ICMLPO in Europe on NATO and the upcoming European Parliament elections, Jill Stein and New York ballot access, graduation protests, and more anti-war news

According to the Independent Weekly, protesters put handprints on South Building, the UNC-Chapel Hill administration building, with red paint and left a sign saying "UNC has blood on its hands" a few hours before the graduation ceremonies on Saturday, May 11th (under cover of darkness?).  In recent years a history is forming of red blood and/or paint being daubed on UNC monuments and buildings, which presumably would be the crime of vandalism, though abundant paint has been accidentally and intentionally put on UNC's brick walkways and plazas and other features.  Is there any actual evidence that students put up the handprints?  UNC's graduation speaker was Zena Cardman, an astronaut and UNC alumna.  Lee Roberts also spoke at Kenan Stadium.  Around 6,700 students graduated.  UNC educators resisted turning in final grades in protest a few years ago, but not now?

At Duke University on May 12th about 100 graduates walked out before Jerry Seinfeld spoke at Wallace Wade Stadium, around 10:35am, according to Indy Week and the Duke Chronicle. There had been leafletting beforehand and there was a people's graduation at the Languages Building.

PSL organized a march in Raleigh May 11th, for the upcoming 76th Nakba Day?

An article on the Chapel Hill/Carrboro's old left bookstore, Internationalist Books (it closed several years ago, after a few decades in operation), was in UNC's Daily Tar Heel in late April:  www.dailytarheel.com/article/2024/04/lifestyle-internationalist-bookstore-legacy-in-chapel-hill-bob-sheldon

On the recent auroras and CMEs, visible as far south as Puerto Rico in the Northern Hemisphere over the past few nights:  www.wsws.org/en/articles/2024/05/13/edkj-m13.html

The May 13, 1999 NATO bombing of Korisa in Kosova; the May 15, 1974 storming of the Netiv Meir Elementary School, held by DFLP guerrillas, killing the three militants and 31 civilians or hostages, including 25 children; Israel bombed Lebanese refugee camps May 16th;  May 12, 1949 the British Parliament approved the treaty to join NATO and May 18th two Labour Party members who had voted against were purged by Labour:  www.wsws.org/en/articles/2024/05/13/dcdl-m13.html

www.councilestatemedia.uk/p/the-sudden-hesitation-over-israels

www.mintpressnews.com/new-lines-magazine-washington-weaponizes-media/287375/

Capitalists (and Alan Dershowitz) promise far-reaching private retaliation against student protesters for their free speech (liberals like to point out that the 1st amendment doesn't apply to companies and liberals or those further right say that speech has consequences):  diario-octubre.com/2024/05/12/grandes-empresas-de-eeuu-amenazan-a-estudiantes-a-favor-de-gaza/

Does the Biden administration plan to blame China if or when Ukraine loses? – www.counterpunch.org/2024/05/13/us-is-losing-in-ukraine-blame-china-says-blinken/

Did the US goverment let Ukraine's SBU kill Chilean-American Gonzalo Lira? – diario-octubre.com/2024/01/14/zajarova-la-casa-blanca-es-responsable-de-la-muerte-del-periodista-gonzalo-lira-encarcelado-en-ucrania/

www.struggle-la-lucha.org/2024/05/13/u-s-activists-condemn-acquittal-of-attacker-against-cuban-embassy/

www.counterpunch.org/2024/05/12/small-islands-deadly-stakes/

The Bushnell's Men hacking group:  thecradle.co/articles/bushnells-men-hack-30000-western-printers-in-protest-of-gaza-genocide

The US student intifada:  Palestine's new soft power leverage – thecradle.co/articles-id/24649

thecradle.co/articles/us-offers-israel-intel-on-hamas-leaders-in-exchange-for-limited-rafah-op

www.nknews.org/2024/05/both-north-and-south-korea-back-un-resolution-calling-for-palestinian-membership/

thecradle.co/articles/hamas-reorganizes-in-gazas-north-battles-invading-army-in-rafah

thecradle.co/articles/yemens-strategic-escalation-into-the-mediterranean

Yemen expands front against Israel to include the Mediterranean Sea:  thecradle.co/articles-id/24712

EU naval mission falls apart against Yemen:  thecradle.co/articles-id/24740

Bahraini resistance opens front against Israel [Saraya al-Ashtar/Al-Ashtar Brigades]:  thecradle.co/articles-id/24698

ISIS kills Palestinian fighters in Syrian desert [Liwa al-Quds]:  thecradle.co/articles-id/24478

To Israel's horror, Hamas brings 'two-state solution' back into focus:  thecradle.co/articles-id/24687

thecradle.co/articles/the-pijs-defiance-amid-diplomacy-gaza-will-not-be-allowed-to-fall

