via Freedom News

The first reports are coming in from the Foundational Congress for a New International — an effort to draw together some of the biggest syndicalist unions worldwide.

Update, May 13th: The new name for the international is reportedly the Confederación Internacional del Trabajo (International Confederation of Labour). Besides the CNT (Spain), USI (Italy) and FAU (Germany), IWW (USA and Canada), ESE (Greece), FORA (Argentina) and IP (Poland) have affiliated to a basic set of statutes. Interest was shown by CNT-F (France), FOB (Brazil), Vrije Bond (Netherlands and Belgium), GG / BO (as observers) Germany) and the UVW (England).

The Congress, which began yesterday in Parma, Italy, is being held at the headquarters of USI and participants have said they view it as a continuity of the ideals of the International Working Men’s Association, the largest anarchist organisation ever formed in 1922. In a statement ahead of the gathering, organisers said:

Yesterday, as today, and even more so tomorrow, a combative libertarian, assembly and international trade union organisation is needed in order to defend workers effectively today and, at the same time, establish the pillars to build a new society in freedom and equality, without relation to the mechanisms of political and economic power.

Participants include unions which split away from the anarcho-syndicalist IWA in 2016 in a bitter dispute over the international’s future direction, such as CNT (Spain), FAU (Germany), USI (Italy) and FORA (Argentina) as well as independent groups such as ESE (Greece), IP (Poland), ARS (Bulgaria) and the IWW (USA, Europe).

A CNT* report on the first day of discussions noted:

Friday began in a relaxed manner with a tour of revolutionary points of interest of the city of Parma. By midmorning the accreditations of delegates and delegates had been collected. Subsequently, the collective “Cucine del Popolo” organised a social buffet offering lunch, snacks and drinks throughout the day.

The afternoon began with a greeting and official welcome to all attendees by USI. The first table was composed of members of IWW, USI and FAU, which gave presentations, starting with the GGBO of Germany, an organisation that fights for the labour rights of prisoners. Next was Cucine del Popolo, from Italy, an anarchist organisation that defends the principles of freedom, solidarity and internationalism and functions in an assembly and independent manner.

Presentations continued with the ARS (Bulgaria autonomous workers union) CNT France-Vignol (which has been intensely involved with struggles against Macron’s labour reform, Deliveroo and sections of Amazon), the newly-formed Popular Movement Rifeño and the Organization / Association of Workers of Brazil, which focuses on the precariousness of the education, oil and health sectors. Salutations continued with the WAS of Vienna, the IWW of the United Kingdom, the Argentine FORA and the Vraije Bond of the Netherlands and Belgium.

There is a dispute at present over the CNT name, with affiliates of both the new international and the IWA claiming it.

Solidarity with Anarchists in Yogyakarta, Indonesia from Narrm / Melbourne ( so-called Australia ) Anarchists.

Banner reads 'Solidarity with Yogja Comrades
May Day Setiap Hari ( May Day Every Day )'

On May Day in Yogyakarta 69 comrades were arrested. There has since been a huge crackdown involving raids and more arrests based on flimsy evidence. At present there are 11 comrades still locked up in Yogyakarta Police Prison, they are isolated and not allowed any contact with comrades outside.

This has only strengthened the resolve of the comrades to keep up the fight against the feudal system ruling Yogja and the Kraton (palace) of the so called sultan.

There is a fundraising drive to raise money for legal assistance which has been largely local however there is a paypal account here for donations outside Indonsia. https://www.paypal.me/TobiVBonano

by Adam Carter, via The CBC

The City of Hamilton has forced a local anarchist group to remove the circle A anarchy symbol from its headquarters, saying it is "hate material" similar to the swastika.

City officials say they're taking direction from Hamilton police on the issue, but police say that's not the case.

Whatever its origins, the move is a "very controversial interpretation of hate speech," said Margaret Kohn, a professor of political science and expert in urban social justice issues at the University of Toronto's Scarborough campus.

"This seems like a constitutional lawsuit waiting to happen," she said.

Generally, Kohn said, for a symbol to be considered hate speech, it has to somehow target an identifiable group.

"That seems to not be the case with the anarchist symbol," she said.

The issue arose back in early March, after a masked mob that dubbed itself "The Ungovernables"caused $100,000 in damage during a vandalism spree on Locke Street.

Days later, The Tower — the city's local anarchist social centre at Cannon Street East near Victoria Avenue North — was also vandalized.

Most anarchy groups in the past have been seen as anti-racist or anti-hate. They are pro-people and anti-government.- Princewill Ogban, head of Hamilton's new anti-racism centre

The building's front window was smashed, and afterward, The Tower covered it up with plywood that was painted with the circle A anarchy symbol.

City spokesperson Marie Fitzpatrick told CBC News that on March 16, the city started a bylaw investigation into the symbol being displayed on the wood covering the windows.

"The anarchist symbol is considered hate material by the City of Hamilton and Hamilton Police Services and as such, must be removed," Fitzpatrick said in an email.

Not a hate crime, police say

The city then issued a property standards order to remove it. Fitzpatrick said the building's tenant confirmed they got the order, which was "complied with" on March 26.

The Tower did not respond to a request for comment for this story.

Fitzpatrick told CBC News that the Hamilton police hate crime unit provides the city with a list of hate symbols — but Const. Jerome Stewart said police do not classify the anarchy symbol as problematic.

A rioter paints an anarchy symbol on a Wells Fargo bank during a protest against former Breitbart News editor Milo Yiannopoulos in Berkeley, Calif. on Feb. 1, 2017.

"It does not meet the threshold of a hate crime," he said. "To the best of our knowledge, it is classified as an extreme left sign.

"So I don't know where the direction came that Hamilton police have identified it as a hate crime sign, because as per our hate crime co-ordinator, that is not the case."

Fitzpatrick could not immediately explain the discrepancy.

Princewill Ogban, the head of Hamilton's new anti-racism centre, told CBC News he's never really heard of the anarchy symbol being classified as hate material. He did point to one instance in California where a specific anarchist group was linked to white nationalism, but said that group was essentially an outlier.

"Most anarchy groups in the past have been seen as anti-racist or anti-hate," he said. "They are pro-people and anti-government."

Symbol's origins are complicated

Kohn said it's difficult to link the symbol to any specific message, as anarchy can refer to "diverse, multiple groups with different aspirations."

"The anarchist symbol has a complicated and diffuse set of attachments," she said.

According to Infoshop.org— an online project run by a collective of anarchists, anti-authoritarians and socialists — the origins of the circle A aren't completely clear.

In March, some 30 individuals dressed in black clothing with their faces covered walked through the streets of Hamilton carrying a banner that said, 'We Are The Ungovernables,' according to police.

(@OliverioCarmela/Twitter)

The symbol is linked to the punk rock movement of the 1970s, but the group says its usage goes back much further, pointing to research that shows it was used by a group called Jeunesse Libertaire in 1964, and was spotted on the helmet of an anarchist militia member in the Spanish Civil War in the 1930s.

The earliest known origins of the symbol link back to the works of philosopher Pierre-Joseph Proudhon in the 1800s, with the letter A, which represents anarchy, written with the letter O, which represents order.

"Today the circled-A is one of the most successful images in the whole field of political symbolizing," the group says.

adam.carter@cbc.ca

From zadresist.antirep.net

This text was written during fall 2017 on la ZAD of Notre-Dame-des-Landes, France. Since then, the situation drastically changed when the government announced on January 17 th , 2018 that they are abandoning the airport project. It may seem obsolete to publish this after the “victory”. But, despite the importance this struggle has for me, I didn’t celebrate this victory. I am probably too suspicious and critical about what’s at stake and what’s hiding behind the decision.

In this difficult period for social struggles, the fight against the airport has become a kind of symbol against the capitalist onslaught, as the struggle to not lose in an ocean of defeats. So, trying a critical approach means often being confronted by a defensive reflex to protect an idealized vision. Oh well, here goes...

From The SUWA Show - Squatters and Unwaged Workers Airwaves

Melbourne radio show interview on La Zad.

Friday 5:30pm to 6:30pm

The Squatters and Unwaged Workers support and promote those resisting social order and trying to create an alternative to it. Interviews with local and interstate unwaged and unemployed activists, squatters and plugs of local and interstate actions, protests, conferences, meetings and film screenings.

http://www.3cr.org.au/suwa

Presenter

SUWA crew

From Northshore Counter-Info

After a tense week-long standoff between city bureaucrats, local journalists, and police, it seems anarchism has finally been cleared of being a hate crime in the city of Hamilton. On Thursday, Mayor Fred Eisenberger issued a statement indicating that he had been misinformed after equivocating anarchists and the circle-a symbol with white supremacists and the swastika - this coming two months after he referred to a group of anarchists as "terrorists" for their part in a Locke Street anti-gentrification demonstration.

Sure, it seems a bit amiss that the mayor should have worked himself into such a hissy-fit over a few Lexuses having their windows smashed, yknow, especially while remaining mum on actual white supremacists marching in his city, but whatever - it's over, right?

Well, it seems this isn't the first time the city's wealthy and their defenders have been a bit confused about the whole hate crime thing. As the drama unfolded over the past week, I couldn't help but be reminded of a little piece of Hamilton history that never really got the press it deserved.

Back in 2009 the anarchist and radical scene in town was in a bit of a flux, as new and old circles of people experimented with different tactics and made efforts to connect with each other to increase our capacity. It was during a social event where some of us had the very harsh realization that not only were we increasingly on the radar of other politically engaged folks in the city, but we were also being sized up by the Hamilton Police Service.

The "HPS Swarming incident" at Mex-I-Can Restaurant, as it would later be dubbed, happened the night of January 22nd, 2009. A bunch of people from a few different friend circles gathered at the Mex-I-Can restaurant (rip) near Wilson and James for a radical folk-punk show (I know, I know - it was 2009). Music was underway and the anarchist zine table set up when there was a commotion just outside the front doors.

Some burly dudes on the street had started grabbing at our friends out having a smoke. People sprang into action, pulling our pals out of the grasp of said dudes. When a dozen police cruisers and a couple paddy wagons rushed in seconds later, it became apparent that the grabby guys weren't just any assholes - they were plainclothes HPS officers.

After a few arrests, some tussling, and the only non-hot sauce related pain compliance techniques seen in Mex-I-Can's history, we were all still licking our wounds when an email started to spread around. Though it hadn't met CHCH's hug-a-cop threshold of news when it had occurred, the story of the night was finally getting some circulation - in the HPS' annual Hate Crime Year-End Report.

You see, it seems that officially until at least 2009 the Hamilton police understood themselves to be victims of hate crimes.

That's right, for several years, amongst the queer-bashings, attacks on Jews and Muslims, and racist violence that got reported to the Hamilton Police Service's Hate Crimes Unit, Hamilton cops would take the time to slip in hate reports of their own whenever they saw some anti-cop graffiti. In that 2008 report, for example, along with the 17 hate incidents against Black people, and seven against people from the LGBTQ community, some cop decided it was important to type out, presumably through tears, a reference to three anti-police crimes. The result can be seen in the above pie graph, where amongst the various groups of people marginalized by society and targeted by hate we have people of East Indian and Hispanic descent, people targeted for their sexual orientation and....police! One can only assume that the six-figure salaries and ability to murderwithimpunity hasn't totally cushioned the blow of having everyone think you're kind of a piece of shit.

While the average person might need to do some mental gymnastics to regard a folk show as a hate crime, the Hamilton police, armed with a very special kind of victim complex, listed the incident at Mex-I-Can in that report.

But this fresh spin on hate criminology, defined in their own freaking report as "a criminal offence committed against a person which is motivated...by the suspect's hate/bias against a person's race, religion, ethnicity, sexual orientation, disability, age or gender", was far more than just a footnote. In both the 2008 and 2009 reports'"Future Outlook" sections - areas to discuss trends and upcoming events to monitor - the cops *exclusively* write about the local anarchist movement, as well as just about anyone who might have even the vaguest sympathies toward social justice. Along with the movements against the 2010 Vancouver Olympics and the G20 in Toronto, other villains in their rogue gallery of hate include people working on "homelessness issues", those boycotting sponsors of the 2015 Pan Am Games, as well as Desmond Tutu and the Dalai Lama, who were visiting Winnipeg at a countersummit in 2010 opposed to the G20.

Remember: this is the Hamilton Police Service's Hate Crime Unit. This isn't just some dumbass beat cop spouting this shit, this is the segment of the police force with the sensitivity, training, and insight to specifically deal with hate crimes. These reports were presented to the Police Services Board by two consecutive chiefs of police. And what do they commit their immense monetary and personnel resources to, in hopes of making life easier for the people affected by hate in this town? Not some white supremacist groups they're monitoring, or some anti-Muslim events being organized, or the "men's rights" crybabies that were antagonizing feminist events at that time and have since killed dozens of people; no, they committed investigative resources to local anarchist and activist movements.

Let's be real about what this all means: police in this city *OFFICIALLY* believed, up until 2009, that being against police officers was the same thing as being against Black people. Police in this city believed it was more important to dedicate resources that could have gone toward education or breaking up organized hatred to keeping tabs on folk shows and preparing for the arrival of an elderly Buddhist monk in a city twenty hours away.
The mayor in this city and the city's bylaw bureaucracy, until last Thursday, *OFFICIALLY* believed that being an anti-capitalist activist, that being against rich people, puts you in the same category as Nazis (and he still hasn't retracted the "terrorist" thing).

Now, I proudly count myself among the anarchists in town, and so I'm not trying to plead for the cops or politicians to do their jobs better, or with more sensitivity. And I'm not surprised to find that they consider me their enemy - the feeling is mutual.
I know that whatever progressive gay-pride diversity-cheering mask they put on, cops serve a function in society: to maintain capitalism, colonization, and all the oppressive systems that keep this shit train running. And I think the HPS and Mayor Freddy are great examples of how anti-hate mechanisms, when taken out of our hands and put into those of the same people who fuck us over, can be used as weapons by the powerful.

