INTERNATIONAL ANARCHIST MOVEMENT-BELARUS:
COMMON ACTION AGAINST NEW NUCLEAR POWER IN BELARUS:
This coming April will mark the 23rd anniversary of the Chernobyl nuclear power disaster, and no area of the ex-Soviet Union suffered more from the effects of this incident than what is now the country of Belarus. Now the government of the "independent" state of Belarus is planning to build another nuclear plant. If anything the new state of Belarus promises to be even more shoddy in safety considerations than the old Soviet Union- if you could imagine that being possible.

An independent group in Belarus is organizing against this initiative, and they are calling for international support. The following is a news item from the Russian anarchist news service Avtonom. It has been slightly edited for reasons of English grammar. For those interested in more on anarchism in Belarus try the following sites:

***Anarchist Federation of Belarus (A member of the International Anarchist Federation/IAF-IFA)

***Free Theatre

***Two punk rock bands: 375crew and Eat Yourself Crew.

***Much (most) of the movement in Belarus is without websites. For an extensive listing of groups with email and physical addresses see the Eastern European Abolishing the Borders From Below.

..................................

A call out for common actions against the construction of a new nuclear power station in Belarus:
26 April, the day of Chernobyl nuclear accident.

А callout for common actions against the construction of a new nuclear power plant in Belarus. 26 April – the day of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster.

Present-day Belarus is a post-soviet country with a police state. The current neoliberal regime holds strong positions. For 14 years already the country has been run by one and the same person – Alexander Lukashenka, who used to be a populist, but now is openly pursuing antisocial reforms.

Fundamental political freedoms - of speech, of the press, of assembly - are not recognized in our country. Political opposition, independent trade unions and non-governmental organizations are suppressed. Political trials, preventive detentions, dispersions of peaceful gatherings – all this has become a norm of political practice in Belarus.

A few years ago the ruling elite started to consider another venturesome project – the construction of a nuclear power plant (NPP). Lukashenka took a decision regardless of the public wishes and common sense. The decision was made with the active support of the international nuclear lobby. The construction is to be undertaken by a Russian corporation “Rosatom”. It is to be held in a seismically active zone, several dozens kilometers away from Lake Naroch – the largest lake in Belarus, which is ecologically unique for our country and is a tourist attraction. $4 billion will be spent on the construction, which otherwise could be outlaid for development of alternative energy.

But the above-listed points pale before the fact that Belarus received 70% of the radioactive contamination after the Chernobyl nuclear accident. But the government and the president are absolutely not concerned about that. They want to create a delayed-action bomb in the country, where one third of the territory is unfit for farming and most other activities.

We, “Antinuclear Resistance”, an anarchist group, come out against the nuclear power industry as a whole and against the NPP construction specifically in Belarus. A part of the political forces in Belarus, including some 'oppositional' parties, supported the NPP construction. Unlike them we do not believe in NPP safety irrespective of the political regime, within which it is functioning and being constructed. Our activity is based upon non-authoritarian principles; we do not cooperate with any political parties, but we are eager to cooperate with ecological organizations and grassroots initiatives.

On 26 April, the day of memory about the Chernobyl nuclear disaster, an annual demonstration “Charnobylski Shliah” (“The Chernobyl Path”) takes place in Minsk in commemoration of the accident and the people who became the immediate and lingering victims of it. Starting with the year 1996 anarchists take part in the demo with ecological and antinuclear slogans. But nowadays the demonstration, instead of just a mourning and commemorative event, is gaining a protest mood: in the country, where dozens of thousands people have died as a result of the nuclear accident aftermaths and hundreds of thousands have acquired accident-caused illnesses or become handicapped, a new NPP is to be constructed! And that is done according to the common practice of an authoritarian police state – not asking the people’s opinion, but just confronting them with the fact.

On 26 April we will again take a most active part in the “Charnobylski Shliah”, we’ll try to pass along to everyone our clear antinuclear position and will inform as many people as possible of the approaching danger. But now it is not enough! As an instrument of struggle against the state lawlessness we rely on the international support.

We urge anarchists, environmentalists and all people of the world to carry out solidarity actions on 26 April 2009. We call for a decentralized day of action of any form, which could help people learn something about our problem and stop the impudent authority and their sponsors from the IAEA.

