Whether you were tuned in to “What’s happening,” a weekly WBAI radio show hosted by Ralph Poynter and Betty Davis, or if you followed them in a Black Lives Matter caravan during the COVID crisis, you knew you were among those fighting for liberation. In December, one of the last email posts for their radio program read: “Warfare + colonialism = Palestine! Warfare + colonialism = Cop City.” Betty Davis reported that Ralph’s final words to all his friends and supporters were: “It is on you now. Continue the struggle.”

According to a brief biography posted on WBAI, Ralph Poynter was the son of a union organizer. His family was located in the Pittsburgh area, which was a major steel producer at that time. He graduated from Duquesne University with a master’s degree in music education.

Grounded in union principles, he joined the United Federation of Teachers, UFT, when he began working at P.S. 175 in Harlem as a 5th-grade substitute teacher in the mid-1960s. It was at the time when the struggle for community control of the city’s public schools first erupted.

Community school boards throughout the city were attempting to exercise their control of the teaching staff to reflect the needs of the children in their communities. Poynter joined the first demonstrations in Harlem and Brooklyn in 1967.  

On May 9, 1968, a racist confrontation arose between the UFT and the New York City Central Board of Education against the majority Black and Puerto Rican community school board in Ocean Hill-Brownsville. The UFT and the city administration refused to negotiate and went on the offensive. In the end, the communities throughout the city lost local control of their children’s schools.

In Ocean Hill-Brownsville, Poynter and 10 other teachers took over P.S. 175, resisting police violence during the protests. He ended up on Riker’s Island for a few months after defending protesters from a police assault during a demonstration. 

According to Poynter, “When the UFT colluded with management to support the racist Board of Education against Black communities’ demands for community control of schools, I founded the Teachers’ Freedom Party and became a leader in that fight.”

“Much of my 50+ years of political activism has focused on improving our public schools. My leadership facilitated appointments of NYC’s first Black and Puerto Rican principals. Doing this required confronting the NYPD Army of Occupation installed to maintain ideological control of schools. In the course of self- and community-defense, I was convicted and served time on Rikers Island, where I organized fellow prisoners in one of the first successful prison rebellions, winning important concessions.”

Ralph Poynter met Lynne Stewart when she was a librarian, and he was a teacher at P.S. 175 in the 1960s. They were both fighting for Black control of the Black community and its schools.  

Stewart became well known as a “people’s lawyer.” During Bush’s “War on Terror”  in 2005, she was thrown into a federal prison in Fort Worth, Texas, for four years and disbarred. She was prosecuted by Attorney General John Ashcroft on a phony charge of materially aiding terrorism. Stewart had distributed press releases on behalf of her jailed client, the blind Egyptian cleric Omar Abdel-Rahman, who had been accused of having a role in the attack on the World Trade Center. Earlier, she had defended David Gilbert, who was part of a Weather Underground action.

Poynter was her greatest defender while she was in prison, first in 2005. He led an international movement to “Free Lynne Stewart.” When she was jailed with a 10-year sentence in 2010, that movement won her freedom. She was finally released in 2013. Lynne Stewart, who had been denied adequate care for breast cancer while in prison, died in 2017. 

Poynter said that one of their “primary focuses was on freeing U.S. political prisoners serving unconscionable sentences.” He supported Stewart in her lifelong struggle against the U.S. “injustice system.” Together, they fought for the freedom of Mumia Abu-Jamal. At rallies for Lynne Stewart, Ralph told her supporters that she asked them to fight to free Mumia before protesting for her release.

Together with Betty Davis, Poynter and Stewart co-founded the New Abolitionist Movement, working to eliminate miseducation in New York City. Betty Davis said she was a warrior in the struggle for community control of education ever since she heard Ralph Poynter speak at a pro-union rally supporting the social workers’ strike in 1967. Davis said, “Later that year, I met Stewart and Poynter at a Teachers’ Freedom Party social. Lynne Stewart’s account of the history of the struggle for freedom and democracy in education solidified my resolve to join the struggle. I was a social worker soon to become an educator.”

Up until the very last breath of his 89 years, on Dec. 25, Ralph Poynter fearlessly rallied to fight racism, oppression, and injustice. 

In an underreported but hugely important development, the United States is now claiming a vast portion of the ocean floor, twice the size of California. According to the U.S. Department of State (DOS) Media Note released on December 19, the area “is approximately one million square kilometers spread across seven regions” and “holds many resources.”

