Fight Back! News

News and Views from the People's Struggle

international

By staff

Sheikh Naim Qassem.

Atlanta, GA – On October 29, Hezbollah announced the election of Sheikh Naim Qassem as the party’s new secretary-general. Qassem is the successor to Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, who was assassinated by Israeli forces in an airstrike last month.

In a public statement, Hezbollah’s leading body, the Shura Council, recognized that the election of Sheikh Qassem represents a reaffirmation of the group’s long-standing commitment to defending Lebanon’s national sovereignty and the cause of Palestinian liberation.

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By staff

Julie de Lima.  | Staff/Fight Back! News

Fight Back News Service is circulating the following statement by Julie de Lima, Chairperson, Negotiating Panel, of the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP).

The National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) Negotiating Panel strongly condemns the recent illegal arrests of NDFP consultants Simeon Naogsan, Porferio Tuna, and Wigberto Villarico. The arbitrary detention of these consultants is yet another in a string of blatant violations by the Government of the Republic of the Philippines (GRP) of the Joint Agreement on Safety and Immunity Guarantees (JASIG), signed to provide both parties to the negotiations the conducive conditions to engage without the threat of arrest, killing or harassment.

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By staff

Marking the 75th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China, Praxis Press, together with Friends of Socialist China, has released an excellent new book, People’s China at 75: The Flag Stays Red. This book is edited by Keith Bennett and Carlos Martinez, and compiles articles by China experts from all over the world explaining and defending Chinese socialism. Anyone who wants to understand socialism in China, from 1949 to today, should read this book.

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By Organización Socialista Camino de la Libertad

La Organización Socialista Camino de la Libertad condena enérgicamente los ataques del Departamento del Tesoro de Estados Unidos y las autoridades canadienses contra la Red de Solidaridad con los Prisioneros Palestinos Samidoun (Samidoun). La Oficina de Control de Activos Extranjeros (OFAC) del Departamento del Tesoro alega que Samidoun es una “caridad vergonzosa”, una acusación que está diseñada para criminalizar la solidaridad con Palestina. Instamos a todos los progresistas o a quienes están preocupados por las libertades civiles a solidarizarse con Samidoun contra la represión política.

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By Freedom Road Socialist Organization

Freedom Road Socialist organization strongly condemns the attacks by the U.S. Treasury Department and Canadian authorities on Samidoun: Palestinian Political Prisoner Network. The Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) claims that Samidoun is a “sham charity,” an allegation that is designed to criminalize solidarity with Palestine. We urge everyone who is progressive or concerned about civil liberties to stand with Samidoun against political repression.

The U.S government has devised a host of laws that treat movements for national liberation, be they in Palestine or the Philippines or points in between, as “terrorism.” As a result, almost every group that is fighting to end the Israeli occupation of Palestine is on the U.S. State Department’s list of designated terrorist organizations. And it gets worse. Under the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996, folks can face long prison terms for “material support of terrorism.” It’s a legal framework that tries to make solidarity a crime. These laws should be scrapped.

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By staff

Chris Bernadel and Jordan Peña during the discussion of the film.  | Luis Sifuentes/Fight Back! News

Los Angeles, CA – On Friday, October 18, Centro Community Service Organization (CSO) members and community gathered at local bookstore ReArte in Boyle Heights for a film screening and discussion. The film was on the history of Haiti and was shown in light of recent racist remarks by Donald Trump in Ohio. Haitian American and CSO member Chris Bernadel and the CSO immigration rapid response team chair Jordan Peña co-facilitated the event.

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By Talison Crosby

Lakewood, Washington protest outside military base demand justice for Jennifer Laude.  | Staff/Fight Back! News

Lakewood, WA – On October 12, approximately 60 activists gathered outside the Lakewood Pierce County Library in remembrance of Jennifer Laude. Laude was a Filipino trans woman who was killed by U.S. Marine Joseph Pemberton in Olongapo City, Philippines on October 11, 2014.

Chants of “Justice for Jennifer Laude!” and “J-B-L-M, you can’t hide. We charge you with genocide!” filled the air as the crowd prepared to march to the highway overpass at the entrance of Joint Base Lewis-McChord (JBLM).

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By staff

El noticiero ¡Lucha y Resiste! está difundiendo la siguiente declaración del Frente Popular para la Liberación de Palestina (FPLP). La traducción al inglés fue publicada en Resistance News Network en Telegram. Posteriormente, el noticiero ¡Lucha y Resiste! realizó la traducción de esa versión al español.

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