Today's Topics:
1. IAF-IFA: On the eleventh congress of the International of
Anarchist Federations 24-28th July (a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
2. Anarchist Youth - Lima: Anarchist participation in the
Puerto Rican rebellion (ca, it, pt) [machine translation]
(a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
3. Britain, Brighton SolFed Housing Union: New ways of working
together and fighting back (a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
4. Britain, freedom news: fck govt fuck boris demo: Report from
the rally - account #1 and #2 and ACG #3 (a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
5. France, Manifesto of the UCL - An open approach (fr, it,
pt)[machine translation] (a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
6. Britain, London, Anarchist Bookfair 2020 (a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
7. Britain, anarchist communist group ACG: We Repeat: No War
But The Class War! (a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
8. Union Communiste Libertaire - Lyon: Police violence and
racist militia trained and organized (fr, it, pt)[machine
translation] (a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
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Message: 1
The 11th IFA congress is concluding today in the capital city of Slovenia after 5 days,
following the last one in Frankfurt in 2016. The Ljubljana meeting includes comrades from
many countries in Europe and the Balkans and smaller contingents from Latin America and
Asia. ---- The format of the congress was one of plenaries, pre-planned meetings (on
migration struggles, anti-militarism, repression e.g. in Belarus, gender struggles,
anarchist media, working class movements e.g. in Brazilian favelas etc.) & workshops (e.g.
on internet security and mental health) and panel discussions (including one on
‘authoriarianism' with comrades giving perspectives from struggles in Brazil, Japan,
Venezuela and France, facilitated by a comrade of FAO), taking place both inside and
outside of the Congress venue.
There were also public meetings each evening at the Metelkova centre e.g. Argentinian
anarchist comrades talking about the Ni Una Menos movement and the broader gender struggle
and another talk about the origins and practice of Anarchopunk in Brazil by comrades from
São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro. There were daily cultural events including art and music,
with a revolutionary choir and talks and stage performances by local and IFA delegates.
The infrastructure of the congress was hosted by the Federation of Anarchist Organising
(FAO) and through self-organisation by the other participants including a contact
information point, food preparation and an awareness group for individuals to contact with
any problems. Federations also had an area in the venue to display their publications and
other material. Posters, t-shirts, bags and stickers were prodcued to commemorate the 2019
Congress.
IFA congress 2019 agreed several joint statements (forthcoming on the website) and actions
including migration and gender struggles and a committment to continue the IFA journal as
an annual publication. The IFA Secretariat was passed from the Anarchist Federation (UK)
to FAI Italia.
You can also read this article, from Umanita Nova introducing the congress, for more detail.
http://www.i-f-a.org.gridhosted.co.uk/2019/07/28/eleventh-congress-of-the-international-of-anarchist-federations-24-28th-july-2019-ljubljana-slovenia/
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Message: 2
Many comrades are fighting in this part of the world against the government and its
authorities. ---- In the words of one of them: ---- "To all those artists and
personalities who say they support and go to protest I invite you to go to the line of
fire to the block or black bloc, to be stop in front of the body of repression with those
who are really brave and stay there until the end. Because it is very easy to go there
while everything is beautiful speeches and town party but after you leave and there is no
longer more cameras the story is different, only the police and the underprivileged are
there. I invite you to see who are the ones who detonate the violence that know why things
happen and that they know the other side of the Puerto Rico Police that many refuse to see
and recognize. "
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Message: 3
Two years into the Brighton Solidarity Federation Housing Union, we've had another busy
year of working collectively to push back against the city's continuing housing crisis. In
this article, we look back on actions and initiatives from the last 12 months and consider
our attempts to maintain the momentum of 2017-18 by adopting different strategies and
taking on different cases. ---- The Housing Union in 2018-19 ---- Brighton SolFed started
a housing campaign in June 2017, a little over two years ago, in the hope of developing a
group of people keen to challenge the poor conditions and high cost of rental property in
the city, as well as the dodgy practices of landlords and letting agencies. The problems
with rental property have continued to mount up; rental prices have increased 30 per cent
since 2011, and the exploitation of renters continues to be a profitable practice for
agencies and the property owners that hide behind them.
