Green recruits

Steve Cooke reports on the latest from the Hands Off the People of Iran campaign

Seven long days

What a week it’s been! Only seven days ago, I was looking forward to raising funds for the Summer Offensive at the Socialist Workers Party’s annual Marxism school, hoping to “report some good news” in terms of selling books, papers and badges.

Things turned out rather differently! Our efforts to politically engage with the comrades were sadly sidetracked by the attack on our member, comrade Simon. So Communist Party activists quickly had to divert their energies to writing, publishing and distributing a leaflet, urging SWP members to condemn the cowardly attack by SWP national organiser Martin Smith.

Our stalls were certainly busier than in the last couple of years - but not because SWP members were keen to purchase the Weekly Worker, CPGB books and so on. The 2,000 leaflets we printed were certainly snapped up, even if some of them were chucked back at our stall. But news made the rounds quickly and we had plenty of Marxism-goers who specifically came to our stall to get one of those “shitty leaflets”, as one woman put it. (...read on)

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Chris Haine, the Green Party’s prospective parliamentary candidate in the Sedgefield by-election triggered by Tony Blair’s resignation, declared his support for the Hands Off the People of Iran campaign this week, as did Green councillors Philip Booth (group leader, Stroud district council), Steve Burgess (Edinburgh city council), Jon Barry (Lancaster city council) and Rebecca Thackray (London borough of Lambeth).

Another prominent environmental activist who has signed up in the last week is Mark Lynas, journalist and author of Six degrees: our future on a hotter planet.

Also confirming her support for Hopi’s campaign demands, including the immediate and unconditional withdrawal of US/UK forces from the Gulf region, is Maryam Namazie, leader of the recently launched Council of Ex-Muslims of Britain and a politburo member of the Worker-communist Party of Iran.

Among the latest trade unionists to back the campaign are Phelim MacCafferty, equalities officer with the Westminster TUPS branch of the GMB, and Rebecca Sawbridge, a member of the National Union of Students black students committee.

In the United States, new signatories include Ron Jacobs, journalist and author of The way the wind blew: a history of the Weather Underground, and John Stanton, journalist and author of Talking politics with god and the devil in Washington DC.

Also backing Hopi is US Alternative Radio station broadcaster David Barsamian, whose new book Targeting Iran was published a few weeks ago. Comrade Barsamian will be giving a talk on the Middle East at the Barbican on Saturday July 28 as part of an evening of music and politics featuring Tariq Ali and the Kronos Quartet.

Newly declared supporters in the academic sphere include philosopher professor Philip Gasper (Notre Dame de Namur University, California), anthropologist professor Susan Frohlick (University of Manitoba, Canada) and international relations specialist Dr Charles Hawksley (University of Wollongong, Australia).

If you would like to join Hopi’s growing list of supporters, you can sign up via the campaign website at www.hopoi.org or email your name, position/affiliation and contact details to office@hopoi.info. Hopi’s telephone number is 07738 828540.

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Hands Off the People of Iran

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Weekly Worker 681 Thursday July 12 2007 Subscribe to the Weekly Worker

Green recruits

Steve Cooke reports on the latest from the Hands Off the People of Iran campaign

Seven long days

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