Today's Topics:
1. Czech, afed: Nazis crawled into a hole - Report from
anarchistek and anarchists who participated in the March 11, 2017
in Bratislava anti-fascist mobilization + VIDEO [machine
translation] (a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
2. France, Alternative Libertaire AL #270 - Aurélien Barrau
(astrophysicist), on animal welfare: "Empathy is essential in our
choices" (fr, it, pt) [machine translation] (a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
3. Poland, rozbrat.org: Students and workers of Adam Mickiewicz
University against nationalism and racism! [machine translation]
(a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
4. zabalaza.net (ZACF): A South African ruling class brawl by
Shawn Hattingh (a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
5. anarkismo.net: Thousands take part in pro-choice
#Strike4Repeal in Ireland by Andrew - WSM (a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
6. anarkismo.net: Greece: NGO Control Over Refugees by Dmitri
(ed.) - MACG (personal capacity) (a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
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Message: 1
On Saturday, March 11, 2017 in Bratislava in response to the announced march of neo-Nazis
held anti-fascist demonstration. Just like last year, she participated in numerous group
and the Czech antifascists and antifašistek speakers, including representatives of the
Anarchist Federation. ---- The event started an hour after noon on SNP Square, which was
attended by about 2000 demonstrators. The crowd was on banners seen all sorts of passwords
( "Nationalism is not the solution!", "Zbúrame your fences!"), Often parodying motto
Slovak fascists, such as our popular "For a nation? Not for God! ". On the site of several
speeches sounded, among others, he spoke Hungarian leftist theorist G. M. Tamás ( VIDEO )
or feminist activist Dana Vitálošová ( VIDEO ). Worth mentioning is also a great speech in
Bratislava Initiatives antifašistov and antifašistiek ( VIDEO ). Speech Initiative for No
Racism! read Czech speaking antifašistka and anti-fascist (transcript here ). A challenge
for the organization with the collaboration against the fascist threat, finished by
shouting "Death to fascism! Death patriarchy ", and was rewarded with a huge applause.
Slovak fascist organizations congregation who wanted this year traditionally commemorate
the establishment of the Slovak fascist state, its action for the first time after 14
years canceled, so the originally planned anti-fascist blockade was never realized.
Announcement of the organizers, the streets of Bratislava today will only antifascist,
caused by the present enthusiasm. A relaxed atmosphere prevailed throughout the event.
The diverse crowd after the speeches, marched through the city. At its head he was going
to radically leftist bloc with flags Antifascist Action and black and red flags. Chanted
the classic anti-fascist and anti-capitalist passwords (which later on social networking
forget pravicoveji tune participants complain) as "Alerta Alerta Antifascista", "they
shall not pass", "A-anti-anti-capitalists" or "Antifa, our streets, our cities! ". Around
passing man in the Slovak flag shirt and fatigues of his who owns a city street, a
slightly different view, which gave cries out. No other sign of disapproval, however, we
have not seen the rest of the day.
Throughout the march accompanied by a samba band, in which among other things involved as
well-known member of the local punk band contradictions. During his rhythm procession
arrived to the Holocaust Memorial, where organizers spoke about the need to struggle
against capitalism and the building of anti-fascist solidarity structures.
A4 evening at the club was still afterparty with a unique name, "Love music - hate
fascism", which sounded hip-hop, rap and techno. On the site were available publications
Publishing, Anarchist Federation and other organizations.
All day we consider to be very successful and we look forward to the next (international)
cooperation. You shall not pass!
VIDEO https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XIup8lCOxe0
https://www.afed.cz/text/6638/nackove-zalezli-do-der
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Message: 2
Ecological damage to livestock production, animal welfare, the issue of specism ... The
debate on meat consumption has re-emerged strongly in recent years, and is also going
through the revolutionary currents[1]. Interview with Aurélien Barrau , an astrophysicist
committed to animal rights. ---- Alternative libertarian: "If we were to realize the
happiness of all those who bear the human face and destined for death all our fellows who
bear muzzles ... we certainly would not have realized our ideal. For my part, I also
embrace animals in my affection for socialist solidarity, "wrote the anarchist geographer
Elisée Reclus. What are the links between animal emancipation and the emancipation of
humanity? ---- Aurélien Barrau: Magnificent Elisée Reclus, authentic citizen of the world!
