According to The Melbourne Times (Greens have a Jolly good chance in Richmond, Bianca Hall, February 24, 2010), in Melbourne, the socialist with a pathological hatred of pumpkins, Steve Jolly, is due to announce his candidacy for the seat of Richmond, currently held by the ALP’s ‘Tricky’ Dick Wynne. A Yarra City Councillor, if he does in fact contest the seat, Jolly’s preferences could prove crucial to the eventual outcome of the election.
A Greens victory would be an electoral breakthrough for the watermelons.
In the upcoming Victorian State election (scheduled for Saturday, November 27), Richmond, along with Brunswick, Melbourne and Northcote, is one of four seats in which the Greens hope to be able to seriously challenge the ALP. In Brunswick, like Richmond, the entry of an independent, left-wing candidate — in this case, widely rumoured to be Phil Cleary — could also tip the balance of preferences in the Greens’ favour. The ALP has been doing its level best to ensure that this is the case, by first ignoring, and then crassly attempting to capitalise upon, public disquiet over Sue Maclellan‘s fear and loathing of rock and/or roll. Then again — Hallelujah! — the Victorian ALP is The Party That Brought You Mister 0.08% Senator Steve Fielding — Praise Jesus! — so…
Speaking of Christians, in disappointing news for the remaining Midnight Oil fan, the Minister for Uranium Mining, Woodchipping & The Yartz — who appeared on 3CR’s SUWA show earlier on Friday in what might be reasonably termed a feisty mood — has now realised he failed to read the fine print when he sold his soul to the ALP and was parachuted into the safe seat of Kingsford Smith in 2004. In brief, bringing the Government into disrepute means being demoted by KRudd. The main beneficiary of Garrett’s demotion appears to be former ACTU Secretary Greg Combet, who was bumped into Parliament in 2007. A current union official, far less less happy with the role of the ALP in the trade union movement — even going so far as to suggest that the couple undergo a trial separation — is Dean Mighell.
The Socialist Alliance will also contest the election, as will various other micro-parties (perhaps even the Communist Alliance, who knows?). But the only serious challenge to the ALP from a vaguely leftist direction will almost certainly be coloured Green not Red.
In summary, in April 2009, “John Brumby’s Labor government … opened a red-hot $1.14 favourite with leading election bookmaker Centrebet to retain power when Victoria goes to the polls late next year, with the embattled Coalition a $5.10 outsider”; odds have since shifted slightly in the Coalition’s favour, a Labor win bringing $1.23, a Coalition victory $4.00.
Otherwise, After the Greek Riots and taxikipali‘s posts on libcom.org are the best sauces of news in English that I’m aware of.
As far as the antifascist counterdemo planned for today afternoon in Amerikis Square, both the fascist gathering and the antifascist counterdemo were declared banned by the district attorney. As a result, antifascist marches were prevented to reach the square by strong riot police forces and marched instead in the streets of Kypseli chanting antiracist and proletarian solidarity slogans. The fascist scum never even appeared for their advertised bigotry stunt at the square.
Bloggy… Left
Αντιφασισμός is a Greek blog and one which, I assume, is like an online brick in the face of Greek fascism. (Great links page too.) Red Thread Brisbane e-journal is “a collective thinking space for revolutionaries in Brisbane.” (NB. Dave promised me if I plugged this and his new interpretive dance troupe Vegan Steel he’d recruit a dozen Brisbane reds to become fans of slackbastard.) The gaping silence : More Work, Less Pay? You Bastard!
Bonus!
“In light of the station’s maturity into a stable economic and social entity, the theme running through its existence remains prescient. As first station manager Sue Matthews wrote in 1981, “When the mainstream catches up with the alternatives, it’s time for people like us to be assessing just where the edges we’re supposed to be pushing against now lie.”
Come and celebrate Subscriber Drive at the 3CR Picnic this Saturday – we’d love to see you there! BYO picnic provisions for a low key afternoon under the trees in the Edinburgh Gardens.
3CR Picnic: Edinburgh Gardens, North Fitzroy, Saturday, February 27, 1-5pm at the Circle of Trees Site.
“As I stated on the Bombshell forum Andy, you are a liar, a hypocrite and no better than the trash that you fight against.” ~ Dion, December, 2007.
