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Who of these survivors of the 1979 revolution can shut their eyes for a moment, think about the past...years and have one pleasant recollection? Millions of people have been condemned to life under the most reactionary and brutal social system, a society based on terror, poverty, and lies in which happiness is forbidden, being a woman is a crime, living is torment and escape impossible. An entire generation, perhaps more than half the population, has been born in this hell and has no other recollection than this. And for many others, the most living memory is that of the unforgettable faces of admirable human beings who were slaughtered. Wasn't 1979 – the year of the revolution – the beginning of this nightmare?
Several weeks ago, I posted two articles regarding the struggle of leftist students in Iran (Dec. 8 | Dec. 9). Regular readers of our site might recall that the Students' Day articles were written and/or shared by friends in Iran who are intimately familiar with the current political struggles in that county. They have seen the crimes of the Iranian ruling clique with their own eyes and, in efforts to engender solidarity with progressives and radicals worldwide, they have shared their stories with me and others like me in hopes that they might garner further support in their struggle. It was in this spirit that I shared the Students' Day articles with other individuals, including representatives from local and regional progressive and anti-war groups. After reading the articles, an organizer from one such regional group responded to me rather quickly with a reply that was – to say the least – both unexpected and unfortunate. The short reply I received effectively questioned the wisdom of publicizing the crimes of the Iranian ruling clique as such facts might ostensibly weaken the anti-war movement in America by providing fodder for the pro-war propaganda machine. Also included in the writer's reply was the clear inference that the US had incited the Students' Day unrest as part of a larger effort to destabilize the regime in Iran. Additionally, the writer questioned the veracity of the Students' Day stories by noting that the events had not been reported by the "mainstream press." I had, of course, met with such attitudes before but I have never become accustomed to such ignorance and indifference and I found the response to be thoroughly frustrating. I was later advised by an Iranian friend in London that he had encountered similar responses from European "progressives" on the matter of political repression in Iran.
Over one month has passed – almost two months, really – and the bourgeois press has finally picked up the story. The January 20, 2008 edition of The New York Times featured an article penned by Nazila Fathi called "Radical Left, Iran's Last Legal Dissidents, Until Now" which included some discussion of the Students' Day crackdown, along with a broader discussion regarding the systematic repression of leftists in Iran since the hijacking of the Iranian Revolution in 1979. Fathi's article is an interesting introduction to the current political situation with Iran for those who rely solely on the mainstream press to form opinions regarding relevant issues of the day. But it is hard to predict whether or not the "legitimacy" afforded to this story by some fleeting coverage by the mainstream press will do much to change the callous indifference displayed by American liberals and "progressives" towards Iranian workers and students.
To the doubters and the dogmatists of the American left who continue to treat the plight of real working-class radicals in Iran with extreme indifference and suspicion, I will repeat here what I have said before, both publicly and privately: To ignore or to cover up evidence that an oppressive regime is torturing and murdering individuals who are, in fact, our brothers and sisters in arms, is more than unfortunate...It is scandalous. The Iranian ruling clique has built its regime on the bodies of women, workers, students and political opponents of every stripe – but especially through the severe repression of political opponents from the radical left. To suggest that these brave people act merely as pawns of imperialist provocation and to subsequently fail to recognize their political struggle is nothing shy of an insult to their efforts. No measure of fleeting attention from the bourgeois press can effectively "legitimize" a revolutionary movement. Only the working class and its allies can establish and maintain a legitimate and principled struggle against reactionaries, imperialists and oppressors of all types.
My good friend Zdravko Saveski recently translated the Wikipedia biography of Pandelis Pouliopoulos into Macedonian for the Marxists Internet Archive. When I expressed an interest in posting portions of Zdravko’s new translation on our website – alongside Greek and English translations of the biography of Pouliopoulos – Zdravko kindly agreed to write an introductory text for greeklish.org. Solidarity between the Greek Left and the Macedonian Left is alive and well!
Pandelis Pouliopoulos
Introductionby Zdravko Saveski Nationalists in every nation build idealistic and inflated versions of the history of their people and country. In doing so, they perceive the neighbour peoples and countries as enemies that have, throughout the history, conspired against the nationalists' people and country. The purpose of the leftists, who are internationalists by definition, is to overcome the ethnic prejudices, to present the real instead of romanticized view on history and to build bridges among peoples.
Macedonian nationalism and Greek nationalism were both recently resurrected by the redundant "name dispute". Paradoxically, the Greek nationalists help Macedonian nationalists to increase its support in the Republic of Macedonia, and vice versa. To counteract the influence of Macedonian nationalists, I have started to popularize the stances of the Greek leftists who have friendly attitudes towards Republic of Macedonia and Macedonians so the Macedonian public can see that "all Greeks aren't bad." Among others, I have written the biography of Pandelis Pouliopoulos for the Macedonian section of the Marxists Internet Archive and for the Macedonian Wikipedia, and I want to thank Mike for supporting my efforts. The Greek Left is much stronger than Macedonian Left and I am looking forward to future cooperation with our Greek comrades. Excerpt from the biography of Pandelis Pouliopoulos from the new Macedonian translation by Zdravko Saveski: Пантелис Пулјопулос (10 март 1900 година – 6 јуни 1943 година) е грчки троцкист, некогашен генерален секретар на Комунистичката партија на Грција и основач на троцкистичкото движење во Грција. Ги бранеше правата на етничките малцинства, вклучително и на македонското, во Грција и тоа беше една од причините за судирот со КПГ.
