It is both astonishing and deeply unsettling to see how even educated, critically minded individuals fall for false pretexts used to justify Israel’s aggression against Iran. In moments like these, moral clarity is not optional—it’s urgent.

Let’s lay things out plainly:

First, Israel launched its attack on Iran under the claim of preemptive self-defense—a concept that should raise alarms. It’s the same doctrine that George W. Bush invoked to justify the invasion of Iraq in 2003. The logic is circular: attack first, and call it defense. That’s not strategy—it’s legalized aggression.

Second, this is not just about open warfare. Israel’s actions include targeted assassinations—scientists, engineers, and at times, even their family members. These are not battlefield casualties; they are acts of terrorism by any honest definition. Yet they are brushed aside by mainstream narratives.

Third, we are once again watching the “WMD script” unfold. Iran is painted as a threat because of supposed nuclear ambitions—ambitions that remain unproven. This is Iraq 2.0. We’ve seen this movie before, and it didn’t end well.

Fourth, the irony is brutal: the country launching the attack is itself a nuclear power. Israel’s nuclear arsenal is an open secret—unacknowledged officially, but universally understood. Meanwhile, Iran remains a signatory of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and has, at various stages, cooperated with international inspectors. Who, then, is the real threat to global norms?

Fifth, we’re now witnessing the “Afghanistanization” of Iran. The violence is whitewashed through the narrative of women’s liberation. Bombs are dropped in the name of freedom. It’s a grotesque and cynical manipulation of feminist language for imperial ends.

Sixth, and perhaps most tragically, the global response has been one of numbed indifference. While Iran is under assault, Israel continues its campaign in Gaza—what many experts and legal scholars increasingly describe as a genocide. And yet, justice moves at a glacial pace, if at all. The international court system appears blind, slow, or already dead. Arab regimes remain divided and subdued, their outrage either muted or transactional. The major powers offer little more than platitudes—lip service without backbone.

We are living through a collapse of moral credibility. Never before has the language of human rights, peace, and democracy been so hollow—especially when it comes from Western actors who so freely disregard these principles in practice.

Even more painful is the loud silence of the global academic community. When universities in Gaza were reduced to rubble, there was no global outcry from the institutions that supposedly cherish knowledge, dialogue, and critical thought. Today, as Iranian scientists are being assassinated—sometimes along with their families—those same voices remain conspicuously quiet.

How can a community that so often speaks of academic freedom and the sanctity of education stay silent as education is bombed and educators are murdered? Their silence is not neutrality—it is complicity.

What we’re witnessing isn’t just a geopolitical crisis. It’s a test of collective conscience—and right now, we are failing it.

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Biljana Vankovska is Professor of political science and international relations at Ss. Cyril and Methodius University in Macedonia, TFF board member, No Cold War collective member, peace activist, leftist, columnist, 2024 presidential candidate.

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