Arm The Spirit Info Bulletin #4 - June/July 1995 Index: 1) Intro 2) Mumia Abu-Jamal Must Not Die! 3) "Political Murder" by Ray Luc Levasseur 4) "Leaderless Resistance And The Oklahoma City Bombing" by Tom Burghardt 5) Zundel Bunker Torched On V-E Day 6) Communique From The Anti-Fascist Militia 7) Criminalization Of Anti-Fascists In Germany 8) ERNK Press Release: "Is Canada After A Political Blackmail Against The Kurds?" 9) Statement To The Press About Recent Developments In Austria by TATblatt 10) Action Against The IMF & World Bank 11) "The Lies Of A False Democracy" by Alberto Rodriguez 12) Material Support For Political Prisoners And Prisoners Of War 13) Appeal From The Yu Kikumura Support Committee 14) "Nationalism And The Kurdish National Liberation Movement" by the Kurdistan Information Bureau (Germany) 15) AIZ Target Politicians' Homes 16) Anti-Imperialist Cell Discussion Paper 17) Major Police Raids Against Leftists In Germany 18) State Charges Italian Computer Bulletin Board With 'Subversion' 19) How To Reach Us... 1) Introduction Yes, we're still alive, and we're still active. Though many people may not know that, seeing as we haven't published a magazine or info bulletin for more than a year and a half now. Actually Arm The Spirit #17 has been ready to go since early March. It's on our hard drive if anyone would like to see it. Until we come up with a few hundred dollars, it will have to stay there for the time being. But we did manage to pull together this Info Bulletin #4. And we are very involved with local work to support Mumia. For us, as for many comrades in North America, saving Mumia is of paramount importance right now. We Gotta Save Mumia - By Any Means Necessary! 2) Mumia Abu-Jamal Must Not Die! On Friday, June 2, Governor Tom Ridge signed Mumia Abu-Jamal's death warrant. Ridge has set August 17 as the date for Mumia's execution. Obviously, the left cannot allow this execution to be carried out, and mobilizations are already underway to stop it. On Monday, June 5, a motion to give Mumia a new trial was filed in court. At the same time, letters of protest were faxed to Governor Ridge's office literally from around the world. Even the ANC and many of South Africa's trade unions called for a new trial for Mumia and an end to the death penalty. (The ANC government in South Africa recently abolished the death penalty in that country, citing its widespread use as a means of racist political control under apartheid.) Demonstrations have already taken place across Europe and North America in support of Mumia. More than 500 people marched in Philadelphia on the day that Mumia's motion for a new trial was filed in court. One banner read: "If Mumia burns, Philadelphia burns, and America burns!" Such words are not empty threats. Groups and organizations across the leftist political spectrum are pulling together to fight for Mumia's life. Such unity is vital, for time is short and the increasingly right-wing climate in America will make this fight a difficult one. While the lawyers keep things busy in the court, we need to keep things busy in the streets. Public awareness around this issue must be raised, leading up to the month of August when days of action will be planned for nearly every day. We advise everyone to keep up the pressure on Governor Ridge. Continue to write and fax and call his office often! And keep in touch with the groups in your area which are organizing actions in solidarity with Mumia. Fight To Keep Mumia Alive! Write, call or fax: Governor Tom Ridge Main Capital Building Room 225 Harrisburg, PA 17120 USA tel: (717) 787-2500 fax: (717) 783-3369 International Concerned Family & Friends of Mumia Abu-Jamal P.O. Box 19709 Philadelphia, PA 19143 USA Mumia Hotline: (215) 476 8812 E-mail: mumia@aol.com 3) Political Murder By Raymond Luc Levasseur, Florence Prison On December 6th, I lost a friend - killed by police on the streets of Kansas City. He was Black, 38, born in Chicago and moved to Birmingham, Alabama at age 14. Other than the spirit of Cinque in his heart there was no advance notice of his death. It's taken me 4 months to connect with someone in Kansas City that can help me find out why Mike Turner died so violently and what happened with his body. Also in December, a young Dominican man was beaten and choked to death by police officers in the Bronx. Anthony Baez succumbed to the blue terror while his family and friends looked on in horror. February, in Patterson, New Jersey an unarmed 16-year-old manchild - Lawrence Myers - had his brains blown out by a housing project cop working for federal dollars. The shooter was white. The victim was Black. The only warning any of them got was color and class. The list is endless. For Mumia Abu-Jamal there was an additional warning. The state has proclaimed loud and clear its intention to kill him. the state is backed in its warning by the Philadelphia Police Department, judicial compliance, and a sickening apathy on the part of too many people. What the facts demonstrate is that Mumia was beaten and shot by Philadelphia police in a city notorious for police murders and brutality. They show that Mumia's trial was fundamentally unfair and that he was framed by a hanging judge. The fact is this system places no human value of Mumia's life but does place symbolic value on killing a principled and courageous defender of the Black Nation. Mumia has been made a target of opportunity in a political climate rancid with racism and reaction. It's often said that it is better to light a single candle than to curse the darkness. That's fine as far as it goes but it is presently not deep or strong enough to deter the State's executioners. We are at a point beyond candle vigils that reflect little besides moral indignation. We are beyond the point of watching and staring in disbelief. Protest must continue and increase, but it is the fire of resistance that must be ignited. And I don't mean the path of least resistance. I mean resistance that fires from the heart rather than a sense of obligation. I mean sacrifices that compensate in some meaningful way for the shameful indifference that afflicts so many that should be supporting Mumia. Political murder grants nothing to moderation. We live in a country that passed a "crime bill" imposing the death penalty for 50 new offenses at the same time a national day of mourning was declared for a war criminal like Richard Nixon. We all bear some degree of responsibility for this American nightmare. We are all responsible to rectify it. The Law functions as an ethical sanction of state violence. It's the government's trump card; the corporate ace in the hole. Cops kill us with impunity and we are hurled into the world's largest prison system while the quality of life gets pulled from under us by King Capitalism. Those that rule have the law and most of the guns on their side. Mumia's lifeblood and political activism have roots in the Middle Passage and Black bondage. The law has its own bloody roots in supporting genocide, slavery, racism and the penitentiary system. The use and abuse of the law from the patrol car to the Supreme Court only adds to the debilitating effects of lives rubbed raw by oppression - an oppression Mumia has resisted since his formative years with the Black Panther Party. To respect and defend Mumia is to act. The fall, 1994 issue of the National Lawyers Guild "Guild Notes" does not contain a single mention of Mumia Abu-Jamal. This is not a good example of raising consciousness, testing the bounds of legality, or defiance in the face of death. More must be done. I'm reminded of Ida B. Wells and her hard fought campaign against lynching. Throughout her many years of activism she was dismayed with the large number of professionals who put their positions and comforts over the needs of a community under attack. And for the uninitiated let me add that Ida B. Wells possessed a big pistol which she acquired after seeing enough men lynched to know that bitter fruit is most often Black, and the system attacks the most vulnerable. It is my view that the rights due us by virtue of our humanity and labor are continuously violated, and that no comprehensive relief or solutions lie with the courts. However, this is not to say that battles cannot be won through the law. For this reason, every avenue of the law should be pursued to save the life of Mumia and others. What I am saying is that it may not be enough, and for THAT reason other avenues need to utilized in local, national, and international efforts to stop this execution. We need to go beyond the merely acceptable to another level of energy, commitment and possibilities. Every neighborhood, every workplace, union, church, mosque, NAACP chapter, Leonard Peltier Defense Committee - every National Lawyers Guild member - need to get down in a serious way with this campaign. No one should claim immunity or prior commitments: it's going to take sweat and maybe pain. It's going to take a big noise and maybe confrontation. This is a commitment that requires whatever it takes for as long as it takes. April, 1995 Raymond Luc Levasseur 10376/016 Box 8500, ADX Florence, CO 81226-8500 USA Write! Mumia Abu-Jamal, AM 8335 SCI Greene 1040 E. Roy Furman Highway Waynesburg, PA 15370-8090 USA Ray Levasseur continues his principled resistance from within the U.S.'s most repressive, punitive federal prison. Write him at the above address. Friends of Political Prisoners P.O. Box 3113 Madison, WI 53704 USA 4) Leaderless Resistance And The Oklahoma City Bombing By Tom Burghardt (Bay Area Coalition for Our Reproductive Rights) "Utilizing the Leaderless Resistance concept, all individuals and groups operate independently of each other, and never report to a central headquarters or single leader for direction or instruction...participants in a program of Leaderless Resistance through Phantom Cell or individual action must know exactly what they are doing, AND EXACTLY HOW TO DO IT." - Louis Beam, "Leaderless Resistance", (text from Cyberspace Minuteman BBS, (312) 275-6326) "The fundamental rule guiding the organization of the free militia is not generalized principles and planning but decentralized tactics and actions." "What is meant by this key statement is that the whole Militia must be committed to the same cause and coordinated in their joint defense of a community. Thus, there must be allegiance to a higher command. But specific tactics should be left up the individual elements so that compromise of a part does not compromise the whole. Furthermore, all training and combat actions should be up to the smaller elements, again so that isolation or decapitation does not render the smaller units inept." "The way a balance between these competing concerns is achieved in the Free Militia is to organize all elements into 'cells.'" - NA, "Field Manual Section 1: Principles Justifying the Arming and Organizing of A Militia", 1994, Wisconsin, The Free Militia, p. 78 San Francisco (April 23) The political context for the bombing of the Oklahoma City federal building, can be deciphered through a careful reading of key Christian Patriot texts. The bombing is almost a textbook case of what Aryan Nations/KKK leader, Louis Beam has termed "leaderless resistance." While we are appalled and horrified by the terrifying loss of life, it was only a matter of WHEN, not IF, the violent fascist underground would resort to car or truck bomb tactics. To a lesser degree and on a smaller scale, factions within the direct action anti-abortion movement have systematically applied Louis Beam's "leaderless resistance" or "phantom cell" doctrine for a number of years. The relative successes of their pursuit of terrorism as a means of effecting political change has come at a price, however. As anti-abortion violence has increased, the political fall-out for the movement has led to a steep, precipitous decline in public support and the mobilization of their constituents. In other words, while the dialectics of terrorist praxis will increase the visibility of "the cause" in the public's mind, it also sharpens the inherent contradictions as well as factional disputes within the movement's support base. This process is underway within the direct action anti-abortion movement. I would hazard a guess and say that a similar process will take place within the broader Christian Patriot and Militia movement as a result OF Wednesday's bomb attack. However, it should be noted that the "Army of God" and anti-abortion groups allied with Christian Patriot militias and political parties are far less concerned with winning support or creating mass organizations than they are with destroying women's access to reproductive health care. Anti-abortion terrorism in this case, is a tactic tied to a broader strategy of diminishing reproductive health care to the vanishing point. In this respect, anti-abortion recourse to terrorism as a tactical modality for waging low-intensity warfare, has been successful. Why is this the case? As the pool of abortion providers begin to shrink due to escalating terror, those who continue to work in the field are subject to increasing levels of psychological and actual violence. Inevitably, the pressures and stresses have led abortion providers to throw in the towel. Abortion remains "legal", however, women find it increasingly difficult to obtain. Terror in the case of anti-abortion violence is sharply-focused