Today's Topics:
1. Greece, A few words about the "Macedonian issue" By APO (gr)
[machine translation] (a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
2. Greece, Initiative of Thessaloniki: Concentration Against
Sunday Work 14/1 -- TO REMOVE THE WATER OF CAPITALISM (gr)
[machine translation] (a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
3. awsm.nz: A Historical Background to The Bulgarian Anarchist
Movement (a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
4. Poland, rozbrat: Colleagues, friends, family ... NK
(a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
5. France, Alternative Libertaire AL - Interview, Shiva Mahbobi
(PCOI): " Iranians do not need a superpower to come and save
them" by Redac (fr, it, pt) [machine translation]
(a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
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Message: 1
Nationalism means: war, blood, violence, misery, and death ---- DO NOT "TSIMPAS" WITH
NATIONALITY ---- the boss of the bosses to kill the poor ---- Internationalism means peace
& struggle of the poor in all the lengths and backs of the earth for a better life with
solidarity & dignity
NO STARTING BLOOD FOR
NAMES AND TRANSNATIONAL CONFLICTS
for NATO, EU plans and bosses
BLACK & RED
collective for Social Anarchist
member of Anarchist Organization Policy
------------------------------
Message: 2
In the times of the impoverishment of the working class and the state of exception to
which the unemployed are, comes the law of co-government SYRIZA / ANEL, which provides for
the operation of the shops for 32 Sundays per year. The intention of the state and the
capitalists to completely abolish the Sunday holiday is more than obvious. ---- Where does
the Sunday holiday abolish? ---- The abolition of the Sunday holiday and the full
elasticities of the hours are a very important part of the capitalist restructuring that
was intensified by the crisis. At the core of this restructuring is labor relations as the
factor that relies on exploitation of workers, the production of surplus value and
ultimately the profits of capitalists. It is a measure that will directly benefit the big
businessmen and the big shopping malls, which will favor the further accumulation of capital.
But it is yet another attack on work achievements that paves the way for further
intensification and autocralization of already precarious labor relations in line with the
dominant spirit of full commercialization of our lives. In order to survive capitalism in
crisis, it must be aggressively expanding on more and more points where it has not been
sufficiently exploited to date. The goal is to turn workers into working machines with few
rights that when they are not working they will be compassionate consumers. That is to
say, the total transformation of life into a cycle of production of surplus value,
consumption of goods and accumulation of capital. This is the notorious capitalist
development. Anyone who thinks that this attack on workers' free time will stop trading is
very much a shame. That is to say, the total transformation of life into a cycle of
production of surplus value, consumption of goods and accumulation of capital. This is the
notorious capitalist development. Anyone who thinks that this attack on workers' free time
will stop trading is very much a shame. That is to say the complete transformation of life
into a cycle of surplus value, commodity consumption and capital accumulation. This is the
notorious capitalist development. Anyone who thinks that this attack on workers' free time
will stop trading is very much a shame.
The sacred alliance of commercializing our lives
This effort brings together an expanded front of forces that each contributes to the
common goal. Driving force is, of course, capitalists and the main lever is the government
that, using the state apparatus, operates as the agent of capital. This, of course, is one
of the basic functions of the state in modern totalitarianism. The role of the judiciary
is also clear and distinct, and a brief look at the role it has played in the labor rights
laborer in recent years has not left the fact that the CoE's provisional decision has
blurred the waters. Statutory SMEs have assumed the role of ideological vanguard in trying
to present Sunday's operation as a solution to their crisis and to advertise it as much as
possible, at the same time they show any reaction as antisocial and detrimental to the
workers. Particular reference should be made to the free-press libraries that, with their
supposedly de-ideologized and aesthetized perspective, crystallize the content of
socialism as aggressive neo-liberalism. Commercial associations mostly helped them in
their own way. Initially with his "7 Sundays and not 52" where they showed that they did
not understand that hegemony now belongs to the big ones rather than the same, and any
change in the Sunday holiday would not stay there but would leave everything. Then with
the introduction of institutions that contribute to the elastification of hours such as
"white nights" where workers are forced to work until midnight to increase turnover. The
"white nights" contributed to a number of municipalities that supported many such efforts,
including mayors on the left, demonstrating its role as a left of capital and a potential
management power of the system rather than a power of overthrow. Last but not least,
disturbing consumers who are willing to pretend their breasts to shop on Sunday play the
role of useful idiots who do not realize that the complete abolition of labor rights will
also affect them.
