Joint Statement of the Detroit Socialist Party and the Organization for a Free Society
The Detroit Socialist Party and the Organization for a Free Society support the struggle in Egypt which has inspired people across the world as they fight passionately to smash the 30-year rule of the US backed dictatorship of President Hosni Mubarak. The Egyptian people have realized the limits of their government and, no longer satisfied with hollow assurances of democracy and freedom, have taken the first steps towards real democracy and actual freedom. The courage and solidarity with which they have successfully contested the Mubarak dictatorship gives us all hope that democracy and freedom can be attained by and for the power of united poor and working people.
Mubarak’s authoritarian rule over Egypt (aided at every turn in his pact with US imperialism), has created and maintained a system of economic injustice in which the majority live and work in poverty (if they are permitted to work at all). In the face of widespread social and economic injustice, Mubarak has employed a vast apparatus of secret police goons whose sole task is to maintain the security of the wealthy elite through harassment and intimidation. In addition to the creation of oppressive domestic policies, Mubarak has also assisted in crushing the right to self-determination for neighboring Middle East nations. This is especially true for the people of Palestine, who’s access through Egypt has been blocked largely as a consequence of Mubarak’s active support for the illegal and cruel Israeli military occupation. The current struggle in Egypt raises our hope that the people of Egypt will not only shake the foundations of their own oppression, but will strike a blow to the oppression of the Palestinians, the Middle East, and all oppressed and exploited people throughout the world.
US lawmakers are carefully examining the situation in the Middle East and what it holds for their empire. President Obama and Secretary Clinton have paid lip service to the “universal rights” of the Egyptians to rebel, while continuing their policy of support for the Mubarak regime and allowing him to use US teargas, tanks and weapons to try and crush the Egyptian people’s struggle. Therefore, to stand in solidarity with the Egyptian people’s fight for a democratic government we are taking to the streets ourselves to end US support of the Mubarak regime and will continue to build the struggle for real democracy in the US.
As capitalism continues to spiral into crisis, a wave of free-market dogmatism is rushing into the halls of US lawmakers, who are calling for a slash-and-burn spending policy aimed at every public service which intends to help the poor, working class, youth, students, women, people of color and the environment. It seems that war, empire and corporate profits are the only things that aren’t too expensive to our US lawmakers. The present US military occupation of Iraq and Afghanistan, the secretive bombing of Pakistan and military aid to Israel, is all based upon the lie that what is presently happening in Egypt and across the Middle East never happens! It is high time that socialists and all those who seek peace and freedom everywhere reinvigorate and rebuild the struggle against Western imperial adventures in Iraq, Afghanistan, Palestine, the Middle East and throughout the world.
Presently, activists who have been taking responsibility to lead the anti-imperialist struggle are facing government repression tactics in the form of Grand Jury subpoenas, infiltration and spurious criminal charges. These tactics are aimed at intimidating activists and undermining the ability for Americans to take responsibility for changing their governments policies toward finally reflecting the democratic, peaceful reputation that US political leaders speak of. We demand that people’s right to resist and protest be respected, and that all repressive tactics to intimidate and undermine global justice activism be brought to an end!
As revolutionary socialists in the US, we are reminded of the limitations of our own system and are inspired by the passion and determination for real justice in the struggles in Egypt and across the Middle East. We once again bear witness to the eternal truth that working people of all countries have more in common with each other than the regimes ruling over them. We all share the same aspirations to rights that would truly be universal: The right to meaningful work; to a life without poverty; to universal education; and to collectively determining the use of the resources and technology that sustain our lives and our world. In this very real sense, the Egyptians’ struggle is our struggle. Let us extend the most meaningful show of solidarity to them yet, by not simply cheering them on but in taking up their call. With the Egyptians, we too demand no less than the radical emancipation of our own oppressed, our own unemployed, our own impoverished. Working people of all counties, unite! In solidarity with this struggle, and the struggles of the people across the Middle East, we demand an immediate end to all US support to the governments of Egypt and Israel, an end to the wars against the people of Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan, and an end to federal government repression of peace and justice activists.
WHERE WE STAND:
- Solidarity with the people’s movement in Egypt. End Mubarack’s 30-year dictatorship! US out of the Middle East.
- We want an immediate end to all US support to the governments of Egypt and Israel, and an end to the wars against the people of Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan.
- People’s right to resist and protest be respected, and that all repressive tactics to intimidate and undermine global justice activism be brought to an end!
- World wide revolution to end all imperialist regimes. We want global solidarity and cooperation! International socialism for the 21st century!
See also: SP International Commission Statement on the Tunisian Uprising (leaflet version