.  Giving Iran a prize like they are being given now makes this day farther and farther away for us.

Shabbat Shalom,

  

Elad Strohmayer
Deputy Consul General Of Israel,
Mid-Atlantic Region