Fight Racism! Fight Imperialism 224 December 2011/January 2012
Occupation and resistance
Recent political developments like the Occupy movement and the electricians’ pickets show us the potential for resistance to ruling class attacks on living standards. As these cuts bite and austerity deepens, the challenge is to create a conscious revolutionary movement capable of destroying capitalism. FRFI supporters are among those arguing for revolutionary class politics in struggles across Britain.
Fight the cuts
FRFI organises regular anti-cuts street events across Britain in opposition to all public sector cuts, as the ConDem Coalition forces the working class to pay for the capitalist crisis. In October we participated in a Scottish TUC march in Glasgow, and pointed out that it was unacceptable for Labour Party figures to lead and speak at the march while Labour councils implement cuts. When FRFI comrade Dominic O’Hara was pulled from the march by police, hundreds of demonstrators surrounded the police in a magnificent show of solidarity, winning his release.
In London on 9 October FRFI supported the ‘Block the Bridge’ demonstration on Westminster Bridge against the Health and Welfare Reform Bill, and on 15 November protested outside Parliament alongside tenants’ associations from across Britain. Protesters condemned the current and previous governments for failing to build council houses and for dividing the working class between the ‘deserving’ and the ‘undeserving’ poor.
Occupy movement
FRFI supporters have been part of the Occupy movement in London, Newcastle, Glasgow and Dundee and have been contributing to political education and helping to set up ‘Tent Universities’ at OccupyLSX and Occupy Newcastle.
The inaugural talk at the London Tent University was given by Trevor Rayne from the Editorial Board of FRFI, who spoke about imperialism and war. Other FRFI comrades have led sessions about the dismantling of the NHS and the economics of revolution, with reference to Cuba. Twice at OccupyLSX we screened an FRFI film about the 1980s non-stop picket of the South African embassy in which the RCG played a leading role.
In Newcastle Tent University talks were given by FRFI supporters about socialist Cuba, attacks on council housing, the capitalist crisis and immigration controls, and involved both occupiers and passers-by in political discussion and education.
Also in Newcastle, FRFI supporters argued for the occupation to take a clear position against racism and fascism (see p16). Counterfire, a faction that left the SWP in 2010, had planned an event on 29 October entitled Rising against Islamophobia, which the EDL, SDL and National Front announced they would mobilise against. However at the last moment, Counterfire cancelled the event, leaving Occupy Newcastle vulnerable to the fascists.
On the day, members of the EDL, SDL and the National Front arrived and verbally abused the occupation – and then in the middle of the night a group of about 30 racists violently assaulted the encampment. FRFI supporters stood with the occupation in defence against both attacks. However, since then, the continued refusal of dominant forces in Occupy Newcastle to take a public stand against racism, together with their reliance on the police to protect them, has made it politically impossible to mount a more sustained defence of the occupation.
Support the electricians
In London, Newcastle and Glasgow FRFI has supported electricians’ demonstrations against attempts by employers to force down pay and conditions. We have joined their direct action against the employers, in the face of inaction by Unite officials. Our leaflet argued that organisation needs to extend to non-unionised workers, including migrant workers on the sites. These have been widely distributed, particularly by electricians in the North East, and a second leaflet we produced has a short explanation of the dispute translated into several of the languages commonly spoken by migrant workers on the sites. In London, we produced a series of online video reports, to help publicise the dispute (www.youtube.com/user/rcgfrfi).
Fight state racism!
In Manchester FRFI has been involved in a campaign to defend the Farooqi family from eviction (see p4). The father of the family, Munir, has been locked up on terrorism charges, secured through police entrapment, which he is now appealing. Contact the campaign to defend the Farooqi family: www.savethefamilyhome.com. In Newcastle, FRFI has supported the family and friends of prisoner Kevan Thakrar, whose acquittal in November on charges of attacking prison guards exposed the brutal, racist regime at Frankland prison (see p13).
Free Palestine! Hands off Libya!
FRFI argues that the only way the working class in Britain will be able to defeat the British state is through an alliance with liberation movements in oppressed countries. On 14 October FRFI held a public meeting, Palestine: Unity and Liberation, at Bolivar Hall in London, where Adam Hanieh, author of Capitalism and Class in the Gulf Arab States, activist Jody McIntyre and Trevor Rayne from the FRFI Editorial Board spoke to a packed audience.
On 3 November Trevor Rayne spoke about Britain’s imperialist invasion of Libya and the uprisings in the Middle East to a meeting of the University of London Union Marxist Society. As FRFI readers will know, we oppose any form of imperialist intervention, and we support the right of Libyans to self-determination – in stark contrast to the apologists who make up most of the British left.
In London our weekly picket of M&S, Britain’s biggest corporate sponsor of Israel, continues every Thursday outside the flagship store on Oxford Street. In Newcastle FRFI plays a leading role in the Palestine Action Group (PAG), which organises film showings, meetings and demonstrations. On 4 October, PAG showed Budrus, an inspiring documentary about a West Bank community defying Israel’s plans to build the apartheid wall through their village.
Solidarity with Cuba
Cuba continues to be a shining example of what is possible when the working class seizes control and begins to build socialism. Film showings, street events and educational meetings take place regularly as part of our Rock Around the Blockade campaign (see Events and www.ratb.org.uk), and in February 2012 we will be sending our next solidarity brigade to Cuba.
Educate to fight back!
Education is a vital part of our work. On 18 November in Manchester FRFI hosted a dayschool at which FRFI editor David Yaffe spoke about the crisis of capitalism and Robert Clough discussed building resistance. A local comrade gave an eyewitness report of the August Manchester riots. The Q&A session showed that there is a genuine interest in understanding the roots of the crisis and there were excellent contributions from the floor.
Get involved – contact us or come along to one of our events. If there isn’t already a branch in your area, contact us to set up an FRFI Supporters’ Group. We can provide help with speakers and materials.
Don’t just get angry, get active!
