Workers Resistance

Category: Asia

  • Miami anti-war group urges protests across Florida against war with Syria

    Fight Back News Service is circulating the following statement from People’s Opposition to War, Imperialism and Racism (POWIR)

    POWIR Calls for State-Wide Action Against War with Syria

    Miami, FL – As President Obama’s resolution for military authorization against Syria goes before Congress, POWIR (People’s Opposition to War, Imperialism, and Racism) is calling on communities across the state of Florida to take action. The anti-war group is calling for state-wide protests and direct actions to demand that Florida Senators Marco Rubio (R) and Bill Nelson (D) and other Florida representatives vote no on any further U.S. aggression against the Syrian people.

    POWIR stands in firm opposition to Washington’s newest imperialist war in the Middle East, which will ultimately lead to even more civilian casualties and increasing destabilization in the region. Although an overwhelming majority of Americans oppose U.S. military intervention in Syria, the Obama administration appears to have its sights set on war.

    Starting on September 9, both the House and the Senate will return from their break and will immediately begin debate on whether to give the president the green light to use military force against Syria. A decision could be reached by mid-September, which means missile strikes could begin within two weeks.

    Protests across Florida will take place in front of the senators’ various offices located throughout the state. Actions also include sign-holdings, town-hall forums, and call-in days to insist that Senators Nelson and Rubio both stand with their constituents by standing up against senseless military intervention and voting against the President’s request for more war.

    We are calling on President Obama to stop funding and arming factions in Syria’s conflict and we demand that Congress vote no on any US military intervention in the region. And in the event that President Obama does move forward with his war against Syria, POWIR is calling for emergency actions throughout the state within twenty-four hours.

  • Syrian communists urge resistance to U.S. military attacks

    Fight Back News Service is circulating the following statement from the Syrian Communist Party.

    Glory to the honorable patriotic steadfastness!
    Syria will not kneel!

    A statement of the Syrian Communist Party

    Masses of the Syrian people!

    Sisters, brothers!

    The Syrian Communist Party is heading towards you, in these difficult days, calling to close ranks and to make every effort to combat the brutal colonial aggression. After world imperialism and its spearhead, the American imperialism have failed to conquer Syria through the imposition of the blockade and the support of the criminal and subversive operations of the terrorist bands which have committed heinous acts including horrific massacres, many of them on sectarian and ethnic basis, and the sabotaging and destruction of economic establishments and imposing obscurantist laws strange to the composition of the Syrian people which is characterized by openness and tolerance. We believe that American imperialism is announcing its willingness to direct military aggression, she and her allies, under the pretext of acts made by her agents and supervised by its organs.

    Yes, it’s clearly visible that American imperialism is basing its aggression on false charges to justify its act. This brute force accuses us of crimes that have been committed by her all over the world under the hypocritical banner “Defense of the free world and democracy”. Witness the use of the invading American forces bacterial and chemical weapons in the war against Korea in the middle of the last century, and the use of the same weapons in the war against the liberation movement of the people of Vietnam, including the powder «Orange B», which because of it, women in Vietnam still give birth to deformed children after forty years of the end of this war in which the American imperialism came out defeated and in deep shame. The U.S. military machine used enriched uranium in the war against our brotherly Iraq but that did not help in enabling the occupation and the American invaders fled from the land of proud Iraq like mice. The overall crimes committed by American imperialism and for many decades, calls for providing its leaders, including the presidents to the international war crime tribunal like the court which criminalized the rulers and leaders of Hitler’s Germany. The Nazis contemporaries of imperialist and Zionist leaders will meet the same fate, thanks to the liberation struggle of the peoples of the world.

    The brave Syrian people and army, after the heroic patriotic steadfastness for more than two years, in the face of the undeclared war that was launched on it, will address valiantly and with more courage the blatant military aggression. It will do so led by the heroic examples from the makers of Hiteen to the martyrs of Maysaloon and the heroes of the Great Syrian Revolt.

    The defense of Syria’s national regime, which faces head held high, all methods of aggression, refusing humiliation and submission, means defending the country and its sovereignty and independence.

    In these difficult circumstances through which our country and our people, all efforts must be made to strengthen all fronts: political, military and economic. The Syrian people are not alone in battle, with it in struggle the support of all free peoples in the world.

    Shame and disgrace for imperialism and its agents!

    Glory to the honorable patriotic steadfastness!

    Syria will not kneel!

    Damascus 28/8/2013

  • WFTU in solidarity with the Syrian people declares: No to the imperialist “democracy”!

    Fight Back News Service is circulating the following statement from the World Federation of Trade Unions.

    World Federation of Trade Unions categorically denounces the intensified imperialist aggressiveness against Syria and calls for the immediate termination of any attack and military intervention being pursued against the country and the Syrian people.

    In conditions of strong inter-imperialist competition and in conditions of deep and prolonged international capitalist crisis where the rivalries over the wealth-producing resources and the geostrategic crossroads are increasing, the conflict in the Middle East and the Mediterranean reaches new extremes.

    The manufactured etiology for the “use of chemical weapons” that is being attributed to the Syrian Army is an obvious provocative slander aiming to provide an opportunity for the military intervention expected and prepared for years by the USA and the other forces.

    The global Mass Media, owned by Multinational Groups, are fully coordinated with the imperialist agenda and are enriching the campaign of misinformation, building the people’s inertia or endorsement for yet another slaughter.

    The forces within the country, which are morally and practically supported by the USA, Britain, France as well as Turkey, Israel and the Emirs and Kings of Qatar, Saudi Arabia etc., have nothing to do with the interests of the Syrian people, neither with the “peace” nor with the “democracy” that they are supposedly espousing.

    The “democracy” applied in Afganistan, in Iraq, in Libya, in Mali: we do not need it, we do not want it! No more blood for the interests of the multinationals.

    We call upon all the trade union organizations, members and friends of the WFTU, as well as all the peace-loving people and mass organizations internationally to protest their condemnation against the imperialist policy and the solidarity with the people of Syria.

    The Syrian people without foreign intervention are the only one who can and must decide upon their present and future.

    THE SECRETARIAT

  • Palestine Solidarity Coalition protests Israeli settlement supporters

    Milwaukee, WI – Palestine solidarity activists rallied against Israeli settlement construction in response to an awards banquet held by the Jewish National Fund Aug. 28. The annual awards banquet celebrated local bankrollers of the Israeli occupation for “their support in reclaiming the land to help secure the State of Israel.”

    The Milwaukee Palestine Solidarity Coalition released a statement in opposition to the banquet and the 1200 new illegal settlement homes recently announced by Israel, saying, “settlements are the #1 roadblock to peace.”

    During the rally, some members of the coalition presented a proposal to a local business asking them to endorse the global movement to boycott, divest and sanction apartheid Israel. The coalition has had multiple victories over the summer as local businesses sign on to the boycott of Israeli products, as well as the cultural and academic boycott.

    “We can’t wait for the politicians to stop funding Israeli occupation. We need to start in our communities by encouraging our friends, organizations and local businesses to stand in solidarity with Palestinians by withdrawing their financial support for the occupation. We also have to confront the local supporters of apartheid, occupation and illegal settlements,” said coalition member Jacob Flom.

  • Britain and U.S. finalize plans for attack on Syria, says Guardian

    Minneapolis, MN – The British newspaper The Guardian reported, Aug. 27, that U.S. and British war planners are finalizing their plans for an attack on Syria.

    “Britain could offer warships and submarines equipped with Tomahawk cruise missiles, which could be launched miles from the Syrian coast. The Trafalgar-class submarine HMS Tireless is reported to be already in the regions,” stated The Guardian.

    There are additional press reports that warplanes are assembling about 100 miles from Syria at the British airbase at Akrotiri in Cyprus.

    Across the U.S., anti-war activists are speaking out and organizing protests against a military attack on Syria.

    Joe Iosbaker of Chicago’s Anti-War Committee states, “U.S warships are threatening to attack Syria with cruise missiles, with the pretext of a chemical weapon attack by the government against a rebel-held area. John Kerry and the U.S. administration are completely without credibility in this. This is a replay of the WMD lies told about Iraq.”

