Generalsekretär von Pax Christi USA auf "Fact Finding Mission" im Iran

09. Mai 2006

Er sagt zu seiner Teilnahme: "Die Sendung von Pax Christi ist es, die Forderung des Evangeliums voran zu bringen, Frieden zu stiften, und da die Spannungen zwischen den USA und Iran steigen, müssen wir diese Forderung jetzt mehr denn je ernst nehmen. Der Grund, warum Pax Christi an dieser Delegation teilnimmt, ist ein doppelter: den Dialog zwischen…

Hier finden Sie den Text der Meldung von Pax Christi International:

Pax Christi USA Executive Director on Fact-Finding Mission to Iran

David Robinson, Executive Director of Pax Christi USA, left on 7 May 2006 for a 12-day fact-finding and friendship mission to Iran. He is part of a 25-member interfaith peace delegation organized by the Fellowship of Reconciliation.

 Robinson and other members of the delegation will learn first-hand about ordinary Iranians, even as tensions between the United States and Iran continue to rise amidst threats of sanctions and military intervention over Iran’s nuclear program. The delegation provides an opportunity for the citizens of both countries to exchange ideas about peaceful alternatives to this standoff and discuss ways of creating and maintaining a democratic and independent civil society.

“Pax Christi’s mission is to promote the gospel imperative of peacemaking, and as tensions between the U.S. and Iran escalate, nowhere is that imperative needed more,” Robinson said. “Pax Christi’s reason for participating in this delegation is twofold: to help foster dialogue between Americans and Iranians in hopes of avoiding conflict, and to educate ourselves around the many complexities surrounding the U.S.-Iran debate.”

The delegation – the second that the FOR has sent to Iran – includes people of many religious backgrounds. Twenty four of the delegates are from the United States and one is from the FOR chapter in the United Kingdom.

The delegates will visit cultural and historic centers in Tehran (the contemporary capital), Qom (world center of Shi’a theology), Esfehan (legendary capital of medieval Persia), and Shiraz (jewel of classical Islamic culture, as well as the seat of Iran’s ancient pre-Islamic civilization.)

They will meet with media representatives, academics, and Muslim religious leaders, as well as representatives of minority Christian, Jewish and Zoroastrian communities. Delegates will also visit an orphanage, arts organizations, and meet with representatives of several non-governmental organizations, one of them serving women and another concerned with the environment.

The delegates will take with them thousands of personal messages of friendship to the Iranian people from ordinary Americans. These messages will be delivered to the Iranian media.

The delegation’s reports, along with other background information about FOR’s Iran initiative, can be found on the Web site: http://www.forusa.org/programs/iran/.
Robinson can be contacted for interviews by e-mail at: mike@paxchristiusa.org