Letter to Rep. Ilhan Omar – Don't Join with AIPAC Against Iran

May 6, 2020

Dear Representative Omar,

The Anti-War Committee is saddened and disappointed to discover that you signed on to a letter in support of AIPAC’s lobbying efforts to continue sanctions against Iran. Your office has stated that this was “just a narrow ask that we couldn’t find anything wrong with.” The problem is, this letter is not a stand-alone measure; it is part of a larger push to isolate, deprive, and terrorize the Iranian people.

The Trump Administration has shown its disregard for the premise of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action; it still wants Iran to have to hold to its side of the agreement, but for the U.S. to be free to threaten war, destabilize, and inflict massive harm on the Iranian people. The results of the sanctions have been an utter destruction of the medical infrastructure in Iran, which has led to thousands of deaths from COVID-19 just this year.

AIPAC’s goals are clear. On its website it says “the best and most realistic alternative is to revive the policy that first brought about negotiations—a combination of tough diplomacy and crippling sanctions[1].” This supports their long-term goal: the utter destruction of Iran to ensure U.S.-Israeli domination of the region.

This situation shows the pitfalls of the mindset whereby the United States acts as the global ‘human rights’ police. The U.S. is so deeply embedded in oppressive systems world-wide, that it is incapable of being a just, neutral arbiter of human rights. The only progressive foreign policy available to members of Congress is to work to dismantle the U.S. hegemonic role, and instead to build international relationships based on self-determination and mutual respect.

In the face of the world superpower’s sabre-rattling, we should defend Iran’s desire to protect itself and its people against the horrors and calamities inflicted on Iraq, Libya, and dozens of other countries invaded in the name of ‘human rights’. The AIPAC letter claims that Iran is responsible for destabilizing the region, but the U.S. government has been the one invading countries, propping up dictators, and flooding the region with weapons. We emphatically detest the notion contained in the AIPAC letter that Iran is responsible for destabilization in the Middle East.

AIPAC has run advertisements against you, Rep. Betty McCollum, and Rep. Rashida Tlaib.  Rep. McCollum correctly called AIPAC a hate group, which weaponizes anti-Semitism and hate to silence debate.  Signing on to any initiative AIPAC puts forward legitimizes their organization.  We do not understand why you would validate this racist organization in any manner.

We strongly urge you to unsign AIPAC’s statement and to stand with Representatives Betty McCullom, Rashida Tlaib, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Ayanna Pressley, and the few others brave enough to reject AIPAC’s roadmap to an increase in sanctions against Iran.  There are better ways to take a stance against weapons sales than standing with a hate group like AIPAC.

We would like to have a meeting to discuss what your foreign policy views are.  We have considered you a friend of our Committee.  In the past, you have come to our protests against U.S. intervention and the Muslim Ban and signed our petitions personally.  We have rallied in your defense multiple times when you were threatened by right wing opposition (including AIPAC), and when you were denied access to Palestine.  In your re-election race, we anticipate being asked by our supporters what your positions are on foreign policy.  Prior to this, we thought we understood your positions and were generally supportive of them, but now we are concerned that you might be willing to sacrifice your politics in order to be perceived as more “moderate” on the campaign trail and more acceptable to Zionist voters.  We request an online/virtual meeting to discuss your foreign policy positions within a month of receiving this letter.

Sincerely,

the Anti-War Committee Steering Committee

[1]https://www.aipac.org/learn/issues/~/media/Publications/Comms/Alternative.pdf