Tomás Ó Flatharta

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Archive for the ‘Women Life Freedom (Iran)’ Category

“Clare Daly needs to withdraw claim that media ghosted her” – Justine McCarthy criticises ex Dublin MEP who gave ammo to the “shoot the messenger brigades”

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This Justine McCarthy article is a damning critique of the “shoot the messenger” technique regularly used by the former Dublin Member of the European Parliament (MEP) Clare Daly, and the ex Ireland South MEP Mick Wallace.

Justine McCarthy, Irish Times, January 21 2024

Link :
Clare Daly’s Dog-Whistle to haters of the media wasn’t just hypocritical – it was reckless

It wasn’t just the ungraciousness of Clare Daly’s departure from the election count centre after losing her European Parliament seat that left the air disturbed in her wake. It wasn’t even the falsehood in her valediction as she flounced out of the RDS, telling an RTÉ reporter who had requested a comment from her: “Ye’d no interest in talking to me for five years, so I’ve no interest in talking to ye.” What shattered the air was her dog whistle to haters of the so-called “mainstream media”. The salivating in the trenches of the dark web was almost audible.

First, the truth – Daly and her Independents 4 Change colleague Mick Wallace have a usual practice of not responding to attempts by professional journalists to contact them. They prefer to appear live on air where their words cannot be edited. I know this because they told me so when they were both still TDs. Their confession tumbled out when, innocently, I had asked if I could check their contact details as I had repeatedly failed to get any response from either of them. Since that day, I have tried in vain to contact Daly and Wallace numerous times in attempts to obtain comments for news stories, as required by professional ethics and by the Press Council’s code of conduct. Many other journalists have had the same experience.

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This International Women’s Day, Iranian Feminists Are at the Front Lines

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There is much that the global feminist movement can learn from the current women’s struggle in Iran and their vision.

About the author, Frieda Afary :

FRIEDA AFARY

Frieda Afary is an Iranian American public librarian, translator, writer, activist and author of Socialist Feminism: A New Approach (Pluto Press, 2022). She is also the producer of Iranian Progressives in Translation and socialistfeminism.org. Article Souce : https://truthout.org/articles/this-international-womens-day-iranian-feminists-are-at-the-front-lines/

Frieda Afary is an active supporter of the European Network for Solidarity with Ukraine (ENSU). https://ukraine-solidarity.eu/feminist-news-and-analysis

On International Women’s Day, the world is at a turning point. On the one hand, we are facing the global rise of authoritarianism and fascism. On the other hand, popular uprisings for a democratic existence against authoritarianism and imperialism have been emerging in various parts of the world, with popular resistance persisting from Myanmar to Sudan and from Ukraine to Iran.

Women and trans people in the U.S. have suffered a heavy blow with the U.S. Supreme Court’s repeal of the federal right to an abortion, and the intensifying effort of the Republican right wing to repeal or severely limit abortion rights in various states. At the same time, women in Latin America — specifically in Argentina, Chile, Colombia and Mexico — have made some important gains in decriminalizing abortion and expanding reproductive rights as part of a broader social justice movement that involves working-class women, including Indigenous women.

Iran has been on the front lines of active organizing by women who have been leading a popular and mostly youth uprising, which was set off by the September 16 Iranian state police murder of a young Kurdish woman, Zhina Mahsa Amini, for her “improper” hijab. This uprising continues to manifest itself in different ways and faces increasingly brutal state repression. It represents both courage and the effort to articulate specific feminist demands.

Iranian Feminists and Labor Activists Articulate Emancipatory Demands

The latest manifestation of the misogyny that seeks to hold Iranian women back has been the systematic and nationwide poisoning of school girls. Since early December 2022, over 1,000 schoolgirls in over 50 schools around the country have become sick with symptoms of nerve gas poisoning. In the lead-up to today, various teachers’ groups, student groups and women’s groups have issued calls to protest the poisoning and to honor International Women’s Day. Feminist and labor groups have also been issuing various statements of demands to articulate their perspectives for a future democratic Iran. These statements have called for free and equal quality education for women and men at all levels without any gender segregation; women’s equal participation in the social, political and economic sphere; reproductive and abortion rights; divorce and custody rights; banning female genital mutilation, child marriage and polygamy; criminalizing gender violence and sexual harassment; categorizing domestic work as onerous labor requiring better compensation; and legal and health services for incarcerated women.

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International Women’s Day 2023 in Ireland – Show Solidarity With the Women of Ukraine – Wednesday March 8, The Spire, O’Connell Street, Dublin

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On 8 March, Wednesday, #IWD an International Women’s Day march assembles 17.30 at The Spire, Dublin.

The Irish Left with Ukraine, part of the European Network with Ukraine will attend will attend to show our solidarity with the Ukrainian resistance and the Ukrainian feminist resistance.

. #IWD2023March

Links : https://www.facebook.com/groups/irishleftwithukraine @EuropeanWith https://ukraine-solidarity.eu/

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Ukrainian Action on Ireland; Free Russians Ireland; Woman Life Freedom (Iran) – Dublin City Protests January 22 2023 – Russian Troops out of Ukraine Now

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Irish Left With Ukraine activists attended two well-supported Dublin city protests on January 22 2023 connected to the genocidal Russian invasion of Ukraine.

The Free Russians Ireland event at Stephens Green/Grafton St. was supported by over 80 citizens, including Woman-Life-Freedom, an Iranian-led solidarity organization. Similar numbers supported the Ukrainian Action Ireland protest on the Halfpenny Bridge.

 Free Russians Ireland, which regularly works with Woman-Life-Freedom, is a striking instance of woman led protests and solidarity.

Gregor Kerr photographed the Ukrainian Action Ireland Protest at the Halfpenny Bridge https://m.facebook.com/FreeRussiansIreland?eav=AfblU6Xlq_0_WZroeEfTwK93iOqoLz-1S7oKFbmqNucT4NYMrng6ZvHGuI90JO1sjgA&paipv=0

Irish Left With Ukraine supports calls for mass action against the Imperialist Genocidal Russian invasion of Ukraine on dates around the first anniversary of the invasion, February 24 2023.

Towards a global week of action for solidarity with Ukraine

Stop the Russian war of aggression! Peace for Ukraine!

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