With a banner hanging on the Maryhouse stage behind them reading “Pope Francis Proclaims: The very Possession of Nuclear Weapons is to be Firmly Condemned”, Emad Kiyaei rises, “First of all, thank you so much. Stepping into this space has been truly profound, knowing that so many here have fought for a such variety of injustices in this country and abroad and how this has contributed to us all.
A quick note, this is quite rare, and not a joke, when we have an Israeli (Sharon Dolev), a Palestinian from Jordan (moderator Dina Saadallah), and an Iranian (himself) sitting together to speak about the issues of war and weapons of mass destruction.” Indeed, it’s extremely rare, a personal risk for each. They came directly from their presentation at the United Nations, the culmination of years of effort, during the conference for a WMD Free Zone in the Middle East, with diplomats from many countries intrigued as to how this could happen. With animosities, walls, rhetoric so high, and wars murdering all involved, where to start? Indeed the subtitle for their presentation of METO (The Middle East Treaty Organization) is “Achieving the Possible”. Several countries (Sweden, Ireland, etc) had already given their support for this brave, clearly needed effort.