Ukraine: resistance on two fronts

Sunday 10 November 2024, by Jacques Babel


Under pressure from Putin, the Russian military forces are using their superiority in terms of men and bombing resources to very slowly but surely gobble up territory and destroy Ukraine’s civilian infrastructure. Now, after massive deliveries of bombs, missiles and drones from North Korea and Iran, it has been announced that several thousand North Korean soldiers will be arriving to fight as reinforcements for the Russian army. Meanwhile, some on the left are still indignant about the delivery of arms to the Ukrainians by Western states, even though these are clearly insufficient to enable them to put up effective resistance to the Putin steamroller and reverse the balance of power.

At the same time, the Zelensky government’s requests for aid are increasingly part of a neo-liberal policy subservient to the West. And the misguided policy of recruiting for a Ukrainian national defence system exhausted by two and a half years of war is contributing to a demoralisation that is being expressed publicly, over and above the extraordinary mobilisation of the Ukrainian people to defend their freedoms.

As our comrades from the revolutionary left-wing organisation Sotsialnyi Rukh (Social Movement) put it, ‘Ukraine’s uncertain prospects of victory are due to the fact that the only reliable strategy for opposing the aggressor - mobilising all available economic resources to support the front line and critical infrastructure - was at odds with the interests of the oligarchy. Because of the free market, Ukraine is a caricature of a war economy, and the concentration of luxury amidst poverty is becoming explosive. The refusal to nationalise the production infrastructure, to tax big business and to allocate the necessary budget for rearmament means that the war continues at the cost of huge human losses and relentless mobilisation’. [1]

In this terrible situation, international people-to-people solidarity exists and is essential to develop, as the ENSU2 network is doing with its links from below with Ukrainian progressive associations - political, feminist, trade union, LGBT - fighting against Russian aggression, for the defence of social gains and in defence of egalitarian rights. [See the ENSU website]

L’Anticapitaliste

Attached documents

• ukraine-resistance-on-two-fronts_a8735.pdf (PDF - 903.9 KiB)
  Extraction PDF [->article8735]

Footnotes

[1] Resolution entitled ‘The Road to Victory and the Tasks of the Ukrainian Left’ adopted at the Sotsialnyi Rukh (Social Movement) Conference held in Kiev on 5 and 6 October 2024.

Ukraine

• Strength comes from within
• “The Path to Victory and the Tasks of the Ukrainian Left”
• Ukraine under Russian occupation
• The Ukrainian left is building on several fronts
• Why we are closing our center for displaced women in Lviv

North Korea

• North and South Korea at a turning point after 70 years
• Fruitless "joint struggle" between nuclear states
• North Korea’s chronic food shortages exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic
• Revenge politics to raise the ghost of the elite pro-nuclear consensus
• The geopolitics of crisis

• Jacques Babel

  Jacques Babel is a member of the NPA leadership responsible for international work.

International Viewpoint is published under the responsibility of the Bureau of the Fourth International. Signed articles do not necessarily reflect editorial policy. Articles can be reprinted with acknowledgement, and a live link if possible.

Sozdar Avesta: We stand behind President Öcalan’s decision and the process he is developing

In this in-depth interview, Sozdar Avesta, member of the Presidential Council of the KCK, discusses, among other things, the importance of the greetings of the people's leader Abdullah Ocalan in the current phase, talks about the oppression of women 


ANF
BEHDINAN
Saturday, 9 November 2024, 07:50

In this in-depth interview, Sozdar Avesta, member of the Presidential Council of the KCK, discusses, among other things, the importance of the greetings of the people's leader Abdullah Ocalan in the current phase.

For 26 years, the Kurdish people's leader, Abdullah Öcalan, has been raising a great resistance against the system of denial and annihilation under the harsh conditions in Imrali. As is well known, there was no sign of life from him for 44 months. Most recently, on October 23rd, Ömer Öcalan, MP from Riha (tr. Urfa), was allowed to hold a meeting with Rêber Apo. How do you evaluate both Rêber Apo’s message and the ongoing isolation?

After 44 months, for the first time again, we heard from Rêber Apo [Abdullah Öcalan] in the framework of a meeting with his family, and he sent us his greetings. First of all, as his comrades and both on behalf of our movement and on behalf of women, with great love and respect, we received Rêber Apo’s greetings, and we also greet Rêber Apo’s resistance and stance with respect and love.

First of all, it must be emphasized that this meeting was Rêber Apo’s right. The family, the lawyers, as well as human rights and other international non-governmental organizations, must be allowed to meet him. This is Rêber Apo’s legal right. But of course it is known that Rêber Apo is no ordinary prisoner. The way he was abducted is well known. An international conspiracy took place, at the end of which he was handed over to the Turkish state. Rêber Apo is being held hostage – this became clear once through the last meeting. Because his right to hold meetings is being exploited as a bargaining chip. They want to use this meeting as blackmail politics against our people, our movement, and our leadership.

Rêber Apo has been in Imrali for 26 years and has been resisting relentlessly, particularly in the past 44 months. At the same time, our people have been resisting continuously under the leadership of women and youth; thousands of prisoners are struggling, and our movement has given thousands of martyrs to break the isolation and ensure the physical freedom, health, and safety of Rêber Apo. The recent meeting is a result of this struggle.

Before the meeting, the fascist Erdogan-Bahceli government had started playing new games. Bahceli had spoken several times in parliament and had tried to create a discourse in public opinion about a possible new solution process. He even said that Rêber Apo should come to the parliament and speak there. So before the meeting, they wanted to create an expectation that there was something new. The message Rêber Apo conveyed through Ömer Öcalan, both MP of Riha and nephew of Rêber Apo, was: “The isolation continues.” and “I have the theoretical and practical power to move this process from the grounds of conflict and violence to the legal and political grounds if the conditions arise.”

This stance and attitude of Rêber Apo made the governments mask fall. They say many things but do not think of implementing them in practice. Again, they thought of playing such a game to break the effect of the global campaign for Rêber Apo’s physical freedom, to create some expectations in society, but not to actually do anything. Rêber Apo has shown his stance and emphasized that if they have a sincere will, he is ready and has the strength to play his role. Immediately following this statement by Rêber Apo, the co-presidency of the KCK Executive Council, and later other comrades also issued statements on behalf of the movement, underlining that we stand behind Rêber Apo’s decision and the process he is developing. They wanted to create a contradiction between the PKK, Rêber Apo, and KCK, but they didn’t succeed in it. Immediately afterwards, they have again given Rêber Apo a three-month visiting ban. In fact, this means that their words are lies, that they are not ready for a true solution process, and that they will insist on the politics of denial and destruction against the Kurdish people.

They continue their concept unabated and focus on Rêber Apo. Yesterday, Rêber Apo emphasized that he was ready to work out a joint solution, and today he is being given a disciplinary punishment. They are not ready for such a process. That was to be expected, because what we see are the intensifying attacks against the Medya Defense Zones, the continued genocidal policies in the political sphere, and the constantly growing extent of attacks against the Kurdish people and the whole of Kurdistan. This government does not have the mentality to solve the Kurdish question. It is a government that is based on enmity against the Kurds. Their lies, their dirty aims, and their true faces were once again revealed. The fact that we received news from Rêber Apo and received his greeting is the result of a great struggle and resistance. The greeting of Rêber Apo gave us strength; we received it with respect and love, and we are making this greeting the basis of a great struggle to break the isolation. It is required to spread the struggle to all areas more and massify the resistance. Only resistance can ensure Rêber Apo’s physical freedom; only struggle can guarantee his safety and health. On this basis, the struggle must be strengthened and grown.

Rêber Apo’s resistance in Imrali is the basis of the struggle of the Kurdish people and the guerrillas. The guerrillas are becoming more and more successful every day in the ongoing war in the Medya Defense Areas. The latest sacrificial action by comrade Asya and Rojger showed that the guerrillas of the democratic modernity can overcome any obstacles and reach its goal wherever it may be.

