BY GEORGES MEHRABIAN

ATHENS, Greece - "The Russian toilers under Bolshevik leadership extended the hand of solidarity to the Muslim peoples of the old Czarist Empire, they supported their right to self- determination unconditionally irrespective of their leadership," said Mámud Shirvani. "It was thus that they were able to forge unity in the struggle against imperialism and the local landlords and capitalists."

Shirvani was speaking at a public forum here June 6, titled "The struggles of the peoples of the East against national divisions, for unity, and freedom." Nearly 70 people attended the meeting. Another 25 came to a similar gathering in Haniá, Crete, the next day. Shirvani spoke at these events as part of a four-day tour of the country June 4-8 to promote the Pathfinder book To See the Dawn: Baku, 1920, First Congress of the Peoples of the East. Shirvani co-authored the title's introduction and helped collect documents for the book from archives in Baku, Azerbaijan.

How can peasants and workers in the colonial world achieve freedom from imperialist exploitation? How can working people overcome divisions incited by their national ruling classes and act together for common class interests? These questions -

urgently posed today by the devastating social and economic consequences of the crisis of the market system - were addressed in 1920 in an unprecedented conference of 2,000 delegates representing workers and peasants of more than two dozen peoples of Asia, Shirvani said.

The congress was convened by the Communist International in Baku at a time when mass revolutionary struggles in surrounding Central Asia and in much of Europe, inspired by the victory of the 1917 workers' and peasants' revolution in Russia, gave hope of a new dawn for the world's toilers, he noted.

To See the Dawn contains the complete record of the Baku congress.

The internationalism of the Cuban revolution, known widely today, is not an exception in history but the continuation of communist policy practiced under Lenin's leadership, Shirvani said. Stalinist counterrevolution in Russia later reversed that course.

The Athens meeting was sponsored by the Network of Movements for Social and Political Rights and by Diethne's Víma (International Forum). It was held at the Bank Workers Union hall. Diethne's Víma has published in Greek Pathfinder's The Truth About Yugoslavia: Why Working People Should Oppose Intervention and the article "Imperialism's March Towards Fascism and War" from the Marxist magazine New International.

The audience reflected the changing composition of the working class in Greece, which, like other imperialist countries in the region, has become increasingly international. Toilers from throughout the Balkans, Caucasus, the Middle East, north Africa, and the Philippines are a growing percentage of the population in Athens and other major cities and some small towns.

One-third of those attending were immigrant workers: Syrians, Kurds, Turks, Ghanaians, Zairians, Eritreans, and others. Another 30 percent of the audience were youth from Greece. The meeting was held with simultaneous translation in English, Greek, Turkish, and French. The crowd included construction workers, airline workers, sailors, garment workers, and domestic workers.

As part of the program, Shirvani narrated a film shot during the Baku congress. "The Russian workers opened the way for the toilers of the Third World to pass over the stage of capitalism," he said. "The delegates at Baku fought for the rights of women, and during the congress women were added to the Presidium."

Pointing to the lessons of Baku for today, Shirvani referred to the battles for national liberation waged by Palestinian, Kurdish, Quebecois, Irish, Lebanese, and Chechen fighters. "Their struggles must be supported by the working classes of the imperialist countries unconditionally," Shirvani stated. "The demonization of working people from these regions as `Islamic fanatics' or `terrorists' must be rejected and fought against."

At that point, some in the audience walked out. "He would have us support Hamas!" said one person as he was leaving, referring to the Palestinian group that has taken responsibility for a number of bombings against Zionist targets in Israel recently. But the majority stayed on and continued the discussion. After the hall closed, two African workers and a Greek youth stayed outside to continue the exchange with Shirvani.

In addition to the forum, Shirvani visited a camp set up by 180 Kurds mostly from Iraq. The camp, which consists of dozens of shacks made from wood and cardboard, is in a central square in Athens. "We are refugees from [Iraqi president] Saddam Hussein's repression, but because we are Iraqi and not Turkish Kurds they refuse to give us political refugee status here," explained Ali, one of the young Kurds. Often, some political refugees from Turkey are given preferential treatment by Athens because of the Greek rulers' territorial and trade conflicts with the Turkish bourgeoisie.

"We are human beings and we have a right to jobs and housing. We set up camp to demand that we be provided housing," said Ahmed, another Kurd. "Now the police has given us four days to evacuate or else! But we will not move."

Shirvani said that, in addition to the capitalist regimes in the region, Washington and other imperialist powers that assaulted Iraq bear fundamental responsibility for the oppression of the Kurdish people, including those who live in Iraq.

Another highlight of the tour was a house meeting held in Haniá, on the island of Crete. A construction worker from Syria and his native-born companion who is a student hosted the meeting. Both are leaders of the fight for immigrant rights on the island, the largest in the Aegean sea.

The Syrian worker organized 40 immigrants to fight and join the construction union, despite a ban on membership for "illegals." Among immigrant workers, 96 percent are undocumented. "We have a real problem here," stated the host. "Arrests of undocumented workers in Haniá have increased ten- fold in the last three weeks. We now have 60 arrests per week!"

The meeting was held on the front yard of the two-room farm house, where the hosts raise chickens and grow cucumbers and mulberry trees. Some 30 fruit crates had been neatly placed to serve as seating. Nearly 25 people attended, 17 of whom were immigrants from Algeria, Libya, Iraq, Kurdistan, and Syria. Most worked in construction or agriculture. Translation was provided in English, Greek, and Arabic.

A good part of the discussion focused on the position adopted by the Baku congress on Zionism. "The delegates strongly condemned the Zionist plan to settle Palestine," Shirvani said. "This would divide the Jews from the toilers in the region and make the settlers the tools of imperialism, the worst anti- Semites. Events since have definitely confirmed this assessment."

After the formal conclusion of the meeting, two young women asked Shirvani many questions on what is a communist approach to women's liberation. Several people stayed late into the night to continue the discussion and exchange of experiences.

During the course of the tour, nearly a dozen Pathfinder books were sold, including five copies of To See the Dawn, as well as seven copies of the Militant and 27 copies of a bulletin with translations of Militant articles into Greek.  
 
 
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