Egypt: Two years on the struggle continues until victory

Long Distance Revolutionary: Mumia and The Black Panther Party

Marian Price given bail after death of sister

Marian Price given bail after death of sister.
Marian McGlinchey, formerly Price, has been granted bail after the death of her sister Dolours Price.

Source; BBC NEWS

Whigs, Democrats and Socialists by William Morris speech published in 1888

Democracy and Class Struggle makes available some of the thoughts of  the Revolutionary Communist, William Morris.

Many traditions have lain claim to William Morris, we just let him speak for himself as we are of the view that past is present.

William Morris made this speech at the time when German Chancellor Bismark spoke politics is the art of the possible just like the parties from Plaid Cymru to the Tories do today.

The early experiments in Capitalist, State Socialism referred to in this speech foreshadow 20th century Social Democracy and William Morris's views resonate today because they capture reality and are true.

William Morris intimates that we have to go through this process of discovering that Social Reform will not bring permanent gains to learn the necessity of Social Revolution.

Nickglais, Editor of Democracy and Class Struggle


What is the state of parties in England to-day? How shall we enumerate them? The Whigs, who stand first on the list in my title, are considered generally to be the survival of an old historical party once looked on as having democratic tendencies, but now the hope of all who would stand soberly on the ancient ways. Besides these, there are Tories also, the descendants of the stout defenders of Church and State and the divine right of kings Now, I don't mean to say but that at the back of this ancient name of Tory there lies a great mass of genuine Conservative feeling, held by people who, if they had their own way, would play some rather fantastic tricks, I fancy nay, even might in the course of time be somewhat rough with such people as are in this hall at present⁽³⁾. But this feeling, after all, is only a sentiment now; all practical hope has died out of it, and these worthy people CANNOT have their own way.

 It is true that they elect members of Parliament, who talk very big to please them, and sometimes even they manage to get a Government into power that nominally represents their sentiment, but when that happens the said Government is forced, even when its party has a majority in the House of Commons, to take a much lower standpoint than the high Tory ideal; the utmost that the real Tory party can do, even when backed by the Primrose League and its sham hierarchy, is to delude the electors to return Tories to Parliament to pass measures more akin to Radicalism than the Whigs durst attempt, so that, though there are Tories, there is no Tory party in England.

On the other hand, there is a party, which I can call for the present by no other name than Whig, which is both numerous and very powerful, and which does, in fact, govern England, and to my mind will always do so as long as the present constitutional Parliament lasts. Of course, like all parties it includes men of various shades of opinion, from the Tory-tinted Whiggery of Lord Salisbury to the Radical-tinted Whiggery of Mr. Chamberlain's present tail. Neither do I mean to say that they are conscious of being a united party; on the contrary, the groups will sometimes oppose each other furiously at elections, and perhaps the more simple-minded of them really think that it is a matter of importance to the nation which section of them may be in power; but they may always be reckoned upon to be in their places and vote against any measure which carries with it a real attack on our constitutional system; surely very naturally, since they are there for no other purpose than to do so. They are, and always must be, conscious defenders of the present system, political and economical, as long as they have any cohesion as Tories, Whigs, Liberals, or even Radicals. Not one of them probably would go such a very short journey towards revolution as the abolition of the House of Lords. A one-chamber Parliament would seem to them an impious horror, and the abolition of the monarchy they would consider a serious inconvenience to the London tradesman.

Now this is the real Parliamentary Party, at present divided into jarring sections under the influence of the survival of the party warfare of the last few generations, but which already shows signs of sinking its differences so as to offer a solid front of resistance to the growing instinct which on its side will before long result in a party claiming full economical as well as political freedom for the whole people.

But is there nothing in Parliament, or seeking entrance to it, except this variously tinted Whiggery, this Harlequin of Reaction? Well, inside Parliament, setting aside the Irish party, which is, we may now well hope, merely temporarily there, there is not much. It is not among people of "wealth and local influence," who I see are supposed to be the only available candidates for Parliament of a recognized party, that you will find the elements of revolution.

