================================================
01 DRINGEND:Standort VEKKS erhalten
von: vekks vekks <962618951@aon.at>
================================================

STANDORT VEKKS ERHALTEN!!!
Verein zur Erweiterung des kulturellen und künstlerischen Spektrums

Liebe VEKKS FreundInnen!
Sicher seid ihr alle dafür dass das VEKKS möglichst lange weiterbesteht. Um
gleich zur Sache zu kommen; finanziell schaut es leider nicht so gut aus.
Auch gibt es mehr zu tun als wir momentan fähig sind zu bewältigen.
Umbauten, mehr Aktivitäten organisieren, Internetplätze installieren,
Behörden besänftigen (der Druck der verschiedenen Magistratsabteilungen
wird fast unerträglich), Sponsoren auftreiben. Und vor allem: bis jetzt
konnte ich (Georg) die Organisation und sämtliche anderen Arbeiten nur
deshalb machen weil ich es über Jahre geschafft habe Notstandshilfebezug
durchzusetzen, jetzt tun sie auf streng und haben mit 12.9.01 die Zahlungen
eingestellt. (hacklns wos wohs a göd kriagn)
Ihr könnt bei der Lösung all dieser Problemchen auf einfache und
unaufwendige Weise mithelfen, und zwar mit einem Überweisungsdauerauftrag
eines Mitgliedbeitrags von
monatlich ATS 50.-, bzw. EUR 3,6336417.- (abgerundet EUR 3,6),
· einer jährlichen Überweisung von ATS 500.- / EUR 36,3 ,
· oder einer Supersponsorüberweisung (die/der HöchstspenderIn erhält den
goldenen VEKKS-Anstecknagel)

auf folgendes Konto:

Verein zur Erweiterung des kulturellen und künstlerischen Spektrums
BAWAG 5610-665-596 Blz: 14000

Wenn wir schon von den zuständigen öffentlichen Subventionsstellen
ignoriert werden wäre es schön wenn ihr als Benützer des VEKKS es schaffen
würdet die Räumlichkeiten zu erhalten.
Für alle die das VEKKS nicht so gut kennen hier einige Anhaltspunkte:
Die Räumlichkeiten in der Zentagasse 26, 1050 Wien (Tel.: 81 27 415, 544 98
90, email: vekks@yahoo.com), wurden im Juli 1999 eröffnet. Ziel ist es
durch die regelmäßigen Treffen im Vereinsatelier, kulturelle Unbekannten zu
erforschen, sie in das eigene Leben experimentell zu integrieren, sie so zu
Bekannten zu machen, und dem ganzen einen Rahmen zu geben. Wobei der Rahmen
selbst in diesem Fall ebenfalls ein Kunstwerk ist. VEKKS ist ein
soziokulturelles Kunstprojekt. Innerhalb dieses Rahmenprojekts finden von
einzelnen Personen oder Gruppen autonom gestaltete Projekte statt. Jedes
Projekt, das in irgendeiner Art mit dem oben Beschriebenen zu tun hat, egal
welche Kulturtechniken zur Anwendung kommen, ist willkommen.

Um eine nichtgewerbliche, nichtkommerzielle Struktur aufrechterhalten zu
können, wird jedeR BesucherIn beim erstmaligen Betreten der Räumlichkeiten
auf selbstbestimmte Zeit Vereinsmitglied und somit MitbenutzerIn der Räume
und allem was dazugehört. Es gibt somit keine Gäste, kein Publikum, es gibt
aber den Unterschied zwischen temporär Aktiven und Passiven.

Regelmäßige Aktivitäten:
Jeden Freitag ab 21h: "VEKKS as usual" , Bar, DJ, Kunst?, Kultur!,
Austausch...
Jeden Sonntag 12 - 18h: "Sozialutopisches Frühstück" , geplanter
Bionahrungsmittelverteiler & Flohmarkt.
Probeweise auch 20h - ?h: verschiedenes neues
Jeden Mittwoch 17 - 22h: "e-bizkit" , Kaffe, Tee, Kuchen?, kulturelles
Allerlei aktuelles

Wer noch mehr wissen will schreibt uns.

================================================

><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><
AKTIONEN UND ANKÜNDIGUNGEN
><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><

================================================
02 Stoppt den Krieg
von: "Fellner" <helmut.fellner@chello.at>
================================================
Stoppt den Krieg.

Für Frieden und Neutralität.
!! Demonstration !!

Freitag, 26. Oktober
Treffpunkt: 15 Uhr 30
Stephansplatz

><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><
MELDUNGEN UND KOMMENTARE
><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><

================================================
03 Neue Vorsitzende des Friedensrates: Dr. Elke Renner
von: "Verein Stadtteilz. Simmering" <stadtteilzentrum@simmeringonline.at>
================================================

Mit der Pädagogin Dr. Elke Renner wurde in der 50jährigen
Geschichte des Österreichischen Friedensrates bei der
Generalversammlung am 19. Oktober 2001 zum ersten
Mal eine Frau zur Vorsitzenden gewählt.

Die Frage des US-amerikanischen Krieges gegen
Afghanistan stand im Mittelpunkt der friedens-
politischen Diskussion. "Terror kann nicht mit
Krieg bekämpft werden. Krieg ist die schlimmste
Form von 'Terror', da dessen schreckliche Folgen
vor allem die Zivilbevölkerung treffen", meinte
die neue Vorsitzende Dr. Elke Renner.

"Die immerwährende Neutralität
Österreichs als klares Nein zum Mitmachen
bei Kriegen und als Mittel für eine aktive
Friedenspolitik ist gerade jetzt wichtig",
schloss die Friedensratsvorsitzende
Dr. Elke Renner.

Informationen:
Dr. Elke Renner, Telefon (01) 485 87 56
Andreas Pecha, Friedensbüro Wien, Tel. (01) 796 50 21
pax.vienna@aon.at
Alois Reisenbichler, Tel. (0664) 39 51 809,
Alois.Reisenbichler@reflex.at

================================================
04 'Top Ten' contradictions leave us baffled
von: "pedro negro" <pedro.negro@chello.at>
================================================

Published on Friday, October 19, 2001 in the Toronto Star
Add Logic to List of Casualties
'Top Ten' contradictions leave us baffled

by Linda Diebel

WASHINGTON - If your head is spinning with all the
contradictions in the speeding-bullet events of this
war on terrorism, you're not alone.

Defy-all-logic statements are coming fast and furious
from world political leaders facing their most arduous
challenge.

They baffle and confuse and, in the recent reports of
anthrax contamination, frighten us half to death. Some
make us shake our heads, knowing in our gut they make
no sense.

Here's a "Top Ten" list of the most baffling
contradictions. They defy the common sense of news
consumers who must be wondering whom to believe.

From the top:

1. What's left to bomb?

The Pentagon says there are few "high-value targets"
left in Afghanistan. U.S. Defence Secretary Donald
Rumsfeld says the country is "rubble ... pulverized"
by years of war.