In this context, I would like to commemorate with respect and gratitude the honorable heroes of Kurdistan, comrade Asya Ali and Rojger Helin, who followed the tradition and path of our commander, the goddess of freedom, comrade Zilan. I bow with respect in the face of their great will and courageous stance. Also on this occasion, I respectfully commemorate all martyrs of November by commemorating the martyred commanders of our special forces, comrade Delal Amed, Reshit Serdar, and Shilan Kobane.

What message should be taken from the war waged by the guerrilla? Both the stage reached by the guerrilla resistance and the action carried out by our two comrades showed everyone the truth. The freedom movement is waging a struggle along the lines of Rêber Apo. The freedom guerrilla is the guerrilla of all Kurdistan and the guerrilla in defense of Rêber Apo. In particular, the ‘Battalion of the Immortals’, of which comrade Asya and Roger were a part, was founded by those who defend Rêber Apo against any false approach, who fight against the fascist mentality behind the isolation and prevent the isolation from becoming a bargaining chip against the peoples of Kurdistan. In this course, our comrades carried out an action against the center in Ankara, where all the materials used in the genocidal war are produced. It was an action with a clear target. The action chosen by these comrades was aimed at a military target. It was carried out in a sacrificial manner and showed what stage the guerrilla struggle has reached.

The letters that the two comrades wrote to become part of the Battalion of the Immortals have been circulating in public for several days. These letters are a manifesto for a free life. The struggle of comrade Asya and Rojger must be understood and analyzed correctly. It should not be glossed over by saying that it was just one action. Before that, in 2022, comrades Sara and Ruken carried out their action in Mersin. Again in 2023, comrades Erdal and Rojhat carried out their action in Ankara. Now, in 2024, the level of this action has been raised to an even higher level, and a target that was considered unattainable has been hit. Therefore, everyone, especially the enemies of the Kurdish people, should be careful in their calculations.

The action of comrades Asya and Rojger took place close to the meeting with Rêber Apo. Our movement had already made a statement that the comrades formed an autonomous unit, determining their targets and the way and time of their action themselves. Neither did our movement know about the meeting with Rêber Apo nor when the comrades would take action. No one knew of the meeting until it was announced publicly.

The action has torn the masks off the faces of many who have recently tried to hide behind deceiving statements. Therefore, this action was an appropriate and timely action. It was also not an action against civilians. It took place according to the rules of war. Kurdish people are being massacred every day with the weapons made in this center. For example, just the other day, families were massacred in Shehba with the weapons produced there. Again, there are the atrocities that were committed by the enemy in Cizir Botan (tr. Cizre), Hezex (tr. Idil), Nisebin (tr. Nusaybin), and Sur in 2015 and 2016, that comrade Rojger described in his letter. Comrade Asya and Rojger showed what it means to struggle for and live a free life. They showed when, where, and what kind of stance to take and what kind of deep love is therefore needed. As long as this genocidal politics, these massacres, and attacks against the Kurdish people continue, no one will be able to stop the Battalion of the Immortals. Not getting any news from Rêber Apo in over 44 months, of course, leads the freedom guerrillas to take action against it. Our comrades have stated everything about their actions in their letters. They should be read, and everybody should take a stance according to them.

There has been great continuing resistance of the guerrillas this year. The resistance will continue with all kinds of actions. There is a relentless struggle and great resistance in the areas of northern Kurdistan, Dersim (tr. Tunceli), Serhat, Bagok, Botan, Amed (tr. Diyarbakir), and the Medya Defense Zones. On this occasion, I greet the Kurdistan freedom guerrillas with respect and dignity and send my love. Most recently, our comrade Memed Cudi, commander in the Merdin (tr. Mardin) area, martyred. I remember comrade Memed Cudi with respect and gratitude. He put up a great resistance and was involved in crucial works before he gave his life in combat.

The few successes they achieve against the guerrillas are only due to betrayal. In northern Kurdistan, the village guards, gangs, mercenaries, and those who collaborate with the enemy play a crucial role in the strategy of the enemy. In the Medya Defense Zones, it is the Barzani family clan and its KDP that, through their treason, pave the way for the Turkish state. They guide the Turkish state and build roads to encircle the guerrillas. The Turkish state cannot get results against the freedom struggle and therefore attacks civilian areas. Using the action in Ankara as a pretext, they attacked North and East Syria and Shengal (Sinjar). In North and East Syria, 18 people were martyred, dozens were wounded, and 6 people were martyred in Shengal. I commemorate all the martyrs with respect and express my condolences to the families of the martyrs. We share their pain. I have great respect for their stance against the enemy. All the families of the martyrs stood firm against the enemy’s attacks. This is of great significance. In fact, these attacks also show the Iraqi government’s disrespect towards the people of Shengal. Even under Saddam, this community was not surrendered to the enemy in such an open way. Instead of doing its duty towards the very people who have been subjected to so many fermans and were directly persecuted by the mercenaries and gangs of ISIS, the Iraqi government made agreements with the Turkish state. It did not take a stand against the attacks on the Êzidî (Yazidi) community and still cooperates with the Turkish state for its own interests. This is a disgrace for Iraq. This must be underlined.

Both in Shengal and in North and East Syria, our people must organize against these attacks, strengthen their self-defense, and increase their defense mechanisms. Again, our people must gather around their self-defense forces. The guerrilla is doing its part, and our people must fulfill their role within the framework of the revolutionary people’s war. Revolution is a joint effort. The guerrillas a recarrying out actions in many areas from Zap, over Xakurke, Dersim, and Merdin, until Ankara, and the people should both take precautions against genocidal attacks everywhere and unite around the guerrillas. In this way, the struggle will succeed. The guerrillas have raised the bar of the struggle through comrades Asya and Rojger. They have shown what kind of stance should be taken.

Kurd Hunger strike in Zurich in solidarity with prisoners in Iran

A one-day hunger strike was held in Zurich to protest the conditions of prisoners in Iran.


ANF
ZURICH
Sunday, 10 November 2024

A one-day hunger strike was held in the Zurich canton of Switzerland to protest the conditions of prisoners in Iran, especially those sentenced to death. The strike was organized in solidarity with Pakshan Azizi, who has been sentenced to death by the Iranian state, and other women prisoners in Iranian jails.

The event took place at the Rojava Cultural Association in Kloten, Zurich, led by the Swiss Committee of the Free Life Party of Kurdistan (PJAK). The hunger strike was a protest against the harsh conditions and death sentences imposed in Iranian prisons.

The co-chair of the Swiss Democratic Kurdish Council, Cemal Özdemir, along with many others, visited the hunger strike protest.

On behalf of the hunger strikers, Hakim Hutiti, spokesperson for the PJAK Swiss Committee, gave a press statement. He highlighted the death sentence of Kurdish journalist Pakshan Azizi and mentioned several women detained in Evin Prison. Hutiti said: "We are holding this protest to amplify the voices of political prisoners, especially women, in Iranian jails. All our people in Europe should become the voice of the prisoners resisting in Iranian prisons. Our people from all parts of Kurdistan and Europe must take action against the death penalty."

The press statement concluded with the slogan "Jin Jiyan Azadî" (Women, Life, Freedom).

Young Yazidi man martyred in Turkish airstrike in Shengal

Shengal Autonomous Administration announced that a young man named Kerim Hecî Şero was martyred in today’s airstrike by the Turkish state.


ANF
SHENGAL
Sunday, 10 November 2024, 17:33

An unmanned aerial combat vehicle (UCAV) targeted a car in the Yazidi town of Shengal (Sinjar) in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq earlier today.

The driver of the car lost his life as a result of the attack while on his way to the Serdesht region.

The victim was identified as Kerim Hecî Şero, a young Yazidi man from the Zendini tribe. He came from the Tilizêr district and lived in the Sinûnê sub-district of Shengal.