If you are already taking actions on 26 April on your local problems concerning nuclear power engineering, please put on your list the demand for abolition of the NPP construction in Belarus. You are also welcome to participate in “The Chernobyl Path” in Minsk and other actions in Belarus.

Together we will be able to stand up for the right for life on a clean and ecologically safe planet!

If you have any intention to make solidarity actions with the Belarusian antinuclear movement or participate in the demonstration in Belarus please contact us:

antiatombel@riseup.net

Spread the callout through any accessible for you information channels.

BELARUS:

MINSK: A DAY WITHOUT A TICKET:

Way over in the country of Belarus anarchists have recently organized a "self-reduction" campaign in protest against price increases in the cost of public transport in the capital city of Belarus, Minsk. The following is the press release of the organizers.

"Anarchists in Minsk organized a protest against the cancelling of discount public transportation tickets in that city. They called on people to ride for free and wanted to promote the idea of leaving tickets behind or passing on tickets to passengers when leaving the bus. On Thursday (December 28th-Molly) there was a small protest. Two anarchists who were holding a banner in Independence Square were arrested and got 3 days in jail. They'll be released on Sunday (Today, January 30th-Molly).

Molly Comment:

Very terse and to the point. Molly certainly applauds this sort of action because it is one that connects anarchism with the concerns of ordinary people, and she hopes that anarchists take such examples to heart. All that being said, however, such actions should always be undertaken with a clear-headed idea of their likely chances of success. These chances are minuscule in most places today. This doesn't diminish the "propaganda value" of undertaking such campaigns, but such things should be undertaken with a clear head rather than in the spirit of ideological exuberance.

What are the conditions of "success" for such an enterprise ? First of all recognize that such campaigns have occurred repeatedly. They are not a new invention. Try to learn from past experiences. They involve "self-reduction" not just in public transport, but also in terms of utility bills and rent. What they are is a limited protest against certain aspects of the cost of living amongst ordinary people- or those who wish to influence same. They may prefigure a society where at least some goods such as public transit are provided free of cost to all. While it is wise to put this desire for such a situation forward as part of the campaign, in purely educational terms, it is also wise to understand that the success of such campaigns is, at best, limited by the resources available to the target of such efforts. Just like any strike such campaigns are an attempt to redistribute "surplus", and if no surplus is available then they cannot succeed. Any attempt to self-reduce such aspects of the cost of living should come pre-armed with an idea of where such surplus can be found. Whether this be the profit of landlords or the budget of a city, what pool of money should be reduced in order to spend more on the good desired should be put forward.

The grand-daddy of all such self-reduction movements would have to be the Barcelona rent strike of 1931 (see http://www.workersolidarity.org/rentstrike1931.htm ). It is also the example of the greatest degree of success of such movements. Even though it was broken by police repression the upshot was that most of the participants obtained financial benefits from their actions. Other, more recent, examples such as the self-reduction movement in Italy in the early 70s and its imitation in Vancouver BC at about the same time were far less successful. The 2006 San Francisco attempt at a "fare strike" was just as much of a lost cause as that of Vancouver in the early 70s. The Italian example involved not just refusal to pay transit fares but also "invasions" of grocery stores to reclaim food as a free good.

The Italian example succeeded at least partially, but to nowhere the degree that the Spanish one did. San Francisco and Vancouver were utter failures. What was the difference ? The answer is simple- organization. The Italian efforts were able to count on the at least partial support of trade union federations who could bargain with the civic authorities . Not everything was granted, of course, and the union federations, controlled by communists and social democrats ,put their own organizational interests ahead of the demands of consumers. In Spain of 1931 the "difference" between local councils of residents and locals of the CNT would often be rather obscure. The tradition of spontaneous organization amongst the Spanish working class of the time was strong enough that proper coordinating bodies were rapidly formed and took on essential functions at due speed. In North America, whether it be San Francisco or Vancouver, there was no such organizational tradition. No matter what the theatrical value of the actions proposed, and often carried out, by a small minority of activists it was useless in the absence of the ability of ordinary people to self-organize.

This is the reality. Long preliminary steps towards building such traditions of self-organization cannot be skipped. This may seem outre to those raised on a diet of television and other media, where matters can always be concluded before the end of the hour. It is still, however, as true as it always was. This misunderstanding of the nature of human social organization contributes to the fascination of spectacular actions for far too many anarchists today. The cult of the "rebel" overwhelms common sense, and instead of seeing an action as contributing to ongoing self-organization of ordinary people those who are attracted to a stage-craft view of politics imagine that some media will magically transmit not just the "news" of their actions but also the emotions behind them. Lots of luck guys.

So....by all means such actions are valuable, but they should be undertaken in a spirit of realism, with a goal of building self-organization amongst ordinary people, of perhaps winning temporary victories that could inspire such. NEVER should they be undertaken in the existential position of "showing off" one's rebellious nature.

POLAND/SERBIA/BELORUSSIA/AFGHANISTAN:

NEWS FROM THE CENTRUM INFORMACJI ANARCHISTYCZNEJ:

Molly has long carried the 'Centrum Informacji Anarchistycznej' on her list of 'Links'. This is a sort of Polish A-Infos but with graphics. lately they have experienced something of a revival in terms of activity, and now publish some great articles, news and otherwise, on a daily basis. Here's a selection from the other day. Check out the 'CIA', loosely translated as "Anarchist Information Centre' for great news, comment and humour from Poland, Eastern Europe and beyond. They have a regularly updated English section.

ANTIFA RALLY IN NOVI SAD, SERBIA:

On October 7th fascists from several countries across eastern Europe attempted to gather in the town of Novi Sad, Serbia under the auspices of the Serbian neonazi organization 'Nacionaini stroj' (National Formation). they were met by a far larger force of 5,000 people organized by a coalition of political parties, NGOs, anarchists and others. This region of Serbia is multinational and multidenominational, and the people there live in peaceful coexistence, an affront to the ideas of the neofascists. The neo-Nazi march was initially forbidden by the local authorities, but the clerico-fascist organization 'Obraz' (literal translation "cheek" but with a connotation of "honour") announced a covering rally. On October 7th a small group of fascists gathered in the town where they were opposed by the coalition. As can be expected a fight broke out, and this time the fascists got the worst of it, and not only from their opponents but also from the police. To read the full story see http://cia.bzzz.net/comment/reply/8216.

BELORUSSIA: SOLIDARITY ACTION WITH RUSSIAN ANTI-FASCISTS IN MINSK, BELARUS:

This sort of has to come under the heading of "better late than never". This is a report of an illegal action that occurred in Minsk, the capitol of Belarussia/Belarus last August 7th. News has been rather slow in getting out, but the story is now current in the ether of the "anarchosphere". The story reads as follows:

"On Saturday, September 7th of August at 2:00 pm an illegal action was organized at the Russian embassy in Minsk in solidarity with Russian anti-fascists.

Around 50 anti-fascists and anarchists showed up at the Russian Embassy in Minsk in order to show solidarity with Russian anti-fascists and in order to point out that nazis may murder people in Russia with impunity. as the action was illegal it lasted no more than five minutes. Protesters could only unroll the banner with the text 'No To Fascism!' and carry portraits of four anti-fascists murdered in russia (Timur Kacharava, Aleksander Ryuhin, Stanislav Korepanov and Ilya Bondarenko).

All of the participants managed to leave the scene before OMON showed up. Four persons were arrested. The following day all of them got a 3 day prison sentence in a kangaroo court to be served immediately. Some 15 people went to support those arrested in the court and managed to shout something to them. Those arrested were in good spirits, but it was obvious that they were frozen in prison the previous night. (In early August????- perhaps a bad translation-Molly). They should be released today. there is a danger that one of the arrestees will be expelled from University.

Pictures of the action at

http://belarus-avtonom.org/?p=481

http://belarus.indymedia.org/10643

Video at:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=96cM4-33XKk

(Molly Note: I have edited some of the above for English grammar reasons. The original article is available at the site bookmarked above).

DODA: THE POLISH MILITARY'S 'WEAPON ON MASS SEDUCTION' IN AFGHANISTAN:

Molly has saved the best for last. The rock star 'Doda' pictured to the left is Poland's answer to the joke that goes, "what do you get when you cross Britanny Speers with Paris Hilton?" For the last few years the Polish government has been doing a major 'suck-up' to the American Empire and has sent Polish cannon-fodder (excuse me-troops) to wherever the American military has wished for a cover of "internationalism". One of these "wonderful" places is Afghanistan where 1,200 Poles are presently based. The Polish government has decided that these boys need a little morale booster, and thus they are sending 'Doda' (real name Dorota Rabczewska- not something that comes out well at MTV) to "perform" for the troops off in the desert.

This is the opportunity for a truly brilliant piece of satire at the CIA, reporting on "Doda, in one of her Polish military 'Special Forces' outfits". The article, besides being brilliant and belly-laugh inducing funny is politically incorrect enough to be banned by the Central Council of Religious and Post Modernist Scholars of the Talibanana Republic of American Leftism. All the more reason to read it. The author does a takeoff on her name, noting the probable source of the name from the Dutch "dodaars" ("fat ass") for 'little grebe". Also the Dutch alternative name "Walghvogel" or "loathsome bird" because of the foul taste of its meat. He or she also mentions the possible origin from the Portuguese "doudo" which means "crazy" or "fool". The English connotations of Dodo with extinction are also mentioned, and the author opines that "She seems to cleverly realise that her time in the high life may just suffer the same fate as the Dodo's time on Earth unless she keeps marketing herself to any and every opportunity that arises".

The article concludes with a satirical "support the troops" appeal, mostly appeals for desertion, and gems such as "You can also sponsor a copy of the edition of Playboy magazine where Doda posed nude some years ago, for Afghani children who are eager to learn Polish so that they can communicate with their latest occupiers".

All told don't miss this hilarious article. See http://cia.bzzz.net/comment/reply/8258 . Tell em that Molly sent you.

BELARUSSIA:

SUPPORT IMPRISONED BELORUSSIAN ANTI-FASCISTS:

Two antifascist comrades from the Minsk area of Belarus are now serving three year sentences in Belorussian camps for their role in a fight with fascists in December of 2006. One of these, Maksim Gubski recently turned 18 in late July of this year. He has been active in the anti-fascist movement in Minsk for three years and was one of the organizers of Food Not Bombs in Minsk. He and his comrade Vladislav Vladimirovich Plashkevick were involved in a fight with fascists last December. The fascists lost, but one of them recognized the pair and went to the police. Their comrades in Belarus are asking for letters of support to be sent to Maksim and Vladimir while they are in prison. The addresses are below. If possible write the addresses in Cyrillic script as they are more likely to arrive then.

Maksim Gubski

VK-2-21

Batowa str. 4 Bobruisk

213800 Belarus

Vladislav Vladimirovich Plyashkevich

1K-10 otryad 4

Novopoltsk-5 Vitebskaya oblast

211440 Belarus

THOUSANDS PROTEST RADAR BASE IN PRAGUE:

Thousands of people gathered today near the building of the Czech Foreign Ministry and on a square near the famous Prague Castle to protest both the visit by US President George Bush and the reason that he is coming- to discuss the construction of an US radar base in the Brdy military area southwest of Prague. This radar apparatus is ostensibly to track missiles from "rogue states", but it has given great offense to the Russians who see its construction and the linked construction of an anti-missile base in Poland as aimed at them rather than any presumed "rogue state". The Russians have responded by saying that they have a "new missile" that can circumvent the anti-missile defences that the USA plans. Whether this is true or not is really a matter of personal choice. They have, however, also stated that they plan to have their missiles targeted on any component of the new missile defense system in eastern Europe, a much more serious threat that has led to large public opposition to the construction of such bases in eastern Europe.

The demonstrators held a mock trial of how Bush would be tried for war crimes after an anarchist revolution. To read more on this go to this a-infos report.

For those of Molly's readers who can read French there is an interesting article on a recent fact finding visit to eastern Europe by representatives of the International Relations Committee of the International of Anarchist Federations. They report on the state of anarchism in three countries, the Czech Republic, Belarus and Bulgaria. The report is not triumphalist, a fault that is all too common amongst certain "anarchists". It lays out both realistic numbers and the difficulties of the people in these three countries while still reporting their success. See the above article for more details.