Headlines at the World Socialist Web Site today:
1. This week in history: September 1-7
- 25 years ago:
Philadelphia teachers demand strike action
50 years ago:
Egypt and Israel sign Sinai Agreement
75 years ago:
Pusan Perimeter battle in Korea continues with Naktong offensive
100 years ago:
War scare between Britain and Turkey over Mosul
2. Labor Day 2025: No to dictatorship! Mobilize the working class against Trump’s coup!
This Labor Day, as workers gather in hundreds of cities and towns across America, one question dominates above all others: How will the transformation of the United States into a military-police dictatorship be stopped?
In a statement posted before Labor Day, AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler struck a pose of opposition, denouncing the domination of “CEOs and billionaires” and describing the government as an “oligarchy.” But this is little more than empty demagogy. Tellingly, she speaks of oligarchy but not a word about capitalism or the corporate, financial and ruling class interests it serves.
In practice, the AFL-CIO has aligned itself with Trump’s reactionary nationalist policies. In March, Shuler declared that “unions have always seen tariffs as one of the tools in our trade policy tool box.”
There is no demonstration on Labor Day in Washington D.C., the political center of the country and the location of the AFL-CIO headquarters only blocks from the White House. Instead, the trade union officials have deliberately scheduled a separate and smaller demonstration in Washington D.C. for another week.
This is a calculated act of political cowardice and capitulation, designed to separate today’s protests from any broader nationally coordinated struggle against Trump and to keep the issue of dictatorship off the agenda. The bureaucracy, composed of a privileged layer of officials, fears that such a demonstration would immediately expose the weakness of the government and, even more, the union apparatus itself.
*****
The Socialist Equality Party and the International Workers Alliance of Rank-and-File Committees (IWA-RFC) urge workers everywhere to take the initiative in establishing rank-and-file committees, independent of the union apparatus, as the organizing centers of opposition to all attacks on the working class, and we pledge our full support in this effort. Every factory, workplace and neighborhood must be transformed into a center of coordinated struggle.
Such committees are necessary not only in the fight for higher wages and better conditions, as critical as this is, but to organize the working class against the threat of dictatorship. Under conditions of a military-police regime, no rights can be defended. Workers face the threat of police state dictatorship and the stranglehold of a pro-war, pro-capitalist bureaucracy. To fight back, the working class needs its own independent strategy.
*****
For those who cast ballots for Trump believing his populist rhetoric, the reality should now be perfectly clear. The man who promised to “drain the swamp” has filled it with billionaires. Workers who put their hopes in Trump must recognize that he has played them for fools, cynically exploiting their frustrations while carrying out the most reactionary policies in US history.
But there is no serious opposition to Trump within the Democratic Party or any other institution of official politics. The Democrats accept and legitimize Trump’s rule, block mass opposition and serve the same financial oligarchy. Together with the Republicans, they form two factions of a single ruling class, united in the defense of capitalism and hostile to the interests of workers.
Perhaps the most damning indictment is not only the brutality of the ruling class but the absence of genuine opposition from those organizations that claim to represent workers. In the face of the threat of fascist dictatorship, where is the American labor movement? The truth is that there is no labor movement worthy of the name.
*****
When Republic Services workers struck this summer, when healthcare workers conducted Rhode Island’s longest hospital strike, when teachers walked out in Washington last week, and as Boeing and GE Aerospace workers continue their ongoing strikes, these struggles have been systematically isolated and betrayed by union officials more concerned with maintaining their privileged positions than defending workers’ interests.
The unfolding American catastrophe is a world catastrophe, threatening to plunge humanity into barbarism. The way forward cannot be found through the trade union bureaucracies, nor in working within the existing political system.
*****
In the struggle against dictatorship, war and social inequality, the IWA-RFC raises the following core demands:
No to dictatorship! The working class will not accept a fascistic military dictatorship in the United States. This is the central question facing the working class. There must be the organization of mass resistance. The working class must use its industrial and economic power to defend democratic rights and stop the descent into barbarism.
Defend immigrant workers! The attacks on immigrant communities are attacks on the entire working class. Workers of all backgrounds must unite against ICE raids, concentration camps and the nationalist poison that divides us. The same capitalists who exploit immigrant labor at poverty wages are the ones destroying the living standards of all workers.
Against nationalism and war! The billions squandered on imperialist wars abroad must be redirected to meet human needs—healthcare, education, infrastructure and environmental protection. Workers have no interest in the geopolitical conflicts of the ruling elites.
Oppose the attacks on science and public health! The deliberate suppression of climate science, the banning of vaccines and the dismantling of all public health measures amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic serve only corporate profits.
For workplace safety and workers’ lives! The industrial murder of workers like Ronald Adams Sr. must stop. Every workplace must be made safe. Workers must organize independently to expose corporate crimes and hold the guilty accountable.
All of these demands cannot be separated from the broader questions of social organization and political power. So long as production is controlled by private owners motivated solely by profit, workers’ lives will remain expendable.
American workers carry the revolutionary heritage of those who fought the American Revolution and the Civil War. A central lesson of the Civil War was that the North could only defeat the Confederacy when it took on the system of slavery itself. Today, American workers must directly confront the capitalist system of wage-slavery in order to achieve victory.
3. California’s Democratic governor leads the charge in expanding state repression
On August 28 and 29, California Governor Gavin Newsom unveiled two sweeping initiatives that together mark a sharp rightward turn in state policy and expose the Democratic Party’s deepening complicity in the destruction of democratic rights. As he portrays himself as a bulwark against President Trump, Newsom is in fact laying the foundation for a massive expansion of state power against the working class and the poor.
