OPen Letter to Mr. Harper , on Iranian kids

Dear Prime Minister Harper and Honourable Members of Parliament,

Re: Would you wish Iranian children with cancer health and happiness in the New Year?

Wishing you and your families a happy holiday season, we cannot help but bring to your attention, the plight of Iranian children with cancer. While most Canadian families including yours have the good fortune to celebrate this festive season, Iranian children with cancer and their families do not have such a luxury. The sanctions imposed on the Iranian people, and endorsed by the Conservative Government, have hit where it hurts the most. Caught between the devil and the deep blue see, Iranian people have to deal with the aftermath of the sanctions.

In particular, heart-wrenching reports of ordinary Iranians dying due to a widespread shortage of pharmaceutical drugs call for immediate cessation of hostilities toward the Iranian people, caused by the sanctions. Eyewitness reports of the black market for medicine and the tearful eyes of families of cancer patients scrambling desperately in this market should concern you as much as it would any person of conscience. The pain and suffering of Iran’s cancer patients are in part a consequence of the Conservative Government’s policies. Whereas there is barely any evidence suggesting  sanctions achieve their political goals, they are causing death and devastation to the Iranian cancer patients as you are reading this letter.

A recent report, for example, from a charitable hospital for cancer patients in Tehran, Mahak (http://www.mahak-charity.org/main/fa), indicates a shortage of the following pharmaceutical items:

Amp.BC NU
Amp.Melphalan
Tab.Mitotane
Cap.Procarbazine
Amp.Topotecan 4mg-1mg
Tab.Lanvis-6Thioguanine

Are you willing to put humanitarianism ahead of politics and ease the sanctions so that cancer patients, among other Iranian people in need, have a decent chance of survival?  We believe Canada should draw on its rich history of human rights advocacy and stand opposed to the flagrant violation of Iranian people’s basic elemental rights and elect to lift the sanctions

Sa’adi Shirazi once said:

Human beings are members of a whole,
In creation of one essence and soul.
If one member is afflicted with pain,
Other members uneasy will remain.
If you have no sympathy for human pain,
The name of human you cannot retain.

An opportunity is presenting itself to you . Will you let the suffering of Iranian children with cancer continue or will you choose to put an end to this tragedy by lifting the sanctions on Iranian people?

With hope,

Yours very truly,

Canadian and Iranian Coalition for Peace

CICforpeace@gmail.com

http://cicfp.blogspot.ca/