Lydia ConwellI kinda think I hate #Counterfire, with it's finger-wagging what-the-left-needs-to-do, yet an organisation that really has little influence politically.
They feel a bit like self-appointed arbiters to me.
idk they bore me.
As much as I like #Counterfire having varied content like reviews for books, films and TV, I see this sort of thing quite a lot:
"recently-aired four-episode series on Disney+"
Or Netflix or whatever.
The writers for this revolutionary socialist organisation sure love their corporate streaming services!
Some words someone wrote about the new left wing party.
It doesn't really mention entryism but it does mention "MPs are expected to attend parliament and vote against any curtailing of our rights and freedoms," which would defend from entryists, I think.
https://www.counterfire.org/article/is-the-party-about-to-begin/
Is the party about to begin?
A new party to the left of Labour is highly welcome, but it will need to be rooted in the social movements, organised democratically and prepared to resist attacks, argues Michael Lavalette On Thursday evening this week (3 July), the internet and left-wing circles across Britain buzzed into life with a press release from Zarah Sultana MP announcing she had left the Labour Party and was working with Jeremy Corbyn to form and lead a new left-wing vehicle to challenge the Starmer Government.
#Counterfire | Palestine solidarity was not confined to a couple of moments, but was a pervasive normality at the festival, in stark contrast to our media, reports Katherine Hajiyianni
https://www.counterfire.org/article/palestine-solidarity-at-glastonbury/
Palestine solidarity at Glastonbury
Palestine solidarity was not confined to a couple of moments, but was a pervasive normality at the festival, in stark contrast to our media, reports Katherine Hajiyianni In the sun and sequin-soaked fields of Glastonbury Festival’s ‘most political year yet’, one message dominated every corner of Worthy Farm: ‘Free Palestine’.
#Counterfire | Police lead assault on women’s rights
https://www.counterfire.org/article/police-lead-assault-on-womens-rights/
Police lead assault on women’s rights
As Parliament votes on decriminalising abortion, Terina Hine examines police attacks on women's reproductive rights Searching women’s homes, seizing digital devices and accessing confidential medical records, often without a court order, as part of a clampdown on abortion is an abuse of police powers and a direct attack on women’s rights.
Yeah, I got that impression when watching the White Man Walking documentary.
It's easy to dismiss the 'What about white people?' counter argument as uninformed, blinkered and racist, but I think it's important to recognise many white people feel under-represented. The problem is, fascism speaks to those people while #socialism doesn't.
Reform work, like how all fascism works, to point the blame at brown people and immigrants to dupe the uniformed white, and to destroy #solidarity.
"Racist dog whistles are key to Reform UK’s politics, but it’s not why they win votes in Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse or in Llanelli. Councillor Beer is right, the main reason people vote Reform UK – as poll after poll demonstrates – is not primarily to ‘stop the boats’ but because they see it as giving them a voice when the established parties don’t listen."
#Counterfire | Only an independent left can beat Reform
https://www.counterfire.org/article/only-an-independent-left-can-beat-reform/
Only an independent left can beat Reform
Working-class voters are turning to Reform due to Labour austerity, more than racism, so an independent left is the answer, not the centre, argues Chris Bambery On Thursday, Reform UK stormed to victory in Llanelli's Lliedi ward, taking 568 votes, while Labour came second with 312 votes.
#Counterfire | Protests work: Israel has never been so isolated
https://www.counterfire.org/article/protests-work-israel-has-never-been-so-isolated/
Protests work: Israel has never been so isolated
The UK/France/Canada statement on Gaza represents a significant change of direction, argues Michael Lavalette, but more must be done to fight for the end of the genocide and Palestinian liberation Over the weekend, Israel launched yet another brutal assault on the central zone of the Gaza Strip.
This article is about how the British were protecting their empire during WW2, not fighting fascism.
#Counterfire | Was World War II really the ‘good’ war?
https://www.counterfire.org/article/was-world-war-ii-really-the-good-war/
Was World War II really the ‘good’ war?
Chris Bambery explains why the allies’ leaderships in the Second World War were fighting neither for democracy nor against fascism, but for their own imperialist interests On Victory in Europe Day in 1945, 8,000 people took to the streets of Setif in Algeria under the slogan, ‘For the Liberation of the People, Long Live Free and Independent Algeria’.
#Counterfire | ‘Good Jews’, ‘bad Jews’ and imperialist lies
"This raises the question: If the majority of Jews were again to champion the cause of oppressed peoples, would the imperialists revert to their old anti-Semitic ways? For anti-Zionist Jews, this is an irrelevant question. Under no circumstances will they abandon their opposition to oppression."
https://www.counterfire.org/article/good-jews-bad-jews-and-imperialist-lies/
‘Good Jews’, ‘bad Jews’ and imperialist lies
Israel has always been a project promoted by Imperialist powers, and this has profound implications for the history of anti-Semitism, argues David Cohen Israel’s mass murder of Palestinians, with the open support of Britain, the USA and other powers, continues unabated.
This is worth a read, I think.
#Counterfire | Rights and Rulings
"The danger is that if we allow proclamations that this is the end of trans rights to go unchallenged, not only will trans people be made more anxious and isolated, but the perception will start to become the reality. The respect and dignity which trans people have won over the last decades could indeed be lost, not because of what the law says about single-sex spaces, but if the consensus becomes that this ruling means that trans people don’t deserve equality."
Rights and Rulings
The Supreme Court decision is a chance to reset the debate and defend women's and trans rights together, argues Elaine Graham-Leigh The UK Supreme Court ruling on the meaning of the words ‘woman’ and ‘man’ in the Equality Act 2010 has been greeted with jubilation by gender-critical feminists but alarm from trans-rights activists and others.