The air crackles not just with the detonation of missiles over Gaza, Damascus, or Isfahan, but with the shattering of millennia-old landscapes and the suffocation of hope. The chronic, venomous hostility between Israel and Iran, a conflict metastasizing across the Levant, isn’t merely a regional power struggle; it is a vortex threatening to consume us all in its widening gyre of despair. In this crucible of fire and fear, where ancient grievances fuel modern arsenals, the clarion call for America, and indeed the conscience of the world, is not to choose a side between these entrenched adversaries, but to choose a higher path. It is to wield the only weapons potent enough to forge an enduring peace: Altruism, Truth, Justice, and Peace itself. This is the imperative lens through which Olujide Stephen Adesina, drawing on the deep currents of history and the urgent cry of humanity, views this imbroglio.
To choose Israel or Iran is to succumb to a dangerous, self-defeating binary. It is to validate a zero-sum game where every gain for one is etched in the blood and rubble of the other, and ultimately, in the stability of the globe. America, perched precariously as the historical guarantor for Israel and the arch-nemesis for Iran, finds itself in a uniquely perilous position. Its reflexive, often unconditional support for Israel, forged in the fires of post-Holocaust guilt and Cold War strategy, has blinded it to the corrosive realities of occupation, settlement expansion, and the systematic erosion of Palestinian dignity – realities that feed the very resentment Iran exploits. Conversely, its demonization of Iran, while not without basis given Tehran’s support for proxies and its own repressive theocracy, ignores the complex historical tapestry: the legacy of Western intervention, the crushing sanctions that immiserate ordinary Iranians, and the legitimate, if often dangerously pursued, desire for regional influence and security perceived through a specific historical prism. To side unequivocally with either is to become complicit in their chosen narratives of victimhood and exceptionalism, narratives weaponized to justify endless cycles of retribution. True Justice demands we see beyond the flags and the propaganda, to the shared humanity beneath. It demands accountability from all – for the horrors of October 7th, for the devastating toll in Gaza, for the destabilizing actions of Hezbollah and the Houthis, for the suppression of dissent in Tehran, for the denial of self-determination.
Here, Truth becomes our indispensable, if elusive, compass. It requires piercing the fog of war propaganda emanating from all quarters. It means acknowledging the profound, legitimate fear for existential survival felt in Israel, born of historical trauma and present threats. Simultaneously, it demands recognizing the palpable, generations-deep anguish, humiliation, and yearning for freedom defining the Palestinian experience under occupation and blockade. Regarding Iran, truth compels us to see beyond the inflammatory rhetoric of its leaders to understand the aspirations and suffering of its people, caught between authoritarian rule and external pressure. It means scrutinizing all claims of military necessity, all casualty figures, all justifications for violence, with relentless, unbiased rigor. America, with its vast intelligence apparatus and global media reach, has a profound responsibility – not to amplify selective truths that serve a partisan agenda, but to illuminate the complex, uncomfortable whole. Only truth, however painful, can form the foundation for genuine understanding and eventual reconciliation. Without it, we build peace on sand.
This pursuit necessitates Altruism – the radical, selfless concern for the well-being of the other, even the enemy. It is the antithesis of the narrow, tribalistic nationalism fueling this conflict. Altruism asks Israel to see beyond the immediate security threat to the long-term impossibility of security built solely on domination and the denial of Palestinian rights. It asks Iran to consider whether its quest for regional hegemony through proxy warfare truly serves the interests of the Muslim world or merely perpetuates suffering and instability. Crucially, altruism demands that America transcend its own entangled interests, its domestic political pressures, and its historical baggage. America must find the moral courage and strategic wisdom to unequivocally state: while its commitment to Israel’s security remains, this commitment cannot, and will not, extend to the sacrifice of American lives on the frontlines of this specific, escalating Iran-Israel confrontation. Funding, intelligence sharing, diplomatic cover – these forms of support, while deeply problematic if unconditional, are one thing. But placing American soldiers directly in the crossfire between Tel Aviv and Tehran is an unacceptable escalation, a betrayal of the very citizens whose well-being should be paramount. It risks a regional inferno for which there is no victor, only ash. True altruism for America means being an honest broker, using its immense leverage not to enable further aggression by either side, but to demand de-escalation, to enforce red lines protecting civilians, and to channel resources not into arms, but into rebuilding shattered lives and fostering dialogue. It means prioritizing the lives of innocents across the region over geopolitical point-scoring.
For the ultimate aim, the only sustainable outcome, is Peace. Not the fragile calm of deterrence, not the tense silence between rounds of violence, but a just and enduring peace. This peace cannot be dictated by the powerful upon the weak. It cannot be secured by missiles or cyberattacks. It requires the dismantling of structures of oppression and the cessation of state-sponsored violence. It demands recognizing the legitimate rights and security needs of all peoples involved: Israelis, Palestinians, Iranians, Lebanese, Yemenis. It necessitates inclusive dialogue, however difficult, involving not just governments but representatives of civil society, women, youth – those who bear the brunt of war and hold the deepest stake in peace. America’s role here is pivotal, not as a partisan cheerleader, but as a facilitator leveraging its influence to bring all parties, however reluctant, to the table under international auspices. It means actively supporting frameworks for regional security that include, rather than seek to isolate or overthrow, Iran, while simultaneously demanding verifiable constraints on its destabilizing activities and nuclear program. It means applying equal pressure on Israel to end policies that perpetuate conflict and violate international law. This path is arduous, fraught with setbacks, but it is the only path that leads away from the abyss.
History’s ledger is stained with the blood of conflicts where sides were chosen, where might was mistaken for right, and where the fundamental values of our common humanity were sacrificed on the altar of realpolitik. The Israel-Iran shadow war, now threatening to burst into open, catastrophic conflict, presents a stark choice. America stands at a crossroads. Will it continue down the well-trodden path of blind allegiance and military entanglement, risking everything for a conflict not its own? Or will it grasp the mantle of moral leadership, wielding the potent, transformative weapons of Altruism– prioritizing human life over strategic gain; Truth– speaking uncomfortable facts to power, all power; Justice– demanding accountability and rights for all, without exception; and Peace– as the relentless, non-negotiable goal?
Let these values be our witness against the madness. Let them be the compass guiding us through the geopolitical labyrinth. Let them be the anthem that drowns out the drums of war, an anthem not of naivete, but of the most profound and necessary courage – the courage to choose humanity over tribe, the future over the feud, life over death. For in the end, only this light, unyielding and clear, can save us from the consuming darkness we are so perilously courting. The time to wield these weapons is now. The cost of failure is beyond measure.
Olujide Stephen Adesina
Cybersecurity Consultant, Scholar, Author of “Between Borders: Lost in the Shadow of a Cold Country,” and Advocate for Peace and Justice in the 21st Century
