Today's Topics:
1. [Italy] Convocation for the XXX Congress of the Italian
Anarchist Federation By ANA (it, pt) [machine translation]
(a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
2. France, Alternative Libertaire AL #293 - Web: Reckless
people do not have Tor (fr, it, pt)[machine translation]
(a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
3. Russia, Network Trial Begins in Petersburg (a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
4. Global May Day 2019 (tr) (a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
5. [Italy] In Florence, writings and stickers by Lorenzo
Orsetti By ANA (pt) (a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
6. [Greece] Against the arrest of the co-founder of the
anarchist group Rouvikonas By ANA (pt) [machine translation]
(a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
7. avtonom: "Yellow vests", acts 19, 20, 21: "quietly,
peacefully, but threateningly" [machine translation]
(a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Message: 1
Convocation for the XXX Congress of the Italian Anarchist Federation (FAI) - 19 to 22
April in Massenzatico (RE) ---- The National Convention of the FAI, meeting in Naples on
January 26 and 27, 2019, convokes the XXX Ordinary Congress of the Italian Anarchist
Federation for the 19th, 20th, 21st and 22nd of April 2019 with the following agenda: ----
1. Adherence and resignation ---- 2. Reports of exit commissions and political balance of
Federation activities ---- 3. Analysis of the political, economic and social situation and
strategies for transforming the existing ---- 4. Federation fighting campaigns (Congress
will assess whether address the point in plenary or through working groups) ---- 5.
Discussion and verification of the Federation's organizational tools and structures ----
6. Federation communication tools ---- 7. IFA Congress and international situation
8. Appoint committees and possible working groups
9. Possible cases
The works will be held in Massenzatico, Reggio Emilia at the Circolo Cucine del Popolo, at
via Beethoven 78 / d. They begin on the 19th at 3:00 p.m. and end on the 22 p.m. at 5:00
p.m., and the plenary sessions will be accompanied by the comrades and known companions as
well as by observers.
We thank the Reggae Anarchist Federation for their hospitality.
For logistical information contact Reggae Anarchist Federation (3290660868)
For information, contact the FAI CdC ( Cdc@federazioneanarchica.org )
federazioneanarchica.org
------------------------------
Message: 2
In the previous issue of AL, Lise (AL Lyon) referred to Tor in her article on recent
attacks on freedom of expression on the Internet. If this has not surprised those who know
what it is, the curiosity of others may have been piqued. The opportunity to explain here
what Tor is and how to use it (it's very simple !). ---- Tor (the term, now lexicalized,
was formerly the acronym for The Onion Router) is a decentralized global computer network
that significantly increases the anonymity of its users. It houses a " part " of the
Web, sometimes called deep web or dark web, where all traffic is anonymous and political
activists in danger alongside drugs, weapons or child pornography sites - all Like a
hammer, Tor is just a tool and is not responsible for the use we make of it ! Tor is the
subject of many fantasies, carefully maintained by the great Hollywood show, while being
very poorly understood.
A little bit of theory
However, without going into the technical details, we can popularize its theoretical
operation in just a few sentences ! Imagine that you want to access the website
www.alternativelibertaire.org . To do this, you will instruct your computer (by clicking
on a link or a bookmark, for example) and it will send a " mail " on the Internet, to
the site www.alternativelibertaire. org .
This mail will typically contain questions like " Does the site still exist ? What is in
it right now ? Can you send me its content so I can display it on screen ? ". When you
are sailing out of Tor, this mail is a " postcard ": any " Postman " or " Post Office
" or " Pirate (Post Office Truck) " on the way can read it.
At best, if you access a https: // site instead of http: // (the small padlock in the
address bar), your mail is a sealed letter but the sending or receiving identities are
always displayed: confidentiality of the content but zero anonymity. On the contrary, with
Tor, the mail is packaged as an onion (hence the name) in several successive " envelopes
" (Russian doll type). The address displayed on the first " envelope " is that of the
first " post office " on the way: the first factor knows only this information. Arrived
at the first " post office ", the envelope is open (it is padlocked and only this " post
office" "Has the key) and the second envelope is removed, also locked and on which the
address of a second" post office "is indicated, and so on until the last envelope, which
it displays the address of the real recipient: www.alternativelibertaire.org . Thus, no
one in the chain of transmission knows both who is the sender and who is the recipient.
The return mail goes in the same way. That's it, Tor !
The hidden services of the deep web are nothing but websites that want to protect their
anonymity too: instead of publishing their own address (like www.alternativelibertaire.org
), they find their users in a place of pre-arranged appointment and without ever revealing
their true address. For them too, the journey between the real address and the meeting
place is anonymized by the onion technique.
Using Tor is within everyone's reach
The theory being clarified, let's move on to practice. Installing Tor Browser (Tor
Browser) is like installing any other software on your operating system: either by going
download the executable on the site ( https://www.torproject.org , in English ... but
several unofficial sites in French exist) or via the repository. Tor Browser can run on
Windows, Mac OS, Linux ; under Android, the equivalent software is called Orfox and for
iPhone we recommend Onion Browser.
The Tor browser is a modified version of Firefox ; if it's already your browser (and this
is the one that AL libristes recommend !), you will not be distressed. To use it, just
launch it and then navigate as usual ! Finally ... almost as usual: some sites, like
www.google.com , detect Tor users as potential spammers and ask you to fill in a " captcha
" before accessing the content. Unfortunately we can not do much, because it is indeed
true that some spammers use Tor to protect themselves (remember, Tor is like a hammer ...).
Warning
Always keep in mind the mail metaphor, which is quite faithful and shows the limits of the
protection offered by Tor. First, intermediaries (such as your ISP) and the receiving site
will know you are using Tor. Then, if you use Tor with http: // only (that is, without
https: //), only the recipient and sender addresses will be protected and not the content
(that is, the content mail will be stapled to the first envelope and the onion envelopes
will only protect the final address).
That's why Tor Browser comes directly with the HTTPS Everywhere extension, which will make
you automatically use https: // instead of http: // as soon as possible (and today, fewer
and fewer websites do not offer https: //).
Tor does not protect you from an almighty opponent, who would have the ability to
permanently filter all incoming and outgoing mail Tor network ; thanks to statistical
tools, the anonymity of many of these letters could then be lifted. But right now, the
most powerful opponent - the American NSA - seems to be still technically incapable of
doing this kind of thing.
More generally, it is important to learn about the limits of Tor, which many
French-language websites explain with pedagogy: it's up to you to find them, on Tor
Browser of course !
Leo (AL Grand Paris South)
http://www.alternativelibertaire.org/?Web-Les-imprudents-n-ont-pas-Tor
------------------------------
Message: 3
Network case defendants Viktor Filinkov and Yuli Boyarshinov in the cage at court
yesterday. Filinkov (left) wears a sweatshirt emblazoned with the slogan, “Your taser
can’t kill our ideas.” ---- The Defendants Were Assigned Roles: Network Trial Gets
Underway in Petersburg Anna Pushkarskaya Kommersant April 9, 2019 ---- The court trial in
the case of the “anarchist terrorist community” ---- Network got underway in St.
Petersburg. Viktor Filinkov, a 24-year-old programmer, and Yuli Boyarshinov, a 27-year-old
industrial climber, have been charged with involvement in Network. Federation Council
member Lyudmila Narusova, who attended the hearing, pointed out the “ability to throw
grenades,” which the prosecution included in the evidence against the defendants, was
taught officially to members of the patriotic youth movement Yunarmiya.
“This case has nothing to do with the rule of law,” Narusova noted.
Filinkov and Boyarshinov’s case is being tried in St. Petersburg by the
Moscow District Military Court. In January, the same court sentenced
Igor Shishkin, who made a deal with case investigators, to three and a
half years in prison. Subsequently, the FSB placed Network on the
Russian federal list of banned organizations.
The courtroom could not accommodate everyone who wanted to attended the
trial. Narusova and ex-State Duma member and civil rights activist Yuli
Rybakov were in the gallery.
The defendants were applauded by the gallery as armed guards led them
into the courtroom.
During the investigation, Filinkov and three young men in Penza also
charged in the case publicly stated they had been tortured with
electrical shocks. Boyarshinov claimed conditions in the remand prison
were tantamount to torture. Both men have filed complaints with the
European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) in Strasbourg.
Lawyer Vitaly Cherkasov motioned the court to let his defendant,
Filinkov, sit beside him during the hearing, rather than in the cage,
since he had no criminal record or history of conflicts with the law.
The presence in the courtroom of riot police, regular police, and court
bailiffs, as well as Cherkasov’s mention of international norms, how
things were done at the EHCR, and Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev’s order
to his underlings to explore options for banning the use of the cage in
Russian courtrooms made no impression on the court. Both defendants were
kept in the cage for the entire hearing.
According to the indictment, the so-called anarchist terrorist community
was established no later than May 2015 by Dmitry Pchelintsev (who was
arrested in Penza) and an unidentified person. They recruited the seven
defendants in the case who have been investigated by the FSB’s Penza
office. After cementing the group, they are alleged to have “assigned
roles among themselves and explored ways of committing crimes” in order
to overthrow the regime. According to the prosecution, to accomplish
this objective, they planned on “establishing combat groups and
recruiting individuals who shared their anarchist ideology.”
The FSB’s Petersburg office has claimed the defendants were among these
recruits. Filinkov has been accused of volunteering to be the group’s
“radioman,” while Boyarshinov was, allegedly, their “sapper.”
After the indictment had been read, Judge Roman Muranov asked the
defendants whether they understood it.
“No,” Filinkov replied.
The prosecution claims Filinkov promised to “familiarize himself with
the community’s charter, employ a pseudonym, data encryption software,
and conspiratorial methods, and acquire and improve [his] combat skills.”
In addition, Filinkov was supposed to have “supplied members with
communications devices,” taught them encryption, “recruited other
individuals, discussed and planned crimes during meetings, attended
classes on tactics, reconnaissance, sabotage, and combat, and the use of
weapons and explosive devices, and acquired the knowledge necessary in
extreme circumstances and combat conditions.”
“When the time came to shift to active operations for accomplishing the
objective part of the crimes [sic],” Filinkov, allegedly, agreed to
“mobilize and be ready to achieve the terrorist community’s objectives.”
“I don’t understand the source of these letters, nor how the indictment
could be a fiction, rather than something emerging from the evidence,”
said Filinkov.
After hearing similar charges made against him, Boyarshinkov said he
admitted his guilt and was willing to testify before the examination of
evidence.
After the hearing, MP Narusova said the incidents of combat training, as
described in the indictment, had nothing to do with the law.
“The Yunarmiya officially engages in combat training under the patronage
of Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu. Children are taught to throw
grenades, and they learn combat tactics. Ask Shoigu why the entire
Yunarmiya is busy learning combat skills?” Narusova wondered.
“A fellow Federation Council member recently said children should be
able to throw grenades,” Narusova continued.
She referred to a recent statement by Federation Council member Viktor
Bondarev, who had proposed reinstating basic combat training in Russian
schools. He claimed to be outraged children did not know how to throw
grenades and were afraid of machine guns.
