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last modified September 28, 2013 by facilitfsm


Statement of Solidarity from the United States Social Forum to the Iraq Social Forum
 
 
We, organizers of the UNITED STATES SOCIAL FORUM, stand in solidarity with the FIRST IRAQ SOCIAL FORUM, currently taking place in Baghdad, Iraq.
 
While we are not able to be present physically with you this weekend, we are very much with you in spirit, and we are following the forum from afar.
 
Our government's illegal and immoral invasion of your country and the subsequent war, devastation and bloodshed, which continue to this day, demand that we share a special bond of solidarity with the social movements and Social Forum process in Iraq. Our histories are tragically intertwined, and together we must fight our common enemies - global capitalism and imperialism.
As social movements from across the United States, we are deeply inspired by the courage and dedication of the social movements of Iraq, as you continue to struggle for true democracy, justice and transformation in your country, against the horrific conditions created by the US invasion, war and ongoing intervention in your country and in the region.
 
We salute the first Iraq Social Forum as a historic step in this process.
 
The United States Social Forum is a process rooted deeply in social movements and grassroots organizations led by the most marginalized and oppressed sectors of the population of the US - poor and working class people, people of color, indigenous people and immigrants.
As those most directly impacted by the ravages of capitalism, militarization and imperialism here in the U.S., we stood against the U.S. government’s invasion of Iraq in 2003, and the subsequent war against the people of Iraq. We continue to oppose U.S. economic and military intervention in the Maghreb and Mashrek region, in Afghanistan and around the world.
It is our people - poor and working class people and people of color - who have suffered the most in the U.S. from the U.S. government's war against the people of Iraq, and so we stand in struggle and in unity with you, our brothers and sisters in Iraq and in the Mashrek region, against intervention in the Mashrek and Maghreb regions and worldwide.
 
We stand together with you in the fight for self-determination, true democracy, social and economic justice, and peace - for Another World, that is both Possible and Necessary.
While billions of dollars are used by the U.S. government to defend the interests of U.S. and global capital worldwide, our communities are being devastated by privatization of schools and basic services, the closing of hospitals and schools, and massive job loss and cuts to programs for the poor.
Furthermore, it is the poor and people of color across the U.S., who have joined the military to escape poverty, who have been sent to kill other poor people and to die in wars waged by the U.S. government and its allies against the poor in Iraq and worldwide.
Yet while our government has done everything to try to pit us against each other, we know that you - the people of Iraq, and the dispossessed, marginalized and displaced globally - are our true allies in this urgent fight for “Another World.” Thus, we stand in mutual solidarity and common struggle with those suffering and dying under the same system, and struggling against the same enemy, around the world. 
As participants and leaders of social movements across the United States, we, organizers of the United States Social Forum, are committed to the fight for "Another Necessary U.S." and "Another Possible World," and to using the World Social Forum and Social Movements Assembly processes to achieve these urgent goals.
 
In this spirit, we salute the first Iraq Social Forum and send our deepest admiration and solidarity as you meet this weekend.
 
In struggle, toward Another World, that is both Possible and Urgent!
 
The International Committee of the National Planning Committee of the United States Social Forum
The Accountability and Coordination Team of the National Planning Committee of the United States Social Forum