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From Nawal El Saadawi to Iranian men and women demonstrating in the the streets

This is a revolution of the Iranian people against internal and external dictatorships and exploitation, against local and global powers, political, economic and religious powers. Iranian men and women, young and old, are fighting against oppression, inequality, injustices and domination. This is the voice of Iranian people. It is heard clearly all over the world. No power can stop them before they achieve their goals. No power can erase their blood.

Nawal El Saadawi

Regrouping Against Repression in Iran

21 June 2001

The video clip below is from Al Giordano's The Field.

But, first ... It is refreshingly reassuring to see more able voices coming out in opposition to idiocy, when it comes to presenting realistic analyses of what's going on in Iran. I have known for a long time that, though the Clueless Leftists (CL, from here) are a loud bunch, their numbers are small. So, although it may seem like it at times, not all Americans leftists are CL: which is to say, not lost in the fog of stupidity and cowardice, refusing to stand with the people in Iran, and instead standing steadfast with the murderous machinery that is shooting the people in the streets.

Anybody not standing with the people, in this very unambiguous people-v-state situation, are standing with a most vicious dictatorship the Iranians have had to endure.

What Now in Iran?

Found this on Payvand Iran News. Not a totally bad analysis. But, the end section of the article (quoted here), sets out the different paths that can unfold from this point.

The most important part the analysis is that it correctly maintains that there are THREE camps (not just two) in the current struggle: the conservatives, the reformists, and the PEOPLE! This last one is completely missing from the analysis of most people. Everybody thinks this is just a power play between the two factions of the system, and so some 'leftists' too cynical to see that people do have their own mind, are construing this whole thing as a CIA-directed velvet revolution. CIA can only WISH they were that good! But, the people in Iran decided to insert themselves as a force independent of both ruling factions and have pushed the issue well past what the 'reformists' are comfortable with.

Mir-Hossein Mousavi's Iran/Contra Connection?

What do Michael Ledeen (the American 'neo-conservative'), Mir-Hossein Mousavi (the Iranian presidential candidate of 'chagne') and Adnan Khashoggi (the opulent Saudi Arabian jet-setter) have in common?

They are all good friends and associates of Manuchehr Ghorbanifar (an Iranian arms merchant, an alleged MOSSAD double agent, and a key figure in the Iran/Contra Affair, the arms-for-hostages deals between Iran and the Reagan administration). In one or two, at most three, degrees of separation, these people hung out in the same circles and very likely drank to the same toasts.

You can find all kinds of trivia about Ghorbanifar in the Walsh Report on the Iran/Contra affair. In Chapter 8, for example, we learn:

"Ghorbanifar, an Iranian exile and former CIA informant who had been discredited by the agency as a fabricator, was a driving force behind these proposals [for arms-for-hostages deal];" or, "Ghorbanifar, as broker for Iran, borrowed funds for the weapons payments from Khashoggi, who loaned millions of dollars to Ghorbanifar in "bridge financing'" for the deals. Ghorbanifar repaid Khashoggi with a 20 percent commission after being paid by the Iranians," (see: http://www.fas.org/irp/offdocs/walsh/chap_08.htm).

Here is a bit from an article by Time magazine that shows Ghorbanifar's circle of associates; it is from a January 1987 cover story (The Murky World of Weapons Dealers; January 19, 1987):

"By [Ghorbanifar's] own account he was a refugee from the revolutionary government of Ayatullah Ruhollah Khomeini, which confiscated his businesses in Iran, yet he later became a trusted friend and kitchen adviser to Mir Hussein Mousavi, Prime Minister in the Khomeini government. Some U.S. officials who have dealt with Ghorbanifar praise him highly. Says Michael Ledeen, adviser to the Pentagon on counterterrorism: "[Ghorbanifar] is one of the most honest, educated, honorable men I have ever known." Others call him a liar who, as one puts it, could not tell the truth about the clothes he is wearing," (emphasis added).

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Iran: June 20th Demonstrations

The images were found by following links from the Kasama site.
The images are powerful in showing the rebels standing, marching, and fighting with the Iranian State security agencies and their quasi-fascist paramilitary street militias like the Basij and Iranian Ansar-e Hezbollah.

