A Day of Solidarity With Antifascist Prisoner Jock Palfreeman - July 25th

(See below for Bulgarian translation)

Friday, July 25, 2014

A Day of Solidarity With Antifascist Prisoner Jock Palfreeman 

Who is Jock Palfreeman? 

Jock Palfreeman is an Australian serving a 20-year sentence in Bulgaria. In 2007 he was travelling in Bulgaria when he defended two Roma men being attacked by soccer hooligans; in the ensuing fight, one of the attackers was killed under unclear circumstances. After a biased trial, Jock was convicted of murder, and the Bulgarian authorities refuse to transfer him from the notoriously run-down prison he is held in to Australia, without paying a huge fine. While in prison, Jock helped form the Bulgarian Prisoners Union, and has been beaten by guards in retaliation for his activism. 

Take Action! 

Palfreeman’s supporters are trying to have him moved to Australia to serve his sentence out closer to his family. Despite international agreements, the Bulgarian government has refused to transfer him until his family pays hundreds of thousands of dollars. He has asked supporters to pressure the head prosecutor to allow his transfer to Australia under the theme: ‘Head prosecutor Tsatsarov, stop following orders from corrupt politicians and do your job!’

Sotir Tsatsarov 2 Vitosha Boulevard Sofia, 1061 

press@prb.bg

Bulgaria’s Embassy and consulates are located in New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago, and Washington, DC: http://www.bulgaria-embassy.org/webpage/ConsularInformation/procedur.htm 

Donations!

Palfreeman has asked that if money is raised, that it be sent to the Bulgarian Prisoners’ Rehabilitation Association, which he is the chairman of. www.bulgarianprisonersassociation.wordpress.com. Donation will be used for a legal aid defense fund and for lawyers to protect prisoners against punishments of the prison (for example appealable isolation punishments). Money can be sent via a wire transfer: 

IBAN: BG29TEXI95451003928100 BIC: TEXIBGSF Texim Bank.

If it is easier to donate money via check or paypal, contact jockpalfreemanjuly25@gmail.com to make arrangements

Write to Jock!

Jock Palfreeman Sofia Central Prison 21 General Stoletov Boulevard Sofia 1309, BULGARIA 

(Please do not send books; for details on what to see, http://www.freejock.com/writejock.html).

For more information: 

freejock.com 

facebook.com/WhoIsJockPalfreeman 

http://www.brightonabc.org.uk/jock.html
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Ден на солидарност с антифашистът Джок Палфриман — Петък, 25ти Юли 2014г.

Кой е Джок Палфриман?

Джок Палфриман е автралиец, който излежава 20 годишна присъда в България. През 2007 година, пътувайки из България, той се намесва в защита на двама роми нападнати от футболни хулигани; в настъпилият побой един от нападателите е убит при неясни обстоятелства. След тенденциозен съдебен процес, Джок е осъден на 20 години за убийство. Българските власти отказват да го прехвърлят от българския затвор, известен с окаяните си условия, в Австралийски затвор без той да заплати глоба в огромен размер. В затвора Джок участва в организирането на Съюз на Българските Затворници и е бит многократно от надзирателите за своята дейност.

Намесете се!

Поддръжниците на Палфриман искат той да бъде преместен за доизлежаване на присъдата си в Австралия, по-близо до семейството си. Българското правителство отказва да го премести, независимо от съществуващата конвенция между България и Австралия докато семейството му не заплати стотици хиляди долари глоба. Джок иска тези, които го подкрепят да окажат натиск върху главния прокурор да разреши прехвърлянето му в Австралия с кампания под название: “Прокурор Цацаров, спрете да изпълнявате заповедите на корумпирани политици и си свършете работата!”

Сотир Цацаров, Бул. Витоша 2, София 1061
press@prb.bg

Българското посолство във Вашингтон и консулствата в Ню Йорк, Лос Анджелис, Чикаго са на тези адреси: http://www.bulgaria-embassy.org/webpage/ConsularInformation/procedur.htm 

Дарения
Палфриман иска ако има дарения, те да бъдат изпратени на Българската Асоциация за Рехабилитиране на Затворниците, на която той е председател. Даренията ще бъдат използвани за създаване на фонд за правна защита и за адвокатски услуги в защита на затворници от наказания наложени в затвора (например изолация, за която може да се апелира). Парите може да бъдат изпратени чрез банков превод на:

IBAN: BG29TEXI95451003928100 BIC: TEXIBGSF Тексим Банка.

Ако ви е по-удобно да направите дарение с чек или с paypal, свържете се с jockpalfreemanjuly25@gmail.com за да уредите плащането.

Пишете на Джок!

Джок Палфриман
Централен Софийски Затвор
Бул. Генерал Столетов 21
София 1309
България
(Моля не изпращайте книги; подробности относно какво може да изпратите на: http://www.freejock.com/writejock.html

For more information:
За повече информация се обърнете към:

freejock.com 

facebook.com/WhoIsJockPalfreeman 

http://www.brightonabc.org.uk/jock.html

July 31st Day Of Action Against Fascism! 2014

On July 31, 2014, join with your friendly neighborhood antifascists by participating in the annual July 31st Day Of Action Against Fascism! We realize that this is just under a week after the July 25th solidarity with Jock Palefreeman, but we encourage those participating in that event to use July 31st as another day to support Jock or simply the struggle against fascism and racism in general.