  • Twin Cities peace activists say no to U.S. military attack on Syria

    Minneapolis, MN – Peace activists in the Twin Cities are speaking out in opposition to military strikes against Syria.

    Meredith Aby of the Anti-War Committee states, “Despite the fact that the majority of Americans are against U.S. military intervention in Syria, the New York Times reports that President Obama is considering a list of targets and is talking with French President François Hollande about military action. It is critical that we protest and call the White House to say no to war with Syria. The U.S. needs to pull out of Syria – not entrench itself into this conflict further. I am deeply concerned about how many people a U.S. bombing campaign would kill.”

    Sabry Wazwaz, also of the Anti-War Committee, said, “We need to understand if the U.S. invades Syria, trust me it’s not to save the Syrian people.”

    In response the threats to attack, the organizers of the Wednesday Peace Vigil on the Lake Street-Marshall Avenue Bridge urge all opposed to a new U.S. war to join the vigil Aug. 28, between 5 and 6 p.m., to speak out against U.S. intervention in Syria. The weekly peace vigil is sponsored by the Women Against Military Madness End War Committee and Twin Cities Peace Campaign. The call for the Aug. 28 vigil to speak out against a U.S. war in Syria is endorsed by the Anti-War Committee, Minnesota Peace Action Coalition, Veterans for Peace and others.

  • Minnesota Palestine solidarity activists target SodaStream

    Minneapolis, MN – On Sept. 19, activists with the Minnesota Coalition for Palestinian Rights will return to the downtown Minneapolis Target store, urging shoppers not to buy products from SodaStream. This will follow a successful Aug. 15 mobilization, where 30 people held signs, chanted and passed out informational flyers to hundreds of pedestrians.

    Sold at Minnesota-based Target stores, SodaStream is a company that manufactures home carbonation systems at a plant in the largest Israeli Jewish settlement on the West Bank. The construction of hundreds of settlements in the West Bank has been condemned by numerous human rights organizations, including Amnesty International, for violating international law and Palestinian human rights.

    “We met with a positive response from the hundreds of people walking on Nicollet Mall at rush hour,” said Meredith Aby of the Anti-War Committee. “Minnesotans don’t support a company that makes its profits from stolen Palestinian land and the system of Israeli apartheid.”

    The Minnesota campaign opened a few months ago with a letter initiated by Jewish Voices for Peace, which called on Target to discontinue sales of SodaStream products because the company is in violation of international law and in violation of Target’s ethical standards and Social Compliance Program.

    This is effort is part of an international campaign of boycotts, divestment and sanctions (BDS) against Israel until it complies with international law and Palestinian rights. A truly global movement against Israeli Apartheid is rapidly emerging.

  • Chicago youth say: ‘No more racial profiling’

    Chicago, IL – 60 youth from the Arab American Action Network (AAAN), along with their supporters, held a rally and march here, Aug.15, to demand an end to racial profiling of Arabs and Muslims and and end to the criminalization of all communities of color. The youth who organized and led the protest reminded onlookers that harassment, surveillance and infiltration by the FBI and its local counterparts doesn’t just happen in New York City and California, but is widespread in Chicago.

    The key demands were: stop bullying and harassment of communities of color; end racist criminalization of Arabs, Muslims and all people of color; end the envestigation of the Midwest 23; and close National Security Loopholes in the federal ban on racial profiling.

    The AAAN’s Youth Organizing Program has been providing political education, leadership development and organizing training for high school and college youth for close to ten years and has been focusing on FBI repression for the past three. Farreh Qatanani, youth leader with the AAAN and co-emcee for the day, said, “The FBI oppresses not only Arabs and Muslims, but all communities of color.”

    After an early afternoon rally at Federal Plaza, the protesters chanted, “Out of our schools, out of our mosque! FBI go get lost!” while marching to the Chicago headquarters of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to protest another key part of the Department of Homeland Security’s program of criminalizing Mexicans, Central Americans, Latinos in general, Arabs and Muslims, as well as other immigrants of color. There, Lulu Martinez of the Dream 9, who ‘self deported’ to Mexico but recently returned, talked about her experiences and the federal policies of detentions and deportations that have devastated her community for years.

