"The war launched against Iran by the United States and Israel is a war of choice and of hubris. There is scarcely even the pretence that it was compelled by evidence of an Iranian dash for a bomb or an imminent attack. Such claims do not survive scrutiny; they barely withstand repetition. We are witnessing the realisation of a long-cherished ambition, a neoconservative fever dream that Benjamin Netanyahu has lobbied for, in one form or another, for decades." Eskandar Sadeghi-Boroujerdi

 3 March 2026

The dry and the wet burn together

Eskandar Sadeghi-Boroujerdi

The aftermath of an airstrike near Ferdowsi Square in central Tehran, 2 March 2026 (Hamid Vakili / Parspix / Abaca Press / Alamy)

‘The dry and the wet burn together’ is a Persian expression invoked when a fire spreads without discrimination. Once the blaze begins, distinctions collapse: between the combustible and the damp, the guilty and the innocent, perpetrators and victims.

The war launched against Iran by the United States and Israel is a war of choice and of hubris. There is scarcely even the pretence that it was compelled by evidence of an Iranian dash for a bomb or an imminent attack. Such claims do not survive scrutiny; they barely withstand repetition. We are witnessing the realisation of a long-cherished ambition, a neoconservative fever dream that Benjamin Netanyahu has lobbied for, in one form or another, for decades. What sanctions could not achieve, what covert action, assassinations and cyber-warfare failed to deliver, direct military force would now accomplish, with the killing of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei as its centrepiece.

Trump and Netanyahu made their maximalist aims clear at the outset. This would be about ‘regime change’. What kind of regime would follow was left opaque, for the rest of the world to speculate on with trepidation. It’s a destructive and failed policy that Trump once vowed to retire for good. Like his mendacious pledges to restore dignity to the American working class, the promise was jettisoned as soon as he assumed office.

In a farcical re-enactment of the Iraq War script... READ MORE  https://www.lrb.co.uk/blog/2026/march/the-dry-and-the-wet-burn-together 

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"It’s not just the unhinged murderous settler thugs & the Israeli genocidal army that are Israel’s weapon of choice in Palestine & throughout the region; the American army & administration are clearly the most accommodating & lethal weapon that carries out Israel’s bidding in our region to re-engineer the whole area to suit Israel’s “security” & hegemonic designs." Dr Hanan Ashrawi

Dr. Hanan Ashrawi

 Hanan Ashrawi

@DrHananAshrawi

It’s not just the unhinged murderous settler thugs & the Israeli genocidal army that are Israel’s weapon of choice in Palestine & throughout the region; the American army & administration are clearly the most accommodating & lethal weapon that carries out Israel’s bidding in our region to re-engineer the whole area to suit Israel’s “security” & hegemonic designs.

 https://x.com/DrHananAshrawi/status/2027727720969285822

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Hanan Ashrawi reposted

 

Ofer Cassif עופר כסיף عوفر كسيف

@ofercass

 

The article by Adam Raz from the

@Akevot

Institute published today in Haaretz proves, once again, what we have been crying out for decades: the Nakba is not a “narrative”, it is a historical truth of genocide, ethnic cleansing, and plunder. To our shame and horror, this is an ongoing history, not only the past but also the present. Recognition of the crimes and a just solution for the victims are not only a moral demand, but also a necessary recipe for shared life between the two peoples.  https://x.com/ofercass/status/2027480502785941964

 

A world on edge as Trump bombs Iran and triggers war in the Middle East. There was no need for this: We cannot know where this foolish, reckless attack will end – but new hatreds will be seeded, terrorist vendettas sown and, ultimately, little will be achieved.

 

Simon Tisdall - Guardian foreign affairs commentator  

Blocked roads in Tehran after Israeli and US strikes on Iran, 28 February 2026. Photograph: Majid Asgaripour/Reuters

They never learn. Once again, a bellicose US president has unleashed overwhelming military firepower to force a sovereign nation to its knees. Once again, blatant lies and exaggerated claims are being propagated to justify the attack. Duplicitous American diplomacy became a fig leaf for premeditated aggression. The cautionary advice of allies was spurned. The UN, international law and public opinion were ignored. Democratic consent is lacking. And once again, there are few defined goals by which to gauge success, and no long-term plan.

