Monday, March 18, 2024

Gaza: Stop the Genocide!


by New Worker correspondent

Hundreds of thousands of demonstrators marched on the American embassy in London last weekend to demand justice for the Palestinian Arabs and an immediate end to Israeli aggression in Gaza. Jeremy Corbyn and the singer Charlotte Church joined over 400,000 thousand protesters in London to demand an end to the fighting in the Strip days after an official said the capital's streets have become a "no-go zone for Jews". But 13 different Jewish organisations took part in the National March for Palestine on Saturday giving the lie to the Government’s commissioner for countering extremism who says the protests had turned London into a “no-go zone for Jews every weekend”.
Jeremy Corbyn said: “we’re here because we’re appalled at the bombing that’s still going on in Gaza. We’re also demonstrating our right to demonstrate, there’s so much talk about people shouldn’t be on demonstrations, well today there’s a lot of us here, all faiths, all ethnic groups, men and women, led by women. No problem, no trouble, it’s a march of love.”
The former Labour leader said "there will be as many of them as it takes. It's all very well for Joe Biden to say they're going to build a port to deliver aid. "(It would) be far better if they stopped delivering arms to Israel and made sure there was a ceasefire".
This was echoed by Charlotte Church, the famed Welsh singer and song-writer, who said “there's been singing, there's been drumming, yes, there's been emotion but, in the majority, that emotion has been love, has been compassion, because that's why we're all here. We're all here because we cannot bear what we're witnessing. We cannot bear to see civilians, children, women slaughtered...we're also showing that we are absolutely not going to tolerate our government being a part of propping up an apartheid regime”.

Monday, March 11, 2024

Boycott Israel!

 

by New Worker correspondent

Around 120 people turned out despite the cold, wind and rain last Saturday in Camden, north London, in solidarity with the people of Gaza and all Palestinians. This was just one of dozens of local protests across Britain with the focus on Barclays Bank as a major financial supporter of the Zionist state. These protests took place against the background of a reactionary campaign, to which prime minister Rishi Sunak has now given his backing, to claim that the pro-Palestinian protestors were seeking “mob rule” and threatening the “democratic” system in Britain. The Government, deeply embarrassed at the growing opposition to Israeli aggression that has swept the country, is now putting pressure on the police to crack down on protesters. On this occasion there was a brief standoff when police asked everyone to move to the other side of the road but eventually the stewards agreed and the situation remained calm.

Friday, March 08, 2024

People’s China and the world we want

the CPB's Rob Griffiths and Andy Brooks
by Andy Brooks

New Communist Party leader Andy Brooks took part in a seminar on China’s diplomacy and building a community with a shared future for humanity at the Chinese embassy in London in February. This is his contribution to the discussion.

The key issue of the 21st century is what kind of world do we want and how are we going to build it. It revolves around peace. The struggle to abolish nuclear weapons is crucial for the survival of humanity and eliminating the causes of war is central to averting a Third World War. That is why communists have always understood that the struggles for peace and socialism are indivisible. The Chinese communists are striving to achieve lasting world peace, so that all countries can enjoy a peaceful and stable external environment and their people can live a happy life with their rights fully guaranteed to build a world that is free from fear and enjoys universal security. China’s perspective is based on the concept of ‘one country, two systems’ and the principle that ‘a nuclear war cannot be won and must never be fought’. But the most aggressive sections of the American ruling class now at the helm in Washington clearly believe in “one world, one system” and that nuclear war is, under certain circumstances, entirely winnable.
This is the era of the “global village” and “globalisation”. But what does that actually mean? It clearly means different things to different people.
For China and the other countries of the Global South it means working together to build a universally beneficial and inclusive economic global system that meets the common needs of all countries, especially the developing countries, and properly addresses the development imbalances between and within countries resulting from the global allocation of resources.
In America, however, globalisation simply means US hegemony. Some call it the “new world order” – others the “American dream in the 21st century” but there’s nothing new about the American dream of world domination. 
US imperialism and it lackeys destroyed the Yugoslav federation and the Libyan Jamahuriya. It fans the flames of war in Ukraine and the Middle East, blocks the return of Taiwan to its Chinese homeland and prolongs the unhappy partition of many countries including Cyprus, Kashmir and Korea. US imperialism has, indeed, established its hegemony over Western Europe – forcing British, French and German imperialism to accept the model of subservience imposed on Japan by US imperialism in 1945. 
This is what the Americans call the “free world” and “rules-based” order. But the “freedom” they recognise is that which allows the big corporations to exploit and plunder and the only rules are Rudyard Kipling’s rules of the jungle. But the dreams of the bourgeois elites who talked about the ‘end of history’ and a new golden age of capitalism that they said would inevitably follow the collapse of the Soviet Union died on the streets of Baghdad and the hills of Afghanistan.
  Wherever there is oppression, there is resistance and now imperialism is on the defensive. The Palestinian Arabs keep up the fight against Zionist aggression. Cuba, Iran and the DPR Korea stand firm in the face of the US blockade and the people of the Donbas remain steadfast in resisting the Nato-backed Ukrainian onslaught.
Capitalism is in the throes of a deep crisis. The slump that began in 2008 continues without any sign of real recovery while China and the Global South build an alternative economic and political system based on mutually advantageous terms and equal shares for all.
Some 85 per cent of the world’s population live in the Global South – the ‘developing’ world that is still largely excluded from the international institutions set up by US imperialism after the Second World War with the support of the weaker imperialist forces who rely on American might to defend their global interests now that their colonial empires have long gone. 
The people of the Global South are sick and tired of the fact that the Americans and their minions in Western Europe have economically dominated the world for decades, forcing and imposing transactions in dollars with the fear that failure to comply with US directives would result in economic and financial sanctions or even “regime change” à la Iraq and Libya.  
Now new structures like the BRICS bloc are challenging the old imperialist system of oppression and exploitation. The BRICS bloc, named after Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa who set it up some 15 years ago, has become a pivot for the Global South in the struggle to end the economic and political stranglehold of Anglo-American and Franco-German imperialism in Africa, Asia and Latin America.
BRICS is open to helping countries develop, as well as promoting investment and trade without strings or preconditions. BRICS is fighting against the concept of a new Cold War and opening the possibility of building a fairer and more equitable international economic order from which the world can benefit. The BRICS bloc is helping to build the multi-polar world that will put an end to the American dream of the “new world order” and world domination. No wonder Argentina, Egypt, Iran, Ethiopia, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia have applied to join the group. Many more will follow in the future.
A new world is indeed possible but it’s not the European Union or the hell-hole of the United States.  It’s the world being built now in People’s China and the new institutions of the Global South that offer an even playing field to all countries to trade and peacefully resolve disputes to build a better future for everyone on the planet.

