stop funding palestinian antisemitism - terrorism

April 14, 2022     

Joseph R. Biden,  President, 

The United States of America  

The White House  

1600 Pennsylvania Avenue 

N.W.  Washington, D. C., 20500     

Mr. President:     

    We are writing urgently on behalf of The Abraham Global Peace Initiative (AGPI), an international Canadian NGO, about our steadfast opposition to the removal of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) from the State Department’s Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO) list.

     We agree with the seventy national security professionals and former Administration officials who have already written to you this week citing their “grave concerns” with respect to this possible revocation.

     Nevertheless, we, as international activists, believe the removal of the FTO designation is not only “strategically short sighted and dangerous to U.S. national security interests”, as the seventy national security professionals and former officials contend, it is also extremely harmful to America’s allies, including Canada and Israel.

     Iran has engaged in terrorist activity for decades. In the last number of days, Argentina commemorated the 30th anniversary of the bombing of the Israeli embassy in Buenos Aires.  Two years following that bombing, Iran also bombed the Jewish Community Centre (AMIA) building in that city, killing 86 people.

     This, of course, is merely the tip of the iceberg of crimes Iran has committed, and the toxic Antisemitism it has bred.  It has bolstered terrorist groups such as Hezbollah and Hamas, while expanding its own terrorist activities into Syria – engaging in the slaughter of thousands of civilians – in order to protect Bashar Al Assad, now believed to be the world’s #1 war criminal.

     Canadians know Iran’s terrorism well.  On January 8th, 2020, Iran shot down Ukrainian Airlines Flight 752 with 167 people on board, including 63 Canadian citizens. Like the Jewish community in Buenos Aires, the Iranian community in Canada has been calling for justice.  As always, Iran continues to evade accountability when it comes to its terrorist activity.     We echo the assessment provided by the security professionals and former officials who argue that the IRGC is engaged in active terrorist plots to kill former U.S. government officials.  

   In fact, just this week, one of Iran's most senior commanders with the IRGC said, "Qassem Soleimani was such a great character that if all American leaders are killed, this will not avenge his assassination". 

     As stated in their letter, “the IRGC has provided missiles, drones, and training to the Houthis in Yemen to attack the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia, including a recent attack on a base housing U.S. forces. Just last month, the IRGC directly launched a ballistic missile attack near the U.S. consulate in Erbil, Iraq. The IRGC is, of course, also responsible for the repression of the Iranian people and for the killing of innocents across the Middle East region.”

     As an organization concerned with universal human rights, we are equally concerned with Iran’s repression of its own people and the green light the removal of the FTO will provide to the Ayatollah.

      Because past behaviour is usually indicative of future behaviour, we remain skeptical about a nuclear agreement with Iran.  It is clear to us that Iran is working to acquire nuclear weapons to use as a shield to inflict terrorism, pain, and suffering on the world.    Worse, it has repeatedly threatened to “wipe Israel off the map” – in blatant violation of Article III(c) of the International Genocide Convention – and has made abundantly clear its intent to one day choose to use these weapons on the Jewish State. We cannot allow for this to happen.     

   Mr. President, we call on you to realize that the decisions you are making concerning Iran are not for America alone – but for the rest of the world.  If you were to remove the IRGC from the Foreign Terrorist Organization listing, this would have a dangerous ripple effect around the world.  For the sake of our global security, we implore you to maintain the IRGC’s terrorist designation and even to reconsider the dire consequences of making a new nuclear deal with Iran.

Yours truly,     

Brigadier General Amir Avivi (ret), Israel Defence Forces  Founder & CEO, Habithonistim     

Hon. John Baird, P.C.  Canadian former Minister of Foreign Affairs     

Avi Abraham Benlolo, BA MA, Doctor of Philosophy (Honoris Causa)  Founder & Chairman AGPI     

Professor Aurel Braun, Ph.D.  Professor of International Relations and Political Science  University of Toronto     

Ellie Cohanim  former Deputy Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Anti-Semitism  at the United States Department of State     

Richard Cravatts, Ph.D.  Freedom Center Journalism Fellow in Academic Free Speech  President Emeritus, Scholars for Peace in the Middle East      

Hon. Stockwell Day P.C., ICD.D, MBA  Canadian former Minister of Public Safety     

Hon. Jerry S. Grafstein, Q.C.  Canadian former Senator     

Paul Godfrey, C.M.  Founder and Chairman of Post Media Board of Director     

Nazanin Afshin-Jam  Iranian-Canadian human rights activist, author and public speaker. Former Miss World Canada and president and co-founder of Stop Child Executions     

Colonel Richard Kemp, CBE  British former Chair of Cobra Intelligence Group and head of the international terrorism team at the Joint Intelligence Committee     

Henry Kopel, L.L.B.  U.S. former federal prosecutor in Connecticut with over 30 years' experience investigating and prosecuting national security matters, domestic terrorism and genocide.     

Hon. Peter MacKay, P.C. Q.C.  Canadian former Minister of Justice and Attorney General, Minister of Defence and Minister of Foreign Affairs     

Colonel (res) Kobi Marom  Former Brigade Commander and Middle East Expert     

Marina Nemat  Iranian-Canadian human rights activist, former prisoner of Evin in Tehran, author and speaker.     

Raheel Raza  President, Muslims Facing Tomorrow     Pastor Sam Rodriguez, Jr.  President, National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference    

 Edwin Shuker  Vice President, British Board of Deputies     Imam Mohammad Tawhidi  Vice President, The Global Imam's Council     

Moshe "Bogie" Ya'alon  Israel's former Vice Prime Minister and Minister of Defence