A week later, bombing is heavier than ever. Yesterday,
Gen. Richard Myers, chair of the Joint Chiefs of
Staff, described targets as Taliban
command-and-control sites, airfields and military
targets, including missile, vehicle and armour
maintenance facilities.

2. Why bomb "fairly empty" targets?

In recent days, Rumsfeld has told reporters that camps
belonging to prime terrorist suspect Osama bin Laden
and his Al Qaeda network are being bombed, even if
they "are fairly empty." There's value in that, he
says. They hit "classrooms where they discuss training
methods, firing ranges," that kind of thing.

3. What does "moderate Taliban" mean?

U.S. President George W. Bush and other leaders have
laid out the evils of the Taliban, including the
savage treatment of women. Yesterday, Rumsfeld told
CNN the regime has killed thousands, saying what they
have done to the people of Afghanistan "truly is a
tragedy.''

Then, this week, Secretary of State Colin Powell, in
Islamabad to meet Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf,
said a post-regime government could include "political
leaders, moderate Taliban leaders, elements from the
Northern Alliance, tribal elders ... Afghans living
outside the country.''

4. Is the anthrax weapons-grade, or isn't it?

After this week's confirmation that anthrax was sent
to the office of Senate Majority leader Tom Daschle,
there were leaks all over Washington about its
potency. House Minority leader Richard Gephardt told
the Washington Post that analysis "led the people who
have looked at this to believe it is a higher-grade,
weapons-grade, kind of anthrax.''
Fear shot through the Capitol and the nation -
weapons-grade anthrax would be highly refined and
finely powdered, designed to float in the air and
infect large numbers of victims.

"I don't think I used the word `weapons-grade,'"
Daschle told reporters on Capitol Hill the next day.
"Never in the briefings have I heard the term,
`weapons-grade.'"

5. If Senate offices on Capitol Hill were
contaminated, why did they close the House of
Representatives?

The House chamber, which sits on the south side of the
Capitol building, is closed. On the north side, the
Senate functions. But, so far, there is nothing to
suggest the Capitol building itself has been
contaminated. Staffers who tested positive for
exposure to anthrax work in the nearby Hart Senate
office building.

"We will not let this stop the work of the Senate,"
says Daschle. Adds Senator John Warner of Virginia:
"How the Congress of the United States handles this
problem will be viewed by the whole world."

"There's a difference between being symbolic and being
stupid,'' says J.C. Watts, House member from Oklahoma.

"Wimps," the New York Daily News calls Watts and his
congressional colleagues.

6. What about the children of Afghanistan?

Bush urged American children to donate $1 each for the
children of Afghanistan, shortly after a Red Cross
warehouse, containing food, blankets and medicine, was
hit by a stray bomb in Kabul. Aid agencies are
pleading for a pause in the bombing to get
humanitarian relief into Afghanistan.

"I think we need more clarity from the administration
about how we are going to get the food to the people
of Afghanistan," said Minnesota Democratic Senator
Paul Wellstone.

7. Does the United States now support cheap generic
drug production?

Senator Charles Schumer, among other lawmakers, calls
for mass generic production of the anthrax-fighting
antibiotic, Cipro. The New York Democrat says if the
German manufacturer, Bayer, can't make it available
quickly and more cheaply, then "these drugs are
available in generic form, and are produced by several
manufacturers.''

Americans pay roughly $350 for a month's supply of
Cipro, while no-name brands sell in India for $10. For
the past 20 years, U.S. administrations have backed
American pharmaceutical companies in their push, under
international trade law, to lengthen drug patents and
make generic drugs harder to get. Canada passed
tougher patent laws in the 1980s, and Washington has
opposed India, Brazil and African countries in their
fight to make AIDS drugs cheaper.

8. What about Prime Minister Jean Chrétien's trip to
New York City?

The Prime Minister's Office said he couldn't visit the
site of the World Trade Center attack as part of his
Sept. 24 trip to Washington. New York Mayor Rudy
Giuliani's office said it wasn't a good time,
according to the PMO. And Chrétien had a Liberal
fundraiser to get to in Toronto. The same day,
however, Giuliani welcomed Japanese Prime Minister
Junichiro Koizumi, saying the visit meant a lot. The
week before, British Prime Minister Tony Blair and
French President Jacques Chirac, among others, made
the journey. Chrétien went to New York City four days
later.

9. Is the Northern Alliance friend or foe?

Pakistan's Musharraf calls anti-Taliban Northern
Alliance forces "butchers" and warns against them
taking advantage of U.S.-led bombing in Afghanistan.
In Washington, Rumsfeld praises Northern Alliance
forces dug in against the Taliban.

"There's no question that there are a large number of
people in Afghanistan - tribes in the south, the
Northern Alliance - that oppose the Taliban," he says.
"Clearly, we need to recognize the value they bring to
this anti-terrorism, anti-Taliban effort and, where
appropriate, find ways to assist them.''

10. How much does the health secretary know?

News of the anthrax contamination on Capitol Hill
circulated among Washington lawmakers for a full hour
Monday before Health Secretary Tommy Thompson was
told.

Thompson has had a tough time since he insisted the
first anthrax incident, in which a Florida man died,
was "an isolated case." In recent days, he has been
mercilessly grilled by the media. "I never thought I
would end my career being an expert on bio-terrorism
and stem-cell research," said the former Wisconsin
governor.

As for his government's ability to meet a
bio-terrorist attack, Thompson said: "I said we were
prepared to respond ... I hope completely.''
Copyright 1996-2001. Toronto Star Newspapers Limited

###

Share This Article With Your Friends
FAIR USE NOTICE
This site contains copyrighted material the use of
which has not always been specifically authorized by
the copyright owner. We are making such material
available in our efforts to advance understanding of
environmental, political, human rights, economic,
democracy, scientific, and social justice issues, etc.
We believe this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such
copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of
the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17
U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is
distributed without profit to those who have expressed
a prior interest in receiving the included information
for research and educational purposes. For more
information go to:

http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml. If you
wish to use copyrighted material from this site for
purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use', you
must obtain permission from the copyright owner.

Common Dreams NewsCenter
A non-profit news service providing breaking news &
views for the progressive community.
Home | Newswire | About Us | Donate | Sign-Up

© Copyrighted 1997-2001 www.commondreams.org A
'Cookie-Free' Website

================================================
05 Brzezinski zu Afghanistan (1998)
von: "pedro negro" <pedro.negro@chello.at>
================================================
Zbigniew Brzezinski was President Carter's National Security Adviser.

