The seventh CADTM South Asia regional workshop was successfully held in Colombo (Sri Lanka) from April 6 to April 8, 2018, with participants from Sri Lanka, but also from India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, as well as from Japan, France and Belgium (for the CADTM International Secretariat). Around forty delegates, most of them being representatives of social movements (peasants’ movements, feminism, trade unionism, etc.), came together for this three-day long programme.
Assassination in Brazil unmasks the deadly racism of a country that would rather ignore it
16 May 2018, byWhen Marielle Franco, a Rio de Janeiro city councilwoman, was shot to death in downtown Rio on March 14, her killing moved the world.
Solidarity with the Palestinians against Israel’s crimes!
15 May 2018, byOn Monday, while some were celebrating the transfer of the United States Embassy to Jerusalem, Gaza’s Palestinians demonstrated in their tens of thousands near the “border” with Israel. The Israeli army once again opened fire on the protesters: at the time of writing, no less than 52 people have been killed.
Those with least suffer most under Ireland’s abortion ban
15 May 2018, byOn 25 May, the long-awaited and campaigned-for referendum on changing Ireland’s very restrictive abortion law – encapsulated in the 8th amendment to the constitution – will finally be held. The very broad-based Trade Union Campaign to Repeal the 8th launched a tabloid campaign newspaper on 1 May. You can see the publication Yes Repeal here.
Below we reprint one of the articles, by BrÃd Smith, who represents Dublin South-Central in the Irish Parliament, on why abortion is a class issue. We have published two earlier pieces, on what horrors the current situation leads to here and why women are central to the campaign here.
“We need a Balkan socialist movement”
14 May 2018LeftEast spoke to Alek Atevik who is working in Skopje. He is an editor of Nova iskra and a member of Marxist Organization Crveni. He is a founding member of Levica, where he is a coordinator of Program Sector Foreign policy, Defense and Security.
Corbyn under fire
14 May 2018, byFor weeks, Jeremy Corbyn’s Labour Party has been the target of a defamatory campaign meant to undermine it.
The 2018 Char Conference of landless people
13 May 2018On 14 April, 2018 the Char Conference of landless people took place at Charhadi of Dashmina Upazila in Patuakhali district of Bangladesh. This event was jointly organized by Bangladesh Krishak Federation, Bangladesh Kishani Sabha, Bangladesh Adivasi Samity and Bangladesh Bhumihin Samity. [1]
Women’s experience at heart of Yes campaign
13 May 2018, byOn 25 May, the long-awaited and campaigned-for referendum on changing Ireland’s very restrictive abortion law – encapsulated in the 8th amendment to the constution – will finally be held. The very broad-based Trade Union Campaign to Repeal the 8th launched a tabloid campaign newspaper on 1 May. You can see the publication Yes Repeal here.
Below we reprint one of the articles by Orla O’Connor and Ailbhe Smyth are co-directors of the national repeal campaign, Together for Yes on why women’s experiences are central to the campaign. We published an earlier piece on what horrors the current situation leads to here.
The unspeakable cruelty of El Salvador’s abortion laws
12 May 2018Around the world today we are seeing two opposite tendencies in abortion law reform.
Council election results reveal polarised situation
12 May 2018, byLocal elections took place in cities in England on Thursday 3 May 2018. The results were saw a small further shift to Labour under Jeremy Corbyn, but not as significant a success as in the snap general election in 2017. The media and Labour right had talked up the likelihood of Labour victories – as a stick to beat the leadership afterwards when these unrealistic expectations were not met. Unfortunately, some on the left fell into the trap and echoed the same message.
Labour nationally did not project forward a strong anti-austerity message; one which made promises about a Labour government restoring funding to local government which has been significantly decreased by the Tories. This was a particularly unfortunate omission in the context that the majority of those standing as Labour councillors are not Corbyn supporters and that most local manifestos only talk about managing scarce resources.
In this context it was not surprising that most of those who voted on 3 May were committed supporters of one party or another – rather than the pattern we saw in the 2017 general election where Labour turned out many people to vote for their radical manifesto that had not voted before or for a long time. This time we saw a much more static and polarized situation. [International Viewpoint]
Footnotes
[1] Adivasi are the indigenous peoples of South East Asia; today only around 1.5% of the population of Bangladesh