Angry protests after Greek fascists murder Pavlos Fissas

 

Anger has erupted in Greece following the murder of hip hop artist and anti-fascist activist Pavlos Fissas by Golden Dawn thugs in Athens.

On Wednesday evening protests were held in towns and cities across the country, with reports coming in of vicious attacks on protesters by police, who are often closely allied with the fascists.

From the Greek Streets report: "On the night of September 17th, the 34-year old antifascist rapper Pavlos Fyssas (aka Killah P) was murdered by a 45-year old, who openly admitted to the police to being a member of the Golden Dawn.

"Fyssas had been with two friends in the area of Keratsini, in Pireaus. He was attacked by approximately 25 members of the Golden Dawn, one of which stabbed him. Fyssas was taken to the hospital in Nikaia, where he died soon thereafter.

"Originally, the Golden Dawn had refused any link to the 45-year old. However, in a police raid in his house, his Golden Dawn Party member ID was retrieved from the garbage, as allegedly he had tried to discard it."

On Wednesday evening a large anarchist/antifascist block of 3000-4000 people was said to be heading towards Golden Dawn’s offices in Nikaia. Pawn offices were being smashed, with people chanting  "the blood is running, it seeks revenge".

There were also clashes in Keratsini. The air was full of chemicals so a lot of rubbish bins were on fire. Thousands of people were wandering in the streets, with police snatching people who they suspected to be demonstrators.

See here for latest updates.

England: anarchists unite against threat of repression

 

Anarchists in the English city of Bristol are standing united and defiant against the threat of major police repression.

Bristol Anarchist Federation have issued a powerful statement in response to an anti-anarchist witch-hunt launched by the local police force.

The right-wing Bristol Post newspaper is trying to whip up a reactionary lynch mob, urging its readers to "support the police in their campaign against anarchists".

This latest police/media declaration of war on freedom and dissent comes shortly after a successful attack by the Angry Foxes Cell on a nearly-complete police firearms centre in Portishead, near Bristol. The £16m centre was almost totally destroyed by fire. Nobody was hurt.

This was, of course, itself a reaction to rising levels of repression, both in Bristol (England's sixth biggest city) and globally.

The Cell's statement on Bristol Indymedia states: "In the City around us the lock down increases; there is a general atmosphere of rising fear and powerlessness; there is more and more surveillance, and security guards with handcuffs appear on more and more doors. Tensions across the world are simmering as people lose faith in the system."

The Bristol Post front page ran with the headline “Targeting the Enemy Within” and presented a report by Avon & Somerset Police with the Stalinesque title “Our Five Year Ambition”.

The cops said they were preparing a “crackdown on rioters and extremists” and were “monitoring several potentially dangerous groups”, with The Post claiming that the police had launched a series of operations to “gather intelligence about subversive organisations”.

As Bristol Anarchist Federation point out, the newspaper article conflates “domestic extremism” with rioting like the kind seen in Stokes Croft in 2011; acts of vandalism like the attack on the Evening Post building shortly afterwards and even the counter demonstration to a racist English Defence League march in July 2012.

Interestingly the Post article also adds “non-peaceful” animal rights and environmental protesters to their vague definition of “extremists”.

Bristol AF say: "This is clearly an attempt by the Avon & Somerset Police to threaten anarchists and other radicals in Bristol. The Bristol radical community will potentially face increased levels of repression at the hands of the police.

"This could be anything from increased surveillance to being picked up for bogus charges while on demos; through to our homes being raided and possessions being seized.

"Without any evidence to track down the people they want to apprehend, the cops are likely to take out their frustration on public facing activists. Even the release of this report itself is an obvious attempt to scare them.

"We must not be driven into a state of paralysis for fear of the police. If they are expecting us to respond by being intimidated into inaction, by giving up on activism or by becoming fractured and turning on each other they are going to be sorely disappointed.

"Whilst this kind of repression does require a response, it will be a response routed in action, in solidarity and in unity. We need to be prepared, look out for each other and up our game when it comes to our own security.

"If the Police come knocking we will not answer their calls. We have nothing to tell and nothing to gain. Whilst we may not always agree with everyone’s tactics and philosophy amongst the wider radical scene the cops can Fuck off if they think we will turn on our comrades.

"The police and the state, as always, try to fracture us, they will try to prey on our weaknesses. We stand in unity and solidarity with all those who fight against oppression, capitalism and the state. We must create a culture of mutual aid and solidarity and most importantly: Resistance. We will support each other through whatever the state throws at us because we know that no matter what we will come out stronger."

Down with the Egyptian state!

"Down with the military and Al-Sissi!  Down with the remnants of the Mubarak regime and business elite! Down with the State and all power to autonomous communities!  Long live the Egyptian revolution!"

This is the powerful and defiant message put out by Egyptian anarchists in the face of the horrific repression being inflicted on the people by the new military regime - the latest local incarnation of the same inhuman power-hungry entity.

Here is the full statement from Tahrir-ICN:

The events of the past couple of days are the latest step in a sequence of events by which the military can consolidate its hold on power, aim towards the death of the revolution and a return to a military/police state.

The authoritarian regime of the Muslim Brotherhood had to go. But what has replaced it is the true face of the military in Egypt – no less authoritarian, no less fascist and for sure more difficult to depose.

The massacre carried out by the army against pro-Morsi supporters in Nadha Square and Raba’a has left around 500 killed and up to 3000 injured (Ministry of Health figures- the reality is likely much higher).

It was a pre-orchestrated act of state terrorism. It’s aim is to divide the people and push the Muslim Brotherhood to create more militia’s to revenge and protect themselves. This in turn will enable the army to label all Islamists as terrorists and produce an “internal enemy” in the country which will allow the army to keep the military regime in an ongoing state of emergency.

They go after the Muslim Brotherhood today, but they will come after anyone who dares to criticize them tomorrow. Already the army has declared a state of emergency for one month, giving the police and military exceptional powers, and a curfew has been declared in many provinces for the same amount of time from 7pm to 6am. This gives the army a free hand to crack down on dissent.

It is a return to the days before the revolution, where emergency law had been in place since 1967 and it provided the framework for wide-spread repression and denial of freedoms.

The character of the new regime is clear. Just a few days ago 18 new governors were appointed, the majority of which hail from the ranks of the army/police or even remnants of the Mubarak regime.

