Sunday, November 06, 2005

A Week of Rebellion Against Social Injustice (Alternative Libertaire)



Within a week the riots that started in Clichy-sous-Bois as a result of the deaths of Ziad and Banou have spread to other suburbs around Paris, and now throughout the country. This is the unavoidable result of five years of Sarko-show [a reference to Minister of the Interior Nicolas Sarkozy], eight years of security legislation, and thirty years of social decline.

Read more...


Ziad and Banou died of electrical burns in a power sub-station, and a third youth is in serious condition. They thought they were being chased by the police. Will we ever know whether this was the case, whether the police are guilty of non-assistance of persons in danger?

Whatever the exact details of how these two teenagers died, their death was the spark. Young people in the suburbs already hated the State which for years has only appeared as police, courts, and (increasingly) prisons.

People in working class neighbourhoods live in constant fear, both for themselves and for their children. They are afraid of humiliating identity checks, arbitrary arrests, unpunished police violence, and spurious convictions for “outrage and rebellion,” all in order to meet some police quota. Even recent official reports have called attention to this increasing lawlessness on the part of the police.

And what can one say about provocations of the Minister of the Interior, and even worst about the policy which sees the suburbs as territory that needs to be reconquered, all of which increasingly resembles colonial and military “peacekeeping.”

And so yes, we are sorry that this violence – this answer to the illegitimate violence of those in power – is so often paradoxically directed against the very people who are forced to live in these neighbourhoods, who already have to deal with State and ruling class violence. The logic of this spontaneous rebellion is somewhat understood by the population, but its legitimacy is hurt by the destruction of cars, schools and buses.

But at the same time, we must remember how the State responds when these young people and their families do choose other methods, such as filing complaints against the police which hardly ever result in convictions (remember the work of the Bouge qui Bouge group in Dammarie-les-Lys*). Or the Arabs’ march in 1980, which was broken by the Socialists who were in power at the time and recuperated by SOS Racism.

We support the rebellion against injustice, the sense of mass solidarity, the elements of political awareness amongst most young people. As such, we understand and are in solidarity with both the necessity and the reasons behind the direct action now taking place throughout the working class areas.

This week or riots expresses the hopelessness of the most marginalized section of a generation with no future. Yet it should also be seen as being connected to the government’s strategy of tension and current repression of the social movements (transportation, postal workers, students, anti-GMO activists…) All of these struggles bear witness to the same social insecurity.

We are not going to demand a return to “community policing” or building new sports centers so that young people can work out their frustrations in silence. Does anyone seriously believe that this will solve the social tension caused by the political and social violence of those in power?

We are not even going to demand that the Minister of the Interior resign, as has a section of the left. This is a side-issue, a politician’s issue, and it is scandalous when we remember that the Plural Left [1] also passed security legislation and even today has not broken with the dominant liberal-security model.**

There are certain to be more explosions of anger unless there is a redistribution of work and wealth, all the more certainly so if social regression, inequality, racism and marginalization continue unchecked.

“Prevention,” religious recuperation and repression will all be useless. Only justice and social and economic equality can solve things.

Federal secretariat of Alternative libertaire,

November 5th 2005


Footnotes

(*) Alternative libertaire n°110, septembre 2002 : “Dammarie-les-Lys,
Cité en deuil, cité en résistance” (to view the article in French, click here) [translators note: this 2002 article details an association against police abuse in the suburb of Dammarie-les-Lys, a group which came about specifically following the deaths of two men, one during a police chase and one shot in the head by the police]

(**) For instance, in the National Assembly on July 16th 2002 the [Socialist] deputy Julien Dray addressed the Minister of the Interior, who was at the time implementing a whole series of repressive laws. Dray said: “Sociey […] has no solution other than repression […] For the good of our country, I can only wish you success […] Your plan is in many ways in line with the strategy prepared by the previous [“Plural Left”] government.”

[1] Translators note: The “Plural Left” (later renamed “United Left”) formed the government in France between 1997 and 2002. It was a Socialist Party government with ministers from four smaller left parties: the Communist Party, the Greens, the MDC, and the Left Radicals.



Please note that the above text about the past week’s riots in Clichy-Sous-Bois comes from the anarchist group Alternative libertaire in France and translated by yours truly. I have a “fast and loose” translation philosophy, meaning that when there is a choice between readability and the original phraseology i tend to favour the former, provided that the meaning stays the same. The original document can be seen in French.

Please also note that i am translating this as i have not been able to find any radical accounts of the riots or the police racism that provoked them in English… i do not necessarily agree with the author’s point of view, nor do they necessarily agree with mine. Si quelqu’un a un meilleur texte à suggérer, svp envoyez-moi le!

For background to the riots, including a timeline, check out the Wikipedia entry.

Or see on my blog:



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at 11:53 PM 3 comments





Communiqué from ATTAC Béthune



I have a busy day ahead of me so i don’t really have much time to translate a longer text – plus i have found that increasing mainstream coverage coupled with bizarrely-scanty left-wing coverage from France actually means i don’t have a pile of stuff waiting to be worked on.

What i did find below was interesting for two reasons. First off, ATTAC is a social-democratic network of groups against globalization – not a place i would expect any kind of radical discourse. Second of all, apart from the gripe some sticklers might have that they are accusing “ultra-liberalism” instead of “capitalism”, i think this kind of statement is exemplary – no calls to vote for so-and-so, no calls for peace and calm, no “even-handed” condemnation of both sides, just a “public and unambiguous” declaration of solidarity.

One can find good things in the most unexpected of places!


Communiqué from ATTAC Béthune, November 6th 205
ATTAC Béthune Audomarois publicly and unambiguously declares its solidarity with the people in the poor suburbs, victims of the system of Mr Sarkozy and his friends. The logic of ultra-liberalism always leads to lies, suffering, marginalization and violence. Today we are seeing the results.
ANOTHER WORLD IS POSSIBLE


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Saturday, November 05, 2005

Should We Support the Popular Rebellion, Or Oppose It With Talk Of “Islamicization” and “Disorder”?



Who has rebelled in Clichy-sous-bois? 

Youth, just as in May 1968.

But this time it was not the student youth, but rather the most exploited youth, which on top of being proletarian is confronted by massive and widespread racism every day.

This rebel youth is the vanguard of the class struggle in France, it wants everything to change, it is the expression of the total antagonism between the proletariat and capitalism.

Read more...


The reactionaries are trying to cover this up, they are acting as if this rebellion has nothing to do with “French society.”

And then there is the weapon of racism, used to divide and rule.

This is the line about the “Islamicization of France,” to use the words of Philippe de Villiers [leader of the Catholic nationalist Movement for France] when he talks of “‘ethnic civil war,’ the key, the root cause: the bankrupt policy of massive and uncontrolled immigration.”

Having just joined up with Jacques Bompard (formerly of the National Front), they have gone to Seine Saint-Denis to form a “national collective of politicians of the Republic against allowing immigrants to vote.”

As for [National Front leader Jean-Marie] Le Pen, he thinks that “by attacking the agents and symbols of the State, it is France herself that is attacked, by hordes of people that the so-called anti-racist laws prevent us from calling foreigners.”

Here we can see what the fascists are up to: using racism to divide the masses!

This racist propaganda is also a part of the criminalization of the “dangerous classes.”

According to the reactionaries it is a matter of passing off the rebellion as part of the gangster tradition of claiming territory.

This is the catchphrase used time and again, the “gang territory” as Sarkozy said in Argeneteuil, where he was showered with rocks after his statements about “trash” and “Karcher.”

“The youth think that the city belongs to them and them alone. So far as they can see, the police are just another gang. Their mere presence is interpreted as an aggression.” (Sébastien Peyrat, a media sociologist)

“There are people who feel that this is their chance to mark their territory by fighting the forces of law and order. They use violence to control these territories.” (Alain Bauer, criminologist and president of the National Commission on Delinquency)
This kind of talk is meant to “scare people,” to ensure the hegemony of the middle classes.

