They Shall Not Pass!

Kristallnacht (night of broken glass) was a pogrom against Jews throughout Germany and parts of Austria on the night of 9 - 10 November 1938. Jewish homes were ransacked in numerous German cities along with 8,000 Jewish shops, towns and villages, as civilians and stormtroopers destroyed buildings with sledgehammers, leaving the streets covered in smashed windows. Jews were beaten to death; 30,000 Jewish men were taken to concentration camps; and 1,668 synagogues were ransacked with 267 set on fire. (This information is from Wikipedia).

Now, in Prague, in the Czech Republic, a fascist organisation calling itself “National Resistance” is to be permitted to hold a march to celebrate the anniversary of Kristallnacht by parading through the city’s Jewish Quarter. The Prague municipality twice banned the march but Eric Sedlacek of the “National Resistance” went to court to challenge the ban. On both occasions, the Czech courts found in favour of the fascists, and now the march looks set to go ahead on 10 November, 2007. (This information is from Liberation in London).

In South Africa, protests against this vile outrage can be directed at the Czech Embassy, 936 Pretorius Street ,Arcadia, 0083; Postal address P O Box 13671, Hatfield, 0028: Telephone: 012 431 2380, 012 430 3601, 012 430 2328 and Fax: 012 430 2033. In Cape Town the details are: Czech Consulate, Bergzicht, 2 Fleetwood Street, Claremont, 7700; Post: P O Box 44357, Claremont, 7735; Telephone: 021 797 9835; Fax: 021 797 2776; and e-mail: capetown@embassy.mzv.ca . The Czech National Day is 28 October. (This information is from the SA Department of Foreign Affairs).

The Anniversary of the Great October Soviet Socialist Revolution is on Wednesday, 7th November, 2007. The Prague fascists will undoubtedly have been thinking of this when they planned their provocation for the following Saturday. Let us hope that communists from all over Europe will place themselves in the Jewish Quarter on that day and say: “They Shall Not Pass!”, just as they did in Cable Street, in London, in 1936.

It is good to hear that there are to be 11 simultaneous peace rallies all across the USA on 27 October 2007. These rallies have been organised differently than before. The organisation is decentralised and is in the hands of local structures. This should mean a much more successful event than previously.

In India, the concerted action of the communists over the past two years has included a re-run of the Ghandian “salt march” tactic. The alliance that these communists have led has succeeded in stalling what is referred to in India as the “Nuclear Deal”, between India and the USA. The nuclear part of this deal is scandalous at a time when the USA is threatening war on Iran on the grounds that Iran has a nuclear power programme, while India has long since developed and tested an actual nuclear weapon. But the deal means much more than just lethal nuclear double standards. It means the selling of Indian independence by the Indian bourgeoisie to the US ruling class, and the consequent abandonment of the Indian poor to a terrible fate.

In the article below, the association of the Indian Nuclear Deal with South Africa, both by comparison and by actual links (we have often seen their Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh, over here in recent months) is made explicit. Indian Independence in 1947 resulted in the consolidation of a national-bourgeois, anti-Imperialist state that was the first to boycott the racist apartheid South African regime. Yet because India was unable to move beyond its “national democratic society” (NDS) stage, its bourgeois ruling class is now, inevitably, seeking allies among its former enemies against its own working class and poor. This is the fate that South Africa must avoid. The battle to avoid that fate starts anew at Polokwane.

The People’s Republic of China yesterday launched its first lunar probe, called Chang’e 1. This is a satellite that will enter an orbit around the moon, making images and scientific measurements. The Communist Party of China has successfully completed its 17th National Congress in Beijing.

The pictures are of Dolores Ibaruri, “La Pasionaria”, the Spanish communist anti-fascist orator forever associated with the slogan No Pasaran! (They Shall Not Pass!).

Click on these links:

The Nuke Deal is Dead, Vijay Prashad, Counterpunch (2282 words)

The i-Rack (YouTube, 4 minute video)