On Saturday London hosted a historic conference against war and militarism. Three thousand packed in to Westminster Central Hall, over a thousand of whom came from at least 27 countries outside of the UK, including hundreds from France, over a hundred from Spain and at least fifty from Germany.
This was the second conference of a movement that was initiated at a huge conference at the Dôme de Paris last October.
Proceedings started with a trade union and activists’ assembly which discussed key issues and campaigns, including spiralling arms spending, the spread of conscription, Islamophobia, threats to Cuba and much more.
The main conference sessions were heard in two huge halls simultaneously because of the numbers.
In the Great Hall the first session opened with a celebration of the unprecedented Palestine movement in Britain and then proceeded with an international discussion about the spread of war across the globe.
Members of parliaments and trade union leaders were joined by anti-war and pro-Palestine activists from the USA to Iran and Bahrain, including Mustafa Barghouti from the Palestinian National Initiative. The conference was also addressed by Ukrainian and Russian activists.
The final session focussed on resistance to the growing drive to war across Europe and the social cuts that they are being used to justify. It was addressed by a wide range of MPs, anti-war activists and trade union representatives.
The conference adopted a statement that had been prepared at a delegate meeting on Friday. As well as summarising the key issues that we confront, the statement called for three international days of demonstration and action.
The first a joint international day of demonstrations in support of a free Palestine on 10 October. The second, a day of action proposed by dockworkers in Italy, France and Greece whose date will be agreed shortly. The third, an international weekend of demonstrations against militarism, the drive to war and conscription on 21 and 22 November.
The atmosphere throughout was defiant but also hugely enthusiastic. Speeches were received with massive applause, cheering and chanting. There was a strong feeling that a major advance had been made for the movement against war and social cuts. As delegates left the building they spontaneously sang the Internationale in many different languages.
The conference showed that there is a growing mood to organise against the drive to war.
It is vital that everywhere the movement builds on the great success of this conference. We call on anti-war activists to start organising now to get trade unions to adopt the statement at national regional and branch level, to publicise the days of action and to widen the movement for welfare and against warfare in every way possible.
