International Action Center: 30 Years of Activism
International Action Center
30 Years of Activism
December 2021
Dear friends,
We are approaching the second year of pandemic shutdown and restrictions, yet the International Action Center has kept busy as a unifying force in the political movement. The organization has helped to chart new ways of connecting online with a series of educational projects. The IAC has helped to produce a library of webinars opposing U.S. wars, and in solidarity with targeted counties. Practicing pandemic protocols, the IAC has attended demonstrations and other actions as much as possible.
The IAC is proud to have had representatives travel in delegations to countries struggling to survive both the pandemic and sanctions imposed by the U.S. and its allies, and to build solidarity with them. These fact-finding delegations to Nicaragua and Venezuela, and the reports, statements, Twitter blasts, press conferences and petition campaigns countered U.S. propaganda. The IAC supported the syringe campaign to inoculate the Cuban people against COVID. We express our steadfast solidarity with the Palestinian people, besieged by U.S.-Israeli aggression, and with other peoples in the Middle East, frequent targets of U.S.-led or U.S.-backed militarism.
Free Alex Saab!
The IAC played a strong role in the emergency fact-finding delegation that traveled to Cabo Verde, off Africa’s west coast, where the U.S. was holding kidnapped Venezuelan diplomat, Alex Saab. He was illegally extradited to Miami three months later for the “crime” of helping sanctioned Venezuela buy food and medicine during this desperate time.
The IAC helped organize demonstrations in New York, Washington, D.C., and Boston, an international petition campaign, and letters to President Joe Biden and the United Nations to protest the seizure of Saab, violating international laws, as he is guaranteed diplomatic immunity. The Alex Saab Defense Committee deserves our full support.
Despite the Biden administration’s grand promises to reevaluate U.S. policies over the last four years, Washington has imposed even harsher sanctions abroad, and increased deportations, including of tens of thousands of Haitians, and re-instituted Trump’s “Return to Mexico” policy aimed mostly at Latin American refugees. This is why we need an independent voice. The IAC needs your help to continue this work.
Sanctions Kill Campaign
The IAC plays a strong role in the Sanctions Kill Campaign, a coalition effort of solidarity organizations that has continued to organize during the pandemic, holding webinars and issuing reports to the U.N. Our organization has developed a toolkit to educate the public about the devastating impact and illegality of sanctions imposed by the U.S., its allies and the U.N., against one‑third of the world’s population in 39 countries.
The IAC’s next big anti-sanctions project is the publication of a 200-page book. It will be a valuable resource to educate thousands of people about this form of warfare that is deadlier than bombs. We need your help to produce this important publication.
U.S. troops may have finally pulled out of Afghanistan, but they have left a country in ruin. By reimposing sanctions and seizing Kabul’s assets, Washington has created an intentional famine. A growing global movement opposes these sanctions, which are a crime against humanity.
No wars abroad!
We call for the U.S. to “Sign the Peace Treaty Now!” with North Korea and end sanctions. We say “U.S. troops and bases out of South Korea!” We condemn the continuing war crimes against the people of Yemen, made possible by U.S. missiles, aircraft supplied to Saudi Arabia, a U.S.-enforced naval blockade and sanctions.
As always, the IAC supports the Puerto Rican people’s struggle for independence. Our organization has demonstrated in solidarity with those opposing the electrical system’s privatization by LUMA, causing great hardships for the people.
The IAC is proud to be a founder of both the United National Antiwar Coalition (UNAC) and the International League of Peoples Struggles (ILPS) These coalitions help to anchor a political movement that is strongly anti-imperialist, and determined to oppose U.S. wars, military maneuvers and installation of military bases worldwide.
The IAC has always opposed all U.S. military interventions, weapons build-ups and threats abroad as a keystone of our program. We say the bloated $778 billion Pentagon allocation to build more weapons and send troops, missiles and warships abroad should instead be used for people’s needs: jobs, affordable housing, food and universal health care.
