Military Resistance:

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4.23.14

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Military Resistance 12D15

You Are Saying Come Over To The Side Of The People. I Am A Soldier. I Protect The People. I Wont Shoot You
One Prayed And Tears Formed In His Eyes At This Form Of Defeat, Forced To Surrender For An Unwillingness To Fire On His Own People

People Came Out Of The Village And Stood In Front Of The Tanks Because They Do Not Want Them In Their Village, Said Aleksei Anikov, 33, A Construction Worker
Several Hundred People Milled About, Drinking Beer And Fraternizing With The Soldiers

Villagers on the outskirts of the town of Kramatorsk halted a column of Ukrainian military vehicles. Credit Mauricio Lima for The New York Times APRIL 16, 2014 By ANDREW E. KRAMERAPRIL, The New York Times [Excerpts] SLOVYANSK, Ukraine A military operation that the Ukrainian government said would confront pro-Russian militants in the east of the country unraveled in disarray on Wednesday with the entire contingent of 21 armored vehicles that had separated into two columns surrendering or pulling back before nightfall. It was a glaring humiliation for the new government in Kiev. [A rotten government of corrupt billionaire oligarchs, hardly worth soldiers killing rebellious civilians for. T]

One of the armored columns stopped when a crowd of men drinking beer and women yelling taunts and insults gathered on the road before them, and later in the day its commander agreed to hand over the soldiers assault rifles to the very separatists they were sent to fight. Another column from the same ostensibly elite unit, the 25th Dnipropetrovsk paratrooper brigade, surrendered not only its weapons but also the tracked and armored vehicles it had arrived in, letting militants park them as trophies, under a Russian flag, in a central square here.

In a tactical error, the Ukrainian soldiers on Wednesday had no accompanying force to control the crowds that formed around their advancing units. Their task, to confront . civilians, would be extremely difficult for any conventional army, but for this group, which apparently lacked the tools and the heart to carry it out, it proved to be impossible. Just placing the conventional army forces near this darker, more insidious mix of unconventional tactics risked such a setback. You are fulfilling criminal orders, one local resident yelled at a Ukrainian soldier sitting on an armored vehicle. The soldier said he was not, and showed that he had removed the magazine from his assault rifle. You are saying Come over to the side of the people, he said. I am a soldier. I protect the people. I wont shoot you. In Kiev, the Ministry of Defense initially denied that the armored vehicles had been captured.

Then Sergei Sobolev, the acting head of the Fatherland Party in Parliament, claimed that the armored vehicles had flown Russian flags as part of an ingenious subterfuge to get through crowds. Ukrainian news media quoted Mr. Sobolev as saying it was a guerrilla approach to infiltrate separatist-controlled areas through civilian mobs. Rather than a disastrous setback for Ukrainians, he said the appearance of Ukrainian military vehicles flying Russian flags was a breakthrough for the Ukrainian offensive, though it proved to be nothing of the sort. Later, the Ukrainian military conceded that six vehicles had been captured but said nothing of the surrender of rifles from the other column. After the first column of six vehicles surrendered, the second, which consisted of 15 vehicles and a radio communication van, halted on the outskirts of the town of Kramatorsk south of here, and waited through the day as several hundred people milled about, drinking beer and fraternizing with the soldiers. The paratroopers first tried to clear their path by firing in the air, residents said. A tracked vehicle rammed an unoccupied Opel car parked in the road, easily shoving it aside. But the crowd did not disperse, and in fact seemed in no danger: The soldiers adopted a passive stance, turning off their vehicles, climbing on top and removing the magazines from their rifles. People came out of the village and stood in front of the tanks because they do not want them in their village, said Aleksei Anikov, 33, a construction worker. Oleksandr Popov, a second lieutenant in the Ukrainian Army, said he was with a brigade of paratroopers based in Dnipropetrovsk. His orders were to shoot only if fired upon, he said, and that the column was awaiting orders on how to respond to the crowd. In the late afternoon, the commander, Col. Oleksandr Shvets, negotiated with representatives of the militants, though the militants were nowhere to be seen in the crowd of civilians. Colonel Shvets stood on a tank and told the crowd he had agreed that the soldiers would surrender first the magazines from their rifles, then the guns themselves, in exchange for passage back the way they had come. Colonel Shvets collected magazines in a plastic bag and handed them to men in the crowd. Some soldiers in the unit were clearly upset, and unready to hand over their rifles. One prayed and tears formed in his eyes at this form of defeat, forced to surrender for an unwillingness to fire on his own people. Four armored vehicles did break out of the crowd with the soldiers still carrying weapons, an amateur video shot in the late afternoon showed, though it was not clear if they did so in defiance of the colonels order not to threaten the people.

