Syria’s downfall

Baath power began with the Syrian revolution in 1963. It ended this month. For most of that time the Party that led the Syrian Arab Republic was led by members of the Assad family.
Now Bashar al Assad is in Moscow. The Syrian Arab Republic is no more. The Baath Party has been dissolved. The old pan-Arab flag has gone and a new one flies over Damascus – the flag of the bogus “Syrian republic” during French colonial rule. 
Though a pan-Arab movement Syria was always at the heart of the Baath (Renaissance) Party. Born is the 1940s in the struggle to break the chains of colonialism it evolved into a mass movement when it merged with the Arab Socialist Party in 1952 to become the Arab Socialist Renaissance Party under its famous slogan “Unity, Freedom, Socialism – One Arab Nation! One Glorious Destiny!” that would soon be adopted by Gamal Abdel Nasser’s Arab Socialist Union in Egypt. 
Baathist Syria took the road of socialist advance sweeping away the old guard and the feudal order in the countryside to build a better life for the Syrian people with national health and education services funded by a public sector that also had to support the armed forces needed to confront the Zionist enemy. 
From the start Baathist Syria supported the just struggle of the Palestinian Arabs in confronting Israel as well as fighting side by side with Egypt, which was then the United Arab Republic, in two major wars with the Zionist entity. In the 1970s Syria intervened in the Lebanese civil war under an Arab League mandate through a peace-keeping force that remained in the Lebanon until 2005.
Communists and Nasserists had long worked with the Baath as “independents” in the Syrian parliament but in 1972 this was formalised with the establishment of a popular front, the National Progressive Front, that brought communists, Nasserists and social-democrats into government as junior partners of the Baath.
Baathist Syria was always to the fore in the struggle against imperialism. A pillar of the non-aligned movement the Syrian Arab Republic stood with the militant Palestinian resistance movements and other progressive Arab republics in the Rejection Front to oppose any surrender peace with Israel. It joined the Steadfastness and Confrontation Front that included the PLO, Algeria, Libya and People’s Yemen to oppose Egypt’s acceptance of the American and Zionist demands that led to the Camp David surrender peace with Israel.
Baathist Syria was a friend of the Soviet Union and the DPR Korea. Syrian trade with People’s China had soared in recent years and only a few months ago Syria applied to join BRICS, the independent economic bloc of the Global South.
This is why the imperialists, working hand in glove with Turkey, Israel and the feudal Arab oil princes worked to bring down the Assad government. They imposed sanctions and blockades on Syria to force it to end its alliance with the Russian Federation and the Islamic Republic of Iran. They fomented the sectarian strife that triggered the civil war that began in 2011 and ended in the collapse of the Syrian government last week.   
The imperialists and their Zionist and feudal Arab lackeys cannot bring peace to the Middle East. Nor is that their intention. They believe that the best way to maintain imperialist hegemony and preserve the super-profits of the big oil corporations is by keeping the Arab masses weak and divided. It’s worked so far. But this is by no means the end of the story.  

75 years of outstanding progress.