There has also been an ongoing attack on workers who continue to strike for their rights (such as the recent army attack and arrest of steel workers on strike in Suez). The military regime is also hunting for revolutionary activists, journalists have been beaten and arrested, foreigners have been threatened against being witness to events.

Both local and global media has told half truths and built narratives supportive of a political agenda. The counter-revolution is in full flow and it knows how to break the unity of the people in its effort to divide and conquer.

In the past two days there has been a rise in sectarian reprisals, with up to 50 churches and christian institutions attacked. The army and police were not seen protecting these buildings of the Christian community.

It is in the interest of both army and the Muslim Brotherhood to stoke tensions and create fear and hatred in the people. They will fight for their control of the State as people’s blood fills the streets.

We condemn the massacres at Raba’a and Nadha Square, the attacks on workers, activists and journalists, the manipulation of the people by those who vie to power, and sectarian attacks. For the revolution to continue the people must remain united in their opposition to the abuses and tyranny of power, against whoever it is directed.

Down with the military and Al-Sissi!  Down with the remnants of the Mubarak regime and business elite! Down with the State and all power to autonomous communities!  Long live the Egyptian revolution!

Insurrection sweeps the Balkans

Insurrection against the corrupt global neoliberal system is spreading across the Balkans.

In Sofia, Bulgaria, protesters sick of the regime have laid siege to parliament and managed to trap 100 MPs and ministers inside for more than eight hours.

As ever, the authorities turned to violence to restore their control, and sent in cops to attack the public and rescue the hated politicians. 

Bosnians have also been taking to the streets in recent months amidst growing discontent.

Greece has been battling neoliberal tyranny for years now and the Turkish people have this year woken up to the reality of the global despotism which enslaves humanity in the interests of profit for the few.

The reaction of the system is only ever to notch up levels of repression. In the UK, for instance, a new law is being planned to give police the power to clear areas of people they “reasonably suspect” are engaged in conduct that contributes to “ members of the public in the locality being harassed, alarmed or distressed”.

Explains SchNEWS: "A dispersal order can be issued by any officer of the rank of Inspector or above and lasts for a period of 48 hours. It allows the police to specify how and when people must disperse.

"To not disperse will of course be an arrestable offence with a potential three months' imprisonment attached. The new laws will also give the cops the power to seize items used in the conduct of 'anti-social behaviour' as well as taking those aged under 16 to 'a place of safety'."

Neoliberal capitalists anywhere in the world will not surrender their power and wealth voluntarily - we are all going to have to "disperse" it for them.

Rioting erupts in Paris suburbs

TWO nights of rioting have rocked a suburb of Paris, after youths decided they had had enough of police oppression.

Cars and bins were torched and fireworks launched at police, who attacked locals with tear gas and "flashball" rubber bullets, leaving a 14 year old boy blinded in one eye.

In a dramatic incident at 1.30 on Sunday morning, a grey Renault Clio car drove up to the Trappes police station, heavily protected by police cars.

Instead of stopping, it smashed into barriers, prompting a helicopter chase which ended with a battle between 50 rioters and 150 CRS riot police.

The fighting in Trappes was sparked by a police search of a woman wearing a traditional Muslim veil, but one man told one TV report they were generally fed up with "being treated like dogs" by the cops.

On Saturday night, the action spread to nearby Elancourt and Guyancourt.

 

Free Kostas Sakkas!

A global solidarity campaign is underway to support Greek anarchist prisoner Kostas Sakkas who has been on hunger strike since June 4.

Kostas was arrested in December 2010, one of the earliest in a wave of arrests targeting the “Conspiracy of Cells of Fire”.

Both Kostas and the CCF deny he was ever a member, and Kostas has separately taken responsibility for his political activity as an anarchist.

Held ever since, his initial pre-trial detention maximum expired eighteen months later, in the summer of 2012 - yet it was extended by another year, to June 2013.

At that time, a court of appeals in Athens ordered the extension of Kostas’ detention by another six months, now solidly stepping outside the boundaries that the legal apparatus had set for its own self.

On June 4, Kostas went on a hunger strike in protest and this has prompted a wave of support.

More than 6,000 people joined  a solidarity demonstration on June 29 which began in Monastiraki and crossed through most of central Athens.

A moto-solidarity action is being staged in Athens on Friday July 5. For updates see From the Greek Streets.

US empire is collapsing

 

Hopeful signs are emerging that we are witnessing the beginning of the end of US global hegemony.

Recent events may superficially seem to show the power and reach of the American state, as European countries buckled to trans-Atlantic pressure over Evo Morales’ flight back to Bolivia.

And in Egypt suspicions still remain that, while the second revolution has got rid of one US-backed president, the Americans will ensure they are on equally good terms with his successor.

But the moment that an empire shows itself to be at its most powerful is also a moment at which inevitable decline and collapse are underway.

Power and influence work best when they are invisible. The moment their workings are exposed, they become less effective.

This was demonstrated by the US reaction to whistleblower Edward Snowden, who revealed to the world the extent of his employers’ spying activities. His actions haven’t stopped the spying, but the US position has been seriously weakened by the heightened public awareness.

The same applies to the way the USA has clearly pulled international strings to try and trap Snowden. This is the sort of influence it has always exerted - but in the background, away from all scrutiny. For its power to be laid bare in this way is a step towards it crumbling away entirely.

It hasn’t happened yet, of course, and there is very real danger that the wounded animal will lash out at an increasingly hostile world with a war on Syria and Iran.

But the cracks in US domination will surely spread out from Latin America, where Unasur nations are holding an emergency meeting to discuss the aggression against Morales’ jet.

As the global uprising against its hated neoliberal system spreads like wildfire, it is only a matter of time before we see the fall of the US empire.

Cairo: "We want the downfall of the System!"

 

“We want the downfall of the System!”

That was the message from radicals on the streets of Cairo this week as the Morsi regime tottered towards today's collapse.

From Istanbul to Rio de Janeiro, from Santiago to Manama, the battle against neoliberalism is one and the same.

Nobody expects it to be easily won – there will always be yet another phoney saviour lined up in the political wings to ensure it’s “business as usual” in the corridors of power.

But the numbers and the anger on the streets all over the world in the last few weeks will have had the elite shaking in their boots in fear of what is to come. People power on this scale is something they can neither control nor ignore, as Morsi found out to his cost.

In an online statement this week, some “Comrades from Cairo” outlined how the neoliberal agenda is the common factor among the regimes currently facing popular uprisings.

They explained: “In Egypt, the Brotherhood only adds a religious veneer to the process, while the logic of a localized neo-liberalism crushes the people.

“In Turkey a strategy of aggressive private-sector growth, likewise translates into authoritarian rule, the same logic of police brutality as the primary weapon to oppress opposition and any attempts to envision alternatives.

“In Brazil a government rooted in a revolutionary legitimacy has proven that its past is only a mask it wears while it partners with the same capitalist order in exploiting people and nature alike.

“These recent struggles share in the fight of much older constant battles of the Kurds and the indigenous peoples of Latin America. For decades, the Turkish and Brazilian governments have tried but failed to wipe out these movements’ struggle for life.

“Their resistance to state repression was the precursor to the new wave of protests that have spread across Turkey and Brazil. We see an urgency in recognizing the depth in each other’s struggles and seek out forms of rebellion to spread into new spaces, neighborhoods and communities.

“Our struggles share a potential to oppose the global regime of nation states. In crisis as in prosperity, the state — in Egypt under the rule of Mubarak, the Military Junta or the Muslim Brotherhood — continues to dispossess and disenfranchise in order to preserve and expand the wealth and privilege of those in power.

“None of us are fighting in isolation. We face common enemies from Bahrain, Brazil and Bosnia, Chile, Palestine, Syria, Turkey, Kurdistan, Tunisia, Sudan, the Western Sahara and Egypt. And the list goes on.

“Everywhere they call us thugs, vandals, looters and terrorists. We are fighting more than economic exploitation, naked police violence or an illegitimate legal system. It is not rights or reformed citizenship that we fight for.

“We oppose the nation-state as a centralized tool of repression, that enables a local elite to suck the life out of us and global powers to retain their dominion over our everyday lives.

“The two work in unison with bullets and broadcasts and everything in between. We are not advocating to unify or equate our various battles, but it is the same structure of authority and power that we have to fight, dismantle, and bring down. Together, our struggle is stronger.

“We want the downfall of the System.”

Total opposition - interview with anarchist writer Paul Cudenec

In this written interview with The Vast Minority,  writer Paul Cudenec calls for anarchists to unite in "total opposition" to the global capitalist system. He says he is trying to unearth the primal force behind the philosophy and argues that anarchism has the potential to become a new "religion" for the current age.

 

Q: Your book The Anarchist Revelation is very much focused around presenting an anarchist spirituality. Why?

That’s the question I hopefully go some way to answering over the course of some 150 pages! In short, there are two separate, and yet interwoven, strands. Firstly there is the individual question – how can an alienated individual such as an anarchist, who is sane enough to find the contemporary capitalist world insane, carry on living in that world? Involvement in the anarchist struggle is part of the answer, but you also need something more than that, some greater perspective to fall back on in times of doubt or isolation.

I think anarchism, historically, has always offered a depth of vision that can sustain and propel an individual through adversity but, if we start to regard anarchism not as a life-philosophy but as a narrowly defined social movement, we will lose contact with that vital force. 

Secondly, there’s the spiritual depth of the anarchist movement as a whole. To me, it stands opposed to the modern materialist mindset at a fundamental level. It’s not just that we reject all those assumptions about the legitimacy of authority, property or privilege, but we also reject the blinkered and one-dimensional thinking of the current age. 

Anarchy is lateral thinking, creative thinking, poetic thinking in many ways, and in that it has a lot in common with something like Sufism, the esoteric strand of Islam. It’s not stuck on the one level - like Marxism is, for example. And I think we need to reconnect to that imaginative and fluid side of anarchist thought.

Q: But there’s a difference between the vitality or fluidity of a philosophy and this idea of “spirituality”. Why does that come in? Why does it have to come in?

Spirituality for me is all about using the parts of our mind that are left to wither away in a purely materialist society, where nothing it considered valid unless it can be “empirically” proven to be so. These are the powers we need to reignite, on both an individual and collective level.

Q: But what about the religious aspect to “spirituality” that you do evoke in your book? Are you suggesting that these unused parts of our mind are something to do with a supernatural element?

Not supernatural, no. But my definition of what is natural, and real, would go a lot further than what’s generally understood by that. As far as religion goes, the only religion I’m promoting is anarchism. OK, maybe it’s not quite a religion at the moment, but I think it has the potential to be, if it doesn’t cut itself off from the less materialist aspects of its philosophy that take it up in that direction.

Q: So what kind of religion would anarchism be? A religion with no god?

There doesn’t have to be a “god”, in the sense in which it’s normally meant in the West. It’s all about an holistic vision, understanding that on every level of existence everything is interconnected and ultimately part of the one entity. On a human level, this is already the anarchist position – mutual aid, co-operation, solidarity and so on. On a planetary level this is the environmentalist position – the Gaia idea of a living Earth. On a cosmic level, this becomes a Buddhist or Taoist idea of the ultimate unity. 

I think that anarchism naturally embraces the holistic approach on the other levels, as well, thus expanding itself into a complete vision of life, rather than remaining merely a social or economic programme spiced up with a confrontational attitude.

Q: Is this a bad thing, then, a “confrontational attitude”? Should anarchists be adopting the quietism of Eastern mystics?

Not at all. A confrontational attitude is essential for anarchism. I think we need to be more confrontational, in fact, in contexts other than street battles with the police or fascists. We need to be more confrontational in our refusal of the moral claims of the state, by stating clearly that we don’t accept that they have the right to rule us, to jail us, to control us in any way. Of course, we recognise the reality that they can do so, in the same way that a large man with a knife has the physical ability to rob me in the street, but we should make it clear that we don’t buy into their lie that there is any moral legitimacy behind this. 

We also need to be more confrontational in attacking the limits that are placed around possible futures. Although it’s often a tactically good idea to work with reformist campaigns, if only to help stem the tide of increasing capitalist domination, we should never stop talking about the completely different society that is our vision and inspiration. It doesn’t matter if people can’t grasp that this could ever happen, that they are conditioned by society to think that such a future is not only undesirable but also impossible. 

