“Oh, my luve’s like a red, red rose, That’s newly sprung in June; Oh, my luve’s like the melodie That’s sweetly played in tune”
– Robert Burns
“In June, as many as a dozen species may burst their buds on a single day. No man can heed all of these anniversaries; no man can ignore all of them.”
– Aldo Leopold
“I recall feeling an almost delicious terror when one day I found myself alone in the midst of tall June grasses that grew high as my head. But here the secret working of self consciousness is almost too entangled with the things of the past for me to explain it.”
– Pierre Loti
30/6/16:
UK: report about new riot shield that enables cops to see but not be seen; also contains basic insight into why rioters should not feel that their egos are being flattered by the attention given them by apparently innocuous researchers...“the shields used by modern riot police aren’t quite fit for purpose. They’re transparent to give the officers as wide a view as possible, but they also allow the rioters a clear view of the police line and whatever is behind them. Worse, it allows the rioters to make eye contact with the police, which is poor psychology. Twenty-one year-old BA Product Design student Ben Palmer interviewed rioters and police, and learned that the police would gain the psychological advantage with “one-way privacy.” That is, the police being able to see the rioters, but not the reverse.” More details here: http://phys.org/news/2016-06-shields-optical-illusion-revolutionise-riot.html
Mexico, Mexico City: confrontations between armed security from the Ministry of Public Safety and 90 families being evicted from occupied terrain close airport access road more here… video here
…Map of blockades in Oaxaca since start of movement here There are still mobilisations in both the North and South of Mexico, plus a number of barricades in the state of Oaxaca, including ones which prevent access to the capital.
Oaxaca: cop happily smiling at the camera as he takes a well-earned vacation
… teachers’ strike begins to cause fuel shortage…presumably because teachers are increasingly using petrol for glowing reports and beacons of excellence like this:
France, Bordeaux: arson attack on CFDT offices – 2 doors and an office almost completely destroyed
CFDT opens its doors to the filth
(see entries for 23/6/16 & 26/6/16)
29/6/16:
US, Milwaukee: cops pelted with bricks; cop car windshield broken
Nigeria, Lagos: riot after illegal street hawker fleeing cops is killed by truck; several buses smashed up ““The Lagos State Government would like to use this opportunity to further reiterate that it would not relent in ridding the state of illegality, street trading and hawking,…Section one of the Lagos State Street Trading and Illegal Market Prohibition Law 2003, restricts street trading and hawking in the metropolis, while Sections Seven and Eight of the same law gives jurisdiction and power to the Special Court to order the seizure and public auction of items impounded from street traders. Section 10 of the law, he said, also prescribes a N5000 fine or three months imprisonment upon conviction. “Street traders are hereby urged to desist from this illegal activity because the government will not be blackmailed and would do that which is necessary. “And for the miscreants and hoodlums, the Lagos State Government and the Police Command would not allow any act of civil disobedience”
Mexico, Oaxaca State, Huajuapan de León: about 50 probable anarcho-punks avenge the death of their friend/comrade Salvador Olmos García by furiously ransacking the town Some fires in the street, 3 police “modules” burnt, an anarchist flag placed on the national hero Benito Juarez, the construction of which the murdered anarchist radio broadcaster had mobilised against along with other residents (see here for background to this murder). Apparently – according to this article – some CNTE teachers organising against the neoliberal education reform have started a dialogue with these “youths” to “restore calm”.
Bolivia: clashes with cops as workers launch 72 hour strike against redundancies “The strike began with street blockades and marches in several cities, but the biggest clash was in Cochabamba, where police and workers confronted each other after the latter tried to close the route connecting the region with the western part of the country. Police fired tear gas at demonstrators to disperse them, while workers responded by beating the police with sticks and hurling stones.”The police acted with much brutality,” Camacho said….In La Paz, miners, teachers, factory workers and health care personnel blocked – until early afternoon – some portions of the highway connecting the city with neighboring El Alto. Road blockades were also set up and marches undertaken in Tarija, Oruro, Potosi and Santa Cruz, according to television reports.“
Greece, Athens: Mexican embassy occupied in solidarity with Oaxaca uprising and its victims
South Africa, Johannesburg: shoppnig mall looted and ambulance torched during protest… cop killed and partner disarmed… water cut-offs said to have sparked the riots… Cape Town: two busses burnt on national highway near airport
Germany, Berlin: 6th night of direct action in solidarity with the evicted #Rigaer94 squat. Two diplomatic vehicles were torched: one vehicle from the French embassy and a vehicle from the Georgian embassy. (German language)
28/6/16:
Slovenia, Koper: 800 striking portworkers and supporters spontaneously blockade port against scabbing “…one group of port workers only wanted to block the shareholders meeting, but police prevented that – so they decided to block the port. The crane operator artfully says that this happened totally spontaneously: »Suddenly everybody downed tools, the office workers, too, and met at the gates.« In the end there were about 800 people assembled. The workers blocked the port entrance, so that no scabs were able to enter. The only cargo loaded was perishables. Everything else – iron ore for Austrian steel mills, timber for Styrian paper mills, cars of every brand for import/export, containers with consumer goods for Europe, etc. – went unhandled. By July 2, 40 trains to the hinterland were backed up; six couldn’t even leave the port. Railway operators moaned about a loss of 700,000 Euros a day, but the crane operator says it was part of the negative media-campaign. A worker from the Cargo Center Graz reports that the number of incoming containers decreased dramatically in a very short time
Egypt: several demos of high school students against aspects of education system throughout country; cops fire rubber bullets “thanweya amma exams have been getting leaked for decades. Turning to a class analysis, he explained that the only difference now is that these leaks are accessible to everyone through social media. “Thanweya amma has been for years the only gateway for the poor to enter university,” he said, pointing to the fact that “the Ministry of Education itself used to leak the exam questions, and it was in the interests of the children of ministers, celebrities and other governmental officials who got these questions”. Tayel clarified that social media websites such as Facebook and Twitter allowed the corruption of the ministry to begin reaching wider circles of people, he added. “They [the government] don’t want that.”
UK, Bristol: incendiary attack on cop vehicle depot
Mexico, State of Oaxaca : further follow-up of the movement in spanish, with lots of pictures 15th day of mobilization. There are now 29 blockades in the State of Oaxaca, which is more than in the first days. Some cops were detained by participants during a march. Still lots of solidarity initiatives all around the country.
“For every bullet fired, a thousand stones will rain down”
France, Clermont-Ferrand: mujnicipal police station windows smashed with hammer, despite loads of CCTV… Maintenon: unpaid Bulgarian construction workers squat hotel belonging to construction company… Bordeaux: striking dustmen chain up gates of incinerator site as rubbish pouring from mayor’s mouth piles up
Alain Juppé, former PM – now mayor of Bordeaux – seeking inspiration for his next speech
…Montpellier: empty cinema 1 minute from Place de la Comedie (town’s equivalent of Trafalgar or Times Square) with 5 separate movie theaters and large flat, occupied for several weeks, throws public party after a call from the bailiffs and EDF cutting off its electricity Communiqué:“Revolt against misery: reappropriate space, your memory, your desires…Bring your musical instruments and instruments of revolt, your nutritional or etholic fuels, your overflowing laughing imagination, your fireworkish anger like a sparkling bouquet“. This mainstream crap makes out that the squatters are occupying a space which needs to be transformed into desperately needed accommodation. In fact, the 2-year project is to gut the interior and transform the space into luxury flats for the rich, costing about 200,000 euros for less than 40 square meters. The selling of these flats has already started in order to finance this transformation even though it’ll be at least 2 years before they actually exist.
Royal cinema, 1 minute from Place de la Comedie
27/6/16:
Algeria, near Setif: riot over delay in social housing allocation and it being limited arbitrarily; motoway closed “Considerable damage was caused to signage and advertising, as well as highway street lights. According to information gathered from local citizens, in addition to the delay in the distribution of such housing, officials announced that there has been change in the assigning of apartments.”
Dordogne: electricity cut to homes of deputies (MPs/Senators)
Essert: 2 Optymo (company involved in prison construction) cars burnt out
26/6/16:
Mexico, State of Oaxaca : follow-up of the movement in spanish, with lots of pictures
cops destroying Nochixtlan barricade
Lots of solidarity actions around the country, whether in indigenous communities or in the main towns and cities. In Nochixtlan, where the horrendous police murders took place a few days ago, a march was organized to the center of this very poor town (people in several neighborhoods have no light or electricity – near a highway connecting to State capitals). Participants called the CNTE “not to betray the movement” and for the resignation of Oaxaca’s governor. Seems that in Chiapas, where 5 roads blockades took place in the capital, a secret agreement was signed with the authorities to stop unrest (according to this article of the leftist daily La Jornada).
We also heard with sadness the news of a community radio activist and member of the anarcho-punk movement was killed by police after mobilizing against a police raid on this radio. – here… 04/07 update : comrades of the recently murdered comrade, who are members of the Libertarian Block of Huajuapan, have published a communiqué in which they indicate that he was tortured by police, escaped from detention in one of the town’s police stations, and was then hit, probably voluntarily by police car. Police then left town.
Clermont-Ferrand: philosophy has merely tried to justify this increasingly policed world; the point, however, is to subvert it
“war is peace, freedom is slavery, ignorance is strength” – Orwell, 1984, #state of emergency
25/6/16:
Afghanistan, Baghlan: 100s of miners close Afghan Coal company in protest against mass sackings
China: riot cops violently suppress demo against waste incinerator ” the riot police moved to clear the road, indiscriminately attacking the crowds with truncheons and fire hoses, according to locals. In a day-long battle that dragged on until about 11 p.m., the civilians responded by pelting the police with eggs and water bottles.”
France, Montreuil (outskirts of Paris): CGT HQ vandalised by anti-authoritarians “…masked individuals broke several doors and windows…Immediately condemned by the Prime Minister, Manuel Valls, these degradations occur two days after those committed at the headquarters of the French Democratic Confederation of Labour (CFDT) in Paris….”It happened pretty fast. hooded individuals with backpacks crossed the barriers and hit, doors and windows with powerful objects…They broke between seven and eight windows before being chased away by security guards….”We avoided the worst,” said the CGT Secretary-General, asserting that the HQ had until now never been a victim of violence of “this magnitude.”
YESTERDAY THE CFDT, TONIGHT THE CGT
Yesterday many were those who ended up in the dungeons of the state.
One hundred to be exact.
One hundred detainees because of the union betrayal.
We would have liked to write more to explain our action. Unfortunately, following this action, carried out in a place under surveillance, we were seriously injured. We managed to escape the cops thanks to the complicity of the crowd in the street who cheered us and covered our retreat.
Insurrectionary solidarity with the 250 prisoners.
Insurrectionary solidarity with Olga, Panagiotis, Christos and the comrades of the CCF who want to ecape.
WE MUST HELP THEM.
Fuck justice, fuck the state and fuck the collaborators…
Our choice is made…
Clandestinity and attack!
A cell among many others…
See here for a discussion in French concerning the different opinions amongst anti-authoritarians concerning this attack on the CGT HQ.
24/6/16:
France, Dunkirk: CGT activists blockade ferry terminal for 3 hours until arrival of riot cops
South Africa, Pretoria (Tshwane): More on the riots at the capital “There has been some admission, including from State Security Minister David Mahlobo, that the violence was instigated from within the ANC … Among the tactics used to send people on the rampage was a false message that those employed through the Extended Public Works Programme in areas around Tshwane would lose their jobs if Ramokgopa was no longer mayor. It is also claimed that taxi bosses exploited the outbreak of violence to deal with the dispute they have been having with Autopax bus services in Mamelodi. It is alleged that they were responsible for the torching of 19 Autopax buses on Monday night. The looting spree, particularly at spaza shops owned by foreign nationals, then followed in the general turmoil.”
Venezuela, Barinas: self-organised resistance to hunger and the law of value – la loota continua
23/6/16:
The attack on the CFDT occurred in response to the collaboration of the CGT and CFDT unions with the police to stop violence by anarchist comrades and other radical militants. On 23/6/16 the unions collaborated fully with the police and comrades were pursued not just in the vicinity of the union demonstration but throughout the city. Throughout the day in Paris a true “man hunt” took place against radical militants. More than 100 comrades were arrested in Paris.
…Toulouse: brief occupation of part of massive building by opponents of Labour Law The entrance to the building was occupied by a mish-mash of lefty organisations for a short while, dangling a horrible citizenist banner: “those who are elected ought to serve the people, not themselves” – here
…Hauts-Pyrénées (Tarbes): 2 deputies (equivalent of MPs in UK) get their electricity cut off by CGT base activists The CGT trying to show how radical it is in order maintain some credibility and its union dues or genuine expression of anger by the CGT base? Probably a combination of the two: there are many people in the CGT who, on the one hand express some element of independence from the hierarchy, but on the other hand are essentially submissive to “their” organisation (for instance, by not criticising CGT stewards for their horrendous policing role on demos). The need for “the organsation” is the first expression of resignation and submission. Such a dependence is reinforced by an ideology of the collectivity which avoids seeing the difference between organising an organisation and organising specific activities. Proletarianised individuals believe that they are protected against the misery of this world by adherence to an organisation, when the contradictions of such organisations invariably undermine such protection (a bit like the traditional family).
…Rennes: wildcat demo – lots of tags, a bit of improvements to windows and bins set alight in front of police station… Grande-Synthe (near Dunkirk): riot cop hurt as migrants block motorway for 30 minutes… Bethune: early morning blockade of bus depot with flaming tyres on national demo day against labour law CGT trying to show how radical it is in order maintain some credibility and its union dues or genuine expression of anger by CGT base? (probably a combination of the two)
22/6/16:
Jordan, Amman: police chief’s brother’s house burned down as clashes erupt between unemployed and cops “Protesters clashed with Jordanian security forces Wednesday night in the Dhiban area of Madaba, following the arrest of a number of unemployed Jordanians conducting a sit-in … at least five injured protesters and three injured officers. The clashes then spread to the neighboring village of Mileeh as well. Witnesses reported that the security forces shut down some of the roads leading to the village. Additional closures were caused by protesters burning tires on several roads. The clashes lasted through the night, with police using tear gas to disperse the protesters, resulting in a number of respiratory problems, according to local residents. Reports indicated that the protesters burned down the house of the brother of Dhiban’s Police Chief…The protests come just days after Jordan’s government introduced sweeping tax hikes on everything from gasoline to car transfer fees, alcohol, and cigarettes. The price of electricity is also expected to go up next year.”
South Africa, Pretoria: 2 dead, more than two dozen buses and trucks destroyed, dozens of shops looted, in 3rd day of riots similar to those that rocked Durban just weeks ago “The protests were sparked after the ANC’s announcement of its decision to deploy former minister Thoko Didiza as its mayoral candidate for Tshwane…Protesting communities were calling for the ANC to allow them to decide on their own mayoral candidate. In reaction to this, more than 20 buses and several trucks were torched in areas of Tshwane, including Mamelodi, Atteridgeville and Mabopane. Morula shopping complex in Mabopane was looted overnight and smaller shops were ransacked throughout the day today. The same happened in Ga-Rankuwa. The shell of a torched bus was seen in front of Morula Sun Casino in Mabopane where it was set alight overnight. Police were deployed to Tshwane from across Gauteng. However, they were thin on the ground. Officers would run from one looting incident to the next only to find that looters had already cleaned out the shops.”
