Anarchic update news all over the world - 8.04.2019

Today's Topics:

   
1.  Important communication from KRAS, Russian section of IWA:
      Get your hands off the ashes of Nestor Makhno! By ANA
      (a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
   
2.  US, black rose fed: A NEW HOMELAND IN OUR HEARTS? ON THE
      MECHA NAME CHANGE (a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
   
3.  cnt.es: The defeat of the Islamic State and what is coming
      now -- Democratic Confederalism | Rojava (ca, it) [machine
      translation] (a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
   
4.  France, Alternative Libertaire AL #293 - Politics: Being
      unionists and libertarians today (fr, it, pt)[machine
      translation] (a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
   
5.  Britain, Red and Black Leeds: Slogan of the month - Apr '19
      (a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
   
6.  Migrant-run factory workers organize with the SAC in Sweden
      - but we need your support! (a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)


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Message: 1





We anarchists, operating in the territory of the former Soviet Union, are outraged at the 
intention of handing over the ashes of the revolutionary anarchist Nestor Makhno, 
deposited in the Pere-Lachaise cemetery in Paris, France, to the current Ukrainian 
authorities. The return of Makhno's ashes to his home field of Gulyay might be welcome if 
this action were not part of the dirty political game of reactionary forces. ---- The 
Ukrainian state, which officially proclaimed militant nationalism as its ideology, is not 
the first time it tries to declare Makhno "his." The authorities, through the repeated 
organization of nationalist samples, have always tried to present the anarchist as a 
nationalist fighter by the Ukrainian state. At the same time, in modern Ukraine, they are 
trying to exterminate any historical revolutionary tradition, including the anarchist. 
Thus, a monument in honor of the revolution of 1905 was demolished in Kiev, and another in 
honor of the uprising in the battleship Potemkin was desecrated in Odessa. Monuments in 
memory of the workers who fell in the battles against the counterrevolution of January 
1918 were desecrated in both cities. The monument dedicated to the makhnovista Kuzma 
Apatov was demolished in Mariupol, and in Kherson, the street,

The Ukrainian authorities officially declared the "nationalist leader" Petlyura, as a 
"national hero," against whom Makhno's army fought from 1918 to 1921. Thousands of 
anarchist activists and Ukrainian workers fell in the fight against this executioner, who 
suppressed the workers and refused to stop the genocide of Ukrainian Jews during the civil 
war. Petliura was executed by the avenger of the Ukraine, the anarchist Samuel 
Schwarzbard, with whom Makhno maintained a great friendship. Today in Ukraine, are 
erecting monuments to Petliura, the streets of cities bear their name and their appearance 
is sported by Ukrainian money ...

The return of the ashes of Makhno to modern Ukraine, where the reactionary nationalist 
atmosphere prevails, would mean the transfer of the remains of the anarchist into the 
hands of their mortal enemies. That would be a direct insult to the revolutionary's memory 
and the cause for which he fought.

It would be like transferring the ashes of Makhno to the Russian authorities, who openly 
declare themselves successors of their worst enemies, the White Guard and the Stalinists. 
An equally absurd maneuver.

We ask the anarchists of France and the whole world to protest against the deportation of 
the ashes of Makhno of France. The anarchist Nestor Makhno rests in a graveyard near the 
communes of Paris in 1871. This agrees with his revolutionary and internationalist 
convictions.

We will not allow reactionaries, nationalists, and statesmen to take their remains!

With the oppressed against the oppressors, always!

Glory to Nestor Makhno!

Glory to anarchy!

Russian section of the International Association of Workers (AIT-IWA) Individualist 
anarchists of Ukraine and Moldavia

aitrus.info

Translation> Zucchini

Related Items:

https://noticiasanarquistas.noblogs.org/post/2018/12/13/espanha-celebramos-os-cemananos-do-inicio-da-makhnovschina/

https://noticiasanarquistas.noblogs.org/post/2013/11/06/banco-central-da-ucrania-emitiu-uma-dedicated-or-anarquista-nestor-makhno/

https://noticiasanarquistas.noblogs.org/post/2015/10/27/russia-makno-ontem-e-hoje/

anarchist-ana news agency

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Message: 2





Following a recent national conference of the historic Chicanx student organization, MEChA 
(Movimiento Estudiantil Chicano de Aztlán), debate has erupted over a decision to change 
the name of the organization to Movimiento Estudiantil Progressive Action. Cesar Montero, 
a former MEChista based in Los Angeles, reflects on the controversy asking, "What's in a 
name?" ---- By Cesar Montero ---- "What's in a name? That which we call a rose by any 
other name would smell as sweet." ---- -Shakespeare ---- I wanted to give myself time to 
sit with the feelings that surfaced this past weekend in regards to a recent proposal at 
the 26th Annual MEChA National Conference. The proposal in question: to change the 
organization's name. I've heard many MEChA alumni call this move an erasure of history, 
claiming it an attack on Chicanos and overall a result of "social justice warrior safe 
spaces." I've also heard many newer folks rightfully critique the concepts of Aztlan and 
Chicano Nationalism, two main tenets of MEChA. RINOs (Revolutionary In Name Only) and 
Chicano Dinosaurs, fossils of a dying Left, seem to be perplexed by this new generation of 
activists' decisions. There are a couple of conversations that I think are worthwhile and 
others that I think have been written about extensively, so I will add my personal two 
cents on this.

Let me be clear when I say this. I don't really care much for whether an organization 
decides to keep its name or not, whether Aztlan is a real physical place, or whether MEChA 
is for Chicanos only. I think it isn't as important as whether or not MEChA has a vision 
for liberation as well as a way to get there. What I am interested in is the substance of 
what an organization does. The purpose of having an organization is to engage in 
activities that accomplish clearly defined goals. To understand these clearly defined 
goals for MEChA El Plan de Santa Barbara and El Plan Espiritual de Aztla would be the 
places to start but for the sake of time I'm not going to discuss them here.

In the early 2010's, I was not attending classes anymore but was voted in as an honorary 
member of a MEChA chapter at a community college. I had the opportunity to lead workshops 
at MEChA Statewide Conferences in both San Luis Obispo and Chico, CA. It was through MEChA 
that I eventually found a more left-leaning grassroots organization that helped cement my 
understanding of politics and more importantly of power. And it was through this work that 
I met a comrade who would eventually recruit me as a militant of Black Rose/Rosa Negra in 
Los Angeles.

"Hasta La Luna" collage by author.
Reminiscing about MEChA experiences, the theme of transition always came up in 
conversations with comrades. We didn't join MEChA because we believed it was the best 
organization out there, we joined it because there wasn't anything else to join that 
seemed worthwhile to us. Anyone could join at a high school or college campus by attending 
a meeting and feel like they were doing something. And that's what many of us did and 
felt. Even though we were part of the network, we saw MEChA as a resource to do the 
organizing we wanted to do in our communities. We used it as a way to build relationships 
with community organizations in order to promote self-determination and political 
education. Through these workshops, we were able to teach each other practical skills and 
we were able to have political conversations about current events and action we could take 
in our neighborhoods.

But even then, we understood the limitations of the network. We always knew that for too 
many Chicanos, MEChA was just something to put on your resume. It was a place to belong 
and hang out with other Chicanos who believed in La Causa because other 
"Mexican-Americans" were "too boring to be around." It was a clubhouse that happened to be 
radical and because of this, among other reasons, many of us started moving away from 
Chicano Nationalism. We still saw ourselves as Chicanos but we also saw ourselves as 
students part of a broader student movement. You could see this reflected in our chapter 
which consisted of compas from Guatemala, El Salvador and even compas from Bulgaria and 
Iran. The name didn't matter at that point. What mattered was the solidarity. What 
mattered was all of us.

It's interesting how the idea of names and how they can mean so many things yet at the 
same time can seem so trivial. What resonates with me when I think about the name is a 
passage in Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. On one hand, Juliet reassures Romeo that 
regardless of his affiliations, his last name, he is still the same boy she is tragically 
in love with. On the other hand, it is his last name that ultimately represents conflict. 
It represents "el otro lado" and it represents his being marked for death, which should 
not be seen so literal but rather as a transformation. Written in the stars, the lovers 
were meant to escape to a nepantla, neither here nor there, an in between that takes from 
both sides and none at all at the same time. Chicanos are this tragic love story 
incarnate. And whether or not we call ourselves Chicano, the feeling is the same.