Fascism Abroad And At Home

Fascist and far right activity has been a recent topic of conversation for many radicals. In Europe, groups like Golden Dawn in Greece and Svoboda in Ukraine have gained ground on the streets, and at times have secured representation in the parliament and national offices. These electoral and legalistic maneuvers have been accompanied by organized attacks against immigrants, LGBT people, union organizers, ethnic minorities, and leftists and radicals. The murder of Clement Meric, an 18-year-old French antifascist, in June 2013 by fascists is a prime example, as is the Pravy Sektor (Right Sector) participation in the burning of the Trade Unions House in Odessa, Ukraine that resulted in the deaths of 42 people.

The presence of fascism and the far right can be felt in North America, too. Neo-nazi and anti-Semite Frazier Glenn Miller murdered three people in April 2014 at a Jewish community center and retirement home on the eve of Passover. Michael Wade Smith, associated with both the Hammerskins and the now-defunct Volksfront, murdered six at a Sikh temple in a Milwaukee suburb in August 2012, presumably because he mistakenly believed them to be Muslim. Ex-National Socialist Movement member and border vigilante J.T. Ready turned his armed violence against his own family in May 2012. All three of these attacks were committed by men with explicit connections to white supremacist organizations and used their military training to gun down unarmed individuals, and their actions received praise from the white supremacist community for their actions.

Beyond individual acts of violence, white supremacists have also taken part in organized efforts to spread their message in other ways. Craig Cobb has attempted to organize white supremacists to move to the small town of Lieth, North Dakota, in an apparent manifestation of the Pioneer Little Europe (PLE) concept of creating all-white rural enclaves. Cobb's time in Lieth resulted in negative press attention, trouble with locals, protests by local indigenous people and anti-racists, and eventually legal trouble.

Antifa Take To The Streets

Antifascists haven't been sitting on their laurels. Militant antifascists have made headlines several times in recent years for publicly opposing fascist gatherings. One of these was the successful disruption of a white supremacist gathering in the Chicago suburb of Tinley Park in May 2012, which resulted in a brawl that ended in arrests and hospital visits. The antifa that were arrested that day, known as the Tinley Park 5, eventually took a non-cooperating plea and have been the subject of a prisoner support campaign that has received attention around the world. Antifascists also came out for the National Socialist Movement's conference in 2011, surprising white supremacists by showing up uninvited to their private conference (which, unlike their planned rally the next day, didn't have the police around to protect them from an angry mob).

Although these sensational events are what make in into the headlines, this is just a small part of what antifascist organizing really looks like. From gathering intelligence, to flyer drops and knocking on doors, to tabling shows and events, the background work ensures that antifa have a greater street presence than the fascists. Many antifascists are involved in weeding out white supremacist bands and labels in music scenes, driving a wedge between nazis and potential recruits in skinhead, punk, metal, industrial, and other scenes. Other antifa other involved in prisoner support, organizing benefits and staying in contact with incarcerated comrades or sending literature to radicalized prisoners. Antifascists have been particularly active in working to shut down public events that promote fascist perspectives, like pseudo-historian and holocaust-denier David Irving, and bands that tout white supremacist messages and fascist imagery, like Boyd Rice and Death In June. Whatever their specific politics, antifascists usually collaborate with others to build a strong counter to white supremacist activity and build a strong show of force. Groups like the Black Autonomy Network built large scale counter-rallies that easily outnumbered the KKK group they were protesting, who were only able to continue their rally due to being escorted by riot police.

The July 31st Day Of Action Against Fascism began in 2010 in response to a fascist attack on an anti-racist skinhead in Portland, Oregon. Since then, we've seen actions every year on July 31st aimed at clearing white supremacist activity from the streets and building a culture of resistance to fascist organizing. Some example of past actions include public outings of a neo-nazi's home and workplace, benefit shows and letter-writing parties for incarcerated antifa, organized call-in campaigns to get fascists evicted from their homes and fired from their jobs, intel drops, documentary and movie nights, and many more.

Why Militance?

When neo-nazi and former KKK leader Frazier Glenn Miller's anti-Semitic shooting spree targeted a Jewish community center and retirement home in a Kansas City suburb, it left three dead and shocked many throughout the US. However, this wasn't Miller's first tangle with either racist violence or law enforcement.

Miller's background as a Klansmen and neo-nazi leader with direct participation in paramilitary activity should be viewed alongside his willingness to collaborate with the state. He testified against other white supremacists in the Fort Smith sedition trial, and received reduced sentencing for his cooperation. Miller later became an FBI informant, received a new name (Frazier Glenn Cross), and was relocated throughout the midwest. His collaboration as an informant earned him the designation as a rat within white supremacist circles, a controversial figure to say the least.

