After Beatty delivered a lengthy diatribe, Barbara Slaughter, David North and Eric London exposed his slanderous allegations against Gerry Healy and the history of the Trotskyist movement.
Top Stories
This essay is devoted to a detailed review of Gerry Healy’s family background and youth, based on research conducted in Ireland, including visits to the relevant archives in Dublin and in Galway where the Healy family lived.
Perspective
Trump lays out blueprint for mass repression, beginning with immigrants
In an interview with NBC, Trump said he would deport 11 million undocumented immigrants, together with millions of their children who are US citizens.
The collapse of the Assad regime virtually overnight could not have occurred without the agreement of factions of the Syrian, Iranian and Russian regimes.
Miller, the preeminent American historian of Irish history, was recently interviewed by the World Socialist Web Site
Protests demanding the president resign continue, as South Koreans are clearly shocked and outraged at Yoon’s attempt to return the country to military dictatorship.
News media commentary has reflected the fear within the corporate and financial elite over the unsympathetic and scathing public response to the murder of Brian Thompson on a New York City street on Wednesday.
The role of DSA members in the Los Angeles City Council is to support corporate-friendly measures while exploiting social problems as a justification for political opportunism.
This police attack on SDOs is a warning to the entire working class. The JVP/NPP regime will not hesitate to crush any action by workers that challenges its pledge to fully implement the IMF austerity measures.
Before any investigation, the arson has been seized upon by the Israeli prime minister, the Australian government and opposition to attack the mass popular opposition to the genocide in Gaza.
Fluoridation of community water and the politics of disinformation
Part two of a two-part review
Robert F Kennedy Jr., Trump’s nominee to head the Department of Health and Human Services, has promised to end water fluoridation, a program which has been called one of the ten greatest achievements in public health.
The Sozialistische Gleichheitspartei (Socialist Equality Party, SGP) strongly condemns the government’s plans to send German soldiers to Ukraine. 83 years after the beginning of Nazi Germany’s war of annihilation against the Soviet Union, German troops are to go to war against Russia again.
While the NATO powers escalate the war in Ukraine, the German ruling class is launching a frontal attack on students in order to finance its policy war and rearmament. Strict austerity is being demanded of universities in Berlin, Baden-Württemberg and other federal states.
Book Review
Biography as demonology: Aidan Beatty’s The Party is Always Right: The Untold Story of Gerry Healy and British Trotskyism
Aidan Beatty's new book is not a biography, but rather a political diatribe against Gerry Healy and Trotskyism.
Socialist Equality Party exposes Aidan Beatty’s hackwork and Zionist-Israeli financial ties
During an online discussion, David North challenged Beatty to explain his falsification of history and why Zionist foundations funded his anti-Healy and anti-SEP project.
The fabrication of a slander: Aidan Beatty’s forgery of Gerry Healy’s youth—and Irish history
This supplementary review exposes Beatty’s manipulation of evidence related to Gerry Healy’s youth in Ireland.
Aidan Beatty’s hackwork: The Israel-Zionist connection
The academic career of prominent DSA member Aidan Beatty, the author of a slanderous trash biography of long-time Trotskyist leader Gerry Healy, has been funded by Zionist institutions and Israeli-state sources.
Genocidal intent: Amnesty International exposes malice aforethought in the Gaza genocide
On Wednesday, Amnesty International published an exhaustive 296-page report proving that "Only an intent to destroy the Palestinians in Gaza" can "explain the scale and scope" of the mass murder, forcible displacement, and deliberate starvation of the Palestinians in Gaza by Israel.
The fall of the French government and the bankruptcy of the New Popular Front
If it is far-right forces that are being strengthened by Barnier’s fall despite mass social anger against Macron, this is due to the bankruptcy of the NFP, which works to paralyze the workers.
Mobilize the industrial and independent political power of the working class to defend the Canada Post strikers and all public services!
If the postal workers are to prevail, the working class throughout the transportation and logistics sectors, and across all other economic spheres, must be mobilized and the strike made the spearhead of a working-class counteroffensive against the capitalist elite’s class war agenda of austerity and war.
The South Korean coup attempt and the global attack on democratic rights
The attempted military coup is a warning, not only to workers in South Korea but internationally, that the ruling classes around the world are being driven to dictatorial methods to impose their agenda of war and austerity.
Made in Ethiopia—or anywhere else in the world
Shot over four years before and during the pandemic, Made in Ethiopia shows the impact of this first industrial park that hosts 103 companies producing cement, ceramics, aluminium, and fast fashion and employs 20,000 people, at a time of profound crisis.
No Other Land, exposing Israeli settlers’ military criminality, wins awards at International Documentary Association ceremony in Los Angeles—but still no distributor in the US!
The film distribution network has refused to see to it that the work is actually shown to the public in the US.
Riefenstahl: New documentary about Nazi propagandist warns of the danger of dictatorship and war
Andres Veiel is the first filmmaker to be able to draw on materials from Riefenstahl’s extensive estate, which contains documents, letters and conversations she recorded, as well as masses of photos.
1,500 artists call on Tate Britain to sever ties with organizations complicit in Gaza genocide
Kaur took the opportunity of receiving the prestigious Turner Prize in a ceremony held at the Tate on December 3 to denounce the Israeli crimes.
Australia: Reject union sellout of Woolworths strike!
Under the “revised offer,” the hated “Framework” will remain in place, with token modifications that will do nothing to protect workers from the company’s relentless demand for speed-ups.
