5 January 2009

Gaza demonstrationsGround assault sparks worldwide protests
Civilian casualties mount as Israeli army slices through Gaza

By Chris Marsden, 5 January 2009

Israel’s bombardment and ground invasion of Gaza has unleashed a global wave of protest.

Video: London demonstration against Israeli assault on GazaVideo: London demonstrators protest Israeli assault on Gaza

5 January 2009

Tens of thousands protested in London on Saturday against the Israeli attack on Gaza which has claimed the lives of hundreds, including many children. The World Socialist Web Site spoke to participants on the demonstration.

Thousands march through New York City as Israel invades Gaza

By a reporting team, 5 January 2009

Thousands marched Saturday through New York City, rallying outside the Israeli consulate just as the ground assault on Gaza began.

Australian demonstrations show solidarity with Palestinian people

By our correspondents,
5 January 2009

Just hours after the first media reports of the launch of the Israeli ground assault on the Gaza Strip, protests in Australia’s major cities of Melbourne and Sydney drew thousands into the streets to condemn the Zionist state.

Sri Lanka: Fall of Kilinochchi marks turning point in civil war

By Sarath Kumara, 5 January 2009

After months of heavy fighting, the Sri Lankan military announced the capture of the northern town of Kilinochchi, the administrative headquarters of the separatist Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). The fall of Kilinochchi may be the prelude to military defeat of the LTTE, but it does not augur a new period of peace and prosperity for the island.

Most job losses in US last year since 1945, with more to come

By David Walsh, 5 January 2009

Economists are estimating that the US lost 2.4 million jobs in 2008, which would be the most lost in any year since the end of World War II. Other analysts are predicting the elimination of as many or more jobs in 2009.

India: Stalinists proclaim right-wing AIADMK a pillar of their “Third Front”

By M. Kailasam, 5 January 2009

India’s two major Stalinist parties, the Communist Party of India-Marxist and the Communist Party of India (CPI), have formed an electoral and potential governmental alliance with a notoriously right-wing, Tamil regionalist party, the AIADMK.

New French

France : Jean-Luc Mélenchon lance le Parti de Gauche

Par Antoine Lerougetel et Peter Schwarz, 5 janvier 2009

Le sénateur Jean-Luc Mélenchon et près de 1000 sympathisants ont fait scission d’avec le Parti socialiste et formé un nouveau parti, le Parti de Gauche (PG) suivant l’exemple du parti Die Linke (La Gauche) allemand.

Harold Pinter et Eartha Kitt, des artistes et des opposants à la guerre impérialiste

Par David Walsh, 5 janvier 2009

L'auteur dramatique britannique Harold Pinter est décédé mercredi à l'âge de 78 ans, et la chanteuse et actrice américaine Eartha Kitt est décédée jeudi, jour de Noël, à 81 ans.

Perspective

Hands off Gaza!

5 January 2009

The International Committee of the Fourth International and the World Socialist Web Site denounce the Israeli military’s murderous assault on the Palestinian population of Gaza. The combined air and ground attack on the densely populated and virtually defenseless enclave is a war crime.

Earlier Perspectives »

Arts Review

Harold PinterHarold Pinter: Independent and critical to the last

By Paul Bond, 5 January 2009

Pinter’s opposition to the war in Iraq was deeply embarrassing to the British ruling elite.

Socialist Equality Party

Mary Elise Henehan (1925-2008)

By Helen Halyard, 5 January 2009

On December 16, 2008, Mary Elise Henehan died at Bronson Hospital in Kalamazoo, Michigan at the age of 83. She was the mother of Tom Henehan, a political committee member of the Workers League, predecessor of the Socialist Equality Party, who was the victim of a political assassination carried out on October 16, 1977 in New York City.

History

The tragedy of the 1925-1927 Chinese Revolution
Part One

By John Chan, 5 January 2009

The rise and fall of the 1925-1927 Second Chinese Revolution was one of the most significant political events of the twentieth century. One cannot understand modern Chinese history without examining its lessons.

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