posted 04-06-2003 02:13 AM            

Dear Friends,

Please consider joining me in adding your name to the following statement. Thousands of people have already done so, including Ezequiel Adamovsky, Vittorio Agnoletto, Michael Albert, Tariq Ali, Patrick Bond, Leslie Cagan, Noam Chomsky, Bill Fletcher, Eduardo Galeano, Susan George, Marta Harnecker, Boris Kagarlitsky, George Monbiot, Suren Moodlar, Hector Mondragon, Tanya Reinhart, Carola Reintjes, Arundhati Roy, Lydia Sargent and Howard Zinn.

If, after reading it, you like what it has to say, take a few seconds to visit http://www.zmag.org/wspj and add your name to the list of endorsers.

The statement was released on March 27, 2003, and already more than 56637 people have signed on! Here it is...

"I stand for peace and justice.

I stand for democracy and autonomy. I don’t think the U.S. or any other country should ignore the popular will and violate and weaken international law, seeking to bully and bribe votes in the Security Council.

I stand for internationalism. I oppose any nation spreading an ever expanding network of military bases around the world and producing an arsenal unparalleled in the world.

I stand for equity. I don’t think the U.S. or any other country should seek empire. I don’t think the U.S. ought to control Middle Eastern oil on behalf of U.S. corporations and as a wedge to gain political control over other countries.

I stand for freedom. I oppose brutal regimes in Iraq and elsewhere but I also oppose the new doctrine of "preventive war," which guarantees permanent and very dangerous conflict, and is the reason why the U.S. is now regarded as the major threat to peace in much of the world. I stand for a democratic foreign policy that supports popular opposition to imperialism, dictatorship, and political fundamentalism in all its forms.

I stand for solidarity. I stand for and with all the poor and the excluded. Despite massive disinformation millions oppose unjust, illegal, immoral war, and I want to add my voice to theirs. I stand with moral leaders all over the world, with world labor, and with the huge majority of the populations of countries throughout the world.

I stand for diversity. I stand for an end to racism directed against immigrants and people of color. I stand for an end to repression at home and abroad.

I stand for peace. I stand against this war and against the conditions, mentalities, and institutions that breed and nurture war and injustice.

I stand for sustainability. I stand against the destruction of forests, soil, water, environmental resources, and biodiversity on which all life depends.

I stand for justice. I stand against economic, political, and cultural institutions that promote a rat race mentality, huge economic and power inequalities, corporate domination even unto sweatshop and slave labor, racism, and gender and sexual hierarchies.

I stand for a policy that redirects the money used for war and military spending to provide healthcare, education, housing, and jobs.

I stand for a world whose political, economic, and social institutions foster solidarity, promote equity, maximize participation, celebrate diversity, and encourage full democracy.

posted 04-06-2003 02:27 AM            

Update: Today, April 5, Subcomandante Marcos and the EZLN General Command of 77 comandantes signed onto the WSPJ statement without conditions, supporting it and offering friendly criticisms and proposals in several communiques (at this link), including proposing that: 1. the statement be enriched through "reflection of the common people" and that "international civil society to learn about, discuss, enrich and sign said statement"; 2. "different bodies which are created to coordinate efforts and carry out joint actions should regularly inform the public on the activities they carry out and the number of signatures that are accumulating"; and, 3. "on May 1, 2003, International Worker's Day, a worldwide report should be given on the progress of this initiative."

http://www.zmag.org/wspj/ezln.cfm

Today (April 5, 2003) we received a communique from Subcomandante Marcos of the EZLN (the Zapatistas in Chiapas, Mexico), adding signatures and support of the statement on behalf of the entire Clandestine Revolutionary Indigenous Committee - General Command (CCRI-CG) of the EZLN, representing 77 commandantes and tens of thousands of Zapatistas. Marcos also noted substantial comments and criticisms. The communiques are included below in their entirety. We are pleased and honored to count the EZLN among the backers of the WSPJ statement.


#1
Zapatista Army of National Liberation

Mexico.

April of 2003.