The Canada Post strike at the crossroads: Postal Workers Rank-and-File Committee to hold public meeting on Sunday, December 8
Canada Post strikers are determined to wage a struggle. But they are being hamstrung by the disastrous policies of the Canadian Union of Postal Workers and Canadian Labour Congress, which are forcing the workers to stand alone against the combined strength of corporate Canada and its bought-and-paid-for political representatives.
Australian industrial court bans Woolworths picket in Melbourne
If allowed to stand, the order creates the conditions for any strike, even one that is legally “protected” under Australia’s harsh industrial laws, to be undermined and effectively broken up by the state.
Vauxhall workers in England oppose closure of Luton plant by Stellantis and support international fightback
Stellantis has announced the closure of the Luton van plant, directly axing at least 1,100 jobs, with production ending in the second quarter of 2025.
Thousands protest in Berlin against massive public service cuts
On December 5, thousands of teachers, public employees, artists and cultural workers, carers and educators protested in Berlin against the Berlin Senate’s plans to cut billions of euros from the city’s budgets for education, culture, health and other areas.
More than 16 million people in poverty in UK, including one in three children
The Social Metrics Commission's data is more accurate and detailed than the UK government’s current definition of poverty, which measures only average income and housing costs.
Street protests, backed by EU and US, try to bring down Georgian government
Demonstrators holding aloft EU and Georgian flags are working to drive out the ruling Georgian Dream party, which Washington and Brussels views as insufficiently pliant.
Nine arrested in Turkey for protesting Erdoğan’s complicity in genocide
Citing slogans that contain no insults or calls for violence as evidence of a criminal offence itself exposes Turkey's complicity in Israel's genocide in Gaza.
Federal judge rejects Boeing plea deal for two fatal 737 MAX 8 crashes
A plea deal would protect the company and its top executives from being prosecuted for the full extent of their crimes, including the killing of all 346 passengers and crew who died in the two crashes.
Police release body cam footage of shooting death of 15-year-old in Akron, Ohio
On Thursday, Akron authorities released edited bodycam and dashcam video of the police shooting of 15-year-old Jazmir Tucker on Thanksgiving night.
Shooter of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson remains at-large
The gunman who shot and killed Thompson on Wednesday morning outside the Hilton Hotel in midtown Manhattan is still being sought as police say they are getting closer to establishing his identity.
Dept. of Justice investigation finds Memphis police routinely break law, assault, terrorize and abuse residents
Commissioned after the police murder of Tyre Nichols in January 2023, the report documents hundreds of crimes committed by Memphis police prior to and after Nichols’ murder.
Australian Greens bow to Labor and big business on environmental agency
The Environmental Protection Agency deal that Environment Minister Plibersek and the Greens signed was vetoed by Prime Minister Albanese, at the behest of the fossil fuel and mining giants.
Australia’s housing crisis sees more retirees burdened with mortgage debt
The proportion of Australians aged 55 to 64 who own their homes outright fell by almost half between 2000 and 2020, from 63.9 percent to 36.1 percent.
China’s New Zealand ambassador warns against joining AUKUS
China’s ambassador warned that alliances such as AUKUS “will lead to greater divisiveness, confrontation and even conflict and war.”
Australian Greens appeal for big business coalition government with Labor
The Greens are signalling they will join a government that will support the Israeli genocide in Gaza, US-led war against China and an onslaught on the social conditions of workers.
This week in history: December 9-15
This column profiles important historical events which took place during this week, 25 years ago, 50 years ago, 75 years ago and 100 years ago
Book Review: The Demon of Unrest by Erik Larson
Contemporary lessons from the slave power’s plot to overturn the 1860 election
Erik Larson’s new book The Demon of Unrest, published this year by Penguin Random House, contains critical lessons for the fight against Trump and the threat of dictatorship today.
Reflections on the death of Lt. Willam Calley Jr.: Imperialist atrocities, from My Lai to Gaza
Calley spent only three days in prison for his role in directing the mass murder of 504 Vietnamese men, women and children. He is now reported to have died April 28 at the age of 80.
80 years since the liberation of Lublin-Majdanek concentration camp: From Hitler’s war in the East to the Holocaust
The history of the Majdanek camp reveals the links between Nazi Germany’s war of aggression against the Soviet Union and the Holocaust, and the extermination of the Jewish population, which primarily affected Poland and Eastern Europe.
Amnesty International documents genocidal intent of Israeli leaders
In its exhaustive 296-page report, Amnesty International demonstrated that this mass killing was motivated by genocidal intent, which permeated from the top of the Israeli government to the soldiers doing the killing.
Trump’s election emboldens Netanyahu’s far-right Israeli government
On Monday, Trump threatened, “If the hostages are not released prior to January 20, 2025, the date that I proudly assume office as President of the United States, there will be ALL HELL TO PAY in the Middle East”.
Tehran makes overtures to Trump, as he prepares to escalate Washington’s war on Iran
Tehran is signaling its readiness to bargain with Trump, even as he makes clear that he intends to deal with Iran even more ruthlessly than during his first term, and that he will do so working in the closest concert with Israel, which is already waging war against Iran in all but name.
Trudeau smears Montreal anti-NATO protest as “antisemitic”
The baseless accusation of antisemitism promoted by Trudeau and the political establishment is rich coming from a ruling class that is providing massive military and financial support to Ukraine’s government and state, which are rife with the political descendants of the Ukrainian fascist and Nazi accomplice Stepan Bandera.
Democrats and Republicans express support for unelected billionaires’ plans to slash government and social spending
Billionaires Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy were welcomed to Washington by Republicans and some Democrats, who provided the unelected reactionaries a closed audience to discuss their shared plans to slash regulations and enact spending cuts, including to Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security.
