Organ of the Anarchist Black Cross

Dead fl\ A Conservative Well,they said anything could happen! DrvSnern Vol. V No. 8 20p STATE OF PLAY AS AT 1st FEBRUARY 1979 Published by Black Flag, We have been able to send Over the Water, Sanday, Subs and sales £52. 45 Orkney. m?v 2BL an AB Dick Donations (see offset litho under) 497 .95 to the Build- Printed by 550. 40 ers Union Collective, 37a Grosvenor (COT) in Avenue, London N.5 Printing 216. 83 Barcelona in Postage 69. oo the name of subscription rates £4.00 Stationery &c 31. 50 Apoyo Mutuo. for 12 issues (home) Salaries 0. 00 3.Canada,Aus tralia,NZ 317. 33 14.50 airmail? #7.50 seamail Gain 233. 07

Deficit b/fwd 1559. 62 less gain 233. 07 ANARCHO-QUIZ WHAT HAPPENED TO Deficit 1326. 55 1. What English king belong- BLACK FLAG? ing to the present royal house DONATIONS was popularly believed to have alif. BK £4.77; estate This is the first been assassinated by super- of late A.R. £450.84; natural means? issue tc appear, HMP MS £4; Salop PAS since January (Vcl £9; London MB £5; V Nc 7). We ask 2. Why did Victor Hugo (who Proceeds Sacramento had led constitutionalist our readers tc picnic £24.34 = £497.95 accept our apologies resistance to Napoleon Ill's for the delay and seizure of power in 1851) While this was a quiet shudder on learning that the the lower standard period with other calls cf production than _Ijnp^rjLaJL_dictator 'lost' for cash, a-drauatic precisely 16,400 French killed usual. A_£ull change to our finances explanation is on and wounded in the Battle of Page 11. was made by finally Sedan (1870) when the Empire receiving the proceeds crashed to defeat? of the late com.Rogat's will after legal delays, 3- The example of which irfhile on paper this only retired admiral gives the lie serves to reduce the to 's assertion deficit, in practice it (taken from rightist sources) means a major gain and that the Anarchists shot people the extension of our in the Civil War in propaganda output will PERSONS UNKNOWN solely because of their family be fantastic (as later connections? issues will show). No need incidentally to 4. What damning indictment of TRIAL DATE HAS BEEN SET draw the moral of the George Washington and proof of FOR 3rd SEPTEMBER 79- donation from one of his criminal S^atism, despite Her Majesty's . ANARCHIST DEMO CALIEB FCR his boasted love of freedom, is SATURDAY 1st SEPTEMBEE 79 to be found preserved to this IN PROTEST-'SOLIDARITY. Prisoners/Resistance Fund day in his Virginia home? 33 (Guam) £13.10? SB 5. What did the painter Vernet BENEFIT: TO BE HELD AT (Cosham) £1; DK (Calif) NORTH"LONDON POLY. HOLLO- tell Czar Nicholas when asked £4.47. In hand £44 to paint a picture glorifying WAY RD. N7. In hand £40.80. the Russian conquest and part- FRIDAY llth MAY. 7.30pm Total now in hand £59-37. ition of Poland? TICKETS £1.50 WITH: ; POISON GIRL; In hand £40.80 prev; disb. CHARGE. £10; now in hand £49.37. answers on page 23. TOWARDS THE POLICE STATE AN ASTOUNDING ADMISSION WAS MADE BY THE PROSECU- at arms' length, and foreign TION AT THE CCMKITTAIS OF THE 'PERSONS UNKNOWN' observers ha.ve been surpr- ised at the degree of -anon- PEOPLE ALLEGED TO HAVE COMMITTED A - BUT ymity it has always retarr- WOT THE ONE ORIGINALLY SAID TO HAVE CC'JuREL. II ed, except in actual war-fa. - re . Compared wi-l h a coun- WAS STATED THAT THEY WEEK ALL "SELF-CONFESSED try where the army has pol- ANARCHISTS". itical ambitions, there is a marked degree of absence This clear declaration cf condemned political cf uniforms on the streets, principles night be apposite if the original over- even in garrison towns or ports (except for personnel statement had held I.e. that they were conspiring going to,from and on duty). to cause explosions to "overthrow society". But The generals who have pol- itical ambitions and made what had it to do with the substituted charge of them known have been thwa- a.c' to comititt ? rted by the mere fact cf these ambitions being me,de on the fliirsiness of their known and causing public Originally the accused own case) tough sentences coneerr and outrage. were stated tc be 'idealists' would Ktil] be called foi This does not apply to - new the.- allegation is by the seriousness of that the police. The organised material]sticI Originally charge, sirce they were police - and especially an the: allegation was that they "self-confessed" libertar- inner organised corps with- tried to subvert the state, ians . in the police - represents rov« it is that they tried This 'unwritten* law - a major political danger, tc gair an extra few hcb! which fully confirms our ?.id in recent years they Why then does il matter last issue's editorial - is have been frank about their whai political doctrine they one that most people will ambitions. Sir Robert Mark confessed tc? regard with incredulity. Because the charges inc- They will not be convinced for one, has been more lude the possession of a few by ca.se after case of fas- than open in his statements air rJi'les, rifles and iis- cists before the court as and even the ambitious mil- tcls - not tc mention the COP pa. red with libertarians, itary adverturer s, who un- not.or.ious flour and sugar! nor of their subsequent doubtedly exist, have pref- The general principle in treatment, before, during erred to base their claims, court cases we have outlined and after sentencing. For to power mere on 'law and in pi-evicts iss-ues - that it does not seem realistic, order' than on military con- for possess:en of weapons cr perhaps people do not trol; more on their claims fa.sci.sts might get a couple want tc face the realism, to be policemen thar. on mil- of years (and might well that fascism is creeping to itary leaders; more- as Hir irr have it suspended) whereas power - not by the comic . lers than Frs.ncos. Many libertarians get 1C or 15 National Front - but^ by_ the ambiticus poli tic.ir i>s, no years - is confirmed by unacknowledged Police Party. longer able to get Labour this statement. It was or Conservative endorseerts THE POLICE PARTY tc stress the importance cf because of fierce corpetit- the case since, even if the In this country the iicn - have joined ir this robberies could not be sub- military have never, a.s such Police Party. stantia.ted (and the prosec- had political ambitions. On ution legal team were heard the contrary, the ruling commenting outside the court class have always held it Anarchists on trial, are This attracts not only The Conar.dr ^tors a-nd the police, especially Conspire, laws. ba.rkirg up the wrong tree: it is to be expected that some- high ranking officers, but one as prominent as Mr Thorpe also has a wi.de mast-, appeal The whole point of the jjould receive favoured since people always dreiad Kitsor Open Conspiracy is treatment, but whe.t. is unusu- the unknown. More people that a union of police, the al about, the case is that it are mere terrified that legal profession and the should happen at all. they might be relieved cf military, together with the their hanbag or wallet, political Centre should form What is a Police State? than give a damn about the what is. ip effect a Police dangers of incleai- fallout Party ; takingir. the nature..1 Though tie whole appeal or ecological polluticn allegiance of the Right and of rightist dems.gogy is to- which is happening on a certain sections of the Left. wards c. Police Party, fcr mass scale, but affects But the majority of the Left semantic reasons they dis- everyone as opposed to the even in the ranks cf -the La- claim the wish to build a individual. bcur and Liberal Parties, "police state". have resisted the blandish- All States have police - 2- That a vague "mcb" ments of this Cross-Party institutionalised forces ran- threatens the_gallant few Party. ging from the minimum consif*- arid a. 