Thoughts.

 

     Thoughts and words, melodies and rhymes, rhythms and beats, weave patterns, paint pictures, tell stories, portray hopes and fears. 

THE HIGH AND MIGHTY.

Politicians, high priests of the holy church
of greed,
yours are the crimes from which the many
bleed.
See, vice and corruption make their
stand,
with brutal tyranny, walk hand
in hand;
your arrogant minds, lost in ambition’s
cloud,
oblivious to the suffering of the humble
crowd.
When poverty’s knife makes our people
bleed,
your cancerous power is all you ever
feed,
holding high some ego-inflating avaricious
plan
that divides, soon pits man against
man.
Now anguish and war mark your mad
career,
covering our world in the brume of
fear,
then shedding youth’s blood by cruel
deceit,
with spurious pomp, lay the guilt at
another’s feet.
As we fall heir to a plundered
land 

  you tyrants walk in manner
grand,
what must we do to make you
yield
to see our children play in a bloodless
field?
Smash and crush your dark nefarious
power
allowing love and peace to freely
flower.

THE MURMUR OF THE POOR.

Brokers, bankers, Earls and Dukes,
callous, mercenary, pirate crew
gasconading through the land
bloated, pampered, privileged few.
Striding with selfish arrogance
plundering as you go
grasping at the fruits
the common people sow.

Take heed, you swaggering fat-cats,
in our world you don’t belong,
that murmur you hear is the poor
rehearsing an angry song.

The day is fast approaching
when our chorus loud you’ll hear,
then all your greed and treachery
will surely cost you dear.

A price you’ll pay for being blind
to the hungry at your door,
oh, haste the day our angry chorus
becomes a mighty roar.

THERE WILL COME A TIME.

There will come a time when the hordes remember,
who bound our grand-parents to the yoke of oppression,
who sentenced our parents to deprivation,
who bid poverty sink its teeth into our heart,
who teach our children, greed is a noble art.
Who sent our sons through the gates of hell
to a litany of cambist brawls,
crammed coffers with blood-stained gold
while laughing in Ares’ halls.
“Who does these terrible things to us?” they will ask,
and when they remember,
they’ll bring an energy that is endless
to drive a fist that is fearless.
Then this merciless market-driven world will crumble
under an insurrection of integrity,
the poor will emerge from the dark husk of capitalism
to live in the light of social justice.
There will come a time when the hordes remember. 

 
I WANT TO BELIEVE!

I want to believe
All that is good is out there
Sleeping in hearts that live in dark valleys,
About to blossom like some magic woodland,
In spite of war, in spite of greed
The essence that is humanity struggling to be free.
All around death arrives in many guises,
Silent as the frost poverty kills,
The ruthless march of war
With every drum beat seeks God’s blessing,
While the God fearing kill the God fearing,
Slaughter in the name of the greater good.

I want to believe
All that is good is out there
Sleeping in the hearts that live in dark valleys
About to blossom like some magic woodland,
Not just as the dream of poets.

 

Visit ann arky's home at https://radicalglasgow.me.uk   

Organise.

          In this cesspool of an economic system, organised and managed by corrupt and repressive state apparatus, to cross, uninvited, one of their imaginary lines called borders, places you in the category of a no-human, a being devoid of rights, driven to live in the margins, to be invisible just to survive, or end up in one of the thousands of concentration camps dotted around the world. There you will be brutalised, devoid of basic rights, hygiene and health care, cramped into grossly overcrowded conditions, subject to arbitrary beatings. Because of the human desire for decency and freedom, these conditions inevitably lead to drastic measures by the imprisoned, in an attempt to end their pain and anguish. Hence the burning of the Moria concentration camp on the island of Lesbos, and similar actions in other camps across the globe. Desperate actions to try and alleviate desperate conditions.
      If only we the ordinary people were as well organised as our exploiters and oppressors, you have to hand it to them, they come together, discuss and organise and then ruthlessly carry out their grand plans. You have the World Bank, the IMF, Davos World Economic Forum, Bilderberg Group, then you have their International Arms Fairs where all and sundry of the power club come together to display their latest means of control and domination and offer them to the highest bidder. Then you have these imaginary lines called borders to be taken care of, so the experts on surveillance and border control mechanisms, all come together to discuss how they can tighten the controls of those imaginary lines, this year there will be one of these meetings of authoritarians in Athens, 24th.-26th. November. If we organised as they do, we would win hands down, as there are much more of us than there is of them, we could destroy this brutal insanity of a system and replace it with fairness, justice, freedom and sustainability, freed from the shackles of profit, endless wars, borders and the illusion of perpetual growth creating a structure that sees to the needs of all our people. Let's try.

The following from Act For Freedom Now:

PDF

 

Poster spread in Athens in Greek & English

 Camps are for burning…
           Inhabitants of the Moria refugee hell on the Island of Lesbos recently gave the most honest and firm response to the war that is waged against them by the European states. Arson within the camp caused two nights of fires finally leading to its total destruction. Faced with prison conditions some chose for a direct and non-negotiated attack. In Moria a completely unbearable situation was all these years imposed as normality by those in power. Intimidation was part of its management.
         Administrative blackmail was part of its management. Beatings were part of its management. Humiliation was part of its management. Starvation was part of its management. The refugee camp of Moria continuously showed us the uncovered face of the system we are all living in.
       Reminding us in harsh ways that people become dispensable once they are declared enemies by domination, unwanted by the ruling logic.