According to the DOS, it “released the geographic coordinates defining the outer limits of the U.S. continental shelf in areas beyond 200 nautical miles from the coast, known as the extended continental shelf (ECS).” The mapping was also carried out by the U.S. ECS Task Force (an American interagency body comprising 14 agencies).

The data collection pertaining to this initiative, supposedly “the largest offshore mapping effort” ever conducted by Washington, actually started in 2003 and involved the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and U.S. Geological Survey (USGS).

According to the DOS Executive Summary titled “The Outer Limits of the Extended Continental Shelf of the United States of America” (page 13), the Atlantic superpower has “maritime boundaries” or “unresolved” boundaries pertaining to the so-called “extended  continental shelf” (ECS) with the following “neighboring countries”: Mexico, Cuba, the Bahamas (Atlantic region), Japan (Mariana Islands Region), and Russia (Arctic and Bering Sea Region), Canada (in the Arctic and Atlantic regions).

Albeit an explosive announcement as it is, as of today, one will have a hard time even finding news pieces on this development, with the exception of Bloomberg, Telesur, and a few others. It has immense political and geopolitical potential repercussions, though. The U.S. not only got bigger, territory-wise, now, from Washington’s perspective: this is about claiming sovereignty rights in resource-rich areas where one could find the so-called “critical minerals” needed for renewable energy projects, deemed “key national security concerns” by Joe Biden’s administration, as Bloomberg journalist Danielle Bochove writes. According to U.S. Naval War College Professor James Kraska, these American shelf area claims highlight U.S. strategic interests in securing such hard minerals to ensure “American economic prosperity and national security.”

The unilateral claims, which can only be described as a bold territorial grab, include also the Bering and the Arctic Sea, where the Russian Federation, as well as other states, also have claims. The Department of State’s announcement comes without significant diplomatic talks with other actors or bilateral agreements and without filing a claim through any relevant United Nations (UN) structures, for that matter, in clear defiance of the “rules-based” global order by which Washington allegedly abides. Ironically, the U.S. justifies such wide aspirations by referring to the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), which Washington itself has never ratified.

Mead Treadwell, former lieutenant governor of Alaska (who was also the 2006-2010 Chair of the U.S. Arctic Research Commission), urges Washington to ratify it or else issues could arise: “it’s a problem if somebody challenges us who believes they’re got other rights to the same land.” One cannot highlight enough the fact that the enormous territory now claimed by the U.S. extends all the way to the Arctic, an area deemed strategic by Russia – and China also has plans for the region, describing itself as “a state near the North Pole.”

Russian authorities unsurprisingly have criticized the American announcement. Grigory Karasin, chair of the Federation Council Committee on Foreign Affairs, has responded by stating that “we have taken and will continue to take all measures that are necessary for our national interests in this geographical area.” Similarly, Nikolai Kharitonov, head of the State Duma Committee on the Arctic, said that unilaterally expanding boundaries on this area is “unacceptable” and could lead to “increased tension.” In April 2021, I wrote on how NATO’s plans to militarize the Arctic were a source of tension with Moscow – and now this is exponentially boosted by American unilateral territorial expansion.

Much has been written about the space race as a new arena for geopolitical dispute – outer space being understood as the “new sea.” Well, similar considerations may apply to the continental shelf and the deep sea itself, with its unexplored resources and fauna, plus a troublesome lack of nomos (lawlessness) pertaining to mining and, more seriously, to territorial and sovereignty claims, as we have seen.

The issue has more than one angle, this also being yet another dramatic instance of the U.S. overall “encircling” of Russia, which, by the way, also materializes itself in the so-called “NATOization” of Europe: Finnish and Swedish NATO bids, for one thing, result in extending the Atlantic Alliance’s territorial reach as far out as the Russian eastward Arctic flank, thus making Russia the only non-NATO state in the Arctic.

The ongoing Washington proxy attrition war in Ukraine against Moscow, as former U.S. ambassador to Finland Earle Mack has described it, might very well be coming to an end with a soon-to-come land-for-peace deal (after the U.S. elections, presumably) – but, as we can see, there is now a vast universe of potential future conflict unleashed by the latest American ocean floor territorial claims.

Uriel Araujo is a researcher with a focus on international and ethnic conflicts.

Source: InfoBrics

Dec. 28, Havana – Today at CENESEX, we received an emotional recognition from the National Secretariat of the Federation of Cuban Women (FMC) on the occasion of the 35th anniversary of the National Center for Sex Education.

