Literature

NOVANEWS by Dr:  Richard Falk Remembering Daniel Berrigan   I was privileged to know Daniel Berrigan in the last stages of the Vietnam War, not well, but well enough to appreciate his quality of moral radiance and to admire the spiritual dedication that he exhibited in opposing the Vietnam War, and later nuclearism. I also knew Dan’s brother, Phil, who shared these remarkable qualities, although Phil exuded an earthy embrace of life while Dan seem to keep his distance from quotidian pursuits by living a meditative life as a poet and devoted member of the Jesuit order, as well as being inspirational anti-war activist. In contrast, Phil gave up the priesthood to marry Elizabeth McAlister, herself a former nun and a deeply committed lifelong partner with respect to social and politi...

NOVANEWS by Nicki Jameson ‘The Irish Republic is entitled to, and hereby claims, the allegiance of every Irishman and Irishwoman. The Republic guarantees religious and civil liberty, equal rights and equal opportunities to all its citizens, and declares its resolve to pursue the happiness and prosperity of the whole nation and of all its parts, cherishing all of the children of the nation equally, and oblivious of the differences carefully fostered by an alien Government, which have divided a minority from the majority in the past. ‘Until our arms have brought the opportune moment for the establishment of a permanent National Government, representative of the whole people of Ireland and elected by the suffrages of all her men and women, the Provisional Government, hereby constituted, wi...

NOVANEWS by Patrick Casey  In 1984 the RCG published Ireland: the key to the British revolution the British revolution by David Reed. This book drew together the political lessons the RCG had learned about imperialism, national liberation and opportunism, through a decade of campaigning in solidarity with the Irish struggle. An understanding of the struggle in Ireland against British imperialism has been central to shaping the anti-imperialist politics of the RCG. Through our work we discovered that Marx and Engels had changed their position on Ireland, in recognition of changed circumstances. They concluded that the conditions for the victory of the English working class necessitated that they make common cause with the oppressed in Ireland – that Ireland was the key to the British revo...

NOVANEWS Edward Mortimer, "Contradiction, collusion and controversy," The Times (London), 2/11/84. Zionism in the Age of the Dictators by Lenni Brenner Who told a Berlin audience in March 1912 that "each country can absorb only a limited number of Jews, if she doesn't want disorders in her stomach. Germany already has too many Jews"? No, not Adolf Hitler but Chaim Weizmann, later president of the World Zionist Organization and later still the first president of the state of Israel. And where might you find the following assertion, originally composed in 1917 but republished as late as 1936: "The Jew is a caricature of a normal, natural human being, both physically and spiritually. As an individual in society he revolts and throws off the harness of social obligation, knows no order n...

NOVANEWS Teresinka Pereira The dared great passion from the past years will stand on proving my emotional resoluteness which neither time nor society can weaken. Courage, sometimes can sigh, but fast returns with the promise to fulfill with my presence in needed moments. I do not believe in virtue, but in the humanitarian sentiment which makes us to love one another. This is the greatest wisdom we acquire year after year!

NOVANEWS (Excerpts from a talk by Prof Randhir Singh at a seminar on ‘The Present Political Situation and the Challenges of Strengthening the Left’, at Gandhi Peace Foundation, on the occasion of the Vinod Mishra Memorial Meeting, 18 December 2003.) I have been associated with the Indian revolutionary wave since 1938-39, and it is an association as a militant, not as a scholar or intellectual. I have done teaching, too, I have tried to live as a militant not as an intellectual. The problems our country faces today are even more serious than the ones we faced before independence. But I have felt for some time now that we do not discuss those problems in the perspective in which they should be discussed. I had begun to feel that perhaps I’m a dinosaur with outdated ideas, and that at ...

NOVANEWS TwitterFacebookGoogle+BufferPin It (Excerpts from a talk by Prof Randhir Singh at a seminar on ‘The Present Political Situation and the Challenges of Strengthening the Left’, at Gandhi Peace Foundation, on the occasion of the Vinod Mishra Memorial Meeting, 18 December 2003.) I have been associated with the Indian revolutionary wave since 1938-39, and it is an association as a militant, not as a scholar or intellectual. I have done teaching, too, I have tried to live as a militant not as an intellectual. The problems our country faces today are even more serious than the ones we faced before independence. But I have felt for some time now that we do not discuss those problems in the perspective in which they should be discussed. I had begun to feel that perhaps I’m a dinosaur w...

NOVANEWS Jose Maria Sison Women’s emancipation is never possible under imperialism. Women must continue to expose and oppose the ruling bourgeoisie and the state for feeding them lies about the goodness and permanence of capitalism and imperialism. The goriest manifestation of imperialism is the ceaseless outbreaks of war, destruction of lives and property and displacement of millions of people. We, the International League of Peoples' Struggle (ILPS), celebrate International Women's Day and congratulate the women's organizations and all women for their struggles, sacrifices and victories in upholding, defending and promoting women's rights, in asserting and exercising the progressive role of women, in resisting imperialist plunder and war and striving to bring about a brig...

NOVANEWS Ama Biney   How far have we come as a species, in terms of our spiritual and intellectual development, if in the 21st century some can question: “Are women human beings?” The reality is that globally, whilst women may have made great strides, patriarchal attitudes prevail in a male-dominated world. The question ‘Are women human beings?’ is the provocatively titled lecture that was scheduled to take place by the Saudi Academy of Education and Public Consultation on 1 March 2016. It unleashed a barrage of disapproving comments on social media which obliged the academy to make a public statement on Facebook. [1] “As a result of the outcry the lecture scheduled for March 1, 2016, was cancelled. As explained by the Academy the headline was chosen to attract atten...