Solidarity - articles before 22 November 2002

Will the Islamists take Saudi Arabia?

David Osler visited Saudi Arabia recently and looks at the Orwellian picture behind 'our friends in the Midle East' George Orwell himself probably could not have thought up a name as archetypically Orwellian as the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice. But that is the name the police go by in Saudi Arabia, and their control of public space is almost total. Riyadh is what the fictional 1984 looks like in the actual 2002. Punishment for the slightest criticism of the system is harsh. Torture, amputations and executions are routine. There are no political parties, no...

What are the 'social forums'?

By Michaela Collins The first World Social Forum was called, in January 2001, to coincide with the World Economic Forum, which was taking place in the luxury Swiss resort of Davos. The WEF is essentially the representatives of global capitalism deciding among themselves how to run the world smoothly in their own interests. In the wake of opposition to the Multilateral Agreement on Investments (MAI), an attempt to eradicate all barriers to the free movement of capital, including social and environmental protection, the WSF was a conscious attempt to assert social values. "One of the...

Thousands of anti-capitalists

Michaela Collins continues her analysis of 'social forums' by looking at the European Social Forum and how it differs from the World Social Forum In Solidarity 3/14, I looked at the origins of the World Social Forum, which has met twice in Porto Alegre, Brazil. The WSF, I concluded: is anti-neoliberal rather than anti-capitalist; blurs class contradictions in a north/south, developed/developing world dichotomy; is focussed on movements rather than parties; is dominated by the NGOs' tripartite partnership model; looks to pressure on governments and trans-national institutions rather than class...

Is George Galloway MP a 'mouthpiece' for Saddam Hussein?

From Solidarity 3/4, 29 March 2002 By Sean Matgamna The House of Commons is a strange place, governed by its own sometimes incomprehensible rituals. In the early 1990s the Unionist MP Ian Paisley was suspended from the House for shouting "liar" at a minister who denied that the government was having secret talks with Gerry Adams and the IRA. Everybody knew that what Paisley said was true: secret talks - ultimately they led to the Good Friday Agreement - were taking place and those who denied it were, indeed, liars. Truth was less important than the fact that Paisley had overstepped the bounds...

World's biggest union backs FBU in pay fight

The German trade union representing fire service workers, Verdi, has put out a statement, in English, backing the FBU in their campaign for better pay. The letter, from the secretary and chair of the national fire brigade grouping in the world's biggest union, says Firefighters give the citizens the most comprehensive and most professional service for their safety. Politicians particulary praise on celebrations the fire brigade, but if it comes to payment, who do the job - the firefighters - , then they tend to forget all about it. The letter can also be downloaded (in PDF format) here: http:/...

31 October: join the action against war!

From Solidarity 3/14, 11 October 2002 Canterbury Coalition Against War brought three coachloads of people to the demonstration against war on Iraq on 28 September - people aged from 15 to 86, students, firefighters, other workers, pensioners... Now, like anti-war groups across the country, they are organising for the Day of Action on Thursday 31 October. Canterbury anti-war activist Sally Murdock told Solidarity: "We are calling a peaceful vigil at 5pm in the city (Buttermarket), and another protest at the university (4pm, Senate Building). "Lecturers at the university are holding a lunchtime...

Organise the "awkward squad"!

From Solidarity 3/14, 11 October 2002 Before the Labour Party conference last week in Blackpool, the Labour leadership was assiduously briefing the media to tell them that "Labour Party conference no longer decides party policy". Those media briefings showed two things. First, that the New Labour hierarchy knew they would be defeated at conference on central issues, and wanted to discount those defeats in advance. Second, that they were confident that they could get away with blatant dismissal of democracy. In fact there has been no formal, constitutional abolition of Labour conference's power...

Euro: which union lefts should we ally with?

From Solidarity 3/14, 11 October 2002 "We support in principle the single European currency. We are Europeans and internationalists", says Mark Serwotka, general secretary of the PCS civil service union and the most prominent trade-unionist in the Socialist Alliance. "However, our support for the Euro is entirely dependent on clear and unambiguous assurances on public spending and public services. "We will not stand with the little Englanders. We stand with the workers of Europe. Yes to the single currency but only after assurances on public services. "In the 12 countries where 301 million...

No alliance with fundamentalism!

From Solidarity 3/14, 11 October 2002 Joining up with fascists? No socialist would ever want to do that. Yet on 28 September the Stop The War Coalition, a coalition led by socialists, did something very close to that. Stop The War co-organised the 28 September anti-war march with the Muslim Association of Britain. The MAB was given equal billing as demonstration organiser. The march, which would otherwise have said simply, to the US and UK governments, Don't Attack Iraq, had tacked onto it the MAB's Freedom For Palestine. What is the Muslim Association of Britain? It is a particular political...

Unison challenge Labour on PFI

We need a political crusade on public services By Alison Brown (written before Labour conference, in defiance of the leadership, voted for an independent review of PFI) At the TUC's conference last month several of the new left-wing union leaders and many other union members besides made unusually outspoken criticisms of New Labour in government. Now the unions look set to repeat their challenge to New Labour at the Party's conference which starts on Sunday 29 September. As we go to press we know that Unison has put down a motion calling for a moratorium on any new Private Finance Initiative...

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