Ultras Ahlawy - A.C.A.B

At least 73 people have been killed during a match between Egypt’s bitter footballing rivals Al Ahly from Cairo and Al Masry in Port Said. Most of those who died were young supporters and hundreds more were injured in what is Egypt’s worst footballing tragedy.

Supporters from rival factions fought on the pitch as the security forces, who usually maintain a high visible presence at Al Ahly matches, stood back and allowed the carnage to ensue. Many believe this was an orchestrated move by the police to ‘get back’ at the militant Al Ahly fans, known as Ultras Ahlawy, because of the decisive and uncompromising role they played in the recent uprising. In the Tahrir square occupations Ultras Ahlawy confronted the security forces and fought successfully against the police to defend the occupation. They are also vocal in their continued support of the revolution, criticising the corrupt leaders and military regime.

Fans of the home team Al Masry were allowed to flood onto the pitch at the end of the match played on Wednesday 1st Feb, where they began attacking the players and opposing fans. It is also understood gates were deliberately left unlocked by the security forces to allow Al Masry fans access to the Al Ahly supporters. The Al Masry Ultras Green Eagles have subsequently issued a statement distancing themselves from the attacks on rival fans, raising further concerns that the incident had little to do with football rivalry. The Egyptian Football Association, which has strong links with the military leadership, has suspended indefinitely Egypt’s Premiere League in response to incident.

From stadium culture to social movement
The ‘ultras’ of football clubs in Cairo were at the forefront of the mobilisations late last year to prevent Tahrir Square once again being overrun by police during anti-government demonstrations. When people re-occupied the Square in November in renewed protests against the military rulers, football fans responded to the attacks by security forces by forming human barricades and often fought pitched battles with police to preserve the autonomy of the occupation that saw 33 people killed by the authorities during the unrest.

As one sports writer noted at the time: “The involvement of organised soccer fans in Egypt’s anti-government protests constitutes every Arab government’s worst nightmare. Soccer, alongside Islam, offers a rare platform in the Middle East, a region populated by authoritarian regimes that control all public spaces, for the venting of pent-up anger and frustration.”

Abu Ala, one of the founding members of the Ultras Ahlawy (UA07) the supporters of Al Ahly explained their actions: “We don’t usually get involved in politics – we had never done so before last January. Our clashes with police were limited to inside the stadium. But the revolution was an exceptional moment, and we couldn’t just stand aside and watch”.

And it was this response that saw the city’s football fans unite against the police in Tahrir Square. “We organized ourselves over the phone and by email. When we got to the square, we didn’t have a specific strategy. We just faced off with the police like we’re used to doing in stadiums”. They also changed their familiar chant of ‘Government, beware! We’re angry tonight! Ahly supporters will set the house on fire! to ‘Egyptian people will set the house on fire’ which acted as both a rallying cry and catalyst for those occupying the square.

UA07 and rivals Ultras White Knights (UWK) who support Zamalek, were both formed in 2007 with the express intent to bring the largely European ‘ultras’ phenomenon to Egypt. It should be noted ultras are not necessarily hooligans but are a committed part of the terrace culture, fanatical in their support of the club which includes displaying massive banners and flags, continuous chanting usually with drums and setting off flares during games.

Since November the battle lines between militant fans and the country’s rulers have hardened. When the football’s governing body EFA, under instruction from the interior ministry, tried to ban supporters and their ‘ultra’ activity from the terraces the UA07 responded with an overtly political statement: “The issue is bigger than football. We want to settle the score with remnants of the former regime and their oppression of Egyptian youth.”

UWK issued an equally provocative statement: “We suffered a lot from injustice and repression in the past, but we stood up to that with pride. We thought justice and freedom would come after our revolution. We will continue in our defence of freedom even with our blood”

Only time will tell what impact the Ultras continued politicisation will have on the future of Egypt.

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Meanwhile, the local opposition group, Local Coordination Committees of Syria (LCCS) is moving away from mere demonstrations and street vigils. In a bid to put pressure on the economy, the LCCS and other activists called for a general and indefinite strike on December 11 across many cities. Despite threats of reprisals and arson from government forces, most shops and schools have been kept closed, except those trading essential goods.

However, as indicated earlier, the more strategic pressures on the Assad government are coming from outside, with the EU, the US, Turkey and the Arab League imposing economic sanctions on Syria. However, Russia, China, Iran, the Hezbollah in Lebanon and Hamas in Palestine are backing Assad because of their own geostrategic interests. The US at the moment seems to be involved in a two-pronged assault to consolidate its position in the middle-east, aggravating conflict with Iran on the one hand and cornering Syria on the other. Many Muslim and Arabic groups in and around Syria see the Syria-Iran partnership as the last bulwark against an expanding US hegemony.

Another problem that is causing some anxiety is sectarian strife. Opposition says that President Bashar al-Assad of the ruling minority Alawite sect is deliberately fanning divisions with the majority Sunni Syrians in an attempt to undermine the uprising. Many regional elites, including Iraqi Prime Minister, Nuri al-Maliki, are concerned that these conflicts will spill over into their borders, and are therefore opposing punitive measures against the regime.

Meanwhile, business communities within Syria, Lebanon, Jordan and Turkey are anxious to see the conflict resolved because Syria is the main trading route between themselves, Turkey and the Gulf region. Transportation costs have risen lately and oil companies, including Shell, are moving out due to the sanctions.

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What really happened at Occupy Oakland on Saturday January 28
A firsthand account

For the internet, here’s a first-hand account of Occupy Oakland on 1/28/2012, because the news never tells the full story. I’ll tell you about the street battle, the 300+ arrests, the vandalism, the flag burning, all in the context of my experience today. This is deeper than the headlines. No major news source can do that for you.

The stated goal for the day was to “move-in” to a large, abandoned, building to turn it into a social and political center. It is a long vacant convention center – the only people ever near there are the homeless who use the space outside the building as a bed. The building occupation also draws attention to the large number of abandoned and unused buildings in Oakland.

The day started with a rally and a march to the proposed building. The police knew which building was the target, surrounded it, and used highly mobile units to try and divert the protest. After avoiding police lines, the group made it to one side of the building. Now, this is a very large building, and we were on a road with construction fences on both sides, and a large ditch separating us from the cops. The police fired smoke grenades into the crowd as the group neared a small path around the ditch, towards the building. They declared an unlawful assembly, and this is when the crowd broke down the construction fence. A few people broke fences to escape the situation, others because they were pissed. A couple more fences were taken down then necessary, but no valuable equipment was destroyed. They only things broken were fences.

The crowd decided to continue moving, and walked up the block to a more regular street. We decided to turn left up the street, and a police line formed to stop the march. They again declared an unlawful assembly. The protesters challenged the line, marching towards the police with our own shields in front. The shields, some small and black and a few large metal sheets. The police fired tear-gas as the group approached, and shot less-than-lethal rounds at the crowd. The protesters returned one volley of firecrackers, small projectiles, and funny things like balloons. A very weak attack, 3 officers may have been hit by something but none of them got injured. Tear gas forced many people back. The protesters quickly regrouped, and pressed the line again. This time the police opened fire with flash-grenades, tear gas, paint-filled beanbag shotguns, and rubber bullets.

After the police fired heavily on the protesters, they pushed their line forward and made a few arrests. The protesters regrouped down the block and began to march the other way (followed by police), back to Oscar Grant Plaza.

All of this occurred during the day, but it was that street battle that set the tone for the police response later in the evening. After taking a break in Oscar Grant Plaza, feeding everyone and resting, the group headed out for their evening march. Around 5pm, the group took to the street at 14th and Broadway and began a First-amendment sanctioned march around the city. The police response was very aggressive.

About 15 minutes into the march, the police attempted to kettle the protesters. This march was entirely non-violent; nobody threw shit at the cops and an unlawful assembly was never declared. . This is a very important detail. The march was 1000+ strong, conservatively. The police were very mobile, using 25+ rented 10seater vans to bring the ‘troops’ to the march.

For their first attempt at a kettle, the cops charged the group with police lines from the front and back. They ran towards us aggressively. Us being 1000+ peaceful marching protesters. The group was forced to move up a side street. The police moved quickly to surround the entire area; they formed a line on every street that the side street connected to. Police state status: very efficient. They kettled almost the entire protest in the park near the Fox theater. AFTERWARDS, as in after they surrounded everyone, they declared it to be an unlawful assembly BUT OFFERED NO EXIT ROUTE. Gas was used, could of been tear or smoke gas.

The crowd then broke down a fence that was on one side of the kettle, and 1000 people ran across a field escaping a police kettle and embarrassing the entire police force. It was literally a massive jailbreak from a kettle. The group re-took
Telegraph ave. and left the police way behind.

At this point, I was on edge because I knew the police were not fucking around tonight. Because of the incident earlier in the day, I realized they were effectively treating the peaceful march as a riot. There was not rioting, or intentions to riot, just dancing, optimism, hope, and walking. But clearly the police thought differently, and I knew they would try to trap us again without warning. From the moment I saw riot police running towards are march from both directions, I knew the constitution would not apply in Oakland tonight. The police made that very clear. My friends thought differently, thinking that they would not be arrested for marching. They are currently in jail.

The second, and successful, kettle occurred as the protest was headed back up Broadway, at Broadway and 24th. Again, the police appeared quickly in front of the crowd, as well as a line behind the crowd. This time there was no side street. A few people attempted to escape into the YMCA; some mis-infonformed news reports claim that the YMCA got ‘occupied’. Around 300 people were trapped, mostly young people. At this point I had fallen behind the line of riot police in back of the crowd, and when the kettle was sprung I was on the other side of the police line. I have a policy of avoiding arrest, but I feel like I’ve been striped of some dignity. I’ve seen some shit go down in oaktown, but I’ve always avoided arrest because it was easy. Most mass arrests occur when people choose to break the law (like occupying Bank of America in downtown SF and pitching a tent to send a statement to UC Regent Monica Lozano on BofA’s board – respect). At ‘unlawfully assemblies’, people are usually extracted by a quick attack of 5+ cops, and their often ‘targets’ (previously-identified and profiled protesters). If the crowd is too large, they use tear-gas.

Tonight was different. When I fell behind the group, I knew they were going to arrest a very large number of peaceful protesters without declaring an unlawful assembly at the location. And then they did. I thought this shit was reserved for G20′s and WTO meetings. I felt shame for being intimidated away from my rights. ‘Unlawful assemblies’ feel like a boot stomp on the first amendment, but this was like them wiping their ass with the constitution and force feeding it to me.

300+ were arrested, corralled below the YMCA @ 23rd and Broadway. The only announcement that was made was one I’ve never heard before:

“You are under arrest. Submit to your arrest.”

The 300 protesters were then arrested, one by one. They were ziptied and sat in rows while they waited to be processed. OPD set up an entire processing station behind police lines, where they searched and identified every protester. They were slowly loaded onto buses, including local public AC transit buses. This took about 4 or 5 hours.

Outside the police lines, things were still happening. A group that escaped the trap decided to head back to Oscar Grant Plaza. I do not know how, but they opened the front door to city hall and occupied the building. Opened, as in no window smashing. The move was not meant to be an occupation but more of a show of solidarity to the 300 arrested protesters down the street. When all the people being arrested heard the news, they let out a big cheer…

..At this point I ran to Oscar Grant Plaza. When I arrived there were only 8 riot cops guarding the open front door, but more arrived very quickly. No one was inside the building anymore, but many had gathered in the Plaza. Someone burned an American Flag in front of city hall. I’ve seen the same guy do it before; frankly he’s weird and it’s kind of his thing.

One thing to note is the police arrested to wrong part of the protest. Most people arrested were young peaceful types. Aggressive protesters, and anyone with a record, are usually very good at avoiding arrest. Point being, back at the plaza opportunists began their work. I saw some young ‘jugalos’ spray-painting a wall with “jugalos for life” shit and then take photos next to it. They were just young and stupid kids; some good protesters cleaned it up later in the night. Some CBS and FOX news crews forced to leave the scene, with people spanking their van. They had already gotten the footage of someone burning an American Flag in front of city hall, so their work was done. The crowd was angry about what happened, and milling around the plaza and downtown area. At one point, the first of the 9 busloads of protesters drove past 14th and Broadway. People cheered for the ones inside, and chased it down, slamming on the sides of the bus. None of the other buses came past the plaza. There is about 30 police in the immediate area, 20 in front of city hall and 10 near 14th and broadway. Clearly they were stretched thin, and did not expect the city hall incident. Mutual aid been called it; I saw cops from Oakland, Alameda County Sheriff, Pleasanton, and Berkeley.

I walked back down to the 300 arrests in progress to try and get some information or spot my friends, but all I could do was wait and watch from behind the police line. My phone died. Not much happened, a lot of waiting and talking with people who also had friends on the other side. People included one French women who talked about how in France this would never be tolerated, and a teacher of one of Oakland’s 10 schools being closed who was out on his birthday ‘for the kids’. Eventually, I decided I needed to charge my phone, get on the internet, and figure out where and when my friends will be released. Siting down on BART was great after a long day of walking.

I got home and viewed OakfoSho and PunkboyinSf on Ustream to stay posted. OakFoSho filmed the entire arrest from above, I was able to look for my friends from his stream. All props to that guy. I saw that with the new development at Oscar Grant Plaza, they had to call in mutual aid from San Francisco, Marin, and San Mateo. They declared the 14th and Broadway an unlawful assembly and slowly dispersed the dwindling crowd. No tear gas this time!

Now that this incident is on-record, I’m gonna get a little sleep, then go pick up my friends from jail.

If you only remember one detail be it this: Tonight’s mass arrest occurred without a dispersal order. No law was broken. The only order given was: “You are under arrest. Submit to your arrest.” 300 peaceful protesters walking down a street were trapped and arrested unlawfully.

A note about police militarization: I saw some big guns and scary gear tonight. Alameda County Sheriff seems to have an endless budget for that shit. But tonight I saw something much scarier, that I’ve never seen before. First, I saw that the police have a printed profile books of protesters. I saw a cop flipping through pictures with descriptions, talking about who on their list they’ve seen today. When resting in Oscar Grant Plaza, a cop was filming the plaza from a rooftop in an adjacent building. They’re always filming, some have cameras on their bodies now, but this was clear spying and sophisticated intelligence gathering and analysis. Second, a very large tank on wheels, with a water cannon on top, rolled on scene. Someone said it was called a “grizzly”, but I can’t find a photo anywhere. help? It was massive, and I stood right next to it before they brought it behind police lines. It was a hardcore, modern urban tank. The police are funded and prepared to use a water cannon on protesters, if need be. Know that.

The thing about Occupy, and especially Occupy Oakland, is it refuses to exclude. We are the 99%, and we mean it. The homeless and disenfranchised were welcome in the camp from day 1. The crime rate in Downtown Oakland went down, and some people finally had a safe place to sleep. Idealistic youth, google techies, students, teachers, parents, children, poor, homeless, workers, all coming together. It rekindled hope for a lot of people. Occupy changed the conversation. The idea is more important than any one protest. An idea cannot be stopped. It is no longer about occupations; instead, it’s about bringing people together. The 99%, all with their own problems and concerns, have brought their collective attention to the root of the forces preventing them from making a better world.

A lot of the people arrested today were my peers…a lot of young people and students. For us, the occupy movement can’t be diminished or co-opted…it’s bigger than occupy. I will seek the changes I marched for tonight until I win or die. It is the task of my generation, worldwide, to return power to the people. Governments around the world are quickly realizing that our generation will not back down. This is bigger than ‘occupy’, this is bigger than one country, one problem, or one protest. The people want their world back. We are fighting for our future, and we are winning.

Edit: Forgot to add this context – The Oakland PD will soon be taken over by the Feds because of their poor conduct and inability to change: http://www.baycitizen.org/policing/story/judge-strips-power-oakland-police/

Original: http://networkedblogs.com/tiQ7f

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Occupy

At the end of November New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg boasted to an audience at MIT that the NYPD (New York City Police Department) infamous for its attempted removal of the original OWS camp was his ‘own personal army’… “I have my own army in the NYPD, which is the seventh biggest army in the world.”

At the end of the month, Occupy Wall Street protesters joined with a group of South Korean activists outside the South Korean mission in New York to rally against the so-called free trade deal between the two countries. South Korean organiser Kim Dong-Kyun said, “The FTA is a trade agreement that benefits the one percent of Korea and the U.S., therefore it will bring pain to the 99 percent of America and the 99 percent of Korea. That is why we are doing this with the Occupy Wall Street people from both countries.”

Students at the University of California, Davis, and other campuses called a general strike In December to protest tuition rises and the brutal misuse of pepper spray in a peaceful protest last month.

• Economy

In November Jefferson County (Alabama) filed the biggest municipal bankruptcy in US history. After failing to refinance its debt of nearly US$4 (£2.6) billion, it becomes the most recent of a trail of other communities unable to continue to operate financially. Ironically, Jefferson County reached its present critical financial position after scheming with Wall Street investors to finance the rebuilding of a broken sewer system using interest rate swaps with JPMorgan.

At the very end of November the governor of the state of Michigan, Rick Snyder, authorised a takeover of the city of Flint by staff whom he picked; he cited a financial emergency. THis makes Flint the fifth Michigan municipality to come under state-appointed management. Former Flint mayor Michael Brown is now the city’s new financial manager.

• Racism

The ‘case’ for war against Iran is slowly but surely being made by the US state. Believing they have a right to go anywhere and do anything to advance the privilege and the power of the North American élite, its figurehead, Obama, was clear when he said in mid-November: “The sanctions have enormous bite and enormous scope. And we’re building off the platform that has already been established. The question is, are there additional measures that we can take? And we’re going to explore every avenue to see if we can solve this issue diplomatically. I have said repeatedly, and I will say it today: We are not taking any options off the table.”

Also in the Middle East, a US Army sergeant, Calvin Gibbs, was convicted in November of leading the ‘kill team’ in Afghanistan which murdered civilians keeping their body parts for sport. Yet, Gibbs avoided an automatic life sentence; he will be eligible for parole after eight years.

In late November Latino voters in Arizona recalled (removed from office by vote) one of those responsible for that state’s anti-immigration law, Russell Pearce. He’s the first Arizona state senator ever to lose power this way and must step down immediately. Pearce’s Senate Bill 1070 requires police to investigate the immigration status of people they have lawfully detained.

Nationally, vile and vindictive proposals along not altogether dissimilar lines are afoot: Even though it may not pass both houses, and Obama has promised to veto it, provisions in the Pentagon spending bill (the National Defense Authorization Act) would expand drastically the government and military’s powers to detain those with opinions different from the state’s own indefinitely. For instance, the military could jail anyone whom it considers a ‘terrorism suspect’ (not someone convicted, but suspected, note) – anywhere in the world. And without charge or trial.

The intention is to extend the definition of what the military regards as its ‘battlefield’ – to any and every country in the world, including inside the United States. Daphne Eviatar of Human Rights First comments, “In this case, we’ve seen the administration very eagerly hold people without trial for 10-plus years in military detention, so there’s no reason to believe they would not continue to do that here. So we’re talking about indefinite military detention of U.S. citizens, of lawful U.S. residents, as well as of people abroad.”

Louis Further

References:
Human Rights First: www.humanrightsfirst.org

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Leaflets from the residents read “A physical presence there is crucial at this time. The campaign of legal moves is very important, but the physical presence there is crucial at this time. Eviction can happen at any time. Tomorrow we want as many leaders and activists in this activity. We call on all organizations and movements to go out tomorrow to the city of San Jose Campos and collaborate in this act of resistance at Pinheirinho. This is our fight. 100% Pinheirinho!”

The Military Police Command is preparing a mega-operation with the riot police to comply with a court repossession. Favela Pinheirinho, one of the largest in the state of São Paulo, located in Sao Jose dos Campos. About 9,000 residents in danger of losing their homes are willing to resist any attempt to move out.

The repossession order was signed by Judge Marcia Loureiro, the 6th. Civil Court of Sao Jose dos Campos, in the midst of settlement negotiations already initiated by federal, state and municipal levels. There is a disagreement between the spheres of government in the hands of the Municipality of Sao Jose dos Campos, who refuses to sign the Occupation Program. The eviction would be the be the first step in the regularisation of the area.

The federal government has said it is willing to negotiate a settlement, but depends on the action of the City to amend the zoning of the area for Special Zone of Social Interest and prepare an urban project for the Occupation. It also depends on the judge Marcia Loureiro suspend the order of reinstatement.

Occupation leaders say that if the military police invade the Occupation, there will be strong resistance and serious risk of confrontation. Last week, residents came to occupy the Presidente Dutra Highway in protest against the threat of eviction. This week, the protest was in front of City Hall. Residents chained themselves to the fence of City Hall and there was confrontation with the Home Guard, who used batons to quell the demonstration.

Given the situation, residents are preparing for resistance, forming barricades and arming themselves with pieces of wood to defend the raid.

“If the military police to invade the area, the country runs the risk of witnessing a great tragedy, repeating stories like Carajas in 1996 and Occupation Real Dream in Goiânia in 2005, when dozens of people died in conflict with the police. ” The residents of Pinheirinho will not leave their homes and are willing to fight.

Pinheirinho was occupied eight years ago and belongs to the estate of Selecta S / A, owned by financial speculator Naji Nahas. Before being occupied, it was a land that was abandoned for 30 years, with over 1 million square meters. The estate of Selecta has a debt of more than $ 15 million in taxes to the municipality of Sao Jose dos Campos.

Original background information: http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2012/01/491213.html

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[Article from Daily News Egypt newspaper, reprinted in full

By   Hanan Solayman /Special to Daily News Egypt
CAIRO: They do not believe in governments, they boycotted the elections, they demand “direct democracy” and they’re associated with chaos and have been targeted by the military and some Islamists.

Egypt’s anarchists are anticipating a crackdown before the first anniversary of the January 25 uprising. They are perceived as seeking chaos; villains who want to bring down the state, defy authority and spread lawlessness.

The word ‘anarchy’ in Greek means “no authority.” Anarchists’ central belief is that “no man is good enough to be another man’s master,” and that “good people do not need laws to tell them to act responsibly, while bad people will find a way around the laws.”

Anarchy became the new bogeyman — a place once reserved to the Muslim Brotherhood under the Mubarak regime. Many believe that this ideology is dangerous to Egypt.

“Egypt, the homeland, is not the same as the system or the state or the government. The people called for the overthrow of the regime and this means to bring the current system or the state down, as it happened before with the Abbasids, Ayyubids, Ottomans and others whose state was overthrown, but Egypt was not harmed,” said self-proclaimed anarchist Yasser Abdel Kawy, an artist, photographer and graphic designer.

The state, according to Abdel Kawy, is a means to practice authority which is why it needs to be replaced with a self-governed society. “I have no fear or worries about what may happen to Egypt if the state is gone. We don’t have this sharp division or difference when it comes to ethnicity or religion,” he added.

Global movement
Egyptian anarchists established their first entity, the Libertarian Socialist Movement (LSM), in May amidst a global revolutionary wave that included tens of activists all calling for direct democracy as opposed to parliamentary democracy.

In direct democracy, decision-making comes from the people directly without mediators like members of parliament.

Similar protests and occupy movements known as “Take the Street” evolved in different parts of the world like the United States, Spain and Italy.

“It is true that much of the ‘Occupy’ movement can be traced to Anarchist ideals. This can’t be explained by anarchist propaganda but more by the failure of the current system of capitalism and parliamentary democracy,” said architect Tamer Mowafy, who describes himself as an anarchist.

People feel vulnerable to the incisive attacks on their standards of living and no longer believe that politicians will help them, Mowafy said.

Leftist parties and the democrats in the US proved themselves useless. On the other hand, traditional Marxist alternatives have been discredited beyond reclamation after 1989, he said.

“It is evident that people taking part in the ‘Occupy’ movements almost spontaneously embrace anarchist principles. The movement is leaderless, all decisions are made within a general assembly, and instead of majority rule consensus is always sought,” he added.

“Anarchism means struggling against the authority of the state and capitalism; that’s why if you’re not a leftist, you can’t be anarchist,” said Yasser Abdullah, a freelance translator. Anarchism is a socio-political movement that mobilizes society without seeking power, he added.

Horizontal authority
Instead of vertical authority, anarchists call for horizontal cooperatives organized “by the people, for the people”. Supporting multi-independent syndicates is one of their goals. They support the idea of workers taking over factories and companies which will be self-managed by elected workers committees.

Abdullah gave the example of the Ultras, Egypt’s organized football fans. These groups are horizontal networking movements with grassroots support. They are leaderless and have joined the revolutionaries in the common fight against police brutality, and so they share common ground with anarchists.

Abdullah belonged to a communist entity before embracing anarchism. His father, he recalled, “was one of the workers who made the real wealth of Egypt for 42 years until retirement, but never tasted it.”

The fear of anarchism, Abdullah explained, stems from the “fear republic we live in.”

Egyptians have been practicing various brands of anarchism not related to politics unknowingly, the most popular example of which are the monthly co-ops, a communal money saving system which is entirely managed by the individuals in the group, replacing banks.

“In the past, people governed themselves when there was no government. However, we do not mean that we’ll restore the tribal system or go back to pre-modern times, but we seek more developed forms of ruling based on cooperatives, volunteerism and no central authority,” Abdullah said.

Even in times of natural disaster like earthquakes, he said, people self-organize and divide tasks between them.

There are no holy texts or models to follow in applying anarchism. It is open to new ideas and is tailored to the needs of diverse societies.

“In some areas, an anarchist model would include some centralized authorities when it comes to foreign representation and the military,” Abdullah said. “As long as there are foreign threats, the army can be kept as it is … as an institution.”

There’s no defined vision for how the society would look like. Yet, there are some basics like having no authority but voluntary cooperatives, syndicates and a general assembly that comprises of all citizens to ensure the maximum level of rights and freedoms in a society where all people are equal.

It also works for a fair distribution of wealth from a leftist point of view. Not a single group of people would who have the upper hand in the society, whether businessmen, politicians or members of parliament.

Laws are what people decide according to the norms and traditions, but each case would have a different ruling based on the circumstances.

“The ideology is ideal and unpopular in Egypt. It seeks a utopian society where there are no social class differences and no authoritarian state as in the police or the army, which is difficult to achieve”, said Dr. Mostafa Kamel El-Sayed, leftist political science professor at the American University in Cairo. Only small communities around the world find their inspiration in anarchism, but historically, it’s hard for people to live outside the context of the state, he believes.

“They are not dangerous, however. They do not pose a security threat. Bringing the state down doesn’t mean using violence against some people in particular. This is the leftists’ rhetoric and it should be clearly understood to the society,” he added.

A decade ago, Dr. Heba Raouf Ezzat, political science professor at Cairo University, wrote an article titled, “Anarchism: The philosophy that translation was unfair to”. The Islamist academic explained how anarchism’s accurate translation is more close to “state-less society” rather than “chaos”.

“As the national state finds itself in a growing crisis amid globalization, anarchic ideas on how to manage a society without a state gains attention if developed more,” Raouf wrote. Recent developments like global networking, rise of the civil society and growing democracy in a way that fosters localities have common ground with anarchism according to Raouf.

Worldwide Utopia
For Mowafy, Anarchism is an international movement that seeks a unified self-governed humanity. At this final stage no armies are needed.

“However, within the current context, nobody in his right mind can ask for the army to be dissolved,” he noted. The army, like any other national institution, should be under the control of elected civilians and its budget revised by people’s representatives to protect national security, he added.

Viral Nassar, an Egyptian-French, believes in the ladder theory. “It will be pointless to spread anarchism now in Egypt. People don’t understand basic politics to grasp the most infamous system ever and adapt to it,” he says.

“Democracy with all its deceits will let people know how ugly and bloody democracy is,” he added.

Anarchic models include Christiania, the Freetown of Denmark. It’s an example of how a society can rule itself with no supervision from the municipality of Copenhagen which the town belongs to geographically. Only nine rules govern Christiania, some of which are: no weapons, no hard-drugs, no violence, no bulletproof clothing, no sale of fireworks and no stolen goods.

Michael Lund, journalist at Denmark Radio, said that Christiania has developed as a unique experiment where nobody owns land or homes and everything is decided by debating until everyone agrees. It has produced artists, new designs of everything from bicycles to clothes and is one of Denmark’s biggest tourist destinations.

“However, there are also problems. The idea of no leadership and everyone having to agree on everything has made it very difficult for the inhabitants to make fast decisions about anything. Also, Christiania’s belief that cannabis is not illegal has attracted gangs that sell hashish,” said Lund who lives less than 2 km from the “free city” and passes by it regularly. He has also visited it numerous times.

The people of Christiania, who often don’t trust the police, have not been able to keep these gangs out, which has let to violent incidents between different gangs, Lund said.

“There’s also a critique that Christiania has become a closed society, where only people who know somebody there can live — which is actually opposite to the original idea of the free city”, he said.

Although the January 25 revolution was leaderless — which is favored by anarchists who prefer to be unknown as soldiers in the life battle or “anonymous” as they prefer to call themselves — Abdullah stressed that the revolution found anarchy by itself and it was not anarchists who made it.

“It’s a disgrace to say that anarchists are behind the revolution because if we were, [the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces] wouldn’t be ruling. We should have never left after Mubarak stepped down. Unfortunately, the people like to re-invent the wheel and fall into the same mistakes of other revolutions,” Abdel Kawy noted.

Creative chaos?
According to anarchists, anarchism can never be imposed from above. The real bet is the people who will realize the flaws of parliamentary democracy and choose direct democracy.

“We seek to build libertarian constructs within the current society, mainly cooperatives, labor unions and syndicates. Lower levels in the society as in localities are the most jammed because as you go smaller, more issues become common to inhabitants of such localities. Once people become confident of their ability to manage their own affairs democratically, they will seek to extend the space where they can practice self-management,” Mowafy said.

How would a country of nearly 80 million govern themselves making decisions altogether?

“Think outside the box,” said Abdullah. “Voting can be on Twitter.”

Original: http://thedailynewsegypt.com/egypt/egyptian-anarchists-seek-self-governed-society.html

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The scandal , widely picked up by the media (and coming as no surprise to antifascists), is that authorities knew about this group both when it was above-ground as well as underground. When incendiary material was found in their garage in 1997 warrants had been issued, but they somehow continued to operate in Thuringia. Some of them had even been arrested before and let go.

And yet, the authorities made up absurd stories of the murders of the immigrants being committed by ‘Turkish mafia’, until of course it surfaced that an undercover agent of the state intelligence agency (LFV) may have been involved in one of the murders. The agent has been arrested.

The NSU is also suspected of having ties with the far-right, ‘legitimate’, National Democratic party (NPD). The fascists in question had initially started a group called the ‘Jena Camaraderie’ with six members. One of them, Andre Kapka, later joined the Jena National Resistance (also a fascist extremist group) and later still the NPD. Zschape, Bohnhardt, and Mundlos had also called themselves ‘Thuringian Homeland Defence’.

The open secret is none of this could exist without tacit state approval, and the history of Germany’s state apparatus, including the intelligence services, is riddled with infiltration by fascist elements. For example, a prominent neo-Nazi organizer, Tino Brandt, who has been a part of the NPD revealed that he had previously worked for the state intelligence agency.

As this ugly case unravels, the German parliamentary parties are renewing demands for the NPD to be banned. An earlier attempt to do so, some ten years ago, had failed.

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It sure was expected. While small in numbers, Anarchists in Egypt have been quite prominent amongst the different revolutionary forces taking part in the Jan25 Egyptian revolution. Anarchists are distinguishably vocal on the social media sites, but more importantly they are always in the front lines on the streets whenever revolutionaries take a stand in the face of the brutal crackdown of the state.

The uneasy but strong alliance between the Brotherhood and the ruling military junta has been evident since the very beginning. The Brotherhood was the only political force that had one of its members in the legislative committee responsible for preparing the modifications of the 1971 constitution approved by a referendum on March 19th. The brotherhood refused to take part almost in any rally against the Supreme Council of Armed Forces (SCAF), and in many cases sought to tarnish these rallies and attack those who called for them.

The Brotherhood, had also taken an aggressive stance against laborers in their continuous struggle against the masters backed by the military junta. It has always condemned workers rallies, sit-ins, or occupations, and described the workers fight for their rights as counter-revolutionary and incited by clients of Mubarak’s regime.

Poised for a landslide victory in the current parliamentary elections along with the more radical Salafi Islamists, the Brotherhood is keen on getting rid of future opposition, namely socialists. It’s easy to know why if one takes a look at the policies that their counterparts in Tunisia have adopted once confident in their new seats in the parliament. It’s even clearer when one takes notice of their prominent leaders’ (mostly businessmen) statements to the media, especially ones describing the neoliberal financial and economic policies of Mubarak’s regime as good and effective, if not coupled with corruption and crony capitalism.

We are sure that these new attacks by the SCAF and its Islamist allies are nothing but an early beginning. A new phase of the Egyptian Revolution is already starting to take shape. This time the true conflict lines will be clear for all after being only clear for some. The Egyptian Revolution will take its true face of a class war of us the proletariat against them, the masters, the military junta, and the conservative fascist Islamists.

Original: http://www.anarkismo.net/article/21518

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Bradley Manning was imprisoned for allegedly leaking more than 250,000 US diplomatic cables and two war footages to Wikileaks, including the July 2007 video that showed Americans gunning down Iraqi civilians in Baghdad from an Apache helicopter – among the victims of which were two Reuters journalists and two injured children.

This is the first time that Manning has been produced in any kind of judicial court. He has been slapped with 23 charges, the most serious of which is “giving intelligence knowingly to the enemy” – the ‘enemy’ being Wikileaks. The charge is serious because, if convicted, it carries the death penalty, although prosecutors have declared that they will not seek this ultimate punishment. They are seeking instead a punishment of life without parole.

The proceedings themselves, according to reports trickling out, would do a Stalinist regime proud, as they are tightly controlled, with several restrictions being placed on attending journalists. Live coverage is forbidden. The chargesheet itself has been released for the first time. Manning’s civilian defence lawyer, David Coombs, has raised several issues of unfair treatment with the investigating officer, Lieutenant-Colonel Paul Almanza.

Firstly, according to reports, out of 48 defence witnesses requested by Coombs only two (another 10 are shared with the prosecution) have been allowed; whereas all of prosecution’s witnesses – many  of whom as mentioned above were on Coombs’ list as well – have been granted.

Secondly, judge Almanza himself has worked for the prosecution in the US Department of Justice, which is currently pursuing its own case against Julian Assange, the founder of Wikileaks. Coombs asked Almanza to step down (the official term being ‘recuse’) citing conflict of interest. The demand has been rebuffed. Almanza will continue to preside over the hearings termed as Article 32, named after the article in the Uniform Code of Military Justice that lays down the procedure for such a hearing.

The outcome of the pre-trial hearings will be referred to a higher military authority in Washington DC, who will then decide if Manning should face a full court martial.

Brief Background to the Case
Private Bradley Manning, a US intelligence analyst, based around Baghdad during the Iraq war, was arrested in May 2010 and briefly held in a detention centre in Kuwait. Since July 2010 he has been held at a prison in Quantico, Virginia. This period of imprisonment has also included solitary confinement, and according to several reports along with that of Amnesty, severe psychological abuse.

The US prosecutors, either back then or at present, have not been able to demonstrate any links between Manning and Julian Assange, except the much-touted online chat. The chat took place between Manning and a hacker named Adrian Lamo to whom Manning is supposed to have revealed his minimal association with Assange and his act of leaking sensitive information. Lamo himself had had former links with Wikileaks, and he promptly delivered the information he is supposed to have received to the state officials.

So, the only real source of evidence the prosecutors have, from what we know so far, is the chat log and Lamo’s claims.

It’s all about realpolitik
Meanwhile, US’s true interest seems to be in Wikileaks. At present, the Department of Justice is trying to pursue Assange, to get him on charges of ‘conspiracy’. Observers say that the ploy might be to break Manning psychologically and get him to testify against Assange. At the moment Assange is fighting his extradition to Sweden on charges of rape and sexual assault. His supporters claim that these are trumped up charges. Assange is currently staying at a friend’s house in the UK.

There seems to be some basis for thinking that the United States government is trying ‘divide and rule’ technique with Assange and Manning, for Assange’s lawyer, Jennifer Robinson, has complained that she has not been given full access to the Manning hearing, and is treated instead like the general public. This means that if the hearings go into the confidential mode, Robinson like other members of the public, will be asked to leave as well, despite her client’s indirect involvement in the case.

Public support for Bradley Manning
Manning, however, has been hailed as a ‘hero’ by all his supporters – and there are quite a few of them. Supporters held a vigil and a rally on December 16th and 17th outside the gates of Forte Meade. The attendees included general supporters, the Bradley Manning Support Network organizers, the Occupy protesters who came in coaches from New York and Washington, Iraq Veterans Against the War, as well as the Vietnam war whistleblower, Dan Ellsberg.
_

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Economics

What some even inside the United States are seeing as a global movement was first manifested in New York from mid September as ‘Occupy Wall Street’. Within a few days, similar protests (at the greed and corruption of the 1% at the expense of the 99%) took place in Austin, Boston, Chicago, Knoxville, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Seattle and other north American cities. The website Occupy Together, the effective clearing house for the movement, at press time claimed parallel actions in 1,324 cities.

The State and its élite obviously took it seriously – after a week or so of ignoring, then attempts at ridicule. Increasingly large numbers of people have been arrested and abused. On October 1st (when the disproportionately high number of more than 700 demonstrators was arrested) and 5th police tactics were particularly appalling. These included mass beating, confiscation of equipment, deception about routes for marches, taunting and other forms of violence. Videos posted online show police pepper-spraying groups of young women, for example, while they were surrounded by a police netting.

Despite the mass arrests, the camp continues… the views of one protester, ‘Jason’: “People are realising that we are all one and that is our governments that work against us to keep everyone down. That’s how the one percent gets away with it, is by dividing us up and people not realising that we are all one and that’s what this movement is about.”

At the same time increasing numbers of trade unions are officially supporting the movement – the SEIU 1199 healthcare workers and Transport Workers Union members in New York City (attorneys for whom attempted to obtain a temporary federal restraining order to prevent the police from commandeering buses operated by its members to ferry protesters who had been arrested) are just two.

Tony Murphy, of Bail Out the People Movement said: “We’re here to say that the NYPD and Mayor Bloomberg has to keep their hands off ‘Occupy Wall Street’… If they want to arrest somebody, they should go down to Wall Street, down to the Stock Exchange and arrest the people who are busy clearing out elderly people from their homes, hurting people’s pensions. These are the people who are really hurting people and should be arrested.”

In a related but separate development, on 8 October an agent provocateur, Patrick Howley, Assistant Editor of the right wing ‘American Spectator’ publication, admitted to deliberately infiltrating a group of activists in order to discredit their movement by running through the lobby of the National Air and Space Museum in Washington, DC, provoking guards to use their pepper spray and make arrests. The protest was at a display in the museum of the drone weapons of mass destruction used by US terrorists.

• Poverty

At the same time as the Occupy movement (which is organised along horizontal and non-partisan lines) was gaining momentum, major reports were published revealing just how stark is the (economic) inequality around which the 99%-1% split the occupiers are organising. According to US Census Bureau data, yet more Americans fell below the poverty line in 2010. The nation’s poverty rate rose to 15.1% last year, from 14.3% in 2009 – its highest level since 1993. 2010 also marked the third year in a row in which the rate has increased. Now some 46.2 million people are considered to be in need. What’s more, real median household income last year was US$50,000 (£32,000), a 2.3% decline. The Carsey Institute at the University of New Hampshire also revealed that the number of children living in poverty in the United States has climbed to 15.7 million, an increase of 2.6 million since the beginning of the recession in 2007. Nearly one in four children under the age of six now lives in poverty. The largest such group is Latino – some 6.1 million Latino children are poor (35%), compared with 5 million white children and 4.4 million black children.

Meanwhile, the official unemployment rate remains 9.1%. Over 14 million people are unemployed; another 8.8 million are working part-time, but seeking full-time work. The unemployment rate for African-American men jumped by one percentage point in August to 18%. That for African-American teenagers rose all of 7.3% to 46.5%.

• Environment

The Government Accountability Office published a report in September advising that the US government has lost nearly three tons of nuclear material that it had shipped overseas. Almost 6,000 pounds of highly enriched uranium and separated plutonium cannot now be traced. This is enough to make dozens of nuclear weapons. Then, the National Weather Service reported that Texas experienced the hottest summer in US history this year. Its average of 86.8 degrees from June to August beat Oklahoma’s record of 85.2 set in 1934. That state averaged 86.5 degrees itself this year. The heat has produced the severest drought in Texas since the 1950s and the single driest year since 1895 resulting in an estimated US$5.2 (£3.4) billion in damage from crop losses and massive wildfires.

• Racism

Also in the South, a federal judge in September upheld key portions of Alabama’s racist ‘immigration law’. Chief US District Judge Sharon Lovelace Blackburn backed provisions that would require police to arrest anyone they suspect of being in the country without legal status; prevent courts from enforcing contracts involving undocumented immigrants; and allow state schools to determine the immigration status of enrolled pupils. Small wonder that in Alabama many Latino pupils have actually stopped attending classes since the ruling. At the end of September, for example, almost 2,000 Latino students (about 5%) were absent. Similarly, immigrant rights advocates report many pregnant women are now afraid to go to hospital and victims of crimes won’t call for help.

The ‘Culture of Cruelty’ study from the Arizona humanitarian group, No More Deaths, cites 30,000 cases of human rights abuses in short-term immigration detention between 2008 and 2011… border agents denying food and water to detainees, deliberately separating families, and forcing immigrants to sign removal orders. The report concluded that these abuses meet the international definition of torture.

If you can’t torture them, just kill them: newly released documents show the FBI keeps people on its ‘terrorism watch list’ even if/when they are cleared of terrorism-related crimes. The FBI’s database includes over 400,000 names. Indeed, Wired Magazine reported recently that it had uncovered FBI training materials asserting that “‘mainstream’ US Muslims are likely to be terrorist sympathisers, Islamic charity amounts to a ‘funding mechanism for combat’ and that the Prophet Mohammed was a ‘cult leader’”. A graph presented to FBI agents suggests that the more ‘devout’ a Muslim, the higher the likelihood for him or her to be ‘violent’.

It’s easy if you have power: the Obama administration, it’s been revealed, keeps a ‘kill list’ of US citizens who are ‘authorised’ for killing or capture abroad. According to Reuters, a secret panel of government officials decides who can be slain or captured; it then informs the president of its decision. It was this panel (an offshoot of the White House’s National Security Council) which was behind the decision to kill Anwar al-Awlaki, who died in a CIA drone attack in Yemen last month without trial or even formal case against him.

Death and cruelty are popular, too: in a recent Republican presidential debate. The CNN’s moderator asked the candidates whether someone who chose to have no medical insurance but contracted a serious illness should be left to die. Gratuitous cheers of “Yeah!” filled the hall. Similarly, Governor Rick Perry was asked about his repeated use of the death penalty in Texas; before he could answer, the audience erupted into sustained applause.

And at government level: WikiLeaks cables show US officials vigorously defended the use of cluster bombs around the world despite the fact that 62 countries have signed an international treaty banning their use, development, and production. In the same vein, the Obama administration has now announced plans to sell US$53 (£34) million worth of military equipment to Bahrain just months after the Gulf state brutally cracked down on Shi’ite protesters. Obama is also building a ring of drone sites from which to target alleged ‘militants’ in Somalia and Yemen. And Libya: Human Rights Watch last month published hundreds of documents indicating collusion between Ghaddafi and the extraordinary rendition program carried out by the CIA and the MI6 in Britain after the 9/11 attacks.

Ever playing the victim, Leon Panetta, US ‘Defense’ Secretary, announced on the ten year commemoration of 9/11 (no such for the war on Afghanistan a month later): “To this day… we pledge to never forget the enemy that made this happen, why we fight them, and why we will never stop fighting them.”

The biter appears to have been bitten: in the first week of October it appeared as though US drone computer systems have been infected by a virus. In the cockpits of America’s Predator and Reaper drones every keystroke of the terrorists flying them over Afghanistan and other war zones is being logged.

Finally, the Wall Street Journal reported that the US government has obtained a secret court order forcing Google and the Internet Service Provider, Sonic.net, to hand over information in the email accounts of WikiLeaks volunteer Jacob Appelbaum and disclose every address of those he corresponded with since 2009. Appelbaum has been charged with no crime.

Louis Further

References:
Bail Out the People Movement: http://bailoutpeople.org/
Carsey Institute: www.carseyinstitute.unh.edu/
Human Rights Watch: www.hrw.org/
No More Deaths: www.nomoredeaths.org/
Occupy Together: www.occupytogether.org/

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