Tuesday’s lecture will address the historical struggle of the Left Opposition and its contemporary relevance under conditions of imperialist war, economic crisis and a new upsurge of militant class struggle.
Top Stories
This is the first of a series of lectures originally given by David North in November 1993 on the origins of the Left Opposition.
Perspective
Biden’s demand for $105 billion in military spending: A declaration of war against the working class
In his address Thursday, President Joe Biden demanded Congress allocate an additional $105 billion to fund the US military, escalate the US/NATO war against Russia in Ukraine and arm the Israeli military with bullets, bombs and shells for its genocidal campaign against the people of occupied Palestine.
Israel’s genocide of the Palestinian people, carried out with the complicity of the US, UK, French, and German governments, continued Friday with the murder of another 352 Palestinians.
The manner in which the arrest took place indicates it was part of a high-level decision to intimidate and block opposition to US support for Israeli war crimes.
The eruption of mass anti-war sentiment against Israel’s genocidal assault on Gaza and Britain’s collusion has deepened the chasm between working people and the privileged strata of the trade union bureaucracy.
Students have been suspended from the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), following a rally held protesting the Israeli government’s barbaric attack on Gaza.
The Zelensky regime is quietly admitting that the counteroffensive has failed and is now moving its forces into defensive positions to prevent further Russian advances.
Claiming “movement” in contract talks, Fain refused to call any more plants on strike while going into damage control mode over the recent contract rejection vote by Mack Trucks workers.
The tragic death by suicide of 28-year old emergency department nurse from Dayton, Ohio, Tristin Kate Smith, has been met with an outpouring of sympathy, grief, and anger from healthcare workers across the country.
On Thursday, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz issued a government statement in which he once again fully supported Israel's genocidal destruction of the Gaza Strip. At the same time, he demanded that any protest against it be banned. All parties in parliament applauded him for this.
Faced with Israel’s war on Gaza, the publisher of The Pioneer Briefing feels a “frivolous lust” to emulate the two world wars of the 20th century.

Greetings to the Young Guard of Bolshevik Leninists, supporters of the International Committee of the Fourth International in the former USSR
On the centenary of the founding of the Left Opposition
These remarks were delivered by David North, chairman of the international editorial board of the World Socialist Web Site and the Socialist Equality Party (US), to a meeting of the Young Guard of Bolshevik Leninists in the former Soviet Union.
Young Guard of Bolshevik Leninists in the former Soviet Union celebrates the centenary of the Left Opposition
On October 15, 2023, the Young Guard of Bolshevik Leninists, a Trotskyist youth organization in the former Soviet Union, celebrated the centenary of the emergence of the Left Opposition with a meeting that was attended by David North, the chairperson of the Socialist Equality Party (US) and the international editorial board of the World Socialist Web Site.
The founding document of the Left Opposition
The Declaration of the 46
The Declaration of the 46 is considered the founding document of the Left Opposition, which led the struggle by the Marxist and internationalist wing of the Russian Communist Party and the Communist International against the Stalinist betrayal of the October Revolution.
Public meeting in London to mark the Centenary of Trotskyism
The meeting on Saturday November 18 at 1.30pm will be addressed by David North, Chairman of the International Editorial Board of the World Socialist Web Site and National Chairman of the Socialist Equality Party in the United States.
IYSSE meeting series in the United States: Stop Israel’s genocide against Gaza!
Over the coming days and weeks, the International Youth and Students for Social Equality in the US will be holding meetings on campuses across the country to discuss the way forward in the fight to put an end to the unfolding genocide.
More than 50 students attend Wayne State IYSSE meeting to oppose Israeli genocide in Gaza
Sentiment on the campus is overwhelmingly opposed to Israel’s assault on Gaza, particularly after the hospital bombing this week that killed 500 Palestinians.
Israeli regime continues bombardment of Gaza as ground offensive looms and threat of regional war grows
While the Netanyahu government made final preparations for a ground offensive to intensify its genocidal onslaught on the Palestinians, the imminent danger of a regional escalation of the war was underscored by attacks on several US military bases in Syria and Iraq.
UK Prime Minister Sunak stands with Netanyahu to back Israel’s war of extermination in Gaza
Sunak followed in the footsteps of US President Joe Biden and Germany’s Olaf Scholz, telling Netanyahu, “We want you to win.”
Biden demands $100 billion for wars in Ukraine, Israel and planned conflict with Iran and China
The brief prime time address, seeking to connect the US military interventions in Ukraine and Israel, was an incoherent appeal that will anger rather than persuade those opposed to the worldwide explosion of American imperialism.
Thousands attend vigil for Wadea al-Fayoume in Plainfield, Illinois
Organizers attempted to enforce a “no politics” rule, but the crowd made it clear to a White House representative that the Biden administration's war policy and the corporate media have contributed to the atmosphere that led to the 6-year-old’s brutal killing.
Illinois landlord murders Palestinian-American child: The product of US imperialism’s propaganda campaign
Six-year-old Wadea Al-Fayoume was stabbed 26 times with a 12-inch military knife, while his mother suffered a dozen wounds but survived.
Victimized NYU student Ryna Workman releases powerful statement against US-backed Israeli genocide
Despite a vicious campaign of intimidation and harassment, Ryna Workman has released a powerful statement opposing the US-backed genocide of the Palestinians in Gaza by Israel.
