Since the Umbrella Movement and the ascent of Xi Jinping to presidency, the Chinese government has pursued a heightened policy of repression toward Hong Kong in levels never before seen. The newest attack on the Hong Kong people’s basic human rights and political freedom came earlier this year in January, when the city’s election committee officially stripped social progressive party Demosisto’s candidate Agnes Chow of her right to run in the 2018 Legislative Council (LegCo) election.
Campaign for ecological development in Rojava
9 February 2018, byAt the last Fourth International youth camp, the question of concrete solidarity and support for our comrades in Syria was raised, a question which is often raised inside the Fourth International alongside our political evaluation and analysis. In Denmark, one of our long time comrades has been involved in direct solidarity work and, inspired by this I have written this article to explain this initiative.
The rightward drift of SYRIZA
8 February 2018, byOn January 15, 2018 the draft “omnibus bill”, whereby the Tsipras government ensures the “good” progress of the third assessment of the situation of the Greek economy by the creditors, was submitted to the Greek Parliament, and subsequently adopted by the SYRIZA-ANEL [Independent Greeks] majority in parliament. So, this government is moving towards the end of the program of the 3rd memorandum (signed on 14 August 2015), announced for August 2018.
Thinking politics
6 February 2018, byEight years ago, on January 12, 2010, Daniel Bensaïd passed away. We republish here a not very well-known but thought-provoking interview, which he gave to the Argentinian review Praxis in May 2006. In the piece he develops the idea that neoliberal globalization makes it necessary for anti-capitalists to think again about "a common strategic space [which] presupposes a sort of sliding scale of strategic spaces involving actions at the local, national, and international levels”.
Interview with Yassin Al-Haj Saleh
5 February 2018, by ,Born in 1961 in Raqqa, the Syrian writer and dissident Yassin Al-Haj Saleh spent a considerable part of his life in the jails of the Assad regime. Once again pursued by the regime for his revolutionary activity, he went into exile in Turkey shortly before his wife Samira Khalil, a tireless communist and revolutionary militant, was abducted along with their friend Razan Zeitouneh, a human rights defender and co-worker, most likely by the Islamist group Jaish Al-Islam [Army of Islam]. Yassin, however, has continued to write, to take a firm stand, and to carry the voice of Syrian revolutionaries, who have not been forgotten by the rest of the world. Matilde Dugaucquier and Mauro Gasparini interviewed him in Istanbul in July 2017.
Class war ?n t?me of war
4 February 2018, by“Now, on the basis of State of Emergency we instantly intervene in any place where there is threat of strike. We say no, we don’t let any strike happen here.”
Recep Tayyip Erdo?an (during the meeting organized by YASED, International Investors Association on 12 July 2017)
“So some will rise again and again to engage in a strike… Pardon me, but there will be no such thing…” Recep Tayyip Erdo?an
(during the speech at the 24th General Assembly Meeting of MÃœS?AD on 7 June 2017 )
“If you follow this call (call to protest Afrin operation) and make the mistake to go on the streets (to protest), you will pay the price very seriously. This is a national struggle. Whatever comes ahead of us in this national struggle, we will crash it and move on, you know that. No concessions, no minimal flexibility.” Recep Tayyip Erdo?an (during his speech on 21 January announcing operation “Olive Branch”)
Russian Presidential elections 2018: predicable results with unpredictable aftermath
3 February 2018, byAccording to forecasts, the upcoming March 18 presidential elections in Russia will proceed without any surprises, as just the latest legitimization of another presidential term for Vladimir Putin. However, this foreseeable ‘victory,’ gained via massive pressure on the electorate and the Kremlin’s tight control over the political sphere will still point to a deep crisis within Putin’s model of “managed democracy.” During Putin’s current third term, his regime has become much more clearly based on personality, while the fact that its “democratic” elements are a mere façade has become evident beyond all reasonable doubt. Over the past few years, the rhetoric of Russia as a “besieged fortress,” and rallying around a “national leader” in the face of external enemies has meant that elections at almost every level have become plebiscites for confirming faith in the country and loyalty to the government.