on an immediate goal. While this presents far-right political parties with obvious problems, the dual-tier nature of fascist organizations have resolved this contradiction in a number of unique ways. For example, international and domestic fascist groupings utilize legal, above-ground organizing in combination with illegal, underground terrorist cells that attack opponents, and sharpen contradictions within class society. The relationship between the terrorist Combat 18 group to the British National Party (BNP) is instructive in this regard. On the one hand, the BNP functions like any other political party; it distributes propaganda, recruits prospective members, organizes around sharply-focused campaigns such as opposition to immigration. Combat 18, the BNP's loosely-affiliated terrorist front, attacks opponents, attempts to infiltrate and break-up Leftist marches, compiles data on vocal opponents and organizations, physically attacking their opponents on the street, in their homes, etc. Louis Beam's "leaderless resistance" or "phantom cell" tactic is but one of a constellation of methodologies used by fascism to achieve political goals. While we can say that the majority of adherents of Christian Patriot groups would oppose the Oklahoma City bombing, the net effect of terror, sharpen the social/political contradictions within capitalist society and strengthen the call for authoritarian, State solutions (i.e., political repression) on all fronts. As a political methodology, a fascist "strategy of tension" relies on the psychological effects of terror to magnify the localized effects of severe loss of life so that, like a stone hurled into a pool of water, shock-waves ripple from the epicenter of the attack to the furthest reaches of the State. While Christian Patriots and other far-right forces in the U. S. are a minute proportion of the population, the ideological underpinnings of Patriot ideology has struck a receptive cord among millions of Americans. The ideological fervor of thousands of "state citizens" and "freemen", and their willingness to resort to violence to achieve their political goals, spring from the same sources as the white supremacist and neo-Nazi movements throughout North America: race hatred, anti-Semitism, violent xenophobia, and their desire to create a (white) fundamentalist "Christian Republic" in the United States. The same can be said of the demonizing rhetoric freely disseminated by "mainstream" politicos in both capitalist parties. This does not mean that the Republican Party's "Contract With America", is a "fascist" document. It does mean, however, that the draconian solutions it proposes in terms of the role of the State and civil society, calls for rapid privatization in all social spheres save one - the State's immense repressive police and military apparatus. Left and Progressive researchers have pointed to the severe danger posed by the convergence of anti-abortion extremists, armed racists, queer-basher's, anti-Semites, advocates of "state citizenship", "Wise Use" movement attacks on environmental activists and the demonizing rhetoric of the far-right's paranoid conspiracism. Though these so-called "fringe elements" have been identified as potential, and actual, sources for terrorist violence, these warnings have largely gone unheeded, even within Socialist and leftist circles. As long as the victims themselves were "marginal" in the eyes of "mainstream media" and terrorist industry "experts", domestic right-wing terror could easily be consigned to the back pages; a quick plunge down Orwell's memory hole would do the rest. Apparently now, the self-fulfilling prophecies of the Christian Patriots and their phantom war against the capitalist "New World Order" have come to pass, with terrifying and tragic results. What will follow, is anyone's guess. The massacre in Oklahoma City however, did not emerge from a political vacuum. The Christian Patriot movement in general, and individual Militia units in particular, have circulated training manuals that rely almost exclusively on a cell structure organizing model, termed "leaderless resistance" by Aryan Nations leader, Louis Beam. Three years ago, in the aftermath of the Ruby Ridge stand-off in 1992, a hastily convened meeting of the emerging Patriot movement was held in Colorado. Sponsored by Christian Identity leader, Rev. Pete Peters, and his "Scriptures for America" organization, the conclave sought to formulate a strategy to combat the "New World Order." Many observers point to this meeting as a key factor leading to the subsequent rise of the armed Militia Movement. According to the "Special Report on the Meeting Held in Estes Park, Colorado October 23, 24, 25 1992 During the Killing of Vickie and Samuel Weaver By The United States Government", more than 160 leaders of the Christian Identity and Christian Right movements came together to denounce the murders at Ruby Ridge. Peters' "Special Report", published Beam's "Leaderless Resistance" text in its entirety. Key racist and Patriot leaders who attended the summit included anti-Semite, Red Beckman; Aryan Nations leader, Louis Beam; Aryan Nations founder, Richard Butler; Larry Pratt of Gun Owners of America; Christian Patriot leader, Frank Isabell; New Mexico Identity figure, Earl Jones; and Charles A. Weisman, a racist publisher and author whose book, "America: Free, White and Christian", is a source for much of the Patriot movement's racialist theories of "state citizenship." (for further background on the complex interrelationship among Christian Patriot militias, white supremacists, neo-Nazis and the racist religion of Christian Identity, see: Robert Crawford, S.L. Gardner, Jonathan Mozzochi, R.L. Taylor, "The Northwest Imperative: Documenting A Decade of Hate", 1994, Coalition For Human Dignity, Portland, Oregon; Northwest Coalition Against Malicious Harassment, Seattle, Washington) Other key figures involved in the rise of the Militia Movement who have been central players in the Pete Peters/Christian Patriot network, include retired Lt. Col. James "Bo" Gritz and retired Phoenix Police officer, Jack McLamb. Gritz has gone on since the Estes Park meeting to create what he terms "Specially Prepared Individuals for Key Events" training seminars or SPIKE teams. Gritz, who denies that he is a racist was the Populist Party candidate for President in 1992. The Populist Party was a political vehicle for the far-right that was founded by anti-Semitic publisher, Willis Carto, the director of the Liberty Lobby. "The Spotlight", the Liberty Lobby's flagship publication regularly features reports on the Militia Movement as well as "exposes" on the capitalist "New World Order." (for further background on Gritz and Carto, see: Michael Novick, "Front Man For Fascism: 'Bo' Gritz and the Racist Populist Party", 1993, People Against Racist Terror (PART), P.O. Box 1990, Burbank, CA 91507 and Scott McLemee, "Spotlight on the Liberty Lobby", "Covert Action Quarterly", Washington, D.C., Fall 1994, Number 50) Jack McLamb is the director of an outfit called Police Against The New World Order (PATNWO). McLamb is a far-rightist and author of "Operation Vampire Killer 2000", a book filled with crack-pot conspiracism and paranoia. However, the "mission" of McLamb's organization is the active recruitment of police and military personnel to far-right groups and organizations. McLamb calls on police and the military to aid the efforts of Christian Patriots. (for further background on McLamb see, "Patriot Games: Jack McLamb & Citizen Militias, 1994, Coalition for Human Dignity, Portland, OR) The fiery apocalypse visited on the Branch Davidians by the FBI and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms in Waco, Texas on April 19, 1993, only fueled the paranoid conspiracism of the far-right and further accelerated the rise of the Militia Movement. According to published reports, the bombing of the Oklahoma City federal building was meant as a retalitory strike by a Christian Patriot miltia cell for the destruction of the Branch Davidians. There is no justification on any level whatsoever, for the hideous truck bombing in Oklahoma City. However, the paranoid conspiracism of an armed militia cell allegedly connected to the Michigan Militia, was fueled in part, by the criminal handling of the Branch Davidian stand-off in Waco. Failure to analyze the political and what one can only term, mythological, underpinnings of Patriot ideology, will only lead to confusion as to their motives. While their terrorist act is reprehensible, it was hardly the work of "crazed" individuals. These were people who were trained, organized and motivated to carry out a monstrous act of political revenge. The origins of the contemporary Christian Patriot and Militia Movement is racist and fascist to the core. The fascistic political views of Peters, Beckman, Gritz, Beam, the Trochmann's and McLamb are also key ideological components of "mainstream" Militia groups. The Michigan Militia was founded in April 1994. The key figures in the organization are Rev. Norman Olsen, a Baptist minister, abortion foe and ex-military man and "intelligence specialist", Mark Koernke. According to reports, the Michigan Militia is the largest and best organized faction in the country. It is claimed that approximately 12,000 people are members of the Michigan Militia. Koernke's broadcasts originate from Nashville, Tennessee and are carried by shortwave radio station, WWCR. The "Intelligence Report" is transmitted daily. Transcripts appear regularly on the Internet; posted by John DiNardo's "The People's Spellbreaker" can be found on the following Usenet newsgroups: , , and . The content is a standard mix of far-right conspiracy theories, reports of ubiquitous sightings of "black helicopters", and other sundry items of interest to Christian Patriots. Koernke travels around the country, appearing at "Preparedness Expos", and has been a key popularizer of the Militia Movement. The Michigan Militia, however, is hardly the "mainstream" group that Norman Olsen would have us believe. When asked by reporters whether McVeigh or Terry Lynn Nichols, who surrendered to federal authorities Friday in Herington, Kansas, or his brother, James Douglas Nichols, had any involvement with the Michigan Militia, "Commander" Olsen said: "Not that we know of." Olsen also denied that the Michigan Militia had anything to do with the Oklahoma bombing: "We denounce the entire incident as an act of barbarity. It's totally alien to everything we believe. We are totally defensive. We do not engage in terrorism. We do not believe in answering the tyrant brutality with more brutality." (Robert D. McFadden, "Links in Blast: Armed 'Militia' And a Key Date, "New York Times", Saturday, April 22, 1995, p. 1) Last year however, three members of the Michigan Militia were arrested in Fowlerville, 25 miles east of Lansing, the state capital, after their car was found to contain "700 rounds of ammunition, loaded rifles, night-vision goggles and other military-type gear." (David Willman, Richard A. Serrano, Ralph Frammolino, Paul Feldman and Eric Lichtblau, "Facing the Fear of an Enemy From Within", "Los Angeles Times", Saturday, April 22, 1995, p. 1) While the three Michigan Militia members failed to appear for their arraignment, "30 to 40" uniformed militia members did show up in court. According to Fowlerville chief of police, Gary Krause, the militiamen taunted police with threats of future violence. (Willman, et. al., ibid., p. A18) Another faction within the Christian Patriot network with close ties to Olsen and Koernke, is the Militia of Montana (MOM). "Taking Aim", MOM's newsletter printed the following announcement on the significance of April 19: "1. April 19, 1775: Lexington burned; 2. April 19, 1943: Warsaw burned; 3. April 19, 1992: The fed's attempted to raid Randy Weaver, but had their plans thwarted when concerned citizens arrived on the scene with supplies for the Weaver family totally unaware of what was to take place; 4. April 19, 1993: The Branch Davidians burned; 5. April 19, 1995: Richard Snell will be executed." (Robert D. McFadden, op. cit., p. 8) Richard Snell was a white supremacist member of the terrorist group, The Order, executed in Arkansas on Wednesday. Snell had murdered a black police officer and a Jewish businessman a decade ago. MOM's newsletter said Snell would be executed "unless we act now!!!" While the article did not call for violence to free Snell, the Trochmann family are hardly strangers to the most extreme factions of the white supremacist movement. The Weaver shooting was the spark that led to the formation of the Militia of Montana. According to reports, in September 1992, John Trochmann helped found the United Citizens for Justice; a support group for Randy Weaver. Another steering committee member was Chris Temple, a regular writer for the racist newspaper, "Jubilee", the flagship publication of the Christian Identity movement published in California. (Daniel Junas, "Angry White Guys With Guns: The Rise of the Militias", "Covert Action Quarterly", Washington, D.C., Spring 1995, Number 52, p. 23) While the Trochmann's deny that they're white supremacists, in 1990, MOM commander, John Trochmann was a featured speaker at Richard Butler's Aryan Nations compound in Hayden Lake, Idaho. Trochmann has admitted travelling to the white supremacist compound on at least