Israeli organ-trafficking network busted in Turkiye:  thecradle.co/articles-id/24729

Mass graves:  thecradle.co/articles-id/24783

thecradle.co/articles/shocking-abuse-of-gazans-inside-israeli-detention-camp-whistleblowers

Israel gives extremist settler 'absolute' control of occupied West Bank:  thecradle.co/articles-id/24714

thecradle.co/articles/frustrated-israeli-north-plans-to-secede-into-state-of-galilee

thecradle.co/articles/the-gaza-aid-pier-a-us-geopolitical-ploy

thecradle.co/articles/dialing-down-expectations-on-a-us-saudi-security-pact

www.counterpunch.org/2024/05/11/biden-blinks-bibi-bites-blinken-rewrites/

www.counterpunch.org/2024/05/12/oh-how-violent-hollywood-usc-and-the-sickness-of-denial/

portside.org/2024-05-13/israeli-war-gaza-post-war-scenarios

From Bon Appetit:  portside.org/2024-05-13/food-blogger-cooking-through-gazas-hunger-crisis

In Puerto Rico:  diario-octubre.com/2024/05/12/quitan-la-bandera-de-ee-uu-e-izan-la-de-🇵🇸-palestina-en-universidad-de-puerto-rico-video/

In Mexico:  revcom.us/en/mexico-encampment-unam-against-us-imperialism-backed-israeli-state-genocide-and-solidarity

revcom.us/en/anti-semitism-awareness-act-banning-opposition-zionism-crushing-academic-freedom

Israeli lawsuits:  theintercept.com/2024/05/10/october-7-survivors-lawsuit-palestine-hamas-sjp-protests/

chrishedges.substack.com/p/israels-willing-executioners

geopoliticaleconomy.substack.com/p/lindsey-graham-israel-nuclear-weapons-gaza

A bipartisan war:  www.wsws.org/en/articles/2024/05/13/ezhc-m13.html

diario-octubre.com/2024/05/13/admision-de-nuevos-miembros-en-las-naciones-unidas/

Mobilization in Ukraine:  diario-octubre.com/2024/05/12/kiev-promete-poner-fin-a-la-vida-tranquila-de-los-hombres-ucranianos-lejos-del-frente/

Benin and Niger:  diario-octubre.com/2024/05/13/francia-esta-desestabilizando-niger-a-traves-de-benin/

US smallpox biological weapon research under Biden and Soros? -- diario-octubre.com/2024/01/16/moscu-ee-uu-experimenta-con-cepas-del-virus-de-la-viruela-a-pesar-de-la-prohibicion-de-la-oms/

fair.org/home/the-media-mogul-trying-to-buy-baltimores-mayoral-race/

Judging protest movements by whether a Biden can get elected, as if the anti-Vietnam War protests or the Gaza solidarity encampments were about keeping a pro-war Democrat in the White House (note that I didn't read beyond the paywall)  And abortion rights? – www.slowboring.com/p/did-the-vietnam-war-protests-backfire

The No War But the Class War Conference will be May 31-June 2 at Long Island University's Brooklyn Campus and is being organized by Historical Materialism, The Institute for the Critical Imagination, and the Left Forum, serving as a replacement for the old Left Forum conference.  Speakers will include Kali Akuno, David Harvey, Chris Hedges, Sophie Lewis, Andreas Malm, and Helga Tawil-Souri.  Attention to the "moralism" and "Manichean perspective" of the current anti-war movement and the lack of systematic analysis.  The Torch (IWP) is organizing "a panel on The need for a genuine revolutionary party of the working class and the fight against sectarianism."  Contact:  HM.IRI.NYC at gmail

For more information and tickets:  www.eventbrite.com/e/hm-iri-conference-no-war-but-the-class-war-tickets-841674640507

Jill Stein:  This is do or die for our campaign [New York's punitive ballot access rules, created by the Democratic Party] 

Right now our campaign is fighting an intense battle against the biggest challenge we’ve faced yet. We need tens of thousands more signatures to get on the ballot in New York - and with just two weeks left, we’re behind where we need to be.

From the bottom of my heart, I’m asking every one of you to do whatever you can now to help us get on the ballot in New York and keep us on track to put an anti-genocide, pro-worker, climate action campaign on every single ballot across the country.

[Join in at:  www.jillstein2024.com/nyballot  There is also a state by state ballot access map linked on the main site]

Genocide in Gaza is going off the charts right now with the assault on Rafah, where 1.4 million people have been herded like cattle and are now targeted like fish in a barrel - including 600,000 wounded, malnourished, sick, traumatized children. With Israel's closure of the Rafah crossing last week choking off the little water and food that were getting in, and bombing the entire Gaza strip, this is a grand finale to 75 years of ethnic cleansing. 

