You want a stable performant language OO language that uses the GUI toolkit on Linux, Windows and MacOS. Your team and existing project have a C background. What do you choose in 2012 and why?
There is already an SVG editor written in Java called Kiyut Sketsa, it is unusable due to the poor performance of the Batik rendering engine (also written in Java).
It makes sense to use high level languages to manipulate the document model or to implement widgets, but when it comes to the renderer you want to be as close to the metal as possible.
