Iran - Global Exchange

Please join us in sending a note of solidarity and and a promise to work for peace and understanding to the people of Iran. We will share these with our allies on the ground.

Dear Friends,

We reject Donald Trump’s unfounded and irresponsible decision to pull out of the Iran nuclear agreement. We will do everything we can to reverse this decision.

We believe the nuclear agreement was working, and we want to see more diplomacy and more steps toward building understanding and peace between our two countries.

We support our allies in the EU, Russia and China to keep the agreement in place and will push the UN to sanction the U.S. for pulling out.

We stand in solidarity with all those working for peace.

** add a comment below in the comments section to add a personal message **

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We must respond to Trump’s military build up, continued funding of repression abroad and consolidated war cabinet with a surge of people-to-people solidarity across borders. While U.S. formal diplomatic communications are signaling hostility and intolerance, we, as private citizens, can instead build relationships, enhance mutual understanding, and build trust between people.

This is the purpose of Global Exchange’s Citizen Diplomacy Delegations.

Your voice carries more weight than ever before in determining foreign affairs. A sprawling network of global coalitions, partnerships and initiatives undertaken by cities, NGOs, universities, foundations, businesses, and determined individuals are gaining traction. And history has shown that when statesmen are at dangerous impasses, a connected civil society can make a difference in lessening tensions and averting war. Your voice is needed now more than ever.

Please consider joining us in:

Iran; As President Trump threatens to abandon the hard won Iran Nuclear Deal. Through visiting cultural and historical sites like the beautiful Golestan Palace, the tomb of Hafez, Zoroastrian fire temples, the bridges of Isfahan and bustling bazaars and gardens, we’ll have the chance to engage with Iranians as they go about their daily lives.

Cuba; As Trump backtracks on Obama’s sensible policy of engagement, which is hurting the Cuban people. Join us as we meet with Cuban urban planners, economists, doctors, teachers, students, artists, and others to learn about the triumphs and challenges of the 60 year old Cuban revolution as well as the current historic changes underway (like the recent leadership transition from Raúl Castro to Miguel Díaz-Canel).

Palestine; As the U.S. continues to back Israel’s crippling occupation of the West Bank and Gaza. Our delegations connect with Palestinians working at the grassroots level for peace, justice and human rights. We’ll learn about the impact of occupation on economic, cultural, and urban development as well as access to scarce resources like land and water. We’ll also learn about the creative ways Palestinians have organized in resistance, from building viable local economies through fair trade cooperatives to addressing politically imposed water scarcity with hydroponic production.

Afghanistan; As Trump presses ahead with an open-ended military commitment after almost two decades of war. We will meet with Afghan women, grassroots organizations, students, human rights activists, and others working to rebuild from a history of conflict. We’ll visit demining projects, schools, vocational training centers, micro-financing projects, and more.

We hope you’ll join us in building a connected global civil society dedicated to a peaceful and just future for all!

Trump’s threats to “de-certify” the hard won Iran Nuclear Deal is dangerous, based on malignant ignorance, and must be forcefully opposed.

Even Senator Bob Corker, the Republican Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said on TV last Sunday that President Trump is treating his office like “a reality show,” with reckless threats toward other countries that could set the nation “on the path to World War III”.

A refusal to certify would hand the matter to Congress and open a 60-day period for debate. But we need to take action now.

That’s where you come in. Please call (202-224-3121) or write your Senators today.

Tell them that the Iran Deal is working to lessen the danger of proliferation and war and should be respected and strengthened, not demeaned and undermined. Walking away from the Iran deal is a foolish and dangerous policy that should be strongly rejected.

Thank you for taking action on this. Global Exchange has sponsored Reality Tours to Iran since the 1990s. We are committed to keeping the peace between our peoples and urge you to take action right now to help stop a disaster in the making.

by Medea Benjamin

CODEPINK protesters at Congressional hearing on Iran. Photo: CODEPINK

A nuclear deal with Iran could be a game changer for US foreign policy and for the Middle East. The P5+1 (the U.S., China, Russia, France and the United Kingdom, plus Germany) and Iran have been developing a comprehensive agreement that would freeze Iran’s ability to create a nuclear weapon and start the process of sanctions relief.

If it succeeds, this deal would dramatically decrease the probability of another costly war in the Middle East and could usher in an historic rapprochement between the US and Iran after 34 years of hostilities. US-Iranian collaboration against extremist groups from ISIL to Al Qaeda could help damp down the fires raging across the Middle East.

