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Hands Off the People of Iran

Hands Off the People of Iran (HOPI) is an anti war campaign in the UK. In addition to fighting against Western imperialist intervention in Iran, Hopi also builds up solidarity links with radical Iranian secular forces. Hopi operates under the slogans 'No to imperialist war! No to the theocratic regime!'

Formation

The initiative for Hands Off the People of Iran came from a number of Iranian exile organisations in 2005. On March 16 2006, Workers Left Unity - Iran wrote an open letter to the British anti war movement, calling for genuine solidarity with the Iranian people. By 2007 Hopi was fully established, consisting predominantly of Iranian exiles who campaign for regime change in Iran but are against external military intervention, believing occupation to be the worst condition under which liberation can be achieved.Hopi's founding conference was held in December 2007.

Founding Statement

Hopi's founding statement, passed at its first conference, reads: 'We recognise that there is an urgent need to establish a principled solidarity campaign with the people of Iran.

'The contradictions between the interests of the neo-conservatives in power in the USA and the defenders of the rule of capital in the Islamic Republic has entered a dangerous new phase.

'US imperialism and its allies are intent on regime change from above and are seriously considering options to impose this - sanctions, diplomatic pressure, limited strikes or perhaps bombing the country back to the stone age.

'The main enemy is imperialism. The Iranian regime does not represent a progressive or consistent anti-imperialist force.

'In Iran, the theocracy is using the international outcry against its alleged nuclear weapons programme to divert attention away from the country's endemic crisis, deflect popular anger onto foreign enemies and thus prolong its reactionary rule. The pretext of external threats has been cynically used to justify increased internal repression. The regime's security apparatus has been unleashed on its political opponents, workers, women, youth and lesbian, gay, bisexual and transsexual people. The rising tide of daily working class anti-capitalist struggles has been met with arrests, the ratification of new anti-labour laws and sweeping privatisations. Under the new Iranian government, military-fascist organisations are gaining political and military strength, posing an ominous threat to the working class and democratic opposition.

'Paradoxically, the US/UK invasion of Iraq has actually increased the regional influence of Iran's rulers - it led to the election of the pro-Iranian Shia government currently in power in Baghdad. This means that any support from the anti-war movement for the reactionaries who currently govern Iran and repress its people is in effect indirect support for the occupation government in Iraq.

'The task of the anti war movement in Britain and HOPI is threefold. One to fight against any imperialist attack on Iran and support the Iranian peoples right to defend themselves by any means necessary. Secondly not to flinch from publicising the reactionary nature of the Tehran regime and its attacks on the workers and democratic movement. Thirdly to build links with all progressive forces fighting the regime – workers, women, trade unionists, socialists.

'We recognise that effective resistance to this war can only mean the militant defence of the struggles of the working class in Iran and of the rising social movements in that country. We want regime change - both in Iran and in the imperialist countries. But we know that change must come from below - from the struggles of the working class and social movements - if it is to lead to genuine liberation.

'We call on all anti-capitalist forces, progressive political groups and social organisations to join activists of the Iranian left to both oppose imperialism's plans and to organise practical solidarity with the growing movement against war and repression in Iran headed by the working class, women, students, youth and LGBT people.'

Expulsion from Stop the War Coalition

Shortly before Stop the War Coalition's 2007 AGM, Hopi, alongside another organisation Communist Students, was denied affiliation to the Coalition. This directly contradicted Stop the War's stated aims: 'If you are a member of an organisation that is opposed to Bush and Blair's on-going "war on terror" and agree with our aims and objectives, we urge you to ask your organisation to consider affiliating to the Stop the War Coalition' and 'The Coalition is open to the affiliation of any organisation that accepts those objectives [building a mass movement against the wars]'. Andrew Murray from Stop the War claimed that Hopi was 'entirely hostile' to the Coalition. This claim has never been substantiated.

Yassamine Mather, an Iranian exile who helped to found Hopi, was quoted in a sympathetic article in The Independent as saying the decision to exclude the group was political: "It's ridiculous to say we have set ourselves up as an alternative... Stop the War Coalition covers many countries. You have all sorts of groups who campaign on all sorts of issues within Stop the War, so why not us?"

Controversy with ITF/ITUC

A few UK leftists condemned Hopi's refusal to give unconditional political support to an international day of action, March 6 2008, calling for the freedom of Mansour Osanloo and Mahmoud Salehi. Hopi responded that it could not unconditionally support the ITF/ITUC day of action because those organisations are heavily compromised in their refusal to undertake a position against an imperialist attack on Iran- it did, however, mobilise for this day and issue a leaflet, 'What sort of solidarity do workers in Iran need?'

Supporters

Prominent affiliates of Hopi include the Green Party of England and Wales and the Young Greens of England and Wales; the Public and Commercial Services Union, the UK's 300,000 strong civil service union; ASLEF, the train drivers' union; the Labour Representation Committee and the Socialist Youth Network; Workers Left Unity - Iran; the Communist Party of Great Britain (Provisional Central Committee) and Communist Students; Permanent Revolution; the Jewish Socialists' Group; Campaign for a Marxist Party; Scottish Socialist Party and Organization of Revolutionary Workers of Iran (Rahe Kargar).

Prominent supporters of Hopi include Tony Benn, John McDonnell MP, Diane Abbott MP, Harry Cohen MP, Ken Loach, Naomi Klein, Mark Steel, Bill Bailey, Noam Chomsky, John Pilger, Michael Mansfield QC and Mick Shaw, President of the Fire Brigades' Union.

See also

Hopi's website, featuring news on the campaign[12]