Today's Topics:
1. France, Union Communiste Libertaire AL #306 - History, 1980:
South Korean dictatorship challenged in Gwangju (fr, it,
pt)[machine translation] (a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
2. A-Radio Berlin: B(A)D NEWS - Angry voices from around the
world - Episode 36 (07/2020) (a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
3. Poster for 3 years of the fall in combat of Santiago
Maldonado By ANA (pt) [machine translation]
(a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
4. Turkey, Suruç Injuries call upon anarchist Vatan Budak's
death anniversary to Kadiköy on August 4 (tr) [machine
translation] (a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
5. Turkey, yeryuzupostasi: Anti-Netanyahu protests continue
spreading in Israel (tr) [machine translation]
(a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Message: 1
In French, we would say: "o - il - pal". Three figures which form the date of May 18, 1980, when the uprising began in the city of Gwangju,
now the sixth city of South Korea, in the province of Jeolla, in the southwest of the peninsula. In that year, to protest against the
establishment of martial law and the systematic political repression falling on opponents of dictator Chun Doo-hwan, the entire population
of the city stood up to the military in power. All while achieving in passing five days of total self-management in a city under siege. ----
Located at the forefront of the Cold War, forced to deal with an uninterrupted American military presence since 1950, the South Korea of the
1980s was far from being a democratic model. The civilian government, which took control after the assassination of General Park Chung-hee
in October 1979, proved incapable of containing the military's inclinations to regain power. On December 12, General Chun Doo-hwan signed a
coup d'état and very quickly reinstated the martial law that his predecessor had used regularly since 1972, under the pretext of fighting
the North Korean threat.
In reality, it is a question of leading to a forced march what liberal economists still falsely call "the Korean miracle" today: maintenance
of an underpaid workforce, criminalization of trade union movements, concentration of power in the hands of conglomerates (the chaebols)
like Samsung, LG or Hyundai, not to mention the absorption of exports by the American ally. In times of cold war, it was imperative for the
United States that the South Korean economy is a success and that, whatever the cost [1].
Conflict explosion
It was in this context of the crushing of civil liberties that a new academic year began in March 1980. Having seen their hopes for
political liberalization dashed by the coup d'état of December 1979, student unions and professors took the lead. a movement calling for a
real democratization of the country: end of military law, establishment of a minimum income and end of the extremely narrow censorship that
muzzles the press.
On May 15, 1980 in Seoul, a giant demonstration brought together more than 100,000 demonstrators. The Korean government's reaction is not by
halves: universities are closed, political activity banned, and military personnel are sent across the country to ensure that no one
deviates from this extension of martial law. The leaders of the democratic opposition are also arrested. Originally from Jeolla province,
Kim Dae-jung, former Democratic candidate in the 1971 presidential elections, repeatedly hunted down under the military regime of Park
Chung-hee, was sentenced to death for sedition and conspiracy.
Jeolla's resistance
The agrarian province of Jeolla in the south was long left behind in the industrialization of the country. Abandoned by the process of
economic modernization, the province has on the contrary distinguished itself as the bastion of the fight against military dictatorships. In
the 1971 elections, Kim Dae-jung, the native of the country, obtained 95% of the votes in Jeolla... Suffice to say that the news of his
arrest by the military helped to ignite the powder.
On the morning of May 18, 1980, in Gwangju, 200 students gathered in front of Chonnam National University to protest against its closure.
They find in front of them about thirty particularly hostile parachute soldiers who charge very quickly. The students respond by throwing
stones.
Very quickly, the scuffle moved into the city center where the demonstrators were joined by other residents around the buildings of the
provincial authority. This is essentially where for three days, the clashes will take place without interruption. On the afternoon of May
18, a 29-year-old man was beaten to death by soldiers. It is the first victim of a repression which will make many others, the soldiers not
hesitating to use their bayonets to wound the demonstrators during the street clashes.
