Once the bustling heart of Christian pilgrimage, Bethlehem now faces shuttered hotels, empty streets and a shrinking Christian community, while Israel’s assault on Gaza and the tightening grip of occupation destroy hopes of peace at the birthplace of Christ, writes Father GEOFF BOTTOMS
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This International Workers’ Day Liverpool will be rocking against fascism
LOUISE RAW spoke to Robin Banks and Richard David, founders of the Resistance Street cultural fightback group, about the event and the group’s aims
The May Day event will launch a year of regional anti-fascist and anti-racist live music events, acting as a blueprint for future events in Glasgow, Manchester, Brighton, the Midlands and London.
After years hidden away, Oldham’s memorial to six local volunteers who died fighting fascism in the Spanish civil war has been restored to public view, marking both a victory for campaigners and a renewed tribute to the town’s proud International Brigade heritage, says ROB HARGREAVES
The June 2025 attacks on Iran have heightened the risk of a wider war, exposed the fiction of a rules-based international order and left ordinary Iranians trapped between external aggression and internal repression, says the Committee for Defence of Iranian People’s Rights
While pretending to seek peace, Europe is heading toward a collision course with Russia – using security guarantees, troop deployments, expropriation and censorship as tools, writes SEVIM DAGDELEN
A WWI hero, renowned ornithologist, medical doctor, trade union organiser and founder member of the Communist Party of Great Britain all rolled in one. MAT COWARD tells the story of a life so improbable it was once dismissed as fiction
The long-term effects of chemical weapons such as Agent Orange mean that the impact of war lasts well beyond a ceasefire
IN THE 1970s Rock against Racism’s gigs and carnivals confronted a home grown fascist menace that was largely on the streets.
Now that the far right is back with a firm grip on mainstream politics, two men who were central to the ’70s and ’80s scene are confronting it again.
Robin Banks and Richard David, founders of Resistance Street, not only have rock and roll anecdotes to die for, but are both bona fide working-class intellectuals, with a wealth of political knowledge.
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Once again Tower Hamlets is being targeted by anti-Islam campaigners, this time a revamped and radicalised version of Ukip — the far-right event is now banned by the police, but we’ll be assembling this Saturday to make sure they stay away, says JAYDEE SEAFORTH
DAVID HORSLEY reminds us of the roots and staying power of one of the most iconic festivals around
RON JACOBS welcomes a survey of US punk in the era of Reagan, and sees the necessity for some of the same today
LYNNE WALSH previews the Bristol Radical History Conference this weekend