Today's Topics:
1. Czech, AFED: Our bodies, our choice -- For the past six
weeks, people in Poland have been taking to the streets to
protest the restrictions on the abortion law. [machine
translation] (a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
weeks, people in Poland have been taking to the streets to
protest the restrictions on the abortion law. [machine
translation] (a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
2. France, Union Communiste Libertaire UCL AL #311 -
Armenia-Azerbaijan: The co-responsibility of the
Armenia-Azerbaijan: The co-responsibility of the
nationalist gear
(de, it, fr, pt)[machine translation] (a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
(de, it, fr, pt)[machine translation] (a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
3. Union Communiste Libertaire interview die plattform!
(a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
(a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
4. clarification about the Iranian and Afghan Anarchists
federation Era that, they formed recently. (fr)
federation Era that, they formed recently. (fr)
(a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
5. Poland, ZSP: Illegal working conditions at Firma Ksiegarska
Jaroslaw Granos [machine translation] (a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
Jaroslaw Granos [machine translation] (a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
6. Poland, ozzip: Warsaw IP commissions to Trzaskowski: higher
salaries in public services instead of police
salaries in public services instead of police
subsidies [machine
translation] (a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
translation] (a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
7. Ireland, wsm, derrya narchists: Barricade Bulletin No.11 -
Out Now! (a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Message: 1
The country has not seen demonstrations of this magnitude for decades, and
despite the growing coronavirus pandemic, hundreds of thousands of people have
gathered in towns and villages. ---- In Poland, abortion laws have been
criticized since 2016. The "abortion compromise" created in 1993 allowed
abortions only in the event of a fetal defect, if it posed a risk to a woman's
health, or in the event of incest or rape. Since the Law and Justice Party (PiS)
came to power in 2016, it has been trying to tighten the law. Each time, however,
these attempts were met with huge, mostly bottom-up protests known as the Women's
Strike. The largest demonstrations took place in 2016 and 2018 - and government
proposals were withdrawn.
When the coronavirus came and the country got into a lockdown, PiS saw an
opportunity to pass the law without massive protests. In April, people were
forbidden to leave their homes under a fine of PLN 30,000 (CZK 178,000). However,
grocery shopping was allowed, so thousands of people across the country lined up
in front of shops, kept the required distance and carried banners promoting
freedom of choice. Police threatened the protesters with fines, but in the end
there were no serious repressions. As a result, the law was not passed but was
not rejected.
On Thursday, October 22, the Constitutional Court ruled that abortion in the
event of fetal damage was not in accordance with the constitution. This would
basically mean the end of legal abortions in Poland. People did not want to
accept it. In Warsaw, protesters gathered in court despite a gathering ban. When
the "official" part of the protest took place, a group of squatters and a group
of Rythms of Resistance encouraged people to block the street and march through
the city to the PiS headquarters. The crowd continued to grow and chant
pro-choice, anti-government and anti-police slogans. After arriving at the house
of Jaroslav Kaczynski (leader of the ruling party, actually an authoritarian
dictator), protesters clashed with police and responded by throwing stones and
bottles after police attacked batons and tear gas against peaceful protesters in
the front row.
People were outraged, all major cities in Poland were littered with graffiti and
stickers. On Friday, even more people took to the streets, meeting not only in
front of the ruling party's buildings, but also in front of major Catholic
institutions. In Poznan, anarcho-feminists occupied an abandoned hospital
building and declared it an abortion clinic, reminding people that they did not
need government approval to end their pregnancies. Social media users began to
share the telephone contact to "Abortions Without Borders" ( Abortion without
borders) - a bottom-up initiative founded in 2019 to help people in unwanted
pregnancies gain access to medical treatment abroad. On Sunday, October 25, a
breakthrough in the Polish Catholic mentality was achieved. Protesters entered
some churches to disrupt Mass; several churches were covered in graffiti;
Thousands of people decided to leave the church, and young women in the city of
Szczecinek told the priest directly to get fucked - which is very unusual in a
country where everyone is brought up to respect and fear the Catholic Church.
Anarchist groups have been part of the protests since the beginning. As more and
more people began to join the "illegal" protest, the demand for knowledge sharing
available to the anarchist movement grew. Feminist groups organize
demonstrations, anti-repression groups like ABC provide legal aid and remind
protesters of security measures, medical teams make sure everyone is okay, civil
disobedience groups share their tips on how to organize blockades, Food not Bombs
cook hot meals, local groups of "gluers" Plakaciary fill the streets of cities
with feminist posters encouraging protesters to fight for their rights. For many
people, these protests are their first encounter with political activism, local
organization and direct action. As you walk through the crowd, you can feel the
great excitement and enthusiasm of the people,
During the first week of the war against the state, the people faced severe
repression. Only in Warsaw 36 people were detained (at least we know about them),
thousands of piouss were legitimized, hundreds refused to pay fines. The main
allegations include: attending a rally (sometimes turned into attending an
"illegal" meeting of more than 5 people), insulting a police officer, violating
the physical integrity of a police officer and assaulting a police officer.
Police tortured one person, beat the batons of several people trying to leave the
protest, and used tear gas against dozens and hundreds more. They watched and
detained protesters traveling from Poznan to Warsaw for the largest march, which
took place on October 30.
They looked for people suspected of organizing Facebook protests, and then
threatened them. Some of the people being intimidated by police are only 17 or 14
years old. Two weeks ago, we learned that police officers came to the house of a
fourteen-year-old boy after he shared a Facebook protest event on his profile.
They threatened to treat him like an organizer if he came to another blockade,
and then visited his school to inform the teacher of his activities.
Police have detained at least one person in each protest in the last few weeks.
Protesters always live up to their slogan "You are never alone" and always appear
in front of a police station or court to express their solidarity. The longest
solidarity operation took place in Warsaw, when police officers forcibly detained
several people taking part in a solidarity operation before a court deciding
whether to send a protester to prison for three months. Our comrades were taken
to police stations outside the city, and some were denied legal aid. Despite the
great distance, a demonstration of solidarity was held - the participants were
mostly anarchists from Warsaw and local high school girls. This whole solidarity
event lasted 30 hours. Given that this police violence takes place on the streets
every day, Many people became interested in the idea of budget cuts or the
abolition of the police. The liberal mayor of Warsaw has already stated that he
will cut the budget for the police.
Police are not the only ones using force against protesters. Jaroslaw Kaczynski's
speech to the nation, demanding the protection of the church from the "mad
leftist crowd," activated hardcore Catholics and Nazi militias. Some of them
physically defended churches, while others began roaming the cities with
telescopic batons, peppers, and knives. In Wroclaw, at least one person (a casual
passer-by) was stabbed by a gang of Nazis and football hooligans. In Warsaw, a
woman who wanted to enter the church was thrown by the Nazis down the stairs
under the watchful eye of the police. On the wave of this violence, anti-police,
anti-state and anti-fascist slogans chanted by anarchists for decades became
increasingly popular. When the Nazis attacked a women's march in Warsaw on
October 30, anti-fascists were beaten hand in hand with "mainstream" protesters.
The cops did not try to intervene, so before they showed up, most of the people
in the crowd realized that it was okay to put a Nazi over the handle. And they
also had a chance to try it on the spot.
As more people joined the demonstrations in the first few weeks, the topics
shifted from "abortion on demand" to "Fuck PiS!", But radical groups sought to
recover feminist slogans. After the first wave of popularity and "trendiness" of
blockades has passed, politically less active members of society have disappeared
and the message of the protests is no longer as vague as before. We are on the
streets fighting for abortion, health care, sex education and social care. The
movement is not centralized, some regions have decided to appoint their own
regional councils, which will make demands with regard to the needs of local
people. In several regions, smaller cities invited people from the big cities to
join their protests, and so the long-standing dynamism between cities reversed
for several days.
The protests have been going on for 6 weeks. The first few weeks were exhausting
and something happened every day. Right now, most cities have limited themselves
to one or two events a week, most of them on Mondays. Fewer people are involved
in the blockade, but they are still happening. It is difficult to say what the
future will bring when it comes to legislation, but we are already seeing
initiatives at local level gain in strength. Abortion Dream Team is the group
behind Abortion Without Borders, which fights for reproductive rights and helps
people end unwanted pregnancies. Since the beginning of Abortion without Borders
in November 2019, they have managed to help more than 2,000 people. Following the
decision of the Constitutional Court, they received more than PLN 1,400,000 (CZK
8,300,000) for their activities. They organized two public events on abortion in
the center of Warsaw and provided people who had experienced abortions with: a
platform for sharing their stories. Their message "abortion is all right",
previously rejected by some liberals, and even leftists, was suddenly met with
greater understanding and openness. Most importantly, they were able to send a
very strong message: "No matter what the state and the church do, we help each
other with abortions and we will continue to do so." (Aunt Czesia) from the Czech
Republic. Hand in hand with Ciocia Wienia from Vienna and Ciocia Basia from
Berlin, activists help people with abortions abroad. There is no need for a
state, we can take care of ourselves. they managed to send a very strong message:
"No matter what the state and the church do, we help each other with abortions
and we will continue to do so." To confirm their words, a new abortion group at
the local level was formed, Ciocia Czesia Czech. Hand in hand with Ciocia Wienia
from Vienna and Ciocia Basia from Berlin, activists help people with abortions
abroad. There is no need for a state, we can take care of ourselves. they managed
to send a very strong message: "No matter what the state and the church do, we
help each other with abortions and we will continue to do so." To confirm their
words, a new abortion group at the local level was formed, Ciocia Czesia Czech.
