In Assisi, the picturesque medieval town symbolising the quest for peace and friendship between Islam and Christianity, the Tahrir movements against the US order in the Arab world came together with the popular protests in Southern Europe against the starvation programmes of the EU oligarchy. It was a unique event bringing the tremendous challenges to the revolutionary movement to the consciousness of the militants. Read entire … [read more]

A way out for Syria The main debate in Assisi as well as in the anti-imperialist movement at large has been over Syria. We encountered an overwhelming common spirit that a way must be found to fulfil the legitimate democratic rights of the popular masses while the support to the resistances against imperialism and Zionism can be continued. The only possibility to end the repression against the democratic popular movement, to avert a sectarian civil war, to stop foreign involvement and to prevent foreign military intervention is a political solution by negotiations. This tendency was epitomized by the presence of two outstanding personalities, namely Haitham Manna from the “National Co-ordination Body for Democratic Change” (NCB), the main anti-imperialist opposition coalition … [read more]

According to Haitham Manna, the international spokesman of the NCB, the arrests took place by the hands of the Air Force Intelligence. They are held incommunicado in the prison of the Al Mazzeh military airport near Damascus. The regime, however, denies any involvement and accuses “terrorist groups”. This happens against the backdrop of an opposition conference scheduled for Sunday 23rd. Organised by the NCB, the conference calls for a political solution in order to stop the violence. Despite the kidnapping of important leaders the organisers nevertheless will attempt to hold the event. The conference has fallen victim to character assassination from both sides, the regime as well as mainly foreign opposition groups. Formally they speak of their readiness for negotiations but … [read more]

The NCB released a statement: We at the NCB decided to postpone the publicity for the following news, hoping to find out what has happened. We have called several Embassies, numerous national and Arabic personalities – inside and outside the country: Any infringement of the freedom and safety of Iyas Ayash, Abdelaziz Alkhayyer and Maher Tahan is an infringement of the concept of citizenship, and of moral and political commitment to the Syrian citizen and their natural right to security, freedom and dignity. We demand that whoever can put an end to the disappearance of these three civilians should act immediately in accordance with their national responsibility in respecting other citizens and ensuring their freedom and safety. Any harm inflicted upon our partners, regardless … [read more]

Thanks for the invitation. Unfortunately I am occupied today August 23 by a pastoral visit in the most distant area of the Dioceses until late night. I hope that your meeting will bring information and sensibilisation which will help the martyred country [Syria] to move in the direction of peace and democracy without the need of foreign armed intervention. Sincerely Domenico … [read more]

Sooner or later, therefore, Israel will need war for the sake of its credibility, to maintain its influence in the U.S., and to reinforce the siege mentality of its own population. We may also expect that Iran will be engaged in such a war either directly or through proxies, or both. Neither Israel nor the U.S. accepts defiance. A strategy for peace is necessarily a strategy for the end of Zionism and a Jewish state. However, military strategies are unlikely to succeed, because these confront Israel’s strength. Non-military civil resistance strategies, such as those used in South Africa, Tunisia and Egypt, are likely to be more effective, because they target Israel’s weakness, as Israel itself admits. However, in order to succeed, these strategies need to learn from the … [read more]

Following is a response to Yoav Bar’s criticism “How to support the Syrian Revolution?” on the article “Democratic revolution against Assad AND the Gulf-backed forces”. 1) Popular democratic aspect dominant Starting point of any position-taking on Syria is to refuse the purely geo-political thinking which is ravaging the left. They are employing a method ranging between imperial statecraft and reading history as a permanent conspiracy. The popular masses are per se excluded from playing a role. Actually we are faced with two sides of the same medal. The ruling elites always tend to exclude the masses while the pessimist subaltern intellectuals denounce these elites ruling out any historic intervention form below as well. The Syrian rebellion has been a genuine … [read more]

