[Marxism] Very special Chinese characteristics

[Gregory Adler via Marxism]

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http://www.smh.com.au/business/markets/everything-s-a-sell-in-china-after-848-billion-wipeout-20180208-p4yzrs.html

To believe that applying the term workers state or socialist to China is
appropriate you have to move on from degenerated or deformed to dilapidated
or dead.
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[Marxism] Brendan Behan: “Communist by day and a Catholic by night” | Pauline Murphy | The Morning Star

[Kevin Lindemann and Cathy Campo via Marxism]

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https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/communist-by-day-and-a-catholic-by-night


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[Marxism] Help Leonard Peltier

[Free Leonard Peltier via Marxism]

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Leonard is a little bit down, that only 1,000 have signed new petition.
Help cheer him up!  
SHARE & SIGN & PROMOTE
HELP LEONARD PELTIER TODAY!  https://t.co/gJ62De1lMu


http://www.peoplesworld.org/article/indigenous-activist-leonard-peltier-speaks-with-peoples-world/

-- 
Mark Maxey
POB 178
Paden, OK 74860

http://www.peoplesworld.org/authors/mark-maxey/ 


FREE LEONARD PELTIER 

International Leonard Peltier Defense Committee
 
Headquarters: 116 W Osborne Ave. Tampa, Fl.33603. 

www.whoisleonardpeltier.info

218-443-6269


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[Marxism] East Ghouta drowning in blood after third day of bombing

[Dennis Brasky via Marxism]

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http://notris.blogspot.com/2018/02/east-ghouta-drowning-in-blood-after.html
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[Marxism] foreign policy for sale - Greece's dangerous alliance with Israel

[Dennis Brasky via Marxism]

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When Tsipras came to power on the shoulders of a populous political
movement, Palestinians too hoped

that
he would be different.

It was not exactly wishful thinking, either. Syriza was openly critical of
Israel and had “vowed to cut military ties with Israel upon coming to
office,” wrote

Patrick
Strickland, reporting from Athens. Instead the “ties have, nonetheless,
been deepened.”

Indeed, soon after taking power, the ‘radical left’-led Greek government
signed a major military agreement with Israel, the ‘status of forces’
accord, followed by yet more military exercises.

All of this was reinforced by a propaganda campaign in Israel hailing the
new alliance, coupled with a changing narrative in Greek media regarding
Israel and Palestine.

One George N. Tzogopoulos has been particularity buoyant about the
Israel-Greek friendship. Writing a series of articles in various media,
including the rightwing Israeli newspaper
,
the Jerusalem Post, Tzogopoulos suggests that, unlike the older generation
of Greeks who have sided with Palestinians in the past, the young
generation is likely to be pro-Israel.

“This process (of converting Greeks to loving Israel) will take time, of
course, because it is principally related to school education,” he wrote

in
Algemeiner. “But the change in coverage of Israel by Greek journalists is a
good omen.”

http://www.ramzybaroud.net/foreign-policy-for-sale-greeces-dangerous-alliance-with-israel/
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Re: [Marxism] Fwd: I'm a Stanford professor accused of being part of a 'terrorist group'. McCarthyism is back | David Palumbo-Liu | Opinion | The Guardian

[A.R. G via Marxism]

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Hmm, well, I certainly don't see any purpose in reviving the debate (again)
although it sounds like that is what Jeff is doing by listing off a new
round of critiques regarding the IAK imbroglio regarding the CIA and so
forth. I'm not going to take the bait. I'm done litigating the underlying
debates between these groups; my only point was that I noticed that the
split in question was once again being used in the way they it been used
before -- to attack people who speak very strongly about Israel (and
bizarrely, it seems like it always involves Stanford University).

That is not true of every internal disagreement. Some disagreements between
left groups really do not have any practical effect on the success of the
right. Do right wing groups care one way or another about our views on
David North and his ideas of identity politics? Do you think they will use
our feelings about Syria to shut down other leftist organizations? I
haven't seen that.

"Anti-Semitism" on the other hand is an incredibly potent attack; labeling
an organization (or a professor, or a Palestinian refugee's speaking tour,
or an activist group...) anti-Semitic has tremendous consequences beyond
internal wrangling; having that accusation bolstered by "allies" makes it
that much more difficult to escape the stigma.

