I Intend To Escape ......................And Come Back

Ivan Khurtorskoy Remembered In London

November 16th saw the assassination of Ivan, a legendary figure amongst European anti-fascists, due to his role in Moscow Antifa. Known as Vanya, he had already survived earlier two attempts on his life, before being shot dead outside his flat. 

In Answer to the international call out by RASH and Antifa Russia, London-based Antifascist, RASH's and SHARP Skins, gathered at the memorial of the International Brigade on the SouthBank of the River Thames, on the 4th of December, to honour the memory of Ivan Khurtorskoy. 
Dedicated comrades turned up in recognition of both the fallen comrade(s) but also the need for International solidarity. A special poster was made up for the event, and the Antifa statement concludes: 

"The battle against fascism is ongoing and it is the duty of us all to act and not passively sit by and think that someone else is going to do the business for you.
Thanks goes to those who act and those who care."

 

Zac Goldsmith Tax Scandal: The Ecologist Sits On The Fence

Before securing himself the Conservative candidacy for the seat of Richmond, Zac Goldsmith was perhaps best known for editing The Ecologist.

He used that role to write and campaign on a whole host of issues concerning the environment, the planet and how we conduct ourselves as citizens. That Goldsmith registered himself as non-domiciled in the UK for tax purposes in this period, raises serious questions, not just about his own credibility, but that of The Ecologist as a magazine. After all, if you had been criticised in that period by Goldsmith or one his magazines investigations, you may now be a little irritated that someone who declines to pay taxes in the United Kingdom has adopted the moral high ground.

I therefore put my concerns in an email to The Ecologist:

"Will there be any response from The Ecologist on this weeks revelations about Goldsmith and his tax status? Such stories do enormous damage to the green and environmental movements, allowing the charge of hypocrites and "do as we say, not do as we do" to be laid time after time"

Richard Coles, Publishing Director was good enough to reply:

Thanks for your email.

We will not be making a comment on these stories. It's a personal matter for Zac Goldsmith and he's made his position pretty clear in the press.

If you can hear any squeaking in the background, its the noise of a large fence at the Ecologist's HQ, struggling under the weight of a whole row of backsides sitting on it!
As to the the clarity of Goldsmith's position, all we have been offered is the curious claim that he took non-dom status as his father was 'International', (whatever that's supposed to mean, either Zac is a British passport holder or he is not) that his properties in the UK appear to be owned by a company registered in the Cayman Islands and that he is now switching his status in time for the general election.

Ecologist readers may wish to ask why he did not switch his status when taking on the editorship of a magazine that supposedly stands for responsible, ethical living? If it is a question being asked within The Ecologist's staff, they are - at this stage at least - keeping mum.

Zac Goldsmith is a spoilt, arrogant hypocrite who lectures others on responsible living whilst going to enormous lengths to avoid doing what we are expected to do - pay our way. There are very few reasons for voting Liberal Democrat - keeping this Tory toff out of Parliament at the next election is one of them. With friends like Zac Goldsmith, the environment does not need enemies.

The World Cup Starts Now.......

It is time to get excited. 

The draw for the group stages of World Cup is today, in Cape Town. Its televised - 5.15pm on BBC2. As I am known for my bad tips, I shall play safe and go for Brazil. I fancy England to reach the semi-finals (dependent on us avoiding Brazil, Italy or Spain)  I think we can beat everyone else, but we lack the all round class to defeat that big three. 

My outside tip to do well is Serbia - winger Milos Krasic is the best player I have seen this season. Add him to some of their players in the Premier League, and you have a truly golden generation. With the possible exception of Ivory Coast, I am afraid Africa's first World Cup will also be characterised by some very ordinary African performances......

Little Known Facts Number 1 - Tariq Ali and Eastenders

Welcome to a new series on this blog, which will attempt to introduce some fresh understanding into areas that may have been overlooked. It should be noted that whilst every attempt will be made to ensure that little known facts is broadly accurate - there is no guarantee that is, and anyone quoting from it in the future may end up looking rather foolish.

It is a little known fact that Tariq Ali was originally scheduled to play the role of a Pakistani Marxist doctor in the early episodes of Eastenders. Indeed he even promoted this as a groundbreaking opportunity for Asian born actors in his Guardian column of the time ‘Pompous Perspectives from Pimlico’.

