April 19 marked the 77th anniversary of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising. On that day in 1943, approximately 500 Jewish fighters launched an attack against Nazi forces occupying the city fo Warsaw, Poland. 

With its invasion of Poland in 1939, Nazi Germany began a major effort to concentrate the country’s Jewish population into segregated neighborhoods, also known as ghettos. In Warsaw, some 400,000 Jewish people were packed into less than three square miles of space. 

For the four years leading up to the uprising, Jews living in the Warsaw Ghetto experienced constant terror and violence from the Nazi forces. These terrors included torture, starvation, executions and random delivery of Jewish people to Nazi death camps. The Nazi regime was determined to complete its genocide of the Jewish people. 

Leading up to the 1943 uprising, Jewish resistance organizations took control of the ghetto. The most prominent of these was not only a Jewish organization, but also a communist one. It’s name was Żydowska Organizacja Bojowa. The English translation from the Yiddish name is “Jewish Combat Organization.” It was led by Jewish communists such as Mordechai Anielewicz and Zivia Lubetkin.   

The Warsaw Ghetto Uprising was not just one of Jews against Nazis, but of the working class against fascism. Without the communist political pole in the resistance movement, the uprising likely would not have happened. 

The start of the revolt was planned to coincide with the first night of the Jewish holiday, Passover. The uprising lasted almost a month. The Jewish socialist forces continued to fight regardless of being outnumbered and outgunned. As retaliation, 57,000 Jews were murdered or deported to death camps. 

On the anniversary of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, it is important to remember this act of Jewish and socialist resistance. All too often, mainstream media and historians peddle the myth that “the Jews just walked into the camps.” 

The brave revolutionaries who gave their lives in the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising 77 years ago might beg to differ. On this day, we remember their sacrifices in the struggle against capitalism and fascism. 

By New Solution editor in chief

On Friday, April 3, Helin Bölek, a member of the famous leftist music band Grup Yorum, died on the 288th day of the hunger strike till death (Death Fast) which she was conducting in order to protest against the repressions of the fascist oligarchy in Turkey.

What happened from June 2019 until now

Helin Bölek, along with four other members of Grup Yorum, went on a hunger strike in June 2019, while all five musicians who participated in the action were still in prison, to protest several years of ongoing repression against their band. After more than two years in prison, Helin Bölek and Bahar Kurt, another musician from the band who also took part in the hunger strike, were released at the end of November 2019, which was one of the small victories won by the hunger strike. The two continued their hunger strike at the House of Resistance, located in Istanbul’s Küçük Armutlu neighborhood.

Here we would like to remind you once again of the demands of Grup Yorum that were declared at the beginning of the hunger strike:

• Stop raiding the Idil Cultural Centre.
• Remove the concert bans.
• Release our imprisoned members.
• Remove the arrest warrants.
• Drop the lawsuits filed against Grup Yorum members.

At the beginning of January 2020, Ibrahim Gökçek, another member of the group, announced that he was turning his indefinite hunger strike into a hunger strike till death (Death Fast), saying he would continue his hunger strike until the demands of Grup Yorum were accepted by the government. At the end of the same month, in a video published on Twitter, Helin Bölek stated that she was also turning her indefinite hunger strike into a hunger strike till death.

In the middle of February, after another hearing in one of the court cases against Grup Yorum, the band’s guitarist Ibrahim Gökçek was released from prison. At the same hearing the court decided to release the group’s drummer Barış Yüksel, who is also an engineer, who was developing various projects for the benefit of the poor people in the neighborhoods of Istanbul and other parts of Turkey, under house arrest. This was interpreted as a step towards victory of the hunger strike.

Almost a month later, on the night of March 11, the House of Resistance, where Helin and Ibrahim continued their hunger strike, was raided by heavily armed SWAT teams and agents of the political police, who forcibly took the two members of the Grup Yorum to the state hospital located in Istanbul’s Umraniye district in the eastern part of the city. For six hours they were missing, and were found only after their parents and lawyers searched for them at all the hospitals in Istanbul. 

At the hospital in Umraniye, the two were held against their will for a week after the Istanbul Civil Court issued a ruling on a complaint filed by the Turkish Interior Ministry for the musicians to be forcibly “treated” at the hospital. This court decision, in fact, opened the way for Helin and Ibrahim to be subjected to forced medical intervention — forced feeding, an act that put their health and lives in serious danger, with the real risk of being mutilated or even killed during the intervention.

After a week of multiple attempts by the lawyers of the two musicians to appeal against the civil court’s decision and bring them back to the House of Resistance, this happened in the late afternoon of March 16, when the court of appeal in Istanbul issued a decision overturning the district civil court’s decision for forced detention of the two musicians at the hospital. So late in the evening, after hours of disputes between the lawyers and the police and intense waiting, Helin and Ibrahim were released from the hospital and returned together with their relatives to the House of Resistance, where they continued the hunger strike.

The stress and strain they were subjected to at the hospital affected their already poor health in an extremely bad way, given the advanced phase of the hunger strike. We can say that this stress is also one of the direct causes that led to Helin’s untimely death.

The fascist oligarchy in Turkey is responsible for Helin’s death

The government has refused to accept the demands of the hunger strike until the last possible moment before Helin’s death. Just a week before the death of Helin, a delegation of intellectuals, human rights defenders and relatives of members of Grup Yorum, political prisoner Mustafa Koçak, who is also on hunger strike till death (Death Fast) against the injustices he faces, and lawyers from the Association of Progressive Lawyers and People’s Law Bureau, who began a hunger strike earlier this year against Turkey’s completely degraded justice system, met with representatives of the Turkish Interior Ministry. At the meeting, the demands of both Helin and Ibrahim and the other hunger strikers were discussed. Ministry officials said, “First, they must end the hunger strikes, and then we’ll see if we can discuss their demands.”

Thus, the fascist government in Turkey is responsible through its actions for the death of Helin Bolek. If the demands had been accepted at this meeting held on March 28, perhaps today Helin would be among us, and we would not have to mourn her loss.

Who is Helin Bölek?

When Helin Bölek was martyred, she was 28 years old. In this relatively short period of time she has managed to fill her life with many events. She initially participated in the youth struggle for free and accessible education in her hometown of Çanakkale, in western Turkey. Later, she joined the popular choir of Grup Yorum, which educates new musicians for the band. In the summer of 2014, she, along with other group members and revolutionaries from Turkey, participated in the “Human Shield” campaign to support the struggle of the Palestinian people against the Zionist regime in Israel. In this way, she and her comrades expressed their solidarity with the Palestinian people’s struggle against the attacks of imperialism and its collaborators. In 2016, she joined the Grup Yorum and participated in the band’s concerts. 

For all these years, while she was part of the struggle for art for the benefit of the people, she has been imprisoned several times for various periods of time. Her youth passed in the struggle for the people in the name of independence, democracy and socialism. She gave her life for this cause, did not surrender her honor, did not betray her ideals. Now, whatever we write would not be enough to tell her story.

