The Californer - Anti-war groups protest vs US-NATO actions in Gaza, Iran, the Global South

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THE HAGUE, Netherlands - Californer -- As NATO leaders prepare to meet in The Hague next week, anti-war groups led by the Resist NATO coalition are gathering for a counter-summit to confront US-NATO's expanding role in fueling war and instability in Gaza, Iran, and across the Global South.

The Peoples' Summit Against NATO will take place on June 21st at Nieuwe Laan 34 in Amsterdam, the Netherlands featuring keynote speeches from Victor Garces of the International League of Peoples' Struggle (ILPS) and the Ambassador of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela to Belgium, Jorge Valero Briceño. Following the summit, protesters are set to join a mass mobilization in The Hague on June 22.

"Israel's attacks on Iran are part of a larger pattern of US and NATO-backed aggression that destabilizes entire regions under the guise of security. Just like in Cyprus, we're seeing how Western military alliances create endless conflict, not peace. And now, far-right governments across Europe are throwing their full support behind NATO, using fear and so-called 'threats to security' to justify greater militarization and wars," said Oz Karahan, president of the Union of Cypriots and ILPS Vice Chair for Europe.

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"The US is using NATO as a means to export its warmongering policy to the Global South. From Afghanistan to Iraq and now to its explicit support for Israel's genocidal war in Gaza and the Zionist entity's unprovoked missile attacks against Iran, NATO has become a tool for prolonging conflict, destabilizing regions, and securing US strategic interests under the guise of 'deterrence and defence'," said Azra Sayeed, Secretary-General of the ILPS.

"Donald Trump behaves like a reckless, spoiled brat toying with the idea of war not because he wants peace or stability, but because war benefits the US military-industrial complex and fuels his populist posturing at home," said Rhonda Ramiro of the Resist US-led War Movement.

The upcoming NATO summit on June 24-25 comes as member countries continue to increase defense spending in attempts to meet Trump's 5% defense spending target. According to estimates, global military spending reached record levels in 2024. Organizers of the Peoples' Summit say those resources are being diverted from pressing global needs such as climate response, housing, food security, and health care.

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"Trump's call for NATO countries to spend 5% of their GDP on defense is outrageous. It means more public money funneled into weapons and war, while social services that serve women, children, and the most marginalized are slashed," said Donna Denina, Secretary General of the International Women's Alliance (IWA).

The planned protest in The Hague on June 22 will coincide with coordinated mass mobilizations against NATO in the US, UK, and across Europe, as part of a growing international pushback against militarism and war.