selected stories from www.anarchistnews.org Best of the Anarchist Tubes

The goal of anarchistnews.org is to provide a non-sectarian source for news about and of concern to anarchists. It is also to provide a location for community moderated discussion about such news. original publication and author given when available Everything has bias. The bias of anarchistnews.org is to promote an anarchist culture by providing a source of news Compiled for and commentary about and of interest to anarchists. The goal is not to advocate for a particular January 2009 anarchist practice but to serve a general anarchist need. vol I, 3

political education and propaganda in the an- Cleveland Anarchist archist community and in “the Left.” More Capitol Graffi ti, Black Cross in The Cleveland ABC is in dire straits! We Huge Cost Dire Straits are short on members and time, and grow- ing shorter by the minute. We need to fi nd From The Olympian - By Adam Wilson the bright minds and hard workers of this Dear Prison Abolitionists, Political region, north-east Ohio, and work togeth- In addition to the holiday displays going Activists, Revolutionaries, &c, er to amplify our message, to impact the in at the Capitol, there was considerable community, to build a strong network of effort in removing some unwanted decora- This letter is addressed to all those who wish resistance in our area. These are bad fuck- tion in the form of yet more anarchist graf- to see this misogynistic, homophobic, white ing times. Look at Marie Mason and the fi ti from the sandstone building. settler colonial society of the rich destroyed; Cincinnati anarchist community. Look at The fi gures, including a peace symbol and to all those who have no intention to com- the Green Scare. Look at the RNC 8, the an anarchist symbol, were painted next to promise or reconcile with the system of vio- SHAC 7, Anna the infi ltrator. Shit – look at the big bronze doors on the north entrance. lence and oppression which has dominated those still behind bars after twenty or more Indeed, state workers walked by the taped- years – Leonard Peltier, Alberto Torres, Os- more and more of the planet these past ten over marks as they shoved the holiday tree car Lopez, Mumia Abu-Jamal – look at As- thousand years or so; to those who view into the building this morning. sata. Look at Guantanamo and Gaza. And prisons and incarceration as an embodiment The Department of General Administra- look at Barack Obama and John McCain. of the nature of this civilization – of capi- tion puts the cost repairs at $16,000, three- talism, rooted in slavery, and of civilization Not to be a-historical — for what other quarters of it in labor. itself, based on subduing and domesticat- sorts of times has this society seen — but You may recall that this is the third time ing all living things; to all those who stake these are defi nitely bad times. So what are people have defaced the Capitol this year. your very survival on the outcome of the we going to do? First the columns, then in May, the interi- struggle against this empire. I am Josh from So here’s what we want to do: we want to or marble and the wall near the north en- the Cleveland , and I organize radical events in the area to put out address this letter to myself as much as to a message of non-negotiable revolutionary trance, and now near the doors on the same anyone else who comes into possession of it. struggle to draw together the community. entrance. The state says the latest incident We want to fi nd you, to work together, and We want to spread literature throughout the occurred just after the close of business to mutually support and inspire each other. area, to further political learning and discus- Wednesday – as everyone was heading home We need more participation and more part- sion. We want to get quality political propa- for the Thanksgiving holiday. nerships! ganda – video and audio – on the airwaves The Anarchist Black Cross is a group dedi- and on the internet, to connect with more http://anarchistnews.org/?q=node/5640 cated to supporting anarchist and other revo- people and reach out to new folks. And we lutionary political prisoners, to abolishing want to build strong partnerships and alli- She Looked Like a Mom prisons, and to destroying the state and civili- ances with groups in the area that share our zation, the banes of peace, freedom, and life. vision, goals, and passions; groups that we The organization has a long history through- can support and learn from, so that we can From Star Tribune - By Randy Furst out many revolutionary movements over the mutually benefi t. past century, and currently consists of numer- A deputy sheriff and two others infi ltrated ous independent groups around the world, in Yours in love, & till civilization crumbles, the RNC Welcoming Committee before Europe, South and North America. We are Robert Smith, Uma, Joshua Soybottom GOP convention. against all forms of oppression, going at it by Cleveland ABC On Aug. 31, 2007, Marilyn Hedstrom, attacking the root of things, and in our daily [email protected] who appeared to be in her early 50s, walked praxis in our group and our lives. We are un- http://myspace.com/clevelandabc into a run-down store-front where anar- fl inchingly LGBTQUU*-friendly, feminist, PO Box 602440 chists hung out on E. Lake Street in Min- anti-racist, and in solidarity with the struggles Cleveland, OH 44102 neapolis. against oppression worldwide. We work with She introduced herself as Norma Jean. political prisoners, and we are a machine for Asked by a man at the Jack Pine Center

1 why she was there, she said she had issues any reports by the undercover operatives, did not come as a complete shock.” with President Bush and the Iraq war. “I also declined to allow interviews with the Cop was almost outed told him I was interested in helping the three from his offi ce. ... While Hedstrom blended in, Dugger cause and interested in participating in the Watch, but don’t suggest gave off different vibes and was often under protesting,” she later wrote in reports re- Based on what they and the FBI informer a cloud of suspicion. In his late 20s, he was viewed by the Star Tribune. found, a full investigation was launched, al- “kind of muscular,” had tattoos and looked What she did not tell him is that she was lowing undercover agents to attend private like a biker, says Katrina Plotz, a member a deputy sheriff for the Ramsey County meetings and participate in the group so of the Anti-War Committee. Sheriff’s Offi ce. Along with two other un- long as they did not suggest criminal activi- At one