Statement by the Bureau of the Fourth International

“The most indubitable feature of a revolution is the direct interference of the masses in historical events. In ordinary times the state, be it monarchical or democratic, elevates itself above the nation, and history is made by specialists in that line of business - kings, ministers, bureaucrats, parliamentarians, journalists. But at those crucial moments when the old order becomes no longer endurable to the masses, they break over the barriers excluding them from the political arena,(…). The history of a revolution is for us first of all a history of the forcible entrance of the masses into the realm of rulership over their own destiny.”

Leon Trotsky, Preface to History of the Russian Revolution

 The situation as with any revolution is changing from hour to hour. Any evaluation will undoubtedly be overtaken by events within a few hours or days. But already we can say that the Tunisia and Egyptian people are writing the first pages of the revolutions of the 21st century. They are sending shock waves throughout the Arab world, from Algiers to Ramallah, from Amman to Sana’a in Yemen. These revolutions result, within the particular historical conditions of this society, from the crisis that is shaking the world capitalist system. The “poverty riots” are combined with an immense mobilisation for democracy. The effects of the world economic crisis combined with the oppressive dictatorships, are making these countries the weak links in imperialist domination in the current situation. They are creating the conditions for the opening of processes of social and democratic revolution.

Demonstrations, strikes, mass meetings, self-defence committees, mobilisations by trade unions and civil associations, mobilisation of all the popular classes, “those below” and “those in the middle” who are swinging over into insurrection, “those above who can no longer rule as before”, convergence between parties from the radical opposition against the system, these are all the ingredients of a pre-revolutionary or revolutionary situation that is today ready to explode.

It is today the turn of Egypt to see hundreds of thousands of workers, young people and unemployed stand up against the dictatorship of Mubarak.

In Tunisia, a bloody dictatorship was cut down. It was the focus of the hatred of a whole society; the popular classes and especially of youth. The Ben Ali regime, its repression, its corruption, a system supported by all the imperialist powers, France, the USA, the European Union, had to be thrown out.

It is this same movement that is sweeping through Egypt today.

There are, of course, historical differences between the two countries. Egypt is the most populous country in the Arab world. It has a decisive geostrategic place in the Middle East. The structures of the State, the institutions, and the role of the Army are different there. But it is the same basic movement that is affecting the two countries.

The Tunisian masses could longer stand an economic system - “a good pupil of the world economy” according to Mr. Strauss-Kahn - which starved them. The explosion of the prices of basic foodstuffs, unemployment of almost 30%, and hundreds of thousands of trained and qualified young people without jobs constituted fertile ground for the growth of a social revolt that, combined with a political crisis, led to a revolution.

There were dramatic price rises for all essential products, including rice, wheat and corn, between 2006 and 2008. The price of rice tripled in five years, passing from approximately $600 per ton in 2003 to more than $1800 per ton in May 2008.

The recent increase in the price of the grain is illustrated by a jump of 32% recorded during second half of 2010 in the compound index of food prices.

The big rise in prices of sugar, cereals and oilseed products took world food prices to record levels in December, exceeding those of 2008, which had started riots throughout the world.

At the same time, the IMF and the WTO are demanding the lifting of all tariff barriers and an end to all food subsidies.

The recent speculative rise in food prices encouraged a worldwide development of famine on an unprecedented scale, which is hitting a series of countries in Africa and the Arab world.

Egypt has also experienced the effects of this explosion of food prices. The economy does not create enough jobs to provide for the population’s needs. The neoliberal policies implemented since 2000 have caused an explosion of inequalities and the impoverishment of millions of families. Nearly 40% of the 80 million Egyptians continue to live on less than two dollars per day. And 90% of the unemployed are young people under 30.

The other remarkable thing is that the Egyptian national trade-union federation – led by members of the government – has partly withdrawn its support for the government in the two weeks since the Tunisian insurrection. They wanted price controls, wage rises and a system of subsidised distribution of foodstuffs; the people not being able to obtain basic necessities such as tea or oil. That the union leaders should demand this is unprecedented because they have been convinced neo-liberal supporters. That is the impact of the Tunisian events.