…cops car overturned, pigs run to save their bacon ‘Three Tshwane metro police officers had to run for their lives on Monday afternoon after a group of disgruntled African National Congress (ANC) members attacked their marked service vehicle in Pretoria. “They were busy on their normal patrols, unaware that they were driving towards the protesters. They were confronted by the protesters and stones were thrown at them,” Tshwane Metro Police Department (TMPD) spokesperson Isaac Mahamba told African News Agency. “All the three were injured. They managed to run away from the protesters and call for backup. The protesters fled.”’
Acting director-general of Government Communication and Information Systems, Donald Liphoko said: “There can be no issue which cannot be resolved through democratic processes and dialogue. Members of the public are encouraged to use channels available to raise their concerns”. People in Pretoria beg to differ.
Germany, Berlin : Rigaer94 under siege; Kadterschmiede evicted; hot days ahead…
France, State rescinds threat to ban Paris demo by offering strictly controlled route around a canal as sop to CGT bureaucrats…who hail it as a “victory for democracy”
21/6/16:
Mexico (Oaxaca) : more about the movement Many initiatives of solidarity with the current movement in Oaxaca – the killings have left a significant mark on people, as happens regularly when such events occur in Mexico. In Nochitxtlan the inhabitants are continuing their road blockades and barricades and have kicked out the city’s municipal president.
The teachers’ Coordination is calling for lots of marches throughout the country, and has begun negotiations with the government, whilst, however, it must be said not wanting to backtrack on their take about the plans for the reform of Education. Critics of the Coordination are numerous, and rightly so. In the state of Veracruz, the inhabitants of Coatzacalcos have expelled the military from their city.(Note : Pi).
Mexico City: hooded youths break windows and “attack” people filming them, as some students from the University show solidarity with the movement; major roads, including a major boulevard, are blocked in solidarity with the movement. and at least 10 underground stations closed…some small fires and bus used to block roads
France, Paris: Embassy of the Republic of Congo attacked – car driven through door, molotovs thrown, car set alight… Whackers whacked as dozey cops plead for their beauty sleep
New Zealand, Mt Eden: dormant volcano starts to rumble – prisoners refuse to be locked up
20/6/16:
Nigeria, Enugu: students riot over electricity cuts, exhorbitant prices for water and other disasters “The incident led to the shutting down of the school, with lectures suspended and even the non-academic staff prevented from working in their offices….At the transport section of the university, four campus shuttle buses with smashed windshields bore testimony to the anger of the rampaging students during the riot. This was also the case with vandalized street light poles at the lecturers quarters.”
UAE, Dubai: workers cleared of rioting by court “Dubai Criminal Court acquitted all of them on charges that included inciting other workers to cause damage, illegally forming a large gathering and causing damage to the company’s premises and damage to tools and equipment rented from other companies, all of which amounted to more than Dh400,000. One defendant was found not guilty of setting fire to a digger by opening its fuel tank and igniting the contents inside. In an earlier hearing, the court was told that two of the men had complained to the company’s security guard that their rooms had been robbed and demanded to be given locks and keys. “Shortly after coming to me, the eight men returned with a group of about 100 other workers which quickly grew to include nearly 500 workers. They started encouraging the other workers to break and smash everything,” said the Egyptian guard. The eight were arrested shortly afterwards and claimed they had been sleeping at the time of the riot, said an Emirati policeman.”
France, Calais: roads blocked to port for several hours as migrants clash with cops…also causes 4 hour closure of Eurotunnel lines
Mexico, State education offices smashed up in Guerrero (Chilpancingo); road to Acapulco favoured by tourists blocked by teachers; town hall of Tlapa taken over… Oaxaca: teachers cancel classes after cop killings … possibly as many as 12 killed…reports about 32 dissappearances (people missing or going unreported) Barricades and road blockades are maintained in many regions of the State of Oaxaca. Solidarity is strong in several parts of the country, with people organizing events to support the movement, sending food, medicine, etc. In Mexico City, students of the UAM Azcapotzaco are on strike. A university radio station’s offices are also occupied. 30 to 40 anti-authoritarians (the figures vary), having organised a gathering in front of the state delegation of Oaxaca in Mexico City, are arrested and imprisoned for a few hours, and then released, having had lots of support, as word passed around very quickly. The young women were sexually abused by the cops….
South Africa, Cape Town: students nurse fiery grievances
19/6/16:
Mexico, Oaxaca: 7 killed as police repress road blockade in Nochixtlán with live ammo; more than a hundred people injured (including dozens of cops), at least 20 arrested; local hospital seized by the forces of disorder, injured locals not admitted after shootings The government have published communiqués denying having used live automatic ammo. Of course videos and pictures can already be found all over the internet.…Lots of initiatives are organized in the country in solidarity with the education workers and their supporters still maintaining road blockades in the State of Oaxaca. Barricades are set up in Oaxaca’s capital. In Nochixtlán, seems things are going on after the horrendous police murders…The town hall is burnt…Some clashes in Hacienda Blanca, near Oaxaca’s capital, where police are trying to intervene to later reach the capital
Germany: tens of thousands protest anti-immigrant racism
Nigeria, Ondo: students riot over cop rampage killing student by crushing her with cop car “These armed rampaging policemen came down to the off-campus and private hostels of the school in the name of a search-team and beat up many of our colleagues while rooms belonging to the female students were burnt with properties and credentials belonging to them badly damaged. They destroyed properties worth millions of naira, mostly at a popular private hostel called Coco Hostel and also threw canisters of teargas at the innocent students, especially the ones that couldn’t run for their dear lives…The protesting students went to the B division Police station in Otapete area of Owo and destroyed everything in sight, including the building, and set vehicles parked at the premises on fire.”
Turkey, Istanbul: gay pride clashes with Islamic cops “Turkish police have fired rubber bullets and tear gas to break up a banned rally by the LGBT community” More here: “The government said the march was banned in order to “safeguard security and public order…An Istanbul Pride parade planned for June 26 was also banned by the government due to similar security concerns. Organizers of the event, which was first held in 2003, have called the ban a violation of the law.The clashes come on the heels of skirmishes between fans of the band Radiohead and police that occurred on Saturday in protest over an attack that took place at a record store on Friday night. A mob of men carrying sticks and bottles had attacked Radiohead fans who had gathered in a store to listen to the band’s new album,”
Australia, Brisbane: strip club vandalised by women Not really sure that this is violence against women any more than Chippendales are violence against men – except insofar as all forms of wage slavery are humiliating and based on class violence. The men who go to these strip clubs are mostly sad and pathetic, and there’s a certain moralism in this classic feminist viewpoint that doesn’t try to understand the misery of sexuality in this society in anything other than a separate degraded individual consumer choice, rather than as something which is endemic to the repressive conditions of the separation of men and women, of masculine alienation and feminine alienation.[SF]
France, Yvelines: fibre-optics sabotaged in popular area… Rhone: several hours of on-off confrontations with cops on estate after moped control – stones, fruit etc. thrown at cops; 3 cars burnt… 4 Socialist Party offices in different locations and the door of Lannion (Britanny) town hall attacked
18/6/16:
Oaxaca: police sent to Oaxaca by air (7 planes), as they advance slowly by road. They put an end to 2 road blockades in southern Oaxaca’s Tehuantepec isthmus… and then to a third one in Salina Cruz, which blocked all accesses to a PEMEX refinery (includes a video)…there are still 9 blockades in the Isthmus and at least 10 in other regions of the State…In Juchitán, the region’s main town, 7 shops were attacked by locals, and five vehicles stolen at Nissan…In Oaxaca’s capital, explosive devices against electricity company.….In State of Michoacán, a protest was held by miners of the Pacific coast harbour city of Lázaro Cárdenas in solidarity with the movement (see this ).
Japan, Okinawa: tens of thousands protest against presence of US military base
France, Caen : second attack against National Front offices in two days… Albertville : Socialist Party offices attacked
UK, London: 9 cops injured trying to shut down rave party “Revellers responded by hurling bricks at police in riot gear and dog handlers in a five-hour stand-off that neighbours likened to “storm of people”.
