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Chris Helali, the international secretary of the Party of Communists USA, addressed the International Assembly of the World Workers Party against Imperialism and in Support of Palestine on January 21, 2024. In a video of his address, posed on the Workers World Party on YouTube, he acknowledged the event taking place at the Malcolm X & Dr. Betty Shabazz Memorial & Educational Center, saying that Muslims, and Shiaa Muslims in particular, appreciate the concept of martyrdom.
In honor of the 100th anniversary of the death of Soviet leader Vladimir Lenin, Helali read a poem by Mahmoud Darwish, a recipient of the Lenin Award. He said that the past 100 years were under the "banner of Lenin," but the coming 100 years will be under the banner of being "against imperialism and in support of Palestine." Helali honored the "legacy" of the comrades fighting for the DPRK, Zimbabwe, Cuba, Venezuela. He led the crowd in chants: "Down with imperialism, colonialism, and Zionism." Helali's statements were posted on Workers World Party on YouTube on February 18.
Chris Helali: "Growing up in a Muslim family and thinking about of course, Haj Malik, of course Malcom X, and to be in this room here is deeply spiritual, especially for us Shia, who have in Iran and throughout the world, have an understanding of martyrdom, an understanding of those who have been killed, and the slogan that everyday is Ashura and everywhere is Karbala, thinking about Imam Hussein. So, thinking also about the martyrdom here.
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"And of course, combining the Palestine resistance and the centenary celebration of Lenin, I could think of only the poet Mahmoud Darwish, who is considered the national poet of Palestine, and was himself awarded the Lenin Prize, which he valued above all else in the 1980s by the Soviet Union, and so I will read from his poem.
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"'I do not hate people. I do not assault anyone. But, if I get hungry, I eat the flesh of my usurper. Beware. Beware of my hunger and of my anger.' Celebrating one hundred years since the passing of Comrade Vladimir Lenin is an important milestone. It's an opportunity of us to regroup, to rethink, to criticize and self-criticize and to rebuild and keep the struggle going. And so, after a century under the banner of Lenin, I believe that the next century will be under that banner, and that banner is not only the symbol of Palestine. It is the symbol of all oppressed people. You see it everywhere, throughout the world.
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"We honor the legacy of your comrades, standing not only in solidarity with the Palestinians, but in solidarity with the DPRK, in solidarity with Zimbabwe, in solidarity with Cuba, with Venezuela. All of these struggles throughout the world.
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"So, let us say together: 'Down with imperialism, colonialism, and Zionism!'
Audience: "Down with imperialism, colonialism, and Zionism!"
Helali: "Free Free!"
Audience: "Palestine!"
Helali: "Free Free!"
Audience: "Palestine!"
Helali: "From the River to the Sea!"
Audience: "Palestine will be free!"
Helali: "Thank you Comrades."
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