International Peace Coalition

June 6, 2026 (EIRNS)—The 157th weekly meeting of the International Peace Coalition (IPC) on June 5 included a deep discussion on the disaster in the Mideast between Helga Zepp-LaRouche, Schiller Institute founder and IPC initiator, and the former Israeli Director of “Peace Now,” (also a former member of the Israeli Knesset), and a Palestinian- American journalist who founded the Community Media Network. The meeting also heard from the conductor of a symphony orchestra in rural Iowa, who is also a hog farmer, which led to a rich discussion of the role of culture in politics during the open Q & A session following the presentations.

Helga opened by noting that both war fronts, in Southwest Asia and in Ukraine, are increasing the danger of world war. Ukraine’s deadly drone strikes on a school in Luhansk on May 22 and on St. Petersburg on June 3, the opening day of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF) have increased the angry response from Moscow, with Russia launching extensive bombing across Ukraine and increasing broader discussion there of “teaching” Europe a lesson by using a nuclear weapon. “Where are the adults?” she asked. She noted that some are calling on former German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder to be made a delegate to Russia, with many voices objecting, but Helga said “Let him try.” On the other hand, she said Russian President Vladimir Putin’s envoy Kirill Dmitriev has repeated his call for building a tunnel under the Bering Strait, thus connecting the Eurasian continent to the Americas—an idea long promoted by the LaRouche movement. She characterized Germany’s losing the vote by members of the UN General Assembly to represent Europe on the UN Security Council, to Austria and Portugal, as a sign that the Global South is disgusted with Germany’s support for war, and for saying nothing about the U.S. bombing of the Nord Stream pipeline, showing that Germany is a virtual colony to the United States.

The next speaker was Mossi Raz, the former Director of Peace Now in Israel, and a former member of the Israeli Knesset. He strongly denounced Israel’s occupation of Palestine, and called for Germany and all countries to call for statehood for Palestine. The Arab League peace plan for the conflict should be the basis of negotiations, he said. On Lebanon, they are weak—weak government, weak army—and cannot deliver on the agreement they reached with Israel. What can be done? The President of the United States Donald Trump can do it, as has been shown when he told Israel to stop the war on Gaza (although it is clear they never stopped), and to not bomb Beirut. Raz asserted that this made them stop, and the U.S. president—this one or the next one—is the only one who can make Israeli Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu stop. He added that Hezbollah takes orders from Iran, but added that Hamas does NOT take orders from Iran.

Next was Palestinian-American journalist Daoud Kuttab, founder and former director of the Institute of Modern Media at Al-Quds University in Jerusalem. He showed his book, “State of Palestine NOW,” arguing that all of the wars in the region are based on the injustice to the Palestinians. He insisted that all nations must call for the recognition of Palestine, even if it is an occupied Palestine, so that they can negotiate with Israel on a state-to-state basis. He also insisted that the West Bank and Gaza must be de-linked from Israel. He said the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) has its problems, and PLO President Mahmoud Abbas is a weak leader—but he is the President of Palestine and we need to recognize him. Foreign leaders who are not happy with Abbas, he said, should engage with the imprisoned Marwan Barghouti (24 years in prison) who was elected head of Fatah. He is strong, moral, honest, and is thought of as the true leader of the Palestinian nation (Kuttab called him “the next President of Palestine” much like a Nelson Mandela).

Helga agreed with Kuttab, that Barghouti has “proven integrity.” She added, however, that with the destruction of Gaza, of Afghanistan, of Yemen, of Syria, that a plan for “peace through development was required, as exemplified by the LaRouche Oasis Plan—see Oasis Plan Is a ‘Model for the World’. She said that if even a few states backed it, it could work.

Kuttab added that negotiations must be comprehensive, “not gradual, like the Oslo Accords.”

Raz added that he had met Mahmoud Abbas many times, and choosing their leaders is the Palestinian’s business.

Helga agreed that getting a Palestinian state is a starting point, but what is required is a “grand design” for the entire region, from India to the Mediterranean. Addressing the needs of all countries, including Israel. China has shown that it can achieve such a grand design, greening the deserts, building large scale development corridors like the CPEC (China-Pakistan Economic Corridor). She said that with such a program, in ten years the desert would become a lush garden, like during the era of the Silk Road. What is needed is such a grand vision, to change the view of the future.

Harley Schlanger then gave a report on the May 30-31 Schiller Institute Conference, “The End of 500 Years of Colonialism -For a Dialogue of Civilizations—The Urgency of a New Global Security and Development Architecture.” He characterized the presentations by China’s Zhang Weiwei, by Amb. Chas Freeman, by Pino Arlachi, the video by four young people from Uganda, by Dr. Wolfgang Bittner from Germany, and the cultural panel, with Iranian poetry, Chinese dance, and Western classical music.

This was followed by Bob McConnell, conductor of the Southeast Iowa Symphony Orchestra for 35 years, and also an Iowa hog farmer, who reported on the destructive economic policies dragging down rural areas, shutting down towns and institutions. He spoke of his commitment to defend and expand classical music. Located in the center of the North American farmbelt, he explained how he recruits people who know nothing about classical music, to understand and appreciate it. Two short videos were played showing McConnell with the orchestra demonstrating the opening and grand finale of Beethoven’s 9th Symphony. This sparked excitement in the discussion period over the connection of beautiful music to intervening for peace.

