Today's Topics:
1. Russia, avtonom: Great interview with Tekosîna Anarsîst.
Part Two: Message to the Russian-speaking comrades [machine
translation] (a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
2. ait russia: "Act 43": "Yellow vests" are returning to the
streets [machine translation] (a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
3. anarkismo.net: Fascism and its cure by Melbourne Anarchist
Communist Group (MACG) (a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
4. Catalunia, embat: Sovereign people, strong people (ca, it,
pt) [machine translation] (a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
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Message: 1
The second part of the conversation with comrades from the Anarchist Struggle is more
concise, but certainly no less interesting. Our interlocutors talked about the role of
their project in the context of the global struggle of the anarchists for a new society,
and also addressed a special message to a Russian-speaking audience. ---- It is amazing
how well the comrades diagnose the problems characteristic of the libertarian movement in
the post-Soviet space and beyond: a lack of devotion to associates and revolutionary
struggle, a lack of organization, as well as a culture of criticism and self-criticism. In
addition, comrades touched on the problem of prisons, which is especially relevant for
post-Soviet countries. At the end, the fighters of the Anarchist Struggle honored the
memory of the martyrs of the libertarian movement: Mikhail Zhlobitsky and William Van
Spronsen.
Hevale: how do you see the significance of your project in the context of the global
anarchist struggle? What role would the Anarchist Struggle group like to play for the
international anarchist movement?
Tekosîna Anarsîst:Organizing in Rojava as anarchists and libertarians, we can briefly
express our position with the words critical solidarity and internationalism. We are here
to show solidarity with the people of the region, the local revolutionary movement and its
ideology. At the same time, we want to develop a comprehensive and dogmatic understanding
of what is happening here. Our ultimate goal is to find new ways and approaches to the
organization, the revolutionary process, the figure of a revolutionary / cadre, based on
local unique experience. Our duty as internationalists is to defend the revolution
shoulder to shoulder with the inhabitants of Rojava. However, together with this, we are
here to understand local practice, to learn and gain experience in order to develop
ourselves as revolutionaries. Thanks to this, we will be able to build, establish and
develop a revolutionary struggle in other places. We do not want to simply copy the
methods, organizational mechanisms and ideological models from the local movement and try
to reproduce them in other parts of the world. On the contrary, we recognize that struggle
and resistance must be organized in accordance with the local historical, social and
cultural characteristics of a particular region.
We are aware that any modern movement of struggle and resistance has serious flaws.
However, our experience concerns, first of all, the European anarchist scene. Within its
framework, various centers of resistance remain atomized. There is a lack of ability to
formulate a revolutionary strategy, a comprehensive analysis and a revolutionary project
that could organizationally and ideologically link the individual areas of the struggle
into a global plan. We want to contribute to overcoming these constraints in order to move
the struggle forward. We want to create, develop and maintain an infrastructure that will
allow revolutionary anarchists and libertarians from all over the world to study, gain
experience, knowledge and various skills in the field of self-defense, social and
revolutionary activity. We want our comrades to have the opportunity to train, study and
work in various fields. Not just learning in an individual manner, but accumulating
knowledge collectively, taking responsibility and acting self-organized.
We also want to emphasize the importance of allowing queer people to participate in the
revolution in Rojava and study here. Our project provides an opportunity for people who do
not fit into the "gender norms" and binary, to come to Rojava. At the present moment, in
other ways it is still difficult to achieve acceptance to a person with non-binary
sexuality or identity.
Fighters of the Anarchist Struggle express solidarity to Giannis Mihailidis, a Greek
anarchist who received 31 years in prison for expropriating and armed resistance to the
police, and escaped from prison in June 2019
Hevale: What else would you like to say? Maybe something special for Russian-speaking readers?
