======================================================================
Rule #1: YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message.
======================================================================
On 3/15/14 11:57 AM, turb...@aol.com wrote:
(And I'm not saying this out of some "mandarin" disdain for the
"masses", but rather because there are many situations in which
people in the streets figure less significantly in the outcome than
the machinations of big powers; this, IMO, is one such situation)
Russia shouldn't dominate Ukraine either. But those whose main thrust
is to denounce Russian imperialism come dangerously close to echoing
the propaganda of their own ruling class.
In the interests of transparency, Creegan speaks for the CPGB, a tiny
sect in Britain that has attached itself to the SWP like a remora to a
shark over the years. Politically, it has begun to resemble John Rees
and Lindsay German's Counterfire recently. This business about "the main
enemy is at home" was raised by the Stop the War Coalition that Rees and
German run in coordination with people like Andrew Murray, a long-time
Stalinist. It is basically the British counterpart to ANSWER.
You find stuff like this in the CPGB newspaper:
"Euromaidan was policed by orange-brown fighting squads. If you were a
leftist in Liberation Square, chances are you would get attacked, with
the full approval of those running the show. Svoboda, Pravy Sektor and
Spilna Sprava occupied buildings and managed everyday life. Tellingly,
we had defence units called sotnias - or “hundreds” - formally under the
command of Andriy Parubiy, a founder member of the Social Nationalist
Party of Ukraine5 (becoming Svoboda in 2004) but now part of the more
‘respectable’ Fatherland Front.
"For anyone even vaguely familiar with Russian history, the term
'hundreds' has a chilling ring - instantly recalling the Black Hundreds,
pre-fascist fascists who launched murderous pogroms against Jews and all
progressives. Using such a name sends a very powerful and unmistakable
message, like calling yourself a Nazi in today’s Germany - saying we are
the inheritors of this counterrevolutionary movement that butchered tens
of thousands of Jews and leftists. Ironically or not, the Black Hundreds
denied the existence of a Ukrainian nation and defined Ukrainians as
Russians."
Needless to say, all this business about Black Hundreds and pogroms is
mostly a reflection of RT.com propaganda, as I have pointed out. Jewish
officials in Ukraine have an entirely different take:
http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/ukraine-crisis/putins-anti-semitic-claims-ridiculous-ukraine-jewish-leader-n52866
One of Ukraine’s most prominent Jewish leaders dismissed Russian
President Vladimir Putin’s reasoning for Moscow-backed militiamen taking
over the region as “ridiculous” ahead of Sunday’s referendum on the
future of Crimea.
“What is out biggest concern?” Putin asked a March 3 news conference,
shortly after the pro-Russia forces started seeping into Ukraine. “We
see the rampage of reactionary forces, nationalist and anti-Semitic
forces going on in certain parts of Ukraine, including Kiev.”
However, the President of the Ukrainian Jewish Committee Eduard Dolinsky
said that the community did “not feel any specific threat at this
moment. And we can solve any issues inside our country in dialogue with
all political forces peacefully.”
“We are very skeptical of Mr. Putin’s assertion that he is coming to
fight fascism and anti-Semitism” in Ukraine, he added.
“It’s ridiculous. We don’t need protection from fascists," said
Dolinsky. "We were shocked when he used this as an excuse for the
invasion. This is absolutely unacceptable.”
________________________________________________
Send list submissions to: Marxism@greenhouse.economics.utah.edu
Set your options at:
http://greenhouse.economics.utah.edu/mailman/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