To: The promoters of the We Are Working For Peace and Justice Manifesto,

From: CCRI-CG of the EZLN,
Mountains of the Mexican Southeast.

In the name of the Clandestine Revolutionary Indigenous Committee - General Command of the Zapatista Army of National Liberation in Mexico, I am asking you to attach my signature to the We Are Working For Peace and Justice manifesto, with the understanding that it includes the signatures of all the members of the CCRI-CG of the EZLN.

We are also informing you that we have taken the liberty of preparing a communiqué inviting civil society of Mexico and of the world to promote the knowledge, discussion, enrichment and signing of the manifesto. We hope that you do not object, but if you think that our initiative could be detrimental to the purpose which inspires the statement, you need only let us know and we will respectfully step aside.

Regardless, we are letting you know that we welcome your initiative, and we are quite proud to know that there are intellectuals who turn towards the people of below and who do not allow themselves to be seduced by the color-blind eye of the Cyclops of Power.

The right to rebellion, to defy those who oppress us with various alibis (always the gods of Power and Money with different masks), is universal. Saying NO to the indifference which goes hand in hand with the current war in Iraq is a duty, and it is also universal.

Vale. Salud and may the world which is to come have the distinctive signature of no one.

From the mountains of the Mexican southeast.

By the Clandestine Revolutionary Indigenous Committee - General Command of the Zapatista Army of National Liberation.

Subcomandante Insurgente Marcos

Mexico, April of 2003.

******************************

#2

Zapatista Army of National Liberation
Mexico.
April of 2003.
For: Adolfo Gilly
From: Sup Marcos

As you can see in the attached communiqué and letter, we have decided to sign the We Are Working For Peace and Justice document. The explicit signature of the entire CCRI-CG of the EZLN is not possible for the obvious reasons of time and distance, but all of theirs go in mine.

We think that the document is well born, that is, it was not created out of the stupid, petty calculations of a political class like the Mexican one, who are being made sensitive to a war in another place (the fact that the Mexican senate is calling for a march is ridiculous; their members voted in favor of a local war against the Indian peoples) by the elections, but by thinking people who are sincerely concerned about what is happening and about what will be happening.

Although we have seen some omissions in the text, we have decided to sign it without conditions, because we thank that its enrichment should be the product of reflection by the common people, by citizens throughout the world (which, if we are not mistaken, is the spirit which inspires the manifesto).

Even so, we believe it is advisable to note that the statement does not make a clear differentiation between the North American government and the people of the United States of America. Bearing in mind that many people in the American Union have mobilized and have promoted acts of civil disobedience in response to this war, it seems to us that it a distinction in that regard would not be uncalled-for. The public declarations by North American academics, intellectuals, artists, religious persons, workers in alternative media, students and citizens against the war - even in counterpoint to the warlike manipulation by the large communications corporations - have made us see quite clearly that this is a war by the Bush government, not by the people of the United States. It seems to us that the purpose of this initiative is to question the people, not the governments, about the war, and so we should also include the North American people.

Lastly, I am letting you know that we are now sending an email to http://www.zmag.org so that the EZLN's signature can be included in the document.

Vale. Salud and may the universal sense of indignation be seen in all colors, including those which walk north of the Rio Grande.

From the mountains of the Mexican Southeast.
Subcomandante Insurgente Marcos
Mexico, April of 2003.

************************************************************

#3

Communiqué from the Clandestine Revolutionary Indigenous Committee - General Command of the Zapatista Army of National Liberation.
Mexico.
April of 2003.
To the People of Mexico:
To the Peoples of the World:

Brothers and Sisters:

In violation of international laws and those of reason and humanity, the governments of the United States and of Great Britain, with support from other governments of the world, have invaded Iraqi territory. The attack on Iraq is just one page in the script of terror which the power of money has prepared for the entire planet.

At this moment, the war is claiming direct victims, primarily among civilian men, women, children and old ones. The destruction which the military forces of the United States and Great Britain are bringing about will provoke more civilian deaths and more misery for the Iraqi people.

Throughout the world honest persons have demonstrated in order to show their repudiation of this war. It should be noted that it has been primarily the young persons, women and children who have raised up their NO to the war with the greatest firmness.

