Iran’s ruling clique and the problems of the left

Posted on September 30, 2007 by Mike

Originally posted to my old blog under the title “Mahmoud Ahmadinejad: Ecce homo” way back on on September 30, 2007. Some material has been been updated as of January 2018.

Women’s rights protest in Iran, March 1979

Back in early August, I attended a local Hiroshima Remembrance Day program.  The topic of the program was “Iran: The Next Hiroshima” and the basic agenda of the program appeared to be rather sound.  Among the talking points were the increasing tensions between the U.S. and Iran and the potential consequences should theU.S. use nuclear weapons in a future conflict with Iran.  All of these are important matters, for sure.  But as the program went on, I noticed a very troubling pattern in the presentations of the selected speakers.  At least two of the featured speakers that night openly embraced the ruling clique of Iran as champions of peace, one of them going so far as to read an extensive quote from Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.  The irony of presenting Ahmadinejad and his cronies as champions of tolerance and peace seemed completely lost on most of the audience, who – much to my surprise – responded to this idea with enthusiastic applause.  At that point in time, I had thought – and actually hoped – that this display was an isolated misunderstanding but some things that I have read since Ahmadinejad’s recent visit to the U.S. suggest otherwise.

There seems to be a growing misconception that opposing imperialism means that it is somehow necessary to embrace the governments of those people threatened by imperialism, no matter how despotic they might be. Ahmadinejad and the ruling clique are certainly as despotic as they come.  But this fact is distorted more and more by well intentioned yet misinformed individuals who are ignoring the repressive nature of Iran’s current regime.  Consider the “Joint news release of International Action Center and the Stop War on Iran” that was circulated earlier this week.  The press release was entitled “Stop the war drive against Iran: No to the demonization of President Ahmadinejad.”  The following is an excerpt from the release:

Before the 1979 revolution, Iran was a virtual U.S. colony ruled by the brutal Shah. The nationalization of Iran’s oil industry since 1979 has meant social programs, education and literacy for both women and men, health care and other social benefits. The Iranian people, whether or not they support the Islamic establishment or the current government in Tehran, are determined to protect the gains of their anti-colonial revolution. Like the resisting Iraqi population, they will not return quietly to the days of Pentagon and Wall Street domination.

[…]

We stand with the President Ahmadinejad and the Iranian people to say:
Stop the war drive against Iran!

There is no doubt that progressive groups like Ramsey Clark’s International Action Center  and Stop War on Iran have the best of intentions at heart.  However, their careful attempt to straddle a very narrow fence has reduced their efforts to popular-frontist muddle at best.  Indifference to the question of whether or not the Iranian people “support the Islamic establishment or the current government in Tehran” strikes a blow to the collective struggles of millions of oppressed Iranians by reducing their peril to a mere triviality. True progressives and the world’s radical left and workers’ organizations should be encouraging the people of Iran to rise up against their oppressors instead of embracing their oppressors.  This is a fundamental point which requires consideration, organization and action.

The Islamic Republic of Iran has a well-documented history of severe repression and persecution of women, gays and lesbians, labor leaders and political dissidents.  But it is not the mainstream media or U.S. propaganda outlets who have led the campaign to spread the truth about Iran’s ruling clique.  Those organizations are far too concerned with saber rattling and doomsday prophecies to address the plight of the Iranian people.  Iranian opposition groups from within Iran, working in conjunction with similar groups outside of the country have led the effort to educate the world community on the horrors of life inside the repressive theocracy of today’s Iran.  The Iran Civil Rights Committee, WPI, and The Third Camp make this information through public demonstrations, publications, Internet sites and other outlets.  The information is obtained and compiled through the efforts of volunteers and workers who sometimes go so far as to risk their personal safety to expose the conditions in Iran.  To ignore their brave and noble efforts and those of affiliated organizations is a disservice to their efforts and an affront to the struggling Iranian people.

Che Guevara would not have looked kindly upon Iran’s ruling theocracy.