I think that excluding animals from the "socialist ideal" is difficult to justify.
This would require the creation of an insurmountable boundary between human beings and
humans (ie one of the great apes) and other living beings, in the manner of creationists
and right-wing think-tanks who support them . It is senseless from a scientific and
arbitrary point of view from an ethical point of view. Once the idea that the human or
human right to life can not be subjected to its social success or its ethnic origin (let's
say its proximity to the one who values its value ) There is no reason to restrict the
approach to living and living humans alone.
Empathy is essential in our choices. But the animals also suffer. They feel the tortures
they have endured - especially those we inflict on them! - what every living person feels
in a situation of extreme pain. They live it in their bodies, which is similar to ours.
Even the existence of consciousness, in the strong sense, is now accepted in many species.
It is now politically cowardly and intellectually incoherent to exclude animals from our
desire for respect.
The human being is an omnivorous animal, so also carnivorous, without meat does not it go
against the natural course of things?
There are endless debates about whether the physiological characteristics of the human
being are carnivorous or vegetarian. I do not think it's important for the issue we're
looking at. Nature has no finality. It is indisputable that the human being has the
faculty of eating animals and plants. The problem is not what he can do but what he wants
to do. Who would dare to justify rape or murder on grounds that we can rape or murder?
There is, of course, an infinity of actions that are compatible with our biological
abilities that we choose not to lead. I do not torture my children, although my body
allows me to do it. The argument that we should eat animal carcasses because we have the
ability to do so is a foolish thing to do. All the more so because it is possible to live
without deficiency, in a healthier and often more savory way, by feeding without killing
animals. Everything is here.
Opinions on this issue seem finally to evolve, why now?
Animal ethics often go by the wayside. Twenty years ago, when I was interested in this
question, one smiled in society by finding it too marginal. Today, we smile while finding
it too fashionable. All pretexts are good! I think we are beginning to understand Robert
Badinter's argument against the death penalty. He looked at the jurors straight in the eye
and asked them whether or not they wanted a living man to be cut into two pieces by their
decision. Everything is there: do we want, yes or no, that 60 billion animals are
unnecessarily cut into pieces every year? Knowing that, besides, they are not even
blameable for any crime and that their agony will be much more painful than that of a
guillotine. I think that the unsustainable images of the functioning of slaughterhouses
also play. Almost no animal eater is coherent to the point of looking at them and assuming
them.
Are the "religions of the book" also responsible for our relation to the living?
Yes, the monotheistic religions have their share of responsibility. But philosophy is no
exception. With a few notable exceptions, the philosophers have completely missed this
question. We still hear so many stereotyped and anguished speeches that cling to the
"proper of man", incapable of thinking the immense challenge that opens today to us. It is
a climax for a discipline whose full meaning is to bring us into questioning ...
Even for the simple survival of our species, would only a minimal vegetarian humanity have
a chance of survival?
It is certain that the meat diet is not only a disaster for the tens of billions of
animals that it decimates every year but also for humanity. The meat industry is more
polluting than the transport industry. One kilogram of beef requires 10,000 liters of
water. Concretely, eating meat is, in effect, a choice of an elitist mode of being, which,
irrespective of the immense ethical problems, can not be generalized to all humans. So
it's highly anti-social behavior. It is undeniable that an evolution towards vegetarianism
and veganism is also a political gesture in the most "human" sense of the term, necessary
for any thought claiming to be left-wing.
"I am sometimes really disappointed by the fact that many of us assume to be radical
militants without thinking about the food we put into our bodies.[...]Usually, I do not
mention that I am vegan.[...]This is the right time to talk about it because it is one of
the components of the revolutionary perspective, "said Angela Davis. What do you think?
