Category: Announcements
Announcement   
worker | April 29, 2021 | 8:13 pm | Announcements | Comments closed
– from Greg Godels is available at:
http://zzs-blg.blogspot.com/

Thursday, April 29, 2021

Announcement

A few months ago, a colleague, Pat Cummings, and I started a podcast entitled Coming from Left Field, a commentary on all things Left. We will bring guests, books, and issues of immediate importance to our followers.

Our three most recent podcasts should be of special interest to readers of ZZ’s blog.

  • an interview with Roger Keeran, author of The Communist Party and the Auto Workers Unions, a pioneering work on the militant, class partisan origins of the UAW and the CIO.
  • discussion with the dynamic Jennifer Berkshire, co-author of The Wolf at the Schoolhouse Door, a devastating critique of the destructive, anti-education, pro-for profit movement for public school “reform”
  • An exchange with Toni Gilpin, author of The Long, Deep Grudge, a powerful book about what was once perhaps our most feisty, uncompromisingly anti-capitalist, multi-racial union, The United Farm Equipment Workers Union (FE).
Please feel free to sample our podcasts on the many available platforms, share your thoughts with us, and consider subscribing to future podcasts.
Stop the US-led war and aggression on Syria
worker | April 23, 2018 | 9:24 pm | Announcements, Communist Party Canada, Syria | Comments closed

April 14, 2018

Stop the US-led war and aggression on Syria

The Communist Party of Canada condemns the illegal and murderous airstrikes on Syria conducted by the US, UK and France April 13th, and the support given to these attacks by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.  We call on Parliament to condemn the airstrikes which are illegal under international law, under US law and under UK law, and under the UN Charter that rules these are war crimes.

The strikes take place one day before the United Nations Organization for the Prevention of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) was to visit Douma, Syria to examine the site where the US and its allies claim chemical weapons were used against Syrian civilians.  The OPCW was going to Syria April 14 over the objections of the US government which had earlier vetoed a Russian motion to send the OPCW to investigate and determine whether chemical weapons were used, or not.  Following the US veto, the Syrian government invited the OPCW to investigate, which it had agreed to do.  The OPCW arrived in Syria April 14 to carry out the investigation in Douma, despite the airstrikes just hours before.

Contrary to US claims, no evidence has been produced to prove that chemical weapons were used, or found, in Douma.  Senior US officials including US Secretary of Defence James Mattis on April 12 – one day before the airstrikes – have admitted that there is no evidence of a chemical weapons attack in Douma.  Yet President Trump has launched airstrikes with the support of British PM Theresa May and French President Macron, but not their governments or Parliaments, after tweeting his war plans to the world.

The strikes are reminiscent of last year’s attacks, which were also based on falsified information and also sold to the public under the rubric of the US’ and EU’s “responsibility to protect”.  In fact this doctrine and these acts of war are protecting the mega-profits of the corporations and the arms industries.  This doctrine of war is responsible for the deaths of 2 million people since it first appeared in the region in 2001.  The Canadian government’s support for this doctrine has transformed Canada into an active participant in US and NATO’s dirty wars and aggression around the world, and has saddled the Canadian public with a 70% increase in military spending, plus increased spending on NATO, shredding Trudeau’s promise to transform Canadian foreign policy from war-making to peace-keeping.  Canada is in lock-step with US imperialism and the world’s war mongers, ready and willing to overthrow governments it does not like, and the UN Charter that rules these are war crimes.

The infamous fable of Iraqi ‘weapons of mass destruction’ which was the justification for the illegal US war on Iraq has long since been exposed as a fabrication of the US government.  Similarly, the US statement that sarin gas was used by the Syrian government was also proven to be baseless, though it was also stated as fact in the western press and media.  These are the Big Lies created by the US government to justify US and NATO aggression and war on countries around the world.

All of the evidence points to the fact that the April 13 airstrikes on Syria were deliberately aimed to prevent peace and to escalate the danger of a conventional or nuclear conflict between the US and Russia, now that the Syrian government assisted by Russia, has won the war and defeated the US backed insurgent forces of ISIS, the al-Nusra Front, the Army of Islam, and other extremists and terrorists opposed to the Syrian government of Bashar al-Assad.  The US refusal to accept the military defeat and the transition to peace about to be negotiated according to international law and involving the Syrian government, the US, Russia, and others, is the real reason for the airstrikes April 13.

