Tomás Ó Flatharta

Looking at Things from the Left

Archive for the ‘Internationale Sozialistische Organisation (ISO), German section of the Fourth International’ Category

Ukraine: To undermine NATO retrenchment, the left must fight to win the peace – Ali Khan writes from Berlin

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Ali Khan offers a provocation for supporting Ukraine’s military effort

Sources : https://www.theleftberlin.com/provocation-reflections-on-ukraine-and-nato/. and http://www.europe-solidaire.org/spip.php?article63745

Today’s radical left has long recognised only one foe, that which Ayatollah Khomeini aptly titled “The Great Satan” – namely the USA. Little attention was paid lately to about “The Lesser Satan” – or Russia. For over 30 years after the fall of the USSR, we only imagined a single imperialist actor on the world stage. But 179 days ago we were reminded of the presence of another imperialist contender with full force. For too many, memories of the World War I collaboration of Social Democratic parties and the labour movement linger. The depressing jingoism of Western Europe and the USA prevents us from assessing a moral and rational response to the situation. As useful as historical parallels are, when we face a situation with almost no convenient parallel, at least none that are readily accessible and understandable to a population at large, we face a most difficult intellectual challenge. Let us not be fazed.

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Public Meeting – Uprising in Kazakhstan

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Uprising in Kazakstan
Zoom meeting ‒ Report, Questions & Answers, Discussion

Zoom meeting, Saturday, January 22nd, 10am PT / 6pm UTC / 19h CET Ainur Kurmanov, Socialist Movement Kazakhstan – with a report, Q&A and discussion. Sign up at → tinyurl.com/uprising2022

Public Meeting- Solidarity with the Kazakhstan Uprising

Please sign up here to get the login details for our Zoom meeting with Ainur Kurmanov (Socialist Movement Kazakhstan), with reports, Q&A and discussion on Sat, Jan 22, 10am PT / 6pm UTC / 19h CET.
https://tinyurl.com/uprising2022

Since January 2, the uprising in Kazakhstan has offered an inspiring chapter in the global revolt against oppression, endemic poverty, and yawning wealth inequality. We are excited to hear from Ainur Kurmanov from the Socialist Movement Kazakhstan about the background to this uprising, recent developments, and the fight for working-class power.

While different factions of the old regime are trying to exploit the anger and unrest, the striking oil workers and miners provided a glimpse of working-class power. We stand in solidarity with all the people arrested, protesting the hundreds of killings that reportedly took place at the hands of an armed Russian intervention and brutal state repression.

This meeting is organized by AntiCapitalist Resistance (England and Wales), ControCorrente (Italy), ecosocialist.scot (Scotland), Internationale Sozialistische Organisation (Germany), Lernen im Kampf (Germany), Reform & Revolution caucus in DSA (USA), Republican Socialist Platform (Scotland), Russia’s Socialist Movement (Russia), RISE (Ireland), SAP ‒ Antikapitalisten (Belgium).

Aufstand in Kasachstan

Veranstaltung mit Ainur Kumarow
von der Sozialistischem Bewegung Kasachstan

Internationale Online-Veranstaltung 
am Samstag, 22. Januar 2022, 19 Uhr
auf Russisch und Englisch

Mitveranstalter: 
Anti*Capitalist Resistance (A*CR, England und Wales), 
ControCorrente (Italien), 
ecosocialist.scot (Schottland), 
Internationale Sozialistische Organisation (ISO, BRD), 
Lernen im Kampf (BRD), 
Reform and Revolution ‒ Caucus in the DSA (R&R, USA), 
Republic Socialist Platform (RSP, Schottland), 
RISE (Irland), 
Rossiskoje Sozialistitscheskoje Dwishenije (RSD, Russland), 
SAP – Antikapitalisten (Belgien)

Bitte hier anmelden:
https://tinyurl.com/uprising2022

Uprising in Kazakhstan ‒ Zoom meeting

Please also consider signing our international statement of solidarity with the uprising in Kazakhstan, https://tinyurl.com/KazakhstanSolidarity

Solidaritätserklärung auf Deutsch:
https://sozialismus.ch/international/2022/internationale-solidaritaet-mit-dem-aufstand-in-kasachstan/

