Reports of the Hopi steering committee
The next meeting takes place on Saturday April 26 on Paltalk. Meetings of the Hopi steering group are open to all members of Hopi. Please get in touch if you want to attend or if you have ideas and suggestions that you think should be discussed at the meetings.
Saturday January 12
Saturday February 23
Saturday March 29
March 29 2008
Present: Mark Fischer, Yassamine Mather, Tina Becker, Charlie Pottins, Houzan Mahmoud
Observer: David Mather
Apologies: Moshe Machover, Benjamin Lewis, Tami Peterson, Azar Majedi, Azar Sheibani, Ali Damavandi, Steven Monaghan, Vicky Thompson, Stuart King, Torab Saleth
1) Minutes and matters arising
It was agreed that in future, detailed minutes will only be sent to members of the executive. But we will also produce more general reports for publication on the website.
2) Reports
a) European Anti-war meeting
Yassamine Mather took part in a well-organised online meeting of the above group, which had about 90 participants from Sweden, Holland, France, Germany and Denmark. Not in all countries has it been possible to establish a united campaign (Sweden and France) and not all participants seemed aware of the fact that the agreed basis of any unified actions are the following four points:
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Against imperialism
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Against war
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Against the theocracy
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For solidarity with the workers, women and students in Iran
The online meeting discussed the possibility of a united European demonstration at some point in the future and will continue to meet online in the meantime. The Hopi SC agreed that we should invite the participants to the June 14-15 Hopi school.
b) AWL suggestion for debate with Hopi
The meeting discussed the AWL's proposal for a debate on the question of Iran and the role of imperialism in the Middle East. Most participants however thought that this was not a good idea, as Hopi has representatives from different groups and with different opinions within it. Therefore, the meeting suggested that this debate should be conducted between the CPGB and the AWL - which is where the differences are expressed most clearly.
c) Du’a Khalil conference on honour killings
The meeting agreed to sponsor the conference (Saturday April 12, 5-9pm, ULU, room 3D).
5) June 14-15 Hopi weekend school
This is the agenda we are working towards (and we are presuming that probably not all sessions will take place):
1) War, human rights and ‘humanitarian interventions’
2) Iran, Israel and the Middle East and the nuclear question
3) Sanctions and Iran (including discussion on workers’ sanctions)
4) Can imperialism liberate women in the Middle East? (touching on cultural relativism and Islamic feminism?)
5) National and religious minorities
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Peter Tatchell (on national and religious minorities)
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Esen Uslu (Communist Party of Turky on the role of the Kurds)
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And/or Robert Fisk (who has got a new book to promote)
6) The working class movements and their response to the economic crisis in Iran
7) The 1979 revolution and its aftermath
6. Finances
The meeting agreed to launch a standing order drive.
AOB
The next meeting/s should be held online on Paypal to reduce the cost of travelling. Next meetings are planned for:
February 23 2008
Present: Moshe Machover, Torab Saleth, Tami Peterson, Azar Sheibani, Mark Fischer, Ben Lewis, Tina Becker, Charlie Pottins, Vicky Thompson, Steve Monaghan, Ali Damavandi
Apologies: Yassamine Mather, Peter Tatchell, Azar Majedi, Stuart King, Houzan Mahmoud, Mehdi Kia
Minutes: Tina Becker
1. REPORTS
a) Students
Ben reported that a number of very successful Hopi student meetings were held in Manchester and Sheffield. There are meetings planned in Edinburgh (27th of February), Oxford (29th of February) and Leeds. He will try and set up student/campus meetings in Bristol and Nottingham. Furthermore, Hopi and Communist Student member Chris Strafford is standing for the ‘Block of 12’ of the NUS executive and his platform contains many references to Hopi. Hopi members also support the election of arrested Iranian student Anoosheh Azaadbar as Honorary Vice President of the NUS. It was further reported that Hopi Manchester had succeeded in bringing a motion to the NUS LGBT conference, which urges the NUS to support Hopi.
The meeting went on to discuss our response to an approach by Education Not for Sale (the student organisation of the Alliance for Workers’ Liberty), which have asked us to participate in a joint meeting at the NUS conference on the imprisoned Iranian students and workers.
The meeting decided:
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To accept the invitation for a joint meeting with the AWL/ENS only if it is organised as a debate.
