It was the worst of times, it was the best of us!

In this article Rod MacGregor looks at how the Danish people took effective action to protect their Jewish population from Nazi extermination October 1, 10 p.m., 1943 Copenhagen. Nazi occupation forces knock on the doors of the Danish Jewish population. In Denmark, the “final solution” to the “Jewish problem” is under way. The following morning,…

Afghan women bear the brunt of the hypocritical “war on terror”

A piece written for The Commune by members of the Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan Recently the media has widely reported the deaths of British troops in Afghanistan with the escalation of violence. Additionally, there is much debate of British policies in Afghanistan. What the people of Britain miss here is the suffering…

The Need for Socialist Unity

A contribution from Allan Armstrong of the Republican Communist Network. This is immediately followed by a supplement analysing the European election results, which assesses the current balance of political forces in the EU. In Ireland, England, Scotland and Wales the main lesson of the 2009 European elections is clear – we need Socialist unity. In…

Deirdre McCartin, 1944 – 2009

The RCN only got to know of Deidre during one of her several phases of political and cultural activity. We met Deidre and her partner, Charlie Rees in the early days of the SSA and SSP, when they moved from Allihies in County Kerry to Dunure in Ayrshire. Here they joined the Ayrshire SSP branch. They were…

Foreign Workers are Not to Blame for the Capitalists’ Crisis

Statement issued by the Campaign Against Immigration Controls Today, the Campaign against Immigration Controls is picketing the Unite offices in Holborn, London, to protest against nationalism in our movement and to argue for working-class internationalism, freedom of movement and equal rights and jobs – for all. The Italian workers should be welcomed here. We want…

From Davitt to Connolly – Internationalism From Below

The challenge to the UK state and British Empire from 1879-95 Contents of forthcoming book Introduction The growing conflict between liberal and conservative unionism in the period of New Imperialism Michael Davitt and the launching of the Irish Revolution in 1879 Davitt adopts an ‘internationalism from below’ strategy to spread the revolution The struggle against…

Basketball Rules in Palestine

Originally published in Emancipation & Liberation Issue 10, Summer 2005. Israelis have the right to play on both sides of the court, whereas Palestinians can only play on their own side. For security reasons, Palestinians do not have the right to pass the ball between players, the ball could hit an Israeli player. There will…

Blunderwall

Originally published in Emancipation & Liberation Issue 8, Autumn 2004. This wall between us slowly grows slinking along the dusty earth like some snake in the desert sands Once in Jericho it fell down by those who now do the building the heirs of the trumpet blowers Once Belshazzar saw the writing on the wall,…

Republican Socialist Convention Report, 29.11.08

As well as an overview of events there are some comments and feedback from attendees. These are reproduced below, see the SSP  report below for more details. Brian Garvey, Fourthwrite, Independent Workers Union: The space given to democratic discussion, the planning and facilitation of the event was impressive and I’m fairly confident that it was because…