Several prominent American far Left leaders joined representatives of Hezbollah and other terrorist organizations at a conference in Beirut to discuss strategies for supporting Hamas and opposing Israel and American interests in the Middle East.

The conference, titled "International Forum for Resistance, Anti-Imperialism, Solidarity between Peoples and Alternatives," was held on January 16-18, 2009, and hosted by the Consultative Center for Studies and Documentation (CCSD), a Hezbollah-affiliated think tank.

The conference was co-sponsored by several international far Left groups, including the International Campaign Against U.S. and Zionist Occupations, an umbrella organization that coordinates international opposition to Israel and to American military presence in the Middle East.

The International Campaign Against U.S. and Zionist Occupations was co-founded by the International Action Center (IAC), a self-described "anti-capitalist and anti-imperialist" organization founded by former U.S. Attorney General Ramsey Clark. 

In addition to Clark and representatives from the IAC, the American delegation included former Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney.

The conference was also attended by representatives of several Palestinian terrorist groups, including Hamas, the Palestinian Islamic Jihad and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, as well as the Iranian Ambassador in Lebanon, Mohammad Rada Shaybani. George Jabour, the head of the Syrian delegation to the United Nations and former advisor to the Syrian President, reportedly attended the conference as well. 

One of the largest delegations came from Venezuela, reportedly consisting of 30 members including parliamentarians. Victor Chirinos, a member of the Venezuelan Parliament, expressed the greetings of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez to the participants in the conference.

The conference's resolutions express support for "the Lebanese and Palestinian resistance fighters in the face of the Zionist occupation, and the Iraqi resistance fighters in the face of U.S. occupation." They also support the "right of the Afghani people in resisting the American and NATO occupation." They call for anti-Israel advocacy to push to "reinstate the United Nations resolution 3379 that equates Zionism with racism" and expel Israel from the UN. They specifically ask supporters to attend the UN Durban Review Conference, which is scheduled to take place in April in Geneva. The resolutions also express support for Iran's nuclear program.

The conference was the latest in a series of events held in the Middle East that have enabled international far Left groups to make common cause with terrorist organizations. During an interview in 2008, Hezbollah representative Abdul Halim Fadlallah explained that Hezbollah has "succeeded in incorporating the idea of resistance as part of the international anti-globalization movements."

American far Left groups involved in such gatherings view Hezbollah and Hamas as the frontline in what they believe is a global war against U.S. imperialism and capitalism.

The following accounts come from various news sources. 

• During an introductory session of the conference, International Action Center (IAC) founder and former U.S. Attorney General Ramsey Clark spoke of "the crimes of the Zionist occupation against the Lebanese and the Palestinians."

• IAC co-director Sara Flounders talked about Gaza as "a harbinger of wider war against oppressed people of the world." She said, "We need to militantly support Hamas…We need to make it clear that we support the right to resist, the right to fire rockets…" Flounders saluted the resistance in Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as "the heroic forces in Lebanon, led by Hezbollah." She declared, "We must intensify the struggle against NATO" and talked about finding a way to disrupt "the imperialist and Zionist war machines." In her speech, Flounders mentioned the presence at the event of "activists [who] have taken boats to Gaza," apparently in reference to the Free Gaza Movement. 

• Former Congresswomen Cynthia McKinney blamed Israel for committing genocide in Gaza and condemned the U.S. for supporting "Israel's war machine." She noted her past opposition to American intervention in the Middle East and stated: "I believe it is not only possible, but imperative, to resist imperialism even in imperialism's belly." McKinney further predicted "Israel's defeat," which she linked to "the inspiring resistance in Gaza" and to the economic crisis in America.  

• The keynote address was delivered by Naim Qassem, Hezbollah's deputy secretary general. In his speech, Qassem talked about the need to help Hamas rearm in Gaza. "We will call for the smuggling of missiles" into Gaza, Qassem said.  He stated that "there are two camps in the world, that of imperialism, led by the United States, and that of resistance." He explained that by "resistance we mean…military resistance." He also asked the audience to "stand with Gaza to scatter the darkness of imperialism and Zionism."

• Ali Fayyad, the director of Consultative Center for Studies and Documentation (CCSD) and a member of Hezbollah's Central Committee, talked about cooperation between the regional "resistance" groups and the international far Left. He explained that "in this part of the world the resistance is Islamic," and asked that "ideological differences must be postponed…to achieve unity against imperialism."

