CP of Israel & Hadash: Take action, stop the Israeli occupation of Palestinian lands

Communist Party of Israel & Hadash: Umm Al-Hiran Won’t Stand Alone! 

The Communist Party of Israel (CPI) and the Democratic Front for Peace and Equality (Hadash) have issued a statement in which they assure that the Arab-Bedouin village of Umm Al-Hiran in the Negev will not stand alone in its struggle to resist being uprooted by the far right Israeli government.

In their statement, the CPI and Hadash declare: “The aggressive violence of the Police on early Wednesday morning [January 18] attests to the criminal intent which resulted in the shooting death of Yacoub Mousa Abu al-Qee’an, a resident of Umm Al-Hiran, as well as injuries to tens of others, including Member of the Knesset Ayman Odeh who was scathed in the head by a ‘sponge bullet.’ The CPI and Hadash call upon their cadres to launch a series of militant actions to protest these criminal actions, while working in conjunction with all patriotic political and popular movements to broaden the struggle.”

Poetry for Lenin - By Vladimir Mayakovsky and Bertolt Brecht

Photo: In Defense of Communism.

On the occasion of the 93rd anniversary of Vladimir I. Lenin's death, we post three major poems by the giants of literature and poetry Vladimir Mayakovsky (1893-1930) and Bertolt Brecht (1898-1956) dedicated to the great Bolshevik revolutionary and architect of the first socialist state in the world.  

The first one is Vladimir Mayakovsky's legendary poem "Vladimir Ilyich Lenin" published in 1924. 

The other twoo are poems by Bertolt Brecht, titled "The Unconquerable Inscription" (1934) and the "Cantata on the Day of Lenin's Death" (1935). 

Vladimir Ilyich Lenin: His revolutionary legacy remains alive and timely

By Nikos Mottas.

It was in the dawn of January 21, 1924, 93 years ago, when the heart of the greatest revolutionary in history, Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov, stopped beating. Lenin, the leader of the 1917 Great October Socialist Revolution and architect of the first socialist state in the world, was 54 years old.

The name of Vladimir Ilyich Lenin is identified with two dialectically connected issues. On the one hand, there is his revolutionary activity and practice as the leader of the 20^th century's most significant event- the 1917 Great October Socialist Revolution. On the other hand, there is his theoretical work which is the development of the revolutionary theory of Marx and Engels in the era of Imperialism. That extraordinary combination of revolutionary theory and practice makes Lenin a unique personality in history who, 93 years after his death, remains “alive” in the collective memory and hearts of the working class people across the world.

KKE: The Greek people must denounce and isolate the Nazi thugs of Golden Dawn

On the 17th of January 2017, thugs from the neo-Nazi party of “Golden Dawn”, at a time when the trial concerning the murderous activity of this fascist organization is continuing, gathered outside a school in one of the working class neighbourhoods of Piraeus. They intended to prevent the children of the refugees from attending the primary school. 

Α group of about 20 members of the neo-Nazi party headed by Golden Dawn MP Yannis Lagos started quarreling intensely with parents and teachers ahead of the parents’ meeting which was expected to decide on whether to allow 22 child refugees to attend the school. The meeting was held with the participation of the mayor of Perama, the teachers and the parents. 

100 years since the Great October Socialist Revolution- European Communist Meeting to be held in Brussels on January 23

Honoring the 100th anniversary of the Great October Socialist Revolution, the 2017 European Communist Meeting will take place on January 23rd at the European Parliament building in Brussels. The subject of the meeting is "100 years since the Great October Socialist Revolution. Capitalism- monopolies - European Union bring only crises, wars, poverty. Socialism is timely and necessary". 

The European Communist Meeting is hosted by the EU Parliament delegation of the Communist Party of Greece (KKE). The introductory speech at the event will be given by the General Secretary of the CC of the KKE Dimitris Koutsoumbas. 

German communist leader Herbert Mies died at 87 - Statement by the KKE

A leading figure of the German communist movement, Herbert Mies, died  on 14 January 2017 in his hometown of Mannheim at the age of 87. Mies joined the Communist Party of Germany in 1945. He was elected chairman of the (West) German Communist Party (DKP) in 1973. He was awarded the Lenin Peace Prize in 1985/1986. Mies resigned from his position as party chairman in October 1989.

Responding to the news of Herbert Mies' death, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Greece (KKE) issued the following statement:

"With sadness the CC of the KKE was informed about the death of comrade Herbert Mies who was a leading figure of the international and German communist movement, being President of the German CP from 1973 to 1989.

For a whole life, until his 87 years, comrade Mies consistently served the working class of Germany, the people of his country. In his youth, he opposed fascism and faced decisively the difficult circumstances of illegality and persecution of the next period. He excelled in the International Communist Movement and was awarded the Lenin Prize.

IT'S CAPITALISM, STUPID: Just eight men own same wealth as half the world

According to the latest report published by Oxfam eight men own the same wealth as the 3.6 billion people who make up the poorest half of humanity. Oxfam's report 'An economy for the 99%', shows that the gap between rich and poor is far greater than had been feared. 

