INTERNATIONAL ANARCHIST MOVEMENT:

ANTI-FASCIST INITIATIVE IN RUSSIA:

The heartland of the ex-Soviet Union is one of the countries of the world where classical fascism (as opposed to what the "left" usually labels as "fascism") is gaining ground. Given the social crisis of a defeated empire that still has delusions of glory this is not unexpected. At the same time opposition is rising against this fascist threat, and anarchists are at the forefront of this opposition. Here, from the A-Infos website is an appeal for solidarity with a Russian anti-fascist initiative that will happen soon in the New Year.

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Russia, Manifesto of the January 19 Committee, Moscow:

On January 19, 2010, a year to the day from the murders of Stanislav Markelov and Anastasia Baburova, we, the organizers of an antifascist march, call on you to join our campaign against neo-Nazi terrorism.

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The word fascism has been utterly devalued today. It is hard to find a political movement that avoids branding its opponents as “fascists.” But there are also meaningful interpretations of this term. Many of them have a direct bearing on what is taking place in contemporary Russia.

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For some people, fascism is the extreme intolerance intrinsic to authoritarian societies. For others, it is an ideology of exploitation and coercion. For still others, it means the use by the authorities of covert paramilitary units for the suppression of democratic movements.

Finally, for some, fascism is a force that murders good people, people like the lawyer Stanislav Markelov and the journalist Nastya Baburova,the young antifascists Fyodor Filatov and Ivan Khutorskoi, the ethnologist Nikolai Girenko, the chess player Sergei Nikolaev from Yakutia, the programmer Bair Sambuev from Buryatia, and hundreds of others. People who define fascism in this way do not divide their enemies into Russians and non-Russians, grown-ups and children, priests and punk rock fans, young activists and defenseless janitors from Central Asia.

It is not a matter of definitions, however. All the murderers come from one and the same environment.

They can be defeated only through a combined effort, only by overcoming the barriers that separate political activists from each other and from people who do not trust politicians and are not involved in the political process. For this purpose we are organizing an antifascist initiative that will unite people of various political persuasions with all those who consider themselves apolitical but who are convinced that the rise of fascism in Russia demands a clear response from society.

The neo-Nazis have changed. They now not only attack marketplaces, they also blow them up – along with railroad tracks, concert halls, churches, cafes, and the entryways of the buildings where their political opponents live. The fascists now not only beat up people on the streets, they also murder them. Neo-Nazi terrorism has become a reality.

If this goes on much longer, Russia will turn into a country wracked by ethnic cleansing and inter-ethnic war. We appeal to everyone who would rather not wait to see this happen. Act now: take a public stance using whatever means you have at your disposal.

We also call on well-known and respected people – scholars, artists, writers, and intellectuals – to support our cause with their good names. We believe that the struggle against the neo-Nazi scourge in Russia must be raised to a new level. It has to become a mass campaign of solidarity that reaches beyond youth subcultures and activist groups. The understandable aversion people feel to politics should not prevent them from recognizing the threat posed by neo-Nazism.

We believe that we have three main tasks today. First, we need to deprive neo-Nazis and racists of the explicit and implicit support they receive from bureaucrats and establishment politicians. Second, we have to drive members of ultra-rightist organizations out of mainstream politics. Third, we must put an end to the practice of using radical right-wing gangs to intimidate and murder social and political activists.

We call on people in various cities and countries to take to the streets on January 19, 2010, and show their solidarity with our cause

.http://jan-19.livejournal.com/884.html

German version: http://jan-19.livejournal.com/581.html

Russian version: http://jan-19.livejournal.com/301.html & http://ru.indymedia.org/newswire/display/23144/index.php

INTERNATIONAL ANARCHIST MOVEMENT-SWEDEN:

REMEMBER BJORN SODERBERG:

The following reminder of the death of a good comrade at the hands of the fascists just came into Molly's email today from the Swedish Anarkisterna website/group. Looking at the photo, and reading the article Molly is impressed with the tremendous waste of life of this young comrade. Here in Canada the general appearance of comrade Soderberg is such that, especially here in Winnipeg where we are mostly squat, dark and Slavic looking (except for Molly who is a dead ringer for an Iranian Ayatollah), the guy would have had to hold raffles for the girls to meet him. No doubt his personality was as winning as his looks. So sad, and the fascists who killed him are more to blame for it. In Sweden the pride of place of syndicalism is held by the SAC, and comrade Soderberg was an ethical young worker with an internationalist perspective. Here's to the memory of this young hero. Also remember what the essence of fascism is, however it may try to throw the cloak of 'moderation' over itself.

