U.S.-Russia-Iran conflict brewing in Middle East
AP News, 7/14–The U.S. is beefing up its use of fighter jets around the strategic Strait of Hormuz to protect ships from Iranian seizures, a senior defense official said Friday, adding that the U.S. is increasingly concerned about the growing ties between Iran, Russia and Syria across the Middle East. Speaking to Pentagon reporters, the official said the U.S. will send F-16 fighter jets to the Gulf region this weekend to augment the A-10 attack aircraft that have been patrolling there…after Iran tried to seize two oil tankers near the strait last week, opening fire on one of them…the defense official told reporters the U.S. is considering a number of military options to address increasing Russian aggression in the skies over Syria, which complicated efforts to strike an Islamic State group leader last weekend. The official…said the U.S. will not cede any territory and will continue to fly in the western part of the country on anti-Islamic State missions.

China makes moves in Argentina
Al Jazeera,7/17–Massa, who recently announced his bid for president in this year’s election, met with a wide slate of government and business leaders, securing $3.05bn from Chinese institutions to finance railways, power lines, lithium projects and renewable energy in Argentina…But perhaps the announcement of most consequence came around the currency swap line between the two countries – a yuan lifeline…to the beleaguered Latin American economy, which is seeking more financial room to maneuver. There were a lot of thumbs-up signs from Argentine Economy Minister Sergio Massa on a recent trip to Beijing.

These growing ties have not gone unnoticed by the United States, the traditionally dominant player in the region, which has seen its influence on its so-called back-yard slip. In response, the US has sought to exert pressure on Argentina to rein in its ties with China, advocating privately, and in some cases publicly, against certain projects.

Racist kkkops in U.S. France
New York Times, 7/17–Years before France was inflamed with anger at the police killing of a teenager during a traffic stop, there was the notorious Théo Luhaka case. Mr. Luhaka…was …in his housing project in a Paris suburb in 2017 when the police swept in to conduct identity checks. Mr. Luhaka was wrestled to the ground by three police officers, who hit him repeatedly and sprayed tear gas in his face. When it was over, he was bleeding from a four-inch tear in his rectum, caused by one of the officers’ expandable batons.

Calls to overhaul the police go back at least four decades to when thousands of young people of color marched for months in 1983 from Marseille to Paris, over 400 miles, after an officer shot a young community leader of Algerian descent…Last month, after the police shooting of Mr. Merzouk, Alliance and another police union announced that they were at war with the rioters, whom they deemed “vermins” and “savage hordes.”

Israeli and Palestinian fascists fight on by killing Palestinian workers
The Guardian, 7/17–On the street in central Gaza City where the family of Khalil al-Bahtini lived, the contents of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad commander’s home and the two houses on either side remain spilled out into the street…The GBU-39 bomb that crashed through three floors of the Bahtini home, down into the basement, also blew apart one side of the Adas’s house, killing the family’s two teenage daughters. Dania, 19, died immediately, while her sister, Imam, 17, clung to life for two hours before succumbing to her injuries in hospital…The assassinations, which came during a ceasefire, led Islamic Jihad to respond with almost 1,500 rockets fired towards Israel over the course of five days…The violence left 33 people in Gaza dead, including at least 10 women and children, and, according to Palestinian officials, 103 homes were destroyed and a further 2,800 damaged.

Fight these thieving landlords!
At the end of June Progressive Labor Party members who participate in community organizations met at a conference where they were discussing housing budgets in New York. As always, this event was taken advantage of by bureaucrats and opportunist politicians who try to put the class consciousness of the working class to sleep. The mayor appoints the Board of Directors for the Rental Guidelines Board for New York City that decides the rent increases for the 1.5 million apartments with rent stabilization in the City.

Under capitalism it doesn’t surprise us that this kangaroo court decided against the interests of the working class and for the benefit of the thieving landlords. Three percent increases for rental leases of one year and for two year leases, 2.75 percent for the first year and 3.5 percent for the second. Some friends in the community organization said it’s ok because at least it’s better than the original proposal from the landlords. No! It’s a racist attack on working class families that have to choose between paying rent and paying for food and medical care. A rent increase between $40 and 150 a month will push low income people over the edge. The fight must continue!

What can save us is united working class anger and the repudiation of this abusive imposition. It also makes us happy to have gotten a good reception from the crowd to our newspaper CHALLENGE. We distributed 100 copies at the event.

We have to remain united and fight to smash this capitalist system that oppresses us. To the extent that we continue our work inside our community organization, we will continue to intensify the contradiction between reform and revolution, winning more workers to the communist ideas of PLP.
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‘We’re retired, not expired’
Retired NYC municipal workers have been fighting for over two years against a joint city/union plan to force them out of traditional medicare and into a private for profit so-called Medicare Advantage plan. Under capitalism, benefits that workers enjoy are always in danger of being taken away. The plan to reduce retiree health coverage, paid for by the city for over sixty years, is an example of that fact. We need to build for a workers’ state, communism, where bosses and their partners won’t be able to take back what we have fought for. In that spirit, we must redouble our efforts to win our friends into PL study groups and into our party.
On July 7th a New York State Supreme Court judge issued a temporary restraining order (TRO) blocking the city of New York from forcing retirees out of city paid for traditional medicare and a medigap supplemental coverage and into a private for profit so-called Medicare Advantage plan. He said, in part, that retirees would likely suffer irreparable harm if forced into the new plan.

Retirees had packed the courtroom on July 6th and had previously demonstrated at City Hall, union headquarters as well as the city office of labor relations. We had been out in the rain, heat and freezing weather. We bombarded the mayor and city council with calls, letters and in person visits. We showed that we would fight back!