Under the guise of public safety and compassion, the Democratic governor has placed the California Highway Patrol (CHP) at the center of two major new enforcement regimes: a statewide “crime suppression” expansion and a “homeless encampment clearance” task force.
These measures are being marketed as alternatives to Trump’s deployments of federal forces into major U.S. cities, but in substance, they mirror their basic functions. Far from opposing the authoritarian measures emanating from Washington, Newsom’s actions mimic them, signaling a growing alignment between the Democratic Party and the Trump administration on the fundamental issue: the use of state repression to deal with the social crisis created by capitalism.
*****
“California-led” approach, one that avoids Trump’s federal militarization of urban policing. Yet this distinction is entirely cosmetic. Rather than rejecting the deployment of armed forces against working-class neighborhoods, Newsom has preemptively normalized it at the state level. “We’re working with local law enforcement, not overriding them,” he declared.
The reality is that this represents a major expansion of policing powers, redirecting state resources into paramilitary-style operations. Despite boasting about “falling crime rates” across California, Newsom is doubling down on “law-and-order” policies—a transparent attempt to preempt Trump’s propaganda and deflect Republican attacks. The message to the ruling class is unmistakable: California Democrats are prepared to be just as “serious on safety” as the fascistic Trump administration in Washington.
*****
The events of the past week in California expose the broader shift of the entire political establishment sharply to the right. Facing an escalating social crisis—declining real wages, mass homelessness, soaring debt and widespread opposition to Trump’s policies—the ruling class carries out repression.
*****
It is within this context that Newsom’s recent tweet offensive against Trump must be understood. Seizing on the federal government’s 10 percent acquisition of Intel, Newsom launched a series of bizarre attacks on Trump, imitating his loud, fascistic style and sarcastically declaring:
“ALL HAIL CHAIRMAN TRUMP! WITH HIS GLORIOUS 10% PURCHASE OF INTEL, THE SOCIALIST REPUBLIC OF AMERICA ENTERS A BOLD NEW ERA OF GOVERNMENT-RUN BUSINESS.”
For Labor Day, he escalated his rhetoric, claiming,
“With his takeover of U.S. companies like Intel, this Labor Day America is praising CHAIRMAN TRUMP, our nation’s leading Socialist!!”
The absurdity of this line of argument speaks for itself. But what is not absurd is their political purpose. Newsom combines mockery of Trump with an appeal to anti-communism. By falsely equating Trump’s federal intervention in private industry with “socialism,” Newsom signals his alignment with the financial and corporate elite and underscores the Democrats’ role in defending capitalist property relations at all costs.
*****
In this, Newsom and Trump are united. While Trump mobilizes federal forces to expand the machinery of state repression against the population as a whole, Newsom is deploying the CHP as his own domestic shock troops—invoking “organized crime” to justify heightened policing. Both parties target vulnerable populations, immigrants for Trump, the homeless for Newsom, to test out authoritarian methods of rule in defense of the capitalist class.The intensifying political crisis in the United States expresses itself not only in Trump’s increasingly authoritarian measures but also in the disintegration of democratic norms across the entire political establishment. The ongoing gerrymandering war between Democrats and Republicans is yet another manifestation of this deep rot. Both parties are weaponizing redistricting battles to entrench their own political power and suppress popular participation.The implications of these developments are grave. As the United States approaches the 250th anniversary of its founding, the democratic rights won through the American Revolution are under systematic assault. There is no faction within the political establishment—Democratic or Republican—that represents a defense of democracy.
4. UAW local opposes US screening of director Roman Polanski’s An Officer and a Spy
Six years after its release, director Roman Polanski’s An Officer and a Spy (original title J’accuse) finally had its US premiere in August at the Film Forum cinema in New York City. The award-winning movie is a powerful depiction of the Dreyfus affair, a scandal that polarized France during the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
*****
As the World Socialist Web Site noted, in its original review of the film in November 2019, the “resulting exposure of criminal behavior [in the Dreyfus case] implicating virtually the entire French general staff, backed by most of the political establishment, shook the French state to its foundations.”
Shamefully, Polanski’s important film has been banned from US movie theaters for six years, the product of the pressure of a sordid coalition of far-right forces and pseudo-left feminists.
An Officer and a Spy won the Grand Jury Prize at the Venice Film Festival in 2019. It was nominated for four European Film Awards and 12 Césars, which are the national film awards of France. But because Polanski is a target of the #MeToo campaign, none of his films have received US distribution since 2017.
*****
The screenings of An Officer and a Spy are long, long overdue.
However, United Auto Workers (UAW) Local 2110, the union to which Film Forum employees belong, has solidarized itself with the anti-Polanski forces and objected to the screenings. In a lengthy statement on X, the union attempts to stoke moral outrage over Polanski’s 1977 conviction. Put plainly, its statement is a call for censorship.
Local 2110 claims it is “disturbed and disappointed” by the film showings. Thinly disguising its appeal for censorship, the union claims that the
workers of Film Forum, demand accountability. We call on Film Forum to ensure that no future premieres programming decision will ever again prioritize the work of sexual predators. We must take an unequivocal stance against sexual & sexist violence in the film industry.
The Film Forum itself half-capitulated to the middle class witch-hunters by including a programming note citing Polanski’s “sexual assault conviction and allegations” and acknowledged that the screenings might “generate strong reactions.” But it defended the screenings and the film itself.
