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Protest Museum Shooting and Iran, Together

While dressed as Ahmadinejad

by
Ari M. Brostoff
June 11, 2009
Ahmadinejad at a campaign rally yesterday.(AFP/Getty Images)
Ahmadinejad at a campaign rally yesterday.(AFP/Getty Images)

Was alleged Holocaust Museum shooter James von Brunn in cahoots with Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad? Of course not. But that didn’t stop Fuel for Truth, an organization that gets young people drunk so as to turn them into Israel advocates, from proudly issuing a press release promoting an event in a New York nightclub tonight to “rally for immediate action regarding the shooting at D.C.’s Holocaust Museum, Iran’s illegal nuclear weapons program, and the possible reelection of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.” (We presume the preposition error is inadvertent; even these guys, we’re pretty sure, will be rallying against Iranian nukes and Amadinejad’s relection.) How to show your dedication to this tripartite cause? “To draw renewed attention they will be holding a Ahmadinejad look-alike contest as part of the rally,” according to the press release. Yes, no doubt that will certainly help insure “immediate action” against von Brunn.

Fuel For Truth [Official site]

And here’s the full press release:

June 11, 2009
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE



NYC RALLY FOR HOLOCAUST MUSEUM SHOOTING, AHMADINEJADs TO ATTEND



(Times Square) – Fuel For Truth’s hundreds of young activists are at it again – this time at 42nd Street and 7th Avenue in Times Square. The advocacy and action group known for it’s 1,000 person events and rallies expects more than 500 young urbanites to rally for immediate action regarding the shooting at D.C.’s Holocaust Museum, Iran’s illegal nuclear weapons program, and the possible reelection of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. To draw renewed attention they will be holding a Ahmadinejad look-alike contest as part of the rally.



The event will start on the street at 6pm and then spill into Times Square’s hottest nightclub, Arena. [135 West 41st St.] Doors open at 7pm, with a multimedia presentation starting at 8pm.



The club promoters-turned-activists who founded Fuel For Truth days after 9/11 are committed to using the power of pop culture to reach the hearts and minds of young people. The organization, considered by many to be the most effective at reaching young people, has drawn more than 15,000 people to their events and programs.



The rally will be a combination of deadly seriousness and the kind of biting comedy that takes down public figures. Speakers will include former U,S Army Green Beret Terry Schappert, who has served for more than a decade in the Middle East and is now the star of History Channel’s “Warriors.” Also speaking will be Fuel For Truth founder and Chairman Jon Loew and Executive Director Joe Richards. The rally will conclude with an Ahmadinejad look-alike contest complete with rewards for who most closely resembles Iran’s Clown-in-Chief.



But despite the fun, there could be no more serious moment in history. Says Fuel For Truth’s Executive Director Joe Richards, “Ahmadinejad may be the most outspoken supporter of terror, but he’s not alone in the Iranian regime. We’re here to bring attention to this growing threat to America. We’re here because we’re not afraid to speak the truth.” Founder and Chairman Jon Loew adds “The fact is, we haven’t heard a candidate in their election express serious interest in peace with Israel or America. As an American, I’m embarrassed by how we have been manipulated and stalled while the world’s biggest sponsor of terrorism pursues a nuclear weapons program. The Iranian regime has been killing Americans since the 1970s, and repressing and killing it’s own people – and we’ve done nothing in response. We engage in talks.”



“But the Obama victory was a wake-up call to our generation,” says Joe Richards. “Not only can young people change the world, but we can do it from the ground up, with our own style and our own tools.”



Schappert, a member of Fuel For Truth, will alert both Americans and Iranians to what an Ahmadinejad victory will mean. “This is a guy who is committed to getting the Bomb for Iran,” says Schappert. “Think you pay a lot at the pump now? Wait until you see the price of fuel with a Mideast destabilized by a nuclear Iran.”



The theme of the after-party at Arena is, “This Is What We Mean by ‘NEVER AGAIN,” which will serve up the key facts every young American needs to know about the dangers fomenting in the Mideast that are hitting closer to home every day and what young New Yorkers can do to get into the fight for a world where radicalism is sidelined instead of growing.



Fuel For Truth is a not for profit organization dedicated to empowering young adults to effectively make change in the world. They are the “Special Forces of democratic advocacy.” We equip young Americans with the basic facts and skills necessary to advocate to young adults, to increase support for true democracies like Israel to battle radical Islamic terror. Israelis, Americans and citizens of all democracies must work together to combat this global threat.









Ari M. Brostoff is Culture Editor at Jewish Currents.