No 1331 Week commencing 4 March 2005 Weekly paper of the New Communist Party of Britain

WORKERS OF ALL COUNTRIES, UNITE!

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by our Arab AffairsCorrespondent

THE ARAB media caravanpaused in London on Tues-day for Tony Blair’s MiddleEast conference and thenmoved on, after a day of pi-ous words and vague prom-ises that seemed to vanishlike a mirage when the jam-boree ended.

Blair managed to brieflystrut the world stage, to-gether with UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, US for-eign minister CondoleezzaRice and the representativesof some Arab countries. Butall the new Palestinian Presi-dent Mahmoud Abbas got outof it was the promise of up to$1.2 billion in aid and lec-tures on how to “reform” thePalestinian Authority, whoseautonomy Israel barelyrecognises.

Israel didn’t bother to takepart in the proceedings, butthat didn’t stop the imperial-ist leaders from demandinga Palestinian pledge to con-tinue the “peace process”through peaceful non-violentmeans. Abbas, who has fewcards to play with, naturallyagreed, though many of hisofficials were angry at the im-plication that they should beguaranteeing the security ofthe very people who were vio-lently occupying their land.

On the Arab street all ofthis has been overshadowedby the increasingly ominousAmerican threats againstSyria and Iran, which are nowbeing dutifully echoed by theBlair government.

Some believe it’s de-

signed to distract domesticopinion on both sides of theAtlantic from the shambles inIraq. Others argue more forc-ibly that a new imperialist of-fensive in the Middle East isbeing planned, in an attemptto prevent a humiliating im-perialist retreat at the handsof the resistance.

Resistance attacks arecontinuing throughout Iraq asthe US military administra-tion and the puppet regimesink into chaos under theblows of raids, street battlesand suicide bombings.

The new Ukrainian gov-ernment has had enough,confirming this week that its1,650 troops will begin towithdraw on 15 March and becompleted by October. Theformer Soviet republic joinedthe “coalition of the willing” inAugust 2003 in an attempt tocurry favour with Anglo-American imperialism. Sincethen 18 of their troops havebeen killed and some 30 in-jured at the hands of the re-sistance.

Doing imperialism’s dirtywork was deeply unpopularwith the Ukrainian massesand both contenders, in lastDecember’s presidentialrace promised to bring theirtroops home.

But for one brief momentlast week the Iraqi puppet re-gime did have something tocrow about – the capture ofSaddam Hussein’s half-brother, who was onAmerica’s wanted listed,along with some otherBaathist officials who hadbeen hiding just across the

border in Syria.Whether they were

handed over by the Syriangovernment, or captured byone of the pro-AmericanKurdish militias operatingalong the Syrian-Iraqi frontieris still unclear.

Within days the partisansstruck back, gunning downtwo members of the puppetspecial tribunal set up by theAmericans to try SaddamHussein and other membersof the former Baathist govern-ment.

On the same day thehead of Saddam’s defenceteam issued a strong rebuketo the planned show-trialwhich has still to take place.Speaking in Tokyo, Ziad alKhasawneh condemnedplans to try the former Iraqi

leader before a US-fundedspecial court with no legiti-macy, or the requirementsnecessary to ensure a fairand safe trial.

As Saddam and his col-leagues were immune tocriminal charges under Iraqilaw at the time, AlKhasawneh argues that theyare therefore immune fromprosecution under interna-tional law.

“Iraqi law before the oc-cupation must apply,” he toldthe Japanese media. “What-ever is built on illegality is il-legal. Everything after the oc-cupation – the temporary gov-ernment, the elections – is il-legitimate,” he declared.

Al Khasawneh said hehas been denied access tomost of the details of the

They included formercabinet ministers RobinCook, Frank Dobson, ClareShort and Chris Smith. Thevote was on a series ofcross-party amendmentsdesigned to ensure that alldecisions on the proposed“control orders” would betaken by judges and notpoliticians. The amend-ments were defeated by267 votes to 253.

The Bill will now go tothe House of Lords. HomeSecretary Charles Clarkehas promised them that hewill make some conces-sions and amend the Bill sothat only the High Court can

decide whether to imposethe most severe control or-ders. Leaving these deci-sions to politicians wouldput far too much power inthe hands of the govern-ment of the day.

But the Lords havelittle confidence in hispromises. Shadow HomeSecretary David Davis istrying to table an amend-ment to force the Govern-ment to reconsider the Actafter eight months butClarke is saying he hasmade enough concessionsalready.

And Clarke needs theAct in place by next week,

which is when he will becompelled to free the re-maining Belmarsh detain-ees in line with a LawLords ruling last year thatit is illegal to hold them in-definitely without charge ortrial.

Clarke wants the newlaws in place so that he canimpose control orders onthese men as they are re-leased, claiming that theyare very dangerous terror-ists. If that were so, thereshould by now be someevidence that could bebrought before a court.

But Clarke and Blairare playing up the allegeddangers of a serious terror-ist attack for all they areworth.

Civil rights lawyersmake the point that fromthe detainees’ point of view,it makes little differencewhether they are locked up

by a judge or a politician ifthey don’t know why theyare being locked up, or whatevidence there is againstthem, and have no oppor-tunity to challenge it.

In either case the “evi-dence” against themcomes from faceless intel-ligence agents – secret po-lice spies. And the intelli-gence services have mademany mistakes.

waking up

Many politicians, law-yers and others from allpolitical persuasions arewaking up to the fact thatthis is possibly the mostradical assault on bourgeoisdemocracy in this countryfor centuries.

But there is much moreto come. The identity cardscheme will involve a hugedatabase containing de-

tailed personal informationon all of us and allow Gov-ernment agencies to moni-tor our every move.

The pressure to go overto all postal voting is an as-sault on the secret ballot.

And now the Govern-ment is to scrap the boardof governors of the BBC.

Communists have al-ways recognised that bour-geois democracy is a shamand that when things getdifficult the ruling class willhappily abandon it.

But it is the systemthey prefer to use. Usuallythey only resort to dictator-ships when they are losingcontrol. Dictatorships aremuch more expensive torun and they antagonise themiddle classes and the in-telligentsia.

So why the assault onbourgeois democracynow? This is one part of a

divided ruling class attack-ing the rest. There is a wargoing on behind the scenes.

There are massive di-visions between those whowant to see us as part of aEuropean super state andthose who want to see usas the 51st state ofAmerica.

The pro-Americansare led by Blair. That iswhy he feels he cannot re-sign, because without himBush would be isolated.The Blairites are followingthe most right-wing and re-actionary elements in theUS government who aregambling on a quick pushfor world hegemony.

When the Soviet Unionfell they saw their chancebut felt under pressure toact fast before China, Ja-pan and Europe becameeconomic powers too bigfor them to subdue.

The harder they pushthe more they alarm andalert the rest of the world– including their capitalistrivals, the remaining social-ist countries, and more mod-erate capitalists in the USitself.

These draconian mea-sures, though harsh, are asign that the ruling class isfalling apart from within.There is every reason forworking class optimismand for us to get organisedto make the most of it.

ASSAULT ONDEMOCRACY

Our fund this weekhas been disappointing,just £188.40 and bringsour final total for Febru-ary to £2,082.96, which is£917.04 short of ourmonthly £3,000 target.

First we thank twocomrades from Suffolkwho sent £20 in memoryof James O’Hare who diedin November 2004 and inmemory of Grace Kingwho died in February2005.

We also thank areader from Essex for £15,a friend from west Londonfor £6, a comrade fromVauxhall for £50, a sup-porter from Sussex for£50, £20 from a Surreycomrade and £27.40 fromour regular north Londonpensioner donor.

Let’s hope we can dobetter in March. Pleasesend whatever you can tothe New Worker Fund, POBox 73, London SW112PQ.

charges against Saddam,nor has he or anyone in thedefence team been allowedto see the ousted Iraqi leaderfor over two months.

Saddam Hussein and 11leading Iraqi Baathists arebelieved to be held in a newprison near Baghdad’s Inter-national Airport, which is alsothe biggest American militarybase in the capital.

“President Saddam isisolated from the outsideworld,” Al Khasawneh said.“He is in a small cell and notallowed to meet his attorneysor family members, despiterepeated requests. Hedoesn’t have TV or radio andhe isn’t allowed to read thenewspapers. He doesn’tknow anything about what isgoing on”.

Middle East: pious words, vague promises

by Daphne Liddle

THE GOVERNMENT’S draconian Preventionof Terror Bill passed through the Commons onTuesday with a majority of only 14, after 60Labour rebels voted with the Tories and LiberalDemocrats against the order.

• Pro-Syrian Hizbullah supporters on the march in Lebanon.

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News Desk 020 7223 4050

4 March 2005THE NEW WORKER

Say no moreemail: party@ncp.clara.net

Weekly paper of the New Communist Party

Crime spree

Two students fromCornwall are planning aneight-week crime spreewhile cycling across theUnited States from west toeast. They are hoping toevade police attentionwhile they break thousandsof archaic “and stupidlaws”.

These include riding abicycle in a swimming pooland cursing on a crazy-golfcourse – both illegal in Cali-fornia. In land-locked Utahthey will break state laws byhiring a boat and trying togo whale hunting. In Da-kota they will have a nap ina cheese factory.

They will also playcards with a Native Ameri-can in Arizona and laterdrive more than 100 timesaround the town square inOxford, Mississippi. In Al-bany, New York they willplay golf in the street andsay “Oh Boy!” inJonesboro, Georgia. Then inHartfod Connecticut theywill cross the road walkingon their hands.

There is one law they

will not be able to break be-cause they are not female: itis illegal in Florida for a widowto parachute on a Sunday.

End of apartheid?

The last bastion of formallegal segregation in the UnitedStates is about to go after aSupreme Court ruling con-demning the practice in theCalifornian prison system ofseparating black, Latino andwhite prisoners.

Justice Sandra DayO’Connor said the principle atstake was the same as thatbehind the landmark ruling of1954 ordering school deseg-regation. She said: “We rejectthe notion that separate canever be equal”.

Throwing away an asset

The Labour leader ofManchester Council, RichardLeese, last week attacked theGovernment’s asylum systemfor threatening to deport aKosovan who has been de-

scribed as a model citizen forhis work as a social workeramong HIV and Aids patients.

Leese said that PerparimDemaj is “the kind of citizenwe would like all our citizensto be”. But his requests forasylum have been exhaustedand his application for a workpermit has been rejected. Nowhe could be removed from thecountry at any time.

Royal conundrum

When the European Hu-man Rights Act first becamepart of British law the Princeof Wales wrote numerous let-ters to senior law lords object-ing to the Act, saying it “be-trays a fundamental distortionof social and legal thinking”.

Now he has reason to beglad of it. The Lord Chancel-lor Lord Falconer last weekinformed the prince that theprovisions of the HumanRights Act prevailed over vari-ous arcane laws that governthe marriage arrangements ofthe Royal Family. This means

that Prince Charles andCamilla now have the samerights to marry in a civilceremony as anyone elseand their wedding can goahead after all.

Off the rails

George W Bush’s do-mestic economic policycurrently involves hugecuts – to pay for the “waron terror”. One of these willabolish the $1.2 billion(£700 million) annual fed-eral subsidy for Amtrak, theUnited States’ nationalisedrail operator. This will killmany of America’s mostfamous rail routes.

Native Americantribes living on reserva-tions are among those whowill suffer most from lineclosures that will leavethem hundreds of milesfrom the nearest publictransport.

But the Bush adminis-tration is determined to goahead with the cuts. Trans-port secretary NormanMineta said: “Amtrak isdying and everyoneknows it”.

AIR-BORNE particles emit-ted by mainly diesel enginesare causing serious healthproblems according to a re-port published last Monday bythe Chartered Society ofPhysiotherapy (CSP).

Experts at the WorldHealth Organisation (WHO)believe there is no safe limitfor the exposure to the pollut-ant, known as PM10. But astudy by the CPS reveals highlevels across Britain.

Across the nation as awhole there is an average of23.3 micrograms (µg) of PM10per cubic metre of air but lev-els are much higher in someareas.

The Marylebone Road inLondon came out worst in thestudy, with 43 µg per cubicmetre, followed by Camden,also in north London, with 32.

Of the top ten hotspots,five are outside the capital.Port Talbot in Wales regis-tered 31 µg per cubic metre; aroad in Bury Lancashire re-corded 30 while monitoringpoints in Bradford’s towncentre and at the kerbside inGlasgow both registered 27µg per cubic metre.

The CSP gathered the in-formation from readings

throughout 2004 from 58 au-tomatic monitoring pointsaround the country.

Exposure to PM 10 cancause coughing, wheezingand shortness of breath. Res-piratory physiotherapists saythat the consequences forpeople with lung diseasessuch as asthma, emphysema

and bronchitis can be veryserious.

Tokyo has responded toWHO concerns by consider-ing banning vehicles with cer-tain types of engines frombuilt up areas and calling oncar manufacturers to ensurethat diesel engines becomecleaner.

Speaking for the CSP,Grahame Pope said: “Respira-tory physios are dealing withpatients being harmed by thispollutant. The CSP wants ac-tion:

• The UK governmentshould accept the WHO po-sition that there is no safe ex-posure limit;

• Diesel engine manu-facturers should produce en-gines with zero emissions ofPM10;

• Local authoritiesshould follow the Japaneseexample by banning thesevehicles from built up areas.

London Mayor KenLivingstone responded: “I amdelighted that the CharteredSociety of Physiotherapists ishighlighting the problem of airpollution and thoroughlysupport their campaign.

“London has long suf-fered the worst air quality inthe country, with air qualityestimated to cause 1,600 pre-mature deaths every year.

“I am proud that Londonis leading the way in triallingzero emission fuel cell busesand we have recently an-nounced strict new emissionsstandards for London’s20,000 black cabs.”

BRITAIN is failing to protectwomen victims of domesticviolence and cannot guaran-tee safe refuge for the mostvulnerable victims of vio-lence according to a reportpublished last week by Am-nesty International and theWomen’s National Commis-sion.

The report reveals thatwomen suffering domesticviolence, forced marriage,rape, honour crimes and hu-man trafficking cannot al-ways be provided with a saferefuge, despite their desper-ate situations.

The report is titled Whata waste: the case for an inte-grated violence againstwomen strategy and waslaunched in Parliament lastweek by Vera Baird MP. It saysthat many European coun-tries are performing betterthan Britain in dealing withviolence against women.

And it shows that victimsof rape and sexual assaultare subject to a “postcard lot-tery” with regard to the levelof support they can expectfrom the police and criminaljustice system.

Women who have beenvictims of human trafficking

and forced into prostitutionfind themselves charged withcriminal offences and de-ported back to countrieswhere they may be at risk.

Amnesty has called for amore co-ordinated long-termGovernment policy to preventthe “mainstreaming of ne-glected forms of violenceagainst women”.

Another report issued bythe Home Office last week re-vealed that convictions forrape are at an all-time low.Only 5.6 per cent of reportedcases end in the rapist be-ing convicted in court, a fallfrom 32 per cent 1977.

Since 1977 there hasbeen a continuing steady risein the reporting of rapes butthis has not been matchedby a similar rise in prosecu-tions or convictions.

Researchers at the Lon-don Metropolitan Universitychild and women abuse unitsay that part of the problemis that police and prosecutorsoverestimate the scale offalse accusations made byvictims.

This leads to poor com-munications and a loss ofconfidence by those who re-port to the police.

Amnesty calls for action on domestic violence

Health warning over diesel fumes

• There are alternatives – “bio-diesel” is one of them.

Blair�screepingfascism

THE GOVERNMENT’S new Prevention ofTerrorism Bill got the kicking it deserved inthe Commons on Monday. At one point it al-most went under when 60 Labour rebelsbacked an opposition amendment that camewithin 14 votes of victory. Ten former Labourministers took the principled stand against thelatest attack on our civil liberties includingfour former members of Blair’s Cabinet.

Opposition to this reactionary piece of legisla-tion goes far beyond the civil liberties lobby. It willbe fiercely contested in Parliament but only masspressure from the labour movement can ensurethat it never sees the light of day.

The draconian laws being rushed through Par-liament will sanction house arrest and various other“control orders” – all without charge or trial. If theGovernment gets its way it will soon be followedby the introduction of the most intrusive compul-sory identity card in the world, giving the policeand the security forces immense power over ev-ery citizen in the land. This power will certainly beabused if the past is anything to go by.

