Anarchic update news all over the world - 16.09.2018

Today's Topics:

   
1.  US, black rose fed: ELECTIONS, POWER, & THE DSA: THE FAILURE
      OF THE LEFT IN POWER (a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
   
2.  Czech, afed: Summer camp of AF -- Report from an informal
      meeting of anarchists and anarchists in August. [machine
      translation] (a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
   
3.  Britain, freedom news: Shiny objects at the Sparrows' Nest
      (a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
   
4.  Britain, anarchist communist group ACG: Jackdaw #3 -- Save
      our NHS? (a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
   
5.  Greece, vogliamo tutto: DISTRIBUTION of resistance and
      memory for the 5 years since the assassination of P. Fissa,
      Friday 14 September, 18:00, pl. People, Keratsini (gr) [machine
      translation] (a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
   
6.  Ireland, Workers Solidarity Movement: Masked Garda threaten
      housing campaigners with batons as Frederic street evicted by
      masked thugs (a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
   
7.  France, Alternative Libertaire AL #285 - Chiapas /
      Zapatistas: Repairing rather than Closing (fr, it, pt)[machine
      translation] (a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
   
8.  wsm.ie: 3rd building occupied by Take Back the City campaign
      in Dublin (a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)


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Message: 1






Recently It's Going Down podcast interviewed a member of Black Rose/Rosa Negra Anarchist 
Federation, Patrick, on a wide range of topics related to the utility of electoral 
politics for advancing socialist politics and the fight for a new world. Covered are both 
recent and past examples of the left winning power from Kshama Sawant on the Seattle City 
Council to political parties such as Syriza in Greece; arguments around combining both 
organizing with electoral work ("all the tools in the tool box"); related to the DSA; and 
most importantly alternative arguments around social movements as the most effective way 
to win broader reforms and social change.  The interview is the first in a three part 
series. ---- Patrick is resides in the Burlington area of Vermont, which is both the 
hometown of Sen. Bernie Sanders and the former stomping grounds of Murray Bookchin. The 
below text appears from It's Going Down.

Elections, Power, & the DSA: The Failure of the Left in Power

Along with obsession over "ANTIFA," the growth of the Democratic Socialists of America 
(DSA) in the wake of Bernie Sanders' failed Presidential run has garnished mass attention 
in the press, been demonized by the Right, and also embraced by some sections of the 
liberal class as the new shepherds of the Democratic Party.

Meanwhile, the DSA has continued to explode in membership, hitting over 50,000 dues paying 
members in recent weeks. While some DSA backed politicians have become house hold names as 
the DNC aligned media smells blood in the water in the lead up to the midterms, DSA 
chapters have also become a fixture at protests and demonstrations, from fighting against 
the Alt-Right to supporting strikes.

The Growing Power of the DSA
But key questions remains, will the DSA be used, much as Bernie Sanders' campaign was 
used, to activate key sections of millennials and the working poor, and prime them for 
elections? And moreover, when the time is right, will the DSA march them into the waiting 
arms of the Democratic Party machine after months of building excitement over "socialism?"

In many ways, this process is already happening, as Democratic political hopefuls clamor 
for DSA backing in some cities which would mean not only an endorsement, but access to 
grassroots support and willing volunteers.

And those who have been given the DSA stamp of approach have also been very clear about 
what form of socialism they are talking about: not a fundamental rearrangement of the 
relationship between human beings and the means of existence for the benefit of those who 
work for wages or are in misery because they do not have any, but simply a repositioning 
of priorities over what tax dollars are spent on. Perhaps only $500 billion on the 
military next year, and the library can stay open on Friday.

"You can't legislate a melting ice-shelf."
And let us say that the DSA is successful in creating a neo-social democratic current 
within the Democratic Party, will the granting of basic reforms such as universal 
health-care be able to make a dent in the crises that are on the horizon? Which include:

