A woman reacts inside her brother’s home, which was damaged by a strike, as the US-Israeli war on Iran continues, in Tehran, 30 March 2026 (Majid Asgaripour/WANA via Reuters) in The Middle East Eye
Peace researcher & TFF Associate
April 8, 2026
“The deep roots of racism and colonialism have been successfully sustained by politicians in the West, while peace activists have failed to address them.”
This piece was written in Mid-March 2026. The author lives in Iran and due to the Internet blackout there, she has not been able to publish it before or include links to references when applicable.
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Let us be clear: the war led by the USA and Israel against Iran is unlawful—a flagrant violation of international law and an absolute threat to global security. It does not matter how undemocratic the Iranian government is, or how much the global propaganda machine tries to “evilize” it by exclusively using the word “regime.” This aggression is an act of war, and there are already numerous accounts of war crimes committed by the aggressors. The rebranding of the U.S. Department of Defense to the “Department of War” on September 5, 2025, made the subtext. As Secretary of War Pete Hegseth stated, they are training “warriors, not defenders,” seeking “maximum lethality.”
No matter how much future propaganda calls this a “conflict” or a “pre-emptive strike,” it is an aggression, done in the midst of promising negotiations.
The world’s leaders know this too well. We, the true believers in peace, know it too. Yet no one expected anything other than complicity or silence from the international community. The EU and the Arab world did nothing to stop the genocide, apartheid, and occupation in Palestine; why would they act now? The best they have done so far is not actively engaging in this war and asking “all” parties to seek diplomacy – while ignoring the fact that one side is the aggressor and the other is defending.
I will not waste words on their inaction. Instead, I want to address the deep, structural failure of the “peaceful” West to understand what peace actually is.
About ten years ago, during a collaboration with a German foundation at the Tehran Peace Museum (where I worked), a debate arose regarding the Iranian concept of Solh-Talab (peace-seeking) and whether Iran’s history of coups, war, and unrest disqualified the nation from being truly “peaceful.” While we understood the complexities of Iranian history and the role of hidden foreign actors better than they did, we initially assumed that Germany’s stable democracy and peace education meant they had a firm, reliable grasp of the concept itself. This led me to wonder at the time – if the disagreement was more than just a linguistic hurdle – whether Iran was indeed as peaceful as I claimed.
Fast forward to today. I am in the dark. The internet is cut off, a privilege revoked at will. In the few moments I can pass through the cracks via a VPN, I see that about 60% of Americans are against the war, yet the political machine remains unmoved. Two legislative efforts in the U.S. Congress failed because of a refusal to legally identify the invasion as a “war.” By maneuvering within the legal gray areas of counter-terrorism and regional security, the administration bypassed the War Powers Resolution, ensuring that the slaughter remains a “military operation” rather than a war that could be stopped by law. It is as if aggression is acceptable so long as it is mislabeled.
These polls mean millions are not effectively anti-violence. Even those who oppose the “operation” often do so only to protect their tax dollars or the lives of their own soldiers—not because they care about the millions of lives being dismantled far away in their own homes. We should not be surprised. No one has ever been held responsible for America’s wars, from Agent Orange in Vietnam to the crimes in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Libya. Barack Obama, whose administration oversaw ten times more drone strikes than his predecessor, is still celebrated as a Nobel Peace Prize winner. Slaughter of the native Americans or slavery is still not dealt with in the American culture.
This culture of violence is widespread, especially in the USA and Europe; and obviously Israel. Around 70% of Israelis support the Genocide in Gaza. The majority also support the current aggression against Iran and Lebanon. Many like USA, Germany, the UK, and France (NATO) have loudly supported the occupation and genocide in Palestine. And interestingly they are the ones that have waged all the recent wars in West Asia and North Africa.
If these are “true democracies,” then their populations lack a strong and effective opposition to the annihilation of human life. Perhaps they share the sentiment of the journalist who described Ukrainian refugees as “civilised” compared to those from West Asia. The deep roots of racism and colonialism have been successfully sustained by politicians in these countries, while peace activists have failed to address them. It is a culture of “take what you can,” directed against humans and nature alike. And it is very meaningful when you draw a comparison between their actions and those of other nations in Asia and Africa, which are usually labelled as violent and uncivilised.
This is a wake-up call. Many around the world might be waking up following the news of death or the sudden increase in fuel prices, but for peace educators and activists, it is different. It is a wake-up call for all of us on how there are tens of millions especially in USA and Europe who still find violence not only as an option, but as the best option.
We need all hands on deck – if we survive the escalation of this conflict.
I have fled my home in Tehran to stay with my family elsewhere. A few days ago, I took my seven-year-old niece and my nephew to a park after they had been confined to their home for days. On the way back, my niece pointed to a pizza place. “We’ll go there one of these nights,” I said. She looked at me and asked, “Then, they don’t drop bombs on pizza places?”
“We are safe, honey,” I lied.
As I spoke, I imagined the future Hollywood movies. I saw the American soldiers, “serving” their country by bombing “angry, dark-skinned men” while oriental music played over a yellowish filter. I saw them returning home to a parade, being welcomed by a nation thanking them for their service.
Their service of bringing death and destruction.
