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Site Azady Barabary:  Interview with Ben Lewis

Hopi Steering Committee member and member of Communist Students

1. Dear Benjamin Lewis, who are you, what organization are you working for, what are your strategies and what have you done?

Thanks comrade. I am on the Steering Committee of Hands Off The People Of Iran and heavily involved in this work. I am a member of the Communist Party of Great Britain and Communist Students. I have also lived in Germany and was a leading member of the occupations against student fees and an active (and extremely critical!) member of the Wahlalternative Arbeit und Soziale Gerechtigkeit (WASG).

2. Please tell us more about the "Hands Off People of Iran" organization.

Hands Off The People Of Iran (HOPI) is an anti-war campaign that militates against the sabre-rattling against Iran and the international sanctions that have blighted the lives of millions of Iranians.
Our political perspective flows from two basic principles:

1. Imperialism has no progressive role to play in this region or in any other part of the world. We therefore campaign against the threat of any imperialist intervention and fight for an end to the sanctions. Sanctions are not an alternative to war but a form of war. We demand the immediate, unconditional withdrawal of all occupying troops from the Gulf and an end to Israel's expansion and aggression.

2. The Islamic regime - whether in the sway of the 'reformist' faction around Mohammad Khatami (dubbed the 'Mullah with a smile' by radical Iranian students) or the hardline Mahmoud Ahmadinejad - is no friend of democracy. Its repressive and reactionary policies actually smooth the way for imperialist designs on the region. This means that we must build active, practical solidarity with grass-roots progressive and secular forces in Iran - the radical women's, workers' and students' movements. The ongoing nightmare of Iraq underlines that US-led imperialist forces can only introduce social meltdown and chaos - a fertile breeding ground for reaction. Progressive democratic change must spring from below, from the struggles of the working class and social movements.

In fact the question of imperialism and the Islamic regime are directly interrelated, with the Iranian theocracy using the pretext of imperialist intervention to divert attention away from the country's endemic crisis, deflect popular anger onto foreign enemies and thus prolong its iron rule by arresting radical students, workers and women and trying to politically attach them to the moribund plans of imperialism. Only by taking a principled stance against the threat of war and in solidarity with radical anti-war activists in Iran can the anti-war movement progress and become a genuine force.
Our demands reflect our principled approach:
No to imperialist war and an end to all sanctions!
No to the Islamic Republic!
The immediate and unconditional withdrawal of US/UK troops from the Gulf region!
Opposition to Israeli expansionism and aggression!
Support to all working class and progressive struggles in Iran against poverty and repression!
Support for socialism, democracy and workers' control in Iran!- For a nuclear-free Middle East as a step towards a nuclear-free world!

3-We really want to hear your analysis about the left movement of students in Europe in the last few decades. What do we learn from these movements?

This question is rather large in scope! Europe is a big place and quite a lot has gone on in the last few decades! In Britain the student movement remains very weak and is riven by sectarianism – lots of increasingly small groups compete with each other for an increasingly small pool of student activists. This is a real shame and something that must change. What it requires is the student left thinking about what it has in common and what it can build from. The main problem with the left in Britain is that the numerous 'revolutionary' and 'Marxist' groups set up 'broad' student fronts or 'networks' that consist of usually weak demands around education fees and grants, and have little or nothing to do with winning people to a viable Marxist project. In effect these projects are set up merely as recruiting fronts for this or that group. In my opinion, revolutionary students need to come together on an outline of principles informed and guided by the principles of Marxism



4. How do you find the "Students for Equality and Freedom" in Iran? You tried to support us while some of our leaders were in jail. Why?

I have been impressed by the political approach that you and your comrades have taken up in recent times precisely because, unlike the British student movement, it has taken up the fight for radical, Marxist ideas in order to make these hegemonic. Your movement is one of the most principled and radical movements worldwide and is certainly inspiring to revolutionary students across the world. It is all the more impressive because it does not restrict itself to demands regarding students and education but rather looks to link up with the organized working class movement in order to fight for a socialist society - a viable and radical alternative. That is why it is important for us to look to support and engage with you and your comrades' movement and ideas. We wish to raise the profile of your movement and hope to see it gain in strength and influence so that it can win masses of people to its banner and link up with the Iranian workers' movement and bring about genuine change.


