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.
Free Alex Saab!
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.
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!
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!
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!
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.
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
