The Plough
Volume 2, Number 22
30 January 2005
E-Mail Newsletter of the Irish Republican Socialist Party
1) Speech by IRSP Ard-Chomhairle Member Martin McMonagle at Unveiling
of Memorial Plaque to Red Micky Doherty
2) On Sectarianism and War Crimes
3) What's On
*******
SPEECH BY IRSP ARD-CHOMHAIRLE MEMBER MARTIN MCMONAGLE AT UNVEILING OF
MEMORIAL PLAQUE TO RED MICKY DOHERTY
Delivered in Derry on Saturday, January 29, 2005
It is a personal honor for me to be standing here today speaking at
the unveiling of this memorial. No words or fine speeches will do
justice to the memory of Red Micky. What I can say, with all honesty
and certainty, is that Micky was and is an inspiration to all those
who aspire towards an Ireland which is free from foreign interference
and free from both foreign and domestic exploitation of ordinary
working class people.
It is our duty and indeed an honour that we acknowledge and pay
tribute to Red Micky's lifelong contribution to the ongoing struggle
for justice, socialism, and freedom on this island.
At the onset of the present phrase of struggle in the late '60s and
early '70s Micky was, in common with all other republicans in this
city, a member of the Official IRA.
It was Micky's political beliefs and convictions that led him to join
with others in the formation of the IRSP and the Irish National
Liberation Army. His conscience would not allow him to follow any
other path. Micky was a political activist and his heart lay with the
working class, the people who have nothing but their dignity, he
understood what it was to live from hand to mouth, day by day, under
the repressive British regime, he also understood that nothing would
change as long as our people live in a capitalist society whether or
not that capitalist was under the control of British or Irish
capitalist masters. That is why Micky fought. He was one of the few
who would go that extra mile; he put himself on the line time and time
again.
Micky was a much loved and respected member of the movement and always
conducted himself with dignity and humility. He was not someone who
was filled with hatred or bitterness but as a true revolutionary Micky
was motivated by a love of his class and his country and above all by
the love of this community.
Micky's analysis was not that of narrow republicanism or nationalism
but of the class analysis of Connolly and the marriage of the class
struggle and the national liberation struggle.
What flowed through the veins of people like Red Micky Doherty? The
answer is simple, it was the love of his community, the love for his
people and the working class people of Derry, both Catholic and
Protestant.
Even when suffering with ill health just a short time before he died,
Micky never forgot his imprisoned comrades of the INLA. Indeed he
made regular financial contributions towards the welfare of republican
socialist prisoners and, as an ex-prisoner myself, I am eternally
grateful to people like Micky, who despite all their own problems,
continued to stand by us. In good times and in bad times Micky was a
friend of the prisoners, people like Micky stood by us. We will never
forget.
I am proud to have followed people of the caliber of Micky. We in the
movement today salute Micky and his contribution to the struggle and
we shall always remember Micky with love and fondness. If we can
continue today with the dignity and humility that Micky showed through
every aspect of his life, we are indeed on the right path.
Dignity and humility are noble traits and each of us would be the
better if we had an ounce of what our friend Red Micky had. Did he
make mistakes? Was he perfect? Of course not! He was human. Was
the Irish Republican Socialist Party and the Irish National Liberation
Army perfect? The simple answer is no! We do not hide from the
mistakes of our past, we are dignified enough, humble enough, and
disciplined enough to acknowledge this publicly.
Let me make this clear, and I make no apology for saying it, the class
based analysis of Red Micky was and is the only correct revolutionary
way forward for the working class people of Ireland.
Tomorrow marks the 33rd anniversary of the premeditated attack on the
people of this city. Regardless of the outcome of the Saville
Inquiry, the people of Derry know that Bloody Sunday was planned and
sanctioned directly from 10 Downing Street. No amount of political
spin, no amount of media manipulation, no amount of whispering
campaigns can alter that indisputable fact.
It is ironic today that since the murderous assault by the
paratroopers on the people of Derry the only person to be punished is
a Derry republican who had no part in any incidents that day. Nothing
has changed in over thirty years. Republicans will never get justice
from any British administration in Ireland. We call for the immediate
release of Martin "Ducksie" Doherty. This is the very same British
establishment that Micky opposed and all republicans should oppose.
I would just like to finish today by saluting once again Micky's
contribution to the struggle for Irish freedom.
Che Guevara once said: "Revolutionaries should be motivated by
feelings of true love." This quotation sums up our friend and
comrade, Red Micky Doherty.
Rest in peace, Micky.
*******
ON SECTARIANISM AND WAR CRIMES
By Gerry Ruddy
The uproar over the remarks of Mary McAleese, the Irish president,
detracted a great deal from the political chaos the North of Ireland
is now in. Provisional Sinn Fein and the Provisional IRA are being
blamed for knowledge of and participating in the £26 million
Northern Bank robbery. An ongoing feud between the UVF and the LVF
has led to attacks on taxis and on individuals and the firing of
shots. Two random sectarian attacks were carried out on Catholics.
Political commentators speculate that no deal can be done to get
devolved government before 2006 and possibly 2007. Mitchell
McLaughlin, the chair of Provisional Sinn Fein, revealed the contempt
for the democratic process when he stated that he recognised the IRA
as the legitimate government of Ireland. Such a position is untenable
for a party that parrots on ad nauseum about their electoral mandate
and yet fails to recognise the results of all previous elections on
the island of Ireland. That position is symptomatic of a special
breed of republicans who think that being republican makes one
superior to others. It eventually leads to the position that whatever
one's army does is legitimate and excuses the most heinous of war
crimes. I have no doubt that war crimes were committed during the
conflict in the North. These crimes were committed by all the armed
organisations including the INLA. In its ceasefire statement the INLA
acknowledged as much when it apologised for its errors.
"We acknowledge and admit faults and grievous errors in our
prosecution of the war. Innocent people were killed and injured and
at times our actions as a liberation army fell far short of what they
should have been. For this we as republicans, as socialists and as
revolutionaries do offer a sincere, heartfelt, and genuine apology."
The kidnapping and killing and secret burial of Jean McConville was in
my opinion a war crime. The arrogant denial of this fact by
McLaughlin is clear evidence that the whole political process in the
North has been demeaned, corrupted, and soiled.
The Good Friday Agreement is dead in the water. The loyalists of the
UDA want to be bought off for over £70 million. Nobody seems to
speak the truth anymore and if they do they are castigated.
Provisional Sinn Fein play the victim because Bertie Ahern for once in
his life stops equivocating and speaks out about the activities of the
Provisional IRA.
What did the Provos expect? More tea and buns? If you lie down with
dogs you get up with fleas.
Too many cosy chats in Stormont, the Dail, Westminster, the White
House, and God knows how many fine houses in the English countryside
has dulled the republican instincts of some Irish.
Republicanism was always about more than fighting a war. It was about
the right of the Irish people alone to determine their own destiny.
It was about the ownership of Ireland belonging to the people of
Ireland. It was about uniting all the differing denominations under
the common name of Irishmen and women. It was and is about liberty,
equality, and fraternity. And for those of us on the republican left,
it was and is about the freedom of the Irish working class from both
political and economic domination.
Mary McAleese's remarks were clumsily worded but they also were true.
Sectarian hatred has been bred into some children from the
Protestant community. One has only to think of the protests at
Harryville, in Ballymena, and the Holy Cross School in Ardoyne to see
that. But republicans especially should be able to acknowledge that
sectarianism exists also within the nationalist/Catholic population.
Our claim as republicans to be non-sectarian must be more than just a
pious declaration to be made in Bodenstown every year. We must face
up to it wherever we find it and challenge it.
In the face of the increasing sectarianism arising from the imposition
of the Good Friday Agreement, there is a responsibility on republicans
to coolly and objectively examine our own sectarianism before
preaching to others. Are we up to the task?
*******
WHAT'S ON
*
Tuesday, 1 February
Next meeting of the North Belfast Anti Racism Network will be on
Tuesday, 1 February in Intercomm - Antrim Road (opposite police
barrack/above Antrim Road Ulster Bank) at 7.30pm.
*
Tuesday, 15 February at 7pm
The next meeting of the West Against Racism Network will be on
Tuesday, 15 February at 7pm in the Grosvenor Community Centre. The
WARN is launching a Welcome Pack for Black and Minority Ethnic
Communities on Monday, 21 March, international day against racism, in
the Royal Hospital, more details closer to the date.
*
Tuesday, 8 March
Rural Community Network are currently organising our second annual
event for International Women's Day for Tuesday, 8 March. This will
take place in Omagh (venue to be confirmed) and the theme is again
centred on diversity in rural areas. If you wish further info or
would like to participate please contact Marion Weir or Anna Clarke at
RCN.
*******
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Sunday 30 January 2005
Sunday 23 January 2005
The Plough Vol 02 No 21
The Plough
Volume 2, Number 21
23 January 2005
E-Mail Newsletter of the Irish Republican Socialist Party
1. The Price of the Irish Presidency
2. Henry McDonald and Sean Russell
3. Padraigin Drinan
4. Turkey: Amnesty Shock as Torture Prevention Group is Closed Because
of Europe Funding
5. Irish Volunteers for Spain - Review
6. Chavez Nationalises Venepal Under Workers' Control
7. Quotes from Discussion Sites
8. What's On
*******
THE PRICE OF THE IRISH PRESIDENCY
Last year, Mary McAleese was elected as President of Ireland. But in
order to run her campaign, she needed the backing of high-profile
business figures and companies. Headed by Lawrence Crowley, the
governor of the Bank of Ireland, they raised 137,000 Euros. Donors
included the companies Cement Roadstone Holdings, Royal Sun Alliance,
Grafton Recruitment and United Drugs plc. Individuals who made
donations included the Chief Executive of the Bank of Ireland. Are we
to expect that this money came with no political strings attached?
For anyone interested to run for the Irish presidency, she had to
spend 20,605 Euros on renting offices and equipment, most of which was
on short-term Lease, 7,933 Euros on market research, and 13,749 Euros
on campaign workers.
No money, no votes.
(Irish Times, 22 January 2005)
*******
HENRY MCDONALD AND SEAN RUSSELL
In the Observer (16 January 2005), Henry McDonald accused Liam
O'Ruairc of 'Nazi like denial' of the alleged collaboration between
Sean Russell and the Nazis.
http://observer.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,6903,1391492,00.html
However, it is Henry McDonald who gets his facts wrong:
"The facts about Russell's tenure as IRA O/C as well as his death are
crystal clear. As British cities were relentlessly bombed during the
Luftwaffe Blitz Russell dispatched bombers of his own to England.
Explosions killed civilians in cities such as Coventry..."
Unfortunately, Henry McDonald is factually wrong. The IRA's 1939-1940
campaign and the Blitz did not take place at the same time. It was on
Monday 16 January 1939 that the IRA bombing campaign in England began
- nine months before the Second World War began. It had peaked by the
time the Prevention of Violence (Temporary Provisions) Bill was
introduced by Westminster on 24 July 1939. The Coventry explosion
mentioned by Henry took place on 25 August 1939. And by the time
Barnes and McCormack were hanged on 7 February 1940, the campaign was
well on its way out. The Battle of Britain began in the summer of
1940, and the Blitz officially started on 7 September 1940. That
was a year after the Coventry explosion. It is thus factually
incorrect to imply that the IRA and Luftwaffe campaigns took place at
the same time.
"Moreover, Russell was feted in Berlin and travelled there
voluntarily. In order to aid the IRA campaign to disrupt the British
war effort Russell was transported back from Berlin in 1944 on a
U-boat."
Again, Henry gets the facts wrong. It was on August 1940 that Russell
and Ryan were sent back to Ireland by U Boat. By 1944, Russell had
been dead four years.
Henry writes:
"Usually intelligent republican writers and critics such as Liam
O'Ruaric in Belfast have also gone down the Nazi-like denial line
pointing to Ryan's presence on the submarine and the fact that so many
IRA veterans like him fought on the Republican side in Spain."
My argument about Russell is not based on Ryan's presence but on a
series of well-established evidence:
http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/letters/story.jsp?story=600864
"Sean Russell was essentially a physical-force republican and from
what we know he had little interest in ideologies and politics.
The Nazi attempts to indoctrinate Russell with their philosophy and
politics failed spectacularly. Sean Russell told one German official:
"I am not a Nazi. I'm not even pro-German. I am an Irishman fighting
for the independence of Ireland. The British have been our enemies for
hundreds of years. They are the enemy of Germany today. If it suits
Germany to give us help to achieve independence, I am willing to
accept it, but no more, and there must be no strings attached." (The
Irish Times, 6 June 1958).
The Public Records Office has released files, which show that, after
intensive post-war interrogation of German intelligence agents at the
highest level, British intelligence itself concluded in 1946 "Russell
throughout his stay in Germany had shown considerable reticence
towards the Germans and plainly did not regard himself as a German
agent".
In his 1958 novel, "Victors and Vanquished," Francis Stuart observed
of the Russell-based character: "Pro-German when it comes to the
English and Pro-Jew when it's a question of the Germans".
One might dismiss this as a literary invention were it not that this
assessment was corroborated by a more significant witness - Erwin
Lahousen, the first and most important witness for the prosecution at
the Nuremberg War Crimes Trials in 1945. Lahousen had been head of the
second bureau of the German Intelligence Service from 1939 to 1943.
Lahousen wrote that Russell was "a real republican of the old school",
who may be willing "to use the Germans for his own political ends",
but who "regarded the Nazi philosophy as anathema".
In conclusion, Mr McDonald's argument is very shaky and needs to
provide a great deal more evidence to back up his claims of Liam's
"Nazi like denial".
*******
PADRAIGIN DRINAN
The Law Society of Northern Ireland is in the process of closing down
the law practice of one Padraigin Drinan. She can no longer represent
her clients and they are asking the High Court in Belfast to freeze
her assets immediately. The reason given by Ms Bryson of the Law
Society of Northern Ireland for these actions depend on who is asking.
She has told Padraigin that it is because she failed to respond to
letters from the society (Padraigin maintains that she answered the
questions asked fully in other correspondence). She has told others it
is because Padraigin had not amalgamated her practice with that of
another solicitor. One person even got a call today saying, "Watch
what your getting into, this is about financial irregularities". This
is nonsense, as you need to be making money to be irregular with it,
and a huge portion of Padraigin's work is done pro bono.
Padraigin has a long history of defending the dispossessed. She's a
champion of the poor; she fights for those in society who have no
voice. Immigrants, the residents groups, Dominic McGlinchey (raising
his sons, after their father's death), and above she does what's right
and speaks out against injustice no mater who is perpetrating that
injustice.
What is needed at this moment is to get the word out to as many
people, unions, politicians and activist groups possible and to ask
them to contact Ms Bryson of the Law Society of Northern Ireland and
ask her why Padraigin is being persecuted? To ask, which of the three
reasons given has Padraigin's ability to practice been taken away
over? Moreover, is this not more actually punishment for the political
orientation of her clientele? Is it not about the fact that she is
trying to keep loyalists from again invading nationalist communities
in the coming marching season?
Additional information will be forth coming, but until then we are
asking that concerned individuals and groups write to the address and
email below and put the questions outlined above to Ms Bryson.
Padraigin has taken cases that have made her enemies. The British and
Irish Governments because she ruined their citizenship referendum, by
demonstrating that it disenfranchised the six counties and exposed the
fact that people from the six counties who put themselves down as
Irish could not get jobs in the civil service there. GFA-supporting
parties because her challenge to Orange marches in the nationalist
community undermines deals to resurrect Stormont. The
unionist/loyalist community because of her association with issues
impacting on the nationalist community.
Contact Suzanne Bryson and tell her that you are aware of the
witch-hunt against Padraigin and want it to end. Padraigin Drinan may
be the most important civil rights attorney practicing in the six
counties today, please join in defending her and don't delay.
SUZANNE BRYSON - Deputy Secretary
Email: info@lawsoc-ni.org
Law Society of Northern Ireland
98 Victoria St
Belfast, Ireland BT1 3JZ
(E-mail from Daisy Mules)
*******
TURKEY: AMNESTY SGOCK AS TORTURE PREVENTION GROUP IS CLOSED BECAUSE OF
EUROPE FUNDING
Amnesty International has written to the President of the Izmir Bar
Association, Mr Nevzat Erdemir, to express its shock at his decision
to dissolve its Torture Prevention Group.
The Group had been engaged in groundbreaking work in bringing justice
to torture victims and its closure is a step-back in the struggle
against torture. Amnesty International called for the decision to be
reconsidered.
Mr Nevzat Erdemir stated last month that one of the reasons that he
was closing the Torture Prevention Group was because a project it was
coordinating was receiving funds from the European Commission which he
claimed was on a mission to divide Turkey and to damage its national
interest, including through the creation of "an independent
Kurdistan".
He stated that the closure of the Group was necessary in order to
prevent "disasters for our Republic, our Nation and People" and that
he "violently denounces this initiative [the Torture Prevention
Group], supported by the European Union, which is directed, under the
name of human rights, at the unity and integrity of our country".
He also criticised the Group's cooperation with international
organisations - understood to include Amnesty International.
Amnesty International is further concerned at reports that the
administration of the Izmir Bar Association had seized files and
computers from the offices of the Torture Prevention Group on 7
January. These contained confidential testimony, photos and other
records related to some 575 applications from victims of torture.
Amnesty International is concerned that applicants may subsequently
face the risk of harassment, detention or even further torture and
ill-treatment. It therefore sought urgent clarification as to the
whereabouts of these documents.
The decision in December 2004 to close the Torture Prevention Group
appears to be against Article 95 of the Turkish Law on Legal Practice
which states that one of the duties of Executive Boards of Bar
Associations in Turkey should be to "protect and defend supremacy of
law and human rights and to work to have these subjects applied".
Background
The Torture Prevention Group was established in December 2001 by the
Izmir Bar Association with the aim of providing legal aid to the
victims of torture and to campaign to remove all obstacles in Turkish
law and practice that might prevent the successful prosecution of
perpetrators.
The Group provides legal support to individuals who complain of
ill-treatment and torture by police officers. It systematically
monitors all stages of subsequent legal proceedings and intervenes
when necessary including by lodging appeals and organizing medical
documentation.
The work of the Group is carried out by some professional staff but
mainly by more than 250 lawyers from the Izmir Bar Association who
work voluntarily.
By the date of the decision by the Izmir Bar Association to close the
Group, 575 individuals had applied to it. Of these the Group had
worked on 334 cases, in 116 of which perpetrators had been charged.
The Group has also been active in sharing its experiences with lawyers
throughout Turkey by organising workshops. The tireless and
groundbreaking work of the Torture Prevention Group is a model not
just for lawyers in Turkey but around the world.
Official human rights bodies in Turkey like the Provincial and Local
Human Rights Boards have been largely ineffective in investigating and
monitoring human rights violations in Turkey. The work of the Torture
Prevention Group has therefore been especially important in
documenting the extent of torture and ill-treatment in Turkey.
Despite Prime Minister Tayyip Erdoana's statement to the Parliamentary
Assembly of the Council of Europe in October 2004 that "there is no
longer any systematic torture in Turkey", his administration has
failed to take sufficient steps to investigate and monitor patterns of
torture for him to be able to make such a statement.
Only in Izmir, thanks to the work of the Torture Prevention Group and
human rights organisations, has the true extent of the situation in
Turkey begun to be exposed in an objective fashion.
