 |
RIGHT YOU ARE
These tactics of stirring up race hatred, of blaming other ethnic
minorities for the problems such as bad housing are nothing new.
During the 1930s and 40s Oswald Mosley’s British Union of Fascists
was trying to gain a stronghold, targeting the East End of London.
Solley Kaye was one of those involved in fighting them. “You
had massive unemployment, immense poverty, social services nowhere
near what they are today, terrible slums. The fascists (tried to)
involve people on the basis of envy, fear, or whatever, they said
‘the Jews, they’ve got your houses, the Jews, they’ve
got your jobs.’ Even though we were all living in bloody poverty
with bugs crawling all over us in the night.
“At the time the Communist Party together with some very courageous
Church people, organised the Stepney Tenants Defence League, and
all the tenants living in bad houses were being involved in a fight
to get the repairs done and the rents reduced. There were some people
being evicted from a block of flats called Paragon Mansions, Phil
Piratin (later to become a Communist M.P.) heard about it. He went
there and got the rest of the tenants to organise barricades to
stop the bailiffs coming in.” Some of the tenants were members
of the British Union of Fascists, but they didn’t want anything
to do with them after they saw who their real allies were.
The turning point came in 1936 when a quarter of a million people
stopped Mosley’s party marching through the East End and his
party never recovered.
The asylum issue is not the only way that politicians play into
the fascists hands. In the Blackbird Leys estate in Oxford the Independent
Working Class Association have been opposing the idea of multiculturalism
“We believe that public money should not be spent on projects
whose sole purpose is apparently to foster artificial divisions
along ethnic or religious lines…we believe that the promotion
of segregation is political suicide for the working class, as well
of course for ethnic minorities themselves.” One example of
this was their opposition to £25,000 being spent on lights
on the Cowley Road in Oxford to celebrate the Muslim festival of
Eid. They argued money should not be spent on a religious festival
- any religious festival including Christmas - while services were
being cut in Blackbird Leys area. Doing so would just cause resentment
and racism.
Across the country people have other methods of dealing with the
fascists. Posties have been refusing to deliver their election leaflets
using a conscience clause in their contract. The BNP accuses the
postal union of being “anti-democratic” and “hostile
to the patriots of the BNP” forgetting that if it ever got
to power it would abolish unions. Elsewhere people have been taking,
a more, shall we say, direct approach. BNP councillors have had
their houses attacked and meetings and leafleting sessions disrupted.
Holocaust denier David Irving had to abandon a meeting in Sussex
and the leader of France’s far right Le Pen’s party was
greeted with rotten fruit and fists on his recent visit to the UK
(SchNEWS 451).
Democracy means more than just putting an x on a piece of paper,
it means having an input into decisions that affect your life. The
idea that people must be apathetic if they don’t vote or that
if you don’t vote you can’t complain or that voting is
the single most important political act anyone can take is nonsense.
As the Rev Kenneth Leech wrote in the foreword to ‘Brick Lane
1978’: “The battle against racism and fascism cannot be
won by outsiders who march into an area, chant slogans, and then
march out again; it can only be won by the most dedicated, rooted
and persistent commitment to undermine and destroy the injustice
and neglect on which such movements thrive”.
- While visiting in Stoke one SchNEWS scribe got a BNP leaflet
for the elections through the door. There’s a picture of
the candidate and his family on the back with his ten years old
son saying - “My Dad isn’t a racist” No, of course
not son.
- To get involved in more miltant anti fascist activity 07950
836455 www.antifa.org.uk
- Think fascists have a right to freedom of speech? Get a
copy of ‘The 43 Group’ by Morris Beckman an excellent
account of how Jewish ex-servicemen fought Oswald Mosley fascist
party, literally kicking them off the streets of East London in
the 1940’s. Copies available from www.activedistribution.org/
- Telephone your local sorting office, to say you do not want
BNP material delivered and give support to local postal workers
who are refusing to deliver BNP material.
- ‘Refugees - they’re welcome here’ meeting
on 14 June at Community Base, South Wing, 113 Queens Road,
Brighton 6.30pm to 9.30pm with food, films and speakers including
Ko Aung, refugee from Burma and Emma Ginn, from the Campaign to
Stop Arbitrary Detention at Yarl’s Wood.
 
Crap Arrest of the Week
For being an artist…
Steve Kurtz called 911 early one morning to tell them his wife had
suffered a cardiac arrest and died in her sleep. However when the
police arrived they decided Kurtz’s art supplies were actually
bioterrorism weapons and called the FBI who arrested Kurtz without
charge, sealed off the entire block, confiscated his computers,
manuscripts, art supplies... and even his wife’s body. Kurtz,
an Associate Professor in the Department of Art at the State University
of New York’s University and a member of the internationally-acclaimed
Critical Art Ensemble is facing trial later this month. www.rtmark.com/CAEdefense/
SchNEWS/Swarm @ Strawberry Fair
Come and visit us at Strawberry Fair at the SchNEWS / Swarm Infotainment
Marquees/Comfy Chill-out Space!
- Teas for donations
- SchNEWS Info-stall
- pick up loadsa free info and book bargains
- SchLIVE - the live satirical news show with vids (5pm-ish)
- Videos - direct action and the Clangers
- Children’s Workshops - clay modelling, painting,
let’s get messy
Look out for us in the green area near the pub.
DiSSENT!
In June 2005 the G8 is coming to the UK. Made up of the eight of
the most “powerful” nations on earth, the G8 meets “informally”
to carve up the world’s resources for the narrow interests
of multinational corporations, while trampling over workers rights,
public services and the environment. While member countries refuse
to seriously engage themselves in the fight against accounting fraud,
money laundering, and offshore havens, the G8, under the auspices
of the fight against terrorism, attempts to justify war, militarism,
and repression.
Dissent is a network of groups and individuals planning actions
and taking direct action against the 2005 G8 summit and what it
represents. What actions happen against it is up to those who get
involved; unlike the G8 there is are no leaders telling people what
to do, it is up for all those involved to have an equal say.
Demonstrations against the G8 have a history of being pretty spectacular.
In 1999 while the G8 were meeting in Cologne the City of London
was famously shut down for the day with the J18 Carnival Against
Capital. In 2001 when they met in a fortress in Genoa, Italy, 300,000
people faced paramilitary police on the streets outside, resulting
in the destruction of large parts of the city and the murder of
one protester by the police. Such protests have led the G8 to retreat
to ever more remote locations, last year they met in the exclusive
Swiss resort of Evian and next week they’ll be meeting on Sea
Island, 80 miles south of Savannah, USA. So people in the States
have called for decentralised actions around the world. Dissent
is organising a diverse range of events to make people aware of
next years G8 summit in the UK and the growing movement which opposes
it.
To find out more www.dissent.org.uk
WORTHING-WHILE
ANTI-G8 protesters have this week set up a new autonomous social
centre in Worthing, West Sussex. The 23TOPIA squat will be open
to the public on Friday June 4th. And from June 8th to 12th they
are planning a Festival of Resistance to coincide with the G8 summit
in the USA. A spokesperson for the group said: “Next year the
G8 will be meeting in the UK and our aim is to show them that they
are not welcome here. The message is loud and clear - expect thousands
of us to be gearing up for massive protests against the capitalist
scum, everywhere from Scotland to the English South Coast.”
23TOPIA is in Chapel Road, Worthing, in the building previously
housing the 3TO nightclub (previously known as Area 51 and Flappers).
The space will be opened up to campaign information and meetings,
art installations, music workshops and lots more stuff still being
planned. The group is making three general call-outs:
1) For people to come along and help out in what ever way they
can, even if it’s just for an hour or two after work. There
is a large amount of cleaning and tidying still to be done!
