Israel/Palestine: The Anarchosyndicalist Initiative 16/06/04

THE ANARCHO-SYNDICALIST INITIAVE IN ISRAEL/PALESTINE A las Barricadas! Por el triunfo de la Confederacion! Dear Comrades, In a meeting of the comrades of the Anarcho-Syndicalist Initiative in Israel/Palestine, we decided to carry forward the project of building genuine revolutionary syndicalist organization of the working class. We decided to ask for affiliation to the IWA and to be in the status of Friends of the International Workers Association. We are intending to introduce in the next month our Manifesto.

The recent years have been terribly bad to the Israeli and Palestinian workers. No political organization or party offers any kind of way forward; all of them are serving the ruling capitalist elites - all of them are nothing but loyal servants of the workers' enemies. The state-owned trade unions in Israel and the corrupted trade unions in the Palestinian Authority have nothing to propose but compromises with the big capital, alliances with some "progressive" bourgeois elements and rude betrayal. The revolutionary anarcho-syndicalist program of the ASI asks for multinational workers' unity, joint struggle of toilers in this country and the region, against the Zionist movement headed by the local capitalists, the Arab reaction headed by the Palestinian Liberation Organization [PLO] and the Islamists and the collaborative regimes headed by the loyal puppets of the US imperialism.

As anarcho-syndicalists, we are standing for a society based on free confederation of revolutionary syndicates and general congress of labor, for a free and equal society led by the laboring masses of the Middle East and the world. We are admiring our friends in countries like the United States, France, Britain, Spain, Germany and other countries, who are doing courageous and great work against the ruling classes and their agents, and for genuine syndicalist revolution.

We would like to thank Braden Cannon from the IWW for his support, Mitch from the Workers Solidarity Alliance, Thomas from the CNT-AIT, Ullus from the FAU in Berlin and other comrades and friends.

Revolutionary Syndicalist Greetings

Israel, Haifa, a new Anarchist Discussion Group 15/06/04

This June 20th, at 19:00 - 27th Pevzner St. will host an opening session of a Haifa based Anarchist discussion group. The purpose of this group is twofold: First, we wish to expose ourselves to revolutionary Anarchist thought, study it and discuss it. Our scope will not be limited to some specific field, and the group will touch both upon classic and modern works, and according to the wishes of the group members, we may also deal with the Anarchist linkages of specific subjects (such as Ecology, Queer Theory, Man-Animal relations, Military and Police vs. Society, etc.) Additionally, we hope the activity of the group may lend some substance to the otherwise ephemeral existance of Anarchism in the Haifa area - turn it into something more than faint whispers sometimes carried on the air.

The intended membership is both people with some theoretic background in radical or Anarchist thought, both (or perhaps especially) those not in 'the thick of things', but consider Anarchism a current of though and a point of view which they wish to familiarize themselves with, or adopt. The only prerequisite is an open mind: the belief that the society in which we live can and should be changed, the wish to be exposed to information, and the willingness to contribute thought and attention; thus we may be able to hold dynamic and vibrant discourse, placing the question mark on all that which our daily lives present to us as obvious and necessary.

Those of you willing to participate - we would ask you to also give some thoughts to possible texts (articles, books, films) on these subjects which you would like to the group to share, or even such that you have not yet read, and whose reading you wish to make more of a group experience. We, of course, have some suggestions of our own...

The first session - an introduction and an acquaintance, towards a decision on a permanent schedule and specific texts and subjects for future discussion - will be held, as mentioned above, on Sunday the 20th of June, at 'The Melange': 27 Pevzner Street, Haifa, near the municipal theater hall. Our vision is of bi-weekly meetings of several hours each.

PS 1 - Circumstances demand that the discussion language be Hebrew (and some English); we are not able to parley in Arabic. We apologize for this inconvenience, and hope that those of you who are Palestinian may still find it possible to participate if you so wish.