*******
IRISH VOLUNTEERS FOR SPAIN
(from the Irish Democrat)
David Granville reviews Irish Volunteers for Spain - a short history
of the Northern Irish volunteers who fought in defence of the
republican government of Spain 1936-1939 by Raymond John Quinn,
Belfast Cultural and Local History Group, £4.99
While we await a revised edition of Michael O'Riordan's classic study
of the Irish involvement in the fight against fascism in Spain,
expected sometime in 2005, the recent publication of Raymond John
Quinn's short history arrives as another welcome contribution, which
will expand our understanding of the role of volunteers from the
northeast who fought in the conflict.
Quinn, an East Belfast community-based writer and historian, points
out that of the 275 Irish volunteers who left their homes and families
to join the International Brigades, 61 were from the north.
Placing the Spanish conflict firmly within the political and
historical context of the ideological battles taking place between
left and right throughout Europe in the 1930s, he points to particular
developments in Ireland, where attempts to develop left-wing
republicanism led to the short-lived Republican Congress.
Although his account, which includes a brief outline of the main
battles and offensives, focuses on those from the north who fought on
the side of Spain's republican government against the fascist forces
of General Franco, the eventual victors, he does not ignore those who
fought with O'Duffy's foreign legion on the opposing side.
Ex-IRA men fought on both sides, although Quinn suggests that it was
loyalty to the Catholic faith and concerns about the persecution of
their co-religionists in Spain rather than strict adherence to
right-wing political ideology that attracted a majority of those who
joined O'Duffy's ranks - including some who had taken the republican
side in the Irish civil war.
Yet it would be difficult to describe the Catholic Church's support
for Franco's armed rebellion against the democratically elected,
left-leaning republican government of Spain, and its opposition to
anything vaguely socialistic in character, let alone communistic, as
being anything other than ideologically motivated.
What united the volunteers, who fought on the republican side, whether
communist, left republican or anarchist, Catholic, Protestant or
atheist, was a belief in socialism and staunch opposition to the
growing fascist menace in Europe.
Quinn's excellent short account includes a number of interesting
photographs, an alphabetical list of all the northern volunteers and
six short biographical profiles of a number of volunteers: James
Haughey, Paddy McAllister, Eamon McGrotty, Fred McMahon, Jim Straney
and Liam Tumilson.
Although the Irish Democrat is referred to on a number of occasions,
it should be pointed out that this is a different publication to the
one associated with the Connolly Association. The Connolly
Association's paper has only been known as the Irish Democrat since
1947. Before that, the Connolly Club's, and subsequently the Connolly
Association's, paper was titled Irish Freedom. The link, in so far as
there is one, probably rests with the fact that supporters of the
Republican Congress in London were instrumental, along with members of
the Irish section of the League Against Imperialism, former members of
the Irish Self-Determination League and others, in the founding of the
original Connolly Club in London in 1938.
Copies of 'Irish Volunteers for Spain' are available from the Four
Provinces Bookshop in London. They can also be obtained directly from
the Belfast Cultural and Local History Group, 537 Antrim Rd, Belfast
BT15 3BU, email: quinnsean2003@yahoo.com
*******
CHAVEZ NATIONALISES VENEPAL UNDER WORKERS' CONTROL
By Jorge Martin
On the morning of January 19th, in the Ayacucho room of the
Presidential Palace in Caracas, and with the presence of Venepal
workers and trade union leaders, Chavez signed decree number 3438
which expropriates Venepal. From now on it will be co-managed by the
workers and the state.
This is a very important victory for the workers of Venepal but more
than that it is a massive step forward for the Bolivarian revolution.
Venepal is one of the main producers of paper and cardboard in
Venezuela and its plant is located in Morón, in the industrial
state of Carabobo. At one point it employed a total of 1,600 workers,
controlled 40% of the national market and was one of the main Latin
American producers in this sector. But the company's management
allowed the paper mill to slowly lose market shares and revenues. In
April 2002, at the time of the short lived military coup against
Chávez, some of its main shareholders were present at the swearing
in ceremony for the new, illegitimate, "president" Pedro Carmona.
During the bosses' lockout against the Chávez government in
December 2002-January 2003 the workers resisted attempts by the
employers to paralyse the plant.
In July 2003, the owners declared bankruptcy and the workers responded
by occupying the plant and starting to run production under workers'
control. Rowan Jimenez, a trade union activist and member of the
action committee, explained how during the occupation, "the workers
organised production, broke all productivity records and reduced
unproductive waste to a level never seen before", (El Topo Obrero
interview, 16/09/04). After a 77-day long struggle an uneasy truce was
reached. But that was not to last. On September 7th of last year, the
company again ceased operations and the workers' struggle started
again.
From the outset of the struggle the workers adopted the demand for
nationalisation under workers' control that was being proposed by the
comrades of the Revolutionary Marxist Current (The Workers' Mole).
There were a number of demonstrations in Moron and in Caracas, and
solidarity actions were being organised by workers in other factories,
particularly those organised by the Carabobo region of the newly
established trade union federation, the UNT.
After months of struggle, finally, on January 13th, when a delegation
of Venepal workers went to Caracas to demand a solution, the National
Assembly declared Venepal and its installations to be of "public
usefulness and social interest". This was the prelude for Chavez
signing decree no. 3438. This is the result of the struggle and the
resilience of the workers in Venepal who consciously sought the
support of the local community for their struggle.
In his speech at the signing ceremony, in front of a large number of
Venepal workers and UNT trade union leaders, Chavez said "here we are
creating a new model, and that is why in Washington they are angry...
our model of development implies a change in the productive apparatus.
The working class must be united, learn and participate".
Before Chavez, the oldest worker in Venepal took the stage and
described their four month long struggle and the sacrifices they had
had to make. Edgar Peña, general secretary of the Venepal workers'
union explained how the workers had drafted a project that proved the
company could be profitable and how this paved the way for
expropriation. Peña also asked for National Guard protection of the
installations, since there are still those bent on sabotaging them. He
also explained how, when they resume production in a few weeks' time,
the first products will be destined for the government's social
programmes (Misiones), "for the benefit of the working class".
In his intervention, Chavez stated that capitalism is a model based on
slavery, "and this is why in Washington they are angry, because we
want to liberate ourselves from capitalism, in the same way that they
were angry many years ago with the ideas of Libertador Simon Bolivar".
Referring to Condoleeza Rice's recent criticisms of Venezuela, he said
that there are good remedies in the market to cure ulcers, "for those
who might need it". He added that some might be annoyed at what is
happening in Venezuela, but "they will continue to be annoyed by the
revolutionary process, because no one is going to dislodge us from
it".
Chavez added that the "role of the workers in this model is
fundamental and this is the difference between this model and the
capitalist model". He emphasised that "it is necessary to change the
productive relations".
"Capitalism wants to annihilate the workers... here we are carrying
out a process of liberation of the workers, and this is why they are
annoyed in Washington".
Paraphrasing Lenin, Chavez said, "neoliberal capitalism is the highest
stage of capitalist madness."
"In Venezuela we are at war, but not invading other countries or
violating other countries' sovereignty... here we are at war against
misery and poverty".
He explained that the recovery of factories on the part of the state
is aimed at changing the conditions of exploitation the workers have
been submitted to by the capitalist model and the recovery of the
country's industrial capacity. He added that these new companies
should not be viewed through the lens of state capitalism, but rather
as co-management. "We must not fear the workers since they are the
soul of the companies".
Chavez also announced the "recovery" of a maize processing plant and
all of the basic industries in Guyana (this means the massive SIDOR
steelworks amongst others).
Though he said that "today's expropriation of Venepal is an
exceptional measure... we are not going to take away land, if it is
yours it is yours", he was also clear that "any factories closed or
abandoned, we are going to take them over. All of them."
"I invite the workers' leaders to follow on this path" he said. This
is a clear appeal to workers in other factories who were also involved
in the struggle of the occupied factories in July-August 2003, like
the CNV, Fenix, Industrial de Perfumes, CODIMA, among others. Workers
in these factories have already started to remobilise.
This is without doubt a massive step forward in the right direction.
But it must also be extended to all those other sectors of the economy
that are under monopoly and imperialist control. This should include
the banking system (which is largely in the hands of the two Spanish
multinationals), the telecoms sector (in the hands of US
multinationals), the food distribution sector (in the hands of a
couple of Venezuelan companies owned by known coup organisers), and
others. This needs to be done, as in the case of Venepal, under
workers' control. In this way the whole economy could be planned to
the benefit of the majority of working people. This would be the only
way of guaranteeing the final victory of the revolution. Workers'
control or management, if it remains isolated in one single company,
cannot, in the longer term, fundamentally solve the problem.
Through its own experience, the Bolivarian revolution has come up
against the wall of capitalism. Now it needs to break it down and move
to a democratically planned socialist economy in order to win the war
against poverty and misery.
*******
IRAQI PATRIOTIC ALLIANCE ON THE "ELECTION"
Almost two years have now passed since the brutal imperialist war
against Iraq was waged and the subsequent occupation of the country
began.
Both the administrations of Bush and Blair started this war by using
the false pretexts that Iraq possessed weapons of mass destruction and
had terrorist links with Al-Qaida.
This aggression has resulted in hundred of thousands of martyrs and
wounded civilians and the total destruction of the infrastructure. It
has resulted in the demolishment of the old and new civilization of
Iraq, where national museums were looted and destroyed; libraries were
burned and scientific institutions destroyed.
The thirteen years of sanctions and the more than one and a half
million dead Iraqis were not enough to satisfy their blood thirst.
Today, the whole world is witnessing the fall of the US pretexts of
the aggression and occupation of the Iraq. All their lies about the
so-called freedom, democracy and human rights are being exposed around
the world with all the massacres and destruction they are causing in
Iraq, where Fallujah is not the last example.
Now, the illegitimacy of the Anglo-American war is obvious to the
international community and world opinion, which pushed the Secretary
General of the United Nation to declare: "The war is illegal, and it
is a clear breach of international law and against the UN Charter."
The failure of the political process of US-imperialism in Iraq and its
attempt to create an Iraqi instrument, in order to sell the
imperialist project to the Iraqi people, is due primarily to the
revolutionary strategy of some of the Iraqi resistance, which targets
the occupation force and its political institutions.
The Iraqi resistance has, by its revolutionary strategy, succeeded to
establish two clear fronts: That of the Iraqi resistance, backed by
its people and many sincere people of the world, and the front of
imperialism and its Iraqi and international tools.
The military and security dilemma, which is facing the occupation in
Iraq, is a result of the growing resistance that has pushed the
occupying power to political maneuvering and escape by calling for the
farce, which they call an "election" scheduled for January 30.
The Iraqi Patriotic Alliance emphasizes that it is impossible to hold
democratic and free elections under imperialist occupation. At the
same time, we condemn the American-Iranian-Kurdish connivance which
materializes in the occupation, the attempts to divide Iraq, and in
the preparation of civil war. We underline the following:
The war and the subsequent occupation are illegitimate, and
therefore every political process, including the election, is
illegitimate, too.
The election is meant to legalize the occupation by bringing on
an Iraqi parliament and government with one clear goal: to prolong the
occupation.
This election aims to legalize and institutionalize the religious and
ethnic quota system in Iraq, which will promote ethnic and religious
divisions of Iraq.
The armed Iraqi resistance is the only legitimate representative of
the Iraqi people.
For all these reasons, we call upon our Iraqi people with all its
ethnic, religious and political diversities to boycott this illegal
election.
And we call upon the peace and anti-war movements and all forces
opposing the occupation to condemn this political farce. Before the
election, there is an illegal occupation and illegal government in
Iraq; they will remain so after the election.
Long live the Iraqi resistance!
The occupiers will leave, and Iraq will remain!
January 18, 2005
Iraqi Patriotic Alliance
*******
QUOTES FROM DISCUSSION SITES
If Marxism has no future, the mean reason would be, that Marxists
insist that what Marx says is a priori immune to logical and
evidential critique, making Marxism a closed metaphysical system of
faith incapable of further development in the light of new experience,
a system according to which all new findings are assimilated by
analogy to sacred texts from the past.
Here are some references to statements by Frederick Engels on the
subject:
(1) "The materialist conception of history has a lot of them nowadays,
to whom it serves as an excuse for not studying history. Just as Marx
used to say, commenting on the French "Marxists" of the late [18]70s:
"All I know is that I am not a Marxist." "
http://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1890/letters/90_08_05.htm
(2) "Now what is known as 'Marxism' in France is, indeed, an
altogether peculiar product - so much so that Marx once said to
Lafargue: 'Ce qu'il y a de certain c'est que moi, je ne suis pas
Marxiste.'"
http://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1882/letters/82_11_02.htm
(3) "The Social-Democratic Federation here shares with your
German-American Socialists the distinction of being the only parties
who have contrived to reduce the Marxist theory of development to a
rigid orthodoxy. This theory is to be forced down the throats of the
workers at once and without development as articles of faith, instead
of making the workers raise themselves to its level by dint of their
own class instinct. That is why both remain mere sects and, as Hegel
says, come from nothing through nothing to nothing."
http://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1894/letters/94_05_12.htm
(4) Accusing Guesde and Lafargue of "revolutionary phrase-mongering"
and of denying the value of reformist struggles, Marx made his famous
remark that, if their politics represented Marxism, "ce qu'il y a de
certain c'est que moi, je ne suis pas Marxiste" ("what is certain is
that I myself am not a Marxist").
http://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1880/05/parti-ouvrier.htm
(5) Friedrich Engels hat weiter gesagt: "Wer Marxist ist, hat Marx
niemals verstanden." [What a Marxist is, Marx never understood].
http://www.redtux.org/text/dialectics.html
*******
WHAT'S ON
*
Launch of North Belfast Profile by Rights Project
Dear Friends, date for diaries, this will take place at 1.00pm at the
NICVA building on the Duncairn Gardens in North Belfast on the 26th of
January and will finish at 3.00pm.
This will be an up to date profile of the area and will include
statistical information and comment and been compiled by the Rights
Coalition to highlight issues and the continuing need for a rights
based approach to community development.
*
"A Come All Ye"
The best Burns Night in the North!
Saturday, 29th January 2005
Venue: C. P. I. Premises
8-10 Exchange Place, Belfast
Starting: 8.00 pm.
Don't miss a firework of
Poetry, music and song.
Haggis (vegetarian option available),
Taties and Neeps.
Master of Ceremony:
Barry Bruton
Booking strongly recommended:
Phone 02890230669 or 02877742655
*
Attached is the information and programme of this years Annual Human
Rights Conference that is being hosted by The Irish Peace Society in
the University of Limerick from 28th January-30th January.
Of major interest to you may be the Students Human Rights Network we
hope to establish at the conference. Attached also are the details of
this and what we hope to get out of the workshop. Please give it a
read and consider coming. Anyone that you know who is interested in
grassroots networks may also want to get involved in setting up the
network so pass onthe info.
Jenny Hannon
0863132317
jenny@peace.ie
International and Irish speakers to attend Human Rights Conference in
Limerick
The 3rd Annual Human Rights Conference, organised by the Irish Peace
Society, will open in Limerick on Friday 28th January. Attracting
world wide speakers such as Jana Kiser, founder Global Learning; and
Saif Abukeshek, head Co-ordinator of International Solidarity
Movement, the Human Rights Conference will also hear from Irish Times
columnist John Waters, Michael D. Higgins, and MEP Simon Coveney.
Other speakers include Caoimhe Butterly, an Irish human rights and
peace activist from Cork, who was rated as one of the top 100 people
of the year by Time Magazine Europe 2002 for her efforts in peace
initiatives in Palestine's West Bank. Mary Kelly, a former nurse who
came to public attention when she dismantled an American military
plane at Shannon Airport at the outbreak of the war in Iraq in 2003.
The focus of this year's conference is to connect the discussion of
human rights with those individuals that are living every day in the
shadow of these human rights. Various panels will meet during the
weekend to discuss a wide array of human rights topics ranging from
Disability, Gay Rights and Citizenship issues.
The panel on Woman's Rights will focus on Rape as a crime against
women. Anne Marlborough from the University of Limerick Law
Department, and Ingrid Wallace from the Limerick Rape Crisis Centre
are expected to speak. The panel on Father's Rights will examine the
mutual rights pertaining to fathers and their children. Aisling Reidy,
Director for the Irish Council for Civil Liberties will chair this
panel, which will feature The Irish Times columnist John Waters, and
Family Law Expert, Geoffrey Shannon.
The conference will conclude on Sunday 30th January in the Jean Monnet
Theatre, University of Limerick, with a forum on the Middle East. Saif
Abukeshek, Ofer Zalzberg, Caoimhe Butterly and MEP Simon Coveney will
each contribute to this forum.
The conference opens in St. Mary's Cathedral in Limerick on Friday
28th January at 7pm. Internationally acclaimed musican, Micheal
O'Suilleabhain accompanied by a string quartet from Limerick will
provide musical entertainment on the opening night. AMEN, featuring
lead singers Noirin Ni Riain will also perform. Noreen is renowned for
singing at numerous international peace gigs and in the past has
performed for the Dalai Lama.
Weekend Ticket Prices range from €25 for students, to €50 for
any member of an organisation. The public are welcome to attend the
weekends events, with tickets costing €35. One can also attend
individual events, the cost for this is €10. Tickets will be on
sale during registration on Friday 28th a St. Mary's Cathedral and
again Saturday morning in the University Concert Hall.
For further information, please contact:
Siobhan Dee, IPS, 086 8671573
siobhan@humanrights.ie
http://www.humanrights.ie/
PROGRAMME OF EVENTS: 3RD ANNUAL HUMAN RIGHTS CONFERENCE
FRIDAY 28TH JANUARY:
OFFICIAL OPENING AT 7PM IN ST. MARY'S CATHEDRAL, LIMERICK
The opening event will feature the following:
* Jana Kiser, founder Global Learning, and education initiative in
Central America
* Caoimhe Butterly, international humanitarian, nominated by TIME
magazine Europe as one of the world's top 100 individuals for the year
2002
* John Waters, Irish Times Opinions journalist and active campaigner
on the issue of fathers' rights in Ireland.
* Mary Kelly, a former nurse, who came to public attention when she
dismantled and American military plane at Shannon Airport at the
outbreak of the war in Iraq in 2003.
Musical entertainment will be provided by:
* Micheal O'Suilleabhain accompanies by a string quartet.
* AMEN, featuring lead singer Noirin Ni Riain. Noirin has participated
in numerous international peace gigs, and has also performed for the
Dalai Lama.
* Downtown Crossing which is a 6-piece reggae/funk band.
* Lucas, featuring special guest Graham Brennan.
SATURDAY 29TH JANUARY:
DISCUSSION PANELS COMMENCE AT 10AM IN THE UNIVERSITY CONCERT HALL,
UNIVERSITY OF LIMERICK.
9.30-10am: Morning Coffee & Tea Venue: Irish World Music Centre, Conce
Hall
10am-12noon: Venue: Ground Floor, University Concert Hall
1. Disability Panel
Martin Naughton, Founder Irish Centre for Independent Living
Caroline McGrath, Deputy CEO Mental Health Ireland
Liam Herrick, Senior Legislation & Policy Review Officer: Irish Human
Rights Commission
David Staunton, FG Front Bench Spokesperson on Social & Family Affairs
& Equality
2. Women's Rights Panel
Women's Rights Rape, a crime against Women
Anne Marlborough, University of Limerick Law Department.
Ingrid Wallace, Senior Counsellor for Limerick Rape Crisis Centre
Mary Kelly, Former CEO of NWCI
Kate Mulkerrins, Barrister and legal co-ordinator for RCNI
Chair TBA
3. Gay Rights Panel
Gay Rights - the Legality concerning Homosexuality in the Irish state
Ailbhe Smith, Co-Chair, National Lesbian and Gay Federation
Louise Tierney, Manager, Outhouse in Dublin
Dr. Patricia Conlon, University of Limerick Law Department
12.00-1pm: Lunch
1-3pm: Panels Continue. Venue: Ground Floor, University Concert Hall
4. Citizenship Panel
Maurice Manning, Chair, Irish Human Rights Commission
Michael D. Higgins, Labour Party
Others speakers TBC
5. Traveller's Panel
Featuring: Bridget Casey, Bishop Willie Walsh, David Joyce
6. Father's Rights Panel
Father's Rights - Mutual Rights pertaining to Fathers and their
childre
Aisling Reidy, Chair, Director of the Irish Council for Civil
Liberties
John Waters, Irish Times Columnist
Benig Mauger, Psychotherapist
Liam O'Gogain, Parental Equality Campaigner
Geoffrey Shannon, Family Law Expert with the Law Society
3-3.30pm: Afternoon Tea & Coffee Venue: Concert Hall Foyer
3.30-5.50pm:
Workshop to establishing a Students Human Rights Network
Venue: Ground Floor, University Concert Hall
7.30pm: Multicultural Banquet, Venue: South Court Hotel, Admission:
Conference Ticket
SUNDAY 30TH JANUARY: FORUM ON THE MIDDLE EAST
12noon-2.00pm: Middle East Forum, Venue: Jean Monnet Theatre
Speakers include:
Saif Abukeshek: Head coordinator of International Solidarity Movement,
and Co-ordinator for the International Relations of the Highest
National Committee for the Right of Return for the Palestinian
Refugees in Palestine.
Ofer Zalzberg: Co-Founder and Co-Chairman of the Young Israeli Forum
for Co-operation, an Israeli NGO that promotes dialogue and
understanding between Israelis and Palestinians. Ofer is also a
non-commissioned Officer (reserve) in the Intelligence Corps of the
IDF.
Mr. Ali Halimeh: Representative from the General Delegation of Ireland
to Palestine.
Caoimhe Butterly: An Irish human rights and peace activist, Caoimhe
has spent time living in the Palestine's West Bank, mostly in Jenin
Camp. On 21 November 2002, she was shot at close-range by an Israeli
sniper, who she saw aiming his gun at her from an armored personnel
carrier. Time Magazine Europe 2002 rated Caoimhe Buttlery as one of
the top 100 people of the year.
MEP Simon Coveney: A member of the Foreign Affairs Committee and a
Member of the Sub Committee on Human Rights.
2.00-2.30 - Afternoon Tea / Coffee
2.00-2.30 - Key End Note Address, Venue: Jean Monnet Theatre
Student's Human Rights Network 2005
The members of this years Third Annual Human Rights Conference
Committee are setting aside a two hour slot on the Saturday evening of
the conference, 29th January 2005 in hope of setting up a Students
Human Rights Network (SHRN).
It is envisaged, that the SHRN will be an umbrella coalition made up
of all the student groups, at secondary and at third level who deal in
the area of Human Rights all over the island. This coalition is open
to all interested parties such as NGO'S, grassroots student
organisations and other relevant bodies dedicated to supporting Human
Rights, encouraging dialogue on issues of HR abuses and also
interested in actively working to encourage change in our society and
others, so that Human Rights are respected and upheld. We, the
committee feel that this is not just an aspiration but is a
possibility. The agenda below is a provisional set of steps that we
believe will help us reach our goal of setting the foundation for a
SHRN, but as this is the students of the island of Irelands' network,
everything is open for discussion and suggestions are welcome.
SHRN
* Mission Statement
* Aims and Objectives
* Difficulties that may arise
* How can we make this a possibility
Practicalities
* Active email list
* Web-site amendments e.g. notice board or discussion forum
* HRC organisation every year - rotation of hosts
* Committees?
* Publications other than the web-site
* Up coming events - other than the HRC
One of the important outcomes we want from this meeting is for a
contact list to be compiled so as to make our hope of a SHRN
materialise.
*
BLOODY SUNDAY COMMEMORATION
MARCH & RALLY
Saturday 29TH JANUARY 2005
ASSEMBLE 10:30 AM SHAMROCK STREET
GLASGOW CITY CENTRE
RALLY POINT ROYSTONHILL
SPEAKERS IN ATTENDANCE
ALL WELCOME
*******
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Volume 2, Number 21
23 January 2005
E-Mail Newsletter of the Irish Republican Socialist Party
1. The Price of the Irish Presidency
2. Henry McDonald and Sean Russell
3. Padraigin Drinan
4. Turkey: Amnesty Shock as Torture Prevention Group is Closed Because
of Europe Funding
5. Irish Volunteers for Spain - Review
6. Chavez Nationalises Venepal Under Workers' Control
7. Quotes from Discussion Sites
8. What's On
*******
THE PRICE OF THE IRISH PRESIDENCY
Last year, Mary McAleese was elected as President of Ireland. But in
order to run her campaign, she needed the backing of high-profile
business figures and companies. Headed by Lawrence Crowley, the
governor of the Bank of Ireland, they raised 137,000 Euros. Donors
included the companies Cement Roadstone Holdings, Royal Sun Alliance,
Grafton Recruitment and United Drugs plc. Individuals who made
donations included the Chief Executive of the Bank of Ireland. Are we
to expect that this money came with no political strings attached?
For anyone interested to run for the Irish presidency, she had to
spend 20,605 Euros on renting offices and equipment, most of which was
on short-term Lease, 7,933 Euros on market research, and 13,749 Euros
on campaign workers.
No money, no votes.
(Irish Times, 22 January 2005)
*******
HENRY MCDONALD AND SEAN RUSSELL
In the Observer (16 January 2005), Henry McDonald accused Liam
O'Ruairc of 'Nazi like denial' of the alleged collaboration between
Sean Russell and the Nazis.
http://observer.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,6903,1391492,00.html
However, it is Henry McDonald who gets his facts wrong:
"The facts about Russell's tenure as IRA O/C as well as his death are
crystal clear. As British cities were relentlessly bombed during the
Luftwaffe Blitz Russell dispatched bombers of his own to England.
Explosions killed civilians in cities such as Coventry..."
Unfortunately, Henry McDonald is factually wrong. The IRA's 1939-1940
campaign and the Blitz did not take place at the same time. It was on
Monday 16 January 1939 that the IRA bombing campaign in England began
- nine months before the Second World War began. It had peaked by the
time the Prevention of Violence (Temporary Provisions) Bill was
introduced by Westminster on 24 July 1939. The Coventry explosion
mentioned by Henry took place on 25 August 1939. And by the time
Barnes and McCormack were hanged on 7 February 1940, the campaign was
well on its way out. The Battle of Britain began in the summer of
1940, and the Blitz officially started on 7 September 1940. That
was a year after the Coventry explosion. It is thus factually
incorrect to imply that the IRA and Luftwaffe campaigns took place at
the same time.
"Moreover, Russell was feted in Berlin and travelled there
voluntarily. In order to aid the IRA campaign to disrupt the British
war effort Russell was transported back from Berlin in 1944 on a
U-boat."
Again, Henry gets the facts wrong. It was on August 1940 that Russell
and Ryan were sent back to Ireland by U Boat. By 1944, Russell had
been dead four years.
Henry writes:
"Usually intelligent republican writers and critics such as Liam
O'Ruaric in Belfast have also gone down the Nazi-like denial line
pointing to Ryan's presence on the submarine and the fact that so many
IRA veterans like him fought on the Republican side in Spain."
My argument about Russell is not based on Ryan's presence but on a
series of well-established evidence:
http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/letters/story.jsp?story=600864
"Sean Russell was essentially a physical-force republican and from
what we know he had little interest in ideologies and politics.
The Nazi attempts to indoctrinate Russell with their philosophy and
politics failed spectacularly. Sean Russell told one German official:
"I am not a Nazi. I'm not even pro-German. I am an Irishman fighting
for the independence of Ireland. The British have been our enemies for
hundreds of years. They are the enemy of Germany today. If it suits
Germany to give us help to achieve independence, I am willing to
accept it, but no more, and there must be no strings attached." (The
Irish Times, 6 June 1958).
The Public Records Office has released files, which show that, after
intensive post-war interrogation of German intelligence agents at the
highest level, British intelligence itself concluded in 1946 "Russell
throughout his stay in Germany had shown considerable reticence
towards the Germans and plainly did not regard himself as a German
agent".
In his 1958 novel, "Victors and Vanquished," Francis Stuart observed
of the Russell-based character: "Pro-German when it comes to the
English and Pro-Jew when it's a question of the Germans".
One might dismiss this as a literary invention were it not that this
assessment was corroborated by a more significant witness - Erwin
Lahousen, the first and most important witness for the prosecution at
the Nuremberg War Crimes Trials in 1945. Lahousen had been head of the
second bureau of the German Intelligence Service from 1939 to 1943.
Lahousen wrote that Russell was "a real republican of the old school",
who may be willing "to use the Germans for his own political ends",
but who "regarded the Nazi philosophy as anathema".
In conclusion, Mr McDonald's argument is very shaky and needs to
provide a great deal more evidence to back up his claims of Liam's
"Nazi like denial".
*******
PADRAIGIN DRINAN
The Law Society of Northern Ireland is in the process of closing down
the law practice of one Padraigin Drinan. She can no longer represent
her clients and they are asking the High Court in Belfast to freeze
her assets immediately. The reason given by Ms Bryson of the Law
Society of Northern Ireland for these actions depend on who is asking.
She has told Padraigin that it is because she failed to respond to
letters from the society (Padraigin maintains that she answered the
questions asked fully in other correspondence). She has told others it
is because Padraigin had not amalgamated her practice with that of
another solicitor. One person even got a call today saying, "Watch
what your getting into, this is about financial irregularities". This
is nonsense, as you need to be making money to be irregular with it,
and a huge portion of Padraigin's work is done pro bono.
Padraigin has a long history of defending the dispossessed. She's a
champion of the poor; she fights for those in society who have no
voice. Immigrants, the residents groups, Dominic McGlinchey (raising
his sons, after their father's death), and above she does what's right
and speaks out against injustice no mater who is perpetrating that
injustice.
What is needed at this moment is to get the word out to as many
people, unions, politicians and activist groups possible and to ask
them to contact Ms Bryson of the Law Society of Northern Ireland and
ask her why Padraigin is being persecuted? To ask, which of the three
reasons given has Padraigin's ability to practice been taken away
over? Moreover, is this not more actually punishment for the political
orientation of her clientele? Is it not about the fact that she is
trying to keep loyalists from again invading nationalist communities
in the coming marching season?
Additional information will be forth coming, but until then we are
asking that concerned individuals and groups write to the address and
email below and put the questions outlined above to Ms Bryson.
Padraigin has taken cases that have made her enemies. The British and
Irish Governments because she ruined their citizenship referendum, by
demonstrating that it disenfranchised the six counties and exposed the
fact that people from the six counties who put themselves down as
Irish could not get jobs in the civil service there. GFA-supporting
parties because her challenge to Orange marches in the nationalist
community undermines deals to resurrect Stormont. The
unionist/loyalist community because of her association with issues
impacting on the nationalist community.
Contact Suzanne Bryson and tell her that you are aware of the
witch-hunt against Padraigin and want it to end. Padraigin Drinan may
be the most important civil rights attorney practicing in the six
counties today, please join in defending her and don't delay.
SUZANNE BRYSON - Deputy Secretary
Email: info@lawsoc-ni.org
Law Society of Northern Ireland
98 Victoria St
Belfast, Ireland BT1 3JZ
(E-mail from Daisy Mules)
*******
TURKEY: AMNESTY SGOCK AS TORTURE PREVENTION GROUP IS CLOSED BECAUSE OF
EUROPE FUNDING
Amnesty International has written to the President of the Izmir Bar
Association, Mr Nevzat Erdemir, to express its shock at his decision
to dissolve its Torture Prevention Group.
The Group had been engaged in groundbreaking work in bringing justice
to torture victims and its closure is a step-back in the struggle
against torture. Amnesty International called for the decision to be
reconsidered.
Mr Nevzat Erdemir stated last month that one of the reasons that he
was closing the Torture Prevention Group was because a project it was
coordinating was receiving funds from the European Commission which he
claimed was on a mission to divide Turkey and to damage its national
interest, including through the creation of "an independent
Kurdistan".
He stated that the closure of the Group was necessary in order to
prevent "disasters for our Republic, our Nation and People" and that
he "violently denounces this initiative [the Torture Prevention
Group], supported by the European Union, which is directed, under the
name of human rights, at the unity and integrity of our country".
He also criticised the Group's cooperation with international
organisations - understood to include Amnesty International.
Amnesty International is further concerned at reports that the
administration of the Izmir Bar Association had seized files and
computers from the offices of the Torture Prevention Group on 7
January. These contained confidential testimony, photos and other
records related to some 575 applications from victims of torture.
Amnesty International is concerned that applicants may subsequently
face the risk of harassment, detention or even further torture and
ill-treatment. It therefore sought urgent clarification as to the
whereabouts of these documents.
The decision in December 2004 to close the Torture Prevention Group
appears to be against Article 95 of the Turkish Law on Legal Practice
which states that one of the duties of Executive Boards of Bar
Associations in Turkey should be to "protect and defend supremacy of
law and human rights and to work to have these subjects applied".
Background
The Torture Prevention Group was established in December 2001 by the
Izmir Bar Association with the aim of providing legal aid to the
victims of torture and to campaign to remove all obstacles in Turkish
law and practice that might prevent the successful prosecution of
perpetrators.
The Group provides legal support to individuals who complain of
ill-treatment and torture by police officers. It systematically
monitors all stages of subsequent legal proceedings and intervenes
when necessary including by lodging appeals and organizing medical
documentation.
The work of the Group is carried out by some professional staff but
mainly by more than 250 lawyers from the Izmir Bar Association who
work voluntarily.
By the date of the decision by the Izmir Bar Association to close the
Group, 575 individuals had applied to it. Of these the Group had
worked on 334 cases, in 116 of which perpetrators had been charged.
The Group has also been active in sharing its experiences with lawyers
throughout Turkey by organising workshops. The tireless and
groundbreaking work of the Torture Prevention Group is a model not
just for lawyers in Turkey but around the world.
Official human rights bodies in Turkey like the Provincial and Local
Human Rights Boards have been largely ineffective in investigating and
monitoring human rights violations in Turkey. The work of the Torture
Prevention Group has therefore been especially important in
documenting the extent of torture and ill-treatment in Turkey.
Despite Prime Minister Tayyip Erdoana's statement to the Parliamentary
Assembly of the Council of Europe in October 2004 that "there is no
longer any systematic torture in Turkey", his administration has
failed to take sufficient steps to investigate and monitor patterns of
torture for him to be able to make such a statement.
Only in Izmir, thanks to the work of the Torture Prevention Group and
human rights organisations, has the true extent of the situation in
Turkey begun to be exposed in an objective fashion.
*******
IRISH VOLUNTEERS FOR SPAIN
(from the Irish Democrat)
David Granville reviews Irish Volunteers for Spain - a short history
of the Northern Irish volunteers who fought in defence of the
republican government of Spain 1936-1939 by Raymond John Quinn,
Belfast Cultural and Local History Group, £4.99
While we await a revised edition of Michael O'Riordan's classic study
of the Irish involvement in the fight against fascism in Spain,
expected sometime in 2005, the recent publication of Raymond John
Quinn's short history arrives as another welcome contribution, which
will expand our understanding of the role of volunteers from the
northeast who fought in the conflict.
Quinn, an East Belfast community-based writer and historian, points
out that of the 275 Irish volunteers who left their homes and families
to join the International Brigades, 61 were from the north.
Placing the Spanish conflict firmly within the political and
historical context of the ideological battles taking place between
left and right throughout Europe in the 1930s, he points to particular
developments in Ireland, where attempts to develop left-wing
republicanism led to the short-lived Republican Congress.
Although his account, which includes a brief outline of the main
battles and offensives, focuses on those from the north who fought on
the side of Spain's republican government against the fascist forces
of General Franco, the eventual victors, he does not ignore those who
fought with O'Duffy's foreign legion on the opposing side.
Ex-IRA men fought on both sides, although Quinn suggests that it was
loyalty to the Catholic faith and concerns about the persecution of
their co-religionists in Spain rather than strict adherence to
right-wing political ideology that attracted a majority of those who
joined O'Duffy's ranks - including some who had taken the republican
side in the Irish civil war.
Yet it would be difficult to describe the Catholic Church's support
for Franco's armed rebellion against the democratically elected,
left-leaning republican government of Spain, and its opposition to
anything vaguely socialistic in character, let alone communistic, as
being anything other than ideologically motivated.
What united the volunteers, who fought on the republican side, whether
communist, left republican or anarchist, Catholic, Protestant or
atheist, was a belief in socialism and staunch opposition to the
growing fascist menace in Europe.
Quinn's excellent short account includes a number of interesting
photographs, an alphabetical list of all the northern volunteers and
six short biographical profiles of a number of volunteers: James
Haughey, Paddy McAllister, Eamon McGrotty, Fred McMahon, Jim Straney
and Liam Tumilson.
Although the Irish Democrat is referred to on a number of occasions,
it should be pointed out that this is a different publication to the
one associated with the Connolly Association. The Connolly
Association's paper has only been known as the Irish Democrat since
1947. Before that, the Connolly Club's, and subsequently the Connolly
Association's, paper was titled Irish Freedom. The link, in so far as
there is one, probably rests with the fact that supporters of the
Republican Congress in London were instrumental, along with members of
the Irish section of the League Against Imperialism, former members of
the Irish Self-Determination League and others, in the founding of the
original Connolly Club in London in 1938.
Copies of 'Irish Volunteers for Spain' are available from the Four
Provinces Bookshop in London. They can also be obtained directly from
the Belfast Cultural and Local History Group, 537 Antrim Rd, Belfast
BT15 3BU, email: quinnsean2003@yahoo.com
*******
CHAVEZ NATIONALISES VENEPAL UNDER WORKERS' CONTROL
By Jorge Martin
On the morning of January 19th, in the Ayacucho room of the
Presidential Palace in Caracas, and with the presence of Venepal
workers and trade union leaders, Chavez signed decree number 3438
which expropriates Venepal. From now on it will be co-managed by the
workers and the state.
This is a very important victory for the workers of Venepal but more
than that it is a massive step forward for the Bolivarian revolution.
Venepal is one of the main producers of paper and cardboard in
Venezuela and its plant is located in Morón, in the industrial
state of Carabobo. At one point it employed a total of 1,600 workers,
controlled 40% of the national market and was one of the main Latin
American producers in this sector. But the company's management
allowed the paper mill to slowly lose market shares and revenues. In
April 2002, at the time of the short lived military coup against
Chávez, some of its main shareholders were present at the swearing
in ceremony for the new, illegitimate, "president" Pedro Carmona.