The merchants of misery work around the corner
        But in this society the loss of one is the other’s gain. Border control is key in the organization of a society which is based on exploitation and oppression. This control needs to be under constant development to retain some effectiveness. But who is doing this, how and where? A good example is an upcoming conference on the 24th till the 26th of November in the Divani Caravel hotel in Athens (www.world-border-congress.com).
         National and international politicians, high placed representatives of different policing institutions, but also business leaders of the security industry come together to discuss the advancement of the border control complex, of identification and registration, imprisonment and deportation. These are the merchants of misery, building their careers on the backs of imprisoned refugees everywhere, of those hunted and shot against the unwanted. Let us sabotage this gathering and those who participate in it, in all the ways and moments we see fit, using our creativity and determination as our compass.
        Because the fires that were lit in Moria light up our spirits and inspire our actions.

… Down with all borders!

Visit ann arky's home at https://radicalglasgow.me.uk

B(A)D News.

 

  The latest episode of B(A)D news from A-Radio Berlin;

 In this episode you will hear contributions from:
      1. Radiofragmata (Athens, Greece) on direct actions, environmental struggles and the upcoming anniversary of the death of Pavlos Fyssas. One of his songs is featured at the end of their segment. Rest In Power Killah P!
      2. The Anarchist Radio Berlin in conversation with comrades from the “Burning Arks” collective, discussing solidarity work around a police operation not so well known outside of Spain, called “Operation Ark”, which took place in May of 2019.
     3. Dissident Island Radio from London with a short roundup of union wins, animal action, eco-wars and acab ammo from a largely wet august on the steadily sinking ship that is the so called United Kingdom.
     4. Radiozones of Subversive Expression contribute reports about the fire that recently devastated the Moria refugee camp and the evacuation of the Rosa Nera squat.
   5. Frequenz A with a short report about the ongoing struggle against gentrification in Leipzig (Germoney).
      6. Free Social Radio 1431AM from Thessaloniki with updates about the eviction of Terra Incognita squat, the invasion of cops in Libertatia squat and comrades in hunger strike and the martyr Ebru Timtik in Turkey.

 
Listen HERE:

Visit ann arky's home at https://radicalglasgow.me.uk 

Migrants.

         The plight of migrants so often is well under the radar of the mainstream media, and sadly of the public. This lack of information does not mean that all is well and quiet. The hell that countless thousands of migrants face on a daily basis is a crime against humanity, their numbers are vast, their treatment is deplorable. It so often is a life of harassment, fear, deprivation, brutality and isolation from friends and family. In most cases they are fleeing repression, war, deprivation and death, their journey is fraught with incredible hardship and danger and requires tremendous courage. On arrival at "civilised" and democratic Europe, their misery and danger so often continues at the dictate of the various state's apparatus, shunted from concentration camps to special pre-removal detention centres, brutalised and permanently damaged, continually struggle for their right to be treated as human beings.

      No human is illegal, borders are power mongers weapons of control, this planet has one human race, we are all brothers and sisters. 

(CPR) Pre-removal detention centres. 

This from Act For Freedom Now: 

 

         Tonight 14/8/20, some prisoners are telling us that there were fires following the beating of prisoners in the red area. They tell us that there is fire every night in the CPR of Gradisca. Every night, after a day of heavy abuse, small revolts break out in the Gradisca CPR. However today the repression seems to have been even more violent and the fire a little bigger: in the attached video you can see a boy getting out of a cell and being targeted by two cops one after the other; after he goes back into the cell he remains there bleeding and asking for his rucksack.
          We are also sharing the pictures of another prisoner standing on the floor foaming at the mouth. To protect his identity we won’t include the videos that the pictures were taken from, but this person seems in need of urgent help. We have no idea how he is or where he is now! Someone do something if they can!
We think cell phones may have been confiscated from some prisoners. At 2 the situation appeared more calm but by midnight it was still not over. Wires were being cut with a radial and firemen went into some of the cells. Yet again the local media spread a partial version of events, showing a carabiniere as victim and the prisoners as torturers.
           Without the courage of the prisoners who risk their safety to get news to the outside, we would never know the daily atrocities that go on in the concentration camps and the history of CPRs would be written by the guards alone.
Even when no one dies the CPRs are places of death and oppression, but in Gradisca two people have died already. Today a month has passed since the death of Orgest Turia. Violence is a constant in CPRs, continuous abuse adds to unfair treatment and the fear of being deported (according to what we have been told, food is given out under the bars in the CPR of Gradisca. People are held in cages all day long, changes of clothes and sheets are not given, medical care is poor and is not easy to obtain, the food causes intestinal problems and much more).
It seems that in recent days some people who’d just arrived at Lampedusa were taken to the CPR directly.
CPRs are deadly concentration camps. May the walls of all CPRs fall down and all the prisoners be free!
View video HERE:

        Or HERE: 

Visit ann arky's home at https://radicalglasgow.me.uk 

No Borders.

