Workers March on May Day
• Militant United Actions Defend the Rights of All
• All Out for May Day 2008
• West Coast Ports Shut Down on May Day
Tucson Mayday March Opposes Militarization, Demands Rights for All
San Francisco State Students Walk Out, Join Workers on May DayRochester Holds Successful May Day Rally and CelebrationHamilton Steelworkers Protest Massive Loss of Manufacturing Jobs Only the Workers Can Find a Solution to the Problems of the Economy Workers Must Take Up Political Renewal to Extricate Society from the Crisis!
Calendar of Events for Al Nakba: Defending the Return of Return
Militant United Actions Defend the Rights of All
May Day, International Day of Unity and Struggle of the Working Class, saw all the West Coast ports from Seattle to San Diego shut down. There were marches and rallies across the country by workers, together with various rights organizations, anti-war forces, political organizations, and many, many, women and youth. Once again, immigrant workers played a significant role, defying the threats of deportation and demanding their rights.
The International Longshore & Warehouse Union (ILWU) led marches in Seattle and San Francisco. The union faced efforts by the port monopolies and courts to force them to work on May Day, but they refused. In San Francisco, picket lines were set up by youth and students at the rail yards, and honored by truckers — many of them Latino immigrants — coming to the ports. The cranes were silent and stood boomed up in all 29 ports, in salute to the stand of the workers. All the actions demanded an end to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and defended the rights of all, including immigrant rights, rights to education and housing.
The ILWU received broad support. Iraq dockworkers joined in stopping work for one hour and sent a message affirming their struggle against occupation and saluting the ILWU action and their readiness to “support you until the victory over the U.S. administration’s barbarism is achieved.”
The May Day message from the General Union of Port Workers in Iraq to the ILWU stated: “The courageous decision you made to carry out a strike on May Day to protest against the war and occupation of Iraq advances our struggle against occupation and to bring a better future for us and for the rest of the world as well…. We in salute you and The ILWU received more messages from around the globe: from the Doro-Chiba rail workers in Japan; Australian dock workers; the International Transport Workers Federation; Liverpool and Brent trades union councils, UNITE and the National Shop Stewards Network in Britain; Conlutas and Intersindical labor federations in Brazil, and the SEPE teachers union in the state of Rio de Janeiro, among others.
Postal workers in California, New York, North Carolina and elsewhere joined in by organizing two minutes of silence on May Day, where all work stopped. Vermont and South Carolina state AFL-CIO federations passed resolutions in support of the ILWU and urging workers to take anti-war actions on May Day. Chapters of the Professional Staff Congress at the City University of New York called events in unity with the ILWU action on eleven campuses.
Seattle, San Francisco and Los Angeles saw some of the largest actions. Everywhere, workers of all nationalities stood as one, demanding that their rights and the rights of all be respected. In Seattle, for example, the main theme was “We are not illegal. We are workers” and “No Peace, No Work!” People denounced government impunity, targeting the brutal raids in immigrant communities. Churches made clear that they will provide sanctuary and services, saying “we cannot ignore the human needs of immigrant workers and their families when the law fails to protect their basic human rights.” In just the past 6 months 120,000 people have been deported from the U.S., many unjustly and many forced to contend with the separation of their families.
In Los Angeles and San Francisco, the same demands were made. Stop the Raids! No One is Illegal! An Injury to One is an Injury to All! Many of the speeches were given in both English and Spanish and in other languages as well, reflecting the spirit of the working class that all languages and cultures are equal and must flourish. The many flags of the peoples, from Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador, Brazil, and elsewhere expressed this same spirit of united struggle. American workers from Korea and the Philippines also made their presence felt.
New York City also saw united action. One demonstration started in Brooklyn with a rally and then marched across the Brooklyn Bridge. The action focused on defending immigrant rights and saluted the work being done. This included winning demands for translators to be present in hospitals for those who do not speak English. The marchers then joined the action at Union Square, which also brought together various organizations defending rights.