MEChA itself is not a movement unto itself. It is part of the broader student movement 
which includes students from all oppressed nations and a movement is not something that 
can be so easily contained. MEChA was the spark that set things off for many organizers, 
serving as an entry point into political activity - myself included. It has been a 
stepping stone to finding Aztlan, not a mythical homeland but a political home of sorts, 
in ourselves and in each other. But now is not the time to be stuck in a romanticized 
past. We are here now and we must continue the nomadic journey while carrying that 
homeland in our hearts.

Cesar Montero is a cultural worker living in Los Angeles and a member of Black Rose/Rosa 
Negra. View his artwork on Instagram or follow him on Twitter.

http://blackrosefed.org/new-homeland-mecha-name-change/

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Message: 3






On Saturday, March 23, came the news that has been expected for a long time. The Islamic 
State (IS) has been, finally, officially defeated by the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) - 
among which are the YPJ and the YPG. ---- The importance of this victory can not be 
overstated. In 2014-2015 the Islamic State seemed to be unstoppable. With tanks, armored 
vehicles and heavy artillery, they crushed people after village, managing to control large 
areas of Syria and Iraq, where they committed unimaginable horrors. They subjected the 
people to their fascist dogma, punished those who did not obey, sold Kurdish and Yazidi 
women as sex slaves, threw homosexuals at their deaths from rooftops, burned live 
opposition soldiers, committed genocide against civilians and especially against ethnic 
minorities, among many more barbaric acts.

At the end of 2014, when they arrived in Kobane (village of Rojava) they found the defense 
militias (the YPG and the YPJ) well prepared and organized. A fierce battle of six months 
ended with the successful defense of the town. This victory changed the course of the IS 
campaign. From then on, they lost successively battle after battle while the militias 
strengthened. They began to gain the confidence of the Arab peoples and of the many 
minorities in the area, many of whom joined the militias to fight the fascists who had 
razed their lands. Feminism, pluralism, radical democracy and environmentalism were 
extended by Rojava as a whole with the victories of the militias, while fascism and the 
intolerance of IS disappeared with its defeats.

The victory in Kobane changed the course of the Islamic State campaign

They have been bloody and terrible years. Some 10,000 militants lost their lives in the 
fight against fascism. Your sacrifices for freedom can not be forgotten.

Turkey and Rojava

Although we have to recognize the importance of this victory and also celebrate it, we can 
not lower our guard. What could come now is even more terrible and much more powerful than 
the Islamic State.

The map shows the positioning of the Turkish army immediately after the announcement of 
the withdrawal of the US Army in December 2018 - * Source: Manuel Martorell, Fourth Power
Now that the jihadists have been defeated, sooner or later, the US military will withdraw 
from Syria. Their temporary and purely strategic alliance with the Kurds has kept Turkey 
at bay. When Trump announced his immediate withdrawal in December (which was later delayed 
by the protests of his advisers), Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan immediately sent 
troops and armored units, supported by Islamist militants, to the Turkish-Syrian border 
with the clear intention of destroy Rojava.

Erdogan has already boasted of his intention to crush the "terrorists" (in reference to 
the YPJ and the YPG), to return Rojava "to its rightful owners" (which are exclusively 
Arabs and not the Kurds, according to him), and of "reestablishing peace and security". 
The actions of the pro-Turkish militants in the eastern canton of Rojava, Afrin, after 
their bloody invasion in January 2017, totally contradict this last point. Reports of 
cases of sectarian killings, looting, intimidation of minorities and the confiscation and 
destruction of land and houses are constant. And they remind us of how the Islamic State 
acted in their territories.

Pro-Turkish militants loot Afrin's stores after its invasion in January 2017 - * Source: AFP
We can not forget that Turkey is a member of NATO. That means they get the best weapons, 
tanks and planes from the other members like Germany, the United Kingdom and the United 
States - which look the other way when Turkey attacks. The Kurdish militias are combat 
veterans and can defend themselves against the Turkish infantry troops. But the aerial 
technology possessed by the second largest army of NATO gives them a huge and unfair 
advantage. Without anti-aircraft weapons, the Kurds will be vulnerable to ruthless and 
continuous bombings.

Germany, the United Kingdom and the United States look the other way when Turkey attacks

Erdogan has never hidden his hatred for the Kurdish people, nor his desire to have 
absolute power or to recreate a neo-Ottoman empire. A Turkish invasion would mean a 
massacre, persecution, a refugee crisis and a huge effort to dismantle everything that the 
revolution has achieved.

