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IONA in the News
Michigan Muslim groups decry U.S. attack of Iran’s nuclear sites as Trump gets ceasefire
Detroit — Muslim groups in Michigan on Tuesday condemned the U.S. and Israeli bombing of three nuclear facilities over the weekend in Iran and Israel’s continuing war against Hamas in Gaza, as President Donald Trump declared a ceasefire was in effect between Israel and Iran.
The Imams Council of Michigan and the Michigan chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations said at a press conference they were especially troubled by the failure of President Donald Trump to secure the support of Congress before ordering the attack.
“President Trump’s decision to join Israel in its illegal war against Iran without the consent of Congress is a direct violation of the U.S. Constitution,” said the Imam Council of Michigan.
The Council on American-Islamic Relations described the U.S. attack as an illegal and unjustified act of war. It said the action prioritizes the wishes of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over those of the American people.
Nihad Awad, the national executive director of CAIR, said the incident threatens to drag the U.S. into a wider war in the region
Just as President Bush started a disastrous war in Iraq pushed by war hawks, neoconservatives and Israeli leaders like Netanyahu, President Trump has attacked Iran based on the same type of false information put forward by those who consistently seek to drag our nation into unnecessary and catastrophic wars,” Awad said Tuesday.
The military action took place despite the conclusion by the U.S. intelligence community that Iran was not seeking nuclear weapons, he said.
But Israeli-American journalist Doron Levin of Metro Detroit commended the actions of the Trump administration and the Israeli government.
“The Iranian regime has threatened Israel and the U.S., murdered U.S. Marines, perpetrated unspeakable acts of state-sponsored terrorism, misled nuclear inspectors — and promised more of the same,” Doron said in a Tuesday email. “I commend the leaders of Israel and the U.S. for taking courageous steps to protect their countries.”
In a Saturday night address to the nation from the White House, Trump said he was calling on Iran, “the bully of the Middle East,” to make peace.
“Our objective was the destruction of Iran’s nuclear enrichment capacity and a stop to the nuclear threat posed by the world’s No. 1 state sponsor of terror,” the president said.
On Tuesday, Trump publicly chastised Israel for retaliating against Iran with more bombing. After a call with Netanyahu, the president took to social media to declare the ceasefire between Israel and Iran was “in effect. ”
“ISRAEL is not going to attack Iran,” Trump declared. “All planes will turn around and head home, while doing a friendly ‘Plane Wave’ to Iran, Nobody will be hurt, the Ceasefire is in effect!”
Awad said Israel accomplished its goal of convincing the U.S. to become more involved in what he described as the U.S. involvement in Gaza and other nations in the region.
“President Trump seems to have fallen into Israel’s trap quite easily,” he said
“We must not engage in any further action against Iran and should end our government’s support for a rogue nation that seeks to dominate the region through a seemingly unending campaign of death, starvation, ethnic cleansing, and destruction,” he said.
Earlier this month, CAIR condemned Israel’s strikes on Iran and called on the Trump administration to immediately halt all U.S. weapons transfers and military aid to the Netanyahu government.
On Saturday, the American Jewish Committee praised Trump’s action in a statement.
“In joining Israel’s effort to eliminate the Iranian nuclear threat, the U.S. demonstrated the indelible strength of the U.S.-Israel alliance and the unshakeable values shared by the two countries,” the AJC said. “The world cannot allow the Iranian regime — the world’s largest state sponsor of terror — to obtain nuclear weapons, capable of reaching Israel and Europe, or to be provided to the regime’s terror proxies around the region and across the globe. Together, the U.S. and Israel have severely hindered this major threat to global security.”
