The massive destruction inflicted on Gaza is not limited to military considerations this time. It serves an additional goal, which is the displacement of the Strip’s population.
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“You just lost Kentucky Truck”: UAW update 4
On October 17, the United Auto Workers’ strike passed its thirty-third day. There are three new points that should be focused on. They are the decision to strike Kentucky Truck, Bill Ford’s attempt to do an end-run around the union leadership, and the mounting repercussions of the strike.
Greece: End of an era for SYRIZA
In the party elections for the succession of Alexis Tsipras as party leader, Stefanos Kaselakis prevailed, winning 56 percent. He is a new “star” who hasn’t even been a party member and who neither has nor claims any connection to the organized political Left whatsoever, either with its history or with its prospects.
Biden adds to Trump’s border wall
The Democrats campaigned against Trump’s cruelty and capitalized on outrage towards his racist policies to win elections in 2018 and 2020. But once in office, the Democrats deliver not the sharp break with these policies their supporters expect, but a “lesser evil” that shaves off the roughest edges, applies some liberal rhetoric, and ends up normalizing the policies it claimed to oppose.
Kashmir: Anti-neoliberal intifada convulses the Himalayas
While spiraling electricity prices proved the trigger for ongoing protests, the other key demand is to restore the subsidy on wheat prices. Erosion of the subsidy over time has resulted in the doubling of the price of bread since the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We’re not there yet”: UAW update 3
Even though the strike is continuing, the union has already made significant progress at the bargaining table. Most importantly, on October 6, General Motors agreed that future production of batteries for electric vehicles would be done by UAW members.
Uprising in Palestine
Do the Palestinians have a right to resist the non-stop aggression to which they are subjected? Absolutely. There is no moral, political or military equivalence as far as the two sides are concerned. Israel is a nuclear state, armed to the teeth by the US. Its existence is not under threat. It’s the Palestinians, their lands, their lives, that are.
The strike escalates: UAW update 2
The mood of the strikers continues to be high. Chanting is frequent. There is constant honking by passing trucks and cars. The picket lines are well organized with captains, food and water tents, and all the other necessary supplies. Members of other unions are greeted warmly. Strikers are well briefed on the major objectives of the union at the bargaining table. The union’s escalating Stand UP strike strategy seems to be popular.
The Covid pandemic: One of capitalism’s “morbid symptoms”
McCallum’s book well illustrates how the pandemic revealed what Gramsci called capitalism’s “morbid symptoms” (a phrase McCallum borrows). But Essential is equally a cautionary tale about how capitalists can shift the cost of their crises onto workers if workers aren’t strong enough to resist.
UAW strike update
The strikers’ mood is upbeat. A September 23 rally organized by UAW Local 551 at the Chicago Ford Assembly Plant is a good example of this. Workers, in their bright red UAW T-shirts, took part in a call and refrain chant. The organizer would call out the name of a section of the plant: trim, paint, etc. The workers would then respond, “Strike It Out!” It was clear at the rally careful preparations had been made if the plant was chosen to strike in the escalating strike program.
Netanyahu shows map of ‘New Middle East’—without Palestine—to UN General Assembly
Middle East Eye reported Netanyahu also held up a map of “Israel in 1948″—the year the modern Jewish state was established, largely through the ethnic cleansing of more than 750,000 Arabs—that erroneously included the Palestinian territories as part of Israel.
Can the UAW make history again?
The UAW now has the opportunity—perhaps its last—to revive the class struggle, which is the only way to begin to reverse the balance of class forces weighted so heavily in favor of the employers for so long.
The new Syrian uprising
“These courageous women and men across the country have shown that the regime cannot bomb, starve, torture, gas and rape the Syrian people into submission. Despite everything they have been through, and in the absence of meaningful solidarity with their struggle, the dream of a free Syria is alive.”
Blinken indulges Republican senator toying with Palestinian hunger
Risch’s position threatens the health and well being of Palestinian children who are refugees while disregarding the misdeeds of the apartheid state next door that denies Palestinians their fundamental rights, including the right of UNRWA-assisted children to return to homes and lands from which their families were expelled.
Remembering September 11, 1973: the US backed Pinochet coup in Chile
This September marks the 50th anniversary of the US backed coup by Pinochet in Chile. It was one of the heaviest and bloodiest defeats ever suffered by the left and progressive movement in Latin America…
