>Denmark also risks becoming a bombing target for the many enemies the U.S. makes during the many military operations and wars it has a tradition of waging. > >Norway has entered into a base agreement with the U.S., which means that the U.S. will have unrestricted access to four land areas in Norway, where it can set up barracks, hangars, and port areas as it wishes. There will be no possibility of any kind of control of these areas by the Norwegian authorities. The details of the agreement were agreed to in the deepest secrecy and the Norwegian population was never asked if they wanted the bases. > >The same secrecy is now happening here in Denmark. Denmark will, with a bilateral base agreement with the U.S., cede sovereignty to the U.S. — and this will happen without the population being asked. > >The Danish Communist Party strongly opposes such a bilateral agreement and calls for the broadest possible struggle against it.

>In Hamburg, because of the nationwide celebration of the “Day of German Unity,” a larger demonstration of the peace movement took place. More than 700 people took part in today’s rally in Hamburg in front of the Altona train station followed by a march to the fish market in pouring rain. > >In Munich, 2,500 people gathered in sunny weather on Marienplatz under the slogan “Mir reicht’s – Macht Frieden” (“I’ve had enough – make peace”). On Odeonsplatz, more than 300 peace activists said, “It’s high time for peace politics! Organize resistance against militarism and war!” > >More than 300 people responded to the call of the Rhine-Ruhr Peace Assembly for a protest demonstration against the air force command center in Kalkar/Uedem. > >In Berlin, more than 800 people marched from the Foreign Ministry to the Finance Ministry, then to the Social Democratic Party (SPD) headquarters, demanding disarmament — and no further arms deliveries to Ukraine. > >In Düsseldorf, more than 300 rally participants called for “winning the peace, not the war.” Other events took place in Saarbrücken, Schorndorf and Heidelberg.

(Emphasis original.)

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ml/post/5772041

> An investigation uncovers a web of influence in the powerful coalition aligned behind the European Commission’s proposal to scan for child sexual abuse material online, a proposal leading experts say puts rights at risk and will introduce new vulnerabilities by undermining encryption.

>The European parliament is expected to fight off attempts by France and other EU member states to introduce controversial laws that would allow spyware to be inserted on journalists’ phones on the grounds of national security.

>The organizers invite individuals, organizations and peace advocates worldwide to endorse and attend an international peace conference to “stop the Third World War” in Rome on Oct. 27-28, 2023. Already, over 86 organizations from more than 33 countries have signed on to the list of demands, urging immediate action to defuse the tensions and promote dialogue. These organizations recognize the active role the international working class must play in dismantling NATO, the attack dog of U.S./European [neo]imperialism, as a precondition to achieving lasting peace. > >By endorsing the list of demands, you can add your voice to the growing coalition that advocates for: > >* The immediate halting of arms shipments to Ukraine. >* An end to the sanctions on Russia, as well as the cessation of the Russophobic campaign. >* The invalidation of the statement condemning Russia as a terrorist state. >* An armistice between the belligerent forces, allowing for peaceful negotiations. >* The establishment of a truly neutral and democratic Ukraine. >* The cessation of the arms race and the dissolution of NATO. > >Your endorsement can make a difference. We urge you to join us in Rome and be part of this historic event. Only the popular struggle of the international working class can defeat the forces of U.S./Western militarism and [neo]imperialism. > >Navigate to internationalpeaceconference.info/ to sign on and endorse.

>The CAA has in the past had to deny being “a pawn employed by a foreign government to smear its enemies.” Despite such denials, it is abundantly clear that the CAA exists to lobby on behalf of the [apartheid neocolony]. > >This influential organization has been proactive in an attack and sabotage strategy on behalf of [the neocolony] to combat “delegitimization” — campaigning in solidarity with the Palestinian people. > >Funded by the occupiers of Palestine, the CAA has aided [neocolonialism], including by helping to take down a left-wing leader of the Labour Party. Such partisan activity is entirely incompatible with genuine charitable status.

Lesson: don’t trust every organisation that claims to be confronting antisemitism. Oftentimes these organizations care about antisemitism as much as trans‐exclusionary ‘radical feminists’ care about misogyny.

