Today's Topics:
1. The Education Section of FAU Berlin supports the petition
against precarious working conditions in FU Berlin (de)
(a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
2. ait russia: Ecuador, Chile, Lebanon, Iraq ... To be
continued? [machine translation] (a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
3. Britain, AFED, organise magazine: A Visit with DAF |
International (a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
4. Britain, AFED, organise magazine: Latin America and the
Caribbean are in Flames | International (a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
5. France, Union Communiste Libertaire AL #298 - An anchor of
the movement against climate change (fr, it, pt)[machine
translation] (a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
6. Britain, AFED: TURKISH TOURIST INDUSTRY TARGETTED IN BRISTOL
(a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
7. Russia, avtonom: Near Moscow City Court, pickets will be
held in support of Kirill Kuzminkin, who has been detained for
almost a year [machine translation] (a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
8. Greece, vogliamo tutto: Interventions for Saturday's
demonstration 2 November, Victoria Square, 12pm - Solidarity with
occupations and self-organized structures / Fire in concentration
camps [machine translation] (a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Message: 1
We support the initiative FU: Fair&Unbefristet. The petition is a good starting point, but
we think that it is not enough ... ---- Fridolin freudenfett (Peter Kuley)[CC BY-SA 3.0
(https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], change: bw-version. ---- [Deutsche
Version] ---- This petition is not enough. ---- Today's university is: ---- a feudal
structure where Professors are Gods who have all the power and capacity to take all the
decisions, a structure that reproduces and reinforces social inequalities related with
gender, race, class and other forms of discrimination oriented towards companies, markets
and profit, and guided by neoliberal policies. ---- FU Berlin is not an exception. ---- We
support the initiative FU:Fair&Unbefristet. The petition is a good starting point, but we
think that it is not enough. We don't want to focus the discussion only in small changes
of the TVL FU (the collective agreement of our university), but on how do we structure
work, research and study in our university.
While supporting initiatives like this one, we also want to think and discuss the
following questions:
How can our university become more democratic?
How can we improve the working conditions in our university, including administration,
(outsourced) services, IT, academic stuff and student assistants?
What can we do as a university to fight against climate change?
How can our university be more inclusive and diverse?
How can we organize ourselves to implement the changes that we want to achieve?
We don't have closed answers to these questions. No matter whether you are a student, an
office worker, a cleaner or a researcher: We need your support and perspective to improve
the situation.
Email: faub-fuberlin@fau.org
Website: https://berlin.fau.org/strukturen/bildung/aggregator?set_language=en
Flyer (for printing): fu-flyer5a_2x_en.pdf
Petition: https://blogs.fu-berlin.de/fairunbefristet/
https://berlin.fau.org/news/petition-gegen-prekaere-arbeitsbedingungen-an-der-fu-berlin
------------------------------
Message: 2
Mass protests against the effects of the neoliberal offensive of capitalism on workers
continue in many countries of the world - in Chile, Haiti, Lebanon, Iraq ... The
demonstration on October 25 in Santiago was the largest in the history of the country:
more than 1.2 million people took to the streets! ---- Protesters with flags and banners
walked several kilometers from the suburbs to the city center - Bakedano Square. This
square is also known as Italy Square. The demonstrators demanded a change in
socio-economic policy and the departure of the free into the barracks. The protest as a
whole was peaceful, but one of the groups of demonstrators tried to set fire to the
entrance to the metro station located on the square; clashes with the police occurred. In
another part of Santiago, police used water cannons and tear gas to disperse protesters
outside the parliament building ( https://www.newsru.com/world/26oct2019/chile.html )
Marches and clashes continue throughout the country. The troops and the police act with
extreme cruelty: open fire, beat, torture ... According to official figures, the death
toll is 19 people (the last mentioned is a Peruvian citizen who died in hospital).
Meanwhile, opposition politicians are trying to intercept the protest, peeing for dialogue
with the government.
+++
IRAQ
At least 21 people died in Iraq, where anti-government protests resumed. During skirmishes
and riots, 1800 people suffered. In Baghdad, water cannons and tear gas were used to
disperse the demonstrators when demonstrators approached the Green Zone, the area where
foreign embassies and government agencies are located.
Unrest in most southern provinces. In Nasiriya, thousands of protesters took to the
streets. Demonstrators broke into the administration building of the province of Di-Kar
and set it on fire. Demonstrators demanded the resignation of the government of Adele
Abdel Mahdi.
Protests against poverty, unemployment and corruption in the country began on October 1.
Peaceful rallies quickly escalated into violent clashes with police and military personnel
( https://ru.euronews.com/2019/10/25/iraq-protests-clashes )
+++
After a week of lull in Iraq, protests broke out. In Baghdad and other provinces of the
country, at least 40 people became victims of Friday riots, about two thousand were
injured. So, in the city of Ed-Diwa, the bodies of 12 demonstrators were found, who set
fire to the administrative building, but in the bustle did not have time to get out. 11
people were killed in the south of the country - fire was fired at them at the
headquarters of one of the armed Shiite factions. During the dispersal of the
demonstration in the capital, eight people died - they were hit by containers with tear gas.
The protesters say: "They are destroying the people with this expired tear gas. We want us
to have a different government, we demand reforms."
"What kind of government is this? People are starving, we demand the resignation of the
government, these corrupt authorities."
People are opposed to worsening living conditions, rising unemployment and corruption in
government.