This is what is behind initiatives such as the Seine-Saint-Denis UMP federation’s petition to “Stop violence - Seine-Saint-Denis demands peace," 100,000 copies of which were distributed.

This is why we find the same talk among the armchair revolutionaries of the far left which is tied to the trade unions.

The left of the “French Communist Party” agrees with Arlette Laguiller that “The main victims of this violence are the people who live in these suburbs” (Arlette Laguiller). “Lacking a political analysis (…) some young people are reduced to committing unacceptable attacks against the peace, the safety and the property of people who work for a living.” (the left wing of the “CP” – the PRCF)

Arlette Laguiller does not hesitate to say that the violence is being committed by “crooks”: “Perhaps it is true that the everyday violence in these neighbourhoods is the work of thugs or pushers. But there have always been thugs, so why do so many young people support them today? Why do these violent explosions directed against the police attract so many more young people than these small time neighbourhood crooks?”

All of these legalists are saying the same thing: “Instead of destroying the cars and homes of workers, pensioners and the unemployed, what needs to be destroyed is capitalism.” (the left of the “CP” –the PRCF)

“The population is very worried about the wave of rebellion and violence that is shaking the suburbs and popular neighbourhoods.” (LCR [Trotskyist])

All of which is nothing but an excuse to reject the struggle.

The cars that have been set on fire have been in areas where the youth feel they can struggle, without having to go into areas where they could be easily arrested.

Many of the cars that have been set on fire were in front of police stations, or belonged to government officials (both Communist Party and UMP mayors), police stations were attacked (in Aulnay, Antony, etc.) as well as post offices and Renault franchises; there were several shots fired against the police (in Courneuve), reporters were taken aside and their cars were set on fire, the Bobigny shopping centre was “vandalized”, etc,

So do we want a revolution or don’t we?

History is made by the masses, and one is either with them or against them.

Struggle is a fact and those who would prefer that it be “different” are simply showing how they fear it, or that they do not even want it.

To give just one example, the LCR has called for “all left-wing and revolutionary forces” to meet “to work out an emergency initiative such as a peaceful march from the suburbs to demand that Sarkozy resign and that the necessary measures be taken to guarantee a social and collective life based on solidarity”!

Is a “peaceful demonstration” part of an electoral strategy or part of a revolutionary struggle against the State?

Communist Party (Marxist-Leninist Maoist) November 2005


Please note that the above text about the past week’s riots in Clichy-Sous-Bois come from the website of the Communist Party (Marxist-Leninist Maoist) in France and translated by yours truly. I have a “fast and loose” translation philosophy, meaning that when there is a choice between readability and the original phraseology i tend to favour the former, provided that the meaning stays the same. The original document can be seen in French.

Please also note that i am translating this as i have not been able to find any radical accounts of the riots or the police racism that provoked them in English… i do not necessarily agree with the PCMLM’s point of view, nor do they necessarily agree with mine. Si quelqu’un a un meilleur texte à suggérer, svp envoyez-moi le!

For background to the riots, including a timeline, check out the Wikipedia entry.

Or see on my blog:




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Friday, November 04, 2005

Clichy-sous-bios Riots : Youth Accuse the Police




Police provocations and repression
Sunday October 30th 2005, by David Cadasse

Following the insurrectional reaction to the two teenagers who died of electrical burns in a substation as they tried to “run from the police,” young people in Clichy-sous-bois (a suburb of Paris) are accusing the forces of law and order of throwing fuel on the fire, knowingly provoking them and even shooting them with rubber bullets for no reason. Afrik has obtained a video in which one can see this police violence, and has also collected several accounts during a meeting, Sunday, between the mayor and neighbourhood youth.

Read more...


Sunday, 3pm, Clichy-sous-bois. The mayor has organized an informal meeting with young people from the neighbourhood, all of whom are very disappointed and upset by the attitude of the police the night before. Yesterday the city had organized a silent demonstration in honour of the two teenagers, Ziad and Banou, who were burnt to death last Thursday in an electrical substation after being chased, or at least thinking they were being chased, by police. But if, after two days of rioting, the tension seemed to have subsided, the youth accuse the police of fanning the flames and keeping people’s hatred alive by committing more and more provocations, abuses and needless repression.

“Everyone has made tremendous efforts to calm things down. The demonstration was peaceful, but that night the CRS [riot police] made a point of harassing the youth, provoking them,” admitted a municipal official who requested anonymity. In the parking lot at city hall, over 150 youths, almost all of African origin (Black and Arab), came to listen to the mayor. The mayor made a point of reminding them that all of the damage that has been done will be paid for by the city, which means by the taxpayers. He suggested that the solution should be between people in the city and seemed to leave aside the question of the police. Everyone expressed themselves quite freely.

In the crowd everyone was talking. Little groups formed here and there to discuss the events of the night before. Everyone condemned the provocations and abuse of the police. Many people witnessed or were themselves victims of abuse.

Jeremy, fed up, explains: “They [the police – Afrik] are more hot-headed than usual, they are provoking us more. The brother of one of the dead kids was with us, as usual, in front of his building when the police came by with their flash balls [a gun that fires rubber bullets – Afrik] and started checking us out, finally telling him ‘you, go home to your mother.’ He took a few steps towards the cops to talk to them when one of the cops told him ‘Stop or I’ll shoot you.’ We ran in and up to the tenth floor, and they started shooting gas into the lobby.”


Mothers Insulted As They Leave The Mosque

“They all say shit, especially the journalists,” says Youcef, looking over at the Capa camera crew (Le vrai journal) surrounded by young people, taking pictures and getting quotes. “First of all, they started by attacking the reputation of the victims, when today even the prosecutor from Bobigny admits that the police had not ever suspected them of anything bad. The media wants us all to look like trash, whereas it is the police who provoke the youth, trying to get any excuse to hit or shoot.”

With barely contained anger, Morad tells us this: “We were leaving the mosque when the police surrounded us with their flash-balls drawn. They took us aside, but what really shocked us was when they started insulting the mothers who were leaving the prayers: ‘Get out of here you gang of whores and keep a better eye on your kids!’”

Morad does not seem like the type who would look for a confrontation with the police, but not everyone is so cool-headed.

Forces of law and order… or disorder?

You can feel the tension in the air. All the more because three police cars are stationed just 50 meters from the town hall. One of the officers has his flash ball in his hand with his finger on the trigger. The crowd takes this as yet another provocation. Tempers are rising. Two people start shouting that the crowd should attack the police: “Come on, we out-number them, we’ll all go together and smash them up,” says one of them. Luckily, calmer heads prevail, and manage to disperse the line of youths that had formed in front of the police.

“They are provoking us too much, I have friends who had been shot at, just like that, for no reason, with plastic bullets. This can only lead to more violence. Everyone is angry. Now if it’s going to explode, it’s going to explode. I am not afraid of them and their weapons. We will get to a point where we will get weapons . It’s going to get like in America here,” predicts Jonathan.

“The police stopped me at 4am. I was alone in my car. They searched the car and found a baseball bat in my trunk. When they asked me why I had the bat, I told them that there is no law against having a bat in your trunk. They answered me, saying ‘Well is there against a law against me ramming it in your face?’ Then they started going on saying ‘This isn’t Beirut here’ and calling me a ‘little faggot.’ One of them really wanted me to cry. He came right up to me and shouted ‘Cry!’ Luckily, just as this was happening some reporters drove by. I called out and they stopped. Before they got there the cop said he didn’t like reporters, but there was nothing he could do and he had to leave me alone.”


