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Showing posts from August 9, 2020

Belarus

Via   pracownicza demokracja “The strike movement in Belarus is spreading instantly. Much more bets are on strike now. Some of the protesters were released and the  police stopped beating (so far). On strike m. in Minsk Electrical Factory, Belkard in Grodno, Grodno-Nitrogen, Belaruskali in Salihorsk, MTZ tractor factory (here the strike committee was established), MMZ, Kieramin and many more. Once again we see that organized workers and mass strikes are the most powerful weapon in the fight for democracy. Today is the 40th anniversary of the strike in Gdańsk Shipyard. What is happening in Belarus at the moment is also part of our - employee and international - history... and a great example for today for employees and employees in Poland.”

Home

no one leaves home unless home is the mouth of a shark you only run for the border when you see the whole city running as well your neighbors running faster than you breath bloody in their throats the boy you went to school with who kissed you dizzy behind the old tin factory is holding a gun bigger than his body you only leave home when home won’t let you stay. no one leaves home unless home chases you fire under feet hot blood in your belly it’s not something you ever thought of doing until the blade burnt threats into your neck and even then you carried the anthem under your breath only tearing up your passport in an airport toilet sobbing as each mouthful of paper made it clear that you wouldn’t be going back. you have to understand, that no one puts their children in a boat unless the water is safer than the land no one burns their palms under trains beneath carriages no one spends days and nights in the stomach of a truck feeding on newspaper unless the miles travelled me...

UK

This is a good summary, but lacks a political economy perspective. “The cycle will continue for as long as politicians refuse to address the reasons why people come to Britain to seek asylum. To take an example, the 120 people who were  intercepted in the Channel  on 4 August came from Afghanistan, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Pakistan, Palestine, Sudan and Yemen. Of these countries, two were invaded in recent history by a coalition that included the UK; one has been pushed into famine by a Saudi-led bombardment using British weapons and military expertise; one is in a prolonged conflict with Israel, which like Saudi Arabia is a UK ally; and the others, most of which are former British colonies, are places where there is long-term, well-documented persecution of particular ethnic and social groups.” The more fundamental question of [failure of] economic development, the political economic policies pursued by the ruling classes in the aforementioned countries is missing. People bec...
To those interested in Marxism in the Arab countries East, and specifically Egypt. I would seminal works on the subject by Tareq Y. Ismael: The Rise and Fall of the Communist Party of Iraq The Communist Movement in Egypt 1920-1988 The Arab Left The Sudanese Communist Party Essential Readings on Marxism and the Left in Egypt

Lebanon

Vis Tariq Ali A friend writes from Lebanon: "There’s a blind rage in the streets. I’ve seen nothing like it, Tariq. Not in Pakistan, not in Sri Lanka, not in Turkey, not even in Tunisia when I was there in 2011. I was in Martyrs’ Square yesterday, and there were young people everywhere just looking for something to break. They didn’t care if they would get infected with COVID-19, knowing that the hospitals have collapsed and wouldn’t be able to take care of them. They didn’t fear the security forces arrayed around them, who fired multiple rounds of tear gas first, then rubber bullets, then live ammunition in an abortive attempt to scatter their ranks. “They’ll run out of tear gas and bullets soon,” one protestor told me, noting how everything is in short supply in Lebanon these days. “Then what will they do to us?” It’s extraordinary. The protestors sacked four ministries yesterday, taking with them documents from the Ministry of Economy and the Ministry of Foreign Affai...

Spain 1939

On 05 August 1939, thirteen young women were executed by a  Francoist   firing squad  just after the conclusion of the  Spanish Civil War . Their execution was part of a massive execution campaign known as the  "saca de agosto" , which included 43 young men (among them a fourteen-year-old). Las trece rosas