The collapse of world wide eco-systems which produce food and oxygen, the rising of sea 
levels and the proliferation of millions of climate refugees, and an onslaught of chaotic 
weather patterns brought on by resource extraction and fossil fuel consumption. Many 
scientists contend that unless drastic changes are made in the next 10 years, mass 
extinction, including our own, on a potentially global scale, may be unavoidable.
The continued growth of the wealth gap, homelessness, poverty, neo-colonial racial 
configurations, and precarity among the vast majority of the work force as automation 
displaces millions of workers, and the gig economy and tech giants re-define everyday 
life, while gentrification continues to push working people farther and farther away from 
where they work, and farther and farther away from a center of power that they could 
possibly disrupt.
The rise of fascist and right-wing populist currents that will present themselves as a 
tangible, and at times even ecological and anti-capitalist alternatives to neo-liberalism, 
of which the social democrats will become simply the new face of.
The mass proliferation of surveillance and spy technologies coupled with ever increasing 
militarization of the police.
An escalating social crisis fed by declining material conditions but also a growing 
dependence on technology that helps engender a fierce alienation from the rest of society 
coupled with a real desire by those excluded from the modern world to end their own lives 
and those of people around them. This will continue to manifest itself in burgeoning 
suicide rates, mass shootings, and an explosion of mental illness and untreated trauma.
The point in bringing all of these examples up, is that fundamentally there is not an 
electoral strategy that can legislate these things away; coming close to even addressing 
these problems would fundamentally mean creating entirely new forms of life, ways of 
relating to each other, ways of sustaining ourselves, and ways in which day to day 
decisions are made within our lives. As our recent guest on the podcast stated during the 
discussion on Inhabit, "You can't legislate a melting ice-shelf."

But on the other hand, others will point to the variety of programs and social struggles 
that DSA members have gotten involved in, many times, side by side with anarchists and 
autonomists. Some would argue that there are just as many people involved in DSA that are 
interested in direct action, community organizing, and building power from the bottom up, 
as there are those that want to spend most of their energy on electoral politics. Others 
would argue that for many young people wanting to get involved in anti-capitalist 
organizing, the DSA is simply the only game in town.

A Series of Conversations
In the next three podcast episodes, we will explore these tensions, as we talk to people 
both outside and inside the DSA, and discuss the organization with members that see it in 
both a critical light, as well as one of immense potential. This will include:

A conversation featured on this podcast with a member of the Black Rose Anarchist 
Federation, who argues that fundamentally electoralism is a losing strategy, and that even 
on the terrain of fighting simply for concessions form the State and the economy, much 
less trying to re-appropriate our lives, social movements are a better way of fighting the 
rich and powerful than voting for a section of them. We also attack the idea of "fighting 
with both fists," or combining electoral and street movements. Moreover, our guest 
discusses several post-Occupy and socialist politicians in power, from Kshama Sawant on 
the Seattle City Council, to political parties like Syriza, and explains why these 
formations always fail, because politics is all about managing class society, not 
abolishing or bending the fundamental rules which make some destitute and powerless, and 
others with their fingers on the button. Check out our previous interview with someone in 
Black Rose here.

A group discussion with members of the Communist Caucus of the DSA, out of Oakland, 
California. The Communist Caucus are not Marxist-Leninists, but anti-state communists in 
the vein of the Situationist International, the Invisible Committee, and proponents of 
communization theory. The CC was amazing to speak to, because they originally joined the 
DSA in the hopes that it would attract a larger barrage of people that wanted to organized 
and get involved, and instead what they found was by and large another group that simply 
canvassed for policy changes or local politicians. In response, they have launched a 
direct action oriented housing organization named TANC (Tenant and Neighborhood Councils), 
but continued to push from within DSA against the electoral drift towards the Democrats. 
This episode will be released next week.

Finally, we present a conversation with two individuals who are part of the Libertarian 
Socialist Caucus of the DSA, or the LSC, which according to the folks we talked to, is the 
largest caucus within the DSA and currently has over 500 members and includes a growing 
army of locals. The LSC sees itself as the "big tent within the big tent," meaning that 
they are open to all non-electoral or anti-authoritarian socialists, anarchists, and 
communitarians. Moreover, while they are critical of elections, they instead seem more 
interested in focusing on building grassroots campaigns, infrastructure, and community 
organizing projects, rather than trying to create a split within the DSA over 
electoralism. They argue that unlike many anarchist groups and projects which are closed 
off and hard to find, DSA is wide open for anyone, and it makes sense for 
anti-authoritarians, anarchists, and autonomous anti-capitalists to build a home inside of 
it. This episode will also be released next week.
The Path Ahead
Will the DSA simply be used as the socialist lipstick placed on the Democratic Party pig? 
Will we soon be facing down riot police in the streets, under the orders of "socialist" 
politicians? Or, will the DSA eventually fracture and split around tensions of 
electoralism and their relationship to the Democrats themselves? Moreover, should we push 
to hasten this split, bringing over those that seek to build from the bottom up into our 
own movement? On the other hand, what of those that argue that instead we should fight 
from within the organization now, as anarchists and anti-authoritarians already have a 
foothold inside the DSA.

