www.thecommunists.net Issue No. 7 March 2013 In Palestine, Syria, Egypt, Tunisia: Fight Imperialism, Zionism and Arab Dictators! For Workers and Peasants Republics! plus: Theses on Islamism, Trotsky Speech (1924) Price: €5 / $7 / £4,5 2 Contents RevCom#7 | March 2013 Revolutionary Communism No. 7, March 2013 Editorial p.3 Victory to the Revolution in Syria! Statement of the Revolutionary Communist International Tendency, January 2013 p.4 Austria: Demonstration in Solidarity with the Revolution in Syria on 15.3.2013 p.5 Syria: FLTI-Report from the Sevian al-Laith Brigade (Brigade Leon Sedov) p.6 New Wave of Israeli terror against Gaza: Support the Palestinian Resistance! Statement of the Revolutionary Communist International Tendency (RCIT), 15.11.2012 p.10 Gaza Solidarity Demonstrations in Austria in November 2012 Reports from the RKOB (Austrian Section of the RCIT) p.10 Austria: Zionist War-Mongers try to imprison 20-year old Palestine Solidarity Activist! Statement of the RKOB (Austrian Section of the RCIT), 13.12.2012 p.13 Austria: Zionists want to criminalize Solidarity with Palestinian Resistance p.14 Statements in Solidarity with RCIT-Activist Johannes Wiener p.14 Victory! Charge against Johannes Wiener has been dropped! p.17 Release Samer al-Isawi! Release All Palestinian Political Prisoners! Leaflet from the Internationalist Socialist League (Israel/Occupied alestine),P February 2013 p.18 Protests in Israel against Murder of Palestinians by Yossi Schwartz, Internationalist Socialist League (Israel/Occupied Palestine), 20.2.2013 p.18 Is a New Palestinian Popular Uprising Erupting? by Yossi Schwartz, Internationalist Socialist League (Israel/Occupied Palestine), 27.2.2013 p.22 Israel: Fight against Zionist racism and fascism by Yossi Schwartz, Internationalist Socialist League (Israel/Occupied Palestine), 5.3.2013 p.24 Israel: Down with the Netanyahu-Lapid-Benet-Liberman government! by Yossi Schwartz, Internationalist Socialist League (Israel/Occupied Palestine), 14.3.2013 p.27 New RCIT Book by Michael Pröbsting: THE GREAT ROBBERY OF THE SOUTH p.30 Theses on Islamism By Michael Pröbsting and Simon Hardy (adopted by the League for the Fifth International in January 2011) p.31 From the Archives of Marxism: Leon Trotsky: Perspectives and Tasks in the East (1924) p. 41 RCIT: What do we stand for p. 46 Published by the Revolutionary Communist International Tendency (RCIT). The RCIT has sections in Pakistan (Revolutionary Workers Organisation, RWO), Sri Lanka (United Lankan Workers Party, ULWP), USA (Revolutionary Workers Collective, RWC) and Austria (Revolutionary Communist Organisation for Liberation, RKOB) www.thecommunists.net - [email protected] RevCom#7 | March 2013 Editorial 3 e present herewith the seventh issue of the RCIT’s Simon Hardy and adopted at a congress of the League for English language journal Revolutionary Commu- the Fifth International in January 2011. These theses give an Wnism. There has been a delay since the publica- overview of the various shades of Islamism, relates them to tion of the last issue in November 2012. The reason for this their class bases and outlines a revolutionary strategy for has been the priority we gave to finalizing and publishing fighting against its increasing influence. our new book on imperialism and the super-exploitation of Finally we reprint a speech of Leon Trotsky which he gave the semi-colonial world called THE GREAT ROBBERY OF in 1924. In this speech the leader of the Russian Revolution THE SOUTH (more on this below). For this reason we are as well as of the Third and Fourth Internationals elaborates now publishing two issues of Revolutionary Communism key elements of the theory of the Permanent Revolution. with only a short interval. This theory is of burning importance for the international These two issues are thematically divided. The issue in front class struggle today. It is the basis for the revolutionary of you focuses on the revolutionary liberation struggle in struggle both in the imperialist and in the semi-colonial Palestine and Syria. These countries are without doubt two world. key areas of the international class struggle. Syria is the We conclude our editorial by drawing our reader’s atten- country where the Arab Revolution has – for the second tion to a new book which the RCIT has published in Feb- time after Libya – reached the level of a civil war. In several ruary 2013. As mentioned above the book is called THE articles we outline the revolutionary position of support for GREAT ROBBERY OF THE SOUTH. The book’s subtitle the ongoing democratic revolution in Syria with the goal to is: Continuity and Changes in the Super-Exploitation of the advance it towards the creation of workers, peasants and Semi-Colonial World by Monopoly