Archive for the ‘Revolutionary History’ Category
Mick Lynch – Rail Marine and Transport Union (Britain) – participates in solidarity with Ukraine
Recently Mick Lynch visited Ireland, speaking at a well attended Robert Tressell commemoration in Liberty Hall, headquarters of Lynch’s political hero, the Easter 1916 Rising rebel James Connolly.
Mick Lynch understands that all on the left must stand with Ukraine.
Who on the Irish left comes anywhere close to this internationalist and revolutionary policy?
‘”The general secretary of the RMT rail union, Mick Lynch, refuted the government official’s accusations towards Ukraine: “I was in Ukraine when the Russian tanks invaded, and ASLEF deputy general secretary Simon Weller was also there to talk to the railway workers when the Russian bombs fell on Ukraine. And we are involved in the solidarity campaign with Ukraine.”‘
Read the rest of this entry »“It was all about FINBAR. the Irish environmentalist; DMITRY the Russian anarchist, and COOPER the American socialist” – Tribute to heroes fallen in Ukraine at Père Lachaise Cemetery, Paris
A report is here :
On Saturday, May 6, a delegation of activists and representatives of organizations participating in the French Committee of RESU (European Network for Solidarity with Ukraine 🇺🇦) held a tribute organized by the Collectif des Francophone Combatants du Rojava to three internationalist comrades who fell all three in Ukraine fighting against the Russian invasion . The homage took place at the cemetery of Father Lachaise. at 14:30 in front of the Federated Wall of the Paris Commune.
It was all about FINBAR. the irish independentist and environmentalist. ; from DMITRY the Russian anarchist, and from COOPER the American socialist. They fought against the Russian invasion that they judged to be the emanation of authoritarian imperialism covering itself with the varnish of “liberator”.
Some had previously fought in Rojava alongside the Kurds with other revolutionary militants.
We wanted to show our deepest respect for their commitment.
French Committee of the ENSU (RESU) : https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100087563586225
‘An Historic May Day in London: New Days in Old England’ by Thomas J. O’Flaherty from the Daily Worker Saturday Supplement. Vol. 3 No. 134. June 19, 1926.
Tomás Ó Flatharta, inspiration of this blog, was a talented writer. This is an example of his work, full of interesting personal and political insights.
Source : Revolution’s NewsStand : https://revolutionsnewsstand.com/2023/05/01/an-historic-may-day-in-london-new-days-in-old-england-by-thomas-j-oflaherty-from-the-daily-worker-saturday-supplement-vol-3-no-134-june-19-1926/
May Day in London’s Hyde Park, 1926.
T.J. O’Flaherty travels from Dublin to London to participate in the May Day celebrations during that year’s General Strike and penned this wonderful essay on the day’s events.
‘An Historic May Day in London: New Days in Old England’ by Thomas J. O’Flaherty from the Daily Worker Saturday Supplement. Vol. 3 No. 134. June 19, 1926.
I LEFT the usually turbulent but now comparatively peaceful Dublin on the evening of the 30th of April, bound for London. Dublin is not an easy place to leave—particularly for those with a thirst for the dramatic.
But May Day in London in 1926 with 1,000,000 coal miners out of the pits! And with a general strike threatened! This was something that many men and women would sacrifice years of ordinary existence to experience. So I resisted the temporary invitation of friends to spend a week shooting curlews in the heather-clad mountains of Wicklow, or discussing the futility of things in general with the cynical intelligentsia of Dublin who survived the gats of Black and Tans, Regular and Irregular Republicans and Free States.
Bakhmut Town; a tribute to Finbar, Cooper, and Dmitry – A ballad honours Finbar Cafferkey of Achill Island Co. Mayo
In Bakhmut Town
To the tune of Roddy McCorley
Finbar Cafferkey from Achill Island County Mayo fought for the freedom of Ukraine and died in the streets of Bakhmut town.
https://soundcloud.com/user-310458959/bakhmut-town-a-tribute-to-finbar-cooper-and-dmitry
Oh come you who love freedom and a tale I’ll have you hear
Of comrades who came to Ukraine, as foreign volunteers
From Russia and America, Ireland and all around-
And side by side, they fought and died, on the streets of Bakhmut town
RUSSIAN PRESIDENT VLADIMIR PUTIN THROWS LEFT SUPPORTERS UNDER THE BUS – by Brendan Ogle
The Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke for several hours to a captive audience in a Moscow palace on February 21, describing LGBT Rights as “Pure Satanism”. Brendan Ogle, a UNITE Trade Union official in Ireland, responds. Source : https://www.facebook.com/camilo.ogle
It had to come to this.
In fact for those watching, those not completely blinded by their understandable hatred of US and NATO imperialism, it came to this a long time ago. But yesterday it happened in horrific awful technicolour. Putin threw left supporters – and there are still far too many of them – under the bus.
A year from his invasion of Ukraine Putin’s war with what he calls ‘the west’ has now openly gone full #FarRight. The language of the toxic fascist inspired racist protests that took place here and elsewhere recently is 100% Putin’s language. He helped to create it. Yesterday in a lengthy monologue in front of a room of nodding donkeys applauding rapturously in case they got a nerve agent in their lunch, he described LGBT rights as ‘pure satanism’, engaged in transphobic hate speech and described paedophilia as the ‘new norm’ in the west.
A year from his invasion of Ukraine Putin’s war with what he calls ‘the west’ has now openly gone full #FarRight. The language of the toxic fascist inspired racist protests that took place here and elsewhere recently is 100% Putin’s language. He helped to create it.
Yesterday in a lengthy monologue in front of a room of nodding donkeys applauding rapturously in case they got a nerve agent in their lunch, he described LGBT rights as ‘pure satanism’, engaged in transphobic hate speech and described paedophilia as the ‘new norm’ in the west.