The original prevention of terrorism acts wereused to hound the Irish community in Britain andfalsely convict Irish people on terror charges dur-ing the last IRA campaign. Some 700 arrests weremade under the new repressive laws that followedthe 11 September attacks on the United States.Few of them were ever charged and even fewereventually convicted.

The Government claims the target is “interna-tional terror” and the “several hundred people”Blair says are plotting terrorist attacks in Britain.That this is clearly not taken seriously by large sec-tions of the ruling class can be seen by the vocalopposition of the Tories and Liberal Democratsto the new proposals.

But it is equally evident that one section of thebourgeoisie is clamouring for it. They are the peopleBlair & Co believe to be the dominant section ofthe ruling class. They are the war camp thatdragged us into the criminal invasion and occupa-tion of Iraq. They are the people who are sabo-taging the Good Friday Agreement that broughtpeace to the north of Ireland.

They are the people who would readily plungeus into more conflicts if it suited the needs of Ameri-can imperialism. They are the most venal and ag-gressive sections of the bourgeoisie – the peoplewho think that British imperialism can only surviveunder the wing of the American eagle.

They don’t fear the random terrorism of Is-lamic fundamentalists that the security forces, ex-isting law and the state’s emergency powers aremore than adequate to deal with. What they fearis mass opposition to their rule in the future andthey want the power to crush it in the bud.

Fascist regimes always claimed to be restoring“law and order”. These days Blair and his minionsclaim to be acting on behalf of the “public interest”though the people are never consulted about whatis supposedly done in their name.

Back in 1918 Lenin said that: “Bourgeois de-mocracy, which is invaluable for educating the pro-letariat and training it for struggle, is always nar-row, hypocritical, spurious and false; it always re-mains democracy for the rich and a swindle forthe poor”.

Nothing has changed.

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Home News Newsdesk 020 7223 40504 March 2005 THE NEW WORKER

THE LIBERAL DemocratParty is planning to includea ban on strikes in essentialservices in its manifesto forthe coming general election.

The measure is to be in-cluded in a policy paper to beput to the party’s spring con-ference this weekend.

The paper on employmentrights, which is being tabledby the Lib Dems’ federalpolicy committee, will also ruleout any immediate action onwork-life balance. This in-cludes the right to time off tolook after children.

TRADE unionists and otheranti-fascists gathered in theTUC’s Congress House inLondon last Saturday to dis-cuss future campaignsagainst the British NationalParty and its plans to dupevoters in the coming generalelection.

The national conferencewas called by Unite AgainstFascism (UAF) and waspacked.

GMB general secretaryKevin Curran told the confer-ence that his union is pledgedto campaign across the coun-try “to let voters know that avote for the BNP is a vote forhatred”.

He began his speech byattacking the recent an-nouncements by the Toriesthat immigrants should becompulsorily screened at ournational borders.

“It will not have come asa surprise to those of us onthe left who have been moni-toring the increasingly des-perate politics of MichaelHoward’s party. The Toriesare not what they were, notthat they were much in thefirst place,” he said.

“But what is extremelytroubling that the Tories, thisclose to an election, havesought to make the insidiouslink that they have betweenimmigrants and disease. Eventhe BNP leader has accusedthe Tories of pilfering theirpolicies, and if you look atwhat the BNP is offering, it’sone of the few things Griffinhas ever said that holds up.

“I do not deny the factthat in the interests of publichealth we should attempt toscreen for disease, though thefact is that of 4,219 asylumseekers (not covered by theTory proposals it must be said)screened at Dover last yearonly 0.2 per cent tested posi-

tive for any active, contagiousfrom of tuberculosis. Ninepeople.

“Let’s be in no doubt thatthere is racism implicit in theTory announcement thatscreening should be compul-sory. In my view the whole is-sue was carefully edged intoan appeal to worst instincts,an appeal to cynicism andmalice, another attempt tomotivate people to vote forthe wrong reasons, which iswhy I compared the Tories tothe BNP.”

unattractive

He then went on to giveexamples of what sort ofpeople the BNP leaders andcandidates are: “A more un-attractive bunch would behard to meet outside of a hor-ror film. Yet these people claimto stand for British values.Their values of violence andintolerance against Britain’snew communities have no

value at all in this country. “Let’s look at just one

area of this Britain the BNPclaim to represent. The North.Let’s do some naming andshaming.

“There’s Burnley BNPcouncillor Brian Turner whois awaiting sentencing afterpleading guilty last week tobeating up his wife and as-saulting a police officer. De-spite the severity of the crimethe BNP are standing byTurner and are refusing to ex-pel him from their party oreven demand that he resignshis council seat.

“In February a BNPspokesperson told theLancashire Evening Tele-graph ‘We are not in the busi-ness of persecuting our mem-bers’. Of course not. The BNPis in the business of persecut-ing and smearing people theywould rather not see in theircountry, let alone their party.

“There’s Burnley BNPcouncillor Len Starr. He’s the

Prospective Parliamentarycandidate for Burnley. Lastweek he was cautioned forselling alcohol to people un-der the age of 18. If that wasan Asian shopkeeper, therewould be uproar from the BNP.

bottle

“There’s Luke Smith, whowas forced to resign as a BNPcouncillor in Burnley after hesmashed a bottle into the faceof a man. He has since beenbanned from every footballground in the country forthree years for soccer vio-lence. No black player on thepitch would sink to that kindof behaviour.

“There’s Halifax BNPcouncillor Adrian Marsden.He has three convictions forthreatening behaviour, themost recent in May 2002. Thiswas just seven months beforehe was elected to the council.

“And there’s Hull BNPorganiser David Hannam. Im-

prisoned for three months in2000 for distributing materiallikely to incite racial hatred.He and another man wereprosecuted for anti-Semiticand racist BNP leaflets distrib-uted during the 1999 Euro-pean Elections.

“During last summer’s lo-cal elections it was revealedthat Barnsley BNP organiserDean Strawson-Morland wasreally Dean Wilson. Smallwonder he changed his name.He didn’t want voters to knowof his string of convictions,including 12 years imprison-ment in 1994 for robbery, kid-napping, false imprisonmentand firearms offences. Sadly,it was reduced to eight yearson appeal. In 2002 he was sen-tenced to a further 21 monthsfor assaulting a woman.

“There’s long-time BNPorganiser for Oldham, MickTreacy. Five convictions forviolence, threateningbehaviour and possession ofstolen property. There’s

Trade unionists prepare to fight fascists

by Theo Russell

“SINN Féin is determinedthat the peace process will notbe turned back and we will seeit through,” Northern Ire-land Assembly member AlexMaskey told a meeting of over100 supporters in London on23 February.

The former mayor ofBelfast went on to reassurethe meeting, which wasorganised by the Wolfe ToneSociety, that Sinn Féin re-mains firm in spite of a delugeof accusations against theparty. “If you don’t maintainthe momentum, the processwill go backwards,” he said.

He pointed out that thetwo Sinn Féin members ar-rested for the Northern Bankrobbery have been released,and the only person chargedwas accused of membershipof the Real IRA.

“This tidal wave of criti-cism against republicans isnothing new. Every electionI’ve contested has been SinnFéin against all the other par-ties.

“These attacks on Sinn

Oldham BNP’s one-timeleafleting organiser RobertBennett, a convicted gangrapist and armed robber. Intotal he has 37 convictions.

“There’s Oldham BNPactivist Jock Shearer, who hasa conviction for possessionof drugs. And there’s even theminder to the leader of theBNP, Joey Owens, has beenimprisoned twice. First whenhe sent razor blades in thepost to members ofLiverpool’s Jewish commu-nity and then, more recently,for possession of CS gas andknuckle-dusters.

So the evidence of thereal character of the BNP isthere. It is for us to go out andpresent it….”

“Trade unions have re-sources. We can pay for leaf-lets, provide cars and mini-buses. We can blitz areas witha BNP problem with our ac-tivists. At the risk of sound-ing like Canute, we can turnthe tide. The GMB has doneit successfully in Dagenham.”

But new battles are loom-ing in Dagenham as the BNPintends to stand there is thecoming general election. Lo-cal anti-fascists are preparinga massive campaign againstthem, starting on Saturday 12March with a mass leafletingof the area. They are callingon activists who possible canto come and take part.

