This letter was sent to the Institute of Historical Research at the School of Advanced Study, University of London, which is sponsoring on December 2 an online seminar at which Professor Aidan Beatty will be speaking on “Gerry Healy and the WRP: Violence, Gender, and the Perils of Trotskyism.”
Top Stories
This essay is devoted to a detailed review of Gerry Healy’s family background and youth, based on research conducted in Ireland, including visits to the relevant archives in Dublin and in Galway where the Healy family lived.
Perspective
Germany’s war Chancellor Scholz visits Kiev
If anyone still required proof that Olaf Scholz is not a "level-headed peace chancellor,” as he tried to cast himself during Germany’s election campaign, but an aggressive war chancellor, his surprise visit to Kiev Monday morning provided it.
This represents a major escalation of the global war between NATO countries, on the one hand, and Russia, Iran and China on the other.
The decision to protect Hunter Biden is in sharp contrast to the White House refusal to protect any other likely targets of repression by the incoming Trump administration.
New anti-obesity drugs should be covered under federal health programs, but Trump’s top health nominee is a notorious anti-vaxxer and opponent of public health measures.
The PQ is making clear that any renewed push for Quebec independence will be explicitly founded on national-exclusivist appeals.
Of three male characters in the play, one is evil, one is occasionally evil but stupid and the last is merely stupid.
Book Review
Biography as demonology: Aidan Beatty’s The Party is Always Right: The Untold Story of Gerry Healy and British Trotskyism
Aidan Beatty's new book is not a biography, but rather a political diatribe against Gerry Healy and Trotskyism.
Socialist Equality Party exposes Aidan Beatty’s hackwork and Zionist-Israeli financial ties
During an online discussion, David North challenged Beatty to explain his falsification of history and why Zionist foundations funded his anti-Healy and anti-SEP project.
The fabrication of a slander: Aidan Beatty’s forgery of Gerry Healy’s youth—and Irish history
This supplementary review exposes Beatty’s manipulation of evidence related to Gerry Healy’s youth in Ireland.
Aidan Beatty’s hackwork: The Israel-Zionist connection
The academic career of prominent DSA member Aidan Beatty, the author of a slanderous trash biography of long-time Trotskyist leader Gerry Healy, has been funded by Zionist institutions and Israeli-state sources.
The Amazon workers’ Black Friday protests and the strategy of global class struggle
Amazon workers took part in protests in more than 20 countries on Friday and last weekend, during the Black Friday shopping event.
The Israel-Hezbollah ceasefire in Lebanon and American imperialism’s drive for hegemony in the Middle East
Aimed at setting the stage for a stepped-up region-wide confrontation with Iran, the agreement comes after the far-right Zionist regime has killed upwards of 4,000 people in its onslaught on southern Lebanon and Beirut, and largely wiped out Hezbollah’s leadership.
Bernie Sanders urges “independent” candidates to emulate right-wing nationalist campaign of ex-union bureaucrat Dan Osborn
In a revealing interview in The Nation, Sanders praised the anti-immigrant, warmongering campaign of Nebraska’s Dan Osborn, who promoted Trump’s “America First” program.
French government crisis: Mobilize the working class to bring down Barnier and Macron!
The struggle against Macron cannot be left to parliamentary maneuvers by the neo-fascist Le Pen and Jean-Luc Mélenchon, whose New Popular Front enabled the forming of the government.
Grisly accident during school’s work-based program a sign of things to come for child labor under Trump
Wrestling magnate Linda McMahon, Trump’s pick for Education Secretary, plans to build a direct school-to-work pipeline, while the new government dismantles and defunds regulatory and oversight agencies that would keep students safe.
Trump says he will appoint loyalist and top January 6 co-conspirator Kash Patel to head FBI
Like virtually all of Trump’s nominations, Patel earned Trump’s trust by demonstrating unswerving loyalty to the fascistic president before, during, and after January 6.
Trump nominates public health opponent Jay Bhattacharya to head the National Institutes of Health
Bhattacharya’s appointment is a clear signal that the ruling class aims to demolish the last remnants of public health still standing after five years of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
Federal police agencies investigating bomb threats against Trump nominees and Democratic lawmakers
US Capitol police and the FBI confirmed that investigations are underway of violent threats made against at least six Democrats in Congress and nearly a dozen nominees and appointees of the incoming Trump administration during the Thanksgiving holiday.
Woman of the Hour: Actor–director Anna Kendrick, a gender politics perspective and all the questions unasked and unanswered
A relentless, ham-fisted focus on gender precludes any serious or truthful depiction of a real-life serial killer and the society that produced him.