Perhaps one of the most regrettable displays of naïveté came during a recent visit to Iran by a contingent of Marxists.  They reportedly expressed their support for Iran’s current regime in a display of relative indifference as to the extent of political repression within the “Islamic Republic.”  (They did retract their statements and break with the regime just a short time later.)  Marxism is, of course, illegal in Iran and today’s Iranian Marxists study and work in secret as they risk imprisonment and execution as the penalty for political dissent.  Marxists have, in fact, been executed by the government of Iran since the Islamic Revolution of 1979. Che Guevara was a Marxist-Leninist.  There is little room for debate on the matter.  That Lenin was clear on the matter of separation of church and state is also undeniable, as he clearly expressed a coherent position on the matter in his work Socialism and Religion:

Complete separation of Church and State is what the socialist proletariat demands of the modern state and the modern church.

Progressive, radical and revolutionary movements worldwide must be clear on their opposition to any and all political systems built on religious dogma, intolerance, racism and political repression.  This most definitely includes the ruling clique of the Islamic Republic of Iran with respect to their crimes against working people, women, the LGBT community, and political opponents.

To stand with the people of Iran in opposition to imperialism and war is essential.  But to stand with Ahmadinejad and his cronies extends an implicit endorsement of their draconian tactics and their heinous crimes.  At the end of the day, the lesser of two evils is still evil.

Related reading:  Zoya Sabet and Khatereh Parvaneh

 

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The story of Chang Hsueh-liang (Zhang Xueliang)

Posted on August 16, 2007 by Mike

Originally posted 16 Aug 2007 on greeklish.org

Last week, I was doing a bit of tidying in my home library and I came across a big stack of copies of The Economist  from late 2001 and 2002.  I had a subscription to the magazine back then and read the issues with some interest, holding on to them as I thought they might be useful at some point in the future.  However, since they had done little more but gathered dust for the past 5 years, it seemed like a good time to get rid of them.  But before I pitched them all, I did recall that there was one article in the batch of 50+ issues that was worth keeping.  The article was an October 27, 2001 obituary for Chang Hsueh-liang (Pinyin spelling: Zhang Xueliang), who was – in my opinion – one of the most intriguing figures in China’s modern history.  I clipped the obituary before walking the pile of old magazines to the recycling bin.

Zhang Xueliang (1901-2001)

It was Chang Hsueh-liang, known to many as “Young Marshal,”  who temporarily quelled the Chinese Civil War of the 1930’s by unifying the reactionary Kuomintang (KMT) with China’s communist forces against the invaders from Imperial Japan.  His intervention occurred at a point in time in which such a united front seemed impossible.  As the story goes, following some discussion with Chou En lai (Zhou Enlai), Chang engineered the arrest of KMT Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek and compelled him (ostensibly under a bit of duress) to join forces with the Red Army in an effort to smash the invaders from Imperial Japan.  This incident is known as the Xi’an incident (or Sian incident).  According to the piece in The Economist, Chang opened his meeting with Chiang Kai-shek with the simple words “Please don’t be angry…I wish to lay my views before your excellency.”  Upon agreeing to Chang’s terms, Chiang Kai-shek was released, returning to the helm of the KMT. Chiang Kai-shek was surprisingly true to his word upon regaining his freedom and the united front of the Nationalist KMT and Red Army did indeed win the day in the struggle against the Japanese invaders.  It is widely believed that the Chinese forces could not have repelled the Japanese on their own without the intervention of Chang Hsueh-liang.

One Night Only: Mao Zedong with Chiang Kai-shek (1945)

Interestingly enough, it is Chang’s upbringing as the son of a prominent Manchurian warlord that made something of a unique ally for the communist forces.  Chang received a private education and military training from the KMT in his early life.  He had something of an appreciation for westerners and a penchant for western luxuries and it was these qualities which made him an unlikely “communist.”  Nevertheless, Chang effectively saw past differences of philosophy and theory in his efforts to combat one the greatest threat the developing nation had ever faced.

Unfortunately, Chang ultimately spent most of his life in prison for his role in the arrest of Chiang Kai-shek.  He voluntarily appeared before a KMT court following Chiang’s release and was placed on house arrest.  When the KMT fell to the communists in 1949, Chang Hsueh-liang was taken to Taiwan by the KMT and he remained imprisoned there through Chiang Kai-shek’s death in 1975 and through Taiwan’s “democratic” reforms in the late 1980s.  It was not until 1990 that he was finally freed.  In 1995, he moved to Hawaii where he spent the remainder of his life.

