
The Socialist 21 February 2018
We can save our NHS

Chatsworth ward victory shows we can save our NHS
Tories raid £1bn from NHS facilities budget - unions must act
Blairite mayor faces open election after democratic 'irregularities' - fight for a no-cuts mayor
Facebook sides with state repression - reinstate the Tamil Solidarity page
Usdaw victory - Socialist Party member Amy Murphy wins presidential election
Bosses divided - university pension strikes can win!
After 80 strike days Mears workers achieve victory
Newham academies strike continues with three schools to strike together
Northern Ireland talks process paralysed
How can students and young people fight the Tories?
Leicester Uni makes Tory fee tripler David Willetts chancellor - sack Willetts!
South Africa: Ramaphosa is a safe pair of hands for capitalism
Russia: Ali Feruz, journalist and human rights activist, freed from jail
Building the campaign against clearances of the working class
Northants council crisis - protesters demand an end to cuts and privatisation
Victory: Pontllanfraith leisure centre saved
Labour councillors push through savage cuts in Kirklees budget
May Day, May Day! Celebrate solidarity!
Bradford protests against kids' service cuts
Successful Socialist Party Wales conference sets tone for the year ahead
Tremendous determination on show at West Midlands conference
Lively discussion at East Midlands Socialist Party conference
Nottingham hospital black alert
Cardiff Refugee Rights gig success
Outrageous sentence for TUSC agent in 'misleading electors' court case
German engineering strike puts shorter week on agenda - but could have won more
PO Box 1398, Enfield EN1 9GT
020 8988 8777
editors@socialistparty.org.uk

Link to this page: https://www.socialistparty.org.uk/issue/983/26917
![]() | |||
Home | The Socialist 21 February 2018 | Join the Socialist Party
Subscribe | Donate | Audio | PDF | ebook
Facebook sides with state repression - reinstate the Tamil Solidarity page
Tamil Solidarity statement
Facebook shut down the Tamil Solidarity campaign page on 9 February.
This followed a peaceful protest organised by Tamil Solidarity and other Tamil community groups against the threatening behaviour of a Sri Lankan army brigadier, and against the ongoing oppression of Tamil-speaking people in Sri Lanka.
In shutting down Tamil Solidarity's page, Facebook has attacked freedom of speech and the right to protest. It is unacceptable, and we demand that our Facebook page be reinstated immediately.
It would appear Facebook's action follows a malicious campaign by Sinhala nationalists, supporters of Sri Lankan state oppression. But surely there must be some process whereby Facebook tests any allegations of inappropriate content - completely false in this case - before such drastic action is taken?
Facebook made no attempt to contact Tamil Solidarity to check out the claims made against us. Yet just a glance at our website, tamilsolidarity.org, would be enough to show Tamil Solidarity is a legitimate campaigning organisation, with the backing of numerous trade unions in Britain, working alongside activists from other oppressed communities including the Refugee Rights campaigns.
Furthermore, the strapline of Tamil Solidarity reads: "For the rights of workers and all oppressed people in Sri Lanka." That means that we not only take up issues concerning Tamils, but also Tamil Muslims, Upcountry people, and workers and students from the majority Sinhala population - from Hindu, Buddhist, Muslim, Christian or any other ethnic or religious background.
Of course, given the scale of the oppression in Sri Lanka, the campaign for Tamil rights is our main focus. After all, Tamils were massacred in their tens of thousands at the end of the civil war in 2009.
Hundreds of thousands were then held in open prison camps. Thousands are still imprisoned. Thousands have been disappeared.
There is an effective military occupation in the north and east of Sri Lanka. There has been no genuine investigation of war crime allegations, and widespread abuse of power continues with impunity.
This has all been well documented and condemned by the United Nations, Human Rights Watch, the International Committee of the Red Cross, and many other agencies. It has been exposed in numerous Channel 4 documentaries, by the Guardian newspaper, and in countless other media reports.
Tamil Solidarity has every right to speak out against this injustice and oppression. There is no justification for the Facebook ban. Tamil Solidarity's Facebook page must be reinstated immediately.
We will not be silenced.
Like our new Facebook pages:
Follow us on Twitter
In this issue
Socialist Party news and analysis
Chatsworth ward victory shows we can save our NHS
Tories raid £1bn from NHS facilities budget - unions must act
Blairite mayor faces open election after democratic 'irregularities' - fight for a no-cuts mayor
Facebook sides with state repression - reinstate the Tamil Solidarity page
Workplace news and analysis
Usdaw victory - Socialist Party member Amy Murphy wins presidential election
Bosses divided - university pension strikes can win!
After 80 strike days Mears workers achieve victory
Newham academies strike continues with three schools to strike together
What we think
Northern Ireland talks process paralysed
Socialist Students
How can students and young people fight the Tories?
Leicester Uni makes Tory fee tripler David Willetts chancellor - sack Willetts!
International socialist news and analysis
South Africa: Ramaphosa is a safe pair of hands for capitalism
Russia: Ali Feruz, journalist and human rights activist, freed from jail
Socialist Party reports and campaigns
Building the campaign against clearances of the working class
Northants council crisis - protesters demand an end to cuts and privatisation
Victory: Pontllanfraith leisure centre saved
Labour councillors push through savage cuts in Kirklees budget
May Day, May Day! Celebrate solidarity!
Bradford protests against kids' service cuts
Successful Socialist Party Wales conference sets tone for the year ahead
Tremendous determination on show at West Midlands conference
Lively discussion at East Midlands Socialist Party conference
Nottingham hospital black alert
Cardiff Refugee Rights gig success
Outrageous sentence for TUSC agent in 'misleading electors' court case
Opinion
German engineering strike puts shorter week on agenda - but could have won more
Home | The Socialist 21 February 2018 | Join the Socialist Party
Related links:
Tamil Solidarity Day: Linking up oppressed people's struggles
Sri Lanka - Ten years after the brutal end of the war
Sri Lanka: No to terrorist bombing
Hundreds of Tamils protest against death-threat brigadier
Keep up to date with our election coverage
Readers' opinion: Twitter's banning of political ads threatens workers' voice
Brighton Socialist Party: Tories out now!
Tax-dodging tech bosses make billons ... while 6m workers fear the scrapheap
Sri Lanka: Presidential election sees return of dictatorial Rajapaksa clan
Kashmir crisis: Stop the attack on democratic rights
India: Modi victory underlines need for real socialist fightback