On Saturday, the country's parliament was supposed to discuss the demands of the
demonstrators, but the meeting had to be postponed due to the lack of the necessary quorum
- less than 90 deputies from 329 came to the meeting. Against this background, Iraqi Prime
Minister Adil Abdul Mahdi announced the reshuffle in the government ( https: //
en.euronews.com/2019/10/26/iraq-dozens-victims-amid-mass-protests )
+++
LEBANON
Politicization is the degeneration and death of social protest. Unfortunately, this fate
threatens many protest movements. Lebanon reports that the protesters have forgotten about
the initial social requirements and insist on changing the ruling elite, and the current
army commander could become a potential hero of the crowd ... The naive belief in people
that it is enough to change the physiognomy of those at the helm will begin to be social
and economic policies in the interests of a " simple person," as stable and intrusive as
toothache. At the same time, they forget that the new rulers, who came to power in the
wake of popular discontent, will use a credit of public confidence and will therefore be
able to carry out much steeper neoliberal measures ...
Recent Posts from Lebanon:
euronews: For two weeks now, the wave of anti-government protests in Lebanon has not
subsided. On Saturday, again about 1.5 million inhabitants of the 4-million-strong country
took to the streets of the capital of Beirut and other major cities. They blocked streets
and roads, demanding the resignation of the government and the holding of early elections.
Demonstrators accuse the authorities of corruption and negligence. They say that leaders
are mired in the domestic political struggle instead of worrying about raising the
standard of living of the Lebanese.
In Tripoli, at least 6 people were injured in clashes with the military. "We demand an
investigation into each of the soldiers who shot these poor people," one protester says.
"Yes, these people are poor, they are hungry. We will all be hungry soon! People are
dying, they can't live like that anymore. We We demand a transparent investigation of the
actions of the army leadership. "
People take to the streets with national flags on appeals in social networks. In the
forefront of the protesters are students. In a country experiencing an economic crisis,
40% of young people cannot find work.
"The street is the only way for us to put pressure on the authorities. And we will not
leave the streets until our requirements are met. We know what we are going to, we are
realistic. We know that it will not be easy. There will be less people more, but we won't
stop. We are aware that it will be difficult to revolutionize Lebanon. "
Many Lebanese people living abroad support their protesting compatriots. In London, they
organized a rally outside the Lebanese Embassy. On Thursday, Lebanese President Michel
Aoun announced his readiness for a dialogue with protesters, but they rejected his call (
https://ru.euronews.com/2019/10/27/lebanon-clashes-and-protests )
"New Newspaper":
Anti-corruption rallies continue in Lebanon for the second week. According to various
estimates, around 2.5 million people today rally throughout the country, despite the fact
that the population of Lebanon is 4 million.
Protests do not subside either day or night. People spend the night in tents or in the
open air (at night at this time of the year about 30 degrees), on city squares, avenues
and freeways between cities. Owners of grocery stores and cafes, as well as ordinary
citizens organized free distribution of food, dry closets were installed. Musicians and
ordinary protesters perform from the stages: politicians of any parties are not allowed on
these stages. The work of state institutions, schools, universities, banks has been
suspended. Many shops, shopping centers are closed. Many countries held pickets in support
of the Lebanese rally.
The people took to the streets after October 17, following a discussion of the draft
budget for 2020, Communications Minister Muhammad Shkeir announced that a tax on the use
of the WhatsApp messenger will be introduced in the country. This would allow attracting
about $ 200 million to the budget revenues. Meanwhile, in Lebanon, mobile communications
are the most expensive in the world. Calls through the messenger provide an opportunity to
save. After the government seized the opportunity, the country reared up.
By the end of the first day of the protest, the initial demands for the abolition of the
new tax went by the wayside. Now the protesters demanded the resignation of the president,
the cabinet, the dissolution of the parliament - in connection with total corruption.
Initially, the point riots ceased - the army sided with the protesters: now the army units
are essentially guarding the rallies. Over the past week, four cabinet members have
resigned voluntarily. All of them are members of the Lebanese Forces Christian Party.
Others remain in their places, like the president and parliament. People also do not leave
the squares. Lebanese President Michelle Aoun refused to comment publicly on what was
happening in the country all week, and on Thursday morning it was announced that he would
reach out to the people at 12 on the air. But the straight line did not take place: at
first they announced the transfer, and then they broadcast on television the hastily
mounted recording of the president's speech. The monologue, cobbled together from pieces
that were obviously recorded at different times, did not say anything new, except that the
president was not going to leave anywhere, although he supported the demands of the
protesters regarding the fight against corruption in the country's leadership.
The meaningless, confused speech of 85-year-old Michel Aoun raised many questions: in what
state is the head of state? Can he lead the country? And who is leading the country if Aun
himself can't do this already? President Aoun has been in his chair relatively recently -
since October 2016. In the eighties, during the Syrian occupation of Lebanon, he was the
commander of the Lebanese army, in 1990 fled to France, from where he continued to
criticize the Syrian presence in Lebanon. Syrian troops left Lebanon in 2005, shortly
afterwards, Aoun returned to his homeland, was elected to parliament and proposed his
candidacy for the presidency, but the parliament could not confirm him in this capacity
for 2.5 years. Interestingly, after returning to Lebanon,
Actually, his assertion in the presidency took place only thanks to Hezbollah and Amal -
the Shiite parties in the Lebanese parliament, which are historically close to the Syrian
leadership. These days, Amal and Hezbollah are returning their duty: in fact, these are
the only forces that, against the backdrop of the protest, came out in support of the
president. And this support is worth a lot: Shiite parties have their own armed armies.