Right-wing Supreme Court majority appears ready to approve state bans on gender-affirming care for adolescents
Based on Wednesday’s oral arguments, the reactionary majority on the United States Supreme Court appears poised to uphold Tennessee’s ban on transgender medical care for adolescents, calling into question equal protection more broadly.
At New York Times’ Dealbook Summit, Jeff Bezos and other billionaires salivate over money to be made under Trump
The event, hosted by Times writer Aaron Ross Sorkin, exposes whatever is left of the newspaper’s pretension to be the voice of American “liberalism,” as opposed to a voice of the American oligarchy.
Trump names more and more billionaires to top posts
The fascist president-elect has named six billionaires to high positions since Sunday.
WHO investigating unidentified illness which has killed at least 143 people in the Democratic Republic of the Congo
The World Health Organization is sending a team into a rural southwest province of the DRC to investigate a recent outbreak of disease that has killed at least 143 people and sickened nearly 400. The cause of the outbreak remains to be determined.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr’s role in Samoan measles epidemic
Kennedy’s anti-vaccine agitation in Samoa’s deadly 2019 measles epidemic is a warning of the global role he will play as Trump’s head of the US Department of Health and Human Services.
The spread of H5N1 bird flu among animals and the growing possibility of a pandemic
The developing avian influenza panzootic and the growing possibility of a pandemic bring to the fore the existential questions for humanity of climate change and the destruction of public health, both of which must be stopped in order to control the growing threats.
Mpox and H5N1 bird flu viruses continue on the march
Amidst a lackadaisical public health response, two viruses with pandemic potential continue to spread in the United States.
Mexican government cracks down on migrant surge ahead of Trump’s inauguration
Mexico’s President Sheinbaum denied Trump’s claims that her administration has agreed to “effectively close” the US-Mexico border to migrants, but in reality this has already taken place.
Biden administration sets stage for ruthless escalation against Venezuela under Trump
The declaration of US-backed candidate Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia as “president-elect” of Venezuela by Secretary of State Antony Blinken paves the way for renewed sanctions and military operations to overthrow the Maduro administration.
Bolsonaro and top generals indicted for January 8 coup in Brazil
Sixty years after the US-backed 1964 military coup, revelations by the Federal Police have shown that Brazil was close to a new coup and the establishment of a dictatorship after Bolsonaro’s electoral defeat.
Haiti’s unelected prime minister ousted amid surging gang and state violence, increasing social misery
Haiti’s interim prime minister was ousted last week by the Transitional Council—the government “oversight mechanism” that the US, Canada and various factions of the country’s bourgeois elite put together earlier this year to provide a fig leaf of “popular” legitimacy for the latest imperialist-sponsored military intervention in the Western Hemisphere’s poorest country.
Namibia elections see declining support for ruling SWAPO
SWAPO’s decline and that of other anti-colonial national movements have exposed the organic incapacity of Africa’s bourgeois nationalists to realise the aspirations of the African masses for freedom from foreign domination, democracy and social justice.
Chad ends longstanding military cooperation with France
Chad, a former African colony of France, has for decades been central to its military operations in Africa, but it is developing closer ties to Russia amid the NATO war with Russia in Ukraine.
Mozambique bans demonstrations after weeks of protests following general elections
Protests against the ruling FRELIMO party continue as opposition candidate Venâncio Mondlane, who is linked to Trump and Portuguese fascist circles, appeals for support from imperialism.
South Africa’s ANC government employs police blockade to trap illegal gold miners underground
The police’s murderous tactics, dubbed “surrender or starve”, have caused outrage in South Africa where unemployment has soared to 42 percent and economic desperation is widespread in the world’s most unequal society.
Court hearing held for University of Michigan Gaza solidarity encampment protesters charged by Attorney General Nessel
At a press conference called by the Tahrir Coalition, the IYSSE at the University of Michigan issued a statement headlined: “Drop all charges against the UMich 11! Drop the complaint against SAFE! Defend free speech and assembly!”
Oppose the attacks on the democratic rights of students at George Mason University! Mobilize the working class in defense of democratic rights!
Two club officers of the Students for Justice in Palestine were barred from campus and the club has had its activities halted for petty reasons.
University of Michigan confirms filing of complaint against campus chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine
SAFE, the campus chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine, is threatened with a two-to-four-year suspension. If UMich suspends SAFE, it will mark the first suspension of a legacy student organization in the university’s history.
Prominent anti-Zionist Tony Greenstein charged in Britain under Terrorism Act
It has been almost a year since police raided Greenstein’s home in the early hours of December 20, 2023 for a social media post defending the right of the Palestinians to resist Israel’s genocide in Gaza.
Trotsky's assassination was the greatest political crime of the 20th century. Alongside Vladimir Lenin, Trotsky was the leader of the 1917 October revolution in Russia, which led to the establishment of the first workers’ state in history, and the preeminent strategist of world socialist revolution.
Turkey leads regime change battle in Syria
The US and NATO-backed war for regime change in Syria, launched in 2011, has been revived. Turkey, Syria’s northern neighbour and occupying power since 2016, is playing a major role.
US-backed Islamist militias storm Aleppo, Syria
This represents a major escalation of the global war between NATO countries, on the one hand, and Russia, Iran and China on the other.
The Workers’ Party of Turkey and the impasse of pseudo-left politics
The TİP failed to base its split with the Stalinist Communist Party on a study and assimilation of the great strategic and world-historical issues raised by Leon Trotsky’s struggle against Stalinism. This is a common feature of all the tendencies that emerged from the disintegration of the Stalinist parties after the collapse of the USSR.
