STUDENTS in Britain and Italy have taken to the streets against the neoliberal system that is stealing their future.
In Britain, thousands marched and occupied university buildings all across the country, with many reports of police violence as authorities begin to panic at the scale of the insurrection.
Protesters in London outwitted cops by conducting roving demonstrations around the capital, blocking major roads such as Oxford Street.
Later hundreds faced off riot cops in Traflagar Square, at one point kettling the thugs-in- blue.
But when the media went home, police moved in to snatch out individuals and eventually arrested some 150 people.
The momentum is set to continue, with more protests called for Thurdsay December 9 and Saturday December 11.
In Italy, reports ABC News: "Thousands of students blocked the centre of Rome as part of nationwide protests against university budget cuts.
"Up to 50,000 students marched through the capital in a concerted attempt to 'paralyse' the city, dubbed 'Block Everything Day,' organisers said.
"According to the Italian Students' Union (UDS), 'more than 400,000 students are rallying throughout Italy'.
"Police in riot gear blocked all entrances to the Chamber of Deputies as lawmakers voted on the reforms and officers were forced to redirect traffic as the city centre was brought to a standstill in several areas."
ANGRY clashes broke out in Lewisham, London, on Monday night as police stopped campaigners from attending a key council meeting.
Despite freezing weather conditions, the incident raises the political temperature still further ahead of Tuesday's student day of action.
Hundreds of chanting protesters gathered outside the town hall as the council prepared to approve huge cuts to local services.
A number of them managed to get through police lines and into the building, where a smoke bomb was let off.
There were a number of injuries and arrests as police pushed and shoved the demonstrators outside. It was reported that riot squad TSG were later called and the area was cordoned off.
Interestingly, the cuts were being pushed through by the Labour Party regime, with the Tories this time in opposition and voting against.
But increasing numbers of the British public are no longer falling for the political party trick and understand that the fight is against the entire neoliberal capitalist system.
ONLINE advice on breaking out of police kettles is being published in the run-up to the next big UK student protests on Tuesday November 30.
One post on Indymedia encourages protesters to aim for weak points in police lines and use a wedge technique to open a breach.
Writes 'Mrs Nov 30th': "Sometimes life present us with a problem that we cannot solve without the use of a classic piece of scientific thinking.
"In today's puzzle, we are trapped in a kettle, surrounded by police officers and we want to get out of it. We have tried shouting en masse 'let us go!' but this has not worked for us. Next we need to do some collective thinking and put a new plan in effect.
"The first thing we should do is look for which police line seems the weakest and with the best chance of escape should we break the line. This may be a line of normal cops without riot gear and usually only one officer deep. Here how the work might proceed.
"In Fig 1 we see the crowd attempt to break the police line by using opposing force. This can sometimes work but usually the police can brace themselves and hold each other and thus hold the line. In this way, the strength of the crowd's force is lessened and absorbed by the police line.
"In Fig 2 we the crowd attempt to get technical and use a banner or metal barrier to push the police. The same dynamic occurs again and the crowds' force is lessened and absorbed by the police line.
"In Fig 3, the crowd has decided to form a wedge shape to drive a gap in the police line and follow though, the thickness of the crowd opening more and more of the police line up.
"In Fig 4, the crowd knows that the police line weak points are at the extreme ends of the line as the final policeperson has no brace or support. The crowd attempts two pushes on the line at the weak points."
STUDENTS and schoolchildren all across the UK rose up against neoliberal plans to raise university fees and slash education funding.
There were angry scenes in central London, where police blocked marchers from reaching Parliament Square and then 'kettled' thousands of youngsters for six hours.
But more impressive still was the news of walkouts, protests and occupations come in from cities and towns all over the country.
Indymedia reports that occupations, teach-ins and walkouts have been reported at places including the University of Kent, Birmingham, Loughborough, Strathclyde, Edinburgh, Essex, Hastings, Winchester, Dursley, Leominster, Bradford, Warwick.
Says the report: "By Wednesday afternoon, a large demonstration in London included around 3000 people kettled in Whitehall between two police lines (with around 2000 in the surrounding area), a police van smashed and many street fires keeping people warm.
"More trouble was reported in Bristol, Cambridge and Manchester (4 arrests reported).