Documentary on the assassination of Patrice Lumumba
Soundtrack to a Coup d’Etat: Imperialist criminality to a jazz accompaniment
This is vital history, from more than six decades ago, that the vast majority of today’s global population knows nothing about.
Wake in Fright (1971): A nightmare vision of the Australian outback
Ted Kotcheff’s movie, an early product of the newly revived national film industry, helped pave the way for the Australian New Wave.
In terms redolent of the Nazis, Germany’s far-right AfD condemns the Bauhaus as an “aberration of modernism”
The far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) recently attacked the Bauhaus and its legacy in terms recalling the Nazis’ blood and soil rhetoric.
Australia: Paramedics must reject Victorian Labor government-union cost-cutting agreement
The proposed deal will not increase the number of frontline paramedics or end the worsening working conditions they confront.
Workers Struggles: The Americas
The National Government Workers Group called a one-day strike over new seniority rules, while CN rail workers could be in a position to strike by January 1.
Australia: Striking warehouse workers block Woolworths’ attempt to break picket line in Melbourne
The major supermarket chain tried to reopen the warehouse at Dandenong South this morning, bringing workers in on buses with the aid of police.
Berlin transport workers election: How to conduct the struggle against the trade union Verdi
The result of the recent Berlin Transport Company (BVG) staff council election in Berlin has revealed the extent of opposition to the public service union Verdi.
Denver Public Schools closing 7 schools, reducing grades in 3 others, as deeper cuts to public education funding loom
The school board took just two weeks from the announcement of the plan to vote to approve it, displacing more than 1,000 students and nearly 200 teachers.
The crisis of public education in California: Budget cuts, layoffs, and the role of the Democrats and trade unions
California, once celebrated as a hub of education excellence, innovation and progressivism, is now at the epicenter of a deepening crisis. School districts, community colleges, and public universities across the state are grappling with budget cuts, layoffs, and campus closures.
Los Angeles police terrorize schoolchildren in series of unannounced campus raids
This month, Los Angeles police armed and clad in riot gear burst into classroom without warning at Northridge Middle Community school, pointing rifles at students and staff and demanding that the school be put on lockdown. The event follows at similar series of police incursions which have resulted in no significant opposition from the teachers union
Alabama executes death-row inmate in third nitrogen asphyxiation execution
Carey Dale Grayson was reportedly conscious for six agonizing minutes, during which he gasped for air, struggled with his restraints and shook violently.
Under Labor government, Australia’s Future Fund profits from genocide and war
The $230 billion government fund holds more than half a billion dollars’ worth of shares in weapons manufacturers and war-related companies, including Elbit Systems, Israel’s largest private weapons manufacturer.
Australian Labor Party ex-premier supports Zionist witch-hunting in the arts sector
Daniel Andrews spoke as a defender of Zionist oppression and called for philanthropists to withdraw funding from any organisation opposed to the mass slaughter of Palestinians.
Australia: State of the Climate report warns of dangers if global warming continues
The Albanese Labor government claims to be “taking real action on climate change” but the record proves otherwise.
Pakistani army opens fire in brazen, US-backed massacre of pro-Imran Khan protest
Khan is in prison because he fell afoul of US foreign policy—above all, US-NATO war plans against Russia and China.
Russian Militant group supports campaign to free Bogdan Syrotiuk
More than six months have passed since Bogdan's arrest. During this time many organizations, parties, intellectuals and scholars have expressed their support for him.
WSWS readers demand freedom for Bogdan Syrotiuk
In the past few weeks, we have received around one hundred letters from 25 different countries from readers defending Bogdan and highlighting the political motives behind his imprisonment.
Free Bogdan Syrotiuk!
Six months after his arrest, Bogdan Syrotiuk, the courageous Ukrainian socialist arrested for opposing the war, remains in prison awaiting a drumhead trial in a legal travesty.
Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein calls for release of Bogdan Syrotiuk
Stein has made this statement calling for the release of socialist and anti-war activist Bogdan Syrotiuk, who has been imprisoned by the Zelensky regime in Ukraine.
SEP/IYSSE public meeting: The political lessons of the US and Sri Lankan elections
The meeting will discuss the urgent tasks that confronting the working class in the wake of the US and Sri Lankan elections and the socialist and internationalist strategy necessary to fight for the interests of working people.
Sri Lankan JVP/NPP government prohibits “commemoration of war heroes” by Tamils
The SEP vehemently opposes government’s anti-democratic ban on commemorative events and demands the immediate release of the three Tamil youth arrested last Saturday.