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Ten years later: Remember Björn Söderberg!:

Show moral courage

On the 12th October it has been ten years since the Syndicalist Björn Söderberg was attacked in his home and killed by Nazis in a suburb of Stockholm. We solemnize his memory with a dignified manifestation on Monday the 12th. For those of you who are in Stockholm that day, we gather on Medborgarplatsen at 6 pm and march to La Mano on Katarinavägen at 7 pm. There the manifestation will end at 8.30 pm.

The context in which the murder took place, was that Björn acted openly and consequently against racism and Nazism at his workplace. For a while after the murder, protests kept coming in to Stockholms LS, the Stockholm chapter of the Syndicalist union. Tens of thousands gathered all over the country to express their disgust with the deed. Representatives of all the parties in the parliament participated in the manifestation on Medborgarplatsen.

Almost 70% of the Swedish population wanted Nazi organisations to be prohibited after the murder. But today, in our increasingly harsher class society, we witness a slowly growing support for a sneaking racism. The divisiveness of the solidarity between workers takes on such expressions.

At the same time the daily struggle against racism continues at schools and workplaces all around the country, a struggle seldom or never noticed by the media. Many people show their moral courage every day in an open stand against racism and fascism.

We will never back down - No Pasaran!/Stockholms LS, the Stockholm chapter of the Syndicalist union SAC

Nazi activity then and now

The summer of 1999 saw Nazi violence culminating in Sweden — in May two police officers were executed when stopping a car after a bank robbery performed by Nazis, and in June a car bomb severely injured a journalist living under constant death threats for writing exposing articles on Nazi organisations. That summer Björn worked as a stockroom worker when he learned that Robert Vesterlund, a leading Nazi, had gained a commission of trust in the union Handels at his workplace. Björn was determined to act despite of his own worries of becoming a target. He approached the staff management, the union and the Syndicalist weekly Arbetaren. As a result, Handels relieved Robert Vesterlund of his commission of trust and, later on, the company fired him. A month later, two armed Nazis rang on his door bell and after a heated argument shot him dead.

One of the Nazis who participated in the killing of Björn Söderberg was Hampus Hellekant, notorious in surveying leftist activists, journalists and others that he perceived as his opponents. Since his release from prison he has changed his name and, according to himself also his politics. But, as the Research Group reveals in this weeks’ issue of Arbetaren, he has never stopped his activities, he has never stopped his monitoring.

The results of which, as we’ve seen, can be severe.

Last December a Syndicalist couple and their two year old daughter were the victims of a Nazi arson in a suburb of Stockholm. The family escaped the flames by climbing down the balcony to the floor underneath. Some months earlier Hampus Hellekant had published pictures and addresses of the couple on a Nazi web page, displaying them as antifascists.
The challenge we face

We are experiencing an increasing level of Nazi violence very similar to the situation of the nineties, we wrote in Refuse to let history repeat itself. The social setting of today, with a financial crisis, increased marginalization and bigger divides between classes and a growing sense of insecurity among people is also very similar to then. However, some things differ. Today the Nazi movement is stronger than it was in 1999. And the kind of united anti-racist response we saw after the murder of Björn Söderberg was lacking after the attempted murder last year.

The same-same-but-different-card is habitually played every time anti-racists protest against marching Nazis and should, once and for all, be unveiled as the false play it certainly is. If one claims that the twenty or so murders committed by Nazis since the 80’s in Sweden alone, as well as the severe hate crimes, arsons, bombings and assaults they have carried out, is equal to the rock-throwing and street fighting of anti-racists, one lacks a sense of proportions.

Looking back at the repressed anti-racist mobilization against the Nazi march in Salem, the establishment does lack a sense of proportions. The extra-parliamentary left stood alone and five hundred people were rounded up and taken into “preventive custody” as soon as they arrived at the train station. The rest of the demonstration were cattled ( I think this means "penned"-Molly ) and never allowed to leave the rallying point.

The challenge for antifascist activists, as stated in From Salem to Stolberg: Right-Wing Martyrs and Right-Wing Violence, lies in finding effective means of resistance. The Swedish example confirms the difficulty to establish the right balance between two necessities: broad public support against the activities of the extreme right on the one hand; and retaining a critical voice against structural discrimination and (party) political hypocrisy on the other.