Tekosîna Anarsîst:Well, this answer will be addressed specifically to Russian-speaking
readers, including those located outside of Russia. Russia and the post-Soviet border
states have similarities and differences, and Russian-speaking comrades can be found in
all corners of the world. Sometimes it may seem that we are speaking in completely
different languages and are under the influence of radically different contexts. Despite
this, there are many topics that we can tell each other about. Since we are now in Rojava,
where we are confronted with a reality different from the conditions in the countries of
our origin, we would like to make a number of self-critical remarks that can be addressed
to us as anarchists in general. Russian-speaking readers are familiar with the things we
mention firsthand. Some points of criticism, in fact, especially relevant for the
anarchist movement in Russia and in neighboring countries. This criticism was born of a
sense of ownership and comradely solidarity, it encourages people to ask themselves
questions that they might not have asked before, and / or look at these topics from a
slightly different angle. We are not trying to pass this off as an in-depth analysis of
the situation, we are rather raising questions: we still discuss all these things in our
organization every day and would like to share them with you.
First, we would like to point out some aspects related to organizational culture. We see
several problems that should be seriously considered.
A common occurrence in the anarchist movement has become a problem that we call
"substitute relationships." This means that people easily go into conflict within groups
or organizations and do not hold on to comrades and relations built with them, taking it
as a postulate that no one cares about the cessation of cooperation between specific
people, and there are many other people around who can continue work. Literally, this
means to make enemies for no reason and increase disunity. Typically, such situations are
repeated over and over again, and people change their comrades, teams and projects like
gloves. Individuals even make personal or intergroup conflicts an occasion for an
irreconcilable war. A bloated ego, a patriarchal competitive mentality, often ignores the
common interests and even the common threats that we all face.
At the same time, we do not have ready-made effective solutions for many issues on the
scale of the entire movement. For example, how to overcome the obstacles associated with
the economy and supply, which will allow us to build the movement on the principles of
greater organization and devotion, so that all our abilities are not subordinated to
simple survival under capitalism? How not to create competition between organizations or
members of one organization, as well as people outside it? How to build a holistic vision
of tactics and strategy of movement through dialogue and continuous improvement, but
without the imposition of centralized directives? How to formalize interactions so as to
overcome the informal hierarchy without replacing it with a party hierarchy? How not to
exclude people who make fundamental mistakes from the movement, and instead of a simple
exception, being common practice, give them a new understanding, not alienation? How to
effectively resolve conflicts? How to create solidarity capable of criticism - to build
comradely, but at the same time good in relation to each other critical relations between
people and entire groups?
Fighters of the "Anarchist struggle" at the celebration of the defeat of ISIS on the
Euphrates River in the village of Bakhuz
Here in Rozhava, we learned how to use a formalized tool to communicate mutual criticism
and self-criticism, which we call takmil, in an anti-authoritarian, constructive and
non-hierarchical, horizontal manner. At the moment, it is more difficult to criticize
comrades outside of Rojava. Criticism is often perceived as a personal attack and
disrespect, while those criticized build an insurmountable wall of strong defensive
reactions and their own ego in response to criticism. Takmil is not a way to verbally
defeat comrades, but rather a tool for delivering criticism in a caring, constructive
manner, taking into account our ability to change turned out to be destructive methods and
hierarchy inherent in thinking. This is the inevitable mark that the environment in which
we grew up left us. We are able to create our own values, own ways to build relationships
with each other. Criticism can be a gift implicitly implying faith in one's comrades, in
their ability to become better, arising not from aggression, but from reflection and
constant development. That is why it is necessary to develop a new revolutionary culture
of criticism and self-criticism.
Then inevitably comes a reflection on the personality of the fighter and the commitment of
the revolutionary organization. Lack of commitment is a big problem for the anarchist
movement. We all ask ourselves questions about how we can lead everyday lives and maintain
relationships with people, taking into account our political views? Are we too bogged down
in everyday life? How can we find a balance between responsibility and personal desires in
such a way as to provide support for some common line, which, on the other hand,
determines the life and existence of the organization? How can we develop the realization
that revolutionary construction is not just a hobby or a way to fill our leisure time and
take it seriously without losing sight of the personal goals and joys of life?