In this regard, the work done to eliminate the relics of a society that kept women in a situation of subordination and their contribution through the implementation of comprehensive sexuality education to eliminate gender stereotypes and sexual prejudices that limit the full exercise of sexual rights.

On his part, the Deputy Director of our Center, Gustavo Valdés Pi, referred to the role played by the Federation of Cuban Women and its President Vilma Espín Guillois in the achievements that CENESEX shows today, as well as the work done towards social transformation.

The recognition was received from the hands of comrade Yaneydis Perez Cruz, member of the National Secretariat of the organization of Cuban women.

#35AniversarioCenesex

#CenesexEduca

Cuba celebra 35 años de CENESEX

28 de dic., La Habana – Hoy recibimos en el CENESEX un emotivo reconocimiento por parte del Secretariado Nacional de la Federación de Mujeres Cubanas (FMC), con motivo del 35 aniversario que está cumpliendo el Centro Nacional de Educación Sexual.

En este sentido encuentro, se resaltó la labor realizada para eliminar los rezagos de una sociedad que mantenía a las mujeres en situación de subordinación y su contribución a través de la implementación de la educación integral de la sexualidad para eliminar estereotipos de género y prejuicios sexuales que limitan el ejercicio pleno de los derechos sexuales.

Por su parte, el subdirector de nuestro Centro, Gustavo Valdés Pi, refirió el papel jugado por la Federación de Mujeres Cubanas y su Presidenta Vilma Espín Guillois en los logros que CENESEX muestra hoy, así como el trabajo realizado en pos de la transformación social.

El reconocimiento fue recibido de manos de la compañera Yaneydis Pérez Cruz miembro del Secretariado Nacional de la organización de mujeres cubanas.

#35AniversarioCenesex

#CenesexEduca

On the 55th anniversary of the Communist Party of the Philippines, the Socialist Unity Party extends its deepest solidarity and congratulations to all its members, leaders, and fighters — to all who are leading the mass movement to free the Philippines from the shackles of US imperialism.

Only a year ago did the world suffer the collective heartbreak of Ka Joma’s passing. But, because revolutionary Filipinos continue to fulfill the tasks of the national democratic revolution, the struggle lost no steps in his absence. Ka Joma lives.

Instead of a typical solidarity statement filled with familiar talking points, we would like to take this opportunity to call on the rising anti-imperialist mass movement to study the Philippines. We know firsthand that there is much to learn from its revolutionary history and its application of Marxism to its particular conditions. At the very least, anti-imperialists in the U.S. should understand their government’s role in the exploitation of Filipino people and their land.

The masses around the world are galvanizing like never before for Palestine and its national liberation struggle. It is in this context that anti-imperialist unity is built stronger and stronger every day, and more and more people recognize the repugnant centrality of the United States. It is this same mass movement that will need to defend the Philippines revolution, which we hope to see in our lifetimes. The masses must be prepared to cut through the inevitable misinformation and repression campaign that follows.

Our commitment as a revolutionary formation in the U.S. is to aid the building of this consciousness in every way we can. It is no secret that the reactionary government of the Philippines is more similar to “Israel” or Ukraine and more similar still to other client states like South Korea or Saudi Arabia. Secret or no, we are responsible for building that consciousness. The national liberation movements of the world must be united against U.S. imperialism, but it is still the primary responsibility of revolutionaries in the U.S. to win our own revolution. We call on anti-imperialists in the U.S. to take on a genuine study of the Philippines and its revolution and to foster positive relations with national democratic organizations toward a united front against imperialism.

A few starting points:

Philippine Society and Revolution
www.marxists.org/history/philippines/cpp/guerrero/1970/psr.htm

Specific Characteristics of our Peoples War
www.marxists.org/history/philippines/cpp/riple/1975/specific-characteristics.htm

Program for a People’s Democratic Revolution
www.marxists.org/history/philippines/cpp/1968/program.htm

Long live the Communist Party of the Philippines! Long live the National Democratic Front! Long live the New People’s Army!

From Palestine to the Philippines, stop the U.S. war machine!

Excerpts from a presentation given at the Socialist Unity Party national plenum on Dec. 16, 2023.

COP28 just concluded in Dubai. Annual COP (Conference Of the Parties) conferences are sponsored and organized by the United Nations. They are supposed to be where nations get together and map out a strategy and set goals to beat back climate change.

This year’s conference will be remembered as the one when the oil companies took over. The conference’s leader was Sultan Al Jaber, who happens to be the CEO of the United Arab Emirates’ state-owned oil company. 

