Portside

1. Europe: The Bad, the Ugly and the Better-Than-Nothing
2. Ghana: Digital Activism Against Homophobia
3. New Antifascist Front in France
4. Ecuador: Stopping the Oil Drillers
5. Fighting for Women’s Voices in China
6. Ukraine: People’s Peace Not Imperial Peace
7. Left Views on South African Election
8. Video: Brazilian Women Demand Abortion Rights
9. Letter from Imprisoned Iranian Labor Activists
10. Remembering Zarina Patel

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Europe: The Bad, the Ugly and the Better-Than-Nothing

Cornelia Hildebrandt / transform!europe (Vienna)

Even if the EP elections were primarily shaped by national campaigns, other common issues were at the centre of the European elections: security in the face of wars, crises and social upheavals, immigration and climate change. None of these interconnected problems can be solved at the national level. But effective and, more importantly, tangible European solutions are hard to come by.

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Ghana: Digital Activism Against Homophobia

Chiamaka Muoneke / Red Pepper (London)

Social media has created some safer space for queer people in Africa to thrive. There, people share experiences and find communities, with African laws not yet criminalising online activity. These same platforms have been an important tool in the fight against Ghana’s recent anti-LGBTQ+ law. 

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New Antifascist Front in France

• It Starts with a Bang   / Al Jazeera (Doha)
   
• The Front and France Insoumise   John Mullen and Susan Price / Green Left (Sydney)
   
• Responding to Le Pen — and Macron   Nessim Achouche / Rosa Luxemburg Stiftung (Berlin)  
   
• The Breadth   / France 24 (Paris)
   
• The Prospects   Pablo Castaño / Jacobin (Brooklyn)

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Ecuador: Stopping the Oil Drillers

Nemonte Nenquimo / The Guardian

President Noboa, just like his predecessors on the right and the left, wants to destroy the Amazon for oil. How many times will we have to go to court? How many times will we have to take to the streets? How many national referendums will we have to organise and win? How many times will we have to call a national strike or call upon presidents to abide by the law? As many times as it takes. 

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Fighting for Women’s Voices in China

• Sophia Huang   Mansi Jagani / The Indian Express (Noida)
   
• Lü Pin   Dalia Parete / China Media Project (Taipei)

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Ukraine: People’s Peace Not Imperial Peace

Links (Sydney)

Due to the massive – and surprising – resistance of the Ukrainian population, the governments of Europe and North America began to support the Ukrainian army in its defence against the Russian occupying forces. However, they are backing Ukraine to assert their own interests in the global imperialist rivalry. 

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Left Views on South African Election

• From Protest to Power   Sean Jacobs / London Review of Books
   
• Populism at the Heart   Mazibuko Kanyiso Jara / Elitsha (Xhosa)
   
• Between Two Evils   Niall Reddy / Africa is a Country (New York)

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Video: Brazilian Women Demand Abortion Rights

StratNewsGlobal (New Delhi)

Thousands took to the streets of Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro after a controversial bill was sent to Brazil's Chamber of Deputies this week. The bill equates legal abortion to homicide if the fetus is terminated after the 22nd week of gestation. It is promoted by an influential evangelical group, part of a conservative push in Congress, where leftist President Lula and his supporters are in the minority.

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Letter from Imprisoned Iranian Labor Activists

Reza Shahabi and Davoud Razavi / Center for Human Rights in Iran (New York)

Hundreds of labor activists, teachers, students, and women have been fired, arrested, or imprisoned simply for engaging in union and civic activities to defend their rights. The few independent workers’ and teachers’ organizations, including our own union and teachers’ organizations, are constantly under the microscope of the security forces.

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Remembering Zarina Patel

Lucien van der Walt / Amandla! (Cape Town)

Zarina Patel, champion of the workers and women, passed away on 25 April 2024 after a long illness, aged 88. Author, artist, editor, and stalwart of popular movements, she is widely mourned. Her political life, and her research, provide a unique window into the often-forgotten story of labour and left-wing movements in Kenya. She not only wrote histories — she made history.