PS 2 - You may find more information regarding the 'Pevzner 27' project at: http://www.haifa.is.dreaming.org/

PS 3 - For further details, please contact haifa_anarchists-A-yahoo.com or eyalroz-A-technion.ac.il

Israeli Anarchists arrested after opening roadblocks which strangled Palestinian village 08/06/04

Today, six Israeli activists of "Anarchists Against Fences" were detained for opening a barrier which effectively strangled the Palestinian vllage of Bezariya. The six had been among several dozen Israeli and international activists which arrived at the spot this morning. Together with the Palestinian villagers, the activists swiftly removed two mounds of earth which the army had piled up and which blocked the villagers' access to both Nablus and Tulkarem.

Apparently the army and police were caught napping, and there was no sign of them as the intersection was cleared and the villagers enabled to travel freely for the first time in months. But on their way back, the activists' bus was boarded by plaincloths policemen, who took everybody's I.D's and/or passports, and photographed everybody in the bus. At first, all passengers were told that they were under detention. Later, the police selected six who were evidently considered "ringleaders" who were taken off to the Ariel Police Station, where they are still held at present. Untiring human rights lawyer Gabi Laski took up their case.

For more details as well as photos and video footage: cat@squat.net

Palestine-Israel, Az Zawiya, the bulldozers have been working all night and they still are, the activists are there clashing. 07/06/04

Az Zawiya is just south of Mas’ha, where the wall was finished last year. The next phase in the Salfit district will create of cluster of villages around the three villages of Az Zawiya, Rafat and Deir Ballut. Their only entrance and exit will be the narrow road entrance under Highway 5 between the village of Mas'ha and Az Zawiya, easy to completely cut off.

These past few weeks, residents from other villages have been denied passage through the permanent checkpoint at Deir Ballut. Confiscation orders have been issued and villagers will lose access to over 100,000 dunams which lie between the Wall and the Green Line. A look at the map will show that there is no security basis for taking this land.

In a medical emergency, there would no easy access for Palestinians to the emergency hospital in Salfit. Students would be unable to get a higher education. There is no work and some families already rely on humanitarian aid to survive.

Around 64,000 people in Salfit will be severely affected by the Wall.
We need your help to bring the world’s attention to what is happening.
We must act before the wall is built!
We will need hundreds of volunteers to help the villages resist the destruction of their lands.

If you can spare a day or two and come to help us stop the bulldozers please send an email to iwps@palnet.com or call 09 251 6644.

We need to know:

1. Your name
2. Telephone number and email address
3. What days of the week you can come
4. Whether you are willing to sleep in Az Zawiya on any of these days

Please circulate this call widely…your support is needed!
IWPS (International Women’s Peace Service)

Coalition of Women for Peace

Anarchists Against the Wall

Israeli Anarchists Against Walls speaking tour dates 03/06/04

Come to hear about the new resistance to the Apartheid Wall. Daniela and Rotem (Holland, Belguim, Germany, Denemark) email us at isranarchists@yahoo.com for more details

HOLLAND
8 June, Utrecht ACU, Voorstraat 71
11 june Amsterdam Vrankrijk, Spuistraat 216

BELGIUM
14 Gent Anarchist Center, Sparestraat 2
13 Leuven (not for sure)

GERMANY
16 Dusseldorf (Info@zapata-laden.de)
17 kassel (asn.kassel@freenet.de)
18 Bonn bookshop "Le Sabot" (http://www.lesabot.de), Breite Strasse 76, D-53111 Bonn-Altstadt.
21 Hamburg (Fauh@fau.org)
22 Berlin (faub@fau.org)

DENMARK
25 K-TOWN Fest Copenhagen

HOLLAND 29 Rotterdam, hang 4 30 Zwoalle 1.7 Groningen

***

Uri Ayalon uri_ayalon@yahoo.com (England)
8.6 - SCAWAG, Scarborough, 19:00 at the library (upstairs) Vermon Rd.
9.6 - ISM, Bristol, 18:45 at Malcolm X Centre, Ashley Rd-City Rd st. Pouls Bristol
10.6- Milton Keynes, 12:30 pm at the Open University in Milton Keynes (about
an hour outside of London)
12.6- London, 15:00pm at Golders Green Unitarian Church.
13.6 - JFJFP, London, 20:00 at a pub called 'Queens Head and Artichoke', Albany Street NW1 (Regents Park).
14.6 - Indymedia-Oxford and more, Oxford, 19:30. For more details: uri@riseup.net
15.6 - Manchester, For more details: maciacia@tiscali.co.uk