Key US allies, Israel and Saudi Arabia, oppose the deal. Both nations harbor long-standing hostilities toward Iran and both want to preserve their preferential relationship with the US. But the American people, frustrated by over a decade of US involvement in Middle East wars, support the initiative. A recent Washington Post/ABC News poll shows that 6 in 10 Americans support a plan to lift international economic sanctions against Iran in exchange for limits on its nuclear program.

Democrats back the agreement by an overwhelming majority of five to one, but even a plurality of Republican voters support the Iran nuclear deal. Why, then, will there be such a tough battle in Congress to approve a deal that the Obama administration has worked so hard to achieve and is supported by most Americans?

Some Republicans have a knee-jerk reaction to anything the Obama administration puts forth. And certain Republican and Democrat Congress members fundamentally distrust Iran, believe it is sponsoring militant groups like Hamas and Hezbollah, and think a deal will strengthen Iran to the detriment of Israel.

But the most compelling reason that so many elected officials will oppose the deal is the power of lobby groups and think tanks, backed by hawkish billionaires who are determined to quash a deal they see as bad for Israel.

Little known to the public, here are some of the groups:

United Against Nuclear Iran: Founded in 2008, UANI boasts a bipartisan powerhouse advisory board of former politicians, intelligence officials and policy experts. Cofounders Richard Holbrooke and Dennis Ross, and its president Gary Samore, have all worked in Obama’s White House. In June, UANI announced a multimillion-dollar TV, print, radio, and digital campaign with the message that “America Can’t Trust Iran, Concessions have gone too far.” Mark Wallace, UANI’s chairman and George Bush’s US ambassador to the UN, said, “We have a multi-million-dollar budget and we are in it for the long haul. Money continues to pour in.”

Secure America Now: Founded in 2011 by pollsters John McLaughlin and Pat Cadell, it is linked to right-wing pro-Israel factions in the US and abroad. The Advisory Board includes Col. Richard Kemp, who denounces the “global conspiracy of propaganda aimed at the total de-legitimization of the state of Israel” and former UN Ambassador John Bolton, who insists that “the biggest threat to our national security is sitting in the White House.”

The group labels Iran “the world’s largest sponsor of terrorism” and recently launched its own $1 million ad campaign against the nuclear deal. One ad features an American woman saying her father was killed by an IED in Iraq, followed by a menacing voice claiming “Iran has single-handedly supplied thousands of IEDs that have killed or maimed America’s troops overseas. Today, negotiators are pushing for a nuclear deal with Iran that would give them access to nuclear weapons.” It tells Americans to call their Senators and “speak out against a bad deal.”

Foundation for the Defense of Democracies: Founded just after the 9/11 attacks, this neoconservative think tank pushes for an aggressive military response in the Middle East and also follows a hawkish pro-Israel line. It advocates for crippling sanctions on Iran, including medicines, as a way to cause domestic hardship and internal turmoil and its experts are leading advocates for a US military strike on Iran.

American Security Initiative: This is a new group, also bipartisan, formed in 2015 by three former senators: Norm Coleman, Evan Bayh and Saxby Chambliss. In 2014 Norm Coleman, a Republican from Minnesota, became a registered lobbyist for the repressive Saudi regime, providing the Saudis with legal services on issues including “policy developments involving Iran.”

Its first campaign was a successful effort to pass the Corker-Menendez bill, which forces President Obama to submit the agreement to Congress before signing it. In March, the group launched a $1.4 million ad campaign aimed at Senator Schumer and other key senators with the message that the deal (which had not even been released) is “great for Iran, and dangerous for us.” One over-the-top, fear-mongering ad showed a suicide-bombing truck driver in an American city detonating a nuclear bomb, apparently on behalf of Iran. The message, albeit a crazy one, is that if Iran is allowed to get a nuclear weapon, it will attack the US.

AIPAC: The American Israel Public Affairs Committee is the largest pro-Israel lobby group. AIPAC, too, has been pushing sanctions and opposing the nuclear deal. It claims that Iran is the world’s leading state sponsor of terror and is racing toward a nuclear weapons capability. AIPAC spends millions of dollars lobbying but its real financial clout lies with the pro-Israel Political Action Committees (PACs) it is tied to.

In addition to lobbying against a deal in Washington, over the past several years AIPAC has also been promoting state-level bills mandating divestment of public funds from foreign companies doing business with Iran.

