On the eve of International Women’s Day (IWD) our comrades and friends played a revolutionary role to bring poor working-class women to the celebrations all over the country. Rich feminist, liberal and progressive women activists organized processions in big cities while playing our active role there.  We concentrated to bring more and more women to celebrate the IWD in the areas which were devastated in floods. 
As communists in Progressive Labor Party (PLP), we are striving to eliminate every form of exploitation like inequality, gender-based violence, religious hatred and injustice. Organizing women workers hit hardest by the system, and bringing them to the celebrations was a positive step forward in that direction.

From Afghanistan to Pakistan working class women need communism classless society where their safety, dignity and prosperity are guaranteed not bankrupt liberal feminism. They need a society based on equality, justice and freedom. They desperately need shelter, free education and free healthcare facilities. We cannot expect change in our society without organizing working-class women in the movement for an international communist revolution under the banner of PLP. 

 PL’ers celebrate leadership of women workers under attack

In rallies, organized in different cities to celebrate IWD, our comrades explained that in a country where poverty is about sixty percent, inflation is about 32 percent, unemployment is almost 10 percent, fascism is on rise and fundamentalist are getting more space how can we imagine that poor working-class women or even men can attend conferences and celebrations held in five-star hotels. 
In Pakistan and all over the world feminism is a bout capitalism and women bosses. That’s why feminists take up the issues which are related to ruling class women they talk about women rights but never utter a single sentence against the capitalist system which is exploiting poor women vigorously. 

When our comrades asked them to celebrate the IWD by singing and dancing they started to cry and scream while saying that “we are still living without proper shelters, medicines, food and clothing. How can we sing a song or dance with joy?” Our comrades gave them courage by giving some examples of optimism from the history of the poor working class and explained that it is the capitalist system which sucks our blood to survive. Bosses will never bring ease in our lives because they need more and more exploitation of the poor to become richer. We come to know that bosses have looted what was sent by different international charity organizations for the displaced population which shows that bosses will keep us deprived of every right until we fight back and get our rights.

We also helped brighten the mood with revolutionary poetry, songs and cultural dances in appreciation of the women in the class struggle for a communist revolution and  revolutionary change.

Pakistan is a country with 49.2 percent of women of the total population of 241 million but most of them have no right to give their opinion in family matters or even go to market without permission of their elders. They live like slaves and are treated brutally. They do hard work at home, in the fields or at the workplace from dawn to dusk without recognition of their labor. They always have been facing cruelty of their husbands, fathers or brothers at home and harassment at schools, markets or wherever they work. Poor working class women are humiliated and tortured by the landlords and supervisors at work.

Sexism, racism, and oppression—all fruits from the rotten capitalist tree

Domestic workers like women and young housemaids are more vulnerable, almost every day we hear the terrible stories of domestic workers about how they have been sexually, physically, psychologically and verbally abused. Housemaids are easy target of brutal attitude of the people they are working for.

According to a recent report girls aged ten to fourteen; one in every four homes is being abused sexually or physically. Same happened with the girls from Christian and Hindu community more easily. Most of the victims are kept silent by threatening them that if they try to expose savagery, they are facing their parents being killed.

During the celebrations PL’ers and our working class sisters had many lively political discussions. A PL’er  explained that we are living in a country where the gender gap is increasing day by day. According to the Davos index, we are standing at 142 out of 146. It is our duty to spread class consciousness among the working-class women to fight against exploitation, poverty and illiteracy. We condemned the gender-based wage disparities at the workplaces and emphasized that women are suffering because of the rotten capitalist economic policies of the bosses so we need to build a strong movement against all these capitalist policies and we are striving for. Women workers and PL’ers discussed important demands we are fighting for such as:

•Rejecting the proposed amendments in the constitutions attacking transgendered workers. 

•Demanding provision of shelter, food and healthcare facilities to the displaced workers  still living in horrible conditions

•The recognition of unpaid women’s labor in the home.  

