July 8, 2021 Shantal Montserrat Lopez Victoria ….shared with thanks
June 23, 2021. Written by Ñaní Pinto at Avispa Midia, translated by Shantal Montserrat Lopez Victoria.
The “Squadron 421”, the maritime brigade of the Zapatista Army of National Liberation (EZLN), composed of four women, two men and a non-binary person, left Isla Mujeres, Mexico on May 3 in an old sailboat named “La Montaña”. At 6:10 p.m. (European time) on June 22, they landed in Vigo, one of the main ports of Galicia.
The tour was endorsed and organised by the anarchist group, Class War. Ian Bone, former leading member of Class War, has published this on the history of the tour.
..”Remember, in the late ‘80s, rock had zero street credibility – hip hop and sound system bass ruled the streets of the inner cities. The music may have changed, but the politics of the street remained the same: Class conflict, with a varying intensity of class warfare, raged the length and breadth of Britain. Strummer recognised this, and saw in the Class War people he met, the passionate intensity that he lacked and needed. He tried to use the media’s fixation with Class War to re-launch his career with a radical edge. And to a degree it worked well for him…”
Amongst a collection of newspapers and journals that I recently obtained, I found a copy of Class War that featured Joe Strummer and the Rock Against the Rich tour.
A scan of the paper can be found here.
I also found this on YouTube which is a recording from the tour: https://www.youtube.com/embed/UqoKwtRCS9I?version=3&rel=1&fs=1&autohide=2&showsearch=0&showinfo=1&iv_load_policy=1&wmode=transparent
Gary Foley and The ClashIn “Aboriginal activism”
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Australian-British academic interested in history, politics and criminal justice issues, with a little pop culture on the side. View all posts by hatfulofhistory
This is not working. So what comes next?The Far Right, because it trades in bogus certainties and machismo, has the clearest plan.It is rising in America, Europe and in the UK with its takeover of the Tory party.It appeals because it pretends to return control to those who feel shut out of the existing political system, though in fact its only strategy is more authoritarianism, justified by whipped-up racism and fear of The Other.
The Left and Greens offer a more sympathetic proposition but no political party can honestly claim to represent ‘the people’ or even ‘the many’.No single party can claim support from more than about a third of the adult population. One-party government is therefore a recipe for endless political confrontation, with its own polarizing dialectic.
When people take to the streets, the political system isn’t working. Continue reading “Carne Ross on the Anti Capitalist Transition”
The purpose of this pamphlet is giving a coherent, comparative analysis on how anarchists and Marxists view the concept of “class,” and the political implications of each approach.
Class is the nucleus of both Marxism and anarchism; however the conceptualisation of class is different for both. In pointing out these differences, it is my hope that I will convincingly show how and why the anarchist conceptualisation of class is more comprehensive and more useful, providing a more holistic analysis of many related aspects of class, and a more practical political guide..
by Leroy Maisiri (ZACF) shared fromZABALAZA, with thanks .. by Leroy Maisir
First published April 2019 as a Zabalaza Books (South Africa) pamphlet, here
The purpose of this pamphlet is giving a coherent, comparative analysis on how anarchists and Marxists view the concept of “class,” and the political implications of each approach. Class is the nucleus of both Marxism and anarchism; however the conceptualisation of class is different for both.
In pointing out these differences, it is my hope that I will convincingly show how and why the anarchist conceptualisation of class is more comprehensive and more useful, providing a more holistic analysis of many related aspects of class, and a more practical political guide. In particular, the anarchist approach – which stresses ownership and control of administration and coercion, not only means of production, as with Marxism – allows us to develop an effective analysis of why the state simply cannot be used to emancipate the popular classes i.e. the working class, the poor and the peasantry.
The use of theory within the Left has serious implications in our lived experiences and political praxis. Theory has been deployed for, and many times profoundly shaped, political action. Simply put, how we analyse the problem shapes what we see as the solution.
It is therefore essential that activists and the Left, in general, not only know and understand the differences between anarchists and Marxists, but remain cognisant of the implications these differing views have for day-to-day struggle.
Like the Marxists, our theory as anarchists is, from the outset, not developed by arm-chair reasoning, or by intellectual work for the simple pleasure it brings, but as a means of change. Anarchism was designed by and by, the working class in its struggles, and so, it must be tested and regulated by everyday struggles.