Many other cities and towns, including Las Vegas, Detroit, Houston and Louisville also saw demonstrations. Everywhere, signs and speeches denounced the government for its failure to end the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and meet the needs of the peoples. The government raids and terrorism against the peoples, was rejected. So too were the government efforts to try and divide the peoples. The May Day actions stood against this racism and chauvinism and embodied the slogan, All for One and One for All![TOP]
All Out for May Day 2008
Workers across the country are once again marching on May Day, International Workers Day! The vision of the working class for a world where rights are guaranteed and workers are center stage can be seen in the many slogans for this year’s actions: No One is Illegal! Defend -Immigrant Rights! Defend Workers Rights! Stop the Raids and Deportations! Stop Funding Wars! Fund Reconstruction and Social Programs! and many more.
The West Coast Longshore workers have called a strike for May Day, expressing the determination of the workers against the war and against the current direction of the country, which is anti-worker and anti-people, with state-organized racism and repression intensifying. The many immigrant workers and their organizations across the country have also again called for a day of marching and boycotting work and school. The internationalist spirit of the workers is being expressed, with all nationalities standing together and materials and signs in various languages. It is this spirit and vision of the working class, of all for one and one for all, of unity on the basis of defending the rights of all that is coming to the fore.
The U.S. Marxist-Leninist Organization (USMLO) salutes all the many organizations taking action on May Day and our red flags of communism will be there, flying high! We salute the workers of all countries, fighting against U.S. imperialism and for their national and social rights.
In their desperation, U.S. imperialism is pursuing a path of fascism and war. Failing to secure their world empire, they are preparing to take the world down with them. It is their system that is a threat to workers and all humanity. We stand here in the U.S. saying Down with U.S. imperialism! Workers of all countries Unite!
What is vital now is for the vision of the working class for a new society to be further developed and brought to life. Already that vision is evidenced in the May Day actions and in the broad stand against the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. It can be seen in the growing rejection of U.S. imperialist chauvinism that says only U.S.-style democracy is valid, and only with U.S. intervention can others “survive.” It is precisely this U.S. imperialism that is behind the broad economic crises facing the peoples, the skyrocketing food prices, the poverty and starvation, the racism and war. This is not what the democracy of the working class looks like! The working class stands for fraternal relations of equality and mutual benefit. It stands for the rights of all and refuses to be split along racist and nationalist lines. Ours is one struggle for the new and we are all together in building this new – new societies, new democracies, new social relationships.
This year May Day follows on the heels of the Summit of the Security and Prosperity Partnership (SPP) in New Orleans, April 21-22. The SPP represents the visions of the U.S. rulers, a vision of annexation, of fascism and war. It is a vision to use the workers and resources of North America against the peoples of the world. In numerous actions in New Orleans, the peoples of the U.S., Canada and Mexico stood together to say NO!No to SPP! Yes to the Rights of All!
President George W. Bush equally made clear that the government’s brutality and broad attack on the public and society in New Orleans is what is in store for all. The only role of government is to hand over all public resources to the rich, taking no responsibility for the rights of the people to housing, education, healthcare. Thousands are homeless and tens of thousands more have yet to return. New Orleans stood up to Bush and the SPP and let the rich know — building our united resistance by defending rights is the path the peoples are taking.
As workers take to the streets and stand as one, many are also thinking about how to be more effective, especially in this election year. USMLO urges all to build up the struggle to reject the establishment and its political parties. Let us together advance the vision and agenda of the working class itself, including the need for a party of the working class, a single Marxist-Leninist Party, to guide and strengthen the struggle of all. Now is the time to broadly discuss the need for political empowerment, the kind of party required, the theory necessary to guide its actions, and how to use the battles of today, including the elections, to build it. We are doing this work and urge all to join in!
Defend the Rights of All!
Workers of All Countries, Unite!
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West Coast Ports Shut Down on May Day
The International Longshore & Warehouse Union (ILWU), known for its militant and democratic traditions as well as its economic and social justice activism, has written a new chapter in its glorious labor history by shutting down all 29 ports on the West Coast for eight hours on May Day.
This historic and courageous action on the part of the ILWU came about as the result of a “No Peace No Work Holiday” resolution adopted by the Longshore Division Caucus, its highest ruling body, in February. The caucus passed this resolution by an overwhelming majority of the 100 longshore delegates representing all locals on the West Coast.
This resolution demanded “an immediate end to the war and occupation in Iraq and Afghanistan and the withdrawal of U.S. troops from the Middle East.” It also asked the AFL-CIO and Change to Win for “an urgent appeal for unity and action” to end the war. The resolution further included a request for a May 1 coastwide stop-work union meeting to accommodate the closure of the ports. Contractually, the ILWU is entitled to one stop-work meeting a month to address union business.
The Pacific Maritime Association (PMA), which represents shippers, stevedoring companies and terminal operators, and negotiates labor contracts on their behalf, denied the request for a coastwide union meeting for May 1. Such requests have been honored in the past with advance notice. (PMA received nearly three months advanced notice and still denied the request.)
The rank and file proceeded with plans for a stop-work shutdown even though the International leadership withdrew its request to the PMA for the May 1 coastwide meeting.
PMA then insisted that the union leadership notify its members of the withdrawal of the request for May Day. The PMA even went to an arbitrator to force the union leaders to do this. The arbitrator ruled that the union is obligated to notify members that the union’s request had been withdrawn.
None of this pressure weakened the resolve of the rank and file, who organized marches, rallies and other demonstrations in San Francisco and the Pacific Northwest. Union locals continued to prepare for the May Day action.
In San Francisco, Local 10 members organized the Port Workers’ May Day Organizing Committee, made up of union members, immigrant rights, and anti-war and social justice groups. In the Pacific Northwest, May Day organizing groups were headed up by rank and filers: Gabriel Prawl of Local 19 Executive Board in Seattle; and in Portland Local 8 members Jerry Lawrence, member of the Executive Board, and Debbie Stringfellow.
There were numerous solidarity statements not just from trade unionists but a wide array of individuals and organizations from around the world in support of ILWU’s unprecedented planned action. The first was called by the National Association of Letter Carriers locals observing two minutes of silence in all carrier stations at 8:15 a.m. on May 1 in solidarity with the ILWU action. Independent port truckers on the West Coast were very active in taking on solidarity actions in support of the ILWU. In the ports of Newark and Elizabeth, New Jersey, as well as the port of Houston, independent truckers protested against higher gas prices and in support of the ILWU May Day action. In Seattle, students at the University of Seattle, University of Washington, and Seattle Central Community College left their respective campuses to hold their own rallies or join the march and rally of ILWU Local 19.
The ILWU action resonated so much in the community that one of the oldest movie theater venues in Oakland, California, the Grand Lake, had the following on its marquee for a week leading up to May Day, “We Salute The Longshoremen’s May Day Strike To Protest The Criminal Occupation Of Iraq.” Due to its location near the central city thoroughfare, thousands of people could see the marquee on any given day.
The most significant solidarity action of all came from Longshoremen in Iraq itself. Members of the Port Workers Union of Iraq shut down the Ports of Umn Qasr and Khor Alzubair for one hour on May Day in solidarity with the shutdown of all West Coast ports by members of the ILWU in opposition to the occupation of Iraq. The General Union of Port Workers in Iraq sent this message to the ILWU, “The courageous decision you made to carry out a strike on May Day to protest against the war and occupation of Iraq advances our struggle against occupation to bring a better future for us and for the rest of the world as well.”
There was a second solidarity message received from the Iraqi Labor Movement, a broad cross section of union leaders from many different unions and labor federations in Iraq. The message read in part, “On this day of international labor solidarity we call on our fellow trade unionists and all those worldwide who have stood against war and occupation to increase support for our struggle for freedom from occupation — both military and economic.”
Jack Heyman, Local 10 Executive Board member and Co-Chair of the Port Workers May Day Organizing Committee was interviewed by Amy Goodman of Democracy Now! on May 2 about the significance of the May Day action. He responded to several of her questions in the following way: “We are really proud here on the West Coast as longshoremen. The ILWU is making a stand because it’s part of our legacy, really for standing up on principled issues.
“This is a stop work — work stoppage where workers are withholding their labor and demanding an end to the war and the immediate withdrawal of the troops. Not only did we defy the arbitrator, but in a certain sense we defied our own union officials. The union officials did not want to have the actions we organized up and down the coast despite the arbitrator’s decision. Simply, we do not take our orders from the arbitrator — we don’t take it from judges. The rank and file goes out and does what it has to do.
“We did that in 1984 during our struggle against apartheid when a ship came in from South Africa. We, Local 10 members, refused to work that ship for 10 days. That was in defiance of what the arbitrator said and what our union officials were telling us. So, we’ve got strong traditions in the ILWU, rank-and-file democracy where we implement what we decide in a democratic fashion.”
In San Francisco, more than a thousand people marched from Local 10’s union hall, led by the Local 10 Drill Team, along the Embarcadero where the 1934 Big Strike took place to a noon rally at Justin Herman Plaza. Actor-activist Danny Glover; Cynthia McKinney, former congresswoman from Georgia; Cindy Sheehan, whose son was killed in Iraq; and many others spoke to the crowd.
Local 10 was the local of the legendary labor leader and founding member of the ILWU, Harry Bridges. Local 10 initiated the Million Worker March (MWM), which took place on Oct. 17, 2004, at the Lincoln Memorial. The MWM movement calls upon the rank and file of the labor movement, organized and unorganized, to wage a fight-back movement for the working class. One of the aims of the MWM following the 2004 mobilization was to reclaim May Day by reclaiming our proud history of struggle and social gains that International Workers’ Day stands for.
Rallies, marches and resolutions all play an important role in terms of organizing. The ILWU’s May Day action of shutting down all 29 ports on the West Coast is another important example of how workers can exercise their power.
Clarence Thomas is an ILWU Local 10 Executive Board member, Co-chair, Port Workers’ May Day Organizing Committee and National Co-chair, Million Worker March Movement. Reprinted from Workers World.[TOP]
Tucson Mayday March Opposes Militarization, Demands Rights for All
More than 1,000 people came out for International Worker’s Day in Tucson, Arizona to demand an end to government raids, an end to border militarization, and equal rights for all regardless of immigration status. Demonstrators marched from south 6th Ave. to Armory Park, 8 blocks strong.
Protesters began gathering at 8:00 a.m. at Southgate Shopping Center in South Tucson. By the time the march left, led by Danza Mexica traditional dancers, it was easily 800 people strong. All along the route people joined the march, including several south Tucson charter high schools — this despite the threat from Tucson Unified School District bureaucrats that no student would be excused for missing class on May 1. At Armory Park the rally continued with speakers, music (including hip-hop by Tierra y Libertad), a maypole, food and folks gathered for conversation.
Among the demands of the Tucson May 1st Coalition were: Stop the Raids and Deportations! Stop the Border Deaths! Stop the War! Education, -Healthcare, Housing and Jobs for All! Stop the Militarization of Our Society!
May 1st, International Workers’ Day, commemorates the historic struggle and present demands of working people throughout the world.
The many groups that cosponsored the march and were involved in organizing the demonstration reflected the unity of all both sides of the border:
May 1st Coalition, AFSC, American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee, Aztlán Academy, Black Alliance for Just Immigration, Borderlands Theater, BorderLinks, Casa Maria, César Chávez Middle School, Coalición de Derechos Humanos, Community of Christ of the Desert, Dry River Collective, Fundación México, Jobs with Justice, Las Adelitas, Las Nanas, Latino Doctrine, Middle East Justice Now, National Writers Union, No More Deaths, Nuclear Resister, Pima College MEChA, Promotoras de Derechos Humanos, Samaritans, Tucson High MEChA, Tucson Peace Action Coalition, Tucson Veterans for Peace, Turnwind, SOAR, Venezuela Solidarity Network.
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San Francisco State Students Walk Out, Join Workers on May Day
More than 600 San Francisco State University (SFSU) students walked out of their classes and blocked traffic May 1 to protest further cuts to California’s education system. After the walk out students joined the May 1 march in Dolores Park marching with thousands of people. The students protested a proposed increase to next semester’s fees, making an increase of 113 percent since 2002. The proposed increase in student fees are a part of a $14.65 million cut to next year’s SFSU budget and part of a larger $4.8 billion budget cut to California’s education system. Students opposed the plan for essential services to be cut, for more people to lose their jobs, for more cuts in classes and for forcing students to pay more for less.
Justly concerned about the fate of higher education, students have organized on campus to address the lack of resources and demand increased funding. The planned cuts mean the equivalent of 100 full time teachers will no longer be returning and up to one third of all Ethnic Studies classes will be cut, among many other classes. Groups on campus, such as the Fight the Fees campaign and the New Front Coalition, have led a series of teach-ins and rallied this past semester to educate students. This included a march to Sacramento to take demands to California’s state legislature. The students joined in direct action on International Workers day to ally themselves with the workers on campus and to show solidarity with a broad worker-led movement on May 1st.[TOP]
Rochester Holds Successful May Day Rally and Celebration
People in Rochester organized a successful May Day rally and celebration at the Liberty Pole on May 1. Like all the actions across the country, the main demands were for workers’ rights and immigrant rights. Various speakers brought out the connections between the immigrant rights movement, the anti-racism movement, and the anti-war movement both regionally and nationally. The rally took place despite a wave of terror by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in the region.
