ITALIAN EMBASSY

by iosaf translating and annotating and questioning... Sat Nov 16, 2002 14:14

now we see a division being made between what is believed to be "good" and "bad" activism, it is an attempt to make a distance between us and the extremes or fringes of the movement, whose supporters are using the name "black block".
But let us say to ourselves who amongst us does not have a friend in the black block?

[my own addition- after Niemeyer -
when they come for the anarchists who will speak out?
when they come for the muslims who will speak out?
when they come for the ecologists who will speak out?
when they come for the communists who will speak out?

Yesterday I posted a annotated commentary on the USA governement decision to start an independent inquiry into Sept 11 2001, with subpeona powers.

IN Valencia (España) anarchists are being held in prison for squatting, we march to protest their incarceration, we march with the support of the human rights organisation and penal law department of Barcelona University who have issued a statement condemning their continued incarceration.
In Ireland we in the wider anarchist community are not aware of any occupation movement, all political parties have been asked for their policies on homelessness and squatting and none have offered a response with policies on squatting rights or occupation as an option. The anarchists of Ireland alone in the EU do not seem able to occupy a building, to make the most basic direct action statement of their "beliefs".
Yet in all other countries anarchists have done so, despite the fact that in only three EU jurisdictions does occupation have any legal protection. Nowhere is it legal. Yet the Irish anarchists have not appeared to have made such a simple step. so I was asked by an italian earlier in reply to a request for details on how to sue the Italian police force for "searches" on the way to Firenze; "Are they the "Irish anarchists" in solidarity with the european movement?

Ancora una volta dunque, con buona pace di chi aveva creduto in una divisione fra "bravi" e "cattivi", prendendo le distanze dalle frange piu' estreme del movimento, chi regge i fili del potere sta usando il nome "black bloc" per giustificare atti repressivi di intensita' inaudita, millantando legami e costruendo prove, fino ad arrivare al grottesco "aveva in casa un passamontagna".
Ma chi di noi non ha un amico che a casa ha un passamontagna? E allora, in fondo, non abbiamo forse tutti un amico black bloc?

by ddt Sat Nov 16, 2002 16:39

Somebody believed in the difference between the "good" and the "bad" side of the movement, and took distances from the "bad" one, but it shows that the power is using this differentiation to justify unbelievably repressive acts, inventing connections and proofs, even with grothesque reasons for the arrestations such as "he had an hood at home" (!)
But then, doesn't everybody have a friend who has a hood at home? And so, doesn't everybody has a black-block friend?

by .. Sat Nov 16, 2002 23:32

if you were actually out there in the real world instead of living on the internet then u might know that some young dublin anarchists were recently kicked out of a squatted building (in dublin).

Ireland - anything can happen - nothing does.

by trev Sat Nov 16, 2002 23:43

IN Valencia (España) anarchists are being held in prison for squatting, we march to protest their incarceration, we march with the support of the human rights organisation and penal law department of Barcelona University who have issued a statement condemning their continued incarceration.
In Ireland we in the wider anarchist community are not aware of any occupation movement, all political parties have been asked for their policies on homelessness and squatting and none have offered a response with policies on squatting rights or occupation as an option. The anarchists of Ireland alone in the EU do not seem able to occupy a building, to make the most basic direct action statement of their "beliefs".
Yet in all other countries anarchists have done so, despite the fact that in only three EU jurisdictions does occupation have any legal protection. Nowhere is it legal. Yet the Irish anarchists have not appeared to have made such a simple step. so I was asked by an italian earlier in reply to a request for details on how to sue the Italian police force for "searches" on the way to Firenze; "Are they the "Irish anarchists" in solidarity with the european movement?