The importance of the fight against the abolition of Sunday's holiday
We must not forget the immediate impact of the intensification of work on the lives of
workers. At the same time that official unemployment is at 26%, employees' free time is
clipped. The concept of leisure time narrows to accommodate only the consumption and the
absolutely necessary rest. The labor movement must understand the issue of leisure time as
being of equal importance to salary, as aspects of the same thing. He has to reorganize
the concept of leisure time out and against capitalism as a time that workers use to
organize their resistance to capitalist barbarism, to create their own culture, to live
out of the sovereignty of commodity.
What to do
The abolition of the Sunday holiday is not only about businessmen but all workers. Strikes
of industry unions on Sundays that are open to shops are essential and must be supported
but not enough. Horizontal co-ordination of wider parts of our class, base societies,
working groups and societies is necessary to make these strikes generalized. In this
effort, institutional unionism and its defeated rationale and practices are weightless,
not ally. To win this battle, the road is one: we must destroy the functioning of the
market on Sundays. With massive paths, dynamic interventions and blockades, sabotage, road
closures to create a multi-faceted movement until they make a decision that our Sundays
are not going to give them to the world of commodity. On our Sundays we will use them to
celebrate and discuss, to fall in love and organize the Social Revolution that will sweep
the world of the state and capital and build freedom.
AGAINST THE CANCELLATION OF SUNDAY
SUNDAY SUNDAY, JANUARY 14, CONCENTRATION 10.00, CEMENT WITH ARISTOTLE We
participate and support the call for Coordination of Action against Sunday Labor and Freedoms
FREEDOM INITIATIVE OF THESSALONIKI (member of the ANRC FEDERATION)
lib_thess @ hotmail.com
libertasalonica.wordpress.com
_______
Abolition of Sunday's holiday: the advancement of the elasticisation
In the 1980s, the historic political leader of neoliberalism, M. Thatcher had formulated
the basic aphorism that describes the soul of the neoliberal dystopia "There is no
society, only individuals and their families."
From a direct class perspective, the defense of the Sunday holiday is nothing but the
defense of another "castle" against the invasion of capital. Another important labor right
that is under threat, having behind it dozens of lost, and ahead of what's left.
The abolition of the Sunday holiday, as well as the complete elastification of the hours,
constitute a very important part of the capitalist restructuring, which capital imposes in
the years of the economic crisis. The abolition of Sunday's holiday benefits primarily the
large commercial capital - local and international - but secondarily all small or
medium-sized bosses who are happy to welcome the opening of the shops on Sundays with the
note not being every Sunday.
Capital is not enough to cut wages and wider employers' costs, but seeks for a complete
elastification of working relationships: rotating work, split hours, contracts even for
just a few days, work on Sunday, the legal " overtime "as well as two hours a day," hourly
"employment is an aspect of this elasticities. To put it simply, you work when they ask
for it and for as long as they ask for it. Capitalism extends not only geographically but
also "temporally": every aspect of our lives is gradually but steadily embedded in the
circle of capital - not just our eighth hour, but every minute of our free time goes into
the cycle of production, consumption and accumulation.
Capital employs empirically on the world of labor, with the latter paying too expensive
both the individual resignation and the absence of struggle structures that could defend
that it is now threatened and that it has already lost.
Abolition of Sunday's holiday: the disintegration of social cohesion from the bottom
However, broadening the visual and social, and class struggle, there is a bigger picture,
a more comprehensive description of what the moment of the end of the crisis will look
like, if the power finally succeeds in imposing its own interest.
Why Sunday is not just a commentary day, stable and planned for the exploiter. It is also
a common day of commentary for everyone and everyone (with the exception of the necessary
"security staff", which begins and is planned for more and more professional categories).
A reality of centuries for the vast majority of workers. But the issue is not the
historicity of the holiday, it is how this historicity has determined both the collective
life, the individual time management and the overall regulatory framework of social
relations in the individual fields. When, for example, a family can meet with certainty?