Soldiers on these personnel carriers had grenades in their hands and held them out, yelling they were ready to throw them; one soldier dismounted from the vehicle and ran toward the crowd, yelling. These vehicles drove away. It was unclear by late evening what had happened to the vehicles of the soldiers who handed over their weapons; Colonel Shvets said they would not be given to separatists.

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The First Demand Of The All These Insurgent Cities Is Not Annexation To Russia, But A Referendum On A Greater Degree Of Autonomy Within A United Ukraine
This Movement Is Unleashing Forces That Are Far More Dangerous For The Capitalist Corrupt Oligarchy In The Ukraine, In All The Former Soviet Republics And, Last But Not Least Important Of All, Russia
It Is High Time That A Class Based Solution Was Presented To Ukrainian Working People, Rooted In The Struggle Against Reactionary Nationalism On Both Sides
14 April 2014 by Francesco Merli, Marxist.com/ [Excerpts]

The strategic needs of Russian imperialism cannot be met with the partition of the Ukraine. In the medium term, Putin needs to reassert Russian influence on the whole of the neighbouring country; in the long term, occupation of the Ukraine would be unsustainable for Russia. But it does have quite substantial economic leverage against the Ukrainian government, which is presently carrying out extremely severe austerity measures imposed by the IMF in return for the bailout of Ukraine. These measures risk further destabilising the government in Kiev, undermining its popular support in the coming months. Putin has announced figures that prove the extreme dependence of the Ukrainian economy on subsidised gas supplies from Russia and is now proceeding to sell gas at international market prices. For these reasons Putin's original intentions may have been to use a combination of economic pressures and the pro-Russian insurgency in the East as a means to put pressure on the government in Kiev and assert again influence over the whole country within a reasonable period of time. The Western based international media are presenting the pro-Russian insurgency as if it were made up of Russian special forces in disguise, provocateurs and thugs sent from outside by the Kremlin in order to provoke a conflict. All the mainstream news channels and media repeat obsessively that the armed men who are seizing government buildings and police stations in one city after another are organised, trained and well equipped with Russian arms, but don't carry identification. Therefore they have to be Russian special forces in disguise, they imply. We don't doubt that the Kremlin has quite a few agents operating in Eastern Ukraine. However, this does not exhaust the question of what the insurgency represents. Quite the contrary. In fact, Moscow does not need to send anyone in. There are plenty of organised forces in the Ukraine, which are quite keen to support Russia from within. But, if the movement was just the result of a paid Russian rent-a-mob, bussed in from Russia itself together with Russian special forces and military personnel, why would [Ukrainian President] Turchynov feel the need to promise a referendum? The decisive question is the popular support for the insurgency. Many reports from independent journalists, which have found little echo internationally, paint quite a different picture from the worlds mainstream media.

Just to give an example, journalists in Sloviansk showed a picture of a middle aged man in military fatigues opening up his jacket to show a Red Army medal for his combatant role in Kandahar. The picture was used to prove the presence of Russian soldiers in the town, but of course, at the time of the Afghanistan war, Ukraine was part of the Soviet Army and there are a lot of such middle aged men who are veterans of the Afghan war. What has been mocked in the media almost as an outburst of Soviet nostalgia has profound roots in the mass of the population in Eastern Ukraine. The widespread use of red flags and references to the Soviet Union within the insurgency is also matched by the massive rejection of what the disintegration of the USSR and capitalist restoration brought. The post-Soviet reality is a myriad of weak mafia capitalist states where living conditions for the majority of the population has become a nightmare, while a handful of oligarchs have accumulated enormous wealth by looting the public assets of these countries. This sentiment is particularly strong in the working class of Eastern Ukraine and could even take a dangerous turn for the powerful and rich oligarchs like Akhmetov, the richest man in the country, who nominally supports the insurgency and now stands up and poses as a mediator with the Kiev government in a bid to keep it under control. The harping back to the Soviet Union, a time before the dreadful social collapse with the break-up of the USSR, also contains some progressive elements, and these are reflected in the original declaration of the Peoples' Republic of Donetsk which contains references to collective ownership and against the exploitation of labour. What is more, the first demand of the all these insurgent cities is not annexation to Russia, but rather a referendum on federalisation, that is, a greater degree of autonomy within a united Ukraine. However, these progressive elements are also mixed with others, Russian nationalism and support for Putin which is of course reactionary and even Russian Imperial flags and symbols. This movement is unleashing forces that are far more dangerous for the capitalist corrupt oligarchy in the Ukraine, in all the former Soviet republics and, last but not least important of all, Russia. From the point of view of the working class, what is needed is a position independent both of Ukrainian and of Russian nationalism and to bring the class issues to the fore. In the East they think that the way forward from the economic collapse which would be brought by closer EU integration and IMF bailout is back to the USSR. But the USSR, of course, does not exist and Russian capitalism is not interested in propping up old rusty industries in the East of Ukraine which would compete with her own.