  • Chicago continues protests against U.S. war on Syria

    Chicago, IL – Dr. Matar speaks for the Syrian American Forum July 2, as people gathered here, for a third week in a row of protests, to say, “Hands off Syria! No new wars!”

    The Anti-War Committee-Chicago (AWC), the A.N.S.W.E.R. Coalition, the March 19th Coalition and the Syrian American Forum are organizing the rallies. Kait McIntyre of AWC announced that this week and again next, “Chicago’s protests are part of a national coordinated effort called by the United National Antiwar Coalition, A.N.S.W.E.R., United for Peace and Justice and over a hundred other groups.”

  • Communist and Workers Parties condemn intervention in Syria

    Fight Back News Service is circulating the following resolution on Syria that was signed by many of the parties present at the 22nd International Communist Seminar. Freedom Road Socialist Organization was among the signers.

    Resolution on Syria

    We, the undersigned parties present at the 22nd International Communist Seminar

    1) reaffirm that the subversive policies and activities of imperialism in order to impose its hegemony in the Middle East are the main reason behind all conflicts, tensions and wars in the region. US and EU imperialism and the NATO, along with Israel and the pro-imperialist reactionary regimes of the region (such as Turkey, Qatar, Saudi Arabia) share a common responsibility for the crimes against the peoples of the region.

    2) condemn the instrumentalization by imperialism and its allies in the region of inter-religious divergences and conflicts. Imperialism intervenes brutally in the internal affairs of states, supporting domestic reactionary forces, and does not hesitate to intervene directly, supporting provocative fundamentalist and terrorist organisations under the pretext of “humanitarian interventions”.

    3) condemn the Israeli military aggression against Syria, in blatant violation of international law and condemn imperialism’s unconditional support for these bellicose acts.

    4) support the absolute right of the Syrian people, who suffer from subversive attacks and terrorist actions supported by imperialism and the reactionary regimes of the region, to determine their political path and leadership without any foreign interference. We declare our complete and unreserved solidarity with the people of Syria.

    1. Algeria, Parti Algérien pour la Démocratie et le Socialisme (PADS)
    2. Azerbaijan, Communist Party of Azerbaijan
    3. Belarus, Belarussian Communist Workers’ Party
    4. Belgium, Workers’ Party of Belgium (PTB)
    5. Bénin, Parti Communiste du Bénin
    6. Brazil, Communist Party of Brazil (PCdoB)
    7. Brazil, Partido Patria Livre (PPL)
    8. Bulgaria, Party of Bulgarian Communists
    9. Cyprus, Progressive Party of the Working People (AKEL)
    10. Denmark, Communist Party of Denmark
    11. France, Union des Révolutionnaires Communistes de France (URCF)
    12. France, Pôle de Renaissance Communiste en France (PRCF)
    13. Germany, German Communist Party (DKP)
    14. Greece, Communist Party of Greece (KKE)
    15. Hungary, Hungarian Workers’ Party
    16. Iran, Tudeh Party of Iran
    17. Ireland, Workers’ Party of Ireland
    18. Lebanon, Lebanese Communist Party
    19. Luxembourg, Communist Party of Luxembourg (KPL)
    20. Malta, Communist Party of Malta
    21. Mexico, Partido Popular Socialista de México
    22. Netherlands, New Communist Pary of Netherlands (NCPN)
    23. Palestine, Palestinian Communist Party
    24. Philippines, Communist Party of the Philippines
    25. Portugal, Portuguese Communist Party
    26. Serbia, New Communist Party of Yugoslavia
    27. South Sudan, Communist Party of South Sudan
    28. Spain, Communist Party of Spain (PCE)
    29. Spain, Spanish Communist Workers’ Party (PCOE)
    30. Sri Lanka, People’s Liberation Front – JVP
    31. Sweden, Communist Party (KP)
    32. Switzerland, Parti Suisse du Travail
    33. Tunisia, Parti des Patriotes et Démocrates Uni
    34. Turkey, Communist Party of Turkey (TKP)
    35. USA, Freedom Road Socialist Organization (FRSO)
    36. Venezuela, Communist Party of Venezuela (PCV)