Hand in hand with Ciocia Wienia from Vienna and Ciocia Basia from Berlin,
activists help people with abortions abroad. There is no need for a state, we can
take care of ourselves.
OUR BODIES, OUR CHOICE!
---------------------------------------
Related links:
Support for women's protests in Poland
https://www.afed.cz/text/7258/podpora-protestu-zen-v-polsku
A3: Women against the dark https://www.afed.cz/text/7246/a3-zeny-proti-tmarstvi
https://www.afed.cz/text/7261/nase-tela-nase-volba
------------------------------
Message: 2
For twenty-five years, Yerevan and Baku have refused any agreement on the status
of Nagorno-Karabakh, the withdrawal from the occupied territories, the right of
return of refugees. All the reasons for a revenge war were there. ---- After six
murderous weeks, the Azerbaijani army seized the symbolic and strategic city of
Þuþa (Shushi, in Armenian). From there, the fall of Nagorno-Karabakh was only a
matter of days. The next day, when the Armenian forces began to disband, Yerevan
was forced to sign the armistice. ---- For Baku, it was a triumph: all the
districts lost since the 1990-1994 war were reconquered ; hundreds of thousands
of refugees are now hoping to return home ; the sad potentate Ilham Aliyev is
promoted hero of the nation ; if he obtains the reopening of negotiations on the
status of Nagorno-Karabakh, it will be in a position of strength. For Yerevan,
the defeat is complete. The only consolation: the Armenian population can remain
in Nagorno-Karabakh, under the protection of the Russian army. Moscow, which has
deliberately remained a wait-and-see, ultimately strengthens its military
presence in the Caucasus, capping Ankara to the post.
If Putin wanted to do like the West, he would now ask the UN for a " peacekeeping
" mandate .
In France, public opinion has tilted in favor of Armenia, for both good and less
good reasons. First, the memory of the genocide of 1915-1918 arouses an
instinctive sympathy in the face of Pan-Turk denial. Then, the " velvet
revolution»Of 2018 restored the image of Armenia against an Azerbaijan with a
nepotistic and liberticidal regime. And then Armenia is a small poor country, let
go by its Russian and Iranian friends, while Azerbaijan, rich in its
hydrocarbons, with a military budget three times greater, has been fully
supported by Turkish imperialism which supplied with devastating drones and even
jihadist mercenaries imported from Syria. On French soil, finally, the Kurdish
left supported Armenia, for obvious reasons of solidarity with the Turkish
extreme right (the Gray Wolves). Finally, the European inclination goes more
easily to a Christian country like Armenia than to a Muslim country like Azerbaijan.
PACIFISTS AND INTERNATIONALISTS
However, a fundamental key to the interpretation of the conflict cannot be
overlooked: the occupation of seven districts of Azerbaijan by the Armenian army
since 1994 ; concomitant ethnic cleansing ; opposition from nationalists on both
sides to any peace process. In Yerevan, it was thought more advantageous that
this " frozen conflict " remained indefinitely ... but Baku was thus pushed to
revenge. So much so that the legitimate plea for the self-determination of
Nagorno-Karabakh cannot make us forget that, for twenty-five years, very little
has been pleaded for the end of the occupation and the right of return of the
refugees ...
The thousands of deaths to be deplored are therefore attributable to the
nationalism of both camps, which led to this war of revenge. In this sad affair,
the only " camp " to support is that of pacifists and internationalists on both
sides of the border, like the ten courageous signatories of an " Anti-war
declaration of the left-wing youth of Azerbaijan " on October 5 , relayed by
Russian anarcho-syndicalists. " We must throw the hideous straitjacket of the
nation-state into the garbage, " she said, and " imagine and create new avenues
of common peaceful coexistence ".
Guillaume Davranche (UCL Montreuil)
https://www.unioncommunistelibertaire.org/?Armenie-Azerbaidjan-La-coresponsabilite-de-l-engrenage-nationaliste
------------------------------
Message: 3
In the late summer of this year we gave our comrades from the Union Communiste
Libertaire (UCL) from France and Belgium an interview about our organization and
the current political situation in German-speaking countries. ---- The comrades
have now published this interview in the December issue of their monthly magazine
"Alternative Libertaire". ---- UCL, like our organization die plattform, belongs
to the platformist current within the global anarchist movement. In France, the
UCL is represented with over 50 local groups in almost all parts of the country
and also has an offshoot in the Belgian capital, Brussels. ---- We are now
publishing the German version of the interview here in order to make it
accessible to people from our language area. ---- Have fun while reading!
Interview:
Union Communiste Libertaire (UCL) interview Die Plattform!
First of all, what is Die Plattform? In which organisations of the social
movement (trade union, struggle association, social centre, etc) do your members
are active? In wich city your die plattform groups are?
The platform is an anarcha-communist organization on a platformist basis. We
founded the organization in early 2019. Since the beginning of 2020 we have been
trying to fight within the framework of our forces in the social movements of our
cities/regions. Our organization currently consists of five groups: one is
located in the Ruhr area, an industrial region in the west of the country, one in
the capital Berlin, one in the region Rostock in the north near the Baltic Sea
and another in Trier, a city near the Luxembourg border. The fifth and last group
is the so-called "supra-regional group", which brings together all comrades from
regions where we do not yet have the strength to build a local group.
In addition, a local group in Leipzig, a city in the eastern part of the country,
is still under construction. It is important to note that there is no tradition
of platformism and Especifismo in Germany. So it is a great effort for us to
first lay the organizational and theoretical-strategic foundation needed to
ensure effective participation in the struggles of the wage-earning class.
Our members are currently active in the climate justice movement (especially
"Fridays for Future"), in feminist struggles, in the "Black Lives Matter"
movement, and to a lesser extent in tenant initiatives and unions or labor struggles.
In January 2020, you wrote that you were committed for this year to lay your own
organisational foundations, and to define your objectives and strategies in the
social struggle, what about seven months later?
The foundations in this process are definitely laid. This is also shown by our
continuous practice, which we have already developed in our cities within a still
manageable framework. Even if what we have worked out so far allows us to start
with our insertion into the social movements, we are still at the beginning of a
long-term process of learning and struggle. Many of our members have been
socialized in the left scene for years. All of us have never worked in such a
bindingly structured, strategic and social movement oriented organization. So a
lot has to grow and develop first. In contrast to a sensationalist left campaign
politics, the everyday work of building up and participating in the struggles of
our class is often not something that can be communicated in a way that is
effective in the public eye. Neither is the continuous internal development of
the organization. But we are on a good path and have taken a few larger and
smaller steps to be able to officially establish ourselves as a federation soon.
You wish to draw the attention of the anarchist movement to action in social
struggles, are there positive returns? What is your establishment within the
trade unions?
Certainly there are positive developments to note here, e.g. that we have reached
and partly inspired many individuals and groups in the anarchist movement. On the
one hand, this has led to the fact that whole groups that existed before have
joined the concept of platformism and are now trying to develop a practice in the
social movements based on this concept. On the other hand, we have also inspired
groups and individuals who, even if they continue to be critical of platformism,
have cut a slice or two from our approach. Our impression is, for example, that
with our initiative it has become more normal in the movement to talk about class
struggle and class society itself; something that for many years was rather
frowned upon. Certainly, this is not only our success, but we have certainly
contributed to at least broadening the understanding that we still live in a
class society.
As far as our standing in the trade unions is concerned, we must say that it is
very weak. In the big unions we have only individual members, but there we have
no strategic insertion either. Only in the anarcho-syndicalist "Free Workers'
Union" (FAU) do we have some active members. In general, many of our members were
active in the FAU before they were active in our organization, which is not
surprising, since the comrades in the FAU are socialized with a strong class
policy in most syndicates.
The main reason why we are so badly positioned in the unions so far is that we
have focused on the social movements outside of union politics. In the current
situation we see more potential for the development of counter-power there. This
balance is also related to the nature of our organization, as well as to the
situation of trade unions in Germany. Compared to France, the experience of
political strike and general strike in the wage-earning class in Germany is
little or not at all widespread. Instead, the trade union practice of the large
and reformist unions (so-called "social partnership") obscures the class
antagonisms between the ruling and the wage-earning classes and pacifies them by
moderating methods of negotiation, so that more offensive or powerful methods of
industrial action are implemented far too little. In this area of resistance
against the attacks on our class, we will have to clarify our position in the
future. Nevertheless, we are of course involved in and support industrial action
wherever we can, such as the wildcat strike of the harvest workers in Bornheim
near Bonn or the wildcat strike of the construction workers in Regensburg. Here
we accompany, document, analyze and share with the movement the experiences from
labor struggles, which give a perspective of a militant future.
