Washington, DC – On July 6, the Resist NATO Coalition hosted a Counter-Summit with over 300 attendees from across the country, two panels, and a cultural performance. This year is the 75th anniversary of the founding of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).

The Resist NATO coalition states, “In practice, NATO acts as an armed wing of U.S.-led war.” Key slogans from the event included calls for the U.S. out of the Philippines, and an end to the ongoing U.S.-backed genocide of the Palestinian people.

The Resist NATO coalition is comprised of over 60 organizations such as the International League of Peoples’ Struggle – US (ILPS-US), Freedom Road Socialist Organization (FRSO), Bayan USA, Black Alliance for Peace (BAP), the International Action Center, and the National Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression (NAARPR).

The coalition was formed in response to NATO hosting a summit in Washington, DC this year July 9, 10 and 11.

The speaking panels featured activists and organizers from the peoples’ struggles, such as Palestinian Youth Movement (PYM), Nodutdol, Diaspora Pa’lante Collective, Pan-African Community Action, etc.; discussing how to connect their fights through the collective need to dismantle NATO and resist its military aggression and escalation.

One of the panelists, from the Milwaukee Anti-War Committee, discussed the need to join the March on the RNC in Milwaukee on July 15 to fight against the racist and reactionary Trump agenda.

One of the panelists, an organizer in Palestinian Youth Movement, stated, “The NATO military alliance was created to protect Western imperialist interests in the wake of growing communism and people’s liberation movements internationally after World War II. NATO is anti-people in nature, a piece in the imperialist war machine that aims to crush national liberation movements in order to maintain Western hegemonic rule and control over the world’s resources.”

The Counter-Summit was followed by a mass mobilization the next day.

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