The event, titled “Perspectives on Policing: Connected Struggles Abroad” is the latest entry in the series on policing town hall series.

One of the presenters was Ramon Mejia. He is an ex-marine and prominent anti-war organizer with the group About Face, and gave an unflinching portrayal of the ever-growing violence in the military, explaining how the violence is turned back on the very people the military claims to protect, through the exchange programs with police.

In close coordination with Freedom Road Socialist Organization, the Palestinian Youth Movement, and Bayan USA, NAARPR DALLAS was able to hold a rousing and informative event with presenters from all walks of life.

The struggle continues but the Dallas community showed a great willingness to learn and better understand that interconnected struggle all thanks to the people at NAARPR DALLAS. More town halls to come in the coming weeks and months.

#DallasTX #NAARPRDallas #BayanUSA #FRSO #PYM #AboutFace #AntiWar #Policing

New York, NY – Several hundred people gathered in midtown Manhattan at The People’s Forum to launch Nodutdol’s U.S. Out of Korea campaign. Hundreds more gathered at events in Oakland and Los Angeles for similar launch events.

The event began with Nodutdol organizers presenting the background of the organization. Nodutdol (노듯돌, meaning stepping-stone) has roots in the 1990s when members of the Korean movement would travel to Korea to learn from the people in the South and North of the peninsula about their organizing against U.S. domination. They became fully established in 1999 in Queens, New York and in the early 2000s pivoted their focus to anti-war efforts in the Middle East. They continued their delegation trips to Korea and deepened their anti-imperialist resolve.

The organizers also gave a brief but in-depth review of the history of the Korean war. They began from when the Japan imperial flag was lowered in 1945 to how the U.S. military swept in immediately to quell any rising socialist sentiments. The Korean people were forced to trade from one brutal, imperialist force to another. The U.S. helped lead a murderous campaign against the Korean people to eliminate any opposition. At the time, it was estimated that 70% of the people of Korea were interested in socialism and the U.S. effectively eliminated close to 3 million of them.

With the U.S. still present in the peninsula, this makes it the longest running war in U.S. history.

In the last few years, the U.S. military activity has sharply increased in recent years. In 2023, U.S. forces conducted 200 days of military exercises. In mid-August, the U.S. and the Republic of Korea (ROK) will hold nuclear war exercises in Korea in joint military drills. These drills will occur during the Democratic National Convention in the U.S.

The escalation on behalf of the U.S. and the ROK has increased tensions with the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK). This led to the DPRK’s announcement earlier this year that they can’t see a future where peaceful reunification is possible with the ROK. As long as the ROK is not just under U.S. influence, but actively seeks to ally themselves with them, there can’t be a peaceful process.

Additionally, under President Biden's administration, the U.S., ROK and Japan have joined in an alliance called JAROKUS and are on the way to build the new “Asian NATO.”

Ju-Hyun Park, the Nodutdol lead organizer for the U.S. Out of Korea campaign, stated “We are just weeks away from the U.S. conduction nuclear war exercises in Korea. These drills do not keep Koreans safe—in fact, they are pushing the Korean Peninsula towards open warfare. For more than 70 years the U.S. government has pursued a failed strategy of aggression against North Korea. Now, the U.S. is escalating its aggression to try to turn Korea into a battlefield for the New Cold War.”

Once the attendees understood the history of the region, Nodutdol organizers presented the campaign demands to an enthusiastic crowd. The demands, reprinted here are:

• US OUT OF KOREA: the full and permanent withdrawal of US troops and weapons systems from Korea. We demand all Korean land, water, and airspace appropriated for the US military be returned to the Korean people.
• END THE U.S.-SOUTH KOREA ALLIANCE: an end to ALL US-South Korea alliances, including the JAKUS trilateral security cooperation. We demand an end to ALL US-South Korea joint command structures—the Combined Forces Command, and the UN Command. 
• END ALL AGGRESSION AGAINST NORTH KOREA: We demand an end to ALL US military exercises in Korea. We demand ALL sanctions against North Korea be lifted.
• END THE WAR ECONOMY: We demand the US government divert spending from war, prisons, and policing. We demand housing, education, healthcare, and climate justice for working people.

