Fascists under the cover of cops attacked the oldest anarchist squat in Greece with molotov cocktails and beaten a youth. Our comrades successfully dr

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From Wikipedia: "Villa Amalia is one of the first anarchist squats in Athens, Greece. It was first occupied in 1990. It is located in the corner of Acharnon and Cheyden streets, near "Victoria" square. Many punk, rock, hardcore and generally underground events take place at Villa Amalia. The police have evicted the squatters three times, but Villa Amalia has always re-occupied later on."

Many comrades consider it the oldest anarchist squat in Greece and a symbol for the local anarchist movement. In Greek it is called Villa Amalias (Βίλλα Αμαλίας).

During the night of 9 July 2009 at 23:50, a gang of about 30 neonazi fascists supported by cops (both MAT, the Greek riot police, and Deltas) attacked the Villa Amalia squat in central Athens with molotov cocktails. The anarchists successfully defended their social centre against the fascists and driven them away, but not before they severely beat a youth nearby who needed an ambulance (still unclear whether he is a comrade).

The attack must have been pre-arranged by the cops and the fascists; after all their collaboration is well-known in Greece and is becoming more and more official (with dignitaries paying visits to the fascists). We cannot explain in any other way the fact that, according to still unconfirmed information, comrades who were on the nearby Liosion street at 21:00 spotted about 70 cops (of the Deltas team, not riot police). If true, then we must assume that they were the same cops who, together with riot police, were seen protecting the fascists during their attack against the anarchist squat.

The fascists, who must haven been members of the Golden Dawn neonazi association, approached the squat first, keeping themselves at a distance of about 50 metres, and shortly afterwards Delta cops appeared. MAT riot cops quickly came when more anarchists gathered in solidarity to defend their squat, Villa Amalia.

The fascists threw two molotov cocktails, the traditional people's street weapon, against the symbolic Villa Amalia squat, but they failed to damage it due to their lack of skill in molotov throwing. The anarchists successfully driven out the fascists towards the Acharnon street, but the fascists then took cover behind a group of Delta cops, who together with the MAT riot police protected the fascists.

The fascists then severely beat a youth outside the squat, but it is still unclear whether he is a comrade. He had to be taken away by an ambulance, due to the hatred released on his body by the neonazis.

By 24:10 all the fascists were driven away by anarchists, of both genders, who were determined to selflessly defend their freedom and the oldest anarchist squat of Greece with a history of two decades. By 24:20 the surrounding streets were still infected with cops (Deltas and 2 or 3 MAT riot police squadrons who were seen talking with the fascists). Lots of comrades were gathered outside the squat to protect it in case the cops decided to raid it, but the cops preferred to back down and leave, knowing how dangerous people fighting for their freedom can be.

At 24:30 about 30-40 Delta cops were spotted leaving the region towards the Patisia district.

The fascists with their molotov cocktails apparently not only wanted to damage the squat but also to injure comrades, but they failed miserably to do either. Their only 'success' was that they managed to hide behind the cops and leave. But in their panic, they left behind lots of traces. They had a rucksack full of molotov cocktails and smoke bombs, but they only managed to throw two molotovs and two smoke bombs, the latter two thrown at the pedestrian strip opposite the squat. As the anarchists moved to defend their squat, the fascists threw their rucksack on the street in their panic as they were running to hide behind the cops.

At 2:00 the a popular news network, as is usual with all capitalist spoonfed news outlets, said that an incident took place in central Athens and spread the propaganda that the cops are searching for the perpetrator of the molotov-throwing incident. But as every reader of Indymedia IMC knows, the cops' real job is to protect the fascists during their attacks.

It is interesting to note that while the left feels paralyzed in Greece, the anarchist movement wins the hearts of more and more dissatisfied people and seems to be the only social movement capable of revolutionary groundbreaking social change.

As a final note, we should say that the anarchist movement is very old, but now that the capitalist class implements its globalization project and social democracy and communism have failed, we should expect more popular support for anarchism worldwide. Perhaps the society envisaged by Kropotkin, Bakunin, and even more ancient thinkers will soon come true.

