U.S. must act now to prevent further escalation in the Middle East

This week, Iran fired ballistic missiles at Israel and Israel continued its intensive bombing campaign against Lebanon, the Lebanon-Syria border, Gaza, and the West Bank. These developments mark a new stage in the already heightened situation in the region. They occur in the context of decades of Israeli's collective punishment of the Palestinian people, including one year of relentless genocide in Gaza and months of Israeli airstrikes on Lebanon, Syria, and Yemen.

Iran said that its actions were a response to Israel's assassination of Hamas and Hezbollah leaders, the genocide in Gaza, and the latest aggression on Lebanon. Israel assassinated Hamas political leader (and key player in cease-fire negotiations) Ismail Haniyeh on Iranian territory, and attacked the Iranian embassy in Damascus. In the last year alone, Israel has killed more than 42,000 Palestinians and over 1,000 people in Lebanon, wounded tens of thousands, and forcibly displaced more than three million people.

We stand at a critical juncture. A wider war can still be avoided. Threatening new offensive actions, particularly bombing Iran, risks catastrophic expansion of violence across the region. Decisions made in Washington, D.C. and Tel Aviv will impact millions of people and would potentially cost hundreds of thousands more lives.

The Biden Administration has threatened "severe consequences" for Iran and is moving additional U.S. troops to the region, including fighter jet and attack aircraft squadrons. This approach will only make things worse. Instead, the U.S. has the power to change the course of events by unequivocally rejecting war and instead taking steps towards de-escalation.

We are calling on the Biden Administration and Congress to:

1. Institute an immediate arms embargo on Israel.
2. Secure a permanent cease-fire in Gaza and the region.
3. Commit to NO direct U.S. military engagement, either through the use of troops, air strikes, or other military actions.

Taking these steps is the only clear path towards avoiding further death and destruction that will hurt all people in the region. Peace and security will never come through war and violence. Only de-escalation will open a path towards a just and lasting peace.

But de-escalation is not enough.

In the long term, peace can only be achieved by addressing the injustices at the root of this conflict: Israel's apartheid, the systematic dispossession of Palestinians and denial of Palestinian rights. We must not only bring an end to Israel's genocidal attacks on Gaza, but to the collective punishment of all the Palestinian people. True global security depends on resolution and accountability, not on containment and coercion.

In this process, all parties and countries must respect and uphold international law. This includes enforcing the International Court of Justice (ICJ) Advisory Opinion that mandates Israel withdraw totally from the Palestinian territory Israel occupied in 1967. All states, including Israel and the U.S. have an "obligation not to recognize as legal the situation arising from the unlawful presence of Israel in the Occupied Palestinian Territory" and "not to render aid or assistance in maintaining the situation created by Israel's illegal presence in the Occupied Palestinian Territory," as concluded by the ICJ opinion.

To fulfil this obligation, the U.S. government should institute an arms embargo and sanctions on Israel. U.S. arms shipments must stop. Governments, corporations, and individuals should divest from companies supporting Israeli military operations. To bring peace to the whole region it is imperative to start by bringing a peaceful solution to the question of Palestine and fulfil the rights of all the Palestinian people everywhere.

The time for empty words is over. It is only through these concrete actions that the U.S. can prevent rather than provoke a wider war. And it is only through the sustained action and protest of the people in the U.S. and around the word that we can pressure the U.S. to do so.

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The American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) promotes a world free of violence, inequality, and oppression. Guided by the Quaker belief in the divine light within each person, we nurture the seeds of change and the respect for human life to fundamentally transform our societies and institutions. We work with people and partners worldwide, of all faiths and backgrounds, to meet urgent community needs, challenge injustice, and build peace.

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