Bristol Socialist Party meeting - Syria and the Crisis in the Middle East

Bristol Socialist Party Meeting - Syria and the Crisis in the Middle East

Tuesday 5th July 

7.30pm 

Cheltenham Road Library, Bristol, BS6 5QX

The discussion at this joint meeting of the three Bristol Branches will introduced by Joe Fathallah from the Socialist Party Wales. The insurrection which has swept the Arab World has now ignited Syria. Three months of brutal repression by the Baath regime has failed to quell the revolt. The attempts to break down the border with Israel, and embarrassment caused to the capitalist regime in Turkey by the influx of show the of the Socialist Party’s demand for a Socialist Federation of the Middle East. But how can workers and the other oppressed people in the Arab states, Turkey, Iran and Kurdistan ensure that victory is theirs? What is the role of Israeli workers? And what attitude to should Socialists have to intervention by capitalist powers?


Below are links to documents and articles that are relevant for this discussion.


Reports and Analysis from the Socialist Party and our sister parties in the Committee for a Workers' International (CWI)


• CWI website recent Articles on Syria: http://www.socialistworld.net/view/158


• And more widely on the Middle East: http://www.socialistworld.net/?m=15&sk=100


• Socialism Today has had a number of important articles on the Middle East since the beginning of the year: http://www.socialismtoday.org/back.html


Reports and Analysis from the mainstream press and other Sources


• Al Jazeera Interview with Robert Fisk of the Independent on youtube (22nd April): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SSpeHVFPd8g


• Report by Fisk from Independent (29th April): http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/fisk/robert-fisk-out-of-syrias-darkness-come-tales-of-terror-2276392.html


• And from Belfast Telegraph (8th June): http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/opinion/columnists/robert-fisk/syria-in-turmoil-as-resistance-turns-to-insurrection-16009281.html


• This portal, maintained by University of Colorado, leads you to a variety Government resources from Syria and reports from state and non-governmental bodies internationally: http://ucblibraries.colorado.edu/govpubs/for/syria.htm


• Particularly useful is the BBC website: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/country_profiles/801669.stm


• Human Rights Watch Report on protests and repression in Daraa: http://www.hrw.org/en/reports/2011/06/01/we-ve-never-seen-such-horror-0