Today's Topics:
1. freedom news: France: How union leaders destroyed the
movement against El Khomri (a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
2. France, Alternative Libertaire AL - Antifascism,
Koltchenko-Sentsov: Resistance to Putin, March 4 in Paris (fr,
it, pt) [machine translation] (a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
3. US, Black Rose Anarchist Federation: A CONSERVATIVE THREAT
OFFERS NEW OPPORTUNITIES FOR WORKING CLASS FEMINISM
by Romina
Akemi and Bree Busk (a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
4. [Chile] Valparaiso: Anarchic Encounter against the
devastation advance - February 12, By ANA (ca, pt) [machine
translation] (a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
5. poland, ozzip.pl: Workers' Initiative Union - There should
be a strikebreaker for Starbucks! [machine translation]
(a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
6. Britain, freedomnews: The Class War Newspaper is Back!
(a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
7. Poland, rozbrat: There should be a strikebreaker for
Starbucks - report from protest National Union of Workers'
Initiative (a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
8. France, Alternative Libertaire AL - In 2017: Acting instead
of electing, in Angers on March 28 by AL Angers (fr, it, pt)
[machine translation] (a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
9. For a United, Working Class Defense of Muslim Communities by
First of May Anarchist Alliance (a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
10. Afissa and Political Call to Antifascist demonstration in
Bulgaria (Sofia) on February 12. By A.P.O. (gr) [machine
translation] (a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Message: 1
A militant reflects on the struggle against the Socialist Party's El Khomri law attacking
working rights, which brought 1.2 million workers into the streets last year and sparked
widespread resistance. ---- Unions played a key role last spring in the movement against
the "work" law. But their political gymnastics of collaboration with the government cost
us the fight. Let us organise ourselves now, autonomously, to control our political
objectives and our means of struggle! For the many affronts to come, let's prepare the
riposte! ---- On January 30th, after a five-month truce in struggle, a coalition of trade
unions CGT-FO-FSU-UNEF-UNL-LDIFs (SOUTH abstained) met to "revive a dynamic struggle in a
context of electoral campaigns where the social question remains in the background," but
also to ask for "the repeal of the work law."
While many of the provisions of this Act came into effect on January 1st, the question
must be asked: why did the major unions leave the street after September 15th? After the
government passed the legislative power without a vote, using Article 49.3 of the French
Constitution, it was still possible to force the executive to turn back by intensifying
the struggles, as had been the case during the movement against the CPE in 2006.
It must be remembered that the demonstration of September 15th, the last of this cycle of
mobilisations, was a huge success, despite fierce police repression. But this did not stop
Jean-Claude Mailly, secretary-general of union confederation Force Ouvrière, from putting
an end to the all-union demonstrations and letting the impressive social movement that had
been launched since March rot away.
Two phenomena can be discerned through this defeat, announced by the leaders of the
traditional unions. The first is that despite their powerful capacity for mobilisation,
the trade union confederations did not wish to make use of it.
When half of the gas stations were dry and the nuclear power stations stopped on April
28th, it was believed that the movement was certain to win. The demonstrations of March
31st and June 14th bringing together more than one million people are also irrefutable
evidence of trade union power in France. But these unions never wanted to enter into a
real struggle with the government, despite this ability to mobilise.
While some autonomous collectives, inter-professional GAs and several minority trade
unions called for a general strike, the traditional unions did not want to take this step,
preferring to call timidly for sporadic strike days. The movement against the law
coincided more widely with other struggles, including those of railway workers and of
course with Nuit Debout. But the unions had no desire to bring these different struggles
in a general strike and although CGT union general secretary Philippe Martinez was seen as
representing the "hard" line of the union, (he went went to Nuit Debout on April 28th),
the liaison between workers and citizens never happened.
When the union leaders had the capacity to close the country's nuclear power plants, which
would immediately have beaten the law, why did not they act? One can only perceive a lack
of political will, and the complete absence of wanting to create a protest dynamic against
the neoliberal policies and security of the State.
This brings us to the second phenomenon characterising the conformist zeal of union
leaders. Beyond a lack of political will to pursue a truly contentious line, the unions
saw their hold on the movement slipping between their fingers. The successive overflowing
spring, the constitution of the head of processions, and the willingness to act outside
the framework set by the unions have definitely not pleases the traditional holders of the
social protest monopoly.
The opening of these autonomous spaces enabled the many people wishing to emancipate
themselves from the burdens and constraints of the large organisations, and there was
participation from determined trade unionists alongside students and high-school students
in radical actions. Faced with this new autonomous impetus, the trade union centrists
became frightened, and knelt before the government before losing all control.
Thus, the "cage" demonstrations of June 23rd and 28th were unprecedented concessions to
the executive and the police to support trade unions in their approach. When the Parisian
parade of September 15th brought together more than a quarter of the total demonstration,
unions sounded alarm bells, putting a permanent brake on the movement. While the
autonomous groups that formed in the spring persisted in their revolt, now targeting
presidential elections, the withdrawal from the struggle by the unions has dampened the
movement.