She was not alone in her struggle

Of course, it should be noted here that during all these months of fighting the famine, death and repression of the fascist oligarchy, the members of Grup Yorum were not alone. Both their parents and their comrades were side by side with them and supported them with numerous protest actions in Turkey and across Europe. Almost every day since last summer, despite the repression, numerous protest actions and various events have been held to draw public attention to the hunger strike of Grup Yorum and its demands. This is precisely the purpose of the hunger strike, to draw the public’s attention to a problem, to injustice, and it is also the last possible means by which people in the position of members of Grup Yorum, and not only them, can resist fascism and imperialism. 

An interesting fact is that Grup Yorum’s struggle was supported by almost all leftist organizations in Turkey, as well as the Kurdish nationalist movement, whose relations had previously been particularly strained with Grup Yorum because of its stance on events in Syria and the Middle East. Many progressive journalists, writers, musicians and intellectuals have also expressed their support for the demands of Grup Yorum.

It is still not too late. We can still do something for Grup Yorum. It is up to all of us now whether Ibrahim Gökçek, who is on the verge of death, and political prisoner Mustafa Koçak, who is on hunger strike against his life sentence, will live or die like Helin. Their lives are in our hands, let their blood not be on our hands. …

People of Küçük Armutlu and her comrades paid tribute to Helin

Shortly after the death of Helin Bölek, her comrades from Grup Yorum and her relatives began preparations for the funeral ceremony in Küçük Armutlu, where the House of Resistance is located, in which she and Ibrahim Gökçek continued their hunger strike. In the afternoon, Helin’s body was wrapped in red fabric and covered with carnations. The choice of colors and flowers is not accidental. Red carnations are a symbol of the Resistance and often, in case of martyrdom of a revolutionary during a hunger strike, they are laid on his/her body. 

Throughout the afternoon, Helin’s body was left in the House of Resistance for those who wanted to pay tribute to her for the last time. In the late afternoon, her body was moved to a coffin, with which she was carried by her comrades in the streets of Küçük Armutlu, as tradition in the lands of Anatolia dictates. When a person dies, the relatives are obliged to carry the body from the home where the person died and with the ark to walk on the streets of the neighborhood or the settlement where the person died. Of course this ritual is done when it is possible.

After walking on the streets of Küçük Armutlu with Helin’s coffin, her comrades put her in the place for ritual ceremonies, in the courtyard of the local Alevite house of worship (Cemevi). Here, her comrade Ibrahim Gökçek made a short speech in which he said:

“Dear friends, dear friends of Grup Yorum … Dear Helin … Today a musician, today a singer of the people, was killed so she could make her art. They killed a singer. Either I would die or she. There is no other way in the situation in which we are now. She is dead now and I will die. What will happen? Murderers! Are you satisfied? Whatever you do, sooner or later victory will be ours. The victory will sooner or later be with Grup Yorum. We will win!”

After Ibrahim Gökçek, a speech was also delivered by Bahar Kurt, who also took part in the hunger strike for a long time. She said the following about the meeting at the Interior Ministry that took place at the end of March:

“The delegation who met with ministry representatives made a statement. Ministry officials have stepped up to discuss demands (of the hunger strike). Even this is a sign that the demands are legitimate and completely legal. If they can discuss the acceptance of the demands, then why have they done nothing to this day? We are being told to end the Death Fast (hunger strike), but this cannot be bargained for.”

Bahar Kurt went on to say: “Helin increased our anger. We have to break the chains now. No one lives peacefully and happily in this country.”

Bahar Kurt also spoke of the days when Helin and Ibrahim were held forcibly in the hospital in the middle of March.

“An artist of the people, a musician, died for the right to perform concerts. This is a precedent in the history of the world and Turkey. The government must be called to account for the death of Helin. While in the hospital, both Helin and Ibrahim lost much of their energy. They were taken away from here in ambulances, it was a big shock for them. During the time they were in the hospital, they did not allow them to have companions. At a time when we were afraid to touch them so as not to hurt them, when we dared not touch our comrades, when even her mother dared not kiss her daughter, they (police agents and doctors), touched the bodies of our comrades multiple times. There were doctors and nurses who did not respect the will of Helin and Ibrahim about how they should be taken care of, what liquids they should take. 

“They were exhausted psychologically, they were very angry. Yes, we took and brought our friends back to the House of Resistance, but this week at the hospital caused permanent damage to their health, which accelerated the death of Helin. If she hadn’t been taken to the hospital in this one week, maybe Hellin would have been alive now.”

After the end of the speeches, in accordance with Helin’s testament, her comrades danced the traditional folk dance, halay, around her coffin.

After paying tribute to her, the coffin with Helin’s body was left in the morgue of the House of Worship in Küçük Armutlu, where she remained until the next morning. In the evening and throughout the night, members of Grup Yorum, local people, and fans of the band stood vigil in the courtyard of the House of Worship, in order to be ready to respond and prevent a possible attack of the fascist police against the House of Worship to abduct Helin’s body. Something that has become a common practice of fascist oligarchy in Turkey for the funerals of revolutionaries is for their bodies to be abducted to be buried in secret locations without any rituals, without their relatives being informed. Therefore, when it is possible to do so, the comrades of the fallen revolutionaries remain on duty in the place where their coffins are until the funeral period is completed.

The fascist oligarchy fears even Helin’s body. 

Police attacked Helin Bölek’s funeral

On Saturday, April 4, the funeral of Helin Bolek took place in Istanbul. Around 11 a.m. local time, a column of vehicles accompanying the hearse transporting her body to the Alevite House of Worship in Istanbul’s Okmeydani neighborhood was stopped by police. Fascist police forced Helin’s relatives to carry her body to Ferikoy Cemetery, not far from Okmeydani, blocking the road to the neighborhood. After disputes with police, threats, insults and swearing, the drivers of the hearse and the van in which Helin’s relatives were riding were detained by police. Officers threatened Helin’s relatives with abducting her body and burying her in a secret location. Again, after disputes between lawyers, relatives and police officers, the two drivers were released and the convoy continued on its way to Ferikoy Cemetery. Police prevented the convoy from entering the Okmeydani neighborhood.

In the early morning hours, the streets of the Okmeydani neighborhood, as well as the roads leading to it, were blocked by armored police vehicles. The blockade around the House of Worship in the neighborhood and the area around the Ferikoy Cemetery was most intense. Multiple armored police vehicles also blocked the area around the Ayçe Idil Erkmen Cultural Center, which is operated by Grup Yorum. In the morning, police tried to close down the café which is part of the cultural center. During an attempt to prevent this attack, Grup Yorum musician Meral Hur was detained by police and taken in an armored vehicle in an unknown direction. She was released late in the evening. Police deployed a dozen water cannons, and dozens of armored vehicles, buses and vans, while thousands of riot police squads and agents of the political police were deployed into the area.

