Since the dramatic upsurge of the European student movement, culminating in the movement of May '68 in France, the last two years have witnessed the fragmentation of the movement in Britain and demoralisation in some quarters. RSSF, the organisation in which student militants all over the country two years ago placed their hopes, has now finally collapsed. But what is required is not a dismissal of the revolutionary potentials of students; instead we must develop new theory and new forms of organisation, which can only emerge on the basis of a thorough critique of our experience over the last two years. In this respect the present crisis of the student movement has a positive aspect: it helps to force us to become conscious of ourselves as a movement by re-examining fundamental assumptions about the possibilities of the student movement in relation to the revolutionary struggle as a whole and about the forms of organisation required to realise those possibiliMay 68 taught us the function of education in relation to the social relations of production and the needs of the productive forces, it demonstrated the theory of the university as the weakest link, generating apparently spontaneous mass upsurges. But these general lessons don't provide us with a concrete guide to action. For that we must have an understanding of the division between different sections of the students, and an adequate conception of the relations between intellectuals and workers. By obscuring these problems the spontaneous theories have created a vacuum in the student movement, which can only be filled by a RSSF was founded on the assumption that a spontaneous upsurge of students in Britain was immanent, following similar developments in France, Germany and Italy. It defined its role as that of providing the organisational superstructure for this occurrence. While aware of the general sociological factors making for such an upsurge, it had no awareness of the political role of the student movement in relation to the labour movement and to revolutionary strategy. The crucial task for the RSSF was to transcend the limitations of a student milieu, and situate the crisis in the university in relation to the general struggle for socialism. This would have required the elaborations of a strategic and programmatic perspective. Instead of transcending its milieu, the RSSF became a passive reflection of the weakness of that milieu. The failure of the RSSF is to be attributed to the assumption that out of the experience of a mass movement, could be crystalised the theoretical foundation and political experience necessary to the formation of a serious cadre organisation. The history of the RSSF reveals that the opposite is true: a mass student organisation must be founded upon the leadership of a cadre organisation which has assimilated the political experience of international revolutionary movements. In the event, both the I.S. Group and the New Left Review- the two tendencies that led the organisation-proved unable, for different reasons, to provide this leadership. The organisation of RSSF, a loose federation of discussion and action circles coordinated by a centre, prohibited the development of Unless the student movement becomes conscious of the contradictions within the society which has produced it, then it will become the victim of these contradictions. The student movement cannot solve these by itself; such attempts end in reformism and synthetic trades unionism, or capitulation to liberalism and a defence of 'academic freedom'. At the same time, the student movement finds itself in the vanguard of the class struggle due to the uneven development of consciousness and the weakness of the integrative ideologies of Stalinism and social-democracy in this milieu. While on the one hand it requires an insertion into the class-struggle in general, it cannot develop, out of its experience alone, the global strategic perspective to guide such intervention. In attempting to overcome this contradiction, the differences between the sectors are dissolved by "workerism". The distortion of the movement into propagandist activity towards the working class or spontaneist conceptions, both of which ignore the political immaturity of the student movement and the strength of social democracy and Stalinism in the workers movement. We consider that the road forward lies in returning to the heritage of a hundred years of working class struggle, and above all, confronting the problem The workers movement developed its theory of revolutionary organisation, culminating in the ideas of the Bolsheviks, to solve precisely the problem faced by the student movement today; how to overcome fragmentation and fuse the struggles of different groups on various fronts along the most effective lines of attack. The student movement requires a democratically centralised organisation capable of relating both theoretically and practically the immediate, spontaneous Basing ourselves on these lessons, we are calling a conference in London on July 4th and 5th. We consider that the time has come for those who share our views to translate them into action. The next months and years will witness an intensification of the struggles in the factories, a more urgent search on the part of working class militants for a political strategy and solid allies in the bitter fight ahead against the bosses and their government. What part will students play? This is not a question to be resolved by speculation; it will be answered by the degree to which student militants practically confront the problem of organising themselves as a For more information or to attend the Conference, contact Peter Gowan or Dave Kendall, c/o The Red Mole, 182 Pentanville Road, London N.1. (01-837 6954).
1. ties. 2. 3.
le id 4. its :h, e, IW ts.
WHERE WE'RE AT THE FAILURE OF THE R.S.S.F. political clarity and organisational stability.
TRANSCENDING STUDENTISM of revolutionary organisation.
outbreaks of revolt to the overall necessities of the class struggle.
BUILD THE SPARTACUS LEAGUE disciplined vanguard. Our answer is to build the SPARTACUS LEAGUE. rigorous examination of the present situation in the light of Leninist forms of organisation.
Frank Keane, an Irish socialist republican, is in Brixton jail awaiting extradition proceedings. He is charged with killing a policeman (named Fallon) during a bank robbery, said to be the work of militant republicans, which took place in Dublin six weeks ago.
Keane says it is a frame-up, organised by the notorious special political police arm of Dublin Castle, to "nail" a fighter against Irish capitalism and British imperialism.
There is much reason to believe Frank Keane. Look at the facts.
Within hours of the robbery the police issued the names and addresses of seven men from whom they wanted "help" with their enquiries.
All seven are militant socialist republicans to the left of both sections of the now divided IRA. No warrants were issued, thereby showing that the police, to say the least, didn't have any clear evidence. Indeed they could hardly have had time to even begin the investigation.