Although retirees were happy that the TRO was granted, many wondered what the city and union leaders of the municipal labor committee (MLC) would do next. Some thought the plan was dead. Others felt that a new plan would be devised. Although we are retired, we haven’t expired and will continue to fight!

Shantel Davis Day reaches workers in their homes
“We will never forget Shantel! We take the streets for Shantel!” chanted Progressive Labor Party members, friends, and family of Shantel Davis, who was brutally murdered by police in East Flatbush in 2012. Our chants were part of a militant march through the Brooklyn neighborhood that followed a rally and door-to-door organizing.

During the organizing portion I worked on a team with a college student who said this was her first time going door to door. We had a multiracial, multi-gendered group of all ages.

By visiting workers at their homes, we were able to have many qualitative [longer] conversations. One young worker we spoke to recalled being a child when Shantel was murdered, while others recalled the savagery of the racist police stealing a 23-year old woman from her family. Almost everyone we spoke to signed a petition to have a nearby street named after Shantel. They also eagerly took CHALLENGE and fliers for this year’s Hoops For Justice Basketball Tournament on Saturday, August 5th which commemorates our sibling workers that have been stolen from us by the racist police and the capitalist system they serve. Attend the tournament, bring your friends and join PLP!
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‘Gives me great hope’
This year’s summer project highlighted the importance of a long term outlook towards building communism and smashing the system. Our CHALLENGE editing workshop reinvigorated my appreciation for the paper as a tool of agitation, communication, and learning. A walking tour, led by one of our own, educated us on the militant history of working class fight back in Chinatown, as well as the dangers of liberal misleadership such as that of Mayor Eric Adams, councilwoman Margaret Chin, and the Museum of Chinese in America. As NYCs air quality worsens and food prices go up, these liberal bosses continue attacking our class at home and abroad: cutting Food Stamps, gutting public education, pushing building projects such as  luxury high rises that remain empty as homelessness increases, as well as a record tall skyscraper of a jail, and continuing to bomb our brothers and sisters in the Middle East, and arming the neo-nazi, reactionary forces in Ukraine.  These wolves in sheep’s clothing weaponize identity politics, winning workers with their words, while their actions continue to displace and destroy working class communities and lives for the sake of real estate developers and mega jails—in short, for the sake of profit and capital. Our practice of collectivizing all aspects of life, from leadership to childcare, were glimpses of the opposite; a world where all production serves the needs of workers—the communist future we fight for. Having brought two former students to this year’s project gives me great hope in our mission. Long live  communism!
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‘ I saw the power of the working class’
The experience in this summer project was really enriching for me in the preparation for the communist struggle. Many important issues were addressed during the project, an example of this was the workshop on the steps to follow to write articles for the newspaper, and everything was clearly explained along with the necessary items to be able to write in a suitable way. Another aspect that helped in this school was the willingness of help from all the comrades to translate and clarify some of the concepts that were not clear to me. In addition to generating confidence to face in a bold way the mechanisms to show our struggle such as the delivery of the newspaper.

I met comrades from different places who told me their experiences of communist struggle. In addition to sharing this same struggle as it was in the marches that were held, I hope to continue my knowledge in the party and continue fighting all these problems such as sexism, racism, and fascism. I will continue learning day by day during the arduous road to communism, as they say better red than expert.
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Comrade from Colombia: ‘enriching for me’
The summer project strengthened my commitment to the Party and to a communist cause. I saw committed comrades fighting for tenants rights in Newark, against gutter racism in Stillwater, NJ, and for the unity of Black, Latin and Asian workers against displacement in New York’s Chinatown. It taught me that comrades are engaged in fightback all over and are making a difference in their own communities. In each case, I saw the power of the working class in organizing to defeat the bosses no matter where—our struggle has no borders. I felt a deep sense of revolutionary optimism seeing workers happily take CHALLENGE and cheer for the Party as we marched and rallied.

Above all, the summer project showed me glimmers of a communist future. It is a future in which the party leads workers in developing class consciousness through struggle. In doing so workers see that they themselves can protect each other, get better living conditions, feed each other, learn from one another and be militantly revolutionary.
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‘we are spreading fun and positivity’
The summer Project was very interesting because of the many things I had learned. For example, when we learned about fascism, and we learned about how sexism and racism is used by the bosses against the workers. I also learned a lot about why we need a Party. I think we need a Party because of how much fun and positivity we are spreading in the world.
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The Baltimore/DC area recently held a discussion-based and art-filled cadre school on capitalism in education and the role of consumerism in promoting capitalist ideology. Over 45 people came to discuss the problems inherent in capitalism and the path towards communism.

I have attended more than a dozen cadre schools in my experience with Progressive Labor Party (PLP) and this one was one of the most engaging ones. We did art projects related to advertising which generated more casual base building discussions with the other participants. In the education component we made posters showing what we had discussed with a randomly selected partner; this helped me discuss ideas with my partner collaboratively. There was music playing during the breaks, and plenty of chances to meet other attendees and exchange ideas. The most exciting thing was the multiracial, comradely workers who attended. Everyone was encouraged to participate in the discussions and the atmosphere was comfortable enough that honest and sharp discussion flowed.

We also made a point that everyone had to wear masks since the event was indoors, and I’m glad we took Covid-19 seriously because it turns out one attendee tested positive for Covid-19 the next day! Thankfully no other cases were reported, probably because we all wore masks. The cadre school was led by relatively new comrades and while of course there were a few bumps here or there, overall, everyone had a positive experience. We are definitely looking forward to continuing this type of discussion-oriented format in the future.

We also learned that we need to continuously put forward organizing for the Party as the only way to fight capitalism and build a communist future.