Global Left Midweek – October 23, 2024
- Antiwar Protests and Resistance in Russia
- Elections Elsewhere
- Housing Movement in Spain
- Working Classes Come Together in Kenya
- Wages of War
- Unrest Continues in Martinique
- Climate Action International
- France’s Persecution of Pan-Africanist Kemi Sea
- Cuba’s Agony
- Life in the Comintern
__________
Antiwar Protests and Resistance in Russia
Why are there no mass anti-war demonstrations in Russia? What do individual protest actions against Putin’s regime look like? How do people resist the logistics of war? Solidarity Zone activist Ivan Astashin recounts a short history of anti-war protest in Russia.
__________
Elections Elsewhere
• Thai Progressives Write a New Script David Hutt / The Diplomat (Arlington VA)
• La France Insoumise John Mullen / Tempest (Brooklyn)
• Tunisia Has a Big Problem Aseel Saleh / Peoples Dispatch (New Delhi)
• Sinn Féin Setbacks Shawn Pogatchnik / Politico.eu (Brussels)
• Another Look at Sri Lanka Election Ahilan Kadirgamar and Devaka Gunawardena / International Development Economics Associates (Oxford)
__________
Housing Movement in Spain
Nina Cook / Euro Weekly News (Málaga)
On October 13, 2024, Madrid became the focal point of a massive protest as thousands took to the streets to demand action on Spain’s ongoing housing crisis. The protest, organised by several advocacy groups and supported by a wide array of social organisations, unions, and political parties, exposed the growing difficulties in securing affordable housing in the capital and across the country.
Lea un informe completo en español de EL PAÍS aquí.
__________
Working Classes Come Together in Kenya
Caroline Kimeu / New Lines (Washington DC)
Online opposition represented deep-seated public anger over how the country is run, as became clear when the social media protests spilled onto the streets and tens of thousands marched across the country. Everyone, from influencers to informal workers rallied behind the calls for lawmakers to rule out the tax proposals. The working poor showed up with fervor.
__________
Wages of War
• Governing Gaza Said Zeedani / +972 (Tel Aviv)
• European Jews for Palestine Micol Meghnagi / il manifesto Global (Rome)
• Call from Palestinian Unions Workers in Palestine
__________
Unrest Continues in Martinique
Paul Kirby / BBC News (London)
Martinique has been rocked by protests that have left four people dead in clashes and shops and businesses set alight or looted. Authorities in the French territory have extended an overnight curfew to next week. A deal to cut food prices has been rejected by the group behind the protests.
__________
Climate Action International
• Palestine Hamza Hamouchene / Red Pepper (London)
• Zimbabwe Aimee Gabay and Tatenda Chitagu / Mongabay (Menlo Park CA)
• Honduras: Remembering Juan López Giada Ferrucci / NACLA Report (New York)
• Documentary: Witsuwit'en, Canada / CBC Docs (Toronto)
• Shipibo-Conibo of the Peruvian Amazon Harriet Barber / The Guardian (London)
__________
France’s Persecution of Pan-Africanist Kemi Seba
Pavan Kulkarni / Peoples Dispatch
Masked men violently seized one of Francophone Africa’s leading anti-colonial activists, Kema Seba, in Paris on October 14. The 42-year-old is the President of Urgences Panafricanistes (Pan-Africanist Emergencies) which has been on the frontline of the movement across France’s former colonies in West Africa against its continuing monetary stranglehold through its colonial currency of CFA-Franc.
__________
Cuba’s Agony
Al Jazeera (Doha)
Electricity is slowly returning to Havana, Cuba’s capital, days after a nationwide blackout plunged the country of 10 million into total darkness on Friday, causing the government to close all non-essential workplaces and cancel school classes until Thursday. Adding to concerns, Hurricane Oscar made landfall in eastern Cuba late Sunday afternoon as a Category 1 storm.
__________
Life in the Comintern
Aidan Beatty / Jacobin
The Communist International’s history is often told in terms of polemics among its leaders. But studying the biographies of lesser-known militants who came to Moscow gives a more real sense of the movement’s internal life and what it was like to belong to it.