 

        Solidarity, unity, co-operation and no borders are the foundation stones of our victory over this economic system that condemns millions to a life of misery. A system that has only one aim to increase profit, wealth and power to the few. As the inequality grows so does the anger and the resistance, however, likewise the state, the corporate beast's minder, increases it repression, surveillance and brutality to meet that resistance. It is aware of the rising anger and resentment, if unchecked could bring its plundering to an end, so it will increase its viciousness and brutal repression in an attempt to hold onto its very survival and to retain its wealth, power and privileges. 

       We either accept the life of inequality, injustice, mass poverty, murderous deprivation, total surveillance, and continuous wars, that this system hands us, or we resist with all the strength we can muster, and take our anger to the streets. Our world of resistance may seem fragmented, but make no mistake, it is the same battle across all borders, a struggle for justice, equality and the right to a decent life for all. If these struggles happening across the globe, come together across all states enforced borders, our victory is assured. The alternative is unacceptable.

 

 

         A call with passion and from the heart from Berlin.

The following is from Act For Freedom Now:

International Call for Action and Discussion Days in Berlin 30.10.-01.11.2020
International Demo in Berlin 31.10.2020
UNITED WE FIGHT!
       Connect Urban Struggles – Defend Autonomous Spaces
Over the last years we experience a global resurgence of reactionary politics. State and capital, in a constant process of intensifying exploitation and expanding repression, used the global capitalist crisis, which started a decade ago, as a chance to further restructure relations of power in their advantage. Their political answer is materialized in a shift to the right, with a political alliance of neoliberal economic policies coupled with strong nationalistic narratives and repressive policies against resistance and progressive movements. The new face of authoritarianism has unleashed an all out attack against individuals it considers unnecessary or those that choose to resist and collectivize against the ruin of their lives. In our current period, states the world over used measures against Covid-19 to extend repression, policing and surveillance against societies. At the same time, the failings of neoliberal healthcare systems have led to masses of deaths and increasing inequality due to access to healthcare.
To all of this, people in different areas of the world answer with massive resistance on the streets. Movements with different perspectives have revolted, for example in Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, or more recently in France and the USA. The common thread of all these movements is their distance from institutionalized and systemic politics and the choice of self-organization and horizontalism in the fight against authority.
     The movement in Germany is fighting against exploitation and oppression in the belly of the beast. Since the movement reached a climax of mobilization against Hamburg’s G20 summit in 2017, the German state intensified and broadened its repressive arsenal with the goal to suppress and isolate the movement: this has seen the biggest public manhunt since the state repression since the 1960s and 70s, widening of police measures such as preventative arrests and extrajudicial surveillance, increased penalties for crimes against police and the ban of the popular German indymedia website “linksunten”.
In the city of Berlin over the past years the movement has come under constant attack through the eviction of its infrastructure, with gentrification manifesting itself in an attack on marginalized and struggling parts of society: rising rents making life unbearable, more than 5.000 forced evictions of houses per year, increased policing of public spaces and an overall changing social geography in the city. On the one hand this destroys or displaces spaces that the movement uses to support itself. Through heavy policing and state repression, subversive lifestyles and political organization is made impossible within public spaces. On the other hand capital is given space to invest and increase profitability through real-estate, privatization of security through cameras, fences and walls, smart city developments and big public-private partnership projects.
      The struggle of self-organized spaces in Berlin has developed against this background. The eviction of the bar collective Syndikat last August, and the broad mobilization of the movement against the eviction, was only the start of the upcoming fight for our infrastructures. The anarcha-queer-feminist house project Liebig34, the autonomous youth center Potse and the bar collective Meuterei are threatened by imminent evictions. The house project Rigaer94 was again raided in July, in an attempt to use the background of the raid several vain attempts to evict squatted flats were made without any success, since all flats could be held by the people inside or taken back. This phase of evictions might become the biggest attack on the autonomous infrastructure in Berlin since the 1990s.
       These collective spaces have chosen to stay and fight back in different ways. Their struggle has rallied the movement German-wide as a fight we are all a part of: against private property and capital, against the displacement of people from their houses, against gentrification of our neighborhoods, against a patriarchal and racist system which marginalizes, silences and oppresses the voices of those being exploited or deemed expendable for the system. Against this the projects put forward self-organization and solidarity, defiance of property and confrontation with the state and a direct attack on the oppressive social structures of hetero-patriarchy, nationalism and individualism.
      We are traversing a critical period, both for society and for radical movements worldwide. Under the dogma of “law and order”, state and capital are intensifying their attack on society and trying to further their dominance of all aspects of everyday life, stopping every collective vision and claim, and every perspective of resistance and struggle.
       Recognizing Berlin as the capital of one of the most dominant capitalist countries worldwide, we aim to intensify the social struggle in the heart of the beast. Giving a strong answer and creating perspectives against one of the most unbearable states of the world, that consists a model for many countries worldwide and which through its bureaucracy and structures infiltrates all the aspects of our lives leaving no space for self organization and anti-institutional struggles, will create a legacy not only for the local movement but for every rebellious cell worldwide.
       By the end of October an official eviction date of Liebig34 may be public. We will get together to prevent this. And if it has already been evicted in the weeks prior, we will take it back!
       We need all the force we can and call for support to defend our projects. Borderless solidarity is one of our strongest weapons. We want to use this opportunity to make the anarchist perspective more visible and bring the discussion about our ideas, praxis and strategies forward. The days prior to the demonstration on 31.10. will offer space for a plenary assembly, exchange, discussions and ways of actions on our common goals, strategies, occupying ground and collective defense.
        We consider this demonstration as an opportunity to come together to create a breach in their plans and multiple moments of ragefull, dynamic and militant experiences in which we abandon the defensive role and instead take the street as an active and offensive movement.
         Thus we hope to make these days part of a continuous discourse and not yet another unconnected event with no followup.
For these reasons we call for people to take the streets and destroy their plans of evictions. Although our fights in different corners of the worlds take different characteristics as we struggle in different contexts, borderless solidarity and the bridging of our struggles has been possible in the past, and is necessary for the future. Let’s choose confrontation and resistance, and seek them in collective moments beyond borders; let’s make their plans a disaster.
        We join the call of Terra Incognita to turn this year’s October into a month dedicated to solidarity and standing up for every occupied ground threatened by repression.
Lets bring our rage together!
Berlin 30.10.-01.11.202
International Demonstration 31.10.2020
via Liebig34.