meeting of various groups, “some- dercover sheriff’s operatives and an FBI in- ties, he said. body made a joke that based on looks, he’s former, she had been assigned to infi ltrate The sheriff’s investigation cost about the one who looks like a cop,” Plotz said. “He the RNC Welcoming Committee, which $300,000, Fletcher said. He’s asking the kind of smiled and didn’t say anything.” was planning street blockades at the 2008 city of St. Paul to reimburse his offi ce from At a meeting where Hedstrom was the Republican National Convention. $50 million in federal funds for convention facilitator, a kind of chairperson, an anar- She went “dumpster diving” at the group’s security. chist expressed concern that he was a cop, instructions to fi nd food for the anarchists Hedstrom, a narcotics offi cer, was part- a report said. Dugger “became emotional to eat. She cooked meals for some meetings, nered with Rachel Nieting, a guard in the and told them how bad he felt, he wiped his ran errands, coordinated committee discus- county jail. Nieting, in her 20s, posed as eyes and blew his nose.” He denied he was sions and represented the organization at Amanda, Hedstrom’s niece. A third opera- an informer. some gatherings of the protest movement. tive, Chris Dugger, was a confi dential paid The memo said two anarchists told him She became friends of some of the activists. informant who has since become a jail guard they “don’t think he is a cop. They said a And she, ironically, even helped on secu- and has taken tests to become a deputy. cop would have just walked away and never rity for the anarchists, who worried that the Agent was like a mom returned and wouldn’t cry.” cops were infi ltrating them. Nieting, now a deputy, halted her under- Dugger even got into the act. By August For a year Deputy Hedstrom led a dou- cover work after a few months. Fletcher he was urging an anarchist to suspect an- ble life as Norma Jean Johnson, fi ling her said she “didn’t have the level of acceptance other anarchist of being an informer. ... recollections, often daily, with the Special that Marilyn had.” Hedstrom told an anar- Nieting wrote that she and Hedstrom were Investigations Unit, as did the other opera- chist that Amanda dropped out after fi nd- the only two women to join Karen Redleaf tives. The covert operation was not with- ing a new boyfriend. at a “women’s Welcoming Committee” out drama. When one informant was ac- Most of the anarchists were decades meeting. Redleaf, a committee member, cused of being a cop, he broke into tears, younger than Hedstrom, but Fletcher said talked about how disconnected she felt and convincing his accusers that they were mis- that posed no problem. “We’re not always was only coming to Sunday meetings be- taken, according to a report. looking for a person that seems to fi t per- cause Norma Jean was there. ... “Their function was critical to the success fectly,” he said. “Someone that is not an ob- of the investigation,” said Ramsey County vious fi t ... is least likely to be suspected.” Staff writer Pat Pheifer contributed to this re- Sheriff Robert Fletcher. “These are diffi - Also, he said, pairing Hedstrom and Niet- port. [email protected] • 612-673-7382 cult roles. You need to be a good actor.” ... ing increased their safety. Fletcher said many allegations [re: the RNC Hedstrom settled into her covert role. http://anarchistnews.org/?q=node/5639 Welcoming Committee arrests] are based on “Norma Jean looked like somebody’s reports from the undercover personnel. mom,” recalls Meredith Aby, a member Robert Kolstad, attorney for one of the of the Anti-War Committee, a group that eight, said much of the evidence is based on occasionally met with the anarchists. “She Introducing AntiCiv. net hyperbolic comments made by Welcoming was treated by the Welcoming Committee Committee members that had little to do as if she were one of their own.” Anticiv.net is an online resource for an- with their intentions. “Despite the rheto- Betsy Raasch-Gilman, 56, who helped raise archy, green , and anarcho-prim- ric, there was never reasonable expectation money with Hedstrom on the Welcoming itivism and is meant to serve as a library by anyone to shut down the convention,” Committee, said they sometimes discussed for texts of those who have participated he said. family and grandchildren. “To this day, I in critiquing this death-culture, in addi- Members of the RNC Eight have an- don’t know how much was put-on and how tion to the psychological and technologi- nounced plans to hold a news conference much was real,” she said. Raasch-Gilman cal mechanisms that perpetuate it. We also Tuesday to criticize Ramsey County Attor- learned that Hedstrom was undercover after have a news section to explore the daily ney Susan Gaertner, whose offi ce is pros- court documents were fi led. “I wonder how costs of this system, as well as responses to ecuting the case. she lives with her conscience,” she said of it, putting together information to offer a The Star Tribune reviewed 1,000 pages Hedstrom. “She knows the truth of the mat- look into what this culture’s damage is on of reports by the three who spied for the ter. We were not conspiring to riot.” humyns, non-humyns, and the Earth. sheriff. The reports were obtained by a Nathanael Secor, one of the RNC Eight, Our critics will assert that it is hypocritical source with access to the documents. The said “a level of comradeship” developed to have a website advocating the destruc- newspaper has not seen most of the reports between activists and the operatives and it tion of technology and civilization. While from an FBI informer who Fletcher says was disappointing to learn they were spies. this is used as a way to divert away from provided “the best information.” Fletcher, Still, he says, “We had the feeling we were actually refuting the substance of what who did not provide the newspaper with under surveillance from the beginning. It those of us who are against this system say, 2 we do not deny that it is hypocritical. The simply are not thick enough that we are going Both sides of the technology debate can be internet is a convenient way to spread our to pretend the technological situation can be wrong. message and so for the time being, we fi nd salavaged and in our view people are no more convenience in doing so. We have no de- important than any other creature and should poster c: I think your example here is more tell- sire to get into petty arguments over who not be running rough shod over the rest of ex- ing than you know. Europe was on the verge is better for what ways they are choosing istence. of collapse because of expanding population to spread their message, and would just like the third view also, again, applies to people in an isolated resource ; and then they ex- to remind all who would criticize us for like dave foreman... our critique applies most panded. The same point is being presented to such to remember that ad hominem’s are vehemently to the developed world and we do the human species as a whole - we need to take still a fallacy, and the necessity of the inter- not wish to simply stop developement where the pressure off, and there is only one place net only speaks to the pervasiveness of this it is: we wish to destroy it, to scale it back. we left to expand to. While I understand that this dominant culture. are not simply saying china, india, or africa ‘expansion’ is essentially problematic for you shouldn’t get to be civilized whereas we are and other anti-civs, it doesn’t HAVE to be perefectly in our rights (rights are a fi ction this way - the emergence of consciousness and most of us reject, by the way). no, this cul- technology in an already-stable biosphere is poster a: i have heard no intellegent critiques ture, this developed world, is the scourge of defi nitely destructive, but the eventually nec- of the idea that technology is unsustainable, existence itself, expanding it can only make it essary fi nal stage of expansion - outside of this for example, i have heard a bunch of fl at out worse and as far as we are concerned where biosphere - doesn’t have the same issues, in divorced from context ignorant timid bullshit it exists it must come down and at any rate that the rest of the solar system is for the most about how wind or solar power will save us. will come down one way or another even if part just a bunch of rocks. Very, very beauti- i have also heard nothing stating how we can we never have anything to say about it. ful rocks that I will be grief-stricken to see have technological mass social structures colonized or deconstructed or whatever, but without being slaves to them and without poster b: My point with people labeling prac- I take comfort in the further infi nity of natu- dragging others (human or non) who don’t tices as “anarchic” is simply that ral astronomical wonders in the universe, and wish to come along for the ride. has a specifi c history much like capitalism. the virtual beauties emergent in the continued the only three intellegent critiques i have Milton Friedman was fond of traveling the growth and evolution of culture. ever heard regarding anti-civ or primitivist globe and labeling all kinds of practices “free ideas are very pifi ling and don’t really apply market” to serve his political ambitions, and much more at - http://anarchistnews. to most people i know of this identity. the fi rst I fi nd many self-described anarchists doing org/?q=node/5683&page=1 is that we believe gathering and hunting peo- similar things. ple never had to deal with any sort of drama, I didn’t object to the AP critique of technol- that life was perfect and suffering completely ogy, I agree with it, but isn’t Disney’s ‘Wall-E’ unknown. the second is that we are misnan- in agreement with it? And beyond that it seems Brian MacKenzie thropes who simply want to see people, or at that almost everyone is saying: “our industrial Closes least civilized people, suffer see people “pay lifestyle is unsustainable… the end is nigh.” My for what they have done”. the third is envi- point is that there is nothing radical about that From Washington Post - By Stephen Lowman ronmental racism, that we are simply greedy statement. Of course all of this is unsustain- developed world fucks who don’t like the idea able, I am unsustainable. At the Brian MacKenzie Infoshop, two of our priveleges being shared with black and I actually think that I take the AP critique of binders contain every event fl ier distributed brown people and so we rail about world de- industrial society more seriously than the AP by the store in its half-decade as a hub for velopement out of insecurity in our privelege. set does. If you believe as I do, and the Stratig- radicals in the nation's capital. the fi rst point is something i have noticed in raphy Commission of the Geological Society And now the fi nal fl ier, saying goodbye to primitivist writing, or how it can be taken, but of London, that we have left the Holocene era all that. It announced that the store will close it really isn’t applicable...at any rate niether and entered into the Anthropocene which is at the end of the month, leaving Beltway an- we nor our critics have “hung out” with very characterized by “a stratigraphic interval with- archists without a space to call their own in many or any gatherer hunters and the op- out close parallel in the last several million the city synonymous with federal power. pisite, hobbesian outlook, is equally if not years.” In addition to the buildup of green- For 5 1/2 years, a basement room at Ninth and P streets NW in the Shaw neighborhood more stupid (we would never have survived if house gases, the stratigraphers cite human has been part store, part resource center for that argument were true and we have lasted landscape transformation which “now exceeds radical activists in Washington -- a nonprofi t for a few million years as a species if i am not [annual] natural sediment production by an run by volunteers, following an- mistaken). order of magnitude, the ominous acidifi cation archist principles. as to the second this applies to people like of the oceans, and the relentless destruction of In May 2003, the Brian MacKenzie Info- biota… the combination of extinctions, global dave foreman who founded the original earth shop opened, named for an American Uni- fi rst but then dave foreman is not an anarchist, species migrations and the widespread re- versity freshman who was active in the radi- he is a conservative by his own admission, he placement of natural vegetation with agricul- cal community and died of a heart condition also accepts the idea of property. most of us tural monocultures is producing a distinctive in 1999. Punk rocker Ian MacKaye, the front have, myself for certain, trouble sleeping at contemporary biostratigraphic signal. These man for such D.C.-based bands as Minor night contemplating the mess humanity is in, effects are permanent, as future evolution will Threat and Fugazi, co-signed the lease. that we live in an unsustainable culture and take place from surviving (and frequently an- ... many people we care deeply about could die thropogenically relocated) stocks.” because of this fact, including ourselves. we ... http://anarchistnews.org/?q=node/5675

