The Call to Rally / Latest Updates: New Anti-Filtering Ware, 'Enemy Is Zahhak' by MUHAMMAD SAHIMI in Los Angeles 13 Feb 2011 06:1094 Comments<http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/tehranbureau/2011/02/wave-of-support-for-demonstrations-on-february-14.html#disqus_thread>[image: AgriculturalWorkers25BahmanPoster.jpg]*Updates -- Sunday, 24 Bahman/February 13*
Mehdi Alikhani Sadr, a senior Interior Ministry official, declared that the request by Mir Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi for a Monday march permit is "illegal." He did not explain how the request can be illegal when the permit is not even required -- Article 27 of the Iranian Constitution stipulates that peaceful gatherings and demonstrations are allowed. New software has been made available to facilitate access to the websites that have been blocked in Iran, allowing Internet users to get the latest news about the Monday marches and spread the word. It can be found via sadrah.com <http://www.sadrah.com/>. The youth branch of the Islamic Iran Participation Front has issued a statement supporting the call to march on Monday and asking people to take part. A commander of special forces during the Iran-Iraq War has called on young people to participate in the Monday marches. He writes<http://ninegah.blogspot.com/2011/02/25.html>, "I feel as though the 25 Bahman demonstrations have exactly the same symbolic meaning for our youth, the young Iranian lions and lionesses, that the war with Iraq had for us, except that this time the enemy is not Iraq, but Zahhak <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zahhak>," the mythical Persian emperor who is the symbol of the tyrannical ruler. *** *Dedacted from a speech last thursday given by John Peterson* * to read read the full article go to the url below* http://www.marxist.com/us-marxist-support-egyptian-revolution.htm * United States Marxist expresses support for the unfolding Egyptian Revolution<http://www.marxist.com/us-marxist-support-egyptian-revolution.htm> * *Two years ago, when millions of Iranians rose up against their own repressive and reactionary pro-capitalist regime, many people on the left stood on the sidelines or even sided with the Mullahs as they physically crushed the revolution and rounded people up to be tortured. They lost sight of the fact that the fundamental reasons for what happened in Iran and what is happening now in the Arab world are the same: poverty, unemployment, repression, and lack of basic freedoms.* *Many people seem to have an overly simplistic approach to politics. They proceed from the premise that the enemy of my enemy is my friend. But life is more complex than that. Because if the enemy of your enemy is also the enemy of your friend, then there is no reason why they should not be your enemy as well. For example, just because we oppose US intervention in Iran, it doesnt mean we cant also be against the Mullahs who oppress their own people. I think it is important that we always approach these questions from a much more nuanced, but still quite simple standpoint: Marxists support that which increases working class solidarity, unity, consciousness, and confidence, and we are against that which harms working class solidarity, unity, consciousness, and confidence. Again, for Marxists, it is the working class that is key.* There have been countless heroic moments and actions in the last few weeks, but it has to be said that the key to turning the situation decisively in favor of the revolution was the entry of the organized working class in the last few days. The movement seemed to be running out of steam, and it seemed that the regime was going to be able to cordon off the protesters in Tahrir Square. But then the workers started to enter the square as an organized force. Economic and political strikes, sit ins, workers committees, and demonstrations tipped the balance. Because if theres anything that the unfolding revolutions show, it is the immense power of the working class once it is mobilized. The intervention of the working class in Egypt has been the decisive turning point. Workers in all sectors have come out in economic and political strikes in the last few days, from steel works to textile mills, museum workers to hospital workers. In Suez, some 6,000 workers connected to the canal and thousands of others in other industries are on strike. 40% of world trade passes through Suez, so a serious strike there would have worldwide implications. Now that tomorrows protests and strikes will likely proceed as originally planned, and probably on an even higher scale given the intransigence of Mubarak, things could truly get out of the ruling class and imperialists control. Not only will Mubarak and his regime, but the entire capitalist system be under threat. Because once the workers start to realize realize just how strong they are, nothing can stop them. One commentator has pointed out how the toppling of the brutal Ben Ali dictatorship in Tunisia cost around 100 lives and took about 4 weeks. Not to minimize the deaths of these revolutionary martyrs, but compared to what the US imperialists have spent in Iraq: $1 trillion or more, 4,500 US soldiers killed, tens of thousands more wounded or traumatized, as many as a million Iraqis killed, etc. And still, nearly 10 years later, the imperialists still do not fully control the country. Compared to all this, 100 dead and 4 weeks of mobilizations, of mostly unarmed, peaceful protesters, against one of the more brutal dictatorships in the region, shows just how powerful the united and organized workers are. So when people dismiss the very possibility of revolution because of the enormous military might of imperialism, at least on paper, just look at how impotent all that power is in the face of an