We're excited to hear what you think!

http://blackrosefed.org/elections-power-dsa-left-in-power/

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Message: 2






For some time, the Anarchist Federation (AF) sessions have reminded us that there is also 
a need to organize internal meetings that are not meant to address organizational issues, 
but rather to deepen mutual relations. We are aware of the need to get to know each other, 
not only within the federation but also outside of it, with our sympathizers and people 
who are ideologically or humanly close to us. We recognize the importance of passing on 
experience and skills or conducting non-binding discussions on various topics that can 
later become the basis for our further decision-making and direction. ---- And so, at this 
year's spring session of the initiative, our Pilsen AF group seized the organization of 
such an informal meeting. Inspired by an anarchist camp, which we had participated in two 
years ago in Austria, we decided to give this event a campfire and put it a bit out of 
civilization. After a survey of who has time, we finally opted for the deadline from 
Friday 24th to Tuesday 28th August. We did not have to think over the place for long 
because we have already had an offer of our friends who are implementing a community 
housing project in the West of Bohemia and have a suitable plot next to their house, de 
facto in the middle of forests.

Preparations were to begin much earlier. In particular, it was necessary to arrange 
equipment that would meet the basic needs of the participants. Probably the biggest 
challenge was the construction of a four-seater, covered by a latrine. Several people 
joined the summer brigades. The last additions were at the beginning of the camp so that 
everything was ready on Saturday at noon. At that time, a washroom was also prepared, a 
tents room, or a large tent, half of which formed the background of the kitchen with a gas 
stove. The garden shower, which was not the hottest on the first cold summer weekend, was 
also available. These preparations were a great opportunity to acquire many practical 
skills and try different types of tools from the circular saw to the chain saw.

The meeting was not public, so we invited, in addition to members and members of the AF, 
mainly activists from West Bohemian groups Food not Bombs (FNB). In addition, this was the 
first such event we organized, and we did not want to over-estimate it at the beginning. 
It was nothing big, there were twenty-two people here. A large part of them arrived on 
Saturday afternoon because they had previously been supported by the Pilsen Pride 2018 , 
the Pilsen LGBTQ rights action.

Upon arrival, everyone was acquainted with the basic rules that were based on the wishes 
of local settlers, namely, not to cheat a dog, even if he would do his dog's eyes and not 
leave anywhere. Since the vast majority of participants had experience from other meetings 
and collective events, there was little need to address other rules. If a problem arises, 
he would deal with the plenary. This usually took place twice a day, after breakfast and 
after lunch.

As early as the first plenum, an overview of the costs, especially for the kitchen and 
refreshments, was introduced, the recommended allowance was one hundred per day. Of 
course, as always, the rule is that whoever can contribute more, does not hesitate, and 
who is without means or does not have to spare it, does not have to pay at all or just the 
amount according to his possibilities. Another source was beer, mineral water and lemonade 
at prices with a benefit. Free coffee was available from Brazilian coffee or maté. The 
catering costs were eventually richly covered, surplus plus benefit from beverages went to 
partially cover the costs associated with the construction of the facilities.

The camp program was not set in advance. It was already said in the invitation that it 
will be what we will do and who will contribute. So at the plenary everyone first told 
what he could offer in the program, and then everyone had the chance to say what he wanted 
in the informal meeting. The list of offers and demands for specific activities, along 
with the long delay of the meeting, eventually gave the final form of the program, which 
was further specified during the morning and afternoon plenary sessions. They also dealt 
with what was going to be cooked and who was going to take care of it. Other operating 
activities, such as dishwashing, wood delivery, etc., did not need to be solved because he 
always found himself with enough hands without having to talk about the things in question.

Since, in our opinion, it should be the rule that the host site is not only to "consume", 
but also to contribute to it, we have declared the task of cracking the prepared piles of 
wood. Even though the stack did not manage to crush the whole, we moved with it.

So what was finally on the agenda? Interesting and very pleasant was the walk around the 
mining history of the area later supplemented by the projection of local speleological 
attractions. There was, of course, a debate about anarchist camps and the communication of 
the impressions and experiences of the foreign ones. We got an overview of the activist 
events in Brno about current events in the Autonomous Social Center of the Clinic with an 
invitation to a benefit concert with the participation of the Bratislava band Rozpor. In 
connection with this topic, there was a commitment to revive the dying anarchist 
publications at the Clinic. The locals showed us his project of cohabitation, its history, 
from idea to implementation intentions with which the project entered, an overview of 
adjustments and corrections that have made and which is still waiting for financing 
method, future plans, addressing operational costs, and mutual communication, form of 
regular plumes. In the ensuing discussion we talked about the possibilities of connection 
with other similar projects, arrangement of visits and stays, sharing tools to resolve 
conflicts in a common housing, both in general and in specific situations. In the next 
part there was a commented tour of the house.