While we need to see the complex nature of the demonstrations and that the rebels are in no way a unified political bloc, the revolt by sectors of the Iranian people inspires and cuts against the "anti-imperialist" politics of so many on the Left who give regimes like the Iranian Islamic Republic support in the face of Western capitalist Empire. "Left anti-imperialism" so soften stays mute on the crimes and authoritarianism of governments that appear in opposition to the U.S and its allies. The "Left" by and large gives tacit approval to the regimes of Iran and Venezuela because these governments are seen as somehow an anti-hegemonic force. Talk of how these governments have murdered and outlawed dissent, or how these regimes attempt to liquidate the varied parties and organizations either by force or through "legislating" them into singular, unitary top-down mega-party formations, this talk is muted because the "Left" somehow thinks criticism aids Empire. What criticism there is remains hushed and closeted. those of us who do stand in critical opposition are considered part of the imperialist project.

We can have no illusions in the "progressiveness" or "anti-imperialism" of these regimes. Fuck All Governments. Up with mass rebellion!

more images

And a video showing street fighting by thousands of rebels against the Iranian security forces. Watch entire piece, the best bits are last!


Its also important to show the brutality of the Iranian security agencies. Below is video footage of a 24 year old woman reportedly shot dead by Basij fascists. The woman's name was Neda.

The Video is graphic and disturbing and shows the difficult situation the rebels (as well as everyday peoples who find themselves in the mix) are in.

Remember the dead, fight for the living!

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Marg bar Dictator

(Death to the Dictator)

I talked to a U.S. born Iranian friend of mine who is also an anarchist-communist, and asked his take on the election and protests. His perspective was Moosavi was no progressive or democratic alternative to Ahmadinejad. My friend also said that Moosavi was going to loose as all previous polls showed Ahmadinejad winning by a 2:1 margin.

While Moosavi was able to rally tens of thousands of people - urbanites, students, youth, pro-western and free market business interests, Ahmadinejad has wide and popular support amongst the poor and rural masses that dwarfs the opposition. A combination of fundamentalist politics, charity to the poor in the form of social-economic aid, and opposition to the West/US, have helped solidify Ahmadinejad's political position and to maintain his favor with Grand Ayatollah Khāmene’i - for now - even if Khāmene’i has called for inquiries into the election.

So what then do the protests mean? The value of the opposition and protests is to democratize Iranian society and give voice to the anti-fundamentalist forces despite thses opposition forces being a myriad of tendencies whose varying visions may ultimately be in contradiction to each other as is illustrated by there being both bourgeois and Western trends functioning in the same periphery as a revolutionary "Left" tendency as well as thousands of young people who are just tired of being harassed and repressed. The protests should be supported as being an expression of the anti-theocracy, anti-fundamentalist, and pro-freedom desires of mass sectors of Iranian society.

As for an outcome, the opposition may ask for - in return for putting the breaks on the protests - a Zimbabwe type scenario, that being where Moosavi is brought into a governmental configuration with Ahmadinejad. There is no exact example of this in contemporary Iranian history, but it may be the only pragmatic way the Iranian ruling classes see of ending the protests. I think that such a scenario would stabilize Iran but in doing so would extinguish the actual progressive and radical potentials that the protest movements and demonstrations represent.

Here are some links to various news and analysis on the Iranian situation. As always, threewayfight does not necessarily endorse the political conclusions of these articles or links.

from the forum Anarchist Black Cat:

Paul: On the one hand you have the, for lack of a better term, "Pro-market" wing - i.e. wealthy business men (aligned with Rafsanjani) and their small business and monied middle class allies who are frustrated with the Republican Guards creeping takeover of the economy. Mousavi's economic programme is definitely oriented in this direction.

You also have the pro-democracy and pro-liberalisation students who rioted in 1999 and 2003.

But still, both of these together do not add up to the mass upsurge we have seen in the last days. I speculate that the spontaneous mass mobilisation is more to do with an anti-Basij tendency than the pro-market one. In effect the attack on the Basij base was both manifestation and manifesto. Bob Fisk made the point, in a comment quoted by Al Jazeera:

But Fisk said not all the protesters were supporting Mousavi, many were simply making a statement about the vote.