Italy, Brescia : railway line sabotaged against Beretta company
Turkey, Istanbul: clashes over Radiohead “The protesters shouted “Shoulder to shoulder against fascism!” and criticised President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. On Friday, a mob of around 20 Islamic extremists carrying sticks and bottles attacked Radiohead fans who had gathered at a music shop to hear Radiohead’s new album, A Moon Shaped Pool, which was being streamed online….Video posted online allegedly showing the attack suggested the assailants were angered by participants drinking alcohol during the holy Muslim month of Ramadan….A man seen entering the shop told partygoers: “Get the f*** out, close this place down, I’ll kill you, I mean it, I’ll kill you… I’ll burn this place with you inside.”
17/06/16:
Denmark, Copenhagen: cops forced to flee as they try to crack down on cannabis dealing
Belgium : Brussels-Gand railway line sabotaged (in french)
Canada, Montreal : clashes after rap concert during festival (in french)
UK, Chelmsford: eyesaw’s eyesore Not the best critique of the poverty of street art, but…[SF]
Guinea, Mali: clashes with insecurity forces after soldiers beat up truck driver
16/6/16:
Mexico, Oaxaca : federal police sent to repress movement of blockades of major highways existing now for 6 days… For now they’ve only put an end to 2 roadblocks in the State of Oaxaca…20 are still going on in the 8 regions of the State, with at least 10 in Tehuantepec isthmus, where communities are fighting against the expropriation of their land for wind power projects….Teachers from neighbouring State of Chiapas went to Mexico and set up a camp against Education reforms…In Michoacán’s capital Morelia, railway line and several companies blocked by teachers and supporters, and some squares occupied…Education department offices attacked with molotov cocktails
France, Albertville : Socialist Party offices attacked
15/6/16:
Ethiopia : according to reports, at least 400 were killed in last months’ protests in Oromos (in french)
France: Hollande threatens to ban demonstrations… Alès : action against army recruitment and tension
England: immigration raid chased away and racist van trashed
Mexico, Oaxaca : federal police officers’ material seized and burnt in the street
Chile, Santiago: high school students clash with cops “Police officers clashed with 300 hundred high school students, detaining 95 people including 56 minors, according to police. Officers used water cannons and tear gas to break off the protest, which according to Chilean law need to be authorized by authorities. The protests took place in several places in the city, including police headquarters, blocks away for La Moneda presidential palace, after the students said officials refused to authorize the march.”
Pakistan, Swabi: assistant commissioner injured as residents sit down and block road in protest against electricity cuts “…residents of Manki village — children and women among them — gathered at Manki bazaar and blocked the Swabi-Jehangira road for traffic at Sehr to protest against unscheduled loadshedding. The protesters staged a sit-in on the road, suspending the flow of traffic between Nowshera/Islamabad and the district. The commuters faced great difficulties and had to wait for more than seven hours before the road could be reopened. Police officials said that District Naib Nazim Asar Khan, who belongs to Manki village, asked Assistant Commissioner of Chota Lahor Samiullah and Peshawar Electric Supply Company (Pesco) executive engineer to hold talks with the representatives of the protesters. However, when the officials and Asar Khan reached the venue, the protesters surrounded them and started pelting them with stones, an official said.“Assistant Commissioner Samiullah was injured ….”
14/6/16:
Saudi Arabia: construction sites owned by former PM attacked by those who work in them “The cause of this heightened social unrest: delays in the payment of wages over several months. On Tuesday, employees degraded cars and trucks owned by the company at one of its major projects – the housing of the Saudi National Guard in Riyadh….several cars overturned, others with broken windows and burned trucks “
France, Between 125,000 and 1.3 million demonstrate throughout country, whilst in Paris there are heavy confrontations with cops Cops were exceptionally violent, it seems, including pushing people down off a wall into a confined space and firing flashballs directly at them from 3 or 4 meters away, yet the media (surprise surprise) talked about the horror of a few windows of a children’s hospital broken. In a world that is truly upside down, cracked windows are infinitely more word-worthy/screen-worthy than cracked skulls.
“…Breaking the windows of a hospital, even inadvertently, is idiotic; but jumping at the chance to exploit the plight of sick children and their parents to discredit a social movement is indecent and unacceptable. And yet it is the communication strategy implemented since yesterday by Messrs Cazeneuve [Minister of the Interior] and Valls. Gleefully taken up by the right and relayed on a golden tray by all the media. …This indecency is all the more shocking when one knows the situation of the public hospital today. Messrs Valls and Cazeneuve, “revolted” from the bottom of their hearts by five broken windows, are they revolted by the appalling working conditions of the hospital staff? When a clinical geneticist has to work 70 hours a week because the direction of the hospital cannot afford to employ a new doctor or even a secretary, what are the consequences for all these sweet little sick children whose bedsides our ministers came running to since yesterday? When the orderlies and nurses are exhausted, worn to the bone and paid the minimum, what about the quality of care and attention necessary for those who spend months or years in hospital corridors? When they are on the same “emotional” plane of the plates of broken glass and hundreds of thousands of bereaved families, have Messrs Valls and Cazeneuve no shame? And all those journalists who headlined this horrific attack against the hospital for “sick children”, do they weigh the meaning of their words? The prize for infamy is obviously presented to Mr. Cazeneuve who still managed to add to the equation the son of two policemen killed the day before yesterday. Hundreds of thousands of people defy the government in the streets. One or two break the double glazing of a hospital. A shithead kills two policemen with knives. Their three year old son is in care at Necker hospital. Mr. Cazeneuve establishes an emotional relationship, emotional and psychical between these two sets of facts: the struggle against the Labour Law and the government, the shock of the brutality of the murders and the plight of this child. If the young rioters who broke the windows of Necker were idiots, MM. Valls and Cazeneuve themselves are obscene.” – A parent of a very sick child at the Necker hospital (translated from here).
RATP (public transport) security van, Paris
“Finance kills”
Video of CGT syndicalists attacking cops, with 20 cops injured. This is almost certainly after the cops had indiscriminately attacked CGT members who’d been utterly non-violent. The state also used water cannon laced with tear gas.
Some sources say around 10,000 in the independant/autonomous part…several vehicles burnt Repression was hard, with very violent attacks from cops on the side of the combative part of the march…”street medics” say they treated several hundred injuries from defense bullets (replacing the flashball), gases, string grenades, blows and charges.
Apparently this march was the biggest of this 3 month long ongoing movement…lots of people went to Paris, so events in the rest of France were more symbolic and limited in terms of participants. That’s in the context of a huge number of security measures for fear of a terrorist attack during Euro 2016, during the state of emergency and just after attack by Islamic State supporter that left 2 cops dead.
A short video : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TVJlunWZ4us
At least 29 cops were injured…and 58 arrested.
After main march, wild demo around 9pm instead of another “Nuit Debout” : very few cops (those who were in the way were attacked), some shops attacked, a vehicle burnt. 4 were arrested after intervention of the BAC cops. A few pictures and a personal report in french here.