What are your relations with Ums Ganze and the Interventionistische Linke?
We follow the project of the Interventionist Left (iL) with curiosity and see
some similarities to our approach. Intervention and social insertion seem to us
to be two different terms for related approaches. What we lack in iL, however, is
an elaborated theoretical basis shared by all members and a viable analysis of
the current situation. And the thing that probably distinguishes us most from it
is our claim to build up grassroots organizations. In our view, iL's strategy is
to influence political debates at certain points and in this way to influence
decisions. This is reflected in the fact that iL is increasingly focusing on
campaigns aimed at mobilizing large numbers of people for certain major political
events (e.g. the G20 summits, but also the various state elections in 2019). As a
result of this focus, iL appears to be placed in an instrumental relationship
with grassroots struggles and only considers them useful to the extent that they
can be escalated into broad conflicts with a strong media impact. It is thus less
concerned with strengthening grassroots organizations of the oppressed, which can
fight for their interests and needs in the long term. But this is precisely what
is important in order to create movements and organizations from below that are
capable of action in the long term and can stand up for themselves - without
party or state.
In the "UmsGanze..." alliance (UG) we can see fewer similarities to our approach
than was the case with iL. In our eyes, UG represents a rather loose
supra-regional association of only locally acting groups of the autonomous scene
or its remnants. Although the groups, like iL, launch joint campaigns and
mobilize together for various events, unlike iL they do not have a deeper
political strategy for bringing about social change.
Just like the local structures of iL, the groups working together in UG focus in
their practice strongly on alliance work with other groups on the left to radical
left scene. It is precisely this focus on inner-left alliance work, which is not
able to reach and organize broad sections of its own class and the oppressed in
the struggle to improve its own living conditions, that we want to leave behind
with our approach.
Is participation in and/or construction of self-managed social center, also part
of your strategy?
Yes, although currently rather a subordinate one. In the medium to long term,
however, we want to build appropriate centers to provide a strong infrastructure
to our organization and the struggles of our class. However, we must not get
bogged down in our current phase. We have limited capacities and cannot implement
everything that we would like to do immediately.
What image does anarchism have in Germany and more precisely what contact do you
have with the population?
We would say that the public "image" of anarchism is still bad - even if it has
improved a bit in the last decades. This is not so much because there would be no
sympathy for our ideas in the population or because the society is so deeply
reactionary that everything seems lost anyway. Rather, it is due to the inability
and unwillingness of large sections of the anarchist movement itself to enter
into an open, interested exchange with the population and to develop a
perceptible presence. Or even worse: parts of the anarchist movement are actively
contributing to the negative image of anarchism, as the various individualistic
forms do.
Through our daily work in our neighbourhoods, mutual help, through creative
actions, in the social movements, we have experienced how much support our ideas
have been met with when we are continuously and thoughtfully active on the
streets and in exchange with people, even before the platform was founded, when
many of us were still active in other anarchist contexts. How intensive our
contact with the population is varies greatly. There are neighborhoods with a
comparatively strong anarchist presence that has been built up over the years,
where comrades of ours are also familiar faces in the neighborhood. Just as there
are districts or areas where comrades of ours have virtually no contact as
anarchists in their living or working environment. But we are already noticing
that through the work of the platform in many areas where we are active, we are
deepening our relationships and connections to the people.
How do you see the evolution of Germany politics and what role would there be
anarchism?
The development of the political situation is partly characterized by a
radicalization of the people, in the positive as well as in the negative. There
have been and still are very strong right-wing movements in recent years, such as
the protests against the state corona measures of the so-called Corona rebels,
Pegida, or various city walks, which go in the direction of a right-wing
vigilante group. Fascist groups and parties have so far not managed to profit
from this on a large scale and in a really sustainable way. They continue to bob
and weave in insignificance, except in some areas. However, the right-wing
populist to right-wing extremist party Alternative for Germany (AfD) has been
able to massively expand its influence and achieves high scores in elections in
virtually all parliaments. Other groups such as the Reichsbürger, various other
conspiracy-theoretical milieus such as vaccination-opponents are also expanding
their influence and are becoming increasingly vocal. It's shocking how much
influence the various right wing groups achieve on their own via very
wide-reaching youtube channels of various kinds. At every turn, the right is
waging a culture war, which is of course contrary to our interests and makes it
more and more difficult for us to act within the wage-dependent class. In
addition, there is of course an existential threat from armed fascist groups,
which have influence even in the police and the German army and which have proven
to be preparing for a civil war.
On the other hand, there is also undoubtedly a strong mobilization of social
movements that are more left-wing oriented. Fridays for Future was and is very
strong in Germany and has politicized thousands, rather tens of thousands of
young people and has radicalized many into a leftist tendency. Also the recent
very large protests after the murder of George Floyd, as well as the general
attacks of the right wing on migrant communities have led to a strong
politicization, especially among the young people of the communities, and have
also tended to radicalize to the left. Unfortunately, the Black Lives Matter
movement lost its dynamics and power very quickly here, but it did lead to the
founding of numerous groups of black self-organization and also strengthened the
Migrantifa movement that emerged from the assassination attempt in Hanau.
It can thus be roughly seen that a political center that is traditionally very
strong in Germany and is only interested in maintaining social (capitalist) peace
has become smaller. Trust in the established parties has fallen massively and
hundreds of thousands of people are looking for alternatives. They are outraged
and politicized by certain events that are happening in our country and in the
world. Unfortunately, we have the impression that the radical left and anarchist
movement is not very well able to influence and reach the people in this
historically important situation. The marginality and limitedness of most of the
approaches of a society on the move is evident in our proposals of an alternative
to this system. The platform is still too young and too small to have a lasting
impact on the situation, even though we are of course doing what we can.
Anarchism as a theory of ideas and as a diverse social movement could actually
unfold under these circumstances. Especially in this situation, where many people
are searching, where there are many uncertainties, where the social discourse and
class struggles are beginning to come to a head, anarchism could prove that it
can be a source of inspiration for the wage dependent class and provide practical
solutions to their problems. Since neither the anarchist movement nor most of the
radical left approaches really succeed in this, our impression is that the right
has been able to gain ground massively and is now in a much better position than
before.
We hope that this trend will not continue, especially in view of the current
economic crisis. There is no doubt that the corona pandemic has led to a further
precarization of the living conditions of the wage-dependent class in Germany
(and worldwide) and a general global economic crisis is widely predicted. The
struggles during this period and the work of reconstruction carried out until
then will once again clearly show how the social power relations are, how well we
as an organization, anarchism and the radical left in general, manage to deal
with this situation.
What are your relations with international libertarian organizations?
Since platformism, as we have already mentioned, has so far played no role in the
German-speaking region, it was very important for us from the very beginning to
network with anarchist organizations worldwide that are close to our approach. In
exchange with them we were able to gain experience that helped us to advance our
own political work. This was and is especially true for the understanding of
Especifismo, which was largely unknown in the anarchist movement until the
founding of the platform last year and about which there is little
German-language literature for this reason.
Since the beginning of this year, we have further intensified our collaboration
with our comrades from all over the world. Together with various organizations
from Latin America, Asia, Oceania, Africa and Europe - including the UCL - we
have published several declarations and analyses, for example on the occasion of
May 1 or the 8th anniversary of the social revolution in Rojava.
This international cooperation shapes and forms our organization in a lasting
way. It is fantastic to be able to learn and develop from the decades of work and
experience of so many allied organizations. We very much hope that after the
first steps this cooperation will become closer and closer and that we will be
able to form a broad alliance of the anarchist movement.
Autordieplattform
Veröffentlicht am7. Dezember 2020
KategorienAllgemein
SchlagwörterAnarchismus, Frankreich, Interview, Plattform, UCL
Beitrags-Navigation
https://www.dieplattform.org/2020/12/07/union-communiste-libertaire-ucl-interviewt-die-plattform-de-eng/#more-1636
------------------------------
Message: 4
They are talking on behalf of whole anarchists in the region including us,
Kurdish. ---- Clarification of a group of Kurdish speaking anarchists to the
announcement of the Anarchism Era Federation ---- To the worldwide Anarchist
comrades. With greetings. ---- Some time ago the Anarchism Era Website published
an announcement, in which the news of the formation of the Anarchism Era
Federation was revealed. According to the title and the content of that
announcement, this formation is necessary to enable all individual anarchists
across the globe, regardless of race and place of birth, to join the federation.
As a group of Kurdish speaking Anarchists and Libertarians from Inside Iraq and
abroad, we are always pleased to hear the news of revolutionary initiatives and
activities across the globe. We are also happy to hear of the existence of any
anti-state, anti-capitalism actions and we do not see ourselves as separated or
outside any world movements or activities that are against the authority, against
hierarchy, against the capitalist system and society. However, the announcement
of the so-called Anarchism Era Federation, supposed to become an International
Federation, raises more questions than provide answers.
