This is the text of the introductory speech delivered by WSWS International Editorial Board Chairman David North to the 2024 International May Day Online Rally.
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The working class must take up the fight against the genocide in Gaza and in defense of democratic rights
The ruling class is terrified of the student protests because they can arouse the working class. A strike vote by graduate students in California shows there is a growing recognition that the methods of class struggle are required.
The launch of Israel’s long-planned assault on Rafah has created a humanitarian catastrophe, displacing tens of thousands of Gazans and threatening the entire population with starvation.
This is the text of the speech delivered by Cheryl Crisp, the national secretary of the Socialist Equality Party (Australia), to the 2024 International May Day Online Rally.
.In recent days, the campaign for the release of the Ukrainian Trotskyist Bogdan Syrotiuk, who was arrested by the Ukrainian Secret Service (SBU) on April 25 for his socialist opposition to the far-right Zelensky government and the NATO-instigated war between Russia and Ukraine, has gathered momentum.
“Alongside Bogdan’s arrest, students protesting against Israel’s genocide in Gaza are being suppressed around the world.”
“Hind’s Hall” gives expression to the mass opposition that has formed to the United States-sponsored genocide underway in Gaza, it takes several well-aimed shots at those politically responsible, in Israel and the U.S.
While paying lip-service to independent thought, every school district official declared support for the Zionist state of Israel.
Inspired by anti-genocide protests on campuses across the United States defying a nationwide crackdown coordinated by the Biden administration that has led to thousands of arrests, students are occupying university halls and facilities across the continent.
Demand the release of Bogdan Syrotiuk, socialist opponent of NATO’s proxy war, from a Ukrainian prison
On Thursday, April 25, Bogdan Syrotiuk—a socialist opponent of the right-wing Zelensky regime and the NATO-instigated Ukraine-Russia war—was arrested by the Security Service of Ukraine, the SBU, in his hometown of Pervomaisk in southern Ukraine.
International support builds for campaign demanding Ukraine release socialist Bogdan Syrotiuk
Support grows around the world in response to the campaign demanding the release of Bogdan Syrotiuk, socialist and opponent of the US-NATO war against Russia in Ukraine.
Australian educators’ rank-and-file committee demands that Ukrainian regime release Bogdan Syrotiuk
A meeting of the Committee for Public Education denounced the arrest of the courageous Ukrainian socialist and demanded his immediate freedom.
Ukraine updates its exemptions from the European Convention on Human Rights
The ongoing exemptions granted to Kiev from following basic human and democratic rights are further proof that Ukraine is de facto a police state in which dissent is suppressed with dictatorial measures.
Genuine socialism will triumph in Ukraine
This is the text of the speech delivered by Maxim Goldarb, head of the Union of Left Forces — For a New Socialism party, to the 2024 International May Day Online Rally.
The fight against war is a fight against the union bureaucracies
This is the text of the speech delivered by Will Lehman, an autoworker at Mack Trucks in Macungie, Pennsylvania, and member of the International Workers Alliance of Rank-and-File Committees, to the 2024 International May Day Online Rally.
The Haymarket Martyrs and the origins of May Day
This is the text of the speech given by Joseph Kishore, the national secretary of the Socialist Equality Party (US), at the International May Day 2024 Online Rally.
Jeff Bezos’ Washington Post proposes raising the retirement age
Social Security and Medicare trustees’ reports trigger new calls to cut workers’ benefits
The annual reports for 2024 released Monday by the trustees of the Social Security and Medicare Trust Funds have become the signal for renewed demands for cuts in retirement and healthcare benefits on which tens of millions of Americans depend.
The Israeli state’s fascist ideology and the genocide in Gaza
This lecture was given by World Socialist Web Site International Editorial Board Chairman David North at Humboldt University in Berlin, Germany.
European Union to step up electric vehicles war
The continuing refrain in both the US and Europe is that Chinese manufacturing is massively state-subsidised, and this contravenes the “rules-based” order on international trade.
NATO escalation in Ukraine threatens nuclear war with Russia
Threats by top European officials to launch missile strikes or a ground invasion against Russia are opening an escalatory spiral that can only be halted by the working class.
This lecture was given by World Socialist Web Site International Editorial Board Chairman David North at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor on Tuesday, March 12.
Transport Workers Union president threatens legal action against Columbia University protesters
TWU rank-and-file members must reject his slanders and countermand the threats of legal action. Instead, workers must organize actions in defense of the students.
Student encampments protesting Gaza genocide spread across Britain, emergency protest at Downing Street
As of writing, 14 sites have been established, at the Universities of Warwick, Bristol, Manchester, Liverpool, Oxford, Cambridge, Sheffield, Leeds, Aberdeen and Edinburgh, at Swansea and Newcastle University and at SOAS and UCL in London.
University of Chicago sends police to destroy protest encampment
The University of Chicago sent riot police to attack and break up the student protest encampment. Students have been threatened with suspension and eviction from campus housing if they continue to protest.
US police have arrested over 2,500 anti-war protesters in less than 3 weeks
Politically backed by Joe Biden and both big business parties, US police and campus security forces continue to harass, assault and imprison peaceful anti-war students, faculty and supporters.
Biden endorses Israel’s assault on Rafah
In a speech on Tuesday, President Joe Biden effectively gave a green light for Israel's onslaught on Rafah, cynically seeking to exploit the Holocaust to justify US support for the Israeli state's genocide of the Palestinians.
US reiterates “ironclad” support to Israel as Netanyahu launches assault on Rafah
Israel launched its long-planned genocidal assault on Rafah on Monday, issuing orders for the population of the city to evacuate and launching an intense bombardment.
Israeli officials double down on threats to assault Rafah
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant reiterated Sunday Israel's intention to assault Rafah, the southernmost city in the Gaza Strip where more than a million displaced people are sheltering.
As Biden backs police assault on anti-genocide protests, Netanyahu prepares Rafah bloodbath
In the face of mass protests throughout the United States, the Biden administration has made clear it will continue its policy of arming, funding, and politically supporting the Gaza genocide and shielding its perpetrators.
