If The State Is Alive, So Is Slavery.

         A rose by any other name smells as sweet, likewise, slavery by any other name stinks as rotten. Modern states while falsely flying banner of "democracy" have no qualms about useing, authorizing and condoning slavery. One form goes by the name of the prison service. Those confined withing the state's cages of repression are obliged to carry out work for no or practical no financial gain to themselves. In the UK and USA, thousands of prisoners are employed in doing work for commercial corporations and military institutions and get nothing or a financial pittance, under the threat of repercussions if they refuse or are deemed not to working hard enough. Apart from this being blatant state sanctioned slavery, it also soaks up jobs that would have to done by those on the outside who companies would be obliged to pay a legal wage, saving the corporate juggernaut a fortune.

       Of course the UK and USA are not alone in this state created slavery department, it is practically par for the course across the planet. Where we have a state, we have slavery, in one form or another.

 This from Contra Info:

         If there’s somebody forced to work for somebody else under the threat of violence, it’s something that we usually call enslavement or exploitation. However, if Czech police and courts use this practice, they call it differently: preparation of the convicted for their jobs and helping the state. There’s no point in arguing about appropriate words, where it’s obvious that the state institutions are committing organized crime on the prisoners. The point is to make these crimes stop.
         To make clear what crimes I’m talking about, I’ll first give the word to the officials of Všehrdy prison. On the prison website they write:
         With the end of the year approaching, we would like to inform our fellow citizens about the fact, that the prisoners from Všehrdy prison have participated in recovery of the property of different state and municipal institutions in our region during the whole year completely free of charge, in the form of the so-called extramural working activities. …(…)… They, for example, painted the administrative building of shooting range for the Police of Czech Republic, fixed the terrain around the shooting range, removed the invasive trees, repaired and built new target equipment and pruned trees around the driveway. They facilitated moving of the police school and moving and assembling the furniture for the Police of Teplice. And, like in the last year, they painted the area of the District court in Chomutov and moved the furniture.
       They taught us in school that slavery was abolished. However, when we look at the conditions of imprisoned people, we can see that slavery only changed its face. The prisoners from Všehrdy may not be a trading commodity like the slaves in the past. But they are still subjected to violent enslavement. They are forced to work hard without any claims for wage and somebody else profits from their work. They are punished if they refuse to work in that conditions. And they are also held behind the walls in iron chains by their slavers. And their enslavement is also hypocritically advocated by talking about that they offended the morals of Christian civilization by their living, and so it’s right to treat them this way.
       Everybody who is not blind must clearly see, that resistance against slave practices must not stop, until all prisons and institutions, which have their interest in preserving them, are abolished. Lukáš Borl
lukasborl.noblogs

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Learning To Resist.

         On this, the 50th anniversary of the global uprisings of 1968, subMedia pays homage to the insurgent youth who helped kick things off a half-century ago by taking a look at some contemporary student-led movements that are still tearing things up around the world. In this month’s episode of Trouble, the first of a two-part series on radical student movements, sub.Media talks to a number of current and former student organizers from so-called Puerto Rico, Quebec and Chile as they share their experiences from the high-points of past struggles and provide hard-fought lessons that can help prepare a new generation for the battles to come.

Originally published by Submedia:

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On The Streets Of 2017 America.

        Just released, a video of some of the 2017 street events by anarchists in America. By reading that babbling brook of bullshit, the mainstream media, you would get the impression that none of this took place, but all these events could muster  reasonable numbers, a welcome sight.

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Imperialists Trying To Extinguish The Flame Of Freedom.

        The region of the Middle East seems doomed to be the battle ground of the world's imperialists as the carve up the region and crush any attempt by the people to foster freedom and democracy. This latest imperialist plundering adventure by Turkish dictator, Erdogan is nothing less than a savage attack on people trying to create a society freed from the capitalist authoritarian system, our imperialist masters will not tolerate areas where people act and think for themselves in the interests of all.

       The following is an extract from an article by Dilar Dirik, from Roar Magazine, calling for active support for the people of the region around Afrin, a call to come together and stop this imperialist slaughter of the ideals of freedom and justice for all.