Inside the Villa Amalia squat there is a banner on a wall containing a verse written by an Ancient Greek philosopher:

in Ancient Greek: "Ούτε γαρ άρχειν, ούτε άρχεσθαι εθέλω" - Ηρόδοτος

in Modern Greek: "Ούτε να κυβερνώ θέλω, ούτε να με κυβερνούν" - Ηροδότου ιστοριών 3:83

translation in English: "I want neither to rule nor to be ruled" - Herodotus Histories 3:83

Anarchists from Greece marched in solidarity with repressed immigrants and clashed with cops and fascists while setting streets and ATMs on fire. This

This is the first briefing in English about the 7/7 anarchist march in Greece. It was published on UK Indymedia (where it became part of the promoted newswire) and on www.indymedia.org.




After the first English briefing became available at UK Indymedia, the news were also translated to Polish and spread to the Polish Indymedia:




Here's the first English briefing:

Recently the Greek state and its neonazi thugs seek to intensify their attacks on poor immigrants. Anarchists (most of them are of the anarchist-communist variety, those who read Bakunin and Kropotkin) and antiauthoritarians (a label that includes anyone fighting against state oppresion, not necessarily an anarchist) from Greece called for a march in Athens on 7 July 2009 at 19.00 o'clock, against what they call a "modern apartheid" (refering to the recent attempts by fascists in the Saint Pandeleimonas district, where immigrants many stay, to disallow immigrants from entering into communal spaces such as playing grounds or parks, but also to the cop operations in central Athens "clearing" the city of unwanted immigrants en masse with no regard for their human rights). It worths mentioning that the Greek press and television has taken extreme xenophobic views recently, fully supporting the government's attempt to drive people's attention away from the economic crisis. There are also alarming government plans for all unwanted immigrants to be arrested and held at concentration camps for years.

The call to march was publicised on many places, including the Athens Indymedia (athens.indymedia.org) website, which operates from occupied computing equipment in the Athens Polytechnic university (NTUA), and the government and OTE (the major ex-public Greek telecom company) are desperately trying to locate and shut down. Anarchists in Greece also publicise their news and calls with wall posters, graffiti messages, anonymous blogs, through gatherings at occupied buildings or university campuses, and pirate radio stations (some of them operating from university campuses or near them). It is for these reasons that the Greek state seeks to end the anonymity of blogs and put cops inside university campuses, which are one of the few places in Greece still free of cops (the other one being the Exarchia district in Athens downtown which is traditionally controlled by anarchists and any cops there are attacked with molotov cocktails, even though it is only a few hundred metres away from the high-society bourgouoise district of Kolonaki and the police headquarters in Alexandras Avenue).

The march began at 20.00 o'clock in Omonoia Square, downtown Athens, the capital city of Greece.

Hundreds of counter-information flyers were distributed and a speech was made. The march (as shown in the photos) had about 2500 comrades, and this made the cops to keep themselves at safe distance.

During the march various texts were distributed, anarchist graffiti was drawn, security cameras were destroyed, as well as bank ATMs. The march proceeded towards Saint Pandeleimonas (a neighbourhood in Athens were lots of immigrants stay, who have recently came under attack by fascists) and when the head of the march was about to enter the district the cops immediately fired tear gas and shock grenades, with the comrades replying with stones and flare bombs.

The march had good defence and moved towards ASOEE (a public university in Athens specializing in economics; comrades in Greece take advantage of a sanctuary's law, called asylum, that disallows the cops to enter university premises). There was somewhat of a chaos there for a while, as some comrades where entering the university campus while others were leaving to go fight the cops in the nearby Patision street. The whole Patision street was in fire.

Barricades built with trashbins set on fire were keeping the cops away and after the usual (for Greece) violent fighting between anarchist comrades and the cops (and the huge amount of chemicals released by them) the cops came under a well-organized attack that forced them to take cover in the 3rd September street, while the whole Patision street was again set on fire.