The trash I fight against and in relation to which I’m no better are in trouble in Russia. (But who gives a shit about Russia?Faggots like me I guess.) Anyway, “A court in Moscow has sentenced nine members of a neo-Nazi skinhead gang to prison terms of up to 23 years” (Neo-Nazi skinheads jailed in Russia for racist killings, Artyom Liss, BBC News, February 25, 2010). In other news, the murders of lawyer Stanislav Markelov and journalist Anastasia Baburova in January 2009 have been declared to be ‘political’: “Last November, Nikolai Tikhonov, 29, and Yevgenia Khasis, 24, members of a radical neo-Nazi nationalist group, were charged with a “murder committed by previous concert by a group of individuals”. The case made headlines all over the world and once again highlighted the dangers faced by journalists and human rights activists in Russia, which has one of the poorest journalist safety records in the world.”
Closer to home, neo-Nazi network Blood & Honour have announced their production of some more t-shirts, which are “Ours not theirs”, apparently. The t-shirts are exclusive to 9percent productions and numbers are limited, so “if you want to be the best dressed White Nationalist/Patriot at your next BBQ or get together, get in quick!” Anyone wanting to sport a new tattoo as well as a new t-shirt when they attend the celebration of Hitler’s birthday that B&H is organising on the Gold Coast in a few months time should pop in to Hold Fast Body Art in Burwood. Proprietor Justin O’Brien, who is the Victorian organiser for B&H, is giving a 10% discount to anyone mentioning this ad (and who manages to avoid being pepper-sprayed by him as they run to the door).
In the UK, the Centre for Social Cohesion is recommending that the Home Office consider proscribing O’Brien’s comrades in B&H (and C18) under Terrorism Act 2000 and 2006 legislation. Until the next time a B&H member commits an atrocity however, and notwithstanding the fact that the organisation is banned in Germany (and only last week had one of its gigs in Croatia closed down by police), it would seem an unlikely outcome. Further, what impact it would have on the far right as a whole is questionable — although it would make the snazzy new t-shirts 9percent is selling unlawful to wear or display, and not only as a crime against fashion.
Meanwhile, over the water and on the other side of the pond…
The man charged with murdering young mum Vanessa Pickering was a founding member of a skinhead gang.
Today Sunday News can reveal Malcolm George Chaston co-founded South Island-based gang the Fourth Reich with another man – a convicted murderer – in the 1990s.
Chaston appeared in the Christchurch District Court on Wednesday charged with Pickering’s murder, the same day she was farewelled at Christchurch Cathedral.
Pickering’s body was found by police searching at Godley Head, on Banks Peninsula, a few days after her disappearance on Monday last week.
Her daughter was found wandering alone in a paddock on the night her mother went missing. Pickering is believed to have died of stab wounds.
Chaston, 40 – who is in custody and will reappear in the Christchurch District Court on Wednesday – had earlier been charged with assault with intent to commit sexual violation, and separate counts of abduction, assault and sexual violation of a child last week.
The detective in charge of the Pickering homicide, detective senior sergeant Virginia Le Bas, told Sunday News she “didn’t really know” if Chaston was linked with Neo-Nazi gang the Fourth Reich.
But a gang source and police intelligence officers confirmed Chaston’s involvement with the gang, which is now largely based in Nelson and along the West Coast.
Chaston is no longer an active member.
Meanwhile, a gang source said white-supremacist gangs like the Fourth Reich and new gang Nazi Skins were again on the rise and their numbers inside Christchurch Men’s Prison were swelling.
The Fourth Reich was formed in 1994, and has a very bloody history. Convicted murderer Hayden Brent McKenzie is another (former) member, who came to notoriety following his killing of South Korean backpacker Jae Hyeon Kim in 2003. See : OMG!Violence is real!LOL! Neo-Nazi beliefs blamed for murders! And attempted murders!ROFLMAO! (December 5, 2008) | Reign of the Fourth Reich, The Press, June 25, 2005: “The Fourth Reich tortured its enemies and forced a police officer into hiding. What chance did an eccentric West Coast drifter have? Matt Conway delves into the strange life and brutal death of James ‘Janis’ Bambrough.”
(Fourth Reich is also the name of an Australian OMC; apart from an apparent, shared appreciation for Hitler’s Germany, it has no relationship to the New Zealand boneheads.)
Apparently, this is A Big Deal (although not all agree), the principle being, if The Richest Man On The Planet had nothing to hide, why did Microsoft, inter alia, kill Cryptome?
