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June 1-15, 2011
Volume 19 - Number 11
$1
Prolétaires de tous les pays, unissez-vous!
Otatoskewak ota kitaskinahk
mamawestotan!
Workers of all lands, unite
1) THE CLC: A TALE OF TWO CONVENTIONS
2) A WORKERS PROGRAM TO DEFEAT THE RIGHT WING-AGENDA
3) POSTAL WORKERS FIGHTING AGAINST CONCESSIONS
4) TORIES AND LIBERALS LIED ABOUT WAR PLANS
5) STEPS FORWARD.... AND BACK - Editorial
6) TIME FOR PALESTINIAN FREEDOM - Editorial
7) NATO CONTINUES KILLING SPREE IN AFRICA AND ASIA
8) FROM BRITAIN: THE ONGOING DEMISE OF SOCIAL DEMOCRACY
9) JAPAN'S COMMUNISTS WARNED OF NUCLEAR POWER RISKS
10) "THE ARAB SPRING" REACHES PALESTINE
11) MUSIC NOTES, By Wally Brooker
13)
CLARTÉ (en français)
18)
THE SPARK! (Theoretical and Discussion Bulletin of the Communist Party of
14)
INTRODUCING MARX
PEOPLE'S VOICE JUNE
1-15, 2011 (pdf)
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The Spark!
The Spark! The latest issue of The Spark! theoretical
journal, is now on sale for $5 at Communist Party offices (see p. 8) or People’s Co-op Books, Articles include
plus reviews, editorials, and more.
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Theoretical
and Discussion Bulletin of the Communist Party of |
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People's Voice deadlines: June 16-31 July 1-31 Send submissions to PV Editorial Office,
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REDS
ON THE WEB |
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People's Voice finds many "Global Class Struggle" reports at the "Labour Start" website, http://www.labourstart.org/. We urge our readers to check it out! |
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(The following articles are from the
June 1-15, 2011, issue of People's
1) THE CLC:
A TALE OF TWO CONVENTIONS
By Sam
Hammond,
For the
26th time since its founding, the Canadian Labour
Congress met in Convention May 9-13 in
The structural changes that will effectively reshape the CLC into a consensus
of the largest private and public sector union leaders were adopted as
expected, with only mild squirming from the Labour
Councils which are left out of the new structure completely.
Ken Georgetti managed the microphones with clumsy
prejudice. Early in the convention he twice cut off Dave Pritchett from the Longshore
More than at any other CLC convention, the several hundred resolutions sent in
were grouped into watered down composites and squeezed into debate times that
were severely compressed by a line‑up of guest speakers, cultural
presentations and discussion panels. Some of the delegates who took part in the
Action Caucus estimated that in the week‑long convention, only about nine
hours were allotted to floor debate on resolutions.
One of the guest speakers was Jack Layton, who understandably was on a high
over the NDP election success, and of course received a resounding welcome from
the delegates.
The Action Caucus had its first meeting on May 8, before most delegates had not
arrived. Regular daily meetings of the Caucus began in earnest the next day.
The main thrust of the Action Caucus was to get adoption of an "Action
Plan to Resist the Harper Agenda". A petition to get the Action Plan on
the floor was signed by over 500 delegates, the most effective work done at the
convention. Although the Action Plan did not make it to the floor, it was in
tune with the feelings of the majority of delegates. Much of it was
incorporated by the executive into "Good Jobs, Better Lives: A Workers
Program to Defeat the Right‑Wing Agenda," an action resolution which
was passed and is now policy.
Because of the behind the scenes work of the Action Caucus, the language of the
"Good Jobs, Better Lives" resolution is militant and emphasizes the
need to support unions in struggle and under attack such as CUPW and PSAC, to
promote "public demonstrations" and "direct action where necessary
to defeat the right‑wing agenda".
The resolution states, "We will work with affiliates, federations and labour councils to build a strong progressive workers
movement to counter the right‑wing corporate agenda in this country. This
will include engaging in member‑to‑member campaigns, public
outreach and direct action..."
It also states, "At the 27th Constitutional Convention in 2014, the CLC
will bring forward a political plan to defeat the Conservative government and
to elect a federal New Democratic Party government." This is a much
different posture than two conventions back when Gilles Duceppe and Jack Layton
got equal billing.