         As I write, the Turkish army is engaged in an illegal cross-border invasion of the Syrian-Kurdish region of Afrin. Claiming to fight “terrorists,” the Turkish state — an EU candidate, ally of the West and second-largest NATO army — launched an act of aggression against the same people who earned the world’s respect for defeating ISIS with their courageous sacrifices and historic resistance. The military campaign includes pro-Erdogan Free Syrian Army (FSA) troops and poses a threat to 800,000 civilians, half of whom are internally displaced people who sought refuge in Afrin from regions like Idlib and Aleppo.
       The targeting of Afrin exposes every letter in the ABC of imperialism. The attack could not have been launched without the approval of Russia, which controls the airspace over Afrin, as well as the consent of Iran and Assad. According to officials in Afrin, Russia proposed to protect Afrin in return for handing over control to the Assad regime. But as the offer was rejected, Russia gave green light to Turkey’s invasion.
      The United States, meanwhile, which conveniently used the Kurds as “reliable boots on the ground” in Syria for the last years in the international anti-ISIS coalition, stays quiet over their NATO ally’s ambitions to sacrifice the heroes of the ISIS war, merely warning Turkey to “avoid civilian casualties.” European governments, especially Germany, have their own stakes in the game, as mostly European weapons and tanks are used by the Turkish army; weapons in the hands of fascists, which drive millions of people to leave their homes and risk death to become refugees in Europe.
       Seven years into the war, Syria is destroyed; ISIS came, killed and left; genocide and massacres have been committed; the region’s demography and ecology have changed; Assad seems to be here to stay. The legitimate demands of all Syrians who took to the streets and risked their lives to call for dignity, freedom and justice against the Assad regime have been betrayed bitterly. Meanwhile, the powerful state actors in the region and beyond seem to have come full circle, as more than half a million people died and around 6 million have been displaced. Activists speak of the Third World War taking place in this region.
        It is within this context that Turkey launches its war on Afrin, far exceeding the historical hostility of the Turkish state towards the Kurdish people. The battle symbolizes the two options that the peoples and communities of the Middle East face today: between militarist, patriarchal, fascist dictatorships on the one hand, controlled by foreign imperialist interests and capital, or the solidarity between autonomous, self-determined, free and equal communities on the other. The defense of Afrin is an opportunity for the left to unite against fascism and mobilize against militarism, occupation and war.

What is at stake

        Within the context of the war on ISIS, the same states that are known to have fueled jihadist forces inside Syria — especially Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Qatar — became part of a coalition led by the same powers which invaded the Middle East for imperial interests, committed war crimes in the name of “fighting terrorism,” and thus established the ground on which ISIS would eventually flourish. The forces that represent systems of capitalism, authoritarian statism, religious fundamentalism and in some cases pure fascism, were put in charge of establishing democracy and peace.
       Meanwhile, as ISIS captured the attention of the international community, the initial issue of Assad’s dictatorial and bloodthirsty rule was side-lined, as were any notions of a lasting and just peace for Syria. With the entrance of Russia on the Syrian war scene and the role of Iran, the false binary of Sunni-Shiite animosity — a commonly used trope to disable just solutions in the Middle East — was reinforced. Regardless of all the conflicting interests of the involved powers, their common practice was the suppression of meaningful dissent, grassroots resistance and projects for genuine democratic alternatives. On the ground, this led to the mobilization of fascist and sectarian ideologies for which people were willing to die and kill.
      By default, any attempts at popular self-determination and self-defense against colonialism and capitalist exploitation would need to be annihilated for this concept to work. That explains all the hostility campaigns towards the liberationist Rojava revolution, including the attempts of big powers such as the US to use Rojava militarily and try to empty its politics of its revolutionary principles. Taking advantage of the contradictions emerging within the imperialist power games, the Kurds, trying to stay true to revolutionary ideals while being literally surrounded by fire and in temporary tactical alliances with some actors, have constantly been accused of being puppets of imperialism in their attempt to establish radical democratic systems of self-governance, while defending millions of lives from certain death by ISIS fascists.
      Sadly, the sectarian and dogmatic sections of the international left were unable to read these emancipatory politics and act accordingly, allowing imperialism to go ahead by refusing to extend vital solidarity to the Kurds when it was most needed. There is still time to correct this mistake.

Continue reading: 

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Naughty Words And Daft Opinions.

 

         To some it might seem a trivial affair, someone puts a poster up in their window, the state's minders the police, run in and demand they take it down, the individual refuses and is arrested and a date set for their court appearance. The offending poster stated, "FUCK OFF YOU TORY CUNTS" However this is far from trivial, but typical of the state of repression that exists in this country. Any excuse to glean information, intimidate and subdue the people from freely expressing their political view will be seized upon and the full force of the biased judicial system will enmesh the individual. Glasgow has recently had this denial of freedom of expression foisted on an individual, and the case is still on going. Perhaps all those Class War supporters should display this poster in their windows, and see the country festooned with the offending words, which are really an expression from the heart of a lot of people across the UK.

