[su_youtube url=”https://www.youtube.com/embed/Epz7otrM2TA”]
By Prof. Jose Maria Sison
Chairperson, International Coordinating Committee
International League of Peoples’ Struggle
August 5, 2017
Fellow activists and friends,
In the name of the International League of Peoples’ Struggle (ILPS), I welcome all who are now gathered under the banner of “Solidarity and Fightback: Building Resistance to US-led War, Militarism and Neo-fascism”.
You come as anti-war and social justice activists and representatives of organizations, networks and movements from different countries. You oppose wars, militarism, repression and foreign intervention by the U.S. and other imperialist powers, and you advocate and support the rights of peoples to self-determination, justice, liberation and peace.
I congratulate the general secretariats, national chapters and member-organizations of the ILPS and International Women’s Alliance (IWA) for successfully sponsoring and preparing the conference and the related forums, workshops, cultural performances and mass rally and march. All participants are assured of an enlightening and exciting program of activities.
Coming from the front lines of resistance in the Middle East, Africa, Asia, the Americas and Europe, you can exchange experiences and learn from each other. In the forums, you can acquire knowledge of the many faces of war, militarism and neo-fascism and the various forms of people’s resistance.
In the workshops, you can learn in depth about the US military bases, the military industrial complex, the national security state , neo-fascism, first nations, colonialism and war, migrants and refugees, the role of media, faith and war and the duty to defend the peoples’ rights amidst war and repression.
You shall join and enjoy the cultural performances to celebrate our solidarity with the people in the struggle. We shall march with the people against war, injustice and repression. In all activities, we shall promote the equality of genders and give full play to the role of women in rising against neo-fascism, resisting militarism and achieving liberation.
The urgent call for all of us is to reverse the tide of war by building a global movement against militarism, injustice and repression. We can respond to the call by heeding the guidelines in answer to the ten questions put forward before the conference.
The Trump regime of US imperialism is indeed escalating militarism and war. The escalation is driven by the ever worsening economic and financial crisis of the US and world capitalist system. The US is waging a global war of terror. It is guilty of war crimes. In so many ways, it is waging war against the broad masses of the people. It is waging war against the planet by plundering the environment and producing and deploying nuclear weapons.
It is deploying more military bases and forces on a global scale. The US monopoly bourgeoisie, especially the financial oligarchy and the military-industrial comp0lex, profit most from the US war production and wars of aggression. The proletariat and oppressed peoples of the world are resisting war, militarism and neofascism on an expanding and intensifying scale. To stop the monstrous forces of imperialism, we can and must wage various forms of struggle.
I wish you the utmost success in the conference. You must discuss comprehensively and profoundly the guidelines put forward in order to raise your common resolve and revolutionary struggle to a new and higher level against imperialism and all reaction and for national liberation, democracy and socialism. We must fight and defeat US imperialism and its cohorts in order to bring about a fundamentally new, better and brighter world.
Long live the proletariat and all oppressed peoples of the world!
Down with US imperialism and its cohorts!
Resist war, militarism and neofascism!
Wage all forms of resistance on a global scale!
Long live international solidarity!