Recently released documents, 24. Feb. 2010: Cryptome.org takedown: Global Criminal Compliance Handbook, 24 Feb 2010:
Cryptome.org is a venerable New York based anti-secrecy site that has been publishing since 1999. On Feb 24, 2010, the site was forc[i]bly taken down following its publication [of] Microsoft’s “Global Criminal Compliance Handbook” [PDF], a confidential 22 page booklet designed for police and intelligence services. The guide provides a “menu” of information Microsoft collects on the users of its online services. Microsoft lawyers threatened Cryptome and its “printer”, internet hosting provider giant Network Solutions under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA). The DMCA was designed to protect the legitimate rights of publishers, not to conceal scandalous internal documents that were never intended for sale. Although the action is a clear abuse of the DMCA, Network Solutions, a company with extensive connections to U.S. intelligence contractors, gagged the site in its entirety. Such actions are a serious problem in the United States, where although in theory the First Amendment protects the freedom of the press, in practice, censorship has been privatized via abuse of the judicial system and corporate patronage networks.
Deeply inspired by Final Placement, I’ve decided to pick myself up off the ground and to continue on my campaign to conquer Facebook. I’m gonna shine, ’cause this time, I’m playing to win!
Facebook today stands at a crossroads. One possible future is already visible around us – the further intensification of human misery, ecological devastation and the absurd contradictions that now abound, especially the fact that slackbastard has less fans than the Revolutionary Socialist Party has members. The alternative is within our grasp. The knowledge and productive capacity that already exist could, if used rationally, provide for the full development of human potential, a vast advance in humanity’s social and cultural development, collective and individual liberation, and the closing of the gap between the two pages which currently stands at just 67. The revolutionary overthrow of capitalism and the building of socialism – a global society of shared wealth and democratic planning to meet social needs – offer the only hope for the survival of civilisation. But such a revolutionary transformation of society will not happen spontaneously. It requires conscious revolutionary socialist leadership, and for you to become a fan of slackbastard.
Someone calling themselves Brian has posted a comment regarding an account by Gordon Crawford (SDL World Pub Tour Continues, Though Cowards Flinch, February 20, 2010) of the recent SDL rally in Edinburgh, describing it — and, presumably, some of the other commentary prompted by Crawford’s post — as “a familiar piece of anti-SWP rhetoric”.
For those of you coming in late, the SWP is the ‘Socialist Workers Party’, a neo-Trotskyist political party (one with the largest membership on the extra-parliamentary left), and the main organisational force behind the UK anti-fascist network ‘Unite Against Fascism’ (UAF). Brian’s comment is noteworthy insofar as it encapsulates the SWP’s approach to working with other groups, as well as the thinking which underlies it.
What a familiar piece of anti-SWP rhetoric. The Anti-[F]ascist [A]lliances [of Edinburgh and Glasgow] can congratulate themselves for being brave and stout and standing up to fascists. But politics takes place on other plains other than just the street and at some point you’ll have to grow up and realise that sympathy for these thugs can grow faster than the ranks of reds willing to kick their heads in. I’m all for direct confrontation with these worthless pricks – but only a mass movement can break them in the long run. The task at hand therefore is not to try to [siphon] off the most courageous fighters (who inevitably will be – mostly, though not all – young strong men) but to give confidence to everyone who turns up to the rally to be part of the blockade, giving everyone a role.
To do this the EAFA and GAFA will have to recognise the ways in which Scotland United have made this difficult. Their umbrella organisation out-manoeuvred UAF which remains the largest grouping capable of confronting fascism in Britain. Both UAF and the Anti-Fascist [A]lliance[s] have forces that are too small to overrule the crap policies, classless politics and poor tactics of Scotland United. But no mass base will be built by humiliating these people by complaining that they did not march to confront the fascists. They lack the political understanding and confidence to do so. And questioning their commitment to the cause of anti-fascism is despicable and immature. As an SWP and UAF activist it is infuriating to have my comrades on the left make accusations that we are too cowardly somehow to put into practice our stated principles on fighting fascism. The question is not whether to confront the fascists – it’s how? and with what forces? It is particularly offensive when only a few years ago when I was in the SSP I was told we didn’t need an anti-fascist campaign as the SSP would take care of things. Unfortunately that was not the case. Broad left-unity was more important than squads of fighters.
