Local Voices
Dozens Of Georgians Call For Lasting Peace As Israel And Iran Maintain Fragile Truce
Many of those at the vigil said they are concerned about the U.S. being dragged into a broader war that could be costly in money and lives.
June 26, 2025
More than 100 people gathered in an Atlanta park Tuesday evening for a vigil opposing further American intervention in the war between Israel and Iran.
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Activists hold candles at an anti-war vigil in Atlanta. Ross Williams/Georgia Recorder
As of Wednesday afternoon, Israel and Iran are engaged in a tenuous truce after U.S. forces bombed key Iranian nuclear facilities Saturday. War broke out between the long-time enemy nations earlier this month when Israel launched a surprise attack on nuclear and military sites in Iran, which retaliated with missile strikes against Israel.
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As the sun set Tuesday, organizers handed out electric tea candles to members of the crowd. Activists at the rear of the group brought a large illuminated sign reading “Trump must go now,” shining a dim light on the proceedings.
Shabnam Bashiri, an Iranian-American and organizer with the American Friends Service Committee, dismissed arguments from supporters of the U.S. strikes that the attacks will spur Iranians to rise up against their government.
“At the end of the day, liberation never comes from the outside,” she said. “So it’s up to the Iranian people to determine that for themselves. I think the idea that folks would be greeted as liberators with bombs is just a ridiculous thing to think, and it has been proven over and over again that that’s not the case, and I hope that people’s memories aren’t so short-term.”
Many of those at the vigil said they are concerned about the U.S. being dragged into a broader war that could be costly in money and lives.
Atlanta Grandmothers for Peace at an anti-war rally. Ross Williams/Georgia Recorder
“This is the same pattern that we have seen used before, the same pattern of we have to stop them from getting this weapon that we do not have evidence that these strikes will stop, we have to act now” said Marisa Pyle, an organizer with Jewish Voice for Peace Atlanta. “This is what we’re told time and time again, without evidence, from people who want to escalate aggression for their own goals and to consolidate their own power.”
President Donald Trump and allies have said the strikes were intended to thwart Iran’s ambitions to obtain a nuclear weapon. The U.S. intelligence community as recently as March reported that Iran was not seeking to create such a weapon.
“Our president is ignoring our intelligence agencies, ignoring the entire world’s intelligence, saying that Iran does not have nuclear bombs, and we are going purely off of what Israel is asking us to do, and that is not OK,” said attendee Shanda Williams.
Among Georgia leaders, reaction to the strikes fell mostly along party lines, with Republicans generally but not universally backing them and Democrats mostly in opposition, arguing that they were not necessary and that Trump should have sought approval from Congress.
Activists hold candles at an anti-war vigil in Atlanta. Ross Williams/Georgia Recorder
As the vigil went on, attendees waved signs to passing traffic, eliciting honks and cheers as well as some less supportive noises from motorists, including cries of “Trump!”
Atlanta Civil rights attorney Mawuli Davis compared the protests with those organized by Georgia civil rights icon Martin Luther King Jr., who spoke out against the Vietnam War – a stance that earned him criticism at the time.
“There are going to be people who will point at us and criticize us and use all kinds of scapegoating and all kinds of tactics to try to diminish our voice, but we can’t allow that to dissuade us from knowing that we’re standing on the right side of this,” he said. “You can’t say you love Dr. King if you don’t love non-violence and you don’t love the call to stop the war, no wars. The connection is clear, it’s not about being popular, it’s about justice and being on the right side of history.”
The Georgia Recorder,an independent, nonprofit news organization, connects public policies to stories of the people and communities affected by them through a steady mix of in-depth reporting, blog posts, and social media updates on the latest news and progressive commentary. The Recorder is part of States Newsroom, a national 501(c)(3) nonprofit supported by grants and a coalition of donors and readers.