Dozens of states have passed such bills, and many are likely to stay in place even after a nuclear deal, complicating the federal sanctions relief that is a key element of the negotiations.

What is the source of the millions of dollars now being poured into the effort to squash the nuclear deal? Most comes from a handful of super-wealthy individuals. Home Depot founder Bernard Marcus gave over $10 million to the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies. Other multimillion donors are hedge fund billionaire and Jewish Institute for National Security Affairs board member Paul Singer, and Charles Bronfman of the Seagram liquor empire and board chair of Koor Industries, one of Israel’s largest investment holding companies.

The largest donor is Sheldon Adelson, a casino and business magnate who contributed almost $100 million to conservative candidates in the 2012 presidential campaign, outspending any other individual or organization. He publicly advocated for the Obama administration to bomb Iran. Peter Beinart, a contributing editor at The Atlantic, said “Every Republican politician knows that Adelson conditions his checks on their Iran vote.”

Congress has 30 days from the day the deal is introduced to vote in support or opposition (or 60 days if the negotiations are delayed). To block the deal, Congress needs a veto-proof majority, which is precisely what these groups and individuals are attempting to buy.

“I’ve been around this town for about 30 years now and I’ve never seen foreign policy debate that is being so profoundly affected by the movement of hundreds of millions of dollars in the American political system,” said former six-term Congressman Jim Slattery.

Congresspeople face a dilemma: they fear a backlash by the billionaires if they vote for the deal, but most of their constituents support the deal. The pathetic irony is that the democratic move of giving Congress a say in the Iran deal (instead of leaving the administration with the authority to seal the agreement), the billionaires have a better shot at drowning out the voices of the American people.

…

Medea Benjamin is the co-founder of Global Exchange and the peace group CODEPINK. She is the author of 8 books including Drone Warfare: Killing by Remote Control. This article was originally published by teleSUR at the following address: http://www.telesurtv.net/english/opinion/US-Lobby-Groups-Try-to-Squash-Iran-Deal-Despite-Public-Support-20150706-0014.html

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Venezuela: Community Development & Populist Movements
July 18-27
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Iran: Ancient and Contemporary Culture
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The Citizens Diplomacy Reality Tour to Iran will give participants a chance to see inside this much-maligned nation and gain first-hand experience of the effects of the political policies of both the United States and Iran. Participants will have a chance to put a human face on this ongoing political dispute and help facilitate understanding and respect between people of different nations.

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Venezuela: Community Development & Populist Movements
July 18-27
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Travel with Global Exchange to dig past the headlines and explore the changes occurring in Venezuela, Latin America and the hemisphere as a whole. You will meet with human rights activists, rural agricultural workers, labor unions, community activists, journalists, government officials and opposition figures. See for yourself the unprecedented social change that is occurring at this historic time in Venezuela and the region.

Costa Rica: Sustainability on the Caribbean Coast
July 18-27
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Join us as we explore the advantages and disadvantages of a tourism-based economy. As we travel across this naturally rich and strikingly beautiful country, we will examine the social and environmental problems facing Costa Ricans and meet the important players who are creating sustainable solutions. The local solutions to these challenges will inspire our action and involvement with these issues.

Iran: Ancient and Contemporary Culture
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Middle East Reality Tours Director Drea Hightower ponders her upcoming Reality Tour to Iran. Learn more about Reality Tours to Iran.

As the July 20th deadline to reach a broad nuclear deal with Iran approaches, eyes are focused on Tehran and the six major powers working toward a deal. But beyond news reports of diplomatic meetings, discussions about the future of Iran are happening on the streets.

Like so many others, I have this driving curiosity to visit and learn firsthand about the countries in which the U.S. has little to no diplomatic relations or strained relations with. Whether Cuba or Palestine, many people I’ve talked to on my travels have been able to make the distinction between the relationships of governments and that of the people of each nation. When given the chance to interact and have dialogue, the thing that shines through every time is that which we have in common: family, friends, laughter, love, and more.

School girl in Iran waves peace sign.

As I begin this journey with a group of mostly strangers, I wonder what we will all find in common with those that our government has demonized for so long. And with the next round of Nuclear Talks scheduled for June 16-20 in Vienna, the conversations we’ll all be having with the people of Iran will certainly give us better insight and a different perspective than what the media will report.

