Throughout the week between 120 and 150 revolutionary internationalists
against capitalist war gathered in Prague for the Congress to begin
communicating and coordinating.---- From the start the event was fraught
with problems. In part due to the lack of experience of the organisers,
and in part due to the reality on the ground of a split in the anarchist
movement in the Czech Republic. ----- This split, along the lines of
opposition to all capitalist wars and support for the state in some.
Between revolutionaries and defenders of their national bourgeoisie.
The repercussions of this played out in real time before us in what one
foreign delegate noted in their report back, as the consequence of "the
fog of war". A foretaste of the splits to come.
The inaugural session on the theme of the conference took place in the
Liben District of Prague on Wednesday May 22nd, attended by around 50 of
the first arriving delegates.
Introduced by a comrade from the Anti-Militarist Initiative (AMI), the
theme of opposing war at home and abroad and opposing the capitalist
social peace at home are two sides of the same coin.
The poverty 'peace' at home is the austerity and repression of their
class war against us, preparing and enabling the slaughter of our class
on the front lines of the conflicts: Russia/Ukraine, Israel/Gaza, Yemen,
Iran, wherever imperialist blocs grind on their fault lines.
It concluded with lines from one of our own articles (Capitalism's
'Social-Peace' is Class War! 12th Mar 2024):
"The war is no further away than the nearest arms or components factory.
No further than the nearest logistics depot, transport hub,
communications centre. The war is where the ports and airports are, the
military bases and their reserve volunteers' stations.
It is the rail networks and motorways, the towns, estates, cities and
factories where we as workers' pay the price of war in widening poverty
and worsening austerity. Worsening conditions, lower pay and the threat
of military call up or conscription.
In truth we cannot move without being at war and when we notice it, the
rhetorical guns blaze "disrupter, extremist, terrorist!" We are
already, through our toleration of their economic planning and its
social and political consequences, being partially conscripted by
capitalism and its state actors into its destructive rivalry."
Discussion was widespread but in full agreement on the Internationalist
position the workers have no nation and, opposition to all wars. The
use of the language of the West's 'Culture-Wars', often used against
revolutionists, such as accusations of 'Westsplaining' or speaking with
the 'colonial voice' was undermined by the contributions from Russian
and Ukrainian exiles present at the congress.
A Russian comrade from the group New Promethius explained how the social
peace in Russia was in part maintained by hiding the impact of the war.
Increasing workers' wages so they have a sense of gain.
He also talked of a policy of recruiting from the poorer republics
offering more money than workers could earn in their lifetime to be paid
if they live or to their families should they die, thus protecting the
large urban centres from the direct experience of depopulation and body
bags.
Perhaps most impacting was from a Ukrainian comrade on the Ukrainian
worker's experience:
"There are no more professional soldiers to send. They can pick you off
the street and just send you. A guy used to get a few weeks and then
few day's training. Now he gets nothing.
He can get picked up and sent to the front. He's no idea how to fight,
he doesn't last a month before he's dead. He's not a warrior he's just
a guy in the street."
This was followed by another Russian comrade now living in Germany who
said opposition in Russia was limited but often centred around "peace"
groups the 2 main exceptions where KRAS[see their short statement to the
congress as they couldn't attend below]and the mothers of dead soldiers
who have begun to organise. This was backed up and agreed with by our
Ukrainian comrade.
Despite this promising start, organisation from this point began to fall
apart. Venues were cancelled through the actions and influence of the
pro-war anarchists of the Czech Anarchist Federation, and events were
cancelled to enable search for new ones.
From this point effectively two programs began to take shape. A group
of foreign comrades attending, in the absence of scheduling and venues,
organised alternative meetings at different locations, and we look
forward to hearing the outcomes of the work they have done.
While we continued to discuss and have meetings with other different
international delegations, we prioritised our meagre resources to
continue where we could the revised program of the original, if now
truncated Congress and will report more on this later.
Report by Dreyfus
From KRAS -IWA to the Prague Action Week conference:
We, the members of KRAS-IWA, as the inheritors of the anti-militarist
anarchist tradition of the 1915 manifesto, welcome the participants of
the international conference who gathered to speak out against
capitalist war and the so-called capitalist "peace" and reject the
alleged leftists and pseudo-anarchists who in capitalist they take sides
in wars.
We hope that this forum will be an important step to create a practical
interaction from below and regardless of the boundaries of different
organizations, among all truly anti-war and anti-militaristic social forces.
Unfortunately, the situation in our country and the difficult connection
with other parts of Europe do not give us the opportunity to attend the
conference in person. But we are with you in spirit.
We are sending a statement of our view of the war question and request
you to make it known to the conference participants.