The members of the Action Caucus brought militancy to the mikes, reflected the
urgency of delegates who want a stronger fightback, and
built respect and prestige for the left, for the ideology of struggle against
capital and unity of working people.
In the words of one member of the Action Caucus, "It was as if there were
two conventions going on at the same time that did not connect."
This is an accurate observation. The thrust from the top is to prepare
conditions for the election of an NDP majority in 2015. The thrust from the
left is to fight every day over the next four years, to prevent the Tories from
implementing their pro‑corporate, pro‑war, pro‑imperialist
agenda.
The youth, the homeless, the disenchanted, the unemployed and the abandoned,
our entire working class, cannot wait for social democratic salvation in 2015.
Thanks to the Action Caucus and the militant delegates the "Good Jobs,
Better Lives" resolution gives equal billing to both agendas. It has the
potential for unity and resistance.
2) A WORKERS PROGRAM TO DEFEAT THE RIGHT WING-AGENDA
Adopted by
the 26th Convention of the Canadian Labour Congress,
May 9-13,
The election of a majority neo‑conservative government is a major threat
to those pillars of Canadian society, including public services, that we hold
dear such as our health care system, social programs, our public and private
pension system and our traditional approach to international relations such as
peacekeeping.
We need to send a signal to the Harper government: if they attempt to destroy
those things that we hold dear, we will respond and we will respond strongly
and strategically.
We will not stand by while medicare is destroyed and
we will not stand by while unions in the public sector, such as CUPW or PSAC,
are attacked or while private sector unions are weakened through the continued
elimination of their jobs. We will all work together so we strengthen and
defend all affiliates.
The Canadian Labour Congress (CLC) and the National
Campaign Committee (NCC) will work with our affiliates through the federations
of labour and the labour
councils to build momentum by mobilizing our membership and our allies in the
community through education, public demonstrations and direct action where
necessary to defeat the right‑wing agenda.
As outlined in the policy paper, Building on Our Success Mobilizing
for Our Future, adopted by the delegates, we will continue the work of the CLC
in mobilizing targeted, effective, focussed campaigns
that build capacity, visibility and power for the labour
movement.
We will combine the work of this workers action plan with the ongoing political
work of the CLC and we will utilize these efforts toward building an effective
broad‑based opposition to the mean‑spirited, right‑wing
agenda. At the 27th Constitutional Convention in 2014, the CLC will bring
forward a political plan to defeat the Conservative government and to elect a
federal New Democratic Party government.
1. We will create a strong and principled opposition both within the labour movement and with our coalition allies that will
anticipate and counter the government's legislative initiatives with a series
of targeted and specific actions. We will also work to develop a parliamentary
strategy on lobbying and parliamentary committee work.
2. We will utilize the CLC National Campaign Committee to develop strategies, create
materials in traditional format and electronically (Facebook,
email, Twitter, websites, etc.) for our activists, membership, canvassing and
for our social allies in order to build community‑based opposition.
We will poll our members and the general public to gather information to
develop common messaging based on broad labour and
progressive, Canadian values such as our commitment to medicare,
education, and equality. We will use this information to also anticipate and
counter the Conservative government agenda.
3. We will work with the affiliates, provincial and territorial federations of labour and labour councils to
commit resources to coordinate both direct and indirect political campaigns in
support of progressive parties and candidates in their respective provincial
and municipal elections over the next three years. We will continue to use
these elections as a means to test and modify our strategies and tactics as a
lead up to October 19, 2015, the date of the next federal election.
4. We will work with affiliates, federations and labour
councils to build a strong, progressive workers movement to counter the right‑wing
corporate agenda in this country. This will include engaging in member‑to‑member
campaigns, public outreach and direct action, based on issues affecting the
affiliates specifically on the broader political issues of the day. We not only
need to build support within our own membership for this program, we also need
to build support among the broader public.
5. We must strengthen our coalitions and work to develop stronger relationships
with civil society partners to broaden the base of our campaign work. We must
find ways to assist civil society and our coalition partners to improve their
capacity and resources, and link their work to our labour
council activities in our communities.
6. We will continue our campaign and fight for improved pensions through the
CPP/QPP, defend defined benefit pension plans and work to ensure adequate
funding for the health and social transfer programs prior to the upcoming
review.