3 SPECIAL INSERT ON GREECE

nena, Komotini and many more cities. ... the victim. "They are killing children for Athen Polytechnic “On Sunday the 7th December, thousands no reason." Occupation of people demonstrate towards the police The Prime Minister, Costas Karamanlis, Communique headquarters in Athens, attacking the riot defended his government's reaction to the police. Clashes of unprecedented tension revolt. "The country needs a steady hand spread in the streets of the city centre, last- on the wheel," the daily Ekathimerini re- “On Saturday December 6, 2008, Alex- ing until late at night. Many demonstrators ported him saying. "Attempts by the young andros Grigoropoulos, a 15-year old com- are injured and a number of them are ar- to express their concerns must not be con- rade, was murdered in cold blood, with a rested. ... fused with the activities of extremists." bullet in the chest by a cop in the area of “In the barricades, the university occupa- His preoccupation was understandable. Exarchia. tions, the demonstrations and the assem- Within less than two hours of Alexis's death “Contrary to the statements of politicians blies we keep alive the memory of Alex- last Saturday, the anarchists of Exarchia, and journalists who are accomplices to the andros, but also the memory of Michalis alerted by texts and the internet before the murder, this was not an “isolated incident”, Kaltezas and of all the comrades who were conventional media had even reported the but an explosion of the state repression which murdered by the state, strengthening the shooting, were staging their fi rst protest. systematically and in an organised manner struggle for a world without masters and Within 24 hours they had brought in their targets those who resist, those who revolt, slaves, without police, armies, prisons and train an unprecedentedly broad spectrum the anarchists and anti-authoritarians. borders. ... of outraged citizens. “It is the peak of state terrorism which is State terrorism shall not pass! "People from 12 to 70 have taken part in expressed with the upgrading of the role of We demand the immediate release of all the revolt," claimed an anarchist website repressive mechanisms, their continuous those arrested in the events of 7th-8th De- yesterday. "People who would never have armament, the increasing levels of violence cember. expected to fi nd themselves in such a situ- they use, with the doctrine of “zero toler- We are sending our solidarity to everyone ation. Fashionable youth, respectable fam- ance”, with the slandering media propagan- occupying universities, demonstrating and ily men, elderly ladies, all those normally da that criminalises those who are fi ghting clashing with the state murderers all over labelled 'the common people'." against authority. the country. What have been dubbed the fi rst credit “It is these conditions that prepare the - The Occupation of the Polytechnic crunch riots thus took on the features of ground for the intensifi cation of repres- University in Athens a new and ominously effective social re- sion, attempting to extract social consent volt that relegated all the conventional beforehand, and arming the weapons of http://anarchistnews.org/?q=node/5687 forces of the left to the sidelines. Greece's state murderers in uniform! anarchists, pejoratively known as the kou- “Lethal violence against the people in the koulofori (balaclava-wearers), have been a social and class struggle is aiming at every- force since they emerged during the violent body’s submission, serving as exemplary clashes that accompanied the G8 summit in punishment, meant to spread fear. Greek Concessions Genoa in 2001. Today they are a presence “It is part of the wider attack of the state Fail to Stop Riots in both university areas such as Exarchia and the bosses against the entire society, in and many other urban neighbourhoods, order to impose more rigid conditions of From UK Independent - By By Peter Popham and and their numbers include not just stu- exploitation and oppression, to consolidate Nikolas Zirganos dents, but the local plumber or electrician, control and repression. From school and unemployed youths living at the corner and universities to the dungeons of waged slav- Anarchist groups blamed for exploiting football hooligans. They have a foothold ery with the hundreds of dead workers in shooting of teenager right across the country. the so-called “working accidents” and the Greek rioters were back in action this The different groups vary, from studi- poverty embracing large numbers of the weekend, fi rebombing fi ve banks and a ously political ones who hark back to 19th- population… branch offi ce of the New Democracy par- century anarchist pioneers such as Kro- “From the fi rst moment after the murder ty. There were no injuries, though nearby potkin and Proudhon, to groups involved of Alexandros, spontaneous demonstrations shops suffered damage. And one week after in squats and those committed to violent and riots burst in the center of Athens, the the shooting death of 15-year-old Alexis action. Some talk in moderate tones, oth- Polytechnic, the Economic and the Law Grigoropolous, his schoolfriends and family, ers rob banks. What they share is the will- Schools are being occupied and attacks wearing white and carrying fl owers, gath- ingness to come together with great speed against state and capitalist targets take place ered peacefully yesterday at the spot in the behind a common cause. in many different neighborhoods and in the Exarchia quarter of Athens where he died. In a state where the police are despised for city centre. Demonstrations, attacks and "We're here to show our grief and sorrow, their arbitrary violence, and are increasing- clashes erupt in Thessaloniki, Patras, Volos, because no one understands us," said 16- ly incapable of carrying out normal law and Chania and Heraklion in Crete, in Gian- year-old Irini, a pupil at the same school as

