John Pilger 1939-2023

On the second last day of 2023, John Richard Pilger died in London age 84. Pilger is a name linked to genuine leftist journalism, something that is very rare in the current media landscape dominated by capitalist sensation journalism and outright right-wing propagandists. John Pilger was a unique fighter for working class people. A journalist and film-maker, who can rightfully be called one of the most important faces of left-wing journalism in the late 20^th century.

Who was John Pilger?

John Richard Pilger was born in Australia in 1939. His father was German and his mother had a mixture of English, German and Irish ancestry. Young John started his journalist career in 1958 and was a witness of the assassination of Robert F. Kennedy in Los Angeles, during his presidential campaign in 1968. Then in 1970, Pilger went to South Vietnam to make a report on the American soldiers and their growing frustrations on the war with the Vietnamese. For 14 years his employer was the Mirror, who fired John Pilger after Robert Maxwell became its capitalist owner in 1984.

Famous on television

Although John Pilger started as a journalist who wrote in newspapers, his work in South Vietnam made him famous on colour television after 1970. In total, John Pilger made over 50 documentary films, exposing the western support for dictatorial governments. From the right-wing regime of Suharto in Indonesia, to the mass killers of the Red Khmer who got their guns from American and Western-European stockpiles in Thailand. Pilger exposed western imperialism and was hated for that by the western establishment. Liberals, conservatives and social-democrats did not liked the work and interview style of Pilger, who confronted them on their own hypocrisy.

In 2002, Pilger showed the world that; Palestine Is Still the Issue. Now in early 2024, we all know that the criminal State of Israel killed over 25.000 Palestinians, in a collective punishment for the attack of HAMAS in October 2023. Pilger said in 2002 that Israel was ignoring the Oslo Accords and that it kept oppressing the people of Gaza (still under occupation back then) and the West-Bank. He gave a voice to the Palestinians, who had been silenced by the betrayal of Yasser Arafat and FATAH.

It was John Pilger who showed us how the western media was deeply in bed with western imperialism in: The War You Don’t See (2010). The media of the so called ’’free world’’ is a champion of western imperialist aggression. In 2001 and 2003 they all supported the view that Afghanistan and Iraq were ’’liberated’’ by Anglo-American forces. That the regimes installed in Kabul and Bagdad were ’’democratic’’ and ’’free’’ although neither of them respected freedom of speech for those who opposed their slave mentality to western imperialism. Today Iraq is closer to Iran and Afghanistan has fallen back into the hands of the Taliban.

Exposing crimes against native Australian people

Pilger not only exposed western imperialism around the world. He also showed how native people were discriminated and abused by racist governments in Australia. Although racist legislature was abolished between 1949 and 1973, there has never been an official apology for the White Australia Policy. John Pilger showed us that even after 40 years, there remains deep inequality and poverty among the native Australian population. The historic injustice they faced remains a trauma, especially the racist idea that native Australians were backward and inferior to white culture. This led to the kidnapping of native children, who were raised in white families. The trauma of the Lost Generation runs deep in native Austrian society and received little recognition by the white majority.

Standing for Kampuchea against western hypocrisy

In 1979, Vietnam invaded Kampuchea. This they did after Pol Pot attacked Vietnamese towns and murdered many. Pol Pot led the Red Khmer, the on-official name of the Communist Party of Kampuchea. However unlike the Vietnamese Stalinists, the Cambodian Stalinists embraced a nationalist Maoist ideology. Pol Pot wanted to restore the ancient Khmer empire. This is why he spread ethnic Khmer nationalism which regarded Vietnamese as inferior. This is why the Cambodian Stalinists attacked the Vietnamese Stalinists.

After Vietnam overthrew Pol Pot. The western world took the side of a regime that had slaughtered over 1 million people in less then three years. John Pilger was allowed into Kampuchea and with his documentary Year Zero: the Silent Death of Cambodia, over 45 million dollars (191 million today) was raised to help the country. However western imperialism did not help the new People’s Republic of Kampuchea. Instead western imperialism only recognised the Pol Pot regime. After the pro-Vietnamese government choose to abandon Stalinism in 1989, Pilger showed us how western imperialism kept rejecting the government, until dictator Hun Sen restored the Cambodian monarchy in 1993.

The Coming War on China

John Pilger said in 2016 that the western world was about to enter a (cold) war with China. 8 years later we can say that western imperialism is indeed at war with eastern imperialism. A new Cold War is happening between one camp in the west and one camp in the east. Western imperialism claims it stands for ’’democracy’’ and ’’freedom’’’, the simply repeat their dogma’s from the first Cold War. In reality, western imperialism supports over 70% of all dictatorships, from Saudi-Arabia to Turkmenistan. Cruel and abusive regimes are free to buy western technology as long as they do not openly reject western imperialism.

Standing up for Julian Assange

Despite never been found guilty of any crime. Julian Assange is still in a British prison as of 2024. He was jailed in 2019 after the Republic of Ecuador betrayed him and forced Assange out of their embassy in London. American imperialism would love to get their hands on Julien Assange, who exposed their crimes and hypocrisy. John Pilger stood by Julien Assange right from the start when western imperialism started to prosecute him. Pilger died in December 2023, never knowing what would happen to his friend, who is still in a British prison despite only been sentenced to 50 weeks there.

Criticism of John Pilger

It is said that Pilger only focuses his work against western imperialism. That he had little criticism of eastern imperialism, mainly Russia or China. Just before the invasion of Ukraine, John Pilger did not believe that Putin would invade. Pilger however did denounce the invasion, but warned us to see beyond the propaganda from the western world, who portray Ukraine as a pure innocent and Russia as pure evil. Pilger said that the war in Ukraine is a war of propaganda between the western camp and the eastern camp.

John Pilger was close to socialism, but he never openly called for it. He never said that we need a socialist alternative against the forces of imperialism. His journalistic work was directed against the largest imperialist player and that remains the western camp. The eastern imperialist camp in 2024 is weaker and smaller. We must not forget that the USA and the EU have the largest economy of the world. Although Russia and China are competing, their militaries remains inferior to that of NATO.

In the end, John Pilger wanted to listen to people, to those marginalised and ignored by western countries and their media. This is why for the propagandists of the western world, he was a ’’Putin supporter’’ or a ’’Chinese supporter’’. Pilger indeed did not attack Russia and China as harsh as he attacked the USA or the EU. This could be explained from the fact that he knew the western world, while as a western person knew little of the other side.

The legacy of John Pilger

John Richard Pilger died in London on 30 December 2023, he was 84 years old. Pilger was a fighter for those not heard in the media. A journalist who wanted to listen before judging. This is why he was special and his documentaries should be watched by all who wish to see beyond the media of the western world. Revolutionary Socialist Media honours this journalist, who rightfully can be called one of the best journalists of the late 20^th century.

