Workers Resistance

Category: US imperialism

  • Victories in resistance: Lynne Stewart and CeCe McDonald speak out

    Minneapolis, MN – On Feb. 15, a panel called, “Victories in Resistance, Solidarity Against Injustice” was organized by the Minnesota Anti-War Committee (AWC) to celebrate newly-won freedom and to reflect on how to do political prisoner solidarity which builds our movements.

    The basement at the Minnehaha Free Space was packed for an emotional discussion that was alternately jubilant and sobering. More than 50 people gathered to hear from Lynne Stewart and CeCe McDonald, both recently released from prison. Sabry Wazwaz, an Palestinian activist and AWC member also spoke, along with AWC-member Jess Sundin, one of the Midwest activists targeted by an ongoing FBI and grand jury investigation.

    Sundin explained the motivations for the event, “In 2010, the idea that any of us could become a political prisoner became very personal for me and other members of the Anti-War Committee. As many of you know, we were the targets of a two-year undercover investigation. Our homes and office were raided by the FB, and we were ordered to appear before a grand jury in Chicago. When each of us refused to testify there – to serve as witnesses against each other, our movements or our allies abroad – we made that decision in spite of the very real threat of imprisonment.

    “While it was painful, as we made arrangements for who would care for our children if we were taken away, we felt we had no choice. Our testimony could have endangered the very lives of people like Samer Issawi, leaders of the people’s movements we had met on solidarity trips to Palestine and Colombia. And while on the one hand, it’s a decision you make alone, we never stood alone – Lynne sent a solidarity statement to one of our early rallies. Delicious lasagna made by CeCe was served at a community dinner to support us. And thousands of people across the country – and the world – joined us in demanding an end to the grand jury. We had our own victory against that grand jury – out of 23 people called, not one testified. And out of 23 grand jury resisters, not one was jailed for refusing to testify. The threat against us was very real, and very personal. But so was the solidarity.”

    The government claims it is investigating anti-war and international solidarity activism as a form of “providing material support to foreign terrorist organizations.” Long-time attorney, Lynne Stewart, was also faced a ‘material support’ charge, for her work defending an Egyptian cleric accused of terrorism.

    Lynne Stewart, speaking via Skype, was greeted by audience cheers. First, she thanked supporters for writing her in prison and encouraged people to keep writing other prisoners. She said that letters are important acts of solidarity that keep political prisoners from being isolated and called each one “a poke in the eye against imperialism.”

    Stewart, who is battling stage four breast cancer, credited the movement with getting her out before she was ready to die. She said it was through the tireless work of supporters that the U.S. government decided it was more destructive to keep her in prison than to release her. 45,000 people signed the petition demanding Stewart’s compassionate release. She highlighted the work of her husband, Ralph Poynter, for her release. In speaking of his relentless picketing of the White House during blistering heat in August she said “Everyone should have a Ralph, and everyone does when we have a movement!”

    The audience was moved to see Stewart in her first Midwest appearance since her release from prison.

    CeCe McDonald was also warmly greeted by the audience which was eager to hear her speak about her experiences just one month after being released from prison. In June 2011, CeCe McDonald fought off a racist, transphobic attack. She was sentenced to 41 months in a men’s prison for second degree manslaughter, despite clear evidence of self-defense. She is an international symbol of the resistance and resilience of trans women of color.

    McDonald said that community support also helped her win an early release from prison. She was proud that the movement had sent a loud and clear message that trans women of color were not disposable. She gave special mention to the CeCe McDonald Support Committee, several of whom were present.

    McDonald described how the struggle around her case moved her forward politically, “I learned about my history, about the history of powerful Black women like Assata Shakur and Angela Davis through this process. It made me open up my eyes and learn to love myself more… It was my duty to prove a point, that they couldn’t turn me into a statistic and it was the people in the community who helped me.”

    Anti-War Committee activist Sabry Wazwaz shared the words of Palestinian political prisoner Samer Al-Issawi, written in a message to his supporters on Day 209 of his hunger strike, “I draw my strength from my people, from all the free people, from friends and the families of the prisoners who continue day and night chanting freedom and an end to the occupation.” Wazwaz added some experiences of his own family, Palestinians confronting Israeli apartheid.

