Tell the International Olympic Committee that Iran’s abuses cannot stand.
  

Dear John,

I wanted to make sure you saw my note below regarding AJC’s campaign to have Iran banned from the Olympics.

The Executive Board of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) is set to convene this Wednesday, October 7. We hope they will take note of the thousands of people from around the world who have already signed our letter calling on them to uphold the Olympic Charter and bar Iran from participating in next year’s Olympic and Paralympic Games in Tokyo due to its outrageous human rights abuses, including against its own athletes.

The world is watching. Will the IOC allow Iran to continue trampling on both the rules and values of the Olympic movement and the human rights of Iranian athletes?

It’s not too late to add your name. Will you join us?

Thank you and happy Sukkot,

Avi
 

Begin forwarded message:

From: Avi Mayer, AJC Managing Director of Global Communications
Date: Thursday, September 24, 2020 at 3:00 PM
Subject: Ban Iran from the Olympics
 
Tell the International Olympic Committee that Iran’s abuses cannot stand.
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Dear AJC Friend,
When Iran executed 27-year-old national wrestling champion Navid Afkari, human rights activists the world over exploded in anger. Afkari was arrested along with his brothers during Iran’s 2018 economic protests and charged with “insulting the supreme leader” and “waging war against God.” Iranian authorities tortured him into confessing to the murder of a security guard. Despite an international outcry, on September 12, he was hanged in a prison in Shiraz. His brothers remain in custody, having been sentenced to dozens of years in prison.
Afkari’s execution is yet another horrific example of the Iranian regime’s outrageous human rights abuses. Iran’s record of abuse in sports—just one area of an elaborate tapestry of wholesale violations of basic human rights carried out by the Islamic Republic against its own citizens—is abysmal. Women are barred from participating in many sports and are subjected to draconian restrictions in others. Athletes are prohibited from competing against Israelis and are forced to forfeit matches to ensure they never do. Multiple athletes—including Kimia Alizadeh, Iran's only female Olympic medalist—have fled Iran due to political and religious persecution.
But Afkari’s execution is also a flagrant violation of the Olympic Charter, which specifically forbids retaliation against athletes for political reasons.
Join AJC in calling on the International Olympic Committee to ban Iran from participating in the 2021 Olympics.
Iran consistently violates the standards and values enshrined in the Olympic Charter and should not be allowed to participate in the Olympic Games.
Sign AJC’s letter calling on the International Olympic Committee to:
  1. Bar Iran from participating in the 2021 Olympic and Paralympic Games in Tokyo
  2. Condemn Iran’s ongoing violations of human rights
  3. Ensure the Olympics and sports more generally remain a beacon of peace and coexistence
Go to AJC.org/BanIran to sign the letter.
We cannot afford to be silent. Our silence threatens the noble values upon which international sport relies as a vehicle for promoting peace and coexistence throughout the world.
Join us in sending the strongest of messages: Iran’s flagrant human rights abuses will not stand.
Sincerely,
Avi Mayer
AJC Managing Director of Global Communications
AJC’s mission is to enhance the well-being of the Jewish people and Israel,
and to advance human rights and democratic values in the United States and around the world.

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