This letter is to alert you to the developing situation in the Indian state of Chhattisgarh, where the Chhattisgarh Mukti Morcha (CMM) – a popular worker-peasant organization - and its cement industry affiliate labour union, the Pragatisheel Cement Shramik Sangh, are coming under intense, concerted attacks from the Swiss Multinational cement manufacturer, Holcim, and the right-wing state government of Chhattisgarh. The latest incident occurred on 6th March, when YP Singh, the Security Officer of Ambuja Cements (which is now controlled by the Swiss cement giant, Holcim) got into an altercation in the village market of Rawan, district Raipur where the Company is situated. According to villagers, YP Singh, is a universally disliked, tyrannical person against whom villagers and workers … [read more]

In February 2011 the anti-imperialist voluntary organisation Sumud conducted a fact finding regarding the Adivasis’ resistance. We separated into two teams, one going to West Bengal and Jharkhand, the other one to Andhra Pradesh and Chhattisgarh. Here some commented photographs from a visit to the fringes of the liberated areas in south Chhattisgarh right at the border to Andhra Pradesh. Actually we have been exploring the possibility for a small medical assistance project. Regarding the border zone we found out that “Doctors Without Borders” (MSF) have been operating there already for several years. It came, however, to the knowledge that urgent support is needed deeper inside. The visit has been facilitated by the Andhra Pradesh Civil Liberties Committee (APCLC) as well as Tudum … [read more]

It was not an easy task, as Mubarak was probably the most important dictator representing the West. His system is still in place. It had enforced neoliberalism at the Nile, impoverished tens of millions of people, while Mubarak and his cronies lived in luxury. His system fomented the conflict between Muslims and Christians, to divide and rule. His system had joined hands with Israel to starve the people of Gaza. His system had supported the United States of America always and everywhere and tortured people on behalf of them. The popular democratic movements are about to bring down the whole neo-colonial architecture of the Middle East. In a sense, they are continuing the movement against globalisation and the resistance against the American Empire on a much broader scale. The popular … [read more]

Anti-imperialist Camp ____________________________ Khelil wrote me this (I cite with his permission and I can confirm his analysis. I have indeed received emails from irate Tunisians who told me that they did not want Ghannushi to step down): "1) The middle class (adult and youth) is greatly irritated that Ghannoushi stepped down (over 2,000 gathered at his home after his announcement to call for his return in a spontaneous affair; Mr Gannouchi, mes excuses chui 1 de la majorité qui ont choisi le silence is a Facebook page and another for Ghannoushi has over 10,000 fans) and now what is being called the "silent majority" is starting to stand up against the UGTT union which is behind the continuing protests. A majority of Tunisians, especially the middle class, is growing … [read more]

So much so, that any social/political movement of the people that talks about the overall well being of the people let alone radical social transformation cannot ignore the challenge of the new buzzword in corridors of power: development through displacement or to put it from the standpoint of moribund capital that is propped up by the agents of Imperialists in India—displacement as development. For, it has become inevitable for these sections to indulge in such rapacious loot of the masses without which their own survival becomes difficult. The destructive trail of pro-imperialist development model We are not saying that this model of development that is being pushed is something very new. In fact, the present phase is the logical culmination of the path of development ushered by … [read more]

On Friday, 25 February, hundreds of thousands of Egyptians had assembled on Tahrir Square in Cairo to voice the demands of the uprising for political and economic reforms. They had followed a call by the “Coordinating Council of the Insurrection of January 25th.” The demonstrators demanded that the resignation of the government of Ahmad Shafiq that had been installed by the dictator Husni Mubarak and had been kept on by the ruling military council. They called for the immediate release of the political prisoners and for those responsible for the violence against the demonstrators to be put on trial. The opposition wanted to reclaim Tahrir Square, which had been cleared by the army two weeks ago, as the focus of continuing protest. In the evening, the army blocked the streets … [read more]

Arundhati Roy is an intellectual icon of the resistance against globalisation. Recently we asked her what she thinks about the democratic movements in the Arab world. Her answer was that the support those rebellions enjoy in the western media makes her rather anxious. How this fact can be interpreted? The Egyptian movement was quite a challenge for the regimes of the west, as Mubarak was one of the most important pro-western dictators. His regime protected Israel and in return received billions of military aid each year. In the true spirit of neoliberalism, Washington also outsourced torture to Cairo. At the same time, the lords of the world have continued to as the keepers of the Holy Grail they call democracy. The Tunisian movement was so powerful that it forced the US regime to … [read more]