Other issues brought up in the Q&A included one caller who said she was an economist but was searching for a means to get active politically—but not as an economist, which is “such a horrible profession.” So, she was very happy about doing it through music. Helga said she was glad she loved the music, but that economics was not a “horrible profession,” noting that her late husband Lyndon LaRouche was a great economist, but insisted that economists must be also scientists and artists. The problem, said Helga, is that nearly all economists today are monetarists who know only about money, not real economics.

Another person called for a new “ideology” for the new world architecture promoted by the Schiller Institute and the IPC. Helga said, no not an “ideology,” which is a construct, but what’s needed is the “search for truth.” She quoted Norbert Brainin, the great lead violinist for the Amadeus Quartet, who called the work of their quartet “truth seeking musicians, getting closer and closer as we go along.”

eir

Report on IPC #155

May 22, 2026 (EIRNS)—The 155th consecutive weekly meeting of the International Peace Coalition (IPC) began with comments by coalition initiator and Schiller Institute founder Helga Zepp-LaRouche. She announced that the immediate target of the IPC’s mobilization will be the special open debate of the UN Security Council which will be held on May 26, with the theme of “Upholding the Purposes and Principles of the UN Charter and Strengthening the UN-centered International System,” to be chaired personally by Foreign Minister Wang Yi of China, this month’s UNSC rotating chair.

She reviewed the proposals which came out of last week’s EIR roundtable discussion, and added that it was heartening that more proposals, such as the Africa 2063 plan, are emerging that complement her proposals and those which have been presented at IPC meetings.

Zepp-LaRouche has composed a special letter addressed to the UNSC session “What we are interested in is to be putting on the table an entirely different approach,” she said, not the usual geopolitics, but “long term survivability of the region and all the countries involved.” The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) warned this week that, due to resource shortages which are a consequence of the Iran war, on top of the ongoing economic financial breakdown, we are already in the initial stages of a “food price shock,” potentially leading to famines. She warned that those who planned the war anticipated such an outcome; “There are all these crazy Malthusian ideas in the background,” including the policy of so-called “controlled disintegration.”

Science and Religion

Dr. Abdullah Ahsan of Pakistan, Professor of Comparative Civilization at Istanbul Şehir University in Türkiye, identified three stages of a solution to the present crisis. In the short term, there would be former Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu’s proposal for a neutral third party—he proposed Pakistan, Indonesia, Türkiye and Malaysia—to manage the Strait of Hormuz, because the United States and Iran have reached a total deadlock and the entire world has become “victim of this Hormuz situation.” In the middle term, we must revive the concept of a Dialogue of Civilizations, which has been advocated in various forms by various parties, including the Schiller Institute and the government of Iran. In the long term, we must address the view that there is a conflict between science and religion. Modern secularism, Dr. Ahsan asserted, stems from the ideas of German philosopher Immanuel Kant. Ahsan’s studies, however, “suggest that all civilizations in history are rooted in divine guidance.” He cited the subject of evolution, where science and faith appear to diverge.

Later in the discussion, co-moderator Dennis Small posed a solution to the apparent conflict. Man has the capability to creatively modify the physical universe, which is a demonstration of free will and thereby moral capability, and represents a so-called “metaphysical” dimension in what most consider physics, the existence of which refutes the theories of Kant. He cited LaRouche’s Oasis Plan as an example of a creative idea impacting the physical universe.

Still later, Helga Zepp-LaRouche weighed in on this topic. She contrasted the dogmatic vs. the philosophical view in religion. Saint Augustine pointed out that Plato had earlier arrived at similar conclusions to those of Jesus Christ, demonstrating that there is no contradiction between faith and knowledge. Fifteenth-Century Catholic Cardinal Nicholas of Cusa said that evolution takes place through the “lifting” of the lower domain by the more developed organizing principle of the higher domain, and Zepp-LaRouche went on to describe how the Russian/Ukrainian scientist Vladimir Vernadsky arrived at the same conclusion with his conception of the Noösphere. This idea is also reflected in the book of Genesis, where Man is said to be imago viva Dei, in the living image of God, because of his capacity for creativity.

The Worsening Crisis in Agriculture

Jesus Holguin Cazares, President of the Kansas Cattlemen’s Association, reported that the costs of chemicals necessary for agriculture have gone up dramatically due to the Iran war. This places an extraordinary and unsustainable burden on smaller, independent producers. In addition, the cartelization of agriculture poses a threat to smaller producers who cannot compete with enormous agribusinesses, and this translates to higher prices for consumers. Corporations are buying up distressed farms, leading to further cartelization.

Jon Baker, Vice President of the Iowa Stockgrowers Association also reported on the crisis in farming and ranching, which he said was getting much worse as a result of the Iran War, for example, with its effect on pushing up prices for diesel, essential for agriculture. He also took aim at the predations of speculators and agribusiness. Baker gave the example of his own operation, which lost $80,000 in value over the past two days, just due to so-called “market factors.” The mega agro-cartels are increasing their concentration, while independent farm operations decrease.

