MORE PHOTOS AND A VIDEO FROM QUEBEC CITY PROTESTS:

More photos and even a video are now available on the internet from the recent protests in Quebec City over the march of the Royal 22nd regiment, soon to deploy to Afghanistan. The photos can be seen at http://reseau-anticapitalist.blogspot.com/2007/06/photos-manif-anti-guerre-qubecquebec.html . There is also a short video (10 minutes) by d'Olivier D. Asselin at http://reseau-anticapitaliste.blogspot.com/2007/06/video-manif-anti-guerre-quebec-22-juin.html .

Molly really has to pause here and give out her own little slanted view. The Quebec City demonstration was larger than most other recent "events" as far as protests go. The libertarian character of the participants was also much more visible (excluding the participation of the RCP-Quebec is perhaps the last refuge of Maoism in the world outside of the Himilayan mountains) than at other events. The Quebec comrades made a deliberate choice to participate in the mainstream of the demonstration and not to playact at forced militance. Perhaps this is because the movement in Quebec is more mature, more like those of Europe, and less given to the "spectacle of militance" that others in North America are attracted by.

The protests in Quebec City attracted less "media attention" than some other recent ones because they were non-violent. Some rather naive "anarchists" believe that such media attention is an unalloyed "good". False and pretty obviously false if you understand exactly what remains of such pseudo-news as "50 people who look wierd get the shit kicked out of them by the cops" after perhaps a week passes. No details. Only a vague emotional impression at best. In the majority of cases- nothing. That is the secret of the "media". Not some vague paranoic Chomskyian fantasy of a conspiracy to manipulate "news". The media do not sell news. They sell entertainment with all the staying power of cotton candy.

The idea of arranging to lose in street battles against the police simply does not have any effect on the ordinary person via the media except to leave a vague idea that you are either thuggish or pitiful. Usually it leaves no impression. Actions such as those in Quebec City also leave little lasting country-wide impression. What they do, however, leave is an impression amongst non-anarchist participants and observors who see them close up of anarchists as reasonable people. Even better, as entertaining and friendly people who might actually have reasonable ideas about what to do. Many kudos to the Quebecois anarchists.