Friday, March 01, 2024

Stop NATO’s war in Ukraine!

By New Worker correspondent

Simultaneous protests were held in London, Berlin and Paris on Saturday to draw attention to the links between NATO aggression in Ukraine, Gaza and Yemen. The London protest took place in Parliament Square and attracted support from many passers by and international tourists, several of whom actually joined the protestors.
While Western governments, now with the greater involvement of Britain and France, have supported Kiev regime with billions in weapons and money, they have done nothing to stop Israel committing open genocide in Gaza, with hospitals and civilians deliberately targeted over 10,000 children killed, and chaos, disease and starvation affecting Gaza's million people.
Britain, France and the US are still sending weapons to Israel, and while they condemned recent Russian missile strikes in Ukraine, they have looked the other way while Israel deliberately targets civilians in Gaza.
The whole world is witness to Israel’s war crimes, and the hypocrisy of Western governments who support, arm and finance both Ukraine and Israel, who unilaterally bomb Yemen with no UN or other international sanction, and say nothing when Israel repeatedly carries out air strikes and assassinations in Lebanon and Syria. 
International Ukraine Anti-Fascist Solidarity (IUAFS) has been campaigning for six years in solidarity with anti-fascists in Ukraine, thousands of whom have paid with their lives, torture or prison for resisting the regime installed in 2014 with the support of Britain, the USA and the European Union. Its activists have taken part  in every protest since 7th October in solidarity with the people of Palestine and the Gaza Strip.

China’s path for peace and socialism

Zheng Zeguang opens the seminar
by New Worker correspondent

NCP leader Andy Brooks took part in a seminar with other communists, academics and businessmen at the Chinese embassy in London last week to celebrate the Chinese New Year and engage in in-depth discussions on China’s socialist path and the global significance of building a community with a shared future for humanity.
The Chinese ambassador, Zheng Zeguang, delivered a keynote address in which he pointed out that building a global community with a shared future is the core tenet of Xi Jinping Thought on diplomacy. It is the Communist Party of China’s answer to the question of what kind of world we should build and how to build it. It is also the noble goal pursued by China in conducting major country diplomacy with Chinese characteristics in the new era.
He pointed out that this has developed from a conceptual proposition to a scientific system, from a promising vision to substantive actions and from a Chinese initiative to an international consensus that has become a glorious banner leading the progress of the times.
 Over the past year China’s economy grew by 5.2 per cent, contributing about one-third of the global economic growth. China's rapid green and low-carbon transition propelled global sustainable development. And China shared more development opportunities with the world through expanded high-level opening up.
China made active efforts to improve relations between other major countries, successfully mediated a historic reconciliation between Saudi Arabia and Iran, and played a constructive role in addressing regional hotspots such as the Palestine-Israel conflict and the Ukraine crisis, making new contributions to world peace.
China actively contributed to the UAE Consensus at the COP28 UN Climate Change Conference, enhanced solidarity of the Global South, promoted the historic expansion of BRICS and gave support to the African Union in joining the G20, playing an important role in improving global governance.
Ambassador Zheng said People’s China is calling for an equal and orderly multipolar world and a universally beneficial and inclusive economic globalisation. “We will work with all countries to build a community with a shared future for mankind. We call on all countries to uphold dialogue and cooperation and oppose rivalry and confrontation, uphold peace and stability and oppose conflict and war, uphold openness and inclusiveness and oppose “decoupling” and suppression, uphold mutual learning and oppose clash of civilisations, and uphold true multilateralism and oppose unilateralism and bullying” he declared.
China's commitment to interpreting and promoting building a community with a shared future for mankind through its actions serves as a model for the international community. Western disinformation cannot hide this truth as China's proposal and practice are being welcomed and endorsed by a growing number of countries and their people. The participants expressed their readiness to strengthen exchanges and dialogue with China, and make unremitting efforts to build a better world.

