Headlines at the World Socialist Web Site today:
1. The Democratic Party and Trump’s coup
The political line coming from [California Governor]Newsom and [Los Angeles Mayor] Bass is: “Let us handle the suppression of protests. We can do it ourselves.”
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Even while Democrats mouth criticism of Trump, it is from the standpoint of somehow trying to suppress popular opposition and chloroform the situation. No Democrat has warned that Trump’s military parade in Washington DC, set for this Saturday, June 14, his birthday, could well be the occasion for an outright military takeover in the US capital.
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As the Socialist Equality Party and World Socialist Web Site Editorial Board wrote on June 9:
Trump is not acting on his own but as the representative of a financial oligarchy that is hurtling toward fascism and war. There will be no return to “normal.” The political situation can move in only one of two directions: dictatorship or revolution.
What is unfolding is part of a definite strategy by the White House, cooked up by fascist advisors like White House chief of staff Stephen Miller. The New York Times reports that ICE is staggering shifts and working seven days a week to meet the 3,000 per day arrest quota set by Trump.
3. Federal judge issues preliminary injunction against detention and removal of Mahmoud Khalil
In an Opinion and Order, Judge Farbiarz ruled that the government “cannot detain or deport Mahmoud Khalil for the foreign policy reasons cited by the Trump administration.” The ruling specifically addresses the government’s reliance on a determination by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who invoked a little-known clause of the Immigration and Nationality Act to claim that Khalil’s “presence or activities would compromise a compelling US foreign policy interest.”
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Khalil’s arrest and ongoing detention are central to the assault by the Trump administration on pro-Palestinian activists, particularly targeting students and faculty at Columbia University and other universities where protest activity erupted following the launching of the genocide in Gaza on October 7, 2023.
4. Trump administration amplifies white supremacist propaganda, as anti-ICE protests spread
The language of “foreign invader,” belched by Trump for over a decade and now adopted wholesale by the Republican Party, is the language of Nazi Germany and fascists the world over. It is a rhetorical weapon used by the ruling class to divide the working class and deflect attention from the real source of social misery, poverty and inequality: the capitalist system.
5. Merz government tightens migration policy and arms police
While President Donald Trump is mobilizing the National Guard and the military against the population in the US, the German government under Chancellor Friedrich Merz is also moving towards an authoritarian police state.
6. US Justice Department indicts Rep. LaMonica McIver over confrontation at immigrant prison
US Representative LaMonica McIver was indicted on Tuesday on charges related to a confrontation last month outside an immigration detention center in Newark, New Jersey. The Democratic congresswoman was charged with two felony counts and one misdemeanor count of assaulting, resisting, impeding and interfering with a federal officer. No one was injured in the scuffle. The indictment carries a maximum total of 17 years in prison.
The decision to indict a sitting congresswoman on these grounds is extraordinary. It is a brazen escalation of President Donald Trump’s drive to terrorize and crush all opposition to his fascistic campaign of mass deportations and establish a presidential dictatorship.
7. From classroom to war economy: Trump’s youth workforce agenda
The belief that youth have the right to a free, high-quality education that fosters critical inquiry, creativity and the exploration of knowledge is deeply felt by the population. But the defense of education, like every other social right, requires the conscious fight against the capitalist system and imperialist war.
8. Charges laid over deaths in New Zealand hostel fire
The 92-room lodge was a death trap. It had no sprinkler system, which firefighters said would have saved lives, and only one functional exit. Fire alarms were reportedly faulty, with some residents saying they only went off in part of the building, and others saying there were so many false alarms that people had learned to ignore them. The fire spread rapidly, making it impossible for many to reach the stairwell to escape.
9. Documenting the human toll of the Gaza genocide
The World Socialist Web Site had an opportunity to speak again with Bilal Irfan, a Harvard masters student who has published several studies on the impact of the Gaza genocide on Palestinians.
