[IPSM] Response to "Harlem Radicals Probed"

[Freedom Socialist Party]

Greetings,


Statement by Freedom Socialist Party in response
to New York Post article: “Harlem Radicals Probed”
December 27, 2005
            On December 26, the New York Post writer Niles Lathem added his 

two-bit contribution to the smear campaign against those who oppose the U.S. 

military occupation of Iraq by claiming that the Freedom Socialist Party (FSP)
is the subject of investigation because of its support of the Iraqi resistance.  
In 
his article, “Harlem Radicals Probed,” Lathem implies that because the FSP 

supports the Iraqis’ legitimate right to resist the occupation of their country, 
the 
organization is itself an uncritical supporter of terrorism, including violence 

against civilians.  This is not true. And the sole purpose of such an allegation 

by Lathem along with his unsubstantiated charge that the FSP is being 
investigated by federal authorities is to have a chilling effect on the growing 

U.S. and global opposition to the Iraq war and occupation.
 
            Lathem’s lambasting is based on the FSP’s supporting the right 
of the 
European-based Anti-Imperialist Camp to raise funds and meet with other 
activists peacefully in Italy at a conference called “Leave Iraq in Peace--
Support the Legitimate Resistance of the Iraqi People.”  Pro-war Congressional 

members intervened to pressure the Italian government to deny visas to Iraqi 

civilians, all holding legitimate passports, who planned to attend.  Washington, 

D.C.’s  political bullying tactics were met with international defiance, including 

a petition signed by 41 members of Italy’s parliament protesting the 
subordination of Italian sovereignty to U.S. dictates.
            Leading the assault on freedom of speech and association is Rep. 

Sue Kelly (R-NY) who continues to use her position with the House Armed 
Services Subcommittee on Terrorism, Unconventional Threats and Capabilities 

to slander and criminalize those in the U.S and around the world who support 

Iraqis resisting the U.S. occupation.  At a hearing on August 2, she executed 

the McCarthy-type ploy of holding up a poster depicting a U.S. soldier being 

shot in front of an Iraqi flag.  She claimed it was part of the Anti-Imperialist 

Camp’s fundraising efforts, an accusation which a camp’s spokesperson later 

exposed as “freely invented.”
            The FSP is not alone in opposing the occupation.  The party joins 

millions of people around the world who acknowledge the right of the Iraqi 

people to resist the U.S. invasion and occupation. They say they would do the 

same if their country was attacked.   “Aren't we here today as the United States 

because citizens took up arms to defend themselves against the ravages of 
British colonialism over two hundred years ago?” says Stephen Durham, FSP 
New York City organizer.  
 
            Those who try to defend the U.S. military occupation under the 
rubric 
of a “war on terrorism” use the violent and indiscriminate tactics of a minority 

within the broad Iraqi resistance to vilify and invalidate the entire opposition.  

But in Iraq, trade unionists, feminists, doctors, scholars, citizens who oppose 

privatization of Iraq’s natural resources, those who believe no real democracy 

can exist until the occupation ends--all are active participants in the resistance.  

The Iraqis, as a people, have the right to determine their struggle as a nation 

against U.S. military occupation and economic and political coercion.  
 
            The U.S.-led military assault has meant the death of thousands 
of Iraqis, 
the destruction of infrastructure, and instituting the theft of natural resources, 

namely Iraq’s rich oil reserves, by U.S. corporations.  The FSP supports the 

right of Iraqis to defend themselves against the violence and destruction of 
the 
military occupation.   The FSP, in addition, calls on the U.S. antiwar movement 

do the same as the most effective way to resist government intimidation, 
strengthen the movement, and bring the bloody U.S. occupation of Iraq to an 
end.
 
            The Post’s journalistic assault on the FSP was not the only attempt 
to 
intimidate dissent in recent days.  The past week’s news has been replete with 

videotapes of NYPD undercover infiltration and provocation during local 
protests, the Bush administration’s illegal and unauthorized tapping of phone 

conversations, and, of course, the draconian threats and penalties imposed 
on 
transit union members.
 
            In the 50s, the atmosphere of hysteria whipped up against socialists 
and 
communists permitted the McCarthyites to ride roughshod over the civil liberties 

of everyone.  The result was more than a decade of political reaction, and 
two 
wars:  Korea and Vietnam.  We cannot let that happen again.
 
Stop the witchhunts against antiwar activists!
 
End U.S. military terror in Iraq!  Bring the troops home now!
 
For the right to national self-determination!
 
Defend First Amendment rights and freedom of expression everywhere!
Issued by :  
Freedom Socialist Party
Freedom Hall
113 West 128 Street
New York, NY  10027
212-222-0633
212-222-0839 (fax)
www.socialism.com
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New York Post  article
Monday, December 26, 2005
Harlem radicals probed
By NILES LATHEM Post Correspondent 
WASHINGTON – A small left-wing group operating out of a storefront in 
Harlem has drawn scrutiny from international terrorism investigators for joining 

in a global fund-raising drive for the “armed resistance” in Iraq, The Post 
has 
learned.
The Manhattan-based Freedom Socialist Party is one of two American groups 
whose name is part of the Europeanbased consortium of radical organizations
known as the Anti-Imperialist Camp, which is openly raising money for anti 
U.S. 
groups in Iraq, according to literature from the organization.
“Everybody’s got the right to exercise free speech. But people who actively 

support and send money to terrorists who are targeting American soldiers are 

crossing the line and ought to be dealt with,” said Rep. Sue Kelly (R-N.Y.), 

whose House Armed Services subcommittee on Terrorism and Unconventional 
Threats has investigated the group. Stephen Durham, a former candidate for 
the 
New York State Assembly and spokesman for the Freedom Socialist Party, 
denied that his group is violating any U.S. laws. But Durham said that he is 
in 
“solidarity with the Iraqi resistance politically,” and added that he cannot 

condemn the brutal tactics, including hostage beheadings and carbomb attacks,
employed by terrorists like Abu Musab al-Zarqawi 
niles.lathem at nypost.com 
___________________________________________________________
Freedom Socialist Party
Australian Section
PO Box 2066
Brunswick, VIC 3055
Australia
U.S. Section
4710 University Way NE, #100
Seattle, WA 98105
USA
___________________________________________________________ 
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