Interview of Zbigniew Brzezinski
"Le Nouvel Observateur" (France), Jan 15-21, 1998
Q: The former director of the CIA, Robert Gates,
stated in his memoirs ["From the Shadows"],
that American intelligence services began to aid
the Mujahadeen in Afghanistan 6 months before the Soviet intervention.
In this period you were the national security adviser to President
Carter. You therefore played a role in this affair. Is that correct?
Brzezinski: Yes. According to the official version of history, CIA aid
to the Mujahadeen began during 1980, that is to say,
after the Soviet army invaded Afghanistan, 24 Dec 1979.
But the reality, secretly guarded until now, is completely otherwise:
Indeed, it was July 3, 1979 that President Carter signed the first directive
for secret aid to the opponents of the pro-Soviet regime in Kabul.
And that very day, I wrote a note to the president in which
I explained to him that in my opinion this aid was going
to induce a Soviet military intervention.
Q: Despite this risk, you were an advocate of this covert action.
But perhaps you yourself desired this Soviet entry into war and
looked to provoke it?
B: It isn't quite that. We didn't push the Russians to intervene, but
we knowingly increased the probability that they would.
Q: When the Soviets justified their intervention by asserting
that they intended to fight against a secret involvement
of the United States in Afghanistan, people didn't believe them.
However, there was a basis of truth. You don't regret anything today?
B: Regret what? That secret operation was an excellent idea.
It had the effect of drawing the Russians into the Afghan trap
and you want me to regret it?
(End of excerpt from Brzezinski interview.)

================================================
06 An eye for an eye
von: www.guardian.co.uk
================================================
An eye for an eye

Zeevi's murder is not Israel's September 11
Leader
Guardian
Saturday October 20, 2001

In the five long weeks since the murderous attacks on New York and Washington,
the world has obstinately refused to conform to President Bush's neat division
of the globe into good guys and bad guys, for us or against us. The more he
insists that a terrorist is a terrorist is a terrorist, the more simplistic
such dictums seem. The enthusiasm with which this doctrine is being adopted -
whether by Vladimir Putin, David Trimble or Ariel Sharon - will make many
deeply uneasy.

Israel's prime minister is the latest to identify his country's suffering with
that of America, claiming that the killing of Israel's tourist minister,
Rehavam Zeevi, in a Jerusalem hotel was Israel's September 11. Who could guess
from this a context in which 469 Palestinian civilians have been killed by the
Israeli Army in the past year (compared with 69 Israeli civilians killed by
Palestinians)? Or that there had been at least 34 extra-judicial executions by
Israel during the same period?

Mr Zeevi was a hardline racist who believed in targeted assassination of
Israel's enemies, but his killing was nevertheless a revolting and
unjustifiable act. Similarly revolting was the subsequent killing of Reham

Ward, a 10-year-old Palestinian girl believed to have been shot by an Israeli
Defence Force machine-gunner as she played before class in the yard of her
school in Jenin. Her death was followed by other predictable acts of
revenge. A car bomb took the life of Atef Abayat, the leader of the
Palestinian
Tanzim militia in Bethlehem. His death fits the long pattern of killings of
Palestinian leaders, which Israel has acknowledged to be part of its policy.

If rhetoric counts for anything, there can be little doubt that there is more
of this to come. Israel's health minister, Nissim Dahan, reminded the world
that af ter an attack of a diplomat "a war broke out" - a calculated reference
to the near-fatal 1982 shooting of Israel's London ambassador, Shlomo
Argov, an event which triggered Israel's bloody invasion of Lebanon,
presided over by the then-defence minister, Ariel Sharon.

Mr Sharon has implied that Yasser Arafat, the chairman of the Palestinian
Authority, is guilty of Mr Zeevi's murder, either directly or by association
in much the same way that the Taliban are linked to Osama bin Laden. It is no
longer unthinkable that Mr Arafat himself could now be considered by Israel to
be a legitimate target. But the idea that Mr Arafat was involved in the
planning of Mr Zeevi's murder is far-fetched. The Popular Front for the
Liberation of Palestine, which has taken responsibility for the killing, is
based in Syria and a long-time critic and opponent of Mr Arafat. The killing
weakens Mr Arafat more than it weakens Mr Sharon, since it gives further
evidence that the Palestinian leader cannot control everything in the
territory nominally under his authority. His failure - or inability - to
extradite
suspects to Israel, does not put him on a par with the Taliban in relation to
Bin Laden. It merely reflects a number of realities, amongst them the fact
that Mr Arafat has a volatile domestic constituency over which he has an
ever more nebulous hold, and that he cannot risk being seen as a man
intimidated by Mr Sharon.

The peace process begun at Taba is still the only basis for security for both
Israelis and Palestinians. Mr Zeevi's murder is a drastic setback, but the
Israeli prime minister's overreaction does not help. His crude effort to
exploit the September events is a poor response. He would do better to resume
the dialogue with Mr Arafat and look for solutions that are agreed, not
imposed.

Guardian Unlimited

================================================
07 Demos in Pakistan
von: "Shahzad Ahmad" <shahzad@isb.sdnpk.org>
================================================

Hi,

This is Shahzad Ahmad from Pakistan... First of all I would like to
congratulate Enric and team for this tremendous effort... I hope this
will have significant contribution towards PEACE on the face of Earth...

I just want to apprise you all of current situation in Pakistan... Most
of the rallies/protests all over Pakistan are anti-war but also
significantly anti-America and its allies and the figure of attendance
varies from 10,000 (Rawalpindi) to 85,000 (Karachi)... Even civil
society is also now raising its voice to urge upon America to stop the

atrocities and brutalities being committed in Afghanistan by killing
innocent kids and women... Though yet no major damage could be done on
Talibans but a lot of civilians (number varies from 900 to 1200) have
died and millions have lost there shelters and keep in mind that Winter
has already started in Afghanistan and these mountains are really
fierce.

Following is the estimated figure of recent rallies...

Quetta 35,000
Karachi 85,000
Islamabad 10,000
Rawalpindi 10,000
Lahore 20,000
Faisalabad 10,000
Hyderabad 15,000
Sialkot 20,000

I don't know why Americans are not understanding that these attacks are
creating millions of hardliner Muslims in the whole muslim world and
even from the civil society and the world is visibly distributing into
two factions: Islam and Anti-Islam... Which really should not be the
case as there are a lot of people all over the world and in all nations
who indeed are against the war at any place in the world... but since I
am living in an Islamic Country so I am informing you about the
views/sentiments of common people and I am afraid this can bring further
disaster to the world...

Keep raising the voice for PEACE!

Shahzad

================================================

><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><
SOLIDARITÄT WELTWEIT
><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><

================================================
08 WORKERS POWER GLOBAL WEEK 20 October 2001
von: newswire <harvey@lrci.fsnet.co.uk>
================================================

WORKERS POWER GLOBAL WEEK
E-newswire of the LRCI
20 October 2001
Subscribe to: newswire@workerspower.com

http://www.workerspower.com

----------------------------------------------------------------------------
--------
>> WELCOME TO ISSUE #66
Workers Power Global Week is the English language e-newsletter of the LRCI.
To unsubscribe mail to: unsubscribe@workerspower.com. Please forward this
to a comrade.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------
--------

>>AFGHANISTAN: IMPOVERISHED AND BRUTALISED
>>AFGHANISTAN: WHO ARE THE TALIBAN?
>>THE ANTI-WAR MOVEMENT: AUSTRALIA
>>THE ANTI-WAR MOVEMENT: FRANCE
>>THE ANTI-WAR MOVEMENT: AUSTRIA
>>THE ANTI-WAR MOVEMENT: SLOVAKIA
>>THE ANTI-WAR MOVEMENT: AUSTRIA
>>PALESTINE: RIGHT-WING ISRAELI MINISTER ASSASSINATED BY THE PFLP
>>ARGENTINA: LEFT GETS BIG VOTE IN ELECTIONS
>>SLOVAKIA: NEW MILITANCY AGAINST GOVERNMENT POLICIES

----------------------------------------------------------------------------
--------

>>AFGHANISTAN: IMPOVERISHED AND BRUTALISED
Workers Power Global, London

Afghanistan is not simply a poor country. It is one of the most backward,
war ravaged, famine stricken and desperate places on earth. Yet the USA,
the world's biggest imperialist power, is assembling a global coalition and
planning a savage military onslaught to hurl this benighted land even
further into the past than the medievalists of the Taliban have so far
achieved.

