Two threats to the continued existence of the human family, and even the earth as a living planet, are nuclear war and climate scorching. These threats are linked. Addressing them is urgent.

Our Party’s November national peace conference, in planning for over a year, spotlighted the critical importance we place on building the peace movement. It couldn’t have come at a more fitting moment.

As anyone who has been around long enough knows, the peace movement has its ups and downs. Today there is a major uptick.

The global peace movement took a sharp turn after October 7. Hamas’ breakout from the open air prison of Gaza was a response to the ongoing siege and starvation of Gaza by the Israeli occupation. Its violent attack on Israeli military and civilian alike was taken as an opportunity for the admittedly fascist Israeli government to accelerate the even more violent ethnic cleansing of Palestinians. The peace movement, sputtering along for two decades, has sprung into life. We may want to call it the “new peace movement” contrasted with the “old peace movement” that existed before Oct. 7.

The New Peace Movement, still with internal contradictions and divisions, is a breath of fresh life. It has many branches. To date they are largely driven by opposition to Apartheid Israel’s genocide of Palestinians. At its base are the non-Establishment Jewish groups like Jewish Voice for Peace and numerous Palestinian, Arab and Muslim groups. Most significantly, the new peace movement is also arising from the ranks of Labor, Black faith leaders, civil rights groups, Native American and immigrants rights and some climate-oriented forces. From a class perspective we welcome the leadership of organized labor and in particular the newly formed National Labor Network for a Ceasefire, which could become a mighty force to unify the various branches of the NPM and the OPM and instill peace as a significant issue into the body politic and the upcoming national election, fraught with danger, the result of which carries weight far beyond the borders of the US and beyond the living generations.

What characterizes the most active opposition to the genocide of Palestinians is that it is largely driven by younger generations, reminiscent of the massive peace movement to end the war on Vietnam six decades ago. Unity means pushing for the most widely accepted demands: that the US must support a ceasefire, humanitarian aid and release of all hostages, under both Hamas’ and Israeli control. More encouraging still, there are student groups calling for their universities to divest from the weapons makers supplying Israel, thus beginning to link the ceasefire demand to the existing Move the Money campaigns from the OPM that tie cutting the trillion-dollar-a-year military budget to redirect resources to all the needs of our communities. Such a radical transition has monumental implications for humanity.

Still to overcome for unifying the US peace movement are the divisions over  ending US involvement in the wars on Ukraine, Syria, Libya, for example. Still missing is a realization that the new Cold War on China is aimed at a “color” revolution or more hot war. Still needed is recognition of how the old colonial powers are trying to recolonize Africa, prevent the liberation of Latin America and parts of Asia. Still essential for peace and justice is enlightening the peace movement with an overall anti-imperialist perspective.

As Communists prepare for the National Convention in June, reviewing our work over the last period and planning for the next, the issues of war, peace and justice must be front and center. What practical steps can we take to create and cement the missing links, to make the peace movement an integral part of the all-people’s front, to build intercontinental working-class solidarity, to pave the way for a peaceful, socialist, green future?

Below is a compilation of proposals from the CPUSA’s November peace conference. We urge our clubs to sort through these and find actions for peace they can take that match their overall plan of work. Let’s put peace into the Communist plus and the Communist plus into peace.

DRAFT SUMMARY: PEACE CONFERENCE WORKSHOP PROPOSALS AND ACTION PROGRAM

CPUSA Peace Conference 2023 (Nov. 11-12, NYC) was a success in many ways.   One goal was to draft an action program for party peace work.  To this end, Saturday afternoon was devoted to five workshops (political action and women’s issues, peace and solidarity/international department, Youth, Labor, Communities of Color).  Each workshop was charged with producing some proposals or resolutions, or commentary and practical suggestions, to advance the party’s work in this area.  The proposals are gathered here and should be looked at as a whole, as cross pollination and connections are essential. There is more detailed information available and supporting documents.

