Solidarity 069, 17 March 2005

Schools: let the people decide!

By Tim Cooper In Nottingham the council is proposing that a local small private Islamic school become a large LEA voluntary-aided school. This move is being opposed by all the local schools. They will have their most academic pupils creamed off to an elitist school, and it will be the death knell for many schools already facing closure because of fewer children in the area. We love our local schools, and we are proud we have not had the same segregation as occurred in Oldham, Burnley or Bradford, with their subsequent poor race relations. Yesterday Unity school (near the Islamic school and the...

Debate and discussion: Again on Menshevism

I’m not in the least bit concerned about Eric Lee being “harsh”, but I am concerned by what seems like a conscious attempt to misstate the historical facts and misrepresent my arguments (“Respect the Mensheviks”, Solidarity 3/68). Eric argues, in effect, that there were no revolutionary upsurges in Europe between 1917 and 1923, only “poorly-planned, poorly-executed attempts at instant revolutions” — or, indeed, coups, just like the “Bolshevik coup in Petrograd in 1917”. These debacles were, he says, the responsibility of the revolutionary left, from the German Spartacist League in 1919 to the...

Debate and discussion: Letter from Jerusalem

Though George Bush has been forced by a host of factors to abandon his “hands off” policy regarding the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, this does not mean that the United States is even considering using its power and prestige to advance a solution to this ongoing crisis. Instead of serious engagement and the mobilisation of its influence, the Bush administration has opted for a policy of “low intensity diplomacy”. Low intensity diplomacy can be recognised by a flurry of important people travelling back and forth discussing everything and anything and deciding absolutely nothing about the real...

One man against the horror

Hannah Wood reviews Hotel Rwanda Hotel Rwanda tells the true story of Paul Rusesabagina (played by Don Cheadle), manager of the Hotel des Milles Collines in Kigali, Rwanda, at the time of the 1994 genocide. It is the story of one man’s personal courage and determination to save as many people as he could in the face of the horrors of genocidal massacres all around him. The role of Rusesabagina is powerfully and movingly portrayed by Cheadle and doubtless this film will bring the events of April-June 1994 in Rwanda to the attention of many, many people who paid little attention at the time...

The China business

Dan Nichol reviews the BBC’s China Week This was perhaps the BBC’s way of recompensing for not adequately covering what was one of 2004’s biggest stories — China’s explosive economic growth. The country will soon outstrip Britain and become the world’s fourth biggest economic power. Most of BBC’s China week focused on the exclusively “business” side of the story but a report on BBC2’s Newsnight showed the human side of what is happening to the country. The report showed Tianjin, China’s third largest city, undergoing massive redevelopment to ensure the city keeps pace with growth in the rest...

Trade unionists picket Zimbabwe border

South African trade unionists picketed the Zimbabwe border last week to demand democratic and labour reforms ahead of Zimbabwe’s 31 March parliamentary elections. Members of the Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) gathered close to the border calling for solidarity with Zimbabwe's labour movement, which is increasingly restricted by security laws imposed by Mugabe's government. COSATU accuses the Zimbabwean government of human rights abuses and says the elections will not be free and fair. Two COSATU delegations have been expelled from Zimbabwe over the past year, most recently in...

Thugs attack Zanon workers

Workers at the Zanon factory in Argentina are appealing for solidarity after a series of attacks by thugs. The Argentina Solidarity Campaign reports that in February the wife of a Zanon worker was abducted by four men and suffered a beating and verbal threats before being released to “give the union the message”. This is not an isolated event — there have been threats against a judge who is acting in the case of Pepe Alveal, a young Zanon worker who lost his left eye as a result of police violence during an unemployment organisation meeting last October. Alejandro Gómez and Raúl Godoy...

Is the Lebanese opposition an alternative?

The following article, written by Lebanese socialist Ghassan Makarem, was published on Z-net before the latest (14 March) mass demonstrations in Beirut against Syrian troops, and against a government which is seen to be pro-Syrian. Under US/international pressure, which followed the assassination of former prime minister Rafic Hariri, Syria has begun troop withdrawal. Makarem argues that the opposition is very heterogeneous, and is dominated by reactionary elements, including the communal leaders of Lebanon’s Druze and Maronite Christian sects. Both resent the fact that they have lost some...

Taco Bell workers win struggle

Workers at Taco Bell in the US have won their struggle after a long campaign. Last week Taco Bell, the fast food industry leader in the US announced it had reached an agreement with farm worker organisation, the Coalition of Immokalee Workers (CIW), to address the wages and working conditions of farmworkers in the Florida tomato industry. Lucas Benitez, a leader of the CIW said: "This is an important victory for farmworkers, one that establishes a new standard of social responsibility for the fast-food industry and makes an immediate material change in the lives of workers. This sends a clear...

Palestinian women fight back

By Laura Schwartz Whilst all Palestinian workers have suffered as a result of the Israeli occupation and the intifada, it is the women who have been worst affected. But women trade unionists are fighting back, confronting both economic obstacles to women’s freedom and retrogressive attitudes within Palestinian society. Increased restrictions on the movement of Palestinians and the daily nightmare of checkpoints, have prevented many workers from being able to travel to their jobs. This, along with massive cuts in the number of permits granted to those wanting to work in Israel, has left 75% of...

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