The demonstrations in the United States of America are growing greater and greater, day after day and have drawn protesters from all classes of society, groups, races, and ethnic communities. Their rage quickly reached the doors of the White House. Agents of the U.S. National Guard made the White House into a highly guarded fortress out of fear of being stormed and invaded by the protesters who are surrounding it.
These demonstrations began following the brutal racist killing of George Floyd, at the hands of the police. The victim was begging for help, telling the officer who had his knee on his neck that he was un-able to breathe, but the officer kept crushing his neck until he released his final breaths. That heinous crime lit the fuse on the already deteriorating situation, and the right wing, populist, extremist Donald Trump made it only worse with his reckless and racist policies and decisions.
Trump has behaved in the same way any dictator in any region of the world would. He quickly criminalized the protests and accuse the "radical left" of “chaos and sabotage" and even "of practicing terrorism". He demanded the police to crush the protestors relentlessly. When the police failed in containing the protests, he called on the “National Guards” for help. And finally, he threatened to use the U.S. army against the protesters. This is the first time in the U.S. for more than decades. It is on the record that not long ago he was criticizing others, in several countries of the world, and accusing them of having no respect for "people’s right to freedom of assembly and protesting” which he then used to threaten military intervention in these countries. But this brutal repression and the increased threats only made the American demonstrators more determined to continue the fight for dignity, equality, and social justice.
The on-going police brutality in the United States of America reveals the atrocities of the capitalist system and its cruelty within its main stronghold. This proves that what the U.S. imperialism is doing abroad, such as, brutal attacks, looting, and racism is nothing but a horrible extension of its domestic policy. A deep rooted racism towards Blacks, Latinos, Asians and others, a savage exploitation and a horrible class system (the richest one percent of American hold more wealth than that of middle and upper class combined), a scary un-employment rate (40 million out of 328 million people), an extreme poverty (more than 43 Million people) and a complete absence of national health insurance for everyone (approximately 50 million people without health insurance) and a persistent criminality (1.2 million crimes of violence, 132,000 acts of rape and 16,214 murders only in 2018) ...
The movement of the American people today gives the progressive forces in the world an unprecedented chance to express their support and help to the American people in their fight against the capitalist imperialist American beast. The American people are offering a huge service to all the nations of the world by denouncing and weakening this beast that has harmed and is still harming them. It is indeed a great opportunity for all nations around the world to rebel and liberate themselves from the shackles of U.S. imperialism. This matter means a lot to the Tunisian people in particular and to the Arab nations in general. It is a fact that this American beast that has always supported the dictatorship in Tunisia and provided the rulers with the necessary assistance to brutalize their own people. The different American governments have always supported the Tunisian government in its repression of its people’s struggles (to name a few, the general strike in 1978, the bread riots in 1984, the December 17, 2010- January 14, 2011 Revolution...)
This beast is also the main ally to the Zionist entity who is raping Palestine's land and people. And Trump himself has taken unprecedented steps in this effort which could be summed up by what is called the “Deal of the Century” that aims to permanently bury the Palestinian cause. As well as, to allow the Zionist entity to get its hands on the whole land of Palestinian, in perfect collusion with reactionary Arab governments. It is that same beast who raped the lands of Iraq and destroyed it, and contributed to the destruction of Syria and Libya and the list goes on and on...
However, Arab people including Tunisians, like Europeans, must not remain silent, preoccupations or internal problems are not an excuse. There is no doubt that the many Arab rulers will not do it because they are afraid of Trump's anger and retaliation, but the people… or at least the progressive forces have nothing to fear and nothing to lose if they support the struggle of American people. By doing so, like them, we will gain dignity, honor, and humanity.
The America that is revolting today is neither Trump’s America nor the America of injustice and criminal greed. It is the America of the hard-working class, the poor, the persecuted women, and the ethnic communities that suffer the worst.
This is the America of the women textile workers whose epic struggle is immortalized on Math 8, the International Women’s Day, and the workers of Chicago whose great sacrifices and struggles in 1886, are immortalized on May 1st each year, International Workers Day. It is the America of John Steinbeck's "the Grapes of Wrath" in 1939, and Jack London's "the Iron Heel", Harriet Beecher Stowe’s “Uncle Tom’s Cabin”, William Faulkner’s “The Sound and the Fury,” that of working class heroes "Sacco and Vanzetti,” Martin Luther King's "I have a dream" and Angela Davis, the famous communist activist, and Muhammad Ali, who refused his military enrolment to fight in Vietnam, and the list goes on ...
Young people of Tunisia, hard-workers, women, educated and creative people, stand up to support your sisters and brothers in the U.S. You are standing up for your own cause.
Hamma Al-Hammami, is the Secretary General of Workers Party of Tunisia
This is an excerpt of an article in arabic and translated and edited by Azza Rojbi originally published at www.sawt-achaab.tn/?p=23511
Published with the author's permission
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