Why The Prisoners Swap? Yossi Schwartz looks at the real reasons behind the recent exchange of prisoners between Israel and Hezbollah.
The capture of Saddam Hussein Saddam Hussein has been captured. On Saturday, US troops finally caught the man who had eluded them for months. The Americans could not conceal their euphoria. Paul Bremer, the imperial proconsul in charge of occupied Iraq opened the long anticipated press conference with the words: "Ladies and gentlemen, we've got him." The capture of Saddam Hussein may give Bush and Blair a temporary respite. But nothing fundamental has changed and none of the basic problems have been solved. The fighting will continue as before, or even get worse.
Geneva Accord: Sell-out of the rights of the Palestinians In the last few months we have heard a lot about the Geneva plan that supposedly represents a breakthrough in the "Peace process" in the Middle East. In reality this plan reflects the growing contradictions between the interests of European imperialism and American imperialism and its "Road map". Moreover, the Geneva Accord is a simple sell out of the Palestinian people's aspirations to be free and to live normal lives.
The bombings in Istanbul - The reactionary face of terrorism On November 20, two explosions devastated the offices of HSBC, a British-based bank, and the British consulate in a busy part of Istanbul. Marxists utterly condemn this brutal and barbarous act of terrorism. It cannot be justified on any political grounds. It does not help the people of Iraq. It does not strike a blow against world imperialism. It will not weaken the Turkish state. On the contrary. It plays directly into the hands of the state and imperialism.
The Iraqi quagmire Bush is now in Britain on the first state visit of a US president to this country in eighty years. The trip was obviously planned long ago and when it was organised Blair probably was not aware of how strong the antiwar mood in Britain would become. But the consistent lies on the part of both Blair and Bush have convinced even many of those who initially went along with their arguments that the whole war was totally unjustified. It has exposed the real reasons for the occupation of Iraq - to get their hands on the oil and to achieve a strategically important position in the Middle East.
Lebanon: A successful 24-hour general strike against the government’s cuts If one were to search for the simplest example of lack of coverage of an important labour movement event by the international media of the capitalists, Lebanon is the most recent case. A 24 hours general strike took place in Lebanon last week but it was hardly reported outside of Lebanon. The Daily Star reported, "Preparations for Thursday’s all-out strike were under way on Wednesday as the General Labor Confederation (GLC) urged the Labour Ministry to be alert for complaints about employers who refuse to give their staff a paid day off during the walkout. Labor unions and teachers’ leagues called for a one-day strike to protest the 2004 draft budget. Unpopular items include Article 12,...
Iraqi workers stand defiant against bosses and imperialist forces Opposition to the presence of foreign troops is not merely expressed in the daily attacks on US soldiers. Now there are signs of a growing militant mood among the Iraqi workers. The number of strikes has been increasing. By Roberto Sarti. (October 28, 2003).
Israel: assassination attempt of the CPI Secretary General The In Defense of Marxism circle condemns the brutal and terrorist assassination attempt of the Secretary General of the Communist Party of Israel, Issam Makhoul MP.
The meaning of the Geneva Accords - The Israeli capitalists want to find salvation The recent Geneva Accords on the Middle East crisis have provoked a hysterical reaction on the part of Ariel Sharon who lashed out at the signatories of the Geneva initiative in a stormy start to the winter session of the Knesset on Monday of last week. Yossi Schwartz and Leon Cohen, in Israel, explain what lies behind this latest development.
Thirty years on from the Yom Kippur war This month marked the 30th anniversary of the 1973 Middle East war. Thirty years after that war ended some of the Agranat Committee's findings have been published in Israel that shed a new light on those events. They reveal the behind-the-scenes manoeuvres between the Soviet Union and the USA and also how the then government of Israel hid many important facts from its own people about what was really going on.
Israel: Sharon's warmongering against Syria Recent suicide bomb attacks in Israel have been used by Sharon as an excuse to attack Syria. Sharon is clearly distracting attention away from his own internal problems. But there is clearly a section of the Israeli ruling class, backed by at least a part of the US bourgeois, who would like to wage war on Syria. Leon Cohen of the In Defense of Marxism circle in Israel/Palestine looks at the background to this situation and offers a socialist way out of the impasse.
After 19 people were killed in Israel: Stop the bloodshed! End the Occupation! Hands off Syria! The recent suicide bombing in Haifa which killed 19 people and wounded 45 has been used by the Sharon government as an excuse to hit Syria with an air strike. In spite of the fact that Syria closed Hamas and Jihad bases in an attempt to appease US imperialism, the Israeli government has carried out this provocative attack. Obviously Sharon has his own agenda. Yossi Schwartz in Israel analyses what this new development implies and offers a socialist perspective and solution to the conflict.
Protest of 27 pilots highlights deeper class divisions emerging in Israeli society Last week twenty seven Israeli pilots signed a public declaration in which they announced their refusal to participate in missions of "targeted killings" and assassinations of political and military leaders of the militant Islamic factions in the West Bank and Gaza strip.
Protest of 27 pilots highlights deeper class divisions emerging in Israeli society Last week twenty seven Israeli pilots signed a public declaration in which they announced their refusal to participate in missions of "targeted killings" and assassinations in the West Bank and Gaza strip. The government and the ruling class are in panic. The letter of the pilots has undermined the legitimacy of the war crimes committed by the Zionists in the Occupied Territories.
Israel: Mass working class action to stop privatisation! Once again Sharon and Co have provoked the working class in Israel with further dismissals of workers in the public sector in an open violation of the agreement that was reached last May. On Monday, some 50,000 civil servants launched an open-ended work-to-rule. Additionally, hospital workers are preparing to join the strike after Yom Kippur.