If we have bad theory, we have bad practice; we need theory to understand what we are fighting and to understand how it can change.
Our leaders have failed us. This twisted system is killing us. It has us headed for extinction.
It’s time to rebel.
From April 15th we are calling for a full-scale Rebellion to demand decisive action from governments on climate change and ecological collapse.
Join us as we engage in acts of non-violent civil disobedience against governments in capital cities around the world. This is not a one-off march – we will keep going for as long as we have to, shutting down cities day after day until our demands are met.
Independent XR groups, allies and protestors will take to the streets. A small number of brave Conscientious Protectors, activists from XR affinity groups prepared to lose their liberty for this cause, will commit acts of peaceful civil disobedience to disrupt the business-as-usual which is sending our species on a one-way track to extinction.
## Sorry BBC, this is far too important to be privatized ..67,368 views
Under our current system, we are headed for disaster. Catastrophic climate change will kill millions, cause food collapse, and render many more homeless. Mass extinction of wild species will lead to ecological collapse. Destruction of natural habitats will lead to genocide of indigenous peoples and the loss of our planet’s life support systems. Continue reading “Extinction Rebellion: Rolling Protests go Worldwide”
ON MONDAY morning came the devastating news that an Italian YPG volunteer, Lorenzo “Orso” Orsetti, had been killed by an Isis ambush in Baghouz, the small town on the Deir Ezzor front where the remnants of the Isis caliphate are surrounded.
Orsetti, also known by his nom-de-guerre Tekoser Piling, had been in northern Syria since September 2017 when he travelled from his hometown in Florence, Tuscany to defend the revolution in Rojava led by the Kurds in northern Syria, one he described as “the most beautiful revolution in the world,” “the closest thing I’ve ever found to my ideals and it is a pleasure and an honour to take part.”
Clarifying his motivation for taking up arms in Rojava, he said that it wasn’t because he liked war or wanted fame, that he didn’t have any mystifications or delusions, simply that “freedom cannot exist without taking risks.”
According to countless stories, Orso (“bear” in Italian) was an incredibly brave and selfless fighter, and whilst he always impressed on friends and comrades the need to act in an altruistic manner in his dispatches from the front line, he never boasted or exalted his own activity.
He never even told people how, whilst fighting in the hills of Afrin against the Turkish/FSA invasion in spring 2018, with defeat in sight, he refused to be evacuated with the rest of his internationalist unit, insisting on staying with the civilians to defend them from the invasion at huge risk to himself until civilians themselves were evacuated.
Fighting in the hills of Afrin in incredibly difficult conditions surrounded by jihadists and bombarded day and night by Turkey’s air force (equipped by both Britain and Italy), his dispatches from the front line sounded like epic tales of guerilla warfare from the partisan resistance, swapping the olive tree-filled mountains between Florence and Bologna for those of the north-west Syrian Kurdish enclave.
Orso came from a very ordinary family in Rifredi, a working-class neighbourhood in Florence filled with monuments and plaques to the anti-fascist partisans, many of whom hailed from the area in which he grew up. Bored by successive menial service jobs, mainly as a waiter and chef, he looked to Rojava as an escape from the drudgery and trappings of individualistic capitalist society. Continue reading “Orso killed by ISIS.. But Lives Always in our Hearts”
On December 27th 2018, civil servants were met by a welcoming committee at the entrance of the ADM terrain. As announced previously by the mayor, they were sent to check if the ADM was empty of its inhabitants. They were not let in and were asked to make a new appointment which they refused.
Here news and statements published by ADM on the 27th:
We received great news that the United Nations will stand up for our rights, yeah!
This is the statement of our wonderful Human Right’s lawyer Electra Leda Koutra:
“Great great news for “free spaces” across the world. Fulfillment and relief (for now). The ADM Amsterdam stays!!! NO EVICTION TO ANY SPACE THAT DOES NOT RESPECT INTERNATIONAL STANDARDS CAN TAKE PLACE.
The Complaint of 60 ADMers has been communicated to the Dutch Government with request for observations that have to be submitted until 26 June 2019. Then we will comment on them.
