Key speakers

David Hilliard David Hilliard was chief of staff of the Black Panther Party – an icon of resistance for millions in the 1960s. Founded against the backdrop of riots against racism, student rebellion and anti-war protests, the Panthers fought back against oppression and police brutality. Hilliard was arrested numerous times for his activism and is an unparalleled authority on the history and legacy of the Panthers and his fellow comrade and party leader Huey P Newton.
Lindsey German As national convenor of the Stop the War Coalition, Lindsey German has helped organise some of Britain’s largest ever demonstrations including the famous two million march on 15 February 2003. Her latest book, Material Girls: Women, Men and Work, is a major study of the changes in women’s lives in the last century and of the struggles still to be waged.
Meena Menon Meena Menon is the vicepresident of the Bombay textile workers’ union and has been a leading figure in workers’ struggle for better conditions. She has been active in the women’s movement for many years and is a senior research associate for Focus on the Global South in India.
Ilan Pappe According to John Pilger “Ilan Pappe is Israel’s bravest, most principled, most incisive historian”. His books include The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine and have been invaluable in addressing the 1948 catastrophe. Pappe recently moved to the UK, having devoted years to creating a peace movement inside Israel. He remains a vocal supporter of Palestinian resistance and their right of return.
Mark Serwotka Mark is general secretary of the PCS civil service workers’ trade union. His election sent a shockwave through the union movement and marked a revolt by ordinary members sick of the right wing leadership’s failure to challenge management and the government. PCS members have been at the forefront of resisting Labour’s neoliberal attacks on the British trade union movement.
Tariq Ali Historian, novelist, journalist and filmmaker, Tariq Ali first came to prominence in the movement against the Vietnam War, during which he engaged in famous debates attacking pro-war figures such as Henry Kissinger. He is currently an editor of New Left Review and is the author of many books including Bush in Babylon and The Duel: Pakistan on the Flight Path of American Power which is out this year.
Howard Zinn Historian, activist and celebrated author of A People’s History of the United States, Zinn has informed and inspired generations by putting ordinary people at the centre of history. He has been involved in many of the major struggles that have taken place in the US over the last half century: from the labour struggles of the 1930s to the early civil rights movement and the anti Vietnam War movement. He once said, “If you have no history you can be oppressed by the moment.” This is your opportunity to discuss our history with him.
Hossam el-Hamalawy Hossam is a Cairo-based Egyptian journalist. Through his popular blog 3arabawy, he has brought together the news and stories behind the strike waves in Egypt. He is co-author, with Joel Beinin, of a major study on the strikes and the resistance of the Egyptian working class.
Nick Davies Nick writes regularly for the Guardian and has been named Journalist of the Year, Reporter of the Year and Feature Writer of the Year for his investigations into crime, drugs, poverty and other social issues. His latest book, Flat Earth News, exposes the falsehood, distortion and propaganda rife in the global media.
Haifa Zangana Haifa is an Iraqi-born novelist and artist and former prisoner of Saddam Hussein’s regime. Her latest book, City of Widows, is an Iraqi woman’s account of war and resistance. She is a weekly columnist for al-Quds newspaper and a commentator for the Guardian, Red Pepper and al-Ahram Weekly.
Gary Younge Gary is a Guardian columnist and one of a minority of journalists who dares to write challengingly on issues like imperialism, racism and class. He has consistently cut through the hype around the elections in the US where he is based. He is author of many books including No Place Like Home: A Black Briton’s Journey Through the Deep South, and will be looking at the prospects for change in America.
Wendy Savage Wendy is a retired obstetrician best known for her consistent campaigning for women’s rights to abortion and her championing of women’s choices in childbirth. A member of Doctors for a Woman’s Choice on Abortion, her campaigning has often attracted the wrath of the medical establishment, but has won her the admiration of her female patients.
Paul Gilroy Paul Gilroy has written a number of influential books on the politics of race, nation and racism in the UK including There Ain’t No Black in the Union Jack. He will be talking about his fantastic new book, Black Britain: A Photographic History which uses images of everyday life to explore the changing face of race, class and politics in Britain.
Moazzam Begg Moazzam was imprisoned by the US military for three years without charge at US detention camps in Kandahar, Bagram and Guantanamo Bay. Since his release he has written a book, Enemy Combatant: A British Muslim’s Journey to Guantanamo and Back, and has spoken about his experiences of the abuse of civil liberties, the war on terror and the brutality of USstyle “justice” and military intervention.
Stalin Perez Bórges Stalin is a national coordinator for the main trade union organisation in Venezuela, the National Workers’ Union (UNT). He played a key role in the struggle against the coup in April 2002 and the bosses’ lockout of December 2002 and is at the heart of building a revolutionary socialist current inside Venezuela.
Melissa Benn Melissa is a campaigner, writer and journalist. In the course of her campaigning she has been general secretary of Liberty, and worked for Women in Prison and in support of people seeking justice over deaths in police and prison custody. Benn is an outspoken advocate of comprehensive education and has written widely on women. She has just published her second novel, One of Us.
Alex Callinicos Alex Callinicos is a leading figure on the left internationally and a major Marxist theoretician. He has written a range of seminal books including Against Postmodernism and An Anti-Capitalist Manifesto. Alex has participated in every major anti-capitalist mobilisation since Seattle, debating strategy with prominent thinkers in the movement such as Toni Negri and John Holloway. He is a leading member of the Socialist Workers Party.
John Bellamy Foster Writer and editor of the Monthly Review, John Bellamy Foster has established a worldwide reputation for his writings on the environment with books such as Marx’s Ecology and The Vulnerable Planet: A Short Economic History of the Environment, which has been praised as the best single-volume introduction to the global environmental crisis.