One of the participants of the first meeting of the Black and Red Scouts, held on the same 
weekend, reported on Monday their meeting and the intentions and meaning of the Black and 
Red Boy Scouts. Then there was a debate about the involvement of children and adults or 
experiences with anarchist summer camps for children. Furthermore, anti-fascism and its 
changes were discussed, given the penetration of the ultra-rule agenda into the 
mainstream. And Monday evening, listeners could listen to the stories of visiting Athens 
where a meeting of representatives of the Anarchist International (IFA) and anarchy 
festival took place in the summer.

But we also found time to discuss organizational and labor affairs of the AF. Regarding 
the Anarchist Revue of Existence, it was agreed that this year and the next year will be 
composed of only two numbers, winter and summer. At the same time, we have confirmed that 
in 2019 the themes of the Existence of the 25th Anniversary of the Zapatista Rebellion and 
"Haus Project" will be covered . Then we solved our involvement as part of the upcoming 
DIY carnival, and finally we put together the tasks involved in preparing the next IFA 
delegate delegates' meeting.

But to make sure it did not just sound, there were various workshops on the program. And 
so we hung on the tree during a sweetening course with a bucket and squeezing, tasted 
domestic tuna wine during the preparation of fruit wines or froze at a confectionery 
workshop that started with apple tearing and ended with the consumption of apple beer 
doughs. Each one then drove home.

All this is interwoven with reproduced music, feeding hens, gardening, evening campfire 
and one night walk. We did not neglect to rest. There was a freshly printed Existence , 
which often served as a read while sitting in an armchair during afternoon siesta. In 
addition, after the return of the participants, it was able to expand into different 
corners and distribution points.

The informal meeting has undoubtedly fulfilled its purpose, and we just hope we will meet 
again soon.

https://www.afed.cz/text/6874/letni-tabor-af

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Message: 3






This is the first of a possible infrequent series charting the work of the Sparrows' Nest, 
an anarchist archive based in Nottingham which has built one of the best libraries of 
libertarian writing in Britain. ---- Here at the Sparrows' Nest we host an extensive 
library of books and look after large collections of documents and other objects recording 
the history of the anarchist movement and local working class struggles. We collect, 
preserve, catalogue and make these documents accessible to further an understanding of 
struggles past and to aid in those still being fought. ---- One important aspect of our 
work is the digitisation of records as we are well aware that private and academic 
research is usually best undertaken: ---- Whenever you feel like it ---- In the comfort of 
wherever you like to hang out, ---- Whilst slurping your beverage of choice and
Quite possibly whilst wearing your sleeping garments.
Therefore we have built up a sizeable Digital Library of (almost exclusively) good to high 
resolution pdf documents, (mostly) featuring OCR (please note that OCR is good enough to 
help you cut down your workload when extracting a lengthy quote, but not yet good enough 
to search the documents).

Last month we were lucky in being given access to an excellent A3 scanner, allowing us to 
digitise proper newspapers (i.e. stuff larger than A4!). This is something we dabbled in 
before, but back then we did not have access to kit that made this truly practical, having 
had to use a DIY concoction that was way too phaffy to be viable.

Therefore we were much exited by finally getting our hands on some fancy scanning gear. 
After digitising a pile of materials (Libertarian Struggleetc.) that had been requested by 
a visitor (we like to be user-led in our work, so please feel free to email us your wish 
list!), we tackled a box of issues of Direct Action from the 1980s. That fitted in well 
with other recent digitisation projects, namely scanning a lot of Direct Action issues 
from the late 1940s to the 1960s. Direct Action has for many decades been the title of the 
respective flagship publications of prominent anarcho-syndicalist groups in the UK, 
beginning with the work of the Anarchist Federation of Britain (AFB see e.g. this issue 
from Sep 1948), which later became the Syndicalist Workers' Organisation (SWF).

In the 1950s Direct Action was at times called World Labour News (see e.g. Vol:05 #01/31), 
but throughout the period reported on issues such as solidarity with anti-fascists in 
Spain, intervening in labour disputes (especially those in which workers had to fight both 
bosses and trade unions), and issues of the day, often related to the Cold War (see e.g. 
Vol:05 #08/38 or Vol:06 #04/46). We are very lucky that we also hold a wonderful 
collection of correspondence from the AFB/SWF between the 1940s and the 1960s, allowing us 
fascinating glimpses behind the scenes of the newspaper (but more on that maybe another time).

