| International fredsbevægelse |
50,000 at European Social ForumLarge youth turnout bolsters plan for anti-war, pro-labor struggles Workers
World managing editor John Catalinotto attended the European Social Forum held
in Paris on Nov. 12-16. Over 50,000 people registered for the forum's discussions,
many from outside France. According to organizers, some 100,000 people took part WW: For the U.S. movement, what was the most important result of the European Social Forum? JC: The ESF decided in its final statement to call for a day of action on March 20, 2004, to end the occupation of Iraq and withdraw foreign troops. This means that the anti-globalization movements and all the other progressive movements making up the forum are on record to combat the continuing occupation of Iraq. The ANSWER coalition in the U.S. on Nov. 10 and United for Peace & Justice a day or two later had announced plans for events that day in anticipation of ESF support. Most anti-war groups in the different countries had themselves made similar proposals. But now it is fully accepted. At the World Social Forum meeting in Mumbai (Bombay), India, in January 2004 this will again be discussed as a world day in the hope of spreading the action to Latin America, Asia and Africa. The ESF also backed actions
in defense of social programs now under attack in Europe. This means that the
anti-globalization groups in Europe--which are far larger and more active than
those in the U.S.--will work together with trade unions to protest against cuts
to pensions, increased work hours, joblessness, and so on. Some of the
The ESF is a heterogeneous gathering of organizations, a "movement of movements." Some of the more conservative groups would prefer the ESF to remain as a debating society and not take part in struggles. Those in groups more oriented toward struggle told me the approval of these two action initiatives was a victory for their current. As
the ESF unfolded, two outside events impacted the Iraq question. The British Stop
the War Coalition and its allies were mobilizing against Bush's visit Nov. 19-21.
This had the potential of being a complete debacle for the Bush-Blair aggressive
partnership. British MP George Galloway, now expelled from the Labor Party for
his anti-war role, brought an ESF meeting of 1,000 people to excited cheering
with his The other was the car bomb at the Italian base in Iraq. In Italy, the Silvio Berlus coni government used his monopoly of the media to try to whip up a patriotic fervor, with some success. But polls showed that 60 percent of Italians were for bringing the troops home and 40 percent said they were ready to join protests to achieve this. Over a dozen Italy-based organizations attending the ESF, including the Refound ation Communist Party, joined to call for protest demonstrations on Nov. 22 all over Italy. They expect a strong turnout for the demand to bring the Italian troops back from Iraq now.
WW: Were you able to get an overall impression of the ESF, and what was it? JC: You have to realize how vast the event was and how difficult it was to get an overall impression. Tens of thousands of people were spread over five neighborhoods of the Paris suburbs--mostly the old "Red Belt," that had elected Communist Party mayors for decades. Within each neighborhood were dozens of large and small meet ing places, with large "plenary," smal ler "seminar" and even smaller "workshop" meetings scheduled sometimes a half-mile from each other. People contrasted it to the Florence, Italy, meeting last year, where a single center in a much smaller city made access and travel easier. The ANSWER steering committee had asked me to represent them at meetings of the European Anti-war Coordination. I went to those and some related plenary sessions, plus a plenary on Latin America, a seminar on NATO's role, and a workshop on "The Energy Crisis and the War." I took part in the Nov. 15 march and then the final "social movements" assembly Nov. 16. I also attended a spirited solidarity meeting with Cuba on Nov. 11 that was not officially part of the ESF. Even this narrow selection of events with an anti-imperialist focus gives insight into the ESF, but there were over a thousand meetings of one sort or another that I couldn't attend, including all those on the environment, on union struggles, feminist, lesbian/gay/bi/transgender rights, immigrant and anti-racist struggles. My overall impression is that there are vast numbers of young people, even in the imperialist countries, who want social justice and who hate war. A majority of them are ready to engage in some sort of struggle; they participated last winter in the mass anti-war actions and will fight the occupation of Iraq.
There is less clear solidarity with the struggle in Palestine for self-determination and the armed struggles, for example in Colombia, than with the more pacifist movements of what is called "civil society." There is some confusion about the role of the European imperialist countries, especially France and Germany, with many people believing this is a "kinder, gentler" imperialism. Others argue that it only looks that way because the U.S. is such a military power and so aggressive. One of the few seminars raising this point strongly was one organized by the Communist Party of Greece, with participation of the CP of Turkey and the CP of Portugal and some other progressive forces. The speakers attacked both NATO and the idea of a European Union military force, showing it would be pro-imperialist. The workshop's organizers invited me, as a representative of the International Action Center, to report on the Nov. 8 demonstration in The Hague supporting Slobodan Milosevic's defense of himself and of Yugoslavia in NATO's court. It was perhaps the only workshop where this issue would get a 100-percent friendly hearing. Much of the political confusion on these issues stems from the position of the more social-democratic tendencies in the leadership of the ESF. These groupings used administrative maneuvers to limit discussions of Latin America--where there is revolutionary ferment--to only six significant meetings, and prevented Cuban participation in the ESF.
WW:You said there was a solidarity meeting with Cuba? JC: Last spring world imperialism carried out a broad propaganda attack on Cuba after the Cuban Revolution defended itself by cracking down on counter-revolutionaries. In Europe a bevy of lesser-known intellectuals attacked Cuba for its decisive defensive actions. Joining this attack were the leaders of the French Communist Party, of course every Socialist Party, and even the leader of the Refoundation CP in Italy and of the United Left in Spain, although many currents in these parties and many members would disagree. In the end, the European Union put sanctions into effect against Cuba, a vicious imperialist attack on the Cuban people. At a spirited, enthusiastic meeting
in a packed union hall in the Pantin suburb on Nov. 11--prior to the official
opening of the ESF--about 1,000 people heard groups from all over Europe and parts
of Latin America express solidarity with Cuba. There were many French organizations,
including former anti-Nazi partisans and some unions. But there was no official
representative from any of the important French left parties, It was ironic that one of the best-selling items at the ESF was the Che Guevara T-shirt. Many young participants identified with Che as the heroic guerrilla fighter, and rightly so. Che's goal, though, was not to die fighting, but to win power for the workers and peasants, and he would expect the workers and peasants to defend this power with their new state. People at the Latin American plenary were overjoyed to learn that there were forces within the United States--specifically in the International Action Center and the ANSWER Coalition--who organized solidarity with Cuba and with the five Cuban political prisoners held in the U.S. As one said, a struggle within the U.S. "gives us hope." And
the ESF gives us hope, in the sense that a large gathering of progressive forces,
youthful, many opposed to imperialist war or ready to fight to defend social gains
or both, gives hope to those around the world who know that only by fighting for
socialism can these goals be won. By joining in the debates, and even more so
by joining in their struggles against today's rulers, we can advance the cause
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