A poem by one the six recently imprisoned anti-fascists who says — "It’s about how religious people (of certain faiths especially), always try to befriend people they perceive to be at a low, but they always have a hidden agenda."

A judgement from my so called peers, the sentence from an elevated seat.
A coward, a liar taken away, the chaff removed from the wheat.
Climbing down the stairs as if to Hell, it’s actually getting warmer as I talk.
As my new bling bracelets jangle, my white gleaming carriage awaits
No princess charming or a ball, as we leave the future I contemplate.
My journeys end I disembark, the man next to me wants to call me Mister.
Maybe this, my Cinderella’s Ball, and my new chaperone an ugly sister?
Surrounded by a creamy glow, four walls, a ceiling and a floor,
Excuse me I didn’t mean to lie, there’s also a window and a locked green door.
Cracks and bangs and endless sounds, is this the soundtrack to my new life?
The drummers serenade without reprieve, my sleep abused by this rusty knife.
LISTEN!
When did it go silent no more sound?All peaceful then I see a light.
Within the flame I see a pretty face, she talks and smiles so bright.
No fear I feel just a deep sweet warmth, not one solitary tear my eye leaks.
My angel brings a new found peace, like water gods words flow as she speaks...

“Hold my hand and hold it tight
I’ll take you from this land of fright
Where the sweetest fruits grow from every tree,
And life has no cost , it’s happy and free.
You’ll wake in laughter and sleep with a smile,
Your dreams the sweetest you’ve had in a while.
Hold my hand and hold it tight
I’ll take you from this land of fright.”

"Take my hand and we’ll walk through,
To this land I have saved for you.
None are hungry none are poor
No child is forgotten, none beg for more
You’ll walk in pastures glowing green for the sun
See children play, laugh and having fun
Take my hand and we’ll walk through,
To this land I’ve saved for you.”

Why am I not scared of this vision? Feelings pure of love not lust.
The jury was stupid they were idiots you see, my angel’s the one who’s just.
With her I will go and we’’ll be so happy, in god’s world is where we live.
No prison will or could ever hold me, to her and to her god my life I will now give.
FLASH!
The drummers pounding away, as do the ceilings, the walls, the door.
Her honey words from god are gone forever, to control they’ll tell any lie.
Turn to one angel or a million and one, to snare you is all they will try.

Heaven and paradise promises abound, yet no proof will they ever show.
Accept your pain and suffering now, when you die you’ll see you’re not so low
Believe them blindly never question or ask, it’s better (you’ll see) when you die.

To protect the rich, powerful and few, that’s always been the most powerful lie.
If there’s one true god why so many fights, my religion is best one thinks
Why killing of innocents, woman and child? Think about it, surely you see the links
This may be the only life you ever get, think it through find real truth too.
Don’t get down trodden, rise up break the chains, the angel lied to me and she’ll lie to you too.

Please contact Rav with your messages of support and solidarity. Stamps and paper are always welcome, too.

Ravinder Gill
A5770CE
HMP Wayland
Griston
Thetford
Norfolk
IP25 6RL

A massive November walkout of up to 2 million public sector workers is now on the cards as the UK's largest unions announce their intention to ballot for strike action over pension reform.

Unison, Unite and the GMB, the UK's largest biggest unions, have announced their intention to ballot for coordinated strike action against cuts to public sector workers pensions.

Other unions which have not taken action over pensions so far also indicated their intention to ballot, including the NASUWT (a teachers' union), NAHT (headteachers), FBU (firefighters), Prospect (civil servants).

Unions which took strike action over the same issue on June 30 will almost certainly join this action as well, including PCS (civil servants), NUT (teachers), ATL (teachers) and UCU (university and college workers).

Importantly, the three big unions have members in the NHS and its contractors, and have stated their intention to ballot them for industrial action as well. Unison has stated it will ballot 1.1 million members at 9000 different employers.

Despite agreeing to enter scheme-specific talks with the government without having achieved any concessions on the main planks of the overall changes, the union leaderships are now talking tough, calling this "the fight of our lives".

The three big unions have stated they will support a big one-day strike, followed by selective "smart" stoppages rolling on until next summer.

The first increase in workers' pension contribution payments, where workers will see their pay cheques shrink, is due to come in in April 2012.