UAE is one of the most oil-rich nations in the world. Jaber has a close relationship with Saudi Arabia and, by extension, the United States. Jaber’s ascent to the leadership resulted from a carefully crafted, years-long plan accomplished with the guidance of the world’s five biggest public relations firms, all based in the United States. Jaber’s leadership impressed John Kerry, Biden’s Special Presidential Envoy for Climate, who praised him and has visited with him seven times since joining the Biden administration.

The world’s poorest countries in Asia, Africa, and Latin America, are only responsible for a minuscule portion of the greenhouse gases that heat the atmosphere. Britain and the U.S. are historically responsible for more than half. But because of the poverty imposed on them by imperialist wars, the theft of their resources, and economic sanctions, it is much more difficult for poorer countries to recover from extreme weather events. The anger over this has been growing at each one of these conferences. For years, there has been an outcry for the rich imperialist countries to organize a fund to develop renewable energy and, more importantly, for developing countries to recover from punishing weather events. Moving people inland, rebuilding infrastructure, and recovering from spikes in the costs of medical care are all very expensive.

At last year’s conference in Sharm el Sheik, Egypt, this issue turned the conference into somewhat of a battleground, forcing the imperialist countries to agree to a Loss and Damage fund. Since then, the U.S. has been demanding that it be organized through the World Bank, opening the door to calling already existing aid and loan packages part of the fund. Funds that were promised have been dribbling in, leaving countries that have already been devastated by deadly weather events, like Pakistan, Madagascar, and Mozambique, in dire straits.

During the Sharm el Sheik conference last year, a former Clinton administration climate official was asked why he thought a Loss and Damage fund wouldn’t be realized. He responded that it seemed too closely related to the demand for reparations for Black people in the United States. Once again, an agreement for a Loss and Damage fund has been announced this year, but how it will turn out remains to be seen.

Part of the UAE’s clever agenda to win leadership of COP28 included sending some aid to countries in the Global South in the months leading to the conference and Jaber pushing for the Loss and Damage fund to be finally organized. The amounts donated by the UAE are tiny compared to the enormous oil profits of even their own oil operation and far less than the $332 billion raked in by U.S. oil companies in 2022. He used the racist intransigence on the part of the United States, hoping to burnish his reputation with the Global South delegates. The White House doesn’t seem to mind the minor difference in policy because having the UAE run the show results in such significant gains.

The gains most significantly include doing away with the language of “phasing out” fossil fuels. Jaber pushed for the final text to call for lowering emissions from the production of fossil fuels using Carbon Capture and Sequestration to limit the emissions only from power generation. CCS is panned almost universally by climate scientists and engineers as unscalable and as a means to allow the continued use of fossil fuels. Jaber’s narrative is sleight of hand – distracting the attention from the emissions from all sectors of the capitalist economy, including heavy transportation. Manufacturing, aviation, and agriculture, not to mention Pentagon warfare, which has been excluded from discussion at COP conferences for years. If placed on a list of countries contributing GHGs to the atmosphere, the Pentagon would rank somewhere near Portugal or Denmark. But it isn’t just the emissions from warfare that need to be exposed. It is the poverty imposed on so much of the world that maintains the imbalance of power.

These conferences have always been exclusive affairs. Climate activists in many organizations from around the world travel to them and can participate in certain forums, but the real decisions are made behind closed doors. Still, millions of people around the world have pinned their hopes on the United Nations to somehow overpower the domination of the imperialist powers. The reality is that the global effort is nowhere near on track to keeping the atmosphere below 1.5° higher than pre-industrial temperatures. So far, in 2023, oil and natural gas extraction have reached their highest levels ever, and energy giants ExxonMobil and Chevron are buying up other oil operations to expand. The fact that the fossil fuel industry has now exerted so much weight on the outcome of the conferences is a dangerous precedent and calls into question the value of the conferences as a vehicle for the desire of humanity to save the planet.

The most promising development at COP28 is that pro-Palestinian activists held an action in solidarity with the people of Gaza and called for a ceasefire. The restrictions on them were shocking. They were not allowed to chant the widespread slogan, “From the River to the Sea, Palestine Will be Free,” (they still did) nor carry a Palestinian flag. Some were detained and restricted to certain areas away from the conference halls. But they bravely held their protest to show that climate change and war are the same issue. Since the Biden/Netanyahu genocidal assault on Gaza began, others, including Greta Thunberg and activist colleagues from developing countries, have come out in solidarity with Palestine. They’ve been slammed for it in the press but have held their ground.

