Middle East & North Africa

Army cannot guarantee democracy

No trust in the military chiefs! For a government of the representatives of workers, small farmers and the poor!

Militants struggling to build fighting, independent unions

Decisive action needed to block reaction and complete revolution

Jonas Brännberg Rättvisepartiet Socialisterna (CWI in Sweden) spoke to an exiled activist from Yemen about the situation.

Industrial action over pay, conditions and government-appointed union ‘leaders’

Vital to build a mass party to realise aims of workers and small farmers

‘Week of Determination’ protests called

This eyewitness account from a CWI reporter was despatched just before the big increase in the numbers of militant protesters swelling Tahrir Square, following Friday prayers.

The mass movement must go on the offensive!

Eyewitness report from Cairo’s Tahrir Square[see: articles in Arabic | this article in Arabic]

Demonstrators demand Mubarak and his regime must go

Demonstrations continue despite the announcement of increased wages, subsidies and political reforms

The conflict is between two sides of the same coin!

Hundreds of thousands remain on streets defying repression – For an indefinite general strike!

Regime deploys army on streets to try to crush mass movement

“Tunisia is the solution”

For the building of a mass workers alternative against sectarianism, war and poverty

A united struggle of Arab and Jewish workers against ‘contract labour’ and for decent wages.

The first phase of the revolution ousted Ben Ali! It must continue!

Stop the repression, for international solidarity!

Protests and creation of independent unions show potential for workers’ unity

Message of solidarity from Joe Higgins MEP to Tunisian trade unionists, socialists and democracy activists

The crisis of capitalism and the naked role of imperialism are graphically manifested in the Middle East.

Farcical election will fuel workers’ protests

CWI leaflet: Workers need to organise independently!

More protests needed!

Kürdistan’a kendi kaderini tayin hakkı!

Spring wave of strikes and protests

Say No to Racism and Sectarianism! For Unity among Lebanese and Palestinian Workers!

Nearly 10,000 Israeli Jews and Palestinians came out to protest in central Tel Aviv on Saturday, against the aftermath of the attack on the aid flotilla, the siege on Gaza, the occupation, and the government […]

Stop Israeli state terror!

Leaflet of the Socialist Party (CWI England & Wales)

Joe Higgins MEP challenges US Ambassador on IDF killings

Lift the siege immediately!

CWI leaflet

الحصار، الاحتلال، المستوطنات، هدم البيوت، تدمير الأراضي الزراعية، الإعلام العنصري، إطلاق النار على المتظاهرين، الاعتقالات، العنف والإذلال… يظهر كالشمس في كل مكان أن حكومة نتانياهو، براك وليبرمان، كما الحكومات السابقة، تكذب بخصوص نواياها السلمية وتحاول […]

It Is nearly seven years after the US-led invasion of Iraq. US imperialism had hoped for a quick war, the Iraqi oil industry under the control of US companies and a compliant, stable regime. However, […]

CWI supporters participate in West Bank protest against ‘Separation Wall’

11 February: From the revolution of the oppressed 1979 to the new wave of resistance 2010

For the building of movements and the intensification of activities to bring down the ‘Rafah wall’ – organisation of workers and the poor is the only true solidarity

Over 130 Jews and Arabs participate in ‘Socialism Conference 2009’, organised by Tnua’t Maavak Sozialisti / Harakat Nidal Eshtaraki (Socialist Struggle Movement – CWI in Israel)

Listen here to a discussion on events in Iran 1979, which took place at the November 2009 ’Socialism 2009’ event, held by the Socialist Party (CWI England and Wales).

Strikes and mass protests harbinger of social and political explosions

Mass opposition movements & strikes the way forward – Workers need to organise independently!

“The people have woken up”

CWI statement

The struggle continues

Independent workers’ organisation a necessity

Deepening divisions in ruling regime

Now available in Farsi.

Splits in the ruling Islamist-capitalist class

Working class must decisively enter struggle

New phase of struggle opens up

No alternative on offer as the system repeats itself

New ‘peace talks’ will not lead to genuine Palestinian state

Living conditions deteriorate due to neo-liberal politics and private sector mafia

Strikes and occupations grow – workers’ party with socialist policies needed!

Workers’ struggles continue…

Solidarity with Egyptian workers and youth – Support fight for democratic and union rights!

Interview with leader of property (real estate) tax collectors union

‘Bloggers’ organize to fight repression

Fighting against layoffs and harassing bosses

Another unstable government guaranteed

Israeli residents “used as trading cards”

Arab summit sees nothing on offer for working people and poor

Ceasefire called but root causes of conflict remain – socialist solution vital!

Building of mass independent workers organisations urgently needed.

Jews and Arabs united against Israeli regime

Capitalist regimes unable to provide peace and stability

Organise and develop mass democratic protests against war and capitalism in the Middle East

For a socialist solution to national oppression

Mubarak regime employs repression to prevent broad anti-Mubarak movement

Build the mass protests worldwide

For workers� unity against the Israeli regime and imperialism

For a struggle against capitalism

Portrayal of principled revolutionary reflects Che’s renewed appeal

Leaflet produced by the Socialist Party, cwi in England and Wales, for the demonstration in London, on 10 January 2009, in protest against ongoing Israeli military attacks on the defenceless people of Gaza.

Mass struggle needed for liberation

Tel-Aviv: Around 10,000 Jews and Arabs in a militant protest against the war

Stop the War in Gaza

Mass struggle needed to defeat Israeli army attack

For mass struggle to end national oppression and capitalism

Mass Movement to Stop the Massacres

For united mass workers’ resistance for Palestinians’ national liberation

Widespread solidarity with Iraqi journalist who threw shoes at Bush

For a mass Palestinian workers’ resistance

Build a united workers’ movement to fight for living wages

Solidarity appeal

Negotiations amongst regional and world leaders cannot provide solutions to the problems of the Israeli and Palestinian working and middle classes.