Now, as in the past, the predictable result of today’s renewed, expanded and apparently open-ended US-Israeli aggression against Iran will be instant, spreading chaos. Civilians will be killed, children orphaned, families torn apart. Regional turmoil and international oil-price panic will follow the Iranian retaliation that has already begun, and which may be backed by Tehran’s Hezbollah and Houthi allies. New hatreds will be seeded, terrorist vendettas sown. The west’s foes will rejoice. And nothing of enduring value will be achieved. That was the bitter outcome of the failed US-led interventions in Afghanistan and Iraq. Today, it’s Tehran’s turn to reap the whirlwind.

How dismaying – how unforgivable! – that those past lessons have not been learned. How incredible that an elected 21st-century American president still believes it’s effective and permissible, let alone moral, to dictate to the world from the barrel of a gun. By what conceivable right does the US behave in this way?

While there are certain differences, the similarities between Donald Trump’s siege of Iran and George W Bush’s disastrous 2003 invasion of Iraq are striking. Both crises fit a wider pattern of unsuccessful, costly US interventionism dating back to Vietnam – and the 1953 CIA-led Iran coup. Trump promised to avoid foreign adventures. Surprise! He lied. Anyone who believes he has radically changed the way the US engages with the world should review this sordid saga of post-1945 imperial hubris. In this, he’s no different from his predecessors... READ MORE https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/feb/28/donald-trump-bombs-iran-war-middle-east

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"Israel has equipped thousands of settlers with military firearms and uniforms and given them lethal powers without adequate oversight mechanisms. Shootings, violent assaults, trespassing, theft and property damage are only some examples of the types of offenses Israeli civilians have committed against Palestinians behind the shield of military issued firearms and uniforms over the past two years." Settlers in Uniform, on violence perpetrated against Palestinians in the West Bank by Israeli civilians wearing military uniforms.

 Yesh Din English

@Yesh_Din

 

Today, we are publishing our new report, "Settlers in Uniform", on violence perpetrated against Palestinians in the West Bank by Israeli civilians wearing military uniforms. 

 

Israel has equipped thousands of settlers with military firearms and uniforms and given them lethal powers without adequate oversight mechanisms. Shootings, violent assaults, trespassing, theft and property damage are only some examples of the types of offenses Israeli civilians have committed against Palestinians behind the shield of military issued firearms and uniforms over the past two years. 

 

These violations were perpetrated by settler-soldiers on military duty who were abusing their authority, settler-soldiers on leave acting outside any official mission, or settlers in uniform acting on their own initiative. 

 

"Settlers in Uniform" demonstrates that Israel consistently, and as a matter of policy, enables the deliberate blurring of lines between settlers and military forces and promotes violent actions against Palestinian civilians in the West Bank by militias working in the service of settlement interests. 

 

These practices run counter to Israel’s obligations under international law as the occupying power in the West Bank and gravely violate the human rights of Palestinians living there. To read the full report: https://bit.ly/4tVOjg2

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Jewish Voice for Peace: We can demand that our community institutions stop investing in genocide and Israeli apartheid by stopping buying Israel Bonds. And by doing so, we withdraw key support for violence against Palestinians.

 Jewish Voice for Peace

@jvplive

Israel bonds divestment is a key tool to stop the Israeli government’s crimes and defend Palestinian rights. Running a permanent military occupation and apartheid, while enacting a genocide, is both morally depraved and also costly for the Israeli government. And now, the Israeli economy has increasingly risky levels of debt.

 

The Israeli government sells Israel bonds to borrow billions of dollars all at once, which funds its violence against Palestinians—everything from bombing campaigns of Palestinians in Gaza to the accelerated ethnic cleansing of Palestinians in the occupied West Bank and expanding illegal settlements on Palestinian land.