Dennis Small followed Holguin with a report from the National Front to Save the Mexican Countryside, which just held a 3,500-person demonstration in Mexico City and met with the country’s Agriculture Minister to discuss policy solutions to the crisis. The Front calls for an agriculture policy in Mexico which prioritizes feeding the population rather than coddling the speculators of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, and the destructive neo-liberal economic policies such as those associated with Ludwig von Mises of the Austrian School. They are calling for Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum to change policy, but they are not joining the efforts of U.S. speculators and the U.S. President Donald Trump administration to undermine and destabilize her government.

Independent U.S. congressional candidate in New York’s 15th congressional district (The Bronx) Jose Vega offered a report on the progress of his campaign, and commented on how essential it is for American citizens to take up the profound ideas discussed at the IPC meetings. He led a rally at the United Nations yesterday to shape the discussion at the May 26 UN Security Council special session.

Discussion: Fighting the Oligarchy

Zepp-LaRouche elaborated on the various facets of the drive for war being promoted by the leading “Western” faction, emphasizing that “unilateral sanctions are a form of war,” and expressed the hope that these conflicts can be resolved with a new international security and development architecture. In response to a question, she called for global support for Cuba, a major victim of U.S. sanctions, particularly in light of Cuba’s benevolent role in assisting other nations with medical support. Zepp-LaRouche observed that the “Davos men,” AKA the Epstein Class or “the super class of the dead souls,” are interested in perpetuating the crises for the purposes of advancing their geopolitical agendas.

Dr. Ahsan raised the question of how to end oligarchic control over politics, and offered the example of the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement, which exerts economic pressure on the Israeli regime, as a small step in the right direction.

In conclusion, Zepp-LaRouche reiterated her warnings that both the Russia-Ukraine conflict, and the wars initiated by Israel in Southwest Asia, are potential flashpoints for nuclear war. Co-moderator Dennis Speed noted that next week’s meeting will mark the 156th-consecutive weekly meeting of the IPC, the three-year anniversary of its founding. The sort of persistence demonstrated by the IPC in carrying on these meetings will be important in building the grass-roots machine required to change the policies of the United States and Europe. [eir]

May 1, 2026 (EIRNS)—The 152nd consecutive weekly meeting of the International Peace Coalition (IPC) on Friday, May 1, began with an update from coalition initiator and Schiller Institute founder Helga Zepp-LaRouche. “We are seeing day by day what in the history books probably will be reported as the destruction of the presidency of U.S. President Donald Trump,” she said. Not one of the Iran war aims has been reached. “The status of the United States as the unipolar world power, claiming that they can keep control over the world … that is the emperor without clothes in front of the eyes of the whole world.” Moving on to the April 27-30 visit to the United States by the United Kingdom’s King Charles III, she said, “King Charles … tried to deny the importance of the American Revolution altogether. I mean, the American Revolution was the first anti-imperial revolution.” Trump attempted to negate its significance when he called it the “Anglo-American Revolution.”

Ray McGovern, former CIA analyst, co-founder of Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity (VIPS), reported that Trump says Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni insults Jesus; her responses were polemical, including: “Do you know what insults Jesus? Bombing innocent schools in Iran and sending our brave men and women to die in another endless war, hiding the Epstein files and then refusing to prosecute anyone involved.”

He went on to say that “The President of Russia [Vladimir Putin] pointed out that if the United States and Israel resume military action, this would inevitably lead to an extremely adverse consequence, not only for Iran, but for Iranʼs neighbors…. Putin stressed that a ground operation on Iranian territory would be particularly unacceptable and dangerous.”

Richard Falk, professor emeritus of international law at Princeton University, and former UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories from 2008 to 2014, addressed the April 27-30 U.S. visit of King Charles, saying: “Trump himself envisions his ultimate identity to be the first American king. And in that sense, he’s trying to emulate the externality of what it means to be a dynastic leader, who has no respect for restraints other than his own internal will and moral priorities…. And it is ironic, of course, that it comes at the [250th] anniversary of the American Revolution. And itʼs the most perverse celebration of that revolution, then one could dream up.” He described the United States as “an empire in decline,” that was only able to use its mammoth military to intimidate the rest of the world. “And this brings us to this abyss that frightens our main supposed rivals, Russia and China, the adults in the room that are trying to bring a kind of rationality back into the practice of geopolitics.”

Zepp-LaRouche responded, “According to the monarchy theory, these people are good by nature, by Godʼs creation, while the normal people are evil, and therefore you need a ‘Leviathan’ strong state to suppress their evil…. [P]eople should not be blinded by the pomp and luxury, but what is underlying this idea is fundamentally this disrespect for the sacredness of every human life.”

Garland Nixon, veteran progressive radio and television talk show host, compared the U.S. Congress’ adulation for King Charles to the similar way they responded to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. He reminded the participants that Israel was created as a British imperial project, and that when people assert that Israel is controlling the United States, that simply means that the British, by extension, are still controlling us. After the Democrat-sponsored “No Kings” rallies, he observed: “thereʼs the king, and they just fall down worshipping, you know, at the altar of the king. Thereʼs a great irony there. And again, and they treated Netanyahu like a king.”

He addressed the question of whether we have a real democracy; we are allowed to vote, but the elected officials routinely do the opposite of what they had promised the voters. He urged that voters “not be naive enough [to think] that we can go to the wolf and lobby for the wolf to become a vegetarian.”

