February 8, 2010
The Spark February 2010
“…no one has the right to put the Jewish people and the State of
Israel on trial” – Ariel Sharon
On May 15th 1948 the Declaration of Independence of the State of Israel stated that due to a “natural and historic right” a “Jewish state” would be established in the former British Mandate Palestine.
Benjamin Netanyahu
Current Israeli Prime Minister recently echoed that in order for there to be “peace” Palestinians must recognise Israel as a “Jewish State”. Both were seemingly ignorant of an ever increasing Israeli Arab population.
In 1948 Zionist leaders attempted to cleanse their soon to be “Jewish State” of its indigenous population through a campaign of terror that triggered the flight of over 700,000 Palestinians from their land and homes, making them refugees. Yosef Weitz , a high official of the Jewish National Fund, explained that the solution was “the land of Israel without Arabs”, continuing “they must be completely removed…leaving not one village, not one tribe”. The ethnic cleansing campaign was only partially successful and when the State of Israel was established it included 180,000 Palestinian Arabs within its borders. New laws were passed, such as the Absentee Property Law of 1950 and the Land Acquisition Law of 1953, which enabled the Israeli state to take land without the consent of its owners for “security, settlement or essential development purposes.” This land was then expropriated by the state and handed over to organisations such as the Jewish National Fund for settlement by new Jewish immigrants. Read the rest of this entry »
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February 7, 2010
The following article is a shortened and edited version of a Workers Party internal document by Jared Phillips printed in The Spark February 2010
Initially socialist organisations in New Zealand responded to the anti-strike laws contained in the Employment Contracts Act and Employment Relations Act with some vigor, including in The Spark. In response to increased strike restrictions put in place by the Labour-led Labour-Alliance coalition in 2000, the Socialist Workers Organisation conducted a campaign in some workplaces and in the public centered around a petition, which was significant as far as petition campaigns extend.
Casino workers on strike 2008 during bargaining
The new legislation (ERA 2000) included a ban on solidarity strikes and political strikes. In summary the legislation, still in place, from a working class point of view, is this, ‘We can only strike for our own contract, only when negotiations have broken down, and if we do engage in an unlawful strike (i.e. a strike for any other reason), there could be severe damages penalties against us and the union’. It is concerning that the left has withdrawn its activism from the issue because, as the comparison goes, this is the new ‘leg-iron of labour’. Read the rest of this entry »
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February 6, 2010
Ian Anderson The Spark February 2010
Chavez
In a characteristically bold move, Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez called for the formation of a “Fifth International” in November last year. The Latin American leftist leader made the call at the World Meeting of Left Parties, a conference held in the Venezuelan capital, Caracas.
For those not immersed in socialist lingo, an International is a forum for working-class organisations; a solid base for coordination and debate. The tradition began in 1864 with the International Workingmen’s Association, of which Karl Marx was a founding member. Uniting workers across borders, the International Workingmen’s Association admitted a range of leftists from the anarchist, socialist and trade union movements. This organisation lasted over a decade and provided a strong, diverse base for working-class organisation. However, due to a conflict between Karl Marx and anarchist Mikhael Bakunin, the First International dissolved in 1876.
While not officially forming a Fifth International, guests at the World Meeting of Left Parties signed a document intended to kick the process off – the “Caracas Commitment.” This is available in English, on the PSUV website: www.psuv.org.ve/files/tcdocumentos/commitment.caracas.pdf
The Caracas Commitment has a decidedly anti-imperialist bent, with a 6-point course of action summarised below:
- Mobilisation and condemnation of US military bases.
- Installation and development of a platform of joint action by left wing parties of the world.
- Organisation of a world movement of militants for a culture of peace.
- Artillery of international communication to emancipate revolutionary consciousness. [This refers to left-wing media.]
- Mobilize all popular organisations in unrestricted support for the people of Honduras.