During the bosses' lockout against the Chávez government in
December 2002-January 2003 the workers resisted attempts by the
employers to paralyse the plant.
In July 2003, the owners declared bankruptcy and the workers responded
by occupying the plant and starting to run production under workers'
control. Rowan Jimenez, a trade union activist and member of the
action committee, explained how during the occupation, "the workers
organised production, broke all productivity records and reduced
unproductive waste to a level never seen before", (El Topo Obrero
interview, 16/09/04). After a 77-day long struggle an uneasy truce was
reached. But that was not to last. On September 7th of last year, the
company again ceased operations and the workers' struggle started
again.
From the outset of the struggle the workers adopted the demand for
nationalisation under workers' control that was being proposed by the
comrades of the Revolutionary Marxist Current (The Workers' Mole).
There were a number of demonstrations in Moron and in Caracas, and
solidarity actions were being organised by workers in other factories,
particularly those organised by the Carabobo region of the newly
established trade union federation, the UNT.
After months of struggle, finally, on January 13th, when a delegation
of Venepal workers went to Caracas to demand a solution, the National
Assembly declared Venepal and its installations to be of "public
usefulness and social interest". This was the prelude for Chavez
signing decree no. 3438. This is the result of the struggle and the
resilience of the workers in Venepal who consciously sought the
support of the local community for their struggle.
In his speech at the signing ceremony, in front of a large number of
Venepal workers and UNT trade union leaders, Chavez said "here we are
creating a new model, and that is why in Washington they are angry...
our model of development implies a change in the productive apparatus.
The working class must be united, learn and participate".
Before Chavez, the oldest worker in Venepal took the stage and
described their four month long struggle and the sacrifices they had
had to make. Edgar Peña, general secretary of the Venepal workers'
union explained how the workers had drafted a project that proved the
company could be profitable and how this paved the way for
expropriation. Peña also asked for National Guard protection of the
installations, since there are still those bent on sabotaging them. He
also explained how, when they resume production in a few weeks' time,
the first products will be destined for the government's social
programmes (Misiones), "for the benefit of the working class".
In his intervention, Chavez stated that capitalism is a model based on
slavery, "and this is why in Washington they are angry, because we
want to liberate ourselves from capitalism, in the same way that they
were angry many years ago with the ideas of Libertador Simon Bolivar".
Referring to Condoleeza Rice's recent criticisms of Venezuela, he said
that there are good remedies in the market to cure ulcers, "for those
who might need it". He added that some might be annoyed at what is
happening in Venezuela, but "they will continue to be annoyed by the
revolutionary process, because no one is going to dislodge us from
it".
Chavez added that the "role of the workers in this model is
fundamental and this is the difference between this model and the
capitalist model". He emphasised that "it is necessary to change the
productive relations".
"Capitalism wants to annihilate the workers... here we are carrying
out a process of liberation of the workers, and this is why they are
annoyed in Washington".
Paraphrasing Lenin, Chavez said, "neoliberal capitalism is the highest
stage of capitalist madness."
"In Venezuela we are at war, but not invading other countries or
violating other countries' sovereignty... here we are at war against
misery and poverty".
He explained that the recovery of factories on the part of the state
is aimed at changing the conditions of exploitation the workers have
been submitted to by the capitalist model and the recovery of the
country's industrial capacity. He added that these new companies
should not be viewed through the lens of state capitalism, but rather
as co-management. "We must not fear the workers since they are the
soul of the companies".
Chavez also announced the "recovery" of a maize processing plant and
all of the basic industries in Guyana (this means the massive SIDOR
steelworks amongst others).
Though he said that "today's expropriation of Venepal is an
exceptional measure... we are not going to take away land, if it is
yours it is yours", he was also clear that "any factories closed or
abandoned, we are going to take them over. All of them."
"I invite the workers' leaders to follow on this path" he said. This
is a clear appeal to workers in other factories who were also involved
in the struggle of the occupied factories in July-August 2003, like
the CNV, Fenix, Industrial de Perfumes, CODIMA, among others. Workers
in these factories have already started to remobilise.
This is without doubt a massive step forward in the right direction.
But it must also be extended to all those other sectors of the economy
that are under monopoly and imperialist control. This should include
the banking system (which is largely in the hands of the two Spanish
multinationals), the telecoms sector (in the hands of US
multinationals), the food distribution sector (in the hands of a
couple of Venezuelan companies owned by known coup organisers), and
others. This needs to be done, as in the case of Venepal, under
workers' control. In this way the whole economy could be planned to
the benefit of the majority of working people. This would be the only
way of guaranteeing the final victory of the revolution. Workers'
control or management, if it remains isolated in one single company,
cannot, in the longer term, fundamentally solve the problem.
Through its own experience, the Bolivarian revolution has come up
against the wall of capitalism. Now it needs to break it down and move
to a democratically planned socialist economy in order to win the war
against poverty and misery.
*******
IRAQI PATRIOTIC ALLIANCE ON THE "ELECTION"
Almost two years have now passed since the brutal imperialist war
against Iraq was waged and the subsequent occupation of the country
began.
Both the administrations of Bush and Blair started this war by using
the false pretexts that Iraq possessed weapons of mass destruction and
had terrorist links with Al-Qaida.
This aggression has resulted in hundred of thousands of martyrs and
wounded civilians and the total destruction of the infrastructure. It
has resulted in the demolishment of the old and new civilization of
Iraq, where national museums were looted and destroyed; libraries were
burned and scientific institutions destroyed.
The thirteen years of sanctions and the more than one and a half
million dead Iraqis were not enough to satisfy their blood thirst.
Today, the whole world is witnessing the fall of the US pretexts of
the aggression and occupation of the Iraq. All their lies about the
so-called freedom, democracy and human rights are being exposed around
the world with all the massacres and destruction they are causing in
Iraq, where Fallujah is not the last example.
Now, the illegitimacy of the Anglo-American war is obvious to the
international community and world opinion, which pushed the Secretary
General of the United Nation to declare: "The war is illegal, and it
is a clear breach of international law and against the UN Charter."
The failure of the political process of US-imperialism in Iraq and its
attempt to create an Iraqi instrument, in order to sell the
imperialist project to the Iraqi people, is due primarily to the
revolutionary strategy of some of the Iraqi resistance, which targets
the occupation force and its political institutions.
The Iraqi resistance has, by its revolutionary strategy, succeeded to
establish two clear fronts: That of the Iraqi resistance, backed by
its people and many sincere people of the world, and the front of
imperialism and its Iraqi and international tools.
The military and security dilemma, which is facing the occupation in
Iraq, is a result of the growing resistance that has pushed the
occupying power to political maneuvering and escape by calling for the
farce, which they call an "election" scheduled for January 30.
The Iraqi Patriotic Alliance emphasizes that it is impossible to hold
democratic and free elections under imperialist occupation. At the
same time, we condemn the American-Iranian-Kurdish connivance which
materializes in the occupation, the attempts to divide Iraq, and in
the preparation of civil war. We underline the following:
The war and the subsequent occupation are illegitimate, and
therefore every political process, including the election, is
illegitimate, too.
The election is meant to legalize the occupation by bringing on
an Iraqi parliament and government with one clear goal: to prolong the
occupation.
This election aims to legalize and institutionalize the religious and
ethnic quota system in Iraq, which will promote ethnic and religious
divisions of Iraq.
The armed Iraqi resistance is the only legitimate representative of
the Iraqi people.
For all these reasons, we call upon our Iraqi people with all its
ethnic, religious and political diversities to boycott this illegal
election.
And we call upon the peace and anti-war movements and all forces
opposing the occupation to condemn this political farce. Before the
election, there is an illegal occupation and illegal government in
Iraq; they will remain so after the election.
Long live the Iraqi resistance!
The occupiers will leave, and Iraq will remain!
January 18, 2005
Iraqi Patriotic Alliance
*******
QUOTES FROM DISCUSSION SITES
If Marxism has no future, the mean reason would be, that Marxists
insist that what Marx says is a priori immune to logical and
evidential critique, making Marxism a closed metaphysical system of
faith incapable of further development in the light of new experience,
a system according to which all new findings are assimilated by
analogy to sacred texts from the past.
Here are some references to statements by Frederick Engels on the
subject:
(1) "The materialist conception of history has a lot of them nowadays,
to whom it serves as an excuse for not studying history. Just as Marx
used to say, commenting on the French "Marxists" of the late [18]70s:
"All I know is that I am not a Marxist." "
http://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1890/letters/90_08_05.htm
(2) "Now what is known as 'Marxism' in France is, indeed, an
altogether peculiar product - so much so that Marx once said to
Lafargue: 'Ce qu'il y a de certain c'est que moi, je ne suis pas
Marxiste.'"
http://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1882/letters/82_11_02.htm
(3) "The Social-Democratic Federation here shares with your
German-American Socialists the distinction of being the only parties
who have contrived to reduce the Marxist theory of development to a
rigid orthodoxy. This theory is to be forced down the throats of the
workers at once and without development as articles of faith, instead
of making the workers raise themselves to its level by dint of their
own class instinct. That is why both remain mere sects and, as Hegel
says, come from nothing through nothing to nothing."
http://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1894/letters/94_05_12.htm
(4) Accusing Guesde and Lafargue of "revolutionary phrase-mongering"
and of denying the value of reformist struggles, Marx made his famous
remark that, if their politics represented Marxism, "ce qu'il y a de
certain c'est que moi, je ne suis pas Marxiste" ("what is certain is
that I myself am not a Marxist").
http://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1880/05/parti-ouvrier.htm
(5) Friedrich Engels hat weiter gesagt: "Wer Marxist ist, hat Marx
niemals verstanden." [What a Marxist is, Marx never understood].
http://www.redtux.org/text/dialectics.html
*******
WHAT'S ON
*
Launch of North Belfast Profile by Rights Project
Dear Friends, date for diaries, this will take place at 1.00pm at the
NICVA building on the Duncairn Gardens in North Belfast on the 26th of
January and will finish at 3.00pm.
This will be an up to date profile of the area and will include
statistical information and comment and been compiled by the Rights
Coalition to highlight issues and the continuing need for a rights
based approach to community development.
*
"A Come All Ye"
The best Burns Night in the North!
Saturday, 29th January 2005
Venue: C. P. I. Premises
8-10 Exchange Place, Belfast
Starting: 8.00 pm.
Don't miss a firework of
Poetry, music and song.
Haggis (vegetarian option available),
Taties and Neeps.
Master of Ceremony:
Barry Bruton
Booking strongly recommended:
Phone 02890230669 or 02877742655
*
Attached is the information and programme of this years Annual Human
Rights Conference that is being hosted by The Irish Peace Society in
the University of Limerick from 28th January-30th January.
Of major interest to you may be the Students Human Rights Network we
hope to establish at the conference. Attached also are the details of
this and what we hope to get out of the workshop. Please give it a
read and consider coming. Anyone that you know who is interested in
grassroots networks may also want to get involved in setting up the
network so pass onthe info.
Jenny Hannon
0863132317
jenny@peace.ie
International and Irish speakers to attend Human Rights Conference in
Limerick
The 3rd Annual Human Rights Conference, organised by the Irish Peace
Society, will open in Limerick on Friday 28th January. Attracting
world wide speakers such as Jana Kiser, founder Global Learning; and
Saif Abukeshek, head Co-ordinator of International Solidarity
Movement, the Human Rights Conference will also hear from Irish Times
columnist John Waters, Michael D. Higgins, and MEP Simon Coveney.
Other speakers include Caoimhe Butterly, an Irish human rights and
peace activist from Cork, who was rated as one of the top 100 people
of the year by Time Magazine Europe 2002 for her efforts in peace
initiatives in Palestine's West Bank. Mary Kelly, a former nurse who
came to public attention when she dismantled an American military
plane at Shannon Airport at the outbreak of the war in Iraq in 2003.
The focus of this year's conference is to connect the discussion of
human rights with those individuals that are living every day in the
shadow of these human rights. Various panels will meet during the
weekend to discuss a wide array of human rights topics ranging from
Disability, Gay Rights and Citizenship issues.
The panel on Woman's Rights will focus on Rape as a crime against
women. Anne Marlborough from the University of Limerick Law
Department, and Ingrid Wallace from the Limerick Rape Crisis Centre
are expected to speak. The panel on Father's Rights will examine the
mutual rights pertaining to fathers and their children. Aisling Reidy,
Director for the Irish Council for Civil Liberties will chair this
panel, which will feature The Irish Times columnist John Waters, and
Family Law Expert, Geoffrey Shannon.
The conference will conclude on Sunday 30th January in the Jean Monnet
Theatre, University of Limerick, with a forum on the Middle East. Saif
Abukeshek, Ofer Zalzberg, Caoimhe Butterly and MEP Simon Coveney will
each contribute to this forum.
The conference opens in St. Mary's Cathedral in Limerick on Friday
28th January at 7pm. Internationally acclaimed musican, Micheal
O'Suilleabhain accompanied by a string quartet from Limerick will
provide musical entertainment on the opening night. AMEN, featuring
lead singers Noirin Ni Riain will also perform. Noreen is renowned for
singing at numerous international peace gigs and in the past has
performed for the Dalai Lama.
Weekend Ticket Prices range from €25 for students, to €50 for
any member of an organisation. The public are welcome to attend the
weekends events, with tickets costing €35. One can also attend
individual events, the cost for this is €10. Tickets will be on
sale during registration on Friday 28th a St. Mary's Cathedral and
again Saturday morning in the University Concert Hall.
For further information, please contact:
Siobhan Dee, IPS, 086 8671573
siobhan@humanrights.ie
http://www.humanrights.ie/
PROGRAMME OF EVENTS: 3RD ANNUAL HUMAN RIGHTS CONFERENCE
FRIDAY 28TH JANUARY:
OFFICIAL OPENING AT 7PM IN ST. MARY'S CATHEDRAL, LIMERICK
The opening event will feature the following:
* Jana Kiser, founder Global Learning, and education initiative in
Central America
* Caoimhe Butterly, international humanitarian, nominated by TIME
magazine Europe as one of the world's top 100 individuals for the year
2002
* John Waters, Irish Times Opinions journalist and active campaigner
on the issue of fathers' rights in Ireland.
* Mary Kelly, a former nurse, who came to public attention when she
dismantled and American military plane at Shannon Airport at the
outbreak of the war in Iraq in 2003.
Musical entertainment will be provided by:
* Micheal O'Suilleabhain accompanies by a string quartet.
* AMEN, featuring lead singer Noirin Ni Riain. Noirin has participated
in numerous international peace gigs, and has also performed for the
Dalai Lama.
* Downtown Crossing which is a 6-piece reggae/funk band.
* Lucas, featuring special guest Graham Brennan.
SATURDAY 29TH JANUARY:
DISCUSSION PANELS COMMENCE AT 10AM IN THE UNIVERSITY CONCERT HALL,
UNIVERSITY OF LIMERICK.
9.30-10am: Morning Coffee & Tea Venue: Irish World Music Centre, Conce
Hall
10am-12noon: Venue: Ground Floor, University Concert Hall
1. Disability Panel
Martin Naughton, Founder Irish Centre for Independent Living
Caroline McGrath, Deputy CEO Mental Health Ireland
Liam Herrick, Senior Legislation & Policy Review Officer: Irish Human
Rights Commission
David Staunton, FG Front Bench Spokesperson on Social & Family Affairs
& Equality
2. Women's Rights Panel
Women's Rights Rape, a crime against Women
Anne Marlborough, University of Limerick Law Department.
Ingrid Wallace, Senior Counsellor for Limerick Rape Crisis Centre
Mary Kelly, Former CEO of NWCI
Kate Mulkerrins, Barrister and legal co-ordinator for RCNI
Chair TBA
3. Gay Rights Panel
Gay Rights - the Legality concerning Homosexuality in the Irish state
Ailbhe Smith, Co-Chair, National Lesbian and Gay Federation
Louise Tierney, Manager, Outhouse in Dublin
Dr. Patricia Conlon, University of Limerick Law Department
12.00-1pm: Lunch
1-3pm: Panels Continue. Venue: Ground Floor, University Concert Hall
4. Citizenship Panel
Maurice Manning, Chair, Irish Human Rights Commission
Michael D. Higgins, Labour Party
Others speakers TBC
5. Traveller's Panel
Featuring: Bridget Casey, Bishop Willie Walsh, David Joyce
6. Father's Rights Panel
Father's Rights - Mutual Rights pertaining to Fathers and their
childre
Aisling Reidy, Chair, Director of the Irish Council for Civil
Liberties
John Waters, Irish Times Columnist
Benig Mauger, Psychotherapist
Liam O'Gogain, Parental Equality Campaigner
Geoffrey Shannon, Family Law Expert with the Law Society
3-3.30pm: Afternoon Tea & Coffee Venue: Concert Hall Foyer
3.30-5.50pm:
Workshop to establishing a Students Human Rights Network
Venue: Ground Floor, University Concert Hall
7.30pm: Multicultural Banquet, Venue: South Court Hotel, Admission:
Conference Ticket
SUNDAY 30TH JANUARY: FORUM ON THE MIDDLE EAST
12noon-2.00pm: Middle East Forum, Venue: Jean Monnet Theatre
Speakers include:
Saif Abukeshek: Head coordinator of International Solidarity Movement,
and Co-ordinator for the International Relations of the Highest
National Committee for the Right of Return for the Palestinian
Refugees in Palestine.
Ofer Zalzberg: Co-Founder and Co-Chairman of the Young Israeli Forum
for Co-operation, an Israeli NGO that promotes dialogue and
understanding between Israelis and Palestinians. Ofer is also a
non-commissioned Officer (reserve) in the Intelligence Corps of the
IDF.
Mr. Ali Halimeh: Representative from the General Delegation of Ireland
to Palestine.
Caoimhe Butterly: An Irish human rights and peace activist, Caoimhe
has spent time living in the Palestine's West Bank, mostly in Jenin
Camp. On 21 November 2002, she was shot at close-range by an Israeli
sniper, who she saw aiming his gun at her from an armored personnel
carrier. Time Magazine Europe 2002 rated Caoimhe Buttlery as one of
the top 100 people of the year.
MEP Simon Coveney: A member of the Foreign Affairs Committee and a
Member of the Sub Committee on Human Rights.
2.00-2.30 - Afternoon Tea / Coffee
2.00-2.30 - Key End Note Address, Venue: Jean Monnet Theatre
Student's Human Rights Network 2005
The members of this years Third Annual Human Rights Conference
Committee are setting aside a two hour slot on the Saturday evening of
the conference, 29th January 2005 in hope of setting up a Students
Human Rights Network (SHRN).
It is envisaged, that the SHRN will be an umbrella coalition made up
of all the student groups, at secondary and at third level who deal in
the area of Human Rights all over the island. This coalition is open
to all interested parties such as NGO'S, grassroots student
organisations and other relevant bodies dedicated to supporting Human
Rights, encouraging dialogue on issues of HR abuses and also
interested in actively working to encourage change in our society and
others, so that Human Rights are respected and upheld. We, the
committee feel that this is not just an aspiration but is a
possibility. The agenda below is a provisional set of steps that we
believe will help us reach our goal of setting the foundation for a
SHRN, but as this is the students of the island of Irelands' network,
everything is open for discussion and suggestions are welcome.