Falk added: “I found very disappointing in a way, the ‘No Kings’ protests activities, first because they were preoccupied with what injustices were occurring in the U.S. without understanding or comprehending the harm that we were doing to the rest of the world. And the demonic impact we were having on the history of our times.”

Historian Lynne Speed of the Schiller Institute also condemned that adulation shown to King Charles: “The acquiescence to this perversion by the President, the Congress, and many of the American people demonstrate the enormity of the problem and the work we have to do.” She described research she had done into the true nature of the American Revolution: “The participants in the revolution were far more diverse and colorful than what is generally thought or taught. In a sense, theyʼre very much like America and the world today. These people were Black, free and enslaved, White, abolitionists and slave owners, Native Americans, rich and poor, and from every ethnic group and religious persuasion. And they hailed from many nations around the world.” She shared images from a calendar she has prepared to commemorate the 250th anniversary of independence.

Diane Sare, U.S. independent presidential candidate, discussed the exemplary role of Alexander Hamilton: “[H]is conception of economy very much … presages that of Lyndon LaRouche, that itʼs not money, itʼs credit, itʼs about the future, and itʼs about creating a multiplicity of ideas and labor so that you need an ever-growing workforce with particular skills, and that all of the unique talents and capability of your workforce can be brought to bear.” She went on to cite President George Washington’s farewell address:

“But as it is easy to foresee, that from different causes & from different quarters, much pains will be taken, many artifices employed, to weaken in your minds the conviction of this truth; as this is the point in your political fortress against which the batteries of internal and external enemies will be most constantly and actively (though often covertly & insidiously) directed….”

Discussion

In response to a question, Sare said, “[W]hile itʼs true that there were many nefarious activities undertaken by the government of the United States, we seem to be under a kind of umbrella group, which weʼve loosely identified as the Epstein class, but it really is a group of billionaires, and somehow they seem to control … as my friend Doug Macgregor talks about, the CIA, the Mossad, and the MI6 really function as one agency, one entity. So, I think the question is how can we liberate mankind from this and actually get back to having governments of nations.” She described her lobbying activity in the U.S. Congress, saying, “[T]he staffers whom we met with were quite … affected by seeing that people around the world are watching the United States, and know enough about our form of government that theyʼre not going to be fooled and merely blame the President when you have a body which is elected to represent the American people, which has the power to do something about this.”

There was a wide-ranging discussion on the nature of government, the difference between a democracy and republic, and whether the Magna Carta was really a forerunner of the Declaration of Independence, as is sometimes claimed, or it simply codified power-sharing between the king and the oligarchy. Helga Zepp-LaRouche referenced 15th-century Catholic Cardinal Nicholas of Cusa, who put forward the notion of the “consent of the governed.” Speed noted that Britain still does not have a written constitution, and the oft-referenced “pursuit of happiness” has nothing to do with pleasure: It is the right of the individual to do good, as discussed by Cotton Mather. Zepp-LaRouche warned that apart from the dumbing down of the population, digitalization and AI create new avenues of manipulation. [eir]

International Peace Coalition, Report on #151

by EIR staff

April 24—The International Peace Coalition (IPC) commenced its 151st consecutive weekly online meeting with an overview by Schiller Institute founder and IPC initiator Helga Zepp-LaRouche, who noted that the Chinese government has called upon its citizens to leave Iran, which may mean that they have information on the immanent resumption of the war with United States and Israel. The continuous two month blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, which has been caused by this unprovoked war of aggression against Iran, has put the world in acute danger of falling into an economic depression with incredible social consequences. There are already severe shortages of oil, energy prices are increasing, and shortages of fertilizer are endangering the world’s food supply.

Zepp-LaRouche said that there is an urgent need to establish a New International Security and Development Architecture which takes account of the interests of all nations. Although that idea had been dismissed by many in the past, she said, now that the world is collapsing that idea is gaining resonance and people are beginning to ask how international relations among nations can be reestablished based upon principles. The only institution which has called for a such a principled return to international law, other than the Schiller Institute and the IPC, is the government of China which has put forward its four global initiatives, in particular its Global Governance Initiative, which is a framework of how to rearrange international relations based on the UN Charter and the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence.

Other consequences of the collapse of the present system include the Persian Gulf states, which had a business model where they relied on the presence of American bases to guarantee their security, but as it turns out, the United States only protects Israel. These countries are now in a very difficult position, she said, feeling the economic effects of the war. There is an urgent need to discuss: what do we do with this region of Southwest Asia when the war ends? Zepp-LaRouche said that for this reason, the Schiller Institute has put forward an Extended Oasis Plan for the region; the creation of large amounts of new fresh water with nuclear desalination of ocean water brought in by canals; the building of economic development corridors extending from India to the Mediterranean, from the Caucuses to the Persian Gulf.

Pope Leo XIV’s trip to Africa has been a very significant development, she said. In the United States, support for President Donald Trump is rapidly declining, even among his MAGA base. Since the U.S. Congress abdicated the right to declare war, “it is their urgent responsibility to take it back.”