In its wretched statement, UAW Local 2110 declares that the Film Forum’s note “fails to accurately address the severity” of the accusations against Polanski, who is a “sexual predator,” according to the union. By screening the film, Film Forum has become “complicit in the cultural amnesia that normalizes abuse and keeps survivors of sexual violence from being taken seriously,” the statement alleges.
Posing as defenders not only of workers, but also of the public, Local 2110 claims that the decision to screen Polanski’s movie “betrays the trust between Film Forum’s staff and its programmers, and between Film Forum and the film-loving community it serves.” This is utter nonsense.
*****
In its statement, the UAW local demonstrates that it has no understanding of the Dreyfus affair or the significance of a film on the subject in the present situation. It blandly and complacently writes that this was “an important nineteenth century political case uncovering institutional corruption and antisemitism in France.”
*****
The strong influence of identity politics in artistic circles is thoroughly pernicious. It has relentlessly directed certain social layers away from earthshaking problems—war, dictatorship, fascism, social inequality—and toward self-centered concerns that represent no challenge whatsoever to the status quo. It has encouraged subjective, irrationalist and anti-democratic tendencies, including the repudiation of the precept of innocent until proven guilty and due process.
We stand by the contention we made more than 30 years ago, that racial and gender obsessions
have not helped anyone to see the world and its most fundamental social relationships more clearly; they have had precisely the opposite, narrowing effect. They have objectively damaged artistic and intellectual work.
*****
In his press notes on An Officer and a Spy, Polanski found parallels between his experience and that of Dreyfus. “I can see the same determination to deny the facts and condemn me for things I have not done,” he wrote. “My work is not therapy. However, I must admit that I am familiar with many of the workings of the apparatus of persecution shown in the film, and that has clearly inspired me.”
Polanski “grossly trivializes the Dreyfus affair” with this comparison, according to the UAW. Why? At a time of unrestrained lying, witch-hunting and blackballing, such legitimate comparisons must be made, and their significance understood.
The UAW has refused to defend its members from the “apparatus of persecution” that Polanski described. Columbia University suspended or expelled several members of UAW Local 2710, along with many other students, for protesting the genocide. The union has verbally opposed this attack on free speech but has not organized a single strike or protest for the reinstatement of the students. Even when Columbia expelled Local 2710 President Grant Miner—one day before contract negotiations were to begin—the union again confined itself to empty phrases.
Still more damning is the UAW’s active participation in the “apparatus of persecution.” Last year, the union hosted a conference to endorse the reelection of President Joe Biden. When protesters chanted, “Ceasefire now,” during Biden’s speech, union toughs joined Secret Service agents in dragging them out of the hall. This action not only gave the lie to the union’s hot air about freedom of speech, but also demonstrated the national leadership’s endorsement of genocide, whatever the positions of local officials.
Though UAW President Shawn Fain was presented as a reformer, he rules over the union in much the same way as a crime boss controls his organization. A report by the court monitor overseeing the UAW revealed that Fain regularly threatens violence against those who question him. He hurled profanities at Secretary-Treasurer Margaret Mock and stripped her of some of her responsibilities for refusing to authorize certain expenses.
The words and action of Local 2110 in regard to the screening of An Officer and a Spy are deplorable. The union bureaucracy is the instrument of some of the most reactionary sentiments, anti-democratic and repressive. Workers at the Film Forum need to reject these positions and resolutely defend film work that delves seriously into the most complex and difficult social realities.
5. Washington masses warships near Venezuela as US officials warn of attack
A U.S. naval flotilla of at least eight warships and carrying some 4,500 personnel is currently massing near Venezuela’s coast amid open threats to attack the country, which boasts the largest oil reserves in the world.
*****
The operation has nothing to do with drug interdictions. Only a tiny fraction of drugs moving northward from South America are shipped from Venezuela, as acknowledged by numerous experts, including from the UN and even U.S. intelligence agencies.
In the context of years of economic crisis following a drop of oil prices, the Obama, Trump and Biden administrations had already subjected Venezuela to devastating economic sanctions. These policies were the prime cause for wiping out over 80 percent of the economy, provoking an exodus of over 7 million Venezuelans and causing tens of thousands of deaths from poverty and disease.
As Washington imposes shattering tariffs against India, Brazil and other countries aimed largely at isolating China and Russia, the potential for a military operation against Venezuela long demanded by Trump and his circle of fascist advisers cannot be ruled out, despite the catastrophic consequences for South America and beyond.
*****
The French government of President Emmanuel Macron has confirmed its backing, with Overseas Minister Manuel Valls announcing plans to send warships to its colony Guadeloupe in the Lesser Antilles close to Venezuela.
Trinidad and Tobago, the island nation closest to Venezuela’s coast, has expressed support for the operation, giving Washington permission to freely use its waters and territory.
*****
In Ecuador, which serves as a transit point for most of the drugs coming out of South America, far-right President Daniel Noboa, a Trump ally, has organized a referendum on welcoming foreign military bases. He has likewise followed Washington’s lead in declaring the phantom “Cartel de los Soles” a terrorist organization, thereby justifying military aggression against Venezuela.
*****
The response by [Venezuelan President Nicolas ] Maduro has combined moves ostensibly meant to defend against a potential U.S. operation with statements and gestures minimizing the threat and leaving open the door to an agreement with Trump.
Maduro sent several warships and drones to patrol Venezuelan waters and reportedly armed and placed millions of half-trained militia members on standby. Last week, he denounced Washington for seeking “regime change, a military terrorist attack,” and called on other citizens to join the militia. Thousands reportedly lined up in Caracas to enlist during the weekend, although numbers were not as high as expected.