    After a record 266 days on hunger strike, Issawi won his freedom in December 2013. During Issawi’s hunger strike he became a symbol of the epidemic of unlawful detention of Palestinians with no charges or trials by the Israeli government. He would only end his hunger strike with a promise of freedom and the right to return home, tying his demand to the universal Palestinian struggle for that right to return to homes and land stolen by Israel.

    These cases inspired international support and attention not only because of the extreme injustice faced in each case, but also because Lynne Stewart, CeCe McDonald and Samer Issawi all spoke from behind the prison walls, to demand greater justice for all.

    Jess Sundin called on those present to continue to fight for more victories against injustices. “The government has used its investigation of us to target our friends and allies across the country. First was Carlos Montes, Chicano leader from Los Angeles – we beat back their attempts to imprison him.” At this point, the crowd interrupted with applause.

    She continued, “And now we have Palestinian community leader Rasmea Odeh. We know her from Chicago’s Arab American Action Network, where she works with Hatem Abudayyeh, one of the main targets in our case. Rasmea is charged with immigration fraud. Allegedly, in her application for citizenship, she didn’t mention that she was arrested 45 years ago by an illegitimate Israeli military court. To describe her past as though she was a some kind of terrorist, legitimately and legally arrested by the Israeli government, covers up that Israel occupies Palestinian land and arrests and tortures Palestinians systematically and illegally.

    “Supposedly an immigration case, this stems at least in part from the investigation against us. Assistant U.S. Attorney Barry Jonas, the lead prosecutor in our case, was at the courtroom, consulting with the assistant U.S. attorney who was presenting the indictment to the judge. The indictment against Rasmea reads more like one of his anti-terrorism cases than an immigration paperwork violation.”

    Sundin urged action, “If the government wins its case against Rasmea, she faces imprisonment and deportation. We ask that all of you learn more about her story, and take action to stop the government from railroading her as part of its continuing repression of Palestinians and people who stand in solidarity with them.”

    A collection was taken to support CeCe McDonald and to contribute to Lynn Stewart’s medical expenses. For information about how you could donate to help keep Stewart alive please go to: http://lynnestewart.org/.

    The event was organized by the Anti-War Committee and endorsed by Communities United Against Police Brutality, Freedom Road Socialist Organization, MN Coalition for Palestinian Rights, MN Committee Against FBI Repression, MN Immigrant Rights Action Committee, Twin Cities Socialist Action, U of MN Students for a Democratic Society, Veterans for Peace (chapter 27), Welfare Rights Committee, and Women Against Military Madness.

     

  • Not In Our Name! Anti-War activists confront drones advocate

    Minneapolis, MN – Activists from the MN Anti-War Committee, Students for a Democratic Society at the U of MN, Women Against Military Madness, Veterans for Peace, and the Coalition for Palestinian Rights protested the impact of the U.S. use of drones around the world, Feb.11, at the University of Minnesota Law School. Inside the Law School, Oren Gross, a former senior officer in the Israeli Defense Force’s JAG Corps, the legal branch of the Israeli military, gave a presentation titled, “The New Way of War: Is There a Duty to Use Drones?” as a part of the Law School’s spring lecture series.

    Sophia Hansen-Day, of the MN Anti-War Committee, explained, “In Israel, Oren Gross worked to give legal and political cover to human rights violations by the Israel Defense Forces in occupied Palestine. Today, as an advisory board member of the U of M Human Rights program, he is using his prestige to justify the U.S.’s ongoing drone killings abroad. Our action was organized to challenge Dr. Gross’s absurd interpretation of international law.”

    Before the speech by Gross, protesters held signs and passed out hundreds of flyers on the reality of drone warfare. Doors to the presentation were guarded by campus police, who refused to allow protesters to bring signs inside. Even so, a couple dozen community members joined the hundred or so people there for the lecture.

    In a weak attempt to make himself more likeable, Gross opened with a few jokes and cartoons. His winding talk was full of quotes by politicians, largely void of concrete data and lacking in concern for human life. Finally getting to the point, he closed with the claim that drones are an advance in weapons technology, saying, “Drones offer a more accurate and therefore more humane warfare.”

