On April 6th, Hope Bird, an artistic and musical troupe to sing for the reunification of Korea and for promoting anti-imperialist struggle all over the world, performed at the Queen’s Walk in London, UK. 

The World Anti-imperialist Platform organized the European tour of Hope Bird. It started in Belgrade, Serbia which bombed by NATO 25 years ago, and continue to Bruxelles (Belgium), London (UK) and several cities in France. 

Hope Bird performed about the 1980 Gwangju Uprising which the people massively struggled against the military fascism to risk their lives and sang “Song of May1”, “Song of May 2”, “Song of May 3”. 

The event’s emcee introduced the performance as “Today’s performance by Hope Bird is themed around the 1980 Gwangju Uprising, a tragic but proud history of Korea’s struggle” and “the performance shows the cruelty of the military fascist forces and contains the people’s spirit of resistance.”

They sang “Under the mountains and streams”, “Don’t make it hurt”, “Do you hear the people sing?”, “El Pueblo Unido Jamás Será Vencido”, “Listen Yankee”, “Trail”, “Bella Ciao” and “the International”.

After the performance, participants of the demonstration marched to the International Brigade Memorial, which is the memorial to the Spanish Civil war, holding banners containing anti-imperialist slogans and support for the Palestinian people. 

Christina Kostoula, Vice Chair of the Communist Party of Great Britain (Marxist-Leninist) remarked that “The struggle against the divisive forces of US imperialism echoes across the world, resonating with all who believe in the fundamental rights of democracy for and by the people, and in freedom of belief.”

“Anti-imperialism is a collective endeavor that requires the unwavering support of all who believe in the power of the every day people against a minority of exploiters.  The songs of Hope Bird are sung  to the music of the resilience of the human spirit. Together, let us stand with the people of Korea, for their cause is our cause, and their victory will be a triumph for us all.”, she continued. 

The speaker of the World Anti-imperialist Platform pointed that “the UK, together with the United States, has intensified invasive airstrikes against the Houthis in Yemen, and is committed to expanding and prolonging the Palestinian war in the Middle East.”

“The massive anti-war  demonstrations for peace in Britain reflect the British people’s opposition to imperialist wars of aggression. Since the beginning of the Palestinian war, British progressives and advanced people have heroically organized large-scale protests that have gathered hundreds of thousands of people to condemn the Israeli genocidal machine and call for anti-war peace. The anti-imperialist struggle and pro-peace movements are progressing all over the world, not just in Britain, and the military and political power and strategic and tactical cooperation of the anti-armament struggle forces are strengthening.”, she added. 

At the last, she said “The World Anti-Imperialist Platform is convinced that with the power of the European people, we can dismantle NATO, the imperialist war alliance of aggression, and defeat the imperialist aggression at the root of the war through the joint struggle of the progressive peoples of the world. We will continue to move forward for a new victory of the people’s democracy under the scientific conviction that “the people of the world unite” and “the people united must win”. The final victory of the anti-imperialist forces is just and inevitable.”

This is the full video of the performance and the demonstration.