Tuesday
26Feb2008
A Call to Blogo-Arms نداء إلى المدونين الاشتراكيين الثوريين
Tuesday, February 26, 2008 at 1:32PM
I'm compiling a list of revolutionary socialist bloggers who are affiliated with the International Socialist Tendency groups... If you are one of them, please email me on egyptian[dot]bolshevik[at]gmail[dot]com ... Get in touch, we need to start networking more... for workers' power and international socialism...
UPDATE: Again, I'd like to thank all the comrades who got in touch, and I look forward to hearing from more of you. I'm posting below a list of some of the blog links I received up till now, and will be adding more links soon (apologies to the comrades who sent me links that I still haven't posted.. will be doing that soon). I'll also be adding you to my blogroll on the right side bar, and I hope you'll be doing the same. I'd like to also thank Comrade Lenin of the Tomb, the pioneering SWP blogger, for his help in spreading the word...
Few things:
1- I replied back to everyone who emailed me. If you don't find my message, please take time to browse your "junk folder," as sometimes messages with signatures that have hyperlinks are mistaken as a spam advertisement. If you don't hear back from me in a couple of days, then this means my message never arrived in the first place, and that has happened on several occasions before in my correspondence... so if there's no response in 48 hours, then kindly just leave a comment on the blog here to alert me to it.
2-It doesn't matter if you haven't updated your blog in a while, or if your blog was under construction... and it doesn't matter which language you blog in... Still, get in touch...
3-When you browse the internet, you find some amazing garbage by leftist activists who think that the struggle is happening in the cyberspace; hence you find terms popping up like “cyber-leninism,” “cyber-revolution,” “bloggers' power” (oh, how that reminds me of what one reads about May 1968 stupid “students' power” slogan), etc... We are revolutionary socialists. We believe in Workers' Power. Capitalism will not be overthrown by blogging against it.. Capitalism will be overthrown when the working class takes control of the production process in their factories, land and workplaces. Blogs will NEVER substitute, contrary to what some may think (or dream), the centrality of the revolutionary newspaper as a organ, as a scaffold around which we build our organizations and parties. There are no, and will not be at any point, this so called “online revolution.” But revolutionary socialists have to be up to date in using technology that the cyberage has provided. In 1917, when one soviet wanted to contact another, they'd send a messenger on a horse. News from the front used to arrive days, if not months, late, and trickled slowly to other countries. Now we have emails, mobile phones, etc.. via which we can contact one another. (And let's remember the role played by Egyptian bloggers in mobilizing local and international solidarity with the Mahalla strikers last September.) The internet is only a medium and a tool by which we can support our “offline” activities. Our strength will always stem from the fact that we'll have one foot in the cyberspace, and, more importantly, the other foot will be on the ground.
As soon as we compile a good number of contact info and links, a mailing group will be set up for the IST bloggers via which we can be in constant touch, exchange ideas and experiences, as well as discuss strategy and tactics to help launch campaigns and see how can we help our groups in their propaganda and agitation activities on the ground...
Shokran once again comrades... It's always empowering to know there are activists in other continents who fight for the same cause and share the same ideals... The coming months in Egypt, I can assure, will witness more escalation in the industrial action, and the US-backed Mubarak's terrorist regime's full crackdown on the labor movement is a matter of time... and your solidarity will probably be needed more than ever before... For Workers' Power and International Socialism...
UPDATE: Please read this posting on the delicious bookmarks and outgoing email signatures...
UPDATE: Please read this posting on photography and that one...
UPDATE: Kindly check out this posting on Twitter...
UPDATE: Better shift to Jaiku...
UPDATE: I invite you to check out some of the links and notes I'm posting here...
UPDATE: The Lenosphere IT Collective [beta] has been launched...