Our purpose in this clarification is not to evaluate the announcement in detail
or to highlight and develop all the points of our critics and disagreements.
Here, we only indicate a few important and obvious points:
* No revolutionary body of the class struggle would ever announce its
existence before its actual birth in practice, especially a body that grants
itself with a status as big as an International Federation. Regrettably, the
announcement does not mention at all the process of its founding and does not
provide any concrete information about all the fractions that are supposedly
integral parts within that Federation.
* The only thing that can be noticed in this announcement is the existence
of previous preliminary versions attempts, as allusion for the announcement.
Those previous versions look like the initial intention towards the final
proclamation and indicate that the decision can be the act of one or several
individuals.
* The announcement does not clarify, in any aspects, its position about the
International of Anarchist Federations, which was established in 1968 and
incorporates most world-wide anarchist federations and it is still alive, active,
and growing. We think that the reason for not mentioning IFA is either related to
having different positions or to differentiate themselves, either to their
ignorance of IFA's existence, or to their rejection by IFA and other Federations
of International Anarchist movements.
* The decision of announcing an International Federation, through a
bureaucratical, sectarist and unilateral mechanism indicating the adoption of
militantism and voluntarist rules. This is completely in contradiction with the
grounds of the historical approach of Anarchism that is based on total
acknowledgement to the practical, spontaneous emergence of real actions and
active elements within the social struggle, not on the principles of ideological
wills and intentions. This position is clearer when this announcement does not
at all make any reference to the inhuman, anti-life and anti-nature roots of the
class domination, hierarchical structure of the capitalist system. It only
briefly and vaguely mentions "the overthrowing of capitalist and religious
governments!", as though, the human need for emancipation is about a political
revolution, not a social and global revolution.
* In the previous versions of this announcement, there is a mention of army
struggle, but it is removed in the final version, without any explanation or the
reasons for its omission. Furthermore, the announcement's lack of clarification
about the rejection of "pacifism" tendency, as a common practice among
militantist groups and currents, which, can be used as against "violence" and as
conciliator "peacemaker", sings of advocating the extremist ideology, far from a
global class understanding of the fundamental basis and needs of the
emancipatory revolution of the exploited class. Consequently, we must ask the
authors of the announcement: by which measures, could the anarchists who stand
against Violence, be called "Pacifists"?
It is worth mentioning that in the announcement, by putting accent on the armed
struggle and armed uprising method, to claim their adherence to the practice of
Makhnovist insurrectionary movement. This itself is a misunderstanding of the
nature of the Makhnovist movement, which was essentially a social uprising of
workers and peasants through co-operative communes. It is a lack of
understanding, the fact was the grounds that forced that movement was
self-defence which led to armed organisation against German, Austrian, White and
Red Armies and their militias. This was not due to the will of transforming of
the social contests to armed actions or military militantist groups.
* There is a discriminatory issue of a unilateralist, generalising,
centralist, and authoritarian practice that can be noted in their decision taking
approach, as matters were decided without consulting and contacting other
existing Anarchist individuals and groups. The authors of the announcement,
plainly, by using the term of " anarchists in Lebanon, Chili, Spain, Iraq and
Kurdistan Region", and as the geographical words mean, show that they talk and
decide in the name of all and for all the anarchists who live in those countries.
Here, all the anarchists who live in the countries that are mentioned in the
announcement, face an answer to the question: Do all the anarchists of the
countries mentioned agree and share the same positions that are expressed by the
federation and the announcement?
* We leave the answer to that question to the comrades who live in those
countries. Considering the "Iraq and Kurdistan Region", after a thorough
examination, we do not know the existence of any individual who has a practical
and socially active role, agree with that announcement. Therefore, we as
anarchists and libertarians who Kurdish speakers, either as within the Forum of
Kurdish-speaking anarchists and as well as the local Sulaymaniyah/Iraq Forum of
anarchists, do not fall with any centralised, hierarchical, political, and armed
actions. We believe in the social and autonomous organisation of social struggle,
revolution, and self- running society.
For the reasons mentioned above, we as a group of Kurdish speaking anarchists and
libertarians, either in the area of "Iraq and Kurdistan Region", either outside,
do not support that announcement and we are unaware of the process of declaring
and the formation of that federation. As a result, without going into details and
touch on our fundamental differences with them, we consider this type of
initiatives as sectarist and in conflict with what is so far known as anarchist
movement from an historical basis.
libertarians dialogue ( weekly internet dialogue )
https://www.facebook.com/groups/AZADIXUAZAN
Anarchist Forum in Sulaymaniyah/Iraq
https://www.facebook.com/Sulaimanyah.Anarchist.Forum
Kurdish-speaking Anarchists Forum
www.anarkistan.net
28th of November 2020
--------------------------------------------------------------------
the link: announcement of Anarchism Era website
https://www.facebook.com/InternationalOfAnarchistFederations/posts/1471425486401105
------------------------------
Message: 5
The Ksiegarska company Jaroslaw Granos runs at least 3 sale points for cheap
books in Praga: the largest one at ul. Targowa 66, and the rest in the Wilenski
Passage and in the basement at the Washington Roundabout. The company also sells
books online and has magazines in Stara Milosna. This is where a student worked,
who cannot ask for a salary for the hours worked. ---- Unfortunately, the owner
of the company took advantage of the girl who was working hard to earn the rent.
The catalog of illegal activities is quite typical: first, the owner delayed
presenting a written contract, which in itself is already breaking the law. When
she finally received the contract, the number of hours differed from what was
actually planned. It was supposed to be "on paper only". Unfortunately, many
people fall for such tricks of dishonest employers.
During the work, there was no record of working time. The female worker ended up
not getting most of her salary for the hours she worked. The owner pretends
everything is fine, although his translations are laughable.
The Union of Syndicalists of Poland will therefore protest against such treatment
of employees. We call on the owner of the Bookkeeping Company, Jaroslaw Granos,
to pay the sum due to the employee. We encourage our neighbors in Praga to avoid
areas where workers 'rights are violated and instead buy where workers' rights
are respected.
ZSP picket at the bookstore on ul. Targowa 66 is planned for Wednesday, December
9 at. 5:00 p.m.
https://zsp.net.pl/nielegalne-warunki-pracy-w-firmie-ksiegarskiej-jaroslaw-granos
------------------------------
Message: 6
The Warsaw committees of the National Trade Union Workers' Initiative appeal to
the President of Warsaw, Rafal Trzaskowski, to withdraw funds for co-financing
the police in the city budget for 2021 and to transfer them to increase the
salaries of female employees and employees of Warsaw's institutions and other
organizational units subordinate to the Capital City of Warsaw from key care
sectors , social welfare, health, education and culture. ---- Anyone can sign the
appeal to the President of Warsaw by launching the petition on the website
Naszademokracja.pl[link to the petition]. We encourage you to signatures! ----
Full text of the Employee Initiative appeal below: ---- Dear Mr. President,
In recent months, in the streets of Warsaw, we have encountered an increasing
threat of police violence. In August, the police brutally dispersed the protest
accompanying the arrest of Malgorzata Szutowska, arrested and detained people in
violation of the law. The protests against the Constitutional Tribunal's abortion
ruling, ongoing since October 22, are being pacified with even greater brutality.
The police regularly use pepper spray against calmly behaving people (also in
relation to female MPs showing MPs), unjustifiably use violence to intimidate the
protesting female residents and residents of Warsaw. Repressions by police
officers (including detentions and arrests) also affect female employees and
employees of capital institutions and other organizational units subordinate to
the capital city
The long-standing impunity of the Police and brutality towards demonstrators
arouse increasing public opposition. At the same time, the Capital City of In the
draft budget for 2021, Warsaw plans to provide funds in the amount of PLN
5,300,000 to co-finance activities carried out by the Police (information from
"Expenses of the capital city of Warsaw in the budget classification: Department
754 Public safety and fire protection, Chapter 75405 County Police Headquarters")
, including PLN 100,000 for awards for Police officers in order to "express
recognition for professional achievements".
It is unacceptable to financially support the activities of the Police, when they
use violence against us instead of providing security to us, residents of Warsaw.
In the face of a pandemic and a global crisis, we see all the more because the
sectors of social welfare, health, education and culture are key to our safety,
the functioning of our society and the maintenance of social cohesion. Mainly
women work in all these sectors in Warsaw. Their low wages are another
manifestation of discrimination and exploitation of women in Poland. Without
measures to increase their wages, equal pay between women and men will not be real.
Therefore, on behalf of the Warsaw committees of the National Trade Union
Employee Initiative, we appeal for the withdrawal of funds for co-financing the
Police in the city's budget for 2021 and for transferring them to increase the
salaries of female employees and employees of Warsaw's institutions and other
organizational units subordinate to the Capital City of Warsaw from the
above-mentioned sectors.
https://ozzip.pl/informacje/mazowieckie/item/2722-warszawskie-komisje-ip-do-trzaskowskiego-wyzsze-pensje-w-uslugach-publicznych-zamiast-dofinansowania-policji
------------------------------
Message: 7
Issue 11 of Barricade Bulletin created by the Derry Anarchist Collective is now
available from members locally or directly from the usual local outlets.