One of the reasons why the Salem March can continue derives from an early split within its opponents. While mainstream leftists and liberals now hold an anti-racist rally in Stockholm, far from the actual march, militant antifascists attempt to confront the march directly. This renders the Stockholm rally merely symbolic, while politicians and police commanders can portray the confrontations in Salem as yet another case of “extremist clashes”.

So the challenge remains for each and everyone of us to unite and manifest:
- That we are always many more than the fascists are ever going to be!

- That we are stronger than they will ever be!

- That we will never forget Björn Söderberg!

MOLLYMEW POLLS:

WHAT IS THE BEST WAY TO DEAL WITH NEO-FASCISTS AND NEO-NAZIS ?

This is to draw attention to the latest item on our sister site Molly's Polls. I have to be honest, the question 'What is the Best Way to Deal With Neo-fascists and Neo-nazis ?' is not one that I have given a tremendous amount of thought to. It is one, however, that a large number of anarchists think about quite a bit. A little bit too much in my opinion. Perhaps they run in social circles where they are more likely to encounter such people. There is also the fact that the collections of pathetic people nostalgic for the days of jackboots are much more common in some areas of the world than where I live.

What do you think ? Go on over to Molly's Polls to express your opinion. I'll probably comment further over there. This subject has come up because it has been an item in two posts and their comments in the past few days. No doubt it will sink to the bottom of my mental sea once more. There are certainly more important things in the world.

INTERNATIONAL ANARCHIST MOVEMENT-CZECH REPUBLIC:

DEMONSTRATION AGAINST NEO-NAZIS IN SVITAVY:

The following item comes from the A-Infos website. It has Canadian relevance because of the continuing refusal on the part of our Harper Conservative government, in terms of its refugee program, to recognize that the Roma people face persecution in Europe. Of course they do. Here is an example, one amongst many, of people demonstrating the sort of thing that government claims doesn't exist.

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Czech, Svitavy, East Bohemia, Media, Some 70 anarchists and other activists attended a one-hour protest against mounting neo-Nazi activities in the Czech Republic Saturday:

They paid tribute to all victims of neo-Nazi violence since the fall of the previous regime in late 1989.

---- "The police were monitoring the march, we dealt with no misdemeanour during the event," Svitavy police spokeswoman Anna Stegnerova told journalists.

---- The activists carried posters reading "No to further neo-Nazism victims" and "No to xenophobia and racism."

---- An anarchist claimed in his speech during the event that there have been more than 30 victims of neo-Nazis in the country.

--- The march was joined by about 20 Romanies from the association We Want to Live!

--- "We have arrived from Brno, we have come to pay tribute to Ota Absolon," a member of the association said.

--- The march of neo-Nazism opponents was held on the day when in the past years skinheads used to stage marches in support of the convicted skinhead Vlastimil Pechanec.Pechanec was sent to prison for 17 years for a racially-motivated murder of a 23-year-old Romany man in 2003.

INTERNATIONAL LABOUR/ANARCHOSYNDICALISM-SWEDEN:

NEO-NAZIS ATTEMPT TO MURDER SYNDICALIST FAMILY IN SWEDEN:

The following is from the Swedish Anarchisterna website, though Molly first read about it on the website of the Romania Indymedia. At the Anarkisterna site anarchist from across the world are sending messages of solidarity with the Swedish comrades.

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Nazis tried to kill union activists and their child:

In 1999 Nazis killed the Syndicalist Björn Söderberg. Now they have tried again. Two Syndicalists from Stockholm – one of them the former chair of the Stockholm chapter of the Syndicalist union - and their two year old daughter were forced to climb down from the balcony of their third floor apartment when Nazis sat fire to their flat.

Half a year ago, our union members were exposed on the Nazi webpage Info-14. The Nazis behind Info-14 are the same people who arrange the annual Nazimarch in Salem.

Just before nine p.m. on Monday night, 1st December 2008, our members heard a splashing sound from the hallway. “I saw someone pour a clear fluid through the mail slot and understood from the scent that it was gasoline”, one of them said. “I shouted so loud that they can’t have missed it: We have children in here! Only seconds later they lit the fire.”

In the hall hung the family’s winter clothes and in a couple of seconds the fire had spread to the kitchen and the living room. To exit through the front door was impossible.

“We had to lower our daughter down to the neighbours’ balcony one floor below”, our member explains. “We live on the top floor. Had she slipped out of our hands, she would have died.” The couple then climbed down the same way. Behind them the fire ravaged all their belongings, memories and future plans.