When can one "wake up at what time he wants"? When will children have a certain time with
adults? When will a company be found, people who have a common hobby? When can visits be
made? Which night is for a common exit and fun? The existence of a fixed day of the week
that "society as a whole" has free time is essential for the weaving of the social fabric
itself. It is no coincidence that all the basic religions have adopted this reality by
using it at the same time to strengthen their penetration into the social spheres and to
strengthen their dictatorship over morals.
The abolition of the Sunday holiday, at best, will be replaced by a fixed day offset some
day of the week. This will cause a vertical split of "leisure communities" between
workers. Different days of rest will weaken the functioning of social fields, transfer the
weight directly from collective planning to the individual management of everyday life. In
the best case. Why, in fact, capital does not make miseries. The boss will decide when,
how much and how much he / she will work and communicate it to the worker - perhaps the
previous day as well, as often all of us have experienced. This will happen and it is a
massive "contamination" of precariousness throughout the everyday life. The course of
capital and the market towards in-depth conquest of all public and private space is a
process of deconstruction of all social cohesion from the bottom. It is a confirmation of
the apology of the Prime Minister of England.
There is no reason to doubt that social dynamics will find ways to re-weave tissues. The
abolition of the Sunday holiday, however, is still a very significant retreat from the
conditions of individual and collective survival that the workers, all of us, had gained
in recent years. It does not cease to be a serious blow to the personal dignity of
defining your everyday life as well as the possibilities of social existence.
The attack we are taking is very flat and threatens to deprive us of data that no one
decades ago would have thought likely to be questioned. Capital is omnipresent and has
neither a measure nor a limit. It has imposed a permanent emergency regime. The oppressed
have silenced. It does not even bother to take any steps to win social acceptance in order
to maintain its order of things.
The need to defend the Sunday holiday is a very important staple of our time.
The struggles given by political and trade union forces have succeeded in hindering
capitalist plans. The state hacks the "number" and "places in the country" that the right
will be abolished with its desirable tactic to salamize the problem when it finds
resistance. No one has delusions that in the end either the right to a common holiday for
all will be "universally" - as much as we have lost - or we will go to a Thatcher's jungle.
The struggles given by political and trade union forces must be supported by all and all.
Within workplaces, outside of them but also in every field of social life. The
unchangeability of the joint holiday and the consciousness of the consequences of its
abolition must lead us to fight for it in our workplaces, in our unions, on the road.
It is a fight we can win. It is enough to give it as we can.
ANARHIC FEDERATION
anarchist-federation.gr
info@anarchist-federation.gr
twitter: witter.com/anarchistfedGr
fb: facebook.com/anarxikiomospondia2015/
------------------------------
Message: 3
The following is a foreword to The dossier of subject no.1218: a Bulgarian anarchist's
story by Alexander Nakov,, published by Black Cat Press. It gives a summary of the history
of the Bulgarian anarchist movement. Copies of the book are available from
https://communistanarchism.blogspot.co.uk/p/blog-page.html ---- A Historical Background to
the Bulgarian Anarchist Movement ---- The Bulgarian anarchist movement has produced many
heroic figures, not least Alexander Nakov himself, but there were many others. Georgi
Sheytanov 1 comes to mind, as do Dimitar Balkhov, Stanko Paraskov and a host of others.
Georgi Balkanski (real name Grigoriev), who became the historian of the movement and
helped publicise it in the West, was himself an exceptional activist within the movement.
Hristo Botev, elevated to the stature of ‘National Poet' by the Stalinist regime and still
held in great esteem in Bulgaria, was to fall under the influence of the Russian anarchist
Mikhail Bakunin and was probably the first to introduce anarchist ideas into Bulgaria with
his distribution of Bakunin's Statism and Anarchy there. He founded the first Bulgarian
libertarian group at Braila, across the border in Romania.
In the decades to come and after the independence of Bulgaria from the Ottoman Empire was
established in 1877, socialist and libertarian propaganda began to be spread within the
country. Spiro Gulaptchev established the first socialist publishing house,
Skoropetchatnitsa (Rapid Printing) at Ruse. Most of the contributors were anarchists, with
a number of Marxist writers also contributing. Among the libertarian contributors were
Nicolai Stoinov, Varban Kilifarski and Paraskev Stoyanov (the founder of surgery in Bulgaria).
