Internationalists issue declaration against war in Ukraine

Solid statement of internationalist principles

The statement is open for signature

I sign.

Fucking spot on statement if I may say so.

We have translated this statement to Turkish.Where can we send the Turkish version? Should we simply upload it on Libcom?

Steven.

Wow, we're already getting lefty cretins on the libcom Facebook page arguing that we need to support Russia against "fascist" Ukraine. That didn't take long!

To be fair the "People & Nature" piece is pretty shit, not least in reducing Russian capitalism to "Putin" (god is that tiresome). And reads like a democracy piece from an NGO cabal. This "Internationalists declaration" posted above got twice as many up votes and no negative feedback.

great statement, I just wonder what will actually happen and in the streets this sentiment seems to be nearly missing...

you guys have a facebook?
sometimes I want to share articles on there but I always feel like betrays some kind of trust
(I share some of the source material, I feel like the various orgs wouldn't have websites if they didn't want recognition)

also how does one go about signing this?
I want to sign it

This would make a fantastic commercial

Where do I sign? Overall, great statement!

Comrades, if you want to sign this declaration, you can send info about it to mail address of KRAS-IWA ([email protected]) with the mention of your country and your group (if the signature is approved by organization or group). Thank you

statement by the Trotskyist RSD: http://internationalviewpoint.org/spip.php?article3296 ... not too bad but speaking more about 'people' than about 'classes'

No war with Ukraine!

A statement from the Russian Socialist Movement

War has begun. With the aim of protecting and increasing the assets of the oligarchs in Russia and in Yanukovich’s coterie, Russia’s leadership has undertaken an invasion of Ukraine. This aggression threatens catastrophic consequences for the Ukrainian and Russian peoples — most especially for the population of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and Ukraine’s southeastern industrial regions.

For Ukraine, this will also mean an escalation of ethnic conflicts; for Russia, a consolidation of dictatorial power, repression, and chauvinist hysteria, with which the ruling elite will be able to neutralize mass anger against a backdrop of deepening economic crisis. We share the concern of residents of the southeast over the nationalistic tendencies of the new authorities in Kyiv.

It is, however, our firm conviction that freedom will be won not by Putin’s tanks, but by self-organization and the people’s own struggle for their civil, political, and socio-economic rights.

It goes without saying that the peoples of Ukraine have a right of self-determination, of full autonomy and independence. But what we are seeing today has nothing to do with the democratic will of the masses. It is a brazen and cynical act of Russian imperialism, aimed at annexing foreign territory and converting Ukraine into part of Russia’s protectorate.

Today, the struggle for freedom in Russia is a struggle against the foreign policy adventurism of the current regime, which seeks collusion in forestalling its own end. The RSD calls on all sincere left and democratic forces to organize anti-war protests. Our demands:

NO RUSSIAN-UKRAINIAN WAR! NO PROVOCATIONS TO BLOODSHED IN UKRAINE!

NO PITTING AGAINST ONE ANOTHER OF THE PEOPLES OF UKRAINE AND RUSSIA!

NO INTERVENTION BY THE ARMIES OF RUSSIA OR ANY OTHER COUNTRIES IN THE AFFAIRS OF CRIMEA!

FREEDOM FROM DICTATORIAL ACTS AND PEACEABLE SELF-DETERMINATION FOR THE PENINSULA’S RESIDENTS!

YES TO THE UKRAINIAN WORKERS’ STRUGGLE AGAINST OLIGARCHS AND CORRUPT OFFICIALS! NO TO ETHNIC CONFLICTS!

A sober, clear internationalist position by KRASthat has my suppor against the confusions and bourgeois politics of the RSD above with its "peoples", "self-determination" and so on, typical of leftism. The KRAS position also stands out against the anarchist AWU and its support for "common citizens" and "democratic forces". This is a vital proletarian voice amid these growing inter-imperialist tensions and capitalist decomposition.

People = bourgeois. You heard it here folks.

Dear comrades,

The WSA as a matter of internationalist principle signs on to your statement against war between Russia and Ukraine.

For a world without war and borders!
WSA

Yes. Good initial statement from KRAS.

One 'problem' with the statement on this thread said to be from the "Trotskyist RSD" (I put it in quotation marks because I don't know this organisation, or if it is indeed 'Trotskyist') can be summed up in the following passage:

"It goes without saying that the peoples of Ukraine have a right of self-determination, of full autonomy and independence."

Without opening up an enormous, historical debate, this is a central issue in the Ukraine, today, and elsewhere. In this sense, in the sense of events on the ground in Ukraine, Russia, Crimea and 'the West', the KRAS statement expresses a class viewpoint. An internationalist, working class viewpoint, as it says on the tin. The RSD statement, to say the least, leaves the door open to all kinds of nationalist viewpoints. Caiman de Barrio heard it right: in this context, "People = bourgeois".

Yes Caiman you heard it right. The "people" have voted, the "people" of Ukraine, the "people" of Crimea, the "people's right to self-determination", the "people of Gaza", all bourgeois terms that dissolve the working class in an amorphous mass of the people which entirely serves the class interests of the bourgeoisie.

