Community Peacemaker Teams (CPT) calls for an immediate de-escalation of Israel’s attack on Iran and Iran’s response to the aggression. We also urge the United States of America to adopt a de-escalatory approach to resolving the ongoing crisis through a strengthened diplomatic commitment in the region.
Diplomacy must be the highest priority for a pathway forward and lasting peace. CPT has had active teams in Iraq, Iraqi Kurdistan, and Palestine and has witnessed the devastating toll war and violence have on the lives of civilians. We have partnered with those who have worked for nonviolent alternatives toward lasting peace and liberation of civilians who have lived through wars and occupation. Our team in Lesvos, Greece, has witnessed the effects of these wars through the documented stories of migrants who fled the violence only to face discrimination and violence at the border.
History demonstrates that “regime change” is always unsuccessful, as seen in examples such as Libya, Syria, and Iraq. Neither do we want a repetition of the devastating war in Iraq that killed millions made immemorial through Condoleezza Rice’s infamous words, “We don’t want the smoking gun to be a mushroom cloud.” These are the same claims made by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who said, “We are fighting your enemy.”
In a U.S. National Security Advisor’s congressional testimony a few months ago, Tulsi Gabbard said the intelligence community “continues to assess that Iran is not building a nuclear weapon and supreme leader Khomeini [sic] has not authorized the nuclear weapons program that he suspended in 2003”. Donald Trump recently dismissed this assessment.
We urge the United States to take a proactive role in finding a diplomatic solution to the ongoing crisis to avert civilian casualties and seek peace through justice and not imposition.
Please join this effort to support peace by urgently contacting your U.S. government representative and urging them to support the Bipartisan War Powers Resolution to Prohibit Involvement in Iran.
