[machine translation]
Thursday, November 6, Brussels hosted a historic union demonstration which gathered more
than 100,000 people against the austerity policies of the new government. Yet it was not
until a few hours for the media and politicians about the show in heart condemning the
clashes between protesters and police around the Gare du Midi. ---- Hungry for sensational
images, the media, although aided by Christian De Coninck - spokesman for the Brussels
police - have separated the wheat from the chaff, the good from the wicked thugs
protesters. First cited: the Dockers in the port of Antwerp. But it took much longer for
that anarchists are also covered by the media and political opprobrium. In fact, the
conservative management had been rung a few days earlier, especially in the writings of
Francis Van De Woestyne (La Libre) or statements Jacqueline Galand (Minister of mobility,
from the Movement Reformer (right)). In both cases, the right to strike was questioned. We
know this government is anti-union, it carries both a political and cultural war against
the union rallies. As Margaret Thatcher in the 80s, he dreamed and to limit the right to
strike or break any form of social movement. As a reminder, between 1984 and 1985, the UK
knows the most important since World War II social conflict: the miners' strike. Faced
with their fight against the closure of coal mines, the Thatcher government decided to
break union resistance to impose a new economic era: neo-liberalism.
"Enemies from within"
To break the social movements, the technique is known and well established. It is to
designate the bad protesters. Thus, Thatcher turns striking miners as "enemies within" and
shot down on them state repression. The media, in their role as watchdog, present as
undemocratic strikes and strikers like thugs. The police repression (militarized for the
occasion) will be 20,000 wounded, 11,000 arrests and six minors will be murdered by the
police! Justice, which is never neutral, make strikes illegal and decide on the
dissolution of the National Union of Mine Workers. This technique division protesters is
probably as old as the emergence of social movements themselves. It was already used
during the "strike of the century" winter 1960-1961 against the single law of Gaston
Eyskens. Then there is the good protesters, Democrats and peaceful face and the bad,
undemocratic thugs. Against the propaganda, nobody wonders why workers-Artists come to use
physical violence to express their discontent. As the British miners or Belgian workers
60s, Antwerp dockers are simply fighting against the destruction of their working
conditions (already among the most dangerous!). Indeed, dockers, that are Dutch, Belgian
and French face the liberalization of port activity. Liberalization which provides among
other things the possibility for companies to stop using the statutory dockers but to
untrained, under multiple precarious status as temporary with the key below 30% wage
non-unionized workers!
The destruction of social gains and casualization is the lead government intends Charles
Michel politics, gun door of the NV-A (New Flemish Alliance, nationalist liberals).
Moreover, Bart de Wever (the real head of the government) has mentioned in an interview
that "there is no alternative to the policy of the government." There is no alternative?
This statement echoes the famous phrase attributed to Margaret Thatcher, "There is no
alternative." In the eyes of Michel De Wever and as the eyes of Thatcher there 35 years,
so there is no alternative to capitalism, neoliberal reforms, austerity kills
Artists-workers, our unravels social gains and always pushes us further into poverty. This
is a reminder that violence against workers Artists-we occupied the seat November 6 FEB
(Federation of Enterprises in Belgium) whose collusion with the government are known.
Lying state and government violence
But as rightly said Bertolt Brecht, "a river carrying everything that is said is violent,
but never said anything about the violence which enclose the banks." For violence, true,
it is the government which leads (just go for a ride in Antwerp NV-A doing both racist and
ultra-security policies to realize). Faced with austerity measures planned by the new
government, facing growing repression, physical, moral and human violence, still face the
refusal to hear the social movements (as De Wever said there no alternative to government
policy) we can only understand the growing discontent and the use of violence by
protesters! Retort is that we live in a democracy? But who can believe this blatant lie?
From the moment the so-called democratic laws are made by the same people who defend the
bosses and the rich, how to think for one second that these laws forbid the people? The
laws do not help those they represent. Just see the impunity enjoyed by the police in many
cases of violence, yet proven! The jails are full of poor people, because any violation of
the order is wrong ... The rich made by the government and media division aims to
legitimize state violence, but unacceptable social protest. So if you walk in the nails we
will be heard. Yet history shows that any social movement is made of protest, disobedience
and violence. The struggle for the 8 hour working day, the struggle for social rights,
radicalism is imposed by governments and states that refuse an egalitarian and democratic
society. In the aftermath of clashes between police and protesters, this division has
taken a different form. Because politicians and the media fear that the protesters do not
identify with these events, they argue that the extreme right was present in this event.
Now, it is true that right-wing extremists were identified as Pascal Cornet was a member
of the neo-Nazi splinter group Nation, it should be noted that the latter was driven by
anti-fascist activists. One of our comrades and anarchist militant photographer also been
a victim of physical assault for racist reasons and two members of the Autonomous
Nationalists Dutch were also spotted.
If racist acts are unacceptable, however, it is absurd to assume that the presence of some
hidden fascists can influence or infiltrate thousands of demonstrators. Indeed, if we
follow this logic, the latest manifestation of GAIA (Action Group in the Interest of
Animals) was a fascist demonstration since Nation was present and visible! For Antwerp
dockers, as part of many social conflicts, the extreme right is actually trying to
infiltrate struggles to enjoy the discontent of workers-Artists. It was as if Vlaams
Belang port of Antwerp. If their populist and racist speech can influence some
workers-Artists, this is actually not the case with the majority of them are aware of
their double discourse (as the Vlaams Belang did nothing to oppose the liberalization of
port activities desired by Europe as they sit there).
Media orders dominant
Antifascism media is about as credible as that of Onkelinx (PS) attacks ministers NV-A. It
is they who by their policies and pro-austerity speech paved the way for populist and
extreme right. So, having said that anarchists infiltrated the dockers, the media now say
that racist acts of some dockers necessarily mean that they are fascists. Nothing is more
false, as when some claim that they are actually undercover cops or other events that
would be responsible for "agents provocateurs". The terms "thugs", "anarchists" or other
"agents provocateurs" are there to legitimize an event of historic proportions, but also
to make illegitimate use of violence by the people. The aim is to promote the soft
consensus and stifling the anger of the exploited-es. In sum, we are allowed to express
our disagreement but according to the rules set by the dominant. Even those that require
us their everyday violence. The media and politicians want us to believe therefore that it
is the violence of the demonstrators who undermines this event, as it is these same
politicians and media well before these events had already condemned this event, in
particular by making the portfolio words strike against bosses! Today the State condemns
the dockworkers hoping to divide the population. The State condemned them to acts of
violence? The history of the British miners shows that if tomorrow the anti-union measures
are passed, then the state condemn the union for striking. And if we fall into this trap,
one day the state will condemn us for simply expressing our discontent. And that day, we
will all be considered thugs!
