The U.S./Israel war on Iran is unpopular among the American people and only stands to grow more unpopular as the attacks continue. In recent days, protests against the war have been held across dozens of U.S. cities.
“Iran and the entire Middle East has been thrown into chaos as the Trump administration and Israel unleash a massive bombing campaign that has already claimed hundreds of lives,” declared the ANSWER Coalition, which co-sponsored some of the actions. “The people of this country overwhelmingly oppose the attack, but that opposition needs to be expressed in the streets so it is impossible to ignore.
“The same two governments who just carried out a genocide in Gaza for two and a half years—who are still carrying out that genocide as we speak—are telling you they are attacking Iran out of concern for the well-being and future of the Iranian people,” posted the Palestinian Youth Movement (PYM), which also co-sponsored some of the protests. “You are being lied to.”
“This is an unjust war. This is another regime-change war, which usually comes from obviously corrupt reasons like land expansion — basically colonizing other countries, taking advantage of them,” said a protester at a rally in NYC.
“The U.S. and Israel have attacked more than 2,000 targets, including civilian areas, after the U.S. walked away from negotiations, openly declared its intent to cause regime change in Iran, and assassinated Iran’s supreme leader,” said Husam Marajda, U.S. Palestinian Community Network (USPCN) Chicago co-chair. “The U.S. and Israel have violated Iran’s sovereignty as well as U.S. and international law, but Iran is defending itself and has already destroyed over two billion dollars in U.S. military hardware, killing U.S. soldiers as well. The American public doesn’t want this, and that’s another reason why we oppose and must stop this war!”
“The Netanyahu-Trump axis is waging this all-out war first and foremost on the people of Iran. Under the fog of war it also escalates its now less visible but still ongoing genocide against the Palestinian people and its brutal ethnic cleansing and annexation in the West Bank,” said the Palestinian BDS National Committee (BNC) in a statement. “Simultaneously, this axis is also waging wars of aggression on the peoples of Lebanon – killing more than 30 Lebanese people in less than 24 hours – and Syria, with almost daily death and destruction.”
“We see violence happening everywhere,” said Cameron Jones, a Columbia University student protesting the war on campus. “It’s really important to recognize that the violence we are currently seeing is not an isolated incident, but part of a broader pattern of imperial violence waged by the United States.”
The overwhelming majority of Americans do not want genocide and endless war,” reads a statement from Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP) “And they know that the Iranian people, the Palestinian people, and all people of the region and the world should be in control of their own futures, and not at the whims of U.S. and Israeli warmongering.”
“It will take a mass anti-war movement to stop this — the time to act is now.”
Palestine Legal, the Center for Constitutional Rights, and other organizations are uplifting a list of legal resources that they compiled for Palestine activists at the height of the campus protests over Gaza.
“As the US and Israel brazenly attack Iran — targeting schoolchildren and other civilians using the familiar playbook we have seen in Gaza over the last 2.5 years — we anticipate that the Trump administration will continue to escalate its domestic repression of anti-war organizing and the movement for justice in Palestine,” wrote the group.
Columbia protester punishments vacated
A state judge has vacated the punishments of Columbia University students who occupied Hamilton Hall during a 2024 protest over the genocide in Gaza.
Over 20 students had been suspended, expelled, or had their degrees revoked as a result of the action.
Judge Gerald Lebovits said the school had violated state and school law by relying on evidence obtained from sealed police records. He referred to the sanctions as “arbitrary and capricious.”
In a statement, Columbia University said it was exploring legal options but insisted that the students would still not be allowed on campus and would appeal the decision. Lebovits imposed a 30-day window before his order goes into effect.
“I would hope that they would be cognizant of the fact that they just fought a lengthy court battle and lost,” Grant Miner, president of the Student Workers of Columbia-United Auto Workers, and a student who was expelled by the school, told the Columbia Spectator.
“One of the key parts of this decision … is that it really goes against the routine violation of privacy rights and due process by the University,” Miner added. “I hope that other cases will also use this as a precedent.”
“Is the campus going to allow its community members to be railroaded through another disciplinary process again?”
Further Reading
- The Guardian: To my Palestinian sister in ICE detention – I will carry you until you are free
- Zeteo: I’m the Palestinian Who Has Been in ICE Detention for Almost a Year
- Jewish Insider: California gubernatorial candidates pledge to deepen ties with Israel, fight BDS
- Reuters: Trump crackdown on protests and immigration led to Islamophobia, Muslim group says
- WBUR: Rümeysa Öztürk completes doctorate at Tufts nearly a year after harrowing ICE arrest
Further reading: this article from the Forward shows why the U.S. doesn’t have clean hands when it comes to Iran.
It was the U.S., after all, that joined with Great Britain in 1953 to overturn the democracy Iran enjoyed 73 years ago. Twenty-six years of U.S. support ensued for the autocracy that followed….During the Iran-Iraq war from 1980 to 1988, it was the U.S. that also supplied Iraq’s president, Saddam Hussein, with critical intelligence and precursor chemicals that enabled him to manufacture and deploy outlawed chemical weapons** against Iranian troops and civilians, asphyxiating thousands….
Can the US really bring Iranians democracy? – The Forward
**
Iraqi chemical weapons program:
Iraqi chemical weapons program – Wikipedia
Beginning in 1983, Iraqi chemical attacks against Iran were confirmed by the United Nations to have taken place on multiple occasions over the course of the Iran–Iraq War, including more than 30 targeted attacks against Iranian civilians. It is estimated that these chemical attacks resulted in over 100,000 Iranian casualties….
It is perfectly valid to oppose this war and to support the Palestinians versus Israel. You need not take positions on every issue to have a stand on any issue. But then again consistency is preferable to absence. How many of these groups or individuals spoke against the Iranian government as they were shooting their citizens in the streets in January. How many of these groups or individuals speak up against the repression of individuals particularly women by this regime. How many of these groups or individuals are willing to label Iran as a very negative regime which has attacked civilians and countries across international borders over the last 47 years? How many of these individuals or groups have made truckloads of excuses for the Iranian regimes behavior instead of standing on the right side against this evil government.
Given the possibility of blackmail and the reality of political money, bridging to average voting Americans and Israelis may be the best hope.
Sympathy may not be sufficient without an understanding for achieving co-existence.