>We Believe in [Neocolonialism] launched a campaign earlier in 2023 for Spotify to remove several Arabic songs that allegedly targeted [a neocolony]. The campaign was the first step in a larger plan. Luke Akehurst, director of We Believe in [Neocolonialism], has cited Spotify’s ability respond to complaints of “public disgust,” and has called on Spotify to do the same regarding Palestinian and pro-Palestinian voices hosted on the service. > >We Believe in [Neocolonialism] has also been accused of acting to remove one of pop artist Mohammad Assaf’s songs in part of its ongoing attempt to ‘cleanse’ the platform. The group complains that Spotify is promoting violence by allowing these artists to post their music using the service. > >A particular target of We Believe in [Neocolonialism’s] Spotify campaign is artist Lowkey, a popular artist whose songs have become informal anthems of the pro-Palestine movement. We Believe in [Neocolonialism] contends [that] Lowkey’s music is offensive and incites violence against Jew[s] and [neocolonists]. > >Universal pushback caused the campaign to ban Lowkey’s music to fail. Thousands of people signed a counter-petition “demanding Spotify not buckle to the [neocolonial] lobby’s pressure,” MacLeod reported. The petition included “dozens of the most prominent Jewish individuals in the creative industries,” his report noted. > >The Institute for Strategic Dialogue, a group with links to the pro-[neocolonial] lobby, has been allotted two seats on Spotify’s Safety Advisory Council; one of the Institute’s co-founders, the late George Weidenfeld, had ties to an organization that built illegal [neocolonial] settlements. > >The Institute is funded by several NATO countries and a CIA front organization (the National Endowment for Democracy) historically devoted to performing illegal activities. This group has been considered extremist itself, though it states its devotion to counter-extremism. The Secretary of State of the UK Department of Digital Culture, Media, and Sport has been identified as supportive of We Believe in [Neocolonialism].

>Put simply, Sweden chose not just to ally itself with the U.S. but to enter into a death cult run by U.S. [neo]imperialist interests rather than confront its own fears about Russia and people’s misgivings about American [neo]imperialism. And to be sure, there are misgivings—or at least there were. A 2013 international Gallup poll found that people in sixty-five countries overwhelmingly felt that the U.S. is the greatest threat to peace in the world. Around the same time, in 2014, Swedes were also overwhelmingly against joining NATO. > >Fast forward to 2023 and the numbers have essentially flipped: 56 percent against joining NATO in 2014 vs. 62 percent for joining NATO in May 2023. This is the power of propaganda. This is the game that Swedish politicians have been playing for more than a decade, and indeed even after the war in Ukraine began, Swedish politicians campaigned in the 2022 election against joining NATO. Even then, the establishment didn’t trust the people to vote for an eager U.S. [neo]imperialist sycophant. > >But alas, we’ll never know if the people would ultimately have voted to be a nation of sycophants because NATO membership was never put up for a vote, an issue that Swedish journalist Kajsa Ekis Ekman rightfully highlighted as undemocratic and deeply disturbing. > >Ekman points out that there was a referendum for joining the EU, arguably a vote of lesser importance as it didn’t involve the potential for global war and carnage. She writes that the EU referendum prompted people to get educated about the issue. People held study groups and meetings and passed out pamphlets. It was discussed in schools, workplaces, bars, and at home. People wanted to be knowledgeable when they took to the polls. > >And perhaps there lies the primary reason why there was never a NATO referendum. If people really knew the history of NATO, and the present and future aims, they’d be horrified at the prospect of joining.

>Despite the Scottish government’s claim that COVID-19 has entered “a calmer phase,” many medical groups, including the British Medical Association (BMA), denounced its decision as having no basis in science. Data show that COVID-19 continues to infect hundreds of people every week in Scotland as well as England, Wales and the north of Ireland. Medical workers, including all the members of the SHWC, remain at disproportionate risk of infection, with tens of thousands continuing to suffer from often disabling long COVID symptoms. (BBC July 17) > >“With at least 4% of [National Health Service (NHS)] staff now living with chronic post-COVID complications, the Scottish government must follow the evidence and improve protections from the airborne spread [of the virus] in health care settings, not reduce them,” said Dr. Shaun Peter Qureshi, a member of the SHWC. > >The plight of health care workers reveals broader trends. An Office of National Statistics (ONS) survey found that around two million people in England, Scotland, and Wales have or are experiencing long COVID symptoms. According to a June 2022 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) study, almost one in five of the 40% of U.S. adults who reported having COVID-19 also have suffered from long COVID symptoms. (cdc.com)

>We are not curious about the grounds for Erdoğan’s assurance that Sweden’s membership will be approved by the parliament. We have already said that this is the most counter-revolutionary parliament in the history of Türkiye … We will not be surprised by the outcome. > >But we will fulfill our increasing responsibility. We will not allow NATO, which threatens the peoples of the whole world with its existence, to gain legitimacy while NATO expands — and all of the actors in our country’s bourgeois political system pave the way for this expansion by settling into a pro-NATO position. > >We will continue to uphold anti-imperialism and opposition to NATO, which have stronger roots in these lands than is believed elsewhere. We will continue to work for the strengthening of this resistance that right-wing forces are trying to take over and do this immediately. The necessity to remove NATO from our country with all its bases and soldiers is as urgent as the need to establish an equal, independent and secular country.