This is consistent with the unmistakable evidence of the drive to war being pressed in the weeks leading up to April 13, in the US press and media, and in social media.  This campaign of lies and disinformation was echoed in media across the capitalist world resulting in mass confusion about the real situation in Syria, and those actually responsible.   Canadians have been fooled before.  They shouldn’t be fooled again.  The US/UK/French attacks have nothing to do with protection of the Syrian people, and everything to do with the drive for profits and the overthrow of governments that will not bend to US dictates.

These airstrikes threaten not only Syria, but global peace and stability.  These actions are a deliberate US provocation against the Russian government which has indicated it will respond to any airstrikes with counter-strikes aimed at the launch sites.  The US/UK/French decision to launch these airstrikes is a recipe for a world war, which could include nuclear weapons.

We call on the peace movement, the labour and democratic movements, and on all peace-loving peoples to demand that the US, UK and France immediately end their war of aggression, and withdraw their weapons, troops and ships from the region, so that negotiations leading to peace in Syria can take place.   Mass public opposition in the streets is decisive to stop the drive to war on Syria.

We call on Canadian Parliamentarians to urgently speak up for peace and against the illegal war and war crimes launched by the US, UK and France against Syria.  Canada must not be complicit in war crimes, and must speak out against US aggression that could ‘totally destroy’ Syria and the Middle East, or escalate into a global confrontation involving Russia and the US, in the name of the specious doctrine of ‘responsibility to protect’.

Central Executive Committee, Communist Party of Canada

The Canadian government must condemn Israel’s massacre in Gaza and act to enforce UN resolutions
worker | April 9, 2018 | 8:34 pm | Announcements, Communist Party Canada, Israel, Palestinian struggle for equality | Comments closed

Communist Party of Canada
Parti communiste du Canada

04/05/2018 http://communist-party.ca/statement/2771

The Canadian government must condemn Israel’s massacre in Gaza and act to enforce UN resolutions

The Communist Party of Canada condemns the massacre of 18 unarmed Palestinians and the injury of 1500 others on Friday, March 30th in Gaza. We demand the Canadian government condemn the murders and attempted murders of peaceful protesters. 773 Palestinians were shot by live ammunition by Israeli occupation forces. At least one person was shot […]
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The Communist Party of Canada condemns the massacre of 18 unarmed Palestinians and the injury of 1500 others on Friday, March 30th in Gaza. We demand the Canadian government condemn the murders and attempted murders of peaceful protesters.

773 Palestinians were shot by live ammunition by Israeli occupation forces. At least one person was shot in the back and killed. A further 49 Palestinians were injured on Saturday and another Palestinian killed on Tuesday.

The massacre of unarmed demonstrators is reminiscent of the Sharpeville massacre in apartheid South Africa in 1960 and Canada’s position will be remembered.

Canada must act now to ensure that the UN and the world’s governments and peoples force Israel to stop these crimes and allow for an independent investigation, end the illegal blockade of Gaza, and honour the right of return of Palestinian refugees.

The killings were planned by the Israeli military, with 100 snipers lying in wait and the military testing tear gas dropping drones in days prior. According to the Israeli Defense Forces statements on twitter which were later deleted, “Nothing was carried out uncontrolled; everything was accurate and measured, and we know where every bullet landed.” Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu has praised the Israeli military’s work in the massacre.

The Trudeau government’s silence in the face of this crime is disgraceful and makes it complicit. This massacre highlights the need to redouble solidarity efforts for an end to the occupation of Palestine and to secure the self-determination for the Palestinian people. Israel, an occupying state with massive support from US and Canadian imperialism, has been permitted to ethnically cleanse a population, refuse it the right of return, and occupy and blockade it in an open air prison. Palestinian resistance has been met with bombings, torture, massacres and assassinations. These war crimes and violations of international law and human rights must be brought to an end through overwhelming international solidarity with the Palestinian people and immediate mass international pressure on Israel and the US to end the attacks.

These latest brutal crimes by apartheid Israel demonstrate the hypocrisy of the Canadian government. Only a few days ago the government was busy war-mongering against Russia by expelling Russian diplomats, now they are silent. If the government was actually concerned about peace and democracy it would join with labour unions, student union and people’s organizations in Canada and around the world and support Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions measures against Israel. How can Russian diplomats be expelled over bizarre allegations, while Israel’s diplomats remain as favored allies of the Canadian government while their country flagrantly violates international law?