Nicolas Sarkozy Supports The Police

There are two different versions of the dramatic events at Clichy-sous-bois, regarding whether or not the police were chasing the teenagers after their soccer match. The police say one thing, and the young people from the area say something else. The problem is, there are witnesses. One of the young people who were chased explains that he hid while his three friends ran straight to the power substation. Even without this testimony, some people just don’t understand how the police version makes any sense. “Why were some young people arrested if they were not being chased, seeing as they all ran away?” “Why else would the teenagers have decided to climb a 3 meter high wall with barbed wire on top?” Just more questions that the police sweep aside.

Sunday at 8pm, the Minister of the Interior Nicolas Sarkozy stated on channel one that, according to the information he received, “The police were not chasing the youths.” If he does intend to “tell the truth to everyone,” he also made a point of paying “homage to the remarkable work the police have been doing” and to “congratulate them” for the arrests they have made. A law-and-order discourse that many people feel leads to a dangerous conclusion – that those who have been arrested [during he riots] are all thugs – and which gives the police carte blanche to do what they please with impunity.


A damning video for the forces of law and order

Once again, Nicolas Sarkozy repeated that he will maintain a policy of “zero tolerance” towards urban violence. Discounting community policing, he insists on the need for more and more arrests. “Real young people” will have nothing to fear from the police. In the meantime, on Sunday a security force of over 400 CRS [riot police], guardsmen and police took up positions throughout the city.

Can the police, supported by the Minister of the Interior, do as they please? A video, recorded with a cell phone, is circulating throughout the neighbourhoods. A file called “Sarko’s new keufs” [keuf is slang for police] was given to Afrik, and part of it can be viewed online. We see a police car parked with its door open. We think we can make out that someone has thrown something at the police. The response is immediate. We can clearly see plainclothes police firing again and again with heir flash-balls. We see them chasing the young people, calling out “Come back you bastards!”

“Some of the rubber bullets are even signed,” says Kader. “There is a guy who was hit by one that had ‘Boum boum on your ass, see you soon, Luc’ written on it.”

There seems to be a great divide between the police and the youth. Between the politicians who approve of the police’s behaviour and the media, which is accused of distorting and falsifying reality, the hostility and exasperation are feeding feelings of hatred that may unfortunately lead to worst.

To view the video please click here (you will need QuickTime)



Please note that the above text about the past week’s riots in Clichy-Sous-Bois come from the website of Afrik in France and translated by yours truly. I have a “fast and loose” translation philosophy, meaning that when there is a choice between readability and the original phraseology i tend to favour the former, provided that the meaning stays the same. The original document can be seen in French.

Please also note that i am translating this as i have not been able to find any radical accounts of the riots or the police racism that provoked them in English… i do not necessarily agree with the author’s point of view, nor do they necessarily agree with mine. Si quelqu’un a un meilleur texte à suggérer, svp envoyez-moi le!

For background to the riots, including a timeline, check out the Wikipedia entry.

Or see on my blog:


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at 3:05 PM 1 comments





The Clichy Rebellion : Does it show the need for self-defense, or for people’s war?



There is a rebellion in Clichy Sous bois.
A rebellion that has as its moral basis revenge, after two teenagers died of electrical burns in a power substation.

A night of rioting, “another one” as Sarkozy said.

The socialists say that this “is proof of the climate of tension that reigns and of the escalation of violence.”

Read more...


According to [former Socialist President Laurent] Fabius “the government and its right-wing predecessor seem to be far less interested in prevention than repression, whereas both are needed.”

And [former Socialist Minister] Dominique Strauss-Kahn complained on channel one that “There are less police in the suburbs, there is no more community policing, prevention programmes have been dismantled (…) The results are there to see: more violence than we have ever see before.”

According to some people, who firmly oppose the racist policies of the French State, this is one more argument in favour of community self-defense in popular areas, to protect against State attacks.

But “self-defense” makes no sense, as it is not a minority but all the popular classes that are targeted by State violence.
If you think in terms of self-defense, you are thinking in the same way (but inverted) as Joaquin Masanet, the spokesperson of UNSA-Police, the trade union of the majority of riot police, who has stated that the live ammunition fired against the riot police is “very serious” because it is aimed at a “symbol of the Republic” and proves that firearms “continue to circulate in the suburbs.”

All of which is just a way of “relativizing” the violence, of saying that it is qualitatively different in different areas… whereas it is only quantitatively different.

The massive police presence in the suburbs is in no way different from the repression of the « free partys » organized by young people who want to listen to music without going to commercial discos; it is in no way different from the little bosses’ surveillance in the workplace.

Capitalist social violence is the primary aspect.

“Of the two aspects of a contradiction, one is necessarily primary, the other secondary. The primary aspect is that which plays the dominant role in the contradiction. The characteristics of things and phenomena are mainly determined by this primary aspect of the contradiction, which holds the dominant position. But this situation is not static; the primary aspect and the secondary aspect of the contradiction change into one another and the characteristics of things change as a consequence.”
- (Mao Tse-Tung)
[translators note: i could not find the exact text of this quote in English, so i translated it myself – my apologies to Mao!]

This is the reason why the fires of revolution spread so quickly in the popular neighbourhoods.

For it is these neighbourhoods that the most exploited sections of the proletariat are brought together, many of whom are victims of racism.

A racism that is widespread throughout French society with “second class citizens” and a criminalized population accused of every evil.

Even young teenagers are prevented from going to school because of their alleged “dangerousness.”

This is why the masses who have nothing to lose but their chains are joining the revolutionary rebellion.

How else does one explain the fact that every night in France dozens of cars are set on fire?

How else does one explain how quickly the “violence” spread to neighbouring communities and the city of Montfermeil?

How else does one explain the fact that the Action police CFTC trade union requested that the army be sent into Clichy-sous-Bois?

The truth is that a single spark can start a praire fire.
And the rulers are all afraid.

Summing up a report released by Le Figaro [a very right-wing French magazine] on Thursday October 27th, the director general of the national guard (DGGN) lists “high-risk suburbs” where the guard is called to intervene, which shows that some medium-size cities can also be sparks (such as Rillieux-la-Pape in Rhône, Vitry-le-François in Marne, Villefontaine in Isère, Méru in l'Oise, etc.)
The entire bourgeoisie is trembling with fear because it knows that this is the calm that comes before the storm.

The masses want revolution, and every day they dare to go more and more in this direction, against the daily capitalist barbarism.

Communist Party (Marxist-Leninist Maoist) October 2005


Please note that the above text about the past week’s riots in Clichy-Sous-Bois come from the website of the Communist Party (Marxist-Leninist Maoist) in France and translated by yours truly. I have a “fast and loose” translation philosophy, meaning that when there is a choice between readability and the original phraseology i tend to favour the former, provided that the meaning stays the same. The original document can be seen in French.

Please also note that i am translating this as i have not been able to find any radical accounts of the riots or the police racism that provoked them in English… i do not necessarily agree with the PCMLM’s point of view, nor do they necessarily agree with mine. Si quelqu’un a un meilleur texte à suggérer, svp envoyez-moi le!

For background to the riots, including a timeline, check out the Wikipedia entry.

Or see on my blog:



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A Translation Question: “classes populaires”



While translating these texts on the riots in France, i have used the term “working classes” to translate “classes populaires”, even though a more literal translation would be “popular classes.”
Read more...

This is because the word “populaire” has the connotation of “the people” as in “the masses” or “the oppressed” or “the lower classes” whereas in English “popular” does not normally have this connotation.

That said, “working classes” is also inexact, as the way this is translated into French is “classe ouvrière.”

I am not sure if there are distortions as to one’s line that might flow from this question, but given the heat generated by such questions as “how many Stalinist angels can dance on the head of a Trotskyist pinhead?” i am sure here is potential…

So please be forewarned that when you see “working classes” or “popular classes” in any of these translations, that there is room for some ambiguity.