Only communism can liberate women workers

However a PL’er  reiterated that reform cannot bring change in the society except to give some relief to the working class people and we know that bosses can go for the reform which can help them to sustain their bloody capitalist system but they will not allow making a communist revolution because communist revolution will end their exploitative system. They ended by saying that if we want to get rid of exploitation, gender based inequality, fascism and fundamentalism we must build a revolutionary international communist party.

PLP is the only hope for the working class people to establish a society based on “from each according to his/her abilities to each according to need”. We are building an international revolutionary communist PLP to get rid of all the miseries working class people are facing all over the world. PLP salutes the fightback and leadership of women workers for a bright revolutionary future of communism in this dark night era all over the world.

In the struggle for Gaza, it’s clear—liberal fascism is the danger.

Since October 7, when Hamas killed 1,000 Israelis and the Zionists began bombing Gaza murdering more than 32,000 Palestinians so far, comrades in the community and organization we participate in have been active against genocide and starvation in Gaza. In mid-October Progressive Labor Party (PLP)  members distributed hundreds of leaflets titled Hamas/Israel War Means: International Working Class Fight Back; Join Progressive Labor Party. Comrades spoke at meetings and led a well-attended forum at the organization. We continued distributing leaflets and CHALLENGE in the community. We attended mass protests in the city helping distribute thousands of CHALLENGEs.               
Recently PLP members have begun to work with a group of the organization’s staff, mostly young members of a UAW local, who are angry at the lack of response by the directors to the genocide of Palestinians in Gaza. The group wrote a letter to the directors with five demands, notably a call for a permanent ceasefire, support for the boycott, divestment, a sanctions movement against Israel, and support for the uncommitted movement of voters. PLPers helped the group get 20 signatures from worker members while staff got 40 signatures from other staff.

The letter included staff and worker statements like, “We mustn’t let Biden off the hook by fear of a Trump presidency.” “Stop the genocide now. No concessions!”  Staff said that while Netanyahu and the Israeli government prepare to bomb Rafah, Biden, and U.S. imperialists give Israel billions of dollars for armaments! Citibank is in Israel and the war and gives money to the community organization. The directors revealed their loyalty to imperialism and the Democratic Party saying, “We can take money from Citibank even if we don’t agree with their investments.” To a member's call for no concessions, the directors said, “We understand the outrage about Gaza, but it’s a problem. We need to win the election for Biden and the Democratic Party.”
                                
Their problem is that many young people and workers see the connections between the liberal fascist so-called lesser evil and the capitalist system. The opportunities for a revolutionary communist party, PLP, are growing! One new comrade has stepped up to take more leadership and we have a new member of our club. We will continue to be involved in the community organization with our new friends and seize every opportunity to put forward our Party’s ideas. Now it’s time for PLP members to build a base and invite new friends to our study group and PLP’s May Day on May 4. We got this!

*****

How I ended up joining PLP

From February 17-19 2024, Progressive Labor Party’s West Coast collective gathered for a meeting in Southern California. I got to be a part of this gathering, and the experience led me to join Progressive Labor Party. We discussed current events- the ongoing imperialist war in Gaza perpetrated by fascists around the globe, current political leaders, and each of the struggles our class has been facing in our day-to-day lives. Everyone’s diverse background and individual struggle somehow led us all here, as we pursue the same ultimate goal of working-class revolution communism. Our stories were validating and uplifting, knowing so many of us fight the same cause across all of California and in different divisions of work and education. A comrade/student at California State University has been fighting relentlessly against the administration’s efforts to silence her, as she and other students fight against a tuition increase while the CSU administration hoards billions of dollars. Their retaliation against her protesting voice goes to show that her efforts are not in vain- the bosses have been rattled.

I never cared to learn/teach myself history before joining PLP’s study groups, which opened my horizons to learning global history through a non-capitalist and anti-imperialist perspective. For the first time in my life, I could see patterns throughout human civilization and gained a better understanding of why the condition of the globe is as fucked up as it is today, in all senses of the word! Environmentally, economically, socially, etc… With that understanding, I gained hope on how we can move forward toward a better society. I love to learn history now and do my best to talk about it and teach it to others who are without a background in history. After these engaging discussions, and meeting other members of PLP across California, I joined.
*****

Our bonds motivates us to learn and fight

The most important and lasting part of the cadre school to me was the bonds and camaraderie that we built, for it will surely help us further develop and strengthen our future struggles. Seeing the entirety of the Los Angeles group together with those from Northern California was inspiring due to us being able to organize such an event, share stories, and build lasting friendships. To me, strong relationships and understanding that you can rely on a comrade is the most important part of maintaining the struggle. Although everyone has their reasons and motivations for joining the Party and starting in the struggle, it is the day-to-day check-ins with comrades that keep us accountable to not forget our commitment to the fight. And it was during the cadre school retreat, we exchanged contacts along with planning and organizing to keep in touch regularly.

Furthermore, it was making these bonds that made learning about our comrade’s struggles more important and inspiring for us. From the Bay down to LA, there were current, but also older stories that inspired us. Being able to learn from members who experienced many more years of struggle than us proved most encouraging since their lessons provided us with hope but also paths for self-criticism. One cool conversation that got me thinking was about religion and how communists grapple with the institution of religion and their own beliefs. Moreover, how religious institutions provide a model of why community, solidarity, and organizing are so vital to human nature. Lastly, our youth in the movement committed to struggles on college campuses across California proved most inspiring since it will be their initial experiences in their respective struggles, and the lessons they will learn will prove fruitful.

*****

Black-Red series evokes memory of women’s prison protest

The current CHALLENGE series, revisited from 2017, on the Civil Rights Movement is very much appreciated by workers, such as those in our discussion group. Not all comrades had the experiences these articles discuss. Younger readers thirst for the stories to apply the messages they carry to current struggles.

One anecdote recalled from the 1960s is pertinent now because of Women’s History Month.  I came out of a subway to find a demonstration organized by the Civil Rights Movement at the Women’s Prison in Greenwich Village. There were all sorts of protests and marches all over the city at the time, much like today. I was moved to join this one, whose aim was to “shut it down”. That was eventually accomplished due to the abuse at the jail, everything from rats to sexual predation by the staff.  Our wonderful Black southern spirituals adapted with protest lyrics, such as the song Turn Me Round, could be heard from afar.

The idea that a women’s prison protest, with meaning for the women’s movement, could be part of the struggle against racism, was a direct result of the strength of a momentous Civil Rights Movement, which could include other reform struggles rather than focusing on racism alone.

Unfortunately, despite the Civil Rights Movement’s strength and breadth, it was unable to defeat all the sell-outs, anti-communist reformists, and other swine such as Joseph McCarthy.  It was the Progressive Labor Party that turned the tables on his House Un-American Activities Committee when it tried to prosecute us after a Cuba trip to break the travel ban.

*****

NATO troops in Ukraine? One step closer to World War!

Newsweek, 3/20–French troops are ready for "the toughest engagements," the commander of the country's ground forces has said, as President Emmanuel Macron mulls an official military deployment to Ukraine despite repeated Russian threats of retaliation… Macron is at the forefront of a nascent proposal by a handful of NATO nations to discuss sending allied forces into Ukraine in training and advisory roles, though not as combat troops…France could engage a division of 20,000 troops within 30 days to operate as part of an allied coalition. Paris…would be able to command a force of around 60,000 soldiers made up of French and other allied troops. …Macron first suggested that NATO soldiers could deploy to Ukraine in February during a meeting of European leaders in Paris. The president said there was "no consensus" on the proposal, though added that "nothing was excluded."

