march 2016
March calendar
“Our life is March weather, savage and serene in one hour. We go forth austere, dedicated, believing in the iron links of Destiny, and will not turn on our heel to save our life: but a book, or a bust, or only the sound of a name, shoots a spark through the nerves, and we suddenly believe in will…”
– Ralph Waldo Emerson
As with all the “News of Opposition”, this section is mostly full of links to various (often mainstream) articles giving information about certain aspects of independent opposition to this society throughout the world . What is automatically excluded here are clashes in which either ethnic or religious or sport team or political faction fights seem to dominate, though sometimes we will put in things where, even if such hierarchies and separate identities dominate, there are also clearly independent aspects. Admittedly, some of these bits of information here are more spontaneous symptoms of opposition than developing struggles. Equally, there might be things put here which on further investigation do not prove to have anything independent about them. Likewise, putting them here all together does not in any way mean that these very different events in very different situations are simplistically equivalent. Nor does this list have the slightest pretension to being definitive.
31/3/16:
South Africa, Johannesburg: senior official’s home petrol-bombed amid 4 week wildcat dustman’s strikeThe home is of a member of the mayoral committee who is responsible for the Environment and Infrastructure Services.
France: according to unions 1.2 million demonstrate on streets (cop estimates: 390,000). Pity most of them just played follow my leader – but fortunately not all:
Clashes reported in most of the main French cities. Around 200 high schools took part in the movement. This mentions clashes in Grenoble, Rennes, Lyon, Lille, Marseille, Rouen, Toulouse.
bank in Grenoble
Rouen, bin burning after peaceful occupation of square in front of town hall is violently repressed by filth(see this video)
Lille: cops pelted with stones, banks with paintbombs; rarely used cops on horseback attack protesters, as twice the number demonstrate as compared with demo on 9th March
Lille: firefighters set fire to tyres
This isn’t the only irony: these “pompiers” are militarised, with ranks such as “colonel” etc., and are officially not allowed to go on strike; most significantly, they’re often the target of youths in the banlieux when they put out fires aimed at ambushing cops. The liberal-left media article linked to above is slightly hypocritical in its apparent approval of the unionised firefighters’ tyre-burning, but very moralist against those attacking cops on horseback or paintbombing of banks
Lille: “slavery – it’s now!”
A video of clashes with cops in Paris. This has details on the day in Paris, and mentions 50 arrests in the whole country.
Paris above
“Le travail tue” – Work Kills
Paris below
…Toulouse: bins torched, clashes with cops during national strike and demos against new labour laws after 400 – 500 refuse cop orders to disperse“The day before, a police operation was conducted at a squat called “The House of March 32nd” at 36 rue Roquelaine, where twenty people were preparing Thursday’s protest against the Labour Law. According to a police source, the “home-made projectiles” were discovered in the squat of this “small group of the extreme left.”… late Thursday afternoon … a journalist was wounded in the head after receiving a truncheon blow to the head following a charge of riot police. He was taken to hospital to receive first aid. Demonstrators also tried to snatch the camera of an audiovisual journalist.” More hereabout the eviction of the March 32nd squat.200 occupy theatre for at least a nightInitiated by precarious cultural workers.
Nantes
Nantes: small clashes with cops on and off throughout afternoon; cars burnt
Nantes
Lyon: some projectiles thrown at cops after they target 60-something respectable-looking man, firing him with their water cannon at short distance and then beating him
…Montpellier : 2 arrestedDuring the official union-dominated demo (about 4000 people), one person was truncheoned by the BAC trying to arrest him for doing graffiti, but the guy was liberated by other demonstrators; following this official demo a high-spirited “wildcat” demo with drums took off (about 250 people) with lots of tags being made, ATM machines glued, paint bombs against banks etc., finishing at the main square (Place de la Comédie) with a General Assembly. High-spot was a brief speech by a 10 (or something)-year-old who said “It’s all finished – now let’s crush them”. General Assembly and small group discussions continue from 2pm into the night.[SF]
….Pau 5000 on demo This is about 6% of the total population of the town. A video here.
UK, Dorset: fires started in young “offenders” prison“Following incidents on Wednesday, which led to firefighters being called on three separate occasions, there was further trouble today when it was claimed some inmates had tried to flood their cells….Initially, three fires were reported in cells although it was claimed by a prison source that there were in fact many more. …The source said: “There were indeed four prisoners who managed to get onto the netting between the landings. However, there were at least 12 cell fires. The prison was locked down because of the multiple cell fires. “Prisoners smashed up their cells, causing a large amount of damage.”…Birmingham: screw hospitalised during prison protest…London: library occupied to prevent closure
30/3/16:
France, Calais : migrants set up barricades to block trucks, get on them and pass the border
South Africa, Johannesburg: report on latest in illegal street cleaners strike“19 workers had been arrested for attempted murder and public violence since the current strike began, but 11 were released due to lack of evidence. The remaining workers were released on R500 bail.” Contradictions within trade unionism partly illustrated by these 2 quotes: “Samwu’s national office called on strikers to return to work” and “On Tuesday, union leaders vowed to continue with their crippling, unprotected strike action. This is in spite of threats by the City of Joburg to fire the employees.“If these employees are fired, Pikitup must look for another place for the new employees to work because we won’t allow them to work in Joburg,” said Emmanuel Koadibane, a shop steward for the South African Municipal Workers Union (Samwu)”
US, Minneapolis: Cops cleared in the murder of Jamar Clark“…several protesters burned an American flag on the sidewalk.” Several hundred people march from government building to where Jamar was executed and eventually to the street in front of the North Minneapolis 4th Precinct police station, which was occupied for several weeks over the winter. Video: dancing and singalong to Lil Boosie’s “Fuck the Police”: https://twitter.com/UR_Ninja/status/715371106266386432 [B] For more info see Wikipedia. Also see this and this.
29/3/16:
France, Alès (Gard): high school completely blockaded by a couple of dozen high school students, hoping to remain blocked until official national strike against labour laws on Thursday, 31st March. They also aim to get other high schools in the town to blockade their schools today. This school was probably the first to come out on strike and get other schools to blockade back in September 2010 against Sarkozy’s reform of pensions, though back then this obviously involved different high school students (see this) (from an email; no link)…Nantes: 2 employment agencies and the HQ of the Socialist Party have their furniture removed in the middle of the day by students
new Socialist Party HQ, Nantes
…Rennes: a hundred of students block subway for about 4 hours…video of chairs blocking subway…“While some activate the alarms for the metro to stop it working, others look for chairs to put on the track. The alarms are activated, a maintenance officer calls …the chairs are thrown onto the track while the subway is not running, but …. Suddenly a metallic sound is heard. It seems that the STAR (Rennes transmission networks) did not take the alarms seriously…and not giving a damn restarted the subway.” – from here.
Chile, Santiago: “Day of the young combatant” – barricades and clashesThis year, seems it started on the day before, withsimilar street fighting.
Nigeria, Oyo: student shot in clashes with cops over hike in late registration fees and suspension of students
Greece, Idomeni: refugees occupying railway tracks clash with cops trying to remove them“The protestors reacted violently when police attempted to clear the tracks, throwing stones at police. A minor scuffle then ensued when the police officers detained a woman and put her into a patrol car, with the gathered refugees rushing the officers and pulling her out. Calm was restored a short while later in the Greece-FYROM no-man’s land, with the protesting refugees remaining on the tracks. They have now also set up a sound system so that they can keep those staying at the Idomeni camp informed”…Athens: report of anarchists helping refugees occupy private empty houses and a university building
28/3/16:
Chile, Valparaiso: attack on IIRSA buildingInfo on the IIRSA
France, Rennes: students blockade ring road in movement against new labour law & distribute leaflets to drivers…Tours: 100 students occupy Socialist Party HQ, then go on to occupy MEDEF (bosses’ organisation)
27/3/16:
Greece, Idomeni: Afghanistan and Pakistani refugees try to break through border to Macedonia, but Iraqi and Syrian refugees help cops in preventing them doing so
26/3/16:
Italy, Val Susa: 2nd night of anti-TAV confrontations with cops
France, La Reunion: 2nd night of clashes with cops
South Africa, Cape Town: report of increases in squatting of land
25/3/16:
Sweden, Stockholm: 2nd night of riots
France, Paris: high school students attack police station after video showing gratuitous cop violence circulates in media; “fuck the cops” and “death to the cops” tagged; windows broken; police station forced to close; 2 supermarket chainstores lootedFamous video of copshere
franprix supermarket liberated:
angry of the world unite – we have nothing to lose but our chainstores!
This reportsays looted food was distributed to refugees “On leaving, we went to distribute food to refugees at Place Stalingrad. Well, it’s true, we kept a little for ourselves”, concedes a girl who attended the stampede.”
19th arrodisement po-lice station
po n. (pl. pos). (colloq.) chamber-pot
…10th arrondisement po-lice station also attacked a bit
…La Reunion (French department in Indian Ocean): 5 hours of mini-riots catalysed by arrest of scooter rider for lack of helmet and number plates
Argentina, Cordoba: youths attack banks, Macdonalds’, journalists’ van, etc.on 40th anniversary of military coup See also this. A far cry from the uprising of 1969, but still…
Senegal, Dakar: students clash with cops after exams are cancelled and paid training is suspended
24/3/16:
Greece, Athens : arson attack against police station in memory of Lambros Foundas
France, Paris: students etc. clash with cops over new labour law; 2 cars burnt (video)…CGT (Communist Party union) HQ windows broken after their stewards collaborated with the cops in handing demonstrators over to them
Paris: burning desire at entrance of high school
cop response
…Rouen and Le Havre: Rouen at a virtual standstill as striking port and shipping agents block roads; Le Havre – dockers on strike block outskirts of town
Rouen: confrontations with cops at Socialist Party HQ
…Toulouse: students, high school students and striking workers blockade strategic roundabouts on town’s ring road at rush hour…Nantes: several arrests as young demonstrators burn bins, take up tramway paving stones and clash with the filth
Nantes
23/3/16:
South Africa, Gauteng: 2 scab refuse trucks shot at by striking refuse workers
Algeria, Setif: main road blocked with burning tyres and rocks, clashes with cops (lots of injuries, including 1 cop hospitalised) in protest against lack of water and gas
UK, London: 20 disabled demonstrators take over central lobby of Houses of Parliament to protest Chancellor of Exchequer’s budget
India, Hyderabad: students pelt cops with stones after dead body found on campus
22/3/16:
Switzerland, Basel : around 50 people from the exterior try to block migrant deportation at detention center, some vandalism
US, Nebraska: riot in juvenile detention centre
France, Paris: wildcat demo from general assembly of the university at Tolbiac smashes various aspects of this society (banks, Socialist Party shopfront, local town hall windows, etc. etc.)…this time Tolbiac is successfully occupied for at least one night…student union condemns vandalism and theft“On the seventh floor, computer cables, phones and even microwaves were systematically severed; two CPUs were stolen; water was poured over the photocopier… printers, computer keyboards and educational and administrative files being processed were sprayed with different liquids”. Communique in English here.
graffiti at Tolbiac:
“2017: the ballot box reduced to crumbs!!
What’s the difference between a slave and a worker? The slave wants to emancipate himself”
…Gard (department in the south): sabotage of wind turbine tower
Chile: several copper mines blockaded as part of national strike against labour law reforms (no details)
India, Hyderabad: students ransack Vice Chancellor’s official residence after he returns from 2 month leave“Raising slogans against the Vice-Chancellor, students barged into his residence (Vice-Chancellor’s lodge), broke window panes, smashed doors and television among other items, protesting against his resumption of duty. Violence broke out in the evening as the police used force to disperse the students. Television visuals show policemen and women dragging the students, some by their hair, thrashing them and beating them up with batons. One policeman was also injured when students pelted stones. The police bundled out many students out of the campus, triggering strong protest by teaching and non-teaching staff members.”
Mexico, Oaxaca: CNTE teacher’s protest for political prisoners and block Congress session
Bolivia: rooftop prison riot (video)
Venezuela, Lara state: 14 prison employees held hostage, one prison guard killed, in prison riot
Indonesia, Jakarta: rickshaw and taxi drivers hit out at Uber“As convoys of vehicles brought downtown Jakarta to a standstill, the protest turned violent, with taxi drivers jumping up and down on vehicles that refused to take part, drivers working for app-based services coming under attack, and some fighting back by hurling rocks.” More hereandhere.
21/3/16:
Cambodia, Preah Vihear and Siem Reap provinces: Villagers torch land concession guard posts in land dispute protest
rubber company checkpoint, Preah Vihear
…bulldozer and driver held in Preah Vihear province village, to prevent destruction of community forest
South Africa, Cape Town (Dunoon): 4 more cop vehicles, and bus stop, attacked as squatters continue protest
20/3/16:
Italy, Trento : claimed attack against company involved in prison construction, 2 engines burnt (100,000 euros worth of damage)
UK, Bristol : claimed attack on UK’s coal transport system
South Africa, Cape Town (Dunoon): 4 cop vehicles and bus station damaged, bus torched, as land squatters protest destruction of their shacks
India, Manipur: cop vehicle destroyed, cops pelted with stones, in protest against warden who molested girl
19/3/16:
Kenya, Kajiado: cop killed as tribe blocks roads in protest against their leaders secretly leasing part of their land
Colombia, Bogota: activist women occupy cathedral to demand God condemns murders of activists(see also this). This involved activists from a leftist “social movement” called Marcha Patriótica (Patriotic March). Though an occupation of a cathedral in a Catholic country is a rare event, it is rather typical of leftists to rather wimpily demand that the church hierarchy, almost invariably complicit with the political hierarchy, condemn violence against themselves. Patriotism is the last refuge of the masochist.[SF]
France, Marseille: communiqué about burning of vehicle belonging to GDF (national gas company) which collaborates in migrant detention centres
Thought this from Hannah Arendt’s “The Origins of Totalitarianism”, Chapter 9 , “The Decline of the Nation-State and the End of the Rights of Man” was pertinent in relation to the current migrant crisis, and the hostility of possibly a majority of passive spectators to this migration: “The official SS newspaper, the Schwarze Korps, stated explicitly in 1938 that if the world was not yet convinced that the Jews were the scum of the earth, it soon would be when unidentifiable beggars, without nationality, without money, and without passports crossed their frontiers…The very phrase “human rights” became for all concerned – victims, persecutors, and onlookers alike – the evidence of hopeless idealism or fumbling feeble-minded hypocrisy.” And in a footnote she writes: “The early persecution of German Jews by the Nazis must be considered as an attempt to spread antisemitism among “those peoples who are friendlily disposed to Jews, above all the Western democracies” rather than as an effort to get rid of the Jews. A circular letter from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to all German authorities abroad shortly after the November pogroms of 1938, stated: “The emigration movement of only about 100,000 Jews has already sufficed to awaken the interest of many countries to the Jewish danger…Germany is very interested in maintaining the dispersal of Jewry…the influx of Jews in all parts of the world invokes the opposition of the native population and thereby forms the best propaganda for the German Jewish policy…The poorer and therefore more burdensome the immigrating Jew is to the country absorbing him, the stronger the country will react.” [SF]
USA: anti-Trump demos – main road blocked in Arizona, scuffles with cops in New YorkWhilst the support Trump is getting is indicative of the mad mentality of the USA, he’s very unlikely to win the presidential election anyway, unless he can arrange for some Daesh bombing in some major city a couple of weeks before the election; so it’ll almost certainly be the mass murderer with a human face – Clinton – and here she is sharing a joke with her apparent arch-rival, back in 2003:
But the real idiocy of elections is the fact that the false choices utterly overwhelm people’s consciousness for months and months and attacking misery at work, in the streets etc. is once more avoided.[SF]
UK, West Midlands: report of attempts to oppose the vandalisation of young people’s minds by anti-educational schools
Germany, Cologne: cops attacked by 200 football fans
18/3/16:
South Africa, Eastern Cape, Willowmore: Mayor beaten by striking municipal workers‘The Executive Mayor for the Baviaans Municipality in the Cacadu District of the Eastern Cape was struck over his head with a knobkierie by angry protesters on Friday… Mayor Ewald Loock was allegedly hit by striking workers in Willowmore. According to police workers have been protesting in the area for most of this week.’
France, Caen: roads blockaded, stones and other stuff thrown at cops, as high school students continue movement against new labour law…Metz: sit-down blockade of university violently repressed by riot cops (video); Strasbourg – projectiles thrown at cops
the world or nothing
Colombia, Baranquilla: 400 hooded youths confront riot cops for 3 hours outside Atlantic University
17/3/16:
Absintheeism makes the heart grow fonder
Labour law? We want neither law nor labour! Wildcat Strike Looting Sabotage Insurrection!
Leaflet in English about this labour law here.
This leaflet is from an “appelistes”/Tiquunists site, a group which got international fame with the arrests in Tarnac in 2008. They are generally disliked nowadays because of their increasing sub-Leninist desire to represent, involving worrying about the media image of actions, amongst other things. See, for example, our entry for Rennes 6/2/16. On 27th February in Nantes some of them, amongst other “anarchists”, screamed at people trashing a Total petrol station because it would give the media an excuse to rubbish the ZAD movement; moreover, one of the texts in the link above is signed by Quadropanni, a local mayor (maybe a councillor) who used to be part of the ultra-left scene, who, in his local political position, collaborates with the French CP, which has invariably played a counter-revolutionary role ever since it came into being (but most noticeably in 1944 and 1968), and is undoubtedly continuing to do so in the current movement. [SF]
Most of what they publish, in the continuity of the Invisible Commitee, has more to do with radical democratism, or democratic insurrectionalism, or whatever, than anything else. I wouldn’t call them “anti-state communists” like in the introduction of that translation..
They’re criticized for what SF mentioned, but for tons of other things as well, their collaboration with the mass-media and their very bourgeois relations being some of the most important (and of course everything having to do with small businesses).
The worst weaknesses of their movementist ideology is quite obvious in various sentences…all that grandiloquent shit they’ve been writing for years is still there…which has much to do with the“we are the 2006 movements’ vets” attitude they’re so famous for here. But it’s nothing surprising, they were very focused on trying to compare their role in the 2006 movement with that of the situationists in ’68, and still more or less try to make people believe that they have a role to play in what could be something historic.
When they write, at the beginning, that they’ve received this text from the “Action Committee”, anyone can guess that themselves and that Commitee are pretty much the same.
When they say that, as always, the leaders follow the uncontrollable base, always at the vanguard of movements…it could almost be taken as a joke when you know a little bit how things work in France, including in this movement.
As for what they say about French youth…it’s just a more basic version of the situationists’ theories, applied in a very different context. They’re really the only ones who seem to think that today’s young generations are on the verge of something major. French youth has never been so passive, so divided, so alienated by religion, the middle-class way of life and ideology, consumption, than it is now.
It’s true that there’s a certain return, since last year, of young people in the antifa movements, and the movement in the high schools is surprising and interesting…but nothing justifies, in my opinion, the tremendous positivity of this article, except the will to justify roles.
What is true is that the “Appeliste” ideology has spread quite a lot…and everybody knows that the original Appelists have worked hard to make it so : basically through social media and antifa groups (this is why they refer to “youtubers” in the text). [Pi]
France: at least 115 schools blockaded in movement against new labour laws
“The night is for fucking, NOT FOR WORKING“.
More here“The French education ministry said 115 high schools around the country had been blockaded. The organisers have put the figure at between 120 and 200…The Sorbonne, Tolbiac and Saint Denis universities are closed.”...confrontations in Paris, Rennes, Marseille, Nantes and Strasbourg“…dozens of young radicals and casseurs disrupted the Parisian procession …Ten minutes after the start of the parade in the charged atmosphere, some were throwing projectiles, cans and other bottles at the riot police. The atmosphere is “definitely less goody goody than last week,” said a CGT unionist come as an observer…. a flaming Molotov cocktail was thrown at the police. Firecrackers stuck into bottles of alcohol mixed with chlorine exploded, causing a bit of a panic. The windows of several banks, shops and a real estate agent were broken at the first subway of Charonne Faidherbe-Chaligny after being tagged with anarchist symbols. …On the campus of the University of Tolbiac in Paris a hundred students stormed a theater in the evening. Police intervened at the request of the President of the University, and confrontations erupted. Five people were arrested for “degradation, threats and missile throwing.” Two policemen were also injured….A schoolgirl of 18 was slightly wounded in the head during the Strasbourg event …In Rennes, it was the station that was stormed by thousands of protesters at mid-day. Hundreds of young people took to the tracks, causing power failure for about thirty minutes…Several people, some of them hooded, also went outside the town hall, at which they threw pots and paint cans; tear gas was fired by the police to prevent intrusion into the building. An injured person was identified among the security forces, hit by a stone. Finally, on the sidelines of the gathering, a group of youths attacked a patrol of the BAC [plain clothed psycho-cops] and a young man was arrested. In Marseille, scuffles briefly broke out between hundreds of youths, some masked, and police outside a police station on the Canebière. And in Nantes, garbage was burnt and a car overturned in front of the Gaspard-Monge school, leading to the intervention of the police and firefighters. Windows were also smashed, and paint cans thrown in the town of Nantes. There were also incidents in Rouen.” [This latter refers to eggs thrown at the local Socialist Party HQ]
Rennes on track: no points for sleepers – ideological platforms forbidden!
Rodez: hundreds of high school students demonstrate…Limoges: campus blockaded, students and high school students demonstrate …Montreuil (outskirts of Paris): a hundred or so high school students demonstrate…Dieppe: 500 high school students demonstrate…Besançon: 400 demonstrate etc. etc. etc. – all against new labour laws.
Paris: attempt to occupy Tolbiac faculty violently repressed by police
Tolbiac: cops invade short-lived occupation
Nice video of cops forced to retreat (at least at the beginning):
a cop takes a well-earned rest
Yvelines: cops attacked at traveller camp whilst trying to arrest car thief; cop car badly damaged
Mexico, Baja California : a year after their uprising, migrant workers initiate three-day march to TijuanaAfter marching through Ensenada and Rosarito, in Tijuana they plan to meet CNTE teachers and members of migrant field workers’ organizations. Last year’s movement was defeated by its proper logic of sending representatives to the negociation table : they accepted to sign documents that ended up having no legal validity, and thus made the negociated advantages amount to nothing.
As for now, a boycott of strawberries’ exporter Discroll’s has been decided (http://www.jornada.com.mx/2016/03/21/estados/026n1est), and is to be applied in both the US and Mexico.
South Africa, Gauteng (Zandspruit): reports of live fire aimed at insecurity guards in 3rd night of uprising sparked off by electricity cuts“A liquor store and other shops were damaged in the riots and several cars were burnt out on Thursday night.” More here‘Residents are burning tyres, cutting down traffic lights and causing chaos on all the roads surrounding Zandspruit Informal Settlement and Honeydew Plot 52…Some of the protesters were seen digging up electricity cables from the traffic lights.’ And here‘Hundreds of community members tried to approach Beyers Naude Drive and police officers stopped them. But a few minutes later, the crowd managed to run through the police line, into a nearby petrol station, where they broke in and started looting. One man, who owns a butchery there, says his security guards were assaulted. Three officers are being treated on the scene bringing the number of injured officers today to five.’ And here‘Some business owners said they are now forced to leave their businesses in the Zandspruit Shopping Centre. Butchery owner, Stanley Pedro, said he lost R2,5 million worth of stock when violent protesters ransacked his shop… Two cars were torched, several businesses ransacked and lots of stock were stolen from the shops at the centre when the strike intensified.’
Meanwhile, in a marvellously muddle-headed move that seems to have become a South African speciality, the Energy Minister Tina Joemat-Pettersson recently claimed that despite the fact electricity bills have increased an average of 150% from 2008 until the present, prices have in fact REDUCED, explaining herself thus: “The tariff matter is a larger matter, but the prices we are charging have reduced considerably.” An example of governmentality equal to the justification of installing an Olympic sized swimming pool financed by the state in the president’s private residence on the grounds that it was a security measure in case of fires. [SK].
Cambodia, Preah Vihear province : villagers and riot cop in fight over burial site
Colombia: general strike – confrontations with cops in Medellin and Bogota; rocks thrown at cops, lots of graffiti, ATMs etc. smashed Also here Video here
Georgia, Tkibuli: report of miners wildcat strike forcing unions to negotiate a wage increase“Some 750 miners went on strike in February, seeking wage increases promised during their last strike in 2011. The workers, employed by the Georgian Industrial Group (GIG), which operates two mines in Tkibuli, walked out before notifying union leadership of their intention. But with GTUC President Irakli Petriashvili and MMCIWTU President Tamazi Dolaberidze at the bargaining table, miners returned to work in 16 days with a new contract that includes a 7 percent pay increase starting March 1 and an additional 3 percent hike beginning April 1—and will be paid for half of the days they spent on the strike with no punishment for strike leaders. The company also has agreed to address salary imbalances.”
UK, Manchester: students occupy chancellor’s office in protest against catering staff cuts
16/3/16:
Greece, Athens: anarchists invade Hilton Hotel where government is negotiating with troika
Russia, near Tula: riot cops confront Roma squatters after they attempt illegal gas hook-up
South Africa, Gauteng, Zandspruit: cop rushed to hospital, armoured truck torched in uprising against clamp-down on self-help electricity connections
‘Residents took to the streets for a third time on Wednesday morning, spreading rocks across the road and setting fire to tyres and debris. By the afternoon, the burning rubbish was still smouldering. Several shops, including a liquor store, were looted. Part of Beyers Naude Drive was closed to traffic. “It (the protests) started again because one of us discovered the meat that was bought turned rotten in the fridge because there was no electricity.” Another leader of the group…said the living conditions in the informal settlement had been the same for more than 20 years.’ More hereand here.
15/3/16:
Mexico, Costa Chica, State of Acapulco : protest after murder of homosexual adolescentIt’s positive to see people mobilizing in a country where homosexuality is still a taboo, and where gays suffer all kinds of abuse. Unfortunately, like in many situations in Mexico (a tendency we tend to evoke as much as possible), these people limited themselves to asking the authorities for justice, when everybody knows that the most important part of the daily horrors committed against individuals (particularly women) are committed by the forces of order, protected by various levels of power.
Another articlementions that five gay men were killed so far in the Costa Chica region of the southern state of Acapulco…but still we read the following inanity:“none of them [the victim’s friends] has any hint of the reason of such a horrible murder”.
They sadly missed an important opportunity to denounce patriarchal horror, which is not specific to Mexico, but which takes particularly horrible forms in this country. Mexico is second on the list of homophobic crimes (see this article in Spanish).
As for violence against women: 7 were killed every day in 2015 (see here); the femicide phenomenon is not limited to Ciudad Juárez anymore (if it ever was), and has extended all over the country. The situation is now particularly miserable in the State of Mexico (which doesn’t include the capital, but does include some of its huge suburbs), with 6 women murdered every week in 2015 (see here). These figures don’t include the huge figures for dissappearances.
In a recent affair (http://www.somoselmedio.org/article/acusan-custodios-de-tortura-y-violaciones-contra-mujeres), a female prisoner was killed and several were tortured and raped by screws during a transfer to a new prison.