Hezbollah has an army with impressive experience in armed conflict: in Syria, on the side
of Assad and Iran, in southern Lebanon - against Israel. Over the past week, there have
been several clashes between Hezbollah and Amal supporters - and protesters, among which
there have already been Syrian refugees with anti-Assad slogans. (Officially, Lebanon
received about one and a half million refugees from neighboring belligerent Syria).
By the way, the current Lebanese army commander Joseph Aoun (president's namesake) is
considered by Lebanese political scientists as the most likely candidate for the
presidency if the current president resigns. According to the Lebanese constitution, only
a Maronite Christian can be the president of the country (the prime minister is Sunni, the
speaker of parliament is Shiite). Approves the president of parliament. Joseph Aoun is a
maronite, a public figure who has gained support from all religions in this protest. The
newly elected parliament (and no one doubts that the old parliament will resign) will have
no chance of not supporting the people's favorite (
https://www.novayagazeta.ru/articles/2019/10/25/82501-nu -ka-razgoni )
https://aitrus.info/node/5346
------------------------------
Message: 3
In September, one of our members got a message from a contact in DAF (revolutionary
anarchist action) group, based in Anatolia (I used to refer to DAF as being in Turkey, but
I was however corrected when I got there; they see Turkey as the oppressive state, which
they want nothing to do with!). I quickly piped up and said how interested I would be in
going along, mostly as I had met someone from DAF three years earlier, and had been very
impressed by them. Luckily I did not have to fight for the chance to go, and on 11
October, I found myself on a flight from Birmingham to Istanbul. ---- When I got there, I
had to find my way to one of DAF's 26A cafés, based in Taksim (the main district of the
European side of Istanbul). I was going to be picked up, but as the Turkish state had
invaded Northern Syria a few days before, everyone in DAF was at an emergency meeting.
When I got to the 26A café, I was met by several comrades, who gave me food, tea and a
long explanation of who they were. I was happy that one of them asked which pronouns I
preferred (they/them), and I explained my appreciation of this; they were shocked to hear
how some people who call themselves feminists are transphobic in the UK, and started to
talk about how this could be possible, also noting how ridiculous this was! Luckily
someone noticed how tired I was, and I was shown the commune. This was a two-bed flat,
with a living room, bathroom and no kitchen - but as it was based above the 26A café, they
did not need one. I found out that seven people lived here, and that they had strict rules
around cleanliness, and a no-drug policy because a lot of the local gangs involved with
the drugs trade were in the pockets of the state, and would happily beat up anarchists. I
was given the living room to sleep in, which had a fold-out sofa bed. That night, I heard
the police shouting and probably beating someone up outside; a regular occurrence, I later
found out!
Next morning I was woken at 8.30am for a shared breakfast (and more tea), where no one is
allowed to start until everyone who is sharing is there. I was told that there was a
Saturday Mother's protest a few streets over at 12pm and they wondered if I would come? I
replied that I would, and just before 12, we were off. I was advised to only bring my ID.
On the way there, we were patted down by armed police which held a line across the narrow
street, and just round the corner there were police in full riot gear lining the side of
the street and across it at both ends. We had to squeeze past them to get into the kettled
demo, which was outside the human rights association, down a back street. We were handed
out pictures of the people who went missing during the 1980's and 90's, these were people
who were captured by the state, tortured and then murdered. The mothers want justice for
their loved ones, and to bring about recognition of militarisation of the Turkish state,
and state violence. I was told that they had had over 750 protests, and that they used to
have their protests in a square, from which they were banned last year. Each week they
talk about a different person who has been disappeared by the state. I was also warned
that this is the first protest since the invasion of Northern Syria, and if anyone was to
mention it, then the police would be violent. Most of the people there were elderly, and
many of the mothers have died, never being able to properly say farewell to their missing
love ones, as they were never given their remains to bury.
The speaker started her speech, mentioned that this week's son's mother had died, so she
would talk on her behalf. Shortly into her speech she mentioned the invasion, and
instantly there was a shout from the police, and they started pushing forward. At the same
time, the police line behind us moved to block off the street leading towards the big
square, leaving us one escape route. I was grabbed by the arm by one of the comrades and
taken away. They told me that it would be bad for me if my face was recorded as being
there, as a foreigner. We waited round the corner and saw an older women come round the
corner and collapse, where she was caught and carried into a nearby building by several
protesters. The people I was with walked me away, and we went a long route back to the
café. I have to admit I was crying at this point as to let out my emotions; in the UK when
we see police violence, as anarchists we usually run to it, and are able to let out our
anger, unless we are massively outnumbered! But on the mainland UK, the police never use
tear gas or rubber bullets on protesters, as of yet! Anyway, back at the café, the
anarchists sat down and did a write up of the protest and put it up on social media,
sharing the video and pictures that had been taken. Having the café enabled them to have a
place to meet and write together.