I also begin to ask myself those exact questions I have encouraged so many of our travelers to ask themselves before they leave; why is this important? What are my preconceived ideas about Iranians and their culture? Will I be witness to any of the changes implemented by President Rouhani? And most importantly, what will I learn? What would the Iranian people ask of me, of us, as North Americans?

So while there is still so much work to be done before I leave, I smile at the thought of seeing the beautiful minarets at dusk, hearing the melodic call to prayer and watching myself and 11 other participants be transformed by the experience of Citizen Diplomacy; a unique opportunity to engage in meaningful dialogue in a way that even our governments haven’t been able to.

We look forward to hearing from Drea when she lands back in San Francisco, hopefully with many stories and Persian sweets to share!

Photo Credit: Code Pink

It would be easy to make a list of 10 bad things—wars, government shut-down, drone attacks, lack of progress on immigrant rights, lousy health-care reform. But it’s also been a year of extraordinary activism: whistleblowers, DREAMers, Walmart workers, peacemakers, gay rights advocates, garment workers. As the year ends, let’s pay tribute to the good things their efforts have wrought.

1. A spontaneous uprising by the American people kept President Obama from invading Syria. This Fall’s “peaceful insurrection” was by far my favorite moment of 2013. It was one of those all-too-rare occasions when folks came together across ideological divisions, flooding their congressional reps with calls. Yes, after 12 years, Americans have become “war-wise”, understanding that US intervention is no solution. So instead, chemical weapons are being destroyed thanks to successful negotiations. But the war in Syria rages on, with casualties mounting daily. Peace talks are scheduled for January 22 in Switzerland, and women’s groups—including CODEPINK—are mobilizing to surround the meetings with a desperate plea to all the guys with guns: Ceasefire NOW!

2. Talks with Iran are progressing, despite Israel and AIPAC’s objections. The P5+1 group of Britain, China, France, Russia, the United States and Germany has made great headway in finding a solution to diffuse the crisis around Iran’s nuclear program. Negotiators are anxious to take advantage of the opening represented by the election of a moderate Iranian leader, President Hassan Rouhani. Sadly, a group of both Democrats and Republicans in Congress, along with the AIPAC lobby, threaten to derail the talks by pushing for greater sanctions against Iran. If we can move ahead with talks, 2014 could be the year we finally ditch the Bush-era “axis of evil” treatment and build friendly relations with Iran.

3. Edward Snowden has rocked the world of NSA spying. When Edward Snowden first blew the whistle on the NSA’s sweeping surveillance, he said his greatest fear was not what the government would do to him, but that nothing would change. A mere six months later, the cascading effects have, according to the Washington Post, made themselves felt in Congress, the courts, popular culture, Silicon Valley and world capitals.” There is now a vibrant global dialogue about privacy rights. In December, a federal court judge declared the secret collection of domestic phone records unconstitutional and President Obama’s own review panel called a major overhaul of NSA’s activities. President Obama claims he will consider the review board’s suggestions, indicating that reforms are necessary to restore public confidence. While Snowden is under indictment for criminal acts here in the US, thanks to this whistleblower, the days of the NSA doing whatever it wants—in secret and free from public criticism—are coming to an end. Thanks, Edward, for your service!

4. Killer drones are taking a beating. The international community is finally standing up to the use of killer drones and the proliferation of this technology around the globe. With reports by Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, investigations by the United Nation’s Special Rapporteurs, and two briefings in Congress with testimony by drone strike survivors, the dialogue and the outrage around the drone program has increased. This year saw a ban on drone strikes by both the Pakistani National Assembly and the Yemeni Parliament (if only the U.S. would listen!), more protests inside the U.S. and the creation of a global anti-drones network.

5. Yes, the Pope, who beat Snowden for Time’s Person of the Year, is astonishing. I must admit that even as a secular Jew, this pope fills me with awe. He sneaks out at night to feed the homeless; invites homeless people to celebrate his birthday in the Vatican; washes the feet of young prisoners; says he is not one to judge gay people; calls on the church to get beyond its fixation on reproduction and sexual morality; debunks trickle-down economics and questions the morality of capitalism; lives simply and loves to take public transportation. What a cool guy! Unfortunately, he doesn’t support abortion rights or the ordination of women, but he is certainly injecting new spirit into the moribund, scandal-ridden Catholic church.