SHRN
* Mission Statement
* Aims and Objectives
* Difficulties that may arise
* How can we make this a possibility
Practicalities
* Active email list
* Web-site amendments e.g. notice board or discussion forum
* HRC organisation every year - rotation of hosts
* Committees?
* Publications other than the web-site
* Up coming events - other than the HRC
One of the important outcomes we want from this meeting is for a
contact list to be compiled so as to make our hope of a SHRN
materialise.
*
BLOODY SUNDAY COMMEMORATION
MARCH & RALLY
Saturday 29TH JANUARY 2005
ASSEMBLE 10:30 AM SHAMROCK STREET
GLASGOW CITY CENTRE
RALLY POINT ROYSTONHILL
SPEAKERS IN ATTENDANCE
ALL WELCOME
*******
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to johnmartinps@eircom.net stating which numbers you wish.
To unsubscribe to The Plough please send e-mail
entitled "unsubscribe" to johnmartinps@eircom.net.
It is the policy of The Plough to acknowledge information and
articles from other sources.
Subscribe to the bi-monthly
"The Starry Plough/An Camchéachta"
P.O. Box 1981, Derry, BT48 8GX, Ireland.
THE VOICE OF REPUBLICAN SOCIALISM!
Email: starry_plough@hotmail.com
Website: http://www.irsm.org/irsp/starryplough/
Fighting Fund/Donations
To: The Starry Plough
First Trust Bank, Derry, BT48 6BU
Account No. 14986015 Sort Code No. 93-86-10
http://www.irsm.org/irsm.html (Pairtí Poblachtach Sóisialach na
h-Éireann)
http://www.wageslave.org/jcs/ (James Connolly Society)
http://www.marxists.org/archive/connolly/ (James Connolly Archive)
The Republican Socialist Forum from Derry IRSP
http://rsmforum.proboards23.com/
Republican Socialist Online Merchandise - A website that offers a
central place to go on the Internet to find good quality items with a
distinct Republican Socialist theme. Proceeds from sales from this
effort go towards the IRSM and its various projects.
http://www.angelfire.com/folk/irishshop/
*
Support the IRSP
Standing Order Form
To the Manager First Trust Bank, Andersonstown.
Please pay First Trust Bank Andersonstown Branch, Belfast, and credit
to Irish Republican Socialist Party, A/C Number 70490021, Branch Code
93-84-75
The sum of:
Amount in words:
Commencing date: and thereafter every month till further notice.
And debiting A/C number:
Name (Please print clearly):
Date:
Address:
Signature:
Sunday 16 January 2005
The Plough Vol 02 No 20
The Plough
Volume 2, Number 20
16 January 2005
E-Mail Newsletter of the Irish Republican Socialist Party
1. Bosses Must Not Escape
2. Community Acceptability Vs Anti-Social Activity
3. Tsunami Relief as a Subterfuge?
4. Cuba Tourism Up
5. What's On
*******
BOSSES MUST NOT ESCAPE AS MIGRANT WORKER LEFT FOR DEAD
The Irish Republican Socialist Party representative John Hogan hit out
at the way in which a young Ukrainian woman living rough on the
streets of Coleraine in Co Derry had both her legs amputated after
turkey factory bosses sacked her.
In a statement Mr. Hogan said, "The news of this tragedy is one of
utter horror and disbelief. Unfortunately it is now common knowledge
that many migrant workers are used and abused by bosses behind closed
doors, of what can only be described as shabby sweatshops right across
the country. The young woman in this case, a 27-year-old Ukrainian
worker with very little English, was said to have been laid off by
bosses at a local turkey factory following the Christmas rush. After
living rough in sub-zero temperatures on the streets of Coleraine she
was met by fellow migrant workers who were so shocked at her overall
state of health that they took her to hospital. Sadly the woman's
trauma didn't end there as she had both legs amputated after being
found suffering from extreme hypothermia and frostbite.
"This incident itself was just a tragedy left waiting to happen as
migrant and temporary employed workers are seen in many ways as
disposable by employers. A terrible plight for hundreds of workers
that the trade union movement continues to ignore. However the way in
which this story unfolded clearly shows that bosses must not escape
untarnished here, both wages and conditions must be put under the
spotlight. In saying that I would like to state that the increasing
number of temporary employment agencies clearly need to be exposed for
what they really are, modern day slave drivers and slave traders whose
only interest is in the pursuit of profit. It is a concern of every
member of our class both employed and unemployed that all the issues
involved in this case urgently needs to be tackled once and for all."
Mr. Hogan concluded: "The thoughts of our party and I'm sure the
thoughts of many hundreds of workers held in similar circumstances
goes to the young woman involved who is currently recovering in
hospital. I would like to offer our support and solidarity in the hope
of a speedy recovery and to her friends working in the six counties."
*******
COMMUNISTY ACCEPTABILITY VS ANTI-SOCIAL ACTIVITY: WHO IS RESPONSIBLE?
By Charlie Clarke
The last year in North Belfast has been a difficult if not nearly
impossible one for the republican working class communities throughout
the area, as we have watched a dramatic rise in anti-social activity
and crime, drugs and death driving taking over our areas. The working
class have found themselves under increasingly unbearable pressure
from these elements that are destroying the very heart of society and
have been left feeling powerless and abandoned in their plight. Whole
communities have been rendered powerless by the will of these tyrants,
leaving them with a free reign to cause unwarranted destruction and
mayhem in their wake. The elderly, the sick, and the children of our
communities are no longer safe from the evils of this select few.
Lawlessness is the authority in North Belfast.
Republican socialism recognises the working class have the right to be
protected from those who would try to destroy and steal from them what
is rightfully theirs. They have the right to be safe in their homes,
in their workplace, in their schools and their playgrounds, and in
their retirement years. We have a duty to protect the vulnerable
sections of our community, to defend those unable to defend
themselves. We have an obligation to secure a safe environment for
our children free from the evils and dangers of drugs and death
driving. We have a responsibility to protect the human rights of the
working classes and to ensure that they are not breached or trampled
upon by any other. How do we successfully do this, and just exactly
who is responsible for it? How can we prevent the human rights of one
individual holding those of an entire community to ransom? These two
questions hold the answers to the problems facing our society today.
Our society is not normal. We have faced some of the most horrendous
and bloody years of the conflict in this island of Ireland. Casualties
and fatalities resulting from the conflict are phenomenally high here
in proportion to the rest of the island. North Belfast was a burial
ground for thirty years of loyalist and state forces murder. We had
no police force to protect us; rather, we had an extension of the
loyalist murder squads to facilitate their assassination attempts
against our community and who provided them with safe entry and exit
as well as the intelligence to do so. How could we call that
normality? The very statutory agencies put in place, supposedly for
our welfare and protection, were involved in a cold war of attrition
against us. Our people were brutalised, imprisoned, slaughtered and
murdered at the hands of these police impostors. Our community was
under attack from all fronts.
So, in the absence of a substantial and impartial police force
empowered to protect our community, it was left to republicans to
somehow fill this void created by the British state. Military minds
were forced to undertake a complex situation and make it right,
resulting in the implementation of martial law throughout our areas.
Quick fix solutions were favoured rather than long term settlements.
The absence of a suitable and acceptable police force of the working
class had its own detrimental consequences upon our community. Would
be and aspiring criminals saw a loophole in the system that would
enable them to procure their wealth without the interference of
unwelcome law enforcement. Anti-social activity increased
dramatically in the years to follow, as well as the need for martial
law. The essence of our community was being flushed down the drain.
When we look at the new lows of anti-social and anti-community
behaviour rife within North Belfast today, it is understandable how a
whole community can feel abandoned and helpless. The perpetrators of
these attacks against the working class seem to be getting away with
it! Martial law and physical force punishment are being repressed by
the desire for non-violent approaches to this problem. More and more
people are speaking out against such actions and we are faced with a
society who claims that punishment shootings and beatings are no
longer acceptable in this day and age.
We have apologists for the criminals within our communities also, who,
despite the actions of these individuals and the devastating
consequences inflicted upon the working class by these thugs, refuse
to accept that there is a problem. Rather, they prefer to castigate
the very people who are trying to resolve such matters.
Then there are the parents or guardians of these thugs, some of whom
refuse to accept that their offspring would be capable of such things,
others have just simply given up and fail to deal with the problem
directly as responsible parents should. Dysfunctional families are
popping up all over North Belfast, with the children telling the
parent what to do, absent parents who drink heavily every night,
parents who have been taken by the addiction to drugs and prescription
drugs, all of these have a major role to play.
Then of course there is alcohol and drugs! Children can so readily
receive these potent, addictive and destructive substances whenever
they wish. Underage drinking is rife in North Belfast, as is the
taking and experimenting with concoctions of illegal and prescription
drugs. The amount of bars and social clubs that encourage the
underage client is devastatingly high. Late bars, rave and techno
music, the accessibility to the premises without the producing of
verifiable I.D., the availability of alcopops and secluded, dark
corners that are essential for the illusive drug barons to conduct
their trade, enable the underage client to become vulnerable to the
impressions and advancements from the leeches that we should be
protecting them from.
Fuelled by a deadly cocktail of drink and drugs, and on a dangerous
high, these youths are thrown out onto the streets in wild and highly
impressionable packs. The young male trying to impress, or the
rebellious teen hell bent on destruction and mayhem are icons for
those who are under the influence of these highly potent concoctions.
The need for these drugs becomes increasingly higher as the addictive
qualities take control of the user. The average user in North Belfast
is between the age of 15 and 25, often with no prospect of work or
income. A source for the purchasing of these drugs is vital. This
often leads to the user turning to crime to accumulate the money for
their purchase. As we have recently experienced in North Belfast, the
practice of strapping the drugs to the individual with the benefit of
Buy Now, Pay Later is another way to procure these substances. These
credit agreements are regulated by no one and often lead to either the
threat or use of violence against the individual. If no money can be
produced, then the bad debtor is forced to rob, steal and eventually
deal to pay off the debt owed to his lender.
Consumerism is another factor in this maze of causes. The definition
of this is: con·sum·er·ism (k n-s m -r z m)
n.
1. The movement seeking to protect and inform consumers by requiring
such practices as honest packaging and advertising, product
guarantees, and improved safety standards.
2. The theory that a progressively greater consumption of goods is
economically beneficial.
3. Attachment to materialistic values or possessions: deplored the
rampant consumerism of contemporary society.
Society today enforces peer pressure upon our class. It dictates what
is fashionable and what is not. What to wear eat and drink and what
isn't cool to be seen with or in. This pressure to our impressionable
youth is immense. You need to be wearing the right trainers, jeans,
shirts. etc., you need to have the right labels on your clothing and
accessories, society says so! How do the poorer youth acquire these
products and items of fashion? How do they clothe themselves in the
right attire so that they can be cool on the streets? If they don't
work, then where do they get the money? Theft and anti-social
behaviour. They rob homes, shops, steal money, electrical items, and
jewellery, sell drugs and stolen goods. It is a downward spiral that
few can come off.
The eventuality of all of these activities is that they will come into
contact with the police. Normally in any society, when caught by the
police for committing a crime you go to jail. In areas like
republican North Belfast however, this is not the last port of call
for the criminal elements within our community. Instead, these young
men and sometimes teenagers, are lured deeper into the world of
deception, (threatened with the prospect of being imprisoned and faced
with the potential to do whatever they please), by becoming agents for
the British state forces and informing on the whereabouts and
activities of republican activists within their areas. This amnesty
and green light to do whatever they desire without fear of reprisal
from the PSNI is the catalyst for the anti-social activity in the
north of Belfast.
The community needs to take back ownership of its streets. It needs
to empower itself to tackle the ever-growing problem of anti-social
activity. It needs to rise to the challenge and refuse to waver. The
days of hiding behind closed doors in these areas are over, fooling
oneself with the lie that "it isn't at my door so it's not my
problem." It is all our problems. True, the problem may not be at
your door tonight but who knows what will happen tomorrow? Ignoring
the problem isn't going to make it go away, all that will do is to
ensure it’s growth. So what do we do?
Do we leave it to the community watch groups?
Do we leave it to the republican groups?
Do we leave it and hope that the PSNI will deal with it?
The answer to these questions is NO!
I refer back to my previous questions:
How do we successfully do this, and just exactly who is responsible
for it? And;
How can we prevent the human rights of one individual holding those of
an entire community to ransom?
One answer to these questions is this: that we join together as a
community, a whole community and refuse to bow to the pressures and
threats of these thugs. We are all responsible of permitting this
problem to spiral out of control within our areas, one way or another.
Whether it be being an apologist, ignoring the problem, refusing to
get involved, failing to parent our children, covering for others in
their guilt, buying alcohol for those underage, buying or supplying
drugs to others, selling run-around cars to those without licenses,
etc., we all have a responsibility to tackle this problem head on we
have all contributed to the causes. Do not be disillusioned either,
there are good decent children in these areas too, in fact the
majority of the children are just that, and we need to ensure that we
do not punish them for the offences of a few.
However, the human rights of these anti-social elements are just as
important as those within the community, and we cannot allow our anger
or frustrations to infringe upon their rights. We need to draw a
balance. It is by ensuring that we do not infringe upon the rights of
the perpetrator that we prevent them from holding our rights to
ransom. Any actions that we may take as a concerted community must
not mirror the wanton destruction that has been leveled at us.
We need to come together and support the initiatives within the
community, we need to stand shoulder to shoulder in the face of
adversity and refuse to back down. We need to work together to tackle
the problem and not to shy away whenever it becomes too tough. We
need to speak up for one another when others try to tear down.
Punishment for persistent offenders has to be calculated and
effective, and should be met with silence! The community cannot
persevere with those who continually refuse to be part of us. It is
by being a true community that we will break this oppressive burden
that is poisoning our society. It is by regaining our voice that we
can be heard.
*******
TSUNAMI RELIEF AS A SUBTERFUGE?
The Pentagon Scrambles to Re-enter its Old Air Base in Thailand
By Sirinapha
Is the tsunami aftermath a "window of opportunity" for bolstering the
Pentagon's presence in Southeast Asia? The Thai people reject the
proposed build-up of the American military at Utapao air base and in
the Gulf of Thailand. The tragedy of the natural catastrophe in the
Indian Ocean should not serve as a pretext for strengthening the U.S.
military presence in the region.
The Pentagon has announced it is returning to its old Vietnam War
haunts at Utapao Royal Thai Naval Air Force Base 90 miles south of
Bangkok on the Bay of Thailand. In this clear escalation of the
American military presence in Southeast Asia, the ostensible plan is
to set up a "command center" for the tsunami emergency relief effort.
Utapao air base will serve as a staging base for U.S. military and
rescue aircraft. The emergency relief operations appear to provide a
windfall opportunity for beefing up the American military presence in
Southeast Asia, part of the expanding Pentagon strategy of "forward
positioning," establishing sites, so-called "air cargo hubs," where
American forces can stash equipment and enter and leave as desired.
During the Vietnam War, Utapao functioned from April 1967 as a major
staging base for B-52s carrying out bombing raids over North Vietnam,
and KC-35 stratotankers of the Strategic Air Command. Many American
GIs served there [1].
Despite Thailand's neutrality on the war in Iraq, Thai Prime Minister
Thaksin Shinawatra allowed Utapao to be used by American warplanes
flying into combat in Iraq last year, and into Afghanistan earlier.
There is also speculation that Utapao, with its infamous facilities
for 'sophisticated interrogation' (a holdover from the Vietnam era),
is probably where various al-Qaeda suspects have been secretly
grilled.
The command center will be largely operated by the 3rd Marine
Expeditionary Force. The naval air base, also now functioning as a
local airport, is located a short drive from the tourist mega-center
of Pattaya, whose roots also go back to the Vietnam era. The U. S.
Navy is also dispatching the USS Abraham Lincoln carrier strike group
and the USS Bonhomme Richard expeditionary strike group to the
immediate area offshore [2].
Is all this military redeployment to bolster 'humanitarian aid'
efforts? The Thai people reject a build-up of the American military at
Utapao air base and in the Gulf of Thailand. In this hour of calamity,
they are grateful for all support -- but not when tethered to a huge
reentry by the Pentagon onto Thai soil. The tragedy of the present
havoc in the Indian Ocean should not serve as a pretext for
strengthening the U.S. military presence in this disaster-striken
region.
[1] For sites on Utapao air base and the American military, see
http://amer-thai2001.tripod.com/id30.html ; http://www.utapao.org/
(Utapao Alumni Association) ;
http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/facility/utapao.htm
[2] See "Hundreds of Americans Missing,"
http://www.cnn.com/2004/US/12/28/us-quake.ap/index.html
*******
DESPITE US LIMITS, CUBA TOURISM UP
Associated Press
9 January 2005
Tourism to Cuba increased 8 percent in 2004 compared with 2003;
despite new U.S. restrictions sharply cutting back on how many
Americans visit the island.
More than 2 million tourists visited the Caribbean island, the largest
number ever, Tourism Minister Manuel Marrero announced.
Last year, about 1.9 million foreigners visited Cuba. Canadians top
the list of tourists, followed by Europeans, primarily from Italy,
France, Germany and Spain.
Marrero told reporters tourism now represents 41 percent of Cuba's
foreign exchange income -- a leap from just 4 percent in 1990.
Few of those now visiting Cuba come from the United States.
By mid-September, visits to the island, primarily by Cuban-Americans,
had dropped 25 percent since the United States implemented new travel
restrictions June 30 cutting the number of authorized family visits to
Cuba from once a year to once every three years.
*******
WHAT'S ON
*
Sunday 23rd January 2005
YOU ARE INVITED TO A PUBLIC MEETING
"The Anti-Imperialist Struggle in India!"
Speaker: Dr Darshan Pal, President Of The All India People's
Resistance Forum
VIDEO SHOW on the Struggle in India
Q & A + Open Discussion
Time: Sunday 23rd January 2005, 2P.M.
Place: Room S75, St Clement's Building, London School of Economics,
Houghton Street, London WC2 Nearest Station: Holborn
Though the transfer of power from the British Raj to Indian rulers in
1947 raised some hopes initially among the people of India for end of
tyranny and oppression and for the betterment of their lives, it did
not take long for them to realise what the new Congress rule was all
about. The naked reality that the Indian masses, especially the
workers and peasantry had to face was that the forces that took over
the reins from the British were, in fact, the big capitalists,
bureaucrats and the big landlords, serving the interests of
imperialism.
All India People's Resistance Forum (AIPRF) is a general democratic
organisation, which takes up the fighting tasks against imperialist
domination, the grinding backward exploitation by the semi-feudal
system and the anti-people policies of the ruling classes of India.
The AIPRF takes up the tasks of building, intensifying and
coordinating the anti-imperialist struggles in the country. It has
taken up the task of mobilising the people in democratic struggles on
a broad based way to raise a united voice of resistance against the
stooges of imperialism, the ruling classes of India.
Rally at Hyderabad
During the process of people's struggle, the Democratic forces could
muster the support of the people for the democratic rights of the
masses and create a new wave of mass political mobilization across the
whole country and involve the masses in the political battle on a wide
scale; they focused on the problems faced by the various sections of
the masses and propagated the politics of new democracy. Come to the
Meeting and hear for yourself the heroic Struggle of the hundreds of
millions of Indian People, who since the phoney 'independence'
continue to Struggle for a new democratic system. Lets build a Mass
anti-imperialist Movement as part of our Internationalist and
democratic duty with all Oppressed People's fighting against the
imperialist system on our planet!
