Anti-NATO Protest Held in DC Draws Hundreds

The protest, organized by the Resist NATO coalition, included groups such as the International League of Peoples’ Struggles, the Resist US-Led War Movement, and BAYAN-USA.

"NATO’s 75th summit is occurring during Russia’s counter-aggression strategy against US-NATO military escalation and NATO territorial expansion, which has enabled NATO to call on its members to provide billions in weapons and military aid. The summit is also occurring when NATO is building military partnerships with Indo-Pacific countries to counter the influence of China," said organizers with the Resist NATO coalition, according to PeoplesDispatch.org.

"Protesters will demand that resources be allocated away from militarism and into economic, housing, health, education, and climate initiatives," they added.

Ben Zinevich, a member of the Party for Socialism and Liberation, stated, "The United States should not expect it will be able to assemble its NATO junior partners in Washington without resistance from the people. Not when US weaponry is flooding Ukraine and prolonging a war that could have been avoided with Russia. Not when Washington and NATO partners continue to supply the means for the state of Israel to conduct its genocidal war on Gaza."

The protest follows recent actions in San Diego and Hawaii against the biennial RIMPAC war games, including a large mobilization in San Diego last Sunday. Carly Brook from Resist US-Led War criticized the RIMPAC military exercises as "nothing but a show to display the weapons and equipment of the US military so as to facilitate more US arms sales to its so-called partners and allies, to coerce more unequal and aggressive military treaties and to further expand the US’s desperate grasp at control over the region’s trade, resources, labor and investments."

Globally, opposition to US militarism is rising. In Colombia, social movements have rejected the US-Colombia military exercises in the Pacific Ocean. Meanwhile, North Korea denounced the recent joint military exercise by the US, Japan, and South Korea, calling it "reckless and provocative" and claiming it disturbed the peace and stability in the Korean peninsula and the larger region.