by John Maryon

People's China has been celebrating with its friends around the world, its foundation on 1st October 1949.  Chinese Communist Party chairman Mao Zedong proclaimed the new republic in Tienanmen Square 75 years ago. It has enabled the Chinese people to embark upon an epic road that has led from extreme poverty and enormous hardships to rising prosperity in a powerful modern industrial state. Chinese society has been transformed under the leadership of the Communist Party of China.
Peasants formed the greater part of Chinese society in those early days.  Serfdom still existed in Tibet and other areas.  With grinding poverty life expectancy in those part of China was less than 35 years.  The impact of colonisation by Japanese and European imperialism had seen a long period of brutal foreign domination and intensive exploitation that plundered the country.  China’s economy had been left in tatters and society in turmoil with any thoughts of a better life little more than an impossible dream.
Mao Zedong's revolutionary leadership enabled the Chinese nation’s rebirth. The Communist leader’s political theories were based upon Marxism-Leninism adapted to Chinese conditions. His achievements transformed China into a major world power and with it came the benefits of basic health care for the masses, education to the countryside, guaranteed women's rights and illiteracy a thing of the past.  Mao is widely regarded as the national hero who defeated foreign domination and secured freedom for his people. He led China from 1949 until his death in1976.
With the foundation of a new China firmly established new policies were introduced in 1978 to take the nation forward.  President Xi Jinping has described this path of development as Chinese Modernisation. This dynamic policy changes to suit new conditions as they arise and in addition to economic matter includes measures to boost social and cultural development. The new policy included an opening-up reform that allowed private investment, including foreign capital, to boost the economy. There is no doubt that the measures have been hugely successful allowing China to grow stronger and be in a position to resist US domination.
Certain aspects of the new policies have caused apprehension among China's friends.  The country now has a mixed economy with a private sector, a stock exchange and what's described as a socialist market economy. Does this mean a partial return to capitalism or does it mirror the New Economic Policy introduced by Lenin in the USSR between 1921 and 1928?
China's leadership is mature and wise so being fully aware of any risks involved. The dialectical philosophy of Marxism examines the development of things and phenomenon that are universally interconnected. In simple terms, as changes take place they will affect other things that may also change. As China's economy grows many changes will occur presenting new challenges and opportunities. What is OK for today may not be so tomorrow.  In the future when science, technology and human endeavour have created an abundance of everything we could possibly require, then money will cease to be important eventually becoming obsolete as Communism is achieved. With the end of money the last chains that bind the working class will be gone for ever. 
For many years China was seen as just a source of cheap labour which, with its raw materials, were to be exploited by the imperialists. Things are very different today. The USA has become alarmed by the People's Republic's rapid progress in developing its economy, its scientific and technical achievements and amazing engineering projects. The American see China not only as a serious competitor but also as a direct threat to its world hegemony.  China, on the other hand would like to cooperate and trade fairly with everyone. 
China's impressive progress is well illustrated by its space exploration projects. With plans to return soil samples from Mars, bring back an extraction of atmosphere from Venus, search for life on Jupiter's moons, develop its new Haolong space shuttle and establish a manned research station on the lunar south pole, it has ambitious plans.  It would like to cooperate with the USA but is prevented from doing so by the notorious Wolf amendment that prevents NASA from from any contact with China. 
Manned space flight is associated with high risk.  It is inevitable that one day someone will become marooned and require rescue. For this reason a joint lifeboat project would make sense.  People's China is firmly opposed to the militarisation of Outer Space.
China produces innovative high quality products at an affordable price.  In the early days of competitive capitalism any competition would be met by an innovative response.  Today in the era of state monopoly capitalism for any challenge the answer is to ban, sabotage, sanction and disrupt supply chains and embark upon an economic war. Attempts to strangle Huawei have failed as the company has been stimulated to develop its own better and cheaper components. Following the implication of trade sanctions against Chinese electric vehicles drivers in the USA and EU will have to pay a lot more for their cars.  However by trading with BRICS and the Global South China will find other partners for honest trade. 
China is a vast country similar in size to the whole of Europe.  In the past it could take many days to travel to more remote regions. Today with China's remarkable transport infrastructure being constructed rapidly both citizens and an increasing number of visitors may within a short period of time experience sublime views, taste new regional dishes and become familiar with vibrant new cultures within the motherland.  Above all to meet different people and to make new friends.  Breathtaking bridges in the clouds carry high-speed trains over wild gorges between rugged mountains. Hundreds of thousands of new roads make driving easy for the growing fleet of green electric vehicles taking advantage of an ample charging network. Assisted by a growing number of their own developed commercial aircraft, the country is becoming more unified. China is alive, dynamic and on the move.  While the capitalist West is in decline the Chinese people are able to enjoy a higher standard of stress free living as a new harmonious society is built. 
China has grown in strength and can no longer be bullied into submission.  It is now able to assist smaller nations facing imperialist threats.  It's development exceeds purely economic attainment and is not only a powerful force for peace but also combines effective governance with cultural and ethical progress.  China's democracy works very differently from the Western models where sham elections achieve very little. It has adopted ‘whole-process people's democracy' which combines elections, consultations, decision making and an overview through a legal constitution. The Chinese Communist Party represents ordinary working people, not big business supported through lobby groups as in America.  Chinese modernisation is based upon harmony and nature. 
People's China's glorious 75 years has seen great advances in all fields under the leadership of the Communist Party of China. It is probable that within the next 75 years the great nation will not only achieve all it's development goals within a prosperous socialist society but also will have created communism.  A beautiful new form of society that is based upon full equality and guarantees a level of freedom impossible under exploitative capitalism. 