And if any other left-wing translators out there have any advice as to how i should handle his thorny issue, please let me know at info@kersplebedeb.com!

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The far left should talk about what’s going on in Clichy


Clichy, Aulnay, Blanc-Mesnil, Bobigny... It is right to rebel
The far left should talk about what’s going on in Clichy

The nights of rebellion continue. A popular rebellion taking aim at the State, which is completely overwhelmed by what was easy to see coming.

But even if you see it coming, a popular rebellion cannot be crushed, for history is the history of class struggle.
Read more...

Chirac can say “People have to calm down,” but what difference does it make?

The police section of the CFTC trade union, which represents 20% of the unionized police force, can ask for “a curfew to counter the civil war which is being waged in numerous French ghettos,” as “tomorrow it will be 700 out of bounds suburbs that will join the civil war,” just as it previously asked for the army. (see our document “La révolte de Clichy, expression du besoin d'autodéfense ou celui de la guerre populaire ?”) But what difference will it make?

None of this will change anything, for it is the masses who make history, and these seven nights of rebellion already have their place in the revolutionary history of France.
There rebellions are the proof that the class struggle is not over, even though certain people tried to suffocate it with electoralism and the campaign to vote “No” against the European constitution!

The popular rebellions taking place right now are sweeping away opportunism and this is a good thing.

They are showing that revolution is both possible and necessary.

They have silenced the electoral far left; it was several days before they dared to speak about what was going on, all of their strategy of having the working classes submit to the peace-loving petit-bourgeoisise just fell apart!

And yet when the Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad stated that “Israel must be wiped off the map”, the “French Communist Party” spoke up immediately, saying that this statement provoked “legitimate emotions and indignation.”

Apparently the popular rebellion creates less emotions… especially when we know that it is taking place in many suburbs with Communist mayors!

For the French Communist Party “Calm should be restored as quickly as possible and everyone should learn what they can from this”, “Community policing had allowed us to make important progress, but it was scrapped. Community groups carrying out extremely important work on the ground are seeing their funding cut.”

All of which amounts to the same as what Georges Mothron, the UMP [the ruling political party] mayor of Argenteuil has said: “This is the first time i have had to deal with this shit personally. My car was torched my house attacked. I have never seen anything like this! I was born in Argenteuil and I have always been able to wander around at any time of day, but here we are at a different level. That said, it is no good waving the stick without the carrot.”

The [Trotskyist] Revolutionary Communist League is saying the same thing: so far as it is concerned, the rebellion is only about “anger,” an expression of suffering and hopelessness. They consider Sarkozy to be a “pyromaniac firefighter.”

Much of the far left thinks this way: for them struggle exists on an organizational level, nothing else exists.

“This kind of ‘revolutionary’ says the same kind of thing as the Trotskyists, verbally kissing the workers’ asses even when they are completely ideologically backwards and screaming about anarchism as soon as some windows get smashed in a demonstration. We Maoists like it when windows get smashed. And the worker who is sorry to see the windows break is an idiot who needs to be politically educated.” (“Vive le léninisme,” Communist Party (Marxist-Lenininst Maoist) April 2003)

It is right to rebel!

Communist Party (Marxist-Lenininst Maoist) November 2005

Please note that the above text about the past week’s riots in Clichy-Sous-Bois come from the website of the Communist Party (Marxist-Leninist Maoist) in France and is translated by yours truly. I have a “fast and loose” translation philosophy, meaning that when there is a choice between readability and the original phraseology i tend to favour the former, provided that the meaning stays the same. The original document can be seen in French.

Please also note that i am translating this as i have not been able to find any radical accounts of the riots or the police racism that provoked them in English… i do not necessarily agree with the PCMLM’s point of view, nor do they necessarily agree with mine. Si quelqu’un a un meilleur texte à suggérer, svp envoyez-moi le!

For background to the riots, including a timeline, check out the Wikipedia entry.

Or see on my blog:




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U.S. Troops Gang Rape Filipina Woman in the Philippines




this forwarded from the very worthwhile Freedom Archives mailing list:

News Release Nov. 3, 2005
For reference: Berna Ellorin, Public Information Officer, BAYAN USA, ny@bayanusa.org / phone: 646-479-1605 http://www.bayanusa.org/

NO IMMUNITY: CASE OF US TROOPS' GANG RAPE OF FILIPINA WOMAN MUST BE SURRENDERED TO PHILIPPINE JURISDICTION

New York/San Francisco The national alliance of Filipino organizations in the US known as BAYAN USA and its supporters strongly condemn the recent and brutal gang rape of a 22 year-old Filipina woman by at least six US Marines stationed in Subic Bay, Olongapo City two days ago last Tuesday, November 1.
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The six suspects are currently being held in the Philippines under the custody of the US Embassy in Manila. BAYAN USA spokesperson Berna Ellorin asserted, "this heinous crime against the Filipino people at the hands of the US military troops commands nothing less than comprehensive justice. This can only mean all efforts must be exerted by both the US and Philippine authorities for a full investigation of the alleged perpetrators. Absolutely NO IMMUNITY must be granted to the six suspects under US jurisdiction. They must surrender to Philippine jurisdiction be tried and held accountable to the Filipino people and its legal system. The Macapagal-Arroyo government, if it is one with its people, must facilitate such a due process. Anything else is NOT justice."

According to the unidentified female victim, the group of six US marines invited her to join them in a rented van after a night out in a karaoke bar. A few hours later, as reported by the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA), witnesses said they saw the unconscious woman's body being dumped from the van on a road.

SBMA Chair Feliciano Salonga confirmed that the six US servicemen-- Keith Silkwood, Daniel Smith, Albert Lara, Dominic Duplantis, Corey Barris, and Chad Capent-- were "identified by the driver of the van."

Ellorin zoomed in on a vague claim by the US Embassy and US Charges D'Affairs Paul Jones that the US would "cooperate" with the Philippine authorities in an investigation of the incident.

"There is a century-long history of US military atrocities committed against Filipinos in the Philippines that were never brought to justice," Ellorin stated, citing previous examples including the shooting of unarmed civilian Buyong-Buyong Isnijal by US Soldier Reggie Lane in Basilan back in July 2002, the shooting of Aetas (an indigenous people) near Subic back in the eighties by US troops who claimed to have mistook them as wild boar, and countless human rights violations and sexual offenses against Filipino women.

"In all cases, Philippine government surrendered its criminal jurisdiction to the US. US soldiers, as protected by provisions under the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA) are seldom surrendered to Philippine authorities much less tried under Philippine law. They are totally untouchable under US jurisdiction, despite crimes they can commit against Filipinos on Philippine soil. This means they can get away with anything from murder to gang rape, and not have to answer to the Philippine government," Ellorin explained.

Ellorin cited the unconstitutionality of the Visiting Forces Agreement in the first place, stating it directly violates Philippine national sovereignty. "The VFA should be repealed at once, for the rights and welfare of the Filipino people.

Jones, on the other hand, refused to disclose the exact whereabouts of the six US rape suspects, who were among the 4,500 US servicemen in the Philippines for the Talon joint military exercises since several weeks ago.

BAYAN USA called for increased national action in indignation and demanding justice for the victim. It reiterated its call for the total and unconditional withdrawal of US troops and US military aid from the Philippines.

For news reports on the gang rape, visit the following links:

http://wcbstv.com/

http://news.bbc.co.uk/

BAYAN USA is an alliance of progressive Filipino groups in the U.S. representing organizations of students, scholars, women, workers, and youth. As the only international chapter of Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (BAYAN-Philippines), BAYAN USA serves as an information bureau for the national democratic movement of the Philippines and as a campaign center for anti-imperialist Filipinos in the U.S. Members of BAYAN USA include: ANAKBAYAN (Los Angeles & Seattle), Committee for Human Rights in the Philippines (Oakland, Bay Area), Habi-Arts (Los Angeles), New York Committee for Human Rights in the Philippines (NY), League of Filipino Students (San Francisco), Pilipinos Organizing Workers for Empowerment and Respect (Los Angeles), and Critical Filipino and Filipino Studies Collective.