THE LENOSPHERE
1- Lenin's Tomb [Britain]
2- Sursock [Lebanon]
3- Shemali [Lebanon]
4- Through the Scary Door [Britain]
5- The Partisan [Australia]
6- If there's hope... [Canada]
7- Dissenting Historian [Brazil]
8- RedBedHead [Canada]
9- Diskussionsforum Internationaler Sozialismus [Germany]
10- John Molyneux [Britain]
11- Revolutionary Socialist Watchdog [Greece]
12- Mashahed [Egypt]
13- The Bureau of Counterpropaganda
14- Internasjonal Sosialisme [Norway]
15- The Opposite of Apathy [Britain]
16- Cliffism [Britain]
17- Al-Negm Al-Ahmar (The Red Star) [Egypt]
18- Abo7 [Egypt]
19- Histomat: Adventures in Historical Materialism [Britain]
20- Tollab Moqawma (Resistance Students) [Egypt]
21- Start the Riots [Lebanon]
22- A-Tollab al-Ishtrakiyoun (The Socialist Students) [Egypt]
23- The 19th Brumaire [Britain]
24- Eyes on the War [Greece]
25- Moqawma (Resistance) [Egypt]
26- 'Ala Esm Masr (In the Name of Egypt) [Egypt]
27- Le poireau ROUGE pour RESISTER à SARKOZY [France]
28- John Mullen à Agen [France]
29- Breaking Free [France]
30- PolEconAnalysis [Canada]
31- Chez Le Piment Rouge [Canada]
32- L'internationaliste [Canada]
33- Khaled el-Sawy's Blog [Egypt]
34- Left Turn [Britain]
35- General, Your Tank is a Powerful Vehicle [U.S.]
36- ROOIERAVOTR [Netherlands]
37- Jelle's Weblog [Netherlands]
38- Punainen kampanjablogi [Finland]
39- Anticapitaliste [New Zealand]
40- No Ordinary Sun [Japan]
41- Left Punch
42- Blogging for the hell of it [Britain]
43- Editions Marque Page [France]
44- Complex System of Pipes [Britain]
45- Throw Away Your Telescreen! [Britain]
46- SO-CY(A)CLIST [Greece]
47- Farfahine [Lebanon]
48- Pompey Resistance [Britain]
49- Red Eagles النسور الحمراء [Egypt]
50- Blogging for the Revolution [Greece]
51- Con la Conferencia del Cairo [Spain]
52- The Good Soldier Švejk [Greece]
53- Left Now! [Britain]
54- Solomon's Mindfield [Britain]
55- كلمة أبرك من عشرة [Egypt]
56- عتبة واحد [Egypt]
57- حنين لبكرة [Egypt]
58- اشتراكي من مصر [Egypt]
59- WDPress [Thailand]
60- Expose Yourself to Marx [USA]
61- John McD's Union Blog [Britain]
62- Let's Reclaim Our Streets [Britain]
63- الريشة والكلاشينكوف [Egypt]
64- فأينما وجد الظلم.. فذاك هو وطني [Egypt]
65- City Centre Socialist Workers [Ireland]
66- anne frank's drumkit [Britain]
67- Tottenham SWP [Britain]
68- Oxfordshire SWP [Britain]
69- Leninism 2.0 [Egypt - Britain]
70- اشتراكي ثوري [Egypt]
More soon...
UPDATE: Again, I'd like to thank all the comrades who got in touch, and I look forward to hearing from more of you. I'm posting below a list of some of the blog links I received up till now, and will be adding more links soon (apologies to the comrades who sent me links that I still haven't posted.. will be doing that soon). I'll also be adding you to my blogroll on the right side bar, and I hope you'll be doing the same. I'd like to also thank Comrade Lenin of the Tomb, the pioneering SWP blogger, for his help in spreading the word...
Few things:
1- I replied back to everyone who emailed me. If you don't find my message, please take time to browse your "junk folder," as sometimes messages with signatures that have hyperlinks are mistaken as a spam advertisement. If you don't hear back from me in a couple of days, then this means my message never arrived in the first place, and that has happened on several occasions before in my correspondence... so if there's no response in 48 hours, then kindly just leave a comment on the blog here to alert me to it.