"In Oxford, students and civilians occupied the iconic Radcliffe Camera, and are calling for supporters to join them. Reports indicate the occupiers are enjoying themselves, having managed to bring in a sound system!
"Many of the occupiers, including those in Cardiff, have announced their intention to remain in occupation until their demands have been met.
"Cops in Bristol were spotted on duty without their numbers displayed, which we'd been assured would never happen again."
Another day of action is being called for Tuedsay November 30.
ANTI-GOVERNMENT protesters forced their way into the grounds of Government Buildings in Dublin.
Reports The Irish Times: "Some 50 people, including Sinn Féin TD Aengus Ó Snodaigh, protested outside Government Buildings on Merrion Street at lunchtime yesterday, shouting: 'Cowen, Cowen, Cowen. Out, out, out!'
"Television footage showed the Dublin South Central TD caught up in scuffles between the demonstrators and gardaí, as gardaí sought to push back protesters carrying banners during the protest organised by Sinn Féin.
"A number of people pushed their way through the Government Buildings gates as far as the glass-walled reception buildings inside the entrance. A sit-down protest was attempted for about five minutes.
"According to gardaí, protesters attempted to get through, but were 'stopped in their efforts' to get to the Taoiseach’s office.
"The group was then escorted out by gardaí, who maintained a highly visible presence after the incident.
"Police vans and gardaí on motorbikes attended the scene, and at least 15 gardaí stood in a line across the large gates to the grounds. There were no arrests."
The Belfast Telegraph adds that police are now braced for a massive street protest being organised for the centre of Dublin on Saturday.
"The demonstration is expected by some of the organisers to attract at least 80,000 people but the final number could swell further as public anger boils over."
ONE of Ireland's biggest trade unions has called for a campaign of civil disobedience, as the EU/IMF bank bailout is being finalised.
The Workers Solidarity Movement reports that general secretary Eamonn Devoy (pictured) said the trade union movement would not “acquiesce in the ruination of our society”.
It adds: "He also said that we are on the brink of significant civil unrest. The call for mass civil disobedience comes just a week before the ICTU mass mobilisation for November 27th in Dublin.
"The march has been called by ICTU according to David Begg 'to allow ordinary working people to voice their opposition to a policy that could destroy 90,000 more jobs in the short term and the prospect of any long term prosperity'.
"The massive groundswell of anger in the population is pushing the trade union leadership to take an ever more militant public stance.
"Throughout the country people are crying out for opportunity to vent their anger. The Workers Solidarity Movement will be mobilising for this demonstration and the many others occurring now around the country.
"Demands will have to go beyond the resignation of this government and tactics beyond marching if any real change is to come."
MORE photos of the November 17 demonstration have been posted online by the From the Greek Streets website.
The blog reports that in total, almost 100 people were detained in what was Athens' largest Polytechnic uprising commemorative demonstration in more than a decade.
Of those detained, 29 have been arrested – while there are also four demonstrators injured.
Also featured are photos of disturbing flesh injuries suffered by one protester and appeals for help in determining what exactly caused them.
The blog adds: "First, today’s demonstration had a very peculiar feel to it. The largest Polytechnic uprising commemorative demonstration in more than a decade (30,000 according to the police, around double in real numbers). A very tense feeling in the air.
"Even before the demo set off, clashes with the youth branch of PASOK – the social-democrat party in power – who had the nerve to try join the demonstration.
"The police on the sides of the march, with their hands on the trigger of the tear-gas guns the entire time. People waiting for something to happen on both ends: our end, and on that of the police.
"And something did happen. The most intense and populous demonstration Athens has seen since May 5th.
"The police charging ahead whenever they could, whenever they would isolate people off the main block of the demonstration. People fighting back, during the demo and then, late in the night, in Exarcheia.
"But that peculiar feeling hasn’t faded: we are still waiting something will happen… Tonight was the last day of a long summer. Tomorrow is the first day of a strange winter – hopefully, a beautiful winter."
GREEK youths hurled rocks, flares and smashed-up paving stones at police guarding the U.S. Embassy in Athens on Wednesday, during a mass rally to mark the anniversary of a 1973 anti-dictatorship uprising.