       To some people some words may be offensive, but that is all they are, just words, they are just an expression of an opinion, nobody gets hurt. I was born  in the Glasgow slum of Gangad, my father was a miner all his working life, I started my working life in the Clyde shipyards. The language was, to say the least, varied and colourful, but over time the political correct have tried to cleanse our language of a range of words, they deem offensive. My advice to them is to Fuck Off and leave us alone.  

       This from Freedom News:

         Last year during the national elections campaign, Class War Scotland member David McHarg was arrested twice because of a poster that was displayed on his window. The poster read: “Fuck off you Tory cunts”.
         The first time the police had visited David McHarg in May 2017. Upon David’s absence, the cops demanded that his wife remove the offending poster. She refused, explaining that the poster is her husband’s property and it is not for her to decide what to do with it. The polce conducted two more visits at David’s, during which he refused to remove the sign, or to give any personal details. Eventually David was arrested for ’threatening or abusive behaviour’ under Section 38, The Criminal Justice and Licencing (Scotland) Act 2012 and for ‘failure to give details as a witness’ under the Court Section 13–14, The Criminal Procedure (Scotland) Act 1995. However, initially David wasn’t even charged: instead, he was taken to the police station, where he was made to wait for 9 hours, and was subjected to anal cavity search.
         David is a member of Class War Scotland. He says that ‘It was done to humiliate me, because they were obviously aware of my political standing which is anarchist’.
         David’s trial took place mid- January at Glasgow Sheriff Court and the case has been adjourned till June. If David is found guilty, he plans to seek the help of Amnesty International and to take the case to the European Court of Human Rights.
         David McHarg is invoking his Article 10 right to ‘freedom of expression’ under the Human Rights Act 1998. Article 10 protects the right to hold ones own opinions and to express them freely ‘without government interference’ This includes the right to express your views in public (for example through public protest and demonstrations) or through published articles, books, leaflets, television or radio broadcasting works of art, and the internet and social media.
          It isn’t the first time the cops interfere with Article 10. Another similar case occurred in 2010 during the Parliamentary Elections, when officers invaded David Hoffman’s home in East London and insisted on the removal of a poster displayed on his front window showing the face of David Cameron with the word “WANKER” printed underneath. The civil case took place in the High Court. David Hoffman claimed that this treatment amounted to an unlawful interference with his Article 10 right to ‘freedom of expression’ under the Human Rights Act 1998. The Metropolitan Police accepted Hoffman’s claim and provided him a letter of apology.
       According to NETPOL (The Network for Police Monitoring), “Powers given to the police to deal with anti-social behaviour are increasingly being used to gather information on participants in political protest.” In the same article it is also stated that over the years the police have misconstrued a wide variety of protest activity, including demonstrations, handing out leaflets and sit-down protests, as ‘anti-social behaviour’. This operation is constantly used to obtain the names and addresses of those taking part, and David McHarg is yet another victim of such policy.

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Trees Or Tarmac And The Power Of Resistance.

 

        The only way to stop the capitalist system from turning the planet into a tarmac ball is to resit it at every turn. When money is the driving force all other values sink into the swamp of greed, If tarmac and concrete can create more wealth and power for those who already control most of the wealth on the planet, then that is what you will get, more treeless landscapes, more high-rise real estate. Their greed sustains them, and they are blinded by their own illusions of greatness, they fail to see that they are the creators of their own destruction, as well as that of humanity.

      It might seem a daunting task to stop the capitalist juggernaut of greed, but resistance is growing, along with determination. More and more people see the looming disaster, the glaring inequality, the savage injustice of the system, and are venting their anger and joining in the that resistance. We can all play our part, by joining and/or supporting the resistance wherever it appears, or creating our own pressure point on the system. 

      An on going struggle of resistance that is coming under ever increasing pressure is the struggle to save the Hambach forest. The brutish forces of the state are increasing their attempts at eviction, they can only be defeated by solidarity and increased support for the resistance.

   This call for support from Contra Info:

9 activists in pre-trial detention, after being arrested during a barricade-eviction in the occupied Hambach Forest, Germany.
        The activists are accused of ‘obstructing the work of police officers’, during the barricade eviction on Monday the 22. of January.

Arriving early in the morning, the cops were met with activists occupying blockading-infrastructure, including 2 tripods, 3 monopods, a skypod, and a 3 meter deep tunnel.

         The cutting of the Hambacher Forest was officially stopped early this season, on a court-decision, postponing cutting until October 1st 2018, however the risk of eviction of the occupation is as great as ever.

        The ‘Hambi 9’ would love to get mail! Exact information, including adresses and languages, can be found on the blog of ABC Rhineland.

 More photos HERE

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Claimants And Two Way Mirrors.

        Still on the insidious subject of state surveillance of the population, the more you dig the more reprehensible the state's actions become. What is more, we pay for all this surveillance on our movements with taxpayers money, all this surveillance pours tax payers money into the pockets of private companies, who no doubt will use the information for their own commercial ends.

        The following extract shows another devious low and duplicitous aspect of the state's desire to manufacture compliance and subservience, with this particular form being targeted at vulnerable claimants. When you troll the cesspit of state surveillance you find it has no end to its depth of depravity, it is a bottomless pit of duplicity aimed at control of the population.

Politics an Insights, by Kitty Jones: 

Two Way Mirrors.

         I regularly write to raise concerns about the current government’s misuse of psychology in public policies and research. There has been a shift towards the formulation of targeted, prejudiced, class contingent policies which have the central aim of “changing behaviours”  and enforcing “compliance” and conformity. This behaviourist approach has some profound implications for democracy. It constrains autonomy and curtails the basic liberties of targeted citizens, whilst excluding them from any political consideration of their human rights. 
      On the government website, a contract finder notice for the “Provision of Research Laboratory Facilities” for the Department for Work and Pensions says:
        “The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) requires research to be undertaken, in a research laboratory environment, with recipients of the Carers Allowance and recipients of the Employment and Support Allowance (ESA).
In a typical lab situation DWP shall have one DWP researcher in a room with the participant and other DWP researchers (if appropriate) and invited observers behind a two way mirror evaluating what is happening. As well as viewing the interview they can also see the activity on the web screen via monitors in their room.
The proceedings are currently recorded on MP4 for subsequent use when research findings are being reported. The participants cannot see the people in the viewing facility though they know they are there. There needs to be flexibility to be able to undertake the research in the North West and Leeds and be able to recruit for participants to attend a Government Lab set up at Aviation House in London WC2B 6NH.” 
       Northern Voices T/A The Talking Shop is a Manchester based market research and public opinion polling company that has been awarded the contract in June this year. This company will be paid up to £60,000 for experimenting on sick and disabled claimants, using covert observation from behind a two-way mirror, studying eye movements, facial expressions and body language. 
       Eye movement measurements are frequently used, though controversially, in criminal psychology, too, as a somewhat unreliable method of “lie detection.” Questions arise regarding precisely how eye movements, perception and cognition are related, and to date, this question hasn’t been answered by academics. 
           It struck me that the experimental set up is very reminiscent of the social psychology experiments conducted in the 60s and early 70s to study social conformity and obedience to authority. However, the welfare “reforms” were specifically designed to coerce people claiming welfare into conformity – “to do the ‘right thing'”-  and compliance with a harsh “conditionality” regime and ever-shrinking eligibility criteria. It’s hardly a secret that the New Right Conservatives and neoliberals have always loathed the welfare state, and along with the other social gains of our post-war settlement, it is being systematically dismantled.
          The wider context is significant, both in terms of its impact on individual citizen’s experiences and behaviours, and on the way that theory is formulated to conflate  and align citizen’s needs with neoliberal outcomes, and this is also reflected in how research is being designed and used.

Continue Reading: 

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Imperialism Is Imperialism,Is Imperialism.

 

         The Turkish state under the grip of dictator Erdogan is doing what all dictators and  imperialists do, attempting to build his strength at home by conjuring up the "enemy" across the border. He also, like all his breed, craves expansion of his power and territory, and blood will flow to fulfill his messianic dream. He is just another slither of the capitalist imperialist cancer that is soaking our planet in the blood of ordinary people.

        Two extracts from articles at opposite ends of the political spectrum, Insurrection News and The Washington Post. Both are a call for solidarity.

          First from Insurrection News:

            The Erdoganist army and its barbarian allies (namely the Turkish backed Free Syrian Army /TFSA & the so-called Syrian National Army /SNA) invaded 4 outer villages and 4 defensive points in the Afrin region. They are moving really very slow. They have air power and more superior weapons than us but our defense line fuck Erdoganists and their Syrian terrorists’ moral. Erdogan’s fighter jets are bombing blank points. His special operations units are fearful of moving into the Afrin city center. Our last stand defense line can survive at least 4 months. Yes unfortunately, without international support, Erdoganists can invade Afrin. But it will be a great chaos for them. Erdoganist army will be sad!
        Comrades, we need your help more than everything. Its a life or death situation. This invasion isnt only about Afrin nor Rojava/Assyria/N. Syria but Erdogan wants to invade also the whole border territory, including Iraq’s Ezidistan (Zoroaster Kurdish lands /Sinjar), Ninewah (Iraqi Assyria), Turkmeneli (Iraqi Shia Turkomans) and Iraqi Kurdistan’s Qandil mountains area (PKK’s HQ and dissidents and opressed people’s refugee villages and camps). Its clearly IMPERIALISM and he wants to destroy everything and massacre every people he just hate.
          Another important thing is Turkish and Bakur (Turkish Kurdistan) Kurdish comrades situation. Before the invasion, Erdogan first invaded Turkish Kurdistan and Eastern Turkey to eliminate PKK and her Turkish Marxists allies. Not only guerrillas but also autonomous municipalities were invaded. Erdogan and his fake opposition (Kemalists and Nationalists) are all fascists, they even arrested members of parliament from HDP (pro-Kurdish and Turkish Marxist alliance, 3rd biggest party in parliament). Our comrades in Turkey and Turkish Kurdistan are in HELL.