The inter-union meeting of Monday, January 30th appears therefore as a farce: those who
had put an end to the movement claim today to incarnate its continuation. Certainly, the
CGT has brought certain sections of the work law before various courts, but the street
remains the most radical and unifying medium of dispute. The leaders of the unions waited
until the autonomous forces lost momentum so they could restart a tamed and controlled
"mobilisation."
France's imminent presidential elections do not bode well for the future, especially with
the main candidates who promise us a neoliberal, safe and racist business as usual. As can
be seen in the US, the major unions do not hesitate to negotiate with Trump. The French
Democratic Federation of Labour‘s political gymnastics, which saw it collaborate with the
government throughout the movement, is another example of trade unions adhering to clearly
anti-working lines.
It is therefore more important than ever to emancipate themselves from these trade unions
and to form autonomous forms of organisation in the workplace, study and life. Criticisms
by philosopher Simone Veil of the Popular Front and the reformist trade unions after the
movement of 1936, and the anarcho-syndicalist experience in Catalonia 1936, not counting
the many reflections[1][2][3]from the movement last spring should serve as historical and
theoretical lessons for us that change.
For the many affronts to come, let's prepare the riposte!
This article is an edited machine translation from a submission to Paris-Luttes
https://freedomnews.org.uk/france-how-union-leaders-destroyed-the-el-khomri-movement/
------------------------------
Message: 2
The Collectif Koltchenko is preparing an afternoon of testimonies, meetings and debates.
Several speakers will intervene, including activists from Ukraine and Russia. ---- This
will be all the afternoon of March 4, at the labor exchange in Paris, and organized around
two themes: the situation of political prisoners in Russia with a focus on case Koltchenko
and Sentsov; The social and trade union struggles in Russia and Ukraine. ---- Already
planned: ---- For your freedom and freedom Russia, Ukraine: hostages of Putin to the
social struggles of today Koltchenko, Sentsov and political prisoners in Russia (and
Ukraine) ---- Sacha Koualeva, responsible for Eastern Europe and Central Asia Bureau of
the International Federation for Human Rights. ---- Anne Le Houerou, researcher expert on
Russia and member of the European Citizens' Assembly-Initiatives for Another World.
Gennady Afanasiev, co-accused with Koltchenko and Sentsov, released in June 2016
Social struggles in Russia and Ukraine
Kirill Buketov, unionist (International Union of Food Workers and Global Labour
Institute), one of the founders of the trade union confederation KAS-KOR Russia.
It will be
MARCH 4, 2017
All the afternoon, to the labor exchange of Paris
The website of the collective Koltchenko
SCANDAL: TEN YEARS OF PENITENTIARY COLONY FOR KOLTCHENKO!
The condemnation fell on 25 August 2015: ten years for our comrade Alexandr Koltchenko,
twenty years for the filmmaker Oleg Sentsov, under cover of "terrorism"! Their crime? The
refusal of all the mafias and all imperialisms - including that of the Russian state -
that ruin the Ukraine.
Read more here
Below is a report from Euronews centered on Oleg Sentsov:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8nG5VA3Amsg
http://www.alternativelibertaire.org/?Koltchenko-Sentsov-Resistance-a
------------------------------
Message: 3
Author Note: This article was written by Romina Akemi and Bree Busk for Solidaridad, the
newspaper of the Chilean organization Solidaridad – Federación Comunista Libertaria. For
this reason, more time is spent explaining history and concepts that would be familiar to
a US audience. ---- In the first week of Donald Trump’s presidency, there were two
important mobilizations that expressed radically different views on reproductive rights.
The Women’s March on Washington, which took place the day after Trump’s inauguration, has
been hailed as one of the largest mobilizations in US history. What began as a spontaneous
call quickly ballooned into a movement that tapped into growing anxieties over the
intentions of the new administration. The march drew some 500,000 to rally in Washington
DC while sister marches were held across the country and even worldwide. One week later,
on the anniversary of Roe v. Wade (the 1973 Supreme Court decision that legalized
abortion), another mobilization took place: the annual March for Life. While significantly
smaller, this march still drew many attendees who were energized by celebrity speakers
from the Trump administration. In a break with political protocol, Vice President Mike
Pence, a former Catholic turned born-again Christian, spoke at the rally, where he
claimed, “Life is winning again in America.”
In the United States, the legality of abortion rests on Roe v. Wade, which can only be
overturned by another Supreme Court ruling. However, there is a vacancy on the Supreme
Court that President Obama was unable to fill in his final term. During his campaign,
then-candidate Trump had committed to appointing an anti-abortion judge, a promise that
was reiterated during Pence’s speech and finally realized on January 30th with the
nomination of Neil Gorsuch. A recent report on Judge Gorsuch’s voting record states that
if confirmed, he would likely be a reliable conservative, “voting to limit gay rights,
uphold restrictions on abortion and invalidate affirmative action programs.”