Stoinov and Kilifarski helped form the first peasant unions in Bulgaria and Stoinov also
participated in the founding of the Union of Teachers, the first union in Bulgaria in July
1895.
Kilifarski and Stoinov founded the Bezvlastie (Acracia - no rule) publishing house in 1908
which published all the essential texts of anarchism. This allowed the greater spread of
libertarian ideas so that by 1910, there was already talk of an anarchist federation to
coordinate the activities of local groups.
Mikhail Guerdjikov founded the paper Probuda (Awakening) in 1912 with the aim of
organising the nascent movement. Two years later, other anarchist publications appeared:
the paper Rabotnikcheska Missal (Workers' Thought) and the magazine Osvobodenye
(Liberation). The Ruse group attempted to set up an anarcho-syndicalist movement with a
programme and aims and principles and set up a publishing house of the same name.
The wars in the Balkans and the First World War brought anarchist publishing activity to a
halt. However, the number of people refusing military service grew considerably. This
period was characterised by bold acts of armed struggle by some anarchists, epitomised by
the dashing and romantic revolutionary, Georgi Sheytanov. They proved to be a serious
threat to the State. The amount of propaganda increased in volume. It was indicative of
the development of the movement that Sheytanov turned away from armed action towards the
building of a mass movement.
Rabotnicheska Missal reappeared in 1919 and took the initiative to call for the founding
conference of an anarchist federation. This took place in Sofia between 15th and 17th June
where more than 150 delegates from different towns and villages attended. The congress
decided to establish The Anarchist Communist Federation of Bulgaria (FACB). A large number
of groups were now formed in nearly all towns and the biggest villages. The movement
attracted workers, students and high school students, as well as teachers, white collar
workers and various professionals. Many conferences and meetings took place and Probuda
became the official organ of the FACB.
When it was closed down by the authorities, underground and other still legally published
papers took its place. The next three conferences of the FACB took place in secret.
Finally a legal conference took place at Yambol in 1923, attended by 104 delegates and 350
observers representing 89 local groupings. The conference reported that Rabotnicheska
Missal had a print run of 7,500 copies, distributed in 140 localities. There were four
publishing houses and 16 pamphlets had been published in this period. The conference
attracted the attention of the authorities and subsequent repression, resulting in the
murder of 30 anarchists by the authorities on 26th March 1923 and a subsequent military
coup on 9th June. Subsequent risings in September were bloodily put down.
The establishment of a repressive regime with the King at its head led eventually in 1926
to the setting up of a ‘democratic' government, which gave the anarchist movement a little
leeway and allowed for the publication of several papers and magazines. However, the
movement as a whole still had to exist underground and was only able to hold one national
congress in secret at Kazanlik in August 1927. Because of the difficulties of illegality
and the repressive regime there were problems of disorganisation in this period. This
prompted moves towards greater organisation within the FACB. Bulgarian anarchism had
always rejected individualism and revolutionary syndicalism and above all defined itself
as anarchist communist, citing Bakunin, Kropotkin, Malatesta, Faure, etc.
Anarcho-syndicalism remained a minor current within Bulgaria. At the same time, the
Bulgarian anarchists prioritised the creation of workers and peasants' organisations.
Partisans of the Organisational Platform of the Libertarian Communists, written by the
Ukrainian and Russian anarchists Makhno, Arshinov, Mett and others, now had a certain
popularity in Bulgaria. There was a resulting clash within the movement. The majority of
the FACB remained tied to traditional concepts of anarchist communism, expressed through
the organisation of the FACB. The clash between the traditionalists and the Platformists
became quite bitter, causing splits within the movement.
Meanwhile a quite considerable number of anarchist militants established themselves in
southern France and in Paris. They supplied support to the comrades back home, while at
the same time, formulating a new platform and programme for the FACB. These returned to
Bulgaria following an amnesty and worked towards the convening of a secret conference in a
forest near Lovetch. This was attended by 90 delegates. Unanimity was achieved, the papers
of the two different tendencies were suspended and Rabotnitcheska Missal was established
as the united paper of the FACB. However the principle advocates of the Platform violently
disagreed with this which led to widespread disapproval within the movement and the rapid
disappearance of this grouping. The pure syndicalists, sceptical of a specific anarchist
organisation, also withdrew from the FACB after several months.