Following on from the successes we had recouping stolen deposits and fighting poor quality
accommodation in 2017-18, here are the cases we took on in 2018-19 and some reflections on
the development of our strategies and approaches over the last two years.
What we've done this year
Our actions this year have continued to be focused on deposit theft and compensation for
poor living conditions. These campaigns have resulted in a number of successes:
In October 2018, we challenged an agency we had previously targeted with a direct action
campaign. The agency had left tenants with a broken, overflowing toilet for the best part
of six months; a demand letter from us was sufficient for them to make an offer of £2,200
in compensation.
From November 2018 to February 2019, we conducted a direct action campaign against Fox &
Sons, forcing two landlords to quit the agency. SolFed locals in Manchester, Liverpool,
Bristol, Eastbourne, and London all took part in this dispute, targeting branches in their
local areas, as did the IWW, the ASF and Surrey Cut the Rent. The solidarity shown in this
case was amazing, and we ended up costing the agency more than the compensation they owed
the tenants would have been - but they didn't pay up.
From March through to May, we helped a number of different tenants challenge dodgy
deposit deductions. One tenant had £450 of her deposit returned from The Property Shop;
another had £200 returned from Ashton Burkinshaw, who had tried to deduct £200 for
unnecessary (maybe never done) work; another, in Eastbourne, had £100 returned that an
agency had attempted to claim for damages that were really fair wear and tear. All of
these challenges were conducted either through letters sent directly to the agency or
through the Deposit Protection Scheme; we'll talk about why we choose that route at the
end of the article.
We also carried out two cases against G4 Lets. In the first case, a group of tenants had
£1,000 of their deposit returned despite G4's attempts to deduct £1,900 from it - again,
this was managed through the Deposit Protection Scheme. In the second, we helped a tenant
make a complain to G4 after they moved into a property that was uninhabitable, and to
threaten to take this complaint to the Property Ombudsman. This threat produced the
desired results - despite their initial and expected intransigence, G4 offered him a
one-month rent rebate, new white goods, and undertook the neccesary repairs.
We have also been organising an anti-deposit theft rent strike against G4 Lets, which is
beginning to get underway. Essentially, the idea here is that since G4 make it a business
practice to skim money off tenants' deposits, the best way for tenants to ensure they get
their money back is to withhold the last month's rent and allow G4 to take it out of the
deposit. Many student households have collectively agreed to take part in this action:
we've laid out some guidelines on doing so here. We hope this will be a further way to
pre-emptively challenge their systematically exploitative approach to vulnerable and
student tenants.
Finally, we were delighted to see the beginning of a positive resolution for the
long-running and arduous dispute we have been undertaking with Patrick, a member of the
local. Following some wrangling with the council over which band he should be on, Patrick
has been offered a council tenancy, showing the power of collective bargaining and of his
persistence in the face of the council's attempts to fob him off. The dispute over the
various ways in which the council mishandled his issues with David Pay and Youngs is still
ongoing.
Reflections and changes in strategy
The biggest change in our approach since we started in 2017 has been a move towards
supplementing direct action with other ways of fighting back against letting agents and
landlords. Particularly with agencies like G4Lets, who have built a whole business model
around exploiting and stealing from tenants, there's a limit to what damage can be done to
their reputation. They have one office in an isolated part of town, and they deliberately
advertise their properties on aggregator sites so that students can often end up renting
from them without realising who they are until it's too late. Additionally, drawn-out
direct action disputes can be challenging to undertake for some tenants who do not have
the spare time to do so.
With that in mind, we focused more on challenging agencies through letters, and through
the DPS. Agencies often operate on the premise that they can make unwarranted deductions
that tenants will be too busy or too intimidated to challenge; this means that sometimes
just sending a firmly-worded and legally-informed letter is sufficient to make them row
back on attempts to steal from tenants' deposits. We have been providing tenants with
template letters to facilitate this.