A little while later that day, we went for a walk down to the harbour and got a boat over
to another district, called Kadiköy, on the Asian side of Istanbul. After a disorientating
walk through the little crowded streets, we got to the café, to find that a line of riot
vans and cops were filling the street. I was told this was unusual, and that there must be
a game on in the sports centre on the other side of the street. We sat down at a table,
and more tea was ordered and pasta. We were only a couple of meters away from a cop armed
with a machine gun. Everyone ignored him, so I tried to as well, though I was very
anxious. At this point I will explain the economics of DAF. The cafés are volunteer-run,
but all the money that they make is communal; it is for everyone in DAF to pay for what
they need to survive, and this includes rent, bills, clothes, and travel money, etc. If
you turn up to the café as a an anarchist, the food and drink and free. The rest of the
money goes to paying for their publications and activism. A lot of the members lived in
shared flats which they call communes, but they didn't seem crowded, as most of the time
everyone hangs out in either of the two cafés or at their workshop space. Whenever DAF are
running low on money, then they all go and get work elsewhere for a bit, to help raise the
collective fund. It is rather impressive, especially as they have such a range of people
involved, from young children and those in high school to workers and older members.
After having our lunch we went to their workshop, a few streets over, passing a few
friendly street doggos on the way. People seem to really love the street cats and dogs in
Istanbul and leave food and water out for them. In the workshop, I talked to the
translator for my talk and explained a few phrases like "cat herding", in that trying to
organise anarchists in the UK is a bit like trying to herd cats; very difficult, this
being due to everyone being in separate groups, and the remains of the individualist
anarchist ideology. I gave my talk about the AF and anarchism in the UK later that day,
but it didn't seem enough time. There is so much that goes on here, and so many things
that have come up that we have had to deal with and learn from. The usual current
questions came up (Brexit and Extinction Rebellion), and I went into details on these
topics and the problems with them. They seemed to enjoy the talk and we had a picture
taken before I ended up in another long talk with my friend Hüsseyin.
This is when I found out that they do not refer to themselves as Turkish! Oops. We talked
till late and I learnt more about their anarchist theory; in that they are revolutionary
anarchists, holistic (intersectional), and have long discussions so that everyone is on
the same page when it comes to theory, so that things can be decided by full consensus.
This may seem a long way to do it, but considering we have so many fallings out and splits
in the AF, I am starting to wonder if full consensus is a better way to do it.
The next day we went to a memorial back at the workshop. It was in memory of two of their
comrades, Tayfun Benol and Ali Kitapci, who died in a union anti-war meeting in Ankara on
10th October 2015. The MIT (Turkish state special intelligence), had given the information
about the meeting to ISIS, who suicide-bombed the meeting. It killed 103 people, and while
everyone was trying to help one another from the building, the police came in and gassed
everyone. It took the first ambulance 30 minutes to arrive. Mercan, another anarchist told
me how Tayfun was like a father to a lot of them in DAF, he kept trying to tell her to go
back to university, as he never got the chance! Tayfun was father to two of the members of
DAF, both of whom came to the memorial. At the memorial we watched a short documentary
about Tayfun, and they plan on doing documentaries of all the 103 that were killed. They
ended on singing a song about fallen comrades, and how we must continue fighting.
Afterwards, and with much more tea, I was told about how DAF have seen the PKK over the
years, from a Marxist organisation, similar to Maoism with Abdullah Öcalan as their
leader, a nationalist group they could never support, move towards the democratic
confederalism that it practices now. How, after their leader was imprisoned and the
headquarters bombed, the Kurdish people within the group started to self-organise, have
massive protests, and burn cars. It is now a people's liberation movement; it's still not
anarchist, but it's something that anarchists could get involved with and help to change.
Anarchists in 2009, who founded DAF later in the same year, were the first to raise an
anarchist flag at Newros (Kurdish new year). They were welcomed, although everyone kept on
asking them who had died, as black is the colour of mourning. Every year DAF hold Newros
celebrations, something that is banned in Turkey, along with a lot of other cultural
things, and many Kurdish people attend. I should point out at this point that DAF is made
up of people from many different cultures, including a lot of oppressed ones, and they
celebrate these cultures by putting on events for them.
When war first broke out in Syria, a lot of refugees fled into Turkey. The Turkish state
responded by going to the border, putting people into camps, bombing local settlements so
people couldn't stay in them, and by arming ISIS members. DAF members went to the border
and helped people across the border in both directions; getting those who fled from the
war across the border and deeper into Turkey to avoid the camps, and those who wanted to
go fight for Rojava and other free regions in Syria. It was difficult, as they had to
avoid both the Turkish army and ISIS, and they also had to find mine-free areas so that
they could help people through.
DAF had the idea to start up a route for anarchists across Europe to get into Northern
Syria to help rebuild the area and support people there, as well as push the whole
revolution in a more anarchist direction. However in July 2015, a media declaration of
some young anarchists and socialists, who planned to go and take toys for the children
stuck in Kobanî, and to stay and help out, was attacked by ISIS, killing 33 people. Not
long after this, the border became more difficult to cross, and is now closed for people
going either direction. Again it is believed that the Turkish state gave this information
to ISIS so that it would be attacked.
I also learnt about other campaigns DAF are involved in, like the conscientious objectors.
In Turkey if you're male and in your 20s, you have to do one year of military service. In
the years before, a million people might object each year, and would have to go to court
to defend themselves. DAF try and find these people and call events to invite them along
to, so that they can organise them. DAF have a solicitor member who can help them with
these cases. For example, it helps them to say they are a member of a conscientious
objectors' association. If the military court thinks you're not a conscientious objector,
then they may try and make you join the army, or you can go to prison. It is illegal for
them to do this, as Turkey signed a European agreement which says that it is a right to
conscientiously object, but a lot of people don't know this, so DAF try to raise
awareness. If you're gay, then you will given a pink paper, which says you're gay and not
a proper man, and that you are sick. One man that they helped refused to take the pink
paper, and got six months in prison for it. At the end, he got a different piece of paper
that told him he was mentally unwell. These papers mean that is impossible for you to get
a state job, such as a nurse or teacher. There is a lot of pressure on young men to join
the army, and family have ceremonies, like weddings, for when the young men go off to do
their service. Those who are from oppressed cultures, like Kurdish, Armenian and Allavi,
are usually sent straight to the front, as the state wants them to die. It has become more
difficult for DAF to organise conscientious objectors as Erdogan (the fascist president of
Turkey) changed the law on military service to one month if you pay £30,000 Turkish Lira
(about £5,000), which is a lot of money for people, or you can do only eight months if you
graduate from university. Despite the expense of this, it seems like many have taken it,
and there are only around 200,000 objectors each year now.
DAF also do a lot of prison support. From the 60s to the 80s, the left were big in Turkey.
A lot of people were unionised and the syndicalist unions were strong. Because of this, a
coup happened, and one of the first things the coup wanted to do was to separate the
political prisoners from the normal prisoners. As you can expect, there was a lot of
protest about this inside and outside the prisons, as they were good places to organise
people. Prisoners went on hunger strike, took over the prisons and threatened to kills the
guards. The state responded by knocking down the walls and ceilings of the prisons, and
throwing in chemical weapons; many were killed or lost limbs in the attacks. The two types
of prisons were installed, and that system remains today. I was assured that, despite
losing the ability to organise prisoners, it makes it not so bad to go to prison, as you
end up in ones which you're politically aligned to. So, as an anarchist you go to
anarchist prison, a great way to meet each other and develop anarchist theory and write
articles. It is still a prison though, and since Erdogan got into power (and the coup
against him, and following state of emergency), the prisons have become overcrowded, and
prisoners' rights seem to have been neglected. Prison rooms built for three people now
house 15. Letters never get to prisoners, and visitors are denied. DAF try and support
those prisoners who protest these conditions. Recently a Kurdish anarchist comrade went on
death strike due to being kept in an overcrowded cell, in the wrong prison (he wasn't in
an anarchist one), and not being allowed to see his family. Due to the publicity given to
him by DAF and his death strike, his demands were met and he is now with comrades and
allowed to see people. Umat told DAF of a trans-woman prisoner who is being kept in a male
prison and they are helping her try to get re-located into a women's prison. The comrade
that told me all of this can no longer go into the prison to visit people, as he is
worried that he will get grabbed and sent into the military.
I learnt a little bit about the other groups within DAF, the high school group who fight
against exams, the women's group who fight for so many things as patriarchy is worse there
than in the UK. It seems very common for women to get beaten by fathers and by husbands.
No-one will rent to you if you're an unmarried couple, or if you're sharing a house with
friends. They also have an ecology group; a subject very close to their hearts. And they
have a kids' group; they do workshops for kids, including one on how to make films! Their
newspaper collective, which publishes every month, spends a week writing and editing, and
then another week going to different places to hand them out. They also have several
others I didn't have much time to find out about. Each group it seems has their own
magazine and website. I later found out that DAF came together in 2009, forming out of
several of these groups. Each group meets weekly, and once a week they have a 9am to 11pm
meeting where everyone in DAF comes along, and discusses ideas and plans for the week and
upcoming events. They have several talks a month, including talks by internationals like
the one I did. They have even invited famous scholars like Dennis Fox, a critical
psychologist who I myself have been influenced by.
On my last day, I got a tour of Gezi park and other places of interest to an anarchist. I
saw the main streets with their tall buildings, built by Amenians who were then killed or
deported by the Turkish state. I also saw the square where the Saturday Mothers used to
protest, where now a new building stands, and the rest is cut up by a road, or fenced off
with a armoured vehicles filled with armed police inside. They showed me the Ottoman Bank,
which was occupied and bombed by Armenian anarchists in 1986. Then there is Gezi park,
where massive protests of up to one million people took place, due to Erdogan wanting to
build on it; thought it was saved, it is now cornered off at one end by armoured vehicles.
That end, I was told, is where a lot of the main clashes happened with the police. I was
shown the cafés which doubled as medical stations; all the doctors and nurses that helped
the protesters there lost their jobs, following the 15 day protests. I was shown the patch
of grass which was dug up so people could plant pepper and tomato seeds; though none of
them took, as it wasn't long enough! The site where the cultural building used to stand,
formerly occupied by the protesters has since been knocked down, due its history of having
banners hung from it. And finally, my guide showed me the new big mosque being built on
Taksim Square, intended mostly as a bit of a fuck you to the protesters!
To be honest I am rather amazed by DAF. They are very well-organised, and have done so
many great and inspiring actions. I feel that they have something that we lack in
anarchism in the UK; they are co-ordinated and have political cohesion. I feel that the
economy that they have, where everything is shared and being able to be together, enables
them to have long discussions and respond quickly to things that happen. This may be out
of necessity, as things in the Middle East (their words) are a lot more difficult for them
than they are here in the western world. Seeing what they are achieving makes me want to
replicate what they do, and makes me adamant that we must be more organised. If we were as
organised as them, and with the amount of anarchists we have here, I feel that we would
have a very strong movement. ?
Devrimci Anarsist Faaliyet - Revolutionary Anarchist Action -DAF
RELATED ARTICLES:-
http://organisemagazine.org.uk/2019/10/27/a-visit-with-daf-international/
------------------------------
Message: 4
Ecuador, Chile, Honduras, Haiti, Colombia, Mexico, Peru, Argentina, Costa Rica, Bolivia...
and counting. ---- The triggers might be different but they all have more than our blood
in common. Every struggle in the region is connected. Decades of oppression, poverty,
inequality, femicide, discrimination, racism, draconian economic measures imposed by US
backed neo-liberal governments, who are still selling our resources and displacing
Indigenous peoples, and who have no qualms about using the full strength of the army and
police force to repress our people and imprison, torture, disappear and kill anyone who
dares protest. Students, Indigenous Nations and Afro descendent, , Workers, Women, LGBTQ
people. ---- We can examine the causes of the uprisings in each country, created by
colonisers to separate us, but in a way the triggers are just the tip of the iceberg. It
is much bigger than that. It goes back to the invasion and genocide but we can just focus
on recent years.
We need to be clear that Ecuador is not just out in the streets because of the rise of
fuel prices, Chile is not on strike just because of the hike on public transport fares,
Mexico is not just destroying itself because of a few bad narcos, Haiti has grown fed up
with extreme poverty, Honduras is not just about the fact that the US approved president's
brother is involved in a drug dealing scandal.
Our continent never truly decolonised mentally and in practice. The Indigenous Nations and
Afro descendants never benefited from the processes of independence despite shedding our
blood in the wars, which were led by criollos (white children of Spanish born in Latin
America), the Natives were cannon fodder and abandoned when it was tie to re distribute
the lands and profits. Even now, communities and whole towns are being forcibly displaced
and even decimated, to make way for Canadian, US, and British mining and fracking
companies, whose revenue does not stay in Latin America. And the caste system imposed by
the conquistadores never disappeared. White people still rule, Mestizos work for them,
Indigenous people are in poverty and suffer great levels of racism, Afro descendants are
4th class citizens, their histories forgotten, even in the classrooms.
The other big issue is how they rule us and educate us. Corruption is ingrained in every
sphere. The ruling class is openly there to serve themselves. Fraud in electoral processes
has always been the norm and we are resigned somehow. If any government makes real
progress for the working class, they are murdered, like Chile's Allende, or charges are
made up to imprison and establish a far right government, Like Lula in Brazil who is
locked up with false charges of corruption which led to Bolsonaro's victory. Venezuela,
Bolivia, and, of course Cuba, have emancipated their countries and gone to a mediatic war
with the US and suffer blockades and even attempts of coup d'etat.
That is briefly the context where we move now. The eruption of protests in all the
continent are not shocking or out of the blue. And the protests are radical. There are
sectors who have even been traditionally conciliatory and centrist that have now been
radicalised, more so because of the fascist-like response of all the governments, which
are right wing like in Ecuador, Peru, Argentina, Colombia and Chile.
Indigenous peoples are now leading the struggle, and they refuse to be forgotten and
tokenised any more. They are fighting for all, and to get the rights to their ancestral
lands and stop the destruction of the environment and the theft of our resources. They are
keeping our culture alive and decolonised.
Chilean students, Ecuadorian indigenous are being killed, the media is silent, willingly
or shut down with guns. And little coverage has been done in the West even by the Left.
Haiti has been out in the streets for seven weeks and the no one knows. The work of the
capitalist system is not just killing people in protests but in the mind of the people.
Derogation of blame, dehumanisation, devaluation.
It is true the cartels in Mexico and Central America control a big part of some cities and
villages. Narcos are barbaric in their fight against each other and many innocent people
have been victims, murdered or kidnapped, or coerced into working for them. This has
always been the case. But, as a child growing up in Mexico, the level of drug related
crime was minimum, and , not glorifying them here, they built roads and helped towns when
the Neo-liberal governments refused to even open schools.
In the 2000s this changed with President Calderon, not just in Mexico, as the US blessed
the so called war on drugs which escalated on a war against civilians and anyone not
complaint. Nine women are killed a day, children are being recruited, people kidnapped.
The fallacy is the government is taking action. The government are the narcos. And the
police and army are involved to the core.
In South America the narrative has been simplistic claiming the revolts are about fare
hikes or petrol. It is not, as I previously stated. In Chile's 40 year old ‘new democracy'
they have suffered cuts and austerity in health, education and pensions. 30% of the income
is in the hands of 1% of the people. Water is privatised, constitution is from Pinochet
times. 10% of the state's copper industry goes to the armed forces, and Pinera's right
wing government has gone from promoting Chile as an ‘oasis' ‘a miracle' to ‘we are at war
with a powerful enemy" in one week. A very unequal "War" that has weapons and repression
on one side and pots and pans on the other.
All the governments facing rebellions now have, obviously, blamed Venezuela and Cuba, easy
escape, but in one way, Pinera is right in one single thing. The enemy is powerful: It is
the Chilean people. All the Latin American people are rising and this time I doubt they
are going to stop till we are truly free from oppressive governments and USA and FMI
interventionism. .
Solidaridad! Venceremos!! ?