We have to keep our black flag flying so that the vision stays alive, at least on an abstract level, and it’s there for people to turn to one day when they finally realise that the only alternative is going to be a future of slavery and misery for the vast majority of humanity. What we need to reclaim is the total opposition to the current system that was historically offered by anarchism. There’s such a strength in that. 

Also, by the way, there’s nothing necessarily quietist or pacifist about faiths like Buddhism – take the Tibetan monks in their struggle against Chinese occupation, for a start. Many religions are used by authorities to promote obedience and submission, and Buddhism is no exception, but that doesn’t reflect on its innate qualities or its potential as an aid to human liberation.

Q: Total opposition? That sounds quite full-on!

In the context in which I just used it, I meant total opposition in a philosophical sense – attacking the current death-system at its roots, rather than focusing on trimming it back here and there. But I do think that’s what we need, at every level. Otherwise nothing will change, all possibilities of improvement will remain blocked and the future will be like this, only a thousand times worse.

Q: There’s a strong environmental current running through your work. Would you describe yourself as an eco-anarchist?

I have done, yes, though I’m tending now to focus on just being an anarchist, which I think is enough. For a start, I can’t see that anything other than anarchism – and the total opposition that it involves – is going to save the planet. The system is not going to reform itself or voluntarily concede any power or control. I also don’t feel there’s a need for any of us to qualify our anarchism with adjectives. 

I’ve been playing around with the notion of an Anarchy Threshold, this being the “finishing tape” that all anarchists are aiming at, the point at which humankind can said to be liberated. The idea is that we don’t really have to argue about what happens after that, because, as anarchists, we’re saying that the people around at the time (whenever it actually happens!) will decide that, by their actions and views, among themselves. 

So it doesn’t matter if my vision of a better future is one without factories, while my comrade sees the need for a continuation of some form of industrialism. Neither of us will be in a position to decide that. As anarchists we’re not about imposing our views on others anyway, even if we could do so. So it’s purely theoretical – our only input is in putting forward our own visions of how life could be. If we have faith in a free humanity, we will have faith in the future it will create for itself in an anarchist society. Personally, I can’t see that a post-capitalist world would be industrial in any way, because industrialism is capitalism. 

The capitalists are right when they say that without the profit incentive, we wouldn’t have what they call “progress” – it’s the forces of money and power, feeding off each other, that have spawned the industrial hell in which we are all forced to live today and the moment that there is no more capitalism there will be no raison d’être for factories, oil refineries, nuclear power stations, shopping malls and so on. 

I don’t have to argue too much with other anarchists about what a future anarchist society would look like, though. Firstly, because it’s not my call – or theirs. Secondly, because I know, in my own heart, that an anarchist society would not be an industrial one. It will all unfold in due course. And in the meantime, before the Anarchy Threshold has been reached, our only aim should be to work towards that point with a diversity of tactics and a respect for each others’ personal visions.

Q: Isn’t that a bit naïve, to think that anarchists could all work together happily ever after?

It’s not naïve to think we should all work together – or at least not snipe at each other. If we can’t, then perhaps that’s something to do with the egos of individuals concerned (not just inflated egos, but fragile ones as well) – and that is something that can be addressed by an individual spiritual approach that is a microcosm of our social struggle, as I describe in the book. It’s about rediscovering our strength and clarity, both individually and collectively.

Q: The language in your book can be quite academic at times – do you feel that this can create a barrier to people understanding what you’re saying and limit the numbers who are going to read your message?

Firstly, I’m not a professional academic and I try to make my meaning clear to readers. It’s difficult, though, to express complex ideas without using the short cut of a certain vocabulary – otherwise the end result would be both long-winded and a little patronising. 

Secondly, when you’re quoting writers like Herbert Marcuse or Karl Jaspers it would be strange if the surrounding text was in a completely different register – the flow wouldn’t be there. Thirdly, part of theme of The Anarchist Revelation is the lowering of the intellectual level and the denial by the narrow positivist mindset of people’s ability to think clearly and profoundly. Dumbing-down the language in which that sort of argument is expressed seems to me like something of an own goal! 

It’s not just a question of vocabulary, but also the way ideas are expressed. Everything doesn’t always have to be compressed into soundbites. I do take on board the criticism to a certain extent, though, and I would like to work on ways of communicating these ideas in a way that they can be more readily absorbed.

Q: Finally, your book draws on the work of a whole range of writers, many of whom are not anarchists. How would you respond to criticism that you risk diluting the anarchist message and confusing it with unrelated strands of thought. Is this some kind of “post-anarchism” that you’re serving up?

No, it’s not “post-anarchism”. If anything, I’m trying to unearth an “Ur-anarchism”, a primal force behind the philosophy, hence my foray into the worlds of hermeticism, alchemy, Sufism and Taoism. 

I think it’s a mistake to imagine that anarchism is, or should be, some kind of self-contained bubble of consciously-limited political analysis. It’s not airtight, but porous. Anarchism influences the world around it and it is, in turn, influenced by that world. The fact that an idea is expressed by a particular individual does not make it “their” idea anyway; it’s all drawn from the common cultural resource of humanity. 

So if a writer expresses something that seems valid and interesting to me, I don’t have to agree with everything else they ever wrote or did in order for me to make use of it in my work and acknowledge where I read it. To me, it’s actually exciting to find anarchist ideas bubbling up in unexpected places, as it makes it clear that our vision is not as peripheral as the thought-authorities would like to make out. 

Anarchism is the political label we give to a massive underground river of suppressed thinking that is flowing under the streets of our materialist capitalist civilization, waiting to rise up and sweep away its factories, prisons and city halls. Ultimately, it’s the life-force itself and as such it’s unstoppable.

Paul Cudenec’s new book The Anarchist Revelation is published by Winter Oak Press. For more information see www.paulcudenec.blogspot.co.uk and winteroakpress.blogspot.co.uk

#June30 - time for a second revolution in Egypt!

 

EGYPT will once again take centre stage in the dramatic global uprising against neoliberal tyranny this weekend.

Opponents of the US-backed Morsi regime will be taking to the streets on Sunday #June30 to call for a second revolution - a year after the increasingly unpopular and despotic leader came to power.

There were already chaotic scenes in Alexandria on Friday, as revolutionaries were attacked by government supporters, with reports of at least one death and many injured.

The Muslim Brotherhood in the coastal city was also said to have been set on fire (see photo) - previously such attacks have been claimed by Egypt's thriving anarchist Black Bloc movement.