7. We will work with affiliates through the CLC Canadian Council to develop
strategies and support for unions who are in difficult bargaining and/or
political situations and take whatever actions are necessary to defend our
affiliates.
8. We will work with affiliates to defend and expand union density and will
coordinate with the federations of labour campaigns
to change provincial and territorial legislation to achieve automatic
certification through card check in order to build a strong worker base.
3) POSTAL WORKERS FIGHTING AGAINST
CONCESSIONS
By Kimball Cariou
As this issue of People's Voice went to press, negotiations between
On May 22, making an attempt to "energize negotiations," CUPW
presented a "global offer" to the Canada Post Corporation negotiating
committee. The next day,
The CUPW negotiations are seen as the first major test of the new Harper
majority government's strategy to roll back the labour
movement. While Canada Post is technically an "arm's length" crown
corporation, the company's drive to gut the collective bargaining agreement
gains achieved over many years by its employees would signal a wider attack on
the wages, benefits and pension rights of all public workers in the federal
sector.
One indication of the importance attached to these negotiations by pro-business
forces has been the vocal intervention by the Canadian Federation of
Independent Business. This far-right lobby group has sent a letter in support
of
In a response, CUPW says, "We do not understand why the Canadian
Federation of Independent Business is encouraging
After months of bargaining,
While the company wants to continue installing new equipment and work methods
which threaten the health and safety of its employees, CUPW has called for
ergonomic studies prior to such changes, as well as improved rotation of duties
and delivery methods.
In another key issue,
Calling to protect the current sick leave plan, CUPW says the employer should
address the reasons for the increasing number of days lost due to workplace
injuries.
The union's bargaining position is backed up with a 94.5% strike vote by CUPW
members.
4) TORIES AND LIBERALS LIED ABOUT WAR PLANS
By Kimball Cariou
The latest diplomatic cables released by the WikiLeaks
project to major news outlets show that Stephen Harper's minority Conservative
government lied to Canadians about its Afghanistan policies, and that the
Chretien Liberals gave covert support to the U.S. aggression against Iraq.
Neither story will surprise most anti-war activists, but the news is likely to
help reinforce public opposition against the war in
According to a
The cable quotes from conversations held with a senior adviser from the
Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade.
"It will take time for the government's public rhetoric to catch up to
this `new reality,' however, requiring some `patience' on the part of
allies," the senior adviser apparently told
Not surprisingly, these comments encouraged
The fly in the ointment for the pro-war government, of course, was the
"increasingly dubious Canadian public," the cable says, noting that a
decision to extend the end-date would be a "political goldmine" for
the Liberals.
At the same time, the officials speculated that upcoming
However, Canadian public opinion has remained solidly against continuing the
military mission. While the opposition parties ignored
All the major parties in Parliament support the current official line, which
claims that a small number of Canadian troops will remain in
The duplicity of Canadian politicians was also revealed in another WikiLeaks document, showing that
On March 17, 2003, bowing to massive public pressure in
But on the same day,
At that time,
"While for domestic political reasons... the GOC [Government of Canada]
has decided not to join in a U.S. coalition of the willing... they are also
prepared to be as helpful as possible in the military margins," the
briefing note states.
At the time, the Chretien government said a "few" Canadian soldiers
embedded with the
In 2004, Natynczyk became deputy commander of 35,000
People's
Voice Editorial
The struggle to make police forces accountable to the people of
One victory was the decision by the government of
On the downside, prosecutors in B.C. will not lay murder charges against the
four RCMP officers responsible for the 2007 taser
killing of Polish immigrant Robert Dziekanski. Why?
"No reasonable likelihood of conviction." In our opinion, the real
reason is that a jury would likely have convicted these brutal cops, further
undermining support for the RCMP.
Meanwhile,
The lesson? Despite some steps forward,
6) TIME FOR
PALESTINIAN FREEDOM
People's
Voice Editorial
As this
issue goes to press, events in the
Within days, the second Freedom Flotilla is expected to sail, with the goal of
breaking
The Flotilla and the recent marches by Palestinians upon the borders of
Barack Obama's recent statements mark a potentially important geopolitical
shift, but peace in the
Today, the Harper government stands virtually alone as a defender of the most
viciously anti-Palestinian elements of the Israeli state. This policy does
nothing to win peace, or even to advance its alleged aims of protecting
7) NATO CONTINUES KILLING SPREE IN AFRICA AND
By Rick Rozoff, www.globalresearch.ca, May 15, 2011
On May 13 President Barack Obama welcomed North Atlantic Treaty Organization
secretary general Anders Fogh Rasmussen to the White
House and the two pledged to continue the world's two major wars, those in
In a column in the same day's Wall
Street Journal, Rasmussen said, "NATO's operational commitments
have changed beyond recognition in the past 20 years, and we have never been
busier." Indeed.
