International Peace Coalition

Building a ‘Polyphonic’ World

by EIR staff

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Nov. 8—Schiller Institute founder Helga Zepp-LaRouche opened today’s 75th consecutive weekly meeting of the International Peace Coalition (IPC) saying that Nov. 6 will be seen as “a milestone,” due to the reelection of Donald Trump as U.S. President, and the fall of the so-called “streetlight coalition” government in Germany. This is a major disruption of the war machine, a tectonic strategic shift, which the British and others are totally hysterical about; but whether Trump makes good on his promise to end wars has yet to be seen. The composition of his Cabinet will be one early indication, but the situation does not depend on the U.S. alone. The fall of the German government is a very positive development, because this was “the worst German government in the entire post-war period.” The only merit of Chancellor Olaf Scholz was that he prevented the sending of Taurus missiles to Ukraine, whereas Atlanticist warmongers want to “send every possible weapon before Trump comes into office.”

Whether or not Trump succeeds in ending today’s dangerous confrontations will depend entirely on his view of the emerging Global Majority, as reflected in the Oct. 22-24 BRICS summit in Kazan, Russia. In that regard, she urged all the participants to read the “remarkable speech” delivered by Russian President Vladimir Putin on Nov. 7 at the Valdai International Discussion Club meeting in Sochi, Russia, in which he offered a provocative metaphor:

The rise of nations and cultures that have previously remained on the periphery of global politics for one reason or another means that their own distinct ideas of law and justice are playing an increasingly important role. They are diverse. This may give the impression of discord and perhaps cacophony, but this is only the initial phase. It is my deep conviction that the only new international system possible is one embracing polyphony, where many tones and many musical themes are sounded together to form harmony. If you like, we are moving towards a world system that is going to be polyphonic rather than polycentric, one in which all voices are heard and, most importantly, absolutely must be heard. Those who are used to soloing and want to keep it that way will have to get used to the new “scores” now.

Donald Ramotar, former President of Guyana, offered an “outsider’s perspective” on the U.S. election, saying it will have a very important influence on the international situation, which offers us both hope and concerns. He is hopeful about the possibility of ending the unnecessary war in Ukraine, and agreed with Zepp-LaRouche that Trump’s Cabinet choices will tell us what to expect, including whether he will support Israeli genocide. On the other hand, Trump seems to have an ill-advised “mission to stop China’s rise.” However, the nations of the Global South have pivoted toward Russia and China for security and development.

Ramotar noted that Trump received more Black and Hispanic votes than any other Republican candidate in decades, largely because they are angry about the state of the U.S. economy. The Democratic Party has abandoned the working class, not the other way around. Ramotar said that he is concerned about Trump being a “climate change denier.” Diane Sare, a leader of the LaRouche movement, later responded to this, saying that we don’t have evidence that humans are causing climate change, but we do have evidence that humans are not building infrastructure to defend themselves against it.

Dr. Perlmutter’s Images of Genocide

Jose Vega, another leader of the LaRouche movement, well known for his political interventions against Kamala Harris, Mike Pompeo, and others, reported on a very successful Manhattan event featuring Dr. Mark Perlmutter. Perlmutter, president of the World Surgical Foundation, had been scheduled to speak about his three-week experience doing medical work in Gaza at Mount Sinai Hospital’s Icahn School of Medicine in New York City. The event, however, was cancelled due to pressure from pro-Israel activists. (See EIR, November 8, 2024, “What a Doctor Witnessed in Gaza.”) Another venue was found through the intervention of Sare and Vega, who both ran as LaRouche independent candidates for Federal office in the Nov. 5 U.S. general election. Vega said that he and Sare “operated our campaigns as if we were already elected,” which is why they stepped in to find a place for Dr. Perlmutter to speak.

The IPC meeting then heard from a second-year medical student who is an activist in the Medical Students for Justice in Palestine organization. That organization had sponsored a meeting for Dr. Feroze Sidhwa, a colleague of Dr. Perlmutter, who has also done medical work in Gaza. She reported that the Biden administration never acknowledged receipt of a letter on Gaza signed by 99 medical professionals who served there. She read to the IPC meeting a statement from Dr. Sidhwa warning, “The genocide in Gaza appears to be accelerating.”

Dr. Perlmutter has circulated shocking photos of the cases he encountered in Gaza, showing the deliberate targeting of children by Israel Defense Forces snipers. There was an extended discussion of how these images should be used. Zepp-LaRouche commented, “If the world sees these pictures, there is no way it can deny what is going on.” But she added that Plato warned that children of his time should not watch the plays of the Greek tragedians, because their minds are not prepared to deal with the evils and violence which are depicted. She proposed that, because doctors are professionally trained to deal with such horrors, we should confront them with the evidence, but shield children from it.

IPC co-moderator Dennis Small warned, “We don’t want to paralyze people with horror and fear,” but use the reality to move them to action. The medical student responded saying that the U.S. media are disregarding what is happening in Gaza; we have to share what we know with the public.

During the discussion period, a retired medical professional proposed that Dr. Perlmutter’s images should be used, but with the context he provides, and that we should emphasize the illegality of the weapons being used. Another participant proposed that we approach the 26 medical professionals presently serving in the U.S. Congress.

More Thoughts on the Recent Election

Diane Sare said that the number one issue for the American electorate is war and genocide, followed closely by the economy. Americans do not want the blood of tens of thousands of children on their hands. She said we need a “robust campaign against AIPAC” and the “despicably cowardly congressmen” who are the recipients of AIPAC money.

A participant asked whether U.S. President Joe Biden might escalate the Ukraine war to emergency levels, in order to prevent a transition to President-elect Donald Trump. Zepp-LaRouche answered that because of the magnitude of Trump’s victory, it is unlikely that any such scenario could succeed, and therefore it is unlikely that one would be attempted. However, Trump should be on guard, after three assassination attempts.

President Ramotar was asked, as a senior politician, to comment on the involvement of young people. He said that we must not forget the old methods that we have always used, but we must also discover things we can learn from young people. He cited political comedian Jimmy Dore as an example of someone whose activity seems to have quite an impact on young people.

In her concluding remarks, Zepp-LaRouche said that the question of war and peace depends on whether we can move the populations of the U.S. and Europe to respond positively to the new emerging order, rather than seeing it as the enemy. “Open your heart and your mind to new cultures,” she said. “Make the upcoming Schiller Institute Dec. 7-8 conference a very powerful demonstration that we are entering a new era … a thundering breakthrough for the whole world.”