Ford and GM have only lost $500 million from UAW’s limited “stand-up strikes,” according to Wall Street estimates
The 2019 national GM strike cost the company nearly $4 billion over a 40-day period, 20 times more than this year’s strike, which is entering its 36th day on Friday.
Detroit casino workers march as opposition grows to phony UAW “stand up” strike
With thousands striking in Detroit, the union officials sought to diffuse anger over low pay and miserable conditions.
Defend temp workers! Call an all-out auto strike to win our demands! Raise strike pay to $750!
Temporary workers at Stellantis and GM are facing layoff or sharp reduction of hours with the evident aim of creating hardship and divisions within the workforce.
“All UAW members should be on strike”: Will Lehman discusses Mack workers open letter with Detroit workers
Will Lehman concluded a successful tour of the Detroit area, ending it by visiting the picket lines of 3,700 striking casino workers on Tuesday.
Oregon teachers authorize strike, face isolation from union bureaucracy
Portland teachers have been working without a contract since June and are preparing to launch a strike as the district sets out to slash education jobs across the district.
Workers Struggles: Asia and Australia
Transport workers strike in Korea; teachers in Pakistan protest privatisation; Indian taxi drivers demand regulation; Australian rail freight workers locked out in enterprise bargaining dispute.
“Delivering for America”: A 10-year plan to destroy the US Postal Service
We have to know first of all what we are up against, who our friends are, and who our enemies are, and develop a strategy which is based on a realistic understanding of the situation, not in illusions or wishful thinking.
New York JFK8 Amazon workers walk out during October Prime Day
Workers at the JFK8 facility in Staten Island, New York, walked off the job during one of Amazon’s busiest annual sales events.
COVID-19 infections rise sharply across Canada as hospitalizations reach highest level since last winter
According to the COVID-19 Resource Center, roughly 1 in 25 people across the country are currently infected, a number roughly 14 times higher than at the lowest point in the COVID-19 pandemic.
CDC ends Biobot Analytics contract for wastewater surveillance of COVID pandemic
By shifting the contract for wastewater data collection to Verily, a subsidiary of Alphabet (Google), the CDC is deliberately disrupting the main remaining source of usable data on the COVID pandemic.
Study finds that SARS-CoV-2 can infect the arteries of the heart
The fact that the coronavirus can directly damage the arteries of the heart and induce the formation of so-called “plaques” is a surprise, but not entirely without precedent.
Is COVID pandemic or endemic? A discussion with Boston University epidemiologist Dr. Eleanor Murray
The COVID-19 pandemic remains a deadly threat to millions, both in the United States and worldwide.
Why the working class turned against Labour in New Zealand’s election
Many workers either abstained or cast a protest vote against Labour’s attacks on living standards, its abandonment of the COVID-19 elimination strategy, and its support for imperialist war.
Australian healthworkers rally in opposition to Israeli destruction of Gazan hospitals, clinics
Healthcare professionals in both Sydney and Melbourne organised their rallies independently of the doctors and nurses trade unions.
Australian Greens slandered as anti-Semitic for condemning bombing of Gaza
An editorial in the Murdoch-owned Australian, branding the Greens as “enemies” of Israel, carried with it the most sinister implications.
US dispatches B-52 bomber to South Korea
Washington is making clear that even as it promotes conflicts in the Middle East, there will be no let-up in the war drive to war against China.
Bond prices fall, financial risks rise
One of the key issues at work in the selloff is whether the Treasury market has the capacity to finance the ever-growing levels of US debt.
US steps up high-tech war against China
New bans on semiconductor exports are a significant tightening of the measures introduced by the Biden administration a year ago.
China marks ten years of Belt and Road Initiative
The two-day BRI forum took place in Beijing as the US escalates the NATO war on Russia in Ukraine and has thrown its full support behind Israel’s genocidal war on the Palestinian population of Gaza.
More details on US banking failures
The failure of three US banks “triggered a crisis of confidence in the resilience of banks, banking systems and financial markets across multiple jurisdictions.”
Actor Kevin Spacey receives standing ovation at first public performance as #MeToo persecution continues
Spacey’s experience was especially punishing, but it exemplified the type of treatment meted out to the victims of the ongoing sexual misconduct smear campaign.
Palestinian author Adania Shibli “shut down” at the Frankfurt Book Fair
A prominent Palestinian author has been censured and abused at this year’s Frankfurt Book Festival, the world’s largest book fair, which opened its doors on Wednesday.
Actors, filmmakers, musicians, writers speak out against Israeli war crimes
Artists and cultural workers have begun to give expression to the horror and disgust that tens of millions of others also feel.
Hollywood celebrities’ “open letter” solidarizes itself with Israeli government policies
The letter from the “Creative Community for Peace” is a right-wing provocation, organized by mouthpieces for the Tel Aviv regime, which is in the midst of carrying out mass murder in Gaza.
Protests in London and Sheffield over Israeli war on Gaza
World Socialist Web Site reporters attended rallies in solidarity with Gaza in London and Sheffield on Wednesday and spoke with demonstrators about their reasons for taking part.
Craig Murray, defender of Julian Assange, detained under Britain’s anti-terror laws
Murray’s interrogation has an unmistakable meaning: domestic opposition to Israel’s war of annihilation against the Palestinians in Gaza is being criminalised.
