My inbox is filled with messages from various organizations pointing out the efforts to manufacture consent for the assault on Iran, efforts that follow the same playbook used in the lead-up to the invasion and occupation of Iraq in 2003. Writers Against the War on Gaza (WAWOG) sent No War on Iran: Reject the Lie of Preemption which opens with this [emphasis mine]:
When the Israeli attacks on Iranian military and civilian targets began on Friday, warmongering media outlets like the New York Times rushed to advance the West’s preferred narrative of the “preemptive strike.” This convenient logic — if you strike to remove a threat before it materializes, what will materialize is a response that looks like a threat — has time and time again distorted the realities of imperial aggression. As always, post-facto justification and proactive consent-building work in tandem: The aggressor becomes the victim, while a nation of 90 million people is vilified.
We reject any and all narratives that absolve the U.S.-Zionist alliance of its responsibility for the current war of aggression on Iran, which threatens to displace millions and plunge the country into Western-backed proxy conflict. We count in this camp the writers, editors, and producers of English-language media, who have long served as handmaidens to the forces of destruction in West Asia.
In Iraq, the grammar of preemption at the onset of the so-called War on Terror enabled hundreds of thousands of civilian deaths. A multinational alliance of imperial powers committed billions in resources to George W. Bush’s “preemptive” hunt for weapons of mass destruction which, of course, never existed. Western media dutifully sought to convince the world of the justness and necessity of years of occupation, bombing, and forced economic dependency. For these crimes and cover-ups, there has never been any justice or reparation. The last week has shown that the media will not hesitate to corroborate imperial lies again, unless, with all our might, we refute them.
The article goes on to say “The only way to stop the genocide and support endogenous resistance to Zionism and imperialism — whether in Palestine, Iran, Lebanon, Syria, or Yemen — is to halt the flow of weapons to Israel.” and then lists some of the many global efforts to cut arms to Israel. You may read the entire article here. Key takeaway: ARMS EMBARGO NOW!
Another email came from Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP)’s newsletter, The Wire. Their headline? No War With Iran. This article also points out how the mainstream media are beating the war drums and then states “The truth is that the Israeli government has run an anti-Iran propaganda campaign for decades, doing everything in its power to provoke the Iranian government into the kind of war that we’re now seeing.” The article also includes a link to CNN’s compilation of clips showing Israel’s Netanyahu fear-mongering over Iran’s supposed nuclear weapons program, which Netanyahu has been doing since 1996. That 1:10 video is well worth the time.
The article continues [emphasis mine]: International impunity for Israel’s unspeakable crimes against Palestinians has led us to this point.
Over and over again, the Israeli military has been allowed to bomb children while they slept, burn people alive in their hospital beds, shoot starving people waiting for food aid, orchestrate a famine, torture detainees, and nearly every other war crime imaginable, in a nineteen-month-long genocide funded and armed by the U.S.. At the same time, the Israeli government has been bombing sovereign states at will, all without repercussion.
Israel has received unconditional support from the U.S. as it genocides Palestinians and bombs neighboring countries, so it’s no shock that Netanyahu would feel confident that bombing Iran would receive the same support. But “Just last week, Netanyahu’s governing coalition was facing a vote of no confidence from his opposition, with protests and criticism only increasing. But attacking Iran, CNN reports, has “banished” the internal political challenges Netanyahu was facing “in an instant.” OOPS! Once again war is being used to to save a political career and/or divert attention from domestic policies. We see you, Natanyahu.
JVP has issued a call to action: Members of Congress just introduced War Powers Resolutions to try to prevent war with Iran.
After 20 months of escalating genocidal violence against Palestinians, the Israeli government has launched unprovoked attacks against Iran and is bringing the entire region to the brink of disastrous war.
Write your members of Congress today to tell them to support the War Powers Resolutions and to stop arming Israel.
Please, take a moment to personalize the letter for your Senators and Representative. If, like me, you’re incapable of making a phone call these days without crying/screaming/swearing at the staffer, email messages are a great choice!
Thank you for reading this far and taking action. It’s horrifying that in addition to everything else we’re facing as humans, we’re perilously close to WWIII. We cannot afford to remain quiet. Solidarity!
Tracy Abell 