A follow-up conference held secretly in the mountains near Maglitch affirmed the need for
a specific organisation, for tactical and ideological unity, and for a programme of
action. Local groups federated into five regional organisations within the FACB.
As well as consistent propaganda, the FACB developed everyday agitation among workers and
peasants with organisational work, the establishment of cooperatives, cultural groups,
free schools and libraries. This period of relative liberty nevertheless involved the
arrest of militants and the closing down of publications. Another coup took place on 19th
May 1934 and the movement once more had to go underground. There was support for the
Spanish Revolution in 1936 with 30 comrades managing to get to Spain. The dictatorship and
the subsequent period of Nazism during World War Two limited much activity. The Bulgarian
Communist Party itself, whilst also underground, had no liking for anarchists, as
witnessed by its murder of the anarchist resistance fighter and agronomist, Radko
Kaitazov, on the day of the liberation from Nazism in 1944.
This was a herald of what was to come: a new Stalinist regime, carried through by a
military coup with the support of the Soviet Army, which took place on 9th September 1944.
For a while the legal existence of the anarchist movement was possible, allowing the
holding of a conference in October of that year in Sofia. Rabotnichetska Missal was once
again published for four issues before it was shut down again by the authorities. The
activities of local groups continued, leading to a well-organised secret conference on
10th March 1945 near Sofia. It was attended by 90 delegates. However, the secret police
conducted a raid and arrested all the delegates who were then placed in a concentration
camp. Fortunately, circumstances within the new Stalinist regime led to their liberation
and the publishing of four issues of the paper. The print run shot up from 7,000 to
30,000, and if there had not been paper rationing, there would have been 60,000 printed!
However, the occupying Red Army subsequently suspended the paper because its soldiers were
reading it and were starting to come under the influence of anarchism.
The regime now instituted a new period of repression, with anarchists being interned in
concentration camps. Another secret conference took place in Sofia in August 1946 with 400
groups represented. An underground duplicated bulletin replaced the banned FACB paper. A
further wave of repression was carried out in December 1948, two days before the fifth
congress of the Communist Party. More than 600 anarchists were arrested and detained in
concentration camps. Many militants escaped abroad, the exodus starting in 1946 and
continuing up until 1951. These militants established the Bulgarian Anarchist Union in
exile, working within the anarchist international organisations of the International
Workers Association (IWA-AIT) and the International of Anarchist Federations (IAF-IFA).
With the fall of the different Stalinist regimes throughout Eastern Europe, the Bulgarian
anarchist movement re-emerged from clandestinity and established the Bulgarian Anarchist
Federation, which exists to this day.
The history of the anarchist movement in Bulgaria is one marked by great heroism, of
fevered propaganda and activity, often under very difficult circumstances. Bulgaria was
one of the countries where anarchism developed outside of small groupings to become a
large movement. It deserves far more attention than it has received in the past. The
publication of this book on the life of the exemplary anarchist militant, Alexander Nakov,
is hopefully the beginning of a re-evaluation of that movement.
Nick Heath
https://libcom.org/history/historical-background-bulgarian-anarchist-movement
http://www.awsm.nz/2018/01/11/a-historical-background-to-the-bulgarian-anarchist-movement/
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Message: 4
Words from our friend and colleague Rodrigo. When you say, you are not alone. ----
Colleagues, friends, family ... ---- Again from the dungeons of the state, the abyss of
the beast. The first and FIES branches (the heaviest regime and the isolation) write these
words, isolated, but not alone, because I know that our values are much stronger than
those bars that I have in front of me that our love of freedom is worth a thousand times
more than their hatred, and that there is no wall that can separate us from ours. ---- I
believe in many things, and several of them have always been: that anti-fascist
self-defense is the most justified fight, and that the state that promotes fascism,
racism, homophobia, etc. he will attack mercilessly what he defends.
