The following report was given by Henry Lowendorf on behalf of the Peace and Solidarity Commission to the CPUSA National Committee on Sat., Nov. 16.

With the election of Donald Trump and his nominees for cabinet positions, there are many complex forces and eddy currents that bear serious analysis. This is admittedly preliminary.

Anyone who had watched Trump over the years knew he was not a peace candidate. His actions toward Iran, Israel and Syria in his first term were not peaceful. He tore up the nuclear agreement with Iran and assassinated one of its leading generals who was negotiating peace. He moved the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem and gave and continues to give the green light to the genociders.

In his first term Trump bombed Syria and installed unwanted and illegal military bases to guard and, as he admitted, to steal Syria’s oil and wheat.

Those who consider Trump a friend of Vladimir Putin and Russia totally ignore Trump’s tearing up the INF Treaty and the Open Skies Treaty with Russia. They forget he insisted that the U.S.’ NATO allies increase their military budgets to meet his specifications, aiming that aggressive military alliance eastward. They disregard the sanctions he placed on Russian oligarchs and on any country that helped Russia build the Nordstream pipeline. And they forget that he, too, sent weapons to Ukraine.

Trump ran with Obama’s classification of Venezuela as an “unusual and extraordinary threat” to national security, imposing murderous sanctions, stealing Venezuelan-owned CITGO oil, and turning it over to U.S. puppet Juan Guaidó, officially recognizing him as the “Interim President” of Venezuela. He oversaw a coup in Bolivia. He viciously named Cuba as a State Sponsor of Terrorism, reversed the Obama-era moves toward normalization, and devastated the island’s economy. He publicly threatened to nuke the DPRK (North Korea), before deciding he could get a Nobel Peace Prize if he conducted a peace treaty on the Korean peninsula.

Trump’s choice for Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, whom we generally associate with attempting to assassinate the Cuban revolution, is a war and regime-change lover calling for war on China and Iran. Even as the U.S. Navy and other military services are preparing for military confrontation with the world’s second largest economy, Trump has promised to slap massive tariffs on Chinese goods in an attempt to crush its economic growth. Trump’s border czar, Tom Homan, has called for invading Mexico.

Another warmonger is Trump’s choice of Florida GOP Rep. Mike Waltz to be his national security adviser. Waltz wants to re-invade Afghanistan, setting it up as a base against China. Trump’s Department of Defense pick, Pete Hegseth, is a white and male supremacist Fox News talking head. It will be interesting to see how Hegseth gets along with Tulsi Gabbard, Trump’s choice for director of intelligence, who was a veteran of the U.S. war on Iraq and a former Democratic Rep. from Hawaii. Gabbard lost her 2020 Democratic primary bid, at that time presenting herself as being both pro-military and anti-war.

Whoever he places into his cabinet today, loyal as they may be, may also be fired as soon as they don’t ask, “How high?” when Trump says, “Jump.”

The anti-war movement has had its hands full with the Biden–Harris administration, who have overseen significant repression of pro-Palestine demonstrations. We should expect far worse with Trump.

Peace on the margins

If we talk about Trump winning and Harris losing on the margins, as outlined in Joe Sims’ report, we have to talk about other margins. Peace was not part of the Harris campaign. More war in the Middle East and Ukraine was its message. Meanwhile, Trump’s fakery on stopping wars, though totally belied by the belligerent actions of his first Presidential term, deceived some voters. His cabinet picks are the worst conceivable neocons.

One margin is the Arab American and Muslim American vote. The Biden–Harris administration’s unstinting support for the genocidal war the U.S. and Israel are waging against Palestinians and Israel’s Arab neighbors generated massive refusal within the Muslim and Arab American population to vote for Harris. According to the Council on American Islamic Relations, over 50% of the Muslim vote went to Green candidate Jill Stein. Harris and Trump more or less evenly split the rest. Another pre-election poll of Arab American voters suggested 41% support for Harris, with 12% breaking for Stein, and another 42% planning to vote for Trump. Compare this with 2020, when CAIR’s polling indicated 69% of Muslim voters went for Biden (Emgage put that number at 86%) and AAI reported 59% support for Biden among Arab American voters.

The new peace movement

We now have a new peace movement which sprung into being in October of last year. The outrage over Israel’s savage bombing, destruction of Gaza, and the assassinations of Lebanese, Syrians, and Iranians has generated a whole new cadre of peace activists. They are young, diverse, and in many cases, fearless.

Once again, college students are at the forefront. The demand that universities reveal their investments in the manufacturers of machines slaughtering Palestinians, and then divest, has drawn the hammer of repression with the false charge of antisemitism as a cudgel. The massive repression, specifically weighed on pro-Palestinian activists and supporters, has exposed many universities as beholden to big money donors and wedded to the financial-military-industrial complex. The billionaire donors support the Zionist project not only for religious reasons. They also support Zionism for profit reasons.

To their credit, many pro-Palestine activists focused on ending the genocide also support allied social justice concerns such as affordable housing, the Movement for Black Lives and immigrant rights. They recognize the need for cross movement solidarity.

Challenges to unity

Within the peace movement, important divisions stem from the war in Ukraine involving NATO and Russian forces, the U.S. and NATO aggressions on Syria, and over the role of U.S. peace forces regarding Venezuela.

There are also divisions with other social justice movements. The current weakness of the peace movement leaves it marginalized. Still, opposition to the U.S. weaponizing and enabling both genocide in Palestine and aggressions on Israel’s neighbors now clearly separates both liberal and reactionary Jewish Zionists, reactionary Christian Zionists, neocons, and the merchants of death on the one hand, from a large majority of the U.S. and global population on the other.

