Solidarity with Palestine – Lobby of Parliament 23 November

2nd November 2011 Socialist Action 0

The Palestine Solidarity Campaign Lobby of Parliament will be on Wednesday 23rd November (from 2pm to 6pm)

The lobby is to advocate Palestinians’ civil, political and human rights, in accordance with international law.

The aim of the lobby is to build support amongst MPs for Palestinians, including ending the siege on Gaza and for an end to the arms trade with Israel.

Photo: Eduardo Carrasco

We are the 99 per cent

20th October 2011 Socialist Action 0

By Jane West

The US ‘Occupy Wall St’ protest – which itself marks the emergence of the first signs of a radicalisation in the US in response to the global economic crisis – inspired a global ‘Day of Rage’ last weekend (15th/16th October) focused on the world’s stock markets and financial systems, which saw protests in most of the advanced capitalist countries.

The Occupy Wall St protest itself began on 17th September under the slogan of ‘We are the 99 per cent’ – referring to the disparity between the 1 per cent that own 40 per cent of the wealth in America and the 99 per cent that share the rest.

On 15th October, the movement went global, with rallies of various sizes reported in 951 cities in 80 countries. The Guardian featured a world map showing the location of the main protests.

Lowkey’s new album: promoting the anti-war message into the charts

18th October 2011 Socialist Action 0

By Mushtaq Ahmed

Last weekend (15/16 October) Lowkey released a new album, Soundtrack to the Struggle, which rapidly became propelled to number seven in the iTunes chart. This is a phenomenal achievement for an artist with no major record label backing. Add to that the fact that he has been defined by his strong stance on the injustice suffered by the Palestinians, and his support for the revolutionary developments in Latin America. This makes this achievement all the more impressive, given that BBC 1Xtra earlier this year censored the word ‘Palestine’ from a track by MC Righteous. Lowkey has been at the forefront of The Equality Movement together with MC Logic and journalist Jody McIntyre who reviews the album here.

Photo by Platforma Obywatelska

Poland: centre-right re-elected after avoiding recession

17th October 2011 Socialist Action 0

By David Brown

While governing parties throughout Europe are losing elections, Citizens’ Platform (PO) has been re-elected as the largest party in Poland and will again form a coalition government with the Peasants’ Party (PSL).

The major reason for its victory is that the Polish economy has continued to grow throughout its term in office, with Poland being the only EU country to have avoided a recession since the outbreak of the global economic crisis.

Photo by: Sinn Féin

Martin McGuinness for President

14th October 2011 Socialist Action 0

By Frances Davis

On Thursday night (13 October) Martin McGuinness’ speech to a packed rally in Dublin’s Mansion House demonstrated beyond any shadow of a doubt why the left and progressives everywhere should not only support his bid for the Irish Presidency, but draw inspiration from it.

His speech gave a strong message to all of the detractors and the right wing establishment in the 26 counties, who have done everything possible to malign his candidacy. Far from having anything to hide or regret, he explained how he was not only right to have followed the course he had, but proud of his history.

Photo: teleSUR

No imperialist intervention in Syria

11th October 2011 Socialist Action 0

By Jane West

As the imperialist intervention in Libya moves into its endgame with the NATO pounding of Sirte, the West’s attention is moving more decisively towards the situation in Syria.

So far the imperialists have drawn back from openly threatening military intervention. This is not because it is not on their agenda, but because a number of factors have temporarily stayed their hand.