PEACE 4 THE PEOPLE

NEWSLETTER OF ILPS COMMISSION 4

Issue 8, Sep. 2020

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ALL OUT FOR INTERNATIONAL PEACE DAY, SEPTEMBER 21! BUILD THE PEOPLES’ GLOBAL MOVEMENT FOR JUST PEACE!

The necessity to organize and unite in action around the world for just peace and national liberation against imperialist aggression, occupation and interference is ever-more pressing. Conflicts are raging all over, the peoples’ rights trampled, the Earth’s resources squandered, the capitalist economy failing and inter-imperialist tensions rising. The solution is to resist imperialism with a vision of creating a new, just and peaceful world through mass mobilization.

Let us all organize and mobilize to carry our banners for social justice and lasting peace high! Let us be sure to mark UN Peace Day on September 21 with solidarity in struggle for just peace!

While we generally support initiatives to suspend hostilities, our vision of peace is more than a ceasefire; rather, it is peace with social justice. That is, demands for land, political and social reforms must be addressed before the peoples give up their armed and civilian struggles. Such issues as social equality, food, jobs, health and sustainability are the underpinnings of just peace. In other words, the roots of conflict must be understood and dealt with. Let us consider occupations and civil war. For example, Palestinian resistance to Israel’s occupation cannot be resolved until the occupation and aggression against Palestinians are acknowledged. Then negotiations would have to work on a plan for reparations, justice for the victims of crimes against humanity, poverty and social inequality, expropriation, food insecurity and housing. A moratorium on arms sales and deployment would have to be established. An effective peace process would need to follow such a path. Other examples are the peace process between the US, South Korea and the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea and that between the National Democratic Front of the Philippines and the Philippines state. For the former, all parties would have to cease military activities, the US would have to pull back its forces and sign a treaty, territorial rights be respected, past wrongs addressed and issues concerning North-South relations negotiated. As for the Philippines, the questions of land distribution, dire poverty, food insecurity, human rights violations, democratic norms and public services must be negotiated and settled. Actually, there is a peace process laid out. The human rights conditions have been signed off, but past and present governments keep balking at settling the land and social demands. Instead of settling the conflict, the government has walked away from the table to intensified military operations and state repression against armed and unarmed resisters to heights not seen before. The so-called democratic states such as the US, European Union and others continue to let the atrocities happen while they aid the state and profit.

With respect to world peace, aggressor states must be named and held accountable. Arms trade and the use of weapons of mass destruction would have to be sternly contained along with unconventional weapons including cyber and psy war, biological and chemical warfare. Unjust economic coercive measures (i.e., “sanctions”) would need to be suspended. Foreign militaries would have to withdraw and foreign bases close. Sovereignty and differing models of political-economy must be respected. Reconciliation with indigenous peoples would have to be worked out and colonialism dismantled once and for all. These are huge, long term tasks. The main obstacles to accomplishing these steps is the global industrial-military complex that profits from conflict and imperialist expansionist and harbours land/ market-grabbing intentions. The US plays the key role in defending and overseeing the intrusions and bullying of

monopoly capital. It and all their allies such as NATO and ANZUS members have to be muzzled and held accountable, international law and United Nations decisions followed.

For such vast and transformative outcomes to be realized, the peoples of the world must be engaged, well-educated and united in staunch struggle. Achieving real peace with social justice requires more than a mere change in the faces of governments or policy and budgeting adjustments. The world crisis demands a very broad anti-colonial, anti-imperialist and anti-fascist movement. Resisting wars of aggression and counter-revolution as well as militarization and weapons of mass destruction lies at the core of anti-imperialist work. These issues touch all sectors and concerns, from women to the environment, from democracy and national liberation to health.

Significant changes transpire when the people are in motion and working to find solutions to their own problems. It is one thing to support positive laws and policies that reduce some violence or misery. However, just peace will never come out of waiting for a kinder face of capitalism or more generous political representatives to emerge and save the people. The people must educate, activate and mobilize themselves to confront the global aggressive, exploiting and plundering system.

