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http://www.anc.org.za/un/conference/ababing.html “The Role of the German Democratic Republic (GDR) in the international struggle against Racism , Apartheid and Colonialism” by Dr.sc.Phil.Alfred Babing (Member of Solidaritätsdienst International (SODI) Germany *Introduction* It is an historical fact, that the GDR has at all time supported the international struggle against Racism and Apartheid and worked constructively to implement this and all other basic principles and tasks outlined by the United Nations, even when our country was not yet a member of the world organisation. The GDR’s political and material Solidarity and its practical efforts have clearly shown, that for our people the struggles against Racism and Apartheid was not just a tactical, but rather, questions of principle. This international recognition which this policy has won among many nations, especially those in Asia, Africa and Latin America was reflected in the decision by the UN Anti-Apartheid Committee, taken just month after the GDR has been admitted as a member of the UN, to hold a meeting of its Committee in May 1974 in Berlin, the Capital of the GDR. Solidarity in the former GDR was more than a general slogan; it meant personal human sympathy with the destiny and the need of other people, who mostly suffered from racial and colonial oppression or were living under a constant threat of their life. Human dignity for those who had been degraded to inferior people simply because of the colour of their skin; that was the aim. The GDR had no colonial traditions to cultivate or to restore, no old or new claims for overseas possessions. Here there did not exist the personal traditional bonds between old noble families, big landowners or bankers and certain groups of the white population in "German South-West" / Deutsch -Süd West Africa ore in South Africa ore other countries of the continent Solidarity in the GDR was, of course connected with the socialist ideology. But it was no "invention" of the GDR, its government or the ruling party. More than 100 years ago it was, in many different forms, an alternative vision of the people fighting against feudal and capitalist exploitation and oppression. For the German Social Democrats solidarity was the most important tradition in their fight against the German Empire. Their founders, Wilhelm Liebknecht and August Bebel accused the imperial colonial troops for the crimes against the people in the colonies. They protested against the suppression of the Hereros in Namibia and the quelling of the liberation struggle of the people in East Africa. So they contributed to the growing awareness of the German population and the public worldwide and which led to a stronger interest in the destiny of the suppressed people. In the GDR solidarity and willingness to help as well as mutual interest have been an important part of the life, at the workplace, in the society, in the family. Participation in the destiny of the people next to you, the readiness to help and lend support were positive customs, very important for the majority. Solidarity was a main element of the education, in the conscious imparting of ethic-moral values to children in the kinder garden, school – and later in the job and in all spheres of social life. Every society is well advised to follow such goals in the education and to support them as common norms of behaviour. The GDR was too part and parcel of the international solidarity movement in the United Nations and other internal organisations for instance the Afro-Asian People’s Solidarity Organisation (AAPSO) The history of the armed struggle in Southern Africa was closely connected to the constantly changing “external” situation and the international pressure on the racist and colonialist regimes and their allies, the Transnational Corporations and Banks in the Western Countries. The picture would be incomplete if one does not take into consideration the debates which gained such great momentum in the international community concerning the battlefield Southern Africa. In this struggle the freedom movements in these countries where able to convince the world, and accepted by the UNO as the authentic representatives of their people. http://www.anc.org.za/un/conference/ababing.html ----- Dogan Göcmen (http://dogangocmen.wordpress.com/) Author of The Adam Smith Problem: Reconciling Human Nature and Society in The Theory of Moral Sentiments and Wealth of Nations, I. B. Tauris, London&New York 2007 ________________________________________________ Send list submissions to: Marxism@lists.econ.utah.edu Set your options at: http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