María de los Ángeles Huerta del Río, former Congresswoman from Mexico, warned that most important wars of the 21st Century are fought not with drones and missiles, but with algorithms and the battlefield is the human mind. This is called “hybrid warfare.” Ultraconservative think tanks like the Atlas Network are linked with Silicon Valley tech giants and legions of propaganda influencers. Latin America has become a testing ground for these techniques. We need instead to make it into a zone of “cognitive peace.”  She proposed that the nations of this region reassert the role of national media to combat propaganda, and that they join forces in these endeavors in a “South-South” alliance to stand up to the power of the global media giants, an alliance for “cognitive sovereignty and digital justice.”

Dennis Fritz, U.S. Air Force Command Chief Master Sergeant (ret.) and current Senior Fellow at the Eisenhower Media Network, spoke as a military man who has seen the inner workings of the Pentagon. He said that he has been warning about the Iran war which is happening right now for decades. “How did I know it was coming? I saw the plan” and it goes back to 1992. Retired U.S. four-star General Wesley Clark revealed that after the September 11, 2001 terror attacks he was told by a Pentagon general of the plan for the United States to take out seven countries within five years. “We are the cause of the majority of the problems around the world,” Fritz said. We claim to stand for democracy and freedom, but we destroy those things around the world. We started a war in Ukraine, at the expense of Ukraine, to weaken Russia. The entire world is being held hostage to an economic disaster, due to a war that we started in Iran. We are currently blockading Cuba, starving women and children. The huge sums of money we spend on war could have enormous benefits to the civilian economy.

Zepp-LaRouche responded that the idea of billionaires becoming trillionaires through war profiteering must become a topic of public debate.

Independent U.S. presidential candidate Diane Sare said that she has been in a fight to get the U.S. Congress to assume the responsibility for declaring war, as the Constitution requires in Article I, Section 8. We see partisan posturing; Democrats hope that the war continues so that Trump and the Republicans will be held responsible on election day. Sare and congressional candidate Jose Vega—who has qualified for ballot status as a Democrat and is now petitioning to also get on the ballot as an independent in New York’s 15th congressional district (the Bronx)— are pulling together a coalition of independent candidates across the United States. Regarding the physical economy, she said, “Let’s get real.” We used to understand the relationship between maintaining our infrastructure and meeting the needs of the population.

Mike Callicrate, Kansas cattle rancher and founder of Ranch Foods Direct, warned that we cannot feed ourselves currently, we have lost more than half our ranchers, and we import food from poor countries. “Global food policy should protect people, not predators.”

Jack Gilroy, of Veterans for Peace and Pax Christi, reported on a visit to Washington D.C., where 150 individuals from 5 or 6 different veterans’ organizations went into the U.S. Capitol Rotunda bearing red tulips for the people killed in Iran. Seventy U.S. veterans were arrested as they stood at parade rest.

Larry Johnson is a former CIA analyst and Deputy Director of the U.S. State Department’s Office of Counterterrorism from 1989 to 1993. He said that Trump is delusional about his accomplishments and shows lack of emotional control. This is particularly apparent in Trump’s attacks on his former supporters like American conservative commentator Tucker Carlson and former Republican Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene (from Georgia’s 14th Congressional District) who have become his critics. The petulant name-calling is what we might expect from a twelve-year-old. At the recent emergency meeting on Iran, Trump began to openly talk about using a nuclear weapon, according to multiple sources. Later in public statements he ruled out the use of nukes, and we hope that he remembers that he said that. Trump said that he is waiting for a specific proposal from Iran, when Iran’s ten-point plan proposal was sent ten days ago. The United States does not have enough ships to have a full blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, despite the claims that they are making.

Johnson said that neither the Iranians nor the Americans appreciate the global consequences of closing the Strait. Those consequences are beginning to be seen now. In particular, the disruption of supplies of urea for fertilizer will devastate world food production. People in our government who are responsible for anticipating and addressing this impending crisis are clueless.

Independent presidential candidate Diane Sare recalled that President Joe Biden was senile, but everyone pretended he was fine, as he pursued a policy of war and genocide. Now Trump continues Biden’s policies, and Trump is also losing his mind, while public figures pretend that his behavior is normal.

LaRouche Organization organizer Tim Rush reported on the activity of delegations of citizens who visited Congress on April 22, reaching roughly 40 offices of leading members of the House of Representatives to hand-deliver letters, both from their constituents, and from leaders of other nations, who emphasized that “it’s a question of world heritage that the founding principles of the United States must be revived.” Co-moderator Dennis Small read from a selection of these international letters, including from a 90-year-old nun in Barcelona, Spain. In response, Zepp-LaRouche sent special greetings to this nun, and called attention to the exemplary role of Spain in the current strategic situation. She said that she hoped that the people of Spain would “encourage the idea” of Spain being kicked out of NATO.

Discussion

Mike Callicrate stressed the importance of restoring a relationship between farmers and ranchers, and the communities in which they operate. Global agribusinesses have strangled food production and created food scarcity.

A participant asked, What if Iran were to reopen the Strait of Hormuz as a benevolent gesture, in the expectation of fairness. Is this thinkable? Zepp-LaRouche replied that the questioner should put herself in the shoes of Iranian leaders who have no reason to trust the United States or Israel, and they must look out for the safety and welfare of their citizens. Dennis Small reminded the meeting that it is actually the United States which is presently blocking the Strait.

A Spanish participant stressed the injustice of the U.S. siege of Cuba, a nation which has often demonstrated solidarity with other developing nations.

In concluding remarks, Zepp-LaRouche stated that the need to unite the international peace movement is more urgent than ever. She referred to the presentation by former Congresswoman María de los Ángeles Huerta del Río as being particularly important, since the issue of “narrative control” has emerged as central in the struggle for peace.

International Peace Coalition, Week 149

by EIR Staff

April 10—Helga Zepp-LaRouche, founder of the Schiller Institute and convener of the International Peace Coalition (IPC), opened the IPC’s 149th meeting by discussing the ongoing peace negotiations in Islamabad, Pakistan, which must reverse the global political and strategic “debacle” of the last week. She noted that, while U.S. President Donald Trump threatened to annihilate Iran and end its civilization, all while declaring victory for the United States in the ceasefire, the reality is much different. Iran clearly suffered significant damage and loss of life, but after all the bombing, its will remains unbroken. Any plan to split the Iranian population backfired, she said, and the country is more unified than ever. Iran is in full control of the Strait of Hormuz and wanted to demonstrate its ability to stand up to the United States, which it did.

Zepp-LaRouche continued, noting that the United States sought to show it is still a world leader but garnered little support, diminishing its power and prestige. The region is now in shambles, and the world is in disarray. Persian Gulf States no longer view U.S. military bases on their territory as a guarantee of protection; instead, their presence is now seen as a liability. The U.S. has not only endangered the entire region by starting the Iran War, but ultimately the entire world. Trump must now halt the war, as its continuation would threaten the global economy.

The erratic behavior of the United States, Zepp-LaRouche added, makes it uncertain what will happen next. She stated that Trump is the first U.S. president to act purely in the interest of Israel and that, with the exception of Spain and a few other countries, most Western leaders lacked the courage to challenge American policy. The “Coalition of the Willing” is still promoting war with Russia, which led Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova to say that Germany had not learned the lesson from two world wars. Zepp-LaRouche referenced a recent article by Pino Arlacchi—former Undersecretary-General of the UN and Director of the UN Office of Drugs and Crime who worked with the Taliban in 1999-2002 to successfully eliminate opium poppy cultivation in Afghanistan—who suggested replacing the UN Security Council with a “peace enforcement mechanism” elected by the UN General Assembly. She referenced nuclear weapons experts such as Dr. Theodore Postol and Steven Starr, who both have warned that if one nation uses a nuclear weapon, many more nuclear weapons will be unleashed. Zepp-LaRouche warned that the entire architecture of the world order is collapsing, potentially resulting in chaos. However, she also suggested that a new order, based on reason and modeled after the 1648 Treaty of Westphalia, is possible. She called for an Extended Oasis Plan for the different countries of Southwest Asia, reaching from India to the Mediterranean, from the Caucasus to the Gulf States—to determine which development corridors are most suitable to develop that region as a whole—given that the entire region is an expanding desert, that would have to involve the creation of new water sources. Zepp-LaRouche highlighted Pope Leo XIV’s  positive role in mobilizing people to stop the war.

The next speaker, Col. (ret.) Richard H. Black, former head of the U.S. Army’s  Criminal Law Division at the Pentagon and former Virginia state senator, warned of Israel’s role in keeping the war going. Black said that Israel’s goal is a permanent presence of U.S. troops on the ground, but that President Trump must maintain control over Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Black added that U.S. negotiators Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner have an “Israel First” agenda, and that almost the entire U.S. Congress is subservient to Israel. He stated that Israel’s assassination campaign in the Iran War has killed all of Iran’s senior pro-Western negotiators, who are now being replaced by hardliners, which will only prolong the war, a goal of Netanyahu.

Col. (ret.) Alain Corvez, former advisor to the French Defense and Interior Ministries said that Western hegemony is weakening due to the Iran War and that the world balance of power is shifting, predicting that BRICS nations, especially Russia, China, and Iran, will grow in influence. The United States will retain power but have less global influence and deeper divisions at home. Corvez said that both Trump and the Democrats have been unsuccessful in the U.S., and that Diane Sare’s independent U.S. presidential campaign offers a solution and will gain support.

Dialogue of Civilizations and Learning Our True History

Asked to comment, Helga Zepp-LaRouche called on Americans to reflect on their own history during this 250th year of independence, asserting that a return to the policies of Ben Franklin and John Quincy Adams would facilitate collaboration with the Global Majority. She stated that the sooner the West understands and works with the Global Majority, the sooner we can overcome the war and other crises facing humanity.

Pakistani-American academic, Dr. Abdullah Al-Ahsan, discussed the role of the former head of UK’s Arab Bureau, Bernard Lewis and his American sidekick Samuel Huntington in creating the Clash of Civilizations, noting that the government of Iran called for a Dialogue of Civilizations in the 1990s. Instead of pursuing this opening, however, the “War on Terror” was used to divide the world. Al-Ahsan said that civilizations can only thrive when people have dignity and society is based on truth-seeking. He warned that Pakistan is working for a ceasefire, but many of its leaders are “in the pocket” of America and cannot be trusted.