For those of you beyond the North West you can download the online version which
now carries a much more detailed section for Anarchist Black Cross news and other
information.
To download the latest issue click here
https://abcireland.files.wordpress.com/2020/12/barricadebulletinno11.pdf
Posted by Derry Anarchists at Wednesday, December 09, 2020
------------------------------
Out Now! (a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Message: 1
The country has not seen demonstrations of this magnitude for decades, and
despite the growing coronavirus pandemic, hundreds of thousands of people have
gathered in towns and villages. ---- In Poland, abortion laws have been
criticized since 2016. The "abortion compromise" created in 1993 allowed
abortions only in the event of a fetal defect, if it posed a risk to a woman's
health, or in the event of incest or rape. Since the Law and Justice Party (PiS)
came to power in 2016, it has been trying to tighten the law. Each time, however,
these attempts were met with huge, mostly bottom-up protests known as the Women's
Strike. The largest demonstrations took place in 2016 and 2018 - and government
proposals were withdrawn.
When the coronavirus came and the country got into a lockdown, PiS saw an
opportunity to pass the law without massive protests. In April, people were
forbidden to leave their homes under a fine of PLN 30,000 (CZK 178,000). However,
grocery shopping was allowed, so thousands of people across the country lined up
in front of shops, kept the required distance and carried banners promoting
freedom of choice. Police threatened the protesters with fines, but in the end
there were no serious repressions. As a result, the law was not passed but was
not rejected.
On Thursday, October 22, the Constitutional Court ruled that abortion in the
event of fetal damage was not in accordance with the constitution. This would
basically mean the end of legal abortions in Poland. People did not want to
accept it. In Warsaw, protesters gathered in court despite a gathering ban. When
the "official" part of the protest took place, a group of squatters and a group
of Rythms of Resistance encouraged people to block the street and march through
the city to the PiS headquarters. The crowd continued to grow and chant
pro-choice, anti-government and anti-police slogans. After arriving at the house
of Jaroslav Kaczynski (leader of the ruling party, actually an authoritarian
dictator), protesters clashed with police and responded by throwing stones and
bottles after police attacked batons and tear gas against peaceful protesters in
the front row.
People were outraged, all major cities in Poland were littered with graffiti and
stickers. On Friday, even more people took to the streets, meeting not only in
front of the ruling party's buildings, but also in front of major Catholic
institutions. In Poznan, anarcho-feminists occupied an abandoned hospital
building and declared it an abortion clinic, reminding people that they did not
need government approval to end their pregnancies. Social media users began to
share the telephone contact to "Abortions Without Borders" ( Abortion without
borders) - a bottom-up initiative founded in 2019 to help people in unwanted
pregnancies gain access to medical treatment abroad. On Sunday, October 25, a
breakthrough in the Polish Catholic mentality was achieved. Protesters entered
some churches to disrupt Mass; several churches were covered in graffiti;
Thousands of people decided to leave the church, and young women in the city of
Szczecinek told the priest directly to get fucked - which is very unusual in a
country where everyone is brought up to respect and fear the Catholic Church.
Anarchist groups have been part of the protests since the beginning. As more and
more people began to join the "illegal" protest, the demand for knowledge sharing
available to the anarchist movement grew. Feminist groups organize
demonstrations, anti-repression groups like ABC provide legal aid and remind
protesters of security measures, medical teams make sure everyone is okay, civil
disobedience groups share their tips on how to organize blockades, Food not Bombs
cook hot meals, local groups of "gluers" Plakaciary fill the streets of cities
with feminist posters encouraging protesters to fight for their rights. For many
people, these protests are their first encounter with political activism, local
organization and direct action. As you walk through the crowd, you can feel the
great excitement and enthusiasm of the people,
During the first week of the war against the state, the people faced severe
repression. Only in Warsaw 36 people were detained (at least we know about them),
thousands of piouss were legitimized, hundreds refused to pay fines. The main
allegations include: attending a rally (sometimes turned into attending an
"illegal" meeting of more than 5 people), insulting a police officer, violating
the physical integrity of a police officer and assaulting a police officer.
Police tortured one person, beat the batons of several people trying to leave the
protest, and used tear gas against dozens and hundreds more. They watched and
detained protesters traveling from Poznan to Warsaw for the largest march, which
took place on October 30.
They looked for people suspected of organizing Facebook protests, and then
threatened them. Some of the people being intimidated by police are only 17 or 14
years old. Two weeks ago, we learned that police officers came to the house of a
fourteen-year-old boy after he shared a Facebook protest event on his profile.
They threatened to treat him like an organizer if he came to another blockade,
and then visited his school to inform the teacher of his activities.
Police have detained at least one person in each protest in the last few weeks.
Protesters always live up to their slogan "You are never alone" and always appear
in front of a police station or court to express their solidarity. The longest
solidarity operation took place in Warsaw, when police officers forcibly detained
several people taking part in a solidarity operation before a court deciding
whether to send a protester to prison for three months. Our comrades were taken
to police stations outside the city, and some were denied legal aid. Despite the
great distance, a demonstration of solidarity was held - the participants were
mostly anarchists from Warsaw and local high school girls. This whole solidarity
event lasted 30 hours. Given that this police violence takes place on the streets
every day, Many people became interested in the idea of budget cuts or the
abolition of the police. The liberal mayor of Warsaw has already stated that he
will cut the budget for the police.
Police are not the only ones using force against protesters. Jaroslaw Kaczynski's
speech to the nation, demanding the protection of the church from the "mad
leftist crowd," activated hardcore Catholics and Nazi militias. Some of them
physically defended churches, while others began roaming the cities with
telescopic batons, peppers, and knives. In Wroclaw, at least one person (a casual
passer-by) was stabbed by a gang of Nazis and football hooligans. In Warsaw, a
woman who wanted to enter the church was thrown by the Nazis down the stairs
under the watchful eye of the police. On the wave of this violence, anti-police,
anti-state and anti-fascist slogans chanted by anarchists for decades became
increasingly popular. When the Nazis attacked a women's march in Warsaw on
October 30, anti-fascists were beaten hand in hand with "mainstream" protesters.
The cops did not try to intervene, so before they showed up, most of the people
in the crowd realized that it was okay to put a Nazi over the handle. And they
also had a chance to try it on the spot.
As more people joined the demonstrations in the first few weeks, the topics
shifted from "abortion on demand" to "Fuck PiS!", But radical groups sought to
recover feminist slogans. After the first wave of popularity and "trendiness" of
blockades has passed, politically less active members of society have disappeared
and the message of the protests is no longer as vague as before. We are on the
streets fighting for abortion, health care, sex education and social care. The
movement is not centralized, some regions have decided to appoint their own
regional councils, which will make demands with regard to the needs of local
people. In several regions, smaller cities invited people from the big cities to
join their protests, and so the long-standing dynamism between cities reversed
for several days.
The protests have been going on for 6 weeks. The first few weeks were exhausting
and something happened every day. Right now, most cities have limited themselves
to one or two events a week, most of them on Mondays. Fewer people are involved
in the blockade, but they are still happening. It is difficult to say what the
future will bring when it comes to legislation, but we are already seeing
initiatives at local level gain in strength. Abortion Dream Team is the group
behind Abortion Without Borders, which fights for reproductive rights and helps
people end unwanted pregnancies. Since the beginning of Abortion without Borders
in November 2019, they have managed to help more than 2,000 people. Following the
decision of the Constitutional Court, they received more than PLN 1,400,000 (CZK
8,300,000) for their activities. They organized two public events on abortion in
the center of Warsaw and provided people who had experienced abortions with: a
platform for sharing their stories. Their message "abortion is all right",
previously rejected by some liberals, and even leftists, was suddenly met with
greater understanding and openness. Most importantly, they were able to send a
very strong message: "No matter what the state and the church do, we help each
other with abortions and we will continue to do so." (Aunt Czesia) from the Czech
Republic. Hand in hand with Ciocia Wienia from Vienna and Ciocia Basia from
Berlin, activists help people with abortions abroad. There is no need for a
state, we can take care of ourselves. they managed to send a very strong message:
"No matter what the state and the church do, we help each other with abortions
and we will continue to do so." To confirm their words, a new abortion group at
the local level was formed, Ciocia Czesia Czech. Hand in hand with Ciocia Wienia
from Vienna and Ciocia Basia from Berlin, activists help people with abortions
abroad. There is no need for a state, we can take care of ourselves. they managed
to send a very strong message: "No matter what the state and the church do, we
help each other with abortions and we will continue to do so." To confirm their
words, a new abortion group at the local level was formed, Ciocia Czesia Czech.