6. Low-wage workers rise up, saying “Low Pay Is Not OK!” Around the county, fast food and other low-wage workers from McDonalds to Walmart rose up in to demand a living wage. Today, 34 states, Washington D.C., and Puerto Rico, as well as dozens of cities, have introduced or passed legislation on minimum wage issues, including increasing the state minimum wage, automatic cost-of-living increases and addressing base wages for tipped employees. (And overseas in Bangladesh, after a huge factory blaze in April left 1,100 people dead, massive strikes led to a 77% pay increase for Bangladeshi garment workers!) Pressure is now on Congress to increase the federal minimum wage, which has remained at a shameful $7.25 per hour for the past three years.

7. Immigrant advocates did spectacular organizing, and are poised to reap the benefits. They held prayer vigils, press conferences, marches. They chained themselves to the White House fence and the gates of detention centers. They encircled ICE facilities to shut down deportations. Hundreds were arrested, including 8 members of Congress, calling for immigration reform. They fasted on the national mall in Washington DC, getting a visit from the President and his wife. This organized, mobilized community with significant voting power stands ready to see major changes in U.S. immigration policy next year.

8. Gay marriage is becoming like apple pie. The Supreme Court struck down the federal Defense of Marriage Act and Illinois became the 15th state to legalize same-sex marriage. This year alone saw not only Illinois, but Rhode Island, Delaware, Minnesota, California, Hawaii and New Mexico added to the list of marriage equality states. This number is certain to keep rising, now that a majority of Americans are supportive. Also, the Senate voted in favor of the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) to ban discrimination in the workplace based on sexual orientation and gender identity. The bill is being blocked in the House but a growing number of Republicans are starting to embrace LGBT rights. Who knows? 2014 might not only see more gay marriages in our nation’s homes, but basic LGBT rights in the workplace as well.

9. The death penalty at home and abroad is dying, slowing but steadily. This year Maryland became the first state south of the Mason-Dixon line to abolish the death penalty and the 18th state to do so. Signing the bill, Maryland’s Governor O’Malley said the death penalty does not deter crime, cannot be administered without racial bias, costs three times as much as life without parole, and a mistake cannot be reversed if an innocent person is put to death. The number of people executed in the U.S. declined to 39—near its lowest level since capital punishment was reinstated in the U.S. in the 1970s. The trend is true abroad. In 1981, when France abolished the death penalty, over 150 countries put their citizens to death. Today, only 21 nations do so. In the past five years, Uzbekistan, Argentina, Burundi, Togo, Gabon and Latvia have all abolished capital punishment.

10. One nation has come to its senses about smoking weed: Uruguay. In 2013, the nation of Uruguay became the first country to fully legalize marijuana. Back home in the US, Washington and Colorado passed full legalization laws (yes, that means recreational use without big brother stepping in) and the Federal government has stated it will not mount a challenge. Also this year, Illinois and New Hampshire joined the 18 other states that have legalized medical marijuana use. Even the stuffy Canadian federal government made medical marijuana legal. You’ll soon be able to get a deal on your dope from GroupOn and pay in Bitcoins. The times they are achangin’.

We begin the new year with renewed awareness of the effectiveness of nonviolent action and nonviolent movements. The possibilities for a more peaceful and just 2014 are boundless.

The following post is written by Professor Sarah Sharp who recently participated on a Reality Tour to Iran. While there, she was inspired by the great Persian poet Saadi, wondering, how would Saadi encourage the participants to embrace their travel experiences?

Persian poet Saadi Shirazi.

The 13th century Persian poet Saadi traveled widely, visiting Syria and China, as well as many sites in Europe, and throughout Persia, of course. He liked to give advice and he encouraged “good thoughts, good talks, and good deeds,” according to our Iranian tour guide, Bahman.

One day, we stopped in at a madrasa to see Shi’ite Islamic classes in session, housed in a Safavid era building. Mullahs were speaking outside in the central garden spaces. I hoped to photograph a small group and was quickly waved off by one of the individuals. Iran’s supreme leader supervises all of the country’s system of madrasas through his appointees. To truly understand the theological training that occurs in these seminaries, and even to see further by visiting Qom, Iran’s theological center, a city with hundreds of madrasas for men and women, would take a much longer journey. But we can harness twin efforts from what we do see. For one, we can ask questions about religion and its full-bodied dimensions in Iran’s society. For another, we can imagine that Saadi is walking a bit ahead of us, encouraging to be generous in all meetings and settings.