On May 20, while the number of protesters rose to more than 100,000 people, the police and the army opened fire on the demonstrators. The
latter reacted by robbing the police stations and the armories of the city. Armed with rifles and rifles, the insurgents managed to push
back the army, forced to leave the city center on the evening of May 21.
At the same time, to remedy the false information relayed by the official media, a newspaper, Le Bulletin des militants , was distributed
for the first time on May 20. The same evening, the demonstrators set fire to the premises of the Munhwa Broadcasting Corporation (MBC)
television channel, which has obediently concealed the killings of the army and the police since the start of the conflict. A few hours
later, it is the Taxation Hall that goes up in smoke, carried away by the rage of the demonstrators.
This man with a determined look is an anonymous person. Leader of a popular combat unit during the uprising, nicknamed "Kim Gun" by
surviving witnesses, he will be assassinated by the Korean army when it retakes the city. This photograph is the starting point of the
documentary bearing his name released in 2019 in South Korea.
Five days of self-management
The Gwangju uprising very quickly went beyond the dimension of a simple student protest. On the night of May 20, for example, the city's bus
and taxi drivers organize a gigantic parade in support of the demonstrators. Since the start of the clashes, the latter were already picking
up the demonstrators to take them to the hospital, or bringing them provisions from neighboring towns.
Some even use their vehicles to block soldiers, or even to charge them. From May 22 to 26, this spontaneous mutual aid will take the form of
a popular organization in a town isolated from the rest of the country by the military [2]. The latter in fact only retreated to wait for
reinforcement, cutting off all routes and means of communication to the outside.
On May 23, 1980, the soldiers opened fire on a bus attempting to pass the roadblock in the Jiwon district and killed 17 people. During this
time in the insurgent city, popular committees and combat groups are set up. Led by professors, priests and lawyers, they tried to negotiate
with the military: the disarmament of popular militias in exchange for the release of prisoners, compensation for victims of repression and
the guarantee of absence retaliation. At the same time and despite the quarantine of towns, rallies in support of the insurgents will take
place elsewhere in the country: in Hwasun, Naju, Haenam, Mokpo, and Yeongam in particular.
American complicity
In the early morning of May 27, the Korean soldiers were ordered to retake the city by force. The fighting this time around will not last
forever. In an hour and a half, the soldiers took over, killing between 500 and 2,000 people, and arresting nearly 1,400 people on the
morning of May 27. For at least a decade, the Gwangju protesters will officially remain vandals in the pay of Communism and North Korea.
Even today, this reading is defended by the most conservative fringes of society [3].
Demonstrators opposing martial law gathered on May 18, 1980 in front of the provincial government building in South Jeolla.
Despite its stifling, the Gwangju uprising will have had a lasting impact on the Korean democratic movement. She notably brought to light
the key role of the Reagan administration in supporting the authoritarian regime of Chun Doo-hwan. In Gwangju in particular, American
cultural centers were regularly set on fire by pro-democracy demonstrators in the 1980s. Some students went so far as to self-immolate
themselves to denounce the anti-democratic bias of the United States.
A now essential symbol of the struggle for democracy, the Gwangju uprising has been the subject of an official commemoration since 2002
which has been held at the national cemetery where the bodies of the victims have been gathered since 1997, the date of their (late)
rehabilitation. Indeed, it was not until the democratization process of the late 1980s that light was shed on the Gwangju massacre, and the
mid-1990s so that those responsible for this massacre, including General Chun Doo-hwan and his successor , General Roh Tae-woo, be incriminated.
Even today, key players in the Gwangju insurgency, still alive, are present in the ranks of the two governing parties: some were then
opposed to the dictatorship, others already in post in the administration of the time. Moreover, for several years, a more demanding
commemoration gathering has taken place on the sidelines of the official gathering. Suffice to say that the memory of the struggle and the
repression are still a sensitive subject and that the embers are still warm in the southern half of the peninsula.
Nicolas Dupretz (Lille critical history workshop)
From massacres to rehabilitation
October 26, 1979: Assassination of dictator Park Chung-Hee, former collaborator of the Japanese occupier, by the head of the South Korean
secret service. Park had been in power since 1961. A period of political instability began.