However, they did have a list of names of people they wanted to "get". Amongst those named was Sean Morrissey, who had been an editor of the Irish Trotskyist magazine Workers Republic. Another was Joe Dillon, whose past experience of the Irish political police sheds a flood of light on the current case and normal methods of the Irish police.
Dillon Case In 1966 Dillon was framed by the Special Detective Unit (political police) of Dublin Castle for robbery, and given a five-year sentence. A left-wing member of the IRA moving towards Marxism, he was a natural target for the special police. Before his arrest, he had been offered bribes by the Special Branch to inform on the IRA. When he refused, he was told that "the Branch"" would "get him"
And they did.
He was arrested for an attempted robbery that had taken place six months earlier. In an identification parade none of the witnesses identified Dillon. Nevertheless a year later he was tried and given five years. The judge in the case, a Mr. O'Caoimh, came close to admitting it was a frame-up-but then, it has long been tacitly accepted that in Britain's southern stooge statelet, like in its northern one, political expediency is a big element in the "justice"
dispensed by the courts. O'Caoimh admitted in court that he was "probably in error when !
impose a sentence of five years". And was criticism there certainly was. An international "leaving myself open to criticism". And campaign was organised to demand Dillon's release. Eventually the sentence was reduced to three years.
The same people who framed him then are attempting it again, now for murder-which in ireland still carries the death penalty for killing • policeman.
In order to extradite Frank Keane, they will nave to present a large part of their "evidence" to the Old Street Magistrates Court, where on Saturday May 23rd, very heavily guarded by armed British and Irish Special Branch men, Keane was remanded for a week. They are not above fabricating such "evidence", It is part of the everyday work of the Irish political police. The Dublin Green Tories operated a conce concentration camp for political prisoners until quite recently: and during World War Il they organised drumhead courts martial and shot over 70 political prisoners out of hand.
With the present political crisis in the Republic", the government desperately needs scapegoats-and they need to annihilate groups and individuals who want to combine a militant. non-sectarian social policy with aggressive anti-imperialism.
Not the First Time Keane was victimised in the past. When he was "named" by the police, he wrote a letter to the Irish Times. He denied knowledge of the killing, but refused to help the police. He explained that he had been harried and persecuted in the past for his politics. The police had previously attempted to frame him on a robbery charge and for attempting to burn down a Fianna Fail headquarters. He was jailed and ill-treated on the robbery charge and finally just released. He made it plain that if he now offered his "help" he knew what to expect at the hands of the police.
that I am and have been active in political circles in Ireland... "If you could do anything in this respect | would be grateful, because nothing would give me greater pleasure at present than to give Dublin Castle and Co. a good kick up the ass..." Socialists in Britain have a duty to aid Frank Keane. Help keep Frank out of the hands of the brutal Irish police. We must let the Dublin government know that it has the labour movement to reckon with, not only in Ireland but here as well. Trade union, Labour Party, Young Socialist, Communist Party and YCL branches, and all revolutionary socialists and republicans, must send messages and resolutions in support of Keane, and the other political prisoners, to the Irish Embassy, Mount Street, London W. 1.
Pickets outside the Irish Embassy will be organised.
Contact: London 01-435 5492; Manchester 061-445 8864: Frank Keane Defence DEFEND IRANIAN STUDENTS Dear Friend.
While the military bureaucratic feudal regime of the Shah of Persia and its foreign patrons, the monopolist oil interests, like Standard Oil, Texaco, British Petroleum and Shell, etc., reap hundreds of millions of pounds from the labour and resources of Iran, 90% of the population are forced to a life of abject poverty, illiteracy, disease and degradation.
Every protest against oppression, every attempt of the people for democratic demands for the amelioration of their miserable lot is ruthlessly put down. The Shah's fascist regime has systematically suppressed the basic human liberties. Universities, press and "trade unions"
are controlled by SAVAK, the secret police. Professional people, lawyers, doctors, university example, according to the statement of account tortured to obtain "confessions" and are secretly executed. Thousands of patriots languish in the Shah's jails. It is only through the relations and friends of the victims that the gruesome news leaks out.
The Shah spends millions of dollars on foreign press publicity to present a fraudulent liberal image of his oppressive regime. For Release van: Release has a transit and driver, and wil ssued by the Swiss Union Bank, Geneva, dated 30th June 1962, the Shah's Pahlivi Foundation of Iran issued 500,000 U.S. dollars to Henry R. Luce, chief editor of the American magazines Time and Life.
Recently 200 people, some from the Tehran University, were arbitrarily arrested and imprisoned. SAVAK, the Shah's secret police, has refused to disclose their whereabouts. There is a serious concern and apprehension about their fate in view of the brutal torture employed by the Iranian authorities. defence of these 200 Iranian patriots, our In order to raise public opinion for the Committee is organising an "IRANIAN WEEK Defence of Political Prisoners", in London from July 6 to July 10, culminating in a demonstration to U.S. and Iranian Embassies on July 12.
Dear friends, we are sure you will appreciate the urgency of the situation. May we request you and your organisation to support the "Iranian Week"
We shall appreciate it if we could have your positive response by return mail and any proposal to extend concrete help towards this noble cause Thanking you, Yours sincerely, Ahmad Ghotbi, Secretary, 71 Ladbroke Grove, London W.11.
africa, dig it.
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