By OUR CORRESPONDENT In recent months, workers throughout Iran have held numerous strikes and rallies for better pay and working conditions. Demonstrations by teachers have continued despite violent attacks by the authorities. Their core demands are for a pay raise and the right to organize independent trade unions. There are about 2 million teachers in … Continue reading Teachers Rally in Iran
Month: May 2002
Our Readers Speak Out
Dear editor, It seems that the only bright spot in the Mideast tragedy is the probability that George Bush won't nuke Bethlehem. Sharon's merciless assault on the Palestinian people is an outrage. It is Israel's unceasing repression and indignities against Palestinians that have created people desperate enough to resort to suicide bombings. Few U.S. citizens … Continue reading Our Readers Speak Out
Duluth on April 20
By ADAM RITSCHER DULUTH, Minn.-While tens of thousands of people were protesting in Washington, D.C., and San Francisco against the U.S. war on Afghanistan and the Israeli attacks upon the Palestinians, a spirited band of activists gathered in Duluth. Almost 100 people, including some who had never been to a protest before, turned out on … Continue reading Duluth on April 20
Youth in Action
Movement to Defend Palestinian Rights Grows on College Campuses By DAVID BERNT As the Zionist state of Israel continues its war in the West Bank, activists on campuses across the nation have rallied in support of the Palestinian people. In February, some 450 student activists attended the Student Conference of the Palestine Solidarity Movement held … Continue reading Youth in Action
Sex, Politics and the American Way
By GAETANA CALDWELL-SMITH The title of Arthur Miller's play, "After the Fall," performed recently at Speakeasy Theatre in Berkeley, invites speculation. Some say it refers to the Biblical fall of innocence; others, the suicide of Marilyn Monroe, who once was married to Miller. Still others contend that the title has to do with the breakup … Continue reading Sex, Politics and the American Way
American Indians Pursue Lawsuit Against US Government
By ADAM RITSCHER In 1887 the U.S. Congress passed the Dawes Act, which took much of the remaining land possessed by American Indians and divided it up into individual plots. The plots ranged in size from 40 to 160 acres. The idea was to force American Indians to become Western-style small farmers. The effect, however, … Continue reading American Indians Pursue Lawsuit Against US Government
What Will I Do on May Day
By BOB MATTINGLY OAKLAND, Calif.-Not far from where I live is a cemetery that I visit on May Day. I go there to place some flowers, red of course, alongside the marker that identifies a grave as the final resting place of Vincent St. John (1876-1929), once a general secretary of the Industrial Workers of … Continue reading What Will I Do on May Day
Middle East War Roils SF Labor Council
By CHARLES WALKER On March 11, the San Francisco Labor Council narrowly adopted a resolution condemning the Israeli "bombing of civilian and political targets most specifically, but not limited to, the Palestine trade-union offices in Nablus, Palestine, and remind the U.S. government that this is both a moral and legal crime." The resolution also called … Continue reading Middle East War Roils SF Labor Council
Economy on the Rebound? Ask the Folks without Jobs
By JEFF MACKLER When the U.S. Commerce Department reported on April 26 that the nation's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) rose at an annually adjusted rate of 5.8 percent during the first quarter of 2002, the stock market gleefully registered a momentary advance. Analysts initially, and without foundation, concluded that the data signaled a sharp rise … Continue reading Economy on the Rebound? Ask the Folks without Jobs
Latin American Cloak & Daggers: The AFL-CIO and the CIA
By CHARLES WALKER On April 25, The New York Times ran an article disclosing that the AFL-CIO's international arm, the American Center for International Solidarity, had received $154,377 from a U.S. congressional conduit "to assist the main Venezuelan labor union in advancing labor rights." That union, the Confederation of Venezuelan Workers (CTV), was a principal … Continue reading Latin American Cloak & Daggers: The AFL-CIO and the CIA
US Backed Coup in Venezuela Blown Away by Mass Upsurge
By DAVID NAVA & GERRY FOLEY The April 11 military coup against the populist regime of Hugo Chavez in Venezuela followed a pattern that has become well known in Latin America. U.S. authorities conspired with the local oligarchy to overthrow a government that had responded, even in a limited way, to demands of the impoverished … Continue reading US Backed Coup in Venezuela Blown Away by Mass Upsurge
