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IAPAC 2004 Gala
Honoring the Accomplishments of Iranian Women
Approximately 350 guests joined the Iranian American Political Action
Committee (IAPAC) this summer at the Ritz-Carlton, DC to honor Mahnaz
Afkhami, CEO of the Women’s Learning Partnership; Mehrangiz Kar,
a human rights activist; and Shirin Ebadi, the first Iranian Nobel Peace
Laureate. Azar Nafisi, author of the New York Times best seller “Reading
Lolita in Tehran,” presented honorees with artistic replicas of Cyrus the
Great’s Cylinder, the 5000-year-old first universal declaration of human
rights, as reproduced by artist Nasser Ovissi. As guests sampled Persian
cuisine prepared by renowned Persian chef and author of “Food for Life,” Najmieh Batmanglij, Soroush Richard Shehabi, one of IAPAC’s original 22
founding trustees, highlighted the accomplishments of Iranian women, while
stressing the need for greater civic participation by Americans of Iranian
descent. Senator Jon Corzine (D-NJ) and Oregon Republican congressional
candidate Goli Ameri commended IAPAC’s efforts to counteract recent
legislative developments that singled out Iranians for special scrutiny.
IAPAC has helped bring the arbitrary detention of approximately 1000
Iranians to the attention of Congress by convening a congressional briefing
and publicizing an investigative report prepared by the Iranian American
Bar Association and Wilmer, Cutler, and Pickering, that substantiates
allegations of improper interrogations, poor detention conditions, demeaning
treatment and other discriminatory and legally infirm governmental contact.
By focusing on domestic policy issues such as civil liberties, IAPAC has
helped unify a broad bipartisan and geographically diverse group of
Americans, including some of the most active donors to both the Bush and
Kerry campaigns. IAPAC raised $350,000 this cycle and is poised to
make contributions to supportive candidates from both parties.
Photos by Vicky Pombo |
