World（各国語版）

Appeal to the people of the Middle East, Europe and all over the world
Let’s Turn the Global Economic Crisis and War into Revolution!

Stop Japanese Imperialist Participation in war in the Middle East and the world war!

Overthrow the Abe Administration by International Workers’ Solidarity!

Rise up for January 26 Emergency Action to rush-to-war parliament session!

Japan Revolutionary Communist League National Committee
http://www.zenshin.org/english

January 25, 2015

On January 20, the armed organization, “Islamic State”, published a warning by video on internet that two Japanese hostages would be executed if Japanese government fails to pay a ransom amounting $200 million within 72 hours. This publication took place at the very moment when Abe, Japanese imperialist Prime Minister, was visiting Middle East countries, including Egypt and Israel, accompanied by 46 bosses of big business, banks, commercial companies and general contractors. The video declaration issued by the IS referred to the proposal of Abe to offer a sum of $200 million to the military operation for the destruction of the IS and that this fund would be spent for the airstrike to kill women and children, destroy houses of Muslims and also to train the troops of the “Coalition”.

War of aggression and the hostage affair on January 20

In response to this declaration, Abe told in a press conference in Israel on January 20 that the fund of $200 million meant to be “humanitarian assistance,” condemned the IS: “Making threats in this way in exchange for human lives is an abhorrent act of terrorism” and stated that his government would take “a response which resolutely does not yield to terrorism.” Japanese press unanimously supported Abe in this response and have been making a campaign, blaming the deed of the IS as “an act of barbarism for the purpose of money” and accusing “unreasonable criticism of the IS on Abe”. Abe, who pretends “to put top priority to human life”, in fact intends to make use of this incident as an opportunity to participate in the aggressive war in the Middle East and to practice the “right of collective self-defense” for the purpose of Japanese imperialist in sacrifice of the lives of the two hostages.

The hostage affair on January 20, in succession of the assault of the Charlie Hebdo office in Paris on January 7, is a manifestation of the explosion of accumulated contradictions of the imperialist world system as a result of the aggravation of the global economic crisis and the bankruptcy of neo-liberalism. It signals a violent conversion of the world crisis into wars of aggression and finally a world war. An explosive situation has come, in which overall development of class struggle labor movement and international solidarity is urgently needed. The time is ripe for proletarian world revolution against imperialism and Stalinism.

What is then the essence of the January 20 hostage affair? What is the core issue it presents to the working class of the world?

First of all, it must be clarified that the root cause of this affair is aggressive war of US, British, French as well as Japanese and German imperialism, that is, of so-called “Coalition” on Iraq and Syria through airstrike. There is not a bit of righteousness in this imperialist war carried out under the name of “war on terror”. Its essence is a war over the natural resources, territory and sphere of influence in the Middle East for the purpose of securing oil. These imperialists do not mind making sacrifice the lives of the people in the Middle East through massacre for their selfish aim.

Both of the January 7 attack in Paris and the January 20 hostage affair may be regarded as explosion of anger in an extremely distorted way against the imperialist war of massacre of the people of the Middle East.

Last August, faced with the imminent collapse of the domination over Iraq and the whole area of the Middle East, US imperialism started airstrike on the armed group IS, which was expanding its territory in Iraq and Syria. It also called for establishing a “Coalition” with the aim “to degrade and destroy the Islamic State”, which resulted in recruiting about 60 countries.

Airstrike on the IS was carried on almost every day mainly by the US, British and French air forces. In six months till today, 1,700 airstrikes took place, bombarding towns and villages of Iraq and Syria, destroying oil fields and carrying out indiscriminate massacre of a huge number of people there.

Prime Minister Abe talked about the ongoing military campaign in the Middle East last September 23 in New York, expressing his unconditional support for the airstrikes on Iraq and Syria and expected “this action will lead to the degrading and destruction of the Islamic State, a threat to the international order and security”. He materially proved his words by donating $25 million for “the operation of destruction (of the IS)”. This time, he promised to offer $200 million, almost 10 times the previous sum. The speech and donation of Abe inevitably triggered violent anger of Muslim people in the Middle East and Japan has become identified as one of the bombing “Coalition.”

The global economic crisis developing into war

Secondly, the most recent visit of Abe to the Middle Eastern countries and his response to the January 20 hostage affair announces his intention to actively participate in the ongoing war of aggression and impending world war.

Carrying out an aggressive Middle East policy in an open defiance of wavering US dominance, the Abe administration is rushing to war in a desperate effort for survival. He is captured by a fear that Japan would collapse if it failed to revive as an imperialist state capable of waging war by its own resource even in sacrifice of the blood of people. On the other hand, he is making an unconvincing excuse that the fund of $200 million is for the purpose of “humanitarian assistance”, scared by the anticipation that his aggressive war drive invites explosion of people’s anger which could trigger proletarian revolution.

