The Middle East, Annapolis and the Palestine problem: More talks about talks The mountain has laboured and borne a mouse. That would be a fitting epitaph for the Annapolis conference on Palestine. After four months of endless talks about talks Condoleezza Rice, the American secretary of state, failed to obtain what Washington and Abbas desperately need: an agreement on at least the main points of a deal that would ultimately create a Palestinian state alongside Israel.
Five hundred students and left-wing activists commemorate Students’ Day at Tehran University Despite the heavy presence of the Iranian regime’s security forces at Tehran University today’s Students’ Day commemoration went ahead as planned. Around 500 students and left-wing activists took part in the event - with just 24 being arrested.
Four students arrested at Chamran University in southern Iran Four student activists have been arrested and there whereabouts are unknown. Please add your organisation or name to the list of solidarity groups supporting the campaign.
The Kurds of northern Iraq – another betrayal is being prepared The Turkish parliament has voted massively in favour of granting its army permission to carry out widespread military operations inside Iraq. Diplomatic pressure has been mounting to pull Turkey back from the brink, but the Turkish army continues to amass troops on its southeastern border. From being the most stable region of Iraq, the Kurdish area may become its most unstable and bloody.
Dividing Jerusalem: Can it solve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict? Israeli vice-premier Haim Ramon has suggested ceding Arab neighbourhoods to a future Palestinian state. This has divided the Israeli political establishment… obviously. But what it reflects is the pressure on the Zionist ruling elite to make at least some verbal concessions in an attempt to stabilise the situation.
Egypt: The victory of Mahalla workers exposes the weakness of Mubarak’s regime In previous articles we have looked at the explosion of the class struggle in Egypt. The regime has been defeated time and time again in the last period. Recently, the Mahalla workers launched a magnificent struggle and were able to achieve a remarkable victory.
Why Marxists cannot support Islamic fundamentalism – the case of Hamas A critical comment by Moroccan Marxists on the line of thought developed in the article, The victory of Hamas in Gaza and the questions facing Israeli and Palestinian workers by Yehuda Stern in Jerusalem, that we published on Wednesday, 11 July 2007. It is the opinion of the Editorial Board that the Moroccan Marxists are absolutely correct in their criticisms.
Depleted Uranium: WMD’s in Iraq Since the first Gulf War the US and UK have been using Depleted Uranium (DU) weaponry. DU has a half-life of 1.5 billion years, can result in cancerous tumors and genetic mutations, and pass from mother to unborn child, resulting in birth defects. This reveals not only the depths of imperialist barabarity, mocking the idea of 'the rules of war', but demonstrates with painful acuteness capitalism's inability to regard the environment.
Socialist Appeal interviews student activist in Beirut Last year's war in Lebanon ended in defeat for Israel, but it also shook up Lebanese society. The general strike that took place shortly afterwards is testimony to this fact. Luke Wilson interviewed a student activist in Beirut on how he sees the situation now.
A comment on the situation in the Middle East by the Pakistani Marxists The latest edition of the Asian Marxist Review is coming out. Here we provide the editorial statement that is dedicated to the situation in the Middle East after Hamas took over Gaza.
The victory of Hamas in Gaza and the questions facing Israeli and Palestinian workers Many tears have been shed over the fall of Gaza under Hamas control. In reality what has happened is that the carefully prepared plans of imperialism have exploded in their face. They had bought off and corrupted the leaders of Fatah in order to get them to police the Palestinians for them. Because of this the Palestinian masses turned away from Fatah and embraced Hamas. So where do we go from here?
Forty years after the Six-Day War there is no reason to celebrate in Israel Forty years of the horrors of the repression of the Palestinians, the many other barbaric wars Israel has launched since then, and the defeat of the Israeli war machine in the last war in Lebanon have changed the image of Israel that has been fostered since 1967. Read also Yossi Schwartz on Israel: The 1967 War.
Israel: The 1967 War We are republishing this article by Yossi Schwartz on the War of 1967 to provide some background information to the recent events taking place in Gaza and the West Bank. Read the full article: Israel: The 1967 War
“Iran on the Brink” - Book review Rob Walsh reviews new book by Andreas Malm and Shora Esmailian (Published by Pluto Press, www.plutobooks.com). The book looks at the role played by the Iranian working class in past movements and the role they are playing today. A compelling read.
Should Marxists support a blanket boycott of Israel or should we insist it be a workers’ boycott? In the recent period the idea of boycotting Israeli academic institutions has been raised as a way of helping the struggle to defend the rights of the Palestinians. Comparisons have been made with the boycott of the old South African Apartheid regime. In South Africa it was the mass movement that brought down that regime, not the boycott. The same is true today as it was then.
