[WSMDiscuss] Not one single unnecessary death due to the covid pandemia

[Tord Björk]

Proposal for common action with a strategy ahead and a special focus
against sanctions and military threats

Draft, 24 April 2020 written by Tord Björk on behalf och Activists for
peace, Comments are welcome, including a better English version.
email: aktivisterforfred at gmail.com and tord.bjork at gmail.com


Not one single unnecessary death due to the covid pandemia

We undersigned individuals and organizations call for all humanitarian
efforts necessary in our common work to solve the crisis exposed by the
covid 19 pandemia. We must reach out our hands across all borders in
immediate action to do everything possible to enable humanity to put an end
to the pandemia.

At the local, national and global level we must act side by side
participating in mutual aid helped by a culture of peace and democratic
participation. We call for that none should be left alone by the local
community or global civil society during the voluntary or imposed self
isolation half of humanity now is experiencing in our homes, refugee camps,
rehabilitation centers, prisons or places where homeless have to stay. Ways
to maintain human contact and support each other while practising physical
distance to stop the virus from spreading to vulnerable people are
necessary. They will be created if we act in unity and if necessarily
defend such efforts when companies or others in not justified ways hinders
such humanitarian aid while following the advice from authorities helpful
to stop the pandemia.

Yes to mutual aid and peoples movement cooperation all over the world

We welcome the Easter message from the pope that encourage us in this
effort as well as similar messages from other faith and secular leaders. We
agree with Pope Francis when he says to brothers and sisters of popular
movements and organizations that his hope is ”that this time of danger will
free us from operating on automatic pilot, shake our sleepy consciences and
allow a humanist and ecological conversion that puts an end to the idolatry
of money and places human life and dignity at the centre. Our civilization
— so competitive, so individualistic, with its frenetic rhythms of
production and consumption, its extravagant luxuries, its disproportionate
profits for just a few — needs to downshift, take stock, and renew itself.”

No to serving the interest of corporations now and in the future

We say no to immediate and long term answers to the corona crisis that
serves corporate short term profit interests. Instead the needs of billions
of people must be met and the many millions that have their income as self
employed or employees taken away due to the restrictions including the
general effects on the economy due to the pandemia. A development model
enabling corporations to take control of agriculture, forestry and fishing
as well as other forms of extracting resources from nature have caused
large scale monocultural ecological damage and displacing local communities
all over the world. The result is unprecedent speed of human caused art
extinction, depletion of the soil, water scarcity, climate crisis and
disturbed ecosystems causing pandemias. This development model also
disempower the working class with the help of a just in time system using
global production chains resulting in greater stress for industrial and
transport workers. It also enables the rich to organize the value chain in
such a way that they take out the profit in a country were they get most
out of it built and avoid being taxed. This system is also beginning in
large scale to be used in private and public services according the the so
called new public management model causing the same stress as for those
working in the factories or as debt slaves in the fields, out at sea or the
forest. A system maintained by a trade regime that deindustrialize
countries and regions in the so called periphery both in the South and the
North. This in order to make natural resources and workforce cheaper
including work in informal sector and unpaid reproduction work carried out
mainly by women. A system causing brain drain and exporting young people
from the periphery to jobs not paid well in the center of the world
economy. A trade regime combined with a military, and financial regime in
the hands of competing and cooperating countries with the most profitable
corporations and banks. Now is the time to start another path.

No to arms race and austerity policies, yes to peace, environment and
welfare for all

We call for all people and movements to stand up for the common goal of
ending armament and austerity politics. Instead we say let's replace this
military and economic policy to the benefit of the rich by starting to
build peace, saving the environment and welfare to the benefit for all. We
all need to address our local issues or the specific area we are engaged in
as volunteers or in our profession. But now it is the time when humanity is
facing a common threat to build alliances between workers in factories and
service industries, small farmers, women, youth, peace, environmental,
antiracist and oppressed minorities for demands that says no to false
solutions and yes to constructive ways forward.

Austerity policies was demanded by Western powers during the end of the
20th century causing wide spread protests in Africa, Latin America and
Asia. Now we see how these policies carried out in the South to the benefit
of banks in the North and a few rich persons in the South also have
plundered the health care system in the rich countries. We ask ourselves if
ever the results of policies carried out with the help of Western
governments at the cost of people in common in the South have hit back in
such a way like now. Rich countries are the very epicentre of the covid 19
pandemia killing tens of thousands in growing numbers while creating the
worst economic and unemployment crisis since the 1930s.

The austerity policies carried out also in the North the last decades have
now left the population in rich countries defenceless. The health care
system and civil contingency have been stripped to the bones to enable
profit for the ever increasing capacity to conduct endless wars in far away
countries while rich hide their fortune from taxation in tax havens. While
nurses, doctors and others at the frontline in every community are risking
their lives together with others helping us to survive growing food in the
fields or in services providing the care and necessities it is the time to
say never more shall we allow inequality to become the central guideline
for our societies. We will remember that we have been faced with the truth
that robot missiles and other military weapons can not defend us against a
virus. Those resting their power on military means and money do not deserve
to be the leaders of our communities and countries anymore nor in
international institutions.

No to one single covid death due to sanctions and military threats

We say to every government and especially our own that not one single
person should die unnecessarily in the covid pandemia due to sanctions and
military threats. Every government implicit in the attempts to use the
corona crisis as a means to economically and militarily cause more pain on
populations with governments they want to punish has to be denounced.
Governments putting competition before cooperation in a time when humanity
is threatened by a pandemia are not serving the best interest of anyone
including their own population.

