We are collating views on our work and launching a major fund-raising campaign so that we can maintain and expand our work in boosting solidarity with Grassroots Iraq. Please send your views to our e mail at the bottom left of this page. With thanks, Gary Kent, Director
What people say about us
Many trade unionists opposed the war. But since the fall of Saddam the priority has been to make solidarity with our brothers and sisters in Iraq and to hold the occupying powers to account. Labour Friends of Iraq have made an important contribution to both tasks. They have got on with extending practical aid to the fledgling Iraqi unions and blistering criticism to Bush. I hope they go from strength to strength.
Kevin Curran, GMB General Secretary (personal capacity)
Good luck to Labour Friends of Iraq! We value the work they do for the democrats in Iraq. We hope their influence will spread. They help publicise democratic voices from Iraq and with better funding there will be able to expand this important work. Please consider giving generously. In almost a year and a half writing on my blog on the Internet and working to promote democracy in Iraq I was offered help from many organizations. Most were American and only two were from outside America. Labor Friends of Iraq was one of those two. Ali Fadhil, Iraq Pro-Democracy Party
The left too often defines itself by negative anti-Americanism and so ends up backing the most reactionary forces. Labour Friends of Iraq have shown that it is possible to avoid that trap while holding up the left traditions of internationalism, solidarity and human rights. Linda Grant, novelist. Guardian writer (personal capacity)
Labour Friends of Iraq is doing invaluable work building practical solidarity with democrats and trade unionists in Iraq. It has challenged some of the unhealthy impulses of parts of the western left. I urge support for LFIQ’s work. Norman Geras, Professor Emeritus, University of Manchester.
Labour Friends of Iraq has upheld the honour of the decent left in scoundrel times. I can think of no better campaign to support.” Nick Cohen, Observer (personal capacity)
Labour Friends of Iraq offer a way for Labour Party members to make a real difference. They have been stalwart defenders of the rights of trade unionists, women and democrats in the new Iraq. John Mann MP
Socialists should hardly need reminding of the need for international labour solidarity. But at a time when some on the Western Left seem to have forgotten this abiding principle the work of Labour Friends of Iraq is more necessary than ever in helping those courageous Iraqi workers who are striving to build a new democracy. Francis Wheen, author of a highly acclaimed biography of Karl Marx. His collected journalism, Hoo-Hahs and Passing Frenzies, won the George Orwell prize in 2003. Francis Wheen’s new book, How Mumbo-Jumbo Conquered the World: A Short History of Modern Delusions, is published by Fourth Estate.
In contrast to the opportunistic ‘anti-imperialists’ who support the former Ba’athists and religious reactionaries ‘resisting’ the establishment of the institutions of democracy and civil society in Iraq, which include strong and independent trade unions, Labour Friends of Iraq are proof that there is still a left which maintains the tradition of anti-fascism, and moreover, a left which still understands the meaning of the words “international working class solidarity”. They are worthy of the support of all who call themselves international socialists. Hak Mao (Australian blogger)
While sections of the left have abandoned the principles of universal human rights and international solidarity, Labour Friends of Iraq is standing shoulder-to-shoulder with Iraqi trade unionists, democrats and socialists in their battle to secure democracy, human rights, equality and social justice. LFIQ’s concrete, practical solidarity with the left and progressive movements inside Iraq deserves our admiration and support. Peter Tatchell, human rights campaigner
Labour Friends of Iraq supports the labour movement and democracy in Iraq. It is as vital for the Left in Britain as it is for the people of Iraq. It shows that there is more to politics than taking sides between America and ‘the resistance’. It shows that there is more to the left than the so-called ‘anti-imperialism’ of those who attack trade unionists. This group belongs to the best traditions of international solidarity. I urge you to support it. Robert Fine, Professor, Warwick University
Labour Friends of Iraq are an example of the kind of international solidarity so many parts of the left seem to have forgotten about. What I like about LFIQ above all is that they believe in giving concrete and political support to people involved in a vital struggle – for the establishment of a vibrant labour movement in a new, democratic Iraq. This is exactly the kind of solidarity that left-internationalist bloggers have been calling for – not lecturing, not taking sides on the basis of our own domestic concerns or ‘adopting causes’ for other reasons but solidarity in the real sense of the world – political, moral and material support and assistance. They deserve the support of all progressives.
Harry’s Place (blog)