Lastly I’d ask comrades to consider one vitally important question. If the SWP is not actually against fighting fascism, directly confronting thugs on the streets – why did we on several occasions call demonstrations against Nazis in defiance of UAF, when we failed to convince a majority within the UAF branches to march?
The author of this article and others in the anarchist/far left sections cannot conceive of this as they are much more comfortable in the certainties of separatism, than the challenges of unity.
Obviously, Brian’s comments concern a number of distinct, but overlapping subjects, from the concrete and local — what happened on February 20? — to the more abstract and general — how can fascism (in the UK) be defeated?
On the one hand, unlike Brian, Smith’s account makes no reference to the ‘Edinburgh Anti-Fascist Alliance’ (EAFA). (But then, it should be noted, neither does Socialist Worker as a whole, in reference to either Edinburgh or Glasgow.) On the other hand, Smith credits UAF — by way of fellow SWP member Eileen Boyle — with ensuring that the SDL “were holed up inside a pub at the bottom of the Royal Mile”. And yet, as all other, independent accounts confirm, the fact that the SDL was forced to confine itself to Jenny Ha’s was not the result of any concerted effort by UAF. On the contrary: SWP member Weyman Bennett — who chairs UAF and is its leading spokesperson — urged those who assembled in Edinburgh, and who were contemplating joining EAFA in confronting the SDL at their pub, to not do so, and to instead join others who were rallying under the banner of ‘Scotland United’.
In other words, Smith’s account is both false and misleading.
Here’s how the UAF promoted the events of February 20:
Stop the Scottish Defence League in Edinburgh this Saturday 20 February
The Scottish Defence League is going to try and bring its anti-Muslim bigotry and race hate to Edinburgh this Saturday. UAF is supporting mass demonstrations to stop them.
Meet at 10am at Mound Precinct (at the foot of The Mound) for a UAF street meeting and leafleting session. A student feeder march from Edinburgh University is assembling at 10am in Bristol Square. The Scotland United rally and march against the SDL starts at 11.30am at the nearby Princes Street Gardens bandstand.
Unite Against Fascism
The second aspect of Brian’s comment I wish to remark upon is its characterisation of the Anti-Fascist Alliances as being, in essence, a collection of immature young men.
Being neither a member of or especially familiar with either group, I’m unable to determine whether or not this assessment is correct. Still, I’m very familiar with the patronising tone, as well as the assertion that the kinds of issues he raises — such as the different capacities individuals bring to anti-fascism, or the idea that anti-fascism is a long-term project with many different facets — haven’t, in fact, been given any consideration by such groups (that is, groups opposed to ‘fascism’ but pursuing this opposition in ways which don’t necessarily meet with the approval of the putative leaders of this opposition). On my reading, having little to gain, and quite a lot to lose, by failing to take such matters seriously, groups such as the EAFA but also — and most especially, given the context — the earlier UK ‘alliance’ known as ‘Anti-Fascist Action’, paid serious attention to such matters. Indeed, in its publications (such as Fighting Talk), AFA took note of the BNP’s turn towards respectability — shedding boots for suits — many years before the UAF’s precursor in the ANL did.
The questions Brian asks are, of course, entirely appropriate. If fascism should be confronted, how should this be accomplished? By whom and in what manner? The SWP has chosen to confront fascism by way of UAF (and also Love Music Hate Racism/LHMR), in which they are united with a range of Labour politicians, leaders of trade unions, and a range of other VIPs, as well as various, otherwise unremarkable members of the general public.
The UAF’s ‘Founding Statement’ is a slightly odd document. While the rally to launch UAF took place five years earlier, in 2004, its most recent revision appears to have been produced sometime prior to the June 2009 EU elections. The situation in mid-2009 is described as follows:
The BNP now has 55 councillors across Britain and in May 2008 gained a seat on the London Assembly, polling 130,174 votes — 5.33%.
The BNP is poised to field candidates in the June 2009 European Parliamentary and local government elections, in what they hope will be the biggest electoral assault ever mounted by the far right in this country. The collapse of UKIP and the current economic crisis mean that there is a real danger that the BNP may gain seats onto the European parliament in these elections. This would represent a major electoral breakthrough for the BNP and would allow them huge resources, influence, greater respectability, and the ability to work with other far right and fascist parties in Europe.