Sri Lankan government agrees with IMF to implement savage austerity measures
The working class needs to prepare both politically and organizationally to confront the Dissanayake government’s attacks on their social and democratic rights.
Sri Lankan president announces JVP/NPP government will implement savage IMF austerity program in full
On the very first day the majority-JVP/NPP parliament was convened, the new government jettisoned its election pledge to renegotiate the country’s bailout agreement with the IMF to protect the most vulnerable.
This week in history: December 2-8
Child tried for manslaughter in Australia; Greece abolishes monarchy; UNRWA established for Palestinian aid; Erich von Stroheim’s “Greed” premieres
Book Review: The Demon of Unrest by Erik Larson
Contemporary lessons from the slave power’s plot to overturn the 1860 election
Erik Larson’s new book The Demon of Unrest, published this year by Penguin Random House, contains critical lessons for the fight against Trump and the threat of dictatorship today.
Reflections on the death of Lt. Willam Calley Jr.: Imperialist atrocities, from My Lai to Gaza
Calley spent only three days in prison for his role in directing the mass murder of 504 Vietnamese men, women and children. He is now reported to have died April 28 at the age of 80.
80 years since the liberation of Lublin-Majdanek concentration camp: From Hitler’s war in the East to the Holocaust
The history of the Majdanek camp reveals the links between Nazi Germany’s war of aggression against the Soviet Union and the Holocaust, and the extermination of the Jewish population, which primarily affected Poland and Eastern Europe.
Trump will launch tariff war to defend dollar supremacy
Countries in the BRICS group must make a commitment not to try to create an alternative to the US currency or face the imposition of 100 percent tariffs.
European Central Bank chief’s interview points to shock of trade war threat
Lagarde said the strategy of the European Union to the Trump tariff threat should be negotiation not retaliation, but whether that is possible is another question.
Small disturbances can have big effects, US Fed warns
Financial vulnerabilities have not gone away, as risks remain elevated, and they are being added to by the increasing institutional embrace of crypto currencies.
European Central Bank points to return of sovereign debt crisis
In a speech this week ECB president Christine Lagarde said the euro bloc risked facing “a future of lower tax revenues and higher debt ratios” which would mean “fewer resources for social spending.”
Biden administration pledges “massive surge” of weapons to Ukraine
Since the November 5, 2024 presidential election, the Biden administration has enormously expanded the scale of direct US military intervention into the Ukraine war.
Stop Starmer’s escalating war against Russia! Build a socialist anti-war movement!
By agreeing to Ukraine firing Storm Shadow cruise missiles into Russian territory, Starmer has made a de facto declaration of war without so much as a debate in parliament.
Dubious “bomb scares” in UK, as de facto war is declared on Russia
This has all the hallmarks of a black propaganda campaign. Police and state forces are being mobilised with the explanation that there is an ongoing terror threat and that Russia is likely pulling the strings.
Pentagon “adjusts nuclear deterrence strategy” amid escalating war with Russia
The Department of Defense published a report on Thursday with details of changes to US arms strategy in an environment of multiple nuclear peer adversaries, especially Russia and China.
Tehran makes overtures to Trump, as he prepares to escalate Washington’s war on Iran
Tehran is signaling its readiness to bargain with Trump, even as he makes clear that he intends to deal with Iran even more ruthlessly than during his first term, and that he will do so working in the closest concert with Israel, which is already waging war against Iran in all but name.
Trudeau smears Montreal anti-NATO protest as “antisemitic”
The baseless accusation of antisemitism promoted by Trudeau and the political establishment is rich coming from a ruling class that is providing massive military and financial support to Ukraine’s government and state, which are rife with the political descendants of the Ukrainian fascist and Nazi accomplice Stepan Bandera.
Israel carpet bombs Beirut after Biden announces ceasefire
Minutes after President Biden announced a ceasefire in Lebanon between Hezbollah and Israel, the Zionist regime of Benjamin Netanyahu unleashed several dozen air strikes across southern Beirut and its suburbs, some that targeted residential buildings where displaced people were sheltering.
Israel responds to ICC ruling with bombings in Lebanon, mass expulsions in Gaza
Israel has responded to last week’s arrest warrants by the International Criminal Court against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant by intensifying its rampage throughout the Middle East.
COP29, climate change and the normalization of mass death
The latest climate summit embraced the same policy that has been adopted since such climate talks began in 1995: the subordination of Earth’s environment and the lives of those impacted to the corporate and economic demands of the United States and the other major capitalist powers.