four or five occasions. (Junas, ibid.) What then, is the operational mechanism that ties so-called "fringe groups", to the wider Christian Patriot and Militia Movements? For a paramilitary strategy to be successful, especially when the particular combat unit or cell, is connected to a larger organization such as a Militia or an anti-abortion group, a mechanism must be created that will immunize the leadership from prosecution on the one hand, while allowing the cell an unlimited operational range on the other hand. "Leaderless resistance" is that strategy. According to Wisconsin's Free Militia, a paramilitary organization with ties to anti-abortion leader, Rev. Matthew Trewhella, the founder of Missionaries to the Preborn, and a National Committee member of Howard Phillips' United States Taxpayers Party, the cell structure is the most efficacious method for carrying out operations. "We use the term 'cell,' because a cell is the basic building block in any living organism. Just as all life, growth, and reproduction is based on living cells, all Militia 'life' is centered around its cells. The identities of cell members are known only within the cell and by their immediate superior. All basic training is done within a cell. All codes, passwords, and telephone networks are determined and held in confidence within the cell. All fortified positions are determined, prepared and concealed by the cell. All combat orders are executed by the cell as the cell sees fit within its own context. So the Free Militia IS its cells." (emphasis in original, "Field Manual Section 1", op. cit., p. 78) The cell structure of the Free Militia is further diversified so as to ensure specialization of function in combination with tight security precautions. These four-fold differentiations within the organization are: 1. Command, 2. Combat, 3. Support, and 4. Communique cells. So as to facilitate their efficient capacity as an urban or rural fighting team, "Combat cells provide the patrolling and fighting capability of the Free Militia. Each cell consists of about eight able-bodied 'minutemen' with its own leader, communications, rendezvous points, staging areas and standing orders. They execute the orders of their command cells and do all their own training within the combat cell itself. They are the 'arms' of the Free Militia." (ibid., p. 80) Regarding the "phantom cell" type organization and any potential response by paramilitary activists, Louis Beam writes: "Since the entire purpose of Leaderless Resistance is to defeat state tyranny (at least as far as this essay is concerned) all members of phantom cells or individuals will tend to react to objective events in the same way through usual tactics of resistance. Organs of information distribution such as newspapers, leaflets, computers, etc., which are widely available to all, keep each person informed of events, allowing for a planned response that will take many variations. No one need issue an order to anyone." (Beam, op. cit.) If indeed, Timothy McVeigh is connected to the Michigan Militia or any other far-right paramilitary outfit, the nature of these organizations contain within their essential structure, the plausible deniability necessary to protect leadership cadres from prosecution. In this respect, Rev. Norman Olsen's denial of involvement in the murderous bombing of the Oklahoma City federal building may indeed be an accurate. Leaderless resistance doctrine not only seeks to immunize paramilitary leaders from prosecution, but forge clandestine relationships among cadres "who know what to do" when the time is ripe. Will the fall-out from this heinous act of terror lead to the unraveling and destruction of the Christian Patriot and white supremacist militia movement, or will "true believers" react to the situation through "a planned response that will take many variations"? One fact is certain, however, tens of thousands of "angry white guys" have taken it upon themselves to restore "the Crown Rights of King Jesus", by any means necessary. 5) Zundel Bunker Torched On V-E Day At approximately 5:30 a.m. on Sunday, May 7, 50 years to the day the Nazis fell to Allied forces, the home/office "bunker" of Nazi propagandist and holocaust-denier Ernst Zundel was set on fire with a few litres of gasoline, lit in a calm and deliberate manner. The action has been claimed by the "Jewish Armed Resistance Movement" which apparently comes out of the Jewish Defence League, a Zionist armed group. Up to half-million dollars' damage was done, and the fire destroyed mountains of nazi newspapers and files, as well as printing and duplicating equipment. According to the Zundelites, the building was insured but not the contents. Zundel first fortified his home after a 1984 pipe-bomb attack, and for the past twenty years he has been fought on all fronts, including at Canada's Supreme Court level, primarily by the Jewish community. He is linked to authorship and distribution of materials like "Did Six Million Really Die?" and "The Hitler We Loved and Why". His current propaganda work includes shortwave radio broadcasts, video and publishing, and is rumoured to be behind an "anti-anti-fascist" software database program for sale to European nazis. He is beyond doubt a key player in the far-right - locally, nationally and internationally. Zundel, who was away on a speaking tour in B.C., is perhaps the most credible-sounding of Canadian nazis, with a polished style and endless smirk, always playing the victim of the Left and Jews. He immediately pinned the blame for the fire on the most vocal of his current opponents, a new neighbourhood-based anti-racist group, and a militant Toronto anti-fascist group which has demonstrated in front of the bunker in the past, tossing rotten fish and excrement. But Zundel's enemies are many. The action certainly struck a chord in the neighbourhood: many people openly cheered at the sight of the fire's ravages: a gaping hole in the roof and water-damaged debris. The neighbourhood-based organization, Cabbagetown Campaign Against Nazis in Our Neighbourhood (C-CANON), and Anti-Racist Action (ARA) have publicly stated their support for the action. Both groups believe that it is not the role of anti-racists to protect Zundel from the wrath of his numerous enemies. However, nearby tenants (who happen to be Asian immigrants) have been made homeless as a result of the attack, and could probably use some financial help. C-CANON member Bruce Eakin was quoted in the daily Toronto Star; when asked if he condoned the use of violence against Zundel, Eakin answered "Absolutely. If people don't fight back, then where are we? Back in World War II. You have to stand up." Eakin went to the Zundel bunker when he heard about the fire, and put up a sign reading "Oklahoma=Zundel=Hate, Out Nazi Out!". Another neighbour pointed out to TV reporters in front of the burned building that Zundel had brought the attack upon himself, and that the fire showed exactly why he is not wanted in the neighbourhood. C-CANON's immediate goal had been to educate the local community about Zundel's presence, and this job has now been accomplished rather speedily. It now rests with the neighbourhood group to continue educating area residents about Zundel's role in the neo-nazi and far-right scene worldwide, and to organize against rebuilding of the bunker. It is clear to this writer that the rise of overt racism, white supremacist terror and violence, and religious fundamentalism in North America is fuelling a war mentality. And in this context the arson was an act of resistance, a statement on V-E day that cannot be misinterpreted. At no time during the last fifty years since the defeat of Hitler's Germany, has the need to fight fascism again been so great. It is well to remember that 50 years ago, the under-supported Resistance fighters paid the highest price while setting the stage for the Allied forces' victory landing. For the sake of those who will come after us, let us remember the dignity of resistance, and use whatever we may need to accomplish it. May 10, 1995 - From the 'hood where it happened... 6) Communique From The Anti-Fascist Militia On April 4, the Anti-Fascist Militia sent armed mousetraps, primed with razor blades, to 10 white supremacist organizations: Ernst Zundel Samsidat Press 206 Carleton St. Toronto, ONT M5A 2L1 CANADA Richard G. Butler Aryan Nations PO Box 362 Hayden Lake, ID 83835 USA Terry Long Aryan Nations Box 464 Caroline, AB T0M 0M0 CANADA George Burdi Resistance Records PO Box 24700 Detroit, MI 48224 USA Tom Metzger White Aryan Resistance PO Box 65 Fallbrook, CA 92028 USA Don Black Stormfront PO Box 6637 West Palm Beach, FL 33405 USA Dr. E.R. Fields c/o "The Thunderbolt" PO Box 1211 Marietta, GA 30061 USA Skrewdriver Services PO Box 461972 Aurora, CO 80046 USA Aryan Resistance Movement PO Box 35683 Vancouver, BC V8T 4E4 CANADA Aryan Resistance Movement PO Box 3066 Mission, BC V2V 4J3 CANADA These 10 groups/individuals have shown in their actions over the years to be totally committed to violent racism, anti- Semitism, and homophobia. They are all actively engaged in recruiting others to their cause. They are at the heart of the neo-Nazi movement. This brand of fascism is not new. From lynch mobs who murdered black men and women in Amerikkka to neo-Nazi skinheads who murdered a lesbian and a gay man in Portland, individuals who have held this fascist ideology have always sought to use violence to enforce it. Many people have died, and people will continue to die unless the individuals who are totally committed to this ideology of hatred are stopped. For those who do not understand why we are willing to use violence to fight these bigots, we draw an analogy to Nazi Germany - the state so many of these fascists are trying to bring about in North Amerikkka. It can't happen here? Tell that to the innocent men, women, and children who are harassed, beaten, and killed by racist police every day, tell it to the indigenous people of this continent who continue to live under the iron fist of colonial occupation, tell it to the gay men murdered in Toronto by the recruits of the individuals who received our devices. Tell it to the millions of people who suffer under the boot of racist governments in KKKanada and the United States of Amerikkka. The racist governments we live under will never stop individuals such as Burdi, Long, Butler, Metzger, et al. It is our responsibility, as citizens of these countries, to do what we can to put an end to their reign of terror. We don't expect that these organizations will immediately cease their activities in response to our threats. So take this first wave of devices as a declaration of war. Until we see evidence that these 10 organizations have stopped their fascistic activities, they, and others like them, will need to watch their backs, their homes, their cars, their mailboxes, their offices, their food... This is only the beginning. No Justice - No Peace More to come from the Anti-Fascist Militia 7) Criminalization Of Anti-Fascists In Germany Dear Friends and Comrades! We are writing with information about the attempt to criminalize the Autonome Antifa (M), an anti-fascist group in Lower Saxony, Germany. The Autonome Antifa (M) has its roots in the autonomist movement and was founded in 1990 as part of a campaign to reorganize the left in a reunified Germany. Our focus is anti-fascism, meaning not just that we are anti-Nazi, but rather that we work to fight the roots of fascism, capitalism, patriarchy, and racism. In the last five years we have worked continuously on local and nation-wide projects, including the AA/BO (Anti-Fascist Action/Nation-Wide Organization). Our coalition demonstrations, lecture series, and cultural events have helped establish anti-fascism as a meaningful force in the region. This successful anti-fascist work has not gone unheeded. We are part of the undogmatic left and because we understand our anti-fascism as part of a larger leftist struggle, we stand necessarily in opposition to this system. The coalition work with the local Green Party, labour unions, youth groups, and other leftist organization has attracted particular attention from the state. It was made public in October 1991 that the Autonome Antifa (M) was being investigated according to Paragraph 129a (support of, propaganda for, or building a terrorist organization). The investigations are still underway, but the charges of 129a have been dropped in all but a few individual cases. The new justification for the investigation is Paragraph 129 (the building of a criminal organization). They are being carried out with extraordinary effort in terms of cost, personnel, and technical means. Among other things, state and federal agents have tapped phones and observed meetings, homes, and individuals - up to 24 hours a day - since 1991. The investigations culminated in massive raids on members and alleged members of the Autonome Antifa (M) on July 5-6, 1994. During those two days, the homes, family members' homes, and workplaces of 17 people were searched, 28 locations in all. Truckloads of materials were confiscated, including internal papers, files, personal items, and several computers with a value of tens of thousands of dollars. The group is faced with a three-pronged attack. We have been accused of disturbing the peace, a reference to several coalition demonstrations in a nation-wide campaign