The global system of monopoly capital was slipping into one of its deepest pits ever in 2019. With no sound material base of production to cling to, no valid claim to uphold, no rationale to convince the people and no political or moral strength left, it has been resorting to reactionary thought and force in a vain effort to preserve itself. Corruption among the elite and debt at all-time highs, misinformation and crimes against humanity run rampant while markets and corporations collapse and compete like wild dogs over scraps. The pandemic is yet another symptom and complicating factor. Scientists had been warning that excessive extraction and production along with global warming would result in many ills, including pandemics as well as food insecurity, flooding and so on. Nevertheless, the imperialists refuse to acknowledge the situation and change their ways. Rather, they seek advantages such as market niches, opportunities to increase state repression against dissent and profiteering from the pandemic while carrying on the destruction.

In recent times, the people have been responding by speaking out, increasing their resistance, organizing and reorganizing and coming together to understand the circumstances and find ways to struggle against the destructive forces while they seek sustainable and just solutions. Many historic events have been taking place. The anti-imperialist movement is expanding and coalescing. There have been two big anti-imperialist encuentros in Cuba and Venezuela, and countless discussions online. The ILPS partnered with ICOR to form a new, broad anti-fascist, democratic front. Major international organizations have been convening and expanding their programs on many concerns such as opposition to nuclear weapons, the civil rights of women and blacks, health care for the people, lifting colonial oppression, and solidarity against occupation and state terror. These are all just causes confronting an insanely violent, relentlessly exploitative and recklessly plundering system. Do not be charmed by false narratives of peace and attempts by representatives of capitalism and imperialist exploitation and plunder to don masks of kindness.

Let us march on to continue to build our struggles this year and beyond. The times are crying out for a global people’s movement for just peace. We must build on the momentum of resistance expressed so far in 2020 and carry forward anti-imperialist analysis and action.

ILPS AND OTHER ACTIVITIES IN SEPTEMBER ILPS Month of Global Solidarity with the Filipino Peoples' Struggle Against Duterte's Reign of Terror

Commission 10 The Worldwide Protest Against the Implementation of Dams in Sikkim (northern India) calls for solidarity.

International Coalition for Human Rights in the Philippines’ (Canada) campaign to release Philippines political prisoners –ongoing (launched on August 26) https://www.facebook.com/ichrpcanada

Sept. 4 20h00 EDT/ 08h00 Manila: Malaya Canada “Malayang Kapihan: Labour and Migration under COVID 19” https://tinyurl.com/malayang-kapihan-sep4

Sept. 5 Manila Commission 15 webinar “Migration, Neoliberalism and Covid 19” Saturday at 9:00PM Manila, Philippines Time (23h00 AEST, 09h00 EDT, 15h00 CEST, 08h00 CDT) Register your name, organization and country through this email: ilps.hkm@gmail.com

Sept. 9 ILPS-US and International Migrants’ Alliance-US Chapter on Peoples' Agenda against the Republican and Democrats platforms. 5pmPDT https://www.facebook.com/ilps.us Register ilps.hkm@gmail.com

ILPS Asia-Pacific Regional Chapter’s 3-part webinar series on the Philippines people’s struggle https://www.facebook.com/ilpsasiapacific September 4: Philippines as a semi-feudal, semi-colonial state September 11: the National Democratic Struggle September 18: the Roots of Armed Conflict and the Peace Process

Sept. 14 ILPS Asia-Pacific Regional Chapter’s-webinar on repression and militarism https://www.facebook.com/ilpsasiapacific ILPS Commission 4, Commission 1 with Resist US-led War webinar on peace processes and building the global struggle for just peace (TBA)

Sep19-21 local actions for UN International Peace Day. Onward the struggle for just peace!

Sept. 19, 2pm AEST - Independent and Peaceful Australia Network - Victoria (IPAN-Vic) Webinar: "Will the US Alliance drag Australiainto war?"Organised jointly by Spirit of Eureka, ILPS-Australia and others. Sept. 21 – ILPS international coordinated protest actions at Philippine embassies / consulates

Sept. 18-26 Samidoun Palestinian Political Prisoners Solidarity actions for Palestinian refugees: “We will not forget - we have rights, and we will return!” https://news.ilps.info/lt.php?tid=isJiRLtdlA6VDyDo4PuMwU2+kqxKA4q5tSOzPGSUCYT3wp+skSRLbKobdkCSk8q5 ILPS Spirit of Eureka and their Australian allies www.spiritofeureka.org -research project on the pandemic and neo-liberalism with energy industries and the call for nationalization of fossil fuel industry to rein it in and wind it down -discussions of ANZUS Treaty- and state intelligence sharing -Spirit of Eureka’s campaign against Australian military aid to the Philippines (for training in urban guerrilla warfare) Fri., Sep 25 climate change actions

https://www.ipmsdl.org/statement/brave-our-fight-forward-stop-teesta-dam-in-sikkim/https://www.facebook.com/ichrpcanadahttps://l.facebook.com/l.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Ftinyurl.com%2Fmalayang-kapihan-sep4%3Ffbclid%3DIwAR23UC_Dtrq_3YeTBeFnAp4Sy8bXdNXt_NOHUt1xDfpFDXuhrn5c_P47xH8&h=AT1Fh4k9s85rnv1eCu8rz2k-PskxK6gC7h2l7QgviYqjvzEuqEcwJVQNw-snnc6jUaCswFN7iYZVvaAf5NfJM_eYmJIjI8uvriN0InY9nJPlXqVkSESRdZ-arKTv0twQuFwb83POS8t5VBhchAmailto:ilps.hkm@gmail.comhttps://www.facebook.com/ilps.usmailto:ilps.hkm@gmail.comhttps://www.facebook.com/ilpsasiapacifichttps://www.facebook.com/ilpsasiapacifichttps://news.ilps.info/lt.php?tid=isJiRLtdlA6VDyDo4PuMwU2+kqxKA4q5tSOzPGSUCYT3wp+skSRLbKobdkCSk8q5

ANNOUNCEMENT FROM THE ILPS CHAIRPERSON, LEN COOPER

Call to Action: September 2020 Month of Global Solidarity for the Philippines

At least 208 human rights defenders, journalists and trade unionists, including 30 women and at least 40 legal

professionals have been murdered under the Duterte regime. Just this August, Filipino peasant activist, NDFP peace

negotiator, and ILPS member Randall Echanis was brutally killed by suspected state forces. Shortly after, human rights

advocate and church worker Zara Alvarez was gunned down in the island of Negros. This spate of killings followed a pattern

of government red-tagging and vilification of activists like NDFP Peace consultant Randy Malayao, Bayan Muna activist

Jory Porquia, and Kadamay urban poor leader Carlito Badion.

It is in this context that the ILPS is declaring September 2020 as a Month of Global Solidarity with the Filipino Peoples'

Struggle Against Duterte's Reign of Terror. This month will be marked with an information and education campaign on

the Philippine situation, solicitation of support statements and endorsements of the calls and demands of the Filipino

people and mobilization in protest actions in various platforms (online and offline). The peak of the campaign is on

September 21, 2020 with coordinated protest actions in front of the Philippine embassies and consulates.

Listed below is the schedule of solidarity activities:

1. Activities organized by ILPS Asia Pacific and their network:

• September 4 - Webinar 1: The Philippines as a Semicolonial and Semifeudal State: Economy, Politics and Culture

• September 5 - All-Asia Pacific CHRP briefing on the Report of the UNHCHR on the situation of human rights in the

Philippines

• September 10 - Study Forum on Demystifying the Philippine Labor Export Program

• September 11 - Webinar 2: The National Democratic Struggle

• September 14 - Webinar on Militarism and Human Rights

• September 18 - Webinar 3: The Roots of Armed Conflict and The Peace Process

• September 21 - Regional coordinated actions in Asia Pacific; centralized online program

• September 24 - Study Forum on Building the movement of migrants and families: The Philippine Experience (IMA)

• September 30 - Cultural Solidarity Program

2. September 18- Global Social Media Campaign

3. September 21 - Coordinated protest actions in front of Philippine embassies / consulates

4. Solicitation of solidarity statements and endorsements for the demands/calls of the Filipino people

5. Protest postcards to be sent to the Philippine government and other relevant agencies and institutions

We call on all ILPS members, allied networks and friends to be in solidarity with the just struggle of the Filipino people to

end Duterte's reign of terror. We enjoin you to organize solidarity actions and participate in mobilizations to show

international condemnation of the US-Duterte regime.

Support the Filipino Peoples' Struggle to End Duterte's Tyranny!

Stop Military Aid and Support to the Duterte Regime!

Stop the Attacks!

Stop the Killings!

Justice for the Victims of Duterte's State Terrorism!

WORLDWIDE ACTIVITIES REMEMBERED HIROSHIMA AND NAGASAKI

The ILPS rose to the occasion and mobilized to produce many online events and actions to remember the atom bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and oppose wars of aggression and occupation, militarism, and the arms trade and mililtarization. It joined with many organizations on the frontlines of opposing nuclear weapons and calling for just peace.

HIROSHIMA: memorial peace park ceremony

VANCOUVER, CANADA: ILPS action with Vancouver Peace Council at Seaforth Peace Park

TORONTO: Hiroshima and Nagasaki Day Coalition’s Peace Garden cultural activities and online discussions

US & INTERNATIONAL GUESTS: Resist US-Led War, a network of the ILPS and allies, featured a panel presentation on the

militarization of South Asia as part of a day-long series of presentations over the web entitled “Still Here”

ILPS Commission 13 on science and technology for the people held two panel presentations entitled “Research and

Destruction” on August 8/9. And 15/16. To watch, click on https://www.facebook.com/ilpscommission13/videos/1646520275503486

Photo for the ILPS Commissions (1, 4, 7)and IWA joint statement “Call for Justice and an End to Military Sexual

Violence against Women” issued August 14, 2020. It features victims and their families.

https://www.facebook.com/ilpscommission13/videos/1646520275503486

Samidoun Political Prisional Prisoner Solidarity was a key mobilizer for the Days of Resistance against Israel’s plan to

annex the Jordan Valley. This is a shot of the New York street action. See below for more images. https://samidoun.net/2020/08/thousands-around-the-world-join-the-days-of-resistance-for-palestine-global-report-

on-actions/

The International Women’s Alliance, which was sparked by the Women’s Commission of the ILPS in 2008 and founded

in 2010, celebrated its 10th Anniversary with a week of actions and the addition of IWA-Europe. https://www.facebook.com/IWA.grassrootswomenforliberation

https://samidoun.net/2020/08/thousands-around-the-world-join-the-days-of-resistance-for-palestine-global-report-on-actions/https://samidoun.net/2020/08/thousands-around-the-world-join-the-days-of-resistance-for-palestine-global-report-on-actions/https://www.facebook.com/IWA.grassrootswomenforliberation

SUCCESSFUL ILPS INTERVENTIONS IN AUGUST: Opposing nuclear weapons, occupation, fascism and imperialist war

Following through with the education and action program laid out by Commission 4, ILPS contingents organized and mobilized for activities to remember and condemn the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, oppose fascism and militarization and analyze and confront imperialism today. They participated in peoples’ online programs and actions and created their own events. The ILPS exists chiefly as a people’s united defense against imperialist war and militarization. The summer 2020 work arose out of a series of commitments made by the ILPS earlier in 2020 in response to international events developing since the 6th ILPS International Assembly and Peace Day mobilization in 2019. The ILPS joined in global actions to prevent a new war in West Asia in early January and held a global day of anti-war action on January 25. Furthermore, it joined in the Sanctions Kill! Campaign in the spring. It then organized a series of online activities for its international anti-imperialism week at the end of May, a culmination of a series of webinars on Leninism and Leninist interpretations of current events. Anticipating events to mark the 75th anniversary of the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August, a Commission 4 representative attended an international conference of activists against nuclear weaponry in June. The meeting pointed to the mounting tensions between China, Russia and the US and their respective hubs and the rhetoric and policies reminiscent of the Cold War. As well as recalling the extensive damage to life and the Earth caused by nuclear weapons, nuclear weapons development and nuclear weapons testing over the decades, speakers provided details about the number, nature and availability of nuclear weapons in many countries today. Today’s nuclear bombs being up to 45 times more powerful than the one dropped on Hiroshima in 1945, the stage is set for either a deliberate or accidental nuclear catastrophe. The Doomsday Clock is poised at 100 minutes to midnight. It is paramount that concerned people encourage more states to sign the 2017 UN treaty to ban nuclear weapons. In response to the current world crisis, old mass organizations are regrouping and coalescing as new ones are arising. For example, ILPS Canada Chapter has had representatives participating in national discussions to form a network for just peace. This step follows the formation of the anti-arms trade coalition “No CANSEC” and the Ottawa area Anti-Imperialist Alliance. ILPS Canada was present at a meeting of Canadian peace groups that invited representatives of the International Peace Bureau and the International Campaign against Nuclear Weapons in July. In the US, the Resist US-Led War network and its many ILPS organizations and allies is stepping up the work. Commission 4 created a program to engage with ILPS organizations and their allies in just peace programming from August 6 to September 21. We carried out this program through August as we were preparing for activities in September. Commission 13’s webinars on “Research and Destruction” were successfully presented with some assistance of Commission 4. Part 1 featured Dene national activists speaking about the history of uranium mining in Northern Saskatchewan, Turtle Island (Canada). A highly radioactive material required for nuclear energy, uranium was first discovered there, and the Canadian government took over uranium extraction and processing to profit from and assist with the US Manhattan project to create the a-bomb. The workers and people residing in that area and downwind or downstream from it have been suffering from contamination ever since. The second featured webinar speaker, an American engineer with Scientists for Peace—a revived anti-nukes group—deplored the use of science for exploitation and military purposes. Science has been subjugated by capitalism for profit and war since the 19th century, he said. Part 2 transpired on August 30 on the subject of science education with guest speaker Chuckie Calsado of Agham Educators. Many types of peace organizations in the US came together to present a series of webinars called “Still Here” all day on August 6th. Its full slogan was “Still Here: 75 Years of Nuclear Legacy, Anniversary of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.” It coincided with many online and street activities remembering Hiroshima and Nagasaki victims around the world, from Japan to Europe, from Australia to Toronto--towns on every continent. The people still mourn and denounce the creation and use of weapons of mass destruction and fight for demilitarization, negotiations for peace with social justice

rather than military action. ILPS activists were front and center on “Still Here” day. Carly Brook, an activist against weapons development and an associate of ILPS Seattle reported on the presence of nuclear weapons in Washington State, despite the peoples’ suffering from and rejection of uranium mining and processing for war in the region. She opposes Boeing’s production of military arms while she points out that 25% of the US’ over 9,000 nuclear warheads are situated at the Bangor base just south of Seattle. Others from that region speaking that day reported on the devastating health and environmental effects of industries tied to nuclear weapons. Like the Dene in Saskatchewan, the Spokane people working and living at the world’s second uranium mine founded in the 1940s have also suffered death and disease for generations. Uranium from that mine used to be processed at the Hanford processing plant to produce plutonium for bombs in Washington. Workers likewise have experienced cancers and genetic defects owing to their exposure, as have “downwinders” where severe radiation has flowed into adjacent areas. Presumed dispensable, indigenous peoples and their remaining lands have been sickened and destroyed not only by extraction and processing of harmful minerals, but also exposure by a-bomb testing in Nevada, New Mexico (Navajo lands) and the Marshall Islands (a US-controlled territory in the South Pacific). Atomic Veterans reminded the audience how military personnel (and scientists) have been harmed due to their involvement in tests, too. A spokesman revealed that there were several accidents during testing sessions when atomic bombs exploded mid-air. Rhonda Ramiro, head of Bayan USA and a coordinator in both Commissions 1 and 4, moderated the Resist US-Led War panel on “Still Here” day. This event focused on militarization and nuclear development in South Asia. The first presenter was ILPS Vice-Chairperson and a coordinator of Commission 4, Azra Sayeed. She was accompanied by two progressive academics. Together they explained that US imperialism backs the fascist Indian state headed by Prime Minister Modi that enforces Hindu chauvinism and occupies the Punjab and the Kashmir. The US seeks to obstruct China’s “One Belt, One Road” projects through South Asia, though the fact that some Indians want to benefit by it exacerbates the conflict. At the same time, the US and its allies share an interest in cracking down on independence and democratic movements. While the US likes to condemn North Korea’s and Iran’s nuclear developments, they have not objected to India’s nuclear development and weapons testing. Despite the pretext of deterrence as a defense, it is clear that India is a threat to the region and world peace, just as the US military presence and exercises in partnership with Japan and South Korea in the Sea of Japan threaten that region and the rest of the world. Under the constraints of the coronavirus pandemic, few outdoors protests were held on August 6 and 9th. However, some went ahead, following the lead of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki ceremonies. For example, a dozen people staged an action coordinated by the Just Peace Committee and its ally, the Vancouver Peace Council, at the Seaforth Peace Park in Vancouver, a site designated by the peace movement of the 1980s when Vancouver declared itself a nuclear-free zone. The International Women’s Alliance joined the Commissions 1, 4 and 7 collaboration to produce a statement of unity calling for justice for so-called “comfort women” and deploring fascism, militarization and wars of aggression. Our statement specifically condemned military violence against women and girls. Imperial Japan created an official program of sexual slavery of girls and women to please its officers during World War 2. It still has not faced up to this offense to humanity and morality. There are still survivors and their families hankering for a proper acknowledgment of the crimes with a full official apology and compensation. August 14 has been named a day for justice for the victims. This is also the date when fascist Japan surrendered, ending WW2 (August 15 in the Western Hemisphere, the 14th in the Eastern Hemisphere in 1945). Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network lead numerous actions to oppose the annexation of the Jordan Valley by Israel during the “Days of Resistance” from August 7 to 9th. With a united vibrant message, the turn-out was strong as protests and discussions popped up all over Europe, the US, New Zealand and Canada, from banner drops and art displays to forae and street actions. See the section below for photos. The International Action Center supported a webinar to encourage people to continue their struggles in the streets, and not depend on the two major parties and elections. “Keep it in the Streets-Racism, Evictions and War” was on the 30th.

Other Commissions organized special events in August. For example, there were several activities opposing the Anti-Terror Law of the Duterte regime, which intends to legitimize the excessive militarization and reign of terror against communities, alleged drug users and dealers, and activists deemed insurrectionists. Commission 3 held a webinar on August 10. It followed the peoples’ “State of the Nation Addresses” staged in the Philippines and in many diaspora centers by multiple ILPS formations on July 26 and 27. August 10 through 16 was a time to hold a series of events to build and celebrate the anti-imperialist united front known as the International Women’s Alliance. The key slogan of the IWA is “Women Say No to Imperialist War.” Borne out of the work of the ILPS in 2008, it is a growing independent block with the participation of many ILPS organizations and individuals. August 16 marked the IWA’s 10th anniversary. The week’s initiating forum on the global situation of women, moderated by the IWA General-Secretary, Donna Denina, assessed the present conditions facing women. Part of her message addressed the impacts of war, occupation, fascism and militarization on women. She also emphasized women’s continuing involvement in mass movements against aggression and imperialism and called on more women to activate themselves and participate. IWA-Europe chose August 14 to launch its formation. Gabriella, Lila and the IWA held online events to support the cause of “comfort women” on August 14 and 15. IWA links violence against women’s bodies to the imperialist system, which is both a class and patriarchal system with a narrow, homophobic intent on exploiting and plundering by force at any cost to the land and people.

Update on the 2017 Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (Aug. 9, 2020):

St. Kitts and Nevis Ratifies UN Nuclear Ban Treaty on Nagasaki Anniversary From the news page of the website of the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN) https://www.icanw.org/saint_kitts_and_nevis_ratifies_un_nuclear_weapon_ban_treaty_on_nagasaki_anniversary (accessed on August 11, 2020) Today, 9 August 2020, marks 75 years since the United States dropped an atomic bomb on the Japanese city of Nagasaki, killing more than 74,000 people and inflicting harm across generations. To honour the victims and survivors of that horrific attack, the Caribbean state of Saint Kitts and Nevis has ratified the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons on this significant anniversary.

A total of 44 countries are now parties to this landmark disarmament agreement, which was negotiated and adopted at the United Nations in 2017. The treaty categorically prohibits nuclear weapons and establishes a legal framework for their elimination. Just six more ratifications are needed to bring it into force.

Saint Kitts and Nevis’ ratification follows ratifications by Ireland, Nigeria, and Niue on 6 August, the anniversary of the bombing of Hiroshima. Together, these four ratifications signify a commitment to ensure that no other city ever suffers the same fate as Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

Mark Brantley, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Saint Kitts and Nevis, said today: “The bombing of Nagasaki was the apogee of human cruelty and inhumanity. As a small nation committed to global peace, Saint Kitts Nevis can see no useful purpose for nuclear armaments in today’s world. May all nations work towards peace and mutual respect for all mankind.”

In the months leading up to the anniversaries of the bombings, survivors, known as “hibakusha”, appealed to leaders around the world to ratify the nuclear weapon ban treaty, arguing this is an important step that every nation can and must take to help abolish nuclear arms.

Saint Kitts and Nevis has become the eighth member of the Caribbean Community to ratify the nuclear weapon ban treaty, following Guyana, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Trinidad and Tobago, Dominica, Antigua and Barbuda, and Belize. Its ratification helps strengthen the global norm against the worst weapons of mass destruction.

Caribbean nations played an active and influential role in bringing the treaty into being, warning that nuclear weapons create a “state of insecurity” and could unleash “unparalleled harm” on humankind. Last year, 10 Caribbean nations met in Guyana to discuss the urgent need for concerted regional action to achieve the treaty’s swift entry into

https://www.icanw.org/saint_kitts_and_nevis_ratifies_un_nuclear_weapon_ban_treaty_on_nagasaki_anniversaryhttps://www.icanw.org/saint_kitts_nevishttp://www.icanw.org/the_treatyhttp://www.icanw.org/the_treatyhttp://www.icanw.org/irelandhttp://www.icanw.org/nigeriahttp://www.icanw.org/niuehttps://twitter.com/markbrantley3https://caricom.org/

force

The ILPS is the International League of Peoples’ Struggles, an anti-imperialist alliance. www.ilps.info Commission 4 is concerned with wars of aggression and counter-revolution and nuclear weapons and all weapons of mass destruction. https://peace450.wixsite.org/website Peace4@vcn.bc.ca

COMMISSION 4 ANTI-WAR PROGRAM AUG. 6 – SEPT. 21

EDUCATION AND ACTION Remember Hiroshima and Nagasaki! (Aug. 6 –9)

Organize for International Peace Day, September 21!

