The editorial board of marxy.com and communists of the IMT in North Africa and the Middle East are proud to publish a new issue of the magazine Freedom and Communism. This is the 14th issue of a revolutionary magazine that is received with great enthusiasm by the youth of the region, and includes all the articles of issue 44 of In Defence of Marxism magazine, dedicated to marking the centenary of the death of Vladimir Ilyich Lenin.

In 100 days, the International Marxist Tendency will host a conference: The World School of Communism. This will be six days of talks and discussions where we will also launch a Revolutionary Communist International!

George Galloway’s victory in the Rochdale by-election is a painful shock for the political establishment. Starmer and the Labour right wing have been dealt a sharp blow – the first of many. Communists must organise to channel this mood of anger.

As we recently reported, comrades of the International Marxist Tendency in Austria are under attack from the state apparatus for opposing the oppression of the Palestinian people. Two comrades have been falsely accused of ‘supporting terrorism’ for promoting the IMT’s statement against the war on Gaza. Below is an update on the legal case against our comrades Alex and Sonja. This is followed by some reports of the incredible wave of solidarity that our comrades have received.

In this week’s instalment of Lenin in a year, we look at The Development of Capitalism in Russia, a magnificent yet little-read work, in which Lenin drew a clear red line between Marxism and all the other revolutionary trends then operating in Russia. For a deeper analysis and the wider context of this period of Lenin’s life, we recommend Wellred Books’ recent publication by Rob Sewell and Alan Woods: In Defence of Lenin. Get your copy today!

While all the main leaders of the imperialist powers, from Biden to Scholz, Macron and many others, have been shedding crocodile tears about the “excessive civilian death toll” in Gaza, in practice they have all been collaborating with the Israeli government. Not only with military aid but also in strangling the Palestinian people economically and socially. They have helped create the material conditions upon which no feasible Palestinian self-administration is possible. They are openly collaborating with Netanyahu as he and his far-right Zionist friends attempt to destroy the little that is left of Palestinian territory.

On 16 February in Naples, the comrades of the Italian section of the IMT, Sinistra Classe Rivoluzione (SCR) held a successful launch event at the Sala del Capitolo of the Complesso Monumentale di San Domenico Maggiore, in the city’s historic centre, for the Lenin lives! Campaign – an initiative to reclaim the real revolutionary legacy of Lenin in this, the centenary year of his death.

On February 25, hundreds of comrades gathered across the United States to discuss the founding of the Revolutionary Communists of America (RCA)—a new political party for the new generation of class fighters eager to get active and organized in the belly of the beast. The meeting ushered in a new chapter for American communism. In the coming years, communism has the potential to become a mass political force for the first time in generations.

Few people in history are more slandered than Vladimir Lenin. From school textbooks to the capitalist press, the ruling class are desperate to blacken Lenin’s name wherever they get the opportunity. But how should communists respond?

Israel’s war on Gaza has exposed the hypocrisy of the western ‘rules-based order’, and demonstrated the impotence of the United Nations and the international laws it adjudicates. In reality, the UN is nothing more than a tool of imperialism.

Yesterday afternoon, active-duty member of the US Air Force Aaron Bushnell set himself on fire in front of the Israeli embassy in Washington, in protest against US imperialism’s complicity with the war on Gaza. The news of this brave act of self-sacrifice by a single man has powerfully echoed through the hearts of hundreds of millions of men and women.

The Montreal Marxist Winter School 2024 represents a historic event. Much more than a school, it is the opening of a new chapter for the forces of communism: we announced the founding of the Revolutionary Communist Party in Canada!

In this, the centenary year of Lenin’s death, it is time for revolutionaries to reclaim the real Lenin: as a revolutionary fighter, the founder of Bolshevism and the Communist International, and as one of history’s greatest Marxist theoreticians. To this end, we are proud to launch a new series, Lenin in a Year, to bring out the gems – some well-known, others less so – of Lenin’s prodigious theoretical work. The series aims to convey their enduring value to revolutionaries today, and illustrate how they were intimately linked to the polemics and political struggles that defined Lenin’s life, and through which Bolshevism was forged.

As the global crisis of capitalism deepens, millions of workers and youth internationally are faced with a future blighted by the barbarism of war, oppression and exploitation. But this is not the only path facing humanity. The fight for communism is more urgent than ever, which is why we will be launching the Revolutionary Communist International (RCI) in June. If you are a communist, sign up to participate in the RCI’s founding conference, and join us in the battle to end the horrors of capitalism once and for all!

The capitalists are ploughing billions into artificial intelligence, salivating at the prospect of an AI-generated economic boost and keen to grab a slice of the new gold rush. But there is no technological solution for capitalism’s fundamental contradictions, and the investment party will inevitably be followed by a hangover.