Iran

We deserve answers

There are some questions that we must ask. We shouldn’t expect answers, but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t keep asking. The point is to make sure all Americans hear what needs to be heard: The silence of answers that’ll never come. The silence from explanations that can’t be offered. Because none of this makes any sense.

What kind of threat could Iran pose to the United States if we could wipe out its senior leadership so easily, quickly and comprehensively?

If Iran posed an imminent threat to the United States, why didn’t we invoke Article V and bring the NATO powers together for joint action?

If we have no money to help Americans pay for healthcare, education, housing or costs of living, where’s the money for this coming from?

And how exactly are we to believe that an administration that’s advocated banning Muslims suddenly cares so much about the plight of ordinary Iranians?

Epic Distraction

When I woke up to the news on Saturday, just returned from ‘umrah, I won’t deny it: I felt a keen sense of despair, overwhelming exhaustion, deep sadness and intense frustration. As if the last three years weren’t enough, now this. I might’ve felt it even worse than many other Americans because, long ago, in another life, I worked on making the case for an Iran deal, believing — and arguing, over and over — that war with Iran would be an epic mistake.

Operation Iraqi Freedom had created appalling outcomes. A war on Iran would do far worse. This wasn’t just a feeling. This was a conclusion drawn from ample analysis. And now here we are, making that epic mistake. But over the course of the day, I realized, there is nothing as shameless as doomscrolling. If I am a believer, and a parent, and a citizen, and an adult, then I’m not called to collapse in on myself. I could doom scroll, in other words, or I could do something.

Given my knowledge, experiences, and resources, I have a specific responsibility in this moment. That started with my AP Halaqa students.

I asked who would like to join a special conversation on Iran, on the current crisis, and especially our civic and religious obligations as Americans and Muslims. I shared my intentions with the parents; quickly, a few asked if they could join. Given the stakes, I said yes, of course. Some of us met this weekend. We’ll have a second session next week. Just deciding to sit with them changed how I felt.

I’m no less aggrieved by what’s happening, of course. But I can’t tolerate the idea of just losing myself in the news. Our kids deserve better.

See, when we think thoughts to ourselves, we cannot know how many might share them. Even internet memes and social media content go only so far. To see and hear real people sharing my concerns focused my mind: As awful as this moment is, as bad as it is for America, for the Middle East, and the wider world, there’s been a sea change across America. As Michelle Goldberg noted in a recent Times op-ed, “How Israel Lost Americans”:

It’s been obvious for some time that Americans are souring on Israel, but a Gallup poll that came out on Friday marks a turning point. For the first time in the poll’s 25-year history, it found, more Americans sympathize with the Palestinians than with the Israelis. The shift wasn’t just among Democrats, whose opinion of Israel has been in free fall in recent years. According to Gallup, only 30 percent of independents now sympathize with Israel; 41 percent sympathize with the Palestinians. Among adults under 35, support for Israel has fallen to a record low of 23 percent. With numbers like this, bipartisan backing for Israel, long a constant in American politics, will in time become unsustainable.

Of course, we cannot just expect an outcome: We must ensure we make the most of a necessary and positive shift. Here, too, the same pertains.

Nearly 60% of Americans disapprove of this war. In a country as polarized as ours, that’s stunning.

Unfortunately, we suffer a yawning democratic deficit, a disconnect between what the people want and what policies we see, but we still have a democracy, elections still matter, and instead of retreating, we must recommit to public conversations. We must make the case that America can only prosper, in ways that benefit all Americans, if our American foreign policy is responsible, republican and restrained. This isn’t a left- or right- thing, either.

There’s plenty of Democrats who’ve amply demonstrated their furious irrelevance, and key Republicans who’ve spoken out and taken stands.

Watching high schoolers on the verge of voting process these ideas, and think through their consequences, was deeply moving. And shamed me, if I’m honest. Who was I to turn inwards when there are so many Americans who’ve been let down, time and time again, not least our own young men and women?

We Deserve Answers

Today, at Avenue M, Joey and I recorded a special live episode about Iran, intended for parents, for educators, and for Americans more generally who can sense that the Iran war is bad news — but might not be able to articulate why. You can listen on Apple, Spotify, or of course on YouTube:

In the special session of the AP Halaqa, I focused on three topics:

First, I wanted the students to better understand Twelver Shi’a Islam and the specific, unique and contentious ways in which Iran’s government has repurposed that tradition to serve very specific political ends.

We were candid about what Iran’s government has actually been like for many in the region and for Iranians themselves — while refusing to reduce our conversation to a good Muslim, bad Muslim frame.

In the AP Halaqa, I teach the Sunni tradition which I (choose to) belong to, but our students should be able to articulate their beliefs without putting anyone else’s down. That’s not least because our ummah includes Sunni and Shia Muslims, our communities do, and in the case of at least two students, their families do, too.

Second, I wanted the students to understand that the present moment cannot be understood separately from a context that goes back decades. A broader appreciation of history, I’ve found, prevents people from collapsing into crude narratives, dangerous supremacism, or helpless pessimism.

And third, we talked about our obligations as Americans, as Muslims, and as American Muslims. This third topic surfaces in the podcast: Many of the things they’ve talked about, pointed towards, or led me to became a part of my conversation with Joey. I hope you give it a listen.

May we be guided to what is right.

May we never be oppressed and may we never become oppressors.

May we have the courage to stand up for what is right, for what is good, and for what is best.