Tik Tok ban is an example of inter-imperialist rivalry

Jewish Review of Books, 3/13–The House of Representatives just passed a bill...to ban TikTok in the United States unless its Chinese parent company, ByteDance, divests itself of the social media app… If the legislation musters sixty votes in the Democratic-led senate, then the social media app used by nearly half of Americans may disappear from their phones by the end of the year. Protecting Americans from TikTok’s political influence would be a gain to Israel’s standing with its most important ally…Researchers at Rutgers and the Network Contagion Research Institute compared TikTok and Instagram (which has a similar demographic) and found that although Instagram has only twice the number of politically themed posts generally, it had six times more pro-Israel and anti-Hamas posts than TikTok.
But the fact that TikTok is under the influence of America’s main adversary, the Chinese Communist Party, suggests the problem is more than just a wartime burst of digital anti-Zionism…a third of eighteen- to twenty-nine-year-old users regularly get news from the platform.

Even the U.N. chief is frustrated by the starvation of Palestinians

Al Jazeera, 3/23–The line of blocked aid trucks stuck on Egypt’s side of the border with the Gaza Strip while Palestinians face starvation on the other side is a “moral outrage”, United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said on a visit to the Rafah crossing. “I have come to Rafah to shine a spotlight on the pain of Palestinians in Gaza,” the UN chief said on Saturday, addressing a news conference in El Arish, in Egypt’s northern Sinai, where much of the international relief for Gaza is stockpiled as Israel continues to block aid from entering…A long line of blocked relief trucks on one side of the gates, the long shadow of starvation on the other,” he said. “That is more than tragic. It is a moral outrage. Any further onslaught will make things even worse – worse for Palestinian civilians, worse for hostages, and worse for all people in the region.”“You cannot see so many people being killed, you cannot see so much suffering without feeling hugely frustrated,” Guterres said while taking questions from reporters.

Trump or Biden, inter-imperialist world war awaits

Foreign Affairs, 3/22–Among Republicans, there are fewer and fewer Atlanticists left. Within the party, the idea that the United States should not be responsible for Europe’s security has become mainstream. The threats that emerge from Trump’s behavior will haunt Europe even if Trump does not win in November…Among the most consequential acts of Trump’s presidency was the lethal military assistance he provided to Ukraine…Aiding Ukraine with lethal weapons was something President Barack Obama had refused to do…In 2017, Trump greenlighted lethal military aid including Javelin antitank missiles to Ukraine, an act he believed would be good for the U.S. defense industry…In the first few weeks after Russia’s 2022 invasion, those Javelin antitank systems would play a crucial role in Ukraine’s ability to defend itself against Russia’s advance.

The latest response to the state terror in Gaza from Genocide Joe Biden and Top KKKop Kamala Harris is a classic case of appearance and essence (see box). Between Biden’s announcement of “aid” drops and Harris’ phony call for a ceasefire, the main wing of the U.S. ruling class wants it to appear that they care about the mass slaughter and starvation in Palestine. But the essence is that the liberal rulers are terrified of international fightback and of isolationist Donald Trump recapturing the White House.

Despite the desperate efforts of the capitalist media to mislead and confuse us, more and more workers are seeing the Democrats’ true colors. In a period of nine days, hundreds of thousands of workers—including 19 percent of the total vote in Minnesota and 13 percent in Michigan and North Carolina—slapped Biden by voting “uncommitted” or “no preference” in the presidential primaries. Once-loyal liberal voters are disgusted and appalled by the Democrats’ complicity in arming Israel and enabling the racist mass murder in Gaza. On the international stage, a declining U.S. has little influence over events in the Middle East, or even over Israel, increasing the risk of a wider war in the region. 

Global fightback against genocide and starvation

The Zionists’ brutal ethnic cleansing has captured the attention of the international working class. On March 2, more than one hundred cities around the world staged "Shut it Down for Palestine" protests (ENN, 3/2). Over the last five months, millions of workers have said no to genocide and imperialist war. Though the politics in this struggle are mostly nationalist and reformist, this multiracial movement, led mainly by youth and women, has inspired our class. The Progressive Labor Party can do more to root itself in the mass organizations driving this international fightback. Our political line—that the only solution to nationalist genocide is a communist revolution--has never been truer. But we still need to win masses of workers to see the need for a communist party as the only way out of this capitalist hell.

