Last year we hosted a fantastic meeting on social struggles in South Africa. This update came our way a while ago. The World Cup Final gives us an excuse to dig it out of the in-pile.
Below is an official report by researcher Malavika Vartak done for the Development Planning Unit of University College London. It focuses on Abahlali’s struggle for housing and the recent ANC attacks on Kennedy Road. (more…)
The wounds caused by the UK government’s use of anti-terrorist legislation to freeze Icelandic assets at the beginning of the credit crunch clearly went much deeper than 1st thought. Right to the very heart of the Eyjafjallajokull glacier in fact.
All flights out of Edinburgh airport are cancelled, meaning that the seafront at Cramond is free of aircraft noise for the first time in living memory. Bliss!
And it gets better! The Guardian reports that it’s causing massive disruption to politicians’ election campaigning here:
The cancellation of flights has now had a severe impact on election campaigning in Scotland, for Labour, the Lib Dems and the Tories, with all the main parties hurriedly trying to rearrange high profile visits from senior figures flying up from London.
After the Lib Dems confirmed that a visit by Treasury spokesman Vince Cable to Edinburgh and Dunfermline had been scrapped, the defence secretary Bob Ainsworth had to cancel a visit to Rosyth dockyard to campaign for Labour’s candidate and the Tories abandoned Ken Clarke’s trip to the Borders.[...]
The growing disruption is also likely to force the Lib Dems to cancel tomorrow’s plans to launch their Scottish general election manifesto in Shetland, the islands constituency of party leader Tavish Scott, who is also heavily dependent on air services.
What’s not to like? The eruption even targeted the Icelandic finance minister!
The Norwegian ambassador had to be rescued as our finance minister who had to be taken out by helicopter.
You could argue that anarchists are obsessed with the Spanish Revolution and the associated Civil War. You’d have a fair point but it was the closest that we came to a real workers’ revolution in the 20th century and it remains inspirational not only for the examples of collective organisation in Spain, but also for the grassroots international solidarity movement that supported it.
So no apologies for promoting this event tomorrow morning. Some of us from the local AFed group are likely to be there, come and say hi.
Dear all
Please join us for the second annual rededication of the memorial to those
who left Edinburgh and the Lothians to fight fascism in the Spanish Civil
War. This will take place on *Saturday, April 3rd, from 11am* at the
International Brigades memorial in Princes Street Gardens. We’re
encouraging people to bring flowers in the colours of the Spanish Republic:
red, yellow and purple.The reason for holding the ceremony in early April is to coincide with the
anniversary of the end of the conflict with the message that the struggle
against fascism continues now just as it did on the day the civil war
ended.
Naomi Klein’s The Shock Doctrine is shaping up to be a key text for making sense of the 21st century. This excerpt from the book may be prophetic. The positive thing is that knowing what’s going on can be part of preventing it – protests have led to £100M from the IMF being converted into a grant instead of a loan.
In terms of what’s going on on the ground, there’s some pointed criticism of the behaviour of some journalists, consciously or otherwise desperate for footage of a “savage” black mob “looting”. Former Radio 1 DJ Andy Kershaw (white) has been to the island plenty times and calls out, among others, the BBC’s Matt Frei:
Over the weekend we saw him anticipating an outbreak of unrest, standing before a crowd of thousands of hungry, humiliated Haitians as they waited, patiently and quietly, to be given rations by UN soldiers. Their dignity and stoicism seemed to escape Frei who was, in any case, looking away from them while ranting about the inevitability of looming bloodshed – conspicuously unlikely, judging from the evidence of his own report.
And:
This self-imposed blockade by bureaucracy is a scandal but could be easily overcome. The NGOs and the military should recognise the hysteria over “security” for what it is and make use of Haiti’s best resource and its most efficient distribution network: the Haitians themselves. Stop treating them as children. Or worse. Hand over to them immediately what they need at the airport. They will find the means to collect it. Fill up their trucks and cars with free fuel. Any further restriction on, and control of, the supply of aid is not only patronising but it is in that control and restriction where any “security issues” will really lurk. And it is the Haitians who best know where the aid is needed.
I’ll leave the last word to (some of) the Haitians themselves. Batay Ouvriye (it means Workers’ Struggle) have put out a message indicating just how big a struggle they face to rebuild. Give them some money.
CALL FOR SOLIDARITY AFTER THE EARTHQUAKE
12 JANUARY 2010 IN HAITI
On January 12th, 2010, an earthquake hit us, we, the Haitian people, terribly.
Besides the public buildings, for sure, it was the popular neighborhoods that were most destroyed. No surprise there, since they are the most fragile, the most unstable structures; they are the ones who never received any services, nor consolidation, nothing; quite the opposite, the ruling classes were always set on getting us out, displacing us, which is why we were never able to even try to consolidate ourselves by our own means.