After I was offended in a racist manner, attacked from the back by a man with a knife in
hand and after a tragic result, the machine is launched, the state is strong and knows
that the story told a thousand times becomes true, at least for the majority they need.
The attacker becomes attacked, they invent a funny excuse to attack[braces in the colors
of the Spanish flag], which do not appear even during the police investigation, the knife
is lost somewhere and try to hide fascist and racist connections. They draw their best
weapons: patriotism. Danger on television is me and they will repeat it a thousand times
because they can do it and they need it. I feel terrible disability knowing that I am a
pawn in their game, but I do not despair, I know from experience that the truth comes out,
I know that we will make more noise than they do that our bonds and solidarity are worth
much more than their mass media and walls. I believe now more than ever in justified
self-defense, in anti-fascism, in my brothers on the street, in our fight, in my family,
in my principles. For all this and more, even here, after all that I experience, I still
feel happy because I know that I am counting on you and you on me. From the dungeons,
lonely, but not alone
Rodri 02/01/2018
http://www.rozbrat.org/informacje/miedzynarodowe/4591-koledzy-przyjaciele-rodzino-#comments
------------------------------
Message: 5
Shiva Mahbobi, an exile activist of the Communist-Workers Party of Iran, answered
Libertarian Alternative's questions about the wave of protests at the beginning of the
year. ---- The year 2018 began under worrying auspices for the regime of the Iranian
mullahs, with a week of street protest. Violent protests have affected more than 90
cities, for both social and political reasons. ---- On the one hand there is the increase
in prices, including that of eggs ; hence the nickname " revolution of the eggs " that
the protesters have, by self-deprecation, given to their movement. On the other hand,
there is the lassitude of Iran's costly imperialist intervention in neighboring Syria ;
hence the slogans " Take care of us, not Bashar ! Heard in the rallies.
While this burst of anger was suppressed in the blood - at least twenty dead - and massive
political and religious demonstrations reassured the regime on the strength of its social
base, Alternative Libertaire interviewed Shiva Mahbobi, former political detainee , member
of the leadership of the Workers' Communist Party of Iran (PCOI) and spokesman of the
Campaign for the Release of Political Prisoners in Iran.
Libertarian alternative: The repression seems to have been very brutal. Could opponents
avoid it ?
Shiva Mahbobi: No. The slightest sign of dissent, the smallest opposition to the Islamic
regime, even moderate, is brutally repressed. Protesters are arrested, imprisoned,
tortured and even executed.
Since the hijacking of the 1979 revolution by the mullahs, any form of opposition has been
severely repressed, whether by forced resignation from the workplace or university,
harassment, kidnapping, imprisonment, torture or even by the capital execution. To stay in
power, the regime instils fear in society.
However, his ability to silence the opposition has evolved since 1979. In the 1980s, mass
arrests, torture and executions sufficed to impose his illegitimate authority. At that
time, the Iranians had no way of informing the international community and citizens around
the world. But for thirty-nine years, the acts of resistance continued, until occupying
little by little a space today impossible to circumscribe. Thanks to social networks,
people can more easily organize counter-information and tell the world what is happening
in Iran. The possibility of filming the events and spreading them via social networks has
led to the emergence of international solidarity with the Iranians. This puts enormous
pressure on the Islamic regime, which will certainly continue to gag or suppress its
opponents. But that will not stop the people from continuing to challenge him, until his
overthrow.
What do you think are the differences with the 2009 movement ?
Shiva Mahbobi: There are three main differences. First, the slogans and claims of late
2017-early 2018 directly attack leaders, law enforcement and the system as a whole. The
demonstrators vandalized the symbols of the regime, such as the official buildings, the
religious buildings (those of the Guardians of the Revolution, a seminar in Qom ... to
name a few).
Secondly, the demonstrations took place in large parts of the country, not only in the big
cities but also in the smaller ones and even in some villages. According to the
information we received from Iran, the demonstrations were held in nearly 92 cities, which
is unprecedented.
Third, these uprisings have not stopped despite the arrest of more than 3,000 people ;
people have not let go and continue to organize actions in even more cities.
Revolutionary Guards Commander Mohammad Ali Jafari announced on January 3 the " end of
sedition ". Is this correct ?
