Global Left Midweek — May 6, 2026
- May Day 2026 Worldwide
- Israel’s Criminal Interception of Freedom Flotilla
- Energy Talks in Colombia
- South African CP and ANC Are Rivals Now
- International Push Against Data Centers
- Indigenous: After Insurgency
- Sudan’s Loss is Everyone’s: Muzan Alneel
- Iraq Communists Fight Ethno-Sectarianism
- Debate: How Do We Oppose Imperialist War?
- Africa: Finding Where Democracy Comes From
The Associated Press (New York)
May Day 2026 saw large marches and protests as many workers grapple with rising energy costs and shrinking purchasing power tied to the Iran war. Thousands took to the streets from Asia to Europe and beyond calling for stronger labor protections, higher wages and greater equality while drawing attention to stagnant incomes and the rising cost of living.
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Israel’s Criminal Interception of Freedom Flotilla
Al Jazeera (Doha)
Freedom Flotilla boats were seized by Israel in international waters off Greece’s Peloponnese Peninsula, hundreds of miles from Gaza, the flotilla’s organisers said. Israel “kidnapped” 211 of the 400 activists taking part in the flotilla, including a Paris city councillor, according to the flotilla’s organisers. Israel’s Foreign Ministry had earlier put the number of those detained at 175.
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Daisy Dunne / Carbon Brief (London)
Countries attending a first-of-its-kind summit have walked away with plans to develop national roadmaps away from fossil fuels, addressing harmful subsidies and carbon-intensive trade. The first conference on “transitioning away” from fossil fuels held in Santa Marta, Colombia, from 24-29 April saw 57 countries debate practical ways to move away from coal, oil and gas.
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South African CP and ANC Are Rivals Now
A Watershed Moment for Left-Wing Politics Prof. Sipho Seepe / Sunday Tribune (Durban)
ANC on SACP Mahlengi Bhengu / African National Congress (Johannesburg)
SACP on ANC Mbulelo Mandlana / South African Communist Party (Johannesburg)
COSATU Weighs In Simon Majadibodu / Cape Argus (Cape Town)
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International Push Against Data Centers
Daniela Dib and Rina Chandran / Rest of World (New York)
Silicon Valley relies on resources in nations including Chile, Kenya, and the Philippines to develop its chips, train its AI models, and build its data centers. Workers and local communities in these countries are now pushing back against the demands and practices of big tech companies, which are resulting in enormous environmental and social costs to them.
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Sahasranshu Dash / Foreign Policy in Focus (Washington DC)
Peru after the fall of the Shining Path and Colombia after the FARC show that the end of guerrilla warfare produces not clarity but a political vacuum. When the gun no longer claims to speak for the dispossessed, a harder question emerges about how popular politics survives. That question, long familiar in Latin America, now confronts India.
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Sudan’s Loss is Everyone’s: Muzan Alneel
Walaa Salah, Rania Aziz and Raga Makawi / MERIP (Ardmore PA)
On April 15, 2026, the third anniversary of Sudan’s counterrevolutionary war, we learned of the loss of Muzan Alneel. All of Muzan’s organizing efforts—whether in writing, mobilizing or reimagining public policy—were in service of finding alternatives to centralized, imposed governance by placing people and their many and varying capabilities at the center of national rebuilding.
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Iraq Communists Fight Ethno-Sectarianism
Ra’id Fahmi and Nabil Salih / Jacobin (Brooklyn)
The Iraqi Communist Party was a major force in Iraqi politics before it was savagely repressed under Baathist rule. Since it reemerged as a legal force, its members have been working to challenge the sectarian mold of Iraqi politics.
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Debate: How Do We Oppose Imperialist War?
It’s Hyper-Imperialism Steve Ellner / Links (Sydney)
“Our Oil” Sankha Subhra Biswas / Links
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Africa: Finding Where Democracy Comes From
Ouma Don Collins / Pambazuka News (Nairobi)
Democratic renewal in Africa will not be handed down from above. It will be built from below, on foundations that are principally African, in institutions that are genuinely accountable, toward a vision of human flourishing that capitalism, however it is dressed, has never been able to provide.