Rumours were also circulating on the internet that the regime was planning to shut down Egyptian TV channels over the weekend in a desperate bid to retain power, reminiscent of the final days of the Mubarak regime.

Officials have already ordered the arrest of a talk show host and demanded a TV station be shut down for "inciting mutiny in the army and for insulting the armed forces and the police".

One live feed from Egypt on Sunday is being offered here, starting 6am Cairo time.

Brazil and Turkey rise up!

The global uprising against neoliberalism continues to erupt in unexpected places, with Turkey and now Brazil displaying mass resistance.

Says a report from anarchist news service ainfos: "Just like Turkey, Brazil has recently experienced relative success in economic terms. But just as in Turkey, the spoils of this economic growth are divided extremely unequally.

"Just like in Turkey, a relatively small provocation has sparked a much more widespread chain reaction. Unlike in Turkey, that provocation is a direct attack on living standards. But the anger exploding as a result of it appears to run just as deep. ---- Brazil has seen strong economic growth in the past decade, although this is slowing. In 2010, the economy grew 7.5 percent; for 2011, the official IMF estimate is 2.7 percent.

"This temporary slowdown is supposed to be followed by stronger growth in 2013, although, with IMF statistics, you can never tell. However, the parallel with Turkey -- also a rapidly developing economy gradually moving into slowdown -- is striking. Economies like Turkey and Brazil are becoming quite an important force in the world economy.

"What happens there matters to the rest of the world. Better watch out -- and better be prepared to extend the hand of solidarity when it is needed.

"Right now, what is happening in Brazil and Turkey is revolt. In Turkey it was the defence of Gezi park that provided the spark. In Brazil, it is transport fares that drive people to the streets in anger.

"On 2 June, authorities in the metropolis of Sao Paulo raised the price of a single fare from $1.40 USD to $1.50. This hike, moreover, is being made in a context of 15.5 percent inflation.

"And for thousands of Brazilians, it proved to be the proverbial last straw. From June 10 onwards, the city was rocked by four consecutive days of demonstrations and riots. On June 13, 5.000 people took to the streets and clashed violently with police."

Anarchists on the streets of London

 
Despite brutal police repression, anarchists in London succeeded in getting across a powerful message of anti-capitalist resistance ahead of the neoliberal G8 summit in Fermanagh.

Hot summer of anti-capitalism kicks off

A HOT summer of anti-capitalist resistance is kicking off, with the Blockupy protests in Frankfurt coinciding with huge anti-government and anti-police protests across Turkey.

Anti-capitalists will also be taking to the streets of London for the Stop G8 week of action and J11 Carnival Against Capitalism.

The uprising against Turkey is against an increasingly authoritarian neoliberal regime - very much following the plutofascist globel model - with the added local ingredient of religious intolerance of secular society.

The spark for the protests was plans to build a shopping mall on much-loved Gezi Park in Istanbul, part of the relentless capitalist enclosure of space and destruction of the environment in the name of profits.

Reports CNN: "Critics are unhappy at the rapid pace of urbanization in Turkey's metropolitan cities. Erdogan is planning to build a third airport, a third Bosphorus bridge and a canal linking the Black Sea with the Sea of Marmara, which are likely to destroy millions of trees and a delicate ecosystem in northern Istanbul. A staggering $4.7 billion was spent on ambitious construction projects last year in Istanbul alone."

Nothing can be allowed to stand in the way of machineries of profit, hence the savage and murderous attack on the Istanbul protesters by the state and its thugs.

Hence also the repression meted out to the thousands of protesters who physically confronted the capitalist system in Frankfurt on May 31 and June 1.

Reuters reports:"Anti-capitalist demonstrators from the Blockupy movement paralysed Germany's financial center on Friday, cutting off access to the European Central Bank and Deutsche Bank's headquarters.

"Riot police, showered with stones and paint bombs, used pepper spray to prevent the protesters breaking into the ECB. Several protesters were injured and police made some arrests."

Riot - new music video in time for #J11

This music video from Gentleman's Dub Club was released on May 20, 2013. Coincidentally, the Carnival Against Capitalism in London is on Tuesday June 11.

Protests a "serious threat" to London capitalists

 

A MASSIVE wave of anti-capitalist resistance is set to hit London at the start of June.

The Stop G8 week of action ahead of the G8 Summit, featuring the J11 Carnival Against Capitalism on Tuesday June 11, is already worrying the British state.

One newspaper report says "the G8 protests represent a serious threat" and claims Home Secretary Theresa May is ordering in German water cannon, to be used on the British mainland for the first time.

It says: "Mrs May is concerned about thousands of anarchists and other protesters from North America and Europe converging on Britain next month."

A Home Office "source" is said to have told the newspaper: "There's an urgency to get the water cannons by the summer. Theresa May is actually pushing for it. The G8 is a worry for them."

There are a a number of protests lined up around London between June 6 and 14. Some anti-capitalists will be heading to Watford where the 2013 Bilderberg Conference is being held from June 6 to June 8.

UK Indymedia reports that the Stop G8 convergence "will begin on the weekend of June 8-9, with workshops and skillshares involving Green and Black Cross and Fitwatch in preparation for the J11 Carnival Against Capitalism on Tuesday June 11.

"There will then be an anti-militarist protest on Wednesday June 12 and a No Borders No Prisons! day of actions on Thursday June 13, while on Friday June 14 They Owe Us plan to appear somewhere in Canary Wharf, to reclaim and transform a space, bringing beauty and hope to the soulless heart of capitalism."

Stop G8 says the J11 Carnival Against Capitalism will be "a time to celebrate our resistance and our dreams, to bring music and colour to the streets. And also to show our strength and our anger."

Defending the Black Bloc

A PROMINENT activist in Occupy Wall Street has spoken out against "dangerous" criticism of the Black Bloc tactic by "violent peace-police".

David Graeber writes in N+1 magazine in response to an article called “The Cancer in Occupy,” by one Chris Hedges.

He tells Hedges in his open letter: "I am appealing to you because I really do believe the kind of statement you made is profoundly dangerous.

"The reason I say this is because, whatever your intentions, it is very hard to read your statement as anything but an appeal to violence. After all, what are you basically saying about what you call 'Black Bloc anarchists'?

"1) they are not part of us

2) they are consciously malevolent in their intentions

3) they are violent

4) they cannot be reasoned with

5) they are all the same

6) they wish to destroy us

7) they are a cancer that must be excised

"Surely you must recognize, when it’s laid out in this fashion, that this is precisely the sort of language and argument that, historically, has been invoked by those encouraging one group of people to physically attack, ethnically cleanse, or exterminate another—in fact, the sort of language and argument that is almost never invoked in any other circumstance.

"After all, if a group is made up exclusively of violent fanatics who cannot be reasoned with, intent on our destruction, what else can we really do? This is the language of violence in its purest form. Far more than “fuck the police.” To see this kind of language employed by someone who claims to be speaking in the name of non-violence is genuinely extraordinary."

Graeber pulls apart Hedges' claim that the Black Bloc tactic gives cops the excuse they need to attack protesters and depict them as violent.

He writes: "If the police decide to attack a group of protesters, they will claim to have been provoked, and the media will repeat whatever the police say, no matter how implausible, as the basic initial facts of what happened.

"This will happen whether or not anyone at the protest does anything that can be remotely described as violence. Many police claims will be obviously ridiculous – as at the recent Oakland march where police accused participants of throwing 'improvised explosive devices'—but no matter how many times the police lie about such matters, the national media will still report their claims as true, and it will be up to protesters to provide evidence to the contrary.

"Sometimes, with the help of social media, we can demonstrate that particular police attacks were absolutely unjustified, as with the famous Tony Bologna pepper-spray incident. But we cannot by definition prove all police attacks were unjustified, even all attacks at one particular march; it’s simply physically impossible to film every thing that happens from every possible angle all the time.

"Therefore we can expect that whatever we do, the media will dutifully report 'protesters engaged in clashes with police' rather than 'police attacked non-violent protesters'. What’s more, when someone does throw back a tear-gas canister, or toss a bottle, or even spray-paint something, we can assume that act will be employed as retroactive justification for whatever police violence occurred before the act took place."

And Graeber points out the even Gandhi, hero of the peace police, would not have taken the extreme line adopted by Hedges and his kind.

He writes: "Gandhi and his movement were regularly denounced in the media, just as non-violent anarchists are also always denounced in the media (and I might remark here that while not an anarchist himself, Gandhi was strongly influenced by anarchists like Kropotkin and Tolstoy), as a mere front for more violent, terroristic elements, with whom he was said to be secretly collaborating.

"He was regularly challenged to prove his non-violent credentials by assisting the authorities in suppressing such elements. Here Gandhi remained resolute. It is always morally superior, he insisted, to oppose injustice through non-violent means than through violent means. However, to oppose injustice through violent means is still morally superior to not doing anything to oppose injustice at all.

"And Gandhi was talking about people who were blowing up trains, or assassinating government officials. Not damaging windows or spray-painting rude things about the police."

State scare tactics in G8 run-up

SCARE tactics and propaganda are being deployed by the British state in the run-up to the G8 summit in June.

There is talk of special cells being readied for protesters at an army camp, of  police-state style  security measures and of overworked and stressed-out cops.

The pressure has also been increased by the discovery of a mortar bomb which a dissident republican group says was intended for the G8 summit venue.

The authorities are facing big protests in three locations - in London for a week of action including the J11 Carnival Against Capitalism, in Dublin just before the summit and around the actual venue at Lough Erne, County Fermanagh (pictured above).

"The police and prison services in Northern Ireland have begun arranging for hundreds of extra holding cells in anticipation of protests at this summer's G8 summit turning ugly," reports The Belfast Telegraph.

Work is apparently under way to make available extra cell capacity inside Maghaberry high security prison in Co Antrim, as well as at Magilligan prison in Co Londonderry and Hydebank Wood young offenders' centre and women's prison in Belfast.

The authorities claim a "ring of steel" will be in place around the summit venue at the Lough Erne resort. With the lakes of Fermanagh providing an additional natural barrier between the hotel and outside world, they say it is unlikely that protesters will get anywhere near the complex.

The demonstrators' focus may therefore shift to the town of Enniskillen, five miles away, or further afield in Northern Ireland, says the Belfast Telegraph. It adds: "Indeed London may witness the largest protests" - referring to the actions lined up by anti-capitalists Stop G8 on and around Tuesday June 11.

Police in Northern Ireland told the BBC: "People travelling on 16, 17 and 18 June 2013 will be advised to leave extra time for their journey.

"Previous G8 conferences have also attracted a number of protest groups. Police will be planning for this eventuality and this may again result in some disruption to the transport network.

"As a result there will be a highly visible police presence across parts of the Antrim Borough throughout the duration of the G8 conference."

The police said that there would be a large security presence on all routes around the airport.

There will also be a "larger than normal police and security presence" within Belfast International Airport itself in the days leading up to the arrival of the delegates.

The Impartial Reporter focuses on the pressure on police for what it is being billed  as a bigger challenge than the "troubles". 

It says: "With just 11 weeks to go until eight world leaders including US President Barack Obama visit Enniskillen, police officers on G8 duties in Fermanagh are complaining of being "over-worked" as they patrol the county around the clock. 

"In what will likely be the biggest security operation in the history of Northern Ireland, a considerable number of police officers here have been tasked with ensuring nothing goes wrong in the run-up to the global event. But some of the officers, according to the chairman of the Police Federation of Northern Ireland, feel under pressure by the workload."

The bomb found abandoned  in Fermanagh was claimed by republican  group Oglaigh Na hEireann, which said it was to be detonated at the hotel hosting the G8 summit.

In a coded statement to The Guardian, the anti-ceasefire dissident organisation also admitted responsibility for an attempted mortar bomb attack on the heavily fortified New Barnsley police station in west Belfast two weeks ago.

ONH also provided two photographs of a mortar launching device alongside a printed note stating: "MK1 10KG Mortar, Range 300 Metres."

The group's statement said: "Car bomb defused in County Fermanagh on Sat 23rd March. Target was hotel hosting G8 summit in June."

Bomb targets Greek capitalist

A BOMB has gone off outside the home of a leading Greek capitalist and banker.

Says From The Greek Streets: "At approximately 8.30 pm on Wednesday, a bomb exploded outside the house of ship-owner Nikos Tsakos in central Athens, near the Acropolis. A yet unnamed group called a newspaper to warn about the bomb, but has yet to issue a communique."

Until recently, Tsakos served on the board of directors of the Bank of Cyprus, where the population is the latest victim of the neoliberal system.

A comment on the YouTube video of the blast declares: "This is the start of the world revolution." 

#J11 - Carnival Against Capitalism in London

A CARNIVAL Against Capitalism has been called for London on June 11 2013, in the build-up to the G8 summit being hosted by the UK government.

Stop G8 has announced the J11 date as part of a week of anti-capitalist and anti-militarist action in the British capital.

It says on its call-out page: "London is right at the heart of global capitalism. And the West End of London, including elite areas like Piccadilly, Mayfair and Knightsbridge, is where power and greed are most concentrated."

It says the West End of London will be the focus for J11 because it is home to:

* Corporations. Many of the world’s most brutal and polluting companies,  including oil and mining giants, arms dealers, and the businesses profiting from cuts and privatisation.

* Vulture funds. Global base of the “hedge fund” and “private equity” industries, laundering the world’s blood money to invest in war, food speculation and debt slavery.

* Tyrants. Government offices, embassies, cultural and commercial fronts of  colonial powers and murderous regimes.

* Playground of the mega-rich. Middle Eastern dictators, Russian mafia oligarchs, and home-grown parasites all see London as a “safe” place to hide and spend their loot.

Explaining the carnival theme, Stop G8 says: "Traditionally, carnival is the time where the people take over the streets, the bosses run and hide, and the world gets turned upside down. It is a time to celebrate our resistance and our dreams, to bring music and colour to the streets. And also to show our strength and our anger.

"The powerful feel safe in London so long as they go unchallenged. But the people looting our planet have names and addresses. On #J11 we will party in the streets, point out the hiding places of power, and take back the heart of our city for a day. Our streets. Our world.

"Join us. Like any good carnival, everyone’s invited: this will be an open, inclusive, and lively event. There will be a main route with sound systems and public meeting points. Bring music, costumes, banners, friends, ideas. We also encourage independent actions, and will publish soon a detailed map of the area to help you make your own plans. The Green and Black Cross group will provide experienced medical and legal support."

Direct action newsheet SchNEWS reports that protest plans for the G8 are mushrooming, with separate groups planning action in both Dublin and Fermanagh following the London week.

It says: "The powers-that-be must have been so chuffed with themselves when they came up with their cunning game plan for this year’s G8 summit, hosted by the UK government.

"By holding it near Enniskillen, in County Fermanagh, in the north of Ireland, they thought they would kill two birds with one stone - shrugging off those pesky protesters expected on the mainland and showing off to the world how they had got the six counties nicely pacified and under control.

"But things haven’t exactly gone to plan. First there was the rioting by Union Flag-loving parts of the population, which made many locals wonder if taking on another security headache was the wisest course of action they could have come up with.

"Then there were the reported threats to the summit from dissident republican groups who, unlike us unwashed anti-capitalist hordes over here, tend to be armed.

"And now there has been a flurry of excitement in the run-up to the summit in which it appears that there will now be three centres of protest across an eight-day period and spanning two different states. Hardly the easy ride the G8 were hoping for!"

And anarchist blogger Paul Cudenec has called for fellow anarchists to put aside any theoretical  objections to summit protests as a means of resistance, insisting that "capitalism exists on many different levels and should therefore also be countered on many different levels".

Rural rebel fighters on the move

RURAL rebel fighters in India appear to be moving into new territory, sending authorities into a state of panic.

The Deccan Chronicle reports: "For the first time, Mysore dis­trict is in danger of becoming part of the Red Corridor—a term used to describe the land stretch from Bihar to Karnataka where the left-wing extre­mists have a presence."

And The Times of India says: "The Anti-Naxal Force, the elite commando force fighting Maoists in Karnataka, is extending its area of operation to Mysore district following apprehension that Naxals could extend their base to forested areas in Mysore and Chamarajnagar.

"After sighting of Naxals in Kodagu forests, the ANF on Sunday moved its commandos to rural Mysore, which the senior police officials described as preventive measure. The ANF is opening a temporary camp at Beemanakolli in Heggadadevenakote taluk, one of the most backward taluks in Karnataka.

"Though the combing operations were planned to start on Sunday, it was put off. The ANF commandos are likely to start the groundwork from Monday and scan the forested areas, particularly those pockets that forms border with Kerala.

"The 100-plus force is stationed at Beechanahalli in H D Kote where ANF held a joint meeting with Mysore district police and forest officials. A joint meeting of the cops from Kerala and Tamil Nadu too was held for better coordination. The ANF commandant Vasudeva Murthy has arrived to chalk out strategy. Mysore SP R Dileep visited the area."

European rebels target cameras

REBELS in Germany and elsewhere are hitting back at fascistic CCTV surveillance - and turning it into a new online "game".

UK anarcho news site Schnews reports that the "Camover" trend is taking the Germany's cities and the internet by storm, with players masking up and using anything from axes to lassoes to put the cameras out of action.

It says: "The game originated in Berlin, where anti-CCTV feeling has been brewing in the radical circles. Attempts at more standard protest, including a small march and film showings, made little impact, so a black bloc took to the streets one night to take more shady direct action. Now participants are getting in on the game from Finland, Greece and the US."

As one Camover blog put it, “In the supermarket, in the university, at work, in the tram or in the ATMs – we hate them all. We are not interested in feeling 'safe' and we don’t want them to stop crime.”

And one Finnish militant said: “During the last weeks we have blinded several CCTV-cameras around capital area of Finland. CCTV-cameras are important part of social control against people. It’s about power and control, and not about people's values and rights. It’s about turning us into slaves and fearing authorities. But we can defend ourselves against the state and against corporations and take away Big Brother's sight.”

Group claims nanotechnology bomb attack

AN UNDERGROUND Mexican anti-civilization movement has claimed responsibility for sending a letter bomb to a nanotechnology researcher in February 2013.

The “Seventh Communique” issued by ITS (Individualidades tendiendo a lo salvaje - Individualists tending toward the wild) has been translated into English and published in full on the 325 website.

It states: “We claim responsibility for sending a letter with explosive-incendiary material to the nanotechnology researcher Sergio Andrés Águila of the Institute of Biotechnology of UNAM in the city of Cuernavaca, Morelos.

