PFLP statement against Israeli massacre

PFLP condemns the murderous crimes of the Israeli pirates and salutes the heroes of the Freedom Flotilla

The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine condemns the latest Israeli massacre on the high seas, in international waters, the brutal assault on the international Freedom Flotilla to Gaza on May 31, 2010. The Israeli state terror pirates, said the Front, attacked the humanitarian aid and international solidarity ships with firearms and commandos; the Front said that this is the latest crime against humanity committed by the occupation state, illustrating its blatant disregard for international law.

Protests around the world against the flotilla massacre

The Front saluted all of the members of the Freedom Flotilla, particularly the martyrs and wounded, saying that these are martyrs of the Palestinian people and the Palestinian cause, and of the struggle of people everywhere for liberation, justice and freedom, and will be immortal in our struggle, and that the Flotilla’s prisoners are with the prisoners of our Palestinian Arab nation, prisoners of freedom in the hands of a terror occupation state. [Read more…]

Marxism 2010: Queer Liberation

Part of Marxism 2010, a weekend of ideas, discussion and debate.
10am, Saturday the 5th of June
Thistle Hall, 293 Cuba St
Wellington

Queer oppression is interlocked with all other forms of oppression, and takes a historically specific form. This talk will take in the development of modern queerness as a central aspect of urbanisation, with cities providing a basis for new communities. Drawing from theorists such as Gramsci and Foucault, we will undertake a historical analysis beginning with the colonisation of Aotearoa/New Zealand, through the development of a “homosexual” discourse, urbanisation and queer liberation in the 20th century, ultimately leading to the present impasse and the development of a new hegemony. The talk will conclude by dealing with that perennial Marxist-Leninist question, what is to be done?

Presented by Ian Anderson, Workers Party activist. Parallel session with Cultural Capital talk.

Marxism 2010: Are Population Controls a Solution to Climate Change?

Part of Marxism 2010, a weekend of ideas, discussion and debate.
1:30pm, Saturday the 5th of June
Thistle Hall, 293 Cuba St
Wellington

The idea that the planet will soon reach, or has already reached, the limit on how many people it can sustain is one that is gaining credibility in the environmental movment. Before the last election the Green Party released a population policy arguing that New Zealand’s upper limit for population is 5.7 million, but is this correct? And what does this mean for immigration? This debate will touch on these and other issues relating to population and the environment. Byron Clark is a long time Workers Party activist and has previously studied environmental sociology, he will be arguing New Zealand can sustain a much higher population. Local activist John Robinson will be arguing in favour of a capped population.

Britain under the “Con-Dems”


Mike Kay caught up with Daniel Randall, an activist with the Alliance for Workers’ Liberty based in London for his thoughts on the political situation since the formation of the Conservative/ Liberal Democrat coalition government dubbed the “Con-Dems”

Dan R

MK: What was your initial reaction to the election result?
DR: I was surprised by a number of things. For one thing, I thought that there was a serious danger of the British National Party taking control of Barking & Dagenham council. Instead they got annihilated in that area.
How did that happen?
There was a group called Barking, Dagenham and Havering Together that I’ve been involved with. It is quite broad and open, mostly run by local trade unionists. The local Labour Party had about 50 people out canvassing. They ran a popular campaign to save the local Accident & Emergency Department, which was totally disingenuous as [Local Labour MP] Margret Hodge had voted for the cuts!
Now that the Tories are in power nationally and Labour locally, it’s essential that the campaign keeps going.
Also quite surprising was the high turnout, bucking the trend of recent elections. [Read more…]

Marxism 2010: provisional schedule

A weekend of ideas, discussion and debate. Communism, Revolution, Socialism, Capitalism and anything in between…

FRIDAY: 4th of June – Thistle Hall (293 Cuba Street)
7:30pm: International panel: Mike Ely on Nepal, Daphna Whitmore on India, John Edmundson on Afghanistan
[Read more…]