To receive official BAYAN USA statements and press releases please join the bayanusanews list. Just send a request to info@bayanusa.org.


And if you are in San Francisco you may want to check out this protest today:

EMERGENCY ACTION ALERT!

U.S. TROOPS GANG RAPE FILIPINA WOMAN IN THE PHILIPPINES

DEMONSTRATION TO DEMAND JUSTICE FOR THE VICTIM, AND NO IMMUNITY FOR THE PERPETRATORS

Today, Friday, November 4th, 4:30-6pm San Francisco Federal Building 450 Golden Gate Avenue (Cross Street is Polk) San Francisco, CA

DEMAND JUSTICE FOR VICTIMS OF CRIMES COMMITTED BY US TROOPS!
JUNK THE VISITING FORCES AGREEMENT (VFA)! US TROOPS OUT OF THE PHILIPPINES, MIDDLE EAST, & EVERYWHERE!

Organized by BAYAN USA, babae, League of Filipino Students, Committee for Human Rights in the Philippines For more information contact: info@bayanusa.org or call 415-412-8915 or 510-914-4461

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Thursday, November 03, 2005

Riots Against Racism: Paris is Burning




"Anything could have started it. When you're an immigrant here, you're just stuck in your shit. Does it really surprise you it's going up in flames?"

- Momo, Age 26, Aulnay-sous-Bois


“The thugs will disappear, I will deploy the force necessary to clean this up… We will use the Karcher treatment [referring to a cleaning product]. We will send in special teams and then, if necessary, the riot squads.”

- Nicolas Sarkozy, Minister of Public Security, June 20th, La Courneuve

A bit of background

Nicolas Sarkozy is the Minister of the Interior and Town and County Planning, and is widely seen as a leading presidential candidate in 2007. He has staked out the right of the political field, excelling at outrageous macho statements, all in an attempt to curry favour with the white racist vote. And it seems to be working, as he is considered the most popular politician in France. (Sarkozy pledges police crackdown after riots in Paris, The Guardian, Tuesday November 1, 2005)

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France has a powerful far right – this is the country of Jean-Marie Le Pen – and has long been a strategy of all kinds of bourgeois politicians to try and win votes from these fascists by trying to outdo them at their own game (what has been called the “lepenization of the mind”). Perhaps in this vein, in June Sarkozy provoked public outcry when he promised to give the suburb of La Courneuve (in Seine-Saint-Denis) the "Karcher treatment". Just a week befor ethe events discussed here he referred to local youths as "thugs" and "trash" when he visited Argenteuil (Val-d'Oise), another Parisian suburb. (Clichy-sous-Bois: Nicolas Sarkozy seul en première ligne, le Nouvel Observateur, November 1st 2005)

And then came the night of October 27th, in the last week of Ramadan, in the suburb of Clichy-sous-Bois. Home of 28,000 people, “many of whom are immigrants from North or Central Africa. Most live in rundown, low-rise public housing estates. Unemployment rates are among the highest in France and many locals see the police as 'the enemy'.” (Fires of 'civil war' erupt in Paris, The Guardian, Sunday October 30, 2005)


A Certainly Incomplete Timeline

Thursday October 27th
Clichy-sous-Bois, 6:12pm: A group of a dozen or so teenagers have been playing soccer. They are on their way home for their evening meal (Moslems fast during the daylight hours of Ramadan.) The police routinely harass young people in the heavily immigrant suburbs that form a working class ring around Paris (the “petite couronne”). So when the teenagers spot police checking people’s IDs they run. Ziad Benna (17 years old), Bouna Traoré (15 years old) and a third friend are chased into a power substation where they hope to hide; they are all electrocuted and Benna and Traoré die.

Initially, Minister of the Interior Sarkozy accused the dead teenagers of being thieves, while also claiming that the police never in fact chased anyone, but that this was all some kind of misunderstanding or hallucination on the part of the teenagers. (Heure par heure, le Nouvel Observateur, November 3rd 2005)

Later on, everyone will acknowledge that the teenagers were not thieves and had no history of run-ins with the police.

The police will continue to deny that they ever chased the teenagers, but several eyewitnesses contradict this story. According to Sofiane, a 16 year old friend of the victims, the police chased the youths right up to the substation. (Incidents épars en Ile-de-France, France2.fr)

That evening neighbourhood youths clash with police, throwing rocks and Molotov cocktails, setting cars on fire, and vandalizing buildings. A shot was reportedly fired at police. (France hs strict gun control, so the use of liv ammunition by rioters has caught everyone's attention.) Police responded by firing tear gas at the rioters. About 27 people were detained. 23 cops and 1 journalist were wounded. The number of rioters injured is not known. (Wikipedia: 2005 Clichy-sous-Bois riots)


Friday October 28th
Clichy-sous-Bois: over 200 riot police battle neighbourhood youth. At least one shot was fired at the police, 19 people were detained and 15 cops and one journalist were injured.
'There's a civil war under way in Clichy-sous-Bois at the moment,' Michel Thooris from Action Police CFTC police trade union, said. 'My colleagues neither have the equipment nor the practical nor theoretical training for street fighting.'

Saturday October 29th
Clichy-sous-Bois: roughly 1,000 people hold a silent march, many wearing T-shirts bearing the message: 'Dead for Nothing'.

Sunday October 30th
Clichy-sous-Bois: During evening services a tear gas grenade is fired into the Bourgets mosque; as they flee the building Moslem women are insulted by police who call them “whores” and “bitches.” The police deny that he tear gas grenade was the kind that they use.

Monday, October 31st
Rioting spreads to Seine-Saint-Denis. In nearby Montfermeil, the municipal police garage is set on fire. (Wikipedia: 2005 Clichy-sous-Bois riots)

The cops are forced to admit that the tear gas grenade used in the attack against the Bourgets mosque was indeed the kind that they use.

As night falls the Clichy-sous-Bois police station is attacked with a molotov cocktail. (Heure par heure, le Nouvel Observateur, November 3rd 2005)

Tuesday November 1st
Over the previous night rioting has spread to nine other suburbs. A total of 150 arson attacks on garbage cans, vehicles and buildings were reported. The unrest was particularly intense in Sevran, Aulnay-sous-Bois and Bondy, all in the Seine-Saint-Denis region, which is considered to be a “sensitive area of immigration and modest incomes.” Three cops were slightly injured. In Aulnay-sous-Bois, rioters threw Molotov cocktails at the town hall and rocks at the firehouse; police fired rubber bullets at advancing rioters. (Wikipedia: 2005 Clichy-sous-Bois riots)

Prime Minister Dominic de Villepin meets with the parents of the three teenagers, promising a full investigation of the deaths and insisting on "the need to restore calm." (Clashes continue in Paris suburbs, The Guardian, Wednesday November 2, 2005)

Wednesday November 2nd
Reports suggest rioters briefly stormed a police station while 177 vehicles were torched during the previous night. One government official claims that live rounds were fired at riot police. Two primary schools, a post office and a shopping centre were damaged and a large car showroom set ablaze. Police vehicles were stoned as gangs turned on police. Rioting spreads west-ward to the area of Hauts-de-Seine where a police station was bombarded with home-made Molotov cocktails. Jacques Chirac, the President of France made appeals for calm, and Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin held an emergency cabinet meeting. (Wikipedia: 2005 Clichy-sous-Bois riots)

Aulnay-sous-Bois: “youths lobbed molotov cocktails at an annex to the town hall and threw stones at the fire station” (Clashes continue in Paris suburbs, The Guardian, Wednesday November 2, 2005)

