Middle East
Surrealism in the Arab World
Artilce printed in the journal Arsenal: Surrealist Subversion no.3, 1976. Includes The Manifesto of the Arab Surrealist Movement, 1975.
The current resurgence of surrealism in the Arab world is a revolutionary development of the greatest significance, demonstrating once more that the strategy of the unfettered imagination is always and necessarily global.
Paradise Now, dir. Hany Abu-Assad, 2006. Film review
Reviews of controversial Oscar nominee for best foreign film
Clarifying the Muddle East
Iran: Lightning strike at Haft-Tapeh Sugar Factory
Haft-Tapeh workers went on a shift strike following another arrest of a workers’ representative
Another workers’ representative of Haft Tapeh Sugar Factory, Mohammad Heydari Mehr was arrested by security forces on November 7, 2007 after being asked to refer to intelligence and security offices in the city of Shoush. Ghorban Alipour, another representative of Haft Tapeh Sugar Factory workers was arrested at his residence and taken away by security forces on November 5, 2007.
Iran: The struggle of the Haft-Tapeh workers
Workers at Iran's Haft Tapeh sugar factory have been engaged in a struggle since they first went on strike in October. The state responded with repression, arresting organizers, and the workers have been engaged in action in response.
Here is the statement from the Workers Action Committee following the initial strike.
Haft Tapeh Sugar Cane workers in southern Iran go on strike
Iran sentences labour leader to five years imprisonment
Mansoor Osanloo, leader of the Tehran bus drivers union, who has been imprisoned for months after being kidnapped on the street by police has just been sentenced by Iran's judiciary.
An Iranian court has sentenced a dissident labor leader to five years in jail, a judiciary official was quoted as saying on Wednesday.
Mansoor Osanloo, who runs a union grouping bus drivers, was detained in July for "distributing statements against the system". Western rights groups say Iran has launched a crackdown on dissenting voices, although Tehran denies this.
Egypt labour unrest: late October updates
A short update on labour struggles in Egypt in late October.
Egypt’s workers’ unrest is continuing unabated. According to the Egyptian Workers and Trade Union Watch (EWTUW) there have been a total of 580 industrial actions in the period January- September. Almost every month sees an increase in workers’ actions: from around 20 in early 2007 to the peak of 100 and 94 actions in August and September respectively.
Repression continues in Iran
Iranian labour activists have come under fierce attack recently with bus workers' union organiser, Mansour Osanloo imprisoned and at risk of losing his sight.
The ITF is condemning the latest tactic in what it describes as a cynical catalogue of dirty tricks played by the Iranian government on imprisoned trade union leader Mansour Osanloo.
Prison sentence for Egyptian workers' rights activist
Kamal Abbas, General Coordinator of the Center for Trade Unions and Workers Services (CTUWS) and his lawyer, Mohamed Helmy have been sentenced one year’s imprisonment by an Egyptian court.
A law suit for alleged “slander and defamation of character” against Kamal Abbas was filed by Mohamed Ibrahim, chairman of the board of directors of a youth centre in 15 May City and member of the ruling National Democratic Party (NDP).
Egypt: three strikes and three victories in one week
Egypt struggled Tuesday to stem a rising tide of industrial action as officials rushed to end the third strike in a week, the latest challenge to President Hosni Mubarak's regime.
Labour ministry officials met employee representatives at the Damietta Spinning and Weaving Co to come to an agreement just 24 hours after workers kicked off their strike, the official MENA news agency said. Labour Minister Aisha Abdel Hadi told reporters she was eager to "protect the interests and rights of the workers."
The Militancy of Mahalla al-Kubra - Joel Beinin
"For the second time in less than a year, in the final week of September the 24,000 workers of the Misr Spinning and Weaving Company in Mahalla al-Kubra went on strike -- and won." This article by Joel Beinin gives a good overview of the Mahalla al-Kubra's Ramadan strike of September 2007.
For the second time in less than a year, in the final week of September the 24,000 workers of the Misr Spinning and Weaving Company in Mahalla al-Kubra went on strike -- and won. As they did the first time, in December 2006, the workers occupied the Nile Delta town’s mammoth textile mill and rebuffed the initial mediation efforts of Egypt’s ruling National Democratic Party (NDP).