Greece: solidarity with movement This is for “the BIG day” – ie the first mass demonstration/ strike for some time, which has, unfortunately, seen loads of young people rushing from all over France to Paris, as if the capital is still the centre of proletarian revolt it was 50 years ago. It remains to be seen what happens, but with the killing of a cop & his wife by some idiotic ISIS sympathiser, I suspect the filth are going to seek some outlet for their “anger”, vengefully focusing on rioters as “pre-terrorists”, as one cop spokesman put it [SF]… Athens : Kleous 96 squat in Exarchia raided by cops, 3 arrests, squatted again
South Africa, Johannesburg: barricades, riots and looting erupt throughout the southern half of the city in response to blackouts… just after a reasearcher at the University of Johannesberg revealed that the country experienced an average of 13 protests a day, “mainly over wages, service delivery, crime, dismissals, unemployment and housing. Over the past 17 years, there have been at least 67 750 protests.” According to The Star, “Soweto residents caused mayhem on Tuesday night when they looted shops, stoned cars and destroyed ATMs in Dube in a protest over electricity outages. They haven’t had power for three days. A Pep and a KFC at a local shopping centre was broken into and looted… A nearby bakery was also burgled and FNB ATMs smashed with stones.”… Protests erupted in numerous areas of Soweto, Diepkloof, Vlakfontein, Eldorado Park, Orange Farm, Sebokeng and Ennerdale… Residents of Soweto sabotage the machinery of misinformation ... apparently the previous day “protesters threw stones at police, burnt a Putco bus and set a delivery truck on fire”
13/6/16:
Mexico, Xaltianguis (State of Guerrero) : educations workers and supporters block Mexico-Acapulco highway in support of struggle against Education reform and what happens in Oaxaca…’ protesters threw stones at police, burnt a Putco bus and set a delivery truck on fire. Mexico City: riot and fire at prison suppressed by 600 pigs
France, Nantes: local state prohibits evening demonstration
South Africa, Mossel Bay: strike by 200 taxi drivers shuts down town, elections threatened if demands not met… business and investors journal reports on how “protest capital of the world” has become more ” violent and confrontational”
“…the department had drafted an amendment under the Basic Education Laws Amendment Bill to “increase the penal provision from six months” imprisonment to six years for those who prevent a pupil from attending school, including through protest-related action, under the South African Schools Act 84 of 1996. He said the portfolio committee on justice and correctional services has, “during its deliberations, considered proposals to extend the scope of the (Criminal Matters Amendment Act 2015) to include school infrastructure” under the “essential infrastructure” category, as it currently is not included.”
12/6/16:
Venezuela: report claiming more than 10 lootings now occur every day “Slum-dwellers and armed gangs wait for nightfall to hijack food trucks or ransack stores.. Food riots and violent looting have become a daily occurrence across scarcity-struck Venezuela and a major problem for the struggling leftist government of President Nicolas Maduro. Despite hours in lines, Venezuelans increasingly find that coveted supplies of subsidized flour and rice run out before they can buy them. Many are skipping meals, getting by on mangoes stripped from trees – or taking matters into their own hands… More than a quarter of the 641 protests last month were for food, according to a tally by the Venezuelan Observatory of Social Conflict, a figure that has risen every month this year. Venezuela’s angry streets are arguably a bigger threat for Maduro than the political opposition, which is pushing to remove him via a recall referendum this year. One recent food protest came within blocks of the Miraflores presidential palace… For months now, groups have ransacked delivery trucks that crash or suffer flat tires. But in recent weeks, there has been an increase in frustrated shoppers storming supermarkets after food runs out as well as cases of communities or armed gangs organizing lootings, sometimes reportedly to re-sell the goods. In the small roadside town of Tacuato in the remote Paraguana peninsula late last month, residents and delinquents frustrated after spending the night in line for no food decided to loot the next passing truck [a situation that echoes what happened after the 1991 insurrection in Iraq when residents declared they would expropriate 1 in every 3 passing trucks — SK]…Amid the tensions, Venezuelans are increasingly drawing parallels with the 1989 ‘Caracazo’ – roughly translated as ‘Caracas disaster’ – when hundreds died in riots and looting sparked by a fuel price increase amid an economic crisis.” Numerous people have recently been killed in local riots already.
Algeria (Tizi-Ouzou, Kabylia) : hundreds organize picnic in square during month of Ramadan to protest against “climate of terror against those who don’t fast” (in french). “We have to put a stop to this : they can’t force everybody to go to heaven”. Some political rackets wanting autonomy of Kabylia or the independance of this region (traditionally less religious than the arab provinces of Algeria) were present.
Mexico (Oaxaca) : 10 years after the movement, education workers resist eviction from camp in the State’s Capital, ask for release of recently arrested leader of their independant Coordination (the CNTE, still quite bureaucratic but with strong bases), and install 13 barricades in the city Photos and a video here
Purely symbolic support from various people in the USA for the movement in France, a gesture which is, however, indicative of a certain international sympathy and hope, however practically impotent I should add that as far as international sympathy goes the line between ‘purely symbolic’ and practical support is not precisely clear cut. According to Marx, who was present, a meeting of a few thousand workers in London in support of emancipation for US slaves during the Civil War was enough to convince the UK prime minister not to intervene on the side of the Southern states, despite being a ‘purely symbolic’ demonstration… Which is not to say that the actions in the US today are at all comparable. Clearly they are neither on the same scale nor in a similar context. But the point is to avoid writing off apparently symbolic solidarity as practically useless (though, of course, it usually is) when the reality can often be more nuaced and… dialectical… [SK]
South Africa: cost of damage to property during university protests calculated at R460 million ($30 million)
UK, Wiltshire: prison riot after smoking ban “Two wings of the category-C jail were trashed when the caged jailbirds began to battle with each other.Staff struggled to control the chaos at Erlestoke Prison in Wiltshire after a rooftop protest. Toliets were ripped out, rooms were smashed and riot cells doors were kicked in, a lag’s wife claimed…And the inmates ruled the roost until the early hours of Sunday.”
11/6/16:
UK (London) : unconscious resistance to parade for Queen’s birthday…Stockport (Greater Manchester): youths attack cops after being refused entry to football match screening “Cars were damaged and glass bottles were thrown at both officers and police cars during the brawl”
10/6/16:
Belgium, Brussels: 2 cop cars set fire to and burnt out, along with a 4×4
France, Essonne (just outside Paris): Tarterêts – BAC cops ambushed – deliberately blocked by car and then stoned … Vigneux-sur-Seine – cops trying to make arrest surrounded by friends of youth and stoned; youth charged with rebellion and incitement to riot… Near Dunkirk: migrants block motorway traffic, throw stones
South Africa, Durban: experimental prole creation vs. habitual state destruction “Minutes after the eThekwini Municipality’s Land Invasion Unit left the Kennedy Road informal settlement, angry shack dwellers ran on to Bisasar Road in Springfield and petrol bombed a passing municipal truck. Police said the land invasion unit had on Thursday evicted several people who had illegally built shacks.”
Untitled proletarian art installation, Kennedy Road, Durban
Twisted steel on asphalt, 2m x 5m x 2m
$0.00 (donated to the municipal collection compliments of the artists)
“Behold, on wrong
Swift vengeance waits; and art subdues the strong.”
(Alexander Pope, The Odyssey of Homer)
…Eastern Cape: province-wide taxi-strike causes temporary cancellation of exams and other disruptions… Kwa-Zulu Natal: operations at Isithebe Industrial Estate grind to a halt as disgruntled residents cut off water supply ‘The estate employs more than 20‚000 people and is “the main economic lifeblood of the Mandeni area”’ . This follows widespread rioting that saw the destruction of several factories in April.
9/6/16:
Nigeria, Gombe: 2 students killed in “violent demonstration” “Two students of the Federal College of Education (Technical) Gombe are feared dead after a combined team of Police and soldiers opened fire on them following a violent protest by the students over lack of water, power and other facilities. The school was immediately closed down by the authorities Friday morning and students were mandated to vacate the school premises as armed regular and mobile policemen have taken over the school. Unconfirmed reports by some students has it that two students were shot when Police and soldiers shot sporadically to scare away the students. …the trouble started around 8:00 pm on Thursday when the students started the protest over the school authorities’ inability to provide water and light, a situation that had rendered the students helpless for quite some time now. …the Gombe State Police Command’s Public Relations Officer, Ahmed Usman (DSP), said …he took a team of policemen to the school, and found students destroying facilities and threatening to go to the houses of the Provost, Dr. Abbas Gimba, and the school Registrar in Shongo area. He said reports also had it that the students accomplished their threats by destroying some lighting equipment in the house of the Provost. As if that was not enough, reinforcement came and dispersed the students, but some of the students mobilized themselves and started attacking commuters outside the school’s main gate…. The students refused to listen to the authorities, and decided to take the laws into their own hands.”