Democratic Party enlists Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez to cover up Biden’s war crimes
A lengthy New York Times essay has acknowledged that DSA representative Ocasio-Cortez is now the lynchpin in the Democratic Party’s strategy to block growing opposition to imperialist war and genocide in Gaza and channel it behind Biden’s reelection campaign.
The arrest of Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein is an attack on democratic rights
All charges must be dropped against Stein and the hundreds of others who have been arrested while protesting in recent weeks.
The hush money trial of Donald Trump and the crisis of class rule in America
The opening of the trial marks a new stage in an intense crisis at the highest levels of the American state that has been building for 50 years. This August will mark the 50th anniversary of the resignation of Richard Nixon in 1974 as a result of the crisis stemming from his campaign’s break-in at the Watergate headquarters of the Democratic National Committee.
Trump “hush money” trial begins—A political diversion
The fascist ex-president is being tried, not for his real crimes against democracy, but for an alleged campaign finance violation related to his personal conduct.
Alstom plants in eastern Germany threatened with closure
The IG Metall union has been agreeing to job cuts and wage reductions for years, claiming this improves “competitivity” and so made jobs safer. Now, 3,700 workers face the loss of their livelihoods.
Teacher stoppages across Europe to protest staff shortages, pay and conditions; journalists walk out at Italy’s TV and radio broadcaster, while journalists will strike at Radio France over censorship; protests continue across Iran by workers and retirees over increasing poverty; Kenyan health workers’ funding strike begun March 14 continues
Workers Struggles: Europe, Middle East & Africa
Teachers in multiple strikes across Europe, in parts of Belgium, Spain, Portugal, a town in Croatia and one-day national strike in Turkey over funding and conditions; Italy’s journalists walk out over attempts to turn state broadcaster into government mouthpiece, while journalists at radio France to strike Sunday after sacking over Netanyahu joke; cost-of-living protests continue across Iran by workers including truck drivers, construction workers and retirees; Kenyan health workers’ strike in third month over health service starved of funds
CWU’s Martin Walsh caught in a lie over support for Royal Mail ending six-day letter delivery
During his one-minute video Walsh never challenged—or even referred to—his recent statement in support of a reduced Universal Service Obligation. His PR stunt will only reinforce the widespread view that nothing CWU officials say can be trusted.
Success of UK rail drivers struggle means challenging ASLEF’s betrayal with fight for rank-and-file committees
The strikes testify to the determination of the drivers to oppose the erosion of their pay and conditions. But after almost two years, they also demonstrate the abject failure of Aslef’s leadership.
UK contaminated blood inquiry to publish findings, as more heinous crimes are revealed
Around 30,000 people in the UK were infected with hepatitis C and/or HIV after receiving contaminated blood or blood products, including 380 children. At least 3,000 died and the rest were left severely ill.
Poland’s Tusk government intensifies its attacks on refugees
Donald Tusk’s government, which in the election campaign had promised to observe humanitarian norms, is now acting more harshly against defenceless refugees than its ultra-right predecessor.
What are the lessons from the brutal attack on SPD politician Matthias Ecke?
In the climate of social and political reaction created by the governing parties, the political heirs of Hitler now thrive.
Spain’s Pabloite Anticapitalistas diverts anger over Gaza genocide in “Vote Uncommitted” campaign
Spain’s petty-bourgeois Anticapitalistas party aims to divert mass anger over the genocide by calling on workers and youth “not to vote for pro-genocide parties.”
Australian state Labor government austerity budget targets health, education, social services
The austerity budget is another demonstration of the ruthlessly pro-business, anti-working class character of the Victorian state Labor government.
Australian central bank signals no let-up on interest rates
The Reserve Bank of Australia statement outlining the decision made clear wages are the target, even though they have nothing to do with price hikes.
Australia: Police shoot dead 16-year-old accused of extremist stabbing
The murky stabbing incident, like another a few weeks ago, was immediately seized on to whip up an atmosphere of fear and hysteria over purported terrorist threats.
Australian PM Albanese backs Zionist witch hunt against anti-genocide protesters
At a meeting with Rabbinical Councils leaders, Albanese aligned himself with a vitriolic campaign by Zionist organisations and the right-wing corporate media to slander and shut down campus protests.
The socially critical films of 1974: Part 2
Hal Ashby’s The Last Detail: “Imprisoned” by the US Navy, two sailors escort a young seaman to the brig
As a US Navy ensign prepares to meet his fate, two older sailors try to give the young victim of the system a taste of the life he will be losing out on.
50 years since the socially critical films of 1974: an introduction
The films that emerged in the early- to mid-1970s represented the highest point reached by American filmmaking since the anti-communist witch-hunts of the 1940s and 1950s.
The socially critical films of 1974: Part 1
Roman Polanski’s Chinatown: Film noir in a time of malaise
Director Roman Polanski’s gripping film pays tribute to the hardboiled novel while offering a searing indictment of an irredeemably corrupt ruling class.
2024 San Francisco International Film Festival—Part 3
Agent of Happiness, Sidonie in Japan, Woodland: “Do I have to say I’m happy?”
Agent of Happiness is a documentary about the “Gross National Happiness” survey conducted in the small kingdom of Bhutan, situated between India and China.
Union federations turn May Day in Brazil into platform for Lula government
President Lula is pursuing a corporatist agenda to integrate the unions into the state in order to suppress the class struggle in Brazil.
Colombia cuts ties with Israel over Gaza genocide
The decision was first announced in President Petro's May Day speech, delivered Wednesday to tens of thousands of supporters in Bogota.
GM closes Colombia and Ecuador plants as UAW and other bureaucracies remain silent
General Motors announced last Friday the shutdown of its manufacturing plants in Colombia and Ecuador, eliminating about 1,300 jobs, along with thousands more indirectly.
Brazilian federal education strikes expose broad attacks by Lula government
The financial markets have hailed the Lula government as its reactionary character has been exposed.
