Archive | February, 2011

Ohio labor rallies against Senate Bill 5, a job-killing, anti-worker attack on collective bargaining.  “Kill This Bill!” Ohio Statehouse, Columbus, Ohio, 17 February 2011 For more information, visit <fightforafaireconomy.org>.   var idcomments_acct = ‘c90a61ed51fd7b64001f1361a7a71191’; var idcomments_post_id; var idcomments_post_url; | Print  

  February 16, 2011 — Networks of sympathizers with the ongoing student strike at the University of Puerto Rico announced today that they will stage simultaneous demonstrations in solidarity with the UPR in cities around the world on Friday, March 11, 2011, and invited all supporters to join them, coordinating their own activities in their […]

This just in from AFP: “Israel has agreed to let Egypt deploy hundreds more troops in Sinai in order to protect gas pipelines as the country undergoes sweeping political unrest.”  Israel’s agreement to more Egyptian troop deployment exceeding the terms of the 1979 Egypt-Israel peace treaty came just as the youth representatives of the tribes […]

  Stop Ohio Senate Bill 5.  It’s a job-killing, anti-worker attack on collective bargaining. * * * Update See “Ohio Labor: No on SB5!” (videos of a rally against SB5, Ohio Statehouse, Columbus, Ohio, 17 February 2011). For more information, visit <fightforafaireconomy.org>.   var idcomments_acct = ‘c90a61ed51fd7b64001f1361a7a71191’; var idcomments_post_id; var idcomments_post_url; | Print  

We, the student and precarious workers of Europe, Tunisia, Japan, the US, Canada, Mexico, Chile, Peru and Argentina, met in Paris over the weekend of the 11th-13th of February, 2011 to discuss and organize a common network based on our common struggles.  Students from Maghreb and Gambia tried to come but France refused them entry. […]

  “They renamed it [Manama’s central square] Tahrir Square after the one in Cairo.  They’ve started setting up tents, and vans are bringing supplies of food and water.” — Ahmed Hazim The Euronews video at the top and the Al Jazeera videos below it were released on 16 February 2011.  Cf. <www.facebook.com/TrueRoyalDemocracy>. | Print  

After Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak resigned last Friday, we asked Israeli activists as well as people on the street for their opinion about recent events in Egypt. Produced by Ruth Orli Mosser.  This video was released by the Alternative Information Center on 15 February 2011 under a Creative Commons license. | Print

Workers and students protested in Madison, Wisconsin today against Governor Scott Walker’s “budget repair” bill, which takes away public sector workers’ collective bargaining rights.  “Kill this bill!” 15 February 2011 14 February 2011 For more information, visit, e.g., <www.facebook.com/WiscWorkersRights> and <www.onewisconsinnow.org>.  Cf. “Thousands Converge For Rallies, Hearing On Union Bill” (Channel 3000, 15 February 2011). […]

Much like Mubarak, the former democratic reformer turned long-serving US dictator for the Philippines, Ferdinand Marcos, demonstrates what can happen to even stalwart defenders of capitalism when they are opposed by their citizens en masse.  Like Mubarak, Marcos previously provided a ray of hope for Western elites intent on quelling popular resistance within their own […]

In Bahrain, too, the shouts of “The People Want to Overthrow the Regime!” الشعب يريد اسقاط النظامPearl Roundabout, Bahrain, 15 February 2011 For more information, visit, e.g., .  Cf. As’ad AbuKhalil, “US Is Freaking Out over Bahrain” (Angry Arab News Service, 15 February 2011). | Print

What is happening in Egypt is of immense importance, not only due to the importance of the country but also due to the radicality of the demand.  The demand is not just that Mubarak should leave — that is a first step — but that the system be changed, putting an end to the neoliberal […]

“Early on today, there was a funeral1 for the first of the victims. . . .  The funeral drew the crowd of — I estimate — as many as 10,000 people, the largest mass gathering we’ve had here in Bahrain for quite some time.”   1  The Funeral of Martyr Ali Abdulhadi Mushaima: This video […]

Every time demonstrators regrouped, they were attacked again, with rubber bullets, tear gas, and reportedly even live ammunition.  Later two protesters died: Ali Abdulhadi Mushaima and Fadhel Ali Matrook. This video was released by Amnesty International on 15 February 2011.  Cf. As’ad AbuKhalil, “US Is Freaking Out over Bahrain” (Angry Arab News Service, 15 February […]

I said several days ago that the die was cast for Mubarak and that not even Obama could save him. The world knows what is taking place in the Middle East. The news is circulating at incredible speed. Politicians barely have time to read the cables coming in by the hour. Everyone is aware of […]

President Obama’s basic budget for fiscal 2012 is mostly a done deal supported by the entire political establishment.  The hyped choreography of forthcoming battles between Democrats and Republicans is a very secondary sideshow.  The battles clothe basic agreement in a disguise of fierce oppositions perhaps aimed to mollify each party’s none-too-discerning militants. Both sides agree […]

Egyptians are celebrating the ouster of Hosni Mubarak, as I write.  Inshallah they will celebrate for a long time to come.  But leaderless crowds are not well placed to govern.  The triumph of the Egyptian people leaves the military in control.  Let us hope that Egyptians will find no reason to share the complaint of […]

Millions of people in Egypt and all over the Middle East erupted in joy as Omar Suleiman announced on Friday that Hosni Mubarak had resigned. The Egyptian military decided to oust a widely-resented dictator as it witnessed the growing threat of a potential revolution being born in Egyptian streets.  Had it been allowed to continue […]

The US Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation today criticized the Obama Administration for giving Israel “too much love” in its FY2012 budget request to Congress.  The budget request, delivered today to Capitol Hill, contains a record-breaking $3.075 billion in military aid to Israel. “With the United States facing an ongoing budget deficit and debt, […]

Critics of the Islamic Republic of Iran held a protest on 25 Bahman 1389 (14 February 2011).  The protest turnout today — far from negligible given the well known severe limits to anti-systemic dissent imposed by the state — apparently failed to meet the expectations of some of its supporters, so one such individual went […]

The events of the last weeks are one of those historical moments where the lessons of many decades can be telescoped into a few brief moments and seemingly minor occurrences can take on immense significance.  The entry of millions of Egyptians onto the political stage has graphically illuminated the real processes that underlie the politics […]