Beautiful Angela Davis! When I was a teenager, it was necessary to specify, when one
declared himself a vegetarian, that it was "medical", under penalty of appearing like a
madman. Those who defend the rights of Blacks and women were thus considered in the not so
distant past. I am glad that this concern can finally be claimed without becoming
marginalized. In some quarters the trend is reversed. At the CNRS canteen, where I have
lunch, I sometimes feel a little embarrassment in those who feed on dead animals. I will
never venture to blame them explicitly: there is no question of being moralizing or giving
lessons (and for good reason, I am far from being exemplary), but this change of side of
the Possibility of a "shame" is meaningful. It is essential to see that fighting for
animals is never opposed to social struggles for humanity. To try to oppose them is
another ruse of the repressive system that we are fighting.
Interview by Nico (AL Moselle)
[1]"Animal welfare is a pernicious notion", AL No. 268, January 2017.
http://www.alternativelibertaire.org/?Bien-etre-animal-L-empathie-est
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Message: 3
When you think of the university you imagine a place of safe thought exchange that is open
to different schools of thought, traditions and cultures. Students and workers of the
university create a community united beyond their nationality, the social-economic status
or their religion. The university has taken part in international student and scholar
exchange programmes for many years, as well as it has facilitated internships,
scholarships and conferences organized by various academic institutions in the world.
Current Minister of Science and Higher Education Jaroslaw Gowin even spoke of forcing
mobility upon dormitories "in the sense of mobility between universities". The university
derives many profits (both intellectual and material) from being part of the international
academic community.
That is why should the struggle against nationalism should be one of the main goals of the
university! And the voice of the university authorities should be exceptionally audible
and sharp when it comes to nationalistic or racist attacks!
The growth of nationalism hurts the academic community as a whole. More and more often we
hear about religious and nationalistic attacks. Foreign students are scared to leave their
dormitories and lecturers have been attacked for using foreign languages in public space.
Members of a nationalist organization (Mlodziez Wszechpolska) organized a conference at
the university campus, where they threatened both students and the staff. They were
referring to the ethos and the academic values, while their organization was responsible
for introducing the so-called "bench ghettos" at Polish universities, a phenomenon during
the 1930's when members of ethnic minorities, especially Jews, were supposed to sit in
isolated places in classrooms. It is them, the members of that nationalist organization,
who attack our schoolmates only because they look different. They want to build a society
where diversity and freedom of thought is not welcome.
Racism and nationalism is the real threat for the university and its values! We express
our opposition to the passivity that the growing wave of nationalistic and racist
aggression has been met with! We are against giving voice to the members of nationalist
organizations in public space! We are calling everyone to fight with all symptoms of
nationalist and religious aggression!
We want to study in safety, we want to develop science, to create in a friendly atmosphere
and to live in a city/country free from nationalism!
http://www.rozbrat.org
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Message: 4
In the midst of gorging themselves through exploitation and corruption, competing factions
of the flabby ruling class in South Africa (the ruling class being capitalists,
politicians and top state officials) have once again stepped into the ring to take pieces
out of one another. ---- In the one corner of the fight is the Zuma faction - comprised of
sections of Black Economic Empowerment (BEE) capitalists, top state officials, and
politicians aligned to Zuma - while in the other corner is the Ramaphosa/Gordhan faction -
comprised of sections of the ANC leadership such as Ramaphosa and Gordhan, white capital
and the South African Communist Party (SACP). These factions have recently been standing
toe to toe exchanging blows and in the process, metaphorical blood has been spilled: those
of a few Cabinet Ministers, including Pravin Gordhan.
Of course the working class (workers and the unemployed) have been relegated to ringside
spectators. As with all boxing spectators, the fighting factions are attempting to vie for
their support; while ensuring such working class spectators stay well out of the ring
side-lined to standing room only. The question though is: does this battle within the
ruling class in South Africa offer anything to the workers and the unemployed of the country?