I'm not sure how to square this particular comment that Jeff has made with
the rest of his points: "Amith's attack at that time (in an open letter)
had destructive effects such as splitting solidarity organizations."

"Amith's attack" was a blog article about an already open split. If Jeff is
arguing that the misuse of internal left-wing disagreement by right-wingers
should not preclude those disagreements because the right will spew forth
bullshit either way, then I'm not sure why he thinks weighing in about such
already public disagreement has "the destructive effect of splitting
solidarity organizations" -- particularly when it's weighing in about a
split that was, by that time, already open. My "attack" was about the
serious structural problems with Palestine solidarity activism in America.
Nor am I quite sure why he takes issue with the rest of the comments I've
posted above, as those comments are also an extension of the same internal
disagreements. From what I gather, Jeff wants it both ways -- we should be
allowed to condemn each other, and it doesn't matter if the condemnations
are used by the right, but also, we should not condemn each other lest we
"split solidarity organizations" -- a very odd thing to say about an
already existing split.

The only difference between my disagreements and the ones that Jeff is
talking about, from what I can make out, is that he is arguing (I think?)
that mine somehow constitute right-wing apologism, that I "choose to blame
the other side of the public debate that was intended to be among the left ".
This is a cryptically worded comment and I can't really figure out what
Jeff is trying to say. Of course, every debate he mentions (about
Trotskyists, the Black Panthers, etc) also involves people alleging that
the other group is engaged in a right-wing deviation. Moreover, it's worth
noting that a group can have contradictory politics, with some aspects of
their political views being right-wing and others being oriented to the
left. We have seen that on Syria. I would argue that virtually every
Palestine solidarity group in America that has been able to maintain even a
small membership would fit that description, with many of these groups
having problematic positions on Zionism, race privilege, their relationship
to the United States, their views on the Middle East as a whole, their
feelings about communism/socialism, their ideas about "non-violence," their
feelings about Palestinian political factions, etc. The Palestine
solidarity movement in the United States is a product of the political
forces in the United States that have made talking about Palestine a
monumentally difficult task; recognizing that and pointing out the negative
repercussions should be seen as a healthy part of left organizing -- not an
attempt to destroy solidarity organizations.

I'm also not sure why Jeff believes the best way to learn about a group is
by joining their list-serv. One would need to hear also from their critics
and also closely follow the debates that take place within an organization
and that do not get blasted out to the constituents. I don't want to derail
the thread away from the singular point I brought up, but it's worth noting
that I've followed many of those debates closely and it has often informed
my worldview about some of these organizations. JVP and US Campaign, for
exa

Re: [Marxism] Fwd: I'm a Stanford professor accused of being part of a 'terrorist group'. McCarthyism is back | David Palumbo-Liu | Opinion | The Guardian

[Jeff via Marxism]

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This professor's plight is a sign both of the Trump regime's suppression 
of academia and activism associated with the left, and of the 
long-standing hostility towards the Palestinians and the solidarity 
movement by the US ruling class as a whole. Our solidarity with such 
victims is unquestionable and these cases need to be highlighted as 
Louis has done by posting it.


Now I'm hoping that Amith doesn't have the idea that a few words he 
discovered in print has changed anything at all in relation to a debate 
that has surfaced on this list a few times in the last 3 years. I can 
understand why reading that would have upset him (as I have been upset 
in comparable situations), but I'm pretty sure that if he thinks about 
it he will understand (but I'll spell it out anyway!) why his concern is 
invalid:


On 2018-02-08 18:49, A.R. G via Marxism wrote:

[That the Guardian article links to an attack article which ]

in turn links to Tablet Mag, a right-wing Jewish sewer hole,
which wholly uses the criticisms of If Americans Knew written by two 
other
ostensibly pro-Palestine groups, Jewish Voice for Peace and US 
Campaign, in
order to make their case that there is a consensus that If Americans 
Knew

is an anti-Semitic website.


Of course that "case" is a mischaracterization but you'd expect as much 
from the right-wing. Amith's calling the named organizations 
"ostensibly" pro-Palestine is inexcusable and indefensible, but beside 
the point for now. The matter Amith has stumbled upon is that the enemy 
will happily use critical discussion within the left against the left. 
This should have been no revelation as it occurs regularly and is a 
predictable cost for us having our discussions and internal 
disagreements in the open. For those of us who have confidence in our 
mission, that is a small price and one well worth paying!


