Yassamine Mather: There was a feeling inside a number of British groups as well as among Iranian circles that the Stop the War Coalition (StWC), which is quite a large umbrella organization, was uncritical of Islamist movements, particularly the Islamic Regime in Iran. In 2007 the threat against Iran increased dramatically, and at that time there seemed to be an attempt by a section of the British Left to portray the situation inside Iran as acceptable. While we supported their anti-war policies, and their opposition to US intervention in the region, as both Iranian and British leftists, we still thought it deterred a lot of people from joining campaigns like StWC because they were silent about repression committed by Islamist groups. Also, in the particular case of Iran, we were already talking in Workers Left Unity Iran about organizing in defense of Iranian workers. We were of the opinion that one should be anti-war but also pro-labor. And that is how Hopi came into existence.
What are Hopi’s main activities? I have read that you are trying to raise money for workers in Iran? And you are also trying to intersect StWC?
Yes and no. Let me be clear, Hopi is by no means an attempt to stymie StWC. In fact we applied to join and were rejected. Many of us, as individuals, are members in StWC. We have always argued that the StWC, as a large organization, which includes labor organizers, Islamists, Marxists, and so on, should also include the kinds of ar… >>>