We have every right to resist, dismantle, and attack the vision of this city that these pricks are trying to force down our throats. While doing so, let's work together with our friends, family, and neighbours to stomp out racism, sexism, and homophobia ourselves, and let us never let those same people who attack and exploit us tell us we're not allowed to hate them for it.

Oh, and no need to rein in those circle-a's or the disdain for cops - let's keep those statistics a-comin'!

2008 Hate Crime Report full PDF

2009 Hate Crime Report full PDF

Northshore note: These PDF's were received anonymously and presumably have their origins with Hamilton Police Services. We have no reason to expect them to be unsafe to open, but it could be worth taking precautions, like opening them in a guest account or a virtual machine

via contra info

Our comrade Brian Valentino is being held in Polda prison Yogyakarta, the main police headquarter of Yogyakarta (special feudal region within Central Java territory)

Since the day of his arrest, May 1st until May 16th 2018, our comrade, who were beaten and tortured, have been denied of his rights for legal advocate or lawyer. Ever since he was arrested it’s already 15 days of interrogation without the company of a lawyer or advocate.The police or the legal aid haven’t gave us a clear reason about this, therefore we are not sure that whether the police or the legal advocate who refuse to help him.

To be clear, we received information from Brian Valentino’s dad who have just visited him after a week and he make sure that Brian was the only of the arrestees who haven’t given any legal aid for 15 days since arrest.

Therefore we urge to the comrades national and international to strengthen solidarity with Brian Valentino, our dear anarchist friend, who have been refused of his rights for legal aid. We are not limiting the solidarity, it can be legal or whatever. But for donation to the family and defendants:

Donation: BRI 5175-01-001-257-503 (Ilona)
Email: palanghitam@riseup.net

Or communicate this to the local Indonesian embassy. By any means necessary

– Anarchist Black Cross/Anti-Authoritarian Solidarity Yogyakarta,
Indonesia

From asranarshism.com

This union is a free and voluntary agreement, and each individual or group will continue to operate independently in addition to being in the union

In the union, all anarchist tendencies, except for religious, pacifist and so called capitalist anarchists, have the potential to be volunteered

All persons and groups are required to sign any call or announcement with the name of the union. If no collective agreement is reached, each individual or group can independently and with the name or group itself sign the item

At the beginning of the formation of the union, the highest level of cooperation will be in the joint signing of the Union of Anarchists. Over time, with more familiarity with individuals and groups, there will be a possibility to expand the level of cooperation

Anarchist Union of Afghanistan and Iran include the following anarchist groups

The collection of the anarchist era (it’s a community of anarchists of Iran and Afghanistan both inside and outside the country.)

Anarchist group “Aleyh” (who are based in Afghanistan)

The revolutionary radical anarchist front (who are present in Iran)

P.S:The possibility of joining new people and groups of anarchists will be permanent

——–——————————————————

آدرس و اسامی صفحات مرتبط با مجموعه عصر آنارشیسم

The names and addresses that related to anarchism era website

 

۱- آدرس عصر آنارشیسم در اینستاگرام

https://instagram.com/asranarshism/

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۲- آدرس عصر آنارشیسم در تلگرام

https://telegram.me/asranarshism

—————————-
۳- عصر آنارشیسم در توئیتر

https://twitter.com/asranarshism

———————————–

۴ – فیسبوک عصر آنارشیسم

https://www.facebook.com/asranarshism

—————————————

۵ – فیسبوک بلوک سیاه ایران

https://www.facebook.com/iranblackbloc

————————————————–

۶ – فیسبوک آنارشیستهای همراه روژاوا و باکورAnarchists in solidaritywiththeRojava

https://www.facebook.com/%D8%A2%D9%86%D8%A7%D8%B1%D8%B4%DB%8C%D8%B3%D8%AA%D9%87%D8%A7%DB%8C-%D9%87%D9%85%D8%B1%D8%A7%D9%87-%D8%B1%D9%88%DA%98%D8%A7%D9%88%D8%A7-%D9%88-%D8%A8%D8%A7%DA%A9%D9%88%D8%B1-Anarchists-in-solidarity-with-the-Rojava-434646579975914

———————————————————-

۷ – فیسبوک دفاع از زندانیان و اعدامیان غیر سیاسی

https://www.facebook.com/sedaye.bisedayan

————————————————————

۸ – فیسبوک کارگران آنارشیست ایران

https://www.facebook.com/irananarchistlabors

——————————————————

۹- فیسبوک کتابخانه آنارشیستی

https://www.facebook.com/anarchistlibraryfa

————————————————–

۰ ۱– فیسبوک آنارشیستهای همراه بلوچستان

https://www.facebook.com/anarchistinsupportbaluchistan

—————————————————–

۱۱ – فیسبوک هنرمندان آنارشیست

https://www.facebook.com/anarchistartistss

————————————————-

۱۲ – فیسبوک دانشجویا ن آنارشیست

https://www.facebook.com/anarchiststudents

——————————————-

۱۳ – فیسبوک شاهین شهر پلیتیک

https://www.facebook.com/shahre.shahin

———————————————–

۱۴ – فیسبوک آنتی فاشیست

https://www.facebook.com/ShahinShahrPolitik

————————————————

۱۵ – آدرس آنارشیستهای مریوان در کانال تلگرام

https://t.me/anarchyinmarivan

———————————

۱۶-آدرس تماس با ماcontact us

[email protected]

———————————

۱۷ – سایت عصر آنارشیسم

http://asranarshism.com

——————————————–

۱۸ – آدرس کانال آنارشیستهای کردستان در تلگرام

بڵاوکردنەوەی بیرو هزری ئانارکیستی

https://t.me/kurdistananarshist

——————————-

۱۹- فیسبوک میتینگ دهه هفتاد و هشتادی ها

https://www.facebook.com/%D9%85%DB%8C%D8%AA%DB%8C%D9%86%DA%AF-%D8%AF%D9%87%D9%87-%D9%87%D9%81%D8%AA%D8%A7%D8%AF-%D9%88-%D9%87%D8%B4%D8%AA%D8%A7%D8%AF%DB%8C-%D9%87%D8%A7-505093803031731/

——————————————

۲۰ – گوگل پلاس عصر آنارشیسم

https://plus.google.com/u/0/114261734790222308813

——————————————-

۲۱ – ساوندکلاود رادیو آنارشی

——————————————

 

۲۲- آدرس ” دختران آنارشیست افغانستان ” در اینستاگرام

https://www.instagram.com/dokhtarananarshist_afghanestan

———————————————————–

۲۳- آدرس “دختران آنارشیست افغان ” در فیسبوک

https://www.facebook.com/Afghan-Anarchist-Girls-116992605591873

————————————————————–

۲۴- آدرس آنارشیستهای رشت در اینستاگرام

https://www.instagram.com/anarshist.rasht

———————————————————

۲۵ – آدرس پیج آنارشیستهای شهر بوکان ( ئانارکیسته کانی بوکان ) در اینستاگرام

https://www.instagram.com/bokan_anarchy

———————————————————–

۲۶- آدرس آنارشیستهای اصفهان و شاهین شهر در تلگرام

https://t.me/Anarshistsh2

————————————————

۲۷ – آدرس آنارشیستهای اصفهان و شاهین شهر در اینستاگرام

https://www.instagram.com/anarshistshahinshahr

—————————————————

۲۸- آدرس آنارشیستهای شیراز در تلگرام

https://t.me/ShirazAnarchist

—————————————————

 

۲۹ – آدرس آنارشیستهای شیراز در اینستاگرام

https://www.instagram.com/anarchy_shz_ism

——————————————————

۳۰ – آدرس آنارشیستهای گیلان در اینستاگرام

 

https://www.instagram.com/guilan_anarchism

——————————————————-

۳۱ – کانال عصیانگر در تلگرام

https://t.me/AcabFai

————————————————-

۳۲ – آدرس کانال ” جوانان آنارشیست ” در تلگرام

https://t.me/young_anarchists

————————————————

۳۳- آدرس آنارشیستهای مشهد در کانال تلگرام

https://t.me/anarchismera

 

————————————————-

۳۴ -آدرس کانال آنارشیستهای تهران در تلگرام

 

t.me/tehran_anarchists

 

May 24, 2018

https://actforfree.nostate.net/

In view of the presence in solidarity at the court on 31 March, we are writing these few lines to reaffirm a few fundamental concepts regarding this trial and the court carrying it out. First of all, we reaffirm our closeness to the arrested comrades: for us they are brothers and the pride with which they are confronting this little theatre makes us proud.

We also reaffirm our attachment, stronger than ever, to the anarchist ideal and our hatred of this society that thrives on death and exploitation. We are anarchists, it is normal for the State to attack us, we do not expect anything else from you and this is why your repression does not surprise us except for its clumsiness and scares us even less. In fact, after a year and a half you find us with the same positions of attack on this system. We are accused of terrorism, but we continue to point the finger at the State and its laws that you administer which legitimize the exploitation, exclusion and death of millions of people throughout the world every day, to protect the interests of those who profit from all this. It is you who are under accusation: the dead in the wars in the Middle East and Africa, those who drown while fleeing poverty, the increasingly fierce exploitation of labour, the plundering of resources and the destruction of ecosystems, living conditions more and more like survival and the ever deeper interference in our lives by the State. The law would like to treat the dissent that all this generates with jail, branding it as a crime, but it takes a lot more to shut us up.

War to the State, for Anarchy.

Nothing is finished, everything continues.

Alessandro Audisio
Daniele Cortelli
Francesca Galante
Omar Nioi
Erika Preden
Lello The One in the Wheelchair
Gioacchino Somma
Carlo Tesseri

https://anarhija.info/library/italia-dichiarazione-imputati-scripta-mane...

Translated by Act for freedom now!

from Act for Freedom Now!

Ukraine: In Kiev, Anarchist cell “Fedos Shchus” / FAI, set fire to a Lexus belonging to Grachov, EPU vice chair

Since some anarcho-cells in Kiev have started burning cars, we decided to join this activity.

On May 21, 2018, we set off the mid-size Lexus RX crossover. It stood near a multi-storey building at the address: Kiev, Artillery Lane, 9a. The fire also damaged the nearby SUV Mitsubishi Pajero.

As it turned out, Lexus belonged to the Deputy Chairman of the European Party of Ukraine, Sergei Grachev. On the official website of the EPU there was a statement (1, 2) about the arson of the car. This is bingo!

Sergei Grachev – a politician, a liberal and just a scoundrel, to put it mildly. We dislike his way of life and his party. As anarchists we stand on the positions of self-government and social equality. We do not divide politicians on the pro-government and the opposition. For us, they are all enemies and traitors. Each of them deserves absolutely fair hatred and retribution.

According to the owner of Lexus, his neighbors woke him up and reported that his car was burning. He tried to extinguish the car on own with the help of a fire extinguisher, but to no avail. It’s nice to realize that fire extinguishers cannot extinguish take anarchist napalm.

As reported by the State Emergency Service, the call for fire came at 2:19, and the fire was extinguished at 2:43. This time the firemen worked extremely quickly.

About the arson itself we will not talk much – everything can be seen on the video and photos. We can only advise you to use thick napalm without gasoline for arson on protected sites or near large residential complexes. The liquid starts burning gradually, without clapping or flashing, without disturbing sleeping guards, dogs, tenants and your eyesight.

PS. Recently, on the Lysaya Hill in Kiev, nationalists burned the tents of the Roma. You have to be an absolute scum to destroy the huts of beggars and vagabonds! We call upon the young radicals, who have not completely lost their mind, to join the arson of the property of the rich and powerful.

Until the new arson, comrades!

Anarchist cell “Fedos Shchus” / FAI

via The Hamilton Spectator

Vandalism, in the form of graffiti scrawled on the fountain stones at Gage Park on Wednesday, are reviving speculation about the possibility of some kind of anarchist insurgency in the city.

The graffiti, in black, says: "Still hate: Capitalism Colonization Police." The scrawl also includes the anarchist symbol, a circle with an A in it and the crosspiece of the A going through the letter and the circle.

The incident, which has set off a chain of remarks on the social news aggregator Reddit and on other social media, comes not quite three months after the early March smashing of windows and setting off of firecrackers on Locke Street South, attributed to a group of black-clad, masked anti-gentrification protesters. They held a "We Are The Ungovernable" sign and were subsequently investigated for possible links to anarchism and anarchist groups.

Hamilton police were at Gage Park on Wednesday morning after getting a call from city staff about the "anarchist-themed" graffiti, said media relations officer Lorraine Edwards.

Edwards said two areas of the park were affected — one being the central fountain stairs, which had been spray-painted with the words, and two anarchist symbols.

Washrooms nearby also had an anarchist symbol and graffiti that said "Stoney Creek Rent Strike" and some profanity, added Edwards.

"We took pictures," she said. "We don't have suspects or witnesses.

"It's in a concealed area of trees and bushes ... (the culprits) would have been able to approach under the cover of trees, darkness and bushes."

However, the matter has been forwarded to the police hate crime unit for review, Edwards said.

Jasmine Graham, communications officer with the city's public works department, said the city would clean up the graffiti within 24 hours but did not say how much it would cost.

via hyperallergic

An anarchist library was raided earlier this month in Berlin after police executed search warrants in the hunt for two men wanted in connection to a series of posters depicting police violence during the last year’s G20 protests in Hamburg.

Kalabal!K, located on Reichenberger Strasse in Kreuzberg, was searched on the morning of May 9 after police suspected two men wanted for libel were located inside. Just after 5:15am, Berlin police reportedly broke open the door of the anarchist library with an angle grinder. They also stormed an apartment in the same building, as well as three other apartments in the Neukölln and Tempelhof districts.