Many immigrants were participating in the march and they attacked Delta guards (Deltades) in Victoria Square (Deltades are stupid thugs the state uses as light-cops until real cops can arrive): when comrades informed the immigrants that real cops were coming to Victoria Square (so that those with no passports could leave in time to avoid arrest and forced repatriation), the immigrants, disregarding their own individual self-interest, attacked the Deltades thugs, who took cover at the nearby OTE bulding (OTE is the Greek National Telecommunications Company, recently privatized and sold to German T-Telekom).

After the march, the Saint Pandeleimonas district was full of immigrants and clear of fascist scum or cops. The fascists supported the cops in their attempt to drive the march out of Saint Pandeleimonas.

A fascist accidentaly set himself on fire while trying to use the anarchists' weapons against them, a sport the fascists aren't good at.

The anarchists carried multilingual banners in Greek, English, French, Arabic, Albanian, and other languages known to the immigrants. A banner held by comrades carrying black and red flags, both men and women, read: "war against bosses - solidarity to immigrants".

Some of the graffiti created during the march included: "death to fascists" on a bank's window and signed with the anarchists' circled-A symbol; "don't touch the Efetio" on the OTE building (telecom company) walls (the Efetio at the Sokratous Street is a big occupied courts building in Athens downtown where lots of immigrants live rent-free and was recently attacked by neonazi thugs and cops, with the government eyeing to re-take it by force); "cops - TV - neonazis, all the bastards work together" on a shop's security walls and signed with the anarchist circled-A symbol; "immigrants, my siblings, all of us together, black flag we rise to any authority" on a wall and signed with the circled-A; and a big circled-A symbol painted on a bank's advertisement immediately under the advert's words: "we are besides you".

A block of EEK members (EEK or Workers' Revolutionary Party is a Greek Trotskyist political party with about 6,000 votes) was also seen marching in the streets near the anarchists but not really intermingling with them. Anarchists in Greece generally boycott the elections, but a few antiauthoritarians sometimes do vote for small leftist parties. But even the bigger political parties on the left of the political spectrum, such as the Syriza coalition, try to persuade antiauthoritarians that they support their views, because they want to capture for their interests the dynamism of the anarchist and antiauthoritarian scene, which is particularly powerful and influential in Greece, especially amongst the youth. While antiauthoritarians in Greece sometimes do support particular parties, anarchists keep true to Kropotkin and other classical anarchists' call for revolution without representatives. The fact that leftist parties carry on trying to win votes from antiauthoritarians and the anarchist-influenced youth reveals the strong influence of anarchism in contemporary youth culture in Greece, and also explains why the Greek government is so desperate to upgrade its repression and surveillance apparatus (it recently asked the Scotland Yard for help and plans to introduce DNA databases and ban anonymous mobile phones).

A march also took place in Thessaloniki in northern Greece (the second biggest city of the country). Bank ATMs were also set on fire there.

Fire engines were seen driving out of downtown Athens by 21.30-22.00 o'clock after their attempts to put down the fires and the revolutionary spirit with them. But no matter how many fires they put down, they and the whole state apparatus won't succeed to put down the coming revolution, because that's what the people want.

During an anarchist march in Greece in solidarity with immigrants, cops threw stones at protesters and fascists, openly cooperating with the cops, att

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This the second English briefing and focuses on the incident with the fascist and the molotov cocktail. It was publshed on UK Indymedia and www.indymedia.org:

http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2009/07/434085.html

http://www.indymedia.org/en/2009/07/926507.shtml

The first English briefing is also available:

http://athens.indymedia.org/front.php3?lang=el&article_id=1055129

Please help to translate/publicize!

SECOND ENGLISH BRIEFING:

On 7 July 2009 at 20.00 o'clock a huge anti-racist march organized by anarchists was held in Athens downtown, the capital city of Greece, with about 4,000-5,000 protesters, both men and women, demanding the end of state repression against immigrants, while streets and bank ATMs were set on fire.

