"The unique situation of a global pandemic reinforces the need to advocate for and amplify the voices of the marginalized and disenfranchised. American-led wars and disastrous foreign policies have decimated health systems, through war in Iraq and Yemen , sanctions in Iran and beyond. Millions of refugees live in camps and unsafe housing without proper medical care and without the ability to stop the rapid spread of the virus. Migrant workers in Gulf countries without legal rights are under lockdown in crowded facilities. Vast inequality decreases many people’s ability to access adequate medical care. For these reasons, our mission is more vital than ever." —MERIP (Middle East Research and Information Project), 26 March 2020
“The West won the world not by the superiority of its ideas or values or religion (to which few members of other civilizations were converted) but rather by its superiority in applying organized violence. Westerners often forget this fact; non-Westerners never do.” —Samuel P. Huntington, The Clash of Civilisation and the Remaking of the World Order, 1996, p. 51