Democratic Palestine : 7 (ص 23)
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- Democratic Palestine : 7 (ص 23)
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manipulated into that position by a gov-
ernment hell bent on confrontation with
the trade unions, underestimating the
degree of fight-back that would be
engendered. It must be said at this time
that the struggle would not have gone on
for as long as it has without the tremend-
ous support we have received from the
working class movement as a whole. But
also, it must be said that it need not have
gone on as long as it has if certain sec-
tions of the trade union movement led by
bad reactionary leadership had not been
dragging their feet or refusing to recog-
nise the importance of ensuring victory
for the miners. Much of this attitude
stems from notions of self-preservation
and interest. Those people must be won.
The trade union and labour move-
ment have suffered many setbacks in
the last few years. Apathy has prevailed,
but the miners have started to change all
that. Many trade union activists and
leaders have been born out of this strike,
quelling the doubts many of us had
about the commitment and determina-
tion, particularly of our young men.
These doubts have been proved without
foundation by the performance they
have put up, equal to any struggles of
the past. We have seen many other
organisations such as C.N.D., Anti-
Apartheid, ethnic minorities, old age
pensioners, being able to relate their
problems to that of the miners. The min-
ers hold out the hand of solidarity to
other sections of workers in dispute,
such as the Barking Hospital cleaners
who have been on strike longer than the
miners themselves. We are all being
beaten with the same stick. We must all
recognise the significance of the
involvement of the miners’ wives and
women in support groups the length and
breadth of the country. Without them,
‘also, the miners would have crumbled.
A victory to the miners will in the
very least be an inspiration to the work-
ing class as a whole and will cause the
Tories to think again of pursuing further
attacks on the trade unions and our
democratic systems in the shape of the
abolition of metropolitan councils, the
political levy, the election deposit,
privatisation, the assault on the Health
Service and welfare state, the social
wage, job losses, etc. ; the list is endless.
A 50p per week levy paid by every
trade unionist would remove the possi-
bility of the Tories starving us back. More
commitment by the working class is
what is needed to ensure victory. A great
man once said about the progress to a
socialist society, as, «two steps forwarc
and one step back». Let us ensure that
the miners strike of 1984 will be three
steps foreward to a higher and better
society; let us hammer a nail into the cof-
fin of reaction and despair. @
[OJ Call for Peace
The 20th session of the Executive Committee of the International
Organization of Journalists (IOJ) was held in New Delhi, September
20-23rd. Among those attending was Comrade Bassam Abu Sharif,
member of the PFLP's Politbureau, Vice-president in charge of inter-
national relations for the Palestinian Writers and Journalists Union,
and IOJ Vice-president.
The main focus of the |OJ Executive
Committee session was the struggle for
peace. As stated in the main declaration
adopted at the session: «...because of
the adventurous, militaristic policies of
world imperialism, led by the Reagan
Administration, a real threat of ther-
monuciear war now hangs over the
world...lmperialism attempts to involve
all the new countries of Asia, Africa and
Latin America in the arms race, in
aggressive blocs. Along with its militaris-
tic policies, imperialism is pursuing a
punitive monetarist policy which is
responsible for the unprecedented debt
crisis in many developing countries, a
crisis which has increased the social and
economic hardship of hundreds of mill-
ions of people around the world. Enorm-
ous means and resources that could
help solve global problems related to
starvation, disease and illiteracy are
being senselessly wasted on the arms
race instigated by imperialism.
«A substantial element of the pre-
sent crusade by imperialism is the ever
more reckless use of psychological war-
fare for which the mass media are being
increasingly misused. The press, radio,
television and news agencies of West-
+ MiSek, zechosiovakia
od ee ae ae ©
ern countries interfere in the internal
affairs of sovereign states, causing hos-
tility and mistrust among nations. Their
aim is to mask the attempts by the
United States government to achieve
hegemony, to give the impression that
the insane arms race is something nor-
mal, that military strength is the only
form of policy-making, and _ that
chauvinism and racism are legal in inter-
national relations.»
While condemning these imperialist
policies, the |OJ expressed support to
' the peace proposals made by the
socialist and developing countries. In
particular, it advocated the idea of trans-
forming the Indian Ocean into a region of
peace. The declaration stressed the
task of democratic and progressive jour-
nalists to play an important role in the
struggle for peace.
Call off IFJ meeting in
Jerusalem!
At the session, attention was called
to the fact that the Brussels-based Inter-
national Federation of Journalists (IFJ),
together with its member organization in
‘Israel’, is planning to hold a regular
meeting of the IFJ Bureau in Jerusalem
in November 1984. The lOJ Executive
Committee judged that such a meeting
would violate the norms and resolutions
of the United Nations, and branded the
decision as a provocation. In a special
resolution, it protested against the
flaunting of UN decisions and called on
the IFJ not to hold its Bureau meeting in
Jerusalem. @
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