COP29 ends with empty deal, as 2024 set to be warmest year on human record
According to the Copernicus Climate Change Service, “The average temperature anomaly for the rest of 2024 would have to drop to almost zero for 2024 to not be the warmest year.”
Current emission reduction pledges by governments internationally will result in disastrous global warming
A new United Nations report shows that the world is headed towards up to 3.1℃ of warming by the end of the century, with devastating consequences for billions of people worldwide.
New study warns of the dangers in “overshooting” climate targets
This research reinforces the scientific consensus that the only viable strategy to limit catastrophic climate change requires drastic and immediate emissions cuts.
Extreme casualisation at Oxford University highlights gig-economy conditions across sector
Publication by the University and College Union bureaucracy of information exposing the shoddy wages, terms and conditions of academics only adds insult to injury to its 120,000 union members, as all this was enforced with the complicity of the education unions.
General strike in Italy opposes fascist Prime Minister Meloni’s austerity budget
The strike in Italy by half a million workers is part of a global wave of struggles against inequality, war and authoritarian rule.
Romanian fascist Georgescu wins first round of presidential elections
Responsibility for the rise of the far right lies primarily with nominally “left” forces, who have adapted to nationalism and supported NATO’s war with Russia in Ukraine.
Starmer government’s weasel words over Netanyahu arrest warrant make clear he will face no UK action
Asked whether Netanyahu would be arrested if he came to Britain a spokesman for Starmer replied, “We are not going to get into hypotheticals.”
Robert F. Kennedy Jr’s role in Samoan measles epidemic
Kennedy’s anti-vaccine agitation in Samoa’s deadly 2019 measles epidemic is a warning of the global role he will play as Trump’s head of the US Department of Health and Human Services.
The spread of H5N1 bird flu among animals and the growing possibility of a pandemic
The developing avian influenza panzootic and the growing possibility of a pandemic bring to the fore the existential questions for humanity of climate change and the destruction of public health, both of which must be stopped in order to control the growing threats.
Mpox and H5N1 bird flu viruses continue on the march
Amidst a lackadaisical public health response, two viruses with pandemic potential continue to spread in the United States.
Global rate of measles surged by 20 percent in 2023
The WHO said that in 2023 measles surged 20 percent above the previous year, underscoring the need to vaccinate against this dreadfully contagious disease.
Biden administration sets stage for ruthless escalation against Venezuela under Trump
The declaration of US-backed candidate Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia as “president-elect” of Venezuela by Secretary of State Antony Blinken paves the way for renewed sanctions and military operations to overthrow the Maduro administration.
Bolsonaro and top generals indicted for January 8 coup in Brazil
Sixty years after the US-backed 1964 military coup, revelations by the Federal Police have shown that Brazil was close to a new coup and the establishment of a dictatorship after Bolsonaro’s electoral defeat.
Haiti’s unelected prime minister ousted amid surging gang and state violence, increasing social misery
Haiti’s interim prime minister was ousted last week by the Transitional Council—the government “oversight mechanism” that the US, Canada and various factions of the country’s bourgeois elite put together earlier this year to provide a fig leaf of “popular” legitimacy for the latest imperialist-sponsored military intervention in the Western Hemisphere’s poorest country.
Protesters at APEC summit in Lima, Peru: “Let the world hear, they are killing us.”
In the fourth consecutive strike held in less than two months, demonstrations were aimed at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Forum held in Lima during the week.
Trotsky's assassination was the greatest political crime of the 20th century. Alongside Vladimir Lenin, Trotsky was the leader of the 1917 October revolution in Russia, which led to the establishment of the first workers’ state in history, and the preeminent strategist of world socialist revolution.
The Workers’ Party of Turkey and the impasse of pseudo-left politics
The TİP failed to base its split with the Stalinist Communist Party on a study and assimilation of the great strategic and world-historical issues raised by Leon Trotsky’s struggle against Stalinism. This is a common feature of all the tendencies that emerged from the disintegration of the Stalinist parties after the collapse of the USSR.
Jury awards $42 million to 3 Iraqis tortured in Abu Ghraib prison 20 years ago, holding US military contractor responsible
Last Tuesday, a federal jury in Alexandria, Virginia, awarded $42 million in damages against US military contractor CACI Premier Technology, Inc., for its role in the torture of three Iraqis in Abu Ghraib prison during the US imperialist occupation.
After three-day strike in November
Family physicians in Turkey to strike for five days in December
Physicians and allied health workers have stopped work at thousands of Family Health Centres across Turkey, protesting in city squares and in front of health directorates.
