‘The capitalist Eden fits my description of hell. To destroy it will require cooperation and communion between our related parts; communion between colony and colony, nation and nation. The common bond will be the desire to humble the oppressor, the need to destroy capitalist man and his terrible, ugly machine…[there is] the desperate need for coordination against Amerikan fascism…International coordination is the key to defeating this thing that must expand to live.’
George Jackson, writing from Soledad Prison, 17 April 1970. Jackson was murdered by a prison guard in San Quentin prison on 21 August 1971.
Imperialism is a system. It is the concentration of capital and its expansion overseas. It is the exploitation of humanity and nature for profit. It is capitalist man’s terrible, ugly machine that must expand to live. Imperialism is not a political party, an election manifesto or a presidential candidate – it is the economic system these politicians represent. Electing George Bush or John Kerry (see page 9) or Tony Blair is electing a representative to protect the interests of capital and clear the way for further brutal exploitation, oppression and war. In this way, we are connected to the horror and destruction wreaked by the imperialist system. When we resist capitalist man at home, we are uniting in a common bond with the victims of imperialism in the desire to humble the oppressor.
When the Stop the War Coalition was rolled out in Britain, excited social democrats exclaimed that this movement would match the anti-Vietnam war movement in strength. There were many years of bloodshed and imperialist violence leaving millions of Vietnamese dead before the anti-Vietnam war movement in the US and Europe became a significant force. We cannot allow this to happen with Iraq. So where is the anti-war movement today? In the US the anti-war movement is radicalising into an anti-imperialist movement and is heckling the great presidential election show (see page 3). But where is the opposition in Britain? Where is our anger? ‘Not in my name’ was the anti-war movement’s slogan. But now the demonstrations have stopped and the imperialist plunder goes on…in our name.
Every day we see this terrible, ugly machine operating in Iraq where the occupation force drops 2,000 pound bombs and missiles into densely populated areas, leaving piles of civilians as twisted corpses. Where is our anger? The Iraqi people resist imperialist occupation alone. Driven by the desire to humble the oppressor the Iraqi resistance fighters are now estimated at 20,000 (see front page and page 3).
Where is our anger at the massacre and humiliation of Palestinians by the brutal Israeli state? The public is told that the issue is too complex to take sides and that the blame lies equally. Between mid-March and the end of August this year there were no suicide attacks against Israelis so this was referred to as ‘a period of calm’. In reality, during this ‘lull’ in violence 436 Palestinians were killed, 73 of them children, compared to 30 Israeli deaths. Clearly, both sides are not equal. Israel has the third mightiest military force in the world – Palestinians do not even have an army to resist the illegal occupation of their land. Israeli snipers carry out death sentences on Palestinian children for throwing stones at bulldozers the size of houses that come to demolish their homes (see page 5).
Where is our anger? And where is the support for the campaign in solidarity with the Palestinian Intifada? We face weekly harassment from Zionist and fascist thugs, the local council and complicit police (see page 14). Where is the Stop the War Coalition?
Imperialism is wreaking havoc across the globe, not just in the Middle East. In Africa, a continent that has been bled dry by colonialism and imperialism over 400 years, capitalist man is sharpening his claws, drawing blood from a land rich with oil and minerals needed for western industry and communications (see page 10). The result is truly terrible and ugly. A new imperialist race for Africa has unleashed the dogs of war (see page 4).
Plunder of Africa becomes increasingly frenzied given the resistance to imperialism in Latin America. In Venezuela the unity of the poor and oppressed majority and the revolutionary vanguard of the Bolivarian Revolution, led by President Hugo Chavez, recorded a historic victory. In mid-August they roundly defeated a referendum called by Venezuela’s vicious capitalist class to demand Chavez’s removal from office (see page 8).
Following the victory in Venezuela, the poor and oppressed of Bolivia took to the streets demanding the nationalisation of their natural gas and petroleum resources and an end to imperialist plunder (see page 6).
The Latin American revolutionaries look to socialist Cuba as a beacon of hope. Despite increased aggression from the US and severe hurricane damage, Cuba continues to strengthen the gains of the Revolution (see page 7).
And what is there to say of resistance to capitalism/imperialism in Britain; while our prisons are bursting with working class and black people (see page 13), while Asian youth suffer a 300 percent increase in police harassment and immigrants are branded terrorists by a racist sensationalist press (see page 16), while travellers and Roma gypsies are criminalised (see page 16), while the NHS is sold to the highest bidder (see page 12), and where women’s right to chose is under attack (see page 16)? Where is our anger? We need to unite with the oppressed of the world, fighting back against capitalism’s ugly machine to humble our oppressor. We need to start today.
Don’t just get angry, get active! Join FRFI! Send your contributions – written and financial:
Fight Racism! Fight Imperialism
BCM Box 5909
London WC1N 3XX
FRFI 181 October / November 2004