Speaking from Canada, Yakov Rabkin, professor emeritus of history at the Université de Montréal said that he has spent much of his life studying the history of Zionism and the establishment of the relatively young state of Israel, which he described as a “settler colonial entity.” The violence in West Asia, he said, comes from the attempt to expand an ideology of Jewish supremacism in a borderless ethnic national state within the already populated land of Palestine. He said that settlers feel insecure, so they try to expand their borders, but the new borders are equally insecure because of the fundamentally failed nature of their outlook. Since its founding, Israel has relied on military force. He said that Israel has nuclear weapons and will not hesitate to use them to defend itself from an “existential threat,” but this is not a threat to the nation or its people, but a threat to the Apartheid system. Rabkin quoted Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu saying in 2001 that “America is a thing that we can move easily,” and added that Israel labels anyone who resists this type of manipulation as “antisemitic.” Those who would like to know more, he said, should read his recent short book Israel in Palestine: Jewish Rejection of Zionism.

Intervening In the U.S. Scene

Jose Vega, candidate for Congress in New York’s 15th congressional district (the Bronx), discussed his campaign and a candidates debate the night before where he reiterated his call for the Oasis Plan and for 10,000 new engineers in Gaza and the Bronx. There was a clear freakout from the Democratic establishment when he pointed out that his contender, former vice chair of the Democratic National Committee Michael Blake, was a servant of the Jeffrey Epstein Class.

Diane Sare, independent candidate for U.S. President called on Congress to end the war by simply cutting off all funding—which, she said, was how the U.S. war in Vietnam was finally brought to an end in Aug. 1973. She said that much of the Democratic Party leadership wants the war to continue in order for their candidates to win the U.S. midterm elections. She stated that two of the Democratic Congress members who were responsible for tabling the recent War Powers Resolution—U.S. Rep. Gregory Meeks (from New York’s 5th congressional district) and U.S. Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (from New York’s 8th congressional district)—also take money from the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), and make deals with the “donor class.” Sare mentioned an event she attended the day before on Capitol Hill that was focused on the need to impeach Trump. She pointed out that Trump is just the logical conclusion of over 20 years of political insanity—a 2003 U.S. invasion of Iraq based on lies, President Obama’s invasion of Libya, President Biden’s toleration of two years of genocide in Gaza, 200 Congressmen signing a letter attacking South Africa’s challenge to that genocide at the International Court of Justice in the Hague, and the Epstein Class controlling the federal government. Therefore, we must remove Trump’s hand from the levers of power, but do so without further dividing the country.

During the question period, Helga Zepp-LaRouche returned to the issue of the Clash of Civilizations, stating that the enemy image shifted from communism to Islam when the Cold War ended. She said that the trick has been to constantly divide people, but we must unite people, who may have differences, using the highest level of debate. IPC co-moderator Dennis Small spoke of Pope Leo XIV’s  efforts to stop the war, despite threats from U.S. Under Secretary of Defense Elbridge Colby. He noted that the Pope has called for a worldwide vigil for peace on April 11. Dennis Speed, another IPC co-moderator, added that the Pope will come to the United States in July but has declined an invitation from President Trump to meet him at the White House on July 4, the 250th anniversary of the U.S. Declaration of Independence, instead spending that day in Lampedusa, an Italian island off the coast of Tunisia, helping migrants attempting to enter Europe from Africa.

Helga Zepp-LaRouche concluded the event by commenting on some of the questions that came in. First she spoke of the importance of the Pope going to Africa later this year. She said that it is important that voices from the Global South are heard and that the Pope spent much of his career in Peru, which gives him insight into the needs of the Global Majority. She said that she is not giving up on the West, but that it needs a “moral revival,”  and that it has been targeted with schemes to dumb down the population with war propaganda and entertainment. Zepp-LaRouche said that people need to challenge their axioms to become wiser and more loving to one another, and that we need great culture, life-long learning, and Socratic dialogues with our neighbors.

Report on IPC #145, by EIR staff

The 145th consecutive online weekly meeting of the International Peace Coalition (IPC) featured a surprise guest, Ambassador Abolfazl Pasandideh who represents the Islamic Republic of Iran in Mexico. This was a unique opportunity for people who live in an environment dominated by war propaganda, to hear an unfiltered message from the nation the U.S. government is attacking.

Helga Zepp-LaRouche, Schiller Institute founder and IPC initiator provided an update. She posed the question, Why did U.S. President Donald Trump start this war? Reportedly, it was U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, U.S. Secretary of State/National Security Advisor Marco Rubio, U.S. Special Envoy Steve Witkoff, and the president’s son-in-law Jared Kushner who convinced him that Iran was on the verge of attacking U.S. forces or bases. She noted that we have reached a new phase in neocon aggression, typified by targeted eliminations of heads of state, such as the kidnapping of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro or the assassination of Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. She added that this situation can still escalate to nuclear war, citing an editorial in The Hill by Harlan Ullman, senior adviser at the Atlantic Council, who bills himself as the principal author of the doctrine of shock and awe. Ullman suggests that the United States nuke Iran as the only way to achieve the requisite shock and awe. Zepp-LaRouche also reported on her Letter to Pope Leo XIV, calling on him to intervene in the spirit of Nicholas of Cusa’s De Pace Fidei. It has come to her attention that a ranking Shiite cleric from Iran, Ayatollah Seyed Mostafa Mohaghegh Damad Ahmadabadi, has issued a similar appeal to the Pope. She concluded by saying, “The danger to humanity, in my view, has never been more grave than right now.”