NATO troops killed a 12‑year‑old girl and injured four other girls
ages 8 to 15 in
On May 12 NATO troops killed a 12‑year‑old girl and a policeman,
her relative, also in Nangarhar province. According
to the girl's father: "They (foreign troops) hurled a hand grenade at my
daughter after she ran out of the room in a panic. She was killed on the
spot." [1]
Two weeks before NATO and Afghan government troops attacked a Pakistani
checkpoint in the South Waziristan Agency. Three Afghan soldiers were killed
and two Pakistani security personnel were injured. "Pakistani security
forces said they returned fire when they came under attack from Afghan and Nato forces...." [2]
According to a leader of a Pakistani opposition party: "The NATO attack
was not accidental but a calculated and planned move to target
The
Late last month three NATO helicopters fired on Iranian fishermen 750
kilometers north of the Somali capital of Mogadishu in the Indian Ocean,
wounding three Iranians and killing three Somalis in the second such attack in
two days.
On
May 13 NATO aircraft bombed the Libyan city of
The same day Alliance warships, part of a 20‑ship flotilla enforcing a
naval blockade of Libya, shelled a Red Crescent Society building in rebel‑held
Misrata as well as bombing the outskirts of the
nearby town of Zlitan.
The preceding day Libyan state television reported that a NATO air strike hit
the North Korean embassy in
General Carter Ham, the commander of
On May 14 Djibouti, where the Pentagon has its only permanent military base in
Africa and at least 2,500 troops assigned to its Combined Joint Task Force ‑
Horn of Africa based there, announced it would deploy two battalions to Somalia
to join 9,000 Ugandan and Burundian forces there.
There will be far more innocent people, including children, killed in Africa,
Asia and the Arabian Peninsula before the NATO summit convenes in the
Notes: 1) Pajhwok
Afghan News, May 12 2) Dawn News, April 27 3) News International, April 28; 4)
The Nation, May 13; 5) Online News International, May 10; 6) Press TV, April
24.
8) FROM
By Steve McGiffen, Morning Star (
European centre‑left leaders gathered recently in Oslo to discuss their difficulties
in winning power, and their inability to do anything with it once they've got
it.
Patrick Diamond, an author of Labour's last
manifesto, believes that recent local electoral success "cannot disguise
the governing crisis which threatens Labour's very
survival as a party of power." This crisis is not confined to
Centre‑left parties hold office in Norway, Greece, Spain and Portugal,
but only in Norway do their policies bear any resemblance to social democracy ‑
the political philosophy behind the movement which brought us the welfare
state, low rates of poverty and a code of values based on equality, solidarity
and dignity.
This may be because the Norwegian government includes a party to the left of
the social democrats or it may be because as a non‑member of the EU, the
country's rulers have a bit more space to determine policies than do those of
the 27 countries bound hand and foot by the neoliberal Lisbon Treaty.
A recent poll conducted in the US, Britain, Germany and Sweden found that the
vast majority of people in those countries do not believe that governments can
stand up to vested interests, while sizeable minorities ‑ almost three in
10 in Britain ‑ are sceptical of any
possibility that governments can be effective in bringing about positive social
change.
This is hardly surprising when governments of the centre‑left have failed
to reproduce anything like the achievements of social democracy of the post‑war
years. The Labour Party and its sister organisations have failed to challenge the logic of neoliberalism.
Take the
financial crisis and the economic crisis which it provoked. The problem began
with a
After all there is nothing particularly radical in believing that consumers ‑
both public and private ‑ as well as honest investors should be protected
from the unscrupulous and the greedy. Instead, nominally social democratic
leaders were amongst the most enthusiastic advocates of global financial
anarchy.
Once the system collapsed, governments bailed out the very institutions most
culpable in bringing the crisis about. The result was a wave of destruction
caused by the private sector being magically transformed into a crisis of
government debt. The people's money was used to ensure that the people's
enemies continue to sleep off their champagne suppers under silken sheets.
In
When I first voted Labour, in 1974 at the age of 19,
I had a clear idea that the party stood for a gradualist approach to social
progress. Although it was clearly not going to lead
Blair transformed it into a fully bourgeois party with only nominal links to
the working class. This has been demonstrated by the Labour
leadership's failure to promote a social democratic response to the intensified
class war unleashed in the wake of the crisis.
In some ways this is puzzling. Labour consistently
shunned real left politics, ostensibly on the grounds that they would not have
been popular with sufficient voters.
Whether this was really the case in the past or not is debatable, but it is
surely the case that a programme of financial reform
would ‑ as the global economy began to fall apart, taking people's jobs
with it ‑ have been popular. A Keynesian programme
including additional massive investment and public ownership of banks would
have been capable of mobilising broad support.
Proving to people that the state can stand up for their interests in the face of
the concentrated power ‑ the inevitable product of deregulated markets ‑
could have restored faith in democracy.
There are whole areas of public life which are being undermined by cynicism,
corruption and that great British disease, nepotism. This could have been
tackled by a programme of reform which could have
been carried out at no great expense.
The survey cited above also showed that people associate the centre‑left
with high taxation but that they do not object to taxes in principle. It's just
that they want value for money.
Taxation to strengthen public services, education and health care has majority
support. Most people in western Europe and
Labour does not heed this because it is now, as much
as the Tories, a representative of big capital and not of working people at
all. It does not heed it because it is unwilling and unable to challenge the
dictatorship of the European Central Bank and the European Commission.
For socialists to support the Labour Party is to
indulge in a pessimistic nostalgia which has no real relationship to the world
as it is now. Parliament itself is no longer an agent capable of bringing about
meaningful social change.
Electoral politics in the context of modern
However movements are stirring ‑ UK Uncut, the refusal of students to lie
down and see their education and their future prospects blighted, the emerging
mass movement to save the health service ‑ which promise to be far more
effective than the passive strategy of putting a cross next to the name of the
candidate whose party will, you hope, close down the fewest hospitals.
9)
From Akahata, the daily newspaper of the Japanese Communist
Party (abridged)
The ongoing crisis at the
Expose
"safety myth"
The biggest issue of
In January 1976, then JCP Secretariat Head Fuwa Tetsuzo pointed out in the Diet [
At that time, the government launched a project to build 50 nuclear power
reactors capable of generating 49 million kilowatts of electricity. The JCP
opposed the reckless plan on the grounds that safety must be given the highest
priority.
In 1979, a partial meltdown of the reactor core occurred at the
Introducing the report, which stresses that "this attitude must be changed
to one that says nuclear power is by its very nature potentially
dangerous," Fuwa revealed the dangerous nature
of the "safety myth".
Nuclear power advocates repeatedly made statements asserting that nuclear power
is safe. Suita Tokuo, head of the Cabinet Office
Nuclear Safety Commission, stated that an accident as serious as the one at
Three Mile Island "would be highly unlikely to occur in
JCP Chair Shii Kazuo stated on March 23, "Now is
the time for the Japanese government to stop promoting the `safety myth',
sincerely reveal the dangers of atomic energy before the public, and create an
honest and scientific nuclear energy administration that takes thoroughgoing
measures to secure citizens' safety."
Oppose
nuclear plant construction
In 1976, Fuwa warned, "
At a Diet deliberation in February 1981, Fuwa showed
that nuclear power plants in
In response, the government and electric companies made some improvements in
safety features, including increasing quake-resistant capabilities, but refused
to cancel the massive development plan.
Since the 2007 earthquake that hit
Warning of
loss of supply
The crisis at the
On March 1, 2006 at a House of Representatives Budget Committee workshop,
Yoshii cited the examples of the massive tsunami that followed major
earthquakes in Chile (May 1960), Sumatra (December 2004), and the Sanriku Coast of Japan (June 1896). Pointing out that the Sanriku tsunami reached a recorded height of 38 metres, he proposed that the government seriously consider
the risks and take appropriate measures.