Humanitarian crisis looms in Kenya and East Africa as floods kill over 400 and displace tens of thousands
Human Rights Watch published findings that working-class neighborhoods and the poorest areas have been most severely impacted by the floods due to “less solid structures, congestion and poor sanitation infrastructure”.
Dangerous heatwaves in West Africa exacerbated by climate change
A World Weather Attribution study shows that climate change has sharply increased both the severity and frequency of extraordinary heat events in Africa’s Guinea region.
Italian court sets out evidence of Egypt’s state torture and murder of Giulio Regeni in 2016
It was clear that the top echelons of President Abdel Fattah’s al-Sisi’s brutal dictatorship were involved in a state abduction and murder. But the imperialist powers, including Britain where Regeni was studying, largely remained silent on his death.
Sudan’s “forgotten war” leads to epic suffering and regional instability
Sudan faces famine, displacement, economic breakdown and an almost total absence of international aid. The government, virtually bankrupt, barely functions.
Sri Lankan Tamil parties debate tactics in the presidential election
Workers and poor in the North and East must reject the sordid political manoeuvres of the Tamil parties which represent the interests of the Tamil elites not those of working people.
Sri Lankan workers and youth must demand the repudiation of all foreign debt
Private bond holders, with the IMF’s tacit support, are seeking to bully the Sri Lankan government into accepting higher repayments or face the withholding of the next tranche of the IMF loan.
The SEP (Sri Lanka) launches party development fund to expand its political work
The SEP has announced an ambitious program to increase its membership, build the International Youth and Students for Social Equality and expand its political analysis for the World Socialist Web Site and its publication of Marxist literature in the Sinhala and Tamil languages.
Sri Lanka: Hands off US university students! Mobilise the working class in defense of all those protesting against genocide!
We call on all students at Sri Lankan universities and higher education institutions, and the working class, to defend protesting US students and to oppose the Netanyahu government’s genocidal military operation in Gaza.
As bird flu spreads among dairy cattle, CDC scraps COVID reporting for hospitals
As has often been the case throughout the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the CDC is implementing this policy shift during a lull in rates of infections and hospitalizations across the country.
FDA reports fragments of avian influenza found in US commercial milk supply
The FDA reported last week that one in five milks samples from US retail stores contained fragments of the H5N1 bird flu that has recently infected dairy cows in the US.
The WHO updates its terminology for pathogens that transmit through the air
The World Health Organization published a consensus statement on airborne pathogens, finally aligning the WHO with scientists who presented evidence of this early in the course of the COVID-19 pandemic, but with no guidance on what measures should now be taken on the pandemic.
UK virtually ends free vaccines as COVID-19 continues to spread
As the National Health Service launches its spring COVID-19 vaccination campaign, significantly fewer people will have access to a free jab and must pay for one or do without.
Imperialist leaders cover up illegal detention of Julian Assange on World Press Freedom Day
The leaders of the imperialist powers responsible for the detention and pending extradition from Britain to the US of WikiLeaks founder and publisher Julian Assange remained silent on his illegal imprisonment on United Nation’s World Press Freedom Day.
Biden administration issues “weasel words” assurances to secure Assange’s extradition
The US is seeking to prosecute Assange on charges under the Espionage Act which carry a de facto life sentence for publishing documents exposing war crimes and human rights abuses carried out by Washington and its imperialist allies.
SEP (Australia) forum in Melbourne demands freedom for Assange
The meeting unanimously passed a resolution condemning the US-led vendetta and demanding Assange’s immediate and unconditional freedom.
Australian Labor government complicit in Assange extradition threat
The Labor government is doing nothing to obstruct Assange’s looming extradition to the US, where he would face 175 years imprisonment for exposing war crimes.
Another Boeing whistleblower dies, the second in two months
Joshua Dean’s death came suddenly—the Seattle Times reported that he began having trouble breathing two weeks ago and was hospitalized and intubated.
Quebec government targets construction workers’ jobs and working conditions
The CAQ government is determined to push through an employer-dictated construction industry “modernization,” aimed at boosting profits at the expense of workers’ jobs and safety.
FAA issues new rules for air traffic controllers after runway incursion in Washington D.C.
The Federal Aviation Administration announced new working hour rules for air traffic controllers following a runway incident at Reagan National Airport on April 18 in which two jetliners came within 400 feet of each other.
10 years since the lead poisoning of Flint, Michigan water supply
Ten years after the disastrous switch of the city of 100,000's water supply it is more than apparent that this was a bipartisan crime in which the Obama Administration’s policies played a central role.
Jeff Bezos’ Washington Post proposes raising the retirement age
Social Security and Medicare trustees’ reports trigger new calls to cut workers’ benefits
The annual reports for 2024 released Monday by the trustees of the Social Security and Medicare Trust Funds have become the signal for renewed demands for cuts in retirement and healthcare benefits on which tens of millions of Americans depend.
US intelligence agencies say Putin “didn’t order” murder of Alexei Navalny, Wall Street Journal reports
The revelation, published by the Wall Street Journal in late April, came from undisclosed sources within the CIA, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence and the State Department and is “broadly accepted” within these institutions.
Florida law banning abortions after 6 weeks takes effect
The new ban in Florida effectively outlaws abortion across the American South.
Far-reaching anti-democratic implications of US Supreme Court hearing on Trump’s legal immunity claim
Last week’s oral arguments before the US Supreme Court on Donald Trump’s claim that he cannot be prosecuted for any actions he took while president, including his attempted coup of January 6, 2021, brought out divisions among the nine justices over criminality in the White House.
Hundreds attend Detroit funeral for Ford worker Tywaun Long
The 46-year-old worker collapsed on the assembly line at the Dearborn Truck Plant on April 17 and reportedly died of a heart attack.
Stellantis Warren Stamping workers approve strike over health and safety
The strike vote at Warren Stamping, a critical components plant, comes as anger is seething among rank-and-file workers over layoffs and a host of issues.
In the aftermath of mass layoffs
Ford Rouge worker dies on the assembly line
An autoworker died after suffering a medical emergency after waiting a half hour for medical help at the Ford Rouge complex outside Detroit.
More Stellantis layoffs at Sterling Heights and Mack Avenue Assembly in Detroit, forced overtime announced in Toledo
Stellantis laid off 199 workers Monday at Sterling Heights Assenbly and another 57 at the Mack plant in Detroit as it continues its brutal program of job cuts in the wake of the 2023 contract.
European Union to step up electric vehicles war
The continuing refrain in both the US and Europe is that Chinese manufacturing is massively state-subsidised, and this contravenes the “rules-based” order on international trade.
Fed says interest rates to stay higher for longer
The decision raises the prospect of turmoil in international currency markets where the Japanese yen has been falling and hit its lowest rate against the dollar in 34 years on Monday.
A significant speech by a central banker
The picture presented by the governor of the Italian central bank was of a world in which all the economic and political institutions set in place after 1945 to prevent war are breaking down.
Higher for longer interest rates hit the global economy
Apart from the US, where there are mounting concerns over the levels of government debt, major industrial countries are in grip of a marked economic slowdown.
Fire disaster in Istanbul kills 29 workers
This fire disaster is an indictment of the entire ruling elite, including business owners and officials.
Mass protests erupt in Turkey after election of Kurdish mayor annulled
The dismissal of Van’s elected Kurdish nationalist mayor in local elections, in which Erdoğan’s AKP suffered a heavy defeat, triggered mass protests.
Erdoğan’s AKP suffers setback in Turkish local elections as CHP comes first
In elections dominated by the cost-of-living crisis and held amidst the genocide in Gaza and NATO's escalating war against Russia, the ruling party suffered a significant defeat.
Turkey: TİP’s Hatay candidacy crisis underscores bankruptcy of the pseudo-left’s orientation to the bourgeoisie
The scandal is fundamentally the product of the TİP’s unprincipled collaboration with the CHP, a pro-NATO, right-wing bourgeois party.
January 21 marked 100 years since the death of Vladimir Lenin in 1924. This page includes a collection of essays reviewing the life and ideas of the great Marxist theoretician, founder of the Bolshevik Party, and co-leader of the Russian Revolution.
54 years since the Kent State massacre—and a warning for today
The article reviews the experience of the Kent State massacre of anti-war college students in 1970, which has enormous relevance for today amid the massive police crackdown on campus protests against the Gaza genocide.
This week in history: May 6–13
NATO bombs Chinese embassy in Belgrade; Willy Brandt resigns; police attack Canadian asbestos miners; J. Edgar Hoover becomes FBI director.
Liz French on the 40th Anniversary of the British Miners’ Strike: “We were betrayed by the TUC and Labour Party.”
The WSWS spoke with Liz French from Betteshanger, a former pit village in the Kent coalfield in south-east England. Liz was a founding member of the National Women Against Pit Closures during the 1984-85 Miner’s Strike. Among the 200 miners imprisoned during the 1984-85 strike, Liz’s late husband Terry received one of the longest prison sentences of five years.
India’s 1983 Nellie communal massacre in historical perspective
The Nellie massacre—in which India’s now governing party, the Hindu supremacist BJP, played a major role—was the outcome of a campaign of communal incitement targeting “illegal foreigners,” that is highly impoverished refugees and migrants from Bangladesh.
Fifty years after Chile’s horrific September 11 coup, its political relevance is becoming ever more urgent as the specter of dictatorship once again haunts the political life of Latin America.
British foreign secretary gives go-ahead for Ukrainian strikes on Russia with UK-supplied missiles
After speaking with Zelensky, Cameron told reporters, “But let's be absolutely clear, Russia has launched an attack into Ukraine and Ukraine absolutely has the right to strike back at Russia.”
Ukraine updates its exemptions from the European Convention on Human Rights
The ongoing exemptions granted to Kiev from following basic human and democratic rights are further proof that Ukraine is de facto a police state in which dissent is suppressed with dictatorial measures.
German defence minister signs decree for war against Russia
The Osnabrück decree, which came into force on May 1, has one central goal: making Germany fit for war again, despite its crimes in two world wars, by preparing for war against Russia.
The new law on mobilization: Is Ukraine turning into a giant prison?
Ukraine is becoming more and more like a giant prison for its own trapped and disenfranchised population. Now, the authorities even seek to force those back inside who had managed to escape it.
Sri Lankan IYSSE to hold public lecture on “Leon Trotsky and his place in history” at Peradeniya University
Trotsky’s political analysis and revolutionary struggle for socialist internationalism against imperialist war, Stalinism and fascism must be studied and assimilated by all those opposed to capitalist barbarism.
Upcoming IYSSE (Australia) lecture: The fight of Trotskyism against the pseudo-left
The lecture by Nick Beams on April 28 will provide the political weapons required by young people and workers who want to take up the fight for a socialist and revolutionary perspective against the genocide and the broader eruption of militarism and war.
IYSSE meetings in Australia and New Zealand: The crisis of political perspective of the Gaza protests
We encourage youth, students and workers to attend the events which will provide the international socialist revolutionary program necessary to end the genocide of Palestinians by the Israeli state and its imperialist backers.
IYSSE holds first meeting at Otago University in New Zealand
The meeting in Dunedin last Thursday was held to establish the International Youth and Students for Social Equality as a student club at Otago, and to discuss the socialist strategy to fight against war and the genocide in Gaza.
Human-to-human transmission with a novel Mpox virus identified in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo
The recent outbreak of a novel Mpox (formerly called monkeypox) virus, showing sustained transmission between humans with the deadlier clade I lineage, poses a public health to the DRC, the region and the globe.
Scientific—and social—dimensions of the 2024 total solar eclipse
The second total eclipse across North America in seven years has drawn the interest of millions across the continent.
Climate change report predicts devastating worldwide impacts
“With a few exceptions, increasing warming leads to greater exposure to drought, fluvial and coastal flooding, and greater declines in biodiversity and crop yields.”
