CINA

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The Int'l Struggle Day of the

Working Class

 

Well, since several days in Berlin the forces of the counter-revolution - aka the bourgeoisie, their state, their media - and the "revolution" are preparing for tomorrow's "struggle day"!!

THE COUNTER-REVOLUTION:

BZ(THE yellow press in Berlin): "ex-terrorist is planning a hate demonstration"

THE "REVOLUTION":

The "Mayday" in Berlin, just some years ago:

Read also the following f.., but funny(?) BS:

☞ Mai-Krawalle – Ausdruck ehrlicher Lebensfreude (Die Welt, 4.30)

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About last Sunday's MTU rally (in preparation of the Int'l Stuggle Day of the Working Class/"Mayday") I found several reports (unfortunately only in Korean):

 "이주노동자를 인간답게 대우하라"

117주년 노동절 맞이 이주노동자대회 열려

(VoP/민중의소리, 4.29)

 
29일 오후 2시 서울역 광장에서는 ‘117주년 노동절 맞이 단속추방중단, 미등록이주노동자 전면합법화, 이주노동자 노동권 확보’를 위한 이주노동자대회가 열렸다.

이날 대회는 서울경기인천 이주노동자노조(이하 ‘이주노조’), 재한네팔인공동체(NCC), 버마 공동체(Burma Action), 필리핀 공동체(Kasammako), 스리랑카 공동체(BNS), 인도네시아 공동체(ICC) 등 이주노동자들의 단체들이 주최했다. 그러나 정작 이주노동자들은 여러 지역에서 아침부터 실시된 단속 때문에 많은 인원이 참석하진 못했다고 마숨 이주노조 사무국장이 밝혔다.

  
  뚜라 버마 액션 대표는 “한국경제에서 이주노동자가 없으면 안 된다. 긍정적으로 받아들였으면 한다”며 “자기 나라의 경제가 어려워서 일 하러 오는 것은 부끄러운 일이 아닌데도 차별대우하면 안 되는 것”이라고 강조했다. 그는 “한국인도 한국을 벗어나 미국이나 일본 등에서 이주노동자가 되어 보면 우리들과 같다는 것을 알게 될 것”이라고 말했다.

  
  까지만 이주노조 위원장은 “이주노동자 정책이나 문제가 15년 동안이나 진행됐지만, 아직까지 해결 못하고 있다. 왜 그런지 한 가지만 말하겠다”며 “노동자가 노동자답게 살기 위해, 노동자로 인정해 달라. 이것만 해결되면 이주노동자 문제도 해결된다고 생각한다”고 말했다.

  
  서울역 광장에서 이주노동자대회를 마친 이들은 남대문을 거쳐 명동성당까지 행진을 한 후, 정리집회를 진행하고 일정을 마쳤다.

 http://www.voiceofpeople.org/new/2007042971651.html

Please see also:

☞ 이틀 빠른 이주노동자들의 117주년 노동절

☞ [4월 29일]117주년 메이데이 맞이 이주노동자 대회   

☞ 117주년 노동절 맞이 이주노동자 대회 열려

☞ 노동절에 쉬지 못하는 이주노동자들의 집회

☞ Mayday 117주년 맞이 이주노동자 결의대회

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Only few days before his mission as occupier in Iraq Prince Harry, according to the German (bourgeois) magazine Der Spiegel, already wrote his testament/last will..(^^) "And, as he said to friends, he will miss his family very much" (Spiegel, 4.29). But perhaps very soon he will not only miss his family, but also his ears, if we really want to believe the promise of the Iraqi resistance (once again: ^^).

The British newspaper The Guardian reported following yesterday:

Iraq militia: we have special unit

to target Prince Harry
Shia commander claims insurgents have plan to capture royal officer

Prince Harry will be a prime kidnap target for insurgents in Iraq, a commander in the Mahdi army, the Shia militia loyal to the radical cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, has told the Guardian.
"One of our aims is to capture Harry, we have people inside the British bases to inform us on when he will arrive," claimed Abu Mujtaba, who commands a unit of around 50 men active in the Mahdi army in Basra.

In comments denounced by British defence sources as "blatant propaganda", Abu Mujtaba told the Guardian: "We have a special unit that would work to track him down, with informants inside the bases.

"Not only us, the Mahdi army, that will try to capture him, but every person who hates the British and the Americans will try to get him, all the mujahideens in Iraq, the al-Qaida, the Iranians all will try to get him."