Yoshii introduced the worst‑case scenario following a tsunami with a
major undertow: nuclear reactors will not be able to utilise
seawater for cooling due to the fall of sea level for a long time, leading to a
core meltdown. "A case similar to the
In response, Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency Director General Hirose Kenkichi stated that nuclear power plants are already
designed to secure the necessary seawater and to cool their reactors, and
denied the need to take further measures.
A possible loss of electricity was pointed out by Yoshii at a Lower House
Economy and Industry Committee meeting in 2010. He stated that a massive
earthquake could destroy both the external electric supply and the in‑house
power generation of a nuclear power plant at the same time. "What would
happen when the backup cooling system fails due to the loss of both external
supply and in‑house power generation must be examined," stressed
Yoshii, calling on the government to urgently plan for such worse case
scenarios.
After the latest disaster,
Call for
independent regulatory body
Presenting the JCP proposal regarding safety control measures on nuclear
energy, Fuwa Tetsuzo in
1976 said as follows: "It is necessary for the government to urgently
create an independent safety control organisation
separated from the promoter of nuclear power generation. Like in other
countries such as the
Successive Japanese governments avoided establishing an independent regulatory
authority. They wanted the construction of more nuclear plants as demanded by
Japanese electric power companies and the
In January 1974, Fuwa revealed that a private
institution for chemical analysis submitted fabricated data on radiation leaked
from US nuclear‑powered submarines. After that, US nuclear‑powered
ships stopped entering Japanese ports for 183 days. Following this event, the
government partially improved the system, monitoring radiation near nuclear
power plants and seaports in which the
In response to requests made by residents and researchers and to the JCP's continuous demands, the government in 1978
established the Nuclear Safety Commission, whose actual working‑level
section was placed in the former Science and Technology Agency. However, it had
no permanent member in its special committees, in contrast to the
In his one‑on‑one debate with the Prime Minister in November 1999, Fuwa asked, "The Convention on Nuclear Safety
stipulates that a regulatory body should be separated from those concerned with
the promotion of nuclear energy. In
In his response, Prime Minister Obuchi Keizo said that "the Science and Technology Agency
(the current Ministry of Science and Technology) and the Ministry of International
Trade and Industry (the current Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry)"
have authority over both regulation and promotion. This clearly revealed that
Following Fuwa's questioning, the government in 2001
decided to shift the Nuclear Safety Commission to the Cabinet Office. However,
all members of its special committees, except five nuclear safety
commissioners, are temporary members. In addition, the Nuclear and Industrial
Safety Agency (NISA) is placed under the nuclear‑promoting Ministry of
Economy, Trade and Industry, although NISA should play a part in controlling
nuclear safety.
In the
Cancel
plans to construct more reactors
JCP Chair Shii Kazuo has visited the disaster‑hit
areas and victims and made representations to the government three times. He
has urged the government to respond to urgent demands of affected
municipalities and their residents and to change its nuclear power
administration drastically.
On March 31, Shii met with
The JCP proposal states that the
In the proposal, the JCP calls for: an implementation of a nuclear power
administration which breaks away from the "safety myth" and is fully
aware of the danger of nuclear energy; a thorough inspection of all reactors
and a cancellation of the planned construction of more nuclear reactors and the
nuclear‑fuel recycling program that uses plutonium; and a separation
between regulation and promotion of nuclear power generation and an
establishment of an independent regulatory organ with strong authority.
10) "THE ARAB SPRING"
REACHES
The Palestinian People's Party has issued its views on the
"reconciliation agreement" in
Having all Palestinian political factions come together for national
reconciliation was an emotional experience for all who witnessed the events
taking place in
All the parties across the Palestinian political spectrum, with the support of
the new Egyptian government, reached an agreement to establish a technocratic
government in order to hold elections within one year and rebuild the
Our party has an important part in this reconciliation. We have worked through
the past four years in order to end the division and retain Palestinian unity.
At the same time we should not overestimate what has happened. This is the
first right step towards unity. The next step is to form a new unity government
of technocrats and independent figures for one year.
Politically speaking, Hamas has mostly agreed to go on according to the
political platform of the PLO, in exchange of lifting the siege from Gaza,
mainly opening the Rafah entrance, rebuilding Gaza
after the destruction inflicted by the Israeli aggression there in 2008/2009.
