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Global Left Midweek – April 2, 2025

As the world churns

Wheelchair users lead protesters onto a road block in London, demanding an end to cuts in disability services. Credit, The Canary (London)

A  brief note from your GLM moderator:

If you find this feature useful and informative, please recommend it to anyone you know with an interest in the emerging world movement. In hard times, internationalism is more important than ever. It keeps us in pace with the tides of history. Our job is to make it recognizable and inspiring. And it’s free! – Ethan Young, Global Left Midweek, Portside

 

  1. Will the UN Survive?
  2. Gender Equality: State of the Struggle
  3. Video: Giant Rally Against Racism in Paris
  4. Dossier on Fighting the Far Right
  5. Students Hit the Streets in Southeastern Europe
  6. Gazans Challenge Hamas Leadership
  7. Fury Meets Pride Ban in Hungary
  8. Win for Transit Workers in Mexico City
  9. London: Disabled Activists Raise Hell
  10. Urgent Debates

 

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Will the UN Survive?

Jayati Ghosh / The Independent (Kampala)

Many political leaders remain committed to multilateralism despite the influence of what John Maynard Keynes once called “madmen in authority.” International negotiations on taxation, climate action, and development financing are moving forward, even without U.S. participation. In fact, the absence of the U.S. could pave the way for more ambitious and effective global agreements.

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Gender Equality: State of the Struggle

Equal Times (Brussels)

Although significant, life-changing progress has been made over the past 30 years thanks to the Beijing Platform for Action, there is still an incredibly long way to go. To date, no country has achieved full legal equality between women and men and not one single indicator under SDG Goal 5 on gender equality has been met.

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Video: Giant Rally Against Racism in Paris

AnewZ (Baku)

Around 10,000 people marched in Paris to protest what they see as a rising tolerance for hate speech and extremist ideas. The demonstration united causes including anti-racism, support for Gaza, and rights for undocumented immigrants, and took place a day after the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination. Similar rallies were held in Lyon and Toulouse.

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Dossier on Fighting the Far Right

Rosa Luxemburg Stiftung (Berlin)

In country after country, the Left faces the challenge of developing effective strategies to counter the authoritarian wave. Democratic institutions must be defended, strengthened, and renewed. Our latest dossier highlights analysis of the challenges we face, and the concrete tasks and strategies that the Left around the world is using to push back the far right.

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Students Hit the Streets in Southeastern Europe

Turkey   Antoine Larrache and Uraz Aydin / International Viewpoint (Paris)

Macedonia   Anastazija Govedarica Antanasijević / Europe Solidaire Sans Frontières (Paris)

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Gazans Challenge Hamas Leadership

Ruwaida Amer / +972 (Tel Aviv)

Palestinians across the Gaza Strip took to the streets to demand an end to Israel’s genocidal onslaught and to Hamas’ rule of the territory. The protests are the largest since the war began, and the most significant public display of dissent against Hamas in Gaza in years. They spread from Beit Lahiya to Shuja’iyya in the north, Nuseirat and Deir Al-Balah in the center, and Khan Younis in the south.

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Fury Meets Pride Ban in Hungary

Justin Spike / Associated Press (New York)

Several thousand protesters blocked major thoroughfares and three bridges in the center of Hungary’s capital in opposition to a recent law that effectively bans LGBTQ+ Pride events and restricts Hungarians’ right to assembly. The demonstration was the second within a week since Hungary’s ruling Fidesz party used its two-thirds parliamentary majority to fast-track the law.

(Update: On April 1, thousands of protesters returned to the streets of Budapest to demand an end to Orban’s crackdown on LGBTQ rights.)

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Win for Transit Workers in Mexico City

Natascha Elena Uhlmann / Labor Notes (Brooklyn)

The 1,970 rail, trolleybus, and cable car workers who make Mexico City run have reached a three-year tentative agreement, averting a strike. The deal includes a 3.5 percent raise and increased investments in food voucher benefits and a scholarship fund for workers and their children. 

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London: Disabled Activists Raise Hell

Steve Topple / The Canary (London)

The #WelfareNotWarfare protest from Disabled People Against Cuts (DPAC) showed that the Labour Party is going to face resistance to its attempts to cut people’s benefits – and potentially kill them. At Downing Street, wheelchair users led protesters onto a road block. Around 1,000 people moved from Downing Street to the main junction at Parliament Square. 

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Urgent Debates

Kenya: Economic Justice and Gender Justice Elsa N Kariuki / Africa is a Country (New York)

Ecosocialism and Growth   Ståle Holgersen / Climate and Capitalism (New York)