The young man’s body was delivered from Sinûnê Hospital to Mosul Forensic Medicine for post-mortem examination.

Turkish attacks on Shengal ongoing since 2017

Under the pretext of "fighting the PKK", Turkish warplanes and drones have repeatedly carried out airstrikes on Shengal since 2017. The specific targets are mostly institutions that were founded in the wake of the ISIS genocide - such as the administrative body "Shengal Democratic Autonomous Council" (MXDŞ) or the self-defence units YBŞ and YJŞ. The victims are mainly people from the civilian population - often survivors of the 2014 genocide.

In a wave of attacks by warplanes and UCAVs, the Turkish state bombed a total of 16 points in Shengal on 24-25 October, killing six fighters of the Shengal Resistance Units (YBŞ).

On 8 July, the vehicle of journalists who went to Til Qeseb town of Shengal to conduct interviews on the 10th anniversary of the 3 August 2014 genocide was attacked in the centre of Shengal on their way back. Çira TV reporter Medya Hasan Kemal, Çira FM reporter Murat Mirza Ibrahim and vehicle driver Xelef Xidir, along with 3 other people who were at the scene, were injured in the attack.

Another Turkish aerial attack on 8 March killed Mecdel Hesen Xelef, a commander of Shengal Resistance Units (YBŞ) and survivor of the ISIS genocide in 2014. The drone bombed a checkpoint near Til Êzêr where he was working. He was 32 years old and left behind a wife and son.

A few days earlier, civilian Sadun Mirza Ali had been killed by a Turkish drone in Shengal. The man was the father of three children and worked as a driver for the autonomous administration's committee for the martyrs. At the end of December, five workers from Rojava were killed in a drone attack in Shengal.

Attacks in violation of international law on an almost daily basis

The Yazidi settlement area Shengal in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq is the last contiguous settlement area of the Yazidi community. Thousands of Yazidis were murdered and thousands of women and children were taken prisoner in the 3 August 2014 onslaught on Shengal by ISIS militants. While ISIS gangs began murdering Yazidis in Shengal, the Peshmerga left, leaving the Yazidis behind, unprotected. The guerrillas of HPG (People’s Defense Forces) and YJA Star (Free Women’s Troops) and fighters of the YPG (People’s Defense Units) and YPJ (Women’s Defense Units) came to the Yazidi people's aid in the face of ISIS aggression. Thanks to a months-long selfless struggle, the city was liberated on 13 November 2015. After the liberation of the city, the HPG and YPG/YPJ subsequently withdrew in 2017. People who returned to their land after Shengal's independence reformed, established defensive units and built their institutions.

The Turkish state, which has been frustrated by the liberation of Shengal and the military and political organization of the Yazidi community after ISIS' genocidal attack in 2014, has been attacking Shengal for seven years. Attacks by Turkey that violate international law have been routine in southern Kurdistan for years. The Turkish air force bombs the territory of the Kurdistan Region and Iraq on an almost daily basis, especially where guerrillas are suspected. However, civilian settlement areas are also regularly attacked by the Turkish army, including the Yazidi settlement area of Shengal and the Maxmur refugee camp. With its aerial terror, Ankara is pursuing a targeted policy of displacement - in particular by deliberately destroying civilian infrastructure.

MÖP: Usurpation of municipalities is the result of colonialist policies

In a written statement on the usurpation of Kurdish municipalities, MÖP pointed out that the appointment of trustees is the result of colonialist policies.


ANF
NEWS DESK
Sunday, 10 November 2024

The Mesopotamia Freedom Party (MÖP) made a written statement on the usurpation of the municipalities of Mardin, Batman and Halfeti through government-appointed trustees. MÖP emphasised that the usurpation of the municipalities won despite the anti-democratic practices during the election process is a colonialist and fascist practice.

The statement emphasised that the trustee practice has become a state policy since 2015 and said, “Unprecedented in the world, scheming, lies and unethical policies have become a life in the Turkish state and governments. There is no other system that has such a degrading approach towards societies living in its own bosom.”

MÖP remarked that the Turkish state, which criticises Israel, has put into practice genocidal practices against Kurds and other peoples living in Turkey.

Referring to the recent meeting between the incarcerated Kurdish leader Abdullah Öcalan and his nephew Ömer Öcalan, the statement continued, “While on the one hand there is talk of a new process with Mr Öcalan, on the other hand, DEM Party municipalities that defend democracy are usurped, and party executives are subject to investigations and arrested. There can be no such hypocrisy.”

The Mesopotamia Freedom Party called on the international community to see these policies and urged the peoples of Mesopotamia to embrace their democratic will.

“We are a part of them, and we support their just democratic resistance. We stand for the lifting of the isolation on Mr. Öcalan as soon as possible, which is necessary for the peoples, and the launch of a dialogue process that will benefit the peoples,” the statement concluded.

‘Kurdish people’s resistance for a free life and an honourable peace will always continue’

“The Kurds are a politicised people. No one can deceive the Kurdish people, nor can they ever turn them back from their struggle," said Ahmet Türk, the deposed co-mayor of Mardin.


ANF
MARDİN
Saturday, 9 November 2024

Masses joined a march in Mardin in protest at the usurpation of the municipality and appointment of a trustee to replace the democratically elected co-mayors on 4 November.

Police forces blockaded the DEM Party Office and the Karayolları Park, where the march was set to kick off, and prevented masses from gathering.

The people managed to overcome the police barrier and started to march through the city centre, after which the police had to close the road to traffic.

The deposed co-mayors of Mardin Metropolitan Municipality, Ahmet Türk and Devrim Demir, Co-Mayor of Van Metropolitan Municipality Abdullah Zeydan, DEM Party MPs and other co-mayors also participated in the march.



Speaking after the march, co-mayor Ahmet Türk said that the resistance of the Kurdish people for a free life and an honourable peace will always continue. Emphasising that the Kurdish people will claim their rights, future and freedom despite the dirty games of the state, Türk said: “The Kurdish people will embrace their will and will not accept the trustee politics. Pursuing a dirty politics, the rulers are extending a hand on one side, and keeping a stick on the other side. With this stick they want to silence the voice of the Kurdish people, they want the Kurdish people to give up their free life, identity and rights. This is the third time you have appointed trustees. But the people do not accept it, and they oppose your politics every time. They will continue to do so.”

Emphasising that the government’s policy of intimidating the Kurdish people is coming to naught, Türk said: “The Kurds are a politicised people. No one can deceive the Kurdish people, nor can they ever turn them back from their struggle. Everyone needs to know this. We are raising hope. We are raising peace. We are raising the future. We are raising freedoms. Know this and act accordingly. If you are talking about peace in this country, if you are really in search of peace, our people are ready, our politics are ready, we are always there for peace. But we are not to be deceived. This should be known very well.”

Addressing the government, Ahmet Türk said, “What are you bringing to the table of peace? What is your road map? You don't have an explanation on this issue. But you bring up different projects to deceive us, to silence us. Tomorrow they will argue that ‘we extended our hand of peace but they didn't take our hand of peace’ and try to put pressure on the Kurdish people again. We are aware of this, but we will not swallow it. We defend the brotherhood of peoples in this country. We are based on living together in this country. But free and fair. Cegerxwîn has a saying; ‘bi minnet em naçin cinnet, serbest û azad em diherim cehennem / We do not go to heaven with gratitude, we go to hell freely.’ This should be known like this.”

Co-mayor Devrim Demir thanked the people for the protests and resistance that have been going on for 6 days and said, “These dark forces will be defeated, we will triumph. We know what a trustee is. For 8 years we have seen and watched the practices of the trustees together. Trusteeship is plunder, theft, confiscation of the will of the people. We have all witnessed this.”

