The “Greek December”: a short balance sheet of a betrayed movement The huge eruption of youth protests in Greece in December have receded. The key element in explaining this was the role played by the leaders of the main workers' parties, who rather than build up the protest and involve the labour movement as a whole, worked to re-establish calm. Here the Greek Marxists explain the background to how this came about, but also stress the generalised mood of protest is simmering below the surface preparing new social explosions.
Ireland: government nationalises Anglo Irish Bank while the country faces the second worst recession in the EU The Irish economy is facing a serious downturn, with bank after bank facing crisis and unemployment shooting up. The government insists on bailing out the banks with public money desperately trying to stave off a recession. But they cannot escape the inescapable.
Next source of financial turmoil - Eastern Europe The financial crisis is affecting East European countries in a big way. The banking system is in a mess, and is leading to serious concern among major West European banks that have invested heavily in these countries. It is also provoking a new wave of mass protests.
Iceland: Mass protests bring down government Protests in the capital Reykjavik have brought thousands of people on to the streets in the biggest demonstrations the country has ever seen. As a result, the coalition government between the Samfylkingin (Social Democrats) and the Conservative Independence Party has broken up. The government of Iceland is thus the first to fall as a consequence of the present economic crisis. It will not be the last.
“Pakistan's Other Story - The 1968-69 Revolution” Inaugurated in London On Thursday, January 22rd, there was a successful inauguration of Dr. Lal Khan's new book, "Pakistan's Other Story - The 1968-69 Revolution" in London. Young and old, students and trade unionists, turned up to hear a panel of speakers including Zakir Hussain, Qayyum Butt, and Alan Woods who addressed the audience before Lal Khan spoke. (Including videos of the speeches)
Russia: The assassination of Stanislav Markelov On Monday afternoon (January 19), after leaving a press conference, Stanislav Markelov was shot dead near Kropotkinskaya metro station in Moscow. Anastasiya Baburova, who was with Stanislav at the time, was also murdered. Some activists and journalists have asked who was responsible for these disgraceful murders. It’s not possible to say at this stage, but nobody believes that the state will seriously seek to bring the perpetrators of these crimes to justice.
Britain: Banks in meltdown. Take them over. Stock exchanges in Britain and the USA have been on the slide over the past few days. The reason is not hard to seek. The FTSE has been spooked by bank shares collapsing. Barclays, for instance, saw 25% of its share price shaved off in one hour last Friday (16.01.09). This was the day after the bank announced 2,100 job losses. It’s starting to look like the time back in October when it seemed that banks such as Barclays and the Bank of Scotland (now HBOS) that had been in existence for hundreds of years would be destroyed by a share collapse in a matter of hours.
Book Launch in London: "Pakistan’s Other Story - The 1968-69 Revolution" Lal Khan is presenting his new book on the Pakistan revolution of 1968-69 in London this Thursday, January 22. Alan Woods, author of the introduction of the book, will also be speaking at this event.
IMT Winter School in Berlin – Forward to the future, don’t forget the past Last weekend the IMT organised the 5th Northern European Winter School in Berlin. 150 comrades and sympathisers from many different countries came to a city with a great revolutionary history and tradition. We set ourselves the target of learning from the ideas and lives of Rosa Luxemburg and Karl Liebknecht, and to study the successes and the mistakes of the German Revolution. On Sunday we participated with a sizeable block at the traditional Rosa Luxemburg and Karl Liebknecht commemoration demonstration.
Revolutionary ferment in Greece – a taste of what is to come for the whole of Europe The events that have unfolded over the past month in Greece have revealed the immense revolutionary potential that had accumulated below the surface of society. The anger of the youth can only be explained by the severe crisis of capitalism afflicting the country, a reflection of the international economic crisis. And the conditions that exist in Greece are the same that exist across the whole of Europe.
Commemorating Rosa Luxemburg and Karl Liebknecht This month marks the 90th anniversary of the murder of Rosa Luxemburg and Karl Liebknecht, two outstanding revolutionary leaders of the German working class. To commemorate that tragic day we are republishing Rosa Luxemburg's last article "Order Prevails in Berlin", Karl Liebknecht's famous speech against voting the war credits in the German parliament in 1914 and his 1915 leaflet "The Main Enemy Is At Home!".
Hungary’s growing strike wave As the realities of capitalist crisis are biting deeper into the Hungarian economy, more and sections of the working class are beginning to mobilise and take strike action.
Greece: teenager uprising, big general strike, but the left parties refuse to give a political solution The movement taking place in Greece demonstrates the enormous power of the working class and youth. But it also highlights the weaknesses of the leaders of the trade unions and the official Left parties who have no clear alternative to pose. The task is to build a leadership worthy of the name within the Greek labour movement.
Greece: massive school student attack against police stations all over the country! The situation in Greece is growing ever more tense with each hour that passes. Today the country is being rocked by a general strike, while the youth continue to mobilise massively. In this situation the state is exploiting lumpen and ultra-left groups to portray the movement as a crazy violent outburst of criminal elements, but the anger of the Greek workers and youth cannot be calmed with these methods.
The Greek police kill school student – big wave of mobilisations all over Greece The brutal killing of a young 15-year old school student in Athens over the weekend at the hands of a police officer has suddenly radicalised the whole of Greek society, bringing to the surface all the tensions that were brewing below the surface.