Wednesday, February 28, 2024

Cease-fire now!

by New Worker correspondent

Over 250,000 people marched on the Israeli embassy in London on Saturday in support of the Palestinian Arabs and to demand an immediate end to Israeli aggression in Gaza. At a rally near the Zionist embassy former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn and Palestinian ambassador to the UK Husam Zomlot both called for justice for the Palestinian people. 
Ben Jamal, the Director of the Palestine Solidarity Campaign, said  “At each stage of Israel’s genocidal attack on Gaza we’ve seen horrors that we never thought possible. The images this week from Israel’s bombardment of Rafah, of children with limbs torn apart, should be seared on the conscience of the world. Despite mounting pressure from world leaders, and in defiance of the international court of justice ruling, the Israeli Government has made clear that it is about to launch an attack on Rafah that will lead to unprecedented levels of carnage.
“The moral imperative is clear. An immediate ceasefire is a simple, absolute necessity. The legal imperative is also clear – the UK must abide by its responsibilities under the Genocide Convention to cease any activities that make it complicit. Our Government and Opposition are guilty of an historic failure of leadership and principle. They have chosen to take the side of those committing genocide over those who are its victims, and over the demands of international law. We, with the majority of people in the UK, will continue to hold them to account on our marches, protests, campaigns and in the voting booths”.

Saturday, February 24, 2024

Banking on Zionist apartheid

by New Worker correspondent

Don’t bank with Barclays. That was the message of the pickets outside Barclay’s bank in Clapham Junction last Saturday. Barclays is bankrolling Israel's genocidal assault on Palestinians. The bsmk holds over £1 billion in shares, and provides over £3 billion in loans and underwriting to 9 companies whose weapons, components, and military technology are being used by Israel in its attacks on Palestinians.
This includes General Dynamics, which produces the gun systems that arm the fighter jets used by Israel to bombard Gaza, and Elbit Systems, which produces armoured drones, munitions and artillery weapons used by the Israeli military. By providing investment and financial services to these arms companies, Barclays is facilitating the provision of weapons and technology for Israel’s attacks on Palestinians. This is why Palestine solidarity campaigners are calling for a boycott of all Barclays services until the bank ends its grave complicity in Israel’s attacks on Palestinians.

Monday, February 19, 2024

Gaza: Stop the slaughter

by New Worker correspondent

London comrades joined thousands of other Palestinian solidarity campaigners who rallied outside Downing Street in Whitehall on Monday to demand an end to Israeli aggression in Gaza. The emergency protest was called following reports that the Israelis had started to carpet bomb Rafah. Demonstrators called on the Sunak government to end arms sales to the Zionist state and as their numbers swelled the police were forced to close some of the roads near the Prime Minister’s residence.


Welcoming the New Year at Drury Lane

by New Worker correspondent

NCP leader Andy Brooks joined members of London’s Chinese community for a Spring Festival celebration at the Theatre Royal on Monday. The Theatre Royal Drury Lane has been a site for entertainment since 1663 and it is the world's oldest theatre site in continuous use. The modern theatre that goes back to 1812 has 2,196 seats. And every one of them was filled for a variety show of Chinese music and dance to welcome the Year of the Dragon.
The Chinese New Year celebrations have spanned the past week with cultural events in central London highlighted by the traditional parade through Chinatown last weekend. Over the years these events have not only attracted people throughout Britain but from Europe and around the world. In particular the Chinese New Year Festival is now the biggest Chinese New Year celebrations held outside of Asia, it has become an integral part of the London event calendar and is the biggest outdoor event in London attended by hundreds of thousands people each year.

The Year of the Dragon

by New Worker correspondent

Last weekend Trafalgar Square was packed with revellers welcoming the Chinese New Year in the heart of the capital with a traditional Chinese parade and a host of other cultural events. The formal part of the celebrations opened with messages from King Charles and Rishi Sunak followed by speakers that included the Mayor of London Sadiq Khan, the Lord Mayor of Westminster and Chinese ambassador Zheng Zeguang. Displays of Chinese culture were presented in the Square including the Nanshan Yingge dance from Puning, in Guangdong province and the Southern Lion dance that featured thrilling moves on stilts. The Northern Lion dance was agile lively and agile and the Dragon Dance was mighty and dynamic. The Festival of Spring art troupe, the Happy Spring Festival art troupe, and local artists in the UK presented singing, dancing, instrumental music, acrobatics, and drama shows. The brilliant performances lasted for more than five hours, and were warmly received, winning thunderous applause from the crowd.