Catalonia has adopted a declaration of sovereignty - a proclamation that gives it the right to hold a referendum on breaking away from Spain.

Privatising Water and Health Care and handing your economy over to Deutsche Bank is not Independence but dependence on foreign capitalism.

Real independence for people is building up public assets not destroying them.

Oppose bourgeois nationalism that rearranges chairs on the capitalist Titanic with a Socialist Republic of Catalonia to bring down the Ancien Régimes of late Capitalist Europe.

For National and Social Liberation for Catalonia

For a Catalan Socialist Republic.

Syria: Some serious problems to be solved

 

This Report is published for information by Democracy and Class Struggle

 

21 January 2013. A World to Win News Service. The following is a condensed version of a discussion in which the Syrian revolutionary Hassan Khaled Chatila gave his views on the current situation there. It is especially important because of the light it sheds on the relationship between classes and class contradictions on the one hand, and ideological factors on the other.

 

There has been a vertiginous rise of Islamic fundamentalism over the last period, in terms of both its ideological influence among various classes in what was once considered the Middle East's secular society, as well as its organized military strength. Some reports say that since the Islamic fundamentalists have clearly come to dominate the armed revolt, the regime has actually become somewhat less isolated, with some people who were formerly pro-opposition or neutral now seeing Assad as the best of bad alternatives. A few Western commentators have begun saying things like, "The opposition is in fact helping to hold the regime together" (Peter Harling, an analyst with the International Crisis Group). Harling's comment reflects the fact that this development also poses problems for the U.S. and its allies, who want to make Syria serve their interests and defeat any challenge to their dominance in the Middle East.

 

Here Chatila discusses some of the class contradictions that persist despite this ideologically unfavourable situation, arguing that it did not have to take this turn and that the class contradictions that brought into being a revolt against the regime in March 2011 are still at work.
 

There is a basis for a revolutionary strategy founded on the basic interests of the great majority of the Syrian people in antagonism with the imperialists and the big Syrian exploiters inside and outside the regime who are ultimately dependent on the world imperialist system. The great difficulty in working out such a strategy and making it into a material force among the people is undeniable, but there is no other way out for the broad masses of people, and no reactionary regime of any kind can make these contradictions disappear.

 

The situation in Syria is now dominated  by rival reactionary forces. The political class [the traditional, once tolerated opposition, mainly operating from abroad] seeks foreign intervention, while the Free Syrian Army is a heterogeneous mix with no clear political and military strategy. They take towns and neighbourhoods and occupy them, and then the regime destroys them. This benefits the regime, and makes it possible for it to take full advantage of its still superior military forces and arms. The FSA makes no attempt to mobilise the masses of people or to lead them in establishing local revolutionary political power.

 

The regime is now using the entry of Islamist forces into the country to justify its existence as a barrier against them.

 

What began as a social movement against the regime has been smothered by pro-Western and Islamist forces. In short, the revolt that began in Daraa on 15 March 2011 has been turned into something else by the Free Syrian Army and the political class. It is possible that the situation could slide into a religious civil war; the armed fundamentalists are certainly trying to provoke a Sunni-Alawite war. Many people who were previously favourable to the opposition no longer see the fall of Assad as a good idea.

 

You asked me about the role of regional inequalities and the growing gap between the countryside and city, both in driving the revolt, and also in providing an audience for fundamentalists.

 

I would answer this way: During the last decade the regime used financial aid and other incentives to encourage big landowners to eliminate the small peasants. In this, it has been following the IMF strategy for developing globally-competitive commercial agriculture and attracting foreign investment.

 

The now landless peasants immigrate to the big cities in hopes of accumulating enough money to be able to return to their land. In addition, for a long time many small peasants who still own land [and grow vegetables and so on for urban markets] have lived on the outskirts of towns and cities. So there is a very large peasant population ringing all the big towns and cities. Unemployment is very high in both the cities and the countryside, and many people are hungry.

 

The Syrian peasantry has been playing a big role in the revolt, both in the countryside and the big-city suburbs. The middle classes in the provinces and the cities have gone back and forth, although they have certainly played an important role in the revolt, too. Some sections of the lower middle classes came over to the revolt and some supported the regime, especially the better-off sections. The Islamists draw many of their recruits from the lower classes, and better-off sections as well, such as engineers, doctors, architects and businessmen, including shopkeepers. In the past, the lower classes tended to be Arab nationalists or supporters of parties that called themselves socialist and communist, and anti-Israel and anti-imperialist. The Moslem Brotherhood has been deeply rooted in the middle classes. I'm not sure who the members of the FSA are, but I'm certain that many are from the middle classes.

 

The chambers of commerce and industry, which group together the large number of middle capitalists and the biggest, continue to support the regime, even though the majority are Sunnis. The Sunni-Alawite fracture doesn't cancel out the class fracture. There are divisions on both religious and class lines. There are small, medium and big Sunni capitalists who have prospered in alliance with the bureaucrat-capitalist regime. It's important to note that the souks [the traditional markets that are the centre of both retail and wholesale commerce] have never shut down in protest against the regime. There has been no generalized civil insurrection even among Sunnis.

 

Industry and commerce is mostly controlled by Sunnis, as well as Christians. The ethnic and religious minorities like the Alawites tend to be peasants, and rise socially by becoming government employees or military men. Alawites close to the regime have gotten rich.

 

Among the workers, including the Sunni majority, a large section has no steady work and certainly not a regular work contract. They live week to week on the crumbs their employers throw them. They work in close proximity with their bosses in beauty salons, garages and other small service businesses. This can mean that they are attracted to the bourgeoisie. But either way they play an important role because they feel that they have nothing to lose. When their children reach the age of 12, usually they have to quit school and look for work. They are involved in both the popular movement and the Islamist movement.

 

To the extent that it was organized, the popular revolt was based on the lower middle classes and the desperately poor, as well as other sections of the masses. In the provincial cities like Homs [an epicentre of the revolt], it is the poor urban neighbourhoods and not the better-off quarters that have been destroyed by the regime. In Damascus all the poor neighbourhoods have been destroyed.

 

The villages were very much involved in the demonstrations and the general revolt against the regime. A revolution would have tried to organize these peasants into political committees to exercise political power in the countryside and eliminate the regime's local political and administrative control. While the country's topology makes a frontal confrontation with the state very difficult, it would be possible to organize small groups of guerillas to mount effective attacks on the power centres and then melt away. These peasants have played a very important role in the popular revolt but not in an organized revolutionary way, and they are susceptible to being organized by the fundamentalists, whose sole form of organisation is military. The Islamists in the FSA make no attempt to win civilians over to their side, [even though] the majority of the population is Moslem. The social and political demands of the revolt have receded into the background.

 

There has arisen an embryonic mass movement demanding a stop to the violence. For instance, there was a famous incident when a woman dressed in white demonstrated all by herself in front of the parliament building in Damascus, and got a lot of support. Calling for an end to all violence is not the solution, but the growth of this sentiment shows the isolation of the FSA from the people. The political and social mass movement against the regime has been buried. With its demands for bread, dignity, freedom and justice, it had many things in common with the revolts in Tunisia and Egypt.

 In my opinion, the Free Syrian Army aborted that revolution before it could mature.

 

Because of its hybrid nature, the FSA could disintegrate into rival clans waging war on each other. That could happen if it doesn't succeed in overthrowing the regime, or even if it does. It would be a mutual slaughter. There are real gangster elements involved.

 

Syria is sinking into chaos. The Western imperialists want to destroy the country economically and see its army torn to shreds so that it can't oppose Israel. When this political crisis is resolved, one way or the other, Syria will come out of it completely destroyed. Its economy will become even more dependent on the world market. But on the other hand, the objective basis for revolution will continue to exist because the factors for this crisis are deeply rooted in Syrian society. That was reflected in the revolt that began in March 2011. A transition to a fully neo-liberal economy can't resolve that crisis and certainly cannot develop an economy that would meet the needs of the people. That can be done only by smashing both bureaucrat capitalism and big private capital. So there will always be an objective basis for revolution, but then there is the question of who will influence the people. The fundamentalists will continue to attack the neo-liberals, including by an armed struggle whose methods are often basically "terrorist".

 

Because of the strength of the Islamists the Western powers are now somewhat more favourable to leaving the regime intact and maybe even leaving Assad in place. The U.S. is afraid of the FSA because it might go against American interests and those of its regional allies.

 

This is the position of Turkey and Iraq, as well as Iran, in terms of neighbouring countries, and of Qatar and Saudi Arabia. Right now none of them is interested in supplying the FSA with game-changing weapons. The FSA is receiving less military aid than ever. Nobody wants to give them surface-to-air rockets.

 

Even though the Saudis have been bankrolling the fundamentalists, as part of their policy of developing a Sunni-Shia confrontation to oppose Iranian influence in the region, they are worried about the rise of the jihadis. They know they can't control these people. Their policy could backfire if fundamentalism in Syria takes up the anti-U.S. banner.

 

The U.S. is even softening its tone toward Assad a bit. Hillary Clinton has criticized the traditional opposition, demanding that it unite and form a government [one acceptable to the U.S., which it hasn't been able to do in any convincing way. There is some revived talk about a "political solution" between the regime and the opposition in Western policy circles].

 

In short, no state cares about the Syrian people. They don't care about the 60,000 people killed, the 300,000 people forced to seek refuge abroad or the internally displaced people who number as many as a million. They don't care about the fact that among a population where half the people already lived below the UN-defined poverty line of 2 dollars a day, price speculation has brought about real famine. Prices for bread, sugar and fuel oil for cooking have doubled and tripled, if these things can be found at all. Forget about meat, which the poor seldom ate anyway.

 

The fake "solidarity with the Syrian people" that used to fill the Western media is fading. Even many people who have genuinely wanted to express their solidarity with the Syrian people have become discouraged because they don't know who to support. This shows how serious the problems are.

See Also : http://democracyandclasstruggle.blogspot.co.uk/2012/12/britains-mi6-fuels-militancy-in-syria.html

http://democracyandclasstruggle.blogspot.co.uk/2012/12/why-is-unsmis-houla-report-missing-us.html

Report on Meeting of International Committee to Support People's War in India

The meeting of the International Committee to support people's war in India was held in Italy on January 19th to assess the great success of the International Conference held in Hamburg on November 24 last year.

All the forces of the Committee attended the meeting or given their support in various forms. In addition were added other participants from Spain and Brazil.

After the introduction speech and debate, the meeting made several decisions, in all fields of activity, that will be included in the report being prepared that will be submitted internationally for discussion, by sending directly to all the participating and interested forces.

The first decisions are:

1) The issuing, within this month, the booklet of the Conference in English,Italian and Spanish, and, in the next months, relying on the forces that wish to take up this task, in French, Spanish, other languages (Turkish, Hindi, Arabic, etc..).

2) The participation of the Committee in different countries at the
international initiatives for 8th March (International Womens Day) and 1st of May (May Day).

3) To promote a new militant international day of struggle, to be held within the springtime, in forms coordinated with the Committee, in as many as possible countries in the world. The date will be agreed following the consultation with all the forces of the international conference.

The meeting calls all forces and the comrades to join more and more in the ranks of the International Committee under the slogans and spirit of the great International Conference of Hamburg.