As some capitalists try to force the workers to return to work in factories that are still damaged; while the store owners clutch their merchandises, not to speak of those who’ve decided to sell at exorbitant prices; while the state is showing (again) its complete nonexistence, a characteristic incapacity and incompetence (all they know is stealing, corruption and serving the big landowners, the bourgeois and the multinationals); while the “protect and serve” police force never showed up to assist the population faced with the gangs (which is normal, since all they know is repression); while the imperialist forces are taking advantage of the help they’re giving to establish a protectorate they hope to be definitive… the workers and working class, the popular masses in general are undergoing a catastrophic situation in which they are left alone and helpless.
Some press agencies developed their progressive aspect in allowing for a minimum of coordination in the field, some individuals helped in this too, consistent popular organizations are working without respite to do all they can, but: there are no means! Truly, beyond having utterly massacred us, the earthquake was completely beyond us.
As much as we can, we refuse to go through the dominant circuit. But the situation is beyond belief! That is why, today, we’re launching a SOLIDARITY APPEAL, to all workers, working class, all consequential progressives all over the world, to help us try to emerge from this terrible moment we are in.
According to the inventory we have made up to now, here are our most immediate needs:
Destroyed homes US $ 50,000.00
Destroyed belongings 20,000.00
Hurt, crippled 10,000,00
Daily existence 30,000.00
Dealing with deaths 10,000.00Total US $ 120,000.00
We need to add 40% to this calculation because the various prices keep skyrocketing and will continue to do so. So, the real TOTAL of this section is about: $US 170,000.00.
Furthermore, there are the various contacts we had begun to develop in the struggle for the 200 gourdes salary adjustment. They are many and in various neighborhoods. We have to help them too, in our own way, but actively. This demands an additional accounting, to be added to the first one. Also, in the areas where our militants and members live or function, several community actions are taking place. We’re active amongst them. To impulse our energy amongst them, to mark the necessary orientation. Immediately, too, we have to take the initiative to launch our own actions, in the context of the reconstruction, in which we can’t just accept that it’s the dominant classes who are giving it the form they want it to take. All this requires funds.
Taking into account all these forms of action and solidarity, we can say the grand total we need presently, for this first period, is roughly: US$ 300,000.00.
This is the necessary to help us survive, to help many workers hold on and resolve in the the minimum of their own lives, and, too, to mark a political direction in the struggle for our lives presently, so as to be able to develop more force in the face of the next catastrophe facing us: that which the imperialists, the dominant classes and their reactionary state are preparing.
We thank in advance all contributors. These times demand such forms of SOLIDARITY, which should all direct towards bridging together, an advance in our shared battles.
For those who wish to send help in kind (medicine, clothes, food, sheets, chairs…), the address is that of our central base: Batay Ouvriye, Delmas 16, #13 bis, Port-au-Prince.
For those who can send cash, our account information is as follows:
Bank Name: City National Bank of New Jersey
Bank Address: 900 Broad Street, Newark, NJ 07102
ABA Number: 0212-0163-9 City of NJ Newark
For further credit to:
Account Number: 01 000 9845
Account Name: Batay Ouvriye
Account Address: Ave. Jean Paul II, # 7
Certainly, we will inform publicly all contributors (individuals and organizations) of that which was received at all times and the use of these funds.BATAY OUVRIYE
Port-au-Prince, January 20th 2010
Want to do something for the victims of the Haiti earthquake but worried that your money might get used on 4x4s to escort journalists around Port-au-Prince?
A group in Miami is organising fundraising on behalf of Batay Ourviye, one of few groups to have fought for and won union recognition in Haiti’s “free trade zones”.
Here’s the link: http://tinyurl.com/BatayOurviye
And here’s what they say:
A natural disaster has descended upon Haiti whose scope we only are seeing the surface of at this time.
Right now we can have the deepest impact by committing ourselves to act in solidarity with the autonomous social movements of Haiti directly. They present the best possible option for the Haitian people, and are in the greatest need.
Our act of solidarity should, in no shape or form, be solely an act of humanitarian aid. It should not be an apolitical act, and we shouldn’t give the green light to those that wish to capitalize on the suffering of others. Click here for a statement on solidarity with the Haitian people.
Support Solidarity and Grassroots Relief
Give now to Batay Ourviye. Your money will go to directly support workers impacted by the earthquake by providing food, water, and health care. Your dontaion will also support the purchasing of minutes on cell phones so survivors can contact loved ones, and coordinate a grassroots relief effort.
Batay Ourviye – a grassroots Haitian Organization
As a movement, Batay Ouvriye strives to organize workers, peasants, working people in general, and the oppressed masses in general around their specific demands, in an autonomous and democratic manner. Click here for more information about Batay Ourviye.Miami Workers Center is supporting Batay Ourviye by facilitating online and credit card donations.
Apparently last week’s fundraising gig was a massive success. Bannermans was hoaching, the walls were dripping with sweat and every single raffle ticket was sold (when has that ever happened?). A quick count says that the night raised nearly £1000 to be split between ACE and solidarity funds for the autonomous Zapatista communities of Southern Mexico (read about the clinic they built here).
Grassroots fundraising, making a difference without subjecting you to washed-comedians with expense accounts bigger than your monthly pay packet. Why not set up a Standing Order to these groups and get the warm fuzzy feeling every month:
