Contribution by the Workers’ Party of Ireland to the
17th International Meeting of Communist and Workers’ Parties
The tasks of Communist and Workers’ Parties to strengthen the struggle of the working class against capitalist exploitation, imperialist wars and fascism, for workers’ and peoples’ emancipation, for socialism. Speech delivered by Gerry Grainger, International Secretary of the Workers’ Party of Ireland.
Dear Comrades,
The Workers’ Party of Ireland would like to thank our comrades from the Communist Party, Turkey, for hosting this IMCWP. We extend our best wishes, solidarity and support to the Communist Party, Turkey for the forthcoming elections, which take place at a time of increasing authoritarianism and reaction and which follow a series of murderous attacks on mass mobilisations of the people.
The situation in Turkey, in fact, illustrates many of the most serious challenges facing the working class in the region, and across the globe. The growth of religiously-inspired nationalisms, which objectively or subjectively serve the interests of the major imperialist powers and capitalist exploitation, is a serious challenge that must be overcome in the struggle for workers’ and peoples’ emancipation.
Daesh/ISIS is only the most recent barbaric example of this phenomenon, an occurrence fostered by the imperialist powers in their struggle against the USSR and the socialist states, and also against communist and other secular and progressive forces. By seeking to divide the working class, by murdering those opposed to reaction, theocracy and obscurantism, by offering no threat to and by objectively reinforcing the capitalist economic order, Daesh/ISIS, like Al Qaeda and similar groups, acts in the interests of imperialism.
The promotion of these groups is part of a wider agenda pursued by the US and the EU, by imperialism and its allies in the Middle East designed to destroy, dismember and partition any state that is not totally subservient to imperialism, its stratagems, designs and demands.
US-EU-NATO support for the coup in Ukraine, the history of imperialism’s alliance with obscurantist, reactionary forces in Afghanistan, its use and manipulation of jihadis in Libya and Syria illustrate the historical and current connections between imperialism and these backward, reactionary forces. The covert and overt political and military interference in Syria by the USA and NATO in collaboration with its puppets in the region illustrate the appetite of imperialism for war.
In Syria the forces of reaction continue their onslaught against the Syrian people, causing death, injury, migration, social and economic devastation, the destruction of vital infrastructure and civic and state institutions, worsened by the cruel sanctions imposed by the US, the EU and their allies.
At the time of our meeting we must also take this opportunity to highlight and condemn the continuing violence against Palestinians at the hands of the Israeli state. The US support for Israeli policies, its strategic co-operation, the massive economic and military assistance, the promotion of Israel and the collusion in Israel’s expansionism, aggression and crimes against humanity remains a major impediment to peace and progress in the Middle East. The EU punishes Palestinians by withholding grant aid, while the criminal actions of the Israeli State are appeased by the decision to grant that state preferential trading rights under Article 2 of the Euro-Mediterranean Association Agreement.
We must recognise the right of the Palestinian people to resist the occupation, reaffirming our support for and solidarity with the Palestinian people in their just struggle to regain their legitimate and inalienable rights, including the right to self-determination and the establishment of an independent and sovereign state.
As an immediate step it is necessary for the communist and workers parties to demand an end to systematic discrimination against Palestinians in the state of Israel; an end to Israeli attacks against Gaza; an end to the blockade; an end to collective punishments; the removal of Israeli occupation forces from all Palestinian and Arab territories; the immediate end of all political, economic and military agreements between the US/EU and Israel; an end to the settlements and the withdrawal of the settlers; and the immediate release from custody of all Palestinian political prisoners in Israeli detention. It is the task of the communist and workers’ parties to develop an effective strategy to advance these demands, to isolate the Israeli state and to strengthen solidarity links with the Palestinian people.
The global systemic crisis of capitalism continues. Capital has sought to place the burden of the economic crisis on the working class. The working class has experienced, and continues to experience, a deterioration in working conditions in which wages have been forced down in real terms, pension benefits have been decimated, labour has been casualised through compulsory, part-time, temporary and agency working, “social dumping” and the massive increase in precarious work, and health, education and social welfare services are consistently attacked. Mass unemployment, poverty and homelessness is a reality for millions in the capitalist world.
Capitalism is inherently and irredeemably flawed. It cannot be reformed. By its very nature it is exploitative and oppressive. The rich become richer, the poor poorer. Working people across the world are confronted with rising unemployment, precarious work, a dramatic decrease in real income, increasing prices for food and the essentials of life, decreasing expenditure on health, education, housing, welfare and social services, raised retirement ages, attacks on pensions, increased levels of poverty, homelessness, hunger and emigration. We stand for an end to the capitalist system itself and the abolition of the bourgeois state. The ruling class, the capitalist class, will never voluntarily surrender its power without being forced to do so. The weapon in the hands of the working class and the means of securing their emancipation is the power of class struggle.
There is a necessity for a transformation from capitalism to socialism. Socialist/communist and capitalist relations of production cannot coexist. Power will be held by the capitalist class or the working class. The means of production will be socially owned or owned by the capitalists. Class antagonisms cannot be eliminated under capitalism, capitalism cannot be humanised, a rupture with capitalism is necessary.
In the struggle against capitalist exploitation and imperialist war we must set out the roles of the EU and NATO. The EU is a centralised, militarised, imperialist inter-state alliance which acts in the interests of big capital and the monopolies. This is clearly demonstrated by the plans for the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) and the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA). It collaborates with the US and NATO, actively participating in open imperialist aggression as demonstrated in its interventions in Ukraine.
The current economic crisis has led to increased competition and rivalry and a further sharpening of contradictions between the capitalist states and their respective imperialist alliances to reinforce their geopolitical positions, their share of the markets, raw materials, energy and other resources and transport routes.
The general crisis of capitalism intensifies imperialist aggression. The increased aggressiveness of imperialism poses a real and urgent threat to the interests of all humanity. The US, EU and NATO which actively promoted and supported the counter-revolution in Europe seek to increase their advantage by pressing further east. In Ukraine the existing capitalist crisis led to a political crisis within the Ukrainian bourgeois class. Pressing forward with plans to enlarge the EU eastwards to include Ukraine the EU and US provoked a situation in Ukraine which led to a coup d’état, the overthrow of the elected government and the violent accession to power by a rightist elite (which contained a number of neo-fascists) in Kiev. The working people of Ukraine have become hostages of the inter-imperialist contradictions of the various imperialist groups.
During the existence of the socialist states in Europe NATO was a military instrument of imperialism amounting to a permanent threat to the peoples of the world who were building socialism. NATO has enlarged rapidly and significantly and designed a global remit for its operations. It constantly strives to expand its influence both in terms of the breadth of its agenda and its global reach. The role of NATO and the EU poses ever new dangers.
Each year we are witnessing thousands of people fleeing violence, insecurity, and persecution at home attempt a treacherous journey across the Mediterranean to reach Europe. The current displacement of huge masses of dispossessed people is not a natural phenomenon.
It is necessary to expose the irresponsible posturing of fascist and racist organisations, which utilise ignorance and myth to create a false climate of fear in an attempt to carve out a political space for themselves and to reject the opportunist dissimulation which, lacking a clear class analysis and internationalist perspective, reduces the phenomenon to a question of mere “hospitality” and “charity”, deliberately avoiding exposing the real causes and responsibilities for this mass exodus.
Exploitation by capitalist forces, globally and nationally, has plunged the workers and poor of many countries into poverty, famine, misery and despair. The crises in Syria, Libya, Iraq and throughout the Middle East caused and manipulated by the imperialist powers and their proxies intent upon foreign intervention have created a situation which through conflict and war has forced hundreds of thousands from their homes.
We also see the growth of fascism across Europe. Fascism arises from the capitalist system and its rise corresponds to the deepening and sharpening contradictions in capitalism. Fascism is the outworking of capitalism in crisis. The capitalist crisis, the politics of austerity provide fertile ground. The destruction of public education and public health, attacks on social security systems, the erosion of workers’ rights, the elimination of social gains and achievements, the growth of racism, xenophobia, attacks on migrant workers and refugees, anti-communism and increasing state repression represent a threat to workers and the workers’ movement.
The task before us is difficult and complex corresponding to the conditions in which we operate. The central issue of a socialist strategy is, accordingly, to create the objective and subjective conditions for a revolutionary transformation of society. In order to attain such conditions it is necessary not only to build the vanguard party but to have on board the broad popular masses of the working class, the working people of the country. The leading role of the working class is secured by conscious planned action. In this respect the revolutionary party must be prepared to take the necessary steps to raise and strengthen class consciousness, to operate at every level, to construct a firm presence in every factory, workplace and neighbourhood, and to build an organisation capable of taking power for the working class.
It is the task of our parties to strengthen ourselves politically, ideologically and organisationally in order that we may accomplish these tasks.