5. One of our and your demands was to stop the upcoming war on Iran. Do you really think there is a war going to happen against Iranians? And are we in a place to stop it if it's really a danger?

HOPI, as a campaign in the imperialist heartlands, wants to make clear that unequivocal opposition to war (and the sanctions that are further exacerbating the crisis of the Iranian economy) is absolutely central to our political approach. We are clear that US-led imperialism is the greatest enemy of the world's peoples and call for the defeat of this project in the Middle East. One of our main and overriding tasks is to therefore challenge the pro-war lies and propaganda that are appearing with increasing ferocity, especially in the US. We must do this because if we in Britain and Europe merely go around campaigning against the Islamic Republic then there is a danger that we provide a cover for the rotten plans of the US and its offshore financial client, the British state. We have to be clear that these forces - their sanctions, surgical strikes and occupations - do not have any progressive role to play in the region and that for genuine democracy to come about in Iran there must be self-empowerment and liberation from below won in mass struggle. That is why we look to build links with grass-roots movements in Iran such as your own. As you know, the Iranian regime is using the threat of war to justify increasing repression within Iran – another reason to fight the war threat both in and outside Iran.

It seems to me obvious that there is an increasing drive to war. The US is making increasingly loud noises in that direction. The idiotic Republican candidate John Mc.Cain has been singing "Bomb Iran" to the tune of the Beach Boys' 'Barbara Ann' and Barack Obama, who some see as an anti-war candidate, has also been talking about intervention in Iran. Additionally, financial sanctions are being increased again, which can only lead to the further impoverishment of the Iranian people (most Mullahs have put their billions into offshore banks like Dubai!) The recent Israeli jet exercise that saw around one hundred F-15 and F-16 fighter planes flexing their muscles in the region was also quite clearly a "message" to Tehran as well. Things are very precariously balanced.

In my opinion, the only things that seem to be mitigating this situation at the moment are the US elections and the situation in Iraq and the Middle East more generally. This is quite paradoxical – the recent US military interventions in Iraq and Afghanistan have buttressed the Iranian regime by getting rid of two of its main enemies – Saddam Hussein and the Taliban. This is the real cause of the current military tension – not 'nuclear weapons' (Israel has a few of those) or imperialist sympathy for the plight of the Iranian people. Yet on the other hand, it is precisely the question of Iraq that just might, for now, prevent some sort of attack on Iran – not merely because the US Army is having problems in Iraq, but also because an attack on Iran would further destabilize Iraq. Iran has a large influence on the Iraqi puppet occupation government.

I am not too sure that we can stop a war on Iran if it comes down to it. The anti-war movement in Britain and across the world is unfortunately still a small and marginal force in society. In the last instance, imperialist war can only be stopped by defeating/overthrowing the war-mongering state(s) that drive it. Given the organizational and political weakness of the workers' movement in Europe and internationally, this is not really on the cards at the moment. Yet there are some positive signs coming from the organized working class movement. Take for example the 25,000 workers in the International Longshore and Warehouse Union in the US taking action to demand the immediate withdrawal of occupying troops from Iraq. This action had resonance within Iraq itself - the Iraqi Federation of Oil Unions and the Federation of Workers' Councils and Unions came out with a call for the immediate end to the occupation of Iraq and for workers' organisation independent of the numerous sectarian gangs.

What I think is important is looking to get the politics of the anti-war movement right and build from this basis. As you know, the leading groups in the British anti-war movement (the Stalinist Communist Party of Britain and the Trotskyist Socialist Workers Party) think that it "helps Bush" if we in the anti-war movement look to build links with and send out information on the radical movements in Iran.