The day of action will bebased at the Labour Hall at thejunction of Tenterden Roadand Green Lane. It will lastfrom 10am until 7pm (neareststations Dagenham Heathway(tube) and Chadwell Heath,buses 5, 87, 103, 128, 150, 173,175 pass nearby).

Their target is to deliver50,000 locally focussed news-letters during the course ofthe day.

Sinn Féin reassuresLondon supporters

Féin began a year ago whenthe party began scoring ma-jor electoral gains in the Irishrepublic, with the realisationthat Sinn Féin could hold thebalance of power in the repub-lic after the next general elec-tions.

“We see this direct attackon Gerry and Martin as verycarefully planned. The realityis that people in the Irish re-public do see Sinn Féin as aparty with a vision for the fu-ture and for the peace pro-cess.”

Maskey said that indica-tions were that Sinn Féin’ssupport is holding up in Ire-

land – just as it did after pre-vious “scandals” proved tobe unfounded – and the partyexpects to do well in theMeath by-election on 11March.

Although the talks col-lapsed in December, Maskeysaid “a fundamental politicalshift took place within Union-ism. There were those withinUnionism who wanted a dealclosed, and are looking post-Ian Paisley. A lot of progresswas made, and that progresscould be pick ed up again.”

On the murder of ShortStrand resident RobertMcCartney, Maskey said he

had met with the family, thatSinn Féin was seeking justicefor the family and was urgingpeople to come forward withany information. But he saidthat “day in and day out thereare people making politicalcapital out of that killing”.

“I say that any difficultiesthere may be within republi-canism we will not stand forand we will root it out. We willnot tolerate any criminality.”

Maskey said the SinnFéin is determined to defendits democratic mandate. “Weare building a campaign ofdemocratic resistance and wehave already begun to putpeople on the streets. We arenot going back to theThatcher days when we wereclassed as criminals. If that’swhat people want, we will takethat head on.”Irish campaign groups inLondon:Wolfe Tone Society, BMBox 6191, London WC1N3NN. Tel/fax 020-8442-8778. Email:wts@brosna.demon.co.ukConnolly Association, 1Camden Park Road,London NW1 9AU. Tel 020-7503-1273.

CULTURE Secretary TessaJowell last Tuesday launcheda Green Paper on the futureof the BBC that proposes thescrapping of the board of gov-ernors, to be replaced by anindependent board of trust-ees.

These trustees will begiven the task of ensuring thatthe corporation abides by avery tightly drawn remit.

This plan is supposed to

address the problem that theboard of governors was sup-posed to act both as a regula-tor and as a “cheer leader” forthe BBC.

The new board will moni-tor the BBC closely in orderto regulate it but will not getinvolved in the day-to-dayrunning of the BBC. There willalso be a new executive boardfor that function.

The proposals say that“in strategic areas of the pri-vate economy, the Govern-ment would be in a positionto declare a strike will causefar-reaching damage to theeconomy and the national in-terest” – and ban it.

The party would also at-tack Labour Party funding bymaking it necessary for aunion member to ask for hisor her political fund contribu-tion to be sent to the LabourParty. Currently union leadersdecide how to use the money.

Lib Dems wouldban some strikes

Government plans to scrapBBC board of governors

• Alex Maskey.

• Uniting to fight racism in Redbridge.

Features

4 March 2005Page 4 THE NEW WORKER

by Nada Al-RubaieeNada Al-Rubaiee is Member ofthe Central Committee of theIraqi Patriotic Alliance (IPA ).

DURING Bush’s campaign toinvade Iraq, issues concern-ing Iraqi women were raisedon several occasions. Part ofthis “feminist” hoopla wascarried out by a few Iraqiwomen who promoted the in-vasion as a means of “liberat-ing” Iraqi women from maleand state repression.

After the desired “liberation”of Iraq was accomplished, someof these same women were ap-pointed to “prestigious” positionsin different occupation institutionsof the “New Iraq” like the “IraqiGoverning Council”(IGC) andthe “Interim Iraqi Government”of Iyyad Alawi . Others startedoperating openly inside Iraq un-der the banner of foreign-fi-nanced so-called Non-Govern-mental Organisations (NGO’s),as well as human rights andwomen’s organisations.

In November 2003, a delega-tion of Iraqi women visited theWhite House to personally thankBush for “helping” Iraq and to askhim not to withdraw his troopsallegedly because “Iraq still needsthem”. Several months later, onthe very special occasion of In-ternational Women’s Day on the8th March 2004, Colin Powellunleashed two initiatives: IraqiWomen’s Democracy Initiative,and the U.S.-Iraq Women’s Net-work. Powell, henceforth, allo-cated $10 million to cover the firstinitiative, and $27 million dollarsmore to cover the second!

Many fundamental questionsarise here by default: why is theUS administration shedding mil-lions to promote women’s democ-racy in occupied Iraq, while otherbasic and essential human needs,like water and electricity, are notbeing minimally satisfied yet?Why is the issue of women soimportant for the occupiers? Andhow can we understand spend-ing money in the name of democ-racy for the sake of women,while humiliating, torturing, andkilling thousands of men andwomen also in the name of de-mocracy? Finally, what role dothose newly-established Iraqiwomen’s organisations play inthis scheme?

Many of these organisations– if not all of them – have startedto raise very controversial issuesin a country still reeling under oc-cupation. Their slogans are notlimited to calls for more “privateand sexual freedom of Iraqiwomen”, but are strongly di-rected against the Iraqi resis-tance. It is true theseorganisations say the Iraqi peopleshould be rid of the occupation.But, they only do so while calling

at the same time for the rejec-tion of “the current terrorist re-sistance”! Moreover, they havetaken upon themselves the addi-tional responsibility of “resistingIslamic terrorism….”

But, aren’t these the samelines pushed by Rumsfeld andBush? There is no doubt therhetoric of these women’sorganisations borrows heavilyfrom the terminology of the oc-cupation.

Thus, it is only rational to askourselves whether there is a linkbetween such calls “to liberateIraqi women”, on one hand, andthe concomitant anti-resistanceslogans, on the other hand? Whatis the common denominator be-tween the occupation and thesewomen organisations?

Many dishonest and cheapaccusations were directed bothby the occupation and thoseorganisations against the heroicIraqi resistance in cities likeFallujah for example. Both ac-cused the resistance of commit-ting heinous crimes, such as kid-

napping and killing Iraqi women“for wearing jeans or walkingwithout a scarf”, and even rap-ing girls “before the occupiersrape them”?!

This latest accusation wasopenly made by the Organisationfor Women’s Freedom in Iraq(OWFI) against Fallujah’s Shura

Council, a religious council thatserved as spokesperson for theheroic resistance against the bru-tal aggressors during the siege ofFallujah. Thus, OWFI made theabsurd charge that the ShuraCouncil had issued a fatwa (reli-gious decree) stipulating that“Mujahideen fighters should rape

girls starting at the age of 10 be-fore they are raped by Ameri-cans”.

Such bizarre accusations arecompletely baseless, but they dounveil the real face oforganisations that were createdmerely to blackmail the resistanceand lengthen the occupation.While distracting attention awayfrom the real criminals, thoseorganisations do not miss achance to conjure up hatred forthe resistance.

Back to Fallujah again, in aletter “in defence” of the peopleof a city destroyed during the lat-est (continued) aggression of theoccupiers, OWFI addressed thefollowing point: “The terrorist Is-lamists are seeking to implementtheir medieval laws through fearand horror”.

In fact, not only does OWFIaccuse the resistance of commit-ting horrifying acts, it is also dis-missing it as a cast made up ofoutsiders who “have come to Iraqholding signs of swords drippingwith blood”!

Naturally, we cannot ignorethat there are crimes and injus-tices perpetrated against womenin Iraq. But who is behind thosecrimes?

For example, in the southernprovinces of Iraq, whole familieshave been threatened after theirmen and women attended pro-resistance solidarity meetings, orwhat the occupying forces call“anti-occupation, anti-coalition, oranti-government meetings”.Many families are hence forcedto leave their homes to avoid thejailing or killing of mothers anddaughters.

But rather than accusing Brit-ish occupation forces of givingcover to these threats, or accus-ing the collaborationist Badr Bri-gades of terrorising families,“Iraqi women’s organisations”accuse resistance fighters ofcommitting atrocious acts againstwomen! To them, the resistanceis always guilty of “killing anycreature moving on the ground!”