Prior to the Kansas shooting, Miller had been arrested on numerous incidents for his participation in paramilitary activity and stockpiling weaponry. Previously, he had participated in the 1979 Greensboro Massacre, where Klansmen and neo-nazis planned a join assault on an anti-KKK rally organized by local communist organizers, leaving five dead and eleven others injured. The six white supremacists brought to trial were acquitted, and it was later revealed that one of the Klansmen involved was a police informant and that the ATF had also infiltrated the group and was aware of a planned confrontation. Miller claimed that the protestors fired the first shot, although no white supremacists were killed.

What should we take from this story? While Miller's past history of violence is important to take note of, we also highlight the role of the state in this process. Both punishing and protecting Miller at various points, the state was unable to prevent the extreme acts of violence that Miller was involved in. This meant that Miller was successfully able to wait out judicial punishments, and in some cases resumed his activities even while under agreement to discontinue. At best, the state was able to slow down Miller, and at worst it protected him from his former colleagues after he turned informant. The state's strategy of collecting information for counter-intelligence programs (COINTELPRO) and future prosecutions did nothing to make these communities safe.

To counter the potential of fascist violence, we propose action. By highlighting the actual dangers of white supremacist organizing (and not laughing them off as jokes or clowns), we hope to draw the lessons of previous struggles and apply them to today's. In disrupting their organizing, we prevent organized fascist groups from gaining new recruits. We target their attempts to spread racist propaganda because we see that this is how they gain followers, and we refuse to willingly let them have a seat at our table. The judicial system, the favored approach of the state, has failed to prevent white supremacist violence, and is itself a form of racist violence in the mass incarceration of People of Color. The state is content with allowing continued white supremacist organizing as long as it falls within the boundaries of legalism, and as we learned from the Tinley Park 5 and other similar court cases, will heavily punish opposition to its monopoly on violence.

This July 31st, show the fascists just how unwelcome they are in our communities.

Never give an inch! Our scenes, our streets!

Local Ukranian Fascists DOX'd, Svoboda Flag Stolen and Burned

The political crisis in Ukraine has been boiling for months and has been made up by a complicated political situation informed by a wide range of political ideologies.

A significant element of the crisis has included far-right, fascist leaning groups, namely the Svoboda Party and Pravy Sektor (Right Sector). The Svoboda party frames itself simply as pro-Ukrainian, but their extensive political program (http://en.svoboda.org.ua/about/program/) includes a number of ultra-nationalist and anti-immigrant positions consistent with fascist parties.

Svoboda was active in the Maidan protests and maximized their position to achieve power within the newly established government- again, a typical power move of fascism.  They obtained three powerful posts in the interim government: acting chief prosecutor, deputy prime minister and chairman of the National Security Council.

Both Right Sector and Svoboda present themselves as legitimate political parties had candidates in Ukraine's presidential election that recently took place on Sunday, May 25.  Right Sector's candidate was their leader Dmytro Yarosh, while Oleh Tyahnybok was Svoboda's candidate.   However, they are clearly structured as a paramilitary organization wrapped up in an extreme nationalist party.

Supporters of these fascist groups have been active here in Chicago. It was alleged in an on-line release that 40 fascists stormed the UE hall and disrupted an anti-fascist teach-in  before leaving this Right Sektor flier.

The reality is only a few amongst the crowd were actual fascists, while many others simply oppose Russian totalitarianism and may not understand the message of the group that held the teach in. As for the actual Svoboda/Right Sektor supporters in Chicago, here are two of them :

Alex B Jarowyj
Age: 45-49
associated addresses:
2436 W Huron St
Chicago, IL 60612-1208,
52 James Ct
Glenview, IL 60025,
Attorney and Counselor · Chicago, Illinois · 2006 to present
The Law Offices of Alexander Jarowyj P.C.-  2301 W. Chicago
from Detroit
---------------
Oleh Hordij
------------------

The anti-fascist teach in event was initially supposed to be a protest outside of the law office of Jarowyj, demanding he remove the Right Sektor and Sbovoda flags that hang from the building. Since that didn't happen, some folks took it upon themselves to remove one.

Taken from pastebin, sent via email yesterday:

http://pastebin.com/7bKfnBzT 

"We refuse to ask fascists to remove their propaganda. This is why we chose to steal and burn the Svoboda banner from the Law Offices of Alexander Jarowyj at 2301 W. Chicago. "

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While we recognize that the political situation is complicated and nuanced and that we understand that many protestors in Ukraine (and Ukrainians living in the U.S. and elsewhere) are active because they oppose the totalitarian governments of both the East (Russia) and the West (U.S. & Europe), under no circumstances can we tolerate or condone any fascists or Nazi sympathizers.  The banner can be replaced, but the antifas who stole it will always be on the prowl, and there's many more of us!

For more info about Right Sector and Svoboda, read this interview of Ukrainian antifa here: http://www.timothyeastman.com/uncategorized/an-interview-with-mira-andrei-and-sascha-of-antifascist-action-ukraine/