During military exercises Thursday, Maduro denounced “the gringo imperialists” for wanting to steal the country’s “riches” and declared: “There is no way they will enter Venezuela… Today, after a 20-day siege, we are stronger than before.”
However, as noted by the Washington Post, even as warships head to the Caribbean, the Maduro government has continued to accept two U.S. deportation flights per week and welcomed Chevron tankers taking oil to the U.S. Last month, Trump reissued a license exempting Chevron from sanctions for operating in Venezuela.
7. Britain, France, Germany to impose sanctions on Iran as part of Middle East war driveThe International Youth and Students for Social Equality at the University of Michigan unequivocally condemns the Trump administration’s witch-hunt against Chinese scientists at our university. The attacks on Chengxuan Han and Yunqing Jian are not just personal injustices. They are an assault on free scientific inquiry, democratic rights and the fundamental dignity of all international students and workers. The IYSSE is the only organization on campus fighting this frame-up. We urge every student, educator and worker in Michigan and the region to join us in opposition.
Han, a doctoral student from Wuhan, and Jian, a postdoctoral fellow, face prosecution on federal charges that carry sentences of up to 25 years in prison. Han’s sentencing hearing is scheduled for September 10, while Jian faces her preliminary hearing on September 18. They have been held without bond since June, following an orchestrated campaign by federal authorities that paints routine scientific research as “agroterrorism.”
Their supposed crime? Sending harmless, common biological materials—C. elegans roundworms, plasmids and fusarium graminearum fungus—to collaborators at the university.
*****
The demonization of Chinese researchers and false characterization of routine scientific materials as “agroterrorism” are directly tied to US imperialism’s drive to war with China. FBI Director Kash Patel claimed the case shows how “the CCP is working around the clock to deploy operatives and researchers to infiltrate American institutions and target our food supply,” transforming minor customs violations into alleged biological warfare.
The attacks on Chinese researchers are also a direct outgrowth of the “Wuhan Lab Lie,” a racist conspiracy theory originally cultivated by fascist Steve Bannon and the Trump administration to deflect blame for their catastrophic mishandling of the COVID pandemic. Trump and his allies invented this lie to shift responsibility away from their refusal to follow China’s scientifically sound zero-COVID elimination strategy, which saved millions of lives in China and could have stopped the pandemic in its tracks if implemented globally.
*****
These attacks on Chinese scholars and students must be understood as part of a war on the entire working class, especially immigrant workers. The same administration in Washington that is responsible for this academic witch-hunt is leading mass deportations, workplace raids and unprecedented assaults on the rights and security of immigrants nationwide. Universities, workplaces and homes have become battlegrounds in this campaign to consolidate power, suppress dissent and discipline labor.
*****
The IYSSE declares:
Michigan students and workers must unite to halt these attacks. The defense of democratic rights cannot be left to the campus administration, the Democrats or the trade union bureaucracy, all of whom are complicit. In unifying students and workers to fight for the freedom of Han and Jian, we advance the following demands:
For the immediate release of Chengxuan Han and Yunqing Jian and the dropping of all charges!
Stop all federal harassment of international scientists and students!
Restore all research partnerships with Chinese institutions and defend scientific collaboration!
Withdraw campus disciplinary and legal actions against all student protesters!
Fully fund public health, education and social programs—oppose war and militarization!
On Thursday, Britain, France and Germany announced their intention to reimpose United Nations sanctions on Iran over its nuclear program.
*****
The next day, Germany upped the ante, telling its citizens to leave Iran due to fears of retaliatory actions by Tehran, presumed to mean hostage-taking.
*****
The three European powers hypocritically claimed that they sought a “diplomatic solution”, saying, “The E3 will fully make use of the 30-day period following the notification [to the UN Security Council]”.
*****
Far from rescuing the negotiations between Washington and Tehran, by setting down conditions designed by Israel that they know are completely unacceptable to Iran, which Tehran has already rejected, the European powers are paving the way for another, more destructive, military assault that would trigger a broader conflagration.
This comes just two months after the European powers supported the specious pretext used by Israel and the US to justify their attack on Iran: that it must never have a nuclear weapon or pose a threat to the region’s security.
It is Israel that has for decades attacked its neighbours, including the ongoing genocidal war on the Palestinians in Gaza. It is widely acknowledged that Israel has at least 100 nuclear bombs. As one of only five countries not to have signed the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT), its nuclear facilities are not open to inspection by the International Atomic Energy Authority (IAEA).
*****
The European powers are seeking, amid their open differences with Washington, to demonstrate their support in this matter as a quid pro quo to ensure the US commits to supporting the war in Ukraine, and to prevent the Trump administration from concluding an agreement with Russia over their heads. They have ended their attempts to posture as a bridge between Tehran and Washington and have come down four square on the side of the US and Israel. This is despite fears that a war with Iran would be far more disastrous than the wars with Afghanistan and Iraq, plunging the global economy into a mammoth recession, especially if Iran carries out its threat to block the Strait of Hormuz through which about one-fifth of the world’s oil supply is transported.
Like the US, the E3 have abandoned all the post-World War II international legal arrangements in favor of a policy of “might is right”, making it clear that international law is valid for everyone except for the US, Israel and themselves.
8. European powers arm Ukraine for missile strikes deep into Russia
This weekend, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky pledged to escalate long-range missile strikes against Russia, as European officials continue to arm his regime. Zelensky tweeted: “We will continue our active operations in exactly the way needed for Ukraine’s defence. The forces and resources are prepared. New deep strikes have also been planned.”
