congress &mdash; Fight Back! News https://fightbacknews.org/tag:congress News and Views from the People's Struggle Sun, 28 Jun 2026 13:48:20 +0000 https://i.snap.as/RZCOEKyz.png congress &mdash; Fight Back! News https://fightbacknews.org/tag:congress FRSO to host webinar on recent 10th Congress https://fightbacknews.org/frso-to-host-webinar-on-recent-10th-congress?pk_campaign=rss-feed <![CDATA[ On Thursday, June 18, Freedom Road Socialist Organization will be hosting a webinar recapping its recent 10th Congress, which marked a genuine advance in our efforts to build a serious revolutionary communist organization in the United States. !--more-- “FRSO Congresses are the highest body of our organization,” explained FRSO Standing Committee member Chrisley Carpio, “It’s the place where we make a concrete analysis of concrete conditions and use that as a basis for our plans and tactics in the coming period.” Each FRSO Congress produces a Main Political Report, which contains sections on the U.S. Economy, the domestic political landscape, and the international situation. Those documents are available at frso.org/congress. Speakers will include Political Secretary Mick Kelly, Organizational Secretary Tom Burke, and Standing Committee members Syd Loving, Chrisley Carpio, and Masao Suzuki about the organization’s recent work, its extraordinary growth, and its tasks for the coming period. The webinar will take place on Thursday, June 18 at 5pm Pacific, 6pm Mountain, 7pm Central, and 8pm Eastern. Register here: https://www.tinyurl.com/frso626 #RevolutionaryTheory #FRSO #Congress #10thCongress #Feature div id="sharingbuttons.io"/div]]>

On Thursday, June 18, Freedom Road Socialist Organization will be hosting a webinar recapping its recent 10th Congress, which marked a genuine advance in our efforts to build a serious revolutionary communist organization in the United States.

“FRSO Congresses are the highest body of our organization,” explained FRSO Standing Committee member Chrisley Carpio, “It’s the place where we make a concrete analysis of concrete conditions and use that as a basis for our plans and tactics in the coming period.”

Each FRSO Congress produces a Main Political Report, which contains sections on the U.S. Economy, the domestic political landscape, and the international situation. Those documents are available at frso.org/congress.

Speakers will include Political Secretary Mick Kelly, Organizational Secretary Tom Burke, and Standing Committee members Syd Loving, Chrisley Carpio, and Masao Suzuki about the organization’s recent work, its extraordinary growth, and its tasks for the coming period.

The webinar will take place on Thursday, June 18 at 5pm Pacific, 6pm Mountain, 7pm Central, and 8pm Eastern.

