Anarchic update news all over the world - 9.06.2017

Today's Topics:

   
1.  [Kurdistan] A greeting to the Congress of Alternative
      Libertaire From the Region of Raqqa By ANA (fr, pt) [machine
      translation] (a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
   
2.  US, black rose fed: Coming Soon: Antifa, The Anti-Fascist
      Handbook (a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
   
3.  Britain, solfed: Campaign against insecurity in Sandemans
      (a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
  
 4.  US, First of May Anarchist Alliance - Statement on the
      Portland MAX Train Attack: Antifascism, Community Self-Defense
      and the Fight for Revolution (a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
  
 5.  verba-volant - Thessaloniki, 26 May 2017: Concentration on
      solidarity with hunger strikers in Turkey (gr, ca) [machine
      translation] (a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)


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Message: 1





With the comrades of the AL (Alternative Libertaire) meeting in Nantes for three days, We 
send them a short message of friendship and some political comments. ---- From the Region 
of Raqqa, June 3, 2017. ---- Comrades, ---- We send you my cordial greeting from the 
ongoing revolution in Rojava! First We want to eliminate any doubt about this: it is 
indeed an anti-nationalist revolution and libertarian inspiration. We say well of 
inspiration, because there are a lot of contradictions, like any human process. This is 
something you know, because our organization always has the option of bringing a 
revolutionary message to society and not to enter into a fancy radicalism of minorities. 
---- This form of pragmatism meets here every day and, given the success of this method 
for Rojava, We think We made the right choice when We joined Alternative Libertaire.

I would like to welcome the unconditional support you give to our struggle here and to the 
practical attempts to build solidarity with this revolution. If this support is missing, 
this could mean the end of the current process as we are surrounded by enemies on all sides.

This solidarity will be all the more necessary once the Daesh (Islamic State) is defeated 
because then we will lose the scarce support we can enjoy from the imperialists. As with 
the comrades here, the real social and political struggle will begin at that moment!

With this support, let us show ourselves worthy, We think, of a long internationalist 
tradition of libertarian communists. However, ever since our modest organizations, we have 
always given our support to the revolutionaries of the world, as well as the FCL during 
the Algerian Revolution; As UTCL did in support of the people of Kanak; As we have done 
over decades of support for Palestine.

I'll stop here. We wish you a good conference, and I would like to begin the fight against 
our Uber-president¹!

Biji Rojava!

Biji Greetings!

Biji Alternative Libertaire!

[1]Uber-president is a pejorative term to refer to the newly elected president of France, 
Emmanuel Macron.

Source: 
http://www.kurdistan-autogestion-revolution.com/post/161381211498/une-salutation-au-congr%C3%A8s-dalternative-libertaire

Translation> Liberto

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Message: 2




 From the publisher: As long as there has been fascism, there has been anti-fascism - also 
known as "antifa." Born out of resistance to Mussolini and Hitler in Europe during the 
1920s and '30s, the antifa movement has suddenly burst into the headlines amidst 
opposition to the Trump administration and the alt-right. They could be seen in news 
reports, clad all in black with balaclavas covering their faces, fighting police at the 
presidential inauguration, and on California college campuses protesting right-wing 
speakers ... ---- Simply, antifa aims to deny fascists the opportunity to promote their 
oppressive politics - by any means necessary. Critics say shutting down political 
adversaries is anti-democratic; antifa adherents argue that the horrors of fascism must 
never be allowed the slightest chance to triumph again.

In a smart and gripping investigation, historian and former Occupy Wall Street organizer 
Mark Bray provides a one-of-a-kind look inside the movement, including a detailed survey 
of its history from its origins to the present day - the first transnational history of 
postwar anti-fascism in English. Based on interviews with anti-fascists from around the 
world, Antifa details the tactics of the movement and the philosophy behind it, offering 
insight into the growing but little understood resistance fighting back against the alt-right.

The book is scheduled for release in August 2017 and you can pre-order your copy today and 
50% of the author's proceeds will go to the International Anti-Fascist Defense Fund.

We also recommend reading this transcribed interview with Mark Bray on Anti-fascism and 
free speech on WNYC.

MARK BRAY is a historian of human rights, terrorism, and political radicalism in Modern 
Europe who was one of the organizers of Occupy Wall Street. He is the author of 
Translating Anarchy: The Anarchism of Occupy Wall Street, and the co-editor of Anarchist 
Education and the Modern School: A Francisco Ferrer Reader. His work has appeared in 
Foreign Policy, Critical Quarterly, ROAR Magazine, and numerous edited volumes. He is 
currently a lecturer at Dartmouth College and a member of Black Rose/Rosa Negra Anarchist 
Federation.

https://blackrosefed.org/coming-soon-antifa-the-anti-fascist-handbook/

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Message: 3




gig economy activity report anarcho-syndicalism direct action ---- At Easter, 
Liverpool-SolFed made a call out to protest against working conditions at Sandemans, a 
company who offers "Free Tours" in Liverpool and across Europe. "Free Tour" does not mean 
that guides are volunteers. In Sandeman's case they are ‘self-employed workers' and their 
incomes are based on the tips that are given at the end of the tour and out of those tips 
workers have to pay a variable amount of money per tourist to the company. This is, 
according to Sandemans, a "marketing fee". ---- Sandemans' business model seems to be the 
new fashion among the many business. Some people call it the "Gig Economy". Companies 
don´t have employees but "use the services" of self-employees, meaning they have no 
responsibilities and don't have to give any rights like holidays, sick-pay, pension, job 
security, etc
Liverpool-SolFed, through the initiative of a former guide, called out for a campaign to 
denounce the working conditions of Sandemans guides and to inform the users of the reality 
behind the "Free Tours".