At the same time, people gathered at the local House of Worship to attend Helin’s funeral were threatened by police and ordered to disperse. A little later, when the crowds headed for Ferikoy Cemetery, the police blocked their way, and in turn, people began a protest to open the road, but the police attacked them by arresting people, dragging them on the ground, kicking and striking them with sticks.

About one hour later, groups of people started heading to Ferikoy Cemetery to attend Helin Bölek’s funeral. The area was blocked by police and initially the convoy with Helin’s body was not allowed to enter the cemetery. Following disputes with police officers, Helin’s lawyers and her relatives were allowed to enter the cemetery. Since there was no room here for the ritual washing of the body, which is part of the funeral rituals, Helin’s relatives had to call a mobile facility on site to perform the ritual.

While Helin’s relatives were waiting for a mobile facility to arrive, police in the area were attacking all those who were attempting to enter the cemetery. With water cannons, tear gas grenades, rubber cartridges and batons, the police tried to disperse the groups of people who wanted to honor Helin one last time. During these intensive attacks, more than 20 people were detained and were taken in armored buses to the Istanbul police department’s headquarters. They were kept there for hours and subjected to various tortures.

Despite attacks by the fascist police, several groups of people managed to enter the cemetery and attend the funeral.

Following the rituals, at about 2:20 p.m. local time, the next part of Helin’s funeral began. She was laid in the grave, after which her relatives poured water on the soil of the grave. They left behind a bridal gown and numerous carnations. After Helin’s death, some people called her “The Bride of Our People” because Helin was martyred in a hunger strike till death, just like Ayçe İdil Erkmen, a theater actress, writer, journalist and musician who was martyred in 1996 in a hunger strike till death (Death Fast) against isolation prisons and the repressions of the fascist oligarchy. This is probably the reason for the laying of the bridal gown on Helin’s grave.

Shortly after the end of the funeral, fascist police attacked the participants with tear gas grenades. Yes, you have read correctly, the mourners for Helin’s death were attacked with tear gas grenades at the cemetery. Fascism has no respect even for the sorrow of the people.

Those arrested in police attacks before Helin’s funeral were released late at night, many of whom said they had been subjected to various tortures by the fascist police. Among the detainees were members of the People’s Front-Turkey (Halk Cephesi), the Maoist magazine Partizan (Partizan dergisi), and the Socialist Party of the Oppressed (Ezilenlerin Sosyalist Partisi).

Her voice went beyond the seas, oceans and mountains…

The news about Helin’s death has been widespread in Turkey and around the world. On Friday, the hashtag #HelinBölek topped the trends for Turkey on Twitter. So far, over 50,000 posts have been made with this hashtag. Internationally, even mainstream media such as the New York Times, the Guardian, the Washington Post and the Associated Press have covered the news of the death of Helin Bölek. Media (both websites and newspapers) in Italy, Germany, France, Spain, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova and many other countries have also covered the news about her death. Leftist organizations, as well as many people, from Greece, Serbia, Bulgaria, Italy, Spain, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Belgium, Netherlands, France, Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, England, Ireland, India, Malaysia, the U.S., Peru, Colombia, Venezuela, Syria, Morocco, Bangladesh and many other countries have expressed their condolences to Helin Bölek’s relatives and comrades and have expressed their support for the demands of Grup Yorum.

We have a question for all critics

As the hunger strike continued, “opinions” and “comments” appeared that it was a “wrong tactic,” that “it made no sense,” and some even went further, stating that they were “dying in vain.” We would like to ask a few questions to all these people who wrote their “opinions” and “comments.” What did they do during all these 10 months while Helin was slowly melting before their eyes? What did you ladies and gentlemen do? At least once, while Helin was still alive, did you express your support for the demands for which she sacrificed her life? Did you pay attention to her protest? Did you at least try to find out what she was fighting for?

And the lack of information in no way justifies you. Because this time there was enough information in English, German, Russian, Italian. You cannot justify yourself by not being informed. Yes, we are aware that there are numerous topics on the agenda that affect each country and everyone in the world, but we just want a few minutes of your time, or a maximum of 10-15 minutes, to do something to express your support for the demands of Grup Yorum and Mustafa Koçak. We do not expect you to understand them, because many of you would never do this, you can do nothing but justify yourself with words like: “I do not support this political movement,” “I am against hunger strikes,” “this is pointless action!”

You will never understand Helin and people like her, because for you “human life is priceless,” “it’s not worth dying for anything in this world!” Perhaps some of you will ask, “And would you, who wrote this, sacrifice in the name of something?” I most responsibly state that I would have taken that step. Yes, I know, and Helin knew, it is better to live, to enjoy life, but when your life is turned into a prison, when you are faced with the choice of bowing your head to a tyrant you are fighting or continuing to fight, sacrificing your life, then resistance by all means and resources is a must. Therefore, you ladies and gentlemen, you’d better be silent now; be silent because this is the best thing that you can do.

Source: New Solution

The representatives of the governments of China, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Cuba, Iran, Nicaragua, Russia, Syria and Venezuela to the United Nations have addressed a letter to U.N. Secretary General António Guterres, in which they demand an end to the acts of economic warfare illegally waged against all of them by the U.S. government and its European Union allies:

H.E. Mr. António Guterres
Secretary-General
United Nations
New York

Distinguished Secretary-General,

On instructions from and on behalf of our respective Ministers for Foreign Affairs, and in response to their most recent appeals, we address Your Excellency on the occasion of a matter of the utmost importance and great urgency, namely, the global health crisis arising from Covid-19, recently declared a pandemic by the World Health Organization (WHO). 

Over the past few months, we have all been following very closely the developments related to

Covid-19, including its rapid spread and the large number of human victims it has caused so far, as well as the impact it is having on the affected countries, particularly on the most vulnerable sectors of society. This is undoubtedly the greatest public health emergency of our time, which, while taking place at a time when multilateralism is under attack, offers a unique opportunity for multilateralism to succeed and be strengthened at this time of global crisis and uncertainty.

As you recently stated, “more than ever, we need solidarity, hope and political will to overcome this crisis together,” as truly united nations. But to do so effectively, we must join forces and act collectively, in a coordinated and decisive manner, as responsible members of the international community. It is our common responsibility not only to save succeeding generations from the scourge of war, as we pledged to do when we signed the founding Charter of the United Nations, but also to ensure the timely adoption of policies and strategies to save our own and the current generation, while giving them hope and guarantees for their well-being, stability and prosperity.

At home, all of our national governments have acted responsibly, including by taking the necessary precautionary measures to contain the spread of and combat Covid-19. We have also made progress in designing contingency plans to ensure, among other things, the functioning of basic services and emergency response systems at the current juncture. Similarly, as you know, we have been working with the United Nations to strengthen our cooperation programmes, as well as with other partners to learn from their experiences and share best practices. Despite all this, we recognize that much remains to be done to succeed in this battle.