Register here: https://www.tinyurl.com/frso626

#RevolutionaryTheory #FRSO #Congress #10thCongress #Feature

]]> https://fightbacknews.org/frso-to-host-webinar-on-recent-10th-congress Wed, 17 Jun 2026 20:36:30 +0000 Greetings from Communist and Workers Parties to the 10th Congress of the FRSO https://fightbacknews.org/greetings-from-communist-and-workers-parties-to-the-10th-congress-of-the-frso?pk_campaign=rss-feed <![CDATA[ Fight Back News Service is circulating the following greetings from communist and workers parties to the 10th Congress of the Freedom Road Socialist Organization. Workers Party of Belgium (PTB) Your Congress convenes at a critical juncture in the development of the people’s struggle and the accelerating decline of U.S. Imperialism. The U.S. war machine has become ever more aggressive under the second Trump administration, yet this aggression signals not strength, but desperation as it faces rising competition and intensifying resistance at home and abroad. !--more-- Notably, the U.S.-Israeli genocide on Palestine failed to exterminate the Palestinian people, and their military forces did not succeed in defeating Iran. Meanwhile, the American people have demonstrated the power of organized struggle against monopoly capitalism. From the resistance against mass deportations and ICE violence to demonstrations in solidarity with Palestine and opposition to the war on Iran, the movement is growing. The mobilization of a record eight million people in the streets during the recent “No King’s Day” protest illustrates how these protests are expanding among the broad public, proving that the system is losing its grip. We recognize the role FRSO has played in these battles. Your leadership in the fight against mass deportations, your solidarity with Palestine, and your active participation in the trade union, African American, and Chicano liberation movements represent vital organizing work within the broader coalition of the oppressed. As you gather during a period of significant organizational growth—attested by the recent purchase of a national office to house your operations—we wish your delegates productive deliberations. May your congress strengthen the united forces necessary to take on monopoly capitalism and advance on the road to socialism. Solidarity, Bert De Belder Department of International Relations PVDA-PTB Mouvement National Congolais – Lumumba (MNC/L) Dear Comrades Delegates to the 10th Congress of the FRSO, On behalf of the C.P.C. of the MNC/Lumumba and on behalf of all the Lumumbist sympathizers of our country, allow us to present to you our warm greetings and our best wishes of solidarity on the occasion of the Tenth Congress of your organization. Through your socialist organization, we cordially greet all the workers of the United States of America. We salute the American people and express support and solidarity to them as they confront the crisis of a panicked imperialist system in their struggle against the austerity measures of the American administration. We also take the opportunity of the FRSO’s 10th Congress to present the situation of our country, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), as well as that of our organization, the MNC/Lumumba. This Congress is being held at a very important moment in the international situation and our struggle. Yes (!) at a very important time. The unipolar world, dominated by the United States of America and its NATO allies, is giving way to the multipolar world, which we all support around the world. Despite this, US imperialism, the Zionists, and their European vassals refuse this change. They are stoking wars in the Caribbean, Africa, Ukraine, and the Middle East in the hope of delaying this shift in the balance of power. Our country, the D.R.C., is facing a vast conspiracy by imperialism and the Zionists. Since the coup d’état that interrupted the national liberation process on September 14, 1960, and throughout the various regimes that took power, nothing has led to any change of quality in favor of the Congolese people. The so-called “free” elections and the alternating multiparty system have not brought peace to the Democratic Republic of Congo, nor to the rest of Africa. All those who speak of peace, life and freedom cannot, of course, remain indifferent to the negative process that is taking place in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, including in the African Great Lakes region, the AES area, the Caribbean, Ukraine and the Middle East. Against the fundamental interests of the African peoples, our continent is being transformed before our eyes into a battlefield between the Western imperial powers and the forces of national liberation. The ruling circles of the Western imperialist powers, especially the United States of America and the European Union, are stirring up distrust and animosity among the African populations, using: ethnic and religious divisions; inequality of social, economic and cultural development; and national peculiarities, among others. The African continent, which experienced the slave trade and colonization, still lives today under a neo-colonial system of imperialism, and remains an arena of fratricidal conflicts that take hundreds of thousands of human lives and cause immense material damage. Dear Comrade Delegates, Any oppressive power, wherever it comes from, from outside or within, cannot reign without a powerful network of collaborators among the population. Similarly, the demise of a tyrannical regime can only be ensured by the political death of all its leaders and key collaborators. In Congo, our country, from the overthrow of Lumumba’s Congolese Central Government to the present day, the general tendency in the democratic movement has been and is towards conciliation with the leaders and enforcers of the neo-colonialist regimes. If this tendency is not overthrown, the Congo will never experience a radical change in quality, because it will be the collaborators of the prior oppressive regimes who will be at the head of the Congo. The attitude to be taken towards the Congolese oligarchs by the MNC/Lumumba is very clear. We have always spoken since October 1958 on behalf of the majority of Congolese. It is our principled position that distinguishes us from those who fish in troubled waters \[opportunists\]. It’s clear that the fifth column is not disarming. It becoming active and intensifying the confusion. Their objective is to maintain themselves by trying to be seen as saviors. The dispersion of the Congolese oligarchs between the sacred union of the presidential majority, the legal opposition, and the AFC/M23 “rebellion” does not affect the system in any way. The Congolese National Movement/Lumumba is reorganizing itself on a new basis with a very clear political program on the political, ideological, economic, social, cultural and military levels to mobilize and organize the Congolese popular masses in the struggle against the Congolese imperialists and oligarchs. Infact, the CPC of the MNC/Lumumba takes this opportunity to launch an appeal for the solidarity of Friendly organizations in order to support us morally, materially and diplomatically in the accomplishment of our weighty mission. Long live the FRSO! Long live the 10th Congress! Oppressed people of the world, unite! The MNC/Lumumba: UNITY – STRUGGLE – INDEPENDENCE! Homeland or Death! Marxist-Leninist Party of Germany (MLPD) Dear Comrades of the Freedom Road Socialist Organization, USA! The Central Committee of the Marxist-Leninist Party of Germany (MLPD) extends warm and revolutionary greetings to your 10th Congress, and wishes the Congress great success. Your Congress is taking place at a time when organized, active mass resistance against the fascist course of the Trump administration is growing steadily. This is becoming a serious obstacle to Trump’s plans for a fascist restructuring of the U.S. state. The development of resistance in the USA, especially the connection between the working class in the factories and the active mass resistance in residential areas, is a great source of encouragement for people worldwide who are confronted with a growing fascist trend. Imperialism is incapable of solving even a single one of humanity’s problems. It can only bring fascism, war and environmental destruction. Revolutionaries have a great responsibility to utilize the potential of this development to strengthen the anti-fascist united front, to propagate the necessity of revolutionary change and a socialist future, and to build revolutionary parties with strong roots in the working class. As a member of the International Coordination of Revolutionary Parties and Organizations (ICOR) and the International Anti-Imperialist United Front against Fascism, War and Environmental Destruction, we are committed to worldwide unification in this spirit. We can learn a great deal from one another among the revolutionary and anti-imperialist forces around the world. We know that you play a very active role in the struggles in the USA, and we have often reported on this in our media. Your struggle requires determination and courage. We are very happy to hear that you are strengthening your ranks in this process. The establishment of a house for your national office will certainly enrich your work. The MLPD assesses that we are experiencing a worldwide pre-revolutionary ferment, which does not yet constitute a revolutionary situation, but the development is clearly moving in that direction. This also requires a higher quality of international cooperation and proletarian internationalism. In the past, our organizations have often conducted mutual visits and discussions in friendship and solidarity, which we gladly remember. We look forward to closer practical cooperation in the future in the struggle against fascism and war, and to further discussion of the ideological and political questions that arise today, such as the role—according to our analysis—of neo-imperialist countries like Iran. Please keep us informed about the results of your important Congress and further developments in the USA. In this spirit, we wish your Congress great success! Long live socialism! Gabi Fechtner Chairwoman of the Marxist-Leninist Party of Germany Communist Construction (Kommunistischer Aufbau) Dear Comrades, We send our warmest greetings to your 10th Congress and all its delegates. From our own history, we know the special significance a congress holds for a Marxist-Leninist organization. Especially in these dynamic times of class struggle and as our organization continues to grow, the congress serves as a vital means of strengthening and unifying the organization. As a relatively new organization, we are eagerly following your development and look forward to learning more about you—about your role in the protest movements against U.S. imperialism, its wars, and its reactionary policies both abroad and at home. In the coming period, as Marxist-Leninists, we want and must urgently increase and expand contact and exchange between revolutionary and communist organizations. Let us learn from one another and wage a common struggle, across all national borders, together against imperialism, its wars, and the exploitation and oppression of the working class worldwide. Once again, we wish your organization and all delegates a successful convention, productive discussions, and groundbreaking resolutions to address the challenges ahead. Revolutionary and red greetings Kommunistischer Aufbau / Communist Construction CARC Party Greeting to the FRSO 10th Congress When the workers of the capitalist countries have gained confidence in their own strength and the awareness that they are capable of getting along without the bourgeoisie—and not only of demolishing the old, but also of building the new (socialism)—this will mark the beginning of the end of capitalism and the surest sign of the victory of the proletarian revolution (I. Stalin, Political Report of the Central Committee – December 18, 1925) Dear comrades, the CARC Party wishes your 10th Congress every success; we are following it with the utmost attention. The imperialists of your country are the first, along with the Zionists, to drag the world into world war. It is not only and not so much your task to oppose the imperialist bourgeoisie of your country and prevent it from devastating the world with its infamous attacks, but above all, you are offered the opportunity to overthrow it. On the eve of World War I, Lenin predicted that either the socialist revolution would prevent the war or the communists would turn the war into a revolution. This is what happened in the countries where the working class, led by its Communist Party, succeeded in winning, building the first socialist countries, foremost among them the Soviet Union and the People’s Republic of China. But it has not yet succeeded in doing so in any imperialist country; that is why we are once again embroiled in a world war. Today, for communists, the situation is such that either we bring about a decisive leap forward in the socialist revolution in the imperialist countries—the conflagration that will liberate the world from the imperialist system and thereby halt the spread of World War III—or the destructive spiral into which the rule of the imperialist bourgeoisie is dragging the masses of most of the world will continue to worsen. You confirm to us that times are changing. Your Secretary writes in the preface to the book on The Revolutionary Science of Marxism-Leninism by J. Sykes that we are at a turning point, that a new communist movement is rising in the U.S. and a mobilization of the masses is taking place the likes of which have not been seen since the 1960s and 1970s. We have seen, after those years, the communist movement retreat, up to the fall of the Soviet Union, and the beginning of the period of dark reaction that that fall would generate, as Stalin foresaw. Now that period is coming to an end and the resurgence is beginning—a leap into the new wave of the proletarian revolution. The qualitative leap of the new wave of the proletarian revolution and the rebirth of the communist movement is the conquest of power in one or more imperialist countries, foremost among them the U.S., which acts as the world’s policeman, and Italy, where the Vatican is headquartered. It is up to the communist movement in the U.S. to eliminate imperialism in their country, just as it is up to the communist movement in Italy to eliminate the Vatican, but the elimination of both concerns the entire world communist movement. Our main commitment lies in advancing the socialist revolution in Italy, but at the same time we are paying increasing attention to the communist movement in the U.S., of which you are a part. The commitment, in this case, is to forge ties in three areas. One area is the development of mutual understanding and joint action. The retreat of the communist movement has led to a weakening of relations among the various organizations that compose it at the international level, to the extent that communists in one country know very little about the conscious and organized communist movement in other parts of the world, and joint action remains at an embryonic stage or is confined to one or another of the international coordinating bodies that do not communicate with one another. Overcoming this limitation is an aspect of the ongoing rebirth of the communist movement. A second area is mutual solidarity against repression. The imperialist bourgeoisie, in this terminal phase of the economic, political, social, and cultural crisis, is displaying all its ferocity, and repression is a weapon it resorts to with increasing frequency and intensity. The CARC Party is a component of the Caravan of the (New) Italian Communist Party, the collective of organizations and individuals following the (New) Italian Communist Party toward the goal of making Italy a new socialist country, and this Caravan has always faced repression, since its founding more than forty years ago—the same period when the FRSO was founded. It faces it today as well, with the repressive action against the CARC Party on April 21, searches, seizures of materials based on a charge that is the same one with which the fascist regime imprisoned Antonio Gramsci and led him to his death, and with fines of thousands of euros for demonstrations against fascists and Zionists. We would like to thank FRSO here, which was among the first communist organizations—among many—to express their solidarity with us at the international and national levels. Mutual cooperation in confronting repression is open. A third arena is frank and open debate. The course of the revolutionary process in the U.S. differs from that in Italy in many specific ways, but the two processes also share universal, common aspects regarding which debate is essential. Above all, we share the fact that FRSO and P.CARC operate in imperialist countries—countries where the socialist revolution has not yet triumphed, where the ground is therefore new and unexplored. For this reason, exchange is essential—sharing what we discover, discussing the assessment of the communist movement, the analysis of the ongoing crisis, the regimes the bourgeoisie adopts in imperialist countries, and the strategy for seizing power. Therefore, we have begun studying your theoretical works, and we will present you with a summary of ours. Among the various themes, the first is that of party building. In Italy, we have succeeded in this endeavor with the founding of the (new) Italian Communist Party—a party established clandestinely, just as Lenin and Stalin’s Bolshevik Party taught a communist party must be in order to operate continuously toward the conquest of power and carry out its activities of recruitment, planning, training, guidance, organization, propaganda, mobilization, and leadership despite all the efforts the bourgeoisie makes to obstruct it, isolate it from the masses, and destroy it. The best wish we can offer your Congress is that it be a decisive step in the establishment of a new communist party in the U.S. The time is ripe for this to happen, and when it does, it will be an indelible sign of the rebirth of the communist movement worldwide. Long live the rebirth of the international communist movement! Long live the mobilization of the masses in the United States of America! Long live the Freedom Road Socialist Organization! CARC Party International Working Group Revolusi Indonesia Statement of Solidarity At the 10th Congress Freedom Road Socialist Organization The power of the 1% of the big American international monopoly bourgeoisie is not only responsible for the crisis and suffering of the working class in the United States. Since replacing Britain as the world’s largest imperialist state and power, the most powerful reactionary class in the United States has been responsible for the crisis and suffering of billions of oppressed and exploited people in various countries maintained as its colonies and semi-colonies. The people of the United States face one of the most difficult periods in the history of their class struggle. The drastic decline of U.S. dominance in industry, agriculture, and foreign trade has given rise to various forms of oppression against the working class within the United States as well as against the peoples of colonies and semi-colonies, and even weaker capitalist nations. Competition among financial oligarchies has become far more intense and fierce. The move by many nations to restrict the use of the Dollar to avoid the burden of the crisis has accelerated this decline. The struggle for energy and natural resources is becoming increasingly difficult for the United States to win through conventional politics. The economic decline has had a significant impact on the decline of the liberal democratic system that has long been revered and promoted throughout the country. Currently, in the eyes of people from various nations, the United States is nearly on par with non-industrialized nations in terms of protecting the basic rights of its people. President Donald J. Trump’s use of police actions backed by the military to enforce federal government policies and programs—including immigration policies and anti-LGBT policies—has drawn opposition not only from the oppressed and exploited people of America but from the entire world. Although fascism is recognized as the most reactionary offspring of the capitalist system, people in many countries are still shocked to witness the blatant suppression of freedom of speech on college campuses during the campaign against Israeli Zionist aggression against Gaza-Palestine. Also, whether they believe it or not, they witness the brutality of the Federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in every operation. Alongside the intensive anti-war campaign by the FRSO and other revolutionary movements, it is clear that the war of aggression against Venezuela, the war of aggression against Iran, the unlimited support for Zionist Israel in the war of aggression in Gaza-Palestine, the interventionist war in Nigeria and several African nations, and the U.S.-NATO proxy war through Ukraine against Russia are merely a reflection of America’s frustration in maintaining its dominance. Even the re-election of Donald J. Trump as President of the United States is proof in itself that the crisis is extremely acute and requires a war-mongering president to resolve it! The 10th FRSO Congress holds special subjective significance amidst highly favorable objective national and international conditions for the growth and development of the revolutionary movement in both imperialist and semi-colonial countries. The subjective state of the FRSO is shaped by the objective reality of oppression and exploitation by the 1% reactionary class in the United States, in Latin America, and throughout the world. In addition to its intense class struggle in the United States, the FRSO has demonstrated proletarian international solidarity with national and class struggles in various semi-colonial and weaker capitalist countries, grounded in the powerful teachings of Marxism-Leninism. The FRSO takes Karl Marx’s thesis as its guiding principle: that “a country cannot be free while simultaneously oppressing another country,” and that “Labor in white skin cannot emancipate itself where the black skin is branded.” The American people, just like the people in other countries, have long demanded the birth of a Proletarian Party that is truly conscious of its historical role in leading the class struggle through violence. Especially in a crisis situation like the present. The resolutions of the 10th FRSO Congress, therefore, are eagerly awaited not only by the working class and the oppressed and exploited people of the United States—who need a proletarian socialist revolution—but also by national and class struggles in semi-colonial and semi-feudal countries like Indonesia. Victory to the American Proletarian Socialist Revolution! Long live the FRSO! Oppressed and Exploited People of the World, Unite! Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) Revolutionary greetings, comrades! The Communist Party of the Philippines extends a militant salute to our comrades in the Freedom Road Socialist Organization on the occasion of your 10th Congress. Your gathering represents a significant victory for the working class and all other exploited and oppressed peoples here within the belly of the imperialist beast. It comes at no better a critical time, as contradictions within the United States and around the world are intensifying at an unprecedented rate. Everywhere around us, the assault of imperialist US continues to squeeze people dry and exploit people to death. In the United States, imperialism’s assault on the working class has deepened hunger, poverty, and misery among the masses. Capitalists have increasingly made contractual work the norm, stripping workers of regular jobs and benefits, and making conditions harder for collective organizing and action. Trump has continued cracking down on trade unions on the one hand, while on the other co-opting union leadership into a labor aristocracy subservient to the bourgeoisie interests, especially through the illusion of his “America First” policy that promises to bring back industry and jobs to the country. Meanwhile, the Trump administration has slashed budgets for basic social services, especially healthcare, while providing no relief for people beset with the high inflation crisis spurred by his own tariff policies and the imperialist war on Iran. Under particular threat is the huge reserve army of migrant labor that U.S. imperialism has consciously amassed. ICE, corporate-run detention centers, big tech companies, and others agents have formed an unholy partnership that simultaneously tears families apart, scapegoats migrants for the problems created by the capitalist class, and extracts super profits from their suffering. Meanwhile, violent state repression toward African Americans, Chicanos, and other oppressed nationalities continues unabated, as does the state’s desperate attempt to dampen the flames of the pro-Palestine solidarity movement. This domestic turmoil is unfolding in the context of heightened U.S. military aggression and intensifying increasingly aggressive U.S. imperialist intervention abroad, including in Venezuela, Cuba, Iran, Palestine, and the Philippines. But rather than signaling that the U.S. imperialists may appear to be strong and powerful, in fact, these are all signs of its desperate attempt to maintain power and global hegemony amid strategic decline. The military aggression against Venezuela and Iran and threats against other sovereign nations, show signs of the imperialist beast backed into a corner, clawing and claiming larger territories lashing out in order to survive. The work FRSO has done to unmask and fight back against this beast—especially in the midst of extreme economic and political crisis—serves as an inspiration to us all. We have witnessed your determination in building a militant labor movement driven by mass struggles on the shop floor. We have learned from how you stand up to political repression—whether from the police, FBI, or ICE—and inspire the masses to stand with you and organize for their collective rights. We have stood alongside each other in re-enlivening an anti-war movement with a clear position on opposing imperialist wars while supporting people’s wars for national liberation in their own countries. Your bravery in the face of the capitalists — whether in the workplace, in the halls of government, or in the dens of the war hawks — has won you concrete gains and victories for working and oppressed people around the country. We are overjoyed to hear that FRSO has experienced extraordinary growth in the course of these struggles, recognizing the crucial task you are carrying out in equipping these broad movements with the weapon of Marxism-Leninism to strike at the heart of the enemy. At the same time, we are humbled and deeply appreciative of your dedication to proletarian internationalism, as demonstrated by your unrelenting solidarity with national liberation movements, including the People’s Democratic Revolution being waged in the Philippines under the leadership of the CPP. Your support is needed more now than ever. As a semi-colonial and semi-feudal country dominated by the joint class dictatorship of the big comprador bourgeoisie, and big landlord class and bureaucrat capitalists—all under the direction of U.S. imperialism—the Filipino people feel acutely the worsening contradictions of the current order. The deadly hunger already experienced by the toiling masses has been exacerbated by the sharp economic crash deterioration following the U.S.’ war on Iran, coupled with the refusal of the reactionary Philippine state to heed the people’s demands to repeal burdensome taxes and other anti-people and anti-poor policies and measures, that would mean lowering their profit margin or angering their U.S. corporate patrons. The self-serving nature of those in power was thoroughly unmasked in massive corruption scandals made public last year, as well as in the current political circus between the Marcos and Duterte dynasties playing out ahead of the 2028 Philippine presidential elections. Beyond acting in their own interests, however, the reactionary classes of Philippine society are wholly subservient to their imperialist masters. With dizzying speed, the entire country is being made into the U.S.’ forward base in its campaign to encircle and contain China and assert dominance in the Asia-Pacific region. More de facto and secret U.S. military bases are being built across the country, which house both U.S. weapons and troops under the guise of “rotational” presence. Just this month, the U.S. military “assisted” by Philippine militaries — the Armed Forces of the Philippines — fired a Tomahawk missile from a civilian airport into a civilian community more than 600 kilometers away, endangering the lives of hundreds of thousands of Filipinos who were in the path of the low-flying missile, in a clear act of war provocation against China. The firing was part of the Balikatan war games—just one of over 500 joint military exercises set to happen this year that all aim to project power and heighten tensions with China. Even the Philippine economy is being transformed to serve the U.S.’ war economy, with the push to establish a US-controlled “economic security zone,” along with plans of building an ammunition factory, refueling hub for warships, and other infrastructure already under way. The biggest obstacle to the complete transformation of the Philippines into a launching pad for U.S. imperialist war is the Filipino people’s democratic revolution being waged through protracted people’s war. For 57 years, the Communist Party of the Philippines has led this struggle for national and social liberation, and has spread the fire of revolution across the archipelago. It has thwarted every attempt of every reactionary U.S.-backed regime to destroy it, making a fool of presidents and generals who promise every year to end it by some arbitrary deadline. Still, the state’s fascist terror unleashed against revolutionary forces and the broad masses of people struggling for change is very much a reality, especially in the Philippine countryside. Last month, the Filipino people suffered a loss that continues to weigh heavily on us all. On April 19, the butchers of the Philippine military committed a massacre—a war crime—by indiscriminately firing upon communities in Toboso, Negros Occidental. Nineteen people were martyred that day: ten Red fighters of the New People’s Army and nine civilians, including people local to the area as well as a student leader, journalists, peasant organizers, and community researchers who went to Negros to learn from among the peasant masses. Among them were Lyle Prijoles and Kai Sorem, two Filipino-American activists who were leaders in the Filipino community in the US, leaders who chose to sacrifice their comforts living in the U.S. to serve the toiling masses back home. The enemy would like to portray this massacre as a strategic victory against communism. It is the opposite. In a statement following the Toboso massacre, the New People’s Army-Northern Negros under the Roselyn Jean Pelle Command reminds us that the very reason the U.S.-Marcos regime targeted and continues to target Negros is because of the strength of the revolution there. They state that in 2025 alone, “Party membership grew 30 percent” and “new branches were formed in broad areas.” Further, “membership in secret mass organizations grew nearly 50 percent, while the number of individuals reached by the revolution tripled. The NPA in Northern Negros also doubled the range of its area of operations and launched at least 19 guerrilla offensive and counter-offensive actions. It conducted these operations up to towns near the provincial capital and populated areas.” What is happening in Negros shows us that the U.S.-Marcos regime is fighting a losing battle, because, as our founding chairperson Jose Maria Sison declared in his last statement before passing, “the Filipino people’s democratic revolution is invincible.” As long as the toiling masses’ aspirations for land, for sovereignty, and for a future crafted by our own hands continue to exist, so will the people’s revolution. The martyrdom of the Negros 19 has only fueled and fanned the flames of struggle across the country, and among the Filipino diaspora and our allies overseas. In their wake, thousands more will raise high the red flag of people’s war. Comrades, the enemy is frightened because of the success of our people’s movements the world over, from the U.S., to Palestine, to Iran, to the Philippines. Each victory in one of our countries represents a victory for all. And with our weapon of proletarian internationalism wielded by the broad anti-imperialist united front, we know that no tactical setback can prevent the inevitability of peoples’ victories against the yoke of imperialism, fascism, and all reaction. On the occasion of your 10th Congress and beyond, we look forward to continuing to learn and struggle alongside each other, to fight for more victories for the people, and to march side- by- side with one another in the pursuit for freedom, justice, a bright socialist tomorrow, and even brighter communist future. Mabuhay ang Freedom Road Socialist Organization! Long live Freedom Road Socialist Organization! Long live proletarian internationalism! Long live the toiling masses struggling for liberation! Communist Party, Sweden To the upcoming congress of Freedom Road Socialist Organisation We from Communist Party, Sweden, wish you all success with your political and organisational work regarding your congress. We are well aware of your enormous tasks you have working in the belly of the of the most aggressive and reactionary state we have seen since nazism. Sweden today is both an imperialist country as well as a tool under European Union as well under American Imperialism. Some days ago our party organised thousands of demostraters against Nato-summit in Helsingborg. At May Day we had meetings and rallies at 27 places in Sweden and we raised 20 thousand dollars to solarpanels at a hospital in western Cuba. All in collaboration with Cuba Embassy in Sweden. Down with US imperialism! Down with Nato! Long live proletarian internationalism! Povel Johansson Partychairman Erik Anderson Internationally Secretary United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV) Estimada compañera: I write to you to extend a fraternal and revolutionary greeting on behalf of the workers of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela — men and women alike — the land of Simón Bolívar and Hugo Chávez, where the working class continues to resist and produce despite the criminal blockade. I take this opportunity to warmly congratulate you on the celebration of your 10th National Congress, an event that, without a doubt, reaffirms the vitality of Marxism-Leninism at the heart of the empire. On behalf of our working class and the United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV), I recognize the consistent leadership that the FRSO has exercised over the years. We know that you maintain a real and combative presence in the U.S. labor movement, in the liberation struggle of African American communities, and in internationalist solidarity beyond the borders of the United States. We want to express our most sincere gratitude for the constant support you have always given to the Venezuelan people and to the Bolivarian revolution. And very especially, we thank you for your militant solidarity with our brother Nicolás Maduro Moros, Constitutional President of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela and working-class leader who guides the emancipatory process of our people. Comrade Nicolás Maduro Moros today remains a prisoner of war in a federal jail in New York City, since he was vilely kidnapped on January 3, 2026, in Venezuelan territory. That the FRSO has raised its voice for him fills us with pride and hope. Finally, I emphasize a deep conviction of the Venezuelan working class: the people of Venezuela recognize themselves as friends of the U.S. people, whose gallantry has inspired us ever since May 1, 1886. We do not confuse the working people with the rapacious governments, from which you also suffer as victims. Our hand is extended to the workers, to the dispossessed, to African Americans, to Indigenous peoples, and to all those who, like the FRSO, fight for a world without exploiters. Confident that your 10th National Congress will be a victorious trench, we reiterate our proletarian embrace and our willingness to continue building internationalist solidarity. ¡Venceremos! Sincerely, Francisco A. Torrealba Vice President of the Working Class United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV) Workers World Party Workers World Party sends our warmest greetings and our deep solidarity to the Freedom Road Socialist Organization’s 10th Congress, which is taking place in the developing stage of a severe crisis in the class struggle. This crisis manifests in the decline in U.S. imperialism’s ability to dominate the world through the dollar and the Pentagon. It is exacerbated by the racist, misogynist, anti-foreign and utterly corrupt MAGA administration’s attempts to reverse the decline by undisguised military aggression abroad and increased exploitation at home. Those of us who agree that a Marxist-Leninist party that organizes of and for the working class and all oppressed peoples is necessary, wish the 10th Congress of FRSO success in building an organization that can be much stronger than the sum of its individuals in order to obstruct the war plans of the imperialist ruling class, as well as their designs to squeeze more profits out of working people in the U.S. and worldwide. We salute the steady working class organizing that Freedom Road Socialist Organization has continued during this tumultuous period, while maintaining a firm anti imperialist and internationalist view. Freedom Road Socialist Organization has distinguished itself in the past year, especially regarding two important areas of struggle in which Workers World Party has also participated. One is the fight to stop ICE thugs from persecuting the large migrant working-class community. Your work all over the country and especially in Los Angeles, Chicago, in Florida and in Minneapolis (the epicenter of the struggle in January) has been vitally important. Another has been the ongoing struggle against imperialist war. Our organizations have often been together at rallies and marches in an attempt to create a revolutionary pole for the millions of people who oppose U.S. wars. Whether against Palestine, Lebanon, or Iran in West Asia, against Venezuela or now Cuba in Latin America, whether against NATO in Europe, it has been important that organizations who agree that “the enemy of humanity is at home” should work together to succeed. Unless anger and frustration in today’s worsening conditions is consciously focused on U.S. imperialism’s crimes, it always goes toward attacking the shortcomings of our own movements. That only leads to demoralization, infighting, and empty polemical debates. Our joint collaboration on many issues can hopefully create a new approach to the struggle in the U.S. Rather than competing, contending political formations, far more can be gained by learning from each other and building a unity of action with other emerging forces. US imperialism, in this stage of decay, is highly unstable, racked by unwinnable wars and prone to reckless and unpredictable repression. We know that having each other’s back is the best insurance. An injury to one is an injury to all is the oldest lesson in the class struggle. Long live the solidarity of FRSO and WWP! Down with U.S. imperialism! Struggle for Socialism Party / Struggle – La Lucha Dear Comrade Mick Kelly and Delegates of the 10th Congress, On behalf of the Struggle for Socialism Party and our publication Struggle-La Lucha, we extend our warmest and fraternal greetings to each delegate, member, and leader of the Freedom Road Socialist Organization as you convene your 10th Congress. We have followed with admiration and solidarity your organization’s principled and militant work in the recent period. Your role in the struggle against mass deportations stands as a vital defense of immigrant and working-class communities under attack. Likewise, your consistent and courageous mobilization for Palestine and against the U.S. war drive on Iran reflects the highest internationalist traditions of our movement, challenging imperialism at its core. Your active engagement in the trade union, African American liberation, and Chicano liberation movements further demonstrates your commitment to building a united, multinational, anti-capitalist front capable of winning real power for the oppressed. That your 10th Congress arrives at a moment of extraordinary growth — which includes securing a national office — is a testament to your perseverance and rootedness in struggle. This material and organizational progress strengthens the foundation for advancing revolutionary work. We send these greetings in the spirit of working class internationalism and genuine revolutionary solidarity. May your Congress strengthen your unity, and prepare your membership for the intensified class battles ahead. With respect and revolutionary fervor, Fraternally, Sharon Black and John Parker, Coordinators, Struggle for Socialism Party and Struggle-La Lucha #RevolutionaryTheory #FRSO #International #10thCongress #Congress div id="sharingbuttons.io"/div]]>