Organised by:
World Peoples Resistance Movement (Britain)
Fight Racism Fight Imperialism LSE Student Society
Indian Workers Association (GB)
Contact details:
wprm_britain@yahoo.co.uk
LSE_FRFI@yahoo.co.uk
iwagb1938@hotmail.com
*
Launch of North Belfast Profile by Rights Project
Dear Friends, date for diaries, this will take place at 1.00pm at the
NICVA building on the Duncairn Gardens in North Belfast on the 26th of
January and will finish at 3.00pm.
This will be an up to date profile of the area and will include
statistical information and comment and been compiled by the Rights
Coalition to highlight issues and the continuing need for a rights
based approach to community development.
*******
Please feel free to comment on the contents of The Plough. We welcome
political comments and criticisms.
If you know of anybody who might wish to receive The Plough please
send his or her e-mail address to johnmartinps@eircom.net.
If you wish to receive back copies of the The Plough please e-mail
to johnmartinps@eircom.net stating which numbers you wish.
To unsubscribe to The Plough please send e-mail
entitled "unsubscribe" to johnmartinps@eircom.net.
It is the policy of The Plough to acknowledge information and
articles from other sources.
Subscribe to the bi-monthly
"The Starry Plough/An Camchéachta"
P.O. Box 1981, Derry, BT48 8GX, Ireland.
THE VOICE OF REPUBLICAN SOCIALISM!
Email: starry_plough@hotmail.com
Website: http://www.irsm.org/irsp/starryplough/
Fighting Fund/Donations
To: The Starry Plough
First Trust Bank, Derry, BT48 6BU
Account No. 14986015 Sort Code No. 93-86-10
http://www.irsm.org/irsm.html (Pairtí Poblachtach Sóisialach na
h-Éireann)
http://www.wageslave.org/jcs/ (James Connolly Society)
http://www.marxists.org/archive/connolly/ (James Connolly Archive)
The Republican Socialist Forum from Derry IRSP
http://rsmforum.proboards23.com/
Republican Socialist Online Merchandise - A website that offers a
central place to go on the Internet to find good quality items with a
distinct Republican Socialist theme. Proceeds from sales from this
effort go towards the IRSM and its various projects.
http://www.angelfire.com/folk/irishshop/
*
Support the IRSP
Standing Order Form
To the Manager First Trust Bank, Andersonstown.
Please pay First Trust Bank Andersonstown Branch, Belfast, and credit
to Irish Republican Socialist Party, A/C Number 70490021, Branch Code
93-84-75
The sum of:
Amount in words:
Commencing date: and thereafter every month till further notice.
And debiting A/C number:
Name (Please print clearly):
Date:
Address:
Signature:
Volume 2, Number 20
16 January 2005
E-Mail Newsletter of the Irish Republican Socialist Party
1. Bosses Must Not Escape
2. Community Acceptability Vs Anti-Social Activity
3. Tsunami Relief as a Subterfuge?
4. Cuba Tourism Up
5. What's On
*******
BOSSES MUST NOT ESCAPE AS MIGRANT WORKER LEFT FOR DEAD
The Irish Republican Socialist Party representative John Hogan hit out
at the way in which a young Ukrainian woman living rough on the
streets of Coleraine in Co Derry had both her legs amputated after
turkey factory bosses sacked her.
In a statement Mr. Hogan said, "The news of this tragedy is one of
utter horror and disbelief. Unfortunately it is now common knowledge
that many migrant workers are used and abused by bosses behind closed
doors, of what can only be described as shabby sweatshops right across
the country. The young woman in this case, a 27-year-old Ukrainian
worker with very little English, was said to have been laid off by
bosses at a local turkey factory following the Christmas rush. After
living rough in sub-zero temperatures on the streets of Coleraine she
was met by fellow migrant workers who were so shocked at her overall
state of health that they took her to hospital. Sadly the woman's
trauma didn't end there as she had both legs amputated after being
found suffering from extreme hypothermia and frostbite.
"This incident itself was just a tragedy left waiting to happen as
migrant and temporary employed workers are seen in many ways as
disposable by employers. A terrible plight for hundreds of workers
that the trade union movement continues to ignore. However the way in
which this story unfolded clearly shows that bosses must not escape
untarnished here, both wages and conditions must be put under the
spotlight. In saying that I would like to state that the increasing
number of temporary employment agencies clearly need to be exposed for
what they really are, modern day slave drivers and slave traders whose
only interest is in the pursuit of profit. It is a concern of every
member of our class both employed and unemployed that all the issues
involved in this case urgently needs to be tackled once and for all."
Mr. Hogan concluded: "The thoughts of our party and I'm sure the
thoughts of many hundreds of workers held in similar circumstances
goes to the young woman involved who is currently recovering in
hospital. I would like to offer our support and solidarity in the hope
of a speedy recovery and to her friends working in the six counties."
*******
COMMUNISTY ACCEPTABILITY VS ANTI-SOCIAL ACTIVITY: WHO IS RESPONSIBLE?
By Charlie Clarke
The last year in North Belfast has been a difficult if not nearly
impossible one for the republican working class communities throughout
the area, as we have watched a dramatic rise in anti-social activity
and crime, drugs and death driving taking over our areas. The working
class have found themselves under increasingly unbearable pressure
from these elements that are destroying the very heart of society and
have been left feeling powerless and abandoned in their plight. Whole
communities have been rendered powerless by the will of these tyrants,
leaving them with a free reign to cause unwarranted destruction and
mayhem in their wake. The elderly, the sick, and the children of our
communities are no longer safe from the evils of this select few.
Lawlessness is the authority in North Belfast.
Republican socialism recognises the working class have the right to be
protected from those who would try to destroy and steal from them what
is rightfully theirs. They have the right to be safe in their homes,
in their workplace, in their schools and their playgrounds, and in
their retirement years. We have a duty to protect the vulnerable
sections of our community, to defend those unable to defend
themselves. We have an obligation to secure a safe environment for
our children free from the evils and dangers of drugs and death
driving. We have a responsibility to protect the human rights of the
working classes and to ensure that they are not breached or trampled
upon by any other. How do we successfully do this, and just exactly
who is responsible for it? How can we prevent the human rights of one
individual holding those of an entire community to ransom? These two
questions hold the answers to the problems facing our society today.
Our society is not normal. We have faced some of the most horrendous
and bloody years of the conflict in this island of Ireland. Casualties
and fatalities resulting from the conflict are phenomenally high here
in proportion to the rest of the island. North Belfast was a burial
ground for thirty years of loyalist and state forces murder. We had
no police force to protect us; rather, we had an extension of the
loyalist murder squads to facilitate their assassination attempts
against our community and who provided them with safe entry and exit
as well as the intelligence to do so. How could we call that
normality? The very statutory agencies put in place, supposedly for
our welfare and protection, were involved in a cold war of attrition
against us. Our people were brutalised, imprisoned, slaughtered and
murdered at the hands of these police impostors. Our community was
under attack from all fronts.
So, in the absence of a substantial and impartial police force
empowered to protect our community, it was left to republicans to
somehow fill this void created by the British state. Military minds
were forced to undertake a complex situation and make it right,
resulting in the implementation of martial law throughout our areas.
Quick fix solutions were favoured rather than long term settlements.
The absence of a suitable and acceptable police force of the working
class had its own detrimental consequences upon our community. Would
be and aspiring criminals saw a loophole in the system that would
enable them to procure their wealth without the interference of
unwelcome law enforcement. Anti-social activity increased
dramatically in the years to follow, as well as the need for martial
law. The essence of our community was being flushed down the drain.
When we look at the new lows of anti-social and anti-community
behaviour rife within North Belfast today, it is understandable how a
whole community can feel abandoned and helpless. The perpetrators of
these attacks against the working class seem to be getting away with
it! Martial law and physical force punishment are being repressed by
the desire for non-violent approaches to this problem. More and more
people are speaking out against such actions and we are faced with a
society who claims that punishment shootings and beatings are no
longer acceptable in this day and age.
We have apologists for the criminals within our communities also, who,
despite the actions of these individuals and the devastating
consequences inflicted upon the working class by these thugs, refuse
to accept that there is a problem. Rather, they prefer to castigate
the very people who are trying to resolve such matters.
Then there are the parents or guardians of these thugs, some of whom
refuse to accept that their offspring would be capable of such things,
others have just simply given up and fail to deal with the problem
directly as responsible parents should. Dysfunctional families are
popping up all over North Belfast, with the children telling the
parent what to do, absent parents who drink heavily every night,
parents who have been taken by the addiction to drugs and prescription
drugs, all of these have a major role to play.
Then of course there is alcohol and drugs! Children can so readily
receive these potent, addictive and destructive substances whenever
they wish. Underage drinking is rife in North Belfast, as is the
taking and experimenting with concoctions of illegal and prescription
drugs. The amount of bars and social clubs that encourage the
underage client is devastatingly high. Late bars, rave and techno
music, the accessibility to the premises without the producing of
verifiable I.D., the availability of alcopops and secluded, dark
corners that are essential for the illusive drug barons to conduct
their trade, enable the underage client to become vulnerable to the
impressions and advancements from the leeches that we should be
protecting them from.
Fuelled by a deadly cocktail of drink and drugs, and on a dangerous
high, these youths are thrown out onto the streets in wild and highly
impressionable packs. The young male trying to impress, or the
rebellious teen hell bent on destruction and mayhem are icons for
those who are under the influence of these highly potent concoctions.
The need for these drugs becomes increasingly higher as the addictive
qualities take control of the user. The average user in North Belfast
is between the age of 15 and 25, often with no prospect of work or
income. A source for the purchasing of these drugs is vital. This
often leads to the user turning to crime to accumulate the money for
their purchase. As we have recently experienced in North Belfast, the
practice of strapping the drugs to the individual with the benefit of
Buy Now, Pay Later is another way to procure these substances. These
credit agreements are regulated by no one and often lead to either the
threat or use of violence against the individual. If no money can be
produced, then the bad debtor is forced to rob, steal and eventually
deal to pay off the debt owed to his lender.
Consumerism is another factor in this maze of causes. The definition
of this is: con·sum·er·ism (k n-s m -r z m)
n.
1. The movement seeking to protect and inform consumers by requiring
such practices as honest packaging and advertising, product
guarantees, and improved safety standards.
2. The theory that a progressively greater consumption of goods is
economically beneficial.
3. Attachment to materialistic values or possessions: deplored the
rampant consumerism of contemporary society.
Society today enforces peer pressure upon our class. It dictates what
is fashionable and what is not. What to wear eat and drink and what
isn't cool to be seen with or in. This pressure to our impressionable
youth is immense. You need to be wearing the right trainers, jeans,
shirts. etc., you need to have the right labels on your clothing and
accessories, society says so! How do the poorer youth acquire these
products and items of fashion? How do they clothe themselves in the
right attire so that they can be cool on the streets? If they don't
work, then where do they get the money? Theft and anti-social
behaviour. They rob homes, shops, steal money, electrical items, and
jewellery, sell drugs and stolen goods. It is a downward spiral that
few can come off.
The eventuality of all of these activities is that they will come into
contact with the police. Normally in any society, when caught by the
police for committing a crime you go to jail. In areas like
republican North Belfast however, this is not the last port of call
for the criminal elements within our community. Instead, these young
men and sometimes teenagers, are lured deeper into the world of
deception, (threatened with the prospect of being imprisoned and faced
with the potential to do whatever they please), by becoming agents for
the British state forces and informing on the whereabouts and
activities of republican activists within their areas. This amnesty
and green light to do whatever they desire without fear of reprisal
from the PSNI is the catalyst for the anti-social activity in the
north of Belfast.
The community needs to take back ownership of its streets. It needs
to empower itself to tackle the ever-growing problem of anti-social
activity. It needs to rise to the challenge and refuse to waver. The
days of hiding behind closed doors in these areas are over, fooling
oneself with the lie that "it isn't at my door so it's not my
problem." It is all our problems. True, the problem may not be at
your door tonight but who knows what will happen tomorrow? Ignoring
the problem isn't going to make it go away, all that will do is to
ensure it’s growth. So what do we do?
Do we leave it to the community watch groups?
Do we leave it to the republican groups?
Do we leave it and hope that the PSNI will deal with it?
The answer to these questions is NO!
I refer back to my previous questions:
How do we successfully do this, and just exactly who is responsible
for it? And;
How can we prevent the human rights of one individual holding those of
an entire community to ransom?
One answer to these questions is this: that we join together as a
community, a whole community and refuse to bow to the pressures and
threats of these thugs. We are all responsible of permitting this
problem to spiral out of control within our areas, one way or another.
Whether it be being an apologist, ignoring the problem, refusing to
get involved, failing to parent our children, covering for others in
their guilt, buying alcohol for those underage, buying or supplying
drugs to others, selling run-around cars to those without licenses,
etc., we all have a responsibility to tackle this problem head on we
have all contributed to the causes. Do not be disillusioned either,
there are good decent children in these areas too, in fact the
majority of the children are just that, and we need to ensure that we
do not punish them for the offences of a few.
However, the human rights of these anti-social elements are just as
important as those within the community, and we cannot allow our anger
or frustrations to infringe upon their rights. We need to draw a
balance. It is by ensuring that we do not infringe upon the rights of
the perpetrator that we prevent them from holding our rights to
ransom. Any actions that we may take as a concerted community must
not mirror the wanton destruction that has been leveled at us.
We need to come together and support the initiatives within the
community, we need to stand shoulder to shoulder in the face of
adversity and refuse to back down. We need to work together to tackle
the problem and not to shy away whenever it becomes too tough. We
need to speak up for one another when others try to tear down.
Punishment for persistent offenders has to be calculated and
effective, and should be met with silence! The community cannot
persevere with those who continually refuse to be part of us. It is
by being a true community that we will break this oppressive burden
that is poisoning our society. It is by regaining our voice that we
can be heard.
*******
TSUNAMI RELIEF AS A SUBTERFUGE?
The Pentagon Scrambles to Re-enter its Old Air Base in Thailand
By Sirinapha
Is the tsunami aftermath a "window of opportunity" for bolstering the
Pentagon's presence in Southeast Asia? The Thai people reject the
proposed build-up of the American military at Utapao air base and in
the Gulf of Thailand. The tragedy of the natural catastrophe in the
Indian Ocean should not serve as a pretext for strengthening the U.S.
military presence in the region.
The Pentagon has announced it is returning to its old Vietnam War
haunts at Utapao Royal Thai Naval Air Force Base 90 miles south of
Bangkok on the Bay of Thailand. In this clear escalation of the
American military presence in Southeast Asia, the ostensible plan is
to set up a "command center" for the tsunami emergency relief effort.
Utapao air base will serve as a staging base for U.S. military and
rescue aircraft. The emergency relief operations appear to provide a
windfall opportunity for beefing up the American military presence in
Southeast Asia, part of the expanding Pentagon strategy of "forward
positioning," establishing sites, so-called "air cargo hubs," where
American forces can stash equipment and enter and leave as desired.
During the Vietnam War, Utapao functioned from April 1967 as a major
staging base for B-52s carrying out bombing raids over North Vietnam,
and KC-35 stratotankers of the Strategic Air Command. Many American
GIs served there [1].
Despite Thailand's neutrality on the war in Iraq, Thai Prime Minister
Thaksin Shinawatra allowed Utapao to be used by American warplanes
flying into combat in Iraq last year, and into Afghanistan earlier.
There is also speculation that Utapao, with its infamous facilities
for 'sophisticated interrogation' (a holdover from the Vietnam era),
is probably where various al-Qaeda suspects have been secretly
grilled.
The command center will be largely operated by the 3rd Marine
Expeditionary Force. The naval air base, also now functioning as a
local airport, is located a short drive from the tourist mega-center
of Pattaya, whose roots also go back to the Vietnam era. The U. S.
Navy is also dispatching the USS Abraham Lincoln carrier strike group
and the USS Bonhomme Richard expeditionary strike group to the
immediate area offshore [2].
Is all this military redeployment to bolster 'humanitarian aid'
efforts? The Thai people reject a build-up of the American military at
Utapao air base and in the Gulf of Thailand. In this hour of calamity,
they are grateful for all support -- but not when tethered to a huge
reentry by the Pentagon onto Thai soil. The tragedy of the present
havoc in the Indian Ocean should not serve as a pretext for
strengthening the U.S. military presence in this disaster-striken
region.
[1] For sites on Utapao air base and the American military, see
http://amer-thai2001.tripod.com/id30.html ; http://www.utapao.org/
(Utapao Alumni Association) ;
http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/facility/utapao.htm
[2] See "Hundreds of Americans Missing,"
http://www.cnn.com/2004/US/12/28/us-quake.ap/index.html
*******
DESPITE US LIMITS, CUBA TOURISM UP
Associated Press
9 January 2005
Tourism to Cuba increased 8 percent in 2004 compared with 2003;
despite new U.S. restrictions sharply cutting back on how many
Americans visit the island.
More than 2 million tourists visited the Caribbean island, the largest
number ever, Tourism Minister Manuel Marrero announced.
Last year, about 1.9 million foreigners visited Cuba. Canadians top
the list of tourists, followed by Europeans, primarily from Italy,
France, Germany and Spain.
Marrero told reporters tourism now represents 41 percent of Cuba's
foreign exchange income -- a leap from just 4 percent in 1990.
Few of those now visiting Cuba come from the United States.
By mid-September, visits to the island, primarily by Cuban-Americans,
had dropped 25 percent since the United States implemented new travel
restrictions June 30 cutting the number of authorized family visits to
Cuba from once a year to once every three years.
*******
WHAT'S ON
*
Sunday 23rd January 2005
YOU ARE INVITED TO A PUBLIC MEETING
"The Anti-Imperialist Struggle in India!"
Speaker: Dr Darshan Pal, President Of The All India People's
Resistance Forum
VIDEO SHOW on the Struggle in India
Q & A + Open Discussion
Time: Sunday 23rd January 2005, 2P.M.
Place: Room S75, St Clement's Building, London School of Economics,
Houghton Street, London WC2 Nearest Station: Holborn
Though the transfer of power from the British Raj to Indian rulers in
1947 raised some hopes initially among the people of India for end of
tyranny and oppression and for the betterment of their lives, it did
not take long for them to realise what the new Congress rule was all
about. The naked reality that the Indian masses, especially the
workers and peasantry had to face was that the forces that took over
the reins from the British were, in fact, the big capitalists,
bureaucrats and the big landlords, serving the interests of
imperialism.
All India People's Resistance Forum (AIPRF) is a general democratic
organisation, which takes up the fighting tasks against imperialist
domination, the grinding backward exploitation by the semi-feudal
system and the anti-people policies of the ruling classes of India.
The AIPRF takes up the tasks of building, intensifying and
coordinating the anti-imperialist struggles in the country. It has
taken up the task of mobilising the people in democratic struggles on
a broad based way to raise a united voice of resistance against the
stooges of imperialism, the ruling classes of India.
