The NATO summit which will be held in The Hague on June 21st will coincide with a national mobilization promoted in Rome by various organizations from the pacifist movement, trade unions and left-wing associations against war, genocide, rearmament and authoritarian legislation.
The imperialist war rages on, inflicting suffering on peoples across the world, starting with the Palestinian people. Israel continues its offensive in the Palestinian territories and, with the full backing of the European Union and the United States, is now openly declaring its intention to occupy the entire region and deport Palestinians, in violation of UN resolutions and with the open support of the Meloni government. The recent escalation following the “preemptive” attack on Iran — involving the bombing of several nuclear and military sites and the killing of high-ranking military officials as well as numerous civilians — is pushing the Middle East ever closer to a devastating conflagration. Statements from the Netanyahu government declaring a state of open war with Iran and referring to Gaza as merely a “secondary” front, clearly show the real risk of a broader generalized conflict and of an explosion of inter-imperialist contradictions which threatens to drag the peoples of the region in an endless massacre.
Meanwhile, in Europe, the imperialist war in Ukraine continues, as Russia faces off the US-EU-NATO euro-atlantic bloc. After years of rhetoric about “European Values” to be defended, the true nature of this war has become even clearer, as we witness the shameless negotiations aimed at the partition of Ukraine, its territories and its energy and mineral resources, all at the expense of the peoples and the working class.
The EU Commission’s approval of the so-called “Rearm Europe” plan, which allocates an additional 800 billion Euros to military spending, is a concrete sign of the ongoing war escalation. In Italy, this translates into an increase of military spending from 33 to 70 billion Euros over four years, which will result in cuts to health care, education and social spending, and the creation of debt whose costs will be offloaded onto workers and the people. The “DL Sicurezza” (Security Decree) and other repressive measures adopted by the government are aimed at cracking down on strikes and demonstrations against these harsh, austerity-driven policies, in an attempt to silence those who want to raise their voice.
In this grave context, the revival of the broadest possible working-class and popular mobilization against the war — with the working class of this country at its forefront — is an urgent necessity that cannot be postponed, along with the reconstruction of a modern Communist Party capable of meeting the challenges of our times.
The fact that two rallies have been called in Rome on June 21st — one by the Potere al Popolo area, RdC, USB, and so on, and the other convened by the “STOP REARM EUROPE” platform involving ARCI, CGIL and the broader landscape of left-wing associations — is an extremely negative development.
In the face of the government’s harsh offensive, the maneuvers of the false center-left “opposition” and the rubber wall erected by the media and information apparatus, a unified mobilization is a necessary — though not sufficient — prerequisite to break out of irrelevance.
In this context, faced with the prospect of a broader mobilization such as that of sectors of CGIL and of “progressive” associations, it is precisely the more conscious forces of the class-based left and of combative trade unionism that should be expected to show the maturity not to separate the most aware and advanced unionized workers from the more backward and less developed sectors.
Replacing this principle with that of competition between organizations — especially if it is reduced to the trade union level — is a tactical mistake that cannot be justified at this stage. It is on the basis of this assessment that we consider the decision by some organizations to maintain a separate rally to be a mistake.
We believe that taking on the task of building this broad mobilization does not mean hiding differences, nor passively accepting that center-left forces hypocritically attempt to clean their image after having governed for years and upheld the worst anti-popular laws. We would only be doing a favor to those parties — and to those who now propose a fake alternative to the government in power— if, as communists, we did not challenge the opposing camp for the political orientation and leadership of mass mobilizations, as we have seen in recent weeks.
The participation of tens of thousands of people who mobilize against war and genocide, the workers’ strikes for contract renewals and improved agreements, are a clear signal that there is currently political space to spark a resurgence of mobilization among broad sectors of the working class and the people. A strong presence of communists in all mass mobilizations is necessary to carry forward a position of rupture with the hypocrisy of the fake opposition, within the broader struggle against capitalist barbarism, and to offer the millions of workers in this country a true alternative. That alternative is the communists — it is the Communist Party.
The proposal we put forward to all comrades, alongside support for the general strike of June 20th, is to take to the streets in Rome on Saturday, June 21st, in order to build together a strong, visible, and organized communist bloc — to say NO to European rearmament and to the genocide of the Palestinian people, to end all forms of support and complicity by Italy with the criminal state of Israel and imperialist wars. Let us stop the war-mongering government!
ROME, PORTA SAN PAOLO 2:00 PM