Fight Back News Service is circulating the following greetings from communist and workers parties to the 10th Congress of the Freedom Road Socialist Organization.

Workers Party of Belgium (PTB)

Your Congress convenes at a critical juncture in the development of the people’s struggle and the accelerating decline of U.S. Imperialism. The U.S. war machine has become ever more aggressive under the second Trump administration, yet this aggression signals not strength, but desperation as it faces rising competition and intensifying resistance at home and abroad.

Notably, the U.S.-Israeli genocide on Palestine failed to exterminate the Palestinian people, and their military forces did not succeed in defeating Iran.

Meanwhile, the American people have demonstrated the power of organized struggle against monopoly capitalism. From the resistance against mass deportations and ICE violence to demonstrations in solidarity with Palestine and opposition to the war on Iran, the movement is growing. The mobilization of a record eight million people in the streets during the recent “No King’s Day” protest illustrates how these protests are expanding among the broad public, proving that the system is losing its grip.

We recognize the role FRSO has played in these battles. Your leadership in the fight against mass deportations, your solidarity with Palestine, and your active participation in the trade union, African American, and Chicano liberation movements represent vital organizing work within the broader coalition of the oppressed.

As you gather during a period of significant organizational growth—attested by the recent purchase of a national office to house your operations—we wish your delegates productive deliberations. May your congress strengthen the united forces necessary to take on monopoly capitalism and advance on the road to socialism.

Solidarity,

Bert De Belder

Department of International Relations

PVDA-PTB

Mouvement National Congolais – Lumumba (MNC/L)

Dear Comrades Delegates to the 10th Congress of the FRSO,

On behalf of the C.P.C. of the MNC/Lumumba and on behalf of all the Lumumbist sympathizers of our country, allow us to present to you our warm greetings and our best wishes of solidarity on the occasion of the Tenth Congress of your organization.

Through your socialist organization, we cordially greet all the workers of the United States of America. We salute the American people and express support and solidarity to them as they confront the crisis of a panicked imperialist system in their struggle against the austerity measures of the American administration.

We also take the opportunity of the FRSO’s 10th Congress to present the situation of our country, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), as well as that of our organization, the MNC/Lumumba.

This Congress is being held at a very important moment in the international situation and our struggle. Yes (!) at a very important time.

The unipolar world, dominated by the United States of America and its NATO allies, is giving way to the multipolar world, which we all support around the world. Despite this, US imperialism, the Zionists, and their European vassals refuse this change. They are stoking wars in the Caribbean, Africa, Ukraine, and the Middle East in the hope of delaying this shift in the balance of power. Our country, the D.R.C., is facing a vast conspiracy by imperialism and the Zionists.

Since the coup d’état that interrupted the national liberation process on September 14, 1960, and throughout the various regimes that took power, nothing has led to any change of quality in favor of the Congolese people. The so-called “free” elections and the alternating multiparty system have not brought peace to the Democratic Republic of Congo, nor to the rest of Africa. All those who speak of peace, life and freedom cannot, of course, remain indifferent to the negative process that is taking place in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, including in the African Great Lakes region, the AES area, the Caribbean, Ukraine and the Middle East.

Against the fundamental interests of the African peoples, our continent is being transformed before our eyes into a battlefield between the Western imperial powers and the forces of national liberation.

The ruling circles of the Western imperialist powers, especially the United States of America and the European Union, are stirring up distrust and animosity among the African populations, using: ethnic and religious divisions; inequality of social, economic and cultural development; and national peculiarities, among others.

The African continent, which experienced the slave trade and colonization, still lives today under a neo-colonial system of imperialism, and remains an arena of fratricidal conflicts that take hundreds of thousands of human lives and cause immense material damage.

Dear Comrade Delegates,

Any oppressive power, wherever it comes from, from outside or within, cannot reign without a powerful network of collaborators among the population. Similarly, the demise of a tyrannical regime can only be ensured by the political death of all its leaders and key collaborators.

In Congo, our country, from the overthrow of Lumumba’s Congolese Central Government to the present day, the general tendency in the democratic movement has been and is towards conciliation with the leaders and enforcers of the neo-colonialist regimes. If this tendency is not overthrown, the Congo will never experience a radical change in quality, because it will be the collaborators of the prior oppressive regimes who will be at the head of the Congo.

The attitude to be taken towards the Congolese oligarchs by the MNC/Lumumba is very clear. We have always spoken since October 1958 on behalf of the majority of Congolese. It is our principled position that distinguishes us from those who fish in troubled waters [opportunists]. It’s clear that the fifth column is not disarming. It becoming active and intensifying the confusion. Their objective is to maintain themselves by trying to be seen as saviors. The dispersion of the Congolese oligarchs between the sacred union of the presidential majority, the legal opposition, and the AFC/M23 “rebellion” does not affect the system in any way.

The Congolese National Movement/Lumumba is reorganizing itself on a new basis with a very clear political program on the political, ideological, economic, social, cultural and military levels to mobilize and organize the Congolese popular masses in the struggle against the Congolese imperialists and oligarchs. Infact, the CPC of the MNC/Lumumba takes this opportunity to launch an appeal for the solidarity of Friendly organizations in order to support us morally, materially and diplomatically in the accomplishment of our weighty mission.

Long live the FRSO!

Long live the 10th Congress!

Oppressed people of the world, unite!

The MNC/Lumumba: UNITY – STRUGGLE – INDEPENDENCE!

Homeland or Death!

Marxist-Leninist Party of Germany (MLPD)

Dear Comrades of the Freedom Road Socialist Organization, USA!

The Central Committee of the Marxist-Leninist Party of Germany (MLPD) extends warm and revolutionary greetings to your 10th Congress, and wishes the Congress great success.