Demir continued, “Trustee is an attack on women's struggle for freedom. Trustee is hostility to our municipalism model. Everyone should know well that we will not step back from the women's struggle for freedom, our municipal model, or the struggle. They cannot make us take a step back with these dirty policies and theft politics. Just as we did not bow down in Van, they will be defeated and we will triumph. No one can stand in front of this will. We appeal to those who pursue this dirty policy; hands off the will of this people, hands off the municipalities. Hand over the people's municipality to the people, end your dirty policy. End this occupation politics. For 100 years you have not got anywhere with this politics, and you will not get anywhere with this politics for another 100 years. Even if another 100 years pass, the Kurdish people will stand against the genocide policies with all their strength and will. I call out once again from here; take your hand off the will of the people and get out of here.”

DEM Party MP Beritan Güneş Altın and GAB Union of Municipalities Co-Chair Siraç Çelik also called for respect for the will of the people.

Van Metropolitan Municipality Co-Mayor Abdullah Zeydan stated that the hearts and strength of millions of Kurds demanding peace and democracy were with them. Noting that the Kurdish people came out victorious in the 31 March local elections by joining hands despite persecution and oppression, Zeydan said, “We gave a great answer to the government and made our municipalities the municipalities of the people again.

Despite all its persecution and oppression, the state could not succeed against the struggle and will of the Kurdish people who want peace. Today, they are again trying to suppress the will of the Kurdish people by force and oppression. Neither the Kurdish people nor other peoples who want peace will accept this. For this reason, the Kurdish people claim their will in every street and every square. The 8-year practice of the trusteeship is obvious. They have done nothing but theft, plunder and oppression. For this reason, the Kurdish people surrendered their will to their party. For 6 months they have tried to tie our hands in every way. Despite this, co-mayors Ahmet Türk and Devrim Demir tried to serve everyone.”

“No services were provided for the Kurdish, Arab and Syriac people for 8 years. They appointed trustees to continue their theft. No occupier is bigger than the people. The people stand with their party today. If we protect our will, we can once again take our will from the trustees. We are millions and we will win again. The peoples will rule our municipality once again,” Zeydan concluded.

UK unions: Öcalan's message is a call for dialogue

The Freedom for Öcalan UK Trade Union Campaign said it stands in solidarity with the Kurdish people and demands an end to Turkey’s attack on local democracy.


ANF
NEWS DESK
Saturday, 9 November 2024

The Freedom for Öcalan UK Trade Union Campaign issued a statement in solidarity with the Kurdish people at a time when they once again have to fight against the appointment of trustees to the municipalities democratically and legally won by the DEM Party.

The UK trade unions said in their statement that they "have a long-standing history of standing in solidarity with oppressed peoples worldwide and advocating for justice. For years, the movement has been actively involved in the Freedom for Öcalan campaign, launched in 2016 by UNITE and GMB, and now supported by 14 major trade unions and the Trade Unions Congress (TUC). Through this campaign, we have consistently called for the release of Abdullah Öcalan and for a peaceful, democratic resolution to the Kurdish issue."

The statement added: "The Turkish government continues a systematic policy of repression on Kurdish communities and their democratic institutions. Recent actions, including the forced removal of elected Kurdish mayors and the imposition of trustees, are blatant attempts to suppress democratic rights and undermine local governance.

In the past week, the Turkish government replaced elected mayors in Mardin, Batman, and Halfeti with state-appointed trustees. These actions are part of a broader pattern of systematically disregarding local democracy and imposing authoritarian control. The removal of these officials — many elected with overwhelming support — highlights Turkey's continued efforts to repress the Kurdish political movement."

The statement continued: "While Turkish leaders, including President Erdoğan and his ally Devlet Bahçeli, have recently suggested a potential openness to dialogue to resolve the Kurdish issue, these overtures are contradicted by Turkish military operations in Rojava (Northern Syria), which continue to target innocent civilians and the broader infrastructure network providing resources to the local peoples. Turkish military activities reveal a stark contradiction between the state’s rhetorical commitment to peace and its actions, which undermine any hopes for genuine dialogue or a peaceful resolution.

However, one recent development offers a glimmer of hope. On 23 October, Abdullah Öcalan's nephew, Ömer Öcalan, visited him in prison — the first contact in years. During the visit, Öcalan delivered a clear message of readiness for dialogue, emphasising his commitment to resolving the Kurdish issue through legal and political frameworks. This message must not be ignored: Öcalan has consistently advocated for a peaceful resolution within Turkey's framework and is ready to play a key role in any such process."

The trade unions said that "Öcalan's message is a call for reason and dialogue, one that should be heeded by both Turkey and the international community. His insistence on a solution based on legal and political frameworks, rather than violence and military repression, offers hope to millions of Kurds in Turkey and beyond. Despite years of isolation, Öcalan remains committed to a peaceful resolution of the Kurdish issue," and added that "the Turkish government must demonstrate its commitment to dialogue by halting military aggression, ceasing the removal of elected officials, and respecting the democratic rights of the Kurdish people. The international community, including the United Kingdom, the European Union, and the United Nations, must support efforts to bring about a peaceful, democratic solution to the Kurdish issue in Turkey."

The Freedom for Ocalan UK Trade Union Campaign, demanded: "The immediate reinstatement of elected Kurdish mayors in Mardin, Batman, Halfeti, and other affected municipalities, and an end to the imposition of trustees that bypass the democratic will of the people; The immediate release of Abdullah Öcalan from isolation, allowing him to play a central role in any future peace process and contribute to negotiations to resolve the Kurdish issue; A cessation of Turkey’s military operations in Rojava and a halt to the violence against Kurdish-led forces and civilian populations in Syria; Respect for the democratic rights of the Kurdish people, both in Turkey and the broader region, including the right to elect their representatives and engage in peaceful political activities without fear of arrest or repression; International pressure on Turkey to engage in meaningful dialogue with Kurdish representatives and other political groups to find a peaceful, democratic, and sustainable solution to the Kurdish question."

PACE Rapporteur: I will apply for a meeting with Abdullah Öcalan

PACE Rapporteur Stefan Schennach, who visited Turkey last June, announced that he would apply for a meeting with Abdullah Öcalan during his second visit in January.


ANF
NEWS DESK
Sunday, 10 November 2024

Stefan Schennach, one of the co-rapporteurs of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) for the monitoring of Turkey’s obligations and commitments, announced his report on prisons in Turkey. The report on his visits to prisons between 11-14 June included numerous violations of rights. Schennach also drew attention to the isolation of Kurdish leader Abdullah Öcalan who is held in incommunicado detention in the İmralı Island Prison in Turkey.

Speaking to the Mesopotamia Agency, Schennach stated that isolation is a form of torture against human rights, adding, “I will apply to visit Abdullah Öcalan.” The PACE Rapporteur will pay another visit to Turkey in January.

Schennach also drew attention to the Turkish government’s usurpation of municipalities and said, “Elected mayors are elected mayors. The government has to accept democracy.”

Noting that Turkey does not implement the judgements of the ECtHR, Schennach stated that the initiatives for the implementation of these judgements will continue. He stated that the Council of Ministers also insisted on the implementation of the judgements.

Koldo Saenz: Freedom for Abdullah Öcalan is possible, let's expand the struggle!

LAB International Relations Secretary Koldo Saenz De Benito underlined the impact of the global freedom campaign, and said: “Developments have shown us that Öcalan’s physical freedom is possible. We should expand the struggle."


SERKAN DEMİREL
NEWS DESK
Sunday, 10 November 2024


DEM Party Urfa MP Ömer Öcalan met with the Kurdish people's leader Abdullah Öcalan in Imrali on 23 October.

Öcalan told his nephew and DEM Party MP: "Isolation continues. If conditions are right, I have the theoretical and practical power to move this process from a ground of conflict and violence to a legal and political ground."

Koldo Saenz De Benito, Secretary of International Relations of the Basque Country Labour Union (LAB), one of the supporters of the global campaign "Freedom for Öcalan, Political Solution to the Kurdish Question", spoke to ANF about the meeting in Imrali as well as the next steps that the international campaign could take.

