Pole of Communist Revival in France (PRCF)
Warm and fraternal greetings to all the participants in this June 22nd Conference in Amsterdam! Impressed congratulations on organizing such a large-scale event. Bravo to the World Anti-imperialist Platform and to the Dutch comrades on site!
The antagonistic contradictions between the hegemonic imperialism of the US-led NATO-EU-Israel axis and the peoples of the world are sharpening week by week. At the time of writing, general attention has shifted from occupied Palestine and the ongoing genocide of Gazans, to the open conflict between Israel and Iran. In both cases, the terrorist and exterminating Zionist entity is the almost exclusive driving force behind the spreading chaos in the Middle East.
Superficial observation can make Israel’s attitude resemble that of a drunken man in a fury of destruction. Irrationalism is of course an important component of any fascist phenomenon, but as Marxist-Leninists we know that the form of phenomena, especially political ones, is not enough to explain them in their essence.
The Greater Israel project has long been the strategy of all Zionist leaders, right and left. Ideally, this project consists of a territory stretching from the Nile to the Euphrates, bordering on ancient Persia. Iran is not destined to be part of it, yet the Zionist state has been pursuing it with its wrath for almost 50 years.
Over the past two years, the Middle East has seen no shortage of reactionary regimes that are very conciliatory towards Israel, if they don’t collaborate closely with it. The Zionist entity’s ongoing vindictiveness towards Iran stems from the fact that, for 50 years, the latter has not bowed to the dictates of imperialism, whether they emanate directly from the US imperialist-in-chief or his Israeli proxy.
The Islamic Republic regime’s resistance to imperialism is unquestionable, but its reactionary character does not suggest that it is genuinely or consciously anti-imperialist. We recall the ferocious repression of communists following the revolution that ousted the Shah, to which communists had made a major contribution.
How can we integrate this national struggle, which is more akin to what we call the anti-hegemonic front, into our anti-imperialist struggle?
If the current period is one of a worrying and dangerous stiffening, in the more or less long term for the future of humanity, of Western imperialism, we note that it is also one of a renewal of peoples’ struggles for sovereignty, and even, in the countries of the imperialist heartland, progressive struggles against some aspect of fascization, such as the uprisings in the United States against the manhunt policies of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
In this context, and to return to the specific subject of Iran, it is crucial to remain vigilant with regard to certain false-flag instrumentalizations that we are witnessing in the countries of the imperialist center. Typically, it is important to bluntly unmask the femino-imperialist operations—feminist in word and imperialist in deed – which consist in mobilizing on the struggles for women’s emancipation in Iran, struggles which enjoy fair sympathy in our progressive circles, but in a perspective objectively aligned with NATO’s imperialist strategy.
At the same time, we must stress to these progressive circles that social progressivism and emancipation will only find their way more easily in an Iran finally relieved of the truly existential and permanent pressure of the NATO-EU-Israel imperialist axis, since this threat, particularly in its hottest phases, broadly unites the people in a national unity that necessarily takes precedence over class struggle.
The task of anti-imperialist struggle remains to block the imperialist war machine as far as possible, in our own countries. Through strikes, with a warm thought for the dockers of various European countries who refuse to load war material destined for the fronts of imperialist wars; through the agitation of public opinion, increasingly skeptical of interference and endless wars; but also by revealing the economic springs of imperialism, hidden behind the smokescreen of the concept of “war of civilization”.
Finally, we must not slacken our efforts to denounce official and compulsory anti-communism, whether it takes the form of historical revisionism or the outright repression of political organizations, as witnessed most recently in the Czech Republic… Remembering that anti-communism is the indispensable prelude, along with the spread of the poison of racism, to fascization and imperialist wars of subjugation.
Comrades, there are many more points to address, not least that of the indispensable reconstruction of the International Communist Movement, which is certainly close to the hearts of all participants.
But we don’t want to take up too much of your time and attention. Besides, we’re more than confident that the discussions and conclusions of this conference (and indeed those of the June 23 colloquium) will be up to the challenge, relevant and effective for the struggles ahead.
We wish the Amsterdam Conference every success!
Down with imperialism! Proletarians of all countries, oppressed peoples of the world, unite!