Anti-war protester David Lawley-Wakelin interrupted Tony Blair as he was giving evidence to the Leveson Inquiry into Press Ethics on 28 May 2012: “This man is a war criminal, he should be arrested.”

Grace McCann attempted a citizen’s arrest on Tony Blair when he appeared at the Iraq Inquiry in January 2010.

Kate O’Sullivan made a citizen’s arrest on Tony Blair in September 2010, at a book signing in Dublin, Ireland.

The list of places where Tony Blair must look over his shoulder for protesters during his endless carousel around the global lecture circuit now includes Hong Kong, after a speech on faith and globalisation was interrupted by an activist seeking to make a citizen’s arrest on the former prime minister.
Such protests have become an increasingly common feature of Blair’s agenda since he left office. Last month, his testimony to the Leveson inquiry into the media was interrupted by an activist who shouted that the former PM should be arrested for war crimes. David Lawley-Wakelin, 49, gained entry to the room at the Royal Courts of Justice via an unguarded rear staircase.

SEE: Arrest Blair for crimes against peace – the website offering a reward for people attempting a peaceful citizen’s arrest of Tony Blair: www.arrestblair.org.

Squatting against austerity: Occupy Pisa

Occupy Pisa grows and evolves

Posted on June 10, 2012 | 1 Comment

by Italy Calling Squatting is on the rise again in these times of austerity (see for example the recent occupations of flats in Southern Spain, mostly carried out by housewives and families). An Italian project that’s caught my attention since its beginning is in Pisa, where last year’s Occupy protests evolved into the reappropriation and transformation of abandoned buildings for the benefit of the local community.

The low-cost social canteen

The Occupy Pisa project started in November 2011 with the occupation of some old buildings owned by a bank in Pisa, with the aim of providing alternative and self-managed social spaces for the local community. After only a few months of successful initiatives, such as a low-cost canteen, courses and advice drop-ins, the building was evicted in February. The eviction didn’t stop them though, as they went on to set up a permanent camp in the nearby Piazza Dante, which was used as a base to organise pickets and demonstrations, and to keep engaging with the local residents. Thanks to these tactics the project has grown from being an activist-based movement to being a mixed group of people from all sorts of backgrounds, including students, precarious workers, unemployed people and local residents of all ages.

After the global day of action against austerity on May 15th – which in Italy was focused on Equitalia, the Italian state-owned tax department – the project decided to move on and occupy an abandoned sports centre, disused for the last 6 years despite the local residents’ requests to re-open it. The works at the “Nuova Periferia Polivalente” started straight away and culminated with a public assembly on June 3rd to discuss ideas and proposals for the project, which obviously include renovating the sports facilities, but also creating social spaces for adults and children, an employment-focused area to organise the local workers and an “Anti-Equitalia Advice Centre” for people in debt. The low-cost social canteen – one of key elements of the project since its origins – will come back with a newly built outdoor wooden oven.

Public assembly Italian style…

Italian sources: here and here. For older articles on this blog on the Occupy Pisa movement and other occupations see here.

Translated by Italy Calling http://italycalling.wordpress.com/2012/06

Long and shocking history of total repression of women

How Frightened Patriarchal Men Have Tried to Repress Women’s Sexuality Through History

Nasty conservative attacks on women would have been well received in the Roman senate, the Greek agora or most halls of religious power in early Europe

The sexual revolution was not sparked by a single incident and no particular group can claim credit (or blame) for carrying it forward. But all of us agree that it has indeed taken place and that American society has been transformed. A good gauge of the scope of the sexual revolution comes from its opponents. If it’s not Rick Santorum, it’s another conservative leader decrying the threat to our way of life posed by the loosening of traditional codes of sexual behavior.

But the opposition to the sexual revolution goes much further than sex. Continue reading “Long and shocking history of total repression of women”

Anonymous leaks details of Greek Nazi MPs

Posted by anonymous ⋅ June 1, 2012 ⋅

The hactivist network, Anonymous, has posted personal details, via a video (see below, includes music by UK Anarchist band, Chumbawamba) of the leading Nazis in Golden Dawn, the party that won seats in the last Greek election. Information is provided in Greek and English. See also article on Greek Nazis attacking immigrants .

metana — Fears of far-right rise in crisis-hit Greece
A young man attacked in central Athens last May. Gangs of far-right youths attacked dark-skinned immigrants, leaving at least 25 people injured.

Video with English commentary

Le gouvernement grec poursuit la campagne de pré-élection contre les migrants et les réfugiés. Les opérations de coup de balai dans le centre d’Athénes contre les immigrés ne sont que l’expression d’un programme raciste. Ces mesures racistes sont utilisées autant que l’ouverture du nouveau centre de détention près par Athènes pour gagner des votes pour les élections.