The strength of HOPI is that it provides a general framework to coordinate working class political action against war - both in the heartlands of imperialism and within Iran itself. What matters in all this is politics and the ideas that we attempt to win the anti-war movement to uphold and fight for both at home and abroad. We in HOPI, despite being a very young campaign, have been pleasantly surprised at the breadth of support we enjoy in Europe, in the US and of course in Iran. We now have two British trade unions affiliated to us (Public and Commercial Services Union and Aslef the train drivers' union) and we will continue to build on this support to get our message out as far as possible.



6. The Iranian students' left movement have had a shift to internationalist ideas and strategies these years. Do you find this an advantage? If so, how do you think the students of the world could be united?

It is to be welcomed that the Iranian students have shifted to the left in recent times – not just in terms of internationalism but also in terms of many in the movement self-identifying as Marxists, Communists and Socialists. This is significant in that many Iranian students no longer have illusions in the ability of US-led imperialism to bring 'democracy' to Iran (no doubt a result of the disasters of Iraq and Afghanistan) and that many also do not hold the idea that the Iranian regime can be 'reformed' in any way (partly, as I understand it, due to the experience of 'the Mullah with a smile' Khatami in power). Students of the world should, in the immediate term, use all avenues available to them in order to communicate with each other, help to spread the news of actions and developments so often ignored by the mainstream media, and to exchange views and discuss political ideas. Given the task ahead of us in terms of re-articulating Marxist politics in the face of Stalinist and Social Democratic manipulation, I think this latter point is extremely important. It was also excellent that 'Hands Off The People Of Iran' posters could be seen at the student protests in December 2007. This type of coordinated action, even if purely symbolic, does provide a glimpse of higher unity that can be fought for. This should continue and be built upon.

In terms of how students can be united above and beyond looking to co-ordinated actions and the like, I think this is a much larger question that cannot be abstracted from the workers' movement and looking to build international working class organizations with the aim of genuine unity on a radical and inspiring programme.

7. I think that the workers' movement (especially in Europe) has fall down to a right position while trying to agitate the word "reform". I think this is not TOTALLY a Marxist pragmatic vision but can be brilliant and democratic. What's your idea about the workers' movement?

In terms of the relationship between reform and revolution I would argue that Marxists should not be aloof to the working class movement fighting for reforms in a radical manner. Marxists must be the most consistent champions of all democracy and fight against all forms of oppression in whatever form it manifests itself. What we must fight against however is the notion that reforms and small piecemeal victories are ends in themselves. The workers' movement is of significance because if it becomes conscious of its world historical role and organizes into independent parties nationally and internationally then its interests cease to be general and limited ones (as was the case with revolutionary class movements of the past) and champion the interests of humanity as a whole. In this sense I disagree with you. I think the European workers' movement has got it drastically wrong in recent times – its 'broad' projects not 'delimited between reform and revolution' have more or less all floundered on the question of 'reform vs revolution' and whether left parties should enter into bourgeois governments (Rifondazione in Italy, Linkspartei.PDS/Die Linke in Germany etc)

I think that the workers' movement both in Europe and internationally needs to be rebuilt again, and in a radically different fashion to what we had before. We need to rebuild communist parties and a communist international – but not on the old crusty Stalinist reformism of parties like the Tudeh party. What is needed are workers' parties formed on the basis of Marxism that can look to join together in a world international movement representing all these parties. The two basic principles I at the heart of this should be:

1. A commitment to extreme democracy, working class rule and self-administration as opposed to 'state' socialism and the idea that nationalization (in reality merely another legal property form) is the same thing as working class control

2. Consistent internationalism and the articulation of a working class foreign policy independent both of imperialist 'democratic' or 'humanitarian' interventions and sanctions and reactionary governments/regimes who are more often than not creatures of imperialist intervention and manipulation.


Thank you Ben. I wish you success and the best in HOPI.

Thanks to you, comrade. I wish you all the best too and hope that we can continue to build upon our common actions. No to war! No to theocracy! Hands Off The People Of Iran! Long live Marxism and revolution!
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