International Brigade

COSATU GS Zwelinzima Vavi will be the main speaker this evening at Constitution Hill (Women’s Jail Atrium, 1 Kotze Street) at 18h00 the occasion is the launch of a book called “Trade Unions and Democracy”, published by HSRC. The Palestinian heroine Leila Khaled met with COSATU office-bearers and later addressed the media in COSATU House yesterday, making a powerful impression. Together with COSATU’s President Willie Madisha she made the call for a huge international mass movement to put a stop the assault upon humanity that the unrestrained Israeli colonialist aggression represents. COSATU will use all its international influence to this effect. COSATU calls upon the South African government to withdraw its ambassador from Israel and send the Israeli ambassador in SA back. See the linked statement. Today in the morning there will be a further planning meeting of an ad hoc steering committee charged with planning the Free the Cuban Five campaign in September and October this year. On July 26th there will be a general meeting to further consolidate the plans and also to celebrate the Cuban national day. See the linked minutes. Those who hide their past are condemned to repeat it. The Spanish Civil War (in which the communist writer on liberty, Christopher Caudwell whose work the Communist University has often studied, was killed) was an enormous historical event, quite recent in time. It is not known how many communists and other democratic republicans were killed there in battle or later, in cold blood. The linked article tells a lot of this history but by no means all of it. More Spanish communists and republicans were killed in the German Nazi concentration camps, for example. But the article gives a good idea of what lies under the carpet of European appearances of respectability. Click on these links: COSATU meets Leila Khaled (719 words) Free the Five meeting 060707 (925 words) Spanish Civil War, 70 Years On - Deafening Silence, Counterpunch (3071 words)