    At that point, questions were invited from the audience. Gross ducked many of them, limiting his comments to the use of drones by the U.S. Army in an active combat zone. He refused to answer questions about U.S. war policy, or the use of drones to carry out extrajudicial assassinations, or even domestic surveillance.

    Jess Sundin, also of the Anti-War Committee, attended the talk. “It was a revolting attempt to sanitize the reality of war, by drones or any means. Most of the questions challenged him and his point of view – it was clear that Gross did not convince anyone that there is some ethical duty to use these remote control killing machines, on the battlefield or anywhere else. Drones are deadly weapons of war. U.S. wars for empire don’t need ‘more accurate’ weapons. They need to be stopped.”

  • FARC demands repatriation of Ricardo Palmera

    Fight Back News Service is circulating the following Jan. 18 statement from the Peace Delegation Revolutionary Armed Forces on the imprisonment by the U.S. of Colombian revolutionary, Professor Ricardo Palmera. Known in Colombia as Simón Trinidad, Palmera was kidnapped, brought to the United States and is now serving what amounts to a life sentence.

    For more information from the FARC Peace Delegation: http://farc-epeace.org/
    For information from the National Committee to Free Ricardo Palmera: http://www.freericardopalmera.org/

    After 10 years behind bars, Simón Trinidad has to be repatriated

    “I don’t have guaranteed the right to defense; they don’t allow me to send documents to my lawyer and judges in Colombia, in which I can prove my innocence; this has to be shown by my compañeros to the government delegation in Havana. They won’t even let me talk to the ICRC”.

    This is the protest of Simón Trinidad, chained and shackled, from the dungeons of the maximum security prison in Florence, Colorado, United States, to the judge who is judging him from the city of Neiva, Colombia.

    This outstanding fighter of the FARC-EP has already been confined behind the bars of the empire for ten years, without bowing down, without breaking down, without any wavering in his conscience, despite the cruel and degrading treatment he has received by U.S. authorities.

    Simón was extradited due to the perfidy of former President Uribe, supreme commander of paramilitarism in Colombia. This sinister figure is Washington’s favorite, despite his involvement in international war crimes and crimes against humanity. And Simón was extradited in violation of the constitutional provision which prohibits the extradition of national citizens for political reasons.

    Since Álvaro Uribe Vélez couldn’t send him to the United States for the charge of rebellion, he fabricated a legal pretext -the false charge of drug-trafficking-, to achieve his repulsive purpose. It was an act of revenge and blackmail, in criminal association with military intelligence and the Attorney General, Camilo Osorio.

    Thus, Simón was extradited by the gangster government of Colombia. The country remembers his photo, at the moment he was led by the gringos to the airplane, when he raised his handcuffed fists and shouted: Long live Bolívar, long live Manuel Marulanda, long live the FARC!

    There, in the courtrooms of the North, accused in a foreign language, he defeated the lies of the deserters and the false witnesses brought from Colombia, with irrefutable arguments. With the assistance of his public defender, attorney Robert Tucker, Simón Trinidad was acquitted in the U.S. of drug trafficking charges, defeating the manipulation of wicked judges, such as Joyce Lamberth.

    But the United States, determined as they were to send a “strong signal” to the FARC, decided to condemn Simón for something he was never involved in: the capture of three gringo mercenaries working for the CIA, after the aircraft in which they were carrying out technical intelligence against the FARC, had been shot down in the Caquetá jungle. To be able to blame him, they falsely claimed that Simón Trinidad was a member of the FARC Central High Command. When the FBI realized that this argument was implausible, they withdrew the evidence of a video of the launching of the Bolivarian Movement for the New Colombia, in 2000. This video had previously been manipulated by them, to make Simón appear as a member of the Central High Command of the FARC.

    Still, Simón Trinidad was convicted, after two flawed trials, to 60 years in an underground prison where he can’t see the sun, nor does he have the right to see the night. He’s in the maximum security prison in Florence, where the worst criminals are imprisoned, and as he is accused of terrorism, which in the United States is the worst of crimes, his rights as a human being are totally violated, every day.