Reports also emerged that US officials have approved the sale to Denmark, the Netherlands and Norway of 3,500 long-range cruise missiles, which they will give to Zelensky. The missiles can be fired from F-16 fighter jets that these three countries, together with Belgium, are preparing to give Ukraine. The New York Times hailed this deal as “a financial windfall for American weapons producers,” while Germany is preparing to send US-made Patriot missile batteries to Ukraine.
Barely two weeks after Trump met Russian President Vladimir Putin for negotiations in Alaska, talk of a diplomatic settlement is fading, and warring governments are careening eyes closed towards a catastrophic military clash between the major powers.
9. “No fault evictions” soar under UK Labour government stuffed with landlords
Government data shows that there were 11,400 no fault evictions involving bailiffs in England in the year from July 2024 since the Labour Party were elected to government.
Labour was elected on the manifesto pledge: “We will immediately abolish Section 21 ‘no fault’ evictions, prevent private renters being exploited and discriminated against, empower them to challenge unreasonable rent increases.”
Section 21 of the Housing Act 1988 gives a landlord the right to evict a tenant without providing a reason (a no fault eviction). The tenant then has a two-month notice period before they must leave. Most renters move out of the property before the two-month notice period is up, wanting to avoid ending up in court. This suggests that the overall repossession statistics are an underestimation of those losing their homes as the government’s figures only include those who have lost their homes via the use of a bailiff in the eviction process.
*****
The Starmer government, beholden to big business and the super-rich, cannot be entrusted to uphold rights of tenants at risk of homelessness. The scandal surrounding Labour MP Rushanara Ali—Labour’s Homelessness Minister—revealed everything about the grubby, pro-business, anti-working class nature of the party.
Ali had to resign earlier this month following revelations that she evicted four tenants from her east London townhouse in November 2024. The tenants were informed their fixed-term lease would not be renewed because the property was being put up for sale. Shortly after the tenants vacated the property, it was relisted for rent at £4,000 per month, a £700 increase from the previous rent of £3,300. Such nefarious practice was what Ali was ostensibly seeking to outlaw under the Renters’ Rights Bill!
10. White House plots total ethnic cleansing of Gaza
On Sunday, the Washington Post published a 38-page plan for the ethnic cleansing of Gaza, drawn up with the collusion of the Boston Consulting Group and the staff of former UK prime minister Tony Blair, and actively discussed at the White House.
The plan, according to the Washington Post, “envisions at least a temporary relocation of all of Gaza’s more than 2 million population, either through what it calls ‘voluntary’ departures to another country or into restricted, secured zones inside the enclave during reconstruction.”
The Post implied that the plan was discussed at a meeting last Wednesday at the White House, which Blair attended. White House officials were tight-lipped about the contents of the discussion, saying only that it focused on efforts to “settle” the war and for the “day after” Gaza.
In reality, the plan published by the Washington Post envisions a 21st century Holocaust, involving the rounding up of the entire population of Gaza into concentration camps. From there, they would be forced, through starvation and disease, to flee their land.
Once the ethnic cleansing of the enclave is complete, Gaza is expected, according to the report, to have an “asset value” of $320 billion. Moreover, the report values the economic benefit of forcing every Palestinian off their land at $23,000 per person.
The plan would turn Gaza “into a trusteeship administered by the United States for at least 10 years while it is transformed into a gleaming tourism resort and high-tech manufacturing and technology hub.”
Trump’s declaration earlier this year that the United States and Israel would “own” Gaza, far from being a turn of phrase, is, in fact, the operative program of the United States and Israel.
11. The ongoing threat of new viral pathogens: An interview with Peter Daszak on a new coronavirus
The World Socialist Web Site spoke to the renowned virus expert Dr. Peter Daszak about the current political climate scientists face, and a recent study that reveals that SADS-CoV is both more diverse and more dangerous than previously recognized.
Dr. Daszak:
... COVID-19 should’ve been the wake-up call. Instead, we’re sleepwalking into the next [epidemic disaster].
Look back at 1918. After that [flu] pandemic, people didn’t want to talk about it. They buried it, emotionally and politically. It took decades to build even the most basic public health systems in response. My fear is we’re doing the same thing now.
People are pretending COVID is over. They don’t want to hear about the next one. They’re gutting programs, cutting task forces, defunding science. It’s denialism disguised as policy.
The World Socialist Web Site:
So, what’s the alternative? What must happen?
Dr. Daszak:
We need to build systems that prevent pandemics, not just respond to them. That means strengthening surveillance, investing in upstream science, and actually tackling the root causes: deforestation, agricultural intensification, wildlife exploitation, climate change.
You can’t just vaccinate your way out of the next pandemic. It’s not enough. These are new viruses coming from ecological disruption. If we don’t stop causing the problem, no amount of downstream response will be fast enough.
And we need to measure success not by how many pandemics we survive, but by how many we prevent. Right now, we’re just bracing for impact. We should be steering away from the storm.
The World Socialist Web Site:
If there’s one principle you think should guide pandemic policy moving forward, what is it?
Dr. Daszak:
It’s simple: put public health first. That should be the core function of government. Not profit. Not ideology. Not retribution. Public health.
12. German police launch brutal crackdown on peace demonstration in Cologne (with videos)
On September 1, 1939, World War II began with the German Wehrmacht’s invasion of Poland. Eighty-six years later, the German state is once again using brutal repressive measures against demonstrators who reject its imperialist warmongering. In Cologne on Saturday, police surrounded participants in a peace demonstration, mostly teenagers and young people, for almost 11 hours.
