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.

Stop the war in Gaza!

Millions upon millions of people have taken to the streets all over the world to call for justice for the Palestinians and an end to the fighting in the Gaza Strip. Not least in London which saw over half-a-million march  for Palestine through the heart of the capital last weekend and other flash demonstrations that included the take-over of the concourse at Liverpool Street station and a sit-down protest at Waterloo station. 
This huge protests and similar demonstrations in towns and cities throughout the country are sending a clear message to Rishi Sunak and Sir Keir Starmer to break with US imperialism and join the demand for an immediate cease-fire that’s echoing throughout the imperialist heartlands and the Global South.
Its clearly been heard in the Labour Party. Some Labour councillors have resigned the whip in protest at Starmer’s refusal to call for an immediate cease-fire and his pathetic defence of the brutal Israeli siege of the Gaza Strip. Tens of thousands more have joined the protests ignoring the threats of disciplinary action from Starmer’s henchmen to stand with the Palestinian resistance in their struggle against Zionist terror.
Now some of Labour’s big guns, like the Scottish Labour leader and the mayors of London and Greater Manchester are, at last, taking the principled stand – breaking ranks with Starmer & Co to call for a truce to save the beleaguered people of the Gaza Strip. Anas Sarwar, Sadiq Khan and Andy Burnham are all calling for an immediate cessation of the violence and a just resolution of the Palestinian issue while the militant RMT transport union leader, Mick Lynch, spoke in support of Palestinian rights at the mammoth London march on Saturday.
We can’t expect much from the Tories. Crawling to the Americans comes naturally to  the Conservatives. They’ve been doing it since the Second World War. But even they are not immune to public pressure.
This week Paul Bristow, the Conservative MP for Peterborough, was dismissed as a ministerial aide at the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology on Monday after writing to the Prime Minister to call for an end to hostilities between Israel and Hamas to save lives.
Millions of people have seen through the lies of the bourgeois media. They want to see justice done for the Palestinian Arabs. Mass demonstrations and protests play a crucial part in mobilising public opinion in a just cause. They bring people together and by their actions they encourage others to take the principled stand. This is why some Tory politicians call  Palestinian slogans  “hate speech” and say that even waving a Palestinian flag could be an arrestable offence. 
We saw this in the run-up to the Gulf War when millions took to the streets to try to stop the imperialist invasion of Iraq. The protests peaked with a two million strong march through London that shook the Establishment.  But it was never followed up. The momentum was lost and the war was not stopped.We must make sure that never happens again.
The protests are getting bigger and bigger and more and more frequent – and that’s what’s got to happen to help end the suffering of the Palestinian people. End the fighting. Lift the siege! Let them hear it in Tel Aviv – let them hear it in Washington!
 

Standing by the Donbas in Dublin

by New Worker correspondent

The plight of the people of the Donbas was highlighted in the Irish capital last Saturday when people took to the streets of Dublin to show support for the anti-fascist resistance in Ukraine. The protest, supported by Lawyers for Justice Ireland and a number of other movements including the Humanitarian Battalion of Ireland & England and the Russian ex-pats community’s For Our People campaign, denounced the expansion of NATO and condemned the genocide of the Donbas population by the puppet Zelensky regime. The demonstrators reminded the Irish political elite that Ireland is still a neutral country while calling for an end to the shelling of defenceless cities and the use of anti-personnel mines which kill civilians
    "We want the world to know that Ukraine is shelling its own citizens - the residents of Donbas, we want children to stop dying", said one of the participants, holding photographs of dead children in her hands.
    The protesters organised a direct connection with people in Donbas who sent their greetings straight from the front. Many with tears in their eyes thanked the participants of the protest for their support, because “someone in the world still cares and cared for last 8 years".

Cuba will win!

 

Joint Statement of Communist & Workers Parties

The Communist and Workers’ Parties denounce the orchestrated provocations and undermining acts of counterrevolutionary groups in Cuba and abroad, which attempt to create an image of destabilization to justify the imperialist intervention against Cuba and its people, utilizing the problems caused by the tightening of the criminal US blockade, worsened in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. 

We denounce the policy of the USA and its allies, which for more than 60 years have intensified the unacceptable and criminal blockade in defiance of the UN General Assembly resolutions, included Cuba in the list of “state sponsors of terrorism” in an arbitrary and unilateral way, and instigate all adventuristic mercenary groups against Cuba and its people. 

We reiterate our full solidarity with the people, the Communist Party, and the government of Cuba, against all imperialist attacks on Cuba’s sovereignty and its people’s rights.

Hands off Cuba! 

Lift immediately the US blockade and stop all forms of imperialist intervention right now! 

 

The Communist and Workers’ Parties

 

1. Communist Party of Albania
2. Communist Party of Armenia
3. Communist Party of Australia
4. Party of Labour of Austria
5. DPT Bahrain
6. Communist Party of Bangladesh
7. Communist Party of Belgium
8. Brazilian Communist Party
9. Communist Party of Brazil
10. New Communist Party of Britain
11. Communist Party of Britain
12. Communist Party of Canada
13. AKEL, Cyprus
14. Communist Party of Bohemia and Moravia
15. Socialist Workers' Party of Croatia
16. Communist Party of Cuba
17. Communist Party in Denmark
18. Communist party of Finland
19. French Communist Party
20. German Communist Party
21. Communist Party of Greece
22. Hungarian Workers' Party
23. Communist Party of India (Marxist)
24. Communist Party of India
25. Iraqi Communist Party
26. Tudeh Party of Iran
27. Workers Party of Ireland
28. Communist Party of Ireland
29. Communist Party of Israel
30. Communist Party (Italy)
31. Socialist Movement of Kazakhstan
32. The Communist Party of Luxembourg
33. AKFM, Madagascar
34. Communist Party of Mexico
35. Popular Socialist Party of Mexico
36. New Communist Party of the Netherlands
37. Communist Party of Norway
38. Communist Party of Pakistan
39. Palestinian Communist Party
40. Palestinian People’s Party
41. Paraguayan Communist Party
42. Philippines Communist Party [PKP 1930]
43. Communist Party of Poland
44. Portuguese Communist Party
45. Romanian Socialist Party
46. Russian Communist Workers Party
47. Communist Party of the Russian Federation
48. Communist Party Soviet Union
49. UCP-CPSU
50. New Communist Party of Yugoslavia
51. Communist of Serbia
52.  South African Communist Party
53. Communist Party of Spain
54.  Communist Party of the Workers of Spain
55. Communist Party of the Peoples of Spain
56.  Communists of Catalonia
57. Communist Party of Sri Lanka
58. Communist Party of Swaziland
59. Communist Party of Sweden
60. Syrian Communist Party
61. Syrian Communist Party - Unified
62. Communist Party of Turkey
63. Communist Party of Ukraine
64. Union of Communists of Ukraine
65. Communist Party USA
66. Communist Party of Venezuela

Other Parties

1. Communist Revolutionary Party of France
2. Pole of Communist Revival in France
3. Communist Front (Italy)
4. JVP Sri Lanka
5. Galizan People’s Union-UPG
6. Swiss Communist Party
7. Communist Party (Switzerland)
8. Party of Communists USA

 

 

ECI Solidarity Statement with Cuba

The European Communist Initiative condemns and denounces the developing imperialist intervention of the USA in Cuba. It is a cynical and criminal manipulation to intervene in the internal affairs of Cuba, at a time when its people is confronting the pandemic. This dangerous development rebuts and exposes all those that have been cultivating false expectations for the Biden administration. The USA that are to blame for thousands of deaths and millions of Covid 19 cases hypocritically pretend to be preoccupied for the Cuban people, while they are the ones that for many decades have imposed the criminal embargo against the Cuban people. In a provocative manner, they even denied lifting the blockade during the pandemic, a fact that did not prevent Cuba to develop 5 vaccines and to contribute with missions medical staff in many countries around the globe to tackle the pandemic, giving lessons of humanity and internationalist solidarity. The responsibilities of the EU are also grave since in tandem with the USA and for their own interests continue the false propaganda regarding “human rights in Cuba”.

We express our unwaivering solidarity to the CP of Cuba and the Cuban people, which is the only one responsible to define its future.

The imperialist intervention cannot erase the achievements of the Cuban Revolution.

We intensify our activities and raise our voices: Hands off Cuba and its People!

 

Stand by the Donbas resistance!

Boris Litvinov speaking from his office

by New Worker correspondent

On Saturday 8th May, the eve of Victory over Fascism Day, 25 left-wing parties and movements from four continents joined the International Anti-Fascist Forum video-conference organised by the Communist Party of the Donetsk People's Republic.
    The forum was chaired by Boris Litvinov, the leader of the Donetsk communists,, from their office in Donetsk City, and it included comrades from the Donetsk People's Republic (DPR), Russia, Belarus, Lithuania, the USA, Great Britain, Germany, Spain, Italy, Serbia, Croatia, and the Philippines.
    Its aim was to strengthen international anti-fascist solidarity or in the words of the CP DPR newspaper Vperyod! (Forward!) “to draw the attention of the world community to the problems of "hot spots", in which imperialism is especially actively attacking the rights of workers and most clearly threatens the security of countries and peoples.
    “The people's republics of the Donbas, Syria, Venezuela, Belarus and some other countries are at the forefront of the struggle against American hegemony, and the duty of the progressive forces of the world is to provide them with all possible support”.
    Comrade Bessonov, a leading member of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation (CPRF) told the forum that at its 18th congress the CPRF called for full recognition of the Donbas republics by the Russian Federation, “the only party in Russia to take this position”.
    The forum heard that after the collapse of the Soviet Union Germany “became the aggressor it was before” with Ukraine “a means for German imperialism to strengthen its position in Eastern Europe”.
    Delegates were also told of the political persecution in Lithuania including assassinations, deportations, and anti-fascists imprisoned or categorised as mentally ill.
    Greg Butterfield, a veteran American activist in Ukraine solidarity, said that western media reporting of Ukraine “turns black into white and white into black”.
    “No mention is heard of the march by Nazis in Kiev last week to honour Ukraine's WW2 SS battalion,” Greg said adding that activists in the US have organised educational meetings to bring together solidarity with Haiti, Korea and other countries, and to connect anti-imperialist struggles.
    In reply, Boris Litvinov said that "the people of Donbas are also looking at the people struggling against imperialism in the United States, to see if they can be successful".
    Theo Russell, representing the NCPB, said that the February 2014 coup in Ukraine "brought to power the most open, naked manifestation of European fascism since 1945, real nazism using violence and terror to crush all political opposition, workers struggles and freedom of speech".
    He added: "Even in February 2014, BBC TV showed British agents with the rioters in Kiev, and since then the UK military has been present in Ukraine".
    The participants agreed a resolution calling upon the workers of all countries:

• To strengthen international solidarity in the fight against all forms of fascism;
•  For all progressive forces of the world to cooperate in support of the Donetsk and Lugansk People's Republics;
•  For the recognition of the will of the people of Donbass to create peaceable People's Republics
•  For the creation of an international tribunal to bring to justice the military and political criminals of Ukraine.

he following demands were agreed:

•  From the Ukrainian authorities - to stop the war in Donbass, to begin negotiations with the Donetsk and Lugansk People's Republics on the establishment of peaceful relations;

•  From the European Union and the United States - to stop funding the military spending of the Ukrainian government and supplying arms to it;

• From the Governments and Parliaments of all states - to recognize the Donetsk and Lugansk People's Republics as sovereign states, being guided by the UN Charter, the basic principles of international law, the peoples' right to self-determination, respecting the will of the people of Donbass confirmed in a national referendum; to establish a peaceful, friendly and mutually beneficial relationship with them.

