Despite all their best efforts at covering up the truth, the United States military has been compelled to open a criminal investigation into the acts of abuse, humiliation and torture against Iraqi prisoners, which have now been broadcast on TV screens around the world. Each passing day brings new and more shocking revelations. Now it seems there are a further 1000 digital photographs to be published. As usual, the military only admit what cannot be denied. As we are now learning, these initial pictures represent only the tip of a vast and extremely ugly iceberg.

While Sharon has plenty of money to spend on bombing the Palestinian people and on building a wall to steal more of their land, inside Israel itself another war is going on, the war of the rich against the poor. Poverty levels have shot up and many of Israel’s Jews are living in terrible conditions. This is particularly true of the newly arrived immigrants. Many Jews left Russia thinking they would find a better life in Israel. Instead what they find is degrading and humiliating conditions. The government has been systematically attacking welfare and health.

Dear comrades,

This year there were three events of May Day. The first one in Nazareth around 4 thousands people, 99 % Arab Palestinians citizens of Israel. About 3000 of them young people of the YCL most of them under the influence of Hadash leadership led by MP Mohammad Barake. There were about 50 Jews of them 30 or so Jews of the YCL who marched as a small block. There  many red flags and shirts with pictures of Che. There were not too many written slogans. The chanting was focused against Sharon's plan.

In Turkey around 150.000 people joined May Day demonstrations held in many towns up and down the country. As is always the case the central event was in Istanbul. For the first time since 1993 the May Day demonstration in Istanbul was split into two. It was a result of the disagreement between major labour confederations. The demonstration held in Caglayan square, which was organised by the Turk-Iş, the biggest labour confederation, was joined by 15.000 people, while the other demonstration organised by the DISK and KESK in Sarachane was joined by 30.000. In Ankara there were 10.000 people demonstrating, while 15.000 were demonstrating in Izmir, the third biggest city.

The invasion of Iraq stands exposed for what it always was: an act of naked aggression leading to the forcible occupation of a country by foreign troops against the will of the people. Naturally, such a state of affairs can only be sustained by the massive, uncontrolled and unlimited use of force. We can now see the results of this on the front pages of today’s newspapers.The United States military has been compelled to open criminal investigation into acts of abuse, humiliation and torture against Iraqi prisoners, committed by US soldiers and officers as photographs of horrific incidents were aired for the first time on US network television.

The monstrously oppressive nature of US imperialism stands exposed in all its bloody nakedness. Fallujah is being reduced to smoking rubble before the eyes of the world. Heavily armed American gunships are slowly pounding it into dust. Many civilians have fled in panic; many lay buried beneath the shattered remnants of their homes.

Dear Comrades,

First I want to thank you for putting up my article. What you say in the forward about bringing the atomised individuals like myself together and transforming them into a genuine socialist opposition within Israel, is my dream, but alas we are far and few between.