Wednesday, April 4, 2012

M31: Prelude in Frankfurt to Joint and European Wide Anti-Capitalist Protests


Withina commonday ofaction againstcapitalism onMarch 31,there havebeen ralliesanddemonstrations inmore than40 Europeancities. Theseactions arethe beginningof aninternationalnetworking bytheanti-authoritarianmovement againstthe EuropeanUnion's rulingcrisis policy.The commongoal isa freesociety inwhich everybodycan participate.The foundationfor thatcan onlybe aneconomy inwhich everybodyis providedwith agood lifeinstead ofwealth fora smallnumber ofpeople andpoverty,existential fearand workbaiting formany. OnMarch 31,tens ofthousands ofpeople inmore than40 Europeancities, setin motionfor that.


InFrankfurt/Mainalone, around6000 peopleparticipated ina demonstrationthemed"Capitalismis theCrisis".Speeches atthe thedemonstration'sbeginningstressed thefact thatcrisis andcapitalism areinseparable.Itis aglobal andsystemic crisis,said ThorstenBewernitz (FAU).He alsosaid thata connectionbetweenindustrialactions,struggles onthe streetsand infront ofadministrativeoffices willbe crucialin theupcoming time.

As
theEU governmentsand tradeorganisationstry toshift thecosts ofthe crisison wageworkers' backs,the resistanceagainst itneeds tobecome apopular anda dailyexercise sowe maysuccessfullyoppose thematter. Thisis howwe understandthedemonstration'smotto:Solidarity.Strike.Upheaval.

The
demonstrationbegan atthe centralstation. Itwas aloud, colourfuland openrally, headingtowards theconstruction siteof theEuropean CentralBank (ECB),which wewanted toreach together.Besides groupsand organisationsinvolved inplanning andmobilisation, awide spectrumof peoplefrom manycities gatheredat thedemonstration.

There
were groupsfrom theradical leftwing, butalso streettheatre withstilts andcostumes,criticalcolleagues fromver.di andIGM, olderpeople fromthe leftwing, whohave notbeen ondemonstration foryears andlots ofpeople workingfor companiesin Frankfurt,who wereall attractedby thecall andperspectives ofthis event.Many ofthem wereimpressed bythe steadilygrowingdemonstration.Finally itgrew to6000 people.

After
some speechesin betweenand greetingsto theOccupy campin frontof thepresent ECBbuilding, somepaint bombswere thrownand someglass wasbroken atthe ECB,several banks,the luxuryhotel FrankfurterHof, acouple oftemporary workagencies andother buildings.

Just
after anotherstop atthe Paulsplatz,when thedemonstrationstarted tocontinue, policeunits attackedthe rearpart ofthe demonstrationand beganto kettlepeople in.Around 250people werekettled foraround 9hours withtemperatures justslightly abovethe freezingpoint andwere randomlyattacking policethugs. Thoseones kettledin weresupported bythedemonstration'sown ambulances,with protectionagainst thecold. Still,two ofthe victimshad tobe hospitalized,one ofthem becauseof hypothermia.The ambulancereported130 woundeddemonstrators.

Before
that, themajor partof thedemonstrationtried toreach thekettle forabout twohours toopen it.When thedemonstrationfinally decidedto walkinto thecity centre,the policedecided tobreak itup.

Therefore,
the plannedactions atthe ECB'sconstruction sitebecameimpossible. Theyprobably triedto preventstrong picturesof aECB fortressbristling withweapons.

Despite
thedisproportionalpolice actions,March 31was adistinctive signagainstcapitalism andnationalism andfor asociety inwhich productionis orientedon people'sneeds. Wejudge thefact thatthere weredemonstrationsand ralliesfrom Ufaat theUralto Portoat theAtlantic, fromInverness onthe BritishIsles toUtrecht andMilan toAthens, fromMoscow, Kievand Warsawto Badajozat theExtremedura, aswillingness fora commonperspective ofresistanceagainst the repression ofthe stateand capitalistexploitation.These rudimentaryefforts needto becultivated,strenghtened andexpanded. Andthey needto beconnected toothermobilisationslike thegeneral strikein Spain.

From
our perspective,this Europeanwide dayof actionwas asuccessfulbeginning. Themassiveparticipation ina demonstrationin Germany,whichsignificantlyrefused torepaircapitalism, givesus hopethat therewill besubsequentactions. Asananarcho-syndicalistunion westress thatdemonstrationsare nothingmore thana shorttime expressionof growingresistance.Effectiveresistance beginswith theorganisation atthe placeof exploitation:factory,offices andmany otherplaces whichare responsibleto makethe capitalistgalley run.Until wecollectivelyrefuse rowingto thebeat ofthe drumand startto setthe sailsby ourselves,we won'tbe galleyslaves nomore andset thecourse byourselves.

FAU
Frankfurt

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