'silent majority* is It is worth noting that tent with the security of the beJLeagured_ ir def_eridir£ there night appear tc be State and its ruling class,to right and decency^. echcs of this in the trial the ma-ximum; but usually they This is how every rul- cf sorit: Literal Party lead- only employ the maximum ing class sees itself: the ers fcr conspiracy! So easy police effort when the degree heroic small band, srroun- to allege, so serious ir its of resistance tc the State ded by a loyal, obedi. ent, consequences, arid always is at its greatest - or vi cr conservative majority with alleged ly the very conspir- that ma.?.iirum effort has been only wicked conspirators ators themselves! deployed over ;-o long a per- and agi.tai.oi-f-- stirring up "Who would bother to icd (as ir. flussic - Tsarist 5. fg.celesr- ru.-b against, then; frame the Liberal Party cr Soviet) to pake :.t tx-ad- It is a sheer j>j t pagan- Leaders? What danger it.i_t.nal_. dcr-g±nrHJat this 'faceless does it represent?" It rep- The term 'police state1 nob' car, ir thit country, resents no danger, it does has for long beer, used to be literally given colour, net pretend, to challenge describe countries where pot by a deliberate merdia a.ss- the social order, nobody :-r ice repressi.cn is at it.s riax- cciaticn regardirg petty I heir serser. would say it imum. The Police Party ir> and peisonal assa.ul- wanted tc "overthrow soc- this country may i:ot be aim- ts with the young Black iety" ...But the Liberals ing at the na.ximujn but it is coin unity. The disclaimirg sta.nd c.-i;t agaii^-' the Police airing at a let ir.cre power cf rriciflien by the estc.h- Party, bang i r. tr.e very than it has now, partly li?hr.f:id. gererc. 1'Jy is not Centre where it seeks supp- because of the ie-:.rs of the incorsistent w-ilh this s.p}*- ort, and its existence if-:. ruling class, pa.rtly because reach, since the Police part cf the reason the Lab- of the dangers, •'he;, sec Pai-t.y divides the Black our Party remains with the ir he-rent to the establishment community into the respons- civil libertc.rJsrt; xCM her in any majcr ruclear type ible old a,rid the criminal than wi.th tr e cross-party breakdown, leadirg tc -ivil young and aliena.tes the Folic e Parly . unrest, and partly because one from the other. Undc-i- Is it not, tc say- the they Vcii.t those powers fcr the 'sus1 laws it is able least, odd that a Privy their own sake ariyweiy. tc divide c..nd locate the counsellor should just at_ It is a mixture of these young blacks whc are- discl- this noment. when tie Kitsonian Police Party is motives tha4 lies beh'r.-d aimed by their fan:. ] lies - Hearing power, be ir. peril Police Party thinking. In just as bi'e.inwashed as the cf h:.f on charger, its major propaganda drive rest cf tie community, the which depend or. the basest that is new taking place, effects of pi'0pa.gar:da and least credible of witnes- there a.re 2 major lines: ^r.owing no barx-iert-- . ses? Tnose of our friends 1. T_hf.tt_there. eyists_ a_ su- who point to the favoured bst,antia 1 breakdown of lavf treatment Jeremy Thorpe and. and prdgr_ and the_j<:lice the others have received as must ha^^e superior powers. f coir'pi.red, say, with the CRIMINALITY ing, looting, stampeding, Is the Police Party a Few people try to resist - even traffic jams- Myth? '•the Police State because once can then be put down with a complacent leer as the "forces of law and order1 "anarchy". It is not to deny that are involved, the line betwe- there is a. Police Party by But anarchy is not only en criminality and resistance the absence of legal auth- assertirg that it has no become blurred. People who corporate existence. In are naturally good citizens ority, it is the absence cf practice, such a Party exi- all authority, institution- sts and has gained the max- don't want to become crimin- alised or not. imum of power consistent als; therefore they would It is the yeilding up sooner not resist. And of all powers that should be withir the du?,l party system. norjnallyone only finds such When one views U-J actione ' g in the hands of the people as a whole, to an insitut- Special Branch withii. the state ^ been u ^ by ionalised force that in turn ra-parliamentary D.ovement£ the milit ar]d *0 ^J helps to make that force or the actions of the Special^ appear£.nce cf illegality Patrol Group amongs;- street ^ ^ Whftre ^ appear necessary. activists or community rel- f ^ , . ^ ^y. Nowhere ha.s the example ataons, or the Terror- cr&ft ^ ^ .^^ Qf the been more dramatically shown b Squad with its draconiar, arj,|ed soldi there are than in the eruptions in the against anyone whom far ]eER atten.pl£ at resis. Black ghettos cf the United itt pickTorkrs. ounntt iirr , thtr eA sacreRa.r-rp-dn tance. The Police Part„ y States where, in an acquis- name of security, then one criminalise the opposition itive, competitive, grab- sees a. party in action. For thi«"da^.iiig"it.."But"this all society the absence or one need only arresf one is ir itself a dangercus inadequate presence of pol- person and several dozen move of theirs, since if one ice has resulted in there others get the message - are ms-kes the opposition criirii>- being no legal authority, ^frightened into other ir.ore al, one politicises the and illegal authority has acceptaTfte-^,1 tical or soc- crjirinal too. In all such taken over, necessarily dis- lal paths or alteirative poljce BtateB, not taken to organised but nevertheless means of pretest, or give up the nv~ximu.il., crime flour- ?er.3f r=rnve. This does not protest altogether. ishes, even though its sup- prove the of a What did Deni? Healey's pression is the battle cry strong police force but the fjor say; - "When I saw "he of th Police Party. fact that the existence of brutality unleashed against HOW well we see this in cne inhibits people from students by the Frenc_ ,. h riot the case of the British orgainised self-defence. police, began feelirg some- Biacks ^ One can also see any Sat- what sceptical about left- contact with the law solely urday in some of our foot- wing extremism" - and so he because of ag:ts.ticn agains-l ball grounds just a few dca- returned tc the faith of his them tha, h ^ ;r en but organised kids '•ther... not mind you, opj>- the ye atulud<5B that are scattering a crowd .of thous- osed to brutality but cowed alleged ag£.inst them. ands who physically outn^jn- by it, di^hee-rtened, saying ber them and are possible, "until tht-n I'd teen more 1Jce_Necessar^? individually, physically Marxist, than anarchist". He superior, but who only stand £c,.ve up his libertarian id-as There is one card the around and wonder where the when he saw tfca-l they were Police Party always holds police are and what they're under fire, and this goes for and that is a, mass paid for - afraid of getting one generation after Brother withdrawal of the services involved or having the whole Tim Healey is by no means of the police. Nothing pack turn on them individua- alone ir. flinching the field is more persuasive to lly. of battle. (And nore honour- the bulk of citizens The existence of a police able tc openly abandon the that the forces of force means that the commun- struggle in the face of the repression are forces of ity as a whole yeiIds up enemy than tc try to triit deterrence than to find its responsibilities and revolutionary principles to them gone! Wild riot- social solidarity. This is the wind). far from being in any way ANARCHIST KAY LAY PICNIC; the desire of individual CIENFUBGOS PRESS ANARCHIST May 1st, Highgate Woods, lower rank