A War Hawk or a Peace Advocate?

I wanted to share some brief thoughts in the hope of clarifying what I have been thinking and where I am coming from, even if that still leaves people unhappy with what I have been saying. I have been uncomfortable with the fact that while I despise Benjamin Netanyahu and the current Israeli government, and I strongly disagree with some of the decisions and foreign policy of the Trump Administration, I also recognize that Gaza’s destruction and annihilation are partially due to direct actions by the Mullahs’ regime which played a critical role in setting Gaza up for perpetual war. I have been ferociously opposed to Hamas in part because of its despicable alliance with the fascist Islamic Republic of Iran and its regime. Tehran has long abused the Palestinian cause, especially the Gaza Strip, to build a terror base from which it can use Palestinians as pawns in the fight against Israel. I and millions of Palestinians have long opposed Iranian meddling in the Gaza Strip and the Palestinian national project for independence and statehood, which was undermined by financial, material, political, and propaganda support for Hamas and terror factions in Gaza, all as part of the so-called “axis of resistance,” which was the touted ring of fire surrounding Israel. But this ring of fire was only meant to entrench the Mullahs’ grip on power and keep Israel and the United States away from Iran’s prized nuclear weapons program.

What made me exceptionally uncomfortable is the fact that I felt that something potentially positive was being done by terrible players; as in, Iran was facing the consequences of its belligerence, the climax of which was on display during the October 7 attacks that ultimately got Gaza and the Palestinian people decimated by the most far-right government in Israel’s history. Unfortunately, many leftists, anti-war types, and isolationists were willing to let a criminal regime proceed with obtaining the deadliest weapons that would have unleashed further death and destruction upon the Arab, Sunni, and Palestinian people throughout the Middle East.

There will never be a safe, independent, stable, or prosperous Palestinian nation and state while the Islamic Republic of Iran exists in its current shape and form. I am a peace advocate who believes in pragmatic steps to end territorial disputes and stop needless bloodshed in the name of nationalism, ethnic supremacy, and intolerance. What I am not is a pacifist who rejects the pragmatic and targeted application of violence under very specific and narrow circumstances to forestall or prevent greater harm. Do I think that the Israeli government is necessarily a trustworthy player to carry out such a task? I am not so sure. But do I believe that the Iranian regime must finally face deadly consequences for its horrendous acts that got hundreds of thousands of Arab people in Iraq, Lebanon, Syria, Gaza, and not to mention other meddling in Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, and beyond? Absolutely, yes. After all, the removal of Hamas in Gaza to end the terror group’s control and initiate transformation and recovery requires the targeted application of violence against the group’s infrastructure and operatives, ideally, by Palestinians to save Palestinian lives and end the suffering once and for all. This is what radical pragmatism is about: understanding that kumbayas, useless peace marches, nice-sounding declarations, social media posts, and naïve statements by out-of-touch activists will never achieve stability, peace, or actual progress for Israel and Palestine, or the broader Middle East, and the discourse without recognizing the need for narrow and uncomfortable uses of strategically-targeted force & power.

That is why I don’t call myself a peace activist, but rather a peace advocate.