Their wars, our dead !
Against terrorism and for freedom of all people !
The federations of the International of Anarchist Federations (IAF) and the organisations participating in the Tenth Congress of the IAF, Frankfurt (Germany), 4-7 August 2016, stand against war. We stand against the terrorism which is used by states, with the help of the police and the army. We stand against the violence applied by nationalist and/or religious groups or by isolated acts from racist, homophobic, and/or fundamentalist individuals.
We oppose the murderous activities of these governments, groups, or individuals.
The media and states may use the word terrorism to condemn social movements, but this is not how we understand it. What we oppose is the use of violence and terror against civilians to create fear in the population and impose authority. This terrorism goes hand in hand with the strengthening of state security and authoritarian state policies.
In many countries a state of emergency has been declared, reinforcing the powers of the police and army, which serves mostly to repress social opposition. Walls are built to prevent the movement of people, detention camps are built, and governments, capitalists and smugglers take the opportunity to get rich at the expense of migrants.
Terrorism by religious and/or nationalist groups and state terrorism feed each other. For example, the arms deals by regional and world powers have skyrocketed since their involvement in foreign wars. These interventionist policies help to maintain the terrorism of religious and/or nationalist groups.
Meanwhile, capitalism continues its devastating work and those affected are always the same: the people.
We live in an era of global terrorist threat, of generalised war, and reactionary politics in which race, religion and terrorism are conflated. We fight to keep racism from spreading. We support the migrants who seek the freedom to move and to settle down. We stand in solidarity with those targeted on the ground of their ethnicity and beliefs.
That said, we stand by all those around the world who seek to shake off the influence of religion in their lives, actions, and thoughts.
Our struggle for freedom is directed against state, capitalism, and religion.
IAF-IFA, 6th August 2016