Ms. Narusova said she was drafting a law bill that would criminalize
torture. She also said planned to get to the bottom of the Network case.
“This case has nothing to do with the rule of law,” Narusova noted.
In their testimony, the defendants insisted they were learning the
alleged skills as a matter of self-defense, given the numbers of
antifascists murdered in different parts of Russia in recent years.
In particular, Filinkov mentioned the murders of Timur Kacharava,
Stanislav Markelov, and Anastasia Baburova. He reported that, during his
studies at Omsk University, he and his friends had been attacked by
“right-wing radicals, neo-Nazis, and fascists,” including provocateurs
who, he alleged, had ties with law enforcement agencies.
According to Filinkov, the assailants in these clashes had been armed
with “blades and stun guns.”
After the investigation was completed, the headmaster of the school
Filinkov attended submitted a glowing letter of recommendation. The
letter claims the defendant had always shown respect for the law, and
was friendly, conscientious, and responsible. He had been an excellent
student and won a prize at an academic astronomy competition at Baikonur.
Kommersant will be following the trial’s progress.
Translated by the Russian Reader
__________________________________________
What can you do to support the Penza and Petersburg antifascists and
anarchists who have been tortured and imprisoned by the Russian Federal
Security Service (FSB)?
Donate money to the Anarchist Black Cross via PayPal
(abc-msk@riseup.net). Make sure to specify your donation is earmarked
for “Rupression.”
Spread the word about the Network Case aka the Penza-Petersburg
“terrorism” case. You can find more information about the case and
in-depth articles translated into English on this website (see below),
rupression.com, and openDemocracyRussia.
Organize solidarity events where you live to raise money and publicize
the plight of the tortured Penza and Petersburg antifascists. Go to the
website It’s Going Down to find printable posters and flyers you can
download. You can also read more about the case there.
If you have the time and means to design, produce, and sell solidarity
merchandise, please write to rupression@protonmail.com.
Write letters and postcards to the prisoners. Letters and postcards must
be written in Russian or translated into Russian. You can find the
addresses of the prisoners here.
Design a solidarity postcard that can be printed and used by others to
send messages of support to the prisoners. Send your ideas to
rupression@protonmail.com.
Write letters of support to the prisoners’ loved ones via
rupression@protonmail.com.
Translate the articles and information at rupression.com and this
website into languages other than Russian and English, and publish your
translations on social media and your own websites and blogs.
If you know someone famous, ask them to record a solidarity video, write
an op-ed piece for a mainstream newspaper or write letters to the prisoners.
If you know someone who is a print, internet, TV or radio journalist,
encourage them to write an article or broadcast a report about the case.
Write to rupression@protonmail.com or the email listed on this website,
and we will be happy to arrange interviews and provide additional
information.
It is extremely important this case break into the mainstream media both
in Russia and abroad. Despite their apparent brashness, the FSB and
their ilk do not like publicity. The more publicity the case receives,
the safer our comrades will be in remand prison from violence at the
hands of prison stooges and torture at the hands of the FSB, and the
more likely the Russian authorities will be to drop the case altogether
or release the defendants for time served if the case ever does go to trial.
Why? Because the case is a complete frame-up, based on testimony
obtained under torture and mental duress. When the complaints filed by
the accused reach the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg and
are examined by actual judges, the Russian government will again be
forced to pay heavy fines for its cruel mockery of justice.
Source: https://therussianreader.com/2019/04/09/network-trial-petersburg/
------------------------------
Message: 4
Each syndicate/group/union organizes its activities autonomously with their own focus. The
following call to action is part of a common framework that will help to visually connect
those activities and support communication on the global level. Feel free to subscribe
and/or contact the Global May Day 2019 mailing list[globalmayday[AT]lists.riseup.net], if
you support the call and/or want to connect with others to establish a solidarity
partnership._____ Initial supporters of this call: ---- Bangladesh Anarcho-Syndicalist
Federation | Free Workers' Union (FAU) Hamburg | Inter-Factory Workers' Federation (FBLP)
Jakarta | Forum for IT Employees (FITE) India | Garment Workers' Trade Union Center
(GWTUC) Bangladesh | Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) Gainesville | Industrial
Workers of the World (IWW) Hamburg -- https://globalmayday.wordpress.com/cagri2019/
------------------------------
Message: 5
The phrases, which refer to the thoughts and slogans of the 33-year-old anarchist killed
by the militias of the Islamic state, appeared in the neighborhood where he lived and
throughout the city. ---- Lorenzo Orsetti, 33, killed by militias in the Islamic state in
mid-March, was recalled a week ago with a demonstration in Florence, attended by two
thousand people. ---- And the long wave of memory and Orsetti's worth manifest themselves
in his neighborhood, Rifredi, but also in other parts of the city. In fact, phrases and
stickers appeared (what you see in the photo is on Via Cavour) that contain phrases and
slogans that the fighter of the Kurdish cause used to say, think and put into practice.
"A Bear, a boy of Rifredi who fell in Syria by the people's revolution. A promise: we will
be Storm! ". Phrases like this, but also others that resemble his motto that "every storm
begins with a single drop." A tangible testimony of how short the life of this man was and
which is a source of inspiration and reflection for many people.