The crowd clapped as each demand was listed.

Park continued, “As Koreans in the diaspora, we refuse to stand by as the U.S. foments war in our homeland. We believe standing up to U.S. imperialism in Korea is not just in our interests as Korean people, but in the interests of the majority of people in the U.S. as well. It’s time to work together to stop U.S. warmongering in Korea and around the world.”

Over 30 organizations have endorsed the campaign, including: Black Alliance for Peace, Codepink, Freedom Road Socialist Organization, and Bayan USA.

The next event will be a rally on August 18 to protest the U.S. and ROK war games.

 #NewYorkNY #NYC #DPRK #USOutOfKorea #BlackAllianceforPeace #BAP #Codepink #FRSO #BayanUSA #ROK #RepublicOfKorea #Korea #Nudutdol #JAROKUS #Japan #ThePeoplesForum

Corporate CEOs and state leaders, including President Joe Biden, planned to meet to discuss so called “free trade” deals designed to further enrich the world’s financial elite at the expense of oppressed nations and workers around the world. In response, the No 2 APEC Coalition called for a week of demonstrations to once again shut down the summit, just as it had been shut down in Chile in 2019.

Anti-imperialist, women’s, migrant, LGBTQ, student, youth, labor and other social justice groups answered the call under the banner of “People and Planet over Profit and Plunder.” The protest began at Embarcadero Plaza with a land acknowledgment. San Francisco sits on the ancestral and unceded land of the Ramaytush Ohlone peoples, from whom organizers had been given permission and support to host the anti-APEC demonstrations. There were cultural performances, including poetry and song, followed by speakers from different organizations.

A member of the International Women’s Alliance condemned APEC for proposing false economic solutions that only exacerbate the super-exploitation of women workers. An organizer with the Palestinian Youth Movement denounced the U.S. imperialist leaders participating in APEC for also profiting off the ongoing genocide and oppression of the Palestinian people. They affirmed the fearless and unwavering struggle of the Palestinian resistance, asserting that through international solidarity in the anti-imperialist movement, liberation for Palestine in our lifetimes is possible. An organizer with Nodutdol exposed APEC as a vehicle for the further militarization of the Asia-Pacific region, including the Korean peninsula, which contributes to the obstruction of the Korean movement for reunification and national liberation.

Protesters marched from the plaza down Market Street, shutting down one of the largest main streets in downtown San Francisco. Multilingual chants filled the air, including “From Palestine to the Philippines, shut down the U.S. war machine!” “Up, up with liberation, down, down with militarization!” and “We are unstoppable! Another world is possible!” The march was rerouted due to a heavy police and FBI presence, but protesters stayed strong and gathered at the end for a final rally.

Rhonda Ramiro, chair of BAYAN-USA, reminded the crowd what they had gathered to fight for: “We are fighting for a world where all workers have pay and workplace protections, where all working people have the right to unionize and organize, for collective and community control of the land, consistent and unconditional access to food, livable housing and shelter for all, for a stabilized climate, and protection of biodiversity and the natural world.”

Kobi Guillory, co-chair of the Chicago chapter of the National Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression, emphasized that all our movements are connected through the common enemy of U.S. imperialism, stating, “We are here protesting against APEC because imperialism always violates the right of self-determination of oppressed people.” He reminded the people that we have power in our numbers, and that through solidarity in our struggles, we will one day overthrow the entire global system of capitalist exploitation and oppression.

#SanFranciscoCA #CapitalismAndEconomy #APEC #ILPS #BAYANUSA #NAARPR

Dallas, TX – Since the most recent bombardment of Gaza by the U.S.-backed Israeli military began over a week ago, Filipino communities across Texas have stood up alongside Palestinians. Leaders want to underscore the connections between the two liberation movements. Filipino community members joined massive rallies over the weekend of October 14-15 in Dallas, Austin and Houston, carrying flags of the Philippines and signs expressing their solidarity with the people of Gaza. During the marches, people began chanting “From Palestine to the Philippines, stop the U.S. war machine!”

At the march in Dallas, Joe Mallari, a member of Malaya Movement Texas, declared, “The Filipino people in the Philippines and in diaspora stand in solidarity with Palestinians against colonialism and genocide.”

Reacting to the widely criticized city council resolution of “unequivocal support of Israel” passed earlier in the week, Sarah Jalandoon, a Malaya Texas coordinator, said, “I, as a mother, an organizer, community member, and a human rights defender, demand a ceasefire in Gaza, for the U.S. to stop all aid to Israel, and to pull all their military forces and settlers out of Palestine.”

Meanwhile at the Texas State Capitol in Austin, Kai Bautista, an organizer with Malaya was invited to speak at the rally for Gaza about the deep anti-colonial connections between the Philippines and Palestine, stating, “Anti-fascist Filipino Americans in our movement have stood up against killings, brutal displacement, false imprisonment, and torture of everyday people fighting for land and rights by the Philippine government. We will always stand by those working towards a liberated Palestine, which can only be achieved by solving the root cause of violence in the region: colonial occupation.”

In response to the ongoing siege and bombardment of Gaza, Andrea Belle, an organizer with Anakbayan Houston said, “We as Filipino organizers will continue to bring lessons of material decolonization to our communities. We will continue to resist the distorted narratives espoused by fascist supporters. We will stand alongside Palestinians in their struggle for freedom.”

Leading up to the protest in Houston, Filipino organizations and members of the broader community came out to support teach-ins and poster-making sessions throughout the week.

These shows of Filipino solidarity with Palestine follow the building of mutual support in Texas and across the U.S. There was a large Filipino presence at protests in support of Sheikh Jarrah in 2021 to workshops in 2020 highlighting the connections between Palestinian, Filipino, and Black American calls for justice and liberation.

A statement from Bayan USA, a national organization working towards liberation and democracy in the Philippines, said, “It is in our joint struggle with the Palestinian people for total victory over imperialism and its reactionary ideology of Zionism that we draw boundless inspiration, perseverance, and revolutionary optimism.”

#DallasTX #Palestine #Philippines #BAYANUSA

New York, NY – Over 60 people gathered on July 26, in Woodside, Queens for the People’s State of the Nation Address. This action is organized every year in response to the U.S.-backed Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte’s State of the Nation Address. The event is a protest of his government, which has committed human rights abuses and wages war the people. It was organized by the Malaya Movement, Sige, Kabataan Alliance, and BAYAN USA Northeast.

The action started at Woodside Plaza, where speakers addressed various topics about the Philippines, from migrant workers to women’s rights to the recent Anti-Terror Law, which has outlawed resistance to the Duterte government by expanding the definition of “terrorism.”

The crowd then marched to Little Manila, a predominantly Filipino section of Woodside. The rally continued there with more speeches from Filipino organizations and supporters, who talked about how different local and international issues connect to what is happening in the Philippines. A common theme amongst the speakers was how the U.S. and its puppet governments around the world suppress opposition to its oppressive rule.

Along with the organizations that sponsored the rally, there were speakers from Gabriela NJ, Migrante NY, New York Community Action Project, Anakbayan Manhattan, Anakbayan Queens, Association of Filipino Scientists in America, New York Boricua Resistance, Struggle-La Lucha, Within Our Lifetime-United for Palestine, and others.

A few of the speakers highlighted the recent passing of Fidel Agcaoili, chairperson of the National Democratic Front of the Philippines negotiating panel. The crowd honored his legacy by promising continued struggle in order to win against the Duterte government and U.S. imperialism. The crowd joined together for a few more chants before ending for the evening.

#NewYorkNY #Philippines #PeoplesStruggles #BAYANUSA #Asia

New York, NY – On May 28 members of BAYAN USA and the International League of People’s Struggle (ILPS) gathered in Midtown Manhattan for an action against the U.S-Philippines arms deal.