>The stories of some defendants in these cases revealed how deprived are many youth in the working-class suburbs of major French cities. In one case, the defendant was arrested carrying a sack of peaches and apricots; he hadn’t eaten any fruit for a year. > >Another defendant was arrested while he was asleep on the floor of a clothing store using some clothes for a pillow. He was homeless, sleeping under a bridge with just a mattress that had been waterlogged for weeks.

>The following revolt had many similarities to the Black Lives Matter uprising that followed the murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis at the end of May 2020. > >The régime showed its worry by its attempts to conciliate with the masses. The next day, President Emmanuel Macron and Prime Minister Élisabeth Borne both condemned the police killing as unjustified, even abhorrent. The prosecutor on the case kept the killer cop locked up on charges of voluntary manslaughter. > >Remember that this is the same government that pushed its cops to use tear gas and rubber-coated bullets against the Yellow Vests in 2018-19 and to arrest and beat unionists and others protesting the pension cuts all this year. > >But the régime failed to stop the protests against the killer cops from becoming angry and massive. The anger among the youth in the suburbs over the daily racism they confront was too strong to be deflected by political maneuvers. (In France, most suburbs are working-class communities, often populated by descendants of migrants from former colonies.)

ETA: Nahel’s murder: France’s continuum of post-colonial denial

>Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko offered to mediate the conflict between Prigozhin and Russian officials on June 24. Lukashenko has known both Prigozhin and Putin for over 20 years. The Belarusian President held meetings with Russian security and defense leaders in the morning and afternoon of June 25. He had also been in contact with Putin and Prigozhin. > >As a result of the two day-long meetings, Prigozhin agreed to honor Lukashenko’s proposal to stop the advancement of Wagner’s armed units in Russia’s territory and on furthering steps meant to deescalate tensions. The Wagner leader also ordered his fighters to retreat from Rostov-on-Don. > >To the disappointment of the [neo]imperialists, Russian Press Secretary Dmitry Peskov publicly thanked Lukashenko for brokering the agreement between the Wagner Group and Russia. Peskov further added that Russia will not persecute Wagner soldiers who had taken part in the alleged “armed mutiny.” (Belta, June 25)

>Some say the Greek ship tried to tug the boat with the migrants and caused it to sink. The Greek Navy denies this. > >The officials and the media blame it all on “traffickers,” those who smuggle in migrants on overloaded ships, charging prices bloated by the impossibility for migrants from Egypt, Syria, Afghanistan, Pakistan, countries where the Adrianna’s passengers came from, to travel by normal, legal channels. > >Whoever is to blame for the capsizing of the boat, the Greek Navy reported it had pulled 104 migrants from the water alive and 78 bodies of people who had drowned, with unknown hundreds of people below the decks, including children. > >Behind the immediate crime are EU bureaucrats and the EU member politicians, who first created the crisis that forced people to leave their home countries and then built a wall to keep them out of Europe. > >Behind the politicians and bureaucrats is the capitalist–imperialist system, whose profit drive pushes hundreds of millions of human beings from poverty level down to starvation level and whose wars turn livable societies into a living hell, as in Iraq and Afghanistan. > >Since 2014, it is estimated that 21,000 migrants have died trying to travel from [Afrasia] to Europe.

>We call on the governments and peoples of the European Union to resist the policy of sanctions initiated by the United States against the Russian Federation! Sanctions bring mutual harm to the EU and Russia. > >Stop the systematic violations by the countries of the West and Ukraine of the terms of the grain deal to provide the world market with grain from Ukraine! > >We demand the cessation of military assistance from the United States and its allies to the Kiev regime! > >We support the initiative of Humberto Carvalho (Brazilian Communist Party) to create a World Organization of Anti-Fascists!

>To start this process, we invite you to join the European Peace Conference that will take place in Rome on Oct. 27–28, 2023. > >As signatories of this Appeal we ask for: > >* the immediate halt of arms shipments to Ukraine; >* an end to the sanctions on Russia, as well as the Russophobic campaign; >* the invalidation of the statement condemning Russia as a terrorist state; >* an armistice between the belligerent forces; >* a truly neutral and democratic Ukraine; and >* a stop to the arms race and the dissolution of NATO.