Despite its legality, abortion access in the US has continued to be precarious and uneven,
especially for those in rural communities. This is due in part to the success of the
anti-abortion movement, which has persistently sought both legal and grassroots methods to
reduce and restrict access. This was most visible in the 1990’s, when right-wing
evangelical organizations such as Operation Rescue, Moral Majority, and the Family
Research Council came into prominence. These organizations rode the conservative backlash
against the ‘60s “cultural revolution,” demanding open prayer in state schools, opposing
sex education, and shutting down women’s clinics. This period of religious conservative
response to secular, progressive values came to be known as the Culture Wars. At this
point, the Third Wave of the US feminist movement had been fully institutionalized within
the Democratic Party and was unable to defend its gains against such a challenge.
The Women’s March was the most powerful public demonstration in defense of reproductive
rights in recent history and represented the first call to action capable of uniting women
across class, racial, and political lines since the defeat of the Equal Rights Amendment
in the late 1970’s. For the last decade, US Left politics have been dominated by identity
politics: a political theory that emphasizes racial, gender, and sexual identity over
social class. Identity politics was initially employed to analyze and deconstruct
manifestations of white supremacy and patriarchy within leftist organizations and
movements, but it was also taken up by young progressives in academic and institutional
settings. Within this analysis, class became understood as another identity that could be
discriminated against rather than a relationship to the means of production. What began as
a useful tool to analyze power imbalances soon evolved into an ideological position
characterized by disunity, extreme localism, and separatism. These political behaviors
have had a broad influence on both the revolutionary and institutional left in the US,
impeding the growth of broad-based social movements. The fragmentary nature of identity
politics was addressed through the application of intersectionality, the theoretical
practice of analyzing overlapping social identities and related systems of oppression,
domination, or discrimination. Intersectionality was intended to provide a model for
inclusive, horizontal cooperation within organizations and movements across all
identities. However, in practice, activists interpreted it to mean that all identities and
oppressions are situated equally and no special understanding of capitalism or the state
was necessary to complete their analysis. As the recent US election has demonstrated, most
people will react to threats to their material realities rather than in response to purely
ideological considerations about their place within the complex hierarchy of oppressed
identities . . . The irony being that politics from above – led by Trump – has forced the
US Left to find unity, when a few months ago, they saw none.
At this point, there is no certainty that the Women’s March will evolve into an actual
social movement. Across the country, the microphones were dominated by Democratic Party
politicians and liberal celebrities who emphasized institutional resistance. In contrast,
the march participants were politically diverse, with some demanding reforms and others,
revolution. The unifying factor was a collective desire to ignite an ongoing resistance in
the streets to the coming social rollbacks. Revolutionary feminists have only just begun
to assert themselves in these political spaces and it’s unclear what role they will
ultimately play. This much is clear: the Women’s March represents a political opening to
rebuild a revolutionary feminist movement (in conjunction with other developing struggles)
that advances demands to improve the lives of working people and embraces conflict with
the liberal, capitalist character of the feminist movement of the day. There is a clear
opportunity to re-center the classic demands of reproductive justice, economic equality,
and freedom from patriarchal violence, and to push them forward with a greater force than
was possible in decades past. Our efforts will require the best aspects of intersectional
analysis to prevent us from replicating the hierarchies we wish to abolish, but that is
only the beginning: we must address the material reality of those most directly impacted
by patriarchal-capitalism and let that focus serve as a guide for the revolutionary
movement we wish to build.
http://www.blackrosefed.org/conservative-threat-offers-new-opportunities-working-class-feminism/
------------------------------
Message: 4
On February 12, 1541, the city of Santiago was founded, in the name of the King of Spain,
of God and of the Catholic Church. With this process the colonization begins in this part
of America, through the terrifying imposition of a creed, of massacre, of expulsion and of
the violent submission of the inhabitants of these lands. Also, on February 12, 1818 was
declared the nation state of $ hile: the war for power was won by the pro-independence
side of the "aristocracy criola." ---- Again, a state was established through military
power: one that did not hesitate to apply genocide and killings to any gesture of
insurrection, throughout history. This date, like so many others, represents devastation
and death; Violence and the arrogant installation of symbols, which we do not want to
ignore. However, we spit on them because they are faithful representatives of the
authoritarian culture in which the perpetuity of domination, politics and extractivism is
fostered.
The very development of capital and its restructuring shows us that powers generate new
forms of domination. Nowadays, the IIRSA project (Initiative for the Integration of the
South American Regional Infrastructure) is being established in all the zones of South
America, as plan of expansion of networks of exploration on the nature; And
gentrification, which is the forced displacement of the poorest populations in the face of
the pressure imposed by the flow of goods; An effect of creating new ways of greed and
control through neocolonial reordering, the installation of new networks of meaning that
impose themselves violently on the pre-existing ones. In short, IIRSA and Gentrification
are a sample of the new ways of control that have been established and that are
accomplices from the authoritarian symbol denominated homeland, central constituent of the
propagando of the state. Nowadays this "homeland", a project of a February 12, generates
fanatical minions, who manifest themselves in xenophobia in a settlement for the state
violence.