The State Office of Criminal Investigation (LKA) gave Berlin police permission to search the premises of Kalabal!K, which is located in a left-wing project house known as “Reiche 63a,” part of a collective run by the Self-Governing Comradeship of East Berlin, where police reportedly seized evidence including data carriers, as well as illegal weapons and guns.

Police arrested two men, aged 24 and 27, on suspicion of spreading slander in connection to the “wanted” signs that were posted around Kreuzberg in December of last year following the violence at the G20 summit in Hamburg. The posters in question depict several members of the Hamburg police and local politicians, who are accused in the renegade poster of forming “a terrorist group for the purpose of attempted manslaughter, serious injury, mistreatment and kidnapping.”

Politicians depicted in the poster include the Federal Minister of Finance and Vice Chancellor Olaf Scholz; Senator Andy Grote; and Hamburg’s Chief of Police Hartmut Dudde. According to activists, these individuals were responsible for motivating police aggression during the Hamburg G20 protests last July, where for several nights left-wing groups demonstrated against the summit.

Criticism of police aggression during G20 was widespread, with several journalists reporting a disproportionate use of force to put down demonstrators. According to a report by Constanze Nauhaus in Der Tagesspiegel, “the police deployed such a massive force to surround the demo’s starting point at Hamburg’s Fischmarkt square that it was almost impossible to count the number of water cannon and reinforcement units stationed in the surrounding streets.”

The raid on Kalabal!K was captured in part on social media.

In recent months, Kalabal!K has been holding “Anti-Google Café” sessions every two weeks in response to plans by the tech giant to open new offices in Kreuzberg. In a statement, library members called for a demonstration in solidarity with the prisoners and condemned the raid as part of a prevailing order whereby “control, repression, cops, justice, punishment, and jail are the logical consequences of people defending themselves against a system based on power and property.”

Kalabal!K’s members have also called for “discussion and chaos days” and demonstrations. “We know that not everyone can participate in this way, but we are working toward the day when everyone will be able to come together in unannounced demonstrations on the street,” the members wrote. “We want to be uncontrollable and use the framework of the chaos and discussion days to take the road together and send a signal to the rebels on the other side of the walls.”

Despite the recent raid, the library Kalabal!K remains open at Reichenbergerstr. 63a in Kreuzberg.

via The Yorkshire Post

He was an essential part of a Yorkshire triumvirate that included the sculptors Henry Moore and Barbara Hepworth, and he is among the 16 Great War poets commemorated in Westminster Abbey – yet outside the Howardian Hills that he loved, the name of Sir Herbert Read is scarcely spoken.

Next week marks the 50th anniversary of his death, but it is being marked not at the British Museum or the Tate, but in the relative backwater of the lending libraries in Malton and Helmsley, curated by two retired teachers. There will be no keynote lectures or red-carpet visitations – just an hour set aside for a chat with the organisers.

Sir Herbert – the knighthood came in 1952 for services to literature – was not only a writer but also a publisher, the first to propagate the works of TS Eliot, and a noted anarchist who campaigned on behalf of political prisoners in Franco’s Spain.

“His circle of friends included George Orwell and Graham Greene. But as an English teacher at Ampleforth, I was amazed that even people like me never knew that this chap was on the doorstep,” said John Dean, who leads a local history group dedicated to Read and who, with his wife, Helen, is behind the anniversary exhibition.

“I taught at a school in Liverpool that had Wilfred Owen on its doorstep and the kids were absolutely Owen crazy. But Read is different,” Mr Dean said.

Owen’s name sits immediately above that of Sir Herbert on the memorial in Poet’s Corner within Westminster Abbey.

During the First World War, Read had served with the Green Howards. He won the Military Cross at the second battle of the Somme and the Distinguished Service Order

Mr Dean said: “Unlike Owen, Read dedicated only part of his life to war poetry. At one point he lived in studios in Hampstead with Henry Moore, Barbara Hepworth and the painter Ben Nicholson.

“They all shared studios in the same area. George Orwell was another member of the group.”

Read had been born in the North Riding farming hamlet of Muscoates, four miles from Kirkbymoorside. But in 1901, when he was eight, his father died of rheumatic fever and he spent the next five years in a charity orphanage on the moors above Halifax.

At 15, he was taken on as a clerk by the Leeds, Skyrac and Morley Savings Bank but managed to earn a place at Leeds University, whose archive now holds his library of 14,000 volumes.

Its librarian, Richard High, said: “His papers include a postcard from Picasso. Given his wide range of interests, it’s a mystery that he is not better remembered.”

There have been several reappraisals of his work since his death in June 1968, at 74 – most recently, in 2004, a Herbert Read Conference at the Tate Britain.

“I think he has been unfairly dismissed,” Mr High said. “Perhaps his anarchism was compromised by his having accepted a knighthood.”

Sir Herbert spent the inter-war years in Edinburgh – where he eloped with his second wife – and in London, before returning to his beloved Yorkshire in 1948, buying the old rectory in Stonegrave, near his old home at Muscoates.

The exhibition on his life is at Malton Library until Tuesday before moving to Helmsley and later Kirkbymoorside.

From Mpalothia

We continue to spread the epidemic of anarchist and insurrectionist rage:

Public response to a misdiagnosis that circulates on the internet.
To the anarchists of Mexico and the world, to all the witches fighting in the universe.

«My Mother, go to your room and take care of your work, the loom and the spinning wheel (…) The word must be a thing of men, of all, and above all of me, of whom is the power of this palace».– Telemachus, The Odyssey

«If I can’t dance, your revolution does not interest me».– Emma Goldman

Those of us who been joing the insurrectional informalism from an anarchist-feminist perspective, and are part of our affinity collectives, have suffered the contempt and persistent attacks of those claiming to be ‘accomplices of Anarchy’, they slander us for accepting a theory and a praxis different from their ‘handbook of the (good) anarchist’. Some in the insurrectionist scene have even accused us of being ‘witches’, ‘whores’, ‘feminazis’, ‘traileras’, ‘buchonas’ and ‘flip flops’. There are also those who call themselves ‘anarcha-feminists’ (operating within extremely sexist ‘federations’ and ‘collectives’) who censure our insurrectionary actions for departing from ‘nonviolence’, for not following a program or the so-called libertarian evolutionism.

However the most recent attacks are those from the libertarian Bolsheviks, who are surprised that «there are also compañeras who have allowed themselves to be infected with rage and led astray by Rodriguista violence who have formed their ‘affinity groups’ from anarcho-feminism and implement terrorism as their praxis». And they worry about us being «part of that group of naive young people around the world who fall into the trap, obstructing the daily growth of the anarchist movement, the popular struggle against the State and Capital for the realization of libertarian communism».

Thus, the Bolshevik libertarians try and prevent our participation in the anarchic war and ask us to return to the school, to the metate, to the molcajete, to caring for our daughters and darning socks. Like Telemachus to Penelopes, they send us to the knitting room. Once again, the cry of patriarchal power disguises itself as ‘libertarian’ and condemns us to shut us up and keep us from ‘the things of men’.