From the outset, the police operation was geared toward a violent crackdown. This was because several thousand participants from the “Disarm Rheinmetall” camp had joined this year’s demonstration organized by the Cologne Peace Forum. The camp, which is directed against the leading German arms manufacturer, was launched in 2018 by various groups and initiatives. This year, it set up its tents in a park in the centre of Cologne from August 25 to September 1.
*****
Police violence is a direct consequence of the social and political plans of the federal government under Friedrich Merz (Christian Democrats, CDU) and Lars Klingbeil (Social Democrats, SPD). It is investing a trillion euros in armament and war, reintroducing conscription and wants to build Germany into the largest European military power. It is fueling the war against Russia in Ukraine with arms deliveries worth tens of billions of euros, thereby deliberately risking an attack on Germany by the world’s second-largest nuclear-armed power.
At the same time, it is protecting the profits and assets of the rich and corporations from the consequences of the international customs and trade war with tax cuts and billions in handouts.
This requires massive attacks on the working class—on their jobs, wages, pensions, and social benefits. Chancellor Merz has already announced his intention to abolish the welfare state as it currently exists.
The war policy and austerity cannot be implemented by democratic means. The federal government is letting the police off the leash because it is deliberately preparing for a confrontation with the working class. To protect its profits and the continued existence of the capitalist system, it will stop at nothing, as its support for the genocide in the Gaza Strip shows.
13. Thai court removes prime minister from office
Thailand’s Constitutional Court on Friday removed Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra from office on trumped-up ethics violations. Her removal, after being suspended from her position since July 1, is an anti-democratic judicial coup carried out by the conservative political establishment connected to the military and monarchy.
The accusations against Paetongtarn stem from her June 15 phone call with Cambodia’s former leader Hun Sen following a military skirmish between the two countries on May 28. A long-running border dispute between Thailand and Cambodia led to the fighting that month and then another five days of fighting at the end of July.
*****
The nine-member court accepted the claims that Paetongtarn appeared deferential to Hun Sen in the phone call that the latter leaked to the public. She referred to him as “uncle” while supposedly disparaging Thailand’s Second Army Area commander, Lieutenant General Boonsin Padklang, saying he was just “playing tough” following the May fighting.
The court claimed in its ruling that Paetongtarn’s remarks represented a “lack of unity” with the military and that she had exposed internal divisions to Cambodia and weakened Thailand.
*****
Paetongtarn’s anti-democratic removal from office is not due to a supposedly politically embarrassing phone call. The court’s declaration that Paetongtarn “lacked unity” with the military points to the fact that the military, the monarchy and their allies will brook no opposition.
The military knows that it has nothing to fear from Paetongtarn or Pheu Thai. Their concern rather is that under worsening economic conditions and growing social inequality, Pheu Thai’s promises of very limited reforms could touch off a working-class movement that Pheu Thai would be unable to contain.
*****
Neither Paetongtarn nor any of the political parties have spoken out against this latest anti-democratic maneuver. The former prime minister placidly stated that she accepted the court’s ruling.
14. Israel announces official visit to South Pacific
The Israeli Foreign Ministry announced last month an official “goodwill” visit to the South Pacific. Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Sharren Haskel will lead a delegation for discussions aimed at “deepening and advancing Israel-Pacific relations in a wide range of bilateral, multilateral, and strategic fields.”
The visit is a desperate diplomatic move to muster support in the face of international popular opposition to the Gaza genocide. The announcement coincided with a declaration by the UN-affiliated Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) that widespread famine, ruthlessly imposed by the Netanyahu government, has emerged in Gaza.
*****
The Israeli regime is aiming to mobilize support from Pacific states that have lined up with both Washington and Tel Aviv. Israel has for many years sought to build diplomatic, economic and religious influence among Pacific nations as a means of obtaining votes in the United Nations.
*****
There is, however, significant popular opposition to the deepening ties with both the US and Israel. Papua New Guinea students staged repeated protests over the military agreement with Washington. Social media posts have condemned the Papua New Guinea government for its opposition to a ceasefire in Gaza, accusing [Prime Minister James] Marape of acting as a puppet.
Many ordinary Fijians have also expressed outrage at their government’s complicity in the Gaza genocide. Fiji’s Coalition on Human Rights last year sharply criticised the government in an “Open Letter in Solidarity with the Palestinian People” while the Fiji Women’s Rights Movement, Fiji Women’s Crisis Centre and other groups held regular protests.
Pro-Palestine actions have also taken place in Samoa, Papua New Guinea, Cook Islands, New Caledonia, Micronesia, Saipan and Guam, all in opposition to the pro-US/Israel pressure of their authoritarian island governments and local churches. The emergence of broad opposition to the genocide in Gaza represents a significant political development among the impoverished and oppressed Pacific peoples.
The deepening famine in Gaza is producing large scale protests around the globe, including in Australia and New Zealand, against the humanitarian disaster carried out by Israel with the direct support of the US and backing of all the imperialist powers. The coming visit to the Pacific by representatives of the Israeli regime further underscores the vast gulf that separates the region’s ruling elites from the anti-war sentiments of the local population.
15. Appeals court rules against Trump’s reciprocal tariffs
The tariffs, which cover countries rather than specific commodities and start at 10 percent and go as high as 50 percent, were imposed under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act of 1977.
Trump claimed the IEEPA gave him the power to act because US trade deficits had created a “national emergency.”
*****
As he has done in every case that has gone against him, Trump railed against the decision, declaring that all tariffs were still in effect.
In one of the clearest expressions of his drive to establish a personalized dictatorship, he identified himself, in the manner of Louis XIV of France, with the state itself, declaring: “Today a Highly Partisan Appeals Court incorrectly said that our Tariffs should be removed, but they know the United States of America will win in the end.”
The court did not rule on partisan lines, with judges appointed by previous Democratic and Republican administrations appearing on both sides of the split decision.
Trump is now banking on the Supreme Court, stacked with his supporters, to rule in his favor and urged its judges to “help” keep the tariffs in place.
*****
One of the lines of the administration’s submission was foreshadowed in one of Trump’s social media posts.
“If allowed to stand, this decision would literally destroy the United States of America.”
This followed the argument advanced in the legal submission to the court of appeal by the administration, which warned of “catastrophic consequences” if the tariff imposts had to be reversed.
“Our country would not be able to pay back the trillions of dollars that other countries have already committed to pay, which could lead to financial ruin. The president believes that a forced dissolution of the agreements could lead to a 1929-style result.”
The claim was bogus on two counts. First, other countries, including Japan and South Korea, have verbally agreed to make billions of dollars of investments in the US as part of the “deals” imposed on them to try to lower the reciprocal tariff rate. But there are no signed agreements or commitments to such investments.
Second, the revenue that has been gathered so far has not come from “foreign countries,” as asserted by Trump, but from US importers and corporations, which is now being passed on in the form of higher prices.
But notwithstanding the falsifications, the warnings of 1930s-style events did signify an awareness within the administration of a crisis brewing in the foundations of the US economy, which it is trying to resolve at the expense of the rest of the world and the working class at home.
*****
Whatever the final outcome of legal issues surrounding the reciprocal tariffs and any decision by the Supreme Court, the tariff war will continue and indeed intensify.
One of the avenues through which it will further proceed is via tariffs on specific commodities, rather than against countries, via Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962, which does specifically give the president sweeping powers.
16. Trump’s Department of Energy extends operations of last coal-fired power plant in Michigan
For the second time, the Trump administration has issued an emergency order extending the operations of the J.H. Campbell coal power plant in West Olive, Michigan. The plant is a major emitter of toxic air and water pollution.
*****
The J.H. Campbell facility is not the only coal plant the Trump administration has forced to remain open. The DOE issued a similar order to the Eddystone Generation Station in Pennsylvania. It also used an emergency order to redirect funds from solar projects and to maintain Puerto Rico’s unreliable fossil-fuel based grid.
*****
The J.H. Campbell facility is one of the Michigan’s top greenhouse gas emitters. The plant releases millions of pounds of dangerous pollutants—including particulates, sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides and mercury—into the air each year. It emitted 8.9 million tons of carbon dioxide last year, contributing to climate change.
Each year, J.H. Campbell discharges approximately 100,000 pounds of water pollution into Lake Michigan, including about 10,000 pounds of toxic heavy metals. The plant also uses three ponds to store coal ash.
In 2019 the company produced the second largest share of coal ash in the state, according to the Michigan Environmental Council (MEC). MEC and other environmental groups have alleged that heavy metals and residuals from the ash ponds have been leaking into groundwater.
*****
The decision to block the shutdown of the plant based on falsehoods comes as no surprise. The Trump administration is focused on bolstering the fossil fuel industry and doing everything possible to undermine, obfuscate and deny the science of climate change. Representatives of the oil and gas industries contributed an estimated $450 million to Trump’s 2024 re-election campaign, and they are now getting something for their money.
*****
The DOE’s decision has infuriated residents in the area who were expecting the Michigan’s final coal-fired plant to be closed by May 31, 2025. Ottawa County residents held a protest on Friday, August 15, to demand the closure of the plant.
The community pays a high price for living near the plant. The combustion of coal releases fine particles of soot that can bury themselves deep within the lungs, which is linked to severe and potentially fatal heart and respiratory conditions.
Coal emissions are known to cause several other health problems, along with respiratory illnesses such as lung disease, neurological disorders, and developmental impairment in both humans and animals. According to the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), J.H. Campbell is responsible for an estimated 44 early deaths and 455 asthma attacks every year.
17. Philadelphia transit system’s “doomsday budget” creates havoc for city residents
Last weekend, the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA) began implementing the first phase of service cuts under its “doomsday budget” adopted in June. These reductions included eliminating 32 bus routes, significantly reducing service across all rail lines, and ending special services such as the Sports Express.
The cuts caused longer wait times and severe overcrowding on vehicles. On social media, many commuters posted complaints about trains and buses bypassing them at stops.
*****
The cuts coincided with the start of the school year for nearly 120,000 K-12 students in Philadelphia. About 95,000 students use district-sponsored transportation, including 52,000 who rely on SEPTA student fare cards. According to the School District of Philadelphia, 63 percent of schools reported increased late arrivals, while 54 percent saw a rise in student absences during the first three days of classes compared with the previous year.
These measures stem from a $213 million budget shortfall and unresolved state transit funding. Pennsylvania’s fiscal year 2026 budget remains two months overdue due to Democratic and Republican disagreements in the state legislature.
*****
It is crucial for Philadelphia workers to take an independent class position on the impending budget cuts and recognize that these attacks on living standards stem from the capitalist ruling establishment. It seeks to make workers bear the consequences of its mismanagement and crisis.