Ancora una volta dunque, con buona pace di chi aveva creduto in una divisione fra "bravi" e "cattivi", prendendo le distanze dalle frange piu' estreme del movimento, chi regge i fili del potere sta usando il nome "black bloc" per giustificare atti repressivi di intensita' inaudita, millantando legami e costruendo prove, fino ad arrivare al grottesco "aveva in casa un passamontagna".
Ma chi di noi non ha un amico che a casa ha un passamontagna? E allora, in fondo, non abbiamo forse tutti un amico black bloc?

by iosaf Sun Nov 17, 2002 12:31

I´ve been involved in the euro-occupation movement for years and years.
I´ve sat on assemblies of social centres, theatres, computer groups, (the internet is squatted too) and a farm.
I´ve answered questions for one city assembly of occupation on evictions in another city.
I´ve acted as interlocutor for evictions in London, in Hackney, Clapton and Lambeth.
I´ve woken four times in my life to police trying to come through the door.
I´ve succesfully resisted eviction in Dublin.
I´ve given squatting workshops.
I´ve lived and live in the real world.
And if I taunt irish anarchists so, it is because there seems to be little development of euro-occupation idealogy in Ireland.

Temple Bar in the 1980´s was squatted as have been many housing and flat estates.
Squatting is illegal under Irish Law, the limited provision of rights accorded to squatters under Englsih law derive from Magna Carter and common law not ratified in Ireland.

I sat on a commitee which adminstered the running of a social centre artspace in Dublin in the early nineties. This was not occupation but was very close to, no rent was paid and all maintenance costs were borne by the collective.

IT seems odd to me that yesterday for example several hundred okupes can assemble in Barcelona to march for our illegaly detained comrades in Valencia and Italy, be attacked by the Police in central Barcelona, and then regroup at a social centre theatre to watch a cabaret benefit for two victims of a homophobic (anti-lesbian) attack, and to know that one of the defenses for our mobilisation yesterday was the presence of radio, print and TV journalists working through occupied space and using networks such as indymedia (but not exclusively so).

And to know that the same occured in Italy, Valencia, Madrid, wherever there are anarchists there is occupation, wherever there are okupes there are occupied social spaces or theatres, or free-radio or internet groups. ------but not Eire.

Barcelona may have over 20 occupied social centres where teaching of a variety of subjects is given free, where food is distributed and media produced ranging from print to poster to radio. Barcelona may have a standing Okupe population of several thousand, but it is small compared tl London where 250,000 are estimated by Blair´s "homelessness czar" to live in squats.
As I have said before many times, and yesterday to Spanish TV, and local commercial radios, there are 7 million squatters in Europe.

I sincerely applaud occupation wherever it occurs, I don´t suggest squatters come on indymedia ahd say "hey we´re @ 1 GRafton St come bust us", but it seems to be that a squatted anarchist social space deos not exist in Ireland.

IT seems so to me coz all the meetings and events reported on indymedia Ireland happen in pubs.

Yesterday I awoke to real world worries in my very real world city, I spoke to comrades in ITaly, I spent on average fifteen minutes on a lot of international websites and newswires then at a radio station then on the street seeing Police do what they´re good at, attack me and my comrades for the benefit of cameras.
Fortuanately more than half of the cameras and tech- support on the street was ours.

So Anarchists of Ireland, can u get a social space together?
It´s not my business, I gave up on Ireland years ago, I fought my landlord battles and saw a friend die prematurely after such a battle with a speculator of Harcourt St.
But know that there are many of your "comrades" in the greater world, who live, work, agitate, cultivate and practise Anarchy and Community work everyday.
not just once a week in a pub.

in answer to TREV
i was really upset yesterday.
for me Italy = Valencia.
the Spanish state has proscribed several political organisations recently in relation to the Basque conflict. Aznar and Berlusconi work hand in hand so many times. They are the right wing of Europe.
At present the cases in Valencia are slightly older than the Italian but are attracting the same condemnation, they are both a result of a new pan-european phase in criminalisation of social movements, inparticular anarchist movements.
I perhaps should have written seperately about the Valencia case. = Sorry.