Tens of thousands march across Spain in solidarity with Palestinians
Protests have taken place in dozens of cities, above all in Madrid, where 60,000 peopke marched in soldarity with the Palestinians in the Gaza war.
Shooting in Belgian capital leaves two Swedish citizens dead, one in critical condition
The gunman, a 45-year-old asylum-seeker from Tunisia, cited the reactionary state-backed Koran burnings in Sweden throughout the summer as the motivation for his attack Monday night.
Sri Lankan IYSSE public lecture: An Introduction to Historical Materialism
The IYSSE will hold the lecture at the Political Science Department of the University of Peradeniya on October 26 as part of a series on Marxism.
Sri Lankan students oppose Israeli war on Gaza
In campaigning for its October 19 meeting “The war in Ukraine and how to stop it?”, the IYSSE in Sri Lanka has spoken to students who are outraged at Israel’s genocidal war against Palestinians in Gaza.
IMF withholds second installment of bailout loan to Sri Lanka
President Wickremesinghe’s regime is being ordered to escalate its attacks on the working class and poor, which means even more brutal increases in taxes and the cost of essentials and basic services.
Mobilise the working class against the Sri Lankan government’s dictatorial Online Safety and Anti-Terrorism bills
The new bills are aimed at vastly strengthening the repressive powers of the president and his government to suppress working-class opposition to its IMF-dictated attacks on jobs, wages and social conditions.
Australian pseudo-left slanders population as racist after defeat of Voice referendum
Socialist Alternative’s analysis of the referendum is an attack on the working class, exposing this organisation as a rightward moving representative of privileged layers of the affluent upper middle-class.
Defeat of Australian Labor’s Voice referendum highlights stark class divide, not racism
The Voice voting patterns demonstrate the intensifying hostility of working-class people to the entire political establishment.
Australian workers oppose the Voice, call for better conditions for Aboriginal people
“The Labor government is not working class, it is an elite group of people, setting up a puppet called the Voice.”
Defeat of Australian Labor’s Voice referendum highlights massive class divide
The result is not the outcome of widespread racism and hostility to indigenous people. Instead it demonstrates the growing hostility of working people to the entire political establishment.
Top Trump coup lawyer Sidney Powell turns state’s witness on eve of Georgia trial
The 68-year-old far-right lawyer will avoid prison time as long as she abides by the terms of her six-year probation, which includes testifying against her accomplices, including Trump.
Trump-backed election denier Jim Jordan fails in second vote for House speaker
The focus of opposition from the Democrats and a section of House Republicans to Jordan’s becoming Speaker is his stated opposition to further military aid to Ukraine.
After two weeks of repayments, student borrowers still lack basic information about their loans
News reports and studies show that student loan repayment amounts have been miscalculated for millions of borrowers who enrolled in Biden's SAVE income-driven repayment plan.
Texas Republicans host neo-Nazi Nick Fuentes, fascist killer Kyle Rittenhouse
The October 6 meeting between Nick Fuentes, Kyle Rittenhouse and Republican politicians and operatives was not an accident.
IYSSE meeting series in the United States: Stop Israel’s genocide against Gaza!
Over the coming days and weeks, the International Youth and Students for Social Equality in the US will be holding meetings on campuses across the country to discuss the way forward in the fight to put an end to the unfolding genocide.
Australia: Despite opposition, IYSSE at University of Newcastle proceeds with speakout
The student union and management tried to prevent the speakout from going ahead, under conditions of broader censorship of anti-war opposition.
Attend the IYSSE anti-war public meeting in Colombo! Stop the Israel genocidal war against Palestinians in Gaza!
We urge workers, youth and students to attend this meeting to oppose the US-NATO war against Russia in Ukraine and imperialist-backed Israel onslaught against the Palestinians.
Victimized NYU student Ryna Workman releases powerful statement against US-backed Israeli genocide
Despite a vicious campaign of intimidation and harassment, Ryna Workman has released a powerful statement opposing the US-backed genocide of the Palestinians in Gaza by Israel.
1985-86: The victory of Trotskyism within the ICFI
The following lecture was delivered by Chris Marsden, the national secretary of the Socialist Equality Party (UK), and Ulaş Ateşçi, a leading member of the Sosyalist Eşitlik Grubu (Socialist Equality Group) in Turkey, to the SEP (US) International Summer School, held between July 30 and August 4, 2023.
The Workers League’s defence of the Theory of Permanent Revolution against the opportunism of the Workers Revolutionary Party
The following lecture was delivered by Tom Peters, a leading member of the Socialist Equality Group of New Zealand, and Thomas Scripps, a leading member of the Socialist Equality Party (UK), to the SEP (US) International Summer School, held between July 30 and August 4, 2023.
1982: Marxism, the revolutionary party, and the critique of Healy’s Studies in Dialectics
The following lecture was delivered by Christoph Vandreier, the national secretary of the Sozialistische Gleichheitspartei (Socialist Equality Party) of Germany to the SEP (US) International Summer School, held between July 30 and August 4, 2023.
The role of Security and the Fourth International in the fight for the continuity of the International Committee of the Fourth International
The following lecture was delivered by Eric London, a leading member of the Socialist Equality Party (US), to the SEP (US) International Summer School, held between July 30 and August 4, 2023.
