Log in
Since June 12, Israel has been carrying out a coordinated military assault against several civilian infrastructures in Tehran and other Iranian cities. This marks the second direct offensive in just 14 months. Once again, the Israeli state is acting in blatant violation of international law—without a United Nations (UN) mandate, without any proven imminent threat, and with no regard for regional stability or civilian lives.
This latest act of aggression is further proof of the strategy of Benjamin Netanyahu’s government: to sabotage diplomatic efforts in the Middle East, perpetuate chaos to consolidate his power, and block any progress toward international recognition of a Palestinian state.
The attack comes as sensitive negotiations on the Iranian nuclear program had resumed between Tehran and Washington. Netanyahu is seeking to torpedo these efforts and drag the United States into a military confrontation, like the one launched by the Bush administration against Iraq in 2003.
In 2003, Canada stood firm. Thanks to public mobilization—including the 150,000 people who marched in Montreal on a freezing February day against the war in Iraq —the Chrétien government refused to join a war based on lies (though, quietly, the Liberals still found ways to provide material support to the U.S. war effort). Today, Ottawa’s silence in the face of this latest violation of international law by Israel stands in stark contrast to that legacy.
A strategy of chaos
The parallels with the Iraq War are disturbing. The pretext offered by Israel hinges on a supposed Iranian nuclear threat—one that neither the International Atomic Energy Agency nor the United Nations have confirmed. Even if such a threat did exist, it would not justify a preemptive strike, which is explicitly prohibited by the UN Charter.
These strikes are part of a pattern of systematic aggression: bombing and ethnic cleansing in Gaza, illegal expansion of settlements in the West Bank, and strikes in Lebanon and Syria. The goal is clear: to extend the occupation, complete the ethnic cleansing of Palestine, and de facto annex the pre-1948 territories.
With its brutality and constant violations of international humanitarian law, Israel is acting with impunity as a rogue state. It now seeks to impose its will on Iran through force and terror. And yet, Canada and the other Western countries who gathered at the G7 summit insult our intelligence by portraying the aggressor as the victim and repeating the meaningless phrase: “Israel has the right to defend itself.”
For anyone who values justice, this double standard only reinforces the already widespread global perception that the West is neither credible nor trustworthy.
The theocratic regime in Iran is certainly not without its critics. It is a repressive and corrupt regime that has betrayed the ideals of the democratic revolution of 1979. It tramples on the rights of its people, who, with uprising after uprising, have made clear their rejection of the regime.
But no state is entitled to use justice for Iranians as a pretext for advancing its own ambitions for domination—certainly not Netanyahu, who is discredited by corruption charges, contested in his own country, and willing to set the entire region ablaze for his own political survival.
Canada’s silent complicity
Canada likes to portray itself as a peace-loving nation, but it has remained passive in the face of Israeli aggression against Iran. Prime Minister Mark Carney calls on both countries to “exercise restraint,” but has remained timid when it comes to the Israeli aggressor.
Canada’s sanctions against two extremist Israeli ministers—Ben-Gvir and Smotrich—for their abuses in the West Bank are necessary but insufficient. In 2024 alone, Canada exported more than $19 million worth of arms and military equipment to Israel. Far from reflecting the values of peace, this makes us complicit.
A new poll from earlier this month suggests half of Canadians believe Israel is committing genocide in Gaza. Yet, the political class refuses to translate these shifts in public opinion into action.
In Quebec, Premier François Legault claims the public supports the development of a military-industrial sector in the province. This is a blatant manipulation. In 2003, Quebec was the birthplace of the largest anti-war movement in the country. Even today, a majority of Quebecers want investments in diplomacy, the ecological transition, and education—not in drones and munitions.
What can be done to stop Netanyahu?
Israel’s aggression against Iran threatens to ignite the region and trigger an open confrontation with the United States. Canada must distance itself from Netanyahu’s agenda, take a firm stand by unequivocally condemning Israeli aggression at the UN, suspend all arms exports to Israel, and support universities, unions, and institutions that choose to divest from companies complicit in the occupation.
Since Lester B. Pearson, Canada has built a reputation as a mediator and defender of international law. But the country’s military involvement in Afghanistan, alignment with NATO, and ever-increasing military spending have largely undermined that reputation.
The international solidarity organization I work with, Alternatives, calls on the Carney government to reconnect with the ideals Pearson once espoused.
In 2003, Canada largely respected the will of the people regarding the war in Iraq. Now, as Netanyahu plays with fire, that example reminds us of the importance of recommitting ourselves to peace.
Israel is attacking Iran at the risk of provoking a nuclear escalation. Its rogue government is starving and massacring Palestinian civilians and normalizing genocide. If we do not take concrete steps to stop Netanyahu, we are complicit in that normalization. History, after all, was supposed to teach us to no longer bow to the “banality of evil.”
Amir Khadir is a member of the Board of Directors of Alternatives.
A French version of this piece appeared in the June 17, 2025, edition of Le Devoir.