There are of course various reactions to this situation…there were for example demos during Women’s day…or a recent march through Guadalajara’s streets (see this link, with pictures and a video). [Pi]
Germany, Berlin: 3 cars belonging to Bosch security (involved in border coontrols, prisons, etc.) torched in different parts of city, along with a Mercedes
South Africa, Cape Town: three cars and a bus stop up in smoke during taxi protest….KwaZulu Natal, Folweni: cop shot, community hall, shop, fire-station and school torched, and several cop vans damaged in ruling-party internal squabble[This] might go against the official policy as they seem to be faction-fights within the ANC, but inasmuch as they involve a revolt against the dominant structures of the party by the rank and file I am, for want of further investigation, going to class them in the same category as revolts of union rank and file against the bureaucracy — however tenuous an analogy that might be! [SK]
Senegal, Dakar: confrontations between cops and students, roads blocked
14/3/16:
Germany, Hambach forest : large scale operation by police, security and RWE
France, Paris: 3 escape from migrant detention centre
Mexico (State of Morelos) : police take over community centerPolice were supported in this operation by representatives of communal authorities, whom villagers oppose on the ground that they function out of proper communal assemblies. These representatives are trying to obtain local plots of land and sell them. The community center served as a base for opposition against these projects. [Pi]
South Africa, KwaZulu Natal: 300 block main road with burning barricades in protest against nomination of election candidates…2 trucks burnt, cop vehicles damaged, fire station torched (video)
…Limpopo: man shot dead, shops looted, roads barricaded, armoured vehicle and five houses razed in protest demanding resignation of mayor
‘Police on Tuesday confirmed the fatal shooting, but said they did not have anything to do with it… Reports from locals indicate that the 50-year-old man was among the protesters, who were trying to force their way into mayor Mayor Sarah Monyamane’s house, when he was shot…Irate residents were demanding that Monyamane step down. The protesting residents first took to the streets at the weekend. They blocked roads and set a house alight. Protests resumed in area on Monday with residents again demanding the resignation of the mayor. Streets were barricaded by protesters and four houses were set alight. The houses were thought to have been owned by the Monyamanes and other councillors.’
China, Heilongjiang: 1000s of unemployed miners clash with cops…more here…mainstream report on workers unrest… and another
US, Alabama: 2nd riot within 2 days at prison See also this and this (both from “It’s going down”). Solidarity with prisoners expressed here.
13/3/16:
France, Marseille: carnival attacked by uninvited gate-crashersCops teargas crowd after people cover CCTV cameras with paint, tag banks and ATMs, graffiti walls; anti-gentrification/anti-mayor papier-maché tank and pictures against borders; 2 BAC [plain clothes psycho-cops] are beaten a bit, some arrests. More here
Cambodia (Preah Vihear province, north) : log-truck seized by community fighting to preserve their land
South Africa, Johannesburg: workers defying union call to stop strike threatened with sacking “The Johannesburg’s waste management utility released a statement on Sunday saying it was “issuing pre-dismissal notices as a result of the workers’ failure to return to work on Thursday, 10 March. The workers also failed to heed the call by their own union to return to work on Friday, 11 March”. Instead, they intensified the strike, took to the streets and left a trail of rubbish in their wake all over the city center of Johannesburg. On Friday Pikitup striking workers clashed with the police, resulting in some injuries.Samwu has since urged striking workers to return to work while negotiations continue.”…KwaZulu Natal: uprising stops as local state agrees to release 122 prisoners
12/3/16:
Palestine: teachers suspend strikeFrom this (far) distance, this seems contradictory and stupid – they launched their strike because of a government broken promise and now accept the same government’s promise…and a promise to abide by the 2013 agreement in 2017!
US, Alabama: prisoners riot, set fires…warden and screw stabbed… more here“There are videos circulating on social media of prisoners burning the control towers and opening all doors. “We’re tired of this shit, there’s only one way to deal with it: tear the prison down” one of the participants stated.”
…blog by one of the prisoners here, unrelated to the riot.
11/3/16:
Spain, Asturias: Spanish trains sabotaged in solidarity with Mónica and Francisco
Palestine: new report on teachers strike
USA, Atlanta: Parents, elementary students, and unionists from AFSCME protest outside of former Atlanta mayor Shirley Franklin’s private residence as charter school law passes in Carver school cluster. The former mayor, known as a progressive, was targeted for her role in gentrification in Atlanta, lead by initiatives such as this [H].
UK, London: shop in posh area squatted in opposition to new Housing Bill (which looks like it will eventually lead to the end of all council housing)… Gloucestershire: horrible eviction of long-term anarchist squat experimenting with permaculture etc. “… millionaire landgrabber Brian Bennett, with multiple police forces, the county and district councils, his own private army all working together…set fire to everyone’s homes and possessions once they had bulldozed them. The eco-farmers haven’t gone away… call 07522 025889 if you can help them with blankets, tents and provisions or want to swell their numbers… The position all media is in is they can’t afford to get sued by a millionaire (Brian Bennett or the various authorities) but they can print whatever allegations as fact that said millionaire or authorities spout, cos haha we poorer people can’t afford to sue! We don’t give a shit so we’ll say it: Bennett is a liar, a thief, a crook and a violent bully, as are his associates and hired hands. The wider world needs to know that class war is being waged brutally against us here by the Forest of Dean’s power elite. You can’t tell by the photos but the security are thugs who did their best to intimidate everyone from the wider community who attended the walk… they have also brutalised their dogs… This intimidation has been going on for months, not only against the eco-farmers but also against walkers and locals generally… the question is, are we the people of this Forest and beyond going to put up with this continuing harassment on our public footpaths? ….” More here
South Africa, Gauteng (Johannesburg): municipal workers continue wildcat strike for higher wages…and clash with cops after tipping over loads of trash cans round the city
Junkesburg
…Western Cape: workers trash university in movement against outsourcing“The workers, who have been on strike since Wednesday, demanded permanent employment by the university so they could earn more and get benefits, including medical aid and pension. They are employed by an independent company subcontracted by the university. Strikers are also suspected of committing arson which gutted one of the basement offices in the administration building on Thursday night….One striker, a cleaner with two small children who did not want to be named, said he worked eight hours a day, earned R2 300 a month, and had no pension or medical aid. He said cleaners who were permanently employed by the university “earn at least double”, plus benefits.”
Bermuda: strike of all garbage collectors, ferries, buses and dockers against immigration reform billNot at all clear what this is about.
Pi writes: “I chose not to put the entry on Bermuda [in the French section “Nouvelles d’Opposition”], as what’s going on is not that clear…I could find some more info here (https://www.caymancompass.com/2016/03/06/editorial-what-bermudas-immigration-debate-means-for-cayman/), but more elements of analysis would be needed in my opinion. It seems it has much to do with the status of the overseas territories (ex-colonies), with unemployment…but probably also with race issues (don’t have a clue of what are the specificities in Bermuda). The situations in French overseas territories are all very different, so generalizations are often complex, and I guess it’s similar for the UK.”
10/3/16:
Greece, Athens : anarchist demonstration against drug dealers in Exarchia, some demonstrators openly armed
South Africa, Stellenbosch: car and university building torched in outsourcing protest
… Gauteng: university SRC threatened with violence and attempt to torch library in protest against financial exclusion
Venezuela, Tumeremo (State of Bolívar) : army intervention after roadblocks and strikes by locals mobilized after massacre of 28 gold miners by gang. More here.
These two articles from the Venezuelian anarchist website El Libertario give info on this .The local governor first reacted to the disappearance by saying it was a rumour spread by the opposition to the Bolivarian “revolutionary” government (which is something they invariably do every time there’s something that implies criticism of daily misery in this country).
All local mines are controlled by gangs, one of which is responsible for this massacre. But it seems that the State is trying to control the illegal mining activities, which are plagued with daily murders and disappearances.
Some pictures of the intervention here : http://www.2001.com.ve/en-la-calle/125844/todo-tumeremo-amanecio-militarizada.html
See also this.
9/3/16:
New Zealand, Wellington: prison riot“TEARGAS was used to quell a fresh wave of violence that erupted yesterday in the state’s prisons, including a deliberate ambush of guards after two cells were set on fire”
France: between ¼ and ½ million demonstrate against new labour lawsIt should be pointed out that nationally the unions refused to call a strike – only local unions were involved (not that they’re much better)…100 high schools involved in movement against these laws…
Paris: banks splattered with eggs, ATMs smashed, a CCTV camera also; Niort: Socialist Party HQ tagged, cop car tyres punctured, cop cars tagged; Rouen: Socialist Party HQ tagged…Montreuil: front window of architectural business designing prisons and detention centres torched…
Paris : frustrated attempt by police to expell migrants from squat
Lyon: 1000 continue demo past official route and try to break through police barrage; a few missiles thrown; lots of tear gas (video)…
Nantes: five 14-16-year-olds nicked during demo, as cops fire tear gas and missiles are thrown at them…
Valenciennes : 2,000 people protest in industrial town, clashes with cops, a worker hit by a flashball…
Bordeaux: University vandalized during occupation Walls were tagged with anarchist slogans, doors were forced, electronics were torn out and stolen – damage amounted to “tens of thousands of euros”, according to the University.
Loire: man deliberately drives car into police station entrance
South Africa, KwaZulu Natal (iSithebe): cops fire tear gas at crowds demanding release of 120 arrested More here“…factories and trucks…have been torched and about 18 others stoned by people disgruntled with the appointment of an induna and the nomination of a councillor candidate. Mabuyakhulu said the incidents were “completely unacceptable….they should not vent their anger and frustration in an economic hub such as this.” Mabuyakhulu was speaking after visiting a furniture factory which had been gutted by fire. In another area, several trucks and trailers stood burned on the roadside while another truck was set alight while Mabuyakhulu was in the area. A petrol bomb was also thrown into a recycling plant, raising another plume of thick black smoke in the small town near Mandeni. Mabuyakhulu said an office was broken into and looted of computers, chairs and other equipment…. businesses had to close because of the riots….“… we are urging them to exercise restraint and not damage any more factories.”…Another factory petrol bombed in ongoing riots (video)…The iSithebe industrial estate, employing 20,000 workers, has been completely shut down by riots since Monday. According to one of the latest reports, ‘The importance of this place is engraved in its name, with the English translation of Isithebe loosely meaning a wooden plate for food. Days on end of pitch battles have closed factories, shops and taxi routes. The plate is now empty… a petrol bomb shatters over an adjacent clothing factory, sending a column of dark smoke billowing skyward. Once the rush of smoke and hissing steam subsides, a security boss cuts a tired figure on the fringes of the factory. Soot is buried in the furrows of Dylan Meyrick’s face, the lines a testament to days of work here with little sleep. “I have been here for 17 years and this place has always been militant. What we have now is anarchy and there is nothing we can do about it,” the IPSS owner says. “They are all around us here and they’re happy. I don’t know why because this factory employs 2 000 people and now they are done, what good came of this for them.” What remains veiled in mystery is what lies at the root of this impasse. Rumours abound, from the appointment of an unwanted Induna to the return of an ex-mayor who was shuffled out under a cloud. Even rumblings of a housing protest have been proffered, but ask anyone here and no one can tell you for certain why so much has been lost. “No one can say for sure what the problem is, and now we have the criminals taking over. It is not only setting fire to places but looting them as well,” Meyrick adds.’ (here)
…Pretoria: informal settlement residents block roads with burning tyres in protest against use of Afrikaans in schools and lack of electricity
…Daspoort (Tshwane): protest over service delivery and access to schooling blocks roads“The crowd has not been volatile with the residents but has been towards cars passing by. Tyres are burning, roads are being blocked off and police vehicles are being stoned and sent away.” Videos here
…Philippi: women workers blockade farm after dismissal and stop sale of produce
…Johannesburg: rubbish collectors in illegal strike
UK, Sussex: occupation of University in protest against “death sentence” deportation
8/3/16:
Germany (Leipzig) : army trucks set ablazeA claim for the attack here: https://linksunten.indymedia.org/de/node/171855
Italy, Venice: protesters against the TAV rail link between Turin and Lyon clash with cops…on water!
South Africa, Gauteng: TUT shut down till next month because of constant disruption of lectures…prisoners escape
Mexico, Mexico City: on international Women’s Day, 47 women sacked from the National Institute of Women denounce their sackings and heckle the President of this institute’s speech
7/3/16:
South Africa, Kwa-Zulu Natal: more than 1000 people barricade all entrances to Durban township in social strike
“Our demands are electricity, we tried to install electricity by ourselves but the municipality came and shut it down. We don’t have houses, we stay in shacks and we haven’t had water for long time. We will take to the streets until we get answers- if the councillor does not want to give us electricity, we will go out and forcefully demand what’s belong to our communities,”
… Limpopo: clashes between residents and police as total-shutdown in Vuwani continues
‘Speaking to The Citizen on Monday morning, community leader, Arnold Mulaudzi said there were plans to call of the total shut-down on Sunday afternoon, but following a meeting with residents, it was then resolved that the protest action continue until those who were arrested for public violence are released. “The anger expressed by residents was against the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC), who wanted to conduct the voter registration under the auspices of the new municipality, which residents are against. More than 40 voter registration officers were not allowed to operate at the weekend,” Mulaudzi said.’….Army called in to suppress this social strike
Australia, Melbourne: 6 youths riot on youth prison roof for 7 hours
“The unruly group then began to smash windows, swing from the roof, kick in sheets of glass, and rip air conditioning units to shreds with their hands”
USA, Boston: high school students walk out of class against education cuts, scuffle with cops…Virginia: activist occupy lobby of Department of Environmental Quality in protest against release of coal-ash water into waterways
Palestine: 1000s of teachers criticise union in 4th week of strike against Palestinian Authority’s failure to implement 2013 wage increase agreement
“In regards to the protest, Hamdallah [the P.M.] added that “people have the right to express their opinion, this is part of the democratic process,” but teachers said checkpoints had been set up by the PA in an attempt to stop teachers from reaching the protest….The PA has threatened to take legal action against the teachers if they do not return to work immediately…A number of teachers have now been detained by PA security forces, who have also sought to prevent the teachers from convening at demonstrations by installing checkpoints across the West Bank and threatening public transportation drivers carrying teachers to protests. The strike marks one of the largest demonstrations against the PA in recent years”
6/3/16:
Palestine/Israel: 1700 Palestinian prisoners go on hunger strikeWhilst this includes prisoners affiliated with Hamas and with the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, it also includes non-affiliated prisoners and besides, it goes beyond the political forms of anti-imperialist struggle. Anyway, we put this here in the spirit of solidarity with prisoners, political or not. [SF]
Switzerland, Berne: partygoers at alternative cultural centre protesting intensified cop patrols in clash with cops
“Police patrols of the area “to prevent crime and provide security” around the Reitschule sparked protests on Friday, which escalated on Saturday night. Stones, bottles and fireworks were thrown at police, some from the roof of the building. Police responded with tear gas and rubber bullets. Garbage bins and barriers were set on fire, blocking a nearby street, later extinguished by firefighters. Several vehicles in the area were damaged. …the Reitschule commented that there had not been any incidents at the centre since last summer, “unusual for a venue that can hold up several hundred people”. It asked whether the police patrols had been a “preventative action or a provocation”. “
More here
“Eleven policemen were injured in the night from Saturday to Sunday in clashes around the alternative center of the Reitschule in Bern. Burning barricades were erected and both the police and firemen were stoned. Smaller scale clashes had taken place the previous night. On Sunday, clashes began around 0:15, and the police were greeted upon arrival on site by thrown stones, bottles and pyrotechnics…The security forces responded with tear gas and rubber bullets. …The officers also had to provide cover for two firefighters extinguishing barricades, who were themselves bombarded with projectiles.”
