IV532 - May 2019

On 26 May 2019 a peaceful procession in the Waziristan region led by Ali Wazir and Mohsin Dawar, both Members of National Assembly (MNAs), was fired upon by army men, leaving at least 13 dead and over forty injured in Waziristan region.

It has been a rather horrific couple of weeks for women’s reproductive rights in the US. Convinced that they finally have the means to overturn both Roe vs Wade and Doe vs Bolton (1973) due to numbers on the Supreme Court, several pieces of legislation designed to undermine women’s right to abortion have been passed in several states (e.g., Ohio, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, and Tennessee) by Republican dominated legislatures. Knowing that these bills are unconstitutional, they are hoping to get them to the Supreme Court in the hope of being the state whose legislation led to the overturn of both Roe and Doe.

So May, with her cabinet falling to pieces around her and the 1922 Committee pulling the rug from underneath her, has at last accepted the inevitable and announced her resignation. She chose to do this as the Commons goes into recess and in advance of the European EU election results on Sunday that are going to be devastating for the Tories.

The results of the Andalusian regional elections left everyone waiting anxiously for what might follow. They indicated a trend which, if continued in an upward sense, would confirm the worst forecasts, comparable to the end of "Game of Thrones". But finally, the results were not an absolute disaster. The chessboard has moved just enough for these results to let us dream of a horizon that is not marked by a radical neoliberal tsunami, but by a situation of relative pause in the political landscape. And that is a good thing at a time when the chances of an offensive to win new rights are reduced.

Stopping the ominous drive toward a direct U.S. war against Iran demands opposition both to U.S. imperialism and to the repressive Iranian regime. It demands reaching out to labor, feminist, student and oppressed minority struggles in Iran and connecting them to labor, feminist and anti-racist struggles in the rest of the region and internationally. It demands explaining the necessary relationship between capitalism and war, and showing what can be a humanist alternative to capitalism.

Presented as a “matter of survival” by Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the municipal elections of March 31, 2019 ended in an undeniable failure for the Justice and Development Party (AKP) with the loss of the most important cities, including Istanbul and Ankara held for 25 years by Islamists, to the benefit of the opposition. However, by challenging the results and calling a recount of spoiled ballots, the AKP “resists”.

Enzo Traverso interviewed by Vincent Martign about the current state of the international left and its future prospects.

Elderly women, priests and firefighters among those arrested, charged or ‘harassed’ by police for supporting migrants, with numbers soaring in the past 18 months.

The Nicaraguan state has led a brutal crackdown on anti-government protests. Activist Sara Henríquez speaks to Red Pepper about how feminists have been at the forefront of the resistance.

In 2011, a wave of revolutionary struggle swept the Middle East and North Africa, often bringing down dictatorships that had governed for decades. Millions protested on the streets, occupied public spaces and demanded “bread, freedom and social justice”. Having broken through the fear produced by years of repression, the Arab Spring became an inspiration for activists across the world.