Jury awards $42 million to 3 Iraqis tortured in Abu Ghraib prison 20 years ago, holding US military contractor responsible
Last Tuesday, a federal jury in Alexandria, Virginia, awarded $42 million in damages against US military contractor CACI Premier Technology, Inc., for its role in the torture of three Iraqis in Abu Ghraib prison during the US imperialist occupation.
Trump team mulls Mexico “invasion” amid crushing tariff threats
The fundamental contradiction between world economy and the nation-state system under capitalism is bursting forth in the form of threats of cascading tariffs and war threats.
American Federation of Teachers president seeks common ground with Trump’s pick for Secretary of Education
With the nomination of Linda McMahon as Secretary of Education and the mounting threats to public education, the national teacher unions are seeking common ground with the fascists while attempting to funnel educator anger under electoral coalition pressure campaigns.
President Biden pardons his son Hunter Biden on gun and tax felonies
The decision to protect Hunter Biden is in sharp contrast to the White House refusal to protect any other likely targets of repression by the incoming Trump administration.
Will Medicare and Medicaid coverage for anti-obesity drugs survive RFK Jr.?
New anti-obesity drugs should be covered under federal health programs, but Trump’s top health nominee is a notorious anti-vaxxer and opponent of public health measures.
This lecture was given by World Socialist Web Site International Editorial Board Chairman David North at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor on Tuesday, March 12.
Condemn the police attack on School Development Officers in Sri Lanka! Release four teachers arrested by the police!
This police attack on SDOs is a warning to the entire working class. The JVP/NPP regime will not hesitate to crush any action by workers that challenges its pledge to fully implement the IMF austerity measures.
Sri Lankan police attack protesting School Development Officers, detaining four
The Dissanayake government, which is committed to implement the IMF’s austerity agenda, has made clear that it will ruthlessly crush any opposition.
Sri Lankan JVP/NPP government prohibits “commemoration of war heroes” by Tamils
The SEP vehemently opposes government’s anti-democratic ban on commemorative events and demands the immediate release of the three Tamil youth arrested last Saturday.
SEP/IYSSE public meeting: The political lessons of the US and Sri Lankan elections
The meeting will discuss the urgent tasks that confronting the working class in the wake of the US and Sri Lankan elections and the socialist and internationalist strategy necessary to fight for the interests of working people.
Russian Militant group supports campaign to free Bogdan Syrotiuk
More than six months have passed since Bogdan's arrest. During this time many organizations, parties, intellectuals and scholars have expressed their support for him.
WSWS readers demand freedom for Bogdan Syrotiuk
In the past few weeks, we have received around one hundred letters from 25 different countries from readers defending Bogdan and highlighting the political motives behind his imprisonment.
Free Bogdan Syrotiuk!
Six months after his arrest, Bogdan Syrotiuk, the courageous Ukrainian socialist arrested for opposing the war, remains in prison awaiting a drumhead trial in a legal travesty.
Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein calls for release of Bogdan Syrotiuk
Stein has made this statement calling for the release of socialist and anti-war activist Bogdan Syrotiuk, who has been imprisoned by the Zelensky regime in Ukraine.
Trump will launch tariff war to defend dollar supremacy
Countries in the BRICS group must make a commitment not to try to create an alternative to the US currency or face the imposition of 100 percent tariffs.
The significance of Trump’s war to maintain dollar supremacy
Trump’s threats are not overblown rhetoric but the expression of the economic relations and contradictions daily at work in the US economy.
European Central Bank chief’s interview points to shock of trade war threat
Lagarde said the strategy of the European Union to the Trump tariff threat should be negotiation not retaliation, but whether that is possible is another question.
Small disturbances can have big effects, US Fed warns
Financial vulnerabilities have not gone away, as risks remain elevated, and they are being added to by the increasing institutional embrace of crypto currencies.
Biden administration pledges “massive surge” of weapons to Ukraine
Since the November 5, 2024 presidential election, the Biden administration has enormously expanded the scale of direct US military intervention into the Ukraine war.
Stop Starmer’s escalating war against Russia! Build a socialist anti-war movement!
By agreeing to Ukraine firing Storm Shadow cruise missiles into Russian territory, Starmer has made a de facto declaration of war without so much as a debate in parliament.
Dubious “bomb scares” in UK, as de facto war is declared on Russia
This has all the hallmarks of a black propaganda campaign. Police and state forces are being mobilised with the explanation that there is an ongoing terror threat and that Russia is likely pulling the strings.
Pentagon “adjusts nuclear deterrence strategy” amid escalating war with Russia
The Department of Defense published a report on Thursday with details of changes to US arms strategy in an environment of multiple nuclear peer adversaries, especially Russia and China.
COP29, climate change and the normalization of mass death
The latest climate summit embraced the same policy that has been adopted since such climate talks began in 1995: the subordination of Earth’s environment and the lives of those impacted to the corporate and economic demands of the United States and the other major capitalist powers.
COP29 ends with empty deal, as 2024 set to be warmest year on human record
According to the Copernicus Climate Change Service, “The average temperature anomaly for the rest of 2024 would have to drop to almost zero for 2024 to not be the warmest year.”
Current emission reduction pledges by governments internationally will result in disastrous global warming
A new United Nations report shows that the world is headed towards up to 3.1℃ of warming by the end of the century, with devastating consequences for billions of people worldwide.
New study warns of the dangers in “overshooting” climate targets
This research reinforces the scientific consensus that the only viable strategy to limit catastrophic climate change requires drastic and immediate emissions cuts.
