Challenging imperialism

By Jo Kuper

This plenary in the West Hall 2 was packed.

The speeches were good and certainly passionate. Inspiring to many of the people I spoke to after the event. I enjoyed the plenary but perhaps have heard too much of it before. Much as I wish to respond to the rallying cries, I feel a need for a stronger focus on how we are to organise resistance.

Having said that, I was extremely impressed by Maria Styllou's stories of how the Greeks, through mass demonstrations, stopped Powell from coming to the Olympics. It is vastly important that we recognise these efforts. It is not just coincidence that simultaneously the Venezuelans were refusing to accept an attemped coup of Chavez, but rather an indicator of the strength of the solidarity movement.

Richard Boyd talked about the need for us to realise that imperialism is our main enemy, that we must never lose sight of this and that the Iraq invasion has to be seen for what it was an attempt by the US to assert its supremacy as the greatest imperialist. For these reasons, opposition to Iraq must be our top priority, for if we let the US get away with it then it will get away with everything.

Unfortunately, problems with my headset meant that I only heard the end of Sami Evren, from Turkey but I caught the important point that in order to defeat Bush, we must all challenge our own governments. I lost much of star attraction Aleida Guevara’s contributions due to bad reception and hard to follow translation. I am not criticising the translators who all working voluntarily did a fantastic job. But I did feel that I lost much of the content and passion of her speech. There is of course fair argument that I should learn some Spanish.

I could not help feeling that there was unfair pressure on Aleida. Every time her name was mentioned cheers resounded through the hall, yet these were little to do with her and everything to do with who her father was. This is understandable, but we should not lose sight of who she is in her own right.

Aleida talked about Cuba mostly, about how it is an example of what has been achieved against imperialism. She spoke of unity and cited an old Cuban saying “when people with energy cry, injustice shakes.” This she said is what is happening in Iraq today. These words echoed the argument of the previous speaker George Galloway. Galloway exerted his speech so forcefully that they he could be heard in the corridor and the Palm Court.

All the speakers made valid and important points, but I personally did not learn much that was new. What the seminar did succeed in doing for me was to reinforce the need for the centrality of opposition to the Iraq invasion into all our efforts against imperialism. There was a strong focus on the need for unity amongst the left. This is undoubtedly the case, quibbling over small things and in-fighting only serve our opponents. The strength of the anti-war movement across the world is a great inspiration. We must recognise however, that it has to only be the beginning, we have to build on what we have achieved so far and that requires focus and solidarity.

By Jo Kuper