In Tunisia, this revolution has deep roots. The current social movement is the result of a cycle of mobilisations and movements which draw their strength from the history of the struggles of the Tunisian people and its organisations, in particular, many associations for human rights and democratic freedoms and trade unions like many sectors of the UGTT (General Union of the Tunisian Workers):

 the fight of certain personalities for freedom of expression and to travel in 1999,

 the high-school students’ movement in 2000,

 the mobilisations against the war in Iraq in 2001,

 the second Intifadah in 2002-2003,

 strikes and demonstrations in Gafsa in 2008,

 Ben Guerdane in June 2010,

 Sidi Bouzid, which at the end of 2010 opened up the way for the revolution.

It is a historical movement that started with this combination of social revolt and overthrowing a dictatorship but which today seeks to go further. It is a radical democratic revolution that has anticapitalist social demands.

Ben Ali had to flee, but the essence of his gangster system stayed in place. The force of the mobilisation has constrained the former Ben Ali supporters to leave the government gradually but, as we are writing this statement, the Prime Minister is still the Ben Ali supporter Ghannouchi.

The revolution wants to go further: “RCD out! ”, “Ghannouchi out! ”, behind these demands, it is the whole of the political system, all the institutions, all the repressive apparatus that should be eradicated. It is necessary to finish with the whole Ben Ali system, and to establish all democratic rights and freedoms: right of free expression, right to strike, right to demonstrate, pluralism of associations, trade unions and parties; abolish the presidency and install a provisional revolutionary government!

Getting rid of the dictatorship and of all operations that want to protect the power of the ruling classes means today opening a process of free elections for a constituent Assembly. This process must be based on the organisation of committees, councils, coordination and popular councils that have emerged from the process if it is not to be confiscated by a new oligarchic regime.

In this process, the anticapitalists will defend the key demands of a programme breaking with imperialism and capitalist logic: satisfaction of the vital needs of the popular classes - bread, wages, jobs; reorganization of the economy on the basis of fundamental social needs - free and adequate public services, schools, health, women’s rights, radical land reform, socialization of the banks and key sectors of the economy, broadening social protection for unemployment, health and retirement, cancellation of the debt, national and popular sovereignty. This is the programme of a democratic government that would be at the service of the workers and the population.

At the same time, whether it is to organize the defence of the districts, to drive out RCD leaders of state administration or big companies, to reorganize the distribution of the food substances, workers and young people are organising their own assemblies and committees. The most combative sectors and most radical must support, stimulate, organize and coordinate all these self-organisation structures. They are something to build on to establish a democratic power of the popular classes.

In Egypt, at the time we are writing this statement, the country is in a state of insurrection. In spite of bloody repression, the waves of mobilisation of the people develop. Hundreds of thousands of demonstrators are in the streets of Cairo, Alexandria and Suez. The party office of the ruling NDP and symbols of the regime have been attacked. The hatred for the Mubarak system, the total rejection of corruption, and the demand for satisfaction of vital social demands against price rises have provoked and stimulated the mobilisation of all the popular classes. The regime is vacillating. The Army leadership supported by the USA has tried a “self-managed coup” putting Omar Suleiman, head of the secret services and pillar of the current regime, alongside Mubrak as vice-president. The army is strained. There have been scenes of fraternisation between the people and the soldiers but faced with the determination of the Egyptians the Army leadership could also choose confrontation and harsh repression. The demand of the millions in the streets is crystal clear: Mubarak must go, but it is the whole dictatorship, the whole repressive apparatus that must be brought down and a democratic process with all rights and freedoms set in place. The call for a day of mobilisation on 1st February is the next step.

In Egypt too, it is necessary to finish with dictatorship and to found a democratic process with all the rights and fundamental democratic liberties.

The current movement is the most important since the 1977 bread riots but here again it has deep roots.

For the last 30 years Mubarak has maintained a dictatorial regime, imprisoning and murdering his opponents, suppressing any independent expression of the social movement and political opposition. The electoral masquerade of November 2010, entirely controlled by the NDP which won more than 80% of the seats, is the latest example. In the last few years there have been important strike movements particularly of the textile workers of El-Mahalla, general strikes and demonstrations and protests by different social categories, big anti-imperialist mobilisations against the military occupation of Iraq and Afghanistan in 2004, marking the disavowal and isolation of a regime that is held up only by support of the USA and the European Union.

