“Ceasefire” in Iran, and 2 movement victories.
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Over the weekend, Trump brought the U.S. dangerously close to a full-blown war with Iran. It was a reckless escalation — one rooted in the twisted logic of U.S. imperialism. Though a fragile ceasefire was stilling holding as of Wednesday morning, both sides accused each other of violating the agreement in its first hours.
This dire and uncertain moment has left many feeling powerless to stop what comes next.
But hopelessness alone does not paint the full picture of this moment. Amidst the bipartisan march to war, several recent victories provide insight into strategic opportunities for our movement.
Shipping giant Maersk has cut ties with illegal Israeli settlements, and Mahmoud Khalil is free.
What happened?
On Saturday, the U.S. military dropped 30,000-pound “bunker buster” bombs on two of Iran’s major nuclear sites and launched a barrage of missiles at a third. Trump called the strikes a “spectacular military success,” saying it was a “great honor” to “destroy” Iran’s nuclear facilities. On Monday, Iran retaliated against the U.S., firing missiles at a U.S. airbase in Qatar.
The U.S. had joined Israel’s war on Iran, less than two weeks after an unprovoked Israeli attack that targeted Iranian nuclear and military facilities in Tehran and five other cities. Those strikes killed at least 78 people and injured hundreds more.
Among the dead were nine Iranian nuclear scientists. Iran and Israel have been exchanging missile strikes since then — killing over 600 people in Iran, including 13 children, and at least 28 people in Israel. At least five more Iranian scientists have been killed.
Isn’t there a ceasefire now?
A few hours after Iran attacked U.S. troops in Qatar, Trump announced that Iran and Israel had reached a ceasefire.
But by the next day, it was unclear whether the ceasefire would actually take hold. In the hours after it was announced, both sides accused each other of violating the agreement.
“The last night of the bombing was the worst. I truly thought I’d never see my loved ones again…My heart aches for the people of Gaza, Palestine, Lebanon – those who’ve endured this kind of suffering for years.”
–Samaneh, a 37-year-old reporter in Iran
In response, Trump took to Truth Social on Tuesday to scold Israel, warning them not to bomb Tehran.
“I’m not happy with Iran either, but I’m really unhappy with Israel,” he told reporters later. “They [Israel and Iran] don’t know what the f*** they’re doing.”
As of Wednesday morning, the ceasefire was still holding — but tensions between Iran and Israel remain high.
Why did Trump attack Iran?
The U.S. attacks on Iranian nuclear facilities brought the United States to the brink of full-blown war with Iran. Trump even floated the possibility of regime change in a post on Truth Social over the weekend, though he’s since walked back the threat.
Trump joined Israel’s war on Iran because Israel serves U.S. imperial interests in the region: from controlling energy prices to ensuring U.S. access to key shipping routes. Despite his isolationist posturing, Trump has no interest in breaking from that status quo.
It’s why, despite the warning Trump posted on Tuesday, that his administration will continue to send billions in weapons to Israel as it commits genocide in Gaza and wages war on its neighbors across the region. It’s also why, despite taking credit for the ceasefire reached in Gaza last January, that Trump continued to support the Israeli government as it violated — and eventually shattered — that agreement. And it’s why the Trump administration will continue to support Israel even if it breaks the ceasefire it helped broker with Iran.
It’s clear that the only way to put a stop to the never-ending cycle of death and devastation is for the U.S. to stop arming Israel.
They want us to feel overwhelmed and weak.
Our movements find themselves at a particularly bleak and volatile conjuncture. Trump is fanning the flames of an already dire situation in the region. Israel continues to massacre Palestinians in Gaza as they queue for aid, gunning down dozens of starving men, women, and children every single day. In the U.S., our communities are increasingly under attack.
Many in our movement feel powerless to stop what comes next. That is intentional on the part of authoritarians like Trump and Netanyahu, who want us to feel so overwhelmed that we have no capacity to resist. It’s also untrue. We wield real power, and several recent victories prove that.
Movement Victory #1: Maersk divests from Israeli settlements.
Following a months-long, grassroots campaign led by the Palestinian Youth Movement, shipping giant Maersk quietly announced on Monday that it was divesting from companies that work in illegal Israeli settlements.
Because of the unrelenting pressure of our movements, Israel is more isolated than ever before. Its prime minister is an international fugitive with an ICC warrant out for his arrest. Increasingly for companies like Maersk, doing business with Israel poses more risk than reward. That’s due at least in part to the unrelenting pressure of our movements.
Movement Victory #2: Mahmoud Khalil is free.
Last Friday, Columbia University protest leader Mahmoud Khalil was released from ICE detention. Mahmoud was abducted by plainclothes DHS agents from his New York apartment in March, and for over 100 days, he was held a thousand miles away from his eight-months-pregnant wife at a notorious ICE detention facility in Louisiana. In April, he missed the birth of his son.
On Saturday, Mahmoud was greeted by a crowd of supporters at Newark International Airport in New Jersey. Donning a Palestinian keffiyeh, he vowed to continue speaking out for Palestine.
“The U.S. government is funding this genocide, and Columbia University is investing in this genocide,” he said. “This is why I will continue to protest with every one of you. Not only if they threaten me with detention. Even if they would kill me, I would still speak up for Palestine.”
Mahmoud was the first student protester to be detained by the Trump administration in retaliation for their pro-Palestine speech. From the moment he was kidnapped, our movements have been fighting for Mahmoud’s freedom and for the freedom of every other student being targeted by the Trump administration. And for the last twenty months, our movements have refused to take our eyes off of Gaza or allow the genocide to become business as usual. That has helped propel a massive shift in public opinion — so much so that when Mahmoud was detained, it was clear he was being retaliated against for speaking out against genocide.
Last month, two other students detained by the Trump administration were released: Rumeysa Ozturk and Badr Khan Suri. Now Mahmoud is free too, despite the U.S. government’s best efforts to keep him behind bars.
Tell Congress: NO WAR WITH IRAN.
We’ve already sent more than 10,000 emails to our members of Congress demanding that they act to stop Trump’s war on Iran.
Write your member of Congress now — and if you already have, write them again — and tell them to support the War Powers Resolutions and to stop arming Israel.
Tell Congress: Block the Bombs to Israel now.
Earlier this month, Representatives Delia Ramirez, Sara Jacobs, Mark Pocan, and Pramila Jayapal led their colleagues in introducing historic legislation to block U.S. bombs to the Israeli military.
More co-sponsors have already begun to join the legislation. Now, as Israel threatens to plunge the entire region into a devastating war while continuing to carry out a genocide against Palestinians, every single elected official must hear from us: BLOCK THE BOMBS NOW.
The Unfolding U.S.-Israeli War on Iran: A Virtual Briefing for JVP Members.
If you’re wondering what comes next for Iran, Palestine, and the wider region, we have you covered.
Join our sister organization Jewish Voice for Peace for a special briefing on the unfolding U.S.-Israeli war on Iran, happening today, Wednesday, at 3pm ET/12pm PT.
What we’re reading: The U.S. Must Force Israel to End Its War on Iran.
International Adviser to JVP Phyllis Bennis and Khury Petersen-Smith write for In These Times about Israel’s war on Iran, arguing that “Israel is the main destabilizing force in the Middle East.”
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