Category: Left strategy

24 Nov

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After Gaza ceasefire – a new dynamic in the Middle East

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West Bank protest in support of Gaza

Today we’re posting a follow-up piece by British-based socialist and leading pro-Palestine activist Kevin Ovenden, addressing some of the debates that are beginning to emerge in the wake of the Gaza ceasefire.   The Gaza War — initial thoughts on the outcome By KEVIN OVENDEN It is far too early to provide a comprehensive account [...]

22 Nov

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Guest post: For those who resist – Palestine is still the issue

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Egyptians protest against Israel's assault on Gaza

Left Flank is very pleased to be able to post this extended analysis of Israel’s war on Gaza by British-based socialist Kevin Ovenden, set in its regional and international context. Kevin has been a leading activist in Viva Palestina and narrowly escaped death at the hands of the IDF as part of the first Gaza [...]

19 Nov

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Gaza: How did taking the side of the oppressed get so hard?

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hamas

The Australian Greens are deeply worried about the civilian death toll in Israel and Palestine, and urge both sides of the conflict to put down their weapons and respect a ceasefire. “The human suffering is too great and the continued recourse to violence has done nothing for peace,” Australian Greens Leader, Senator Christine Milne, said. [...]

03 Aug

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Asylum seekers, the Left and the case for open borders

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Left Flank has been away on holiday, but we’re back now. Below is a repost of my response to the sickening asylum seeker “debate” that happened in late June. Since then the issue has been shifted off to an elite “expert” committee which, as The Piping Shrike has pointed out, represents the exhaustion of the [...]

11 Jun

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Greece: A political crisis with no easy solution

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Antarsya banner at demonstration

As background to the recent posts on the situation in Greece, we’re reprinting the translation of an article written by PANOS GARGANAS, editor of the Workers Solidarity newspaper, from his organisation SEK’s Socialism From Below magazine, May-June 2012 issue. This piece was written just after the 6 May elections. Translation is by Costas Todoulos. The original [...]

13 May

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The Greek inferno: First the unravelling, then the rupture

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SYRIZA leader Alexis Tsipras at a pre-election rally in Athens

Read mainstream accounts of the massive electoral realignment in Greece and you notice a strange use of terminology. The pro-austerity parties — especially conservative New Democracy and centre-Left PASOK — are called “pro-bailout” and “moderate”, while the parties that oppose austerity are called “extremist” and “hard-line”. And there’s a tendency to portray the rise of new [...]

20 Apr

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Language, violence & politics: Breivik trial puts liberal democracy to the test

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All part of a ‘fair’ trial: Breivik shakes hands with a court psychiatrist

With Anders Breivik’s trial underway, Left Flank will be analysing the politics both here and at the Overland website. Below we reprint the first of two parts of an abridged extract from the e-book that Guy Rundle, Elizabeth Humphrys and I edited last year, On Utøya: Anders Breivik, Right Terror, Racism and Europe. The chapter [...]