Natali Sevriukova reacts next to her house following a rocket attack the city of Kyiv, Ukraine, Friday, Feb. 25, 2022. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)

Stop the war now! In over 100 cities, protestors reject major military madness in Ukraine
by Naba’a Muhammad
and Brian E. Muhammad
The Final Call Newspaper @TheFinalCall

It’s time to take to streets to stop military madness in Ukraine that could threaten the world, said anti-war organizers in the United States, United Kingdom and countries on four continents during recent major protests.

“The Russian invasion of Ukraine has become a horrific war with more than 2,000 civilian deaths; apartment buildings, schools, and hospitals being hit; shooting at a nuclear power plant; and over one million Ukrainians fleeing the country,” they declared.

The war could escalate into conflict between the world’s two largest nuclear powers, Russia and the United States, added the coalition behind March 6 demonstrations. More than 100 cities joined the Global Day of Action, including Washington, D.C., London, Chicago, New York City, Tokyo, Munich, and Rome.

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“While the coalition organizing the day of action denounces Putin’s invasion of Ukraine and reckless veiled threat to launch nuclear weapons, it also recognizes the role that the U.S. and NATO have played in stoking the geopolitical crisis that led to this war. In addition to calling for an immediate withdrawal of Russian troops, the coalition is also calling for no NATO expansion,” said the group.

“We are uplifting the global outcry against Russia’s horrific war and rising up in solidarity with the people of Ukraine and the anti-war protestors in Russia to demand an end to the bloodshed and destruction,” said Medea Benjamin of Code Pink.

“Around the world people oppose this catastrophic war. They know there simply has to be a negotiated settlement to avert more terrible suffering and lethal escalation,” she said. Officials reported 1.5 million refugees fleeing Ukraine, the largest refugee crisis in Europe since WWII.

Protests initiated by the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament, Code Pink, No to NATO and Stop the War Coalition were backed by local, national and international groups.

From East Coast to West Coast, pro-peace groups in America joined the Sunday protests, which often had religious themes. Thousands came to Times Square in New York. Thousands more came out and were arrested on Russia’s streets where sanctions are being felt with banks running out of money, said analysts.

Pro-Ukrainian people hold up placards and wave Ukrainian flags as they shout slogans during a protest against Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, in Istanbul, Turkey, Wednesday, March 2, 2022. Russia renewed its assault Wednesday on Ukraine’s second-largest city in a pounding that lit up the skyline with balls of fire over populated areas, even as both sides said they were ready to resume talks aimed at stopping the new devastating war in Europe. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco)

Russian President Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky met separately with global political leaders over the March 6 weekend. Nothing was resolved.

Portland protestors sought a human chain from Oregon to Washington state to show solidarity. In Palo Alto, Calif., there was silent protest. “We vigil for a ceasefire with all troops standing down and withdrawing (including NATO’s); and immediate negotiation through the UN, to re-establish Ukraine’s sovereignty,” said organizers.

“The unprecedented invasion of Ukraine must be stopped and peace restored through negotiation at the UN, and with a UN Peacekeeping team in Ukraine. We cannot risk a world war or the unchecked aggression of the Russian invasion. Let’s stand for peace.”

Ukrainian American protestors in Chicago called for a no-fly zone over their homeland to stop Russian bombings of civilians. They blasted Mr. Putin as a coward and a murderer.

British pro-peace groups and politicians came out to reject militarism. The UK-based Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament called for ending hostilities that could leave nuclear powers America and Russia in a stand-off or worse.

Instigating armed conflict from the beginning?

“We have to talk about how the U.S. has instigated this war from the get-go, with the expansion of NATO and its aggressive encirclement of Russia,” said Sara Flounders, co-founder of the International Action Center, based in New York.

A man walks past a building damaged following a rocket attack, in Kyiv, Ukraine, Friday, Feb. 25, 2022. The International Criminal Court’s prosecutor has put combatants and their commanders on notice that he is monitoring Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and has jurisdiction to prosecute war crimes and crimes against humanity. But, at the same time, Prosecutor Karim Khan acknowledges that he cannot investigate the crime of aggression. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti, File)

It’s about money and global economic competition between the European Union, Russia and China, she argued. America needs a war threat to block expanding European trade with Russia and China and maintain its position in Europe, she added. Ms. Flounders described the war in Ukraine as a manufactured crisis designed to further isolate, weaken and divide Russia.

