International League of Peoples' Struggle

International League of Peoples' Struggle

Second Assembly of US chapter

On October 21 through 23 2022, 270 activists, representing more than 50 different organizations from across the country, gathered in Seattle for the second Assembly of the U.S. chapter of the International League of Peoples' Struggle (ILPS).

Attendees heard panels and gave workshops to educate on and assess different aspects of the anti-imperialist struggle around the U.S. The Assembly united under the slogan “Fight for our rights, lives, and planet! Unite against the dying, desperate U.S. Empire!” Organizers committed themselves to fighting back against state and political repression, and to continue the people’s struggle for liberation.

Taking place in Seattle, the Assembly was situated at the foot of the Amazon, Microsoft and Boeing corporate headquarters. Organizers highlighted the role these tech companies and manufacturers have played in exploiting workers across the world and arming imperialist conquests. On the first day of the assembly, attendees marched from the Museum of History and Industry to the Amazon Spheres to take this message to the streets. They chanted “Power to the Amazon workers!” “From Palestine to the Philippines, stop the U.S. war machine!” and “The people, united, will never be defeated!”

“These technologies are what will be used to decide what Palestinian is able to go to school in the morning, what father is able to go to work, and who is able to go to the hospital,” shouted Aisha Mansour, an activist with Falastiniyat, as organizers marched past Google headquarters. Speaking at the start of the march, ILPS U.S. organizer Nina Macapinlic stated, “The empire is dying! A new world is waiting! But we will only get what we are organized to take!”

Workshop facilitators and panelists came from a wide range of anti-imperialist organizations across the U.S., and covered topics that included worker organizing, police repression, Puerto Rican resistance and U.S. surveillance in Palestine and the Philippines. They shared lessons, victories and defeats from the people’s struggle in the U.S. and around the world. “Community control of the police is a short-term reform that can tackle imperialism. If we’re able to control the foot soldiers of the imperialists, we’re one step closer to bringing the whole thing down,” shared Michela Martinazzi from the New York Community Action Project, speaking to a classroom full of organizers.

The Assembly also passed several resolutions for action that the U.S. chapter will undertake in the coming months. These included a resolution to join the call to free Simon Trinidad, a Colombian revolutionary and prisoner of the U.S. empire. The text of the resolution reads “It is imperative that we demand that the U.S. government free Simon Trinidad so he may return to his homeland and participate as a lead negotiator to move Columbia toward a peace with justice.” Other resolutions included an ILPS endorsement of the 2024 March on the RNC, a resolution to free Venezuelan diplomat Alex Saab, and a resolution to oppose the use of the terror label to brand activists.

The Assembly also included cultural performances that brought great emotion to the audience and ended with organizers coming together in celebratory dance as the venue was packed up. The entire weekend was a resounding success. “What was both agitating and heartwarming was the sense of revolutionary optimism that came from the level of organization and discipline of the participants toward a future free of imperialist domination,” said Carly Brooks of Resist US-Led War.

“The Assembly was a fantastic opportunity to build off of the momentum that labor and mass organizing has begun to build following the interruption of the pandemic,” said Zach Andrews of Seattle University’s Students for Justice in Palestine. “It further solidified the collective resilience of movements for just peace throughout the world and the interconnectedness of these struggles.”

Fourth International Assembly

The International League of Peoples' Struggle (ILPS) successfully held its Fourth International Assembly (4th IA) from July 7 to 9, 2011 held in Manila, Philippines under the theme, “Build a Bright Future! Mobilize the People to Resist Exploitation and Oppression Amidst the Protracted Global Depression, State Terrorism and Wars of Aggression”!

The 4th IA was attended by more than 430 delegates and observers from 200 organizations in 43 countries, territories and autonomous regions; namely, Argentina, Australia, Bangladesh, Belgium, Canada, China, Denmark, Ecuador, Egypt, France, Germany, Greece, Guatemala, Honduras, Hong Kong (SAR), India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Kenya, Macau, Malaysia, Manipur, Mexico, Nepal, Netherlands, New Zealand, Pakistan, Palestine, Philippines, Puerto Rico, Senegal, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Switzerland, Taiwan, Tanzania, Thailand, Turkey, United States, Venezuela, West Papua and Zimbabwe.

The election of the new members of the International Coordinating Committee was held and the following were elected as regular members of the ICC: Ario Adityo (Indonesia), Cho Akira (Japan), Carol Araullo (Philippines), Binda Man Bista (Nepal), Ramon Bultron (Hong Kong), Fatima Burnad (India), Poguri Chennaiah (India), Len Cooper (Australia), Rudi Hartono Daman (Indonesia), Demba Moussa Dembele (Senegal), Bill Dores (United States), Theo Droog (Netherlands), Luis Dutan (Ecuador), Malcolm Guy (Canada), Kuusela Hilo (United States), Wahu Kaara (Kenya), Mustafa Kilinc (Germany), Elmer Labog (Philippines), Florentino Lopez Martinez (Mexico), Lyn Meza (United States), Peter Murphy (Australia), Nikos Noulas (Greece), Jose Sison (Netherlands), Antonio Tujan (Philippines), Nestor Villatoro (Guatemala), Jang Chang Weon (South Korea) and Daphna Whitmore (New Zealand).

And the following as alternate members: Rey Casambre (Philippines), May Kotsakis (Australia), Dennis Maga (New Zealand), Liza Maza (Philippines), Malem Ningthouja (Manipur), Rafael Mariano (Philippines), Steve da Silva (Canada) and Barbara Waldern (South Korea).

ILPS Second Assembly

The Second International Assembly (SIA) of the International League of Peoples' Struggle (ILPS) was held in Eindhoven, The Netherlands, on Nov 10-14, 2004. Peter Murphy at- tended as an observer for the SEARCH Foundation.

There were seven attending from Australia altogether, representing Migrante and Gabriela Australia, two Filipino organisations, Australia Asia Worker Links and the CEPU Telecommunications Division.

ILPS is made up of mass organisations, and political parties are not allowed to be members.

The outgoing chairperson, Crispin Beltran of the Philippines, made a realistic and critical report to the opening session about the achievements and the limitations of the ILPS work since it was launched at the first assembly in May 2001. He called for more organisational development, and continuing effort to work in a broad, non-sectarian way. The number of participating organizations of the ILPS increased dramatically from 218 to 329. Despite the denial of visa application of delegates, 239 delegates from 32 countries participated in the assembly. They came from: Argentina, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Germany, Greece, Great Britain, Hongkong-China, India, In- donesia Iran

The general declaration of the SIA, "Advance the Peoples' Solidarity and Struggle for Liberation and Democracy Against Imperialist Plunder and War", was the focus of a serious breakdown in the conference. The circulated draft was amended just before the conference opened, to remove references to solidarity with Cuba, North Korea and China and to a formulation about 'contradictions'. When this was challenged from the floor, the session was adjourned without explanation, and did not reconvene for over 24 hours. The delegations which had insisted on the deletions never argued their case to the conference. A totally new text was negotiated to reach agreement, but this was negotiated outside the plenary. The result was a breach of the democratic values of ILPS and a big problem for its new International Coordinating Committee to address.

The assembly elected 27 regular members and 8 alternate members of the International Coordinating Committee (ICC). Thirty one percent of those elected to the ICC are women. Len Cooper from the CEPU Telecommunications Division in Australia is on the ICC. The ICC elected exiled Filipino Prof Jose Maria Sison as its new chairperson.