Scandal and corruption of elite while masses on breadline

Potentially catastrophic consequences of bombing attack

A countrywide surge in class struggle

Militant social and workers’ struggles

Politicians Qatar power-sharing deal no solution

Mass working class action shows way to end authoritarian rule and poverty

What prospects for the national conflict?

Mayday pictures

Beginning of a United Workers’ Movement

Beginning of a United Workers’ Movement

For the Building of a United Workers’ Movement

Lebanon activists to stage 4 May solidarity action

Striking workers and youth fought with police. At least two were shot dead.

On 30 March Palestianians commemorate Land Day by holding protest rallies and demonstrations all over the world.

An unmitigated disaster

Socialist alternative needed to growing confessional tensions

Mass protests to mark 5th anniversary of Iraq invasion

120 Palestinians in Gaza killed in the space of a week

Masses revolt against starvation conditions

The number reported being held has now increased to 43.

Repression against workers, students and women activists increases

An historical awakening

Victory boosts workers’ confidence to defend living standards

Thirty-six employees of the Coffee To Go Café in Ramat Aviv have won a strike for union recognition and against the violation of their labour rights. It was the first ever strike in an Israeli […]

Bloody fighting between Turkish troops and PKK Kurdish separatist guerrillas on the Turkey/Iraq border has enormously ratcheted-up tensions between the two countries.

Government and opposition struggle intensifies

"Generals lie, Soldiers die"

But divided elites, social tensions and Kurdish question herald new crises

Withdraw the troops now

Growing opposition against Ahmadinejad’s regime

Gaza’s population faces further isolation

Military threatens pro-Islamic government

Tens of thousands of student clash with police to protest at government attempts to raise tuition fees

The following CWI leaflet was distributed in Arabic in Beirut on Mayday

But trade union leadership collude with the bosses to stab workers in the back

Alarm bells have been ringing, left and right. John Pilger, the radical journalist, wrote an article, Iran: The War Begins (New Statesman, 3 February), warning that a US air attack on Iran was imminent.

Kurdish women, who are oppressed inside their community in Syria, are facing two kinds of oppression.

Ruling elite fear social explosions

Only workers’ unity and a struggle for socialism offers a way out

Protest carried on national TV

Histadrut union federation takes membership dues but ignore struggle

Working people demand: “Let us live!”

Union leaders hand over initiative to opposition parties

"The most dangerous foreign policy blunder in this country since Vietnam" were the words Chuck Hagel, a Vietnam war veteran used to describe Bush’s latest revised Iraq strategy. Hagel, however, is not only a Vietnam […]

Frankenstein kills out of control monster

Hizbollah and the Free Patriotic Movement (FPM) have planned mass street demonstrations for this week in opposition to Prime Minister Siniora and his weakened, imperialist-supported, March 14th or Future movement government.

Pro-western Siniora government hangs on by its fingertips

“He doth bestride the narrow world, like a colossus; and we petty men, walk under his huge legs and peep about”. (Shakespeare, Julius Caesar) Bush, decked out as a poor imitation of a modern ‘Caesar’, […]

New workers’ party necessary to fight back

Reactionary Jewish and Arab groups unite in homophobic campaign

In less than a week the Bush and Blair administrations have been forced into humiliating public retreats over their Iraq policy.

"From this day on, there is no government anymore!"

A socialist analysis and a socialist alternative

Only international working class can end conflicts

Only workers’ unity can show a way out of war and poverty. Part Two

Limits of Israeli military power exposed. Part One

August 6 saw 4,000 people take to the streets of Chamchamal, a Kurdish city in northern Iraq, in protest against the huge increase in fuel prices and the lack of water and electric.

After nearly a month of carpet bombing the country, by air, sea and land, the enormous sound of the Israeli war planes is now sinking into the background with noises of people trying to go […]

As Israeli missiles continued to bombard Lebanon, an immediate ceasefire was demanded by an emergency demonstration of 100,000 people in London on 5 August.

’The politicians and generals are dragging us into the quagmire’

There has been rage and revulsion worldwide at the barbaric treatment by Israeli forces of innocent families in Lebanon fleeing in terror.

Consequences of war and poverty will lead to future protests

Workers are paying the price

Imperialism gives full support to Israel capitalism, its ally in the region

Hatred of imperialist oppression climbs to new levels

Tension rises over demand for release of Palestinian prisoners

Palestinians recently interviewed in the press described their life in Gaza and the West Bank as like "living on the set of a horror film".

Workers need a party of their own!

Protests in Brussels and Amsterdam

Is Iraq really sliding into a sectarian civil war? And if so, is it a divide and rule tactic of imperialism?

US imperialism threatens

Washington hawks aim to remove Iranian regime

Sectarian militias on the streets as US imperialism’s disastrous policies are exposed

Some released, new arrests, hundreds detained

More protests planned

Appeal for international solidarity

Hamas victory a blow to imperialism and capitalism in the Middle East

Weeks after elections in Iraq (15 December), the result is still awaited.

Crisis shows imperialist powers’ hypocrisy

Military hard-man remade as “peacemaker”

Workers and youth have had enough of US-supported Mubarak regime

This is an urgent call for international solidarity.

The 450 workers of Tadiran Kesher in Israel are on strike since 11 November.

Sixty percent of Americans now think that the ’blood shed’ in Iraq is not worth it. The brunt of the ’bloodshed’ has of course been borne by the peoples of Iraq, around 100,000 of whom […]

The Israeli government is collapsing in turmoil, forcing forward the date of the next general election by eight months.