    The shameful extradition treaty, by which Colombia transfers its legal sovereignty to a foreign power, reads you cannot condemn an extradited national citizen to life imprisonment. Well, Simon is 60 years old, which means that he would achieve freedom when he is 120. This is, in fact, a life sentence! However, no protest or request has been made by this submissive Colombian government.

    Simón is not only buried alive in Florence, Colorado. He’s in absolute solitary confinement, there’s no appropriate medical care, they took away his glasses and some cards he used to play Solitaire. He is always taken to the court with his hands and feet chained and shackled. he isn’t allowed to have any newspapers or books. These were the circumstances in which he received the sad news of the death of his compañera Lucero and their daughter Alix, in a bombing by the CIA in Putumayo. He isn’t allowed to access the files for his defense in Colombia, and the embassy in Bogota systematically denies his lawyer, jurist Ramiro Orjuela, a visa to visit him. Meanwhile, the schizophrenic Colombian justice, which opened 104 charges against him, base their accusations on the false assertion that this guerrilla fighter belongs to the Central High Command of the FARC. Neither the government nor the intelligence, nor the Prosecuting Attorney or anyone else has evidence of his participation in the acts alleged against him. There is no evidence, that’s why some judges have dropped the charges, declaring him innocent.

    From Havana, Cuba, the Peace Delegation of the FARC-EP urges the ICRC-Switserland, to carry out a humanitarian visit to Simón Trinidad at the U.S. prison where he is confined.

    We urge the Colombian government to enable Simón, as member of the Peace Delegation of the FARC, to dialogue with his compañeros in Havana.

    This is an SOS to all human rights organizations in the world, to jurists and experts in international humanitarian law, to political and social organizations of the five continents, the UN, UNASUR, CELAC, the Vatican, churches, Nobel Prizes of peace, well-intentioned people, to call for the immediate release of Simón Trinidad and, in the meanwhile, to demand the U.S. authorities improve his conditions.

    The Colombian government has done little or nothing for the release of Simón. It doesn’t make gestures of peace as its counterpart does in the peace talks. It doesn’t know what reciprocity is, and we encourage it to act decisively. The government should take the legal remedy of exequatur in its hands to have Simón’s sentence recognized in Colombia. He could serve his prison term in his homeland and once he arrives there, the judicial authorities could authorize him to go to Havana, to play a leading role in the construction of peace, as we have asked for.

    We send an embrace to all our friends in the world, and the message that the spiritual strength and ideological firmness of Simón Trinidad continue unscathed, untouched, above the arrogance of his gringo prison guards.

    Simón is the Nelson Mandela of Our America.

    Freedom for Simón!

    Peace Delegation of the FARC-EP

  • South Florida rally demands: Close Guantanamo now!

    Doral, FL – Over 100 protesters rallied near U.S. Southern Command here, Jan. 11, to demand an end to the torture and abuse being carried out in Guantanamo Bay. Many of the protesters came from nearby cities like Fort Lauderdale and Miami, and some came from as far away as California and Michigan to demand that President Obama close down Guantanamo Bay for good.

    The rally was organized by South Florida-based POWIR – People’s Opposition to War, Imperialism, and Racism. The anti-war group formed a coalition with several groups to lead the protest, including Code Pink, Students for a Democratic Society and Veterans for Peace. The protest marked 12 years of the U.S. sending prisoners to Guantanamo Bay, a trend which started shortly after the ‘war on terror’ began.

    Protesters began by assembling near a busy intersection approximately one mile from U.S. Southern Command. As people gathered, they brought signs that read “12 years too many” and “Stop the torture now! Close Guantanamo!” Protest organizers led militant chants such as, “Obama we don’t want your shame, no more torture in our name!” and “I don’t know what I’ve been told, we’ll keep marching till its closed! We are marching here to say: Obama close Guantanamo Bay!” The chants won a lot of support and honks from nearby cars. From there, protest organizers began the march to SouthCom by leading the people into the streets, even though the police denied that their permit protected the rights of the protesters to march in the streets. But the organizers were experienced and knew that the cops weren’t worth being worried about and marched into the streets anyways.

