Democratic Palestine : 19 (ص 30)

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Democratic Palestine : 19 (ص 30)

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This summit was also faced by the
problems of the time, chiefly those
caused by imperialism’s aggressiveness
- the US military build-up, Star Wars,
the attacks on Libya and Nicaragua, to
name only a few, and the economic
tyranny of the imperialist multination-
als and finance institutions. At the
foreign ministers’ meeting which pre-
ceded the summit, Zimbabwe’s foreign
minister Mangwende noted: «Non-
aligned and other developing countries
face an increasingly hostile environ-
ment as long-buried 19th century poli-
cles of gunboat diplomacy have been
resurrected.»
Such a situation indeed highlights the
question of what it means to be non-
aligned in a world increasingly pola-
rized between imperialism and its allies
on the one hand, and the national libe-
ration movements and socialist coun-
tries on the other. Libya’s leader,
Moammer Qaddafi raised the issue,
saying there is no such thing as non-
alignment, because the world is divided
between imperialism and _ freedom
fighters. In principle, the definition of
non-alignment was settled long ago, for
as pointed out by Fidel Castro in his
speech at the opening session of the
summit, the movement’s founding
document advocates «the immediate,
unconditional, total and _ definitive
elimination of colonialism, and the
concerted effort to end all forms of
neocolonialism and imperialist domi-
nation in all their forms and manifes-
tations.»
In practice, however, the problem is
a real one. Within the Non-Aligned
Movement, there are countries that are
preoccupied with fighting each other to
the detriment of the main struggle
28
against imperialist domination; the
Iraq-Iran war is only one example of
conflicts which threaten to exhaust the
potentials of the Non-Aligned Move-
ment. There are also a number of states
whose independence and non-alignment
are but formalities, for the ruling class
practices policies which facilitate
imperialism’s continued dominance.
There are states which host US military
facilities and actively cooperate in its
aggressive plans, such as Saudi Arabia,
Oman, Pakistan, Honduras, etc. Only
the week before the summit, Sea Wind,
the joint US-Egyptian air and sea
maneuvers off Libya’s coast, had
emphasized this point concretely.
Also the week preceding the summit,
Cameroon restored full diplomatic
relations with the Zionist state. Syria,
Libya and Iran brought up the issues of
Egypt’s close cooperation with the US,
and the restoration of relations with the
Zionist state, in a move to expell those
states who violate the principles of
non-alignment through their relations
with imperialism and settler colonia-
lism. It is especially noteworthy that the
same African states who have relations
with ‘Israel’-Zaire, Liberia, the Ivory
Coast and Cameroon - were among the
conservative bloc at the summit,
arguing for dialogue with the apartheid
regime, while the overwhelming majo-
rity wanted to impose strict sanctions
against it.
The fact that some ‘non-aligned’
states are running errands for US
imperalism was also seen in the ques-
tion of choosing the location for the 9th
summit. A majority supported conve-
ning it in Managua, which would be
fitting as Nicaragua is a main target of
US interventionism, but voices of dis-
sent forced the delay of this decision. In
general, however, imperialism’s agents
found it difficult to argue for their
policies in view of how blatantly the US
has become in attacking the indepen-
dent countries and the peoples strug-
gling for liberation. The summit’s final
declaration contained greater criticism
of US policy than did the declaration of
the previous summit, reflecting inter-
national popular outrage against the
Reagan Administration’s aggressive-
ness. The final declaration strongly
condemned the US links with the Pre-
toria regime, which only serve to
encourage its aggression against the
African people and neighboring states.
It condemned the US’s acts of state
terrorism against Libya and Nicaragua.
The declaration also called for an
immediate halt to the Iraq-Iran war.
Adhering to the principle of disar-
mament on which the Non-Aligned
Movement was founded, the final
declaration stressed the call for a mori-
torium on nuclear testing, as is being
practiced unilaterally by the Soviet
Union. It opposed the spread of the
arms race to outer space, as the US is
attempting with the Star Wars pro-
gram. It was emphasized that the mil-
lions being poured into arms, if used
otherwise, could solve the problems of
famine and underdevelopment that
plague the majority of the people of the
world. The declaration called for a new
economic world order, eliminating
plunder and promoting equality bet-
ween the developed and developing
nations. Unfortunately, the declaration
stopped short of incorporating the calls
of progressive states for cancellation of
the foreign debt burden imposed on the
developing countries.
The most significant decision of the-
summit, welcomed by progressive for-
ces all over the world, was the adop-
tion of comprehensive sanctions against
South Africa. Especially important is
that these sanctions are to be imple-
mented according to a concrete plan,
and backed up by a special fund to
support the frontline states, as well as
special aid to ANC of South Africa and
SWAPO of Namibia. Alongside
African leaders, Fidel Castro profiled
the anti-apartheid drive, stating that the
withdrawal of Cuban troops from
Angola is not a precondition for Nam-
ibia’s independence, as the US tries to
contend. Rather, Cuban troops will
continue to assist the African people
until apartheid itself is abolished. In
addition to demanding Namibia’s
unconditional independence, the
declaration affirmed that there will be
no peace in the Middle East without
Israeli withdrawal from all occupied
Arab land, and fulfillment of the
Palestinian people’s inalienable rights
to self-determination and an indepen-
dent state. @

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Democratic Palestine : 19

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