Earlier in the month, Mayor Bill De Blasio signed an order that made protesting illegal in New York City, so organizers had to be strategic about their plans and how to get the messaging out. What they did, was host two speeches, one at the Philippines Consulate and the other at the Army Recruiting Station in Times Square.

The first speech was given by Maria Bustamante of BAYAN, who spoke about the people of the Philippines under the duress of U.S. imperialism.

The second speech was given by Michela Martinazzi of the ILPS, who stated “We're here. We're strong. And we're angry. The pandemic may have driven us indoors, but we haven't stopped fighting. We stand with the people of Minneapolis taking back their communities. We stand with the people of the world fighting to tear down imperialism. We fight with you!”

This event was a method to raise awareness against arms sales and to encourage people to sign on to the call.

#NewYorkNY #AntiwarMovement #OppressedNationalities #Philippines #Asia #PeoplesStruggles #ILPS #BAYANUSA #USPhilippinesArmsDeal

Threats and Harassment by Government Forces Foreshadowed Shooting of Human Rights Defender Brandon Lee

BAYAN-USA condemns the shooting of Brandon Lee, Cordillera Human Rights Alliance’s paralegal volunteer and provincial human rights officer in Ifugao, on August 6 in Lagawe, Ifugao leaving him seriously injured. This attack is part of a spate of attacks on human rights defenders targeted by the U.S.-Duterte regime in its attempts to violently silence all opposition. It was Lee’s dedication to seeking justice for victims of human rights violations and for the rights of indigenous peoples, farmers and peasants that drew the attention of the fascistic government, specifically by the 54th IBPA who had already been surveilling, threatening and harassing him prior to this incident. This attack hits particularly close to home for BAYAN-USA, as Lee was a member of our alliance and several other community organizations in the U.S., serving as a volunteer staff member of the BAYAN-USA Northern California region before his commitment to his new family as well as serving the cause of justice and genuine peace drew him to relocate to the Philippines in 2010.

According to CHRA, this was not the beginning: “In 2015, the Cordillera Human Rights Alliance with other human rights organizations submitted a position paper to the United States Congress’ Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission in Washington, D.C. One of the cases cited was the death threats Brandon Lee received as a human rights worker in Ifugao. That year, Brandon and other IPM leaders and members were sent a photo of an Ifugao burial blanket with messages that they will face the same fate as human rights worker, William Bugatti who was extrajudicially killed in March 2014.”

We believe this is no coincidence and that elements of the State security forces or agents are responsible for Lee’s shooting. This heinous attack was committed under Duterte’s Executive Order 70, which institutionalizes a “whole of nation” approach within his counterinsurgency program Oplan Kapanatagan purportedly aimed to crush the “communist insurgency.” However, what the shooting of Lee exemplifies and fact finding missions by human rights organizations have found is a dramatic increase in violent attacks against legal organizations such as Karapatan, BAYAN, Cordillera Human Rights Alliance, among many others. Just recently there has been a spate of killings in Negros Oriental, reaching up to 48 extrajudicial victims recorded this year.

We call on all people who believe in human rights to join us in condemning this violent attack on Brandon Lee and all human rights defenders in the Philippines and hold the government accountable, specifically the State security forces that the Duterte administration has let loose in the Cordillera region – the 54th IBPA, the 5th Infantry Division of the Philippine Army and the Northern Luzon Command. These attacks on human rights defenders and legal organizations need to end. The real threat to Philippine peace and security is the President himself and the state forces in his command. They are the real perpetrators of the rampant violence, chaos and growing poverty in the country and if we allow his Presidency to continue it will only get worse.

#UnitedStates #InJusticeSystem #OppressedNationalities #Philippines #Asia #PeoplesStruggles #AsianNationalities #PoliticalRepression #Antifascism #BAYANUSA #BrandonLee #CordilleraHumanRightsAlliance