    The march took up a full lane of traffic on the way to SouthCom. The lead banner read “Close Guantanamo now!” and listed the demands of the protesters. Once the march reached SouthCom, protesters dressed in the signature orange jumpsuits that prisoners at Guantanamo are forced to wear knelt down, blocking the entrance to SouthCom. The rest of the activists gathered behind the orange jumpsuits and also blocked the entrance. Speakers from Code Pink, Students for a Democratic Society, Progressive Democrats of America, Students for Justice in Palestine, POWIR, Freedom Road Socialist Organization and the Committee to Stop FBI Repression condemned the U.S. for keeping Guantanamo open and demanded it be closed and the prisoners released.

    POWIR founder and protest organizer Cassia Laham told the crowd, “For half of my life, 12 years, Guantanamo has been allowed to exist – all as part of some warped strategy to win some ill-defined U.S.-fabricated war on terror. A war that knows no boundaries, no rules and no end. But who knows better than the U.S. what terror really means? Terror is the nearly 100,000 Iraqis who have been slaughtered by American bombs, terror is the thousands of Afghan children who have been murdered and raped and tortured… We stand here to today to say no to war, no to political repression, no to indefinite detention, no to torture and no to Guantanamo!”

  • Israeli war criminal Ariel Sharon dies

    Israeli war criminal Ariel Sharon died today, Jan 11, having spent the last eight years in a coma. He was 85 years old.

    Those of us who support the liberation of Palestine regret the fact that he was never brought to justice for his crimes. He was one of the architects and builders of the racist apartheid state that is Israel.

    Sharon began his criminal career at a young age, when he joined the Zionist militia called the Haganah and participated in the campaign to drive Palestinians out of Palestine.

    When Sharon was Israel’s defense minister in 1982 he carried out his greatest single crime, the Sabra and Shatila massacre of Palestinians in Lebanon. Under his direction, Israeli troops and their right-wing Lebanese allies surrounded and then attacked the Palestinian refugee camp. Together they carried out the slaughter of more than 3000 men, women and children.

    Much of the Western press is saying that Sharon’s crimes at places like Sabra and Shatila are a point of controversy. No reasonable person can say this. Sharon’s criminality is a point of fact.

    The U.S. government, which aids and arms Israel, issued a disgusting statement from Secretary of State John Kerry today, praising Sharon’s life and efforts, but one odd phrase in the statement stands out as truth: “Ariel Sharon’s journey was Israel’s journey.” The cruel brutality of Ariel Sharon certainly was, and for that matter is, “Israel’s journey.” And it will come to an end. The Palestinian people will put an end to the occupation and liberate every inch of Palestine.

  • U.S. hails its efforts to destroy Iraqi weapons, yet promises to send more missiles

    Washington D.C. – According to widespread media reports, the U.S. is sending Hellfire missiles and surveillance drones to the government of Iraq. The arms shipments come amidst growing turmoil in Iraq.

    In an odd, but related, development, the U.S. State Department issued a statement Dec. 26 praising U.S. efforts to destroy conventional weapons in Iraq. The State Department describes the destroyed weapons as “ranging from pistols to 120mm mortars.” While some of the destroyed weapons are landmines, the State Department claimed credit for destroying “more than 135,430 pieces of unexploded ordnance and abandoned or otherwise at-risk munitions.”

    Increased arms shipments and the efforts to destroy weapons come in the context of the weakening of Iraq’s central government as areas of the country slip beyond its control.

    In 2003, the U.S. invaded Iraq, removed the independent government of Saddam Hussein from power, and established a puppet regime. Deeply unpopular, U.S. influence and that of its supporters is declining. The result is that more weapons are finding their way into the hands of opponents of Iraq’s regime. The U.S. is trying to combat them by speeding up arms shipments to Iraq’s central government.

  • 120th Anniversary of Mao’s birth: Reprint of has statement in support of African American struggle

    In honor of the 120th anniversary of Chinese revolutionary Mao Zedong’s birth, Fight Back! is reprinting his April 16, 1968 statement in support of the struggle of the African American people.