2-It doesn't matter if you haven't updated your blog in a while, or if your blog was under construction... and it doesn't matter which language you blog in... Still, get in touch...
3-When you browse the internet, you find some amazing garbage by leftist activists who think that the struggle is happening in the cyberspace; hence you find terms popping up like “cyber-leninism,” “cyber-revolution,” “bloggers' power” (oh, how that reminds me of what one reads about May 1968 stupid “students' power” slogan), etc... We are revolutionary socialists. We believe in Workers' Power. Capitalism will not be overthrown by blogging against it.. Capitalism will be overthrown when the working class takes control of the production process in their factories, land and workplaces. Blogs will NEVER substitute, contrary to what some may think (or dream), the centrality of the revolutionary newspaper as a organ, as a scaffold around which we build our organizations and parties. There are no, and will not be at any point, this so called “online revolution.” But revolutionary socialists have to be up to date in using technology that the cyberage has provided. In 1917, when one soviet wanted to contact another, they'd send a messenger on a horse. News from the front used to arrive days, if not months, late, and trickled slowly to other countries. Now we have emails, mobile phones, etc.. via which we can contact one another. (And let's remember the role played by Egyptian bloggers in mobilizing local and international solidarity with the Mahalla strikers last September.) The internet is only a medium and a tool by which we can support our “offline” activities. Our strength will always stem from the fact that we'll have one foot in the cyberspace, and, more importantly, the other foot will be on the ground.
As soon as we compile a good number of contact info and links, a mailing group will be set up for the IST bloggers via which we can be in constant touch, exchange ideas and experiences, as well as discuss strategy and tactics to help launch campaigns and see how can we help our groups in their propaganda and agitation activities on the ground...
Shokran once again comrades... It's always empowering to know there are activists in other continents who fight for the same cause and share the same ideals... The coming months in Egypt, I can assure, will witness more escalation in the industrial action, and the US-backed Mubarak's terrorist regime's full crackdown on the labor movement is a matter of time... and your solidarity will probably be needed more than ever before... For Workers' Power and International Socialism...
UPDATE: Please read this posting on the delicious bookmarks and outgoing email signatures...
UPDATE: Please read this posting on photography and that one...
UPDATE: Kindly check out this posting on Twitter...
UPDATE: Better shift to Jaiku...
UPDATE: I invite you to check out some of the links and notes I'm posting here...
UPDATE: The Lenosphere IT Collective [beta] has been launched...
THE LENOSPHERE
1- Lenin's Tomb [Britain]
2- Sursock [Lebanon]
3- Shemali [Lebanon]
4- Through the Scary Door [Britain]
5- The Partisan [Australia]
6- If there's hope... [Canada]
7- Dissenting Historian [Brazil]
8- RedBedHead [Canada]
9- Diskussionsforum Internationaler Sozialismus [Germany]
10- John Molyneux [Britain]
11- Revolutionary Socialist Watchdog [Greece]
12- Mashahed [Egypt]
13- The Bureau of Counterpropaganda
14- Internasjonal Sosialisme [Norway]
15- The Opposite of Apathy [Britain]
16- Cliffism [Britain]
17- Al-Negm Al-Ahmar (The Red Star) [Egypt]
18- Abo7 [Egypt]
19- Histomat: Adventures in Historical Materialism [Britain]
20- Tollab Moqawma (Resistance Students) [Egypt]
21- Start the Riots [Lebanon]
22- A-Tollab al-Ishtrakiyoun (The Socialist Students) [Egypt]
23- The 19th Brumaire [Britain]
24- Eyes on the War [Greece]
25- Moqawma (Resistance) [Egypt]
26- 'Ala Esm Masr (In the Name of Egypt) [Egypt]
27- Le poireau ROUGE pour RESISTER à SARKOZY [France]
28- John Mullen à Agen [France]
29- Breaking Free [France]
30- PolEconAnalysis [Canada]
31- Chez Le Piment Rouge [Canada]
32- L'internationaliste [Canada]
33- Khaled el-Sawy's Blog [Egypt]
34- Left Turn [Britain]
35- General, Your Tank is a Powerful Vehicle [U.S.]
36- ROOIERAVOTR [Netherlands]
37- Jelle's Weblog [Netherlands]
38- Punainen kampanjablogi [Finland]
39- Anticapitaliste [New Zealand]
40- No Ordinary Sun [Japan]
41- Left Punch
42- Blogging for the hell of it [Britain]
43- Editions Marque Page [France]
44- Complex System of Pipes [Britain]
45- Throw Away Your Telescreen! [Britain]
46- SO-CY(A)CLIST [Greece]
47- Farfahine [Lebanon]
48- Pompey Resistance [Britain]
49- Red Eagles النسور الحمراء [Egypt]
50- Blogging for the Revolution [Greece]
51- Con la Conferencia del Cairo [Spain]
52- The Good Soldier Švejk [Greece]
53- Left Now! [Britain]
54- Solomon's Mindfield [Britain]
55- كلمة أبرك من عشرة [Egypt]
56- عتبة واحد [Egypt]
57- حنين لبكرة [Egypt]
58- اشتراكي من مصر [Egypt]
59- WDPress [Thailand]
60- Expose Yourself to Marx [USA]
61- John McD's Union Blog [Britain]
62- Let's Reclaim Our Streets [Britain]
63- الريشة والكلاشينكوف [Egypt]
64- فأينما وجد الظلم.. فذاك هو وطني [Egypt]
65- City Centre Socialist Workers [Ireland]
66- anne frank's drumkit [Britain]
67- Tottenham SWP [Britain]
68- Oxfordshire SWP [Britain]
69- Leninism 2.0 [Egypt - Britain]
70- اشتراكي ثوري [Egypt]
More soon...
Reader Comments (70)
Present, sir...
Great music. What is it?
Roobin:
Ahlan Ahlan Comrade.. Honored to meet you.. If you know other IST bloggers, kindly ask them to get in touch too, and send me links to IST blogs you are already familiar with.
...
Glen:
It's "Navras" by Juno Reactor vs. Don Davis, from the Matrix Revolutions Soundtrack
....
Thanks to all the Comrades who've sent emails.. Spread the word.. there's more of us out there.. Let's rally the troops..
Thanks for all the Comrades who are sending emails of support and links.. I'm very very touched by your solidarity and honored to get in touch with you... Keep spreading the word shabab...
[...] had the pleasure of chatting and corresponding with several revolutionary bloggers from the Lenosphere, including Comrade Francis in Germany, who keeps a good eye on labor activism and revolutionary [...]
Hossam - this is excellent work - last year I had a go and compiling a list but I included lots of fellow travellers (one or two of which have since stopped 'fellow travelling') but your list updates and adds to my earlier effort http://histomatist.blogspot.com/2007/09/probably-best-international-socialist.html" rel="nofollow">here
Not a supporter of IST, but a supporter of an emancipating working class and self-managed society. I also enjoy your posts on the Egyptian strikes and have reposted them on my blog.
Power to the People
Snowball:
Thanks for leaving a comment. You have one hell of a blog! Keep up the great work, and I'll be adding soon the blog links you have to the list...
Blackstone:
We want the same goal, but we have our differences in strategy. In all cases, welcome comrade to my blog, and I appreciate you re-posting info on the Egyptian working class struggle.. We need to spread the word as much as we can internationally about the industrial action in Egypt... Also, feel free to use my flickr account, coz spreading the image is just as important... [Kindly read the posting below]
http://arabist.net/arabawy/2008/02/26/photos_flickr/
The Left United, Will Never Be Defeated...
Extremely interesting blog and agenda--I hope you do not mind that I linked you :) Keep up your efforts.
هو انا اسمي مكتوب :D ?
