BOSTON, MA, December 15 —  Two students at Roxbury Community College (RCC) took immediate action by organizing a protest against the brutal attack on a black youth by Boston police on Oct 22 (see, CHALLENGE 12/15/10). Some members of the RCC faculty took a different approach to the racist attack. They responded to the militancy of the students by organizing a symposium on urban violence.
A local judge, police lieutenant, and a youth advocate from “Street Safe” (all black) were guest speakers on the panel that tried to convince predominantly black and Latino students to trust in the racist justice system. The symposium shifted into a therapy session instead of a political discussion on the systemic racism of urban violence. The panelists purposely ignored political questions raised by students. One student asked “When will the boy who was brutalized by the police get justice.” The question went unanswered.
The lack of consciousness from the crowd gave the panelists some advantage over the symposium. They focused on pushing people to rely on the police as a solution. “You guys know who the killers and drug dealers are, so pick up the phone and call the police.” However, some people did not fall for this statement because they distrust the police who routinely harass and attack workers in the community. 
The solutions the panelists gave were more like the problems working people already faced: police harassment and intimidation. Realistically, urban violence will never end as long as we live in a capitalistic society in which the rich exploit the  working class. 
 When the discussions became more political, the moderator dismissed students and faculty early for lunch. They blamed students for being apathetic and passive on the issue of urban violence to distract students from discussing the issues of poverty and class.
The only way we can eradicate such violence in our neighborhoods is to confront the source. The justice system is used to terrorize workers into not fighting back against the increasing misery and exploitation caused by the economic crises of capitalism.
Since the panel, we have built a real base for the spread of communist consciousness among RCC students. We now have a regular student PLP study group which is learning about capitalism, fascism, and racism.  We have distributed CHALLENGES and PLP leaflets at RCC. We are planning a one-day school on political economy and developing a plan for RCC students to distribute leaflets against racist school closings in Boston.

ISSAWIYE,  ISRAEL, December 3 — About 500 demonstrators, including many local residents and youth as well as hundreds of Israeli workers and activists, marched in multi-national solidarity against the crimes of the Israeli apartheid regime against the Issawiye neighborhood. Stunned cops were too scared to enter the neighborhood while the rally lasted! The cowardly riot cops and “border guards” (paramilitary cops) dared to show their ugly faces in Issawiye and brutally assault the locals with clubs and tear gas only after most of the Jewish demonstrators had left the area.
The Israeli regime does anything in its power to grab lands and encircle — and, indeed, strangle — the local Arab-Palestinian residents. Soon after the Israeli conquest of Issawiye in 1967, the Haddasah Hospital and the Hebrew University expanded their buildings at the expense of the neighborhood, blocking most of its entrances with gates, fences and structures.
Many lands to the east of the neighborhood, which were once owned by local residents, were seized and given to settlements, such as Maale Edomim, as well as to a large police base observing the neighborhood.
This goes to show that workers have no stake in the bosses’ laws regarding private property or security. Such laws exist to serve the most powerful capitalists and they are happy to rewrite or break them whenever they like. This is life in the Issawiye ghetto: ever-tightening encirclement, less and less space and ever-increasing police brutality.
The residents of Issawiye, like the residents of other neighborhoods in East Jerusalem, have Israeli IDs, and they pay taxes to the Israeli regime and to the Jerusalem municipality, but they lack full civil rights (for example, they cannot vote for the Knesset). The state and the city rarely invest any money, resources or manpower in developing the neighborhood or providing it with necessary services.
The youth of Issawiye, lacking educational services or any decent form of recreation for the afternoon hours, roam the neighborhood and sink into violence and boredom. A number of bored youth threw stones at a passing Israeli car in October 2010, and since then the cops have attacked the residents of Issawiye again and again, arresting kids and spraying large quantities of tear gas into the neighborhood.
Faced with this racist repression, the workers in all of Palestine and Israel — Jews and Arabs alike — must follow the example of the December 3rd demonstration and fight back against Israeli capitalists. Only a united workers’ struggle can defeat the racist rulers, and only workers’ power — the dictatorship of the proletariat and a communist economy — will be able to create decent living conditions for the residents of East Jerusalem!