Before answering that question, let's recap on some of the latest actions that have
occurred in the spectacle of elite infighting. The latest exchange of blows began when
news broke that President Zuma intended to imminently fire Pravin Gordhan. In fact, Zuma
told the Executive of the African National Congress (ANC) that relations between himself
and Gordhan had become untenable and that his only choice was to send the Finance Minister
packing. Bam...things were underway. This was soon followed with a left hook by Zuma when
he recalled the Minister of Finance (and all that is apparently holy) from a schmoozing
trip to attract foreign investment to the country, in preparation to sack him. The Zuma
faction was reigning blows on its opponents.
It soon, however, became clear that the Zuma faction was not going to score an early
knock-out. The Ramaphosa/Gordhan faction was going to make a fight of it. Almost on cue,
sections of the ANC opposed to Zuma - including ex-President Motlanthe - fired back, using
the funeral of Ahmed Kathrada to lambast the President's latest actions. As part of this,
Gordhan was endlessly praised by speakers and received a standing ovation from the
majority who attended.
Soon the real heavyweights, white capital, stepped into the fight to back their faction
and their men, Ramaphosa and Gordhan. This saw sections of white capital firing their own
one-two at Zuma. The Banking Association and the Chamber of Mines bluntly stated that the
Presidents' renewed bid to rid himself and his cronies of Gordhan was dangerous and would
have consequences. Sighting the fall of the Rand, they noted that Zuma's actions were once
again undermining the Treasuries' bid to placate investors (read here: speculators) over
their concerns about state ‘capture'.
The self-appointed vanguard, the SACP, also came out swinging for its faction. It stated
that should Gordhan be axed, its members in the Cabinet would resign. In this fight the
SACP appears to be a lightweight because at the time of writing, the SACP seems to have
frozen - probably to protect their high salaries - as they have yet to carry out this
threat to resign. Its political underling, the Congress of South African Trade Unions (the
ailing old corner man whose body is in terminal decline), managed to screech from the
corner and also threaten Zuma with dire consequences should he make Gordhan ‘redundant'
and thereby open further avenues for looting state sources.
So the fight between one section of the ruling class - represented by Zuma - and the other
- represented by Ramaphosa/Gordhan - is well and truly on.
In this rumble, it is patently obvious that Zuma and his faction are rotten. They have
been involved in one corrupt deal after another, and have been brazen when caught out.
Zuma's endless giggling over Nkandla is the tip of the iceberg. Over and above this,
however, they have also supported and imposed neoliberal policies on the working class in
South Africa. Hence, it is clear they offer nothing to the working class (workers and the
unemployed).
But does the other faction, the Ramaphosa/Gordhan faction offer the working class
anything? One brief glance at the history of some of those in the faction provides a clear
answer.
When one looks at the figurehead of the faction, Ramaphosa, one finds endless dirt.
Ramaphosa was the BEE man of choice for sections of white capital after apartheid fell.
Suddenly the ex-trade unionist became a billionaire overnight. To be sure, white capital
was not buying Ramaphosa's business acumen when they provided him shares and board
positions on and in their companies; they were buying the influence he had in the ANC and
the state in order to further their own capital accumulation. By 2012, Ramaphosa came to
have his hands in many pies, in partnership with white and foreign capital. When one of
the companies he owned shares in, Lonmin, experienced a wildcat strike at Marikana he made
a few phone calls to Ministers and top officials in the police and 34 mine workers were
shot dead to end the strike.
Then there is Ramaphosa's political partner Pravin. Year after year, he has been at the
head of drawing up one neoliberal budget after another. The consequences have been
devastating. Class and race inequalities have continued to grow, with the black working
class being the hardest hit. It was also Gordhan who recently dismissed calls for ABSA
bank to pay back a corrupt bailout it received from the state during the dying days of
apartheid. Gordhan is the prize fighter of established capital in South Africa.
Of course, the majority of white capital are part and parcel of the Ramaphosa/Gordhan
faction. To say the least they have a dismal record. Corruption during the apartheid
period was central to their operations. Banks belonging to the Banking Association were
essential to sanctions busting during apartheid. As for the Chamber of Mines, the wealth
of its members comes from the extreme exploitation of black workers - workers that were
forced into working on the mines through the colonial states' conquest of land and
imposition of the hut and poll taxes. Forced to work in appalling conditions, over 54 000
mine workers have died in workplace accidents in companies that form the Chamber of Mines
since 1904 (when records on accidents first began to be kept) - which is more deaths than
the US suffered during the Vietnam War. Mining companies in South Africa literally have
blood on their hands.