Right-wing oligarch defeats “pink tide” candidate in Ecuador
Impermeable to mass sentiments for radical change, Ecuadorian capitalist politics vomited up the election of a man who personifies privilege and plutocracy.
Brazil: Amid university strikes, São Paulo public sector workers walk out against privatizations
The struggle of the subway, rail, water and sanitation workers in São Paulo, as well as that of the students at USP and UNICAMP, is against not only extreme right-wing Governor Tarcisio de Freitas, but also the unions that are isolating these struggles.
Mexico’s president AMLO shields military’s complicity in disappearance of Ayotzinapa students
López Obrador increasingly protects the military from culpability in the students’ disappearances and its coverup
Mexico’s AMLO joins Biden in escalating attacks on migrants
The new agreement will allow US agents to summarily expel migrants into Ciudad Juárez, where Mexican authorities will deport them in coordination with their countries of origin.
Protests across Canada oppose Israel’s onslaught against Gaza
“We want to see an end to this campaign of genocide that is currently happening,” Sarah Shamy of the Palestinian Youth Movement, told the Montreal Gazette, “We want to see an end to the complicity of the western states, mainly Canada and the U.S. who every year send billions of dollars in military aid.”
Mass protests erupt in US against Israel war crimes
Millions of people around the world have taken part in protests against Israel’s war crimes.
“It reminds us of what happened during Iraq”
Protests against US-backed Gaza genocide continue in New York City
The WSWS spoke with dozens of protesters in New York City who protested at NYU, CUNY and in Queens over the past two days.
Thousands in New York protest genocidal onslaught on the Palestinians by Israel
Under a heavy police presence, thousands of demonstrators in midtown Manhattan on Friday protested the brutal attack of the Israeli state on the Palestinian people.
Fifty years after Chile’s horrific September 11 coup, its political relevance is becoming ever more urgent as the specter of dictatorship once again haunts the political life of Latin America.
This week in history: October 16-22
This column profiles important historical events which took place during this week, 25 years ago, 50 years ago, 75 years ago and 100 years ago.
October 8, 1923 Letter from Leon Trotsky to the Central Committee and the Central Control Commission of the Russian Communist Party
This letter, sent by Leon Trotsky on October 8, 1923, to members of the Central Committee and Central Control Commission, was one of the most important documents that led to the emergence of the Left Opposition.
From the archives of the International Committee of the Fourth International
On the Founding of the Left Opposition
To initiate its commemoration of the centenary of the founding of the Left Opposition on October 15, 1923, the WSWS is re-publishing an editorial by David North on the 70th anniversary of the founding of the Left Opposition.
The Voice and Australia’s 1999 Republic referendum: Political lessons and parallels
Like the Voice plan, the 1999 republican referendum was a big business-backed project to strengthen the anti-democratic Constitution while presenting a false progressive image for Australian capitalism.
The essays in this book, though written over the span of more than 40 years, are connected by a central argument: Leon Trotsky was the most significant figure in the history of socialism during the first four decades of the twentieth century, and his legacy remains the critical and indispensable theoretical and political foundation of the ongoing contemporary struggle for the victory of world socialism.
Order your print or epub version of the book from Mehring Books today.
Proposed Ukraine funding bill skyrockets to $100 billion
Members of Congress in the United States are discussing a bill funding the Ukraine war to the tune of up to $100 billion in a single shot, the Wall Street Journal reported Monday.
Oppose sending British troops to Ukraine! Mobilise the working class against imperialist war!
To openly place British military forces in Ukraine has only one possible aim: to provide a casus belli through the sacrifice of NATO military personnel. A third world war is the only logical outcome.
Governments prepare to slash benefits for Ukrainian refugees
In Britain, whose government has given billions to the Ukrainian military, at least 4,740 Ukrainian families with children are now homeless.
European Union foreign ministers meet in Ukraine to escalate war with Russia
The leading European Union imperialist powers pledged to escalate the NATO war with Russia in Ukraine, announcing €5 billion more spending on the war.
The Prinkipo commemoration of Trotsky’s exile and the global resurgence of the working class
The event reflects the objective change that has been underway for some time in the relationship between Trotskyism and the international working class.
An Island at the Center of World History: Trotsky on Prinkipo
This is the speech by World Socialist Web Site International Editorial Board Chairman David North given on Sunday, August 20, honoring the life and political legacy of Leon Trotsky.
The ICFI’s investigation exposed the GPU conspiracy to murder Trotsky
The penetration of GPU agents into the Fourth International played a fatal role in the assassination of Trotsky.
Leon Trotsky’s years on Prinkipo
Trotsky spent the critical years of his exile on Prinkipo writing masterpieces and organizing the Left Opposition in the Communist International all over the world.
March 20 marks 20 years since the beginning of the US invasion of Iraq, launched on the basis of lies. At the time of the initial invasion, the WSWS published many statements on the background of the war, its history and its implications. This page features some of the most important statements.
Burkinabè junta arrests top officers over Burkina Faso coup attempt
The conflicts in the Burkina Faso military are deeply entwined with the NATO-Russia war in Ukraine, as the Burkinabè junta led by Traoré develops ties with the Kremlin.
The social roots of the Moroccan earthquake disaster
The scale of the Moroccan catastrophe is an indictment of the inability of the capitalist system to deliver earthquake-resistant housing and emergency services to the working population.
