Workers Resistance

Category: Asia

  • ILPS: In honor of the immortal General Vo Nguyen Giap

    Fight Back News Service is circulating the following statement by Professor Jose Maria Sison,Chairperson, International League of Peoples’ Struggle(ILPS).

    We, the International League of Peoples’ Struggle, solemnly honor and render our highest respects to the immortal General Vo Nguyen Giap upon his passing away on 4 October. He was a close comrade in arms of the great Ho Chi Minh and outstanding hero, leader and commander of the Vietnamese people’s revolutionary struggles for national liberation against Japanese, French and US imperialism.

    He was born to a peasant family in 1911 but he was able to go to school. In 1922 he joined the anti-colonial student movement. After graduating with high honors from the university,he became a teacher and journalist noted for his patriotic and progressive views. In 1933 he became a member of the Communist Party of Indochina and soon a member of the leading core under the direction of Ho Chi Minh.

    He founded and led the Vietnam People’s Army under the leadership of the Communist Party. He adopted and developed the strategic line of people’s war against the foreign aggressors and occupiers of his country. He built the people’s army as the politico-military weapon of the Vietnamese people in order to achieve brilliant victories against the enemy.

    In late 1941, he formed the first guerrilla groups in the mountains of Vietnam. He made an alliance with the armed formation of a national minority in northeastern Vietnam. By mid-1945 he had some 10,000 fighters under his command and carried out an offensive against the Japanese invaders. Thus, the way was made for the Viet Minh to undertake the August Revolution on a nationwide scale, compelling Emperor Bao Dai to abdicate on 25 August and proceeding to the proclamation of Vietnam’s independence on 2 September 1945.

    He directed the people’s war that brought utter defeat to the French colonial army at the battle of Dien Bien Phu. He mustered 100,000 fighters and another 100,000 workers (many of them women) to encircle and gain vantage points against the enemy. The heroic people’s army and the people struggling for national and social liberation under the leadership of the Communist Party inflicted heavy losses on the enemy forces and compelled them to surrender.

    The brilliance of Vo Nguyen Giap as a strategist of protracted people’s war came to the fore by reflecting and availing of the revolutionary determination and courage of the Vietnamese people against the US war of aggression from the 1960s to 1972. He and his people were not cowed by the US which had become the strongest imperialist power in the course of World War II. They fought even harder and more effectively even as US imperialism barbarically used weapons of mass destruction.

    The US killed one million Vietnamese combatants and four million civilians, who constituted a large percentage of the Vietnamese population then. This is reminiscent of the US butchery in the killing of 1.5 million Filipinos from 1899 to 1913, and more than 3 million Koreans from 1951 to 1953. To this day, the Vietnamese people continue to suffer from the chemical warfare waged by the US, which poured millions of liters of Agent Orange on Vietnam.

    As the US war of aggression went on, the people of the world, including the American people, were outraged by the barbarism of US military forces and were inspired by the heroic resistance of the Vietnamese people. The anti-imperialist and democratic movement expanded and intensified on a global scale. The US started to sue for peace in 1969 and withdrew from Vietnam under the Paris Peace Accord of 1972, after the death of 58,226 US troops and many more wounded.

    US imperialism accepted defeat as it was faced with the prospect of losing more troops and financial resources at a faster rate and as the American people and the people of the world condemned the war of aggression on an ever widening scale. The people of an underdevelopedcountry and victims of aggression achieved a resounding victory over US imperialism.

    Since then, the defeat of US imperialism in Vietnam has served to show the limits of US economic and military power and has inspired the oppressed peoples and nations of the world to persevere and intensify their struggle for national and social liberation. All peoples of the world emulate the heroic example and indomitable spirit of the immortal General Vo Nguyen Giap in fighting for national independence, democracy, socialism, international solidarity and peace.

  • Imperialism and War: Syria and the Middle East

    Fight Back News Service is circulating the following speech given by Joe Iosbaker to the Sept. 29 Chicago conference against drone warfare. Iosbaker, a member of the Chicago Anti-War Committee, was one of the main organizers of the massive march on the NATO Summit. He is also one of the anti-war and international solidarity activist raided by the FBI in 2010. 

    Introduction 

    At the start of this month, the whole world was tense as the U.S. proclaimed it was going to start missile strikes against Syria. It seemed likely that the U.S. wouldn’t stop after a few days of war, but would continue to attack Syria and cause as many deaths as the puppet FSA [Free Syrian Army] had caused in two and a half years.

    Then Russia proposed a diplomatic solution to take Syria’s chemical weapons and, to the surprise of all, President Obama accepted it. 

    But then John Kerry said that the U.S. would only go along with putting Syrian’s weapons under international control if there was the threat of force in a UN resolution. Then this Friday, the U.S. had to back down on that in the United Nations Security Council resolution on eliminating Syrian chemical weapons. They had to drop the threat of force if Syria doesn’t comply.

    Stepping back, we can see that for two and a half years, the U.S. has funded and directed forces to intervene, with the Gulf Cooperation Council, NATO and Israel playing roles; on the other hand, the U.S. has refused direct military action [such as]bombing, invasion. 

    What explains this contradiction? Why couldn’t the U.S., the most powerful military might on earth, carry out war on this small nation?

    There other developments about the U.S. intervention in Syria that seem contradictory:

    The U.S. has spent two and a half years funding and helping to direct an armed attack on the Syria’s government and the people of Syria. They intervened during the Arab Spring, the moment there was a mass protest movement there against unpopular policies of opening the economy to investment and then the resulting austerity measures.

    They armed the only forces they found, including forces aligned with the Salafist movement, Al Nusra Front and other Al Qaeda linked groups.

    On Sept. 26, we learned that the most significant of the ‘moderate’ armies fighting the Syrian government have quit the U.S. puppet FSA and joined forces with Al Nusra. They have called for an Islamic front, instead. 

    But in the Sept. 26 issue of Foreign Policy magazine, the most influential publication on the topic in D.C., they put out that they think Assad will go and be replaced by former Defense Minister, Ali Habib. The article reflects thinking in the White House about how to resolve the Syrian conflict, as well as the worries in Washington and Israel that the sectarian, foreign-led and dominated armies aligned with Al Qaeda would come to power if the U.S./Israel succeed in forcing out Assad. 

    How come the U.S. says that its main mission on earth is to fight Al Qaeda, but then it arms Al Qaeda against countries that have never attacked the U.S. Isn’t this a contradiction, too?

    Let’s answer that by looking at some general questions: What is the status of U.S. power in the world today? What factors is the U.S. dealing with? And what determines U.S. policy in a particular country?

    U.S. is weaker and there’s a rising trend toward independence from their control

    The world has changed since the days after 9/11. The camp of resistance is growing and U.S. influence is in decline. 

    The economic crisis gets part of the credit for that. Although the capitalists don’t suffer like we do when there’s a crisis, it has weakened the power and prestige of the rich countries and the corporations.

    But even before that, Bush’s invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq and the Cheney/Rumsfeld plan to go after “Iraq, then Syria, Lebanon, Libya, Iran, Somalia and Sudan” had all been an effort by the U.S. to turn back the hands of time, to put the U.S. back on top of the world they had ruled in the 1950s and 1960s.

    The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan ended in defeat and stalemate. One clear consequence: the U.S. can’t use the method of massive invasions any more.

    And the role of Russia in the struggle over Syria shows that the U.S. has to deal with rising powers, like the BRIC nations. Russia and China made it clear the U.S. wouldn’t get a United Nations Security Council vote for this war.

    The people of the U.S., Britain and the other members of the NATO are sick of war and they’re sick of being lied to. When the U.S. upped the ante on Syria, things came to a head. President Obama found himself isolated on the world stage and domestically.

    So the sudden changes in U.S. plans around Syria are a result of contradictions: first, the U.S. puppet army is losing to Syria’s army and militia; second, there’s a contradiction between the U.S. and Russia, which is no longer standing aside while the U.S. wages war; and third there’s a contradiction between the U.S. and it’s NATO allied governments and the peoples of those countries.