policemen, who REVIEW No. 4. - available 2 p.m. (London: nearest find themselves victims of igain. .tube: Highgate). ittacK a& uj.ten cts they a... The crucial weakness of the sponsors of attack and the Police Party is that it The Conspiracy Theory who often suffer for the nust inevitably be the pol- It is essenl 1 for the crimes of the political and icies of.the extreme Centre creation of a Police State the plain clothes police. r;i.t}ifi than the e:d IX.TU for a mass 'conspiracy* to Tie forces in favour of Right. Economically it has exist. Here it differs increased repression have no programme save bashing from fascism which seeks begone being a pressure strikers or illegalising popular suuport by attack- proup. They are a Police pickets and hopes business ing first one weak, and Party. If they have their can then get on w?th the preferably unpopular minor- way, the police would not- be job. Thes^: attitudes are ity, and then another, subordinate to the ruling sometimes Disguised as be- noping that each will rec- party in parliament. ing 'libertarian Right" eive no backing and so the If an army using the pow- rather than what they really fascist forces will appear ers given it by the legal are: the policies of the invincible, before they government, influences the authoritarian Centre. It seize power. The Police acts of the government and is a mule1 inpower for its Party seek popular support excercises power of its efforts must always be to and it must be done by the own, it is -• or will become- hold back progress by force Thought Police, by the man- a military dictatorship. It is these attitudes that ipulation of the media, by If the civil service acts can be seen in stark simpl- buildir.r up a sinister mix- in the same way, it be- icity by the Thomson Organ- ture of conspiracy and comes a bureaucracy. If isation in its takeover and Intrigue, lir.king one vague the police do so, t^jis is c losedown of The Times. or ill-defined enemy with a real police state, though another. This is the stuff it is to be distinguished of the media campaign with from the totalitarian the melodramatic concctions state. one can read daily in the press and have flashed at one in one's home, by the very~~sburces that are themselves engaged ir a conspiracy against the people. lei this propaganda means that the Police Party is the easiest to resist; and when the police state is in creation it is the easiest tc overthrow - unless it yields power tc the military. Its ir.fluer.ce does not belong in the ever- yday world, which is why it invents bomb scares and exaggerates crimes. More than any other party ii stresses the essential difference between THEM and US, for all its talk of the 'silent majority1. Its particular hatred is anar- chism because underlines that difference too'. A.M.

CHOICE prisoners by unqualified people. The Society of Radiographers stresses this drugs & radiation represents "a potential hazard to patients, but also a potential hazard to operators., without proper from the state training there can be no guarantee that the Drugs are a basic req- ealed to anyone inside or officers are applying the uirement in our society outside prison to contact radiations correctly." for many people. They are them with drug abuse in They believe on Home Office needed to prevent people prison (-104 Brackenbur.v Rd. statistices that of 52 est- from cracking up. Certain London W6 tel: 01-7^8-2646) ablishments in the prison substances if used can lead Some of the basic fa.cts on service, only 11 have qual- to a prison sentence . Some- Gartree are to be found in ified radiographers times these drugs are prob- PROP'S paper (Vol 2 no6 20p) carrying out the radiog- ably harmful, such a.s heroin: and there is useful infor- raphy work. sometimes it seems unlikely mation about Jake Prescott Dr Alex Comfort writing that they are, such as eann-and the Hull prisoi. investig- in "The Process of Ageing" abis . Other drugs , like a.t ation and on drugs in a makes tne following comments cohol, tobaccc and substan- Scottish women's prison as which are pertinent to this ces in coffee and tea are well. Dr Tony Whitehead prison scandal. "one sorce:times harmful as well, estimates that of 1^0-150 specific threat to cur nat- but companies manufacturing inmates in this women's ural life span is the in- and selling them are not prison 50 are receive ing creasing use of ionzing rad- fearful of piosecutior. in major tranquilisers . This iation in medicine and indu- is reckoned frcm the kr.owr, stry. These, rather than Such isThir -hypocrisy of weekly drug supply from the nuclear weapon tests, are our society that prescip - prison. Dr Whitehead sugg- clearly the ma.jor source cf tionof drugs in prison is ests there are only 2 poss- extra radiation exposure much more an abuse than any ible reasons for the tagg- today, but the release of use of proscribed drugs ering amount of drugs in use radiation in the course of outside prison. The irony in that prison: either there bomb testing cannot be ig- of prison is that it is a are a high number of psy- nored. It has so far con- place of lawlesssness- chotic prisoners; or drugs tributed a much smaller screws in prison like cops are being used s.s instrum- amount to the individual do- outside ignore basic legal ents of control, . se which we receive in civ- rights and yet they pcse ex medical officer at Park- 1 ilised countries with busy as the defenders of the law. < hurst has outlined the use Xray depts, but may well eventually contribute more If there is a disturbance of drugs to control the be- haviour of prisoners (Sun- to the dose received by the in any nick, prisoners combined genetic equipment 'rights' are unlikely to be day Times 22 Oct ?8) and is quoted from his a.ccount in of the whole human race. respected. Drugs in use in Prison Medical Journal" on We still do not whether low- prison are not used to his experiments with men dosage radiation really acc- assist sick prisoners so who were regarded "purely as elerates ageing but it cer* much as to control those Albany discipline failures". ainly does genet i harm." who cause difficulties for Thus drugs were not used for Among the things radiation the authorites . medication but control. 'can cause are"mutations, The riots in G^i-tree in The Medical Committee breaks in chromosomes and whcih libertarian comrades a lot of other faults which are said to have participate Against the Abuse of Pris- oners by Drugging, which is are passed on when a cell have, according to Geoff composed of groups like divides." Gogan, national sec of the MIND, NCCL.PROP, RAP and As the Society of Radio- prisoners union PROP, crea- graphers emphasise there ted ''a new situation" in those concerned with the abuse of psychiatry in the are potential hazards in which the lid has been taken prison to both prisoners off the abuse of drugs in Soviet Union, has recently .and staff. The Home Office prison. At a press con- exposed the scandalof the is happy to jeopardise the ference in London PROP app- administration of Xrays to future of unborn generat- ions. SfiBQTAGr++* ti-JVij RrffLrPt Nay 20 : In big demo at 'inside job1 Ma.y ; : Unmanned flight airport, gates fi reborn bed, May. 2Q : Signal cable cut control beacon fcr Hiro- tyres burred and the riot again on fuel-transport shima Airport set alight. police fought for several line, no effect on operat- May 5 s Empty trains for hours, half the ^C people Keisei Rlys' high-speed arrested were women. ions . Tokyo-Narita service burr - May 21 : Electricity June 1C Balloons floated ed, lOOmillion yen damage. • pylon felled near Narita, near runway, airport closed May_ 13 : Hakone s.viation power suspended for 4 hours. for 20 minutes, 3 cargo radar facility attacked, (airport unaffected as has flights cancelled discovered b\; if independent power plant June 17 : Balloons floated successful would have crip- effective for short periods again, ope i r. ti ens unaffected . pled operations at Haneda Ma.y 2.1 :. Trees felled June_23 : Air radio relay and Narita. across roads used by Japan station attacked, equipment Ma.y l^ : Trucks burred at. Airlines to move equipnrert damaged but vital parts un- 3 places on Keisei line, op- '£?