Во 1919 година Пулјопулос се запишува на Универзитетот во Атина, каде студира право. Истата година се приклучува кон Социјалистичката работничка партија на Грција (претходник на Комунистичката партија на Грција). Во 1920 година, за време на Грчко-турската војна 1919-1922, е регрутиран во грчката војска. Во 1922 година е уапсен за антивоено делување, но со крајот на војната е ослободен. Во периодот 1923-1925 година е активен во движењето на воените ветерани, а во 1924 година е избран и за претседател на Панхеленската федерација на ветераните. (full text) Excerpt from the biography of Pandelis Pouliopoulos in Greek, provided by Nikos Loudos: Ο Παντελής Πουλιόπουλος (10 Μαρτίου 1900 6 Ιουνίου 1943) ήταν έλληνας κομμουνιστής και ο πρώτος γενικός γραμματέας του Κομμουνιστικού Κόμματος Ελλάδας (ΚΚΕ). Υπεράσπισε το διεθνιστικό και επαναστατικό χαρακτήρα του κομμουνιστικού κινήματος. Είναι ο ιδρυτής του τροτσκιστικού κινήματος στην Ελλάδα.
Γεννήθηκε στη Θήβα το 1900 και το 1919 πήγε στην Αθήνα για να σπουδάσει νομικά στο Πανεπιστήμιο. Την ίδια χρονιά, εντάχθηκε στο Σοσιαλιστικό Εργατικό Κόμμα Ελλάδος (ΣΕΚΕ), τον πολιτικό πρόγονο του ΚΚΕ. Το 1920 επιστρατεύθηκε για να πολεμήσει στον ελληνοτουρκικό πόλεμο του 1919-1922. Το 1922 συνελήφθη για αντιπολεμική δράση, αλλά απελευθερώθηκε με το τέλος του πολέμου.
Από το 1923 ως το 1925 έπαιξε ηγετικό ρόλο στο κίνημα των βετεράνων του πολέμου και το 1924 εκλέχτηκε πρόεδρος της Πανελλήνια Ομοσπονδία Παλαιών Πολεμιστών και Θυμάτων Στρατών..., η οποία κυκλοφορεί την εφημερίδα "Παλαιός Πολεμιστής" με κυκλοφορία που φτάνει τα 20 χιλιάδες φύλλα. Excerpt from the English language Wikipedia biography of Pandelis Pouliopoulos: Pandelis Pouliopoulos (10 March 1900-6 June 1943) was a Greek communist and onetime general secretary of the Communist Party of Greece (KKE). He stood for the internationalist and revolutionary character of the communist movement. He is the founder of the trotskyist movement in Greece.
Born in Thiva, Greece, Pouliopoulos enrolled at Athens University in 1919 to study law. In 1919, he joined the Socialist Labour Party of Greece (SEKE), the forerunner of the Communist Party of Greece.
In 1920, he was conscripted to fight in the Greek-Turkish war of 1919-1922. He was arrested in 1922 for anti-war activity, but was freed with the end of the war.
Several weeks ago, I posted two articles regarding the struggle of leftist students in Iran (Dec. 8 | Dec. 9). Regular readers of our site might recall that the Students' Day articles were written and/or shared by friends in Iran who are intimately familiar with the current political struggles in that county. They have seen the crimes of the Iranian ruling clique with their own eyes and, in efforts to engender solidarity with progressives and radicals worldwide, they have shared their stories with me and others like me in hopes that they might garner further support in their struggle. It was in this spirit that I shared the Students' Day articles with other individuals, including representatives from local and regional progressive and anti-war groups. After reading the articles, an organizer from one such regional group responded to me rather quickly with a reply that was – to say the least – both unexpected and unfortunate. The short reply I received effectively questioned the wisdom of publicizing the crimes of the Iranian ruling clique as such facts might ostensibly weaken the anti-war movement in America by providing fodder for the pro-war propaganda machine. Also included in the writer's reply was the clear inference that the US had incited the Students' Day unrest as part of a larger effort to destabilize the regime in Iran. Additionally, the writer questioned the veracity of the Students' Day stories by noting that the events had not been reported by the "mainstream press." I had, of course, met with such attitudes before but I have never become accustomed to such ignorance and indifference and I found the response to be thoroughly frustrating. I was later advised by an Iranian friend in London that he had encountered similar responses from European "progressives" on the matter of political repression in Iran.