Your Excellency, today we have a common enemy: Covid-19. And, as you have recognized, it is time to “prepare, step up and step out.” Our national governments have the political and moral will to move in that direction; our dedicated and professional physicians and health care providers are fully capable of serving in this time of need; and our people are ready to do their part, as we are all aware that this historical moment demands the highest level of solidarity, cooperation and mutual collaboration. However, we have to recognize that this is a difficult, if not impossible, act for countries currently facing the application of unilateral coercive measures, which are illegal and in flagrant violation of international law and the Charter of the United Nations.

The destructive impact of such measures at the national level, plus their extraterritorial implications, together with the phenomena of overcompliance and the fear of “secondary sanctions,” hinder the ability of national governments to, inter alia, have regular access to the international financial system or free trade; they therefore undermine the efforts being made by national governments to attack Covid-19, especially with regard to the acquisition, effective and timely delivery of medical equipment and supplies, including testing equipment and drugs, which are vital for the care and treatment of patients, as recently acknowledged by the Director-General of WHO. In addition, sanctions also have a direct negative impact on, inter alia, the human rights to life, health and food of the peoples subjected to them. Ultimately, these measures also affect the essential cooperation and solidarity that must prevail among nations.

Today, in the midst of the global pandemic resulting from Covid-19, that negative impact on the well-being of our peoples and countries is becoming even more severe and multiplying. Hence, the urgent need for the international community, including the United Nations, to reaffirm its commitment to the concept of “We, the peoples of the United Nations.” Let us recall that, according to the conclusions of United Nations independent experts, the enactment and implementation of unilateral coercive measures affect more than one third of humanity.

In the light of the above, we respectfully urge you to call for the complete and immediate lifting of such illegal, coercive and arbitrary economic pressure measures — in line with the long-standing and principled position of the United Nations to reject unilateral coercive measures — in order to ensure the full, effective and efficient response of all members of the international community to Covid-19, and also to reject the politicization of that pandemic. 

The joint appeal that we are making today, and from which we expect a positive response from you, is, as you know, supported by the provisions of a significant number of relevant United Nations General Assembly resolutions; it therefore provides a solid basis for any action on your part.

As you well know, we live in an interconnected world; therefore, in the context of a global pandemic, “hampering medical efforts in one country increases the risk to all of us,” so — as the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights has recently acknowledged — we must avoid the collapse of the medical and health system of any country as a result of the application of illegal sanctions.

Therefore, we cannot allow political calculations to stand in the way of saving human lives. This is a time, as you have stated — again and again — not for chaos, but for global solidarity, cooperation and prudence; for joining efforts at the national, regional and international levels, without any kind of discrimination, if we really want to overcome this complex human crisis and its economic repercussions; and also for recommitting ourselves to the Agenda for Sustainable Development of 2030 and our promise not to leave anyone behind.

Similarly, we will also underline the need, at the present juncture, to strengthen national economies in ways that provide national governments, as well as the public and private sectors, with the capacity to support and finance the plans and strategies needed to ensure that the spread of Covid-19 is contained. In this regard, we agree that, as you have recently stated, more than ever, “Governments must cooperate to revitalize economies, expand public investment, boost trade and ensure targeted support to those individuals and communities most affected by the disease or most vulnerable to negative economic impacts” and that urgent action is needed to “alleviate the debt burden of the most vulnerable countries … and ensure adequate financial services to support countries in difficulty.”

This is of utmost importance, especially for countries that, in addition to having to deal with the Covid-19, also have to deal with other exceptional circumstances, such as the negative impact of unilateral coercive measures.

Furthermore, we take this opportunity to convey to Your Excellency our appreciation for the work currently being done by the United Nations system and for the very valuable support being provided to our nations, in particular by the WHO, in responding to this global crisis, which we are confident we will overcome together and come out stronger.

Finally, we respectfully request your good offices to circulate the present letter as an official document of the General Assembly, under agenda items 83 and 126, entitled “The rule of law at the national and international levels” and “Global health and foreign policy,” respectively, and of the Security Council.

We are confident that you will give due attention to the serious concerns conveyed herein and take this opportunity to assure Your Excellency of our highest esteem and consideration.

Signatories:

H.E. Mr. Zhang Jun

Ambassador, Permanent Representative of the People’s Republic of China to the United Nations

H.E. Mrs. Ana Silvia Rodríguez Abascal

Ambassador, Charge d’affaires, Deputy Permanent Representative of the Republic of Cuba to the United Nations

H.E. Mr. Kim Song

Ambassador, Permanent Representative of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea to the United Nations

H.E. Mr. Majid Takht Ravanchi

Ambassador, Permanent Representative of the Islamic Republic of Iran to the United Nations

H.E. Mr. Jaime Hermida Castillo

Ambassador, Permanent Representative of the Republic of Nicaragua to the United Nations

H.E. Mr. Vassily A. Nebenzia

Ambassador, Permanent Representative of the Russian Federation to the United Nations

H.E. Mr. Bashar Ja’afari

Ambassador, Permanent Representative of the Syrian Arab Republic to the United Nations

H.E. Mr. Samuel Moncada

Ambassador, Permanent Representative of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela to the United Nations

Translation by Frente Antiimperialista Internacionalista

Hamburg, Germany — At around 6 a.m. on March 26, the Lampedusa tent at the Hamburg Hauptbahnhof (central station) was destroyed and possessions confiscated by a large contingent of police officers. One activist was arrested. 

For seven years, the tent, functioning as a “permanent demonstration,” was a place of meeting, mobilizing, information and protection against weather for all those without shelter; it was a place of resistance, a place which said, “We are here to stay!” The tent served as a staging point in the fight against the internment and deportation politics of the Social-Democrat-Green-Party-controlled Hamburg Senate. 

After having negotiated with the Assembly Authority (under whose jurisdiction the tent stood) the weekend prior, the tent was torn down without warning or explanation, despite not having violated the current regulations enforced in Hamburg to prevent the spread of the coronavirus, which prohibit the assembly of more than two people at once in public spaces. 

The tent’s namesake is the Italian island Lampedusa, to which the activists fled the bombs and mercenaries of the NATO-backed war against Libya. Italy declined to grant the refugees asylum, opting instead to issue them European Union travel visas. They travelled to Hamburg, where the Red-Green Senate could have easily granted them group asylum as refugees of war. 

Rather than let themselves be isolated, the group founded and organised as “Lampedusa in Hamburg” and resisted all attempts at deportation or removal made by the German state. The tent stood as the center point and symbol of this resistance.

An activist recounted the raid in a video: “There were like [a] hundred policemen. They came and provoked us. They tried to escalate the situation. They destroyed the tent. I asked the policeman why. He just said, ‘The tent has to go.’ They arrested one of our members.

“This was our struggle for seven good years. Today, they came and removed the tent, what we call home, without any explanation. We have nowhere to go. They are telling us that we migrants, African migrants, are not welcome in Hamburg, not welcome in Germany. We have nowhere to go. We are sleeping outside, here.

“African migrants are not welcome in Europe. But, meanwhile, we have Germans in Africa, misusing our resources. There are thousands of people out there who have nowhere to sleep. And today, they came to destroy our home. What we spent seven years to build, they destroyed in under one hour.”

And further, via a short interview on-site:

Q:  Did the state offer you any accommodation or health care?

A: They don‘t care. There is not any offer. We talked to them. They should give all the homeless a place to stay. There are so many empty houses, so many hotels. Put us there.

Q: So, the tent is gone now. What does it mean? Is the protest over?

A: No, it‘s not over. We are not giving up!

For updates, visit No Pasarán Hamburg.

Disillusioned former CIA operative Philip Agee wrote a book exposing the CIA’s record of spying, sabotage and murder in 1975 called “Inside the Company.” But until recently, few realized there was an actual profit-making company, owned by the CIA, that has been one of its most important tools in espionage. 

Long-held suspicions that a joint operation between the U.S. CIA and Germany’s spy agency, the BND, stole access to communications of adversaries and allies alike have now been acknowledged in a Feb. 11, 2020, Washington Post article by Greg Miller. The information theft was accomplished through a Swiss company called Crypto AG, which the two spy groups secretly purchased in 1970 and ran for nearly five decades. The spying was deemed “Operation Rubicon.”

The CIA is rotten to its core and its mission is far more deadly than just spying. The Washington Post article is based on one CIA document, but there is a massive body of long-delayed acknowledgements, evidence and well-grounded suspicion that has been building up since the CIA’s foundation. 

The CIA’s bloody footprints were clearly visible in the early 1950s, when they overthrew elected President Mohammad Mossadegh of Iran and President Jacobo Árbenz of Guatemala. In 1961, they were complicit in the murder of President Patrice Lumumba in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Months later, they were defeated by forces led by revolutionary leader Fidel Castro in their full-scale invasion at Cuba’s Bay of Pigs — and are suspected by many of the assassination of President John F. Kennedy for the Bay of Pigs failure. 

During the Vietnam War, the CIA’s “Operation Phoenix” hunted down and murdered sympathizers of the North Vietnamese revolutionary struggle throughout the south. They were caught spying on anti-war and Black liberation activists here in the U.S. in the 1970s. 

From 1979 to 1989 in Afghanistan, they armed and funded the Mujahideen to overthrow the government of what was then the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan — a newly born, but short-lived socialist country. In the 1990s, they helped to dismember Yugoslavia by funding and training the counterrevolutionary Bosnian Army and Kosovo Liberation Army. These examples are a mere fraction of their crimes. We can only speculate as to how much of the information stolen by Crypto AG was used to help carry out much of it.

Crypto AG gave backdoor access

Until it was taken over by imperialist spymasters, Crypto AG sold equipment to governments that encrypted their communications with their embassies, military, trade offices, etc. When CIA/BND took over, new technologies enabled backdoor access so they could read everything being sent by client countries. The encrypted information was then decoded by the U.S. National Security Agency.

Differences between the two capitalist states prompted the CIA to buy the German share in 1992. According to Miller, Germany became concerned about the scope of the U.S. espionage, and the CIA was annoyed by Germany’s interest only in profit. Under sole CIA stewardship, and up until its 2018 dissolution, Crypto AG still netted millions of dollars and remained an espionage nuclear weapon for U.S. imperialism.

Miller’s article revealed that, through Crypto AG, the U.S. spied on Spain, Italy, Turkey, Greece, Argentina, India, Pakistan and the Vatican. Progressive author William Blum wrote in “Rogue State: A Guide to the World’s Only Superpower,” that Iran, Iraq, Libya, Yugoslavia and other countries were targets as well. Libya was the first to act on its suspicions and started buying encryption equipment from a different company. Iran took note of that, which led to the 1992 arrest of Crypto AG’s top salesman. After he was released, he was fired by Crypto AG and was forced to pay back the money for his bail.

Over the decades, 120 countries used Crypto AG’s equipment. The Soviet Union and China were wary, and both developed their own encryption systems. But the imperialists gleaned secrets about them from other countries’ messages. They gained an edge against the Palestinian leadership and shared information with Israel in the days leading up to the Camp David talks. They shared information with Britain as it warred with Argentina and seized Argentina’s Islas Malvinas in 1982. They were aware of numerous right-wing, Latin American dictatorships targeting leftists for assassination — presumably this would have included the Pinochet regime’s 1976 assassination of Orlando Letelier in Washington DC — and they did nothing to stop them.

In an NPR follow-up interview with Miller, when asked how high up in the U.S. presidential administrations the knowledge had reached, his answer revolved around the Camp David Accords and indicated just as an example that President Carter was fully aware.

U.S. media outlets are owned by giant corporations and report on capitalist government and corporate scandals to maintain the façade of a free press. Their allegiance, however, is to capitalist rule. Regarding the exposure of “Operation Rubicon,” it’s noteworthy that much of the recent coverage spreads the lie that the Chinese company Huawei, the world’s leader of 5G technology, will open the door to Chinese espionage via technology similar to what Crypto AG has been doing. This is the line of the $1.5 trillion U.S. telecommunications industry. This myth is part of the competitive U.S. corporate war against Huawei that has gone as far as to pressure Canada to arrest Huawei CFO Meng Wanzhou and attempt to extradite her to the U.S. to stand trial on trumped up charges.

Ibrahim Gökçek and Helin Bölek are members of the internationally known leftist music group Grup Yorum. They along with several of their comrades were imprisoned by the regime of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. Turkey is a NATO member and longtime vassal of U.S. imperialism, currently working with terrorist groups and U.S. forces to undermine Syrian sovereignty.

During their long imprisonment, Gökçek and Bölek went on a death fast (hunger strike to the death), along with another political prisoner, Mustafa Koçak. This is a tactic that has a long history among revolutionary political prisoners in Turkey. Gökçek and Bölek were recently released from prison on medical grounds but continue their death fast; Koçak remains in prison.

Last night, March 11, 2020, Turkish police SWAT teams raided the Resistance House in the Kucuk Armutlu district of Istanbul.

Ibrahim Gökçek and Helin Bölek were there to continue their hunger strike to the death, until their demands were accepted. They want to live, but they want to live with dignity, a dignity that belongs to everyone. They are our barricade against Turkish fascism supported by Western imperialist powers.

The resistance house in Armutlu was stormed by heavily armed SWAT teams that forced everyone inside the house to lie down on the ground and then handcuffed them. The members of the SWAT teams said that the assault on the house was “aimed at conducting a search for evidence for a crime committed.”

