i am an advocate for peace nonviolence human rights and social justice i painfully witness my government perpetuate a permanent state of war military invasions occupations killing displacement and the dehumanization of innocent people have become accepted behavior violence and war are not the answer to any question in march of two thousand and seven a civilian diplomacy peace delegation the third organized by the fellowship of reconciliation travel to the republic of iran i am grateful to be one of those twenty three i went to iran to see learn and interpret through my own discernment what i found was a country rich in culture history legend beauty and diversity and a warm loving and hospitable people who only want peace i am not an apologist for any government i am one voice who speaks for the millions of lives threatened by the actions of governments i made this film to share facts you may have forgotten or not know blended with my personal experience in order to make wise choices individuals must have access to factual information unfortunately we're not educated by mainstream media today they're directed by corporate sponsors and we're fed propaganda an iran is an immense repository of art civilization and culture with relics as old as nine thousand years covering approximately six hundred thirty thousand square miles it's bordered by iraq turkey armenia as are by john turkmenistan the caspian sea the persian gulf afghanistan and pakistan the highest peak mount dam of aand rises to eighteen thousand six hundred two feet and as part of the allegories mountains the lowest point in iran is the caspian sea at ninety two feet below sea level the official religion of iran is the shiite branch of islam followed by more than ninety five percent of the population some of the most sacred shiite sites in the world are in iran sunny muslims form about four percent of the population along with small communities of christians jews and zorro astra and all of whom have a seat in the parliament tehran with fourteen million people is the capital and center of cultural economic and political and social activities beautiful restaurants in northern tehran with ageless and timeless architecture that seem to emerge directly from the rock face the official language of iran is modern persian or farsi and is written in the arabic alphabet several minority groups in iran retain their own languages under islamic law women must be covered at all times one reason given is to remove the outer distractions not representative or reflective of the true spirit or soul there seems to be a polarized preference with many women feeling honored because of the religion and others feeling forced street vendors offer grapes raisins dates figs jellies herbs spices and fresh fruit and vegetables they say there's an art to crossing the street safely jamsheed a park lies at the base of the al bore's mountains in northern tehran stone paths teared gardens and regional themed tea houses await a cia backed coup overthrew the democratically elected leader mohamed mossad death in one nine hundred fifty three and installed armed and protected the brutal dictatorship of the shah saw the palace once home to the shah is now a museum with marble floors brocaded wallpaper persian carpets and crystal chandelier this is the entrance to ayatollah khomeini's house where he ran the government after the iranian revolution and led a simple life from one nine hundred seventy nine until his death in  hussein yacht or small meeting house is where many speeches were given an expressive mural in the meeting house honors the martyrs typical greetings heard everywhere are hello how are you where you from i love you the united states assisted saddam hussein with chemical weapons used against the iranian people both military and civilian in the iraq hundred eighty to one nine hundred eighty eight the society for chemical weapons victim support conducts medical social legal and cultural support for more than fifty thousand eighty eight there was a massive use of mustard gas on the iranian people it was the most toxic chemical used it burns on contact and when inhaled causes severe respiratory burns it is potentially lethal and is quite insoluble in water it leaves the soil barren seriously threatening the environment and food chain some of the victims had to be sent to other countries for treatment one million people were exposed one hundred thousand casualties were reported and fifty thousand are suffering long term effect honor the persian poets with flowers and meditation at the terms of  like children everywhere the children of iran deserve to live in peace attacked by iraq and the world responded with silence iran has not been a military aggressor in over two hundred years trade is still centered in the bazaars in many cities found the majestic beauty of persepolis a huge stone complex built in five hundred b c for the kings of the persian empire the royal steps lead to the gate of all nations which guards the entrance as it has for thousands of years it was here that representatives of all the varied people of the empire gathered to pay homage and tribute to the king drawings of peace sent from american children were happily received like their sisters everywhere women in iran struggle with equality they constitute over sixty percent of all university attendance and are pursuing degrees in law medicine engineering art and music among others greetings of warmth and love from people of all ages welcome you to their homeland meaningful conversations lead to mutual understanding and within moments one hears expressions of affection and the desire for peace for everyone after all too brief encounters some typical comments heard our thank