The movement to save the planet must embrace the fight against U.S. imperialist wars, proxy wars, and sanctions, while building solidarity with its victims. If possible, the issue has to be brought to the floor of the U.N. conferences, but more importantly, it must link the issues at every climate change action in the streets and around the world. Without the Pentagon, there would not be a Global South. Millions now trapped in endless poverty would be living free from the devastating threat of U.S. war and able to use their own natural resources freely.

Detroit – Today’s amazing Dec. 25 Hamtramck-Detroit-Dearborn Shut it Down for Palestine caravan was sparked by a simple graphic shared on social media, spread by word of mouth. There was no organization calling it, no supporting organizational logos.

Cars gathered at a parking lot in Hamtramck, a small historically migrant town within Detroit – formerly Polish and Eastern European but now mostly Muslim Bangladeshi and Yemeni. Flags, large and small, hand-lettered signs decorated cars, stretched across car hoods and poked out of retracted moon roofs.

How many cars? How many does it take to shut down a four-lane interstate freeway, get out of cars, and shoot off red smoke flares? Although I was in the middle of the line of cars, the action and smoke were about a quarter mile ahead. In downtown Detroit, police couldn’t keep the caravan from circling Campus Martius park, dubbed “Detroit’s meeting place,” drawing thumbs up and victory signs from pedestrians.

Then down Michigan Avenue to stop traffic again, this time at the Greenfield Road underpass, honking horns and then finally clogging West Dearborn business and residential areas. 

This Instagram post sums it up: “Hundreds showed up today for Palestine. The first and biggest car rally in Michigan. Let’s not forget what we are doing this for … this is for showing all the people in the USA how powerful we are when we unite as one and give us what we demand: Permanent ceasefire!” 

Activists are on a six-day sit-in protest in Kuala Lumpur in solidarity with the Palestinian people and against the blocking of ceasefire attempts by the US. They have continued their protests despite obstructions by the police and city authorities

More than 100 Malaysians have joined a sit-in demonstration outside the US embassy in Kuala Lumpur, in solidarity with Palestine and in response to the continued US veto to attempts for a ceasefire in the ongoing Israeli war on Gaza.

The Kepung Demi Palestin or the “Siege for Palestine” demonstration is organized by the Palestine Solidarity Secretariat (SSP), a coalition of 48 groups, including political parties from both the ruling and opposition coalitions, civil society groups, and youth and student movements.

The six-day long sit-in began on the evening of Tuesday, December 26, with dozens participating in the demonstrations despite rain and obstruction by the police. According to reports, demonstrators chanted slogans such as “Bebas, bebas! Bebas Palestine” (Free, free! Free Palestine) and “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free,” while holding flags of Palestine and Malaysia, and placards that read “US embassy is nest for terrorists.”

According to the organizers, the original plan had demonstrators holding a six-day long picket right outside the US embassy. But a blockade by the Kuala Lumpur Police prevented demonstrators from reaching the section of the road in front of the embassy.

Despite the police attempts to block the sit-in from happening, demonstrators began camping on the sidewalk of Jalan Tun Rezzak, a major avenue adjacent to the US embassy. The SSP plans to continue the demonstration until December 31.

In the face of potential police threats to dismantle the camps, on Wednesday, December 27, Socialist Party of Malaysia (PSM), which is also a part of the SSP, called for a huge crowd to gather in support of the demonstrators camped overnight on Tuesday.

“While the police have not allowed us to put up protest camps in the vicinity, the comrades are fighting back and continuing their stay overnight,” read a statement released by PSM on Wednesday. “We hope to get more solidarity support from fellow Malaysians, looking forward that the protest crowd will grow (sic).”

The demonstration received significant support from civil society groups and politicians across political, religious, and ethnic lines, illustrating the widespread support for the Palestinian cause in Malaysia.

In a statement released on Wednesday, the SSP demanded the right to peacefully assemble and express dissent against the US. The SSP stated that local authorities had tried to remove those camping near the embassy in the early hours of Wednesday.

“We decided to set up tents and bases for the next six days along a sidewalk at Jalan Tun Razak that does not block traffic or inconvenient pedestrians,” the SSP statement read. “However, at 3 am, we were greeted this time by enforcement officers from Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) [the seat of the city administration] asking us to remove our tents and end our picket.”

The demonstrators were reportedly able to return to their sit-in camps hours later, but the threat of forced evacuation by authorities remains.