Rally at Hyderabad
During the process of people's struggle, the Democratic forces could
muster the support of the people for the democratic rights of the
masses and create a new wave of mass political mobilization across the
whole country and involve the masses in the political battle on a wide
scale; they focused on the problems faced by the various sections of
the masses and propagated the politics of new democracy. Come to the
Meeting and hear for yourself the heroic Struggle of the hundreds of
millions of Indian People, who since the phoney 'independence'
continue to Struggle for a new democratic system. Lets build a Mass
anti-imperialist Movement as part of our Internationalist and
democratic duty with all Oppressed People's fighting against the
imperialist system on our planet!
Organised by:
World Peoples Resistance Movement (Britain)
Fight Racism Fight Imperialism LSE Student Society
Indian Workers Association (GB)
Contact details:
wprm_britain@yahoo.co.uk
LSE_FRFI@yahoo.co.uk
iwagb1938@hotmail.com
*
Launch of North Belfast Profile by Rights Project
Dear Friends, date for diaries, this will take place at 1.00pm at the
NICVA building on the Duncairn Gardens in North Belfast on the 26th of
January and will finish at 3.00pm.
This will be an up to date profile of the area and will include
statistical information and comment and been compiled by the Rights
Coalition to highlight issues and the continuing need for a rights
based approach to community development.
*******
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Monday 10 January 2005
The Plough Vol 02 No 19
The Plough
Volume 2, Number 19
10 January 2005
E-Mail Newsletter of the Irish Republican Socialist Party
1. Editorial
2. Tsunami and the Tourist Industry
3. Understanding North Korea
4. Letters
5. What's On
*******
EDITORIAL
All the furore over the £26 million bank robbery in Belfast has
served to distract attention away from what was going to be a sordid
sectarian carve up of the North between the DUP and Sinn Fein.
Despite the fact that it ended in deadlock there is no doubt that both
parties are desperate to get their hands once more on the levers of
power. Such was Sinn Fein's passion for the trappings and substance of
power that the IRA declared its readiness to enter the end game of
disarmament and disbandment but the Paisley wing of the Democratic
Unionist Party demanded the public humiliation of the IRA. This was a
step to far for even the Provisional Republican Movement.
But remember what they had already agreed to sign up to. They had
agreed to a system of power-sharing which set in stone sectarian
arrangements for the selection of ministers. The confessional and
sectarian nature of the new Northern Ireland state was to be
solidified. Since the peace process began, polarisation between
anti-unionist and unionist parties is starker then ever. The rise and
rise of both Sinn Fein and the DUP meant that new arrangements had to
be made; in other words the renegotiation of the Good Friday
Agreement.
During these re-negotiations the DUP refused to talk directly -
formally or informally - to SF but came to accept that there was no
going back to Protestant rule.
The outcome of the re-negotiations was that:
* IRA would decommission all weapons by end of December, in a way
which further enhances public confidence.
* IRA would instruct members to desist from all actions that would
endanger the agreement.
* De Chastelain's Commission would confirm decommissioning with
photographs taken which would be shown to the governments and parties,
and made public once the Assembly is up and running
* DUP would agree to work in an inclusive Executive.
* Sinn Fein would agree to hold an Ard-Fheis to decide on its support
for new policing arrangements.
* A shadow Assembly would be set up in January; a committee would work
on a policing agreement, shadow executive being set up in January,
devolved government in April, setting up of policing and judiciary in
June.
* Suspension of Assembly would be lifted in February; First and Deputy
first Minister would be confirmed by Assembly in March
* Britain would enact legislation for the devolution of criminal
justice and policing early in the summer.
The DUP clearly demonstrated, despite its electoral pledges, its
preparedness to accept all the basics of the GFA, including its
willingness to sit on an Executive with Sinn Fein. In fact so much so
that UUP's Trimble complained of it conceding too much to republicans
in negotiations.
However this DUP acceptance was predicated on the IRA's demonstrable
total decommissioning, i.e. surrender. As the days went by, the demand
for surrender became a demand for the IRA's humiliation with the focus
on the surrender being photographed.
Sinn Fein had accepted all the key points including policing - of the
recent agreement by the British & Irish governments, all that is,
except the issue of photographs being taken of IRA decommissioning.
The IRA (P) has undertaken to disband its volunteers. They were
prepared to do this under the supervision of the de Chastelain
Commission set up according to the terms of the GFA. They even agreed
to the presence of 2 ministers, one Protestant and one Catholic.
But the key issue on which the talks broke down was the visual
evidence of IRA surrender. Now the Northern Bank robbery makes a
restored Stormont unlikely this year. But be assured the politicians
will eventually do a deal and work together. Having carved up the
working class areas of the North into sectarian ghettoes and taken
physical, social and economic control, both the DUP and Sinn Fein look
forward to the day they can divvy up the spoils.
But neither the continuation of direct British rule nor the
establishment of a local administration under Sinn Fein/DUP control
will solve the Northern problem.
*******
TSUNAMI AND THE TOURIST INDUSTRY
By Minnie Bruce Pratt
The U.S. media admit that Secretary of State Colin Powell's visit to
Thailand is designed to prop up the hard-hit tourist industry there.
The catastrophic Dec. 26 tsunami hit the beaches of Sri Lanka and
Thailand and the islands of the Maldives at the height of tourist
season.
While the tourist industry brings a lot of money into these countries,
it doesn't enrich the workers and farmers. Instead it aggravates class
divisions and makes the capitalists there even more appendages of
foreign capital.
In covering the tragedy, U.S. news media highlighted the dramatic
stories and deaths of Australian, European, and U.S. tourists in the
area. Of the six New York Post photo cover stories on the tragedy,
three featured white tourists.
In the days immediately following the tsunami, a top priority of the
authorities was to evacuate the surviving tourists.
The heaviest losses, however, were not in tourist areas but in the
coastal villages of Indonesia, which were devastated by the earthquake
as well as the tsunami.
United Nations emergency relief coordinator Jan Egeland asserted, "We
will never, ever have the absolute, definite figure because there are
many nameless fishermen and villages that have just gone." (The
Australian)
Also unnamed in U.S. news reports are the women and men whose labor
kept the luxurious beach-side resorts running. At Sofitel Magic Lagoon
in Khao Lak, near Phuket, Thailand, one-third of the 320 person staff
were still missing a week after the calamity. And an estimated 10,000
people have lost their jobs in the Thai resort industry as a result of
the tsunami. (Asian Labour News)
Rooms at the Magic Lagoon cost between $350 and $600 a night. An
average monthly salary for a Thai hotel worker is about $130. More
than 10 million tourists visit Thailand in a year, 4 million in the
Phuket area alone. (beachpatong.com)
The international sex-trade industry preys on impoverished people of
the area, mostly women and children. They are marketed to Western
tourists, primarily men, as destinations for travel tours. The profits
made from this human suffering are as yet incalculable. (Julia
Davidson, "Sex Tourists in Thailand," wri-irg.org)
Tidal wave of super-exploitation
Transnational travel industry giants like Le Meridien, Holiday Inn and
Accor make extravagant profits through the super-exploitation of
workers in these resorts.
Le Meridien, created by Air France in 1972, subsequently merged with
corporations from England and Japan. It now has major financing from
U.S.-based Lehman Brothers. Giant Accor, which runs the Magic Lagoon,
has hotels in 140 countries, including Motel 6 and Red Roof Inns in
the United States.
Joining these worldwide corporations in the rush to wring profit from
Asian workers is the World Bank, through its affiliate, the
International Finance Corp. The IFC, which finances private
corporations expanding into the developing world, has specifically
targeted tourism as an area for exploitation.
In 2002 the IFC loaned $17 million to private companies in the
Maldives to build resort areas. Before the tsunami, tourism generated
33 percent of the Maldives' GDP, and its typically low-paying service
work made up 30 percent of local employment. (ifc.org)
In its own words, "The IFC finances private sector investments in the
developing world, mobilizes capital in the international financial
markets, helps clients improve social and environmental
sustainability, and provides technical assistance and advice to
governments and businesses."
The mission statement further elaborates: "We are committed to working
on the frontiers of private investment, helping bring commercial
disciplines and entrepreneurial dynamism to new areas of the economy."
In plain words, the IFC, the World Bank and the transnational
corporations that are their partners are dedicated to finding any way
possible to make money off the working and oppressed people of the
world, including the people who once lived in the countryside,
villages and towns now devastated by the tsunami.
In August 2003, management at the Diamond Cliff Resort and Spa in
Phuket blasted workers with mass layoffs for attempting to unionize,
and kept them from getting jobs at other resorts. The workers, without
income and homeless, refused to settle with the company, and demanded
their jobs and reinstatement with fair wages. This is the spirit of
the workers hit so hard by the tsunami of the ocean, the spirit of
their fight against the tidal wave of capitalism.
(Copyright Workers World Service: Everyone is permitted to copy and
distribute verbatim copies of this document, but changing it is not
allowed. For more information contact Workers World, 55 W. 17 St., NY,
NY 10011; via e-mail: ww@wwpublish.com. Subscribe
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*******
UNDERSTANDING NORTH KOREA
"North Korea: Another Country"
By Bruce Cumings
Scribe Publications, 2004 256 pages, $26.95
When it comes to North Korea, fact and fiction have become so blurred
that even many Marxists and socialists hold the country at arm's
length. But in his latest book, Bruce Cumings, by no means a Marxist,
shows that even North Korea can be scientifically understood. His
approach is summed up in the preface:
"North Korea does not exist alone, in a vacuum...It cannot be
understood apart from a terrible fratricidal war that has never ended,
the guerrilla struggle against Japanese imperialism in the 1930s, its
initial emergence as a state in 1945, its fraught relationship with
the South, its brittle and defensive reaction to the end of the Cold
War and the collapse of the Soviet Union, and its interminable daily
struggle with the United States of America."
And further into the book he writes that North Korea "is not a nice
place, but it is an understandable place, an anti-colonial and
anti-imperial state growing out of a half-century of Japanese colonial
rule and another half-century of continuous confrontation with a
hegemonic United States and a more powerful South Korea, with all the
predictable deformations."
Cumings avoids the common pitfall of many liberals and socialists
alike when passing commentary on demonised regimes. He is able to
empathetically separate out the daily lives of ordinary North Koreans
from the (often excessive) policies and actions of the state. Further,
without being sympathetic towards Pyongyang, Cumings firmly puts the
behaviour of the North Korean state, especially its foreign and
military policy, into historical and political context. At the centre
of this is the Korean War:
"Why is [Pyongyang] a garrison state? Primarily because of the
holocaust that the North experienced during the Korean War [1949-53]"
Holocaust is not an excessive term. Korea triggered an escalation in
US Cold War policy, from the containment of communism to rollback and
became a testing ground for it. Hence, instead of stopping in
September 1950, when it regained the South at the 38th parallel
(arbitrarily drawn by Washington, with the consent of the Kremlin),
the US decided to roll on and liberate North Korea. This massively
escalated the destruction, indeed, into a holocaust.
Four million Koreans (three-quarters in the North), 1 million Chinese
and 52,000 US soldiers died. Millions more were displaced and driven
to flee abroad.
The strategy of total war (war not just against the state, but also
against the people and economy), later used in Vietnam, was pioneered
in Korea.
Vietnam was a mere follow-on to the logic established in 1950. This
extended to the choice of weapons and warfare methods. Gigantic walls
of napalm fire were first seen in Korea. The imperialists went further
in the Korean War than they were able to get away with in Vietnam.
They established massive concentration camps and strafed peaceful
demonstrations. Thousands of leftists and sympathisers perished in
mass executions. Mass graves were still being discovered in the 1970s
in the North. Korea was much more industrialised than Vietnam. The US
flattened whole cities, many containing vital industrial
infrastructure. In the closing weeks of the war, US bombers destroyed
massive irrigation dams that provided water for 75% of the North's
food production.
One bombing run was conducted straight after the back-breaking work of
mass rice transplantation. Cumings cites a US Air Force document from
the time boasting of the results: "The subsequent flash flood scooped
clean 27 miles of valley below...The Westerner can little conceive the
awesome meaning which the loss of [rice] has for the Asian, starvation
and slow death."
Cumings also reminds us that the US war in Korea was a war against a
popular revolution. He recounts that 14% of North Koreans were members
of the Korean Workers Party. Against this historical backdrop, the
garrisoning of the Korean people by Pyongyang and the ruling KWP
contains a popular dimension, that is, it is partly rooted in the
interests and genuine needs of military defence of North Korean
working people. Cumings easily debunks any notion that North Korea is
living in the past. Most of his book is devoted to recounting and
analysing the US's continuing threats and sabotage against any
attempts at peace, especially those initiated by the South since the
"Sunshine Policy" initiated by Kim Dae-Jung when he was South
Korea's President. As such, the daily realities of North Korean life
are still afflicted by the threats of this unfinished war. The size of
the armed forces, the KWP's "military first" policy, Pyongyang's
resort to the nuclear arms card, all this is rooted in the ongoing
stand off with Washington.
And who can belittle this sense of threat given the frenzy of
destruction unfolding in Iraq today?
Indeed, a running theme in "North Korea: Another Country" is
comparisons with Iraq and a general condemnation of the Bush doctrine:
no other president would again send American armies to liberate an
established state until George W. Bush invaded Iraq in 2003.
Bruce Cumings, the world's foremost English-language authority on
Korea, has done more than any other, left or right, to demystify the
deformed workers' state of North Korea.
His two-volume magnum opus, "Origins of the Korean War", remains the
single most powerful indictment of the US war against the Korean
people. It has done much to challenge Washington's lie that it waged a
just war to defend South Korea against totalitarian aggression from
the North.
"North Korea: Another Country" carries on this important mission. It
is an uncorrupted humanist portrayal about a country that so many
liberal commentators love to hate and toward which they are so willing
to ditch any element of humanism. It is essential reading in any
attempt to truly understand North Korea.
REVIEW BY IGGY KIM
From Green Left Weekly, December 15, 2004.
*******
Letters
*
The Observer and the Irish Independent reported (2 January 2005) that
an anonymous group claimed responsibility for vandalising the statue
of IRA leader Sean Russell in Dublin. It said that as Europe prepares
to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the liberation of the Nazi
death camps, it could no longer tolerate a statue in honour of Sean
Russell because he was a 'Nazi collaborator'.
Sean Russell was essentially a physical force Republican, and from
what we know, he had little interest in ideologies and politics. It
was the task of the IRA to achieve independence by military means,
then things would be left to the politicians. The Nazis' attempts to
indoctrinate Russell with their philosophy and politics failed
spectacularly. Sean Russell told one German official: "I am not a
Nazi. I'm not even pro-German. I am an Irishman fighting for the
independence of Ireland. The British have been our enemies for
hundreds of years. They are the enemy of Germany today. If it suits
Germany to give us help to achieve independence, I am willing to
accept it, but no more, and there must be no strings attached." (The
Irish Times, 6 June 1958)
This is also made clear in Adrian Hoar's recent biography of Frank
Ryan.
Some historians also attempt to frame Frank Ryan (the famous left-wing
Republican who fought in the International Brigades against fascism in
Spain) as some kind of Nazi collaborator (see for example Fearghal
McGarry who writes on page 65 of his 2002 book on Frank Ryan of his
'conscious determination to collaborate' with the Nazis). Frank Ryan
was no collaborator; he was a man of great integrity; and his attempts
to bolster German respect for Irish neutrality can be better explained
as serving his homeland. Ryan rejoiced when hearing of Soviet victory
at Stalingrad.
It is interesting to see how constant attempts are made to associate
Irish Republicanism with fascism and Nazism, while at the same time
conscious attempts are made to whitewash the Blueshirts saying they
were not really fascist after all. The fascists in Ireland come from
the Fine Gael, not the Republican tradition.
Liam O'Ruairc
*
New Hands Off Venezuela website
http://www.handsoffvenezuela.org/
*******
WHAT'S ON
*
Sunday 23rd January 2005
YOU ARE INVITED TO A PUBLIC MEETING
"The Anti-Imperialist Struggle in India!"
Speaker: Dr Darshan Pal, President Of The All India People's
Resistance Forum
VIDEO SHOW on the Struggle in India
Q & A + Open Discussion
Time: Sunday 23rd January 2005, 2P.M.
Place: Room S75, St Clement's Building, London School of Economics,
Houghton Street, London WC2 Nearest Station: Holborn
Though the transfer of power from the British Raj to Indian rulers in
1947 raised some hopes initially among the people of India for end of
tyranny and oppression and for the betterment of their lives, it did
not take long for them to realise what the new Congress rule was all
about. The naked reality that the Indian masses, especially the
workers and peasantry had to face was that the forces that took over
the reins from the British were, in fact, the big capitalists,
bureaucrats and the big landlords, serving the interests of
imperialism.
All India People's Resistance Forum (AIPRF) is a general democratic
organisation, which takes up the fighting tasks against imperialist
domination, the grinding backward exploitation by the semi-feudal
system and the anti-people policies of the ruling classes of India.
The AIPRF takes up the tasks of building, intensifying and
coordinating the anti-imperialist struggles in the country. It has
taken up the task of mobilising the people in democratic struggles on
a broad based way to raise a united voice of resistance against the
stooges of imperialism, the ruling classes of India.
Rally at Hyderabad
During the process of people's struggle, the Democratic forces could
muster the support of the people for the democratic rights of the
masses and create a new wave of mass political mobilization across the
whole country and involve the masses in the political battle on a wide
scale; they focused on the problems faced by the various sections of
the masses and propagated the politics of new democracy. Come to the
Meeting and hear for yourself the heroic Struggle of the hundreds of
millions of Indian People, who since the phoney 'independence'
continue to Struggle for a new democratic system. Lets build a Mass
anti-imperialist Movement as part of our Internationalist and
democratic duty with all Oppressed People's fighting against the
imperialist system on our planet!
Organised by:
World Peoples Resistance Movement (Britain)
Fight Racism Fight Imperialism LSE Student Society
Indian Workers Association (GB)
Contact details:
wprm_britain@yahoo.co.uk
LSE_FRFI@yahoo.co.uk
iwagb1938@hotmail.com
*******
Please feel free to comment on the contents of The Plough. We welcome
political comments and criticisms.
If you know of anybody who might wish to receive The Plough please
send his or her e-mail address to johnmartinps@eircom.net.
If you wish to receive back copies of the The Plough please e-mail
to johnmartinps@eircom.net stating which numbers you wish.
To unsubscribe to The Plough please send e-mail
entitled "unsubscribe" to johnmartinps@eircom.net.
It is the policy of The Plough to acknowledge information and
articles from other sources.
Subscribe to the bi-monthly
"The Starry Plough/An Camchéachta"
P.O. Box 1981, Derry, BT48 8GX, Ireland.
THE VOICE OF REPUBLICAN SOCIALISM!
Email: starry_plough@hotmail.com
Website: http://www.irsm.org/irsp/starryplough/
Fighting Fund/Donations
To: The Starry Plough
First Trust Bank, Derry, BT48 6BU
Account No. 14986015 Sort Code No. 93-86-10
http://www.irsm.org/irsm.html (Pairtí Poblachtach Sóisialach na
h-Éireann)
http://www.wageslave.org/jcs/ (James Connolly Society)
http://www.marxists.org/archive/connolly/ (James Connolly Archive)
The Republican Socialist Forum from Derry IRSP
http://rsmforum.proboards23.com/
Republican Socialist Online Merchandise - A website that offers a
central place to go on the Internet to find good quality items with a
distinct Republican Socialist theme. Proceeds from sales from this
effort go towards the IRSM and its various projects.
http://www.angelfire.com/folk/irishshop/
*
Support the IRSP
Standing Order Form
To the Manager First Trust Bank, Andersonstown.