Our members and their daughter miraculously remained unharmed, but it doesn’t change the fact that one, or several, people deliberately and in cold blood tried to take their lives. Six months ago the openly National socialist homepage info14 published names and pictures of our members. The police work from the theory that the deed was politically motivated, performed by the same offenders who two days earlier burnt down the libertarian socialist cultural centre The Cyclops in Högdalen. The case is classified as arson.

Our targeted members’ union work focused on antiracism and diminishing class divides. Because of this they were to be punished by death according to the Nazis.

The Nazis behind Info-14 are the same people who run the organisation Salemfonden, that every year on the first Saturday in December arrange the biggest Nazi march in Northern Europe. “The people arranging the Salemmarch are not harmless individuals with a slightly dissenting opinion. They are ideologically convinced Nazis, evidently capable of murder in the pursuit of their cause”, Ola Brunnström from SAC’s working committee states.

This Saturday the people who tried to kill our members arrange a march in Salem, a suburb of Stockholm. SAC, the Syndicalists, urges everyone to join in the counter demonstration by the Network Against Racism at 12 o’ clock in Salem Centre.

If we let the Nazis stand unchallenged we never now who they’ll attack next.
SAC’s working committee

http://www.sac.se

INTERNATIONAL ANARCHIST MOVEMENT-RUSSIA:

SOLIDARITY WITH "YURA M":

The following appeal for solidarity with anti-fascist "Yura M" comes from the Russian anarchist news site Avtonom via the A-Infos website. Molly has to mention that she disagrees quite vehemently with the "insurrectionism" that thsi comrade has adopted. Such a stance abandons the whole idea of long term organization, leads to adventurism and eventually irrelevance as the "elite" is substituted for the ordinary people under the delusion of "exemplary actions". It is a highway to despair. Yet, the comrade in question is still quite young and has done exemplary work. Unlike the hardened ideologues of this form of "tactics" here in NA the Russian comrade has actually endured some personal risk, for which he is paying now. As I said, he is young, and his views may (probably will) be quite different in the years to come. Thus he deserves our support. the story.... The following has been slightly edited for English grammar.

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Russia, Vladivostok, Anarchist in need of solidarity:

On the 22nd of November two nazi skinheads attacked anarchist anti-fascist activist Yura M. in Vladivostok (Russian Far East).

---- Nazis met Yura on a bus, they recognised him, they knew that he is an active anarchist and antifascist, so after he left the bus they attacked him and hit him a couple of times. Yura used a knife to defend himself and stabbed both of the attackers, who were bigger than him.

---- The Nazis started running away - one of them soon fell down and died, the other broke both of his legs while he was jumping off a parapet. Yura called the ambulance and waited until it arrived. After this he was arrested by cops. Yura was shocked - he did not intend to kill anyone.

Yura is an active participant in anarchist and antifascist movement.In the Summer of 2007 he participated in the antinuclear protest camp in Angarsk, Irkutsk Region (East Siberia). On the 21st of July 2007 the camp was violently attacked by Nazis, one activist was murdered (a good friend of Yura, Ilya Borodaenko from Nakhodka near Vladivostok),Yura was one of the few people who were fast enough to resist the attackers in Angarsk,but was severely beaten and spent more than two months in a hospital, fighting for his life due to complications which were a result of neglect during first hours of his hospitalization. His health condition still remains weak, and after Angarsk event he got a disability status. But he continued his activities in Vladivostok anyway and got multiple threats from local Nazis.

Yura has played a crucial role in organizing the anarchist and anti-fascist movements in the Russian far East. He set up the Pacific Rim Autonomous Action (which later split into Nahodka Autonomous Action and Vladivostok Autonomous Action due to distance between cities, but the Nahodka group dwindled after death of Ilya). During last year, Yura grew disillusioned with the federation concept of the organization, and moved more towards the insurrectionalist direction of anarchism, and he left Vladivostok Autonomous Action with most of the members of the group. However he stayed in friendly terms with Autonomous Action and participated in the internal discussions of the organization. In http://avtonom.org/index.php?nid=2048 you may read (only in Russian) a criticism of the organization he recently wrote. He also kept publishing the local anarchist paper "Udar", back issues of which are available at avtonom.org in PDF format.

Vladivostok is among the Russian cities, where the street war between Nazis on one side and anarchists and antifascists on another side is most intense. For some incidents you may read from

http://avtonom.org/index.php?nid=2003 and from

http://avtonom.org/index.php?nid=1237

Yura has now been released from custody, and murder charges changed to"exceeding limits of necessary self-defense". However various costs relating to his case are already 5500 euros, so his family is very much in a need of support!