Here we will concentrate on the cooperation between Greek cops and fascists, and on the incident of fascists setting themselves on fire while trying to injure anarchists by throwing molotovs towards them. More information about the march in general can be found at: http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2009/07/434041.html

It is a well-known and well-documented fact that Greek fascists are supported by the Greek state and the Greek cops. Fascists and cops cooperate together in the streets when they fight with anarchist blocks, and stone throwing by cops and fascists against protesters is an everyday phenomenon in Greece, together with ample amounts of tear gas fired by the cops and knife-wielding fascists injuring comrades in the streets whenever they manage to spot them alone and vulnerable. It is also well-known that Greek cops are quick to fire at anyone for no particular reason, even killing 15-year olds (as in the Alexandros Grigoropoulos or 'Gregory' case that sparked the December 2008 revolt, but that's only one out of many cases of cold shot murders by cops).

The majority of Greek fascists are organized in the Golden Dawn (Chrysi Avgi, which in Greek rhymes with Chrysa Avga, meaning Golden Eggs) political party (electoral power about 23,000 votes, but most of them are protest votes, as their influence in Greek society is really minimal, and their only support comes from the Greek state and the cops). It is not a real political party, even though it participates in elections, but rather a front organization by fascists and neonazis, most of them being cops in the Greek police, whose objective is to attack immigrants, the poor, anarchists, and leftists (except KKE, the biggest 'communist' party with a stalinofascist ideology and about 428,000 votes, and its youth wing, KNE, which see no problem in cooperating with the cops beating anarchists and other leftists without mercy). The Greek fascists are so desperate to increase their numbers in their disorganized and comical marches that they commonly pay petty money to drug addicts to handle Greek flags in their marches, while intoxicated. Yet, Greek fascists, because of their deep connections with the Greek state apparatus and the Greek police, can be dangerous when they confront comrades alone or in very small groups, as they carry knifes or sometimes guns (usually their police gun, as most of them are cops or bodyguards for politicians). Golden Dawn is not the only fascist party, there are others, like the more powerful LAOS (meaning People) which is openly theocratic and smaller ones composed of right-wingers, mainly army officers, nostalgic of the Greek Regime of the Colonels of 1967-73 (a CIA-controlled dictatorial junta who captured the state in a coup'd'etat, with the governing dictator at the time, Papadopoulos, being a CIA operative himself).

During the 7 July march, Greek fascists in full and open cooperation with the cops fiercely attacked the anarchists who were simply demanding equality for immigrants. This time the fascists tried to use the traditional people's weapon, the molotov cocktail, against the people themselves. Photos taken by comrades during the march, at great personal danger (as cops are known to severely beat and arrest anyone having cameras, even journalists from Greece or abroad) clearly show fascists inside the cop formations wielding lit molotov cocktails, ready to launch them against defenceless comrades who fight for a just world. It becomes apparent that their intention was to injure, or even kill, anarchists, and those who regularly watch news about class war in Greece should remember that fascists attempted (unsuccesfully) to throw a hand explosive grenade against the Greek Conscientious Objectors Association during one of their meetings (in Greece there is forced conscription for all males), clearly showing that they intended to kill numerous people.

On 7 July they again tried to injure or kill anarchists, this time with molotovs, but thanks to their stupidity we had no victims: the molotov-wielding fascists accidentaly set themselves on fire when they tried to throw the molotov cocktails against the anarchists! A fascist tried to be a 'hero' and had proceeded too far in front of the main fascist/cop formations, so he got a molotov on himself by his friends. The cops with their fire extinguishers saved him from the stupidity of his peers. Those comical scum, who have no idea how to handle the simplest of street weapons, the molotov firebomb, are unable to fight us with our weapons. Molotovs are and will remain the people's weapon in defence of their freedom against fascist bastards.

Before the incident described above, the fascists were seen running towards a warehouse with a yellow door after the cops called them there. Comrades saw the cops giving molotov cocktails and sprays to the fascists. Neighbours who were shocked to witness the cooperation between far-right neonazi scum and cops in their streets recorded them with their video-cameras. On the videos you can see the fascists in helmets and wielding hand weapons and globs (intended to severely beat and life-threatenly injure captured comrades), running together with the cops during street fights with the anarchists. What better proof can one provide of the cooperation between cops and neonazis in Greece?