Erdogan government suspends elected Kurdish mayors
The appointment of trustees to replace elected mayors is a blatant attack on basic democratic rights. The Socialist Equality Group condemns this anti-democratic police state repression and calls for the reinstatement of elected mayors.
Chad ends longstanding military cooperation with France
Chad, a former African colony of France, has for decades been central to its military operations in Africa, but it is developing closer ties to Russia amid the NATO war with Russia in Ukraine.
Mozambique bans demonstrations after weeks of protests following general elections
Protests against the ruling FRELIMO party continue as opposition candidate Venâncio Mondlane, who is linked to Trump and Portuguese fascist circles, appeals for support from imperialism.
South Africa’s ANC government employs police blockade to trap illegal gold miners underground
The police’s murderous tactics, dubbed “surrender or starve”, have caused outrage in South Africa where unemployment has soared to 42 percent and economic desperation is widespread in the world’s most unequal society.
Nigerian government forced to drop treason charges carrying death penalty against 119 cost-of-living protesters
Despite the release of the protesters, the Nigerian government has made clear there will be no retreat from its relentless offensive against workers being plunged into extreme poverty by soaring inflation, food insecurity and high unemployment.
This lecture was given by World Socialist Web Site International Editorial Board Chairman David North at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor on Tuesday, March 12.
The RCP’s call for a “student strike for Palestine” and the real lessons of the 2012 Quebec student strike
In its campaign material for a “Student Strike for Palestine,” the RCP advances no call for young people to turn to the working class and fight to mobilize it in struggle against genocide and imperialist war. Nor does it indict the trade unions and NDP for their support for the pro-genocide, pro-war Trudeau government.
Faculty at California State University, Long Beach censured for exposing ties between the university and the military
Five faculty members at CSULB were cited for participating in protests against the genocide in Gaza.
University of Michigan student leaders impeached over opposition to Gaza genocide
On Tuesday the University of Michigan Central Student Government (CSG) voted overwhelmingly to impeach the student president and vice president, who are both opponents of the university’s connections to the genocide in Gaza. Students connected to the Democratic Party and far-right and Zionist groups led the impeachment campaign.
Police knew attack on Palestinian-Australian restaurant may have been politically motivated
Police denied that the bombing of a restaurant in Melbourne had anything to do with the pro-Palestinian statements of its owners, even though one of the accused told them the motive was “the conflict overseas between Palestine and Israel.”
Defeat Unite’s collusion with Stellantis and Labour government! Organise rank-and-file action to defend jobs!
United and effective action by Stellantis workers worldwide can only be achieved by the rank-and-file in direct opposition to the economic nationalism and corporatism of the trade union bureaucracy.
UAW president in damage control as rank-and-file anger mounts over Stellantis layoffs
According to the Detroit News, the automaker has laid off nearly 4,000 workers in Detroit and Toledo metro areas since September alone.
After plant closures announced at VW: For a global rank-and-file campaign against job cuts in the auto industry!
Rank-and-file committees among autoworkers in both North America and Europe must be expanded to include every key factory, giving workers the power to shut down the global industry.
Biden White House backs UAW bureaucracy’s phony “Keep the Promise” campaign
With anger mounting over the refusal of the UAW to fight layoffs, the Biden administration has thrown its support to Shawn Fain’s fake fight against Stellantis.
New York State Assemblyman Zohran Mamdani, a DSA member, enters New York City mayoral race
Mamdani’s employment of pseudo-radical slogans is a desperate effort to boost the image of both the Democratic Socialists of America and the Democratic Party as a whole.
Trump’s Republican Party nears control of all levers of federal government
Four days after the US elections, fascist President-Elect Donald Trump’s Republican Party is nearing control of all levers of federal governmental power.
Wave of resignations and attacks put indicted Adams administration on life support
Amid the barrage of federal indictments and corruption investigations faced by New York City Mayor Eric Adams, the Democratic politician’s inner circle is quickly falling by the wayside.
New revelations in January 6 immunity brief confirm Trump and Republican Party criminality
The 165-page filing conclusively demonstrates that Trump, and his Republican co-conspirators, knowingly sought to overturn the 2020 election with deceit, falsehoods and violence.
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.
The weaponization of student absenteeism: Lies to justify school privatization under Trump
The incoming administration intends to use the crisis of "chronic absenteeism," a product of the intense social crisis in the US, to justify vast new attacks on public education.
