It will take you more than quoting verses from the Quran to change Muslims’ views on the US

I invite you to read an excellent analysis written by Comarade Dalal about Obama's speach in Cairo on the 4th of January. Comrade Dalal goes through Obama's words and rhetoric in a very critical manner, thus undressing it from it's fancy liberating dress. Great work Comarade!

To read the article click on this!

Serge Halimi: In Praise of Revolutions

here are extracts of the remarquable article of Serge Halimi, you can read the integrality of it on Counterpunch Political Newsletter.

"We Lost All the Battles, But We Had the Best Songs"

Two hundred and twenty years may have passed since 1789, but there’s still life in the French Revolution. During the bicentenary commemorations, though, François Mitterrand had extended an invitation to Margaret Thatcher and Joseph Mobutu to check it was dead and buried. The anniversary year also saw the fall of the Berlin Wall, prompting Francis Fukuyama to announce the “end of history”; in other words, the neoliberal domination of the world would last forever, the so-called revolutionary parenthesis opened in 1789 had closed for good.

But the current crisis in capitalism is now challenging the legitimacy of ruling oligarchies. The air has become lighter – or heavier, depending on your viewpoint. Le Figaro, for example, referred to “these intellectuals and artists who call for revolt” and lamented: “François Furet [the French historian] seems to have been mistaken: the French revolution isn’t over”.

[...]

A king was beheaded across the Channel too, of course. But the English aristocracy put up less resistance than in France, so the bourgeoisie there felt no need to make an alliance with the people to establish its domination. Among the privileged classes, a model without the barefoot or sans-culottes had more appeal and seemed less dangerous than the alternative. So Laurence Parisot, head of the French employers’ union, wasn’t betraying the trust of her members in telling the Financial Times: “I love French history, but I don’t like the Revolution very much. It was an act of extreme violence from which we are still suffering. It forced each one of us to be in a camp.” She added: “We don’t practice [democracy] as successfully as in England”.
The polarization of society inherent in the notion of “being in a camp” is unwelcome because instead we all ought to be showing our solidarity with our employer, our boss or his brand – while still knowing our place. For in the eyes of those who aren’t among its fans, the main charge against the revolution isn’t its violence – sadly an all too common phenomenon in history – but something infinitely rarer: the upheaval of the social order which occurs when the proletariat and the affluent go to war.

[...]

Everyday acts of violence

Even so, a charge levelled against major revolutions is they were violent. Exception is taken to the massacre of the Swiss Guard during the storming of the Tuileries in August 1792, to that of the Russian royal family in July 1918 in Ekaterinburg and to the liquidation of Chiang Kai-Shek’s officers when the Communists took power in China in 1949. But if you object to those, then you shouldn’t ignore the famines of the Ancien Régime, which happened against a background of balls at Versailles and of tithes demanded by priests; or the hundreds of peaceful demonstrators massacred by Nicholas II’s troops in St Petersburg on Bloody Sunday in 1905; or the revolutionaries in Canton and Shanghai thrown alive into the boilers of locomotives in 1927. Not to mention the everyday acts of violence which were part of the social order the revolutionaries sought to overthrow.

The story of the revolutionaries who were burned alive hasn’t just affected those with an interest in China; it’s also known to the millions who have read André Malraux’s novel, La Condition humaine. For decades the greatest writers and artists made common cause with the workers’ movement to celebrate revolutions and the glorious future. In doing so, it is true, they underestimated the downside, the tragedies and the chilly dawns (with their political police, personality cults, labour camps and executions).

For 30 years, by contrast, those are the only consequences of revolution which have been spoken about; in fact it’s the recommended course of action for those who want to succeed at university, in the press – or the Académie Française. “Revolution inevitably means an irruption of violence,” explains Academic Max Gallo. “Our societies are extremely fragile. The major responsibility of those who have a public platform is to guard against this irruption”. For his part, Furet reckoned that any attempt at radical transformation was totalitarian or terrorist, that “the idea of another society has become almost inconceivable”. His conclusion is that “we are condemned to live in the world that we live in”. It’s not hard to imagine that such a destiny fits in with the expectations of his readers, who are generally protected from life’s storms by a pleasant existence of dinners and debates.

There are many other examples of the phobia of revolutions and its corollary – the legitimization of conservatism – besides Gallo and Furet, such as the media, including the cinema. For 30 years, television has been keen to show that the only alternative to liberal democracy is scheming tyrannical regimes. And so the attention given to the German-Soviet pact assumes much greater importance than other unnatural alliances, such as the Munich Agreement or Adolf Hitler’s handshake with Neville Chamberlain. At the very least, the Nazi and the conservative shared a common hatred of popular fronts. And the same class fear inspired the aristocrats of Ferrara and the ironmasters of the Ruhr when they enabled Mussolini and the Third Reich to come to power. But is it still permissible to point that out?

[...]

A requirement for revolution

Since then there has been no shortage of just this sort of transgression; from Franco’s pronunciamento in 1936 to Pinochet’s coup d’état in 1973, not forgetting the overthrow of Mossadegh in Iran in 1953. Blum underlined moreover that “the Republic has never been proclaimed by virtue of a legal vote according to constitutional rules. It was established through the will of the people who rose up against the existing laws”.

Universal suffrage, which is now invoked as a way of ruling out other forms of collective action (including public service strikes, which are compared to hostage taking), has become the alpha and omega of all public action. The questions Blum posed about it have scarcely dated at all: “Is it a true reality today? Don’t the influences of the boss and the landowner bear down on the electors with the pressure of the power of money and the press? Is every elector free of the suffrage he expresses, free through the culture of his thought, free through the independence of his person? And in order to liberate him, isn’t a revolution precisely what’s required?”. In three European countries – the Netherlands, France and Ireland – the ‘no’ vote defied the combined pressures of the bosses, the power of money and the press. For that very reason, it was disregarded.

“We lost all the battles, but we had the best songs.” This view from a Spanish republican fighter seeking refuge in France after Franco’s victory sums up the problem of conservatives and their insistent message of submission. Simply put, revolutions leave an indelible mark on history and human consciousness, even when they fail and even when they are later dishonoured. They embody a moment when fate rises up and the people have the upper hand. This gives them their universal resonance. Each in its way –the mutineers of the Potemkin, the survivors of the Long March, the barbudos (“bearded ones”) of Cuba’s Sierra Maestra – echoes the actions of the soldiers of the Year II; that suggested to British historian Eric Hobsbawm that “the French Revolution demonstrated the power of the common people in a manner that no subsequent government has ever allowed itself to forget – if only in the form of untrained, improvised, conscript armies, defeating the conjunction of the finest and most experienced troops of the old regimes.”

[...]

Revolutions remain rare

If the international interest in Latin America is greater, that’s because its political orientation is both democratic and social. A sector of the European left has spent 20 years justifying the priority it gives to the wishes of the middle classes by coming up with theories about the end of the “revolutionary parenthesis” and the end of the political significance of working classes. Venezuela and Bolivia’s leaders are, by contrast, remobilizing these people by proving that their lot is being taken into account and their destiny is not sealed – in short, the struggle goes on.

However desirable they may be, revolutions remain rare. They require simultaneously: a broad mass of dissatisfied people who are prepared to act; a state whose legitimacy and authority are challenged by some of its usual supporters (as a result of economic incompetence, mismanagement of the military or crippling internal divisions); and finally, pre-existing radical ideas that question the social order and which, though they may be held only by a tiny minority to begin with, are capable of attracting all those whose loyalty to the old order has crumbled.

[...]

For nearly two centuries, millions of political and union activists, historians and sociologists have been examining the critical variables: is the ruling class divided and demoralized? Is its machinery of repression intact? Are the social forces that seek change organised and capable of mutual action? Nowhere have these studies been more abundant that in the US, where it is often a case of understanding revolutions and conceding all that they have achieved, the better to avert them.

The reliability of these studies has been patchy. In 1977, for example, there was concern about the “ungovernability” of capitalist societies. And the question of why the USSR was so stable also arose. There was no shortage of available explanations: the preference of the Soviet leadership and people for order and stability; collective socialization which consolidated the values of the regime; the non-cumulative nature of problems to be tackled, allowing the party room for maneuver; good economic results; the USSR’s status as a great power and so on. The Yale political scientist Samuel Huntington, who was already immensely famous, concluded this roster of corroborating signs: “None of the challenges which are identified in the future appear to be qualitatively different from those the Soviet system has demonstrated the ability to deal with in the past” .
And the rest, as they say, is history.