against fascist training centres. The second accusation is of coercion. The Autonome Antifa (M) has been able to prevent Nazi meetings from taking place by building up political pressure using legal means, tactics that apparently count as crimes. Our engagement with the history and situation of political prisoners in Germany is also viewed by the state as dangerous. Several individuals face charges under 129a. This law was created especially for combatting the left by attempting to link them, in the courts and in the press, with the RAF (Red Army Fraction). As charges against individuals, the above accusations (excluding 129a) are fairly low-level. However, the actions were organized and carried out by an anti-fascist group, leaving us open to Germany's anti-anti-fascist politics. We are facing charges according to 129, the building of a criminal organization, a law normally used to fight organized crime. It is similar to the RICO laws in the US. This law has hardly ever been used against a political group before in Germany and has severe minimum penalties. At present, 25 people are directly accused of being members in a "criminal organization", the Autonome Antifa (M), and many more could be pulled into the case when the trial begins. We expect a long and expensive trial which could result in long sentences for the accused. The struggle will be carried out juristically and politically. We expect to be portrayed as organized criminals in the media and for the state to attempt to discredit our politics and scare off our coalition partners. Of course the situation is serious, but even more outrageous when compared to the German justice system's blind eye to the right. News of fascist murders and Nazi attacks reach even the international press every week, but no investigation of this scale has ever been carried out over such a long period of time against any right-wing group. International media coverage and pressure, like what the firebombings in Moelln and Solingen inspired, has been important in building political pressure in Germany. While trials against leftists in the 70s and 80s were regularly carried out with partially illegal methods, international trial watchers have helped to keep pressure on the courts to proceed legally in trials in the last few years. The most recent example is that of the Berlin 7, the so-called Kaindl Trial. The court certainly would have come down harder on the defendants without the international attention the trial drew. To win this case and to defend our politics against criminalization, we need strong international solidarity. We expect regional and nation-wide support committees to initiate an international solidarity campaign in the near future. What we need right away is press coverage and international trial watchers. If you have contacts to the press or to other groups who might help organize the solidarity campaign, please pass this information on to them and have them contact us via post or e-mail. The trials should begin sometime in the summer of 1995 and will last for several months. The trial watchers should come for at least two days and can, of course, come for longer. We will send more information when the actual charges are filed and when the date for the trials is set. Regular information will also be sent over the Internet when the trials begin. No criminalization of anti-fascist resistance! Build up international solidarity! Autonome Antifa (M) organized in the AA/BO Autonome Antifa (M) c/o Buchladen Rote Strasse 10 37073 Goettingen Germany 8) National Liberation Front Of Kurdistan (ERNK) Press Release 28 "Is Canada After A Political Blackmail Against The Kurds?" The information reaching our office indicates that the Canadian authorities, together with Turkey and some other countries, are preparing a political trial against the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK). This is done in the person of a 17-year-old Kurdish girl who tried to enter Canada illegally last year. The trial is set for June 5, 1995. The prosecutor is making its case on the premise that "the Kurdish girl is a member of the PKK and hence a threat to the cause of humanity". This ought to be the most interesting logic that the prosecuting team will put forward. We regard it as a political gaffe and a travesty of law to boot. We do that for the following reasons: 1. The young Kurdish girl, the subject of this trial, is neither a member of the PKK not its high level official. To even think of such a claim is ludicrous. She, like many other Kurdish youngsters and their families, could be a sympathizer. 2. To argue that a member of the PKK or its high level official is tantamount to a crime against humanity is an absurd proposition. That is because, other than the Turkish government, neither a state nor a court of law has ever made such an allegation to date. 3. To even consider this young girl for these accusations is a blight on the values that we hold as members of the human family. Kurdish refugees do go to the far corners of the world and some are caught in the process. But, in none of the countries where they have looked for refugee status has the host government sought to affiliate them with being a member of a particular party or a nation in terms of their reception into that country. Even if she, as an individual, were to be found guilty of some wrongdoing, the people she comes from could never be put on trial with her. Let us, since it seems to warrant, make ourselves clear. We are a national liberation movement. We are on record to abide by the 1949 Geneva Conventions and their relevant sections that proscribe the rules of war. On our own land, we are waging a struggle for self defense. The whole world has come to accept us as such. Millions of Kurds have invested their hopes and aspirations in our work. Only the Kurdish people can be the judge of our party. If the Canadian government wishes to take over the work of the Turkish fascist courts, the task is going to be a heavy one. Let it also be clear that the PKK is on record for dissuading the Kurdish people from leaving their homeland and has even undertaken campaigns to call on the Kurdish people to return home. This young Kurdish girl, it looks like to us, is being used as a test for larger designs against our people. The Kurds, who were oppressed for too long and who are now facing massacres, are in the midst of a life and death struggle. Neither they nor their party, the PKK, has a bone of contention with the Canadian government. To proceed with this trial with its stated aims and to invite experts from America and other countries to substantiate the accusations will lead to nowhere. We trust that neither the Canadian government nor its judiciary branch will commit themselves to this wrong. Ali Sapan ERNK European Spokesperson June 2, 1995 9) Statement To The Press About The Recent Developments In Austria (The Austrian press, and partly the international press, gave a large amount of interest to the Austrian autonomist magazine TATblatt recently, interest with a different quality and point of view of course. To counter the image of "leftist terrorists" and "extremist bomb attackers", TATblatt released the following statement.) On April 12, 1995, two long-time members of the militant left died in an attempted sabotage attack. Peter Konicek (31) and Gregor Thaler (30) were found by police one week after their deaths in a forest area south of Vienna near Ebergassing village. They had attempted to blow up an electricity pylon with a home-made bomb. As far as we know, from press reports, they had not paid attention to the magnetic field below such a pylon. The magnetic field triggered off the bombs while Peter and Gregor prepared the sabotage attack. This pylon of a 380 kv power line is one of two existing central supply lines to Vienna. These power lines connect the West European power supply systems with those in Eastern Europe. There are plans to direct cheap nuclear energy from Eastern Europe to Western Europe in the near future. Until now there are many open questions about this fatal incident. No statement from the two militants was found (or made public by the police). Therefore there are many speculations in the press and even within the left about this. For us, only one fact seems to be clear: two members of the militant left attempted a sabotage attack for environmental reasons. Immediately after the police announced that the two dead men were leftists, the press and right-wing politicians started a campaign against the left. A terrorist left network was published which included not only militant leftists but also liberal performers, politicians of the Greens, and even Social Democratic ministers. Most of the attacked persons and groups denounced the published network as complete nonsense while on the other hand pointing the finger at the radical-left. Many people noticed that this all-out attack from the right-wing was intented to divert attention from the terrorist nazi-bombings of the last two years. The police announced that at least one further person took part in the attempted attack in Ebergassing. The search for this unknown person was used to justify the subsequent intensive investigation of the left. On the day the police found the bodies of Gregor and Peter, police raided an anti-fascist centre in Vienna, the Ernst-Kirchweger-Haus (EKH). The EKH was squatted 5 years ago and is now a centre of the Austrian militant left, of a Roma organisation, of a Turkish Communist Party, and is also a home for refugees from various countries. One of the dead, Gregor Thaler, had his legal residence in EKH. This was the only big action of the police so far. Behind the scenes the police developed intensive activities of interrogations and home searches. Around 50 leftists have been interrogated so far. A further 150 are on the police list, according to press reports and police statements. TATblatt Following the tragic failure in Ebergassing, our radical-left bi-weekly magazine TATblatt became the target of a campaign to cut of all funding and to search our office. This attack was initiated by Jorg Haider, leader of the far-right populist Austrian Freedom Party (FPO) and taken up by nearly all daily and weekly newspapers in Austria. TATblatt was presented as the "centre of left-extremist terrorism", stating that despite the fact that TATblatt-journalists themselves are not terrorists their immediate social background is. No evidence was given for the accusation that the saboteurs of Ebergassing had any contacts with TATblatt. The smear-campaign against TATblatt is part of the attacks of Haider, whose contacts to far-right extremists are well documented, against left-wing initiatives in Austria. Almost all cultural groups dealing with left issues like anti-fascism have to face continual attacks from FPO agitators against "public subsidies for left-extremists or perverse cultural activities" for two years. But the recent attacks from Haider have gone far beyond this scope. A donation of 6,000 Austrian TS (600 US$) from the Minister for the Interior, Caspar Einem, to TATblatt was reason enough to demand the resignation of the minister. TATblatt was used by Haider as a tool to destabilize the current coalition of Social Democrats and Conservatives. Adding to this, Haider ran amok because of the donation from Einem. What had happened was that Einem donated money to support a legal trial, because TATblatt had published an article entitled "Jorg Haider Pursues Racist Baiting" two years ago. In part, Haider's attacks were successful. All political parties, including the Green Party, published statements condemning "violence of any sort", including TATblatt, despite the fact that TATblatt has been published legally for 7 years without a break. All public funding was cut off immediately two weeks ago. The behaviour of the Green establishment is in sharp contrast to so-called "common people". To counter further attacks on TATblatt and the radical-left infrastructure in Austria, it is them and not Green or Social Democrat careerists who give hope, power, and the necessary support to fight fascism, environmental destruction, sexism, and racism, not only in this country. TATblatt May 19, 1995 For more information, contact: TATblatt Gumpendorferstr. 