The “Coalition” headed by the US is destroying oil fields, houses and human lives. Towns and villages have become ruins and inhabitants are driven from their destroyed communities into refugee camps under the control of the “Coalition”. In the name of “degrading and destroying operation against the Islamic State”, they are actually waging an imperialist war of aggression. Even if a portion of the sum of $200 million is spent for “the rescue of the refugees”, it only means support for the airstrikes of the “Coalition” and constitutes a part of their aggressive war. Thus Japan is participating in the war. Abe’s “humanitarian assistance” is a blatant fraud.

Thirdly, the current global economic crisis is thrusting into “a crisis in the midst of crisis”. In face of unprecedented catastrophic decline of the world system, imperialist and other major countries are fiercely competing against each other for their survival and the whole development is converting into war.

The Middle East is the focus of the critical world situation together with Ukraine and East Asia. And now Japanese political as well as military participation in this region would rapidly accelerate the dangerous development toward world war.

We are now witnessing intensification of fierce and brutal competition of division and re-division of market, resources and territory among world big powers ― US, European and Japanese imperialism, China (remaining Stalinist state) and Russia ― for their desperate survival, which is very reminiscent of the beginning of the 20th century. This is the real consequence of the bankrupt neoliberalism, the last resort of imperialism at its final stage of development.

The Middle East means for imperialism a treasury of vital resources, oil and natural gas. The real nature of the aggressive war in the Middle East in the name of “degradation and destruction of the Islamic State” is strife over oil resources there. Underneath the “Coalition” lies intense contradiction and rivalry among imperialist and other big world powers.

US president Obama made a renewed declaration of prolonged war in the Middle East in his State of the Union Address on January 20 at the Congress: “We will continue to hunt down terrorists and dismantle their networks.”Further, he confirmed his determination to lead a broad coalition “to degrade and ultimately destroy this terrorist group (the IS)”. At the same time, it is a warning to other members of the “Coalition” and any of world powers not to defy US leadership in the war against the “Islamic State”.

The French Socialist administration under the president Hollande, meanwhile, made a separate war declaration that France has gone into a “war on terror” and promised to strengthen security measures at home and to dispatch the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, Charles de Gaul, to the sea of the Middle East.

On the other hand, German imperialism has recently begun to provide Kurdish troops in Iraq with a large volume of weapons and to train Kurdish soldiers in Germany. The aim of German move is to strengthen its ties with the movement for separation and independence of 30 million Kurdish people and to secure oil resources in the Kurdish area in Iraq. Now, 70 years after the end of World War II, German imperialism has at last launched a war drive for its survival in the brutal rivalry with other imperialist and world powers.

In face of these intense developments of conflicting world imperialist powers, the Abe administration in Japan has made a decisive step in participating in the Middle East war. The cabinet decision of allowing exercise of the right of collective self-defense on last July 1, lifting of arms export prohibition, a large-scale armament plan and preparation for the historical statement on the 70^th commemoration day of the end of World War II ― all these moves of Abe are attempts to make a new epoch in the history in line with similar German scheme and promote war crisis.

The aim of the recent visit of Abe to four Middle East countries, namely Egypt, Jordan, Israel and Palestine, accompanied by a number of capitalist bosses, is to intervene in the rivalry over the oil resources in this region with other world powers. He intends not only to buy oil from these countries, but also to strengthen “package export”—export of infrastructure equipments and their whole operation system with know-hows—of subways, airports etc. in confrontation with international rivals. For this purpose, Abe tries to offer assistance to reactionary regimes in this region, the Egyptian Sisi government, a strangler of the Egyptian revolution, and Netanyahu administration of Israel, which is repeating massacre of Palestinian people.

The Abe administration has decided to put an unprecedented huge amount of money (5 Trillion yen = $43 Billion) in defense budget to promote a large-scale armament and to construct a “permanent military base overseas” of Japanese Self-Defense Forces in Djibouti, a strategic location at the entrance of the Red Sea and the Suez Canal. We must crush this ultra-reactionary scheme of Japanese imperialism.

Thus there is a general violent trend of US, European and Japanese imperialism toward war, a world war. We are on the eve of a world war. The Middle East, Ukraine and East Asia are to be the ignition points of world war. World War III should never be started. Let’s overthrow imperialism by revolution and stop world war!

Class unity and Marxism

Workers of the world, unite! It is urgent to achieve this task to confront today’s situation.

Class struggle labor movement and international labor solidarity is the decisive power to turn the global economic crisis and war into proletarian world revolution against imperialism and Stalinism.