Warning strikes at nine VW plants in Germany
The head of Volkswagen’s works council Daniela Cavallo has made it clear that the IG Metall union and the works council do not want to fight but “let off steam”.
Thai autoworkers face mass layoffs
As the largest producer of vehicles in South East Asia, tens if not hundreds of thousands of jobs in Thailand are potentially on the chopping block.
Defeat Unite’s collusion with Stellantis and Labour government! Organise rank-and-file action to defend jobs!
United and effective action by Stellantis workers worldwide can only be achieved by the rank-and-file in direct opposition to the economic nationalism and corporatism of the trade union bureaucracy.
UAW president in damage control as rank-and-file anger mounts over Stellantis layoffs
According to the Detroit News, the automaker has laid off nearly 4,000 workers in Detroit and Toledo metro areas since September alone.
Fifty years after Chile’s horrific September 11 coup, its political relevance is becoming ever more urgent as the specter of dictatorship once again haunts the political life of Latin America.
The weaponization of student absenteeism: Lies to justify school privatization under Trump
The incoming administration intends to use the crisis of "chronic absenteeism," a product of the intense social crisis in the US, to justify vast new attacks on public education.
Student parliament at Berlin’s Humboldt University approves IYSSE motion opposing state attacks on freedom of expression and academic freedom
On November 11 the student parliament (StuPa) at the Berlin Humboldt University approved a resolution introduced by the International Youth & Students for Social Equality (IYSSE) entitled "Condemn the attack on academic freedom by the Federal Ministry of Education."
Western Sydney University IYSSE Annual General Meeting elaborates socialist perspective against war and genocide
The meeting at the working-class university outlined a socialist perspective, based on the mobilisation of the working class against the Gaza genocide and imperialist war.
Australian IYSSE clubs hold anti-war Annual General Meetings in Melbourne and Newcastle
The meetings included lively political discussion on the IYSSE’s perspective of building a global anti-war movement in the working class against Israel’s assault against the people of Palestine and Lebanon, and broader eruption of imperialist war.
Mehring Books, the publishing arm of the Socialist Equality Party (US), is proud to announce the publication of Volume 1 of COVID, Capitalism, and Class War: A Social and Political Chronology of the Pandemic, a compilation of the World Socialist Web Site's coverage of this global crisis.
Premiere in Berlin of a new documentary–Julian Assange and the Dark Secrets of War
The most telling episodes of the film include the testimony of Ethan McCord who relates that witnessing the savagery of the American military on that day in Iraq had changed his life forever.
Julian Assange delivers first speech since release from UK prison: “I pleaded guilty to journalism”
Assange told the parliamentary assembly of the Council of Europe: “I am not free today because the system worked, I am free today after years of incarceration because I pled guilty to journalism.”
Australian spooks and their media mouthpieces bemoan Assange’s freedom
The complaints have a pathetic character to them, but also underscore the fact that the assault on democratic rights associated with the persecution of Assange persists and deepens.
The Australian Labor Party’s record in the Assange case
The Australian government's involvement in the plea deal arrangements was the result of mass popular pressure. It followed years of Labor actively assisting the persecution of Assange.
Seminal documents of the Soviet Trotskyist movement from the early 1930s published for the first time
Published for the first time 90 years after they were written, the documents are an irrefutable vindication of the century-long struggle by the Trotskyist movement against Stalinism and for historical truth.
Analyzing a World in Chaos from an Island of Tranquility
This speech was given by David North at the second international commemoration of the work of Leon Trotsky on Büyükada (Prinkipo), Turkey, during the first period of his exile from the Soviet Union between 1929 and 1933.
A reply to an anarchist’s falsification of the Leon Trotsky commemoration on Prinkipo
The event was covered by many national and local media outlets and widely discussed on social media before and after the event in Turkey. However, a former Maoist and current anarchist published an article on his website denouncing and misrepresenting David North’s remarks.
On the anniversary of the assassination of Leon Trotsky
Eighty-four years ago today, on August 20, 1940, Leon Trotsky was assassinated by an agent of the Stalinist secret police, the GPU, in his villa in Coyoacan, Mexico, where he spent the final three years of his life as a political exile.
Opening report to the Eighth Congress of the Socialist Equality Party (US)
We are publishing here the opening report to the Eighth Congress of the Socialist Equality Party (US), given by David North, the national chairman of the SEP. The congress was held from August 4 to August 9, 2024.
Report to the SEP (US) Eighth National Congress
16 years since the Founding Congress of the Socialist Equality Party
We are publishing here the report to the Eighth Congress of the Socialist Equality Party (US) given by Joseph Kishore, the national secretary of the SEP.
H5N1 Bird flu, climate change, and the social rights of the working class
The threat of pandemics and the deepening climate crisis raise existential concerns for all life and well-being on the planet, with capitalism bringing the world to the brink of annihilation.
Report to the SEP (US) Eighth National Congress
The barbarism of “forever COVID” and the fight for socialist public health
We are publishing here the report to the Eighth Congress of the Socialist Equality Party (US) given by Evan Blake. The congress was held from August 4 to August 9, 2024.
January 21 marked 100 years since the death of Vladimir Lenin in 1924. This page includes a collection of essays reviewing the life and ideas of the great Marxist theoretician, founder of the Bolshevik Party, and co-leader of the Russian Revolution.
SEP meeting in Australia calls for building worker rank-and-file committees to fight CFMEU administration
This report includes videos of speeches delivered by SEP members, explaining the administration and outlining a perspective to fight it.
SEP in Sri Lanka commemorates second anniversary of death of Trotskyist leader Wije Dias
Wije Dias belonged to the group of young people who took up the initiative in 1968 to form the Trotskyist party in Sri Lanka and he played a leading role in the movement for 54 years until his death.