If the cops capture a comrade with a molotov, they put him or her in prison for many years, yet they do nothing when a fascist handles a molotov, which clearly shows that the cops do not do what the law says but what promotes the interests of the ruling capitalist class and their government. Their only objective is to suppress dissent and assist the capitalists in exploiting the poor. A cop is simply a capitalist's dog, ready to bite anyone who dreams of a better world. It also worths mentioning that the fascists wielded molotovs without having their heads covered and without using gloves for their hands.

The anarchists have never used molotov cocktails against defenceless people, except cops that are protected by their special uniform (it can be set on fire without injuring their wearer). The fascists, however, see no problem in attempting to use molotovs against defenceless anarchists who have no special uniform to protect themselves. There have never been fascist victims after clashes with anarchists, not because the anarchists cannot do real harm to them, but because the anarchists take care to only use well-targeted violence for propaganda and symbolical reasons, targeting the property of capitalists and not human lives. The fascists, however, feel no value for human life, and this is why we call them scum. They do want to kill.

Some new information about the march itself:

It worths mentioning that during the march and the attack by the fascists and the cops, immigrant neighbours living in the streets where the clashes took place opened their doors to welcome comrades who needed help.

Three cops severely beat a girl without mercy on a car. The march had also attracted comrades new to street fighting who didn't manage to keep calm when the cops started spraying them with tear gas and began to run away. This is wrong. No one should run during a march as it is very dangerous for everyone. Comrades should leave organized in formations, and this is what experienced comrades do. We hope the new comrades will learn quickly the correct tactics. At the head (front) of the march there were some younger comrades not fully experienced in street fighting, and the more experienced comrades who were behind didn't manage to reach the front in time when the cops attacked the march.

This march had assembled a lot of people, but it fell victim to a strategic mistake: the comrades approached the Saint Pandeleimonas district (where fascists attack immigrants) from a narrow road, too narrow to allow the anarchist formations to effectively protect themselves from the cops, so the cops (who had orders to never allow anarchists enter that district) fiercely attacked our comrades. Next time the anarchists are not going to do the same mistake.

7 July was the day of the anarchist march. On 9 July the leftists will organize their own marches, but the great majority of anarchists, and most antiauthoritarians, don't like participating in leftist marches, because they see the leftists as reluctant to truly engage in street clashes with cops and fascists. It is interesting to note that the leftist parties have actually lost voters in elections, whereas the anarchist movement in Greece seems to be the one that most successfuly absorbes the disenfranchised youth, the repressed immigrants, and everyone who understands that a human society cannot be built on racism, xenophobia, capitalism, nationalism, and state terror. The anarchist movement in Athens, Greece has traditionaly as a base the downtown Exarchia district, which is mostly under the control of the anarchists and cops rarely risk to enter except in large numbers.

The Greek media, in support of the policies of the government, did not publicise the march at all. Supposedly 'progressive' leftist websites did not say anything about the march either, highlighting the divide between anarchists and leftists in Greece.

Greek comrades were informing immigrants who knew Greek, and they in turn informed the other immigrants who did not know Greek.

Even though there was street fighting and struggle against the cops and the fascists, this march was not really a clash march according to the standards of the anarchist movement in Greece; rather, it was a counter-information march intended to inform the people of the repression against the immigrants and attract attention to the issue. Clash marches in Greece are much more violent, regularly employing lots of molotov cocktails. Because this was decided to not be a clash march, the comrades who participated were not equiped with the right tools for successful clashes. Yet, the resistance to the attacks by the fascists and the cops was remarkable.