2) For individuals and groups to make use of the space and bring
literature, posters etc to get a positive message across to the
people using the centre. If your group has some spare leaflets or
papers, please consider donating them to 23TOPIA. You can also give
talks, run workshops or just come and meet others.
3) Spread the word as quickly as possible. Post this info on websites
and pass on via e-mail. Tell people by word of mouth. This is a
glorious opportunity not to be wasted!
Postal mail should for the moment go c/o The Porkbolter at PO Box
4144, Worthing, W Sussex BN14 7NZ and email can be handled at worthing@eco-action.org
Shut The G8 website is at www.freewebs.com/shuttheg8
Scraping the Barrel
Last Saturday in Saudi Arabia, the oil city of Khobar was attacked
by Al-Qaida. Fears that this is the start of a concerted campaign
to disrupt oil supplies and damage the US economy had an immediate
impact on the price of the barrel which reached a record high in
the States.
Our chancellor, Gordon Brown says that it is crucial that OPEC
act now to keep oil prices down and the world economy stable. Loyola
de Palacio, EU Commissioner also called on OPEC to increase production,
dubiously claiming that her thoughts are with poor countries that
will suffer as a result of the high prices. While Western governments
put pressure on OPEC to pump out more and more oil, OPEC point out
that they are producing as much as they ever were and in some cases
countries are producing well above their national quotas. The high
prices, they say, are due to speculation on the futures markets
in Europe. Big companies and countries buy up oil, anticipating
further price rises due to the turbulent situation in the Middle
East. The effect of this is to push prices through the roof. So
to summarise the story, we invaded the Middle East causing massive
destruction and resentment, the price of oil rose, but we still
need more oil and buy loads in case the price goes up more, the
price does go up a lot more due to the increasing demand and we
blame the Middle East.
Meanwhile, fuel protestors are again threatening to take to the
streets (or drive around in their cars shaking their fists) and
again the issue of climate change hardly gets a mention. As climate
change campaigning group Rising Tide point out the problem is not
that we will run out of oil, it is that oil is causing massive climate
change. As Friends of The Earth put it “Fears about rising
oil prices demonstrate the need for a massive investment in energy
efficiency and alternatives to oil, such as bio fuels. Burning oil
is a major contributor to global climate change”.
- On June 16 a street party is organised against BP sponsoring
the National Portrait Gallery in London. Meet 4 pm at St James
Square in London. 07969 786770. www.londonrisingtide.org.uk
- 15-21 June ‘An Exhibition of Resistance to BP and Big
Oil’. 07969 786770. www.risingtide.org.uk
- ‘Can renewable energy systems give us what we need or
do we face a serious energy shortage over the next fifty years?’
Saturday 19th June.11am-4pm. Canterbury Room 4, Lampeter University
01558 685353. Organised by Earth Cymru Network: www.fraw.org.uk/ecn/ecne/04_06_19-energy.html
- There’s a Cambridge Forum on Climate change on June
15th @ CB1 Cafe, 32 Mill Rd, Cambridge 8-10pm. Speakers include
Dr David Vaughan of British Antarctic Survey who witnessed first-hand
the break-up of the Larsen B ice shelf and Dr Johnathan Koehler,
of the Applied Economics department who will talk about renewable
energy. There will be time for questions and discussion - plus
plenty of suggestions for practical and effective action.
- From 19th-21st November, the Centre for Alternative Technology
will be running a brand new course “Make your own Bio-diesel”.
The course will enable you to produce your own cheap bio-diesel,
without the need for alterations to your engine. 01654 705957
www.cat.org.uk.
War On Activists
The Third EU – LAC Conference in Guadalajara Mexico came to
a tense end last week with indirect condemnation of the US military
torture in Iraq and commercial agreements without popular support.
There was also violence against demonstrators at the end of the
general demonstration, with around 100 detained and disappeared,
as well as 30 injured.
