By Basim Elkarra
Executive Director, CAIR Action
This Fourth of July arrives under the glare of real missiles, not fireworks. Almost two weeks ago, President Donald Trump ordered air-strikes on Iran’s nuclear sites without a single vote of Congress, plunging the United States into open hostilities before a fragile cease-fire took hold. Our national birthday, therefore, poses a deeper question: Will we be free to oppose the next war?
We like to think of Independence Day as a celebration of freedom, democracy, and the rule of law. But those ideals are meaningless if we abandon them when they become inconvenient. And right now, we are at risk of doing just that.
President Trump has carried out strikes on Iranian soil, violating the War Powers Resolution and pushing us closer to regional—or even global—conflict. This is not just a foreign policy crisis. It’s a constitutional one.
The power to declare war belongs to Congress. That’s not a technicality—it’s a safeguard meant to prevent exactly this kind of unilateral escalation. Yet our political leaders are failing to act. Worse, some are working to suppress public dissent instead of preventing another endless war.
This moment also demands a firm commitment to the First Amendment. We must protect the right of Americans to speak out, especially when our government is on the brink of deadly conflict. But instead, we’re seeing a disturbing trend: those who challenge U.S. militarism, question Israel’s war on Gaza, or stand up for Palestinian rights are being punished, surveilled, and silenced.
Will those who oppose war with Iran face the same treatment?
Across campuses, city halls, and community spaces, voices for peace are under attack. Muslim students are expelled, professors doxxed, protesters arrested, and entire communities are treated as threats for demanding accountability. This climate of fear doesn’t just chill speech—it undermines democracy.
Even in California, the birthplace of the free speech movement, the backlash has been swift. Many CSU and UC systems have banned encampments and suspended students protesting the war in Gaza. The UC system has quietly cooperated with federal investigations into campus protests, while faculty and community leaders in Los Angeles report increased surveillance and FBI visits. If this is happening in a state that prides itself on civil liberties, imagine the repression elsewhere.
The hypocrisy is glaring. We celebrate independence movements in some parts of the world but condemn or ignore them in others. We claim to value the rule of law, yet violate our Constitution when it comes to war. We say we support free speech—until that speech challenges power.
Let’s be clear: standing against war is not unpatriotic. It is profoundly American. Dissent is not a threat to freedom—it is how freedom survives.
This Fourth of July, we must demand more than symbolism. We must return to our founding principles: the right to self determination, the separation of powers, and the freedom to dissent without fear.
As an American Muslim, I was taught to honor the laws of this land and to cherish its promises. But those promises ring hollow when they are only extended to the privileged. True patriotism means fighting for the rights of all people—immigrants facing deportation, Muslims under surveillance, Palestinians under occupation, and Iranians who may soon face more bombs.
We cannot celebrate freedom while silencing those who cry out for it. We cannot defend democracy while enabling war without consent.
This Independence Day, let’s reject selective freedom and instead defend the right to speak out, organize, and resist the next unjust war.
Because freedom—real freedom—is not just what we celebrate. It’s what we protect, especially when it matters most.