Chang Hsueh-liang, the “Young Marshal,” is remembered to this day as a hero of the Chinese people.  His bold pragmatism is an enduring example to  those who oppose fascism and imperialism around the globe.

Further reading
A Statement on Chiang Kai-shek’s Statement  by Mao Zedong  (December 28, 1936)
Long Live the Victory of People’s War!  by Lin Biao (September 1965)

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Eric Carr: The Memorial Tribute

Posted on February 1, 2007 by Mike

Originally written 01 Feb 2007

I was very lucky to get the chance to attend a Kiss Expo in Louisville, Kentucky way back in late 2001.  It was really a great time as we got to see Eric Singer and Bruce Kulick talk for a while and there was even a performance by a Kiss Tribute Band called Mr. Speed.  All of this stuff took place in the multipurpose area of a Holiday Inn, which was surprisingly a good accommodation for the event.  The room was chock-full of vendors selling all kinds of licensed and unlicensed Kiss memorabilia.  I carted away a few great finds that night, including a complete copy of “Kiss: The Originals” on LP and a CD copy of Quiet Riot’s 1977 Starwood show.  But my best find of the night was a CD copy of the full Eric Carr Memorial Tribute show from 1992 .  I had seen this show offered as a collection of tapes on eBay a while back, but the final price on the set was really ridiculous at the time.  I think most people were paying for the sentimentality associated with the show, but the amazing artwork on the package was a definite plus.  The cover art was an homage to the Kiss solo albums, featuring a makeup-era portrait of Eric as “The Fox”.  I was sorry I had missed out on snagging this when I was bidding on the eBay auction and I even asked the seller for a scan of the artwork after the auction had ended, but he politely declined, explaining that he didn’t want copies of the picture to be spread around too much.

Anyway, when I saw a CD copy of the Eric Carr Memorial Tribute show for sale at the Kiss Expo, I was pretty excited.  The packaging was obviously not professional per se, but the front cover was – sure enough – an exact copy of the solo album homage, complete with lettering and logos to match the other Kiss solo albums.  For CD that was not a professional job, it was still an impressive package, including the inkjet labels on the CDs.

But all things considered, I have to say that I was really not prepared for just how awesome the Memorial Tribute show was.  The show was actually originally aired on the New York Station WCWP/88.1 FM in 1992 as a tribute to Eric Carr on the first anniversary of his passing.  The main part of the show is a rebroadcast of a radio show from December 23, 1989 in which Eric Carr stopped WCWP for an unannounced visit to promote the Kiss album “Hot in the Shade.” But throughout the Memorial Tribute show broadcast, DJ Tony Mal provides narration featuring anecdotes and trivia regarding the life and times of the legendary Kiss drummer.  Much of Mal’s background information was gathered through interviews with Eric’s family as well as articles and fanzines.  Remember, 1992 was back before the rise of the Internet, so they had to do research the old-fashioned way back then.  The fact that the show turned out so well is really indicative of Mal’s hard work and dedication. Throughout the special, Mal also plays a virtual compendium of Eric’s Kiss-era work, including some material he wrote and/or performed for other talents, from Wendy O. Williams to Bryan Adams. Also included are some ultra-rare tracks of Eric’s first band “The Cellarmen” that were recorded when Eric was only 15 years old.  Because the special was produced in 1992, material from Eric’s posthumous release “Rockology” as well as some other unreleased tracks that have come to light more recently are not included as they were not in circulation at the time.

I pull the tribute CDs out two or three times a year and I listen to the whole show start to finish.  I just listened to the show yesterday for the first time in a while –  in fact, I also listened to it again today! Sure, the program gets a little silly and cheesy at times but at the end of it all, it stands up as a fantastic celebration of one for rock’s best and most underrated drummers.  I’ve always thought it would be kind of cool to get the chance to tell Tony Mal what a great job he did in compiling this show, but there’s not a lot of info about him on the ‘net, so this article will have to do the job.  Thanks Tony!

Postscript, 2012: A short time after I posted this on the old site, I received an e-mail from Tony Mal who had received word of the article from a friend. He was very appreciative of my comments regarding his work on the Eric’s memorial show. I am happy that my words of support reached him and I still listen to this CD set from time to time and fondly remember the better days of one of my favorite bands.

One of the best ever…Eric Carr, 1950 – 1991.