After handcuffing everyone, SWAT team members forced Ibrahim Gökçek and Helin Bölek from the house. During the assault, SWAT hit Helin Bölek’s mother Aygul Bilgi and Kubra Sünnetçi, who were taking care of Helin and Ibrahim. The police arrested Yurdagül Gümüs, a former political prisoner, a veteran of the Dec. 19-22, 2000, prison massacre.

In addition to the Resistance House, SWAT teams stormed the local Alevita Worship House (Cem evi). The police threw away personal belongings in the ceremonial hall and the temple table, and did not hesitate to raid the mortuary of the house of worship, where the corpse of a resident of the Kuchuk Armutlu neighborhood was located.

According to information available at this time, a total of six people were arrested during police raids.

Where are Ibrahim and Helin?

Grup Yorum members İbrahim Gökçek and Helin Bölek, who have been on Death Fast for more than 260 days, and are now skin and bones, have been forcibly transported to the Sağlık Bilimleri Üniversitesi Hastanesi hospital in Istanbul. For now there is no certainty about what will be done to them, but they are at high risk of forced feeding.

No one was able to stay with them, even their close family members. The hospital is currently surrounded by a large deployment of police forces.

Hunger strike and forced feeding

The hunger strike has been used by political prisoners around the world to oppose imprisonment policies, violation of rights and treatment incompatible with human dignity.

The hunger strike is an extreme weapon of jailed or persecuted rebels and revolutionaries, who have no other way to bring out their cries for freedom, to make known the often infamous and terrible conditions in which they are forced to live under the blows of repression.

Forced feeding consists of inserting a tube into the nose and throat through which a dense fluid is passed to the stomach. The tube is inserted into the nose and in some cases causes the prisoner to bleed or vomit blood.

The United Nations Special Rapporteur on Torture reminded authorities that “it is not acceptable to use threats, forced feeding or other types of physical or mental coercion against individuals who have chosen to use the extreme resource of hunger strike to assert their rights.”

Due to such interventions between 2000 and 2007 (hunger strike to the death against isolation prisons), many political prisoners in Turkey have completely lost their memories, have fallen ill with Wernicke-Korsakoff syndrome [a serious neurological disorder], and some have been literally killed.

The responsibility and blame for the negative consequences that would result from a forced feeding operation carried out against the wishes of Ibrahim and Helin would belong to the doctors who carried out the operation and the police officers who forced them to do so.

Torture is a crime against humanity, it has no statute of limitations. During the previous Death Fast mass resistance, attempts were made against the participants to perform a forced medical intervention against their will. These attempts led to death, mutilation, or lasting adverse effects on the health of Death Fast resistance participants.

We say to all doctors to whom forced medical intervention has been proposed: forced medical intervention is a crime, it is against humanity, it is a method of torture, do not accept these proposals, do not become part of this act, do not commit a crime against the people!

Everything that may happen with Ibrahim and Helin is the responsibility of the doctors who agree to carry out forced medical intervention, the Istanbul Security Directorate (Regional Police Department), Interior Minister Soysuz Süleyman (Süleyman Soylu), and the political power as a whole.

Torture is not subject to a statute of limitations: the perpetrators will be held accountable for their actions. In case of forced medical intervention against the Death Fast resistance of Ibrahim and Helin, a very high price will be paid!

The fascist government of the AKP (the ruling party in Turkey) has once again demonstrated its enormous fear for the resistance of Grup Yorum.

To all of us who are outside, the decision taken cries out to not give up, to never stop fighting, to continue on our difficult path which is our own and that of all the revolutionary comrades who are with Helin and Ibrahim.

We demand the immediate release of all the revolutionary prisoners of the Turkish fascist prisons!

Freedom for the Turkish people and for all the peoples in struggle!

Freedom for all political prisoners!

We will not forget!

Grup Yorum demands:

• End concert bans
• Free arrested members of the group and drop the accusations based on false police statements and lies
• End raids at Idil Culture Center
• Drop “terrorism lists” against Grup Yorum members

Mustafa Kocak demands:

• A fair trial which is not based on lies and false statements without any evidence

Source: Anti-Imperialist Front

Statement by the Communist Revolutionary Action in Greece.

For some days now, Greece is in a state of siege. Not by the refugees and immigrants who are trapped on the islands and across the Greek-Turkish border, but by the Mitsotakis regime, the state and the extreme right. Under the pretext of an alleged “asymmetric threat”, the regime is militarizing a humanitarian crisis while orchestrating an unprecedented racist mobilization with the open support of the state, imposing a state of terror, junta and apartheid from the Evros river to the islands of the Aegean. The closing of the borders and the push-back operations in the Aegean pose not simply a blatant violation of human rights, but a series of criminal and murderous acts concealed behind a non-existent threat.

Emboldened, the fascist filth set up roadblocks, stop and search cars on the island of Lesvos (committing, among others, the crime of impersonating a police officer) in order to prevent refugees from moving across the island or to simply lynch leftists, anarchists, volunteers and NGO employees. Similar gangs of cannibals prevent refugees – including women and children – from reaching the shores, throwing rocks at them and swearing at them while the coast guard have been given a clear command to repel the boats approaching Greek territorial waters. If this situation continues, the refugee camp of Moria will turn into the Warsaw Ghetto. The departure of the NGOs endangers even the daily breadline of the camp.

Throughout the land and sea borders, military exercises with real fire carried out by the Greek armed forces pose a clear warning, not directed towards the armed forces of another state, but towards unarmed people seeking asylum. Firing or covertly threatening to open fire against unarmed people is a nothing short of a war crime, especially when there is no military conflict in the region that might justify “collateral damage”. The far-right government of Athens is pandering to its electoral clientele pretending to be dealing with an “invasion” and a “breach of national territory”. This is a mere fraud, a fraud that could stand in no national or international court. The country is not under any external attack, but under a clear violation of human, individual and democratic rights perpetrated by the regime of New Democracy. In addition, the state of siege allows fascists across the country to carry out their own plan of status-in-statu terrorism with the tolerance, if not the full coverage, of the official state.

Fortress Europe cannot function without regimes like the ones of Salvini, Orban, Kurz and now Mitsotakis. The far right legitimizes its existence, and it is the golden reserve of the system and the Empire. The far-right lumpen scum defend the Empire, NATO and the EU, at the same time that its slogans are supposedly against the Germans who are «turning Greece into a storehouse of souls». Their talk about “decongestion of the islands” is nothing but a lie. What they actually mean is to have the refugees drowned in the sea. They lie when they talk about the hell that the camp of Moria is. These vermin are in favor of Dachau and Auschwitz, they hate refugees and are currently showing it without any pretense. This is nothing less than a fascist threat. The Left has nothing to do with the concerns of the cannibals. We are an entirely different world, and there is no possibility of coexistence on this planet.