Ambassador Abolfazl Pasandideh spoke next, called the present war “one of the most irrational wars in history… a betrayal of diplomacy. For the second time, we were attacked in the middle of negotiations… It was a blatant symbol of the use of power in the place of international law.” It was expected that the internet would usher in an age of humanism, he said, but instead, racists and radical nationalists have successfully exploited the internet. On the topic of the neocon “regime change” agenda, he said, “It is not clear who will be next after Iran—Mexico, or China?” He ended on an optimistic note: “With the pen and the word, it is possible to neutralize the effects of guns.”

Zepp-LaRouche described the motives of the IPC for inviting the Iranian ambassador: we have observed the discrepancy between reality, and the narrative being promoted by Western sources. She recalled the declaration by U.S. Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent, that the United States had intentionally engineered the collapse of the Iranian economy in order to trigger regime change, and referred also to Trump’s former Director of the CIA in his first administration Mike Pompeo’s tweet about the Mossad agents accompanying each Iranian demonstrator.

Former President of Guyana (2011-2015) Donald Ramotar conveyed to the Ambassador his admiration for the tenacity and courage of the Iranian people in the face of the attempts to destroy their nation. For some time now, he said, there has been an effort to destroy international institutions and international law. Iran is under attack because it is the only country standing up for the Palestinians, and because it is the main obstacle to Israel’s efforts to re-shape the Middle East. Iran’s fight is also a fight for Cuba, which is now under “almost unbearable” economic pressure in a similar mad attempt to incite regime change.

Pasandideh said that he wishes to thank Zepp-LaRouche for going to the “roots of this problem.” He thanked Ramotar for his expression of solidarity.

Father Harry Bury, a catholic priest for 70 years, a lifelong peace activist, and active in the Twin Cities Nonviolent and the U.S. Catholic Priest Association spoke, saying “Our hearts are breaking, truly breaking, at what is happening to Iran,” he said. “Jesus said that we are to love our enemies!” He stressed that history has shown us that violence does not resolve problems. He reiterated his endorsement of the Oasis Plan and the BRICS as an exemplary approach to peace. He asked all participants to add their names to Zepp-LaRouche’s open letter to the Pope.

Pasandideh responded by saying Bury’s beautiful words had touched his heart. He offered his view that Donald Trump is hiding behind religion, and this is an aggression against all religions.

Jack Gilroy, of Veterans for Peace, Pax Christi – Upstate NY, and Pax Christi International, commented on the contrast between what Father Bury is saying, and the endorsement of violence by the Christian Zionists. The stance of the Christian Zionists flies in the face of the non-violent message of Christ and the Jewish commitment to justice.

Pasandideh responded again that if we search for the origins of these problems, we find unilateralism. The UN Charter established a world based on laws and rights to say “never again” to the injustice that had led to World War II, and now these precepts are being ignored. He asked how can we return to multilateralism, which would rule out regime change operations. When we achieve multilateralism, we accept the cultural differences among nations.

Zepp-LaRouche recalled the role of President of Iran Mohammad Khatami, who brought about a revival of culture and the introduction of modern technologies to Iran.

Discussion

Gilroy called U.S. foreign policy “perverse,” substituting gunboat diplomacy for real diplomacy. He said that we must call upon religious leaders to preach the truth like Father Bury does. There are 20 million Christian Zionists in the United States, which is why the Israeli flag is flying over the White House. Where are the religious leaders who say we must stop murdering fishermen in the Caribbean?

Nuclear weapons expert Dr. Theodore Postol, Professor Emeritus of Science, Technology and National Security at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, in a video contribution, said the Iranians may be able to continue the war for a very long time, manufacturing drones in underground facilities. The United States is unable to manufacture interceptors at a pace that can match Iranian drone production. And the interceptors are not working, they are unable to perform their functions as advertised.

A question was sent in for Father Bury: what can Catholics do about those in South America and elsewhere who reduce their faith to mere ideological anti-communism? He replied that we must educate ourselves, and then educate other people.

Diane Sare reminded the participants that she is an independent U.S. presidential candidate. She noted that nearly two thirds of the U.S. population are unable to read above a sixth-grade level. The key to deaf and blind Helen Keller’s liberation from her sensory prison was language. Sare noted that Ultimate Fighting Championship fighters are now training the FBI. Our U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and FBI agents need to be able to think, instead of being mindlessly violent.

A participant asked, can Israel be stopped from using nuclear weapons on Iran? Co-moderator Dennis Speed warned that the Jeffrey Epstein Class is not restrained by moral limits. They believe themselves to be above them; they are essentially Satanic. This mentality must be exposed and confronted in order to stop the use of nuclear weapons. Speed recalled that according to Russian intelligence, France and Britain are plotting to bring nuclear weapons to Ukraine.

Congressional candidate in New York’s 15th congressional district (Bronx), Jose Vega reported on his campaign’s petition drive to achieve ballot status, knocking on over 4,500 doors over the past few weeks and bringing a message of peace through development.

See the full transcript here.