The Guardian has seen evidence that Abu Mujtaba has a number of men under his command as well as weaponry including rockets, but there is no independent evidence to substantiate his claims that militias have infiltrated British bases, or established a unit to target Prince Harry.

Abu Mujtaba continued: "For me he is just a British soldier and he should be killed if comes to Iraq, but let's be realistic, we can kill hundreds of British soldiers before forcing them to withdraw - like what's happening with Americans now - but Harry is a bigger catch and we will force the British to come on their knees and talk to us."

A senior Iraqi defence ministry official said that militias could overrun Basra relatively easily because they had successfully infiltrated local security forces. "When the Brits formed these forces they depended on these militias for lists of recruits," he said.

Responding to the threats against Prince Harry, a British defence source said: "This is blatant propaganda from those who aim to tear Iraq apart. These threats will not prevent British forces from doing their vital work of building up the Iraqi security forces and helping them to face down those perpetuating violence against the Iraqi people."

The Ministry of Defence yesterday maintained its previous official line, that Prince Harry's deployment on a six-month tour to south-eastern Iraq with his regiment, the Blues and Royals of the Household Cavalry, was under "constant consideration". It added: "It remains our intention that Prince Harry will be deployed as a troop leader."

The Blues and Royals are part of a mechanised brigade to be deployed next month. They will carry out reconnaissance using armoured cars. Reports that an attack by a roadside bomb on an armoured vehicle in Maysan province last week that killed two British soldiers was a "dry run" for an attempt on the prince's life were treated with scepticism yesterday by senior defence sources. However, it was the first time British soldiers have been killed in that type of vehicle in south-eastern Iraq by hostile action and security has been stepped up in the areas where the Blues and Royals will be based.

Defence officials and military commanders are becoming agitated by the intense media coverage of Prince Harry's planned deployment. They argue that it encourages insurgents and militia in Iraq to escalate their propaganda war as well as increase the risks surrounding the prince's deployment. Commanders are concerned that the deployment may increase the threat to all his regimental colleagues, and even to all British troops in the area...

http://www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/Story/0,,2067593,00.html

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MWTV  "propaganda"

**117주년 노동절 맞이 이주노동자 대회**

"단속추방중단, 미등록이주노동자 전면합법화"를 위한
117주년 노동절 맞이 이주노동자 결의대회를 개최합니다
이주노동자 공동체와 이주노조가 공동 주최합니다
동지들의 뜨거운 연대와 지지를 보내주십시오! 투쟁!

일시 - 2007년 4월 29일, 오후 2시
장소 - 서울역 광장

민주노총 서울본부, 서울경인이주노동자노동조합, 네팔공동체연합, 버마행동, 필리핀 공동체, 방글라데시공동체, 스리랑카 공동체, 인도네시아 공동체

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GUERNICA 70 YEARS AGO

FASCIST ARIAL TERROR ATTACK

"Guernica", by P. Picasso, 1937

"Guernica, a city with 5,000 inhabitants.. has been literally razed to the ground. Bomb craters can be seen in the streets. Simply wonderful.", April 26, 1937 the commander of the 'Condor Legion' wrote in his war diary.

It has been exactly 70 years since German and Italian fighter planes backing the fascist forces of Gen. Francisco Franco in the Spanish Civil War leveled this historic Basque town on April 26, 1937.

According to the Basque government 1,654 citizens were killed and nearly 900 injured during the bomb attack. (Der Spiegel, Germany, 4.26)

Actually it was the first arial terror attack against civilian targets in the entire history.

Related:

☞ Bombing of Guernica (Wikipedia)

☞ 70 years later, Guernica holds secrets (AP)

☞ Practicing Blitzkrieg in Basque Country (Der Spiegel)

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Labor party lawmaker announces presidential ambition

A former leader of the progressive Democratic Labor Party Thursday announced his candidacy for a party primary for December's presidential election.

"The focus of this year's presidential election will be whether a candidate can offer ways to revive the economy and foster peace on the Korean Peninsula," said DLP Rep. Kwon Young-gil.

..No comment!!!

"I will surely bring a bright future for Korea with a shift to a progressive regime," he said.

Kwon ran in the 1997 and 2002 presidential elections on the ticket of the DLP but only garnered 1.2 percent and 3.9 percent of the vote, respectively.

