War in Iraq is far from over Apparently as one enters Baghdad from the west there is graffiti on the walls that says "Welcome to the Republic of Darkness and Unemployment". The devastation of Iraq's economy and infrastructure makes that statement literally true. The war in Iraq has solved nothing from the standpoint of US imperialism, instead it has ushered in a period of even greater instability throughout the Middle East and on a world scale.
Hands off Abnaa el-Balad movement! The supporters of In Defence of Marxism circle, denounce the arrest of members in the leadership of Abnaa el-Balad movement (the Sons of the country). We call upon all those who genuinely seek to defend the very basic democratic rights in this country, and first of all the Communist party, its youth movement and Hadash (the Democratic Front for Peace and Equality), by taking the lead for organizing united front actions in defence of Abnaa el-Balad.
Occupation of Iraq: trouble brewing on the home front The situation in Iraq and the whole of the Middle East is far from being stabilised. The very fact that there is an army of occupation right in the heart of the region has opened up a completely new scenario. But is not just in the Middle East that the occupation of Iraq is having widespread repercussions. In the USA and the UK, the two countries that are occupying Iraq, the situation is getting worse for their respective governments.
The Black hole of Israeli Capitalism How the Israeli banking system profits from low paid workers in Israel who end up deeper and deeper in debt.
Israel: the struggle against the attacks on the working class begins Vicki Knafo, a single mother, recently walked all the way to Jerusalem from her home in Mitzpeh Ramon, a poor town in Southern Israel, to protest against the government's welfare cuts. Her case has become a symbol of determined struggle against the government's austerity measures and has highlighted the plight of many working class people in Israel.
Israel/Palestine: Why Marxists oppose the Road Map The Road Map for "peace" in the Middle East emerged as part of the shift in the world situation after the September 11 terrorist attacks. The war on Afghanistan and afterwards the war and occupation of Iraq created the conditions in which US imperialism, aided by British imperialism and with the silence of the European Union, was able to intervene in the development of the historic conflict between Israel and the Palestinian Arab people.
Student protests reveal weakness of the Iranian regime The student protests that began in Iran on June 9, have revealed how little support is left for the Islamic regime among not only the students and the workers, but also large layers of the middle classes. In spite of the harsh clampdown of the regime, it is clear that it is dieing. It is no longer a question of "if", but rather of "when" it will fall.
In the midst of imperialist oppression: The Iraqi Communist tradition is still alive As the US discusses the future of Iraq with its friends and allies from all over the world, the opposition movement to US occupation is growing and within this the old Communist traditions are once again beginning to take root. It is not just Islamic fundamentalism that is growing in post-war Iraq.
Suffer the little children An interesting insight into the terrible psychological damage the Palestinian-Israeli conflicting is having on the children who are growing up in the region.
Iraq two months after the fall of Saddam Hussein: A "Vietnamese" trap for the "coalition" forces? When President Bush stated on May 1 that combat operations had ended in Iraq, for most of the American people it seemed the war was over. It is not. The behaviour of the US forces is looking increasingly like that in Vietnam. Villages and towns are raided, where every one is considered an enemy and a potential target for besieged troops in a foreign and hostile country.
Arab-Jewish workers' joint struggles prior to the partition of Palestine - Part One The Zionists have always tried to block any attempts at Arab-Jewish workers' unity. However during the decades leading up to the formation of the state of Israel there were many examples of Arab and Jewish workers coming together in mixed workplaces and even attempts to build joint unions. Thus history denies the myth that no such unity is possible. What is true is that the nationalists on both sides (Jewish and Arab) did everything to thwart such moves.
Arab-Jewish workers' joint struggles prior to the partition of Palestine - Part Two Yossi Schwartz continues his outline of the history of labour struggles in Palestine in the first half of the 20th century, underlining the instinctive move towards unity on the part of both Jewish and Arab workers and the constant manoeuvring on the part of the Zionist leaders (with a mirror image among the Arab nationalists) to break down this unity.
The cold-blooded stance of the Zionists in the face of the Holocaust Millions of Jews died tragically in the Nazi extermination camps. But little is know of the manoeuvres that were taking place around this question in Britain and the US, in particular on the part of the Zionist lobby. Rather than take measures that may have saved large numbers of German and Eastern European Jews the Zionists were only prepared to accept measures that would facilitate emigration of Jews to Palestine. Yossi Schwarz in Israel unveils what really happened and also underlines the despicable role of US and British imperialism at the time.
In spite of Abu Mazen's attempts to cosy up to imperialism - "Road Map" is destined to fail After two and a half years of a desperate uprising in which 2,500 Palestinians and more than 700 Israelis have been killed, the Palestinian capitalists and petit bourgeois are crawling on their stomachs before the US and Israeli rulers. Once again history has proven that the methods of individual terror are leading only to defeat.