The LAB Trade Union recently announced its support for the global campaign advocating for the freedom of Kurdish leader Abdullah Öcalan. After 43 months of isolation, Öcalan was recently able to meet his nephew, Ömer Öcalan. How do you interpret the significance of this visit after such a prolonged period of isolation? What impact do you believe this could have on Öcalan himself, his supporters, and the broader Kurdish community?

I think that in this question there are different parameters for analyzing an event that has had a very great relevance.

On the one hand, there is the political fact that the Turkish authorities allowed the family to visit him after 43 months of total isolation, without anyone having any information about his situation and without even knowing whether he was alive. We must surely say that the campaign has achieved enough strength to force Turkey to take this step, and we should congratulate ourselves for that, because the efforts of those of us who have demanded Abdullah Öcalan's freedom produced results.

On the other hand, there is the human dimension of a person in an extreme situation who, after such a long period of time, has had the opportunity to see a loved one, and also, of course, for the Kurdish community who have seen that Öcalan is alive and well and that his political struggle has produced some results.

For those of us who know at first hand the experiences of political prisoners, we know the human and political importance for the prisoner of contact with his family, friends and community. Isolation tries to break all that, trying to break the prisoner by taking away what is most important in his life, which is family, friends, community and people. Undoubtedly, the visit by his nephew was an unimaginable personal joy and a reinforcement of his political convictions.

In his recent message to the public, Abdullah Öcalan emphasized that isolation conditions persist but expressed that, given the opportunity, he has both the theoretical and practical means to shift the process from a cycle of conflict and violence to a political and legal framework. How do you interpret Öcalan’s message? What could this shift mean for the Kurdish issue and for peace efforts in the region?

My interpretation is that his message goes in the direction already expressed above. I think he is trying to create the political conditions to move from a scenario of violence and war to a democratic scenario to seek a complete political and democratic resolution to the Kurdish issue. Saving distances, it is similar to the steps taken by the Basque pro-independence Left to seek a scenario of peace and democracy, taking ETA's armed violence out of the equation. I believe that Abudallah Öcalan is trying to move towards a democratic scenario, in which it will be only the Kurdish people who decide their political future in peace and democracy, and I also believe that there is nothing more democratic than that.

This reminds me of when the historic Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat addressed the United Nations, saying that he came with a rifle in one hand and an olive branch in the other hand. Drawing a parallel with that situation, from my humble position, I appeal to everyone not to let the olive branch fall.

Lately, the political climate in Turkey has seen renewed discussions about finding a political solution to the Kurdish issue. What are your thoughts on these discussions? Do you see them as a step forward, or do you believe more substantial actions are needed?

The mere fact that a discussion on a political resolution of the Kurdish question could be opened is positive, but unfortunately it is not enough. In my opinion, in order for such a process to reach a democratic scenario, there has to be a consensus between the parties in conflict, as well as the support and mediation of the international community. Peace in Kurdistan is a good thing for everyone, and although peace always has powerful enemies, it is necessary to convince the parties that peace is a win-win situation. That is why the international community cannot look the other way and has to explore political mechanisms with the aim of seeking peace with justice in Kurdistan, because that would undoubtedly be very good news for the region and the whole world.

In this sense, I believe that solidarity organisation must continue to push in this direction. We must continue to support the petition that Abdullah Öcalan has sent us, demanding that the international community does not waste this opportunity.

The global campaign for Öcalan’s freedom has undoubtedly played a significant role in facilitating this recent meeting after 43 months of silence. How important do you consider this campaign to be in the broader struggle for Öcalan’s release? Looking ahead, what further steps should be taken to ensure his freedom and support the larger Kurdish cause?

As I said at the beginning, I believe that the meeting that took place after 43 months of isolation would not have happened without the international pressure that we have exercised. There is no doubt that in order to move the positions of a power like Turkey it is necessary to accumulate a lot of strength. We achieved that and for that we have to be very happy. Unfortunately, however, nothing ended with this meeting, although I think something did start that day. I sincerely believe that on that day Turkey's impunity began to be broken and that this meeting was the beginning of a new phase in the struggle. That's why what happened should give us enough encouragement to continue believing that the freedom of Öcalan and Kurdistan is possible and achievable. This should be the challenge for the future, to continue to accumulate forces to press for the freedom of Abdullah Öcalan and for a scenario of negotiation and dialogue for a democratic resolution of the Kurdish issue.

Cemil Bayik: Health, security and free living conditions must be given to Öcalan

Cemil Bayik addressed the issue of how a solution to the Kurdish question can be achieved.


ANF
BEHDINAN
Sunday, 10 November 2024, 07:50

Cemil Bayik, co-president of the KCK Executive Council, comprehensively addressed the issue of how a solution to the Kurdish question can be achieved.

The isolation of peoples leader Abdullah Ocalan had been going on for 43 months. Just recently, a family meeting did take place. In this meeting, peoples leader Abdullah Ocalan pointed out that the isolation still continues. There has been great resistance against this isolation, led by the guerrillas, the Kurdish people, and their international friends. At what stage is the isolation and the resistance against it?

As you pointed out, there had been no meeting with Rêber Apo [Abdullah Öcalan] for almost 4 years. No one knew what his condition and health were like. Now that a meeting took place, we heard from Rêber Apo, and he sent his greetings. This greeting had a very good effect and made everybody very happy. Receiving greetings and news from Rêber Apo after such a long time, of course, created joy in our movement, our people, and our international friends. Before the meeting, rumors were spread about Rêber Apo’s health. They spread this in a conscious way. The Turkish state is conducting politics in Imrali. It is conducting a policy against the Kurdish people, and it does this first and foremost against Rêber Apo. The Turkish state is responsible for whatever happens in Imrali.

Rêber Apo has stated that the isolation still continues. Isolation has not only developed in recent years; the Imrali system has been a system based on isolation and genocide from the very beginning. And this system was not only developed by the Turkish; the ones who are responsible for the international conspiracy developed this system, and today the Turkish state is continuing it. As long as the Imrali system exists, the isolation will continue. When the Imrali system is abolished, the isolation will end. So, the question must be, how is this system to be abolished?

When they accept the Kurdish people as part of society and recognize their natural rights, then both the Imrali system and isolation can be abolished. MP Ömer Öcalan had a meeting with Rêber Apo, but under what conditions did this meeting take place? The meeting was held in an environment in which some circles spread bad rumors about Rêber Apo’s health condition. Both the struggle of the movement and that of the people, as well as that on an international-global level, have built up massive pressure on the Turkish state.

In addition to this, some developments are taking place in the Middle East. When all this came together, they were forced to give a meeting with Rêber Apo. However, even though the meeting took place, the isolation was not lifted. As Rêber Apo stated, the isolation continues. 'They want something from me; if they want me to play my role, then they should create the conditions for it. If the conditions are not created, how can I fulfill my role?' That is what he said. Directly after the meeting with Omer Öcalan, they gave Rêber Apo again a ‘disciplinary punishment’. This punishment is a disguise that they invented to cover for the continuation of the Imrali system and isolation. This is not only the mind of the Turkish state. Those who developed the conspiracy internationally and those who took part in it created this mind in the Turkish state. Because in the past, the Turkish state had put forward some excuses and explained that meetings could not take place. But this created big problems for the Turkish state. So the Turkish state was approached and explained it would not be possible like this. They had to back up their justifications and put them on a legal footing. That’s when they recommended using the ‘disciplinary punishment’ justification. This is how they maintain absolute isolation.

So they made some statements regarding the Kurdish question, and immediately afterward they sentenced Rêber Apo to this punishment. This shows that they have no intention of solving the Kurdish question. If they had any intention of solving it, they would not have given a new punishment to Rêber Apo. They didn’t just sentence him; at the same time, they attacked Rojava and are trying to appoint trustees to the municipalities in Turkey and northern Kurdistan. If their aim was a solution, they would not do such things. They are doing this because the Turkish state is currently in a crisis. Both the ongoing struggle and the developments in the Middle East are creating a crisis in the Turkish state.

