Category: International Relations
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Abiy Ahmed: Nobel Peace Laureate Who Faces Unrest at Home
When the 2019 Nobel Peace Prize laureate, Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, was in Oslo for the award ceremony, eyebrows were raised when he declined to attend any event where he would be asked questions in public. Organizers expected him to meet the international press in keeping with the Nobel tradition, but his spokeswoman cited … Keep reading »
France at a Crossroads
The nationwide general strike in France, now entering its record seventh week, seems to be approaching its crisis point. Despite savage police repression, about a million people are in the streets protesting President Emmanuel Macron’s proposed neoliberal “reform” of France’s retirement system, established at the end of World War II and considered one of the … Keep reading »
India’s Democracy Is Facing an Existential Threat
India’s Vice President M. Venkaiah Naidu made a curious comment on 28 December. “Express dissent in a democratic way,” he said. Before he became the Vice President – a largely symbolic role – Naidu was the President of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the far-right political organization that now governs India. Naidu made his comment … Keep reading »
Canada, Israel and the UN Security Council
Hanna Kawas Canadian activists have compiled a study of Canada’s 2019 voting record at the United Nations on resolutions [see list below] that document and censure Israeli violations of international law. There was much fanfare made about Canada’s orphan “yes” vote at the UN General Assembly this year on “The right of the Palestinian people to … Keep reading »
The People of India Are Taking It to the Streets
Challenging Modi’s Bigoted and Dishonest Government Every day and in every part of India, hundreds of thousands of people – mainly young people – gather on the streets to express their anger at the government. Their protests, like those of the protests in Chile, emerged out of one particular grievance but then have cascaded outward. They … Keep reading »
Indian Government Going to War Against Its Own People
On December 13, the United Nations high commissioner for human rights released a powerful statement that criticized India’s new citizenship law. This “fundamentally discriminatory” Citizenship (Amendment) Act of 2019 would expedite citizenship for persecuted religious minorities from India’s neighboring countries. But in the list of those minorities, it names only Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis and Christians. It does … Keep reading »
Iraq’s Communists Given New Life by Protests
Struggling for decades to find its voice, the Iraqi Communist Party is helping shape the battle for the nation’s soul. Keep reading »
Iranian Workers Condemn the Killing and Violent Suppression of Protesters
On November 15, 2019, following a sudden 300% gasoline price hike, protests erupted across Iran, mostly by working-class and underprivileged people. Dissatisfaction among Iranians is at such high levels that in just 48 hours mass protests spread out to more than 100 cities. However, these righteous protests by the oppressed people were crushed and bloodied … Keep reading »
Stand by the Protesters in Iran!
A statement by the Iranian leftist diaspora in the United Kingdom, France and Germany who have formed a loose coalition of academics and militants to express their support for the ongoing popular uprising in Iran. Keep reading »
Attacking Palestine’s Future
Traveling across Palestine, as I did to give lectures earlier this year, means following a perpetually fresh trail of repression. Omnipresent are the prison guard towers, the barbed wire, the Israeli soldiers with their massive guns and the separation wall. The day before an event at which I was speaking in Beit Sahour, a small … Keep reading »
One Year of the Yellow Vests in France
Converge With Planned Labour Strikes This past weekend the Yellow Vests (Gilets Jaunes) celebrated their first birthday, with convivial barbeques on traffic circles (roundabouts) all over France followed by direct actions like liberating tollbooths. Although number of protestors has declined to about 10 per cent of the estimated 400,000 who rose up a year ago on … Keep reading »
Beyond NAFTA and CUSMA: Democracy Not Corporatocracy
The Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA) falls short of any real alternative, rather it follows a long line of neoliberal trade agreements that have little to do with trade and everything to do with facilitating profit generation for multinational corporations. We discuss the trade agenda and the current political context in Mexico and Canada as well … Watch video »