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🇺🇸 FNF News | U.S. Politics & World Affairs
Published: June 14, 2025
By: Khadija Khan, Senior Political Correspondent
“There Was Never Going to Be Peace in the Middle East”: Iranian Jews, Legal Immigrants Speak Out on U.S. Policy Illusions
Washington, D.C. — As U.S. policymakers continue to grapple with deteriorating conditions in the Middle East, diaspora voices—including those of Iranian Jews and immigrants from conflict-ridden regions—are calling out what they describe as a “fantasy of peace” long sold by American administrations.
“There was never going to be peace in the Middle East,” says Miriam E., an Iranian Jew and legal immigrant to the U.S. with ancestral ties to Iran, Ukraine, and Russia. “This was a Western delusion. Anyone who lived through the collapse of empires, Islamic revolution, or Soviet chaos knows better than to buy that narrative.”
The statement resonates with growing frustration among immigrant communities who view U.S. diplomacy as naive, particularly following recent escalations in Israel, Lebanon, Iraq, and Iran.
Middle East “Peace Process”: A Failed American Export
For decades, Washington has promoted what it calls a “peace process” in the Middle East—supporting two-state solutions, normalizations like the Abraham Accords, and regional summits often spearheaded by presidential envoys. But critics now say that this framework was based more on political theater than reality.
“The so-called peace process was always about optics for Washington, not about fixing core conflicts,” says Trita Parsi, executive vice president of the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft. “The U.S. strategy relied on maintaining American hegemony, not regional stability.”
Recent history seems to back up this claim:
- The Abraham Accords (2020–2021), hailed by the Trump administration for normalizing Israel’s relations with several Arab nations, failed to address the root issue of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. According to a 2023 Brookings report, these agreements increased Israeli security cooperation but did little to reduce tensions in Gaza or the West Bank.
- The 2024 Israel-Hezbollah war displaced over 200,000 people and left Northern Israel and Southern Lebanon in ruins, according to UNHCR.
- Iran’s hardline policies under Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei have grown even more rigid following the failure of the Biden administration to reenter the JCPOA nuclear deal, sparking fresh regional arms races.
- U.S. military presence remains scattered across Iraq and Syria, despite repeated pledges to “end forever wars.”
Diaspora Voices: “We Saw This Coming”
For many in the Iranian, Jewish, Russian, and Middle Eastern immigrant communities, the narrative pushed in Washington doesn’t match lived reality.
“American liberals and neocons alike kept talking about peace like it was a matter of signing documents,” says David K., a Russian-Ukrainian Jew whose family fled Tehran in the 1980s. “But in the real world, ancient hatreds, proxy militias, and religious zealots don’t evaporate with a handshake.”
The ongoing war in Gaza has reignited global tensions. According to the Jerusalem Post, over 36,000 Palestinians have died since October 2023. Meanwhile, Israeli officials maintain the war is necessary to “eliminate Hamas infrastructure,” but human rights groups say collective punishment has escalated.
“I lost family in both the Iranian revolution and the Ukraine war,” says Miriam. “I know propaganda when I hear it. The U.S. government wants to look moral, but it doesn’t want to deal with complex, ugly truths.”
Biden’s Balancing Act: Too Little, Too Late?
The Biden administration’s foreign policy, while less overtly aggressive than Trump’s, has still failed to inspire confidence. Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s 2025 peace tour in the Middle East ended in diplomatic stalemate. Critics note the administration seems torn between appeasing progressive Democrats calling for a ceasefire in Gaza, and pro-Israel lobbyists like AIPAC pushing for unconditional military support.
“Washington is losing credibility in the region,” says Middle East analyst Rami Khouri. “Arabs see the U.S. as an unreliable ally. Iranians see them as hostile. Even Israel feels isolated.”
In April 2025, Saudi Arabia and China held a regional summit without U.S. involvement—a sign of shifting power centers. A report by the International Crisis Group warned that a “post-American Middle East” is forming, fueled by new alliances between Gulf monarchies, Russia, and Iran.
The Role of Religion, Identity, and Memory
For Iranian Jews like Miriam, geopolitical disillusionment is layered with personal and cultural trauma. Her family once thrived in Iran’s Jewish quarter under the Shah, only to be expelled after the Islamic Revolution of 1979. They then escaped Soviet antisemitism, finally settling in America.
“To pretend like peace is just a matter of policy is to erase the history of people like me,” she says. “Jews, Arabs, Persians—we carry history in our blood. And it doesn’t forget easily.”
This identity mosaic reflects the complex intersections of ethnicity, faith, and immigration that rarely factor into D.C. talking points.
Immigrants and Realism: A Growing Political Force
As U.S. demographics shift, immigrants who fled from real-world instability may become a key political voice pushing for foreign policy realism. Organizations like United Against Nuclear Iran, Persian Americans for Liberty, and Ukrainian Jewish Encounter have emerged as influential lobbying groups.
“I trust immigrants from warzones more than Ivy League think tankers,” says Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-FL), herself of Mexican descent. “They know what collapse looks like.”
A recent Pew Research poll found that 62% of Middle Eastern and South Asian immigrants believe the U.S. should “minimize involvement in foreign conflicts” compared to just 42% of native-born Americans.
Conclusion: A Bitter Truth, Not a Peace Treaty
For many legal immigrants, the promise of American diplomacy feels like a broken record.
“There is no peace to broker,” Miriam repeats. “There’s only power, fear, and survival. That’s the real Middle East.”
And in a post-October 7th world, where alliances crack and wars resume, the voices of those who have already lived through collapse may be the most honest ones left.
Sources:
- Brookings Institution – Middle East Peace and the Abraham Accords
- UNHCR Displacement Reports – Israel-Lebanon 2024
- Jerusalem Post – Gaza Conflict Casualty Updates
- International Crisis Group – U.S. Influence in the Middle East
- Pew Research Center – Immigrant Attitudes Toward Foreign Policy