‘Let Iraqis speak!’

Anti-imperialist organizers from 15 European countries and elsewhere, including the United States, helped build solidarity between the anti-war movement and the Iraqi resistance at a working meeting held here on Oct. 1 and at a militant public rally the next day before a standing-room-only crowd.

Awni al-Kalemji, spokesperson for the Iraqi Patriotic Alliance in Europe.

The Free Iraq Committee of Italy, which organized the events, and its counterparts in other European countries aim at providing a platform in the “West” for authentic representatives of the Iraqi resistance to the U.S.-led occupation.

To move toward that goal, the working meeting decided to organize a European tour for Haj Ali al-Qaysi, the hooded prisoner of Abu Ghraib who has become a symbol of the brutal torture U.S. forces inflict on occupied Iraq.

A full-fledged conference had been planned for Oct. 1-2 in Chianciano, Italy, that would have allowed the Iraqi representatives to speak and have launched Haj Ali’s tour. Representatives of six diverse civilian organizations active in Iraq who give political support to the armed resistance had accepted invitations to participate.

The Italian authorities, under pressure from the U.S. government, refused visas to the resistance spokespeople for reasons of alleged national security. They then used a bureaucratic maneuver at the last minute to deny a visa to Haj Ali, claiming he needed a six-month resident permit from Jordan, not the three-month one he had.

The Free Iraq Committee’s struggle against these denials of democratic rights aroused sympathy and solidarity for the event from the Italian peace movement, rank-and-file union groups (COBAS) and many progressive individuals. The fight for these rights will continue to be part of the focus of the struggle to hold, as soon as possible, an important conference of that type either in another European country or in Italy.

Rally applauds resistance

Iraqis who live in Europe and support the resistance spoke at the rally. The key talk was by Awni al-Kalemji, spokesperson of the Iraqi Patriotic Alliance (IPA). To the cheers of the mostly Italian audience, al-Kalemji said that the U.S. had lost the military battle for Iraq and that in the end the Iraqis would defeat the occupation.

Al-Kalemji also spoke of the attempt to get in touch with the IPA’s secretary, Abduljabbar al-Kubaysi, a leading political figure among the over 100,000 Iraqis held in 200 U.S.-run prisons in Iraq. Neither his family nor any legal representatives have been able to visit him, let alone to prepare his defense.

An international team of jurists and attorneys is protesting this illegal seizure of al-Kubaysi by the U.S. occupation forces, and is attempting to get access to him. Kawthar al-Kubaysi, his wife, was scheduled to speak at the Oct. 2 meeting but had to cancel to continue her attempts to reach her husband.

Another important speaker from the Arab countries was Abdulhaleem Kandil, a spokesperson of Kifaya (Enough) in Egypt. This group supports the Iraqi resistance and works in Egypt to extend the democratic rights of the people. There are, he said, 20,000 political prisoners under the pro-U.S. Mubarak regime in that country.

From the United States, the Interna tional Action Center participated on the presiding committee of the conference and also described the recent upsurge in struggle in the U.S. following the “Camp Casey” actions and the reaction to Hurricane Katrina.

In addition, a student from San Francisco State College studying in Florence described her group’s actions in stopping recruiting on campus.

Among the well-known personalities speaking at the rally was Giovanni Fran zoni of the Saint Paul base community in Italy. Franzoni is a former priest and writer known for his contribution to Liberation Theology. Swedish author Jan Myrdal and French philosopher George Labica sent statements of solidarity.

Impulse for Italian movement

Leonardo Mazzei of the Free Iraq Committee read a statement that the delegations from 15 countries had agreed upon the day before. The goals included the strengthening of a network of groups in the various countries giving political support to the resistance; organizing a coordinated tour for Haj Ali; and going forward with the attempt to hold a conference in Europe like the one originally planned in Italy.

As the committee was making its report, the campaign had already made a big breakthrough in Italy itself. When the conference was first proposed, the Free Iraq Committee was isolated in the anti-war movement and got no favorable publicity, even in the left media. On Oct. 1, however, the independent leftist daily newspaper Il Manifesto ran a front-page story on the Italian government’s refusal to grant a visa to Haj Ali.

The organizers said that this shift meant that the question of solidarity with the Iraqi resistance was now part of the discussion in the anti-war movement and among the political parties.

Catalinotto represented the Interna tional Action Center at the conference.