Read the full article HERE:
                This from a source that I don't often quote, as I see them as part of that babbling brook of bullshit, the mainstream media, but sometimes we can glean some information from their usual biased propaganda.

        From The Washington Post:  (April 28th. 2017) 

 

          On Tuesday, Turkey bombed the headquarters of Kurdish fighters in northern Syria, killing 20 of our soldiers. Immediately after the strike, the leaders of our forces — known as the People’s Protection Groups, or YPG — rushed from their operations center near Raqqa, where they’ve been working with the U.S. military to push the Islamic State out of its Syrian stronghold, to view the site of the attack. The American colonel and other officers who accompanied the YPG leaders were met by tens of thousands of protesters, including the mothers of soldiers who have died fighting the Islamic State. They asked the Americans a simple question: “How is it possible that our soldiers are fighting with you against ISIS while your ally Turkey is attacking us here?”
         This is not the first time that Turkey has attacked us. Turkish planes and artillery have been bombing northern Syria for more than a year, and Turkish forces invaded the country last year. In each case, the Turks have acted under false pretenses. They claim to have invaded Syria to fight terrorism, and yet the groups they support on the ground (Ahrar Al Sham and Nour Eddin Al Zanki) share the same jihadist ideology that the United States has been fighting since 9/11.
         The Turks said they bombed our headquarters because they claimed our territory is being used to launch attacks against Turkey, but those accusations are unfounded. Let me be as clear as can be: We have never used northern Syria to launch any attack against Turkey. If Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan doesn’t trust us when we say this, fine. But why can’t he trust the U.S. personnel in our area who assure him of the same?
        Erdogan justifies these illegal attacks with the same baseless claim: that the YPG is the same as the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), which is currently fighting the government inside Turkey. This claim is based on the fact that we share a founder and many intellectual values with the PKK — but this is equally true of the Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP), a legal political party in Turkey with 58 members in the Turkish parliament. They are no more PKK than we are, and any attempt to equate us with the PKK is disingenuous.
       Erdogan knows this. He knows that our political and military leadership is completely separate from that of the PKK. He knows that any attempt to combine YPG with PKK would run contrary to our core value of decentralization of power. He knows we are not using northern Syria to launch attacks on Turkey. He knows all this. He just doesn’t care. Erdogan is trying to force the United States to choose between us and Turkey. We don’t think such a choice is necessary, but it is worth considering what that choice entails. We, the Democratic Council of Syria, are an alliance of progressive, democratic parties that govern the Northern Syria Federation. Though we are besieged from all sides (by the Islamic State, the Assad regime and Erdogan’s Turkey), our region is more stable than any other part of the country. So much so, in fact, that in addition to our population of 3 million, we have taken in an additional 500,000 refugees (Christians, Sunnis, Shiites, Armenians and Yazidis) from across Syria.

Read the full article HERE:

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The Prying Eyes Of The State Are Everywhere.

 

         I have often spouted off about the "Big Brother" constant surveillance society of modern living. Everybody is watched, shopping, going to and from work, attending any event, traveling by bus or train, having a coffee in town, you are monitored, profiled and logged. let's not forget Stingray, a device that can swoop up the data from 1,000 mobile phones in one fell swoop. However it doesn't stop there, if you happen to one of those fair minded people that see the injustices and inequalities around you, and speak your mind, then you will come under a more thorough and sinister surveillance. Planted bugs, hidden cameras, undercover two-faced spies, and much more from the hi-tec world, in use by the state apparatus. Anarchists have always been high on the state's list of those meriting that more sinister surveillance. Actively working against injustice and inequality, makes you a threat to their authority, a possible risk to their control over the population, so, in the twisted mind of the demented authoritarians, you need to be constantly monitored, and if possible, silenced.  