<.'*> Haneda, removed by harmed erations halted for 2 hours police. June 26 : Rails loosened on in early morring. iMay 21 : 100 2-mettr ball- fuel transportation rente, one May 20 : Underground micr- oons, 8 kites flownfrcm end ti>>ii di-layed. owave circuiT.s for Tokyo of runway. The govt has sought to Air corrt • May 22 : Airport sewage di- label all sabotage activities Aii" Control center cut, sposal plant firebombed beginning of course with the all domestic flights at Ma^_ 2£ : Traffic signals 3.26 raid as 'violence1. Haneda cancelled} several '•ui &t 5 intersections This is nonsense and simple other airports paralyzed; h long Tokyo-Nari -'-h high- propaganda. Violence is only govt admits only 'insider' v. '-,.\ so wren people (or animals) ecuId have dort it (^arita '^LL/': National Railways art injured or killed. In ur.i.ffected ~£ uses differ- comi'.rnicGtirnt; signals oat«- none ~of~tn~e""above acts was any ent facility) ies out in ^ places, cp€:J.fcr- danger consciously posed ~c jjav 20 : Radio antenna tions irclv.ding fuel trans- human life - described as 'non firebcmbed i-n-'r Na?:Ha., port halted for ^ hours in violent' guerilla methods. air pert unaffected. early morning; police think KONAN « T «iTA In an applica-tion for VfcRV MUCH • I bail fcr Ronan, made in March, the judge discoursed en the 'Irish connection' and refused bail. Yet Iris, Taff and Vince ha.ve not only got bail but. had their ourfew lifted. Was the judge subverted by IRA propaganda that Ulster was nc longer a part of the ? Find out for yourself in a. solidarity meeting fcr Ronan Bennett, 25th May 79 at Gonway Hall, Red Lion Square, London W.C.I (7.30) - or write to B1961? R. Bennett, A Wing, Brixtor Prison, London S.W.7 pain lay

emphasis of the organisation THE C.N.T. Bopla sang along with theha s al been local revolutionary songs played initiative and federal co- After the euphoria the over the , before the operation, rather than ccns- problems... meeting began: they shouted tant recourse to national agreement and applauded gatherings and national On 4th March this year, loudly during the speeches; ;olicy_making. But its re- the CNT called their first and as the event broke up emergence has pcsed prob- public meeting for 40 years •ly men could be seen ^ as Ke ^ seen and in the town of Reus, near beaming at each ohter and th need to be Sorted cut Tarragona, in Gatalunya. I anarchist salute,i f the organisation is to happened to be staying in beneath the emotionsestablis h a clear role and the town at the time, so and er.thusia.smel^T miG I -Q C-m , 4-th Ue ^ rlMTTCNT'' obviously I went along and faces some hard times and clear presence in modern it was a. very different ex- difficult decisions. I am Spain. A Congress is the uiixonlyj ga.iuti.LM.iigatheringg eiuxablee T/toO makmaKe perience from the average r.p expert on the organisa- brcad n decisions, hen- anarchist meeting in England tioT.I nn buhlitt. therT.h»TVe» seesoomm t+no bHeo n , . cee thtne present agitatioagita n For one thing it was bigger- several debates going on at f Qne to be called several hundred people pach- th+ hfet momentmr.rpon-f . TherTK*»^e« i* s*- th4-Ue~ The ed into a small cinema.. But question of whether the CNT National Committee has made there were other interesting it clear that they favour aspects toe. a Congress so as to bring The CNT has re-emerged in is a libertarian worker's tne m£-ny debates out in the the last twc or three years .organisation, active arcund °Pen once and for a11; after decades of work issues, or a broad um- With the best will in and repression. One result b rella for the libertarian the world, however, it ma.y of this is that there are 'movement as a whole; there sometimes seem strange to two quite ditinct age-groups is the question of currents concentrate so much atten- within the organisation: and factions within the CNT tion on the fortunes of an the young people who have with accusations that, some organisation so far away become involved recently factions are organising in Spain, when we face and the generation who rem- secretly to take over some pressing problems here ember the old CUT before key positions; and there is where we are. I believe the , civil war the question of what anarcho the CNT is important beca- and Franccism. This was really means in use it. is an explicitly clear from the attendance the late 70s,the need for at Reus. The dominant libertarian mass worker's analysis and for identifying organisation, committed to age-groups were men and the CNT's specific role in wcrcen in their late , opposed to modern conditions. all "social " and and young people in their These various debates refusing to participate 20s with hardly anyone in have led to a point where in the State's tc between. there is now widespread integrate the workers org- For many of the older demand for a full na.tional aniss.tions into its own people this meeting was Congress, and it does look administrative structure probably the first public as if a Congress will be (via "syndical elections" gathering of anarcho-synd- held, probably in the autumn. pacts etc) The CNT1 is icalists they had attended Since its foundation in 1910 therefore significant net for decades. Certainly it the CNT has held only 4 only in Spain but. to the was an emotional occassion. congresses, the last being libertarian movement ar- In Zaragossa in 1936. The ound. the wcrld. If it on capitalisms terms. Can doled out to the latter the.t can find a clear role we perhaps draw parallels he hurled himself from a for itself then libertar- with Britain? Would it be window and had to be hospit- ians everywhere will possible to create new, alised . He was quickly benefit. revolutionary Trades Coun- "cured". re-interrogated and Moreover there is no cils, or to drag existing obliged to sign a. statement. strong, conscious tradit- Trades Councils out of their Nieva Reparaz had been in ion of syndicalism here present sloth? We should the CNT for over a year. in Britain, and nc large remember that Trades Coun- Goldaraz Rutins, a bricklayer syndicalist workers' org- cils were crucially import- was active in the 3 strikes anisations ; but there is ant in the organisaion of in the building industry in a tradition of militancy the 1926 . Navarre. When the residents within the trade unions We can't think of building of the old quarters of Irun- which pits workers against a new mass anarchosyndical- ea organised themselves their own bureaucratic ist movement in Britain, against the incursions of leadership, at the same but we can perha.ps trans- "uncontrcllables" (the police) time as it pits them late and apply the CNT's Goldaraz Rubins helped. against their employers. experince to British Along with friends he receiv- If lessons can be learned conditions. ed beating from the police from the experience of li- The success or failure in Setember 77- bertarian unions, such as of the CNT is therefore Suspecting that plain the GNT, then this milit- sor.ethin which should clothes police were among the ancy can perhaps be given concern us all. As we attackers Goldaraz, Rubins a new strength and a new, continue