It is unacceptable to blame those participating in such discussion for 
what the enemy chooses to do with our words; that should be obvious. But 
I do understand the temptation to do so when it is an issue you feel 
strongly about. Less principled forces have had no scruples in that 
regard: Stalinists during their heyday blamed Trotsky (among many others 
on the left) when his criticisms of the soviet bureaucracy were echoed 
by anti-communists. They considered that sufficient evidence to label 
Trotsky a "social-fascist." Discussion within the left around the Moscow 
trials (Stalinist purges) inadvertently provided fodder for those on the 
right intent on identifying revolutionary socialism with dictatorship. 
This is nothing new; this is NORMAL.


What isn't so normal is when a left participant in such discussions 
chooses to blame the other side of the public debate that was intended 
to be among the left. If that were valid then the discussions on this 
list would have to be strongly regulated, or otherwise held in strict 
secrecy among a trusted group. Because, for instance, criticisms of the 
Black Bloc appearing on this very list (or 1000 other places on the 
internet) might be used by the Trump regime or prosecutors. Or take 
criticism of the Black Panther Party (at the time) for their 
ultraleftist tactics. Hell, we couldn't even have a discussion on the 
state of civil liberties in Cuba without the possibility of providing 
ammunition against that worker's state. The reason none of that is a 
major concern, is that the discourse of the right wing among themselves 
is going to be stupid anyway and doesn't mainly affect what our target 
audience hears or understands. But in the cases when someone who should 
be on our side hears from the right on such an issue, then they will 
likely look up the original discussion that had been cited and read what 
we REALLY are saying and in the proper context, which is what we'd want 
anyway!


I trust this reaction from Amith was purely emotional and he'll accept 
that there is no valid conclusion that can be drawn in regards to our 
own concerns from any discussion among the enemy even when it involves 
quoting (or misquoting) our own discussions. If on the other hand he 
sees this as an opportunity to relaunch that previous discussion on this 
list then he's probably making a big mistake and I'm prepared to present 
the evidence I became aware of when Louis cut off the discussion about 
the leader (not the website!) of that organization and her association 
with the far-right (including her holding the presidency of a clearly 
right wing group whose executive director was trained in the CIA). 
Amith's attack at that time (in an open letter) had destructive effects 
such as splitting solidarity organizations.


On th

[Marxism] Fwd: A Decade of Train Wrecks: What Has Gone Wrong? | Labor Notes

[Louis Proyect via Marxism]

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http://labornotes.org/2018/01/decade-train-wrecks-what-has-gone-wrong
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[Marxism] [UCE] Machinists spearhead ‘new wave’ of union music for working people | Tom Campbell | People's World

[Kevin Lindemann and Cathy Campo via Marxism]

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http://www.peoplesworld.org/article/machinists-spearhead-new-wave-of-union-music-for-working-people/


Sent from my iPhone

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Re: [Marxism] This is the guy who will colonize Mars?

[DW via Marxism]

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Well...Tesla may or may not survive. They have to increase market share for
a vehicle under $25,000 to do it and I simply don't seem then doing it in
time. Anyway...

No one is going to colonize Mars. Besides the cost of getting men and women
there, the low gravity will eventually kill everyone who goes there after a
few years and breeding is impossible. It's a huge waste of resources,both
material, financial and human.

David
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Re: [Marxism] Fwd: I'm a Stanford professor accused of being part of a 'terrorist group'. McCarthyism is back | David Palumbo-Liu | Opinion | The Guardian

[A.R. G via Marxism]

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Anyone else catch this line in the article smearing him?

"Palumbo-Liu, a professor of Comparative Literature, is certainly no
stranger to controversy, as he is one of the most prodigious anti-Israel
academics in the country. Palumbo-Liu is a staunch advocate of the Boycott,
Divest, Sanction (BDS) movement against Israel and* has praised the website
“If Americans Knew,” a site extensively associated with Holocaust deniers
and white supremacists.*"