They want to get out of it, but they are not clear about how to do so, giving statements without achieving anything. Our people and our international friends need to be aware of this. If the Turkish state was not in such great difficulty, it would not have created such an agenda. What we need to do is break the isolation and ensure the physical freedom of Rêber Apo. The physical freedom of Rêber Apo will lead to the solution of the Kurdish question. There is no other way.

There is going to be a rally in Cologne, Germany, on the 16th of this month for this purpose. That rally is important. A global campaign was developed, and through it, an agenda was created. This campaign has entered its second phase, and that is what the rally is based on. That is why everyone should participate in it. It should be a much bigger rally, not like the old rallies. Millions of people must attend the rallies; millions must march. Only this will ensure the physical freedom of Rêber Apo. Of course, what is being done is good, but it is insufficient.

The Turkish state is talking about Kurds, brotherhood, equality, and many other things because it is forced to do so. More pressure needs to be put on it. That’s why all our people, with their children, women, young and old, should participate in this rally. Kurds should attend this rally not only themselves but also with their friends. Turks, Europeans, socialists, democrats, anyone who wants to be friends with the Kurds should join this rally with them so that the rally will put pressure on the Turkish state and force it to approach the situation in the right way. The Kurdish question can only be solved with the right approach. Now is the time to get Rêber Apo out of Imrali. Everyone must struggle with this consciousness. This is what is asked of everyone.

Erdoğan first traveled to the United States to attend the meeting of the UN and then had a meeting with Bahceli. Later, Bahçeli shook hands with DEM MPs on the opening day of the parliament. What is the meaning of these statements? Is this a new process, a solution, or a project, or what should it be called? What are the factors or issues that have brought the Turkish state to this point? Is it the developments in the Middle East, is it the crisis in the world, or is it their own internal crisis?

No one can name the recent events at the moment. Because talking is one thing, practice is another. If talk and practice do not complement each other, no one can name what is happening. In speeches, everyone can be fooled, but in practice, no matter how much you want to deceive, you cannot succeed. You cannot hide the truth; it will come out. Everyone sees this. Erdoğan and Bahçeli's speeches are one thing, but their practices are quite the opposite. This situation creates a contradiction. What their real intentions are is also clear from their practices. They say that one should understand them on the basis of their speeches and not try to deal with their practice.

No one takes their speeches as a basis; everyone sees what happens in practice. And because of what happens in practice, no one believes their speeches. Therefore, no one can name what has happened recently. A plan is being carried out right now. These speeches and practices are happening within the framework of this plan.

The goal of the Turkish state is to liquidate the freedom movement, complete the Kurdish genocide, carry out neo-Ottoman politics, and strengthen its hegemony in the Middle East. In other words, it follows an imperial policy. That’s why they sent their forces to Libya; they wanted to achieve some results in the Mediterranean, the Caucasus, Syria, and Iraq. They took many steps in this sense. They spent whatever means Turkey had to achieve these goals. But no matter how hard they tried, they could not get the results they wanted. This politics is the cause of the political, economic, social, and cultural crisis in Turkey. They calculated that they would achieve their imperial goals with this politics. That is why they spent all their means.

When they failed to achieve their goals, these crises emerged and put Turkey in great distress. In addition, the so-called Greater Middle East Project is being carried out in the Middle East. It is clear who is running it: America, Britain, and Israel. The war in the Middle East is growing day by day. Changes are taking place in the region, and the Middle East will no longer be the same. Those who run the Greater Middle East Project have openly said that the maps will change. These developments also affect Turkey. The existing nation states are taking blow after blow, and new borders are about to be determined. Turkey is very afraid of this. It wanted everything in the Middle East to be the way it wanted it to be. Because it is a NATO member state and has relations with the EU, it has been getting power from this until now. With this power, it has been committing genocide against the Kurds and other peoples. It is losing this. Because now, even though it is a member of NATO, developments are taking place without the involvement of the Turkish state. It is now excluded from everything.

This danger of losing a lot is what puts the Turkish state in trouble. With the power it received from NATO and the EU, it was committing genocide against all peoples and developing its hegemony in the Middle East; now this is slipping away. And this scares the Turkish government, the capitalists, the army, the state, and the AKP. They had joined hands to become an imperial power in the Middle East, and they believed that they would succeed. But no matter what they did, they could not achieve their main goal.

They have suffered big blows and entered a major crisis. That’s why they are experiencing great fear. In order to cover up this, Erdoğan is talking about Israel being a danger to them, that it would try to invade Turkey in order to destroy it. However, there is no such thing. Everyone knows that Israel will never attack Turkey. Erdoğan makes such propaganda in order to deceive the public and lure them into his politics. He wants to cover up all the problems in Turkey with this rhetoric. There are very serious problems. The people are at the point of an explosion. That’s why he wants to divert everyone. 'Turkey is in danger,' they say. Turkey emerged from the Ottoman Empire under the circumstances of the time, and the republic was founded by force. Today they say that it was once the size of the Ottoman Empire, but the territory was divided up, and today, under the threat of Israel, it is in danger of losing what little it still has. They think that the people will forget their problems and say, 'If the Turkish state is in danger, then let’s protect our state'; this is what they are based on.

This is how they aim to get out of the crisis. Such a policy is being carried out. This policy won’t be successful. The reason why they talk about brotherhood, Islam, and unity and why they say, 'Historically, we have always been together; let’s stand against these dangers together again,' is because of this policy they are pursuing. Why didn’t they say such things in the past? A few months ago they were still saying they would eliminate the PKK and complete the genocide, and they did everything to achieve this. So, what happened to suddenly bring about such a change? The ongoing contradictions and the developments in the Middle East have put the Turkish state in a great crisis. They are afraid that if they don’t get help from the Kurds, they will get lost in the chaos. That is why they are referring to such rhetoric. Once again, they want to fool everyone. They are playing a game, and the games they play are revealed in their practices.

Peoples leader Abdullah Öcalan stated that he has “the theoretical and practical power to move this process from the grounds of conflict and violence to the legal and political grounds if the conditions arise.” As co-presidency of the KCK, you answered to this, that you stand behind him and that he is the interlocutor for the solution of the Kurdish question. But the Turkish state again does not accept him as an interlocutor and continued the isolation and, as you stated, imposed another three-month disciplinary punishment. What is the aim of the Turkish state in doing so?

What Rêber Apo says and what we say are not new things; we have been repeating these things over and over again for years. When Rêber Apo was still in the Mahsum Korkmaz Academy, the journalist Mehmet Ali Birand came and conducted an interview with him. Already at that time, Rêber Apo said that he was looking for an interlocutor to solve the Kurdish question. Until today, this has not changed. Rêber Apo clearly wants to solve the Kurdish question on a political and democratic basis. That is something our movement has also declared many times. Again, our people and our movement have said many times that Rêber Apo is our representative. That it is him who will solve the Kurdish question and negotiate in our name. This has been repeated thousands of times.

The Turkish state knows this very well. Who represents the Kurdish people? Who can solve the Kurdish question – not only the Kurdish question but also the questions of Turkey and the Middle East? Of course it is Rêber Apo. They are aware of this. But they are consciously making some deceiving speeches. In other words, they act as if they want to solve the situation, as if they are trying to do so but failing because they don’t know who they have to deal with. They are trying to say that the Kurds have no interlocutor.