Serge Halimi is the director of Le Monde Diplomatique. His article appears in the May, English language edition of the monthly Le Monde Diplomatique, to be found at mondediplo.com. 

La Sorbonne Occupied--> French State, Police State!

After more then 8 weeks of contestation, the Anti-LRU movement continues in France and is being further radicalised.

On the 26th of March 2009, the teachers-researchers occupied La Sorbonne university. They are still in the building, liberating the university from the invasion of this Sarkozy reform that wishes to abolish the last remainings of the social state in France. Also the national center for research (CNRS) was also occupied but then cleared.

Sorbonne is on strike
by sorbonnard2009

Upon the occupation of La Sorbonne, leftist student unions called for a solidarity demonstration in front of the university to support and reinforce the occupation. I went to the Sorbonne in order to participate, i found the forces of order (or repression) spread all over the Sorbonne square, they were covered with white resulting from the flour thrown at them from the demonstrators. We were chanting slogans of support, holdding eachother's hands in order to maintain the line in front of the forces of repression. As time passed, the police increased in number, surrounded us and closed every passing to the square. Meanwhile, policemen in civilian cloths filmed us thoroughly ( a good way for profiling). The police circle became tighter as they approached us, they encircled us, 100 protestors. The police chief took a speaker and told the demonstrators to leave the square in small groups, and present their ID cards while doing so.

Shockingly, the vast majority obeyed, we, militants of Marxist Unitaire, were only 10 to refuse but then we caved because we ended up alone. The police threatened us, saying that if we don't do as they demand they will arrest us.

The police controlled each person who left the square, verified his ID card and took the name, adress and place of birth! this is unacceptable in so-called democratic state like France. This act by the Police explicitly expressed that demonstrating, gathering in a public space is a crime, something you can be punished for! Taking our names is intolerable, and shouldn't be neglected. This, and filming us is a clear act of profiling, of constant control and serveillance. This practice showed that the French state is nothing but a police state! The police is trying to spread fear amongst the protestors in order to refrain them from coming back! This control of demonstartors is frequently seen in dictatorships and totalitarian state. "Democratic" states are smoothly slipping into dictatorship, everyone should be watched and controlled in order to protect the politico-economic oppressors who preach for economic liberalisation and privatization. This profiling is despicable, and the police should be brought into justice and courts in order to abolish such totalitarian measures, and hold the responsibles accountable.

What shocked me the most was that the demonstrators easily caved and agreed to submit to the police's orders! Demonstrators shouldn't have left the square nor agreed to give their names. The struggle cannot be won while obeying to the repressive acts of the security forces!

PS: The university was evacuted later on by the forces of repression.

Fin de l'occupation du 26 mars de la Sorbonne
by sorbonnard2009

For more information about the movement: http://sorbonneengreve.revolublog.com/

Neo-colonialism driving Madagascar to a civil war!

After nearly one month of confrontation between the supporters of the Malgasy president Ravalomanana and the mayor of the capital (Antananarivo) and leader of opposition Rajoelina, more then a hundred person died. On the 7nth of February 28 people were killed by the Presidential guard. Magascar is on the verge of a civil war! 

Here is the larger picture: Last July (2008) the South Korean firm Daewoo Logistics signed an agreement with the Malgasy government allowing it to exploit 1,3 million hectars of arable land for a period of 99 years in this African Island. The area represents nearly half of the cultivatible land of Madagascar but also half of Belgium! In this land Daewoo will cultivate palm oil and corn, the half of which will be exported to South Korea, and the remaining will be exported elsewhere, the local population shouldn't expect recieving much food. In return the Asian firm should invest $6 billion in infrastructure and provide employment for 71000 people.

                                              (Source: EIU)

This huge project comes in order to assure food security for South Korea by cultivating half of the Malgasy arable land, while 3.5% of the population of Madagascar benefits from Word Food Program! This program comes in aid to countries who are not able to feed their citizens, hence the Malgasy president leases tis land to Daewoo instead of feeding his people. Moreover, 70% of the poplutation lives under the poverty line, and 50% of children aged under 3 years suffer from food deficiency. Therefore instead of facing these difficulties, the president chooses to hand over the natural ressources to Korean multinational firms: in fact not only Daewoo is interested in Madagascar, but other Korean firms are exploiting other ressources in the island.