The article in turn links to Tablet Mag, a right-wing Jewish sewer hole,
which wholly uses the criticisms of If Americans Knew written by two other
ostensibly pro-Palestine groups, Jewish Voice for Peace and US Campaign, in
order to make their case that there is a consensus that If Americans Knew
is an anti-Semitic website. I remember at the time this happened, DPL felt
forced to retract his endorsement of IAK. Some time before that I wrote an
article on Louis' website pointing out the holes and inconsistencies and
hypocrisy behind some of the criticisms of Alison Weir, the head of If
Americans Knew who was the primary target of these accusations of
anti-Semitism.  I didn't anticipate it would trigger such an angry response
(mostly at Louis), especially given that most other Palestine solidarity
activists seemed to agree that these criticisms were ill-formed. I also
noted a year later that the criticisms of Weir and If Americans Knew were
being bizarrely -- and unfairly -- extended to others within the Palestine
solidarity movement in order to justify shutting down events, including this
one

featuring
two Palestinian Nakba survivors at Stanford (and this one against the same
event series at GWU

).

Now those same attacks, which grew out of the same internal disagreements
and accusations of "anti-Semitism" within the left, are being used to
bolster a case by right-wing extremists that a leftist professor is
actually a terrorist, or worse -- that *he* is some kind of Nazi-defender,
rather than the people condemning him. I know it is a touchy subject on
this list in particular, but every time I see something like this I feel
vindicated that it was absolutely a terrible move by other groups to
publicly attack If Americans Knew the way they did.



Amith R. Gupta



On Thu, Feb 8, 2018 at 12:04 PM, Louis Proyect via Marxism <
marxism@lists.csbs.utah.edu> wrote:

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>
>
> https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/feb/08/stanfo
> rd-professor-mccarthyism-antifa
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[Marxism] Fwd: I'm a Stanford professor accused of being part of a 'terrorist group'. McCarthyism is back | David Palumbo-Liu | Opinion | The Guardian

[Louis Proyect via Marxism]

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https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/feb/08/stanford-professor-mccarthyism-antifa
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[Marxism] This is the guy who will colonize Mars?

[Louis Proyect via Marxism]

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NY Times, Feb. 8, 2018
Tesla Model 3, Elon Musk’s Grail, Remains a Costly Pursuit
By NEAL E. BOUDETTE

On Tuesday, Elon Musk had a Tesla Roadster launched toward an orbit 
around the sun. A day later, he and his car company came back to earth.


The electric-car maker said Wednesday that it lost more than 
three-quarters of a billion dollars in the fourth quarter as it 
scrambled to root out glitches from its manufacturing operations and 
ramp up production of its highly anticipated Model 3 sedan.


In a conference call with analysts, Mr. Musk, the chief executive, 
acknowledged that Tesla still faced challenges in putting the Model 3 
into mass production. “We were in a deeper level of hell than we 
expected, still a few levels deeper than we would like to be,” he said.


The company reported a quarterly net loss of $771 million, more than 
tripling the loss it reported for the same period a year earlier. 
Revenue increased 44 percent to $3.3 billion, on rising sales of its 
Model S luxury sedan and Model X, a sport-utility vehicle.


Analysts fret about the hiccups Tesla has encountered and how much money 
it must spend while trying to move into high-volume production.


“Cash burn does matter, as it is a finite resource, and ramp delays on 
the Model 3 only exacerbate the cash burn,” Brian Johnson, a financial 
analyst at Barclays, wrote in a note to investors.


Putting the Model 3 into mass production is a critical task for Tesla. 
The company has taken $1,000 deposits from about 400,000 customers 
interested in buying the car. If it can begin producing the car rapidly, 
its sales and revenue will soar and it could vault into profitability.


Just two years ago, Mr. Musk hoped to make 500,000 by 2018, and the 
ambitious forecast helped push Tesla’s market value above that of 
General Motors and Ford Motor for a period in 2017.


In July, as Model 3 production was about to begin, Mr. Musk ratcheted 
back expectations, resetting his target to 20,000 vehicles a month by 
December. But difficulties producing battery packs at Tesla’s Nevada 
plant, called the Gigafactory, and other glitches in the car’s assembly 
process combined to slow output to a crawl.


Tesla built just 260 by the end of September. In January, it said it had 
made only 2,425 in the final quarter of 2017, and set a goal of 
increasing output to 5,000 a month by the end of the first quarter.


Mr. Musk said Tesla had developed a new automated production line that 
would be installed in the Gigafactory in March, easing hitches in 
supplying batteries to its assembly plant in Fremont, Calif., which was 
once operated jointly by Toyota Motor and General Motors.


