The late Daniel Bensaïd (1946–2010) on the silence of academics and his dissent as an anti-Zionist.

“In this context, the debate on security, military and defence issues has gripped all the countries of Europe. Putin's regime poses a real threat to Eastern Europe and to democratic and social rights across the continent, through its alliances with the far right. Similarly, Trump, Musk and Vance, like the far right in Europe and elsewhere, are showing their willingness to attack head-on any social and progressive policy, however minimal, such as environmental regulations, the fight against discrimination or workers' social and trade union rights.”

Africa today stands at a crossroads, caught between internal crises, shifting global power dynamics, and the slow unraveling of the post-liberation political order. Across the continent, ruling parties that once commanded legitimacy as national liberators are losing their grip; yet the opposition remains fragmented, offering little in the way of alternative governance.

The mass democratic movement in Turkey following the arrest of Ekrem Imamoğlu, mayor of Istanbul and candidate of the centre-left Republican People's Party (CHP), is a major social and political event on the doorstep of the European Union. Rallies and demonstrations are taking place throughout the country, with very large turnouts, particularly in Saraçhane Square in Istanbul in front of the town hall.

On 16 March 2025 the Hungarian parliament, dominated by prime minister Viktor Orbán's Fidesz party, voted to ban the Budapest Pride March. Already, in 2021, under the pretext of “child protection”, any propaganda for homosexuality (which can be holding hands for a couple, or having a “look” identified as queer) was banned and punished with a 500 euro fine.

Millions of people in all 50 states, joined 1,600 demonstrations in large cities and small towns to protest against President Donald Trump and his henchman billionaire Elon Musk on April 5, with a number of small solidarity demonstrations in European cities. The “Hands Off” demonstrations, the largest anti-Trump protests yet, demanded that Trump keep his hands off democracy, human rights, reproductive rights, Social Security, Medicaid, public schools, immigrants, and LGBT people.

The 25% tariffs imposed on exports from Canada and Mexico by the US administration of Donald Trump effective March 4 (with an exception of 10% tariffs for Canadian oil and gas and potash) constitutes an aggressive attack on the livelihoods of Canadian working people and a threat to the survival of key industries in Canada. Trump postponed some of the auto and other tariffs in sectors covered by the US-Mexico-Canada (USMCA) trade treaty between the three countries (about 40% of Canadian exports to the US), with auto tariffs planned for April 2nd but has threatened to continue with others. Further tariffs on aluminum and steel (over the 25% level) were threatened to be as high as 50%, with Trump also threatening to “shut down” the Canadian auto industry.

A multi-front attack is in full swing — not only on supporters of Palestinian freedom, but on everyone's First Amendment and civil rights. The abduction of Mahmoud Khalil, the peremptory deportation of Brown Medicine Dr. Rasha Alawieh, the attempt to detain and deport Columbia University Ph.D student Ranjani Srinivasan who's fled to seek asylum in Canada, and the seizure of Georgetown University scholar Badar Khan Suri — none of these, and many more cases that haven't attracted public attention, are happening in isolation.

Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte gained international notoriety with his violent ‘war on drugs' – a campaign of violence targeting the country's poor that claimed thousands of lives. He is now in a cell in The Hague, awaiting trial at the International Criminal Court, but it remains to be seen what will happen in the Philippines.

It's not April Fools day (1 April). But it might as well be as later today US President Donald Trump announces another barrage of tariffs on imports into the US in what Trump calls ‘Liberation Day' and what America's voice of big business and finance, the Wall Street journal, has called “the dumbest trade war in history.”

Ivanna Vynna, a member of the Ukrainian feminist group Bilkis, took part on 27 March 2025 in the workshop on feminist struggles in Ukraine at the Brussels conference organised by the European Solidarity Network with Ukraine. The text of her speech is published below.

In the so-called case of “the parliamentary assistants to the European Parliament”, Marine Le Pen was sentenced on Monday 31 March to four years in prison, two of which were suspended, a fine of €200,000 and was banned from running for office for five years. Thus, taking into account the usual judicial delays before the holding of an appeal and the effect of political destabilization, her candidacy for the presidential election in 2027 is very much in doubt, especially if the election is called early.

Accused of crimes against humanity, Rodrigo Duterte was taken to The Hague (Netherlands) on March 11, where the International Criminal Court (ICC) is located. The charges are the tens of thousands of extrajudicial killings committed under his rule in the name of his "war on drugs."

With President Donald Trump and Elon Musk continuing to move fast and furious against the American people's social welfare systems and the unions, the resistance to Trump is growing in different forms and taking to the streets around the country.

The drums of war are already generating a deafening din. Governments, companies and the media are united in repeating in unison warmongering slogans reminiscent of the turbulent beginnings of the 20th century. Defend Europe, defend its values, boost the military industry and even bring back compulsory military service. Europe is in danger, it stands alone in a hostile world and must rearm. Dark and toxic winds are blowing, which will sweep away any prospect of emancipation.

Thousands of farmers gathered in Bhit Shah, Sindh, to protest against corporate farming initiatives and the proposed canal projects on river Indus. The conference, organized by the Pakistan Kissan Rabita Committee with the support of three other members of PKRC from Sindh, saw participation from farmers' leaders across Sindh, Punjab, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Balochistan, and the Saraiki region.

With a madman in the White House, all pretences have fallen away and raw power again reigns supreme. Trade wars, huge aid cuts, explicit demands to annex Greenland and depopulate Gaza — every new day brings forth another crisis that throws into question internationally recognised collective and individual rights and undermines global institutions that supposedly exist to defend them. Is this genuinely the world we were hoping for when we criticised the hypocrisy of the West? Is the internationalist left simply going to accept this new state of affairs?

In its first decade in power and before the conflict, Bashar al-Assad's regime adopted neoliberal-oriented economic policies, such as price liberalisation for many essential goods, market deregulation, and a significant extension of the private sector. This was accompanied by austerity measures without genuine institutional reform, which resulted in greater social injustice, decreased productivity, and widening income disparity.

This year's feminist demonstration in Brussels, Belgium on 8 March 2025 was once again a great success. Although the press only reported the police estimate (10,000 people), the reality must have been closer to the turnout for the trade union demonstration on 13 January (30,000 people), as the loop around the central station was quickly saturated. The Belgian feminist movement is thus demonstrating that it is still a mobilising force following its revival over the last seven years.

The ongoing battle in Turkey has become increasingly significant for the entire world. If the Turkish popular movement wins, its victory will have a significant impact in galvanizing resistance to the rise of neofascism worldwide.