Sydney Public meeting - sponsored by Workers' Liberty http://www.workersliberty.org/australia
NO TO WAR ON IRAQ NO TO SADDAM A call for a new, democratic foreign policy For democracy and international solidarity Come along to discuss with Middle East and Australian socialists the kind of solidarity needed by the peoples of the region now engulfed by war. A public meeting 7.30pm Monday 7 April Lower Ground Floor Casa d'Italia 67 Norton Street LEICHHARDT 2040 (Up to 2 hours free parking in Norton Plaza, nearby) Speeches will be brief with plenty of time for discussion Jamal Darwand - Iranian socialist, candidate for Socialist Alliance in NSW. Vivienne Porzsolt - Jewish socialist and campaigner for Palestinian rights Layla Mohammed - Iraqi socialist, member of the Committee for defending Iraqi women rights-Australia. Chair: Janet Burstall, Workers’ Liberty The statement under discussion (see over) has already been signed by Michael Albert, Noam Chomsky, Edward Said, and Iraqi and Iranian socialists and democrats. You can add your signature at www.thirdcamp.org.uk. Contact Workers’ Liberty: 0419 493 421 Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Web: http://www.workersliberty.org/australia An excerpt from the International statement:- This war is about US political, military and economic power, about seizing control of oilfields and about strengthening the United States as the enforcer of an inhumane global status quo. That is why we are opposed to war against Iraq, whether waged unilaterally by Washington or by the UN Security Council. The US military may have the ability to destroy Saddam Hussein, but the United States and its allies cannot promote democracy in the Muslim world and peace in the Middle East, nor can they deal with the threat posed to all of us by terrorist networks such as Al Qaeda, and by weapons of mass destruction, by pursuing its current policies. Indeed, they could address these problems only by doing the opposite of what they are doing today that is, by: · Denouncing the use of military intervention to extend and consolidate US imperial power, and withdrawing troops from the Middle East. · Ending its support for corrupt and authoritarian regimes, e.g. Saudi Arabia, the Gulf States and Egypt. · Opposing, and ending complicity in, all forms of terrorism worldwide not just by Al Qaeda, Palestinian suicide bombers and Chechen hostage takers, but also by Colombian paramilitaries, the Israeli military in the Occupied Territories and Russian counterinsurgency forces in Chechnya. · Supporting the right of national self-determination for all peoples in the Middle East, including the Kurds, Palestinians and Israeli Jews. Ending one-sided support for Israel in the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. · Taking unilateral steps toward renouncing weapons of mass destruction, including nuclear weapons, and vigorously promoting international disarmament treaties. · Abandoning IMF/World Bank economic policies that bring mass misery to people in large parts of the world. · Initiating a major foreign aid program directed at popular rather than corporate needs. A government that carried out these policies would be in a position to honestly and consistently foster democracy in the Middle East and elsewhere. It could encourage democratic forces (not unrepresentative cliques, but genuinely popular parties and movements) in Iraq, Iran and Syria, as well as Egypt, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, the Gulf States and Turkey. Some of these forces exist today, others have yet to arise, but all would flower if nurtured by a new foreign policy from major powers. These initiatives, taken together, would constitute a truly democratic foreign policy. Such a policy would weaken the power of dictatorships and the appeal of terrorism and reactionary religious fundamentalism. Though nothing outside powers can do would decisively undermine these elements right away, over time a new foreign policy from major powers would drastically undercut their power and influence. -- -- Leftlink - Australia's Broad Left Mailing List mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Archived at http://www.cat.org.au/lists/leftlink/ Sponsored by Melbourne's New International Bookshop Sub: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsub: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