We need to recognize and deepen our bonds of affinity to attack all the authoritarian way
and its desire to control everything. We know that various initiatives and proposals are
raised because of our position and are committed to work in the various latitudes of the
territory that intend to govern States and their mercenaries. From these brief lines, we
wish to call for an invitation to an anarchic meeting against the devastation to be held
on February 12: to share and exchange different forms of manifestation of the propagation
of ideas and anarchic practices. Along with this, we create debates about what affects us
and where we stand in the new conditions of power: both resistance and offense. We want to
provide in this meeting in a free space of tobacco, alcohol, drugs, machismo, speciesism
and all authoritarian conduct ... at the same time that it turns out to be an instance
founded on respect, listening, fraternity and interaction among all. The need to generate
better modes of communication and to deepen aspects of the war against power is always
fundamental to propagating and extending the struggle for anarchy.
Health and Anarchy
More
Translation> Joana Caetano
------------------------------
Message: 5
Starbucks management encourages employees and workers Polish cafes to act as
strikebreakers. The world's largest coffee chain currently recruiting individuals wishing
to "work with German partners" in Berlin and the Ruhr region in connection with the
ongoing strikes the foodservice sector. The aim is to break the protests union NGG
fighting since October 2016. On salary increases. Although Starbucks offer might sound
appealing in comparison with Polish rates of remuneration, in the long term, the defeat of
the strike in Germany will affect negatively on the working conditions of all employees
and workers network. ---- Since October last year, German trade union NGG (Food, Beverages
and Catering Union) bringing together employees and workers catering, hotel and food
industry conducts collective dispute with the employers of the catering industry. NGG
calls for a 6% wage growth in the foodservice sector-present, they are at the level of the
national minimum wage which is 8.848 Euro / hour (approx. 38.21 zl). Negotiations with
representatives of companies such as Starbucks, Mc Donalds and Burger King has so far not
produced any effect, so from 23 January relationship leads warning strikes in restaurants
and cafes. As you can see Starbucks decided to respond to the protests reaching scabs from
Polish to keep wages low and break the unions.
OZZ Workers' Initiative in June 2016. Organizes workers and workers from the food service
sector. We know are the main problems of workers in this industry in Poland - low wages,
employment of "black" or junk contracts, long working hours and lack of allowances for
overtime and paid holidays. In comparison with Polish, German wages and working conditions
seem favorable, but this is mainly due to the greater level of unionisation and more
pressure unions on wages. If employees and workers of the Polish management company will
help to break the strike and weaken trade unions in Germany, thus making it easier
corporations from the food service sector "leveling down" when it comes to wages, working
hours and health and safety conditions. They will benefit only the owners of the network,
and lose all employees at Starbucks.
In response to the letter from the Directorate Starbucks committees Workers Initiative
operating in the catering sector in the coming days will conduct an information campaign,
"It is not worth to be a strikebreaker Starbucks" by encouraging employees and workers
network for a boycott of the offer to go to Germany, to show solidarity with the actions
due NGG and the creation of trade unions in Polish Starbucks.
http://ozzip.pl/teksty/informacje/ogolnopolskie/item/2216-nie-warto-byc-lamistrajkiem-dla-starbucksa
------------------------------
Message: 6
For this edition of his monthly column Jon Bigger writes on what's happening with the
forthcoming relaunch of notorious anarchist paper Class War and looks over some of the
encouraging signs of people getting spiky in recent weeks. ---- Britain's most unruly
tabloid is making a comeback. First off though I should explain that I'm involved with
this and will likely write something for the publication. So with that disclaimer out the
way let's take a look at what is going on. ---- Last month I wrote about the need for a
radical 2017. In some regards the last month has been spectacular on that front. The
United Voices of the World (UVW) held a protest outside Harrods in early January about the
way in which the upper class department store steals tips from the serving staff in their
cafes and restaurants. There were scuffles, there were arrests and there was widespread
and worldwide coverage of the event (Class War were in attendance as well incidentally,
having built up some excellent solidarity with UVW starting with the battle the union had
with Sotherby's). Within days Harrods had capitulated and so the workers have won this
battle without a strike. See how easily even the Qatari royal family gives up when we
scare them? The amount they were stealing is rumoured to be in the region of £2 million
per year. This is a major victory for those low-paid workers.
Then we've had the A.N.A.L squat liberating mansions in London and opening them up for
the homeless. They have garnered some excellent press coverage where they've managed to
set out exactly why the gross inequalities of capitalism need to be challenged. Over the
pond, the black bloc caused mayhem on Donald Trump's inauguration day. Since then
anarchism has been in the news regularly and not just to demonise anarchists, but also to
explain it in surprisingly sympathetic tones. Yes, it is OK to punch Nazis. In amongst
all the liberal protesting with the witty placards and polite appeals for Trump to stop
being such a fascist meanie we are witnessing some hard core direct action aimed at
disrupting the spectacle of official politics and create new spaces where communities can
be formed and nurtured.
White supremacist Richard Spencer attempting to injure an unsuspecting bystander's elbow
last month
There's a problem though. We don't seem to take many people with us and this was a problem
before the resurgence in conservatism. Maybe some of the people going on protests for the
first time because of the major changes we're witnessing will come around to a more
radical outlook but we do what we do because we want our communities to flourish. These
communities, particularly those at the more impoverished end of society, have suffered
neoliberal economics and a left that hasn't given them solutions for decades. No wonder
they might see Brexit, the Tories, UKIP and Trump as a breath of fresh air. The left has
failed them. There seems a space here for something a little different.