Full support for Greta Thunberg

Greta Thunberg was in Amsterdam to march for the climate. During the march, she also gave room to defend the Palestinian people from terror attacks by Israel. Supporters of the terror state are furious. Greta Thunberg is not allowed to speak for Palestine, she should only speak of the climate and ignore the massive human rights abuses by Israel, they say. Thunberg was also rejected by many capitalist green parties like the Alliance 90/The Greens, who are in the German government. Revolutionary socialists call for full solidarity with Thunberg, who is assaulted by the whole pro-Israeli capitalist establishment, because she stood up for the oppressed Palestinians.

The German; Federal Government Commissioner for Jewish Life in Germany and the Fight against Antisemitism, has called Greta Thunberg hostile to Israel and an anti-Semite for using the slogan: From the River to the Sea. Revolutionary socialists understand that some Jews fear that such a slogan means that in a single Palestinian state, there would be no room for Jews. In reality, no left-winger who calls for a united Palestine will say that Jews would not be welcome. In fact many who call for a single state solution demand a secular Palestinian state for all religions, both Judaism, Islam, Christianity and none-religious people.

What the supporters of a single state solution do demand is an end to the State of Israel, an end to a state for Jews only! This is what Zionists and their allies call antisemitism, because Zionism is a Jewish nationalist ideology much like Arab nationalism. We just have to look at middle eastern nations and we see how cruel this Arab nationalism has been in the past. In many middle eastern nations, Arab nationalist governments enforced Arab ethnic nationalism and created states for Arabs only, forcing Jews and none-Arabs out.

Zionism in Israel is not about giving Jews a homeland. It is about making sure that Jews rule in all the lands they see as holy, like Judea and Samaria Area (occupied West-Bank of Palestine). This is why the State of Israel does not have a secular constitution. This is why most laws in Israel are based on Jewish religious laws and customs. Yes, Christians, Muslims and none-Jews are free to express themselves, but the laws of Israel are not made for them. The State of Israel is a Jewish state, meaning that its state is made for Jews and nobody else. We revolutionary socialists reject that as much as we reject Arab nationalism and any other ethnic nationalist state.

Greta Thunberg is right in saying that there cannot be climate justice under occupation. This infuriates the Zionist oppressors and their allies. Alliance 90/The Greens in Germany have called Thunberg out for her support of Palestine. Thunberg should know that the German greens are not her allies in the climate struggle. This capitalist party has been working against the interests of the German working class for many years. German greens are pro-capitalist and do not oppose the system that is causing climate change, which is capitalism.

That the State of Israel calls Greta Thunberg an anti-Semite is understandable. The terror state is calling anybody an anti-Semite, who stands up to their terrorist attacks on Gaza. Anybody who criticises the actions of the Israeli occupation army in Gaza is a hater of Jews. This is what the capitalist media also promotes. Those who side with the Palestinians are denounced as ”HAMAS supporters” or ”supporters of terrorism”. Thunberg is not the last in a long line of activists, who are denounced for standing up to the state-terrorism of Israel.

Revolutionary socialists do not support the single state solution. It seems idealistic to unite the two peoples in one state for all ethnicities. Reality is that years of hatred, mistrust and hostility mean that Israeli’s and Palestinians cannot live together in one state, even under socialism for now. This is why the Socialist Struggle Movement in Israel/Palestine (ISA) calls for two socialist states with the 1967 borders. Yes, this would mean that the country of Israel remains, but this Israel will not be the State of Israel for Jews only. It will be a Socialist Republic of Israel next to a Socialist Republic of Palestine, two socialist states build for workers from all ethnic backgrounds.

International Socialist Alternative (ISA) is one of the few international socialist groups that is calling for a socialist two state solution. Many left-wingers are part of the single state camp and are flying the Palestinian flag in support of this. Revolutionary socialists fear that this overuse of Palestinian symbols will alienate the Israeli working class, who are drilled with fear and indoctrination. They think that all Palestinians are anti-Semitic and wish to murder Jews. This is what the far-right in Israel has been saying since 1967. Every terror attack of Palestinians is translated as an anti-Semitic attack against Jews.

This is why we say that both working classes need to heal in two socialist states as part of a socialist federation of the middle east. For this to happen the Israeli working class will need to brake from their Zionist mentality. A socialist Israel will be a state for all workers, not just Jewish workers. At the same time, a socialist Palestine will have to accept those Jewish workers who wish to live in the West-Bank and the Gaza Stripe. Israeli capitalism is not working and poverty is a big problem. Also we must not forget that the State of Israel receive billions in subsidies and donations, mainly from the USA.

It would be better if youth like Greta Thunberg stand for a socialist Israel and a socialist Palestine. By only calling for a free Palestine, the Israeli media will brand them as opponents of Jews. Therefore International Socialist Alternative calls for a socialist two state solution. Only socialism can provide an end to this conflict. If the whole left-wing would call for socialism in the middle east, then it could send a clear signal to the Israeli’s and Palestinians, that their capitalist leaders are not the alternative. Because both the governments of Israel (Benjamin Netanyahu) and Palestine (HAMAS in Gaza and FATAH in the West-Bank) do not work in the interests of ordinary working people!

Migrants dumped on the sea by Fortress Europe

Migrants and refugees face many insecurities. Poverty and desperation is a main reason why so many choose to flee their home country. But wars and dictatorships also play a large role. Afghans flee their country since western imperialism choose to intervene by arming rebels and corrupt Afghan governments. They same can be said about Africans who escape poverty and oppression caused by pro-western dictatorships. Since 2019, a right-wing government rules Greece. This government has chosen to pushback migrants into the sea and lies massively about it. It is a fact that the Greek coast guard is putting refugees and migrants back in their boats, which is illegal and morally wrong. What is worse is that the EU knows about this and does not care. This shows us that Fortress Europe (the EU) is a bunch of hypocrites!

Right-wing populists and far-right politicians are spreading hatred of migrants and refugees for many years now. It is the task of the left-wing to stand in solidarity with victims of anti-migrant rhetoric and politics. Greece is facing a refugee crisis, but that does not give the Greek government the right to ignore international laws. Human-rights groups are sounding the alarms as many boat refugees are pushed back into the sea by the Greek coast guard. According to those who experienced these push backs, they are arrested in Greece, then put on a coast guard ship and dumped on a small boat far out on sea. The brutality of the Greek coast guard reminds us of Nazi methods.

”They threat us like animals” is what survivors of these push-backs tell the Turkish coast guard, who is forced to save many of these refugees who are dumped by Greece. Meanwhile Athens is claiming that they do not push migrants back into the sea. The conservative government of New Democracy (ruling right-wing party) blames Turkey for spreading anti-Greek propaganda. Reality is that we have pictures of Greek ships dumping refugees into small boats and pushing them back into the sea. Athens is lying to the world, yet the European Union does nothing. They ignore the cruel treatment of these migrants/refugees, who are arrested and pushed back with massive brutality by Greek police and coast guard personnel.

The former Coalition of the Radical Left (now a social-democratic party) came to power in 2015. SYRIZA could have build up a socialist Greece. However its leader Alexis Tsipras had abandoned his Marxist ideas and embraced moderate leftism. When the EU turned on Greece and demanded austerity and cuts, Tsipras capitulated before the Troika of the EU, the Worldbank and the IMF. Millions of Greek workers were betrayed as SYRIZA carried out the demands of European capitalism. New Democracy used that to win the elections in 2019. The misttrust of politicians runs deep as less then 57% came and voted in the last elections. This shows us that Greek democracy is weakened due to the inability of SYRIZA and New Democracy to solve the massive inequality.

Although Greece is to blame for pushing migrants/refugees back into the sea, the European Union shares blame too. Fortress Europe is responsible for the fact that so many try to flee towards it. European governments have all intervened in the Arab and Central Asian world. Western bombs have destroyed millions of lives in countries such as Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, Syria and Yemen. In Africa, western imperialism is allied to brutal dictators who are very friendly to the European Union. European companies exploit the resources of Africa while giving workers very little of their massive profits. This is why so many try to escape to Europe, not knowing the deep hostility, racism and rejection they face.

Because many European workers also live in insecurity. Capitalism simply cannot solve their problems as it is a system for the ruling class, not the class who is in the majority and who does the actual work. Massive inflation is making life more expensive and millions see their living standards declining. Migrants/refugees face discrimination and hostility, because the left-wing fails to provide a alternative to the injustice of capitalism. Left-wing parties in Europe are not anti-capitalist and remain stuck in the failed social-democratic model. European workers therefore are easily misled by the far-right into hating migrants, although the main blame lies with the capitalist system and the governments who work for them.

European governments know that Greece is breaking international human rights, but they don’t care. NATO countries know that Turkey is a dictatorship and occupying parts of northern Syria, but they don’t care. Russia is under massive sanctions for invading Ukraine. Turkey is free to do anything it wants, despite that they have invaded and occupied northern Syria since 2016. We all remember when the Syrian puppets of Ankara invaded the Afrin region and turned it into a hellhole for the Kurdish people living there. Nothing was done then, because Turkey is a NATO member and ally of the European Union. This is why Fortress Europe is not a beacon of human-rights and tolerance. They are just as imperialist and cruel as American, Russian and Chinese imperialism!

Human-rights mean nothing for European imperialism. They use it for propaganda purposes and to attack Russia/China. But in reality the USA and EU are braking human-rights too. The building of Fortress Europe to stop migration and refugees from outside the EU proofs this. A new Berlin Wall has been build by the Baltic countries to stop refugees from countries such as Belarus and Russia. Again, we remember that European countries share in the blame for the migrant crisis. Western countries have intervened in the Islamic world by destabilising countries such as Afghanistan (since 1978), Iraq (since 2003), Libya (since 2011), Syria (since 2012) and who’s weapons are used to murder people in Yemen (since 2015) by the totalitarian Saudi regime.

Revolutionary socialists reject the anti-migrant/refugee rhetoric. We stand for solidarity with all who flee wars, poverty and injustice. The European Union is building a fortress around Europe, we reject that and fight against it. We call for open and free borders for all, no matter who’s background. The EU has done that for its member states, but since most migrants/refugees are from outside the EU, they face deportations and violence from European authorities. Why then are these desperate people going to Europe? Mainly this is due to the fact that they come from very poor backgrounds. Europe is seen as a heaven, with stable incomes and wealth.

Our enemy is not the migrant worker or the refugee. Our enemy is the same enemy that is causing millions to flee. The capitalist system is causing death and destruction. Therefore we must abolish it and build up a socialist Europe free from the elitists who start wars and cause injustice to fuel their eternal need for profits. The war in Ukraine also shows European racism as Ukrainian refugees are welcomed, yet those from the Islamic world are deported and pushed back into the sea by Greece. The far-right fuels racism as ordinary workers are poisoned to hate those with a migration/refugee background. It is up to us to fight against this hatred and to show workers that their enemy is the capitalist class.

Revolutionary socialists call on the European left-wing to expose the criminal Greek government and their illegal methods of pushing people back into the sea. We need to make clear that the right-wing government in Athens is the enemy of the Greek working class. But at the same time we must expose those leftists who do not fight for a socialist alternative. We must expose the class traitors like Alexis Tsipras who refused to fight the European Union. International Socialist Alternative is fighting for a international socialist alternative. Join us and fight, because we workers have nothing to lose but our chains, we have a world to win!

Deaths at the Polish-Belarussian border

People are dying due to cold at the Polish-Belarussian border. Many migrants out of the Middle East are stuck on the border between the reactionary Polish government and the dictatorial Belarussian government. Alexander Lukashenko of Belarus is using desperate people to attack the European Union, who imposed sanctions on his autocratic regime. Many refugees and migrants from Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, Syria and other parts of the Islamic world have fled to Belarus in the understanding they could travel to Germany or Britain. But right-wing Poland does not want them, they are stuck on the border between the EU (Poland) and the regime of Lukashenko, who only uses them as pawns.

Who is to blame? Right-wing Europeans blame the migrants, the refugees, the men, the women, the children. ”They are to blame for coming to Europe” they say. In reality the European Union is to blame. Capitalist governments in Poland and the Baltic countries (Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia) gave full political support to the criminal invasions and interventions into the Islamic world by Western imperialism since 2001. Therefore the governments of these countries shares in the blame for the refugee crisis and the fact that many try to flee countries like Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria and Libya.

Right-wing populism is in power in many eastern European countries. Because the established left-wing failed (social-democracy) right-wing populism took power while blaming socialism for their own capitalist politics. They claim to stand for ”the people”, in reality the governments of Poland and Hungary divide workers to keep them under capitalist rule. This is possible because social-democracy ruled no differently then liberal or conservative governments. After the collapse of Stalinism, many Stalinist communists became social-democrats on paper and embraced neoliberalism.

Yet none of them stopped the free market fundamentalism that was introduced after 1990. Neither social-democrats or their liberal allies stopped the inequality that capitalism created. It resulted in the rise of right-wing populist leaders like Viktor Orban, who hides his reactionary conservatism under a cloak of populism and nationalism. Reality is that there is no socialist alternative in Poland and Hungary. Anti-socialist stigmatization of the 1990’s resulted in many workers having been brainwashed with lies about socialism . They wrongfully think that the Stalinist regimes were socialist, this is repeated over and over by the capitalist media each day.