    U.S. objectives remain

    Of course, the changes in military form haven’t changed the underlying content of U.S. objectives: this place is an empire. The rulers want cheap labor and control of natural resources in other lands. They are like vampires – they have to have it.

    On the one hand, the U.S. is weaker and unable to get what they want; on the other hand, they are compelled to keep trying. Rumsfeld’s vision of invading Syria is gone, at least for now. 

    But the arming of Al Qaeda armies is not a contradiction. U.S. imperialism will back whoever and whatever serves its interests. In one country, Al Qaeda linked is the worst threat to humanity; in the next country, they are recipients of arms and intelligence to fight a government that the U.S. has determined must go.

    New focus on Iran

    These losses have made the U.S. focus more on Iran. A new president in Iran doesn’t change that. The U.S. has adopted the stand toward Iran that they won’t accept an independent power in the Middle East. Syria is aligned with Iran, and so the fate of the two countries is tied together in the view of the empire.

    The Arab Spring: A threat, then an opportunity

    But right now the U.S. can’t handle a war of a similar or greater scale than Iraq. That’s why the U.S. was both anxious and excited by the Arab Spring. They used the dissatisfaction throughout the region, which was aimed squarely at U.S. puppets in Tunisia, Egypt and Bahrain, to go after governments with a history of independence from the U.S.: Libya and Syria. The U.S. maneuvered to take control of the situation and develop contradictions in their favor in Libya. With the success of their operation there, they felt they were in a much better position step up their attempts to topple the government of Syria.

    As in Libya, they offered support to the Islamists, even though supporting them in Libya resulted in ‘blowback,’ in the attacks on Western oil installation in Algeria and the U.S. embassy. 

    Summation

    The U.S. seems to be acting in a contradictory way in Syria, but something unites their decisions in every action they take: is it in the interests of U.S. imperialism?

    They want to go to war with Syria and Iran, but they don’t have the support or the resources for an invasion. 

    They want to bomb Syria, but they can’t get support at home or in Britain and more countries are standing up to them.

    They are willing to back any force against Assad, even though they worry about Israel, for example,being attacked by the mercenary armies they have created.

    New Tactics

    Invasions aren’t popular, and the U.S. can’t rely on an Arab Spring to emerge everywhere.

    If you can’t invade, how does an empire achieve its objectives of punishing independent people or rebellious populations? The answers: proxy armies, drone warfare and special operations. Proxy armies are being used in Syria and before that Libya. Drone warfare first emerged in use against Pakistan, because the Pashtun people that have been the main base of the national resistance live on both sides of the Afghanistan/Pakistan border. The Obama administration then has taken the technology to Yemen, Somalia, Mali and Iran. We know that they intend to use it even more in the future because one growth area in the Pentagon’s otherwise shrinking budget is the budget for drones.

    Conclusion

    In our work against U.S. wars, we have to stand against threats to arm puppet armies; to assassinate or back coups; to carry out bombing and missile attacks; and we have to oppose drone warfare, as it is the most popular form of their undeclared wars.

  • People from across Midwest march on Boeing, say ‘No to drones’

    Chicago, IL – 200 people marched against Boeing Company on Sept 28. Many participants and organizers from that march met for a conference the following day to share skills, experiences and knowledge that will help strengthen the movement against drone warfare.

    50 of the protesters came from other states around the Midwest, from groups like the Wisconsin Coalition to Ground the Drones & End the Wars, the Minnesota-based groups Anti-War Committee, Women Against Military Madness and the Brainerd Area Coalition for Peace as well as others from Michigan, Indiana and Missouri. The Anti-War Committee-Chicago (AWC) had called for the march and the groups were joined by the ANSWER Coalition, the Syrian American Forum, U.S. Palestinian Community Network and other Chicago organizations.

    The Boeing headquarters was the destination for the marchers. Boeing has been targeted by the AWC because they are vying for a Pentagon contract to build a new combat drone. Boeing is the second largest arms manufacturer in the U.S.

    Combat drones have become controversial in the past two years in part because the Obama administration has sent drones to assassinate American citizens in Yemen. According to Medea Benjamin, founder of the anti-war group Code Pink, the majority of drone victims in Pakistan are not ‘high level Al Qaeda’ leaders but civilians, including many children. Benjamin, who has organized delegations to Pakistan and Yemen, was the keynote speaker at the conference and protest.

    Thousands of people watched and dozens took videos as the march, complete with a band, puppets and several banners, went through a park and a shopping district on its way to Boeing headquarters. Upon reaching its destination, the group placed child-sized coffins on Boeing’s property. Kait McIntyre, an organizer with Anti-War Committee-Chicago, explained, “The child-sized coffins we placed at Boeing’s doorstep represent over 178 children that have been killed as a result of U.S. drone strikes in Pakistan and Yemen and the countless more whose blood will be on Boeing’s hands if it wins this military drone contract.”

  • North Korea up close: Interview with anti-war activist who visited DPRK

    Fight Back! interviews Chicago anti-war activist John Stachelski, who recently returned from the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.

    Fight Back!: In August you traveled to north Korea. What were your impressions?

    John Stachelski: I traveled to the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea this past August. I was extremely impressed by the architecture and beauty of the Pyongyang, but the best part of my trip was the people. Our guides and the people we met with were extremely friendly and down to earth. As soon as they understood I was respectful of their culture and lifestyle, they opened up and were a lot of fun.

    Though the difficulties caused by the U.S. embargo are apparent in places – not unlike in Cuba – the basic needs of the people are provided for, including full employment, no homelessness and education rights.

    The infrastructural achievements of the 1990s have led to notable improvements in the food situation and green healthy crops could be seen everywhere as we drove through the countryside.

    Adequate fuel resources are still a challenge, leaving some farmers without the use of their tractors and there are difficulties keeping power on throughout the country. While I was there the power never went out, but our guides did tell us about the hardships they experienced in the past. That said there have been notable improvements in alternative fuels.

    Fight Back!: Tell us about your talks with regular people. What were their concerns and what did they think of the DPRK leadership?

    Stachelski: A thing that strikes you in the DPRK was the respect and reverence the people of the country have for their leaders. They understand Westerners are skeptical of this tradition, and find it strange. Our guide asked us to respect the customs of the country, because the respect for the leadership comes from the bottom of their hearts and helps to tie them into the history of how their country survived the occupation of the Japanese, and then the U.S. I did not doubt for an instance that he spoke with sincerity and this was confirmed as I talked to other people in the country. For them the leadership represents their revolution and the end of foreign control of their lives. It represents saving their culture and traditions from the Japanese who attempted to destroy it and the victory over the U.S. invaders in 1945.

    In the West we build monuments on the side of mountains to leaders who were slaveholders and worse – they did not do half of what Kim Il-Sung did for the Korean people.

    Fight Back!: The DPRK is known for its public art works. Could you tell us about them?

    Stachelski: The public art is absolutely stunning. There is a misconception that all of the art is of the leaders Kim Il-Sung and Kim Jong-Il, but in actuality the majority of the art depicts everyday people: soldiers, workers, mothers, athletes and others. Everywhere one could see images of women scientists and revolutionaries, promoting a positive image for young women to look up to.

    There are next to no advertisements in the country; at bus stops there are beautiful scenes of landscapes or historic events. Combined with the architecture and centralized planning of the city, Pyongyang is by far the most beautiful place I have ever been. Almost any other city I have been to is constantly bombarding me with advertisements; it was a breath of fresh air to have my identity as a working class person exalted, rather than just attempting to convince to buy useless things.

    The focus of the trip was the Mass Games “Arirang,” a mass artistic and gymnastics performance coordinating thousands of ordinary people in telling the history of Korea and other important national themes. The show was the most impressive thing I have ever seen, and really speaks to the unity and collective spirit of socialist Korea.

    Fight Back!: U.S. troops continue to occupy and divide Korea. How does this affect Koreans and what do people in the DPRK think about reunification?

    Stachelski: Almost everyone in DPRK strongly desires reunification. There is a great deal of public artwork on the topic and during the Mass Games there is an entire scene devoted to reunification of the country. At the DMZ [demilitarized zone] separating DPRK and South Korea, the guard spoke of the countries’ deep desire to reunify and how that effort has constantly been thwarted by U.S. occupation of the south. Tens of thousands of U.S. troops stand on the border in the south, only Korean troops stand on the north side.

    One of the soldiers took me out of the line to discuss how I felt as an American, regarding the situation. He was pleasantly surprised to hear that I supported reunification and the Korean nation’s right to self-determination. He came and sat next to me on our bus and we talked about our lives and families. Putting a human face on the situation made me firmer than ever in my conviction that we have a responsibility as people from the U.S. to defend the Korean people and try to help heal the immeasurable damage the U.S. has inflicted on the Korean people.

    Fight Back!: The U.S. has often threatened the DPRK. What is the attitude of the people of north Korea towards these threats and war preparations?

    Stachelski: The DPRK is very explicit in how it would handle another attack by the U.S. At the hotel for foreigners in Pyongyang, a plaque read “Soldiers of the Korean People’s Army are firmly determined to annihilate the aggressors without any mercy should war break out again in their country.” This is hardly an idle threat, despite the difficulties and setbacks of losing the USSR, their largest trading partner, alongside massive weather related disasters in the 90s. The Songun “military first” policy orchestrated by Kim Jong-Il has kept the country’s defensive capabilities strong and indeed warded off repeated efforts by the U.S. to bully and attack the DPRK. Some socialist countries had to succumb to foreign pressure and internal difficulties; the DPRK is resolute in building socialism and maintaining their national sovereignty. Their example is an inspiration to oppressed people all over the world, that the U.S. empire can be defeated, and resisted, despite all the odds.

  • Victorious Coca-Cola Strike: Take back the power of strikes!

    Fight Back News Service is circulating the following Sept. 25 statement by Fortunato Magtanggol, spokesperson, for the Revolutionary Council of Trade Unions, Southern Tagalog Chapter, on a victorious strike in the Philippines.

    The Revolutionary Council of Trade Unions – National Democratic Front of the Philippines – Southern Tagalog (RCTU-NDFP-ST) salutes the workers under the Unyon ng Manggagawa Driver, Forklift Operator, at Picker (UMDFP-IND) of the Coca Cola Bottlers Philippines, Inc. Sta.
    Rosa Plant for a victorious strike launched in May 2013. The collective action that was directed at the heart of the capitalist’s interests has once again proven that workers are indeed the decisive force in production.

    As the memorandum of agreement nears implementation this October, the RCTU-NDFP-ST reminds and urges workers to fearlessly fight the worsening working conditions under the US-Aquino regime, take back the power of strikes, and track the revolutionary road that will bring them genuine victory in the fight for a society without capitalist oppression.

    On 20 May 2013, workers under the UMDFP-IND decisively took their anger to the streets outside the CCBPI-Sta. Rosa plant and declared a strike after months of trying to negotiate with transnational Coca Cola.

    Members reached a resolution to launch the strike via strike voting after the Department of Labor and Employment Office of the Secretary blatantly reversed the previous decision released by DoLE-region 4A Med Arbiter Tongzon regarding the workers’ right to certification election abreast their regularization.

    The strike that lasted for three days brought workers from other factories and other sectors together to call for the immediate recognition of the previously released decision from Tongzon.

    Taking back what is rightfully theirs, the workers paralyzed the factory and ceased, for that particular moment, the capitalist’s seemingly endless acquiring of surplus value from the workers’ labor. For three days, the striking workers, with the support of workers from other factories and unions, have temporarily reversed their economic and social status — forcing the capitalist to bow down and heed the workers’ calls. For this particular moment, workers become the masters, and the capitalist becomes their slave.

    Coca Cola lost more than an estimated cost of 100 million pesos during the three-day strike, which left them with no other choice but to face the workers and settle with a set of agreements including the regularization of the workers under UMDFP. Based on a series of talks
    during the past 4 months, the capitalist has promised to fully implement the decisions based on the memorandum of agreement on 6 October.

    In the whole region and even the whole country, the victorious strike of the UMDFP-IND truly sets a new development in the long been oppressed trade union sector. The fight for job security, which has become a crucial struggle for the working class, has now reached a new
    level, at which we can truly say that there is still hope through our unified ranks and determination.

    While it is just right to acknowledge the power of strikes in giving workers economic and political power, there is great necessity in recognizing its momentary effect. Following their brief rise from oppression, workers return to their usual places in production and once again become modern day slaves who trade their labor for measly alms. At the end of the day, they have been able to lessen the capitalist’s rate of exploitation through better working conditions, but remain abused because of the latter’s natural interests in expanding their capital.

    RCTU-NDFP-ST calls on all Coca Cola workers, as well as other workers from other factories, to continue the fight for regularization and right to union, escalate their struggle from economic to politically motivated actions, and aim their strength at the heart of the capitalists’ interests not only by intensifying the strike movement, but most importantly, through leading the national democratic revolution that will end all forms of capitalist oppression.

  • Jacksonville protesters take over Senator Nelson’s office, demand ‘Hands off Syria’

    Jacksonville, FL – Over 60 protesters stormed U.S. Senator Bill Nelson’s Jacksonville office on Sept. 12, demanding that the senator renounce his support for President Barack Obama’s proposed military strike on Syria. Nelson says he will vote yes for a U.S. war on Syria.

    The protest, called by Jacksonville Against the War on Syria (JAWS), was lively with many Syrian and Arab-Americans taking part. Dave Schneider, an organizer with JAWS, explained, “Bill Nelson built a career for himself criticizing Bush for starting the war in Iraq and he’s happy to take money from progressives and the anti-war movement. But now that Obama is in office, he supports war and occupation. Senator Nelson is now a warmonger. It’s hypocritical, it’s disgusting, it’s flat-out wrong, and we’re demanding he vote no on U.S. war.”

    The protesters assembled outside of Nelson’s office on the 20th floor of Riverside Tower. Carrying signs that read, “Say no to U.S. military intervention” and “Hands off Syria,” the group stood in front of the building and caught the attention of drivers in rush hour traffic. They chanted, “USA, stay away!” and “U.S., NATO, hands off Syria,” before marching inside the complex.

    The protest included members from JAWS, the Friends of the Syrian American Forum, the Jacksonville Progressive Coalition, the New Jim Crow Movement, Occupy Jacksonville, several churches in the area, and students from the University of North Florida. Many of the protesters were Syrian American, for whom the threat of war is especially terrifying and personal.

    “I am a Syrian,” said Sandy Flaieh, a Syrian American resident in Jacksonville, who lost a cousin to the U.S. and Saudi-backed rebels. “I can’t see America going to bomb my country and family and friends and my whole memories, and stay quiet. That’s hard. We can’t fight there but we are going to do anything we can here to help. It’s not easy to see your families killed.”

    Once inside the building, the protesters ignored the requests of security guards to put away their megaphones, with one person saying, “We’re just here to speak with our senator.” As the crowd rode the escalators to the tower lobby, they continued chanting, “Senator Nelson, hands off Syria,” and “Obama, it’s not your business.”

    The crowd filled into five elevators and reached Nelson’s office, continuing to loudly chant and make noise. Nelson’s staff left moments before the protesters arrived, leaving the crowd with no way to directly voice their demands.

    With no one from Nelson’s office to talk with, protesters began posting up their rally signs and small cards that read, “I don’t support Obama’s strike on Syria, and neither should you, Bill Nelson,” which every person signed. Within minutes, rally signs and cards covered the entirety of Senator Nelson’s office door.

    The crowd reassembled downstairs in front of the tower. Many of the Syrian Americans sang the Syrian national anthem and led several Arabic chants against U.S. intervention.

    Organizers announced several call-in days to Senator Nelson’s office. After marching to a nearby park, participants drew up plans for a meeting and forum on future actions.

    After the rally, Schneider commented on their protest, “Just two days after we marched on Congressman Crenshaw’s office, he came out vocally against any U.S. military strike on Syria.”

    Jacksonville Congressman Ander Crenshaw said he would vote no on authorizing war on Syria. Protesters targeted Crenshaw earlier this month by plastering his front office door with rally signs, news articles, letters and petitions. Crenshaw specifically cited the actions of his constituents as a reason for his change from “undecided” to a “no” on U.S. war with Syria.

  • Turkey shoots down Syrian helicopter

    The Syrian Arab News Agency is reporting that Turkish military forces shot down a Syrian helicopter that was carrying out reconnaissance work, after it accidentally crossed the Turkish border, Sept 16.

    A statement from Syria’s military says that the helicopter mistakenly strayed a small way across the border, was given immediate orders to return, and as it was heading back, was shot down. The statement also noted that the hasty reaction on the part of Turkey is evidence that they are escalating the tension on the border between the two countries.

    For its part, Turkey has played an important role in helping the U.S. and other Western countries in their efforts to destroy Syria’s government. Turkey is a key transit point for combatants and war material for the brutal Syrian rebels. The U.S. Central Intelligence Agency has set up a large operation inside Turkey to arm and train the Syrian opposition.

    Given recent threats by the U.S. to launch military strikes against Syria – and despite the massive opposition domestically and internationally which resulted in the Obama administration pausing its attack plans – it’s likely that Washington will continue to seek pretexts to expand the war with Syria.

  • PFLP: On the 20th anniversary of the signing of the Oslo accords

    Fight Back News Service is circulating the following statement from the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP)

    On the twentieth anniversary of the signing of the Oslo Accords, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine demanded to leave the path of Oslo and negotiations. On the twentieth anniversary of the signing of the Oslo Accords on the White House lawn in Washington, DC on September 13, 1993, which fell this year on Friday, the PFLP demanded that the Palestinian negotiating team immediately withdraw from the confidential, suspicious bilateral negotiations and instead return to the United Nations and its institutions and the implementation of relevant resolutions.

    Furthermore, the Front demanded that the authority recognize and defer to the national consensus position and refuse pressure and external interventions that undermine the Palestinian position not to return to negotiations. Instead, all Palestinian political forces must prioritize confronting the occupier, building national unity, ending the division, as the method to change the balance of power in favor of the occupation, and achieve the rights of our people to freedom, independence and return.

    The Front warned about the insistence of the United States and the occupation state to proceed with the confidential so-called “negotiations” and bilateral solutions away from international legitimacy, while they continue the Judaization of Jerusalem, attacks on Al-Aqsa Mosque, uncontrolled settlement, state terrorism and settler terror and violence.

    The occupation state supports negotiations as a mechanism to cover its acts undermining Palestinian rights, including independence, return and self-determination, recognized in international law, and the Palestinian right to Jerusalem. The negotiations serve the occupation state, and the U.S. strategy to continue to dominate the region, its people, and their wealth, while undermining the culture of resistance and national steadfastness, and containing democratic processes, struggles and transformation in Arab countries.

    The Front demanded that Palestinian officials, the League of Arab States and the Organization of the Islamic Conference to uphold their responsibilities and call for the UN Security Council to condemn and stop the war crimes in Palestine, settlement and ethnic cleansing, and challenge the credibility of the U.S. administration regarding the illegal settlements. Further, the Front called for Israeli officials to be pursued and held accountable in international courts, and to reflect this orientation at the General Assembly of the United Nations in September, cutting the path of the Israeli government’s manipulation, deception and disinformation on the issue of Palestine. The US and Israel seek to replace the Palestinian struggle as the core conflict in the region with the so-called Sunni-Shia conflict and the “Iranian nuclear file,” said the Front.

  • Minneapolis protest demands: No U.S. Military Intervention in Syria!

    Minneapolis, MN – More than 100 people rallied and marched here, Sept. 14, under the call of “No New Wars – No U.S. Military Intervention in Syria.” Protesters gathered in the busy Lake Street and Hiawatha Avenue area. Carrying signs and banners opposing an attack on Syria, they marched along Lake Street. There were many honks of support from passing cars.

