Tuesday, November 30, 2010
Reflections on Revolution - Killing in the name of ...
Thanks to my favourite Girls the Workergirls from Turkey for this production. and dedicated to French comrades.
Monday, November 29, 2010
Welcome to Copwatch – organising against police violence
With the growing number of demos against student cuts and mounting concern about police behaviour there should be interesting times ahead for Copwatch, a new organisation set up to document and address unlawful behaviour committed by the police primarily in demo and protest situations.
Copwatch feels it is time to centrally record this behaviour and make the information public. Until now, reports of this nature are spread across may organisations and the true scale of the problem is not apparent
Visit http://copwatch.co.uk/
With the recent closure of Fitwatch by the police and the prosecution in Italy of three comrades of the Cop Hunt - read more on the link below about Cop Hunt in Italy and the hearing in Bologna on 22nd December 2010 of our Italian comrades Angelo D'Arcangeli (Member of the National Direction of CARC Party), Vincenzo Cinque (national leader of Struggling Workers Union), Rosalba Romano (Association for Proletarian Solidarity), and Fabrizio Di Mauro the struggle for democratic rights is already Europe wide.
http://democracyandclasstruggle.blogspot.com/2010/11/italy-carc-appeal-to-support-those-who.html
It is time to take police attacks on the democratic rights of workers and students seriously - if we are to make progress in the coming new decade we need to limit the disruption of democratic political activties that the police willingly carry out for their masters - forward policing was one such disruptive method utilised by police in the United Kingdom which Fitwatch exposed so brillantly - we need to shine a light to expose any undemocratic police actions and Copwatch is one of those lights.Long may it shine !We wish them success.
30th November 2010 - 2nd Carnival of Resistance
BRING YOUR OWN KETTLE!
Tea pots & wooden spoon, Kettle Drum, Kettle chips and warm clothes.
12pm Assemble Trafalgar sq and Rally with LowKey, Aaron Porter NUS President, John McDonnell MP, Zita Holborne BARAC, Clare Solomon ULU, Mark Bergfeld NEC NUS, Michael Chessum, Caroline Lucas MP, School Students, and more...
1pm Process to Parliament
2pm Open Mic Parliament sq with:
Lowkey, MC logic, Victory MC & many more and YOU
All welcome on the mic. Bring your own rhythms of resistance
Reggae Sound system to warm things up and live art show
London Student Asssembly - EVERY Sunday
ULU, Malet st, WC1
weorganise@googlegroups.com
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100001671160215
Arundhati Roy charged with sedition - the hypocrisy of Indian Democracy - the reality of the empty shell of Indian Democracy revealed in the closing first decade of the 21st century
Writer Arundhati Roy, Hurriyat leader Sayed Ali Shah Geelani and others were today booked on charges of sedition by Delhi Police for their "anti-India" speech at a seminar here last month.
The filing of the FIR came following a directive from a local court on Saturday on a petition filed by Sushil Pandit who alleged that Geelani and Roy made anti-India speeches at a conference on Azadi-the Only Way on October 21, a senior police official said.
Roy and others were charged under sections 124A (sedition), 153A (promoting enmity between classes), 153B (imputations, assertions prejudicial to national integration), 504 (insult intended to provoke breach of peace) and 505 (false statement, rumour circulated with intent to cause mutiny or offence against public peace..
Democracy and Class Struggle calls for the immediate dropping of the sedition charges against Arundhati Roy and other speakers at the recent meeting on Azadi the Only Way in New Delhi.
There is a petition calling for the defence of Arundhati Roy at:
http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/stoppersecutionroy99/
However this petition needs to be updated in light of current events, please notify Democracy and Class Struggle of any new petition to drop these charges against Arundhati Roy and other speakers at New Delhi Conference.
Here is Arundhati Roy speaking at New Delhi Conference: Azadi the Only Way which led to the sedition charge.
http://democracyandclasstruggle.blogspot.com/2010/10/arundhati-at-delhi-conference-on.html
Arundhati Roy speaks up for us now we must speak up for her .
Sunday, November 28, 2010
United States out of Korea Now ! End the simulated invasion of North Korea War Games posted to last until 1st December 2010 !
Poster created by Jacob Anikulapo on Kasama - thanks
DPRK Warns S. Korean Puppet Group Not to Do Rash Act
Pyongyang, November 26 (KCNA) -- The south Korean puppet group is now getting hell-bent on the wholesale racket for confrontation with the DPRK while groundlessly taking issue with the army of the DPRK over its due punishment meted to the group for its reckless military provocation.
In this regard, a spokesman for the Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of Korea released a statement on Friday.
The recent military provocation by the puppet group is a product of the deliberate and premeditated plot hatched by it to save its smear confrontational campaign from total bankruptcy, tarnish the daily rising might of the DPRK, scuttle the efforts for improving the north-south relations and tide over the domestic and international isolation and crisis, it points out, and says:
The group perpetrated the recent provocation prompted by a sinister calculation that in case the DPRK did not make any reaction it would take it as "a tacit recognition" of the illegal "northern limit line" and make it a fait accompli and in case the DPRK took a military counter-action, it would use it as a pretext for kicking up anti-DPRK smear campaign.
This notwithstanding, the chief executive of south Korea did not bother to cry out for "much stronger punishment" while pulling up the DPRK. This is nothing but last-ditch efforts of those who were hit hard after making hasty provocation.
The prevailing situation clearly proves that the DPRK's warnings and domestic and foreign concerns that the seizure of power by the Lee Myung Bak group of conservatives would bedevil the inter-Korean relations and lead to a war were by no means for nothing.
If the puppet group insists on confrontation with the DPRK, the DPRK does not have any idea of dodging it at all.
It is the temperament of the DPRK to resolutely counter confrontation with confrontation and war with war.
The army and people of the DPRK are now greatly enraged at the provocation of the puppet group while getting fully ready to give a shower of dreadful fire and blow up the bulwark of the enemies if they dare to encroach again upon the DPRK's dignity and sovereignty even in the least.
The group should not run amuck, clearly understanding the will and mettle of the highly alerted army and people of the DPRK to wipe out the enemies.
Escalated confrontation would lead to a war and he who is fond of playing with fire is bound to perish therein.
Gone are the days when verbal warnings are served only.
We will respond to good faith in kind but punish the provocateurs encroaching upon our dignity and sovereignty with resolute and merciless counter-action
Saturday, November 27, 2010
The Student Demonstrators voice on Democracy and Class Struggle Television
Watch live streaming video from democracyandclassstruggle at livestream.com
Friday, November 26, 2010
Chairman Mao Zedong on importance of young people in changing the world
"The world is yours, as well as ours, but in the last analysis, it is yours. You young people, full of vigour and vitality, are in the bloom of life, like the sun at eight or nine in the morning. Our hope is placed on you"
Chairman Mao Zedong.