UK Socialist Equality Party election rally advances socialist and internationalist opposition to war
The meeting’s platform featured many of the principal leaders of the party that the working class needs in the battles ahead—the International Committee of the Fourth International, the world party of socialist revolution founded by Leon Trotsky.
Attendees at UK general election rally speak: “The Socialist Equality Party is what I want to dedicate my efforts to building.”
WSWS reporters spoke to some of those in attendance on their response to the Socialist Equality Party (UK) general election rally held in London on Sunday.
May Day 2024: The working class and the struggle against imperialist war
This is the text of the introductory speech delivered by WSWS International Editorial Board Chairman David North to the 2024 International May Day Online Rally.
The political significance of the 2024 May Day Online Rally
This is the text of the speech delivered by Johannes Stern, editor of the German-language edition of the WSWS, as a summation to the 2024 International May Day Online Rally.
The struggle against imperialist war among students and youth
This is the text of the speech delivered by Dilaxshan Mahalingam, an IYSSE member in Sri Lanka, to the 2024 International May Day Online Rally.
The fight against imperialist war in New Zealand and the Pacific
This is the text of the speech delivered by Tom Peters, a leading member of the Socialist Equality Group in New Zealand, to the 2024 International May Day Online Rally.
Helen Halyard (1950-2023), a tribute to a life dedicated to the victory of world socialism
We are publishing here the tribute given by David North to Helen Halyard, a leading member of the Socialist Equality Party and the International Committee of the Fourth International for more than half a century, who died suddenly at the age of 73 on November 28. North’s remarks opened a memorial meeting for Helen held Sunday, December 3.
Remarks by David North at the conclusion of the international memorial meeting for Helen Halyard
We are publishing here the summation given by David North to the memorial meeting for Comrade Helen Halyard held on December 3.
“Building the world party was Helen’s goal in life, to which she made an indelible contribution”
We are publishing here the tribute to Helen Halyard written by Patrick Martin, a member of the US editorial board of the World Socialist Web Site and a member of the Workers League and Socialist Equality Party for 52 years, and Esther Galen, a member of the Workers League and Socialist Equality Party for 53 years.
Tribute to Helen: Beverly Lozano, a supporter from California
A tribute to Helen Halyard written by Beverly Lozano, a supporter of the WSWS.
Report to Sri Lanka meetings
Imperialism, the genocide in Gaza, and the world struggle for socialism
Socialist Equality Party (US) National Secretary Joseph Kishore delivered the following report to a meeting titled “Leon Trotsky and the Struggle for Socialism in the 21st Century” in Colombo on December 10.
University of Michigan IYSSE protests attack by pro-government thugs on Sri Lankan SEP members
We are publishing here a letter being sent by the International Youth and Students for Social Equality (IYSSE) at the University of Michigan condemning the violent attack on two members of the Socialist Equality Party (SEP) in Sri Lanka by pro-government thugs.
Magistrate court hearing on violent assault on Sri Lankan SEP members
While police have visited the crime scene and recorded witness statements they requested more time to obtain hospital medical reports.
Academics denounce pro-government thug attack on Sri Lankan SEP members
The SEP is calling on all those who are concerned to defend democratic rights of freedom of expression to register their opposition by sending protest letters to the relevant authorities.
The essays in this book, though written over the span of more than 40 years, are connected by a central argument: Leon Trotsky was the most significant figure in the history of socialism during the first four decades of the twentieth century, and his legacy remains the critical and indispensable theoretical and political foundation of the ongoing contemporary struggle for the victory of world socialism.
Order your print or epub version of the book from Mehring Books today.
Wisconsin documents reveal details of strategy behind Donald Trump’s 2020 fake elector scheme
A trove of court documents released on Monday show Wisconsin attorney Kenneth Chesebro and former judge Jim Troupis were instrumental in formulating the strategy of Donald Trump to overturn the 2020 elections through court cases that generated “a cloud of confusion” combined with the appointment of “alternative” electors in seven key states.
Appellate court rejects Trump’s claim that he cannot be prosecuted for seeking to overthrow the 2020 election
The Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia ruled against Donald Trump's assertion of absolute immunity from criminal prosecution for seeking to overthrow the 2020 election.
Third Trump coup lawyer pleads guilty and agrees to testify in Georgia election case
Jenna Ellis is the third lawyer and fourth defendant to plead guilty in relation to the conspiracy to overturn the 2020 presidential election in Georgia.
Trump coup plot accomplice Chesebro pleads guilty in Georgia fake elector case
Kenneth Chesebro, attorney and close associate of Donald Trump, pleaded guilty on Friday to one felony charge in exchange for his agreement to testify against the former-president and 16 other defendants in the fake elector scheme to overturn the 2020 election results in Georgia.
The Inquest is necessary to break through the cover-up, lies and misinformation that have been used to justify policies responsible for the avoidable deaths of millions.
1985-86: The victory of Trotskyism within the ICFI
The following lecture was delivered by Chris Marsden, the national secretary of the Socialist Equality Party (UK), and Ulaş Ateşçi, a leading member of the Sosyalist Eşitlik Grubu (Socialist Equality Group) in Turkey, to the SEP (US) International Summer School, held between July 30 and August 4, 2023.
The Workers League’s defence of the Theory of Permanent Revolution against the opportunism of the Workers Revolutionary Party
The following lecture was delivered by Tom Peters, a leading member of the Socialist Equality Group of New Zealand, and Thomas Scripps, a leading member of the Socialist Equality Party (UK), to the SEP (US) International Summer School, held between July 30 and August 4, 2023.