Visit ann arky's home at https://radicalglasgow.me.uk   

Solidarity.

       We are controlled mainly by our national police, but the day is not far off when that control will be in the hands of an international police force, European states are welding together an efficient police force that knows no borders. Borders are there for control of us, the populations, hemming us in as more easily controlled groups, for the state's own power. The international police will be there to control those who would dare to cross their designated border lines, without their masters permission. The framework is already there and functioning well. the following from Act For Freedom Now:

 France / Italy: Letter from Imprisoned Anarchist Comrade Carla

Fresnes, 19.08.2020
Salut!
      After 536 days on the run, I was arrested on July 26th near Saint-Etienne. I experienced the arrest as the first performance of a scene repeated a thousand times in my head, or rather 536 times? Everything seemed to happen in slow motion: the hooded cops pointing their rifles at me, put me down and ask me the name that I’ve so often been called lately. It felt strange to pronounce it.
    I was then brought to Paris by the SDAT [Anti-Terrorist Sub-Directorate], four hours of travel handcuffed behind my back in the company of their balaclavas. They blindfolded me for the last few kilometers that separated us from their premises in Levallois-Perret. They were the ones who took me to court two days after the arrest, then to Fresnes prison.
      At the hearing, I accepted the extradition without hesitation. I had followed the events surrounding the arrest of Vincenzo Vecchi (whom I greet in passing) closely, but he had refused, offering himself a chance to remain free in France. For me, the choice was between waiting for the trial in France or in Italy, where the other defendants in Operation Scintilla are, all of them free except Silvia, who is still under judicial supervision.
      It seems that in recent times, arrest by means of a European arrest warrant and subsequent extradition have become mere formalities for the European justice system. We have seen this recently in Italy on several occasions, but also in the repression that followed the Hamburg riots or in Greece and Spain. European police forces are refining their weapons and their collaboration seems to be getting closer, exchanging tips and services. So it seems to me that it is up to us to look into the matter and study the mechanisms.
    I discovered the prison at the time of the coronavirus, the regulation fortnight in the new arrivals’ quarter, the mask during all movements, including the walk for that length of time, the suspension of all activities, the cell 22 hours a day.
     At the end of my fortnight, and on the eve of the scheduled date of my extradition, the other arrivals and I were placed in sanitary isolation on the grounds that we had shared a walk with a new arrival who turned out to be infected. Tests were only offered to us once this case was confirmed and have been the rule for all new arrivals ever since. We were initially told that they couldn’t test everyone. Unsurprisingly, it seems that the prison administration (PA) is behind schedule.
      In the spring, the measures taken by the PA in response to the arrival of the coronavirus led to situations of mutinies, revolts and solidarity. Unfortunately, here at least, it seems that living with the virus has become the norm, and the fear that a newcomer could bring the virus with her is coupled with the fear of being suspended from the visiting rooms, as was the case with us this week. The meagre compensation that the PA gave in the form of telephone credit in the spring is no longer relevant, as a group of isolated newcomers is so small compared to the strong mobilisations of last March.
     I’m expecting extradition again any day now and I know that a third isolation ward will probably be reserved for me when I arrive in Italy. I take advantage of the expressions of solidarity that join me today after so much silence. In spite of the publications on the subject, which are precious, the escape is still too often considered a romantic adventure and the companions concerned are often thought of as free. During this year and a half, I have never lacked solidarity and warm support, I have never lacked anything, but one is not free when one is deprived of one’s life.
      I would have liked to have been on the street with my comrades during the demonstrations in reaction to the eviction of Asilo, I accompanied the hunger strike of Silvia, Anna and Natascia with my thoughts, I thought every day of the comrades arrested in successive waves. I would have liked to have been by my family’s side when they went through difficult times and to have heard from them when we were all confined. Today I am ready and determined to face the next few months, but my thoughts are with those who are still on the run, often far from their loved ones. I hope that their journey will be as long as they want it to be, and that the encounters they make will give them the warmth they deserve and the energy to continue to fight.
     Carla
 