In the West they think that the way forward is closer integration with the EU so that they can emigrate and find jobs and perhaps get some foreign investment. Both solutions are an illusion. It is high time that a class based solution was presented to Ukrainian working people, rooted in the struggle against reactionary nationalism on both sides and against the reactionary oligarchic crooks who are using nationalism to advance their own private money grabbing interests.

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East Ukrainian Miners Strike Against Rinat Akhmetov, One Of The Countrys Wealthiest Businessmen And A Key Regional Oligarch Of The Ukrainian Government:
2000 Miners Gathered At The Mine Office, Demanding The Reinstatement Of 30 Miners Who Had Been Dismissed For Participating In A Rally In Lugansk
The Striking Miners Broke Down The Front Door And Seized The Mine Office Building
23 April 2014 Marxist.com/ On 22 April a strike began at the six mines of PJSC Krasnodonugol in Krasnodon, region of Lugansk.

The mines are owned by SCM, the company of Rinat Akhmetov, one of the countrys wealthiest businessmen and a key regional oligarch. 2000 miners gathered at the mine office, demanding the reinstatement of 30 miners who had been dismissed for participating in a rally in Lugansk. The striking miners demanded a wage increase to bring their wages up to the average wage of workers in the Donbas coalfield and the lifting of sanctions against their fellow miners.

Strikers gathering at the mine office.

80% of miners did not go to work and now we have stormed the Krasnodonugol offices. The situation requires publicity; otherwise we all get fired tomorrow. At 11 pm on 22 April, after unsuccessful negotiations with the managers Angelovski and Pimkin, the striking miners broke down the front door and seized the mine office building. They blocked the entrances to the building, obstructed the bus service, and then started building barricades. Today, 23 April pickets of miners blocked the road and stopped the buses which drove the day shift to the mines. In addition, there is a continuing a rally at the plant. The Miners demands have expanded to include strict observation of health and safety regulations as well as changing of company management. It remains to be seen how the strike develops, but it is clearly a very significant develop which would mark the entry of an important section of workers into the scene with their own class demands.

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Pussy Rioters Visit Ukraine:

I Didnt Get Attacked Even Once By
Bands Of Neo-Nazis I Got Smiles And Words Of Thanks That There Are Russians Who Do Not Support The Aggressor Putin
April 28, 2014 BY JOHN STUDER, The Militant [Excerpts] Russian government-dominated media claim Ukraine is now dominated by a junta of fascists and anti-Semites under Washingtons control and posing a threat to Russianspeaking people in the country. I was in Kiev. To anyone who hasnt yet been there, I advise you to go, Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, one of the members of Pussy Riot, said April 1. Its peaceful in Kiev. I didnt get attacked even once by bands of neo-Nazis. Tolokonnikova traveled to Kiev with fellow Pussy Riot member Maria Alyokhina. The two spent 21 months in Russian prisons on charges of hooliganism motivated by religions hatred for a demonstration inside Moscows Orthodox Christian cathedral in 2012 against government repression and the growing political power of the church hierarchy. I spoke Russian and did not get slapped in the face, said Tolokonnikova. I got smiles and words of thanks that there are Russians who do not support the aggressor Putin. Maidan is a place of unbelievable power.