South Africa, Kwa-Zulu Natal (ISithebe): 120 arrested as thousands blockade roads, raze factories, trucks and municipal infrastructure in protest against unpopular mayoral nomination‘”They have set fire to several factories in the area and they are just burning anything they can get their hands on. Every time the police engage a group of them, another group mass behind the officers again. They have just set fire to a furniture factory,” IPSS Security spokesperson Dylan Meyrick said.’
part of burning factory
More here“…after the eThekwini land invasion unit demolished shacks that had been erected by land grabbers…the owners of the shacks disrupted traffic flow on Mangosuthu Highway. They burnt waste and debris on the road, stopping vehicles as they demanded that the unit halt the demolition…Tehuis land grabber Mzukisi Sapo, 28, whose structure was demolished, said …“I was tired of being squashed in a hostel room and that is the reason I chose to join the people invading this park,” …Sapo said they were not prepared to surrender and after every demolition, they would reconstruct their shacks….four factories, a truck, two vehicles and five containers were set alight. The protesters also damaged police cars. Eight computers were taken at one of the factory offices and two were later recovered….On Monday the whole of Mandeni was at a standstill and no public transport had access to the area as the situation remained volatile. Schoolchildren and workers were turned back. Firms closed and sent home workers who had already started work.”
…KwaZulu Natal (uMlazi near Durban): thousands block roads, stone vehicles, in protest against lack of electricity
Turkey, Istanbul: cops fire plastic bullets at women as they demonstrate despite ban on demo“… violence committed by domestic partners is 10 times more likely in Turkey, than in other European countries”
France, Mesnil Amelot: several fires at migrants’ detention centre
5/3/16
South Africa, Cape Town: two voter registration stations forced to close down by protesters in Khayelitsha
… Gauteng: Protests against voter registration force withdrawal of officials in two parts of Gauteng
…Limpopo: school set on fire in movement against unification with different municipality“…arsonists set alight a staff room and nine classrooms, which include three mobile classrooms, at Rasiphuthuma Primary School on Saturday.”
4/3/16
Guyana, Georgetown: 3rd day of prison riot leads to negotiated truce; 17 dead
“The riot first began Wednesday when inmates angered by a search and confiscation of cellphones set fires in one part of the prison, located in the capital of Georgetown. On Thursday, police and prison guards moved in, setting off battles with inmates armed with pieces of wooden bed frames, officials said. Prisoners began the violence anew Friday morning, setting another fire, breaking out of cells and lobbing teargas canisters back at police and prison officers. Soon thereafter a delegation of more than 12 shackled and handcuffed inmates were escorted from the jail to participate in closed-door talks with the South American country’s minister of state and public security minister.”
South Africa, Limpopo: residents of municipality blockade roads with burning tyres etc. in movement against integration into another municipality
Shop burnt and looted, two school blocks and three mobile classrooms set alight and destroyed in ongoing protest over municipal demarcation [SK]
‘The protests were apparently intended to frustrate the Electoral Commission of SA’s (IEC) voter registration drive this weekend… IEC voter registration centres remained closed in the area.’
US, California: vacant luxury home occupied for teenage party
Mexico, Chiapas: indigenous villagers repelled by the army near entrance of ranch, exchange blows
Turkey, Bursa: Renault metal workers continue strike against sacking of 12 fellow workers More here
3/3/16
Chile, Santiago: small riot against fare rises forces closure of metro stations
Honduras: students and activists clash with cops over murder of prominent opponent of dam project
Trinidad & Tobago, San Fernando: workers try to resist asset-stripping by company with blockade of tyres, wooden blocks and themselves
Chile, Arica: fishermen in most violent protest for 3 months of movement against fishing quotas and subsequent poverty (video)
Dominican Republic, Santo Domingo: university strike called after previous day’s student riots in response to heavy teargassing, in movement demanding increase in state expenditure for students
Cambodia, Preah Vihear province, north: ethnic Kuoy villagers block road to protect their land from investors
Mexico, Tehuantepec isthmus, State of Oaxaca: 5000 education workers block road, clash with police while trying to disturb President’s visit.More info here and here. The education workers are members of the CNTE (National Coordination of Education Workers)’s “Section 22” (State of Oaxaca). Enrique Peña Nieto came to launch a new wind farm, in this coastal region where local indigenous communities have been opposing wind power infrastructure for years. The President is declared “persona non grata” in the State of Oaxaca by local fighters.
This happens after heavy repression in neighbour state of Guerrero, see here and here. On the 24th of February, one teacher was killed during the eviction of an occupation and roadblock in the touristic hub of Acapulco, and 4 female teachers raped by the police.
Mexico, State of Michoacán: children and teenagers rebel against ill-treatment in institution for orphans
More info here.
South Africa, Cape Town: demonstration against sale of state property (no link)
From an email press statement:
‘On Thursday afternoon at 3pm, Sea Point’s poor residents and low-income workers from the Reclaim the City campaign will march on the Tafelberg Remedial School to protest its sale by the Western Cape Provincial Government. They demand that the site be developed for affordable mixed-income housing. Members of the press are invited to join and report on the gathering.
The site has been vacant for a number of years after the remedial school was relocated and tenants of the Wynyard mansions were evicted. Recently the Provincial Department of Public Works declared the property “surplus” and sold it to the Phyllis Jowell School. The Province has refused to disclose how this decision was made – supporters ask whether this is reasonable given the lack of affordable housing in the city.
As property prices sky-rocket in Sea Point, and other well-located areas near the city, poor and working class residents are being forced out because they can no longer afford rising rents and are unable to buy homes.
Such residents of Sea Point refuse to relocate to townships – they assert their right to live close to where they need to be for work, and to where their children go to school.
Reclaim the City supporters demand that affordable housing options near the city be expanded. The use of state land for this purpose is key to transforming apartheid spatial planning and in meeting Province’s obligations to building an inclusive economy and city.
Although the Tafelberg School has been sold, transfer has not yet occurred. We aim to send a clear message to the Province that land is for people, not for profit.’
Unless such demonstrations involve massive numbers it is likely that direct action is a far more effective tactic — in fact the two need not necessarily be mutually exclusive, for example when an occupation ends up as the culmination of a march, the latter providing opportunity for the former. In any case the only practically effective way for poor and working class residents to ‘refuse to relocate to townships’ is through SELF-HELP; all other refusals remaining in the realm of impotent rhetoric… [SK]
[4/3/16]:The people involved apparently did plan initially on a more direct approach but then recieved a letter from the state offering to suspend the decision to sell the property pending (as usual) confidential negotiations. I won’t mention everything that was said then but will continue to participate on the chance that something interesting might come of it. More info to follow as developments unfold…
…KwaZulu-Natal: coal miners destroy conveyor belt and stage sit-in strike against dismissals
… large-scale looting produced by ANC faction fighting
‘Another wrangle over an ANC nomination process for the local government elections led to a mob of Folweni residents looting and then torching municipal buildings and vehicles worth millions of rands.
A municipal building, containers that were converted into offices, a grader, a light delivery vehicle, a tractor-loader-backhoe vehicle and two police vehicles were set alight last week.
More than 1 000 spades and 100 wheelbarrows were stolen.’
…meanwhile, ANC electioneering propaganda causes ‘outrage’
[SK]
…Western Cape: 2 cop vehicles smashed by local residents after 16 year old is arrested
“…while police began to conclude their operation, angry residents began throwing stones at them. “The crowd afterwards started to burn tyres and throw stones at all vehicles that passed by, as well as at the police vehicles,” said Van Wyk. He said gunshots were also heard, allegedly from within the crowd, prompting police to fire warning shots into the sand to disperse residents. Van Wyk said two Operation Combat vehicles were damaged….While no arrests have been made, police have opened a case of public violence and malicious damage to property for investigation. “We would like to reiterate that an attack on any law enforcement official is an attack on the State,” said Van Wyk.”
2/3/16:
France, Seine-St.Denis: cop hospitalised after friends of young man arrested arrested for cannabis possession attack cops, cops firing off live rounds
For the cops to fire live rounds in such a situation is unusual in France nowadays, and an investigation into attempted homicide on the part of the cops is being opened up, though this is largely a way of showing how the state, despite the state of emergency, is still a liberal state. If this had happened in almost any other area, it would have been pretty scandalous but it should be pointed out that this is in an area (a banlieu of Paris) that was virtually occupied by the army and cops after the attacks in Paris in November, with any Arab being searched at gunpoint, or even pregnant Arab women being forced to lie down on the pavement for a search, and anyone complaining (even non-Arabs) getting a gun pointed at them along with racist verbal abuse. [SF]
Greece, Athens: Ministry of Finance occupied in protest against pensions reform
South Africa, Johannesburg: two vehicles torched in protest over municipal demarcation (pics)
…Cape Town: houses damaged, bus and beer truck burnt down in protests on national highway
Cambodia (Kampong Chhnang province, central Cambodia): fired employee takes revenge on boss (and unfortunately ends up being sued for attempted murder)
1/3/16:
France, Calais: usual sweet humane behaviour by wonderful protectors of our security (more here)
South Africa, Pretoria: Tshwane University of Technology workers clash with private security guards in movement against outsourcing
…Pretoria: Seven security guards injured and taken to hospital in clashes with workers and students at university
Algeria, Bouira: clashes with cop as demolition of “illegal” homes begins…Oran: riot over lack of housing
Bahamas, Nassau: beach vendors clash with cops after being prevented access to beaches
India, West Bengal: truck drivers blockade roads for 2 hours after driver is assaulted by cop when driver refused to give him a bribe
Morocco, Fez: students clash with state as cops try to force them to stop their boycott of exams
april 2016
April calendar
“April is a promise that May is bound to keep.”
– Hal Borland
As with all the “News of Opposition”, this section is mostly full of links to various (often mainstream) articles giving information about certain aspects of independent opposition to this society throughout the world . What is automatically excluded here are clashes in which either ethnic or religious or sport team or political faction fights seem to dominate, though sometimes we will put in things where, even if such hierarchies and separate identities dominate, there are also clearly independent aspects. Admittedly, some of these bits of information here are more spontaneous symptoms of opposition than developing struggles. Equally, there might be things put here which on further investigation do not prove to have anything independent about them. Likewise, putting them here all together does not in any way mean that these very different events in very different situations are simplistically equivalent. Nor does this list have the slightest pretension to being definitive.
30/4/16:
France, Savoie: cops stoned after bins set on fire on popular estate
Germany, Stuttgart: 500 anti-fascists detained by cops in clashes“Police counted up to 2000 left-wing protesters, some of whom burned tyres and hurled stones and fireworks to try to stop the AfD’s congress going ahead”
29/4/16:
Greece, Athens: victory for anarchist prisoners after setting fire to isolation wing & inspiring solidarity from other prisoners – they receive the transfer they were demanding
South Africa, Eastern Cape: municipal workers win strike a day after having overturned bins and setting fire to electricity boxes“Mayoral spokesperson, Sibusiso Pindi warned that investigations were in the pipeline with regards to workers who vandalised buildings and broke equipment. Pindi said that even the unions did not condone such behavior which amounted to “breaking the law”.”
France, Paris: car and scooters burnt after cops attack remnants of Nuit Debout...account of events of day in French…video of handcuffed arrested people being thumped by cops…Correze: local Socialist Party HQ vandalised with indelible paint…Toulouse: office windows of journal smashed because of its crude sexism…Nice: politicians emerge out of Nuit Debout 2 significant partcipants in Nuit Debout here are put up as candidates for the legislative assembly.
Germany: 110,000 metal workers go on official union strike for wage increase
Italy, Pisa: protesters clash with cops during visit by PM & Education Minister
Bolivia, La Paz: disabled confront cops in movement to increase pathetically low state disability payments (video)
Malta: minister’s front door re-decorated
28/4/16:
Mexico, Chilpancingo (State of Guerrero) : education workers and family members of the 43 dissappeared normal school students block main highway for reapperance of the 43Authorities break up the blockade during the night, arrest 73, and make up “proof” of weapon and drugs possession in order to link movement with criminal organizations . …in a video, locals of a nearby indigenous community say 3 children died after gas was thrown by police during clashes…30 police officers had been taken hostages in this community…in another community, locals have taken 12 police hostages, offering to exchange them for the 73 arrested during the blockade
Switzerland, Zurich: almost 200,000 euros of damage by 60 masked youths“A vehicle and several bins were burnt, windows smashed and walls covered in dirt…a letter published on the site indymedia.ch …presented the action as a protest against speculation, embourgeoisment, and repression”
Finland, Pyhäjoki: cops use rubber bullets to evict anti-nuke camp“The police started to shoot people with a projectile / rubber bullet gun and the people at the camp defended themselves by throwing rocks. The police was clearly aiming for the activists heads, backheads and upper bodies with the gun. People got hit several times on the area of their upper bodies. As far as we know, not to the heads though.. The police got hit several times with the rocks, and there was one police car burning up in flames at the area.”