Visiting Saadi’s tomb. Photo by Shereen Jon Kajouee.

Touring with Saadi would refresh us in every way. While at his tomb earlier this evening, I saw a mother feeding ice cream to her child. I caught her eye, smiled to her, and simply said, “Salaam.” She followed me, offered to have me hold her daughter and then she took our picture. We encountered many groups of young and older families, youths, strolling through this park that surrounded Saadi’s tomb. Not only were the strollers curious about us, but they genuinely wanted to communicate with us. They said, “Hello,”and gave us other greetings. Saadi would have urged us, like the small child, to extend ourselves with a warm hospitality somehow, whether we could speak the same language or not.

We have returned a few times to a gallery to see a wide variety of Persian carpets, collected from several regions across Iran. Not only are they rich in color and design, but many of them have a single motif that repeats across regional specialty. The cypress tree. Visiting Iran’s 4000-year old cypress tree a few days ago gave me a chance to record bird sounds coming from the tree, but also to photograph families doing what we were doing — getting a close look at this natural wonder. I didn’t realize that I wasn’t done with that part of Iran’s past until I saw the cypress tree woven into many of the carpets. What would Saadi make of this connection? Maybe he would encourage us to see the beauty of both past and present.

Saadi’s poetry is a grand gift from Persia’s past, as well as Iran’s present. As a fellow traveler, I can hope, a bit, to walk just bit behind Saadi and appreciate his point of view, “good thoughts, good talks, good deeds.

Thanks Sarah for sharing your experiences with us!

Take Action!

If you are in the Bay area, please join recent Reality Tour participant Marc Sapir for a report back from his travels in Iran. The event is December 8 at 7pm at the Berkeley Fellowship of Unitarian Universalists Fellowship Hall, Cedar and Bonita, Berkeley, CA. For questions about the event, please contact Marc at marcsapir@gmail.com.
Learn more about traveling on a Reality Tour to Iran!

The following is a guest post by Robert Naiman, Policy Director at Just Foreign Policy. Mr. Naiman edits the Just Foreign Policy daily news summary and writes on U.S. foreign policy at Huffington Post. You can contact him here.

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If you sometimes find yourself at a bit of a loss of what to make of the on-again, off-again drumbeat for war with Iran, you should at least have the consolation that you’re in good company. Close students of U.S. and Israeli policy who oppose war have expressed divergent views about how great the threat of war is, especially in the shorter run. (There is much less divergence about the long-term prospects: if there is no progress on the diplomatic front, the weight of expert opinion is that the long-term prognosis is very bad, from the point of view of avoiding war.)

Imam square, Esphahan, Iran Photo by: William Hendrickson

The problem of accurately perceiving the danger is complicated by the multiple motivations of those currently being the war drums. Clearly, among other things, the war drums are a political gambit to attack President Obama and elect Romney. The war drums are also a channel-changer from the continued dispossession of the Palestinians and the political shifts in the Middle East brought about by the Arab Spring. At the same time, the war drums are part of a campaign to constrict political space for a diplomatic resolution with Iran, thereby making war with Iran more likely in the future.

The lack of urgency resulting from this murky picture presents a dilemma for anti-war activists. If people were convinced that there were a 90% chance of war in the next three months, if the White House were leading a crusade for war, many people would be in the streets.

But that is not the situation we are in. Our situation is more akin to what one analyst described as a “slow-motion Cuban missile crisis.” We are on a path to war with Iran, but we are not on a quick path to war with Iran. We are on a slow path to war with Iran.

If the path is slow, there is a natural tendency to focus elsewhere. There’s a lot of stuff going on in the world. People are being killed by the war in Afghanistan. Palestinians are on hunger strike against administrative detention. Honduran journalists are being murdered. Colombian trade unionists are being killed. These things are happening right now.

By inaction on the threat of war with Iran, people are effectively saying, “So we’re on a slow path? Give me a call when we’re on a fast path. I have other demands on my time.”

The problem with this is that by the time we are on a fast path to war, our political leverage to stop the war will be very small – much smaller than it is today.

Millions of people around the world marched on the eve of the Iraq war. When the war happened anyway, some people said: we marched and the war happened anyway. Therefore, protest doesn’t change anything.

Esphahan, Iran Photo by: William Hendrickson

That was drawing the wrong lesson. What happened didn’t prove that protest can’t stop a war; what happened was evidence that protests that come too late might not stop a war. Mass protests would likely have had a much bigger impact a few months earlier – especially, if they had occurred before Democrats in Congress handed over authority to President Bush to wage war.