After the rally, held in the rain, a May Day picnic and planned outdoor social was relocated to the Anti-war Storefront on Monroe Avenue. Dozens of people participated, enjoying food, music, -hula-hooping, sidewalk soccer, dancing, and radical readings from authors such as Voltairine de Cleyre, the Haymarket Martyrs, and others.[TOP]
Hamilton Steelworkers Protest Massive Loss of Manufacturing Jobs
Locals 1005 and 7135 of the United Steelworkers (USW) led a May Day rally and march to protest the massive loss of manufacturing jobs in the Hamilton area and across Canada. Local 1005 represents the workers at Stelco Hamilton Works and Local 7135 represents those at National Steel Car. Close to 500 people participated in the action, with a strong contingent of workers from both Hamilton Works and National Steel Car, along with Hamilton workers from many other sectors, students from McMaster University and autoworkers from Oakville, St. Catharines and Oshawa.
About 200,000 manufacturing jobs have been lost in Ontario since 2002 according to the Canadian Manufacturers and Exporters. On May 1, National Steel Car workers learned of 90 more layoffs to take place before the summer. On the Niagara Peninsula, CanGro has recently announced the closure of its St. Davids’ cannery, throwing 120 people out of work. An item in the Toronto Sun points out that it is the last such facility east of the Rockies. The effects of the closure are having a severe impact in the region where peach and pear farmers have been left without a facility to process their fruit. As a result, 1,200 acres of peaches and 800 acres of pears are going to waste and farmers are ripping out their fruit trees at a time of worldwide food shortages.
After welcoming participants, Gary Pedron, President of USW Local 7135 told the workers that with this rally and march, workers are demanding that the Canadian government take action against the job losses that are affecting the workers of the region and across Canada. The workers at National Steel Car, the last railcar manufacturer in Canada, are demanding that the company maintains its operations in Hamilton and stops reducing the workforce at the plant, he said. Ken Georgetti, President of the Canadian Labor Congress and Ken Neumann, National Director of the United Steelworkers also addressed the rally as did Napoleon Gomez, the Mexican trade union leader who was illegally removed by the government of Mexico from his position as General Secretary of the National Miners and Metalworkers Union after he lead miners to protest the deaths of 65 miners at Grupo Mexico’s Pasta de Conchos. Gomez said how honored he felt to have been named an honorary member of Local 1005 of USW. He said that May Day means international solidarity and the unity of the workers in defense of the rights of the working class. He expressed the support of the Mexican workers for the struggle of the workers of Canada in defense of their rights and for policies that address the crisis of the manufacturing sector.
Rolf Gerstenberger, President of USW Local 1005, spoke last. A lot of industries are being shut down that were viable — we are not going to have any manufacturing left in Ontario, he said. In my view, that is a very serious problem because what is not being produced cannot be distributed, he added. The wealth that manufacturing produces, from that we afford health care, education, he said. He emphasized that on May Day workers remind themselves that the main problem they are facing is their lack of political power and that this is the main problem they are putting on the table for solution with their actions. The fact that the back-to-work legislation against the Toronto Transit Company (TTC) workers was adopted unanimously at the legislature shows that the workers cannot rely on the political process, which puts political parties that do not take their cue from the workers in parliament. Workers must deal with the problem of acquiring political power on the basis of their own efforts.
This work, he said, is absolutely necessary to stop the irrational destruction of the manufacturing base of the region and of the country, whether it is in steel, manufacturing of railcars or in food processing, to name only some of the sectors that are affected. The monopolies, he said, are ready to destroy the manufacturing sector, which is crucial for the Canadian economy, in the name of their own “bottom line” and this shows that it is the workers who have to take them on and affirm their right to decide the direction of the economy.
