Israel Loves Iran: Grassroots Social Media Project a Hit

http://www.cnn.com/2012/03/19/world/meast/israel-iran-social-media/index.html?iref=allsearch

By Samira Said, CNN
March 19, 2012

Israeli graphic designer Ronny Edry has created posters with messages of peace for the people of Iran and posted them on Facebook.


(CNN) -- It is not possible to dial an Iranian number from an Israeli telephone. It will simply not go through. That lack of communication stems from the government level, where there is no dialogue between the two countries aside from public speeches meant to carry weighty threats of war to each camp.

That is why it was so difficult for Ronny Edry, an Israeli graphic designer based in Tel Aviv, to get his message across to the people of Iran.

"My idea was simple, I was trying to reach the other side. There are all these talks about war, Iran is coming to bomb us and we bomb them back, we are sitting and waiting. I wanted to say the simple words that this war is crazy," said Edry.
Using his graphic design skills and his wife's help (she is also a graphic designer), he plastered memes over pictures of himself, his wife, his friends and his neighbors. He then posted them on the Facebook page of Pushpin, his design preparatory school, with a resounding message:

IRANIANS
we will never bomb your country
We *Heart* You

The response, said Edry, was overwhelming. "In a few hours, I had hundreds of shares and thousands of likes and it was like something was happening.

"I think it's really amazing that someone from Iran poked me and said 'Hello, I'm from Iran, I saw your "poster" on Facebook,' " Edry said.

"I thought it was crazy because I never spoke to an Iranian in my life. I woke up my wife: 'There is someone on Facebook from Iran!' "

He posted his designs for anyone to take and plaster over their own photos. The photos and posts have been flooding the page.
Edry says he started the campaign to get past the harsh words and talk directly to Iranians to see whether there really was anything to fight about.

Iran's nuclear development program is causing alarm in Israel and its Western allies. Critics in the West say Iran is trying to develop a nuclear weapon while Iranian officials insist their nuclear program is for peaceful energy generation only.

Edry has received thousands of messages from people in Iran sending a statement to Israel, he said.

He shared one private message from Iran, without revealing the identity of the sender: "We love you too. Your word reaches out there, despite the censorship. And Iranian people, aside from the regime, have no hard feelings or animosity towards anybody, particularly Israelis."

One post on the Pushpin Facebook page says: "We share a common history, have been sharing both our great and ancient cultures, languages and poetry together. ... We are so similar, and politicians cannot cut a tie that has been tied thousands of years ago. I am proud to have you as my friends."

Not all the responses to the campaign were positive, however.
One meme says "Iranians We *Heart* You SO MUCH we are coming over."

The first meme was posted Wednesday, and Edry says he hopes the dialogue will not end merely with Iranians and Israelis. He noted the tension involves more than these two countries and he would like to include allies and neighboring countries in the conversation. "The idea is to put the message out there that we don't want this war."

"At the end of it, I will be the one doing this war. Bibi is not going to take the gun," he said, referring to Israeli Prime Minister Benyamin Netanhayu, "I will have to. Before I go into another war, maybe I check this one a bit better."

\When asked whether this style of campaign could work with Israelis and Palestinians, Edry said that it was probably already past that point, but now Israel has the chance to capitalize on an opportunity to start fresh with another regional neighbor.

"We are [right next to] Palestinians, so communication was not a problem. This situation is different because [Israel is] now just starting to talk to Iran," he said. "And maybe just by talking we can end it."

In an Israel Public Opinion survey by Shibley Telhami and the Dahaf Institute conducted February 22-26 among a nationally representative sample of 500 Israelis (margin of error is +/- 4.3%), only 19% of Israelis expressed support for a pre-emptive attack on Iranian nuclear facilities without U.S. backing. And while 45% believe an Israeli strike would weaken the Iranian government, 44% believe it would actually strengthen it.

The United States has pushed for a nonmilitary solution, including tougher sanctions and diplomatic negotiations.

The growing tensions between the two countries have already impacted other countries as well: Israel blamed Iran for a Valentine's Day bombing in Thailand and for a bombing the next day in India that targeted Israeli diplomats.

Pen Pals: Ahmedinejad and Bush

Yesterday Iran's president Mahmoud Ahmedinejad wrote a letter to Americans. I thought that was so thoughtful of him. No seriously. Other people around the world just dislike us behind our backs and do nothing about it. This guy wrote an 18-page letter to president Bush, incidentally the first correspondence between the 2 countries since Iran-Contra. But what does our president do? He ignored it. NOT COOL. This is a PR move by Ahmedinejad and the US doesn't know what to do with a Muslim country that actually knows how to play the game. Now don't get me wrong, Iran is in no way NEAR the PR-wonderland that IS the United States. But his letters are quite polite...with a dash of Willy Wonka (the 2005 version). Here's a bit:

"Were the American people not God-fearing, truth-loving, and justice-seeking, while the US administration actively conceals the truth and impedes any objective portrayal of current realities;

And if we did not share a common responsibility to promote and protect freedom and human dignity and integrity;

Then, there would have been little urgency to have a dialogue with you.

While Divine providence has placed Iran and the United States geographically far apart, we should be cognizant that human values and our common human spirit, which proclaim the dignity and exalted worth of all human beings, have brought our two great nations of Iran and the United States closer together."

Now that's just plain sweet as apple pie. But I'm confused about exactly why he wrote this letter. The people of America have done their part to get our country out of Iraq. I'm so proud of us for getting Democrats into the government and for making Republicans (especially Rumsfeld) regret their foolhardy insistence on a 'pre-emptive' war. Everyone involved in the war has agreed that a pull-out is necessary and the plan is that they will leave as soon as they can, about 18 months. I'm satisified with that. I don't think it makes any sense that EVERY American in Iraq should get on a plane tomorrow and leave the country broken and in chaos. I don't think Ahmedinejad realizes that they CAN'T just go. And this is probably because Iran hasn't sent any troops to help rebuild Iraq. Everyone agrees that it's good that Saddam is gone. But if America ousted him 'for the public good' as they claimed then they have no future interest in the area.

The same for Iran. if Ahmedinejad lays a hand on Iraq everyone in the world should cry foul. Because not only did he NOT help fight the Saddam regime, but he has been the biggest advocate of Iraqi freedom.

I see why he doesn't want America occupying the country directly next to his - because the whole world KNOWS that Iran was Americas next step. Then on to Syria. I have learned not to rule anything out so it may still happen. But the point is, the Americans did not send thousands of soldiers to Iraq to fight and die so that another country can take over after all the dirty work is done. Not that America should take over either. No one should. A government should be established and Iraq should be an independant nation.

Now if Bush would take his head out of his ass and actally respond to Ahmedinejad, they may be able to come to some sort of agreement where Iran sends troops to Iraq to help them rebuild and start a government, while America overlooks and helps financially. That way Iraqis see a friendly neighbor instead of invading Anglo-Saxons waving American flags with pictures of naked prisoners in their pockets. At the end of the day I'm just a diplomat (reference: October post)