The practices of white capital today continue to be as bad as in the apartheid days. For
example, major banks were recently caught out colluding to fix the Rand in order to make
billions; while mining houses continue to exploit black migrant labour to generate huge
profits and then use transfer pricing to whisk the money out of the country.
Then there is the ‘vanguard' in the form of the SACP - also part and parcel of the
Ramaphosa/Gordhan faction. It bemoans state capture and corruption, yet it is mired in
corruption and nepotism itself. Top SACP members pack the echelons of the state; many not
because of their skills and talents; but because of political connections. The SACP - self
avowed anti-capitalists - also have their own investment arm, which too has shares in
mining companies. When the SACP head, Blade Nzimande, became Minister of Higher Education,
it cannot be an accident that an education institute that is partly owned by the SACP's
investment arm received funding of over R 200 million from a Skills Education Training
Authority ultimately controlled by the Minister.
Given the corruption and exploitation associated with those in the Ramaphosa/Gordhan
faction, it is also clear that this faction offers nothing to workers and the poor. In
fact, like the Zuma faction, it has used the working class as a punch bag. Instead of
backing one faction of the ruling class over another; the working class (and the black
section in particular) rather needs to step into the ring as an independent force to fight
against class rule, capitalism and its state. It is class rule, capitalism and the state
that generates exploitation and corruption - the ruling class's actions in South Africa
are simply symptoms of the rotten system, even those of the Zuma faction.
Capitalism was born of exploitation, brutality and corruption. It was built on slave
labour in the Americas and parts of Asia. In Africa it was built on genocide and conquest.
Even in Europe, it was founded on disposition of the land, denying poor people a living
and forcing them to work for a pittance in the mines and factories of Europe. Child labour
formed part of the horrors of capitalism on that continent too. From the start,
capitalism's foundations were brutal and corrupt - much like how professional boxing is
run. It remains so today: workers remain exploited; labour is still abused in most parts
of the world; imperialism is rife; inequality is at its highest in history; millions of
people starve because of the profit motives of food companies; billions of people are now
redundant to the system and are mired in unemployment; and most people because of the
profit motive in housing live in slums. While the warring ruling class factions duke it
out in the ring, the working class is relegated to spectator status in the standing seats
only.
Likewise states too have only existed to enforce the rule of an elite minority over a
majority. Like in a rigged fight, the state is always against the working class. In fact,
states are central to minority class rule; and ruling classes have always used them to
accumulate wealth. In South Africa this is particularly stark as a black elite relies on
the state and connections to it for its wealth - despite BEE, white capital still largely
owns a majority of businesses; hence the state is central to an ANC elites' wealth. States
and corruption, therefore, go hand in hand. Even the so-called historical bastion of a
‘clean' state, West Germany, was mired in corruption - one of the largest ever corrupt
deals involved West German politicians and officials being bribed to buy flawed
Starfighter jets.
The reality is that the Zuma faction and the Ramaphosa/Gordhan faction offer nothing to
the working class - both are vile and are fighting in the ring solely for their own
paydays. Yet both too are symptoms of history and symptoms of class rule, capitalism and
the state; including the forms these took in South Africa. If the working class wants to
fight corruption; rather than relying on intra elite battles to do so; workers and the
unemployed should fight the system that has led us into the situation we are in. It is the
rotten system itself that needs to receive a knockout blow and only the working class can
deliver that.