The latest stash of digitised documents originate from the period when the SWF had ceased 
to be, and the Direct Action Movement (DAM) had become the most prominent 
anarcho-syndicalist organisation. Documenting some of the fiercest struggles of the 
British Working Classes in latter half of the twentieth century, these newly digitised 
issues of Direct Action were produced during the years of the Thatcher Regime, documenting 
for instance the Miners' Struggle of 1984-85 (see e.g. #20 from Nov 1984).

These days the Solidarity Federation (SolFed) is the most notable active 
anarcho-syndicalist organisation in the UK, continuing the tradition of AFB, SWF, DAM and 
many others. Being able to look back at issues of Direct Action from almost half a century 
is fascinating. These documents offer many opportunities to further our understanding of 
the history of British syndicalism and of course, are a resource offering accounts of 
those who fought in struggles past, allowing those fighting in the here and now to learn 
from their successes and their failures. Please note that at present our digital 
collection of Direct Action is nowhere near complete, as many more issues in our 
collections still await digitisation.

You can access our Digital Library via our website, either by looking for the posts 
announcing additions to the Digital Library or simply by utilising the search window at 
the top of the page. As always, all our work is accessible for free, but if you are able 
to support our work, please do consider making a donation. At present purchase of our own 
A3 printer is very high on our list (we will need to give back the one we have at the 
moment eventually!), and if you are able to support us trying to raise the necessary funds 
that would be very much appreciated.

You can contact us anytime (preferably by email), and/or visit us here in Nottingham, 
either during our regular opening hours (at the moment every Thursday, 11am-2pm) or by 
appointment. If you wish to join our (low traffic) mailing list to be kept in the loop 
about new additions to the Digital Library, events at the Nest, etc., please email us.

Further info

thesparrowsnest.org.uk

twitter.com/SparrowsNestLib

info@thesparrowsnest.org.uk

+44 (0)7388417325

https://freedomnews.org.uk/shiny-objects-at-the-sparrows-nest/

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Message: 4






We must fight health cuts, critically: the NHS - never ‘ours', is far from perfect. Set up 
after the Second World War to ensure healthy workers (to fight the bosses wars, slave for 
their profits, do vital but unpaid childcare and housework). ---- Illness is treated 
individually, but ill health is mostly caused by economic and social conditions we 
experience collectively:  dangerous workplaces, overlong hours, factory and car pollution, 
poor food, unhealthy housing, lack of trees and greenspaces, plus racism and sexism for 
many. In the 1960s and 70s women fought against inequality and dehumanising treatment. 
They won improvements, e.g. improved contraception, but a community health service remains 
distant.
The Tories health cuts continue with closures of hospitals, casualty departments, 
rationing of services by age, cuts to services for the disabled, to underpaid and 
overworked staff etc. Running healthcare for profit is contradictory (treatment based on 
ability to pay, not need), and only benefits the ‘haves' who can always pay, and the drug 
companies and other corporate vultures who are cannibalising the health service (e.g. 
Virgin, given nearly £2 billion of contracts since 2013). We don't want ‘Choice':  we need 
local services, all both accessible and good.

NHS Crisis: Who Is To Blame?

What is causing the NHS crisis (and) ‘lack of money'? Bed-blocking by old people? Obesity, 
smoking and alcohol abuse amongst the poor? Migrant workers and health tourists? The 
rising cost of the NHS, due to an ageing population, making it ‘no longer affordable'?

NONE OF THE ABOVE!

The Tories' policies are privatisation-by-stealth. All the parties are responsible 
however: the Lib-Dems (in Coalition government). New Labour used the PFI (Private Finance 
Intiative) to build schools, hospitals etc with mortgage finance from the private sector 
(banks etc) who leased them back at a much higher cost (40% more). Old hospitals were 
closed, cutting bed numbers. Labour also introduced ‘the internal market' and Foundation 
Trusts into the Health Service. NHS was left with debts of £81.6 billion, these with cuts, 
are the cause of the crisis.

What Do We Want, How To Get There?

We need to stop cuts, and to create a community health service.

How is crucial: using the old tired methods (petitions, trade unions, political parties 
etc), we will lose, and remain powerless and divided. We need methods and organisation 
that empower us: to organise ourselves, without leaders; and use direct action: 
occupations, work-ins, strikes, work to rule etc. To break down the barriers between staff 
and patients (e.g. ignoring prohibition of joint protests), carers and service-users, 
workers and unemployed, to link our struggles. We can empower ourselves through 
self-education in groups e.g. about our bodies and health, as in the Womens' Movement; 
through communities tackling the causes of illhealth collectively e.g. fighting fracking 
plans; growing and/buying healthier food together in allotments and co-ops etc.

What do we want? - A free health service controlled and run by the staff and users together.

Pie-in-the-sky? No, we learn from struggles here and abroad. In Greece, massive health 
cuts have resulted in healthworkers running hospitals and clinics etc for free, with the 
support of their local communities.

Article from Jackdaw 3 
https://www.anarchistcommunism.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/Jackdaw-Issue-3-RGB.pdf

https://www.anarchistcommunism.org/2018/09/11/save-our-nhs-2/

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Message: 5





Paul Fiesta lives-Crush fascism and the system that gives birth to him ---- 5 years since 
the assassination of anti-fascist P. Fyssa on 18 September 2013 by a new-born battalion of 
Golden Dawn and fascist G. Roupakia. ---- Fascism is an integral part of the pylon 
composed of rulers and "democratic bows", judges, cops. He works as the most loyal servant 
of capitalboth in the Parliament (8-hour abolition, measures in favor of shipowners ...) 
and on the roads (strike mechanisms, employers' unions ...). It is an indispensable tool 
of power against "intruders" (attacks on roofs, immigrants, anyone who does not fit into 
their obsession). It is the long hand of repression and the inter-state mechanism that 
every state Leviathan needs to terrorize, control and neutralize those who challenge the 
sedentary class (attacks on social struggles, fighters). The fascists are genuine 
representatives of the hypocritical bourgeois-democratic regime (they sell "humanized" 
humanity to channels in the midst of a disaster, while members plunder in the burnt).

Fascism has been the great winner of nationalist rallies , which functioned as a symphony 
orchestra. The mob-patriot of patriotic voters, spraying, Christian-ltalan, macedonian, 
and apolitical fanatics mastered the nationalist crescendo and the strike line, the first 
violins, the golden dawn neo-nazis, the hooligans fascists who acted on the backs of the cops.

The issue of the name of the neighboring country reopened to serve the economic, military 
and political interests of the sovereigns (enlargement of the EU and NATO, the views of 
the states of the region and the Greek capital). At the moment when there is a whirlwind 
blowing for the far right in the western world and within a global landscape of wars, 
economic and military interventions, enormous migratory flows and continual sharpening of 
intra-corporal antagonisms to redistribute world control and hegemony.

The dilemma posed is: either with power or with the racing and subversive part of society. 
Because the enemy is not national, it is class. That is why our struggle is against their 
state, capital and their fascist reserves. It also passes through the degradation of the 
patriotic feather, as well as the constant claim of the urban space, where we have to 
challenge our speech, to stop with our actions and to isolate all sorts of fascists.Our 
struggle is against the exploitation and oppression of man by man, for a world of 
equality, solidarity, justice and freedom. Our struggle is internationalist, against 
dividing people, against homelands and borders, against nationalism and intolerance.

Communities of struggle between natives and immigrants against nationalism, fascism, 
intolerance and war, for the overthrow of state and capitalist barbarity, for the social 
revolution, for anarchy and communism.

DISTRIBUTION of resistance and memory for the 5 years since the assassination of P. Fissa

Friday 14 September, 6 pm, pl. People, Keratsini

https://vogliamotutto.espivblogs.net/2018/09/11/fyssas-2018-vt/

------------------------------

Message: 6








Masked Garda threatening people with batons in the aftermath of the violent eviction 
carried out by thugs in Dublin last night. Pepper spray, dogs and batons were deployed, 
there were 5 or 6 arrests and four housing campaigners required hosptial visits from 
injuries received in the course of the eviction of the Frederick St occupation.[Video] 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BaBTdaWv3Ro ---- The occupation was suddenly attacked by a 
gang of masked men who arrived in a van with no front registration plates, insurance or 
any other identifying details apart from a back plate which showed a UK registration 
plate. They smashed their way into the house using sledgehammers and industrial cutters. 
One housing activist who was outside and attempted to question them was thrown down the 
stairs and then arrested by the Garda.

Take Back The City - Dublin say "Gardai subsequently used force and pepper spray against 
peaceful protesters across the road" - our footage from about 20 minutes after the 
eviction shows masked Garda threatening people protesting the eviction.

The house that was occupied has been left empty for between 3 and 5 years and often had 
homeless people sleeping on the doorstep. Despite this, an injuction was rapidly granted 
against the occupation and when the occupiers resolved to stay in place we saw the 
violence of last night's eviction.

It's less that 1km from The Bolt which was evicted in 2015 and remains boarded up to this 
day. It's 200m from The Barricade Inn which was also evicted in 2015 and also remains 
empty to this day. It's less that 1km from the Debtors' Prison which was evicted in 2015 
and remains empty to this day.