The Amsterdam Municipality had adopted a superficial “law and order” approach, based on the final decision of the High Court which was ordering their eviction. However, the Municipality obviously disregarded its own obligation, as regional government, under international law to ensure that an eviction is compatible with international standards and showed intolerance to the applicants’ socio-cultural minority status and the need for relocation of the whole community as a whole (unregistered residents and house boat residents too) in “a site better than the current one”.
Not temporarily, but permanently. Taking into account the needs of individuals and the community. Making “consequences’ assessments” which take into account individual circumstances, such as disability of some community members.
With respect to their fundamental rights, their culture, their need for a space allowing enhanced freedom of expression. I am certain that the Municipality’s cynical stance, as also expressed in the Council Meeting of 20/12, contributed to the indication of an interim measure by the UN.
The Dutch Government will also have to answer on the complaint that the space allowed for expression and free thinking is targeted indirectly, in that the “space” for it is either shrinked disproportionately or over-regulated to a degree not allowing such an expression.
This tendency to sacrifice creativity before profit considerations has been decried by many rights movements globally. The stance of the HRC will affect these movements too.
It is interesting to note that the European Court of Human Rights had recently not only rejected the 53 ADMers’ (in that request) claim for urgent protection, but rejected their application… before it was even lodged. Upon inquiry as to how this is possible, it was argued that according to a recent practice of that Court, an interim measure can lead to the rejection of the whole “underlying application” (as it would potentially be submitted in the future!), if the Court believes that the information it holds is sufficient for considering the case.
The different levels of respect and protection afforded by European and UN mechanisms (in equivalent complaints protected in parallel by the ECHR and the ICCPR) are of wider concern and interest.
The communications between the applicants and the ECtHR were sent to the HRC, which obviously considered that the applicants’ protection, on EU jurisdiction, at all levels, has been inadequate.”
This is the letter that was send by the United Nations Human Rights Court: LETTER ON ACCEPTANCE OF INTERIM MEASURE REQUEST AND COMMUNICATION OF THE APPLICATION
Statement by ADM residents, as it was read out to the press (at 12.00):
“Yesterday our request to stop the eviction of the ADM site has been honored by the United Nations because it is in conflict with international human rights. This statement is in the interest of all the free-spaces and freethinkers of the world.
For more than 4 years we have litigated in Amsterdam and The Hague for our right to a life of our own and our human rights.
This has not been recognized in Amsterdam and the Netherlands until now.
With the appointment of a green left coalition and the new mayor mrs. Halsema, we expected that this would be different.
For this reason, we were forced to appeal to the Human Rights Committee of the United Nations
The answer from the UN’s HCR was sent to the city council this morning by our Greek lawyer Electra Leda Koutra.
The Dutch government is currently considering this new situation. We expect more news about this within a few hours.
Today, the municipality of Amsterdam wants to enter the ADM area with the enforcement department to initiate the eviction of our community.
We strongly advise the municipality of Amsterdam to refrain from this until the UN’s HCR has issued a final judgment on this matter.
Our wish is that the city and state administrators hold their warm Christmas feelings and not come home from a cold FunFair.
The residents of the ADM
Around 14.00 Amsterdam’ city hall released a statement saying that they will ignore the UN-request. The main points are:
– The judge has irrevocably determined that the municipality must enforce the zoning plan. The site is intended for port-related activities. You can not live there.
– That is why the municipality will enforce the law. Step 1 in that process is that civil servants go to the ADM site to take a look at the situation and consult with the squatters.
– According to the Council, the request to the UN committee does not lead to delay or postponement of the enforcement trajectory.
– The request from the ADM residents at the UN is about whether the sludge fields in the north are suitable as alternatives and comply with international standards.
– According to the Council, the site meets these standards: After all, provisions have been made, such as electricity, water and sanitation, and the level site has been raised.
– The Council notes that the offer to families with children has been made to involve a rented home. The GGD (municipal health department) has also provided care to anyone who needs it.
– The Council still has the strong preference for enforcement by civil servants, without police intervention, resulting in a voluntary departure from the squatters.
– If enforcement does not lead to the departure of the squatters, the site will be evicted at a later time.
This ignoring of the United Nations Human Right’s Council request by the municipality of Amsterdam is of course unheard of and very worrisome, especially since The Netherlands is seeking another term at this same council!