Class War aims to combine politics, class anger, pride and humour to bring a bit of light
relief and get people talking again. It's not going to change the world. It's not going to
introduce political theory to the multitudes. It's going to be fun and it's going to take
the piss. In the process it will hopefully help build bridges in communities and encourage
people to get involved with politics on the streets. We absolutely have to try and reach
people so why not a paper again? I spoke to the editor, who told me:
Class War believe the time is right to bring back Britain's most unruly tabloid. We feel
there is nothing on the left that offers anything readable to the majority of working
class people other than the dull rags of boredom and despair peddled by bearded trots
trying to recruit at every demo or protest up and down the country. We intend to be
informative, angry and overall to have a good laugh.
The paper will keep people informed of campaigns going on in communities and workplaces,
providing information on some of the best campaigns in the UK. There will also be
contributions from housing campaigners Simon Elmer from Architects for Social Housing
(ASH) and Lisa McKenzie as well as the UVW's Petros Elia, who will provide coverage of
their campaigns.
I'm told that there is a good chance that we may see the return of some old favourites
such as the page three "hospitalised copper" but there will also be new content. There
will be a section written by the Class War Womens Death Brigade. Jane Nicholl, one of the
people involved with that aspect of the paper told me "it'll be funny, fiery, feisty and
fuck you. There'll be no safer spaces demands from us or feminist victim bollocks." She
added that the paper will "not be for the faint hearted or the over sensitive!"
Whether this new iteration of the paper
https://freedomnews.org.uk/the-class-war-newspaper-is-back/
------------------------------
Message: 7
On Saturday afternoon at Starbucks gathered several dozen activists from Workers'
Initiative, among others, are members of the newly established Poznan Inter-Commission
Working In Gastronomy. ---- The event was motivated by recent actions Starbucks, which
offered Polish networked trip to Germany for the period from 1 to 4 days, and the work of
the German minimum wage, to replace the positions rustic workers and workers in the event
of a strike would have to leave the job. ---- Food, Beverages and Catering Union (NGG) -
Trade union uniting workers in the catering, hotel and food industry, because of the
resistance of the German employers' strike preparation. German workers and workers
fighting for wage increases of 6%, which at the moment are at the level of the minimum
wage 8.84 euro per hour. ---- The event attracted the attention of the media who cover the
event.
The unions acquainted newcomers with the position due regard to the attempts to break the
protests of German workers and declared their solidarity with the protesters, they have
indicated that you can not afford to wage equation down to Polish standards and the need
to bring to the trend reverse, lead to significant wage increases in the country .
After the end of the picket the premises called the intervention group arrived in the form
of rented protection, but when they learned that the picket ended drifted away from the place.
Then the activists went to all cafes network in the aim to familiarize employees with the
current situation and encourage to join the ranks of the union.
PS. Worker Solidarity wins
Later that same day, Starbucks withdraws from recruit strikebreakers to work in Germany:
AmRest, which operates Starbucks in Central Europe, Eastern Europe and Germany, sent
yesterday to the media following a statement signed by Iwona Sarachman, PR director of
AmRest Holdings
"We are very sorry that the purpose of the offer voluntary temporary work in Germany,
which we placed our employees in Poland, has been misinterpreted by the public opinion. We
emphasize that our only intention was to ensure the proper functioning of our cafes and
undistorted service our visitors. Please note also, that we have not made any activities
related to the implementation of this offer for the employees and do not intend to take them "
As you can see solidarity actions organized this day m.in in Poznan and in Warsaw may be
an excellent weapon to support the struggle of workers.
Poznan Inter-Commission Working in the Catering
Workers' Initiative
ww.rozbrat.org/informacje/poznan/4507-nie-warto-by-amistrajkiem-dla-starbucksa-relacja-z-protestu
------------------------------
Message: 8
Tuesday, March 28 at 20:30, the spark (26 Maille Street in Angers), within the 20 years of
The Spark , AL organizing a public meeting at 26, rue Maille. ---- Because "parliamentary
democracy" is a facade of democracy ---- The great capitalists hold most of the economic
power, and thus the essential power. Their power is hereditary and arbitrary. This system
is in fact an aristocracy of the patron. ---- Because the system is in crisis, and it's
time to change it ---- As the elections pass without anything changing fundamentally,
"democratic" institutions have entered into a crisis of representativeness and legitimacy
which results in a systematically massive abstention from elections. It is ridiculous to
endorse a system that is out of breath by participating in it. ---- Because social
struggles are the only way of transforming society
Even when candidates proclaim themselves "really left," their candidacy usually serves
only to give a "pluralistic" bond to a locked system. Even if they come to power, their
actions are annihilate
http://www.alternativelibertaire.org/?En-2017-Agir-au-lieu-d-elire-a
------------------------------
Message: 9
Trump, his white nationalist advisers and their fascist supporters are openly attacking
Muslim communities. Trump's authoritarian ban on refugees from Syria and on travelers,
immigrants, students and refugees from a total of seven majority Muslim nations is a
direct assault on Muslim communities, immigrant communities, people of color and the
entire working class. With Trump's targeted assault from the top, fascists on the ground
in Texas burned a Muslim Mosque. In Quebec City, Canada, a white fascist stormed into a
mosque, killing six and wounding many more. The shooter was a known admirer of Trump,
French far-Right leader Marine Le Pen and an assortment of other racist, anti-immigrant
and white nationalist groups.