Kasachstan: Farbrevolution oder Aufstand der Arbeiterklasse? Interview mit Ainur Kumarow
https://sozialismus.ch/international/2022/kasachstan-farbrevolution-oder-aufstand-der-arbeiterinnenklasse/

Internationale Sozialistische Organisation (ISO), Sektion der Vierten Internationale in Deutschland

iso@intersoz.org
www.intersoz.org
http://facebook.com/intersoz.org

Solidarity with the uprising in Kazakhstan

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Solidarity with the uprising in Kazakhstan

This is an excellent initiative. Organizations and individuals from many parts of the globe – including five members of the Dáil in Dublin and elected representatives from Belfast and Derry, along with trade unionists, socialists, feminists and left public representatives” in other countries. Hopefully more people and organizations will endorse this statement, and stimulate the building of a mass movement in solidarity with the people of Kazakhstan.

There has been a rapid and strong response to the circulation of this Kazakhstan solidarity statement. Very close to 200 signatures in almost 40 countries were collected in the space of just two days, with many prominent individuals and organisations.

For more information read this blog https://kazakhsolidarity.wordpress.com/

Statement issued 12 January 2022.

Sources :

https://www.letusrise.ie/featured-articles/solidarity-with-the-uprising-in-kazakhstan?fbclid=IwAR0k46VWYR__tRoWW0wPUYbW29WSMJFe7h08ya3UrA8Bz44k_FEccsFboro

Solidarity with the uprising in Kazakhstan

http://www.europe-solidaire.org/spip.php?article60687

We, socialists, trade unionists, human rights activists, anti-war activists and organisations have watched the uprising in Kazakhstan since 2 January with a sense of deep solidarity for the working people. The striking oil workers, miners and protesters have faced incredible repression. The full force of the police and army have been unleashed against them, instructed to ‘shoot to kill without warning’. Over 160 protesters have been killed so far and more than 8,000 have been arrested.

We reject the propaganda of the dictatorship that this uprising is a product of “Islamic radicals” or the intervention of US imperialism. There is no evidence of that whatsoever. It is the usual resort of an unpopular regime – to blame ‘outside’ agitators.

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2021 General Election Result in Germany – Preliminary Notes – Will Berlin go Red-Red-Green?

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  • These are the official numbers :
  • Preliminary official result
  • Distribution of votes
  • 24.1% CDU/CSU (Christian Democrats)
  • 25.7%. SPD (Social Democrats)
  • 10.3% AfD (Far-Right)
  • 11.5% FDP (Liberals)
  • 4.9% Die Linke (Left)
  • 14.8% Greens
  • 0.1% SSW (Danish Minority)
  • 8.6% Others


Distribution of seats
Total seats
735

  • 196 CDU/CSU
  • 206 SPD
  • 83 AfD
  • 92 FDP
  • 39 Left
  • 118 Greens
  • 1 SSW

A Red-Red-Green coalition is just short of a majority 206 +118+39 = 363

https://www.dw.com/en/top-stories/s-9097

Do any readers know the politics of the single SSW member?

“Do minorities have their own parties?
In Germany there are four state-recognized minorities: Sorbs, Danes, Frisians and the German Sinti and Roma. There is only a special party for the Danes and Frisians in Schleswig-Holstein, the South Schleswig Voters Union (SSW). It is standing for election to the Bundestag for the first time in 2021. The SSW has a good chance of gaining a seat, because it is exempted from the 5 per cent clause as a protected minority. This means that the calculated average number of votes needed for a single mandate is sufficient for the party to be represented.”


https://www.deutschland.de/en/topic/politics/the-german-federal-election-facts-about-the-bundestag-and-electoral-law

The far-right party, the AfD, are shunned by all other parties (including the Christian Democrats and the Liberals).

German voters made very positive decisions about housing in Berlin elections


Voters in the German capital, Berlin, alongside casting ballots for the makeup of the new German parliament and for their local legislature, also took part in a referendum on whether to force large real estate companies to sell off most of their housing units.

With Berliners casting more votes in a day than the city ever had, there was chaos and delays at several polling stations. About 34,000 helpers were working at more than 2,250 polling stations across the city.