However, after a row over a parking space at Elstree Studios, Lahore's greatest living thinker was replaced by the character of Dr Legg. Only one pilot recording had been made, featuring ‘Dr Ali’ reading Black Dwarf in his surgery whilst he waits for patients (no speaking dialogue was allowed, as Ali was not a member of Equity).

BBC Director General Mark Thompson had to sign off his sacking as it was feared that replacing a Pakistani Doctor with a Jewish one may damage the then perilous Middle East peace process. However, after Ariel Sharon said he could not see what all the fuss was about, Thompson decided it was OK to go ahead.

And Tariq Ali has never worked for the BBC since….

Labour Have Learned Nothing

Ever since John Smith hawked himself round the City in the early 1990s to convince the movers and shakers that a Labour government would be 'safe' for business, the Labour Party has been in thrall to the Square Mile.

They have seemingly learned very little in the past decade and a half. Firstly they have failed to grasp how European Union politics works - that horse trading would ensure that if the French did not neccesarily get their way over the positions of EU President or Foreign Minister, then they would with regards to the post of Single Market Commissioner.And they have. It could be that post is far more significant than those taken by Mister Rumpy-Pumpy and Baroness Who?

Secondly Alastair Darling's 'hands off the City' statement will be met by gales of laughter across the nation. Having got us into this mess, having used our money to bale themselves out, New Labour and the City now try to rally us against further regulation. When its a lack of regulation that has caused the economic crisis in the first place!

Have they understood nothing?

Phil The Power Taylor: A Personality, But Not A Sportman

Tuning in to Talk Sport this morning, Alan Brazil and Ronnie Irani were debating the shortlist for BBC Sports Personality of the Year.

This 'contest' has always been a bit of a farce - witness the fact that not one but two members of the royal family have won it over the years. Part of the Talk Sport debate centred on the fact that darts champion Phil 'the Power' Taylor has not been shortlisted, with a succession of fans texting in to complain about his exclusion.

There are two very good reasons to leave Taylor out. Firstly - darts is not a sport, it is a game. A sport requires simulataneous physical interaction between two parties - in darts one bloke throws from a standing position, then when he's finished the other bloke has a go. That is not sport. Secondly, and this is often forgotten by the media, Phil Taylor has a rather unpleasant criminal conviction that arguably mitigates against him being accepted for such showcase awards.

By all means recognise him as a great darts player, perhaps even recognise him as someone who has put a conviction for a sex offence behind him and got on with this life. But spare us the accusations that the BBC are excluding him because of some prejudice against darts, or because his section of the game is shown on a rival Channel - there are very good reasons why he is not being lauded.

Oh - and people should vote for Ryan Giggs anyway.............

Scottish Nationalists: Do Keep Up

Today, St Andrews Day, marks a big push by the Scottish National Party as they set out their plan for eventual independence from the rest of the United Kingdom. 

But what's this? Flicking through the SNP website, our oppressed Scottish cousins do seem to have been rather left behind by events. Check out this claim:

"Off our east coast lies Norway, the second most prosperous country in the world. Off our west coast lies Ireland, the fourth most prosperous country in the world. Off our north coast lies Iceland, the sixth most prosperous country in the world."

Anybody seriously holding up the Republic of Ireland, or more hilarious still Iceland as an economic model for the future of Scotland needs their bumps feeling. Far from being part of an arc of prosperity, Scotland looks rather like the sickly centre of an arc of dwindling economic performance, debt and recession. 

Imagine how bad it would be if they had to take responsibility for the Royal Bank of Scotland's debts as well?

The real reason for the SNP moving now is that they know Cameron is very likely to be elected Prime Minister next year. He will head a government that will be dominated by English public school boys, a government as out of touch with reality in working class Edinburgh or Glasgow as Mrs Thatcher was. 
Alex Salmond's hope is that the SNP will be able to pick up the class conscious voter, as well as the minority of Scots who have always supported nationalism, in a push for an Independent Scotland. 

The quote above rather reminds us of the limitations of his strategy, at least on economic matters. 

Time For The Football Association To Act

Like many Mancunians I note that neither Liverpool nor Everton appear capable of building a new ground each.