Immigrant workers in Middle East are on the move

Just over a week ago, according to many, the unthinkable happened: Amir Peretz, head of the Israeli trade union federation, the Histadruth, a rank outsider in the beginning of the election campaign, won the vote […]

Constitution passed but nightmare remains

The invasion and occupation of Iraq has resulted in the deaths and suffering of millions of ordinary Iraqis. Among these are the increasing attacks on women’s lives, their rights and conditions.

This year marks the 30th anniversary of Lebanon’s descent into 15 years of horrific civil war.

With 89% of the votes, Egypt’s first contested presidential election on September 7th could have been a crushing victory for Hosni Mubarak. But according to official figures only 23% voted.

Oppressed workers and poor resist regime

The tragedy of Baghdad – with almost 1000 Shia pilgrims killed in Iraq’s bloodiest day on 31 August – competes with the catastrophe of New Orleans in a kind of “league of horrors”.

The Israeli government has now demolished all the Jewish settlements in the Gaza strip, with four more in the West Bank to follow. This is the first time that Israel has removed settlements in Palestinian […]

The newly elected president of Iran, the religious conservative and former revolutionary guard Mahmoud Ahmadinejad who was elected on the 24 June tried to play down fears of Iranian workers during the election campaign that […]

Weeks of a vicious propaganda campaign against the proposal to hold a Pride Parade in Jerusalem resulted in demonstrators being stabbed by a reactionary ultra right-wing settler at the event on June 30.

Hardliner’s victory stuns Western leaders

Yahya Al-Faifi has had to seek refuge in Swansea because the Saudi Arabian government has deemed that he is guilty of the ‘crime’ of trying to organize his fellow workers.

No-one believed US vice-president Dick Cheney when he said the Iraqi insurgency was in its "last throes".

The rich defeated but Ahmadinejad is no alternative

Timid reforms will not solve deep political crisis

CWI members arrested for trying to go to Histadruth festival

Immigrant workers forced to work without being paid for months

On 23 March, 2005 the student union leaders organized “a quiet demonstration” against cuts and privatization in the higher education system.

“The fish starts rotting from the head. Don’t you smell the rot of our fish?” An Egyptian human rights lawyer, speaking out at a press conference on February 22nd, expressed the growing confidence of opponents […]

Maavak Sozialisti members, along with other student activists, have just ended a joint election campaign in the name of the Social Student Front (SSF). This was an extremely hard campaign for us to organise. From […]

Two years ago, the US regime promised a short war to ’liberate’ Iraq – ’operation shock and awe’.

Lebanon rocked by assassination and huge protests. The workers’ movement has to give a lead

Huge 8 March demonstration marks setback for US imperialism

Members of Maavak Socialisti (cwi Israel) and other students at Jerusalem University are facing vicious repression for standing in elections to the student union leadership.

Members of Maavak Socialisti (CWI Israel) and other students at Jerusalem University are facing vicious repression for standing in elections to the student union leadership.

In contrast to claims by George Bush and Tony Blair, the most likely outcome of the Iraq elections will be to fuel opposition to the occupation and exacerbate divisions between the various ethnic and religious […]

After only a few days, the sham of the Iraqi ‘elections’ became evident as Iraq was shaken by a renewed wave of bombings and violent attacks on government officials and the occupation forces. As each […]

A struggle for basic union rights

Bush and Blair have been quick to hail the elections in Iraq as a "victory for democracy" and a vindication of their brutal occupation of Iraq, but this was largely for public consumption.

What lies behind attempts to reach a ceasefire?

International appeal

The bloody war in Iraq led by US imperialism worsens every day as the death toll mounts and the country plunges deeper into civil war and ethnic and religious clashes.

Muhamad Mansur is a first year Israeli Palestinian medical student at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

Just before Christmas, 100 people were killed and injured in an attack on a US Army base dining hall in Mosul, northern Iraq. Nineteen US soldiers were amongst those killed – the most deadly attack […]

Following Palestinian leader Yassar Arafat’s death, a new Palestinian Authority (PA) president is to be elected on 9 January.

"IT IS a mess in Iraq". The UN special envoy, Lakhdar Brahimi, was certainly to the point. Elections, he said, would not be possible on the 30 January "if the circumstances stay as they are".

Palestinians mourn Arafat but struggle for liberation will continue

When Palestinian leader Yassar Arafat fell dangerously ill, Israeli prime minister Ariel Sharon was worried enough about being blamed for his death to release him from the Israeli blockade in Ramallah to be flown to […]

The speakers at Monday’s demonstration , held in Tel Aviv, in support of withdrawal from Gaza were not radical ones – actually they gave unconditional support to Sharon’s disengagement plan.

"Qassam" rockets, terror attacks, devastation, bloodshed… Can the "Disengagement Plan" bring the end of the Israeli-Palestinian bloodbath any closer?

There is justifiable revulsion, shared by the socialist, at the videoed public beheading of Ken Bigley. However, Ken Bigley’s brother, Paul, was right when he said that "Blair has blood on his hands".

On the night of Thursday, October 7, around 10 PM, an explosion shook the Hilton Taba hotel, located in the Sinai Peninsula, only a short distance from Egypt’s border with Israel.

During the recent years, while the municipal councils served as the main target of the budget cuts and massive redundancies, they were given new authority and responsibilities. Starting about a year and a half ago, […]

"This is far graver than Vietnam. If we leave and there’s no civil war, that’s a victory." William Odon, former head of the US national security agency, is more in touch with the reality of […]

Stop the execution of Ismail Mohammadi – urgent protest needed

The dreams of the US right-wing ’neo-cons’ lie in tatters on the battlefields of Iraq. One of the only certainties in the turmoil of Iraq is that imperialism’s occupation is doomed to failure.

Imperialism will never solve national question it created

Laila: There has been one governing party in power for 25 years, the ‘National Democratic Party’, the part of President Mubarak. Elections are held but they are very corrupt. The government says it wants to […]

The Israeli government, under the influence of the capitalists, has been trying to privatize the docks for years.

Saddam Hussein appeared in court on 1 July and was charged with a list of crimes.

New ’Iraqi regime’ will not end imperialist occupation

Since the war on Iraq, the Kurds have stood out in stark contrast to the rest of the Middle East.

ONE REASON for Labour getting ’a good kicking’ in the 10 June elections was opposition to Blair’s war and occupation of Iraq.

It is the US presidential election campaign which is governing US policy half a world away in Iraq.

The brutal israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories is continuing, with no end in sight to the cycle of bloodshed.

New ’Iraqi regime’ will not end imperialist occupation

Saddam’s notorious Abu Ghraib prison is now a US-run centre for the subjugation of the Iraqi people.

"The photos that lost Bush the war". That was how one US commentator referred to the images of torture and sexual abuse of Iraqi prisoners by US troops. Beamed across the globe, these appalling photos […]

AS SOON as Israeli Prime Minister, Ariel Sharon, returned home from a triumphalist meeting with US President Bush, he turned his mind to the assassination of the newly appointed leader of the Islamic Palestinian organisation, […]

“Bush’s Vietnam” conflict worsens

Working people of the region will pay the price

The brutal assassination of the spiritual leader of Palestinian Islamic organisation Hamas, Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, was met with outrage from Palestinians, together with people throughout the Arab world and millions internationally who are horrified at […]

“Your war – our dead”, “Aznar, your delusions of grandeur have led to this” chanted crowds on the streets of Spain last weekend, as the mass outpouring of grief and rage at the Thursday’s horrendous […]

Iraq one year on.

Is it possible and what will follow?

March 20th marks the first anniversary of the US led imperialist war on Iraq.

The US regime desperately wants to hand over the day-to-day running of Iraq, so it can pull the strings but avoid the political, military and financial costs of direct occupation.

Neither conservatives or “reform wing” of elite win support of youth and workers

Armed forces in Iran opened fire on a peaceful demonstration of copper foundry workers and their families on 23 January, killing fifteen and injuring 300.

IN THE RUN-UP to last year’s invasion of Iraq much was said in the media about the ‘fog of war’, the confusion spread by the combination of the incomplete knowledge of fast changing events and […]

Armed forces in Iran opened fire on a peaceful demonstration of copper foundry workers and their families on 23 January, killing fifteen and injuring 300.

cwi statement

IN THE repressive environment of Iran’s Islamic Republic, the working class is suffering from high levels of capitalist exploitation.

PUBLIC SPLITS have emerged amongst Israel’s ruling class as Ariel Sharon’s right-wing coalition government continues to repress Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza strip.

THE ISRAELI government of Ariel Sharon stuck two fingers up at the United Nations (UN) after the UN general assembly passed a resolution on 21 October condemning Israel’s ’security fence’. Israeli deputy prime minister Ehud […]

US DEPUTY defence secretary and right-wing political hawk Paul Wolfowitz got a taste of Iraqi realities when rockets slammed into the supposedly secure al-Rashid hotel where he stayed in Baghdad last week.

Israeli port workers, who have been on strike since Tuesday, September 30, are fighting a crucial battle for their jobs, their conditions and the future of the Israeli working class.

Athens rally hears support for imprisoned Irish activists

While these demonstrations may be smaller than the monster worldwide anti-war protests of millions held in mid-February, they will represent the continuing opposition, not only to invasion of Iraq, but also to Bush and Blair’s […]

We applaud the militants of the Worker Communist Party of Iraq who have been to the forefront in building organisations of the Iraqi working class and women’s organisations. We salute the courage of the WCPI […]

The British military in Basra, Iraq’s second biggest city, is under attack. This is not from ’rogue elements’ of the former Ba’athist regime but local residents incensed at the lack of mains electricity and, ironically […]

AS PREDICTED, the journey along George Bush’s ’road map’ to end the Israeli/Palestinian conflict is now decidedly ’off-road’.

The deaths of Saddam Hussein’s sons has not stopped the attacks on coalition forces.

THE LAST four weeks have witnessed mass protests in Iran as thousands have taken to the streets in opposition to the government of Mohammed Khatami.

PALESTINIAN MILITIAS have declared a three month suspension in armed attacks against Israel and the Israeli Defence Force (IDF) has withdrawn from parts of the Gaza strip. There will be hopes worldwide that this is […]

THE PEOPLE of Basra will "look back and remember what you did and recognise that as the start of their future and a life of hope and the possibility of prosperity," said Tony Blair to […]

ARIEL SHARON appears to be biting the hand that feeds him. The assassination of another leading Hamas activist by an Israeli hit squad has further undermined George Bush’s efforts to put a lid on the […]

The road map to ’peace’ in the Middle East is becoming soaked in blood. Since the Israeli army attempted to assassinate the deputy leader of the Islamic Palestinian organisation, Hamas, on 10 June, the number […]

"THE CLERICAL regime is nearing its end. Vigilantes commit crimes, the leader supports them," chanted defiant student protesters at Tehran university, Iran.

THE US-led coalition forces occupying Iraq can’t get the country’s power supply going regularly nor can they create health and education services for local people.

"THIS is not a happy decision," said Israel’s right-wing prime minister Ariel Sharon last Sunday in Jerusalem. After a six-hour cabinet meeting which divided his Likud and far-right coalition allies, Sharon announced his reluctant acceptance […]

"WE’RE BRINGING order to parts of that country that remain dangerous. …We’re helping to rebuild Iraq, where the dictator built palaces for himself, instead of hospitals and schools. And we will stand with the new […]

THE RULING House of Saud is a rotten feudal monarchy, sitting on fabulous oil wealth and which supports American and British capitalist interests ahead of their own people. But its days could be numbered.

AS THE war against Iraq drew to a close, an opinion poll in Britain found that a majority of people, including those who supported the war, thought it would make the world a more dangerous […]

GEORGE BUSH’S recently published road map to ending the Israeli/Palestinian conflict and achieving a ’viable Palestinian state’ by 2005, already looks set for failure.

The war in Iraq is the fourth ‘high-tech’ victory for US imperialism and its ‘allies’ in a little over a decade.

Some of them are Marxists, and some are simply opposed to the occupation. Whatever the reason, the army doesn’t know how to handle the new phenomenon of young immigrants who refuse to be drafted into […]

After just a couple of days of tremendous action, the leadership of the Israeli trade union federation, the Histraduth, called off a general strike on 30 April.

PUBLICATION OF George Bush’s long-awaited "road map" to end the Israeli/Palestinian conflict was greeted by suicide bombings in Israel by pro-Palestinian Islamists and a massive and bloody invasion by Israeli armed forces into the Gaza […]

"A WAR to remake the world" is how Michael Ledeen, a leading neo-conservative associated with the Bush government, described the war on Iraq. Exactly how the world could be remade was succinctly explained by White […]

PUBLICATION OF George Bush’s long-delayed ’road map’ to a Israeli-Palestinian peace settlement and an independent Palestinian state by 2005, was inched forward last week. But only after Palestinian president Yasser Arafat agreed, at the eleventh […]

SADDAM’S REGIME HAS crumbled (as we go to press, 11 April) under the impact of the US-British invasion, though fierce, sporadic fighting continues in Baghdad and other cities. Scenes of Saddam’s statues being torn down […]

Following its bloody conquest of Iraq, the US administration is now attempting to impose a ‘reconstruction’ plan on the broken country. But what does this mean for the working people of Iraq? Will they at […]

LAST WEEK, Bush and Blair were celebrating their ’victory’ over Iraq. But within a matter of hours it became clear that piecing Iraq back together again could prove much more difficult than the war itself.

THE WAR on Iraq has entered its end stage. Overwhelming US military might has broken the back of Iraqi military resistance on the ground. Despite a determined fightback by a number of Iraqi militias and […]

The military assault on Iraq by US and British imperialism is now reaching its ‘end game’. At the time of writing the Iraqi regime is in the process of disintegration. This military ‘triumph’ of Bush […]

One million members of seven different ‘unions of the base’ in Italy went on strike for eight hours last Wednesday, 2 April, to say no to war.

About 5 000 anti-war protestors marched from Klipspruit West, Eldorado Park, to Lenasia, south of Johannesburg. The march was led by the contingent of South African Human Shields who had returned from Iraq earlier in […]

US IMPERIALISM is paying for this war, unlike in the 1990-91 Gulf War when other countries financially under-wrote US war plans and paid for nine-tenths of it. So the US ruling class are determined that […]

"People say to me, you (the Iraqis) are not the Vietnamese. You have no jungles and swamps to hide in. I reply, ‘Let our cities be our swamps and our buildings our jungles’." (Tariq Aziz, […]

WHEN THE military chiefs and politicians feel the need to come onto the TV and insist that everything is going to plan in the war against Iraq, and that everyone is united, you know that […]

The Israeli government is using the imperialist war on Iraq and the fear of Scuds landing in Israel as a cover to launch its own weapon of mass destruction – a 11.4 Billion Shekel (£1.5 […]

Stop the war in Iraq.

Anti-war protesters in Kazakhstan burst into a television studio last week where the US ambassador was speaking about the war in Iraq. The protesters, all CWI members, unfurled a ’No to war’ banner, which was […]

Reflecting the massive opposition of Spanish people to the war in Iraq, the UGT – socialist trade union confederation – has called a two-hour general strike on Thursday 10 April.

Last Friday night, 28 March, the Socialist Party (SP – CWI in Australia) led a demonstration of over 500 outside a Liberal Party function where the Prime Minister, John Howard, was guest speaker.

GEORGE BUSH’S "road map" to a political settlement of the Israeli/Palestinian conflict, supposedly leading to a Palestinian state by 2005, is a cynical exercise in placating Arab opinion while US forces invade and occupy Iraq. […]

Stop the war in Iraq. Britain.

There is hardly a building in Sarajevo city that has not been damaged in some way by the conflict in the 1990s. Walls are pock marked with bullet holes. More often than not, blocks of […]

AS WE go to press, the battle for Baghdad seems about to begin. It is still too early to get an exact picture, but if the first phase of the war is anything to go […]

Three thousand mainly school students, after leaving school to strike against the war, marched through Melbourne on Wednesday 26 March against the war on Iraq. The numbers were slightly down on the last school student […]

Over one hundred secondary school students and workers took part in a demonstration against the war on Saturday 22 March, organised by the Kotli branch of the Jammu and Kashmir National Awami Party (JKNAP). 

Monday 24 March 2003

On 23 March, about 20,000 protesters from all over Sicily marched on the Sigonella US Navy Air Base. The base has operated since 1959 after US – NATO agreements. It is situated in Eastern Sicily, […]

Members of the CWI and the youth organisation ‘Young Guard’ organised a protest against US aggression in Iraq on 21 March.

Over 5,000 people demonstrated through the streets on Belfast on Saturday, 22 March, to express their opposition to the continued bombing of Iraq. Although this demonstration was smaller than that on 15 February, the mood […]

Democratic Socialist Movement (DSM – CWI in South Africa) and Socialist Student Movement, both affiliates of the Anti-War Coalition, joined the demonstration on Day X at the US Consulate in Johannesburg.

The ‘Blick’ newspaper – Swiss equivalent of the Daily Mirror – estimated that on Day X 100,000 Swiss people took to the streets, the majority of whom were school students and students. The biggest student […]

Tens of thousands of protesters took to the streets of Sydney, Sunday 23 March, in yet another huge anti-war rally.

"Workers at the steel factory, Caterpillar, in Gosselies (near Charleroi) put down tools in protest against the war with Iraq", reports Belgian news agencies.

On Day X we left with an anti-war demo from the French-speaking ULB University. There were some 1,000 students and school students joined us. We discussed with the police to be able to go the […]

The European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) called a demonstration in Brussels on 21 March. The demo, backed by the three main Belgian trade unions, was meant to be a protest against the GATS agreements in […]

Despite driving rain over 15,000 youth took to the streets on Friday 21 March, in Sao Paulo, to protest against the start of the war against Iraq. Thousands more have taken to the streets in […]

The Day X demonstration was big for Prague, but the second day of the war saw as many, if not more, out on the streets demonstrating. All the main political parties were there and all […]

On the evening of Day X, school students in Newcastle upon Tyne organised a sit down protest in the road. The police announced that, if the school students did not move in two minutes, they […]

Today, March 24, in Hamburg, Germany, 50,000 school students, apprentices and other students supported a local strike call made by Youth against War (Jugend gegen Krieg, JgW).

"The invasion of Iraq is a naked grab to secure the Iraqi oilfields for US capitalism and to secure imperialist control over the Middle East", said Joe Higgins, TD (member of the Dail, the Irish […]

On 23 March, the CWI in Japan, Kokusai Rentai, participated in an anti-war demonstration in Osaka. It was the biggest in the city so far. Around eight thousand participated.

Stop the war in Iraq. Pictures.

New Labours’ conference in Dundee was besieged by three days of mass protests. Fire-fighters, pensioners, and council workers all showed their anger at Blair’s policies. Above all, it was a chance for a new generation […]

In Madrid up to 1 million took to the streets against war on 22 March, according to the organisers (20,000 according to the government!).

Stop the war in Iraq. Pictures.

Stop the war in Iraq. cwi pictures.

The anti-war protests in Vienna and Salzburg on 20 March, partly led by the ISR and SLP, Austrian section of the CWI, demanded strike action by the unions as part of the international movement. Between […]

After the signing up of Italy by Bush onto the list of nations supporting the war, the Italian parliament yesterday officially conceded to the USA the use of bases and air space. Nevertheless demonstrations against […]

As the bombs started falling on Baghdad on March 20, over 50,000 people gathered spontaneously in Melbourne, Australia, for the first of many rallies to come.

Up to 2,500 people protested in Prague on Day X, which is a big step forward for the Czech anti-war movement.

Youth against War (JgK), a German-wide campaign of school students, students and apprentices, which was initiated by members of Socialist Alternative (SAV, the German CWI section) and International Resistance (the German section of International Socialist […]

Across Northern Ireland thousands of students walked out of schools on Day X, responding to the call from Youth Against War. The mood was determined.

A protest organised by various anti war groups including the Irish Anti War movement was held outside the Dail (Irish parliament) where a debate over the continued use of Shannon airport for US war aircraft […]

Millions have protested against the start of the US led imperialist war against Iraq. As the reports from CWI sections posted on this site show, many of the demonstrations have been led and dominated by […]

The first day of the US led imperialist assault on Iraq has hugely increased the disgust and opposition from workers and youth against this war, against US imperialism and against the right wing Portuguese government […]

The discovery that the bombing of Iraq had started was met by outrage, walkouts, road blocks and demonstrations involving up to 50,000 university and school students in Barcelona yesterday (Thursday), according to press reports.

As soon as the first bombs dropped on Baghdad, members of the United Socialist Party (USP) in Sri Lanka (section of the CWI) got to work making more than a hundred large hand-written posters with […]

Approximately 20,000 people lined the streets of Sydney just 3 hours after war was officially declared on Thursday (March 20), demanding Australian troops be withdrawn immediately and Liberal Prime Minister Howard end his slavish support […]

War has started. The US led imperialist assault against the people of Iraq means huge destruction and the loss of many lives. A high tech capitalist superpower is indiscriminately attacking a people already subjected to […]

SO THE ’liberation’ of the Iraqis is beginning – with massive carpet bombing. The US military have planned to use ten times the amount of bombs dropped in the whole of the last Gulf War […]

ON 15 March there was a new wave of anti-war action in New Zealand, mainly in South Island. In Christchurch, about 3,000 took part in a march against the war.

The CWI in Brazil, Socialismo Revolucionario (SR), held a very successful public meeting earlier this week on the war on Iraq at the University USP, in San Carlos, in the State of Sao Paulo. Over […]

Socialist Party member, Steve Bush, describes a spontaneous school strike against war that took place yesterday in the town of Tiverton in Devon, England.

A teachers’ union in a school in Hackney, East London, has announced its backing of a half day strike by students on Day X. Furthermore the local union will ask all its members to also […]

The right wing cabal surrounding George Bush in the White House are determined to go to war with or without United Nations backing. Tony Blair is also determined to be in on the act. Take […]

On 15 March millions of people marched against imminent war in over 2,000 cities worldwide. Below we carry reports from CWI members of important protests in Belgium, Brazil, Chile, Japan and Greece.

The final countdown has started towards Bush and Blair’s war on Iraq. Within days a murderous onslaught will be launched against the Iraqi people. Weapons like the devastating "Daisy cutter bombs", depleted uranium muntion and […]

Stop work to stop the war.

DESPITE THE biggest demonstration in the history of Britain and unprecedented anti-war protests, Blair is determined to go to war with Iraq over the next few days. Like Bush, he believes that vital capitalist interests […]

Stop work to stop the war.

A month since Sharon’s Likud party scored an election victory, and after long negotiations, the 75-year-old Prime Minister has managed to form a rightwing government based on a coalition of 68 out of 120 Members […]

The opposition to the US war plans has increased in Chile in the past weeks. This has undoubtedly been in part because of Chile’s presence on the UN Security Council. The International Women’s Day march […]

The youth section of the social democratic nation trade union federation (ABVV) has called a national school student and higher education student strike on Friday 21 March. The appeal has received the support of the […]

The closer war approaches the more intense Bush and Blair’s propaganda becomes. Bush, in his press conference last week, spoke as if the USA was under imminent threat of attack from Iraq that necessitated immediate […]

A call for work stoppages throughout Europe to protest against the war at midday on Friday 14 March was made by the European Trade Union Congress at a meeting of its Executive last week (6 […]

THE FIRST phase of the US-led war against Iraq has started. American and British warplanes have stepped up their bombing of Iraqi defences in the ’no-fly zones’, targeting surface-to-surface missile batteries.

THE HUGE parliamentary revolt last week against Blair’s war plans was all the more remarkable given that the Tory party officially lined up behind Blair and the payroll vote of Labour ministers and parliamentary secretaries […]

Over 10 000 school students took part in the walk outs, rallies or in other forms of protest in the schools on March 5th.

No to war in Iraq. Protests in Northern Ireland

The Bush administration suffered a serious blow to its war plans against Iraq after the Turkish parliament rejected, on Saturday 8 March, a draft law allowing the deployment of some 62,000 US troops to Turkish […]

Max Toynbee from Finham Park school reports:

AFTER THE magnificent events of 15 February, many hoped that worldwide demonstrations of tens of millions would halt the warmongers Bush and Blair in their tracks.

The US has mobilised a massive war machine, poised for an invasion of Iraq. Undoubtedly, the US has the military power to smash Saddam’s regime. But US imperialism will face major complications, especially in the […]

The Communication Workers’ Union in Britain has unanimously endorsed a call for action against war.

In an elemental tide of protest against US preparations to attack Iraq, millions marched against war on 15 February, an estimated 30 million in 600 cities. Big demonstrations took place in the United States, in […]

Iraq has been cruelly burdened with UN imposed sanctions for 14 years. In a recent article, based on a the forthcoming paper back edition of his book, ’The New Rulers of the World’ (Independent On […]

15 February. No to war in Iraq. cwi reports from around the world. Belfast.

IT WAS a global revolt without precedent by the people against their political ’masters’. The worldwide anti-war protests on 15-16 February resounded with one voice to say ’No War’.

15 February. No to war in Iraq. cwi reports from around the world. Sweden.

15 February. No to war in Iraq. cwi reports from around the world. New York.

15 February. No to war in Iraq. cwi reports from around the world. New York.

15 February. No to war in Iraq. cwi reports from around the world. Switzerland

Biggest international protest in history

There was an anti-war demonstration in Osaka yesterday.  The organisers claimed 1,500. It was a very good demonstration and march.  The atmosphere was good – lots of youth and, surprisingly, a very large percentage of […]

15 February. No to war in Iraq. cwi reports from around the world. Greece.

15 February. No to war in Iraq. cwi reports from around the world.

15 February. No to war in Iraq. cwi reports from around the world. London.

15 February. No to war in Iraq. cwi reports from around the world. London.

15 February. No to war in Iraq. cwi reports from around the world. Russia.

15 February. No to war in Iraq. cwi reports from around the world. Sweden.

15 February. No to war in Iraq. cwi reports from around the world. Austria.

On Saturday Catalonia marched to the slogan "Stop the war". Various towns and cities had their biggest ever demonstrations, including Gerona (40,000 – nearly half the population?!) but they were all dwarfed by the estimated […]

Yesterday’s anti-war rally in Melbourne was the biggest demonstration in the history of Australia. Over 200,000 people rallied outside the State Library at 5pm to hear speakers and then they had to wait over an […]

Around two million participated in the anti-war activities in London on 15 February: making it the largest political demonstration in British history.

In Santiago, Chile, about 1,500 people participated in a demonstration against the war called by Plataforma por la Paz – Platform for Peace. This is an alliance of various groups – particularly the Communist Party, […]

As "our" government supports every decision of the US administration, and former president Havel signed the letter of "eight", expressing complete support for the Bush-Iraq policy, people feel not just betrayed but angry. That is […]

In the city of Oulu, in Finland, the CWI participated on the February 15th demonstration as part of the Youth against the War campaign.

In the last three days of last week the anti-war mood in France snowballed. If asked in the week before the demonstration, most political activists would have said that 150,000 would demonstrate in Paris. It […]

Saturday saw the biggest anti-war demonstration in Germany for decades. Five hundred thousand from all over the country took to the streets of Berlin and paralysed the historical area from Alexanderplatz in the East of […]

Yesterday, as all over the world, Greece saw enormous anti war demonstrations.

Millions of people, up to 30 million according to some media reports, poured onto streets of cities and towns and villages around the world on 15 February in protest against Bush’s war plans (see list […]

Twenty thousand joined the anti-war demonstration in Belfast. It was organised by the Stop the War Coalition, a broad and loose group co-ordinated by the trade unions and including the Socialist Party, Socialist Youth and […]

Despite the government propaganda, around three thousand people demonstrated against the US plans to invade Iraq, in Tel Aviv on February 15.

After yesterday, there is no doubt whatsoever that Italy is against the war, whatever the Prime Minister, Silvio Berlusconi, might claim, reports CWI member Henry Silke from Sicily.

The international day of protest against war on Iraq was observed in Indian Occupied and Pakistani Occupied Kashmir. According to media reports over 2,000 people demonstrated against the war in Srinagar (capital of Indian Occupied […]

15 February. No to war in Iraq. cwi reports from around the world.

At least 80,000 people marched in the biggest demonstration Scotland has seen in 30 years. They came from all corners of the country, from the Islands to the cities to the smallest towns and villages. […]

Anti-war activists made their contribution to the worldwide opposition to the impending US war on Iraq in three demonstrations in Johannesburg, Durban, and Cape Town on 15 February.

The latest opinion poll by the weekly magazine ‘Stern’ says that 71 percent of Germans are opposed to the war. Local demonstrations of up to 10,000 are taking place on an almost daily basis. Last […]

Media estimates put the number of anti-war demonstrators in central Melbourne today (14 February) at between 100,000 to 200,000. Organisers are quoted as saying the demonstration was well over the 200,000 mark.

One week after 60,000 workers and youth went onto the streets of Lisbon as part of a struggle for jobs, decent wages and to stop the bosses’ offensive, many thousands of workers and youth we […]

Colin Powell presented his speech to the UN Security Council on 5 February 2003. On the same day, according to the Spanish daily El Pais (14 February 2003), at the UN headquarters, an incident occurred […]

Tony Benn, the veteran British socialist, described the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) in its coverage of Iraq as a "weapon of mass deception". This could be applied with equal if not greater force to Colin […]

With 220 000 US and British troops (including a quarter of the British army) surrounding Iraq, 300 US warplanes on airfields to its north and south, and a stockpile of 6 700 satellite-guided and 3 […]

A BARBAROUS WAR is being fought out in the Gulf. Never before has so much weaponry, of such lethal power, been hurled together on a single battlefield. In the first phase of the war, the […]

The final results of the Israeli elections are a clear victory for Prime Minister Sharon’s party, Likud, which won 38 seats, up from 21 in the outgoing Knesset (parliament) and double the number achieved by […]

EVERY DAY more and more young people are getting involved in the anti-war movement. International Socialist Resistance (ISR) and Socialist Party members and supporters have been helping organise school and college walkouts against the war […]

Tony Benn, the veteran British socialist, described the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) in its coverage of Iraq as a "weapon of mass deception".

In a speech before the House of Commons last week, Tony Blair said, “we do know of links between al-Qaeda and Iraq – we cannot be sure of the exact extent of these links”. Blair’s […]

International anti-war movement.

Recently, socialists explanation of the link between capital and political power have been graphically explained to Israeli citizens by many of the ’fine’ people of the Likud party leadership.

The US administration is discussing the possible use of nuclear weapons against the people of Iraq, according to William M. Arkin, a military affairs analyst writing in the Los Angeles Times (26 January 2003).

WHEN US Secretary of State Colin Powell was asked if the planned war with Iraq was all about oil, he denied it, claiming "the oil of Iraq belongs to the Iraqi people" and would not […]

Monday’s (27 January) general elections in Israel saw Ariel Sharon’s Likud party double its vote to 37 seats. The Labour Party (which is the traditional party of the Israeli capitalists) plunged to an all time […]

In the light of Hans Blix and the weapons inspectors’ report that there is no "smoking gun", conclusive evidence of weapons of mass destruction (WMD) in Iraq, the prospect of an immediate war against Iraq […]

Kurdish people, known as the Kurds, live in an area that consists of south-eastern Turkey, northern Iraq, north-western Iran and a part of Syria.

THE ISRAELI ’national unity’ government coalition has collapsed following the withdrawal of six Labour ministers. Elections have been called for early next year.

Maavak Sozialisti (Socialist Struggle) in Israel held its formal founding conference over the last weekend (11-12 October). 25 people (mostly young) participated in the event, which exceeded our expectations and was characterised by an enthusiastic […]

EVERYONE SAW the copious media coverage marking the first anniversary of the 11 September attacks. But how many saw mention that this month also marks the twentieth anniversary of the massacre of at least 1,500 […]

An enormous anti-war demonstration, which one TV station estimated at 450,000 – strong, marched through London on 28 September.

UNDER PRESSURE at home and abroad, president Bush went to the UN on 12 September to call for action against Iraq.

TONY BLAIR said that he and Bush have decided to give Saddam Hussein "one more chance".

Text of a leaflet distributed to workers on strike on Monday 12 August 2002, by members of Maavak Sozialisti (Socialist Struggle)

As the spiral of violence in the Middle East escalates, possibly towards a wider war drawing in the surrounding Arab countries, US President Bush continues to show the incapacity of the leading imperialist power on […]

ON SATURDAY, 18 March thousands will march through the streets of London to protest at Sharon’s and the Israeli state’s murderous assaults on the Palestinians.

“The government accidentally helped us with their new economic plan. You get political discussions every time you buy cigarettes as they now cost more. There was a lot of anger in the street that we […]

The Israeli army has withdrawn from Jenin, leaving a trail of destruction. People the world over have been shocked by the brutality of the invasion, including attacks on Red Cross/Crescent staff and reports of Palestinians […]

Devastation. Whole areas of Palestinian cities, from Bethlehem to Nablus, and especially Jenin, have been laid to waste. The siege of the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem and Arafat’s Ramallah headquarters continue as we […]

Sharon’s bloody war of reoccupation in the West Bank and Gaza has destroyed whatever hopes lingered for the ‘peace process’ in the Middle East. Many working people around the world will now be asking if […]