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E. Sylvia Pankhurst

Posted on December 8, 2006 by Mike

Originally posted 08 Dec 2006 on greeklish.org

Sylvia Pankhurst

In 1979, Dave Widgery wrote of his “love” for E. Sylvia Pankhurst in a Radical America piece entitled Sylvia Pankhurst: Pioneer of Working Class Feminism.  The article was written almost two full decades after Sylvia’s death in 1960 and even today, it still serves as a concise yet insightful summary of her struggle as a legendary champion of women and the working class.  In his assessment of her work and character, Widgery made careful note of Sylvia’s most important contributions to the revolutionary movement:

There are those in political movements who make original and creative advances in theory, those who can communicate established political ideas imaginatively, and those who have the gift of organising to make political change. She always insisted on doing all three.

It was just recently that I became somewhat familiar with the work and writings of Sylvia Pankhurst.  I had heard a little about her here and there, most notably in Widgery’s article, but prior to that, I had read a little of her in Lenin’s “Left-Wing Communism: an Infantile Disorder“, a piece which gave Sylvia some notoriety as she was a rather prominent discussion topic in the section entitled “Left-Wing” Communism in Great Britain.  According to Widgery:

It is a very good example of the masculine bias of the revolutionary movement that she is generally known as no more than a woman who received the blunt end of the Lenin pamphlet, Left Wing Communism, an Infantile Disorder. (In the same way, Kollontai, until she was rescued by modern socialist feminists, was known, if known at all, simply for her role in the Workers’ Opposition.) In the revolutionary movement, like everywhere else, women have to do better than men before they achieve equal recognition.

Alexandra Kollontai

Lenin and Pankhurst had corresponded directly some time before he authored Left-Wing Communism, as evidenced in his August 28, 1919 letter to Sylvia Pankhurst in which he laid out the framework for his critiques in the aforementioned work.  And, indeed, Sylvia did have to work hard to gain recognition from her fellow revolution

aries, and in some cases her struggle led to political difficulties and personal detriment.  She was expelled from the Suffragettes in 1914 and later by the CPGB following significant political differences with both organizations.  In 1919, Sylvia was tried for agitating amongst British forces.  At her trial, Sylvia pulled no punches as she told the trial judge of her contempt for the military-industrial complex and the exploiting classes:

“I started four clinics and have sat up night after night with the little ones. I also set up a day nursery but all my experience shows me it was useless to try to palliate an impossible system. It is the wrong system and has got to be smashed. I would give my life to smash it.”

Although she had masterfully crystallized the sentiments of the revolutionary movement in just a few short sentences, she went on to author more detailed  critiques of capitalism and imperialism in later years.  Her 1923 work Socialism (an article from Worker’s Dreadnought) is one such example.  In this work, she wrote:

Our desire is not to make poor those who to-day are rich, in order to put the poor in the place where the rich now are. Our desire is not to pull down the present rulers to put other rulers in their places.

We wish to abolish poverty and to provide abundance for all.

We do not call for limitation of births, for penurious thrift, and self-denial. We call for a great production that will supply all, and more than all the people can consume.

Such a great production is already possible, with the knowledge already possessed by mankind.

Pankhurst's 1955 work, "Ethiopia: A Cultural History"

Sylvia accomplished much through her life’s work.  She traveled far and touched many.  She was a prolific writer and a radical activist who endured arrest and political and physical isolation for her causes. In the 1930’s, she supported the republicans of the Spanish Civil War and during World War II, she aided Jewish refugees as they fled Nazi Germany.  Following the Italian invasion of Ethiopia, she became an avowed and outspoken antifascist.  She wrote extensively on conditions in Ethiopa and she went on to author a volume on Ethiopian art and culture, raising Western awareness regarding life in the African country.  She also went on to fund Ethiopia’s first teaching hospital in later years and she ultimately left Europe with her son in 1956 to live in Addis Ababa where she remained until her death.

It’s easy to understand and appreciate Dave Widgery’s feelings of admiration affection for Sylvia Pankhurst after spending just a little time getting to know Sylvia through her work and her writings.  There’s an old, relatively obscure Beatles track called “To Know Her is to Love Her“.  When it comes to Sylvia, the song’s title certainly rings true.

This article was written for Thomai.  To know her is to love her.

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