Unite, Resist, Triumph: Celebrating global people’s struggles against imperialist war, plunder and oppression
19-20 June 2024 | Penang, Malaysia
The International Festival of Peoples’ Rights and Struggles 2024 (IFPRS) brought together hundreds of people from around the globe to share and learn from each other about threats to people’s individual and collective rights; draw lessons from organizing victories; and forge reciprocal solidarity. An opening program with militant indigenous peoples’ ceremonial music and dance, performances of songs of resistance, and speakers on the national liberation movements of Palestine and the Philippines launched the Festival, setting the tone for the following days. Highlights included performances by the renowned singer-songwriter Danny Fabella and rousing speeches by lifelong freedom fighters Leila Khaled and Julie de Lima.
Over the two days of IFPRS, dozens of peoples’ organizations and movements held fora, workshops, film screenings, cultural exchanges and other programs, on topics including resistance against drone warfare, bombings, militarism, and repression; agro-ecology; the role of transnational corporations in war and militarism, specifically the role of TNCs in the ongoing genocide of Israel against the people of Palestine, and the rising tension in Asia Pacific; corporate land-grabs in Asia; environmental rights in Southeast Asia; extractives and climate imperialism; the global assembly of the Friends of the Filipino People in Struggle; condition and resistance of the Indonesian People after 10 years of Jokowi; organizing resistance and building self-reliance of peoples in the renewable energy transition; inter-country regional exchange of indigenous women from Bangladesh, Northeast India, the Philippines, and West Papua; resistance dance and protest banner-making workshop by the International Women’s Alliance; and the launch of anti-militarism primers on NATO and military agreements in Asia and the Pacific.
“People Power Hours” were also conducted, showcasing over 10 hours of dynamic sessions covering the peoples’ struggles of Kurdistan, Indonesia, Palestine, the African continent, the Karen of Burma, Latin America, West Papua, Borneo, the Philippines, Bangladesh and North East India. A “Wall of Resistance” live-art activity engaged attendees throughout the two days, where participants painted and drew images, shared messages, pasted photos and hung posters to visually present people’s united resistance against imperialism and all reaction.
A final program highlighted the outcomes of the two days of festival activities, invited attendees to participate in the resistance dance, and presented the protest banners and Wall of Resistance. Chairperson of the International League of Peoples’ Struggle, Len Cooper, concluded the IFPRS with words on the need for building international solidarity and a strong anti-imperialist movement in the face of rising fascism, militarism and war in the world.