December 6, 1979: Election of Choi Kyu-Ha, new President of the Republic, but without power in the face of the rise of the generals.
December 12, 1979: Coup d'état by a group of generals led by Chun Doo-Hwan. Choi Kyu-Ha remains nominally president.
May 17, 1980: Appointed head of the South Korean secret service, General Chun proclaims martial law throughout the country. Protests are
taking place in Seoul and across the country.
May 18, 1980: Beginning of the uprising in Gwangju.
May 20, 1980: 100,000 demonstrators occupy the city. The army opens fire. The insurgents plunder the police stations and armories of the city.
May 21, 1980: The army, forced to fall back, leaves the city to the demonstrators
May 22 to 26, 1980: Self-management of the city by the inhabitants. Organization of popular committees for the various essential tasks and
of combat groups to defend the city.
May 27, 1980: Recapture of the city by the military. Between 500 and 2,000 victims.
1996: Chun Doo-Hwan, accused of murdering protesters in Gwagju, corruption and high treason, is sentenced to death. Sentence commuted to
life imprisonment in 1997.
1997: In an effort at national reconciliation, new president Kim Dae-Jung grants amnesty to Chun Doo-Whan. His early release provokes
student riots in Seoul. Kim Dae-Jung is however a former opponent of Gwangju, a time sentenced to death for sedition under the dictatorship.
Chun now lives in his personal residence in Seoul.
Validate
[1] For a detailed study on the subject, read the analysis of Eric Toussaint in World Bank, the permanent coup, reproduced on the website of
the Committee for the Abolition of Illegitimate Debt (CADTM): https: //www.cadtm.org/
[2] " The Kwangju Uprising in South Korea ", George Katsiaficas, 1980, available at http://blog.cnt-ait.info/ . The article particularly
insists on the self-management aspect of the insurgency.
[3] This is also the starting point of the excellent documentary Kim Gun released on South Korean screens in 2019 and broadcast during the
last edition of the Korean Film Festival in Paris (FFCP).
https://www.unioncommunistelibertaire.org/?1980-la-dictature-sud-coreenne-defiee-a-Gwangju
------------------------------
Message: 2
Dear all, ---- Episode number 36 (07/2020) of "B(A)D NEWS - Angry voices from around the world", a monthly news program from the
international network of anarchist and antiauthoritarian radios, consisting of short news segments from different parts of the world, is now
online. ---- Length: 38 min ---- You'll find the audio on A-Radio Berlin's new website: https://www.aradio-berlin.org/bad-news-episode-36/.
---- Or directly on the networks website:
https://www.a-radio-network.org/bad-news-angry-voices-from-around-the-world/bad-news-episodes/episode-36-07-2020/. ---- In this episode you
will hear contributions from: ---- 1. Radio-zones of Subversive Expression (Athens): ---- * media foundation by the Greek goverment during
the quarantine ---- * the police violence in Exarchia some days after a squat eviction ---- * the violence and eviction of Victoria square
2. Crna Luknja (Ljubljana)
* antireport from Slovenian unrests
3. Free Social Radio 1431AM (Thessaloniki):
* the arrest of two anarchist comrades in Thessaloniki
* the latest developments on the shutdown and reconnection of
espiv.net's server
* the violence and eviction of Victoria square
4. A-Radio Berlin:
* Stop the eviction of the collective bar Syndikat
5. Radiofragmata (Athens)
* News from Greece.
6. FrequenzA
* interview with solikomitee 1007 about the street festival "resist-2"
7. Dissident Island Radio (London):
* a round-up of UK-related ‘B(A)D News'
Other audios from A-Radio Berlin in English here:
https://www.aradio-berlin.org/en/audios-2/.
Or visit the anarchist 24/7 online stream from the Channel Zero Network:
http://channelzeronetwork.com/
Enjoy!