The recent meeting between PM Mitsotakis and the right-wing mayors leading the anti-refugee movement in Northern Aegean concluded in an agreement. Closing of the borders and push-back operations instead of rescue operations – and the rest is left at the hands of the Greek Ku Klux Klan. The snake’s egg of fascism has long existed in the islands, and it was there even during the recent conflicts with the SWAT police – and it had no intention to help the refugees, but to make their lives unbearable until they leave the country. The «frontiersmen of the Aegean» are nothing more than cops of Fortress Europe and enforcers of the Dublin Regulation. They are the mercenary force of the EU and NATO, guarding the borders of the Empire. The government that accuses Erdogan of using the refugees as a tool is trying to hide its own hideous plan, which is to foment a state of war against Turkey through an unprecedented military operation at the borders combined with an aggressive stance across the eastern Mediterranean – backed, of course, by NATO and the Empire. If an offensive geopolitical design exists in this crisis, this design wholly belongs to the Greek state that is trying to present itself not as the perpetrator that it is, but as a… damsel in distress.

The class movement, the Left, the anti-fascist forces, every democratic citizen must mobilize here and now to stop the racist delirium of the Athens regime together with the cowardly far-right gangbangers who are terrorizing militants as well as women and children.

Down with Fortress Europe and the barbed wires at the border! Abolish the EU-Turkey Treaty!

Asylum for refugees, residence permits for immigrants!

Hosting of migrants in open facilities (that is, facilities from in they may enter and exit freely), right to work, access to healthcare and education, free movement throughout the country!

Down with the discrimination against refugees and immigrants!

No tolerance for the fascist gangs, the far-right mob and the regime of Athens that is encouraging them!

All out on Thursday, March 5, 18:30 at Propylae – march to the parliament!

Communist Revolutionary Action ★ Avantgarde

Have you heard of the U.S. Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC)?

Yes, it sounds like a company that produces cheesy reality TV shows. But the truth is more dangerous. And it has workers and peasants in Nepal fighting mad.

On Feb. 25, thousands of people marched through the streets of Kathmandu, Nepal’s capital, to demand that the country’s Parliament reject participation in the MCC. Many carried banners and signs in Nepali and English denouncing the MCC, while others carried red flags. The action was organized by the Nepal Workers and Peasants Party (NWPP).

The angry crowd marched to the U.S. Embassy, where they were confronted by lines of police. After a standoff, a delegation of NWPP leaders was able to deliver a letter of protest addressed to U.S. President Donald Trump. Embassy staff refused to meet with them, sending out a security guard to take the letter.

At that moment, Trump was being wined and dined by the far-right prime minister of neighboring India, Narendra Modi. Trump’s visit to India unleashed a wave of violence against Muslims and supporters that left at least 24 people dead.

Trump and Modi also signed a $3 billion arms deal. The NWPP has led many protests against Indian military encroachment on its much smaller northern neighbor.

The letter addressed to Trump, signed by Parliament member Prem Suwal, says: “The [MCC] agreement is not only against the national interest of Nepal but also harms the sovereignty and national freedom of the country. Nepalese people refuse to accept the compact as Nepal and the Nepalese people always adhere to the nonalignment policy in the international sphere. … It’s an open secret that MCC is a project under the Indo-Pacific Strategy of the U.S. government.”

Denouncing the MCC compact as a prelude to subordination to the Pentagon, the letter continues: “The people of the world are quite aware that the presence of U.S. military bases in different parts of the world is the main source of threat to world peace. … The MCC compact is starkly juxtaposed with the sentiment of the Nepalese people, who have long been struggling for national freedom, safeguarding sovereignty, peace and prosperity.”

What is the MCC?

The MCC was established by President George W. Bush in 2004 as a way of placing more stringent requirements on poor countries to receive U.S. financial aid. At least 45 countries currently have MCC compacts or threshold agreements — mostly oppressed countries in the global South.

The MCC is supposed to be independent of institutions like the State Department and U.S. Aid for International Development. But the selection process and program administration are overseen by right-wing organizations like the Heritage Foundation, Freedom House and the Brookings Institution, which loyally serve U.S. imperialism, and its criteria are largely based on countries accepting market-driven economies, austerity budgets and cooperation with the U.S. military.

On Feb. 28, the government of Sri Lanka rejected an MCC agreement on the recommendation of an expert panel, which said it would damage the country’s sovereignty and was incompatible with the constitution.

‘Springboard against China’

Struggle-La Lucha spoke with Surendra Gosai, an educator and leader of the NWPP from Bhaktapur. He was part of the delegation that delivered the protest letter to the doors of the U.S. Embassy.

“The MCC and Indo-Pacific strategy is aimed at making Nepal a springboard against China,” Gosai explained. “The U.S. and India are both preparing for a new war against China. The provisions in the agreement will make Nepal a new colony of the U.S.

“We have been opposing the MCC in Parliament and in the streets,” he said. “Today, some 5,000 youths, teachers, peasants, workers and people from different walks of life participated in the protest. We walked two hours and around eight kilometers through the capital city to the U.S. Embassy, where we handed over the protest letter. Many people in the capital expressed their solidarity with us.”

Asked how poor and working people in the U.S. can help Nepalis resist the MCC, Gosai replied: “Joining hands and intensifying the anti-imperialist struggle would be a good way. Nepalese need solidarity and it’s important to share with the workers and peace-loving people of the world how we are resisting.”

Since the march in Kathmandu, Gosai has continued to travel around Nepal, participating in rallies and marches against the MCC in several cities and towns.

Photos: Balakrishna Banamala

Despite climate change deniers like Donald Trump, there is a high level of awareness about the growing threat to our planet. 

If you’re in the age bracket that is now raising children or will soon, you know there is a chance that the world they’ll inherit will be unlike what previous generations have lived in. 

Unprecedented heat in places that were temperate and unimaginable cold in other areas; routine level 5 hurricanes; coastal populations forced to move inland because of rising sea levels; some island nations completely disappearing; thousands of animal species going extinct: all of that could become the new normal. Every instance of unchecked CO2 pollution bears more consequences.

But climate change isn’t a slow-motion train wreck. We don’t have to just watch in horror as it happens. It might surprise most people to learn that ending the military operations of U.S. imperialism — abolishing the Pentagon — would be the biggest step forward in making sure that the earth stays habitable for future generations.

The period of global warming coincides with the rise of industrial capitalism, and fossil fuels have been central to industry throughout its history. Historical records kept by the World Resources Institute show that since 1850, the U.S. and Europe — where capitalism is most advanced — have been responsible for nearly two-thirds of the heat-trapping contaminants currently in our atmosphere. 

There is one entity that rarely gets discussed when it comes to pointing the finger of blame for wrecking the planet we live on. The U.S. military spews more CO2 and other contaminants into the air than any single corporation. Each of the economies of 45 countries pollute less than the U.S. military. As a single entity, it is the worst polluter in the world.