US, California: cop car smashed up during anti-Trump rally
France: various confrontations with cops in Paris, Rennes, Marseille, Nantes, St Etienne…high school students in several regions are still on vacation, butin places where classes were supposed to have started again…at least 15 high schools blockaded (totally or partly)… 124 arrested in whole country, in about 10 cities; at least 100,000, maybe double, took to the streets; clashes and autonomous actions reported in 9 cities or towns…various photos and videos
Grenoble(above)
Mulhouse(below): “Those who sow misery, reap fury”
…Alès (Gard): windows of banks, estate agents, temp agencies, etc. smashed; brief dance party held in bank (radio programme)
…Lyon: 11 cops injured…3 Bosch factories blockaded, with unlimited strike mostly involving unions
…Paris: flights cancelled at Orly…lots of police violence after Genneviliers’ harbour occupationMentions also that several refineries were blockaded, as well as a few gasoline dumps, Le Havre harbour (France’s main harbour) and an industrial zone in Amiens (northern France)….injured cop “between life and death” (so, no change there then).
…Marseille: 57 arrested after several clashes and an attempt to block train station
…Bordeaux: clashes as youths try to march on town’s station
…Rennes: small home-made incendiary device thrown at cops (video)
Nantes: Porsche burning in front of prefecture (video here)
South Africa, Gauteng: multi-million housing project vandalised because of corrupt housing allocation“… housing officials are allocating homes to outsiders allegedly in return for bribes.”
27/4/16:
Switzerland (Basel) : Lufthansa attacked for involvement in deportations of migrants… Zurich: Greek consulate attacked in solidarity with comrades who are on trial
Turkey, Istanbul: bank robber redistributes well-gotten gains
Algeria, Tuvirett (Kabyle): peaceful student demo attacked by cops
US: big increase in sabotage during Verizon strike More here“Verizon says its network has suffered 57 incidents of vandalism in seven states in the two weeks since 36,000 workers went on strike. ….Under normal conditions, there are only about a half-dozen incidents of sabotage over the course of a year”
26/4/16:
Mexico (Mexico city suburb): incendiary attack against car dealership– an anti-leftist communiqué
Germany, Berlin: car sharing company car in arson attack
France, Paris: precarious workers, etc. occupy world-famous theatre; show cancelled…10 national theatres now occupied – mainly by casualised cultural workers ( “intermittents”)
…Toulouse: cops stoned in 2 separate attacks on working class estate…police station attacked with molotovs (communiqué)
UK, Liverpool: 6th day of wildcat postal workers strike More here
Senegal, Dakar: uprising in village on outskirts of capital against corrupt land sell-off
Greece, Lesvos: migrants riot against teargassing cops“There were reports on social media that refugees had taken control of the camp, chanting “Freedom, freedom” over the public address system. The clashes broke out after a Greek policeman reportedly slapped or hit a minor, refugees inside the camp said. The violence took place during a visit to the camp by Yannis Mouzalas, the Greek migration minister, and a Dutch minister.” More here“Tension sparked when the ministers entered the unaccompanied minors department and some young men asked them if Europe wil ever open the borders for them. The reply of the Dutch minister was a desicive and rude “no”. Anger spread out and some teenagers sprayed with him water. Greek riot police answered with a really violent attack, beating at least 2 minors. That incident provoked a full uprising with young refugees throwing stones at the police, lighting fires and taking over the sector. New police forces arrived and with the extensive use of tear gas they managed to control the situation. Sources speak of at least 20 injured refugees, 2 of them with broken legs.” Video here
Lesvos containers on fire
Finland, Pyhäjoki: anti-nuke protesters clash with cops“Stop Fennovoima issued a press release Tuesday afternoon claiming to have succeeded in shutting down work on the site. The group said that activists has had been able to commandeer heavy equipment and Destia work barracks. Chief Inspector Alavaikko also questioned that claim. “There is no information that work had been stopped,” he remarked.” Video here . More here
25/4/16:
Mexico, Chiapas : Tzotzil inhabitants of Chenalhó lock up 350 local Congress members and workers, attack shops and clash with cops asking for resignation of local mayorIn the last few year several mayors have been forced to resign by locals.
24/4/16:
Mexico: marches against violence against women and sexism in several cities. Here in Ecatepec, a huge Mexico City suburb where the figures for murders of women have recently been massive. Here in the main cities of the State of Guerrero (Chilpancingo and Acapulco). Also in state capitals such as Puebla and Guanajuato, or further north in ChihuahuaLots of feminist or women organizations, whether radical or institutional, have participated in these marches. There was a much-debated incident in Mexico City after a small group decided to tag the monument participants of struggles dedicated to the 43 dissappeared of Ayotzinapa with “We (women) are not Ayotzinapa”, in a rather strange logic of victimization competition. Some groups also criticized the participation of very institutional groups and organizations, and the non-offensive character of the marches overall.[Pi]
Germany, Hamburg: 2 limos and 3 other bourgeois vehicles go up in smoke…Leipzig: 30 to 40 people attack the bank branch of the ‘Sparkasse’. The agency was covered with paint and tar. Many windows were smashed with stones. The damage amounted to several thousand euros. On a wall near the target, a tag in red paint was noticed by journocops, saying, “Fight the Nazis and cops.”…Forest of Hambach: cables burned, for some time paralyzing the activity of the polluters ‘RWE’, in charge of lignite exploitation in this forest area…Mannheim: lots of bank windows smashed in solidarity with movement in FranceCommuniqué: “This is an attack against a symbol of capitalism… For a world without classes, without exploitation and war! We welcome the struggling youth in the squares and in the streets of France! Your struggle is our struggle! The world is Ours !”
Algeria, Lesnam (Kabyle): riots after youth is hospitalised in critical condition caused by brutal copsApparently this involves supporters of the MAK, a political party “fighting” for Kabylian autonomy, not a perspective we support at all.
Lesnam, Kabyle, Algeria: still very far from this
Moldova, Chisnau: clashes with cops in protest over government-business corruption“…protesters hurled stones and other objects at police as they walked toward the home of one of Moldova’s most influential businessmen. Moldovan police said 14 police officers and two protesters needed medical treatment from injuries sustained in the scuffles. Political leaders and parties declined to take part in the protest …Moldova has been rocked by protests since September 2015, when demonstrators began demanding a proper investigation into more than $1 billion that went missing from three banks prior to parliamentary elections in November 2014.” Unfortunately loads of national flags (video)
Austria, Brenner Pass: clashes with cops against intensified border controls
Australia, Queensland: bright future for school of the oppressed
23/4/16:
Mexico, Oaxaca : Explosive attack against CORTV Oaxaca by Informal Anarchic Individualities
Indonesia, West Java: prison riot after suicide of prisoner“Part of the Banceuy Narcotics Prison was set alight during the riot, causing extensive damage to the front of the facility. Two cars and two motorcycles were also destroyed in the blaze, before the arrival of three fire trucks. At least five of the nearly 600 police officers deployed at the prison were injured when inmates threw stones at them, before reportedly setting fire to the building.” Family of dead prisoner attacks official position; says he was tortured to death
West Java, prison riot – fires started in 6 different places
France, Paris: cop car burnt on the margins of the Nuit Debout just after midnight Friday to Saturday“a hundred individuals formed in procession headed towards the Boulevard du Faubourg Saint-Martin” around 0:15. The security forces, which had managed to contain the square, were then pelted with projectiles. A police car parked nearby was “deliberately torched and completely destroyed.” Another police vehicle and two vehicles were also damaged…. “Up to 2 am and, despite the call for dispersal by the police, the clashes multiplied against officers – requiring tear gas” .
…Ales (Gard): several banks, estate agents, temp employment agencies, etc. covered with anti-work etc. posters and stickers [from an email list] “Saturday morning in downtown Ales a charming band of revelers changed the decor. Our posters adorned the windows of banks, temp agencies and real estate, as well as the sad municipal areas of underemployment. Overjoyed, the group tried to organize a crazy dance in a CIC bank, but executives wearing ties didn’t play along …Despite the arrests of the police, we nevertheless showed our anger. For sure: WE WILL RETURN !!!”
India, Kashmir: students demanding corporal punishment of cops clash with lathi-charging filth
Belgium: statement of solidarity with anarchists arrested for “terrorism”:“Tuesday, May 10, 2016, the council chamber will decide if it considers it appropriate to confirm the holding of a terror trial against 12 anarchists and anti-authoritarians.
From 2008 to 2014, the Belgian State conducted an extensive investigation into struggles taking innumerable forms, but always outside the box, against the detention centres, borders, prisons and the world based on authority and exploitation.
Searches, microphones, cameras in front and inside of homes, tailing, wiretapping, infiltration … They never lacked such methods. So, after years of investigation, the State now aims to paste the “terrorist” label onto potential defendants. But in fact it targets any individuals in their fight against this world through self-organization, direct action and hostility to all authorities. As such, this trial is a criminal attack against the anti-authoritarian struggle as a whole, an attack in a context of growing repression against all undesirables and rebels, from the borders to the neighborhoods, the workplace and prisons …
We offer a moment of encounter for:
• disseminating information and laying the foundations of active solidarity
• trying to understand the ins and outs of this and seeing how it does not only address just those indicted
• talking again about struggles that have been criminalised
• and reflecting on what answers we can give to this repressive attack.
Wednesday, May 4
19h at Garcia Lorca Street Foulons 47 – Brussels
The terrorist is the state and its competitors.
Active solidarity!”
US, Georgia: clashes with cops at anti-KKK counter-demo More here“…demonstrators attempting to confront pro-white rally participants on Saturday set a barricade on fire, and after police showed up, hurled rocks, chairs and fireworks at officials trying to restore order. At least one state trooper was hit with pepper spray”
22/4/16:
Germany, Hamburg: 2 vehicles belonging to food company for the rich burnt out
South Africa, Gauteng: squatters invade land and build shacks
Greece, Athens: hotel occupied to support migrants
Mexico, San Salvador Atenco (State of Mexico): locals expel workers and machinery sent for the construction of local highway as part of new airport project, against which they’ve been fighting for years
21/4/16:
Mexico (Coatzacalcos, State of Veracruz): after PEMEX petrochemical industry accident that left 13 dead and at least 18 dissappeared, some victims’ family members accuse the company of retaining information and clash with soldiers sent to the site of the accidentFearing these soldiers might take bodies out of the site in order to reduce the figures for victims, workers and family members push back several army vehicles off the site.
South Africa, Western Cape : Anti-Rape protests continue at Rhodes University after alleged rapists named in #RUReferenceList
Tunisia, Kerkennah: further clashes with cops over unemployment“Clashes took place on the night of Thursday to Friday in Kerkennah between police and protesters after the latter blocked the arrival of six trucks of the Petrofac company from the port of Sidi Youssef…Acts of vandalism and violence occurred in an area where several protesters gathered outside the port, threw various objects and threw gas canisters on fire in the direction of the security agents. … A general strike was observed on Tuesday in Kerkennah, scene of several days of tension, following the intervention of the security forces on 3 April, to disperse a sit-in of unemployed outside the offices of the company Petrofac.” More here. “On April 18, in the archipelago of Kerkennah, the use of force against the blocking of the oil company Petrofac degenerated into riots. … Since January 19, the oil company Petrofac,…was blocked by protesters who demand the Government keep its promises about jobs….The only reaction of the State: the use of force, which degenerated into riots on 18 April. …To reduce unemployment, the state has helped 266 unemployed people, including university graduates, with an “environmental program” funded by Petrofac since 2011 through the Regional Council of Sfax. They obtained jobs in the government of the island without having a contract or social security coverage. They now demand the regularization of their situation, under agreements with the government in April 2015, while Petrofac’s lack of transparency in the management of its funds, has suspended its funding program since late 2015. …In fact, the government’s room for maneuver is limited: the fiscal deficit forced the state to reduce hiring.” See also entry for 14/4/16.
China, Zhejiang: heavy clashes with state over incinerator construction“More than 1,000 police officers deployed to the scene clashed with protesters, leaving scores injured or taken away after the most serious round of confrontations late Thursday…Despite the government announcing a halt to the incinerator project, some protesters carried on and broke through a police cordon and entered the county government premises, where police used water cannon, tear gas and pepper spray to disperse the crowd… Video clips and photographs posted online showed violent clashes between police and protesters, vandalized cars, and individual protesters with blood over their bodies and faces or with broken fingers.”…Daleks join China’s police force
Chile, Santiago: students clash with cops over education reforms…indigenous Mapuche indians claim responsiblity for arson attacks“The group also claimed responsibility for attacks on over 30 vehicles, including buses, since May 2013, 15 attacks on residences, and multiple attacks on police officers. Dozens of pieces of agricultural and logging equipment have also been burned by the group…Churches have also been targeted in arson attacks. In its statement, the Weichan Auka Mapu blamed the Catholic Church for complicity in the taking of Mapuche lands” However, the communique in Spanish (http://metiendoruido.com/2016/04/grupo-en-resistencia-weichan-auka-mapu-reivindica-mas-de-treinta-acciones-de-sabotaje/) talks a lot about obedience to “Mapuche traditions”, and even asserts a Mapuche nationalist struggle. So, presented like this, it cannot develop into connecting with other proletarian struggles (even though the possibility of a Mapuche nation, in the bourgeois sense of the term “nation”, is somewhat unrealisable, unless things change drastically). However, in the communiqué the Mapuche alliance calls for armed struggle against the State saying they respect other struggles but fight on their own basis (Mapuche traditions, spirituality, forms of organization), etc, though it’s true that they don’t really evoke possibities of connecting with those involved in class struggle. Lots of Mapuches, including those who wrote this communiqué, consider themselves to be one people or nation: this “unity” is kind of recent, as various tribes who opposed the Spanish united in the struggle, and then considered themselves the same “people”. So in fact they can be considered a “Nation”, though what is more or less unrealisable would be a Nation-State or a project involving a Mapuche nation, at least for the foreseeable future (and in any case, even if realisable, would not be desirable).