Turmoil has now come to Europe, Africa, the Far and Middle East. Some analysts call the Russian adventure a major test for Europe and the balance of White world rule. It’s a trial for member states in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and America, the world’s strongest military and economic power.

The Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan spoke to this conflict, how it would draw America into a final war and break her power. During his Feb. 27 Saviours’ Day message titled, “The Swan Song,” the Minister said: “Elijah Muhammad says, after the war and unto the end of the war, desolations are determined.”

He was speaking of his teacher’s prophetic warning of America’s ultimate fall—which would begin in Europe. He spoke in Chicago at Mosque Maryam, the Nation’s headquarters.

A powerful, prophetic figure, known as the Mahdi of the Muslims and the Messiah of the Christians, is in the world, and more powerful than the combined nations of the earth. This mighty one, known as Master Fard Muhammad, taught the Hon. Elijah Muhammad about the day of  America’s downfall, and how Caucasian people will no longer dominate the planet.

A view of the central square following shelling of the City Hall building in Kharkiv, Ukraine, Tuesday, March 1, 2022. Russia on Tuesday stepped up shelling of Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city, pounding civilian targets there. Casualties mounted and reports emerged that more than 70 Ukrainian soldiers were killed after Russian artillery recently hit a military base in Okhtyrka, a city between Kharkiv and Kyiv, the capital. (AP Photo/Pavel Dorogoy)

Master Fard Muhammad has power over the forces of nature and control of sophisticated, deadly crafts, which the U.S. government admits are in existence and calls UFOs. But they were written of in the Bible and exist today as the fulfilment of Ezekiel’s Wheel taught Elijah Muhammad.

Ukraine, with 43 million people, is not a NATO member but borders Russia and Belarus. Russia does not want Ukraine in the NATO alliance, a mutual defense pact of Western European nations and the United States. Some warn the war will upset peace in Europe for years to come. U.S. President Joe Biden has asked Congress to approve $10 billion in humanitarian and military aid to Ukraine.

President Biden and the European Union froze assets and slapped other sanctions on Mr. Putin, his country’s banking systems, some government officials, and pro-Putin oligarchs. The aim is to inflict maximum pain on Russia while limiting American pain, said U.S. officials.

If sanctions backfire, America and its NATO allies may face consequences because of Russia’s global trading power. Russia is the world’s third largest oil producer after America and Saudi Arabia. It is the world’s second largest gas producer following America and its largest exporter.

Europe receives nearly 40 percent of its natural gas from Russia. A cutoff of that source could undercut the continent’s economy. High natural gas prices have led to higher home utility bills for natural gas heat and electricity generated from gas, crimping consumer spending, said the Associated Press.

In the U.S., consumer inflation jumped 7.5 percent in January compared with 12 months earlier, the steepest annual increase in 40 years. Analysts say the conflict could mean higher gas and other prices in the United States.

Police detain a demonstrator during an action against Russia’s attack on Ukraine in St. Petersburg, Russia, Sunday, Feb. 27, 2022. Protests against the Russian invasion of Ukraine resumed on Sunday, with people taking to the streets of Moscow and St. Petersburg and other Russian towns for the third straight day despite mass arrests. (AP Photo/Dmitri Lovetsky)

Russia and Ukraine are responsible for 29 percent of the global wheat trade. Any disruption could push food prices beyond current 10-year highs, said World Food Program experts. Food security for millions of people, especially those under stress from high levels of inflation in their countries, could grow.

“This is not just a crisis inside Ukraine. This is going to affect supply chains, and particularly the cost of food,” warned WFP executive director David Beasley.

Mr. Beasley added the WFP has been hurt financially with higher monthly operating costs in the millions that have resulted in more people going hungry.

Nuclear war fears?

Russia has espoused dangerous rhetoric about nuclear confrontation during global condemnation over the Ukraine invasion. Some experts say luck, not skill, has largely led to avoidance of nuclear weapons use. Russia has spoken of the possible use of tactical nuclear weapons. Ukrainian President Zelensky complained his country gave up nuclear weapons as the old Soviet Union fell. The lack of security is why Ukraine should be admitted into the European Union and NATO, he argued. In early March, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov called such talks “threats” indirectly coming from the West that could trigger World War III, which he said would be a nuclear confrontation.