We especially denounce all Western governments that have decided that
Venezuela has no government they can accept and therefore stops IMF from
giving loans to the country necessary to combat the covid 19 virus.

We denounce the legitimacy those governments give to the US criminal
threats against the country by supporting the way Venezuelan people should
suffer when being refused the aid they need. Foreign minister Mike Pompeo
has put a prize of 15 million dollar for kidnapping Venezuelan president
Maduro while the US is sending its fleet to the coast of the country to put
additional military threat to the instigation of a crime. We call upon
everyone with concerns for humanity and the global environment to ask
herself or himself if this is an attempt by Western Governments to grab the
biggest national oil reserv in the world.

We denounce the backing some Western governments has been giving to the
military coup in Bolivia and the establishment of a racist government in
the country on the false grounds that the election had been manipulated.
Those defending democracy was attacked by military and right wing violence.
Those who went to Chile trying to escape the violence are now refused their
right to be repatriated when the corona pandemia puts them at risk. While
the new white racist government refuse the Bolivians now in Chile often of
indigenous origin Bolivians are allowed to come back to the country from
Europe and Israel.

We denounce the refusal by some governments to withdraw their soldiers from
Iraq at the request of the parliament in the country. This is a disrespect
of parliamentary democracy which shows that the Western countries now
keeping their military in the country against the democratic will of the
people lacks respect of democracy. It is contradictory to the claim they
make about themselves as protector of so called European values. A claim
which rather seems to hide their attempt to steal the oil in the soil to
perpetuate their model of development built on eternal growth.

Instead of withdrawal a silent built up is taking place by Western forces
in Iraq. This helps the US to threaten Iran with war. Simultaneously the US
is using that Iran is weakened by the coronavirus by sharpening the
sanctions against the country depriving Iran from much needed resources to
fight the pandemia. It is as if the US has the mindset of a person who puts
a gun against the head of his opponent and deprives her or him from needed
medical treatment saying surrender because I am a democrat.

The West supports similar policies in the rest of the oil rich region as
sanctions and military threats continue against Syria and the Defence
Minister in the Western backed Israeli government refuses humanitarian aid
to be allowed into Gaza. Medicine and medical equipment including 250
respirators in order to deal with the coronavirus in the besieged enclave
were there now are only 96 respirators are stopped from being delivered to
those in need. Israel use the occasion to demand that no aid will be
allowed until the release of Israeli soldiers, or their remains lost in the
war against Gaza in 2014.

The Western backed Saudi government also use the occasion to weaken their
poor neighbour Yemen. With the help of overwhelming military power armed
with the most advanced weapons from the US, UK, France, China, Sweden, and
other countries a coalition is waging a war against the people in Yemen
claimed to be a threat to the oil-rich neighbour in the North. To further
enable the attack on the country Western naval ships have hijacked cargo
ships with food and fuel to the country much needed in the midst of the
corona crisis. We denounce this attempt at further weaken the resistance
against the agenda of the oil - rich countries and the their Western
supporters at the cost of peoples' lives being bombed and not get the food
they need.

While several Western countries supported policies that causes more deaths
due to the corona virus due to sanctions and military threats in oil-rich
regions other countries are doing the opposite. China and Russia have sent
the largest cargo planes in the world with tons of medical support to
countries in need world wide including several in Europe and to the US
bringing experts with them as well to help fight the pandemia.

At first the EU responded slowly not even trying to help membership
countries in any substantial way while stopping any medical equipment from
leaving EU to much needed countries like Serbia or elsewhere outside the
union. Western countries also started to stop already paid medical
equipment from leaving their country and grabbed deliveries on the way to
one country diverting it to the country that could pay the best. After a
while when China and Russia started to help those who asked for it also the
EU and its membership countries started to cooperate more while the US
astonished the world by withdrawal of their funding of WHO when the
organisation was more needed then ever to fight the pandemia.

A country doing the opposite has been Cuba sending brigades with nurses and
doctors to 20 countries to help them fighting the corona virus. The US uses
its power to stop this effort by threatening governments that request help
from Cuba. The sanctions against the country that has been in place since
the 1960s crippling the economy has been tightened. Two companies that has
been selling respirators to Cuba before has now been sold to a US company.
The immediate result was that they are not allowed to sell the equipment
needed for treating corona patients to Cuba anymore.

We support the UN general secretary appeal for an immediate ceasefire in
all corners of the globe to reinforce diplomatic action, help create
conditions for the delivery of lifesaving aid and bring hope to places that
are among the most vulnerable to the COVID-19 pandemic. ”There should be
only one fight in our world today, our shared battle against COVID-19”.

We says: Not one single unnecessary death due to the covid pandemia

Yes to mutual aid and peoples movement cooperation all over the world

No to serving the interest of corporations now and in the future

No to arms race and austerity policies, yes to peace, environment and
welfare for all

No to one single covid death due to sanctions and military threats



Undersigned by following organizations and individuals


Tord Björk

email: tord.bjork at gmail.com, skype: tordbjork, tel: +46 (0)722 15 16 90
address: Götgatan 7 A, 29133 Kristianstad, Sweden
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <https://lists.openspaceforum.net/pipermail/wsm-discuss/attachments/20200424/0d2dbecd/attachment.htm>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: Not one single unnecessary death due to the covid pandemia2.doc
Type: application/msword
Size: 37888 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <https://lists.openspaceforum.net/pipermail/wsm-discuss/attachments/20200424/0d2dbecd/attachment.doc>