In northern Iraq, the case isslightly different. According to anIraqi newspaper, there werearound 30 girls kidnapped in oneweek in the city of Kirkuk alone,most of them snatched on theirway to school. Beside criminalgroups kidnapping girls for ran-som, there’s also the active in-volvement of the two PeshmergaKurdish militias trying to forceArab families out of Kirkuk be-lieving it is their historical right asKurds to govern the city.

Why are Iraqi female scien-tists still languishing in the pris-ons of the occupation?

Huda Salih Ammash andRihaab Taha have both been inUS custody since May 2003,without charge. These two sci-entists are accused of playing arole in the WMD and chemical –

The Iraqi Resistance and theblackmail campaign of �Iraqi

Women Organisations�

National and Women’s Liberation

• Top: Women soldiers of Saddam’s army prepare to resist the imperialist invaders. Above: Women supportthe armed resistance. The clothing is different but the spirit is the same.

Features 020 7223 4052

Page 54 March 2005 THE NEW WORKER

by Rob GowlandGuardian

Australian communist weekly

HAVE YOU EVER looked ata wooden door on whichthe paint is badly chipped,or at the mottled pattern ofsome vinyl tiles, and seenrecognisable shapes oreven faces in them? Ofcourse you have, we allhave.

Our eyes perceive phenom-ena poorly and indistinctly. It isthe role of the vision centre inthe human brain to make senseof such dimly perceived data,to smooth out their edges,make them sharp and well de-fined, and with the help ofmemory and experience, toturn raw visual data into a bril-liant, factual image.

It is this vision centre thatturns three or four smudges onthe floor, or some irregularsplodges in a vinyl tile into aclearly defined face or a car-toon figure of a sergeant ma-jor shouting at his men.

Chips in the paintwork of achest of drawers in my frontroom used to show a portly fel-low kicking a soccer ball. Overtime, more paint has chippedaway and the portly man’s girthhas grown as his sporting ac-tivities became more indistinct.

A vinyl tile on the floor of myson’s house has a splendid –albeit small – reproduction ofan upright hippopotamus in afloral dress. You have to useyour imagination sometimes,and a familiarity with cartoonshelps!

Only recently, a largesmudge on our bathroom floor,caused by one of our dogs,caught my attention on thisscore. It was a dark smudgewith a clear, pale area in thecentre of roughly oval shape.

Within the clear area werethree or four other smallsmudges, fortuitously placed toperfectly suggest a black andwhite photo of the face of theauthor Thomas Mann. It’s notthat I am all that familiar withthe face of Thomas Mann, mindyou, but rather that the roomalso contained a magazine withhis face on the cover.

Objectively, it was only fewsmudges suggestive of a face.If the magazine cover photohad not been so close to handI would probably have identi-fied the face as a movie star, apolitician or no one at all, justa face.

If I was intensely religious Imight have identified the facein the smudges as that of theProphet Elijah after he hadslain 400 of Baal’s priests anddefied King Ahab. But not be-ing even faintly religious I wipedthe floor clean.

And thereby might just havedone myself out of a whack ofmoney. Last year a Floridawoman sold a grilled cheesesandwich with the suggestionof the face of a woman on it forover $35,000.

Diana Duyser made thesandwich ten years ago, pre-sumably in a sandwich toaster,for it is scorched on one side.It is among this blackened areathat another fortuitous set ofsmudges has produced arecognisable woman’s face.

Ms Duyser has no doubtabout whose face it is: “I wouldlike all people to know that I dobelieve that this is the VirginMary, Mother of God.”

Now how would she know?There were no portraits paintedof Mary in her lifetime. The bestknown portraits were donemany hundreds of years afterher death and faithfully repro-duce the likenesses of theartist’s relatives and other Re-naissance models.

The face in the toast sur-face is a typical, high cheek-boned Western Europeanbeauty, more suggestive ofEnglish screen actressMadeleine Carroll (star ofHitchcock’s thriller The Thirty-Nine Steps) than of any bibli-cal figure.

After keeping the toastedcheese icon encased in clearplastic for a decade, MsDuyser sold it through theInternet auction site eBay. Itwas bought byGoldenPalace.com, an onlinecasino.

The boss of this gamblingbusiness told the media – pi-ously, one assumes – that hewould use the sandwich toraise money for charity. Bycharging admission to view it, Isuppose.

However, GoldenPalace.com don’t seem tooimpressed by the view that thisis a religious artifact. “It’s a partof pop culture that’s immedi-ately and widely recognisable”,said their impious but frankspokesman.

I once saw someone de-scribed as having a face “likethree mule kicks in a mud wall”.

What degree of superstitiondo you have to have to want toturn those three mule kicks –or smudges on the floor ormarks on scorched toast – intoa religious experience, a magi-cal vision of something super-natural?

WC Fields, that juggler andcomedian of genius, oncemade a short film called Theface on the bar room floor. Itwas a comic dissertation ondrunkenness and the face wasformed from spilt beer.

By no stretch of the imagi-nation could it have beenturned into a religious manifes-tation. But that was in the hun-gry ’30s, when people had rea-son to know what the score wasin the world.

Today, capitalism seems in-tent on encouraging people’sgullibility at every turn. Per-haps they are afraid of whatmight happen if people toothink too clearly about theworld and what goes on in it.

biological programme of theformer Iraqi government.

But there is no single proofthat the former Iraqi governmentmaintained such programmes onthe eve of the invasion of Iraq.Nevertheless, these scientistsand many others remain in jail.

Most likely, this is part of thestrategy of occupying forces andtheir cronies to eliminate the ba-sic elements needed to rebuildthe former charismatic Iraqistate. That is, they are part ofthe effort to invent the “NewIraq”: a weak dependent Iraq.

In the meantime, Iraqi fe-male scientists, doctors, and uni-versity professors are being sys-tematically kidnapped, jailed, andkilled. The same crucial questionarises here too: who benefitsfrom liquidating these women?

The Iraqi resistance has nointerest whatsoever in attackingthose women. On the contrary,those highly educated womenare needed to intellectually leadand support our struggle againstthe Zionist-Imperialist occupationof our country, to regain our lib-erty and independence, and towrite our constitution.

In fact, Iraqi women get ar-rested and tortured by the USregime. And that is the real waythat the US is “working” forwomen’s liberation, by torturingwomen and torturing men andturning them all into the Resis-tance.

One case in point is the well-known example of Fatima in theinfamous Abu Ghraib Prisonwho was gang-raped repeatedlyby American jailers. Anotherwell-known case is that of awoman killed while trying, underUS fire, to retrieve the body ofher son, a resistance fighter, inRamadi.

Iraqi women, furthermore,have taken an active part in theresistance on many occasions.To cite examples from the earlypart of January 2005 alone,women fighters were reportedin Mosul in northern Iraq on 2nd

and 3rd January 2005. One weeklater, a religious leader issued afatwa urging women in the cityto carry weapons and fight.

And there was a funeral thereof a female martyr who waskilled in the fighting. Her husbandand sons attended (also fighters).Women in al-Jazirah village nearRamadi encouraged fighters on11th January 2005. Women inal-Mushahadah in Baghdad areathrew stones at US troops inHumvees on 9th January 2005.

Around the same period,women in Ramadi were seen onrooftops with weapons when itwas anticipated that the Ameri-cans were coming. These arethe real changes, the real libera-tion of the real local women, notwealthy ones who fly to Londonfor manicures, or fly to Wash-ington to meet Bush.

To clarify the matter further,we emphasise that the Iraqi re-sistance has both Islamic andsecular elements, with a mainlyanti-imperialist general profile,and a top priority given to fight-ing the invaders and theirstooges.

To these women’sorganisations we have a clearmessage: women’s liberation isa noble aim, but this cannot bereached unless coupled with thearmed struggle for national lib-eration and for an Iraqi consti-tution written by the Iraqis them-selves.

The face on thebathroom floor

• What we ‘see’ is often open to interpretation, as these visualillusions show.

