Anti-Iran deal banners in Crown Heights
Anti-Iran deal banners in Crown HeightsCourtesy campaign organizers

The fight continues to convince Congress to vote against the Iran nuclear deal and achieve a 2/3 majority able to withstand the presidential veto. In the latest development, a new front in the struggle has opened in New York's Crown Heights.

A grassroots campaign has started in the Brooklyn neighborhood, calling on Democratic Congresswoman Yvette Clarke to vote against the deal. Clarke represents the third largest Jewish district in America; around 25% of her constituents are Jews. The heavily Orthodox Jewish neighborhoods of Crown Heights, East Flatbush, Flatbush and Kensington fall within her district.

No less than 30 Crown Heights synagogues and community organizations have warned their members over the dangers of the deal, and critics of the deal hung several 20-foot banners across Kingston, Albany and Brooklyn.

One of the banners read "Death to Israel. Death to the USA," in a quote from statements Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei made just days after the nuclear agreement. Other banners warned that the deal "gives billions to terrorists," and, "the deal endangers us all."

All of the banners feature Clarke's phone number and urge residents to call her in a demand that she vote against the deal.

Her office's phone lines were tied up and her voicemail full by midday Wednesday, according to residents, indicating the success of the campaign. Campaign organizers estimate that around 1,200 concerned residents have called Clarke since the campaign started.

"The congresswoman is aware that the community has never been this passionate about a congressional vote before," said Rabbi Mendy Margolin, a resident of Crown Heights. "Hundreds are calling dally and urging her to oppose. I think it is going to be very for hard for her to support the deal."

The grassroots campaign follows the civil disobedience used by New York Assemblyman Dov Hikind (D-Brooklyn) and eight other Jewish activists late last month, when they campaigned Senator Chuck Schumer (D-NY) to oppose the deal.

Already a growing majority of congressmen oppose the deal, including leading Democrats, boosting hopes that a veto-proof majority will be achieved.

Banners in Crown Heights
Banners in Crown HeightsCourtesy campaign organizers