Therefore, final results on the nonbinding referendum are not expected until Monday.

After counting 27% of the ballots, a clear margin was already emerging: 56.9% had voted in favor and only 39% against the proposal.

“This is just an extrapolation, we won’t get the final results until tomorrow! But even this number shows that Berliners have had enough of speculation and mad rents,” the movement to expropriate Berlin housing corporations said on Twitter.

The measure required a simple majority to pass as well as a “yes” vote from at least a quarter of all eligible voters, but, even if it does pass, that would only force the incoming Berlin city-state government to debate the proposal.

https://www.dw.com/en/germany-berlin-locals-vote-to-expropriate-real-estate-giants/a-59315431

Die Linke (Left) suffered a significant electoral reverse. It gained 4.9% of the National vote, losing 4.3% compared with 2017. By comparison the SPD and the Greens gained 5.2% and 5.8% respectively. The big losers were the Christian Democrats (down 8.8%). The AfD Nazis also lost ground (down 2.3%). The free-market Liberals, the FDP, held their ground (up 0.7%).

Here is a Die Linke pre-election statement :

Janine Wissler, Chairperson of DIE LINKE party, declares on the occasion of the Global Climate Strike on 24 September 2021:

A supporter of die Linke chairperson Janine Wissler

“On Sunday, we are facing a General Election. The coming federal government will be the last one that still has a chance to prevent the worst in climate protection and still achieve the 1.5 degree target. As the Left, we say: stop the politics of lost time. In the last three years, the many committed people at Fridays for Future have ensured that society, politics and business can no longer ignore the climate issue. Their fight for climate justice is making history.
DIE LINKE stands in solidarity with the climate movement. We call on our members to participate in the climate strike! We have requested the recognition of the climate emergency in the German Bundestag and are on the ground with MPs as parliamentary observers at climate protests.
With an “Immediate Programme for Climate Justice”, we want to set the course for a change in climate policy after the Bundestag elections. Our goal is climate neutrality by 2035. The Left Party is the guarantor of consistent and socially just climate protection:
We want to complete the coal phase-out by 2030 at the latest and introduce compulsory solar on roofs. In addition, we want to expand wind power, for 100% renewable energies by 2035 at the latest.
For us, a socially just mobility transition means: We want to expand public transport and make it free of charge. Making Germany a rail country: Railways must become a real, low-cost alternative to cars and air travel. No more fossil combustion engines from 2030. A moratorium on new motorway construction and finally enforce a speed limit.
We want to push ahead with the ecological refurbishment of buildings by investing billions and protect tenants from burdens by abolishing the modernisation levy.”

on behalf of Antje Dieterich

Press Office DIE LINKE Party Executive Committee
Press spokesperson Matthias Hinze – office 030 24009-543 matthias.hinze@die-linke.de
Deputy Press Spokesperson Götz Lange – Office 030 24009-674 goetz.lange@die-linke.de
Deputy Press Spokesperson Antje Dieterich – Office 030 24009-544 antje.dieterich@die-linke.de

German comrades will have to deal politically with this interesting electoral result. John Meehan September 27 2021

For a European shutdown in solidarity from below against the pandemic – For a ZeroCoVid Policy in Ireland

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Irish Action – German Action – European Action – ZeroCoVid is the way forward.

Promote the Call

The CoVid-19 virus does not recognise borders. Sign Circulate and Promote this Zero CoVid Call :

The appeal says: “We need a common strategy in Europe immediately to fight the pandemic effectively. Vaccinations alone will not win the race against the mutated viral variant – even more so if the pandemic fight continues to consist of actionist restrictions on free time without a shutdown of the economy.” Similar initiatives emerged a few weeks ago in other countries, notably the UK and Ireland, see for example Zero Covid The Campaign to Beat the Pandemic or the article “Covid is a Class Issue”.

https://zero-covid.org/language/en/

Paul Murphy is a RISE TD for Dublin South-West, part of the Solidarity – People Before Profit grouping in the Dáil. See below, one of many articles written and circulated by Paul Murphy promoting a Zero CoVid policy for Ireland and further afield.

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