10. Arbitrator-dictated contract imposed on rail workers after Canadian government’s strike ban
Forced into binding arbitration by a glaringly unconstitutional back-to-work order prohibiting any work stoppage on the railways, 3,200 locomotive engineers, conductors, yard workers and traffic controllers at Canadian Pacific Kansas City rail were confronted last week with the imposition of a three-year contract by a government-appointed arbitrator. The workers are members of the Teamsters Canada Rail Conference. The move initiated by the federal Liberal government in full collusion with the railroad bosses robbed workers of their rights to bargain the terms of their contract and take job action if necessary.
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Workers must draw lessons from these betrayals and pursue their legitimate contract demands with the understanding that the union bureaucracies as the junior partners of corporate interests are the main obstacle to their militant struggle. They are determined to keep workers confined to the rigid “collective bargaining” regime, which favours the corporations, because it is from this that the bureaucracy derives its privileges and strengthens its “partnership” with management.
While the two ministers will face travel bans and a freeze on any assets they hold in the five countries, their ministries and the government that fully supports them will not be sanctioned.
In practical terms, the move will not make one iota of difference to the actions of the Israeli government, since the major decisions of the war are being taken by the United States and the European powers, who view Israel’s actions in Gaza and throughout the region as a necessary component of the accelerating conflict with Russia, Iran and China.
The UK and its allies are simply trying to divert attention from their refusal to change their unwavering support for Israel. London is not even prepared to stop supplying weapons to the Israeli army. Its persecution of workers, students and young people protesting against the genocide of the Palestinians will continue.
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The decision to sanction Smotrich and Ben-Gvir prompted a furious response from US Secretary of State Marco Rubio. In “condemning” the move he said, “These sanctions do not advance US-led efforts to achieve a ceasefire, bring all hostages home, and end the war”.
He continued, “We reject any notion of equivalence: Hamas is a terrorist organization that committed unspeakable atrocities, continues to hold innocent civilians hostage, and prevents the people of Gaza from living in peace”. He called on the five countries to lift the sanctions and stand “shoulder-to-shoulder with Israel”, adding, “We remind our partners not to forget who the real enemy is”.
12. Stagecoach West Scotland public transport drivers launch six week strike
430 bus drivers for Stagecoach West Scotland from the company's Arran, Ayr, Ardrossan, and Kilmarnock depots launched a six week strike, June 9, aimed at increasing poverty level pay. The strike follows months of prevarication by the drivers' trade union, Unite.
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With 24,000 employees, Stagecoach runs around 26 percent of the bus services in the UK, one of a small number of large operators. Unite, the largest union in Stagecoach, ensures that disputes never happen across Stagecoach or any of its rivals simultaneously.
13. NATO chief Rutte says Europe’s social spending must be gutted to pay for war
NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte spoke at Britain’s leading foreign policy think-tank Chatham House Monday to advocate for a vast rearmament by the European imperialist powers to prepare for war with Russia.
In a Q&A session, Telegraph Editor Danielle Sheridan asked if “we should see the Chancellor raise taxes in [this week’s Spending Review] in order to cover the defense spending that you think is required?”
Rutte was blunt, replying that “it’s not up to me to decide, of course, how countries pay the bill,” but “if you do not do this, if you would not go to the 5 percent, including the 3.5 percent core defense spending, you could still have the National Health Service, or in other countries their health systems, the pension system, etcetera, but you had better learn to speak Russian.”
14. Free Ukrainian socialist and anti-war activist, Bogdan Syrotiuk!
Internationally, major artistic figures such as Roger Waters and Ai Wei Wei as well as historians such as Mario Kessler and Christian Gerlach have supported the campaign to free Bogdan Syrotiuk. Many political tendencies have also condemned his imprisonment and called for his release, despite their political differences with the Trotskyist movement. These include Jill Stein from the Greens in the United States, and several groups and websites in Russia and Turkey. Most recently, the website of the Socialist Laborer Party in Turkey, and that of the Partisan Defense Committee, which is affiliated with the Spartacist tendency, have issued statements in support of Bogdan.