>Like the banker he’s been all his life, Macron is obeying EU orders to make no concessions. However, the French president was unable to win a vote in parliament, even from other pro-capitalist parties, to pass the new pension plan. To impose these cuts on the working class, Macron was forced to use a maneuver in mid-March to pass the plan by decree. > >Though this maneuver was technically legal and constitutional (Article 49.3), it was an insult to democratic rule. Workers’ anger exploded. Unionists in France, especially those in the industrial and transport unions who are members of the General Confederation of Labor (CGT), held periodic walkouts. They stopped transit, held up refining fuel and withheld electric power. They showed just how vital the working class is in capitalist society. > >The government’s sole response has been to use the capitalist state to assault the workers’ movement. It has ordered police to beat and arrest demonstrators and judges to keep them in jail awaiting trial and has made it illegal just to protest. Even people just walking near demonstrations have been arrested. > >So far, Macron has refused concessions. The workers have refused to submit. The class struggle, instead of softening through some sort of negotiations, has intensified.

>The New Communist Party of Yugoslavia released a statement on its website that gives a more honest assessment of the anti-NATO protests than those published by the corporate media. > >“The New Communist Party of Yugoslavia (NKPJ) and the Alliance of Communist Youth of Yugoslavia (SKOJ) condemn the brutal beating of citizens, who tried to prevent a violent assault on the buildings of these three municipalities by the Kosovo police, who threw tear gas at those present.” > >The announcement further declares: “Washington, London and Brussels are constantly pressuring Belgrade to officially recognize the independence of the false ‘State of Kosovo,’ which the communist and workers’ parties of the world vehemently oppose, and demand that this retrograde Act, directed against peace, stability and prosperity, carried out for the sake of the expansionist goals of big capital should immediately end.” (nkpj.org.rs, May 30)

>Erdoğan has a long history of repressing the Kurdish people and imprisoning their leaders, as have past leaders of the country. And he has prevented or tightly controlled and arrested political protesters, including on International Women’s Day[.] Publicly, he denounced LGBTQ rights during his election campaign. > >Erdoğan managed to scrape by against an opponent who was, if anything, more pro-imperialist than him. Leftist and Kurdish parties were not represented in the runoff at all and were repressed during the election. Neither candidate offered any meaningful change for the Kurdish population, a nationally oppressed minority, and there are reports that it was more difficult to vote in Kurdish areas. > >It is clear that the struggle in Türkiye isn’t over.

>The tweet in question is a video, in which you can see the moment of the arrival of the ex-prisoner to Casco Viejo and the applause of dozens of neighbors gathered there. The text that accompanies the tweet says, “Dozens of people give Ongi etorri [a welcome] in Alde Zaharra of Iruñea to Iñaki Etxeberria ‘Mortadelo,’ Basque political prisoner who was released after 25 years of imprisonment. [Amnesty for all who are political prisoners of the Spanish state]. > >It is clear that the tweet does not extol anything but is dedicated to reporting in an objective way about what happened that night in Alde Zaharra in Iruñea.

>The negative popular reaction to Macron’s “charm offensive” resulted in the administration showing its teeth. During Macron’s visit to Strasbourg, a city east of Paris on the German border, three people were arrested for giving him “the finger.”

>The Constitutional Council, a cabal of pro-capitalist former politicians, and Macron ignored the millions of French workers, both active and retired, youth and students, farmers and other progressives, who took to the streets April 13 to protest. The CC approved the new pension system, with a few minor objections, and disapproved a request to hold a popular referendum on this issue.

(Reminder that antisocialists have a fucked up idea of what democracy looks like.)

>We reject these bans on demonstrations for Palestinian Prisoners’ Day and declare that our voices will not be silenced. We must shout, louder than ever, for the release of all Palestinian prisoners locked in [neocolonial] jails and for the liberation of Palestine, from the river to the sea. And we declare, clearly and firmly, that this form of state repression will not succeed in silencing our support for the Palestinian people, their resistance and their prisoners’ movement struggling to end colonialism and racism.

>For almost three months, the class struggle in France has been growing sharper. A meeting on April 5 between the union confederations and Prime Minister Élisabeth Borne ended after half an hour. Neither side had flinched. > >“The prime minister turned us down,” said the new secretary general of the CGT, Sophie Binet, “and we will respond in the streets.” > >The government refuses to bargain seriously. The unions and especially the rank-and-file workers who carry the struggle refuse to submit. One can easily ask, are Borne and President Emmanuel Macron trying to provoke an explosion? And if the struggle explodes, how will workers worldwide show their solidarity with workers in France?