Now, more than ever, we have to give our full support to the Rojava revolution. 
Unfortunately, the voices of the East are more listened to than those of the Global South, 
and it is a privilege that we have to take advantage of. We can not allow a society based 
on feminism, radical democracy, anti-racism, and environmentalism, to fall, and for its 
people to be subjected again to violence, discrimination, and quite possibly, genocide.

Now, more than ever, we have to give our full support to Rojava's revolution

What can we do?

Here are some examples of what we can do locally.

Military in conjunction with local solidarity groups (such as Rojava Azadi Madrid or Azadi 
Plataforma Catalunya , for example).
Organize information and solidarity events in our premises.
Publish and share updates on the situation and ensure there is no media silence regarding 
Turkey's actions in Rojava.
Prepare local actions to perform on the day of the Turkish invasion.
Organize campaigns or actions against the arms companies that sell arms to Turkey.
Donate to the internationalist and environmentalist campaign " Make Rojava Green Again ".
The Rojava revolution will resist!

Jin, jiyan, azadî!

#CNTconRojava #DefendRojava #MakeRojavaGreenAgain

https://www.cnt.es/noticias/la-derrota-del-estado-islamico-y-lo-que-viene-ahora/

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Message: 4






For Liberte Alternative activists, the trade union struggle is one of the essential 
features of their anti-capitalist engagement. In the field of oppression and oppression of 
class must meet a fight on foot. Because we are revolutionary, we are trade unionists. 
---- To profoundly change society, and this is the goal of the revolutionaries, requires 
the setting in motion of colossal forces. These forces reside in the proletariat, that is 
to say all those deprived of capital and who are under domination. That is the 
overwhelming majority of the population, who, if they realized this potential, would be 
the decisive lever that could tip the old world. ---- In the XIX th  century, the labor 
movement was formed for this purpose. The trade union form was one of the first 
expressions, and the revolutionaries could have different approaches.

A first approach is that of the "  transmission belt  ", in its Leninist and 
social-democratic variant: the union is only an appendage of the political party. To the 
latter is devolved the task of emancipation, the union concentrating on the material and 
professional demands, and only on that.

The union Battle (unofficial newspaper of the CGT) of 1 st  May 1911. The revolutionary 
syndicalism was born from the direct action of salarié.es (strikes, boycotts, sabotage 
...). The legacy remains relevant.
There is a second approach, "  insurrectionalist  ": the union is just another ruse of the 
capitalist system to regiment the workers and make them waste time in daily demands very 
little revolutionary. While we need, they are barricades.

And then there is a third approach, which is ours: the union is a tool to build 
consciousness as class action, it is the best able to give body to collective and massive 
resistance on this ground, and therefore most likely to contribute to the break with 
capitalism. But, for that, it must, by itself, define its objectives so that they are 
widely shared: it is a revolutionary syndicalist conception, which relies on the autonomy 
of the trade union organization. Not only in a defensive sense (to guard against the 
pretense of hand-putting that they emanate from a political party or the state), but in an 
offensive sense, to build alternatives.

Revolutionary syndicalism is first and foremost a practice, fueled by real struggles and 
struggles, therefore necessarily adapted to the contemporary coordinates of social protest.
This approach has, in the past, prevailed in the trade union movement in many 
organizations, on all continents. In France, it was synthesized at the Congress of the CGT 
of 1906 in a fundamental text: the "  Charter of Amiens  " continues to be widely claimed 
today by the trade unionists of struggle. Linking material demands and anti-capitalist 
project, it affirms the fierce independence of the union and promotes the general strike.

But our revolutionary syndicalism is not just an inheritance. Firstly because to transpose 
the way unionism from 1906 to 2019 does not make much sense. It was enriched by the 
moments of incandescence of the class struggle - 1936 for example brought the practice of 
business occupations, 1968 that of the general assemblies. And it is combined with the 
struggle against all oppressions: a unionism that would stand aside from the struggles for 
equality, which would consider struggles against patriarchy and against racism as 
secondary fronts would allay its emancipatory scope .

It's not just a theoretical approach. Such revolutionary syndicalism is first and foremost 
a practice, fueled by real struggles and struggles, therefore necessarily adapted to the 
contemporary coordinates of social protest.