157/11 1060 Vienna Austria Tel: 431-222-596 80 78 Fax: 431-222-596 80 784 10) Action Against The IMF World Bank Since WW2 the IMF and World Bank have been developed as the most important institutions of international capital in the seizure of raw materials, markets and workforce. All of the major Canadian banking institutions are engaged in the business of imperialism via IMF and World Bank. The Zapatistas (EZLN) have for a year and a half fought a military war against NAFTA and the genocide of colonialism and imperialism. In 1988 the Toronto Dominion Bank swapped $308 million of Mexican loans for bonds in that country. Let's look at a quote from Jeffrey S. Chisholm Vice-Chairman of Bank of Montreal. "We have repeatedly played a significant role in Mexico since we opened our first office there in 1906, and at one time Bank of Montreal was the largest bank in the republic." Stones are a weapon available to South Africans, Palestinians and Canadians. We used some to smash the windows of Royal Bank in Fairfield and Bank of Montreal in James Bay (May 31, 1995 Victoria BC Canada). "The interests of many seemingly diverse groups (ecological, anti-racist/anti-apartheid, anti-patriarchal, anti-capitalist, Central American solidarity groups, indigenous peoples) are present in the struggle against imperialism, embodied in 2 of the most powerful organisations of the capitalist world; the IMF and World Bank. The real challenge against the IMF&WB lies in these movements, & the liberation struggles of many of the countries in the Three Continents where revolutionary struggles are now being fought; but only if we develop strong anti-imperialist politics. Because the structures & methods of imperialism are international, our resistance must also be international." (from anti-IMF pamphlet) Make The Struggle Against Capitalism Autonomous! The Structures of Imperialism Are International - Make The Resistance Worldwide! anti-imperialist activists 11) The Lies Of A False Democracy By Alberto Rodriguez, Puerto Rican Political Prisoner On March 29, 1995 I was notified by the U.S. Parole Commission that my request for release on parole had been denied. They have continued my unjust incarceration until the year 2004. The parole board denied my parole even though hundreds of letters of support for my release were submitted, including letters from three U.S. Congresspeople and from the federal judge that originally sentenced me. In addition members of the parole commission met twice with Congresswoman Nydia Velazquez to discuss the issue of my release. All this was in vain. In their letter informing me that I had been denied parole the commission stated that: "[I was] an active member of a group which actively attempted to overthrow a government through violent means." They went on to say that this group was "...involved [in] a seditious conspiracy against the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico (most like Treason)." In a letter to Congresswoman Velazquez they stated another reason. In their letter to her they stated: "Although you [referring to the Congresswoman] provided the Commission with substantial reasons for granting parole in terms of the positive contribution a parole would likely have within the context of the Puerto Rican Independence movement, the Commissioners who voted to deny parole decided that this favorable factor was outweighed by the need to deter all other forms of politically-motivated violence and terrorism in the United States." It seems quite clear that Puerto Rican Independentistas incarcerated in U.S. prisons are political prisoners, a clear contradiction to official U.S. position that there are no political prisoners in this country. Our incarceration is another example of the violation of the human rights of Puerto Rican people by the U.S. This is of particular importance because the U.S. has self- defined itself as the world's leading democracy and the champion of human rights and of the freedom of nations. The continued incarceration of myself and all the other political prisoners in the U.S. is another example of the lies and deceptions of this false democracy. I have already served 12 years of a draconian sentence without a single disciplinary report while acquiring various vocational and educational skills in order to be eligible for release on parole as it corresponds to me by law only to find that all this is not enough. They are demanding that I give them nine more years of my life in order to satisfy their repressive interests. The recent scandal that the U.S. government has created over two of its citizens being sentenced to eight years of imprisonment by Iraq for "innocently" entering a country in a state of war is pure hypocrisy. How exaggerated are the expressions of outrage by Clinton and his administration. Can it be that they are not aware of the unjust sentences imposed on political prisoners in their own jails? Now more than ever we need your solidarity to work for my release and that of all the political prisoners. 12) Material Support For Political Prisoners And Prisoners Of War New Jersey and Nightcrawlers Anarchist Black Cross have initiated a program designed to send monthly cheques into those Political Prisoners and Prisoners of War who have been receiving insufficient, little or no support during their imprisonment. Currently, with each member giving $5.00 per week, we are able to support 2 P.O.W.'s by sending them a check of $60.00 each month. With guidance from the prisoners, a list of other P.P.s' and P.O.W.'s who are in great need of this type of support is being made. Though it is new and still small, the program is having an impact. As Sekou Odinga (a P.O.W. currently receiving a monthly cheque) writes, "Thanks much for the support you've been organizing, I really appreciate it. After not having any or very little support for so long, it now seems like (people) have all of a sudden realized that I'm alive". We already have more people on the list than we have resources. We ask that you endorse this program by giving $5.00 per week ($20.00 per month) or any other amount to this effort to increase the number of prisoners being supported monthly. A newsletter will soon be published that will document all money received, and to which prisoners it went. The prisoners addresses will published so that endorsers may write and hold us accountable to our claims. For More Info: New Jersey Anarchist Black Cross P.O. Box 8532 Paterson, NJ 07508-8532 USA Tel: (201) 357 0994 Nightcrawlers Anarchist Black Cross P.O. Box 1034 Bronx, NY 10454 USA Send financial contributions to the New Jersey address and please make out cheques to "CASH". (Source: Anarchist Black Cross Network Update - April 1995, Number One) 13) Appeal From The Yu Kikumura Support Committee Dear friend, This is an appeal to gain support for the case of Yu Kikumura. Yu Kikumura is the Japanese anti-imperialist brother imprisoned after a sensationalist 1988 bust and trial in New Jersey. He was convicted of possession of explosive devices. And based on hearsay evidence and hysterical media coverage, Yu was railroaded to 30 years in Federal prison. The Federal government's own guidelines called for a maximum three year sentence, but this was conveniently ignored amidst the general hysteria about so-called "terrorism." The cause of this draconian sentence? Yu's anti-imperialist politics. No more. No less. As Yu Kikumura faces his eighth year of incarceration, a threat of a transfer from his current stay at USP Marion to the new Federal "supermax" prison at Florence, Colorado, hangs like a dark storm cloud. Already several other political prisoners have been transferred from Marion to Florence. Such a transfer to a notorious "supermax" - where the government practices all manner of psychological and physical control - including sensory deprivation, 23 hour lockdown, and total isolation of each and every inmate from one another - aside from correction officials, of course, is cause for concern on how this country deals with political prisoners and other prisoners of conscience. From a narrow logistical point of view, Yu's imminent transfer makes communications - especially with his attorney and other friendly forces all the more difficult. A recent CBS "60 Minutes" piece on this companion prison - California's Pelican Bay - raised deep concerns over the venal nature of such forms of incarceration. We have every reason to be concerned for Yu's safety and peace of mind. Despite this gloomy threat, Yu enjoyed some legal victory. To make a long story short, when Yu was first imprisoned at Marion he was denied the ability to communicate and to read in his native Japanese. A legal petition was filed to challenge this. Although the petition was later denied by the Federal appellate court, a political victory was attained as a result of the critical judgement brought upon the prison warden within this very same decision. The wording by the appellate court may influence the ability of other prisoners to receive materials other than English. This past summer, the Yu Kikumura Support Committee waged a latter writing mobilization to combat on-going harassment by Marion prison authorities. Actions included the confiscation of personal property, including books on philosophy, politics, law, as well as his Japanese/English dictionaries. Yu wrote back that while the confiscation of property was in retaliation to some legal petitions he had filed, he further felt that the campaign by the Support Committee had its impact on prison authorities and helped him regain needed breathing space. We wish to thank those of you who helped in this effort. In terms of the larger picture, legal preparation and investigation continue as his attorney seeks to file a post-conviction petition in Federal district court. Such a motion will present new evidence and argue for a new trial. His attorney hopes to go to court very soon. These are the major reasons we are appealing for funds to aid us in the fight to free Yu Kikumura. And in the course of this effort expose the injustices visited upon anti-imperialists and revolutionaries under the big stick of fighting "terrorism". The Yu Kikumura Support Committee is a small committee of activists who have maintained communications between Yu, his lawyer, and other supporters around the country, and in Japan, where there also exists a support committee, the Yu no Kai. We receive no funding and rely solely on support from other concerned forces. Please send tax-deductible contributions by making your check payable to GLACTS (Great Lakes Asian American Center for Theology and Strategies [administered by Rev. Mike Yasutake]) and earmarking it for the Yu Kikumura Support Committee. Send your check to: Yu Kikumura Support Committee P.O. Box 520021 Flushing, NY 11352 USA Thank you and In struggle, Yu Kikumura Support Committee 14) Nationalism And The Kurdish National Liberation Movement By The Kurdistan Information Bureau (Germany) There has been an intense discussion recently concerning nationalism in the Kurdish liberation movement in general and the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) in particular. Even leftist publications like 'Konkret', 'Radikal', and the daily newspaper 'junge Welt' have printed articles over the last few months about nationalism in the PKK, in which they have accused the PKK of being "nationalist", "dictatorial", "populist", "anti-democratic", and so on. These accusations against the Kurdish liberation movement are nothing new. Without getting into the background of these accusations for the moment, we would like to point out that these criticisms which are being brought forward against the Kurdish liberation movement by left-wing German magazines and newspapers contain the exact same sweeping generalizations which are used against us by the bourgeois Western press and the Turkish state media. This text of ours is designed to show how these critiques of the Kurdish national liberation movement are very superficial. The content of these criticisms and the manner in which they are levied against the PKK make it clear that the authors of these critiques really know very little about the movement and its publications. Of course, it should be noted that almost all PKK/ERNK publications are either in Turkish or Kurdish. The only materials in German are 'Kurdistan Report' and the 'Kurdistan Rundbrief', which certainly isn't much at all. Perhaps it would be very significant if more publications of the Kurdish national liberation movement were translated into German and published, for example the books by PKK General Secretary Abdullah Ocalan on a variety of different themes. We are sure that this would clear up several questions. The PKK Is A Socialist Movement! How often must the question be asked, is the PKK a nationalist movement? This point is raised because the PKK sees itself as a national liberation movement and it expresses this in its publications. But what does the PKK mean when it speaks of a "nation"? How does the German left deal with this concept? We would like to examine these questions from different perspectives. First, it should be stated that the concept of "nation" now carries with it a great deal of negative connotations, especially within the German left, because of historical experiences with Nazi Germany. These assumptions are not necessarily false, considering the racist-fascist ideology of the Nazis, for whom the German nation was the embodiment of the highest race to whom all other nations must subject themselves. Therefore, the "nation" in Nazi Germany implied reactionary nationalism. Reactionary nationalism, as a form of bourgeois ideology, arises from the historical position of the role of the imperialist bourgeoisie. It expresses itself as national arrogance, in other words by misunderstanding and despising other nations and glorifying one's own nation and the imperialist society which is represented in national form. In this sense, bourgeois nationalism bases itself on capitalist production relationships on the one hand, namely the exploitation of that nation's own masses, especially the working class, and on the exploitation of the nations of the so-called Third World on the other. Bourgeois nationalism, as it is represented today in European states, expresses its reactionary nature most clearly in the exploitation of the "South", in other words the nations of Africa, Latin America, and Asia. By exploiting other nations (cheap sources of labour, raw materials, etc.) the