Afghanistan proper came into being in 1747, following a nine day council
meeting - a Loya Jirga - of the warlords and tribal leaders (khans) of the
dominant ethnic group , the Pashtuns. They elected an Emir, Ahmed Shah
Durrani, and his dynasty ruled Afghanistan until 1973. Yet this unbroken
royal lineage did not mean that national unity and a modern nation state
had emerged. Far from it. The king mainly served as an arbiter between the
clans, tribes and disparate nationalities who inhabited the region.

The factors militating against modernisation were numerous. Afghanistan¹s
geography was a major one. A vast and inhospitable desert in the west,
highlands in the centre and enormous mountains in the east and north (the
Hindu Kush) meant that the country was carved into distinct chunks by
nature itself. Herat, an oasis town in the west, was a world apart from
Kabul in the foothills of the Hindu Kush. Different influences and
different cultures grew and became entrenched in this fragmented landscape.

Only a small portion of the land (around 20 per cent) was fertile. Large
sections of the population were nomads. Others relied on an ancient tribal
system, dominated by large landowners, in order to survive. Loyalty to the
clan meant being able to work a small plot of land. Being able to eat - and
enjoying the protection of the clan from rivals out to steal your produce -
reproduced and reinforced an essentially feudal system.

As late as 1979 the cities and major towns of Afghanistan - Herat,
Kandahar, Jalalabad, Mazar - E - Sharif and the capital, Kabul - were
inhabited by only around five per cent of the population. Years of war have
slightly swelled that figure with refugees. But the modern urban classes of
Afghanistan remained too weak in numbers and too divided in politics to
lead the transformation of the country. In particular the working class
proper (industrial and service) to this day numbers hundreds of thousands,
rather than millions. The majority of the 20 million population live in
tiny rural villages, the mountains and the deserts.
The establishment of a monarchy was only possible with the consent of the
khans. The interference of that monarchy in the affairs of the tribes that
the khans ruled was excluded from the outset. Any attempt at such
interference was met with violent resistance. When King Ammanullah
attempted systematic modernisation in the 1920s (with help from Soviet
Russia) he was driven from the throne and replaced by a more pliable and
traditional Pashtun monarch.

In such circumstances the emergence of a genuinely Afghan national
consciousness was thwarted. The population remained divided between several
distinct nationalities, deeply hostile to each other. The main group, the
Pashtuns, have dominated and oppressed the others - Tajiks, Uzbeks, Hazaras
plus many smaller groups - for centuries. Unity has only ever come about
episodically, usually during conflicts with the big powers (Britain in the
nineteenth and early twentieth century, Russia in the 1980s).

Ethnic conflict has been compounded by religious antagonism. The Hazaras
account for around 20 per cent of the country and are Shi'ite Muslims. The
majority of people in Afghanistan are Sunni Muslims. Such was the
persecution of the Shi'ites by the Taliban in the late 1990s that Shi'ite
Iran was on the verge of invading to defend its religious co-thinkers.

Despite all of these disadvantages Afghanistan has always been an important
country for the imperial powers, the regional powers and, of course, for
the former Soviet Union. It is, by virtue of its location, a vital
crossroads in the trade routes between the Indian sub-continent, the far
east, the Middle East and Europe.

Its cities grew as great trading centres during the heyday of the spice
trade. The quickest land route to India lay through the valleys and across
the mountain passes of Afghanistan. The Khyber pass, to this day is a major
trading thoroughfare. Even if you know next to nothing about Afghanistan
you will probably have heard of this famous pass.

In addition Afghanistan has always acted as a kind of natural buffer zone
between the great powers. In the nineteenth century it was the setting for
the "Great Game" between Britain and Czarist Russia. It quite literally
stood between a Russia that was expanding into Central Asia and a Britain
determined to rule eternally over the lucrative sub-continent.

Three times British expeditionary forces crossed into Afghanistan - 1838,
1878 and 1919 - in a bid to place it under direct colonial rule. Three
times they were beaten back. In 1878 Britain did secure control of the
country¹s foreign policy, a major prize given the conflict with Czarist
Russia. But the attempt to maintain this in 1919 saw the mighty British
empire humbled by the ill equipped but utterly determined Afghan tribesmen.

In the later twentieth century it was a vital barrier between the USSR and
Iran (a threat when the pro-US Shah ruled and when the Islamic
fundamentalist Khomeini replaced him) and pro-imperialist Pakistan. It was
to save it in this role (rather than to colonise it) that the USSR launched
its fateful invasion of the country over the Christmas of 1979. But by
1988, after killing over one million people and blasting mountains and
cities alike, Russia began to withdraw its troops and by 1989 had conceded
defeat.

Today Afghanistan's geopolitical standing is supplemented by the need for a
safe pipeline across the country to carry the plentiful natural gas and oil
of Central Asia to an energy craving west. The USA was still busy trying to
secure the contract for this pipeline for Unocal, a US oil multinational,
when the current crisis broke. Selecting Afghanistan as a target for attack
in the aftermath of September 11 is therefore not just to do with
"terrorism". It is also prompted by the prospect of getting that pipeline
after all, and with it access to the former Soviet Republics of Central
Asia.
As a result of all of these factors - internal and external - Afghanistan
has never made the leap into modernity that each of its neighbours
undertook. It has been preserved not simply as a semi-colony, but as a
profoundly backward, feudal dominated and nationally divided semi-colony.
Its remarkable and successful repulsion of invaders - British and Russian -
has not given rise to a modern nation state. Rather, the victories have
strengthened the feudal warlords and landowners and their antiquated system
of tribal rule.

Such a society was perfect for the rise of Islamic Fundamentalism.
Backward, divided, war weary but still at war with itself - enter the
Taliban, "god's invincible soldiers." But their mission was not to create a
modern nation - it was rather to take it back.

MORE ON THE WAR AGAINST AFGHANISTAN SEE:

http://www.workerspower.com/wpglobal/afghanwar7oct.html

http://www.workerspower.com/wpglobal/lrcionwtc.html

http://www.workerspower.com/wpglobal/afghanoil.html

http://www.workerspower.com/wpglobal/Talibanandwest.html

----------------------------------------------------------------------------
--------

>>AFGHANISTAN: WHO ARE THE TALIBAN?
Workers Power Global, London

The Taliban - which literally means "Students" or "Seekers" of Islamic
knowledge - grew from nothing in 1994 to become rulers of 90 per cent of
Afghanistan by 1996. It is an extremely young movement; the average age of
its partisans is 14 to 24, and its leader Mullah Omar is around 40 years
old. It is an exclusively male Muslim brotherhood.