P.S. Those of the western mindset that just think Mao was a murderer read the following article by Comrade John Ball and and make a jailbreak for your mind:http://llco.org/archives/9191
If The Kids are United - Sham 69 - Thanks to Sons of Malcolm- Celebrate the new Generation waking up to the class realities of Britain 2010
For once in my life I've got something to say
I wanna say it now for now is today
A love has been given so why not enjoy
So let's all grab and let's all enjoy
If the kids are united then we'll never be divided
If the kids are united then we'll never be divided
Just take a look around you
What do you see
Kids with feelings like you and me
Understand him, he'll understand you
For you are him, and he is you
If the kids are united then we'll never be divided
If the kids are united then we'll never be divided
If the kids are united then we'll never be divided
If the kids are united then we'll never be divided
I don't want to be rejected
I don't want to be denied
Then its not my misfortune
That I've opened up your eyes
Freedom is given
Speak how you feel
I have no freedom
How do you feel
They can lie to my face
But not to my heart
If we all stand together
It will just be the start
If the kids are united then we'll never be divided
If the kids are united then we'll never be divided
Wednesday, November 24, 2010
SB.TV - Lowkey feat. Akala & Black The Ripper - I Still Believe [Music Video]
…the coming crisis will introduce new forms of struggle that we are now unable to foresee.–V.I. Lenin )
Rap is something you do, Hip-Hop is something you live.—KRS One
Read the Coming of a New Revolutionary Movement
By Comrade Tommy Joshua Al-Rafiq
Chairman, Poor Righteous Party of the Black Nation
http://peacecomrade.org/2010/05/10/the-coming-of-a-new-revolutionary-movement/
Wales : Cardiff Student Protest against the cuts -Students storm university building
Cardiff students stormed the university building in an attempt to occupy the vice chancellor's office. Cardiff students today joined a national protest against a rise in university fees and marched through the city.
Hundreds of students from across south Wales rallied outside the main building of Cardiff University to voice their anger at the UK government's decision to charge students up to £9,000 a year to attend university as well as proposed cuts to higher education funds.
After rallying outside the main building of Cardiff University students made an impromptu attempt to take over the vice chancellor's office inside by storming through the entrance as police quickly caught up. Here's a video above which was taken of the students moving inside.
Monday, November 22, 2010
Support Student Protest on 24th November ! Time for Outrage ! 100 Percent Funding Cuts to Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences Courses at UK Universities
By Andy Worthington
22.11.10
Source :
http://www.andyworthington.co.uk/2010/11/22/did-you-miss-this-100-percent-funding-cuts-to-arts-humanities-and-social-sciences-courses-at-uk-universities/
In almost all the coverage of the coalition government’s proposed cuts to university funding, as a result of a review conducted by Lord Browne, the former CEO of BP (whose qualifications for such a role have never been adequately explained), it has been noted that the reduction in funding announced in George Osborne’s comprehensive spending review — from £7.1 bn to £4.2 bn — amounts to a 40 percent cut, to be replaced by increases in fees, from the current rate of £3,290 a year to anywhere between £6,000 and £9,000 a year.
Largely unnoticed, however, is a disturbing sub-text. Because the government has ring-fenced funding for band A and B subjects (science, engineering, technology and maths), subjects in bands C and D (arts, humanities and social sciences) will lose 100 percent of their funding. As the education minister David Willetts explained to the House of Commons business committee on October 26, the teaching grant for band C and D subjects would, in the BBC’s words, “be all but wiped out.”
According to an analysis of the government’s plans conducted by the National Union of Students, 24 universities could lose all their funding, including ten in London: the London School of Economics (LSE), the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), Goldsmiths College, the Institute of Education, Central School of Speech and Drama, the Royal Academy of Music, the Royal College of Music, the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, the Conservatoire for Dance and Drama and the Courtauld Institute of Art. Ignored in these results, for some reason, are the University of the Arts London (including the London College of Fashion and the London College of Communication), and the Royal College of Art, and, in addition, numerous other universities offering courses in art, humanities and social sciences will also lose all their funding for these courses.
In response to the analysis, NUS president Aaron Porter said, “Universities across the country that do not meet the government’s arbitrary definition of usefulness, but nonetheless transform and enrich our economy and society, are to be brutalised.”
This was accurate, revealing the gulf between the government’s belief that supposedly utilitarian subjects should be funded for the good of society, but that the arts, humanities and social sciences — a vast area of study including English literature, law, history, foreign languages, information technology, psychology and social studies, as well as all aspects of art, drama and music — are somehow irrelevant to society as a whole.
The truth, as identified by Porter, is that they do indeed “transform and enrich our economy and society,” as part of the very infrastructure of society in the public sector, and as an intrinsic part of the “creative industries” that are such a crucial — and growing — part of the UK economy, both in terms of the commerically successful organizations that attract the attention of ministers, and the vast number of self-employed creative people — myself included — who play a largely self-sufficient role in the creation of jobs in post-industrial Britain.
Sadly, the full extent of the impact of what Charlotte Higgins described in the Guardian as a “dark new philistinism” has not yet been even remotely explored in the mainstream media, where far too many journalists — like the ministers advocating these cuts — conveniently overlook the fact that they benefitted immensely from attending university at a time when higher education was adequately funded, when grants encouraged poorer people to attend university, and the entire sector was regarded as being of use to society as a whole, rather than as some sort of selfish lifestyle choice.
I await cries of horror from other journalists and authors, from artists, actors and historians, lawyers, psychologists and social workers, all of whom appear, at present, to be sadly mute on the axing of funds to the courses from which they — and society — benefitted without accruing potentially paralyzing debts of anywhere between £35,000 and £60,000.
WE ARE ALL MUMIA!
By Betsey Piette
Philadelphia
More than 500 people, mostly African American and youth, mobilized for an outdoor rally Nov. 9 here in support of political prisoner Mumia Abu-Jamal. The rally lasted through a 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals hearing on whether the death sentence would be reinstated for Abu-Jamal, who has maintained his innocence since being railroaded to death row for the 1981 killing of Philadelphia police officer Daniel Faulkner.
Abu-Jamal’s supporters included a delegation from the Transport Workers Union Local 100; Charles Barron, the New York Freedom Party gubernatorial candidate; Free Mumia Abu-Jamal Coalition, NYC; International Concerned Family and Friends of Mumia Abu-Jamal; and the International Action Center. Activists traveled from as far away as California, Texas, Arizona, Germany, France and Russia.
Shenice Morris told Workers World that she and two other high school students missed school to attend: “We are not going to sit down and be oppressed. Mumia’s case is an example of just how corrupt this government is. We are tired of the attacks on the African-American community. It has to stop.”