Hand in hand with Ciocia Wienia from Vienna and Ciocia Basia from Berlin,
activists help people with abortions abroad. There is no need for a state, we can
take care of ourselves.
OUR BODIES, OUR CHOICE!
---------------------------------------
Related links:
Support for women's protests in Poland
https://www.afed.cz/text/7258/podpora-protestu-zen-v-polsku
A3: Women against the dark https://www.afed.cz/text/7246/a3-zeny-proti-tmarstvi
https://www.afed.cz/text/7261/nase-tela-nase-volba
------------------------------
Message: 2
For twenty-five years, Yerevan and Baku have refused any agreement on the status
of Nagorno-Karabakh, the withdrawal from the occupied territories, the right of
return of refugees. All the reasons for a revenge war were there. ---- After six
murderous weeks, the Azerbaijani army seized the symbolic and strategic city of
Þuþa (Shushi, in Armenian). From there, the fall of Nagorno-Karabakh was only a
matter of days. The next day, when the Armenian forces began to disband, Yerevan
was forced to sign the armistice. ---- For Baku, it was a triumph: all the
districts lost since the 1990-1994 war were reconquered ; hundreds of thousands
of refugees are now hoping to return home ; the sad potentate Ilham Aliyev is
promoted hero of the nation ; if he obtains the reopening of negotiations on the
status of Nagorno-Karabakh, it will be in a position of strength. For Yerevan,
the defeat is complete. The only consolation: the Armenian population can remain
in Nagorno-Karabakh, under the protection of the Russian army. Moscow, which has
deliberately remained a wait-and-see, ultimately strengthens its military
presence in the Caucasus, capping Ankara to the post.
If Putin wanted to do like the West, he would now ask the UN for a " peacekeeping
" mandate .
In France, public opinion has tilted in favor of Armenia, for both good and less
good reasons. First, the memory of the genocide of 1915-1918 arouses an
instinctive sympathy in the face of Pan-Turk denial. Then, the " velvet
revolution»Of 2018 restored the image of Armenia against an Azerbaijan with a
nepotistic and liberticidal regime. And then Armenia is a small poor country, let
go by its Russian and Iranian friends, while Azerbaijan, rich in its
hydrocarbons, with a military budget three times greater, has been fully
supported by Turkish imperialism which supplied with devastating drones and even
jihadist mercenaries imported from Syria. On French soil, finally, the Kurdish
left supported Armenia, for obvious reasons of solidarity with the Turkish
extreme right (the Gray Wolves). Finally, the European inclination goes more
easily to a Christian country like Armenia than to a Muslim country like Azerbaijan.
PACIFISTS AND INTERNATIONALISTS
However, a fundamental key to the interpretation of the conflict cannot be
overlooked: the occupation of seven districts of Azerbaijan by the Armenian army
since 1994 ; concomitant ethnic cleansing ; opposition from nationalists on both
sides to any peace process. In Yerevan, it was thought more advantageous that
this " frozen conflict " remained indefinitely ... but Baku was thus pushed to
revenge. So much so that the legitimate plea for the self-determination of
Nagorno-Karabakh cannot make us forget that, for twenty-five years, very little
has been pleaded for the end of the occupation and the right of return of the
refugees ...
The thousands of deaths to be deplored are therefore attributable to the
nationalism of both camps, which led to this war of revenge. In this sad affair,
the only " camp " to support is that of pacifists and internationalists on both
sides of the border, like the ten courageous signatories of an " Anti-war
declaration of the left-wing youth of Azerbaijan " on October 5 , relayed by
Russian anarcho-syndicalists. " We must throw the hideous straitjacket of the
nation-state into the garbage, " she said, and " imagine and create new avenues
of common peaceful coexistence ".
Guillaume Davranche (UCL Montreuil)
https://www.unioncommunistelibertaire.org/?Armenie-Azerbaidjan-La-coresponsabilite-de-l-engrenage-nationaliste
------------------------------
Message: 3
In the late summer of this year we gave our comrades from the Union Communiste
Libertaire (UCL) from France and Belgium an interview about our organization and
the current political situation in German-speaking countries. ---- The comrades
have now published this interview in the December issue of their monthly magazine
"Alternative Libertaire". ---- UCL, like our organization die plattform, belongs
to the platformist current within the global anarchist movement. In France, the
UCL is represented with over 50 local groups in almost all parts of the country
and also has an offshoot in the Belgian capital, Brussels. ---- We are now
publishing the German version of the interview here in order to make it
accessible to people from our language area. ---- Have fun while reading!
Interview:
Union Communiste Libertaire (UCL) interview Die Plattform!
First of all, what is Die Plattform? In which organisations of the social
movement (trade union, struggle association, social centre, etc) do your members
are active? In wich city your die plattform groups are?
The platform is an anarcha-communist organization on a platformist basis. We
founded the organization in early 2019. Since the beginning of 2020 we have been
trying to fight within the framework of our forces in the social movements of our
cities/regions. Our organization currently consists of five groups: one is
located in the Ruhr area, an industrial region in the west of the country, one in
the capital Berlin, one in the region Rostock in the north near the Baltic Sea
and another in Trier, a city near the Luxembourg border. The fifth and last group
is the so-called "supra-regional group", which brings together all comrades from
regions where we do not yet have the strength to build a local group.
In addition, a local group in Leipzig, a city in the eastern part of the country,
is still under construction. It is important to note that there is no tradition
of platformism and Especifismo in Germany. So it is a great effort for us to
first lay the organizational and theoretical-strategic foundation needed to
ensure effective participation in the struggles of the wage-earning class.
Our members are currently active in the climate justice movement (especially
"Fridays for Future"), in feminist struggles, in the "Black Lives Matter"
movement, and to a lesser extent in tenant initiatives and unions or labor struggles.
In January 2020, you wrote that you were committed for this year to lay your own
organisational foundations, and to define your objectives and strategies in the
social struggle, what about seven months later?
The foundations in this process are definitely laid. This is also shown by our
continuous practice, which we have already developed in our cities within a still
manageable framework. Even if what we have worked out so far allows us to start
with our insertion into the social movements, we are still at the beginning of a
long-term process of learning and struggle. Many of our members have been
socialized in the left scene for years. All of us have never worked in such a
bindingly structured, strategic and social movement oriented organization. So a
lot has to grow and develop first. In contrast to a sensationalist left campaign
politics, the everyday work of building up and participating in the struggles of
our class is often not something that can be communicated in a way that is
effective in the public eye. Neither is the continuous internal development of
the organization. But we are on a good path and have taken a few larger and
smaller steps to be able to officially establish ourselves as a federation soon.
You wish to draw the attention of the anarchist movement to action in social
struggles, are there positive returns? What is your establishment within the
trade unions?
Certainly there are positive developments to note here, e.g. that we have reached
and partly inspired many individuals and groups in the anarchist movement. On the
one hand, this has led to the fact that whole groups that existed before have
joined the concept of platformism and are now trying to develop a practice in the
social movements based on this concept. On the other hand, we have also inspired
groups and individuals who, even if they continue to be critical of platformism,
have cut a slice or two from our approach. Our impression is, for example, that
with our initiative it has become more normal in the movement to talk about class
struggle and class society itself; something that for many years was rather
frowned upon. Certainly, this is not only our success, but we have certainly
contributed to at least broadening the understanding that we still live in a
class society.
As far as our standing in the trade unions is concerned, we must say that it is
very weak. In the big unions we have only individual members, but there we have
no strategic insertion either. Only in the anarcho-syndicalist "Free Workers'
Union" (FAU) do we have some active members. In general, many of our members were
active in the FAU before they were active in our organization, which is not
surprising, since the comrades in the FAU are socialized with a strong class
policy in most syndicates.
The main reason why we are so badly positioned in the unions so far is that we
have focused on the social movements outside of union politics. In the current
situation we see more potential for the development of counter-power there. This
balance is also related to the nature of our organization, as well as to the
situation of trade unions in Germany. Compared to France, the experience of
political strike and general strike in the wage-earning class in Germany is
little or not at all widespread. Instead, the trade union practice of the large
and reformist unions (so-called "social partnership") obscures the class
antagonisms between the ruling and the wage-earning classes and pacifies them by
moderating methods of negotiation, so that more offensive or powerful methods of
industrial action are implemented far too little. In this area of resistance
against the attacks on our class, we will have to clarify our position in the
future. Nevertheless, we are of course involved in and support industrial action
wherever we can, such as the wildcat strike of the harvest workers in Bornheim
near Bonn or the wildcat strike of the construction workers in Regensburg. Here
we accompany, document, analyze and share with the movement the experiences from
labor struggles, which give a perspective of a militant future.
What are your relations with Ums Ganze and the Interventionistische Linke?
