Introducing Hopi and this bulletin
[The launch conference on Hands Off the People Iran is on Saturday December 8, 10am-5pm - Somers Town Community Centre, 150 Ossulston Street, London NW1. See below for more details.]
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This bulletin is going out to 1000s of new comrades in the movement that we have not contacted directly before. After reading it, we hope you and your organisation/trade union branch will both put your name on our general mailing list and get involved in the work of our campaign.
Hands Off the People of Iran is a new campaign that fights against the threat of any imperialist intervention, war or sanctions against Iran. At the same time it looks to build active, practical solidarity with grass-roots radical secular forces in Iran, the militant women’s, workers and students movements. We know that change must come from below - from the struggles of the working class and social movements - if it is to lead to genuine liberation.
We are taking this step of writing to you both because of the growing danger of war with Iran - a disaster for the people of that country, as the nightmare of Iraq proves on a daily basis. And we are also taking this initiative because of the looming crisis in the anti-war movement itself in the aftermath of the bureaucratic exclusion of Hands Off the People of Iran from the Stop the War Coalition.
This controversy has now spilled over into the mainstream media.
* Jerome Taylor covers the dispute in the November 8 edition of The Independent - see news.independent.co.uk/uk/politics/article3138378.ece
* This followed on from an exchange of letters in the Guardian over the past few days. First there was a November 6 protest against the exclusion of Hopi from the Stop the War Coalition signed by Peter Tatchell, Michael Mansfield QC, Derek Wall (Green Party spokesperson) and Atilla the Stockbroker. (See www.guardian.co.uk/letters/story/0,,2205770,00.html [1]).
* Then Lindsey German and Andrew Murray pen a feeble reply in today’s paper (www.guardian.co.uk/letters/story/0,,2206968,00.html [2]).
There are clearly vital issues at stake here. The central leaders of the StWC have excluded Hopi because we combine militant opposition to any imperialist war with solidarity with grassroots movements of trade unionists, women and students in Iran. Unlike the apologists who spoke at the recent StWC AGM, we do not think it is a “lie” that Iran’s rulers preside over “an undemocratic and repressive country” (as Campaign Iran’s Somaye Zadeh claimed, to the wild applause of the majority of the audience - see the video of her speech on the StWC website at www.stopwar.org.uk [3]).
Implacable opposition to any imperialist adventure in the Middle East should not for one moment mean that we soften our opposition to the barbaric regime in Tehran. That is the starting of Hopi. That is core belief. And that is why the leaders of the StWC barred us from the coalition.
We want to keep comrades informed of the work of Hopi, centrally our launch conference on December 8 in central London. (See below). More than that, we want to activate comrades in their localities, their unions and their campuses. First to fight against the main danger - imperialist war against Iran. But also, in practical solidarity with the social movements in that country that are fighting their Islamic regime on their own account - the only forces that can bring genuine progressive change and liberation.
To receive future issues of this bulletin, reply to office@hopoi.info [4] and put the word ‘bulletin’ in the subject box.
Forthcoming events
* Dublin Teach-in: Saturday November 10, 12.30pm to 6pm, Teachers Club, 36 Parnell Place. Imperialist strategy and the threat of war; recent struggles in Iran,
including film footage; the nature of the Iranian regime and the recent
crackdown; trade union rights, strikes and solidarity; sexual freedoms
and gay rights.
Hopi Ireland: 086 2343 238; Anne@hopoi.info [5].
* Manchester Hopi launch: Wednesday November 21, 5pm, Universityof Manchester catholic chaplaincy (opposite UMSU Steve Biko Building), Oxford Road.
* Sheffield Hopi launch: Thursday, November 22, 7pm, Pennines Room, Sheffield University Student’s Union, Glossop Road.
Hopi launch conference
Saturday December 8, 10am to 5pm, Somerstown Community Centre, 150 Ossulston Street, London NW1.
Agenda: founding statement, constitution, election of committee. Sessions on ‘Imperialism and the threat of war’, ‘The working class movement and progressive change’, ‘Solidarity movements and fighting on two fronts’.
Our conference will have a unique feature compared to many others in the anti-war movement - it will actually be a conference, not a rally. We seek to maximise the amount of time for genuine debate from the floor and keep the contributions from the platform to a minimum.
First, we will debate the draft founding statement of the campaign. This discussion will be structured around three background discussion papers, briefly introduced by their authors, which will be available beforehand on our website. This will allow comrades to see in detail the theoretical reasoning behind the slogans and pithy formulations in our founding statement.
Members of Hopi and supporting organisations are entitled to submit amendments and/or alternatives to these analyses. You can of course join on the day, or beforehand, via www.hopoi.org [6] (£10 waged/£5 unwaged).
After a full discussion, the conference will be able to vote on all amendments, related motions and the founding statement as a whole.
The same transparent, democratic process will inform the rest of the day’s discussions - on our constitution, our campaigning priorities and the composition of our leading committee.
Even if you cannot attend the event, make a donation to make sure that the conference preparations are not hampered by lack of cash. Send a cheque to the address below or click the Pay Pal button on the Hopi website - www.hopoi.org/signup.html [7]
HANDS OFF THE PEOPLE OF IRAN
PO Box 54631, London N16 8YE
E: office@hopoi.info [8]
W: www.hopoi.info [9]