After the hearing, supporters speak out to ‘Free Mumia!’
Larry Holmes with the Bail Out the People Movement stated: “We are all Mumia. We want to see Mumia walk out as a free man. We will not give up until that happens. Around the world Mumia has come to symbolize the struggles of African Americans for freedom and against oppression.”
Inside the court, a three-judge panel convened to reexamine their 2008 decision regarding confusion over jury instructions in the sentencing phase of Abu-Jamal’s 1982 trial. Two years ago these judges, finding that the jury had been given flawed and misleading instructions, upheld an earlier decision by Judge William Yohn to vacate the death sentence. Yohn’s decision left Abu-Jamal in prison for life without the possibility of parole.
However in January 2010 the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that a lower court order vacating the death sentence in another case had been in error. That case, which also focused on confusing language on a jury ballot form and misleading instructions to the jury, involved neo-Nazi Frank Spizak, who was sentenced to death for the random killings of Black and Jewish people.
An appeal of the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals decision in Abu-Jamal’s case, filed by the Philadelphia district attorney, was pending in the Supreme Court. After ruling against Spizak, the court sent Abu-Jamal’s appeal back to the 3rd Circuit, asking them to review their decision in light of the Spizak ruling.
While Assistant District Attorney Hugh Burns tried to argue that the issues in Abu-Jamal’s case were “almost identical” to those in Spizak’s, Widener University law professor Judith Ritter, arguing for Abu-Jamal, countered that the two jury forms were “fundamentally different.” Ritter successfully argued the same issue before these judges in 2008.
At a press conference following the hearing, Professor Johanna Fernandez with Educators for Mumia said she “found it very disturbing that the court was obsessive over semantics and insignificant details, without being willing to consider the case as a whole — the overwhelming evidence of innocence and the totality of violations of Mumia’s legal and constitutional rights.”
Closed session begins at Maoist plenum; Baidya, Bhattarai present separate dossiers
The closed session, scheduled to last for a maximum of five days, will discuss three separate political dossiers presented by chairman Prachanda, and vice chairmen Mohan Baidya and Baburam Bhattarai and possibly come up with an integrated paper on the programmes, polices and strategies of the party.
Baidya and Bhattarai presented their dossiers at the meeting today while Prachanda will present his document tomorrow. Today's session ended at around 5 pm.
Baidya in his document has said the party should prepare for 'people's revolt' right away in order to establish people's rule while Bhattarai has emphasised on drafting a progressive constitution and conclude the peace process.
According to Bhattarai, the party should stage a revolt if the constitution-drafting and peace process is obstructed.
After the party chairman presents his paper tomorrow, four representatives - one each supporting three dossiers and a neutral - from each state committee will express the views on the papers.
After the discussion chairman Prachanda will prepare an integrated paper with the feedback of the plenum delegates.
The respective state committees have been asked to name four persons to speak on the dossiers.
Meanwhile, the party standing committee has asked chairman Prachanda to present his old dossier presented at the Central Committee meeting in August.
Prachanda had prepared a new dossier to address the views of Baidya and Bhattarai in an attempt to convince the vice-chairmen to go at the plenum with a single dossier.
However, Prachanda agreed to present the old dossier after the standing committee members said they would require another three-four months to study the new document
Source: Nepal News
The Nepali Maoist Plenum - Unite the Party in Political War against the enemies of the Nepalese Revolution by Chairman Prachanda - Gorkha is a place where the party line of revisionism had received a blow in 1978 - Gorkha will give us new energy
Democracy and Class Struggle publishes this report from speech of Chairman Prachanda by editing Nepali sources like Republica which are seeking to create conflict in the Maoist Party.There is an anti Maoist Media campaign in Nepal to distort this important meeting and we have to do out best not to fall into the trap created by our enemies.With this warning read the edited version of Prachanda's speech below.
Maoist Chairman Prachanda on Sunday said that his party cannot remain complacent with the political achievements made so far and that the ongoing plenum would chart a concrete policy to complete the revolution in Nepal.
"We cannot remain complacent. The course of the revolution must be taken ahead until we create a society free of all sorts of oppressions and realize the martyrs´ dream. We will not stop until we achieve peace and constitution as desired by the people,"said Prachanda addressing the sixth plenum that kicked off at Palungtar, Gorkha.
Prachanda has taken a centrist position between the two opposite lines floated by Senior Vice-chairman Mohan Baidya and Vice-chairman Dr Baburam Bhattarai respectively, and gave a long speech defending his own line.
In his speech, Prachanda stressed on four things: Safeguarding the political achievements made so far, charting the further course of revolution which he thinks is the continuous process, attacking the two lines floated by Baidya and Bhattarai respectively, and his leadership of the party.
Over 5,500 party cadres were seated as Prachanda continued his speech attacking ideological line of Baidya and of Bhattarai. While Baidya is for preparing grounds for an immediate revolt to seize state power. Bhattarai has pushed for the institutionalization of the political achievements made so far before taking another stride toward realizing the communist goal.
"Gorkha is a place where the party line of revisionism had received a blow in 1978. So we will get a new energy from the event against revisionism," Prachanda thundered
"We should ditch the mindset that republicanism, federalism, secularism and the agreement on social justice achieved through the force of the decade-long People´s War and the 19-day mass movement are nothing," he said .
The Maoist leader, however, said that the Nepali brand of revolution would be different from those seen in other countries.
"The method of revolution doesn´t repeat; it only evolves. The October Revolution was different from that used during the Paris Commune. So we won´t copy other countries´ models," said Prachanda.
In his speech, Prachanda repeatedly emphasized the importance of party unity and said that the enemies of people who are expecting splits in the Maoist party would be disappointed.
"Our party will emerge more vibrant and lively through the method of struggle, unity and transformation at the end of the meeting," Prachanda thundered.
He said he sees the country sliding into a deep crisis and called on the cadres to be ready to fight it and achieve victory. He accused other political parties of being involved in the conspiracy hatched by reactionaries against the Constituent Assembly (CA) and the peace process. The Maoist chairman also attacked foreign intervention in Nepal.
"The country´s own leadership should be able to decide the fate the country. But this has not been happening. So we will also chart the course of our struggle for national independence," he said.
Prachanda also defended his leadership of the party and said, "Ideology and leadership cannot be created overnight. It develops through the process of continuous transformation," he said.
Sunday, November 21, 2010
Major Meeting for Nepalese Maoists - Maoist extended CC meeting beginning today
The sixth extended Central Committee (CC) meeting of the Unified CPN (Maoist), viewed with much importance within and outside the party, is beginning Sunday afternoon in Palungtar of Gorkha district.
Some 6,000 delegates from across the country have arrived in Palungtar for the important extended CC meet. The delegates include over 1,000 People's Liberation Army (PLA) members staying in various cantonments.
Maoist leadership decided to include the PLA members in such large numbers despite objection from other parties, Nepal Army and the United Nations Mission in Nepal (UNMIN) - monitoring the peace process in Nepal.
Central leaders including chairman Prachanda vice chairmen Mohan Baidhya, Baburam Bhattarai and Narayan Kaji Shrestha, among others reached the plenum venue Saturday evening.
The extended CC meet will begin after a Central Committee meeting approves the agenda set by the standing committee this morning.
Three separate political dossiers prepared by chairman Prachanda and vice chairmen Baidhya and Bhattarai will be presented at the plenum. This is the first time three separate dossiers are being presented at a Maoist plenum.
The extended CC meet is viewed with importance as it is taking place at a time when the party is going through grave internal differences and the nation's peace process is going through a critical juncture.
Extended CC is the highest body in UCPN (Maoist) as it does not hold a general convention. This is the sixth extended CC meeting of the party and the second after the beginning of the peace process in 2006.
The fifth extended CC meet had taken place in Balaju, Kathmandu three years ago. There were fewer participants in the previous meet.
Logistics and Security
Tamuwan State Committee of the UCPN (Maoist) has taken charge of arranging the logistics for the plenum.
It has constructed over 500 huts from local materials equipped with water and electricity to house the delegates. Half the delegates will be housed at the huts, while the other half will be accommodated at the houses of local people.
Food will be served through 44 different places. A private catering company has been contracted to feed the delegates and the volunteers. The party is paying about Rs 10 million to the catering for the service.
A Hall with capacity to accommodate about 6,000 people has also been constructed.
A health centre with 50 health personnel including eight doctors has been established to take care of the health of the delegates.
About 1,500 volunteers including cadres of Young Communist League and the student wing of the Maoists have been deployed.
YCL has taken charge of the security of the meeting Hall, while Nepal Police and Armed Police Force will guard the plenum venue from outside the meeting hall and the accommodation huts.
Source: Nepal News
Wednesday, November 17, 2010
Fact Sheet on Operation Green Hunt from the Campaign Against the War on the People of India
GET YOUR OPERATION GREEN HUNT FACT SHEET HERE
UK exporting the means for death penalty executions in USA
Fitwatch is back and stronger than ever.
Visit the Fitwatch Site:
http://www.fitwatch.org.uk/
Emily from Fitwatch told The Internet Site The Register: "JustHost have not relented and we have moved to another host, and the proxy servers are located outside of the UK."
So depending on how you get internet you might already be able to see the site - depending on whether your ISP has updated its DNS records. If not you can use a proxy server to view it, or look at one of the hundreds of mirror sites.
Tuesday, November 16, 2010
Operation Malone - The British State's revenge on student protestors - more than 50 arrested 100's hunted down ! Fitwatch Site closed down.
Democracy and Class Struggle publishes the Fitwatch article and the police instructions to the host of Fitwatch - so people can judge for themselves both the views of Fitwatch and the Police action.
The work of Fitwatch exposing forward policing and its inherent attack on freedom of speech deserves praise and not punishment.The police by their vengeful actions are rapidly educating another generation of students about the class nature of the British State..
FUCK THE POLICE PASS IT ON PLEASE:
15.11.2010 19:38
Resisting the Forward Intelligence Teams - the cops who harass protesters
Fitwatch website has been suspended for "attempting to pervert the course of justice" after host were contacted by the Met. Pass On PLEASE This is all we know at this time.. If you saved know any one who saved any content please please get in touch..
Blog was suspended on request of Acting Detective Inspector Will Hodgeson from CO11 as part of Op Malone
More information and new web address to follow soon.
Fitwatch - e-mail:
info@fitwatch.org
The remarkable and brilliant student action at Millbank has produced some predictable frothing at the mouth from the establishment and right wing press. Cameron has called for the ‘full weight of the law’ to fall on those who had caused tens of thousands of pounds of damage to the expensive decor at Tory party HQ. Responsibility is being placed on ‘a violent faction’, after the march was ‘infiltrated’ by anarchists.
There are an encouraging number of intiatives to show solidarity with the arrested students – something that is vital if they are to avoid the sort of punitive ‘deterrent’ sentences handed out to the Gaza demonstrators. A legal support group has been established and the National Campaign against Cuts and Fees has started a support campaign. Goldsmiths lecturers union has publicly commended the students for a ‘magnificent demonstration’ .
This is all much needed, as the establishment is clearly on the march with this one. The Torygraph has published an irresponsible and frenzied ‘shop-a-student’ piece and the Met are clearly under pressure to produce ‘results’ after what they have admitted was a policing ‘embarrassment’.
51 people have been arrested so far, and the police have claimed they took the details of a further 250 people in the kettle using powers under the Police Reform Act. There may be more arrests to come.
Students who are worried should consider taking the following actions:
If you have been arrested, or had your details taken – contact the legal support campaign. As a group you can support each other, and mount a coherent campaign.
If you fear you may be arrested as a result of identification by CCTV, FIT or press photography;
DONT panic. Press photos are not necessarily conclusive evidence, and just because the police have a photo of you doesn’t mean they know who you are.
British Police take down Fitwatch has part of Operation Malone - Press Release from Fitwatch
For immediate release
15th November 2010
*Police shut down activist website after support of demo students*
Police have shut down an activist website for openly supporting the student demonstrations at Millbank. FITwatch – a direct response to police Forward Intelligence Teams (FIT) – has a history of challenging excessive police surveillance and breaches of civil rights.
The website was shut down at the request of the Metropolitan police after FITwatch issued advice to students fearful of arrest after the Millbank demonstration. A number of national newspapers made reference to an activist ‘anti-police site’ that urged demonstrators not to panic into giving themselves up.
“Our advice was simply good sense based on the understanding we have of police operations”, said Val Swain, a FITwatch activist. “We don’t want to see students arrested, convicted and criminalised for what was an entirely justified action.”
The Metropolitan police applied to the websites host to suspend the site on the grounds that it was involved in ‘criminal activities’- specifically, ‘attempting to pervert the course of justice’.