      On Tuesday 25 August 2020, Carla, arrested on 26 July, was finally extradited to Italy. She is now incarcerated in Vigevano prison, near Milan, in the AS3 module (alta sicurezza 3).
This high-security isolation section is initially reserved for prisoners accused of belonging to the mafia. Since the closure of the aquila, the AS2 sections, reserved for detainees considered political by the state, hardly exist for women, with the exception of Rebbibia (Rome) where Flavia and Anna are. Anna is only there for a few weeks because the Italian state has chosen to dispatch the companions, which is why most of them, including Carla, end up in AS3.
Carla wrote a letter from Fresnes prison which we reproduce below.
Let us continue to write to her and express our solidarity!
To write to her :
Carla Tubeuf
casa circondariale di Vigevano Centralino
via Gravellona 240
27029 Vigevano (PV), Italy

Visit annn arky's home at https://radicalglasgow.me.uk 

Those Migrants.

         No matter the country, nationalism and patriotism is the main drive of the powers that be. They all try to create this notion that the collective "we" of that country are special, different and should be protected from cultural infection of those others from over there. Migrants are the enemy, the are obviously inferior of criminal intent, and must be herded like cattle and denied any human rights. This technique has worked for centuries, making it easier for the state to gather its population of ordinary people behind its flag and send them over there to kill the population of ordinary people of some other state. All for power, wealth and/or resources to benefit the handful of power mongers that hold the reins of power.

        Patriotism is a poison that tries to tell us the we are different, sadly it is being fed to the ordinary people in every country across the globe. It's a poison that says we are different, when in actual fact we are all the same, human beings trying to make sense of our lives and survive in an alien economic system that benefits the few.

 Patriotism

No, I shall not die for the fluttering flag,
if truth be known, ’tis nothing but a multi-coloured rag
held aloft by some foolish hand
inciting worker and peasant to kill
on some green and wooded hill,
peasant and worker from some other land.
Nor shall I shed blood for the fluttering rag
that brings out fools to stand and brag
of brutal deeds painted grand,
deeds where rustic and craftsman lie so still
killed by my brothers' misguided hand.
No allegiance have I for the Nation
this man made autocratic creation
that divides my brothers in a world so small,
binds us to a country's cause, right or wrong,
bids us follow its drum, sing its song,
then sheds our blood in some border brawl.
No, I'll be no slave to flag or nation,
have no ear for power oration,
though its iron heel is on my breast,
my back feels its leather thong,
at patriotism's barracoon, I'll be no guest.

Brisbane, Australia: Fountain Runs Red for the Victims of Fortress Australia
Posted on 10/08/2020 by anarchistsworldwide

       This morning a group of autonomous dissidents went to the heart of Meanjin’s (Brisbane) capital and political district, close to the plush offices of politicians who make decisions about who gets to live freely and safely, and who remains indefinitely imprisoned and tortured in Australia’s detention regime.
         The fountain runs red today, representing the blood of the dozen or more refugees who died at the hands of Australia’s detention industry, and the thousands of others who have been mentally and physically tortured by it.

         We wrote messages to express our rage and our solidarity for the morning coffee goers, joggers and politicians who work in the corridors of power above, to read on their way to work.
        Though our gesture this morning is small, it is a symbol of our commitment to fight to the end for the freedom of refugees and abolition of Fortress Australia. We demand nothing but freedom and full citizenship rights for all asylum seekers and refugees incarcerated by Australia.
         This is not a game. Refugees have lost eight years of their lives imprisoned by this regime and childhoods have been stolen.
Enough is enough.
          We are counting down, there are only days left to choose humanity over this barbaric standard.

           Each day is another day of shame to Australia and the countdown is on.
5, 4, 3, 2, 1…

Visit ann arky's home at https://radicalglasgow.me.uk

State Control.

       Recently all the focus of street protests have been on police brutality and rightly so. The recent police killing in Glasgow of an asylum seeker, has shifted some of that focus to how abysmal is the life of asylum seekers here in the UK. However what we should be aware of is that police brutality and the inhumane treatment of asylum seekers and migrants are not two separate issues, they are both organised aspects of the state apparatus. The police are recruited, funded, trained and protected from any real accountability to the public, by the state and its mouthpiece the media. Likewise, asylum seekers are the product of the state policy of, we are different, the British way of life, the spirit of "we brits" therefore better than those others over there. The states create borders and to help protect them the breed patriotism, the barrier to unity, and will expect you, or coerce you, into laying down your life to protect those imaginary lines drawn in the Earth. The fact that people leave their homes, family and loved ones, usual to get away from deprivation, persecution and death, make an extremely hazardous journey half way across the world and when they arrive here, they are deemed to be different, lesser, so need to be herded up, stored in inhumane conditions, robbed of their basic human rights, while their "betters" scrutinize their suitability to stay, is just another aspect of the state's injustice and inhumanity. Police brutality, asylum seekers and migrant, camps, detention centres, call them what you will, but barbaric prisons would be a better title, are necessary functions of the state in its never ending desire for control over a submissive population. 