Macron announces pull-out of French troops from Niger
Amid massive protests in Niger against French imperialism, French President Macron announced the withdrawal of the French ambassador to Niamey on Sunday.
After protests in flood-hit Derna, Libyan officials order journalists to leave
There are growing signs in the region that the eastern Libyan authorities are preparing a bloody crackdown against protests in Derna.
Twenty-five years ago, the International Committee of the Fourth International began posting the World Socialist Web Site. In this video, WSWS International Editorial Board Chairman David North explains the background to the WSWS, reviews its record and contemporary significance and makes an appeal to all readers to donate to the WSWS and expand its readership.
Nobel Prize awarded to pioneering mRNA scientists who helped develop COVID vaccines
The awarding of the Nobel Prize to Katalin Karikó and Drew Weissman is justly deserved and has all the more significance in that it takes place under conditions of a vast right-wing anti-science campaign.
OSIRIS-REx spacecraft successfully returns asteroid sample to Earth
The next mission for the spacecraft will be orbiting the near-Earth asteroid Apophis starting in April 2029.
Emerging pandemics and the role of bats
Many viral infections that plague humans originate from bats, yet intriguingly bats suffer no ill effects from the myriad of viruses that inhabit their bodies, a phenomenon scientists are researching in the hope of finding insights into how to moderate impacts on humans.
The Huxley family and the history of evolutionary theory
A review of An Intimate History of Evolution: The Story of the Huxley Family, by Alison Bashford.
Australian parliamentarians lobby for Assange in Washington
The tour reflected a groundswell of support for Assange among ordinary people, but also underscored the bankruptcy of a fight for his freedom based on backroom diplomacy and politicking.
Blinken’s denunciation of Assange exposes Australian government’s phony posturing
While the Secretary of State made crystal clear that the US is proceeding with its legal lynching of Assange, Australian PM Albanese absurdly claimed Blinken’s comments were of no importance.
El Pais reports proof that the CIA illegally spied on Julian Assange
Computer files show that the Spanish company responsible for security at the Ecuadorian Embassy was secretly spying on Assange. The files name the client of the surveillance: “CIA.”
Four years since the arrest and imprisonment of WikiLeaks publisher Julian Assange
Assange has spent almost a third of his adult life in detention, for the “crime” of exposing illegal wars, diplomatic conspiracies and mass surveillance.
Vadim Z. Rogovin (10 May 1937 – 18 September 1998) was a Soviet Marxist sociologist and historian. Working in close collaboration with the International Committee of the Fourth International, Rogovin helped lay the foundations for the Trotskyist movement’s fight against the post-Soviet school of historical falsification, including in his six-volume Was There an Alternative? This page collects major essays and commemorations on Rogovin as well as links to his own writings.
Will Lehman issues letter to Mack Trucks coworkers on eve of UAW contract expiration: “We must seriously prepare for a major battle”
It’s clear the UAW hasn’t been negotiating anything at Mack all this time, they’ve just been keeping us in the dark to prevent us from preparing to fight back against the company’s ruthless demands.
Will Lehman sues Biden administration demanding rerun of fraudulent UAW election
On Monday, July 3, rank-and-file socialist autoworker Will Lehman sued the Biden administration’s Department of Labor, demanding that the UAW national officers’ election be rerun with the names of all candidates on the ballot due to massive voter disenfranchisement by the bureaucracy.
Stop the UAW sabotage of the autoworkers struggle! Hold emergency local meetings to demand an all-out strike!
“Let’s be clear on what Fain‘s announcement really means: These strikes will have no impact on production. These are parts warehouses that ship components to the dealerships, not suppliers of the Big Three.”
“It’s almost like we are in a civil war between the rich and the poor”: Autoworkers respond to Will Lehman’s Newsweek op-ed
Autoworkers have responded with enthusiasm to the editorial written by the Pennsylvania Mack Trucks worker and socialist candidate for UAW president in 2021.
In 2022 the accumulating pressure of these intersecting elements of the world capitalist crisis attained the equivalent of critical mass: that is, they have reached the point where the dynamic of crisis has passed beyond the ability of governments to control the movement toward a social cataclysm.
US shoots down Turkish drone as Turkey bombs Kurdish forces in Syria, Iraq
The escalation of tensions in Syria points to the danger that the imperialist-backed war for regime change initiated in 2011 could be reignited and escalate into a regional conflict.
Israel: Netanyahu threatens Eritrean migrants with mass deportations after violent police crackdown
A regime of mass deportations and administrative detentions, long used against the Palestinians in the Occupied Territories, will inevitably be used against Israeli workers as well.
Social protests in Syria as US tightens net around Iran and its allies
That conditions across Syria are dire is indisputable, but primary responsibility for this rests with US imperialism and its European counterparts.
Netanyahu government set on provoking all-out Israeli war with Palestinians
Netanyahu hopes to derail the protest movement opposed to his far-right government’s efforts to grant itself dictatorial powers, and to unite Israelis amid the threat of a wider war.
Mehring Books, the publishing arm of the Socialist Equality Party (US), is proud to announce the publication of Volume 1 of COVID, Capitalism, and Class War: A Social and Political Chronology of the Pandemic, a compilation of the World Socialist Web Site's coverage of this global crisis.
Trump-backed election denier Jim Jordan fails in second vote for House speaker
The focus of opposition from the Democrats and a section of House Republicans to Jordan’s becoming Speaker is his stated opposition to further military aid to Ukraine.