“It is worth mentioning that the Institute of Biotechnology of UNAM in Cuernavaca has already been hit before. On November 8, 2011, the biotechnology researcher Ernesto Méndez Salinas was assassinated by a shot to the head on Teopanzaolco Avenue; months later the police reported that they had arrested those responsible, which is a lie.

“It is not an accident that the same institute has been hit now, in order to make the truth known: the biotechnologist Méndez Salinas, on November 8 (only three months after the explosion in Monterrey Tec) became the first mortal victim of ITS.

“We have said it before, we act without any compassion in the feral defense of Wild Nature. Did those who modify and destroy the Earth think their actions wouldn’t have repercussions? That they wouldn’t pay a price? If they thought so, they are mistaken.”

In the detailed political statement, ITS distances itself from “leftist” revolutionaries, including those within the anarchist movement.

It says: “Now in the present anyone who speaks of the ‘emancipation of the proletariat’, of the ‘class struggle’, ‘social revolution’ and other two-odd-century-old slogans carries a corpse in their mouth, because those arguments are expired and it is useless to try to propel them now because they no longer have any solid validity.”

It also stresses that its commitment is not to chaos but to order, of a natural kind. The comminque says: “In Wild Nature everything has an order, everything is self-regulated, there is a circle that repeats infinite times so that the natural equilibrium keeps its course and is not lost.

“From the beginning of time everything has been ruled by the natural order, until Civilization came and changed everything. Everything turned into disorder, chaos.

“From this idea that everything in Wild Nature has an order, and because we say that we obey this order and these natural laws, those who disobey these natural statutes are confined to obeying the system and denying their human nature.

“ITS categorically rejects the chaos of Civilization and ferociously defends the order of Wild Nature.”

ITS also makes it clear it has no sympathy with so-called “eco-fascism”, with its belief in the power of the state to protect the environment: “We do not want a new ‘alternative’ or ‘greener’ regime led by intellectuals, military officials, or politicians; we want all the regimes that Civilization  encompasses to be destroyed.”

Police car flipped by protesters

A POLICE car was overturned by angry protesters in Heraklion, Crete, on Wednesday morning as the latest general strike in Greece got underway.

A timeline on the From the Greek Streets site added: "All metro stations in the centre are closed following police orders. There is an unusually high police concentration and checks around the Victoria (Green line) station."

Live footage from Athens is being streamed at http://www.livestream.com/stopcarteltvgr

Greece remains in the front line of the global battle against plutofascism.

London calling for anti-capitalist resistance

 

ANTI-CAPITALISTS in the UK have issued an international call-out for protests against the G8 summit in June 2013.

It includes a big day of action in central London on Tuesday June 11, in the run-up to the meeting of neoliberal world leaders.

Stop G8 says on its website: "This June the leaders of the G8 (the world’s richest countries) are meeting in Northern Ireland. As economic crisis bites, and the planet burns, the bosses and their politicians are celebrating business as usual. Capitalism: a system that kills, exploits, and degrades the many for the profit of a few.

"On June 10-18 we are organising a week of action and events in London. London is at the heart of global capitalism. The corporations, banks, hedge funds, and billionaires looting our world have names and addresses. They are in the glass towers of the City, and behind unmarked doors in Mayfair and Knightsbridge.

"London is the money-laundering den of dictators, the playground of the super-rich. But London is our city too. A city of hope, resistance, and struggle.

"Capitalism is killing us. Unemployment, cuts, and the rise of fascism in the “West”. Poverty, colonialism, brutal exploitation in the “Third World”. War and famine for profit. Private prisons, police checks, CCTV to keep us scared and controlled. Life robbed of meaning and beauty, our dreams and our dignity for sale.

"Don’t ignore. Don’t wait. For our friends and loved ones, for our communities, for our planet, for everything they’re trying to take from us. The time is now. Let’s come together, and fight. One common struggle."

The timetable so far is:

June 11: Big day of action in Central London.

June 17-18: G8 Summit, Enniskillen, North of Ireland.

June 10-18: Week of actions, talks, meet-ups, films, games, concerts, and more, all over London and beyond.


The group says that it believes that any mobilisation at the summit in Enniskillen needs to be started locally. "The StopG8 network will support a locally organised mobilisation. For now, we are keeping the end of the week free. Stay posted for more information."

Azawad rebels reclaim towns

DESERT rebels have seized a number of towns in Azawad as the Western forces dislodge Islamic groups.

The original 2012 liberation of the Sahara territories by the Mouvement National de Liberation de l'Azawad was disrupted by the involvement of  'al-Qaeda' forces in the area.

In a press statement released on January 28, the MNLA  said the towns of Kidal, Tessalit, Léré, In Khalil, Anefis, Tinzawatène, Tessit and Talatayt were now under its control.

It said the local population was in danger from the return into Azawad of Malian troops, following in the footsteps of French forces.

The MNLA said the Malian army had a history of carrying out massacres of unarmed people in Azawad and since the French intervention more than 100 people had already been targeted in reprisals against Touaregs, Peuhls, Sonrai and Arabs.

It said it was assuming the responsibility of securing its towns and protecting its people against an army which specialised in crimes against the civilian population of Azawad. 

Azawad formally declared its independence in April 2012. A statement from the MNLA referred to the "complete liberation of the territory of Azawad" achieved in the remarkable final uprising which began in January of that year.

It recalled that in 1960 Azawad was attached to the state of Mali, created by France - the former colonial power - without the consent of its people.

 

And it mentioned the massacres, extortion, humiliation, despoilment and genocide carried out against Azawad in 1963, 1990, 2006, 2010 and 2012.

 

It condemned the "inhuman behaviour" of Mali in using various droughts (1967, 1973, 1984, 2010….) to try and wipe out the people of Azaward at the same time as it had asked for and received generous humanitarian aid from overseas. 

 

Azawad consists of the regions of Timbuktu, Kidal, Gao, as well as a part of Mopti region and borders Mali and Burkina Faso to the south, Mauritania to the west and northwest, Algeria to the north, and Niger to the east and southeast. It straddles a portion of the Sahara and the Sahelian zone.

 

Azawad is said to be an Arabic corruption of the Berber word "Azawagh", a dry river basin that covers western Niger, northeastern Mali, and southern Algeria. The name translates to "land of transhumance".