Photo courtesy of RawStory.

     Somehow we are supposed to believe that teachers, bar staff, office workers, labourers, bus drivers, students from places like war torn Syria are different and inferior than teachers, bar staff, office workers, labourers, bus drivers, students, who happen though an accident of birth, live here in this collection of islands called the United Kingdom.

      You wish to end police brutality, and the abhorrent treatment of migrants, then you can highlight these injustices, but to remedy these problems you will have to get rid of the root cause, the state system and its economic master the capitalist system. 

Visit ann arky's home at https://radicalglasgow.me.uk

Migrants & Solidarity.

      Migrant centres, camps or call them what you will, prisons would probably be a more accurate name, go hand in hand with violence, intimidation, humiliation and denial of human rights. This is easily verified by a little research into reports from those detained. Since these degrading institutions are ordered, created and organised by the state, what this highlights is another strand of the states vindictive, callous, psychopathic,  violent, racist structure. As another display of the state's callous brutality, in most cases it hands these institutions over to private corporations to run them at a profit, making money from human degradation and misery, operated by the low life that calls this "a job". It is an inhumane society that treats those fleeing war, famine, deprivation and death in such a threatening and vicious manner. A society that doesn't have compassion for all human life is a flawed and failed society. Police brutality on the outside, state violence on the inside, two sides of the same coin, are the pillars of a this society, built on plunder, privilege, exploitation, intimidation and control.

The following from Anarchists Worldwide:

        Recently it became publicly known that systematic violence is perpetrated against refugees in the federal asylum camp in Basel (Switzerland). Obviously this violence is neither an isolated case nor is it limited to the asylum camps in Switzerland.

       This violence is systematic and the system has names. Those responsible are internationally represented and operate in many different places. Let’s name them and show them that their actions bear consequences.

The spread of the coronavirus has highlighted the violence of the European migration regime – both at the EU external border as well as in local asylum camps and prisons.

        This call wants to continue the intensified struggles against it.

What are federal asylum camps?

     Since the spring of 2019, asylum seekers in Switzerland are being administered in so-called federal asylum centres. The accelerated asylum procedures related to the erection of these new structures do not result in fairer procedures for most of the persons affected, but in faster deportation. The federal asylum camps are often geographically isolated. The type of construction, the location, as well as the rules imposed are reminding of prisons and other institutions that deprive people of their freedom. They are contributing to the racist constructs of the nation state and borders.

Whether the Swiss federal asylum centres, the German anchor centres, the CIE (Centro di Identificazione ed Espulsione/ Centro de Internamiento de Extranjeros) or the French CPA (Centre de Premier Accueil): they are all part of the European migration regime, which categorises, isolates and deports people by force and coercion.

      For the maintenance of these camp structures, various sectors must be covered. The include, for example, construction, administration, delivery of food, transportation, servicing, surveillance and security services.

All these tasks are entrusted to companies that profit financially from the precarious situation of people in search of asylum.

What is happening is Basel?

      Reports from witnesses show that in the federal asylum camp in Basel people from the Maghreb are deliberately harassed, abused, beaten and in some cases seriously injured by employees of the Security AG. The disciplinary measures referred to by Securitas as “self-defence” often end in hospital for those persons affected.

        Securitas is mandated and gets covered by the camp operator ORS and the SEM (State Secretariat for Migration): Those persons affected by the mistreatment are being blamed for any incidents. The injuries inflicted by Securitas employees are racist portrayed in the official reports as self-inflicted injuries by “aggressive North Africans”.

     The federal asylum camp in Basel is located directly next to the (deportation-) prison “Bässlergut”. Both in the prison and in the camp, there was and still is resistance from detainees. Actions and attacks against these institutions also take place outside the walls.

Further info:

        Documentation brochure of the Securitas violence in Basel (in German): https://3rgg.ch/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/3RGG_Immer-ein-Grund-uns-zu-schlagen_2020-1.pdf

   Information and past actions concerning the Bässlergut (in German): https://barrikade.info/tag/74

On the security business

       In Switzerland, Securitas AG is mainly responsible for “security and order services” in the federal asylum camps. Protectas is also deployed in the camps. Protectas is the Swiss version of the internationally active Securitas Group (logo with the three red dots), which has nothing to do with Securitas AG in Switzerland (eye logo).

There are many other companies that offer these services and thus carry out the direct oppression and control of people through psychological and physical violence.

On the “Organization for Regie and Special Projects (ORS)”

       In Switzerland, ORS has a near monopoly in the management of asylum camps. It operates internationally in Italy, Germany, Austria and Spain (under development) and has an EU office in Belgium.