In reality the movement against Stalinism did not call for capitalist restoration. There were no slogans for the privatization of the economy or the return of exploiters, speculators and stock markets. Workers wanted to be free from the single party system that ruled by fear and police brutality. Now the capitalist regimes in Poland and Hungary are also slowly moving back to that era. Viktor Orban is not facing a genuine left-wing challenge. Worse, the opposition against him has now selected a conservative politician to be their candidate. This shows how weak the liberal opposition in Hungary is.

These right-wing regimes also spread hatred of migrants, specially Muslims. They need this fictional enemy in order to divert attention away from the fact that under their leadership, inequality remains very high. Many young workers are leaving eastern Europe. They rejected the racism, antisemitism and growing authoritarianism of leaders like Viktor Orban. Since coming to power, Orban has spread hatred of Muslims and Jews. Liberal billionaire George Soros is called an enemy of the state, due to his humanitarian and political involvement in the European refugee crisis, by the Hungarian state media controlled by Orban.

Alexander Lukashenko of Belarus knows that the right-wing governments of Poland and the Baltic countries reject migrates from the Islamic world. After the EU imposed sanctions on his regime, the Belarussian dictator came up with a devilish plan. He ordered his state owned airliner Belavia, to transport desperate refugees from the middle east into Belarus. Then they were to send to the border with Poland and dumped there. He knows that Poland would close the border trapping thousands. The migrants do not want to live in Poland, their target is western Europe. Yet Polish borderguards tell them that Poland “is full”!

Now there is a humanitarian crisis on the border between Poland and Belarus. Migrants who flee the civil wars caused by imperialist interventions are trapped. Winter is coming and at least ten migrants have already died due to cold. Responsible are both Poland and Belarus. Lukashenko is to blame for sending these people knowing that Poland would not allow them in, but Poland is to blame for closing the border to people who flee wars they supported. Poland shares responsibility since their soldiers fought for Western imperialism in Iraq and Afghanistan, which caused this refugee crisis.

Western imperialism started this crisis when they started to pay millions to the Afghan Islamic fighters who fought the Soviets. These Islamists overthrew the Republic of Afghanistan in 1992 and installed a Islamic regime, that became a brutal emirate in 1996. The Taliban were overthrown by Western imperialism, but returned after the puppet of the western world collapsed in August 2021. Now many Afghans will try to flee the totalitarian regime of the Taliban, a product of imperialism. Both Poland and Hungary supported the invasion of 2001 and were part of the ISAF and RS missions of NATO.

Migrants who flee wars caused by Western (American and European) imperialism deserve to be given free access to Europe. Poland is a major hypocrite by closing its borders. Refugees deserve not to be used as pawns in the right-wing conflict between Poland and Belarus. Alexander Lukashenko is a tyrant who plays with human lives. In 2020/2021 he used police and army to crush the demonstrations against his regime, arresting 32.000 people. It is thanks to the Committee for State Security (KGB), Militia (police) and Army that the dictator can remain in power. The KGB tortured over 1.700 arrested demonstrators.

It is unacceptable that men, women and children are left in the cold, while right-wing regimes in Warsaw and Minsk battle over them. The European Union is blaming Russia while Belarus blames the EU. Revolutionary socialists fully oppose the governments of both the European camp as the Belarus/Russia camp. Russian imperialism is in direct competition with European imperialism. It does not care about humans as we have seen at the border. It is estimated that over 4.000 migrants are camping in the freezing climate of eastern Poland. Ten of them have already died, many more are at risk. Lukashenko will let them die, while blaming the EU.

We demand that the border is opened and that all refugees are given protection and a place to stay. Western imperialism created this crisis when they destabilized the middle east and Afghanistan since 1978. We stand in full solidarity with all working class people fleeing war and poverty. What is needed is socialism in all parts of the world. A democratic socialist economy under the control of workers by workers. Belarus is not a socialist society, despite the use of Soviet symbolism. Lukashenko is a state-capitalist dictator who needs to be overthrown in a proletarian revolution. Liberal methods have failed, only democratic self-organization by the working class can put an end to his regime!

Climate strike by Fridays for Future

On 24 September 2021, the climate awareness group Fridays for Future organized world wide protest marches. The young environmentalists are led by Greta Thunberg, who became famous for organizing schoolchildren to protest against the growing climate crisis. Greta is not loved by the capitalist establishment and its propagandists. Right-wing commenters hate her because she dares to speak out. Members of International Socialist Alternative (ISA) support the actions of Fridays for Future and Greta Thunberg. At the same time we say that there is no system change possible under capitalism. We need socialism and democratic planning to end the destruction of the climate.

In the Dutch city of Utrecht, members of Socialist Alternative (ISA in the Netherlands) came to support the many children and teenagers, who were rallied by Fridays for Future Nederland. Also present were members of the International Socialists, RED the (former) youth section of the Socialist Party, members from the Party of Animals and Extinction Rebellion Nederland. However the fast majority of participants were not members of any political group. They were driven by the call of Fridays for Future Nederland to come and join the rally to protest the failed climate politics of the Dutch government.

The Kingdom of the Netherlands is a monarchy in northern Europe. Founded after the fall of the French Empire, the Dutch kingdom at first also included the country of Belgium. In 1830 however the Belgians split from the Dutch and founded their own kingdom. Today the Netherlands remains a monarchy with a king who still has some political power. Revolutionary socialists have opposed the monarchy, but the established left-wing has not done anything to promote a Dutch republic in the last years.

Since 2010, Mark Rutte is the prime minister of the Netherlands. A neoliberal politician, Rutte hails from the People’s Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD in Dutch). The VVD is a liberal party that promotes individualism, free market capitalism and western imperialism. They differ with the Christian democrats (conservatives) mainly on the issue of the free market and individual freedoms. In the last general election the VVD and another liberal party called Democrats 66 won about 1/3 of all votes. Liberalism has a strong base of support in the Netherlands.

Both the VVD and D66 are not leftist. They are supportive of neoliberalism and deregulation of the government. Democrats 66 started out as progressive liberal in 1966, but they have moved away from many progressive issues and today can be called a typical bourgeoise liberal democratic party. The established left-wing is made up of the Party of Labour, GreenLeft and the Socialist Party. All three parties are not socialist and neither dare to brake with the capitalist establishment. The SP used to be the most left-wing party in the Netherlands, however due to its pro-capitalist leadership it lost many memebers.