In terms of the DPS, while there are obvious limitations to this process - it takes a long
time, sometimes three or four months; it is inherently weighted in favour of property
owners; it is a complex and annoying system to get to grips with; it requires a level of
evidence and paperwork from tenants - we've found that collectivising the effort required
to go through it, and sharing our knowledge about how to do so, helps to mitigate some of
these problems. For agencies that are inherently resistant to direct action because their
reputation is already in the gutter (like G4), we found that it makes sense to go down
this route, particularly because another tendency of these kinds of agencies is that they
often cut corners and fail to fulfill legal obligations, meaning tenants have a good
chance of winning their case with the protection schemes.
Finally, we've also tried to move in a different direction through the G4 rent strike, by
bringing groups of tenants together to challenge the agency through direct action that
doesn't involve picketing or other actions. Again, this is a case of collectively giving
each other the knowledge and confidence required to stop agencies from taking advantage of us.
This doesn't mean that direct action doesn't still have an important role in settling
disputes, holding agencies and landlords to account, and making their actions visible. But
what we want to work towards is an extensive and flexible set of possibilities that can
empower groups of tenants to challenge all the ways that landlords and agencies take
advantage of them. Sharing information, putting people in touch with each other and
showing that the flimsy excuses of agencies often crumple when challenged, has helped us
to do that over the last 12 months, and we intend to continue doing so into 2020 as the
rental market in Brighton continues to take its toll on tenants financially and
emotionally. Working together, we can make our lives more liveable and stop landlords and
letting agents from getting away with it.
If you're having trouble with your letting agency or landlord, or if you just want to get
involved, you can get in touch with us at:
Email: housing@brightonsolfed.org.uk
Text: 07427239960
Join our Housing Union Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1576092839124414/
http://www.brightonsolfed.org.uk/brighton/brighton-solfed-housing-union-new-ways-of-working-together-and-fighting-back
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Message: 4
#1 ---- The big event, organised by a wide-ranging coalition of groups from Women's Strike
Assembly and Momentum to BLM UK and Lesbians & Gays support the Migrants, managed to dwarf
the "usual suspects" People's Assembly demo and official Labour rally, but George F's view
from the street was of a resistance which as yet remains too fluffy to really rock the
boat. ---- Hundreds of people initially gathered in Russell Square on Thursday for the
"fck govt fck boris" street festival, forming a procession that marched through the West
End to Downing Street chanting "Fuck Boris, fuck the government." ---- After an hour, the
chanting got a bit weird, as if we were collectively marching down Whitehall ready to drag
BJ out and all take turns having sex with him. A double-decker bus had been organised, a
nod to the famous Brexit battle-bus proclaiming £350 million for the NHS, though the
organisers missed a trick by failing to equip it with a snowplough and flamethrowers in
order to force through the police lines at Downing Street.
The shadow chancellor John McDonnell gave a speech from the top of it calling for a
general election, and my heart sank to realise that really when this crowd says "fuck
government" they mean only this government, not all governments. The police shrewdly kept
themselves out of the way so as to give no reason for confrontation until the chanting and
marching fizzled out into a picnic and dance competition outside the gates of number 10,
some people unsure of what to do with themselves apart from dance and make hilarious signs.
On arrival, a contingent sat down on the grass to drink G&T, or danced to Stormzy from one
of many systems, or listened to Awate spit lyrics from the top of the bus. Another
dancefloor was started by a firetruck nearby, but as it got later, people began to drift
away. As the numbers fell, the police moved in to unobstruct the highway and met a
smattering of resistance and obligatory defiance. One woman attempted to rally the crowd
to storm the gates, but her infectious rage failed to ignite the mob mentality, though an
itinerant breakaway group did march off to piss on MI5 in tribute to fallen comrade Tom
Palmer.