“We demand our right to peacefully assemble and show our dissent towards the US for their continued support of the apartheid activities Israel is carrying out against the Palestinian people,” the statement emphasized.

“This systemic genocide has been going on for the past 75 years and 81 days, it is time we tell America that Malaysians have had enough, and we are not going to stand idly by and watch a massacre. We will continue our picket as planned and invite everyone to join us as a show of support and solidarity towards our Muslim, Christian and Jewish Palestinian brothers and sisters,” it added.

The US remains a major impediment for a ceasefire, having vetoed all attempts in the UNSC, while it militarily and politically continues to support the ongoing Israeli assault on Gaza. This is despite widespread opposition and backlash from the world over.

Since October 7, Israel has killed over 21,200 Palestinians in the besieged and blockaded territory of Gaza and the occupied West Bank, of whom over 20,900 have been killed in Gaza alone. More than two-thirds of those killed so far are women and children. Israel has also displaced more than 1.9 million of the 2.3 million population of Gaza and destroyed more than 300,000 housing units.

The US remains a major impediment for a ceasefire, having vetoed all attempts in the UNSC, while it militarily and politically continues to support the ongoing Israeli assault on Gaza. This is despite widespread opposition and backlash from the world over.

Since October 7, Israel has killed over 21,200 Palestinians in the besieged and blockaded territory of Gaza and the occupied West Bank, of whom over 20,900 have been killed in Gaza alone. More than two-thirds of those killed so far are women and children. Israel has also displaced more than 1.9 million of the 2.3 million population of Gaza and destroyed more than 300,000 housing units.

Source: Peoples Dispatch

Statement issued by the Palestinian resistance forces: Hamas (Islamic Resistance Movement), Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), Palestinian Islamic Jihad, Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine (DFLP), and Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine – General Command (PFLP-GC) 

Beirut, Dec. 28, 2023

The leadership of the Palestinian resistance factions held a consultative meeting in Beirut, where they discussed the developments of Al-Aqsa Flood battle amidst the ongoing zionist aggression on our land, people, and holy sites, especially in the Gaza Strip, the Palestinian West Bank, and Al-Quds. The meeting concluded with the following results:

First: With all pride and honor, the attendees praised the heroic steadfastness of our people in the occupied lands, especially the legendary steadfastness of our people in the Gaza Strip, where our children, women, and all our people, with bare chests, face the brutal acts of the “israeli” enemy, which targeted shelters for the displaced, homes, mosques, churches, schools, hospitals, and the general infrastructure facilities, as part of implementing a genocidal and scorched-earth policy against our steadfast people, who firmly thwarted the mass displacement project to the Arab neighbors, to empty the steadfast Strip of its residents, and annex it to the state of occupation and mass murder. This plan very clearly aims to end the Palestinian national cause and liquidate the legitimate national rights of our people, in determining fate, establishing the independent Palestinian state with Al-Quds as its capital, and ensuring the right of return for the refugees of our people to their homes and properties, per Resolution 194, in contrast to the annexation of territories occupied in the aggressive war of 1967, and the establishment of “greater israel” at the expense of our national project, the identity of our people, and their right to sovereignty over their land and the establishment of their independent state with Al-Quds as its capital.

Second: The attendees highlighted the heroic actions of the valiant resistance in the occupied Palestinian lands in general and in the Gaza Strip in particular. They praised its ability to thwart the enemy’s goals, demonstrating its incompetence and the fragility its forces in the field. They also praised the unity of struggle of all the military wings of the resistance factions, as manifested in the field in creativity, smart tactics, and actions that exceeded expectations in an extension of the strategic battle of Al-Aqsa Flood, which made October 7, 2023, a historical turning point, shaking the international situation. This reaffirms that the Palestinian cause still is and will remain the central issue at the regional level, and that the decline in interest was not due to a decline in status in the region’s political map, but rather an expression of the decline of the official leadership role, which based its calculations on betting on the American “two-state solution” project, and the “understanding” project with the zionist occupation “Oslo Accords.”

In this context, the attendees affirm their determination to continue the resistance in the field, and in other forums, until the brutal war on our people stops, and the aggression is repelled from the Strip.

Third: The attendees affirmed that the direct and immediate combative and struggle tasks to be achieved are as follows:

    1) Immediate cessation of the war of genocide, scorched earth, and ethnic cleansing by the “israeli” enemy on the Gaza Strip.