Opposition to Trump's racist travel ban was immediate and broad. People in their thousands
came into the streets and demonstrated against the ban at airports and in cities from New
York to Detroit to Columbus to Chicago to LA to Seattle and dozens of cities/airports in
between. Demonstrations continue and are multi-racial and multi-national, involving
Muslims from many communities and with solidarity from Latinx communities, Black
communities, immigrant communities and working people of all races and nationalities.
Various liberal leaders and many with ties to the Democratic Party attempt to lead the
demonstrations and be in charge, but the truth is that ordinary people, working people are
coming out and building the opposition: young and old, women and men, Muslim and
non-Muslim, Black, white, Latinx, Arab, Asian, all of us together opposing the ban and
standing in defense of Muslim communities and immigrant communities.
Trump and his supporters are attacking very basic rights, and people are fighting to
defend those rights: the right to worship, the right to be yourself, the right to travel,
the right to be with family, the right to survive by fleeing war and bombing, the right to
an education, the right to be safe. All of us, including anarchists and revolutionaries,
should join in the fight to defend these basic rights and to oppose government and fascist
attacks on these rights and on Muslim communities. Now we need community self-defense and
united working class defense; the multi-racial and multi-national working classes must
join our forces, must unite our forces in defense of Muslim communities.
We know that attacks on Muslims are part of the broader attacks on Latinx communities,
immigrant communities, indigenous people, women, LGBTQ communities, people with
disabilities, "cities," prisoners, students and all of us. While Trump plans to follow
through on his campaign promises of upsetting Washington politics - what he called
"draining the swamp" - he is in fact working to realign politics and policies that will
continue the broad attacks on working people. He hopes to keep working people focused on
fighting each other; he hopes to keep everyday white folks focused on fighting to protect
white supremacy and capitalism. Much of this is facilitated by promoting the facade of
white nationalism, in which white identity and imperial borders actively define the
excluded and the enemy, domestically and abroad. The specter of both the alien at home and
possible war abroad work hand in hand in producing targets for racist and xenophobic
violence. This racist and authoritarian reaction has been at the center of Trump's
program from the beginning, and the attacks he has ushered in have made this painfully
obvious. Millions of people voted for Trump seeing him as someone to "shake up the
establishment". But Trump's program is another variant of rule by the bosses and
billionaires, even if some of the ruling class is bothered by his seemingly chaotic
approach. The dangers, as seen in the Mosque attacks, is that racist and fascist violence
is being carried out from below, by everyday people. Working people are faced with the
need to defend both against the attacks of the State and a racist and fascist base.
Anarchists and revolutionaries have been on the frontlines, but must continue to join the
fight to oppose racism and discrimination and to build multi-racial, working class defense
of all of our communities. Trump wants to take us back to American Apartheid. We are not
going back. The liberals and the Democratic Party have no answers to Trump and the rise of
a fascist movement. We are not going back to their failed policies and empty promises. The
only way forward now is straight ahead, on our own, uniting our forces. No one is coming
to save us; we have to do that ourselves. The whole system has to go.
NO BAN, NO WALL, NO BORDERS, NO STATES!
"Popular Self-Defense Against Racism and Islamophobia"
http://m1aa.org/?p=1360
------------------------------
Message: 10
"... In constant international instability and turmoil systemic policies stable, born the
great potential of its revolutionary emancipation. Opposite already formed the
counterrevolutionary extreme right and fascist facet of modern totalitarianism to get as
ultimate barrier to the development of social history, which goes through the ceaseless
struggle for freedom and equality. War and fascism, this is the "response" of the system
in a comprehensive and deep crisis in its own contradictions, who causes the incurable
conflict imposed by the basic principle, the exploitation and oppression of man by man. "
---- (excerpt from the Declaration of the 2 nd of APO) Conference ---- The manifestations
of modern totalitarianism, that the dictatorship of power grid formed by the state and
capital, ranging from the "new" left "social democracy" by neo-Nazis in order to smooth
reproduction of exploitation and oppression cycle against the plebeian strata of society.
Systemic violence is the headquarters element of this process, based on economic
inequality and political exclusion. The emergency regime constantly expanding world, on
the one hand shows the actual bankruptcy kratikis- capitalist machine, while the other
cultivates the soil to grow the most intolerant, racist, and finally openly fascist and
nationalist forces. The emergence of the 'new' political staff supposedly confrontational
rhetoric in hitherto dominant narrative of advancing globalization blurs the water and
paying attention (and perhaps hopes) of plebeian layers to "national solutions" that
promise various fascist and decides forces deployed in the dominant political framework of
modern totalitarianism (.p.ch. the Trump in America, the Le Pen in France, the far right
in England and Germany -under the guise of evroskeptikismou- and fascist governments and
forces in Austria, Hungary, Bulgaria, Ukraine, etc.).