with our own owrk and Nieva Repara.z filmed pcit- ice coming from a mass celeb- positive direction. For and our own struggles we instance, a point which would do well to keep one rated for the civil guard in was stressed a.t the Re us eye cocked in the direc- an to identify those meeting was that local tion of Spain. involved. The police hunted federations are crucia] for then . They left Pamp- within the GKT, because Martin Spence. lona for a while then landed they weld together differ- the film to the police. ent struggles and allow The inference is that the workers to begin formu.l- police were interested in the ationg their own goals two roen~before the in a positive way. took place. Without this coordination At an extraordinary struggles tend to be mere plenum, the local federat- Ramon Ramirez, Antonio isolated responses to ion of Irunea, part of the Torres and Enrique Clemos the conditions which cap- CNT de Euskadi, passed s. res- CNT members from Tudela were italism imposes, and they olution promising "uncondit- arrested, released, charged ional support to Jose Maria are therefore fought out with taking part in an ill- Goldaraz Rubins (from the egal demonstration and fined construction syndicate) and Jesus Emilio Nieva Reparaz. 5G.OCC pesatas each. Why? (general trades syndicate)." Because.' the CKT offices had Both men are in prison char- earlier been attacked by ged with an "expropriation". what Euskadi Confederal The CNT has stated its belief calls "uncontrollable that the expropriation was elements whose identity is carried out for revolution- common knowledge". Jose Sotillo and Ger- ary and net for personal ardo Lopez from the CNT's ends. Nieva Reparaz was detained Bilbao loce.l federation were arrested whilst putt- in Castellon on 29th June ?8 and adnitted responsibility .ing.up posters against the anti- la.ws . They for a raid on a bank in Pamp- were arrested and released . lona on 16 June 78. On 28th But Sotillo was re-arrestec June ?8 Goldaraz Rubins was on a charge which ha.d been arrested at his home in Pamp- dropped, though still on lona. Such was the treatment poiice books 10 What happened to 8i.ACKJNl.AC. organ •XNAPCHIST BLACK

In our last issue we re- -whose 'moral standards' ported two major disasters .prevented them frcm Our typesetter broke down printing what they did net irretrievably and the bulk agree with but not frcm of the Review was burned holding up the copy. in transit. We have re- printed the Review (only However we should get our JUAN JOSE MARTINEZ known to face a lesser disaster typesetter sooner cr later as El Rubio in another fire, at our and then he.ve major plans distributors, involving for a. more regular public- several hundreds Reviews ation. More of those next Juan Jose Martinez (phot and some of our new books time following our discuss- ograph above) was involved - fortunately,many had ions for joint action with in collaboration with the already been distributed). Anarchy Collective. Spanish police which led to the arrests of Fernando Trying to gettthe Flag Meanwhile Gienfuegos Press Simon and Augustin Rueda, typeset involved us in a have brought out two new militants of the CNT. The major problem. Some books: A NEW WORLD IN CUE latter was subsequently "community1 typesetters HEARTS - the fa.ces of murdered in the Carabanchel set a higher Spanish Anarchism; and prison. He has also turned than commercial ones. We Maximcff's THKN GUILLOTINE in some members of the are still trying to get AT WORK, Vol.1 : The autonomous libertarian another typesetter but Leninist Counter-Revolution groups and two members of had finally to settle for A new seriesmof pamphlets, the Maoist "revolutionary bringing out this issue Tl~e New Anarchist Library, army'. on an electric typewriter will be ready soon. In return for this, he with loss of usual has been allowed by the standards) Months of authorities to escape from time was lost, however, custody awaiting non-polit- in dealing with people ical crimes. He also approached a Bareel ona newspaper with (true or false is not known) that Gubillo, an announcer on Radio Algiers, who broadcsts Marxist prop- aganda, is connected with the Franco intelligence services and received a large sum - immediately decamping. He is known to have been in France and Belgium, possibly Italy too. Should he turn up in any English- speaking country, the Madrid anarchist group would like to hear about hime. Demo in New South Wales outside .comrades, then all in Brixton Write to us. British Airways protesting HMP, organised by the IWW against the constraints placed ,General Defence. on the 'Persons Unknown* 11

International Notejournals sand reviews (includ- 'MEXICO CITY will become the ing part of Umanita Nova an- URUGUAY "mosmosxt po-LJ-Uteopolluted. capitacapj.Tx*li ounu the face of the earth" with- archist weekly of the Italian Since September 1973 the A l-i_J. •CI-J -H...N «^« military dictatorship has in the next 10 years. Anarchist Federation) are held 9 prisoners hostage printed there. against the renewal of urban Franco Orofio, photo- com guerilla activity by the SCOTLAND positor of Umanita N°va was MLN - Tupamaros guerilla "controversial cages atamon€ those arrested and as group. Inverness prison have been we g^jo - to pres-. s he is incarc- The 9 : Raul Sendiz, Julie put into use again - their erated in the prison of Marenales, Jorge Manera LLuv- first victim is 34 year old Modena. eras, Eleutrio Fernandez David Mather. It is extreme- (le MOnde Libertire) Huidobro, Jose Mujica, ly mportant that letters of Mauricio Rosencoff, Henry protest are sent quickly to Engler, Jorge Zabalza & Bruce Millan, Sec. of State COLOMBIA Adolfo Wa.ssen , have been for Scotland. In early January the M- kept in virtually total isol- Letters of support for David 19 guerilla movement attac ation. Sendiz, a founder should be sent to: Portfield -ked an army arsenal and member of the Tupamaros, has Prison, Inverness. stole 5.700 weapons, gain- been singled out for except- ing access through a 75 ionally vi cious treatment, metre-long tunnel from a. he has been tortured and ITALY nearby home. beaten frequently. Interna- -new year attack. A series of raids and tional solidarity with the Neo-fascists burst into arrests followed z.nA by 9th 9 is vital, and letters and/ the studio of radio Citta .Jan at least 135 people -hai or telegrams should be sent ... Futura, firing sub machine been jailed. to Gomandente en Jefe del guns a.nd hurling fire bombs. Ejercito, Gral Gregorio Alva- Five women taking part in a rez, Av. Garibaldi, Monte- live broadcast on contra- NICARAGUA video, Uruguay. ception, were lined up and There are reports of shot (one was critically renewed large scale clashes Uruguay Libre wcur.ded in the stomach, between governament forxes Uruguay Libre is the new another badly burned -all and Sandinista National Lib- bulletin of the Uruguay Libre were injured) before the eration Front guerillas in Committee: 16 Ribblesdale Rd raiders set fire to the many parts of the country, London N8 ?EP studios and equipment and and in most major towns. fled. These reports are accompanied Members of the same by accounts of the indiscrim- GUATEMALA group also carried cut a inate-bombing of peasant vil- More than 70,000 people fire-bomb attack on a left- lages with napalm and fragm- fcave been murdered by the wing bookshop filled with entation bombs, injuring Guatemalan dictatorship customers, including child- many people. during the last 24 years, anc ren, a week previously. Several, ironically named social polarisation is gath- "Brigades against Terrorism" ering speed. The activities (pro-Somoza paramilitary of the police