Macedonia, Skopje: demonstrators against corrupt politicians clash with cops
UK, London: old crown court squattedThis is where the committal proceedings of those arrested for the Angry Brigade bombings (the Stoke Newington 8, etc.) were held back in 1972.
…if only it was only the state…
Peru, Chiclayo: from goosestep to step dance – the neoliberal face of fascism
Indonesia, Bali: prisoners riot against transfer of murderous gang to their prison“Prisoners inside the prison, numbered in the hundreds, broke windows, threw stones and tried to kick out the returning inmates”
20/4/16:
France, Montpellier: 100 demonstrators against labour law blockade motorway toll booth for 90 minutesApparently this followed a decision by the Nuit Debout (and was also announced by high school students on Facebook), so they’re not all utterly impotent like the citizenist crap going on in Paris. These 100 or so people tried to lift the barriers of the tollbooth so cars could travel for free, but being greatly outnumbered by heavily armed riot cops who’d followed them all from the centre of town (making very public this action beforehand helped them) and started pointing their flashball guns at them when they tried to do this, they decided that it wasn’t worth the risk of being maimed.
…Paris: 3 fast food joints blockaded
…Nantes: bank and employment agency windows smashed, prefecture gets paint and stuff thrown at it, by about 200“The security forces, targets of stones or glass bottles, responded with tear gas. A group of demonstrators faced the police, flowers in hand, chanting “the police with us” and shouting “stop throwing stones” at the younger ones”
…Lille: stones thrown at department store, paint at Apple store, some clashes with cops…police station gets new paint job
…Besançon: Chamber of Commerce graffitied, windows broken“As I was strolling in the area of the Jules Haag high school on this lovely sunny Wednesday afternoon, splashes of different colors on the front of the gigantic building caught my attention. And what a pleasant surprise to see that these were only the visible part of the iceberg! In addition to the ten paint stains visible on several meters high on a white façade of the ICC [chamber of commerce], some windows were cracked by thrown projectiles. On one wall of the huge edifice, a piece of graffiti said “On the ashes of the old world freedom will be born – Let’s light the fire! (A in a circle)”. It’s nice to see that some spend their night standing [reference to NuitsDebout] by staying away from the citizenist and pacifist discourse, held for several weeks in the company of journocops and politicians.”
…Lyon: border police vehicle, High Court & Town Hall – windows broken and graffiti following a break away group from the Nuit Debout
Lyon High Court: “no justice no peace”
…Yvelines (Mantes-la-jolie): 3 cops injured, cop car attacked, as 50-60 youths try to stop cops arresting someone during afternoon
…Marseille : molotov cocktails against Turkish consulate
South Africa, Eastern Cape: cops fire stun grenades and rubber bullets after anti-rape demonstrators set up barricades
…Cape Town: sacked railway worker accused of massive arson attack during strike“Damage to 17 coaches, the equivalent of two train-sets, caused by recent arson attacks on Metrorail trains in stations around Cape Town, have amounted to R70 million… this has “strongly coincided” with an unprotected and illegal strike by 182 provincial South African Transport and Allied Workers Union members (Satawu).” More here
…Limpopo: angry protests about electricity disconnections“…residents…marched to the police station to demand electricity be reconnected. Eskom disconnected power cables in the area, citing the danger the illegal connection could pose. They were expected to hand over their memorandum of demands to Mayor of Johannesburg, Parks Tau, but he did not arrive. They then burnt tyres, pelted passing cars with stones and blocked off roads demanding they be provided with electricity which they are prepared to pay for and say at the moment they are forced to connect illegally.”
US: report on growth in riot control economy
Nigeria, Ebonyi: youths in confrontations at electricity company“…youths destroyed the billboard of the company and also manhandled one of the EDDC staff, who came out to address the youths. The aggrieved youths besieged the EEDC office on Awolowo Street in the state capital to protest against non-provision of prepaid meters, over-estimated billing, blackout.”
19/4/16:
South Africa, KwaZulu Natal: councillor’s house burnt down in 2-day service delivery protest“…about 5000 residents had been involved in the protest action and had blockaded New Greyyown Road with burning tyres, stones and metal barriers. Apart from Ndlovu’s house, two park homes at the local clinic were also set alight.”
France, Besançon: army recruitment agency tagged and splattered with eggs
…Lille: new courthouse sprayed with old engine oil and graffitied just before its inauguration by the new “Justice” Minister
…Grenoble: Macdonalds gets refurbished…But why all this effort when they could simply do this…?
Calais: report on how migrants are constantly blocking major roads with tree trunks“These constant acts provoke a feeling of impotence amongst businessmen and the riot police”
Germany, Frankfurt: wildcat demo chucks paint at French consulate in solidarity with movement against labour law
India, Bangalore: 3 buses burnt as garment worker protests continue More here“After I appealed to the people, they started moving. All of a sudden male garment workers started throwing stones at police vehicles. Police vehicles got damaged, constables sustained injuries, four of them are admitted in hospital” More here“Several buses were set on fire and a police station was attacked as protest by garment factory workers against the new provident fund rules turned violent on the second day of their stir here today. Protesters pelted stones at Hebbagodi Police Station and torched seized vehicles parked there, as the spontaneous agitation with no trade union leading it spun out of control.“
Movement wins amazingly speedy victory: “..on Monday morning, workers, of whom over 80% were women, left factories and poured into the streets. Within hours, workers from adjoining factories joined them, blocking the highway connecting Bengaluru to Mysuru and Chennai that cuts through industrial areas on the edges of the city. As protests intensified, the workers entered a police station and set fire to vehicles in the compound. They also damaged 50 buses across Bengaluru. The protests forced the central government to respond immediately. It first offered to hold off for three months the changes that made it more difficult for employees to withdraw from their provident fund before retirement. But by Tuesday, as the protests grew in scale, engulfing more industrial areas near the city, the labour ministry had to withdraw the proposed changes entirely. Employers as well as union leaders have since used the words “spontaneous”, a “massive flash-strike”, and “leaderless” to describe the protests.“
Greece, Idomeni: migrants riot over cop van’s hit-and-run“Hordes of men reportedly wanted revenge when it was claimed cops had run down a migrant in a van….The mob is said to have smashed a window of a police van before they were driven back by officers.“
18/4/16:
India, Bangalore: 1000s of garment workers block main roads for up to 10 hours in protest over pension fund reforms; usual brutal cop attack
France, Brest: half a dozen banks and ATMs targetted as part of movement against labour law, costing our enemies tens of thousands of euros
Mali, Kidal: UN troops fire live rounds on peaceful demo (against arbitrary arrests & searches) of mainly women and kids after previous demo had stormed airport; several deathsOn previous demo, see this“A Mali official says four civilians have died, and seven have been wounded in protests at the airport of the northern city of Kidal against arrests made by French forces. …Protester Mohamed Ag Ibrahim said dozens of demonstrators set fire to a firefighting car and generators to protest against French forces for extraditing recently arrested people to Gao and Bamako.“
Chile, Valparaiso: boat and building belong to underground railway burnt as fishermen clash with cops over quotas
17/4/16:
Kuwait: strike by oil & gas workers over state sector pay reforms force production down from 3 million barrels per day to 1.1 million
Venezuela, Zulia: protesters burn oil tanker after state officials kill gasoline smuggler
Greece, Idomeni: more clashes between migrants and cops
16/4/16:
France, Paris: a 100 or so clash with police and destroy various thingsThe media insists on the fact that disturbances after the “Nuits Debout” have finally stopped …though it’s hard to believe, it seems they’re slightly careless with the truth. Video here– half a dozen brand new Jaguars smashed outside Jaguar salesroom, CCTV cameras attacked, etc.
…Marseille: about 200 attack fascist offices after a “Nuit Debout” (report in English)
India, Kashmir: protesters clash with cops after 5 people killed following fury at soldiers molesting girl and then forcing her to deny thisThough national liberation ideology tends to dominate events in Kashmir, events that I don’t normally list here because for one thing they’re so frequent and for another they seem to be dominated by political forces hoping to become part of a future “independent” state, clearly much of the fury is just over simple basic horrors like this and involve people not specifically demanding national “liberation”. [SF]
15/4/16:
Macedonia, Skopje: 3rd night of riots after government gives amnesty to criminally corrupt politiciansAlthough this involves official opposition parties, it also clearly involves some element of independent expressions of anger: “Two riot police officers remained wounded, cars near the headquarters of the party in power, VMRO-DPMNE, were damaged…. A clash between special police and protesters has occurred several meters from the headquarters of the party in power when protesters threw stones, fireworks and other objects to police.”
Mexico, Tuxtla, State of Chiapas: hard repression against Education workers’ march, who tried to block the 7 regions of the State of Chiapas; 22 arrested, people beaten up and tear-gassed…update: a CNTE member found dead after declared missing after protestWe mentioned a previous murder of another CNTE member on the 5th of this month (see below), in Veracruz.
France, Montpellier: high school students march again while nothing happens in the rest of France – just a few minor clashes and some disturbances…This gives an account in French of cop behaviour: “…several high schools in Montpellier were blockaded to continue the movement against the Labour Law. … the revenge of the security forces on Friday was unprecedented in the city….In front of the blocked Clemenceau high school, hundreds of students were trying to maintain their barricade across the boulevard despite heavy tear gas fire. At the same time, the high schools of Jean Mermoz and Guesde were partially blocked, calmly. A procession started from the second high school around 9:15 am to increase the numbers of the rally outside the Clemenceau school, who were being increasingly harassed by agents of the BAC. When they linked up, the riot police suddenly charged the students covering themselves by firing tear gas, pushing the procession towards the city centre. … the crowd of 600 high school students joined the rally in front of the Jean Mermoz Lycée, where several hundred students were present. The students of these three schools, from the working-class, hardly had time to greet each other when hundreds of riot police immediately charged the crowd without warning, with disencirclement grenades and tear gas. BAC officers followed, armed with batons and rubber bullets, and hitting the slow ones on the ground. The crowd of schoolgirls gathered at the entrance of the Polygon shopping-mall overlooking the Antigone district, found itself face to face with a booth run by activists of the party Lutte Ouvrière, which distributed leaflets to passersby. It was at this time that a dozen plainclothes police bolted the doors of the shopping center and threw grenades at everyone – students, Lutte Ouvrière activists and customers from the shopping center, which caused the rapid flight of the high school students to the adjacent streets, towards the station area. The BAC officers then conducted a real hunt through the city, shooting at the students at close range with their rubber bullets, and consistently beating those they managed to catch. Many students and some bystanders were injured by these armed men, some seriously.”
…Rouen: at the “Nuit Debout” some participants attack National Front offices and a bank
…Lille: symbolic attack on Socialist Party offices
UK, Manchester: glowing report about school becoming beacon of excellence
14/4/16:
France, Montpellier: about 300 (according to some reports) tear gas grenades launched in 2 hours against 2000 high school students in centre of town…at least 8 Montpellier high schools blockaded during national strikeLots of videoshere. Report in English here.The morning began with various blockades at different schools, with at least 2 of them involving burning bins to block the tramway, resulting in the suspension of trams for about 6 hours. There’s a nice irony in the fact that one of the main high school student banners throughout France has been “We won’t get up in the morning for just 1200 euros” (ie per month), when they’re often getting up at 5.30 am to blockade their schools: whilst work as wage slavery is increasingly put in question, the work of the negative is always worth getting up for….Apparently, passing through the main shopping centre of the town, which leads to the main square, some high school students completely smashed 2 large sections of the windowed doors of this cathedral to the commodity. The high school students then moved to the “esplanade”, a tree-lined strip running from the main square (Place de la Comedie) to a large theatre complex. It’s about 400 meters long with a park area, some cafes, a bandstand, statues, etc. A couple of minor fires (just small piles of rubbish burning on the pavement), and the scattering of lots of free daily propaganda sheets (free “newspapers”) incited the CRS to overkill after having arrived in about 12 – 15 vans. Their firing of tear gas into the large crowds created panic but also incited someone to set fire to a large bin that made the situation more dramatic with the flames and smoke. For about 2 hours there was a lot of running from one end to the other as the riot cops launched tear gas first near the main square, then at the other end near the theatre. Some stone throwing, lots of masking up and lots of small groups chatting. Occasionally people distributed some anti-tear gas serum, or some lemon for those most distressed by the gas. At one point some “good” students, union-organised sat down on the pavement in front of the CRS to protest the stone-throwing; some students hurled stones at the cops, some of which missed their target and hit the good students; when the cops retaliated with tear gas these “good” students clapped them. Most of the time the cops were just firing tear gas just to piss people off: e.g. teenagers dancing round some loud music were fired at. The media, of course, made out it was all in response to “casseurs”, of which, sadly, there were very few. But then, apart from the cops, there were hardly any viable targets. A lot of fear of cameras also helped. Youths have yet to learn how to hide their faces with t-shirts like in the US.
At about 1pm the demo moved off from the main square and immediately it was clear that this was essentially a “wildcat demo”, with virtually no union, and no political party or anarchist organisation, banners or flags – almost all banners and placards being self-made. Apparently the official union demo had refused to join up with the high school student mob. Very large banners included “High schools are angry” and 2 held by high school students at the head of the march saying “We won’t live live like slaves any more” and “Neither boss fodder nor truncheon fodder”. Lots of tags (mainly “ACAB”) paint bombs against the mainly luxury shops. There were very few stewards trying to keep order, and these few were largely ineffectual – for instance a couple of people carrying a UNEF (university union) banner were angrily confronted by a small group and forced to roll their banner up. Another – an elderly unionised teacher – tried to let the cars pass on the road, whilst people marched on the tramway; he was unsuccessful as the demonstration spread right across the road, halting traffic.