Most of its members grew up as orphans of the three wars in Afghanistan:
against Russia from 1979 to 1989, against the regime Russia left behind
from 1989 to 1992 and the intra-Islamic civil war which began in 1992 and
continues to this day.

A handful of leaders, like Omar, fought the Russians. But most of the
Taliban's fighters were raised in the refugee camps in the North West
Frontier Province of Pakistan. There, they were taught by fundamentalist
mullahs in the madrassas, the Islamic schools.
Their ideology stems from an Islamic sect in the eighteenth century, the
Deobandi. Their beliefs are close to those of the Wahhabi sect which
dominates Saudi Arabia. But they are interwoven with Pashtun tribal customs
as well, and can be summed up as a desire to restore a pure Islamic society
(in Afghanistan and beyond). The seventh century is their working model.
They have no constitution or policies as such, claiming their rule is based
on the Koran and Sharia, Islamic law. They have no government separate from
the religious leaders.

The word of their leader, Mullah Omar, is absolute. Based in Kandahar this
cleric assured his power by covering himself in the cloak of Mohammed
during one of his very rare public appearances.

Omar rules through his students, a militia numbering at least 20,000, and
his loyal clerics. The regime is based on terror. It is clerical fascist.
The young militia were, as one Taliban put it, organised gangs of "what
Karl Marx would have termed the lumpenproletariat", desperate and hateful
of everything modern because modernity seemed to be what had brought their
country to the point of absolute ruin.

A flavour of Taliban rule is revealed by the edicts of their leaders. On
capturing Kabul the Taliban immediately issued decrees such as:

"After one and a half months if anyone observed who has shaved and/or cut
his beard, they should be arrested and imprisoned until their beard gets
bushy . . . To prevent music and dances in wedding parties. In case of
violation the head of the family will be arrested and punished."
This sort of interpretation of Islam is fundamentalist rubbish. The Taliban
claim that their decrees are merely the strict application of Sharia,
Islamic law. Yet there is little justification in the teachings of the
Koran for many of these policies and actions and little support for them
amongst the majority of the world's Muslims.

Women are the Taliban¹s number one enemy. With each conquest in the 1994-96
offensive, their first act was to close down all schools for girls. Women
were forbidden from leaving their homes unless they were in clothes that
completely hid every single feature. And then they were only allowed out in
the company of male relatives.

The Taliban also banned women from working, except in the medical sector.

The basis of this gender hatred is the belief that women are a source of
temptation leading men away from the true path of Islam. Therefore women
must be completely segregated from men. The only way to impose this is to
deny them any civil rights whatsoever. This is where the Ministry for the
Promotion of Virtue and Suppression of Vice - the Taliban's secret police -
comes in. They patrol, whips and guns in hand, to ensure that no woman
transgresses any of the edicts laid down by the Taliban's leaders.
The scale of the tragedy for women at the hands of the Taliban needs to be
understood in the context of a society in which they were already treated
as second class citizens and subject to being traded by their fathers for
the requisite bride price.

o Prior to the Taliban's victories there was 90 per cent illiteracy amongst
women. When they took Kabul the Taliban promptly closed 63 schools
affecting 103,000 girls and sacked 7,800 women teachers.

o Out of every 100,000 pregnant women in Afghanistan 1,700 would die
during childbirth. The Taliban issued 11 rules governing the behaviour of
women in hospitals (doctors, nurses and patients) every one of which
hampers healthcare and has led to thousands more needless deaths.

But while women were a primary target the Taliban's edicts aimed at
everything classified as un-Islamic. Televisions, cassette recorders, even
kites and homing pigeons, were decreed illegal, the kites smashed and the
pigeons killed. Petty theft was punished by dismemberment. More serious
crimes resulted in execution (often in public). radio Kabul, renamed Radio
Sharia by the Taliban, announced on 28 September 1996:

"Thieves will have their hands and feet amputated, adulterers will be
stoned to death and those taking liquor will be lashed."

Political, religious and national oppression was also brutally imposed by
this all-Pashtun movement. To wipe out the last traces of the old
pro-Soviet regime the pre-1992 president Najibullah, supposedly under the
protection of the UN, was captured by a Taliban, castrated, had his
genitals stuffed in his mouth and was then dragged around Kabul by a jeep
before finally being shot.

Every suspected sympathiser of the old regime suffered a similar fate.
Similar treatment was meted out to Islamic opponents of the regime, to
Shi'ites, to national minorities and to those city dwellers suspected of
being under western influence. All of this resulted in the creation of one
of the most vicious dictatorships on the planet.

MORE ON THE WAR AGAINST AFGHANISTAN SEE:

http://www.workerspower.com/wpglobal/afghanwar7oct.html

http://www.workerspower.com/wpglobal/lrcionwtc.html

http://www.workerspower.com/wpglobal/afghanoil.html

http://www.workerspower.com/wpglobal/Talibanandwest.html

----------------------------------------------------------------------------
--------

>>THE ANTI-WAR MOVEMENT: AUSTRALIA
Workers Power Global, Melbourne

Marches have filled the streets of Melbourne and Australia wide with chants
against George Bush, against John Howard and against what is being clearly
called the racist war.

The US attacks on Afghanistan come at a time when the Howard Coalition
government has sent boatloads of refugees (ironically escaping from the
Taliban ruled country) to tiny, bullied Pacific neighbour Narau. Narau ­
the only country which gets smaller every year as Australian companies mine
it for the guano it is composed of.

The link between the racist policies of the Howard government and the
attacks on Afghanistan have not been lost on many out on the streets
demonstrating against the war.
And mobilizations have been large. Over 1500 people in Melbourne the day
the bombing started and 3000 on a Sunday the weekend before.

There have been weekly vigils in the city square in Melbourne and
mobilizations, all of significant size around the rest of the country.
Including a march of 2000 in Brisbane the weekend that the Commonwealth
Heads of Government were to meet.

Most significant has been the broadness of these demonstrations and the
large numbers of Muslims, men and women who have been prominent both in the
demonstrations and on the speakers platform.

The immediate link between war and racism has been important. Australia has
a shocking track record for locking up refugees in detention centers. It
has a shocking history of race relations with the indigenous people and now
can add numerous attacks on Muslims in the wake of the conflict.

Mosques and Muslim schools have been vandalized, women wearing headscarves
attacked in the street and people thrown off public transport for looking
Muslim. There are disturbing accounts of union organizers having to escort
muslim workers onto job sites.

For this reason the Socialist Alliance, with only three weeks to a federal
election that Howard is clearly trying to win on the race card, is running
instead on a platform of no war, no racism.

There is real potential right now ­ not just for Socialist Alliance to make
a decent showing in the election but to build a broad and political
opposition to the war.
Beazley and the official Labor party have been craven in following Howard
into the war. There has been little attempt to differentiate Labor policy
from the Coalition. Beazley hopes to win the election on local issues ­on
health and education.

