In Russia, anarchists and/or gays are unpopular with authorities: about 50 anarchists were prevented from participating in May Day festivities in St. Petersburg, and in Moscow teh gheys had to battle cops as well as Communists. (Fascists were allowed to assemble unmolested.) Elsewhere “[a]round Europe, the May Day activities were generally more subdued than in years past” according to Deutsche Welle. In E E England, “John Catt attended a May Day protest in Brighton and sketched the demonstration”; the “86-year-old artist from Brighton” is also “taking the police to the High Court to try to get records of his political activities removed from their database”. More on the Brighton May Day here.
In London, several days prior to May Day, Paola Totaro–“the only Australian journalist covering the wedding from inside Westminster Abbey”–done a big fat report on the sumptuous wedding of two massively wealthy scroungers named Bill and Kath. A few years ago, Totaro light-heartedly recounted the supposed fact that at the G20 protests in London, “[t]he great majority of the police, seemingly ever-patient and self-controlled, stood for hours as kids baited and yelled, shoved and provoked. A handful of officers used well-placed elbows while batons were raised only in response to the vandalism.” In reality, one man, Ian Tomlinson, was actually killed by police. Yesterday (May 3), London IndyMedia reported that:
Simon Harwood, the police officer who attacked Ian Tomlinson at the G20 summit in London in 2009 could be prosecuted for manslaughter. The inquest jury ruled today that the Tomlinson has been unlawfully killed. In 2010, the Crown Prosecution Service” announced that the police officer who was caught on video striking Ian Tomlinson year who later died will not face criminal charges, sparking a series of protests.
Tomlinson died of internal bleeding in the abdomen minutes after being struck with a baton and pushed to the ground.
Otherwise, there appears to have been some increase (not surprising, given recent events) in police repression of anarchist dissent in E E England. As it stands, if I was in London and not under arrest, I’d probably rock along to the launch of Soccer Vs. The State by Gabriel Kuhn on May 8.
In Melbourne, I witnessed Collingwood get out of jail, and earlier in the day I even managed to pick up a copy of the Autumn 2011 edition (No.212) of Australasian Spartacist and the April 15, 2011 edition (No.978) of Workers Vanguard. I also gotta copy of a new publication called Black Kite Quarterly (the zine formerly known as Wai Quarterly). The theme of its first edition is “making the world safer for wimmin”. This Saturday @ LaTrobe University’s City campus, the Observatario Internacional Contra las Políticas de las Multinacionales / International Co-ordination Against Multinational Policies will be holding a seminar. For more infos, see the International Multinational Monitor blog.
The US-based Hollywood Nazis of the National Socialist Movement (which, incidentally, appears to have just the one, local member in the person of internet broadcaster Carl D. Thompson) has lost one of its leading members, Jeff Hall. On May 1, Hall was allegedly shot to death at the family home by his young son. The news follows another unfortunate incident last month when, just a few days shy of Adolf Hitler’s birthday, the NSM held a gathering in New Jersey which was attacked by anti-fascists. Hall’s shooting death also follows closely upon the murder of neo-Nazi skinhead and ‘American Front’ organiser David Lynch in March…
White Supremacist Leader Is Shot and Killed at Home; Young Son Is Held
Jesse McKinley The New York Times
May 2, 2011
RIVERSIDE, Calif. A leader of a Southern California white supremacist group was shot and killed on Sunday at his home here, investigators said.
The victim, Jeff Hall, 32, was a regional director for the National Socialist Movement, a neo-Nazi group based in Detroit.
Mr. Hall, a plumber and the father of five children, was shot at his suburban home on Sunday morning, said Lt. Jaybee Brennan of the Riverside Police Department. Lieutenant Brennan said the police responded to reports of gunshots at Mr. Hall’s home just after 4 a.m. The police later detained Mr. Hall’s son, believed to be 10 years old. The department said no other suspects were being sought.
A neighbor said she saw several guns being removed from the home.
An official with the National Socialist Movement in Southern California said that he had seen Mr. Hall on Saturday night and had planned to have breakfast with him on Sunday.
“All I can tell you right now is Jeff’s dead,” said the official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the nature of the investigation and his group’s activities.