Green Anti-Capitalist Front brought a pinata of Boris to Russell Square that was thrashed
to pieces in minutes by a raging person with a big stick. Sound systems were out in force,
with a steady playlist of grime, punk, and Killdren's anthem Kill Tory Scum making a
regular appearance. There was a strong, fiesty and highly visible queer and trans
prescence, as well as a number of people with disabilities. Shout out to the Bisexual
Pandas of London who score bonus points for taking 20 minutes to roll up their banner at
the close of proceedings whilst surrounded by a gang of frustrated cops.
Conspicuous by their absence were Extinction Rebellion - the megabrand of protesting is
usually absolutely everywhere but there was not a single flag or sticker in sight. Instead
of climate catastrophe, the crowds homemade banners and signs called for solidarity with
people of colour, QUILTBAG and disabled people's rights - everything XR claims to want to
be inclusive of.
Although its always fun to march around London chanting ‘fuck boris', or ‘fuck whoever'
and have a bit of a street party, but again, all the anger fizzles out into nought. The
flurries of ‘fuck the police' that broke out were belied by the ease with which the police
cleared the streets out. Some of GAF were masked up and ready to go, there were smoke
bombs and flares in a plenty, but the marketing of the event as a liberal street party
means that any potential edge or anger was diffused into impotency. The most interesting
clashes came between the mixing of pro-Brexit and pro-European protesters, suddenly united
with a common enemy, one man with a giant blue cutout of the UK on his back spotted
arguing with a student with a European Union flag, all overseen by a set of
anarcho-syndicalists who pithily summarised with: "fuck all states."
Goldsmiths students were also out calling for solidarity with their occupation, which goes
to court on Friday, and respect to organisers who had a solid team of legal observers out
and people handing out free water to everyone. Although a solid mixture of unionists,
students, anarchists, liberals, and the motley crew of the left were in attendance, the
question remains of how bad do things have to get before we are really willing to do more
than chant and sing to really fuck the government?
George F
https://freedomnews.org.uk/fck-govt-fck-boris-report-from-the-rally/
-------------------------------------------------------
#2
Following an account on Fck Boris Fck Government demo published by Freedom News on Friday,
we have received a few more. Here is one of them.
It's being eight years since I put a bet on Boris Johnson becoming prime minister in the
form of a weak hand shake, as a documentary photographer photographing protests and
demonstrations for a decade I had to include the FCK BORIS, FCK GOVN protest. Travelling
up to London on one of the hottest days of the summer, I made my way to Whitehall, where
Class War were blocking the gates to Downing Street, it was a small but vocal
demonstration, Laurie Love providing the soundtrack to the dystopian political story
unfolding before our eyes. I had to hand it Class War, they were holding the fort, where
was the FCK BORIS demonstration?
I decided to go and find the street party that was promised, this entailed a bus journey
in 36 degree heat, (weight loss ensued). The FCK BORIS demo, (by the way, never call him
by his first name; you don't know him and you don't want to know him). Russell Square was
the location, why so far from Downing Street? One member from Class War pointed out "It
might as well be Yorkshire" I finally caught up with the march heading for Trafalgar
Square, it was big, it was loud, it was full of energy, I was reminded of the Catalan
demonstrations, it felt like a genuine protest unlike the over organised and steered
recent Extinction Rebellion so called protests.