https://zabalaza.net/2017/03/31/a-south-african-ruling-class-brawl/#more-5249
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Message: 5
Main bridge in Dublin blocked for two hours ---- International Womens Day in Ireland saw
thousands take to the streets in a sequence of 'in work time' protests under the heading
'Strike4Repeal'. Abortion is illegal in almost all circumstances and the protests were an
attempt by pro-choice activists to forced the government to stop delaying a referendum to
repeal the anti-choice 8th Amendment placed in the Irish constitution in 1983. Workers
Solidarity Movement members took part in organising the day and in the aftermath produced
a number of articles and videos detailing what happened. ---- Dublin's main bridge was
occupied ---- In January WSM explained that the demand was 'A referendum on the 8th or
#strike4repeal on March 8th' explaining that "The newly formed group, Strike for Repeal,
are preparing to ‘strike' if a date is not set for a referendum to repeal he 8th Amendment
by International Women's day on March 8th. In a press release the group has said "The
strike will not be an industrial strike in the traditional sense but could include taking
an annual leave day off work, refraining from domestic work for the day, wearing black in
solidarity or staging a walkout during your lunch break. We also encourage any business
owners in a position to close their services at no cost to workers, to do so for all or
part of the day as a solidarity action."
In the context of the farcical attempt of the government to delay any efforts to Repeal
the 8th through the Citizens Assembly a strike should certainly cause concern for our
anti-women TD's. The strike is the greatest source of leveraging power that workers have;
as workers we are exploited, as women workers we are exploited further. A gendered pay gap
of 20% currently exists in Ireland, meaning that for every euro a man makes a women earns
80 cent. Outside of the workplace women still do the majority of the house and care work.
This work is unrecognised, often termed an invisible form of work and it means women are
working a double shift for the wage of one.
The 8th Amendment is barbaric, forcing 9 people a day to travel for an abortion, countless
more taking illegal pills at home, one women given a forced c-section at 24 weeks, another
who was brain dead being kept on a life support machine despite her families wishes
because she was pregnant, and resulting in the deaths of Bimbo Onanuga and Savita
Halappanavar. It is a tool used by the state to control women and pregnant people; to
force either pregnancy or exilt upon them. Having control of our reproductive systems,
choosing if and when we have children is fundamental to our freedom. Having control over
our bodies is essential to gaining control over our lives, not having them dictated to us
by bosses or politicians.
We spelled the situation in Ireland out in more detail a few days beforehand in '8 reasons
to Strike for Repeal this 8th March
1. World-Class Tyranny
Ireland has one of the most restrictive abortion laws in the world more so than places
like Syria and Afghanistan. Only Malta is more restrictive within the EU.
2. Democracy & Equality
No woman of child-bearing age has been allowed to have a say in her reproductive
rights.The last vote was in 1983. This country claims to be democratic yet denies women
basic medical services and control of their bodies. In the Irish law a woman's life is
equal to the foetus. This is not equality.
3. Exile
Up to 12 women a day travel abroad for an abortion but not every woman can travel. Migrant
women and asylum seekers, women with disabilities, minors and predominantly working-class
women are discriminated against here. The abortion ban only increases class divides and
helps to perpetuate the cycle of poverty.
4. Abortion Pills
The other option is to use abortion pills but it is illegal to obtain them, and
increasingly pills are being seized by customs, women who take them are at risk of being
reported to the police if they have complications or need follow up care.
5. Trans, Non-Binary, & Intersex people
Trans-Men, non-binary people and some inter-sex people need access to abortion too. For
some trans men, being forced to carry a pregnancy to term (or at all) is in serious
conflict with their identity as men and can be traumatic as it forces them to do something
with their bodies that feels alien to them. Trans people are invisible in Irish law and
their struggle for bodily autonomy is a part of the struggle for reproductive rights.
6. Rape
If a woman is raped in this country and is caught having an abortion she will do more time
in prison than her rapist. A woman faces a jail sentence of 14 years if she has an
abortion whereas the maximum jail term for rapists is 10 years. Women who are raped are
not entitled to abortions and face the trauma of being blamed for assault by a patriarchal
police which assumes that it's a woman's responsibility not to get raped (i.e. don't wear
the wrong clothes, don't drink too much, don't go out alone, etc.)
