 |
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 30, 2012
Phone: (212) 554-3296
UANI Calls on Warwick Hotel to Reconsider Hosting Ahmadinejad and Iranian Delegation During UN General Assembly
[Click here to tell the Warwick New York Hotel not to host Ahmadinejad, or call the Warwick directly at 212-247-2700 to respectfully voice your concern.]
New York, NY - On Thursday, United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI) called on the Warwick New York Hotel to reconsider hosting Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and the Iranian delegation during next month's UN General Assembly. UANI has learned that the Warwick is currently in discussions with Iranian officials to host Ahmadinejad and his delegation for the second consecutive year.
In a letter sent today to Mr. G. Paul LeBlanc, General Manager of the Warwick New York Hotel, and Richard Chiu, President of Warwick International Hotels, UANI CEO, Ambassador Mark D. Wallace, called on the Warwick to reconsider its decision:
... By this letter, UANI and its supporters demand that the Warwick immediately reconsider its decision to accommodate the Iranian delegation and refuse to host Ahmadinejad.
Incredibly, this would be Warwick's second consecutive year hosting Ahmadinejad and the Iranian regime's delegation. Warwick should recall that it clearly paid for its decision to host Ahmadinejad in 2011 with lost business and negative publicity, including news articles and video reports by CBS New York, AFP, NBC New York, CNN, The Atlantic,Huffington Post,The Daily Caller,CBS Radio, and the New York Post. The Warwick should not repeat this mistake in 2012.
****
... in 2011, at the same time that the Warwick was providing luxury accommodations to the Iranian delegation, Ahmadinejad was delivering a speech before the General Assembly in which he despicably claimed that the U.S. orchestrated the September 11 terrorist attacks, condemned the killing of Osama bin Laden and denied the Holocaust. Ahmadinejad's remarks were so objectionable that members of the U.S., EU, Canadian and other Western delegations were compelled to walk-out of the meeting in protest. Nevertheless, despite the widespread outrage engendered by his remarks, Ahmadinejad was welcomed back to the friendly confines of the Warwick upon the conclusion of his speech.
Furthermore, in addition to regularly disseminating anti-American and anti-Semitic rhetoric, the Iranian regime continues to brutally abuse its own citizens. In 2011, Iran reportedly executed 670 people, including quadrupling its rate of public executions. The Warwick's unionized labor force may be particularly disturbed by the regime's treatment of labor organizers and union members. According to Amnesty International, "independent unions in Iran are banned, workers have few legal rights or protections, and union activists are regularly beaten, arrested, jailed and tortured." Iran's Labor Code does not grant citizens the right to form independent unions, despite Iran's ratification of the UN's International Convention on Civil and Political Rights and its membership in the International Labor Organization.
In light of Ahmadinejad's past rhetoric and the regime's record of persecution and support of terrorism around the world, New Yorkers, and by extension all Americans, will not look kindly on the Warwick if it provides Ahmadinejad with comfort and accommodation during his stay in New York City. ...
Last week, UANI announced that the San Carlos Hotel, the Loews Regency Hotel, and Preferred Hotel Group have agreed not to host Ahmadinejad, following requests from UANI.
UANI has requested a response from the Warwick by September 6, 2012.
Click here to read UANI's full letter to the Warwick.
Click here to tell the Warwick New York Hotel not to host Ahmadinejad.
Click here to read UANI's July 30 letter to the Warwick.
Click here to learn more about UANI's 2011 Warwick campaign.
Click here to read Ambassador Wallace's October 2011 Op-Ed, "Rolling out the red carpet for Ahmadinejad."
Click here to learn more about UANI's Hotels Campaigns.
###
|
|
|
|
United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI) is a program of the American Coalition Against Nuclear Iran, Inc., a tax-exempt organization under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code.
The prospect of a nuclear-armed Iran should concern every American and be unacceptable to the community of nations. Since 1979 the Iranian regime, most recently under President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's leadership, has demonstrated increasingly threatening behavior and rhetoric toward the US and the West. Iran continues to defy the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and the United Nations in their attempts to monitor its nuclear activities. A number of Arab states have warned that Iran's development of nuclear weapons poses a threat to Middle East stability and could provoke a regional nuclear arms race. In short, the prospect of a nuclear armed Iran is a danger to world peace.
United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI) is a non-partisan, broad-based coalition that is united in a commitment to prevent Iran from fulfilling its ambition to become a regional super-power possessing nuclear weapons. UANI is an issue-based coalition in which each coalition member will have its own interests as well as the collective goal of advancing an Iran free of nuclear weapons.
The Objectives of United Against a Nuclear Iran
- Inform the public about the nature of the Iranian regime, including its desire and intent to possess nuclear weapons, as well as Iran's role as a state sponsor of global terrorism, and a major violator of human rights at home and abroad;
- Heighten awareness nationally and internationally about the danger that a nuclear armed Iran poses to the region and the world;
- Mobilize public support, utilize media outreach, and persuade our elected leaders to voice a robust and united American opposition to a nuclear Iran;
- Lay the groundwork for effective US policies in coordination with European and other allies;
- Persuade the regime in Tehran to desist from its quest for nuclear weapons, while striving not to punish the Iranian people, and;
- Promote efforts that focus on vigorous national and international, social, economic, political and diplomatic measures.
UANI is led by an advisory board of outstanding national figures representing all sectors of our country. |
|
|
|
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment