Progressives based in Manila, Italy, Seattle, Chicago, San Fransisco, Portland, Sydney, Indonesia, Japan, Kenya, Guatemala, Canada, and Hong Kong took to the streets to denounce the wide-scale death, destruction, and bloodshed created by the US-instigated wars.
By MENCHANI TILENDO
Bulatlat.com
Anti-imperialist organizations allied with the International League of Peoples’ Struggle (ILPS), peace advocates, human rights groups and other progressive organizations heeded the call for a Global Day of Action on January 25 against US war and aggression on Iran and the Middle East.
Major cities and regions all around the world held simultaneous protests in solidarity with the people of Iran, who have been victimized by the US government’s hard-hitting illegal sanctions and continuous US military intervention. Iran’s nationalized assets and rich gas reserves have been major targets of US President Donald Trump’s relentless efforts to inflict regional instability in the Middle East.
Progressives based in Manila, Italy, Seattle, Chicago, San Fransisco, Portland, Sydney, Indonesia, Japan, Kenya, Guatemala, Canada, and Hong Kong took to the streets to denounce the wide-scale death, destruction, and bloodshed created by the US-instigated wars.
According to a report released in 2015 by Physicians for Social Responsibility, Physicians for Global Survival, and the International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War, at least one million Iraqis were killed between 2003 and 2012 as a direct result of the U.S. invasion and occupation. That same study found that at least 1.3 million people have been killed in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Pakistan as the result of the so-called “war on terror” waged in the aftermath of September 11, 2001.
“The people who live in the United States have a special responsibility to oppose the crimes of this empire, and to declare that our position is against the empire which threatens the future of the whole planet,” ILPS-USA and allied networks said in their joint statement.
In Sydney, Australia, over 100 convened from various networks such as the Independent and Peaceful Australia Network, Socialist Alliance, and Stop The War Coalition, among others and held a program with the call to build a strong peace movement in Australia.
In Nairobi, Kenya, ILPS members and their youth leaders staged a symbolic protest to demand the pull out of US troops and war machines in Iraq.
“Tensions in the Middle East will continue to escalate with the relentless efforts of the US government in fulfilling its greedy ambition of controlling Iran’s rich oil and people resources through the imposition of economic sanctions and continuous military actions,” ILPS Kenya co-convenor Lewis Maghanga said in his speech during the mobilization.
Meanwhile, progressive groups from Indonesia highlighted their calls for resistance against Jokowi’s administration policies, debt taps, and facilitation of their Omnibus Law, which has been suppressing their democratic freedom and revoking various people’s social services. In a statement, Indonesian activists demanded that Jokowi’s administration should stop all treacherous cooperation with the US government.
The protesters’ all-out global mobilization against US wars and anti-people policies on January 25 is deemed as a historic vital step for strengthening anti-imperialist international solidarity for democratic rights.
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