bourgeoisie in Europe can afford to keep the standard of living of its working class relatively high as well while at the same time creating a strong middle class. That how the monopoly owners who make up just 2% of the population are able to maintain their status in the society. A socialist national consciousness must be distinguished from reactionary nationalism, particularly the extreme form which was practiced in Nazi Germany. The Kurdish national liberation movement uses the term "nation" to represent a people with a shared language, culture, history, and territory. In this sense the term is closely tied to social relations and must be looked at in its historical context, in contrast to bourgeois concepts of "nation", in which the nation is separated from the social relations and is not judged according to its historical creation and development. That's why the Kurdish national liberation movement places such an emphasis on the history of Kurdish people and society in its publications. According to the publications of the Kurdish national liberation movement, the Kurdish people are exploited as a nation. In his book 'Kurdish Reality Since The 19th Century And The PKK Movement', which was published by Agri-Verlag in Cologne in January 1994, PKK General Secretary Abdullah Ocalan states the following: "Due to the increasing influence of the monopolies in the capitalist economy in the 1970s, the economic exploitation of Kurdistan was accelerated, because it is well known that one of the most significant characteristics of monopolies is their tendency to expand outwards. Turkish monopoly owners were aware of the fact that they could not compete with imperialist monopolies abroad, which is why they decided to utilize Kurdistan as an area for exploitation. They wanted to exploit the country so as to get out of their economic crisis. In the same way as imperialist countries solve their crises by exploiting so-called Third World countries, Turkish monopolies tried to solve their crisis through the exploitation of the Turkish working class on the one hand and of Kurdistan on the other. Since capitalism had not previously been introduced into Kurdistan and since the Kurdish people were denied any economic, democratic, or national rights, it was easy for the Turkish monopolies to serve their own interests and colonize the country. Agriculture and grazing became oriented towards the interests of the Turkish monopolies and the exploitation of natural resources was intensified." The Kurdish national liberation movement found the Kurdish society in the 1970s in a strongly feudalistic phase. As the analysis cited above shows, capital did intrude into Kurdistan after 1970, yet this did not alter the social relations, which were already based on exploitation. In Kurdistan, Kurdish feudal lords collaborated with Turkish capitalists. These people acted as the Turkish state's strongest supporters in Kurdistan. In the PKK's 'Manifesto', published in 1978, the following is written: "What's more, the Kurdish feudal lords welcomed these developments, since the limited exploitation offered to them under a feudal system was not sufficient, therefore they gladly collaborated with foreign (Turkish) capitalists in order to increase their share of the exploitation." The Kurdish national liberation movement considers Kurdish feudal lords to be important targets for attack because of their collaboration with Turkish capitalists which makes them important pillars of the Turkish state in Kurdistan. Both of the above quotations make it clear that the Kurdish national liberation movement uses dialectical materialism in order to analyze Kurdish society and history. This fact alone excludes an understanding of nationalism in the sense of bourgeois nationalism. It should also been made perfectly clear that the PKK is fighting for the national liberation of the Kurdish people and is striving towards a socialist society in which people live together in equality. It should also be noted that, in comparison to other left-wing Turkish and Kurdish organizations, most workers and peasants are organized in the PKK. The Kurdish liberation movement also makes use of the phrase "patriotism" on many occasions. For the Kurds, "patriotism" means recognizing their national identity and resisting exploitation and repression. This can in no way be compared to German patriotism, which, again, is connected to bourgeois nationalism. Patriotism in Kurdistan is a result of the fact that the Kurdish people, ever since the beginning of the liberation struggle, have consistently denied their identity as a distinct people due to the Turkish state's policy of assimilation and denial and they have failed to recognize that they are exploited and repressed as a people. Recognizing one's national identity in Kurdistan doesn't just mean recognizing a national characteristic but also recognizing the fact of exploitation, hence a class characteristic. Because of this, Kurdish patriotism entails both of these characteristics. The fact that other peoples, such as Turks, Armenians, Assyrians, and others, have fought and continue to fight in the ranks of the PKK makes it clear that the Kurdish liberation movement is in no way comparable to a bourgeois nationalist movement. Women In The National Liberation Struggle Now we would like to comment on an article entitled "Kurdistan: What Chances Exist For The National Liberation Struggle?" which was published in the 12/94 edition of 'Radikal'. A part of this article was also printed in the 21 December 1994 edition of the leftist daily paper 'junge Welt'. One passage quoted a statement from the Patriotic Women's Association of Kurdistan (YJWK) concerning the situation of Kurdish women in Germany: "The women here (in Germany) have quickly learned that it's not acceptable for a man to hit a woman, otherwise the police will do something about it. After the women have quickly learned this, they use that as an opportunity to act as they wish. But this leads to the degeneration of these women. Their free environment is often misused. Chaos in the family grows worse. And if the woman has to work at a job as well, the situation grows even worse. The women do everything possible to achieve their so-called equal rights without ever trying to see clearly if their conduct is right or wrong. Naturally this ends in tragedy. But the situation is much different for families with close ties to their country, Kurdistan, and who recognize that their own liberation is tied to the liberation of their homeland. These families, who work together with Kurdish associations and who strive to maintain their identity, culture, and language, don't have such problems. They have come to realize that liberation is only possible in a liberated country. This is true for the liberation of women as well." The German authors of the critique then state the following: "It's clear from this that no matter what the circumstances are - even here in Germany - that national identity counts for more than the actual social situation." He or she is therefore trying to assert that the Kurdish liberation struggles places more emphasis on national concerns than on the social situation. This assertion is inherently contradictory because the social situation of the Kurdish woman as well as the Kurdish man is directly linked to their national exploitation and oppression. The national exploitation and oppression of Kurdish society in the primary reason for the exploitation and oppression of Kurdish women. And in the regressive and feudalistic Kurdish society, the woman is oppressed by the man and so she must suffer from a double oppression. Therefore, the Kurdish national liberation movement has made the liberation of Kurdish women one of its priorities. As the problems in the countries of the so-called Third World show, a society's standard of living depends greatly on the education of women because women can exert more control over the birth rate and care better for the education of children, since caring for children is one of the roles assigned to women in today's society. Men, of course, carry just as much responsibility in all of this, but the woman's role is much more important. Therefore, a necessary prerequisite for an equal coexistence of women and men is that they must carry equal responsibilities. It is also clear that the liberation of women is not just the task of Kurdish women, but rather it is also the concern of Kurdish men. European viewpoints have turned the liberation of women into a "woman's question", something which men play no role in. This is a typically bourgeois way of approaching the problem. It is unrealistic to strive towards an equal society if the men and women can't work together towards this goal. But how is it possible to create a Kurdish society where the women and men can live together in equality? This is a question to which there has not yet been an universally valid answer. The Kurdish national liberation movement has dealt with this issue on both a theoretical as well as a practical level and analyzed the results. From this came the decision to organize the women involved in the armed struggle into a women's army. The accusations made against the PKK in the 'Radikal' article can be refuted by the fact that the Kurdish liberation movement is the only movement in the Middle East which has taken practical steps to achieve an equal status for women in social life. Women today can assume leadership positions within the liberation movement. In this way, women have influence over social developments. That's why there have been such dramatic changes in Kurdish society within just a short period of time. Today, Kurdish men can't just hit women at will or rule over them like kings. In any case, they have to answer to the authority of the Kurdish liberation movement. These developments have also led to women going to join the guerrilla in order to fight for their freedom and equality. The quotation from the YJWK representatives concerning the situation of Kurdish women in Germany must be seen against this background. But the quotation is trying to make a further point, namely that women in Western bourgeois societies have a false notion of equality. The first part of the quotation is trying to emphasize the point that women in the Western world have become "degenerated" to the level of consumer items, and the second part states that women in the Kurdish liberation struggle are fighting for the national liberation of the society and, therefore, for women's liberation as well. It's not possible for us to discuss the women's issue in detail in this article, otherwise we'd become overwhelmed. But the publications of the Kurdish national liberation movement deal extensively with this theme from a variety of perspectives. Many questions are dealt with, for example: What is love? What function does the family have in the society? What should the relationship between men and women look like in the Kurdish liberation struggle, or in the future Kurdish society? Certainly the answers to such questions are also relevant to people in the West. The PKK's Vision Of Socialism As we stated above, the PKK is a socialist movement. Now the question arises as to what the Kurdish national liberation movement defines socialism to be. This question is significant, particularly since we are living in a period directly following the collapse of real-existing socialism. We would like to stress the evaluation of PKK General Secretary Abdullah Ocalan, who wrote an article entitled "The Ideological-Political Questions Of Socialism And The Solutions Which The PKK Would Bring About" in the November 1994 edition of the magazine 'Serxwebun'. In reference to the development of consciousness in individuals, religion, and morality, the General Secretary of the PKK writes the following: "There are important stages in the development of consciousness. I would like to briefly discuss this. At the beginning, human consciousness was very underdeveloped and displayed primitive, regressive thought. This was expressed in the form of witchcraft, magic, and religion. Both magic and religious tendencies are the beginning stages of consciousness. Religion is a form of consciousness, but it's a very underdeveloped stage of rational discipline, as we know today. But religion has always existed and it always will. The same is true for witchcraft and magic. The causes of these phenomena are closely linked to the existence of humanity. Can a human being be explained in an entirely rational manner? Can all of his or her actions be based on reason? These are philosophical questions. There are several theories concerning all of this and they all develop on a scientific foundation. But it seems unrealistic to suppose that dreams, dogma, and religion will one day all disappear. These are part of human nature. Human nature requires us to make space for dreams, dogma, and religious values, as well as for ethics and morality. If a certain type of moral code is not developed then it's not possible for humanity to develop further or exist any longer. The crisis of socialism is likewise connected to morality. The fact that real-existing socialism failed to deal with questions of religion and morality was the major cause of its collapse." This evaluation makes it clear that Ocalan has deeply examined questions of socialism, in particular how they relate