[Podcast] Israel, Ukraine and the threat of World War Three

Are we on the edge of a third World War? The Spectre of Communism podcast is back for a new season. Our first episode welcomes Hamid Alizadeh, a leading comrade of the Revolutionary Communist International (RCI), to discuss the two central conflicts in the world today: the Middle East and Ukraine, and the madmen driving them forward.

Two years ago, the world bore witness to extraordinary events in Sri Lanka. On 9 July 2022, the Sri Lankan masses swept aside the heavy cordon of police outside the presidential palace as if it was little more than a cobweb. To the astonishment of the world, Gotabaya Rajapaksa had to flee in a panic.

At least nine people were killed – including a 10-year-old girl – and over 2,800 injured, many of them left in a critical condition, when pagers they were carrying exploded, in an unprecedented coordinated attack against Hezbollah in Lebanon. American officials said Israel was behind the attack, which had been prepared for months and takes place as Netanyahu’s cabinet just voted to widen the war aims to include the return of those who had been displaced from the north of the country to their homes, which is code for launching an invasion of Lebanon. 

This school year, RCP activists have launched a campaign for a student strike for Palestine. We have hit the ground on multiple campuses around the country and are happy to report that thousands of students are already supporting this campaign.

Once again, Donald Trump appears to have been the target of an assassination attempt. More than four decades elapsed between the shootings of Ronald Reagan in 1981 and Donald Trump in July of this year. Now, in the span of just two months, there have been two attempts on a presidential life. Such is the political polarization and social decline in the United States—a country that could once boast being the most stable haven of world capitalism.

Almeno nove persone sono state uccise – tra cui una bambina di 10 anni – e più di 2.800 ferite, molte delle quali in condizioni critiche, quando i cercapersone che portavano con sé sono esplosi, in un attacco coordinato senza precedenti contro Hezbollah in Libano. Funzionari americani hanno detto che Israele è dietro l’attacco, che era stato preparato da mesi e che avviene mentre il governo Netanyahu ha appena votato l’ampliamento degli obiettivi di guerra includendo il ritorno degli sfollati dal nord del paese alle loro case, in pratica un codice per lanciare un’invasione del Libano.

Doce personas murieron -entre ellas una niña de 9 años- y más de 2.800 resultaron heridas, muchas de ellas en estado crítico, cuando detonaron los localizadores que portaban, en un ataque coordinado sin precedentes contra Hezbolá en Líbano.

«¡Curiorífico, curiorífico! - exclamó Alicia (estaba tan sorprendida, que por un momento se le olvidó hablar correctamente)» - (Lewis Carol, Las aventuras de Alicia en el país de las Maravillas)

El viernes 13 de septiembre viví una experiencia de lo más peculiar. Estaba tan asombrado de lo que estaba presenciando (y también de lo que no estaba presenciando) que sentí deseos de pronunciar las célebres palabras de Alicia en el País de las Maravillas.