Here in France there are at least three comrade bloggers who identify with the IS tradition, link to IST sites and blogs (including your own) and publish translations of works by Cliff, Hallas, Harman, Callinicos et al, while not actually belonging to the IST in an organisational sense. Two are produced by active members of the LCR, the other by an ex-member, active on the left in Saint-Denis.
To the best of my knowledge there are no blogs produced by members of the IST group in France (which is part of the LCR), though I would be happy to learn of any. Also, they do not have a website. There are no IST groups in Belgium or Switzerland, and I am not aware of any sympathisers who have blogs. The small group in Quebec is not very active on the web. I do not know if any of the Lebanese comrades have blogs in French. I presume there are no such sites in Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia, French-speaking West Africa or the French overseas departments (again, I would be happy to be pleased wrong).
Therefore, the main source of documents in French supporting the politics of the IST are the following :
Le poireau rouge http://le-poireau-rouge.blogspot.com
John mullen à Agen http://johnmullenagen.blogspot.com/
Les aventures de Tintin (Tintin révolutionnaire) http://tintinrevolution.free.fr/
All these sites also have articles in English.
PS Congratulations on an excellent blog and Vive l'Internationale des bloggeurs !
dreamessence:
Of course I don't mind.. Thanks a lot for your feedback..
Leftist Egyptian:
مكانك في الجناح العسكري محفوظ يا زعامة
Colin:
Thanks for getting in touch and for your words of solidarity.. I added the links u posted to the list and to my blogroll..
There are no IST groups in the Maghreb that I'm aware of.. Hopefully that will change soon..
"The IST group in France (which is part of the LCR), though I would be happy to learn of any. Also, they do not have a website."
They do now : http://quefaire.lautre.net
Have u seen this blog b4?
http://segmovement.blogspot.com
Thanks for the info, ilestre (the French IST group finally has a website). It’s been a long time coming. I’ll link it to my site. I wonder if the comrades will do the same. That’s two sites belonging to or identifying with the IS tradition in France (the other is Socialisme International at http://www.revue-socialisme.org/) in addition to the blogs previously mentioned. Three, actually, as another group has a site called marque page at http://marquepage.over-blog.fr/ Kind of confusing, I suppose. There’s a case here for a merger, as with three of the four IST groups in Australia. Any takers ?
[...] need to start networking more… for workers’ power and international socialism…” writes Hossam El Hamalawy from Egypt. Share [...]
Thanks Comrades for the links. I added the websites to my blogroll on the right side bar of my blog. I urge you to import those websites, as well as the list of blogs above to your blogs too. It would help a lot in terms of increasing traffic and networking..
Mashahed:
Interesting blog. I didn't know about before. Do you know who runs it?
Nope .. !
I have no idea ... but i'll talk to some friends who may know (him\her)
[...] networken - für die Kraft der Arbeiter und den Internationalen Sozialismus…”, schreibt Hossam El Hamalawy aus [...]
tadamon blog
"مجموعة دعم النضالات العمالية والاجتماعية في مصر "تضامن
http://www.tadamonmasr.wordpress.com/
I already have the Tadamon blog listed on my blogroll. It's a great blog, but I'm not including it in this list, coz it's a united front that includes other non-socialist forces.
Here are two more IS blogs from Canada - and the first two also from Quebec:
Internationaliste http://internationaliste.blogue.ca/
Le Piment Rouge http://lepimentrouge.blogspot.com/
PolEconAnalysis http://www.poleconanalysis.org/
Thanks Doug.. Just added them to the list..
Keep up the good work yourself Hossam!
There are a couple more British blogs you might add:
Left Turn - http://www.keithshilson.blogspot.com/
and 'Blogging for the hell of it' http://rosacassells.blogspot.com/
though I am not 100 percent sure if the latter blogger is a member of the IST or not - I think so but perhaps wait on that one until further info...
Cheers Snowball.. I added Keith to the list.. If you can contact the other comrade and find out if she's with the IST or not, that would be great..
Thanks again for all your help, Keep up the quality blogging...