Your Congress is taking place at a time when organized, active mass resistance against the fascist course of the Trump administration is growing steadily. This is becoming a serious obstacle to Trump’s plans for a fascist restructuring of the U.S. state. The development of resistance in the USA, especially the connection between the working class in the factories and the active mass resistance in residential areas, is a great source of encouragement for people worldwide who are confronted with a growing fascist trend. Imperialism is incapable of solving even a single one of humanity’s problems. It can only bring fascism, war and environmental destruction. Revolutionaries have a great responsibility to utilize the potential of this development to strengthen the anti-fascist united front, to propagate the necessity of revolutionary change and a socialist future, and to build revolutionary parties with strong roots in the working class. As a member of the International Coordination of Revolutionary Parties and Organizations (ICOR) and the International Anti-Imperialist United Front against Fascism, War and Environmental Destruction, we are committed to worldwide unification in this spirit. We can learn a great deal from one another among the revolutionary and anti-imperialist forces around the world.

We know that you play a very active role in the struggles in the USA, and we have often reported on this in our media. Your struggle requires determination and courage. We are very happy to hear that you are strengthening your ranks in this process. The establishment of a house for your national office will certainly enrich your work. The MLPD assesses that we are experiencing a worldwide pre-revolutionary ferment, which does not yet constitute a revolutionary situation, but the development is clearly moving in that direction. This also requires a higher quality of international cooperation and proletarian internationalism.

In the past, our organizations have often conducted mutual visits and discussions in friendship and solidarity, which we gladly remember. We look forward to closer practical cooperation in the future in the struggle against fascism and war, and to further discussion of the ideological and political questions that arise today, such as the role—according to our analysis—of neo-imperialist countries like Iran.

Please keep us informed about the results of your important Congress and further developments in the USA.

In this spirit, we wish your Congress great success!

Long live socialism!

Gabi Fechtner

Chairwoman of the Marxist-Leninist Party of Germany

Communist Construction (Kommunistischer Aufbau)

Dear Comrades,

We send our warmest greetings to your 10th Congress and all its delegates.

From our own history, we know the special significance a congress holds for a Marxist-Leninist organization. Especially in these dynamic times of class struggle and as our organization continues to grow, the congress serves as a vital means of strengthening and unifying the organization.

As a relatively new organization, we are eagerly following your development and look forward to learning more about you—about your role in the protest movements against U.S. imperialism, its wars, and its reactionary policies both abroad and at home.

In the coming period, as Marxist-Leninists, we want and must urgently increase and expand contact and exchange between revolutionary and communist organizations. Let us learn from one another and wage a common struggle, across all national borders, together against imperialism, its wars, and the exploitation and oppression of the working class worldwide.

Once again, we wish your organization and all delegates a successful convention, productive discussions, and groundbreaking resolutions to address the challenges ahead.

Revolutionary and red greetings

Kommunistischer Aufbau / Communist Construction

CARC Party

Greeting to the FRSO 10th Congress

When the workers of the capitalist countries have gained confidence in their own strength and the awareness that they are capable of getting along without the bourgeoisie—and not only of demolishing the old, but also of building the new (socialism)—this will mark the beginning of the end of capitalism and the surest sign of the victory of the proletarian revolution (I. Stalin, Political Report of the Central Committee – December 18, 1925)

Dear comrades,

the CARC Party wishes your 10th Congress every success; we are following it with the utmost attention.

The imperialists of your country are the first, along with the Zionists, to drag the world into world war. It is not only and not so much your task to oppose the imperialist bourgeoisie of your country and prevent it from devastating the world with its infamous attacks, but above all, you are offered the opportunity to overthrow it. On the eve of World War I, Lenin predicted that either the socialist revolution would prevent the war or the communists would turn the war into a revolution. This is what happened in the countries where the working class, led by its Communist Party, succeeded in winning, building the first socialist countries, foremost among them the Soviet Union and the People’s Republic of China. But it has not yet succeeded in doing so in any imperialist country; that is why we are once again embroiled in a world war. Today, for communists, the situation is such that either we bring about a decisive leap forward in the socialist revolution in the imperialist countries—the conflagration that will liberate the world from the imperialist system and thereby halt the spread of World War III—or the destructive spiral into which the rule of the imperialist bourgeoisie is dragging the masses of most of the world will continue to worsen.

You confirm to us that times are changing. Your Secretary writes in the preface to the book on The Revolutionary Science of Marxism-Leninism by J. Sykes that we are at a turning point, that a new communist movement is rising in the U.S. and a mobilization of the masses is taking place the likes of which have not been seen since the 1960s and 1970s. We have seen, after those years, the communist movement retreat, up to the fall of the Soviet Union, and the beginning of the period of dark reaction that that fall would generate, as Stalin foresaw. Now that period is coming to an end and the resurgence is beginning—a leap into the new wave of the proletarian revolution.

The qualitative leap of the new wave of the proletarian revolution and the rebirth of the communist movement is the conquest of power in one or more imperialist countries, foremost among them the U.S., which acts as the world’s policeman, and Italy, where the Vatican is headquartered. It is up to the communist movement in the U.S. to eliminate imperialism in their country, just as it is up to the communist movement in Italy to eliminate the Vatican, but the elimination of both concerns the entire world communist movement.

Our main commitment lies in advancing the socialist revolution in Italy, but at the same time we are paying increasing attention to the communist movement in the U.S., of which you are a part. The commitment, in this case, is to forge ties in three areas.

One area is the development of mutual understanding and joint action. The retreat of the communist movement has led to a weakening of relations among the various organizations that compose it at the international level, to the extent that communists in one country know very little about the conscious and organized communist movement in other parts of the world, and joint action remains at an embryonic stage or is confined to one or another of the international coordinating bodies that do not communicate with one another. Overcoming this limitation is an aspect of the ongoing rebirth of the communist movement.

A second area is mutual solidarity against repression. The imperialist bourgeoisie, in this terminal phase of the economic, political, social, and cultural crisis, is displaying all its ferocity, and repression is a weapon it resorts to with increasing frequency and intensity. The CARC Party is a component of the Caravan of the (New) Italian Communist Party, the collective of organizations and individuals following the (New) Italian Communist Party toward the goal of making Italy a new socialist country, and this Caravan has always faced repression, since its founding more than forty years ago—the same period when the FRSO was founded. It faces it today as well, with the repressive action against the CARC Party on April 21, searches, seizures of materials based on a charge that is the same one with which the fascist regime imprisoned Antonio Gramsci and led him to his death, and with fines of thousands of euros for demonstrations against fascists and Zionists. We would like to thank FRSO here, which was among the first communist organizations—among many—to express their solidarity with us at the international and national levels. Mutual cooperation in confronting repression is open.

A third arena is frank and open debate. The course of the revolutionary process in the U.S. differs from that in Italy in many specific ways, but the two processes also share universal, common aspects regarding which debate is essential. Above all, we share the fact that FRSO and P.CARC operate in imperialist countries—countries where the socialist revolution has not yet triumphed, where the ground is therefore new and unexplored. For this reason, exchange is essential—sharing what we discover, discussing the assessment of the communist movement, the analysis of the ongoing crisis, the regimes the bourgeoisie adopts in imperialist countries, and the strategy for seizing power. Therefore, we have begun studying your theoretical works, and we will present you with a summary of ours.

Among the various themes, the first is that of party building. In Italy, we have succeeded in this endeavor with the founding of the (new) Italian Communist Party—a party established clandestinely, just as Lenin and Stalin’s Bolshevik Party taught a communist party must be in order to operate continuously toward the conquest of power and carry out its activities of recruitment, planning, training, guidance, organization, propaganda, mobilization, and leadership despite all the efforts the bourgeoisie makes to obstruct it, isolate it from the masses, and destroy it. The best wish we can offer your Congress is that it be a decisive step in the establishment of a new communist party in the U.S. The time is ripe for this to happen, and when it does, it will be an indelible sign of the rebirth of the communist movement worldwide.

Long live the rebirth of the international communist movement!

Long live the mobilization of the masses in the United States of America!

Long live the Freedom Road Socialist Organization!

CARC Party

International Working Group

Revolusi Indonesia

Statement of Solidarity

At the 10th Congress

Freedom Road Socialist Organization

The power of the 1% of the big American international monopoly bourgeoisie is not only responsible for the crisis and suffering of the working class in the United States. Since replacing Britain as the world’s largest imperialist state and power, the most powerful reactionary class in the United States has been responsible for the crisis and suffering of billions of oppressed and exploited people in various countries maintained as its colonies and semi-colonies.

The people of the United States face one of the most difficult periods in the history of their class struggle. The drastic decline of U.S. dominance in industry, agriculture, and foreign trade has given rise to various forms of oppression against the working class within the United States as well as against the peoples of colonies and semi-colonies, and even weaker capitalist nations. Competition among financial oligarchies has become far more intense and fierce. The move by many nations to restrict the use of the Dollar to avoid the burden of the crisis has accelerated this decline. The struggle for energy and natural resources is becoming increasingly difficult for the United States to win through conventional politics.

The economic decline has had a significant impact on the decline of the liberal democratic system that has long been revered and promoted throughout the country. Currently, in the eyes of people from various nations, the United States is nearly on par with non-industrialized nations in terms of protecting the basic rights of its people. President Donald J. Trump’s use of police actions backed by the military to enforce federal government policies and programs—including immigration policies and anti-LGBT policies—has drawn opposition not only from the oppressed and exploited people of America but from the entire world. Although fascism is recognized as the most reactionary offspring of the capitalist system, people in many countries are still shocked to witness the blatant suppression of freedom of speech on college campuses during the campaign against Israeli Zionist aggression against Gaza-Palestine. Also, whether they believe it or not, they witness the brutality of the Federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in every operation.

Alongside the intensive anti-war campaign by the FRSO and other revolutionary movements, it is clear that the war of aggression against Venezuela, the war of aggression against Iran, the unlimited support for Zionist Israel in the war of aggression in Gaza-Palestine, the interventionist war in Nigeria and several African nations, and the U.S.-NATO proxy war through Ukraine against Russia are merely a reflection of America’s frustration in maintaining its dominance. Even the re-election of Donald J. Trump as President of the United States is proof in itself that the crisis is extremely acute and requires a war-mongering president to resolve it!

The 10th FRSO Congress holds special subjective significance amidst highly favorable objective national and international conditions for the growth and development of the revolutionary movement in both imperialist and semi-colonial countries. The subjective state of the FRSO is shaped by the objective reality of oppression and exploitation by the 1% reactionary class in the United States, in Latin America, and throughout the world. In addition to its intense class struggle in the United States, the FRSO has demonstrated proletarian international solidarity with national and class struggles in various semi-colonial and weaker capitalist countries, grounded in the powerful teachings of Marxism-Leninism. The FRSO takes Karl Marx’s thesis as its guiding principle: that “a country cannot be free while simultaneously oppressing another country,” and that “Labor in white skin cannot emancipate itself where the black skin is branded.”

The American people, just like the people in other countries, have long demanded the birth of a Proletarian Party that is truly conscious of its historical role in leading the class struggle through violence. Especially in a crisis situation like the present. The resolutions of the 10th FRSO Congress, therefore, are eagerly awaited not only by the working class and the oppressed and exploited people of the United States—who need a proletarian socialist revolution—but also by national and class struggles in semi-colonial and semi-feudal countries like Indonesia.

Victory to the American Proletarian Socialist Revolution!

Long live the FRSO!

Oppressed and Exploited People of the World, Unite!

Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP)

Revolutionary greetings, comrades!

The Communist Party of the Philippines extends a militant salute to our comrades in the Freedom Road Socialist Organization on the occasion of your 10th Congress. Your gathering represents a significant victory for the working class and all other exploited and oppressed peoples here within the belly of the imperialist beast. It comes at no better a critical time, as contradictions within the United States and around the world are intensifying at an unprecedented rate.

Everywhere around us, the assault of imperialist US continues to squeeze people dry and exploit people to death. In the United States, imperialism’s assault on the working class has deepened hunger, poverty, and misery among the masses. Capitalists have increasingly made contractual work the norm, stripping workers of regular jobs and benefits, and making conditions harder for collective organizing and action. Trump has continued cracking down on trade unions on the one hand, while on the other co-opting union leadership into a labor aristocracy subservient to the bourgeoisie interests, especially through the illusion of his “America First” policy that promises to bring back industry and jobs to the country. Meanwhile, the Trump administration has slashed budgets for basic social services, especially healthcare, while providing no relief for people beset with the high inflation crisis spurred by his own tariff policies and the imperialist war on Iran.

Under particular threat is the huge reserve army of migrant labor that U.S. imperialism has consciously amassed. ICE, corporate-run detention centers, big tech companies, and others agents have formed an unholy partnership that simultaneously tears families apart, scapegoats migrants for the problems created by the capitalist class, and extracts super profits from their suffering. Meanwhile, violent state repression toward African Americans, Chicanos, and other oppressed nationalities continues unabated, as does the state’s desperate attempt to dampen the flames of the pro-Palestine solidarity movement. This domestic turmoil is unfolding in the context of heightened U.S. military aggression and intensifying increasingly aggressive U.S. imperialist intervention abroad, including in Venezuela, Cuba, Iran, Palestine, and the Philippines.