Mexican and international activists were physically and psychologically
humiliated and maltreated by the police. Some of the injured were
taken into prison without receiving any medical attention. Activists
from Euskadi, Catalunya, Spain, Chile, Italy and Australia were
among the arrested and are awaiting deportation. Among the Mexicans
still in jail are some of the most active members of the anarcho-punk
movement in Mexico, activists who were involved in the inspirational
protests against the WTO in Cancun last year.
Most of those arrested were working with indigenous communities
in Oaxaca and Chiapas. The government has imposed extremely high
fines ranging from £1,000 to £1,300 for the Mexicans
and stated that they will not be released until the fines are paid.
Average wages in Mexico are about £2 a day, so the average
person would have to work for about two years just to pay the fine,
this equates to a fine of around £40,000 in relative British
terms.
Oil Be Rich
The World Bank’s commitment to “the vision of poverty
reduction” has become even more of joke than it already is.
A new report by the Sustainable Energy and Economy Network shows
that the World Bank investment in oil projects has done nothing
to alleviate poverty and has actually pumped more money into Halliburton,
one of the world’s largest providers to the oil and gas industries.
Last December the Bank’s very own Extractative Industries
Review recommended that its investment in oil projects be phased
out by 2008. “82% of all oil projects the bank has invested
in (since 1992) are primarily designed for the export of oil back
to the USA, Western Europe, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Japan.”
And guess what, it’s Halliburton who heads the list of corporate
beneficiaries!
The report found that Halliburton and friends (who including Shell,
Chevron Texaco & BP) would lose out if the Bank stopped investing
in oil: “The World Bank was unable to produce a single example
where its support for oil had alleviated poverty”.
www.tni.org/reports/seen/halliburton.htm
SchNEWS in Brief
- Were you searched in London by police during the DSEI arms
fair last September? Liberty needs your search receipts ASAP
for the second stage of a High Court legal battle against the
Metropolitan Police. 0207 378 3653 www.liberty-human-rights.org.uk
- The new Anarchist Yellow Pages is out soon including
2000 anarchist and libertarian communist groups, revolutionary
syndicalist unions, militant anti-fascists, libertarian publications,
alternative media projects, infoshops and social centers from
around the world. Available in UK from Active www.activedistribution.org
- From Baghdad to Blackwood via Bristol - Bristle magazine
issue 16 is out! This time it’s a direct action special.
£1.50 - get it at Kebele social centre, www.bristle.org.uk
- If you want to get your hands on some decent radical films and
documentaries then check out www.cultureshop.org
- Last Monday around 600 prisoners in Wolow, Poland, started
a hunger strike, protesting against overcrowding in prisons. The
protest was sparked off by the decision to put extra beds in cells;
now there are eight beds in rooms designed for five. The day after
300 prison inmates in Wronki and 340 in Klodzko joined in out
of solidarity. Prison authorities have responded by stopping all
group meetings. http://www.enrager.net/hosted/caps/modules.php?name=News&file=
categories&op=newindex&catid=4
Inside SchNEWS
Russian anarchist journalist and anti-fascist Aleksei Cherepanov
is being illegally detained after being fitted up after having drugs
planted on him. He is involved with the publication Avtonom, and
was interrogated about anarchist press found in his house.
www.avtonom.org
http://russia.indymedia.org
SHAC It Up
The FBI arrested seven er ‘terrorists’ from around the
US last Wednesday, in what it called a victory in the War on Terror.
The only catch is that they weren’t actually terrorists - they
were animal rights activists from SHAC who had been campaigning
to close down a company responsible for terrorising animals in vivisection
labs - the infamous UK animal experimentation mob Huntingdon Life
Sciences.
The animal rights ‘terrorists’ aren’t even on charges
relating to acts of violence: the main charges are around so-called
counts of ‘incitement’ on their website - just for reporting
animal rights actions which have happened.
This recalls the GANDALF trials in the late nineties here in the
UK (see www.schnews.org.uk/monopresist) when the editors of Green
Anarchist and Animal Liberation Front magazine were sentenced to
three years for “conspiring to incite persons unknown on unspecified
dates over a five year period to commit unspecified criminal damage”
! - all for reporting about direct action as it happened - as opposed
to actually doing it! The police’s ‘Operation Washington’
which cost ’em £10 million, eventually proved to be a
waste of money as all those jailed were released and had their convictions
overturned.