And if the last ten years of war should have taught us anything, they should have taught us that starting a war is like getting on the expressway. If it turns out to be a “mistake,” it’s far from clear when we’ll practically be able to change course.

After the September 11 attacks, Congress approved war in Afghanistan with no dissent in the Senate and one dissent in the House. If Congress could have a do-over now, do you think that there might be a little more dissent? So, when we think about the killing in Afghanistan, we should think about what more we could do to stop it. But we should also acknowledge how hard it is to stop, and therefore, that we should redouble our efforts to stop the next war before it starts.

To the extent that it’s true that people appear to want to be told that we’re on a fast path in order to get them to move, that creates an incentive for people concerned about the danger of war to play up evidence that we’re on a fast path.

But of course, that also carries a danger. If we are perceived to “cry wolf,” that will make it harder to mobilize people in the future. It’s like sprinting in the middle of a marathon. You may get a nice adrenalin rush, but in the long run, it’s going to compromise your ability to win the race. The proponents of war are playing a long game. The opponents of war must play a long game too.

And that means something that some people don’t want to hear. It means that we need more people to engage politically, to lobby, call, and write Members of Congress and their staff, to agitate with the Administration for a realistic diplomatic engagement with Iran to produce agreements that will reduce tensions, to agitate in the news media and the blogosphere for real diplomatic engagement with Iran to produce agreements that will reduce tensions. Look what the “Israel lobby” is doing: it’s agitating inside the institutions to constrict the political space for any long-term outcome besides war. If we want to beat the Israel lobby, we have to meet them on the same turf, to open the political space for other outcomes besides war.

Unfortunately, this is the kind of “long march through the institutions,” as Herbert Marcuse put it, that much of the “traditional antiwar left” doesn’t have much experience or interest in organizing. It doesn’t sell the party newspaper, advance the party’s political line, or recruit more dues-paying members to the party. Much of the “traditional antiwar left” wants to organize demonstrations. But unless demonstrations lead to more engagement in the political process, they might not do much to help us stop the next war.

Daytime in Iran Photo by: William Hendrickson

This is why I am hopeful about the potential of the new Iran Pledge of Resistance. The Pledge of Resistance has the potential to help create a real movement that can stop the next war; a movement that can go toe-to-toe with the Israel lobby for influence in Congress, the Administration, and the news media.

One of the reasons that I am hopeful about the new Pledge of Resistance is that I know some of the people involved in organizing it. These are people who “stand in the gap” between Washington peace advocacy and grassroots peace advocacy. If you want to know why the “Israel lobby” is so effective, one of the reasons is that there is essentially zero gap between their Washington advocacy and their grassroots advocacy. It’s a highly disciplined operation. If you want to know what AIPAC activists in Chicago are pushing on the Chicago Congressional delegation, you just have to look at the national AIPAC web page.

Regardless of what one might desire, this highly disciplined model probably isn’t on offer for the anti-war movement, at least in the short run. Anything that carries out the functions of a “movement,” including making sure that grassroots efforts back up strategic Washington efforts, is going to require more negotiation, more meetings, more conference calls, at least until reinforcements from the bigger institutional players arrive. Therefore, people who “stand in the gap” – who have trust relationships with Washington people and with grassroots people – are going to be really important.

The second reason I am hopeful is that I’m old enough – and have been engaged long enough – to remember the model, the “Pledge of Resistance” against Reagan’s war in Central America, and how effective it was in drawing people into political engagement, including me, at the age of eighteen. It was organized around the idea of civil disobedience, but a lot of the practical activity was lobbying, letter-writing, passing leaflets, organizing talks, showing films. It may seem quite counterintuitive that a way to draw some people into politics is to talk to them about civil disobedience. There’s a traditional view that runs the opposite way: you start to get people engaged by talking about the least militant tactic – a vigil, perhaps – and that’s the “gateway drug” that can lead to further political engagement.

But sometimes it works the other way. You have a bunch of people that are pretty alienated from traditional politics, and perceive Congress and the government generally as pretty unresponsive to their interests and values, and they don’t want to hear about lobbying. But getting arrested to stop a war – that they might do. So, maybe some people need a different “gateway drug” to bring them into political engagement. To stop a war, it’s worth a try.

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