We follow the project of the Interventionist Left (iL) with curiosity and see
some similarities to our approach. Intervention and social insertion seem to us
to be two different terms for related approaches. What we lack in iL, however, is
an elaborated theoretical basis shared by all members and a viable analysis of
the current situation. And the thing that probably distinguishes us most from it
is our claim to build up grassroots organizations. In our view, iL's strategy is
to influence political debates at certain points and in this way to influence
decisions. This is reflected in the fact that iL is increasingly focusing on
campaigns aimed at mobilizing large numbers of people for certain major political
events (e.g. the G20 summits, but also the various state elections in 2019). As a
result of this focus, iL appears to be placed in an instrumental relationship
with grassroots struggles and only considers them useful to the extent that they
can be escalated into broad conflicts with a strong media impact. It is thus less
concerned with strengthening grassroots organizations of the oppressed, which can
fight for their interests and needs in the long term. But this is precisely what
is important in order to create movements and organizations from below that are
capable of action in the long term and can stand up for themselves - without
party or state.
In the "UmsGanze..." alliance (UG) we can see fewer similarities to our approach
than was the case with iL. In our eyes, UG represents a rather loose
supra-regional association of only locally acting groups of the autonomous scene
or its remnants. Although the groups, like iL, launch joint campaigns and
mobilize together for various events, unlike iL they do not have a deeper
political strategy for bringing about social change.
Just like the local structures of iL, the groups working together in UG focus in
their practice strongly on alliance work with other groups on the left to radical
left scene. It is precisely this focus on inner-left alliance work, which is not
able to reach and organize broad sections of its own class and the oppressed in
the struggle to improve its own living conditions, that we want to leave behind
with our approach.
Is participation in and/or construction of self-managed social center, also part
of your strategy?
Yes, although currently rather a subordinate one. In the medium to long term,
however, we want to build appropriate centers to provide a strong infrastructure
to our organization and the struggles of our class. However, we must not get
bogged down in our current phase. We have limited capacities and cannot implement
everything that we would like to do immediately.
What image does anarchism have in Germany and more precisely what contact do you
have with the population?
We would say that the public "image" of anarchism is still bad - even if it has
improved a bit in the last decades. This is not so much because there would be no
sympathy for our ideas in the population or because the society is so deeply
reactionary that everything seems lost anyway. Rather, it is due to the inability
and unwillingness of large sections of the anarchist movement itself to enter
into an open, interested exchange with the population and to develop a
perceptible presence. Or even worse: parts of the anarchist movement are actively
contributing to the negative image of anarchism, as the various individualistic
forms do.
Through our daily work in our neighbourhoods, mutual help, through creative
actions, in the social movements, we have experienced how much support our ideas
have been met with when we are continuously and thoughtfully active on the
streets and in exchange with people, even before the platform was founded, when
many of us were still active in other anarchist contexts. How intensive our
contact with the population is varies greatly. There are neighborhoods with a
comparatively strong anarchist presence that has been built up over the years,
where comrades of ours are also familiar faces in the neighborhood. Just as there
are districts or areas where comrades of ours have virtually no contact as
anarchists in their living or working environment. But we are already noticing
that through the work of the platform in many areas where we are active, we are
deepening our relationships and connections to the people.
How do you see the evolution of Germany politics and what role would there be
anarchism?
The development of the political situation is partly characterized by a
radicalization of the people, in the positive as well as in the negative. There
have been and still are very strong right-wing movements in recent years, such as
the protests against the state corona measures of the so-called Corona rebels,
Pegida, or various city walks, which go in the direction of a right-wing
vigilante group. Fascist groups and parties have so far not managed to profit
from this on a large scale and in a really sustainable way. They continue to bob
and weave in insignificance, except in some areas. However, the right-wing
populist to right-wing extremist party Alternative for Germany (AfD) has been
able to massively expand its influence and achieves high scores in elections in
virtually all parliaments. Other groups such as the Reichsbürger, various other
conspiracy-theoretical milieus such as vaccination-opponents are also expanding
their influence and are becoming increasingly vocal. It's shocking how much
influence the various right wing groups achieve on their own via very
wide-reaching youtube channels of various kinds. At every turn, the right is
waging a culture war, which is of course contrary to our interests and makes it
more and more difficult for us to act within the wage-dependent class. In
addition, there is of course an existential threat from armed fascist groups,
which have influence even in the police and the German army and which have proven
to be preparing for a civil war.
On the other hand, there is also undoubtedly a strong mobilization of social
movements that are more left-wing oriented. Fridays for Future was and is very
strong in Germany and has politicized thousands, rather tens of thousands of
young people and has radicalized many into a leftist tendency. Also the recent
very large protests after the murder of George Floyd, as well as the general
attacks of the right wing on migrant communities have led to a strong
politicization, especially among the young people of the communities, and have
also tended to radicalize to the left. Unfortunately, the Black Lives Matter
movement lost its dynamics and power very quickly here, but it did lead to the
founding of numerous groups of black self-organization and also strengthened the
Migrantifa movement that emerged from the assassination attempt in Hanau.
It can thus be roughly seen that a political center that is traditionally very
strong in Germany and is only interested in maintaining social (capitalist) peace
has become smaller. Trust in the established parties has fallen massively and
hundreds of thousands of people are looking for alternatives. They are outraged
and politicized by certain events that are happening in our country and in the
world. Unfortunately, we have the impression that the radical left and anarchist
movement is not very well able to influence and reach the people in this
historically important situation. The marginality and limitedness of most of the
approaches of a society on the move is evident in our proposals of an alternative
to this system. The platform is still too young and too small to have a lasting
impact on the situation, even though we are of course doing what we can.
Anarchism as a theory of ideas and as a diverse social movement could actually
unfold under these circumstances. Especially in this situation, where many people
are searching, where there are many uncertainties, where the social discourse and
class struggles are beginning to come to a head, anarchism could prove that it
can be a source of inspiration for the wage dependent class and provide practical
solutions to their problems. Since neither the anarchist movement nor most of the
radical left approaches really succeed in this, our impression is that the right
has been able to gain ground massively and is now in a much better position than
before.
We hope that this trend will not continue, especially in view of the current
economic crisis. There is no doubt that the corona pandemic has led to a further
precarization of the living conditions of the wage-dependent class in Germany
(and worldwide) and a general global economic crisis is widely predicted. The
struggles during this period and the work of reconstruction carried out until
then will once again clearly show how the social power relations are, how well we
as an organization, anarchism and the radical left in general, manage to deal
with this situation.
What are your relations with international libertarian organizations?
Since platformism, as we have already mentioned, has so far played no role in the
German-speaking region, it was very important for us from the very beginning to
network with anarchist organizations worldwide that are close to our approach. In
exchange with them we were able to gain experience that helped us to advance our
own political work. This was and is especially true for the understanding of
Especifismo, which was largely unknown in the anarchist movement until the
founding of the platform last year and about which there is little
German-language literature for this reason.
Since the beginning of this year, we have further intensified our collaboration
with our comrades from all over the world. Together with various organizations
from Latin America, Asia, Oceania, Africa and Europe - including the UCL - we
have published several declarations and analyses, for example on the occasion of
May 1 or the 8th anniversary of the social revolution in Rojava.
This international cooperation shapes and forms our organization in a lasting
way. It is fantastic to be able to learn and develop from the decades of work and
experience of so many allied organizations. We very much hope that after the
first steps this cooperation will become closer and closer and that we will be
able to form a broad alliance of the anarchist movement.
Autordieplattform
Veröffentlicht am7. Dezember 2020
KategorienAllgemein
SchlagwörterAnarchismus, Frankreich, Interview, Plattform, UCL
Beitrags-Navigation
https://www.dieplattform.org/2020/12/07/union-communiste-libertaire-ucl-interviewt-die-plattform-de-eng/#more-1636
------------------------------
Message: 4
They are talking on behalf of whole anarchists in the region including us,
Kurdish. ---- Clarification of a group of Kurdish speaking anarchists to the
announcement of the Anarchism Era Federation ---- To the worldwide Anarchist
comrades. With greetings. ---- Some time ago the Anarchism Era Website published
an announcement, in which the news of the formation of the Anarchism Era
Federation was revealed. According to the title and the content of that
announcement, this formation is necessary to enable all individual anarchists
across the globe, regardless of race and place of birth, to join the federation.
As a group of Kurdish speaking Anarchists and Libertarians from Inside Iraq and
abroad, we are always pleased to hear the news of revolutionary initiatives and
activities across the globe. We are also happy to hear of the existence of any
anti-state, anti-capitalism actions and we do not see ourselves as separated or
outside any world movements or activities that are against the authority, against
hierarchy, against the capitalist system and society. However, the announcement
of the so-called Anarchism Era Federation, supposed to become an International
Federation, raises more questions than provide answers.
Our purpose in this clarification is not to evaluate the announcement in detail
or to highlight and develop all the points of our critics and disagreements.
Here, we only indicate a few important and obvious points:
* No revolutionary body of the class struggle would ever announce its
existence before its actual birth in practice, especially a body that grants
itself with a status as big as an International Federation. Regrettably, the
announcement does not mention at all the process of its founding and does not
provide any concrete information about all the fractions that are supposedly
integral parts within that Federation.
