Call for a global movement for peace, social justice and solidarity against all wars!
Bagnolet | 08 July 2022
At a time of a global climate emergency and crisis, escalation of totalitarian regimes, the resurgence of imperialism and military aggression, we, peasants, express our dismay with the proliferation of wars in the world.
Fires are ravaging the Amazon and Australia, and unbearable heat, untimely rains and floods are hitting the South-Asian subcontinent. Droughts threaten crops and livestock in dozens of countries; floods are destroying fields and houses in other places, and insect, bird and plant species and populations are disappearing massively and irrecoverably.
And you, the decision-makers of this world, what are you doing?
You wage war fueled by greed to snatch the last drops of oil, the last sources of water, the last acres of territory. You turn people against each other with populist and chauvinist propaganda, trying to divide us and break our practice of sowing peace in our societies and with nature.
Enough of this! We, peasants, call for an end to wars and a global movement for peace and international solidarity and cooperation.
We call for the immediate stop of military aggression and a withdrawal of military forces from all illegally occupied territories worldwide. We call for the dismantling of all multinational military alliances and nuclear arsenals around the world. We call for an international effort towards demilitarization and disarmament. We call to stop using hunger as a weapon of war against the people. We call to stop the de-legitimization and criminalization of social movements who struggle for social justice.
The only wars worth fighting today are those against poverty, hunger, the climate and biodiversity crises, racism and violence against women.
We, peasants, affirm that, in the current social and environmental emergency context, all wars are contrary to the true interests and aspirations of the people. We want to sow peace and social justice! We are tired of your thirst for power that destroys the planet and condemns us to misery. We want to harvest peace and social justice!
It is time to put all our energies into the construction of more just and more united societies.
We want to build peace and social justice!
We call on all people who feel a sense of pacifist urgency, as well as social movements, women’s organizations, workers’ organizations, migrant organizations, youth organizations, and indigenous peoples’ organizations, to unite in demanding an end to wars and militarization.
La Via Campesina appeals to all its members, allies, and social movements to echo this text, translate and re-publish it in local languages, and share ahead. A united voice of the people is now urgent and necessary! Globalize the Struggle, Globalize Hope!
Cover Image & Poster adapted from artwork by Sanya Hyland/Just Seeds