But by refusing to stand up against Howards racism and the headlong dash
into war, Labor are alienating a wide layer of people who have already
begun to have their doubts.
These people are joining the thousands of others on the street in
opposition to the war, and some are beginning to see the Socialist Alliance
as a viable alternative notjust for their vote but for organising opposition.

Among the people marching, holding peace vigils and embassies and attending
speakouts, the union movement as a whole and indeed in parts has been
remarkably silent.
The ANSWER (Act Now to Stop War and End Racism) coalitions have begun to
approach unions for support on the rallies and the AMWU for one has
signaled that there are plans for a union rally, wider than their union.

This is the next step forward in a movement which has still not shown its
true size and the depth of feeling among Australians.

What has been bizarre in the last few days are the number of anthrax
scares. Over 100 in Melbourne alone. And the government response, just as
with the war, has been to threaten stronger laws. Already Australians face
increases in the powers of ASIO that are a major attack on civil liberties
and mirror in many ways the plans for crackdowns on suspected terrorists
that are set up in the US.

Now the government, with Labor following along obediently behind want
higher jail terms for those convicted or perpetrating hoaxes ­ like the
letters full of talcum powder that many government departments have been
recieveing. And Howard is trying to make election milage from this by being
tough here at home.
At the same time he has been bullying the Indonesian government into taking
a harder line against "terrorism". Presumably in an attempt to take up the
US challenge to be responsible for a crack down on muslim and other
independence groups in the South east asian region.

With the media full of anthrax stories and glorifications of the bombings,
there is a build up in Australia of tension and outright fear. There have
been huge sales here ­ as in the US ­ of gas masks and other paraphernalia.

The movement against the war here is not clear or fully formed.

Give peace a chance hippies are still marching beside socialists,
anarchists, left Labor members and others with no line yet other than that
the bombing is wrong.
As the events of September 11 begin to fade a little and the campaign
begins to show its real imperialist aims the need many have felt to take a
fairhanded position against all forms of terrorism, state or otherwise is
also fading.

In fact the position of defence of Afghanistan and for the defeat of the US
led attacks has a wide audience here.

The next few weeks and whether the bombing is stepped up and expanded may
affect the building of the anti-war campaign. But whatever happens next,
there is already a atrong and vibrant movement in Australia ready to stand
up against the US and its allies war aims.

FOR MORE ON ANTI-WAR MOVEMENT SEE:

http://www.workerspower.com/wpglobal/antiwaruk.html

http://www.workerspower.com/wpglobal/antiwarSweden.html

----------------------------------------------------------------------------
--------

>>THE ANTI-WAR MOVEMENT: FRANCE
Workers Power Global, Paris

The anti-war movement in France has been fragmented and relatively low-key.
In Paris, there are two collectives mobilising people.

The first, involving the trade unions, the Communist Party (PCF), the Greens
and the LCR, is based on a pacifist call for peace (Lutte Ouvrière
refused to sign). In the run-up to the US attack on Afghanistan, the
collective basically proposed to "wait and see", refusing to mobilise in
advance of the war.

This led a group of anarchists and anti-globalisation protestors to set up
the "Faut réagir" ("We must react") collective, which has organised a series
of small demonstrations.

The day after the US attacks began, a few hundred militants gathered in
Paris as close to the US embassy as the police would allow them to get.
Three days later, on October 11, with the support of the main anti-war

collective, around 6,000 people marched in Paris, and hundreds more
demonstrated in other cities.

For the moment, the Paris demonstrations are mainly "business as usual",
principally composed of those forces who were already mobilised against the
war. There were, for example, very few youth on the Thursday 11 October
demonstration. In other cities, such as Lille, however, there has been a
good response from youth to anti-war agitation, in particular by the
REVOLUTION youth group.

Overall, this relatively weak mobilisation reflects a series of ambiguities:

- French imperialism's current support for the attacks, but without actually
participating in them and warning that they are not giving the US a blank
cheque.

- The uneasy position of the governing "Gauche plurielle" coalition. The PS
is behind the war, the PCF is trying to act statesmanlike despite the
anti-americanism of much of its rank and file (the PCF is currently merely
calling for a parliamentary vote on French support for the war), while the
Greens are openly hostile to the war.

- The looming Presidential and parliamentary elections (Spring 2002),
through which all events, national and international are
refracted. The attention of all political parties and many rank and file
militants, including those of the LCR and Lutte Ouvrière, both of whom are
presenting presidential candidates, is currently focused first and foremost
on next year's elections.

- ATTAC, the main anti-globalisation group in France (over 40,000 members)
is currently resisting attempts to turn its main activity towards opposing
the war. Despite ATTAC's formal opposition to the war, national ATTAC
banners have been notable by their absence on the various demonstrations,
and local ATTAC groups often refuse calls to engage in anti-war activity,
arguing that they are not in favour of broadening their activity to other
issues.

In the 1960s mobilisations against the Vietnam war did much to politicise
and train a new layer of militant youth, contributing to the explosion of
May 68. The current anti-war mobilisation has yet to have the same
dynamising effect.

In the long-run, however, the war may mobilise second generation immigrant
youth, who traditionally have been left to one side by the French left and
trade unions. The state's "Vigipirate" security programme has led to a sharp
increase in stop and search police actions against youth, in particular
arabs. There are growing signs of hostility of sections of these youth
towards imperialism, which denies them any real place in French society.

Although bin Laden has thankfully not become a folk hero on the run-down
ghetto estates (unlike Saddam Hussein during the Gulf War), there is a clear
realisation of imperialism's double standards, in particular with regard to
the suffering of the Palestinian people. Pacifism or inactivity by the left
will only deepen the chasm that exists between these layers and the
organised labour movement, driving some of them into the hands of militant
islam.

One final ray of hope: the message of "national unity" is most definitely
not being heard by the working class. A whole number of sectors have been on

strike over the last week or so, culminating on 16 October when hundreds of
thousands of public sector workers - including the key sector, the railway
workers - went on strike over wages and conditions, causing massive
disruption, especially on public transport.

Attempts by the media and the right wing to portray the movement as somehow
weakening the war effort were rightly ignored by both strikers and union
leaders. There must be no social peace in time of imperialist war!

FOR MORE ON ANTI-WAR MOVEMENT SEE:

http://www.workerspower.com/wpglobal/antiwaruk.html

http://www.workerspower.com/wpglobal/antiwarSweden.html

----------------------------------------------------------------------------
--------

>>THE ANTI-WAR MOVEMENT: AUSTRIA
Workers Power Global, Vienna

On 8 October - the day after the imperialist attacks started - around 1,000
people assembled in the central square of Vienna and marched to the US
embassy. The mood of the people was angry and many slogans against the war
and the USA were chanted.

On 11 October around 5,000 school and university students demonstrated
against cuts in the social and education budget. These protests were
already planned since long but because of the war many people chanted also
anti-imperialist and anti-war slogans.
Another small anti-war demonstration happened two days later with several
hundred participants.