The US has already blocked a UN statement to call for an independent investigation into Israel’s attack on Friday. We demand that the US and Israel stand aside and allow for an independent and transparent investigation as has been supported by the European Union and the United Nations’ Secretary General.

The Communist Party of Canada stands in full solidarity with the struggle of the Palestinian people for self-determination. We call on the government of Canada to immediately condemn the massacre and take action to pressure Israel and the US to adhere to the internationally recognized framework for a peaceful political solution based on Security Council resolutions 242 and 338: the establishment of a Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as the capital, based on the 1967 boundaries, with the guaranteed right of return to Palestinians.

We further call on the labour and democratic movements in Canada to join forces to denounce the massacre, to step up the campaign of Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions demanding the end of the occupation, the dismantlement of the “security” wall, full equality for Arab Palestinian Israelis and the realization of the rights of refugees.

Central Executive Committee, Communist Party of Canada

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Expulsion of Russian diplomats is part of a dangerous new Cold War

The Communist Party of Canada has sharply condemned the Trudeau government’s decision to expel four Russian diplomats from Canada, in lock step with the Conservative government of Theresa May in UK, who demanded ‘solidarity’ actions from European and NATO countries, including the US, declaring she had led “the largest collective expulsion of Russian intelligence officers […]
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Justice for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls
worker | February 18, 2018 | 6:51 pm | Announcements, Communist Party Canada | Comments closed

February 13, 2018

Justice for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls

This February 14th, as in past years, marches will be held across Canada to commemorate the thousands of missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls. The February 14th marches demanding justice have been being held for almost three decades, but the current need for action is as great as ever before.

The Communist Party of Canada continues to stand in solidarity with the families of missing and murdered Indigenous women and all those fighting for an end to the ongoing violence.  We demand the government act now to deliver on long delayed promises to address the violence against Indigenous women and girls and to reset the Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Women and Girls.

Indigenous women and girls have no other choice but to struggle against racist violence caused by capitalism, patriarchy, the ongoing dispossession of Indigenous peoples and the denial of their national rights to self-determination. The lives of Indigenous women are shattered and cut short by this capitalist social crisis and the negative actions and inaction of the Federal government and police forces across the country.

Part of the fight to honour murdered and missing Indigenous women and girls is the ongoing fight for a national inquiry. One of the Trudeau government’s many promises to Indigenous peoples during the 2015 election was an immediate national inquiry. From the outset Indigenous women have been fighting for an inquiry capable of substantive action to stop the violence.

Included in this is the fight for the inquiry to include a review of individual files of murdered or missing women and of police conduct, after this was deliberately excluded from the initial terms of reference for the National Inquiry. Police actions and inaction are both a cause of violence towards Indigenous women, as in Val d’Or where police officers were the perpetrators of wide-spread sexual and physical assault, or in many cases of murdered women where police failed to take investigations seriously due to deeply ingrained racist views within law enforcement. After public demands from families and allies fought to have the scope of the inquiry widened there is now a commitment to include police behaviour and individual files in the terms of reference.

Indigenous leaders and women’s organizations have expressed serious concerns over communication with the families of victims, the transparency of the process, staff resignations, funding and timelines. In December of last year, a gathering of chiefs hosted by the Assembly of First Nations passed a resolution calling on the Trudeau government to reset the inquiry by demanding that chief commissioner Marion Buller be replaced.

The Native Women’s Association of Canada, who have been campaigning for missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls for four decades, issued a call to action in 2017 to demand a comprehensive inquiry: “We are not asking anyone, especially families, to be patient with this Inquiry as it progresses. We are asking that you remain strong and face adversity with the same determination that has made this Inquiry possible. In solidarity, we will not back down until this Inquiry is what we were promised.”

As calls for an inquiry reset mount and the report and recommendations lose credibility, we demand that the Federal government allow a new leadership for the inquiry to be named through a process of full engagement with Indigenous survivors and families.

The February 14th Day of Action to honour murdered and missing Indigenous women has been instrumental in breaking the silence. The Communist Party of Canada stands in full solidarity with these actions across the country. The fight for justice for missing and murdered Indigenous women is bound together with the fight  for an equal and voluntary partnership of nations within Canada, for Indigenous sovereignty and self-determination and for an end to racism and discrimination.