International Committee to support people's war in India

January 2013

Please Sign Petition in Support of Dr G.N. Saibaba Now ! Call from Democracy and Class Struggle

Picture Dr G.N.Saibaba

Democracy and Class Struggle calls for maximum support for this petition for Dr G.N Saibaba, please read the letter below and sign the petition immediately.


Dr. M. M. Pallam Raju
Minister of Human Resource Development
Government of India
Dear Dr. M. M. Pallam Raju,

We the undersigned are astounded to know that the University of Delhi is withdrawing a facility provided to a severely disabled teacher of its College. Taking recourse to technicalities as the benchmark to forcefully evacuate a disabled teacher ignoring further national and international developments in law pertaining to the differently-abled is a sad state of affairs of one of the leading universities in India. Any future perusal by the university authorities of the question of special accommodation at the warden’s flat, Gwyer Hall accorded to Dr. G. N. Saibaba cannot ignore the specific grounds of his 90 percent disability.

Universities should be centres of excellence, where cutting edge ideas are discussed and deliberated towards building a future which is humane and compassionate. University of Delhi is witness to a comparatively sizeable increase in the intake of differently-abled people as faculty, students and non-teaching staff. Given the fact that there are few Universities in the country with such intake it becomes imperative that Delhi University also be a model in providing a humane and dignified space for the differently-abled. And this demands urgently a disable-sensitive administration which is humanely conversant with the new developments in jurisprudence pertaining to the differently-abled.

Under the disabilities laws and United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities 2006 to which India is a signatory country since 2007, it is the primary obligation of all institutions of the Indian Government to provide all facilities including “reasonable accommodation”.

Instead of extending the facilities and making them broad-based for all disabled teachers and students on the campus, the present proceedings of the University to forcefully evict Dr. G. N. Saibaba is highly deplorable.

What is required today is to make the University Campuses habitable and create workable environment to the differently-abled teachers and students. It is the legal and ethical obligation of the University to provide reasonable accommodation on the campuses to the differently-abled teachers and students in order to increase their participation in the higher education.

The University of Delhi cannot take away this facility provided to Dr. G. N. Saibaba on any technical grounds which is a total misreading of the very grounds on which the whole premises was allotted to him. On the contrary such facility has to be broadened and extended to all differently-abled teachers and students of the Colleges and Departments.

Thus we would like you to:

1. Implore the University to desist from withdrawing the residence facility to Dr. G.N. Saibaba and,
2. Constitute a high powered committee to find ways and means to provide all facilities including “reasonable accommodation” to disabled persons in the University as mandated by the disabilities laws and United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities ratified by India in 2007.

Issued for endorsement by:

Anand Teltumbde, Professor, School of Management, IIT, Kharagpur. Contact: tanandraj@gmail.com
Maya Pandit Narkar, Professor, Department of English Language Teaching, English and Foreign Languages University, Hyderabad. Contact: maya@efluniversity.ac.in

Petition here :
https://www.change.org/en-IN/petitions/dr-m-m-pallam-raju-union-minister-for-hrd-government-of-india-prevent-eviction-of-a-disabled-teacher-dr-g-n-saibaba-by-delhi-university?utm_source=share_petition&utm_medium=url_share&utm_campaign=url_share_after_sign

Wales: Case Against Metropolitan Police spying on Welsh Anarchists to be held in secret

A High Court case against the Metropolitan Police over accusations they spied on a Welsh anarchist group will be held in secret, it has emerged.

Tom Fowler, a member of the Cardiff Anarchist Network, is one of 12 people taking the force to court for allegedly infiltrating groups across the country.

But today the High Court ruled his and the case of 11 women taking on the Metropolitan Police will be heard in an Investigatory Powers Tribunal – normally used to deal with MI5 cases.

“It’s an outrage,” said Mr Fowler, from Newport.

“The existence of the Investigatory Powers Tribunal itself is an outrage in a country that calls itself a democracy.