Tens of thousands of buildings are left empty around Dublin, many of which could quickly 
be turned into accommodation for people. In other cities in Europe buildings being left 
abandoned was countered by the introduction of protection for squatters, allowing tens of 
thousands to house themselves. In Ireland they violently evict people who occupy buildings 
that have been left vacant for years, sometimes for decades.
---
This footage is from the livestream we broadcast during the eviction to this page, check 
the page for the full footage.

Read this local residents account of the way she was treated by the Garda "When I asked 
him why he was wearing a balaclava he told me I had no right to ask that and to, I quote 
"fuck off ye stupid bitch". He then grabbed my phone and put his hands on me. After I said 
he had absolutely no right to do so and he said he did. He then said "Ok, you are going to 
get arrested."
To be clear, this is on my lane way, where I live and I was asking a question."

https://wsm.ie/c/masked-garda-evict-frederic-occupation

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Message: 7






To find another way to do justice, perhaps we need to turn to Chiapas, Mexico. The 
principles of Zapatista autonomy have revolutionized justice as a form of restorative 
dialogue at the service of the community, in which all its members participate. ---- A 
fresco on the building of the " council of good governance " of the region (caracol) of 
Morelia, Chiapas. ---- Experimenting with an entirely different form of justice is one of 
the dimensions of the construction of Zapatista autonomy. Let us recall that this 
experience has been spreading for a quarter of a century in Chiapas, southern Mexico, on a 
territory whose extension is comparable to that of a French region - and this, in a 
complete dissociation vis-à-vis - the institutions of the Mexican state and seeking to 
preserve as much capitalist logics as possible. For the Zapatistas, autonomy is 
indissociably the implementation of a popular self-government and the permanent 
reinvention of self-determined forms of life.

Autonomy articulates three scales of organization, with for each of the assemblies and 
elected bodies: the villages ; the 27 communes ; the 5 regions (prisons with their " good 
governance councils "). Justice is exercised by the elected authorities, by rotation, at 
the three levels of autonomy.

No crime, no punishment, no prison
In addition to being completely free and free of corruption, autonomous justice is 
profoundly different from constitutional justice. It is a mediation justice that brings 
the parties together, listens to them and investigates when necessary, and then invites 
them to find an agreement to reach a reconciliation.

The Mexican researcher Paulina Fernández Christlieb has studied at length this system of " 
reasoning with people, taking them into account[...]so that both parties are satisfied " 
and so the situation is " resolved ". It is clear that this mediating role is based on 
legitimacy that is recognized by all and on a moral authority that gives a powerful 
incentive to seek agreement. The authorities in charge of justice do not have the logic to 
determine offenses and punishments, but to " find a good peaceful solution " to the 
problems affecting the collective life, by healing the wound [1].

Hence a radical criticism of the prison, which solves nothing and aggravates the problems 
- it affects the life of an entire family and is a school of crime. If it happens that a 
person can be locked up when endangering another person (if he is intoxicated, for 
example) or during the investigation concerning him, there is no condemnation to a prison 
sentence .

In a logic of reconciliation, we seek a reparation, accepted as such by the victim (s): a 
restitution, or compensation for the damage suffered. The latter, given the desire to 
restrict the use of money, usually consists of working days for the benefit of the victims 
or the community.

In the case of homicide, the culprit must yield land to the family of the deceased or work 
for it for years. We can also cite the exceptional but significant case of a migrant 
smuggler who came from Guatemala and was arrested by the autonomous authorities: he 
accomplished, without fleeing, a sentence of several months of community work, during 
which he participated in the construction of a bridge giving access to the autonomous 
hospital of San Juan del Rio, then thanked the Zapatistas for having taught him the craft 
of masonry [2].

A desperate justice
In summary, the autonomous justice is a mediation arbitral justice that seeks an agreement 
between the parties, in order to restore the possibility of a pacified collective life. In 
stark contrast to the high degree of impunity, corruption and racism that characterizes 
constitutional justice, it operates satisfactorily enough for many non-Zapatistas to 
appeal to it. In addition to the absence of any recourse to money (not even lawyers' fees 
or fines), the fact that autonomous authorities act from their own involvement in the 
reality of Indian communities is decisive.

More generally, Zapatista autonomy makes it possible to think of a radicalization of the 
specialization of the exercise of justice. Far from a highly ritualised state justice 
based on the extreme codification of the law, autonomous justice is rendered by ordinary 
people without any training or special experience in this field. While state justice, 
draped in the imposing solemnity of the institution, separates itself from the ordinary 
mortals and inferiorizes those whom it submits to its procedures, autonomous justice is 
exercised in immanence and simplicity. of an ordinary act.

