This Day. Celebrating the great victory at Stalingrad by creating the new

“The Motherland Calls” statue at Volgograd Museum of the Battle of Stalingrad.

By DOUGAL MACDONALD

February 2, 2021 is the 78th anniversary of the great historic victory at Stalingrad. Stalingrad was the turning point of the Second World War and a major turning point in history. At Stalingrad, the united Soviet people led by Joseph Stalin and the Communist Party resoundingly defeated the Nazi invaders who had criminally attacked Stalingrad on August 23, 1942 with the largest military force ever gathered in one place. The battle ended with the encirclement of 300,000 German troops and a crushing irreparable defeat for the Hitlerites which eventually led to their total demise.

International Court of Justice rules British occupation of the Chagos Islands illegal

Refusal to uphold international rule of law is a serious matter of concern | Three articles from TML Weekly, John Pilger and Craig Murray

Protest outside British Parliament after a court ruling barring Chagos Islanders from returning to their homeland, October 22, 2008.

TML Weekly welcomes the February 25 ruling of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) on the Chagos Islands. In a majority decision of 13 to 1, with all the judges from EU countries amongst those finding against the UK, the ICJ ruled that the continued British occupation of the Chagos Islands is illegal and ordered the UK to return the islands to Mauritius “as rapidly as possible.” The islands were seized by the British in 1965 and the people forcibly removed in 1971 to permit the U.S. to build a military base on the island of Diego Garcia. This base plays a criminal role in the U.S. striving for world hegemony.

Right of return is the heart of Palestine’s struggle

No leader can surrender Palestinians’ right to return after 68 years of exile.

Mohamed Mohamed, The Electronic Intifada

A friend of mine recently shared an image meant to show solidarity with Palestine. At first glance, I thought it was nice: it depicts a heart that is outlined with the word “Palestine,” is filled with the names of many Palestinian cities and is decorated with the colours of the Palestinian flag.

This day. Historic victory at Stalingrad

February 2, 2016, is the 73rd Anniversary of the victory of the battle for Stalingrad. Articles from TML Weekly in 2013 discussed its significance on the occasion of the 70th anniversary.

Memorial Complex to the Heroes of the Stalingrad Battle, located at Mamayev Hill, in Volgograd (the present-day name of Stalingrad), Russia.

Trudeau Liberals defend the indefensible: UN votes on Palestine and Zionist ethnic cleansing

On 24 November 2015 the UN General Assembly adopted five non-binding resolutions on Palestine. Canada voted five against, showing its status as a lapdog to the United States and Israel and its contempt for the rights of the Palestinian people and international law. The only major states voting against all five resolutions were the USA, Canada and Israel.

Harper’s self-serving anti-terrorist agenda: When does a group or an individual pose a danger to society?

By PAULINE EASTON

(Oct. 25) – IT IS CLEAR that there are a lot of people across the country who are very disturbed by recent events. Under such circumstances, it is not fruitful to incite passions and fuel tensions by presenting opinion as fact as the Prime Minister and his Ministers have done and continue to do, or to enact more legislation which is self-serving and destroys the standards and due process established by a civil society based on the Rule of Law, as the Prime Minister and his Ministers are planning to do. On the contrary, what needs to be done is to go into the heart of the matter and appeal to all people to draw warranted conclusions and unite on that basis. The issue is to focus on what will resolve the crisis in favour of the people and what will not. The outlook that upholds Might Makes Right and enacts legislation on a self-serving basis will not permit any problem to be sorted out. On the contrary, it exacerbates the problems which already exist. This is especially true when the outlook is racist and targets mentally ill and socially displaced people for attack in the name of high ideals.

Scottish independence: The Democracy Declaration of Scotland (1992)

The massive ‘Scotland Demands Democracy’ demonstration at the European Summit held in Edinburgh, December 11 and 12, 1992 | Photo courtesy of Alan Miller (Click to enlarge)

We are providing information on the background of the movement for Scottish independence, its background and the issues involved. Common Cause wrote this Declaration on behalf of the Organising Committee for the massive ‘Scotland Demands Democracy’ demonstration at the European Summit at Edinburgh, December 11 and 12, 1992. Over 25,000 Scottish citizens accepted the Declaration, read by famed actor Sean Connery, by acclamation. It was also endorsed by civic organisations, the Labour Party, the Liberal Democratic Party and the Scottish National Party. The Democracy Declaration united the new movement for a Scottish Parliament in the 1990s.

