March on May Day for Communist Revolution!
Marchers in Algeria demand that the government and the president be fired—and that the system be abolished
April 21 – US president Trump declared the elite Iranian National Guard a “terrorist organization.” A week later, Iran’s parliament called all US troops in the Middle East “terrorists.” Iran now threatens to close the Straits of Hormuz.
The ISIS “caliphate” has collapsed. US and Iranian forces and their proxies are competing for influence in Syria and Iraq. In this context, the war of words increases the risk of real war.
So does the re-election of Netanyahu in Israel. What’s new is not his racism but his alliance with three ultra-right parties. Palestinians, including Christians, and Arab Israelis face a new wave of racist attacks. Israel will likely annex the occupied territories.
Trump aided Netanyahu by moving the US embassy to Jerusalem. He supported Israel’s annexation of the Golan Heights (formerly part of Syria). And he turned up the heat on the Iranian rulers’ most reliable military unit.
Israel and Saudi Arabia have long been US imperialist client states. The US relied on them to control the oil-rich Middle East. Both countries see Iran as their major regional rival.
Trump just endorsed Libyan military strong-man Hifter, who is trying to overthrow Libya’s internationally-recognized government. Hifter’s main backers are Egypt, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia.
Some see Trump’s policies as part of his 2020 presidential run or an effort to expand his business empire. But that’s not the whole story.
They continue a long-standing US foreign policy, minus any pretense of concern for the Palestinians.
But the environment is changing rapidly:
* Russia and China are selling arms to Persian Gulf states that once depended on the US and Europe. Saudi Arabia recently bought $3.5 billion of Russian weaponry.
* China’s annual trade with the Gulf Cooperation Council states increased from $10 billion to $150 billion between 2000 and 2017. Its investments in infrastructure and industrial parks are growing.
* The global decline of US imperialism has emboldened regional powers. Every US ally in the region, including Israel, is looking for side deals. Iraq just hosted a high-level meeting with leaders from Saudi Arabia, Iran, Turkey, Kuwait, Syria and Jordan.
Trump’s Mideast policies leave the impression that the US is no longer leading but chasing its former puppets. Some US imperialist strategists see these policies as a diversion from their main task of preparing to confront China in Asia-Pacific. Either way, the world is rapidly becoming more dangerous.
The rulers’ wars are deadly to workers and our children. But they can also be deadly to the rulers themselves if soldiers and sailors take advantage of the increased opportunities to turn the guns around and ally with workers to mobilize for communist revolution.
Fascism, Religion and a World in Crisis
Intensifying Mideast rivalries stem from capitalism’s general crisis. With fewer opportunities for profitable investment, competition sharpens. Capitalism can only resolve these contradictions by mass destruction.
Communism resolves them by abolishing money, markets, nations, borders and every other aspect of life under capitalism.
But the working class hasn’t yet fought for and won communism. We remain mired in putrid decaying capitalism. Fascism is its political form.
Fascism means rule by open terror, bolstered with the most extreme racism, nationalism and sexism. Fascism is fully consistent with electoral democracy as we see in Brazil, the US, Israel, India, Hungary and elsewhere.
Twentieth-century fascism scorned religion. But 21st -century fascism embraces it. When rulers justify themselves with religion it’s called “theocracy.”
Saudi Arabia, Iran and other states are Muslim theocracies. Under Netanyahu, Israel is an open Jewish theocracy. Bolsonaro wants to make Brazil a Christian theocracy.
Too many workers follow religious leaders who urge them to vote and even kill for the fascists who oppress them. Some of the poorest Jewish communities in Israel, for example, supported Netanyahu the most strongly.
We don’t agree with some liberals who blame “voters” for the rise of fascism. But we must not let racism, nationalism or religion blind us to who we are: members of an international working class.
Of course, many religious people support “lesser-evil” politicians rather than open fascists. Many find inspiration in their religion to fight injustice and inequality.
Some are even been moved by their religious views to fight for some form of communism. We welcome them as members of the International Communist Workers’ Party.
But communism will end the material basis of religion: class society.
No more rulers who benefit from promising the masses a better life after death in exchange for obedience and suffering in the here and now! No more cynical warmakers to pit us against each other in the name of god(s)!
Beyond that, we think that communism develops confidence in our collective power to determine our lives and our destiny.
It absorbs our human failings, mistakes and losses into caring collectives that help us to become our best selves.
It shows that we are all interconnected through concrete social ties and the material reality of the universe.
Growing international communist consciousness will reduce and eventually end the appeal of religion and other forms of tribalism.
Let’s raise the Red Flag of communist revolution on May Day and in the year ahead!
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