Putin’s desperate conspiracy theory linking Ukraine with the ISIS attack

By Michael Baker at Workers Liberty (with some additions and amendments by JD) The Crocus City Hall attack in Moscow on 22 March was one of the largest terrorist attacks the country has seen in recent memory. Within minutes a death toll of 40 had been announced, with over 100 more injured. Those numbers have …

Survivors Against Terror: isolate extremists from vast majority of Muslims

Above: Rebecca Rigby, widow of murdered soldier Lee Rigby, with their son Jack in 2015 Signed by:Joanne Aaron, Survivor of the Manchester Arena attack and her friend Jane diedSheelagh Alexander, Mother of Nick, killed at the Bataclan, ParisCaroline Beattie, Mother of Luke, killed by ISIS in SyriaLesley Callander, Mother of Georgina, killed in the Manchester …

Four recent books on antisemitism

By Dale Street “Nazis, Islamic Antisemitism and the Middle East”, “Three Faces of Antisemitism: Right, Left and Islamist”, “The Rebirth of Antisemitism in the 21st Century” and “Mapping the New Left Antisemitism” are four collections of articles and essays published at the close of 2023 by the London Centre for the Study of Contemporary Antisemitism. The purpose …

Yemen: Oppose Houthi attacks! No support for US-UK bombing!

By Dan Katz On the night of Thursday 11-Friday 12 January the US and UK militaries bombed sites in Yemen controlled by the Houthi movement. The stated aim of the action, according to a UK spokesperson, was to, “protect vessels and freedom of navigation [in the Red Sea],” by destroying Houthi military bases, radar installations, …

Letter from Afghanistan about Palestine & Israel

Re-posted with thanks from New Politics By: Azadeh Omid The people of Palestine have suffered from multiple oppressions for many years. Their homeland was occupied. They lost many of their youth. Their intellectuals were exiled or killed. Their children experienced war and explosions. Women experienced the loss of their homeland and their children. Israel has continued to …

Rape and terror on 7 October

By Gerry Bates On 4 December, the United Nations hosted a special session to hear about rape and sexual violence during the 7 October massacre in Israel by Hamas. Meni Binyamin of the Israel police Crime Investigations Unit has told the New York Times, from testimony from survivors of the massacre and from soldiers and emergency medical workers …

An Open Letter To My Friends Who Signed “Philosophy for Palestine”

Photo by Ash Hayes on Unsplash Seyla Benhabib, an American academic of Turkish origin, wrote this response to another open letter signed by many academics, mostly in the USA. It was first published on Medium (Nov 4). Dear Friends, Dear Colleagues: These are dark times as multiple crises are erupting around the world while talk of a global conflagration is heard …

Your Empathy is Killing Us

By @Mushon Zer-Aviv (first published at Medium and republished here under the terms of a Creative Commons licence): Why binary partisanship in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is hurting both sides, and what to do about it. “They shot dad, they shot mom and they shot Avigail” said Michael (9) to his uncle on the phone. On October 7th, …

SWP, “anti-imperialism” and terror: a story of cowardice and opportunism

Above: the SWP's immediate reaction to the Hamas pogrom of 7 October (posted by SWP on 9 October 2023) The Socialist Workers Party’s immediate response to the 7 October massacre of Israeli civilians (“Rejoice”) and its repeated statements of support for Hamas are aimed at presenting an image of being the most militant “anti-imperialists” in …

It’s right that the march goes ahead – but beware slippery slogans

Above: behind such apparently innocuous slogans, the SWP supports Hamas and opposes calls for a ceasefire. The following piece appears in the present issue of Solidarity under the headline "Against bans, against slippery slogans". It was written before the Metropolitan Police announced their decision to allow Saturday's pro-Palestinian march to go ahead: By Martin Thomas …