France, Paris: projectiles v tear gas as 500 or so people upset Socialist Party meeting protected by riot cops Slogans such as “everyone hates the PS” [Socialist Party] and “PS = Putrid Shitheads” … Calais: riot cop gets migraine from migrants as migrants stop traffic at least 17 times… Montpellier: cops fire flashballs and teargas after being insulted then stoned at roadside barbecue…Nantes: projectiles v. tear gas leads to 26 arrests as protesters against labour law defy ban on demonstration…after union-led demo blocks ring road of town following blockade of commercial zone
8/6/16:
South Africa, Inanda: school set alight in dispute between principal and teachers…Soweto: cops fire rubber bullets at protest mainly by women demanding decent homes and electricity after 20 years of none being supplied
Papua New Guinea: cops shoot students protesting PM’s corruption… people respond with rioting and looting “Papua New Guinea, formerly administered by Australia, struggles with endemic violence and poverty despite a wealth of mineral resources. It is ranked 139 out of 168 in Transparency International’s corruption index. The Australian government, which routinely warns of high levels of serious crime and lawlessness, updated its travel advice, saying there had been an “unconfirmed number of deaths and serious injuries” and that unrest had spread to other cities, including Lae in the north… Hubert Namani, a lawyer and business leader, said public transport had been halted, businesses shut, and people were fleeing the streets. “People are looting and rioting and sort of revolting, so the police are now caught trying to manage all of that”
France, Paris: heavily armed state “vigipirate” military “security” attacked and insulted by about 20 youths …right wing homophobes attacked by anti-fascists. Without knowing much about precise details of this homphobe group, I find this a bit silly. It’s quite easy to annoy these idiots by taking the piss out of them; physically attacking them outside of a situation where they are obviously encouranging physical attacks on gay people seems crudely militant [SF]… Ales: 4am blockade of tramway – confrontations with cops and firemen These things are happening all the time, in different parts of the country, involving few in number but often effective – ie preventing the circulation of trams etc. for a few hours.
…Nice: report on how disturbances during trials become widespread in the department Lots of french libertarian militants talk a lot about poor estates and peripheric neighborhoods, and sometimes tend to fetishize their young and sometimes rebellious inhabitants (an important part of them being sons or now grandsons of immigrants) as a new revolutionary subject, but it’s not that common to see texts evoking daily life in these areas or material distributed there, where revolt has occurred without any anti-authoritarian militant presence for years. Here’s a poster that was stuck up in the poor neighborhoods of Eastern Nice called “To the angry of Eastern Nice and elsewhere, revolt is life !”: tract_nice_est2 Nice is more famous for its huge tourism industry and pseudo-pleasures for the rich and less rich tourists than for its misery and social contradictions…it doesn’t mean they’re not as strong as anywhere else there, if not sometimes stronger, considering the huge gap between the rich and poor in livelihood and conditions of life. (A contradiction caricatured as far back as 1930 by Jean Vigo in his film ‘A Propos de Nice’ – SK) The city being little connected with the rest of France (and sharing more past with Italy than with France, considering it became french in 1860), it is often considered a conservative, right-wing place of little interest for social fighters. It’s true that anti-authoritarian milieus and militants are pretty unheard of there, but the city’s still very mixed in terms of the origins of its inhabitants, and has lots of low income neighborhoods with important communities from Cap Verde, Tunisia, Algeria, other african countries, spanish Gypsies and more recently Chechens, for example. Estates neighborhoods such as l’Ariane (East) and Les Moulins (west) are very populated areas where confrontations with police and forms of revolt occur regularly, as well as other parts of the city, or neighborhing towns poor and derelict areas (Carros industrial town, Saint-Laurent du Var, Grasse, Cannes, etc.). Burn Riviera burn ! [Pi]
Poitiers: cops stoned after arrest of wanted man
Thailand (Bangkok) : musician receives two years’ of jail suspended sentence for painting an anarchy symbol on a sign in front of the Criminal Court, after his friend was murdered, and military trial of main suspect seems to cover the murder Gives a glimpse of present repression in Thailand under Military junta’s power, where things such as 20,000 preventive arrests before National holiday (http://www.chiangraitimes.com/thai-police-arrest-more-than-20000-suspected-criminals-in-one-week.html) or sending people to years of jail for very light critics of the monarchy happen on a daily basis. Interesting to see that the sentenced musician (though seeming to put some trust in Justice) seems to receive support, in a very conservative country where his acts (tags) could be seen as pretty offensive. Also good to see that unlike in many public cases, he maintains a non-repentant attitude, when many usually accept their guilt for various crimes, apologize publicly, in the pure Thai institutional Theravada Bhuddism logic. (Note by Pi)
7/7/16:
US: report on how modern younger generation are not interested in their wage slavery “They are indifferent about work and show up just to put in their hours…lack of engagement in the workplace ends up costing the US economy an estimated $30.5 billion per year.”
6/6/16:
Saudi Arabia : angry expatriate workers burn huge construction firm’s vehicles after nonpayment of salaries Seems unrest is going on for several months…
France, Nantes: town hall windows smashed, walls tagged, etc.
Nigeria: sabotage of oil pipelines pushes up price of oil
Kenya, Kisumu: pigs murder 2 during protest against electoral commission “Protesters, accusing the commission of pro-government bias and demanding its members resign before elections in August next year, blocked roads with burning tyres in both Kisumu and Nairobi’s Kibera slum. “IEBC must go,” demonstrators shouted… Western Kenya, traditionally an opposition stronghold, has seen some of the worst violence in the almost weekly protests. Three people were killed in clashes in the region on May 23.”
South Africa, Durban: ‘clearly co-ordinated’ rioting, looting and barricades throughout city, seemingly over faction-fight within ruling party ‘Tyres have been burnt and roads closed in at least half a dozen areas of the city‚ including KwaMashu‚ Newlands East‚ North Coast Road‚ Sea Cow Lake‚ Queen Nandi Drive‚ Mountbatten Drive and Westville. The protest action started as early as 2am in some areas‚ police said. One officer‚ who spoke on condition of anonymity‚ said it was difficult to even keep track of where the protesters were because of how widespread the protest action was. “It’s clearly coordinated. All these (protests) happened at about the same time this morning. It’s not just a few people who are upset and causing trouble‚” the officer said. This situation meant that officers had to cover multiple areas simultaneously‚ making policing difficult.’ One man has been shot, (no indication by whom) and another, walking to work, was ‘moderately’ beaten by protesters. Meanwhile, more than 30 cars and trucks were destroyed, and the laundry service of a local hospital was trashed during looting
Some of the contradictions of these events were revealed in the statements of a few participants, as reported here: ‘“We just want to choose the best candidates to lead us; we don’t want people who are only in the race to enrich themselves and their friends,” unemployed Sea Cow Lake resident Sandile Magatyane (29) told The Daily Vox. “People have been killed in shack fires every year here and we cannot tolerate another selfish leader; we need proper houses,” he said. A resident of Springfield, Norman Guqa (35), who has been living in a shack for nine years says that his community has been forgotten. Guqa said that something has to change, “and now it will change by force because we never meet our councillor and the current list has names of people we don’t recognise,” he said. He added that until they get answers they will close down the area and won’t let any cars go in and out of Springfield. “Violence is the only language these politicians understand. You cannot reason with a politician, he will use big English words just to confuse you and come up with excuses but we are tired now,” said Guqa.’