Egypt is, with Israel and Saudi Arabia, one of the three pillars of imperialist policy in the region. The USA, Israel and Europe will do everything they can to prevent Egypt escaping from their zone of influence and will do everything they can to oppose a revolutionary development of the protests.

The Tunisian revolution set the Arab world ablaze. It is also for a whole generation their first revolution. Everything can change today with the rising of the Egyptian people. The mobilisation will undoubtedly have repercussions through the region, in particular encouraging the Palestinians despite the shameful statement of Mahmoud Abbas.

We have to build a solidarity wall around the revolutionary processes which developing in Tunisia and Egypt, supported by active solidarity with the mobilisations throughout the Arab world. We cannot ignore the possibility of bad blows from the repressive apparatus of Ben Ali, or the threats of his friend Gaddafi. Also, if the regime decides on confrontation the Army leaders could unleash bloody repression.

Faced with the deepening of the revolutionary process, the western powers and the ruling classes will try to take back control by breaking this immense hope.

The Tunisian and Egyptian people must be able to count on the whole of the international labour movement, on all the global justice movement. In the trade unions, associations, the left parties, we must support the fights of these peoples and the revolt thundering through the Arab world.

Live the Tunisian and Egyptian revolutions!

Solidarity with the fights in the Arab world!

Bureau of the Fourth International

8pm in Paris

30th of January 2011

Download the Coalition of Resistance’s leaflet for the February week of action against the cuts by clicking on this link

Today, Israel has released a report into its actions on the Mavi Marmara last year, when the ship - carrying aid as part of a flotilla to Gaza - was attacked by Israel, leading to the deaths of 9 Turks and the injuring of dozens more.

Viva Palestina’s Kevin Ovenden, who was on board the Mavi Marmara when it was attacked by Israeli forces in May last year, said, “The claim by Israel’s Turkel Commission that Israeli forces acted legally when they killed nine people aboard the Mavi Marmara, and left another brain dead, will be laughed out of court by all but the Israeli government and its most fanatical supporters.

“This whitewash commission was set up by the Netanyahu government, the same people who commissioned the assault on the aid ship. It is simply unfeasible to claim that, for example, the two men shot immediately to the left and right of me, were gunned down in some act of self-defence. They were shot from above. No Israeli commando was in sight of us when the bullets rang out.

“Israel has refused an independent international inquiry and instead was brazen enough to establish this farce. No Turkish official, lawyer or representative was allowed to take part. One of the only two international observers who was a fig-leaf for the commission’s “impartiality” was Lord (David) Trimble. He was invited on to it a few months after founding a friends of Israel initiative. And as a leading establishment figure in the north of Ireland he refused for decades an independent inquiry into the killing of 14 unarmed civilians on the streets of Derry in 1972, the truth about the massacre only being officially acknowledged 38 years later with the report of the Saville inquiry.

“The United Nations Human Rights Council already found last year prima facie evidence of grave human rights abuses and war crimes aboard the Mavi Marmara.

“Rather than entertaining this charade from Tel Aviv, the British government should demand that Israel and those responsible for the atrocity of Bloody Monday on the Mediterranean on 31 May last year are held to account and to the same universal standards of justice that are required of other states.

“Whatever risible PR Israel and its supporters attempt to spin, that is going to happen. And on the one year anniversary of the attack on the Mavi Marmara a second, bigger international aid effort will set sail for the point at where it was so brutally attacked and will ask, civil society organisations, religious groups, politicians, governments, and people of conscience around the world to demand that all relevant governments and international bodies all it safe passage to Gaza.

“Wikileaks has confirmed what independent Israeli researchers told us last year. The siege on Gaza is carefully calibrated by the Israeli government to keep the Palestinian people in a state of dependency, with their economy society hovering just above complete collapse.

“The French foreign minister Michele Alliot-Marie is the latest high profile visitor to Gaza and Palestine to call for an end to the blockade.

“The pressure to end this barbarous policy is increasing. I think I can speak for all those who were aboard the Mavi Marmara in saying that we are redoubling our efforts in 2011 to bring it to an end this year. We will be part of the next aid missions, by land, by sea and by air.

“This sick joke from an Israeli government that has already lost all international credibility will serve only to increase our determination to bring justice to the Palestinian people.”