“This is an attack on freedom of speech,” said Emily Apple, another FITwatch activist. “The police don’t like what we do. They have seized a flimsy excuse to shut us down, and are trying to silence criticism of the police, and support for political dissent”
*For more information, contact:*
defycops(at)yahoo.co.uk
Notes for Editors:
i. The use of the domain name www.fitwatch.org.uk has been suspended following a request to the web hosting company, Just Host, from the Metropolitan police. The Met claimed the site was being used for ‘criminal activities’ following comments made on the blog following the student demo at Millbank. The police stated that the blog was being used in an ‘attempt to pervert the cause of justice’.
ii. Fitwatch published an article on Friday 12th November that contained advice to protesters who were fearful of being identified by press photography, cctv or FIT. That advice has been copied widely around the internet, indicating the support that FITwatch has received on this issue. A copy of the post can be found at
http://www.indymedia.org.uk/
iii. FITwatch contributed to a major story on the police use of ‘protester databases’ in the Financial Times on 17th October 2009.
iv. FITwatch was also in the news in July when the Evening Standard reported on a court victory by three Fitwatch supporters who had successfully challenged the right of police to place attendees at an open public meeting under surveillance.
http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/
v. A number of Fitwatch activists are currently taking legal action against the police for assault and unlawful arrest
vi. A number of newspapers including the Mail and Independent carried the story of ‘anti-police’ website giving advice. The Independent stated:
“Activist websites have published step-by-step instructions to those who fear they may be identified and arrested in the aftermath of the violence. One anti-police site told participants to destroy potential evidence, including clothing and any distinctive jewellery worn. A contributor urged demonstrators not to panic or give themselves up as a result of the flood of media coverage.”
vii. The last post to the site before suspension was highly critical of the way the police have been capitalising on the aftermath of the protests to defend their own budgets and justify repression of protesters.
Monday, November 15, 2010
Some Questions for Comrade Ganapathy General Secretary of CPI Maoist from Open Magazine
NOBODY CAN KILL THE IDEAS OF ‘AZAD’!
NOBODY CAN STOP THE ADVANCEMENT OF THE REVOLUTION!!
Recently some media persons including Rahul Pandita from OPEN Magazine sent some questions to Comrade Ganapathy, the General Secretary of CPI (Maoist). The martyrdom of Politburo member and party spokesperson Comrade Azad, the continuous losses to the Central leadership of the party, the issue of talks with the government, the deluge of militant mass movements in many areas, the situation of the revolutionary movement in the urban and plain areas, party stand on contemporary issues like Kashmir people’s movement, Commonwealth games, judgment on Babri Masjid are some of the issues on which Comrade Ganapathy concentrated and gave his replies. We hope this interview would be useful to know about party’s stand and understanding in the present situation.
- CC, CPI (Maoist)
Question : Many people think that your party had suffered a severe backlash with Azad’s death. What are the circumstances which led to his death? How would you assess the role played by Azad in Indian Revolution? How do you plan to overcome his loss?
COMRADE GANAPATHY : True, our party has suffered a severe backlash with the death of Comrade Azad. Azad was one of the topmost leaders in our party. He has been leading the Indian revolution since a long time. In our country, People’s War is intensifying with each passing day. With the aid and support of imperialists, particularly the American imperialists, the Indian exploiting ruling classes are trying to suppress the revolutionary movement and are carrying on ruthless atrocities in an unprecedented severe manner. In this war between the people and the ruling classes, the enemy had particularly concentrated on comrades like Azad who are leading the revolution and schemed to murder them. It is as part of that conspiracy that comrade Azad was caught and killed in the most brutal and cowardly manner. The Home minister Chidambaram, who is leading from the forefront the ‘War on People’ launched by Sonia-Manmohan-Chidambaram gang, central intelligence agencies and Andhra Pradesh SIB are directly responsible for this gruesome murder.
Comrade Azad was leading the entire urban movement on behalf of our Central Committee and was also looking after political propaganda, party periodicals, party education and other such crucial responsibilities. He was a most reliable mass leader. He maintained close relations with many comrades at various levels and with the revolutionary masses. In the midst of severe repression, he worked selflessly and unflinchingly in spite of the many risks involved. It is under such circumstances that the enemy came to know about his whereabouts somewhere and could catch him by laying in wait.
In July, Azad was to go to Dandakaranya. He was to participate in the political education training program planned for the party leadership cadres there. He had a contact with the Dandakaranya comrades in Nagpur city on July 1. But he and a journalist named Hemchand who was traveling with him were caught even before they reached the contact place. Both of them were taken to Adilabad forests and were killed the same night. Those who have seen his dead body said that they seemed have given him some sedative injection as soon as they caught him. This means that the enemy had caught him in a planned manner with the clear aim of killing him. They killed Hemchand Pandey too so that the truth about his murder doesn’t come out. Both their bodies were thrown in the Jogapur forests in the Wankidi mandal of Adilabad district and a fake encounter story was concocted as always.
Saturday, November 13, 2010
The Mass Line and the Cuts - The Next Step in the Class Struggle
This week has seen a new level of militant protest in Britain by the harbingers of a new society the students.
Linking this new miltant student movement with the growing workers movement against the government cuts is the Next Step in 2010.
Developing a Mass Line for Britain is now on the agenda. Listening to the people - from the people to the people - not mindless populism but Mass Line correcting errors amongst the masses not through commandism but debate and leadership.
The Revolutionary Left must become good listeners and not just good shouters has our class has things to teach us - leadership is also a matter of learning from the masses.
Read this artcle to understand what happened on 10th November 2010 in London http://kasamaproject.org/2010/11/11/londons-millbank-tower-riots/
This first decade of the 21st century is coming to an end and 10th November 2010 can mark a seed change - let us seize the time and learn the lessons of past defeats
Dare to Struggle Dare to Win.
Statement from Democracy and Class Struggle
Starting has we mean to go on - taking the Class War back to the enemy. Statement from Not a Dinner Party on Seige of Tory HQ
Statement from Not A Dinner Party on the student Siege of Tory HQ at Millbank Tower.
source: http://not-a-dinner-party.blogspot.com/
THIS IS JUST THE BEGINNING
Six months in to the ConDem government and their open declaration of war on the poor, the disabled, the working class and indeed everyone who isn't responsible for the crisis of finance capitalism (ie imperialism) and the first major protest in London ends up exactly where it should, with thousands of students laying siege to the tory Party HQ. The best possible start to what has to be a sustained campaign of militant resistance to what in reality is a very weak and divided government, but one with the arrogance of being formed directly and unapologeticly from the most priviliged and callous section of the ruling-class, people who beleive it is their birth right to rule and their ancestral right to privilige at the expense of all else.
Todays action is a lesson is the direction the anti-cuts movement has to take if it is to be successful. While the tories are hell-bent on taking us back to the 80s excesses of Thatcherism, we cannot afford to repeat the mistakes that the Left and the Labour Movement made then. Waiting for Labour is of course out of the question. The ConDem regime is after all continuing a program that was initiated and laid out by the last government. Labour's only concern is not that the tories are going too far, but that they are doing it too fast. So far there has barely been a peep out of the Labour Party and nor will there be. But you can bet they will be falling over themselves to denounce any and all effective militant resistance to the cuts.