Tais is a Mexican Native and activist based in London. She has been part of the student
and Indigenous movements in Mexico and has been involved in animal rights, Antifascism and
solidarity work in Ireland and the UK for many years.
http://organisemagazine.org.uk/2019/10/26/latin-america-and-the-caribbean-are-in-flames-international/
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Message: 5
The global march of 20 September has seen unprecedented mobilization. This is a
sustainable turning point in environmental struggles. The public authorities, not being
able to challenge capitalism, can do nothing but embellish the chorus of technological
solutions, and send the CRS. ---- The global march of 20 September 2019 against climate
change was an unprecedented event, with an organized mobilization at the international
level. This is a sustainable turning point in environmental struggles. As for him, the
government played thoroughly the repression map and sought to hinder the march organized
on Saturday, September 21 in Paris. Despite this and some other difficulties, the
convergence of struggles is on the way. Among the novelties of this mobilization, it
should be noted the participation of unions in the mobilization of Friday [1], including
teachers who support the youth. Saturday is a mixture of groups between yellow vests,
non-governmental organizations (NGOs), protest against pension reform. This famous "
convergence of struggles "is being realized. Retreats, climate, end of the month same
fight ! Yellow, green vests ... organizations, citizens ...
Of course, the state looses its cops to divide and sow disorder among the organized
people, opposing the " bad " black blocks to " nice " pacifists .... This arbitrary
state is there to try to mask the legitimate claims and leave room for the speeches of
experts. These experts in ecology are ubiquitous on the state media. Saturday 21 September
on France Inter (economic issue) an " expert " of Credit Agricole states that the free
and healthy competition will automatically resolve the ecological problems. The next day
on France Culture, we talk about the expertise of the IPCC, a technological breakthrough,
the merits of nuclear power plants, and the fact that the solution is not political but
technical.
Divergence of tactics
But the government's divisive maneuvers only work partially. We can not read these
articles denouncing three types " hooded " that caused the wrath of 7,500 cops. The cops
were not there by chance. Criticizing the strategies of others creates a lot of inaction
and undermines our solidarities. A common axis of struggle has been found on an ecological
and social basis. It remains to accept the diversity of tactics, citizen actions,
non-violent actions, or not ...
The different components of the movement need once again to sit down at the table to build
together an effective collective action, lasting, neglecting the action of anyone.
Naughty Reinette (UCL Aveyron)
[1] " Climate: how are unions preparing for the September 20 strike ? »- 19 September
2019 - http://www.rapportsdeforce.fr
https://www.unioncommunistelibertaire.org/?Un-ancrage-du-mouvement-contre-le-dereglement-climatique
------------------------------
Message: 6
As Turkish State continues its bloody incursion into northern Syria/Rojava, and following
in the wake of last week's demos (see link: Bristol Rises Up for Rojava), members of
Bristol Anarchist Federation took part in two Kurdish solidarity demos on the afternoon of
Saturday 19th October in Bristol. ---- The first was a 50-strong picket of the TUI travel
agents in Broadmead in Bristol centre. The demo was co-ordinated by Bristol Kurdish
Solidarity Network. As previously noted, the tourist industry is one of the primary
economic contributors to the Turkish military, with many operators owned by the same
holding companies that own the arms firms, and share directors linked with Turkish
President Erdogan himself. For the three hours of the demo, as we distributed literature
on the timeline of Kurdish resistance, displayed banners, broadcast continued speeches,
and spoke with passers-by, next to no customers went through the doors. At the same time,
10 activists also picketed the Easy Jet check-in at Bristol Airport.
For more than 15 years, the Kurdish people and their supporters have been conducting a
living experiment in democratic confederalism in the former Kurdish territories, which
were carved up by the Allies in the wake of WWI and handed off to the new states of
Turkey, Syria, Iraq, and Iran. Especially when considered alongside the greater recent
shift towards right-wing religious extremism in the Middle East, the Kurds and their
embrace of democratic decision-making, feminism, LGBT+ rights, and environmentalism, comes
as a breath of fresh air; although these experiments are in no way anarchism, it's
definitely a move in the right direction. But for Erdogan and his fascist dreams of a new
Turkish, Neo-Ottoman empire, this empire must be built upon the bones of the Kurds and
their dangerous ideologies, as well as upon those of the anarchists, revolutionaries,
Armenians, and other ethnic minorities that still remain inside Turkeys borders.
Demonstration outside TUI in central Bristol
The recent so-called ‘ceasefire' between Turkish State and the Kurds & SDF (Syrian
Democratic Forces), was undermined within hours of its signing on Friday 18th October, as
Turkish shells and Jihadi mercenaries continued their attacks upon the hospital in Ras
al-Ayn/Serêkaniyê.
Just two in a series of worldwide solidarity actions, it is hoped that, in combination
with other tactics, hitting tourism targets will contribute enough pressure to make the
the Turkish State's planned ethnic cleansing too costly to continue. These demos also
serve the purpose of inspiring hope in our comrades present in the region, as demonstrated
in the following (quoted from the press release of the airport picket): "It is hard to
describe quite how powerful it is for us on the ground here to see the photos and videos
of your actions and demonstrations across the country, across the rest of Europe and the
rest of the World."
In unrelated news, after the Broadmead picket wound up, activists had the dubious pleasure
of encountering an evangelist anti-abortion demo, just round the corner. They had taken it
upon themselves to harangue Bristol shoppers every Saturday, about how the anti-choicers
value the lives of unborn children, more than they do the lives of the adults who should
feel pressurised to give birth to them. But after being drowned out by a one-hour
impromptu street party and sound system dance-off, having their placards of pseudo-science
and mangled fetus graphics blocked by our banners or stolen, and a furious crowd laying
verbally into them, the misogynists soon fucked off home.
Update:
We returned to TUI again a week later for a much rainier, and rather smaller picket[these
things may have been connected -ed]. Once again we had good interactions with folks
passing by, and few kept their plans to venture inside - though a couple of people were
oddly fanatical about their loyalty to a travel agent! This is the third time the store
has been targetted, and it won't be the last as long as they continue to help fund the
Turkish State.