You may donate through bank accounts and internet purses of ABC-Moscow.They are available at http://www.avtonom.org/index.php?nid=1912.

Always contact ABC-Moscow if you made a donation:

abc-msk@riseup.net

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

INTERNATIONAL ANARCHIST MOVEMENT-POLAND:

ANTI-FASCIST ACTION IN WARSAW:

This coming November 11 we here in the anglosphere will be observing Remembrance Day. In the country of Poland a ghost from the past will march in the streets as various fascist and far right groups plan to hold rallies. The Polish anarchists will be opposing them. Here is the story from the Centrum Informacji Anarchisctznej.

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Poland, Fascists march in Warsaw and counter action:

On Nov. 11, different fascist and far-right groups will march in Warsaw. The demo will be organized by the All-Polish Youth (Mlodziez Wszechpolska) which in recent months has gone back to organizing beatings of punk kids and others who hang around. They will be joined, among others by ONR and NOP. Some anti-fascist actions are planned. Their march begins at 17:00.

--- On the 11th there are also other things planned, for example an Anarchist People's ball starting at 19. Anybody who is coming through Warsaw is welcome. If anybody plans to demonstrate, they should contact people first to get legal and logistic info. No real information will be sent through the internet, except for where to go and who to contact.

The contact mail is : kontrbal@gmail.com

The poster is here: http://cia.bzzz.net/11_listopada

There is also a video there and here

:http://pl.youtube.com/watch?v=tzGOPcUVXIE

Please spread the word, especially for people who might be coming through Poland. :-)

CANADIAN ANARCHIST MOVEMENT-LONDON ONTARIO:

ARA 1-FASCISTS 0:

Here's a report from the Linchpin/Common Cause site down Ontario way. Seems that the fascists last July 27th had a no score day in harassing the 2008 London Pride Parade, thanks to the actions of Anti Racist Action.

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SOUTHERN ONTARIO ARA SHUTS DOWN FASCISTS IN LONDON!:
On Sunday, July 27th, anti-fascists ("antifa") came together from across Southern Ontario to confront and shut down an attempt by long time hate organizers to intimidate the participants of London's 2008 Pride Parade. Acting on information found posted on white supremacist websites, antifa in several cities were able to organize and produce the numbers despite minimal preparation time.

Close to 30 people gathered at Victoria Park at 11:30AM to discuss the plan for the day and create banners that would be used to block out the homophobic and anti-gay signs. As expected, harassment from the London Police Department was heavy from the get-go. Police used several tactics in an unsuccessful attempt to get information from and intimidate those gathered at Victoria Park (i.e. good cop / bad cop, isolating individuals and pressing for answers, intrusive photographs, etc). The group was approached by the cops repeatedly before they even left the park.

At around 12:15PM the 30-person strong crew left Victoria Park with several large banners, flags, and signs, heading down to pay the the fascists a visit at their meeting spot, the corner of Dundas and Colborne. Rumors had circulated earlier that upwards of 20 white supremacists would be present for the hate demonstration. However, in reality an unimpressive 5 people (including Randall Linton, Melissa Guille, Dave Ruud, and Louis Morin), primarily washed up Canadian Heritage Alliance (CHA) members, managed to drag their sorry selves out of bed early enough on a Sunday to wave around bristle board signs with sloppy slogans scrawled across in black sharpie.

During the initial confrontation a minor incident broke out that resulted in one ARA activist being arrested after a bonehead grabbed at a member of ARA. This police action was completely unwarranted and was a weak attempt to discourage those involved in the ARA demonstration. Our comrade was released from detention after we came together and arranged support for him.

Throughout the entirety of the parade, the fascists' signs were completely covered by ARA banners and flags, which was not exactly difficult considering that the homophobes were outnumbered by ARA 6 to 1. It did not take long for the members of the CHA and their supporters to become visibly frustrated and downright embarrassed that their day had been such an obviously miserable failure. On several occasions various boneheads found themselves completely alone and encircled by Rainbow banners, pro-Queer and ARA slogans as they scurried up and down the streets.

Towards the end of the parade the fascists called it quits after having several of their signs torn up, being publicly humiliated, and generally having a terrible Sunday out. They dispersed without incident, enjoying the police protection that they had greatly benefited from all day long.
No Homophobia! No Fascist Canada!
- SOUTHERN ONTARIO A.R.A.