    Statement by Comrade Mao Zedong, Chairman of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, in Support of the Afro-American Struggle Against Violent Repression

    Some days ago, Martin Luther King, the Afro-American clergyman, was suddenly assassinated by the U.S. imperialists. Martin Luther King was an exponent of nonviolence. Nevertheless, the U.S. imperialists did not on that account show any tolerance toward him, but used counter-revolutionary violence and killed him in cold blood. This has taught the broad masses of the Black people in the United States a profound lesson. It has touched off a new storm in their struggle against violent repression sweeping well over a hundred cities in the United States, a storm such as has never taken place before in the history of that country. It shows that an extremely powerful revolutionary force is latent in the more than twenty million Black Americans.

    The storm of Afro-American struggle taking place within the United States is a striking manifestation of the comprehensive political and economic crisis now gripping U.S. imperialism. It is dealing a telling blow to U.S. imperialism, which is beset with difficulties at home and abroad.

    The Afro-American struggle is not only a struggle waged by the exploited and oppressed Black people for freedom and emancipation, it is also a new clarion call to all the exploited and oppressed people of the United States to fight against the barbarous rule of the monopoly capitalist class. It is a tremendous aid and inspiration to the struggle of the people throughout the world against U.S. imperialism and to the struggle of the Vietnamese people against U.S. imperialism. On behalf of the Chinese people, I hereby express resolute support for the just struggle of the Black people in the United States.

    Racial discrimination in the United States is a product of the colonialist and imperialist system. The contradiction between the Black masses in the United States and the U.S. ruling circles is a class contradiction. Only by overthrowing the reactionary rule of the U.S. monopoly capitalist class and destroying the colonialist and imperialist system can the Black people in the United States win complete emancipation. The Black masses and the masses of white working people in the United States have common interests and common objectives to struggle for. Therefore, the Afro-American struggle is winning sympathy and support from increasing numbers of white working people and progressives in the United States. The struggle of the Black people in the United States is bound to merge with the American workers’ movement, and this will eventually end the criminal rule of the U.S. monopoly capitalist class.

    In 1963, in the “Statement Supporting the Afro-Americans in Their Just Struggle Against Racial Discrimination by U.S. Imperialism,” I said that the “the evil system of colonialism and imperialism arose and throve with the enslavement of Negroes and the trade in Negroes, and it will surely come to its end with the complete emancipation of the Black people.” I still maintain this view.

    At present, the world revolution has entered a great new era. The struggle of the Black people in the United States for emancipation is a component part of the general struggle of all the people of the world against U.S. imperialism, a component part of the contemporary world revolution. I call on the workers, peasants, and revolutionary intellectuals of all countries and all who are willing to fight against U.S. imperialism to take action and extend strong support to the struggle of the Black people in the United States! People of the whole world, unite still more closely and launch a sustained and vigorous offensive against our common enemy, U.S. imperialism, and its accomplices! It can be said with certainty that the complete collapse of colonialism, imperialism, and all systems of exploitation, and the complete emancipation of all the oppressed peoples and nations of the world are not far off.

  • 120th Anniversary of Mao’s birth: Reprint of has statement in support of African American struggle

    In honor of the 120th anniversary of Chinese revolutionary Mao Zedong’s birth, Fight Back! is reprinting his April 16, 1968 statement in support of the struggle of the African American people.

    Statement by Comrade Mao Zedong, Chairman of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, in Support of the Afro-American Struggle Against Violent Repression

    Some days ago, Martin Luther King, the Afro-American clergyman, was suddenly assassinated by the U.S. imperialists. Martin Luther King was an exponent of nonviolence. Nevertheless, the U.S. imperialists did not on that account show any tolerance toward him, but used counter-revolutionary violence and killed him in cold blood. This has taught the broad masses of the Black people in the United States a profound lesson. It has touched off a new storm in their struggle against violent repression sweeping well over a hundred cities in the United States, a storm such as has never taken place before in the history of that country. It shows that an extremely powerful revolutionary force is latent in the more than twenty million Black Americans.

    The storm of Afro-American struggle taking place within the United States is a striking manifestation of the comprehensive political and economic crisis now gripping U.S. imperialism. It is dealing a telling blow to U.S. imperialism, which is beset with difficulties at home and abroad.