1982: Marxism, the revolutionary party, and the critique of Healy’s Studies in Dialectics
The following lecture was delivered by Christoph Vandreier, the national secretary of the Sozialistische Gleichheitspartei (Socialist Equality Party) of Germany to the SEP (US) International Summer School, held between July 30 and August 4, 2023.
The role of Security and the Fourth International in the fight for the continuity of the International Committee of the Fourth International
The following lecture was delivered by Eric London, a leading member of the Socialist Equality Party (US), to the SEP (US) International Summer School, held between July 30 and August 4, 2023.
Vadim Z. Rogovin (10 May 1937 – 18 September 1998) was a Soviet Marxist sociologist and historian. Working in close collaboration with the International Committee of the Fourth International, Rogovin helped lay the foundations for the Trotskyist movement’s fight against the post-Soviet school of historical falsification, including in his six-volume Was There an Alternative? This page collects major essays and commemorations on Rogovin as well as links to his own writings.
Former Montgomery, Alabama teacher testifies about the forced reopening of schools in 2020-21
In this interview, Tynisa Williams, former teacher in Montgomery, Alabama, describes the experience of being forced to teach in-person in the fall of 2020 and winter of 2021. She and her coworkers waged a courageous struggle to stop the deadly return to in-person learning that cost the lives of eight educators in the district.
Accomplices to social murder
The international pseudo-left and the lifting of Zero-COVID in China: Part 1
The pseudo-left’s hostility to public health and support for imperialism found sharp expression in their universal demand—echoing that of the Western corporate media and political establishment—that China abandon its Zero-COVID strategy.
Accomplices to social murder
The international pseudo-left and the lifting of Zero-COVID in China: Part 2
The pseudo-left’s hostility to public health and support for imperialism found its sharpest expression in their demand—echoing that of the Western corporate media and political establishment—that China abandon its Zero-COVID strategy.
Immunocompromised mother in Manhattan speaks to Global Workers’ Inquest into the COVID-19 Pandemic
Melanie, whose children attend public schools in New York City, spoke to the WSWS about the toll the “let it rip” policy toward the pandemic has taken on her and her family.
The definitive left-wing critique of the 1619 Project. This volume includes interviews with eminent historians and essays from the World Socialist Web Site exposing the New York Times’ racialist falsification of history.
The Wuhan “lab leak” fraud: A political witch-hunt against science and public health
The hearings before the House subcommittee have been a bipartisan effort to foment anti-Chinese hysteria.
Democrats join with Republican fascists to witch-hunt scientist Peter Daszak
During Wednesday’s House Subcommittee on COVID-19 with Dr. Peter Daszak, president of EcoHealth Alliance, Democrats joined ranks with fascistic Republican colleagues to promote the Wuhan lab-leak lies.
The Wuhan lab lie: “Weapons of mass destruction” redux
In an uncanny instance of history repeating itself, the lies used to justify the 2003 invasion of Iraq based on false claims about “weapons of mass destruction” are being used to promote the United States’ unprecedented military buildup around China.
A discredited conspiracy theory about the origins of COVID-19
The Wuhan Lab Leak slander being resurrected to bolster US war drive against China
The Wall Street Journal disclosed that the Department of Energy has shifted its opinion on the origin of the coronavirus to it being most likely a result of a lab leak. However, unnamed sources who have read the report indicate the evidence is of low confidence.
Nikole Hannah-Jones’ Center for Democracy and Journalism: Racialist politics in the service of US imperialism
After one year, the Center’s main accomplishment has been to deepen the mutual embrace between sections of the upper middle class and the military-intelligence apparatus.
The 1619 Project and the New York Times’ promotion of the racialist ideology of Ukrainian nationalism
The racialist historical revisionism of the Times and the racialist ideology of the Ukrainian neo-Nazis share a common premise: the mythological reimagining of history as a struggle of “the nation” and “the race.”
Oppose political censorship of antiwar views at Howard University!
We call on all students, faculty and staff members at Howard University to oppose this censorship and demand that the IYSSE be allowed to hold its planned meeting on campus.
Marcus Garvey and the reactionary logic of racialist politics
More than one hundred years after the formation of his Universal Negro Improvement Association (UNIA), Marcus Garvey's legacy remains highly relevant in the struggle to overcome efforts to divide the working class along racial lines.
Comrade Wije Dias, the longtime general secretary of the Socialist Equality Party (Sri Lanka), died in Colombo on July 27, 2022. This exhibit includes two tributes to Wije by WSWS International Editorial Board Chairman David North as well as a selection of Wije’s most significant articles and speeches.
The arrest of journalist Richard Medhurst and the fight to defend democratic rights
Medhurst said of his detention at the UK’s Heathrow Airport, “I believe I'm the first journalist to be arrested under this provision of the Terrorism Act.”
Instagram shutters account of Palestinian publisher Quds News Network
Instagram shut the account without explanation. Quds is one of the most popular Palestinian networks and has featured on-the-spot exposures of the war crimes in Gaza.
WSWS readers demand Facebook reverse ban on SEG in New Zealand
Readers have expressed outrage at the social media company’s anti-democratic censorship of the Trotskyist Socialist Equality Group in New Zealand.
Facebook blocks Socialist Equality Group in New Zealand from advertising
We call on readers to oppose Facebook’s blatant political censorship of the Trotskyist movement in New Zealand.
October 16 marked the 45th anniversary of the assassination of Tom Henehan, a member of the Political Committee of the Workers League—the predecessor of the Socialist Equality Party in the US. We are republishing here a tribute delivered by David North at a meeting in 1997.