Sound familiar?
Read the rest of this entry »The Ukrainian Question for Socialists – John McDonnell MP
Left-Wing British Labour politician, John McDonnell MP was Labour’s Shadow Chancellor from 2015 to 2020, when Jeremy Corbyn was the party leader.
His policy is very clear :
So, with such a consistent track record of opposing illegal wars launched by imperial powers, it is completely understandable why I have opposed and condemned the Russian invasion of Ukraine and why I have supported arming Ukrainians fighting the invasion of their country.
Source : https://labourhub.org.uk/2023/02/21/the-ukrainian-question-for-socialists/
On the question of Ukraine, we all come to it with a bit of history.
For me, I have a history of opposing, speaking against and voting against illegal invasions of countries from Iraq to the sending of troops into Afghanistan and the bombing of Libya and Syria.
So, with such a consistent track record of opposing illegal wars launched by imperial powers, it is completely understandable why I have opposed and condemned the Russian invasion of Ukraine and why I have supported arming Ukrainians fighting the invasion of their country.
Read the rest of this entry »“The Dark Side of Neutrality” – “The primary goal is not for Russia to lose and be humiliated, but for Ukraine to survive” – Slavoj Zizek
Neutrality is not an option as the Russian invasion of Ukraine continues at the heart of the European continent. This writer explains “If a passerby saw a man relentlessly beating a child on a street corner, we would expect the witness to try to stop it. Neutrality is out of the question. On the contrary, we would deplore the moral turpitude of inaction.”
Neutrality is not an option as the Russian invasion of Ukraine continues at the heart of the European continent. This writer explains “If a passerby saw a man relentlessly beating a child on a street corner, we would expect the witness to try to stop it. Neutrality is out of the question. On the contrary, we would deplore the moral turpitude of inaction.”
The author of this article Slavoj Žižek is a Slovenian philosopher, cultural theorist and public intellectual. He is international director of the Birkbeck Institute for the Humanities at the University of London, visiting professor at New York University and a senior researcher at the University of Ljubljana‘s Department of Philosophy.He primarily works on continental philosophy (particularly Hegelianism, psychoanalysis and Marxism) and political theory, as well as film criticism and theology. More information here : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slavoj_%C5%BDi%C5%BEek
Sources for this article : https://www.europe-solidaire.org/spip.php?article65734 and https://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/neutrality-functions-as-support-for-russian-aggression-by-slavoj-zizek-2023-02
As an independent voice who follows Russian media very closely, I am well acquainted with what Putin and his propagandists “actually say.” The major TV channels are full of commentators recommending that countries like Poland, Germany, or the United Kingdom be nuked. The Chechen warlord Ramzan Kadyrov, one of Putin’s closes allies, now openly calls for “the fight against Satanism [to] continue throughout Europe and, first of all, on the territory of Poland.”
Indeed, the official Kremlin line describes the war as a “special operation” for the de-Nazification and de-demonization of Ukraine. Among Ukraine’s “provocations” is that it has permitted Pride parades and allowed LGBTQ+ rights to undermine traditional sexual norms and gender roles. Kremlin-aligned commentators speak of “liberal totalitarianism,” even going so far as to argue that George Orwell’s 1984 was a critique not of fascism or Stalinism but of liberalism.
https://www.europe-solidaire.org/spip.php?article65734
In the year since Russia launched its war of aggression against Ukraine, large developing countries like Brazil, India, and South Africa have sought to remain above the fray. Yet, as with Western “pacifists,” these countries’ non-alignment amounts to tacit support for imperialism.
Read the rest of this entry »February 18 2023 – Tens of Thousands Demonstrate Against Racism and the Far-Right in Dublin
Brendan Ogle (UNITE Trade Union) introduces film highlights of the February 18 2023 Ireland for All Solidarity March in Dublin :
A diverse band for sure, an eclectic mix of the great, the good and …well. The point is Ireland 
is about 
not hate.
Get the hate off our streets.
NEVER LET THE FASCISTS HAVE THE STREETS
(Put together by the brilliant @martinblake) :
https://www.facebook.com/100006503678746/videos/756058655802297/
Photos of the demonstration – special thanks to Mike Finn and Maeve Foreman :
Read the rest of this entry »We Say: War on War! Russian socialists on the nature of the war in Ukraine and the delusions of Western “pacifists”
We Say: War on War! Russian socialists on the nature of the war in Ukraine and the delusions of Western “pacifists”
Wednesday 15 February 2023, by Russian Socialist Movement (RSD) immigrant section
Sources : https://fourth.international/en/europe/504 and https://www.europe-solidaire.org/spip.php?article65692
For us Russians who oppose Putin’s aggression and dictatorship, it has been a year of horror and shame over the war crimes committed daily in our name.
On the one-year anniversary of this war, we call all those who yearn for peace to turn out for demonstrations and rallies against Putin’s invasion. Unfortunately, not all the “peace” rallies taking place next weekend will be actions of solidarity with Ukraine. A large part of the left in the West does not understand the nature of this war and advocates compromise with Putinism. We have written this statement to help our comrades abroad understand the situation and take the right stand.
A spontaneous picket organised in the heart of Ekaterinburg, in 1905 Square, on 24 February, the day Russian troops entered Ukraine to carry out a so-called “special operation”
A counterrevolutionary war
Some Western writers attribute the war to causes like the collapse of the USSR, the “contradictory history of the Ukrainian nation’s creation,” and geopolitical confrontation between nuclear powers. Without denying the importance of these factors, we are surprised that these lists overlook the most important and obvious reason for what is happening: the Putin regime’s desire to suppress democratic protest movements throughout the former Soviet Union and in Russia itself.
Read the rest of this entry »
Tomás Ó Flatharta 