Behind the scenes, it is rumoured that Dave Prentis, Unison's general secretary, may be prepared to make a deal if local government workers are exempted from our proposed 50% increase in pension contributions. We cannot accept this - we need to all stick together. Because if we let other groups of workers have their contributions be increased, then a couple of years down the line they will be back for ours, and those workers will think "why should we support them, when they didn't support us?".

The unions have a patchy record of defending public sector workers' pensions. In 2006 when a big wave of pension cuts were proposed, following a one-day strike, further strike action called off, and eventually a deal agreeing to significant cuts in pensions was recommended to now-demobilised union members.

If we want to have a serious chance at fighting these cuts, then we have to make this action as effective as possible, broaden it out as much as possible and take the struggle into our own control as much as possible. If we let ourselves be passively led by the unions then we will be defeated again.

Originally posted here: http://libcom.org/blog/huge-strike-against-pension-cuts-way-14092011

Bob Miller 1953-2011 - obituary by Nick Heath, also published in Freedom

Over the last few years I have penned a number of biographies and obituaries of anarchist militants. One of the most poignant of these was a piece I had to write on the Spanish militant Luis Andres Edo whom I had known personally whilst living in Paris in the early 1970s. But nothing compares to the painful task of writing this remembrance of a comrade I have known for forty years.

I first met Bob Miller in 1973 or 1974. He participated in a libertarian communist group within the Socialist Party of Great Britain. This group contacted the London group of the Organisation of Revolutionary Anarchists of which I was a member and we began to have discussions. They had wanted to orient the Party more to the workers’ and social struggles that were in full swing at this time. Just after the 1972 SPGB conference they began publishing a magazine called Libertarian Communism and ORA comrades gave some support in terms of resources, I seem to remember. People outside the Party contributed to the magazine. They and other SPGB members were expelled or left in support not long after. I remember Bob coming round to the North London flat I shared with 2 other ORA members for discussions, always lively and sometimes heated , and in retrospect I have to admit Bob was more accurate on some of the finer points of analysis than we were!

The expelled group linked up with other SPGB dissidents who had been expelled at the same time and eventually a group emerged called Social Revolution. We organised joint day schools with them and with Solidarity at the Centro Iberico in North London, and there were high expectations of a merger between ORA and Social Revolution. However this was not to be and Social Revolution then completed a merger with the libertarian socialist organisation Solidarity. I lost track of Bob and his comrades after that. He and they passed through Solidarity and then were involved in the founding of the Wildcat group and then of the Subversion group which produced a journal of the same name.

In  February 1988 I was handing out a leaflet produced by the Anarchist Communist Federation aimed at the large demonstration in Manchester called to combat Section 28 ( a significant attack by the Thatcher government on gay people).  Bob was at the demo with the Subversion comrades and they liked our leaflet. Contact was established and we got around to organising a series of joint day schools  around the country. With the demise of  Subversion Bob joined the ACF  in 1998 with a couple of other ex-members of Subversion and we began to work closely over the next  decade.

Bob was an enthusiast of cheap pamphlets and he was instrumental in developing a whole range of Anarchist Federation pamphlets . In addition he was a dynamic activist within the Manchester AF group and was involved in many local activities. The testimony of many who were influenced by Bob  over the years can be found on internet boards like Urban 75 and libcom and they stand as a fine tribute to both his influence and importance.

Bob had many fine qualities, chief of which were his generosity and hospitality and his desire to make libertarian communist ideas accessible; he was always welcoming to new comrades, he was almost always reasonable and always attempted to act in a non-sectarian way to other libertarians, and he rarely lost his temper during political encounters. He and I sometimes had disagreements, but they were like the quarrels of brothers, and I always had great respect  and admiration for his political longevity and his continuing optimism about social change.

He is a great loss to the Anarchist Federation and to the movement in general. I miss him very much.

Nick Heath

Bob passed away shortly before midnight the night of 17th June 2011. See also: http://libcom.org/history/miller-bob-1953-2011 which contains a link to recollections of Bob's life. The previous issue of Freedom also contained letters submitted and collected following Bob's death.

Thousands of people have been occupying public squares in Greece to protest the government’s continuing austerity drive. Syntagma Square, in front of the parliament building, has been the principle focus of the occupations with thousands camping out and holding regular mass assemblies. The actions culminated in an attempt to blockade the parliament building on the day of the general strike, a plan that prompted widespread repression and confrontation with the police (including use of new motorcycle units who are equipped with metal clubs, tear gas and stun grenades). Police are also reported to have stopped ambulance crews from assisting injured protesters. An estimated 20-30,000 people filled the square, making it a far larger and more diverse action than any opposition seen so far. Protesters also attacked the luxurious Hotel Prince George and the Ministry of Economics. In response to the ongoing crisis the government has called for a “national unity” coalition, the assembly, however, has responded that it will continue to hold the square until governments, banks and the IMF are ousted.

The strength of the occupations, their size and their commitment to direct action and non-representational methods of organising are certainly inspiring and show the credibility of anarchist methods in practice. This aside, some in the existing anarchist movement have pointed to the need for more sustained intervention as there is an ongoing commitment to pacifistic methods (in spite of police provocation) and some of the actions are backed by nationalist sentiment, e.g. defending the Hellenic Republic from the “foreign” intervention of the EU and IMF. The latter has prompted the involvement of fascist groups who, in a surprising move, attended the protests during the General Strike (after a clash with anarchists they were ousted from the demonstration). More worrying reports have also come through of hostility to the use of anarchist banners and flags within the occupation itself. Nonetheless, the examples set by Greek workers are positive and testament to the power of direct action. Most importantly they point to a clear strategy – to escalate dissent to a point where the system is ungovernable – in the international fightback against austerity.

from http://www.flickr.com/photos/ruawake/5861049609/

International of Anarchist Federations (IAF-IFA) statement in solidarity with the social movement in Greece

Solidarity statement in English, French, Italian, Greek and Czech: agreed at the Commission of Relations of the International of Anarchist Federations meeting:  22nd May 2011.

http://i-f-a.org (previously http://www.iaf-ifa.org ). The AF is the British section of the international. More details: http://www.afed.org.uk/organisation/international-iaf-ifa.html

11th of May: violent police repression against the social movement in Greece. Solidarity from the International of Anarchist Federations

On the 11th of May, a general strike was called in Greece. As a consequence, several demonstrations took place across the country. One in Athens was brutally repressed.
This serious attack by the police comes during a tense situation: repression of militants and fascist attacks on immigrant areas. Since the beginning of the movement, when tens of thousands came together, the police violently attacked libertarian groups and the base unions. Many people have been injured and dozens arrested. One protester was so badly beaten that his life is threatened. The Greek government is accused by protesters of attempted murder.
The International of Anarchist Federations supports the protesters, social movements and anarchist groups in the fight against the socially repressive measures dictated by the Greek government and IMF. We condemn the police repression and the violence of the State. We support the Greek anarchist movement and the popular fightback which, in Greece as well as in others countries, builds up daily with new methods of resistance and putting forward a social alternative.
CRIFA Reggio Emilia 22nd May, 2011.

11 mai : violente répression policière contre le mouvement social en Grèce.

Le 11 mai, un appel à la grève générale a été lancé en Grèce. La manifestation a été brutalement réprimée à Athènes. Cette attaque policière survient dans un climat de tension : inculpation de militants, attaque par les fascistes des lieux occupés et des imigrès. Lorsque la manifestation, regroupant plusieurs dizaines de milliers de personnes, a débuté, la police a attaqué violemment le cortège libertaire et les syndicats de base. Il y a eu plusieurs blessés et des dizaines d'arrestations. Un manifestant est entre la vie et la mort. Le gouvernement grec est accusé de tentative de meurtre par les manifestants.
L'Internationale des Federations Anarchistes apporte son soutien aux manifestants, aux mouvements sociaux et aux groupes anarchistes impliqués dans la lutte contre les mesures de régression sociale imposées par le gouvernement grec et le FMI. Nous condamnons la répression policière et la violence étatique. Nous soutenons les luttes populaires et le mouvement anarchiste grec, qui comme dans d'autres pays, construisent les nouvelles formes de résistance et d'organisation sociale alternatives.
CRIFA Reggio Emilia 22-5-2011

11 maggio: violenta repressione poliziesca contro il movimento sociale in Grecia Solidarietà dall’Internazionale di Federazioni Anarchiche