Mr. Hall was an impassioned speaker seen as a rising force in the National Socialist Movement. On Saturday afternoon, he held a monthly meeting of the Southern California chapter at his home, a gathering of about a dozen members that The New York Times had sent a reporter to cover.
At the meeting, he discussed both mundane housekeeping items — the need for members to sell raffle tickets for a fund-raiser, for example — as well as a May “patrol” at the Mexican border in Arizona, a militia-style activity meant to combat illegal immigration.
“This is a very active area right now,” Mr. Hall told his members, adding that he felt that the federal authorities were dropping the ball on border patrols. “You guys get your Glocks cocked and get ready to rock,” he said. “We’re going to the border. That’s how we do it.”
Mr. Hall discussed a recent rally in New Jersey and praised his members’ participation, which earned several of them promotions in the group.
“You guys get out there in the street, you get out on the border,” he said. “And you did a good job.”
Ian Lovett contributed reporting from Los Angeles.
Update : Steve will be speaking about all things Crass, Conflict, his new-found love of the Collingwood Football Club and his new autobiography, The Rest is Propaganda, before taking to the stage at the Tote the following evening. Supported by A Commoner’s Revolt and Ducks in the Mud. At the Melbourne Anarchist Club (62 St Georges Road, Northcote) on Thursday night, June 16.
Orright. ‘Ere it is…
Australia
June 10 Brisbane, Prince of Wales Hotel
June 11 Sydney, Salmagundi Studios
June 15 Perth, The Bakery
June 17 Melbourne, The Tote
Aotearoa/New Zealand
June 18 Wellington, Bodega
June 19 Auckland, The Kings Arms
Steve will be performing with a full band (not the other members of Crass) and as well as featuring Crass songs there will be some rather special visuals. The touring line up includes Gizz Butt (guitar – Destructors, English Dogs, Janus Stark, The Prodigy, The More I See), Bob Butler (bass – The Tone, Schwartzneggar), Spike T Smith (drums – The Damned, Conflict, Killing Joke, Morrissey), Carol Hodge (vocals – Bad Taste Barbies, Synco, Electraglide) and of course Steve Ignorant (vocals).
Steve has also just published his autobiography, The Rest Is Propaganda, which tells the story of his upbringing in the wilds of East London, and how he escaped a life on the factory floor, formed Crass with Penny Rimbaud, and how Stephen Williams became Steve Ignorant.
Steve has a website ‘ere, a site for all things Crass is ‘ere, youse can read a review of The Story of Crass by George Berger ‘ere and Rich Cross looks at all that stuff what them done about anarcho-punk ‘ere.
Barack Obama claims Osama Bin Laden has been “brought to justice”: that is, assassinated by US soldiers:
Today, at my direction, the United States launched a targeted operation against [a] compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan. A small team of Americans carried out the operation with extraordinary courage and capability. No Americans were harmed. They took care to avoid civilian casualties. After a firefight, they killed Osama bin Laden and took custody of his body.
The “Australian Defence League”, in one form or another, has been eking out an existence online for several years now. In April of last year, the virtual association announced that it would be participating in a public rally against Islam and immigration. A counter-rally was organised, the ADL rally was aborted, and a handful of ADL supporters — including one obviously drug-addled bonehead — were forced to seek comfort in a nearby pub. (Note that one of the organisers of this rally, some bloke called Glenn Anderson, has recently been featured on The Anti-Bogan blog.) Then in October 2010, the infidel typists declared that they’d be gathering again at the Sydney Opera House to defend Australia from the Taliban. Again: not-a-great-success.
Recently, the ADL has been placed UNDER NEW MANAGEMENT, viz, a whingeing Pom/foreign troublemaker named “Martin Brennan”. In early April, Martin announced that the ADL would be holding its first (sic) official rally at midday in Federation Square in Melbourne on Sunday, May 15 (followed by a march on Parliament). An ‘Event’ page was subsequently created and several dozen Facebook users indicated that they’d attend, some even claiming to be willing to travel from England!