Mao’s Quotations on the Market

by Robin McGregor

the bright red book

 Sixty and a half years ago, in May 1964 to be precise, the first edition of Quotations from Chairman Mao, otherwise known as the “Little Red Book” was first published. 
 This weekend a collection of some 200 editions and related material such as a set of printer’s stereotypes used to print the first edition in English is being sold by Peter Harrington, one of London’s grandest antiquarian booksellers at a book fair in Hong Kong.  
 A brief, but well-illustrated catalogue (on which these notes are based) can be downloaded from https://www.peterharrington.co.uk/blog. It carries the note “Price on Application” which means “Don’t even think about it”, but readers can spend an agreeable leisure hour learning about its publication history in China and beyond for free. 
 It was first issued by the General Political Headquarters of the Chinese People’s Liberation
Army (PLA), intended as a basic instruction manual for the political instruction of the army’s rank and file who had only obtained their liberation in 1949. 
 It was published many times in print runs of millions and frequently translated becoming something of an icon of 1960s radicalism. Like all icons it was more admired than understood in detail, particularly by foreigners. In China, the book unfortunately became seen by many as the entire body of Marxism rather than the basic starting point it was intended to be.
  Best known in its red vinyl 320-page 33-chapter pocket sized version, the book went through many changes in arrangement, binding and text with authorised and unauthorised editions from friend and foes. Parodies such as Chairman Blair’s Little Red Book (with an aptly blue cover) appeared in 2001 and the Little Red Book of Corbyn Jokes came out in 2017 to say nothing of the 2010 Little Red Book of Liverpool FC. 
 Experimental collections first saw the light of day in 1960 when the PLA issued a Quotations from Mao Zedong’s Philosophical Thought on the poor paper available at the time. The first version of the now famous work publicly appeared in a four million print run for army battalions but were soon in demand by civilian institutions. 
 The first edition appeared in a variety of bindings including wrappers and brown or red vinyl which both had small variations which delight bibliophiles.  
 The first edition had an introduction by Mao’s deputy, Lin Biao, (with a small but telling calligraphic fault) which was of course soon corrected and finally removed after his 1971 sacking. 
 For speed and economy they were printed by stereotype, solid plates of type metal cast from papier-mâché moulds taken from the surface of the type setting. This made large print runs of the first edition possible, but also ensured small errors appeared in large numbers. 
 Provincial governments and individual parts of the PLA produced their own versions. Among many others, in Inner Mongolia, a larger format was produced.  
 A second edition, with substantial revisions appeared in March 1965 from the press of the 
Heilongjiang Provincial Party Committee with some additions and cuts. A third, expanded edition, promoted by Lin Biao appeared a year later. 
 By then an estimated 28 million had been issued, some in large-format versions. The variations often show important political changes with excerpts mentioning out of favour individuals removed.   
 In April 1966, national party leadership took it over with a claimed 240 million copies by late 1966. A bilingual Chinese-English version appeared along with editions in many of the minority languages of China, and in Braille. 
 By 1972 10 million copies of translations had been produced by the Foreign Languages Press. These include an Albanian edition from 1967, three English editions between 1966 and 1972. An Esperanto version appeared in 1967 and a Danish one in 1970. Abroad unauthorised versions appeared, including one helpfully entitled Quotations From Chairman Mao-Tse-Tung. Danger! This Book is Communist Propaganda! From the Voice of Americanism publisher in California.  
 In China, modern reprints are sold to the tourists at prices greatly below that which Harrington expects. Apart from this collection Harrington is presently offering a first edition of the Quotations for £13,750, but readers with a more limited budget can buy a Mongolian edition for a mere £225. 