L’11 maggio, un appello allo sciopero generale è stato lanciato in Grecia. Da questo sono nate manifestazioni in tutto il paese, brutalmente represse ad Atene. Questo grave attacco poliziesco arriva in un clima di forte tensione: denunce di militanti, attacchi fascisti a spazi occupati e a migranti. Fin dall’inizio della manifestazione, che vedeva uniti decine di migliaia di partecipanti, la polizia ha attaccato violentemente lo spezzone libertario e quello dei sindacati di base. Molti sono stati i feriti e decine gli arrestati. Un manifestante è tra la vita e la morte per le percosse subite. Il governo greco è accusato dai manifestanti di tentativo di omicidio.
L’Internazionale di Federazioni Anarchiche sostiene i manifestanti, i movimenti sociali e i gruppi anarchici nelle lotte contro le misure di regressione sociale imposte dal governo greco e dal FMI.
Condanniamo la repressione poliziesca e la violenza dello Stato. Appoggiamo il movimento anarchico greco e le lotte popolari che, in Grecia come in altri paesi, quotidianamente costruiscono le nuove forme di resistenza e di alternativa sociale.
CRIFA Reggio Emilia 22-5-2011

Ανακοίνωση της IFA (Διεθνής των Αναρχικών Ομοσπονδιών) για τη βίαιη καταστολή της πρόσφατης απεργιακής διαδήλωσης

Βίαιη αστυνομική καταστολή του κοινωνικού κινήματος στην Ελλάδα
Στις 11 Μαϊου κυρήχθηκε γενική απεργία στην Ελλάδα. Στην Αθήνα η απεργιακή διαδήλωση χτυπήθηκε βάναυσα. Αυτή η αστυνομική επίθεση συνέβη σε μία περίοδο έντασης : συλλήψεις αγωνιστών, επιθεσεις φασιστών σε κατηλειμμένους χώρους και μετανάστες. Κατα τη διάρκεια της διαδήλωσης στην οποία συμμετείχαν δεκάδες χιλιάδες άτομα, η αστυνομία επιτέθηκε με βιαιότητα στα ελευθεριακά μπλοκ καθώς και σε αυτά των συνδικάτων βάσης. Υπήρξαν πολλοί τραυματίες και δεκάδες συλληφθέντες.
Ενας διαδηλωτής βρίσκεται μεταξύ ζωής και θανάτου. Η ελληνική κυβέρνηση κατηγορήθηκε απο τους διαδηλωτές για απόπειρα ανθρωποκτονίας. Η IFA στέλνει τη στηρηξή της στους διαδηλωτές, στα κοινωνικά κινήματα, και τις αναρχικές ομάδες που εμπλέκονται στον αγώνα κατά των μέτρων κοινωνικής οπισθοδόμησης που επεβλήθηκαν απο την ελληνική κυβέρνηση και το ΔΝΤ. Καταδικάζουμε την αστυνομική καταστολή και την κρατική βία. Υποστηρίζουμε τους λαϊκούς αγώνες και το αναρχικό κίνημα στην Ελλάδα, που όπως σε άλλες χώρες δημιουργεί καινούριες μορφές αντίστασης και εναλλακτικές μορφές κοινωνικής οργάνωσης.
crIFA, Reggio Emilia, 22-5-2011

11.května: násilné policejní represe proti sociálnímu hnutí v Řecku

Vyjádření solidarity od Internacionály anarchistických federací (IFA)
Dne 11. května byla v Řecku zahájena generální stávka, která iniciovala demonstrace po celé zemi. V Aténách došlo k jejich brutálnímu potlačení. Tento vážný útok policie se stal v atmosféře vysokého napětí - během militantních fašistických útoků na obydlí migrantů. Policie zaútočila hlavně na anarchisty a odboráře. Mnoho jich bylo zraněno a desítky zatčeny, přičemž jeden demonstrant byl zbit tak, že nyní bojuje o život. Demonstranti obvinili řeckou vládu z pokusu o vraždu.
IFA podporuje demonstrace, sociální hnutí a anarchistické skupiny v bojích proti sociálnímu útlaku vedenému řeckou vládou a MMF. Odsuzujeme policejní represe a násilí státu. Podporujeme řecké anarchistického hnutí a lidové boje, které v Řecku stejně jako v jiných zemích denně staví nové formy odporu a sociální alternativu.
CRIFA Reggio Emilia 22-5-2011