Sorry for taunting ye.
but it´s what I hear from your comrades.
and my translations were sloppy with little time.
é la moda.
in boco lupo! gente di Dublino e Irlanda!

by € Sun Nov 17, 2002 16:44

indymedia volunteers.
protestors.
people like you.
called terrorrists by Aznar and Garzón and Burlosconi.
for freedom of expression!

by sherpa Sun Nov 17, 2002 18:46

Hi Folks,

We are an individual group of indipendent italian disubidients living in dublin. We'd like to organise a demostration on Dublin Italian Ambassy, this Tuesday, 19th of November at 14.00PM. Everybody is is invited

by Andrew Mon Nov 18, 2002 12:11

Until recently the anarchist movement here has been too small and isolated to open and hold a squat public/political. (Although this hasn't stopped a few brave souls trying, some indymedia readers will remember the one on the Quays in Dublin a few years back). Many of us have squatted in other countries.

There is also a specific history of political repression of squats in Dublin, see http://struggle.ws/ws/squat48.html for an article about this which anarchists who were active at that time were involved in. So while there have always been some secret/residental squatting here this also left a legacy where political squatting was difficult.

Times are changing most importantly in that there are now a lot more anarchists around and in general a lot more people with experience of direct action. So there is now some very specific plans under discussion that MIGHT result in a very public political squat in the next months.

It still remains however that in terms of the organised movement there are very few people and they are very busy as it is. So as with a lot of other things the sucess or failure of squatting means people moving from being simple particpants in actions to being organisers of actions. Again this is something that is happening anyway as the growth in size of RTS actions demonstrates.

by iosaf + € Mon Nov 18, 2002 13:03

Ná leathnaigh do bhrat muna féidir leat á chosaint.

=Don't fly your flag if you can´t defend it.

I suggest that it might be best to find a site in title deed dispute. IF a building can be found with uncertain ownership then an arrangement might be brokered with neighbours and other interested parties as to its administration.
Such an arrangement led to the use of Mary St. Church (built in 1610 and the baptism site of Wolfe Tone) by
the Living Artists Trust from 1988-1992
& thereafter the Accidental Gallery 1992-1993
these were two collectives of artists who were responsible for the day to day running of the building which had passed through several hands, ex-president Mary Robinson´s stepfather had been responsible for selling the site on behalf of the Church of Ireland, it was then briefly used by the Greek Orthodox church before they moved to Ranelagh Road. Afterwards it was bought by a Wexford based property developer. Under the patronage of Lady Valerie Goulding and Robert Balagh (they signed support) the Living Artists Trust "de facto" sqautted the building paying the ESB and other costs from community arts activity and building a performance and gallery space from recycled urban material. The site is now sadly a carpet salesroom. But its history illustrates a peculiarly Irish circumvention of property law.
Ireland with her own history of property related laws makes withholding of rent particularly difficult. Many of the accompanying laws come from the post-Famine period, such as "misappropriation of property" and such other oddities.
Neither I nor any of the other european anarchists who have posed this question meant to provoke "illegal" action, just to make the point that it seems that Irish anarchists need a social centre one that is neither hired nor mortgaged.

In response to evictions and closures (and attempted closures) of the european occupation movements key social /info centres in cities such as Brusseles, Paris and Berlin there has also been floated many times the possibility of the movement co-ordinating an attempted purchase of contentious sites. Better that we become "de facto" communal owners of key sites than be evicted from every city and thus have our voice and visiblity removed.

THank you for the link and information.
Good Luck with the site, choose it well, I know = w€ know you´re experienced: Ireland is changing quickly RTS and the current Shannon campaigns are clear indications of such change. Also the occupations of Castlemines and the Glens showed "a womblish tendency!!".

..............................I look forward to maybe maybe maybe some day visiting Baile Atha Cliath / Eire and being told I´m a gobshite in a squatted info-centre/cafe/social space. That would be wonderful.
BEIR BUA!

by € ipsiphi slight return of the iosaf elf Mon Nov 18, 2002 13:53

I´m getting the clear impression that people don´t have enough €$ time equipment to access the quality info agitprop on the net.
witness the weekly deletion argument on indymedia.
that´s why an infocentre is so important.
ah ye know.
lurve.