www.grenzeloos.org . Published in the Netherlands . January 2014 . Number 4 Editorial Netherlands Now is the time Big cuts, little resistance We have entered into the arts slashed. In the new – Willem Bos for mortgages or refurbishing on the shoulders of individuals. a period of global social, ‘Participatory Society’, it’s houses. The government also Old people will have to live economic and political everyone-for-him/herself. The Dutch government found four billion euro to buy at home longer and become unrest. From Greece, Brazil And yet the Dutch public, published its budget on the third 38 Joint Strike Fighter planes. more dependent on aid from and Tunisia to Egypt, Spain, while opposed to these cuts, Tuesday of September as is the Meanwhile, the gap between family or neighbors. Collective the US, and Turkey societies remains largely passive. tradition. This budget means a rich and poor continues to grow. mechanisms are replaced by are in turmoil and people are The announcement of the loss in purchasing power for the The budget deficit is expected market mechanisms, creating in revolt. In each of these new (blindingly Orwellian) majority of the population while to reach 3.3 per cent, higher new possibilities to make profit. countries (and so many ‘Participatory Society’ makes unemployment rises. After than the EU limit of 3 per cent. According to polls, if there more) policies of austerity, two things perfectly clear: several years of drastic cuts, To reach the 3 per cent goal, not were elections now, the ruling privatization and deregulation One, previous claims by the the government announced six six but nine billion in cuts would VVD would lose over half its have funnelled vast wealth to ruling parties that cuts were billion more in cuts. People with be needed. The Netherlands seats (from 42 to 18) and the the very top while stripping necessary to ‘save the welfare low incomes, those on benefits, were given permission for this PvdA almost three quarters of away essential social services state’ were lies – the agenda and the elderly will especially by EU budget czar Olli Rhen. its seats (38 to 10) out of a total and undermining economic from the start has been feel the results. In polls, support It’s an ironic development of 150. The coalition already security for the vast majority. ideological and the goal is to for the governing parties keeps considering the country always lacks a majority in the Senate After fifty years of dismantling destroy the welfare state. We declining yet resistance against insisted countries in South needed to approve bills. Most social welfare and checks on are not witnessing the end its austerity policies is limited. Europe had to stick to the letter of the opposition, the christian- corporate power, the fruits of the welfare state but its As in the democratic of neoliberal capitalism are assassination. And two, the rest of Europe, CDA, the liberal being harvested worldwide. strategy of cooperation and the economic D66 and in For the 99% it isn’t going well. collaboration with the ruling crisis of 2008 essence also Rising poverty and inequality, political parties and financial led to a deep the Greens, growing fear and desperation, elites – the polder model – and sustained supports the and expanding oligarchy have has failed us. A new strategy slump in the government combined with a massive of resistance and direct action Dutch economy. goals of global economic crisis to is needed. Dozens of reducing destroy the livelihoods of There are encouraging billions of euros spending and billions of people and torpedo signs. Cleaners, healthcare were used tearing down democratic institutions. workers and refugees to save the the welfare- Although the Netherlands have mounted impressive banks, adding state. But has not experienced the campaigns to protect their to the budget this so-called kind of economic and social (and all of our) interests and deficit. The ‘constructive disasters that have befallen garnered wide public support. financial crisis opposition’ is billions of others around the The Occupy movement turned into an also afraid to world, we need only look showed us that we are not economic crisis lose votes to around us – to the East, West, alone in our indignation. In and economic the Socialist South or North (take your September, a ‘Stop the Cuts’ growth turned Party on the pick) – to see where we are demonstration in Amsterdam into stagnation left, which headed. Billions have already drew 5000 people. And the or decline. ‘Prime-minister Rutte tries to sell austerity as ‘participation’ to Geertwould grow been cut from the national trade unions mobilised for Austerity Wilders and SP leader Emile Roemer - ‘Het Land Van Pannekoek’ from 15 to 24 budget in recent years. And a massive demonstration measures have led to of the EU budget regulations. seats according to polls, then here comes the King on November 30 in Utrecht decreased government and The people of Greece, Portugal and the right-wing, populist, (arriving literally in a golden against the new austerity consumer spending which has and Spain have to bleed but Islamophobic PVV of Geert carriage) to announce, even budget. only worsened the economic Dutch politicians demand Wilders on the right, which as the rich get ever-richer, These events are problem. This government, like special privileges. stands at 27 seats in the polls, that there simply isn’t enough heartening but they must be previous governments, is trying as against its current 15. money to pay for such just the beginning of a much to make the population pay for Despite the limited appeal ‘luxuries’ as social security larger, sustained movement this crisis – a crisis which they Participation society