Reports The Associated Press: "Riot police used tear gas and stun grenades during the brief but violent confrontation with dozens of youths, and chased groups that dispersed down streets near the embassy building.
"At least 49 people were detained by police, authorities said, while one protester was being treated in hospital for burns.
"Groups of youths continued running clashes with riot police after the end of the march, while police helicopters with searchlights circled overhead.
"More than 6,000 officers were on duty to monitor the annual demonstration, which was generally peaceful.
"More than 20,000 people marched through central Athens, while another 12,000 protesters joined a rally in Greece's second-largest city, Thessaloniki. Police also reported clashes in the southern city of Patras.
"The march to the U.S. Embassy is to protest American support for the 1967-74 military rule in Greece, but this year coincided with harsh cost-cutting measures by the government, which is grappling with Greece's serious debt crisis.
"This year's demonstration took on an anti-austerity flavor, with protesters holding banners bearing slogans against the International Monetary Fund and European Union."
A WEBSITE challenging UK police intimidation of political dissidents is back online after the cops closed it down.
The Metroplitcan Police told the web hosters to shut the Fitwatch site for at least a year after it published advice to student protesters involved inthe historic storming of the Conservative Party HQ on November 10.
The move prompted widespread anger on the internet, though the only mainstream media source to report it was The Guardian.
In a statement on the resurrected site, Fitwatch thanks the police "for giving us such huge publicity and making us even stronger. And with a secure server, massive coverage and a clear message that we’re here to stay".
It explains: "On Monday night we received notification that our site had been suspended due to 'attempting to pervert the course of justice' due to our posting offering advice to the Millbank students.
"Whilst the email requesting the site be closed on the basis it was being used for 'criminal activity' came from DI Paul Hoare, from the Police Central e-crime Unit, the authorisation to close was given much closer to home, by acting Detective Inspector Will Hodgeson.
"Hodgeson, who was involved in the first Fitwatch case, and has sat through many of our trials and appeals, evidently finally had enough and decided to shut us down.
"However, through totally underestimating the power of social media, this pathetic attempt has failed miserably. Within minutes of networking what had happened, people were re-publishing the post anywhere and everywhere.
"There are now over 100 sites carrying the original post – we haven’t managed to count them all. We have been overwhelmed by the support and solidarity and send massive thanks to everyone who’s offered to help and reposted the information.
"If we haven’t replied personally, it’s only because we’ve been inundated, and haven’t had time.
"This was a real attempt to squash dissent and criticism of the police, as well as attempting to stifle common sense advice to protesters subject to a witch hunt by the right wing press.
"The solidarity given by so many people has ensured this hasn’t happened, and has shown we can fight back. Even if we were to be arrested and prosecuted now, we would still be grateful to CO11 for the amount of publicity they’ve generated for us.
AMERICAN anarchists have clashed with police protecting a neo-nazi demonstration in Phoenix, Arizona.
Reports Phoenix New Times blogger Stephen Lemons: "The Nazi-haters chanted slogans like, 'Fuck you, Nazis, fuck you!,' 'Hey, Nazi, you're an immigrant too,' and 'Hiding behind the cops,' which, of course, the so-called master race was doing.
"There were at least a hundred cops out there, maybe more. If the Nazis had not had that cordon, the anarchists would have eaten them alive.
"The anarchists were ticked and looking forward to a melee. Rocks and other objects sailed over the heads of the cops and hit some of the Nazis, as well as some cops and bystanders. (Two alleged rock-hurlers were arrested by the Phoenix PD.)
"Nails were strewn all over the street, I suppose to halt police vehicles. Dozens of anarchists pushed against police shields, anticipating an advance, which they knew had to come.
"This police advance was eventually achieved through the liberal use of pepper spray. Several members of the media, as well as numerous counter-protesters were hit with the debilitating chemical agent, which causes temporary blindness and an intense burn in the eyes and on the skin."
WEDNESDAY November 24 is being hailed as a big day in the UK rebellion against neoliberal austerity measures.
Students are planning a national day of protest, with talks of mass walk-outs from schools and colleges and coalition offices being occupied.
Writes Class War anarchist Ian Bone in his blog: "Hundreds of thousands of kids will be pouring out of schools and colleges, blocking the streets, marching on town centres in cavalcades of fun and anger.
"The anger is palpable and growing as is the belief the fight can be won. The anger and visceral hatred against the Tories and Clegg broke out of all parameters on November 10th.
"The kids are uncontrollable.The genie is out the fucking bottle. NOVEMBER 24th – INSURRECTION DAY."
PEOPLE power in the Mexican town of Tepoztlán has seen the local police chief kicked out after an increase of violence, reports Narco News.
The mayor of the town, which is located 80 kilometers south of Mexico City, removed the police commander and seven of his subordinates after a mobilization from residents.
Now the security of Tepoztlán is in the hands of citizen brigades, bringing back a period from the 1990s when the crime rate was lowered dramatically due to the departure of the police.
Between 1995 and 1999 the town was governed by the customs of the people. During those four years Tepoztlán declared itself an autonomous municipality and expelled all the authorities—including the police—after they joined forces with real estate companies to try and build a golf course in the town.
At that time the security of the town was dependent upon the residents, and according to some of them, there has never been a safer period.
This time, on October 30, the people mobilized to close the highway to Cuernavaca and all of the entrances to the town in response to the police corruption.
During the mobilization they forced the Institutional Revolutionary Party mayor, Gabino Ríos Cedillo, to fire Fuentes Bahena and his subordinates, many of whom were ex-police from Jiutepec. Tepoztlán will continue to have some police officers, but they are subject to supervision by the residents themselves.
The mobilization against the Tepoztlán police is happening as other places in the country are organizing for similar reasons.
Says Narco News: "Perhaps now the people will relive Tepoztlán’s golden years when there were no crimes because there were no police to cover up or defend the crimes."
ANGRY students stormed the Conservative Party HQ in London on Wednesday as resistance to the neoliberal attack on the UK kicked off in dramatic fashion.
A radical breakaway group from the 50,000-strong demo against massive rises in tuition fees targeted the UK ruling party's home at Millbank Tower - with staggering success.
The building was occupied, smashed up, covered in graffiti and besieged by thousands of determined young people in the streets outside, with police left looking useless.
Some students made their way to the roof of the building, waving flags and hurling objects at the riot cops below.
There they issued the following statement, placing the action in a much broader context than the fees battle: "We oppose all cuts and we stand in solidarity with public sector workers, and all poor, disabled, elderly and working people.
"We are occupying the roof in opposition to the marketisation of education pushed through by the coalition government, and the system they are pushing through of helping the rich and attacking the poor. We call for direct action to oppose these cuts.
"This is only the beginning of the resistance to the destruction of our education system and public services."
Calls are being made for a national walkout from schools, colleges and universities at 11am on Wednesday November 24.
REBEL protesters in Morocco have been attacked by live bullets, tear gas canisters, truncheons, stones and water cannon, it is being reported.
Western Sahara's independence movement said on Tuesday 11 people had been killed in clashes with Moroccan security forces.
Reports Reuters: "Western Sahara, a former Spanish colony which was annexed by Morocco in 1975 sparking Africa's longest-running territorial dispute, was the scene of violent clashes on Monday when Moroccan security forces raided a protest camp."
It says a statement released on Tuesday by the Polisario independence movement in Algeria, where it has its headquarters, said 11 people had been killed in Monday's clashes, 723 were wounded and 159 others had disappeared and were feared dead.
"The Moroccan forces of aggression used live bullets, tear gas canisters, truncheons, stones and water cannon against peaceful, defenceless civilians," the statement said.
Clashes erupted on the day officials from Morocco and the Polisario were gathering near New York for talks brokered by the United Nations and aimed at breaking the stalemate in their dispute, Africa's longest-running territorial conflict.
The protest camp of thousands of tents near Western Sahara's main city of Laayoune had been there for a month when attacked.
Adds Reuters: "Soon after, several hundred of the people forced out of the camp took their protest to the streets of Laayoune, where they blocked roads with burning tyres, set fire to cars, and threw stones at police."
One protester told Reuters from the scene: "Anger is boiling over. We are in the streets protesting against Morocco."
Western Sahara is a sparsely populated tract of desert about the size of Britain, with rich fishing grounds off its coast and reserves of phosphates, used to make fertiliser and detergent.
Morocco says the territory should come under its sovereignty, while the exiled Polisario Front says Western Sahara is an independent state.