Our columnist Andrew Ross Sorkin and his Times colleagues help you make 
sense of major business and policy headlines — and the power-brokers who 
shape them.


Tesla now hopes to be able to produce 2,500 Model 3s a week by the end 
of March and 5,000 a week by the end of June. Mr. Musk said it aimed 
eventually to produce 500,000 Model 3s a year.


“They haven’t delivered what they’ve promised, but does it matter?” said 
Michelle Krebs, an analyst at Autotrader.com. “It doesn’t seem to matter 
to their investors and the customers who’ve put down deposits. When 
investors don’t put any more money into the company, then you will know 
it’s a problem.”


On a positive note, Tesla reported it used up only $277 million in cash 
in the fourth quarter. That was down from $1.4 billion in the third 
quarter. On a full-year basis, however, the company used nearly $3.5 
billion in cash, more than twice the amount from 2016.


The company’s loss in the quarter amounted to $3.04 per share on an 
adjusted basis, slightly less than analysts had forecast, and $4.01 
unadjusted.


Tesla has lost money in eight of the last nine quarters. Mr. Musk said 
he was “cautiously optimistic” that it would begin to generate net 
income in 2018, as Model 3 production and deliveries rose.


The company’s shares were little changed in extended trading after the 
earnings report. They had risen 3.3 percent during the regular session.


Even if Model 3 output rises, Tesla will have to spend heavily on two 
future vehicles — a battery-powered semi truck and another car, the Model Y.


While working on the Model 3, Mr. Musk has continued to seek new 
barriers to break in other areas.


On Tuesday, his other company, SpaceX, successfully launched a heavy 
rocket into space. It was the first time a rocket that powerful had been 
launched by a private company. The Falcon Heavy is carrying a cherry-red 
Tesla Roadster. The rocket and the car are intended to go into an orbit 
around the sun, where they 

Re: [Marxism] Fwd: Chris Hedges and Identity Politics

[John Reimann via Marxism]

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The question of the role of people like Hedges is not one of principles in
the abstract.

MM gives the example of being on a picket line and a worker makes racist
comments. If he or she does it once, like MM says, you take them up on it,
but if they continue to do so, and if they do so out loud where everybody
can hear, then they must be removed from the picket line. Among other
things, can you imagine the disastrous consequences for that struggle if
such comments are allowed? (Of course, in general that's a very poor
example because in all the picket lines and strikes I've been involved in
over 45 years, I've never heard a racist comment from a striker, although
I'm quite sure some of them held racist ideas. That's because workers in
struggle know better.)

And as far as Hedges and similar types: Would we invite him to speak on any
issue and not take him up on his pro-Assad position? If so, then we are
being enablers. We wouldn't speak on the same platform as a racist or a
sexist without taking them up, after all. And, if you take Hedges up just
one time you can be guaranteed that he'll never accept your invitation
again. Probably wouldn't even speak on the same platform as you.

Again, this is a very practical question. Plans are presently under way for
a united "anti-war" march for this April. All the usual suspects - all the
pro-Assad groups - will be in the lead. I doubt they'll openly express
support for Assad and Putin at the march, but what will be our role? Will
we just ignore the wider issues? I think doing so would be a serious
compromise of principles.

I think we should be involved and call for support for all peoples in
struggle against racial, religious and gender divisions and against
oppression in general and also call for open opposition to all neoliberal,
oppressive regimes. I think we should also call for opposition to all
racist, fascist and semi-fascist groups. I also think we should call for no
support for either of the parties of big business here in the US and for a
working class party. This would tend to rise us up above the pacifism that
the marches will be based on and it will also put the Assadists on the spot.

Overall, we have to consider the general process. Collaborating with these
people without raising what they stand for helps boost their credibility.
It also helps further their very method of approaching questions. In any
new movement, that very method would be a serious set-back. It would make
it impossible for that movement to understand issues as they arose.

That's why we have to challenge their approach - meaning their method. And
I seriously doubt they're willing to deal with that challenge.

