europe

Observe the silence:

• No condemnation of US authorities’ harsh treatment of migrant protests.
• No acknowledgment of the protests’ peaceful nature.
• No calls for dialogue, no diplomatic visits, no threats of sanctions or cooled relations.
• No warnings about democratic backsliding, no objection to deploying the National Guard against citizens.

Contrast this with recent actions:

• A fiercely condemnatory stance toward Georgia’s government.
• Muted criticism of Turkey during the Istanbul protests.

The pattern? A three-tiered hypocrisy:

• Full condemnation for smaller states (Georgia).
• Tepid murmurs for regional players (Turkey).
• Deafening silence for Western hegemon (USA).

When responses shift this drastically based on geopolitics as opposed to principles, how can the EU claim to champion democracy or rule of law?

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cross-posted from: https://lemmygrad.ml/post/8136749

https://sapienlabs.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/Mental-State-of-the-World-2024-Online-Feb-26.pdf

This Saturday socialists from all over France and other countries including Germany, the Spanish State, Russia, the United States, Algeria, and more rallied at the Charenton Space in Paris. People lined up around the corner to enter and organizers opened up an overflow room to ensure everyone could watch the rally. In addition to the 2,000 people who attended in person, there were another 2000 individual connections virtually from across the world. Organized by Révolution Permanent — the sister organization of Left Voice and our international organization, the Trotskyist Fraction — the meeting attracted hundreds of people from Marseille, Toulouse, Bordeaux, Mulhouse, Rennes, Nantes, Strasbourg, Montpellier, Lyon, and more. Workers, young people, students, women, LGBTQ+ folks, and immigrants arrived in buses full of energy and combativeness. People were excited to gather and share their rage, but also to share their ideas, experiences, and program against the growing international Far Right and war.

The genocide in Palestine was on the minds of all those in attendence and they expressed it with emotion every time the room was overwhelmed by the chant that has spread all around the world: “Free Palestine!” Young people from all over the world wore the keffiyeh and others waved the Kanaky flag, representing the struggle against French imperialism.

Workers from different industries were there: teachers, railroad workers, healthcare workers, airport workers, and more. Folks in attendance, including members of left organizations like La France Insoumise and Nouveau Parti Anticapitaliste, are part of the struggles of the French working class and the student movement, but on Saturday, they got together to protest and to rally in the name of internationalism, in the name of the international working class that, as folks attending chanted, is one and has no borders.

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Following Parliament’s motion for an arms embargo on Israel, activists are pressuring the Sánchez government to turn words into action on Gaza genocide

On Tuesday, May 20, a majority of representatives in the Spanish Parliament voted in favor of a motion calling for an arms embargo on Israel. Spearheaded by the progressive blocs Podemos, Sumar, and the Republican Left of Catalonia, everyone but the right-wing supported the motion – including Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez’s Socialist Workers’ Party (PSOE).

While the news undoubtedly marks an important achievement for the months-long grassroots Palestine solidarity mobilizations in Europe and beyond, many activists caution against interpreting it as a decisive sign of Spain’s concrete commitment to halting the genocide in Gaza. “The Spanish government has the power to introduce a full arms embargo on Israel as early as tomorrow via Royal Decree,” warned the End Arms Trade with Israel campaign, which has rallied behind this demand since 2024 with the backing of over 600 organizations. “Why hasn’t it acted? What’s holding it back?”

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