Music was a focus point for this demonstration, I never understand why music isn't used
more often, it transforms what can otherwise be a dry and lifeless rally. Crowds of up to
five thousand people filled Whitehall, danced and sang and united in the heat against a
new Conservative Government which has been built to cause maximum damage while it has the
chance, police cars and vans were graffitied with FCK BORIS and anarchist signs, placards
demanding that Nazanine Zaghari-Ratcliffe be freed along with this is not my prime
minister slogans. It wasn't a Poll Tax riot, but it was a presence, and the DJ on the
double Decker bus reminded all these young people some of whom won't be old enough to have
being affected by forced austerity, the cuts and shock doctrine style changes we have all
had to endure over the last ten years, the worst is yet to come, and the night is long but
sooner or later the dawn will come. (Hopefully)
----------------------------------------------------
ACG #3 London Anarchist Communist Group
London Anarchist Communist Group members turned out yesterday for the Fck Boris demo . We
handed out over 500 Rebel City papers and couldn't get rid of them fast enough, a really
enthusiastic take up from a predominantly young crowd
https://freedomnews.org.uk/fck-boris-fck-govn-demo-account-2/
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Message: 5
We are partisans of self-organization and direct democracy, restive and restive in this
respect to the cult of unanimity as to a summary spontaneity. We know that these concerns
may meet those of other "schools" of socialism. ---- UCL does not claim to become, by
itself, the alternative to capitalism. ---- cc Mathieu Colloghan ---- The libertarian
communism that we promote is part of a long history, that of anti-authoritarian socialism
and which has its roots in the First International. It essentially inherits decades of
struggles, analyzes, strategic challenges to the libertarianclass struggle. It is in this
one that is the main political incarnation of this socialism that we are inscribing ourselves.
It has nothing to do with an individualism that would deny the antagonism of classes and
the need for collective action to upset the order of the world. The appropriation, the
socialization and the self-management of the means of production are our agenda to put an
end to capitalism. We reject bourgeois politics, and our intervention can only be
decidedly extra-parliamentary. The "dictatorship of the proletariat", Leninism and the
experiences of so-called "socialist" countries are not part of our history.
However, we do not claim any monopoly. Various organizations and existing groupings claim
to be a libertarian filiation. We are for the debate, so that the forces are pooled as
often as possible, without denying the specificities of each. The same desire for
confrontation and unity leads us to reject sectarianism among all the forces that
genuinely fight against capitalism and other systems of domination.
Refuse sectarianism
We are partisans of self-organization and direct democracy, restive and restive in this
respect to the cult of unanimity as to a summary spontaneity. We know that these concerns
may meet those of other "schools" of socialism. Since the second half of the XX thcentury,
especially after May 68, the Communist libertarian current has been able to open up to
experiences, to look at current with which it shares common features and even integrate
the positive achievements.
Thus we think that a dialogue is always possible and desirable with the different
revolutionary currents, of Marxist or anarchist origins.
If we reject the statist illusions conveyed by Marxist currents and theories, libertarians
have largely drawn, like Bakunin in his time, and without fetishisation, in the
materialist and dialectical thought synthesized notably by Marx. It continues to occupy a
singular place for those who want to change the world. Especially when it does not go
astray in economic over-determination. For us, there is neither destiny nor fate: it is
all of us who, through our action, make history.
Tap to the best sources
We draw more widely from the currents that work for the emancipation of all. By making
concrete experimentation, our current has been able to adopt the revolutionary trade
unionist practice: trade union and workers' democracy, the sense of strike, the role of
self-managing animators and leaders of struggle, strategy of counter-powers ...
Similarly, on ecology, feminism, anticolonialist and anti-racist struggles, our analyzes
evolved in contact with militant currents, struggles and very real resistance. Above all
else, it is by immersing ourselves in the heart of these struggles and resistances that we
will avoid sclerosing ourselves, shriveling ourselves on a narrow doctrinal meadow.
This is why we are part of a dual approach:
develop our libertarian current "class struggle" ;
contribute to the emergence of a vast anti-capitalist and self-management movement,
necessarily unitary.
The Libertarian Communist Union does not pretend to become alone, relying on its own
forces, the alternative to capitalism. It would be not only pretentious but also dangerous
to believe or pretend otherwise. Rejecting all sectarianism and isolationism, we want to
be one of the unifying forces for the revolutionary movement and the workers' movement.
In periods of recoil, the unity of all and all the anti-capitalist, the opening to the
social movement, allow solidarity in the face of repression and a state machine that hunts
down revolutionaries.
In periods of rising struggles, this unity promotes and amplifies the action of
revolutionaries against those who fight the break with the old world. But this unity must
not hide our ideological or strategic divergences that will inevitably assert themselves
in a revolutionary period.
Become a political force that counts
This open approach aims to materialize a mass force, which will weigh on a very large
scale in society, helping the multiplication of counter-powers and preparing the
conditions for the revolutionary break. This means prioritizing interventions on the
social ground at the base of society, linking anti-patriarchal, ecologist, anti-racist and
labor struggles with a self-management perspective. A politico-social movement, and not a
new party.
New actions are needed to allow the expression and organization of the rebellions of the
base of society. We want to actively contribute to it because these common practices will
allow the necessary answers to the threats of the far right and the illusions conveyed by
the "left" of government. We want to become tomorrow a major political force, which gives
the current libertarian "class struggle" a base with the broad masses, and this in a
revolutionary movement, part of a refounded and renewed workers' movement.
http://www.alternativelibertaire.org/?Une-demarche-ouverte
------------------------------
Message: 6
We're excited to announce that an Anarchist bookfair will be returning to London in
October 2020. ---- This event is being organised by a new collective of individuals from
across London and the UK. ---- The composition of the organising collectives behind the
various Anarchist bookfairs in London has changed many times over the years and we are
proud to take on the task of bringing a prominent bastion of Anarchist and radical
thinking back to the city. The regular "London Anarchist Bookfair" has been a vital
component of the Anarchist community since it's inception in 1981 and we intend for the
38th such event carry on in this fine tradition. ---- Bookfair 2020 will be a diverse
event with a organisational focus on our internationalism and our Anarchist heritage here
in the UK. We are hoping that our international comrades will join us on the day, as many
did in previous years and we intend to play host to workshops and displays that illustrate
our shared Anarchist tradition and remember our fallen comrades, in whose name we continue
the fight against oppression.
More than just a simple marketplace, bookfairs are cornerstones of Anarchism, linchpins of
a diverse and sprawling revolutionary movement. They are where we come together to share
our ideas, debate our positions and develop our theory and praxis. They help us to believe
in better worlds and start to lay the foundations of world free of oppression, corporatism
and the brutal authority of the state. They give faith to the long in the tooth and
inspire young minds - they must be defended and maintained at all costs and utilised by
and for the working class for genuine results.
We have reached out to the prior collective behind London Anarchist Bookfair 2017, who
previously stated that they were disinclined to carry on organising further events. We
hope they welcome a new collective taking on the role, we have been in contact with them
regarding passing forward the London Anarchist Bookfair's resources; social media
accounts, equipment, finances and the like which have been built up through previous
events and for their collective general endorsement of Bookfair 2020 so we can hit the
ground running and maintain lineage. We hope that those inclined will continue with their
good work with the Bookfair 2020 collective!
In respect to the events in 2017 where transphobic material was shared in the female
bathrooms and the main hall, we wish to state that Bookfair 2020 will follow our comrades
from Bristol, Manchester, Liverpool, Edinburgh and elsewhere in providing a space diverse
in character and secure from xenophobia and bigotry in any vein.
Our solidarity is overt and complete.
Any politic which would seek to oppress, undermine or remove the rights and liberties of
others is anathematic to Anarchism and will find no welcome nor tolerance at the bookfair
itself or any associated event or space. To compliment our Safer Space Policy, a statement
of solidarity, inclusivity and pro-active community defence will be written and upheld
during the event with stall holders and attendees encouraged to take ownership of our
shared space and protect it from such reckless hate.
We do this to be clear that no aspect of oppression will be allowed within our
revolutionary spaces.
Solidarity and unity being key principles to Anarchism, we would like Bookfair 2020 to act
as a focus point for re-building cohesion in our community, fostering new networks and
developing stronger ties and understanding between us. Sharing knowledge and supporting
each others' personal and political development in good faith is the call of the day. We
shall ensure an array of workshops to cater for this and we shall host speakers on a
variety of topics from gender to ecology, refugee support to homeless solidarity and beyond.