The workers then set off on a march through the industrial core of Hamilton, with their banners unfurled and signs held high, expressing their demands — “Steel Not Steal,” “Less Talk, More Government Action!” “An Injury to One Is an Injury to All,” and “Fight for the Dignity of Labor,” amongst others. The march was vigorous and spirits were high. Workers were called upon to join in the fight, and many workers honked and waved in support.[TOP]
Only the Workers Can Find a Solution to the Problems of the Economy
Local 1005 USW is organizing this May Day demonstration in conjunction with Local 7135 to oppose the loss of manufacturing jobs in Canada, and especially to declare that the workers have the right to decide the direction of the economy. All developments have shown that the entire society is being put at the disposal of huge global corporations, while workers’ rights are being trampled in the mud. Manufacturing job losses and the suppression of the TTC strike show this conclusively. Nine thousand TTC workers on legal strike had their rights taken away in thirty minutes at the Ontario Legislature. All three political parties unanimously supported this attack on the workers right to strike. This should be a wake up call for all workers to get better organized in a manner that can be effective in defending their rights.
One of the major issues facing workers in Canada this May Day is how to exercise control over their lives and in particular over the economy. How do they stop the monopolies from wrecking Canada such as the destruction of almost 400,000 manufacturing jobs in the last few years? What steps have to be taken so that workers can take their rightful place as the builders and leaders of society and gain control over the direction of the economy? Look at the steel industry in Canada. It has gone from being 98 percent Canadian owned to 100 percent foreign owned in less than five years. How can the once proud Stelco Hilton Works be reduced to mainly a slab producer? (Being a slab producer is equivalent to cutting logs and exporting the raw logs). All the decisions on what kind of steel industry Canada will have are made by foreign monopolies. It goes without saying that the interests of the monopoly, which owns the local company such as Stelco or Dofasco, are the interests directing any decisions affecting steel production in Canada, not the steel requirements of the Canadian economy or the needs of the local steel communities and workers.
This scenario has been played out time after time in the Hamilton area where corporations have put their own narrow interests ahead of the public good. Perfectly viable plants such as Camco, Levis, the Ford truck plant, the Cangro canning plant, etc. have been or are being shut down in the monopolies’ pursuit of their own interests for maximum profit. And many more plants are threatened, including Hamilton’s National Steel Car, the last Canadian rail car manufacturer that currently employs 1,300 workers.
The workers are told there is no alternative to this destruction of the economy. It is obvious that the monopolies and the political parties of the rich have no concern in solving this problem because for them their narrow interests stand above the particular needs of the communities and the general interests of Canadian society. The reality for workers is that only by uniting and taking a stand for public right against monopoly right is there a possibility of finding a solution to this problem. Any security that the workers have is only found by fighting in defense of their rights and for the rights of all.
When it comes to attacking the workers this can be done in a thirty minute farce in the legislature, which we saw last Sunday. But when it comes to dealing with problems of great concern to the workers, they are told that nothing can be done; no alternative to shutting or moving production is possible.
Direct experience is proving to us that the working class cannot rely on the political parties of the rich to stand on principle because their only concern is to defend the “rights” of the monopolies. Workers must depend on themselves and elect their own political representatives who can be relied on to stand with them on principle.
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Workers Must Take Up Political Renewal to Extricate Society from the Crisis!
On this important occasion of May Day 2008 — the Day of International Working Class Unity and Struggle, the Communist Party of Canada (Marxist-Leninist) greets the workers and oppressed people of all lands who are fighting for their rights and in particular their right to chart their own destiny without imperialist interference. CPC(M-L) greets all the workers and people in Canada who are fighting for their rights under the conditions of the brutal anti-social offensive and the warmongering of the rich and their governments.
May Day 2008 is marked as the crisis of capitalism further deepens and broadens. Wars, famines, environmental disasters, all point to the destructive and unsustainable nature of monopoly capitalism. Workers are asking: is this the 21st Century or are we being driven back to the Middle Ages? The fact that this system breeds these calamities compels the workers to take the lead in renewing society so that the crisis is resolved in favor of the peoples.
The times demand that the workers take up political renewal in order to be effective in their struggles because the ruling elites fanatically refuse to renew the economic and political arrangements to put them on par with the need for society to progress. They defend their positions of privilege and power whatever the cost to society. They will not give an inch.