We are revolutionary
The reality of syndicalism in France is that of division. It is possible in spite of that 
to have revolutionary syndicalist practices in different organizations. But unionism is 
also crossed by tendencies to institutionalization as to the most narrow corporatism. And 
even with "  good intentions  " it is sometimes difficult to resist: let's say it clearly, 
no organization is immune today.

Libertarian activists invested in trade unionism have, in this situation, the political 
responsibility to help defend and share the revolutionary syndicalist project, in and out 
of their unions.

By making trade union democracy alive in their organizations, away from any factionalism. 
By guaranteeing self-organization of struggles, foiling the traps of avant-gardism and 
spontaneity. But also by publicly debating union orientations and strategies, by pooling 
positive experiences, beyond sectarianism and shopkeepers' minds.

Paris, demonstration against the "Labor Law", June 2016.
Reflect on the role and meaning of strike funds ; the question of unification of trade 
unionism ; to denounce the "  social dialogue  " that gangrene our organizations, to 
reveal the springs ...: here are some examples of debates, based on their trade union 
commitments - but political, in the noble sense of the term - that the libertarians must 
not fear to lead publicly.

It is in this that having a common political space for "  class-struggle libertarians  ", 
a common organization, remains an issue.

Especially since we are not the only ones to do it, politics ! Other forces are operating 
within the union field, some wishing to reactivate the "  transmission belt  " for their 
benefit. Mélenchon, for example, did not hesitate to question the principles of the Amiens 
Charter last year. Insubordinate France seems to want to work towards the emergence of a 
kind of "  struggle  laborism" that would inevitably fail in the institutional cul-de-sac. 
Others are lost in the ephemeral flash of street clashes, waiting for an insurrection 
that, decidedly, is slow in coming.

We have an invaluable asset in keeping us out of the illusions of parliamentarism, in not 
losing ourselves or losing precious time. We have only more to promote the direct 
intervention of the exploited and oppressed, regular and daily experience of their 
political capacity. This is the necessary condition for the emergence of a popular power. 
Libertarians, organized, this is how we are revolutionary.

Theo Rival (AL Orleans)

To go deeper, read Trade unionists and libertarians. A history of the UTCL (1974-1991) , 
of our comrade Théo Rival, published by Libertaire Alternative editions and available on 
the AL shop online : "  Telling the UTCL, strikes of 1974 to the irruption of coordination 
in 1986, it is having in the background a slice of history of the labor movement.

http://www.alternativelibertaire.org/?Politique-Etre-syndicalistes-et-libertaires-aujourd-hui

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Message: 5






"You cannot buy the revolution. You cannot make the revolution. You can only be the 
revolution. It is in your spirit, or it is nowhere."

- Ursula K. Le Guin, The Dispossessed

https://wearetherabl.wordpress.com/2019/04/03/slogan-of-the-month-apr-19/

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Message: 6





[the SFWS is a workplace section of the Malmö Local federation of the SAC - the 
syndicalists] ---- https://www.facebook.com/skanefactoryworkerssection/ ---- We are a 
group of workers from Romania and Hungary who work at farm produce factories in northern 
Skåne. We felt let down by the large labour unions and therefore started our own union to 
fight for better job security. ---- Most of us work at a staffing agency without or with 
very short contracts. Others have probational contracts but have not become permanent 
employees as prescribed by law. We don't know from month to month how much pay we will 
receive or if we can pay for food and rent. ---- Unfortunately, the staffing company 
doesn't want to give us secure employment terms, so we have ended up in a conflict with 
the company. That's why we need your help!

Follow our fight by liking our Facebook page. Share our posts in social media. Tell your 
friends about our union. Donate to our strike fund (it will be needed because we have a 
tough fight ahead of us).

Swedes can support us by Swish: 123 106 93 27
(The Center for Social Rights is letting us use their account for our fundraising)

Our bosses try to scare us!

The company has started to threaten members of the section that they will be sent home to 
Romania if they do not leave the union. This is totally unacceptable! So today we respond 
with a new notice.

On Thursday, the first conflict measures that were announced last week will start. The 
name of the company will be published and the conditions that we work under will we detailed.

Our only demand in the negotiations was secure employment contracts.

If the employer continues to threaten us and refuse us job security, we will respond with 
more notices.

We appreciate any kind of support, if you live in Malmö you can come to a SFWS support 
group meetings - www.sac.se/LS/malmö

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