(First published in the Weekly Worker) Let me start with a proposition that should by now be a matter of general knowledge: the totality of Jews do not constitute a nation in the modern sense of this term; nor have they been a nation in any contemporary meaningful sense for well over 2,000 years. The… Continue reading Moshé Machover: The formation of the Jewish nation
Syrian bombing: Netanyahu attempts to provoke new confrontation
Over the weekend of May 4-5 Israel launched air raids against targets in Syria. Yassamine Mather and Moshé Machover, two members of the Hands Off the People of Iran steering committee, discuss the issues raised by this latest development YM: The two Israeli air raids into Syrian territory have to be looked at in the… Continue reading Syrian bombing: Netanyahu attempts to provoke new confrontation
HOPI STATEMENT: MAY DAY 2013 IRAN – SUPPORT WORKERS’ STRUGGLES!
Hands Off the People of Iran has consistently identified the workers of Iran as the solid anti-imperialist force in that country, a force that has shown resilience in opoposition to the religious state . This is the section of Iranian society that the anti-war movement in the west must be a partisan of and… Continue reading HOPI STATEMENT: MAY DAY 2013 IRAN – SUPPORT WORKERS’ STRUGGLES!
UK Government blocks Shell paying Iran oil debt in food, medicine
LONDON: Britain has blocked efforts by oil major Royal Dutch Shell to settle a $2.3 billion debt it owes Iran by paying in kind with grains or pharmaceuticals, industry sources said. Shell has been trying for months to find a way to work around international sanctions that prevent it paying in currency for crude it… Continue reading UK Government blocks Shell paying Iran oil debt in food, medicine
Though watched and muzzled, independent labour unions are stirring
From The Economist DURING a Persian new year’s party (in late March) at Iran’s flagship South Pars project in the Persian Gulf, where the world’s largest known gasfield is being tapped, a labourer called on Iran’s workers to unite. Behnam Khodadadi demanded better pay and conditions, and a proper trade union. Around 1,500 workers stopped… Continue reading Though watched and muzzled, independent labour unions are stirring
Isfahan
ISFAHAN, Iran — Protesters in the Iranian town of Varzaneh clashed with police this week after more than a month of demonstrations against the government’s diversion of water from central Isfahan Province to other regions. Witnesses used social media to report that dozens were injured in the clashes with authorities and many were arrested. The… Continue reading Isfahan
Solidarity with Iranian workers!
“The Labour Representation Committee is an affiliate of Hands Off the People of Iran and I call on others to support its important work. With the war drums beating again in the Middle East and the imperialist pressure on the working people of Iran growing daily, principled international solidarity is vital. Hopi is at the… Continue reading Solidarity with Iranian workers!
Iran: Corruption, repression, fightback
Yassamine Mather reports on the chaos that is the Islamic Republic In Iran, presidential elections are looming, the economy is in freefall, the public hanging of small-time criminals is creating an atmosphere of terror, repression is worsening and workers are protesting throughout the country. There are unconfirmed reports of an explosion at the Fordo uranium… Continue reading Iran: Corruption, repression, fightback
Sexism: Macho culture and the lessons we can learn from the Middle East
On Wednesday January 9 three members of the Kurdish Workers Party (PKK), including Sakine Cansız, a founding member of the organisation, were murdered in Paris. There are many theories about who was behind the execution-style killings and most of them relate to conspiracies to derail the current talks between the PKK and Turkey. It could… Continue reading Sexism: Macho culture and the lessons we can learn from the Middle East
A Fistful of Tomans
Kevan Harris in the London Review of Books: A Tehran restaurant owner recently told me the advice he’d been giving his friends for the last year: ‘Sell your car. Buy dollars.’ Sound counsel, I thought. Exchanging Iranian rials for dollars at the end of 2011 and converting them back nine months later would have yielded… Continue reading A Fistful of Tomans