Page 6 THE NEW WORKER 4 March 2005

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Diary

On the WebNew Worker National –www.newworker.orgNCP Central –www.geocities.com/ncpcentralNCP-PCS –www.geocities.ncppcs/pcs1.html

SATURDAY 5 MarchProf Ann Hughes aboutChristopher Hill. 2pm,Marx House, ClerkenwellGreen. London EC. £1.50.Socialist History Soc. 020508 6250.MONDAY 7 MarchSpatialising Marx.speaker Prof Swyngedouw.7pm, Marx MemorialLibrary, 37a ClerkenwellGreen, London EC1. £1/50TUESDAY 8 MarchInternational Women’sDay action in support ofthe women of Kenya.12pm, picket of KenyaHigh Commission, 45PortlandPlace, LondonW1. ALISC Network,nkexplo@yahoo.co.uk.TUESDAY 8 MarchDefend Council Housing.12noon-4pm, JubileeRoom, Housre ofCommons SW1. House ofCommons CouncilHousing Group session.FRIDAY 11 March toSATURDAY 12 MarchDefend human rights andcivil liberties. Nationallobby of MPs. CampaignAgainst CriminalisingCommunities.www.cacc.org.uk.SATURDAY 12 MarchDay of action against theBNP. 10am-7pm, meet atLabour Hall, Junction ofTenterden Road andGreen Lane, Dagenham.020 8550 1805.SATURDAY 12 MarchInternational BrigadeMemorial Trust. LenCrome Memorial Lecture.Paul Preston at theImperial War Museum,London SE1.SATURDAY 12 March - 26March. New StrungTheatre Co. – The WrongMan by Danny Morrison.7.45pm (Sunday 5.15pm,no Monday performance).Pleasance Theatre,Carpenters Mews, NorthRd, London N7. £8/£6.SATURDAY 12 March - 31March. Exibition of thepaintings and cermics ofJawad Botmeh. LamplightCentre, Stanley, Durham.SATURDAY 12 MarchSocialism and Suburbiaby David Young. LondonSocialists HistoriansGroup. 1pm, Inst. ofHistorical Research,Senate House, Malet St,WC1.

SUNDAY 13 MarchSt Patrick’s Day paradecentral London. 11amHyde Park Corner.SUNDAY 13 MarchThree films on Palestine.10.30am, LondonSocialist Film Co-op,Renoir Cinema,Brunswick Centre, WC1.£6/£4.MONDAY 14 MarchAnnual Marx MemorialLecture. Vietnam,speaker Len Aldis, BVFS.7pm, Marx MemorialLibrary, 37a ClerkenwellGreen, London EC1. £1/50p.THURSDAY 17 MarchNew Worker publicmeeting. Britain out ofIraq! Speakers from NCP,RCPB (ML) & Explo Nani-Kofi (ALISC). 7pm, MarxMemorial Library,Clerkenwell Green,London EC1. (Tube:Farringdon).SATURDAY 19 MarchBring the troops home.National demo & rally.CND, Stop the warcoalition, Muslim Assoc. ofBritain.MONDAY 21 MarchPre-election rally. LabourRepresentation Cttee.7.30pm, Grand CtteeRoom, House ofCommons.WEDNESDAY 23 MarchPeace in the Balkans.Rally. 6.30-8pm, GrandCttee Room House ofCommons SW1.SATURDAY 2 AprilExhibition: Iron Ladies inThatcher’s Britain. TheWomen’s Library, LondonMetropoloitan University,Old Castle St. E1MONDAY 4 AprilMarx and Christianity - Fr.Geoff Bottoms. 7pm, MarxMemorial Library, 37aClerkenwell Green,London EC1. £1/50p.SUNDAY 10 AprilChaplin’s The GreatDictator. London SocialistFilm Club. 10.30, RenoirCinema, BrunswickCentre, WC1. £6/£4, £5/£3.

MONDAY 18 AprilTom Wintringham inSpain - Hugh Purcell.Marx Memorial Lecture ,Marx Memorial Library,37a Clerkenwell Green,London EC1. £1/50p.

SUPPORTERS of publictransport staged a protestmeeting in Colchester on 21February to save the local busstation from closure. Around80 people, including mem-bers of the Liberal Democratcouncil, attended the meeting,which was organised by theSave Our Bus Station cam-paign.

Consultants, due to beappointed next week, will con-duct a consultation processthat will involve bus operatorsand consider the impact of anew underground bus sta-tion.

Peter Kay, secretary of theColchester bus users’ supportgroup said: “The whole thingis a total waste of money as itdoesn’t solve the long-termproblem.

“All these years theyhave been saying theyhaven’t got the money to im-prove the bus station. Nowthey are talking about spend-ing half a million to providesomething that will only bethere for four years.

“Basically they don’tknow what they are doingfrom one day t the next.”

Mike Fletcher fromColchester Trades Councilsaid the trades council would

oppose the proposals for anew bus station that wouldexist for only four years anddefend the existing bus sta-tion.

He said “The tradescouncil is in favour of a highstandard of service to thepublic. These buses are usedby disabled people, workersand students from the Univer-sity of Essex.

“As Colchester is expand-ing we need to spend themoney on new GP surgeries,hospitals and schools.

“In the short term we areopposed to the new buildingbecause it will create chaos inColchester. There will be a gapof four years before the newstation is built.”

He added that the long-term aim of the trades councilis to bring all services backinto public ownership.

Tim Oxton, co-ordinatorof Save our Bus Station,handed a 10,000-signaturepetition to keep the bus sta-tion in Queen Street to theMayor at Colchester TownHall last week.

Next week there will be acrucial council meeting toconsider the future of the busstation.

THE DAILY TELEGRAPHis gnashing its teeth and cry-ing foul as residents of theGalson estate in the WesternIsles of Scotland last weekvoted overwhelmingly infavour of buying out theirlandlords – Alexander Gra-ham and his relatives.

Under land reform passedby the Scottish Parliament,Highland communities cannow vote to buy the privateestates that they and theirfamilies have lived on for cen-turies – whether the landlordwants to sell or not.

The Telegraph regardsthis as little short of revolu-tion.

Graham has suggestedthat the islanders are moti-vated by the prospects of alucrative wind farm plannedfor the estate. The price of theland could rise dramaticallyonce planning permission isgranted. He claims that is be-ing delayed so that he will geta lower price.

After decades of collect-ing rents (his family boughtthe estate in 1926), Grahamnow accuses his tenants of“wanting something for noth-ing”.

Now the community willformally ask to buy the 48,000-acre estate within the next fewweeks. They will be backedby their Labour and LiberalDemocrat members of theScottish Parliament.

Several other estates inthe region have been takenover by tenants but thesewere on the market in anycase.

“People in this part of theworld have a view that the landshould belong to the people,”lamented Graham.

Local residents say the

buy-out has nothing to dowith the prospective windfarm. Crofter Agnes Renniesaid she backed the buy-outbut opposed the wind farm.

“People feel these estateswould be better run by thecommunity” she said. “Thereis a certain putting right ofhistory. Now we have thedemocratic process to allowpeople to take control of theirown destiny.”

PRIME Minister Blair lastweek announced, in an obvi-ous election ploy, that theminimum wage is to be raiseto £5.35 an hour.

But in the small print welearn this rise is to be intro-duced in stages over twoyears. It will rise from £4.85 to£5.05 next October and to£5.35 in 2006.

This will give someoneworking 40 hours a week aminimum wage of £202 a week

or £10,504 a year. Many willlose corresponding benefitslike housing benefit or familytax credits and overall it willmake little difference to theirincome. But it will ensure thatmore of their income comesfrom their employer and notother taxpayers.

Around 1.4 million work-ers will be affected, a highproportion of them women.The rate for 18 to 21-year-oldswill rise from £4.10 to £4.25.

Save ourbus station

Minimum wageincrease

to be staggered

Islanders vote tobuy their home

Page 74 March 2005 THE NEW WORKER

020 7223 4052

Another World Is Possible –How the Liverpool DockersLaunched a Global Move-ment, Ed: Chris Knight &Pauline Bradley. London2005. £3.

by Renée Sams

TEN YEARS AGO dockersworking for a private con-tractor in the Liverpool dockswere sacked on the spot forrefusing to work overtime fora disputed rate. The contrac-tors, Torside followed this bysacking the entire workforceof 80 men. This was a part ofthe Thatcher government’swar on the trade union move-ment.

The story of LiverpoolDockers is told in a new book-let entitled Another World isPossible. It is an honest workrecalled by people who tookpart in that struggle and it re-veals a lot of interesting factsthat were not at all clear at thetime.