Lots of funny untranslateable slogans like “Ni droite ni gauche ni troglycerene” (literally“Neither right nor left – nitroglycerine!”, but the repetition of “ni” makes it funny in French). Another, which unfortunately was hardly taken up, was “Je te dis sans faille, Ni loi ni travail” – which means literally “I tell you unwaveringly – neither law nor work” – thefirst part being a line from a song (of course, it rhymes in French – maybe it could be unliterally translated as “Let me tell you how much I adore Neither labour nor the law”).
It was a long and winding march all over the place, eventually – though by this time the march had dwindled to maybe just 300 people – going towards the the town’s main police HQ, where bins were overturned and used to block the road a bit, with a small fire of rubbish close to this HQ. Many went there to chant “Free our comrades!” (about 30 were arrested) – don’t know if this was a naive slogan or just a way of hopefully boosting the morale of those inside who may have been able to hear the chants. A more popular chant was rhythmically shouting out “Everyone detests the police!” over and over again. If only it were true. Someone managed to throw a bottle of beer through a cop car window, the beer going all over them. A bit later someone, probably having just recently read situationist stuff for the first time, spray-painted in very large letters: “Never work ever!”.
It wasn’t all good though – the worst thing was that about 10 high school students managed to rip off other students’ mobile phones, etc, which must have been quite demoralising to the victims, even if these muggers also got chased, threatened and insulted (eg “You’re just like the cops” or “steal from the shops or the rich – not from poor youths”). However, it should be pointed out that these didn’t seem to be gangs, but individuals, protected by their friends who, despite protecting them, often seemed quite embarrassed by what their friend had done. Another limitation of this event was the fact that most people seemed to confine themselves to their small clique – of friends or fellow “radicals” or whatever, that they didn’t try to communicate all that much outside of these little groups, when normally in situations like this people generally open up and show curiosity towards “strangers” that they would normally avoid. [modified 23/4/16]
Outside Jean Mermoz high school, Montpellier
…Paris: repressive normality disturbed by at least 300 after Nuit Debout broadcasts Hollande’s TV speech on a big screen saying the Labour Law will not be withdrawn“300 youths, according to police, some wearing balaclavas, broke … windows, bus shelters, a branch of Pole Emploi [social security office], a Franprix [supermarket] store and even Autolib [electric cars provided by the town hall] vehicles. “Everyone hates the police!”, “The street it is ours!” shouted the protesters, defying the CRS. …clashes broke out for about twenty minutes in the Place de la Republique. Hooded protesters threw chairs, sticks and bottles at riot police, who responded with charges and tear gas.” Video of clashes with cops
…Nantes: stones thrown at prefecture and cops…Rennes: bosses’ local offices invaded and vandalised
…Caen: offices of the university president paint-bombed; press cameramen threatened; lively wildcat demo
Thailand, Yala: 1000 prisoners riot, quickly repressed
Tunisia, Kerkennah: molotovs etc. thrown at cops during protests over unemployment“Clashes erupted on Thursday evening in Kerkennah between police and demonstrators as the latter prevented Petrofac trucks coming from the port of Sidi Youssef from entering,…Police used tear gas and water jets to disperse protesters who threw stones at law enforcement officers…A general strike was staged Tuesday in Kerkennah after police broke up on April 3 a sit-in of unemployed people outside the premises of Petrofac.” Video of underwater police
South Africa, Gauteng: violent service delivery protest
13/4/16:
Macedonia, Skopje: protesters demolish national office of president
Finland (Fennovoima): barricade and fire against nuclear power
12/4/16:
France, Montpellier: casualised cultural workers occupy theatre
Cultural workers in traditional theatrical costume:
“We’re all in danger” “Angry cultural workers”
It has to be said that these nude photo-shots, in very cold weather, are purely for the cameras, quickly carried out, then back on with the clothes. They’re standard “intermittents” practice and are never carried out in crowds, because that would be exhibitionism and therefore – heaven forbid! – illegal! So these intermittents confine themselves to one hall, and don’t want to break into the shower room area, because there’s lots of stuff there that could be damaged maybe. Since most of this theatre is not being used at the moment, this really is merely a show, Particularly as the most immediately obvious problem with this action was that it’s taking place far from everywhere: an area in which only buildings associated with culture exist, no shops or residential buildings or any non-cultural workplaces. Those who take their work far too seriously find themselves defined by it totally even when they think they’re struggling; hence these performers can only perform, whether paid for it or not (of course, a lot of them aren’t paid performers; they work the ropes or do the electrics or whatever in theatres, concerts, etc.). But although this occupation is rather miserable it’s all for the cause, even if their cause – carried out in this timid fashion – is doomed to failure.
…Mayotte (French departement in Indian Ocean): two weeks of general strike, some blockades organized by unions, youths involved in clashes with police
Mexico, State of Michoacán: normal school students block highway toll booth and railway tracks and seize buses after not receiving their scholarships, a hundred injured in police intervention
Belgium: traffic controllers launch wildcat strike over pensions and staffing
11/4/16:
South Africa (Drieziek) : riot after Pikitup strike ends
France, Montpellier: high school students blockade schools, burn bins, etcAt least 3 high schools involved.
lycee Villeneuve, Montpellier
Belgium, Liege: unpaid workers, threatened with being sacked in the near future, partly destroy their workplace; 3 managerial representatives of company sequestrated, 1 beaten, by workers for most of the afternoon (video, particularly impressive after 1 min. 25 secs)
Liege factory under workers’ control
Canada, Montreal : riot after another police murder, this time of an Aninishinabe man, whose brother was killed by police a few years ago
Greece, Athens: two churches attacked in solidarity with imprisoned anarchists Mónica and Francisco
Peru: 50.000 march to ask for justice in the 300,000 cases of compulsory sterilizations of women during Alberto Fujimori’s presidency
Mexico, San Francisco Xochicuautla, State of Mexico : 300 riot cops remove inhabitants from their houses built on the future Toluca-Naucalpán highway, against which this indigenous community has been fighting for yearsThe State of Mexico recently voted new measures on the use of force against demonstrators.
…Atenco, a community fighting against the construction of an airport, locals expel an army truck and workers who entered their lands for preparation work
Argentina, Buenos Aires : claimed arson of two public buses against rise of transports fares and much more
10/4/16:
UK (London) : resistance against eviction (again) at Hope & Anchor Pub
Mexico (State of Guerrero) : Normal school students take over highway toll booth, police brutally intervene…students react by taking a cop hostage and by burning a police vehicle
South Africa, Western Cape: land settlers fight with cops in rejection of voter registration“Roads leading to Hopefield, which is in the south of Johannesburg, have been blocked with burning tyres and bricks since yesterday. Protesters have been adamant there will be no voter registration in their area this weekend. They said President Jacob Zuma himself must come to the informal settlement to tell them when they will get their RDP houses before they will allow any voter registration to take place.”
Greece, Idomeni: refugees break through border, beaten back by cops (video) More here (this thread here has constant updates on the situation with refugees and migrants in Greece)
US, Tampa: small riot at juvenile prisonCheck outthison US prison slavery
9/4/16:
France, Paris: confrontations between cops and demonstrators over new Labour Law Video here
More here. Leaders of NuitDebout call the cops:“About 300 people”, according to police headquarters, decided at about 11pm to leave the Place de la Republique to protest at the home of Manuel Valls [the PM] in the eleventh district of Paris. An initiative that has resulted in incidents leading to the arrest of eight people. …For one hour, the whole neighborhood was cordoned off…and a strong police presence was deployed on site. To block the advance of the procession, the police used tear gas. Rubbish bins were burned and a small group of protesters also threw objects at the police station of the eleventh arrondissement. Violent actions that were visibly disapproved of by most of the protesters. But later, several windows of banks or insurance agents in Boulevard Voltaire were smashed, kicked in or by using iron bars by masked casseurs. At Place de la Republique, one of the members of NightStandingup shouted “these guys, they have nothing to do with us.” According to the police department, “six bank branches” were targeted by rioters, three were victims of intrusion. “A temp agency and an insurance agency” were also damaged. …At 2.50am, a manager[“responsable: in this case, a person presumably elected to a position of “responsiblity”] of NightStandingup requested the assistance of the police “because of the difficulty his stewards were having in ensuring security”…Police were sent to secure the rally, and they were made “the object of provocations and many thrown stones.” An Autolib vehicle [Paris car-sharing electric cars] was “burnt at the corner of Republic Square and Boulevard Saint Martin,” requiring the intervention of firefighters.” From a friend I’ve heard that when a group of fascists arrived at the Nuit Debout in Paris lots of people shouted abuse at them. The Nuit Debout stewards told those shouting at them to shut up because the Nuit Debout is “open to everyone”. Citioyennisme = toleration for your future torturers.
…Rennes: confrontations as local state bans demonstrations in historic centre“The security forces repeatedly used tear gas and stun grenades against young people trying to access the historical downtown centre of the city…The CRS also charged… when they were “attacked by extremely violent elements using smoke bombs and projectiles” against them, said the prefecture…Scores of people were inconvenienced by the gas, the procession consisting mostly of employees, families with children, pensioners. “We’re sick of being gassed”, complained Isabelle, recently retired from Telecom. “This is disproportionate, “she said…The prefect of Ille-et-Vilaine earlier in the week banned any event in the historic centre of Rennes….The demonstrators…were joined by youth and students, some wearing carnival masks or balaclavas, which were placed at the head of the gathering. “Beneath the ashes, embers are burning again” and“The objective conditions have come together” could be read on banners.” Video hereTag:“End of work, magic life” Rioters shield themselves with light plastic transparent windows
…Nantes: some confrontations with cops (video)
…Montpellier: demo of a couple of thousand; paint bombs thrown at various targets (mainly banks and army recruitment); some shop windows smashed; lots of tagsA NuitDebout was held with about 300 people in the main square. As soon as it started, much of it came over as bureaucratic bullshit, suggested partly by anarcho-leftists of the CGA (Coordination des Groupes Anarchistes): creating committees of small groups of people who would act out what the large assembly had decided. Whilst this idea may have some use in far larger circumstances, such as those involving hundreds of thousands, for 300 or so people to delegate others to act for them is an absurd evasion of responsibility for doing actions themselves, a wilful submission to “experts”.
At one point a guy suggested that the form of the meeting should be changed: that everyone should sit in a circle rather than face one spot at the front, and that the mic should be rotated from person to person, rather than someone standing up in front like in a traditional meeting. He immediately went to a vote and most people who voted voted for his idea. But it was overruled – without debate – by those who’d initiated the NuitDebout because they’d decided beforehand that this wasn’t the correct procedure. So much for “horizontalism”.
As for content, the usual citizenship mentality dominated (though not absolutely), including applause for a guy advertising Podemos, whereas someone who insulted his speech was told off by a bureaucrat from the CGA.[SF]
Tunisia, Tunis: big demo of unemployed try to get into main government building demanding public sector jobs“Clashes erupted Saturday in front of the government headquarters in Tunis between the police and the unemployed who attempted to enter the building, injuring several people. …The ministry said five policemen were injured by protesters throwing stones. … several protesters were injured in clashes with police and that two of them had been taken to hospital . …19 protesters were arrested.”
Tunis: according to the Ministry of the Interior this is a photo of “60 unemployed people”
UK, Glasgow: Afro-Caribbean centre set up barricades in resistance to eviction
8/4/16:
South Africa, Johannesburg: striking refuse workers trash city’s Central Business District“Hundreds of workers affiliated to Samwu protested again late on Friday afternoon outside Samwu House in the Johannesburg CBD, tossing garbage onto the streets and breaking concrete rubbish bins as news of the deadlock reached them. …When approached for comment, the workers became aggressive and did not welcome the media.”
France, Paris region: confrontations between cops and high school students outside at least 4 high schools on day where nothing national is organised“In Hauts-de-Seine (92) and Seine-Saint-Denis (93), protesters attacked the security forces, and burned garbage…At Courbevoie (92), nine people were arrested in front of the Paul Lapie high school for throwing projectiles at law enforcement and damaging things. Another person, accused of throwing projectiles was arrested at Guy de Maupassant school in Colombes (92). Three others were arrested near Voillaume high school in Aulnay-sous-Bois (93) for throwing projectiles and setting fire to trash….The biggest clash took place in Tremblay-en France (93). One hundred hooded high school students… faced a dozen police officers in front of the Hélène Boucher high school. A vehicle was set on fire, two others overturned, and police “copiously stoned,” … the police used tear gas and flash-balls.”