They are very cunning. They are trying to say that the Kurds are not a nation, they are not organized, they are not disciplined, they have no strategy, they are a few tribes, they don’t understand anything, and that, accordingly, an ordered solution with them would be impossible. They are consciously developing these discussions to hide the truth. However, everything is in plain sight. Everyone knows that Rêber Apo represents these people. He has struggled for this for years; that is why he is in Imrali prison. That is why they are imposing absolute isolation on him. In this way, they want to confuse everyone, and underneath they want to realize their goals. When they celebrated the 100th anniversary of the Republic of Turkey in Ahlat, the AKP, MHP, Huda-Par, and a few other party leaders raised their hands together and shared a picture. Then Huda-Par came and had a meeting with Barzani. Erdoğan went to the UN, and Bahceli made some speeches; all of these things complement each other. This shows what kind of plan they are carrying out.

During the Soviet era, socialist movements were strong in Turkey. At that time, state officials declared that if Turkey needed communism, they would bring it to Turkey. This shows the reality of the Turkish state. The Turkish state was never based on society and the people; it is based on itself. The state will do whatever is necessary; for them there is either the state or the people. This shows the logic of the state. Again, after Bahceli and Erdoğan made some statements, someone said, 'The Kurdish problem is not the same as it was before, and the solution will not be the same as it was before.' They are making these statements consciously. In other words, they are saying that they would solve the question in their own way. This is the meaning. For them, there is no PKK, no Rêber Apo, no DEM party, and no Kurds.

What does all this show? They want to create their own Kurds and, like this, show that they have solved the problem with their Kurds. They want to deceive everyone both in Turkey and in the international community in this way. That is why they make such statements. They want to dismember and neutralize whoever is against them so that everyone will be at their service. They are saying this openly. The calls they make are calls to surrender. 'From now on, you will be satisfied with whatever we decide to give you.' This is the essence of their calls. This is the logic of the Turkish state and the AKP-MHP. Whoever opposes this, they say, is a terrorist, a traitor. This is how they talk, and they carry out their practices on this basis.

The NYT Version of the Big Lie: Technology Created Inequality

By Dean Baker

November 10, 2024

Source: CEPR




There is a Big Lie pushed by centrist types that is almost as pernicious as the Big Lie that Donald Trump won the 2020 election. It is that inequality was driven by technology, an autonomous force in the world, not policy choices made by politicians.

This lie permeates just about all political discussions in major news outlets, not only in the New York Times, but also the Washington Post, the Atlantic, the New Yorker, and just about every other elite media outlet. It matters because this Big Lie means that we shouldn’t point fingers at the people in power who made policy decisions in the last four decades, the rise in inequality was due to forces of nature, like floods and hurricanes.

The latest rendition of the Big Lie comes in a big think news analysis about the 2024 election from longtime NYT reporter Roger Cohen. The piece explains the anger motivating Trump voters, as well as supporters of right-wing populists in other countries, as stemming in part from:

“when hope collapsed in the communities technology left behind.”

This sort of line is absolute accepted wisdom in elite policy debates. It is also absurd on its face.

Governments set the rules that determine who wins and who gets “left behind.” Technology does not do this by itself.

To take the most obvious example, the government gives out patent and copyright monopolies. These are policies intended to promote innovation and creative work. They arguably are good policies, but technology does not give us these monopolies, governments do.

Do they matter? Ask yourself how rich Bill Gates would be right now if anyone could use any Microsoft software anywhere they wanted without paying Mr. Gates a penny. He might still have done fine in that situation, but he would not be one of the richest people in the world.

These government granted monopolies likely transfer over $1 trillion ($7k per family) a year from the rest of us to those in a position to benefit from them. In the case of prescription drugs alone it likely comes to more than $500 billion a year. In addition to transferring money from the rest of us to those at the top, these monopolies also make it difficult for millions to pay for the drugs, which would be cheap in a free market, that they need for their health and their lives.

This massive transfer of income is entirely the result of policy choices. The issue is not just whether or not to have patents and copyrights, but how long and strong they should be, what items should be protected, and who benefits from government supported work. The last point is especially important in the case of prescription drugs, where the government spends more than $50 billion a year on biomedical research. This research is mostly turned over to the pharmaceutical industry, which is then allowed to get patent monopolies on the fruits of government research and make large profits.

It is a neat trick to say that the income distribution that results from these government policies are just the work of technology, that only ignorant people would be angry over, but it is a complete lie and people have every right in the world to be angry.

To be clear, I am sure that almost no one among the MAGA hordes has given serious thought to patent and copyright monopolies. This is the sort of nerdy stuff that they don’t have time for and is concealed from them anyhow.

But they do see the results, people and communities are left behind, not by technology but by deliberate policy choices. And they are very angry over it.

Donald Trump doesn’t have the answers for this. Pretending to be a tough guy, as he lines his own and his friends’ pockets, is not going to help the people who lost good-paying union jobs in manufacturing and other sectors. But he has a winning message in telling people they actually do have something to be angry over. It would be good if the New York Times and other leading news outlets could at least acknowledge this fact instead of continuing to spread their Big Lie.

(I go into the issue of patent and copyright monopolies, as well as other ways the government has structured the market to redistribute income upward, in Rigged [it’s free.])



Dean Baker is co-director of the Center for Economic and Policy Research in Washington, DC. Dean previously worked as a senior economist at the Economic Policy Institute and an assistant professor at Bucknell University. He has also worked as a consultant for the World Bank, the Joint Economic Committee of the U.S. Congress, and the OECD's Trade Union Advisory Council.

Prepping Readers to Accept Mass Slaughter in Lebanese ‘Strongholds’

By Belen Fernandez

November 10, 2024

Source: FAIR

The New York Times (5/12/15) relayed Israel’s warning that “in the event of another conflict with Hezbollah, many Lebanese civilians will probably be killed, and that it should not be considered Israel’s fault.” Strangely, the same logic does not apply to Israel placing its military headquarters in downtown Tel Aviv.

Back in May 2015, the New York Times’ Isabel Kershner decided to moonlight as an Israeli military propagandist by penning an alleged exposé (5/12/15)—headlined “Israel Says Hezbollah Positions Put Lebanese at Risk”—in which she diligently conveyed all that Israel had to say about Hezbollah’s infrastructure in south Lebanon.

The minuscule hamlet of Muhaybib, for example, was said to contain no fewer than “nine arms depots, five rocket-launching sites, four infantry positions, signs of three underground tunnels, three anti-tank positions and, in the very center of the village, a Hezbollah command post.” In the village of Shaqra, home to approximately 4,000 people, the Israeli army had meanwhile identified some “400 military sites and facilities belonging to Hezbollah.”

Only after 11 full paragraphs of transmitting the Israeli line did Kershner manage to insert the disclaimer that “the Israeli claims could not be independently verified.” But by that time, of course, the damage had been done, the reader having already been persuaded that south Lebanon was one big Hezbollah military installation, where Israel could not afford to concern itself with civilian lives in any future conflict. Driving the point home was former Israeli national security adviser Yaakov Amidror, who informed Kershner that “many, many Lebanese will be killed” in the next showdown with Hezbollah.

I happened to be in south Lebanon at the time of the article’s publication, and drove over to Muhaybib and Shaqra to check out the fearsome landscape. Though I did not encounter any Hezbollah command posts, I did see some schoolchildren, elderly folks, bakeries, farms, clothing shops and, in Shaqra, a colorful establishment offering “Botox filling.”
Legitimizing destruction

CNN (9/17/24) labels the target of a terrorist attack as a “terror group.”

Nine years have now passed since Kershner’s bout of weaponized journalism, and Amidror’s words have certainly rung true: Many, many Lebanese have been killed in Israel’s latest war on Lebanon.

From October 2023 through November 5, more than 3,000 people have been slaughtered in the country—among them 589 women and at least 185 children. The vast majority were killed in September through November of 2024, when Israel ramped up its assault on Lebanese territory as a sideshow to the ongoing genocide in the Gaza Strip.

More than 800,000 people have been displaced. Muhaybib has literally been blown up in its entirety, and much of Shaqra has been pulverized as well. Israel has damaged or destroyed nearly a quarter of all buildings along the entire southern border.