The BNP did field candidates in the EU election, and two of them, both veteran fascists, were successful: Andrew Brons and Nick Griffin. In other words, according to UAF, the danger has been realised, the BNP has experienced a real electoral breakthrough and it now has access to “huge resources, influence, greater respectability, and the ability to work with other far right and fascist parties in Europe”. This is despite the best efforts of “the largest grouping capable of confronting fascism in Britain”.
But what is the nature of this threat, and how might this ‘breakthrough’ be explained? According to UAF, the BNP is attracting votes “on the basis of racism, Islamophobia, anti-Semitism, homophobia and the vilification of refugees and asylum seekers”. Apparently, there has been an upsurge in the number of racists, Islamophobes, anti-Semites, homophobes and xenophobes in the UK, and many of them are now expressing their irrational prejudices by voting BNP. Further:
The BNP stands for the expulsion of Black and Asian people from this country, the destruction of the trade unions, the promotion of violence and hatred and the elimination of basic democratic rights… We believe that this dangerous situation requires a strong and united response from all those dedicated to freedom and democracy. We must combine our forces and unite in a broad and common front against this common threat.
Which again, raises all sorts of other questions. Thus:
The BNP is clearly hostile to Islam, and to the presence of non-Whites in the UK, and yet the hardline which the party has pursued for most of its history has been somewhat attenuated in recent years. And so while the recent decision to re-write the party’s Constitution so as to allow non-Whites to join may be almost entirely symbolic, it does signal a further movement towards political pragmatism; a re-alignment of the kind Nick Griffin spoke of at a meeting of the American Friends of the BNP in April 2000. Further, while the party is obviously pre-occupied with matters of Race & Nation, it also addresses other issues, and an audience which is often deeply alienated from the kinds of mainstream political forces which are happy to lend their support to UAF.
In any case, the obvious question raised by any campaign which implores the electorate ‘don’t vote for the BNP’ is ‘vote for who?’
For its part, the SWP has provided a variety of answers, the rapidity with which they’ve been offered seeming to accelerate over time. First, and for most of its history, the SWP encouraged a vote for Labour (albeit ‘without illusions’). Then, in 1999, the SWP urged voters to support the ‘Socialist Alliance’ (of which it was a member). After leaving SA, the SWP campaigned for ‘RESPECT’ from 2004. After the party split from RESPECT, it urged a vote for the ‘Left List’ (2007). Unfortunately, when directly pitted against the BNP’s Richard Barnbrook in 2008, SWP/Left List candidate Lindsay German got a mere 16,796 votes; less than a quarter of Barnbrook’s total of 69,710.
Following this debacle, the ‘Left List’ became the ‘Left Alternative’ which, having achieved little more than demonstrating the SWP’s isolation, was a platform abandoned shortly thereafter. In February 2010, however, the party joined the ‘Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition’ (TUSC) (from the people who brought you No2EU). The political program of the TUSC is basically Old Skool social democracy, sometimes referred to, not always accurately, as Fabianism. Or in other words, Labour (if it had a left-wing).
Norman G. Finkelstein received his doctorate in 1988 from the Department of Politics at Princeton University. For many years he taught political theory and the Israel-Palestine conflict. He is currently an independent scholar. Finkelstein is the author of five books which have been translated into more than 40 foreign editions: Beyond Chutzpah: On the misuse of anti-Semitism and the abuse of history (University of California Press, 2005; expanded paperback edition, 2008) The Holocaust Industry: Reflections on the exploitation of Jewish suffering (Verso, 2000; expanded paperback edition, 2003) Image and Reality of the Israel-Palestine Conflict (Verso, 1995; expanded paperback edition, 2003) A Nation on Trial: The Goldhagen thesis and historical truth (with Ruth Bettina Birn) (Henry Holt, 1998) The Rise and Fall of Palestine: A personal account of the intifada years (University of Minnesota, 1996) He has just completed a new book entitled A Farewell to Israel: The coming break-up of American Zionism, to be published in 2009.
I bring to your attention two reports from the UK on ‘Blood & Honour’, the neo-Nazi network of ‘patriotic musicians of a right-wing persuasion what organises musical performances for younger persons’ (Dr James Saleam, Australia First Party). Born in 1987, “rather like football hooliganism, Blood & Honour originated in England, but has gone on to bigger and better things elsewhere” (Antifa UK), spreading like some kinda… I dunno… virus or something, first to Australia, and then the world.
Which is News… of the World.