A bigger demonstration under the slogan "Stop the war" is planned for the
26 October for which not only the Austrian left is mobilising but also a
number of immigrant and Islamic organisations.

ArbeiterInnenstandpunkt - the Austrian section of the LRCI ­ and REVOLUTION
participated in all these actions with a revolutionary, anti-imperialist
bloc. We expressed not only our opposition to the US/NATO-war but ­ as the
only Austrian left organisation ­ openly declared our support for the
military victory of Afghanistan. We also expressed our support for the
Palestinian Intifada. As a consequence a number of young immigrants are now
collaborating with us in the anti-war movement.

FOR MORE ON ANTI-WAR MOVEMENT SEE:

http://www.workerspower.com/wpglobal/antiwaruk.html

http://www.workerspower.com/wpglobal/antiwarSweden.html

----------------------------------------------------------------------------
--------

>>THE ANTI-WAR MOVEMENT: SLOVAKIA
Workers Power Global, Bratislava

Anti-war protests are starting now also in Slovakia. Last week a petition
action was organised in the centre of Bratislava which is the capital city.
On 18.10. a small rally was held. Two speeches were held by a
representative of Revolutionary Socialist League (ZRSo) and the LRCI.

They both denounced the imperialist war drive, announced their position of
revolutionary defence of Afghanistan and expressed their desire to build an
anti-war movement which is linked with the already growing international
protest movement. Both actions were initiated by comrades of the
Revolutionary Socialist League which sympathises and collaborates with the
LRCI.
Despite the small size of the actions (around 10 people participated) they
are nevertheless significant since they are the first anti-war actions at
all in Slovakia. No one else (!) has organised any activity against the war
until now. The Communist Party, Komsomol, the left Social democrats - they
are all silent and passive!

The Revolutionary Socialist League also published the first issue of their
new paper Robotnícka moc (Workers Power) which declared at the headline
"War against Bush/Blairs war!". Comrade Mario Bango ­ the young
anti-fascist Roma who is in prison now for defending his brother against a
Nazi ­ contributed two articles to the new paper.

The ZRSo calls now for a protest rally on 5 November when NATO General
secretary Robertson will visit Bratislava. The demonstration ­ however
small ­ was a starting point for a drive of ZRSo to build a broader
anti-war coalition bringing together all forces (including both socialists
and pacifists) opposing US/UK war against Afghanistan.

FOR MORE ON ANTI-WAR MOVEMENT SEE:

http://www.workerspower.com/wpglobal/antiwaruk.html

http://www.workerspower.com/wpglobal/antiwarSweden.html

----------------------------------------------------------------------------
--------

>>PALESTINE: RIGHT-WING ISRAELI MINISTER ASSASSINATED BY THE PFLP
Workers Power Global, Occupied Palestine

The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine earlier this week
assassinated the Israeli Tourism minister, Rehavham Ze'evi.

It was the first assassination of an Israeli government member by a
Palestinian since the founding of the state of Israel.

The assassination was an act of revenge by the PFLP after Israel
assassinated the PFLP's leader, Abu-Ali Mustafa. Ze'evi was a member in the
Israeli Cabinet that decided to murder Mustafa.

Ze'evi was known as the most radical politician in the far right camp
inside the Israel establishment. The assassin of Prime Minister Rabin was
a supporter of his party, and many of the group led by fascist Rabi Meir
Kahana (who was also assassinated in 1989) supported his party. Ze'evi
openly called on many occasions for the removal of all Palestinians from
Israel and the Occupied Territories to surrounding Arab countries ­ i.e.
ethnic cleansing.

Ze'evi supported the model of transfer to the Palestinian people, in the
same form it was done in 1922, when the governments of Turkey and Greece
agreed on "population exchange", and caused to the death of many innocent
people.
He was popular among the Jewish settlers; his party had not grown since its
establishment in 1988, and he had only 2-3 members in the Israeli
parliament. But the alliance in the 1999 elections between his party
("Homeland") and two other parties ("the Freedom Movement" and "Revival")
made him as an important leader of the right-wing Zionists. Sharon
nominated him as the Tourism minister and a member in the Israeli Cabinet.

He supported the reoccupation of the PNA's territories and the demolition
of Palestinian cities and villages. A day before he was assassinated, he
decided to leave the government with his partners in the faction since he
thought Sharon too weak.

However, all the Zionist parties condemned the assassination and a
nationalistic coalition of all the Zionist parties mourned his death. The
most radical party in the Zionist left defined Ze'evi as a"friend"; even a
member in the Islamic movement defined Ze'evi as a "friend as well as a
rival".

Even the Communist Party of Israel published a condemnation, as well as
the anti-occupation group, "Peace Block", led by the journalist Uri Avneri.
They compared the assassination of Ze¹evi to the assassination of Abu-Ali
Mustafa (PFLP's leader). The past of Ze'evi during the last decades ­ as a
military commandant who caused the death of so many innocent people, was
totally ignored by the Communist Party and the activists of this
anti-occupation group.

Given his record of active racism and complicity in the murder of PFLP
leader Abu-Ali Mustafa no anti-Zionist or anti-imperialist can seriously be
expected to mourn the loss of this foul politician.

We refuse to respond to the invitation of the Zionists to condemn this
action, as if it were "a terrorist attack" on a par with attack on the
World Trade Centre on 11 September. The two actions are not comparable.
Having assassinated the newly elected political leader of the PFLP all the
Israeli cabinet made themselves legitimate targets.
Faced with a systematic campaign of political assassination by Israel of
the leadership of the Palestinian national struggle all forces in this
struggle have the right to defend themselves, even including taking
pre-emptive actions against the enemy.

Ze'evi was not an innocent man; he represented a racist ideology and during
his life he killed and ordered to kill innocent people for the fulfillment
of his ideas. We do not renounce any tactic including the use of terror
against our enemies. But the PFLP and others would be misguided to embark
upon a new strategy of political assassination of Israel's leaders. Why?

First of all, a resistance movement and its actions should based on the
activity and the struggle of the masses. The PFLP is a political
organisation supported by 3-5% of the Palestinian people.

The PFLP has not split with the PLO, although the PFLP claims to be an
opposition to Arafat. It didn't adopt any revolutionary Marxist programme
and have many petit-bourgeois and Stalinists origins.

In the PFLP programme, the organisation supports the decisions of the UN.
The PFLP has failed to mobilise the masses in revolutionary action in order
to replace to present leadership of the PLO, to establish in Palestine a
socialist and secular republic and even to establish a revolutionary
workers party.

A campaign of individual terror ­ disconnected to the development of the
mass revolutionary movement ­ will end in disaster. An assassinated
political leader can be replace by another. A mass action of the workers
class can change the political reality completely. The PFLP can not do so
and does not make any effort to progress towards this stage, so it chose an
audacious but in the end easiest response to the killing of their leader:
killing a politician and escaping. Meanwhile, after momentarily rejoicing,
the Palestinian masses remain on the sidelines.

