The Lead

Put Down Your Mint Julep and Organize

by Stewart Battle (EIRNS) — Feb. 05, 2024

If historians will have the opportunity to look back on the human race in 2024, they will undoubtedly identify this period as a defining moment in history. No, not because of a showdown between “democracy” and “autocracy,” nor over “liberal” versus “traditional” values. Nor because of a “culture war” or a fight over our national or personal identities. This moment will be a defining period because it’s the end of a system which can no longer continue to exist, no matter which culture, ideology, or political system takes power. The oligarchical system is dying, and resistance to it, along with a passionate commitment to build a better future, is growing.

The world is currently going haywire as Western nations plunge head-first into a policy of doom. Despite claiming they want to prevent conflict from spreading throughout Southwest Asia, the U.S. and its allies seem to be doing everything possible to ensure that it in fact explodes. Ongoing airstrikes have been made against Yemen, Syria, and Iraq, inflaming an already tense environment, with American officials promising that there is no end in sight. This is the short road toward a war with Iran and beyond.

At the same time, Israel is escalating its genocidal actions against Palestinians in Gaza, blatantly ignoring the recent International Court of Justice ruling from Jan. 26 ordering them not to. The recent cutoff of support to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), responsible for the vast majority of deliveries of humanitarian aid into an area where over 90% of its inhabitants are already facing “acute food insecurity,” is further evidence of this depravity.

The political and moral failure of this system has never been in more of a stark, if horrific, relief, providing a window of clarity for those prepared to act. The special statement released yesterday, “‘Knew or Should Have Known’: Governments Complicit in Genocide Will Not Be Able To Plead Ignorance at the Coming Nuremberg Tribunal,” is the leading edge for the kind of political action needed now.

The statement implores citizens to organize for the following immediate actions:

1) Demonstrations should be held worldwide in front of the embassies or consulates of the 18 countries which have frozen funding for UNRWA, demanding that they immediately restore that funding, vastly increase the flow of humanitarian aid to Gaza, bring about an immediate and permanent ceasefire, and convene an international conference to develop concrete steps towards establishing a two-state solution for the region based on mutually-beneficial economic development;

2) City Councils and state legislatures across the United States, and elected bodies in all countries around the world, should follow the example of the City Council of Chicago, the third largest city in the U.S., which on Jan. 31 passed a resolution which stated that they “support the United Nations implementation of Resolution 377, known as ‘Uniting for Peace,’ which called an emergency session of the General Assembly which voted in favor of ‘immediate humanitarian ceasefire’ in Gaza.”

3) Every Congressman and Senator in the U.S. should be told that they will be thrown out of office if they do not publicly express their adherence to both the Constitution of the United States and to international law to which our nation has subscribed (including the decisions of the ICJ), both of which now demand action to stop the genocide before it goes any further. Elected officials in other countries should also be called on to abide by their corresponding legal and moral obligations.

The pathway toward doom and global war is only guaranteed if we don’t act. In fact, the weight of history is causing non-linear and unexpected acts of courage to emerge—such as the Jan. 31 vote in Chicago for a ceasefire in Gaza. This courage and insight must be consciously deployed in these coming days, exponentially accelerating this process.

Another welcome development has now come from the nation of Nicaragua, which has notified the nations of Germany, the U.K., Canada, and the Netherlands that if they do not stop aiding and abetting a genocide in Gaza, Nicaragua will file a case against them at the International Court of Justice for complicity in genocide. Referencing the Jan. 26 decision by the ICJ, Nicaragua’s official statement to the above countries warns: “The obligation to prevent genocide arises and begins when there is a risk of it occurring; in fact, when it is plausible that it is occurring or might occur. This plausibility is now beyond doubt and dispute.”

The action of this small nation should further inspire everyone in the world to become a catalyst for the good of mankind during this dangerous time. Get the above statement out far and wide, and organize for any or all of the above actions. Send any reports or developments you encounter back to us at the LaRouche movement as we will continue to evaluate this situation day by day.

What will you be able to answer when you’re asked: What did you do in the great crisis of 2024?