MCC pins Ahmadinejad

Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) organized a second interfaith dialogue in New York with Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad out of concern for escalating rhetoric and lack of diplomacy between Iran and the West.

“If diplomats were talking, we wouldn’t be essential,” said Doug Hostetter, director of MCC’s UN office.

The meeting, held in the symbolic Tillman chapel at the UN offices September 26, culminated with MCC’s interim executive director Bert Lobe pinning a dove to Ahmadinejad’s jacket as a reminder to work for peace.

Bert Lobe, MCC interim executive director, pins a gold dove onto the lapel of Iranian president Ahmadinejad. Photo: Melissa Engle

The caustic president, who had been publicly humiliated at Columbia University the week before, was met by more than 100 religious leaders from the U.S. and Canada and questioned respectfully by a panel of evangelicals, Catholics, and Quakers.

“Our intent was to host a conversation in which we could all speak out of the religious traditions that nurture us,” said Lobe.

Ahmadinejad again sidestepped concerns over his public denial of the Holocaust. Urged to clarify his rhetoric of “wiping Israel off the map,” he focused more broadly on what he called the most important issue facing humankind – divine will and grace. He spoke of the common heritage of Abraham’s and Moses’ urgings to serve God, defend the rights of the oppressed, and work against tyranny.

“To demonstrate mutual respect and graciousness in this conversation blunts the demonization which is part of the current rhetoric of both governments,” Lobe said later.

After the meeting, Canadian Mennonite University professor and guest Harry Huebner commented in a personal reflection that “there is very little, if any, progress being made over the last three meetings; we just go over the same issues again and again. That is not likely to change.”

“However, it is an important counter symbol for North American people who are being seduced into believing that Iran is an evil empire . . . We should be careful how we measure progress if it’s only in terms of end goals like ‘making him more honest and transparent’ or ‘becoming friends.’ It’s a bit like measuring our work with the Palestinians . . . Surely MCC has failed miserably on this basis, yet we would agree that we should continue our work there.”

Organizers left the meeting eager to begin work on future exchanges. In February, 13 American religious leaders visited Iran where they met with a variety of governmental, academic, and religious leaders. MCC workers David Wolfe and Linda Kusse-Wolfe are also currently studying in Qom, Iran, while Iranian exchange students are attending the Toronto Mennonite Theological Centre, part of the Toronto School of Theology.

—with files from MCC and H. Huebner