Let’s rise up now!

Fourthly, we must make it clear that the current political line, thought and way of action of the Islamist armed groups is not capable of liberating working class and other people of the world or completely overthrowing of imperialism.

Originally the Islamic armed groups, such as al-Qaeda and the “Islamic State”, are distortion of indignation and despair which were accumulated in the long history of imperialist domination, oppression and wars of aggression in the Middle East on the one hand, and Stalinist betrayal and reactionary political role against the struggle of people there since the establishment of the post-war world system, i.e. division and domination of the world by imperialism and Stalinism on the other hand.

Concretely speaking, al-Qaeda and the IS were originally brought up by US imperialists and the reactionary ruling class of the Middle East countries to carry out their divide-and-rule policy in this region. These armed groups are to be defined as armed counter-revolution who have been carrying out wholesale brutal assaults on militant workers, labor movement and Kurdish people, and actually playing a role of the agents of the US and the reactionary ruling class in the Middle East. They put no confidence in unity of working class and destroy it. They also attack and destroy international labor solidarity.

In order to confront and win a victory over these Islamic armed groups, we need Marxism, in other words, the thought, theory and political line of workers’ self-emancipation. Its strategic materialization is: proletarian world revolution against imperialism and Stalinism.

Let's forge unity and solidarity with working class in the Middle East who have been heroically and unyieldingly fighting for emancipation and strengthen our class struggle labor movement! Squarely confronting ongoing chauvinist campaign and imperialist war drive, let's turn the global economic crisis and war into revolution!

National railway struggle has a key position for the victory of revolution

Fifthly, it is important to note that fierce war drive of imperialists doesn’t demonstrate their strength.

Raging waves of the global economic crisis in historic magnitude is mercilessly hitting US, European and Japanese imperialism and intensifying their system crisis and bankruptcy. Forced implementation of neoliberal policy ― privatization, outsourcing, job irregularization (expansion of casual employment), wage cut, dismissal, a large-scale unemployment and impoverishment ― all these neoliberal aggression have aroused workers' indignation, which produces frequent strikes and demonstrations everywhere. Class struggle is intensifying and expanding all over the world. “All governments are sleeping on a volcano” (The Collapse of the Second International, Lenin).

In Europe, a historic upsurge of working class has been launched under the global economic crisis. Greek workers are followed by Spanish, Italian and then French, German and British colleagues in their fresh struggle to overcome co-opted labor movement, confronting chauvinism. Uprising of working class is the underlying cause that drives imperialist ruling class to wage aggressive war overseas and tightening security measures at home in the name of “eradication of terror”. The warning cry of “war on terror” is to confess that they are scared by imminent proletarian revolution. Time of tremendous world upheaval like 1930’s, a decisive epoch of war or revolution has come. We are facing with a superb opportunity to achieve world revolution by overthrowing imperialism together with its war drive.

At this very moment, the Japan Communist Party, a Stalinist party, is supporting Abe’s “war on terror” and making efforts to justify imperialist war of aggression. In 1930’s the USSR Stalinist regime brutally suppressed revolutionary uprising of working class and participated in WWII, an imperialist war, falsely describing it as “war of democracy vs Fascism”. It resulted in mobilizing the working class in bloodshed for imperialism. JCP is now following the same crime. Without confronting and defeating Stalinism, our victory in proletarian revolution is impossible.

In Japanese labor scene, we are faced with imperialist labor movement under the leadership of Rengo (Japan Trade Union Confederation) and other co-opted labor movement who are playing a role of imperialist spearhead. Our task is to crush all these reactionary tendencies and to fight out national railway struggle as well as struggle of public service workers as pivotal issue of Japanese labor movement against neoliberal aggression.

Let’s follow the exemplar unflinching struggle of Doro-Chiba (National Railway Motive Power Union of Chiba) and Doro-Mito (National Railway Motive Power Union of Mito) against privatization and outsourcing and strengthen and develop class struggle labor movement and international labor solidarity. It is the only way to confront and crush imperialist aggression of Abe administration ― actual engagement in war, constitutional revision, and building of a state capable of waging war.

Let’s join the emergency action sponsored by Zengakuren (All Japan Federation of Student Autonomous Bodies) to on January 26 in front of the Diet building to protest against the start of war driving session of the Parliament!

Let’s organize National Railway Struggle Rally on February 15 nation-wide to fight against a new JR (Japan Railway Company) timetables aiming to abolish local lines on March 14, and stand up for the Spring Labor Offensive.

Overthrow the Abe administration of Japanese imperialism by explosive success of national railway struggle, anti-nuke struggle and militant demonstration on June 15, a commemoration day of the Ampo (Japan-US Security Treaty) struggle in 1960.