Even with this positive development there are still problems. The main cause
for the division is not solved yet. The main discussion after forming the unity
government will be on the comparative representation of each party in the civil
and security establishment (and) in the Authority. As a party we think that
this problematic issue could be a ticking bomb. The only solution is through
general elections and through consolidating the democratic base of the
Palestinian National Authority. This necessitates a collective national effort
and not a monopoly of Fatah‑Hamas.
It is quite obvious that the revolutionary developments in the Arab world
affected positively the developments in
The main slogan in the Arab world is "The people want to overthrow the
Regime" and the main slogan here is "The people want to end the
division". So we were inspired by what is going on in the Arab states. The
timing of the reconciliation proved that. We think that Fatah and Hamas were
obliged under the pressure of the mass movement in
Besides that, we should notice that the previous negative positions and
pressures by certain Arab states have been negated by the revolutions there.
The Palestinian leadership felt itself freer to do what it wants to do. That
feeling made President Mahmoud Abbas
initiate his visit to
As usual the
Directly after the Palestinian reconciliation, the Israeli finance minister
declared that his government decided not to transfer the Palestinian tax money
collected by the Israelis to the Palestinian authority... As a result, the
Palestinian government stopped the monthly salaries of about 151,000 employees.
Israel is using the financial leverage to thwart the reconciliation, under the
pretext that this money will go to Hamas.
Prime Minister Netanyahu complained to the international community that the
Palestinian reconciliation is a unity of war against
What
With the establishment of a government of national unity, we will close one of
the darkest periods in the history of our people.
Palestinians are looking forward now. We will continue to work hard on gaining
international recognition for the State of
According to the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, the United
Nations and the European Union,
In September 2011, a united Palestinian people will go to the United Nations to
request that the State of
National reconciliation will also re‑energize and empower our struggle
for justice and peace. So as we continue our efforts at uniting our people and
building our state, we call on
The choice is not between Hamas and
The way to peace is through reconciliation and democracy. We hope that the
international community will stand shoulder to shoulder with us in order to
support peace and reconciliation by ending the Israeli occupation and
consolidating a sovereign Palestinian state in the 1967 border.
11) MUSIC NOTES, By Wally Brooker
The United Mayday Committee's celebration at
Miriam Makeba: Mama Africa
Mama Africa, a film
about South African singer Miriam Makeba (1932‑2008),
received enthusiastic reviews after its Canadian premiere at Toronto's
"Hot Docs" Festival. Makeba played a key
role in popularizing African music and was both a lifelong critic of racism and
a consistent fighter for peace and social justice. Mama Africa traces the singer's life from her poverty-ridden
childhood and rise to fame in the sixties, to her emotional homecoming in 1990
after a 30‑year exile from apartheid
The six‑month strike of
Tom Morello's
Readers of this column will be familiar with American guitarist‑singer
Tom Morello, who rose to fame with hard rock bands
Rage Against the Machine and Audioslave. Morello, a key figure in the current upsurge of radical
musical activism, is co‑founder of Soundstrike,
the musicians' solidarity campaign with Arizonans fighting against racist Bill
SB1070. Last winter he was an inspirational presence at rallies in
Ghost Town
Remembers
April 26 was the 25th anniversary of the Chernobyl disaster, which remains
(even after
The
Education of Justin Bieber
Canadian teen idol Justin Bieber has been in the
spotlight for his opinions on social and political issues. In a February Rolling Stone interview he declared
his opposition to abortion, likening it to "killing a baby." Coming
from a top-selling artist among teenage girls, these comments are deeply
troubling. In the same interview, however, Bieber
defended
Revolutionary Bus Tour, Sun., May 29, leaves
10 am from
Palestine-South Africa Solidarity Tour, Sunday, May 29, 7 pm,
Maritime Labour Centre, 1880 Triumph St., (two blocks
north of
Sanctions-Busting Fundraiser for Abousfian Abdelrazik, Monday, May 30, 7 pm, at Grandview Calvary Baptist,
19th Annual People’s Voice Victory Banquet, 6 pm, Sat., June 4,
Russian Hall,
Hemingway On Stage: IN DEADLY ERNEST, Thur., June 2, 7:30
pm,
Palestinians And Jews United, boycott/disinvestment/ sanctions picket, every Saturday, 1-3 pm, outside Le marcheur,
at Duluth & St. Denis.