Well, no: elsewhere, members of the ADL insist that the rally and march will be going ahead, and masses of concerned citizens what hate Mooselems/refugees will be assembling at midday at Federation Square. Oddly enough, May 15 is also Buddha’s Day and Multicultural Festival. On an even more bizarre note, the nutty YouTube video which has been produced to promote the Event has been uploaded by the “EDLJewishDivision”. (The “EDLJewishDivision” got into a li’l bit of trouble earlier in the year when its leader, Roberta Moore, aligned the Zionist groupuscule with the US-based “Jewish Task Force”, mostly known for its supposed embrace of blowing shit up.) In any case, in the video in question, Brennan incoherently rants that:
…the threat of Islam is prevalent here in Australia. Siddiq-Conlon leader Australiah [sic] for Australia has been posted as saying Australians will be ruled by Sharia. Modern Muslims are worried because they know one day they won’t be able to drink their beer, eat their pork. One day they know they will be controlled by Islam. Well I have news for you Mr Conlon, and your like-minded Muslim friends. You have been ranting your mouths off for far too long and now Australians finally hear you. Australians say no to Sharia law, no to Sharia finance, no to halal, and no to the Islamisation of our nation. We are a country built on multiculturalism and democracy, both of which are under severe threat from Islam. Come the 15th of May Australians of all walks of life will march together united as one, to put the stop to the Islamicisation of our nation and the implementation of barbaric Sharia law.
O RLY?
Whatever.
A counter-rally has been organised, so it will be interesting to see who rocks up (in addition to those celebrating Prince Siddhartha Gautama’s birthday).
In England, the Defence League has continued to roll along under the (occasionally disputed) leadership of former BNP member and tanning-salon owner Stephen Yaxley-Lennon (aka Tommy Fucking Robinson). Of late, its Facebook presence has been mucked about with by Muslamic hackers, the chief EDL page has disappeared into the ether, while a replacement page looks likely to struggle to attract as many users willing to hit the ‘Like’ button on their screens as the original. Beyond this, the EDL has clarified its understanding of what it seeks to “defend” by declaring its hatred of rebellious students and workers and love of monarchical rule…
May Day is May 1 is this Sunday. There’s a few things going on, to which the following is a guide.
The Victorian Trades Hall Council is organising a rally and march. Assemble 12.30pm outside Trades Hall (corner Victoria and Russell Streets). [Youse can join the Socialist Alliance for a toast before the march @ the Resistance Centre (Level 5, 407 Swanston St, City (opposite RMIT)) if youse wanna.]
Following celebrations @ Trades Hall, from 4pm the Melbourne Anarchist Club will be enjoying May Day with music, drinks and food. There’ll be acoustic sets from Wil Wagner, Tom Denton (Sweet Teens), A Commoners Revolt (solo) and Jim Power (Ducks in the Mud). NB. The original Melbourne Anarchist Club was formed on May 1, 1886, making 2011 the 125th anniversary of anarchism in Australia.
The Moar You Know…
I dunno if there’s anything else on, but feel free to lemme know if there is.
Oh yeah.
If you’re vegan and you like baking…
Who: Vegetarian Victoria
Date: Sunday May 1, 2011
Time: 11am – 4pm
Venue: Kindness House (288 Brunswick St, Fitzroy, VIC 3065)
Yes, we are having a combined bake sale and bake off to celebrate Autumn and homemade delicious vegan treats! Bring along your best homemade vegan treat to donate and be in the running to win prizes! Judges are those that buy and taste the wares and there’s also a Best in Show prize as well. Donate, or just come along and buy from the wonderful range of yummies on offer. GET YOUR BAKE ON!
And of course, @ 4.40pm Collingwood will be playing the Western Bulldogs @ the MCG.
Above : Kyle Chapman, fuehrer of RWRNZ, welcomes Canadian Holocaust denialist Paul Fromm to New Zealand, December 2010. Fromm’s tour was organised by the Australia First Party.
Right Wing Resistance New Zealand (RWRNZ) is veteran Kiwi fascist Kyle Chapman‘s latest organising project. The group — which seemingly consists of several dozen neo-Nazi skinheads, mostly from Christchurch — has been in existence since early 2009, and has recently become more active, distributing propaganda — see : Right Wing Resistance New Zealand : They took our jobs! (January 12, 2011) — and apparently organising several street patrols. The gang’s politics are fairly run-of-the-mill (see New Zealand National Front) but the boys’ resemblance to an OMC may cause them some problems in the future as their (arguably) more serious rivals resent the gang’s intrusions onto their turf. Responding to the accusation that RWRNZ is at war with the Rebels MC, Kyle Chapman rites in there blug thet “We have a Clare purpose. [I]t is to fight communism and other scum that want to take away our freedoms.”