Translation> Liberto
------------------------------
Message: 6
Giorgos Kalaitzidis , one of the most exposed members of the Greek anarchist group
Rouvikonas, was recently ordered to pay 3,000 euros, which corresponds to 1 year and 4
months in prison. This punishment, which he can not afford, comes in addition to his
current conviction to 56 months in prison. Financial solidarity as strong as its
commitment can hold back the strategy of state repression through money. The group is
actually threatened by 200,000 euros, 25,000 euros of legal fees and 528 months of
imprisonment. ---- Financial support as strong as its commitment may prevent state
repression. Their offensive solidarity exists thanks to reciprocity through our network of
mutual assistance, capable of eliminating part of their punishment. Our goal is to reach
an additional 10,000 euros¹. This support is economic and political: even if you can not
participate in "shared money," sharing that information in your network is essential to
the success of the campaign.
For those who do not know, Rouvikonas was formed in 2013 during the Greek financial
crisis. If they worked at the outset as a support group for political prisoners on
demonstration, they quickly opened their fight for the largest scale of state oppression.
Comprised of nurses, teachers, students, store sellers, booksellers, welders, it attacks
the corrupt policy of the state and the lobby. Through propaganda for the fact, they now
accumulate hundreds of actions such as sabotage, invasion, occupation ... Among them:
destruction of the record of over-indebtedness in Greece, destruction of the office of
privatization of the common good, blocking negotiations with the Troika , various
intrusions into Parliament and other places of power. For example, they destroyed
financial records of indebted people, threw red paint in front of the French embassy on 22
April to protest against the crackdown on strikers, students, refugees, the poor and
against bombing in Syria. Following this logic of struggle locally and globally, last
December they convened a simultaneous international day of anti-capitalist and
anti-fascist protests each month against the policy of austerity and environmental
destruction.
Our support must be as radical and international as Rouvikonas' response to social and
climatic emergency.
"If you do not find a solution, it means you did not create it," Giorgos
[1]At the end of February, a support train from France, Belgium and Switzerland brought
significant financial support. But this amount was used to repay part of Rouvikonas' debt.
>> For more information about Rouvikonas:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=342ZzVVCm70
https://www.facebook.com/rouvikonas/ .
>> To collaborate financially with the campaign:
https://www.lepotcommun.fr/pot/mjj83sy2
Translation> Zucchini
------------------------------
Message: 7
Well-known social activist, co-chairman of the Teacher trade union, Andrei Demidov about
the 21st round of opposition to the French state and the Yellow Vests movement on
Saturday, April 6, 2019. ---- The Saturday action of "yellow vests" in France on April 6
was the smallest since the beginning of the movement - November 17, 22.3 thousand people
took part in demonstrations across the country, in Paris - 3.5 thousand, according to
media reports referring to the French Ministry of Internal Affairs. According to the
police union "Police in a rage," the number of demonstrators was 110 thousand. At the same
time, as stressed in the trade union, they take into account all forms of protest:
demonstrations, blockades, pickets at roundabouts. Continue to count in the union and the
number of police suicides. Since January 1, 23 employees have died, an average of one
every 4 days, "the government is completely satisfied with this situation", they are
indignant at the trade union and poisonously notice that even in undemocratic regimes, as
in Algeria, mass protest leads to changes in government policies,
Since the Champs Elysées, the square in front of the National Assembly and a number of
other places are still banned for the protest, the yellow vests in Paris decided to visit
La Défense, the business center of Paris. The choice of this place was to symbolically
demonstrate the conflict between France of the rich and France of labor.
By 1.00 pm, yellow vests filled the Republic Square. The police cordoned off the square,
but they did not obstruct the passage of people. For 21 weeks around the movement has
grown a whole industry of fast food. Several tents smoke on the square, where you can eat
fried sausages, kebabs or vegetarian dishes. A pink van with food and drinks accompanies
the protesters at each action and is perceived simply as a member of the family.
At the monument in the center of the square, some activists conducted, apparently in spite
of the "great debate" initiated by Macron, their own "people's" poll. Among the questions,
do you consider it necessary to create a normal movement with governing bodies on the LJ
base, whether you need to form your list at elections of different levels ... It was also
suggested to name five topics for a future referendum (the requirement of a "public
initiative referendum" is one of ) and three priority economic measures. The people
actively filled out questionnaires, which were then thrown into a transparent ballot box.
The total distrust of the "yellow vests" in relation to the "big national blah blah blah",
in general, is shared by the great majority of the French. According to a poll conducted
by the sociological service ELABE on April 3, 79% of French people are convinced that "the
big national debate" will not solve the political crisis that the country is experiencing
(+9 points compared to March), 68%, that the opinions expressed in it will not be taken
into account (+5 points). At the same time, 62% believe that the participation of citizens
in the discussion of the future of the country is good in itself. Summarizing, the French
are ready to give their proposals, but they do not consider that the current president is
the addressee suitable for them. The greatest skepticism regarding the dialogue with the
authorities is shown by people aged 35 to 64, representatives of mass professions and workers.
The validity of these concerns was confirmed on Monday by Prime Minister Edward Philip,
who undertook to present the results of the "big debate" to the public. The prime minister
called the main demand that the French put forward to the authorities for three months of
consultations - "reducing the tax burden", without explaining, however, who this reduction
will affect. However, the next phrase - "the French also understood - having shown greater
maturity than even some politicians - that we cannot cut taxes if we do not reduce the
expenses of the state budget" explained everything. It is supposed to reduce taxes for
all, but the relief that ordinary French will receive will be negatively compensated by
cuts in social assistance measures and public goods. Obviously, the government simply
chose from the whole set of measures proposed during the debates that it likes more, not
at all caring about the actual rating of this or that requirement. E. Phillip indirectly
acknowledged this, declaring that "it is obviously difficult to summarize in a few words
or through speech tens of millions of words and hundreds of thousands of ideas that were
voiced by our fellow citizens."