Kwon is expected to compete for his party's nomination with two colleagues, Rep. Shim Sang-jung and Rep. Roh Hoe-chan, who already announced their presidential bids.

Kwon has proposed a federation-based unification of the two Koreas, the withdrawal of U.S. forces from South Korea and the abolishment of the anti-communist National Security Law.

"I will be with any force that is willing to narrow the gap between rich and poor and that is against the free trade agreement with the United States," he said.

(Yonhap, 4.26)

http://english.yna.co.kr/Engnews/20070426/610000000020070426135409E0.html

But beside the fact that Kwon and the other DLP-candidates - in my opinion - have complete no chances in the coming election, remember what the SK more radical left said just few years ago about Kwon:

"Some times ago DLP called Kwon Young-gil as the Korean T. Blair. Now they're calling him the Korean Lula.."

And - BTW - I remember that Kwon, during the last election campaign promised in front of foreign capitalists (I think it was in the American Chamber of Commerce, but I'm not really sure..) that he would try his best to guarantee peaceful solutions for possible labour disputes between them and their Korean workers, to avoid strikes, ie actions of class struggle..

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Today, in Moscow, was the funeral for B. Yeltsin - the world's most famous alcohilic (76 years old he died last Monday).

But he wasn't just a "funny", hard drinking person..

He was also responsible for major political/war crimes.

For example:

1991:  While more than 75 per cent of the people in the Soviet Union/SU (except Moldavia, Georgia, Armenia and the Baltic Republics) voted for the preservation of the USSR, Yeltsin forced the complete destruction of the SU. ->(aka)THE REAL BEGINNING OF THE RUSSIAN DEMOCRACY!!

♦The reaction of the western "democracies" - NOTHING

1993:  Yeltsin, after he was trying to get the total power over the Russian Federation, unconstitutional declared the dissolution of the Russian parliament.
The parliament was trying to resist, but Yeltsin ordered the army (several tank units) to crackdown the (actually democratic) resistance. Oct. 4 the army broke the resistance with extreme violence (the parliament B/D was bombarded by the troops).
At the same day more than 100 oppositionals were killed in a small stadium behind the parliament B/D (Berliner Zeitung, 4.24).

♦The reaction of the western "democracies" - NOTHING

1994: Yeltsin started the war against Chechniya. At least 80,000 people, mainly civilians were killed.

♦The reaction of the western "democracies" - NOTHING

Related stuff:

☞ The Rise and Fall of the Drunken Czar (Der Spiegel)

☞ Yeltsin: A man with a complicated legacy (Asia Times/RFE)

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Following strange report was published in y'day's DailyNK:

Disabled Persons Ousted From the

Revolutionary Capital of Pyongyang

 
..In North Korea, special treatment for disabled persons is uncommon as is the concept of helping people voluntarily.

Countries with such systems symbolize a developed social welfare class and an advanced level of people’s living standards. Though North Korean citizens proclaim they live in a paradise, the average person is dying of starvation and disabled people live lives far worse.

While soldiers who are injured on duty are cared for by the nation, all other disabled persons are as they say, “should not have been born.”

There is no opportunity to develop your abilities and talents. Here in South Korea, people say that disabled people are discriminated against. But the facilities, benefits and opportunities for employment here, by far outweigh the privileges in North Korea.

In North Korea, a symbolic policy for disabled people is by expelling them from Pyongyang. Even today, you will not find any disabled persons living in the major districts in Pyongyang, Joong, Pyongchun and Daedong River.

The reason is simple. The mere presence of disabled people in the revolutionary city of Pyongyang leaves an unpleasant impression to foreign visitors. Kim Jong Il made this order himself.

There are disabled persons on the outer skirts of Pyongyang. These people are able to live there but secretly, as it is merely the outer perimeter of Pyongyang. Nonetheless, they live under the strict protection of families.

Authority orders bring unhappiness

Our family was living in Pyongchun-district, Pyongyang at the time. I have a younger sister, but when she was young one of her legs became numb after an incident of infantile paralysis. As a result, one of her legs was very thin and shorter than the other, which made her body shape different to other people.

One day in July of `82, my father who worked for the agricultural committee came home looking saddened. Without finishing his evening meal, he went in his room. My mother followed him instantly knowing something was wrong.

After a very long time, my father and my mother came back and said while stroking my sister’s hair, “Come what may, you will have to go to uncle’s house for a while.”

