‘An international struggle’ against capital and war

TWO IMPORTANT social forums took place at the end of last month. Activists met at the Palestine Social Forum in Ramallah, which is under Israeli occupation. It called for support for the international day of action against the war on Iraq on 15 February.

A few days earlier the Egyptian Campaign to Confront US Aggression met in Cairo. Below is an edited extract of the conference declaration:

‘We reaffirm our resolve to stand in solidarity with the people of Iraq and Palestine, recognising that war and aggression against them is but part of a US project of global domination and subjugation.

That solidarity is integral to the internationalist struggle against neo-liberal globalisation. The Cairo meeting is not an isolated event, but an extension of a protracted international struggle against imperialism, from Seattle and Genoa to Lisbon and Florence, to Cordoba and Cairo. Capitalist globalisation and US hegemony prioritise the interest of monopolistic capitalist circles above those of the people, including Europeans and US citizens.

They also integrate the economies of different countries into a single global capitalist economic system under conditions which undermine social development and adversely affect the situation of women, child health, education and social services for the elderly. In addition poverty and unemployment increase.

We declare our total opposition to war on Iraq and our resolve to continue the struggle against US policies of global domination. We strongly believe in the urgency of mobilising against these policies.

The Cairo conference against war on Iraq and in solidarity with Palestine represents the launching of an international popular movement that creates effective mechanisms for confronting policies of aggression.’

The declaration in full is available at www.stopwar.org.uk