Solidarity 334, 3 September 2014

Emile Zola, Socialism and Anti-Semitism

Émile Zola was one of the foremost novelists of late 19th century France. He was also sympathetic to socialism and a hero in the “Dreyfus Affair” of the 1890s. This interview with him by Max Beer appeared in the Social Democrat (magazine of the Social Democratic Federation, then the main Marxist group in Britain) of October 1902. Beer was the British correspondent of the German socialist paper Vorwärts and author of a History of British Socialism. Jean Jaurès and Jules Guesde, referred to by Zola, led two factions in the French socialist movement; the “Guesdists”, though generally more...

“Hands up! Don’t shoot!”

On 9 August Michael Brown was shot as he walked down the street in his home neighbourhood in Ferguson Missouri, USA. Michael, a black 18 year-old with no criminal record, was shot with his hands up by white police officer Darren Wilson. Dorian Johnson, a friend who was with Michael at the time, described how a police car pulled up and an officer asked them to move onto the pavement. The officer pulled his car around to block the road, and tried to pull Michael into the car, at no point stating he was being arrested or giving any grounds for arrest. When Michael tried to run away he was shot...

Vote No to Scottish independence!

On 18 September the people of Scotland will decide whether or not to become an independent state. Latest polls show 47.6% against Scottish independence with 41.6% in favour, and 10.8% undecided. Opinion against independence has dropped, numbers undecided have dropped, and support for independence has risen. Discounting the undecided, 53% are against and 47% are for independence. Much of the British left is disoriented on the issue, making their political compass crass anti-Toryism rather than a reasoned assessment of the issue. Many claim that an independent Scotland would be more left wing...

How they failed Rotherham's children

The Jay Report, which investigated abuse and sexual exploitation of children in the Rotherham area between 1997 and 2014, estimates over 1400 children have been victims. This is appalling. It is also an issue for the left. It is an issue not just because the right-wing press have used it as an opportunity to print racist headlines, or just because the police have systematically blamed victims. Something else, and even more fundamental, is at stake. This case has demonstrated a basic lack of care for and understanding of some of the most vulnerable in society. It has shone a light on a system...

The anti-anti-semitism of fools

I have just come back (31 August) from attending a large demonstration in central London protesting the rise of anti-Semitism in the UK. The demonstration was organised by a new group called the Campaign Against Antisemitism. It was backed by all the major Jewish organisations in Britain, including the Board of Deputies, the Jewish Leadership Council, and many others. Nearly a thousand people signed up to attend the demo on Facebook; it looked to me like at least that number there. The crowd seemed overwhelmingly Jewish. Now if this had been a demonstration against racism, organized by the...

Kick the ice bucket, for collective action!

The recent “Ice Bucket Challenge” internet campaign had an impressive number of people taking part. Participants video themselves tipping a bucket of cold water on their head and nominate others to do the same; if they refuse they have to donate to charity. Often those that take part still donate. Celebrities and political figures from Unite union leader Len McCluskey to George Bush have taken part. This phenomenon shows us that if the conditions are right, people will be urged to act for the benefit of others whom they have never met. It reveals a fundamentally positive side of human nature...

The Etonian plutocracy

Only 7% of people in the UK went to fee-paying schools, but they dominate all the top jobs which are central to the running of the state. 71% of top judges, 62% senior armed forces officers and 55% and the highest ranking civil servants. A report by the not-left-wing academic government policy unit, the Social Mobility and Child Poverty Commission (28 August) says advantage is bought via the top fee-paying schools which fast track children into the top universities, particularly Oxford and Cambridge. Those institutions not only offer a better resourced education, but help create a sense of...

Resist anti-Islamic panic

The proposals by senior Tory politicians, clerics and police chiefs to trash civil liberties on pretext of the threat from the Islamic State movement in Iraq and Syria should be resisted as illiberal and even stupid. There is no doubt the Islamists of Islamic State are unpleasant, violent reactionaries. Some of the footage posted on You Tube — of murders and beheadings — is disgusting. IS is a real threat. It is also probable that some of the young British men and women who have left the UK to fight in Syria and joined the jihadist “cause” do pose a potential threat if they return to Britain...

Ahmed Seif el-Islam

On Wednesday, 27 August Egypt’s leading human rights lawyer, Ahmed Seif el-Islam died aged 63 after several days in a coma after heart surgery. As he lay dying, two of his children were behind bars for their political activism. Seif el-Islam represented people of many backgrounds in Egypt’s repressive legal system. A co-founder of the Hisham Mubarak Law Centre (dedicated to defending human rights cases), in 2001 he assisted in the defence of 52 men on trial for “performing immoral acts” in the ‘Queen Boat Trial’ and three years later he represented 15 men allegedly tortured while in detention...

Push Labour to save the NHS

Seventy per cent of the £13 billion NHS contracts negotiated last year were given to private providers. This is an unprecedented sell off, of the staff, resources and bricks and mortar that make up our National Health Service. The scale, and pace of the change is staggering. From “111 helpline” to maternity services, diabetes management to stoma care and even sexual assault services and palliative care, little is safe from market forces. And with real-terms cuts to the overall budget and efficiency savings of over £20 billion to be made, the NHS is being cut to the bone. With increasing...

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