IV394 - November 2007

Download a pdf version of this month’s edition from here. - read article...

For anyone marinated in the history of Pakistan yesterday’s decision by the military to impose a state of emergency comes as no surprise. Martial law in this country has become an antibiotic: in order to obtain the same results one has to keep doubling the doses. This was a coup within a coup. - read article...

Lahore: The Labour Party Pakistan (LPP) has strongly condemned the Musharraf regime for imposing Emergency thus depriving the people of Pakistan of their already-limited basic human and democratic rights. - read article...

Over 100 civil society activists have been arrested from a meeting of Joint Action Committee, at Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, Lahore on Sunday 14.00 hrs. - read article...

Today is my second day in underground life. - read article...

On the third day of my underground period, I escaped an arrest by seconds. It was all because of inexperience to live in a society that is full of high tech techniques to find a person. - read article...

General Musharaf would have not thought of the political scenario that has emerged after five days of the martial law he imposed on 3rd November. His hopes for a normality of the situation have been dashed even after he has used the most vicious repression against the advocates and political activists. More unpleasant surprises will come in future for the military regime who was used to a rather stable political control until now. - read article...

The seventh day passed without my arrest despite several attempts by the police. During the last three days, we were able to hold a meeting of the leading members of Labour Party Pakistan, gave interviews to private television channels and to a private team working for CNN. We were able to fax a daily news to most of the news papers in Pakistan. - read article...

Lahore police are very busy raiding the homes of several LPP activists during the last three days. The home of Afzal Soaraya, secretary Labour Party Punjab has been raided several times during the last three days. Maqsood Mujahid, member National Committee LPP, home in Lahore has also been the target of regular visits by the local police. They have also stopped the vehicle of Farooq Tariq several times while dropping his children to school. - read article...

I got a call at 7pm on 16th November from Asma Jehanghir office, “you must come tonight at 9pm at her place for an important meeting”. Chairperson of the most prestigious social institution Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP), Asma Jehanghir was just released a day earlier from her house detention. - read article...

The best thing that happened during the week was a defiant demonstration of women belonging to Labour Party Pakistan. On 19th November, 14 brave women went to the busiest area of Lahore demanding an immediate end of martial law in Pakistan. - read article...

Since 23rd November, I am working normally. Most of the political prisoners were released and police raids were rare. - read article...

According to Alan Thornett, Respect is now finished, wrecked by the insistence of the British SWP on keeping absolute organisational control. - read article...

As events in Respect have spiralled downwards into crisis, various calls for unity have been raised which have a certain superficial attraction. Wouldn’t it be better if the two sides of the National Council (basically the SWP and fellow travellers on one side, and everyone else, including recent expellees from the SWP, on the other) could just sort out their differences and work together? - read article...

[Respect, the anti-capitalist left party in England and Wales, has split. Last weekend its two factions held separate conferences. Liam Mac Uaid, editor of Socialist Resistance, explains the roots of the division and the road forward outlined by the Respect Renewal conference.] - read article...

The resources used to produce the monthly Socialist Resistance newspaper are being used to support the launch of the monthly paper announced at the Respect Renewal conference. - read article...

“Ever since Colombia has been Colombia there has been political violence,” concluded Venezuelan historian Amilcar Figueroa, president alternative of the Latin American Parliament (LAP), and a witness for the defense in terror trial against seven Danes. - read article...

“If the Copenhagen City Court determines that the PFLP is a liberationist organization it could have a positive impact for a peaceful solution to the Israeli-Palestine conflict and worldwide,” summarized Israeli historian Ilan Pape, a defense witness for seven “Fighter and Lovers” solidarity activists charged with abetting terrorism by selling t-shirts with PFLP and FARC insignias. The police confiscated proceeds, which would have gone to media projects for these groups. - read article...

“This trial is the first of its kind. It is not easy to decide what constitutes terror,” State Attorney Lone Damgaard summarized in her closing argument before Copenhagen City Court. - read article...