4 order functions, these lawless groups have lice bus parked outside. acquired extraordinary infl uence. They at- Vancouver Students blocked streets in Athens and tack people and property identifi ed with Royal Bank of Canada dozens of teenagers gathered outside the the state and with capitalism, yet they take capital’s main court complex and a maxi- pains not to cause serious injury or death. Smashed mum security prison—where some threw As they subscribe to none of the discredited stones at police. ideologies of the past, the state has its work Protesters have called for riot offi cers to cut out demonising them. On Saturday the 13th December a group be pulled off the streets, for police to be dis- The Greek anarchists' power was con- of anarchists smashed the windows of the armed and for the government to revise its fi rmed on Friday when, despite the vio- RBC at Hastings and Nanaimo. We took economic, social and education policies. lence in the streets, the Justice Ministry the slogan from Greece “SOLIDARITY The protests have brought higher educa- said it would go ahead with the release MEANS ATTACK” to heart. Against dom- tion in Greece to a standstill. Lessons have of about 40 per cent of the prisoners in ination in all its forms from Olympic devel- stopped at more than 100 secondary schools Greece's jails to relieve overcrowding. The opment and police murder on Coast Salish that are under occupation by students, ac- government's concession was the victori- territories to their equivalent in Greece and cording to the Education Ministry. Scores ous conclusion to a hunger strike by pris- the world over. of university buildings across Greece are oners and a month-long campaign outside also occupied. the prisons by anarchists. They have also After the shooting death of 15-year-old fought against proposals to create private Alexandros Grigoropoulos, furious youths universities. smashed and burnt hundreds of shops in "If all this doesn't bring the ," Greek Youths Athens’ main shopping area, and attacked commented the anarchist site about the riot police who responded with massive present clashes, "at least we should enjoy Take Over State tear gas. ourselves in this process of humanisation" TV Center Dozens of people have been injured in the – by which they mean wrecking banks and rioting, while more than 300 people have other "dehumanising" capitalist institutions. been arrested. The policeman accused of By Nicholas Paphitis AP Writer killing the teenager has been charged with http://anarchistnews.org/?q=node/5765 ATHENS, Greece (AP) - Protesters forced murder and is being held pending trial. their way into Greece’s state NET television In the northern port of Thessaloniki, riot news studio Tuesday and interrupted a news police fi red tear gas Tuesday to disperse 300 broadcast featuring the prime minister so youths throwing fruit and stones outside the Three Bank of they could urge viewers to join mass anti- city’s main court complex. The disturbance America Locations government demonstrations. followed a court decision that found eight For more than a minute, about 10 youths police offi cers guilty of abusing a student Attacked in Santa Cruz blocked a broadcast showing a speech by following riots two years ago. Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis. In- The policemen received suspended sentenc- stead, they displayed banners reading: es ranging from three years and three months Last night rocks were thrown through the “Stop watching, get out onto the streets,” for grievous bodily harm to 15 months for be- windows of 2 Bank of Americas and one and “Free everyone who has been arrest- ing an accessory to the abuse. other ATM location. We did this because ed.” No one was hurt, and no arrests were In a symbolic gesture meant to revive riot- the uprising of our comrades in Greece, reported. shocked Athens, city authorities will light England, Moscow and elsewhere will not NET chairman Christos Panagopoulos a large Christmas tree Tuesday on central go without a response. People here are claimed the protesters violently forced their Syntagma Square—which has been at the killed by cops, screwed by banks, and we way into the studio. “This goes beyond any center of many of the protests. The tree re- will revolt with just as much fury. These limit,” he said. places one burnt during last week’s riots. and the outbreaks in Europe show that it is It was the latest twist in 11 days of riots and Overnight, arsonists attacked three Athens simply for us to respond in the most direct protests after a policeman shot and killed a banks with petrol bombs, causing extensive way to the forces of repression in order for 15-year-old boy on Dec. 6. The violent pro- damage. There were no injuries or arrests. them to fall. tests have evolved from being just aimed at Every year, small anarchist groups carry out We chose Bank of America because of Greek police to being highly critical of Kara- dozens of fi rebombings in Greece against their exemplary demonstration of capital- manlis’ conservative government. government property, banks and diplomatic ism’s principles (sic). Funding toxic coal vehicles. projects, selling out workers, in bed with Karamanlis has rejected mounting de- mands to resign and call new elections. the government… Rather than many banks Copyright 2008 The Associated Press. All rights who worship money over people, we chose Earlier Tuesday, masked youths attacked riot police headquarters in Athens and pro- reserved. This material may not be published, to stick it to one bank that worships money broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. more than people. After all, it is a bank. But testers clashed with police in the northern city of Thessaloniki. we’ll be back. http://anarchistnews.org/?q=node/5760 Anarchists Police said 30 youths threw petrol bombs and stones at the riot police building, caus- http://anarchistnews.org/?q=node/5721 ing extensive damage to seven cars and a po-

5 Olympia Queers Attack International Day of Colorado: Bank Mormon Church in Solidarity With Greece Attacked in Solidarity Solidarity with Greece “We don’t forget, we don’t’forgive” A Wells-Fargo bank in Fort Collins, Col- We had a great last night sneaking about – day of international action against state orado had a window smashed last night. in snow covered Olympia. murders, 20 – 12 - 2008 This action was in solidarity with the social We paid another visit to the bigots over insurrection in Greece and with immigrants at the Mormon Church. We covered their Today (Friday), the assembly of the occu- and prisoners everywhere. It was also done building with messages in spray paint, such pied Athens Polytechnic decided to make as against capitalism. things as “there is no sin in your desire”, a callout for European and global-wide Not only is Wells-Fargo one of the major “love who you want to love and love how actions of resistance in the memory of all institutions of capitalism, it also invests in you please”, “sex is fun! It’s not shameful”, assassinated youth, migrants and all those the Geo Group, a corporation that builds “queer and trans insurrection” and many, who were struggling against the lackeys of and operates ICE prisons and the u.s. pris- many, many, many others. We also left them the state. Carlo Juliani; the French suburb on camp at Guantanomo. a surprise, it’s a pretty big one, we think youths; Alexandros Grigoropoulos and the In the shattering of the bank window, we they’ll notice it within a few days. countless others, all around the world. Our hear the voice of resistance. Give fuel to The Mormons are an atrocious bunch lives do not belong to the states and their the fi re! and, well, it just felt amazing to fuck up assassins! The memory of the assassinated their holy place, especially on an early Sun- brothers and sisters, friends and comrades day morning with the snowfl akes glistening stays alive through our struggles! We do in the street lamps. They have been so ac- not forget our brothers and sisters, we do Wild Night in NYC: tive in suppressing their fl ocks sexual urges not forgive their murderers. Please trans- Solidarity with Greece through instilling bankrupt ideas of moral- late and spread around this message for a ity and shame, we hope that a few people common day of coordinated actions of re- & Student Occupiers read that and went home to commit loving sistance in as many places around the world acts of sodomy. as possible. From Athens to Avenue A: We’re also pretty fucking fed up with the A group of 40-50 individuals assembled http://www.occupiedlondon.org/blog way those Mormons have been giving us shortly after 9pm in Tompkins Square Park queer and trans people so much shit, they Original callout: http://athens.indymedia.org/front. in Manhattan's Lower East Side last night. treat us like we’re some sort of plague that php3?lang=el&article_id=943356 Carrying banners they took to the streets they need to quarantine before it spreads. marching north on Avenue A., the site of When actually this plague is something in- the well known tompkins square park ri- nate in us as humans, you can’t quarantine ots of 1989. The group began chanting us, cause we already exist inside of every- Anarchist vs Journalist anti police slogans, as well as anti-capital- one. We are desire, we are freedom, we are ist chants. Fliers were handed out talking acting on urges and possibilities, we are From the Christian Science Monitor about the Greek revolt as well as problems passion, we are a break from the routine, here like police brutality, the economic cri- from the expected, from the drudgery, we Hostility toward journalists has been on the sis and gentrifi cation. are the nibble on your earlobe, the sex in rise in Greece – making it increasingly diffi - As the crowd made its way west construc- the forest or the kiss under the stars. We are cult for reporters to cover the story, says cor- sexy, sexy, anarchists. respondent Nicole Itano. "Anarchist groups tion materials and newspaper boxes were Around the world people are breaking away have often targeted journalists, whom they dragged into the streets making blockades. from their dreary slumber, rejecting the te- see as part of the establishment," she says. At this point Anarchist grafi tti was painted diousness of their boring lives and fi nding Photographers and cameramen bear the on the walls and a yuppie condo was de- meaning in attacking systems of misery. Let brunt of their anger because they can't blend faced. Allegedly a couple of luxury cars had this be a call out for more actions, bigger into the crowd. Over the past few days, sev- their windows broken. Marchers chanted ones, and bigger still. We want nothing from eral have been seriously beaten by protest- "From New York to Greece, Fuck the Po- their world to stand, we want to create our ers or had their equipment smashed. lice" own world, where everything is possible and "The protesters aren't targeting ordinary As the march took over the 4 lanes of 3rd everything is permitted. people, but police and journalists have be- Ave, police moved in attacking the march. We did this in solidarity with those sexy come fair targets," says Nicole. "As a re- The crowd scattered and 1 person was ar- Greek rioters we’ve been hearing so much porter, in some ways it feels like reporting rested. The others fl ed into the night re- about. Damn, those kids really know how from a war zone, even though most of the grouping at the New School occupation to turn us on, they get us all warm inside on violence is directly at property. But you shortly after.... these cold winter nights. We wish we could constantly have to worry about what side of "New School for " grab a few of those Greeks by the balaclava the line you're on -- if you're with the pro- The New School building at 65 5th ave had and just… well you know… testers, they can turn on you. If you're with been occupied by students on Wednesday More attacks to cum. police, you're in the line of fi re from rocks night. On thursday morning they expanded An underground cell of Bash Back! and Molotov cocktails." their occupation after repelling an attack by the NYPD. One member of APOC NYC http://anarchistnews.org/?q=node/5758 http://anarchistnews.org/?q=node/5763 was arrested in these scuffl es, but was re-

6 leased later that night. These riots are not coming out of nowhere. At night hundreds of supporters lined the Greece & the Masked anarchists setting fi res and fi ghting streets in front of the building, chanting in Insurrection to Come the police have been common in Greece support. The crowed swelled and spilling since before the turn of the century. In 1999, out onto 5th avenue. As the NYPD brought From Crimethinc shortly before the Seattle WTO protests, in metal protest pens in an attempt to con- there were major riots when Bill Clinton trol the growing crowds, a shoving match What’s It All About? visited. At the time, the economy was liveli- broke out and people poured onto 5th av- The corporate media has ignored the ban- er—and the socialists were in power, which enue blocking the street completely. Trash ners decrying police brutality and unac- seems to contradict the theory that the cur- and newspaper boxes were thrown into the countable authority, seizing instead on the rent unrest is simply a result of dissatisfac- street with the crowd chanting "From New idea that the unrest is the result of wide- tion with the conservative government. York to Greece, Fuck the Police!" spread unemployment and poor economic Corporate media generally ignore anar- The crowd then surged around the corner prospects for young Greeks. Thus prompt- chists, trivializing them with qualifi ers such to an emergency exit which was held open ed, many people—including some