- Solidarity with the peoples of the world. Read the rest of this entry »
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February 5, 2010
The Workers Rights Campaign is holding a meeting this Monday (the 8th) to organise a picket of an MP’s office on Saturday the 13th as part of the nation wide day of action protesting the pitiful 25 cent increase in the minimum wage and demanding a living wage now! (see Facebook group)
At this meeting we will decide what office to picket, what time, and also organise a placard painting day later in the week as well as some signature collecting for the petition that can also be used to advertise the picket.
7:30pm, Monday the 8th
WEA, 59 Gloucester St (map)
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February 4, 2010
John Edmundson The Spark February 2010
The recent devastating earthquake in Haiti has put a rarely noticed country back in the headlines. Suddenly, it is the focus of everyone’s attention, from world leaders to celebrities. And that is hardly surprising – with a body count of over 150,000 in Port au Prince, the nation’s capital alone, the death toll in this one tiny and desperately poor country may come close to exceeding that of the Boxing Day tsunami of 2004. The capital was almost completely destroyed and the poor infrastructure meant that it was difficult to get aid to the survivors, or to organise the relief operation. The Haitian government was almost completely unable to act and threw itself on the mercy of the United States and other First World countries. Images of the disaster have been touching and, in the main, sensitive, but underlying the coverage of the quake has been the same lack of curiosity about the cause of the tragedy that typifies media stories about the Third World. Read the rest of this entry »
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February 3, 2010
1. We are revolutionary socialists
We all live in a capitalist society – which means that the working-class majority experience exploitation and poverty in order to guarantee profits and luxury for the ruling-class minority.
The capitalists have many weapons at their disposal – not just the army, police, courts and prisons, but a system of ideas, developed over centuries, that shape people’s beliefs about what is normal, natural, and possible. These prevailing ideas tell us that we can do no more than tinker with the current system. Read the rest of this entry »
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January 31, 2010
Don Franks
The 25 cent government increase in the minimum wage from 1st April was denounced by union leaders as “a cheap shot’ and “mean.”
The increase to $12.75 from April 1st, 2010 is an annual increase of only two per cent. The NZ Institute of Economic Research inflation forecast is 2.3 per cent for the year to March 2010 and the average wage rose 2.8 per cent in the six months to September 2009 alone. That suggests the lowest paid workers are going to be relatively worse off than they are already. Read the rest of this entry »
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January 18, 2010
People protested outside the Australian consulate in Auckland, on 18 January, as part of an international day of action to support the Tamil Asylum Seekers who have spent 100 days on a boat in Indonesia in appalling conditions.
Protest organiser Priyaksha Pathmanathan spoke of how 254 Tamil Asylum Seekers refused to leave the boat for fear of being locked up in an Indonesian detention centre or being deported back to Sri Lanka.
Returning to Sri Lanka is not an option, as one man who had returned to see his ill mother had been thrown in prison, without charges being laid, and is still locked up.
”The refugees are rightly demanding that they be given basic human rights and that Australia, as a signatory of the UN Refugee Convention, adhere to its international responsibilities” Priyaksha said.
Read the rest of this entry »
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January 16, 2010
John Edmundson
The arrests of activists attempting to disrupt the appearance of Israeli Tennis player Shahar Peer has brought the issue of politics and sport back into the public eye.
At the time of the anti-apartheid struggle, the issue was of great importance in New Zealand because here, it was sporting contact with racist South Africa that became the focus of protest action. New Zealand and South Africa had longstanding sporting rivalries, particularly in rugby, so attempting to end sporting contact between the Springboks and the All Blacks became a major part of the New Zealand anti-apartheid movement’s work throughout its history.
During the 1981 Springbok tour, a major thrust of the pro-tour lobby was that sport and politics should not mix, that the purity of sport should not be sullied by its being immersed in the murky business of politics, and that sports people should be left to get on with the serious business of playing their sport and entertaining the spectators. Often, such arguments were simply a disingenuous attempt by apologists for the racist South African regime to weaken the campaign against the white South African state. Read the rest of this entry »
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January 13, 2010
A vigil will start outside Waterhouse Coopers Tower, 186-194 Quay St, Auckland, 4pm on Monday the 18th.
Then march at 5pm from Quay Street up Queen Street towards Aoeta Square.
Background: Read the rest of this entry »
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