CANADIAN ANARCHIST MOVEMENT-CALGARY:

CALGARY FASCIST THINKS HE'S TOUGHER THAN HE IS:

The following is from the One People's Project site, and it is descriptive of a recent event in the city of Calgary.

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CALGARY ANTIFA TO LOCAL ARYAN GUARD BONEHEAD: GOOD NIGHT!



They knocked him out. Cold. Willis is a bonehead out of Calgary, Alberta, Canada who is down with the Aryan Guard, and antifa did not want him recruiting in their town. And when he thought he can attack a group of young people who wanted to alert people to his activites, they put him to sleep. This has turned into a rather busy week for antifa all over the place, and it doesn't look like it is going to slow down at all. The Calgary chapter Anti-Racist Action held a meeting on how to start taking down the Calgary Aryan Guard meaning they are in it for the long haul. The summer has only just begun to heat up, y'all!

Calgary Anti-Racist Action
On Tuesday July 15th, 2008 in Calgary, the ARA sent a clear message to all neo-nazis and the Aryan Guard of Calgary. We will not tolerate a Nazi Gang in this town! Disappear!

Today, a Neo-Nazi gang member of the Aryan Guard was knocked out after he attacked a multi-racial group of youth, punching and spitting on them.

Members of the Anti-Racist-Action went to the Calgary skate park to hand out posters against racism. They warned youth in the Calgary skate park of a local White supremacist recruiter, Willis. Willis is an active member of the Aryan Guard and attends their protests. He would go to the Calgary Skate Park almost every day to recruit white skateboarding youth. He would also teach children as young as ten to fight, and give underage youth cigarettes to gain favor.

When ARA left the park Willis was seen giving a heil Hitler salute from the balcony of his apartment. He left the balcony and came down to attack the group of ARA members. The result of this attack, was that Willis was left unconscious on the ground.

ARA believes that the skate park belongs to all youth, not just Nazis and their sympathizers. We went to take it back and declare it a Nazi-free zone.

On Wednesday July 16th, the ARA held a panel discussion on the threat of the Aryan Guard organizing in our neighborhoods. The talk was free to everyone, and was held at the Arusha Public Center on 223 12th avenue SW at 7:00 pm. Let's show the Aryan Guard they are not welcome on our streets.

UKRAINE:

ANTI-FASCISM IN UKRAINE:

The growth of neo-fascism in the countries of the ex-Soviet Empire in recent years has been troubling. One might say that both the mendacity of Marxist rule and the kleptocracy of the transition to a "somewhat" free market contributed to this trend. In any case this cancerous growth hasn't gone upopposed. Here is a report from ukraine about a recent anti-fascist demonstration that gathered broad support from anarchists and otheres. The following has been edited for reasons of English grammar.

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Ukraine, antifa demo in Kiev, 9 may - Together against fascism.

On the 9th of May international antifascist demo took place in Kiev and finished laying flowers at the monument of the Unknown soldier.

---- Around 200 antifascists and people from African, Arab and Central Asian communities gathered in center of Kiev near the Arsenalna Metro . They wanted to honour the memory of the dead in the struggle against fascism. Also they wanted to attract the attention of society to the problem of a neo-nazism revival in Ukraine.

---- >Since the beginning of 2008 in Ukraine neonazis have made more attacks than during 2007, 2 people were killed. The victims of these attacks are not only foreigners but also everybody who does not agree with their racist theories, who don't want a fascist dictatorship to be established and are not scared to claim it out loud.

Antiracists spread out the banners "All different, all equal" and"Together against fascism" and started their demo. People with different colors of skin chanted "the color of skin is not important,together we say NO to fascism", "the world is colour, but not brown","our motherland is all humanity", "alerta, alerta, antifascista","internationality, solidarity", "nobody is forgotten, nothing is forgotten". Passersby supported the march and express their solidarity. The veterans were very much surprised . The antiracist leaflets were spread.Near the eternal flame a spontaneous rally took place. The members of communities and local activists had speeches. Different people took part in the action: leftists, anarchists, RASH and SHARP, punks, just conscientious youth and elders.It was the first such big, multinational, antifascist non-government demo in Ukraine.

Photos: http://s134.photobucket.com/albums/q107/chapeye/

Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qgZnQ9SETog

RUSSIAN FEDERATION:

DECLARATION OF THE ST. PETERSBURG ANTI-FASCIST RESISTANCE GROUP:

The following is the declaration of the Anti-Fascist Resistance of St. Petersburg in Russia about recent events in that city involving clashes between them and ultra right groups protesting the Kosovan declaration of independence. Molly has previously posted the statement of the International Secretariat of the AIT on this matter, and it should be noted that the Russian comrades agree with this statement. While Molly does not agree that the tactic of physical confrontation with fascists is always the best course to follow she will bow to the judgement of the Russian comrades in their own situation. As usual the following has been slightly edited for English grammar.