Trotsky wrote in his article "Why Marxists oppose Individual Terrorism"
(1909):
"In our eyes, individual terror is inadmissible precisely because it
belittles the role of the masses in their own consciousness, reconciles
them to their powerlessness, and turns their eyes and hopes towards a great
avenger and liberator who some day will come and accomplish his mission.
The anarchist prophets of the 'propaganda of the deed' can argue all they
want about the elevating and stimulating influence of terrorist acts on the
masses. Theoretical considerations and political experience prove
otherwise. The more 'effective' the terrorist acts, the greater their
impact, the more they reduce the interest of the masses in
self-organisation and self-education. But the smoke from the confusion
clears away, the panic disappears, the successor of the murdered minister
makes his appearance, life again settles into the old rut, the wheel of
capitalist exploitation turns as before; only the police repression grows
more savage and brazen. And as a result, in place of the kindled hopes and
artificially aroused excitement comes disillusionment and apathy".
The PFLP helps, de facto, the Israeli right to dominate more and more key
positions in the government; the united government of the Labour and the
Likud adopt the programme of the Israeli right-wing parties. Today, Israel
threatened the PNA that if Arafat will not extradite the assassins of
Ze¹evi and the political leadership of the PFLP ­ Israel will declare that
the PNA is a "terrorist entity" and the IDF will act accordingly to this
definition. Did the Palestinian masses gain anything lasting from the
assasination?

With no revolutionary party, with no organising the workers to a struggle,
with the present corrupt leadership ­ the task of defeat the occupation
forces is almost impossible. We do not condemn the PFLP for assassinating
Ze¹evi; we do day that a result of a degenerated ideological origins.
Individual terror can NOT replace a mass action!

We believe that a revolutionary workers party of all the workers in the
Middle East and a revolutionary action of the workers in Palestine ­
democratic Jewish workers and Palestinians ­ can lead an effective
resistance movement to the occupation. We urge the supporters and activists
of the PFLP not to repeat the mistakes of the past and to concentrate in
building a revolutionary workers' party.

It means changing the PFLP's outlook and mthods of struggle as well as
their goal; if it will not be fulfilled, the progressive forces inside the
PFLP should do so, break with Stalinism, adopt a Leninist-Trotskyist
programme and mobilise the masses to a revolutionary mass action.

FOR MORE ON PALESTINE AND THE INTIFADA SEE:

http://www.workerspower.com/wpglobal/resonintifada.html

----------------------------------------------------------------------------
--------

>>ARGENTINA: LEFT GETS BIG VOTE IN ELECTIONS
Partido de los Trabajdores por el Socialismo, Buenos Aires

Elections took place on 14October in Argentina during one of the country¹s
worst economic crises. The country is in its third year of recession and
the economic situation is proving unbearable for the mass of the working
class.

The depth and the extent of the recession, the economic adjustment plan
dictated by the IMF, the zero deficit law ­ which has led to a 20 per cent
reduction in the salaries of public sector workers in order to pay the
external debt ­ are all signs of the bankruptcy of Argentinian
semi-colonial capitalism.

The result of the election shows that people reject the present government
and its finance minister, Domingo Cavallo. Almost 50 per cent of those who
voted spoiled their ballot paper, others gave a "blank vote" (a vote for
none of the candidates) and there was a huge number of abstentions ­ all
the more remarkable because in Argentina voting is compulsory.

The defeat suffered by the official candidates of De la Rúa's party left
the government in a very weak position. For the first time in the history
of the country the president has to rule with a minority in both chambers
(lower chamber and the Senate). In order to govern, de la Rúa will have to
rely on the support of the Peronist party ­ which obtained a very good
result in the election ­ and the trade-union bureaucracy.
Apart from the "anger vote" ­ the name given to spoiled ballot paper ­ the
other noticeable factor in the elections is the result obtained by the
left. The left parties which stood in the election were: Izquierda Unida (a
coalition between the Communist Party and the MST), Partido Obrero and
Partido de Trabajadores por el Socialismo. In addition, the ex-Trotskyist
MP Luis Zamora stood in the capital along with a handful of supporters.

In total the left received 1 million votes throughout the country, making
it one of the best results for a long time. While Izquierda Unida and Luis
Zamora presented themselves as a parliamentary left, with the aim of
winning an electorate disappointed with the centre-left Alliance, the PTS
focused its political activity during the electoral campaign on denouncing
the imperialist aggression on Afghanistan, and presented a working class
and anti-capitalist alternative.

Among the PTS candidates were factory shop stewards, public sector workers
and young people. The PTS received more than 100,000 votes and stood
candidates in 7 electoral districts, which represents 10 per cent of the
votes obtained by the left. The crisis of the parties of the capitalist
regime show that there is a need for a revolutionary and internationalist
party of the working class.

The PTS efforts are focused on the task of building such a party with the
aim of building an alliance of the working class and the masses that will
make possible the revolution and the building of socialism in Argentina.

FOR MORE ON ARGENTINA FROM THE PTS SEE:

http://www.pts.org.ar

----------------------------------------------------------------------------
--------

>>SLOVAKIA: NEW MILITANCY AGAINST GOVERNMENT POLICIES
Workers Power Global, Bratislava

On 17 October. there was a big workers' demonstration in Bratislava
organised by the official trade union federation. Around 12-15,000 workers
from all over Slovakia marched in protest against the government's wages
policies and rising unemployment.

The mood was militant and the union bureaucrats were forced to make some
radical speeches. Trade union leaders addressed the protesters and demanded
that the government keep its promises to fight low wages and unemployment,
which has reached nearly 20 percent. The bourgeois press agency AP even
reported "Some demonstrators shouted 'We want communism back!'"

Despite a ban from the police the demonstrators started to march through
the city after the rally. The police threaten the union now with a fine of
1mn Slovak Krones (£16.000).

Activists of the Revolutionary Socialist League which sympathises and
collaborates with the LRCI, participated in the demonstration and formed a
small but militant contingent. Their new paper draw a lot of interest and
30 copies were sold. The militancy was expressed also by some demonstrators
singing songs such as Avanti poppolo and the Internatianale joint
enthusiastically by ZRSo contigent.

The fact that SDL (Party of Democratic Left) is carrying out all
neo-liberal policies in the governmental coalition and decline of its
support to scarce 5% and that KSS (Communist Party) remains nostalgic
Stalinist rump with red-brown ambitions to form a coalition with Meciar¹s
right-wing nationalist populist HZDS underlines the need for struggle to
build a workers party in Slovakia and fight against populism for a class
independence!

FOR MORE ON SLOVAKIA SEE:

http://www.workerspower.com/wpglobal/Marioappeal.html

----------------------------------------------------------------------------
--------

>> BECOME A CORRESPONDENT FOR WPG
The LRCI has members across the globe - but there are many countries where
we have no correspondents. Send us your news and views:
newswire@workerspower.com

----------------------------------------------------------------------------
--------
>> NOW FORWARD THIS TO A COMRADE >> NOW FORWARD THIS TO A COMRADE

-top-

Redaktionsschluss: 20. Oktober 2001, 22:00 Uhr
Diese Ausgabe hat Edgar Ernstbrunner
zusammengestellt


Fehler moege frau/man mir nachsehen!