The Polisario waged a guerrilla war against Moroccan forces until the United Nations brokered a cease-fire in 1991.
SOUTH Korea is braced for massive protests agains the neoliberal G2 circus when it rolls into town this week.
The Korea Herald reports that 50,000 police officers are currently deployed around the COEX, the summit’s venue, according to the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency.
It adds: "The highest number of police officers ever mobilized in a single G20 summit was 19,000 in Toronto this June."
Say organisers of the impressive anti-G20 coalition: "The G20, originally formed to respond to the global financial crisis, is attempting to set itself up as the authority responsible for directing the world economy and defining world governance.
"While completely excluding most nations from decision-making, the G20 is attempting to make the world ‘safe’ for neoliberal capitalism by forcing emerging economies to shoulder part of the burden of the crisis, promoting trade and investment liberalization dressed up 'in new robes', negotiating weak financial reforms that largely allow financial speculation to go on unchecked, and reviving the ailing IMF and other IFIs.
"This agenda is being pursued despite the fact that neoliberal capitalism is clearly a failed model, which only increases poverty and inequality around the globe."
A protest was held on Sunday and the main march and rally is planned for Thursday November 11.
AN ARMOURED police vehicle has been torched by protesters trying to stop a train of nuclear waste from crossing Germany.
Reports The Independent: "Riot police using water cannon, teargas and baton charges fought thousands of demonstrators attempting to halt the shipment of 123 tons of atomic waste to a disputed storage site in northern Germany yesterday.
"More than 30,000 protesters took to fields, roads, lanes and railway tracks around the northern town of Danneberg to try to stop the movement – initially by rail and then road – of nuclear waste containers sent from France for storage in a disused salt mine close to the nearby village of Gorleben.
"The protests, which amounted to one of the largest anti-nuclear demonstrations in Germany for 30 years, were given added momentum by Chancellor Angela Merkel's recent decision to extend the life of the country's 17 nuclear power stations by an average of 12 years.
"Wolfgang Ehmke, a spokesman for protesters, said the attempts to disrupt the shipment through blockades and demonstrators chaining themselves to the tracks were not only meant to delay the arrival of atomic waste but were 'also meant to mess up the timetable for the government's nuclear policy'.
"Demonstrators used an array of different techniques to try to stop the shipment, which has been called 'Chernobyl on wheels'. Militant activists tried to rip up the train tracks due to carry the waste shipment by digging out the earth from under the rails.
"Squads of helmeted riot police equipped with batons and tear gas grenades tried to disperse the group. They were met by a hail of fireworks and stones. An armoured police vehicle was set ablaze in the clashes.
"Police eventually used water cannon to dispel the protesters. They made dozens of arrests. Both sides accused each other of violence.
"In other incidents, protesters abseiled down to rail tracks from a bridge and chained themselves to the rails. Police were forced to clear away some 60 tractors blocking the main road between Dannenberg and the Gorleben storage site some 12km away."
MORE evidence has emerged of the brutal state violence used against Irish students who protested against increased fees in Dublin on Wednesday.
Several videos have been posted online showing riot police attacking young protesters, lashing out with batons at peaceful sit-downs and charging at lines of demonstrators with horses.
Said one campaigner: "What we witnessed today was the policing of fear, the deliberate use of state violence to discourage acts of protest and civil disobedience. "
Spineless national student union leader Gary Redmond has chosen to condemn the protesters as extremists and has not commented on violence from the Gardai.
But the WSM (Workers Solidarity Movement) issued a statement condemning in the strongest terms the police violence.
It reported that several members of the organisation were present with almost 1000 others in support of for those who entered and occupied the Department of Finance.
Mark Malone, student and member of the WSM, present at the protests, said: "I witnessed masked men in padded clothing beat a woman around the head with a baton.
"She was so scared she couldn’t move even as they shouted at her to do so. My friends and I helped her away from where the police where hitting people.
"The police refused to listen to our calls for medical attention and instead pushed me on top of this woman using a large plastic shield. This was only one of many instances of brutality.
"I also saw police punch, kick, drag and throw to the ground the people who occupied the Department of Finance. It was clear to everyone that the police decided to intimidate and physically assault us.