John Reimann
-- 
"No one is going to give you the education you need to overthrow them."
Assata Shakur
Check out:https:http://oaklandsocialist.com also on Facebook
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[Marxism] Fwd: It’s Time for an Immigration Enchilada - The New York Times

[Louis Proyect via Marxism]

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An op-ed by Jorge Castaneda, who was rightwing President Vicente Fox's 
foreign minister from 2000-2003 and the author of a shitty biography of 
Che Guevara. I was shocked when NLR published an article by him in 2001 
and expressed myself on that to Tariq Ali at a Socialist Scholars 
Conference after one of his talks. He smiled and said rather 
patronizingly that NLR is open to different viewpoints. This, of course, 
was around the time that Perry Anderson claimed that Francis Fukuyama 
was more interesting than most Marxists.


https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/07/opinion/trump-mexico-immigration-daca.html
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Re: [Marxism] A Marxist Critique of DSA

[Louis Proyect via Marxism]

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On 2/8/18 9:48 AM, Dan Michniewicz via Marxism wrote:


Bumping this in the hope that David realizes he didnt include a link.


He inadvertently send this to Marxmail instead of North Star. It will 
appear there eventually.

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Re: [Marxism] A Marxist Critique of DSA

[Dan Michniewicz via Marxism]

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Bumping this in the hope that David realizes he didnt include a link.

On Feb 7, 2018 10:38 PM, "Dennis Brasky via Marxism" <
marxism@lists.csbs.utah.edu> wrote:

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??

Am I missing something or is this the extent of David's critique?

On Wed, Feb 7, 2018 at 10:31 PM, David Berger via Marxism <
marxism@lists.csbs.utah.edu> wrote:

>
> Louis,
> >
> > Here's the resubmission
> >
> > Thanx,
> >
> > David Berger
>
>
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[Marxism] Fwd: The Limits of #MeToo: Sectionalism, Economism, and “Identity Politics” on the Left

[Louis Proyect via Marxism]

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My analysis of modern social movements demonstrates that, contrary to 
its detractors, intersectionality is a very real phenomenon. It is not, 
as some critics suggest, an analytical framework with little specificity 
or real connection to the observable world. It is not, as recently 
claimed, a propaganda tool conjured up by political elites and 
ivy-league egg-heads to misdirect the public from more ‘important’ class 
issues that Americans face. Quite the contrary, individuals experience 
oppression in a variety of ways, as related to class, gender, and race 
identities, and at the intersections of those identities. This point has 
been consistently neglected by vulgar materialists who focus on 
economics and class issues at the expense of recognizing other 
dimensions of individuals’ lived experiences and identities.


What the American ‘left’ needs is a commitment to pragmatic, workable 
alliances that unite activists to combat racial, gender, and class 
oppressions. Without these alliances, there’s little chance for building 
a progressive, mass-based party that can commit to long-term democratic 
transformation. In her important book, From #Black Lives Matter to Black 
Liberation, African American studies scholar Keenga-Yamahtta Taylor 
calls for just such an alliance between Black/Brown Lives Matter and the 
living wage movement, so that progressives can unite across different 
identity groups. And yes, class is an identity, just as much as race or 
gender, contrary to the claims of those who lament “identity politics” 
and who adhere to economism.  Taylor’s call for building left-identity 
alliances displays the kind of vision that’s often lacking on the ‘left.’


The push for activism that’s committed to broad-based movement building 
isn’t impossible. It’s been done in the past. The civil rights movement 
prioritized fighting racial oppression, bigotry, and segregation, while 
targeting poverty as a societal disease. In response to these pressures, 
the Johnston administration prioritized racial and economic justice via 
the War on Poverty and the push for civil rights legislation and 
desegregation. While the idea of intersectionality was not recognized in 
mainstream political discourse until relatively recently, the 1960s-era 
protests demonstrate that activists and government can prioritize 
multiple dimensions of oppression simultaneously. We need a broad-based 
left movement today, and the potential for such a coalition becomes more 
feasible considering mass public anger over institutionalized sexism, 
racism, and classism. Mass anger is the foundation upon which a 
progressive movement must be built.


full: 
https://www.counterpunch.org/2018/02/05/the-limits-of-metoo-sectionalism-economism-and-identity-politics-on-the-left/

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[Marxism] Living Under Assad’s Siege

[Louis Proyect via Marxism]

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NY Times Op-Ed, Feb. 8, 2018
Living Under Assad’s Siege
By YASSIN AL-HAJ SALEH

On Tuesday, 78 people were killed in the Syrian rebel enclave of Eastern 
Ghouta after heavy aerial bombardment by Syrian and Russian forces. The 
United Nations has called for a cease-fire for a month across Syria to 
be able to deliver humanitarian aid and evacuate the critically ill and 
wounded.