More importantly, do you have anything to say on the statement of KRAS in the face of imperialist war>?

I think I might really disagree with that declaration. My anti nation stance is there without ukraine or pukin or obama etc, class war is always there anyways. But if there is a rise in ultra nationalism, facism, neo nazism and an enemy of mine wants to help me fight it - I don't see anything wrong with using them

daithy, what country are you referring to when you say there is a rise in ultra nationalism. As far as I can tell it's alive and well in both Russia and Ukraine. Why on earth you'd be willing to "use" (how you would do that though is beyond me) either of them?

Where was the western commitment to democracy when the U.S. allies in Saudi Arabia invaded Bahrain to crush the uprising there? Could have ended that invasion with a simple phone call.

Declaration of Internationalists against the war in Ukraine was translated in many languages. It can be read on these links (not with the all signatures yet)

In Ukrainian: http://www.aitrus.info/node/3620

In Spanish: http://www.aitrus.info/node/3617

In German: http://www.aitrus.info/node/3610

In French: http://www.aitrus.info/node/3609

In Turkish: http://www.aitrus.info/node/3611

In Moldavian / Romanian: http://www.aitrus.info/node/3612

In Lithuanian: http://www.aitrus.info/node/3619

In Slovakian: http://www.aitrus.info/node/3613

In Portugal: http://www.aitrus.info/node/3616

In Italian: http://www.aitrus.info/node/3618

In Arabian: http://al-manshour.org/node/4987

Comrades, if you want sign individually, you can just write here from which country you are, and we will add signature "Internationalist from..."

Just a question to the so-called "Internationalists" who signed this paper, how can you call yourselves advocates of Internationalism when you reject the very concept of Nationalism? Internationalism is the antithesis of Anarchism. A lot of talk about "real needs" but nothing about what the people of Crimea themselves actually want themselves, and issue of exacerbating ethnic tension most definitely IS a real issue for them, but then Anarchism never much cared for identities they don't give a shit about nor the principle of self-determination.

Maybe you feel the need to speak on behalf of those who actually do live in that situation but quite sanely the rest of us are not so arrogant. I say this to the mainly comfortable western audience on this site.

Can't speak on behalf of anarchists, but for internationalist Marxists our position does not stem from an ahistorical comparison between abstract concepts (nationalism/internationalism, liberty/tyranny, federalism/centralism) but from an understanding of the material basis of history, which is the struggle between classes. The basis of our internationalism is that the proletariat is a global class and that class struggle between capitalists and workers is sometimes open, sometimes lurking beneath the surface, but always present. Our internationalism is a byproduct of our choosing the side of the only revolutionary class today, the global proletariat, in this historic struggle. Nationalism is an ideological poison that creates false unity between the national bourgeoisie and their proletariat, paving the way for the working class to be the fodder in imperialism's wars. Similarly with national self-determination which is meaningless when you consider that the agents of history are not nations but classes, and that every nation is forced by necessity to submit to the laws of capitalist competition. The slogan for pro-revolutionists in times of imperialist tensions and open war is "turn the imperialist war into a global class war".

Panao

Just a question to the so-called "Internationalists" who signed this paper, how can you call yourselves advocates of Internationalism when you reject the very concept of Nationalism?

There's always someone that will come up with this tired old question, which really is nothing but a weak attempt at sophistry. Reminds me of the similar stupid question: how can you guys claim to be against capitalism when you own a MacBook and buy coffee at Starbucks? Answer it with a question: what the fuck is it that you don't understand about class?

Panao

Just a question to the so-called "Internationalists" who signed this paper, how can you call yourselves advocates of Internationalism when you reject the very concept of Nationalism? Internationalism is the antithesis of Anarchism. A lot of talk about "real needs" but nothing about what the people of Crimea themselves actually want themselves, and issue of exacerbating ethnic tension most definitely IS a real issue for them, but then Anarchism never much cared for identities they don't give a shit about nor the principle of self-determination.

Maybe you feel the need to speak on behalf of those who actually do live in that situation but quite sanely the rest of us are not so arrogant. I say this to the mainly comfortable western audience on this site.

Oh dear, there goes the Libcom neighbourhood :D

Maybe the declaration should use the term anti-nationalist just to be more clear. Stupid prefixes!

Panao

Just a question to the so-called "Internationalists" who signed this paper, how can you call yourselves advocates of Internationalism when you reject the very concept of Nationalism? Internationalism is the antithesis of Anarchism. A lot of talk about "real needs" but nothing about what the people of Crimea themselves actually want themselves, and issue of exacerbating ethnic tension most definitely IS a real issue for them, but then Anarchism never much cared for identities they don't give a shit about nor the principle of self-determination.

Maybe you feel the need to speak on behalf of those who actually do live in that situation but quite sanely the rest of us are not so arrogant. I say this to the mainly comfortable western audience on this site.

Internationalism doesn't mean Ukrainian nationalism + Crimean nationalism + Palestinian nationalism etc ad nauseam it means the proletariat struggling together against GLOBAL capital irrespective of and in opposition to national borders.

