[R-G] "Twenty-Five Million Iraqis Dream of Peace"

[Richard Menec]

"Twenty-Five Million Iraqis Dream of Peace"

World Against War International Conference, London Dec. 1 & 2, 2007

Sponsored by Stop the War UK

On December 1, 2007, over 1,200 anti-war activists, from the UK, and from 43 
different nations, participated in the World Against War conference in 
London.  As delegates representing US Labor Against the War, we took in the 
many voices and experiences expressed.  We were all united in our desire to 
stop the US occupations in Iraq and Afghanistan, prevent a war in Iran, and 
create a world of solidarity and peace.  The conference issued a declaration 
which is attached at the end of this report.

The format of the conference was mostly brief (10 minute) presentations from 
the podium with some time for a few questions at the end of each of the 
lengthy sessions.  The goal was to hear from as many parts of the movements 
from as many different nations as possible; audience participation was 
clearly a lesser goal.  There were 3 plenary sessions and parallel sessions 
regarding Iran and Iraq and regarding Afghanistan and the movement in 
Europe.  There were tables with literature, books, T-shirts and buttons from 
a wide range of organizations representing the struggles within the UK.  We, 
along with a few other international groups, shared a table where we sold 
our "Meeting Face to Face" DVD and gave out lots of flyers, stickers and 
buttons to spread the word about the antiwar work within the US labor 
movement.

Speakers emphasized international solidarity, increasing both the level and 
base of activism, and tailoring strategies to national situation and 
culture. For example, the Irish comrades talked about the fact that while 
their government does not send troops to Iraq, Shannon airport is used as a 
major stopover for troops and ammunitions headed for Iraq and Afghanistan. 
Their work centers on opposing the use of Irish soil to support the war 
effort.  The Czech activists told us about their efforts to prevent the US 
from building bases in the Czech Republic.  The Canadians and Greeks 
organize around their troops in Afghanistan.

Many speakers pointed out the hypocrisy and double standard of the US call 
for democracy in the Middle East while it strives for global domination and 
destroys the rights and lives of the people whose countries it occupies. 
The last thing the US government wants is a true democracy in Iraq.  An 
Iraqi people who truly govern themselves in their own interests would end 
the occupation by US troops, mercenaries, and military contractors 
immediately and then get on about rebuilding their country.  A number of the 
British speakers mentioned the massive cost of the war, addressing the shame 
of the US, spending $2.5 billion for one stealth bomber while it does not 
provide health care for its people.

There were representatives from Canada, Czech Republic, Denmark, France, 
Germany, Greece, Egypt, Iceland, Iran, Iraq, Ireland, Italy, Kenya, Lebanon, 
Netherlands, Norway, Pakistan, Palestine, Poland, Somalia, South Korea, 
Spain, Switzerland, Turkey, United Kingdom, United States, as well as the 
African Liberation Support Campaign.  The US delegates included the two of 
us from USLAW, several from groups affiliated with UFPJ, including Veterans 
for Peace and Peace Action, and ANSWER.  Speakers from the US were Nancy 
Romer from USLAW, UFPJ co-chair George Martin, and Muna Cootbee from ANSWER.

Two important issues raised by many of the speakers were: - the importance 
of mobilizing opposition to an impending attack on the 80 million people in 
Iran, and - the importance of mobilizing against the siege of the population 
of Gaza, the "collective punishment" cuts in electricity and water, 
reductions in food and medicine convoys, all of which has been met with 
silence by the international community.

We were united in our desire to create a world without war, based on 
self-determination and non-domination. There was unity on the importance and 
power of international solidarity and coordinated action to reach these 
goals.

The Iraqis spoke of the relative lack of religious sectarian violence and 
tension prior to the US invasion of Iraq.  They emphasized that the US 
occupiers have manipulated these sectarian divisions and dramatically 
exacerbated the problems on every level.  The US has funded the various 
militias that create the sectarian violence.  They insisted that there can 
be no peace, no resolutions of differences, no possibility of democracy if 
the US continues its occupation of Iraq.  The US troops and bases must be 
withdrawn immediately for Iraq to rebuild its government, its civil society, 
and its nation.  The people of Iraq are united in their opposition to the US 
occupation.

There was discussion by anti-war activists indicating a contradiction 
between the struggle for human rights within countries fighting against the 
US occupation and support for all groups who oppose the US plans for world 
domination.  There is substantial disagreement as to the importance of 
paying attention to the specific rights of women within Iraq, in particular, 
the imposition of Sharia law on women.  Some point to the attacks on women 
without head covers and who wear make- up by fundamentalist elements as 
proof that human rights are systematically violated and must be protected as 
a new Iraqi regime comes into being. Others firmly believe that a united 
front against the US occupation is the only worthy demand at this point, 
fearing that attention to human rights issues can inadvertently support the 
US occupation forces.  This is a dilemma and we urge more clarity on these 
issues.

"Meeting Face to Face", the documentary on the USLAW- sponsored Iraqi labor 
union tour of the US in 2005, was shown during lunch.  During the course of 
the trip, 20 copies were sold..  It was well received and seen as a fine 
example of labor solidarity with the Iraqi people.

On December 2, about 100 international delegates and Stop the War, UK 
steering committee met to discuss strategy for the next period.  Again the 
format was speakers from the front but this time with much greater 
participation all around.  Hassan Jumaa, president of the Iraqi Oil Workers 
presented a strategy based on protection of Iraqi labor rights and defeat of 
the US- authored proposed Iraqi law which would privatize their oil, selling 
it off to ExxonMobil, Shell, etc.  He talked about the US policy being based 
on being a satellite in Iraq where Iraq's economy will be looted by the 
multinational corporations.  The oil law is an example of the US 
administration's neoliberal plan of deregulating the economy, privatizing 
public resources and reducing public services.  The Iraqi people would be 
stripped of their most valuable natural resource. Mindy spoke about the 
significance of the letters sent by AFL-CIO President John Sweeney, and USW 
and CWA presidents in defense of Iraqi labor rights and against the oil law 
in protecting the lives of Iraqi labor activists and leaders.

We agreed on joint actions in each of our nations during the week of March 
14-22, the 5th anniversary of the war in Iraq.  While we would prefer one 
day of joint actions as we did on Feb.  15, 2003, the March 21 actual 
anniversary date is surrounded by religious and holidays that make one 
shared date difficult.  The overall call will be "World Against War" with 
the demands being: Stop the Occupations of Iraq and Afghanistan, No War on 
Iran.  A website will track the plans of various countries around the world.

On Monday, December 3, Mindy and Nancy had a private meeting with Hassan 
Jumaa, president of the Iraqi Oil Workers Union, and his interpreter and 
activist supporter, Sabah Jawad, from the Iraqi Democrats Against the 
Occupation based in London.  Jumaa expressed his hope that the labor 
movements, particularly from the US and UK would: Build opposition to Iraqi 
laws 150 and 151 (left over from Sadam Hussein's regime and continued by the 
US government), outlawing unions and strikes in the public sector which 
encompasses 80% of all Iraq's workers, including those in the oil sector. 
Keep the pressure on against the proposed oil privatization law and other 
formats in which the US might try to gain control of the Iraqi oil industry. 
Get the TUC (Trades Union CongressÃ,­UK labor federation) and the AFL-CIO 
and Change to Win to pressure the International Labor Organization (ILO) to 
intervene on behalf of the above two demands and that all these groups would 
build campaigns around these two issues.  Create a union-based campaign to 
educate and activate our workers around these issues and, of course, to end 
the US occupation of Iraq immediately. Bring US labor educators to the 
Solidarity Center in Amman, Jordan to train Iraqi labor leaders on contract 
negotiations, mobilization of members, labor history, and other topics, to 
help prepare labor activists to take their proper role in society.  Material 
support for Iraqi unions but in cash not in checks.  In the past, USLAW 
generously gave the Iraqi unionists money which was frozen by the government 
in a bank account and still is not available for use.  Iraqi unions need 
money to buy equipment.

After meeting with Jamaa, excited by the direct contact and deep 
appreciation for USLAW that he expressed, we began our brief speaking tour 
of anti-war activists in the UK.  We spoke in Cambridge and Manchester where 
we met with activist students and workers, eager to hear about the anti-war 
movement in the US.  Mindy and Nancy spoke about the general politics, the 
strategy and specific tactics of our unions and USLAW in mobilizing and 
educating our members against the war.  Their response to us was positive 
and they were relieved to know that there is anti-war movement within the US 
labor movement, as well as groups mobilizing against war across the country.

In Manchester, health care workers of UNISOM (their big healthcare workers 
union) were on strike in unity against the firing of a nurse who spoke out 
publicly against cutbacks and privatization of publicly funded healthcare in 
the UK.  Some of the activists in this effort attended our session.  We 
learned that US and UK workers face similar struggles against privatization 
of public services and the cutback of the quality and quantity of these 
services.  Quality, publicly funded healthcare is a major issue in both 
nations.

We were put up in local people's homes during our trip and had the 
opportunity to share experiences in more informal ways in both Cambridge and 
Manchester.

For most people we spoke with, this was their first contact with or 
knowledge of USLAW and most people had little information about any anti-war 
activity in the US.  Our participation as USLAW delegates contributed to the 
discussion, ideas, and sense of international and especially labor 
solidarity apparent throughout the conference and tour.  People took our 
flyers, union hats and T-shirts, stickers and buttons, along with their 
growing awareness of the reality of the US people's opposition to the war. 
We emphasized the importance of the labor movement within the anti-war 
movement in general and the importance of the anti-war movement within the 
labor movement.  We further emphasized our accomplishments in educating and 
mobilizing our members and in getting the AFL-CIO, for the first time in its 
60 year history, to oppose a war being fought by the US government.

Throughout our trip we came in contact with opposing organizations within 
the British anti-war movement.  It reminded us of our own divisions.  As 
outsiders, we could see the destructive and often petty nature of these 
divisions as they were portrayed to us.  It made us appreciate the lack of 
sectarianism within USLAW and our hopes for a less divided US anti-war 
movement in the future.

Several curious omissions were apparent.  First, there was an almost 
complete lack of discussion on the importance and dynamics of race in the 
international struggles.  While Nancy did not raise these issues in her 
talk, partly due to severe time constraints, no one else raised race issues 
during the course of the program.  In future presentations, we think it is 
important to contextualize the war within the racist framework in which it 
exists, domestically and internationally.  People of color, and black people 
in particular, in the US are hardest hit by the economic realities of the 
war, e.g., cutback in public services, recession, attacks on unionization 
and prevailing wage. As well, the clear parallel example of post-Katrina New 
Orleans in terms of "shock and awe" giving way to a total reconfiguration of 
society based on privatization and elimination of the poor, should be part 
of every analysis and presentation USLAW offers.  George Martin from UFPJ 
did mention New Orleans but only in the context of government priorities. 
Second, there were no delegates from Palestine which was surprising given 
the importance of their struggle in the cauldron of the present Middle East. 
While there was some discussion of Palestine, the absence of Palestinian 
delegates made this discussion more abstract and less dynamic.  We feel 
these two central strands of the struggle should be included in future such 
discussions.  Finally, there were no delegates from Latin America, a 
continent involved in perhaps the most progressive transformation on the 
planet.  Their absence was unfortunate.

We were honored to represent USLAW and be so warmly welcomed by our 
international brothers and sisters.  We were pleased that there were two of 
us and wish to emphasize the importance of sending at least two people to 
these sorts of events.  Together we managed to talk with more people, gather 
more information, and learn more.  We were able to share our experiences and 
craft a more accurate and complete analysis to report to our comrades in 
USLAW.  We send our thanks, our greetings and our hopes for a more unified 
and effective international anti-war movement in the future.

Mindy Gershon, 1199 SEIU, UHWE Nancy Romer, PSC-CUNY, AFT 2334

The London World Against War conference was a great success.  More than 
twelve hundred people from across the planet heard speakers from 26 
countries talk about the future for the world peace movement.

We would like to thank all the international delegates for participating and 
making the conference work.  As you know the conference issued a declaration 
which amongst other things called for international co-ordination of 
demonstrations on the fifth anniversary of the war in Iraq.  The declaration 
is below.  Full video of the conference is available at 
http://www.stopwar.org.uk.

On Sunday 2 December, delegates from 21 countries gathered to discuss how we 
put into practice the decisions taken by the conference.  It was agreed that 
a website would be set up to publicise and co- ordinate the international 
action, and that we would all set about collecting the names of 
organisations and prominent individuals who support the idea of global 
demonstrations.

A website to co-ordinate the action will go live within a week at 
www.theworldagainstwar.org.  The email address associated with it is 
info at theworldagainstwar.org

We want maximum content on the site as soon as possible.  Please e-mail us 
with following information: 1) Details of the demonstration(s) in your 
country, and links to your website 2) Names of organisations and prominent 
individuals who support international demonstrations 3) Quotes from leading 
supporters backing the idea of global action.  4) Images and video relevant 
to the website

Please send your contributions in your own language and in english if 
possible.

Thanks again and new years greetings, Chris Nineham Stop the War Coalition

Declaration of World Against War conference

This conference of delegates from peace, anti-war, anti-imperialist and 
liberation movements across the world declares its opposition to the 
'endless war' prosecuted by the US government against states, peoples and 
movements in all parts of our planet.

We oppose the interference of the US and its allies in sovereign states, and 
assert the right of all peoples to self-determination.  We support all 
people fighting for peace and against imperialism.

In particular, we demand:

- An immediate end to the illegal military occupation of Iraq, which has 
caused hundreds of thousands of deaths and displaced millions of people, a 
withdrawal of all foreign troops and the full transfer of sovereignty to the 
Iraqi people and their representatives.

- A halt to all preparations for an attack against Iran, and a commitment to 
solve any issues through exclusively diplomatic means.

- A withdrawal of foreign troops from Afghanistan, allowing the Afghan 
people to determine their own future.

- Justice for the Palestinian people, and an end to Israeli aggression 
throughout the Middle East.

- An end to plans for US missile defence, and that all states actively 
pursue nuclear disarmament.

We affirm the solidarity of all those fighting for peace, social justice and 
self-determination worldwide, and commit ourselves to strengthening our 
unity and developing new forms of co-operation.

We therefore designate the anniversary of the invasion of Iraq as a 
worldwide day of action in support of the demands NO ATTACK on IRAN and 
TROOPS OUT OF IRAQ/AFGHANISTAN and call on all national anti-war movements 
to hold mass protests and demonstrations on that day.

==============
This email was sent to you as part of an alternative news service,
by Richard Ménec.  You can 'subscribe' or 'unsubscribe' by
replying to the sender with either term in the subject field.
Feel free to tell your friends.
Our website: http://booksinternationale.pbwiki.com/
In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material
is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a
prior interest in receiving the included information for research
and educational purposes.
==============