The far-right policies constitute the most extreme manifestation of exploitative cluster
state and capital, sometimes in the form of paramilitary gangs, sometimes as a legitimate
party and sometimes as the dominant governance model, depending on the needs of the system
that produces and maintains fascism. Cultivate nationalism, racism and intolerance
attempting to increase social cannibalism and complementing the dominant ideological
imposition, defending Fortress Europe, the displacement centers and concentration camps.
"... In Greece in recent months space isolation run ghettoisation tens of thousands of
refugees who originally built up a supposedly" humanitarian "pretext to justify the social
and political isolation run of refugees and immigrants, today takes the form of overt
attack by state and para-state forces. The ideological and repressive attack against
unmediated solidarity, paving the way for the manifestation of social ekfasismou. The
repressive operations and mintiaka racist delusions accompanied by the increase of both
fascist attacks against refugees and migrants and against race venues.[...]And in this
attack, as well as the overall worsening of operating conditions, the current political
administration has worked as a catalyst having the main responsibility for the spreading
of defeatism and frustration and weaken the resistance. "
(excerpt from the Declaration of 2 nd conference of APO)
The Fortress Europe policies are literally etched on the bodies of refugees and migrants,
who are the first victims of the continuing enlargement of the control, suppression and
incarceration of emergency status alongside the intensity of the attack in the lower
layers. The consistent strategy of modern totalitarianism to deepen the exploitation and
control and enforcement exemption status for immigrants and refugees, strictly applied
during the government of SYRIZA. The government, as a continuation of the previous, follow
all the doctrine of Fortress Europe, intensify blockades, maintain the fence in Evros,
creates new displacement centers and prison camps for refugees and immigrants. After
having rinsed all civilian personnel who ruled until now with the validation of new
onerous measures for the exploited, now flushes and fascist and Nazi gangs after fosters
national unity with joint tours to the islands. It is the same islands where hundreds of
refugees were buried in the snow and experiencing daily deplorable conditions. Meanwhile,
attacks on refugee housing occupations and migrants in the summer, giving signal to
withhold arm to develop the attacks of both the match venues and solidarity, both
physically and themselves refugees and immigrants.
The fascists acting as the long arm of the state undertake to apply "the sidewalk"
official state racist policies, setting up pogroms against solidarity and immigrants as
Chios, attempting to intensify and to guarantee the social exclusion of refugees, as in
Oreokastro in Perama attackers of a targeted in the crackdown match venues. Being a
creation of the state and capital, operate as handling belts of targeting. Pressing the
more conservative reflexes want to transform the social field in the arena unbridled
development of state and capitalist barbarism. Across the antifascist struggle has managed
to prevent the extension of created by the state of fascism follicles with the formation
of a front which put a barrier to enforcement of fascist gangs in neighborhoods and
workplaces. While actively raised the issue of social and class self-defense against the
murderous violence of the assault battalions. To mention only the most recent events, the
concentration in Patras on December 10 against the Golden Dawn, the rally on January 8 in
Thessaloniki and Athens against the Sacred Band, mobilization in Veria city on January 14
with breaking offices of Golden Dawn and the fascist concentrations on January 21 in
Thessaloniki, managed to wipe out the fascists from the points on which they had announced
that they will attend. constantly need the protection of the Greek Police, at the back of
which were born alive and trying to develop, in the bowels of that state mechanisms. The
presence of anarchist anti-authoritarian-has been instrumental in highlighting the
importance of the fight against fascism in the root, the system itself who gives birth,
and the dissemination of kinematic adiamesolaviton and combat characteristics of the
anti-fascist struggle. To overcome the partial and fragmentary perceptions that lead
either to democratic illusions either isolating defeat visas. For the defense of the
public domain of struggle and of a targeted areas of the state and para-state.
"... After the murder of P.. Fyssas[...], fear the expression of social anger and
radicalization of the imperatives of anti-fascist struggle, led the then New Democracy
government - PASOK to launch prosecutions against the Golden Dawn. The state bomb through
the media with institutional "antifascist" reason and seeking to appear as the only
judicial body and guarantor of social normality, leading to justice the Golden Dawn,
trying to cloud the issue about the direct connection state and parastatal. We had and we
have no illusions about the role of civil justice. Any convictions fascists from it, can
not blur our. Not forgetting that the struggle against fascism is part of the overall
struggle against capitalism. As anarchists - anarchists, through their class struggles
koinonikous- stand against a complex and powerful system that promotes inequality,
hierarchy and divisions. We are fighting inside and outside the courtroom, in all social
fields, in daily struggles for equality, solidarity, freedom. "
(Excerpt from the text of standing "Antipnoia" in view of the presence at the trial of the
Golden Dawn)
The gradual restoration of fascists in the streets, their overt association with the deep
state and its usefulness to the imposition of the regime's choices prove the necessity
alertness towards para-fascist groups. Their main expression, the Golden Dawn for years is
a parastatal mechanism that attacks those who are fighting now claiming the expansion of
its role in systemic arc. We are the ones who will have to get down the wrath thread
Pavlos Fyssas in Sachzat Loukman and other victims of neo-Nazi violence and to restore
roads, more organized, more efficient, more loudly. A station for us is the organized
presence of anarchist and anti-fascist movement in the trial of the Golden Dawn in the
trial of the case of standing "Antipnoia" against the fascist assault battalions and their
state patrons. The trial of ASE It is part of those historical trials in which the civil
justice prosecutes some of the mechanisms of power forced the social wrath and to halt any
expression. Without having any kind of illusions that fascism can be fought in courtrooms,
but exactly the opposite starting point, that fascism is defeated on the road from the
world of the race, the presence of movement in this trial will be another barrier against
the fascists and the State attempts to flush them and disorient society from the
inseparable link state and fascists. A station for us is the organized presence of
anarchist and anti-fascist movement in the trial of the Golden Dawn in the trial of the
case of standing "Antipnoia" against the fascist assault battalions and their state patrons.