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To this end, a couple of amendments were voted through (see attachment A).
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If they refuse to organise the debate, Hopi will organise its own fringe meeting
c) Women
It was reported that a joint event with the Women’s Campaign Against All Misogynist Laws planned for the end of February in London had to be postponed to late March.
The meeting further discussed a solidarity message to a conference in Sweden on March 8 and the demonstration in Brussels on the same day.
2. Activities
a) March 6 ‘global day of action’
With a couple of amendments, the meeting voted for the leaflet/text that we will give out on the demonstrations and protests organised on March 6. The essence: while we take part, we cannot politically support the day of action (see attachment B).
b) March 15 demonstration in London
While the speakers have not yet been advertised, it is likely that the STWC will again have invited a representative of Hezbollah to speak – while denying speakers from Hopi a platform (our requests for a Hopi speaker have been ignored).
Hopi will have at least one stall, plus a general leaflet and placards.
c) Hopi weekend school, June 14-15
The meeting agreed on the new date.
Suggestions for the agenda (which will be brought together and re-submitted to steering committee by Mark):
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Trade unions and student protests in Iran
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The 1979 revolution and its aftermath
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‘Iran’s economic crisis and its role in gobal imperialism’ (could this be a debate?)
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The role of women (??), LGBT (??) and national minorities (Peter Tatchell has registered his interest to speak)
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Does Iran have the right to develop nuclear weapons? And what about nuclear energy? Debate
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Are sanctions a way to bring peace and democracy to the Middle East? Debate
The meeting further decided to have sub-committee to look into organising a social on the Saturday night, to which ‘famous’ Hopi supporters should be invited.
3. Finance
Our treasurer is working on bringing order into the currently rather chaotic financial arrangements. Tami suggested that Hopi should register to raise money via the Workers’ Beer Company.
4. AOB
a) International anti-war campaign on Iran
The meeting heard that Hopi had been invited to speak in a Paltalk meeting of a number of anti-war groups set up by Iranian exiles with a view to investigate future coordination with the activities of anti war Iranian groups in Europe. A Hopi representative will participate in the next meeting.
b) Hopi stall at King’s College
Thursday February 28, from 11am – 2pm. Get in touch if you can help
c) Forthcoming Hopi meetings and events
Please advertise these and let us know of any further meetings with Hopi speakers or which have been organised by local Hopi branches. See section on our website
Next meetings of the steering committee
Attachment A:
Reply to ENS regards fringe meeting at NUS conference (changes agreed in red)
[Sacha Ismail of the AWL/ENS contacted Ben Lewis by phone mid-February with a propsal that Hopi organise a “joint fringe meeting” with ENS on students at the forthcoming Blackpool NUS conference]
Dear Sacha,
Thank you for getting in touch to propose a joint meeting between HOPI and ENS at the coming NUS Conference in April.
Given the political differences between our organisations, we would like to run any meeting with you as a debate and make this clear in the material to build it.
HOPI is supporting the ENS-initiated campaign to elect our imprisoned comrade Anoosheh Azaadbar as Honrary Vice President of the union and, of course, a debate such as the one we propose would touch on the issue of the imprisoned students and the brutal repression of their and other movements for democracy in Iran.
However, our Iranian comrades also face the threat of war and are subject to harsh economic sanctions. In other words, they are threatened by the main enemy of the Iranian and world’s people – imperialism.
We feel it is necessary to draw sharp political lines between ourselves and political trends within the movement that downplay or ignore this basic fact. We argue for an approach to solidarity premised on the fact that moribund capitalism - imperialism - holds no answers either for the people of Iran or anywhere else on the globe. We want direct links of support between the working people of Iran and internationally that are ideologically, politically and materially independent of either imperialism or the theocratic regime. In today's world, democracy and progressive social change comes from struggles only from below - whether in the Middle East, in Europe or in the United States itself. The genuine solidarity movement argues against imperialist ‘surgical strikes’ and calls for the end to imperialist occupations.
The appproach of the ENS/AWL is clearly at odds with this and it is for this reason that any meeting involving our two organisations must take take the form of a debate to explore the important differences between us. Hopefully, such a debate will also achieve greater political clarity between us and, crucially, the wider student movement on these key questions.