Yes, I don't give a shit about the principle of self-determination when it means attempting to set up new states because I am against all states.

Seems to me, considering your article on climate change, that this is the first of many people uprisings to come, and come they will. The West fighting for land,food and shelter. We were an amazing chimp!!! The chimps are smashing up their cage :O ,............... amazingly dumb. :/

petition for a mirrored declaration denouncing US or EU intervention

Of course, we in KRAS are a-national / antinational. It was meant in the text. It is directed against all side and participants of this conflict - Russian and Ukraininan bourgeosie and nationalists. We don`t prefer any side and we don`t look for lesser evil. The word "internationalism" is may be not fully correct but it use is a tradition even in a antinational sense (like International Workers Association)

We talked about this statement with our anarchist group yesterday and one thing we thought odd is that in the whole statement nothing is mentioned of the (historical) military strategic importance of the Crimea in the region. For the rest in my opinion a great text and actually its going to be the startingpoint of our next info-/discussionevening.

PS: I also translated this text into Dutch: https://www.indymedia.nl/node/21678
PS2: I added Washington and Brussels to the list of places where powerforces are situated which influence this event.

Wtf is this?? I dont know anything about military stuff buy this sounds bloody dangerous!

F-15 fighter jets from RAF Lakenheath in Suffolk have been deployed to the Baltic region to monitor the ongoing crisis in Ukraine.

US Defence Secretary Chuck Hagel said six jets would be deployed to Lithuania, with support staff being transferred to Poland.

Four Lakenheath jets are already based in the area, having been part of a Nato mission for the past 10 years.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-26466250

Yeah,and the US has sent some warships towards Crimea. It's concerning. A game of chicken with WW3 as the possible worst outcome.

WithDefiance

We talked about this statement with our anarchist group yesterday and one thing we thought odd is that in the whole statement nothing is mentioned of the (historical) military strategic importance of the Crimea in the region. For the rest in my opinion a great text and actually its going to be the startingpoint of our next info-/discussionevening.

PS: I also translated this text into Dutch: https://www.indymedia.nl/node/21678
PS2: I added Washington and Brussels to the list of places where powerforces are situated which influence this event.

We added the mention about Washington in Brussels to declaration. Your group signed the text or we must mention you only as translators?

In Serbo-Croatian: http://www.svjetskarevolucija.org/deklaracija-internacionalista-protiv-rata-u-ukrajini/

STATEMENT from the MAKHNOVTCHINA INSURGENT ARMY on the SITUATION across the UKRAINE and the WORLD:

We proletarians and peasants of Gulyai-Polye have once again risen up against all oppressors in the Ukraine, Crimea and beyond! Once more we strap on our rifles and sabres, to muster on our horses and tachankas under the black skull and crossbone flags of libertarian communism!

Death to the Svoboda rapists and anti-abortionists!

Death to the Praviy Sektor Jew-hating fascists!

Death to the Putinist invaders of Crimea!

Down with the robed priests who bless Putinists and Maidanists alike! Down with all the oligarchs and corrupt apparatchik robbers of the poor! Down with the austerity scheming neo-liberals from Europe and the coup plotter neo-cons from the USA! Down with the distractors who divide people not on politics or class but on language, 'race', gender, sexuality and culture!

This time there will be no stopping us - we will drive all these oppressors into the sea and carry on driving! On to the heart of Putinist Russia! On to the heart of austerity Europe! On across the arctic ice, into Canada and imperialist USA! The 1% with their polluters and energy corporations will be scattered in the wake of out tachankas! The corrupt elites of China, Japan, Saudi Arabia and India shall not escape our wrath! Neither will the zionist pogromists in Palestine! And listen well, consumers of bourgeois commodity fetishes, for you will soon hear the furious hoofbeats of vengeance echoing down your corporate office hallways and shopping malls!

Long live libertarian communism! Awake! Let the slumbering lions of peasants and workers arise! Long live the new baktos who will lead us to victory! Arise! Arise!

How many modern-day libertarian communists does it take to be a Makhnovshchina? Sorry to be so cynical. Get back to me when there are more than three of you guys.
PS, get some more up to date slogans please.

Makhnovtchina lol

I hope this guy is trolling, because otherwise this is really sad.

For now only as a translator sadly enough...

I am delighted to sign this statement wholeheartedly. Internationalist from the Netherlands.

Thank you, we added the signature of libcom. Tomorrow we will make it with the signature of comrade from Netherlands

What could possibly go wrong?

Crimea crisis: Britain offers jets to patrol Russia border as tensions grow
Britain offered to send Typhoon aircraft to police Russian borders with the Baltic States on Monday as tensions over Ukraine grew.
Philip Hammond, the Defence Secretary, made the offer to supply RAF jets to Nato amid warnings that Europe could face a new Cold War with Russia.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/ukraine/10704567/Crimea-crisis-Britain-offers-jets-to-patrol-Russia-border-as-tensions-grow.html

The international solidarity commission of the IWW signed onto it too.