20.01.2005

Too few to be divided

At long last, after three months of technical difficulties, the Socialist Unity Network website is back up and running, reports Salman Shaheen

This will come, I hope, as good news to all comrades, and will allow us to continue to work for greater unity and democracy amongst the varying traditions of the left. Over the past few weeks we have been thoroughly updating the site to include material sent to us whilst the site was down. Now that we are finally back on our feet, we find ourselves at the centre of some of the great debates of the left at the moment, such as those asking where Respect is heading and what the future should hold for the Socialist Alliance; as well as providing a place for socialists of all parties and none to let their voices be heard, whether in passionate debate, or artistic expression. The Socialist Unity Network website asks us all to consider: "If socialists in England are to take advantage of the opportunities presenting themselves to us then we must work together, putting the interests of the movement before any organisation. We should try to have no enemies on the left in order to concentrate our fire on the real enemy." And let us not forget that the real enemy, for us all, is the yoke of capitalist exploitation, that threatens, ever increasingly, to bleed the world dry: from developing world poverty, to environmental crises and the ever looming spectre of perpetual war. I remember sitting in the cinema, watching The motor cycle diaries and thinking, as Ernesto Guevara said of South America's oppressed cultures, "We are too few to be divided!", that perhaps never a truer word could be spoken of the left! We must, I feel, be united, and in being united we need no longer be the few. Though this may seem a mammoth task, this is, for me personally, why I joined the Socialist Unity Network, and why I am optimistic about the work we can do through it, and with other organisations promoting democratic participation and cooperation on the left. Some of us are part of Respect, whilst others are not. Respect remains, in my own opinion, an important project in working towards unity on the left, but it is not the only one. We support all candidates of the left, and call for cooperation, rather than competition, in order that we may better achieve the goals that we all share. We also offer to provide the banner, 'Socialist Unity', and a network of support, but not a new political party, under which independent socialists may choose to stand in elections. Now that we are back online, we would, as usual, love to hear from any comrades who wish to join the discussions on the website, or who have an article they would like to submit, or perhaps a review, short story, poem or the like for our 'Counter blasts' section. I would like to thank everyone for their patience whilst we relaunched the site, and hope that we can all continue to work towards greater cooperation, understanding and solidarity in the fight against capitalism. El pueblo unido jamás será vencido! www.socialistunitynetwork.co.uk