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.