Islamism

Click here for Part 1. Click here for Part 3. Gerry Byrne continues an examination of the relationship between the Russian Bolshevik Party that made the Russian Revolution in 1917 and the Islamic subject states of the Tsarist empire they inherited. What, if anything, can it teach us about socialists' relationship to Islam today? The issue of Sharia law, religious education and the veil is a highly charged one currently, so for socialists to be able to point to the actions of the first workers state on the issue can be a powerful argument in support of whatever position they put. But here, as I...

At our meeting on 3 March, Haringey & Hackney AWL branch discussed Islamism in Egypt . Clive Bradley gave a talk about the issue: this is a summary of what he said. Egypt is one of the birthplaces of modern Islamism - that is, of political movements based on Islam that take the form of a modern political party. In 1928, the Muslim Brotherhood was formed in Egypt. The Muslim Brotherhood began as a conservative social movement. It was concerned about the spread of 'Western culture' in Egypt: for example, it opposed increasing freedom for women. It also opposed British colonialism, but its...

By Yasmine Mather Elections for the seventh session of the Islamic Parliament in Iran are very strange elections, even by Iranian standards. The scrutiny of the Islamic credentials of candidates by the ultra-conservative Council of Guardians has led to a ridiculous situation where many sitting MPs as well as some 2,500 other candidates have been eliminated from the electoral list. If you are a secular candidate, you can't put your name forward for elections, but even amongst the candidates of various Islamic groups, a very large number were considered too "liberal" by the Guardian Council...

Gerry Byrne begins an examination of the relationship between the Russian Bolshevik Party that made the Russian Revolution in 1917 and the Islamic subject states of the Tsarist empire they inherited. What, if anything, can it teach us about socialists' relationship to Islam today? "Rewriting history" is generally seen as the province of Stalinism, the falsification of documents and historic records to retrospectively justify a policy turn or to distance oneself from current political enemies. But there is another, subtler way that history can be rewritten, by selective quotation and failure to...

The term "Islamic fundamentalism" first became common during the Iranian revolution of 1978-79. The Western-backed Shah (who had been put in power by the CIA) was overthrown by an enormous popular revolt, one element in which, led by the Ayatollah Khomeini, expressed itself through the largest traditional religion in the country, Shi'a Islam. In fact, political movements inspired by Islam, calling for a return to "Islamic values", go back much further. In Egypt they go back to the 1930s at least, with the formation of the Moslem Brotherhood. But throughout the Moslem world - from north-west...

Le numéro 6-7 de la revue Ni patrie ni frontières vient de paraitre. On y trouve notamment des traductions en francais de l'article de Faryal Velmi (de l'AWL) sur le Parti de Travail de Pakistan et de l'article de Rumy Hasan sur l'Islamophobie . Tous disponsibles à mondialisme.org/nipatrienifrontieres . Au sommaire: LES SYNDICATS CONTRE LES LUTTES ? Retour sur le mouvement (Collectif La Sociale de Montpellier) Sur les retraites et les grèves de mai-juin (Mouvement communiste) Comment lutter (CNT-AIT) Les élections professionnelles contre le syndicalisme ( CNT-AIT) Les prud'hommes ne défendent...

Weekly of the Worker-communist Party of Iran In this issue: * Unveiling the Debate on Secularism and Rights, Maryam Namazie * Islamic veil and political Islam - an attack on civil society, Fariborz Pooya * We must stop the Islamists' assault on secularism, Hossein Moradbeigei * Copper mining factory protest: Four dead and tens of striking workers injured * Teachers' strike in Iran * Unveiling the Debate on Secularism and Rights Maryam Namazie 19 January 2004 The French government's draft law banning conspicuous religious symbols in state schools and state institutions has caused heated debate...

By Mahmood Ketabchi mekchi@msn.com January 14, 2004 The French government's decision to ban religious insignia from the public schools has the Islamists scurrying to mount an international campaign to oppose secular and progressive rules. The Islamists are running this campaign under the rubric of "personal freedom, secularism, and protection of people's privacy." But, they are lying for they never stood for these principles when Islamic atrocities occur on a daily basis in Islamic stricken countries both where the Islamists are in power or in opposition. This campaign is founded on sheer lies...

A press conference on 17 January to oppose the introduction of Shari'a law in Iraq, called by the Organisation of Women's Freedom of Iraq (OWFI) followed directly on from a counter-demonstration to the Muslim Association of Britain's protest against the French headscarf ban. The discussion was somewhat dominated by that issue. It might seem contradictory that the OWFI should oppose the freedom of women to choose to wear the hijab. As some Stop the War Coalition placards rather disingenuously declared, it is a "Woman's Right to Choose", echoing the slogan of the pro-choice abortion movement...

Today, Saturday 17 January 2004, two protests were held outside the French Embassy in London. The Muslim Association of Britain (British offshoot of the Muslim Brotherhood, the Arab world's largest Islamic-fundamentalist movement) demonstrated against the French governnment's proposed legislation to ban the Islamic headscarf in state schools. They mobilised about 300 people, supported by small contingents from the Socialist Workers Party and the Communist Party of Great Britain (Weekly Worker). The Worker-Communist Party of Iraq mobilised about 40 people for a counter-demonstration "for...