…Montpellier: 3 high schools come out on strike against labour law More here. “In front of Jean Mermoz school, more than a thousand students blocked traffic with some rubbish, some in flames, causing the rapid arrival of several CRS trucks. These arranged themselves in line immediately, then began running toward the high school crowd, firing tear gas and rubber bullets without any warning. This police aggression immediately provoked a defensive reaction expressed by aiming a fire extinguisher towards the armed men. As the police advanced in front, the crowd …dispersed towards the city center and the Antigone district, where groups of youths were pursued by the CRS and the BAC. To slow down the advance of the police, barricades were quickly improvised on the way. The massive arrival of students in the city center caused the immediate closure of many stores, including the Polygone shopping center….” [though this says “more than a thousand students”, apparently this is grossly exaggerated – 350 is more exact]
burning bins at Jean Mermoz high school, Montpellier…trams suspended, firemen stoned
Australia, Melbourne: clashes with cops as protesters against education cuts confront PM’s party fundraiser
Ukraine: protests against corruption in several cities“…piles of tires appeared in front of the Prosecutor’s Office in Odessa and outside the Presidential Administration building in Kiev. On Friday, at about 1 p.m., groups of protesters …set the car tires on fire in the center of Kiev. When the pile burnt down, activists brought new tires. Surrounded by police, protesters… demanded that President Petro Poroshenko come out to explain why in spite of all the promises to reform political institutions, the country’s leading positions were still occupied by corrupt bureaucrats. The activists also called for the president to fire a host of unpopular officials. These include Vitaliy Malikov, head of anti-terrorist center at the SBU (Ukraine’s security service)…There were plenty of reasons… President Poroshenko’s pre-election promise “to wipe the country clean” of corruption now looked like a sad joke. While the majority of the population lives on less than $500 a month,Poroshenko grew richer by $100 million in the last couple years and is now worth about $858 million, according to Forbes. …The Panama Papers investigation drew a lot of public attention on Poroshenko’s personal income. …it turned out that Poroshenko had also set up an offshore holding company in the British Virgin Islands to save millions of dollars on tax payments in Ukraine, a country badly suffering from economic crises and the war….In Kiev and other Ukrainian cities protesters are determined to stay on the streets until they see real changes. In Odessa activists spent days by the pile of tires, ready to make a big fire, if Kiev did not dismiss the regional prosecutor Nikolai Stoyanov…. activists installed a gallows and hanged a big doll of the president in effigy in front of the newly appointed prosecutor’s office. …Protesters also gathered in the center of Kharkiv to call for the resignation of the regional prosecutor. In Zaporozhye, demonstrators tore Poroshenko’s portrait into pieces. Clashes between activists and police continued on Friday…” … I’ve put this here even though much of it is not autonomous – it’s “organized by Automaidan, a civic movement”. Nevertheless, it seems clear that this could become interesting; though without the development of some independent class consciousness it’s very possible that the extreme right will recuperate this movement, as happened a few years ago. However, anarchists are making a name there also – see this claimed attack on court[SF].
US, Minnesota: Burger King management and staff duped into making structural improvements on their restaurant
7/4/16:
France, Hauts-de-Seine: 22 arrests following confrontations at 5 high schools“Two days after the blockade degenerated at Leonardo da Vinci school in Levallois-Perret, causing damage amounting to some € 150,000, other institutions of the Hauts-de-Seine experienced a very tense situation on Thursday morning….At Clichy, a hundred policemen were deployed …It all started around 7.15 a.m. when a group of ten youths torched garbage bins. The fire under control, they stoned the municipal police who’d rushed to the scene. The tension rose a notch with the arrival of students. Difficult for officers to make the distinction between those who wanted to go to class and those who hoped to blockade the high school. The police eventually pushed them back towards the Seine, tear gas responding to various projectiles thrown. In the confusion a car was torched…Firefighters also had to help two youths inconvenienced by the stinging gas. “The ground was covered with puddles of milk”, a passer-by witnessed. “Young people use it to protect themselves against the gas” … The situation also escalated on the outskirts of Newton High School, north of the town. Many CRS were deployed Thursday morning near the building, where a vehicle was torched.
Newton high school discovers gravity
Courbevoie: around 8am, the vocational school of Paul Painlevé…was also targeted by a group of young people. The latter… emptied and burned garbage and threw bottles against the walls of the establishment. Very quickly, police in riot gear and firemen were mobilized on site while the streets of La Montagne and Victor Hugo were closed to traffic. Colombes: The situation was very tense this morning in front of the general and technological lycée Guy de Maupassant, Robert-Schumann Street….30 policemen in riot gear advanced, meter by meter, in order to disperse the demonstrators. “It’s super hot,” says a young woman in a flat voice…Gennevilliers: youths and police also found themselves face to face near the Galilee school, already the scene of incidents late last week. Projectiles were thrown.”
…Montpellier: burning bins block boulevard as high school students strike against labour law
Montpellier, Georges Clemenceau high school
Greece, Samos: migrants force cops to let them out of detention centre“Rioting broke out at a migrant “hotspot” reception center on Thursday on Samos, which resulted in 250 refugees pouring into the streets of the Greek island…About 560 people from the hotspot demanded the police officers, who had been protecting the center, to let them leave the facility and started threatening policemen with knives and broken glass… the local police chief decided to open the facility’s doors and allowed some 250 migrants to leave the center, however the local authorities continued their efforts to return them back”…Athens: anarchists attack offices of nauseating newspaper
6/4/16:
Uruguay (Montevideo) : anarchists claim attack against air force premises
Finland : nuclear plant construction site blocked for more than 2 hours
Canada, Montreal: police station and police cars attacked after death of young man by rubber bullet“A small group of protesters broke away from the peaceful demonstration around 9 p.m. to vandalize a financial institution and police station, police say. Police say they went on to damage patrol cars. Throughout the night, one citizen was wounded, half a dozen shops were vandalized and several cars torched” Video here
France, Compiegne: 34 cars burnt in industrial zone, security guards for major accomodation rental company attacked with loud fireworks
ignition key, Compiegne
India, Hyderabad: student clashes resume after Vice Chancellor’s return following 2 month leave after student’s suicide Whilst this seems to be dominated by political groups it’s also indicative of a general anger against the stressful misery of student life. More here“Students who have been demanding Vice Chancellor Appa Rao’s removal were taken away after they broke open the campus gates. The protesters had tried to approach Mr Rao’s office past heavy security and barricades. “Appa Rao has turned the university into a jail. We want Appa Rao to be sacked immediately,” a protester said.”
Italy, Renzi: clashes between protesters against PM’s visit to town and cops
Nauru: clashes between guards and migrants at Australia’s notorious detention centre“…members of the Wilson Security emergency response team hit teenagers who had been protesting…the detainees locked the response team members out of part of the camp, and retaliated by throwing rocks and chairs.”
5/4/16:
South Africa, North West: bakkie (4 X 4) burnt out, shops looted, in illegal protest
France: various confrontations in Rennes, Paris and elsewhere over labour law
Rennes railtrack occupied
Hauts-de-Seine (outskirts of Paris): Leonardo-da-Vinci high school facade burnt after barricade is torched – Leonardo says he’s quite pleased with this realisation and suppression of his art
video here
Lille “Boss, your place is in prison. Shareholder, your place is in the cemetery”
…Nantes: Socialist Party HQ, banks, insurance companies, estate agents attacked, railway track occupied, etc.
Kenya, Nairobi: university closed indefinitely following riots
Mexico, Orizaba (State of Veracruz) : indigenous street sellers violently repressed by police, women brutalized, some resistance shownWe have already mentioned the tensions in the area (see entry on February 19th). In another region of the same State, a teacher and member of the CNTE was killed by a gunman on the same day (see here). Dozens of militants, whether CNTE members or community activists, are killed in Mexico each year. Of course, those who have, voluntarily or not, a public image, are easy targets. [Pi]
4/4/16:
South Africa, Gauteng: Wits lecture hall burnt during free education protests
Honduras: indigenous women demonstrating against murder of anti-dam activist in front of ministry violently evicted by cops
India, Uttar Pradesh: another riot in same prison as 2/4/16
Kenya, Nairobi: students torch student union office over rigged electionSee also entry about this on 2/4/16.
Bangladesh, Gandamara: cops kill at least 4 in clashes over construction of massive power plant“Dozens were injured, including 11 policemen, he added. One officer was shot in the head”
France, Compiegne (Oise): deputy mayor’s car burnt out
3/4/16:
Mexico, State of Guerrero: La Parota dam opponents fight against army presence, supposed to lead a “Crusade against hunger”, but sent, of course, to break up local struggles and organizationAlso in the State of Guerrero, taxi drivers and farmers block Acapulco-Zihuatanejo highway (connecting two main national touristic spots) and demand army retreat from villages (here). Acapulco, the world famous coastal resort, has become, in the last few years, one of the most murderous places in Latin America. There were more than 200 homicides this year (mostly linked to cartels). [Pi]
Tunisia, Sfax: 3 month strike-cum-sit-in by workers of petrol company broken up by security forces“”These people attacked the security units’ agents and their cars. Two buses and two security cars were wrecked, and an officer was wounded in the face…sit-ins and repeated blockades…cost about 200 thousand dollars a day.”
Austria, Brenner: cops clash with pro-migrant demonstrators at border
2/4/16:
Spain, Navarra : electric poles sabotaged in solidarity with imprisoned anarchists Mónica and Francisco
Mexico, State of Guerrero : locals from several villages block gold mine entry and ask for compensation after contamination casesThis mine is a subsidiary of Torex Gold Resources, a Canadian group. The movement is not exempt from contradictions, as locals also ask for more jobs at the mine, whom they say hires too many people from “the outside”. [Pi]
France, Nantes: several cop vehicles are the target of projectiles in different parts of town; a dozen cars also burnt out
Brazil, Rio de Janeiro: demonstrations and riot after 5-year-old is killed by cops shooting at drug gang“There were 12 buses torched and several shops looted.”
replacement bus service, Rio
India, Uttar Pradesh: prisoners take over prison after screws beat up prisoner (video). More here.
Namibia, Walvis Bay: cop station and cop vehicles damaged in conflict between land occupiers and cops
Kenya, Nairobi: cops beat blind student to death during protests over rigged student election
1/4/16:
France, Haute-de-Seine: 2 cars torched outside high school as 100 students block classes; cops stoned, very loud fireworks thrown at firefighters…many squares throughout country “occupied” (ie with people chatting, eating, sleeping etc. in groups)SF writes:Apparently this initiative of “NuitDebout” (“night standing up”) has partly been made by some of the old “indigenes” (“indignants”) with their citizenist ideology and their secret connections with the left of capital – the “Front de Gauche” (ex-Minister Mellenchon’s party) and other rackets, and use such words as “assembly”, “democracy”, “self-organisation” in a purely demagogic manner, to sound correct, but in fact are against “violence” (but not the intrinsic violence of the state and the whole market system) and prefer symbolic “attacks”. Back in 2011, square assemblies spread throughout France (as they did elsewhere) but were manipulated behind-the-scenes by the left of the Socialist Party, who participated in these assemblies specifically to merely talk and to consistently avoid and decry any practical suggestions other than sitting down in a square and endlessly talking (and to constantly suggest reformist & often electoral solutions to the crisis, as in Iceland. Which doesn’t mean that everyone participating in these attempts to occupy the squares is taken in by these recuperators. “Alongside these trade unionist and citizenist masquerades, there are individuals who want to screw up the old world. To burn down factories rather than self-manage them, to make those who have exploited us all this time pay the price for their disgusting acts. Individuals who want freedom, not just a piece of it…. Individuals who don’t want to “barter a part of now for a fictitious share of tomorrow” (Albert Libertad, To The Resigned, 1905). Individuals who want neither Labour nor the Law. Individuals who understand that to re-take our lives, lives that have been stolen from us, we must necessarily go through the joy of violence against those who are responsible – by fire everywhere we find the tools of our exploitation to reduce it to ashes. And these citizenist collectives, and these productivist trade-unionists, are an insult to uncontrollable revolt, and an insult to intelligence also. Because today, the only intelligent action that is concrete is to destroy, in deed, what destroys us.” (from here)
Someone from Paris wrote me this email about the text partly translated here and the situation in the Place de la Republique in Paris: “[This article] summarizes well what is going on with “Fakir,” the journal that in reality is published for Mélanchon and is organising three days of massive political-cultural shows in the Place de la République in Paris. The Place de la République is really disgusting, French-style citizenist posture par excellence, with a lot of people who, hardly even a few months ago, paraded against terrorists and for freedom of expression at the time of Charlie [reference to Charlie Hebdo killings]. With the free gift, in Place de la Republique, of the film of the shit guru from “Fakir”, “Thank you boss” which was applauded by high school and University students. All with the agreement of the Paris police headquarters. Blessed state of emergency! Meanwhile, the police use their truncheons on undocumented Syrians squatting under the elevated railways, just three station stops from this place! And when one speaksof this in Plkace de la Republique, no-one moves. Misery and shit without end!”
South Africa, Cape Town: councillor’s home looted, fire-station and community hall burnt out after demolition of shacks“The house has been totally destroyed, contents looted and the car damaged. Nobody was at home when it happened. No injuries were reported,” said JP Smith of the city’s safety and security directorate…Three fire engines and a firefighter’s private car were damaged.’… More here“Residents allege that councillor Themba Honono promised them that they could occupy the land. But when they made their move, law enforcement officers broke down the shacks the next day. “This is not the first time he has not honoured his promises. This time we are not going to be stopped by anyone. We are only waiting for the law enforcement to go and then we [will re-]occupy the land,” said Yakho. Today, law enforcement were clearing the area. Boards and plastic sheeting were being loaded on trucks. The community could be seen in small groups along Ngubela Street. Burnt tyres were removed. The roof of the community hall was burnt and the councilor’s house in Mbaba Street was vandalised; a garage door and a broken window pane could be seen. In the garage was a car with the back window smashed. “They had broken the outside drainage pump and water was flowing all over. A petrol bomb was thrown inside our house breaking the window pane”
Phillipines, Mindanao: cops kill farmer during protest over lack of drought relief“About 6,000 farmers blocked a portion of the main highway in North Cotabato province on the southern island of Mindanao, demanding government assistance after drought …”Loud bursts of gunfire erupted,” Norma Capuyan, leader of a farmers’ group, told reporters. “There was heavy volume of fire. We ran to a church compound and the police surrounded us.” A farmer died on the spot and about a dozen others were wounded in the legs and shoulders, Capuyan said, adding the police first tried to disperse them with water cannon but started shooting when they held their ground. North Cotabato Governor Emmylou Mendoza said about 20 police were wounded when the farmers attacked them with sticks and stones.”
Peru (southwest): students clash with cops over delayed opening of campus; many cops injured (video) More here“4 injured police officers were reportedly held by the protesters for some 20 hours before being released”
UK, London: naked protesters occupy pharmaceutical company HQ attacking excessive prices of medicine
US, North Carolina: 9 students sit-in to demand resignation of university vice president after publicity of his racism and other accusations More here
Greece, Chios: 100s of migrants break out of detention centre