Palestinian flag over UK town halls

by Theo Russell

 
Sheffield City Council, along with several other cities in England and Scotland, marked the UN Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People on 29th November by flying the Palestinian flag, following a request by the PCS Yorkshire & Northeast Home Office branch.
Branch secretary Lawrence Barfoot said “we are delighted that Sheffield City Council has agreed to fly the Palestinian flag in solidarity with the people of Gaza and the West Bank, who are currently enduring a vicious assault by Israel.”
The branch supports the Sheffield Palestine Coalition Against Israeli Apartheid, a local, multi-faith organisation with the aim of making Sheffield an apartheid-free zone through boycotting, divestment, and sanctions.
Three other South Yorkshire local authorities including Barnsley, along with Glasgow, Newbury and Rochdale city councils, also flew the Palestinian flag on 29th  November, while Liverpool's city council refused.
Barnsley recently made a declaration of friendship with the Palestinian West Bank city of Nablus, and said in a statement that the council was "exploring ways to strengthen its cultural, educational and young people’s links" between the two cities.
The council's Chief Executive met with political and community leaders and "gathered professional opinions from stakeholders across the city" before approving the decision.
Councillors from Sheffield’s Green Party said the decision was the result of tireless campaigning by the people of Sheffield in solidarity with the people of Palestine, and called on the Labour government to impose a two-way arms embargo on Israel, and end negotiations for a free-trade agreement with Israel.
They also asked the UK to "cease aiding and assisting in the commission of violations of international law through diplomatic support for Israel, the use of the UK Akrotiri military base in Cyprus, and intelligence sharing, reconnaissance and all other military support", and to "investigate the Israeli ambassador to the UK, and dual-nationals returning from service with the IDF, as potential perpetrators of international crimes and grave human rights violations, including the crime of incitement to genocide".
Unfortunately, The London Borough of Tower Hamlets, which has one of England's largest Muslim communities, decided to remove Palestinian flags from council buildings last March, after receiving a letter from UK Lawyers for Israel (UKLFI) that claimed that the council's officers and managers, including the mayor Lutfur Rahman, were personally guilty of criminal offences under the 1990 Town and Country Planning Act. Lutfur Rahman approved the removal of Palestinian flags on council-owned buildings, on advice from the council's chief executive.
The flying of Palestinian flags over public buildings clearly reflects the feelings of the overwhelming majority of the British people. According to an Ipsos poll in October, 73 per cent of people in Britain wanted an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, and 60 per cent believed that Israel’s actions in Gaza have "gone too far".
The Ukrainian flag has been flown on hundreds of public buildings since the Russian intervention began in February 2022, in support of the criminal, illegitimate Banderite Nazi junta in Kiev. To see the Palestinian flag being flown on a handful of public buildings in Britain is a very welcome change, and a definite step in the right direction.

Are you not entertained?