A group of supporters, went to the meeting point at St George´s Hall, to distribute 
information among the guides and the tourists. Actions also took place in other cities 
that Sandemans operates like Madrid, Barcelona and Prague.
The management's answer was the expected - denying everything and threatening legal action 
for defamation in case we kept the campaign. And given the gig economy context, it is true 
that you can't use words like "dismissed" or say that your company "forces" you to do 
anything when you are self-employed.

As we have done in other cases, we want to say loud and clear that the so-called "Gig 
Economy" is an attack on workers' rights. The self-employed status, in this case, is 
nothing but a trick which does not benefit the workers but puts them in a vulnerable 
position. It is a joke to talk about "flexibility" or "free configuration of your working 
time" when is your employer -customer in their languaje- decision to give you work or not 
without any explanation.

In Sandemans the insecurity is even worse as the pay is tips-based (and the "Free Tour" 
publicity does not help this). As even management acknowledge, it's not the job to have if 
you want to make long-term plans like having children.
We wonder what is going to happen with long term-plans when any job-security definitively 
disappears thanks to innovative companies like Sandemans?

http://www.solfed.org.uk/liverpool/campaign-against-insecurity-in-sandemans

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Message: 4



Stabbing victims: Micah Fletcher in hospital bed. Street memorial to Ricky Best and 
Taliesin Namkai-Meche. ---- Statement on the Portland MAX Train Attack: Antifascism, 
Community Self-Defense and the Fight for Revolution ---- Ricky Best, Taliesin Namkai-Meche 
and Micah David-Cole Fletcher. We say their names and honor their struggle and sacrifice 
and determination to defend two young women being attacked by a fascist on a Portland 
commuter train. We honor all the people who stood up in defense of those young women, 
against the brutality of the fascist attack- the people on the train who attempted to 
assist the dying and injured, and the people who pursued the fascist as he tried to 
escape. All of these people give us hope that thousands of our neighbors, our friends, our 
co-workers and beyond are ready and willing to stand against the fascists, in defense of 
the working class and communities under attack. Our thanks to all of them.

The fascist attacked these two young women because one was wearing a hijab, a scarf 
covering her head, and she appeared to be Muslim. According to Destinee Mangum, just 16 
years old, the fascist approached them and started yelling because her 17 year old friend 
is Muslim. "He told us to go back to Saudi Arabia, and he told us we shouldn't be here, to 
get out of his country. He was just telling us that we basically weren't anything and that 
we should kill ourselves."

Ricky Best, a father of four children, stood up in defense of the young women, and 
sacrificed his life protecting them. At 53, he had recently retired after 23 years in the 
army. He was a platoon sergeant. His oldest son said his dad had always taught them that, 
"we're all human beings." We wonder if Ricky Best thought of his own children, his own 
12-year-old daughter, when he came to the defense of the two young women on the train.

Taliesin Namkai-Meche was 23 years old. He graduated from Reed College last year, and was 
working at a new job- beginning his life and hoping to start a family. He, too, stood in 
defense of the two young women against fascism. As he lay dying on the floor of the train, 
another passenger, Rachel May, took her shirt to cover his wound. She told Taliesin: 
"You're a beautiful man. I'm so sorry the world is so cruel." She said Taliesin's last 
words were: "I want everybody on the train to know I love them." Our love to Taliesin 
Namkai-Meche; our love to Ricky Best. Our condolences to their families and friends.

Micah Fletcher is 21 years old, a student at Portland State University; he was on his way 
from classes to his job at a pizza shop. He too stood up in defense of these young women. 
He survived his wounds thanks to assistance from another person on the train.

In that train car, working people stood up against fascism in defense of communities under 
attack. This defense is not just the work of a cadre or affinity group of anti-fascists. 
It is thousands of working people who are ready to fight the fascists and to organize 
broad based community self defense. As anarchists and antifascists, we do not work in 
isolation from these communities, but as part of them. People in their thousands and tens 
of thousands are willing and determined to fight. Our job now is to fight, to organize, 
and to face the fascists and the state alongside them.

The brutality on this Portland train, the attacks on these two young women, the murders of 
Ricky Best and Taliesin, the wounding of Micah, this is "free speech" for fascists. Free 
speech for fascists means they are free to brutalize young women because one wears a 
hijab, free to assault and attack, free to organize their movement to take away the lives 
and freedom of others, and free to murder anyone who dares to stand up against them.

To those who have been so concerned about free speech for fascists- the liberals, the 
politicians both Republican and Democratic, the college administrators who look the other 
way at the far right threatening their students, the ACLU, and the corporate media: the 
carnage in Portland is the result of "free speech" for fascists. We should not be 
confused. Free speech for fascists means fascists are free to oppress and attack and 
murder. Look at Clearlake, California, where a white supremacist yelling racial slurs 
attacked a Black man with a machete on the 30th. Look at Washington state, where two young 
members of the Quinalt tribe were run down by a white supremacist, killing one. Look at 
the University of Maryland where 23 year old Richard Collins III, a Black man, was 
murdered by a white supremacist who was a follower of a group called Alt-Reich. Racist 
attacks and murders are on the rise all around this country. Some of the same liberals who 
were preaching free speech for fascists and protecting them, now say they will "ban" the 
fascists from marching or refuse permits or whatever. These liberals will not defend the 
working class and communities under attack from the fascists. We have to do that 
ourselves. The only way to defend against these racist and fascist attacks is for masses 
of working people to be united and organized and prepared to defend ourselves and our 
communities. We cannot rely on the government or the police to defend us; they are 
attacking us and they have defended the fascists and the alt-right.

We must organize to defend against these fascist attacks and to defeat the fascists, 
whatever it takes.

Trump, Bannon and their supporters have unleashed this wave of racist and fascist attacks 
on Muslims, Black people, Latinx people, Indigenous people, immigrants and others. The 
alt-right calls "free speech" and "anti-Sharia" rallies, but these titles are paper-thin 
veils on the promotion of violence against women, people of color, Muslims and the LGBTQ 
community. Racists and fascists are emboldened, protected by the police and encouraged by 
top government officials. Fascism, white supremacy, misogyny, nationalism and racial hate 
are on the rise in the U.S. and Canada and much of Europe and many other areas of the 
world. It will not go away. Fascism must be defeated, and it is only the working classes 
and the communities under attack which can answer, oppose, push back and end the fascist 
threat by destroying it and the system which produces it.

Fascism didn't drop from the sky, and Trump didn't drop from the sky. Fascism and Trump 
are produced by this system- capitalism. White supremacy and misogyny are as American as 
apple pie. The USA, and the wealth of the capitalist class, are built on genocide, 
slavery, white supremacy, and the merciless exploitation of working people. This system 
produces economic crisis and the destruction of the earth, and follows them up with war, 
austerity, and fascism. Fascist attacks on our class, aimed at the most marginalized among 
us, are meant to break our solidarity and suppress our defiance, to intimidate the most 
oppressed in our communities, and to radicalize a subset of our class to be attack dogs 
against the rest of us.

As anarchists, we reach out to organize and unite with our communities to oppose fascism 
and to defend our class and its most marginalized people. But to defeat fascism and white 
supremacy once and for all, we must bring down the capitalist system, its ruling elite in 
Washington and every other capitol, and destroy imperialism once and for all. We are up 
against the fascists, the police, the government, and the billionaires they all protect. 
The task before us, as a working class and as people fighting for freedom, is to defeat 
fascism and to end capitalism. No one can do it for us; no saviors are coming. The 
liberation of the working classes and oppressed people must be carried out by the working 
classes and oppressed people. There is no short cut. But though we are on our own, we are 
many, and we are together- like strangers on a train who rise to the moment, so must we.

First of May Anarchist Alliance

http://m1aa.org/?p=1456

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Message: 5





The collective bulletin for social anarchism "?egro e Vermelho" follows a concentration 
held outside the Turkish consulate in Thessaloniki in solidarity with the fighters in the 
territory of the Turkish state. ---- During the last years the repressive campaign of the 
Turkish state manifests itself with military operations in the Kurdish regions, with 
massive persecutions and murderous attacks against resistance movements and revolutionary 
organizations. This campaign has been worsening lately, especially after the failed coup 
last July and the extension of the state of emergency. We sympathize with all those who 
are fighting in Turkey against state totalitarianism, keeping alive the dream for a world 
of equality, solidarity and freedom. ---- On 11 March two teachers began a hunger strike 
in Ankara, calling for their re-engagement and an end to the state of emergency. Both are 
already in jail. Since February 23 a 70-year-old father, whose children have been murdered 
by the Regime, begins a hunger strike, urging the Turkish state to hand over the corpses 
of his dead children's fighters. On May 24 , three months after the start of the hunger 
strike, with his fight he got what he was demanding.

For all these reasons, on 26 May, we held a protest rally outside the Turkish consulate, 
together with the Committee of solidarity with political prisoners in Turkey and 
Kurdistan, with other collectives in the city, and with comrades and companions. We 
unfurled a banner, handed out leaflets and shouted slogans outside the consulate entrance, 
which has been guarded by so-called anti-government forces for many years. Also, strips 
were unfurled in front of the consulate.

Victory for hunger strikers in Turkey. Solidarity is our weapon.
Collectivity for social anarchism "?egro e Vermelho", member of the Anarchist Political 
Organization-Federation of Collectivities

http://verba-volant.info/pt/tessalonica-26-de-maio-de-2017-concentracao-em-solidariedade-com-os-grevistas-de-fome-na-turquia/

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