Global Left Midweek – December 20, 2023

A time to try the soul of humanity

Portside
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Extermination Rebellion activists brave the water cannons in Amsterdam on Sept. 9. Credit, Instagram/@maarten.photomic
  1. Taking Up the Call from Palestinian Trade Unions
  2. Labor Prepares for a New Stage
  3. Fidel, Seven Years On
  4. Anticolonial Summit in Marrakech
  5. Quebec Teachers Strike
  6. Analysis of the pro-Palestinian Resistance
  7. From Nigeria: Movement Leadership
  8. Boris Kagarlitsky is Free!
  9. Bolivia: MAS Split
  10. Learning From a Dutch Climate Campaign’s Success

 

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Taking Up the Call from Palestinian Trade Unions

Rafeef Ziadah and Katy Fox-Hodess / Jacobin (New York)

From India to Canada to Belgium and many places in between, union members are standing up in solidarity with the Palestinian people, taking action to stop the flow of arms being used by Israel in its destructive war on Gaza.

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Labor Prepares for a New Stage

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Fidel, Seven Years On

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Rafael Hernández / On Cuba (Miami)

In my experience giving lectures and classes in the United States about Cuba, the most common question was “What will happen when Fidel Castro dies?” My reply, trying to explain the stability of the Cuban system beyond him, began by saying “If he ever dies….” Not only did he survive, but he became a world figure, who would speed up the second half of the 20th century.

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Anticolonial Summit in Marrakech

Maha Ben Gadha and Imen Louati / Rosa Luxemburg Stiftung (Tunis)

“The Global Social Movements Summit against the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank meetings” was held in Marrakech in October 2023. This Counter-Summit brought together more than 170 organizations that included representations from global social and climate grassroots movements, from all over the world.

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Quebec Teachers Strike

Christopher Curtis / The Rover (Montreal)

The 66,000 teachers on strike with Fédération autonome des enseignants (FAE) were joined by over 420,000 public sector workers from Quebec’s four largest labour unions. The teachers have had an unlimited strike mandate since Nov. 23 and they’re still on the streets.

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Analysis of the pro-Palestinian Resistance

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From Nigeria: Movement Leadership

Maryjacob Okwuosa / International Center on Nonviolent Conflict (Washington)

These are lessons learned from experience, for movement actors who wish to engage more effectively in leadership, whether that means reassessing leadership structure at important junctions, creating unity, making calls on the limitations of organizing, or rekindling the movement’s flame.

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Boris Kagarlitsky is Free!

Tord Björk / International Peace Bureau (Berlin)

Unlike many other prominent opponents of Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine, Kagarlitsky did not flee the country but continued his advocacy work from Moscow. Boris Kagarlitsky was able to leave the court today as a free man. He is, however, sentenced not to edit any media or website for two years and a fine of 6,000 dollars.

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Bolivia: MAS Split

Linda Farthing / NACLA Report (New York)

Bolivia’s most important political force since its 1952 revolution, the Movimiento al Socialismo (MAS), is tearing itself apart. Leadership rifts threaten not only the party, but the political project and unity of the social movements that thrust the MAS unexpectedly into office in 2005.

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Learning From a Dutch Climate Campaign’s Success

Douglas Rogers / Waging Nonviolence (Brooklyn)

A multi-year campaign of disruption induced the Dutch Parliament to move towards a phasing-out of fossil fuel subsidies: a truly remarkable moment and concession. Over the course of a year, Extinction Rebellion Netherlands and its allies have cultivated what can only accurately be described as magic: a swirling cascade of positive energy, compelling narratives and movement growth.