Before continuing we want to clarify that we are not Rodriguistas, and not because we don’t share the theory of compañero Rodriguez but because we are not Bakunistas, nor are we Malatestas, we are not Magonistas, nor are we Goldmanistas. We follow ideas not people.

We are anarchists and we believe that there is only one way to confront power and authority, and that is the anarchic insurrection, that is why we conceive anarchic organization in an informal way through collective affinities and permanent conflict against the patriarchal civilization as a whole. That is why we reject the misogynist authoritarianism of the these Bolshevik libertarians, and why we do it publicly. To fight against sexism and misogyny is to fight against gender, and to fight to destroy gender is to also fight to destroy the whole patriarchal civilization.

We do not represent all the insurrectionist anarchist comrades, we only represent a collective of affinity based in the central region of Mexico. We recognize the struggle of all the other anarcha-feminist insurrectionist compañeras, from those who individually confront the patriarchal civilization, to the compañeras who do it in anonymous collectives and those who have decided to group themselves under new acronyms and claim their actions.

Our fight is the same.
Neither God, nor State, nor Master!
Against the patriarchal civilization!
For the control of our bodies and our lives!
For the destruction of gender!
For the anarchic insurrectional tension!
For Anarchy!

Informal Insurrectionist Anarcha-Feminist Coven

(via Contra Info, translated into English by Nae Clone for Mpalothia)

Over the last six months special services are trying to destroy anarchist movement in Russia. They are using methods which are much more cruel in comparison with the “classic” repressions against the rioters in Russia. Kidnappings, torture, fabrications of criminal cases. The most notable is the case of “Network” organization, in the course of which the anarchists from Penza and St. petersburg are exposed to pressure, monstrous torture, baiting from the side of the official mass media and indictment in creation of the “terrorist community” because of playing airsoft in the forests. A lot of information is aiready published about this case.

But this case is far from the only. Repressions also touched Crimean anarchists. Alexander Kolchenko is an anarchist from Crimea which is staying in a jail for several years already. And the new repressions started in the March of 2018 – mass searches, arrests, torture for the crimean activists. The reason was communication in the social networks and giving notice to the authorities about holding a meeting. Now one of the crimean anarchists – Alexey Shestakovich – was forced to leave the country. Another – Evgeny Karakashev – is staying in the remand center.

Except of the attempt of creation the “terrorist community” and cleaning Crimean peninsula from the anarchists spesial services are trying to compose a wider anarchist criminal case, in course of which they could tie in not only airsoft players but also every anarchist activist. Now they are trying to portray not “terrorists”, but “extremists”. And the methods are the same. Anarchists from the different cities are tortured for giving readings about membering in “Narodnaja Samooborona” “extremist anarchist community”. And we can read with surprise in mass media about the valiant security officials from FSB and “E” center which report about detention of the “leader” and “members” of the “Narodnaja Samooborona”.

“Narodnaja Samooborona” is the most popular and fast-growing for the last years anarchist media platform. News about the events which are happening in the country, in the world and in the anarchist movement, analytical and historical articles and the articles with the attempts of a critical rethinking of the anarchist theory are published on it. Except this, a lot of reports from the anarchist actions from Russia and Belarus are published on the platform. Those reports are not sent from the one group or even a network of groups. Every active group of the anarchists can send the reports about their actions and the reports will be published. By the way, “Narodnaja Samooborona” closely interacts with “Narodnaja Samooborona (direct action)” project, the main goal of which is a struggle with unscrupulous employers and scammers, confrontation with bandits and apartment raiders.

A big growing of the anarchist activity was noticed for the last year. Anarchist campaigns were held regularly from the May 2017 till the May 2018 – in solidarity with political prisoners of anti-corruption protests, arested comrades after anti-G20 protests in Gamburg, anarchist political prisoners from the different countries. Also there were actions against money-lending firms, against “Platon” system, anti-fascist actions and memorial events dedicated to murdered antifascists, actions against increasing tariffs and against ruling party… Maximum activity was in February and March of 2018 when the campaigns against president elections and lots of protest actions against repressions of “Network” case were organized. Actions of different formats were held in dozens of russian cities. The most noticeable were such anarchist actions as unauthorized march through Myasnitskaya street against terror of FSB in Moscow and action near the local department of FSB in Chelyabinsk, when “FSB is the main terrorist”
banner was hanged and pyrotechnic smoke was thrown on the territory of the department. Except of the solidarity actions for the “Network” case repressed activists, a small attack of the “Union Russia”( russian ruling party) office by moscow anarchists had a special resonance.

All these actions attracted attention of special services, which tried to unite them as actions of “Narodnaya samooborona”. Earlier “Narodnaya samooborona” also was the object of a special attention of FSB and “E” center, which made raids on anarchist events and cowed the anarchists which could be connected with “Narodnaya samooborona”. Now the growing of anarchist activity called their worry for active actions against “NS”. In addition, in March of 2018, before the repressions against moscow anarchists have started, russian president Vladimir Putin ordered to special services to detect and punish the organizers of unauthorized actions.

In February several moscow anarchists were arrested as suspected in attack on the “Union Russia” office and also chelyabinsk anarchists which were blamed in attack on the FSB department. Chelyabinsk anarchists were tortured in the FSB department after being arrested. During all the night they were tortured by electric shock to confirm their participation in the action. Besides that the terrorists from FSB demanded them to say that the idea of the action had been found in the “Narodnaya samooborona” public group. And one of the arrested comrades – Dmitry Tsibukovsky – was assigned by FSB as a leader of the chelyabinsk branch of the “Narodnaya samooborona” extremist anarchist organization.

In March the repressions continued in Moscow.”E” center and SOBR ( Russian service of rapid force response) made searches and arrests in the houses of moscow anarchists before the president elections on the 14th of March. One of them – Svyatoslav Rechkalov – was tortured in the minivan of SOBR. He was demanded to confirm his participation and leadership in “NS”, organizing of anarchist actions and campaigns on the territory of the whole Russia. Agents of “E” center straight declared that the reason of the tortures is the growing anarchist activity, “anarchists rapidly started their actions everywhere”.

Obviously, special services are preparing to open a new big extremist criminal case against anarchists, they are trying to get by force from the anarchists from different cities the recognitions that all the anarchist actions in Russia for the last time were organized and coordinated by “NS” organization. This is not true. Media resource of “Narodnaya samooborona” first of all is a platform and every anarchist group can send their reports to it. It is obvious that the special services torture every arrested anarchist and demand him to confirm that the action was prepared and held by “NS” because they want to create a new extremist criminal case.

The reasons of such interest to us are clear. Attempts to clean the political sphere from dissidents in Russia are being made not for the first decade of years. For the last time special services paid their close attention to the anarchists. And, of course, they couldn’t miss the most popular anarchist media platform – especially at the moment of rising level of anarchist activity and the growing amount of published reports.
Attack on the “Narodnaja Samooborona” is an attempt to destroy anarchist infrastructure, disabling the most popular media platform which spreads the information about events of lots of separate groups.