Finally, we lack a serious and comprehensive political science analysis that could replace
a constant response to daily events. Of course, it's also impossible to leave them without
coverage, but how can we prevent them from distracting us from building our own strong
position, developing a strategy and deepening our understanding of tactics? Now that the
FSB is waging a full-scale war against anarchists and controlling dissidents in Russia and
abroad, how do we, anarchists, need to look at self-defense in the physical / military
sense? How not to sink to the next elitist cult or machist shit? We need to develop a
serious look at the problem, not only sharply responding to pressing social and economic
issues, but also based on history, an understanding of what worked and what didn't,
looking for deep connections between the events of the current day. Simply put, we need a
holistic anarchist analysis of the picture of the world, and speaking about this, we do
not necessarily mean theoretical, academic research.
The funeral procession with the body of the fallen fighter "Anarchist Struggle" Lorenzo
Orsetti (Comrade Tekosher)
In all post-Soviet countries, the awareness of the relationship between the widespread
onset of patriarchal reaction, jingoistic patriotic nationalism and chauvinism, the
ramification of the prison system is born out of everyday experience, and you do not have
to be a political activist or professional sociologist to understand how the system works
and decide which side of the barricade you. So, any person from Russia or Belarus somehow
understands the scale of the prison conveyor or corruption. Naturally, there is a need for
self-defense, both in a counterattack and in a creative approach to defense, as well as in
building our own structures, forces and spaces ..
Our Russian-speaking comrades have a unique heritage: the historical experience of the
Gulag system and the devastating experience of building the Soviet Union, if you look at
these events from an anarchist point of view. This experience has radically affected every
detail of the economic and social reality in which we live today. On the other hand, a
patriarchal, chauvinist, homophobic state reaction is also a reality, going hand in hand
with the prison system and the issue of its abolition. Strong movements are vitally
needed, inspired (and, in turn, able to inspire new ones) by the narratives of liberation
movements, developed on the basis of the experience of revolutions, counter-revolutions,
prisons and patriarchy, for at least the past 150 years. Revolutionary creativity, direct
involvement in people's self-defense,
We also need great involvement in the struggle of comrades of all genders, in addition to
masculine, the creation of non-masculine spaces that will allow us to grow and strengthen
diversity and include various groups of people in the struggle. We believe that it is
possible to create a new narrative focusing on the abolition of prisons and on a new
understanding of justice, uniting people in the struggle against capitalism and slave
labor, combining the theory and practice of gender liberation and libertarian forms of
organization of society. On the other hand, there is a need for strong organizations and
reliable structures, as well as an open agenda that you can come up with when all the crap
comes to light, and the Kremlin will no longer be able to suppress social rebellion so
effectively - we must be able to not only offer, but also put into practice their ideas.
To conclude, we would like to commemorate the anarchist comrades Mikhail Zhlobitsky and
William Van Spronsen, as well as many others who sacrificed their lives for others or
continue to fight even behind bars. The legacy of the comrades who fell in the struggle
illuminates our path. We send revolutionary greetings to Russian-speaking readers and
thank you for the opportunity to share our thoughts, hopes and dreams with them.
The first part of a large interview: Difficulties in Rozhava
Especially for Hevale: the revolution in Kurdistan
Dmitry Petrov and Artyom Krasin
https://avtonom.org/freenews/bolshoe-intervyu-s-tekosina-anarsist-chast-vtoraya-poslanie-russkoyazychnym-tovarishcham
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Message: 2
Dozens of demonstrations of the "yellow vests" movement were held September 7 throughout
France in the 43rd weekly protest against the neoliberal policies of President Macron's
regime. The processions were marked by new clashes with the police and nearly one and a
half hundred arrests. ---- In Montpellier, where the "central" action took place, "yellow
vests" took about 5,000 people to the streets; at least 600 of them belonged to the "black
block": they wore helmets, hoods and black clothes. Demonstrators gathered in the center
of the city and marched. Clashes with the police sporadically flared up during the
demonstration; not only the march participants suffered from tear gas grenades, but also
tourists and residents of the city. The first violent clashes began to boil with police
special forces in front of the Saint-Roche train station. Guardians of the capitalist
order were bombarded with various objects, including firecrackers and stone balls for
playing petanque flying in police vans. Police used tear gas to prevent protesters from
entering the building. Then the demonstration moved along the boulevard of Jé de Pomme, to
go along the street of Saint-Guillaume to the prefecture. The hammer of the municipal
police on the Saint-Guillaume shopping street, near the boulevard of Jé-de-Pomme, was
damaged by hammer blows; it was written on it: "ACAB"; then the participants of the "black
block" set fire to it; the car burned to the ground. Puffs of thick black smoke swept the
street; the fire damaged some of the facades, but was put out by the firefighters. The
windows of a number of banks and shops were destroyed, especially on the Jau de Pomme.
Containers of garbage were burning. The battles on Comedy Square continued for several
hours. Police pulled reinforcements, gathering more than 400 agents. From there, the
procession returned to the building of the prefecture - the traditional object of
collisions from the beginning of the movement ... near the boulevard jeux de Pomme; it was
written on it: "ACAB"; then the participants of the "black block" set fire to it; the car
burned to the ground. Puffs of thick black smoke swept the street; the fire damaged some
of the facades, but was put out by the firefighters. The windows of a number of banks and
shops were destroyed, especially on the Jau de Pomme. Containers of garbage were burning.
The battles on Comedy Square continued for several hours. Police pulled reinforcements,
gathering more than 400 agents. From there, the procession returned to the building of the
prefecture - the traditional object of collisions from the beginning of the movement ...
near the boulevard jeux de Pomme; it was written on it: "ACAB"; then the participants of
the "black block" set fire to it; the car burned to the ground. Puffs of thick black smoke
swept the street; the fire damaged some of the facades, but was put out by the
firefighters. The windows of a number of banks and shops were destroyed, especially on the
Jau de Pomme. Containers of garbage were burning. The battles on Comedy Square continued
for several hours. Police pulled reinforcements, gathering more than 400 agents. From
there, the procession returned to the building of the prefecture - the traditional object
of collisions from the beginning of the movement ... The windows of a number of banks and
shops were destroyed, especially on the Jau de Pomme. Containers of garbage were burning.
The battles on Comedy Square continued for several hours. Police pulled reinforcements,
gathering more than 400 agents. From there, the procession returned to the building of the
prefecture - the traditional object of collisions from the beginning of the movement ...
The windows of a number of banks and shops were destroyed, especially on the Jau de Pomme.
Containers of garbage were burning. The battles on Comedy Square continued for several
hours. Police pulled reinforcements, gathering more than 400 agents. From there, the
procession returned to the building of the prefecture - the traditional object of
collisions from the beginning of the movement ...
At the end of the day, 6 policemen were injured; 9 people are arrested. The activist of
the yellow vest movement, 50-year-old Herve, who has been going to all their protests from
the very beginning, told France Presse that he welcomes the magnificent resumption of
demonstrations, as in Montpellier, "despite the repression." "We have shown that we are
always ready for action and that Macron and his government will have to reckon with us,"
the construction worker added, saying that he is "very poor after a hard working life."
In Rouen, where authorities banned any gatherings in the city center, clashes broke out
between hundreds of protesters and the police. The demonstration of the "yellow vests" was
supported by the local trade unions of the VKT. The action began peacefully, but soon grew
into skirmishes. Trying to break into the center, the protesters threw stones and
firecrackers at the police. Police fired gas against the demonstrators and dragged
barriers bursting back beyond the perimeter. The protesters smashed 4 shop windows (banks
and shops) and glass in the courthouse. Police detained 26 people; 111 warnings issued.
In Paris, during protests on the Champs Elysees, police detained 107 people. From
September 8, meetings on the Champs Elysees are again banned.
In Bordeaux, the police sought to prevent protesters from entering the city center, where
the ruling party set up its "summer university" in the exhibition park. Dozens of people
were detained in the park area; he issued warnings. Having gathered on Birzhevaya Square,
the demonstrators tried to break into the city center, and they succeeded. Despite the
presence of massive police forces, the procession reached the street of Saint-Catherine.
The movement of two tram lines was stopped. As a result of the day, 6 people were detained
and 5 were arrested on charges of closing the face or throwing objects at the police.
In Toulouse, the demonstration of the "yellow vests" was more powerful than all the last
weeks. "It's normal that there are a lot of people; this is the resumption of the
movement, which never died," the 66-year-old pensioner Francis assured. "And it will get
worse and worse!" One of the protesters hung a poster on the door of the town hall with
the inscription: "It will take as long as it takes, but we will not back down!"
In Lille, 1,500 demonstrators marched around the city for a banner announcing the
resumption of social struggle and the "convergence of the struggle" of the "yellow",
"red", "pink" and "green" vests. "We are all together, we want the government to
unambiguously change the policy and (...) a radical change can only happen through the
resignation of the government and the arrival of a political alternative," said activist
Alexander Chantry.
In Lyon, demonstrators gathered in Bellecour Square and marched around the city. The
prefecture, guarded by police special forces, had small skirmishes. On September 14, the
city was designated the venue for central protests.
Hundreds of "yellow vests" took place in the center of Strasbourg. Promotions and handouts
were also held in Montbrison, Saint-Etienne, Givors and other cities and towns of the country
https://aitrus.info/node/5316
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Message: 3
The growth of Fascism is ongoing. The massacres will continue and perhaps keep
accelerating until we have a movement that can both confront it physically and address the
political issues that give it life. This requires workers uniting across borders to win
battles that cannot be won on the national terrain. Whether we are talking about cars,
mining, garments or anything else, we confront global corporations and global supply
chains. Our response must be global. And by building a truly global labour movement, we
can not only defeat Fascism, but open the door to a workers' revolution that will do away
with capitalism forever. ---- Mass murders, and attempted mass murders, committed by
Fascists worldwide appear to be occurring at an accelerating pace. Since the Christchurch
massacre in March, there has been the Gilroy Garlic Festival massacre in the US in July,
the El Paso massacre in early August and an attempted massacre at a mosque in Norway about
a week later. This is a phenomenon of the utmost seriousness.
A Fascist group is a conspiracy to murder and deserves to be treated as such. It is now
clear, though, that Fascists carry out their deadly program not only through formal
groups. Recent massacres have been committed by individuals who engaged in on-line
discussions with other Fascists, each of them praising massacres and calling, in general
terms, for their replication.
Street mobilisations of Fascists must be confronted and, where possible, defeated. This is
clear and the MACG has stated this repeatedly, but it is not enough. It doesn't cut off
Fascism at its roots and hasn't prevented individuals rising from the sewers of 8chan to
commit their unaffiliated massacres.
The paranoid nationalism of the Fascists who are spreading rapidly is a response to the
inability of national governments to soften the impact of neo-liberalism on their
citizens. Nationalism, the common and unquestioned assumption of all capitalist ideologies
and also of social democracy, isn't working well enough, so the reflex reaction is to
double down on it. This environment is a boon to Fascists, since they take nationalism to
its logical conclusion.
Since Fascism arises from the crisis of global capitalism, the only thing that can defeat
it is a movement to resolve this crisis in the interests of the multi-racial,
multicultural and gender diverse working class of the world. At the moment, we're a long
way from this. In every country, the mainstream unions have a nationalist political
framework and even as a visible minority current, internationalists can only be found in a
few countries.
There are impressive movements in support of refugees in many countries and
internationalists are prominent in them, but the movements are trapped in a minority
position and are tackling the State where it is strong and we are weak. These movements,
necessary as they are, will not make the required breakthrough.
What can work? Only by harnessing the inherent power of workers in the workplace can we
turn the tide. An internationalist workers' movement can cut the appeal of Fascism off at
the knees, through demonstrating that the one thing more powerful than global capitalism
is the global working class. This, however, raises the problem of the appalling state of
the existing unions. Around the world, recent victories have been few and far between.
Instead, unions have suffered defeat after defeat, shrinking in size and retreating
politically. The union officials are plainly not up to the task of defending the
institutions over which they preside.
We need to face the hard knowledge that we have to go back to basics and rebuild workplace
organisation from the ground up. We are not dogmatic about organisational tactics here.
They will differ from country to country according to the state of the unions and the
environment in which they operate. In some countries, workers will need to build new
unions. In others, we will need an insurgency within the existing unions. And in others,
it will be best, at least for the now, to operate informally and possibly underground. In
Australia, the best course is likely to be a rank and file insurgency inside the unions.