Former Capitol Police chief blasts Pentagon officials for delaying deployment of National Guard during January 6 coup
Steven Sund’s testimony before Congress confirms that the Democrats are covering up the complicity of military brass and police and intelligence officials in Trump's fascist assault on the Capitol to overturn the 2020 election.
Retiring Senator Romney confirms Pentagon, Congress knew Trump planned violent coup days before January 6
Recently published excerpts from a biography of the former Republican presidential candidate confirm that virtually the entire US government was aware of Trump’s violent plans.
Georgia special grand jury recommended charging 39 top Republicans, including Sen. Lindsey Graham, lawyer Cleta Mitchell and retired Gen. Michael Flynn
The special grand jury recommended charges against top Trump advisors and Republican senators not named in Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis’ August 14 indictment, which charged the ex-president and 18 others.
The International Youth and Students for Social Equality—the student and youth movement of the Socialist Equality Parties, the national sections of the International Committee of the Fourth International—calls for the building of a mass global movement of young people to end the reckless escalation toward World War III.
May Day 2023: For the international unity of the working class against national chauvinism and war!
The following is the text of the opening report delivered by David North, chairperson of the International Editorial Board of the World Socialist Web Site, to the International May Day Online Rally 2023, held Sunday, April 30.
The ICFI’s May Day 2023 online rally: A milestone in the building of a global, working class movement against war
Together, the speakers set out a political programme capable of uniting the international working class and mobilising its immense social power in a struggle against the world’s major corporations and governments.
The developing struggle to bring down the Macron government in France
This is the report delivered by Alex Lantier, national secretary of the Parti de l’égalité socialiste (PES), to the 2023 International May Day Online Rally held on April 30.
The struggle for a Democratic and Socialist Congress of Workers and Rural Masses in Sri Lanka
This is the report delivered by Deepal Jayasekera, the General Secretary of the Socialist Equality Party in Sri Lanka, to the 2023 International May Day Online Rally held on April 30.
The Inquest is necessary to break through the cover-up, lies and misinformation that have been used to justify policies responsible for the avoidable deaths of millions.
Enthusiastic response by Sri Lankan workers and students to upcoming international May Day online rally
“Nowadays May Day is used as political propaganda by the trade unions and the capitalist parties. In fact, May Day belongs to the workers and it should be a day that brings together workers in struggle in every country.” –Kandy Hospital nurse
SEP (Australia) holds well-attended post-election public meeting
The SEP held an important meeting Sunday afternoon entitled: “After the NSW Elections—How to fight AUKUS, War & Austerity!”
World Socialist Web Site launches its Ukrainian-language edition
The Ukrainian edition of the WSWS will publish critical historical and programmatic documents that will create the foundations for a Ukrainian section of the ICFI.
Watch SEP online memorial meeting: A Tribute to Regina Lohr – Australian Trotskyist
The SEP held an online memorial meeting to pay tribute to the life of Regina Lohr, who passed away on October 10 at the age of 66.
The definitive left-wing critique of the 1619 Project. This volume includes interviews with eminent historians and essays from the World Socialist Web Site exposing the New York Times’ racialist falsification of history.
Former Montgomery, Alabama teacher testifies about the forced reopening of schools in 2020-21
In this interview, Tynisa Williams, former teacher in Montgomery, Alabama, describes the experience of being forced to teach in-person in the fall of 2020 and winter of 2021. She and her coworkers waged a courageous struggle to stop the deadly return to in-person learning that cost the lives of eight educators in the district.
Accomplices to social murder
The international pseudo-left and the lifting of Zero-COVID in China: Part 1
The pseudo-left’s hostility to public health and support for imperialism found sharp expression in their universal demand—echoing that of the Western corporate media and political establishment—that China abandon its Zero-COVID strategy.
Accomplices to social murder
The international pseudo-left and the lifting of Zero-COVID in China: Part 2
The pseudo-left’s hostility to public health and support for imperialism found its sharpest expression in their demand—echoing that of the Western corporate media and political establishment—that China abandon its Zero-COVID strategy.
Immunocompromised mother in Manhattan speaks to Global Workers’ Inquest into the COVID-19 Pandemic
Melanie, whose children attend public schools in New York City, spoke to the WSWS about the toll the “let it rip” policy toward the pandemic has taken on her and her family.
This five-part series and historical timeline exposes Snyder’s Bloodlands as a work of falsification, aimed at justifying the imperialist proxy war against Russia in Ukraine and the alliance of US imperialism with the Ukrainian far-right.
The Wuhan lab lie: “Weapons of mass destruction” redux
In an uncanny instance of history repeating itself, the lies used to justify the 2003 invasion of Iraq based on false claims about “weapons of mass destruction” are being used to promote the United States’ unprecedented military buildup around China.
A discredited conspiracy theory about the origins of COVID-19
The Wuhan Lab Leak slander being resurrected to bolster US war drive against China
The Wall Street Journal disclosed that the Department of Energy has shifted its opinion on the origin of the coronavirus to it being most likely a result of a lab leak. However, unnamed sources who have read the report indicate the evidence is of low confidence.
Republicans revive discredited Wuhan Lab Leak theory and call Anthony Fauci to testify
Republicans have demanded Former Biden chief medical advisor Dr Anthony Fauci testify on the Wuhan lab leak theory.