Once again the evangelist anti-choice activists were back. This time in higher numbers,
with go-pros strapped to their chest and a much bigger and sturdier banner (6´ x 6´ in a
metal frame). It's clear Bristol's anarchists and other feminists will have to work to
create a solid counter to this US style evangelical misogyny.
Tags: boycott, Bristol, kurdish solidarity network, PYD, Rojava, sdf, Turkey, ypg
http://afed.org.uk/turkish-tourist-industry-targetted-in-bristol/
------------------------------
Message: 7
Tomorrow, October 29, at 11.30, the next consideration of the petition of the
investigation to extend the detention to 15-year-old Moscow anarchist Kirill Kuzminkin
will take place. This time the meeting will be held in the Moscow City Court (Bogorodsky
Val, 8), since almost a year has passed since the arrest of Cyril. From 11 o'clock near
the Moscow City Court there will be single pickets in support of Cyril. On October 15,
when the Moscow City Court refused to appeal to Kuzminkin's defense against another
extension of his arrest, solitary pickets were also held near his building . The meeting
itself, as always, will be held behind closed doors due to Kuzminkin's minority. The room
number is still unknown, most likely it should soon appear on this link or it can be found
in the office.
Kirill Kuzminkin was detained on November 2, 2018 on suspicion of manufacturing an
explosive device, on November 6, the court arrested him, he was charged under Art. 222.1
("Unlawful acquisition, transfer, sale, storage, transportation or carrying of explosives
or explosive devices committed by an organized group") and Art. 223.1 ("Illegal
manufacture of explosives, illegal manufacture, alteration or repair of explosive devices
committed by an organized group") of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. At
first, some "unidentified persons" appeared in the criminal case, later during the
investigation the "organized group" was removed from the crime under both articles.
A Moscow teenager was taken out during a criminal investigation into the explosion in the
FSB building in the Arkhangelsk Region on October 31, which injured three employees of the
department. The incident killed 17-year-old Mikhail Zhlobitsky, who carried a makeshift
explosive device into the building. According to the investigation, Kuzminkin and
Zhlobitsky corresponded shortly before the death of Mikhail on the manufacture of
explosive devices. According to relatives, there is no evidence that the investigation is
right: the boy is fond of chemistry, during the search, substances such as nitrate, sugar,
nail polish remover, etc., which there is nothing illegal in, were seized. According to
lawyer Cyril, it does not follow from the examinations that explosives could have been made.
All the while in custody, Kuzminkin is remotely studying at a school that has an agreement
with SIZO-5 Vodnik. Recently, a teacher could not pass him a math textbook. Earlier, in
the same pre-trial detention center there was another political prisoner-anarchist - a
postgraduate student at the Moscow State University, Azat Miftakhov (later he was
transferred). The representative of the support group, Azat, said that there were also
problems with the transfer of mathematical literature to him in jail-5.
In early summer, Cyril spent a month at the Institute. Serbian on psychiatric examination,
which recognized him sane.
On September 30, a media report appeared that employees of the Investigative Committee for
Moscow were preparing documents to bring Kuzminkin a new charge under a more serious
article about an attempt to commit a terrorist attack (Article 30, Article 205 of the
Criminal Code). According to relatives of the teenager, in this way they tried to
intimidate and persuade him to plead guilty. However, on October 4, the day the
investigation ended, it turned out that the composition of the charge remained the same -
Art. 222.1 h. 1 and Article 223.1 h. 1 of the Criminal Code. Now we are getting acquainted
with the materials of the case, which will soon be referred to court. Kirill did not admit
blame.
Detailed article on the case of Kirill Kuzminkin in Novaya Gazeta
Now it's hard for his family not only morally, but also financially. Cyril needs money to
pay a lawyer. Alfa-Bank card for Kirill's mother: 5559 4936 9993 0823 (Kuzminkina Nadezhda
Vladimirovna)
Address for letters: 125130, Moscow, Vyborgskaya St., 20, PKU SIZO-5, Kuzminkin Kirill
Igorevich, born 2004 Or write using the Rosuznik project .Greece,
https://avtonom.org/news/okolo-mosgorsuda-proydut-pikety-v-podderzhku-kirilla-kuzminkina-pochti-god-nahodyashchegosya-v
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Message: 8
Interventions ahead of Saturday's demonstration November 2, 2019 take place in the
neighborhoods of Petralona, Koukaki, Nea Smyrna and New World . ---- Posters , banners,
text sharing at Metro stations, ISAPs and schools (12 ° and 36 ° Lower Petralona, 43 ° New
World) are carried out by the anarchist collegial Vogliamo tutto e per tutti and will
continue until the following days. on Saturday, November 2, 2019. ---- In addition to
texts in Greek, the texts are also translated into Arabic, English, Farsi and Romanian in
an effort to create communities of struggle between locals and immigrants and to fight
together against state and capital. ---- Collective movements are part of the propaganda
of the demonstration on November 2 and advocate solidarity with occupations and
self-organized structures, the destruction of concentration camps and the common struggles
of local and immigrants against poverty, fascism, fascism, fascism, exploitation.
Demonstration Saturday 2 November 2019, Victoria Square, 12pm
https://vogliamotutto.espivblogs.net/2019/10/29/paremvaseis-demo-2-november/
------------------------------
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