But rather than signaling that the U.S. imperialists may appear to be strong and powerful, in fact, these are all signs of its desperate attempt to maintain power and global hegemony amid strategic decline. The military aggression against Venezuela and Iran and threats against other sovereign nations, show signs of the imperialist beast backed into a corner, clawing and claiming larger territories lashing out in order to survive. The work FRSO has done to unmask and fight back against this beast—especially in the midst of extreme economic and political crisis—serves as an inspiration to us all.

We have witnessed your determination in building a militant labor movement driven by mass struggles on the shop floor. We have learned from how you stand up to political repression—whether from the police, FBI, or ICE—and inspire the masses to stand with you and organize for their collective rights. We have stood alongside each other in re-enlivening an anti-war movement with a clear position on opposing imperialist wars while supporting people’s wars for national liberation in their own countries.

Your bravery in the face of the capitalists — whether in the workplace, in the halls of government, or in the dens of the war hawks — has won you concrete gains and victories for working and oppressed people around the country. We are overjoyed to hear that FRSO has experienced extraordinary growth in the course of these struggles, recognizing the crucial task you are carrying out in equipping these broad movements with the weapon of Marxism-Leninism to strike at the heart of the enemy.

At the same time, we are humbled and deeply appreciative of your dedication to proletarian internationalism, as demonstrated by your unrelenting solidarity with national liberation movements, including the People’s Democratic Revolution being waged in the Philippines under the leadership of the CPP. Your support is needed more now than ever. As a semi-colonial and semi-feudal country dominated by the joint class dictatorship of the big comprador bourgeoisie, and big landlord class and bureaucrat capitalists—all under the direction of U.S. imperialism—the Filipino people feel acutely the worsening contradictions of the current order. The deadly hunger already experienced by the toiling masses has been exacerbated by the sharp economic crash deterioration following the U.S.’ war on Iran, coupled with the refusal of the reactionary Philippine state to heed the people’s demands to repeal burdensome taxes and other anti-people and anti-poor policies and measures, that would mean lowering their profit margin or angering their U.S. corporate patrons. The self-serving nature of those in power was thoroughly unmasked in massive corruption scandals made public last year, as well as in the current political circus between the Marcos and Duterte dynasties playing out ahead of the 2028 Philippine presidential elections.

Beyond acting in their own interests, however, the reactionary classes of Philippine society are wholly subservient to their imperialist masters. With dizzying speed, the entire country is being made into the U.S.’ forward base in its campaign to encircle and contain China and assert dominance in the Asia-Pacific region. More de facto and secret U.S. military bases are being built across the country, which house both U.S. weapons and troops under the guise of “rotational” presence. Just this month, the U.S. military “assisted” by Philippine militaries — the Armed Forces of the Philippines — fired a Tomahawk missile from a civilian airport into a civilian community more than 600 kilometers away, endangering the lives of hundreds of thousands of Filipinos who were in the path of the low-flying missile, in a clear act of war provocation against China. The firing was part of the Balikatan war games—just one of over 500 joint military exercises set to happen this year that all aim to project power and heighten tensions with China. Even the Philippine economy is being transformed to serve the U.S.’ war economy, with the push to establish a US-controlled “economic security zone,” along with plans of building an ammunition factory, refueling hub for warships, and other infrastructure already under way.

The biggest obstacle to the complete transformation of the Philippines into a launching pad for U.S. imperialist war is the Filipino people’s democratic revolution being waged through protracted people’s war. For 57 years, the Communist Party of the Philippines has led this struggle for national and social liberation, and has spread the fire of revolution across the archipelago. It has thwarted every attempt of every reactionary U.S.-backed regime to destroy it, making a fool of presidents and generals who promise every year to end it by some arbitrary deadline.

Still, the state’s fascist terror unleashed against revolutionary forces and the broad masses of people struggling for change is very much a reality, especially in the Philippine countryside. Last month, the Filipino people suffered a loss that continues to weigh heavily on us all. On April 19, the butchers of the Philippine military committed a massacre—a war crime—by indiscriminately firing upon communities in Toboso, Negros Occidental. Nineteen people were martyred that day: ten Red fighters of the New People’s Army and nine civilians, including people local to the area as well as a student leader, journalists, peasant organizers, and community researchers who went to Negros to learn from among the peasant masses. Among them were Lyle Prijoles and Kai Sorem, two Filipino-American activists who were leaders in the Filipino community in the US, leaders who chose to sacrifice their comforts living in the U.S. to serve the toiling masses back home.

The enemy would like to portray this massacre as a strategic victory against communism. It is the opposite. In a statement following the Toboso massacre, the New People’s Army-Northern Negros under the Roselyn Jean Pelle Command reminds us that the very reason the U.S.-Marcos regime targeted and continues to target Negros is because of the strength of the revolution there. They state that in 2025 alone, “Party membership grew 30 percent” and “new branches were formed in broad areas.” Further, “membership in secret mass organizations grew nearly 50 percent, while the number of individuals reached by the revolution tripled. The NPA in Northern Negros also doubled the range of its area of operations and launched at least 19 guerrilla offensive and counter-offensive actions. It conducted these operations up to towns near the provincial capital and populated areas.”

What is happening in Negros shows us that the U.S.-Marcos regime is fighting a losing battle, because, as our founding chairperson Jose Maria Sison declared in his last statement before passing, “the Filipino people’s democratic revolution is invincible.” As long as the toiling masses’ aspirations for land, for sovereignty, and for a future crafted by our own hands continue to exist, so will the people’s revolution. The martyrdom of the Negros 19 has only fueled and fanned the flames of struggle across the country, and among the Filipino diaspora and our allies overseas. In their wake, thousands more will raise high the red flag of people’s war.

Comrades, the enemy is frightened because of the success of our people’s movements the world over, from the U.S., to Palestine, to Iran, to the Philippines. Each victory in one of our countries represents a victory for all. And with our weapon of proletarian internationalism wielded by the broad anti-imperialist united front, we know that no tactical setback can prevent the inevitability of peoples’ victories against the yoke of imperialism, fascism, and all reaction.

On the occasion of your 10th Congress and beyond, we look forward to continuing to learn and struggle alongside each other, to fight for more victories for the people, and to march side- by- side with one another in the pursuit for freedom, justice, a bright socialist tomorrow, and even brighter communist future.

Mabuhay ang Freedom Road Socialist Organization! Long live Freedom Road Socialist Organization!

Long live proletarian internationalism!

Long live the toiling masses struggling for liberation!

Communist Party, Sweden

To the upcoming congress of Freedom Road Socialist Organisation

We from Communist Party, Sweden, wish you all success with your political and organisational work regarding your congress. We are well aware of your enormous tasks you have working in the belly of the of the most aggressive and reactionary state we have seen since nazism. Sweden today is both an imperialist country as well as a tool under European Union as well under American Imperialism. Some days ago our party organised thousands of demostraters against Nato-summit in Helsingborg. At May Day we had meetings and rallies at 27 places in Sweden and we raised 20 thousand dollars to solarpanels at a hospital in western Cuba. All in collaboration with Cuba Embassy in Sweden.

Down with US imperialism! Down with Nato! Long live proletarian internationalism!

Povel Johansson Partychairman

Erik Anderson Internationally Secretary

United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV)

Estimada compañera:

I write to you to extend a fraternal and revolutionary greeting on behalf of the workers of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela — men and women alike — the land of Simón Bolívar and Hugo Chávez, where the working class continues to resist and produce despite the criminal blockade.

I take this opportunity to warmly congratulate you on the celebration of your 10th National Congress, an event that, without a doubt, reaffirms the vitality of Marxism-Leninism at the heart of the empire.

On behalf of our working class and the United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV), I recognize the consistent leadership that the FRSO has exercised over the years. We know that you maintain a real and combative presence in the U.S. labor movement, in the liberation struggle of African American communities, and in internationalist solidarity beyond the borders of the United States.

We want to express our most sincere gratitude for the constant support you have always given to the Venezuelan people and to the Bolivarian revolution. And very especially, we thank you for your militant solidarity with our brother Nicolás Maduro Moros, Constitutional President of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela and working-class leader who guides the emancipatory process of our people.

Comrade Nicolás Maduro Moros today remains a prisoner of war in a federal jail in New York City, since he was vilely kidnapped on January 3, 2026, in Venezuelan territory. That the FRSO has raised its voice for him fills us with pride and hope.

Finally, I emphasize a deep conviction of the Venezuelan working class: the people of Venezuela recognize themselves as friends of the U.S. people, whose gallantry has inspired us ever since May 1, 1886. We do not confuse the working people with the rapacious governments, from which you also suffer as victims. Our hand is extended to the workers, to the dispossessed, to African Americans, to Indigenous peoples, and to all those who, like the FRSO, fight for a world without exploiters.

Confident that your 10th National Congress will be a victorious trench, we reiterate our proletarian embrace and our willingness to continue building internationalist solidarity.

¡Venceremos!

Sincerely,

Francisco A. Torrealba Vice President of the Working Class United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV)

Workers World Party

Workers World Party sends our warmest greetings and our deep solidarity to the Freedom Road Socialist Organization’s 10th Congress, which is taking place in the developing stage of a severe crisis in the class struggle.

This crisis manifests in the decline in U.S. imperialism’s ability to dominate the world through the dollar and the Pentagon. It is exacerbated by the racist, misogynist, anti-foreign and utterly corrupt MAGA administration’s attempts to reverse the decline by undisguised military aggression abroad and increased exploitation at home.

Those of us who agree that a Marxist-Leninist party that organizes of and for the working class and all oppressed peoples is necessary, wish the 10th Congress of FRSO success in building an organization that can be much stronger than the sum of its individuals in order to obstruct the war plans of the imperialist ruling class, as well as their designs to squeeze more profits out of working people in the U.S. and worldwide.

We salute the steady working class organizing that Freedom Road Socialist Organization has continued during this tumultuous period, while maintaining a firm anti imperialist and internationalist view.

Freedom Road Socialist Organization has distinguished itself in the past year, especially regarding two important areas of struggle in which Workers World Party has also participated.

One is the fight to stop ICE thugs from persecuting the large migrant working-class community. Your work all over the country and especially in Los Angeles, Chicago, in Florida and in Minneapolis (the epicenter of the struggle in January) has been vitally important.

Another has been the ongoing struggle against imperialist war. Our organizations have often been together at rallies and marches in an attempt to create a revolutionary pole for the millions of people who oppose U.S. wars. Whether against Palestine, Lebanon, or Iran in West Asia, against Venezuela or now Cuba in Latin America, whether against NATO in Europe, it has been important that organizations who agree that “the enemy of humanity is at home” should work together to succeed.

Unless anger and frustration in today’s worsening conditions is consciously focused on U.S. imperialism’s crimes, it always goes toward attacking the shortcomings of our own movements. That only leads to demoralization, infighting, and empty polemical debates.

Our joint collaboration on many issues can hopefully create a new approach to the struggle in the U.S. Rather than competing, contending political formations, far more can be gained by learning from each other and building a unity of action with other emerging forces.

US imperialism, in this stage of decay, is highly unstable, racked by unwinnable wars and prone to reckless and unpredictable repression. We know that having each other’s back is the best insurance. An injury to one is an injury to all is the oldest lesson in the class struggle.

Long live the solidarity of FRSO and WWP!

Down with U.S. imperialism!

Struggle for Socialism Party / Struggle – La Lucha

Dear Comrade Mick Kelly and Delegates of the 10th Congress,

On behalf of the Struggle for Socialism Party and our publication Struggle-La Lucha, we extend our warmest and fraternal greetings to each delegate, member, and leader of the Freedom Road Socialist Organization as you convene your 10th Congress.

We have followed with admiration and solidarity your organization’s principled and militant work in the recent period. Your role in the struggle against mass deportations stands as a vital defense of immigrant and working-class communities under attack. Likewise, your consistent and courageous mobilization for Palestine and against the U.S. war drive on Iran reflects the highest internationalist traditions of our movement, challenging imperialism at its core. Your active engagement in the trade union, African American liberation, and Chicano liberation movements further demonstrates your commitment to building a united, multinational, anti-capitalist front capable of winning real power for the oppressed.

That your 10th Congress arrives at a moment of extraordinary growth — which includes securing a national office — is a testament to your perseverance and rootedness in struggle. This material and organizational progress strengthens the foundation for advancing revolutionary work.

We send these greetings in the spirit of working class internationalism and genuine revolutionary solidarity. May your Congress strengthen your unity, and prepare your membership for the intensified class battles ahead.