Sarkozy cancels his upcoming trip to Pakistan and Afghanistan and Prime Minister de Villepin cancels his trip to Canada. (Heure par heure, le Nouvel Observateur, November 3rd 2005)


Thursday November 3rd
Over the previous night protestors set fire to 315 cars in the Paris area overnight, half of them in Seine-Saint-Denis, where nine people were injured, officials said. (French youths open fire on police, The Guardian, Thursday November 3, 2005) Throughout the Paris suburbs rioting is reported in Bondy, Aubervilliers, la Courneuve, Saint-Denis, Gennevilliers and Asnières-sur-Seine. In Aulnay-sous-Bois, “gangs of youths set fire to a Renault car dealership and incinerated at least a dozen cars, a supermarket and a local gymnasium.” (French youths open fire on police, The Guardian, November 3rd 2005)
Rioting is also reported outside of the Paris area, notably in Dijon, where several; cars were set on fire. (Incidents épars en Ile-de-France, France2.fr)
The families of Ziad Benna and Bouna Traoré file a formal complaint against persons unknown for non-assistance of a person in danger. (Heure par heure, le Nouvel Observateur, November 3rd 2005)

1,000 police, including 12 new mobile and anti-riot units, patrol Seine-Saint-Denis at night (Heure par heure, le Nouvel Observateur, November 3rd 2005)

Sarkozy goes on television, claiming that “What we have seen in Seine-Sainte-Denis is in no way spontaneous, it is prefectly organized. We are working to find out by who and how.” (Heure par heure, le Nouvel Observateur, November 3rd 2005)

Prime Minister de Villepin addresses the Senate, saying that “The Republican state will not give in” and that “law and order will have the last word.” (Heure par heure, le Nouvel Observateur, November 3rd 2005)

to be continued...

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Zero Tolerance in Clichy-Sous-Bois




Please note that the below account of the past week’s riots in Clichy-Sous-Bois come from the website les mots sont importants and translated by yours truly. I have a “fast and loose” translation philosophy, meaning that when there is a choice between readability and the original phraseology i tend to favour the former, provided that the meaning stays the same. The original document can be seen in French.

Please also note that i am translating this as i have not been able to find any radical accounts of the riots or the police racism that provoked them in English… i do not necessarily agree with the author’s point of view, nor does the author necessarily agree with mine. Si quelqu’un a un meilleur texte à suggérer, svp envoyez-moi le!

For background to the riots, including a timeline, check out the Wikipedia entry.

The Intolerable – about the events in Clichy-Sous-Bois
by Laurent Lévy, Wednesday November 1st 2005
We now know that the young people who tragically met their deaths in an electrical substation in Clichy-sous-bois were not, to use the given expression, “well known to the police.” They were quiet young people who had no record of trouble. But the contrary is not true.
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For their part, the young people knew the record of the police. They knew that if they had to go through one of those I.D. checks – as classic and vexing as they are useless – they ran the risk of having to spend a few hours at the police station, dealing with humiliation and contempt while they were there.
And they did not have time for that. They had to go home, because it was soon time to break the fast; they were looking forward to eating.
Why did the Minister of the Interrior make a point of saying that these events took place following an attempted theft? Doubtless, he wanted to play on the fantastic and disastrous idea that people have of the “suburbs,” an idea that he himself helps to spread. That they are lawless places ruled by criminals, threats to public safety, breeding grounds of delinquency.
If some young people die while fleeing the police, you might as well tell the good people that it is because they had done something wrong. Anything will do.
If the story takes place on the edge of a poor neighbourhood in the “inner suburbs” around Paris, it is because we’re dealing with “trash.”
And the Minister knows all about this! You can’t fool him! No doubt, he would use some “karcher” on Clichy in honour of “zero tolerance”. What we may doubt, though, is that we have the same idea of what is “tolerable” and what is not: after all, what is intolerable in a civilized society is not the revolt of those whose children, brothers and friends are hunted down and killed. What is intolerable is the arrogance of the authorities, of irresponsible police, of the State which is waging war against the poor.
Throughout these events the agents of the State have acted as if they were in a civil war.
In an egalitarian society this would have been unthinkable. When the Minister of the Interior sets the example by lying, one sees no reason why his subordinates should not follow suit. So a police officer goes an the radio and says that no tear gas was used against the mosque, that in fact it was the demonstrators who used “pepper spray grenades”, and that this is what stung some peoples’ eyes. Just like his boss knew full well that there had been no theft, this cop was fully aware of what we all learnt later on, namely that they were in fact tear gas grenades from the police that were used.
And so it was that during their prayers, on the Night of Destiny, that the Moslems of Clichy were given a chance to appreciate the efficiency of their country’s police. They have no need to fear for their safety. They got to see how the Flash-Balls work. They got to see the children running scared while their mothers, trying to protect them, were called “whores” and chased down the stairs by the Mr Sarkozy’s soldiers.
Those who did not know are now able to see what “colonial neighbourhood management” means. Tomorrow, it will be clear.
Tomorrow they will be told about the republic, about liberty, equality and fraternity. They will be reminded of how well respected and admired the country that produced the rights of man is all around the world. Tomorrow, the suburbs will be taken care of – and just wait til you see how!
The Minister has already set a date; every week he will visit a “sensitive neighbourhood,” for this is the new name for working class neighbourhoods. He’ll do what’s necessary. There will be units of riot police and special intervention squads. And yet, people were not asking so much: simply to be allowed to live. Of course, this was doubtless asking too much.

Laurent Lévy is author of Le spectre du communautarisme (éditions Amsterdam).

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State Violence in Clichy Sous Bois : An Eyewitness Account



Please note that the below account of the past week’s riots in Clichy-Sous-Bois come from the website les mots sont importants and translated by yours truly. I have a “fast and loose” translation philosophy, meaning that when there is a choice between readability and the original phraseology i tend to favour the former, provided that the meaning stays the same. The original document can be seen in French.

Please also note that i am translating this as i have not been able to find any radical accounts of the riots or the police racism that provoked them in English… i do not necessarily agree with the author’s point of view, nor does the author necessarily agree with mine. Si quelqu’un a un meilleur texte à suggérer, svp envoyezmoi le!

For background to the riots, including a timeline, check out the Wikipedia entry.


State Violence in Clichy Sous Bois : An Eyewitness Account
Clichy-sous-Bois : lawlessness or injustice?
by Antoine Germa

I have been in and out of Clichy since Saturday morning, working with a France-Inter reporter on a series of reports about the situation in Clichy-sous-Bois. The city was “in arms” from the night of Thursday October 27th to the night of Monday October 30th.

Read more...



I am writing what I have seen, heard, understood, and been told.

1. Two dead teenagers (Zyad and Bounna, 17 and 15 years old, from college #3) do seem to have been chased by the police, contrary to the official version which denied that there was any pursuit (the Sarkozy/Parquet version). Why else would they go in that alleyway and climb a wall to hide in a power substation when they lived so close by?

2. The ten young people who were playing soccer ran away from the police who were checking people’s i.d. because some of them did not have proper papers (amongst these, the third electrocuted youth, Metin, was in the process of having his case regularized). They were never involved in any theft from the site as the official version claimed, but that did not stop these claims from being repeated by [Prime Minister Dominique] de Villepin on Thursday. Nobody stands by these claims today, as the prosecutor from Bobigny acknowledged Saturday that it was a simple i.d. check. The youths who were arrested were released within an hour, more proof that the police had nothing on them. Metin, suffering from severe burns, “does not remember anything” according to the official version… is this silence connected to his legal status?