The Tories set out to breakthe power of the shop floor,particularly the shop stew-ards and had in place a set ofdraconian anti-trade unionlaws. The trade union move-ment was struck hard as oneby one, the miners, the print-ers, car workers came underattack.

The crisis in the dockscame in 1989 with the aboli-tion of the Dock Labourscheme and dockworkerswalked out in a national pro-test. Workplace organisationsuffered as private enterprisetook advantage of the situa-

tion, mass redundancies wereforced through and the Na-tional Port Shop Stewards’Committee was effectivelydestroyed.

In Liverpool the dockersput up a fight and the newemployers, the Mersey Docksand Harbour Company wasforced to keep the union al-though they managed to re-duce the workforce from 1,100down to 500. They were de-termined to get rid of unionorganisation in the docks witha campaign of harassment andpersecution of activists.

‘As the capitalist crisissharpens changes are

being forced on theworking class struggleand Another World is

Possible illustratessome of those changesthat have happened.We have not reached

the end of the story. LaLuta Continua!’

The sacked Dockersmounted a picket line and all329 men employed by theMerseyside Docks andHarbour Company refused tocross it and were promptlydismissed under the Tory anti-trade union laws, which made“secondary picketing” illegal.

At a meeting in Londonright at the beginning of thestrike a support group cametogether formed by dockersand ex-dockers, many of themmembers of the Workers’ In-ternational, an organisationthat had long had links withthe Liverpool dock workers.

Although, the TGWUbranch Secretary of the Lon-don docks Branch, and BobTennant, Secretary of the

Greater London Associationof Trades Councils andJimmy Nolan, were present atthe inaugural meeting,GLATC decided it could notsupport the new Dockers’Support group.

Pauline Bradley, one ofthe editors of the booklet,writes, “Despite the presenceof Dockers’ leaders such asJimmy Nolan and JimmyDavies, they chose to inter-pret the whole meeting as be-ing ‘controlled’ by ‘an unoffi-cial group’.” And as she com-ments, relations between theLSG remained “delicate”throughout the dispute.

The leadership of thetrades unions was not enthu-siastic but the rank and filecame out in support. The LSGheld open meetings and mem-bers of many different unionssupported it. Support wasalso won from a wide varietyof organisations plus interna-tional support from dock work-ers’ unions all over the world.

Although as Pauline Bra-dley noted, “the left” stayedaway. She felt that this wasbecause “they knew that nosingle political faction couldcontrol our diverse group”.

Despite these problemsthe LSG staged some memo-rable events and marches in-cluding the March for SocialJustice, mass pickets for theHillingdon and Magnet strik-ers, and the Carnival AgainstCapitalism which paralysedthe City of London.

Alan Woodward, whoprovided the historical back-ground for the booklet, saysthat the “situation was mademore complex by the politicalaffiliations of the unionsleaderships”. Many of therank and file leaders of theTGWU had been members ofthe old revisionist Communist

REVIEW

Party of Great Britain thatbacked the right wing on vari-ous issues.

The internal politicalstruggle led to expulsionsfrom the union and the CPGB,which led to several men join-ing the NASD (called the“blue” union because it had ablue membership card).

Supporting their men,dockworkers’ wives formedWomen of the Waterfronttouring the country speakingat meetings and standing onthe picket line. Sue Mitchell,one of the wives, tells why she

became active in helping themen

She says that she wanted“to go on the picket line be-cause MDHC were trying tosay that the wives should telltheir husbands to end the dis-pute.” And she wanted toshow the company that “I amwith you”. After that shejoined the picket daily andlater became the Secretary ofWOW, leading the womeninto providing enormous sup-port for their men’s struggle.

They also made friendswith Reclaim the Streets (RTS)

which did sterling work enliv-ening many meetings andmarches with their drummersdressed in carnival costume,accompanied by a group ofcyclists in Critical Mass.

RTS was an anti-car, pro-cyclist, environmental, publictransport, anti-capitalistmovement and had previ-ously supported the tubeworkers. Their meetings werechaotic, they don’t have anyformal committees or leader-ship, but somehow they makefloats and organise street par-ties and everybody has agood time.

Initially the trade union-ists were dismissive of thisbizarre, anarchistic lot, theywere disliked particularly bythe left but in the strugglethey grew to have some un-derstanding of each other. SueMitchell says she thought:“You can’t judge a book byits cover” as she did not likethe way the police treatedsome of the activists.

RTS attended someWOW meetings and she saysthey: “ educated us about thegenetic modification of foodand how Nike shoes are madein sweat shops by people onone dollar a day in terribleconditions.” People learnedfrom each other in thestruggle.

As the capitalist crisissharpens changes are beingforced on the working classstruggle and Another Worldis Possible illustrates some ofthose changes that have hap-pened. We have not reachedthe end of the story. La LutaContinua!To order a copy send £3.75(including 75p p&p) to 15Collingwood Road,Tottenham, N15 4LD makingcheques payable to “PaulineBradley”.

How dockers launched a global movement

• Protests on the first anniversary.

by Rafael Lamin Havana

THE famous Havanacarnival, once held inJuly and November,now takes place inFebruary and Marchand this year it willcoincide with the485th anniversary ofthe founding of thecity.

There is evidenceindicating that carnivalswere held in Cuba evenbefore 1585 in thenewly-established townof Havana. This fiestaincluded secularelements from theCorpus Christi religiousprocession with carts,tarascas (monstrousdragon figures) andlarge puppets. But thefirst modern Havanacarnival dates back to1895.

Today carnivalcelebrations abound inalmost all Cubanprovinces and towns,

some being more tradi-tional than others. Forinstance, the Santiago deCuba carnival is similar tothat of Salvador de Bahíain Brazil, where peopledance on the streets asthey follow the parade. InHavana, there are floatsand comparsas (musicalgroups), but the publicdoes not participate.

In any case, with orwithout modifications,carnivals are the mostanimated fiestas in Cuba,where people participatein different ways. Hun-dreds of people fromHavana’s neighbourhoodsand organisations join thecomparsas, and rehearsethroughout the year withgreat enthusiasm. Manyof these comparsas andfloats take part in thecarnivals staged in villagesand in the provinces.

This is a celebration ofnational identity that actsas a shield from meaning-less foreign arts that havelittle to do with the

country. Carnival hasalways been a form ofcollective resistanceagainst the culture of theelites.

This is a spontaneousand earthy fiesta withconga played on home-made instruments,handcrafted in such waythat they do not needamplification. This is atype of music to belistened to and felt,ecstatically and in acollective frenzy. AlejoCarpentier called it“traveling ballet”.

The most intenseexpression of the carnivalis the comparsa, as thelearned Fernando Ortizremarked. The origin ofcomparsas has been thesubject of widespreaddebate, just like almost allpopular art forms. But,without a doubt, thecomparsa’s nature hasalways been linked toenjoyment.

Carnival is an allegori-cal parade of lights and

colours, high-pitched andmagic sound. Music itselffalls silent before thedancers’ frenzy andcommotion. Duringcarnival time, peopledance deliriously andthere is nothing in theworld more important thanjoy. Everywhere there isan atmosphere of commu-

Carnival time in Cuba

nity, of art of the masses,the result of popularimagination.

There is no better wayto discover the realessence of a people thanwhen they are celebratingand dancing, in a per-petual state of joy. As iswell known, Cubans areextremely fun-loving, and

they can’t imagine lifewithout music, danceand fiestas. Perhapscarnival has been mostinfluential art in Cubanculture with its broadrange of elements.

Many people cel-ebrate carnivals, lavishfiestas that show humanbeings’ will to expresstheir joy. They give usthe opportunity to meetold friends and have funwith them. Cubancarnivals are simplertoday because of currenteconomic restrictions.But fun relies more onsomeone’s mood thanon luxury and glamour.

In my opinion, Cubancarnival has the richestrhythm in America, andit offers an opportunity tocontemplate thatpercussion arsenal, sowell preserved inHavana’sneighbourhoods, whichconfers it its greatpower.Granma International

Page 8 4 March 2005

International News Web: www.newworker.org Fax 020 7223 4057

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MANY THINGS are happen-ing for the first time in Uru-guay and it all started onTuesday, when TabaréVásquez was sworn in as thecountry’s new president. Theceremony brought hope onceagain to the peoples of LatinAmerica, worn down by yearsof cruel neo-liberal economicadjustment policies and auto-matic alignment with deci-sions made in Washington.