And nor can we follow the same lefty routine of marching from A-B inb town centres, demonstrations and rallies that do nothing but annoy weekend shoppers and are completely ignored by both the media and of course by the government - safety valves for an innefectual and impotant "Left".
This struggle needs to take on board the example of the protests that have rocked Greece and France. And it needs to learn from our enemies. Over the last year the fascist English Defence League has built a mass street movement that can mobilise thousands - and done so largely through utuilising social-media specifically Facebook. Using such sources the far-right have been able to very successfully spread their message, organise at short notice and make contacts and develop new networks amongst tens of thousands - and that influnce extends well beyond those singed up on their Facebook pages - the rumours and claims they put out spread like a virus and are picked up and repeated by millions. There is no reason at all why militant progressives cannot utilise similar methods.
Friday, November 12, 2010
REVOLTING STUDENTS - STATEMENT BY REVOLUTIONARY PRAXIS
REVOLTING STUDENTS
The militant actions by students against the Coalition Government’s public spending cuts are showing the way forward. This massive assault on our living standards will not be defeated by the old, established and largely ineffective forms of protesting. We need to find new, bold ways of really counterattacking the Government’s assault on us.
COALITION CUTS
It is not only young people that the Government are targeting. They are going for most vulnerable groups in society: unemployed, homeless, disabled, sick and old. The aim is to make us pay for the folly of the reckless and greedy bankers who created the financial crisis. The last Labour Government bailed out bankrupt banks such as Royal Bank of Scotland and LloydsTSB by borrowing vast amounts of money from other banks. They used one lot of bankers to prop up another lot of bankers and they are trying to make the rest of us pay the costs.
CLASS WAR
The ConDem Government led by Cameron and Clegg is acting in defence of the interests of the ruling monopoly capitalist class. These are the tiny minority of the population who own and control most of the economy including financial institutions. Most of the leading members of the Government are wealthy members of this class who went to elite public schools such as Eton and St. Paul’s. It is their friends and relations in the City of London responsible for the financial crisis. It is these people who should pay off the Government’s debts and not the rest of us.
UNITY IN ACTION
In order to halt and turn back the Government’s attack on us there needs to be a broad unity of action among those affected.
Students should unite with other people in the Government’s sights, especially workers in the public sector who face massive job losses. Around the world, actions by students have often sparked off a wider revolt against oppressive regimes. These include:
· The May 4th Movement against imperialism in China in 1919.
· The French students in May 1968 whose demonstrations encouraged millions of workers to occupy their workplaces.
· The Greek students in 1973 who fought the Greek army which led to the collapse of the military junta.
Already in countries such as France, Spain and Greece students have joined with workers, migrants, old people etc. to fight back against the Europe-wide cuts. Unite and fight!
WORKERS, STUDENTS AND OPPRESSED PEOPLE OF ALL COUNTRIES, UNITE!
STATEMENT FROM REVOLUTIONARY PRAXIS
Thursday, November 11, 2010
Cut War not Public Services - National Demonstration against War in Afghanistan - Saturday 20th November
SATURDAY 20 NOVEMBER * ASSEMBLE 12 NOON
SPEAKERS' CORNER * HYDE PARK * LONDON
MARCH TO TRAFALGAR SQUARE
Called by Stop the War Coalition, CND and British Muslim initiative.
A large banner on this week's huge protest against education cuts said it all: Spend on Education and Jobs - Not on War.
It's a message that is clearly getting through. With little over a week before the national AFGHANISTAN: TIME TO GO demonstration in London on Saturday 20 November, the Stop the War national
office is being inundated with requests for leaflets and posters, details of transport being organised around the country to bring protestors to London, and people volunteering to help.
We are asking all our supporters and local groups to re-double efforts in the next week to help maximise the turnout on 20 November.
We now have the added focus of defending our right to protest, as we will be defying an attempted ban on us using Speakers' Corner as our assembly point.
TRANSPORT FROM OUTSIDE LONDON Stop the War has been notified of around 30 towns across the country where transport has been organised to bring protestors to London. We will update this list as we get details of more locations here:
http://bit.ly/cDXKmN.
VOLUNTEER If you would like to volunteer to help in our office, where you live or on the day of the demonstration, email:
office@stopwar.org.uk or call 020 7801 2768
FOR DEMONSTRATION UPDATES GO TO:
http://bit.ly/dpJQ3H
Wednesday, November 10, 2010
Student Protest in London - The Fight Back Begins ! Tory HQ Trashed - Salute to Students - Dare to Struggle Dare to Win !
The Student march in London was against raising tuition fees.Police were outnumbered as demonstrators smashed windows to go past them.
The siege of the Millbank office complex, ending with the smashing of the windows and the occupation of the building.
There had been a huge turn-out for the demonstration - much more than the 20,000 that had been expected.
Student leaders later said there could have been 50,000 crowded on to the streets of Westminster.
There were strong feelings on the march - with much vitriol targeted towards Prime Minister David Cameron and Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg.
Banners and pictures particularly accused Mr Clegg, often in unambiguous terms, of betraying students.
Democracy and Class Struggle Salutes the Students who have shown the courage to resist the education cuts and increase in student fees.They must now link up with the workers resistance to the cuts and bring down this neo- liberal government and stop these cuts..
The students bring new hope and energy to the struggle - dare to struggle dare to win
Video Reports of Free Mumia Demonstration at US Embassy London - Tongogara's Speech
Comrade and Brother Tongogara gives speech outside the US Embassy London 9th November 2010.
Red Salute to the speech of Comrade Tongogara of the Free Mumia Abu Jamal UK Defence Campaign.
Contact the UK Free Mumia Abu Jamal Defence Campaign at :
free2mumia@googlemail.com
Monday, November 8, 2010
Saturday, November 6, 2010
President Obama Quit India - India says No more Bhopal's - No to Imperialist Monopolies MNC's
Need Justice? Revolution is the only path!
Dear working people
The accused in the Bhopal Gas tragedy have been let off, without even having to spend a single day in jail. And, the Bhopal high court has painted this massacre as a mere accident. The American government has refused to hand over Warren Anderson, the Chairman of Union Carbide and the prime accused in the Bhopal Gas tragedy. Not willing to interrogate Anderson, who was responsible for the death of over 23,000 people and the maiming of over 5 lakh people, the Manmohan Singh government is lying that it would reopen the case and provide compensation to the victims.
The gas leak that happened in the midnight of 2 December 1984 in the Union Carbide factory was not an unexpected accident. It was a cold-blooded murder committed by the American company. The crimes included shoving off the manufacture of hazardous materials from America to India, setting up a plant to manufacture insecticide from Methyl-Iso-Cyanide in a residential area, cutting down on expenditure involved in implementing safety measures to increase the profits despite accidents in the past and hiding the name of the poison (cyanide) to doctors who treated the victims, thereby letting the victims suffer a painful death. The fundamental crime is the manufacture of chemical weapons under the cover of insecticide production.