Genetic makeup of modern Europeans derived through ancient migrations from Asia
The studies provide further confirmation that modern populations are the result of a complex mixing of migrants of varying origins and cultures that have nothing to do with the pseudo-concept of “race."
Helen Halyard (1950-2023), a tribute to a life dedicated to the victory of world socialism
We are publishing here the tribute given by David North to Helen Halyard, a leading member of the Socialist Equality Party and the International Committee of the Fourth International for more than half a century, who died suddenly at the age of 73 on November 28. North’s remarks opened a memorial meeting for Helen held Sunday, December 3.
Remarks by David North at the conclusion of the international memorial meeting for Helen Halyard
We are publishing here the summation given by David North to the memorial meeting for Comrade Helen Halyard held on December 3.
“Building the world party was Helen’s goal in life, to which she made an indelible contribution”
We are publishing here the tribute to Helen Halyard written by Patrick Martin, a member of the US editorial board of the World Socialist Web Site and a member of the Workers League and Socialist Equality Party for 52 years, and Esther Galen, a member of the Workers League and Socialist Equality Party for 53 years.
Tribute to Helen: Beverly Lozano, a supporter from California
A tribute to Helen Halyard written by Beverly Lozano, a supporter of the WSWS.
The essays in this book, though written over the span of more than 40 years, are connected by a central argument: Leon Trotsky was the most significant figure in the history of socialism during the first four decades of the twentieth century, and his legacy remains the critical and indispensable theoretical and political foundation of the ongoing contemporary struggle for the victory of world socialism.
Order your print or epub version of the book from Mehring Books today.
Report to Sri Lanka meetings
Imperialism, the genocide in Gaza, and the world struggle for socialism
Socialist Equality Party (US) National Secretary Joseph Kishore delivered the following report to a meeting titled “Leon Trotsky and the Struggle for Socialism in the 21st Century” in Colombo on December 10.
University of Michigan IYSSE protests attack by pro-government thugs on Sri Lankan SEP members
We are publishing here a letter being sent by the International Youth and Students for Social Equality (IYSSE) at the University of Michigan condemning the violent attack on two members of the Socialist Equality Party (SEP) in Sri Lanka by pro-government thugs.
Magistrate court hearing on violent assault on Sri Lankan SEP members
While police have visited the crime scene and recorded witness statements they requested more time to obtain hospital medical reports.
Academics denounce pro-government thug attack on Sri Lankan SEP members
The SEP is calling on all those who are concerned to defend democratic rights of freedom of expression to register their opposition by sending protest letters to the relevant authorities.
Wisconsin documents reveal details of strategy behind Donald Trump’s 2020 fake elector scheme
A trove of court documents released on Monday show Wisconsin attorney Kenneth Chesebro and former judge Jim Troupis were instrumental in formulating the strategy of Donald Trump to overturn the 2020 elections through court cases that generated “a cloud of confusion” combined with the appointment of “alternative” electors in seven key states.
Appellate court rejects Trump’s claim that he cannot be prosecuted for seeking to overthrow the 2020 election
The Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia ruled against Donald Trump's assertion of absolute immunity from criminal prosecution for seeking to overthrow the 2020 election.
Third Trump coup lawyer pleads guilty and agrees to testify in Georgia election case
Jenna Ellis is the third lawyer and fourth defendant to plead guilty in relation to the conspiracy to overturn the 2020 presidential election in Georgia.
Trump coup plot accomplice Chesebro pleads guilty in Georgia fake elector case
Kenneth Chesebro, attorney and close associate of Donald Trump, pleaded guilty on Friday to one felony charge in exchange for his agreement to testify against the former-president and 16 other defendants in the fake elector scheme to overturn the 2020 election results in Georgia.
Mehring Books, the publishing arm of the Socialist Equality Party (US), is proud to announce the publication of Volume 1 of COVID, Capitalism, and Class War: A Social and Political Chronology of the Pandemic, a compilation of the World Socialist Web Site's coverage of this global crisis.
Put a socialist, anti-war party on the ballot! Join the SEP (Australia) as an electoral member today!
Socialist Equality Party assistant national secretary Max Boddy calls on workers and young people in Australia to sign up as an SEP electoral member.
Sri Lankan SEP meeting to launch two books on the Sinhala chauvinist JVP
The JVP’s rightward evolution is not an isolated, national phenomenon but an expression of the transformation internationally of similar organisations into pro-imperialist outfits.
Comrade Halil Çelik: An inspiration for workers and youth internationally
This is the tribute given by Peter Symonds to Halil Çelik, founder and leader of the Sosyalist Eşitlik Grubu, who died suddenly at the age of 57 on December 31, 2018. The tribute was read at a memorial meeting on the fifth anniversary of Halil’s death.
Comrade Halil Çelik blazed the socialist-internationalist path the workers of Turkey must follow
This is the tribute given by Keith Jones to Halil Çelik, founder and leader of the Sosyalist Eşitlik Grubu, who died suddenly at the age of 57 on December 31, 2018. The tribute was read at a memorial meeting on the fifth anniversary of Halil’s death.
March 20 marks 20 years since the beginning of the US invasion of Iraq, launched on the basis of lies. At the time of the initial invasion, the WSWS published many statements on the background of the war, its history and its implications. This page features some of the most important statements.
Indigenous Voice leaders denounce Australian voters
An open letter, issued by a privileged layer of indigenous figures who led the Voice Yes campaign, further highlights the immense class chasm shown in the referendum’s overwhelming defeat on October 14.
Australian pseudo-left slanders population as racist after defeat of Voice referendum
Socialist Alternative’s analysis of the referendum is an attack on the working class, exposing this organisation as a rightward moving representative of privileged layers of the affluent upper middle-class.
Defeat of Australian Labor’s Voice referendum highlights stark class divide, not racism
The Voice voting patterns demonstrate the intensifying hostility of working-class people to the entire political establishment.
Australian workers oppose the Voice, call for better conditions for Aboriginal people
“The Labor government is not working class, it is an elite group of people, setting up a puppet called the Voice.”