In the rural areas of India the fight against neoliberalism and globalisation achieved a new dimension. Nearly hidden from the public of the countries of the capitalist center the oppressed peoples raised a new front. Due to that Sumud organized from the 4th to the 14th of February 2011 a fact-finding mission. We sperated into two teams to explore the status of the people’s struggles. Here the tour which included Westbengal and … [read more]

BOLÍVAR AND ZAMORA REVOLUTIONARY CURRENT (CRBZ) DECLARATION OF PRINCIPLES We are a sum of wills brought together by a great commitment, filled with passion for and love of the Bolivarian Revolution. We are, above all else, men, women, groups, organizations, and collectives, highly aware of the quota of responsibility that we bear in this historic moment of transformations and the arrival of the Patria Nueva, or New Homeland. We understand that Revolution is a question of making dreams into realities, and this is precisely the great challenge of the Bolivarian Revolution: make into a tangible reality the proposed historical and cultural project of our Revolutionary Program, the SIMON BOLIVAR NATIONAL PROJECT. This requires of us revolutionaries a conscious, creative and steady … [read more]

Our stomach turns when we do a visual count of the damages caused by the merciless rains of recent days. It’s just that figures alone don’t allow for a full comprehension of the catastrophe’s characteristics – in figures there is a cold rational that isn’t understood until one sees concrete faces, the faces of little kids scared and searching for answers amongst such despair. Wrinkles and colors of our People, the poor, asking ourselves how damn long will we be the everlasting protagonists of natural disasters? And while the answer is simple, it is urgent that we ideologically alphabetize at this precise moment, at the center of this crisis, and expose the great unmasked guilty party in front of cameras and in front of consciousnesses. The guilt lies with capitalism, the … [read more]

Mubarak missed by 17 hours the last possibility of a respectable resignation. His demission was stated by his vice, Mr. Omar Suleiman. Mubarak could see how the whole Arab nation from the Atlantic Ocean to the Arab-Persian Gulf celebrated his departure, as well his Western allies welcoming the transition of power in Egypt. The Egyptians have a great reason to celebrate. They are celebrating a victory over 30 years of a rule of fear and poverty. They are celebrating a victory which was achieved by an uprising of popular masses and without foreign support. The Egyptians earn the respect of the whole world, being able to remove one of the most crucial regimes in a country with 80 million inhabitants through a totally peaceful uprising. Despite of all attempts of defamation by Western … [read more]

It includes the founding forces of political parties and progressive and democratic organizations. The Front’s urgent tasks are: 1. Bringing down Ghannouchi current government or any government that includes symbols of the former regime. 2. Dissolving the RCD, the confiscation of its headquarters and property and Bank accounts as they belong to the people, and dismissing its members. 3. Formation of temporary force that enjoys the confidence of the people and the progressive forces of the civil society political, associations, unions and youth organizations. 4. The dissolving of the House of Representatives and the advisers council and all current false bodies, and the Higher Council of the Judiciary, and the dismantling of the political structure of the … [read more]

Many young university graduates are earning 300 Euros per month. The normal worker earns 50 Euros/month. This is why young Egyptians between 25 and 40 years old are not able to rent an apartment on their own and leave their parents’ home. And the problem is getting worse since the Egyptian families are not able anymore to finance their sons and daughters even though they are living under one roof. The young generation is desperate and this is why suicide attempts are getting higher and more attempts to immigrate illegally in risky and unhealthy conditions are more frequent. What is also important to analyze is the position of the US government vis a vis of what is happening in the Arab World. They don’t care if their allies are under threat or in danger, for example Hariri and … [read more]

Congretulation on Tunisian Revolution which will inspire the workers and the oppressed around the world to stand up aganist so- called democratic regimes and capitalist brutal system.The workers and people of Afghanistan which have been suffering from occupation of US/Nato and their barbaric war, express their solidarity with Tunisian people and condonle with families of martyreds and victim of police in Tunisia. - long live workers revoluation in Tunisia! - Down with imperialism and occupation! - Stop imperialist intervention in Tunisia! Nasir Loyand 24 January 2011, … [read more]

We wish in the first place to express our condolences to this sorely tried community, but we also wish to condemn in the firmest way this perverse action which nothing, no ideology and no belief could ever justify. At the present state of things we know nothing on the perpetrators of this action, on their identity or on their reasons. Conversely, we know that this attack has taken place following other similar actions having the Christians as a target. Such things happen regularly in Iraq since the US invasion and have a precedent in Egypt last year with the gunfire against a church of Nagaa Hamadi, in the South of the country. Furthermore, other religious communities, such as the Sunni and Shi’ite in Iraq or Pakistan have also been the victims of such operations. At any rate, it is … [read more]

Transcribed by Claudine Fähndrich, BDS Switzerland http://www.silviacattori.net/article1429.html I begin by thanking all the organizers; I know it took quite a lot of efforts to bring us all together. It is a great achievement, and as Mazen and Eider mentioned, and Lubna, yesterday, you also provided a great opportunity for us to meet and we are very grateful to you for this opportunity to meet you and to meet each other. It is easier because of the Israeli oppression to meet here than to meet in Palestine where we should meet and hopefully one day we will all be there without the need to go to the frozen hills of Stuttgart to create a joint life! And I think that's the gist of the Zionist story that it does not allow people to meet normal life and to be normal friends that they … [read more]

Dear colleagues and friends, New Year’s Greetings! Tomorrow, the 4^th of January, 2011, is the 61^st birthday of Dr. Binayak Sen. Let us flood the Raipur Jail with greetings, telegrams and cards to Dr. Sen wishing him on his birthday. Raipur Additional District and Sessions Judge B. P. Verma sentenced PUCL’s (People’s Union for Civil Liberties) National Vice President Dr. Binayak Sen to life imprisonment under charges of sedition 124 (A) of the IPC read with conspiracy (120-B IPC) along with convicting him concurrently u/s 8-(1), (2), (3) and (5) of the Chhattisgarh Vishesh Jan Suraksha Adhiniyam,2005 (Chhattisgarh Special Public Safety Act, 2005) and u/sec 39 (2) of the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act, 2004 (amended) on the 24th of December 2010. Dr Binayak … [read more]

The conference was a breakthrough not only regarding the number of participants but first of all because of its quality. It indicates a political shift which in most western countries is already in full swing. The two-state solution is being recognized more and more not only as deception and farce but as an outright support for Israeli apartheid. This change is due to the dramatic impact of the continuing blockade of Gaza, the Israeli military aggression on Gaza in January 2009 as well as the massacre on the Gaza freedom flotilla. Outstanding orator was Ilan Pappé, an Israel historian teaching in England. He was setting the line: A Jewish state cannot be other than colonial oppressing the Palestinians. There is no such thing as progressive Zionism. On the contrary Pappé compared … [read more]

Equality – or nothing (Edward W. Said) The speakers were the Israeli historian Prof. Ilan Pappé from the University of Exeter (U.K.), Prof. Haidar Eid from the Al Aqsa University Gaza, Prof Mazin Qumsiyeh from Bir Zeit University Ramallah, the co-founder of the Internet Portal Electronic Intifada Ali Abunimah, the Palestinian activist Lubna Masarwa, the international law expert from Hamburg Prof. Norman Paech, the journalist and human rights activist Evelyn Hecht-Galinski, Annette Groth MP from the parliamentary fraction of the left party (DIE LINKE), lawyer Jörg Lang, and Attia Rajab and Verena Rajab from the Stuttgart Palestine Committee. The jazz musician Gilad Atzmon supported the conference with his welcome address. The actress Julianna Herzberg and Samir Mansour with his … [read more]

Maryam Abu Dagga was interviewed be the Intifada Magazine during her participation in the 9th International Symposium against Isolation, held in Vienna on December 4-5, 2010. Intifada: Recently you spoke in different meetings and forums in Berlin, Copenhagen and other European cities. What is your impression of the European solidarity movement? Maryam Abu Dagga (M.A.D): First of all thank you for this meeting. Living in Gaza under the siege is very hard, and after the war our suffering and problems have gotten worse, especially for the people of our party. We have many problems and many difficulties to move. So it is only at very few times that we have the possibility to meet people internationally to speak about our problems. This occasion is very important for me and for the … [read more]