you for coming to my country americans are our brothers and sisters please tell the american people that we love them some are seen still living of zorro astor was possibly an ancient a a nephew of the seventy mom appears to be a typical mosque on the outside complete with quiet courtyard but a site that captures your breath upon entry thousands of mirrored tiles cover the walls and ceiling a place for reflection and study all are welcome here the pink mosque is named for the preponderance of pink flowers repeated in the tiles no matter where you go you are always met with the same warmth hospitality respect and loving kindness after the attacks on september eleventh two thousand and one the first candlelight vigils in the middle east were held in iranian cities exotic spices awaken the senses and tempt the pal the spiritual center is the city of qum with a population of six hundred thousand one hundred sixty thousand of those are clergy study ancient script centex are seen when touring the marashi library housing over thirty two thousand volumes of handwritten and rare manuscripts in more than sixty thousand ladles dating from thirteen hundred you may find tighter security here than anywhere else you visit ayatollah is the highest rank of cleric requiring twenty years of study iran has fifteen ayatollah there's diverse geography with salt flats fertile valleys sculpted deserts serene mountain vistas and busy city street is armenian from the sixteen hundreds s four hundred was the capital of iran at that time the church is now a museum with walls covered with christian themed paintings there are thirteen other christian churches located in this same region an association museum describes the massacre of armenians in turkey in the early twentieth century thousands fled to iran at that time ninety five percent of the population of  fire temple depicts a whore almost on the representation of the concept of one god or supreme being central to their ceremonies the eternal flame has been burning for twenty five jewish synagogues the largest population of jews in the middle east outside of israel is in iran with numbers ranging from twenty five to thirty five  d square in s for han is one of the largest public squares in the world with two beautiful mosques shops and restaurants fine craftsmanship and fresh produce and beautiful by day and by nights the months where is well use and loved by the families who come to shop picnic play soccer and take buggy realigns as a non nuclear signatory to the nonproliferation treaty or n p t iran has the right to build and use nuclear power plants and to enrich uranium for peaceful purposes which it has been pursuing a military strike on active nuclear reactors has the potential to cause serious and widespread radioactive contamination and unthinkable risk to take it has been demanded that iran cease its enrichment activities however in international law or the terms of the n p t the demand has no basis the people of iran want what people everywhere want the freedom to determine national issues themselves and to reclaim their place in global society one may or may not agree that nuclear energy is clean or safe but the iranian people would like to make those choices as a nation just as other nations to iran has suffered from crippling economic sanctions since one thousand nine hundred seventy nine even though they have never produced weapons of mass destruction or initiated military action against another country the sanctions only serve to injure the people not the government does ion the rude river river of storied recesses galleries and arcades friends enjoy boating on the river and couples appreciate quiet moments  together as always the creative spirit is seen the rich culture and incredible beauty of iran are only surpassed by her people people who express loving hospitality and respect while living the harsh reality of economic sanctions and frightened threats i urge you to investigate your news sources seek truth through independent investigative journalism and demand elected officials choose diplomacy peace and reconciliation we are all part of the same human family therefore are all related the time has come for each of us to step forward with a new course of action through communication respect understanding change and commitment to promoting peace the spirit of peace we seek is passed from person to person and builds a bridge of compassion and unity around the earth will you help us build this  the wisdom of gandhi's words are reminder of the simplicity upright action there is no way to peace peace is the way only that israel has is is no ally but also that it is actually not a friend because it does actual damage the united states through using its considerable access to congress and the media to promote policies that are good neither for the united states nor for israel israel might or might not have been an actual enabler of the disastrous american invasion of iraq but it is undeniably true that american officials are extremely close to the israeli government were behind a rush to war and the forgery of phony intelligence that fed the process if the united states goes to war with iran in the near future it will not be because tehran actually threatens america it will be because israel and its powerful lobby in the us have succeeded in creating an essentially false causes belli to mandate such action prime minister benjamin netanyah once commented that nine eleven was good for israel has repeatedly sought to commit our government to draw red lines that would narrow options for the white house and de facto required to take action with the military against iran congress is meanwhile advancing legislation that would commit