Student parliament at Berlin’s Humboldt University approves IYSSE motion opposing state attacks on freedom of expression and academic freedom
On November 11 the student parliament (StuPa) at the Berlin Humboldt University approved a resolution introduced by the International Youth & Students for Social Equality (IYSSE) entitled "Condemn the attack on academic freedom by the Federal Ministry of Education."
Western Sydney University IYSSE Annual General Meeting elaborates socialist perspective against war and genocide
The meeting at the working-class university outlined a socialist perspective, based on the mobilisation of the working class against the Gaza genocide and imperialist war.
Australian IYSSE clubs hold anti-war Annual General Meetings in Melbourne and Newcastle
The meetings included lively political discussion on the IYSSE’s perspective of building a global anti-war movement in the working class against Israel’s assault against the people of Palestine and Lebanon, and broader eruption of imperialist 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.
Premiere in Berlin of a new documentary–Julian Assange and the Dark Secrets of War
The most telling episodes of the film include the testimony of Ethan McCord who relates that witnessing the savagery of the American military on that day in Iraq had changed his life forever.
Julian Assange delivers first speech since release from UK prison: “I pleaded guilty to journalism”
Assange told the parliamentary assembly of the Council of Europe: “I am not free today because the system worked, I am free today after years of incarceration because I pled guilty to journalism.”
Australian spooks and their media mouthpieces bemoan Assange’s freedom
The complaints have a pathetic character to them, but also underscore the fact that the assault on democratic rights associated with the persecution of Assange persists and deepens.
The Australian Labor Party’s record in the Assange case
The Australian government's involvement in the plea deal arrangements was the result of mass popular pressure. It followed years of Labor actively assisting the persecution of Assange.
Seminal documents of the Soviet Trotskyist movement from the early 1930s published for the first time
Published for the first time 90 years after they were written, the documents are an irrefutable vindication of the century-long struggle by the Trotskyist movement against Stalinism and for historical truth.
Analyzing a World in Chaos from an Island of Tranquility
This speech was given by David North at the second international commemoration of the work of Leon Trotsky on Büyükada (Prinkipo), Turkey, during the first period of his exile from the Soviet Union between 1929 and 1933.
A reply to an anarchist’s falsification of the Leon Trotsky commemoration on Prinkipo
The event was covered by many national and local media outlets and widely discussed on social media before and after the event in Turkey. However, a former Maoist and current anarchist published an article on his website denouncing and misrepresenting David North’s remarks.
On the anniversary of the assassination of Leon Trotsky
Eighty-four years ago today, on August 20, 1940, Leon Trotsky was assassinated by an agent of the Stalinist secret police, the GPU, in his villa in Coyoacan, Mexico, where he spent the final three years of his life as a political exile.
Opening report to the Eighth Congress of the Socialist Equality Party (US)
We are publishing here the opening report to the Eighth Congress of the Socialist Equality Party (US), given by David North, the national chairman of the SEP. The congress was held from August 4 to August 9, 2024.
Report to the SEP (US) Eighth National Congress
16 years since the Founding Congress of the Socialist Equality Party
We are publishing here the report to the Eighth Congress of the Socialist Equality Party (US) given by Joseph Kishore, the national secretary of the SEP.
H5N1 Bird flu, climate change, and the social rights of the working class
The threat of pandemics and the deepening climate crisis raise existential concerns for all life and well-being on the planet, with capitalism bringing the world to the brink of annihilation.
Report to the SEP (US) Eighth National Congress
The barbarism of “forever COVID” and the fight for socialist public health
We are publishing here the report to the Eighth Congress of the Socialist Equality Party (US) given by Evan Blake. The congress was held from August 4 to August 9, 2024.
January 21 marked 100 years since the death of Vladimir Lenin in 1924. This page includes a collection of essays reviewing the life and ideas of the great Marxist theoretician, founder of the Bolshevik Party, and co-leader of the Russian Revolution.
SEP meeting in Australia calls for building worker rank-and-file committees to fight CFMEU administration
This report includes videos of speeches delivered by SEP members, explaining the administration and outlining a perspective to fight it.
SEP in Sri Lanka commemorates second anniversary of death of Trotskyist leader Wije Dias
Wije Dias belonged to the group of young people who took up the initiative in 1968 to form the Trotskyist party in Sri Lanka and he played a leading role in the movement for 54 years until his death.
UK Socialist Equality Party election rally advances socialist and internationalist opposition to war
The meeting’s platform featured many of the principal leaders of the party that the working class needs in the battles ahead—the International Committee of the Fourth International, the world party of socialist revolution founded by Leon Trotsky.
Attendees at UK general election rally speak: “The Socialist Equality Party is what I want to dedicate my efforts to building.”