    Margaret Sarfehjooy of Women Against Military Madness stated, “We are here to say no more. No more wars. Not one more death in Syria in my name paid for with my tax dollars. Hands off Syria.”

    The demonstration was initiated by Minnesota Peace Action Coalition and endorsed by Anti-War Committee, Twin Cities Peace Campaign, Veterans for Peace, Women Against Military Madness, Students for a Democratic Society and others.

    Jess Sundin of the Anti War Committee told the crowd shortly before the march, “Syria and Russia called the White House’s bluff early this week and agreed to Secretary of State John Kerry’s demand that Syria turn over any chemical weapons to the international community. Syria is joining the Chemical Weapons Convention, and Russia is working on UN oversight.”

    Sundin continued, “In spite of this progress, President Obama spoke to the country on Tuesday, and announced that U.S. warships would not withdraw. He told us all that they remain ready, waiting for his order to attack. If he honestly cared about chemical weapons, Obama might have used Tuesday’s speech to take credit for some fine diplomacy and maybe extended his commitment to rid the world of these weapons – starting with the Pentagon’s stockpiles, and then maybe moving onto Israel. Of course, that is not what happened.”

    Speaking at the end of the protest Alan Dale, a member of the Minnesota Peace Action Coalition, said, “The U.S. has been at war continuously for the past 12 years: Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, the drone wars in Pakistan, Yemen, Somalia. And now the Obama administration is proposing yet another military intervention. The people of the U.S. and people around the world say enough, enough, enough! No new wars! People need funds for jobs and housing, not another war.”

    Organizers also announced plans for a protest in Minneapolis set for Oct. 5 that will mark 12 years of the U.S. war in Afghanistan. The protest is being organized to demand “U.S. Troops and Drones Out of Afghanistan – No New Wars – No Military Intervention in Syria.”

  • Miami protest at Senator Nelson’s office slams war on Syria

    Miami, FL – Over 25 people gathered outside of Senator Bill Nelson’s Miami office here on Sept. 12 to demand that the U.S. Senator from Florida vote against any military authorization bill that comes his way.

    The rally began at 6:45 p.m. in front of Nelson’s office, which is located in Coral Gables. Protesters held Syrian flags and anti-war signs with slogans such as, “Hands off Syria,” and “I don’t want my tax dollars supporting Al-Qaeda.”

    On Sept. 10, President Obama addressed the nation stating that the U.S. would postpone any immediate strikes against Syria, as well as the vote for Congressional approval. According to a POWIR (People’s Opposition to War, Imperialism and Racism) statement released the following day, the protest itself was not postponed because the military option is still not off the table and a vote could still happen at any moment.

    Sandy Davies, of Progressive Democrats of America (Miami-Dade), gave the first speech at the protest in which he told the crowd that this was the first time in history that popular resistance against a war actually succeeded in deterring the U.S. from attacking another country.

    “We must continue to resist the media’s narrative that Assad gassed his own people. It has never been proven true,” Davies said. “We must also resist any new red lines that the government puts forth to try ad justify attacking Syria. No new red line!”

    Camilo Mejia of Veterans for Peace also spoke to the crowd. He said the U.S. remains the “world’s number one bully and the world’s number one war criminal,” and continued by saying that the U.S. has been using biological and chemical weapons since the extermination of Native Americans.

    After the speeches, the group marched from Senator Nelson’s office to Ponce De Leon Park, chanting, “No Justice to peace, U.S. out of the Middle East!” Cars honked in support and onlookers raised fists in solidarity.

    Upon arriving to the park, members of Freedom Road Socialist Organization, Green Party and POWIR delivered speeches opposing any new imperialist wars and actions overseas.

    Kim Miller, an organizer with POWIR said, “All anti-imperialist and peace-loving people around the world should oppose all U.S. policies used to intimidate and bully independent nationalist governments!”

    The event ended at 8:00 in the evening. This protest was part of a statewide call to action put out by POWIR for the week of Sept. 8. Cities across Florida held call-ins and protests urging representatives and senators to vote no on war with Syria. People and organizations in Jacksonville, Tampa, Miami and Gainesville all took part in the week of action.