radi- as “self-styled” when they refer to them at as dozens of supporters and students ran cals—have focused on these issues as well. all. That corporate outlets have been forced inside to join the occupation. At such a distance, we are not equipped to to detail the anarchist involvement in these An hour later Bob Kerrey, the much hated speak on the causes of the riots or the moti- and other struggles in Greece attests to president of the New School, was booed as vations of the participants, but we know bet- the depth and seriousness of anarchist ac- he left the building after trying to negotiate ter than to trust the media. Some corporate tivity. Leftists may attempt to portray the demands. He was chased down fi fth avenue outlets have gone so far as to announce—in events in Greece as a general uprising of “the people,” and certainly countless “nor- surrounded by security as people chanted language that might be less surprising in a magazine like Rolling Thunder—that the mal” people have participated, but it is clear "Kerrey Scum Your Time Has Come" and events in Greece may presage the second even from this vantage point that anarchists tomatoes were thrown at him. He was fol- coming of the anti-globalization movement started the rioting and have remained the lowed as he ran to his posh townhouse thought to be vanquished after September most infl uential element within it. around the corner at 21 West 11th Street 11, 2001. Though this might be true, we We hypothesize that the rioting in Greece between 5th and 6th Avenue where police should hesitate to let the corporate media is not simply an inevitable result of eco- were forced to come to his aid. There was a provide us with our narrative, lest it prove nomic recession, but a proactive radical ini- feeling of victory as crowds continued into to be a Trojan horse. tiative that speaks to the general public. the night. If the riots are not about Alexandros after Though the rioting was provoked by the Unfortunately late in the night the more all, are we to believe that—were the econo- murder of Alexandros, it is only possible liberal, and bureaucratic elements among my more stable—it would be acceptable to because of preexisting infrastructures and the occupiers prevailed to end the occupa- shoot down 15-year-olds? After all, police social currents—otherwise, such murders tion after winning a few paltry demands kill people all the time in the United States would catalyze uprisings in the US as well. (including compensation for school secu- without anyone smashing a single store Such an immediate and resolute response rity guards guarding the occupation!). Ker- window over it. Is this simply because we would not have occurred if anarchists in rey is still president even though for a few have a lower unemployment rate? Greece had not developed a culture con- moments he had to run for his life from Should we accept that the rage being vented ducive to it. Thanks to a network of social enraged students. in Greece is economic in origin, the implica- centers, a deep-seated sense that neighbor- More happened in NYC last night than tion is that it could be dispelled by economic hoods such as the one in which Alexandros has gone on for a while in this city. The solutions—and there are capitalist solutions was killed are liberated zones off-limits to march from Tompkins Square Park was for the crisis in no shorter supply than social- police, and a tradition of resistance extend- called explicitly in solidarity with greece ist ones. Perhaps the exploitation, misery, and ing back through generations, Greek anar- and the occupations and rioting in Greece unemployment currently rampant in Greece chists feel entitled to their rage and capable was cited as a motivation for many of the could be exported to some meeker nation, or of acting upon it. In recent years, a series more 'radical' students to occupy the New else enough credit could be extended to the of struggles against the prison system, the School. It feels like things are changing disaffected stone-throwers that they could mistreatment of immigrants, and the priva- here in NYC, our collective fear is being come to identify as middle class themselves. tization of schools have given innumerable shed like dead skin as we realize that our These approaches have worked before; one young people experience in militant action. lives depend on using every chance we get might even argue that they have driven the As soon as the text messages circulated an- to fi ght for our liberation. More is sure to process of capitalist globalization. nouncing the police killing, Greek anar- come in the months that follow. If Greece could somehow be transformed chists knew exactly how to respond, because As the New School occupiers stated: "Be into Sweden—if every nation could be Swe- they had done so time and again before. assured, this is only the beginning, " den, without any having to be Nigeria—would The general public in Greece is already it be OK to shoot teenagers then? They shoot sympathetic to resistance movements, ow- To the coming insurrection, from Athens anarchists in Sweden too, you know. ing to the heritage of struggle against the to New York City! To the extent to which the resistance in US-supported dictatorship. In this regard, Greece is simply an expression of frustration Greece is similar to Chile, another nation at dim fi nancial prospects, then, it is possible noted for the intensity of its street confl icts that it can ultimately be defused or co-opt- and class warfare. With the murder of Al- ed. But there are other forces at work here, exandros, anarchists fi nally had a narrative which the corporate account de-emphasizes. that was compelling to a great number of

7 people. In another political context, liberals freezes our conscience." The mainstream media simply cannot or other opportunists might have been able The international ripples are also tangible. stomach the notion that what is happening to exploit this tragedy to their own ends, but Solidarity demonstrations and attacks on in Greece is by now a proactive social re- the Greek anarchists forestalled this possi- Greek embassies have taken place around volt against the capitalist system itself and bility by immediately seizing the initiative the globe, from Moscow to New York and the state institutions that reinforce it. It is and framing the terms of the confl ict. Copenhagen to Mexico City. Declarations time to acknowledge that the Greek anar- It’s Not the Economy, Stupid and manifestos issued by student assemblies chist movement has successfully seized the That is to say, it’s always the economy. But at Greek schools are almost immediately initiative after the killing of one of its own, it’s not just the economic hardships accom- translated and posted online in English, framing the issues in a way that appeals to a panying times of recession—the resistance French, Italian, Turkish and Serbian. larger - albeit mostly young - public. in Greece is also a revolt against the exploi- In the fi rst few days of the revolt, bloggers Few people realize that the Greek anar- tation, alienation, and hierarchy inherent were trying to put together a list of all the chist movement is appreciably the largest in the capitalist system, that set the stage solidarity actions taking place, but the task in the world, in proportion to its country's for police to murder teenagers whether or proved impossible: There have been liter- population. It also enjoys wide social sup- not a signifi cant percentage of the popula- ally hundreds of them; thousands of people port due to its legacy of resistance to the tion is unemployed. have taken to the streets. Last Saturday, a military dictatorship from 1967 to 1974. Anarchists in the United States face a global day of action against police violence Highly confrontational demonstrations are much different context than their Greek saw raucous demonstrations in over 30 cit- a matter of regularity in Greece. It is practi- colleagues. Greece is a peripheral partici- ies worldwide. cally a bimonthly occurrence for anarchists pant in the European Union, while the US The corporate press has trotted out vari- and police to engage in fi ery street battles in remains the epicenter of global capitalism, ous theories to explain the cause of the Thessaloniki or Athens. The current events with a correspondingly more powerful re- unrest - frustration with a corrupt govern- are only marked by their breadth and dura- pressive apparatus. The legal consequences ment, the global fi nancial crisis, and dis- tion, not by their level of militancy. of participating in confrontations with the content among Greece's youth, who face Another rarely appreciated factor is that police are potentially more severe in the meager prospects of secure employment or Greece is a country in which the security US, at least in proportion to the support welfare rights - the riots being a blind reac- apparatus is normally kept on a relatively for arrestees. Much of the population is tion to objective conditions. tight leash. For example, Privacy Interna- more conservative, and both radical and op- But all these explanations are in fact de- tional's 2007 assessment of leading surveil- pressed communities are more fragmented, owing to the tremendous numbers of people coys intended to silence and ignore the lance societies found Greece to be the only in prison and the transience enforced by the rebels' own declared motivations. country in the world with "adequate safe- job market. There is little continuity in tra- A declaration by the students occupying the guards" against the abuse of government ditions of resistance—in most communities, Athens School of Economics was quite clear power to spy on its citizenry. The legacy of the collective anarchist memory does not about how they see the issue: "The demo- the dictatorship has created a lasting image stretch back beyond a decade at the most. cratic regime in its peaceful facade doesn't of the police as inherently oppressive, even The events in Greece are inspiring, but US kill an Alex every day, precisely because it among the middle class. anarchists can probably learn more from the kills thousands of Ahmets, Fatimas, Jorjes, Will the riots in Greece lead to an anti- infrastructures behind them than from the Jin Tiaos and Benajirs: because it assassi- capitalist revolution? Only if the opening superfi cial aspects of the clashes. nates systematically, structurally and without they have torn in the social fabric widens ... remorse the entirety of the third world .... and deepens, involving ever-growing sec- "The cardinals of normality weep for the tions of society and creating new grass-roots much more at - http://anarchistnews. org/?q=node/5763 law that was violated from the bullet of the institutions alongside the destruction of the pig Korkoneas [the policeman who shot old. This seems unlikely in the short term, A Road to Revolution? Grigoropoulos]. But who doesn't know that as bureaucratic labor unions and the Com- the force of the law is merely the force of munist Party attempt to domesticate the re- From Haaretz - By Uri Gordon the powerful? That it is law itself that allows volt and cut their own political coupon with for the exercise of violence on violence? The their demand to disarm the police. Three weeks have passed since the unpro- law is void from end to bitter end; it contains But there is no doubt that a new bench- voked police murder of 15-year-old Alexan- no meaning, no target other than the coded mark has been set for what can be expected dros Grigoropoulos in Athens, and the riots power of imposition." in Western countries during the coming engulfi ng Greece show no sign of abating. Or, in another declaration, this one anony- era of economic depression and environ- While the student occupations of the capi- mous: "What do we seek? Equality. Political, mental decay. European governments will tal's three universities (Economics, Polytech- economic, social. Between all people. Our no doubt ratchet up their policies of sur- nic and the law faculty) are expected to end possibility of convincing the servile consum- veillance and repression in anticipation of soon, a major student demonstration has been ers to refuse being commodities and subjects growing civil unrest. But that may not be called for January 9, and the protests, street is rather limited. What can we do? Ravage enough to keep the population subdued, as clashes and seizures of television and radio and plunder the market, distribute the goods crisis after crisis calls the existing arrange- stations are set to continue in full force. to everybody, dissolve the myths that sup- ment of power and privilege into question. A Greek blogger wrote this week: "We port inequality." have a duty to move here, there, anywhere These are no single-issue protests or vague Uri Gordon is the author of "Anarchy Alive!: An- but back to our couches as mere viewers grievances. This is full-blooded revolution- ti-Authoritarian Politics from Practice to Theory" of history, back home to the warmth that ary anarchism. (Pluto Press); www.anarchyalive.com.

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