It is therefore time for the FA to do what it so rarely does - and show leadership. Evereton and Liverpool should be told that no bid will be considered from the city of Liverpool to host matches in the 2018 World Cup, unless both teams are ground sharing in a stadium that holds at least 60,000 fans. (It needs to be that big for when Manchester United visit it twice a year).

If Everton and Liverpool are unable to work together they can of course hang together..........

The Trail Of Jihad

I took myself off the the London School of Economics on Tuesday evening to see Gilles Kepel speak. Here's a report of where he is coming from:

This was entitled "Jihad: The Trail of Political Islam" and was the second of a series of four talks - the last two follow in the new year, with the third focusing on the development of Islamist groups in the UK and France.

The gist of Kepel's argument is the world switched era's in the 70s - political Islam moved from being virtually non-existent to centre stage.This emerged out of the first generation of Muslims who had never
experienced colonial domination, and who held Muslim leaders accountable for their failings.
Secondly this era saw massive demographic change, a population surge thanks in large part due to the decline in infant mortality and also the movement from the countryside to the city. This proved the ideal breeding ground for a new Islam, as traditional, spiritual rural systems were displaced.
Finally male literacy greatly increased, and ideas from the likes of Qutb could be disseminated. This 'Qu'ranic generation' set out to build a new world. Just as the Prophet had destroyed Paganism, so they would destroy corrupt, secular society.

On Your Marx?
At this point it has to be stressed that this is probably a far more materialist or  'Marxist' analysis, focusing on internal developments without simply complaining about the West and imperialism, than the likes of Tariq Ali could ever come out with! That Kepel is rarely read on the British left (regardless of his own beliefs) tells us much about the decline of knowledge amongst progressive political activists here in the UK. Reading that does not meet their own liberal prejudices has become virtually impossible.

These Qu'ranic currents coincided with the developing financial might of a more Conservative Islamist trend - Wahabism, based in Saudi Arabia, that could work with the West in a way the above could not. Either way - Islam - of one stripe or another - was centre stage. Nationalism (and I would argue more progressive ideals) were off the agenda. And have remained off the agenda for a generation.

An Islamic Cold War
Kepel stressed the conflict between Saudi Arabia and Iran. He sees the 1980s Jihad in Afghanistan as serving in part as an attempt to regain the leadership of the Muslim mind by the Conservatives, who had been greatly disturbed by the 'third worldism' and Shia rhetoric coming out of Iran since the 1978/9 revolution. In a tit for tat move, the Ayatollah Khomeini even issued his fatwa against Salman Rushdie on 14 February 1989 - the day before the Soviets withdrew from Afghanistan. Rather than being the Valentine's Day card from hell, Khomeini was simply concerned with stealing the thunder of the Saudis and the Americans..........

For the Jihadis in Afghanistan, rather different goals existed. The restoration of Islam was the goal, and their interpretation of jihad was it was global, not limited to particular conflicts. When the US and the petro-monarchies realised this, funding dried up (Kepel cited Brzezinski's arrogant comments in particular here)

Iraq post-Saddam was seen as an opportunity to replay Afghanistan, but has instead proved to be a disaster for Al Qaeda, as their killing of fellow Muslims has been both a PR disaster internationally as well as uniting forces against them in Iraq. Kepel argues the petro-monarchies have ended up funding rival forces to ensure AQ's defeat in the country. It is likely such forces have been promised significant chunks of Iraq's future oil wealth. The long term consequences of this remain to be seen.

Closing Comments
In the final section Kepel looked at Afghanistan (there was oddly no real mention of Pakistan, which interests me more). Here he argues Biden has influenced Obama into a 'get Al Qaeda' strategy. The problem is that although AQ are foreigners in Afghanistan and are small in number, they are being protected by, and have the support of, a resurgent Taleban, who have real numbers now.

His conclusion was not a very positive one for the US/UK (and perhaps typically French) - that those who once throught themselves so clever, are now trapped in the position the Red Army were in the 1980s............

The Real Red October

Tune in to Channel 5 this evening at 8pm for The True Story: The Hunt For Red October. 

Tom Clancy's novel was based on real life events, in 1975. However in this instance, the Captain did not want to defect to the West, but instead wanted a proper revolution with the corrupt Soviet leadership swept away........