CULTURE & HISTORY

EDITOR—We are living through a moment of social and political upheaval – one that has somehow aligned the Houthi rebels in Yemen, South Africa’s greatest legal minds and students across the wealthiest campuses in the world. They’re all fighting for Gaza, and against an increasingly isolated Israeli government and its Western backers. So are we witnessing a historic tipping point? Norman Finkelstein has documented the Israel-Palestine conflict for over 4 decades, with a particular focus on Israel’s actions in Gaza. As the son of Holocaust survivors, he became particularly critical of Israel’s use of history as a propaganda tool to shut down critique – something he documents in his book ‘The Holocaust Industry’.

EDITOR—Scott analyses the real meaning of Israel’s savage air attack on Lebanon, with Netanyahu promising more punishment through a ground invasion unless the Lebanese people abandon Hezbollah, which is simply impossible as Hezbollah is a legitimate party in Lebanon, represents the aspirations of most Arabs via a vis Israel, and is deeply integrated with Lebanese society. Furthermore, Israel lacks the capacity to push Hezbollah anywhere, above or below the Litani river, while Hezbollah has the ability to demolish any IDF ground invasion while striking deep into Israel.

GEORGE GALLOWAY—George and Nick analyse the multitude of ways in which the US political class—now fusing into warmongering Democrats and Republicans—push openly for a thinly-disguised fascist regime and never-ending wars likely to plunge the world into a terminal nuclear war.  “We will advocate for war, anyone who advocates for peace will be locked up.’ Expect the Democrats and the whole united establishment’s war on free speech to get more vicious in the near future. 

EDITOR—After a historically brief postwar period when the working class (especially in Europe) could enjoy a more tolerable standard of living thanks to the adoption of social democracy out of fear for the Soviet example— better wages, unemployment cushions, healthcare, free education, etc.—the inexorable capitalist crisis is forcing a shrinking of the “goodies” with which the ruling class bought the passivity of the masses. This is inherent in capitalism which, due to its internal dynamic always goes from boom to bust, a problem now magnified with the extension of capitalism to global dimensions under US imperialism. 

Thus, the working class today in practically all capitalist countries is feeling the pain of living under totally non-representative increasingly tyrannical oligarchies and fake democracies, a situation aggravated by a decadent set of blatantly hypocritical “civilised values” (i.e., the rise of “WOKE imperialism”), and the grotesque lies implicit in the pretend fight for human rights and against anti-semitism, that serve to muzzle free speech, protect Israel from retribution for its multitude of heinous crimes, and facilitate the deletion of democratic norms. 

My dear friend and senior contributing editor to this publication, Paul Edwards, has just alerted me to Tom Feeley’s struggle to stay alive. For those in the genuinely progressive, anti-imperialist community, who, for some reason, never heard of Tom, let me just put it simply: Tom Feeley is editor at Information Clearing House, which he correctly describes as, “A fiercely, independent source of news and information.”  Yes, ICH is a key link in the ridiculously thin line of grotesquely underfunded websites still devoted to truth, truth when it matters most. ICH is a massive archive of genuine independent leftist analysis, and an invaluable tool in the contest with the forces working to impose an Orwellian world of fake democracy, constant war, widespread oppression and exploitation, and capitalogenic ecocide. Indeed, ICH would not be around without Tom’s unwavering dedication. This is why Paul’s fraternal words resonate so much in this quarter: