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When approximately fifty Brandeis students stormed Washington D.C. last November and lobbied Congressional staff on behalf of a stronger U.S.-Israel relationship, they made a serious and immediate impact. This ground-breaking task-force, the first of its kind emanating from Brandeis, not only educated and enlightened very important lawmakers in our nations capital, but it allowed students to form their own personal relationships with Congressional offices and continue communicating and lobbying well after the overnight trip ended.

If fifty students can produce such drastic results, what about 3,000? Such is the force of the resolution brought before the student body and slated for official Student Union adoption by the Brandeis-Israel Public Affairs Committee (BIPAC). It ought to be obvious to anyone with an eye on international news that Iran increasingly poses a lethal threat to Western Civilization, particularly Israel and the United States (or, in the parlance of the region, Little Satan and Big Satan). Since BIPAC President Jacob Baime 08 wrote a column earlier this semester about Irans hostile posturing vis–vis international inspectors, Mahmoud Ahmedinijad has not only renewed calls to wipe Israel off the map, but has moved increasingly closer toward developing a viable nuclear capability.

It is time for Brandeis students, as members of a university renowned for its political activism and aspirations toward social justice, to wholeheartedly reject the notion of a nuclear-armed Iran. It is time to oppose the violent, anti-Semitic, and genocidal rhetoric of Mr. Ahmedinijad. And it is time to support the efforts by our government to prevent nuclear weapons from falling into the hands of a state concurrently developing Shihab-3 missile technology that can strike not only Israel but any enemy state within 1,300 kilometer, according to a recent Haaretz article. Shihab-4 and Shihab-5, with ranges up to 5,500km, are well on their way.

When representatives of BIPAC visit Washington D.C. again this weekend to meet with Americas top elected and unelected officials, we will carry with us not just our personal opinions, as we did in November, but the force of the entire Brandeis community. We will show Washington that Brandeis will not stand idly by while another madman calls for the annihilation of Americans and Jews. Our collective voice will be heard, and it will be deafening.

Dmitry Vilner '08
BIPAC