"The low number of arrests compared to the very high level of injuries suggest that this was a tactic decided at a high level. It was as if the police wanted to provoke a violent response from us. All we could do was try to defend our selves and each other from these thugs.
"While several WSM members where present in the demo, other members watched from the vantage point of our office window which directly over looked the scene.
"We witnessed many injuries as a result of police violence, mostly unprovoked batoning, but also the use of the edges of riot sheilds to dig into people.We witnessed police horses being run directly into a mass crowd, we saw women and men sitting on the ground, beaten with lumps of stick the police call 'batons'.
"We witnessed polices dogs being reared into the crowd as people shouted 'peaceful protest'. I heard the police swear and verbally threaten students, one saying they would 'knock the fucking shit' out of me if I didn't move.”
Malone continued: "The government chooses to target students, much in the way they target the sick, unemployed and marginalised because they think we are an easy touch.
"This government has lost legitimacy since in reality it is the IMF and ECB, and the faceless rich of the “markets” who now dictate policy. This is not just an economic crisis, it is a crisis democracy as we can clearly see the structures of power at play.”
"What we witnessed today was the policing of fear, the deliberate use of state violence to discourage acts of protest and civil disobedience. "
IRISH students occupied a government building and bravely resisted attacks by riot cop thugs during a Dublin protests against fee hikes.
Reports the BBC: "Gardai forcibly ejected students from the lobby of the Merrion Row building on Wednesday afternoon.
"In violent scenes, at least one person was carried away, possibly unconscious. Others were visibly injured and bleeding.
"The student protesters occupied the Department of Finance in a stand against plans to increase fees for third level education in the Republic of Ireland.
"Several hundred students also staged a sit-down protest outside the building."
MEXICAN people have been successfully standing up to the commercial imperialism of the US Walmart empire.
An in-depth Narco News report shows how communities in Cuernavaca and in the Magdalena Contreras area of Mexico City resisted the capitalist invaders.
In the first instance the town council voted to buy up the land earmarked by Walmart and use it for the community, despite legal threats and pressure from the supermarket chain.
Says the report: "A citizen committee made up of neighbors, community members, and environmentalists will be in charge of the cultural center and environment-friendly park project, which will be operational by the end of the year on the same site where Walmart tried to build the store. "
In Mexico City the Broad Front Against the Western Superhighway has joined in the mobilization against Walmart. The construction project of five stores has been stopped.
Says Narco News: "In August the affected neighbors closed a side road to Periférico in Mexico City due to the lack of response from Magdalena Contreras delegation chief Eduardo Hernández.
"Since then the mobilizations were constant, to the point that on Tuesday October 12, residents of the region and members of the Front moved into the area to demand the cancellation of the Walmart projects. The mobilization was sucessful and the construction of the stores has been stopped.
"The areas where the megastores were to be constructed are located near local traditional markets. "
Comments Al Norman, the director of the organization Sprawl Busters: “The victories in Cuernavaca and Mexico City are just a reminder that citizens united can beat the world’s largest retail corporation.”
A THOUSAND party-goers saw off brutal attempts by riot cops to close down a weekend of fun in London.
The Daily Mail reported: "At one stage in the early hours, dozens of riot police were forced to retreat as party-goers shouting, ‘We won’t go’ hurled bottles, bricks and road signs."
It quoted Daniel, a 20-year-old student who had come from Manchester for the party, as saying: "There was a riot when the cops tried to close it down. They hit us with batons and used Taser guns. But we’ve carried on.
"People have come from Spain, and all over the world for this. It’s all free and we’re just enjoying ourselves. A lot of us are activists and anarchists who go to protests."
The report says the last contingent of ravers left at 4.15pm on Sunday, about 18 hours after the party started.
It said one 'organiser' had told the paper: "There will be a big resurgence of this sort of thing because of the economic situation. It’s mirroring what happened in the last recession."
An overwhelming majority of people are happy to be living in this industrial capitalist world. We know this because we are told it constantly.
How could we foresee a near future in which the hypnotic spell is broken, the scales fall from a billion eyes and those who say 'Enough!' are revealed, all of a sudden, to be a gale force wind of revolt, a tidal wave of insurgent delight sweeping all before it, a minority so vast it will change everything?
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