http://www.worldsocialforum.info
05 July 2010

The solution of the crisis is to demilitarize EU economy

The European Union is not the “soft power” it meant to be. The European Social Forum War and peace Assembly called the social movements to mobilize towards another Europe still possible

The war and peace assembly denounces that at a time of economic crisis, European states are
increasing their military budgets and trade of weapons. The European Union is not the “soft
power” it meant to be. To protect peace and social needs, we call peace and antiwar movements to
join the trade unions protest on the 29th of September.
We support the Week of Action against the NATO summit of 15-21 November 2010 in Lisbon in
order to oppose the new NATO strategy that is a major obstacle to achieving world peace. We call
for an immediate end of the war in Afghanistan and the withdrawal of the troops, and we are ready
to mobilize for the tragic anniversary of the invasion on 8-9 October.
The assembly strongly supports the mobilization of Kurdish and Turkish movements for a peaceful
and democratic solution of the Kurdish issue, there is no military way out of the conflict. We stand
in solidarity with the Kurdish elected representatives that will be on trial on 18 October for simply
defending human rights of their people.
The military occupation of Cyprus should come to an end, to allow peaceful life on the island.
We urge for a peaceful Caucasus and invite everybody to participate in the peace conference in June
2011 in Tbilissi.
We mourn the loss of those killed by the Israeli military while trying to break the illegal siege
of Gaza and call for accountability of those responsible. This assembly stands in solidarity with
the Palestinian people and the Israeli movements for justice for Palestinians and endorses the
Palestinian civil society call for a campaign of boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) against
Israel until it complies with Palestinian rights based on international law. We call for an escalation
of coordinated campaigns against institutions and companies complicit with Israeli violations
of Palestinian rights such as Carmel-Agrexco, against the complicity of European governments
with Israeli impunity and the EU-Israel Association Agreement. The whole region needs to be
denuclearized, as stated again in the NPT conference, and Mordechai Vanunu deserves freedom and
honour for his courauge to reveal the Israeli nuclear arsenal.
The European Social Forum, that was a fundamental space to organize the huge 2003 mobilization
against the war in Iraq, does not forget the suffering of Iraqi people and supports its human rights
groups, unions and social movements through the Iraqi Civil Society Solidarity Initiative that will
meet in Paris in the first week of December.
The assembly supports actions and campaigns to stop private military and security companies, and
campaigns against the militarization of European borders, such as the week of mobilization against
Frontex on 27-31 August in Greece and actions in Bruxelles on 24 September - 3 October.
All these causes and campaigns will be celebrated in the International Day of Peace, 21 September,
and in the Thematic Social Forum for a Culture of Peace in Santiago de Compostela on 9-12
December, for the global demilitarization, denuclearization of economies and societies.


                                              

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