Further to this we aim to make a dynamic and welcoming space which is accessible to all.
We will be providing crèche and youth space alongside provisions for those we hearing
difficulties, sensory issues and social difficulties. There will also be vegan food and
drink available.
If anyone wishes to get involved, we welcome volunteers from all backgrounds and
abilities. Whether you are able/inclined to plan the logistics, help fundraise, promote
the event or help us run everything on the day, please get in touch. We will shortly begin
a series of regular meetings, many of which will be open to attendees and spend the next
year working towards a grand event. If you have ideas for talks, workshops, discussions or
stalls or simply wish to book a space, please do not hesitate to get in contact.
We hope you will join us on and together we can build a stronger more resilient community
and forge a better future, one free of shackles of capitalism and the tyranny of the state
and strengthen our bonds of international and intersectional solidarity, mutual aid and unity.
We will be holding a meeting on the 10th of August in London, if you would like to attend
please contact us for the specifics.
Love and Rage
~ The Bookfair2020 Crew
Email:- bookfair2020@protonmail.com
www.bookfair2020.org.uk
------------------------------
Message: 7
Recently President Trump has said that he was capable of wiping out 10 million people in
Afghanistan in a week as a solution to destroying the Taliban but said that he would not
use this option. Nevertheless this is still a threat ready to be actioned if necessary.
This is not the first time Trump has made such threats. In 2017 he threatened "fire and
fury like the world has never seen" against North Korea. This might be interpreted as idle
bellicose threats to please his voting base and as examples of his brinkmanship in order
to obtain deals, but it should be remembered that Trump has ordered a $1 trillion updating
of the American nuclear arsenal and has pulled the USA out of the Intermediate Range
Nuclear Forces Treaty with Russia.
Equally disturbing is the Trump administration's policies towards Iran. In June Trump was
ready to unleash US warplanes against the theocratic regime in Teheran, but then backed
down, afraid that the conflict thus unleashed would destabilise all of the Middle East.
Trump has increased sanctions against Iran, and pulled out of the international nuclear
deal with Iran, in the process strengthening the grip of the hard line factions in the
Iran regime, and bringing hardship to the mass of the Iranian population. Incidentally the
US is updating the American arsenal in violation of the Nuclear Non Proliferation Treaty,
that being the stick they beat Iran with!
Through the use of sanctions the US hopes to bring down the Iran regime by 2020, thus
boosting Trump for a second term in that election year. On the other hand, the theocratic
regime in Iran is using the situation to fan nationalist fervour, and to thwart
modernising elements within the establishment and grassroots opposition, fairly recently
manifested in large demonstrations and industrial unrest.
Iran took advantage of the war in Syria and the emergence of ISIS to increase its
influence in the Middle East, in alliance with both the Assad regime in Syria and its
fellow Shiite co-religionists in Hezbollah in Lebanon and in Iraqi militias. Its own
imperialist policies have been strengthened, and this has affrighted both the US and its
allies in Israel and Saudi Arabia.For its part China, involved in a trade war with the US,
has stated that it will continue to trade with Iran. Russia too has re-asserted its own
imperialist interests in the region
We don't take sides in this conflict. We support neither Washington nor Teheran. We
support the working class internationally, whether in the USA or Iran against the regimes
there, and we look towards mass movements against military mobilisation and the drive to
war throughout the world.
https://www.anarchistcommunism.org/2019/07/28/we-repeat-no-war-but-the-class-war/
------------------------------
Message: 8
Communiqué of the Libertarian Communist Union - Lyon following the police violence and
attacks of racist militias during the victory of the Algerian team on July 19th. ----
Police violence and racist militia trained and organized ---- This Friday, July 19, 2019,
following the victory of the Algerian team at the African Cup of Nations ( CAN ), the fans
celebrated on Lyon and in the agglomeration the victory of their team. ---- In addition to
the usual unfortunate police violence, which reflects a racist system, we have witnessed
targeted attacks in Lyon by overtly racist groups. ---- Postcolonial policing ... ----
With each victory of Algeria in the final phase, we were able to note the same system of
"maintenance of order": blocking the bridges leading to the city center ("no Algerian
flags in the peninsula"), gassing massive all the district of the place of the Bridge and
use of LBD to scare and mutilate.
The instructions were clear: no possibility to gather in front of a giant screen, sale of
prohibited alcohol, use of smoke, firecrackers and banned fireworks.
The chances of celebrating the victory were very slim for the supporters of the Algerian
team and very big for the police to act ...
And that did not fail, the neighborhood streets were flooded the day after tear gas
canisters and bullets of LBD ... and the many videos show a neighborhood under the gas.
We also send our messages of support to the umpteenth victim of the LBD which has again
caused the loss of an eye to a young supporter of the Algerian team, Soufiane (from
Saint-Bel).
In other cities as well, the same postcolonial techniques were used by the police, when
they were not arrested by the city, promulgated by mayors nostalgic of French Algeria, who
have outright banned any gathering !
... and racist militias in action
The hate speeches of politicians do not hesitate to demand that the Algerian flags be
banned, or establishing a difference of nationality between those celebrating victory and
the French "with blood" ; have over the days prompted the passage of organized racist groups.
These groups had "carte blanche" this Friday, July 19 to spread their hatred and attack
fans and supporters of the Algerian team: they were able to walk in the city center,
hooded and armed with iron bars and telescopic batons.
Several attacks have been reported on social networks, then on the local and finally
national media (and fortunately that videos have been able to support the testimonies).
But is it a surprise in Lyon ?
Organized groups located in the city
At the end of June, the radical right-wing radical group "Génération Identitaire" welcomed
the reopening of its "l'Agogé" fighting room reserved for the nationalists (to understand
people of white color) and the one of his local "La Traboule" (in September).
This premises, which has been closed temporarily by the City of Lyon for its upgrading to
safety standards, is a place of spreading hatred and learning violence: this kind of place
allows the passage to the act in the public space as was the case on the evening of July 19th.
Generation Identitaire had also warned the "authorities" in a statement dated June 26 that
can be found on the social network page of the group "Gonitude" (the old official page
Identity Generation was banned).
We quote: "Génération Identitaire gives a month to the authorities to put an end to the
violence of gangs of scum."And" that'swhy we will resume if necessary, as in 2014,
anti-scum patrol tours in the Presqu'ile de Lyon if the authorities do not put an end to
these events. "
The intention was clear for Generation Identitaire: to hunt in the street all that does
not correspond to their vision of France and to act physically.
How can such a group still have two premises open to the public, including a whistle-free
sports hall and a room for training right-wing activists ?
Do we need other passages so that finally these premises are permanently closed ?
Although Génération Identitaire has a responsibility for the acts of violence of 19 July,
the militants of this group have probably been joined by hooligans Lyon customary violence
at the stadium and in the city center of Lyon.
Just see the band that met the week before in Bourgoin Jailleu for a friendly match of the
OL and the concert that takes place after the match in a neighboring bar ...
An article published a particular picture where we see "supporters" making Nazi greetings
and the same evening a concert of the group "return match" whose emblem on FB includes the
Totenköpf ( SS badge ).
This fringe of "supporters" attending the stadium and moving in away games clearly shows
his ideology (defense of the white race), and no doubt that to see supporters of the
Algerian team several times to celebrate. victory of their team had to mobilize them ...
This is not the first time that it happens: one remembers the "hunt" against the Turkish
supporters when the Besiktas came 2 years ago ...
Communist Libertarian Union - Lyon
PS
As a reminder, the Communist Libertarian Union is a new libertarian communist organization
created on June 10, 2019. It is the result of more than a year and a half of consultation
between the Coordination of Anarchist Groups and Libertarian Alternative.
https://rebellyon.info/Violences-policieres-et-milices-racistes-20954
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