vigilante The state has launched a gangs) have been formed. One death squad, the Mano Blanco,wave of action against rev- of which recently carried cut are also increasing - at the olutionaries in Bologne. the of Gilberto end of 1978 student leader 13 people of various politic- Medrano, general secretary Olverio Casteneda de Leon al affiliations were arrest- of the Confederation of was shot down near the "Pal - ed in December. The press Labour Unity. ace of Government" while "11 falcone" was seized and police looked on. 3 comrades working there EL SALVADOR mutilated bodies appearing in were arrested - the press is More than 500 peasant the* streets are now a comm- important as many movement unionists are in prison; more on occurence. than 20C "disappeara.nces" - his flat as a reprisal and given 4 months for these are the two hallmarks for savage sentences (up illegal entry. The same of the dictatorship. The 'to ^ years) gi ven to the day however the German state catholic church, because it autonomists who were requested his extradition - is the only organisation of • arrested after a. violent this has now been granted - any size not controlled by demonstration in January. although the French constit- the state, has borne the ution forbids extradition brunt of recent repression, Patrick Louis, 19, was for political offences. especially in the schools. arrested in Strasbourg, • On Jan 2) a priest and 4 accused of supplying arms STATE COURT DUMPS INMATE youths were shot d ring a and ammunition to members TRANSFER LAW. staged security ex -srcise. of MARA(Mouvement Arme In February the Revolution- Revo lift ionaire et Anarch- Olympia (AP)-A Wash- ary Ajjny of the Poor staged is te), who have made ington law authorising the a revenge attack with a mass about 35 attacks on police Dept of Social and Health of bombings against police stations arid other Services to transfer an in- and government buildings. offices a.nd buildings in mate from a correctional Moselle. Patrick, was institution to a mental hea- .doing his military ser- lth facility, without a jud- ITALY vice in Strasbourg but icial hearing, was declared Eir.ilio Alessandrini, the comes from Moselle unconstitutional today by public Prosecutor, responsib- - his a.rrest is the 7th 3 the state Supreme Court. le for the murky investigat- 2 months. The court said in a unan- ions surrounding the Milan GERMANY imous opinion that the law (1969) bomb outrage (which GSC-9 the highly public- denies a prisoner a judicial police tried to pin en Val- ised "anti-terrorist" unit hearing which is available preda and was later prcved is facing a recruiting to other persons within the t ^ be the work of neo-fascis- crisis. The unit, which criminal justice system. *.i ) was shot dead in his comes under the control of The justices noted that car at the end of January. the increasingly militar- judicial hearings are req- The attack was later ised Federal Border Forces, uired in civil commitment claimed by the Front Line is to recruit former sold- cases, commitment of the grcup. iers in an attempt to ease criminally insane and comm- the shcrtage. CZECHOSLOVAKIA itment of sexual psychopaths A 2k year old member and psychopathic delinquents. of a musical underground Uwe Fclkerts, 31, has "To allow one group of group, Jiri Climel, was been sentenced by a Stut+ persons held under the crim- sentenced to 18 months im- gart tribunal to 1.6 months inal justice system the pro- prisonment in the north imprisonment for assisting tection of a judicial heari- Bohemian town, of Most. a terroist organisation - ng before they are sent to He was chsrged with play- but he has already spent a mental health facility and 1? months inside awaiting to deny such a hearing to ing a recording of the trial. Charter 77 founding dec- another group has no ration- laration in front of the al basis" wrote justice Luna restaurant ir Most, The German government has James Dolliver. and found guilty in spite demanded (and been granted) The decision upheld of declarations by 6 pros- the extradition of 20 yr old a ruling by Tnursto County ecution witnesses that the Gabor Winter, a member of Superior Court judge Gerry STB (political police) Schwartze Hilfe (Nurenberg) Alexander in a suit filed by had forced them to attend committee for the support Kenneth Neil Harmon. the trial and that they of political prisoners. He -from Carl Harp knew nothing about Jiri. was originally arrested Carl writes: (labour focus on Eastern with other members of the "We've been fighting that Europe) group, after a stolen id- for years. We won and it entity card and books on feels great. New they can't "urban guerilla" were kill us that wa.y with drugs" FRANCE found in their . Parisian autonomists He was freed on bail after 6 months in jail in May 77, tied up a senior Frer.ch prosecutor and smashed up but fled to France. He was later arrested there 15 chips, football and TV, case; how the Taft-Hartley which have killed off any act was used to repress incentive to think. Are strikes and labor unions; these not the sad resultJ how the Smith act. v/as used to the way out for most people crush Trotskyists, the Commun- Letters of forgetting about the ist Party U.S.A; and how weeks, months, years, spent brute force and spy program- working in the factories, the mes (like operation CHAOS, Dear Black Flag, lorries or whatever people run by the CIA and COINTELFRO The article written by have to do to earn a living. the FBI's counterpart) used L.H. on the State of the It does not take a lot of to crush the Black movement, British Worker left me effort to free the mind and especially the Black Panther somewhat annoyed and confuseo. Party, and a.lso the anti-war If this is an intellectual body from the effects of and student movement of the analysis of the state of work to get out and do all 1960's. mind of the British working the things that need to be? Similar government rep- ,;lass, then maybe we ought done. Change of any kind, let ression activities occured to close all the higher ech- in Ca.nada, Britain, Austr- elons of learning. alone revolutionary change, To my mind it read more is a very slow process and alia and other Capitalist, amybe the working-class is countries. like a completely negative The lesson must be lear- on the working despondant and depressed and class with a lot of general- lost politically and cultur- ned : all resistance to isations and inaccuracies. ally. However L.H. seems to state power - violent cr Is it really necessary to present a more than pessim- non-violent - wil] result istic viewpoint of the state in repression of one sort characterise the 'unemploy- or another. able1 as'grossly obese', the of the British worker and if gasman as 'young and smart' he/she feels that way then or the postman as 'fat, long- it is time to get involved in In solidarity, Komboa. haired and cow-eyed1? something, even if that means Perhaps to L,H. itis! talking to workmates down at (Lorenzo Komboa Ervin) the local pub! I'm all for 18759-175 L.H.^obviously has a P.O. Box 1000 dilemma in defining working making an attempt at commun- class mentality which is more ication and not wantonly Marion. 