In Solidarity
KRAS - AIT
https://anarcomuk.uk/2024/05/28/prague-congress-interim-report/
_________________________________________
A - I N F O S N E W S S E R V I C E
By, For, and About Anarchists
Send news reports to A-infos-en mailing list
A-infos-en@ainfos.ca
against capitalist war gathered in Prague for the Congress to begin
communicating and coordinating.---- From the start the event was fraught
with problems. In part due to the lack of experience of the organisers,
and in part due to the reality on the ground of a split in the anarchist
movement in the Czech Republic. ----- This split, along the lines of
opposition to all capitalist wars and support for the state in some.
Between revolutionaries and defenders of their national bourgeoisie.
The repercussions of this played out in real time before us in what one
foreign delegate noted in their report back, as the consequence of "the
fog of war". A foretaste of the splits to come.
The inaugural session on the theme of the conference took place in the
Liben District of Prague on Wednesday May 22nd, attended by around 50 of
the first arriving delegates.
Introduced by a comrade from the Anti-Militarist Initiative (AMI), the
theme of opposing war at home and abroad and opposing the capitalist
social peace at home are two sides of the same coin.
The poverty 'peace' at home is the austerity and repression of their
class war against us, preparing and enabling the slaughter of our class
on the front lines of the conflicts: Russia/Ukraine, Israel/Gaza, Yemen,
Iran, wherever imperialist blocs grind on their fault lines.
It concluded with lines from one of our own articles (Capitalism's
'Social-Peace' is Class War! 12th Mar 2024):
"The war is no further away than the nearest arms or components factory.
No further than the nearest logistics depot, transport hub,
communications centre. The war is where the ports and airports are, the
military bases and their reserve volunteers' stations.
It is the rail networks and motorways, the towns, estates, cities and
factories where we as workers' pay the price of war in widening poverty
and worsening austerity. Worsening conditions, lower pay and the threat
of military call up or conscription.
In truth we cannot move without being at war and when we notice it, the
rhetorical guns blaze "disrupter, extremist, terrorist!" We are
already, through our toleration of their economic planning and its
social and political consequences, being partially conscripted by
capitalism and its state actors into its destructive rivalry."
Discussion was widespread but in full agreement on the Internationalist
position the workers have no nation and, opposition to all wars. The
use of the language of the West's 'Culture-Wars', often used against
revolutionists, such as accusations of 'Westsplaining' or speaking with
the 'colonial voice' was undermined by the contributions from Russian
and Ukrainian exiles present at the congress.
A Russian comrade from the group New Promethius explained how the social
peace in Russia was in part maintained by hiding the impact of the war.
Increasing workers' wages so they have a sense of gain.
He also talked of a policy of recruiting from the poorer republics
offering more money than workers could earn in their lifetime to be paid
if they live or to their families should they die, thus protecting the
large urban centres from the direct experience of depopulation and body
bags.
Perhaps most impacting was from a Ukrainian comrade on the Ukrainian
worker's experience:
"There are no more professional soldiers to send. They can pick you off
the street and just send you. A guy used to get a few weeks and then
few day's training. Now he gets nothing.
He can get picked up and sent to the front. He's no idea how to fight,
he doesn't last a month before he's dead. He's not a warrior he's just
a guy in the street."
This was followed by another Russian comrade now living in Germany who
said opposition in Russia was limited but often centred around "peace"
groups the 2 main exceptions where KRAS[see their short statement to the
congress as they couldn't attend below]and the mothers of dead soldiers
who have begun to organise. This was backed up and agreed with by our
Ukrainian comrade.
Despite this promising start, organisation from this point began to fall
apart. Venues were cancelled through the actions and influence of the
pro-war anarchists of the Czech Anarchist Federation, and events were
cancelled to enable search for new ones.
From this point effectively two programs began to take shape. A group
of foreign comrades attending, in the absence of scheduling and venues,
organised alternative meetings at different locations, and we look
forward to hearing the outcomes of the work they have done.
While we continued to discuss and have meetings with other different
international delegations, we prioritised our meagre resources to
continue where we could the revised program of the original, if now
truncated Congress and will report more on this later.
Report by Dreyfus
From KRAS -IWA to the Prague Action Week conference:
We, the members of KRAS-IWA, as the inheritors of the anti-militarist
anarchist tradition of the 1915 manifesto, welcome the participants of
the international conference who gathered to speak out against
capitalist war and the so-called capitalist "peace" and reject the
alleged leftists and pseudo-anarchists who in capitalist they take sides
in wars.
We hope that this forum will be an important step to create a practical
interaction from below and regardless of the boundaries of different
organizations, among all truly anti-war and anti-militaristic social forces.
Unfortunately, the situation in our country and the difficult connection
with other parts of Europe do not give us the opportunity to attend the
conference in person. But we are with you in spirit.
We are sending a statement of our view of the war question and request
you to make it known to the conference participants.
In Solidarity
KRAS - AIT
https://anarcomuk.uk/2024/05/28/prague-congress-interim-report/
_________________________________________
A - I N F O S N E W S S E R V I C E
By, For, and About Anarchists
Send news reports to A-infos-en mailing list
A-infos-en@ainfos.ca
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