Certainly this would not be the first time that faction-fighting was the motivation for protests. Like an ingrown toenail, the decomposition of the ruling party has seen the generalised violence perpetrated against proletarians increasingly turning inwards against this or that faction of the ANC. Political assassinations, routinely deployed since the turf-wars between UDF, AZAPO, ANC and IFP in the 1980s, and generalised in Kwa-Zulu Natal in the 1990s during the ‘strategy of tension’, have been a constant tool in the arsenal of the political class. In the first 9 days of this month alone, at least 4 ANC officials were gunned down by hit-men, presumably by rivals in their own party. It is by no means inconceivable that political riots could be increasingly resorted to, for the same purposes. Unlike assassinations or terrorism, however, such riots seem far more two-edged a weapon, as the danger of them getting out of hand and developing into an actual assault on bourgeois law and property always hovers in the background. Until now, the most radical class-consciousness in the country has expressed itself in through apolitical means: mass election abstention and independent mass organisations such as the Durban-based shack-dwellers movement Abahlali baseMjondolo that even go so far as to criticise the legitimacy of the state as a form of representation for the poor. But, just as present riots begin with disgust for all politicians and end with support for the lesser evil of supposedly less disgusting politicians, so AbM began with election boycotts and ended up, in the previous elections, supporting the supposed lesser-evil of official opposition party.
Unfortunately, until the dissatisfaction expressed in these and similar situations around the country coalesces into a coherently anti-political, anti-hierarchical, anti-capitalist movement, such assaults will always be contained by the contradictory reliance on new, supposedly least-bad forms of representation. As a matter of fact, what seems to be the lesser-evil is often the worst evil of all in that it brings people to accept, under a new coat of paint, the very same no-good future that they violently reject in its old discredited form. The apparently lesser-evil is practically the worst evil precisely inasmuch as, by nipping any potential good life in the bud, it serves to preserve all evil at a time when increasingly radical struggles raise, in ever more concrete forms, the question of whether it is really necessary for people to continue damning themselves to suffer eternally under this stupid, miserable, immeasurably evil mode of existence at all. [SK]
In response to a request by SK for comments on the above, SF wrote the following:
As for your point about lesser or worse evil: the real point is that the movements we’re most interested in combat in practice things that the worse or better evil wouldn’t tolerate if they were in power. Yet when such movements resort to political demands for the better or worse evil to replace the current lot it both undermines ideologically what in practice is being done (ie something self-organised) by asking for something that is not self-organised, and is just a political reflex to come up with an apparently “realistic” demand that hierarchical power can understand and possibly meet, especially if it buys them time. However, in certain circumstance, demanding a reform is quite clearly and genuinely the better evil insofar as these miserable circumstances need to be resolved practically and usually pretty immediately (eg demanding electricity or water or a wage rise or whatever are obviously concrete demands which if met would ameliorate the situation). Everyone does this almost everyday if they have no other means of getting what they need (eg they can’t connect the electricity or get water themselves, or they can’t get non-nuclear-powered forms of electricity or they can’t abolish money for the moment, etc. etc.). I don’t think it helps though to say that demanding some political party in opposition is “the worse evil” – the “evils” are essentially the same, neither worse, nor better. Usually when people demand these false choices without even acting independently it’s indicative of how they are avoiding acting independently and how they want to continue avoiding acting independently. Which is not the case with, for example, Abahlali baseMjondolo; I’d guess – though without knowing enough about them – that after years of acting for themselves with all the constant miseries (including some murders committed by the state, if I remember correctly) they felt the need to present themselves “realistically” out of the exhaustion of not seeming to make progress (this is pure hypothesis on my part). If instead they’d made connections with other social movements that had had independent aspects and had theorised this into a critique of external authority more generally, maybe the result would have been different, but almost invariably – and this is a major problem – movements stay within their “comfort zone” because launching into the unknown seems far too dangerous. Much of this “unknown” is not that unknown historically – because history is full of examples that modern movements have yet to try out, mainly because they remain unknown to them, and one of the contributions those of us who want a revolution can make is to try to talk about these historical examples, whilst somehow connecting them to the present…Well all that sounds a bit platitudinous as well, but sometimes banalities have to be repeated.
5/6/16:
France, Yvelines: mattresses burnt at refugee detention centre
Paris: various letters reporting on movement The following was altered on 13/6/16 following a highly critical email from a friend in Paris.
Originally I wrote: “These, despite being excessively uncritical of much of the base of the unions, and also fairly uncritical of Nuit Debout, have some interesting facts – eg a “Banlieux Debout” developing on the outskirts of Paris, or a brief story about some CGT electricity workers who have managed to ‘fix’ a cheaper peak hours tariff all day for particular consumers in their area. “
But I received this email from a friend: “Decidedly, with the Wises, via Jack, we are in highly embroidered fantasy politics!
The various attempts to launch a “Banlieues Debout” ” were even more lamentable than “Paris Debout”. It was so grotesque that even the organizers of the “Place de la Republique Debout” preferred not to talk about it. The few “Banlieues Debout” were launched by micro-cartels of organizations close to Mélenchon [Leftist former minister], such as the NPA [semi-Trot New Anti-capitalist Party], the Marxist-Leninist sects, sometimes with the participation of the PCF [French Communist Party]! Plus a handful of anarcho-leftists, AL [Alternative Libertaire – Libertarian Alternative]-types and “free” electrons around Lundi Matin [Tiquunistes] trying to get closer to the “masses” of the suburbs, especially the young masses originating from the Maghreb. To give you some insight into the extent of their opportunism, the neo-AL-type leftists even wanted to ban pork in the canteens they intended to hold in the suburbs, so as not to alienate Muslims! In Montreuil, it’s obviously the Gatti [well-paid artist-recuperator with a”libertarian” image] gang which tried to organize his “Montreuil Debout” coming along to defend his crap and calling on people to support Gatti getting state subsidies to maintain his politico-cultural boutique…” Nevertheless, the link has some good photos.
India, Chennai: residents furious after 2 boys killed by cop van “…hundreds of residents of Ayanavaram took to the streets and resorted to road blockade, disrupting traffic for hours. “What hurt us the most was that there were 10 policemen in the van, and none came forward to help the boys. What if it was the other way round,” questioned an agitated R. Murali. Soon, a violent clash broke out between the police and residents. A-55-year-old woman Vimala, who was waiting at the bus stand, was hit on the head when police lathi-charged the crowd. She was taken to a nearby clinic. In retaliation, the protesters stoned the police van and attacked every police vehicle that passed by.”
US, Pittsburgh: 3rd riot in 2 weeks at juvenile centre “Three were arrested for risking a catastrophe”
Canada (Saguenay, Quebec) : vandals attack four school vehicles (in french)
Cambodia (Kratié province) : woman arrested over land protests “Proma has been the site of land disputes before. In May 2012, a 14-year-old girl was shot dead by armed officials forcibly evicting 1,000 families from Proma village to make way for Casotim, an agro-business company.”
4/6/16:
Mexico (Chiapas) : 250,000 in march by Education workers and supporters in population against Education reform and army presence in Chiapas A few days prior to this march, 65 town halls were occupied in Chiapas as well as 22 in Michoacán (including in main cities and towns) to ask for talks between the CNTE (Education Workers National Coordination), in a reformist logic. Access to the town hall was also blocked in State of Guerrero’s capital, Chilpancingo, as well as a highway. This article says 60% of the State of Tabasco’s schools were on strike during the week.
State of Veracruz : Mexico’s main party (the PRI) premises burnt before elections State of Veracruz’ governor, Duarte de Ochoa, belongs to the PRI. He is accused of maintaining relationships with organized crime, and of having covered up large amount of dissappearances, executions and femicides in Veracruz since he was elected.
France, Paris: anti-fascist demonstrators, on 3rd anniversary of death of anti-fascist at hands of skinheads, smash gentrifying luxury shop windows, estate agents etc.…restaurant “occupied” during lunch hour for an hour, with banner hung out 1st floor window “Against the Labour Law and its world” As someone else has pointed out, this now widely-used slogan really doesn’t extend any significant critique to “its world” beyond sometimes talking about neoliberalism as if it’s the only form of capitalism that exists or has existed. In this case, a critique of restaurants as such (see this excellent critique) is reduced to a critique of multinational fast food restaurants, which even fairly mainstream ideology criticises.
