Some argue that the war can be stopped or prevented from escalating. For example, Israel may back down under pressure from international solidarity or from actions such as boycotting Israeli products and companies.
This notion harbours illusions and delusions about the ability of bourgeois institutions and trans-state imperialist alliances to become “pro-peace” under “popular pressure”. It causes the anti-war movement against war to pursue various temporary peace agreements mediated by imperialists, and turns it into a supporter of various temporary and fragile truces.
In other words, while imperialist war is in full swing, is escalating and becoming more widespread, and the workers' and popular movements must prepare for this, positions such as the above lead to complacency. This leaves the people’s struggle vulnerable to propaganda calling for temporary compromises with a gun held to the peoples’ head. Although there is potential to broaden the confrontation and challenge the dominant policy, this notion essentially neutralizes radicalization and perpetuates the utopic idea that the hawks of war can become doves of peace.
Ultimately, they obscure the fact that war is inherent in the nature of capitalism, stemming from its very laws. What is called “competitiveness”, “profitability”, and “conquest of new markets” in peacetime takes the form of mass destruction, genocide, and territorial conquest in wartime.
Logically, this notion is not far removed from that promoted by forces who argue that the result of the popular movement must be a “progressive”,”left-wing”, “proud” government etc., that can lead the country out of war, contribute to a “progressive” change in the correlation of forces in the EU, or declare “neutrality”.
The question of whether an anti-war movement can succeed or provide a way out of imperialist war must therefore be answered from the perspective of the movement. If it remains merely an anti-war protest movement, a voice against the atrocities of war, a mass popular response that simply answers “peace” when confronted with the dilemma “war or peace?”, it is certain that it will not be able to open the way out of war.
After all, there is a historical precedent for exiting wars amid rising revolutionary movements. There have been movements that have challenged and overthrown bourgeois power. This occurred during the October Revolution and the subsequent revolutionary wave in Germany, Hungary, Italy and other countries. However, there are also negative examples, such as the separation of national liberation, anti-occupation and resistance struggle from the struggle for power in a number of countries and historical periods.
Therefore, the crucial issue is the workers’ - people’s movement which is developing on the basis of the current developments of the war in the Middle East and Ukraine, against Greek involvement in both wars, in solidarity with the Palestinian people and their struggle, to acquire an anti-capitalist and anti-monopoly orientation, to challenge the bourgeoisie, its power in the country, and the interests of big capital and business groups.
That is why, from today onwards, its focus must be on addressing the root cause of the war, the real enemy: the imperialists and their rivals, the capitalist system itself. Especially at this critical juncture, its core must be based on the principle of “no trust in the government and the bourgeoisie, in their state and their political system”.
It must struggle against the interests of the country’s bourgeoisie, which is involved in the imperialist war, either directly or indirectly. From this point of view, it must target the war preparations at the economic and political level. In the workplace, it must refute the rhetoric in favour of intervention. In strategic sectors (ports, airports, telecommunications, infrastructure), it must prevent workers from becoming accomplices in and perpetrators of the massacre. In universities and research centres, it must oppose any links with NATO objectives. In cities and counties that are part of war plans, it must struggle against bases and other NATO infrastructure. It must break the attempt to gain the workers’ consent for war involvement in practice.
It must be connected to broader workers’ - people’s struggles against exploitation, to the struggles of popular forces against policies that support monopolies. It must contribute to the formation of a social alliance between the working class, other popular forces, farmers, and the self-employed, which will target the entire system of exploitation and imperialist wars waged for the benefit of monopolies. This is why it must be a movement based on the mass organizations of workers, popular forces, students, trade unions and associations.
A movement that will not slip on the banana peel of bourgeois alternative government solutions or become a stepping stone for reshuffles in the bourgeois political system, but will contribute to the radicalization of workers’ – people’s forces, strengthening their trust in their own power and their ability to clash with the capitalist system. It will not create new illusions about “transitional governments” within capitalism that will supposedly take the country out of war and, leaning on the support of the Eurasian bloc, will pave the way for the overthrow of the system.
This movement will expose and not tolerate the hypocrisy of forces such as social democracy. While they have blood on their hands and have sealed their cooperation with the murderous state of Israel, today they are waving the Palestinian keffiyeh again and pretending to demonstrate for “freedom for Palestine” in an attempt to whitewash their responsibilities.
A movement that will not choose an imperialist camp or foster illusions and delusions that it can lead to a popular way out for the people of the country by supporting a change in the correlation of forces in favour of the camp of the “rising” imperialist forces (the Eurasian bloc). It will express its unreserved solidarity with the struggle of the Palestinian people and all the peoples fighting against imperialism. A movement that will fight for the prospect of the country's disengagement from the imperialist NATO and EU alliances, together with the struggle for working-class power.
The conditions for the maturation of such a movement are being formed today through the daily struggles and initiatives that strengthen the anti-capitalist orientation and combat bourgeois and opportunist ideas. This will be determined by the characteristics of the movement today, as outlined above.
Today, the members and cadres of the KKE and KNE are waging this battle within the workers’ - people’s movement, promoting the Party's policy and its Programme, in order to highlight the need for a counterattack, rupture with and overthrow of the current system, and seizure of workers' and people's power. This will be the definitive way forward for the peoples.