the united states to intervene militarily in support of a unilateral israeli attack meaning that israel could easily be empowered to make the decision on whether or not the us goes to war nothing relating to israel is quite like the u s interaction with other countries and then janet have outlined the dollar cost and special financing arrangements that go to support israel measures that are not in place for any other nation congress also approved on wednesday as part of the united states israel strategic partnership act by a vote of four hundred ten to one an israeli exemption from the reciprocity mandated by the so called visa waiver program israelis will be able to travel travel freely to the united states while their government will be allowed to refuse entry to american citizens this is a privilege that is granted to no other country one congressman has recently even introduced a bill to cut off federal funding for any academic organization that engages in boycotting israel were to other countries is ok israel interferes in american elections most recently on behalf of mitt romney it has corrupted our congress its head of government publicly rebukes our own head of state government ministers insult and ridicule john kerry and its intelligence officers actually provide alarmist and inaccurate private briefings for american senators on capitol hill i also would not doubt that israel accustomed to behaving with impunity towards its alleged friend and patron in washington might manufacture a pretext to draw the us into a new conflict something reminiscent of the love is opposed overwhelmingly by the american public in short israel has no reluctance to use its enormous political and media clout in the us to pressure successive administrations to conform to its own foreign and security policy views one other good very good reason why israel should not receive billions of dollars in military assistance annually is its persistent espionage against the united states grant smith has described how friends of israel stole enrich uranium from a pennsylvania refinery to create a nuclear arsenal more recently we have learned how our non milch on a hollywood producer born in israel arranged for the illegal purchase of eight hundred nuclear triggers mi picked up an oscar last sunday without any interference from the f b i the existence the existence of a large scale israeli spying effort at the time of nine eleven has been widely reported incorporating israeli companies in new  florida as well as hundreds of art students nationwide five israelis from one of the companies were observed celebrating against the backdrop of the twin towers going down while it is often th school observed that everyone spies on everyone else particularly true if one is referring to our own n s a espionage is a high risk business that most countries are extremely careful when they are spying on friends because of fear of blowback israel w relies on washington for billions of dollars in aid and also for political cover and international fora like the un does not spy discreetly largely because it knows that few in washington will seek to hold it to account there were for example no consequences for the israelis when israeli mossad intelligence officers using passports and pretending to be americans recruited terrorists to carry out attacks inside iran as noted by mark perry this morning israelis using u s passports in that fashion put every american traveler at risk israel where government and business work hand in hand has obtained significant advantage by systematically stealing american technology with both military and civilian applications the us develop technology is then reversed engineered and used by the israelis to support their own exports sometimes when the technology is military in nature and winds up in the hands of an adversary the consequences can be serious israel has sold advanced weapons system to china that are believed to incorporate technology developed by american companies including the python three air  missile and the de l'isle a cruise missile there's evidence that israel has also stolen patriot missile avionics to incorporate into its own aero system and that he used u s technology obtained in its lobby fire fighter development program which was funded by u s taxpayers to help the chinese develop their own j ten the reality of israeli spying is indisputable i might cite the names of jonathan pollard ben steward knows that and larry franklin as spies for israel have been caught but they are only the tip of the iceberg israel always features prominently in the annual f b i report called for an economic collection and  economic and industrial collection the two thousand and five report states israel has an active program to gather proprietary information with within the united states these collection activities are primarily directed at obtaining information on military systems and advanced computing applications that can be used in israel so sizable armaments industry it adds that israel recruit spies uses electronic methods and carries out computer intrusion to gain the information nine hundred ninety six defense investigative service report noted that israel has great success sealing technology by exploiting the numerous co production projects that it has with the pentagon it says placing israeli nationals in key industries is a technique utilized with great success so the answer to the question is israel an ally of the united states  most definitely no is it even a friend well i suppose there are all kinds of friends in the world but if you judge israel by its record on how it interacts with the american government and people i think the answer would also have to be no thank you