Instead, they are making further arrangements for annexation, fascism and war. Canada’s war government is embroiling the country in the aggressive wars of U.S. imperialism for world domination, against the will of the people. The anti-labor hysteria, the open threats to slash and burn all social programs in the context of a recession, the jailing of First Nations people fighting for their rights, the excitement of the rich to transform workers into indentured slaves — all point to the fact that the rule of the rich is destroying society and to the need for the workers to take the lead politically.
On May Day 2008, the workers must take up the task of acquiring the political power needed to change these conditions and lift society out of the crisis. Without power, how can workers remedy the situation? They cannot rely on political parties, which vie for the power to implement the anti-social offensive and crush the workers and people. Workers have to fight for something new — the power that comes from uniting all the oppressed to deprive the ruling circles of their ability to make arrangements that deepen the crisis and devastate peoples’ lives. This is the power that comes from the workers becoming political themselves, building their political organizations and their own means of communication, giving rise to their worker politicians, building a workers’ opposition in Parliament, and forming anti-war governments that stop paying the rich and increase funding for social programs.
There are two worlds in combat today. One is the world of the bourgeoisie, with its counter-revolution, retrogression, anti-social offensive, fascism and war. This world of darkest reaction and war tramples underfoot the right of the peoples of the world to choose their own system and affirm their right to be. There is another world, the world of the working class and all progressive humanity, the world of the future that opens the door for the progress of society. This is the world of pro-social programs, the world of unity and struggle of the peoples of all lands.
On May Day 2008, the workers of all lands proclaim that they put themselves at the center stage politically to build this new world.
Hail May Day — Day of International Working Class Unity and Struggle!
Workers and Oppressed Peoples of All Countries, Unite!
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Calendar of Events for Al Nakba:
Defending the Right to Return
Los Angeles Area
Sixth Annual International Convention of Al-Awda Palestine Right of Return Coalition on the 60th Year of the Nakba and Struggle for Return
May 16-18, 2008
Embassy Suites Hotel Anaheim South, 11767 Harbor Boulevard
Garden Grove, California
Palestine: 60 Years of Forced Exile - Time for Return!
• world-renowned speakers • discussions • workshops • exhibits • book signings • film showings • presentations • projects update • solidarity items • activist networking • lunch/dinner • musical performance • mass protest and march
Contact: al-awda.org
San Francisco
Nakba-60, Palestine Peace and Solidarity Festival
May 10, 2008, 12-6pm, Civic Center
Bring the family, and join us for a special day of resistance music, cultural and youth programs, dabkeh, local solidarity groups and more! Meet survivors from 1948, and learn about the tragedy, while listening to Palestinian and Native American elders recount their experiences. Childcare assistance will be provided on-site.
Organizers: Nakba Committee and the Palestine Right to Return Coalition
Sacramento
The Arab Theatre Project presents Hikayat al-Nakba
May 11, 2008
6:00pm, A-6 Theatre, Sacramento City College
Join us in a children’s play about Naji Al-Ali, in commemoration of al-Nakba, marking the 60th year of Palestinian displacement and dispossession.
Organizers: the Free Palestine Alliance, National Council of Arab Americans, Sacramento City College Peace & Justice Coalition, Sacramento Peace Action
Contact: hikayatalnakba@gmail.com
Portland, Oregon
Metro Area 40/60 Commemorations: Sixtieth Anniversary of Al-Nakba. Demonstrations, speaking events, and teach-ins throughout the month of May
May 31: Commemorating 60 years of Palestinian dispossession, 40 years of Israeli occupation
1-5:00pm, Hoffman Hall, Portland State University 1833 SW Eleventh
Organizer: Americans United for Palestinian Human Rights
Contact: Peter Miller info@auphr.org
Seattle, Washington
Celebrate 60 Years of Resistance
May 10, 12-4pm, Seattle Central Community College, South Plaza, Broadway and East Pine
Organizers: Palestine Solidarity Committee-Seattle, Al-Nakba Coalition
Contact Judith: info@nakba60th-seattle.org, 206 282 8023
Denver, Colorado
Remember al-Nakba: 60 Years Later
May 17, 11am-3pm, West Lawn, Capitol & 14
Organizers: Friends of Sabeel-Colorado, Colorado Progressive Jewish News, Rocky Mountain Peace & Justice Center
Contact: Joy Lapp, lappj@earthlink.net, 303-494-2338
Austin, Texas
Palestine/Israel: Out of Catastrophe-Hope
May 10, 2008. 7:30pm, St. Edward’s University, Ragsdale Center, Jones Auditorium 3001 S Congress
Organizer: Interfaith Community for Palestinian Rights
Contact: bernran@aol.com
Houston, Texas
Houston Palestine Film Festival
May 9-11 and May 16-18
The second annual Houston Palestine Film Festival brings cutting edge new cinema from Palestine and about Palestine. The second annual Houston Palestine Film Festival will also include a night dedicated to Iraq, with a collection of short Iraqi and Palestinian films. “The Houston Palestine Film Festival’s aim is to share the Palestine that is not shown in mainstream media,” says organizer Hadeel Assali. “The films provide an alternative perspective on important issues, which is urgently in needed in public discourse today.”
