Community Peacemaker Teams condemns the unprovoked United States and Israeli war on Iran. On Saturday morning, the two governments launched Operation Epic Fury, attacking Tehran and multiple Iranian cities. Israel described the attack as “pre-emptive”, yet the opening strikes reportedly killed over one hundred children at a school, and took place as negotiations between Iran and the USA were making substantial progress. According to the Omani mediator, a deal was “within our reach”.
As Iran responds, a regional war is unfolding. Our teams in Palestine and Iraqi Kurdistan are in the crossfire. CPT Iraqi Kurdistan tells us that “the people of Iraqi Kurdistan are paying the price of Iran’s retaliation. Civilians are being targeted, and Kurdish-Iranian camps have come under particular attack.”
The US and Israel portray this as a war of liberation for the people of Iran. Since the war began, the US-Israel coalition has dropped over 1,000 bombs on Iran. We at CPT are clear: war is never the path to liberation.
“Historical memory teaches us to distrust the USA and Israel,” says CPT Iraqi Kurdistan. “Foreign intervention in this region has always aimed to redraw borders, support dictators when convenient, abandon democratic movements when inconvenient, impose sanctions that hurt civilians more than rulers, and justify violence as ‘stability’. We have learned that when imperial powers act, they do not center the lives of ordinary people. Instead, our societies become the battlefield for their strategic calculations.”
While we condemn US and Israeli imperialist aggression, we must also refuse easy dichotomies. Ordinary Iranians, especially minority groups, have suffered for decades under the government of the Islamic Republic of Iran. In January, the Iranian government crushed mass protests nationwide. Many thousands were killed, many grievously wounded, and many more jailed under cover of an internet blackout. Again, an internet blackout has been in place since Saturday morning, silencing the voices of 93 million Iranians.
CPT Iraqi Kurdistan reminds us that “opposing foreign intervention does not require mourning a tyrant”:
“Some observers reduce opposing this war to a matter of ‘anti-imperialism’. In doing so, they flatten our suffering into a geopolitical footnote. No one opposes oppression more fiercely than those who have survived it. When someone responsible for decades of this violence is gone, people have the right to feel relief. We should not be asked to silence our relief so as not to complicate someone else’s narrative.”
And while global eyes are on the escalating war, Israel accelerates its occupation and genocide against the Palestinian people. Hebron is under undeclared curfew, and team members are sheltering in their homes for safety. In Masafer Yatta, settlers continue their daily attacks on Palestinian residents despite the war, as Iron Dome sirens whine. In addition to the violent Israeli military occupation, Palestinians are also facing incoming bombardments from Iran, and falling debris from missiles intercepted by Israel’s defense system. CPT Palestine says:
“Missiles do not distinguish between Israelis and Palestinians. Palestinians live nearby, and we are targeted at the same rate. Even in the West Bank, rockets fall and threaten Palestinian lives.”
For forty years, CPT has stood in solidarity with people impacted by imperial wars. The United States and Israel continue to create global instability, harming all of our partners and communities on the ground. As this racist war persists, nationalism is rising across the global West. We know that this nationalism is both rooted and emboldening far right groups around the world, as white supremacist groups and increasingly conservative government policies continue to grow, threatening both migrants fleeing violence and Indigenous communities fighting for their sovereignty.
As people of peace, we have a responsibility to refuse to be a cog in the war machine. We reject foreign militarism and domestic repression, neither war or tyranny will bring liberation.
We invite our constituency to take action! Write to your elected representative demanding they condemn the war, and take action to stop it. Join anti-war protests in your community. Organize nonviolent demonstrations at weapons manufacturers who profit off the killing. Build community and support your neighbour – we only have one world and it is all of our responsibility to build peace.