111.62959. USA. difficult to do than to alienating myself from I have in the past, been define a working class. Is others because I might see involved with an Irish Rep- not the doctor in the local myself as so different. I'm ublican prisoner's support hospital a "British worker" all for putiing forward an group in England and Jake's and also the policeman? anarchist philosophy as a solidarity with all his They both work for a living way of life that is practice fellow cons has shown what they are not part of the rather than one of despond- goes to make up a. true rev- "boss" class. The self- ancy. olutionary fighter. Des- employed worker (unless he Fraternally yours pite the activities of the employs someone else) is Paul She Hard. Trot cardboard cut-out also a worker as is the Is the ATS there still heroes, the term revolut- "housewife" although she ionary has retained some raiding and framing up the credibility in England due receives no wages and the anarchists? Well, that self-employed is his own mainly to the efforts of should kill the theory that such as Jake who haven't boss. Whether these J-CT^J-COOrepressioJ uini onluiij-yy visitvj.aj.T,sss thosT.riosee r, . -4.—,r,o-i a people have a working class engaged in armed wa.rfa.re aga- copped-oui of struggl consciousness is one thing inst the state. Not that it *6CSfe th& gO1"g §Ot and whether that is desir- ever made any sense, when one >Uf ^ tne ^wor k able anyway is another. £»±™ "" -h- TWa 1- with Black Flag - it's one L.H. generalises too crushed by crajiral syndic- journals worth much on the state of the alism" lawsand for its anti- British worker - not all war stance before and during buying nowadays. are as he portrays and may- WWI; how "" Yours in struggle be after 40 hours down a pit laws were used tc crush the he would also down a few anarchist movement in America, John Farrell pints. Surely it is not during the I900's-l920's, London. such things as beer, fags, including the 'accc-Vanzetti actor and feminist who has worked there '"he heart of the Trastevere. Two large Roman Diary (III) for several years, "nor even a place for /' >oms, newly renovated, where tables and ITALY: GEOGRAPHIES OF A PLURAL ideological reflections. It's my impressio ; I rrnchairs jostle with a handicrafts SINGULAR that that soet of thing conceals a vacuum xhibition and the food counter.... It Centres of feminist activity in Rome. nowadays. There has never been any real vas the idea of a few women who pooled innovation. The plays are often didactic, ' ;heir money and have 'done the place up In the alternative workshops set up in and women in the movement haven't oy the sweat of their brows; installing Rome by women in the movement, one come to see us enough. There was one lavatories, doing the cement and plaster- often finds in their practical activity the period which I found very rewarding, work, the decorating .... "We are hoping same self-questioning and the same desire during the campaign for divorce. We put that every woman will come to the Zanzi- to reflect and create that exists in all the on street theatre and went out into the bar, the women who felt the need for this collectives. Over the past few years Italy markets and-spoke to the 'casa linghe' cafe in the first place were lesbians but nas seen an extraordinary growth of (housewives) about their lives. That was we don't want it to be a ghetto," explains producer groups, women's bookshops (in the only time it ;eemed to me that we one of the originators of the scheme. Open Turin, Bologna, Milan, Genoa, Palermo .. . had a political praxis." There are two every day (except Monday) from 5pm to 'Casa delle donne', papers, free radio other women's companies, both more 'midnight, the Zanzibar, officially a cultural stations on which women can express militant, the Witches (Le Streghe) also society, is the first 'feminist' cafe in Rome. themselves autonomously, like Radio from Rome, and the Mnesiacs from Naples Question: Do you get on well with the Donna on Radio Citta Future. A discreet who put on 'Cinderella' last year. This people in the neighbourhood? bustle of alternative undertakings which year the Maddalena in its turn has entered Answer: ''Yes, everyone has been ill clothe the same desire: to make a a period of crisis, uncertain of its future. impressed by tne amount of work we've .uccess of living and working collectively There is a suggestion that it should be madedone to put the premises m order, and until m a community of women. into a genuine workshop for feminist now everything has gone very well." Time Regained' creativity. Terrific, the feminists aie well thought of in the Trastevere! Midnight. Easter The warmth of the spring sun brings a busy The women's papers Sunday. The cafe closes, we leave, the trade to the pavement cafes of the Piazza rx.fr o . gossip and laughter flow onto the street Farnese. A little shop has discreetly Differenze, Sottosopra, Noi siamo in tanto, ? rv, m front of the cafe. A sudden shower, no inserted its sea-blue frontage into one Donna, ttie: these are some of the names a plastic bag filled with water, thrown corner of the square, opposite the of Italian feminist magazines and papers. from a window and landing on top of us. grandeur of the French Embassy and a Some appear more or less regularly, others It's the lovable neighbours who are paliice whose occupants have been resisting are just beginning to become 'established.' probably thinking that a little cold water the developers for months. Time Regained : The monthly Effe, produced in Rome, on our lovable leininist heads might mako a new women's bookshop, the only one in has been in existence for 4 years and has us more agreeable, on this night in Rome: Rome now that the women's bookshop in now reached cruising speed. Selling the Maddalena has closed down. It was 30,000 copies and self-financing, it spreads A WOMEN'S EDITORIAL GROUP AT opened in '77 by Maria Luisa and Simone. all the news, activities and debates of the 'LOTTA CONTINUA' Already it is too small for them, cluttered movement across the country. with books, pamphlets, papers, posters, The setting up of new magazines is unde- r, he premises ot Lotta Continua are in a records, which leaves little space for the way but there is also an intention to use street of bonded warehouses (magazini cushions which have been provided for already existing vehicles. For instance, general!). A huge ramshackle building, people who want to sit and talk. "Our some of the women who already work for strong sunlight pouring in through the large Effe and Radio Donna have joined with bookshop is the gateway from the South. windows. I was struck by the great num- others to edit a weekly 8-page women's All the women who come up from Naples • ber of men working on the paper, and yet feature in the Workers Daily, a paper of and the towns of the Mezzo Giorno come ihe women on Lotta Continua have been the extra-parliamentary left. "We are not to see us and 'clean us out.' We would successful in forcing through autonomous in agreement with the political aims of like to have another room, somewhere working methods. Their particular the Workers Daily," explains Patricia from more comfortable to work and talk." situation is closely tied in with the evolu- Radio Donna. "We just want to use their The bookshop is run by two full-time ition of the organisation. At the Rimini material infra-structure (printing, distribu- workers, "At the moment we are able to conference in November '76, the \\omen tion) to spread a women's point of view pay ourselves a bit of money, and we in Lotta Continua precipitated the struc- nationally, every week. As a women's have no debts, but it's too early to know tural collapse of the group after two years editorial group we will be completely auto- for certain if we can make a go of it." of working inside it: in the early days of nomous in relation to the overall editorial La Maddalena the feminist movement, tiny like many functions of the Workers Daily." The first La Maddalena provided French women 8 pages are to go out early in May. "We with one of their earliest images of are giving ourselves 6 months to