About the sister march in Thessaloniki (the above was about the Athens march): More than 1,500 comrades gathered at the Kalamaria district of Thessaloniki, the second-biggest city of Greece in the northern part of the country. The comrades marched towards the city's sea beach. At the head (front) of the march there were the anarchists carrying flags and chains, and behind them there were leftist blocks who participated. Behind all of them there were the cops. A Citibank security camera was destroyed. Out of the 1,500 comrades, more than 1,000 were anarchists. Spray was used to draw graffiti and ATMs and cameras were destroyed. Lots of new comrades participated in the Thessaloniki march, people who previously were not taking part in marches, clearly showing that the anarchist movement in Greece is gaining popular support. A shouty right-wing hotel owner attempted to drive away some anarchists who were painting his hotel's walls with graffiti, but more comrades came in support and forced him inside while they sprayed all of his hotel's walls with graffiti. At some point a cop formation was forced to leave in panic after it confronted the determined blocks of anarchists. Another bank ATM was set on fire with two molotov cocktails. The banners read: "Solidarity to the immigrants, no national identity, war to the bosses" and were signed as "anarchikoi/es" meaning "anarchist men and women". Another banner read "Attack the concentration camps" referring to the plans of the government to detain immigrants en masse. Lots of flyers were distributed. The march proceeded from Kamara district to Egnatia Street, Agias Sofias Street, Tsimiski, Venizelou Street, and then again towards Egnatia and Kamara.

Before the December 2008 revolt, most marches in Greece that participated in fierce street fighting against cops and fascists had fewer people, many times only about 500. Now, after the December revolt, many more people go to the marches and fight against the oppresors, and marches now easily assemble from 3,000 to 5,000 people who are ready to fight for their freedom. The way the Greek state handles the class war, with more brutal repression, we shall expect many more people to join our comrades in the streets and learn how to fight fascism. This also means that marches will adopt new tactics and develop formations more suitable for large determined groups rather than the tactics that were used in the past by small bands of individual comrades. The coming years will be very interesting in Greece from a class war and march tactics perspective, and comrades from other places of the planet should keep an eye for new developments in Greece.

NO GODS! NO MASTERS!

From We Want to Riot, Not To Work, Riot Not To Work Collective, 1982

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The following article is a personal account of the run-up to the anti-police riots in Brixton, South London, and the riots themselves.

By now the social and economic background to the Brixton riots will be familiar to most people. A housing waiting list, in the borough in which Brixton is situated, of 18,000; a third of the housing stock sub-standard; high unemployment with about 2 out of 3 of the unemployed being black; a high robbery rate (in fact the highest in London, it being twice the nearest figure); next to no social amenities. This was all very true.

The Fire this Time...
The area around the Railton Road (Frontline/Mayall Road triangle) is inhabited by mainly black council tenants and white squatters (leftists/anarchists/marginals). Empty houses are also used by local blacks as drinking and gambling clubs, dope centres and venues for all-night 'Blues' parties with sound systems pumping out non-stop reggae. Down the Frontline a black crafts centre has recently started in one empty building and further down a former black bookshop is now a squatted anarchist bookshop.

People down here tend to live on the left-overs of capitalist society. For years, the Triangle has been on the drawing board for demolition but only in the last two has any attempt been made to carry this out. But the council keep running out of money so it has been coming down piecemeal, making a rough area look even rougher. However, the maze of streets west of the FrontAine look brighter as they have increasingly come under the occupation of white, liberal professionals and self-made respectable blacks.

Down the Frondine there are two distinct cultures - the black and the white - and it is the black culture which predominates and on the fringes of which the young whites participate. Dope and Reggae. The blacks have their own language - Patois - and this gives them an independent cultural identity that is not easily co-opted or diluted. Perhaps the most relevant aspect of this culture (in terms of the riots) is that it is very much a street culture (despite British weather). Winter or summer there are always crowds of blacks out on the Fronthne rapping, smoking, laughing, visibly occupying their social space. But it is the cops who claim they control the streets of London.

Certainly m the two years I've lived on the Frontline I've noticed that the cops have always tried to intimidate the Frondine community with constant vehicle and foot patrols and less frequently, horse patrols. (The most bizarre policing incident I've ever seen happened a few months ago when a cop on horse-back chased someone down Mayall Road). Actually, the cops know they cannot fully control the Frontline. Despite their claims and their patrols the police policy on the Frontline has been one of containment- periodical raids to remind locals who is boss and to warn them not to get out of hand.