3. All sorts of rumours began to circulate in the city : Why are the police lying? What are they hiding? People spontaneously began to riot on Thursday, on Friday they were reinforced by the “older ones”. The first targets were: the post office (many cars burnt), the fire station (a fire truck demolished), bus shelters, a school (set on fire). The rioting became particularly violent on Friday (people throwing rocks and firebombs and shooting at police cars) This took place in the big thoroughfares that run through the Chene pointu neighbourhood (close to Pama). Many cars were set on fire, their burnt out shells were still littering the streets Saturday morning.

Saturday morning there was a silent march organized by religious associations and the mosques. There were appeals for calm. All eyes were on the justice system and [Minister of Public Security Nicolas] Sarkozy was singled out for criticism. Moslem community institutions, city officials and activists were visibly united, and seemed to have the situation under control. There were slightly more than a thousand participants. Visibly tired and emotional, the Socialist Mayor of Clichy, Claude Dilain, who seems to enjoy real support amongst the population of Clichy (including the youth), made an official request to Sarkozy to open an investigation into the deaths of the two teenagers. Coming out of a meeting at the city hall after the march, the lawyer for the victims’ families announced that he would be filing a complaint in order to expose the circumstances in which they died. The police were nowhere to be seen and all seemed calm that day.

Saturday night, as the fast was broken (around 6:30pm), 400 riot police – including some who came from Chalon s/saone – appeared all over the Chene pointu neighbourhood. As usual, they were encircling – “closing off” – the neighbourhood. The police are ridiculous : joggng in step, like Roman legionnaires, shields raised and flash-guns in hand, they went street by street as if fighting invisible enemies.

At that time of day everybody is eating and nobody stays outside. So why such a show of force at a time when the streets are unusually quiet? “Provocation” is the answer given by everyone from the area I asked. This is the recurring theme since Friday night.

After an hour, some young people go outside and stand in front of the police: everyone expects a confrontation. How does the police strategy make ay sense, except in terms of “marking their territory”, “restoring order” in the most primitive and macho way possible.

Several different eyewitness accounts and recordings clearly show that the police wanted to have it out with the youths: calling out racist insults, challenging them to fight, posturing. I went to the Bousquets mosque at 9pm: it was overflowing (roughly 1200-1300 people), as this was the Night of Destiny that is traditionally spent in the mosque. Several cars and garbage cans had already been set alight, and young people were here seeking refuge in this sanctuary in the middle of the neighbourhood. Nevertheless, there was a mood of solemn contemplation, and from the beginning the imams had played an important role in restoring the peace.

Despite the police provocations, Saturday night seemed less violent. Was this because of the appeals to calm repeated all day long? Was this due to the importance of the Night of Destiny at this point in Ramadan?

4. Sunday night, I receive an outraged and dismayed telephone call from Ibrahim, the son of an imam, at 10:55pm. He tells me that while people were praying the police gassed the de Bousquets mosque. He tells me that some women – who were in the section reserved for them – almost passed out. As they left they were met with insults from the forces of law and order: “whore, bitch…” Attempts to speak to the police proved futile, those who dared to try were ordered to “Move on!” and risked being wounded with a flash-ball. Ibrahim asks me to come to be a witness but I am not in Clichy at the time.

This news seems beyond belief. How can they attack a religious gathering? Why gas the mosque when (apart from the mayor) the religious authorities have been the only ones capable of calming things down? Things are now ready to explode; new confrontations break out and more cars are set on fire: positions are becoming more and more radical, especially as the police deny that they used tear gas in the mosque. They say the type of grenade that was used is not the kind issued to police. From this point on there are two issues: the deaths of the teenagers and the attack on the mosque.

It is at this point that Sarkozy appears on television defending and justifying the police actions in Clichy, once again calling for « zero tolerance » : one hand the iron fist, the other hand… nothing, except perhaps the invisible hand of the market.

5. Monday morning : the mood is tense. At 11am, Sarkozy meets with the security forces at the de Bobigny police station, offering them his congratulations and support. The official version of the gas attack on the mosque has been somewhat modified over night. It turns out the kind of grenade used was indeed the sort issued to police, but there are still some doubts: just who could have thrown the grenades into the mosque? Yet again, the official version is completely disconnected from reality.

At 1pm I arrive at Chene Pontu to watch the news on TV with the Imam and his family: the way the media is covering events is another one of the things people have complained about since the “riots” began. People here feel that the media are the representatives of the establishment, that they are spreading lies, and more than anything else that they are helping to stigmatize people who live in these working class neighbourhoods.

And yet, one can hear a change: the newspapers and the television channels are voicing some criticisms. They are beginning to question the official version of how the two kids died and the mosque was gassed.

At 2pm here is a press conference at the Bousquets mosque. A video of the attack was caught by on a cell phone camera. It is shown to many reporters: it shows the panic as the worshippers were gassed. Then the officials spoke, firmly, with emotion, demanding a judicial inquiry and an official apology. At the heart of these demands is the fact that people of different beliefs should be treated equally. The mosque president, Mr. Brouhout, who is close to the UMP, was strikingly able to calm people down. Bouna’s older brother told journalists that he would not meet with Sarkozy, who he feels is “incompetent”; instead, along with Zyad’s family he demands a meeting with the Prime Minister. There is a consensus that the police must leave the neighbourhood in order for things to calm down.

Around this press conference, community activists are highlighting the socio-economic causes behind these events. Clichy is one of the poorest municipalities in France and community groups have less and less money to work with. Things are tense as the press conference draws to a close: young people are sharing their stories, women are explaining what they experienced and saw first hand. A common theme in all these accounts is anger at the police, who are carrying out more and more foolish – and often illegal – “muscular” interventions, and at the authorities in the ministry who are not condemning the gas attack against the mosque. The religious authorities, visibly shaken by what happened the night before, slowly manage to take control of the situation.

Everyone is nervously waiting for nightfall. At 7pm representatives of the mosque and the police reach an agreement: some youths are designated mediators in order to “calm” the more hot-headed ones and prevent further confrontations with police. This is not a new idea: indeed, some young people had suggested this Saturday, but the police were not interested then. Is it that they feel they are unable to find a solution? Is this the end of the “hard” approach, which has proven itself so ineffective?

11 :30pm : the police are playing cat-and-mouse with some young people, but the situation seems under control. I am told that the mediators are playing a key part on the ground: they go and meet with the younger kids, they talk to them to convince them to not do anything. Later that night I learn that the police station at Montfermeil has been set on fire and that the police had made some arrests. There had been no major confrontations.

Antoine Germa , Tuesday November 1st. The author is a history-geography teacher who works in Clichy-sous-Bois.


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Wednesday, November 02, 2005

A Happy Anniversary



Twenty six years ago today three individuals signed in as visitors to see Assata Shakur, who was at that time a prisoner of war, framed by the United States government as part of its vendetta against the Black Liberation Movement.

Only thing was, these “visitors” had other plans… they managed to smuggle in guns, took some guards hostage and managed to break Assata out of jail. Comrades were waiting in a car not far away, and they all made it away.

One of the finest operations ever carried out by the radical left in North America, if you ask me…

None of the guards were harmed, and despite a massive FBI manhunt Shakur managed to disappear without a trace. It was five years later – in 1984 – that Assata made a public statement, letting us know that she was living in Cuba, working on a masters degree in political science, writing her autobiography, and raising her daughter.

Sadly, several comrades - Marilyn Buck, Mutulu Shakur and Sekou Odinga and Silvia Baraldini – were arrested over the next years and charged with having participated in the jailbreak. All but Baraldini remain behind bars today. Black Liberation Army martyr Kuwasi Balagoon – who died of AIDS while in prison in 1986 – was also said to have been a member of the Black Liberation Army unit that participated in the action.