Capital. Consequences for poor councils which should overthrow the reactionary As- the Marxist Theory of Imperialism. The book is in the English sad dictatorship and replace it with a revolutionary work- language. It has 15 chapters, 448 pages and includes 139 ers government with the support of the peasants and poor. Tables and Figures. The author of the book is Michael Pröb- At the same time there must be no political support for the sting who is the International Secretary of the RCIT. bourgeois forces inside the rebel movement – neither for We recommend our readers to read, study and discuss this the pro-imperialist current at the top of the SNC nor for book. (Details to order it can be seen on page 30 in this jour- the Islamist al-Nusra current. We report both about inter- nal). THE GREAT ROBBERY OF THE SOUTH is an impor- national solidarity activities in which the RCIT is involved tant contribution to the development of the Marxist theory as well as about the heroic struggle of the Sevian al-Laith of Imperialism. Comrade Pröbsting analyzes the condi- Brigade (Brigade Leon Sedov) which we have received from tions of modern capitalism and the changes in the super- the Fracción Leninista Trotskista Internacional. The RCIT is exploitation and oppression of the so-called Third World collaborating with the FLTI – despite a number of political by the imperialist monopolies and Great Powers. He ana- differences – in the International Committee in Defense of the lyzes in detail the various forms of super-exploitation as Syria Masses. well as the emergence of Chinese imperialism. Pröbsting Another focus is Palestine where the heroic people in Gaza outlines the revolutionary principles on imperialist wars as have successfully thrown back another attempt of the Zi- it was elaborated by the Marxist classics and develops their onist state to smash the resistance in November 2012. How- application to present-day conditions. He also defends the ever the revolutionary liberation struggle for the Palestin- Marxist position against the various forms of centrist and ians’ right of national self-determination is not limited to left-reformist deviations. Gaza. Amongst the Palestinians in the West Bank – particu- In 1937, Leon Trotsky wrote an article on the ninetieth an- larly the youth – there is a growing militancy. This is also niversary of the famous Communist Manifesto. He empha- true for the Palestinians inside the 1967-occupied Palestine sized the importance of the revolutionary struggle of the (i.e. the state of Israel). All this steadfastness of the Palestin- oppressed masses in the colonial and semi-colonial world. ian resistance finds its expression in the heroic struggle of His conclusions are even more valid today: Samer al-Issawi and many other prisoners who fight under “The questions of revolutionary strategy in colonial and semi- the worst possible circumstances for their freedom. colonial countries are therefore not touched upon at all by the The RCIT calls for the destruction of the Israeli Apartheid Manifesto. Yet these questions demand an independent solution. state. We fight together with the Internationalist Socialist For example, it is quite self-evident that while the “national fa- League (Israel / Occupied Palestine) for a revolutionary therland” has become the most baneful historical brake in ad- programme. We stand for the defeat of Zionist oppres- vanced capitalist countries, it still remains a relatively progres- sion, for the full right to return for all Palestinians to their sive factor in backward countries compelled to struggle for an homeland and for the creation of a single Palestinian mul- independent existence. ‘The Communists,’ declares the Manifes- tinational workers and peasant’s republic from the river to to, ‘everywhere support every revolutionary movement against the sea. In such a state the Israeli Jewish workers and the the existing social and political order of things.’ The movement migrant workers who will join the Palestinian-led workers of the coloured races against their imperialist oppressors is one of will be part of the new ruling class in the Palestinian work- the most important and powerful movements against the exist- ers state from the river to the sea. The Jewish masses who ing order and therefore calls for the complete, unconditional, and accept the loss of the Apartheid privileges can live together unlimited support on the part of the proletariat of the white race. in peace without discrimination. We publish in this issue The credit for developing revolutionary strategy for oppressed na- a number of statements and reports both from the RCIT tionalities belongs primarily to Lenin.” (Leon Trotsky: Ninety as well as from the ISL. The RCIT is in a process of discus- Years of the