A struggle has broken out over the results of Iran’s presidential elections, held Friday June 12, which resulted in the apparent landslide victory of incumbent President Ahmadinejad. On Friday night, before the results had been announced, the main opposition candidate, Mir Hossein Mousavi, declared himself the winner. The following day, Iran's election commission announced that Ahmadinejad had won with 62% of the vote. Mousavi responded with allegations of vote-rigging. This set into motion a chain of events that has resulted in hundreds of thousands coming out to the streets in protest. Some of the protests turned into riots, with protesters attacking police, government offices and banks and burning cars. 19 people are reported to have died in clashes with the government.
Israel’s 22-day assault on the Palestinian people in Gaza, starting Dec. 27, 2008, ended when Israel acknowledged defeat – declaring a unilateral ‘ceasefire’ Jan. 17. Israel’s political and military goals were not met and, as in the summer of 2006, when the Lebanese resistance defeated Israel’s military, the Palestinians and their resistance emerged victorious.
Leila Khaled, a leader of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, was interviewed in Beirut, Lebanon Jan. 17 by Fight Back! editor Mick Kelly.
Chapel Hill, NC – Six members of UNC-Chapel Hill’s chapter of Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) met with Congressman David Price and his staff on Jan. 23 to demand a just U.S. policy toward the Palestinian people. SDS is outraged with Representative Price for his vote in support of House Resolution 34, a one-sided resolution passed by Congress on Jan. 9 that condoned Israel’s massacre of hundreds of Palestinians in Gaza.
Vast numbers of Iraqis responded angrily to the Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) signed between the United States government and their local allies in the Green Zone. The SOFA will provide a legal basis to continue the U.S. occupation of Iraq when the United Nations Security Council mandate for the occupation expires on Dec. 31, 2008. Hundreds of thousands protested before the agreement was signed and protests are set to continue as the SOFA legislation heads to the puppet parliament for final approval. The Iraqi resistance has also intensified its attacks on the U.S. occupation in response to the agreement.