Much of what we read excludes CO2 emissions by the U.S. military. The authors of a study called “U.S. Military Pollution,” published on TheEcologist.org, point to the Department of Defense concealing information about its role in global warming. 

 ”It’s no coincidence that U.S. military emissions tend to be overlooked in climate change studies. … In fact, the United States insisted on an exemption for reporting military emissions in the 1997 Kyoto Protocol. This loophole was closed by the Paris Accord, but with the Trump administration due to withdraw from the accord in 2020, this gap will return. Our study is based on data retrieved from multiple Freedom Of Information Act requests.”

 A June 2019 Brown University study calculates that between 2001 and 2017, all branches of the U.S. military emitted 1.2 billion metric tons of greenhouse gases. That amount included 400 million metric tons from the U.S. wars against Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya and Syria, as well as attacks in Pakistan.

In an article on Pentagon pollution posted on ClimateAndCapitalism.com, H. Patricia Hynes describes consumption of fuel by the air force: “The U.S. Air Force (USAF) is the single largest consumer of jet fuel in the world. 

“Fathom, if you can, the astronomical fuel usage of USAF fighter planes: the F-4 Phantom Fighter burns more than 1,600 gallons of jet fuel per hour and peaks at 14,400 gallons per hour at supersonic speeds. The B-52 Stratocruiser, with eight jet engines, guzzles 500 gallons per minute; ten minutes of flight uses as much fuel as the average driver does in one year of driving! 

“A quarter of the world’s jet fuel feeds the USAF fleet of flying killing machines; in 2006, they consumed as much fuel as U.S. planes did during the Second World War (1941-1945) —  an astounding 2.6 billion gallons,” Hynes reported.

Since the first U.S. attack on Iraq in 1990, the majority of U.S. military activity has been in the Arab world to maintain control over oil markets. According to PressTV, U.S. troops are stationed in 14 countries in the Middle East and North Africa; there is a huge U.S. base in Qatar; the Fifth Fleet is stationed in Bahrain; and there is a U.S. military airport in Oman. We can now add Al-Tanf in Syria, illegally occupied by the U.S. There may also be secret and illegal bases in occupied Palestine.

During all that military activity, the U.S. has killed over 500,000 people by some estimates, destroyed access to clean water, bombed hospitals and infrastructure, and left behind huge areas so contaminated with depleted uranium as to be uninhabitable. This has all been done to maintain control of oil markets, by the biggest single largest consumer of oil.

There is nothing wrong with being conscious of our personal “carbon footprint.” But workers don’t bear the blame for this horror show. It was energy capitalists who destroyed energy efficient mass transit in most cities in the U.S. It is the corporate class that is out to smash regulations that to a small extent limit the pollution of the planet. 

The frantic pace of industry and the frenzy for profit under capitalism is toxic. The imperialist death machine is even worse. The fight to end capitalist exploitation, stop climate change and end the endless imperialist wars is all one struggle. It is a race against time.

As many as 13 people have died in India’s capital, Delhi, after right-wing mobs went on a rampage, especially targeting sites where people have been protesting the discriminatory and divisive Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA). In many areas, mobs burnt vehicles, beat up people and shouted offensive slogans against Muslims. Over 150 people have been injured. After inaction and even instances of collusion with the rioters for two days, the police issued shoot-at-sight orders in the northeast part of the city on the evening of Tuesday, February 25.

Peaceful protests have been going on at many sites in Delhi since December against the CAA, the National Register of Citizens and the National Population Register, which many fear will reduce Muslims to second-class citizens. The law will also affect the poor and working classes of all religions. Throughout this period, there has been a sustained campaign by Hindu right-wing forces, including those associated with the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party, to polarize the people.

Over the weekend, many of the anti-CAA protests continued even as people gathered at a few new protest sites as well. The gatherings were also in response to a call by an organization called the Bhim Army for a countrywide shutdown. The Bhim Army, which has a strong support base among the Dalits (the formerly untouchable castes), called for the shutdown in response to attacks on reservation (affirmative action) across the country.

The right-wing forces, led by the local leaders of the BJP, issued calls for people to mobilize against the peaceful protests. Kapil Mishra, a BJP leader, publicly threatened that they would clear the streets soon. Beginning with Maujpur in northeast Delhi, right-wing mobs began attacking multiple protest sites on Sunday evening.

As clashes erupted, stone pelting was reported. The police, meanwhile, did not take any steps to calm the situation. Instead, the police also targeted the peaceful protestors. Tear gas shells were fired against the protestors and they also made the use of baton charge. In Hauz Rani area, many women and children were injured due to the baton charge which was carried out by police during their peaceful march.

The tense situation continued the next day with the condition worsening in many areas. In many instances, Muslims were singled out as targets. In Maujpur, Jaffrabad, and Chand Bagh areas, many shops and vehicles were burnt.

In the evening, section 144 was imposed in the affected areas which prohibits the assembly of four or more people.

There following is a video report of the violence that took place on Sunday and Monday. (The death toll has since risen)

Through Monday night and Tuesday, the violence by right-wing rioters continued. The epicenter of the violence and the rioting continues to be the northeastern part of Delhi.  In many areas, people gathered, bearing sticks, rods and batons and smashed and burnt vehicles and shops. There have been reports of rioters trying to barge into houses and attack residents, and wandering around, shouting inflammatory and provocative slogans against Muslims. There have been many reports of police inaction and even of collusion with the right-wing mobs. Journalists too were attacked by some of these mobs.

All this is happening as US president Donald Trump is on a visit to India. The Indian government has gone all out to welcome him. Indian prime minister Narendra Modi has been continuously tweeting about his meetings with Trump but has not referred to the rioting so far. It was only on Tuesday that home minister Amit Shah held a meeting with the chief minister of Delhi State and senior police officers. The State chief minister, Arvind Kerjiwal, has said that there is not adequate police presence on the ground.  There has been strong criticism of especially the Central government for failing to stop the targeting of Muslims as the police of the city are under the Central home ministry.

Leftist parties strongly condemned the government’s inaction. Communist Party of India (Marxist) general secretary Sitaram Yechury tweeted that the “hate speeches by union ministers, members of parliament and top ruling party leaders in Delhi inciting hate and violence in a call to arms .. are responsible for the collapse in law and order that we see today.” He questioned the silence of the prime minister and home minister, asking if it was incompetence or complicity. The Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) Liberation condemned “the ongoing campaign of violence in Delhi being spearheaded by BJP-RSS [Rashtriya Swayamwevak Sangh, the ideological parent of the BJP] thugs and openly facilitated by the Delhi Police and sought the arrest of those who instigated and orchestrated the pogrom, including BJP leaders.” On February 26, a host or organizations and activists are holding a sit-in for peace at the Jantar Mantar in Delhi.

Source: Peoples Dispatch