It has emerged that Mike Israel, the US YPG volunteer who fell fighting ISIS in Rojava on the 24th was a member of the IWW. Initial reports of his killing alongside a German - Anton Leschek - volunteer indicated they may have been the victims of a Turkish airstrike but said they had been killed north of Raqqa where its unlikely Turkish jets would be attacking. The Manbij Military Council has released a statement confirming they were killed in a Turkish attack near Manbij where Turkish jets have carried out dozens of attacks on the SDF.
Saturday 19 November saw a mass fascist attack on an anarchist bookstore in France in the aftermath of a fundamentalist catholics rally of the SPXX organisation which in Ireland is central to the anti-choice movement.
As the massive rebellion against the racist borders of Fortress Europe rolls from Spring through the Summer to Autumn & now Winter conditions are becoming very much more dangerous. According to Al Jazerra since the photos of the drowned today of Alan Kurdi shocked so many into action at least another 71 children have died on the route.
The Barricade Inn is up in the High Court today as a legal firm seek to evict one of the most interesting spaces to grace Dublin city centre in the last months. Whether the courts find for a group of people with no funds or a law company will tell you a lot about the sort of country you live in. A country where thousands are homeless while 300,000 homes lie empty. The video was shot outside yesterday evening as we helped to move materials inside to a secure location ahead of the court hearing. The statement that follows was released by The Barricade Inn yesterday.
Hundreds of people marched through Dublin on Saturday to protest the conviction of a Jobstown teen for false imprisonment. He had been part of a protest which delayed Labour Party leader Joan Burton who had made an unwelcome visit to the community resulting in a sit down in front of her car as she left the area. The delay in her being able to leave resulted in dawn raids on the houses of activists across Jobstown and in the trial of many of them for false imprisonment.
The speeches given before and after March for Choice 2016 provided a broad introduction, through the personal stories of the speakers, to the complex intersecting oppressions imposed by the 8th Amendment on women along with some trans-men and non binary people in Ireland. An oppression that doubles up on those who are also in the Asylum system, disabled, or Travellers. If you are used to protests where the speeches are mostly from politicans telling you what you already know this wasn't one of them.
Tuesday 3rd October evening hundreds of Polish women and their allies gathered outside the Polish consulate in Dublin to protest the anti-woman bill being pushed in the Polish parliament that will criminalise women who have abortions in all circumstances. Ahead of last nights'Dublin - Solidarity with Polish Women on Strike' protest the organisers said;
This morning (8th September) the Bob Crow Brigade fighting ISIS in Rojava have sent solidarity greetings to the Dublin bus workers who have begun the first of 6 strike days fighting for improved wages. The image shows two volunteers posing in front of a wall which has been painted with the Starry Plough, the flag of the armed workers militia set up to protect strikers in 1913 from police attack. 'Socialism will Win' has also been paintined along with Beir Bua, which can be translated as 'good luck' or 'be victorious'.
his image is fresh from Rojava, posted by @bobcrowbrigade to their twitter stream with the caption "International Freedom Battalion in solidarity with our sisters in Ireland fighting to #repealthe8th"
The International Freedom Battalion are international volunteers who have travelled to Rojava to help the fight against ISIS and to defend the Rojava revolution which aims for a general liberal, egalitarian and environmentalist society. That revolution is under attack by ISIS and the Turkish state. See www.wsm.ie/rojava for background details including solidarity events that have taken place in Ireland.
When the Corrib refinery was being built & resisted campaigners warned that environmental legislation was set up to have no meaningful impact on multinationals. Two days ago we saw a very clear demonstration of this in practise when Shell was fined EUR1,000 of an estimated EUR240 million in Corrib sales so far this year. Such a fine has no deterrent impact at all, it might as well have been one cent.