With respect and revolutionary fervor,

Fraternally,

Sharon Black and John Parker,

Coordinators, Struggle for Socialism Party and Struggle-La Lucha

#RevolutionaryTheory #FRSO #International #10thCongress #Congress

]]> https://fightbacknews.org/greetings-from-communist-and-workers-parties-to-the-10th-congress-of-the-frso Tue, 09 Jun 2026 20:09:01 +0000 10th Congress of Freedom Road Socialist Organization: We have nothing to lose but our chains! https://fightbacknews.org/10th-congress-of-freedom-road-socialist-organization-we-have-nothing-to-lose?pk_campaign=rss-feed <![CDATA[ The successful conclusion of the 10th Congress of Freedom Road Socialist Organization (FRSO) marked a genuine advance in our efforts to build a serious revolutionary communist organization in the United States. The Congress took place in the context of extraordinary growth, we have far more members in far more cities and towns. Over the past several years we have helped lead protests involving hundreds of thousands and have become a real force in the people’s movements. We are advancing towards the goal of building a new communist party that can contend for power. !--more-- As the call to the 10th Congress stated, “We have done great things. We have developed our work in the labor movement. We played a significant role in the George Floyd rebellion and are actively building the national movements. We have done much to push back against Trump’s reactionary attacks. We are proletarian internationalists, who stand with the oppressed from Palestine to the Philippines.” Beneath a large banner reading, “Freedom Road Socialist Organization 10th Congress: We have nothing to lose but our chains!” a packed hall of 185 delegates and 101 alternate delegates came together to set goals and make plans for strengthening organization, and to elect leadership. This was our first congress where all in attendance were elected by their districts. Delegates hailed from all regions of the country. Reflecting the rapid growth of FRSO over the last four years, this was the first congress for most attendees. While some of the participants were veterans of the communist movement with many decades of experience, the overwhelming majority were under 35 years old. Many attending were leaders and activists in the labor movement. Over 40 percent of those present were oppressed nationalities. About half of those present were women and LGBTQ people. The 10th Congress of FRSO came at a critical juncture in the development of the people’s struggle and the accelerating decline of monopoly capitalism in the U.S. The congress adopted political resolutions on the economy, the political situation, and the international situation that provide materialist analyses of the conditions we are facing, and that help us understand the terrain of struggle ahead. Participants both new and old navigated the democratic process to reach unity on our line. The congress elected a new central committee to lead our organization. The central committee elected longtime communist Mick Kelly to serve as the organization’s political secretary. Messages of greetings from communist and workers’ parties, national liberation movements, and anti-imperialist organizations were read to the delegates, including messages from the Workers Party of Belgium, Mouvement National Congolais – Lumumba (MNC/L), Marxist-Leninist Party of Germany (MLPD), Communist Construction (Germany), CARC Party (Italy), Communist League of Indonesia, Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP), Communist Party, Sweden, and the United Socialist Party of Venezuela. Messages from revolutionary organizations in the U.S., including the Workers World Party and the Struggle for Socialism Party / Struggle – La Lucha, were read to the delegates. A message greeting the congress from the Communist Party of the Philippines states, “The Communist Party of the Philippines extends a militant salute to our comrades in the Freedom Road Socialist Organization on the occasion of your 10th Congress. Your gathering represents a significant victory for the working class and all other exploited and oppressed peoples here within the belly of the imperialist beast. It comes at no better a critical time, as contradictions within the United States and around the world are intensifying at an unprecedented rate.” See all FRSO 10th Congress documents See all Greetings from Communist and Workers Parties to the 10th Congress of the FRSO #RevolutionaryTheory #FRSO #Congress #Featured div id="sharingbuttons.io"/div]]>

The successful conclusion of the 10th Congress of Freedom Road Socialist Organization (FRSO) marked a genuine advance in our efforts to build a serious revolutionary communist organization in the United States. The Congress took place in the context of extraordinary growth, we have far more members in far more cities and towns. Over the past several years we have helped lead protests involving hundreds of thousands and have become a real force in the people’s movements. We are advancing towards the goal of building a new communist party that can contend for power.

As the call to the 10th Congress stated, “We have done great things. We have developed our work in the labor movement. We played a significant role in the George Floyd rebellion and are actively building the national movements. We have done much to push back against Trump’s reactionary attacks. We are proletarian internationalists, who stand with the oppressed from Palestine to the Philippines.”

Beneath a large banner reading, “Freedom Road Socialist Organization 10th Congress: We have nothing to lose but our chains!” a packed hall of 185 delegates and 101 alternate delegates came together to set goals and make plans for strengthening organization, and to elect leadership. This was our first congress where all in attendance were elected by their districts.

Delegates hailed from all regions of the country. Reflecting the rapid growth of FRSO over the last four years, this was the first congress for most attendees. While some of the participants were veterans of the communist movement with many decades of experience, the overwhelming majority were under 35 years old. Many attending were leaders and activists in the labor movement. Over 40 percent of those present were oppressed nationalities. About half of those present were women and LGBTQ people.

The 10th Congress of FRSO came at a critical juncture in the development of the people’s struggle and the accelerating decline of monopoly capitalism in the U.S.

The congress adopted political resolutions on the economy, the political situation, and the international situation that provide materialist analyses of the conditions we are facing, and that help us understand the terrain of struggle ahead. Participants both new and old navigated the democratic process to reach unity on our line.

The congress elected a new central committee to lead our organization. The central committee elected longtime communist Mick Kelly to serve as the organization’s political secretary.

Messages of greetings from communist and workers’ parties, national liberation movements, and anti-imperialist organizations were read to the delegates, including messages from the Workers Party of Belgium, Mouvement National Congolais – Lumumba (MNC/L), Marxist-Leninist Party of Germany (MLPD), Communist Construction (Germany), CARC Party (Italy), Communist League of Indonesia, Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP), Communist Party, Sweden, and the United Socialist Party of Venezuela.

Messages from revolutionary organizations in the U.S., including the Workers World Party and the Struggle for Socialism Party / Struggle – La Lucha, were read to the delegates.

A message greeting the congress from the Communist Party of the Philippines states, “The Communist Party of the Philippines extends a militant salute to our comrades in the Freedom Road Socialist Organization on the occasion of your 10th Congress. Your gathering represents a significant victory for the working class and all other exploited and oppressed peoples here within the belly of the imperialist beast. It comes at no better a critical time, as contradictions within the United States and around the world are intensifying at an unprecedented rate.”

See all FRSO 10th Congress documents

See all Greetings from Communist and Workers Parties to the 10th Congress of the FRSO

#RevolutionaryTheory #FRSO #Congress #Featured

]]> https://fightbacknews.org/10th-congress-of-freedom-road-socialist-organization-we-have-nothing-to-lose Mon, 08 Jun 2026 20:51:24 +0000 House to deal with Extended Unemployment Compensation (EUC) https://fightbacknews.org/house-deal-extended-unemployment-compensation-euc?pk_campaign=rss-feed <![CDATA[Washington, DC - In a surprise move, Representative Brad Schneider (D-IL) announced here today, March 11, that he would undertake a rarely used procedure in an attempt to force a House vote on Extended Unemployment Compensation (EUC). According to a press statement, Schneider will file a discharge petition on March 12, which would force a vote on benefits for the long-term jobless if a majority of House members sign it. !--more-- This will be an uphill battle. The House of Representative has 232 Republicans and 199 Democrats. When the Democratic leadership in Congress failed to insist on placing Extended Unemployment Compensation (EUC) in the December 2013 budget accord, they effectively gave Republicans veto power over measures to extend unemployment benefits. Republicans, who often blame high unemployment rates on the unemployed, are in general hostile to an extension of jobless benefits. For example, the prominent conservative Rand Paul states that Unemployment Insurance should be limited to 26 weeks. A measure to extend benefits for the long-term unemployed needs to pass both the House and Senate to be signed into law. More than 2 million workers have been hit by the cutoff of Extended Unemployment Compensation. Many are losing their homes, face repossession of their cars and are unable to make utility payments. Many states continue to have extremely high unemployment rates. California has an 8.3% unemployment rate and in Illinois it is 8.6%. Rhode Island has the highest unemployment rate, coming in at 9.1%. #WashingtonDC #unemploymentInsurance #ExtendedUnemploymentCompensation #workersRights #Congress #BradSchneider div id="sharingbuttons.io"/div]]> Washington, DC – In a surprise move, Representative Brad Schneider (D-IL) announced here today, March 11, that he would undertake a rarely used procedure in an attempt to force a House vote on Extended Unemployment Compensation (EUC). According to a press statement, Schneider will file a discharge petition on March 12, which would force a vote on benefits for the long-term jobless if a majority of House members sign it.

This will be an uphill battle. The House of Representative has 232 Republicans and 199 Democrats. When the Democratic leadership in Congress failed to insist on placing Extended Unemployment Compensation (EUC) in the December 2013 budget accord, they effectively gave Republicans veto power over measures to extend unemployment benefits.

Republicans, who often blame high unemployment rates on the unemployed, are in general hostile to an extension of jobless benefits. For example, the prominent conservative Rand Paul states that Unemployment Insurance should be limited to 26 weeks.

A measure to extend benefits for the long-term unemployed needs to pass both the House and Senate to be signed into law.

More than 2 million workers have been hit by the cutoff of Extended Unemployment Compensation. Many are losing their homes, face repossession of their cars and are unable to make utility payments.

Many states continue to have extremely high unemployment rates. California has an 8.3% unemployment rate and in Illinois it is 8.6%. Rhode Island has the highest unemployment rate, coming in at 9.1%.

#WashingtonDC #unemploymentInsurance #ExtendedUnemploymentCompensation #workersRights #Congress #BradSchneider

]]> https://fightbacknews.org/house-deal-extended-unemployment-compensation-euc Wed, 12 Mar 2014 00:07:23 +0000 Still no Senate action on Extended Unemployment Compensation (EUC) https://fightbacknews.org/still-no-senate-action-extended-unemployment-compensation-euc?pk_campaign=rss-feed <![CDATA[Washington, DC - Another day has passed without the Senate taking action on Extended Unemployment Compensation (EUC) benefits. While Senators met Jan. 24, no agreements were reached on legislation to address the situation of the 1.3 million workers who have been cut off from benefits for the long term unemployed. !--more-- Most Republicans in Congress are hostile to extending the benefits for unemployed workers. When the Democratic leadership in Congress failed to make the EUC benefits a condition for December’s budget deal, they let the unemployed workers down, and now have little leverage to press for the restoration of relief to jobless workers. A consensus has developed in Congress where both political parties favor cuts to the social safety net and measures that favor the wealthy. #WashingtonDC #Unemployment #Capitalism #ExtendedUnemploymentCompensation #workersRights #Congress div id="sharingbuttons.io"/div]]> Washington, DC – Another day has passed without the Senate taking action on Extended Unemployment Compensation (EUC) benefits. While Senators met Jan. 24, no agreements were reached on legislation to address the situation of the 1.3 million workers who have been cut off from benefits for the long term unemployed.

Most Republicans in Congress are hostile to extending the benefits for unemployed workers. When the Democratic leadership in Congress failed to make the EUC benefits a condition for December’s budget deal, they let the unemployed workers down, and now have little leverage to press for the restoration of relief to jobless workers.

A consensus has developed in Congress where both political parties favor cuts to the social safety net and measures that favor the wealthy.

#WashingtonDC #Unemployment #Capitalism #ExtendedUnemploymentCompensation #workersRights #Congress

]]> https://fightbacknews.org/still-no-senate-action-extended-unemployment-compensation-euc Sat, 25 Jan 2014 02:57:49 +0000 Anti-war activists respond to Obama’s speech, say no to war https://fightbacknews.org/anti-war-activists-respond-obama-s-speech-say-no-war?pk_campaign=rss-feed <![CDATA[Minneapolis, MN - Twin Cities anti-war activists gathered on the evening of Sept. 10 to listen to the speech by President Obama justifying U.S. plans for military intervention in Syria. !--more-- Commenting on the speech, Bruce Nestor, a Minneapolis attorney and member of the National Lawyers Guild said, "We question the intelligence findings and do not believe the U.S. has the moral authority to act or is motivated to protect the people of Syria. We know that bombs and war will not promote human rights. We call on Congress to follow the will of the people and vote no, whether it’s this week or a month from now." Meredith Aby of the Twin Cities-based Anti-War Committee states, “If this was really about chemical weapons Obama would call off these threats, but instead he is calling for a continuation of threatening Syria minus the ‘reason.’ In reality this plan to attack is about going after Iran and Syria, because they are a hurdle to U.S. plans for domination of the Middle East." Aby continued, “It is a victory for the anti-war movement that Obama is being pressured into taking Russia's deal. If the president had the support of the public he'd go to war without congressional approval. But he can't do that. We have helped lead a public and loud movement of people demanding that they be listened to. "The point of this speech was to sell war to the American people, but hours before the speech Congress called off its vote. However, Obama made it clear tonight he's having a hard time campaigning for war on Syria. Please come out Saturday \[Sept. 14\] at 3:00 p.m. to say no to war with Syria! Our work isn't done until the troops and ships threatening Syria are out of the Middle East." #MinneapolisMN #AntiwarMovement #Syria #BarackObama #USImperialism #chemicalWeapons #destroyers #Congress div id="sharingbuttons.io"/div]]> Minneapolis, MN – Twin Cities anti-war activists gathered on the evening of Sept. 10 to listen to the speech by President Obama justifying U.S. plans for military intervention in Syria.

Commenting on the speech, Bruce Nestor, a Minneapolis attorney and member of the National Lawyers Guild said, “We question the intelligence findings and do not believe the U.S. has the moral authority to act or is motivated to protect the people of Syria. We know that bombs and war will not promote human rights. We call on Congress to follow the will of the people and vote no, whether it’s this week or a month from now.”

Meredith Aby of the Twin Cities-based Anti-War Committee states, “If this was really about chemical weapons Obama would call off these threats, but instead he is calling for a continuation of threatening Syria minus the ‘reason.’ In reality this plan to attack is about going after Iran and Syria, because they are a hurdle to U.S. plans for domination of the Middle East.”

Aby continued, “It is a victory for the anti-war movement that Obama is being pressured into taking Russia's deal. If the president had the support of the public he'd go to war without congressional approval. But he can't do that. We have helped lead a public and loud movement of people demanding that they be listened to.

“The point of this speech was to sell war to the American people, but hours before the speech Congress called off its vote. However, Obama made it clear tonight he's having a hard time campaigning for war on Syria. Please come out Saturday [Sept. 14] at 3:00 p.m. to say no to war with Syria! Our work isn't done until the troops and ships threatening Syria are out of the Middle East.”

#MinneapolisMN #AntiwarMovement #Syria #BarackObama #USImperialism #chemicalWeapons #destroyers #Congress

]]> https://fightbacknews.org/anti-war-activists-respond-obama-s-speech-say-no-war Wed, 11 Sep 2013 03:27:58 +0000 Grand Rapids stands against U.S. war on Syria https://fightbacknews.org/grand-rapids-stands-against-us-war-syria?pk_campaign=rss-feed <![CDATA[Grand Rapids protest against U.S. war on Syria.") Grand Rapids, MI - 40 people protested against a U.S. war on Syria at the War Memorial in downtown Grand Rapids on Sept. 7. Some brought flowers for the victims of U.S. wars to the noon time protest, while others brought anti-war signs and messages. After folk singer Carol Johnson opened the rally with her rousing voice, organizer Joe Fletcher welcomed the protesters. !--more-- One speaker explained why the White House wants to go to war in Syria despite the lack of evidence and facts, “because the U.S. wants to dominate the Middle East and control the oil in the region after being forced out of Iraq.” Another speaker led the singing of John Lennon’s song "Imagine", while a third read a letter from Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro opposing the U.S. war on Syria. There were announcements about the Midwest Action Against Drones in Chicago on Sept. 28 and 29 and Peace Days in Grand Rapids leading up to Sept. 21. The final speakers led chants and pumped people to march around the downtown area and a street festival. Grand Rapidians either applauded and gave the fist pump in the air, or stood amazed as the protesters ranging in age from 18 to 81 passed by chanting, “Hands off Syria, no new wars!” and “We demand peace, U.S. out of the Middle East!” Local radio personality Jeremiah Bannister emceed and spoke about the widespread opposition to President Obama’s plans for war saying, “Some of my progressive friends have amnesia, but I am trying hard to help them remember when they opposed a major war in the Middle East just a few years ago, and the reasons why. With many being the same today.” Bannister also spoke about the anti-war sentiment that spans society in the wake of the U.S. destruction in Iraq and the ongoing U.S. occupation of Afghanistan, saying “Take care with speaking to your conservative friends, family and acquaintances about their sudden embrace of anti-war values. Be very gracious and constructive with them.” Chaka Holley, a Black community activist, spoke about the strong and consistent opposition to U.S. war in the African-American community. She explained, “When I come to anti-war rallies, rallies against big business, banks, animal abuse and the like, I rarely see more than a handful of Blacks or Latinos. I do not believe that this is due to a lack of concern but more so due to a lack of opportunity.” Holley then detailed many of the recent police and vigilante murders of African-American people, including Trayvon Martin. After an emotional moment, Holley asked of anti-war activists, “Not only do we need you to oppose war but we need you to fight for good public education, access to fair housing, good immigration laws, ending the mass incarceration of African Americans, fight for laws that protect our children when they are driving while Black in America, laws that protect our children from being shot down on their way from the candy store, school or bombed while sitting in church or on their living room floors.” After Holley finished with a quote from Martin Luther King Jr., the applause was loud and prolonged. The anti-war movement in Grand Rapids is grappling with the political contradictions faced on a national level. U.S. Representative Justin Amash, a Republican and Arab-American, is a strong and outspoken ‘no’ vote against U.S. war in Syria, while liberal Senators Carl Levin and Debbie Stabenow, both Democrats, support another U.S. war in the Middle East. The Left Forum of Grand Rapids launched a campaign this week “Michiganders against U.S. war on Syria” targeting the supposedly ‘progressive’ Senators Stabenow and Levin with phone calls and emails demanding they vote no on any new wars. Mike Kowalski of the Left Forum of Grand Rapids summed it up, “Our rally was pulled together quickly, but still the biggest anti-war protest in Grand Rapids for a few years now. We are targeting these treacherous Senators from Michigan with a phone call blitz to ‘Vote no’ and students are starting anti-war outreach on the campuses in town. Like people in the rest of Michigan, and the world, we want to stop this war before it starts!” #GrandRapidsMI #AntiwarMovement #Syria #USImperialism #chemicalWeapons #destroyers #Congress #SenatorCarlLevin #SenatorDebbieStabenow div id="sharingbuttons.io"/div]]> Grand Rapids protest against U.S. war on Syria.

Grand Rapids, MI – 40 people protested against a U.S. war on Syria at the War Memorial in downtown Grand Rapids on Sept. 7. Some brought flowers for the victims of U.S. wars to the noon time protest, while others brought anti-war signs and messages. After folk singer Carol Johnson opened the rally with her rousing voice, organizer Joe Fletcher welcomed the protesters.

One speaker explained why the White House wants to go to war in Syria despite the lack of evidence and facts, “because the U.S. wants to dominate the Middle East and control the oil in the region after being forced out of Iraq.” Another speaker led the singing of John Lennon’s song “Imagine”, while a third read a letter from Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro opposing the U.S. war on Syria. There were announcements about the Midwest Action Against Drones in Chicago on Sept. 28 and 29 and Peace Days in Grand Rapids leading up to Sept. 21. The final speakers led chants and pumped people to march around the downtown area and a street festival. Grand Rapidians either applauded and gave the fist pump in the air, or stood amazed as the protesters ranging in age from 18 to 81 passed by chanting, “Hands off Syria, no new wars!” and “We demand peace, U.S. out of the Middle East!”

Local radio personality Jeremiah Bannister emceed and spoke about the widespread opposition to President Obama’s plans for war saying, “Some of my progressive friends have amnesia, but I am trying hard to help them remember when they opposed a major war in the Middle East just a few years ago, and the reasons why. With many being the same today.” Bannister also spoke about the anti-war sentiment that spans society in the wake of the U.S. destruction in Iraq and the ongoing U.S. occupation of Afghanistan, saying “Take care with speaking to your conservative friends, family and acquaintances about their sudden embrace of anti-war values. Be very gracious and constructive with them.”

Chaka Holley, a Black community activist, spoke about the strong and consistent opposition to U.S. war in the African-American community. She explained, “When I come to anti-war rallies, rallies against big business, banks, animal abuse and the like, I rarely see more than a handful of Blacks or Latinos. I do not believe that this is due to a lack of concern but more so due to a lack of opportunity.” Holley then detailed many of the recent police and vigilante murders of African-American people, including Trayvon Martin. After an emotional moment, Holley asked of anti-war activists, “Not only do we need you to oppose war but we need you to fight for good public education, access to fair housing, good immigration laws, ending the mass incarceration of African Americans, fight for laws that protect our children when they are driving while Black in America, laws that protect our children from being shot down on their way from the candy store, school or bombed while sitting in church or on their living room floors.” After Holley finished with a quote from Martin Luther King Jr., the applause was loud and prolonged.

The anti-war movement in Grand Rapids is grappling with the political contradictions faced on a national level. U.S. Representative Justin Amash, a Republican and Arab-American, is a strong and outspoken ‘no’ vote against U.S. war in Syria, while liberal Senators Carl Levin and Debbie Stabenow, both Democrats, support another U.S. war in the Middle East. The Left Forum of Grand Rapids launched a campaign this week “Michiganders against U.S. war on Syria” targeting the supposedly ‘progressive’ Senators Stabenow and Levin with phone calls and emails demanding they vote no on any new wars.

Mike Kowalski of the Left Forum of Grand Rapids summed it up, “Our rally was pulled together quickly, but still the biggest anti-war protest in Grand Rapids for a few years now. We are targeting these treacherous Senators from Michigan with a phone call blitz to ‘Vote no’ and students are starting anti-war outreach on the campuses in town. Like people in the rest of Michigan, and the world, we want to stop this war before it starts!”

#GrandRapidsMI #AntiwarMovement #Syria #USImperialism #chemicalWeapons #destroyers #Congress #SenatorCarlLevin #SenatorDebbieStabenow

]]> https://fightbacknews.org/grand-rapids-stands-against-us-war-syria Tue, 10 Sep 2013 22:25:48 +0000 600 in Chicago demand Congress vote against Syria war https://fightbacknews.org/600-chicago-demand-congress-vote-against-syria-war?pk_campaign=rss-feed <![CDATA[Chicago Anti War Committee marches against war on Syria.") Chicago, IL - Chanting, “Hands off Syria! No new wars!” a rally of 600 people gathered in Federal Plaza on Sept. 7 to demand that Congress vote no on U.S. military intervention. The Anti-War Committee-Chicago called the event, joined by the ANSWER Coalition of Chicago and the Syrian American Forum. The crowd also heard passionate speakers from U.S. Palestinian Community Network, Iraq Veterans Against the War, the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) Local 2858 and the American Friends Service Committee. !--more-- Congress has not voted on military intervention, but a resolution supporting war passed in the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. While the Obama administration drums up military momentum, a wave of anti-war rallies is sweeping the country and the world, with mass protests in New York, Washington D.C., London and Tunis. Since April, the Anti-War Committee-Chicago has been mobilizing against American intervention, organizing downtown demonstrations with the patriotic activists of the Syrian American Forum (SAF). Speaking as a member of SAF, Kousay Ahmad emphasized, “the solution to this conflict must be Syrian - by Syrians for Syria.” As Federal Plaza filled with chanting people, unions took up the cry of “Money for jobs - not for war!” Elijah Edwards from AFSCME Local 2858 denounced the cutbacks in community healthcare, saying, “Instead of using taxes to support the services of the people, the government is using them to support war.” Zakiah Muhammad, a long-time community organizer against police brutality, decried the hypocrisy of the Obama administration. “We haven’t forgotten when our government dropped Agent Orange on the Vietnamese people,” she said, calling this action “chemical warfare.” Alejandro Villatoro brought a moment of moving reflection to the crowd as he remembered how, as a young soldier, he supported the war in Iraq. He realized he had been lied to about the pretext for invasion when, “we didn’t find any weapons of mass destruction in Iraq.” Syrian Americans came out in full force to oppose the war. Family members young and old joined in, waving flags and carrying banners, as the Syrian contingent led the protesters on a march through Chicago’s busy shopping district. The lively marchers took the street for a period, until they were blocked by the police and forced to continue on the sidewalks. The rally regrouped outside the Chicago Tribune building as speakers condemned the newspaper’s pro-intervention editorials. Chicago’s anti-war movement sent a clear message to Congress, Sept. 7: The American people are overwhelmingly against an attack on Syria and will keep up the pressure for Congress to vote no. #ChicagoIL #AntiwarMovement #Syria #USImperialism #chemicalWeapons #SyrianAmericanForum #Congress div id="sharingbuttons.io"/div]]> Chicago Anti War Committee marches against war on Syria.

Chicago, IL – Chanting, “Hands off Syria! No new wars!” a rally of 600 people gathered in Federal Plaza on Sept. 7 to demand that Congress vote no on U.S. military intervention. The Anti-War Committee-Chicago called the event, joined by the ANSWER Coalition of Chicago and the Syrian American Forum. The crowd also heard passionate speakers from U.S. Palestinian Community Network, Iraq Veterans Against the War, the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) Local 2858 and the American Friends Service Committee.

Congress has not voted on military intervention, but a resolution supporting war passed in the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. While the Obama administration drums up military momentum, a wave of anti-war rallies is sweeping the country and the world, with mass protests in New York, Washington D.C., London and Tunis.

Since April, the Anti-War Committee-Chicago has been mobilizing against American intervention, organizing downtown demonstrations with the patriotic activists of the Syrian American Forum (SAF). Speaking as a member of SAF, Kousay Ahmad emphasized, “the solution to this conflict must be Syrian – by Syrians for Syria.”

As Federal Plaza filled with chanting people, unions took up the cry of “Money for jobs – not for war!” Elijah Edwards from AFSCME Local 2858 denounced the cutbacks in community healthcare, saying, “Instead of using taxes to support the services of the people, the government is using them to support war.”

Zakiah Muhammad, a long-time community organizer against police brutality, decried the hypocrisy of the Obama administration. “We haven’t forgotten when our government dropped Agent Orange on the Vietnamese people,” she said, calling this action “chemical warfare.”

Alejandro Villatoro brought a moment of moving reflection to the crowd as he remembered how, as a young soldier, he supported the war in Iraq. He realized he had been lied to about the pretext for invasion when, “we didn’t find any weapons of mass destruction in Iraq.”

Syrian Americans came out in full force to oppose the war. Family members young and old joined in, waving flags and carrying banners, as the Syrian contingent led the protesters on a march through Chicago’s busy shopping district. The lively marchers took the street for a period, until they were blocked by the police and forced to continue on the sidewalks. The rally regrouped outside the Chicago Tribune building as speakers condemned the newspaper’s pro-intervention editorials.

Chicago’s anti-war movement sent a clear message to Congress, Sept. 7: The American people are overwhelmingly against an attack on Syria and will keep up the pressure for Congress to vote no.