"I don't think they [the demonstrators] are all supporting Mir Hossein Mousavi, they are objecting to the presence of Ahmadinejad as the president. They don't believe he won those votes," he told Al Jazeera.

and form the Maoist website, Kasama:

Mike Ely: We have long strongly and correctly opposed the sinister threats of both the U.S. and Israel against the people of Iran. And certainly these are moments when we all need to redouble those efforts together. There is no excuse for allowing these events to become some sick new justification for a criminal U.S. grab for Mideast hegemony.
At the same time, there now come to us, from this major country groaning so long under the bloody hand of the Shi’ite fundamentalists, the cries of people rising up and demanding radical changes. We need to find the ways to politically support them — and to popularize the revolutionary, secular and socialist currents that may well contend and grow among them.
In times of tight repressive governments, outbreaks among the people often involve exploiting cracks (and in-fighting) within the establishment. Liberal reform movements almost always intermingle with more deeply revolutionary currents.

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Shooting at Holocaust museum by fascist White Nationalist

...over at Stormfront there is debate over the actual importance or effectiveness of James Von Brunn's attack today.

There seem to be two threads, one now locked for security purposes and one still open. The nazi mods locked one because users may have made comments that heralded Von Brunn for his action while the open one had mostly posters taking a critical view of his attack.

The posts ranged from 1) the quasi critical,

"Utterly ridiculous, pointless...As I've been saying, a nationalist movement will only proceed once it becomes an INTELLECTUAL movement."

and another Stormfront poster (less critical)

"I just finished reading Mr. Von Brunn's book. From the beginning it captured me. It is full of startling fact and insights. The historical references to infamous events in world history and the real story behind the scenes were riveting. I recommend it to anyone who has the courage to rise above the MSM’s obviously false version of events.

I deplore the fact that an innocent man who was just performing his job as a security guard has been killed. His family and loved ones have my sympathy and prayer’s

The reason’s for Mr. Von Brunn’s actions are perhaps only known to him. The passion with which he writes and his history of activism leads me to wonder if this was intended to be a suicide. Mr. Brunn is very aware that the time left to save the White Race and America as he knew it is very short. Recent events and his advancing age may have been factors in his decision to go out with a bang."

2) adressing the futility of the action and seeing the attack as a set back for the White fascist movement:

"Senseless, violent actions such as what we witnessed today at the Holocaust Museum only sets back the White Nationalist movement."

3) to even wondering if Von Brunn was just now a wacko in his old age:

"I dont know what he was thinking today. What makes an old man get up in the morning and say, 'I am going to go and find the most public/sympathetic target I can find and launch the most IN-effectual attack EVER on it! Then I will cause as much issue as I can for everyone in the cause, and live through it, so that I can be held up for months or years afterward as a example of the 'smart lone-wolf'

I for one would like to thank his dumbass personally for all his help to us. So "Thank you Mr. Dumbass...!"

Does anyone know if he had Altzheimers? Possibly simple dementia?"

The Stormfront posts show that the fascists understand that by and large the current period is not conducive to armed attacks, and little benefit will come to them if there ranks carry out spectacular acts of terror - although ther are plenty among there ranks who thinka nd act otherwise, or do so in less visible ways. If one can stomach the crap on Stormfront we can see that plenty of the fascists are thinking strategically about movement building.

The liberal press is turning the two recent attacks/murders - Dr. Tiller and now at the Holocaust Museum and the murder of guard Stephen T. Johns - into a hysteria. Liberal commentators are presing for domestic terror policy to be enacted against the Right. While the attacks show the ongoing reality of fascist and racialist terror, an expanded and official policy to investigate and develop counter insurgency methods against the Right will be used against other "dissident" groups and any sector that refuses the authority of the State. This is the dilemma that civil libertarian groups raise and which has often led them to defend the legal "right" to unpopular speech.

It is these terror attacks that the State will use to strengthen its hand, or at the least the State will attempt to push forward legislation - or covert operations - to monitor and destablize threats. The Bush administration did this with DHS, the Patriot Act, FISA, etc, we will have to watch to see how the Democrats act.

What is important for anti-fascists is that these attacks, coupled with the continuing capitalist crisis, the growing right-wing backlash against the Obama administration, and the disarray of the Republican party, the importance is that we are seeing more clearly the possibilities of a renewed reactionary movement that may currently be tied to electoralism but demonstrating the potential for elements within it to become semi-autonomous with a break from the legal confines of the Systems politico-socio framework.

