Extracts from Revolutionary Rehearsals in the Neoliberal Age
On the possibility of socialist revolution and the tragedy of the Egyptian revolution.
Down with Sisi and long live the people!
On Friday 20 September, people in Egypt took to the streets in some of the first protests since President Abdul Fattah al-Sisi took power in 2014. Here is the statement by the Revolutionary Socialists.
Hope and tragedy in April 1919
The Limerick Soviet (13 – 27 April 1919) was one manifestation of a wave of revolutionary crises that confronted British imperialism in the aftermath of WWI.
Understanding the Arab right #HM2018
Lisa L reports from a session at Historical Materialism conference that included perspectives on Lebanon, Morocco, Egypt and the Syrian civil war.
Kefaya – sounds of a new world
Lois C reviews a musical project that captures the energy and excitement of the latest wave of global resistance. For most readers of this review the word “kefaya” might conjure up images of a pre-Arab Spring Egypt still in the grips of Mubarak’s dictatorship. Kefaya, the Arabic word “enough”, became the rallying call for a grassroots […]
International statement: We fight dictatorships, imperialist aggression and Daesh. We reject the politics of “national security”, racism and austerity. It’s time to mobilise!
Over recent months, people across the Middle East have been hit by an intensification of conflict in Syria and Iraq. That escalation has been sponsored both by global imperialist powers – chiefly the USA, Russia and European countries – and regional imperialist actors including Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Turkey and Iran. These conflicts are the product […]
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 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: […]
Adam Hanieh on the Gulf states, neoliberalism and liberation in the Middle East
Adam Hanieh is a senior lecturer at and School of Oriental and African Studies and author of Lineages of Revolt: Issues of Contemporary Capitalism in the Middle East. He spoke to Bill Crane about his book and on the trajectories of the Arab revolutions since 2011. You talk in your book about how the IMF and the World Bank see […]
Egypt: from revolution to repression
Anne Alexander, from the MENA Solidarity Network, is the co-author, with Mostafa Bassiouny, of the forthcoming book Bread, Freedom, Social Justice. She spoke to Amy Gilligan about workers’ movements and revolution in Egypt. Originally published in the Autumn 2014 issue of the rs21 magazine. The book begins with a detailed look at the workers’ movement […]
Autumn rs21 magazine out now
The new edition of the rs21 magazine is out now. Since the last issue of the rs21 magazine came out there has been an explosion of protest globally in response to Israel’s latest assault on Gaza. In this issue a series of authors attempt to grapple with the question of what imperialism means today and […]
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 […]
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 […]
Sisi has silently launched a murderous crackdown in Egypt, activists warn
Reports are appearing on Arabic social media sites that Sisi’s regime in Egypt is ramping up repression against anti-coup protests. At least 11 demonstrators, including teenagers, were murdered by regime forces on Thursday and Friday last week. The dead include Ahmed Hussein, killed on Friday in Shubra el-Kheima, Egypt’s fourth largest city, and an 18 year […]
rs21 IWD meeting: No More Blurred Lines
Watch the video from rs21’s event ‘No More Blurred Lines: sexism and exploitation in the neoliberal era’ organised for International Women’s Day 2014.
Interview: “I won’t be blamed anymore”
Sara is an activist in the Egyptian group Operation Anti-Sexual Harassment (OpAntiSH).
Egyptian Revolutionary Socialists: Letter to comrades
See below for the statement from The Revolutionary Socialists in Egypt. It can also be found on their new international website, which features news and analysis in English, French and German. The Political Bureau of the Revolutionary Socialists… Greetings to the comrades and colleagues among the revolutionaries who came out onto the streets yesterday. Their […]
Egyptian socialists sentenced to two years in jail
Two leading activists with the Revolutionary Socialists in Alexandria, Egypt have been sentenced for defying anti-protest laws.
2013 in YouTube videos
Mark Bergfeld collects videos showing episodes of resistance from across the world in 2013.