Famines don’t happen overnight. Prior to the Israel invasion last October, malnutrition was essentially nonexistent in Gaza. Today, according to humanitarian organizations, it has the highest proportion of people living in food deprivation in the world (Guardian, 3/6). At the highest risk are children, who make up half of Gaza’s population. Thanks to the Zionists’ blockades, as World Food Programme Executive Director Cindy McCain noted, “People in Gaza risk dying of hunger just miles from trucks filled with food” (World Health Organization, 1/15). With more than half a million people in Gaza one step away from famine (U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs), the 38,000 meals recently dropped by the U.S. are pathetically inadequate (AP News, 3/2). 

After months of inaction and obscene indifference, it's no coincidence that Harris's call for a limited ceasefire or Biden’s celebration of the airdrops occurred within days of the Democratic primary humiliations (Reuters, 3/7). Regardless of whether Biden or fellow criminal Trump win in November, electoral politics can never change the capitalist system. An end to exploitation, racism, sexism, and war will never be on the ballot. Only a mass revolutionary communist party has the potential to turn the guns around and transform imperialist war into communist revolution. 

Ceasefire call driven by bosses’ cynicism

In her hypocritical speech to a crowd commemorating the famous antiracist civil rights fightback in Selma, Alabama, Harris called for an “immediate ceasefire” five months into the U.S.-funded slaughter of workers in Palestine. The Democratic Party is hemorrhaging Black, Latin, and Muslim workers from their ranks. These are the same workers that the liberal finance capitalist bosses need to recruit into their inevitable wars with Iran, Russia, and China over Middle Eastern trade routes and control over the region’s oil. Harris’ speech was nothing more than a cynical attempt to win these workers back into the Democrats’ fold.

From the loss of Iran in 1979 to the U.S. military debacles in Iraq and Syria to weakened relations with petroleum kingpin Saudi Arabia, the U.S. has little clout left in the region. As its imperialist rivals keep making political and economic inroads, the U.S. ruling class is forced to stand by Israel, even if doing so risks a wider war the U.S. isn’t ready to wage. At the same time, the U.S. bosses have little leverage over hardline Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Though Harris made a show of meeting with Benny Gantz, Netanyahu’s main political rival, the fact is that both Gantz and Netanyahu are on the Israeli War Cabinet. Both have signed off on the genocide of workers and children in Palestine. If the U.S. still wielded the global power it had fifty years ago, Biden wouldn’t have to resort to building a temporary port off the Mediterranean to bypass Israeli blockades of aid into Gaza (Associated Press, 3/7) And Netanyahu wouldn’t be pursuing an invasion of Rafah in violation of Biden’s toothless “red line” (Politico 3/10)

The only solution is communist revolution

While most workers aren’t falling for the Democrats’ charade, they are a long way from committing to the fight for a communist revolution. While the essence of the main wing's agenda is visible to many, the working class still struggles to see the potential of our class to run the world and serve workers’ needs. But while the revolutionary beacons in Russia and China have been lost in the dark night of the current period, Progressive Labor Party's flame is small but bright! For our class sisters and brothers to be moved to join us, we must expand our potential by working in mass organizations and raising antiwar struggles everywhere we are. There is no day like today to fight back against imperialist war and end these capitalist horrors for good. Join us!

Understanding Apperance and Essence

Dialectical materialism is the Marxist theory that historical events result from the conflict of opposing social forces—from a series of contradictions and their solutions. “Appearance and essence” is one category of dialectical materialism. The essence is the truth of something at its core, something that’s often hard to see it because it lies so deep within the thing. Appearance is what is readily visible about the thing. Because there is a tendency to avoid digging deep to discover a thing’s essence, misleading appearances tend to become conventional wisdoms. For example, the U.S. Democratic Party leaders might appear to be more compassionate and pro-worker than the Republicans because they pretend to care about racism, poverty, and reproductive health. In essence, however, they are controlled by the billionaires of finance capital. These misleaders will resort to lies and deceit to try to gain workers’ allegiance to their agenda for fascism and world war.