>Workers’ power also showed itself in other ways. The energy workers, through clandestine operations, cut off electricity to the headquarters of Macron’s party, to the homes of his deputies and of big businessmen, to big multinationals and especially to data center firms, to road radar trackers and other instruments of control. On the contrary, free electricity was provided to hospitals, schools, elderly people’s homes, working-class neighborhoods where the most oppressed sectors of the class are concentrated, etc. > >And the struggle continues jusqu’ au bout (until the end). And these are not just words. For the first time in recent history, and taking up again one of the sacred rules of the International Workers Association, resistance funds have been set up, which in a few days have collected more than 3 million euros.

>In the past few days, Verdi had already recorded the largest participation in decades, with 400,000 joining warning strikes. According to Werneke, the March 27 action was the largest strike in the Federal Republic of Germany since 1992. At that time, the ÖTV [Public Service Transportation] union paralyzed public service for 11 days.

>The workers’ determination has already affected French diplomacy. France and England had spent months negotiating the new British King Charles III’s visit to France. This visit was to begin March 28, which is coincidentally the day the union coalition scheduled the next, the 10th day of protest/strikes. The CGT announced that its members, who would be responsible for setting up the red carpet and carrying out the services to greet a foreign monarch, would go on strike instead.

>To avoid disrupting the youths’ exam, the union coalition deliberately chose to wait a few days until March 23 to begin their protests, marches and strikes. The early part of the week is scheduled to be filled with parliamentary maneuvers and legal moves. The unions decided that union power is best applied in the street and on the shop floor.

>The General Confederation of Labor (CGT) says many workers went on strike on March 7 without demonstrating, and on March 11 a million protesters came out for the same issue. The CGT is the largest union group in the coalition that has called for major demonstrations throughout the country for the day the French parliament votes on increasing the age of retirement from 62 to 64 years old. The vote must take place on or before March 26.

>If Macron’s government refuses to consider the people’s demands regarding pensions, the inter-union coalition is calling for hardening the unions’ struggles and a total work stoppage in all sectors of the economy for March 7. They plan a big effort on March 8 — International Working Women’s Day — to explain the pernicious effects these pension changes will have on women’s retirement.

Pretty sure he won't win however. All the liberal candidates together have 65%.

Check out AKEL btw. One of the most supported Communist parties inside the EU.

>Bücker writes of a “narrowing of political space” in Germany to express opinions opposing German participation in the proxy war in Ukraine against Russia. The charges brought against him for his speech, for which he can face up to three years in prison and a fine, is proof of it. This increase in repression of antiwar forces, he writes, also exists in other European Union countries.

Context: Belgian wages are (for a lot of people) tied to the inflation, meaning if inflation is 2%, wages HAVE to be raised at least 2%. So for januari 2023, the wages wil rise with the official percentage of 11.xx%. This is not a raise, it's a compensation for the increase in cost of living at best.

A week or something ago the government allowed companies to not raise wages above the inflation index for two years, effectively blocking Belgian employees from getting a raise. To 'compensate' workers, the government allowed companies to give out cheques of up to 750 euro if they wanted to. 80% are now saying that they won't, meaning Belgian employees get nothing really.

Unions have already called for new nation wide actions on december 16th.

>Feeling the heat, bosses have made concessions in some places, averting potential strikes. Just recently, the union Unite announced they had secured an 11% increase for roughly 150 members at a Heinz factory at Telford in Shropshire. Unite was able to secure a raise of 11.5% at other workplaces in the fall. As the British Marxist newspaper New Worker suggested, “Hopefully this is a sign that bosses are worried about taking on their organized workforce, but it could also be a sign that they have so much money in the bank that they can easily afford to pay up.”

>In Greece, a 24-hour strike and demonstrations took place Nov. 9 in Athens and other cities to demand price control measures and wage increases. The actions were called by the most representative union confederations in the country, the General Confederation of Greek Workers and the All Workers Militant Front. > >In the capital, thousands of people filled the streets of the city center and, waving placards and banners, denounced the policies of the right-wing government and the European Union that “generate poverty, hunger and inequality” and “leave people frozen while they warm up the profits of big business.”

(Emphasis original.)

He describes the neoliberal/Thatcherite system that the energy market uses to generate obscene profits for the energy industry, and how the price capping measures they're introducing to literally nothing to relieve consumers.

The most damning point he makes, though, is that on conventional Western media there's no way he'd be given the 20 minutes needed to explain how governments are scamming their citizens. They'd cut him off at 20 seconds to let another 'expert' interrupt him or just move on completely.

In sum, there is no way this scam could be pulled off if Government, Media and Energy Olicarchs weren't working together.

Political group in the European Union for Communist parties, they're Eurosceptic as well. I think they're cool, but don't know why the Czech and Dutch communist parties aren't part of them.