INTERNATIONAL ANARCHIST MOVEMENT-POLAND:

CELEBRATION AND CONFRONTATION IN WARSAW:

While November 11 is Remembrance Day here in the British Commonwealth in Poland it is celebrated as Polish Independence Day. The joint was jumping in the Polish capital Warsaw as the local anarchists held a "counterball" to the official celebrations and confronted neo-fascists who attempted to stage a march. Here are the stories from the Centrum Informacji Anarchistcznej, a Polish anarchist news service.

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Anarchist Counterball:
The anarchists' "people's ball" was held yesterday in Warsaw.
Nov.11, was Polish Independence Day. As the country becomes sick with more and more patriotism, the patriotic holidays are becoming more and more grandiose and grotesque. This holiday, the 90th anniversary of Polish independence, saw huge military parades, dozens of patriotic demonstrations and a presidential ball.

At a time when the government is preaching austerity to the people, when thousands of people are striking for better pay, when the government is attacking the health care and education systems, when early pensions and other benefits for working people are being done away with, and we are being told "we cannot afford this", the state wastes millions on shows of patriotism and attempts to show off its military might and present itself as a regional superpower. While millions suffer from lack of basic services, the president decided to throw a gala ball.

Presidents from the Visegrad countries, the Baltics, Balkans, Ukraine and Georgia came, as did high-ranking officials from other "aspiring" countries like Turkey. In short, the "B-list" countries are networking. Angela Merkel arrived for official ceremonies in the morning but did not stay for the ball, which featured all the typical luxuries, dashed with amazing Polish ultra-kitsch such as the strange chorale group Zakopower. (All we can say is the ball's 800 disgusting guests certainly deserved the torturous concert.) While the Presidents, the rich, powerful and elite were whining and dining, the anarchists decided to hold a counter ball - a people's ball.

Anarchists protested the arrogance of the politicians and their use of tax money, which was typical of the relation between those in power and those without. One of the many themes of the ball was the warning "Capitalism is sinking, enjoy your last dance" sent to the participants of the ball. Posters with the warning in many languages were put around the city.

Many would-be participants, who had taken part in an antifascist action were either blockaded by the police or waiting for people blockaded by the police. The ball was then attended mostly by people outside the movement, who danced to the DJs or samba band, watched fire shows, got a warm meal, anarchists leaflets and newspapers. Afterwards, people tried to move on to the official ball, but were stopped by the police. Some people went there anyway only to find that the anarchist ball, which was only a couple of hours long, had actually outlived the presidential ball. (Our guess is that people ran away after Zakopower.)

As a political protest, maybe the ball was a bit weak, but it was not a bad street party, made by the people, for the people and at a cost of a few thousand times less than the president's ball.
Some photos of the ball are here:

http://cia.bzzz.net/fotki_z_kontrbalu

http://www.wiadomosci24.pl/artykul/na_balu_u_anarchistow_nie_u_prezydenta_81109.html?ses_go=d9965123ac66a70560ead2a737d9b627

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No Pasaran! Antifascist blockade in Warsaw:

On 11 November the extreme right group National Radical Camp (ONR) made a demonstration in the streets of Warsaw during the patriotic holiday. ONR is an antisemitic fascist group, which celebrates the pogrom in Myslenic like a national holiday, extreme nationalist and with contacts with other neonazi groups. ONR makes many demonstrations. They planned a large demonstration on 11 November in Warsaw. Antifascists decided to organize a blockade.

The crowd of antifascists was not very big because they divided into two groups: the antifascists who wanted to make hard action and antifascists who want to make public civil disobedience. These last decided to blockade the street of the fascist march.

About 150 people went on the blockade. It was half as many as the marching ONR. More antifascists patrolled the area. The antifascists jumped into the street with banners: NO PASARAN and WARSAW FREE OF FASCISTS. The atmosphere was very hot. Many police arrived to block the antifascists. There was a helicopter, a big water gun and many more police equipment . Police blocked antifascists and other people for three hours. The fascists had to stop their march, but then police protected them, escorting them on a different route. Some people of Warsaw yelled to police to let antifascists go and even some joined the blockade.

Nobody was arrested on action but police wrote the ID of everybody surrounded by cordon, so it is possible there can be court case in the future for participants.
Photos Wideo

POLAND:

NO BORDERS POLAND: CALL FOR PROTEST AGAINST FRONTEX:

The following is a call for a protest in Warsaw Poland this coming June. It was originally published in the No Borders Network site and has been propagating through the internet. This is Molly's little contribution to this meme. You can read more at the No Borders site.

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No Borders Poland: call for Protest against Frontex

6 June we will show our opposition to the border regime with a demonstration in front of Frontex headquarters in Warsaw. ---- War, economic imperialism, civil conflict, environmental degradation and a host of other factors, combined with the increased technological monitoring and militarization of the borders, means that people will take even great risks to exercise the freedom of movement and settlement, to find safe homes or jobs with even a bit of economic perspective if they otherwise have none. The European Union has made itself a fortress and seeks to control immigration to fit its demands and the demands of world capital. It is, after all, in the interest of business to have captive labour markets in countries with poor wages and no labour organizing, to allow their capital and movement of goods to be mobile but to keep people immobile. In order to better control the flow of immigration, the European Union created Frontex.

What is Frontex?

Frontex is an EU agency with coordinates the activity, training and operations of the EU's border control. It also coordinates this activity with police, the military and secret services.

The Frontex-run RABITs (rapid border intervention teams) carry out military-like exercises with weaponry in preparation for operations against groups of migrants. There is growing likelihood that somebody will be shot dead for trying to cross the border.

Murder by Accident

As migrants are forced into more and more dangerous ways of crossing borders, the people smugglers and mafias are making good business. But the price for migrants is often death in the back of an overloaded truck or at sea. The latter is becoming more and more frequent thanks to the work of Frontex sea patrols. Instead of taking the shorter routes, migrants are choosing longer routes at sea and more are dying.

At the same time that dozens of dead bodies of prospective immigrants are washing up on beaches, many of the countries of the European Union complain that there are not enough workers and are busy trying to recruit people from Asia to come to work. By criminalizing migration, the authorities treat these deaths as the responsibility of the people themselves, those who chose to put themselves in danger and who broke the law. But it is the system itself which is murderous.

No One is Illegal

We maintain the idea that the resources of the earth belong to humanity collectively and that people must be free to live, work and to divide the products of their labour, as well as natural resources which must be used, in an egalitarian manner. The borders drawn on the earth to artificially divide us most often serve to protect the interests of those in power, not normal people. People must be free to go where they wish, or to stay home, free from the invasive and predatory policies of the state and businesses which drive people from their land and try to monopolize natural resources for their profits. For hundreds of years, business has gone everywhere, setting up plantations, sweatshops and mines, destroying communities, upsetting local economies, using people for slave or cheap labour. All of these things, and to a lesser extent, natural factors (sometimes caused by excessive use of natural resources), has created a world order with billions of the worlds population inhabiting places of exploitation-induced poverty. Nobody can wonder why anybody would like to leave these places.

We mustn't allow people to bear the brunt of all of these problems, we must not allow the continual criminalization, repression and deportation of migrants. What needs to be changed is the root of the problem.

We will go to the Frontex office with the slogans "No one is Illegal" and "No Borders, No Nations" to confront the migrant hunters with the consequences of their policies and show what it is that this institution is really protecting: misery, poverty, exploitation, racism, imperialism and global capitalism.

SHUT DOWN FRONTEX!

No Borders Poland

Protest Friday June 6 at 2PM

Frontex Headquarters in Warsaw

Rondo Onz 1 (corner of Swietokrzyska and Jana Pawla streets)

Contact: bezgranic@bzzz.net

ANARCHIST MOVEMENT:

MAYDAY IN WARSAW:

Here, there and everywhere throughout the world anarchists celebrated and protested on Mayday. Here's one example, reported on the Anarkismo site, of Mayday actions in Warsaw Poland. The Centrum Informacji Anarchistcznej is a daily online Polish anarchist news service that is quite valuable for keeping up with events in Poland. They also have a small section in English translation. Their web address is also at the end of this item.

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Warsaw May Day

by Laure Akai - ,

On May 1 an anarchist demonstration took place in Warsaw. A couple of hundred people came from all the different anarchist groups. The demo went to the Ministry of Economy, Ministry of Labour and Social Policy, to the State Labour Inspectorate, a temp agency and a pro-business lobby's headquarters.

Many topics were raised, including the amendment of the Labour Code, discrimination in the workplace, the topic of casual work, firing of unionists and capitalist brainwashing.

A happening about discrimination in the workplace was organized by anarchafeminists from A-Fe. Other groups that took part in the demo included the Anarchist Federation, Left Alternative, Workers' Initiative, Union of Syndicalists, Freedom, Equality and Solidarity and Green Collective.

A pathetic counter demonstration was organized by fascists. The night before, a talk organized by Freedom, Equality and Solidarity was attacked by fascists who through some incendiary devices into the meeting place. Nobody was hurt.

Some pictures from May Day can be found here:

http://cia.bzzz.net/zdjecia_z_manifestacji_pierwszomajowej

http://cia.bzzz.net/zdjecie_z_1_maja
http://www.cia.bzzz.net