We must do everything in our power to shut this genocide down. That means turning up the political demand by getting our opposition to genocide on the ballot in New York - ensuring this is a national force that cannot be stopped!

To make that happen, we urgently need volunteers as well as people who would like to get paid to petition. If you can come, let us know and we’ll get in touch to make arrangements for your visit, including accommodations if you need them. If you live within a bus ride of New York, and need help getting there, we can help you get there. We also need folks in NY or nearby who can provide housing or transportation for petitioners.

However you can help, please sign up now:

[ www.jillstein2024.com/nyballot ]

We also need everyone to donate whatever you can to help fund this urgent ballot drive. Every dollar you can donate moves us closer to the critical goal of getting 45,000 valid signatures in New York. Please pitch in as much as you can now to help make it happen - all donations will be matched up to the first $250 by federal matching funds!

[Donate now:  www.jillstein2024.com/donation_ny ]

Watch my new short video about this urgent fight and help spread the word by sharing it on Facebook, X/Twitter, Instagram, YouTube and TikTok.

In this historic moment of surging resistance to empire, our campaign is building momentum fast. A recent CBS poll from Wisconsin had us at 8% in a 3-way race, including 22% among voters 18-30 and 16% among voters 30-44. Our media coverage has exploded, and endorsements are rolling in, from Professor Jeffrey Sachs to Medea Benjamin, Kyle Kulinski, Jenan Matari, Andy Shallal, Professor Anthony Zenkus, and more.

If we get on the ballot in New York, it will shock the establishment and power our campaign to complete our ballot access nationwide - a process that’s over 75% completed already. With multiple systemic crises hitting at the same time and rejection of the establishment candidates at a record high, the sky's the limit for what lies ahead in this race - including a real shot at the White House.

This is do or die for our campaign. And it's do or die for putting opposition to genocide front and center in this election. Every day matters and every signature counts. 

If you can collect signatures in New York, we need your help now. If you can donate to help us fund our petition drive, please pitch in whatever you can now.

If you believe in this movement for people, planet, and peace, I ask you to join me in this historic moment and do whatever you can to help us get on the ballot in New York now!

[ www.jillstein2024.com/nyballot ]

Please share this urgent message with your friends, family, and fellow activists. We can do this if we all work together, but we need everyone to answer the call.

Thank you for everything you do to fight for an America and a world that works for all of us!

In gratitude,

Jill Stein

[Donate now:  www.jillstein2024.com/donation_ny ]

Scintilla #145 – piattaformacomunista.com/index.php/scintilla-n-145-maggio-2024/

May 11th – piattaformacomunista.com/index.php/i-75-anni-della-nato-diciamo-no-alle-vostre-guerre-di-terrore-e-saccheggio/  

May 12th – piattaformacomunista.com/index.php/elezioni-del-parlamento-europeo-una-truffa-democratica/  

Scintilla #145, May 2024 by Communist Platform – for the Communist Party of the Proletariat of Italy

75th Anniversary of NATO; No to your wars of terror and plunder!

Resolution of European Parties and Organizations members of the ICMLPO, adopted in April 2024 (the signatories are listed at the end).

According to the preamble of the NATO Treaty, it defends ''peace, democracy, freedom and the rule of law''. In fact, it is the opposite: it has been and is a military alliance of Western imperialist states to impose their economic and political interests by military means. NATO is a guarantee for war, not peace. It is a guarantee for national subservience to U.S. interests, not for independence.

From the beginning, it has been led by U.S. imperialism, which has always provided the military high command. It had been a tool of U.S. imperialism against the Soviet Union and the labor and communist movement. Since 1949, the Atlantic Alliance and its member states have been engaged in numerous brutal wars. NATO has also meant a steady increase in military spending at the expense of the working masses.

Instead of ''freedom and the rule of law'', NATO means exploitation, oppression and war. Dictatorships such as those of Portugal under Salazar or Turkey under General Evren have never been an obstacle to NATO membership and still are not.

NATO was and is a leading participant in numerous imperialist and neo-colonialist wars. In 1999, NATO attacked Serbia and continued to do so in the Kosovo war. Since 2001, it has used lies as a pretext for the war against Afghanistan, which ended in defeat in August 2021. In 2011, NATO states attacked Libya and largely destroyed the country. NATO has also intervened in Turkey's fight against Syria since 2013 and has supported Turkey militarily.

Atlantic Alliance troops are currently deployed in Africa, the Balkans, the Mediterranean and Iraq.

In recent years there has been a continuous process of NATO expansion to the east, which is the main cause of the current war between the imperialist powers of the USA, NATO and the EU against Russian imperialism.