The siege of Eastern Ghouta has turned into one of the longest and most 
destructive sieges in recent wars — about a year longer than the nearly 
four-year siege of Sarajevo. Ghouta is an area of small towns and 
fertile countryside east of Damascus.


The regime of Bashar al-Assad has barred the residents from leaving and 
outsiders from visiting their relatives in the besieged area, according 
to Osama Nassar, an activist and journalist who has been living in the 
Douma district of the area since 2013.


The people of Eastern Ghouta joined the protests against the Assad 
regime in March 2011, in the very early days of the Syrian uprising, and 
government forces killed many young men there. I was there a few weeks 
after those protests and attended the funeral of eight people killed by 
the regime.


The killings militarized the uprising by the fall of 2011. By July 2012, 
the regime began attacking population centers with barrel bombs. 
Peaceful protests came to an end.


In October and November 2012, the rebels drove out regime forces from 
Eastern Ghouta. In the beginning of 2013, the regime, supported by Iran 
and Hezbollah, regained the military initiative and imposed the siege.


I arrived in the Douma district in April 2013 and lived with a civil 
defense unit that came to be known as the White Helmets. Regime planes 
bombed the region daily. I saw the bodies of the dead being brought to 
the civil defense unit every day for registration. One day there were 
nine bodies. Another day, 26.


Yet people were still hopeful despite everyday life’s becoming 
increasingly difficult. On Aug. 21, 2013, the Assad regime attacked 
Eastern Ghouta with sarin gas and killed more than 1,400 civilians, 
including 426 children.


A deal between the United States and Russia forced the Assad regime to 
agree to surrendering its chemical weapons to United Nations 
investigators, but President Barack Obama decided not to enforce a 
no-fly zone over Syria. Mr. Assad concluded that he could use all other 
weapons, including barrel bombs and starvation, to crush the uprising.


A month after the chemical weapons deal, in October 2013, Mr. Assad’s 
forces intensified the siege of Eastern Ghouta. Even people who needed 
medical care were prevented from leaving or getting help from outside. 
Arbitrary daily bombings turned life precarious; people struggled even 
to retrieve corpses from the rubble of their houses.


Around that time, Jaish al-Islam, a Salafi militant group, came to 
dominate Douma and established a despotic system, arresting, kidnapping 
and assassinating people who did not comply with its dictates. Other 
rebel groups in the besieged areas include Faylaq al-Rahman, an 
affiliate of the Free Syrian Army, and Hayyat Tahrir al-Sham, which 
largely draws its membership from a Syrian al-Qaeda affiliate. And there 
are numerous smaller groups and brigades, which control and fight in 
smaller areas.


The civilians share an ambivalent relationship with the rebel groups. 
They offer them support for fighting against the Assad regime but 
criticize them for failing to overcome their factionalism and uniting 
against the regime. The civilians also protest and chafe at the rebels 
intervening in their daily life whether it is dealing harshly with them 
or arresting someone.


When I left Eastern Ghouta for Raqqa in the summer of 2013, the cost of 
everyday amenities had already increased significantly because of the 
war. Our only electric supply was a generator for four hours a day.


Samira al-Khalil, my wife, had joined me a few months earlier. We didn’t 
have enough to eat and began losing weight. We laughed that our friend 
Razan Zeitouna, a lawyer and writer documenting the atrocities, couldn’t 
lose weight because she was reed thin. The regime’s slogan was “Aljoo’ 
or Arrukoo’” (Starve or Surrender).


During the siege, Samira, who had been imprisoned for four years under 
the Hafez al-Assad regime for her activism, wrote in her diary, “Prison 
was just a joke when compared to siege, for all the people suffer from 
the latter: the children, the elderly.” She added: “ Under the siege 
there is nothing! No medicines, no bread, no water, no electricity, 
nothing. No! I forgot something important: death. It is available 
ev

[Marxism] Dr. Victor Sidel, Public Health Champion, Is Dead at 86 | Richard Sandomir | The New York Times

[Kevin Lindemann and Cathy Campo via Marxism]

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https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/07/obituaries/dr-victor-sidel-public-health-champion-is-dead-at-86.html


Sent from my iPhone

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