First of all, everything is in flux. Nothing is secure: nor the political preferences of society, neither the relationship of forces between the people and the special regime imposed by the troika despite the relieve they got from the electoral outcome. Then there is the acceleration of the political schedules. One event precipitates the next. The privatisation of the Agricultural Bank – which mortgaged 50% of the arable land – within only one day bears witness of this pace. Furthermore there is the total insufficiency of the new government and the entire political system in administering the crisis. To survive Samaras concentrates on attacking Syriza. Within this frame we have to put also the manifold increase of deadly attacks on migrants by the Nazi-fascists of Hrisi Avgi … [read more]

We strongly condemn this act of banning and criminalisation of our organisation and demand the immediate withdrawal of this authoritarian ban. The Government Order brands RDF as “unlawful” and bans it “with immediate effect”. The GO links RDF with the banned CPI(Maoist) by calling it a “frontal organisation” of the Maoist party. Falsely implicating RDF as “part of Tactical United Front”, it dubiously enlists the following as “unlawful activities” of the organisation: (1) Sub serving the interest and objectives of the Communist Party of India (Maoist) whose avowed objective is to overthrow the lawfully established Government by means of force and violence through terrorist activities involving the use of firearms and explosives; (2) Urging people to fight … [read more]

The government parties contested the elections under the slogan of "renegotiation of the memorandum". After the elections the prime minister - leader of Nea Dimokratia - stated that Greece will abide by its signature and they stopped speaking about renegotiation. Now they spend their efforts to collect 11.5 billions more from the people according to the troika instructions. In the left, SYRIZA failed to win but gained about 26%, the highest score for a left party since 1958. But its program was very conservative: they reject the idea of an independent development outside of the EU and the eurozone. They avoid to clear what and how they want to change. The communist party and the coalition of the extreme left lost in the 17/6 elections more than the half of the votes they gained at … [read more]

Acute crisis of capital flight The current stage of the crisis of the EU/Euro is marked by capital fleeing the European south. The symbol for this are the increasing interest spreads over German bonds. But also banks and the corporate sector are in acute shortage of capital while private consumption is plunging. Together with the severe austerity imposed by the EU centre the European south is suffering deep recession of which the worst is still to come. Large sections of the population including the middle classes are being impoverished to an extent and in a pace unprecedented since decades. For any peripheral country this would mean immediate default and devastating social crisis as countries like Mexico, Indonesia, Argentina and many other countries did suffer from. Only being … [read more]

The blast The bomb blast of July 18 inside a governmental building killing four top leaders of the security apparatus was a very heavy blow for the regime. Regardless whether the perpetrators were part of the opposition or opponents within the regime it shows an acute stage of weakness, destabilisation and insecurity. Everybody was looking to the reactions of the top echelon of the apparatus. At the same time news from the massive loss of territorial control in the countryside, oer border crossings and an almost complete withdrawal from the Kurdish area enhanced the picture of the possibility of a quick end of the regime. Then there were the armed insurgency in Damascus reaching close to the centres of power in the quarters which had been centres of civil rebellion before. From … [read more]

Session of the Anti-imperialist Camp Assisi, Italy, August 23-26, 2012 Saturday, August 25, 9pm Cinema: Forbidden (67min, Arabic with English captions) Subsequently debate with the director Amal Ramsis Egypt between military, Islamists and Tahrir “Forbidden” (2011) is the fourth film of Amal Ramsis, after “In Beirut there is still the sea” (1999), “Only dreams” (2005), “One life” (2008). The film is a historic document about the months right before the uprising of January 25 in Egypt. It shows the bans suffered by the citizens under the Mubarak regime as well as the accumulating anger which eventually led to the popular eruption. The protagonists of the film are political activists like Arab Lotfi (film director), Salma Shokralla (journalist) or Mohamed … [read more]

The raging violence in Assam’s Bodo Territorial Autonomous Districts, Khokrajhar and Chirang (July 2012) has shaken the conscience of the nation. The Prime Minister has rushed to the area and called it as a Kalank, a shame for the nation. He also reprimanded the Chief Minister from his own party for the violence. There was some inexcusable delay in deploying the army in the area, which resulted in worsening of the issue. In this case of violence while on one side there is a great loss to the lives of people, still the larger tragedy is that lakhs of people have been displaced from their areas, home and hearth, just around the sowing season. The refugee camps housing them are grossly inadequate and not having enough facilities so far. Still at another level this violence has been … [read more]

