Vol. 72/No. 21      May 26, 2008

Kennedy had been invited to address the gathering after she and Ben Joyce, SWP candidate for U.S. Congress in New York’s 7th District, met with the organization’s executive board as part of a fact-finding tour to Sweden.

Somali Peace and Development formed in opposition to the U.S.-backed Ethiopian invasion of Somalia. The meeting addressed by Kennedy was called to raise funds to send to Somalia.

“My running mate Róger Calero and I are the only candidates in the U.S. elections who, when elected, will immediately and unconditionally withdraw all U.S. troops from Afghanistan, Iraq, and everywhere else in the world,” said Kennedy. “We opposed the bombing of your country in 2007 and oppose the continued attacks on Somalia,” she said. Kennedy’s remarks were translated into Somali, and the translator reminded the crowd that there are more than 1,000 U.S. troops in Somalia today.

In recent months the Somali Peace and Development Organization has been waging a fight against attacks by the Swedish government against Somalis living in Stockholm. Seven bilingual Somali-Swedish day care centers were closed in February after accusations that local government funds to run the centers had been diverted to finance “terrorism.” The day care centers were opened again after protests by Somalis in the area.

Three Swedish citizens of Somali ancestry were arrested, accused of helping transfer money collected by the Somali Peace and Development Organization that the Swedish government claims is being used for “terrorist” purposes. None of the men have been charged, and two are still in jail awaiting trial. One, a bus driver, was released but was immediately fired from his job. One other Somali remains in jail in Norway on similar accusations.

According to Swedish law you can only be detained for two weeks. The court, however, has repeatedly prolonged the detentions. Every time this has happened crowds have gathered outside the court in protest. A meeting in Rinkeby, a suburb of Stockholm, drew more than 300. A range of speakers from the Somali community, as well as journalists, writers, and political activists, condemned the arrests.

While in Sweden, Kennedy also addressed a protest outside the Swedish parliament demanding legal papers for immigrant workers. Organizers told her that according to some calculations 45,000 undocumented immigrants live and work in Sweden.

Kennedy met with meat packers outside a slaughterhouse area in Stockholm and spoke to a class of more than 50 students at Nacka Gymnasium, a high school.

While in Sweden, Kennedy also brought solidarity to striking nurses on the picket line outside Karolinska hospital in Huddinge outside Stockholm. The 80,000-member Healthcare union struck for a contract with a substantial wage raise. “We strike not only for ourselves but for future generations,” biotechnician Birgitta Gillborg-Hellström told Kennedy. “With these wages, young people will not choose this profession.”

This is the first nurses’ strike in Sweden since 1995. According to an opinion poll published in Dagens nyheter newspaper, 73 percent of those in Sweden support the strike.

“I couldn’t believe there was so much love that could be extended to us,” Gillborg-Hellström said, referring to the support the picket lines have gotten from passersby.
 
 
Related articles:
In California, SWP candidate for president backs workers fighting racism
Socialist candidate for U.S. vice president joins picket lines in Montreal
Young Socialists host U.S. socialist candidates on European tour  
 
 
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