More specifically:

• Eight men now own the same amount of wealth as the poorest half of the world.

• Over the next 20 years, 500 people will hand over $2.1 trillion to their heirs – a sum larger than the GDP of India, a country of 1.3 billion people.

• The incomes of the poorest 10% of people increased by less than $3 a year between 1988 and 2011, while the incomes of the richest 1% increased 182 times as much.

• A FTSE-100 CEO earns as much in a year as 10,000 people in working in garment factories in Bangladesh.

• In the US, new research by economist Thomas Piketty shows that over the last 30 years the growth in the incomes of the bottom 50% has been zero, whereas incomes of the top 1% have grown 300%.

• In Vietnam, the country’s richest man earns more in a day than the poorest person earns in 10 years.

USA / Donald Trump government: Priority in serving the general interests of the capital

Article published on 'Rizospastis' Sunday Edition, 15 January 2017 / Translation: In Defense of Communism.

The priorities of the government of the newly-elected U.S. President, Donald Trump, who takes office on January 20th, do not differ from those of the outgoing President Barack Obama because- despite the existing differences in their declarations- their common denominator is to safeguard the general interests of the bourgeoisie. That doesn't negate a multilevel intra-bourgeois confrontation for the way through which this will be achieved more effectively, especially in a period when the inter-imperialist antagonism is exacerbated, with an estimated relative loss of U.S. leadership in the international capitalist economy and given the difficulties for a more impetuous capitalist recovery. More specifically Trump promotes a different mix of management with stronger elements of protectionism, an issue which however creates difficulties in international trade, which in turn displeases other parts of the (U.S) capital. 

Communist Party of Mexico- The class character of interstate unions in America

Class character of interstate unions in America.

By Pável Blanco Cabrera & Angel Chávez Mancilla*.

Source: International Communist Review, Issue 6, 2015.

A class approach that puts aside populist criteria is necessary, and this is done on a scientific basis, using the Marxist method of analysing reality, considering the degree of development of capitalism, the process of concentration and centralization in the imperialist phase, emphasizing what is general, without neglecting the peculiarities, and avoiding to place the part above the all. Marxist doctrine establishes the mutual connection between the phenomena of nature and society rather than analyse them in isolation. As V.S. Molodtsov noted "to deny the interdependence of phenomena goes against the possibility of knowledge as a single whole, as opposed to metaphysics Marxism-Leninism developed a truly scientific method of knowledge and transformation of reality. This method requires, first of all, considering all the phenomena of nature and society in mutual connection and interdependence"[1]. 

Nazim Hikmet Ran: The great communist poet who tried to turn darkness into light

Nazim Hikmet (Thessaloniki, 15 January 1902 - Moscow, 3 June 1963).

It was 115 years ago, on January 15, 1902, when the legendary Turkish poet Nazim Hikmet Ran was born. A consistent fighter for the ideals of Marxism-Leninism, a genuine internationalist, but also a real patriot, Hikmet remained an unbending communist until the end of his life. He was an honest friend of peace and an enemy of nationalism, war, racism and fascism.

Being just at the age of 17 he wrote in one of his early poems: "One religion, one law, one right: The labor of the worker". Hikmet deeply believed that Socialism was the only way out for humanity and he gave all his creativity and talent in order to pave the road for a socialist future. In his poetry, someone can see the expectation and optimism for a better world, without exploitation of man by man...

KKE exposes and denounces EU and Ukrainian government's new anti-communist machinations

KKE MEP Kostas Papadakis.

PRESS RELEASE: Question of the KKE in the European Parliament on the new machinations of the EU and the Ukrainian government against the CP of Ukraine and the communists in the country.

Source: inter.kke.gr.

To KKE continues its activity, condemning anti-communism, internationally denouncing and exposing the machinations of the EU and the reactionary Ukrainian government against the Communist Party of Ukraine and the activity of the communists in the country. The European Parliamentary Delegation of the KKE submitted a new question to the European Parliament, addressed to the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, F. Mogherini, concerning the lack of a law which will allow the examination of appeals against laws which prepare and arrange anti-communist measures, bans and other measures that remove basic popular freedoms.

Obama's Legacy of War and Imperialist Crimes

When Barack Obama was elected in 2008, he had been presented by various media as a "peace pigeon", as a man whose "humanitarian spirit" would- supposedly- give an end to the bloody imperialist wars waged by the Bush administration. However, the presidency of Barack Obama proved, once more, the undoubted fact that the U.S. foreign policy isn't based on persons, but on the interests of the plutocracy, the monopoly interests of the United States. 

In his farewell speech in Chicago yesterday, President Obama praised the "values" of the United States which, as he said, "become more powerful when democracy works" and "when ordinary people participate in this". During his presidency, Barack Obama proved what kind of "values" he represents- these "values" are very well known to the people in the Middle East, in northern Africa and Ukraine where his government was involved.

A brief account of- Nobel Prize winner-Obama's foreign policy record is the following: