Palestine, the Great War and British Imperialism
In part two of his series on Israel and the occupation of Palestine Neil Rogall moves on to look at how Britain’s strong relationship with Israel goes back to the Balfour Declaration which paved the way for the Zionist state. Read part 1 of this series, The Origins of Zionism, here. A well-loved chant on […]
No To Nato: joining the dots between Palestine and Western imperialism
The Nato summit due to take place in Newport and Cardiff will be met by a week of demonstrations. rs21 spoke to Adam Johannes, secretary of Cardiff Stop the War Coalition, about the protests. So what exactly is this Nato Newport summit? Who is going to turn up and what will they be getting up […]
ISIS, Iraq and Syria: Peering into the faultlines
Sam Charles Hamad has written a detailed response on the IS Network site to Andy Cunningham’s article earlier this month on ISIS, Iraq and imperialism. Sam stresses the role played by Iraq’s outgoing prime minister Nouri al-Maliki in carving out Iraq’s Sunnis from the government, alienating the former Sahwat militias and thereby creating conditions for the rise of ISIS […]
How the rulers of Rotherham betrayed their children
The report into child sexual exploitation in Rotherham documents appalling abuse. But even more shocking is the failure of councillors, council managers and police to do anything to address a problem they have known about for the last twenty years.
Ferguson Latest: Mourning, Still Fighting
When a family invites the public to come share their grief at a funeral service for their young son, they’re sending a message: We must not forget his murder.
#Ferguson: protests, policing, propaganda
Aamna Mohdin takes a look at the role played by web publications and social media in challenging the official narrative around the death of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri.
Assata Shakur: the world’s most dangerous woman?
Estelle Cooch reports on a lively launch of Assata Shakur’s autobiography at the recently opened Black Cultural Archives in Brixton It may be forty years since Assata Shakur, still the FBI’s most wanted woman, went on the run and sought asylum in Cuba, but the debates and controversy that surrounds her arrest doesn’t look to […]
Video: Rusting Assassins
The documentary Rusting Assassins explores the largely forgotten legacy of the American War in Vietnam.
Border barbarism: the case of Tilbury Docks
Meet Singh Kapoor and his travelling companions are the victims of a barbaric system of border controls, argues Matthew Carr. On 16 August a 40-year-old Afghan Sikh named Meet Singh Kapoor was found dead in a container at Tilbury Docks. Kapoor was travelling with his wife and sons with a group of 35 migrants, including […]
Strong support for Scottish independence in mass canvas
The Radical Independence Campaign (RIC), on Tuesday released the findings of their recent mass canvas of 18,000 Scottish voters, showing a lead for Yes over No in the forthcoming independence referendum. A Unite rep discusses how the results contrast to official polls. Canvassing over 18,000 voters in 90 working-class communities across the country, RIC […]
The origins of Zionism
In part one of our new series on the roots of Israeli terror former lecturer on the subject, Neil Rogall, looks at the origins of Zionism.
Obituary: Pierre Ryckmans (Simon Leys)
Charlie Hore looks back at the work of a pioneering and idiosyncratic writer.
Boycott Kedem: how Palestine activists are taking on an Israeli firm in Manchester
Kedem Cosmetics is a franchise based on King Street in Manchester. It exclusively stocks produce from the Dead Sea, an area from which Palestinians are barred and whose resources they cannot access.
London protesters stand in solidarity with Ferguson
At the London vigil those attending chanted “hands up, don’t shoot”, following Ferguson protesters.
Nein, Nyet, No: a brief history of jazz, rock & roll, race and repression
Mitch Mitchell takes a look at the music that made racists and rulers come out in hives.
Why support an academic boycott of Israel?
The idea that you should boycott Israeli universities has been one of the more difficult arguments within the Palestine movement. Here a member of the University and College Union national executive, Trish McManus, tackles the key questions. In 2004 a small number of intellectuals and scholars launched the Palestinian Campaign for an academic boycott of Israel […]
‘Disobedient Objects’ for a ‘Multitude of Struggles’
Amy Gilligan reviews ‘Disobedient Objects’, on until 1 Feb, and ‘A World to Win: Posters of Protest and Revolution’ on until 2nd Nov, exhibitions at the V&A Museum, London . Both are free to visit. Disobedient Objects is a new exhibition at the V&A which showcases a large number of items from grassroots social movements, […]
Things to be angry about and frightened of: A response to Ian A
Kevin Crane responds to Ian A‘s article ‘Anger, confidence, fear and hope in the workplace‘, arguing that the nature of precariousness at work needs to be taken seriously. Many of the things Ian has written are perfectly sensible and may, for some readers, be urgent matters. I think, however, that in stressing certain useful points, […]
Statement of solidarity with the Syrian revolution
The Syrian revolution is at a crossroads, and Syrian revolutionaries are in desperate need of support as they fight on several fronts.
What’s to be done now? A review of Paul Le Blanc’s Unfinished Leninism
Jonas Liston reviews an essential collection of essays on Lenin and Leninism today (photo of Paul Le Blanc by Alex Bainbridge) The difficult experiences of the revolutionary left recently have led many to question core aspects of Marxist politics – in particular the legacy of the Russian revolutionary Lenin and the organisation he played a key […]
New fault lines in the Middle East: ISIS in a regional context
As the calls for more direct intervention in Iraq grow and the US drops their first bombs, Andy Cunningham looks at what the rise of the Islamic State means for the wider Middle East. Following discussions with other comrades, this article was revised by the author on 14/8/14 to remove a factual error and to […]
Review: ‘Salt of the Earth’ 60th Anniversary release
Joe Sabatini re-examines the 1951 film ‘Salt of the Earth’ and argues for its contemporary relevance and importance. “Anything worth learning hurts, these changes come with pain.” 2014 marks the 60th anniversary of the release of the political classic: The Salt of the Earth. Salt dramatises a strike that took place in 1951 against the […]
Solidarity movement continues to grow – #GazaA9 protest round up
Yesterday once again saw a massive turn out at demonstrations in solidarity with Palestine. In London, Stop the War report that 150,000 people marched in the biggest ever UK protest for Gaza. Shanice McBean took part in the demonstration as it made its way from BBC Broadcasting House to Hyde Park. “The movement is growing, and […]
Thrown into another world – experiencing Hiroshima
69 years ago today the US dropped a nuclear bomb on the Japanese city of Nagasaki. 40,000 people were killed instantly, and many others died soon after. Three days earlier they had also bombed Hiroshima. Colin Wilson remembers meeting a survivor of that bombing. When I visited Hiroshima in 2003 what initially struck me was […]
Fight for your right to read
Alan Gibbons, author, organiser of the Campaign for the Book and lifelong socialist discusses the attacks that the library service is facing in Britain. He is based in Liverpool where proposals to cut eleven of the city’s nineteen libraries have recently been announced. It is the fiftieth anniversary of the public library service. This should […]
Paul Le Blanc replies to Ian Birchall on Lenin and Leninism
Paul Le Blanc, author of Unfinished Leninism, has replied to Ian Birchall’s discussion article on Leninism over at SocialistWorker.org. In an article titled Leninism, No? Paul sets out “a sense of what I mean by Leninism, as utilised in my own writings”: In his commitment to a fusion of the struggles of the workers and […]
The Other Side of the Commonwealth: ‘Emancipation Acts’ Review
Christine Bird reviews a new performance exploring Scottish links to slavery Who knew that Glasgow’s Gallery of Modern Art is housed in the 18th century mansion of tobacco merchant William Cunninghame? There is not so much as a plaque to commemorate the thousands of enslaved people who grew the crop that brought so much wealth […]
Tories push ahead with massive expansion of fracking – but will they face a backlash?
report by Ewan Nicolson The government pushed out an announcement last week that over half of Britain – up to 37,000 square miles of land from Scotland to the South East of England – will be opened up to tender for energy companies to bid for fracking rights. The land that companies will be able […]
Muslim Brotherhood Supporters Remain Under Sentence of Death in Egypt
The new regime in Egypt has been handing out mass death sentences to Muslim Brotherhood supporters. General al-Sisi has exploited hostility to the Brotherhood to crack down on mass street protests more generally and to excuse his betrayal of the people of Gaza. More needs to be done to defend the Brotherhood supporters, writes Peter […]
NUS executive votes to back BDS boycott campaign against Israel
(picture of #nus4bds campaigners by Aaron Kiely, NUS executive member, via Facebook) The NUS national executive committee today voted 23-18 with 1 abstention to adopt a Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions policy against Israel. Fantastic that #NUSNEC has passed policy to support #BDS || read more about BDS: http://t.co/KHBcC1WgRm #BoycottIsrael #FreePalestine – rs21 (@revsoc21) August 4, 2014 […]