of the government plans, or elder-care anymore. The to turn the political and did not cause. resistance to them is limited – so welfare state is over, he tells economic tide. It is time for Benefits are to be cut and The government, consisting far. An anti-austerity protest in us. Billions more must be cut. workers, students, retirees wages frozen for public sector of the right-wing liberal VVD and September drew thousands and Vital social services will have and the rest of the 99% to workers, meaning their real the Labour Party (PvdA) aim to was supported by the SP and to be slashed. Wages and get organized, get into the income will decline at the replace the welfare-state with found sympathy among trade pensions slashed. Health care streets, and demand an end rate of inflation even as rent what they call ‘the participatory unionists. The trade-unions in subsidies slashed. Assistance to these policies of destruction becomes more expensive. But society’. This means public turn are planning a large rally for the poor, the elderly and and exploitation. the rich won’t have to pay resources like healthcare or for November 30 in Utrecht. students slashed. Support for If not now, when? taxes for over 100.000 euros homes for the elderly are This shows the potential for a gifts if those are used to pay decreased and the burden is put stronger fight-back. Arab spring in Egypt What is borderless? The struggle for democracy and social justice borderless is a radical paper written in English for non-Dutch speakers interested in Dutch progressive politics. It provides - Melanie Henry after decades of dictatorship. constitutional amendments news and commentary from an anti-capitalist perspective on When they won the election implemented by the Morsi Dutch politics and on events and social struggles in the Nether- Egyptian business leaders, in 2012, Mohammed Morsi government made late 2012 lands and around the world. whether Islamist or Christian, and the Muslim Brotherhood a turning point. At this crucial borderless is written and published by a collection of Dutch and supporters of civilian democracy (MB) took the test of power moment, the political forces non-Dutch activists living in Amsterdam. We consider ourselves or partisans of the Mubarak and failed. They attempted to which could have pressed the socialists, feminists and ecologists and we seek anti-capitalist regime, agree with the military secure their power and their revolutionary demands for solutions to the many economic and ecological crises facing on one point: maintenance of place in the international scene social justice – the Nasserist working people worldwide. We oppose capitalism, a political- the neoliberal order. To make as respectable members of the Popular Tendency, and the economic system that is based on exploitation and whose in- Egypt attractive to investors and global bourgeoisie. In classic leftist Popular Alliance – chose creasingly frequent crises are devastating communities around seduce its creditors, the ruling dictatorship-style, they tried instead to join the liberals and the globe. We oppose all attacks on the civil and human rights class opened huge portions of to control state institutions the remnants of the Mubarak of citizens, immigrants, workers, and minorities both inside and the market to competition and through imposition and regime in the National Salvation outside the Netherlands. We stand in solidarity with all people worked to ensure a cheap and violence, by censuring critics Front (against Islamism) engaged in the struggle against exploitation and oppression docile labour force. and smashing resistance. They supporting the coup d’état, is a supplement to our sister magazine, Grenzeloos, But by the mid-2000s, borderless quickly abandoned even the thus putting the revolutionary published by SAP, the Dutch section of the Fourth International. this situation had become pretence of representing the ambitions of the working class unbearable for much of the revolutionary movement. behind the ousting of Morsi. population, triggering a wave Deteriorating living conditions The June 30th movement of social unrest, culminating in the ensuing months led to and the military coup that Join us! in the January 25 revolution a street-protest movement followed polarised the political If you are interested in what we do, feel free to contact us that ousted Hosni Mubarak. against the MB, with protestors atmosphere.The army split the at [email protected], visit our website: www. The recurring slogan in these ranging from those nostalgic political field, reducing it to a grenzeloos.org/borderless-an-anticapitalist-journal protests – Bread, Freedom, for the stability of the Mubarak question of ‘with the people or and to like our facebook page. We appreciate comments on Social Justice – shows a era to those seeking vengeance with the terrorists and gained our articles, proposals or contributions for our next issue, and radicalisation of the populace but against the MB for its betrayal of the support of most of the interesting events to add to our agenda! also a political indetermination, the revolution. The violence of political opposition and the We meet regularly to discuss current political issues, our which reflects the difficulty of the crack-down on protestors as popular movement, including involvement in social movements and how to put our ideas into defining a new political field well as a series of authoritarian (continues on the next page) practice. If you are interested you are welcome! the Egyptian Federation of Independent Trade-Unions Turkey and Brazil city’ invites people to be part (EFITU). EFITU’s president of the city only as consumers. became minister of labour in