Middle East
Darkness at midnight: Review of Midnight Oil - Work, Energy, War, 1973-1992 by Midnight Notes
A review of an anthology of articles by the US autonomist Marxist-influenced Midnight Notes collective and the earlier Zerowork group.
From issue no. 17 of the Wildcat (UK) journal.
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DARKNESS AT MIDNIGHT
Lebanon: electricity workers threaten strike
Staff at EDL (Lebanese Electricity) have given notice of strike action to begin on May 4.
Staff are demanding that the government honour long-standing promises over wages and contracts. Specifically they are asking for pay rises that were due in 1996, 1997 and 1998. Furthermore they are demanding that all employees be advanced 4 levels on the pay scale. They are calling for a long service bonus for staff.
Student protest in Israel breaks out of police and leaders' control
Massive assembly evolves into street-blocking march, as students protest against tuition hikes.
The event began with a peaceful assembly at Museum Square in Tel Aviv, protesting plans for tuition hikes in Israeli public universities. The planned schedule included live performances by artists sympathetic to the cause, and speeches by various leftist politicians, celebrities and student leaders. Police claim that seeds of unrest could be sensed throughout.
Kafr el-Dawwar workers are in the same trench as Ghazl el-Mahalla
A very significant statement of solidarity with the Ghazl el-Mahalla workers from the workers at Kaffr el-Dawwar, April 2007.
They promise to conduct political actions in solidarity with Mahalla workers if they will take further industrial action, and stress the need to struggle not only against their bosses but also the official unions which are obstructing their struggle.
Egypt: Mahalla crackdown day two
An update from an Egypt-based libcom poster on the state repression of the workers movements in Mahalla on the Nile Delta.
At least four central security trucks with police have been deployed around Mahalla's train station, another six are deployed around the textile company's compound. Plainclothes security agents are everywhere inside the company and in Mahalla. Strike leaders, known to the security services, have been banned from entering the factory when it's not their work shifts.
Egypt: New crackdown on Mahalla workers
A report posted from a libcom user in Egypt concerning repression following the recent wave of strikes there.
I just received a text (at 9.35 am) from a member of the Revolutionary Socialist Organization (Trotskyists) saying that state security have besieged the workers in Mahalla preventing them from going to Cairo. The workers started a strike immediately protesting security intimidation. Ghazl Shebeen workers have declared their solidarity and is threatening to launch a new strike.
Gaza: public sector strike spreads
Since last week, 15,000 public sector workers across the Gaza Strip's five biggest towns have walked out in protest at unpaid wages.
The strike began on Saturday, when workers in Gaza City walked out over 6 months of unpaid wages, and since then this has grown to include 15,000 people.
The International Herald Tribune reported:
Commentaries #1: War in Iran? Why we must oppose sanctions
The first in a new series of pamphlets from the Brighton-based Aufheben collective, intended to supplement the annual magazine by responding to developing events. Published and distributed in March 2006.
Attached as a print-friendly pdf file below.
Egypt: Strikes continue despite clampdown
Workers centres have been shut down by police as the Egyptian government tries to quell the wildcat strikes sweeping the country.
Simon Assaf reported in Socialist Worker that "the Egyptian government has begun a crackdown on trade unionists at the heart of a recent wave of strikes."
In fact, the trade unions themselves have been vehemently opposed to the recent strikes, which have all been unofficial wildcat actions.
He continued:
More Iranian teachers arrested
45 teachers of the province of Hamadan were arrested on Sunday April 8th 2007 and then transferred to an unknown location.
According to the Teachers’ Trade Association of Iran’s website and other reliable sources, about 30 of the arrested teachers were arrested in the office the teachers’ Trade Association of Hamadan and a number of other educators were arrested in their homes and other places; this included all members of the board of directors of the association in Hamadan.