Also it’s obvious that the repressions are the indicators of the effective anarchist activities in Russia. Why do the special services catch the next person which could be an anarchist and try to assign him as an “activist” or a “leader” of “Narodnaja Samooborona” and russian anarchism? This is so because the state is afraid of growing anarchist movement and activity. Every resultative activity, every rising movement will meet repressions and pressure from the state. We are calling to continue actions of solidarity with the russian anarchists and remember all the anarchists which were repressed. Resist repressions is possible only all together, and the struggle must be waged against the repressive politic of the state in the attitude to the all anarchists. So we are calling to arise in your actions all the cases of repressions in Penza, St. Petersburg, cremia, Chelyabinsk and Moscow. All these repressions are the links of one chain for us.

But also is very important not to stop only on this theme when making the actions of solidarity with repressed anarchists. If it happens and we forget about other problems of our society, state will reach its goals, divert our attention and stop spreading of our ideas.

And of course none of repressions can suppress our desire for freedom and equity. We are calling the anarchists to be afraid of nothing and continue their struggle. Surrendering and retreating now we will achieve nothing and let them understand that it’s easy to suppress us by repressions. And, of course, every time when the anarchist movement will grow the repressions will be started. Only dedication in our struggle and solidarity can help us to stand at this hard time.

via friends from Indonesia

Indonesia: Update on the Continuing State Repression against the Yogyakarta Anarchists Following on from May Day

May Day (Labor Day) which took place on May 1, 2018 at the intersection of three UIN Sunan Kalijaga, Sleman, Yogyakarta still casts a long shadow to this day. 69 May Day participants were arrested and from this number 12 have been declared suspects. Eight comrades are still detained by regional police (up till today 2 June) and a further four comrades were taken into custody and now are released on conditions of reporting to police. On May 7th more arrests took place against 4 friends in Bogor. According to the police testimony, they have been monitoring the comrades since the day of the incident that eventually led to the pursuit and arrest in Bogor.

We hope these details clear confusion over reports that a comrade had given himself up, which is not true. Rumors exist because of false media reporting. Print and online media only mentions 2 people so that this raises the presumption that the unnamed friend surrendered when the arrest in Bogor took place in 2 different locations and the location was not reported. Until now we are still speculating about the reason why the police did not provide complete information related to the arrest in Bogor to the media crew.

Additionally, other matters that we can convey are the legal counseling of friends in the beginning of the 8 suspects ( who were arrested since the incident on May 1, not counted with comrades caught in Bogor) one friend Brian Valentino, who goes by the name Ucil was the only one who did not get legal counseling. But for now the 8 friends including Ucil have all received legal assistance with the following details:

- 4 people (3 students from Islamic University of Indonesia, Yogja campus and 1 student from Sanata Dharma University) accompanied by LKBH (legal aid lawyers) Islamic University of Indonesia - 1 person (from Manado) accompanied by Team OBH (including LBH) - 1 person (student from National Islamic University) accompanied by LKBH (Mbak Ririn) the other two according to info (unconfirmed ) also accompanied by Ririn Mbak. And for the friends who were arrested in Bogor we are arranging legal assistance for them and will give more detailed info when that happens.

Regarding past and future acts of solidarity from any comrades here in Indonsesia or overseas it is hugely appreciated from our friends inside. Solidarity in the form of previously collected funds for the Ucil's legal assistance we are now redistributing to Ucil's other needs and any remainder to the needs of all friends who are currently in detention. Is solidarity is still needed? Yes, in whatever form, because the spirit of us all always get to the friends who are now languishing behind bars.

They have been detained now for a month by the provincial police and will be until June 29 when they will be transferred to Cebongan Prison, Yogyakarta. And for the date of the court hearing we will relay information as we hear of it.

The comrades who are being held are in both good health and spirits. They hear the news that they are not alone and that there is much solidarity for them which makes them smile cheerfully. They never forget to tell their friends who are outside to never extinguish the spirit of class war.

Any funds will be gratefully received and can be paid into this paypal account. https://www.paypal.me/TobiVBonano

Photos are from solidarity actions in Jakarta, Bogor, Manado, Makassar, Balikpapan, and Melbourne-Australia.

The long awaited Halifax Anarchist Bookfair is set for Sept. 8th, 2018!

For anarchists, and those curious about anarchism.

Calling all co-conspirators and collaborators, lovers of freedom and books, haters of capitalism and government. Join us in our efforts as we launch the first annual Halifax Anarchist Bookfair. We are currently looking for accomplices in the form of tablers, presenters, performers, event organizers, volunteers, promoters, community endorsers, and more.

In a world teetering on the brink of disasters due to industrial capitalism, and experiencing the rising power of authoritarian populists and nationalism, we feel it is vitally important that anarchist gatherings take place. We must create spaces for ourselves to share our stories and ideas, connect our struggles, build our movements, and deepen our affinities, and lay plans for the trying times ahead. It is equally important for us to create openings at this juncture in history for the broader public to join us in our various struggles and to explore and meaningfully engage with the idea of doing away with coercive force, and building a world based on mutual aid, solidarity, and freedom for all.

The Anarchist Bookfair isn't only about books! With your help we hope to incorporate art installations and creative interventions, shows, parties, games, actions, performances, films, assemblies, DIY skill-shares, a rad kids zone, and autonomous events throughout the weekend. Please get in touch with your proposals, inquiries, table requests, and wildest dreams at halifaxanarchistbookfair@gmail.com or halifaxanarchistbookfair@riseup.net by July 20th, 2018.

The bookfair itself, and most workshops, will take place Saturday Sept. 8 at the Shambala School in Halifax's North End on unceded Mi'kmaqi territory.

For a more Anarchic Halifax, and a freer, more joyful, and just world!

ps. We know Halifax is far from most other major cities, get in touch if you want to participate but distance feels like a barrier. We'll try to work out creative solutions to this issue.

DEADLINE FOR PROPOSALS: JULY 20th! - halifaxanarchistbookfair@gmail.com / halifaxanarchistbookfair@riseup.net

The 2018 Malmö Anarchist Bookfair is set to be held this weekend from the 15 to 17. Below is a description of the event from their website, you can find more information including the schedule on their website here.

ABOUT US

In a time when social struggles face increasingly harder state repression, we felt the need to organize a forum where we can meet to discuss, create and strengthen each other's diverse forms of resistance. The Malmö Anarchist Book-Fair aims to be a meeting place and a platform for spreading anarchist ideas and informing about ongoing struggles both in Sweden and internationally. In the process of organizing the book-fair, there is a continuous discussion and effort to work in a self-organized, anti-authoritarian, feminist, anti-racist and revolutionary way. We who work with the book-fair believe in horizontal and non-delegative forms of action, organization and dissemination of knowledge/information, based on equality and solidarity.