In the national elections on 13th November the Red Green Alliance struggled to maintain parliamentary representation. With a result of 2,17 % of the vote it only passed the 2 % limit by a narrow margin. - read article...

The October Revolution of 1917 was the most influential political event of the twentieth century. But since history is written by the victors, it is not well known that October was the opening shot of a vast and powerful challenge to capitalism that swept the industrial world and had echoes in the colonial countries. - read article...

Economic slowdown, rising inflation, the run on the British bank Northern Rock, soaring oil prices, high interest rates and falling stock markets. Blip or - read article...

Is ecosocialism really necessary? Isn’t it implied in the very concept of socialism? Why should anybody be an ecosocialist as opposed a plain, straightforward, socialist? - read article...

’Climate poverty’ kills 150,000 every year. - read article...

"The environmental costs of rapid industrialization are of major concern to significant sectors of the population of developing countries and, in many of them, the environmental movement has been a significant actor. Moreover, there is currently an active discussion in many countries of alternatives to the destabilizing high-growth model". - read article...

Former SSP MSP Frances Curran was one of the organisers of the G8 Alternatives demonstration at Gleneagles in 2005. In this article she looks at the state of the movement today and asks where it goes from here. - read article...

The strikes and demonstrations against Nicolas Sarkozy’s attempted neoliberal reforms have been massive. We publish here an initial report by the LCR. - read article...

Sarkozy’s election in May 2007 was a serious political defeat. But the recently elected president, hand in hand with the bosses’ union, had yet to inflict a major social defeat to the working class. - read article...

At the end of November 2007 the Dutch SP will hold its 15th national congress. The congress is of crucial importance to the building of the movement against neo-liberalism in the Netherlands, in which the SP plays a central role. - read article...

[The Country Alliance Movement (Movimiento Alianza País) and President Rafael Correa’s anti-imperialist government won a landslide victory in the recent elections for Ecuador’s new Constituent Assembly.] - read article...

All the fuss over the incident provoked at the Ibero-American Summit in Santiago, Chile by Franco’s Bourbon godson is nothing more than a smokescreen designed to divert attention from attempts to destabilize the democratic and constitutional government of Venezuela and at the same time, a part of this attempt. - read article...

Australian right-wing premier John Howard fell to an enormous backlash against his attack on workers’ rights and his support for the US-led invasion of Iraq. But dumping Howard was just the beginning of the fightback. - read article...

Our articles on the floods in Pakistan have given details of how to send financial aid to the Labour Relief Fund. If it is more convenient for you, you can also send funds through the Europe Solidaire Sans Frontieres account. - read article...

Pakistan is facing worst ever floods of its history. Torrential rains have unleashed flash floods in different parts of the country since last three weeks. Water levies broke leaving the people exposed to flood water. More than 12 million people have suffered due to these floods. More than 650,000 houses have collapsed, mainly in villages. Thousands of acres of crops have been destroyed due to flood water. Houses, live-stock such as cattle’s and goats, household goods, clothes, shoes and other items have been destroyed. Residents of villages are currently without drinkable water, food, shelter and in need of clothes. In particular, the situation is dire for children and women and they are in desperate need of food and clothing. Disease is spreading fast in the areas affected due to lack of drinkable water. In particular, flu, fever, diarrhea, cholera have been noted and are spreading. - read article...

An unexpected, unthinkable, yet - concerning current circumstances - quite expectable and natural thing has occurred yesterday night. Three public social activists that have always expressed a consistent antifascist attitude and shunned civil indifference have been detained. - read article...

We, the participants at the Istanbul ESF, affirming that we have a strong engagement aganist all war and occupation and that we are for a politial resolution of the Kurdish issue, have made the following resolution : - read article...

Under the impulse of the World Bank and international capitalist institutions, the Moroccan regime started a privatization process of the universities and attacks against the right to studiy. The announcement of the “Emergency plan” to the university at beginning of the academic year, i.e. of the brutal aggravation of these attacks, put a spark to the powder. The class-struggle trade unionists of fight, organised within the UNEM, are at the forefront of the mobilization against the “Emergency plan”. - read article...