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Declaration of St. Petersburg Anti-Fascist Resistance Group

Declaration of St. Petersburg Anti-Fascist Resistance Group on attack on participants of a picket against Kosovo recognition

March, 7 at 16:00 several ultra right groups held a picket in St.Petersburg against Kosovo independence near the US consulate.

Some of the picket participants were attacked by antifascists after the picket. This fairly ordinary event led to a lot of public attention.Nationalists calling themselves patriots and Russian Orthodox believers started another hysteria in the media. In this connection we would like to make the following declaration to express our attitude to the event:

1.When the ultra-right Orthodox clericals come out into the streets (there were activists of RONS, RID, DPNI, Black Hundred and other on 7 March) and raised their flags they should remember that the time has passed when they could freely gather in the city. It is becoming dangerous to call for hatred and dominance of some groups of people over others. It is well known that the groups present at the picket support violence against their political opponents and those whom they consider their enemies. An attack on them can be regarded as self-defense of the most conscientious citizens of St.Petersburg.
2.It is irrelevant at what sort of events Nazi appear – legal or illegal, big scale or local - they spread the ideas of hatred, ethnic confrontation and xenophobia. It is not important whether they are silent on this particular day or they shout their slogans. If nationalists are in the streets we must fight back by any possible ways.
3.We believe that any idea can exist even an absurd one (as in case with ultra-right Orthodox). But it is one thing when people with such ideas gather in their headquarters and church parishes and it is a different thing when they come out into the streets and offend the people with their slogans, flags, handouts and ideas. Such gatherings are a dangerous hotbed of hatred and provoke hate related crime which is often committed by very young people manipulated by party activists who only make propaganda.
4.Ultra-right criticism of the existing Russian police regime seems illogical as at the same time they cooperate with it. In fact they constantly ask their enemies (or friends?) such as the police and the procurator office to defend them. But in fact this is not surprising – the police, the church and nationalists make up one block and are a tool which the regimes in all countries have always been using. The so called patriots use every possibility to present themselves as victims, to demonstrate how they are beaten and torched for just making a political presentation. But where does all this opposition spirit go when they cooperate with the investigation? Such people can only be scorned and despised.
5.We agree with the declaration on Kosovo which the Serbian anarcho-syndicalists made (http://www.ainfos.ca/ainfos07935.html).
6.Neo-Nazis shall have no place in our streets. We remember. We fight.
Anti-fascist Resistance of St. Petersburg

RUSSIAN FEDERATION:

COMMMEMORATING ALEKSEY KRYLOV IN MOSCOW:

As reported a few days ago here at Molly's Blog neo-Nazis in Moscow murdered a young man who was going to a punk concert in that city. here, from Avtonom, a Russian anarchist website, is the report of the commemoration of his death that was held yesterday in Moscow. The following has been slightly edited (mostly by adding articles as Russian, like other Slavic languages lacks such parts of speech).

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Commemorating Aleksey Krylov in Moscow

Date Thu, 20 Mar 2008 22:01:58 +0200
19th of March,

3 days after the murder of Aleksey Krylov on his way to a concert of Petrozhavodsk oi!-band Nichego Horoshego, anti-fascists of Moscow gathered to commemorate him. ---- Around 6 PM people began to gather at the murder place, Maroseyka street 4. They lit candles and laid fl lowers. Someone made graffiti "We will remember Kryl forever! Murdered by Nazis 16th of March 2008!". People had banner "Fascism won't trespass". All together there were some 50 people,and they gathered for half an hour but the police did not show up to disperse the illegal gathering. ---- As the original gathering place of Pushkinskaya square was leaked to the open internet 7 vans of police and small groups of Nazis were spotted there. It was decided that the action should be moved to another spot.

Marchers gathered in the Kropotkinskaya(Yes, there is a Metro Station in Moscow named after Kropotkin-Molly) Metro station, where the march started moving clockwise to the Gogol Boulevard. It was obvious that this was the biggest ever reaction against a concrete case of fascist violence in Moscow - more than 250 demonstrators joined, in a spectacular unity -there were punks, lgbt(?-Molly),anarchists, hardcore kids, skinheads and just anti-fascists. Maybe this does not seem a lot in a city of 10 million, but it hard to organise in a conspiratorial manner in the condition of a total ban of such demonstrations - it would have been impossible even to legalize a picket or a candlelight vigil in such a short timescale .