This from Act For Freedom Now:

SPIES AT WORK

           For almost thirty years, amidst investigations being opened and closed (often without the investigated ones even knowing about it), we can say that anarchists from Trento and Rovereto have been systematically spied on. Of course they were and are not the only ones, considering the omnipresence of electronic surveillance. But various investigations against anarchists, quite poor in judicial results, served to control those who disturb power’s plans in a more selective and shameless way. Bugs in homes, self-managed places, cars have been found many times since the end of the nineties. Not to mention landlines and mobile phones under control and cameras in front of houses. On one occasion a bug was found in none the less than a rucksack. For the operation ‘Ixodidae’ (which in 2012 led to the arrest of two anarchists and later to a trial against eight comrades accused of ‘subversive association with intents of terrorism’, which ended in nothing), Trento prosecutors had spent over a million euros for video and audio tapping.
        Bugs with GPS have also been recently found in two cars. But obviously all this isn’t enough for Digos and ROS carabinieri (and the prosecutors who give them authorization, if there is any). Rebel life must be spied on minute after minute. So last week a micro camera was found in the kitchen-living room in a comrades’ home. A step not to be overlooked.
       Privacy – not only that concerning words but also bodies and gestures – turned into material for investigation to be set up and dismantled at their leisure.
        We don’t want to resigned to the Big Brother (we don’t mean the TV show).
          We don’t think the problem is only ours’, but it is everyone’s.
        It is necessary to react to these attacks on freedom with solidarity.
       It is necessary to say to spies and their filthy manoeuvres, strong and clear,

ENOUGH IS ENOUGH

       Tuesday 23rd January, 6pm, Piazza Pasi in Trento: public exhibition of the recently ‘found items ‘
Anarchists

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We Can Learn From ZAD.

 

        All those who seek a society freed from the constraints of authoritarianism and state control, must show their appreciation of  the victory of the ZAD resistance. Also a struggle that lasted years with a successful outcome for the protesters, must have a volume of lessons we can all tap into. However our support must stay with the those Zad resisters, as no doubt the state is planning a way to discredit, disband and evict them, to reclaim the territory. 

      The establishment propaganda machine, that babbling brook of bullshit, the mainstream media will be working in overdrive to drag them into the terrorists category. The state will be eager and willing to deal with them as such, in the eyes of the state apparatus, all those who resist its repressive control, are viewed as terrorists.

Letter of support from Rigaer94   published in Insurrection News 

Greetings to the Zad

         The media is reving up their attempts to frame the coming political decision on the future of the planned airport on the occupied area of the ZAD NDDL in a flattering light and not sign off a possible stop to the construction as a win for the Zadistes. At the same time the mediatic landscape is being prepared for a possible violent eviction.

The structures that have grown in and around the Zone à défendre of Notre-Dames-des-Landes not only offer a rarely visible somewhat independent alternative to a life driven by financial questions and dominated by capitalist forces but a small but real threat to the state-supported organizational structure. Fixed points of reference and contact like a ZAD are important in a time were we need events like the G20 to mobilize broadly and physical escalation to reach more than our own small circles. We need practical experience with alternative structures when we dream of smashing the present measures of oppression and state structures. A Zad at least can be a valid example for a local community and the problems encountered in a society based on those.

Tactics and techniques need to be shared, tested, discussed; big protests, work in affinity groups and a periodic exchange on insurrectionary praxis can only reach so far in making them accessible, being approachable in every day life is important. While we try to do that in an urban context amidst peoples daily struggle and strong gentrification, more removed projects like the ZADs offer a somewhat accesible venue for people fed up with, or not bound to cities, on the road, looking for a new base, an exchange away from their usual surrounding and simply a meeting point for struggles not focused on the urban spheres and of course a pretty good location for diverse skillsharing and practice.

When the dirty batons of the executive maggots of state & society will come down again in an attempt to reestablish their order and law in the ZAD not only is it an attack on all those longing for emancipation and autonomy but also a chance we should use to carry over the energy we found in Hamburg and show that we can take our own free spaces and furiously bash back at least when threatened more directly.

Our solidarity is with everyone in the ZAD.

Don’t let anyone drive you apart!
We will fight on your side!

Never surrender!

Love and Rage,

Rigaer 94

http://rigaer94.squat.net/

PS: Yesterday we read the government is coming back to what they blared out at the beginning of the month, the airport will not be built!
We’re with you in the fight to keep the ZAD NDDL around as a social structure, living space, playground and inspiration for a long time.
Our hearts rejoice at the small ‘victory’ for our struggles and structures and the environment. We know they won’t change their perpective and the same logic will keep throwing other monstrous projects and attacks at us. But this success after years of work also means there is more power and a lot of experience to bring to other fights. Be it NDDL, Bure,TAV, Europa City, Güz, Hambacher Forst…Lets make their fears a reality and their projects a nightmare!