It will avoid taking the positions of the union officials until the existing legislative
framework is rendered unenforceable. Any officials who want to co-operate with this
program should be worked with, but not relied upon.
The growth of Fascism is ongoing. The massacres will continue and perhaps keep
accelerating until we have a movement that can both confront it physically and address the
political issues that give it life. This requires workers uniting across borders to win
battles that cannot be won on the national terrain. Whether we are talking about cars,
mining, garments or anything else, we confront global corporations and global supply
chains. Our response must be global. And by building a truly global labour movement, we
can not only defeat Fascism, but open the door to a workers' revolution that will do away
with capitalism forever.
WORKERS OF THE WORLD UNITE!
*Article included in "The Anvil", Newsletter of Melbourne Anarchist Communist Group
(MACG), issue 8/4, July-August 2019.
Related Link: https://melbacg.files.wordpress.com/2019/08/anvil-201908-v-web.pdf
https://www.anarkismo.net/article/31543
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Message: 4
One more year, September arrives loaded with political significance in Catalonia. The
autumn of 2017 is still present, but this presence not only inspires us but also contrasts
with the current moment. Indeed, the Regime of 78 is still standing and is in full
counterattack: Spanish policy makes a sharp turn to the right, repression hits hard with
hundreds of open causes, there is no apparent direction and after a trial sham political
prisoners independentistas that the State kidnapped to stop our feet, we are at the gates
of a sentence that is expected to be exemplary. ---- For their part, the parties have
proposed several contradictory course changes. We are not interested in judging the
honesty of these proposals, but we do consider that they are not inspired by strategic
reflection but by fear: fear due to repression, but also to the growing capacity for
popular self-organization that implies moving forward with the construction of a new
sovereign society that indirectly puts its position and privileges at risk.
Some organizations have been buying these new stories while others predict an end of the
political cycle. We observe an increasingly questioned European Union, the forecast of a
new economic crisis and a growing number of conflicts around the world with a sovereign
background. These facts make us think that, despite the current period of stagnation, it
is likely that political instability will not be long in coming again. From Embat we
understand that the most sensible thing is to analyze the moment as an opportunity for the
accumulation of forces.
We believe it is necessary to do self-criticism, since too many energies have been
allocated to signal the "betrayal" of the rulers and too few to see what we could do
before it. Before the change of direction of the rulers, the people willing to move
forward with the rupture were not able to take away the leadership of the movement. The
causes are diverse, but the most important is not having been strongly organized to
imagine and promote an action plan that will overcome them.
Divided and alone, our forces are scarce and we often waste them by confronting ourselves
sterilely. This is well known by the parties and that is why political forces with
internal cohesion and broad militancy have been able to recover faster than those that
melt in internal crises. What they often do not seem to understand is that this is not
only valid for the parties, but is the essence of the political struggle. In this sense
the power of the people lies in the ability to coordinate our forces by putting them at
the service of a common project. Get organized
This was demonstrated on October 1, but then it was clear what had to be done (the
Referendum) while now the situation is uncertain and this causes that the associative
fabric that made that feat possible is not enough to face the challenge of clarifying what
direction we must follow and obtain the collective commitment to follow it. Thus, we see
the formal organization of the popular movement necessary. On the one hand, participating
and formalizing the different existing proposals (CDR, labor and housing unions, etc.) or
founding new ones if we find no other choice. On the other, working for the cohesion of
the movement under the same program of action.
And as for this direction that we must mark, and although our forces are limited and we
have no answers to all the riddles, we do have certain certainties: we know ourselves as a
people, now we have to exercise our sovereignty. From below, we have to build the
foundations of our society by providing us with the infrastructures and forms of
government that we oppose to those of the Regime. To the extent that we are making them
real, we must commit ourselves to them, leaving aside those of the State even if it
implies disobedience and confrontation with the current order. We must make our way of
life hegemonic, and make the regime imposed on us obsolete.
Independence is not real when declared, but when sovereignty is already an unquestionable
reality.
The struggle for sovereignty creates a strong people.
Only the organized people will be strong.
https://embat.info/poble-sobira-poble-fort
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