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Dear John,
The spread of the Gaza war into Lebanon is a devastating development for those of us working to prevent a regional war that would pull the U.S. and Iran into its trajectory.
While the Israeli assassination of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah has received praise from top U.S. leaders, the civilian toll of the war in Lebanon has added to the catastrophe in Gaza. In just over a week, Israeli attacks have killed more than 1,000 people in Lebanon, displacing hundreds of thousands of civilians as rumors of an Israeli ground invasion into the south spread. This adds to the devastation in Gaza, where some estimates indicate that hundreds of thousands have been killed over the past year.
Some are asking: Is Iran next? What can be done to prevent this descent into regional war?
For nearly a year, we have approached this moment with unwavering clarity: as long as the war in Gaza - and now Lebanon - continues, there is a real risk of the U.S. and Iran being pulled into the fighting. That’s why NIAC has been organizing for and demanding peace and a ceasefire - and will redouble those efforts in the days to come.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, fresh off a tactical victory and bolstered by the unqualified backing of the United States, is once again cutting videos supposedly aimed at the people of Iran. In these videos, he claims that Israel values peace and is concerned about the prosperity of the Iranian people – and that Israel's military can reach anywhere in the Middle East. We can see in the wreckage of Gaza and Lebanon what Netanyahu's peace and prosperity looks like. These are the kind of videos that Netanyahu likes to film right before the bombs start dropping.
Meanwhile, Donald Trump's architect of a "new Middle East", his son in law Jared Kushner, took to X this weekend to urge Netanyahu "finish the job" in Lebanon and turn his sights towards Iran. We cannot allow this war rhetoric to be normalized or those who have wanted the U.S. to go to war with Iran for decades to finally have their way. We know that war does not lead to democracy, and that it is ordinary people who will suffer.
What we can control is this: our leaders need to know that the American people - including the Iranian-American community - oppose a march toward war with Iran that would be devastating for U.S. security, the people of Iran, and the rights of our community.
NIAC is going up against state actors and massive pro-war interests, eager to take the war to Iran, our nation of heritage. As a nonprofit organization, we need individual supporters like you to step up and chip in so we can scale up our efforts to prevent a war with Iran.
Can we count on your support to make sure we have the tools and resources necessary to counter their message and mobilize our community?
DONATE TO OPPOSE WARThank you,
Jamal Abdi
President, NIAC
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