——————————————————————————————————

Notes: Loudmouthed questions were thrown through traditional and social media.”Why would the Zadistes stay? Why should the state not evict them? Do they have guns? etc etc

Odoxa an enterprise linked to the populist channels BFMTV and Itelé is presenting a biased survey. What’s being presented as every second french person (or 6 out of 10) is in favour of a violent eviction of the ZAD NDDL is really 56% out of a 1006 person sample in a very biased survey on feelings of insecurity and national security.

https://paris-luttes.info/sondage-notre-dame-des-landes-9312?lang=fr

https://paris-luttes.info/notre-dame-des-landes-l-opinion-9308?lang=fr

https://paris-luttes.info/bfmtv-le-mirage-du-proprietariat?lang=fr

Journal du Dimanche ran a news article entitled “NDDL secret photos from the ZAD” with stolen out of context photos constructing a mythical weapons stach, trenches and tunnels, others relayed an SCRT (french press service) snippe that picked up JdD wording, stating that the presence of weapons is proven.

Libération article with some explanations http://www.liberation.fr/checknews/2017/12/19/le-journal-du-dimanche-a-t-il-invente-une-cache-d-armes-dans-la-zad-de-notre-dame-des-landes_1617693

twitter thread by photo owner debunking fake news article on firearms at NDDL https://twitter.com/ValKphotos/status/942791427691614208

Here’s a critical media overview and analysis, on NDDL eviction propaganda

http://www.telerama.fr/television/a-notre-dame-des-landes,-le-vietnam-des-pauvres-menace-la-france-dune-guerilla,n5402676.php#oYiQ4JALDIy4AGSB.01

documents that were supposedly for a briefing for the president have been leaked, at least the first 3 pages are available https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DRb4fzlW4AAaCR5.jpg https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DRb4fzoW4AADc_X.jpg https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DRb4fzqX0AA3DJv.jpg

These make it sound like the media’s made up articles might have come from this supposedly restricted police document

https://www.pressreader.com/france/le-figaro/20180105/281509341572743 http://www.valeursactuelles.com/societe/apres-notre-dame-des-landes-dautres-sites-menaces-par-les-zadistes-92172

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The High Cost Of Killing.

        The UK has been involved in continuous bloody slaughter in the Middle East for approximately 16 years. In that time we have seen several countries returned to the stone age, millions of ordinary people displaced and millions maimed and killed. Afghanistan, now a never ending battle scene, Iraq, a bloody tribal battle ground, Libya, a lawless land of killing and plunder, Syria, a land soaked in blood and misery, and still it goes on.
         Is there anybody out there naive enough to honestly believe that the UK, USA and the Western military cabal, indulged themselves in this quagmire of blood and slaughter, for the benefit of the people of those countries? Sixteen years of "bringing democracy" to the people of these countries has resulted in a vast swath of the planet where people live in constant fear, in poverty and ever present death. When will it end?
         One of the main beneficiaries of this savage display of Western imperialism has been the arms industry. High-tec missiles and other weaponry come with a hefty price tag, all paid for by you and I, tax payers money, we are complicit.

 

       A little drop in the cost of the ocean of obscenity of missile slaughter would be the number of UK bombs and missiles dropped in Syria and Iraq
From 1 January - 9 April 2017:

129 Paveway IV bombs, £22,000 each
37 Hellfire missiles, £80,000 each
20 Brimstone missiles, £105,000 each
30 Unspecified / other, Ministry of Defence, cost unknown.
        Of course missiles do not go off on missions by themselves, there is a whole world of very expensive backup and delivery processes, again, all paid for courtesy of the UK cash strapped, austerity riven tax payer.

         According to a Ministry of Defence report to Parliament in 2010, each Tornado flight costs £35,000 per hour. Typically, two Tornados fly each mission, lasting anywhere between four and eight hours.
       So let's land somewhere in the middle: a six-hour mission costs a basic £210,000.
         Then we have to consider the cost of the missiles. The expected payload would be four Paveway bombs, £22,000 each, and two Brimstone missiles, £105,000 per unit.
        So let's say that's £508,000 per aircraft in total, just a smidgen over £1m per mission.
        If they carry Storm Shadows at £800,000 a pop, then the cost rises considerably

          The UK parliament backed British participation in air strikes against IS in Iraq back in September 2014. Just over a year later in 2015, MPs authorised air strikes against IS in Syria.The UK has conducted more than 1,200 airstrikes in Iraq and Syria since it became involved - more than any other coalition country bar the United States. In 2016 alone, the US dropped 12,192 bombs in Syria and 12,095 in Iraq, according to the American think tank Council on Foreign Relations. 

