Solidarity 606, 15 September 2021

Kino Eye: A film from Palestine

Lemon Tree , directed by Eran Riklis (who is Israeli) was released in 2008. The Palestinian widow Salma Zidane (played by Hiam Abbass) has only her lemon grove to support her. One day a couple move in next door and her life is turned upside. The new neighbours are Israel Navan, the Israeli Defence Minister and his wife Mira. The lemon grove, supposedly, poses a security hazard and must be cut down as a measure against any potential attacks on the Minister. Although there is a possibility of financial compensation Salma refuses it on principle. The trees are fenced off and Salma is not allowed...

BDS policy blocks strike solidarity

At the National Executive Committee of the public services union Unison on 14 July, a full time official blocked a message of support to striking hospital workers in Israel on grounds of the union’s “Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions” (BDS) policy. The official declared the motion invalid because the workers are organised by the Histadrut (the Israeli TUC), and Unison takes its BDS policy to rule out links with it. The Socialist Party, whose members moved the motion, points out that the lack of formal links should not have prevented a message. But the official got away with it, showing how BDS...

Forced back into the office? (John Moloney's column)

Many of our members have been in the workplace throughout the pandemic. A majority, though, have home-worked. We have always known that these members will return to the workplace some time. Our argument is that they should only do so when safe. In September last year, the government made a concerted push to get everyone back to the workplace but that failed. This September, the concerned push has been replaced by an expectation that staff will return to the workplace for one or two days a week either this month or in October. The union is opposed to any moves to force staff back. Our...

RMT elections: vote Pottage and Hoyle

Elections for the Assistant General Secretary and National President positions are currently taking place in the National Union of Rail, Maritime, and Transport workers (RMT). Supporters of Workers’ Liberty active in the union are backing Alan Pottage (AGS) and Sean Hoyle (National President). The past year in RMT has seen outbreaks of conflict within the union over the application of its rule book and how much power should be held by union officers and staff, as against lay bodies like the National Executive Committee. The former General Secretary Mick Cash retired early, following claims...

The left challenge in Brighton

The victory of left candidates for the constituency reps on the Labour Party’s Conference Arrangements Committee, announced on 13 August , suggests that the left, in the broadest definition, still has some majority in the constituencies. The recent Unite and GMB elections have brought in new general secretaries who are ambiguous or evasive about how those unions should tilt their weight within Labour’s conference and National Executive Committee (NEC), but who yet may, given pressure from union activists, swing left on issues. And Unison’s NEC now has a left majority for the first time ever -...

Join the youth climate protests 24 September

The 24 September global youth climate strike has the potential to help reboot the climate movement. It has been called by “Fridays for Future” , the international organisation most closely associated with the wave of youth climate strikes initiated by Greta Thunberg in Sweden in 2018. Dubbed #UprootTheSystem, the call-out for this climate strike is openly left-wing and internationalist. #FridaysForFuture (FFF) are not deeply democratic, and assessing the turnout later this month is difficult. During the pre-pandemic waves of climate strikes, there was deeper democracy in the UK. UK Student...

Mobilise for Afghan refugees 20 October!

On 20 October there will be a demonstration for refugee rights in Parliament Square. The organisers, Solidarity with Refugees and Women for Refugee Women, say: “The government has committed to take 20,000 Afghan refugees over the next five years. But that isn’t enough, and lacks the necessary urgency. While we are hearing accounts of mothers throwing their babies over razor wire in desperation in the face of the horrors facing them under the Taliban, the UK government plans to make people wait years for resettlement, and to imprison any who manage to flee to the UK by other means… We can and...

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