For years the US government has had a bounty on Assata's head - $150,000 for the forcible return of this remarkable woman, this "twentieth century escaped slave". In May of 2005 the federal government upped the bounty, now offering one million dollars for anyone who might kidnap and her and return her to her to the US plantation. Bounty hunters and right-wing mercenaries now have an added incentive to target Assata, and the television show America's Most Wanted featured her earlier this year, encouraging viewers to do what they could to apprehend her. All of which, it must be said, is as much about the broader trend towards repression within the United States and that country's war of attrition against Cuba as it is about Assata herself.

For more information about Assata Shakur – including information about ordering her autobiography Assata – please visit the Assata Shakur Page on the Kersplebedeb Site.

For more information about Kuwasi Balagoon, including information about the incredible book A Soldier’s Story, check out the Kuwasi Balagoon Memorial Page.

For more information about political prisoners and prisoners of war in the United States, check out the Kersplebedeb PP/POW Page.

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Tuesday, November 01, 2005

Rosa Parks (redux)



While most people appreciated the comments i made in my previous post on Rosa Parks – where i noted that she was a courageous woman who fought for what was right by refusing to give up her seat on that bus, but that she was neither the only nor the first Black woman to do so – some felt that i was drawing some kind of dividing line between “real” and “fake” activists.

Now, while drawing such a line may be appropriate and even at times necessary, that was certainly not my intention (nor how most of you understood my post). Rosa Parks was a “real” activist, and as i said she played a positive and important role in recent history. There was nothing easy or cavalier or un-radical about her stand. But in order to do justice to all the unsung heroes of the Black Liberation Movement it is important to remember he other women, those who were pushed aside because they were not deemed “respectable” enough. You can read more about this on today’s excellent Black Feminism blog.
Read more...


But i do acknowledge that what i posted was less about Rosa Parks the person and more about the context of the Montgomery Bus Boycott. Fair enough. So in an attempt to flesh out the record, i am posting the following book review by Grace Lee Boggs. Written five years ago, it gives greater insight into who Rosa Parks was. As for who Grace Lee Boggs is, i’ll just include this quote from my friends at Upping The Anti: a journal of theory and action:

“For over 60 years Grace Lee Boggs has been thinking about and working towards making social change. Along with her late husband, the African-American writer and activist Jimmy Boggs (1919-1993), she has been centrally involved in numerous grassroots organizations including the Johnston-Forest Tendency, Correspondence, the National Organization for an American Revolution, the Freedom Now Party and Detroit Summer. She has worked with and provided counsel to hundreds of writers and activists including Malcolm X, Ossie Davis, Ruby Dee, CLR James, Raya Dunayevskaya, Kwame Nkrumah and Stokely Carmichael.”


Rosa Parks Biography
Grace Lee Boggs, WORT JUNE 26, 2000
Viking/Penguin has just published a new biography of Rosa Parks who has become a symbol of courage for our time and for all time. All over the world she ranks with Nelson Mandela and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in the pantheon of 20th century heroes and sheroes who have expanded our notion of what it means to be a human being as we enter the new millennium.
But in becoming an icon, Parks has also been turned into a shadow of her real self. Few people are aware of her lifetime of struggle prior to and following that fateful day in December 1955 when her refusal to give up her seat on an Alabama bus triggered the 13-month long boycott that launched the modern civil rights movement. They don't know about her behind-the-scenes nitty-gritty work to build the NAACP. They don't realize that she had her own political views. How many people, for example, know that unlike Gandhi and King, she refused to rule out the righteous use of force? Not only did she admire Malcolm X; only a few years ago she flew down to Monroe, North Carolina, for the funeral of Robert Williams, the outspoken advocate of armed self-defense by the black community.
One of its main virtues of this book by a professional historian is that it demolishes the myth that Rosa Parks was just a good-hearted middle-aged seamstress who was simply too tired from working all day to give up her seat. Brinkley, the author of award-winning biographies of Jimmy Carter and Franklin D.Roosevelt and the Distinguished Professor of History and director of the Eisenhower Center at the University of New Orleans, has done the research needed to help us appreciate the hard work and the difficult decisions that educated Mrs. Parks politically and empowered her not only to say "No" on December 1, 1955 but to give permission for her "No" to become the basis for a constitutional challenge to Montgomery's bus-segregation ordinance.
For example, "while the NAACP executives made dinner speeches and attended national conferences," Parks, as the local NAACP secretary, "balanced the ledgers, kept the books, and recorded every report of racial discrimination that crossed her desk. She also did field research, traveling from towns like Union Springs to cities like Selma to interview African Americans with legal complaints, including some who had witnessed the murders of blacks by whites in rural areas." In 1945, on a trip to a NAACP leadership-training seminar in Jacksonville, Florida, she met and became good friends with Ella Baker, the legendary womanist who in the 1960s encouraged young civil rights activists to organize the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee (SNICK).
In the spring of 1955 she refused to go along with a petition drawn up by her closest associates for a partial desegregation of Montgomery buses because she thought it "demeaning" to demand less than outright desegregation. Shortly thereafter, over the objections of Raymond Parks, her beloved barber husband, she decided to take two weeks off from her job at the Montgomery Fair Department Store to learn new techniques for activism at the Highlander Folk School. At Highlander she met Septima Clark who had studied with W.E.B.DuBois at Atlanta University. "Some of her great courage and dignity and wisdom may have rubbed off on me," Parks would say later.
As "the Mother of the Civil Rights Movement," Rosa Parks has received countless awards, including the Congressional Medal of Honor. But most people see only the fame and not the enormous risks that she incurred. In 1957, for example, the family was forced to leave Montgomery and move to Detroit because continuing death threats were driving Raymond to "near-suicidal despair" and also because Rosa's celebrity had made the couple unemployable by Montgomery's white business community.
Another too-often ignored reason for the Parks leaving Montgomery was that jealousy was raising its ugly head, springing mainly from the male chauvinism in the black community. Working black women, writes Brinkley, "were the most incensed by the unfair bus system because they were most dependent on it to get to work." Jo Ann Robinson, the forty-eight year old English professor and head of the Women's Political Council, was the one who actually launched the Montgomery Bus boycott by writing the 218 word flyer "asking every Negro to stay off the buses Monday," and arranging for it to be mimeographed and distributed before daylight to 3500 homes, schools and churches. But black men and especially black preachers were not used to sharing the spotlight with women.
So, out of envy, male colleagues like E.D. Nixon and Rev. Ralph Abernathy began making Rosa's life miserable by belittling her and her husband. And it wasn't only the men. The female plaintiffs in a concurrent anti-segregation law suit were "angry that everybody was saying 'Rosa this' and 'Rosa that.'" They "felt they deserved the public adulation, the NAACP sponsored trips to New York, the invitations to speak, and the praise from Dr. King as much as she did."
After settling in Detroit Rosa Parks made her living for five years by working ten hours a day in the Stockton Sewing Company, a storefront factory, receiving 74 cents each for power-sewed cotton aprons and skirts - until in 1965 newly-elected Congressman John Conyers Jr. gave her a job in his Detroit office.
One of Rosa's workmates in the factory was Elaine Eason Steele, a 16-year old Cass Tech student who plied her with questions about the movement. Years later, when Rosa had become an aide to Conyers, Elaine was employed in the same building. Since then Elaine Steele has become Rosa's closest friend and colleague, holding at bay well-wishers and reporters, accompanying her on her award-winning trips, and especially helping her to found the Rosa and Raymond Institute for Self-Development whose main purpose is to get young people interested in history by trips retracing the Freedom struggle.
My good friend, Carl Edwards, says that as he was reading this account of Rosa Park's evolving consciousness, he was reminded of Hegel's statement that we "can't get to the Absolute like a shot out of a pistol. It takes the labor, patience and suffering of the negative." We all have a lot to learn from the incredible journey of this quiet, self-effacing radical activist. Let us not freeze her into a single day or a single moment.


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