Hollande gave his best wishes for the new year in a festive way, but he was not very convincing: at war against terrorism alongside Obama, Putin and a new ally, Assad – who’s regime is responsible for 300,000 deaths since 2011. Let’s not forget Saudi Arabia – 47 executions last week – which is such a good customer for French arm dealers. Not to mention the bombings, which create 10 potential terrorists for each civilian victim they make. Barbarism against barbarism, to ensure our safety. Welcome to Hollandistan.
Our own little warlord at home poses as our savior against “immediate danger”. His solution? A trick he got from Marine le Pen: “revocation of nationality”! That must really scare potential suicide bombers… So this is no more than a “symbolic gesture”, but it reveals the stupidity of the government: imagine that another country (such as Tunisia or Belgium) does the same and sends a terrorist back to France, what will Hollande say?
In other news, Hollande is imposing a “state of emergency” that never ends, in other words a regime of constant arbitrariness, much better at quenching basic freedom than defeating terrorism. An example of which is a search of the home of a family with children where cops, finding nothing, finally asked “who is that bearded guy?” about a portrait of Leonardo da Vinci!
In fact, Hollande is above all in a state of electoral emergency: he prepares the next presidential election by using the nastiest demagogy, using immigrants as scapegoats. This selfish behavior that aims at satisfying personal goals is called, more formally, fraudulent behavior.
A world full of barbed wires and cemeteries…
Just five years ago, a revolutionary wave, that had nothing to do with religion, swept the Arab world and beyond. Its goal was to end dictatorships and social injustice. That included Syria, where the western powers let Assad slaughter the population. The counter-revolution became a war between clans and local warlords, appearing as a religious war. Millions of refugees fled massacres and terror and found themselves in front of the European fortress. This bloody capitalist system leaves people within barbed wires, imprisons them, and let them get slaughtered.
…Or a future for the 99% ?
Following the Arab Spring, protest movements arose all over the world: “Occupy”, “Indignados”, etc. There was a tidal wave of opposition between the 99%, as the New York demonstrators called themselves, and the 1% who exploit and oppress the whole planet. Because capitalism does not convince anymore.
So no wonder that all the privileged, filled with fear, point their fingers at scapegoats, repress, bomb, slaughter. They hope to maintain their privileges using all the means of counter revolution. But that’s not the end of the story.
Repression did not demoralize the workers. In 2015, strikes occurred in Tunisia and Egypt, in many sectors. In Turkey, 16,000 workers from several auto factories went on strike last June. In Iran, fights for wages are spreading in the auto industry, teaching and naval construction, despite strikes being prohibited and workers being arrested. So, here, what are we waiting for?
It is in our best interest to unite, workers of all origins, against all kinds of barbarism.
The workers in Arab countries, in Turkey and Iran, who mobilize against powers that repress and exploit them, are a source of hope for us. If we had a wish for 2016 it would be for their determination to spread further.