Exciting news on COVID book!
The IAC was proud to release a groundbreaking book this year, Capitalism on a Ventilator: The Impact of COVID-19 in China and the U.S., a joint project with the China-U.S. Solidarity Network. The pandemic has resulted in 800,000 deaths in the U.S., tripling since the vaccines rolled out, while China has had less than 5,000 fatalities.
This unique anthology by 50 progressive commentators explains why vaccines alone cannot stop the soaring COVID infections and deaths in the U.S., the highest in the world. The book’s distribution and coverage have been suppressed in the U.S. because it tells the truth about the government’s failure to control the pandemic. It scientifically explains the devastating impact of the lack of a coordinated national health plan, and the chaotic for-profit approach to testing and vaccine development. It is exciting that this book is being translated into Chinese and will be published in China.
Your help is needed to produce a video with a young activist team from China. It will expose the U.S.’s slanderous campaign against the Chinese government’s alleged actions in Xinjiang. Every time Washington attacks a country for “violating human rights,” when the U.S. is a flagrant violator, it means the Pentagon is mobilizing for a military escalation. To counter anti-China propaganda, the IAC is launching a campaign to “Reclaim Human Rights as Workers Rights.”
Stop the wars at home!
The IAC joins demonstrations against racist police and vigilante violence around the country. We are in solidarity with the millions of people who were outraged and joined the Black Lives Matter-led marches protesting police killings of George Floyd and so many other people of color.
Our members actively call for the release of African American political prisoner and journalist Mumia Abu-Jamal. The organization is helping to organize and is participating in a Dec. 9 webinar entitled “Free Mumia Abu-Jamal!” Our Philadelphia chapter works with the Mobilization4Mumia coalition. The IAC is also active in a new campaign to free Muslim political prisoner, Dr. Aafia Siddiqui, with demonstrations in five cities.
We join the call to free Indigenous leader, Leonard Peltier, imprisoned thousands of miles from his people. In solidarity with Native nations, IAC members attended the 1,200-strong National Day of Mourning in Plymouth, Massachusetts, on Nov. 25. Boston IAC members provided logistical assistance to this important commemoration.
The IAC condemns the reactionary attacks on reproductive rights and health care. If the U.S. Supreme Court nullifies its pro-choice Roe decision, millions of people will be harmed. We also join in solidarity with the LGBTQ2S+ community in defending their rights and at PRIDE marches.
Remembering Ramsey Clark!
We thank the hundreds of you who participated in the moving international tribute held online in June to Ramsey Clark, IAC founder. He was a courageous and outspoken leader who provided direction and cohesion to our work for three decades. Ramsey Clark is dearly missed, but we are firmly committed to continuing the work he initiated.
Despite the pandemic, the Solidarity Center in which the IAC is housed, is still an organizing hub for many organizations, representing international and U.S. movements. We provide space, equipment and supplies for anti-war, solidarity, anti-racist, immigrant, women’s, disability rights, workers and LGBTQ2S+ organizations.
The Workers Assembly Against Racism, which meets there, expresses solidarity with workers’ campaigns here and abroad. WAAR, a member of the Support Amazon Workers Network, is assisting the Amazon Labor Union, the critical union drive of these workers in Staten Island.
We need your help!
The IAC helps fund the Solidarity Center. Our activism could not happen without our committed donors’ support. Our staff are all volunteers, yet expenses pour in every month.
Our determination is stronger than ever. Your continued backing not only aids our work, but inspires us to do more. Given U.S. militarism and heightened sanctions, and the many crises here, the IAC has to be ready to respond quickly. We are always eager to be in the streets, demonstrating with other forces and making our voices heard.
We hope you give generously. Please donate here to support our work.
In solidarity and with thanks,
International Action Center organizers
International Action Center
People’s Rights Fund
147 W. 24th St., 2nd floor
New York, NY 10011
212.633.6646·www.IACenter.org
You must be logged in to post a comment.