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Militant Anti-Abortion Activity, the Patriot Movement, & the Christian Right

From the Public Eye, we link to articles relating to the assassination of Dr. Tiller, the Christian fundamentalist movement, and the Far-Right.

PHOTO: Dr. George Tiller's Wichita clinic was the target of continuing demonstrations by Operation Rescue dating to August 1991 and its massive "Summer of Mercy" protests.

The recent killing of Dr. George Tiller, an abortion provider who has been targeted by anti-abortion activists for decades, has prompted a reexamination of the motivations for violence against clinics and providers. Some anti-abortion activists respond to the slogan, “If abortion is murder, then act like it” by engaging in non-violent demonstrations or civil disobedience, but others feel that performing abortions justifies a violent response. This small subset of the anti-abortion movement sometimes intersects with people who deeply oppose what they see as government intrusion, especially by liberal policies, into their lives. This web resource is intended to shed light on the complex relationships between thought and action behind the assassination.

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Rose City Antifas Expose Portland Nazis

Portland Anti-Racists Raise Awareness about Local Neo-Nazis
author: Rose City AntiFascists. From Portland Indymedia

Rose City Antifa would like to present you with more information on local white supremacist group, Volksfront, and its members who are recruiting in our communities. As long as violent thugs are organizing under the banner of white nationalism in Portland, we will expose their ignorant, harmful beliefs to the light of reason and oppose their activity, wherever they may try to sew the seeds of racial hatred and homophobia.

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Two Interviews with Russian Anti-Racist and Anti-Fascists

28.02.2009 | Interview with Russian anti-racists

Recently Swedish activist Etranger questioned two Moscow activists, Utka and Igor, on state of anti-racist movement and activities of anti-migrant groups. Swedish version of the interview was published in http://www.motkraft.net/text/396. In this interview, Utka and Igor represent themselves and not any particular group.

14.02.2009 | An interview with Autonomous Action by Danish Autonom Info Service

Recently Danish Autonom Info Service contacted us to ask some questions on current political situation and state of the "left" in Russia. Danish version of the interview is available at Danish indymedia, http://indymedia.dk/articles/781.
Answers by activist of Moscow Autonomous Action Igor, in personal capacity.

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New agitprop video from Russian anarchist and antifascists

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No to repressions against anti-fascists of Izhevsk, Russia!

from the Russian antifascist Autonomous Action website, Автономное Действие

In Izhevsk, Department of Counteraction Against Extremism (CPE, formerly Administration on Fight with Organised Crime UBOP) once againt framed up a criminal case against anti-fascist movement.

This is just the latest episode in a chain of repressions against anti-fascists, which started i 2008 - during a year more than 80 people have been illegally detained for various reasons, five criminal cases have been opened, but in four charges cases were closed as "crime had not taken place".

While investigating these cases, officers of UBOP were using a variety of illegal means. Witnesses and accused were targeted with verbal and psychological abuse, there were number of cases with anti-fascists being tortured and threatened. In all of the criminal cases, announced "victims" were Nazis, who were in trouble with the law - in practice all of them were facing felony charges for "hooliganism", "causing physical harm", "vandalism" and other statues of Russian criminal codex.

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Summary of solidarity actions for Ukrainian and Russian anti-fascists 24th-26th of May

from the Russian antifascist Autonomous Action website, Автономное Действие

24th and 25th of May were declared as "international days of action for Ukrainian and Russian anti-fascists" (see call here: http://www.avtonom.org/index.php?nid=2527), eventually actions were reported in 5 East- and North European countries, besides these an action was announced for Sunday 24th in London, but this far there has not been reportback from there.

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Kansas Doctor Assasinated for perfroming Abortions

The revolutionary communist website, Kasama, has a roundup of info regarding the assignation of Dr. George Tiller, a Wichita, Kansas abortion provider. -C. Alexander for 3WF

White Armbands for George Tiller — Monday
Enzo posted this.

NOW Identifies Murder of Dr. George Tiller As Domestic Terrorism, Calls for Action from Justice Department and Homeland Security
Statement of NOW President Kim Gandy

June 1, 2009

Women across the country have lost a champion today. The cold-blooded murder of Dr. George Tiller this morning in church is a stark reminder that women’s bodies are still a battleground, and health care professionals are on the frontlines.