Danny Webster’s grandfather fought for freedom in World War II.
Now Webster is waging his own war on intolerance, but his battlefield is online.
Right Wing Resistance is a New Zealand-wide white supremacist group run by Kyle Chapman, former leader of the National Front.
The group’s recent recruitment campaign in Christchurch included Stop the Asian Invasion pamphlets.
Conveniently, Webster says, the group’s blogspot advertising this campaign, included cellphone numbers and email addresses, which prompted him to fight back with a Facebook campaign, Spam A Nazi, launched this weekend.
Webster advocates spamming the group with texts and YouTube links to the Chinese National Anthem and songs such as I think I’m Turning Japanese, and People Are People.
“My flatmates and I found this racist pamphlet in our letterbox and we came up with the idea of sending them a message back,” Webster said.
“Now we have 140 members on Spam A Nazi. I think the Right Wing Resistance campaign is more to intimidate than recruit.
“My grandfather died from war-related injuries when my dad was eight. It’s sad to think that this intolerance still exists two generations on.
“After all we’ve been through in Christchurch, I wanted to send a clear message that this hatred won’t be tolerated. I’m not sure of the legalities around spamming but I’m sure few will have any sympathy for them.”
When contacted yesterday, a spokesman for the Right Wing Resistance, who did not wish to be identified, said they had received spam from “gay porn” to “foreign” texts.
“I didn’t understand what they said, they’re just wasting their time. I just delete them. It’s like squashing an annoying bug to me, I don’t even think about it.”
“Andrew Yeoman” is the pseudonym used by San Francisco-based White supremacist Andrew White.
White is the subject of an article in the SF Weekly. To be precise, ‘Local Idiot to Burn the Koran’ by Lauren Smiley (April 22, 2011).
The article details White’s latest publicity stunt for his group, which he calls the ‘Bay Area National Anarchists’, but which is more commonly known as BANANAs.
As the title of Smiley’s article suggests, the stunt consists of Andrew’s burning a copy of the Koran in public — although precisely when and where this act will occur is uncertain at this stage.
As publicity stunts go, it’s not a bad one, and trades on the controversy surrounding mentalist Pastor Terry Jones’ attempt to organise a similar burning outside a mosque in Dearborn, Michigan. (At this stage, it appears that the Pastor’s protest may be aborted: Pastor Is Jailed in Michigan Over Planned March at Mosque, AP, April 22, 2011.) Politically speaking, the stunt’s utility is questionable. Otherwise:
Yeoman’s protests have been falling flat as of late. While last May, he got beat up by some anarchists, his Machete protest ended up just being him and a couple of supporters handing out pamphlets in Livermore with cardboard machetes.
On an even more bizarre note, White (aka Yeoman) has split with his former leader, Troy Southgate. Or rather, Southgate has denounced White for, inter alia, being censorious, dictatorial and of having had “a relationship with an anorexic Jewish girl he picked up from a website called Craigslist and … telling everyone that they were having sex without a condom. Yeoman is also said to be psychologically unstable and is in possession of a large number of firearms.”
Southgate also claims that White has recently been investigated by the US Secret Service for “making a juvenile online threat” against President O’Bama. Further, Southgate writes that White “turned up at the American Renaissance conference around the same time and then declined to testify against anti-fascists at his recent assault trial”.
Canadian Holocaust denialist Paul Fromm and White, pictured at the AmRen shadow conference, 2011. The Australia First Party arranged for Fromm to tour Australia and Aotearoa/New Zealand late last year.
Southgate suggests that White’s recent behaviour may be explained by way of his having been “bought off” by authorities. (Note that the accusation of being a state asset has been levelled at Southgate in the past.) The accusation is a serious one, and indicates the poisonous nature of the once respectful relationship between student and teacher.
In Australia, the national anarchists are represented by two men: Welf Herfurth in Sydney and Nicholas Cole in Perth.