Socialist Alternative used to work in both the Party of Labour and the Socialist Party. After the social democrats abandoned their last socialist ideas, the revolutionary socialists worked inside the SP until the party leadership decided to purge them in 2010. This was repeated in 2021 when a witch-hunt was launched against the Communist Platform and RED, the former youth section that was kicked out of the Socialist Party because it dared to elect a Marxist as chairman. Although RED is no longer the youth section of the SP, its members consider themselves socialists and even revolutionary.

The climate strike began on 24 September in Utrecht with a march. Few Dutch were aware of the climate strike and many supported them, even a worker at the main road station gave a show of solidarity. Off course the demonstration was not mentioned on national television. Neither the Dutch Broadcasting Foundation (NOS) nor the commercial news networks gave attention to the brave youth, who marched in Utrecht. Only the NOS made a small remark about the protest in their late news broadcast. This shows us why the capitalist media is not so ”trustworthy”.

Socialist Alternative (ISA Netherlands) made a video about the march on 24 September in Utrecht. It can be viewed here on Revolutionary Socialist Media or on their Facebook and You-Tube pages.

Ten years after the Utøya massacre

Ten years have past since far-right terrorist; Anders Breivik attacked the Norwegian island of Utøya. Breivik is an anti-socialist mass murderer who decided to kill over 77 people on 22 July 2011. His main target were the social-democratic youth of the Labour Party (Arbeidarpartiet). The Workers Youth League of the Labour Party held a summer camp on the island of Utøya with over 600 participants. When Breivik arrived on the island, he presented himself as a police officer. Then he told the camp leaders to gather all teenagers around him. Because he was dressed as a police officer, the youth and camp leaders trusted him. Breivik opened fire and killed 69 participants and staff members. Meanwhile in Oslo, a car bomb killed another 8 innocent Norwegians.

The Kingdom of Norway in Scandinavia (Northern Europe) was shocked on 22 July 2011. A car bomb killed 8 people in Oslo, while on the island of Utøya over 69 were murdered in cold blood. Anders Breivik was not a mad man or a crazy person. He was driven by a far-right ideology mixed with the idea that he needed to start a holy war against Norwegian social democracy. For Breivik, the acceptance of none-western religions and cultures were destroying Norway. Like many far-right personas, Anders Breivik claimed that ”Cultural-Marxism” played a key role in mass migration and rise of Islam and feminism.

”Cultural-Marxism” does not exist, it is a far-right invention that comes from the Nazi concept of ”Cultural-Bolshevism”. The Nazi’s invented that word to denounce modernist and progressive movements in culture. Cultural Marxism is a far-right anti-Semitic conspiracy theory, which claims Marxism as the basis of continuing academic and intellectual efforts to subvert western culture. It is popular among right-wing nationalists, racists, fascists and neo-Nazi’s. Breivik used to be a member of a right-wing party called Progress Party, which is deeply against migrants from Islamic nations.

Anders Breivik set off a bomb in Oslo before he went to Utøya to murder the teenagers of the Workers Youth League. The bomb was a diversion from his real target. Norwegian media started to speculate if the bombing was an Islamic terror attack. In doing so the Kingdom of Norway looked towards Muslims and not a white terrorist like Anders Breivik. As the bomb killed 8 innocent people in the capital, Breivik dressed up as a police officer with a fake ID card and took a boat to Utøya. There he told the camp leaders of the bomb and asked them to rally all campers around him.

Many were murdered in the first minutes of the attack, others were slaughtered as Breivik toured the island, killing anybody he could find. 16-year-old Andrine Bakkene Espeland was his last victim. She was murdered 60 minutes after the far-right murderer began his attack on the innocent youth. Former prime minister Gro Harlem Brundtland used to be on the island just two hours before Anders Breivik came. She was his main target, but as luck would have it Brundtland left Utøya before Breivik. After his killing spree over 69 people were killed and of the 517 survivors, 66 were wounded. Anders Breivik was captured on the island and surrendered win-out a fight.

Out of the 69 people murdered on Utøya, 8 were above the age of 26. The majority of victims were between the ages of 15 and 19. Breivik pleaded not guilty to his crime. During his mental evaluation, Anders Breivik was diagnosed with a narcissistic personality disorder and antisocial personality disorder. However that does not hide his far-right white nationalism and hatred of leftism. Breivik resented the idea that Norway had become a multicultural nation. He wanted his homeland to be pure white and not tolerant of others, especially Muslims. The Workers Youth League stood against his racism and bigotry, therefore their youth became Breivik’s target.

The media declared Breivik a lone wolf, a crazy person and nothing was said about his far-right ideology and agenda. When Islamic terrorists attacked the western world, Muslims were told that they must reject the crimes of these terrorists. But no right-wing populist was asked to denounce the crimes of Anders Breivik. No right-wing Norwegian was asked to denounce the killing of the social democratic youth. This is how the western world reacts differently to crimes carried out by Muslims compared to crimes carried out by none-Muslims. It seems that Muslims always must undergo collective punishment, when a terrorist attack is carried out in the name of Islam.

Because the maximum punishment in prison is 21 years in Norway, Anders Breivik was sentenced on that. It is likely he will never leave prison. Because Norwegian law says that a person can be put back in jail if he/she is deemed a danger to society. Since Breivik has never shown any remorse for his crimes and that he remains loyal to white nationalism, racism and anti-Islamic bigotry, he will likely never leave his prison. In 2016 it was reported that in jail, Anders Breivik accepted Nazism as his ideology. Before that year he never openly called himself a supporter of Adolf Hitler. Brenton Tarrant who murdered 51 Muslims in New Zealand said he took inspiration from Breivik’s crime.

Mass murderers like Anders Breivik, Brenton Tarrant and Dylann Roof murdered because they were white nationalist/supremacists. Breivik turned on the youth of Norwegian social-democracy because he wrongly believed, that the Labour Party in Norway was Marxist. The far-right killer could not see the difference between the pro-capitalist social democrats in Norway and actual Marxists, who oppose social-democracy. For Breivik and other far-right killers there is not difference. Reality remains that because of the neoliberal politics of the Labour Party in Norway, inequality and racism have grown.

White nationalists like Breivik are winning support because the official left-wing fails to provide a socialist alternative. Many white workers in Scandinavia feel abandoned by social democratic parties, who used to be their political representative in politics. Norwegian social democracy lost two elections and only won 27,4% of all voters during the last election in 2017. Compare that to the period before the dawn of neoliberalism (1980 onward) when the Labour Party always won above 34%. Now social democracy in Scandinavia is in decline too. We revolutionary socialists knew this would happen for many years.

The right-wing Progress Party that once had Breivik as a member, is now the third largest party in the Norwegian parliament. Actual socialist forces in Norway are divided between a moderate left led by the Socialist Left Party (SV) and the revolutionary: Red Party. The SV used to be a coalition partner of the social democrats and lost badly when they had to accept responsibility for capitalist politics. Revolutionary socialists can be found in the Red Party that has grown to 10.000 members in 2020 and they have one member in parliament.