No to the war in Donbas!

Yes to the self-determination of the DPR and the LPR!

Long live international anti-fascist solidarity!

 

 

• NCP contribution to the conference
  

Salute the Paris Commune!

 The NCPB joined other fraternal movements in endorsing this commemorative statement on the 150th anniversary of Paris Commune that was published by the Arbeiterbund für den Wiederaufbau der KPD (Workers League for the restoration of the Communist Party of Germany) in January 2021.

 

Thoughts on Internationalism

ELSEWHERE in the paper there is a report of a recent meeting at the House of Commons on the situation in Kashmir. This concludes with the words “there is no ongoing campaign of solidarity in Britain with the people of Kashmir”.

That statement is not only true in the specific Kashmir case but the gives us cause to reflect on the state of international solidarity work in Britain, which could, quite frankly, be better.

International solidarity basically take two forms. One is supporting progressive governments against imperialist aggression, as is the role of organisations such as the Cuba Solidarity Campaign and the Korea Friendship Association. In other cases it is to support oppressed peoples from foreign occupiers, such as the work carried out by the Palestine Solidarity Campaign or the NCP’s support of left forces in Ukraine.

On occasion the distinction can be blurred, as with the present situation in Bolivia, or in the past when supporting the Nicaraguan government became problematic in the eyes of many when strict abortion laws were imposed. The reverse process took place when opponents of Apartheid in South Africa became keen supporters of the ANC government, sometimes on occasion becoming cheerleaders at a time when a few friendly, but not preachy, critical remarks would have been more helpful.

Needless to say, imperialist powers are quick to discover any real or alleged ill-treatment of minority groups that can be exploited for their own ends. Amnesty International and the Minority Rights Group, in particular, are past masters at this dirty game.

Liberation, the former Movement for Colonial Freedom, if not formally defunct is near enough so to make no difference, so there is clearly a ‘gap in the market’, particularly for when urgent situations flare up across the globe. Perhaps a Latin America Solidarity Campaign would be more useful than separate organisations for Cuba, Venezuela and Bolivia, to say nothing of Chile, Peru and Argentina.

Sometimes great care needs to be taken with just who precisely is worthy of support even where evidence of clear cut need for action. This Editorial comes from the pen of someone who recalls two exiled warring Tamil factions loudly insisting that they were the sole legitimate representative of all Tamils in Britain and at home whilst claiming that the rival group were simply gangsters. On another occasion a Turkish trade union group received support from well-meaning internationalists before it slowly dawned on them that the trade union was associated with the Turkish fascist party. Sometimes ascertaining the differences between the Judean Popular Front and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Judea is no joke. There is a fine balance between being too fastidious and backing the completely wrong horse.

The British labour movement and working class has a distinctly mixed record. Sometimes this can be understandable, as when impoverished workers in the early 19th century did not take too kindly to being told that slavery was evil by pious evangelicals who made their disdain for the aims of factory workers clear. The high spot was perhaps British working-class support for the republicans in the Spanish Civil War — but even that can be romanticised because many workers, including those who had first-hand experience of imperialist oppression, followed the lead of the pulpit and willingly gave their pennies to support the fascists.

International work can of course be controversial, not all causes are as instantly cuddly within the labour movement as that of Cuba, which is an agreeable sunny climate ideal for producing Havana Club rum.

Wikileaks once exposed a conversation held in 2006 when a senior figure at the TUC assured a representative of the US Embassy that the forthcoming TUC Congress would likely support a resolution opposing US sanctions on Cuba, but that there was absolutely nothing to worry about because this was a traditional “warhorse issue” that kept activists harmlessly occupied. If many more were involved worthy motions would have more effect, and the bureaucrats at the TUC and Donald Trump would have more to worry about.

The patient work of getting motions passed at trade union branches and then on to annual conferences and finally the Trades Union Congress, or gathering signatures outside a supermarket on a wet Saturday morning, is not glamorous, but it needs to be done more urgently than ever.