*boom-tish*
Crush them Reich now
Anti-terror chiefs have warned against the growing threat from Nazi fanatics hell-bent on unleashing a new wave of bloody mayhem on Britain’s streets. The hardcore racists have vowed to WIPE OUT non-whites and set up a FOURTH REICH, echoing Hitler’s evil empire.
This ARTICLE in NEWS OF THE WORLD is CONTINUED at NORFOLK UNITY. Its publication was occasioned by a new report on B&H released by a mob called the Centre for Social Cohesion:
New report released today by the Centre for Social Cohesion (CSC) and Nothing British exposes violent ideology of white supremacism. Featured in yesterday’s News of the World, ‘Blood & Honour: Britain’s Far-Right Militants’ analyses the threat posed by white supremacist militant network, Blood & Honour (B&H).
I haven’t read the report yet, but when I do I’ll add some commentary (if I think it necessary). Otherwise, White Noise: inside the international nazi skinhead scene, edited by Nick Lowles and Steve Silver (Searchlight, 1998) provides some good background material, while the ‘Turn It Down’ site in the US has recently published a nice White Power Band Map, “To assist anyone and everyone who cares enough about music and wants to keep hate groups from hijacking our scenes”.
Adolf Adolf Adolf! Oi oi oi!
In Australia, B&H has been around for over 20 years, and works in close collaboration with another neo-Nazi skinhead group called the Hammerskins. (The Hammerskins originated in Texas; the Australian franchise is known as the Southern Cross Hammerskins.) B&H Australia is tiny, but does manage to organise an annual gig in Melbourne to commemorate the death in 1993 of B&H co-founder Ian Stuart Donaldson, as well as other, occasional events in Adelaide, Perth, Sydney and elsewhere. Otherwise, the group produces an occasional (Internet) radio show (episodes appearing in January, April, July, September and December 2009), and distributes neo-Nazi muzak and propaganda through its merchandising arm, 9% Percent Productions.
Beyond this, the network receives some small degree of support from others involved in the local music industry, a fact which, given its longevity, is unsurprising. Thus individuals involved with or on the periphery of the minuscule white power muzak industry have established generally cordial relations with others uncommitted and generally uninterested in furthering White racial supremacy. Of course, given broader public contempt for neo-Nazism and related doctrines, this support is generally covert rather than open, and tolerating the presence or even actively cooperating with racist, right-wing elements is usually justified on other grounds. For example, when, in 2006, an inner-city Melbourne pub was exposed as hosting the annual B&H memorial gig, a relatively large number of punk bands rallied around the pub’s manager. (The worst of the scabs still gigging are Marching Orders, Slick 46 and (ironically) The Worst.) While for the most part arising from a sense of loyalty to the pub manager, the ‘apolitical’ approach of many in the milieu may also be attributable to the more general yuppification of the subculture (although it should be noted that even yuppies are generally capable of recognising Nazism as being, like, Bad!).
In any case, despite this support, after a community boycott was initiated — one which gained the support of a range of local groups and individuals, including many other, more politically-aware punks — the racist, neo-Nazi sympathising management was removed, and a new, non-fascist friendly crew took over. Ironically, the main threat to its continued existence is now not the stench of neo-Nazism but draconian legislation ostensibly aimed at stemming violence at live music venues!
White Noise Productions
Outside of local, neo-conservative and reactionary 100% Two Fingers In the Air Punk Rawk™ circles, there’s a small audience for racist and fascist ideas within the heavy metal milieu — although again, most assume a fairly apathetic approach to politics, and/or extol the virtues of racism simply for its transgressive appeal.
A recent entrant into the field of heavy metal promotion is White Noise Productions, which maintains — at best — what might be termed an ambivalent approach to groups such as Blood & Honour. Thus WNP arranged for a brief tour Down Under by the fascist-sympathising Deströyer 666 in January 2010, is friends with the openly neo-Nazi band Ravenous, as well as B&H’s merchandising arm 9% Productions, and until recently (early 2010) proclaimed the promotion’s allegiance to ‘Blood & Honour’ and the network’s FREE! “Interactive Media Promotion’: like Panzerfaust‘s 2004 ‘Operation Schoolyard’ (albeit on a much tinier scale), an attempt to provide FREE! neo-Nazi propaganda to White yoof.
ACAB!