to human psychology. According to Ocalan, people can't simply be made to conform to a dogmatic scheme. He makes it clear that certain peculiar aspects of humanity, for example dreams and religious values, can't simply be abolished. According to Ocalan, the contemporary socialist movement must seriously concern itself with these issues and find a solution. In the same article, Ocalan writes: "Along with the general scientific ideology, which developed in the time of capitalism, there is also the socialist ideology. To separate this form of socialism from the other kinds, it should be referred to as scientific socialism. Why scientific? The 19th century was the age of science and there was not a single field which science did not affect. This development also had an impact on the social sciences as well. Socialism, therefore, is an expression of social sciences. That's why it should be called scientific socialism, or, in other words, that's why socialism is scientific. Socialism considers itself to be the most scientific ideology ever. There are several reasons for this, the main reason being that it is closely linked to the working class. The ruling classes are forced to lie and to distort reality, but the working class has to be realistic, that is, scientific. The working class has no reason to lie so as to exploit people. That's why the working class has an inclination towards science. (...) People naturally seek Utopias. But Utopias don't come about on their own. That's why it's not possible to conceive of socialism without conceiving of a Utopia. In the end, all ideologies are Utopias and socialism needs to be such a Utopia as well. Real-existing socialism tried to overcome this, it sought to create socialism without a Utopia, without practicing morality, and therefore it collapsed." Ocalan clearly distances his brand of socialism from real-existing socialism, as it was practiced in the Soviet Union, for example. The General Secretary of the PKK advocates scientific socialism, one which deals with all questions facing humanity, including morality, science, culture, the question of women, democracy, protecting the environment, and so on. According to Ocalan, this is the only way scientific socialism can provide an alternative to the capitalist system. In any case, according to the General Secretary of the PKK, scientific socialism is a Utopia which we can all strive to create. (Translated from 'Agitare Bene' #75, March 1995. Translated by the Kurdistan Committee of Canada) 15) AIZ Target Politicians' Homes The militant German group Anti-Imperialist Cell (AIZ) have lived up to their promise to continue carrying out actions against Germany's elite. In January of this year, they bombed the house of Volkmar Kohler, a former CDU junior justice minister. In April, the AIZ targeted the Dusseldorf home of Theo Blank, a CDU member of parliament. This action, which was partly done in protest of German arms sales to Turkey and in solidarity with the national liberation struggle in Kurdistan, sent shock waves through the German establishment. "Without potentially lethal actions," write the AIZ, "the German left will not be able to exert the pressure on the elite which is necessary in the international struggle between imperialism and those fighting for liberation." This willingness to utilize deadly force if necessary has drawn sharp criticisms of the AIZ from many autonomist groups and even other radical-left anti- imperialist organizations. In this case, however, a warning siren placed in Blank's front yard alerted the family to presence of the bomb and Theo, his wife, and his son all escaped out the back door before the device exploded. We will publish more statements from the AIZ, as well as critiques of them, in coming issues of Arm The Spirit. 16) Anti-Imperialist Cell Discussion Paper - Early November 1994 "The horrible realization was that we knew everything, yet did nothing, so things kept spiralling downward: each person, the group, 'Stammheim' the institution, guerrilla, illegality apology. And now to see just how fucked up, dirty, and mean it is, and that the simplicity (on the one side) lies in once again recognizing oneself as a fighter, how it was, what you know about yourself, our methods, the level - to break through countless levels to arrive at 'we': reality as a fight - and certainly not a have/should have balance,..." (Ingrid Schubert, prisoner from the Red Army Fraction, November 21, 1976) We have been struggling since April 22, 1992, for the creation of a militant anti-imperialist resistance in Germany. We want to contribute to the further development of a militant resistance in Germany, one which has its roots in the political content of the militant/armed struggle of the Red Army Fraction (May 14, 1970 - April 1, 1991). We don't view militant resistance as something for the few, but rather as a matter for all those people who have not imprisoned their hearts and minds in resignation, depoliticization, and apathy. At the end of September/beginning of October in Bremen, it was shown, despite preventive measures from the German state, that various comrades from the anti-national resistance could articulate militancy from a position of weakness. The "politics of needle pricks" of the militant resistance, which Bremen's interior senator Nispen (FDP) mentioned, was a politically painful reality for the self-representation of the German state. We deposited explosive devices in early June (before the European elections) at the CDU office in Dusseldorf and at the end of September (before the German elections) at the FDP office in Bremen. We did this, because we think it's important to have a militant exchange with the politics of the ruling party bloc CSU/CDU/FDP/Greens/SPD. In our communiques from both actions, we attempted to thematize the politics of the ruling CDU and FDP parties. The result of the parliamentary elections is that Germany will in future still be ruled by an all-party coalition, as was the case previously. The situation in the institution conglomerate parliament/upper house/mediation committee makes that clear. "An extra-parliamentary opposition which wishes to enter parliament loses its own quality and becomes a force of the system which can perhaps overcome the 5% hurdle, but which cannot carry out extra-parliamentary politics on the basis of a theoretically-grounded strategy." (Agnoli, late 1968) It's not even worth mentioning the fact that the BSA [Trotskyist splinter-party - trans.] and the MLPD [the biggest Marxist/Leninist splinter-party in Germany - trans.] are on the election ballot. But we do consider the effects of the PDS [Party of Democratic Socialism; has 30 seats in the German parliament - trans.] to be problematic. This party, which has established itself as the third-largest political force in East Germany, has caused several people who do not accept the ruling conditions in Germany to be fooled by the illusion that it is not necessary to self-consciously break through the boundaries for action set up by the state in order to push through their demands against the satisfied majority of the German population. Even several West German leftists are fascinated by the PDS, which is grotesque when you consider the last 26 years of the history of the German left: The course of the '68 movement could have taught us a lot about extra-parliamentary opposition. And then there's the development of the Green Party: True, Fischer [parliamentary fraction leader of Buendis 90/The Greens - trans.] hasn't yet been named as foreigner minister, but the "adaptation trip of these stuffy bourgeois fools", as Jutta Ditfurth put it, will continue. If the German left does not draw any consequences from its history, then the further development of the resistance will certainly not be possible. The task of leftists who define themselves as antagonists with regards to the German state is to concentrate on a consequential form of extra-parliamentary resistance politics in order to figure out how progress can be made on the path towards the self-organization of those people who, as a minority here in Germany, are interested in change. During the recent parliamentary elections, 19.3% of voters in West Germany and 26.3% in East Germany decided not to take part in the voting ritual. Leftists interested in becoming socially relevant should make an effort to understand the motives of these "non-voters". Even though the polit-cliques of the major political parties don't like to talk about it, it still causes them to worry when, on June 26 for example, only 54.8% of eligible voters took part in the state elections in Saxony-Anhalt. After the general elections in 1990, the CDU in Stuttgart hired Dr. Eilfort from Tuebingen to carry out "abstention research" to figure out the political motives of "non-voters", and he described his findings as "shocking": Approximately 80% of "non-voters" described themselves as politically interested, but they reject the ruling political parties. These people assume that "the politicians do what they want", they are unhappy with their socio-economic situation, they can't identify a real political alternative and hence they become apathetic. Eilfort concludes in his dissertation: "There seems to be a strong correlation between poverty and voter abstention: Those people who should be most interested in change take part the least in voting." The relationship between voters and non-voters is, therefore, a reflection of the splits within German society in general. The following data from the so-called poverty conference also illustrate these splits: In 1992, 7.5% of people in the West and 14.8% of people in the East had to get by with an income which was less than half the average level in Germany. Approximately 2.2 million children in Germany live in poverty (1 out of every 7 children). The minority cannot push through its demands against the majority through "democratic" legal means. Here is where the responsibility of militant resistance politics comes in. Other comrades attacked the CDU office in Siegburg at the end of September. This was the office of the CDU/CSU parliamentary fraction's external affairs spokesman, Lamers. Lamers, together with Schaeuble [head of the CDU parliamentary fraction - trans.], presented a paper from the parliamentary fraction on September 1 with the seemingly harmless title "Thoughts On European Politics". This 14-page document could be considered the fundamental strategy for making Germany into a world power. Lamers/Schaeuble assume that Germany is destined to become a superpower "because of its geographic location, its size, and its history". A quasi-ultimatum is issued to France, together with the Benelux states, to force an integration of the so-called core of Europe, because otherwise Germany "might have to stabilize Eastern Europe on its own, with traditional means, on account of our own security interests". At the end of Germany's term as EU president during the upcoming summit meeting in Essen in December, a "development strategy" for the states of Eastern Europe will be presented, the goal of which is to expand the European Union to the east. Right now, Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Rumania, and Bulgaria are associated with the EU; agreements are now being prepared for the Baltic states and Slovenia. Germany has the biggest interest of all the EU-member nations of seeing the European Union expanded eastward: Germany controls more than 50% of all EU trade with Eastern Europe. Furthermore, Lumers/Schaeuble note that "the East is also an important arena for Germany's foreign policy", in other words, it's a sort of front yard for military strategy. When Finland and Austria, and most likely Sweden and Norway as well, become EU-member states in January 1995, Germany's role as the EU's central power will be further strengthened. In the Lamers-Schaeuble-paper, the relationship between Germany and France is described as the "core of the core", with the Benelux states serving as filler; the EU commission's future president, Santer (from Luxembourg), is a German/French puppet. Economically, Germany is dominant in the EU with its D-mark. It's unlikely that Europe's monetary union will go into effect on January 1, 1999, with the D-mark being dropped as the basis of predominance. Schaeuble/Lamers want Germany to advance, not only economically, but militarily/politically as well, to put Germany on the same level as the 5 permanent members of the UN Security Council. Therefore, Germany is willing to make a deal with France which will allow the French franc to gain from the D-mark's stability in the monetary union, as long as France is willing to help Germany to become a military-political superpower. France is willing to accept this deal; when France takes over the EU presidency from Germany in January 1995, they will put forward a plan to develop a joint air force which can be deployed in international missions. To emphasize this new cooperation for the French population, on July 14, German tanks were allowed to roll down the Champs Elysees for the first time since 1945. It is known that France continues to intervene in Africa with the arrogance of a military superpower and a former colonial power. When the French government recently invited the German armed forces to take part in the intervention in Zaire/Rwanda, even Ruehe [German defence minister - trans.] was surprised. Along with the EU's expansion to the east and the taking in of 4 new members, the EU summit in Essen will also deal with the issue of EU politics with regards to non-EU states in the Mediterranean. There are plans to discuss "EU association treaties to create a free-trade zone" which will stretch all the way from Morocco to Israel. A common security strategy with all of these nations will be strived after, with only the Jamahiriya excluded. "We can't concern ourselves with reformist demands to the institutions of the EU. The decisive factor must be our resistance..." wrote comrades preparing for the demonstration against the EU summit in Essen on November 12. A precondition to the resistance on this day is continuous content work with regards to EU politics. Back in 1982, the May Paper [from the RAF - trans.] discussed the significance of the developments in Western Europe. When comrades from the guerrilla thematized the politics of the Western European Union in their attack on Braunmuehl, this analysis had a rather singular character. A broad anti-EU discussion has thus far been lacking. Content work is made even more difficult by the fact that the institutional conglomerate of the EU apparatus is so hard to understand in its entirety. This can be confirmed by those people who have attempted to keep track of internal EU developments on such issues as the bioethics convention, patent standards, biotechnological discoveries, new food prescriptions, drinking water and pesticide guidelines, etc. On the other hand, there are facts which clearly illustrate the full inhuman extent of EU politics: While 786 million people are starving across the world, the EU bought up and destroyed 2.5 billion kilograms of fruit and vegetables in 1993/94. The world's food production would be more than sufficient if things were distributed more justly; each person in the world could receive 2,500 calories per day, 150 more than are required for good nutrition. "The fact is, if we don't act now, a flood of refugees will overwhelm the states of Europe in the very near future. At the present time, there are approximately 100 million refugees in the world, fleeing for whatever reason. At least 10 million are seeking to enter the EU. Because of television, which broadcasts images of the high standard of living in the EU even to the furthest corner of Africa, the number of refugees seeking to enter the EU could swell as high as 20-30 million." (state secretary Repnik, CDU) The formation of the "European nation" (whatever that is), by means of which the fragmented metropolitan society will be held together, has bitter consequences for immigrants in the EU. In Germany, approximately 5,000 refugees are waiting to be deported. More and more of these are taking action to make their situation known to the public (for example in Bueren, Leverkusen, Kassel, and Berlin). The Nigerian refugee Kola Bankole did not survive his mistreatment in Frankfurt's airport at the hands of the German federal border police ("biting protection" and sedative injections), and Tamil refugees drown in the Neisse river trying to enter German territory which is guarded by federal border troops - all of that is reality in this country. In France, repression minister Pasque is the main person responsible for state racism: Dark skin colour is enough of a reason for the police to terrorize migrants from Maghreb. Education minister Bayrou increased the racist mood in France with his decree issued on August 20. In Lille, for example, the head of the Lycee Faidherbe refused to allow 18 young women to attend classes at the school. The reason: they were wearing Islamic head scarves. "Our only right to resist them, their laws, the system and its conformism, to resist the state, to defend ourselves against this day-to-day exploitation and humiliation, is the right to revolt, to refuse, the right of emancipation, the right to speak out, to take up arms, to criticize, to organize ourselves, to struggle, to rise up and fight to the end, everywhere, without pause." (Joelle, Nathalie, and Jean-Marc, imprisoned militants from Action Directe, May 2, 1994) Our politics will from now on be oriented towards making a militant/armed intervention in those places where the German elite have their workplaces and homes. We call on all comrades to give solidarity and support to Birgit Hogefeld during her trial in Frankfurt. Struggle Together! Early November 1994 Anti-Imperialist Cell 17) Major Police Raids Against Leftists In Germany On Tuesday, June 13, 1995, 50 left-wing collective homes, private flats, and infoshops all over Germany were the target of a large-scale raid by the police. In eight states special units and officers of the State Offices of Criminal Investigation (LKA) and of the Federal Office of Criminal Investigation (BKA) stormed the houses and political centers early in the morning. The orders for the operation were given by the Office of the Federal Attorney (BAW) in Karlsruhe, which, as its speaker Rolf Hannich said, ordered the raid in connection with present preliminary proceedings against "left-wing extremist and left-wing terrorist groupings". During the whole day the BAW imposed a news ban on the details and the background of the big raid. Also the BAW didn't want to confirm reports that the police operation was aimed at the Anti-Imperialist Cell (AIZ). Concrete proceedings were only rarely mentioned in the search warrants. The main excuse: Supporting a terrorist organization and distribution of the autonomist underground magazine Radikal. In Berlin, three collective houses and one private flat were raided. The operation was legitimized with the suspicion of the distribution of Radikal. In two houses the police also searched for two men who are wanted in connection with the failed car bomb attack on the deportation prison under construction in Berlin-Grunau. For that reason they broke open the flats at six in the morning, with tracker dogs, and detained the inhabitants until midday. In response to the question of whether the proceedings in connection with Grunau were also making up the reason for the raids in other towns, the spokesman for the BAW, Hannich, didn't want to say anything. In Hamburg, besides several private flats, a printshop was raided. Police seized flyers and a stereotype of a flyer for the "Anti-Racist Telephone". This flyer contained a call for reminder vigils because of racist attacks by police officers in police stations in Hamburg (which happened - and became public! - in several other towns as well). Also the inhabitants of four flats in the Schanzenviertel in Hamburg were woken up by SEK special units. The excuse: Again, the production and distribution of Radikal. Probably nine people were arrested, but released shortly afterwards. That may mean that also their arrest was just an excuse and not the aim of the raids. In Schleswig-Holstein (a northern state in Germany), police in Rendsburg and Lubeck arrested two men, and the warrant against them, issued for "suspicion of membership in a terrorist organization", gave the excuse for the searching of several flats and two political centers in Lubeck. A member of the group ID- Schleswig-Holstein (Information Service Schleswig-Holstein) reported to the daily newspaper Junge Welt that at least one of two men arrested has already been transported to Karlsruhe for interrogation. The search for one of them also was the excuse for the searching of the infoshop in Neumunster. According to the BAW he allegedly has been a regular visitor. During the raid, police seized all the material in the offices of ID-Schleswig-Holstein, everything from the archives to the computers. By order of the BAW, eleven raids were conducted in the state of North Rhein-Westphalia, in Duisburg, Munster, and Cologne. In these cases the operations were not aimed at specified persons, and arrests only happened because of "resistance against the police". In Cologne the police raided two former squats, one flat, and the infoshop. Here, too, the officers excused their entrance with the search for proof for the production of Radikal. Altogether the reasons for the raid seem to be constructed. The house in Berlin-Kreuzberg had already been turned upside down in May in connection with the search for the suspects from Grunau. The magazine Radikal, which is less and less important in the autonomist scene, has existed for 20 years and has already been used often as an excuse for repressive operations by the state security agencies. Obviously the aim of the BAW is a different one. After the police appeared several times before the public with proceedings against right-wing extremists, proof of efficiency also against the radical-left was overdue. The last "success" in this direction, the arrest of one alleged RAF-member, Birgit Hogefeld, and the shooting of another, Wolfgang Grams, is two years old, and that actually backfired on the BAW. What probably is going to be sold as "an effective strike against left-wing terrorism" is no more than an hyped attempt to intimidate, made up for the benefit of the media. (Mainly based on an article in Junge Welt, June 14, 1995, by Elke Spanner and Ivo Bozic. Translated by SpinnenNetz Berlin.) 18) State Charges Italian Computer Bulletin Board With 'Subversion' On Tuesday, February 28, 1995, at seven in the morning, members of the Carabinieri Anti-Crime Special Operations Group raided the homes of a number of people in Rovereto and Trento from the local Self-Managed Social Centre 'Clinamen'. Some of those raided are also active in the Italian anarchist movement. The warrant from the Rovereto court spoke of 'assocation with intent to subvert the democratic order' (art.270 bis CP), a charge which carries a very heavy penalty for those convicted of 7 to 15 years imprisonment. The absurdity of the charge speaks for itself. Confiscated in the raids were journals and magazines, leaflets, diaries, notebooks and video tapes, all of which was either publicly available or else for strictly personal use. Also confiscated was the personal computer which hosted 'BITS Against the Empire', a node in the Cybernet and Fidonet networks. Stored on the computer was a vast number of documents concerning the social use of new technologies, Italy's Self-managed Social Centres and independent music production, along with hundreds of electronic reviews publicly available throughout the world computer network. Having decided quite explicitly from the onset not to hold *any* software, the BBS's founders had dedicated themselves exclusively to communication through public electronic conferences and to the consultation of texts held in the archives. There is therefore no possibility of substance to any charge of computer piracy or abusive software duplication, accusations often advanced in earlier cases. The confiscation of BITS Against the Empire strikes at one of the most prominent nodes within the Cybernet network, the first place in Italy to offer space to the voice of the non-aligned, to those who refuse to be represented by the political parties, choosing instead the path of self-management both in the virtual and real worlds. Cybernet has never accepted the use of authoritarian instruments, whether these be policies (the laws of cyberspace) or the role of moderators (cibersbirri), preferring instead to restore to each individual their own reponsibility and their own freedom of action and thought. It is precisely these freedoms which are daily negated in the physical world by the State and its demokracy. Cyberspace has now been discovered as a new consumer market, and above all as a new cultural terrain for the legitimation of the first, second and subsequent Italian Republics. Alongside the sensationalism with which direct actions against small, insignificant episodes of domestic computer piracy, the Italian magistrates and police forces have for some years now shown a morbid fascination for places such as Cybernet and the European Counter Network, places which have experimented with new forms of social relations, new forms of contaminating culture and knowledge in the light of digital media. It is not surprising that repressive organs of the State reacted to their technical and social ignorance by seizing an instrument of communication like a BBS: what they don't understand can't be controlled, and what can't be controlled is dangerous for a social order based upon fear and institutionalised violence. Measures of support and requests for further information can be sent to: Internet:lpaccagn@riscl.gelso.unitn.it Bitnet: lpaccag@itncisti European Counter Network: Luc Pac 45:1917/2.1 Cybernet: Luc Pac 65:1400/6 19) How To Reach Us... Besides sending a letter (with lots of money!), ATS can be reached in a variety of ways on the Internet, via e-mail, ftp, gopher, and on the World Wide Web. News items are regularly posted to the newsgroup called alt.politics.radical-left and distributed to our listserv called ats-l. We also post news to soc.culture.kurdish and operate a Kurdistan news and solidarity listserv called kurd-l. Contact us to subscribe to these on-line services. Check out our on-line archive as well! Arm The Spirit P.O. Box 6326, Stn. A Toronto, Ontario M5W 1P7 Canada E-mail: ats@etext.org WWW: http://burn.ucsd.edu/~ats Gopher: gopher://locust.cic.net:70/11/Politics/Arm.The.Spirit FTP: ftp.etext.org --> /pub/Politics/Arm.The.Spirit