In early August, the Philadelphia Workers Rank-and-File Strike Committee published a statement analyzing the municipal workers strike. It declared that austerity and attacks on living standards are part of coordinated efforts by both major parties and the union bureaucracy.
The statement emphasized that to avoid sellouts, workers must build independent organizations to counter the combined forces of management and union bureaucracies effectively.
18. Indonesian president threatens a crackdown on protests
*****
Prabowo, a former top general under the 1966-1998 Suharto dictatorship, is notorious for ruthless suppression of opposition to the regime. In the wake of Suharto’s fall in 1998, Prabowo has amassed a business empire and personal wealth estimated at more than 2 trillion rupiah ($US121 million).
*****
Although reports are sketchy, protests continued over the weekend. Early on Saturday, local media reported that protesters had set fire to regional parliament buildings in three provinces—West Nusa Tenggara, Pekalongan city in Central Java and Cirebon city in West Java. Earlier, a fire at a parliament building in Makassar in South Sulawesi killed three people.
The homes of politicians have been targeted, particularly those who have been openly hostile and contemptuous of the protesters and their demands. One protester told the Financial Times: “We the lowly people are deeply disappointed with those sitting on the top.”
*****
At a press conference on Sunday, Prabowo, flanked by political leaders, announced a series of vague concessions to the protest demands raised over the past week, together with naked threats of repression.
The president declared that he understood “the genuine aspirations of the public” and announced that the House of Representatives would cut allowances for national lawmakers. He added that a moratorium would be placed on expensive overseas trips.
However, he offered no guarantees, nor did he offer any details as to what would be reduced and by how much. Nor did he refer in particular to the accommodation allowance [for House of Representatives] that was the immediate trigger for the protests.
*****Significantly, Prabowo was joined at the press conference by former President Megawati Sukarnopurti, the chair of the country’s only formal opposition party, the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle. This makes clear the existence of a united front of all the parties of the ruling class against the protests.
In another anti-democratic move earlier in the week, the government summoned representatives on social media platforms, including Meta Platforms Inc and TikTok, and told them to crack down on “disinformation” spread online. On Saturday, TikTok, the popular app for sharing short videos, announced that it was suspending its live feature in Indonesia for a few days.
19. Starmer government forced to take another UK steel plant under state control
Britain’s third largest steelworks, Speciality Steels UK, has been placed under government control but the jobs of almost 1,500 workers employed in Stocksbridge and Rotherham, South Yorkshire, remain under threat.
Last month insolvency courts granted a compulsory winding up order sought by creditors owed hundreds of millions of pounds (including £7.7 million in tax) by Speciality Steels UK (SSUK)—part of the Liberty Steel metals corporation owned by steel tycoon Sanjeev Gupta.
*****
The company is now in the hands of a Starmer Labour government appointed liquidator and special managers from consultancy firm, Teneo. The government has agreed to cover the wages and costs of the steel plants while a buyer is sought.
Gupta planned to place SSUK in administration then buy it out again, allowing the company to largely shed its debts. The judge found the firm was “hopelessly insolvent” with just £600,000 in the bank and a monthly wage bill of £3.7 million, supported by a parent group that has 15 entities in insolvency proceedings across nine jurisdictions.
*****
Liberty Steel workers, if they are to save their jobs and livelihoods, cannot pin their hopes on a government backed takeover, invariably leading to more cuts and speed-ups.
Tens of thousands of jobs have been lost in the industry due to the bankrupt strategy of the trade unions which have insisted workers put their faith in asset strippers and profiteers and in government intervention in the name of defending the “national interest”.
*****
The British steel industry is in terminal decline due to uncompetitive energy costs (the average electricity price for UK steel-makers is up to 50 percent higher than for competitors in France and Germany), intense global competition—and the increasing financial pressure to “decarbonize” production. British Steel and Tata Steel have cut thousands of jobs in recent years, attempting to remain profitable while transitioning from traditional carbon-intensive blast furnaces to electric arc furnaces (EAFs).
Global overproduction is at a record 551 million tonnes, with much of this from China, which has flooded the market with cheap steel, driving down prices.
At its peak around 1970, the then nationalized UK steel industry produced more than 26 million tonnes of steel each year and employed over 320,000 workers. Following the defeat of the 1981 national steel strike—when 142,000 were still employed in the industry—and then privatization, which took place over a decade from 1988-1999, the industry declined massively fragmenting into myriad companies. Today just four million tonnes are produced annually by fewer than 40,000 steelworkers (employed across 1,145 firms—an average of 34 workers each). In 1970 the UK’s share of global steel production was almost 5 percent. By 2023, the UK was producing just 0.3 percent of the world’s crude steel, while China accounted for 54 percent.
*****
The government taking over another economically unviable steel producer was decided on primarily in line with the militarist agenda of the ruling elite, including continued backing for the war against Russia in Ukraine and US-led war preparations against China—and a military rearmament program which requires high quality steel produced within Britain’s borders.
*****
UK steelworkers must learn from the example set by their Canadian class brothers and sisters in opposing nationalist poison by forming their own rank-and-file committees.
The only way to fight back is to build organizations of class struggle aimed at unified workers across national borders. Such rank-and-file organizations, acting independently of the nationalist, pro-corporate union bureaucracies must decisively reject capitalist private profit in favor of the prioritization of the social needs of the vast majority, including decent-paying, secure jobs for all, well-funded public services, and workers’ control over production.
20. Demand the freedom of Ukrainian socialist and anti-war activist Bogdan Syrotiuk!
Bogdan Syrotiuk and Leon Trotsky