7. Fatal Foetal Abnormality
A woman is not allowed to have an abortion in Ireland even in cases of Fatal Foetal
Abnormality. Instead Ireland offers prenatal hospices where women can wait out their
pregnancies as they wait for the foetus to slowly die inside them. Moreover, unless the
pregnancy itself is a direct threat to the mother's life she may not have an abortion and
can be refused treatment for other conditions if it threatens the health of the foetus.
Pregnant women with cancer have been refused both abortion and chemotherapy at a doctor's
prerogative.
8. Cruel and Unusual Punishment
Forcing a woman to carry a pregnancy against her will has been called ‘cruel, inhumane and
degrading' by the UN Committee on Human Rights. Abortion is legal in Ireland only if there
is a high risk of death to the woman. Suicide is grounds for an abortion but the woman has
to be assessed by up to 6 doctors. These doctors have the power to decide if a woman will
be allowed an abortion. These doctors must be HSE approved and this panel only includes 1
psychiatrist. And the Ms.Y case has proven that the ‘protection of life' provision offers
no protection at all to suicidal women.
Ireland has one of the highest rates of migration to other countries in the war;d,
partially for that reason solidarity protests took place in many countries across the
globe. In the days beforehand though there was particular interest in solidarity gestures
from Rojava in the form of a number of images if women there holding #Strike4Repeal
placards. Accompanying an album of photos like this one they say "The revolution here in
Rojava is a women's revolution. From the front lines of the fight against ISIS, to running
the cantons to trade unions that ensure all working women have their voices heard.
International women's day has special significance here, with events and demonstrations
taking place all over the region. We stand with women worldwide in the struggle against
patriarchy, and today we stand with the women of Ireland. We call on the Irish Government
to repeal the 8th amendment and allow women rights over their own bodies! Today news
reporters, trade unionists, HPC (civilian self-defence units) heard about the strike and
stood in solidarity. Today women across Qamishlo support #strike4repeal Strike 4 Repeal"
The day itself started with statues all over the capital, Dublin, being covered and then
rolling pickets of government offices. This built up to a large midday protest when
thousands of people, many dressed in black, occupied the main bridge in the city centre.
Smaller protests took place in cities and towns across Ireland including some in the north
of Ireland - still ruled by England - where abortion is also mostly illegal and where
police have been raiding homes and offices in the search for abortion pills.
You will find detailed coverage of what happened, including several videos, on the WSM
website at http://www.wsm.ie/strike4repeal
Related Link: http://www.wsm.ie/strike4repeal
Solidarity protests took place in many countries
Calculating how many took part in Dublin
Links to pic. and video - http://www.anarkismo.net/article/30126
------------------------------
Message: 6
The arrest on the 11th of March occurred outside the migrant housing squat (Alkiviadou)
which was evicted by the police just two days later. The police still arrested these four
comrades even after they were informed that the group was acting in defence of
neighbourhood squats, thus the arrest was explicitly political. The Police are thus
responsible for making squats more vulnerable to fascist attacks, which is in line with
the state strategy to destroy self-organized migrant housing communities. ---- NGO Control
Over the Detention of Refugees, Migrants, and "Unaccompanied Minors" ---- Non-Governmental
Organizations have been shown to have a dangerous level of control over the autonomy and
freedom of movement of refugees and asylum seekers, especially those who arrived in Greece
as unaccompanied minors. Furthermore, these organizations profit financially from their
control over migrants, even those who have chosen to leave NGO programs in order to find
housing in squats.
At 3:45 AM on Saturday the 11th of March, four anarchists were detained by the Greek
Police, while on a patrol organized by the Assembly for the Self Defence of Squats. The
police did not have cause to pull them over, but did so, made an unjustified search of the
car, and demanded the IDs of all passengers, one of whom was an asylum seeker, aged 17
(whose nationality is not prioritized for acceptance in Greece). This asylum seeker is
legally under the care of the NGO "PRAKSIS", however, he had left their program
consciously and communicated to them that he had found alternative housing. His reason for
leaving this program is that PRAKSIS restricted his general autonomy, especially freedom
of movement, and social/political interactions. Despite the fact that PRAKSIS had been
informed by this individual that he was leaving the program by his own free will,
employees there reported him missing to the police after he left. PRAKSIS requires all
members of their programs to report into a shelter or office every 24 hours, or risk being
reported.