Anthony Fauci gives aid and comfort to COVID-19 “lab leak” conspiracy theory
Fauci’s aim in lending credence to the conspiracy theory, which he knows to be a lie, is to distract attention from the antiscientific policies carried out under the Trump and Biden administrations that led to the deaths of over a million Americans.
This interactive timeline presents some of the most important events that have brought humanity to the brink of World War III. It includes links to critical articles and statements produced by the International Committee of the Fourth International over the past 30 years.
Nikole Hannah-Jones’ Center for Democracy and Journalism: Racialist politics in the service of US imperialism
After one year, the Center’s main accomplishment has been to deepen the mutual embrace between sections of the upper middle class and the military-intelligence apparatus.
The 1619 Project and the New York Times’ promotion of the racialist ideology of Ukrainian nationalism
The racialist historical revisionism of the Times and the racialist ideology of the Ukrainian neo-Nazis share a common premise: the mythological reimagining of history as a struggle of “the nation” and “the race.”
Oppose political censorship of antiwar views at Howard University!
We call on all students, faculty and staff members at Howard University to oppose this censorship and demand that the IYSSE be allowed to hold its planned meeting on campus.
Marcus Garvey and the reactionary logic of racialist politics
More than one hundred years after the formation of his Universal Negro Improvement Association (UNIA), Marcus Garvey's legacy remains highly relevant in the struggle to overcome efforts to divide the working class along racial lines.
Report to Seventh Congress of the Socialist Equality Party (US)
The historical and political principles of the socialist opposition to imperialist war and the Putin regime
This report was given by Clara Weiss to the Seventh Congress of the Socialist Equality Party (US) in support of the resolution, “Mobilize the working class against imperialist war!”
Report to Seventh Congress of Socialist Equality Party (US)
The historical background of the COVID-19 pandemic and the fight for global elimination
This report was given by Evan Blake to the Seventh Congress of the Socialist Equality Party (US) in support of the resolution titled “The COVID-19 pandemic and the fight for socialism”
America’s “New World Order”— The historical and social roots of US plans for war with Russia and China
The following is a report given by Andre Damon to the Seventh Congress of the Socialist Equality Party (US) in support of the resolution titled “Mobilize the working class against imperialist war!”
Report to Seventh Congress of Socialist Equality Party (US)
Build rank-and-file committees, the organs of 21st century working class struggle!
This report was given by Eric London to the Seventh Congress of the Socialist Equality Party (US) in support of the resolution titled “Build the International Workers Alliance of Rank-and-File Committees! For a global counteroffensive of the working class!”
October 16 marked the 45th anniversary of the assassination of Tom Henehan, a member of the Political Committee of the Workers League—the predecessor of the Socialist Equality Party in the US. We are republishing here a tribute delivered by David North at a meeting in 1997.
WSWS readers demand Facebook reverse ban on SEG in New Zealand
Readers have expressed outrage at the social media company’s anti-democratic censorship of the Trotskyist Socialist Equality Group in New Zealand.
Facebook blocks Socialist Equality Group in New Zealand from advertising
We call on readers to oppose Facebook’s blatant political censorship of the Trotskyist movement in New Zealand.
Elon Musk’s Twitter abruptly reverses ban on promotion of alternative social media platforms
After instituting a ban on sharing links from competitive social media platforms, such as Facebook, Instagram and Mastodon, Elon Musk canceled the policy less than 24 hours later.
Musk continues to ban from Twitter journalists who criticize him
Twitter owner and fascistic billionaire Elon Musk acknowledged late Thursday that he had shut down the accounts of numerous prominent journalists earlier in the day, claiming falsely that they had violated a new policy on the platform against “doxxing."
Comrade Wije Dias, the longtime general secretary of the Socialist Equality Party (Sri Lanka), died in Colombo on July 27, 2022. This exhibit includes two tributes to Wije by WSWS International Editorial Board Chairman David North as well as a selection of Wije’s most significant articles and speeches.
The June 19 decision followed extensive discussions with representatives of the International Committee in Istanbul on the development of the fight for Trotskyism in Turkey and the Aegean and Black Sea regions.
Report exposes fraudulent antisemitism accusations at UK universities
The report concludes that critics of the Israeli state, advocates for Palestinian rights and those teaching the history and politics of the region have been “subjected to false allegations of antisemitism.”
An interview with Harvard anthropology Professor John Comaroff—Part one
We spoke recently to South African-born John Comaroff, the Hugh K. Foster Professor of African and African-American studies and of Anthropology, and Oppenheimer Research Fellow in African Studies, Harvard University.
Harvard UAW, pseudo-left groups organize provocation against professor John Comaroff
The right-wing witch-hunt of John Comaroff at Harvard University continued Tuesday with a stage-managed protest during his first class of the semester.
Defend Harvard professor John Comaroff against the right-wing witch-hunt!
This shameful campaign reached new heights Tuesday when concerted efforts were made to prevent Comaroff from teaching. Provocations were organized both inside and outside the classroom.
The WSWS is publishing the report delivered by David North 25 years ago, on February 1, 1997, motivating the proposal to end publication of the SEP’s printed newspaper and replace it with an international website; as well as North’s reply to the National Committee ‘s discussion of the proposal.
