The spokeswoman for the campaign “Euphrates Anger” (Xezeba Firatê), Jihan Sheikh Ahmad, from the Yekîneyên Parastinê Yên Jinê (Women Defense Units, YPJ) campaign confirmed today the conquest of the old quarter of the Raqqa and the Darayeh district, to the West.
The control of the Old Quarter is a very remarkable advance as it was fortified by a historic wall and its narrow streets, complicated offensive operations.
Darayeh was closed at the beginning of the week and has progressed with street to street fighting.
Spanish ”justice” delivers the children of Juana Rivas to an abuser in a country condemned by StrasbourgDespite dozens of support demos juana was forced to finally come out of hiding and hand over her children to her abusive ex partner, and still faces probable prison for defying the courts. The children, aged three and 11, were forcibly handed to their father, Francesco Arcuri, of Italian nationality who was sentenced in 2009 for mistreating the mother of the children.
Italy, the European Union country in which the Spanish justice wants Juana Rivas’ two youngest children to be recalled, has been condemned this past March by the European Court of Human Rights for its inefficiency in the fight against the sexist scourge.
”Juana is hiding in my house” proclaimed hundreds of women when Juana went into hiding with her children to prevent them being handed over to her abusive ex partner.
Italy has frightening statistics on everything related to gender violence, even more lacerating than the data that have been registered in Spain successively year after year despite the recent state pact signed in parliament by the main political groups.
The children, aged three and 11, were forcibly handed to their father, Francesco Arcuri, of Italian nationality who was sentenced in 2009 for mistreating the mother of the children.
This judge has not taken into account at any time that the children of a victim of gender violence, with which her father was convicted in 2009 by the head of the Criminal Court 2 of Granada, María Luisa Roldán, should also be considered victims.
Arcuri acknowledged before the judge that on the morning of May 7, 2009 he repeatedly “hit” his partner at the home they shared with his three minor children in the capital of Granada after asking him to explain where he had been that night. Juana Rivas needed medical assistance for the blows received.
Rate of Italian Femicides TRIPLES even that of Spain.
Spanish YPG volunteer Şiyar Santucho has sent solidarity message to Barcelona and Cambrils, and promised ISIS defeat in Raqqa.
“We are going to fight for them. We have been fighting for all the victims of this so-called caliphate here and everywhere in the world”, says the Spanish YPG fighter in the following footage released by YPG Press Office.
Spanish fighters of the YPG condemn Barcelona attack, vow to take revenge
Spanish fighters fighting against the Islamic State group in Raqqa with the International Brigade of the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) have released a statement on the attack carried out in Barcelona in which 13 people were killed.
Fighters from countries around the world have joined the YPG in its fight against ISIS in northern Syria.
Siyar Santucho, a fighter from Spain’s capital Madrid, said the YPG were getting very close to liberating the city of Raqqa, the Islamic State’s so-called capital. “I would like for everyone to know that it is for incidents such as the one the people of Barcelona suffered in the past few days that we are here in this city. We are here against the fascism of ISIS.”
Kemal Amed, a fighter from the Basque Country, said that he and his fellow comrades would avenge the attack against Barcelona by making sure ISIS has no haven in Syria. “ISIS is trying to cover its losses by attacking innocent civilians. We want everyone affected by the events in Barcelona to know that ISIS will pay for every atrocity they have committed.”
Kurdish women hold a photo of Arin Mirkan, killed in fight against IS
Dilar Dirik salutes militant women-organised democracy in action in Rojava
It was in the autumn of 2014, only months after so-called Islamic State (ISIS) achieved massive territorial gains inside Syria and Iraq, committing genocidal and femicidal massacres as it did so, that a revolutionary silver lining arose from the little-known town of Kobane.
Having overrun Mosul, Tel Afar and Sinjar in Iraq, as well as a vast expanse of territory inside Syria, ISIS prepared to launch an attack on the north of Syria, known by Kurds as Rojava.
What it did not anticipate in Kobane was to encounter an enemy of a different kind – an organised, political community that was ready to defend itself courageously by all means necessary, and with a worldview that turns ISIS’s death ideology on its head.
Arîn Mîrkan, a young, revolutionary Kurdish woman, would become the symbol of Kobane’s victory.
The number of social and human rights defenders killed in the last 14 months now stands at at least 120, according to a Friday press release from the Defense of the People.The murders of social leaders continues in the face of the inaction of the authorities, who insist on denying the systematicity of the death squads campaign.
In the last days three more social leaders were murdered, while the Western Media Mafia and the UN continue silencing such crimes, implying their legitimacy and support for the neo-fascist terrorism of the oligarchy..
“The retreat of the FARC from the zones where they previously exercised control has allowed for the entrance of new armed actors who fight for territorial and economic dominance,” states the report referring to the US armed far-right terrorists who infest the country. This marks a concerning trend requiring immediate action since the attacks are “pertaining to groups with similar characteristics, and which occurred in the same period and geographic area,” it adds.
Slimy businessmen and international Vulture Funds are buying up whole blocks of homes, getting rid of lifelong tenants and converting to luxury and tourist bonanzas. But the mutual aid networks (PAH and the ObraSocial) have caught on and a whole series of blocks are being occupied
The ‘Obra Social BCN’ makes public the occupation of the renamed ‘Bloc Llavors’ (Seeds Block)in Poble-sec
The Obra Social BCN has announced this morning the occupation of a new housing block at number 38 Carrer Lleida , in Poble-sec barrio.
The building is owned by the Finnish investment fund Vauras Investment SL. There are some neighbors still residing in the building with old contracts who would have undergone real estate harassment to leave
(note. the ‘Obra Social Barcelona’ is part of the local PAH groups (stands for People Affected by Mortgages) which is a countrywide network of autonomous assembly-run groups dedicated to defending and helping the hundreds of thousands of families evicted by the banks since the housing ‘speculation bubble’ collapsed.)
This building adds to other occupied vulture fund buildings that have become the spearhead of the struggle for housing in the city, such as the building number 37 of Leiva Street, La Janhela in Gràcia or The Block in La Bordeta.
This investment fund of Finnish origin, which manages super luxury housing throughout Catalonia, was also responsible for the eviction of La Profana, after acquiring the building at the promoter Catalonia Gebira SL. 100% of the company’s share capital is in the name of the company Barcelona Invest Oy, established in Luxembourg.
Their sales are all in the hands of buyers of the great European economic elites. Apart from luxury buildings and flats located mainly in Barcelona, Maresme, Sitges and Eivissa, they also offer high end cars, private jets and yachts.
According to the Collective of Defense of the Right to Housing, Vauras was emptying the block of neighbors through “harassment and not renewing contracts”, a dynamic that is repeated in the neighborhood.
” Poble-sec barrio has lost more than 2,000 homes since 2010, some of these converted into hotels and tourist accommodation, and the rental price has increased by 20% in two years, reaching an average of 750 euros a Month for flats of 57 square meters, ” they say in the statement.
13.11.16.. Eighty riot police expelled the inhabitants of La Profana in Barcelona e and delivered the property to the same investment fund, Vauras Investment SL -registered in Luxembourg- that manages “superluxe” homes all over Catalonia
“Although I’m working today, I can not afford to pay for a rental,” explains one of the new occupiers in the Block in a video that has been made public today. Another of the new neighbors tells before the camera what was her situation before the occupation: “We lived in a situation of overcrowding, with a room shared by my daughter and me. My daughter must have a home that allows her to develop. … The fact of not having sufficient income to pay the rentals that the market raises does not mean that we do not have the right to live in a dignified way,” she concludes.
When entering the Vauras apartments, the neighbors found apartments with “luxury” finishes that made them think they were destined for the luxury tourism sector or large investments.
In this situation, the Obra Social demands that Vauras Investment SL ”not speculate more with our lives and the City Council of Barcelona acts against real estate speculation and offers legal alternatives significantly expanding public housing.”
armed police show off their latest battering device
ORIGINAL IN CATALAN
L’Obra Social BCN fa pública l’okupació del Bloc Llavors al Poble-sec
L’edifici està situat al número 38 del carrer Lleida i és propietat del fons d’inversió finlandès Vauras Investment SL. En l’edifici encara resideixen veïnes amb contractes antics que haurien sofert assetjament immobiliari
L’Obra Social BCN ha fet pública aquest matí l’okupació d’un nou bloc d’habitatges al número 38 del carrer Lleida, al Poble-sec.
Rebatejat com el Bloc Llavors, aquest immoble se suma a altres edificis que s’han convertit en la punta de llança de la lluita per l’habitatge a la ciutat, com l’edifici del número 37 del carrer Leiva, La Janhela a Gràcia o el Bloc de la Bordeta.