    2) Breaking the siege on the Strip, starting to supply our people with all necessities of life, and simultaneously rebuilding and reconstructing the infrastructure institutions and facilities. This includes providing the necessary supplies to reactivate and support the medical system, which is almost collapsing under the barbaric acts of the “israeli” aggression, and transferring serious injury cases from the Strip to treatment abroad in brotherly and friendly countries.

    3) Arab, Islamic, and international commitment to reconstruction, and requesting brotherly and friendly countries, and international and regional organizations, foremost among them the Arab League, the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, and the United Nations, to launch an international initiative to reconstruct what the occupation and barbaric aggression have destroyed in the Gaza Strip, and to work earnestly to bring life back to the Strip’s arteries, to provide the necessary foundations for enhancing the steadfastness of our people and their adherence to their land, as a minimum reward for the legendary sacrifices that astonished the whole world.

Fourth: The attendees stressed their condemnation and rejection of the scenarios by Western and “israeli” circles for the so-called “day after” in Gaza. They confirmed that such rejected scenarios, both in detail and in general, are merely betting on the failed attempt to break the steadfastness of our people and our valiant resistance; these are mere pipe dreams that will not be realized now or in the future, especially after the signs of the enemy’s defeat began to appear, in its explicit acknowledgment of its deaths and injuries at the hands of our resistance, and its forced withdrawal (https://t.me/PalestineResist/23657) of the most significant part of its forces, after the disgrace it suffered in the field at the hands of our heroic resistance fighters in the field.

The attendees affirm that our national movement and valiant resistance possess a wealth of struggle, intellectual, and political stock that qualifies it to reject all projects and scenarios presented as a “solution” to the Gaza cause, as there is no separate cause for the Strip, another for the West Bank, and another for Al-Quds.

The Palestinian cause is the cause of all of Palestine, land, people, rights, future, and destiny. The solution to the cause can only be achieved through the departure of the occupation and all forms of settlements, paving the way for our people to determine their national destiny on their land.

Fifth: The attendees agreed on the need to confront the consequences of the barbaric war on our people with a unified strategic and combative struggle, reintroducing our cause as a national liberation cause for a people under occupation. In this context, they propose the following suggestions to all parties of the Palestinian national movement and its components:

    1) Calling for a comprehensive national meeting that includes all parties without exception, to implement what was agreed upon in previous Palestinian dialogues, and to confront the consequences of the brutal war on our people in the Gaza Strip, and the barbaric attacks by settler gangs and occupation forces, and settlement and annexation projects in the West Bank, especially in Al-Quds.

    2) Rejecting all solutions and scenarios for the so-called “future of the Gaza Strip,” and presenting a national Palestinian solution based on forming a national unity government that emerges from comprehensive national consensus including all parties, responsible for unifying national institutions in the occupied lands in the West Bank and the Strip, bearing responsibilities in adopting projects aimed at rebuilding what the barbaric invasion destroyed in the Strip, restoring life to our people there, and preparing for elections.

    3) Full emphasis on the necessity of a ceasefire and the permanent cessation of all acts of aggression, and the complete withdrawal from the Gaza Strip, as a condition for discussing prisoner exchange based on the of “all for all” principle, emptying the prisons, and stopping arrests against our people in the occupied lands.

    4) Developing and enhancing the Palestinian political system on democratic foundations, through general elections (presidential, legislative, and national council), according to a full proportional representation system, in free, fair, transparent, and democratic elections, with the participation of everyone, thereby rebuilding internal relations on the foundations and principles of national coalition and genuine national partnership.

The attendees salute the martyrs of our people in the occupied lands, especially to our people in the Gaza Strip, wish a speedy recovery to the wounded, and salute those who are steadfast despite the harshness and brutality of the aggression in the Gaza Strip. They extend a salute of struggle and admiration to the states and forces of resistance in our [Arab and Islamic] nation for their role in supporting our people and resistance.

They also salute our Arab peoples and the free people in the world who came out in their countries and capitals, condemning zionist terrorism and supporting our people’s right to defend themselves and their land and dignity. They call for more political, media, and financial support, establishing a global front against “israeli” terrorism and aggression, and the barbarism of the Atlantic, led by the United States, the number one enemy of the world’s peoples aspiring to freedom, independence, prosperity, and dignified living.

Islamic Resistance Movement – Hamas
Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine
Palestinian Islamic Jihad Movement
Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine
Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine – General Command

Source: Resistance News Network on Telegram

Pro-Palestinian protesters in the U.S. succeeded in simultaneously blocking the entrances of two of the largest airports in the country: LAX airport in Los Angeles, California, and JFK airport in New York.

The actions effectively disrupted operations, declaring no business as usual while a genocide and siege is ongoing. These protests highlight the effectiveness of strategic, direct action, showcasing how international allies can support Palestine.

Notably, the Los Angeles protest highlighted the ongoing displacement and genocide taking place in Palestine, Sudan, and the Democratic Republic of Congo, where a combined 16 million people have been displaced and tens of thousands killed. Further, aircraft manufacturer Boeing’s role in these genocides was noted: Boeing has received hundreds of billions from U.S. government contracts to provide products to the U.S. military, as well as sells its weapons and technology to the zionist entity and Saudi Arabia.

In New York, about 30 arrests were documented, and about 40 were documented in Los Angeles.

Source: Resistance News Network on Telegram

Statement from Korean American Support for Prisoners of Conscience.

Asserting human rights while merely paying lip service to them — what an absurdity! 

To be respected as a human being, one must be free from threats to survival. 

One must break free from worrying about where to seek shelter from storms or how to alleviate hunger. 

Even San Francisco’s streets, known for their countless homeless and bizarre manifestations of drug addiction that had become commonplace, briefly appeared clean. This was solely due to the San Francisco authorities meticulously cleaning the streets that foreign dignitaries attending the APEC conference would pass through. While efforts are made to deceive foreign dignitaries by disguising the city’s citizens’ shattered lives, there is no genuine concern for these citizens. 

In a society where concerns about health issues are compounded by exorbitant health care costs and discrimination in health care insurance that individuals must bear entirely, even the sick struggle to access hospitals easily. 

It’s a society where one cannot step out of their homes feeling secure, and even indoors, there is a constant fear for safety. Incidents of minor crimes and reports are routinely disregarded. 

Despite a stable living environment being a fundamental right of citizens, this right is infringed upon, and the people have grown numb to this infringement in the United States. 

While U.S. Imperialism spends astronomical amounts on wars worldwide, it annually provides $3.8 billion to Israel. Yet, the nation itself teeters on the brink of crisis due to an unsustainable increase in debt, nearly causing the government’s functions to fail. 

An Arab boy, aged 5, loses his life, and his mother is critically injured as a white assailant targets a Muslim household. Three Arab youths are shot by a white person on the streets, resulting in the deaths of two. Countless incidents occur where Asian women are assaulted for no reason. 

The unfounded China and Muslim hatred instigated by U.S. imperialism has led to persistent hate crimes in American society. 

When MSNBC anchor Mehdi Hasan attempted to discuss events unfolding in  Palestine, the ongoing program was abruptly canceled. 

A university student supporting Palestinian liberation lost a confirmed job offer, while a Jewish professor advocating for the deaths of all Palestinians briefly left their position only to return. Workers are dismissed from their jobs for participating in pro-Palestinian demonstrations. Similarly, in Canada, a broadcaster was ousted for the same reason, while in France and Germany, police violently suppressed unarmed demonstrators. 

The double standards imposed by the West and U.S. imperialism, which condemn and oppress underprivileged individuals for their own gain, reveal the true nature of their touted human rights. 

Among the distortions and fabrications propagated by the West and nations against  North Korea, there is a propaganda war labeling North Korea as a human rights-abusing nation. 

Despite Israel indiscriminately bombing schools, hospitals, refugee camps, and residential areas in Palestine, causing the mass slaughter of women and children, U.S. imperialism and Western imperialism continue to support Israel’s inhumane crimes.

These countries have no right to even speak of human rights. 

The authorities violently suppress workers fighting for their right to survive, and intelligence agencies and police raid union offices. Under the  National Security Law, which claims that “a deeper understanding of North Korea poses a substantive danger to South Korea,” raids are rampant in the South, promoting such actions. 

Though rights are violated, lives are taken, and truth is manipulated and suppressed, perpetrators often go unpunished. The National Security Law, a sharp blade that condemns ideologies, controls media, and silences the voices of the people, is shameless in its display while hypocritically talking about human rights. 

In this landscape where human rights are being annihilated, there exists the “North  Korean Human Rights Act,” purportedly aimed at guaranteeing and improving the basic human rights of North Korean citizens. However, with all communication channels to the North blocked and no real understanding of the basic human rights of North Korean citizens, how does the South claim to guarantee and improve them? 

Just as North Korea’s reconnaissance satellite launch claims sovereignty over its territory, North Korea’s human rights are something that its citizens should handle themselves. 

Dec. 6, 2023.  

Korean American Support for Prisoners of Conscience