The April 26th meeting of the International Peace Coalition
by Daniel Platt
April 24–The 47th consecutive online weekly meeting of the International Peace Coalition began today, with remarks by Schiller Institute Founder Helga Zepp-LaRouche. Zepp-LaRouche identifying the three hot spots which continue to be areas of escalation: the Ukraine war, the Israeli assault on Gaza, and efforts to provoke a China-Taiwan conflict. She pointed to the recently released statistics by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), indicating that military spending reached an all-time high of $2.443 trillion over the past year.
This parallels the rapid arms buildups that took place before each of the two World Wars of the 20th century. European political leaders are blithely saying that war is inevitable. “Nobody talks about diplomacy,” she said. Germany has even established an annual Veterans Day, although the only German veterans are those who served in the war in Afghanistan. She suggested that it were more appropriate to issue an apology to that ruined nation. The danger of a new world war is rapidly increasing, and “any little mistake… any little surprise can trigger a catastrophe.”
Zepp-LaRouche knows China well, having met with political and scientific leaders in many visits to that nation. She critiqued the recent diplomatic deployment by U.S. Secretary of State Tony Blinken in which he called out China for supplying Russia with “dual-use” technologies. This is a clumsy attempt to drive a wedge between the two powers, and an attempt to suppress China’s spectacular industrial development.
She cited recent comments by seasoned observers Ambassador Chas Freeman, Alistaire Crooke, and Scott Ritter, all of whom assessed that Iran’s retaliatory attack on Israel demonstrated the vulnerabilities in Israel’s air defense systems. On the U.S. domestic front, Zepp-LaRouche charged that authorities in the U.S. are using anti-democratic methods against students who are protesting the genocide in Gaza. “If you are suppressing free speech in this way, it is not a sign of strength,” she said, “it is an admission of guilt.”
George Koo, a retired business consultant specializing in U.S.-China trade, and the Chairman of the Burlingame Foundation, followed Zepp-LaRouche. Koo offered an assessment of US-China relations, in the wake of the Blinken follies: “It seems that the Biden administration is a one-trick pony with respect to international relations: speak very loudly and carry a big stick.” China sent a low-level functionary to meet Blinken when he arrived in the country, demonstrating their lack of enthusiasm for his approach to diplomacy. Koo said that he is skeptical of the possibility of nuclear war, asserting that the people in the Pentagon are very aware of China’s advanced military capabilities. If there were a real fire-fight, Koo continued, he doesn’t believe that the Chinese will fire on civilians. They will target U.S. warships.
Jason Ross, representing the LaRouche Organization, reported on his recent interview with Kevork Almassian on the “Syriana Analysis” program, which focused on the unique conceptions that underlie the “Oasis Plan” for peace between Israel and its neighbors. Ross told the meeting that the chronic problem which leads to conflict in Southwest Asia, is that there is not enough water. To address this problem, water infrastructure and desalination are priorities. Ross described two methods of desalination, one using heat distillation, and the other using reverse osmosis, pumping water through a filter. Since desalination is energy-intensive, potable water is an energy problem in the modern world. Ross indicated the great value of nuclear energy, for heating and pumping water, especially in nations not rich in hydrocarbons.
In the spirit of the Oasis plan, Ross called for Southwest Asia to become a region of integration for humanity. He urged peace demonstrators to incorporate a vision of where the region ought to go: replace the paradigm of conflict, otherwise any temporary victory will not be sustained.
Following Ross’ comments, a short video with excerpts from the Schiller Institute’s April 13-14 conference on the Oasis Plan was shown.
During the discussion period, co-moderator Dennis Speed observed that 35 American college campuses are now experiencing “various levels of revolt and resistance.” In an unprecedented action, U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson went to Columbia University and called for the resignation of the university president. Israeli PM Netanyahu has arrogantly intervened into U.S. politics, calling for the suppression of campus protests. The tactic of accusing protestors of antisemitism is falling flat, however, particularly because the catalytic role of organizations such as Jewish Voices for Peace in the protests, has rendered the anti-Semitic charge ludicrous on its face.
Jacques Cheminade, President of Solidarité & Progrès, reported on the situation in France, where more than 50% of the population thinks that President Macron is talking nonsense. Macron endorsed the German “sky shield” initiative, which would lead to the integration of European air defenses and would mean de facto acceptance of NATO rule over Europe.
A report came in from a participant in the Freedom Flotilla, which is preparing to leave Türkiye with 5,000 tons of food and medical supplies for Gaza. It was scheduled to sail for Gaza today, but there is a delay because its largest vessel sails under the flag of Guinea Bissau, and Israel is pressuring that nation’s government to delay the aid. The organizers have asked peace activists to contact their governments, and Helga Zepp-LaRouche stated that we need a major mobilization to allow the flotilla through. CodePink founder Medea Benjamin, another participant in the Flotilla, has prepared a video with instructions.
Executive Intelligence Review editor Mike Billington reported that Zwelivelile “Mandla” Mandela, grandson of Nelson Mandela, has also joined the flotilla team. Mandela emphasized that his grandfather was always highly engaged with the Palestinians’ struggle, which he called the greatest moral issue of our time. He recounted how San Francisco dockworkers launched an international movement by refusing to load goods for South Africa, and that now we need a similar approach for Israel.
A graduate student in American Economic History participating for the first time in the IPC, asked whether our elected officials are compromised by foreign money, and if so, what can we do? Dennis Small, one of co-moderators, responded, yes, ”but the worst form of colonization of the U.S., is by foreign ideas, by “British liberal empiricism” modes of thinking, spread particularly in academia. Americans have been conditioned to view the world through the lens of geopolitics, the “law of the jungle.” One remedy for that outlook is the Ten Principles for a New Strategic and Development Architecture . The 10th point of Helga Zepp-LaRouche’s “Ten Principles,” the one that asserts that man is essentially good, “drives people crazy” because it contradicts the British Malthusian ideological assertion that you have to gain by destroying somebody else.
In her concluding remarks, Zepp-LaRouche commented with a smile that we must lead the “fight to unify the peace movement,” even though some people “just faint when they hear my name.” She reminded the participants of our historical antecedents, such as the 1648 Peace of Westphalia, where leaders came to realize that no one can enjoy a victory if everyone is dead, and “this is even more true in the age of nuclear weapons.” “Think of the one humanity, and make that a rule of everything you do.”