In Europe, the neo-Nazi act as the vanguard of anti-immigration policies of the European
Union. Attacks on refugee camps and migrants, when not made directly by the security
forces, as in Calais, France, handled by neo-Nazis, including dozens of attacks in
displacement centers in Germany. Countries with a hard nationalist parties in government
tightly closed borders, simply extending the EU policy exception, after discharge and the
racist rule of "percentage distribution". And while the situation formed at the central
political level in a number of countries (England, Germany, France, Hungary, Austria,
etc.) are more or less known and described by the 'export' of Ukrainian governance model
and simultaneously, because of our involvement with the policies of the countries of the
'Balkan route' (FYR Macedonia, Serbia, Croatia, Slovenia), we have enough information on
the situation there, ignorance covers the situation around the Balkan countries some of
which are close to us and in which the fascist snake seems to have hatched and wrapped
around the neck of the societies there.
In Bulgaria, the harsh anti-immigrant policies applied to immigrants and refugees who
wanted to move towards the European north. On the one hand, the policy of border seal (on
the basis of which killed at least one person who tried to cross the border by border
guard, while a small child be at death's door after police attack on the camp and another
young imprisoned after the uprising the camp of Harmanli) and the other with the known
existence of state pursuing the fascist action, which Bulgaria took up the form
kefalokynigon border against migrants and refugees, with the participation of well-known
neo-Nazis and drug dealers. The doctrine of "bullets, deportations, imprisonment 'in
Bulgaria celebrates as a central policy of all parties.
Within this general climate of tolerance in the fascist rhetoric and the establishment of
effective impossibility broader social and class and therefore anti-fascist action, have
led to the development of the fascists. Every year, since 2003, in mid-February, organized
by the fascist parade in memory of fascist Gen. Cristo Loukof, event which is one of the
biggest fascist private gatherings in the Balkans. Since the Bulgarian fascists feel
strong, they did not hesitate to give pan-European nature to hate meeting, inviting in
Sofia every year throughout the neo-Nazi entourage with organizations such as the Spanish
Falange, Italian Casa Pound, the Nazi NPD Germany, and other organizations from the
Balkans and Russia. Indeed, on the occasion of this parade, they find room to perform each
time their European meeting, a day before the demonstration in Plovdiv, the second largest
city in Bulgaria. Although in many countries these organizations are banned and find
difficulty in antifascist movement appear publicly in Bulgaria seems to enjoy special
hospitality. In this way Bulgaria turns into hotbed of European neo-Nazism.
The Bulgarian fascists taking advantage of the dynamics of neo-nationalism which extended
to all the former Eastern bloc, after the collapse of the USSR, managed to increase their
strength amid generalized ideological propaganda and state aggression. The strategy
followed in recent years the partners in Bulgaria lies in trying to mobilize people from
all available groups that might oppose the neo-Nazis. So the PAR (People Against Racism)
an antiracist umbrella established in Sofia in 2011, trying to reach political and social
class groupings have a common basis fascism. The largest so far fascist concentration has
managed to bring together about 100 people.
As FROM we choose to respond to the call of the companions of Antifa Sofia Assembly for
antifascist demonstration on February 12, to stand by them in their efforts to set up a
front against the fascists and to contribute to promoting a culture of unmediated and
unwritten race. This year's demonstration, the partners have chosen not to rely on the
same day the fascist parade, desiring to shed weight in the formation of social resistance
front to the fascist threat. We believe that such a process involving partners from
different countries, it operates as a step towards international solidarity and joint
presence, the prospect of establishing political ties with partners from Bulgaria, the
Balkans and Europe. With our physical presence we want to strengthen the voice of our
comrades and to break the macho fascists.
We invite all those who see the need to take international action against fascism, Nazism
and modern totalitarianism to respond to our call and resource the antifascist
demonstration on 12 th February in Sofia.
Internationalist SOLIDARITY WITH THOSE FIGHTING AGAINST fascism, WAR AND STATE-capitalist
barbarity
Bus Departure time from Thessaloniki on February 12 at 5.00p.m from Venizelos statue
Reservation Telephone: 6976022582
Antifascist demonstration in Bulgaria (Sofia) on February 12 at 2.00m.m
Anarchist political organizations | FEDERATION collectivity
website: http://apo.squathost.com/
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