WORKSHOPS (resolutions, suggestions, comments)

Political action and women’s issues workshop presented a peace legislation tool kit for action on four issues.  The tool kit provides information on four congressional measures for the party to support:

• cease fire now in the Middle East
• no nuclear weapons
• support Third Reconstruction proposal of Poor People’s Campaign
• support legislation introduced by Rep. Barbara Lee and other progressives to cut the military budget by $100 billion and transfer the money to funding social programs.

Download the PDF to access resources for a mass campaign for peace legislation.

Labor workshop resolutions

• Party members to circulate and push for the signing of the petition for ceasefire drafted by United Electrical Workers (UE) and United Food and Commercial Workers Local 3000 (UFCW 3000).
• The labor commission to establish the subcommittee for peace and ceasefire.
• The labor commission to develop an ongoing education curriculum focused on holding one-on-one conversations regarding peace and ceasefire, building relationships in the workplace and union, winning union elections, etc.
• To reach out to UE and UFCW 3000 to:
  • Discuss next steps for the ceasefire letter
  • Conduct a People’s World interview
  • Organize the resolution signees into a mass meeting to discuss enforcement of the petition

People of color workshop

Overall: meet the people where they are, need to have materials in the languages of the people we are organizing, be concrete in planning and include the issues of the communities being organized, plan and act collectively

Approach

• Translating spontaneous upsurge into organization that can sustain a long term, strategic struggle.
• Bringing the peace struggle to where people are based on the issues directly affecting them.
• Building unity
• When you take initiative, you can take leadership and provide direction.

Tools

Agitation, Education, Petitions, the People’s World, Peace Legislation Toolkit. Rallies, vigils, die-ins, providing legal help, cop watch.  Art, culture, music and gatherings with food.  We have to think creatively about how to bring people together around issues.

Using a petition to bring conversation about Israel-Palestine to the neighborhoods and to have conversations with our elected officials, consistently every week

Peace and Solidarity Commission/International Department workshop

• Encourage club members to join, call for rallies demanding a ceasefire in Israel/Palestine; promote CPUSA statements.
• Move the Money from the military budget to all our human needs. The Third Reconstruction, H.Res. 532, and People over Pentagon Act 2023, HR 1134.  Participate in the Move the Money to Human Needs Campaign to build local coalitions to create city council resolutions to cut the military budget and redirect money to human needs.
• Lobby for Embracing the goals and provisions of the Treaty on Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons,  H.Res.77.
• Join, or create, a local chapter of the US Peace Council. Join a local chapter of CodePink, Jewish Voice for Peace, IfNotNow, Veterans for Peace, America Muslims for Palestine, etc.  Become active in various Solidarity coalitions and groups, e.g. National Network on Cuba, Nicaragua Solidarity Coalition, Alliance for Global Justice
• Become active in, or help create Labor/Environmental/Community/Peace & Social Justice alliances around green jobs and mitigating climate change. e.g. Labor Climate Council (ME)
• Round Table on Climate and Jobs (CT)
• Oppose the new cold war 2.0 against China and other countries. Endorse or work with organizations such as No Cold War, an international group with HQ in Britain, and China is Not our Enemy Campaign of Code Pink which also opposes anti-Asian racism in the US.

Youth Workshop

• Campaign development
• student associations/councils calling for ceasefire
• address student repression and how to defend these students
• anti ROTC/JROTC and recruitment campaigns on campus
• anti Lockheed/Raytheon recruitment
• YCL Recruitment strategy
• divestment campaigns

Ceasefire Resolutions

• Work to have student councils and city councils issue cease fire resolutions.  Work broadly with people of many different audiences for a ceasefire, e.g. doctors and medical students take issue with hospitals being bombed.   Bring pressure on officials.
• Connect graduate and undergraduate communities to unite in the struggle.  Structure coalitions based on points of unity
• Our goal is to speak to the working class that might exist outside existing “left” organizations and bring them into our movement
• It is important to focus on allies that have a broader conception of issues and
  have a more diverse base of membership (JVP, SJP, INN)
• Stressing the need for anti fascism
• The apathy towards elections is an obstacle Trump will actively target all communities.  We need to connect with these communities to draw them into the struggle for peace.
• We have to grow a critical mass before we can call for fundamental change. Think strategically and find the best path forward.

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