Sarah Colbourne, Director of the Palestine Solidarity Campaign and who was also onboard the Marvi Marmara when the Israeli Defence Force attacked the boat said:

“However hard the Israeli Government attempts to rewrite history, they can’t rewrite the truth. The facts are simple, the Marvi Marmara was carrying essential humanitarian aid like baby milk to the besieged people of Gaza. There were no guns or weapons on board the boat, we were in international waters, when over 300 bullets – or one for every two people on board - rained down on us, killing 9 people and injuring over 50.

The actions of the Israeli Defence Force and the Israeli Government where by all international standards of law illegal as is their continued occupation of Gaza and the oppression of the Palestinian people.”

Eric Toussaint of the Campaign for the Cancellation of Third World Debt (CADTM) was a member of the Audit Committee set up by the president of Ecuador, Rafael Correa, in order to avoid a large proportion of Ecuador’s public debt. In Ecuador, the debt audit helped successfully delete $3.2 billion from the debt: Ecuador unilaterally eliminated as illegitimate (”illegal ” or “odious”) - a debt of 3.2 billion dollars. Despite the embargo of the markets, there have been no big negative consequences for Ecuador.. On the contrary, the economy grew by 3.7% in 2010 and is expected to grow by 5% in 2011.

Now Eric Toussaint says : The people of Europe should audit their creditors. It is not logical to repay illegitimate debts . Debt default and the denial of debt repayment have been linked to a national disaster. These “revelation images” are aimed to make people accept the policies that are being applied

The Committee’s work in Ecuador has recently been mentioned in the Greek Parliament by Sofia Sakorafa. But could the experience of Ecuador be helpful in Greece? Eric Toussaint thinks so: “While the economies of the two countries are different, the structure of Greek public debt has a lot in common with developing countries.

“First, Greece is financing a part of debt in the form of bonds by the Government authorities (“securitization of public debt”), a technique used by Ecuador. Second, another large part of the Greek debt is in the form of bank loans, which is also the case for developing countries. Third, as a result of the rescue plan in May 2010, Greece has borrowed from the IMF.

“In other words, what is happening in Greece today is not very different from what has happened in many developing countries in recent decades, namely, through the IMF-imposed “Washington consensus”.”

Eric Toussaint sees another common element: “Ecuador’s debt was mainly owed to the banks in the U.S. In 200 Ecuador abandoned its national currency and adopted the U.S. Dollar, the currency of its lender. Similarly Greece has the same currency with its lenders, such as France and Germany, the Euro.”

The last observation does not mean that defaulting on the debt will necessarily be accompanied by exit from the euro: “There is not an automatic exit from the eurozone if Greece is to stop paying. Greece will have to decide if it wants to remain in the eurozone after a dialogue in the Parliament and with the Greek people.”

For Eric Toussaint, wages, pensions and savings can be secured. “If a state refuses to repay the debt, it saves money. In order to repay the debt, the state is using a very high volume of government spending money that could be used in order to pay salaries, to build public hospitals, schools and public agencies, to act to ensure the security of the country. The states that have defaulted up to now have realized that this has improved their ability to meet their obligations to their citizens.”

Also, considering citizens’ deposits, “the public authority must take responsibility and create a large public financial sector. The state can cover the cost of strengthening the banking system, by using the assets of the major banks’ shareholders.”

Domino effect

Although the reasons the debt increased to this level are different in Greece, Toussaint insists that the debt is not an issue that is only concerning Greece. “Greeks have to understand that they are not the exception to the rule. What has happened in Greece since April 2010 was repeated in Ireland in October 2010, it will happen again in Portugal, Spain and Italy. It would really be a shame for the Greeks to believe that they are an exception and to fatally accept the terms imposed on them.”

Argentina – Russia. The default has saved them

As a witness in defense of his claim for defaulting on odious debts, Eric Toussaint refers to the Nobel laureate economist Joseph Stiglitz, who in a 2010 study revealed that the economies of countries such as Russia or Argentina have been in a better financial situation since defaulting and have been able to save money to boost growth.

Playing dirty: Foreign banks to take responsibility

For Toussaint, Eurobonds are not a solution to our problem. First and foremost, he believes that the conditions for granting loans in Greece should be explored.

The question that we should primarily answer is: “Is it normal for citizens of a country like Greece, to repay a debt that is not legitimate?” If the loans had been made in the interests of citizens with respect for their basic needs and if the banks, mostly French and German, had acted carefully and rationally, then we would say that the debt should be repaid. But the bulk of debt is illegal and the bankers who purchased Greek titles must take their responsibilities. They have entered into loan agreements with unreasonable and illegal terms, and therefore they must accept the cancellation of a significant part of the debt.

Eric Toussaint refers to the “excessive military spending in Greece, much of which is due to Franco-German pressure.”

This interview with Eric Toussaint was carried out by Nikitas Kouridakis for the Greek daily paper Ethnos tis Kyriakis, a centre- left oriented paper with the third biggest circulation (100.000 copies) in the country. The original version of the interview was published on 9 January 2011: http://www.ethnos.gr/article.asp?catid=11379&subid=2&pubid=49752949

Around 80 people attended the first meeting the CoR national Committee after November’s founding conference.

There was a good spread of people there representing unions, local anti-cuts groups and political organisations. Among the participants was a representative for Unite General Secretary Len McCluskey. Unite has affiliated to CoR, which is a real boost for the organisation.

Andrew Burgin from the Steering Committee also reported that a working relationship had been established with the Right to Work Campaign and the Peoples Charter, and that it was hoped that something similar could could be established with the National Shop Stewards Network. There was a real willingness to have the broadest possible unity against the cuts.

In terms of activity the chief subjects for discussion were the TUC march planned for 26 March and the week of action being planned for 14 to 20 February.

The meeting also discussed a number of amendments to the founding statement of the CoR which had been held over from the conference, some of these were controversial, some not.

In general , there was a refreshing sense of realism about what CoR could most effectively do - acting as a source of collective support and solidarity for people on the front line of fighting cuts. Only a small minority wanted to substitute CoR for the leadership of the trade union and student movement, and they were comprehensively outvoted.

Accordingly, CoR declared itself ready to support and give solidarity to strikes and occupations against cuts, including co-ordinated action, but avoided the temptation to start sloganising about general strikes (as proposed in one amendment) - a sure way to give the trade union bureaucrats an excuse to withhold support.

In a similar vein, another amendment, which seemed to want to tell students how to organise themselves (like they need anyone’s advice!) was also voted down.

The meeting did vote unanimously to call upon councils not to implement cuts and promised support for councillors who voted against cuts.

The other thorny issue was whether CoR should encourage local anti-cuts campaigns to stand candidates in the local elections. The meeting voted against this on the grounds that it would split the anti - cuts movement and narrow its base.

The meeting also heard a short speech from the honorary president Tony Benn and there were also guest speeches from a Belgian trade unionist and a Tunisian activist.

All in all a useful and promising meeting.

Andy Richards

Statement by the New Anti-Capitalist Party (Nouveau Parti Anticapitaliste) France

Tunisia’s President Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali has stepped down after 23 years in power, amid widespread protests on the streets of the capital Tunis. In a televised address, Prime Minister Mohammed Ghannouchi said he would be taking over from the president. A state of emergency was declared earlier, as weeks of protests over economic issues snowballed into rallies against Mr Ben Ali’s rule. Unconfirmed reports say Mr Ben Ali and his family have left Tunisia. The reports suggest that the deposed president is looking for a place of asylum, with French media saying that French President Nicolas Sarkozy has turned down a request for his plane to land in France. (BBC, Friday 14th January, 2011)

(The following NPA statement was made before Ben Ali fled.)

January 11, 2011 — When Mohamed Bouazizi committed suicide by setting fire to himself after being harassed by the police his act became the spark which is now setting fire to the whole of the “miraculous Tunisia” of General Ben Ali.

In every town, large and small all over the country, demonstrations showed that the people have had enough. First of all the unemployed and semi-employed moved into action, then they were joined by the workers – unionised workers, but also other groups such as lawyers. The revolt then spread to university students and high school students back from the winter break. This massive wave of struggle has exploded under the slogans of “the right to work”, “the right to a fair share of the nation’s wealth” and “the fight against corruption and nepotism” (this last is a gangrene which has spread to all levels of society). The demonstrators smashed up the symbols of the party-state. The national leadership of the sole legal trade union confederation, the UGTT, which denounced the movement at the beginning (unlike some of its local and regional bodies) was finally obliged to give its official support.

What is immediately striking about these mobilisations, mostly involving the “Ben Ali Generation” (Ben Ali has been ruling the country with an iron first for 23 years) is their skill in harassing a regime that is expert in stifling the smallest spaces available for free speech.

As they did in Iran, web surfers have been able to set up conduits for information and details of actions by using proxies which the web police cannot censor. The police forces, even though there are 130,000 of them, have been overwhelmed and have called on the army to back them up in several towns.

The night of January 8-9 was particularly bloody. Dozens of people were shot dead at Gasserine, Tala and Meknassi. But murder, arrests, provocations and intimidation have not demoralised the demonstrators, who clearly named from the beginning the people responsible for their misery: Ben Ali and his family mafia.

The Ben Ali regime caught in a whirlwind

The world capitalist crisis has hit a country which had opened up practically the whole of its economy through deregulation and privatisation. This has shown clearly the contradictions of the corrupt dealings known as the “Tunisian miracle” which, according to its apostles, was to hoist Tunisia up into the ranks of the “emerging economies”. The official growth rate has fallen by half since 2008. The pharaohic projects to transform whole sections of Tunisia’s coastline into a series of theme parks have all collapsed under the financial crisis hitting the Gulf states which were to have injected their dollars in this huge real-estate speculation.

While Ben Ali thought he was one of the good pupils of the Western powers, busy doing away with islamism, trade unionism and immigration, the United States government now says it is “concerned” by the situation. They say they are “following the situation closely” and all of a sudden they believe that democracy in Tunisia is a concern of theirs.

These raised eyebrows won’t be enough to satisfy a movement, which is affirming ever more strongly its desire to rid itself of a hated regime. Tunisians must count on the support of other peoples and not on the states which have always been accomplices of the dictatorship.

Many demonstrations have been organised in support of the movement, both in other Arab countries, and in the main countries with large numbers of Tunisian immigrants. In France, there have been rallies in Paris, Toulouse, Nantes, Lyon, Marseille and Lille. These rallies have brought together the Tunisian community, as well as activists from the Arab world and from the French left. They have denounced the dictatorship of Ben Ali and the complicity of Sarkozy. On these demonstrations could be seen many new faces, on the streets in protest for the first time. The Tunisian consuls and Ben Ali’s secret agents, who are usually around to harass the opposition, are nowhere to be seen. This is an unmistakeable sign that change is in the air.

The crisis hitting the countries on the northern shores of the Mediterranean is the same one which is destabilising the countries of the southern shores of the same sea. This is one more reason that solidarity is essential. We must not relax the pressure, and our first demand must be the freeing of all the activists in prison.

Translated by John Mullen for Links International Journal of Socialist Renewal

A rabble of just 30-40 EDL/ENA members were effectively run out of town by hundreds of anti-fascists, assembled at short notice to demonstrate the city of Brighton and Hove want nothing to do with their message of hatred and division.

I doubt we’ll be seeing them again anytime soon.

The fascists arrived at Brighton station and many of them seemed more intent on drinking than marching.

The anti-fascists kept them penned at the station before reluctantly agreeing to march away after the police threatened mass arrests if we didn’t go to our “designated protest point” at Victoria Gardens.

The police played their “usual” role in situations like this.  The EDL march was only possible under their protection, and they “kettled” the anti-fascists in a cordoned area - even though there were soon just as many anti-fascists outside the “kettle” as were in it.  Many local people who had not been part of the anti-fascist march nevertheless stopped by the EDL “rally” to offer a rich variety of verbal abuse.  Just for an encore the police arrested a number of anti-fascists - one for possession of an airhorn, and the other for talking to the demonstration!  They also stole a quantity of video film from a photographer - way to go!

A number of speakers at the anti-fascist gathering drew links between the economic crisis and the cuts, and the superficial appeal of groups such as the EDL, who try to make scapegoats to blame for inadequate services and lack of jobs.

Andy Richards

(see some video from the day at http://hoverepublic.blogspot.com/2010/08/edl-humiliated-in-brighton.html)