       This money, robbed from the public purse, for our 16 years of "bringing democracy" to the Middle East is responsible for killing and maiming bus drivers, teachers, surgeons, office workers, factory workers, elderly and children, it is responsible for the destruction of hospitals, factories, homes and offices. It is responsible for creating a generation of displaced and traumatised people across a large slice of the planet. Apart from the countries being pulverised by missiles, the damage is also here at home. All that money, time and resources employed in destruction could be deployed at home improving the social fabric of our country. This is all part and parcel of capitalism as one set of power mongers fight to gain control of natural resources and markets from from another set of power mongers. It will only end we we call a halt to the insanity of the capitalism system of greed and exploitation. Capitalism cannot be reformed, it destruction is the only answer. 

 Visit ann arky's home at radicalglasgow.me.uk

Again, Direct Action And Solidarity Win.

 

          Once again direct action and solidarity wins the day. The ZAD occupation has been running for years. The project to build a massive new airport in 5,000 hectres of wetlands and small hamlets was first raised in the 1970's, the protests grew larger and took on a more direct action approach during the 2000's, and the area has been occupied since. The protesters have determinedly held their ground and increased their presence, despite heavy and at times brutal, military and police opposition. It has now been announced that the massive destructive project has been cancelled. 

         However the struggle goes on, with the locals and protesters laying out their demands of what is to happen to this extensive piece of land that the state grab for the airport.

This report from Freedom News UK:

         In a communique the famous horizontal community Zone à Defendre (ZAD) has declared a “historic victory” and called for “expropriated peasants and inhabitants to be able to fully recover their rights as soon as possible.”
         The entirety of the land area devoted to the airport project — 1,650 hectares of land declared as being of public utility in 2008 — currently belongs to the State, with the exception of three roads crossing it. the ZAD has argued that this land should be kept in public hands and, rather than turned into an airport, put into forms of public lease for the benefit of the community and wildlife.
         Responding to reports that the Notre-Dame-des-Landes airport project is now officially dead, reps for the ten-year environmental occupation campaign wrote:

         This afternoon, the government has just announced the abandonment of the project.
        We note that the declaration of public utility [key to enabling large projects to function and compulsory purchases to happen] will not officially be extended. The project will definitely be null and void on February 8th.
     This is a historic victory against a destructive development project. This has been possible thanks to a long movement as determined as it is varied.
          First of all, we would like to warmly welcome all those who have mobilised against this airport project over the past 50 years.
        Regarding the future of the ZAD, the whole movement reaffirms today:
         The need for expropriated peasants and inhabitants to be able to fully recover their rights as soon as possible.
The refusal of any expulsion of those who have come to live in recent years in the grove to defend it and who wish to continue to live there and take care of it.
        A long-term commitment to take care of the ZAD lands by the movement in all its diversity — peasants, naturalists, local residents, associations, old and new inhabitants.
To implement it, we will need a period of freezing the institutional redistribution of land. In the future, this territory must be able to remain an area of ​​social, environmental and agricultural experimentation.
       With regard to the issue of the reopening of the D281 road, closed by the public authorities in 2013, the movement undertakes to answer this question itself. Police presence or intervention would only make the situation worse.
       We also wish, on this memorable day, to send a strong message of solidarity to other struggles against major destructive projects and for the defense of threatened territories.
         We call to converge widely on February 10th in the grove to celebrate the abandonment of the airport and to continue building the future of the ZAD.
      Acipa, Coordination of Opponents, COPAIn 44, Naturalists in struggle, the inhabitants of the ZAD.

A new e-book on the struggle,
 Defending The ZAD, can be read HERE:

Visit ann arky's home at radicalglasgow.me.uk

From Southwark To Seville.

        There are countless ways of putting a spoke in the wheel of this money based system of greed and exploitation. It doesn't always have to  by anger, though we have a right to express our righteous anger. A revolution will not come with roses alone, but we can have a dance on route. Great to see, from Southwark to Seville people stopping the system in their own particular way, whether it is to stop a particular policy/event, as in Southwark or to disrupt their money making machine, as in Seville, more power to their elbow. I'm sure your own area can come up with some form of prevention/disruption. Every minute of disruption costs them money, and they don't like that one little bit. Thanks Loam for the link.

Visit ann arky's home at radicalglasgow.me.uk