• Hamas spokesperson Osama Hamdan also spoke at the event, saying that "the resistance fighters in Gaza do not think of halting their attacks but speak of liberating Jerusalem and the return of refugees."  He called for all those who try to help the Zionists politically to reconsider their decisions before it's too late. 

• The Iranian Ambassador in Lebanon, Mohammad Rada Shaybani, presented remarks on behalf of Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. The statement from the Iranian President called for "a criminal trial of the Zionist war."  Ahmadinejad's statement also read: "The West claims that it started a war against what it calls the phenomenon of terrorism, employing all the legal, security and military means at its disposal, but it overlooks its unrelenting support for the central sponsor of terror: Israel." The Iranian delegation handed out hats with the slogan "Israel must be wiped out," according to one report. 

• Nadine Rosa-Rosso, a Belgian communist, criticized the Left for not embracing what she called the "political expressions" of opposition to "Israeli aggression." Rosa-Rosso suggested: "we must launch an appeal to remove Hamas from the terror lists. At the same time we must ensure that Hezbollah is not added to the terror list. It is the least we can do if we want to support the Palestinian, Lebanese and Arab resistance."

Founded in 1992 by former U.S. Attorney General Ramsey Clark, the International Action Center (IAC) is an "anti-capitalist and anti-imperialist" organization that opposes the "U.S. conspiracy to re-colonize the Middle East," according to its Web site. IAC views Hezbollah, Palestinian terror groups like Hamas and groups fighting U.S. forces in Iraq as legitimate popular resistance forces and a bulwark against U.S. imperialism and "Israeli terrorism."

In recent years, IAC has sponsored and organized numerous anti-Israel events, rallies and demonstrations in the U.S., often through its anti-war affiliate, the ANSWER (Act Now to Stop War and End Racism) Coalition, which it founded in 2001.

ANSWER and IAC organized many of the rallies and protests in response to Israel's military operations against Hamas in Gaza in late 2008 and early 2009 and during the summer 2006 war in Lebanon.  These protests often featured offensive Holocaust imagery likening Jews and Israelis to Nazis, anti-Zionist and anti-Semitic rhetoric and expressions in support of terror.

In addition to its domestic activity, IAC co-founded the International Campaign Against U.S. and Zionist Occupations, an umbrella organization that coordinates international opposition to Israel and to American military presence in the Middle East. IAC representatives have been involved in several conferences featuring Hamas and Hezbollah in the Middle East. 

IAC has several connections to the Workers World Party (WWP), a Marxist-Leninist organization that opposes capitalism and advocates for the rise of socialism. IAC co-director Sara Flounders is a contributor to the Workers World newspaper and many of IAC's members are also members of WWP and other far Left organizations.  For example, Larry Holmes, the co-founder of ANSWER, has served as a spokesperson and co-director for IAC and is also a member of WWP.  Holmes ran for president on the WWP ticket in the 1984 and 1988 elections.

The IAC has ties to two public charities called the Progress Unity Fund (PUF) and People's Rights Fund (PRF), both of which have 501(c)(3) tax-exempt status.

PUF is a San Francisco-based organization that began in 2000 with the mission of providing a "progressive alternative to mainstream charities." Since its inception, PUF has given large grants to both ANSWER and IAC.  PUF's annual revenue is approximately $250,000 and it provides ANSWER and IAC with an average of more than $100,000 a year. PUF also claims to have "helped found" ANSWER in the wake of September 11 to "promote a peaceful alternative to racism and war." The "Donate" button on ANSWER's Web site leads one to PUF's homepage.

PUF is also linked to WWP.  Two of PUF's founding members, including its president Brenda Sandburg, were journalists for the Workers World Newspaper.

Similarly, PRF has reportedly provided funding to IAC and has accepted checks on behalf of an IAC Free Speech Legal Defense Fund in 2000 for then-IAC co-director Brian Becker (currently the National Coordinator of ANSWER). PRF shares an address and phone number with IAC at the Solidarity Center, an office in New York that also houses the Workers World Party.

The Consultative Center for Studies and Documentation (CCSD), a Hezbollah-affiliated think tank based in Beirut, was established to study, among other things, "matters relating to resistance and conflict with the Zionist entity" and "documentation of the entire operations of the resistance against the Israeli occupation and aggression, beginning in 1982 to present," according to their Web site.

