The year 2011 is coming to an end, and what a year this was! It started with the eruption of the Arab masses onto the scene through mass revolutionary action. We would like to wish all our readers and supporters a red new year 2012, full of fruitful revolutionary struggle, while at the same time we appeal for a donation towards the continuation of our work.

On top of the €30,000 that were raised this year for the IMT and In Defence of Marxism at the World School, we've raised another €628 from the website. We'd like to thank those who have contributed to the collection.

Alan Woods, last week, officially launched the Dutch edition of Reason in Revolt in Belgium (Brussels and Antwerp) and in the Netherlands (Amsterdam). Those who participated in the meetings were unanimous in agreeing that the discussion on the book widened the horizons of their thinking.

The annual Pakistani Section National Marxist Youth Summer School was held from 29^th to 31^st July at Khaigala, a beautiful hill station in Kashmir. In spite of the very long distances, difficult economic situation and sweltering heat, 256 comrades from all over the country participated in the school with great revolutionary spirit making it the largest school in the history of the section. Comrades from Sind and Baluchistan had to travel for more than 3 days to reach the venue. Here we provide a brief report and some pictures.

The IMT World School that was held in Italy between 31 July and 5 August was a tremendous success. About 225 comrades from many different countries and continents travelled to the Italian seaside resort of Marina de Massa in order to attend a week of intense but enjoyable and educational meetings.

Lal Khan recently spoke at a successful lecture at the University of Cambridge on “Imperialism and Revolutions in Asia and the Middle East”. The lecture was held in the Graduate Union of the University. Students and staff from different departments and nationalities came to attend the speech.

2011 has already been a year full of developments: the Arab Revolution, the crisis of the Euro and mass struggle against austerity around Europe and the United States. In these times of crisis and struggle, we ask for your support in spreading Marxist ideas around the world.

The South Asian Alliance held a very successful event at the Drum Arts Centre on Sunday 17^th July. The event was a discussion with Lal Khan on the topic of “Obama, Osama and Hungama”.

Oxford University's Pakistan society held a very successful discussion on the 1968-69 Pakistani Revolution and its lessons for today in Pakistan. The discussion was held at St Cross College on Saturday 16 July 2011 and was addressed by Lal Khan, editor of the Asian Marxist Review and political editor of the Class Struggle.

Since we launched the financial appeal at the beginning of the year, we have received donations totalling just under €4,000. This will go a long way to pay for the work of the Marxists in the Arab world. And we would also like to thank all the comrades who contributed.

"I must say I was really impressed, first of all with the presence of so many young people, and the high political level of all those who spoke", commented Mark from North London. This summed up the general feeling of all those who participated.The Marxist Summer School, which was the first of its kind organised by Socialist Appeal, was far more of a success than the organisers had anticipated with over 100 attending over the course of the weekend. Those who attended ranged from experienced trade unionists to young people, including many school students.

Fightback and La Riposte supporters converged in Toronto for the May long weekend to attend the annual Fightback national conference. This year, over 40 comrades from Fredericton, Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto, and Vancouver, with international guests from Britain, were able to attend and discuss the rapid changes occurring around the world. The conference also marked the 10th anniversary of supporters of the ideas of the International Marxist Tendency organizing national meetings in Canada; to begin the conference, a picture from the first conference in 2001 was shown, and comrades could see how far we had come in the past decade.

The traditional “Pfingstseminar” of the Der FunkeMarxist tendency in Austria took place recently over a long weekend full of political discussions and self-organised cultural and sports activities in the best traditions of international solidarity.

Fresh from his appearance at Fightback’s 2011 national conference, In Defence of Marxism editor Fred Weston spoke at the University of Toronto’s OISE building on May 24 to discuss the Arab Revolution and specifically its effects on Syria.

Comrade Azzouzi, a student leader of the 20F youth movement at the University of Fes in Morocco is recovering from his injuries, but is now facing severe financial difficulties due to the fact that he has been presented with a sizeable bill for the hospital care he received. Please donate to help this comrade.