ORS Service GmbH
Muthgasse 36
AT-1190 Wien
+43 (0)1 8906666-808
info@orsservice.at www.orsservice.at
www.orsintegration.at

ORS Deutschland GmbH
Albert-Schweitzer-Str. 16
D-78052 Villingen-Schwenningen
+49 (0)7721 697 18 40
info@orsdeutschland.de

ORS Deutschland GmbH
Güterhallenstrasse 4
D-79106 Freiburg
Tel. +49 (0)761 769 931 20
info@orsdeutschland.de

ORS S.r.l.
Piazza Annibaliano 18
I-00198 Roma
Italia
info@ors-italia.com www.ors-italia.com

ORS Group
14b Rue de la Science
1040 Bruxelles
Belgium
info@ors-group.eu www.ors-group.eu

Further addresses (in Switzerland) of responsible companies can be found in the call at https://barrikade.info/article/3517

++++ This is a call! ++++

For solidarity beyond national borders. Let’s fight together against the Fortress Europe and all its pillars!

 Visit ann arky's home at https://radicalglasgow.me.uk

One Race.

      The incident in this post happens day and daily, in different degrees of harassment and intimidation in cities across the world. The nationalist fervour that is prevalent in our cities is a disease that we have to root out. Migrants are the easy scapegoat for nationalist bile, and the states create this by their nationalistic policies, in an attempt to get you all to rally round the flag. The other must be seen as a problem, the enemy, to get you to accept and embrace their policies of control. We are all people, we all have family or did have, we all fall in love, drive buses, fix plumbing, take care of grand parents, who look after grandkids. We can't allow the state to dictate who we like and who we should fear. Nationalism and patriotism are the enemies of unity across those false lines drawn on the map by power mongers. One race, one planet, one home. The following incident was in Athens, but that city is not unique in its treatment of migrants.

Patriotism

No, I shall not die for the fluttering flag,
if truth be known, ’tis nothing but a multi-coloured rag
held aloft by some foolish hand
inciting worker and peasant to kill
on some green and wooded hill,
peasant and worker from some other land.
Nor shall I shed blood for the fluttering rag
that brings out fools to stand and brag
of brutal deeds painted grand,
deeds where rustic and craftsman lie so still
killed by my brothers' misguided hand.

No allegiance have I for the Nation
this man made autocratic creation
that divides my brothers in a world so small,
binds us to a country's cause, right or wrong,
bids us follow its drum, sing its song,
then sheds our blood in some border brawl.
 

No, I'll be no slave to flag or nation,
have no ear for power oration,
though its iron heel is on my breast,
my back feels its leather thong,
at patriotism's barracoon, I'll be no guest.

The following from Act For Freedom Now:

       On 5/4, a friend from Pakistan was walking on Amfipoleos street in Votanikos towards Rouf train station. At the traffic lights, 2 DIAS bikes that were headed to the opposite direction did a U-turn and stopped him. They asked him where he lives and where he’s going, he showed them the handwritten paper that said he was going out for exercise and then they asked him for his residence permit. He showed them the application certificate, because he’s expecting his papers in the next month, they tore it up, shouting that this isn’t valid anywhere, they pushed him against the wall hitting him in the face, one of them pulled his gun, the other two were holding him and the third one was looking around. One spit at him. At that moment the man’s phone was ringing, the cops saw that those were calls from his girlfriend and started mocking him saying: “Do you have a date?” and “Is your girlfriend looking for you?”.
      Then they pulled down his trousers and opened his jacket, they did a body search on him, for drugs as they said, they searched inside his underwear and pulled off his socks and shoes. They started threatening that they were going to lock him up since he has no papers, they told him they were taking him straight to the police station, and when they saw he wasn’t answering them and just asked to call his lawyer, they refused, hitting him, and sarcastically asked if he was going to start crying, too. What’s more, they doubted that the paper of movement was written by him and they were laughing at him, saying there is no way he can write so well, they stated to him that now they’re going to send the photos from his documents everywhere and they’ll be watching him wherever he goes and in the end they told him that they’ll send him back to Pakistan if he wants to walk free in the street or to exercise, because “here, it’s forbidden”. Then they let him go, telling him that they’re doing him a favour by letting him, and only on the condition that he’ll go home.‌
      One more time, the face of democracy and its instruments is made clear. We are reporting this incident not as something new, nor as something shocking. We are aware of the living conditions of migrants in Greece, of the abuses of the state, of their ill treatment by the police and by every fascist scum, and of the suffering they’re put through—if they’re lucky—to get their papers and live with dignity.‌‌
We’ll soon deal with the cannibals of this world.‌‌
NO ONE ALONE AGAINST REPRESSION.
SOLIDARITY TO MIGRANTS.
LET’S BREAK THE FEAR
source

Visit ann arky's home at https://radicalglasgow.me.uk 

Fascists And Migrants.

      The situation at the European border in Greece has become a war zone. Turkey, to push for support from NATO and the EU has started to use migrants as bargaining chips to further its land grab into Syria. Migrants in the eyes of the state are not people in desperate need but a thing they see as a problem or a group that can be used to build on their poisonous patriotism.

     Meanwhile as the various states procrastinate on this flow of humanity, vigilante fascist groups do their dirty work for them. Along the Greek/Turkish border these right wing thugs roam the area hunting migrants, terrorising them and subjecting them to brutal beatings, while the authorities turn a blind eye. On the Greek island of Lesbos, these fascists have gather from other countries to to roam freely attacking anybody that's doesn't speak Greek. 

     all this goes on uninterrupted  under the surveillance system of the state. This freedom granted to the fascist groups to use migrants as prey for their demented hunting forays, tells you the true nature of the states that try to control ever aspect of our lives. As long as states exist, freedom will struggle for survival.

This from Act For Freedom Now:

 

      Athens, Greece: On Saturday, March 7, 2020, anarchists and antifascists, anti-authoritarians marched through the downtown of Athens in solidarity with the migrants struggle, against all detention centers, against fences and borders. Against war, nationalism and fascism.

Greek vigilante groups in Evros are roaming freely the borders, terrorising and arresting groups of migrants that manage to find a hole through the fence, while in the greek island of Lesbos vigilante groups act like a mob that has set check points at the edges and the centre of Mytilene town (the capital of Lesbos island), verbally abuse any migrants in dinghies that reach the greek shores, attack and terrorize volunteers or NGO workers aiding migrants, smash their cars or violently beat them. Fascists from several european countries have flown to Lesbos island to take part in the mob that attacks anyone not speaking greek, migrants, NGO workers or tourists.

A school for refugee children has also been burnt to the ground by this right wing racist mob. Tourists, volunteers and NGO workers are fleeing Lesbos island because it’s not safe for anyone not speaking greek, except of foreign fascists and nationalists aiding the vigilante mobs.
        And while you would think that these despicable acts would be condoned by the majority at least of the people, the contrary happens. Racists, nationalists, conservative, neoliberals, right wingers, social democrats, even some self-proclaimed lefties, have united in a front, backing these acts or turning a blind eye on them.
      And when you hear their narrative, that the migrants are invaders and not people and that this is a war on Europe, you can’t help but remember another time when people were treating others like they were inferior, like the enemy and were applauding the attacks on people based on different characteristics and were applauding the burning of the enemy’s schools, shops and books, and they were laughing with the gassing of the “enemy” and were applauding the deaths of the “other” and then you remember this:
“First they came for the Communists, and I did not speak out, because I was not a Communist.
Then they came for the Socialists, and I did not speak out, because I was not a Socialist.
Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out, because I was not a trade unionist.
Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out, because I was not a Jew.
Then they came for me, and there was no one left to speak out for me”.
     On Saturday, March 7, 2020, thousands of anarchists, anti-authoritarians, antifascists and people in solidarity in Athens, Greece, did exactly that. They chose to speak out, in defence of humanity against fascism, in defence of a world without borders, in defence of those who don’t have a voice because it has been choked by the teargas, the guns and the barbed wire fences at the edge of “Fortress Europe”.
athens.indymedia

Visit ann arky's home at https://radicalglasgow.me.uk

Anarchy Is For Lovers.

 

     So many people still see anarchism as that unruly individual, hell bent on destruction because they want to do what they want and screw everybody else. This is the picture painted by the pro-establishment mouthpiece the mainstream media, in its determination to maintain the status-quo. 

     Of course anyone who has looked seriously at anarchism knows that this a deliberate fabrication to defile and destroy the only real road to a free society based on co-operation, mutual aid, equality of opportunity, sustainability and peace.

This quote from Anarkismo, puts it better than I could.

**Many people regard anarchism and socialism as contradictory programs. This is based on the conception of "socialism" as state ownership of the economy. Yet historically, anarchists have regarded this program as "state socialism" or "authoritarian socialism." They have rejected such views in favor of "anarchist-socialism" or "libertarian socialism." This concept of anarchism as a variety of socialism remains important today in opposition to pro-capitalist "libertarianism" and to "democratic socialism"--that is, reformist state socialism.**

Read the full article HERE:

      Perhaps we are to blame for not getting the true principles of anarchism across as the accepted view. Taking a leaf out of the capitalist book, propaganda, propaganda, propaganda, we should still be flooding the streets and workplaces with those bits of paper that proclaim anarchy is for lovers. Lovers of humanity, lovers of respect for the individual, lovers of co-operation to our mutual benefit, lovers of mutual aid, lovers of organisng together to solve our problems, lovers of our planet and its sustainability. Who in their right mind would object to joining such a group.  

A Needless Sea Of Tears.  

Though we live in a world of callous commerce 

and know justice

is an altar where the caring are sacrificed,

see freedom as a river that runs parched

in the fierce desert of poverty,

our thoughts cannot be chained

our dreams will not be caged.

We will think beyond the profit race

dream beyond the market place

in friendship clasp each human hand

with compassion try to understand

our differences, our hopes, our fears,

dragging this world from its needless sea of tears.

Visit ann arky's home at https://radicalglasgow.me.uk