A statement from a left communist perspective upon the Paris
attack has appeared and the Socialist Party can fully agree with its sentiments and
believe it deserves a wider audience hence we republish here on our blog
“Allons enfants de la
patrie, le jour de gloire est arrivé...”
(“Let’s go, children of the fatherland, the day of glory has
arrived...” – the opening of the ‘Marseillaise, the French national anthem)
The Marseillaise is popular again. The bloodthirsty song
rises again from thousands of throats on French squares, before sport events
and concerts, in the Sorbonne and in the parliament: “Amour
sacré de la patrie, conduis, soutiens nos bras vengeurs!” (“Sacred love of
the fatherland, lead, support our vengeful arms!”) On Facebook a campaign was
started to exhort users all over the world to change their profile in the
colors of the French national flag.
Do not sing the Marseillaise.
Do not change your FB profile into the colors of the French
national flag.
Do not fall in the trap of the war-mongering media.
The terrorist attacks in Paris were horrific and
repulsive. But nationalism is not the
answer; it spreads the poison further. It may be true that most people who now
sing the Marseillaise, or change their FB-profile into the French colors, only
want to express their solidarity with the victims. But at a moment like this,
it is important to know what the symbols, around which we are asked to close
ranks, represent. Under the French tricolor, millions were sent to their death,
in wars for worse than nothing. Under this banner, atrocities were committed
(in Algeria and elsewhere) that were even worse than those of ISIS, while
singing the Marseillaise: “Qu'un sang
impur abreuve nos sillons!” (“May their impure blood water our furrows!”)
We don’t want to single out France: other national flags and
anthems are equally blood-drenched. ISIS
itself is not a religious movement; it simply uses religion as a flag and
anthem to recruit cannon-fodder for its real goal: to control territory, to
gain power, to amass capital. It seizes
opportunities arising in the context of war and economic crisis in the Middle
East to establish its own state. A state at war, and in war, as the history of
France, the US, Germany and just about any other country illustrates: all is
permitted.
What did ISIS have to gain from the attacks in Paris?
Continuous recruitment is essential for the so-called Islamic state, it needs
it to wage war and to control its territory. The attacks favor its recruitment
in two ways: first, as a demonstration of power, which increases its appeal for
young people who feel angry and powerless. Secondly, the attacks fan the hatred
of Muslims and thus the ill treatment of Muslims, pushing more of them into the
tentacles of ISIS. Furthermore, ISIS
needs to stop the exodus of refugees out of Syria. It cannot permit the
emptying of the territory it controls or wants to conquer. Contrary to what’s
often claimed, it does not get its main income from oil-exports or from Saudi
subsidies but from the exploitation, in various ways, of the population in the
areas it controls. So those who use the attacks to fan hatred for Islam and to
keep the refugees out, do exactly what ISIS hoped they would do.
The problem is not Islam. The global system is in crisis and
this crisis creates situations in which waging war becomes very profitable. The
warring parties feed on each other. The civilian casualties of drones and
missiles feed the Islamist propaganda; the Islamist atrocities feed the
belligerent, nationalist, anti-other ideologies in the West which prepare the
way for more war.
The first thing president Hollande did after the attacks was
to send planes to bombard Raqqa, a large city that is said to be the capital of
the IS. One wonders: had these planes “clean” military targets for what became
the largest bombardment of Raqqa so far? If so, why weren’t they hit
before? And if they were not, how many
civilians were killed in Raqqa? Will the media tell us? Will there be a campaign on Facebook to put
the flag of ISIS on our profile, in solidarity with the innocent victims that
fell on its territory? Or will the mangled corpses only be seen on the Islamist
social media?
Revenge. Reprisal. Retaliation. The deeper the crisis
becomes, the more we risk to see of it. The wars, the terrorist attacks, the
massive unemployment and uncertainty, the ecological catastrophes, the swelling
stream of refugees, all show that the systemic, global crisis of capitalism
brings with it ever more social disruption, violence and destruction. The real problem is in society’s foundations
and as long as they remain intact –as long as capitalism survives- the spiral
will only widen.
Changing the foundations, changing the purpose and means of
human relations, ending capitalism, can only come as a result of massive
collective struggle, which does not exist today. Nobody knows what the future
will bring. But we do know it’s not written yet. What we do or don’t matters.
It matters that we don’t passively accept the logic of capital. It matters that
we refuse to sing the national anthem together with those who exploit and
oppress us. It matters that we stand in solidarity with the victims of wars and
terrorist attacks, whether they are French or Turk, Arab or Jew, black or
white, without embracing any of the war-making parties. It matters that we raise our voices against
the calls to close borders, erect walls, keep out refugees, and engage in more
war. It matters that we say no! to more control, more police violence, more
austerity in the name of national security. It matters that we refuse to help
dig our own graves. It matters that we demonstrate that none of the problems
facing society can be solved within capitalism. It matters that we speak, in
the rivulets of revolt, of the power of the stream they could become.
INTERNATIONALIST
PERSPECTIVE
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