Gathered in Rome at the Community of Sant’Egidio, we who belong to various groups of the Syrian democratic opposition, active both inside and outside the country, address this appeal to the Syrian people, to all sides involved and to the international community. We have different opinions and experiences. We have struggled and continue to struggle for freedom, dignity, democracy, human rights and to construct a Syria that is democratic, civil and safe for all, without fear and without oppression. We love Syria. We know that Syria, a place where different religions and peoples have coexisted peacefully, today runs a deadly risk that threatens the unity of its people, their rights and the sovereignty of the state. We are not neutral. We are part of the Syrian people, which is … [read more]

The Assad regime used Kaileh’s Palestinian decent as an excuse to legitimise the deportation. His tendency has been fully immersed in the popular revolt from the very beginning. Salameh Kailah was invited to Vienna by the Arab Austrian Cultural Center (OKAZ) and the Union of Syrians Abroad to deliver a speech on the civil disobedience movement in Damascus. The Anti-imperialist Camp participated in the organisation of the event and in the discussion.. Kaileh’s intervention came in the aftermath of the bomb attack in Damascus which killed four high ranking officials of the security apparatus. The political situation on the ground hints that the final battle is coming closer. For Kaileh it is of utmost importance that the victory of the popular uprising is possible without … [read more]

Speech and public debate with Haytham Manna Thursday, August 23rd, 9pm The NBC is a coalition of democratic forces which are taking part in the popular rebellion under the well-known slogan of the three NOs: No to foreign intervention! No to militarization and civil war! No sectarianism! In difference to the “Syrian National Council” (SNC) it is based within the country and includes representatives of all religious communities as well as the Kurds. It has come into sharp conflict with the SNC which way accuse of committing exactly what the SBC is opposing with the three NOs. The NBC reproaches to the SNC in substance to follow foreign agendas. While fully supporting the popular movement and the democratic demands, it is until now favouring a negotiated transition to avert … [read more]

The people now is waging one of the most important battles of the revolution. We should not misjudge what happens and reduce it to a decisive military battle with this regime. It’s an open Damascene popular uprising in which the revolution mobilizes all its forces and capabilities and all possible forms of struggle, military and popular. What gives the Damascene events all this importance that it is not confined to military action. We experience the participation of the people with all his revolutionary capabilities and energies in the "Damascus uprising". (This has been true since the beginning of the revolution but is especially important in the present moment.) We witness in addition to the armed clashes in the districts of the capital, road blockades, strikes, and social support … [read more]

Editorials in Europe celebrate the victory of someone who does not belong to the WASP elite as the restoration and confirmation of the American Dream—a Black man as elected monarch. The nightmare of the Bush years was supposedly just an aberration that failed, a deviation that is behind us now; the true, liberal America of opportunities is back, bright eyes, bushy tail. The lower and middle class had enough of the anti-social and war-mongering course of that coalition of protestant fundamentalists and neo-conservatives, and voted accordingly. The majority of white America, however, still voted for the zany duo McCain&Palin. One element that makes the United States so attractive is the apparent absence of formal exclusion for social advancement, and Obama seems to be the epitome of … [read more]

Palestine: the impact of the Arab revolt, the one democratic state solution and the solidarity movement • Zaher Birawi, leading Islamic Palestine activist, London • Attia Rajab, Palestine Committee Stuttgart • Yoav Bar, promoter of the Haifa conference for One Democratic State in Palestine • Leo Gabriel, member of the international council of the World Social Forum (WSF) Anti-imperialist Camp, Assisi, Italy, Friday 24 August, morning session The last years have seen a decisive shift in the global solidarity movement acknowledging the both the protagonism of the popular resistance and the impossibility of a compromise with Zionism. Back in the 90s the mainstream of the Palestine solidarity set all its hopes on the Oslo accords operated by Fatah. It was the time of … [read more]