The CCSD has helped Hezbollah extend its reach to international far Left organizations by hosting and participating in conferences. According to Abdel-Halim Fadlallah, vice president of CCSD, he and Dr. Ali Fayyad, director of CCSD, attend conferences in Lebanon and abroad in order to "challenge the idea that Hezbollah is a dogmatic terrorist Islamist organization and convince part of the international left that we can be a strong partner."

During the "International Forum Resistance, Anti-Imperialism, Solidarity between Peoples and Alternatives," on January 16-18, 2009, in Beirut, Fayyad talked about cooperation between the regional "resistance" groups and the international far Left. He explained that "in this part of the world the resistance is Islamic," and asked that "ideological differences must be postponed…to achieve unity against imperialism."

In response to Israel's military action in Gaza to stop Hamas rockets from being fired at Israeli towns and cities, Fayyad argued that Hamas won by continuing to fire rockets into Israel.  "The Arab and Muslim people," Fayyad said, "have become more and more angry [and] reject peace or any compromise with Israel." 

The International Campaign Against U.S. and Zionist Occupations was co-founded by the International Action Center (IAC).  Originally named the International Campaign Against U.S. Aggression on Iraq, the umbrella organization was formed during a conference in Cairo in December 2002 to coordinate international opposition to the invasion of Iraq.

Among the attendants at the Cairo conference were several delegates from the U.S., including IAC founder Ramsey Clark and IAC co-director Sara Flounders; Iraq's ambassador to the Arab League (representing Saddam Hussein's government); and George Galloway, a British MP who is known for his support for the Iraqi dictator and members of the Muslim Brotherhood. It was also attended by two former UN officials involved in the Oil-for-Food program in Iraq. According to some reports, the event, which was held at the luxury Conrad Cairo Hotel, was financed by the businessmen with interests in Iraq.

The conference's declaration denounced "U.S. project of global domination and subjugation." The attendants agreed to "send human shields to Iraq" and "coordinate popular action to boycott U.S. and Israel commodities" and "affirm the rights of the Iraqi and Palestinian people to resist external occupation."

A coordinating committee headed by Ahmed Ben Bella, former president of Algeria, John Rees of the Stop the War Coalition in Britain and Elias Rashmawi of the ANSWER (Act Now to Stop War and End Racism) Coalition and the Free Palestine Alliance, was elected during the conference.

In December 2003, a second conference was held in Cairo and sponsored by the International Campaign Against U.S. and Zionist Occupations (the name change was a reflection of the organization renewed focus on Israel). IAC co-director Sara Flounders and Elias Rashmawi of ANSWER served as organizers for the conference, which was held under the slogan, "Yes to Resistance in Palestine and Iraq. No to Capitalist Globalization and U.S. hegemony."

Among the attendants were Ramsey Clark and Hamas leader, Osama Hamdan, who focused on "the effective necessity to boycott Israeli commodities and refusal of normalization with [the] Zionist entity," according to the Palestinian National Authority State Information Service.

Other speakers, according to Middle Eastern media sources, included the pro-Saddam Jordanian dissident Leith Shubeilat and Ma'moun El-Hodeibi of the Muslim Brotherhood, as well as former British MP George Galloway, recently expelled from the Labour Party, and past UN official Dennis Halliday.

Similar events have been held in Beirut in previous years.  In 2004, an International strategy meeting titled: "Where Next for the Global Anti-War and Anti-Globalization Movements" involved several international far Left groups and Hezbollah. Ali Fayyad explained that that meeting was being held in Lebanon because, "Lebanon…has defeated the Reagan project for the Middle East" and successfully resisted Israeli occupation. The meeting's final declaration expressed support for "the right of the people of Iraq and Palestine to resist the occupations" and for the creation of "an International Movement against Israeli Apartheid" that will support campaigns to boycott Israel and coordinate future meetings. 

Following the summer 2006 war between Hezbollah and Israel, Hezbollah, along with the Communist Party of Lebanon, held another conference in Beirut with representatives of the international far Left. The conference's final statement indicated that participants agreed "to establish a worldwide network against the American-Zionist project which does not only target the area but also humanity." This, they agreed, would be achieved by "developing more and greater relations between leftist, democratic and nationalist currents and Islamic and resistance movements."

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