It will be the first time thatUruguay has had a socialistgovernment. For 174 years ithas been dominated by thetraditional liberal Colorado[Red] and conservativeBlanco [White] parties whohave alternated in power in theservice of the most powerfuleconomic, financial and mili-tary interests.

Another first is the entryof women at the highest po-litical levels. Nora Castro, whowill preside over the LowerHouse of Parliament is aformer Tupamaro movementguerilla. Her colleague, JoseMujica, who spent 12 yearsin prison during the civilian-military dictatorship betweenl973 and l985, will head theUpper House

The new administration –which holds a majority in theParliament, for 40 years – willimmediately face the pressingchallenge of Uruguay’s stag-nant economy, which has stillnot recovered from a crisis inearly 2002.

At that time over 40 percent of bank deposits weretaken out of the country,many financial institutionswent belly up, thousands ofpeople lost everything andunemployment soared tomore than 20 per cent, hittingUruguay’s poorest sectorsthe hardest.

That said, among the newgovernment’s first actions willbe the announcement of aSocial Emergency Plan, whichwill enjoy sufficient funds tobegin tackling the poverty af-fecting over 20 per cent of thecountry’s population.

The administration willalso have the job of rebuild-

ing relations withneighbouring countries, seri-ously damaged by the gov-ernment of Jorge Batlle, whoacted as a Trojan Horse forthe US, opposing all attemptsto achieve Latin American andCaribbean integration.

His government was alsoan active agent for the dis-mantling of the South Ameri-can Common Market,MERCOSUR and replacing itwith Washington’s Free TradeArea of the Americas.

Tabaré Vásquez’ victorycoincides with a powerfulmovement towards active co-

operation among the coun-tries of South America and theCaribbean, when desire isgrowing to unite to guaran-tee the survival of our culture,natural resources and identity.It is a time for optimism andfor hope and that is the rightof all people, everywhere.Radio Havana Cuba

•The new president’s firsthighly symbolic act was torestore relations with Cuba,whose foreign minister FelipePerez Roque attended the in-auguration in Montivideo.

AgentOrangeclaims goto courtA NEW YORK court beganhearing a lawsuit brought bymore than 100 Vietnameseaffected by the chemical de-foliant Agent Orange onMonday.

Marking the first time theVietnamese have sought legalredress since the US war ofaggression against the south-east Asian country, the suitseeks compensation and aclean-up of contaminated ar-eas by more than 30 firms,among them Dow Chemicaland Monsanto, the largestproducers of Agent Orange.

US forces sprayed an es-timated 20 million gallons ofherbicides, including AgentOrange, in Vietnam between1962 and 1971 to deny foodand jungle cover to the Viet-namese guerrilla forces. Butthe chemical remained in thewater and soil for decades.

Some three million Viet-namese and thousands of USsoldiers who fought in Viet-nam have suffered from se-vere physical defects over theyears. Agent Orange, namedafter the colour of its contain-ers, is blamed for nightmarishbirth defects in Vietnam,where babies appeared withtwo heads or without eyes orarms.

US veterans of the warhave complained of a varietyof health problems resultingfrom exposure to the herbi-cide. Dioxin, the toxic com-pound in Agent Orange, hasbeen shown to cause cancer,birth defects and organ dys-function.

It is unclear whether theVietnamese plaintiffs will suc-ceed, but there are precedentsin a 1984 agreement by Dowand Monsanto to pay $180million to US veterans. TheUS government has consis-tently refused to discuss com-pensation for the deadly ef-fects of its chemical defoli-ants.Radio Havana Cuba

ZHANG BAOGEN insistshe is still a farmer andfeels awkward when hevisits his old neighbour’strendy new house. Thevillage in EasternChina’s Zhejiang prov-ince, where he has spentalmost all his 62 years, isnow called “NewWeizhang Community,”as Shaoxing County, towhich it belongs, bcomesa boom town.

“I used to eat rice andfresh vegetables I grew inmy own fields, but now Ihave to shop for grocerieslike city dwellers,” saidZhang, “What’s the differ-ence now between urbanand rural lives?”

Following a massive re-development programme,agricultural land and ruralhomes in the communityhave given way to villas, gro-cery stores and the largestwholesale market of lightindustrial products in Asia,where many local residentsare doing business.

more comfortable

Zhang said his life todayis more comfortable thanbefore. “I don’t have to toilin the fields from dawn todusk. The 220 yuan ($26.5)monthly pension is enoughfor my basic necessities.”

The family now lives inone of the 471 three-storey

houses that the townshipgovernment has built for lo-cal people. They are well fur-nished, with household ap-pliances comparable to theaverage dwelling.

best way

Urbanisation in the afflu-ent eastern province has cutits rural population by500,000 annually since thelate 1990s. This is consid-ered the best way to cutrural poverty, bridge the wid-ening urban-rural incomegap, and resolve a host ofother problems confrontingChina’s rural areas. But itis impossible to turn everyfarmer into city dweller.

The provincial adminis-tration at various levels inthe province is therefore re-solved to improve the qual-ity of life for the rural popu-lation. As a result, infra-structure construction topstheir agenda.

Zhejiang Province hasextended its road networkto include more than 10,000villages, making it conve-nient for farmers to takebuses. Meanwhile, thou-sands of farmers havemoved into new communi-ties with bright, cosy andspacious houses, bettersewage systems andsports and entertainmentfacilities.China Daily

WASHINGTON’S pres-sures and threats againstSyria mark a dangerousspiral which, consideringBush’s preference for so-called “preventive wars”could be the prelude to USaggression against Dam-ascus. Without abandon-ing its constant intimida-tion of Iran, the US gov-ernment has revived itsverbal attacks againstSyria after a brief truce.

The White House beganhurling rhetoric againstSyria when it was trying tofind a scapegoat for therapid deterioration of itsmilitary occupation of Iraq.Again and again Bush’s pro-paganda machine has at-tempted to involve Syria be-cause, according to theWhite House, it supportsrebel groups in Iraq.

Now it has returned tothe charge, after the assas-sination in Beirut of formerprime minister Rafik Haririan incident that promptedthe United States to recall itsambassador in Damascus,Margaret Scobey. Washing-ton is now demanding thewithdrawal of the 15,000soldiers Syria has maintainedin Lebanon since the end ofthe civil war in that countryin l990.

In another blatant inter-ference in the internal affairsof the region, US assistantsecretary of state WilliamBurns, said in Beirut thatHariri’s killing should helpLebanon free itself fromSyria’s presence. Anotherimportant US governmentfigure, Secretary of State,Condoleezza Rice noted that“unfortunately” the Syriangovernment is not movingto improve its relations withthe US, but rather towardsa deterioration in those rela-tions.

Iran, which is also a UStarget, declared its solidar-

ity with Syria and stated fu-ture perspectives for bilat-eral co-operation, despite thethreats. As expected, Israeljumped on the bandwagonto attack Syria, having it-self annexed the GolanHeights through the use offorce.

Considering the danger-ous precedents of Afghani-stan and Iraq and the inter-pretation Bush has given hiselectoral victory, there aremore than enough reasonsfor alarm in the Middle East,regarding an offensiveagainst Syria.Radio Havana Cuba

• Lebanon’s prime min-ister and cabinet quit onTuesday, after a two-weeklong crisis, prompting a callfor caution from People’sChina. Speaking about thehigh-profile and unexpectedresignation yesterday, theChinese Government urgedcaution.

“China is concernedwith the development of thesituation in Lebanon, and wehope Lebanon can maintainits stability,” Foreign Minis-try spokesman Liu Jianchao,told the media in Beijing. Thecrisis that started with theassassination of former pre-mier Rafik Hariri in a 14February bombing, whichalso killed 16 others, finallycame to a head late on Mon-day night with an unprec-edented government debate.

Following the assassina-tion, the government offi-cially banned protests butthat did not stop anti-Syrianpoliticians from mobilisingtens of thousands to gatherin front of the Lebanese par-liament to raise anti-Syriansentiment to a fever pitch.In the past few days US andFrench imperialism havestepped up pressure onSyria to withdraw itspeace-keeping troops fromLebanon.

Uruguay: theright to hope

Zhejiang farmers live better lives

Bush nowtargets Syria

• Celebrating victory: above Vásquez.