Operations such as the one in 1978, when the SPG (crack Special Patrol Group units) sealed off the Frontline and searched anybody and everybody, have caused outrage. Blacks, especially the second generation, are, on the whole defiant. A month or so ago a black motorist tore up the ticket a cop had just given him and threw it back in his face to cheers from the assembled crowd. The cops constantly use the SUS laws to stop and search young blacks. And they do this with vengeance. Another event on the Frontline will illustrate this. Two vehicles collided and the cops on the scene immediately searched both vehicles and their drivers and passengers. The accident was secondary.

With such everyday deprivation and such mindless state bullying, for being deprived, the one thing which united the disparate elements of the Frontline community is a burning hatred for the cops. What most surprised local people when the Bristol riots happened last year was that they hadn't happened here first. Another surprise was that the anarchist grafitti which went up after Bristol-' Bristol yesterday, Brixton today ' took a year to be made real. The establishment knew this too: Only a few months ago Lam beth Council published a report criticising the cops and predicting trouble.

The constant intense policing of Brixton and of the Frontline in particular was heightened in the week leading up to the riots. At 11pm on Friday April 3rd., the Frontline area around Dexter and Leeson Roads was sealed off by cops with no-one being allowed in or out for over an hour. Over 20 arrests were made. Then, in the following week, Operation Swamp 81 saw over 1,000 people (mainly young blacks) stopped and searched. This was all adding to the increasing frustration of local people.

At about 2.30am on Friday 10th I was stopped and threatened by 3 young blacks with bottles. This confused and angered me (it was the first time I'd ever been hassled on the Frontline) and it was only later that I realised that they have been victims of 'Swamp 81', perhaps only minutes before meeting me. On Friday 10th at about 5pm a young black with a knife wound was stopped on the Frontline by cops. What followed is the source of many different stories.

Whatever happened (and it isn't necessary to seek justification for what followed anyway) the cops were attacked by a gang of locals, the young bloke freed and taken to hospital. A brief battle with cop re-inforcements occurred. The cops took this as a challenge and so the following day, Saturday 11th, the Frontline was under police occupation. Usually the cops patrol the Frontline. But on that Saturday they parked up and down the Frontline every 50 yards, just sitting in their vans waiting for something to happen. It was a warm day so the Frontline was full of people standing around doing the usual things and, this time, eyeing the occupation force with hatred.

All afternoon most people expected trouble of some sort. At about 5pm in the afternoon a plain-clothes cop received the free gift of a brick on the head for wanting to search a black guy's car. Up in Atlantic Road an arrest was attempted and this further angered an already angry crowd. Most of this crowd was gathered in the space at the apex itself and at the beginning of Atlantic Road. The odd brick began to fly at the cops isolated in the crowd. A window was smashed. Tension rose. Electric. Then plain-clothes cops appeared from the crowd and joined the uniformed lot.

Battle lines were now clearly drawn and the first barrage of bricks flew in the direction of the cops. They threw a few back and charged. At first we retreated a little but-realising we were many, they were few- we stopped. Then, spontaneously, the whole afternoon's tension being released like a spring, we charged them. (What follows may seem confused and incoherent. But this is how I experienced the rioting. I report on only what I saw and heard. Certain incidents are omitted for obvious reasons). A massive surge of adrenalin. War whoops. Class war whoops. 'Whoops! Class War!' A scramble for bricks. 'I must have a brick. Where are the bricks?' A hail of bricks. The cops are confused as they realise they are no longer in control. Puppets without a role. They look at us, at one another and around themselves. Them. Run. Away. Down Mayall Road, leaving their vehicles in our hands.

In the twinkling of a rioting eye the vehicles are smashed up and turned over. A light is instantly provided and poof! Up goes a cop's van. Wild cheers. Laughter, dances of joy. I see a comrade and we beam solidarity at one another. Our savage celebrations are interrupted by a charge of cops. (They had regrouped with re-inforcements). The crowd splits. The cops are mad. Truncheons thrashing. I run to safety up a side street and meet another comrade. As we point with child-like glee at the rising pall of smoke; a white guy is bricked, inexplicably. He is immediately defended by black youths and all eyes look around for the idiot thrower.