Union Carbide is not the only criminal. Indira Gandhi licensed it despite being aware of the dangerous nature of the plant. And, Rajiv Gandhi, released Anderson, apologized to him, and safely sent him on a state aircraft to America. In 1989, the Rajiv Gandhi government connived with Union Carbide and fixed the price of one Indian life to be Rs. 12,414. The Supreme Court undermined the crime to a mere road accident. The CBI colluded with the Congress party and did everything to destroy the case and set free Anderson. The Vajpayee government, which came to power next, supported all the associated conspiracies. Today, all these criminals pretend as if they were innocents.
The judgement delivered to the Bhopal victims, who waited for over 26 years, is a brutal attack worse than the massacre itself. Now, this injustice is about to become even a law under the Indian Constitution. The Manmohan Singh Government’s nuclear law says, ‘even if the nuclear plants that we buy from American companies blow up tomorrow and cause several million deaths in India, we will not hold the American companies responsible or even ask them for any compensation.’ Dow chemicals, which acquired Union Carbide some time back, was the sole supplier of napalm firebombs to the US military during the Vietnam war. This blood-thirsty company is being welcomed with red carpet by the Manmohan Singh Government to come and set up business in India! The Bhopal massacre has exposed the tenets of the Indian state
“kill the Indian people for the profits of MNCs, usurp the people’s land, drive them out, do away the rights, destroy the indigenous industries, what the MNCs say is rule of law, and the growth of MNCs is the nation’s development!”
Jallianwala Bagh exposed the brutal face of colonization in the colonial India, which gave birth to revolutionaries like Bhagat Singh. Bhopal has unveiled the real face of recolonization and the sham of Indian independence and democracy. Well, if you need justice, revolution is the only path, lit by the flame from Naxalbari! This is the only lesson the Bhopal massacre and its aftermath wants to teach us.
Peoples Art And Literary Association
Peasants Liberation Front
Revolutionary Students And Youth Front
New Democratic Labour Front
Tamilnadu.
Courtesy: Pamphlet issued by PALA and its associate organizations, Tamilnadu.
Urgent - Last Call for Rally on 9th November at US Embassy London to Save the Life of Mumia Abu Jamal between 4-7pm
DEMONSTRATE Outside the US EMBASSY
24 GROSVENOR SQ
LONDON W1
NOVEMBER 9th 4-7PM
FOR FREEDOM FOR MUMIA
Mumia’s case returns court to 9th November 2010 at stake is whether he will be murdered by the State or Life in prison without parole
Mumia is innocent He is a political prisoner
Mumia should be released unconditionally immediately
FREE MUMIA FREE MUMIA FREE MUMIA
FREE ALL POLITICAL PRISONERS NOW !!!
BRING FLASHLIGHTS
Call U.S. Department of Justice Main Switchboard 001 202-514-2000
Public Comment Line 001 202-353-1555
Email US Attorney General Eric Holder :AskJ@usdoj.gov.
Ask Eric for a civil rights investigation into the 28 plus years of violations of Mumia's rights in the court system, but also into that history of surveillance and targeting of Mumia when he was only a teenager
Contact :ThePanAfrikanVoice@gmail.com Tel 07597078221/07949738851
Mumia is innocent
1. The policeman was killed with a 44 caliber gun. Abu- Jamal's gun which he was licensed to carry as a night-time taxi driver, was a 38 caliber.
2. Several witnesses said that the shooter wore an “Afro” haircut and had on a green jacket. Mumia had locks and wore a red jacket
3. All the police radio records at the time of the incident said “the shooter ran away”. Mumia could not run anywhere because he had a bullet in his lung and was bleeding profusely.
4. The principal prosecution witness has recanted, Chobert said he didn’t actually see the shooting.
5. Key witnesses, such as Veronica Jones -- who now testifies in support of Abu-Jamal, were harassed into giving false testimony. Two prosecution witnesses were given special favors, including exemption from criminal prosecution, for their testimony
6. Someone else has confessed to killing the police officer.
7. Mumia has been under surveillance by the FBI since he was 15 years old! because he was a member of the Black Panther Party.
8 . When Mumia was 19 years old the state attempted to frame him for the murder of the Governor of Bermuda
Mumia is on trial for his political beliefs as a former Black Panther and a supporter of the Move organisation.
The battle for his life and freedom largely resides in our collective capacity to build a massive movement capable of making the political price of Mumia's incarceration and execution too high to pay.
Friday, November 5, 2010
Lowkey - Million Man March
Tupac Katari (c. 1750 – 15 November 1781) was an 18th century Native Aymara rebel. He took his name from Tupac Amaru and Tomas Katari, leaders of popular rebellions in Cuzco, Peru and La Paz, Bolivia in the 1780s.
Now I die. But from here on, we will be back in the thousands.
"They will only kill me, but I will return and it will be in the millions."
Yo ahora moriré pero, de aquí en adelante, volveremos miles de miles
"A mí solo me matarán, pero volveré y seré millones."
Statement of Communist Party of India Maoist on Barack Obama's visit to India
Press Release
October 31, 2010
source:bannedthoughtnet
OPPOSE FIRMLY BARACK OBAMA'S VISIT TO INDIA,WHO IS THE GANG LEADER OF US IMPERIALISM,THE NO. 1 ENEMY OF THE WORLD PEOPLE! RAISE THE SLOGAN IN ONE VOICE 'OBAMA! GO BACK!!' LOUDLY THROUGHOUT THE COUNTRY!!
US President Barack Obama will be coming to our country on November 6. The comprador rulers of India are busy laying red carpet to welcome him and trying to beautify Mumbai and Delhi. This is a great insult to democracy-loving, peace-loving and patriotic people of our country. US imperialism, which has been plundering the poor countries across the world, suppressing the oppressed nationalities, pushing the notorious thugs and dictators into the power, bullying those countries who wouldn't cooperate, looting oil, minerals and all other natural wealth and sources and for this going to any extent, is the no. 1 enemy of world people. Its leader Barack Obama is such a person whom the entire humanity must hate. As his predecessor George Bush had accumulated the hate across the globe, US imperialist masters brought Barack Obama in a plan that people could be deceived with his skin color. Though Obama was so much rhetorical opposing the policies of Bush, after entering into the White House, all the policies and decisions taken by him till this day are nothing but continuation of the Bush administration. In fact the difference between George Bush and Barack Obama lies just in their color and in the name their representative parties. There is no difference between them in exploiting and suppressing the world people, oppressed nationalities, countries and working class of the US. It's an irrefutable fact that this black color President was selected by the most notorious white masters of US monopolistic corporations.