WSWS reporters spoke to some of those in attendance on their response to the Socialist Equality Party (UK) general election rally held in London on Sunday.
May Day 2024: The working class and the struggle against imperialist war
This is the text of the introductory speech delivered by WSWS International Editorial Board Chairman David North to the 2024 International May Day Online Rally.
The political significance of the 2024 May Day Online Rally
This is the text of the speech delivered by Johannes Stern, editor of the German-language edition of the WSWS, as a summation to the 2024 International May Day Online Rally.
The struggle against imperialist war among students and youth
This is the text of the speech delivered by Dilaxshan Mahalingam, an IYSSE member in Sri Lanka, to the 2024 International May Day Online Rally.
The fight against imperialist war in New Zealand and the Pacific
This is the text of the speech delivered by Tom Peters, a leading member of the Socialist Equality Group in New Zealand, to the 2024 International May Day Online Rally.
Helen Halyard (1950-2023), a tribute to a life dedicated to the victory of world socialism
We are publishing here the tribute given by David North to Helen Halyard, a leading member of the Socialist Equality Party and the International Committee of the Fourth International for more than half a century, who died suddenly at the age of 73 on November 28. North’s remarks opened a memorial meeting for Helen held Sunday, December 3.
Remarks by David North at the conclusion of the international memorial meeting for Helen Halyard
We are publishing here the summation given by David North to the memorial meeting for Comrade Helen Halyard held on December 3.
“Building the world party was Helen’s goal in life, to which she made an indelible contribution”
We are publishing here the tribute to Helen Halyard written by Patrick Martin, a member of the US editorial board of the World Socialist Web Site and a member of the Workers League and Socialist Equality Party for 52 years, and Esther Galen, a member of the Workers League and Socialist Equality Party for 53 years.
Tribute to Helen: Beverly Lozano, a supporter from California
A tribute to Helen Halyard written by Beverly Lozano, a supporter of the WSWS.
Report to Sri Lanka meetings
Imperialism, the genocide in Gaza, and the world struggle for socialism
Socialist Equality Party (US) National Secretary Joseph Kishore delivered the following report to a meeting titled “Leon Trotsky and the Struggle for Socialism in the 21st Century” in Colombo on December 10.
University of Michigan IYSSE protests attack by pro-government thugs on Sri Lankan SEP members
We are publishing here a letter being sent by the International Youth and Students for Social Equality (IYSSE) at the University of Michigan condemning the violent attack on two members of the Socialist Equality Party (SEP) in Sri Lanka by pro-government thugs.
Magistrate court hearing on violent assault on Sri Lankan SEP members
While police have visited the crime scene and recorded witness statements they requested more time to obtain hospital medical reports.
Academics denounce pro-government thug attack on Sri Lankan SEP members
The SEP is calling on all those who are concerned to defend democratic rights of freedom of expression to register their opposition by sending protest letters to the relevant authorities.
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.
Wisconsin documents reveal details of strategy behind Donald Trump’s 2020 fake elector scheme
A trove of court documents released on Monday show Wisconsin attorney Kenneth Chesebro and former judge Jim Troupis were instrumental in formulating the strategy of Donald Trump to overturn the 2020 elections through court cases that generated “a cloud of confusion” combined with the appointment of “alternative” electors in seven key states.
Appellate court rejects Trump’s claim that he cannot be prosecuted for seeking to overthrow the 2020 election
The Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia ruled against Donald Trump's assertion of absolute immunity from criminal prosecution for seeking to overthrow the 2020 election.
Third Trump coup lawyer pleads guilty and agrees to testify in Georgia election case
Jenna Ellis is the third lawyer and fourth defendant to plead guilty in relation to the conspiracy to overturn the 2020 presidential election in Georgia.
Trump coup plot accomplice Chesebro pleads guilty in Georgia fake elector case
Kenneth Chesebro, attorney and close associate of Donald Trump, pleaded guilty on Friday to one felony charge in exchange for his agreement to testify against the former-president and 16 other defendants in the fake elector scheme to overturn the 2020 election results in Georgia.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
The Wuhan “lab leak” fraud: A political witch-hunt against science and public health
The hearings before the House subcommittee have been a bipartisan effort to foment anti-Chinese hysteria.
Democrats join with Republican fascists to witch-hunt scientist Peter Daszak
During Wednesday’s House Subcommittee on COVID-19 with Dr. Peter Daszak, president of EcoHealth Alliance, Democrats joined ranks with fascistic Republican colleagues to promote the Wuhan lab-leak lies.
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.
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.