Contact: www.hpff.org
Memphis, Tennessee
Protest the Israeli Occupation
May 15, 3:00pm, Highland and Poplar intersections
St Louis, Missouri
Women in Black Remembering the Nakba Vigil
May 13, 11:30-1pm, near the Bread Co., on Delmar, in the U-City Loop
Contact: Hedy Epstein hedy@hedyepstein.com
Chicago, Illinois
Rally to Commemorate 60 years of the Palestinian Nakba
May 23, 5:00pm, Federal Plaza (Dearborn and Adams St.)
Organizer: Palestine Activist Network
Contact: Ramsey info@palestineactivistnetwork.com
The Palestinian American National Conference
May 23-24, Crowne Plaza, Chicago O’Hare
Contact: Hesham Tillawi tillawi@aol.com
Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Al Nakba exhibits and speakers
May 24 –25: Milwaukee Ramada Inn South, 6401 S. 13th St.
Organizer: Muslima American Society
Contact: www.masnet.org
Cleveland, Ohio
Press Conference and Panel Discussion
May 13, 1:00-2:30pm, St. Joseph Center/River’s Edge 3430 Rocky River Dr.
Organizer: Interfaith Council for Peace in the Middle East
Contact: Liz Lavelle alex9913x@juno.com
Ann Arbor, Michigan
Screening of “Deir Yassin”
May 15, 7pm, Pond Room 530
Organizers: Film Society, Students Allied for Freedom and Equality (SAFE), Detroit-Ann Arbor SABEEL
Contact Shirley Zempel: Zempel.shirley@gmail.com
Portland, Maine
The Nakba Conference
May 17, 6:30pm,University of Southern Maine in Payson-Smith Hall, Room 302 (Payson Smith Hall is located at 96 Falmouth Street)
Organizers: Peace Action Maine, Pax Christi Maine, Maine Veterans for Peace
Contact: Wells Staley-Mays wells369@hotmail.com
Boston, Massachusetts
Palestine Cultural Night
May 2, Harvard University
A candlelight vigil followed by an evening of food, music, dance, poetry, and celebration of life
Contact: Abdelnasser Rashid, arashid@fas.harvard.edu
New York City, New York
May 16: Commemorating the Sixtieth Anniversary of the Nakba (Palestinian Catastrophe)
Dag Hammarskjöld Park
Contact: Nakbah60th@gmail.com.
May 21: May 1948 - A New State for Israelis, A Nakba -(Catastrophe) for Palestinians
7pm, Brooklyn Friends Meeting House, 110 Schermerhorn, Brooklyn
Contact Naomi Allen: Naomi@brooklynpeace.org
Woodstock, New York
Nakba Commemoration Vigil
May 10, 2:30-4:00pm, Village Green 5 Tinker Street
Contact: Fred Nagel fred@acornfilm.com
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Philly Remembers Al Nakba: Events include May 18 Day of Mass Action against 60 years of occupation of Palestine and weekly action by “Bubbes and Zadies for Peace” at the Israeli consulate demanding an end to the occupation now. There are also film screenings and a live show by the Shondes, a rock quartet. These activities are part of 60 days of actions of various kinds that began March 16. Contact: www.phillynakba.org
Washington, D.C.
Expressions of Nakba Exhibit Opening Reception
May 13, 7pm, Josephine Butler Parks Center 2437 15th Street NW
Organizer: US Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation
Contact: Suha Dabbouseh organize@endtheoccupation.org 202-332-0994
Additional listings available at: www.us4arabs.com, www.badil.org and www.endtheoccupation.org
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