Selective Internationalism: An Activist Disorder

Some 80,000 people rallied in London over the weekend to support the Palestinians of the Gaza Strip whom Israeli forces are slaughtering daily by the dozens. This commendable display of internationalism, defined as unconditional solidarity with the oppressed and the exploited without regard to borders, colors, or creeds, was repeated all over the U.S. and Europe as thousands turned out at similar marches, even defying a government ban in Paris. Bringing this street sentiment into the halls of power, Chile’s parliament voted to suspend trade talks with Israel.

Stop the War Coalition’s Pro-Imperialist Anti-Imperialism

British group Stop the War Coalition’s (StWC) statement on the Russian invasion of Ukraine is just another example of its pro-imperialist anti-imperialism. Whereas Lenin saw wars as the continuation of political struggle and derived his stance from a thorough analysis of all sides involved and an independent evaluation of where the interests of the workers’ movement lay in a given conflict, StWC leader Lindsey German merely looks at which side has the backing or involvement of Western governments as if Western imperialism were the only imperialism or as if Russian imperialism does not exist. She admonishes people who demand that StWC take the same “hands off” position on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine that it took regarding a U.S. military strike on Syria: