I remember attending a meeting 50 years ago when Tony Cliff was talking about capitalisn and imperialism. Born Ygael Gluckstein in Palestine in 1917, his anti-Zionism and revolutionary socialism left him stateless for many years.
At that meeting he said that many people don’t realise how horrific war is. Of Russian ancestry, his grandfather was conscripted into the Tsarist army to fight against Turkey. His mother was upset that he had to leave home. After he made it clear that he had no choice she told him, ‘Ah well son. If you must go you see you must go. Kill a Turk, have a rest. Kill a Turk, have a rest.’
He went on to suggest that the world is heading towards barbarism and used a train metaphor. “We are all on the same train. The upper class have couchettes and are eating in the dining car. The middle class are in the carriages and the working class are crowded in the corridors. But everyone is on the same train and it’s heading towards barbarism."
I was reminded of Cliff after reading this from someone else who was also politically active half a century ago and still is today, Tariq Ali.
“The US/UK did nothing to disrupt the Judeocide during the Second World War. They and most other Western states are actively aiding the genocide taking place in Palestine. Yes, actively. In order to do this they have wrecked their own international legal system. Anything we do, goes the refrain, is not subject to an international law. These laws are for our 'enemies.' The same applies to the institutions agreed after the last world war. The UN is virtually defunct. It's the US that decides. What we are witnessing is the break-up of the international order. Nothing will be the same again after the Gaza genocide. The ICC is dead. The ICJ is dead. The UNSC is dead. Western 'civilization' is seen in most of the world as a barbarism. The consequences will be dire.”
It’s getting very late, perhaps too late, but how do we stop the train?