This kind man and skilled doctor braved blockades, harassment, assault, and countless threats, including an attempted murder in 1993 when he was shot in both arms. He knew his life was in constant jeopardy, and that he would likely die at the hands of an anti-abortion terrorist — yet he continued to protect his patients and provide safe and legal abortions to women in often-desperate circumstances. Those who are behind this murder may believe that the killing of George Tiller will mean that these women will have nowhere else to turn, but they are wrong. On the contrary, I believe their depraved acts will inspire another doctor to take up the torch, and another, and another.

Terrorism & the State: A Lesson, Again, for Right and Left

RedFlags suggested that we post this piece from Al’s blog “The Field.” We are posting this because of the importance of this assassination, and (as usual) this does not mean that we are endorsing the particular analysis made.

By Al Giordano

“…those who today, either out of despair or because they are victims of the propaganda the regime propagates in favour of terrorism as the nec plus ultra of subversion, contemplate artificial terrorism with uncritical admiration, even attempting sometimes to practise it, do not know that they are only competing with the State on its own terrain, and do not know that, on its own terrain, not only is the State the strongest but that it will always have the last word.”

- Gianfranco Sanguinetti

On Terrorism and the State

The assassination this morning of Wichita doctor George Tiller, on his way into a Lutheran church service, was the second attempt on his life, this one successful. The first attempt on the doctor who works in a reproductive health clinic that has long been targeted by Operation Rescue and other anti-choice organizations came on August 19, 1993, when a man named Stanley Shannon’s bullets wounded the doctor in both arms. (Shannon served an 11-year sentence for that crime.)

Outrage in Kansas: Assassinated for Serving Women

This was originally posted in nytimes.com.

Doctor Who Performed Abortions Is Shot to Death

By MONICA DAVEY and JOE STUMPE

WICHITA, Kan. — Authorities said they had a suspect in custody Sunday afternoon in the shooting death of George Tiller, a Wichita doctor who was one of the few doctors in the nation to perform late-term abortions.

Dr. Tiller, who had long been a lightning rod for controversy over the issue of abortion and had survived a shooting more than a decade ago, was shot inside his church here on Sunday morning, the authorities said. Dr. Tiller, 67, was shot with a handgun inside the lobby of his longtime church, Reformation Lutheran Church on the city’s East Side, just after 10 a.m. (Central Time). The service had started minutes earlier.

Dr. Tiller, who had performed abortions since the 1970s, had long been a lightning rod for controversy over the issue of abortion, particularly in Kansas, where abortion opponents regularly protested outside his clinic and sometimes his home and church. In 1993, he was shot in both arms by an abortion opponent but recovered.

Murder Preparation: Fox Campaign Against George Tiller

O’Reilly’s reactionary smear of this courageous women’s doctor became grist for the anti-abortionist right.

Assassinations, Arson, Threats: And They Call It “Pro-Life”?

Incidents in the United States (taken from wikipedia)

Murders

In the U.S., violence directed toward abortion providers has killed at least 9 people, including 5 doctors, 2 clinic employees, a security guard, and a clinic escort.^[4]

• March 10, 1993: Dr. David Gunn of Pensacola, Florida was fatally shot during a protest. He had been the subject of wanted-style posters distributed by Operation Rescue in the summer of the year before. Michael F. Griffin was found guilty of Dr. Gunn’s murder and was sentenced to life in prison.
• June 29, 1994: Dr. John Britton and James Barrett, a clinic escort, were both shot to death outside of another facility in Pensacola. Rev. Paul Jennings Hill was charged with the killings, received a death sentence, and was executed September 3, 2003.
• December 30, 1994: Two receptionists, Shannon Lowney and Lee Ann Nichols, were killed in two clinic attacks in Brookline, Massachusetts. John Salvi, who prior to his arrest was distributing pamphlets from Human Life International,^[5] was arrested and confessed to the killings. He committed suicide in prison and guards found his body under his bed with a plastic garbage bag tied around his head. Salvi had also confessed to a non-lethal attack in Norfolk, Virginia days before the Brookline killings.

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