    The Afro-American struggle is not only a struggle waged by the exploited and oppressed Black people for freedom and emancipation, it is also a new clarion call to all the exploited and oppressed people of the United States to fight against the barbarous rule of the monopoly capitalist class. It is a tremendous aid and inspiration to the struggle of the people throughout the world against U.S. imperialism and to the struggle of the Vietnamese people against U.S. imperialism. On behalf of the Chinese people, I hereby express resolute support for the just struggle of the Black people in the United States.

    Racial discrimination in the United States is a product of the colonialist and imperialist system. The contradiction between the Black masses in the United States and the U.S. ruling circles is a class contradiction. Only by overthrowing the reactionary rule of the U.S. monopoly capitalist class and destroying the colonialist and imperialist system can the Black people in the United States win complete emancipation. The Black masses and the masses of white working people in the United States have common interests and common objectives to struggle for. Therefore, the Afro-American struggle is winning sympathy and support from increasing numbers of white working people and progressives in the United States. The struggle of the Black people in the United States is bound to merge with the American workers’ movement, and this will eventually end the criminal rule of the U.S. monopoly capitalist class.

    In 1963, in the “Statement Supporting the Afro-Americans in Their Just Struggle Against Racial Discrimination by U.S. Imperialism,” I said that the “the evil system of colonialism and imperialism arose and throve with the enslavement of Negroes and the trade in Negroes, and it will surely come to its end with the complete emancipation of the Black people.” I still maintain this view.

    At present, the world revolution has entered a great new era. The struggle of the Black people in the United States for emancipation is a component part of the general struggle of all the people of the world against U.S. imperialism, a component part of the contemporary world revolution. I call on the workers, peasants, and revolutionary intellectuals of all countries and all who are willing to fight against U.S. imperialism to take action and extend strong support to the struggle of the Black people in the United States! People of the whole world, unite still more closely and launch a sustained and vigorous offensive against our common enemy, U.S. imperialism, and its accomplices! It can be said with certainty that the complete collapse of colonialism, imperialism, and all systems of exploitation, and the complete emancipation of all the oppressed peoples and nations of the world are not far off.

  • PFLP: Iran agreement is a counterweight to advocates of aggression, war and occupation

    Fight Back News Service is circulating the following Nov. 25 statement from the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP).

    The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine welcomes the agreement on the Iranian nuclear file, and views it as a step in support of security and stability in the region, countering the advocates of occupation, war and aggression.

    The essence of the conflict of the region is the Palestinian cause and the Arab-Zionist conflict, despite the efforts of the occupation and its supporters to replace these fundamental conflicts with the so-called “Iranian nuclear file” and the “Sunni-Shiite conflict.” There have been many attempts to blur this reality and to block the struggle for the Palestinian rights to return, self-determination, independence, and our capital in Jerusalem.

    The Front notes that this agreement confirms that resilience and rejection of imperialism and Zionism is the only way to protect legitimate rights and interests and to open the door before the solidarity and mutual progress of the people of the region, their freedom, development, justice and human dignity.

  • U.S. B-52 bombers carry out anti-China provocation, say reports

    Minneapolis, MN – According to widespread reports in the Western press, the U.S. sent two B-52 bombers into China’s newly established East China Sea Air Defense Identification Zone on Nov. 26. According to the reports, the U.S. provocation involved ignoring the Air Defense Identification Zone regulations, which require aircrafts to make their presence and flight plans known.

    Air Defense Identification Zones are a common international practice. More than 20 countries have them. Japan established its Air Defense Identification Zones in 1969.

    The creation of China’s Air Defense Identification Zone comes at a time of growing tension between China and Japan over the Diaoyu Islands, which lie within the new zone. Historically, the islands are a part of China. Japan has physical control over the islands.

    If reports on the U.S. military aircraft ignoring zone regulations are accurate, this move would indicate that the U.S. is upping its support for the Japanese occupation of China’s Diaoyu Islands and would mark an escalation of the U.S. push against China.

    In recent years, an important element of U.S. foreign policy has been a ‘pivot’ towards Asia. Key elements of this policy are to surround China with U.S. military bases and to reach military agreements with China’s neighbors. The overall goal is to maintain U.S. domination over the Pacific region.

    In recent weeks, the U.S. has taken advantage of the massive typhoon that hit the Philippines as a means to create the climate for a greater presence in that country.