A-Radio Berlin
------------------------------
Message: 3
Three years after the murder of Santiago Maldonado by the Argentine State after showing solidarity with a Mapuche territorial recovery, we
who still walk on the mapu (land) remind you. With fire in our hands and anger as a target, we will continue to fight for the liberation of
the land regardless of the borders. Burning and sabotaging its extractive industry, its huge machines and its faithful henchmen. ---- For
all who are not that fell to the heat of a barricade defending the land throughout Abua Yala, by Claudia Lopez murdered by the police in a
barricade in 98, by Matias Catrileo Mapuche murdered by the police after the recovery of a fund in 2008, by Salvador "Chavita" Olmos García
young anarcopunk from Oaxaca murdered by the police in 2016 in the uprisings that took place this year in that territory, by Macarena Valdes
murdered in a way that looked like suicide after fighting against a hydroelectric plant in her territory in 2016 and by all who resist and
fight this system extractivist that destroys the land throughout the world. Santiago, your memory remains alive in us and there is no better
tribute than to continue fighting.
This is a call to direct action, for the memory of our fallen, against those who destroy the land and in revenge against the henchmen who
defend them. It is a call to activate this 1st of August in all territories, regardless of flags or borders, against all states.
Source: https://anarquia.info/afiche-a-3-anos-de-la-caida-en-combate-de-santiago-maldonado/
Translation> Sol de Abril
Related content:
https://noticiasanarquistas.noblogs.org/post/2020/07/17/argentina-buenos-aires-propaganda-a-3-anos-da-morte-de-santiago-maldonado/
anarchist news agency-ana
------------------------------
Message: 4
On 4 August, the death anniversary of the anarchist Vatan Budak, who died in the Suruç massacre by the Suruç Injuries, a call was made in
front of the Kadiköy Süreyya Opera House. ---- In the call for action to the Kadiköy Süreyya Opera House on the 4th of August at 19.00 with
the label # SuruçDirenendir, "We call everyone to commemorate him and his 33s on the day when the dream traveler Vatan Budak became
immortal, to ask the account of the attacks and torture to his friends, to say # SuruçDirenmis." expressions were used. ---- As a result of
the live bomb attack carried out in Suruç district of Urfa on July 20, 2015, 33 people died and hundreds of young people were injured.
Anarchist Vatan Budak, who was injured in the attack and was hospitalized in Urfa, died on August 4 after his life struggle for 16 days.
http://www.yeryuzupostasi.org/2020/07/27/suruc-yaralilari-anarsist-vatan-budakin-olum-yil-donumu-olan-4-agustosta-kadikoye-cagiriyor/
------------------------------
Message: 5
Thousands of people in Israel acted with the request of resignation of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for his corruption case and his
failure to fight the new type of coronavirus (Covid-19) outbreak. ---- The actions against the Prime Minister Netanyahu in Israel, which was
affected by the second wave in the Covid-19 outbreak and where unemployment exceeded 20 percent, continues at full speed. ---- People in
different cities of the country, especially West Jerusalem and Tel Aviv, took to the streets for Netanyahu's resignation. ---- Upon the call
of the group known as the "Black Flags Movement", the slogan of "Return to Bibi (Netanyahu) home" was frequently thrown in the action
organized near the Prime Ministry residence in West Jerusalem. ---- The police, which blocked the roads leading to the street where the
action will be carried out, blockaded the area.
Some of the activists with black and red flags wore T-shirts with the "prime minister", referring to the Israeli Prime Minister.
A small number of Netanyahu supporters also held a demonstration in front of the Prime Ministry residence to support the Israeli Prime Minister.
Police set up a barricade between the two groups to avoid tension.
An activist was detained by the Israeli police for carrying the Palestinian flag.
Police attacked the action organized by the Black Flag Movement in West Jerusalem on Thursday and detained five people. (Source: ETHA)
Share
http://www.yeryuzupostasi.org/2020/07/26/israilde-netanyahu-karsiti-eylemler-yayilarak-suruyor/
------------------------------
Geen opmerkingen:
Een reactie posten