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Russians Come Out In Solidarnost With Ukrainians:

10,000 In Moscow March Against The Tyrant Putins Imperialist Regime

People with the Ukrainian national and Solidarnost (Solidarity) movement listen to a speaker during a rally against pro-Putin media in Moscow, Russia, Sunday, April 13, 2014. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko) | AP

A woman, wearing a traditional Ukrainian wreath of flowers on her head, holds up a sign with President Vladimir Putins picture and the words: Stop lying! during a rally against pro-Putin media in Moscow, Russia, April 13, 2014. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko) April 13, 2014 (AP) MOSCOW More than 10,000 people have turned out in Moscow for an anti-Kremlin rally to denounce Russian state television's news coverage, particularly of the crisis in neighboring Ukraine.

In promoting the Kremlin line, state television has portrayed the new pro-Western government in Ukraine as a fascist junta under the control of the U.S. government and determined to oppress Russian speakers in eastern Ukraine. The broadcasts have taken on a harsh anti-American tone. Some of those who took part in the demonstration, called a March of Truth, carried blue and yellow Ukrainian flags. One woman, wearing a traditional Ukrainian wreath of flowers on her head, held up a sign with President Vladimir Putin's picture and the words: Stop lying. Among those who spoke to the crowd was Andrei Zubov, a history professor who was fired from one of Moscow's most prestigious universities last month after criticizing Russia's military intervention in Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula. Zubov argued against the annexation of Crimea by comparing it with Nazi Germany's annexation of Austria on the eve of World War II. Zubov told the crowd that by lying to the Russian people on television, the government was leading the country toward an abyss. Similar actions took place in St. Petersburg and other cities in Russia.

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SOMALIA WAR REPORTS

Member Of Parliament Blown Up In Mogadishu:

The Bomb Would Have Been Attached Beneath His Seat
21 Apr 21, 2014 Garowe Online & BBC MOGADISHU, Somalia

Federal Member of Parliament has been killed after bomb detonated inside his car in Mogadishu's Hamar Weyne district according to witnesses on Monday, Garowe Online reports. MP Isaaq Mohamed Riino succumbed to injuries to his body at Madina hospital, with security officials saying the bomb would have been attached beneath his seat. Another lawmaker Mohamud Ali Dhuuh and a bystander were also injured. Security forces arrived at the scene of the attack, cordoning off the nearby main roads for investigations. Islamist group al-Shabab told Reuters news agency it was behind the attack on MP Riino. Federal Government of Somalia's President Hassan Shiekh Mohamud expressed his heartfelt condolence over the assassination of MP Riino and wished comfort and swift recovery to his colleague. President Mohamud said that anti peace elements and terrorists would not succeed in their rampage against key figures as well as government officials. Al Shabaab's activities have been proliferating at an alarming rate since the militants were flushed out of Mogadishu.

Second Somali MP Killed In Mogadishu

April 22, 2014 By XINHUA MOGADISHU, Tuesday Unknown gunmen shot dead a Somali lawmaker on Tuesday in Mogadishu, capital of Somalia, who was the second Somali member of parliament (MP) killed in 24 hours, Radio Mogadishu reported. Lawmaker Abdelaziz Isaq Mursal was shot dead as he left his home in the western district of Dherkenlay in Mogadishu, according to the report. The attackers escaped in a vehicle after the killing. Somali security forces arrived in the scene of the incident, Radio Mogadishu reported. The killing of the MP comes a day after lawmaker Isaq Mohamed Riino was killed in a car bomb explosion. Islamist militant group Al-Shabaab has claimed responsibility for the killing of Riino and the militants vowed to continue targeting Somali government officials.

Government Police And Government Soldiers Kill Each Other, As Usual:

Somali National Army Is Composed Of Inept Soldiers Who Fought Alongside Criminal Gangs And Warlord Militias Over The Last Two Decades Of Chaos
18 Apr 21, 2014 Garowe Online JOWHAR, Somalia - Fierce fighting has raged between the Somali National Army (SNA) soldiers and police officers in Middle Shabelle regional district of Balad of southern Somalia on Friday, Garowe Online reports. The deadly battle initially broke out at Balad Bridge after military forces loyal to Balad Mayor Osman Hadole fired live ammunitions at police officers in armored vehicles enroute to Jowhar according to witnesses. Despite conflicting reports on the casualty figures, the police commander for Middle Shabelle division is among those who were wounded in the clash. The vicinity where the fighting took place is now remaining under the control of military forces. A spokesman for Middle Shabelle region administration Daud Haji Iro has accused Balad mayor of denying police officers entry into Middle Shabelle regional capital of Jowhar. Speaking on Mogadishu-based radio station, Irro said: The clash resulted in deaths and other fatalities; we have so far confirmed that six soldiers sustained injuries during the fighting but the expected death toll could rise since many police officers are on the run in the jungle. Composed of inept soldiers who fought alongside criminal gangs and warlord militias over the last two decades of chaos, Somali National Army (SNA) faces formidable challenges. The agriculture-rich town of Balad, 30km north of Mogadishu was liberated from Al Qaeda linked Al Shabaab fighters in June 2012.

MILITARY NEWS

Insurgents Mortar Syrian Parliament Building

April 21, 2014 The Daily Star DAMASCUS, Syria: Syria's state-run media say a pair of mortar shells hit near the parliament building in central Damascus, killing five people. SANA news agency says the mortars struck some 320 feet (100 meters) from the parliament in the Salihiya area of the Syrian capital on Monday morning. No one immediately claimed responsibility for the attack but Syrian rebels often fire mortar shells into government-controlled areas of Damascus. They say they are punishing pro-government forces for besieging areas controlled by the opposition, denying residents food, clean water and medical aid, and for dropping crude bombs on residential areas.

ANNIVERSARIES

April 23, 1971: Above And Beyond

Carl Bunin Peace History April 20-26 In the final event of Operation Dewey Canyon III, nearly 1,000 Vietnam War veterans threw their combat ribbons, helmets, and uniforms on the Capitol steps along with toy weapons.

1968

April 24, 1917:

Anniversary Of A Noble Cause:

The Irish Take Arms To Fight A Foreign Imperial Occupation

The Easter Uprising began when between 1,000 and 1,500 members of the Irish Republican Brotherhood attempted to seize Dublin and issued the declaration of Irish independence from Britain. Carl Bunin Peace History April 23-29 ****************************************** By Constantine Fitzgibbon, Users.bigpond.net [Excerpt] On Easter Monday, April 24, 1916, a force of Irishmen under arms estimated at between 1,000 and 1,500 men and women attempted to seize Dublin, with the ultimate intention of destroying British rule in Ireland and creating an entirely independent Irish Republic to include all 32 counties of Leinster, Munster, Ulster and Connaught. Their leaders, Patrick Pearse, James Connolly and the others, knew that their chances of success were so slight as to be almost non-existent. Yet they fought, and died. Why? The circumstances that led to the Irish rebellion of 1916 are of an intense complexity, historical, social, political and, perhaps above all, psychological. The Irish writer, Sean OFaolain, has written of his country: Most of our physical embodiments of the past are ruins, as most of our songs are songs of lament and defiance.

The Easter Rising was a complete failure, which left large parts of Dublin in ruins; yet without it Ireland might never have been free of English rule. The leaders, alive, had very few supporters even among the Irish patriots; dead, they became and have remained their countrys heroes. It was a great historical paradox, and one that to this day the British have perhaps never understood. Had they understood it, it is conceivable that the British might still have an empire, since the overthrow of British rule in Ireland marked the beginning of the overthrow of British imperial might in Asia, in Africa, and elsewhere ****************************************

We Declare The Right Of The People Of Ireland To The Ownership Of Ireland The Long Usurpation Of That Right By A Foreign People And Government Has Not Extinguished The Right
[Stephen-stratford.co.uk] [Text Of The Declaration Made After The Occupation Of Dublins General Post Office During The 1916 Easter Uprising] POBLACHT NA H EIREANN. THE PROVISIONAL GOVERNMENT OF THE IRISH REPUBLIC TO THE PEOPLE OF IRELAND IRISHMEN AND IRISHWOMEN: In the name of God and of the dead generations from which she receives her old tradition of nationhood, Ireland, through us, summons her children to her flag and strikes for her freedom. Having organised and trained her manhood through her secret revolutionary organisation, the Irish Republican Brotherhood, and through her open military

organisations, the Irish Volunteers and the Irish Citizen Army, having patiently perfected her discipline, having resolutely waited for the right moment to reveal itself, she now seizes that moment, and, supported by her exiled children in America and by gallant allies in Europe, but relying in the first on her own strength, she strikes in full confidence of victory. We declare the right of the people of Ireland to the ownership of Ireland, and to the unfettered control of Irish destinies, to be sovereign and indefeasible. The long usurpation of that right by a foreign people and government has not extinguished the right, nor can it ever be extinguished except by the destruction of the Irish people. In every generation the Irish people have asserted their right to national freedom and sovereignty; six times during the last three hundred years they have asserted it to arms. Standing on that fundamental right and again asserting it in arms in the face of the world, we hereby proclaim the Irish Republic as a Sovereign Independent State, and we pledge our lives and the lives of our comrades-in-arms to the cause of its freedom, of its welfare, and of its exaltation among the nations. The Irish Republic is entitled to, and hereby claims, the allegiance of every Irishman and Irishwoman. The Republic guarantees religious and civil liberty, equal rights and equal opportunities to all its citizens, and declares its resolve to pursue the happiness and prosperity of the whole nation and all of its parts, cherishing all of the children of the nation equally and oblivious of the differences carefully fostered by an alien government, which have divided a minority from the majority in the past. Until our arms have brought the opportune moment for the establishment of a permanent National, representative of the whole people of Ireland and elected by the suffrages of all her men and women, the Provisional Government, hereby constituted, will administer the civil and military affairs of the Republic in trust for the people. We place the cause of the Irish Republic under the protection of the Most High God. Whose blessing we invoke upon our arms, and we pray that no one who serves that cause will dishonour it by cowardice, in humanity, or rapine. In this supreme hour the Irish nation must, by its valour and discipline and by the readiness of its children to sacrifice themselves for the common good, prove itself worthy of the august destiny to which it is called. Signed on Behalf of the Provisional Government. Thomas J. Clarke, Sean Mac Diarmada, Thomas MacDonagh, P. H. Pearse, Eamonn Ceannt, James Connolly, Joseph Plunkett *************************************************

If These Men Must Die, Would It Not Be Better To Die In Their Own Country Fighting For Freedom For Their Class, And For The Abolition Of War, Than To Go Forth To Strange Countries And Die Slaughtering And Slaughtered By Their Brothers That Tyrants And Profiteers Might Live?
By Ted Grant, Unknown source, April 1966; http://www.marxists.org/ [Excerpts] On 17th April 1916 the Irish Citizen Army, together with the Irish Volunteers, rose up in arms against the might of the British Empire to strike a blow for Irish freedom and for the setting up of an Irish Republic. Their blow for freedom was to reverberate round the world, and preceded the first Russian Revolution by almost a year. The background to the rebellion was the centuries of national oppression suffered by the Irish people in the interests of British landlordism and capitalism. In this they had the support of the Irish landlords and capitalists, of the Catholic hierarchy, who were linked by ties of interest to the Imperialists, and joined with them in fear of the Irish workers and peasants. It is impossible to understand the Easter Rising without understanding the ideas of its leader, James Connolly, who considered himself a Marxist and based himself on the ideas of Internationalism and the class struggle. Like MacLean in Britain, Lenin and Trotsky, Liebknecht and Luxemburg and other Internationalists, Connolly regarded with horror the betrayal by the leaders of the Labour movement in all countries in supporting the Imperialist War. Dealing with the betrayal of the Second International, Connolly declared in his paper The Workers Republic: If these men must die, would it not be better to die in their own country fighting for freedom for their class, and for the abolition of war, than to go forth to strange countries and die slaughtering and slaughtered by their brothers that tyrants and profiteers might live?

Protesting against the support by the British TUC of the war, Connolly wrote: Time was when the unanimous voice of that Congress declared that the working class had no enemy except the capitalist class that of its own country at the head of the list! Connolly stood for national freedom as a step towards the Irish Socialist Republic. But while the Stalinists and reformists today 50 years after 1916 still mumble in politically incoherent terms about the need for the national revolution against imperialism, Connolly was particularly clear about the class question that was at the basis of the Irish question. Without being in direct contact with Lenin and Trotsky he had a similar position. The cause of Labour is the cause of Ireland, and the cause of Ireland is the cause of Labour, he wrote. They cannot be dissevered. Ireland seeks freedom. Labour seeks that an Ireland free should be the sole mistress of her own destiny, supreme owner of all material things within and upon her soil. Connolly had no illusions in the capitalists of any country, least of all Ireland. On International capitalism he wrote: If, then, we see a small section of the possessing class prepared to launch into war, to shed oceans of blood and spend millions of treasure, in order to maintain intact a small portion of their privileges, how can we expect the entire propertied class to abstain from using the same weapons, and to submit peacefully when called upon to yield up forever all their privileges? And on the Irish capitalists, Therefore the stronger I am in my affection for national tradition, literature, language, and sympathies, the more firmly rooted I am in my opposition to that capitalist class which in its soulless lust for power and gold would bray the nations as in a mortar. And again, We are out for Ireland for the Irish. But who are the Irish? Not the rack-renting, slum-owning landlord; not the sweating, profit grinding capitalist; not the sleek and oily lawyer; not the prostitute pressmen the hired liars of the enemy. Not these are the Irish upon whom the future depends. Not these, but the Irish working class, the only secure foundation upon which a free nation can be reared. Writing on the need for an Irish insurrection to expel British imperialism he wrote in relation to the World War: Starting thus, Ireland may yet set the torch to a European conflagration that will not burn out until the last throne and the last capitalist bond and debenture will be shrivelled on the funeral pyre of the last War lord. As an answer to the demand for conscription which had been imposed in Britain and which was supported by the Irish capitalists for Ireland too, where the employers were exerting pressure to force Irish workers to volunteer, Connolly wrote: We want and must have economic conscription in Ireland for Ireland. Not the conscription of men by hunger to compel them to fight for the power that denies them the right to govern their own country, but the conscription by an Irish nation of all

the resources of the nation its land, its railways, its canals, its workshops, its docks, its mines, its mountains, its rivers and streams, its factories and machinery, its horses, its cattle, and its men and women, all co-operating together under one common direction that gather under one common direction that Ireland may live and bear upon her fruitful bosom the greatest number of the freest people she has ever known. He looked at the employers who were opposing conscription too from a critical class point of view: if here and there we find an occasional employer who fought us in 1913 (the Great Dublin lock-out in which the employers tried to break union organisation, but were defeated in this object by the solidarity of the Irish workers and their British comrades too) agreeing with our national policy in 1915 it is not because he has become converted, or is ashamed of the unjust use of his powers, but simply that he does not see in economic conscription the profit he fancied he saw in denying to his followers the right to organise in their own way in 1913. Answering objections to the firm working class point of view which he expounded he declared: Do we find fault with the employer for following his own interests? We do not. But neither are we under any illusion as to his motives. In the same manner we take our stand with our own class, nakedly upon our class interests, but believing that these interests are the highest interests of the race. It is in this light that the uprising of 1916 must be viewed. As a consequence of the struggles of the past Connolly who was the General Secretary of the Irish Transport and General Workers Union had organised the Citizens Army for the purpose of defence against capitalist and police attack and for preparing for struggle against British imperialism. The Citizens Army was almost purely working class in composition: dockers, transport workers, building workers, printers and other sections of the Dublin workers being its rank and file. It was with this force and in alliance with the more middle class Irish volunteers that Connolly prepared for the uprising. He had no illusions about its immediate success. According to William OBrien, on the day of the insurrection Connolly said to him: We are going out to be slaughtered. He said Is there no chance of success? and Connolly replied None whatsoever. Connolly understood that the tradition and the example created would be immortal and would lay the basis for future freedom and a future Irish Socialist Republic. In that lay his greatness. What a difference from the craven traitors of the German Socialist and Communist and Trade Union leaders who despite having three million armed workers supporting them, and with the sympathy and support of the overwhelming majority of the German working class (ready to fight and die, capitulated to Hitler without firing a shot.

The British occupying troops suppressed the insurrection and then savagely executed its leaders, including the leader of the insurrection James Connolly, who was already badly wounded. Connolly was murdered, but in the last analysis, British imperialism really suffered defeat.

April 24, 1971:

Magnificent Anniversary

Peace History April 23-29 500,000 demonstrated against the Vietnam War in Washington, D.C. It was the largestever demonstration opposing U.S. war in Southeast Asia. 150,000 marched at a simultaneous rally in San Francisco.

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DANGER: CAPITALISTS AT WORK

OCCUPATION PALESTINE

Armed Zionist Mob Invades Palestinian Village Land In Hebron:

Settler Armed With A Machine Gun With His Face Covered Started To Insult A Palestinian, Stating That He Would Kill Other Palestinians

A High Ranking Military Officer Was Presented With Ownership Papers By A Palestinian Villager Which Date Back 130 Years:
The Officer Told Him That The Settlers Had Ownership Papers Too (Presumably Not Quite So Old!)

Masked settler and soldiers on the Palestinian occupied hill (Photo by ISM) Sometime later the Israeli police arrived and arrested the activist who had argued with the Zionist armed settler, who had complained that he was physically attacked. The Palestinian went with the Police peacefully and was later arrested and charged with the assault.

March 14, 2014 International Solidarity Movement, Team Khalil Arab ar Rashyaida, Occupied Palestine On Tuesday 11th March 2014 villagers from Arab ar Rashyaida, 15 kilometers (10 miles) west of Hebron, noticed that a large tent and industrial digger had moved onto a hill top on a villagers land.

ISM Hebron was called and accompanied local people and Palestinian activists to confront the settlers. On arriving at the village, the demonstrators parked on the opposite hill and made their way through the valley to the settlers encampment. The settlers were armed with automatic hand guns, assault rifles, and dogs to protect the illegal camp. Resistors confronted the settlers in a non-violent way while settlers took photographs on the phones of all the protestors. After a short time a settler armed with a machine gun and dressed in black with his face covered climbed a wall and started to insult a Palestinian activist, stating that he would kill other Palestinians. The activist responded with in a raised voice matching his righteous indignation at the Zionists hateful comments. The army soon arrived and attempted to move the protestors from the construction area. On many occasions the leader of the settlers took the soldiers to one side to make suggestions. A proposal was made that, if the settlers camp is dismantled, the protestors can leave and take the matter up in court, but this was dismissed. Soon a high ranking military officer arrived and was presented with ownership papers from a villager which date back 130 years. The officer told him that the settlers had ownership papers too (presumably not quite so old!). Meanwhile the settler, with his face concealed, had made his way across to the Palestinians cars with his aggressive dog following. A small group made their way across to stop him damaging the vehicles. On seeing the Palestinians approach, the settler made his way down to a taxi driver, that was waiting to drive the ISM team back to Hebron. The Palestinians feared that the settler would attack the taxi driver, so the group drove down the hill to support him. The armed settler then made his way back to the constructions site. Sometime later the Israeli police arrived and arrested the activist who had argued with the Zionist armed settler, who had complained that he was physically attacked. The Palestinian went with the Police peacefully and was later arrested and charged with the assault.

Activists exchanged video evidence and the prisoner was released on bail with a payment of 2000NIS. We await a trial date. Arab ar Rashyaida is extremely vulnerable to occupation by settlers. The land surrounding the village is designated as Intended Nature Reserve under the Oslo Interim Agreement, and as such is under full Israeli control. The strategy of building outposts on Palestinian land as a seed to develop illegal settlements is well established and supported by the Israeli authorities, despite the fact that it breaks International Law and the 4th Geneva Convention.

Heroic Israeli Forces Gas Christian Pilgrims In Occupied Jerusalem:

The Officer Asked A Soldier To Fire Tear Gas Canisters At The Church And At The Pilgrims

04/20/2014 Ma'an JERUSALEM -- Dozens of Christian pilgrims suffered from excessive tear gas inhalation on Friday after Israeli troops fired tear gas canisters as they performed religious rites at the Tomb of Lazarus in al-Eizariya in East Jerusalem.

Israeli soldiers reportedly refused to stop firing tear gas canisters despite the presence of pilgrims after clashes had broken out between local youths and Israeli forces in the area. Witnesses told Ma'an that a tour guide who was escorting the pilgrims asked an Israeli officer to stop firing tear gas canisters until pilgrims left, but the officer continued to fire. The pilgrims had to take shelter in a souvenir shop before they could complete their prayers.

Occupier Greets Christian Pilgrims

The owner of the souvenir shop also tried to convince the Israeli officer to stop firing tear gas so that the pilgrims could leave, but instead the officer asked a soldier to fire tear gas canisters at the church and at the pilgrims, witnesses added. The village of al-Eizariya houses the Tomb of Lazarus who, according to the Bible, was miraculously brought back to life by Jesus days after he was buried. Separately, fierce clashes broke out Friday between Israeli troops and young men in alEizariya and Abu Dis, a local spokesman told Ma'an. Hani Halabiya, a spokesman of local popular committees in East Jerusalem added that a young man sustained minor wounds after he was hit by a rubber-coated steel bullet. He added that Israeli troops stationed themselves inside a Muslim cemetery and fired at the Palestinian protestors.

They also tried to ambush protestors in the cemetery. To check out what life is like under a murderous military occupation commanded by foreign terrorists, go to: http://www.maannews.net/eng/Default.aspx and http://www.palestinemonitor.org/list.php?id=ej898ra7yff0ukmf16 The occupied nation is Palestine. The foreign terrorists call themselves Israeli.

DANGER: POLITICIANS AT WORK

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