by Ben Soton

What did the Romans ever do for us? We remember the roads, the sanitation, law and order, and the monumental architecture that tourists still gape at to this day. But behind the facade of Greco-Roman civilisation there is a darker side – the legions, the crucifixions and the amphitheatres where prisoners were thrown to the lions for the amusement of the crowds and matched pairs fought, often to the death, in “games” that gave true meaning to a Roman holiday.
So what was Rome?  Was it simply a free trade zone covering an area from Scotland to Iraq; where most of its inhabitants toiled either as slaves, or at best plebs, whilst a few at the top lived a life of opulent luxury?  Or is Rome an idea based on honour that gives hope and freedom to its inhabitants provided it is properly run. This is the point espoused in Gladiator 11, Ridley Scott’s latest blockbuster.      
Gladiator II is set several years after the original film during the reign of Caracalla and Geta, two brothers who were joint emperors.  The opening scenes show the Roman conquest of Numidia; a major inaccuracy as the region in north Africa was taken during the Roman Republic, several hundred years before 211 AD, the date shown in the film.  The central character, played by Paul Mescal, is brought to Rome as a slave after heroically failing to defend hearth and home. There he becomes a key feature of Rome’s gladiator scene and is given the name Hanno. 
The film has many similarities with the first Gladiator (2000).  A number of the original cast make a return – most notably Derek Jacobi as Senator Gracchus and Connie Nielson as Lucilla.  The battle scenes involve extensive use of CGI and AI but are none the less highly realistic, if not historically accurate.  The scenes in the Colosseum point towards European and in particular Italian fascism originating in Classical Rome. And the overriding theme is very much the same; one man’s struggle to survive in the arena and attempts by better and honourable sections of the elite to remove a corrupt and degenerate emperor or emperors. 
Once again, we see Gracchus and Lucilla, who represent the better section of the ruling class, conspire against the dual emperors.  An addition to the film is the character of Macrinus, played by Denzel Washington.  He is a former slave, not from the elite, who wishes to usurp power for himself; although is this not what Gracchus and Lucilla are doing?  Meanwhile Hanno, who is no ordinary prisoner of war and has an interesting back story, becomes embroiled in this web of intrigue.  
The film promotes the notion that empires are great, provided they are run by the likes of Gracchus and Lucilla. Meanwhile the masses, be they Colosseum goers or gladiators are simply there to side with one or other section of the elite.  The recent US election comes to mind...

When the shooting stops…

Hezbollah has forced Israel to cease-fire – but not on Zionist terms. The Lebanese resistance movement has achieved a strategic success by thwarting the Zionist plans to drive the resistance and the UN peace-keeping force out of southern Lebanon and replace it with an Israeli occupied “buffer zone” to pave the way for annexation.
Many towns in Lebanon are now in ruins. The Israelis pounded Beirut and the other towns and cities of the Lebanon for over a year forcing hundreds of thousands of civilians to abandon their homes in waves of terror bombing designed to break the morale of the Arab resistance. But they failed. They themselves paid a heavy price for their aggression. Some 300,000 Israelis fled to safety out of the range of the drones and missiles of the Palestinian and Lebanese resistance.  Over a hundred Zionist settlements in northern Israel were evacuated. The “Generals’ Plan” for Gaza has been put on hold. The dream of a “Greater Israel” died in the fields of southern Lebanon,
After the imperialist inspired "Arab Spring" swept across the Arab world, destabilising them one by one and paving the way for normalisation with Israel came the imperialist attempt to “regime change” Syria. Terror gangs armed and funded by the Americans and their NATO allies fermented sectarian violence and civil war in an attempt to overthrow the Baathist-led government in Damascus. The Western media went into top gear to justify imperialist intervention  spreading lies throughout Europe and the United States while the Arab world became a battleground for one of the most ruthless propaganda wars in modern history. This was the first conflict to weaponise social media, exploiting it to deepen the divide between the Shia and Sunni Muslim communities and to fracture the unity between the Palestinian and Lebanese resistance. 
Syria, the lifeline of the resistance’s weapons pipeline, was targeted for destruction. But the Syrians closed ranks around their popular front government to beat back the sectarian militias and with the help of Russian peace-keepers drove the terror gangs and their Western military advisors out of most of the country. But the fabricated narrative of "Hezbollah’s crimes in Syria", heavily propagated by the feudal Arab media, continues to serve as a tool to attack Hezbollah and the entire Axis of Resistance to this day.
Though the guns fall silent in Lebanon the Yemeni blockade continues and the Palestinians fight on. They have no other choice, The Israelis are continuing to pursue their genocidal war against the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip that has now become a wilderness of rubble and ruins. The Zionists still dream of driving all the Palestinian Arabs out to seize their land and make room for more Zionist settlement.
Nevertheless the ceasefire agreement in Lebanon could pave the way for a similar agreement in Gaza. But only if there’s mass pressure in the Western world to force the imperialist leaders to recognise the legitimate rights of the Palestinian Arabs. Over the past 14 months millions in Britain have rallied to demand justice for the Palestinians. It’s already having an effect on the people in the corridors of power. We must keep up the momentum for as long as it takes. If Starmer will not speak up for the people living through a genocide in Gaza and under siege in the West Bank, then we absolutely must continue to raise our voices for them.