solidarity action from Leiden, the Netherlands, on Saturday 20th December

Image scaled down On Saturday 20th December, a group of indigenous and non-indigenous people organized in Leiden, the Netherlands, a solidarity-action to the revolted people of Greece. The action took place at a central pedestrian street in the center of the city and it involved an open-air exposition (with posters, manifests, etc), hand-out of leaflets and discussion with the people. Later that evening, a discussion-meeting was held at a local squat. Our goal had two main directions: 1. to provide non-commercial, grassroots information on the Greek riots, the socio-political background behind the uprising and the demands of the revolted 2. to emphasize the need for a common struggle worldwide, against all forms of state violence and suppression, for freedom and direct democracy. Obviously, the second goal is the most difficult. In order to explore the characteristics which link together the situation in Greece with the Dutch reality, we focused on four basic aspects: labor, education, immigration and “anti-terrorism”. For each of these four aspects, we tried to give examples from both Greece and Holland, to point out that in both places -and everywhere- the core of capitalism is the same. Due to historical and geo-political reasons, there may be many qualitative differences in the form and degree of capitalist aggression (and how people experience and perceive it), but the “results” affect all suppressed social classes irrespective of political borders and so-called “ethnic identities”. This is why the struggle should be common and widespread. In this respect, I think that our action moved beyond the level of simply declaring our solidarity: it reached the level of propaganda for a global anti-authoritarian, anti-capitalist movement. In my view, the struggle in Greece quickly moved from the stage of defensive and “reactionary” counter-violence and protests, to the stage of direct attack against all forms of suppression, thereby growing into a massive, popular and autonomous uprising. In line with the current nature of the Greek movements, all social militants are called to make the next step and spread the virus of uprising in every home and every neighborhood, every labor-environment and every school, every urban and rural space. From the beginning, from now on and forever, solidarity means attack. And the attack has to be materialized by and into all means of non-commercial information, grassroots-propaganda and militant actions, everywhere. Who, if not us – When, if not now? everything has just begun... someone from “Leiden Solidarios”, the Netherlands.

add more information open discussion about this article

955329

Attachment by solid @s a rock 09:33pm, Wednesday December 24 2008 (Modified 09:36pm, Wednesday December 24 2008)

Image scaled down

955330

Attachment by solid @s a rock 09:33pm, Wednesday December 24 2008 (Modified 09:35pm, Wednesday December 24 2008)

Image scaled down

955331

Attachment by solid @s a rock 09:33pm, Wednesday December 24 2008 (Modified 09:35pm, Wednesday December 24 2008)

Image scaled down

955332

Attachment by solid @s a rock 09:33pm, Wednesday December 24 2008 (Modified 09:35pm, Wednesday December 24 2008)

Image scaled down