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 arrest of journalist Richard Medhurst and the fight to defend democratic rights
Medhurst said of his detention at the UK’s Heathrow Airport, “I believe I'm the first journalist to be arrested under this provision of the Terrorism Act.”
Instagram shutters account of Palestinian publisher Quds News Network
Instagram shut the account without explanation. Quds is one of the most popular Palestinian networks and has featured on-the-spot exposures of the war crimes in Gaza.
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.
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.
Over 80,000 sign petition against NYU Langone’s termination of a pro-Palestinian resident physician
Over 80,000 people have signed a petition opposing the anti-democratic termination of Dr. Zaki Masoud by NYU Langone.
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.
Israel murders 274 Gazans in a further escalation of the genocidal war
For a demonstration on July 24 in Washington D.C. to protest congressional invitation for Netanyahu
The World Socialist Web Site calls on workers and youth to respond to Congress’ invitation to the war criminal Netanyahu with a demonstration in Washington D.C.
Leaders of London rally issue dead-end call for Sunak and Starmer to reverse support for Israel’s genocide
The determined opposition of workers and young people is being corralled into a dead-end, with calls that the only way to stop Israel is to put pressure on the Tories and, above all, the Labour Party of genocide apologist in chief, Sir Keir Starmer.
TikTok bans video demanding Bogdan Syrotiuk’s freedom, branding it “hate speech”
The TikTok ban comes just days after the Zelensky regime issued an order banning access to the World Socialist Web Site across Ukraine. The order was issued by the Ukrainian State Special Communications Service, a wing of the country’s military-intelligence apparatus.
Australian government, opposition launch hysterical attacks on the Greens over Gaza genocide
The Greens are serving as something of a placeholder, with the real target the mass opposition to the genocide among workers and young people.
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.
Aidan Beatty’s hackwork: The Israel-Zionist connection
The academic career of prominent DSA member Aidan Beatty, the author of a slanderous trash biography of long-time Trotskyist leader Gerry Healy, has been funded by Zionist institutions and Israeli-state sources.
A comment on David North’s review: Biography as demonology: Aidan Beatty’s The Party is Always Right: The Untold Story of Gerry Healy and British Trotskyism
The following letter was sent by Steve Long, a former member of the Socialist Labour League/Workers Revolutionary Party who writes for the World Socialist Web Site as Stefan Steinberg.
Book Review
Biography as demonology: Aidan Beatty’s The Party is Always Right: The Untold Story of Gerry Healy and British Trotskyism
Aidan Beatty's new book is not a biography, but rather a political diatribe against Gerry Healy and Trotskyism.
Book Review: The Demon of Unrest by Erik Larson
Contemporary lessons from the slave power’s plot to overturn the 1860 election
Erik Larson’s new book The Demon of Unrest, published this year by Penguin Random House, contains critical lessons for the fight against Trump and the threat of dictatorship today.
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.
The Amazon workers’ Black Friday protests and the strategy of global class struggle
Amazon workers took part in protests in more than 20 countries on Friday and last weekend, during the Black Friday shopping event.
The Israel-Hezbollah ceasefire in Lebanon and American imperialism’s drive for hegemony in the Middle East
Aimed at setting the stage for a stepped-up region-wide confrontation with Iran, the agreement comes after the far-right Zionist regime has killed upwards of 4,000 people in its onslaught on southern Lebanon and Beirut, and largely wiped out Hezbollah’s leadership.
French government crisis: Mobilize the working class to bring down Barnier and Macron!
The struggle against Macron cannot be left to parliamentary maneuvers by the neo-fascist Le Pen and Jean-Luc Mélenchon, whose New Popular Front enabled the forming of the government.
Thanksgiving in America 2024: Social devastation for the working class, billions more for the oligarchs
On Thanksgiving Day 2024, the broad mass of the population has precious little to be thankful for. The crushing weight of inflated costs for all necessities—housing, food, healthcare, childcare, transport—continues to weigh on working class families. But there is an entirely different reality in the environs of the rich and the super-rich.
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.
14 years after New Zealand’s Pike River mine disaster, no justice for victims’ families
For 14 years, successive governments, state agencies, the judicial system and the union bureaucracy have worked to prevent anyone being brought to justice for the avoidable deaths of 29 workers in Pike River Coal’s underground mine.
New Zealand: Court action continues over Pike River mine disaster
Families of some of the 29 workers killed in the 2010 coal mine disaster are continuing their fight for answers about why authorities dropped charges against Pike River Coal chief executive Peter Whittall over the extremely dangerous conditions in the mine.
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.