#ChicagoIL #AntiwarMovement #Syria #USImperialism #chemicalWeapons #SyrianAmericanForum #Congress

]]> https://fightbacknews.org/600-chicago-demand-congress-vote-against-syria-war Sun, 08 Sep 2013 22:21:58 +0000 130 in Jacksonville march on Rep. Crenshaw's office, demand "Hands off Syria" https://fightbacknews.org/130-jacksonville-march-rep-crenshaws-office-demand-hands-syria?pk_campaign=rss-feed <![CDATA[Jacksonville demonstration against U.S. war on Syria.") Jacksonville, FL - More than 130 protesters, including more than 70 Syrian Americans, gathered in Jacksonville's Memorial Park and marched on Congressman Ander Crenshaw's office to demand "Hands off Syria" on Sept. 7. Organized by Jacksonville Against the War on Syria (JAWS), the protest demanded that Crenshaw and Congresswoman Corrine Brown vote no on authorization for President Barack Obama's proposed military strike on Syria. !--more-- Members of the Syrian American Forum, Veterans for Peace, the North Florida Central Labor Council, Occupy Jacksonville, the Freedom Road Socialist Organization, the New Jim Crow Movement, the Jacksonville Progressive Coalition and Gainesville Students for a Democratic Society attended the rally, along with many concerned residents from the Jacksonville community. "I am against any intervention because, first of all we will be defending, arming and fighting alongside al-Qaeda - the same al-Qaeda we have supposedly been fighting against in other countries," said Angela Abdulnour, a student at University of North Florida. "Second of all, the U.S. should spend the billions this attack would cost at home where it is more needed. It's important to rally and have our voice heard because if we don't, we will be allowing our leaders to make decisions that are only in their own interests and not in the interests of the American people and the Syrian people." The rally started midday at Memorial Park, in the Riverside neighborhood. Carrying Syrian flags and rally signs reading, "No authorization for war on Syria," the energetic crowd listened to a diverse stack of speakers who talked about the negative effects of U.S. war on the Middle East. "Are we spending money on education in Syria?" asked Wells Todd, an organizer with the Jacksonville Progressive Coalition and a Vietnam-era veteran. "Are we spending money on health care for Syrians? No! We're spending money to kill Syrian men, women and children, just like we did in Iraq." Protesters carried Syrian flags, some with pictures of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, and a group of Syrian American students from University of North Florida wore shirts with Assad's image. Loud chants of "Hands off Syria!" and "We want peace! U.S. out of the Middle East," energized the rally as protesters set out on the quarter-mile walk to Crenshaw's office. When the protesters reached Crenshaw's office, which was located in a dentist's building, they gathered around the glass door entrance. With no one from Crenshaw's office present to hear the demands, people began taping their signs to the doors and windows. JAWS organizers passed out small cards reading, "I do not support President Obama's strike on Syria. Neither should you, Rep. Crenshaw," which each person signed and taped to the door. One sign featured red hand prints, symbolizing the blood on Congress' hands if they approve Obama's strike on Syria. Within minutes, rally signs and signature cards covered the entire entrance. The protesters then marched to Five-Points, an intersection of five streets in the heart of Riverside. Within minutes, they covered all five corners of the street block, and four people climbed onto the center stoplight to hang banners and the Syrian flag. They chanted, "Obama, it's not your business," and "U-S-A, stay away!" Dozens of cars drove by and honked and a few stopped to shout their support from the car. Customers at nearby restaurants came outside to see the rally and voice their support, with about 15 new people joining the protest. When the police showed up, the protesters refused to back down and continued chanting at the street corners. After more than 30 minutes at Five-Points, the protest marched back to Memorial Park and heard several other speakers. George Samara of the Syrian American Forum talked about traveling on Sept. 9 to Washington D.C. to protest the proposed military strike. Many protesters voiced cautious optimism that Congress would not authorize Obama's proposal. "If Obama is saying he wants to attack and has the authority to attack even without the support of the Congress, wouldn't he be a dictator?" asked Abdulnour. JAWS also announced a statewide call-in day to Senator Bill Nelson and Marco Rubio demanding no authorization for war on Syria, in conjunction with the Miami-based People's Opposition to War, Imperialism and Racism (POWIR). Protest at Congressman Crenshaw's office to demand "Hands off Syria".") #JacksonvilleFL #AntiwarMovement #Syria #USImperialism #chemicalWeapons #SyrianAmericanForum #Congress #CongressmanAnderCrenshaw div id="sharingbuttons.io"/div]]> Jacksonville demonstration against U.S. war on Syria.

Jacksonville, FL – More than 130 protesters, including more than 70 Syrian Americans, gathered in Jacksonville's Memorial Park and marched on Congressman Ander Crenshaw's office to demand “Hands off Syria” on Sept. 7. Organized by Jacksonville Against the War on Syria (JAWS), the protest demanded that Crenshaw and Congresswoman Corrine Brown vote no on authorization for President Barack Obama's proposed military strike on Syria.

Members of the Syrian American Forum, Veterans for Peace, the North Florida Central Labor Council, Occupy Jacksonville, the Freedom Road Socialist Organization, the New Jim Crow Movement, the Jacksonville Progressive Coalition and Gainesville Students for a Democratic Society attended the rally, along with many concerned residents from the Jacksonville community.

“I am against any intervention because, first of all we will be defending, arming and fighting alongside al-Qaeda – the same al-Qaeda we have supposedly been fighting against in other countries,” said Angela Abdulnour, a student at University of North Florida. “Second of all, the U.S. should spend the billions this attack would cost at home where it is more needed. It's important to rally and have our voice heard because if we don't, we will be allowing our leaders to make decisions that are only in their own interests and not in the interests of the American people and the Syrian people.”

The rally started midday at Memorial Park, in the Riverside neighborhood. Carrying Syrian flags and rally signs reading, “No authorization for war on Syria,” the energetic crowd listened to a diverse stack of speakers who talked about the negative effects of U.S. war on the Middle East.

“Are we spending money on education in Syria?” asked Wells Todd, an organizer with the Jacksonville Progressive Coalition and a Vietnam-era veteran. “Are we spending money on health care for Syrians? No! We're spending money to kill Syrian men, women and children, just like we did in Iraq.”

Protesters carried Syrian flags, some with pictures of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, and a group of Syrian American students from University of North Florida wore shirts with Assad's image. Loud chants of “Hands off Syria!” and “We want peace! U.S. out of the Middle East,” energized the rally as protesters set out on the quarter-mile walk to Crenshaw's office.

When the protesters reached Crenshaw's office, which was located in a dentist's building, they gathered around the glass door entrance. With no one from Crenshaw's office present to hear the demands, people began taping their signs to the doors and windows. JAWS organizers passed out small cards reading, “I do not support President Obama's strike on Syria. Neither should you, Rep. Crenshaw,” which each person signed and taped to the door. One sign featured red hand prints, symbolizing the blood on Congress' hands if they approve Obama's strike on Syria. Within minutes, rally signs and signature cards covered the entire entrance.

The protesters then marched to Five-Points, an intersection of five streets in the heart of Riverside. Within minutes, they covered all five corners of the street block, and four people climbed onto the center stoplight to hang banners and the Syrian flag. They chanted, “Obama, it's not your business,” and “U-S-A, stay away!”

Dozens of cars drove by and honked and a few stopped to shout their support from the car. Customers at nearby restaurants came outside to see the rally and voice their support, with about 15 new people joining the protest.

When the police showed up, the protesters refused to back down and continued chanting at the street corners.

After more than 30 minutes at Five-Points, the protest marched back to Memorial Park and heard several other speakers. George Samara of the Syrian American Forum talked about traveling on Sept. 9 to Washington D.C. to protest the proposed military strike.

Many protesters voiced cautious optimism that Congress would not authorize Obama's proposal. “If Obama is saying he wants to attack and has the authority to attack even without the support of the Congress, wouldn't he be a dictator?” asked Abdulnour.

JAWS also announced a statewide call-in day to Senator Bill Nelson and Marco Rubio demanding no authorization for war on Syria, in conjunction with the Miami-based People's Opposition to War, Imperialism and Racism (POWIR).

Protest at Congressman Crenshaw's office to demand "Hands off Syria".

#JacksonvilleFL #AntiwarMovement #Syria #USImperialism #chemicalWeapons #SyrianAmericanForum #Congress #CongressmanAnderCrenshaw

]]> https://fightbacknews.org/130-jacksonville-march-rep-crenshaws-office-demand-hands-syria Sun, 08 Sep 2013 22:15:06 +0000 More than 1000 protest in NYC against U.S. war on Syria https://fightbacknews.org/more-1000-protest-nyc-against-us-war-syria?pk_campaign=rss-feed <![CDATA[NYC protest demand "Hands off Syria."") New York City, NY - Over 1000 people demonstrated against the threatened attacks on Syria here, Sept. 7, marching from Times Square to Union Square along Broadway, past tens of thousands of people. The main slogan was "U.S. hands off Syria." !--more-- Sara Flounders, of the International Action Center, invited demonstrators to come to Washington D.C. on Sept. 9, to protest when the U.S. Congress reconvenes. Many other organizations supported the march. This was one of at least 40 demonstrations held across the U.S. today. #NewYorkCityNY #AntiwarMovement #Syria #USImperialism #chemicalWeapons #destroyers #Congress div id="sharingbuttons.io"/div]]> NYC protest demand "Hands off Syria."

New York City, NY – Over 1000 people demonstrated against the threatened attacks on Syria here, Sept. 7, marching from Times Square to Union Square along Broadway, past tens of thousands of people. The main slogan was “U.S. hands off Syria.”

Sara Flounders, of the International Action Center, invited demonstrators to come to Washington D.C. on Sept. 9, to protest when the U.S. Congress reconvenes. Many other organizations supported the march. This was one of at least 40 demonstrations held across the U.S. today.

#NewYorkCityNY #AntiwarMovement #Syria #USImperialism #chemicalWeapons #destroyers #Congress

]]> https://fightbacknews.org/more-1000-protest-nyc-against-us-war-syria Sun, 08 Sep 2013 01:33:33 +0000 Gainesville SDS: “Congress vote no on U.S. war in Syria!” https://fightbacknews.org/gainesville-sds-congress-vote-no-us-war-syria?pk_campaign=rss-feed <![CDATA[Cherie Bynum from SDS giving a speech.") Gainesville, FL – Demanding Congress vote no on U.S. military intervention in Syria, 70 protesters gathered in Turlington Plaza at the University of Florida, Sept. 6. !--more-- University of Florida Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) organized the protest demanding “Hands off Syria!” Gainesville Vets for Peace, Occupy Gainesville, Freedom Road Socialist Organization and members of University of Florida faculty and other students and community members joined SDS at the protest. The action comes on the heels of local call-in day telling Gainesville House of Representative members Corrine Brown (D) and Ted Yoho (R) to oppose military intervention in Syria and to “Vote no.” Congress is debating President Obama and Secretary of State John Kerry’s calls for war, while U.S. ships sail to the region and prepare for attacks to start the war. In his speech, Conor Munro, a member of the Freedom Road Socialist Organization, said, “This war has nothing to do with chemical weapons or democracy. This is an imperialist war. This is a war of exploitation and control of the region’s oil. This is a war of domination.” University of Florida SDS and its allies will continue to speak out and organize against the Obama administration’s hypocrisy in another U.S. military foray into the Middle East. SDS and its allies will continue to push their message, “Hands off Syria!” Conor Munro, organizer of SDS, giving a speech.") Crowds Gather in Turlington Plaza for speeches.") #GainesvilleFL #AntiwarMovement #StudentsForADemocraticSociety #Syria #USImperialism #chemicalWeapons #Congress div id="sharingbuttons.io"/div]]> Cherie Bynum from SDS giving a speech.

Gainesville, FL – Demanding Congress vote no on U.S. military intervention in Syria, 70 protesters gathered in Turlington Plaza at the University of Florida, Sept. 6.

University of Florida Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) organized the protest demanding “Hands off Syria!” Gainesville Vets for Peace, Occupy Gainesville, Freedom Road Socialist Organization and members of University of Florida faculty and other students and community members joined SDS at the protest.

The action comes on the heels of local call-in day telling Gainesville House of Representative members Corrine Brown (D) and Ted Yoho ® to oppose military intervention in Syria and to “Vote no.” Congress is debating President Obama and Secretary of State John Kerry’s calls for war, while U.S. ships sail to the region and prepare for attacks to start the war.

In his speech, Conor Munro, a member of the Freedom Road Socialist Organization, said, “This war has nothing to do with chemical weapons or democracy. This is an imperialist war. This is a war of exploitation and control of the region’s oil. This is a war of domination.”

University of Florida SDS and its allies will continue to speak out and organize against the Obama administration’s hypocrisy in another U.S. military foray into the Middle East. SDS and its allies will continue to push their message, “Hands off Syria!”

Conor Munro, organizer of SDS, giving a speech.

Crowds Gather in Turlington Plaza for speeches.

#GainesvilleFL #AntiwarMovement #StudentsForADemocraticSociety #Syria #USImperialism #chemicalWeapons #Congress

]]> https://fightbacknews.org/gainesville-sds-congress-vote-no-us-war-syria Sat, 07 Sep 2013 21:42:02 +0000