What do Socialists Propose? Part Four. Capitalism Feeds on War, Environmental Destruction
By PAUL SIEGEL Following is the fourth chapter of a new pamphlet by Paul Siegel, "Socialism versus Capitalism." It is available from Socialist Action Books for $3. In 1987 the World Commission on Environment and Development, established by the United Nations General Assembly, issued a report, "Our Common Future," after a three-year study. It concluded … Continue reading What do Socialists Propose? Part Four. Capitalism Feeds on War, Environmental Destruction
Workers Strike throughout Argentina as Social Crisis Deepens
By GERRY FOLEY The economic and social crisis in Argentina took another turn for the worse in the last month of April. On Tuesday, April 23, the country's populist ("last chance") president, Eduardo Duhalde, had to accept the resignation of his minister of economics and his team. Although a new minister was soon appointed, the … Continue reading Workers Strike throughout Argentina as Social Crisis Deepens
Mass Demonstrations in France were Key to Defeating Far-Right Candidate
By GERRY FOLEY On the evening of May 5, following the second round in the French presidential elections, the Ligue Communiste Revolutionnaire, the French sister organization of Socialist Action, declared that a "huge popular mobilization" had barred the way to any further advance for the ultraright proto-fascist National Front candidate, Jean-Marie Le Pen. Despite the … Continue reading Mass Demonstrations in France were Key to Defeating Far-Right Candidate
What Did your Hometown Paper Report?
By CHARLES WALKER Did news of last month's Italian general strike make the front page of your hometown paper? My guess is probably not. I don't say that just because my hometown Oakland, Calif., paper limited itself to printing three sentences from a wire report on page 8. And I don't say that because another … Continue reading What Did your Hometown Paper Report?
Millions Join Italian General Strike
By MICHAEL SCHREIBER On April 20, a total of more than 130,000 protesters joined forces in giant demonstrations in Washington, D.C., and San Francisco. While many issues were raised at the two cities' events-including opposition to the U.S. war in Afghanistan and threats of a wider war extending to the Philippines, Iraq, Colombia, and other … Continue reading Millions Join Italian General Strike
Over 130,000 March on April 20 in Washington & San Francisco
By MICHAEL SCHREIBER On April 20, a total of more than 130,000 protesters joined forces in giant demonstrations in Washington, D.C., and San Francisco. While many issues were raised at the two cities' events-including opposition to the U.S. war in Afghanistan and threats of a wider war extending to the Philippines, Iraq, Colombia, and other … Continue reading Over 130,000 March on April 20 in Washington & San Francisco
Commentary by Mumia Abu-Jamal: War from the Eternal Empire
By MUMIA ABU-JAMAL The first essay below was recorded by Mumia Abu-Jamal on March 23 and broadcast at the April 20 rallies in Washington and San Francisco. When U.S. President George W. Bush spoke about an endless war, some took it as mere political speech or rhetoric designed to gain the top spot on the … Continue reading Commentary by Mumia Abu-Jamal: War from the Eternal Empire
Activists Mobilize to Defend Mumia
The case of the world's most well-known death row political prisoner and innocent man, Mumia Abu-Jamal, was an integral part of the mass antiwar mobilizations on April 20 in Washington, D.C., and San Francisco. Taped messages from Mumia opposing U.S. moves in the Middle East were played at both demonstrations. Speakers for Mumia's defense addressed … Continue reading Activists Mobilize to Defend Mumia
Courts Ignore Proof of Mumia’s Innocence
By JEFF MACKLER Federal District Court Judge William H. Yohn's Dec. 18 decision to overturn the 1982 death sentence imposed on Mumia Abu-Jamal was a product of the worldwide movement in Mumia's defense. The political price of killing Mumia, an innocent man serving his 20th year on Pennsylvania's death row for a murder he did … Continue reading Courts Ignore Proof of Mumia’s Innocence
Israeli Atrocities Shock the World
By GERRY FOLEY International revulsion at the Israeli army's terrorizing of the West Bank Palestinian towns, and in particular its destruction of the Jenin refugee camp, has created a new political situation for the Zionist state. The last vestiges of the image of Israel as the refuge of a persecuted people have been largely … Continue reading Israeli Atrocities Shock the World