A l’immoble del carrer Lleida s’han ocupat sis pisos i “ja hi estan vivint tretze persones, cinc de les quals són menors”, segons un comunicat publicat per l’Obra Social
A l’immoble del carrer Lleida s’han ocupat sis pisos i “ja hi estan vivint tretze persones, cinc de les quals són menors”, segons un comunicat publicat per l’Obra Social. Els habitatges són propietat de Vauras Investments SL. A PAH group protesting at a BBVA bank branch
Aquest fons d’inversió d’origen finlandès, que gestiona habitatges de súper luxe arreu de Catalunya, també va ser el responsable del desallotjament de La Profana, després d’adquirir l’edifici a la promotora Catalonia Gebira SL. Vauras Investment SL té com a administrador únic a Heikki Matti Kalervo Hautsalo i el 100% del capital social de l’empresa està a nom de la societat Barcelona Invest Oy, establerta a Luxemburg.
Les seves vendes van totes encarades a compradors de les grans elits econòmiques europees. A banda d’edificis i pisos de luxe situats majoritàriament a Barcelona, el Maresme, Sitges i Eivissa, també ofereixen cotxes de gamma alta, jets privats i iots.
Segons el col·lectiu de defensa del dret a l’habitatge, Vauras estava buidant de veïnes el bloc del carrer Lleida a través de “l’assetjament immobiliari i de no renovar els contractes”, una dinàmica que es repeteix al barri.
“Al Poble-sec s’han perdut més de 2.000 habitatges des del 2010, alguns d’aquests reconvertits en hotels i allotjaments turístics, i el preu del lloguer ha augmentat un 20% en dos anys, arribant a una mitjana de 750 euros al mes per pisos de 57 metres quadrats”, diuen en el comunicat.
“Al Poble-sec s’han perdut més de 2.000 habitatges des del 2010, alguns d’aquests reconvertits en hotels i allotjaments turístics, i el preu del lloguer ha augmentat un 20% en dos anys, segons l’Obra Social.
“Encara que avui en dia estic treballant, no puc fer front al pagament d’un lloguer”, explica una de les noves veïnes del Bloc Llavors a un vídeo que s’ha fet públic avui. Una altra de les noves veïnes narra davant la càmera quina era la seva situació abans de l’okupació: “Vivíem en una situació de sobreocupació, amb una habitació per la meva filla i per a mi.
He hagut de gestionar jo mateixa el meu dret i de la meva filla ha de tenir un habitatge que li permeti desenvolupar-se”. “El fet de no tenir ingressos suficients per pagar els lloguers que el mercat planteja, no vol dir que no tinguem dret a viure amb una manera digna”, conclou.
En entrar als pisos de Vauras, les veïnes han trobat pisos amb acabats “de luxe”, que els fan pensar que estaven destinats al sector del turisme de luxe o les grans inversions. Davant aquesta situació, l’Obra Social exigeix “a Vauras Investment SL que no especuli més amb les nostres vides i a l’Ajuntament de Barcelona que actuï contra l’especulació immobiliària i ofereixi alternatives legals ampliant significativament el parc públic d’habitatge”.
by The Free 03/08/17 Late capitalism is like an express train screeching down a hill towards a cliff edge.. and the only way to stay on the rails, as is unanimously agreed, is BY ACCELERATING the ‘growth rate’..
So how will the revolution happen? The classic answer is that the workers will unite, strike, takeover, banish the insane 1% and put the world to rights.
Not likely to happen any time soon. For one thing we are divided and marginalised and being replaced by precarious labour and willing anti-union robots.
The Nation States each demand a monopoly of violence and coercion. They need to be abolished, ASAP, but they have 24.7 million bored troops, armed to the teeth and just longing for us to attack.
Capitalism needs to crash to the ground in smithereens, but most of us are dependent on its crumbs to survive and feed our kids.
And even if socialism or communism were to triumph we have generations of proof that top down State Control just Doesn’t Work.
So how will it happen? Or is it just wishful thinking?
First of all, we are not naturally greedy, selfish, cruel, self centered, bastards. Those are the qualities demanded of us by a perverse system.
Spanish fighters fighting against the Islamic State group in Raqqa with the International Brigade of the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) have released a statement on the attack carried out in Barcelona in which 13 people were killed.
fascism of ISIS.”
… The fact of not having sufficient income to pay the rentals that the market raises does not mean that we do not have the right to live in a dignified way,” she concludes.
armed police show off their latest battering device
A PAH group protesting at a BBVA bank branch
The Free 