The marchers carried banners "Fascism is murdering, authorities are covering!" and "Your ignorance is our death!". A number of sea torches were lit. People scanned("screamed" I guess-Molly) "Get to the streets - reclaim the city!","Fascism won't trespass!", "We do not care about color of skin - we refuse fascism!", "Antifa!", "Alerta, alerta, antifascista!", "Our fatherland is all humanity!", "As long as we are united, we will never be divided!" and other slogans.

The march turned to the old Arbat, and finished at Smolenskaya Metro station.The police failed to make any arrests.

Video:

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-6398449211540731556&hl=en

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xmwD_B_n5uY

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4EJLBeJg2dI&feature=related

http://www.indyvideo.ru/video/2008/20080319m.mp4

Photos:

http://www.voinenet.ru/index.php?aid=15110

http://avtonom.org/index.php?nid=1655

(http://www.avtonom.org/index.php?nid=1660)

NOTHING LIKE "SPEED JUSTICE":

On March 21st, the International day Against Racism (an anniversary that Molly missed through her own fault) fascists from the NOP (Polish National Rebirth an arm of the "Third Positionists" who attempt to recruit anarchists for fascism gathered for a demonstration for a "white Poland" and against immigration in Wroclaw,Poland. Their demonstration of about 100 people was opposed by about 300 anarchists and anti-fascists. The response of the police was to ignore the fascists and surround the anarchists, eventually leading to the arrest of two people. One of these, who was on crutches (very easy to catch I guess-Molly) were charged with "assaulting an officer". Pretty pitiful "assault" in Molly's opinion. The comrades were tried within 24 hours and sentenced to 2 years probation and ordered to pay a fine of 150 zlotnyies to a fund for the widows of policemen. Human rights groups (not anarchist) on the scene were scandalized by the fact that the police ignored the fascists and concentrated on attacks on the anarchists, even though fascist demonstrations are theoretically outlawed in Poland. For more news on this and other matters Polish please consult our Links section, especially the http://cia.bzzz.net site recently added to our Links.

Molly

RUSSIA: SUPPORT ANARCHIST ANTI-FASCIST ARRESTED IN KRASNODAR:

From the Autonomous Action of Krasnodar:

In may of 2004, Vahtang Devitlidze, anarchist and member of the Federation of Revolutionary Anarchists, was hanging out in the centre of Krasnodar with two friends. They ran into a group of local Nazis, and soon a fight broke out. There was no choice- in order to defend himself, Vahtang had to pull a knife. As a result he wounded one of the attackers in the leg, while he was also hospitalized with less serious wounds himself. When the fight was over the police showed up and arrested people. Eventually in court Vahtang was given a probational sentence of 2.5 years for "causing grievous bodily harm" (Section 2 of Statute 111 of the Russian criminal code). He didn't feel like submitting to the probation regime and escaped to Belarus. But when visiting his family in Krasnodar he was arrested and sent to a low-security prison for the remainder of his sentence. He escaped from prison, but was caught again and heavily beaten. In the summer of 2006 the court sent Vahtang to a regular prison for the remainder of his sentence.

Anarchists in Krasnodar are raising money to support Vahtang in prison, as in Russia prisoner relatives and friends of prisoners have to feed them. In his letters Vahtang is in good spirits and doing his sentence without problems.

You can write to Vahtang at the following address, but bear in mind that he speaks no language other than Russian- so if you don't speak Russian send stuff like photos and drawings instead.

Vahtang Devitlidze

ul Libbedova 42, UO 68/2

otryad 14, brigada 142

g. Hagyshensk, Krasnodarskiy Kray

352680 Russia

MOLLY NOTES:

There has been a serious resurgence of fascism in Russia in recent years, given that years of Communism succeeded in destroying far too much of the normal human relations that would stand as a barrier to such atavism. The "proletarian internationalism" that the Communist authorities adopted as as means of indoctrination failed to survive the end of the dictatorship. This much could be expected as it was connected to a system of total lies that most of the population recognized as such. Today this "internationalism", inculcated by propaganda can hardly serve to contain racist sentiments towards people who used to be part of the Soviet Union.

To follow the Russian anarchists in their fight against fascism look to the Avtonom site. For non-anarchist news about Russian developments, including the rise of fascism in that country look to the Centre for Interethnic Cooperation and the Russia Blog.