The main charges the US activists are on come from the Animal Terrorism
Act 1992, but include the additional charges of ‘interstate
stalking’, and the arrestees are looking at possible years
in prison and millions of dollars in fines.
These arrests reinforce what the War on Terrorism is all about
- using the force of the state to prop up and protect corporate
and political interests. US animal rights activists claim that these
arrests will be a test of current legislation - if the activists
get sent down it will set a precedent for further cases, and if
they don’t it will be an excuse for more draconian laws. On
top of that this is clearly a politically motivated attack on SHACs
right to freedom of speech under the good ‘ol US constitution.
- SHAC have a Japanese Global Week (7th-11th June) targeting
Japanese customers of HLS. www.shac.net
- Welsh SHAC are organising a ‘Triple Hit Action’
against HLS around Cardiff on June 14th. gracefromnewport@yahoo.com
07719726861
Positive SchNEWS
Westmill Wind Farm Co-operative are about to open the first
community owned wind farm in the south-east. Funds will go into
education about sustainable energy and climate change issues in
schools and colleges, and there will be free energy efficiency advice
to homes in the area. The launch is on Saturday June 12th 10am-4pm.
The Old Town Hall, Market Place, Faringdon, Oxfordshire SN7 7JA.
01229 821028 www.energy4all.co.uk
...And Finally...
Last Friday’s London critical mass bike ride was attended
by around 500 cyclists.
After a lengthy stop on Blackfriars Bridge to remember a cyclist
who was killed on the bridge recently, the mass made its way through
the city of London. At one junction a chauffer driven rolls was
spotted attempting a u-turn and was correctly prevented from attempting
this dangerous manoeuvre. One hawk-eyed cyclist identified the passenger
as Express owner and porn king Richard Desmond, hiding behind a
copy of - no, not Asian Babes, but the equally disreputable Evening
Standard. Not wishing to pass up the opportunity to inconvenience
the porn peddler (pun intended), he was held up for 20 minutes before
being rescued by the police to hoots of derision and suggestions
of what he did while reading his ‘publications’.
Disclaimer
SchNEWS warns all readers voting always makes us cross... Honest!
SchNEWS Annuals
NOW OUT!!! 'PEACE DE RESISTANCE' - SchNEWS Annual
2003 - £8 + £2.00 p&p
- SchNEWS Round
issues 51 - 100 Sold out - Sorry
- SchNEWS Annual
issues 101 - 150 Sold out - Sorry
- SchNEWS Survival
Guide issues 151 - 200 and a whole lot more £2.00 inc. postage
- The SchQUALL
book at only £7 + £1.50 p&p.
- SchNEWS
and SQUALL’s YEARBOOK 2001. 300 pages of adventures from
the direct action frontline. £3 inc p&p. You can order
the book from a bookshop or your library, quote the ISBN 09529748
4 3.
- SchNEWS Of
The World issues 301 - 350. 300
more pages of adventures from the direct action frontline. £5
+ £1.50 p&p. You can order the book from a bookshop
or your library, quote the ISBN 09529748 6X
In the UK you
can get SchNEWS Annual, Survival Handbook, Yearbook 2001 and SchNEWS
of the World for just £15 inc p&p.
(US Postage
£6.00 for individual books, £13 for above offer).
In addition to
50 issues of SchNEWS, each book contains articles, photos, cartoons,
subverts, a “yellow pages” list of contacts, comedy etc.
Subscribe
to SchNEWS: Send 1st Class stamps (e.g. 10 for next 9 issues)
or donations (payable to Justice?). Or £15 for a year's subscription,
or the SchNEWS supporter's rate, £1 a week. Ask for "originals"
if you plan to copy and distribute. SchNEWS is post-free to prisoners.
|