And while the United States newspaper of record and other Western corporate media outlets have not exactly been preemptively calling in the strikes, à la Kershner, they have nonetheless done a fine job of legitimizing mass killing, displacement and destruction in other ways.

For starters, as FAIR has written about recently (10/10/24), there’s the insistence on following the US/Israeli lead in branding Hezbollah a “terrorist” organization and a “proxy” for Iran. Never mind that the Shia political party and armed group emerged as a direct consequence of the 1982 US-backed Israeli invasion of Lebanon that killed tens of thousands of people and constituted a textbook case of terrorism, including the cold-blooded murder of thousands of Palestinian refugees and Lebanese civilians in the Sabra and Shatila massacre.

When Israel in September staged an unprecedented terrorist attack in Lebanon by detonating personal electronic devices across the country — killing 12 people, including two children—CNN (9/17/24) spun the episode thusly: “Exploding Pagers Injure Members of Iran-Backed Terror Group.”
Converting communities into targets
The Guardian (10/4/24) was one of numerous outlets that referred to Dahiyeh, a densely packed Beirut suburb, as a “Hezbollah stronghold”—painting the entire community was a legitimate military target.

Then there is the matter of the term “Hezbollah stronghold,” to which pretty much every corporate media outlet has proved itself hopelessly addicted when describing the densely populated neighborhood of Dahiyeh in the Lebanese capital of Beirut.

Devastated in Israel’s 2006 war on Lebanon, Dahiyeh is now once again under maniacal bombardment by the Israeli military, which on September 27 leveled a whole residential block in order to assassinate Hezbollah secretary general Hassan Nasrallah. Sure enough, the New York Times (9/27/24) was standing by with the headline: “Israel Strikes Hezbollah Stronghold in Attempt to Kill Leader.”

Just google “Hezbollah stronghold” and you’ll see what I mean — that the press is apparently incapable of talking about Dahiyeh any other way. Or, if you’re not in the mood for googling, here are some illustrative links to the Washington Post, Guardian, Wall Street Journal, ABC News, NBC News, Reuters and Associated Press. And that’s just the tip of the iceberg.

To be sure, there is substantial public support in Dahiyeh for Hezbollah—not that support for an anti-Zionist resistance organization should make anyone fair game for extrajudicial slaughter. There is also support for numerous other Lebanese parties and groups in this neighborhood of nearly 1 million people, although the “stronghold” designation tends to erase the diversity that exists.

But the real problem with the terminology is that, when deployed in the context of war, a “stronghold” is more likely to be interpreted as “a fortified place”—the first definition of the word appearing in the Merriam-Webster dictionary. In that sense, then, Dahiyeh is effectively converted into a legitimate military target, its inhabitants dehumanized by the linguistic arsenal of a media establishment that is ultimately committed to validating Israeli massacres of civilians.

And it’s not only Dahiyeh. The press has now expanded its obsessive use of the “stronghold” descriptor in accordance with Israel’s current killing spree in south Lebanon and the Bekaa Valley in the east of the country, both of which regions we are now continuously reminded are also “Hezbollah strongholds.” When the Lebanese health ministry reported 60 killed in airstrikes in Lebanon’s Bekaa Valley on October 29, the BBC noted that “rescue efforts were still under way in the valley, which is a Hezbollah stronghold.”

Back in July, the same outlet had warned that the south Lebanese city of Tyre would “be in the firing line in the event of all-out war, along with the rest of southern Lebanon, a Hezbollah stronghold.” Four months later, Tyre and the rest of southern Lebanon are an unmitigated horrorscape, blunted for a Western audience by media euphemism.

How Did I “Predict” That Trump, Despite His Repulsive Persona and Politics, Would Prevail?

Democratic Party leadership has been discredited and there's room for new progressive leaders to take the helm.

By Walden Bello

November 10, 2024

Source: Foreign Policy in Focus

Nearly a month before the November 5 elections, I anticipated that Donald Trump would win and wrote about it in a couple of articles. My “prediction” created some controversy, especially since the polls showed Harris and Trump in a dead heat. Not surprisingly, people have been asking me the last few days how I came out with a call that, to some, had at the time no empirical basis and, to others, was an assault on their political sensibilities.

It’s not really rocket science. Inflation was just running rampant, with over 20 percent cumulative inflation in four years. I went almost every spring to teach in New York for six weeks, and I was shocked to see how high prices had risen since the year before. One could gauge the popular mood in forays to the supermarket, where the joy had gone out of the great American pastime of shopping, and people trudged along the aisles with a grimace on their faces as they stared at food prices that seemed to be escalating weekly.

When one turned on the television, one was assailed with images of migrants coming in droves over the border with Mexico, with border patrol agents shaking their heads. Middle-class people in the Northeast were waking up in shock to find migrants suddenly in their midst, deposited there courtesy of border-state governors who went on televised harangues justifying their acts by saying they wanted to give “blue state people” a taste of of “uncontrolled migration” brought about by Democratic Party policies.

Then, especially since October 2023, there were very real fears about the United States being sucked into the expanding war in the Middle East, that the Biden administration had lost control of its Middle East policy to Israel, and that this was triggering domestic unrest that was brought to living rooms nightly by images of campus confrontations and massive arrests. Then in the last few weeks before the vote, with Israel bombing Lebanon and carrying out strategic assassinations in Iran and elsewhere, then bombing Iran itself, there was widespread alarm that Tel Aviv was intent on dragging the United States into active combat and the Biden administration was helplessly looking on.

The overall sense you got talking to ordinary people in the spring was one of loss of control–that the Biden administration had lost control of the economy, of the border, and foreign and defense policy. This sense of no reliable hand at the helm of the ship of state could only deepen in the summer and fall, with Biden’s horrible debate performance and his replacement as presidential candidate by Harris. By early October, it was clear to me that Trump would win not so much because he had a more attractive vision for the future, but because he was able to capitalize on people’s fears about the economy, the border, and war and turn that unease into an active negative force against the Democrats. The 2024 election was largely a vote against Democratic ineptitude, just as the 2020 election was a vote against the chaos of Trump’s first presidency.

If one agrees with this undoubtedly impressionistic analysis, then two things follow. First, the electoral outcome was determined mainly by a popular reaction to conjunctural factors—inflation, border chaos, and the threat of war. Second, this was not a vote for fascism or authoritarianism, contrary to the panicked reactions of some liberal pundits–though of course, there was a far-right component in the Trump vote.

That’s the good news. The bad news is that the far-right MAGA folks will try to translate this protest vote into an ultra-right program of governance that, if they succeed, will make American-style liberal democracy a thing of the past. Fortunately, the people of the United States, flawed though their democracy may be, have a democratic common sense. But that common sense needs good progressive leadership to be brought to the fore and converted into a vigorous political force. And, in this connection, there is another piece of good news: the discredited generation of Democratic Party leaders–the Clintons, Obama, Pelosi, Biden, Harris–with their advocacy of neoliberal policies coupled with promotion of liberal empire, will finally be jettisoned and the decks cleared for the emergence of a new generation of young progressive leaders unfettered by past ideological and policy paradigms.

The great Italian Marxist Antonio Gramsci had a characterization of the early twentieth century that is also apt for our times: “The old world is dying, and the new is struggling to be born. Now is the time of monsters.” Opportunity and crisis are twins. You can’t get to the new world without overcoming monsters…and there is no guarantee of victory.

But perfect I am not, and while I anticipated a Trump victory, I did not foresee just how bloody sweeping it would be.

Walden Bello is currently the International Adjunct Professor of sociology at the State University of New York at Binghamton and Co-Chairperson of the Bangkok-based research and advocacy institute Focus on the Global South. He is the author or co-author of 25 books, including Counterrevolution: The Global Rise of the Far Right (Nova Scotia: Fernwood, 2019), Paper Dragons: China and the Next Crash (London: Bloomsbury/Zed, 2019), Food Wars (London: Verso, 2009) and Capitalism’s Last Stand? (London: Zed, 2013).