Like that adopted towards other groups and projects deemed to be potential sources of ‘politically-motivated violence’, the attitude of police and state authorities towards B&H and allied groups is generally one of watchful tolerance. (The obvious exception to that rule currently being the Muslim population; see : Kevin Rudd says Australia faces major terror threat, BBC, February 23, 2010.) Thus, providing the boys break no laws, they may carry on their activities more or less unmolested.
The only possible, slightly complicating factor is the existence of laws prohibiting ‘racial vilification’, which theoretically provide citizens the opportunity to file complaints for such things as the publication of enjoinders to racial violence. However, the use of such laws is extremely rare, their employment generally expensive to those concerned, and, moreover, of questionable legal bearing when brought to bear on private performances and the ah, Internets. (See also : More powers to nab net racists, Josh Gordon, The Sydney Morning Herald, February 21, 2010.) And while there have been a handful of murders, assaults, shootings and stabbings in recent decades (largely the result of internal bickering), given also the relative absence of violence on the far right — and its chronic inability to establish stable and even semi-popular structures — B&H and other neo-Nazi associations have only very occasionally been able to generate sensational headlines of the sort to be found in the News of The World.
Note that since the CSH report was published, police in Croatia have closed down a nutzi gig and arrested a number of organisers (for what crime(s) remains unknown); in a few weeks time, on March 6, Hungarian neo-Nazis will be holding a rally in the capital Budapest, while in the evening B&H are organising a pop concert. On February 22, the Hungarian Parliament voted “in favour of making Holocaust denial a criminal offence, punishable by up to three years imprisonment. The law was passed in a final vote with 197 in favour, 1 against, and 142 abstentions. It had been proposed by Attila Mesterhazy, prime ministerial candidate of the governing Hungarian Socialist Party. A motion by the centre-right opposition party Fidesz to extend the law to cover the denial of other crimes committed under the Communist regime was rejected by 178 votes to 146, with seven abstentions.”
Despite ongoing talks with State Government, LIVE and/or AMPLIFIED MUSIC is still the trigger for high risk conditions on many liquor licenses. We march in protest. Our small venues and community must be protected, empowered and respected.
Come and celebrate the greatest music community in the world!
PROTEST RALLY THIS TUESDAY FEBRUARY 23RD
ASSEMBLE STATE LIBRARY, CNR SWANSTON AND LATROBE STS
ARRIVE EARLY, MARCH LEAVES AT 4PM…
See also : Music Doesn’t Make You Violent… Victoria’s liquor licensing threatens our music culture | Birmy Rocked By Noise Complaints, Mess & Noise, February 17 2010 | The Birmy Reborn: ‘It’s Not Shit Anymore’, Mess & Noise, June 23, 2009 (“From a reported Nazi haunt to an all-embracing party destination, Melbourne’s Birmingham Hotel has certainly come a long way since re-opening a year ago. Ahead of its one-year anniversary, LAWSON FLETCHER charts its unlikely rebirth.”)
I’ve just received news that Jock Palfreeman, the Australian anti-fascist who is currently serving a 20 year prison term in Sofia, Bulgaria (for murder and attempted murder: seefreejock.net for details on his case) has been placed in isolation. Isolation means Jock is in solitary confinement, and has no contact with fellow prisoners. He also has no access to books, radio or television. He is unable to work, to study, or to attend the prison gymnasium. All his meals are eaten inside his cell. The only opportunity he has to leave his cell is for the 90 minute period each day in which he is allowed to exercise, on his own, in the prison courtyard.
Jock’s placement in isolation is the result of a law introduced in June 2009. This law states, in essence, that any foreign prisoner facing a possible sentence of more than 15 years has to remain in isolation until such time as they’ve received a final verdict on their case. Thus far, Jock has been convicted by the City Court (December 2009), but his conviction is subject to appeal: first, in a case to be heard by the High Court and then, potentially, by the Supreme Court. In other words if, as expected, the appeals process takes a further two years, Jock may be kept in isolation for this period.
It should be noted that, at the time the law was introduced until now, Jock was and is the only prisoner to be affected by the new law; further, that while Jock has previously been informed that, as a result of the new law, he would be placed in isolation, this is the first occasion upon which prison authorities have actually done so. Previous proclamations that he would be placed in isolation — of which there were several — were eventually ended when prison authorities were informed by legal advocates that such treatment was contrary to the terms and provisions of the European Convention on Human Rights.
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?"