The US imperialists are killing innocent people everyday in Afghanistan and western Pakistan by indiscriminate bombing and drone attacks. The massacres are still going on endless in Iraq. Obama has proved him self a warmonger by sending 30 thousand more US troops to Afghanistan. The US imperialism, which has stood upon the huge mountains of most destructive arms which could smash this globe at least for ten times, has been instigating wars and doing wars itself so as to keep away its war industry getting caught in crisis which constitutes a huge share in its economy. On the other hand, it's been issuing threats to Iran and North Korea in the pretext that they were acquiring nuclear capabilities. Now it's targeting Yemen alleging that it had become a hub for Al Qaeda. 'War on terror', initiated by George Bush after 9/11 attacks, is now being continued without any letting by Democratic Barack Obama with indiscriminate attacks in the name of dealing with Al Qaeda, Talibans and so-called Islamic terrorists. Obama did not try to stop or condemn the inhuman attacks of Israeli Zionists on Gaza, which had become a hell on the ground, and the conspired assassinations of notorious Mosad. Thus Obama holds responsibility for the death of hundreds of Palestine people.
A significant phenomenon that has come to the fore in Obama's rule, is that the US intelligence agency FBI provokes the innocent American Muslims, particularly the American youths of Pakistani origin, for attacks and then by covert operations it arrests them with all evidences and propagates its victory in a big way. Thus it's has been able to keep the insecurity feeling alive among the masses of America and to divert huge amounts of people's money into its 'war on terror'. By this, the Obama administration is creating endless waves of hopelessness and despair among the Muslim community in America in particular and among entire toiling masses of the US on the whole.
Today, the US economy is caught in a quagmire of severe economic crisis. Present crisis which was initially ignited as a sub-prime crisis, now has taken such a severe form that was never seen after 1930s. Unemployment rate in US is 10% now which is unprecedented. But Obama has been pouring hundreds of billions of dollars of money collected from tax-paying people into the huge bellies of greedy monopolistic corporate lords by pushing American people, particularly working class and middle class people into the state of agony. He cut so many schemes meant for the welfare of the people. Despite all these steps, as there is no ray of hope of getting out of this cyclone of crisis, he's been trying to intensify the plunder of resources from backward and poor nations so as to revitalize his economy. Now Obama along with the host of rapacious corporate bosses is not going to come here to enjoy the beauty of Mumbai or Delhi. They're going to visit our country only to push more capital here and to sign many more agreements which would plunder our country's wealth further more. Thus, they are eager to plan to push their burden of their crisis onto the shoulders of India even more. They are coming here only to give suggestions to suppress the Maoist movement which is the biggest obstacle in robbing away the resources of this country indiscriminately, along with all other people's movements, with more barbarity.
Wednesday, November 3, 2010
Celebrating the Newport Uprising of November 3/4th 1839 - Zepaniah Williams a Poem by Nickglais
Here is a poem I wrote some years ago about how the 1839 uprising in Newport inspired the Blaina Rioters of 1935 in their battle against cuts in National,Assistance - I fervently hope today's generation can take inspiration from 1839 and 1935 to battle the current cuts. We truely stand on the shoulders of giants.
Nickglais
Zepaniah Williams
Argoed gave you life
It's in the valleys - where our class was born
But its in Blaina that you spent your eary life
You were a Publican
And the People you did entrall
You told them of the Charter
And of the Rights of Man
But just words was not your vocation
You wanted democracy for your generation
If action it was needed
You would not be hesitate to meet the call
For you were Chartists all.
For leading them with Jones and Frost
In '39 they sentenced you to a hanging
- and to be quartered as well
- for Treason they did say
- for having organised a rising in Newport Town that fateful day
Zepaniah Williams you were a democrat so true
That not only Wales but all this whole Island misses you !
There was a Appeal to Reason by the People and the execution they did stay
But they shipped you off to Australia without farewells they say
Transportation for Life was then the true democrats pay
But you were irrepressible - they could not keep you down
Your escapes they were legend
Until a pardon it was found
Then you became a Tasmanian Man
To the Public Bar you did return
Just like back in Blaina the Launceston people you did enthrall
Your memory today still makes Launceston people in Tasmania walk tall
Your spirit it did return to Wales and muster back in Blaina in '35
At the UAB when the unemployment assistance they did cut
The spirit of Zepaniah Williams was enthused with fighting strength
By then Communist Phil Abrahams and the Blaina Rioters who were hell bent
For the Peoples strength knows no limit when its for right that they do fight.
There were 200 walking wounded on the hills that night !
They halted the unemployment cuts and the government they did cow
What a fighting spirit - but who knows it now ?
The country that gave us Zepaniah Williams
Needs that spirit in the Valleys once again !
The men of 39 and 35 are really Wales's hidden treasure
The people of today up to the men of 1839 and 1935 must measure .
If Zepaniah Williams be our meaure
There is no reason to doubt that the people of the Valleys have the will to fight
Someone said they had heard the spirit of Zepaniah Williams in a pub in Blaina just the other night.
You have heard the call - are you ready for the fight.
Darn' right said Zepaniah Williams
People they must learn they have to fight for their rights
Tuesday, November 2, 2010
éirígí Councillor Louise Minihan released from Garda custody following Harney protest
Speaking after her release Louise Minihan said, ‘In one month’s time the government will introduce what can only be described as a blood budget. The cutbacks in healthcare that will be contained in that budget will result in the unnecessary and avoidable deaths of hundreds, if not thousands, of people over the coming years.
‘Today Mary Harney had the cheek to organise a publicity stunt at Cherry Orchard Hospital, where she was turning the sod for a long overdue mental health unit.
This is the same hospital which has been starved of funding for years, where an entire ward for althzeimers and dementia sufferers was closed down during the summer.
‘The red paint that I used in today’s protest is symbolic of the blood that Harney, Fianna Fail and the Green Party have on their hands. Irish citizens are literally dying to satisfy the demands of the IMF, the EU and the money markets. The wealth of this country should be used to provide a first class health service that is open to everyone and not to bail out the private banks.
Louise concluded by calling on people to oppose December’s blood budget:
‘All across the country, in Tipperary, Navan, Monaghan, Wexford and elsewhere people have taken to the streets in their tens of thousands to defend their local hospitals. All of these local hospital campaigns need to come together in the run up to December’s blood budget.
‘On budget day itself the people of Ireland need to get onto the streets in protest. People don’t need political parties, trade unions or other so called leaders to tell them what it wrong with this country and they don’t need political parties or trade unions to tell them to get onto the streets. The time has come to stop moaning and start building a real alternative to the right wing policies that got the country into the mess it is in. It’s time to tell the government and the rest of the political establishment that enough is enough. We aren’t going to accept their blood budget.’
http://www.eirigi.org/