Russia’s intelligence service has accused Ukraine, once the third largest nuclear power after America and Russia, of secretly rebuilding its own nuclear warheads.

Not only was America aware of Ukraine’s plan, the U.S. didn’t interfere and was willing to back it, said the Russian official. “Ukrainian nukes would be aimed not to the West, but to the East,” he added. Sitting on Russia’s doorstep, Ukraine has been a foothold for Western powers, particularly since the U.S. supported overthrow of a pro-Russian government.

Michelle Bachelet, the UN high commissioner for human rights, said Russia’s military assault on Ukraine opened a “new and dangerous chapter” in world history.

Although it’s “White on White” violence, the Russian-Ukrainian war has placed a spotlight on racism and xenophobia. The Ukrainian-based Human Rights Centre, Zmina, a non-governmental organization, reported discrimination against Africans fleeing Ukraine at Poland’s borders.

The group condemned personal and institutional discrimination, xenophobia and racism against “underrepresented” or “historically marginalized” groups trying to leave Ukraine.

There is no separate “green corridor” for foreign nationals with thousands crossing the border to escape shelling, it said. Africans, Arabs, Asians, Indians and non-Whites found themselves denied border crossing, transport by train, or were told to wait for processing until after White Ukrainians went first. There have been reports of attacks on non-Whites. (See related story page 2.)

The organization also received reports of neighboring EU countries refusing to accept “non-Ukrainian” and “non-European” evacuees without EU visas. The rights group called on neighboring countries to open borders to all nationals leaving Ukraine due to the Russian invasion. It also called on home countries whose nationals are in Ukraine to communicate with EU leadership and member states to arrange for visa-free passage.

Ajamu Baraka of Ajamu Baraka of Black Alliance for Peace described how Ukraine has a strand of White nationalist activism in its makeup. White groups, including some from the U.S., have trained in Ukraine in the past, he said, adding, the high value placed on White war victims and little value placed on African, Middle Eastern and others decimated by war is telling.

He and others said the White Lives Matter narrative and response was troubling—but not unexpected.

The war has been described by one man as the way the White world will fall, bringing down the United States and Russia. Min. Farrakhan made the bold declaration during a major address in Chicago. “I know that the war that Putin started in Ukraine is going to spread and America is going to be drawn into a war in Europe,” said Minister Farrakhan.

The Honorable Elijah Muhammad taught about this crucial military conflict, he continued.

“When America was drawn into the war with Japan, President Roosevelt ruled an executive order to get the Honorable Elijah Muhammad off the streets and they imprisoned him,” said the Minister. “When America’s drawn into this war, I’m too old for the draft. I’ll be 90 by that time. And they’re going to send this executive order and they’re going to come to arrest me. Don’t worry. Jesus kept telling the disciples this is what is written.

“I have to fulfill what is written. They’re not going to treat me kindly. They’re not supposed to take my life. Because a deal was made. It’s in the Bible. It’s in the Qur’an. Remember Job, God and the devil were talking,” said Min. Farrakhan.

“So when America’s pulled into the war, they’re coming for me. Because they can’t leave me out here preaching to Black people when they want to use your bodies. Here you can’t even get the Senate to uphold democracy when you are learning how to use your vote,” he continued. “But they’re playing us.”

America doesn’t have a future, warned Min. Farrakhan.

“Did you think that you can kill off millions of Native Americans? Did you think you can take a nation out of Africa and do what America has done and it’s continuing to do?” he asked. “If you continue to do what you do, your time is up. This Swan Song is for you,” the Minister continued. “God would not be just to allow America to escape for what America has done. Not only to us and to the Mexicans and to the Indians, but to people around the world.”

“And you feel strong,” said the Minister, “but look at how God takes the Ukrainian people and shames you big, bad Russia. You should never have come at them like that. So now you’re feeling some heat inside your own house. But you not going to stop. … So God is going to have to slap you down.”

“Because America, The Final Call has been issued for 40 years. The paper is out and now judgment is coming down in full. So the Messenger said Europe will be one of the worst war areas of all the world. You watch Berlin. And when you start going away, the Messenger said, ‘you go away by the tens of thousands to fight.’ He said, ‘but you’ll come back by the fives and tens.’ ”

“You can’t win another war. Russia this will be your undoing too. See all White power has to end. The kingdom of God has to be established.”