Mass Demonstrations At Iran Embassies For Israel MIAs

By Joel Leyden
Israel News Agency

Jerusalem---April 15......The Jewish Agency for Israel announced today that on Wednesday and Thursday, April 20 and 21 massive demonstrations will take place in major capital cities throughout the world as part of the "Born to Freedom" campaign which seeks information on the whereabouts of the missing Israel Defense Forces Airforce navigator Ron Arad and other Israel MIAs and Jews held hostage in Iran.

These demonstrations will take place simultaneously in front of Iran Embassies in: London, Paris, Berlin, Brussels, Amsterdam, Stockholm and at the UN Headquarters in New York City, as well as at the UN Human Rights Committee in Geneva.

Thousands of students from Jewish Student organizations in Europe and North America as well as human rights activists and Iranian exiles will participate in these demonstrations. Banners on behalf of the MIAs will be raised and letters in Farsi will be handed to Iranian Ambassadors.

The World Zionist Organization, USD / Hagshama, WUJS (World Union of Jewish Students) and their affiliates worldwide and numerous other organizations and Jewish Students groups are organizing these events. See website of "Born to Freedom Foundation" www.10million.org.

Three former Iranian diplomats and intelligence officials, currently residing in Europe,
said that missing IAF navigator Ron Arad is alive and being held in a prison near Tehran.

Meanwhile, Israel has stated that it will not launch a unilateral attack aimed at destroying Iran's nuclear capability, Israel Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said, calling for international action instead. Sharon said he did not see "unilateral action" as an option.

Israel's Prime Minister said Israel did not need to lead the way on the Iran nuclear weapons issue, saying that the issue should be dealt with by an international coalition.

Iran is years away from possessing a nuclear weapon, Sharon said, but he warned that Iran is only months away from solving "technical problems" toward building a nuclear weapon. Sharon said, "Once they will solve it, that will be the point of no return." He did not give details about the technical issues or how he drew his conclusions. Sharon said that Iran's acquiring nuclear weapons would be a danger not only for Israel but also for Europe and other countries. Therefore, he said, Israel did not need to tackle the matter by itself. Iran has denied that it is developing nuclear weapons, explaining that its reactors would be used for peaceful purposes like producing electricity.

Israel media reported that in his meeting Tuesday with Vice President Dick Cheney, Sharon aides presented evidence, including satellite reconnaissance, about the Iranian nuclear program. Asked about Israel's own nuclear weapons program, Sharon repeated decades-old Israeli claims: "Israel will not be the first one to use or to possess a nuclear weapon." He said that Iran should be prevented from acquiring such arms, because "one should avoid development of nuclear weapons by irresponsible countries."

During the funeral for Pope John Paul II at the Vatican on Friday, Israel President Moshe Katsav shook hands with the presidents of Syria and Iran, but Sharon dismissed the political gestures. Iran and Syria continue to be enemies of Israel, Sharon said. "If the moderates there (in Iran) speak about the elimination Israel as the Jewish nation, we don't see any changes," he said.