Twenty-five years ago, the International Committee of the Fourth International began posting the World Socialist Web Site. In this video, WSWS International Editorial Board Chairman David North explains the background to the WSWS, reviews its record and contemporary significance and makes an appeal to all readers to donate to the WSWS and expand its readership.
The Prinkipo commemoration of Trotsky’s exile and the global resurgence of the working class
The event reflects the objective change that has been underway for some time in the relationship between Trotskyism and the international working class.
An Island at the Center of World History: Trotsky on Prinkipo
This is the speech by World Socialist Web Site International Editorial Board Chairman David North given on Sunday, August 20, honoring the life and political legacy of Leon Trotsky.
The ICFI’s investigation exposed the GPU conspiracy to murder Trotsky
The penetration of GPU agents into the Fourth International played a fatal role in the assassination of Trotsky.
Leon Trotsky’s years on Prinkipo
Trotsky spent the critical years of his exile on Prinkipo writing masterpieces and organizing the Left Opposition in the Communist International all over the world.
In 2022 the accumulating pressure of these intersecting elements of the world capitalist crisis attained the equivalent of critical mass: that is, they have reached the point where the dynamic of crisis has passed beyond the ability of governments to control the movement toward a social cataclysm.
1985-86: The victory of Trotskyism within the ICFI
The following lecture was delivered by Chris Marsden, the national secretary of the Socialist Equality Party (UK), and Ulaş Ateşçi, a leading member of the Sosyalist Eşitlik Grubu (Socialist Equality Group) in Turkey, to the SEP (US) International Summer School, held between July 30 and August 4, 2023.
The Workers League’s defence of the Theory of Permanent Revolution against the opportunism of the Workers Revolutionary Party
The following lecture was delivered by Tom Peters, a leading member of the Socialist Equality Group of New Zealand, and Thomas Scripps, a leading member of the Socialist Equality Party (UK), to the SEP (US) International Summer School, held between July 30 and August 4, 2023.
1982: Marxism, the revolutionary party, and the critique of Healy’s Studies in Dialectics
The following lecture was delivered by Christoph Vandreier, the national secretary of the Sozialistische Gleichheitspartei (Socialist Equality Party) of Germany to the SEP (US) International Summer School, held between July 30 and August 4, 2023.
The role of Security and the Fourth International in the fight for the continuity of the International Committee of the Fourth International
The following lecture was delivered by Eric London, a leading member of the Socialist Equality Party (US), to the SEP (US) International Summer School, held between July 30 and August 4, 2023.
Vadim Z. Rogovin (10 May 1937 – 18 September 1998) was a Soviet Marxist sociologist and historian. Working in close collaboration with the International Committee of the Fourth International, Rogovin helped lay the foundations for the Trotskyist movement’s fight against the post-Soviet school of historical falsification, including in his six-volume Was There an Alternative? This page collects major essays and commemorations on Rogovin as well as links to his own writings.
Will Lehman issues letter to Mack Trucks coworkers on eve of UAW contract expiration: “We must seriously prepare for a major battle”
It’s clear the UAW hasn’t been negotiating anything at Mack all this time, they’ve just been keeping us in the dark to prevent us from preparing to fight back against the company’s ruthless demands.
Will Lehman sues Biden administration demanding rerun of fraudulent UAW election
On Monday, July 3, rank-and-file socialist autoworker Will Lehman sued the Biden administration’s Department of Labor, demanding that the UAW national officers’ election be rerun with the names of all candidates on the ballot due to massive voter disenfranchisement by the bureaucracy.
Stop the UAW sabotage of the autoworkers struggle! Hold emergency local meetings to demand an all-out strike!
“Let’s be clear on what Fain‘s announcement really means: These strikes will have no impact on production. These are parts warehouses that ship components to the dealerships, not suppliers of the Big Three.”
“It’s almost like we are in a civil war between the rich and the poor”: Autoworkers respond to Will Lehman’s Newsweek op-ed
Autoworkers have responded with enthusiasm to the editorial written by the Pennsylvania Mack Trucks worker and socialist candidate for UAW president in 2021.
The International Youth and Students for Social Equality—the student and youth movement of the Socialist Equality Parties, the national sections of the International Committee of the Fourth International—calls for the building of a mass global movement of young people to end the reckless escalation toward World War III.
Former Montgomery, Alabama teacher testifies about the forced reopening of schools in 2020-21
In this interview, Tynisa Williams, former teacher in Montgomery, Alabama, describes the experience of being forced to teach in-person in the fall of 2020 and winter of 2021. She and her coworkers waged a courageous struggle to stop the deadly return to in-person learning that cost the lives of eight educators in the district.
Accomplices to social murder
The international pseudo-left and the lifting of Zero-COVID in China: Part 1
The pseudo-left’s hostility to public health and support for imperialism found sharp expression in their universal demand—echoing that of the Western corporate media and political establishment—that China abandon its Zero-COVID strategy.
Accomplices to social murder
The international pseudo-left and the lifting of Zero-COVID in China: Part 2
The pseudo-left’s hostility to public health and support for imperialism found its sharpest expression in their demand—echoing that of the Western corporate media and political establishment—that China abandon its Zero-COVID strategy.
Immunocompromised mother in Manhattan speaks to Global Workers’ Inquest into the COVID-19 Pandemic
Melanie, whose children attend public schools in New York City, spoke to the WSWS about the toll the “let it rip” policy toward the pandemic has taken on her and her family.
The Inquest is necessary to break through the cover-up, lies and misinformation that have been used to justify policies responsible for the avoidable deaths of millions.
Democrats join with Republican fascists to witch-hunt scientist Peter Daszak
During Wednesday’s House Subcommittee on COVID-19 with Dr. Peter Daszak, president of EcoHealth Alliance, Democrats joined ranks with fascistic Republican colleagues to promote the Wuhan lab-leak lies.
