Everybody is talking about the “natural catastrophe” in South East Asia. Is it really natural? Or it is structural? When everybody know[1]s that the tsunami could kill much less if just they did warn the people before, it couldn’t be accounted as a simply natural disaster. Yes, it is structural.

We should not forget that it was the tourism industry behind the picture. The authorities who did not care on people’s lives when the industry might take a risk made the experts quiet about any warning. And the result is:

• More than 100000 killed in more than 10 countries amongst the poorest in the world;
• Some million more are injured and homeless;
• A property of value of some billion is been destroyed which must be recovered by our works and expense.
• And who knows about the psychological and other consequences…

It was a structural disaster indeed. It is capitalism with its focus on profit and income for tourism that ignored the warning from the meteorologists before some hour. It was a good fortune to save masses of lives even possibly all those lives that got lost.

And now they are going to help! However, we know all how it goes. The riches get the most again and the really guilty people try to get rid of the critics…

In every disaster it is the poor people who bear the biggest part of the suffering. That is quite enough to accuse this class society. However, this time it is much more clear that the system causes such a disaster for us all. Why should we hold this system?

Since the collapse of the Soviet bloc, the worker’s movement has received a severe blow and with it the struggle for women’s rights has been weakened.

Yet now it is more important than ever that the struggle for women’s political and social rights is highlighted and evaluated. Never before have women participated in the labour market in such huge numbers.

International Women’s Day should be a holiday, so we can celebrate and review the progress and set backs in our fight.

Unlike Christmas or Easter, which come from superstition, March 8 is rooted in the working class movement and real human struggle. This day was chosen to commemorate a demonstration by women workers at aNew Yorkclothing factory in 1907, which was violently crushed by police.

It is a shame that many people are unaware of this day, but I think if Women’s Day was a holiday, more people would remember it and celebrate it. A day of demonstration and events to promote women’s rights would be an effective method to raise the consciousness and organization of our sisters.

Gender inequalities in the western nations may seem less visible than those ofAfghanistanandIran- where women have almost no rights and are being stoned for sexual misconduct.

Many would like us to believe that women have achieved equality with men in here, but significant inequality continues to go on under our noses. According to the Statistics on the Structure of Earnings (SSE), the average earnings of women working full-time in industry and services in the EU were only around 75% of those of men in 1995.

As long as capitalism exists, so will patriarchy and all forms of chauvinism. Let International Women’s day remind us of the struggles of the past so as to inspire us in the struggle to end all forms of exploitation and oppression, for socialism and communism.

Josef Rebwar;Thursday, 4 March 2004,Gothenburg,Sweden.

April the twelfth 1991, our camp around Suleimanyiah-city                                                                     Kurdistan, (Iraq)

Dangerous news: the Iraqi-troops approach. There is no more hope to save a free territory around here. The so called No-Fly Zone is no more and the Kurdish nationalist troops do not fight. They have already given up.

I fear for my mother’s life as she is still in the city. She is alone at her house awaiting me, my wife and our little daughter,Ala, who has been brought up by her. She wants to see us one last time before leaving forIran.

April the thirteenth 1991, Suleimanyiah-city

It is so wonderful to see my mother, safe, again. LittleAlahas got the most part of the pleasure. But our happy reunion is short-lived, as the heavy dark night with its black rain lurks around the corner.

There is no electricity or a drop of water in the pipes since the beginning of the war. However, a lot of black rain pours from the heavy black clouds above the city. Strange, isn’t it?Kuwaitis quite far away, but even here the clouds have been heavily smudged  by the thick smoke fromKuwait’s burning oil wells.

April the fourteenth 1991, Suleimanyiah-city

Danger is getting closer. Too few people remain in the city. Even those few are leaving quickly. We must send mother away and leave as well. They say that the troops shoot everything that moves and loot the houses and properties. They’ve already made a really spooky city ofKirkuk, the latest city they’ve occupied.

April the fifteenth 1991, Suleimanyiah-city

Luckily, we succeeded in sending mother back toIranat the last moment. Now we must save ourselves. We obviously cannot evacuate any furniture. We barely have time to remove everything from the front rooms to the backyard to make the house appear empty. Hopefully this way the troops will think the place is empty and will not bother looting it.

‘My goodness!’ cries Oze (my wife), `They are on the doorstep, already´. I jump up and say: ´So strange; without firing a shot?´ Then, I look through the window. Yes, there they are. Three troop-carriers are standing, a bit farther, in the street.

-Be careful dad; says my daughter; they will shoot you.

-We must finish the job; I say with a sigh; we still have time.

Alais so scared and we try to calm her down.

-It’ll be all right; my wife says with a shaky voice while trying to hide her own fear; things will sort themselves out in the end.

I help carry the last things to the back-yard.

A few moments later I can see the troops storming the house, as I keep watch through the narrow opening in the door of the room in which we are hiding. Yes; a half dozen soldiers, armed to the teeth, coming into the front-yard. They’re quite cautious and almost scared. Thus they do not want to come closer, furthermore, they think that the house is evacuated. Then, they leave as cautiously as they came. We breathe a sigh of relief.

April the sixteenth 1991, Suleimanyiah-city

We have to stay for a while, absolutely silent and quiet, without going out. However, we’ve got almost nothing to eat.

Some water, some flour and sugar and a bit of butter is all that we have. I suggest baking some cakes, but none of us have an appetite. It’s not the first time, for me and for my wife, to be in a ghostly town, but for our daughter it is all new.

April the seventeenth 1991, Suleimanyiah-city

Since we hear no noise, I tiptoe out very carefully.

-It’s quite strange; I say to my self; there are no troop-carriers in the street. It seems to be safe and quiet everywhere.

The phone lines are dead of course. Thus we cannot call anyone.

-Anyway, we have to get away as soon as possible; I suggest when I come back into the house.

Soon after, we are in the back-streets, traipsing to find the least dangerous way out of town. The troops are probably tired and think that there are not enough people remaining in the town to be worried about.

Two hours later, we are out in the forest in the suburbs, shambling towards our camp which is in our sight.