At first my sister was happy thinking it was a holiday but then burst into tears, “I don’t want to. I want to stay with mommy. I don’t want to go.” Though others may have snickered pointing their finger at my sister calling her a spastic, my parents treasured my sister above all the children. And we children, also knew the hearts of our parents well.

My parents just barely saved my sister from dying of infantile paralysis and the thought of having to send her to the country broke their heart. Even though it was a relative, undeniably no one would welcome a disabled cousin. My sister also felt bleak at the thought of parting the nurture of her loving parents to live in the country with relatives.

That morning, my father was called by a secretary of the Party. The secretary informed of the orders which expelled my sister from Pyongyang. He said, “Comrade, we are aware your daughter is disabled. An order has been given by the Party. Either you send your daughter to the country, or your whole family goes to live in the country.”

Though my father pleaded by saying “I will raise my daughter well, without letting her leave the home at all times” it was to no avail. The secretary merely replied, “There is nothing I can do. Under the regulations of the authority, disabled persons are not allowed in the revolutionary capital of Pyongyang.”

In South Korea, people are free to live in the country or come to Seoul as they please. However, it is not the same in Pyongyang. You can only live in Pyongyang if have a certain level of social position. If one’s parents committed a felony, or children have not been disciplined in the correct manner, a family can be expelled to the country. Similar procedures occur if a person disobeys authoritative policy.

Pyongyang is seen as the city of hope to North Koreans as rations are distributed on the rare occasions. You are considered a big success if you leave the country for Pyongyang. After completing his 10 years of military service, my father graduated from the University of Agriculture and began working for the agricultural committee under the Party. It was in fact, a very difficult situation for him to leave his position to live in the country for his daughter.

In the end, my father asked his older brother who lived hundreds of kilometers away to look after my sister, “until further measures were made.” My uncle who was always proud of his younger brother for living in Pyongyang happily agreed.

“Why were you banished?” Feelings of estrangement and isolation

My mother could not hold her tears as she watched my sister walking away on her crutches. I can still vividly remember my mother sitting on the ground crying, nodding her head. As I held my sisters hand, I said, “You must study hard” and promised to go get her one day.

Although my sister was uncomfortable in the legs, she studied well and was pretty. In our family, she received a lot of attention but people treated her differently in the country. She couldn’t socialize with the other children as she walked abnormally and she was teased by the other children.

Further, people have a tendency to look down on people who have been expelled form Pyongyang. They teased her and said, “Why were you banished? Did your father lose his job?” My sister who was angered by this remark threw a stone at one child and as a result, my aunt was called by the security agency and there was a lot of trouble.

My sister didn’t place one foot outside the door as the teasing was severe. She did not attend school and the school was more content with this. After spending 3 years in the country still unable to fit in, my sister came to Pyongyang in the holidays and resisted returning to the country.

Leaving little choice, my father consulted my grandmother in Nakrang-district, Pyongyang and after giving a large bribe to the authorities there, my sister went to live with our grandmother. From then, my sister was prohibited from leaving the home and learned needlework. Since she had not even completed her middle school studies, she was unable to enroll at the school for disabled people.

My sister always regretted being uneducated. I realize that battling and surviving any discrimination is the key to living. However, my sister left school unable to endure the hardship, though it is not entirely her own fault.

Today, I see disabled people in South Korea and my heart goes out to my sister who still lives with our grandmother in North Korea. 

http://www.dailynk.com/english/read.php?cataId=nk01300&num=1956

*****

PS:

When I visited PY I really saw only one group of disabled people (j.y.dongji should have at least one picture about it.. perhaps .. will upload it..??!!)

BTW.. even old people, in SK everywhere you see them on the streets, in PY.. it seems that they are not existing, not at all..

Eh~ of course in SK the situation for disabled people isn't so good. At least for them, living outside Seoul, there are - for example - no possibilities to move. Even they are living, let's say in Pyeongtaek(with a subway connection to Seoul), they never will have the possibility to go to the capital, because in the subway there are no elivators. And just imagine the life of disabled people on the SK countryside...

Related stuff:

☞ 경찰, 장애인의 날 행사 80여명 폭력연행 

☞ 4.20 장애인대회 (사진報告 #1)

☞ 경찰의 잘못으로 장애인 한분이 20일 밤 집회후 교통사고로 크게 다쳤습니다!!