Herfurth is friends to both White and Southgate, but is also a member of the neo-Nazi skinhead group known as Volksfront, and a close comrade of Dr James Saleam and the Australia First Party. In his capacity as MC, he welcomed White to the Sydney Forum in 2009. It will be interesting to see which way the German neo-Nazi jumps and whether or not he remains loyal to Southgate, the person whom he credits for converting him to ‘national anarchism’.
As for Cole, he was once associated with the ‘Australian Protectionist Party’, and for this reason was outed by the blog ‘Whitelaw Towers’ (Jim Perren and Peter Campbell). Cole is also attempting to establish a network of fascist University students (but without much luck). An extremely marginal figure, it’s likely that Cole will stick with White.
And as for me, polling suggests that 30% of the population believe I work for The Great Old Ones. I say “Ph’nglui mglw’nafh Cthulhu R’lyeh wgah’nagl fhtagn”.
What is your idea of perfect happiness?
An abstract and highly unconvincing portrait of a time and a place far, far away.
What is your greatest fear?
Living. Or possibly dying.
What historical figure do you most identify with?
Mr. Nobody.
Which living person do you most admire?
Joe Hill.
What is the trait you most deplore in yourself?
My boundless sense of optimism.
What trait do you most deplore in others?
Good taste.
What is your greatest extravagance?
Belief.
On what occasion do you lie?
On what occasion do I not?
What do you most dislike about your appearance?
Its impact upon others.
What is your favorite journey?
When I go somewhere, I’ll tell you.
What do you consider the most overrated virtue?
Discernment.
Which living person do you most despise?
Is a cutthroat competition.
Which words or phrases do you most overuse?
Those I’m forced to when confronted by the ignorance and stupidity which seemingly constitutes the essence of this, the best of all possible worlds / “Oh, is that the time?”
What is your greatest regret?
My life.
What or who is the greatest love of your life?
Cool story, bro.
When and where were you happiest?
Yesterday and elsewhere.
Which talent would you most like to have?
The one that pays.
What is your current state of mind?
Calmly, savagely, restfully berserk.
If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be?
My choices.
If you could change one thing about your family, what would it be?
Its size.
If you were to die and come back as a person or thing, what would it be?
Depressing.
If you could choose what or who to come back as, what would it be?
Meaningless.
What do your consider your greatest achievement?
Going unnoticed.
What is your most treasured possession?
What do you regard as the lowest depth of misery?
Daytime television.
What is your most marked characteristic?
Perversity.
What is the quality you most like in a man?
Distance.
What is the quality you most admire in a woman?
Gullibility.
What do you most value in your friends?
Profligacy.
Who are your favourite writers?
Unread.
Who is your favourite hero of fiction?
The Anarchist.
Who are your heroes in real life?
Obscure and unfortunate.
What are your favourite names?
Cthulhu. Barry. Horatio. Hufnagel.
What is it that you most dislike?
Work.
How would you like to die?
How would you like a punch on the nose?
What is your motto?
Imagine a sphere of metal vast as the sun. Imagine that once every ten thousand years a sparrow should visit it and brush it with its wings. When that ball had been worn to nothing, we would still be in Hell, we would still be the howling damned who do not see God’s face.
EUROPOL has released its annual survey of terrorism in the EU: TE-SAT 2011: EU Terrorism Situation and Trend Report 2011. Analysis of ‘Left-wing and anarchist terrorism in the EU’ is extracted below. See alsoEuropol: Arab spring poses terrorist threat to EU (Andrew Rettman, EUobserver, April 19, 2011):
The annual survey, the EU Terrorism Situation and Trend Report, out on Tuesday (19 April) covering events in 2010, noted that the vast majority of terrorist incidents in the EU last year came from separatist groups such as Eta in Spain or the Turkish group, the PKK/Kongra-Gel.
Foiled or successful separatist attacks accounted for 160 out of the total 249 cases in 2010, compared to 45 far-left incidents and just three Islamist cases.
Rettman notably misinterprets the report when he writes that “Europol said far-left and anarchist groups in Europe have traditionally used a Marxist-Leninst discourse of anti-capitalism, anti-militarism and anti-authoritarianism”, while the PKK — formally identified as a terrorist organisation by the Australian Government — was the subject of police repression in August of 2010.