try out thiswerc e suspicious 01f th-. e .pett „ y bourgeoi,s- 'Roman-style' . Some women ;xperiment, and if it is successful we will had opened a bookshop in the Via delle analysis which the feminists were propound- change our weekly contribution into a ing. But when the large-scale campaigns Stelletto, a short walk from the Pantheon, daily feature." and in 1973 they set up a theatre centre mounted by the movement brought them together and caused the strands of their run entirely by women. It is to A women's cafe: The Zanzibar this centre that many women owe their interests to become interwoven, the start in the theatre, which is otherwise A women's cafe, the Zanzibar, opened a situation changed. imonth ago at number 8 Via Politeana, in "In Lotta Continua at that time there I? was the one major front line, the class example, we printed two pages of testi- mony given at Governo Vecchio and at ttruggle and the point of contact with quotes the workers' movement, and then there the University. But we also wrote an were other, secondary fronts. Women's analytical article collectively. There have the journal of the Assoc issues of course came into the second also been articles in which people have of Assistant Librarians, :ategory. Between us, working within written about their experience of terrorism in which assistant librar- L.C. we gradually began to question the in Turin and Milan With respect to ian Mr Peter Stokes says power of the leaders who were denying the present campaign on abortion we have that when Orwell predicted our intelligence and the relevance of our adopted the same principle: publication the use of centralised struggles. To cause such an upheaval, to of the first-hand accounts and reflections control of language to question all those things, was a real cultunthat are sent to us from several towns, eliminate alternative revolution. Workerism, sacrifice, the duty Today thereare about ten lf»s™ modes of thought, "He of a militant, the hierarchy of thinkers the women's editorial group On the paper could hardly have forseen and militants... none of that as a whole ^eK are about 30 women that the delectable lips any longer bore any resemblance to our workingin vanous departments on the lives, our desires, our reality ... Thanks production side, two on the mixed of Angela Rippon would to the impetus of the feminist movement editorial group, and ourselves Since the become the mouth-peice of we began to set up women's commissions demonstration on 8 March 78 for example the techno-fascists." within Lotta Continua, and after that we when there were 50,000 women on the "When Ms Rippon tells were able to raise all the women's issues stree*. the balance of forces has shifted us about the activities of on our own account. After Rimini, the m our favour- The sPace &ven {° women IRA 'gunmen1, Rhodesian paper, which until then had belonged to in the newspaper is always based on this 'terrorists', 'militant' the organisation, was transformed into thebalance of forces- It>s also true that,th,e shop stewards or 'moderate1 daily paper of a movement and became °^ genuine movement existing in Italy politicians, who is there to more receptive to the influence of the *the women's movement. A considerable question the criteria used extra-parliamentary opposition. Thanks number of ^ comrades on the paper to our strong position at Rimini we were **?<: come to understand the achievements in construction this contr- Ale to demand a women's section in the of our movement and are looking for olled vocabulary?" asks Mr mixed paper, with an autonomous editorianew methods of analysing reality them- Stokes. group composed entirely of women. At selves, in their own way. But the amount "When Rippon's words are the time the feminists were suspicious of of sPace 9™ to 'women s artldes also supported by every media his proposal, as well as those women in depends on the strength of our group. pundit and Fleet St hack, jotta Continua who felt that in the future W1™ we leel stron& we occuPy more social and cultural cohes- t would be impossible for them as women sPace'it>s a batfle ontwo f™nts ion is ensured." BBC news :o work in an editorial group composed of ~nfi^cn_cej|n. editors and public librar- nen. This suspicion remained with us our comrades. As a women's editorial ians have much in common throughout the eaily days and so our group we are an integral part of the women's movement, we believe that we are says Mr Stokes. "Both separateness from the rest of the editorial claim to strive for balance §roup was particularly pronounced. For performing a 'technical' service for the example, we never went to editorial movement. We must give women the and impartiality. Both meetings. At the time we were observing tools to analyse the lives we lead, not our contrive to end in support- a strict neutrality and wanted only to viewpoint of what's happening. We work ing mainstream ideologies." be a sounding board for the women's in a totally collective way, what's more Mr Stokes, who works in mvoement. In the end we became we're the only ones on the paper to do the Birmingham Central Ref- isolated. Things have changed with the this. No article can go,through until it's erence Library, defines the arrival of the 'emarginati' movement, the been discussed by the women's group. We function of the media as movement of '77. The fierce competition scarcely ever sign our articles, we don t being not to inform, but to in the universities affected a lot of women, want to create^personalities. Since the movement of '77 we now participate more protect dominant interests feminists as well. And girls in the schools in society by the conceal- have found their way into feminism, in the running of the paper. Our major which has grown considerably as a result. problem today stems from the present ment and distortion of Slowly we began to win recognition from divisions within the women's mvoement. information. This then the men on the paper: from on we are We want to let everyone have their say, places on tte public library the representatives of a mass mvoement. but the MLD and the autonomists for an obligation to "promote At the time we were involved in heated instance send us communiques every day a diversity of political debates amongst ourselves. After the and then criticise us for not printing all and social opinion to count- death of Giorgjana Massi on 12 May '77 of them. Is it impossible to do without ervail the one-dimensional for instance. The women's mvoement was censorship? We never cut anything. On tht newspeak of .the media." divided on this question and we felt the other hand many women in the movement don't write anything. On the whole the Local librarians should consequenceWWAMJVXft*VAk*rVts» herA1V&eV iAlnl thU1eV editoriaVVUb\Sll.tMl groupKlVfl*}**. As women in the movement we have chosen mvoement is pretty bad when it comes to be' energetically seeking out "low circulation journ- not to adhere to any specific stance in *"?«• S° what are we to do? Lotta Continua. The pages of the paper als, minority publishers ire open to everyone. In connection with and obscure pamphlets." the conference on violence in Rome, for ^ TRIAL AND TERROR REASONS BEHIND THE ARRESTS years a.nd had also been in- The police campaign agai- AND CHARGES: volved in the anarcho-syn- nst the defendants ha.s gone dicalist IWW branch in very badly so far. The or- There are vari ous threads Britain. iginal "terrorist" charge

ANARCHIST PICNIC New edition of FLOODGATES MAY 1st 2p.m. onwards OF ANARCHY is now ready HIGHGATE WOODS London £1.25 (post 20p), avail- (nearest tube Highgatel able at libertarian bookshops and others.