THE ABRAHAM ACCORD: A FALSE NARRATIVE OF PEACE

The Abraham Accord is the peace deal between Israel and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Those two states signaled approval on August 13, 2020, though it is not yet signed (Wikipedia article, last updated on August 27, 2020). Commission 4 characterizes this pact as an example of a false narrative of peace as it goes against the interest of Palestinian national liberation and peace and liberation in all of West Asia. According to Wikipedia, If an agreement is signed, the UAE will be the third Arab country, after Egypt in 1979 and Jordan in 1994, to formally normalize its relationship with Israel,[1][2][3] as well as the first Persian Gulf country to do so.[4][5] Concurrently, Israel agreed to suspend plans for annexing parts of the West Bank.[4][6] The agreement normalizes what had long been informal but robust foreign relations between the two countries.[7][8]

http://www.ilps.info/https://peace450.wixsite.org/websitemailto:Peace4@vcn.bc.cahttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arab_worldhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Egypt%E2%80%93Israel_peace_treatyhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Israel%E2%80%93Jordan_peace_treatyhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Israel%E2%80%93United_Arab_Emirates_relationshttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Israel%E2%80%93United_Arab_Emirates_peace_agreement#cite_note-Reuters_quote-1https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Israel%E2%80%93United_Arab_Emirates_peace_agreement#cite_note-NYTimes_quote-2https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Israel%E2%80%93United_Arab_Emirates_peace_agreement#cite_note-Smith-3https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arab_states_of_the_Persian_Gulfhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Israel%E2%80%93United_Arab_Emirates_peace_agreement#cite_note-AJ1-4https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Israel%E2%80%93United_Arab_Emirates_peace_agreement#cite_note-BBC-5https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proposed_Israeli_annexation_of_the_West_Bankhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Israel%E2%80%93United_Arab_Emirates_peace_agreement#cite_note-AJ1-4https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Israel%E2%80%93United_Arab_Emirates_peace_agreement#cite_note-6https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Israel%E2%80%93United_Arab_Emirates_peace_agreement#cite_note-Halbfinger-7https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Israel%E2%80%93United_Arab_Emirates_peace_agreement#cite_note-8

The proposed agreement is avidly supported by the United States because of its alliance with Israel. By the UAE normalizing relations with Israel, that alliance is bolstered. It also implies that the UAE therefore supports Israel’s aggression and role in the region. This is an offence to the cause of Palestinian liberation. The UAE had been warming up to Israel for a long time. Recently, it may have been secretly assisting Israel obtain material support for handling the COVID-19 pandemic. There are also implications for Saudi-Arabia's aggression against Yemen, since the US is an ally of Saudi-Arabia with the blessing of Israel. There are consequences with regards to Iran in the region, as well. The US and its NATO allies oppose Iran’s development of nuclear energy while Iranian-backed forces are involved from Iraq to Syria and Yemen, as are NATO and NATO-backed forces. UAE Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Anwar Gargash, reasoned that his government is in favour of a two-state solution for Israel and Palestine. He is encouraging peace talks to create two states resume. However, the new relations with Israel indicate a pro-Israel stand, making these words ring false. There are many problems with the two-state solution, in any case, as it cannot resolve all social and land reform and political demands of the Palestinians. Facing waning support in a coalition government, Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu needs to make a show of taking steps towards peace with Palestine. Netanyahu’s administration is eager to annex the West Bank and energized by US President Trump’s reversal of long-standing US policy that now gives the green light to building settlements there. The UAE opposed the Trump regime’s stance. The agreement prevents Israel from carrying out the annexation, therefore smoothing out the situation by assuaging opposition to annexation and creating harmony between the UAE and Israel. UAE nevertheless stops short at condemning the occupation. That is the flaw in the deal. It also means that the UAE intends to open an Embassy in Jerusalem, yet another affront to the Palestinian cause.

Images from Days of Resistance August 7-9, 2020 No annexation of the Jordan Valley! End colonization!

Liberation for Palestine! Samidoun led the call and several solidarity and like-minded organizations joined in virtual and street actions and discussions from August 7 to 9. Here we recirculate some memories documented on the Samidoun prisoner solidarity website. https://samidoun.net/

London, UK Las Vegas

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anwar_Gargashhttps://samidoun.net/2020/07/call-to-action-days-of-resistance-for-palestine-august-7-9-2020/

Auckland Berkley

Copenhagen Toulouse, France Madrid

Toronto Göttenberg, Sweden