☞ 또 다른 세상은 가능하다 (지난 주 투쟁報告)

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Following - in my opinion - interesting article was published in today's Hankyoreh:

Foreigners cite nationalism, discrimination

as barriers to life in Korea
In wake of Virginia Tech incident, Korean society called on

to accept its own immigrants

A 30-year-old foreign woman, who gained South Korean nationality last year after leaving her home in a central Asian country to marry a Korean, wept on April 20 as she talked to a Hankyoreh reporter. Her bloodshot eyes were mixed with anger and chagrin. Her anger centers on how her 10-year-old son is treated in school, where he is a third-grade elementary student. "Fourth and fifth grade students beat my son because he is different in appearance. Despite my appeals to the school, the matter hasn’t been resolved.” Because of the matter, she transferred her son to another school, but the situation did not change. "My son is scared of going to school," she sighed.

***

A 36-year-old Mongolian woman came to South Korea in 2003. Though she received Korean nationality last year, she has seen no difference in her poor treatment. While she received a Korean identification card instead of a foreigner’s one, and while her appearance is similar to that of Koreans, these do not help her. "When I go to a restaurant or a store, people use polite expressions to greet me. But when they hear my pronunciation, they begin to talk impolitely to me." She plans to change her name to a Korean one because her five-year-old son would otherwise be discriminated against at elementary school, which he begins next year. Even in kindergarten, students ask the teacher whether her son, Min-su (not his real name), is Korean or not.

***

Given this atmosphere, how would South Korean society react if an immigrant commited a crime similar to the Virginia Tech massacre?

In the wake of the tragedy caused by a South Korean immigrant, some critics pointed out that South Koreans should reflect upon their attitude toward foreign immigrants such as Southeast Asian workers and others. In particular, as some foreigners who have gained South Korean nationality still suffer from widespread discrimination and prejudice, racism in South Korean society is under close scrutiny.

The central Asian woman said, "While the U.S. is a multiracial society, discrimination and prejudice are much more rampant in South Korea because Koreans think of themselves as a homogeneous people." The Mongolian woman said, "When I talk with my Mongolian friend on the subway, I am surprised by the coldness seen in the reactions of Koreans around us." She said her Filippino friends were told by other Koreans they were being noisy when they talked in their mother language.

Lee Cheol-seung, head of a foreign labor consultancy in South Gyeongsang Province, said, "Typically, Koreans treat immigrants as expatriates because they aren’t ethnic Koreans. If one were to commit a crime similar to that of Seung-hui Cho, ethnic Koreans would consider him as a non-Korean, as still being a member of the society from which he initially came," Lee said.

Kim Yun-jae, a lawyer who emigrated to the U.S., said, "Most Koreans see the [Virginia Tech] tragedy as a cause for shame and guilt, instead of considering it an incident caused by structural problems in American society. In light of this attitude, most Koreans are likely to treat immigrants and naturalized Koreans in the same way [they treated the Cho incident]," he added.

Kang Seong-hye, head of an emergency call center for immigrant women, said, "To resolve the matter of Koreans’ nationalistic exclusivity, we should figure out ways to reshape the community, and teach this in schools in order to share it with society. Services are also needed to help immigrants adapt to being Korean," Kang said.

http://english.hani.co.kr/arti/english_edition/e_national/204736.html

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Already about half year ago, when I heard the first time that the British Prince Harry will go to Iraq to join the occupation forces there, I thought that will be really funny. After his arrival there, all the Iraqi militant groups in opposition to the occupation will be involved in a race - who will be able to take him as hostage (or alternatively kill him).

Now today the German magazine Der Spiegel (in its online edition) headlined: "Iraqi Militias Publishing Harry-Pictures".. Harrharr!!!

"Abu Zaid, commander of the Malik Ibn Al Ashtar Brigade of the Mehdi Army militia, said: 'We are awaiting the arrival of the young, handsome, spoilt prince with baited breath and we confidently expect he will come out into the open on the battlefield.

'We will be generous with him. He will return to his grandmother [the Queen] but without ears,'(*) added Zaid..", according to today's Observer (UK).

Related articles (by the Observer):

☞ Harry is target in Iraq

☞ Harry 'the mother of all targets' in Iraq

Jan. 2005

So what..?? If he will be kidnapped/killed or not..(^^)

* Wow, that's a f.. great idea, really!! BTW it seems that (at least some parts of) the Iraqi "resistance" has developed in the recent month a very special kind of humor..^^