At the same time, polls of the population following the results of the "big national
discussion" show that 60% of French people expect from the executive power, first of all,
actions to increase the purchasing power of the population. 50% of the French (32% of them
indicated this task as a top priority) want the authorities to react to the social crisis,
42% (of which 20% are in the 1st place) require measures to revive the economy. And even
this point is obvious in the representation of citizens is not limited to a simple
reduction of taxes on business, but requires targeted efforts by the state to create jobs.
Reducing taxes on business and the richest is already happening since the arrival of
Macron in the presidency. Corporate income tax is gradually reduced from 33.3% to 25%;
which originally should have been canceled only for those who earn below a certain level,
as a result they will also cancel for the richest. Macron also abolished the large estate
tax (ISF). The return of this tax is one of the principal requirements of LJ, supported by
two thirds of the French.
If we consider the pension reform - another stated by Macron, then when asked how to
ensure the future of the pension system, 63% of French people are for raising taxes or
taxes for the most wealthy families and only 28% are for raising the retirement age, no
more than 7 % agree to reduce the size of pensions.
"The authorities say that the soup is too salty, and they are responsible - change the
spoon" - ironically comment on the results of the "big debate" on the Internet.
Demonstrators carry posters ridiculing Macron and his policies. Shouting calls for his
resignation. They sing a song in which they call him "the president of the bosses." The
dislike of "yellow jackets" for the president is well known, but how much do ordinary
citizens share it?
On Wednesday, April 3, the data of the next poll, devoted to the measurement of the level
of approval of the president's actions by citizens, was published. It turned out that the
positive effect of the "national debate" was exhausted and the ratings of the president
and the prime minister continued to fall after two months of some growth. Moreover, this
fall was simultaneously recorded by various sociological services.
Only according to Ifop / Fiducial, the actions of President Emmanuel Macron are approved
by 29%. "Everything goes as if the national debate is increasingly perceived as a fraud in
order to gain time," one of the sociologists told Paris Match magazine about the survey
results.
According to the ELABE Institute, the current president's rating is even lower - only 28%
of respondents answered affirmatively to the question "can Macron effectively cope with
the problems facing the country"? It should be noted that Macron's trust rating is growing
among managers (51%), but it is falling more and more deeply among workers. This proves
that the demonstrators already know - Macron is the president of the rich, they are his
audience and the real beneficiaries of his policies. Choosing the purpose of the Saturday
demonstration, the financial center of the capital, the protesters want to show these
people the real people and their anger.
It is curious that the confidence ratings of several ministers also plummeted this month:
Minister of the Interior Christophe Castaner and Minister of Education Jean-Michel Blanker
are particularly strong among them. If the fall in confidence in the first can be
interpreted differently (maybe someone is not happy that he is not tough enough to fight
protests), then the low rating of the Minister of Education is a direct consequence of the
struggle of teachers and students against the education reform he initiated.
On Thursday, the second national strike of teachers and students in two weeks, banners
demanding the abolition of the "Blanker's Law" still hang on the walls of educational
institutions and even kindergartens. After large-scale demonstrations at the end of last
week and the current one, in which, along with the trade unions, the new network movement
"Red Hands" was taking part, officials of the Ministry of Education agreed to negotiate
with delegates from the movement. The meeting took place on Friday and did not lead to a
result. The Red Pens have already announced that they will continue to put pressure on the
government and are preparing a new mobilization. Requirements include: a salary increase
of 40% (compensation for inflation over 10 years without indexation), the abandonment of
temporary contracts, the hiring of additional workers to normalize the workload, a
reduction in the number of students in a class ...
Quite often, "yellow jackets" are reproached for "protest for the sake of protest", for
wanting to "return to the blessed 70s" and reject the inevitable changes.
Let us leave aside the question of how much the progressive impoverishment of the majority
of the population with the growth of incomes of the super-rich minority is "necessary" or
even "inevitable", but in the political sphere, direct democracy promoted by "vests" is
obviously a step forward compared to traditional representative democracy, where citizens
forced to hand over the mandate to guide their lives in essence to an unfamiliar person
for a long time without the ability to adjust something before the end of this period.
One of the forms of such a more flexible "Soviet" democracy is the General Assemblies,
which take place at regular intervals in every city where there are protest groups. They
act on the principle of "one person - one vote" and before making a decision, allow
everyone to speak. Sometimes this action is delayed for several hours, but people
appreciate being able to be heard and be subjects, not objects of decisions. In Paris, for
example, assemblies are held on a territorial basis, or on a professional basis, when
educators, students or other categories meet.
A logical continuation of this practice was the General Assembly of the French Assemblies,
which met for the first time in February of this year in Commerce (Lorraine). Anyone who
wishes has the right to speak here, but the decisive vote is given only to delegates
elected at local assemblies.
The second Assembly assemblies convened this weekend in San Nazaire, in western France.
While in Paris, demonstrators threatened with their fists to the glittering skyscrapers of
the local City, 800 Assembly participants representing 250 local assemblies tried to
determine the principles of coordination and plans for the future. The list of working
groups makes it possible to understand which topics are discussed in the movement:
"internal and external communication", "fighting repression", "which short-term
strategy?", "How to organize coordinated actions?", "Elections to the European Parliament"
and "ecology".
"The main goal is to get together, work together, discuss, see what we have done together.
And, from there, try to have common structures, proposals, requirements, "the RFI
journalist conveys the words of one of the participants.
Others do not believe that the Assembly should be the governing body, but only a platform
for discussion, exchange of experience and coordination.