The Wuhan lab lie: “Weapons of mass destruction” redux
In an uncanny instance of history repeating itself, the lies used to justify the 2003 invasion of Iraq based on false claims about “weapons of mass destruction” are being used to promote the United States’ unprecedented military buildup around China.
A discredited conspiracy theory about the origins of COVID-19
The Wuhan Lab Leak slander being resurrected to bolster US war drive against China
The Wall Street Journal disclosed that the Department of Energy has shifted its opinion on the origin of the coronavirus to it being most likely a result of a lab leak. However, unnamed sources who have read the report indicate the evidence is of low confidence.
Republicans revive discredited Wuhan Lab Leak theory and call Anthony Fauci to testify
Republicans have demanded Former Biden chief medical advisor Dr Anthony Fauci testify on the Wuhan lab leak theory.
The definitive left-wing critique of the 1619 Project. This volume includes interviews with eminent historians and essays from the World Socialist Web Site exposing the New York Times’ racialist falsification of history.
Nikole Hannah-Jones’ Center for Democracy and Journalism: Racialist politics in the service of US imperialism
After one year, the Center’s main accomplishment has been to deepen the mutual embrace between sections of the upper middle class and the military-intelligence apparatus.
The 1619 Project and the New York Times’ promotion of the racialist ideology of Ukrainian nationalism
The racialist historical revisionism of the Times and the racialist ideology of the Ukrainian neo-Nazis share a common premise: the mythological reimagining of history as a struggle of “the nation” and “the race.”
Oppose political censorship of antiwar views at Howard University!
We call on all students, faculty and staff members at Howard University to oppose this censorship and demand that the IYSSE be allowed to hold its planned meeting on campus.
Marcus Garvey and the reactionary logic of racialist politics
More than one hundred years after the formation of his Universal Negro Improvement Association (UNIA), Marcus Garvey's legacy remains highly relevant in the struggle to overcome efforts to divide the working class along racial lines.
This five-part series and historical timeline exposes Snyder’s Bloodlands as a work of falsification, aimed at justifying the imperialist proxy war against Russia in Ukraine and the alliance of US imperialism with the Ukrainian far-right.
May Day 2023: For the international unity of the working class against national chauvinism and war!
The following is the text of the opening report delivered by David North, chairperson of the International Editorial Board of the World Socialist Web Site, to the International May Day Online Rally 2023, held Sunday, April 30.
The ICFI’s May Day 2023 online rally: A milestone in the building of a global, working class movement against war
Together, the speakers set out a political programme capable of uniting the international working class and mobilising its immense social power in a struggle against the world’s major corporations and governments.
The developing struggle to bring down the Macron government in France
This is the report delivered by Alex Lantier, national secretary of the Parti de l’égalité socialiste (PES), to the 2023 International May Day Online Rally held on April 30.
The struggle for a Democratic and Socialist Congress of Workers and Rural Masses in Sri Lanka
This is the report delivered by Deepal Jayasekera, the General Secretary of the Socialist Equality Party in Sri Lanka, to the 2023 International May Day Online Rally held on April 30.
This interactive timeline presents some of the most important events that have brought humanity to the brink of World War III. It includes links to critical articles and statements produced by the International Committee of the Fourth International over the past 30 years.
Report to Seventh Congress of the Socialist Equality Party (US)
The historical and political principles of the socialist opposition to imperialist war and the Putin regime
This report was given by Clara Weiss to the Seventh Congress of the Socialist Equality Party (US) in support of the resolution, “Mobilize the working class against imperialist war!”
Report to Seventh Congress of Socialist Equality Party (US)
The historical background of the COVID-19 pandemic and the fight for global elimination
This report was given by Evan Blake to the Seventh Congress of the Socialist Equality Party (US) in support of the resolution titled “The COVID-19 pandemic and the fight for socialism”
America’s “New World Order”— The historical and social roots of US plans for war with Russia and China
The following is a report given by Andre Damon to the Seventh Congress of the Socialist Equality Party (US) in support of the resolution titled “Mobilize the working class against imperialist war!”
Report to Seventh Congress of Socialist Equality Party (US)
Build rank-and-file committees, the organs of 21st century working class struggle!
This report was given by Eric London to the Seventh Congress of the Socialist Equality Party (US) in support of the resolution titled “Build the International Workers Alliance of Rank-and-File Committees! For a global counteroffensive of the working class!”
October 16 marked the 45th anniversary of the assassination of Tom Henehan, a member of the Political Committee of the Workers League—the predecessor of the Socialist Equality Party in the US. We are republishing here a tribute delivered by David North at a meeting in 1997.
Instagram shutters account of Palestinian publisher Quds News Network
Instagram shut the account without explanation. Quds is one of the most popular Palestinian networks and has featured on-the-spot exposures of the war crimes in Gaza.
WSWS readers demand Facebook reverse ban on SEG in New Zealand
Readers have expressed outrage at the social media company’s anti-democratic censorship of the Trotskyist Socialist Equality Group in New Zealand.
Facebook blocks Socialist Equality Group in New Zealand from advertising
We call on readers to oppose Facebook’s blatant political censorship of the Trotskyist movement in New Zealand.
Elon Musk’s Twitter abruptly reverses ban on promotion of alternative social media platforms
After instituting a ban on sharing links from competitive social media platforms, such as Facebook, Instagram and Mastodon, Elon Musk canceled the policy less than 24 hours later.
Over 80,000 sign petition against NYU Langone’s termination of a pro-Palestinian resident physician
Over 80,000 people have signed a petition opposing the anti-democratic termination of Dr. Zaki Masoud by NYU Langone.
Report exposes fraudulent antisemitism accusations at UK universities
The report concludes that critics of the Israeli state, advocates for Palestinian rights and those teaching the history and politics of the region have been “subjected to false allegations of antisemitism.”
An interview with Harvard anthropology Professor John Comaroff—Part one
We spoke recently to South African-born John Comaroff, the Hugh K. Foster Professor of African and African-American studies and of Anthropology, and Oppenheimer Research Fellow in African Studies, Harvard University.
