Month: December 2018

Working people in Mosul rebuild lives, culture after defeat of Islamic State

‘Christians and Muslims have lived side by side in Iraq for centuries’; population faces government indifference to war-caused hardships
Vol. 82/No. 48 - December 24, 2018
Above, boisterous poetry reading with open mic at Qantara cultural cafe in east Mosul Nov. 30, one of many activities banned under Islamic State that are coming back to life in the city. Below right, Hussein Abbas Ahmed, a teacher, outside remains of his home in “old city” in west Mosul, large swaths of which were destroyed during the fight against IS, including during indiscriminate U.S.-bombing raids.

MOSUL, Iraq — Working people here continue to confront the impact of Islamic State’s three-year reign of terror and the destructive nine-month battle of Mosul that drove out the brutal and reactionary sect. Now they face ongoing Iraqi government indifference…

Kaiser health care workers strike over heavy workload

Vol. 82/No. 48 - December 24, 2018

SAN FRANCISCO — Some 4,000 mental health care workers at Kaiser Permanente hospitals and clinics across California began a strike Dec. 10 that is set to last five days.  The National Union of Healthcare Workers and their supporters mounted a…

Workers face capitalist disdain in wake of wildfire social catastrophe

Vol. 82/No. 48 - December 24, 2018
SWP member Joel Britton, left, talks with carpenter Tony Worino in his RV at fire refugee center in Chico, Calif. “How do the rich control everything and manipulate us?” Worino asked.

CHICO, Calif. — Since firefighters declared the Camp Fire 100 percent contained, the extent of the social catastrophe that accompanied the blaze — a product of the dog-eat-dog capitalist profit system — is becoming clearer. The catastrophe took the lives…

Chicago charter teachers win strike for higher pay, smaller classes

Vol. 82/No. 48 - December 24, 2018
Teachers picket Acero charter schools in Chicago Dec. 4 during victorious five-day strike. Teachers won smaller class sizes, pay raises, better working conditions and prohibition against Acero giving out information on immigration status of students, teachers and families.

CHICAGO — Teachers and staff at Acero charter schools here celebrated a victory Dec. 9 after a five-day strike. “Today our students and families have won — bottom line,” Chicago Teachers Union staff member Andy Cooks told the gathering. A…

New readers of Militant, books: Join SWP in campaigning!

Vol. 82/No. 48 - December 24, 2018

The Militant  welcomes the 1,400 new subscribers to the paper, and the workers, young people and others who bought 999 books on working-class politics by leaders of the Socialist Workers Party. This represents an advance for the reach of the…

‘Militant’: Take story of yellow vest movement to US workers

Vol. 82/No. 48 - December 24, 2018

As readers look over the coverage and pictures of the yellow vest protests in France on the front page of this week’s Militant, we think you’ll see yourself. Workers, farmers, small shop owners, young and old, native-born and immigrant, demanding…

US rulers push Beijing for trade and tariff concessions

Vol. 82/No. 48 - December 24, 2018

At the behest of Washington, Canadian authorities arrested Meng Wanzhou, a top executive and daughter of the founder of the giant Chinese telecom company Huawei, in Vancouver, British Columbia, Dec. 1. This is the latest front in a wider conflict…

Dallas cop charged with murder for killing Botham Jean

Vol. 82/No. 48 - December 24, 2018

DALLAS — Cop Amber Guyger was charged with murder Nov. 30 in the shooting here of 26-year-old Botham Jean on Sept. 6. Guyger, who entered Jean’s apartment as he was watching football, shot him twice. She claimed the killing was a…

Mosul ‘reading festival’ celebrates return of art, literature

Vol. 82/No. 48 - December 24, 2018
Mime performance by Mosul University students Nov. 30 acts out recent history. Dancers in white defeat Islamic State fighters in black, return a painting to view and a musician plays his flute to cheers of the crowd.

MOSUL, Iraq — More than 1,000 people, including hundreds of youth, participated in the second “reading festival” here since the end of the three-year reign of terror by Islamic State. The Nov. 30 event was a celebration of the defeat…