Donald Trump

‘Diplomacy, Not Catastrophe’ Needed as Israel Appears Poised for US-Enabled War on Iran

Spread the love

Original article by Brett Wilkins republished from Common Dreams under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0).

An Israel Defense Forces F-15 fighter takes off in this photo posted on the IDF’s website on May 19, 2025. (Photo: Israel Defense Forces)

“It would be a catastrophic mistake to be led into a war by the same neocons that claimed the Iraq war would be a cakewalk,” warned one group.

Israel is likely preparing to bomb Iran even as the Trump administration works toward a nuclear deal with Tehran, stoking fears of Iranian retaliation against U.S. military bases and other American or allied sites in an already inflamed region, and prompting calls for urgent diplomacy to avoid war.

U.S. and European officials told Western media Thursday that Israel is preparing to unilaterally attack Iran as negotiations between Washington and Tehran draw closer to a preliminary framework for an agreement to curb Iran’s nuclear development. The government of fugitive Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu opposes any such deal.

“If this escalates, innocent lives will be caught in the crossfire in Iran and across the region.”

American intelligence agencies have periodically concluded over the past two decades that Iran—which has not started a war since the 19th century but supports proxy attacks on Israel—is not developing nuclear weapons.

While President Donald Trump—who has repeatedly threatened to bomb Iran if a nuclear deal is not reached—has publicly opposed an Israeli attack on Iran, numerous observers are warning that Tehran and its proxies would very likely view the U.S. as complicit in any such action.

“If Israel does strike Iran in the next days or hours, and even if they do so in defiance of Trump’s warnings, the likelihood that the Iranians will perceive it as an independent act by Israel in defiance of Trump is essentially zero,” Trita Parsi, executive vice president of the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft, said Wednesday on social media. “There is no plausible deniability.”

Vahid Razavi, an Iranian American advocate for human rights and ethics in technology and founder of ParentsPlea.com, told Common Dreams Thursday that “Israel will only attack Iran with the support and blessing of the United States.”

“The ‘good cop/bad cop’ game that Trump and Israel are playing in the region is a distraction,” Razavi added. “There is no substantial difference in U.S. and Israeli policy toward Iran.”

Iran has threatened an “unprecedented response” if Israel attacks.

“In case of any conflict, the U.S. must leave the region because all its bases are within our range, and we will target all of them in the host countries regardless,” Iranian Defense Minister Aziz Nasirzadeh said Thursday during a televised address.

Nasirzadeh’s remarks followed a Wednesday threat by an official from Ansar Allah that the Yemeni rebel group also known as the Houthis is “at the highest level of preparedness for any possible American escalation against us.”

“Any escalation against the Islamic Republic of Iran is also dangerous and will drag the entire region into the abyss of war,” the unnamed official toldNewsweek.

The Trump administration stands accused of war crimes in Yemen amid an escalation of the decadeslong U.S. bombing of the country as part of the so-called War on Terror. Successive U.S. administrations also backed a Saudi-led war on Yemen that has claimed hundreds of thousands of lives, while Israeli and British forces have bombed the country since 2024 in retaliation for Houthi missile attacks on Red Sea shipping and Israel.

Last October, Iran launched a limited missile strike on Israel in response to the assassinations of Hassan Nasrallah, who led the Lebanon-based resistance group Hezbollah, and Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh. This prompted retaliatory Israeli attacks on targets in and around Tehran, including the headquarters of the elite Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps.

The prospect of another Israeli attack on Iran prompted the U.S. on Wednesday to order the evacuation of some diplomats from Iraq and call for the voluntary departure of American military families from the region.

Meanwhile, numerous observers stressed the need for a diplomatic resolution to avoid a wider war in the Middle East—and possibly beyond.

“We must face the reality: if this escalates, innocent lives will be caught in the crossfire in Iran and across the region, and at home there may be new, dire threats to the civil liberties of our community,” the National Iranian American Council (NIAC) said in a statement Thursday.

“We are working to ensure our leaders hear us loud and clear: We need diplomacy, not catastrophe,” NIAC added. “We are organizing multiple actions in the coming days against a potential war and in support of peace and ask for your support to fuel this vital effort.”Former Democratic Ohio state Sen. Nina Turner succinctly said Wednesday: “No war with Iran. No war, period.”

Original article by Brett Wilkins republished from Common Dreams under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0).

Thousands Across US Send Message to Trump: ‘No Threats, No Bombs, No War With Iran’

Continue Reading‘Diplomacy, Not Catastrophe’ Needed as Israel Appears Poised for US-Enabled War on Iran

Movement against ICE raids spreads to cities across the US

Spread the love

Original article republished from peoples dispatch under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 (CC BY-SA) license.

Photo: Wyatt Souers

“Our communities are being kidnapped and disappeared,” say activists protesting ICE raids throughout the country

US President Donald Trump sent in the military to suppress anti-ICE protests in Los Angeles this past weekend, but instead of stopping the protest movement in its tracks, demonstrations have taken place in cities across the entire United States to reject Trump’s immigration policies and crackdown.