The problem with borrowing more and more money is that the Israeli government’s interest payments add up. Its debt is troublingly large given the size of its economy and Israel bonds are one of the reasons why. This means the Israeli economy is highly vulnerable to Israel bonds divestment.

That’s why we organize at the grassroots level to get our local and state governments and pension funds to divest from Israel bonds. The more success we have, the more we can destabilize the Israeli economy.

As the Israeli economy is destabilized, people in Israel will feel the impact and hold their own government accountable and be forced to reckon with the truth that a stable economy is only possible once the Israeli government respects Palestinian rights and follows international law.

There’s organizing to be done! US state governments, municipalities, pension funds, trade unions, universities and other institutions all buy Israel bonds (often for hundreds-of-millions of dollars) and then receive interest payments from the Israeli government. This not only implicates US communities in Israeli genocide, it’s also bad business. There are other ways to get better-performing, stable interest payments that don’t involve giving a blank check to a government committing crimes against humanity.

https://x.com/jvplive/status/2025959368257057183 

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We can demand that our community institutions stop investing in genocide and Israeli apartheid by stopping buying Israel Bonds. And by doing so, we withdraw key support for violence against Palestinians.

Communities everywhere should be able to live in safety and dignity, without fear that they will be hurt or discriminated against simply because of who they are.

But the Israeli military and government are upholding a brutal system of total domination over Palestinians — a separate-and-unequal, apartheid system and a violent occupation of stolen Palestinian land. Now, the Israeli military is committing a genocide of Palestinians in Gaza.

And our communities are directly enabling it.

While many know that the U.S. Congress sends billions of dollars each year to support the Israeli military’s violence against Palestinians, few know that billions of dollars in funding to the Israeli military and government comes from institutions and spaces much closer to home.

That’s right: Our local governments, state governments, unions, pension funds, universities, places of worship, and other institutions are directly supporting the Israeli military and government by investing billions in Israel Bonds.

Together, we can stop this.

Here’s a start: Divest from your Israel Bonds, and tell the Israeli government, "Not in my name! Not with my money!" Then, invest in Palestinian Freedom.

We all have a role to play in stopping the Israeli military’s genocide in Gaza. Together, we can hold the Israeli government accountable for treating Palestinians inhumanely.

Together, we can make our voices heard.

     https://www.jewishvoiceforpeace.org/resource/break-the-bonds-divest/

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"Palestinians have long drawn parallels between such violence and the oppression they endure under Israeli occupation. In both contexts, lethal force is justified as a “threat,” official narratives often contradict video evidence, medical care is delayed or denied, and entire communities are criminalized." Ikram Mezghani

 

Minneapolis ICE killings expose global pattern of militarized enforcement | PennLive letters

Feb. 22, 2026 

Ikram Mezghani, Derry Township, Pa. 

Americans pushing back against aggressive Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in Minneapolis are finally confronting a truth long familiar to many oppressed communities: unchecked state power has devastating consequences.

The recent killings of Renée Good and Alex Pretti have sparked outrage. But for Black, Indigenous, Brown, and immigrant communities, this reality has existed for decades. These deaths join those of George Floyd, Philando Castile, Daunte Wright, and Amir Locke, whose killings were framed as “necessary” or unavoidable, revealing systemic patterns of criminalization and lethal force.

Palestinians have long drawn parallels between such violence and the oppression they endure under Israeli occupation. In both contexts, lethal force is justified as a “threat,” official narratives often contradict video evidence, medical care is delayed or denied, and entire communities are criminalized.

Militarized tactics—surveillance, intimidation, and lethal enforcement—normalize control, whether in Minneapolis or occupied Palestine. U.S. federal forces, including ICE in Minnesota, have participated in exchange programs with Israeli forces, exporting occupation-style policing, U.S. federal forces, including ICE in Minnesota, have participated in exchange programs with Israeli forces, exporting occupation-style policing—a practice that many human rights organizations have documented and condemned... READ MORE    https://www.pennlive.com/opinion/2026/02/minneapolis-ice-killings-expose-global-pattern-of-militarized-enforcement-pennlive-letters.html?gift=c0483009-a974-43ac-b156-c70e16689e30 

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