The refusal of the students holding the embassy to compromise on their demand for the return of the shah, and Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini’s support for their stand, have inspired new mass mobilizations by workers and peasants in recent weeks.

A powerful example of this was a demonstration held December 23 in Tehran by the Islamic Workers Shora to support the occupation of the embassy and oppose any compromise with imperialism.

The Islamic Workers Shora consists of representatives from shoras (committees) in 128 factories. The December 23 demonstration was called on only one day’s notice. Nevertheless, some fifty factory shoras took part. Tens of thousands of workers organized in contingents from each plant, turned out.

The banner at the head of the march read: “Unity, Martyrdom, Shora.”

Among the most popular slogans were: “America, America, you are our enemy,” “The trial of the spies must begin,” “The Imam [Khomeini] is not going to compromise,” and “Long live the people of Panama” (a reference to the protests against the shah there).  
 
January 17, 1955
DETROIT, Jan.10—Attempts to bar minority parties from the ballot in Michigan will be renewed this week when the Republican-controlled State Legislature meets in Lansing: The Legislature’s Elections Committee, headed by State Senator Clyde Geerlings, has announced that it will introduce a bill to change requirements for minority parties so drastically that it will be virtually impossible for them to comply.

The drive against minority parities began in 1952 when the State Legislature passed, and Democratic Governor Williams signed, the notorious Trucks Law. One of the provisions of this witch-hunt measure gave the authorities the power to ban minority parties through the device of designating them as “subversive.”

The Socialist Workers Party was the first organization singled out for victimization after the Trucks Law went into effect. But the SWP went to the courts and was able to preserve its ballot rights thanks to widespread protests against the Trucks Law by the CIO, AFL and the nonpartisan Citizens Committee Against the Trucks Law.

The courts are still considering the constitutionality of the Trucks Law. But without waiting for a final court decision the Republican leaders have decided to try to bar the minority parties by changing the election laws.  
 
 
Front page (for this issue) | Home | Text-version home