Fownhope’s Heart of Oak Society traces its roots to the age of friendly societies, when communities provided their own safety net. Its anniversary celebrations reveal a tradition still very much alive, says MARK SEDDON
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Turkey: Release the PKK’s Abdullah Ocalan now
Eighteen years since he fled Syria, the PEACE IN KURDISTAN CAMPAIGN demands the release of the Kurdish Workers’ Party leader
ANGUS REID explains the significance of Cuba’s egalitarian in letter and spirit Family Code and the pertinent lessons it holds for democracies anywhere in the world
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NICK WRIGHT considers how the isolation of Israel and a new film on the controversial Italian communist leader are creating new reference points for Italy’s left
CARLOS MARTINEZ says Cuba’s achievements in the face of a criminal blockade are startling, but the island’s future if the United States succeeds in crushing it looks bleak
AMNON BROWNFIELD STEIN reports that far-right MPs who mobbed the event organised by Hadash may have helped raise awareness of the brutality of the Israeli right
SUNDAY October 9 marked the 18th anniversary of the expulsion of Abdullah Ocalan from Syria where he had been for the best part of 20 years.
In 1998 Turkey was sabre rattling and openly threatening Syria to expel Ocalan and renounce its support for the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).
Tremendous political pressures were exerted on Damascus, which was beset by severe economic strains and the weakening of its relations with its traditional global ally Russia, which was deeply damaged politically and embroiled in its own destabilising financial crisis.
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ISAAC SANEY points to the global stakes involved in defending the Cuban revolution against imperialism and calls for resistance
VIJAY PRASHAD details how US support for Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa allowed him to break the resistance of the autonomous Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF)
Payam Solhtalab talks to GAWAIN LITTLE, general secretary of Codir, about the connection between the struggle for peace, against banking and economic sanctions, and the threat of a further military attack by the US/Israel axis on Iran
