G8: make poverty history - make capitalism history

Come and join 150 young socialists from all over Europe

The campaign to bring young people from England and Wales to our ISR camp in July is steaming ahead. We have already smashed through our target and should continue to invite those who want to make poverty history to come to our camp to discuss how we can make capitalism history.

Sarah Sachs-Eldridge

An International Socialist Resistance (ISR - an international socialist youth organisation) contingent on the protest against the G8 meeting in Sheffield had a fantastic response (see page 8).

A 6th-former from Wakefield bought the socialist at the protest and later that night emailed us to say that she would like advice on organising a walkout. Over the next few weeks, we will be going to schools and colleges to meet the many others who will want to join the protests either in Edinburgh or in their local area and to help them build support.

The response to the MPH campaign is an indicator of the will of ordinary people, particularly young people, to end the horrific inequality that blights our world.

At our camp we will be offering the opportunity to participate in an international campaign to raise socialist and internationalist ideas as an alternative to the very flawed and limited promises of the G8 and to the wishing and hoping of many of the charities involved.

So far we have 63 from England and Wales, 45 from Belgium, others from the Netherlands, Austria, Germany and France, eight from Northern Ireland and six from Southern Ireland definitely attending the camp. We have dozens of others who are very tempted. The agenda of discussions and workshops we are planning may help convince some of those!

Monday 4 July

Why French and Dutch workers voted NO! An evening rally on what happens now for Europe after the defeated referenda

Afternoon workshops:

a) 1905 revolution - when workers gained a glimpse of power

b) Music and politics

c) Women in struggle

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Tuesday 5 July

The struggle for socialism today

A debate with the Scottish Socialist Party

Afternoon workshops:

a) Education under attack across Europe - Plan the fight back with speakers from each country

b) Can we plan green growth? What socialists say about the environment

c) The Spanish Revolution

• The camp costs £50 for those staying from Saturday 2 July until Thursday 7 July, including food.

For those staying for part of that time the price will be £10 per night plus £5 towards the booking costs etc so if you stay one night it will be £15, two nights will be £25 etc.

International Socialist Resistance (ISR) will be part of the huge demo on 2 July and is co-organising an international youth camp from 1-6 July with the International Socialists, the Scottish affiliate to the Committee for Workers' International (CWI).

The CWI is an international socialist organisation with members in 40 countries around the world, including the International Socialists in Scotland and the Socialist Party in England and Wales.

For more information

ISR: www.anticapitalism.org.uk, 020 8558 7947, PO Box 858, London E11 1YG.

International Socialists : www.cwiscotland.org

cwiscotland@yahoo.co.uk

G8 pages on this site

Committee for a Workers' International:

www.socialistworld.net

cwi@worldsoc.co.uk

Why I'm going to the G8

Interview with Nele Verschelden, a 21-year-old student social worker, Antwerp

Why are you going to protest at the G8 summit?

When I heard for the first time that there were going to be protests at the G8 summit in Scotland, I immediately decided that I wanted to go. The G8, the club of the 7 richest countries and Russia, are planning discussions concerning climate change and the African continent .

But their policies are not in the interest of the majority of the population. They are incapable of finding a solution for the horrors of the African continent and for the rising number of ecological disasters.

Bush and Blair will be at the G8. What are their answers concerning the problems in Africa? Their rhetoric on debt cancellation is only meant to divert attention from their imperialist war in Iraq and their neo-liberal policies.

What do you want to do on the protests?

We will protest massively against their presence, just like we did in Genoa and Evian. Millions of young people and workers want the living conditions of the neo-colonial world to improve. In the meantime we'll discuss further the crisis of capitalism and the necessity of a socialist alternative.

What do you expect of an international protest?

A week of intense action and reflection. International pro-tests with socialists from Europe have a huge impact. It makes being part of an international organisation more visible and concrete. It will undoubtedly be a very educational and motivating experience for the future.

International Youth Camp

A 4-star campsite in Strathclyde National Park in very pleasant surroundings with toilets, hot showers and cooking facilities. A coach will transport us to the different places we will be going to for meetings and protests.

Francois, a member of our Belgian sister organisation and a chef, will be ensuring the provision of tasty food (included in the price - see below).

Each morning we will meet to discuss issues and developments and to make plans for the day. There will also be organised political discussions.

Transport

A coach will leave London at 10.30pm (i.e. travelling overnight) on Friday 1 July from York Way, Kings Cross, for all those travelling from the South west, South east, East and Midlands.

Other areas should look at getting student unions to organise transport but also where possible cars and minibuses driven by members will be very useful for the duration of the camp. There will be a coach back to London on 7 July for those who stay for the camp.

Transport from London - £35 unwaged, £55 waged

Transport and camp - £85 unwaged, £105 waged

We need a £20 deposit immediately.

Saturday 2 July

Make Poverty History demo

A city centre venue has been booked for an international rally with speakers from all over Europe. A coach will leave at midnight for those who have come for the day.

Sunday 3 July

G8 alternatives forum

The case for socialism - CWI workshop at the forum. ISR will participate in two workshops and we invite everyone to attend. We will post details when they become available.

Monday 4 July

Faslane Nuclear Base blockade

Tuesday 5 July

Dungavel Detention Centre

A mass action at Dungavel to demand equal rights and an end to detention and deportation of asylum seekers.

Wednesday 6 July

March against the G8

Gleneagles Hotel, Gleneagles, Perthshire or alternative venue.

G8 news

Tony's crony

One of the leading members of Tony Blair's Commission for Africa is Meles Zenawi, the prime minister of Ethiopia. He has delayed the results of the country's elections for more than six weeks, amid widespread claims of ballot rigging and in the face of overwhelming support for the opposition party, the Coalition for Unity and Democracy.

Following the elections he banned all public demonstrations and took control of the security forces. Now Ethiopian police have killed 22 protesters on an anti-government demonstration, following the police firing on a peaceful demonstration at Addis Ababa university on 6 June, killing a student and arresting 500 others.

Tsunami land grab

AS THE Tsunami-hit communities in Sri Lanka struggle to rebuild their lives, the right-wing coalition government of President Chandrika Kumaratunga is stealing the victims' land.

A report in The Independent (10/6/05) shows that the government is enforcing a 200 metre wide 'safety buffer zone' in coastal areas preventing local fishing communities from returning. This land is however being acquired by the tourist board which locals fear will be used to develop hotel businesses. In Argum Bay, housing units planned for displaced residents are one mile inland.

As previously reported by the United Socialist Party (USP - the Socialist Party's Sri Lankan counterpart) in the socialist, despite their heroic relief efforts with the support of the Committee for a Workers' International, the relief response of the Sri Lankan and Western governments, six months after the Tsunami, has been a failure.

The USP has demanded that aid and reconstruction be under the democratic control of the working people and their communities and has produced a campaigning newspaper - the Voice of the Tsunami people - in both Tamil and Sinhalese to fight for this demand.

$1 trillion on arms

Global arms spending reached $1 trillion in 2004 - for the first time since the Cold War, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute. The US spent $455 billion with Britain, on $47 billion, the second largest spender. At the same time the amount spent on aid was $78 billion.

Even more shocking, the Campaign Against the Arms Trade reports that seven of the G8 nations are among the world's top ten arms dealers, half of whose exports ($12 billion) went to the developing world. Five members of the G8 - the US, Britain, France, Germany and Russia were responsible for 89% of arms sales to developing countries.