Found this post while taking a few moments to check my email a few days ago. As I was in the midst of work-related travel, I would not have had much in the way of time to put together a proper (or even hasty) blog post, so I bookmarked for later. Although I am a bit ambivalent about the blogger Andrew Coates, I will acknowledge that his warning about potential right-wing infiltration of various anti-fascist and pro-Donestk solidarity movements is timely and well-taken. The LaRouchies in particular are nasty business, and should be avoided at all costs. That was true back when I was a student activist two to three decades ago and it is true now. Read on for a partial repost and further commentary…
Over 150 people packed the meeting room in London on June 2 to hear speakers and discuss the launching of the campaign in Solidarity with the Antifascist Resistance in Ukraine.
The speakers were Richard Brenner from the campaign, Lindsey German from Counterfire, Boris Kagarlitsky from the (Institute for globalization studies and social movements (IGSO), Moscow) who joined via Skype as he had been unable to get a visa, Andrew Murray from the Communist Party of Britain, Alan Woods from Socialist Appeal and the International Marxist Tendency and Sergei Kirichuk from the socialist organisation Borotba in Ukraine who also spoke over a Skype call.
The speakers explained different aspects involved in the crisis in Ukraine, the role of US and EU imperialism, the recruitment of fascist gangs into the National Guard, how the conflict is a social and class based one rather than one based on language or ethnicity, the support of the British government for the Ukrainian authorities, the presence of far right and openly fascist elements within the Kiev government, the participation of British troops in joint NATO exercises in Ukraine, the role of the oligarchs, the attacks against the Communist Party and other left wing organisations (having their offices burnt down and ransacked, their members persecuted, threats of banning), mutinies in the Ukraine army, etc. All speakers stressed that support for the anti-fascist resistance did not at all mean support for Putin More here.
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Searchlight Warning to anti-fascists invited to meeting at SOAS
Published on Sunday, 01 June 2014 23:28
Written by Gerry Gable (S
The so-called Anti-Fascist Resistance in Ukraine has called a meeting on the evening of Monday 2 June at SOAS. The British left and anti-fascist movement has been canvassed to take part. The warning below, which exposes these political crooks, comes from genuine anti-fascists in Ukraine.President Putin’s media Trojan Horse, the Russia Today TV station, presents as commentators Nazis from Germany and the UK, and people involved in the far-right LaRouche cult group without explaining who they really are. Over the past few weeks RT has featured Paul Weston from the tiny Islamophobic Liberty GB party, who has been associated with the English Defence League. Weston was described on screen as a civil rights activist.
Also on was Manuel Ochsenreiter, editor of Zuerst!, a glossy German Nazi magazine.
Then came the man from LaRouche’s international Executive Intelligence Newsletter, the happy hunting ground of several intelligence services. This is the group responsible for the death in 2003 of the British student Jeremiah Duggan in Germany, a death that will be subject to a new inquest in the North London Coroner’s Court next February.
Our comrade who has written the paragraphs that follow, is one of the most experienced investigators of what really goes on in Moscow and Kiev. He expresses his sorrow, as do I, about the way part of the British and European left are being manipulated by these enemies of the true anti-fascist struggle.
The so-called “Solidarity with the Antifascist Resistance in Ukraine” is simply a scam. Borotba, which “represents” the Ukrainian side (their guy will address the meeting on Skype), is a fake left-wing organisation the representatives of which are now travelling across Europe to get funding for their dodgy activities. No decent left-wing group in Ukraine is cooperating with them.
This is very much worth reading: http://avtonomia.net/2014/03/03/statement-left-anarchist-organizations-borotba-organization/ At the same time, Borotba has been cooperating with the so-called “Progressive Socialist Party of Ukraine”.
Its leader, Natalya Vitrenko, is a long-time associate of LaRouche: ttp://schillerinstitute.org/lar_related/2009/lyn_russia_antiglob.html http://www.larouchepub.com/pr/2014/140407_vitrenko_appeal.html Borotba also supports the self-proclaimed Donetsk People Republic, the “constitution” of which proclaims an authoritarian clerical regime. It’s really painful to see that so many people fall victim of the idiotic propaganda.
PublicEye had a useful, albeit dated, report entitled Right Woos Left that I would highly recommend. Although I would suggest reading the whole report, I will highlight merely a few portions that mention Lyndon LaRouche and how his group attempted to infiltrate various leftist and anti-war organizations. This was actually a real problem for those wanting to organize opposition to Operation Desert Storm back in the early 1990s.
The LaRouchites as Anti-Interventions
How the LaRouchites Exploited Antiwar Organizers
Apparently we are witnessing these same nefarious folks exploiting, or attempting to exploit those individuals and organizations among the left who are genuinely concerned about what is happening in Ukraine. About all I can say is be careful. By giving the LaRouchies a forum, they gain the ability to drag us all down with them. The Left in the US and UK have plenty of problems already without being infiltrated by a bunch of stealth right-wingers.