Please pay First Trust Bank Andersonstown Branch, Belfast, and credit
to Irish Republican Socialist Party, A/C Number 70490021, Branch Code
93-84-75
The sum of:
Amount in words:
Commencing date: and thereafter every month till further notice.
And debiting A/C number:
Name (Please print clearly):
Date:
Address:
Signature:
Volume 2, Number 19
10 January 2005
E-Mail Newsletter of the Irish Republican Socialist Party
1. Editorial
2. Tsunami and the Tourist Industry
3. Understanding North Korea
4. Letters
5. What's On
*******
EDITORIAL
All the furore over the £26 million bank robbery in Belfast has
served to distract attention away from what was going to be a sordid
sectarian carve up of the North between the DUP and Sinn Fein.
Despite the fact that it ended in deadlock there is no doubt that both
parties are desperate to get their hands once more on the levers of
power. Such was Sinn Fein's passion for the trappings and substance of
power that the IRA declared its readiness to enter the end game of
disarmament and disbandment but the Paisley wing of the Democratic
Unionist Party demanded the public humiliation of the IRA. This was a
step to far for even the Provisional Republican Movement.
But remember what they had already agreed to sign up to. They had
agreed to a system of power-sharing which set in stone sectarian
arrangements for the selection of ministers. The confessional and
sectarian nature of the new Northern Ireland state was to be
solidified. Since the peace process began, polarisation between
anti-unionist and unionist parties is starker then ever. The rise and
rise of both Sinn Fein and the DUP meant that new arrangements had to
be made; in other words the renegotiation of the Good Friday
Agreement.
During these re-negotiations the DUP refused to talk directly -
formally or informally - to SF but came to accept that there was no
going back to Protestant rule.
The outcome of the re-negotiations was that:
* IRA would decommission all weapons by end of December, in a way
which further enhances public confidence.
* IRA would instruct members to desist from all actions that would
endanger the agreement.
* De Chastelain's Commission would confirm decommissioning with
photographs taken which would be shown to the governments and parties,
and made public once the Assembly is up and running
* DUP would agree to work in an inclusive Executive.
* Sinn Fein would agree to hold an Ard-Fheis to decide on its support
for new policing arrangements.
* A shadow Assembly would be set up in January; a committee would work
on a policing agreement, shadow executive being set up in January,
devolved government in April, setting up of policing and judiciary in
June.
* Suspension of Assembly would be lifted in February; First and Deputy
first Minister would be confirmed by Assembly in March
* Britain would enact legislation for the devolution of criminal
justice and policing early in the summer.
The DUP clearly demonstrated, despite its electoral pledges, its
preparedness to accept all the basics of the GFA, including its
willingness to sit on an Executive with Sinn Fein. In fact so much so
that UUP's Trimble complained of it conceding too much to republicans
in negotiations.
However this DUP acceptance was predicated on the IRA's demonstrable
total decommissioning, i.e. surrender. As the days went by, the demand
for surrender became a demand for the IRA's humiliation with the focus
on the surrender being photographed.
Sinn Fein had accepted all the key points including policing - of the
recent agreement by the British & Irish governments, all that is,
except the issue of photographs being taken of IRA decommissioning.
The IRA (P) has undertaken to disband its volunteers. They were
prepared to do this under the supervision of the de Chastelain
Commission set up according to the terms of the GFA. They even agreed
to the presence of 2 ministers, one Protestant and one Catholic.
But the key issue on which the talks broke down was the visual
evidence of IRA surrender. Now the Northern Bank robbery makes a
restored Stormont unlikely this year. But be assured the politicians
will eventually do a deal and work together. Having carved up the
working class areas of the North into sectarian ghettoes and taken
physical, social and economic control, both the DUP and Sinn Fein look
forward to the day they can divvy up the spoils.
But neither the continuation of direct British rule nor the
establishment of a local administration under Sinn Fein/DUP control
will solve the Northern problem.
*******
TSUNAMI AND THE TOURIST INDUSTRY
By Minnie Bruce Pratt
The U.S. media admit that Secretary of State Colin Powell's visit to
Thailand is designed to prop up the hard-hit tourist industry there.
The catastrophic Dec. 26 tsunami hit the beaches of Sri Lanka and
Thailand and the islands of the Maldives at the height of tourist
season.
While the tourist industry brings a lot of money into these countries,
it doesn't enrich the workers and farmers. Instead it aggravates class
divisions and makes the capitalists there even more appendages of
foreign capital.
In covering the tragedy, U.S. news media highlighted the dramatic
stories and deaths of Australian, European, and U.S. tourists in the
area. Of the six New York Post photo cover stories on the tragedy,
three featured white tourists.
In the days immediately following the tsunami, a top priority of the
authorities was to evacuate the surviving tourists.
The heaviest losses, however, were not in tourist areas but in the
coastal villages of Indonesia, which were devastated by the earthquake
as well as the tsunami.
United Nations emergency relief coordinator Jan Egeland asserted, "We
will never, ever have the absolute, definite figure because there are
many nameless fishermen and villages that have just gone." (The
Australian)
Also unnamed in U.S. news reports are the women and men whose labor
kept the luxurious beach-side resorts running. At Sofitel Magic Lagoon
in Khao Lak, near Phuket, Thailand, one-third of the 320 person staff
were still missing a week after the calamity. And an estimated 10,000
people have lost their jobs in the Thai resort industry as a result of
the tsunami. (Asian Labour News)
Rooms at the Magic Lagoon cost between $350 and $600 a night. An
average monthly salary for a Thai hotel worker is about $130. More
than 10 million tourists visit Thailand in a year, 4 million in the
Phuket area alone. (beachpatong.com)
The international sex-trade industry preys on impoverished people of
the area, mostly women and children. They are marketed to Western
tourists, primarily men, as destinations for travel tours. The profits
made from this human suffering are as yet incalculable. (Julia
Davidson, "Sex Tourists in Thailand," wri-irg.org)
Tidal wave of super-exploitation
Transnational travel industry giants like Le Meridien, Holiday Inn and
Accor make extravagant profits through the super-exploitation of
workers in these resorts.
Le Meridien, created by Air France in 1972, subsequently merged with
corporations from England and Japan. It now has major financing from
U.S.-based Lehman Brothers. Giant Accor, which runs the Magic Lagoon,
has hotels in 140 countries, including Motel 6 and Red Roof Inns in
the United States.
Joining these worldwide corporations in the rush to wring profit from
Asian workers is the World Bank, through its affiliate, the
International Finance Corp. The IFC, which finances private
corporations expanding into the developing world, has specifically
targeted tourism as an area for exploitation.
In 2002 the IFC loaned $17 million to private companies in the
Maldives to build resort areas. Before the tsunami, tourism generated
33 percent of the Maldives' GDP, and its typically low-paying service
work made up 30 percent of local employment. (ifc.org)
In its own words, "The IFC finances private sector investments in the
developing world, mobilizes capital in the international financial
markets, helps clients improve social and environmental
sustainability, and provides technical assistance and advice to
governments and businesses."
The mission statement further elaborates: "We are committed to working
on the frontiers of private investment, helping bring commercial
disciplines and entrepreneurial dynamism to new areas of the economy."
In plain words, the IFC, the World Bank and the transnational
corporations that are their partners are dedicated to finding any way
possible to make money off the working and oppressed people of the
world, including the people who once lived in the countryside,
villages and towns now devastated by the tsunami.
In August 2003, management at the Diamond Cliff Resort and Spa in
Phuket blasted workers with mass layoffs for attempting to unionize,
and kept them from getting jobs at other resorts. The workers, without
income and homeless, refused to settle with the company, and demanded
their jobs and reinstatement with fair wages. This is the spirit of
the workers hit so hard by the tsunami of the ocean, the spirit of
their fight against the tidal wave of capitalism.
(Copyright Workers World Service: Everyone is permitted to copy and
distribute verbatim copies of this document, but changing it is not
allowed. For more information contact Workers World, 55 W. 17 St., NY,
NY 10011; via e-mail: ww@wwpublish.com. Subscribe
wwnews-on@wwpublish.com. Unsubscribe wwnews-off@wwpublish.com. Support
the voice of resistance http://www.workers.org/orders/donate.php)
*******
UNDERSTANDING NORTH KOREA
"North Korea: Another Country"
By Bruce Cumings
Scribe Publications, 2004 256 pages, $26.95
When it comes to North Korea, fact and fiction have become so blurred
that even many Marxists and socialists hold the country at arm's
length. But in his latest book, Bruce Cumings, by no means a Marxist,
shows that even North Korea can be scientifically understood. His
approach is summed up in the preface:
"North Korea does not exist alone, in a vacuum...It cannot be
understood apart from a terrible fratricidal war that has never ended,
the guerrilla struggle against Japanese imperialism in the 1930s, its
initial emergence as a state in 1945, its fraught relationship with
the South, its brittle and defensive reaction to the end of the Cold
War and the collapse of the Soviet Union, and its interminable daily
struggle with the United States of America."
And further into the book he writes that North Korea "is not a nice
place, but it is an understandable place, an anti-colonial and
anti-imperial state growing out of a half-century of Japanese colonial
rule and another half-century of continuous confrontation with a
hegemonic United States and a more powerful South Korea, with all the
predictable deformations."
Cumings avoids the common pitfall of many liberals and socialists
alike when passing commentary on demonised regimes. He is able to
empathetically separate out the daily lives of ordinary North Koreans
from the (often excessive) policies and actions of the state. Further,
without being sympathetic towards Pyongyang, Cumings firmly puts the
behaviour of the North Korean state, especially its foreign and
military policy, into historical and political context. At the centre
of this is the Korean War:
"Why is [Pyongyang] a garrison state? Primarily because of the
holocaust that the North experienced during the Korean War [1949-53]"
Holocaust is not an excessive term. Korea triggered an escalation in
US Cold War policy, from the containment of communism to rollback and
became a testing ground for it. Hence, instead of stopping in
September 1950, when it regained the South at the 38th parallel
(arbitrarily drawn by Washington, with the consent of the Kremlin),
the US decided to roll on and liberate North Korea. This massively
escalated the destruction, indeed, into a holocaust.
Four million Koreans (three-quarters in the North), 1 million Chinese
and 52,000 US soldiers died. Millions more were displaced and driven
to flee abroad.
The strategy of total war (war not just against the state, but also
against the people and economy), later used in Vietnam, was pioneered
in Korea.
Vietnam was a mere follow-on to the logic established in 1950. This
extended to the choice of weapons and warfare methods. Gigantic walls
of napalm fire were first seen in Korea. The imperialists went further
in the Korean War than they were able to get away with in Vietnam.
They established massive concentration camps and strafed peaceful
demonstrations. Thousands of leftists and sympathisers perished in
mass executions. Mass graves were still being discovered in the 1970s
in the North. Korea was much more industrialised than Vietnam. The US
flattened whole cities, many containing vital industrial
infrastructure. In the closing weeks of the war, US bombers destroyed
massive irrigation dams that provided water for 75% of the North's
food production.
One bombing run was conducted straight after the back-breaking work of
mass rice transplantation. Cumings cites a US Air Force document from
the time boasting of the results: "The subsequent flash flood scooped
clean 27 miles of valley below...The Westerner can little conceive the
awesome meaning which the loss of [rice] has for the Asian, starvation
and slow death."
Cumings also reminds us that the US war in Korea was a war against a
popular revolution. He recounts that 14% of North Koreans were members
of the Korean Workers Party. Against this historical backdrop, the
garrisoning of the Korean people by Pyongyang and the ruling KWP
contains a popular dimension, that is, it is partly rooted in the
interests and genuine needs of military defence of North Korean
working people. Cumings easily debunks any notion that North Korea is
living in the past. Most of his book is devoted to recounting and
analysing the US's continuing threats and sabotage against any
attempts at peace, especially those initiated by the South since the
"Sunshine Policy" initiated by Kim Dae-Jung when he was South
Korea's President. As such, the daily realities of North Korean life
are still afflicted by the threats of this unfinished war. The size of
the armed forces, the KWP's "military first" policy, Pyongyang's
resort to the nuclear arms card, all this is rooted in the ongoing
stand off with Washington.
And who can belittle this sense of threat given the frenzy of
destruction unfolding in Iraq today?
Indeed, a running theme in "North Korea: Another Country" is
comparisons with Iraq and a general condemnation of the Bush doctrine:
no other president would again send American armies to liberate an
established state until George W. Bush invaded Iraq in 2003.
Bruce Cumings, the world's foremost English-language authority on
Korea, has done more than any other, left or right, to demystify the
deformed workers' state of North Korea.
His two-volume magnum opus, "Origins of the Korean War", remains the
single most powerful indictment of the US war against the Korean
people. It has done much to challenge Washington's lie that it waged a
just war to defend South Korea against totalitarian aggression from
the North.
"North Korea: Another Country" carries on this important mission. It
is an uncorrupted humanist portrayal about a country that so many
liberal commentators love to hate and toward which they are so willing
to ditch any element of humanism. It is essential reading in any
attempt to truly understand North Korea.
REVIEW BY IGGY KIM
From Green Left Weekly, December 15, 2004.
*******
Letters
*
The Observer and the Irish Independent reported (2 January 2005) that
an anonymous group claimed responsibility for vandalising the statue
of IRA leader Sean Russell in Dublin. It said that as Europe prepares
to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the liberation of the Nazi
death camps, it could no longer tolerate a statue in honour of Sean
Russell because he was a 'Nazi collaborator'.
Sean Russell was essentially a physical force Republican, and from
what we know, he had little interest in ideologies and politics. It
was the task of the IRA to achieve independence by military means,
then things would be left to the politicians. The Nazis' attempts to
indoctrinate Russell with their philosophy and politics failed
spectacularly. Sean Russell told one German official: "I am not a
Nazi. I'm not even pro-German. I am an Irishman fighting for the
independence of Ireland. The British have been our enemies for
hundreds of years. They are the enemy of Germany today. If it suits
Germany to give us help to achieve independence, I am willing to
accept it, but no more, and there must be no strings attached." (The
Irish Times, 6 June 1958)
This is also made clear in Adrian Hoar's recent biography of Frank
Ryan.
Some historians also attempt to frame Frank Ryan (the famous left-wing
Republican who fought in the International Brigades against fascism in
Spain) as some kind of Nazi collaborator (see for example Fearghal
McGarry who writes on page 65 of his 2002 book on Frank Ryan of his
'conscious determination to collaborate' with the Nazis). Frank Ryan
was no collaborator; he was a man of great integrity; and his attempts
to bolster German respect for Irish neutrality can be better explained
as serving his homeland. Ryan rejoiced when hearing of Soviet victory
at Stalingrad.
It is interesting to see how constant attempts are made to associate
Irish Republicanism with fascism and Nazism, while at the same time
conscious attempts are made to whitewash the Blueshirts saying they
were not really fascist after all. The fascists in Ireland come from
the Fine Gael, not the Republican tradition.
Liam O'Ruairc
*
New Hands Off Venezuela website
http://www.handsoffvenezuela.org/
*******
WHAT'S ON
*
Sunday 23rd January 2005
YOU ARE INVITED TO A PUBLIC MEETING
"The Anti-Imperialist Struggle in India!"
Speaker: Dr Darshan Pal, President Of The All India People's
Resistance Forum
VIDEO SHOW on the Struggle in India
Q & A + Open Discussion
Time: Sunday 23rd January 2005, 2P.M.
Place: Room S75, St Clement's Building, London School of Economics,
Houghton Street, London WC2 Nearest Station: Holborn
Though the transfer of power from the British Raj to Indian rulers in
1947 raised some hopes initially among the people of India for end of
tyranny and oppression and for the betterment of their lives, it did
not take long for them to realise what the new Congress rule was all
about. The naked reality that the Indian masses, especially the
workers and peasantry had to face was that the forces that took over
the reins from the British were, in fact, the big capitalists,
bureaucrats and the big landlords, serving the interests of
imperialism.
All India People's Resistance Forum (AIPRF) is a general democratic
organisation, which takes up the fighting tasks against imperialist
domination, the grinding backward exploitation by the semi-feudal
system and the anti-people policies of the ruling classes of India.
The AIPRF takes up the tasks of building, intensifying and
coordinating the anti-imperialist struggles in the country. It has
taken up the task of mobilising the people in democratic struggles on
a broad based way to raise a united voice of resistance against the
stooges of imperialism, the ruling classes of India.
Rally at Hyderabad
During the process of people's struggle, the Democratic forces could
muster the support of the people for the democratic rights of the
masses and create a new wave of mass political mobilization across the
whole country and involve the masses in the political battle on a wide
scale; they focused on the problems faced by the various sections of
the masses and propagated the politics of new democracy. Come to the
Meeting and hear for yourself the heroic Struggle of the hundreds of
millions of Indian People, who since the phoney 'independence'
continue to Struggle for a new democratic system. Lets build a Mass
anti-imperialist Movement as part of our Internationalist and
democratic duty with all Oppressed People's fighting against the
imperialist system on our planet!
Organised by:
World Peoples Resistance Movement (Britain)
Fight Racism Fight Imperialism LSE Student Society
Indian Workers Association (GB)
Contact details:
wprm_britain@yahoo.co.uk
LSE_FRFI@yahoo.co.uk
iwagb1938@hotmail.com
*******
Please feel free to comment on the contents of The Plough. We welcome
political comments and criticisms.
If you know of anybody who might wish to receive The Plough please
send his or her e-mail address to johnmartinps@eircom.net.
If you wish to receive back copies of the The Plough please e-mail
to johnmartinps@eircom.net stating which numbers you wish.
To unsubscribe to The Plough please send e-mail
entitled "unsubscribe" to johnmartinps@eircom.net.
It is the policy of The Plough to acknowledge information and
articles from other sources.
Subscribe to the bi-monthly
"The Starry Plough/An Camchéachta"
P.O. Box 1981, Derry, BT48 8GX, Ireland.
THE VOICE OF REPUBLICAN SOCIALISM!
Email: starry_plough@hotmail.com
Website: http://www.irsm.org/irsp/starryplough/
Fighting Fund/Donations
To: The Starry Plough
First Trust Bank, Derry, BT48 6BU
Account No. 14986015 Sort Code No. 93-86-10
http://www.irsm.org/irsm.html (Pairtí Poblachtach Sóisialach na
h-Éireann)
http://www.wageslave.org/jcs/ (James Connolly Society)
http://www.marxists.org/archive/connolly/ (James Connolly Archive)
The Republican Socialist Forum from Derry IRSP
http://rsmforum.proboards23.com/
Republican Socialist Online Merchandise - A website that offers a
central place to go on the Internet to find good quality items with a
distinct Republican Socialist theme. Proceeds from sales from this
effort go towards the IRSM and its various projects.
http://www.angelfire.com/folk/irishshop/
*
Support the IRSP
Standing Order Form
To the Manager First Trust Bank, Andersonstown.
Please pay First Trust Bank Andersonstown Branch, Belfast, and credit
to Irish Republican Socialist Party, A/C Number 70490021, Branch Code
93-84-75
The sum of:
Amount in words:
Commencing date: and thereafter every month till further notice.
And debiting A/C number:
Name (Please print clearly):
Date:
Address:
Signature:
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