The police took this as an opportunity to detain all four people in the car at police
headquarters for five hours, although information as to the cause of their detention was
not given for several hours. During this time, they were forced to present identification,
their bags were searched, their cell phones were confiscated, and SIM cards removed and
copied. A 500 Euro fine was also issued to the driver of the car over insurance, and the
police revoked his driver's license and registration plates for six months.
The asylum seeker was kept an additional five hours, as the police refused to release him
without the signature of a PRAKSIS employee. The NGO did not send any employee to release
this comrade (who is legally under their care). Instead the other passengers of the car,
after they were released, had to visit three separate PRAKSIS locations before an employee
could be convinced to take this responsibility. The employees who were contacted initially
refused to come as it was a Saturday, and they did not want to take responsibility on
their day off. The employee who eventually arrived still refused to accept that this
asylum seeker had wished to leave PRAKSIS, and threatened to let him remain in custody for
an entire weekend, saying that he would be safer detained by the police then he would be
in a squatting community. Furthermore, they have informed the individual that if he is
detained by the police again (anything from the level of an ID check onward) he will be
forced to spend at least one month in jail, at which point he will be assigned to another
NGO program.
This falls in line with the strategy of the state to control migrants, refugees, and
asylum seekers by treating them as a security threat, with the collaboration of NGOs. On a
previous occasion, the same asylum seeker comrade was detained for 20 days in Larissa.
Although he already had asylum papers, the police held him in custody until he was
assigned to an NGO which would act as his legal "guardians". During this time, he was kept
as a prisoner in a jail cell, was deprived of his cell phone, and the length of his
detention was repeatedly increased (originally he was told he would be released in 2-3
days). He was only given a place in a NGO in Athens (Metadrasi) after another friend
intervened, as the police were not active in taking responsibility to find him housing.
This demonstrates the strategy of the police in dealing with migrants and minors.
Furthermore, NGOs profit from this strategy, which is especially hypocritical. These
organizations' funding depends on the number of participants in their programs, thus they
benefit financially from claiming that a participant is missing, even if they are aware
that a person has found alternative housing. Also, they continue to receive funding for
the care of an individual that is in police custody. In this way, NGOs directly profit off
the very existence of individuals who are housed in squats, and have strong motivation to
report those individuals to the police, further hindering their autonomy.
This is one part of the greater plan to completely privatize the care of refugees and
asylum seekers. The State and the Capitalist (donor) class use NGOs to turn refugees and
asylum seekers into commodities that are traded from organization to organization. NGOs
hide behind the idea of humanitarianism in order to mask the fact that they gain both
financial profit and political control from the refugee crisis. This has been an ongoing
problem, concerning many NGOS in Greece (Metadrasi, Arsis, GCR, PRAKSIS, and many others).
Squats provide a real alternative to privatized humanitarianism, and for this reason they
are demonized by the state. A large migrant housing squat in Athens was evicted during the
same weekend as the detention described here, and two others were evicted in the summer of
2016. This further demonstrates the threat that self-organized communities pose to
capitalist manipulation of refugees and migrants.
The arrest on the 11th of March occurred outside the migrant housing squat (Alkiviadou)
which was evicted by the police just two days later. The police still arrested these four
comrades even after they were informed that the group was acting in defence of
neighbourhood squats, thus the arrest was explicitly political. The Police are thus
responsible for making squats more vulnerable to fascist attacks, which is in line with
the state strategy to destroy self-organized migrant housing communities.
Squats (the real "non-profits") must thus move to combat police violence and the
commodification of vulnerable individuals, both for the protection of migrant communities,
for the better organization of our self-defence structures, and to empower our asylum
seeker comrades to be active in the defence of squats. The Assembly for the Self Defence
of Squats calls all migrants, refugees, and people in solidarity to organize for
resistance against the state, fascists and predatory NGOS.
http://www.anarkismo.net/article/30122
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