* * *

A warm welcome to Scotland, one of Europe’s oldest nations. The Edinburgh Summit is the latest event in a long history binding Scotland to its European neighbors.

Today we share with you a commitment to Europe’s democratic future. Scotland’s ancient Parliament was adjourned in 1707, before the birth of modern European democracy. Since that time Scotland has remained a nation with its own separate legal system and national institutions. Today the majority in Scotland demand the recall of our own Parliament as a modern and democratic body empowering all our citizens.

Scottish independence: ‘Scotland Demands Democracy’ (2002)

We are providing information on the background of the movement for Scottish independence, its background and the issues involved. This article by Tony Seed was published in Mac-talla, the annual Gaelic edition of Shunpiking, Nova Scotia’s discovery magazine, May, 2002, No. 42, and is slightly revised by the author for this publication.

The massive ‘Scotland Demands Democracy’ demonstration at the European Summit held in Edinburgh, December 11 and 12, 1992. Over 25,000 people participated and endorsed the Democracy Declaration of Scotland, read by the actor Sean Connery | Photo courtesy of Alan Miller (Click to enlarge)

IN accordance with the September 1997 referendum, Scotland now has home rule. Nearly three hundred years after the abolition of the last Scottish parliament, the country again has its own elected legislative authority. But there is no knowing if this stage will be Scotland’s last.

Debating chamber of the Socttish parliament

ROBERT LOUIS STEVENSON reckoned that Calton Hill was the best place to view Edinburgh, “since you can see the Castle, which you lose from the Castle, and Arthur’s Seat, which you cannot see from Arthur’s Seat.” Here, below the hill in one of the city’s greatest buildings, the Grecian Old Royal High School, it was assumed for many years Scotland’s new Parliament would sit. Less than a year before the first elections, the Scottish Office unexpectedly announced that a new building would be commissioned. Empty docklands were proposed. Ultimately the ideal location chosen was a disused brewery – in Holyrood, at the foot of the Royal Mile, neighbour to the royal palace – a site that satisfied no-one except the land owners and the royals. The parliament, which has been sitting in the Church of Scotland Assembly Hall, will move into this £200 million home soon.

Mass protests against Irish government’s assault on the Irish language

756 documented instances of discrimination of Irish speakers noted in the Irish Language Commissioner’s report for 2012

By Cuan Ó Seireadáin

Irish language commissioner quits and protesters take to the streets of Dublin | Getty

(Feb. 13) – THE impending resignation of Irish Language Commissioner Seán Ó Cuirreáin on February 23 has sparked a wave of protest all over Ireland.

On Saturday, February 15 speakers and supporters of the Irish language will gather in Dublin to make plain their dissatisfaction with the Irish and Northern Ireland governments’ lack of response to Ó Cuirreáin’s criticisms of their policies. The protest is expected to be the largest public demonstration of support for Irish since the protests of the Gaeltacht civil rights movement in the 1960s.

Sighting. Palestine, a land, a people, a right to be

As curious lenses compete to capture our tears

Our pain-filled smiles radiate, redefining the meaning of beauty.

Sighting: Dress codes – which ones are religious?

THE Charter of Quebec Values imposes an irrational and backward dress code on the polity of Quebec. The section of the bill entitled Restriction on Wearing Religious Symbols reads:

5. In the exercise of their functions, personnel members of public bodies must not wear objects such as headgear, clothing, jewelry or other adornments which, by their conspicuous nature, overtly indicate a religious affiliation.

This attempt to have the state monitor the clothing of individuals working for the civil service or public schools at any level constitutes state interference with the human person.

Charter of Quebec Values – Brief of the Marxist-Leninist Party of Quebec on Bill 60

WE ARE reproducing for the information of readers an extremely important brief by PMLQ on the recent Charter of Quebec Values. The PMLQ thinks that the following sections of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights are pertinent when considering the duties of the state in matters taken up by this Bill.

Article 18: Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion; this right includes freedom to change his religion or belief, and freedom, either alone or in community with others and in public or private, to manifest his religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship and observance.

Article 21: (2) Everyone has the right of equal access to public service in his country.

Article 29: (2) In the exercise of his rights and freedoms, everyone shall be subject only to such limitations as are determined by law solely for the purpose of securing due recognition and respect for the rights and freedoms of others and of meeting the just requirements of morality, public order and the general welfare in a democratic society.

The PMLG concludes “Overall, the PMLQ thinks this bill is fundamentally flawed and should be withdrawn in toto.”