Dear friends, over the past few months, the crisis of capitalist modernity seems to have been gathering pace around the world. As we write these lines, on October 28th 2023, Israel's armed forces have announced the official start of a ground operation to invade the Gaza Strip, after a 20 day siege and bombardment that has caused the deaths of thousands of civilians. A few weeks earlier on October 5th, to the absolute silence of the international community, the fascist Turkish state launched a new large-scale military operation against the Syrian Northeast Autonomous Administration (AANES). Declaring that all "YPG targets" were legitimate to destroy, Turkey bombed swathes of essential infrastructure and caused the deaths of 48 people, including 29 members of the Asayish (internal security forces). The Turkish state announced that it was putting an end to this first phase of attacks, raising fears of an imminent risk of ground invasion. These two attacks by terrorist states on resisting peoples raise the spectre of a regional conflagration. In the face of such barbaric situations, there is only one response to nation-states: the internationalism of peoples! Since the 19th century, internationalism has been at the heart of the workers' movement. The Communist Party manifesto was very clear on this point: "Proletarians of all countries, unite!" Although it was formalised during the last century, this idea has spanned the millennia: in the face of despotic powers and slave-owning empires, humanity has always organised itself beyond borders and cultural differences. As it was developed in the 20th century by the Marxist-Leninist movements, internationalism was based on the state as a tool for liberation, and ultimately betrayed itself by creating monopolies of power. Now, more than ever, we need to rebuild the spirit of revolutionary internationalism on new foundations. What forms does an internationalism based on democratic autonomy, social ecology and women's liberation take today? In this issue 12 of Lêgerîn we want to explore new understandings of this concept, so that they serve as a guide for our revolutionary struggles around the world and unite us in victory! All together towards a new internationalism!
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