the Prime Minister Erdogan said temporary puppet government, this plainly when he asked siding with officials from the protestors to leave the Gezi Mubarak-era and adopting the Just the beginning Park to its real “owners” – the old nationalist rhetoric, claiming tourists. it was time to stop the strikes In Brazil, protests were and build the country. triggered by a bus-fare Egyptians now face a revival increase, coupled with anger of authoritarian Nasserist-style over corruption and evictions. rule. The bloody repression of In Turkey, the spark was an the MB will not eliminate the attempt to demolish Gezi Park Islamist tendency but it may and replace it with a shopping push it towards extra-legal mall. Shopping malls are rapidly and violent methods, which replacing the public spaces in has already provided the army Turkey. Mustafa Sonmez, an with an excuse to implement a economist from Turkey, has state of emergency and crush shown that it is not productive protests in the name of stability, industry that has accumulated just as in the old days. the largest share of GDP growth Workers and revolutionary over the last ten years, but groups have already begun sectors like construction and to face brutal repression of finance. These sectors are strikes and the arrest of political protected from competition by activists but the Egyptian people the state, demonstrating the have shown their capacity to incestuous relationship between transform their political situation the state and private elites. and the polarising rhetoric The vast number of empty between the army and MB is apartments in the outskirts of less and less relevant to the Istanbul are indicators that this public. There is a third voice in kind of economic growth is not Egypt – that of leftists, including sustainable. the Revolutionary Socialists – It is not only in the economic who reject both the MB and the realm that people are made increasingly powerless. army and who continue to fight They are also excluded from for the revolutionary ambitions decision-making processes. In of ‘bread, freedom and social - Maral Jefroudi argues Löwy, “is permanent of this expropriation was the Turkey, government-initiated justice’. They are struggling revolution.” closure of common lands to the restrictions on the purchase under harsh conditions but they This summer something The unrest in both Brazil people who were cultivating of alcohol and the right to have undeniable potential and interesting happened - people and Turkey is a response to them. More recently, David abortion, along with severe they deserve our support. took to the streets in two structural income inequalities Harvey introduced the term countries that are widely and crises of representation “accumulation by dispossession” political repression over the last considered ‘economic success- in the state. Marx’s idea of to describe an ongoing process decade, have added to the crisis stories’, Brazil and Turkey. “primitive accumulation” can of the centralization of wealth of representation the state now GDP figures show that more be useful in understanding the and power in the hands of a faces. The protest movements wealth was created in these two way structural inequalities were few achieved by disposing the in both countries have opened What’s countries in the last ten years formed. The idea was developed 99% of their rights and wealth. channels for a more participatory than ever before. But instead as a counterpoint to what Privatization and financialization democracy. In Brazil, the going on? of peace and harmony, we have Adam Smith called “original are two prominent elements of demonstrations against the bus- seen widespread protest in both accumulation”, referring to the this process. fare increase not only forced countries. How do we explain gathering of wealth of by the When we look at Turkey the state to restore the old this? first capitalists. For Smith, the and Brazil today, we see this price but also triggered a wider 12 January 20:00 In a recent interview early division of labor paved process at work. In both discussion about reform of the Mehmet Polat Trio regarding the protests in Turkey, the way for an increase in cases, a construction boom transportation system. Recent Turkish and Persian melodies; sociologist Michael Löwy pointed production that led naturally and has led to the expulsion of protests over the FIFA visit padded in Balkan rhythms and to the similarities between our peacefully to an accumulation working class citizens from to Brazil, teachers’ demands infused with African grooves time and the 17th century. Back of wealth and the birth of neighborhoods deemed to have for better pay in Rio and Sao 7 euro. then the state used violence capitalism. Marx, on the other significant “market value.” And Paulo, and the continuing @ Mezrab, Veemkade 572D, to expel peasant farmers from hand, argued that capitalism while no investment is being demonstrations against Amsterdam their land so it could be used was not born of the savings made in public facilities for gentrification and against the commercially. Similarly today, of efficiently working people, education, recreation or political demolition of public commons 19 January 20:00 we are seeing the privatization but started with the violent participation, “mega-projects” in Istanbul and Ankara are Movie: The Spook Who of the last commons, of public expropriation of large segments such as the coming Olympic reflected in the popular slogan spaces and resources to ensure of the population of their means Games, which Rio will host in of the resistance in Turkey: Sat by the Door (1973) “This is just the beginning, the . In the 1970s the Black the continued accumulation of