Today's Topics:
1. anarkismo.net: It's Going Down (A Rabbit Hole in Rojava) by
W.E.B. - The Utopian collective (a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
2. Polannd, WORKERS' INITIATIVE: "We don't want to harm anyone
- we just want to get the money back" - Club Punto is still
indebted to former employees [machine translation]
(a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
3. Crimea, Maidan, "green men" and anarchism. Interview with
Alexander Kolchenko [machine translation] (a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
4. Czech, AFED: "Anniversary" of the Network - Anarchists in
Russia have been facing a fabricated accusation for two years.
[machine translation] (a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
5. Comments from Catalonia By ANA anarchist news agency-ana
(pt)[machine translation] (a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
6. CGT-LKN Euskal Herria: Join a winning horse (or union) (ca)
[machine translation] (a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
7. Greece, Solidarity rallies with militant Georges Abdallah:
The Longest Political Prisoner in Europe By APO [machine
translation] (a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
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Message: 1
Support the Kurds! Defend Rojava! ---- The Syrian Kurds of Rojava should be defended
against the Turkish attack on the grounds of self-determination. Solidarity with the Kurds
should not depend on illusions in their forms of organization. ---- Revolutionary
anarchists have a long history of standing for freedom as well as socialism, overturning
the old order, and not siding with one or another capitalist force, no matter how ‘free'
and ‘revolutionary' they temporarily might appear. They also have a history of defending
the right of oppressed peoples to self-determination against all oppression and
imperialism. But when revolutionary anarchists have not kept this political independence,
the results have been disastrous both for them and for workers and oppressed peoples in
general.
The Kurdish people for multiple decades has been oppressed by governments in Turkey,
Syria, Iraq and Iran. Turkey has refused even to acknowledge that they exist. The Assad
regime in Syria took away the citizenship of hundreds of thousands of Kurds, only recently
partially giving it back under pressure from the Syrian Revolution. And Iraq under Saddam
Hussein gassed tens of thousands.
During the Syrian Revolution the Kurds managed to carve out a territory in Syria called
Rojava/ Democratic Federation of Northern Syria (DFNS) as an expression of their
self-identity. This was done under the leadership of the dominant party there, the
PYD/PKK. The result, a mixture of communal and traditional forms, is more
social-democratic than anarchist. One feature is that women for the first time have been
placed in positions of leadership. Also, in the past few years the Rojava's People's
Defense Forces have suffered thousands of casualties while allied with the U.S. to defeat
the fanatically fascist ISIS. Despite this revolutionary anarcho-socialists have an
obligation to defend Rojava in the name of defending oppressed people's right to determine
their own governance and alliances while not endorsing their forms.
But the It's Going Down statement
(https://itsgoingdown.org/call-to-action-solidarity-with-rojava-against-the-turkish-invasion/amp/?__twitter_impression=true@)presents
something else. It alludes to defending the Kurds and others as oppressed minorities but
at the same time is an example of political capitulation. While calling for actions which
are absolutely necessary to stop the Turkish invasion of Rojava/DFNS, it also politically
endorses the top-down PYD/PKK regime in Rojava/DFNS as an ‘inspiring multi-ethnic
experiment'; and, by implication, sides with imperialism.
Why is the PYD/PKK administration in Rojava top-down? There are two angles from which to
look at the question. First is the history of the PYD/PKK itself. The party began as a
more-or-less traditional Third World/Stalinist vanguard with a Great Leader, Abdullah
Ocalan, and a sometimes-lethal internal discipline. It conducted years of ultimately
unsuccessful guerrilla warfare against the Turkish military using training camps in Syria
with the consent of the Assad regime. As it was being defeated, Ocalan, began to formulate
a new program, which continued after he was imprisoned and read Murray Bookchin. He later
called it democratic confederalism and it appeared to be 180° away from guerilla
vanguardism. And following its Great Leader, the party adopted it without a bloody faction
fight. But its functioning remained the same. In effect the PYD/PKK put revolutionary
libertarian, anarchist-and feminist-costume on a traditional vanguard party. Therefore,
while the cantons, councils, women's brigades and other institutions in Rojava appear to
be autonomous and egalitarian, they are really controlled by the PYD/PKK in the same
manner that the Communist Party of the Soviet Union managed the seemingly democratic
institutions of its day. Rojava really is a state dressed as a non-state.
The second angle is to look at revolutions themselves and compare them to the movement in
Rojava. First, real revolutions involve the mobilization of masses of people against
kings, landlords, colonialists and capitalists, with the people creating their own
institutions-real dual power-in the process. Frequently the authoritarian reactionaries
put together an international coalition to crush them. A case in point occurred in
neighboring Syria proper, where hundreds of thousands marched, struck, boycotted and took
up arms for years against the Assad family dictatorship. Inspired In part by local
anarchists, they organized grassroots Local Coordination Committees to advance the
struggle and govern themselves, and the regime in turn brought in Russia, Iran and forces
in Lebanon to put down the revolution. Whatever the outcome there, no such thing happened
in Rojava. In fact, as the Syrian Revolution gained steam, the PYD/PKK opposed it as
thousands of Kurds marched in support. Later the party made a deal with the Assad regime
to stand aside so it could withdraw from Rojava and redeploy its forces. Only then did the
‘Rojava revolution' take place. Thus, like Macbeth in the Second Prophecy, the ‘Rojava
revolution' has been cursed from the beginning.
Whatever ‘revolution' has occurred in Rojava has been in opposition to and at the expense
of the real Syrian Revolution next door. And despite whatever egalitarian features it may
have, it has been more of a traditional first stage of a Stalinist/Maoist two-stage
revolution than even an attempt to sweep away the old order. That is, the businesses,
landlords and tribal leaders largely have been left intact. (Absentee landlords have the
legal right to return and reclaim their lands).
Therefore, for anarchists to defend a top-down regime, no matter how critically, is to
defend its essential authoritarianism. And it also leads down the rabbit hole of
apologizing for its ‘mistakes' and ‘contradictions' like opposing the Syrian Revolution,
collaborating with the U.S. and Assad, and failing to give real power to the people. (This
does not mean that as oppressed people, those in Rojava don't have the right to seek such
alliances). Moreover, it legitimizes not defending other oppressed peoples against
imperialism because of disagreements over their political systems; for example, Iran,
Ukraine, the Baltic and Central Asian states, Venezuela and Assadist Syria against U.S. or
Russian imperialism.
However, IGD leads down more rabbit holes, in this case by omission. It correctly calls
for an end to the Turkish invasion, but it does not demand the withdrawal of all the
imperialist forces that have been bloodily meddling in the area for years. It does not
demand the departure of the U.S. (which is still there despite Trump's order), Russia,
Iran, Israel, and Saudi Arabia and the Gulf states. Moreover, it fails to call for the
withdrawal of the Assad regime with its long history of oppressing the Kurds.
In particular, by not demanding U.S. withdrawal IGD puts itself on the side of the U.S.
liberal interventionists who raise the twin specters of U.S. betrayal and ISIS
reorganizing to push for sending more troops to the area.
By its silence IGD extends its capitulation to imperialism itself.
On the other hand, revolutionary anarcho-socialists should demand the departure of all
imperialist powers from Rojava, not just Turkey; and defend Rojava in spite of its
governance and collaboration with the Assad regime and U.S. imperialism, not because of it.
*written for The Utopian; A Journal of Anarchism and Libertarian Socialism
https://www.anarkismo.net/article/31607
------------------------------
Message: 2
In May, an employee who did not receive remuneration for work at the Poznan club Punto
came to the Employee Initiatives. This is the place where drag kings and drag queens
perform, important figures in LGBT culture. Punto functions as a club friendly for people
with different sexual orientation - but is it friendly for employees? The arrears towards
the person who came to us were repaid only after our intervention. We thought the problem
was one-off, but in September more people came forward who also did not receive a salary.
We talk about Punto with Pawel, Justyna and Darek. In the photo in front of the club they
hold pay orders from the Labor Inspectorate, obliging the owner of the premises to pay
overdue remuneration and compensation for a total amount of PLN 27 thousand. zl.
How did you work at Punto?
Darek: I have worked as a bartender since the club's opening, i.e. from September 2018. I
finished my work in June 2019. It wasn't easy: you have to do everything to satisfy your
clients, you work mainly at night. However, I was very satisfied, I could meet many people
and I wanted them to be happy in our club.
Justyna: I was also employed from September 2018 to June 2019. I worked as a bartender
help, supplied glass and ice, refilled refrigerators, cleaned, washed everything,
collected empty dishes from the tables.
Pawel: I did practically everything: I had the duties of a manager, I stood behind the
bar, I worked on inventory, invoices, goods, cash register, I took care of guests. It was
written in my contract that I was a manager, although I had the same rate as everyone
else. We were getting the same money. And then we didn't get them anymore.
On the 10th of the month, nothing was credited to your account?
Pawel: All in all, we never got a salary on time and we had to ask for money each time.
Our private commitment was not important to the boss. Larger problems began in February,
when the owner partner stopped dealing with financial matters, and then withdrew. We
received a salary for February at the end of March. The bosses made meetings. We were told
that the club is insolvent, that there is no money.
Have you agreed to work without pay?
Pawel: We were hoping that the situation would improve in a moment. We saw a really big
development of the club, but we didn't have any insight into the documents. We thought the
club was making a living. Each of us worked behind the bar, we saw what the orders are and
what turnover.
Darek: It lasted until the end of June. Already in April 5 or 6 people left. New ones were
not employed, so the rest worked more. We have heard weekly declarations that there will
be money in a moment. We lived practically only from tips, but we did not tell our
customers, we still hoped for improvement. Each of us cared about this club, because we
built it from the beginning: we removed rubble, painted the walls, Pawel even worked at
the construction site. When the club flooded, we cleaned after hours. We spent more time
there than at home. That's why we agreed to it. In June, it was again promised that the
company would regulate everything: we were assured that they would take a loan to finance
previous payments. But a lower loan was granted, so we were repaid only partially in March
and April. We no longer wanted to work for free.
What steps did you take?
Justyna: In June we were at the National Labor Inspectorate, we filed a complaint. We
terminated the employment contract because of a serious breach by the employer of
obligations towards employees.
Darek: I wrote to the boss a dozen times and asked when we would receive the money. In
June I got the answer that I know that the company is insolvent, but the boss is doing
everything to regulate it and maybe it will be explained in days. We have October, nothing
has been explained. We have sent immediate payment requests. Unanswered. The inspector
asked us to try to write again. We suggested paying the debt in installments.
Justyna: While we were still working, we suggested to the boss that we could receive even
days, because we didn't have a flat. For March and April we didn't get a normal salary,
but an advance payment, which we had to ask for. We have screenshots of conversations,
where we are asking for PLN 100, PLN 500.
How do you assess the effects of the Labor Inspection control?
Pawel: The control was not very effective. Punto got a pay order with immediate
enforceability. In response to the complaint, we received confirmation from the
Inspection. Based on the documents presented, it was found that the employer did not pay
Justyna 7,700 PLN, Darek 5200 PLN and me over 14 thousand. PLN gross, including
compensation. Weeks passed and nothing happened. The inspector can be contacted only one
day a week, at certain times. The inspector spread her hands and said that she could do
nothing, she did not have a firearm, she could not put a knife to her throat and make her
pay. That's what she used. For me it's a joke.
Darek: The inspector said we should try to get along somehow, because she can't do
anything. We were to wait or write a request for a second check, because the more
complaints, the faster the process can be accelerated. We wrote the second complaint and
nothing accelerated. A second check is in progress.
Have you thought about a labor court?
Pawel: Yes, but only now we are getting back on our feet, we have a new job. Paying debts
to friends is our priority, we can't afford a lawyer.
You applied to the Employee Initiative. The union tried to mediate, but your employer,
initially willing to talk, suddenly broke off contact. In this situation, we are
considering protests. Do you count on support from your environment?
Darek: I want to think that if someone is hurt, then he is behind him. We think that we
did our job well. After leaving we got a lot of news that we are missing, that we were the
heart of this club. It hurts the most. I hope that LGBT will support us. We repeated from
the beginning that we only want to recover our money, we do not want to harm anyone. That
is why we have been silent for a long time. The club has a great idea: it is a place where
performers, drag queens can show themselves and feel safe. We fought for it from the very
beginning. We wanted the club to survive, be an asylum. But since we didn't feel safe
there, I think this place is not so sure.
Pawel: Our parents also said they would come if there was a picket outside the club. They
will stand with us and fight.
Do you have any expectations besides paying back the arrears?
Darek: We think changes are needed. People work in Punto. I don't know if they have salary
problems, I don't know them. I wish it was obvious that they would work for decent money.
This is a big club, it put a lot of effort into it, I would like it to survive and let the
employees feel good there and the employer fulfills his duties. And I would like Poland to
have institutions that can do more frequent checks and be able to draw consequences from
violations. Now it is over and the inspection is over. I want to make an appeal: many
people knew us, they know what kind of people we are. They know that we never acted to the
detriment of the club, we always tried to put everything on the last button, we had ideas.
Many people knew that this is our home, so I turn to their consciences. We would not only
like to solve our problem, but also a more general problem: that gastronomy finally moves
forward, that you can work in accordance with the law and that people be treated fairly.
We are determined. We tried everything: talks, settlements, appealing to institutions. It
didn't help, so please support. And if we don't get overdue salaries, we are ready to
stand in front of Punto with the picket. We no longer have other ideas on how to recover
what is ours.
/ interviewed by Agnieszka Mróz
http://ozzip.pl/teksty/informacje/wielkopolskie/item/2533-nie-chcemy-nikomu-szkodzic-chcemy-tylko-odzyskac-pieniadze-klub-punto-nadal-dluzny-bylym-pracownikom
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Message: 3
A participant in the Crimean Maidan, Alexander Kolchenko, after the invasion of Russian
troops continued to be active in the resistance movement to occupation, but was soon
captured by special services. He went through the same case together with Oleg Sentsov -
both were sentenced to long prison terms under the article on "terrorism". In September
2019, they were released along with dozens of other Ukrainian prisoners. ---- We spoke
with a Ukrainian anarchist who spent five years in prison and did not give up his
convictions. ---- What movements did you participate in before Russia invaded Crimea? What
did you do? ---- Just a year or two before Maidan, I participated mainly in environmental
initiatives. A few years before, we opposed the legitimization of paid services at
universities, organized a march in support of this movement. The student syndicate, which
we collected, coordinated all these actions. At first he was a real force, but people
gradually began to lose interest, and the movement stalled. We also saw the strike of
Krymtrolleybus workers when they demanded the return of wage arrears.
In the winter of 2013-2014, the guys and I participated in the Crimean environmental
initiative. It was one of the ways to support the Maidan, but from an eco-protective
standpoint. When the green men arrived, we carried out anti-war actions. But we could not
come out as an organized force, put forward our agenda - we were simply ordinary
participants in these actions, since we considered this the most important.
How has the political atmosphere of Crimea changed during the Maidan?
The atmosphere, let's say, was tense. There were rumors that a "train with Bandera" was
going to the Crimea. The situation was "reactionary." I will explain my thought. At one
time, the Great French Revolution was opposed by a reaction - a movement against
revolutionary transformations. And Crimea can be quite compared with the French Vendée, a
place where the reactionary elite had broad support.
What changed during the invasion?
People who did not adhere to a pro-government position had problems; they were detained by
representatives of the so-called "self-defense of Crimea." They took me to the office of
the Party of Regions or the Communist Party, where they tortured and interrogated. The
Communists, it seemed to me, did not have strong support in comparison with other forces,
but nevertheless, in their office in the center of Simferopol there was a self-defense
headquarters - torture.
I remember how we went on a picket in support of transport workers, who demanded the
return of wage arrears. "Green men" approached them, with machine guns at the ready and
"politely" explained that it was better to get out. After that, it was clear that no
peaceful struggle against the occupying power in Crimea would succeed.
How have people changed? Was there a feeling that the townsfolk turned into rhinos, as in
the famous play by Eugene Ionesco?
Yes, the transformation was. There were a lot of drunk, much more than usual, all hung
with St. George ribbons. There was a grand celebration on the day of the referendum. I
remember the head of the family, who in March wrapped the naked torso with the Russian
flag. He was drunk and walked in this form with his wife and children, on the road,
getting drunk on vodka. Drunk sang karaoke Russian patriotic songs. Seeing it was very sad.
Many met the "green men" as liberators. This is strange. You have soldiers on the streets
of a neighboring country with weapons in their hands - with weapons that they must use. A
cautious attitude towards them would be logical, but some people still perceived them as
good guys. Now, they told me, there is no such euphoria. They had a lot of time to think
about their choice.
Many former enemies at that time united in the fight against occupation. What audience
entered the resistance movement, what were the ideas? You were literally on knives with
many of them, for example, with right-wing radicals.
Yes, we had serious disagreements, but when the Maidan began, right-wing football
hooligans also participated in it. There were situations when some small near-football
groups planned to attack us. But the old right hooligan helped us - he was ready to fight
and get in the face with us. He argued that in connection with the war between the
ultra-right and ultra-left in Ukraine there should be peace. I said that there can be no
truce, but during the revolution we could be either with the people against garbage, or
with the garbage against the people - such a section. So I saw it.
When did you realize that Russia in the Crimea is serious and for a long time?
For me, this became clear only after my detention. Before that, I sincerely believed that
this should not be. Therefore, I did not accept the fact of occupation. I thought that all
this is temporary.
Have you considered going to the mainland?
I considered. Many friends and girlfriends began to leave immediately after the
"referendum". I was invited to Lviv by the comrades from the Autonomous Support (Ukrainian
left-nationalist movement, - ed.) , But I was going to continue the struggle. In Crimea I
had a family that I could not leave.
I did not expect that we would be able to change the situation. I did not overestimate our
strength, but I hoped that someone would be inspired and follow our example so that the
struggle would not stop.
What were your thoughts when you were captured? Did you believe that it would not come to
serious persecution?
When they seized, I had no illusions. Sanctions on terrorism articles are tens and tens of
years. I was in some confusion. I understood that this would be an indicative process for
intimidating the population. When I went to the rally, I didn't exclude the arrest and
term. But not at all what I got in the end.
All winter and spring Crimeans were told about the mythical "trains with Bandera". They
supposedly had to come to destroy the Russians. The most amazing thing is that adults
believed in these tales. Some time passed, but the trains with Bandera never arrived. In
order to justify the annexation of Crimea, a demonstration case was needed. And now we
all, including those unfamiliar with each other, were called "Right Sector" in the
materials of the fabricated case. Such a scarecrow did.
What threatened the invaders and their assistants among the locals?
If you know about the political situation in Russia, then everything becomes clear. It is
necessary to tie with political activism, to go underground or to leave. Many people are
missing. Everything was clear here and without personal threats.
How did your views develop in the conditions of the occupation, what conclusions did you
come to in the spring of 2014?
My views remained unchanged, I was an anarchist and remained them. I am convinced that at
least basic democratic values had to be upheld so that activism remained possible for the
struggle. Remembering the experience of Belarusian anarchists after the attack of the
Russian embassy, which led to repression, I thought about the dangers of the new regime.
What has changed in the system of your values during captivity? What new, important or
useful have you learned?
My views only strengthened. Any power of man over man and exploitation of man by man is
evil. Prisons do not perform any useful corrective functions, they are at least
ineffective, but in fact they are harmful and are a threat to a wide range of people.
Not only activists or people leading a criminal lifestyle can go to jail, but almost any
people. For example, under "people's" article 228 for drug use or for causing harm to
health during some kind of domestic conflict. The law gives repressive and punitive bodies
too much authority.
I would not say that I learned something new in prison. Rather, I became more cautious,
more selective in relations - I had to understand with whom and on what topics to
communicate. That's the whole experience. And so that to learn something new is unlikely.
How do you see the future of our country, what is important to change in the first place,
and who can do it?
It seems to me that it is necessary to change the political structure, people should take
part in the grassroots struggle against the authorities, against capital - at the place of
work, at the place of study, everywhere. Some kind of grassroots economic, political
initiatives, so that people try to influence decision-making.
The need for de-occupation and anarchism - how does it fit into your coordinate system?
I adhere to internationalist positions, but at the same time, the political situation in
Russia and Ukraine should be taken into account. I see that the situation in Ukraine on
freedom of peaceful assembly, on freedom of association is objectively better than in
Russia or in the so-called "people's republics" of the DPR-LPR, where the Middle Ages are
practically medieval. This all poses a threat to basic civil rights and the ability to
wage a political struggle.
What should Ukrainian anarchists do in the current environment?
It seems to me that economic projects should be organized - organized at the place of work
and try to shake the bosses. Wage and self-employed workers should fight against
exploitation. At the same time, it is necessary to organize consumer cooperatives,
organize campaigns against the rise in price of life, and try to create an alternative
economic space.
Do you as a Crimean have thoughts on how to liberate the Crimea?
I think de-occupation has no military path. This can happen only after the Putin regime is
overthrown - therefore, we need to support the Russian comrades in their struggle with the
regime, help them, express solidarity with political prisoners.
But what about Ukrainian anarchists with activists of other views? On what conditions and
on what issues would you build cooperation?
I am against an organized coalition with those people and organizations that hold opposing
views, but nevertheless do not exclude the simultaneous participation in some separate
actions with those whose views may not coincide with ours. For example, in environmental
actions, in actions to support Ukrainian and Russian political prisoners.
https://avtonom.org/news/krym-maydan-zelyonye-chelovechki-i-anarhizm-intervyu-s-aleksandrom-kolchenko
------------------------------
Message: 4
On Saturday, October 19, 2019, events were held in Moscow and St. Petersburg to
commemorate the fact that it had been two years since the police had embarked on a brutal
taboo case against the anarchists, the Network. ---- Two years ago, on 19 October 2017,
Ilya Sakursky and Vasily Kuksov were arrested and beaten up in Penza. They were followed
by arrests of others subsequently accused in the Network case: Dmitry Pchelinceev, Andrei
Chernovov, Arman Sagynbayev, Yulia Bojarsinov, Viktor Filinkov, Igor Shishkin, Maxim
Ivankin, Mikhail Kulkov. ---- It has been two years since the anarchists and anti-fascists
have been in St. Petersburg and in the Retirement Pensions, many have been subjected to
torture by the FSB during that time. There is an intense trial in Penza every day, and a
court in St. Petersburg has been stretched for an indefinitely long time. Two years are
not just words, it is day after day filled with suffering and struggle, humiliation and
hope, despair and solidarity.
The picket events in Moscow and St. Petersburg recalled the accusations of the Network
case all these two years and demanded justice and freedom for them, as well as
accountability to all the cops who tortured them.
Message from Vasily Kuksov and Ilya Sakurski to participants of Saturday's protest in
Moscow and St. Petersburg:
Vasily Kuksov: Greetings! I would like to personally thank everyone who is not indifferent
to what is happening for their support. But if I do not have this opportunity, I thank all
who support us. It is extremely important. The essence of supporting and publishing
information is not only that it can affect the time we spend in prison, but even more what
internal strength and incredible energy is provided to us by every report of events that
have taken place, every letter or postcard, that we get into our hands "from the other
side of the bars." Our case is not unique, many other people are unfair in prison. How
many were there, and still will be? I very much hope and believe that none of them will be
forgotten. It means that we all have something to fight for together and everything will
certainly succeed and better times will come! Take care of all, be honest and courageous.
Even if you are listening to this now you are already:) I wish everyone a good mood, an
optimistic mind despite the situation and great deeds! Vasily
Ilya Sakurskij: I have been trying not to think of lost time, torture and insults,
injustice and malice, lies and pretense that I have been around for the past two years. If
you were to keep all this in yourself, you would have to go crazy. Instead, I'm just
trying to look at tomorrow's day and think about why it's all happening. Depriving the
situation of meaning would mean perishing. One postcard I recently received said: "People
from different countries have come together to support you. It will certainly bear fruit.
We believe in you and you believe in us. "I want you to know that I believe in you and
that this faith gives me strength every minute. I believe that solidarity unites many,
even those who do not want to associate with anyone. I believe that we can all fight not
only for freedom for political prisoners, but also for other equally important goals. I
believe that we are all able to change the world, make it better and more noble. The
suffering of our loved ones, the sadness we have known, the fear that gripped us for the
two years of stolen youth - let all this become the price we paid for the opportunity to
stimulate you to work, for trying to destroy injustice in the name of common sense and
love. Let those who punish see and regret the consequences of their criminal deeds. Let
them see that their methods no longer work, that they caused the emergence of something
they wanted to forbid, punch into the ground, close. What doesn't kill us will make us
stronger! Please do not take it as an abstract wish, filled with the flamboyant words and
hopes of a political prisoner. I do my best to penetrate this text into your hearts so
that everyone can believe in themselves and in us all. We will win! Good wins! Oct 18,
2019 The suffering of our loved ones, the sadness we have known, the fear that gripped us
for the two years of stolen youth - let all this become the price we paid for the
opportunity to stimulate you to work, for trying to destroy injustice in the name of
common sense and love. Let those who punish see and regret the consequences of their
criminal deeds. Let them see that their methods no longer work, that they caused the
emergence of something they wanted to forbid, punch into the ground, close. What doesn't
kill us will make us stronger! Please do not take it as an abstract wish, filled with the
flamboyant words and hopes of a political prisoner. I do my best to penetrate this text
into your hearts so that everyone can believe in themselves and in us all. We will win!
Good wins! Oct 18, 2019 The suffering of our loved ones, the sadness we have known, the
fear that gripped us over the two years of stolen youth - let all this become the price we
paid for the opportunity to inspire you to work, for trying to destroy injustice in the
name of common sense and love. Let those who punish see and regret the consequences of
their criminal deeds. Let them see that their methods no longer work, that they caused the
emergence of something they wanted to forbid, punch into the ground, close. What doesn't
kill us will make us stronger! Please do not take it as an abstract wish, filled with the
flamboyant words and hopes of a political prisoner. I do my best to penetrate this heart
into your hearts so that everyone can believe in himself and in us all. We will win! Good
wins! Oct 18, 2019 who gripped us the two years of stolen youth - let all of this become
the price we paid for the opportunity to encourage you to work, for trying to destroy
injustice in the name of common sense and love. Let those who punish see and regret the
consequences of their criminal deeds. Let them see that their methods no longer work, that
they caused the emergence of something they wanted to forbid, punch into the ground,
close. What doesn't kill us will make us stronger! Please do not take it as an abstract
wish, filled with the flamboyant words and hopes of a political prisoner. I do my best to
penetrate this heart into your hearts so that everyone can believe in himself and in us
all. We will win! Good wins! Oct 18, 2019 who gripped us the two years of stolen youth -
let all of this become the price we paid for the opportunity to encourage you to work, for
trying to destroy injustice in the name of common sense and love. Let those who punish see
and regret the consequences of their criminal deeds. Let them see that their methods no
longer work, that they caused the emergence of something they wanted to forbid, punch into
the ground, close. What doesn't kill us will make us stronger! Please do not take it as an
abstract wish, filled with the flamboyant words and hopes of a political prisoner. I do my
best to penetrate this heart into your hearts so that everyone can believe in himself and
in us all. We will win! Good wins! Oct 18, 2019 they see and regret the consequences of
their criminal deeds. Let them see that their methods no longer work, that they caused the
emergence of something they wanted to forbid, punch into the ground, close. What doesn't
kill us will make us stronger! Please do not take it as an abstract wish, filled with the
flamboyant words and hopes of a political prisoner. I do my best to penetrate this heart
into your hearts so that everyone can believe in himself and in us all. We will win! Good
wins! Oct 18, 2019 they see and regret the consequences of their criminal deeds. Let them
see that their methods no longer work, that they caused the emergence of something they
wanted to forbid, punch into the ground, close. What doesn't kill us will make us
stronger! Please do not take it as an abstract wish, filled with the flamboyant words and
hopes of a political prisoner. I do my best to penetrate this heart into your hearts so
that everyone can believe in himself and in us all. We will win! Good wins! Oct 18, 2019
Good wins! Oct 18, 2019 Good wins! Oct 18, 2019
We wrote about the case:
https://www.afed.cz/text/6787/airsoft-aneb-pripad-teroristu-z-penzy
https://www.afed.cz/text/6793/stop-muceni
https: / /www.afed.cz/text/6811/den-solidarity
https://www.afed.cz/text/6784/policejni-stat-rusko
https://www.afed.cz/text/6956/dokumentarni-film -Sew
Info in Russian:
https://avtonom.org/people/delo-piterskih-i-penzenskih-antifashistov
Info in English:
https://rupression.com/en/
https://www.afed.cz/text/7053/vyroci-site
------------------------------
Message: 5
What has happened in the last five days in Barcelona, Girona, Lleida and Tarragona shows
that something similar to Hong Kong is happening here: a protest that begins with
nationalist and democratic goals also leads to a revolt against repression and injustice.
---- What happens here does not have the proletarian class character that the struggles in
Chile or Ecuador have, but not everything is channeled by reformism, the movement that
seeks an autonomous Catalan government. ---- The outburst of a very young generation, full
of love and anger, has turned citizen independence movements into flames against power. If
one approaches the nights of fire, one immediately observes that there are thousands and
thousands behind each barricade, that there are very young people (15, 17, 19, 21 years)
who in many cases are too reckless, standing up. facing each other in front of the
gunshots of rubber bullets. Moreover, they speak Spanish or Catalan, indistinctly, and
that the street fraternity makes them have an attitude open to all kinds of slogans and
songs. The proclamations of independence are mixed with those condemning Turkey's attack,
the "govern who governs, we will be ungovernable" or "who sows misery reaps anger."
Although, to tell the truth, when night falls, there are few songs, what there is is an
intense sense of making history and that it lasts a long time.
Those driving the riots are a small minority of the thousands behind them, but they
symbolically support, clothe and imitate them, covering their faces even four blocks from
the clashes, sitting on a sidewalk.
From what happened two years ago, you can listen to the radio interview of the time, and
then are just urgent notes of what happened between 14 and 19 October and especially in
the city of Barcelona.
Airport Invasion
The first response to the ruling of the independence front (which fits almost every
organization in this chain) was to try to block the airport. This action was coordinated
by a new platform called Tsunami Democratic and characterized by technological
innovation. Through an app where someone can get off the phone (through a previous
password given by someone you trust), you become an activist in which you are informed of
the movement's needs, especially those within a kilometer of your surroundings: "People
are missing in such a place, they are accepting in another". Even the coordinators of the
issue, finding that there are hundreds of people in one place, can improvise action nearby
and surprise the repressive forces.
That day, roads and highways were blocked on the way to the airport, canceling over twenty
flights. The thousands of people who put their bodies in that action that day almost
entirely had a Catalan or anti-Spanish feeling. It is necessary to know that many claim to
have become independentists after the attacks seen or received on October 1, 2017.
When the Democratic Tsunami completed its successful action, asked (via application) to
leave the airport. However, many newcomers (many of them walking four, five, six or more
kilometers) decided to stay. There were also many radical independentists, by calling them
somehow. Independentists convinced that only peaceful methods were extremely limited and
that the expected censorship of the Spanish government by the most powerful governments in
the world could never occur. "You did it your way and it didn't work, now let's do it our
own." They resisted at the airport and were shot with hard rubber bullets. They are the
same independentists who would like the Catalan government, after the success of the
referendum on 1 October, to proclaim independence, to entrench itself in Parliament and to
The nights of fire
After the airport, anger at the brutality used that night by police, Catalan and Spanish
police bodies (battered young people, gas victims, with loss of eyes or teeth) spread.
Also by the recent arrests of militants of the Defense Committees of the Republic (CDRS),
accused of terrorism.
When demonstrations were held (especially by the same CDRS) on the afternoons of October
15, 16, and 17, members of the independence movement (peaceful and radical) and many other
outraged people attended. By night, those driving the riots are radical independenceists
and many young people tired of capitalist society. There are also those who have faced the
capitalist system in Barcelona for years, "the usual antisystems," in the words of the
Conseller (Catalan Interior Minister). Those who, despite their long experience in
resisting evictions and attacks on police stations and banks, are surprised by the
determination of these new barricade mates. They are surprised that almost the only
objective of their hooded neighbors is the police and the lifting and burning of dumps to
close the street.
Catalan police are also surprised by the new ways of acting: "It's as if they weren't
afraid of us, attacking our vans and trying to dump them, achieving it twice."
March for dignity, strike and night of anger
On October 18, in another of the actions called by the Tsunami Democratic, tens of
thousands of people arrived in Barcelona from more or less distant towns and cities. In
Catalonia, a general strike and demonstrations were called. In Barcelona, more than half a
million people took to the streets. After the demonstrations had been called off, the CDR
called for a prolonged camp at Gran Vía, which they said when more than 10,000 people
remained behind the burning barricades in front of the police strings. This deconvocation
at the last minute indicates the degree of autonomy of those who lead the disturbances.
Especially blunt yesterday, mainly because of the number of hooded men running from here
to there. Police and politicians say they have never seen anything like it. The burning
and destruction of stores during the March 2012 general strike was declared the most
violent day since the Civil War,
In the four main Catalan cities, and in the last four nights, there were over a hundred
injured agents, eight hundred containers of burnt garbage, two hundred police vehicles
with serious damage. It was especially surprising to use containers (construction booths)
to block the street and construction material to break the sidewalk into pieces and make
projectiles. Also the use of pyrotechnics, crossed nails to pierce wheels, slingshot steel
balls and the traditional, but very few seen on these sides, Molotov cocktails.
The crackdown was also brutal again, with loss of testicles, hearing or sight due to the
impacts of rubber bullets, cornering and indiscriminate beatings. Sixty detainees and over
thirty hospitalized. Countless injured and victims of tear gas or pepper gas.
Just hours before the start of a new demonstration called for radical independence, the
Jonquera border is still blocked by protesters and government measures, such as the
suspension of the Barcelona-Madrid football match, are taking place to try to reign the
peace of the cemeteries.
"No state will set us free"
Although this phrase was present in one of the bands of yesterday's demonstrations, many
more would celebrate a Catalan state or those who, instead of starting an international
revolutionary process, would engage in inter-bourgeois war. However, not many remember
that when most of the current arrested or exiled politicians were in Parliament during the
15M 2011 movement, it was a matter of blocking their entry, preventing them from voting in
the budgets of misery. . When shouting that "no one represents us" and "everyone is gone,"
the police attacked them. There were detainees and the same politicians said that the full
weight of the law (Spanish, but it does not matter) had to fall on the violent who had
closed their way, and also against a possible petition for forgiveness. Besides that,
Anyway, from Hong Kong to Barcelona, from Paris to Santiago and Quito, it seems that the
world bourgeoisie still has many sleepless nights from this increasingly global warming.
Barcelona, October 19, 2019
Source: https://redlatinasinfronteras.wordpress.com/2019/10/19/comment-desde-cataluna/
Translation> Liberto
anarchist news agency-ana
------------------------------
Message: 6
In a country where everything is tipped out and even suspicious is distrustful, it is
somewhat strange that we do not change our mind or side even when the stubborn reality
shows us how wrong we were. ---- This occurs especially in the field of ideas, beliefs and
unwavering adhesions. In these areas we meet very often with people who, lose or win, play
their soul equipment well or badly, never lose their passion for the corresponding colors.
We also see it with religious faith; If you are a true believer, it does not matter if
your god leaves you lying whenever you have a big problem or that your representatives on
earth carry the virtue and poverty that are demanded ery badly.
The same thing happens in politics. We know many citizens (because citizens like to call
each other) who have been voting for the same party for decades, without the betrayal,
corruption and resignation of their leaders making them rethink the usefulness or meaning
of their sacred vote.
In what appears to be the second division of politics, trade unionism, the behaviors are
usually not very different. People sign up because they know someone with a lip in the
pit, or to have a training course, and keep the card for the remains. It is forgiven that
they do not give you the promotion or the contract you were looking for when you joined,
or that the elected union seems to be more with the employer than with you: there you
continue giving them your vote and your contribution, in case one day you need them and
because there is to slightly approach the shoulder. There is even a minority - supposedly
more ideological - that endures with closed eyes (not to see the successive betrayals of
its leaders) and wants to believe that UGT and CC.OO.
If not, it is not understood that the majority unions remain majority and look like
unions. It doesn't matter if they do nothing and they sign everything. The important thing
is to be with the majority, with those who go out on TV, with those who paint something:
vote for the PSOE or the PP, be for Madrid or Barça, see Antena 3 or Telecinco, etc.
In this context, it is almost explainable that another trade unionism, more committed and
combative, is not able to attract more to those who, in these moments of cuts and
repression, would most need the support of organizations that continue to claim class and
struggle.
It can be understood that the social majority, that which is informed exclusively by the
means of the system, does not perceive the proposals and the results of alternative trade
unionism. What no longer has forgiveness from God or the devil is that people who consult
other sources, that militates in social movements or who attend calls of all kinds, have
the same model of mental blinders and do not value more rigorously the different behaviors
that they occur in the union world; a world that, whether you like it or not, affects the
rights and conditions of the vast majority, regardless of whether only militancy or
activism on platforms or collectives is currently visible.
And, despite the many adverse circumstances and some of its own failures, the CGT is
keeping its face with dignity. That is something that, objectively, not even the most
skeptical and distant can deny us. With much less economic and human resources, the
General Confederation of Labor is much more active and incisive than theoretically more
powerful centrals.
However, the recognition of alternative media and the exquisite left continue to be
denied, except in very honorable exceptions.
Because our presence, without ceasing to be insufficient, is no longer testimonial. Our
unions and union sections have led (and in some cases won) conflicts in many companies and
sectors: automotive, banking, telemarketing, cleaning, education, health, railways, sea
rescue, forestry, etc.
We have been the only union that has denounced ERE that affected thousands of people
(RTVV, Bankia, Santander, car multinationals, etc.) and lying down negative aspects of
important agreements. Our legal services have won sentences that recover or improve the
rights of the working class. With more desire and imagination that resources have been
uncovered cases of corruption in various administrations and public companies, our people
have been present in the most significant struggles of recent years: 8M strike, Marches of
Dignity, pensioners, kellys strike , migrants, secularism, housing, climate change, etc.
Recently even the most hostile media have had to account for some successful actions of
the CGT. The acquittal of those accused of the performance of the insumiso pussy, spying
on CGT delegates at Cofrentes nuclear, the announcement of a strike and the immediate
agreement in the Bicing agreement, the Amazon and Telepizza strikes, the CGT letter-
Renault to Felipe VI and the absence of the union at the official reception, the actions
to defend the train ...
The truth is that it is still insufficient, but less do those who could do much more.
However, the majority of the political and cultural left still has UGT and CC.OO. as the
reference unions. As long as this voluntary blindness persists, the workers of this
country will not recover the ability to improve our social and labor conditions.
Antonio Pérez Collado
https://www.cgt-lkn.org/blog/archivos/6068
------------------------------
Message: 7
Z. Abdallah has been held for 35 years in prison in the French state. Activated
politically in the early 1970s, at a young age, through the lines of the Popular Front for
the Liberation of Palestine, and later participated in the founding of the Lebanese
Revolutionary Armed Forces. Until his arrest, he fought against the Israeli state and its
occupation regime over much of Palestinian territory and southern Lebanon. Already, after
the six-day war in 1967 and the Arab-Israeli war of 1973, Israel had expanded its
sovereignty over Palestinian land, and its increased expansion led to its invasion of
southern Lebanon initially and a few years later. in 1982, until the capital Beirut and
the massacre of thousands of Palestinians in Sabra and Satila.
Throughout his many years in prison he will maintain a consistent militant and militant
attitude by participating in hunger strikes as a sign of solidarity with prisoners in
Turkey's white cells, Basque and Palestinian political prisoners, and will continue to
speak out for him and continue to speak out. Palestine from Israeli occupation. Despite
being entitled to his provisional release since 1999, all of his claims have been rejected
by the French state in line with the US and Israeli retaliatory requirement to remain in
custody over his years of fighting.
The Abdallah case is linked to the struggle of the Palestinian people, who nowadays at
great cost in human lives are attempting mass and daily demonstrations to break the
suffocating blockade imposed on the Gaza Strip - by land, air and sea - with the "security
wall" built by Israel and the Israeli navy and aviation raids.
On October 24, Mr Abdallah turns 35 years in prison for fighting with the Palestinian
people in a just fight against the Israeli occupation and atrocities committed by the
State of Israel and its allies, in exploitation and oppression.
The resistance of the Palestinian people to military occupation is a lasting thorn in the
timeless designs of world powers. The poor and excluded from elementary Palestinians,
despite their cruel policies of extermination, do not surrender, fighting for their
freedom and dignity. We want to show these elements of their struggle as anarchists, the
ability of the conqueror to oppose the powerful conqueror, the ability of the poor and the
excluded to revolt under the most barbaric conditions. International solidarity we want to
create divisions within the attacking sovereigns, bringing to light our own story, the
story of their struggles from the bottom up against all the times, creating the living
reality of freedom and solidarity, being the only real one the rise of modern totalitarianism.
We stand in solidarity with those who resist every corner of the globe in the struggles of
the oppressed for freedom, equality and dignity. And we will not leave any militant
hostage in the hands of the state!
FREEDOM IN LEBANESE FIGHTING AGOR ZORZ ABDALLALLA
THE FRENCH STATE KILLS FIGHTERS
SOLIDARITY IN MAHOMEN PALESTINE
SOLIDARITY CONCENTRATIONS
Thursday October 24th
Athens: Meeting at the French Embassy (Vas. Sophia & Academy) at 18.30
anarchist collectives "Circle of Fire" & Omikron 72, members of APO
Patras: Gathering at the French Consulate (5 Patras Str. And P. Feraiou) at 19.00
anarchist group "diminutive horse" - a member of the APO & companions
http://apo.squathost.com/6168-2/
------------------------------
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