The lesson is twofold: on the one hand, we perceive the need for legitimate instances to 
fulfill a mediation role ; on the other hand, this experience indicates that it is 
possible to eliminate the burdensome and oppressive institutional machinery of state 
justice and law to reincorporate conflict resolution into the fabric of collective life.

Jérôme Baschet

Jérôme Baschet, historian, is the author of Farewell to Capitalism. Autonomy, society of 
well-being and multiplicity of worlds, La Découverte, 2014.
VILLAGE, COMMON, REGION: WHO'S WHAT ?
Justice is exercised by the elected authorities, by rotation, at the three levels of 
autonomy. That of the village, closer to the concrete life, is privileged as much as 
possible, mobilizing the intervention of his or her elected representative or, sometimes, 
of the community assembly.

It is only if the case can not be resolved in this context, or if it is a recidivism, that 
the case passes to the level of the municipality or region (or when the dispute involves 
people from several communities or communes, or Zapatistas and non-Zapatistas).

Village level deals with small thefts (chickens and other animals), land and neighborhood 
conflicts, tree cutting that contravenes community rules, sale of wild animals, domestic 
violence, and divorce cases. .

At the level of the municipality are treated the flights or agrarian disputes more 
serious, trafficking of precious wood or drugs.

At the regional level, unresolved issues are dealt with by municipalities, very 
exceptional cases of homicide, as well as conflicts caused by members of other organizations.

[1] Paulina Fernández Christlieb, Justicia Autónoma Zapatista. Zona Selva Tzeltal, Mexico 
City, Ediciones autonom @ s, 2014.

[2] See the Cahiers de la " Zapatista Little School ", available in French on 
Ztrad.toile-libre.org.

http://www.alternativelibertaire.org/?Chiapas-zapatistes-Reparer-plutot-qu-enfermer

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Message: 8





Saturday 8th of September saw another building occupied in Dublin as part of the Take Back 
the City campaign, this is the 3rd occupation in a little over a month.  The new occupied 
building is on 41 Belvedere Place as the video shows over 100 people gathered outside in 
support of the occupation. ---- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=doF8QklxGHk ---- The Take 
Back the city campaign activists had gathered at the GPO earlier that evening and then 
marched as a block up O'Connell Street to the site of the current occupation.  At one 
point the chants on the march named the three largest political parties who have been in 
government this decade "Fine Gael, Labour, Fianna Fail' with the response "Jail, jail, 
jail them all."  The Labour Party is now in opposition and doing its usual about turn to 
insert itself into struggles as if it was somehow not responsible for the policies being 
fought against.

Our footage moves on to some taken early in the week which shows the second building 
occupied  on Frederick Street not far from the current occupation.  The first building 
occupied on Summerhill Place was abandoned after an injunction was granted, power the 
decision was taken to hang onto Frederic street when that was injuncted a couple of weeks 
ago.  So far the Garda have not dared move to enforce that injunction.

We then show a boarded up building, there was a previous round of occupation's around 2015 
all of which were evicted. Unlike the current phase they aimed to provide accommodation 
for people through the direct action of occupying and moving people in.  In contrast so 
far the current campaign has activists taking buildings to highlight the number of vacant 
homes that have been left empty, with over 100 people volunteering to do shifts to keep 
them occupied.

This aspect is controversial as there is still much lower key squatting going on but it 
would be logical, as the current campaign builds, to turn the occupied buildings in to 
homes if and when the intimidatory effect of injunctions is removed.  There are no 
meaningful 'squatters rights' in Ireland which is why speculators feel safe leaving so 
many usable homes lying empty while huge numbers of people are caught up in the housing 
crisis.  In other European cities as other times the presence of strong 'squatters right' 
meant not only directly housing thousands of people but also meant speculators were far 
more inclined to rent out buildings rather than leaving them empty.

Our footage shows the Bolt hostel but this isn't footage from 2015 this was taken last 
week, three years after the court ordered eviction when it still lies empty.  The Bolt is 
a particularly strong example as the building was in a relatively good state and a team of 
volunteers were using it to provide emergency accommodation.

These occupations are taking place in the context of a terrible housing crisis that exists 
in Dublin and other Irish cities.  In Dublin it's probably the case that almost every 
worker is now affected by the crisis. Rents are skyhigh, so to are property prices but 
wages for most workers remain very low. A huge amount of workers are probably spending up 
to 50% of  their income on either rent or mortgage repayments.

Ina addition the rental sector has no security attached to it at all. It's easy to evict 
tenants, the legal protections are mostly a joke. All this needs needs to change

https://wsm.ie/c/3rd-building-occupied-take-back-city-dublin

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