World protests condemn U.S.-Israeli aggression

Somewhere between 1 and 2 million people protested on six continents on Aug. 4-6 in what became an international solidarity weekend to end U.S.-Israeli aggression against Lebanon and Gaza.

Baghdad

The demonstrations reflected the growing awareness of the U.S.-Israeli role in planning the war and showed that the success of the heroic resistance in Lebanon in stopping the formerly “invincible” Israeli Army has brought a major change to the region.

Some of the largest and most militant demonstrations took place in the region between Indonesia and Morocco, where the majority of the world’s Muslims live. Many, but not all, were called by Muslim organizations. Protests were reported in the Indonesian cities of Jakarta, Surabaya and Yogjakarta, as well as in Bangladesh, India, Paki stan, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Bahrain, Jordan, Syria, Palestine, Egypt and Tanzania. The Lebanese diaspora in Ghana and Togo in sub-Saharan Africa also came out.

Leftist and nationalist parties organized protests in Turkey, Tunisia and in Morocco, where hundreds of thousands marched in Casablanca under Hezbollah banners waving Lebanese and Palestinian flags.

Major protests were also held in Capetown, South Africa.

In Western Europe, 100,000 marched in London and 10,000 in Brussels, where NATO has its headquarters. There were also protests in Madrid and Barcelona in the Spanish state, some French cities, Heidelberg and Berlin in Germany, and Vienna, Austria.

In Latin America, about 4,000 marched in both São Paulo, Brazil, and in Mexico City. Puerto Rico, Colombia and Argentina also had demonstrations. Some 60,000, including many from the Lebanese diaspora, marched in Montreal, Québec, and thousands more in Ottawa, Canada’s capital.

Demonstrations took place in cities across the U.S. (see accompanying article) and in Australia. These were supported by left-wing political parties, trade unions, the anti-war movements and the Lebanese and Arab diasporas.

‘March of a million’ in Baghdad

Most protests numbered in the thousands or tens of thousands. But in Baghdad, a giant crowd came out, called by the Mahdi Army, a Shi’ite organization that is part of the puppet government but has been a target of U.S. hostility. “Today, a million people joined together to support the resistance in Lebanon, which the Israelis have been unable to succeed in invading for the last 22 days,” said Hazem al-Aariji, representing Moqtada al-Sadr, leader of the Mahdi Army.

The demonstrations throughout the mostly Muslim region, or where the Arab diaspora played the leading role, showed the following political characteristics:

n Complete solidarity with the resistance in Lebanon and Palestine and especially identification with Hezbollah after it was able to stop the Israeli advance and inflict casualties on the Israeli military.

n Recognition of the leading colonialist role of the U.S. government in Lebanon, Palestine, Iraq and Afghanistan. Some protests even targeted the U.S. as the main enemy and Israel as its agent.

n Mass anger at governments of Arab
countries—like the Gulf states, Jordan, Egypt and Pakistan—that are closely identified with U.S. policies. These governments’ betrayals raise the possibility of struggles inside some of these countries against U.S. client regimes.

n An attempt to join different elements of the struggle for national liberation in the common struggle. This meant a conscious effort to unite Shi’ite and Sunni Muslims. There was also a sign of cooperation in some of the countries of the Islamic forces with secular nationalist groups and communists at the protests in solidarity with the Lebanese resistance.

Message from Bahrain

A report in Arab News on the protest in Bahrain on Aug. 5 gave a sense of some of these political developments:

“Hundreds of Sunnis and Shiites marched in Muharraq, the northernmost island of the Bahrain archipelago that served as the capital until 1923, chanting ‘Death to Israel, Death to America’ as they waved Lebanese, Palestinian, Iraqi and Bahraini flags.

“The protes ters also carried pictures of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nas rallah and the late foun der and spiritual leader of [the mostly Sunni] Hamas, Sheik Ahmad Yassin, in a sign of unity of support for all resis tance groups.

“It was the first time that protesters came out in sup port of Hez bol lah in Muharraq, which in recent months has witnessed demonstrations in support of Sunni resistance groups in Iraq and Palestine. [This] was a clear indication of the unity of the people in facing the aggression directed at the Islamic nation.”

A spokesperson for the demonstration said: “Hezbollah is leading the resistance in Lebanon, but there are other Lebanese groups involved in the fight. In Palestine Hamas is leading the resistance but other groups are involved because this is an issue that concerns all the people.” He also said that Arab governments were “no longer influential in determining the outcome or end of this ongoing conflict.”

Another speaker said that fatwas—statements from religious leaders—intended to divide Sunni and Shia forces are “daggers in the back of the nation,” and that the U.S. and Israel “had dug their own grave by picking this fight.”

The protests in Europe, North America and Australia emphasized the massacres of Lebanese civilians, especially the children, and demanded an immediate end to the Israeli invasion and its bombing and shelling of Lebanon, naming both Wash ington and Tel Aviv as the criminals.

George W. Bush is trying to demonize Hezbollah, slandering them as “Islamo-fascists” in an Aug. 7 news conference. And the German city of Berlin has outlawed carrying a poster of Nasrallah or Hezbollah flags at anti-war demonstrations. This makes it all the more important for anti-imperialists in these countries to urge solidarity with the national liberation movements in the Middle East, whether they are represented by religious, secular nationalist, or pro-socialist forces.

Within the Zionist state itself, between 5,000 and 10,000 people, from both the Arab and Jewish communities, demonstrated in Tel Aviv, showing a significant break in the alleged 95-percent support for the aggression. Already some Israeli military reservists have refused callups. One of the slogans shouted was, “We shall not die nor kill in the service of the USA!”