Dear Comrades and Friends,
I bring warm greeting from the United National Antiwar Coalition (UNAC) from the United States.
We are at the precipice of great changes in the world. Western imperialism is being challenged as never before and they are losing their empire and their hegemony.
At the beginning of Russia’s Special Military Operation in Ukraine, the US imposed sanctions on Russia that they claimed would “cripple their economy”, and they claimed that the Russian economy would collapse. When this did not happen, they imposed ever increasing sanctions and today, Russia is the most sanctioned country in the world. However, despite these sanctions Russia’s economy is not faltering and will expand by an expected 2.2 % this year. At the same time, the economy of the UK is basically in recession as it is also experiencing an inflation rate of over 10%. Germany, the largest economy in Europe is also officially in recession.
The military side of the conflict in Ukraine is not going much better for the US and its NATO allies. Several areas of Ukraine have now become part of Russia, and the so-called Ukrainian offensive has failed. It has not gained territory. It has in fact has lost some while Russia is building up for an offensive of their own.
As we are aware, the real aim of Western imperialism is China, which has an economy that is rapidly overtaking that of the US. The US and its imperialist allies have surrounded China along its coasts and are making threats around Taiwan.
The world has watched US imperialism and its allies falter in their proxy war against Russia, it has now become clear that the US and NATO can be defeated, they are not invincible. Perhaps this played a role in the fact that several of the former French colonies in the recent past have felt empowered to get rid of French troops and sever their ties with France. And perhaps the growing weakness of Western Imperialism has played a role in Palestine where Hamas felt it could challenge the Zionists as they have not been able to do before.
The reaction of the Israeli government and of the Western Powers to the Hamas resistance was a genocidal attack on the entire Palestinian people. This genocide in Gaza has been playing out on TV screens throughout the world. The people of the world are reacting with horror. We have poured out into the streets in the millions. In the US, where the antiwar movement was at a low point for many reasons, we are now holding weekly, and in some places, daily actions all across the country. In the past few years, we have not been able to build mass actions but a few weeks ago we brought 300,000 to Washington, DC and have held actions in the tens of thousands in many cities. This as millions have poured into the streets from every corner of the world in support of the Palestinians and against this Zionist and Western imperialist genocide.
The US and Western imperialist countries have come down strongly on the side of Israel and the US president offered more money and more weapons to Israel. The Zionist state has flaunted their disdain for any semblance of international law. Israel has been responsible for war crimes—like not allowing the civilian population to leave the conflict area, bombing civilians, trying to starve the people of Gaza to death, denying them water, fuel and electricity, using white phosphorus on civilian populations and attacking hospitals, mosques and refugee camps. Though the Western imperialists try to claim they have the moral high ground, it has been clearer than ever that Imperialism and its stepchild Zionism is responsible for this mass murder and genocide.
As we speak, a delegation including leaders of UNAC and other affiliated organizations have made it to the Rafah Gate where they are holding press conferences, interviewing people that have made it across and are demanding that the gate be opened to allow in immediate and sustained aid. This US delegation, led by Palestinian Americans is in answer to a call from Palestinian civil society to get to the Rafah Crossing and demand it be opened.
The millions that have taken to the streets for Palestine represent a new stage in our movement. It represents a changing consciousness on the part of millions of people around the world and is exposing the true nature of Imperialism and Zionism. This changing consciousness is an opportunity to build our movement that we have not seen for some time.
As a young organizer for the US movement against the Vietnam war I helped build the mass movement that brought millions into the streets time and time again. The power of masses of people in motion was clear but it also was clear that this movement played a major role in building the left in the US. As the imperialist project in Ukraine fails and as the people in Palestine and the rest of the world resist the Zionist/Imperialist genocide in Gaza and as Zionism and imperialism become more and more exposed, we can expect that the left in the US and around the world will be strengthened. There are many pitfalls, sectarianism and right/populist demagoguery are key among them. But this is the time that the people of the world need a strong anti-imperialist socialist oriented movement more than ever before. Let’s build that movement by building our organizations and our alliances and coalitions and let’s move forward to victory.