* The only thing that can be noticed in this announcement is the existence
of previous preliminary versions attempts, as allusion for the announcement.
Those previous versions look like the initial intention towards the final
proclamation and indicate that the decision can be the act of one or several
individuals.
* The announcement does not clarify, in any aspects, its position about the
International of Anarchist Federations, which was established in 1968 and
incorporates most world-wide anarchist federations and it is still alive, active,
and growing. We think that the reason for not mentioning IFA is either related to
having different positions or to differentiate themselves, either to their
ignorance of IFA's existence, or to their rejection by IFA and other Federations
of International Anarchist movements.
* The decision of announcing an International Federation, through a
bureaucratical, sectarist and unilateral mechanism indicating the adoption of
militantism and voluntarist rules. This is completely in contradiction with the
grounds of the historical approach of Anarchism that is based on total
acknowledgement to the practical, spontaneous emergence of real actions and
active elements within the social struggle, not on the principles of ideological
wills and intentions. This position is clearer when this announcement does not
at all make any reference to the inhuman, anti-life and anti-nature roots of the
class domination, hierarchical structure of the capitalist system. It only
briefly and vaguely mentions "the overthrowing of capitalist and religious
governments!", as though, the human need for emancipation is about a political
revolution, not a social and global revolution.
* In the previous versions of this announcement, there is a mention of army
struggle, but it is removed in the final version, without any explanation or the
reasons for its omission. Furthermore, the announcement's lack of clarification
about the rejection of "pacifism" tendency, as a common practice among
militantist groups and currents, which, can be used as against "violence" and as
conciliator "peacemaker", sings of advocating the extremist ideology, far from a
global class understanding of the fundamental basis and needs of the
emancipatory revolution of the exploited class. Consequently, we must ask the
authors of the announcement: by which measures, could the anarchists who stand
against Violence, be called "Pacifists"?
It is worth mentioning that in the announcement, by putting accent on the armed
struggle and armed uprising method, to claim their adherence to the practice of
Makhnovist insurrectionary movement. This itself is a misunderstanding of the
nature of the Makhnovist movement, which was essentially a social uprising of
workers and peasants through co-operative communes. It is a lack of
understanding, the fact was the grounds that forced that movement was
self-defence which led to armed organisation against German, Austrian, White and
Red Armies and their militias. This was not due to the will of transforming of
the social contests to armed actions or military militantist groups.
* There is a discriminatory issue of a unilateralist, generalising,
centralist, and authoritarian practice that can be noted in their decision taking
approach, as matters were decided without consulting and contacting other
existing Anarchist individuals and groups. The authors of the announcement,
plainly, by using the term of " anarchists in Lebanon, Chili, Spain, Iraq and
Kurdistan Region", and as the geographical words mean, show that they talk and
decide in the name of all and for all the anarchists who live in those countries.
Here, all the anarchists who live in the countries that are mentioned in the
announcement, face an answer to the question: Do all the anarchists of the
countries mentioned agree and share the same positions that are expressed by the
federation and the announcement?
* We leave the answer to that question to the comrades who live in those
countries. Considering the "Iraq and Kurdistan Region", after a thorough
examination, we do not know the existence of any individual who has a practical
and socially active role, agree with that announcement. Therefore, we as
anarchists and libertarians who Kurdish speakers, either as within the Forum of
Kurdish-speaking anarchists and as well as the local Sulaymaniyah/Iraq Forum of
anarchists, do not fall with any centralised, hierarchical, political, and armed
actions. We believe in the social and autonomous organisation of social struggle,
revolution, and self- running society.
For the reasons mentioned above, we as a group of Kurdish speaking anarchists and
libertarians, either in the area of "Iraq and Kurdistan Region", either outside,
do not support that announcement and we are unaware of the process of declaring
and the formation of that federation. As a result, without going into details and
touch on our fundamental differences with them, we consider this type of
initiatives as sectarist and in conflict with what is so far known as anarchist
movement from an historical basis.
libertarians dialogue ( weekly internet dialogue )
https://www.facebook.com/groups/AZADIXUAZAN
Anarchist Forum in Sulaymaniyah/Iraq
https://www.facebook.com/Sulaimanyah.Anarchist.Forum
Kurdish-speaking Anarchists Forum
www.anarkistan.net
28th of November 2020
--------------------------------------------------------------------
the link: announcement of Anarchism Era website
https://www.facebook.com/InternationalOfAnarchistFederations/posts/1471425486401105
------------------------------
Message: 5
The Ksiegarska company Jaroslaw Granos runs at least 3 sale points for cheap
books in Praga: the largest one at ul. Targowa 66, and the rest in the Wilenski
Passage and in the basement at the Washington Roundabout. The company also sells
books online and has magazines in Stara Milosna. This is where a student worked,
who cannot ask for a salary for the hours worked. ---- Unfortunately, the owner
of the company took advantage of the girl who was working hard to earn the rent.
The catalog of illegal activities is quite typical: first, the owner delayed
presenting a written contract, which in itself is already breaking the law. When
she finally received the contract, the number of hours differed from what was
actually planned. It was supposed to be "on paper only". Unfortunately, many
people fall for such tricks of dishonest employers.
During the work, there was no record of working time. The female worker ended up
not getting most of her salary for the hours she worked. The owner pretends
everything is fine, although his translations are laughable.
The Union of Syndicalists of Poland will therefore protest against such treatment
of employees. We call on the owner of the Bookkeeping Company, Jaroslaw Granos,
to pay the sum due to the employee. We encourage our neighbors in Praga to avoid
areas where workers 'rights are violated and instead buy where workers' rights
are respected.
ZSP picket at the bookstore on ul. Targowa 66 is planned for Wednesday, December
9 at. 5:00 p.m.
https://zsp.net.pl/nielegalne-warunki-pracy-w-firmie-ksiegarskiej-jaroslaw-granos
------------------------------
Message: 6
The Warsaw committees of the National Trade Union Workers' Initiative appeal to
the President of Warsaw, Rafal Trzaskowski, to withdraw funds for co-financing
the police in the city budget for 2021 and to transfer them to increase the
salaries of female employees and employees of Warsaw's institutions and other
organizational units subordinate to the Capital City of Warsaw from key care
sectors , social welfare, health, education and culture. ---- Anyone can sign the
appeal to the President of Warsaw by launching the petition on the website
Naszademokracja.pl[link to the petition]. We encourage you to signatures! ----
Full text of the Employee Initiative appeal below: ---- Dear Mr. President,
In recent months, in the streets of Warsaw, we have encountered an increasing
threat of police violence. In August, the police brutally dispersed the protest
accompanying the arrest of Malgorzata Szutowska, arrested and detained people in
violation of the law. The protests against the Constitutional Tribunal's abortion
ruling, ongoing since October 22, are being pacified with even greater brutality.
The police regularly use pepper spray against calmly behaving people (also in
relation to female MPs showing MPs), unjustifiably use violence to intimidate the
protesting female residents and residents of Warsaw. Repressions by police
officers (including detentions and arrests) also affect female employees and
employees of capital institutions and other organizational units subordinate to
the capital city
The long-standing impunity of the Police and brutality towards demonstrators
arouse increasing public opposition. At the same time, the Capital City of In the
draft budget for 2021, Warsaw plans to provide funds in the amount of PLN
5,300,000 to co-finance activities carried out by the Police (information from
"Expenses of the capital city of Warsaw in the budget classification: Department
754 Public safety and fire protection, Chapter 75405 County Police Headquarters")
, including PLN 100,000 for awards for Police officers in order to "express
recognition for professional achievements".
It is unacceptable to financially support the activities of the Police, when they
use violence against us instead of providing security to us, residents of Warsaw.
In the face of a pandemic and a global crisis, we see all the more because the
sectors of social welfare, health, education and culture are key to our safety,
the functioning of our society and the maintenance of social cohesion. Mainly
women work in all these sectors in Warsaw. Their low wages are another
manifestation of discrimination and exploitation of women in Poland. Without
measures to increase their wages, equal pay between women and men will not be real.
Therefore, on behalf of the Warsaw committees of the National Trade Union
Employee Initiative, we appeal for the withdrawal of funds for co-financing the
Police in the city's budget for 2021 and for transferring them to increase the
salaries of female employees and employees of Warsaw's institutions and other
organizational units subordinate to the Capital City of Warsaw from the
above-mentioned sectors.
https://ozzip.pl/informacje/mazowieckie/item/2722-warszawskie-komisje-ip-do-trzaskowskiego-wyzsze-pensje-w-uslugach-publicznych-zamiast-dofinansowania-policji
------------------------------
Message: 7
Issue 11 of Barricade Bulletin created by the Derry Anarchist Collective is now
available from members locally or directly from the usual local outlets.
For those of you beyond the North West you can download the online version which
now carries a much more detailed section for Anarchist Black Cross news and other
information.
To download the latest issue click here
https://abcireland.files.wordpress.com/2020/12/barricadebulletinno11.pdf
Posted by Derry Anarchists at Wednesday, December 09, 2020
------------------------------
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