The Malgasy people are very attached to their land, hence seeing 1.3 million hectars stripped from them is not smething they could tolerate. This adds up to the authoritarian practices of the president, and to his ultraliberal economic vision (he is the owner of a large groupe, Tika, which is also involved in agro-business) in opening the country wide open to such investements. Therefore this triggered a contestation movement that demands the overthrow of the president and the abrogation of this agreement, the stubborness of the president and the determination of the opposition have triggered fears of civil war.

The agrarian neo-colonialism of Daewoo is not isolated: in fact many Asian and Arab golfe countries are interested in expoiting African arable lands in order to feed their populations. This practice cannot be called other than colonialism where the firms of those countries extract the African ressources in order to benefit the exploiting country's population and for exportation while many African populations are starving. The silence of the international community is not surprising, all what they care about is an investement environmnent and for their multinational firms to exploit the ressources of developing countries like in the good old days!

What is even more pitiful is that the countries who were exploited and colonized like China and South Korea are now taking the roles of the ex-colonial powers in Africa, the oppressed became the oppresser. Apparantly that this is a phase that every country should go through in order to obtain the capitalism diploma, otherwise its capitalism is incomplete!

Colonialism was never history, it is the present and the struggle will continue eventhough, in some cases, it is against the comrades fo yesterday...

Tunisian Students on Hunger Strike for the 10th day!

The Tunisian students: Ali Bouzouzia, Ayman Al Jaabiri, Mohamad Bou Allak, Mohamad Alsoudani and Tawfic Alawwati were kicked out of university by the administration because of their union activism in the General Student Union of Tunisia. In a protest to this decision they began a hunger strike.
This despicable decison by the administration clearly violates the right to organize, and the right of these students to defend their interest.
Solidarity and support are needed for our tunisian comrades!
a facebook group has been created in which you can follow their news: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=125609685316

My manifesto..

In my first post i will try to explain what this blog is meant to be for.
First, Hanzala is this character you see in the profile picture, he was created by the late assasinated Palestinian caricaturist Naji Al Ali. He is this Palestinian refugee who is turning his back to the world and looking to Palestine. I identify myself to this kid...
This Blog will attempt to be a Hanzala but also a reverse Hanzala. it will turn its back to the world and look to Palestine and all the human values that it holds. Because Palestine is not a piece of land, but it represents freedom, justice, revolution, solidarity and human decency. Palestine seized to be a land in 1948, because it became a symbol and an aspiration to every oppressed person on this planet. But also the Blog will be a reverse Hanzala, because it will try to expose injustice, oppression, and the deception of the current world system we live in. it will not turn its back to this world but try to undress it.
Moreover, this Blog will be my channel through which i will tell my stories and experiences when i go to India and live there for six months. Stories that will not be only anecdotes, or a diary but an attempt to analyse and shed lights on some Indian realities.
My opinions, and words will never be neutral, they will be tainted with my beliefs and convictions. I consider myself a radical leftist. I see that the struggle in our world is clear. We live in an oppressing world economic system in which our economic, social and political rights are being smashed and violated in order to preserve the power of the capitalists who are operating through multinational firms, governments, parliments, and the whole spectrum of the polical-economic organization. I believe that all freedom and emancipation struggles on this planet are organically linked. The issue is clear cut, we should oppose this system, we should regain our rights in the economic and political sphere. we should refuse that the economy and our lives are determined by a small groupe of private individuals who thrive for profit. we should refuse wars that are being declared in our names, wars tainted with nationalistic lies created for deception. There are many other crucial issues that whill be exposed in my posts.
I am a person without a nationality, without a country, I am influenced by the culture i was raised in, but that is all. I see this blog as a simple mean to contribute to a larger contestation movement, but one mean amongst many others. Because the struggle in not an electronic one, the struggle is a human one, it should be taken to the streets. I believe that we should exploit every way in order to achieve our ideals, from non-violence to organized violence. We ought to seek and reach everyone. In this regard, my main fear and concern is that a lot of Blogs have their specific audience who largely adhere to the speech of the Blogger which limits the scope of the blog and its influence. Therefore a main challenge will be to reach the people who don't agree with our ideas.
Finally I hope that my blog experience will be a successful one, and that through this blog a space of dialogue will be created and not only a mere one way exchange where people will read what I consider important.
"Oppressed of the world unite, you have nothing to loose but your chains!"