Without equality there is no freedom and without freedom there is no equality. As anarchists, we believe in a society with a new social structure, a classless society where everyone can take place and live independently of ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation or ability, beyond hierarchies in an environment where everyone has the right to economic and social security. Anarchism opposes the state and its monopoly to violence as a tool for maintaining capitalist structures.

Being part of the the workgroup that organizes the Malmö Anarchist Book-Fair 2018 does not mean that we live up to our ideals. Unfortunately, we are still living in a capitalist, exploitative, patriarchal, and racist class society, but we wish the book-fair to be a place where we meet and inspire from each other's struggles against state and capital. With the Anarchist Book-Fair, we want to give space to these ideas through presentations of books and publications within the anarchistic spectrum, but also talks, discussions and workshops. Spreading theory and practice strengthens our movement locally and globally.

We aspire that the book-fair will be a safe space, free from the structures and oppression we are fighting against and we hope that all participants will help us create such an environment. During these days, we hope that we share a feeling of communality and we identify similarities and shared goals, but also understanding of where and how our individual projects and wishes diverge.

The book fair-represents a tiny attempt to make anarchism a threat to the current political system!

via act for freedom now!

From the network of Anarchist Individualis Yogyakarta, in International Day of Solidarity with Marius Mason, Ucil, Oza, Azwar, Cedar, the J20 protesters and All term anarchist prisoners!.

Banner reads ‘Abolish the Prison! Freedom for Mason, Ucil, Oza, Azwar, Cedar, J20 & All Anarchist Prisoners’.

International Solidarity to Marius Mason an Anarchist militant from Earth Liberation Front (ELF) who is serving a 22-year prison term. Imprisoned for burning the University of Michigan Laboratory conducting research on genetically engineered organisms (GMOs) funded by Monsanto.

International Solidarity to class war prisoners in Yogyakarta who is undergoing legal process, after being arrested while protesting against the monarchy-feudal society and the repression of the apparatus in building the New Yogyakarta International Airport (NYIA) infrastructure mega project that rid the peasants of Kulonprogo.

Solidarity to Cedar (Peter) Hopperton who had been arrested and indicted for the property damage that occurred in Locke Street, Hamilton.

International Solidarity to approximately 200 J20 prisoners in the US who are threatened of up to 60 years in prison after protesting against Trump’s presidency and the hegemony of the economic-political system of capitalism.

The last, International Solidarity to all long-term Anarchist Prisoners.

YOU WILL NEVER BE FORGOTTEN, and NOT ALONE. WE WILL ALWAYS BE WITH YOU IN ANY SITUATION.

Any funds to anarchists prisoners in Yogyakarta will be gratefully received and can be paid into this paypal account: https://www.paypal.me/TobiVBonano

From Internationalist Commune of Rojava

Dear friends,

One year ago, 12th of June 2017, we shared the first public statement of the Internationalist Commune of Rojava, presenting our project to the world. Today, after one year of non stop working, we look back and see the big steps we have achieved in this year.

After the public presentation of the commune under the slogan ‘learn, support, organize’, we started to develop our work and our projects, putting in practice the ideas and dreams we had, and searching for a place to build the first internationalist academy of the Democratic federation of Northern Syria. After a few months, we finally found the right place, and at the end of summer in 2017, we started to build of the academy. Since then, we have been working mostly focused on 3 main lines: internationalism, women liberation and ecology.

Concerning internationalism, our main task has been the construction of the Internationalist Academy, the place to debate, study, research and also to host new internationals who also want to learn, support and organize the Rojava Revolution. At the same time, we have also been working on the up building of the Internationalist Commune itself, as the organizational frame for us and other internationals who want to join, developing a system and a network to integrate and strengthen the international dimension of this revolution.

Concerning ecology, we launched the ‘Make Rojava Green Again’ campaign in coordination with other institutions working topics related with ecology. We wrote a book that we will start to publish soon in different languages, presenting our project and what motivates us to carry it out. Our main goal is to spread an ecological perspective of the revolutionary life, building our academy with a sustainable approach and starting a tree cooperative to help to reforest the arid lands of the Democratic Federation of Northern Syria.

Concerning the liberation of women, the women of the commune are organized as an autonomous group, connecting directly with the different institutions and structures of the women’s movement in this revolution. We also supported different projects and campaigns of the women movement, taking part in the work developed by Jinwar, the women’s ecological village. We also studied and organized education programs about jineolojî and the women liberation movements.

In the middle of this first year of life as a Commune, the Afrin war erupted. We know that the revolution will be in defense of the land or there will be no place for the revolution, so we saw the need to slow down our normal projects and take part in the Afrin Resistance, mostly doing translations, international solidarity work and other kind of media work.

The Afrin invasion was hard and brutal. It’s very sad to see the Turkish army and other islamist armed forces destroying the most beautiful region of Rojava. The war in Afrin affected us in ways we were not able to imagine before. The invasion, the struggle, the resistance… it opened for us processes of debate and reflection about what should be, and what can be, the role of internationalism today. Also about how can we help and contribute, as internationalists, to the Rojava Revolution and to all the resistance movements and struggles around the world. A lot of friends lost their lives fighting to resist the fascist invasion, and also several internationalist friends fell sehids in this war. In their memory we will continue walking their path.

In this last month of May, after several months building the academy, we have finally finished. We have decided to name it the ‘Internationalist Academy Sehid Hêlîn Qereçox’ in memory of Anna Campbell, the British YPJ fighter who became sehid in Afrin. With sadness for her loss, but at the same time with the will to continue her struggle against fascism and patriarchal oppression, we started the first education course of our academy. We also continued the ecological work for the Make Rojava Green Again campaign, translated and published in different languages an article about the importance of the women struggle in the revolution, started an internationalist radio project in collaboration with other internationals in Rojava, published different articles and letters of international solidarity in our website, etc. But of course, our main project this month has been to organize this first education course.

Now, after one very intense year of work, we have succeeded in organizing a one-month education course for the new internationals, together with the ones who have been here since the beginning of the commune. The education included Kurdish language lessons, ideological debates, knowledge about the society, the history of Midle East and the Kurdish people, and of course, debates about internationalism and the history of the Commune. A few days ago we finished this first education course, and a new wave of internationalists from different parts of the world are just starting to work and travel around Rojava, taking part in the Commune’s work. We are really happy to see how this project is growing and evolving, consolidating and step by step turning into reality the dreams and ideas that one year ago were just in our minds.

Today, we are proud to say that the Internationalist Commune of Rojava is stronger than ever, and that this is just one step more towards the democratic and revolutionary movement that is growing and being connected all around the world. For all those reasons, we invite all the internationalists, revolutionaries and democratic forces once again, all those who want to walk with us, to learn, support and organize this revolution. Because we know that Rojava can be the spark that ignites a new way of understanding life, of developing a society outside capitalism, patriarchy and Nation-States. And because we know that this is just the beginning. As sehid Hêlîn once said:

You should fight with us, and light the fires of resistance.

Biji Soresa Rojava!
Long live international solidarity!