Special resolution of the Central Committee, Communist Party of Canada, Feb 11th, 2018

Common appeal by Communist and Workers’ Parties: Solidarity with the people of Iran – No to any foreign intervention

Monday, January 22, 2018

Common appeal by Communist and Workers Parties: Solidarity with the people of Iran – No to any foreign intervention

http://www.idcommunism.com/2018/01/common-appeal-by-communist-and-workers.html
With a common declaration, Communist and Workers’ parties from all over the world express their solidarity towards the people of Iran and condemn any attempt of foreign intervention in the country’s internal affairs:
The Communist and Workers parties that sign this statement have followed with concern the recent developments in Iran where tens of thousands of people in many towns and cities across Iran protested against the policies of the autocratic regime.
The protests were against the destructive economic policies of the regime, its brutal violation of human and democratic rights and disregard for the ILO conventions regarding workers rights and its widespread corruption. Young people have been the main victims of the regime’s policies, including more than five million unemployed graduates. Those who came out were predominantly young and from poor working class districts demanding fundamental economic, social and cultural change for jobs, a living wage, dignity, respect and justice.
We have received credible reports about brutal tactics used by the security forces and the regime’s paramilitary militia to violently break up these mainly peaceful demonstrations by ordinary people.  At least 20 demonstrators have been killed and more than 3700 people arrested and taken into custody.  The security forces have raided and occupied university campuses in different parts of the country to stop the student movement from joining the protests.  A significant number of university students not involved in any protest demonstration were arrested at home or on the campuses of their universities. The authorities have claimed that this illegal measure is preventative.
The people of Iran and their progressive forces have repeatedly and resolutely stated that, based on their own history and experience of recent tragedies in the Middle East, they reject any outside intervention in the internal affairs of Iran under any pretext whatsoever and believe that the future of Iran should be decided only by the Iranian people themselves.
We believe that the realisation of the demands of the protesters for peace, progress and social justice is the best guarantee for Iran’s independence and for genuine popular sovereignty.  This is the only sure way to guard against foreign interference in the internal affairs of the country and for the Iranian people to stand firm and united against the machinations of US imperialism and its allies, in particular the Israeli government and the reactionary regimes in Saudi Arabia and other Persian Gulf States.
The Communist and Workers parties co-signing this statement of support for the struggle of the Iranian people for peace, progress and social justice are united in:
  • Condemning the use of repressive measures against civilian protesters which have resulted in at least 22 deaths and the arrest of thousands of protesters and activists. 
  • Demanding that the authorities publish a list of names of all those arrested during the protest demonstrations and where they are being held, and immediately release all those detained by the security forces. 
  • Requesting that all those held are guaranteed access to legal representation of their own choosing. 
  • Demanding an end to the use of all forms of torture. 
  • Demanding the removal of all military and security units from university campuses.
  • Supporting the demands of the protesters for an end to privatisation, unemployment and corruption – all outcomes of the neoliberal-driven austerity policies of the regime. 
  • Rejecting any foreign intervention whatsoever in the internal affairs of Iran and emphasizing that the future of Iran should be decided by the Iranian people themselves alone.
PARTIES THAT SIGN THE COMMON APPEAL:
1.   AKEL
2.   Communist Party of Bohemia and Moravia
3.   Communist Party of Greece
4.   Communist Party of India
5.   Communist Party of India Marxist
6.   Tudeh Party of Iran
7.   Communist Party of the Russian Federation
8.   South African Communist Party
9.   Communist Party of Spain
10. Communist Party of Turkey
11. Communist Party of Ukraine 
[The appeal is open for further signatures]
19 January, 2018.
“Vancouver Group Summit”: Escalating imperialist threats of sanctions & war
worker | January 14, 2018 | 6:11 pm | Announcements, Communist Party Canada, Donald Trump, DPRK | Comments closed

“Vancouver Group Summit”: Escalating imperialist threats of sanctions & war

The so-called “Vancouver Group” Summit on January 16 will bring together the 14 countries which waged war against Korea in 1950, plus South Korea and Japan – invited by US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Canada’s Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland, allegedly to seek “a diplomatic solution to the Korean crisis.” The Communist Party of Canada condemns this reunion of warmakers as a further step towards new imperialist military aggression against the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.

The North American media has portrayed the Vancouver Group Summit as a “reasonable alternative” to Donald Trump’s threat to annihilate the entire population of the DPRK. Such a US attack would be the most shocking war crime in history, violating every international law which bans military aggression against other countries. It would mean the deaths of millions of people across the region, and could easily spark a nuclear exchange threatening the entire planet. Trump’s latest boasts about his “bigger nuclear button” are a warning that the possibility of such a devastating catastrophe is quite real.