Harvard UAW, pseudo-left groups organize provocation against professor John Comaroff
The right-wing witch-hunt of John Comaroff at Harvard University continued Tuesday with a stage-managed protest during his first class of the semester.
Comrade Wije Dias, the longtime general secretary of the Socialist Equality Party (Sri Lanka), died in Colombo on July 27, 2022. This exhibit includes two tributes to Wije by WSWS International Editorial Board Chairman David North as well as a selection of Wije’s most significant articles and speeches.
Russia downs British-supplied long-range missile as Zelensky and Sunak declare “jets coalition”
Central to NATO’s plans to defeat Russia and force regime change in Moscow is aerial supremacy over the Ukrainian battlefield. Speaking to reporters after the talks, Zelensky said, “We want to create this jet coalition.”
Pentagon national strategy document targets China
The US military published a series of documents Thursday outlining US plans for war with Russia and China, and asserting the central role of nuclear weapons in US warfighting.
Australia dispatching military “trainers” to aid the US-NATO war against Russia
Australia, already the largest non-NATO funder of the war in Ukraine, is escalating its involvement amid warnings that the conflict could result in a nuclear catastrophe.
German President Steinmeier delivers war speech to the nation
Steinmeier's remarks to invited soldiers, journalists, think tank representatives and leading politicians can only be described as a “war speech to the nation.” The focus was de facto a declaration of war on Russia and the Russian population.
The June 19 decision followed extensive discussions with representatives of the International Committee in Istanbul on the development of the fight for Trotskyism in Turkey and the Aegean and Black Sea regions.
Germany’s secret service intensifies persecution of war opponents and warns against “Trotskyism”
The latest “Constitutional Protection Report” published by the Verfassungsschutz (Germany’s domestic intelligence service) at the end of June aims to silence anyone who criticises the mass death being organised by the NATO powers, calls social inequality by its name, and rejects the government’s pro-war narrative.
Peace activist sentenced for criticizing German war policy in Ukraine
The Berlin-Tiergarten District Court has sentenced peace activist Heinrich Bücker for a speech he gave on the anniversary of Nazi Germany’s invasion on the Soviet Union.
Large-scale raid against right-wing terrorist network reveals the extent of the fascist danger in Germany
Around 3,000 officers from the special police forces stormed 137 locations in 11 federal states on Wednesday morning and arrested 25 people. Another 27 people are being investigated. The state prosecutor has accused them of being members or supporters of a terrorist organisation.
German secret service operates hundreds of far-right social media profiles
Regardless of whether the pending investigations can demonstrate that the agents gave the impetus to the planned terrorist attacks, a picture emerges of a right-wing extremist milieu organized and controlled by the state.
The WSWS is publishing the report delivered by David North 25 years ago, on February 1, 1997, motivating the proposal to end publication of the SEP’s printed newspaper and replace it with an international website; as well as North’s reply to the National Committee ‘s discussion of the proposal.
Ghassan Zeineddine’s Dearborn: Short stories about Arab-American life
Zeineddine’s stories concern immigrants who escaped the civil war in Lebanon (1975-90) and their children, who are negotiating their own escapes.
The Best American Short Stories 2023: A step backward
Perhaps half the pieces are coming-of-age stories, that lyrical standby now usually written in a gritty but still rhapsodic voice.
Killing for Country: A Family History—a harrowing but distorted view of the massacres of Australian Aboriginal people
David Marr’s Killing for Country documents many mass killings of indigenous people but falsely blames the entire population, not the ruling class and Australian capitalism.
DOC NYC Film Festival 2023: Part 3
How to Come Alive with Norman Mailer: A documentary approaches the American novelist with sympathy, but not enough scrutiny
The documentary follows the writer from his boyhood in the 1930s through his service during World War II and throughout his tumultuous literary, journalistic and personal life.
The working class must take up the fight against the genocide in Gaza and in defense of democratic rights
The ruling class is terrified of the student protests because they can arouse the working class. A strike vote by graduate students in California shows there is a growing recognition that the methods of class struggle are required.
Biden endorses Israel’s assault on Rafah
In a speech on Tuesday, President Joe Biden effectively gave a green light for Israel's onslaught on Rafah, cynically seeking to exploit the Holocaust to justify US support for the Israeli state's genocide of the Palestinians.
NATO escalation in Ukraine threatens nuclear war with Russia
Threats by top European officials to launch missile strikes or a ground invasion against Russia are opening an escalatory spiral that can only be halted by the working class.
May Day 2024: The working class and the struggle against imperialist war
This is the text of the introductory speech delivered by WSWS International Editorial Board Chairman David North to the 2024 International May Day Online Rally.
Review the most critical essays, lectures and letters produced by the ICFI in the course of its intervention in response to the crisis of Stalinism and the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991.
New Zealand: Court action continues over Pike River mine disaster
Families of some of the 29 workers killed in the 2010 coal mine disaster are continuing their fight for answers about why authorities dropped charges against Pike River Coal chief executive Peter Whittall over the extremely dangerous conditions in the mine.
Police locate more bodies in New Zealand’s Pike River mine
The police investigation into the 2010 disaster that killed 29 mineworkers has been dragged out until at least the end of 2023, with no guarantee that anyone will be charged over the avoidable deaths.
New Zealand police extend investigation into Pike River mine disaster until the end of 2023
Police are delaying their decision on whether to lay charges over the 2010 Pike River mine disaster that killed 29 people, until after the October election.
Nine dead, 44 still missing in mine collapse in China
The disaster tragically exposes the brutal working conditions faced by miners in China in the reckless drive for profits ahead of lives and safety.
The WSWS has published a feature page incorporating a selection of essential essays from its own archives, and other documents produced contemporaneously by the Fourth International.
Cliff Slaughter died on May 3, 2021, in Leeds, England, at the age of 92. His enduring contribution in the 1960s to the defense of Trotskyism stands in tragic contrast with his subsequent political opportunism and repudiation of revolutionary Marxism.
North and London discussed the significance of the latest revelations of the the Security and the Fourth International investigation into Trotsky’s assassination.