At the same time, NATO is giving massive support to the war in Ukraine by providing infrastructure, weapons and advisers. NATO is in an unofficial war with Russia. In Israel's war against Gaza, NATO states are actively participating in war crimes and genocide by providing weapons and political support. Since the beginning of the Gaza war, NATO Secretary General Stoltenberg has assured Israel that NATO is on its side.

The struggle between the imperialist blocs of NATO with the EU against imperialist China with Russia has become a serious danger to peace. The EU, in alliance with US imperialism, plays a complementary role with its common policy of ''security and defense'', in a logic of division of labor. The EU is also using the situation to strengthen its role in the competition with the US.

All this is being carried out at the expense of the working class and its social and political achievements. The workers and peoples are suffering heavily from the consequences of NATO's war plans and their implementation by governments: cuts in social spending, high prices for basic products, pressure on wages, tax increases, etc.

Nationalists, reactionaries and fascist movements have been further strengthened to make the peoples "ready for war". We are therefore taking political action in our countries to withdraw from NATO! We are against any participation in NATO wars!

No to NATO! Out of NATO and all imperialist military alliances!

No to the European Military Union!

NATO and US bases out of our countries!

No to the arms race and to the sending of weapons!

Immediate withdrawal from war missions abroad!

Peace and friendship among peoples, instead of rearmament and war!

Scintilla #145, May 2024 by Communist Platform – for the Communist Party of the Proletariat of Italy

European Parliament elections: a "democratic" scam

Resolution of European Parties and Organizations members of ICMLPO

The EU presents itself as an island of prosperity, security and freedom. For the European Parliament elections on 9 June, the propaganda is about democracy.

The people were never consulted when the EU was founded. It was a project of capital. Referendums in which the EU failed were ignored or repeated until the desired result emerged.

For example, when the majority of the Danish people rejected the Maastricht Treaty in 1992, there was another referendum the following year in which a small majority was reached after incessant propaganda.

For example, in 2005 when the "European Constitution" was rejected by a large majority in France and the Netherlands, this was not accepted by those in power. On the contrary, work on the project continued under another name and without a referendum, and in 2007 the "Lisbon Treaty" was concluded with the same content.

Instead of an island of prosperity, security and freedom, the EU is a project of capital for a huge labor market with low wages, a huge outlet market and a tool in competition with other imperialist powers. The EU has also increasingly developed as an instrument of military power with joint armaments and military maneuvers. With the war in Ukraine, this aspect has taken on a special significance. The EU is also an instrument of neocolonial influence of the monopolies in Latin America, Africa and Asia.

In Europe, the EU is an expanding imperialist power with an anti-working-class character: it increases competition between workers in different countries, lowering wages and worsening working conditions. To the detriment of small farmers, the EU is also a tool of agribusiness, which has ruined thousands of farmers.

Not in the service of peace and friendship among peoples, but of the domination of monopolies and capital.

Reformist groups such as the "European Left", which brings together various reformist, revisionist and Trotskyist currents, promise to "democratize" the EU and transform it into a "democratic, peaceful, social and ecological Europe". These are illusions that conceal the domination of capital. The progressive forces are thus harnessed to the chariot of a capitalist and imperialist project. The European Parliament is part of this imperialist apparatus and is not a democratic institution. Therefore, we do not participate and cannot support any list. In addition, the European Parliament is used by right-wing parties to gain influence.

Instead of defending the EU of monopolies, the workers and peoples must fight for their own interests and unite for them. Instead of hoping for election results in the EU, they must stand up to exploitation and war!

We call on the workers to develop struggles and unity on the basis of their own class interests, against the monopolies and the capitalist offensive, the reaction and war policy of imperialism. We call for the development of active solidarity with the workers and peoples of the world, especially with those peoples who suffer and fight imperialist and Zionist oppression, aggression and plunder, such as the Palestinian people.

We reaffirm our commitment to a revolutionary break with the capitalist-imperialist system, to socialism!

With these intentions and this perspective, we must fight together

– Against low wages and the very denial of wages!

– Against the destruction of jobs!

– For the full right to strike!

– Against social cuts!

– Against the dismantling of democratic rights!

– Against racism, division and fascism!

– Against armaments and war!

– For peace, international solidarity and socialism!

April 2024

Workers' Communist Party of Denmark – APK

Communist Party of the Workers of France – PCOF

Organization for the Construction of a Communist Party of the Workers of Germany (Arbeit Zukunft)

Communist Platform – for the Communist Party of the Proletariat of Italy

Marxist-Leninist organization Revolusjon – Norway

Communist Party of Spain (Marxist-Leninist) – PCEML

      Workers' Party, EMEP, of Turkey