Yours against imperialist war and in solidarity with the Iranian people,
HOPI Steering Committee
Attachment B:
Statement/leaflet for March 6 (click here to download as a leaflet)
What sort of solidarity do workers in Iran need?
Why we cannot politically support the day of action on March 6 2008
Supporters of Hands Off the People of Iran will be taking part in the day of action on March 6 to highlight the plight of Iranian trade unionists currently languishing in the prisons of the regime (Ossanlou, Salehi and many others). However, we draw the line at politically endorsing these protests.
The groups centrally involved in organising this mobilisation (the International Transport Workers Federation (ITF) and the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC)) are deeply compromised politically. They are more or less silent on the role of imperialism in the region and - in truth - are junior partners in implementing the reactionary agendas of the US and its allies.
The official leaflets to mobilise for this day of action focus almost exclusively on opposition to the theocratic regime. But the Iranian working class is facing two enemies - both the Ahmadinejad regime and the biggest enemy of it and the world’s working class, imperialism.
The negative impact that the pressure of US-led imperialism has already exerted on the Iranian working class does not merit a mention in the publicity material of the IFT and ITUC. The looming threat of war and sanctions have cost the jobs of thousands of Iranian workers - and those that protest to defend their conditions against the anti-democratic attacks of the theocratic regime are branded as “traitors” or “dupes of imperialism”. Iranian workers are struggling daily against the Islamic Republic’s attacks - privatisations, casualisations, systematic non-payment of wages and attacks on effectively organised trade unions that stand up to this vicious exploitation.
Yet, in this, the theocracy is just enthusiastically enforcing neo-liberal economic policies dictated by the World Bank and the IMF! No wonder there is no enthusiasm amongst the working class and radical movements of Iran for regime change ‘George Bush style’. Not only do they have the grinding experience of what this already means for their daily struggle to live, they have only to glance at the nearby hell that imperialism has fashioned in Iraq to understand that the chance for genuine democracy and social change must come from their own struggles, not from reactionary self-appointed ‘saviours’. Organisations such as IFT or ITUC that are silent on imperialism - and those on the left that uncritically tail them - effectively provide a left cover for the war plans of Bush.
Hopi has a totally different approach to solidarity. We are clear moribund capitalism - imperialism - has no answers either for the people of Iran or anywhere else on the globe. We want direct links of support between the working class in Iran and internationally that are ideologically, politically and materially totally independent of either imperialism or the theocratic regime. In today’s world, democracy and progressive social change comes from struggles only from below - whether in the Middle East, in Europe or in the United States itself.
Click here to read the motion on workers in Iran passed at the Hopi launch conference plus our model trade union resolution.
January 12 2008
Present: Moshe Machover, Torab Saleth, Tami Peterson, Azar Sheibani, Stuart King, Houzan Mahmoud, Mark Fischer, Ben Lewis, Tina Becker
Apologies: Mehdi Kia, Yassamine Mather, Vicky Thompson, Steve Monaghan, Peter Tatchell, Azar Majedi, Charlie Pottins
Minutes: Tina Becker
1. INTRODUCTION
Mark Fischer opened the meeting and congratulated all to the successful launch conference in December. Hopi now has just under 120 members and seven affiliated organisations.
Now we must not lose momentum and move forward. He proposed that March 15 (World Against War demonstration) should act as a focus for our short-term activities. Building for a strong Hopi presence at this march would facilitate the building of Hopi branches. He further proposed that a two-day school in spring (April 26-27) would help to further educate our activists and act as a focus for building Hopi.
2. FOUNDING CONFERENCE REVIEW
The following items were remitted to the steering group:
2.1 Palestine
Hopi North West proposed at conference that we should add to our founding statement the slogan against Israeli expansionism the words “and support the heroic Palestinian struggle for self-determination and the right to return”.
After a long discussion, the steering group voted to reject the inclusion (7 against, one abstention).
2.2 Trade union model resolution
After a brief discussion, this was passed. The final version will be circulated to the steering group before publication.
3. ACTIONS AND CAMPAIGNING PRIORITIES
Under this item, a number of reports were given and actions discussed. A full list of meetings will be made available on the Hopi website. We decided to produce a general leaflet/postcard in time for the March 15 demonstration.