NEW YORK CITY, December 17 — “Haitian rebels are under attack: what do we do?  Stand up, fight back!” “Clinton, Préval, you can’t hide: we charge you with genocide!” Chants from fifty angry demonstrators bounced off the walls of the Haitian consulate building in Manhattan, as crowds of workers passed by on their way home in the frigid night. Speakers and flyers explained why workers in Haiti were right to rebel in the streets in the face of UN armored troop carriers, as living conditions there grow absolutely intolerable.
Haiti has 1.3 million homeless, 70% unemployment, more than a million school-age children excluded from schooling, a raging cholera epidemic in which 650,000 people (6% of the population) are expected to fall ill in 2011. The promised earthquake aid money has failed to reach the people and reconstruction plans rebuild for profit, not for people. Compared to all this, a rigged election is the least of their worries.
We praised the rebels in Haiti for showing the way ahead for workers everywhere, as similar rebellions break out in Europe. As a black building worker we spoke to recently about racism against Latino immigrants told us: “The whole world is waiting for a revolutionary change!” The rally was coordinated with activist union and student friends in Haiti. They included a photo and a statement from our rally in their press conference at a demonstration against the military occupation by MINUSTAH (UN Mission to Stabilize Haiti) and for free public schools for all.
We handed out the CHALLENGE issue (12/15/10) with an article on this Haitian campaign for public schools, versus the plan of the Reconstruction Commission to rebuild mainly charter schools on the New Orleans post-Katrina model. The article pointed out, however, that even free public schools under capitalism will never fulfill the needs of workers’ children. In the same issue a student writer from Haiti explained how cholera in Haiti was most probably brought into the country by MINUSTAH troops. She condemned the entire structure of NGOs (non-governmental organizations like the Red Cross or Doctors without Borders) in Haiti as “business humanitarianism” secured by imperialist armed force.  
These small beginnings joining workers’ forces in Haiti and the U.S. hold out hope that the international solidarity which the old communist movement once built can be rebuilt, on an even stronger political foundation. The only hope in places like Haiti is the revival of communism led by PLP. The same is true in the imperialist heartland, the U.S. Rebellious workers of all countries need one another to fight a global system. “The workers, united, will never be defeated!” “¡Oberos, unidos, jamás serán vencidos!” “Les ouvriers, unis, ne seront jamais conquis!”

NEW YORK CITY, December 6 — “I think it’s not fair to U.S. workers how they send jobs out of the country,” said Lisa as a group of workers were talking about unemployment. “But that’s what they always do,” responded Jenny. “It’s the way the system works. That’s how the capitalists make profits all over the world.”
“Some people are lazy, they expect free help,” said Jaime. “But there’s no assistance. It’s welfare to work,” explained Nelson. “Everyone is looking for work and there are no jobs.” “I work 12 hours a day, six days a week in a restaurant. When I demanded overtime the boss said OK, work 40 hours here and look for a second job,” said Juan. “Or stay here, work your 60 hours and get the money you need for your family.”
“There are no legal protections, only class struggle,” responded Jenny.
The capitalists and their politician servants are debating the economic crisis in terms of government spending, tax cuts, rising healthcare costs and “costly entitlements” like Social Security and Medicare. Their debate results in a massive attack on the working class while covering up the cause of the economic crisis.
The working class needs to listen to Jenny. The crisis comes from the anarchy and competition of the capitalist system. Only revolution to establish communism — a system that produces based on need, not profit — offers the world’s working class a future.
U.S. unemployment is “officially” about 10% but including under-employment it’s 21%; double that for black and Latino workers. Over 8 million jobs have been lost in this Great Recession in the U.S. The ruling class predicts “recovery” to take 4-5 years. Their so-called recovery (“normal” is 6 million jobless) will be based on a greatly expanded military, increased military production, and much greater exploitation. It also means deep cuts in federal, state and city spending as U.S. imperialism gears up for bigger wars against its competitors.
The workers quoted above are involved in efforts to establish a jobs committee in the neighborhood group where we organize and study. Workers in the group have voted to set up a committee with nine members and new leadership. We are writing a ‘’join us” leaflet to use in the group and surrounding community.
Organize the Unemployed
Our goal is to get at least 50 participants to begin the campaign. The leaflet says: “Demand jobs now. Make the bosses and bankers pay. No deals, no compromises. Demand the government provide assistance to all unemployed and underemployed workers, no matter their status — citizen, documented or undocumented. Make the rich pay. No negotiations.”
Our approach calls on rank-and-file workers to join, lead and go on the political offensive in direct action. Meanwhile the neighborhood group represents the liberal ruling class agenda of legislative reform, voting and engaging and getting support from the politicians. Limited reforms are presented as victories for the workers, while in reality the quality of life for the working class is being eroded.
PLP is active in the neighborhood group and the jobs committee. We are distributing 75 CHALLENGES, including six networks and have a study-action group. We expect sharp struggle within the group as the political ideas, organizing and protests of the committee develop.
We know that PL members and friends must be determined and principled. There is both danger and opportunity. The struggle is worth every ounce of our strength!