“It is an aberration within our justice system. Any case being heard there is an injustice.

“It is not just that it is in secret. It is not like a normal case being heard in court where elements might not be allowed to be broadcast, it is as secret as you can get.

“We’ll get a one line judgement. Your lawyers get no opportunity to attend.
“It is a closed hearing in which only the police will have any say.

“I will not get any opportunity to present evidence or make arguments. It’s a sham.”
The group are suing the Met for the behaviour of five former undercover officers.

Mr Fowler thought he was friends with a clandestine officer calling himself Mark “Marco” Jacobs, who infiltrated the Cardiff Anarchist Network – one of the groups the 33-year-old is involved with.

Another of the officers, Mark Kennedy, hit the headlines in 2011 after infiltrating environmental groups.

Some of the women’s allegations are that they were tricked into sex.

The women want damages for emotional, psychiatric and financial losses.

Another undercover officer unmasked in 2011 – Jim Boyling – married and had children with an environmentalist after admitting he had been planted by the Met. The couple have since divorced.

Mr Justice Tugendhat ruled the women were making serious allegations – but the IPT had jurisdiction over their human rights claims.

He said claimants could bring elements of the claims to the High Court at a later date but only after the IPT had ruled.

Jules Carey represents six claimants, including Mr Fowler.

He said: “Today the court has acknowledged that they have suffered the ‘gravest’ interference with their fundamental rights.

“It has nonetheless taken the view that the police are capable of authorising such grave interferences under RIPA.”

That is the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act.

“Our clients will have to carefully study the judgement and consider an appeal on this issue,” he said.

Harriet Wistrich, a solicitor for the other claimants, said: “This decision prevents both the claimants and the public from seeing the extent of the violation of human rights and abuses of public office perpetrated by these undercover units.

“The claimants have already suffered a gross violation of their privacy and abuse of trust by the police.

“If the case is dealt with by the IPT they will be denied access to justice and may never discover why they were thus violated by the state.”

In written submissions lawyers for three women said Mark Kennedy had “encouraged them to become emotionally dependent on him and to publicise their intimate relationship with him widely amongst other activists and their own families.”

They said the cases “raise serious questions about police misconduct and the extent to which police officers can invade the personal, psychological, and bodily integrity of members of the general population.”

Mark Jacobs was working for the Met when he infiltrated a small group of activists in Cardiff until 2009, masqueradeing as a Northampton trucker.

“We became what I thought to be close friends,” Mr Fowler said.

“We hung out together and we used to go to punk gigs in Newport.”

Mr Jacobs forged links with Gwent Anarchists, Pembrokeshire Anarchists, Swansea Animal Rights, No Borders South Wales and a group called Eat Out Vegan Wales.

He then vanished, having had a relationship with a 29-year-old he had known for three years in Cardiff.


Read more: Wales Online http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/2013/01/17/spying-case-against-met-police-to-be-heard-in-secret-91466-32625761/#ixzz2IiNpg6Jh

http://democracyandclasstruggle.blogspot.co.uk/2012/11/police-spy-mark-kennedy-accused-of-fake.html

http://democracyandclasstruggle.blogspot.co.uk/2012/11/annie-machon-on-british-intelligence.html

http://policespiesoutoflives.org.uk/

The Politics of Food - Global Food Economy : Goldman Sachs makes killing from Food

If you are interested in studying this question further follow the links below

See Also:
http://democracyandclasstruggle.blogspot.co.uk/2013/01/berlin-rally-against-agro-industrial.html

http://democracyandclasstruggle.blogspot.co.uk/2012/05/time-to-recall-land-grabbers.html

http://democracyandclasstruggle.blogspot.co.uk/2012/09/land-grabs-in-china-threat-to-food.html

http://democracyandclasstruggle.blogspot.co.uk/2012/09/the-myth-of-glas-cymru-green-market.html