Russia downs British-supplied long-range missile as Zelensky and Sunak declare “jets coalition”
Central to NATO’s plans to defeat Russia and force regime change in Moscow is aerial supremacy over the Ukrainian battlefield. Speaking to reporters after the talks, Zelensky said, “We want to create this jet coalition.”
Pentagon national strategy document targets China
The US military published a series of documents Thursday outlining US plans for war with Russia and China, and asserting the central role of nuclear weapons in US warfighting.
Australia dispatching military “trainers” to aid the US-NATO war against Russia
Australia, already the largest non-NATO funder of the war in Ukraine, is escalating its involvement amid warnings that the conflict could result in a nuclear catastrophe.
German President Steinmeier delivers war speech to the nation
Steinmeier's remarks to invited soldiers, journalists, think tank representatives and leading politicians can only be described as a “war speech to the nation.” The focus was de facto a declaration of war on Russia and the Russian population.
Germany’s secret service intensifies persecution of war opponents and warns against “Trotskyism”
The latest “Constitutional Protection Report” published by the Verfassungsschutz (Germany’s domestic intelligence service) at the end of June aims to silence anyone who criticises the mass death being organised by the NATO powers, calls social inequality by its name, and rejects the government’s pro-war narrative.
Peace activist sentenced for criticizing German war policy in Ukraine
The Berlin-Tiergarten District Court has sentenced peace activist Heinrich Bücker for a speech he gave on the anniversary of Nazi Germany’s invasion on the Soviet Union.
Large-scale raid against right-wing terrorist network reveals the extent of the fascist danger in Germany
Around 3,000 officers from the special police forces stormed 137 locations in 11 federal states on Wednesday morning and arrested 25 people. Another 27 people are being investigated. The state prosecutor has accused them of being members or supporters of a terrorist organisation.
German secret service operates hundreds of far-right social media profiles
Regardless of whether the pending investigations can demonstrate that the agents gave the impetus to the planned terrorist attacks, a picture emerges of a right-wing extremist milieu organized and controlled by the state.
Review the most critical essays, lectures and letters produced by the ICFI in the course of its intervention in response to the crisis of Stalinism and the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991.
Biden’s demand for $105 billion in military spending: A declaration of war against the working class
In his address Thursday, President Joe Biden demanded Congress allocate an additional $105 billion to fund the US military, escalate the US/NATO war against Russia in Ukraine and arm the Israeli military with bullets, bombs and shells for its genocidal campaign against the people of occupied Palestine.
Biden demands $100 billion for wars in Ukraine, Israel and planned conflict with Iran and China
The brief prime time address, seeking to connect the US military interventions in Ukraine and Israel, was an incoherent appeal that will anger rather than persuade those opposed to the worldwide explosion of American imperialism.
Biden declares total support for Israel’s destruction of Gaza
One day after Israel deliberately massacred nearly 500 men, women and children taking refuge at a hospital in Gaza, US President Joe Biden traveled to Israel, embraced Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and delivered a provocative, pro-Israel rant in Tel Aviv.
Global outrage erupts over Israeli bombing of Gaza hospital
Israel’s bombing of a Christian hospital in Gaza City, killing over 500 people in an instant, is the latest atrocity in Israel’s systematic campaign of genocide and ethnic cleansing against the Palestinians.
The WSWS has published a feature page incorporating a selection of essential essays from its own archives, and other documents produced contemporaneously by the Fourth International.
Police locate more bodies in New Zealand’s Pike River mine
The police investigation into the 2010 disaster that killed 29 mineworkers has been dragged out until at least the end of 2023, with no guarantee that anyone will be charged over the avoidable deaths.
New Zealand police extend investigation into Pike River mine disaster until the end of 2023
Police are delaying their decision on whether to lay charges over the 2010 Pike River mine disaster that killed 29 people, until after the October election.
Nine dead, 44 still missing in mine collapse in China
The disaster tragically exposes the brutal working conditions faced by miners in China in the reckless drive for profits ahead of lives and safety.
New Zealand: Court action over Pike River mine disaster
The fathers of two of the 29 workers killed in the 2010 Pike River mine disaster are campaigning for the release of documents and correspondence relating to a 2013 decision to drop charges against Pike River CEO Peter Whittall.
Cliff Slaughter died on May 3, 2021, in Leeds, England, at the age of 92. His enduring contribution in the 1960s to the defense of Trotskyism stands in tragic contrast with his subsequent political opportunism and repudiation of revolutionary Marxism.
Palestinian author Adania Shibli “shut down” at the Frankfurt Book Fair
A prominent Palestinian author has been censured and abused at this year’s Frankfurt Book Festival, the world’s largest book fair, which opened its doors on Wednesday.
Die Insel (The Island): A harrowing account of the European Union’s murderous refugee policy
Thanks to her lively depictions and her factual, yet sensitive descriptions, the author brings to life the "hell of Moria".
Cormac McCarthy (1933-2023): Chronicler of American carnage
His works are so permeated with misanthropy and a hostility to human progress that his literary output represents a step back from the great American writers of the 20th century.
Author Elizabeth Gilbert suspends novel’s publication due to protests by Ukrainian nationalists
Gilbert explained she was “removing the book from its publication schedule” because of complaints about its Soviet-Russian setting.
North and London discussed the significance of the latest revelations of the the Security and the Fourth International investigation into Trotsky’s assassination.
