The following statement was released by armed fighters from the International Freedom Battalion of the Yekîneyên Parastina Gel (YPG/People’s Protection Units) in Rojava. We publish it here because, in line with our policy of fighting all forms of fascism, we deeply share the sentiments of this statement.
IFB Statement:
“Westminster, March 22nd 2017: 47 injured and three killed. We condemn this reactionary fascist attack in London, and are proud to be fighting ISIS here in Rojava on behalf of the common people targeted this day. We say clearly this is an act of Salafi fascists who want to stoke tensions between the Muslims and non-Muslims, to drive Muslims into their arms by provoking a reaction. So we condemn also those Far Right fools who fall into this trap when they actually agree with ISIS that there are only ‘Muslims’ and ‘non Muslims’. As the first fighters in Rojava to raise the international anti-fascist flag, we oppose both camps of fascists, and call on fellow anti-fascists to do the same: we must root out those who want to stoke sectarian tension, whether they are theocratic religious fascists or white supremacists. With the input of our volunteers from London specifically, and Scotland, Ireland, and England, we endorse any upcoming activity by antifascist forces against theocratic religious fascists or white supremacists: if you cannot join us here, join with your local antifascist forces.
Some will question why we mark this attack that killed three in the midst of a war that has killed hundreds of thousands of people. We mark this attack out of respect for our Battalion members from the region, but also in recognition of the fact that what happens in Westminster not only on a day like the 22nd, but on every day of the week, has huge significance for the people struggling here.
We mark this attack to say to the people of the West not to fall into the trap set by Salafi fascists, Far Right fascists, but also the imperialists, the ‘normal’ politicians and ministers, who will argue they are your only defence against ‘Islamic terror’. The truth is the current UK government and those before it likes to obscure Salafi fascism with the term ‘Islamic terror’ to hide the very small group of people responsible amongst the great mass of normal Muslim workers who do not have any sympathy whatsoever with Salafi fascism.
They do this partly to scare the masses and divide them, to make Muslims feel like they are hated for these attacks, and non-Muslims feel like they are surrounded by jihadists. But more than this, they obscure Salafi fascism because of their long lasting links to the governments that have incubated, inculcated, educated and enabled the current wave of Salafi fascists.
Faced with a choice between stable governments with semi-protected economies and resources in the Middle East, Western capitalists favor Salafi-led chaos, to open up the veins of our nations for their profits, part of an economic and military process we call ‘imperialism’.
They want you to believe ISIS , Al Qaeda, and the others when they say they are the resistance to imperialism, so that you side with imperialism. They are not – they are the agents of imperialism. This has been true ever since the CIA sponsored the Mujahadeen in Afghanistan to destabilise the USSR. The only solution to this theocratic fascist movement is the resistance of the people, as demonstrated here in Rojava. The only solution to the uneven economic exploitation known as imperialism, which has used Salafi fascism so well, is a system based on the equality of the people, as demonstrated here in Rojava.
ANTI-FASCIST UNITY IN THE FACE OF ALL FORMS OF FASCIST PROVOCATION!
ALL POWER TO THE PEOPLE’S RESISTANCE TO FASCISM, FROM ROJAVA TO THE WORLD!
– some international fighters of the IFB”