But the Tillerson-Freeland “good cop-bad cop” scenario is not a path away from war. Rather, it is a cover for the ongoing imperialist strategy to bring the people of the DPRK to their knees, by escalating economic and diplomatic sanctions with the aim of forcing their government to end to its nuclear programme. Both approaches are based on the premise that the US has the right to “punish” any country which refuses to accept the dictates of imperialism. Both Trump’s threats of mass murder, and the Tillerson-Freeland strategy, include the continued presence of tens of thousands of US troops at bases and vessels in and around the Korean peninsula, and regular war exercises to remind the DPRK that a new imperialist aggression could be launched at any moment.

The US is the only country to have ever used nuclear weapons in war, and possesses the largest nuclear weapons arsenal in the world. The US continues to develop and promote nuclear weapons technology and is poised to spend an additional $1 trillion on its nuclear arsenal, through its current Nuclear Posture Review. The DPRK, on the other hand, was almost totally destroyed and impoverished by the “Korean War” waged by the US and its allies, a war which artificially divided the peninsula along the 1953 ceasefire demarcation line – for the crime of defending itself against threats of foreign invasion and coup d’état. While the US and NATO maintain a policy of “first use” for nuclear weapons, the DPRK committed to no first use in 2016.

We demand: the US must end its provocations, withdraw its massive military forces in South Korea and east Asia, sign a peace agreement, and allow reunification to proceed on the Korean Peninsula according to the right of the Korean people to self-determination and sovereignty free of external threats and provocations. This remains the only road to long-term peace and security.

As the Vancouver Group Summit nears, we call on the labour and democratic movements, and the peace movement in the first place, to say NO to sanctions and war against the DPRK – and YES to peace, peaceful coexistence, mutual security and to global nuclear disarmament, beginning with the arsenals of the United States and NATO.

Central Executive Committee, Communist Party of Canada

March against Trump, Sexism, Racism, Class Exploitation, and War on Saturday, January 20, at 1 pm
worker | January 10, 2018 | 7:40 pm | Announcements, Donald Trump, Local/State | Comments closed

Dear Sisters and Brothers,

 

During his first year in office, Trump has proved to be the most brazen white supremacist, misogynistic, and anti-working class U.S. president in decades. He has praised Nazis in Charlottesville, encouraged police brutality, stopped federal oversight of murderous police departments, slandered Black athlete/activists, pardoned the anti-Hispanic former Sheriff Joe Arpaio, ended DACA, increased arrests of migrants, begun planning a wall on the southern border, and tried to implement a Muslim travel ban.

 

Trump has stopped funding comprehensive global family planning programs, appointed anti-choice federal judges, supported an alleged child molester in a recent Senate race, tried to drive trans people out of the military, sought to gut legal protections for workers and consumers, supported a $1 trillion-plus reduction in taxes for capitalists, ended U.S. participation in the Paris climate accords, sent U.S. military forces to Syria, increased drone bombing in other countries, and threatened to attack North Korea.

 

It is imperative to drive Trump and his supporters from power now. But we all need to recognize that Trump is only the symptom of a grave underlying disease–and that disease is capitalism. Voting for centrist or liberal “lesser-evil” Democrats is not enough. Only the masses of people can put an end to:

 

* the Trump-Pence regime

* patriarchy, homophobia, and transphobia

* white supremacy, xenophobia, and the persecution of immigrants

* the exploitation of workers

* political repression and police brutality

* nuclear threats and imperialist wars

 

–and open the door to fundamental social change. 

 

A March against Trump, Sexism, Racism, Class Exploitation, and War will be held on Saturday, January 20. We will assemble at 1 pm (after the Houston Women’s March is over) in Hermann Square, 900 Smith St., between the Reflecting Pool and the mid-block exit to Smith St. Beginning at 1:30 pm, we will march down Smith St. to the Leland Federal Building at 1919 Smith St. The rally at the Leland Federal Building will include speakers, chants, spoken word artists, and more.

 

This action is being organized by Brown Berets de TejAztlan, Houston Socialist Movement, Justice 4 All, Party for Socialism and Liberation, and Refuse Fascism (list in formation). If your organization would like to help with this event or if you would like more information, please call 832.692.2306 or 832.438.3785. We hope to see you on January 20. All power to the people!

 

In Solidarity,

 

HSM