International Socialists

The mobilisation of more than one million people on the streets of Tehran, alongside open splits in the ruling “islamist-capitalist” class, marks a revolutionary crisis in Iran. The people are losing their fear. The enormous hatred of today's political system and the economic hardship of ordinary people is boiling over. Iran is in the grip of a popular rebellion, the like of which has not been seen since the 1979 revolution. The protests that began opposing alleged vote rigging in the recent national elections has now become a movement that lays bare the deep contradictions inside Iranian society.

From the ISR Issue 63, January–February 2009
Stonewall: The birth of gay power

By SHERRY WOLF

Sherry Wolf is the author of the forthcoming Sexuality and Socialism: History, Politics and Theory of Gay Liberation (Haymarket Books, 2009). Here the ISR prints an excerpt from her book. Wolf is on the editorial board of the ISR.

THE SIXTIES is often perceived as an era of social upheaval and orgiastic revelry. But for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) folks in America, the efflorescence of sexual expression did not begin until the waning months of that decade in the heart of the nation’s then-largest bohemian enclave and gay ghetto, New York’s Greenwich Village. The Stonewall Riots that began in the wee hours of June 28, 1969,1 lasted six nights and catapulted the issue of sexual liberation out of the Dark Ages and into a new era.

Lee Sustar- International Socialist Organization USA

http://www.internationalsocialist.org/

BLOODY REPRESSION in the streets, political maneuvering at the top, and continued popular organizing from below signal a new stage in Iran's post-election crisis as the country's ruling class is increasingly haunted by the specter of revolution.

The crackdown intensified five days after the June 16 demonstration of up to 2 million people in Tehran protesting the disputed reelection claim of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Offices were shut down as large numbers of workers stayed away from their jobs.

This great outpouring recalled the 1979 revolution that toppled the Shah of Iran, the hated U.S.-backed dictator. Many protesters revived the anti-Shah chant, "Down with the dictator." Video and photos of the great mobilization inspired people around the world who support democracy and social justice--and set off alarm bells for despots in the Middle East. While the Iranian protests began over a stolen presidential election, their increasing size and intensity raises the possibility of revolutionary change in Iran and beyond.

Protest  - Friday 19th June. Meet at 5:30pm in the Octagon

This protest has been organised by people concerned about:

• Axing of pay and employment equity

• Funding cut for many important community organisations and schools!

• Solo parents tertiary study support axed! (Training incentive allowance for uni study axed!)

The International Socialists will be supporting this protest. Please come and let National know that this is not ok!

We will be marching to the opening of National MP Michael Woodhouse’s office on the corner of Princes & Jetty st. @ 6pm.