Palestinian children are shot down and murdered by Israeli troops every week. Their blood is on the streets and their funerals are pictured in our magazines. Using U.S. guns, mortars, tanks, and helicopters, the Israeli state has killed over 400 people since September. More than 10,000 Palestinians have been wounded.

The Internationals for Justice delegation visited Palestine from Aug. 7 to Aug. 21. Fight Back! conducted the following interview with Meredith Aby, Katie Bonn and Anh Pham, three members of the Minnesota-based Anti-War Committee who participated in the delegation. The delegation traveled throughout historic Palestine, particularly the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, as well as the 48 territories, which are also called Israel.

Fight Back! interviewed the imprisoned General Secretary of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), Ahmad Saadat, on May 20. At a time when the eyes of the world are focused on the Middle East, we are grateful for the opportunity to bring you, our readers, the thoughts of one of the key leaders of the Palestinian resistance in his own words.

In the recent past, a fight inside the SEIU (Service Employees International Union), the second largest union in the country, has broken into the open. The leader of California’s United Healthcare Workers-West (UHW) union, Sal Roselli, has resigned from SEIU’s executive board. His resignation came amid charges that SEIU’s international leadership was taking control over local negotiations with employers, leaving the workers without a voice in their contracts.

Workers' rights are under attack in South Carolina. Later this summer, five members of the International Longshoreman's Association (ILA) will be going on trial. Elijah Forde Jr., Kenneth Jefferson, Peter Washington Jr., Rick Simmons, and John Edgerton face up to 5 years in prison. They are changed with felony riot. In truth, they have done nothing wrong. They stood up to a union-busting shipping firm and exercised their right to picket. For that, South Carolina Attorney General Charlie Condon says they deserve “jail, jail, and more jail.”

Richard Berg, a rank-and-file leader in Teamsters Local 743 has been fired. Fight Back! received a copy of an open letter that’s being circulated by Berg that calls for a protest on Jan. 11. The letter is reprinted below.

As we go to press, we have received word that Laurent Kabila, the president of the Democratic Republic of Congo, has been murdered. As we see it, this is a tragedy. Africa has lost another one of its freedom fighters.

Fight Back! interviewed Gregg Shotwell, a worker from the Delphi auto parts plant in Coopersville, Michigan, and a founder of Soldiers of Solidarity, an organization of rank-and-file members of the United Auto Workers (UAW). This interview deals with a number of critical issues, including the role of the UAW leadership and the need for a united resistance on the part rank and file workers.

One year after the current financial crisis began, the situation has gone from bad to worse. What began with the failure of small mortgage lenders has toppled Wall Street investment banks, the largest mortgage company in the world, and a trillion-dollar insurance firm. Depositors are starting to flee banks and money market funds, putting businesses in danger of not being able to get loans. Banks don’t want to lend to each other and the stock market can’t find buyers. The economy continues to get worse month by month. As job losses mount, companies declare bankruptcy, foreclosures rise and consumers cut back on spending.

A Fight Back! Editorial