Around 16.00 the municipal enforcement team came to the ADM (instead of between 12.00 and 13.00, which was previously communicated to us) and demanded access to our terrain. We told them that it was perhaps not the right time, especially since we haven’t heard anything back from mayor Femke Halsema about the UN-interim-measure-request
In the evening of this same day (December 27th. 2018) we did send out a press release:
“PRESS RELEASE
ADM (Amsterdam), December 27, 2018
A new spring for the ADM residents?
This morning our Greek lawyer Electra Leda Koutra sent an urgent request from the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (UNHCR) to the Amsterdam city council. The municipality is asked to refrain from vacating the ADM site until a suitable location for residents has been found that meets the international standard for human rights.
The UNHCR has given the municipality 6 months of ‘defense period’. The ADM residents have 6 weeks to complete their extensive objection.
The intended location for ADM residents is the sludge fields of the former water treatment plant in Amsterdam. The municipality has made a number of provisions here that are not sufficient for a suitable relocation of the ADM residents. In addition, there is no solution for the 10 ADM boat occupants, they become homeless.
From a legal point of view, it is true that the ADM site may not be used in accordance with the zoning plan. The Council of State could not therefore decide otherwise to force the municipality to enforce.
On the other hand, according to international human rights protocols, the municipality must ensure at least an equivalent or better location in case of forced departure from a community. With the offer of the sludge fields and no solution for the ADM boats, the municipality remains seriously in default.
Today the municipality wanted to enter the ADM area with the enforcement department to initiate the eviction of our community. The ADM community requested the municipality to refrain from doing so until the UNHCR issued a final judgment on this matter.
The Commission indicated that it did not comply with the request from the largest international institute for the protection of human rights and still sent enforcement to the ADM site. Given the tumultuous developments of the day, the ADM residents did not think it appropriate to lead the enforcers around the terrain on this day.
The residents are open to a conversation with the city council.
ADM
Hornweg 6, Amsterdam, the Netherlands
https://squ.at/r/5g4
https://adm.amsterdam/
Some squats in Amsterdam: https://radar.squat.net/en/groups/city/amsterdam/type/squat
Groups (social centres, collectives, squats) in Amsterdam: https://radar.squat.net/en/groups/city/amsterdam
Events in Amsterdam: https://radar.squat.net/en/events/city/Amsterdam
# ADM Occupiers threatened with eviction of their amazing alternative reality in their squatted island have launched a surreal Publicity Action .
They ”donated 100m Euros” in a giant golden box to the family of a gangster Speculator who stand to gain at least that much in public money if the eviction goes ahead
The ADM occupied area, which includes an abandoned harbour, warehouses and forest has become living European symbol of both cultural freedom and a possible route to an anti capitalist future. We can also argue that by organising Festivals continuously over many years the Adm has attracted billions in wealth and goodwill to the Dutch city.
The ADM is due for eviction from Christmas day 25th December 2018.
Originally published by ADM. Today we went to the headquarters of Chidda Vastgoed BV to present a cheque of 100 million euros to the heirs of Bertus Lüske in a massive golden box. There were about 50 people at the action, and none of the heirs of Lüske came out to pick up the present.
Why did we do that?
The city of Amsterdam gives an absurd gift of 100 million euros to the heirs of Bertus Lüske, by evicting the residents of the ADM.
Today we went to give a huge gift to Chidda Vastgoed B.V. on behalf of the city of Amsterdam.
Due to the eviction of the residents of the ADM site and by allowing demolition- and asbestos removal company Koole BV to move to the ADM site, (while their activities are not fitting with the perpetual clause that is part of the site), the value of the site is increasing enormously. Money that shouldn’t go to the real-estate mafia but back to the citizens of Amsterdam! Continue reading “Abused ADM Occupiers ”donate 100m Euros” to Gangster Speculators, Amsterdam”
Compulsory state education systems are instruments of mass indoctrination for social control by a ruling class.
Topics: anarchism, history, schools
Authors: Emma Goldman
Date: 1917
Considered in its economic, political, psychological, sexual, an especially intellectual aspects with a modest proposal for doing away with it
Topics: anarchism, schools, theory
Authors: Students of Strasbourg University, members of the Situationist International
Date: 1996
Continue reading “Poverty of Student Life.. Stop Schooling.. free downloads”
The Free 