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Fascists lead huge demo on Poland’s Independence Day

By any measure, November 11’s fascist-led Independence Day march in Warsaw was terrifying. The authorities said 50,000 people marched through the Polish capital, while the organisers claimed 150,000. The true figure is likely to be somewhere in between. The march was obviously huge, however. Participants lined up in over sixty rows at the start; the […]

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ROZBRAT STAYS!: The Oldest Squat in Poland Faces Eviction

In October, Rozbrat squat is celebrating its 25th birthday, but its future is uncertain. A bailiff is preparing to auction off the plot, which we occupy. We won’t give it up without a fight! Several years ago, Rozbrat filed a case in court to secure rights to the land we have been occupying based on […]

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Poland mass teachers’ strike: “We were afraid parents would be angry; I am pleasantly surprised”

Just before Polish teachers suspended their strike to allow for exams, Philippe Alcoy interviewed Dagmara. She gave us an insider view on the causes of the historic struggle of Polish teachers as well as on the solidarities of pupils and parents. From the French: Celine Cantat. Dagmara Zawistowska-Toczek has been a primary and secondary school […]

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Teachers on strike in Poland

On April 8th, 74% of schools and kindergardens in Poland went on strike.[1] The strike’s organizer is The Polish Teachers’ Union (ZNP), close to the Social Democrats, but the strikers are also members of the pro-government Solidarność (Solidarity) union and non-union members. It is the biggest teachers’ strike since 1993 and possibly the biggest in […]

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Polish Students in Solidarity with the Protests in Albania

Protesting students of Albania! We are writing to you to send the words of solidarity and support from Warsaw, the capital of Poland. Despite the silence in the mainstream media, we have heard news about your problems and your struggle, which is an inspiration for us. We are students of the University of Warsaw, the […]

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The G20 and the Counter-Protests in Argentina

On November 30th the centre of the city of Buenos Aires was put on lockdown by the police, the military, and secret services. Martial law provisions were to continue for three days. US aircraft carriers lay offshore on the river plate and the airspace over the city closed. 40,000 police were on the streets of […]

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Dialoguing Between the Posts: Can We Think Postcolonially about Central and Eastern Europe? Perspective from Poland.

Note from the LeftEast editors: we are sharing this video with the kind permission of Mithilesh Kumar. Inspired from the workshop with the same title which took place in Beograde, TISS Patna has designed a series of events on the topic. As one of the groups present at the Belgrade seminar, the LeftEast editorial collective […]

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Polish Law on Historical Memory Widens Divisions at Home and Abroad

Note by the LeftEast editors: this article has been reprinted from the blog of Gavin Rae, Beyond the Transition, with the author’s permission. The Amended Act on the Institute of National Remembrance, passed by the Polish parliament on 26 January, has caused a huge political domestic and international storm (the full English language text of […]

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#CzarnyProtest: the battle is won, but the struggle for abortion rights continues

On Monday October 3rd the eyes of the world were for a moment set on Poland. Deemed “Black Monday” it was the day when pro-choice rallies took place in 87 Polish cities and small towns with more than 30 thousand black-clad protesters spilling over the streets and squares despite a heavy rain. That day was […]

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Letter from Russia: Solidarity with Polish women #czarnyprotest

On September 27, the Patriarch of the Russian Orthodox Church signed a petition calling for a legal ban on abortion. The new children’s rights ombudsman Anna Kuznetsova, who has already declared herself as an obscurantic pro-religious spokeswoman, has enthusiastically supported the initiative of banning abortion, as well as post-coital contraception. As she believes, the “whole […]