Brutality of France’s police has precedent
This article was originally written for Harz Labour, a journal published by comrades involved in autonomous struggles in the West of France. It was published amid some of the largest anti-police protests of recent times against police impunity following the rape by baton of Théo, a 22-year-old social worker in the early part of the year. It was a moment of convergence between radical left groups and collectives of… Continue reading
Notes From the US
Louis Further’s monthly column for Freedom was written shortly before events in Charlottesville, where a white supremacist, allegedly Unite the Right supporter James Field, drove his car into a crowd of anti-fascists, killing one and injuring 19. The idea of driving cars through protesting crowds has become an increasingly popular fantasy in “alt-right” circles in recent years, and represents a major attempted escalation of far right violence in the… Continue reading
Hamburg mayor threatens radical sites as Berlin squat rallies against cop siege
Intense pressure is being put on German radical social centres in Hamburg and Berlin in the wake of last month’s G20 protests, with Hamburg’s mayor threatening Rote Flora and a round the clock siege of Teppichfabrik, which has prompted a solidarity rally in the capital today.
The gathering, in front of the squatted centre in Berlin’s Friedrichshain district, starts at 6pm (7pm GMT) will bring some relief… Continue reading
Argentina: Anarchist still missing after police raid against Mapuche activists
People were beaten, houses were burned, antique furniture burned, books were lost forever. Hurricane Gendarmerie went through the town of Cushamen last Monday causing devastation in the name of the Benetton fashion corporation, and one person is still missing — anarchist solidarity activist Santiago Maldonado.
Santiago, who lives in El Bolson, is more usually seen in Rio Library but has friends in Cushamen and had been… Continue reading
Greece: Karypidis supermarket worker commits suicide after 18 months without pay
The Thessaloniki Libertarian Initiative writes about the suicide of a worker in supermarket chain Karypidis, after 18 months in which the firm simply didn’t pay its staff salaries. A few days ago the initiative carried out a protest action outside one of the company’s supermarkets in Thessaloniki (above). This rally was the only collective reaction following the suicide-murder of the worker.
We will not become accustomed to death.… Continue reading
‘Fifth Act’ marks Chile insurrectionists’ embrace of Project Nemesis
At the end of last year one of Europe’s most infamous insurrectionist anarchist groups, Conspiracy Cells of Fire, announced it would be shifting tactics in its near-decade long campaign against the Greek State in a campaign it dubbed Project Nemesis. The group, which has claimed upwards of 300 attacks against “targets of domination” since it emerged in 2007-8, said it would be shifting away from symbolic targets of… Continue reading
France: The Intergalactic Week of Zad
The quiet, wildlife-filled countryside just outside Notre-Dame-des-Landes, north of Nantes has been a point of massive contention between various French governments and the country’s environmental direct action movement since 2008, when permission was granted to build a €580 million airport serving as “the international gateway” to Western France.
Squats and camps sprung up on fields due for the rumble of the bulldozer in the early 2010s, and it came… Continue reading
Greek anarchists hit out at Syriza crackdown and Irianna jailing
Last month a PhD student named only as “Irianna” by the press was jailed for 13 years for being a member of Greek insurrectionist group Conspiracy of Fire Cells. The case has caused uproar across the country as the 29-year-old language student, who says she has no connection to the group and is not an anarchist, was convicted on the basis of a single, partial fingerprint on… Continue reading
Notes from the US
Louis Further looks at wealth disparity, institutional racism and environmental issues in the Land of the Free for this month’s column
Freedom regularly picks up examples of inequality, of course. But a recent statistic is truly staggering. Credit Suisse Research, no less, published a report reflecting the way things stood in terms of income distribution in 2016. It found that those men (they are all men) in the five “lowest”… Continue reading
No TAV: A war for the Susa Valley’s soul
This month the campaign against high-speed railway line TAV kicked into life once again as construction work began on a project which has been been fought against for decades across Italy, France and Switzerland.
Italy’s government wants, whatever the cost, to impose the Turin-Lyon line line which critics say is useless, expensive, harmful to health and the territory. At stake is much more than a train. At stake… Continue reading