In any case, delegates are optimistic, although they admit that at the moment the movement
is looking for new, more efficient methods. "We should not reduce the presence on Saturday
marches. We need to supplement these marches with blockades of roads and enterprises on
weekdays, "one of the delegates acknowledged. She also expressed the hope that the
decisions taken at the Assembly will be able to increase the number of protesters.
Indeed, as a result of the Assembly in San Nazaire, a protest action was announced on May
1. The International Day of Workers' Solidarity, traditionally perceived as a left and
trade union day, is clearly not accidental for the start of this campaign. It seems that
this decision reflects a growing understanding among the "LJ" that without an alliance
with trade unions and political opposition to force the authorities to change their
policies will not work.
Sometimes this union is expressed in unexpected forms. On April 3, a film devoted to
yellow vests "I want to see the sun" (J'veux du soleil) started in the French box office.
The genre of the film is documentary, but there are examples in the French box office when
documentary films make a cashier and therefore cinemas take it. At least the first shows
show full halls, a considerable part of the audience is dressed in yellow vests, and the
most exciting scenes are met with shouts and applause.
The film director Francois Rueffen is a remarkable person. A journalist by profession, he
made a name for himself on social topics and criticized growing inequality. In the
elections to the National Assembly in 2017, he became a candidate from the left-wing
radical and anti-capitalist movement Picardy Standing and won with the support of leftists
and environmentalists. After this film, this leftist has every chance of becoming a
favorite of the yellow masses (and given the scale of rentals, more than a hundred cinemas
across the country are not only among them). Will this push the masses left? Quite
possible. Times change and the work "What to do" may well find a video format)).
And the Saturday rally in Paris ended peacefully. Without collisions and broken
storefronts. Someone sees this as demobilization, someone - restructuring.
Yellow vests, act 20: around and around
With some delay, I publish a summary of events around the regular, 20th Saturday action of
the "yellow vests" on March 30. Brief summary. Slightly ebbing yellow wave allows you to
see other waves of protest activity, for some time caught in its media shadow. According
to the country's Ministry of the Interior, 33,700 demonstrators took to the streets
throughout France, including 4,000 in Paris. 120 thousand protesters according to the
police police union in a rage. Two weeks ago, the same trade union estimated the number of
protesters at 230,000.
A quantitative decline is quite likely. On the one hand, the leaders of yellow vests have
been announcing a certain cyclical nature in conducting demonstrations for several weeks.
Once a month, yellow vests from the province are mobilized to take part in the action in
Paris; at all other times, everyone protests at their place of residence. Cheap and angry.
On the other hand, eyewitness accounts on the Internet and their own impressions speak of
an increase in police pressure on demonstrators. For example, the LJ group formed in our
district, before going on a general manifestation, always campaigns with the distribution
of leaflets in the nearest market. Due to their purely peaceful nature, this activity has
never attracted the attention of the police. But this time, the police tried to prevent
agitation on the pretext that it was not agreed with the authorities.
Such an aggressive line of conduct, no doubt lowered from above, annoys some policemen.
One of them, responding to the questions and outrage of the activists, even allowed
himself to complain about the tiresomeness of continuous reinforcements. This fatigue is
expressed not only in the mass sabotage of the Sabbath duty, but also in the increasing
cases of suicide. According to the same union, Policemen in Anger, since the beginning of
the year, almost two dozen police officers have made up for life.
The trade union on its website directly accuses the authorities that instead of having a
dialogue with the protesters, they chose to isolate themselves from the police and call
their comrades hostage the "racketeering of France" policy pursued by President Macron and
his government. Perhaps for many policemen such agitation is "too left", but it definitely
gets into pain points and as fatigue and irritation grows, it can be claimed. The first
demonstration of protest by the police against the "police" solution of a political
problem took place in early March and gathered several hundred participants. Now any
resonant history can become a detonator.
On Friday, new data was published on the progress of the investigation into the incident
in Nice on Saturday, where a 73-year-old activist suffered at the hands of the police. She
received several fractures of the skull bones and was in serious condition. At first, the
prosecutor's office leading the investigation completely denied the guilt of the police,
and then nevertheless admitted that the police pushed the woman, allegedly going beyond
the instructions. Guilty face up to 7 years in prison. The prosecutors' statement about
the "initiative" nature of the policeman's actions has already provoked an angry rebuff
from the trade union, which demands recognition of the responsibility of the country's
leadership, the ministry of internal affairs and the prefect for decisions that led to
escalation. The development of this story, which is closely monitored for its part by both
police and Protestants,
One of the explosions with his statement here has already been made by Emanuel Macron.
Responding to the wound of the activist, he wished her recovery, as well as "wisdom",
saying, among other things, that if you are ill (due to age) you are standing on your
feet, nothing goes to places where it is forbidden. Thereby, both the elderly and the
activists were offended, actually removing the responsibility from the police. As a
result, already on the next tribute in Nice, Paris and a number of other cities mass
protests took place, at which fine old women with the slogans "I am 71 years old and I
protest. And this is not the end, young idiot! " And according to the results of the
action, the creation of the movement "Pensioners in Anger" was announced.
Education
Higher and higher wave of protests in the field of education. The trade unions together
with the "Red Pens" movement, recently created in the likeness of the LiveJournal of
teachers, demand that the reform carried out by the Minister of Education at ZHM be
canceled. Blanker. According to the trade unions of teachers and students, it provokes a
growing inequality in access to quality education, deprives students of vocational lyceums
of general courses and thereby narrows their opportunities in the future. Educators are
not satisfied with rate cuts and the massive replacement of permanent contracts with
temporary ones.
According to the "Red Pens" movement, 50,000 people all over France came out on
demonstrations against the education reform on Saturday. Here two events have become a
catalyst. The first - on March 19 in Toulouse, the police beat and poured teachers with
tear gas, who chained themselves to the gates of the university administration. The
disgraceful price has got on video and widely sold on a network. The second is the recent
suicide of a teacher from Versailles Jean Villaud, who left a suicide note in which he
explained his decision with a protest against the arrogance of education managers. As a
result, all week France was shaken by protests of workers and students.
In Lille, a high-ranking official insulted the protesters: "You can't imagine anyone! You
are a disgrace to the education system," etc. The authorities 'anger can be easily
explained. Lilsk activists of the" red pens "blocked their administration as a sign of
solidarity with the teachers of Toulouse. Versailles went through a memorial march in
honor of the deceased teacher.
A general assembly was held on Wednesday in Montpellier with the participation of
teachers, students and parents. Practically in all regions there are special events to
inform parents about the reform being carried out by the authorities and the requirements
of teachers. Two assemblies took place in Grenoble: the inter-union union and the red pens
themselves.
From March 24 to March 30, teachers held various events in Normandy, from leaflet
distribution to demonstrations. In Marseille, teachers passed through the city, holding
300 chairs in their hands, symbolizing 300 reduced rates. In Toulouse on Tuesday, March
26, the occupation of the Toulouse Business School took place.
On March 25, an operation "dead schools" took place in Amiens. The goal is to temporarily
paralyze the work of schools through a strike. In Paris, we also experienced a one-day
teacher's strike on March 28. Since my friends in Russia have such an unfamiliar
experience, I'll tell you about the teacher's strike through the eyes of a parent. The
news that tomorrow will not learn, the child brought the day before. There are no Russian
requirements to notify the employer about a strike in a week in France. Parents get out as
they can. They mobilize grandmothers, grouped in twos or threes, asking for leave from
work for a few hours. We shared the day with the family of our daughter's classmate,
looking after the children for half a day.
In Limoges, the "red pens" held a joint action with yellow vests. And this is how it is
now fashionable to say - a new "trend." The movement of the Kyrgyz Republic, created as a
kind of alternative to trade unions and "yellow vests", is driven by the logic of struggle
and common goals to the need for joint actions.
Housing movement
On Saturday in Paris, a large LJ demonstration was formed from two streams. One started
from the North Station and consisted of LJ activists themselves, and the second, coming
from Chatelet, was formed by marchers for the right to housing. LJ and the Association for
the Right to Housing (DAL) jointly addressed the call for this march. This Sunday, March
31, the seasonal moratorium on eviction ends. Social activists are sounding the alarm, the
number of homeless people in France only in 2018 increased by 23%.
In 2017, 126,000 eviction decisions were made, including more than 120,000 for unpaid rent
(+ 49% by 2001). In the same year, 15,547 households were evicted with the assistance of
law enforcement agencies, which is a historical record and testifies to the desperate
situation these people are in.
Condemning the "surge in rent," "real estate speculation," "energy instability," "lower
purchasing power of the lower and middle classes," associations require that there be no
more evictions without a resettlement solution. low-income strata of the population, and
require rent restrictions in large metropolitan areas. By the way, one of the first Macron
activities was the removal of existing restrictions on rent increases and housing. The
connection is usually moderate ZHILISCHNIK with LJ shows that public figures have
exhausted the possibility of a positive dialogue with the authorities and is now ready to
support the slogans of the resignation of the president and the government.
In general, it seems that Macron has set himself the task of consistently quarreling with
all categories of the population, "from pioneers to pensioners." Now civil servants are
next in line - the seemingly natural support of the president-technocrat. According to the
reform announced by the government, of five million civil servants it is expected to cut
120,000. Temporary contracts are being introduced, as is already done in education.
The trade unions opposed the bill, accusing the government of a "bookkeeping approach" to
reform with the sole purpose of reducing budget expenditures. The expansion of the number
of "contract workers" is considered by trade unions as an attempt on the special status of
a civil servant and its independence from changing political power. On May 9, trade unions
scheduled a nationwide protest against reform.
The 19th act of "yellow vests": everything is calm in Paris, which cannot be said about
the country
After the last hot Saturday all week, the parties prepared for the continuation of the
struggle. Authorities in every way demonstrated their determination with an "iron hand" to
restore order and suppress unauthorized actions. The centers of 15 major cities were
closed for shares, a law hastily been adopted against "thugs", under which the fine for
participation in an unauthorized action was raised from 40 to 140 euros and other austerities.
Macron also fired the prefect (police chief) of Paris. The new prefect, who previously
headed the police in Aquitaine, is considered a supporter of tough measures. Appearance
appropriate - withered ascetic with an unyielding look. After an emergency meeting of the
president who hastily returned from the ski resort with the cabinet of ministers, it was
announced that they would strengthen the police with army patrols. This news immediately
turned into a public figure commander of the Paris military district. The brave general,
who had not yet mastered the new quality, immediately promised to open fire whenever the
military considered that their lives or constitutional order were in danger. What made a
lot of noise in the press and clearly confirmed - the use of army units to suppress
protests is fraught with unpredictable consequences - from casualties among civilians to
the demoralization of the soldiers themselves. In short, skillfully caught up with horror.
However, as it happened more than once, the answer of the LJ was some kind of asymmetric.
First, despite all the severity and intimidation of the people on the streets even more
than a week ago. According to the French Ministry of Internal Affairs, forty-five thousand
protesters took to the streets in France, a week ago, again according to police, there
were only 32 thousand. Secondly, in spite of all measures of reinforcement, clashes with
the police did occur in Nice, Lyon, Toulouse, Montpellier ...
Moreover, there is a feeling that the police were seriously wounded by the proddings of
the president and the profile minister were afraid to "pry" (no prefect does not want to
repeat the fate of Paris and in turn pushes those below) and, unlike the protesters, they
were all grave. The Internet has been flooded with videos, in which the police are felting
and beating at all not pogrom-masters in masks, in which they themselves are peaceful
citizens who show no signs of aggression. The incident in Nice thundered, where a police
special forces dumped a 73-year-old woman on the pavement, demonstrating with a flag that
read "Peace". The result - a few fractures of the skull and placement in a hospital in
critical condition.
In Paris, signs that "yellow vests" do not intend to repeat the script of last Saturday
appeared literally immediately, when protester Eric Drouet, one of the leaders, answered a
question from a journalist about what would happen next week, but we'll do without
demonstration. tired, let rest (obviously meaning not the police).
Indeed, this time the Saturday rally was held in a chamber format, almost a picnic.
Several thousand people in yellow vests gathered in Montmartre, at the highest point of
Paris, at the foot of the snow-white church of Sacré Coeur. The church itself was blocked
by the police, a police helicopter circled over the heads of the crowd, but on the whole
the situation on this sunny and warm day was surprisingly calm and the "yellow vests"
peacefully coexisted with the tourists, who are always very much in this place.
In the absence of movement, people talked a lot, around activists with megaphones
spontaneous platforms were created for speeches and debates. Almost all the famous faces
of the movement were present here, any "yellow vest" could communicate with them directly
if desired, and this created an almost intimate atmosphere of fraternity and joint
contemplation of Paris spread out below.
As a result, the new prefect of Paris could not fully demonstrate his talents to the
rebels of the rioters, because of his colorful appearance he immediately became a favorite
character of amateur caricaturists who photographed and so large for a small face a
general's cap even several sizes larger.
Laugh laughter, and the grindstones of the repressive machine revolve with increasing
speed. Just on the eve of Saturday, statistics of the Ministry of Justice appeared,
according to which for all the time of the protests, more than 8,000 protesters were
detained. About 2 thousand of them have already been convicted. According to the Minister
of Justice, 40% of those found guilty were sentenced to various terms of imprisonment -
from one month to three years. The remaining 60% were sentenced to correctional labor,
fines or other forms of sanctions. According to the minister, in the cases of another
1,800 detainees during the demonstrations, the decision has not yet been made.
It is obvious that now, after the adoption of new amendments to the legislation, tougher
penalties for participation in actions, there will be even more people arrested and
convicted. The only question is what effect can be achieved.
On the one hand, it is clear that tougher penalties and a general increase in police
violence will deter some of the current Protestants from participating in demonstrations.
On the other hand, the movement of "yellow jackets" with its own methods only corresponds
to the expectations of society (at least, its significant part). And these expectations
are consistently bad.
Thus, according to a recent study by the French Public Opinion Institute, commissioned by
the French edition of Atlantis, 39% of French people are convinced that a revolution would
be required to change the situation in the country. Those who believe that the existing
problems can be solved through reforms, while more - 50%, but how many of them believe
that the current ruling class is capable of such reforms is unknown. The truth of another
poll, conducted shortly before the end of the Great Debate, revealed that 70% of French
people do not believe that the "big debate" will allow them to get out of the current
political and social crisis, and 63% do not believe that the President will at least
somehow accept their results into account.
That is, we have the classical scheme of an overheated boiler, which the authorities
stubbornly clog up, at best, reducing the response to the demands of large-scale reforms
to minor concessions and cosmetic reforms. "The only answer that we received within a few
months is the brutal violence of state authorities. The only weapon we carry is an opinion
that contradicts the government, "the Alpes Maritimes statement said in a statement from
the" yellow vests "of the region, which activists from all other territories could
probably subscribe to.
If one delves into the social structure of the "yellow vests" movement, it becomes clear
that this movement, not being a party, essentially claims to fulfill the main function of
political parties that they have lost in the eyes of so many people - to represent the
interests of a significant, significant part of society.
Recently, the results of a large-scale survey (10 thousand respondents) conducted by the
sociological service ELABE at the end of the past - the beginning of this year were
published. From the data obtained, it follows that there are 9% more workers in the
movement than their share in society as a whole, and there are also more employees - 4%.
Among them, almost 2 times more unemployed than they are in society (11% versus 6%), but
in general, workers make up a confident majority - 72%. Another category represented in
the movement disproportionately to its weight in society is single women with children
(12% versus 6%).
Wherein:
65% of "yellow jackets" have difficult months (+17 percent compared with the average
Frenchman)
69% detained or refused medical assistance over the past twelve months (+18)
51% found themselves in a situation of insecurity regularly in the past twelve months (+17);
55% believe that their financial situation has deteriorated over the past twelve months (+12).
In addition, half of the "yellow vests" are systematically looking for the lowest prices
for food purchases and two-thirds when buying clothes and shoes, which in both cases is
significantly higher than the average French level (+ 15%).
Thus, we can conclude that the "yellow vests" (and at the peak of the movement 20% of
adult French men considered themselves to be themselves) have nowhere to retreat. They do
not see prospects, believing that their parents lived better, and their children will live
worse and do not trust the existing institutions of representation, relying only on the
revolutionary breakdown of the system. To oppose these sentiments with something other
than police batons and prison sentences, the authorities are not yet ready, which means
that the number of those who no longer believe in reforms will only grow.
News , Anarchist Opinion , Photo Compilation
Lawlessness of power , Video , Event Reports , Protests ,
https://avtonom.org/news/zheltye-zhilety-21-akt-tiho-mirno-no-ugrozhayushche
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