Otherwise, the release of the report comes a few weeks after a Wave of raids and arrests against anarchist networks in Italy, the acquittal (in early 2010, after an attempted frame-up) of The Belgrade Six (unmentioned in the report) and a bombing in Minsk which has been speculated (by authorities) may have been the work of anarchists.
Note that, closer to home, trials against a range of individuals (mostly indigenous) are soon (May 30) to commence in Aotearoa/New Zealand, almost four years after the initial arrests (October 15, 2007). For more infos, please see : October 15 Solidarity and the superb Whenua Fenua Enua Vanua blog. Note that resistance to the Green Scare in the United States also continues and that June 11 is an international day of solidarity with Marie Mason and Eric McDavid.
7. Left-wing and anarchist terrorism
• 45 left-wing and anarchist terrorist attacks occurred in 2010
• 6 fatalities including 1 Greek police officer
• 34 individuals arrested for left-wing and anarchist terrorist activities
• Increased violence in attacks
• Increased transnational coordination between terrorist and extremist left-wing and anarchist groups
Left-wing terrorist groups seek to change the entire political, social and economic system of a state according to an extremist left-wing model. Their ideology is often Marxist-Leninist. The agenda of anarchist terrorist groups is revolutionary and anti-capitalist but also antiauthoritarian.
An increasing number of Member States are now making a distinction between the activities of left-wing and anarchist groups. This distinction is reflected in the descriptive parts of this report, but does not show in the statistics. A number of incidents which occurred in the EU were claimed by anarchist groups, most often on the internet. They were prosecuted as extremist attacks, as opposed to terrorist attacks, and therefore do not appear in the statistics since these cover terrorist attacks exclusively.
7.1. Terrorist attacks and arrested suspects
In 2010, left-wing and anarchist groups remained very active in Europe. More attacks occurred than in previous years and the increased use of violence in their actions led to six fatalities.
Traditionally, these groups are most active in Greece, Italy and Spain. However, a number of other countries have also seen increased activity in 2010. Social unrest among the population, caused by the global economic downturn and the reduction of state spending on social welfare, may have influenced this development, which has been noticeable since 2007. The modus operandi in a number of attacks showed signs of increased internationalisation of left-wing and anarchist groups – although both have historically been international in outlook.
In 2010, a total of 45 terrorist attacks by left-wing and anarchist groups were reported by Austria, the Czech Republic, Greece, Italy and Spain. This represents an increase of 12% compared to 2009. In Greece, five terrorist groups carried out a total of 20 attacks – an increase of over 30% compared to 2009.
Increased violence in left-wing and anarchist attacks, which has been seen since 2007, persisted in 2010. In Greece, attacks claimed the lives of six people in 2010. The explosion of a parcel bomb at the Ministry for Citizen Protection on 24 June killed a police officer. On 19 July, a journalist was murdered outside his house. This particularly violent attack involving firearms was claimed by the organisation Sekta Epanastaton [Sect of Revolutionaries / Armed Struggle for Revolutionary Independence Sect of Revolutionaries] and it could be linked to the assassination of a police officer in 2009. Both of these attacks were clearly designed to kill. Despite the fact that left-wing and anarchist extremists generally try to avoid casualties in most of their attacks, a 15-year-old boy died on 28 March when he manipulated an explosive device ostensibly placed to carry out a terrorist attack; his mother and sister were injured. During a demonstration in Athens on 5 May, anarchists caused a fire in a bank, which resulted in the death of three employees.
The proportion of bomb attacks increased from 20% in 2009 to 51% in 2010, while arson attacks remained at the same level of 42%. Since 2008, government targets have continued to be favoured over business targets.
Anarchist groups in Spain are mainly active in Catalonia; they carried out 16 attacks in 2010. Most were arson attacks, targeting business and governmental interests, without causing injuries.
Although traditionally most attacks occur in Greece, Italy and Spain, in 2010, an arson attack damaged the Greek Embassy in the Czech Republic. A job centre in the Austrian capital, Vienna, was also targeted.
34 persons were arrested for left-wing and anarchist offences in 2010. These arrests took place in five EU Member States: Austria, Germany, Greece, Italy and Spain. The majority of those arrested for left-wing and anarchist violence were suspected of membership of a terrorist organisation.
Successful law enforcement operations have led to a significant increase in the number of suspects arrested in Greece and have also led to the dismantling of one of the country’s main terrorist organisations. In March, the terrorist organisation Epanastatikos Agonas [Revolutionary Struggle] was dismantled after the arrest of six persons and the seizure of several machine guns, a rocket launcher, hand grenades, and explosive materials. The investigation into the parcel bomb campaign of November resulted in the arrest of 12 suspected members of Synomosia Pyrinon Fotias [Conspiracy of Fire Nuclei].
The downward trend in left-wing terrorism in Spain is illustrated by the decreasing number of arrests since 2007. The organisation Grupos Antifascistas Primer de Octubre (GRAPO) [First of October Antifascist Groups] did not re-establish after it was dismantled in recent years. In Italy, no attacks were attributed to leftwing terrorist groups in 2010, as a result of a number of successful investigations in 2009.
7.2. Terrorist and extremist activities
Some attacks in 2010 showed signs of increased transnational
coordination between groups. A parcel bomb campaign in November targeted various embassies, foreign Heads of State, and European institutions.
It is the first time that the Greek terrorist organisation Synomosia Pyrinon Fotias has staged such a large-scale synchronised attack, which attracted widespread media coverage. The motive and selection of targets remain unclear. It appears that the organisation has raised its profile towards a more international dimension. An international call for action was issued in a communiqué and promptly caused similar actions in Italy and Argentina.
Two out of three parcel bombs, which were sent to the Swiss, Chilean and Greek embassies in Rome on 23 and 27 December, exploded and caused minor injuries. The attacks were claimed by FAI (Federazione Anarchica Informale) [Informal Anarchist Federation].
The Chilean and Swiss embassies were targeted to express solidarity with imprisoned ‘comrades’ – a typical motive for anarchist groups. An important field of action for members of the left-wing scene has remained the confrontation with right-wing opponents. This occurs under the guise of discrediting ‘fascist’ campaigns, targeted attacks on individuals, assets and property, and direct physical confrontation during demonstrations.
In January, the Danish police arrested a group of left-wing extremists. One of them is suspected of having planned and organised violent attacks against various radical right-wing opponents. An increase in tensions towards extreme right-wing groups was also noticed in Italy. Although the Swedish anarchist movement weakened slightly in 2010, there were a number of attacks against right-wing political opponents and violent confrontations between the two groups. In the run-up to the parliamentary elections, a number of political parties were targeted by anarchist extremists. Most offences were in the form of wilful damage and there were relatively few physical attacks on individuals. The Czech Republic reported a decline in violent confrontations between left- and rightwing groups.
Besides traditional ideological themes such as anti-capitalism, anti-militarism and anti-fascism, in 2010 left-wing and anarchist extremists also focused on the global economic recession. A number of EU Member States experienced large-scale protests against austerity measures taken by governments to reduce the debt burden and stem the impact of the economic crisis. The arson attack against a job centre in Austria can also be placed in this context.
In some instances, the ranks of protesters were infiltrated by extremist groups, which resulted in violent clashes with police. However, attempts to gain ground amongst the population are generally seen as unsuccessful in most Member States.
In Belgium and Italy, increased activity by anarchist groups on topics such as anti-authority, anti-law enforcement and anti-prison issues continued in 2010. The trend of using more violence in such attacks, which was already identified in last year’s report, persisted. Anarchist groups do not hesitate to enter into direct confrontation with law
enforcement personnel. This was seen in Belgium, where a police station was attacked, another one was the subject of an arson attack, and several police vehicles were damaged.
Germany reported a considerable decrease in the number of offences related to left-wing and anarchist extremism. Austria also observed a general decrease in anarchist activities, except in the capital Vienna. Squatters, who were rather active in 2009, only staged a few uncoordinated actions.
The indications that international coordination is developing, is exemplified by the choice of common targets in different cities or countries, as well as the use of similar modus operandi or series of initiatives by different groups in solidarity with imprisoned comrades. In this regard, the increase in arrests in Greece will result in some important court cases which could trigger more solidarity attacks across Europe. Therefore, anarchist violence can be expected to continue developing in the European Union in 2011.
Two Greek anarchists are making molotov cocktails. One says to the other: "So who will we throw these at then?" The other replies: "What are you, some kind of fucking intellectual?"