Cuban protests

There are spontaneous protests in the Republic of Cuba against the dictatorial government of Miguel Díaz-Canel. Covid-19 has hit the island very hard. Trade has almost ceased and with the American trade embargo, Cuba is facing a massive shortage of food and medicines. The ruling Communist Party of Cuba started with capitalists reforms as early as 2008, but that has not resulted in more wealth. Instead it led to the growth of a new class of wealthy Cubans. The average working class is suffering as wages are very low and with the Covid-19 crisis, the bureaucratic government proofs to be ineffective and unable to act. In response, the Cubans have turned to protests which is a rarity on the Stalinist island.

Revolutionary socialists support the protests of working class Cubans. None of them are calling for the complete restoration of capitalism and therefore not all are ”counterrevolutionaries”. The protests go against the ineffective government of Miguel Díaz-Canel, who replaced Raul Castro as President of Cuba and First Secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba. Like other Stalinist regimes in the past, Havana portrays the protests as ”counterproductive” and even ”counterrevolutionary”. This is the typical response from a regime that brands any kind of protest ”counterrevolutionary” to justify its oppressive nature.

Unlike most communist parties, revolutionary socialists do not give political support to the Communist Party of Cuba. We reject the single party state and the ineffective top-down economy. We have always argued for a democratic society and a planned economy from below. However Fidel Castro and Raul Castro followed the Soviet model and by 1961 the island was a typical Marxist-Leninist (Stalinist) republic, with a nationalized economy under control of a bureaucratic government. All political power was centralized in the hands of Castro and his revolutionary comrades. Until the 1970’s the power of the actual communist party itself was limited as the first party congress was not held until 1975.

Fidel Castro cared little for party congresses. For him the Communist Party of Cuba was a vehicle to carry out his daily orders and to act as a base of ”revolutionary cheerleaders”. After the collapse of the USSR, Fidel Castro cared even less about actual party rules. We know this because between 1997 and 2011 there was no communist party congress. The old Castro ignored the rules of his own party and did not organized a congress until 2011, when he formally handed over power to Raul Castro. The younger Castro then started with market reforms and fired 500.000 government workers in order to boost ”capitalist entrepreneurism”!

Now in 2021, Miguel Díaz-Canel is the President and First Secretary. Under his reign Covid-19 came to Cuba. It struck hard because its economy is already under siege since 1961. The American trade embargo keeps the island isolated from many trade partners. Despite the fact that the Democratic Party is in power in the USA, Joe Biden remains loyal to the undemocratic and unfair trade embargo imposed on the island. While the USA does not impose trade embargo’s on China, Vietnam or Laos (all three are ”communist”), Cuba is still banned from trading with the USA by the imperialist regime in Washington DC.

In 2020 Covid-19 hit the world. The tourist industry of almost all nations collapsed as the virus prevented millions from traveling. Cuba’s economy relies on tourism to gain hard currency. Since the 1990’s there is a huge gap between Cubans working in the tourist sector and those in the state sector. Due to the two currency system, workers who have access to the currency meant for tourists, have access to products that state employed workers cannot buy. This inequality proofs to us that Cuba is not a socialist society, since almost no worker on the island can afford one night in a four start hotel build for western tourists. 30 U.S dollars is a monthly wage for most Cubans.

With a deathly virus spreading across the planet, tourists stayed away. Cuba is losing a least four billion U.S dollars because of Covid-19 and that is only from the tourist sector. With losing money comes the hard fact that the island is now facing a economic crisis. Workers cannot buy food, food that cannot be sold, because the state does not have the money to buy it. Because Cuba is partially capitalist, food prices rose hard which is why these protests started. Cuba is supposed to be a society under control of workers, but in reality prices are often set by individuals and the ”socialist” government stood by and did nothing.

There is now a general shortage of food, medicine and lose of electricity. The Stalinist bureaucracy blames it all on the USA and the trade embargo. This is partially true, because the Americans have blocked the island for 60 years. Cuba is not allowed to buy or trade with American companies. The reaction of the U.S government towards the protests is hypocritical, because they share a huge blame in the current economic crisis on Cuba. If American politicians cared so much about the Cubans, then should argue for an end to the trade embargo. However we know that they will not do that. American politicians use the embargo to punish the working class of Cuba because they defied the 1961 Bay of Pigs invasion.

Miguel Díaz-Canel has called on his supporters to rally against the ”provocateurs” as he calls the working class Cubans who now protest. Communist parties worldwide will show solidarity with the Cuban government as they are uncritical of the Communist Party of Cuba. This is why we differ from mainstream communist parties, who are often biased and ignore the oppressive nature of Stalinist regimes. True, Cuba is not North Korea, but its government remains based on the post-1956 Soviet model. Fidel and Raul Castro did not build a socialist society, otherwise the trade embargo against Cuba would not have worked. Had Cuba been genuine socialist then the USA could not have imposed it.

We defend the planned economy and the gains of the Cuban Revolution, but the Communist Party of Cuba needs to understand that their current politics are part of the problem. Capitalist reforms have resulted in massive inequality and the oppressive nature of the state needs to end. Socialism can only be build by the majority of working class Cubans and they are now in the streets, fighting against a government that is not working in their interests. What is needed are democratic councils who can organize strikes and mass resistance. These councils/committees are to be made up of working class people.

The Cuban state has support among some sections of the population. But the current youth and the generation born after 1990 is no longer 100% committed to the dogma’s of Marxism-Leninism (Stalinism). The current generation is also born in a time when inequality rose, when the majority of Cubans remained poor while a minority grew richer. This is why among younger Cubans, there is little support for Miguel Díaz-Canel. Mainly because they see the actual results of his (state)capitalist politics and the oppressive nature of Cuba. In 2016 there were 700.000 members of the communist party. However it remains to be seen how many are actual believers and how many are just members for privileges.

Revolutionary socialists call upon the Communist Party of Cuba to end its single party system. Elections must be held free and open for all political ideologies. Elections on the island are controlled by communist party members only. While it is true that the party itself is not allowed to campaign, it is still its members who decide who is allowed to run for a political office and who not. Also the economy must be put under control of working class Cubans, not state managers or capitalists. The market reforms of 2008 must be reversed, all means of production including the tourist sector (which is partially owned by foreign capitalists) must to be (re)nationalized under democratic control of workers councils.

Only when genuine socialism is build can the American trade embargo be destroyed. It is the dictatorial Cuban state that is keeping the embargo alive. When Cuba has become genuine democratic, the Americans will have no choice but to end their trade embargo. Otherwise their democratic façade will be ruined. Let us not forget that the USA is build on the lie that their electoral system is the best in the world and the American government will do anything to keep that democratic façade up. Washington DC would love to see a fully capitalist-democratic Cuba, but if a workers party is build on a socialist program, that can be prevented!

In the end it is up to the Cuban workers themselves. Revolutionary socialists are not supportive of capitalist restoration as the Stalinist communists often claim. We do not wish for the island to become a capitalist hellhole like Haiti or other Latin American countries. However the Marxist-Leninist (Stalinist) façade that Fidel Castro build in 1961 is death. Only a minority is still fully committed to the government. The youth knows the reality. That wages remain low. That food prices are rising since 2010, that they are arrested and jailed for criticizing the state bureaucracy. That there is a huge gap between Cubans who own means of production and those who own nothing.

Meanwhile capitalist American politicians all claim that ”Cubans want freedom from socialism”. Although much blame can be put on the government of Miguel Díaz-Canel, the imperialist regime of Joe Biden shares in that blame too. Because as we said, the economy of Cuba is under siege from U.S imperialism since 1961. American governments led by both the neoconservatives and neoliberals have all kept the embargo alive, just because they were defeated and humiliated by Fidel Castro. The reaction of the U.S government is hypocritical and must be rejected. Washington DC is not the ally of the Cuban working class!

We say:

• No to the policies of the Miguel Diaz-Canel regime in favour of the market and capitalist restoration. For workers’ control of production, prices and distribution.

• Down with imperialist intervention. Down with the blockade.

• For the immediate release of imprisoned workers and socialist and communist activists.

• Defend the historic gains of the Cuban revolution and advance in a genuinely socialist direction!

• Radical democracy from below, to replace the rule of the Stalinist bureaucracy: for a genuine workers’ democracy

• Unify the anti-imperialist struggle and the struggle for an alternative socialist democracy — for a Socialist Federation of Latin America.

The American vice-president is a hypocrite!

The American vice president Kamala Harris has told potential migrants from Guatemala not to come to the USA. She said this in her visit to the Republic of Guatemala. Kamala Devi Harris is not a representative of the U.S working class. She is a iron prison warden, chosen by Joe Biden because she is not a progressive. The only reason she has come to Guatemala is to tell its right-wing president that the USA does not like it when its population is trying to flee to the ”land of the free”. The very reason why all these people try to build up a live in America is because of massive poverty and no hopes in Guatemala, which is ruled by corrupt politicians, capitalists and violent street gangs. Also the USA created this massive migration because it has always supported neoliberal politics in Guatemala.

The Republic of Guatemala is a small Latin American country on the southern border of Mexico. On 29 December 1996 a 36 year old civil war between the leftist Guatemalan National Revolutionary Unity and the corrupt capitalist government came to an end. Although the leftist rebels demanded social changes, they never came. Guatemala remained on the path of neoliberalism, austerity and capitalist politics. With the war over, millions of poor working class Guatemalans tried to escape poverty by fleeing to Mexico in hope of entering the USA. For them, America is seen as the land of freedom and wealth. This propaganda is spread by the lie that the USA is the ”land of the free”.

Those who have entered the USA often do so illegally, because legally most would not be granted entry. This is why most of the 10,7 million illegals are from Latin American countries. Right-wing Americans blame them for almost anything. In reality it is the capitalist class who is to blame. Because they exploit millions of these undocumented workers and pay them slave wages. Since they do not dare to protest, most work for very low wages and under constant fear of getting arrested by ICE, the Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

The United States of America is to blame for the fact that 10 million undocumented workers have entered their country. During the 1950’s until 1980’s, American president’s from Eisenhower to Reagan gave political and military support to corrupt anti-Communist dictatorships. In the Republic of Guatemala, Eisenhower ordered the CIA to overthrow the government of Jacobo Árbenz in 1954. The criminal CIA then created the Mano Blanca (White Hand), a far-right terror group that hunted down and killed leftists, trade unionists and anybody the Guatemalan military government called ”communist”.

In December 1996 the civil war came to an end. 160.000 ethnic Mayan’s had been murdered by the army and far-right. In fact 93% of all civilian executions were carried out by government forces like the Mano Blanca. Although the USA portrayed the Guatemalan National Revolutionary Unity as ”violent communist”. In reality they were the violent ones, by arming the Guatemalan army and its terror groups. The end of the civil war did not changed anything. Demoralized by the lack of change and the collapse of their role model (Stalinism), the rebels could not build a socialist alternative.

Kamala Harris blames the Guatemalan migrants, but she does not wish to understand why millions flee Latin America. She and her political party are to blame, both the Democratic Party and Republican Party have called on Latin America to carry out neoliberal politics in the 1990’s. Both liberal and conservative Americans politicians demanded that countries like Guatemala embraced free market fundamentalism. Almost 25 years after the end of the civil war, we can conclude that this failed economic model is the very reason why so many flee Guatemala.

Now Harris goes to Guatemala and speaks to a president who does not represent the interests of ordinary working class people. Alejandro Giammattei is a ethnic white male and comes from the small minority who have ruled the country since 1839. White decedents from Spanish colonialists are the ruling political class, while coloured and ethnic Mayan’s are side lined. This is seen in the voter turnout during the second round of the presidential elections. Only 41% came to vote for Alejandro Giammattei, his votes came from the white minority. He won 1,907,767 out of 8,150,221 registered voters.

What Guatemala lacks (as all of Latin America) is a socialist alternative. The Guatemalan National Revolutionary Unity is still there, but it does not offer a way forward. They are divided and still praise people like Fidel Castro, Hugo Chavez and leaders like Daniel Ortega who are not socialist. Right-wing forces seem splintered with over nine right-wing political parties active in parliament. However with the support from four centre-right parties, there are now 13 political parties on the pro-capitalist spectrum. When we add the centre-left to that spectrum we see that that 16 political parties support capitalism in Guatemala.

You do not stop the flow of migrants by calling on them to accept poverty caused by a system you advocate. In fact the USA has been build on migrant and slave labour. Yet neoliberals and neoconservatives blame undocumented workers and have created ICE in 2003 to hunt them down. Revolutionary socialists stand in solidarity with all those who flee poverty created by capitalism. We reject hypocrites like Kamala Harris and Alejandro Giammattei. These right-wing politicians want to divide the working class and offer us only hate. Our alternatives are clear, we need:

• The disbandment of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement
• Stop the exploitation of undocumented workers by American capitalists
• The USA must accept that they are co-responsible for the migration wave
• Neoliberal economics must be halted and replaced by socialist ones
• A democratic economy under control of the working class in both America and Guatemala
• A voluntary socialist federation of the America’s as part of a future united socialist world.

Re-call against Kshama Sawant can go on

The court in the American state of Washington has allowed a right-wing recall against socialist council woman Kshama Sawant to go on. The right-wing campaign ”Recall Sawant” is now allowed to start gathering signatures to demand a recall of the only revolutionary socialist elected into a public office. Kshama Sawant is fighting for workers interests since 2013 in Seattle. She is not loved by the capitalist establishment and Democratic Party politicians. Since removing her by using democratic means failed, they now use a recall campaign to silence her. Sawant is a loud politician and this is not loved by the ruling class who wish for politicians to be quite and loyal to the establishment.

”Recall Sawant” claims it is not right-wing and not fuelled by anti-socialist ideals. They claim that they are only concerned about the actions of Sawant as she fights against the system, loudly and openly. They say that:

• Council Member Sawant has used city resources to promote a ballot initiative and failed to comply with public disclosure requirements.
• Council Member Sawant has endangered the safety of city workers and other individuals by admitting hundreds of people into city hall while it was closed to the public against state orders during the Covid-19 pandemic.
• Council Member Sawant led a protest march to Mayor Jenny Durkan’s private residence, the location of which Councilmember Sawant knew was protected under state confidentiality laws.

On issue 1 the ”Recall Sawant” campaign is hiding behind electoral laws when she spend 2.000 dollars of public money. While billions are wasted by capitalist politicians, the right-wing recall campaign is worried about 2.000 dollars. Yes, the courts who defend the system agree with them on this issue that Kshama Sawant broke the law. But that is the problem. When a revolutionary politician is fighting for workers rights, he/she will come into conflict with the laws of the establishment.

Also the courts did not find mayor Jenny Durkan of Seattle guilty of braking the law, when she used police brutality against Black Lives Matters. Yet they were horrified when Kshama opened the doors to City Hall in June 2020, for a general assembly (with protesters wearing masks) to demand justice for George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and to defund the police. When capitalist politicians use police brutality and attack workers and their families they are never subjected to a capitalist funded recall campaign.

On issue 3, the ”Recall Sawant” campaign is again hiding behind capitalist laws. Families of victims of police brutality, who organized that protest asked Kshama to speak at their event. This was because they are frustrated that Mayor Durkan has taken no action to hold police accountable, for the deaths and brutality that have happened under her watch. Kshama has stood consistently with the families of Charleena Lyles, Che Taylor, and Herbert Hightower Jr. to fight for justice. But since she spoke at a rally in front of the mayor’s house, the capitalist state now calls that a ”violation of the address confidentiality program”

The organisers of the ”Recall Sawant” campaign also dare to claim that they are ”progressive” and not right-wing. They even tried to portray themselves as ”ordinary”. Reality is that they are funded by major capitalist interests like Martin Selig, Merrill Lynch Senior VP Matt Westphal and the billionaire Nordstrom family. In late March 2021, the ”Recall Sawant” spread 40.000 flyers with a racist picture of an angry brown women (Sawant). Using stock photo’s to portray themselves as a ”diverse mix of working people and seniors”, the right-wing campaign is hiding behind a progressive façade to win popular support.

Behind them is also the capitalist media, which has portrayed Kshama Sawant as a ”loud angry woman” and ”paid by forces outside Seattle”. Many donations that Sawant received are from outside the city as many American workers donated to defend the only revolutionary socialist elected. Sawant fights against major capitalist forces like Amazon, owned by billionaire and capitalist exploiter Jeff Bezos. The same Amazon that spend 1,5 million dollars to elect a capitalist friendly city council. They failed in District 3 as Sawant triumphed over the liberal candidate supported by Jeff Bezos.

Last time Sawant won her re-election, but capitalism is powerful and able to spend millions on misinformation and lies. Sawant is under siege because of her activism and revolutionary propaganda. She is not your typical politician, who works silently behind doors. There are many in Seattle who do not like her. They do not like a Indian born woman who stand up loudly to the injustice of capitalism supported by the Democrats. But for ordinary workers and victims of capitalist exploitation, Kshama Sawant is the only genuine voice in the city council.

This is what the ”Recall Sawant” campaign wants to destroy. They want to remove a politician who is not for sale. In doing so they hind behind a progressive liberal façade of ”concerned citizens”. However reality is that the recall campaign is paid by capitalist interests just as Sawant’s last opponent was paid by Amazon. Since the Republican Party is very weak in Seattle, the ruling class turns to progressive liberals to be their voice against socialists like Sawant. Here we see the true face of people who claim to be ”leftist”, but when faced with a socialist they side with the establishment.

If the majority of working class people do not fall before the lies of the recall campaign, then Sawant can triumph. Fighting against the system is never easy. The recall campaign has the support of the courts, the media and the whole capitalist establishment at their side. Kshama Sawant can only rely on working class Americans in Seattle. She is supported by some trade unions, but with her opponents portraying themselves as ”progressive” and ”liberal”, it is possible that some will be fooled into thinking they are genuine.

Fighting as a genuine socialist against the Republican Party is already difficult enough. But in Seattle the enemy is the Democratic Party and the so called ”progressive liberals”. Because no matter what titles they use, in the end they are pawn of the capitalist system. The ”Recall Sawant” campaign can use the laws of the capitalist state against Sawant, but their goal is to remove a revolutionary fighter that has fought since 2013 against the establishment. District 3 may need to vote again and Kshama Sawant is the only voice for working class people against the power of capitalism in the city.

Speech by Kshama Sawant on her Recall Campaign by the Right-Wing

Big business and the right wing are furious about the impact of socialist politics and social movements in Seattle and the inspiring example it has set for working people around the world. They are now trying to use the courts and their deep pockets to overturn socialist Seattle Councilmember Kshama Sawant’s 2019 re-election and the historic victories she has spearheaded: the Amazon Tax, the $15 minimum wage, the first-in-the-nation ban on using chemical weapons against protesters, and landmark renters rights laws like the ban on winter evictions. Just as with the police under capitalism, we know that working people and oppressed communities cannot rely on the courts for justice.

It is no accident that this Recall Campaign against Councilmember Sawant explicitly cites her support for the Black Lives Matter movement and the Amazon Tax in the articles of recall, while also making numerous false claims that she broke the law. Unfortunately, thanks to the inherently undemocratic recall procedures in Washington State, Kshama will never get the chance to defend herself in court against these false charges, and there is no requirement that the charges be proven true in order for the recall to be allowed to go on the ballot. We cannot afford to sit by while one of the most effective leaders for working people in the nation is undemocratically and dishonestly driven from office by a right-wing, corporate-funded campaign. Thank you for joining us and progressive leaders and activists from around the world to build the Kshama Solidarity Campaign and defend against this attack on all working people!