Since protests erupted against immigration raids in Los Angeles on Friday afternoon, they have spread to cities throughout the US, including New York City, Chicago, Denver, Dallas, Boston, and Atlanta.

Protesters rally in Boston outside of the Massachusetts State House on June 10 (Photo: Micah Fong)

As the Trump administration scrambles to meet mass deportations quotas, with officials ramping up the immigration enforcement arrest quota to 3,000 per day, ICE operations have escalated to new heights. In what activists have called “ICE terror” against immigrant communities, federal agents have taken more extreme measures including arresting young family members in “collateral arrests,” arresting immigrants seeking legal paths to staying in the country at immigration court hearings, and conducting militarized raids on workplaces.

These tactics have produced some results for Trump’s mass deportation regime: for the first time since 2019, the total number of ICE detainees has surpassed 50,000. 

Momentum builds against Trump’s immigration policies

On Tuesday, June 10, thousands of people rallied in New York City, filling the streets by ICE headquarters at 26 Federal Plaza. 

“We’re all out here today because like me, you are seeing your communities disappear,” said Cathy Rojas, a public school teacher in Queens. “Our communities are being kidnapped and disappeared. And I don’t use the word kidnap lightly. I use that with a point, because people are not being arrested, when all their constitutional rights are being violated, when all the laws are being broken. When they are put in concentration camps. When they are put in detention centers that violate their human rights, they are being kidnapped. They are not being arrested.”

Activists gather in front of US immigration court in Manhattan (Photo: Wyatt Souers)

Demonstrators marched through the streets of downtown Manhattan up to US Immigration Court on Varick Street, shouting chants in defense of immigrant rights and against Trump. 

In Chicago, thousands marched on June 10 after rallying in Federal Plaza. Demonstrators held signs reading “ICE out of Chicago” as some held a banner reading “El pueblo unido defenderá a las familias migrantes!”

Thousands march through Chicago on June 10 (Photo: Emma Noelke)

Protests continue in Los Angeles

Protests continued in Los Angeles despite repressive measures from local and national government. Since Sunday, the Trump administration had deployed 4,000 National Guard troops to the city, as well as 700 marines. LA’s Mayor Karen Bass, despite denouncing the ICE raids and Trump’s deployment of the National Guard, imposed a curfew for 8 pm local time. 

Demonstrations took place in Los Angeles and the surrounding area, with protests in a crowded Whittier City Council meeting on Tuesday, and activists reporting that they successfully pushed ICE agents out of a hotel in Arcadia. 

More protests are set to be held in the Los Angeles area on Wednesday, June 11, including at Pershing Square in DTLA in the evening. 

Original article republished from peoples dispatch under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 (CC BY-SA) license.

Neo-Fascist Climate Science Denier Donald Trump says Burn, Baby, Burn.
Neo-Fascist Climate Science Denier Donald Trump says Burn, Baby, Burn.
Elon Musk urges you to be a Fascist like him, says that you can ignore facts and reality then.
Elon Musk urges you to be a Fascist like him, says that you can ignore facts and reality then.
Continue ReadingMovement against ICE raids spreads to cities across the US

‘Authoritarian Escalation’: Trump Deploys US Marines to Help Put Down LA Protests

Spread the love

Original article by Jessica Corbett republished from Common Dreams under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0).

Members of the National Guard stand outside the Metropolitan Detention Center in Los Angeles, California on June 8, 2025. (Photo: Frederic J. Brown/AFP via Getty Images)

“Every governor, red or blue, should reject this outrageous overreach,” said California’s Democratic governor, who sued over the president’s takeover of the state’s National Guard. “We will not let this stand.”

As President Donald Trump deployed U.S. Marines to Los Angeles on Monday in response to protests against immigration raids and the violent arrest of a popular labor leader, California Attorney General Rob Bonta’s office announced that he and Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom sued Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth over their weekend takeover of the state’s National Guard.

“President Trump’s order calling federalized National Guard troops into Los Angeles—over the objections of the governor and local law enforcement—is unnecessary and counterproductive. It’s also deeply unfair to the members of the National Guard who are hard at work every day protecting our state, preparing for and responding to emergencies, and training so that, if called, they can fight our nation’s wars,” Bonta said in a statement.

“Let me be clear: There is no invasion. There is no rebellion. The president is trying to manufacture chaos and crisis on the ground for his own political ends,” he added. “Federalizing the California National Guard is an abuse of the president’s authority under the law—and not one we take lightly. We’re asking a court to put a stop to the unlawful, unprecedented order.”

As of press time, the filing was not yet available, but it was set to be shared on Bonta’s government website.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) conducted raids in Los Angeles on Friday and Saturday, sparking intense protests. Trump’s memorandum came on Saturday, prompting Newsom’s Sunday letter formally requesting that the president reverse course. The governor also previewed the new lawsuit during a Sunday interview with MSNBC.

“Donald Trump is creating fear and terror by failing to adhere to the U.S. Constitution and overstepping his authority. This is a manufactured crisis to allow him to take over a state militia, damaging the very foundation of our republic,” Newsom, who widely seen as a 2028 presidential contender, said Monday.