Shiva Mahbobi: The authorities claim that these mobilizations are mere temporary "
troubles " caused by " foreign powers ". They know perfectly well that it is false. The
regime may lose ground on the extent of the uprisings that are emerging everywhere. He
fears them because they are unpredictable and uncontrollable. He minimizes their impact to
hide his panic.
Read also: Shiva Mahbobi and Hamid Taqvaee (Iranian revolutionaries): " In Iran, fighting
capitalism without fighting religion is impossible " , interview in March 2016.
What is the sociology of protesters ?
Shiva Mahbobi: The protests that erupted in December 2017 are a reaction against poverty,
inequality, inflation, dictatorship and the Islamic regime as a whole. People from
different walks of life took part in the uprisings, but the majority are young men and
women among the most disadvantaged - young workers, unemployed, students.
While the authorities accumulate wealth and steal billions for thirty-nine years, the
majority of Iranians live below the poverty line and struggle to meet the basic needs of
their families. Iran has the highest dependency ratio in the world ; the unemployment rate
officially exceeds 12%, well below the actual figures ; the number of children living on
the street has increased ; factory workers are paid irregularly. Despite the removal of
economic sanctions following the 2015 nuclear agreement, inflation, unemployment and the
level of poverty continue to rise.
As for women, we must not forget that they were the first to be attacked in their rights
by the Islamic regime after the 1979 revolution. Women have always been targeted by
repression. They have a determining weight in the demonstrations in Iran.
A protester who removed her hijab and brandished it defiantly. Photo taken in Tehran on
December 27, 2017, shortly before the start of the demonstrations.
In the demonstrations, we also hear a rejection of the imperialist war in Syria ...
Shiva Mahbobi: In addition to wishing for a major change and the collapse of the Islamic
regime by the revolution, the Iranians are protesting the billions spent to fund Islamist
groups working in the region, such as Hezbollah in Syria. They want the war to stop and
the money to serve the basic needs of the working classes. They also say they do not want
to be involved in a war that causes death and destruction in another country.
Are protesters and protesters aware of US armed threats against Iran ? Has this moderated
the protest ?
Shiva Mahbobi: Absolutely not. Iranians know that the United States, the European Union
and other countries have their own agendas ; they have demonstrated in the past that they
are defending only their own interests, and do not care what happens to people in other
countries.
This is why protesters do not care much about what comes from the White House or Brussels
and rely only on their own strength. Iranians do not need a superpower to come and save
them. Those who aspire to overthrow the Islamic regime do not want to suffer a situation
similar to that created by the invasion of Iraq and Afghanistan.
There are real concerns about what could happen after the overthrow of the regime and what
Western governments would do to create an alternative that would benefit them in Iran.
However, right now, people are more focused on challenging the Islamic regime. What Donald
Trump, the United States and the EU are saying is hardly relevant to them at this stage.
Some photos from Iranian social networks.
Do peripheral (Kurdish, Sunni) populations express further discontent ?
Shiva Mahbobi: The desire to drive out the Islamic regime crosses different sections of
Iranian society. It is clear that during the recent events, convergence has taken place on
this point.
Can the international campaigns and messages of support for the Iranian people really
weigh in the balance against Rohani ?
Shiva Mahbobi: They can play a major role. Since governments around the world turn a blind
eye to the atrocities committed by the Islamic regime, the people of Iran can only rely on
international popular support. As we speak, more than 3,000 people have been arrested
following demonstrations. Their families started a sit-in in front of the infamous Evin
prison. International pressure is important for the release of these prisoners. Trade
unions, human rights organizations and, more broadly, all those who oppose repression and
dictatorship must hold on. In any revolution, the support and the united efforts of the
peoples of the world are an element that weighs in the balance.
Interview by Nicolas (AL Moselle)
Translation by Valérie (AL Paris North-East), Grégoire (AL Orleans), Léo (AL 94-North and
Guillaume (AL Montreuil)
http://www.alternativelibertaire.org/?Shiva-Mahbobi-PCOI-Les-Iraniens-n-ont-pas-besoin-d-une-superpuissance-pour
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Anarchic update news all over the world - 15.01.2018
» Anarchic update news all over the world - 15.01.2018