sufficiency, forcing them to 2016, are heavily funded by of capital. “The answer to become workers for wealthy the state and private sector. struggle will continue.” Power movement in America permanent accumulation,” elites. One of the main pillars This ‘commoditization of the was a serious threat to the establishment… and then here comes along this movie which depicts the story of a “negro Greece officer” who is enlisted into the CIA to learn their tactics of war, only to return back to Who guards the guardians? Chicago to train a gang of urban “freedom fighters”. The kindergartens and the day nurseries are filled with migrants while Greeks cannot even go inside. Enough is enough!...Migrants are @ Joe’s Garage, tyrants!...Since the Dorian invasion 4000 years ago, Greece has not faced an invasion of such a scale as today’s immigration. Pretoriusstraat 43, Amsterdam - Yannis Tzaninis in prison, met the colonels of members rushed to the site and and state resemble GD. A few 20 January 20:00 the 1970s-junta and became a the chief assassin stabbed him months ago, a Syrian-Palestin- Benefit dinner The statements above are sympathizer. In 1980 he start- in both the stomach and heart ian refugee asked the police for Stichting Kaikoesie not statements of the neo-Nazi ed publishing the magazine like a professional killer. help to find his family, missing Kaikoesie Foundation ‘s Golden Dawn (GD) party but “Golden Dawn” and in 1985 or- Intimidation and violence due to a wildfire. He was- ar main goal is to protect the of the Greek prime minister ganized the party of the same have always been the dominant rested for having no documents Indigenous people and and other prominent officials name. GD’s presence was trivial methods of GD. Several mem- and detained for more than a heritage in Suriname by of the ruling New Democracy until 1993 when rising tension bers of the party have previous month. When he was eventually creating awareness of the (ND) party. Members of ND between Greece and Macedonia or pending charges for violent released he learned his family disastrous environmental have occasionally expressed a allowed GD to parade itself as a crimes. A 2004 report by the had died in the fire. In addi- consequences of current desire to collaborate with GD, defender of Greek nationalism. Greek intelligence agency re- tion to herding undocumented practices of gold mining in claiming that the GD fascists Prior to 2012 GD had never won vealed that a large number of immigrants and refugees into Suriname. at worst “curse or smack more than 0.29% of the vote in GD members were armed, often detention camps, the Greek @ Joe’s Garage, some people around”. Some any election, but in May 2012 with weapons provided by the government has also been swift ND members have a history of it received 7% (almost half a ruling ND party which employed in implementing neoliberal re- Pretoriusstraat 43, Amsterdam fascist activities themselves. ND million votes) and preserved them as bodyguards. Moreover, forms and repressing strikes. parliamentarian Makis Voridis this percentage in a subsequent GD has strong relations with Austerity measures, adopted all 24-26 January once served as leader of the election. Until recently it held former and current army and over the EU, are applied in ex- 11th International youth branch of the pro-junta 18 seats out of 300, the fifth police officers. The violence of tremis in Greece. Symposium against party EPEN after current GD largest party in parliament. GD has now become institution- The recent crackdown may Isolation leader Nikolaos Michaloliakos Since 2009, GD’s strategy alized in political life and is con- have dealt GD a serious blow, For bread, justice and resigned from the position. has focused on anti-immigra- doned by a large portion of the but fascism is now well-rooted freedom: Let’s transport the The government’s rhetoric and tion rhetoric and action. They Greek bourgeoisie. Research on in Greece and EU rhetoric and spirit of resistance from Gezi public attitude towards the adopted tactics like escort- GD voters’ profiles shows them policies regarding immigra- Park to the world. Greek Nazis however shifted ing elderly Greeks to get their to be relatively well-educated tion and social welfare are fan- See: www.ipai-isolation.info suddenly after leftist rapper pension checks, opening cheap and often part of the petit- ning the flames. Michaloliakos Pavlos Fyssas was murdered by groceries (“only for Greeks”) bourgeoisie (19% small busi- will probably not write his own 31 Jan - 2 Feb members of GD. A crackdown and eventually assaulting immi- nesses owners voted for GD). ‘Mein Kampf’ in jail and Greece on the organisation has since grants and randomly checking Many employers threaten to will definitely not invade Poland. 2dh5: History as brought it to its knees, with its ID cards. Most of their activity call in GD when employees re- Nonetheless when a member inspiration for the leader and second-in-command took place (literally) in the dark act against being overworked or of GD was recently arrested, movement imprisoned. because of negative public re- under paid. the arresting officer was heard International activist sponses to their presence. An Despite its demagogy, GD apologising and saying he would symposium example of how their covert ac- has not challenged the govern- be honoured to have the Greek See: http://www.2dh5.nl Fascism in the making tions evolved is the tactics of ment’s neoliberal reforms or Nazis as his leaders. the death squad that murdered other pro-business provisions. The history of GD began Fyssas. After Fyssas was spot- There are many examples of with Michaloliakos who, while ted publically, dozens of GD how the Greek government