awakened, revolutionary people. The US and their allies are terrified of what could happen in the coming weeks and are working around the clock to try to contain the situation and defend their interests. But although they are sending extra warships to the region, the US is not able to intervene directly. And the Egyptian military, funded by billions of US taxpayer dollars, has so far not been able to be used as a tool to crush the revolution. In fact, earlier today, many soldiers, including army officers, were seen turning in their weapons to join protesters in Tahrir, according to CBS News' Khaled Wassef and reports on Twitter. This has big implications for what will come in the next few hours, days, and weeks. One last question I would like to address is the extremely important question of revolutionary leadership, of relying merely on spontaneity versus the building of a revolutionary party trained and forged in struggle before the revolution erupts. Spontaneity has been both a strength and a weakness of the movements in Tunisia, Egypt, and elsewhere. The masses incredible creativity, energy, heroism and willingness to fight to the end has taken the ruling class by surprise, but it has also led to a lack of coordination and focus. New leaders have emerged in the heat of the revolution, programs of struggle developed as things unfolded, but at times, the masses have clearly been unsure how to proceed. Up until a few hours ago, it was unclear what the next steps were. Rumors of a general strike were in the air, and a program of demands issued by various groups of union workers clearly posed the question of power, of seizing the assets of the Mubarak clique and nationalizing the key levers of the economy. But none of this was yet generalized and coordinated nationally. The fate of the future of the revolution still hangs in the balance, despite todays developments. Because in many ways, a revolution is like a war, with a series of battles, with different troops involved, fresh reinforcements arriving and other troops being worn out and retreating. There are battles won, and battles lost, and battles that dont determine much of anything. But also on both sides there are generals, officers, leaders, plotting their strategies and tactics in order to outmaneuver their opponents. So too in the class struggle, the ruling class has its strategists and leaders, and the working class needs them too. Now that Mubarak has been dislodged by the raw power of the masses, the real struggle begins, and a revolutionary leadership is more necessary than ever. Hosni Mubarak is fighting for his own survival and his estimated $70 billion fortune. Omar Suleiman is fighting for the survival of the regime, on behalf of the millions of state bureaucrats who owe their position to Mubarak and have material interests to defend. The masses are fighting to change their conditions of life. They may not yet know exactly what they want, but they know clearly what they do not want. But the imperialists are fighting for the survival of capitalism and their puppet regimes in the Arab world. The latter are worried about where Egypts revolt will go, and how far it will spread. We must all work to build solidarity with Arab Revolution, as well as with the Iranian Revolution, and with the Latin American Revolution. People used to say that this was only possible in Latin America. Not anymore. Now it is becoming clear that revolutions can erupt in what may seem the most unlikely of places. Because what were talking about here is not a revolution in this or that country, but of entire regions, and in the next historical period, of the entire world. Including right here in the U.S. Whether its Cairo or Detroit, Tunis or Los Angeles, there is simply no long term way out of the economic crisis other than fighting back and fighting for socialism. And if you like the analysis Ive presented, be sure to check out www.Marxist.com <http://www.marxist.com/> and pick up a copy of Socialist Appeal magazine, available right here at Mayday Books. You can also visit us online at www.socialistappeal.org, and if you read Arabic, do check out Marxy.com. Because if you read through our analysis of the last few years, you will see that we clearly understood the revolutionary potential of the Middle East, paying special attention to the situation in Iran and in Egypt. You can see for yourself that we were not taken by surprise by these events, like Hillary and Obama were. This is not because we have a crystal ball, but because we study and apply the Marxist method to the living world. But it is not just about analysis of other countries and other revolutions from afar. Because in the not too distant future, we will have tremendous social upheavals in this country as well. We would be negligent as Marxists, labor and solidarity activists if we did not understand this and start preparing for our own revolution. So I invite you to learn more about becoming a member or a supporter of Socialist Appeal and the Workers International League, you can sign up for more information and we can meet up to discuss in more detail how we might work together. We also have a variety of political and solidarity materials available. And if you can make a donation toward the work and analysis of Marxist.com, please do so. These ideas dont fall from the sky, there are real people writing articles, maintaining websites, and so on. And of course, please make a generous donation to Mayday for their generous use of this space, which is truly a unique resource for our community. Ill finish now and we can open it up for questions and discussion, its clear that there is a lot to discuss, and we should probably organize a follow up event to continue the discussion. 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