Labor’s role

The open support for ceasefire by national and regional unions is a true breath of fresh air. Major sections of the organized labor movement have demonstrated their political independence by opposing U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East. This represents a new development and has established many trade unions as an important force within the peace movement. Now that the election is over, the bread and butter and moral issues come to the fore. How can we help the union movement take desperately needed concrete steps to follow up on their many ceasefire resolutions of a year ago, and on their statements issued in support of an arms embargo?

Going forward

Almost exactly a year ago, the CPUSA held a peace conference that was a success in many ways. One goal was to draft an action program for the party’s peace work. To this end, Saturday afternoon was devoted to five workshops: one led by the party’s Political Action Commission and women’s collective, another by the Peace and Solidarity Commission and the International Department, and the others focused on youth issues, the labor movement, and 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 peace. The workshop findings were reported back on Sunday and summarized.

The Peace and Solidarity Commission proposes a follow up CPUSA peace conference, this time held virtually, building on themes such as “People’s needs, not Pentagon greed,” and “The struggle for peace and engaging the people’s movements.” We propose inviting presentations from fraternal parties as we did in 2023, and also inviting representatives of some mass peace organizations. The goals would be:

• To review and assess the results of the 2023 Peace Conference.
• To create an updated, prioritized action agenda for building unity and people’s power.
• To prepare our external focus and outreach to include mass organizations and build party connections and influence.
• To improve Party-wide communication and mobilization for unity of action.
• To create methods for follow through, feedback, review, and assessment in terms of Party actions and results on peace and solidarity issues.

Move the Money

One of the most important campaigns the Party can and should influence and participate in is the Move the Money Campaign. It aims to cut the military budget and transfer money to human needs. It is the biggest peace unifier. Peace and war is a bread and butter issue. Move the Money is a campaign to build local coalitions of peace, trade union, social justice, and faith-based organizations to generate conversations about where we want our tax money to go, and call for city council resolutions to transfer funds from weapons and war to human needs and peace.

The most recent successes have been in Detroit and Hamtramck, Michigan, where strong city council resolutions were passed. A broad coalition in our country’s biggest city, New York, is working on such a resolution. In 2020, a broad coalition was built in New Haven, Conn. to take a resolution to the Board of Alders, our city council, which passed it unanimously, and then turned it into a ballot referendum that gained an 83% YES vote — five out of every six voters. Other cities have passed such resolutions as well. Our Party should prioritize building Move the Money coalitions across the country.

Palestine

Right now, we should mobilize around Bernie Sanders’ and other Senators’ Joint Resolutions of Disapproval to stop Biden’s next $20 billion weapons gift to Israel. Party members are encouraged to sign this petition in support of it. We have to be participating with and grow the Muslim, Jewish, and secular organizations focused on ending Israel’s U.S.-sponsored genocide of Palestinians, and their escalating war on Lebanon, Syria, Iran, and Yemen. Ultimately, this is part of a campaign to break the grip of U.S. imperialism on the Middle East, and dull or remove the tip of the spear, the Israeli apartheid regime.

Cuba

There are many campaigns for Cuba solidarity around the world. But saving Cuba’s socialist society from the wrath of imperialism requires special attention. The recent U.S. election has major negative consequences for Cuba as described in a People’s World article in late October.

It appears that some of the solidarity movement is abandoning lobbying in favor of delegations and material aid, which are, of course, important goals. But getting Cuba off the list of State Sponsors of Terrorism (SSOT), where Trump put it in 2020 and Biden continued, is critical. With two months remaining before Biden leaves office, can we generate a short-term campaign with sympathetic members of Congress? Even if Trump reverses any Biden action, at least we should try to get headlines and open a public discussion of the effects of the blockade on Cubans — and on Cuban emigration. This weekend is the National Network on Cuba (NNOC) conference. It remains to be seen if it results in a concerted effort to pressure Biden.

China

Obama’s pivot to the Asia Pacific indicated a recognition by monopoly capital that China was a serious economic and political competitor and a threat to the U.S.’ goal of “full-spectrum dominance.” Rather than peaceful competition, imperialism chooses war. Trump and his cabinet are actively and vocally seeking a war with China. U.S. Imperialism is decaying, but is not prepared to go down without an ugly, bloody fight, which could take the whole world down. This requires not only solidarity with the Chinese people’s pursuit of peaceful, independent development, but with the whole human race. We must prioritize stopping this cold war before it becomes hot.

Nuclear war

Nuclear weapons states are at war in Ukraine and the Middle East. A war with China could go nuclear. The Back from the Brink campaign is an important current effort to reduce the threat of nuclear war. It focuses on a House resolution (H. Res. 77), which would put the U.S. on the path of supporting the United Nations’ Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons. Getting behind this campaign is essential for the peace movement and the Party.

Finally, some additional proposals and questions:

• Unions and Peace: What is the best way for the Party to encourage trade unions to follow up on their Palestine–Israel ceasefire resolutions of the last year with actions? Also, how can we encourage unions to lead the campaign for a just transition from a war economy to a peace economy?
• Peace pamphlet: Younger comrades and members of the Peace and Solidarity Commission have been eager to develop a pamphlet dealing with the problem of imperialism and building the struggle for peace.
• Building the Peace and Solidarity Commission: The Commission has to rebuild with comrades who are already active in peace and solidarity movements. How do we identify such comrades and reach out to them?

Image: Young people march against fascism, for climate and peace by Taylor Dorrell / CPUSA; People march on Nakba day in Michigan by CPUSA Michigan (X); UAW and Labor Network for Ceasefire activists protest Netanyahu’s visit to D.C. and to call for an arms embargo by UAW (X)

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