Nuit debout: “Retirement at 25″, ” Minimum wage of 10,000 euros per month”
Critique of the world of labour and law, now and then: “The great strike of May 1886 was an historical event of great importance, inasmuch as it was . . . the first time that the workers themselves had attempted to get a shorter workday by united, simultaneous action…. This strike was the first in the nature of Direct Action on a large scale. . . . Of course the eight-hour day is as antiquated as the craft unions themselves. Today we should be agitating for a five-hour workday.“ (Lucy Parsons, The Industrial Worker, 1 May 1912)
UK, Bristol: ITV camera smashed as anti-fascists clash with cops… Epsom: Demolition Derby – virtually unprecedented clash between bottle-throwers and cops at famous racecourse This is a highly prestigious event, sponsored by Investec bank; it’s the Queen’s and her racist hubby’s favourite sport, mainly attended by the upper middle class and above. There is no explanation for what kicked it all off in this report. [SF]
“The filth started fuckin’ us aroun’ – so we got in’o a bi’ o’ a barney wiv ’em. It’s basic, innnit? All Coppers Are Targets!!”
3/6/16:
Belgium, Mons: further sabotage of railway track “A “serious” sabotage was recorded this Friday on the rail network in Mons, while the strike movement continues at the SNCB, laments Infrabel. It could have caused the derailment of a train, says the manager of the railway infrastructure. Control cables were deliberately severed in Mons, resulting in loss of control of a switch. “This causes risk of derailment but fortunately no train was running at that point,” says Arnaud Reymann, spokesman for Infrabel. The problem was quickly detected and the switch repaired by a technical team referral early on in the afternoon….Friday morning, a traffic sign indicating an end of the course was also removed in Statte in the province of Liège, and resulted in the degradation of a catenary as a train was performing a maneuver. …Several acts of sabotage were reported on the Walloon railway network since the beginning of the strike on the railways, which began on 25 May”
And from here: https://libcom.org/forums/news/wildcat-strikes-belgium-28052016#comment-579367 :
“Cutting control cables, or the “return cables” to a power thrown remotely-controlled switch should not endanger any train. The switch is locked in either the “normal” position, with the points lined for the “usual” route, or locked in the “reverse” position, lined for a diverging route. In either case, the locking requires power to unlock the switch and move the points. Consequently, broken or cut power cables only mean the switch cannot be moved. If SNCB has a system where removal of power allows the switch points to “float”– or center between the normal and the reverse positions, then the SNCB system is unsafe and simply shouldn’t be allowed to operate. If the switch is part of an interlocking– a series of switches and signals where the lining of conflicting routes is eliminated through electric and mechanical locking of switches and locking out of other switches that conflict with the route selected– the absence of power to a switch will be immediately registered in the interlocking. If SNCB has power thrown switches on its main lines that are not part of interlockings– see previous remarks about unsafe systems.”
…Bogota: students riot against cops when student beaten by cops dies after 6 week coma
Burundi: filth shoot two schoolkids as hundreds hit the streets in solidarity with arrest of their classmates for defacing photos of the president… “The central African country has been plunged into a deep crisis since Nkurunziza announced in April 2015 that he was running for a third term, a vote he won last July amid opposition boycotts. Violence has left more than 500 people dead and forced more than 270,000 Burundians to flee the country, according to the UN.”
India, Mathura: 24 killed, including 2 pigs, during attempted eviction of 3000 squatters “…the principal home secretary in Uttar Pradesh, told Reuters police had initially responded to gunshots with teargas and rubber bullets but returned fire when the two police officers, including a superintendent, were killed. Other officials said it was not immediately clear how the squatters were killed. Media reported that at least 11 died in a blaze during the clashes. Officials believe the squatters belong to a sect which media described as a self-styled revolutionary group with a bizarre list of demands including the axing of the position of prime minister, replacement of the Indian currency and cheap fuel. The group emerged from among followers of a powerful religious figure who died four years ago, according to reports. Uttar Pradesh police chief Javeed Ahmed told reporters at the scene the group had set fire to their tents before abandoning the camp after the clashes.”Subsequent searches by the police revealed that the activists of the group … had stored firearms and other weapons, including grenades,” he said.”… In addition to the two dead policemen, 23 police personnel were hospitalized with injuries. The police recovered 47 guns, 6 rifles and 179 hand grenades from the camp.
CGT organises the symbolic die-in of trade unionism, which – sadly – is alive enough to function as an obstacle towards genuine struggle amongst those hoping for some salvation through bureaucratic means dressed up as street theatre
“Trade Unionism is the heavy policing of revolt”
UEFA cup to be contested…? See this for a critique of some aspects of football and the World cup in Brazil 2014
Essonne: detention centre temporarily evacuated after small bit of arson
2/6/16:
Colombia: 2 killed by riot pigs on 4th day of agricultural workers’ demos and strikes demanding improved conditions; over 30,000 agricultural workers involved in different parts of country… farmers march and block roads in 45 municipalities of 24 departments (out of 32)… 2 killed by bullets in department of Cauca, known for its indigenous farmers movement. Farmers (mainly indigenous) protest against the lack of cultivable land, misery, and an increase of import prices for various products (in the framework of Free trade treaty signed with Europe and the US).
US, San Jose: Trump supporters egged on as US flag burns
Venezuela, Caracas: spontaneous anti-hunger demo against state capitalist government
South Africa, Hogsback: streets barricaded, water and electricity cut off by striking residents
Help Help They are rioting in the streets of @hogsback where is the police? They have cut the electricity pic.twitter.com/UcX4eBO75F
— Maggie Verster (@maggiev) June 2, 2016
They are chainsawing the water pipes in @hogsback. And nobody is coming. Send the riot police Please — Maggie Verster (@maggiev) June 2, 2016
France, Tulle: electricity of second home of the president of Medef (main bosses’ organisation) cut off by electricity workers, along with that of the town hall and the sub-prefecture … Villeneuve-Saint-Georges (Ile de France): 3 cop cars set fire to… Paris: Gare de Lyon [major railway station] blockaded…wildcat demo: lots of windows of banks, estate agents, job agencies, bill boards, etc. smashed and/or tagged, champagne looted from off licence.. Rouen: windows of banks, estate agents, etc tagged and/smashed; about 40 people invade foyer of town hall … Nantes: offices of deputy (MP) for ecologists, facade of town hall and of regional chamber attacked, amongst other things…businesses to sue the state because of being “punished” by the demonstrations… St Nazaire: 125,000 shops, businesses, state agencies and residences get electricity cut… Rennes: 4 or 5 cop cars drive into crowd of 300 demonstrators, then proceed to teargas them through the windows of their cars; a few hospitalised… Toulouse: only 8 cops slightly hurt by fireworks as demonstrators block roads…50% of rail workers on strikeThun-l’Évêque: tollgates opened for free motorway travel after an operation snailspace … St Malo: ve haf vays of giving you a good education – 11 middle school students (3 hospitalised) amongst injured as cops violently repress blockade of school gates…
For a critique of “education” in English see this; for 2 in French see this and this.
1/6/16:
Peru: 2 general strikes in 2 cities as protesting strikers close border to Bolivia; car set alight… Puno (Andes region) social organizations and locals demand construction of 10 decontamination centres for the Tititaca lake, heavily polluted. In Chimbote (on the coast), locals demand construction of road around the city so that planned Panamerican highway parcel doesn’t disturb their daily lives. [Pi]
Bangladesh, Dhaka: unemployed nurses hospitalised by cops protecting “Health” Minister
Indonesia, Gorontalo: prison riot ends after long night
South Africa, North-West: gold mining company threatens wildcat strikers with sack
Canada (Toronto) : ALF claims attack on North American Fur Auction premises
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