Jewish groups launch solidarity campaign for Iran youth

Solidarity campaign for

By JPOST.COM STAFF
Iranians Protest Embassy248.88 (photo credit: )
Iranians Protest Embassy248.88
(photo credit: )
With Iranian President MAhmoud Ahmadinejad slated to speak at the UN General Assembly in New York on Wednesday, the Young World Zionist Labor Movement (WZLM) issued a statement announcing a campaign to protest the abuse of Iranian students and youth. The statement, issued on Monday, declared a "campaign of public activity among foreign correspondents in Israel, a protest of thousands of young people in online social networks, and a demonstration against the UN General Assembly in New York." According to the statement, the demonstration is part of a joint effort with the Israeli social justice organization 'Ameinu.' "In the past months," continued the statement, "given the waves of protests following the election forgery in Iran, Young WLZM followed the foreign media reports about thousands of young protesters who were hurt or undergoing torture in prisons in Iran, in ways such as rape and physical abuse, just because they resisted the Ahmadinejad regime." Chairman of Young WLZM Yoni Itzhak said in the statement, "As young students in Israel we are calling for an immediate stop to the torture and abuse of students and young Iranians." He added that "we are holding this campaign to show the world that young Israelis show solidarity for young people and students in another country, who want to live a free and democratic life like ours, and take responsibility for their future." Umid Sulimani, an oleh from Iran and coordinator of Iranian Issues for Young WLZM, added that "over the past months we have been following reports of international media and we were horrified to see so many young people receiving threats, abuses and torture following the waves of protest after the last elections." He stressed that news of such acts commits them to take part in the protest.