“Every governor, red or blue, should reject this outrageous overreach,” he argued. “This is beyond incompetence—this is him intentionally causing chaos, terrorizing communities, and endangering the principles of our great democracy. It is an unmistakable step toward authoritarianism. We will not let this stand.”

Trump’s actions and remarks related to the protests against ICE in California have elicited fears of wider repression during his second term.

Criticism continued to mount on Monday, with Joseph Geevarghese, executive director of the progressive group Our Revolution, declaring that “this is not law and order—it’s tyranny… When power is concentrated in the hands of a corrupt few, and dissent is met with armed repression, democracy itself is under siege. We must call this what it is: a threat to the republic.”

Before the Marine deployment on Monday, Congressional Progressive Caucus Chair Greg Casar (D-Texas) said in a statement that “Trump politicizing and weaponizing the National Guard makes us all less safe and less free. His threat to deploy the Marines into the streets of an American city is an illegal and authoritarian escalation.”

Politico reported Monday that the administration ordered about 700 Marines to Los Angeles, and while it is not yet clear what role they will play, “one of the defense officials said they will likely support the 2,000 National Guard troops sent to assist law enforcement.”

Casar tied the recent events in Los Angeles to congressional Republicans’ evolving budget reconciliation package, saying that “Trump’s threats have nothing to do with keeping people safe—it’s about political theater. He’s scapegoating immigrants to distract from the GOP’s real agenda: ripping healthcare away from millions to pay for tax cuts for the ultrarich.”

“We will not be intimidated,” he added. “Progressives are standing up to this administration, including by conducting lawful oversight at ICE detention centers in Los Angeles and across the country. We stand with Angelenos, and we stand with immigrant families everywhere. The president must return command of the National Guard to Gov. Newsom.”

Original article by Jessica Corbett republished from Common Dreams under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0).

Elon Musk urges you to be a Fascist like him, says that you can ignore facts and reality then.
Elon Musk urges you to be a Fascist like him, says that you can ignore facts and reality then.

Continue Reading‘Authoritarian Escalation’: Trump Deploys US Marines to Help Put Down LA Protests

Reporters Without Borders Decries ‘Wave of Violence’ Against Journalists at LA Protests

Spread the love

Original article by Eloise Goldsmith republished from Common Dreams under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0).

Police take security measures during demonstration as the Trump administration continues its immigration raids in Los Angeles, California, United States on June 8, 2025. Hundreds of protesters are seen demanding an immediate halt to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids at workplaces in America’s second largest city. (Photo: Taurat Hossain/Anadolu via Getty Images)

“These protests are a matter of huge public interest and the public has a right to know exactly what’s going on,” said the executive director of RSF USA.

The press freedom group Reporters Without Borders, also known as RSF, on Monday condemned recorded attacks carried out largely by law enforcement, but also by protestors, against journalists reporting on protests that took place in Los Angeles this past weekend.

Protests began on Friday to oppose federal immigration raids on workplaces.

In a statement, RSF said that it has verified at least 27 recorded incidents of violence against journalists since June 6 with the help of its local partner, the Los Angeles Press Club. Twenty four of those incidents were carried out by law enforcement, and three were carried out by individual protestors, according to the statement.

“The wave of violence against journalists on the streets of Los Angeles this weekend is unacceptable. These protests are a matter of huge public interest and the public has a right to know exactly what’s going on. The only way that can happen is if journalists are allowed to do their jobs freely,” said Clayton Weimers, the executive director of RSF USA.

“This is inherently dangerous work, but it’s made more dangerous by authorities who are unable or unwilling to distinguish press from protestors, and by private actors who attack members of the media,” Weimers continued. “Authorities in LA must do more to ensure press freedom is respected during these protests.”

In one incident caught on camera, police hit reporter Lauren Tomasi, a U.S. correspondent for CNN-affiliate Nine News in Australia, with a rubber bullet while she was reporting live on on air.

Several media workers reported being hit with “less-than-lethal munitions,” such as pepper balls, rubber bullets, and tear gas canisters, by police, according to RSF.

According to the group, U.S. President Donald Trump’s decision to call in National Guard troops in response to protests “contributed to the violence against journalists already being perpetrated by law enforcement.” On Saturday, Trump ordered that 2,000 National Guard members be called up to help quell the anti-U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement protests, over the objections of Democratic California Gov. Gavin Newsom. As of Sunday, some 300 federal troops were on the ground in Los Angeles, according to The Associated Press.

Alleged incidents of violence carried out by protestors against media workers include an episode, caught on video, of a KTTV Fox 11 TV crew being heckled and forced to leave a protest.

Original article by Eloise Goldsmith republished from Common Dreams under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0).

Elon Musk urges you to be a Fascist like him, says that you can ignore facts and reality then.
Elon Musk urges you to be a Fascist like him, says that you can ignore facts and reality then.

Continue ReadingReporters Without Borders Decries ‘Wave of Violence’ Against Journalists at LA Protests