International Viewpoint

Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell is absolutely right to say that Tory Prime Minister Johnson's suspension of Parliament is a “very British coup”. A government of hard right ideologues is shutting down the very thing they argued should be sovereign.

Our nonviolent movement opposes all forms of racism and racial discrimination.

It's been a tough couple of years both personally and politically. On a personal level, I had serious health issues which, of necessity, required me to pull back from political organising and participation (my doctors actually told me to stop going to demonstrations). That this has happened in a period of massive political upheavals has really made the situation even more frustrating and alienating. This political crisis alongside of a continuing economic crisis of international capitalism (and part of the crisis as well) has exacerbated the situation due to its impact on the majority world-wide.

“I don't want flowers at my funeral, because I know they will be taken from the forest.” Chico Mendes

The events of the past month in Moscow have led to a political crisis on a national scale. Its distinguishing feature is the inability of the authorities to govern as usual, combining political methods and repression for maintaining stability. The mechanism of maintaining legitimate power through controlled elections with low turnout and the predictable victory of United Russia no longer works.

We, the Alliance of Middle Eastern and North African Socialists oppose the military attacks on the Idlib region and northern Hama and threats and assaults against the northeastern regions of Syria. We support all the innocent civilians in Syria.

It has been an interesting week.. Two members of Congress, Representatives Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib had been invited to visit the Israeli-occupied territories under the auspices of an organisation called Palestinian Initiative for the Promotion of Global Dialogue & Democracy (aka Miftah). The tour was not organised by Israel or by a group sympathetic to the actions of the Israeli government and military; instead it is a Palestinian group and these Congresswomen were not going to see the usual tour that most American Congresspeople take. Tours for Congress members are organised regularly by AIPAC through the aegis of the AIEF (American Israel Education Foundation); given the politics of AIPAC these tours have specific aims, the primary one being building support for Israel. J Street also has organised alternative tours to Israel by Congresspeople in the past.

The discredit attained by the dominant parties, by the legislature, by the “politicians” and even “politics” itself, defined inaccurately, but viscerally despised by many people, recalls the concept of “organic crisis” advanced by the Italian Marxist Antonio Gramsci. Authors such as Stathis Kouvelakis have used it to analyse the movement of the gilets jaunes in France. An organic crisis involves a breakdown of the ability of the ruling class to “maintain its leading role”. One of its “most visible symptoms” is the “collapse of support for traditional parties”.

On 18 August, the Palestinian Police Force issued an official statement banning the activities of alQaws for Sexual and Gender Diversity in Palestinian Society. The announcement followed an unprecedented attack on alQaws in social media channels. The statement promotes incitement against alQaws - and LGBTQ Palestinians - by encouraging members of society to report on alQaws activities.

On Saturday, August 17th, the spokesperson for the Palestinian Authority police, Louai Irzeqat, issued a statement concerning alQaws' activities in the West Bank. This first-ever statement about alQaws declared that the PA police would prohibit any event organized or held by alQaws for Gender and Sexual Diversity in Palestinian Society. The police claimed it goes against “traditional Palestinian values” accusing us as “foreign agents.” The statement went further, calling on citizens to complain about any “suspicious” activities and for the persecution of alQaws staff and activists.

It was indeed Beijing and the head of the local Government Executive, Carrie Lam, who took responsibility, almost four months ago, for opening up this crisis by calling into question the status enjoyed by this territory as a Special Administrative Region, a status that stems from the handover agreements of the former British colony. This ensures it a significant degree of autonomy in many fields. This status was due to remain in force until 2047 at least.

The Sudanese Revolution has won major victories. But it still needs to wrestle control from the military to popular forces.

Marking its 50th anniversary, Vincent Doherty looks at one of the most significant episodes in modern Irish history

As the Indian government resorts to annexation of the state of Jammu and Kashmir at gunpoint, detaining its political leaders and cutting off all means of communication, we extend our solidarity to the people of Jammu and Kashmir as they struggle for their most basic rights and freedoms.

With Parliament neutralised by the summer recess, battle lines are being drawn for the biggest constitutional crisis in modern times when it comes back next month. With his ‘War Cabinet' rammed with hard-line Brexiteers, and with Nigel Farage looking over his shoulder, Johnson is on a single-minded mission to crash Britain out of the EU on October 31 – as he says ‘come what may'.

On August 4, 2019, the Sudanese military council signed an agreement with Freedom and Change, a body representing the country's mass protest movement. The agreement establishes the structures and powers of a transitional government that will lead the country out of almost three decades of authoritarian rule, with the expectation of elections in three years. It has been hailed as a major victory by protest leaders, who secured their terms on three key sticking points in several tense months of negotiations: limiting the participation of the military council in transitional structures, stripping military leaders of absolute immunity from prosecution, and subordinating the infamous Janjaweed militia to the general command of the armed forces.

Was Marx an ecologist and does Marx's theory offer a coherent theoretical and practical approach for ecologists in the 21st century? The publication, in the original language (mostly German), of Marx's excerpts and notes on ecology from the mid-1860s may help to answer that question.

In Portugal there is an old, very old, popular saying, that “from Spain, there is neither good wind, nor good marriage”. Readers living in the Spanish state will, as I hope, understand the existence of some caution based on the history and popular perceptions of the only Iberian nationality that has not been subjected to the power of Madrid throughout the history of the last millennium. And also, what this saying manifests. Literally, it means that the winds coming from the Spanish state (from the east) are rare, but harmful for agriculture. Also, that weddings between the royal houses of the two states resulted in dynastic, diplomatic and military problems. Issues that, in fact, led to the only period in which Portugal was integrated into the kingdom of Castile, between 1580 and 1640. Hence the phrase “neither good wind, nor good marriage”.

Modi's decision to revoke Article 35-A and Article 370 of the Indian constitution has fulfilled one of the cornerstones of Hindutva ideology – the forceful assimilation of Kashmir. The audacity of ambition combined with unprecedented secrecy amplified the menacing character of this event. Couching the operation as part of the fight against terror, arresting the entire political leadership of Kashmir, and cutting off communications throughout the valley indicates the colossal nature of the legal and political rupture taking place in the region.

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