As never before in history, this war has provoked a universal feeling of rejection - even though it has not yet been reflected in all its magnitude - in the mobilizations which have been carried out on the five continents.

As part of the acts in repudiation of this war, a group of persons from several countries recently announced the We Are Working For Peace and Justice statement, a document which attempts to define a clear and universal position against the war in Iraq. Among the document's many virtues is that of going beyond the current situation provoked by the present war conflict, promoting a serious and intercontinental reflection against neoliberalism and the destructive effects of globalization. They have also proposed a dynamic of dissemination and discussion from below, with the people, not with the political class.

Those who initiated the statement have said that their objective is to promote it among all the people, throughout the world, who are against the war, including the zapatistas.

In consideration of the above, the EZLN says its word:

First - The EZLN welcomes this worldwide initiative and all the mobilizations which have been carried out in order to repudiate the death and destruction in the Middle East.

Second - Consequently, the EZLN is signing the We Are Working For Peace and Justice statement, without any conditions. The CCRI-CG of the EZLN, commits, through the signature of its spokesperson, the word of its 77 comandantes, and it is now undertaking its dissemination in the 2222 zapatista villages and communities throughout Mexico.

Third - The EZLN is calling on Mexican and international civil society to learn about, discuss, enrich and sign said statement. We are especially calling on young people, women and children to embrace this statement and to promote it throughout the world.

Fourth - The EZLN is directing itself particularly to individuals and social and non-governmental organizations in Mexico to undertake a national campaign of dissemination of the We Are Working For Peace and Justice document, promoting its discussion, enrichment and signing.

The EZLN is especially asking the Zapatista Front of National Liberation (FZLN), in unity with social organizations, groups and individuals, independents and critics of the political parties, to set up tables for information, discussion and the collection of signatures, and to form brigades which, with the same objective, will travel to schools, neighborhoods, factories, businesses, villages, ejidos, communities, and anyplace else where honest and noble people exist, in order to invite them to join in the repudiation of the war. The EZLN is proposing that, in said tables and brigades, they inform and discuss, not just the current war in Iraq, but also the disastrous consequences of neoliberal policies and globalization in our lands, denouncing the accomplices and local operatives of those policies of death and destruction.

Fifth - The EZLN is directing itself to the committees in solidarity with the zapatista struggle in Europe, in Latin America and in the rest of the world, to solicit, respectfully, in their countries, and in accordance with their means and ingenuity, promoting the manifesto, knowledge about it, discussion, enrichment and signatures.

The EZLN is making a special and respectful request to the North American and British peoples, to their organizations and individuals, artists, intellectuals and religious persons, to - whether by signing this document or through other means - distance themselves from the murderous madness of their respective governments.

Sixth - The EZLN is proposing that the different bodies which are created to coordinate efforts and carry out joint actions should regularly inform the public on the activities they carry out and the number of signatures that are accumulating, in addition to communicating by web page with the people who initiated the document: http://www.zmag.org

Seventh - The EZLN is proposing that on May 1, 2003, International Worker's Day, a worldwide report should be given on the progress of this initiative.

Brothers and sisters:

We cannot remain silent in the face of what is now going on. While our governments are pretending to be concerned about peace, while our governments are fighting among themselves for what will remain of a destroyed country, while our governments are lamenting the war because of the possible drop in profits by the big companies, while our governments are refusing a public and clear definition of condemnation of those who are carrying out a war against all of humanity, ...we cannot make cynicism and indifference a new religion.

Signing a document could appear to be little for some, but it is not just the signing that is being proposed, but its discussion and enrichment. The signing of the statement does not involve abandoning the carrying out of other mobilizations. On the contrary, it will allow more people to participate, more people to listen, and more people to be involved in a movement that is worldwide, like the war which has provoked it. What is important to the zapatistas is not so much the number of signatures, but the rebellion and defiance which inspire them.

In all ways, in all places, in all languages and with all colors, we are saying: NO to the war!

Democracy!
Liberty!
Justice!

From the mountains of the Mexican Southeast.