Over 80,000 sign petition against NYU Langone’s termination of a pro-Palestinian resident physician
Over 80,000 people have signed a petition opposing the anti-democratic termination of Dr. Zaki Masoud by NYU Langone.
Report exposes fraudulent antisemitism accusations at UK universities
The report concludes that critics of the Israeli state, advocates for Palestinian rights and those teaching the history and politics of the region have been “subjected to false allegations of antisemitism.”
An interview with Harvard anthropology Professor John Comaroff—Part one
We spoke recently to South African-born John Comaroff, the Hugh K. Foster Professor of African and African-American studies and of Anthropology, and Oppenheimer Research Fellow in African Studies, Harvard University.
Harvard UAW, pseudo-left groups organize provocation against professor John Comaroff
The right-wing witch-hunt of John Comaroff at Harvard University continued Tuesday with a stage-managed protest during his first class of the semester.
Israel murders 274 Gazans in a further escalation of the genocidal war
For a demonstration on July 24 in Washington D.C. to protest congressional invitation for Netanyahu
The World Socialist Web Site calls on workers and youth to respond to Congress’ invitation to the war criminal Netanyahu with a demonstration in Washington D.C.
Leaders of London rally issue dead-end call for Sunak and Starmer to reverse support for Israel’s genocide
The determined opposition of workers and young people is being corralled into a dead-end, with calls that the only way to stop Israel is to put pressure on the Tories and, above all, the Labour Party of genocide apologist in chief, Sir Keir Starmer.
TikTok bans video demanding Bogdan Syrotiuk’s freedom, branding it “hate speech”
The TikTok ban comes just days after the Zelensky regime issued an order banning access to the World Socialist Web Site across Ukraine. The order was issued by the Ukrainian State Special Communications Service, a wing of the country’s military-intelligence apparatus.
Australian government, opposition launch hysterical attacks on the Greens over Gaza genocide
The Greens are serving as something of a placeholder, with the real target the mass opposition to the genocide among workers and young people.
This interactive timeline presents some of the most important events that have brought humanity to the brink of World War III. It includes links to critical articles and statements produced by the International Committee of the Fourth International over the past 30 years.
Aidan Beatty’s hackwork: The Israel-Zionist connection
The academic career of prominent DSA member Aidan Beatty, the author of a slanderous trash biography of long-time Trotskyist leader Gerry Healy, has been funded by Zionist institutions and Israeli-state sources.
A comment on David North’s review: Biography as demonology: Aidan Beatty’s The Party is Always Right: The Untold Story of Gerry Healy and British Trotskyism
The following letter was sent by Steve Long, a former member of the Socialist Labour League/Workers Revolutionary Party who writes for the World Socialist Web Site as Stefan Steinberg.
Book Review
Biography as demonology: Aidan Beatty’s The Party is Always Right: The Untold Story of Gerry Healy and British Trotskyism
Aidan Beatty's new book is not a biography, but rather a political diatribe against Gerry Healy and Trotskyism.
Book Review: The Demon of Unrest by Erik Larson
Contemporary lessons from the slave power’s plot to overturn the 1860 election
Erik Larson’s new book The Demon of Unrest, published this year by Penguin Random House, contains critical lessons for the fight against Trump and the threat of dictatorship today.
The WSWS is publishing the report delivered by David North 25 years ago, on February 1, 1997, motivating the proposal to end publication of the SEP’s printed newspaper and replace it with an international website; as well as North’s reply to the National Committee ‘s discussion of the proposal.
Trump lays out blueprint for mass repression, beginning with immigrants
In an interview with NBC, Trump said he would deport 11 million undocumented immigrants, together with millions of their children who are US citizens.
Genocidal intent: Amnesty International exposes malice aforethought in the Gaza genocide
On Wednesday, Amnesty International published an exhaustive 296-page report proving that "Only an intent to destroy the Palestinians in Gaza" can "explain the scale and scope" of the mass murder, forcible displacement, and deliberate starvation of the Palestinians in Gaza by Israel.
The fall of the French government and the bankruptcy of the New Popular Front
If it is far-right forces that are being strengthened by Barnier’s fall despite mass social anger against Macron, this is due to the bankruptcy of the NFP, which works to paralyze the workers.
The South Korean coup attempt and the global attack on democratic rights
The attempted military coup is a warning, not only to workers in South Korea but internationally, that the ruling classes around the world are being driven to dictatorial methods to impose their agenda of war and austerity.
Review the most critical essays, lectures and letters produced by the ICFI in the course of its intervention in response to the crisis of Stalinism and the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991.
14 years after New Zealand’s Pike River mine disaster, no justice for victims’ families
For 14 years, successive governments, state agencies, the judicial system and the union bureaucracy have worked to prevent anyone being brought to justice for the avoidable deaths of 29 workers in Pike River Coal’s underground mine.
New Zealand: Court action continues over Pike River mine disaster
Families of some of the 29 workers killed in the 2010 coal mine disaster are continuing their fight for answers about why authorities dropped charges against Pike River Coal chief executive Peter Whittall over the extremely dangerous conditions in the mine.
Police locate more bodies in New Zealand’s Pike River mine
The police investigation into the 2010 disaster that killed 29 mineworkers has been dragged out until at least the end of 2023, with no guarantee that anyone will be charged over the avoidable deaths.
New Zealand police extend investigation into Pike River mine disaster until the end of 2023
Police are delaying their decision on whether to lay charges over the 2010 Pike River mine disaster that killed 29 people, until after the October election.