Review: ‘The Impossible Revolution’ in Syria
Lebanese writer Joey Ayoub reviews Yassin Al-Haj Saleh’s The Impossible Revolution: Making Sense of the Syrian Tragedy. Barely a year after the start of the Syrian revolution, in May of 2012, the intellectual and dissident Yassin Al-Haj Saleh was hiding somewhere in Damascus and writing an essay entitled ‘the rise of militant nihilism’. He had […]
The counterrevolution crushes Aleppo
The Syrian regime and its Russian ally are in the last barbaric stages of an onslaught against Aleppo. Below we republish Ashley Smith’s analysis from the SocialistWorker.org website in the US. THE COMBINED forces of Bashar al-Assad’s regime, Russian air power and Iranian-backed Shia death squads are reconquering Eastern Aleppo, according to reports–and with it, the […]
The democratic wager: why the Left must support the Syrian Revolution
Nick Evans Reviews Jules Alford and Andy Wilson (eds.) Khiyana. Daesh, the Left and the Unmaking of the Syrian Revolution. Essays by Muhhamad Idrees Ahmad, Javaad Alipoor, Leila Al-Shami, Mark Boothroyd, Joseph Daher and Shiar Neyo, Sam Charles Hamad, Bodour Hassan, Michael Karadjis, Louis Proyect, Eyal Zisser. London: Unkant, 2016. 278 pp. £9.99. The title of this book means “betrayal”: […]
Long read: What do Syrian and Lebanese activists think?
Miriyam Aouragh introduces interviews with activists Syrian and Lebanese that aim to cut through the confusion that has clouded much of the British left in recent months. The activists’ responses to questions about the nature of Daesh, the role of sectarianism and whether class can still be a source of analysis in the uprising, how we should regard the Kurdish […]
What do we do about ISIS?
As Cameron tries to make the case for the UK bombing Syria, Rick Lighten argues that as well as arguing against bombing Syria we should build a vibrant anti-racist movement that is able to counter Islamophobia and provide ideological and practical solidarity to migrants and refugees. Protests against the bombing of Syria are taking place in towns […]
What challenges does Cameron’s war drive face?
The government wants to bomb Syria. We need to understand the problems Cameron faces making that happen so as to oppose the push to war, argues Colin Wilson. Cameron wants to bomb Syria, but he faces problems doing so. The major problem in parliamentary terms is a report about British bombing of Syria produced by […]
After Paris: no to imperialist wars, no to Islamophobia, no to attacks on refugees
We are horrified by the attacks in Paris: we join in mourning the dead, and send our condolences to the loved ones of those who have died. These attacks are part of the war raging across the Middle East, including the deaths of 40 people killed in Beirut and 17 killed in Baghdad on Friday […]
The Syrian Revolution and the crisis of the anti-war movement
Suddenly, everyone is talking about Syria. Saturday’s demonstration will be in solidarity with all refugees, but a Syrian refugee is one of the key organisers. Campaigners from the Syria Solidarity Movement UK and Stop the War Coalition are among those involved in the planning, along with many other organisations. Everyone should welcome this commitment to […]
LET – THEM – IN!
Miriyam Aouragh salutes solidarity initiatives from below that counter the racist border policies of our rulers. “I’m happy to look after children, take them to kindergarten, school and wherever they need. I can cook for people and show them friendship and warmth. I can pay the airfare for one small family. I can contribute with […]
Left solidarity: supporting grassroots movements in Syria
Last weekend, Syrian activists and their supporters around the world held demonstrations to mark the second anniversary of the Sarin gas attack in Ghouta. Many Syrians feel that they have been at best ignored by much of the mainstream international left and anti-war movements, who often focus on geopolitics rather than the demands of the […]
The fear of Islamism and the terror of the state
Peter Hill on the ‘power of nightmares’ from Syria to India and the UK. The ‘war on terror’ has seen a revival since the rise of ISIS, aka Da’esh, in Iraq and Syria, and now beyond. Like the original ‘war on terror’ against al-Qaeda several years ago, it has also provided a pretext for authoritarian […]
The Syrian Revolution struggles on
Following a demonstration to mark the fourth anniversary of the Syrian Revolution, Mark Boothroyd argues the reputation of socialist organisations has been seriously damaged by their failure to stand alongside Syrians who have continued fighting for freedom in terrible conditions. Mark Boothroyd was a founder of the Syria Solidarity Movement. 15 March 2015 marked the fourth anniversary of the Syrian Revolution. On […]
The new grand alliance in the Middle East
Nancy Lindisfarne and Jonathan Neale explain the changing international alliances in Middle Eastern politics, and how this is connected to rising Islamophobia in Europe. This was originally published as part of a series on Feminism and Islamophobia on their website. In most of Europe and North America now there is only one acceptable form of racism: […]
ISIS, sexual violence and killing gay men
Nancy Lindisfarne and Jonathan Neale look at the evidence for widespread rape and homophobic attacks in Syria and Iraq. This post was originally published on their Sexism Class Violence website. There are now many press and internet reports of rape by the Islamic State (ISIS). There are also reports of ISIS killing gays. These reports […]
The bombs won’t work: they’ll make things worse.
Hanif Leylabi writes on why we should oppose the latest British military adventure in Iraq
Terrorism with British characteristics
The government and mainstream media are up in arms about returning Islamic State fighters. But what of the British mercenaries fighting in the region? Peter Hill examines a double standard with troubling implications. The government has recently enacted new anti-terror measures aimed specifically, it claims, at returning Islamic State fighters from Syria and Iraq. The […]
The changing face of imperialism
Ukraine and Syria have put imperialism back at the top of the political agenda. Rob Owen traces the theory of imperialism and charts the trajectory of US imperialism in recent years.
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 […]
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.
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 […]
Retribution in Iraq
by Jack Farmer If you like a laugh, it’s always worth looking up what Tony Blair has to say about events in the Middle East. In his latest intervention he insisted that the current crisis in Iraq had nothing to do with the US-British led invasion of 2003: “We have to liberate ourselves from the notion […]