A nearby friend has transport and as I go to seek its availability a black guy bearing an old grudge grabs me, revenge in his eyes. Before he can find an excuse to brick me (was the brick which hit the other guy meant for me?) I make it plain that assistance is needed. Van not available. Questions from friends. Tune in to police radio. They are out of their heads. Sounds of windows going in on Coldharbour Lane. Back onto the streets. In Coldharbour Lane an SPG van is on its side like some stranded whale.

A boutique has its windows smashed and twisted dummies litter the pavement. Crowds of onlookers. Glass smashes in Electric Avenue. A jeweller’s is looted. Another further up. Black and white youths kick their way through the roller shutters. I watch out for cops on Brixton Road, announce to the passing shoppers, who are all eyes, that free jewellery is available should they want it. Am ignored. Notice that the jewellers is, perfectly, next door to a consumer advice centre. Necklaces, bracelets, rings and watches are thrown into the pavement. Jewellery in the gutter. Great! I have a game of football with so me bracelets, a game I can't lose. There are some squabbles over loot. Depressing.

Move out onto Brixton Road. Burton's tailors is done in and a dummy set ablaze. Magical sight. Cops arrive. Pull dummy onto pavement. The tube station is closed but Brixton Road is still open to traffic. The motorists and bus passengers look on in confusion as looting spreads to both sides of the road. A black youth kicks in plate glass windows as if he is swatting flies. More cops. Burglar alarms scream out to deaf ears. More and more cops. Running battles. More looting. Then I notice there's no more traffic. The cops have sealed the main road off from the cop shop to the Town Hall. Looting and smashing now all along Brixton Road area, the market area and up Acre Lane. My name is called out. Another comrade. We shake hands muttering 'Great! Great!' I give him a garbled resumé. Bulk of crowd now around Brixton oval. Woolworths smashed and looted. Television sets, stereo, carted off. Some smashed. Occasional cop van races through and is smashed.

Many in the crowd realise cops have to pass us to get into the battle area so crowds line up on either side of Brixton Road with bottles and bricks. 'Here's another' Smash. 'And another' Smash. A proletarian fairground. 'And the next one please!' Smash. Everyone a winner. Cops wise up and a convoy arrives, stops and a horde of meanies piles out, truncheons thrashing. Crowd splits up but sniping still possible. A charge and we escape up a side street. All casual, like, we call into a pub for a drink. A rumour goes round that a cop has been kidnapped. My comrade and I smirk into our glasses. We decide to go to the Frontline.

It is now dark and we worm our way through back streets, avoiding cop cordons. We approach the top of the Frontline along Kellett Road and are met with an unbelievable sight. Three rows of cops stretch across the Frontline, facing into it. A non-stop hail of bricks batters their shields. Then suddently a molotov (the first I've ever seen) comes up and over and smash! lands on some shields, which are hurriedly dropped. Look down Mayall Road and see the Windsor Castle (pub) ablaze.

The Frontline is barricaded with burning vehicles. I'm elated and pissed off. Elated that the Frontline is a no go area and pissed off that I'm now cut off from defending it. I look around. Exhausted and injured cops sitting on the ground smoking fags. The fires, the cops, the atmosphere. Class war. 'Will they bring the army in?' Belfast.

We detour to the south end of the Frontline, which is also sealed off. Watch a shop blaze. The sub-post office has disappeared. Back to the Town Hall area. Cops now holding strategic positions- the big junction at the Town Hall, the cops station, etc. Still looting. More friends arrive. Talk. Back to the Frontline. All fires out by now. It's getting on for midnight. Things much quieter. Cops slowly regaining control. Up to cop shop. Barricaded with cop vans. Under siege. Cops attack us and force people down a back alley. Beatings. Arrests. We are split up.

I wander back along Brixton Road surveying damage. Only a few civilians are about now. Cops are in control. Get off the streets. Talk to friends for hours and then back to Frontline for celebratory drink. One last look at the blitzed Frontline in the dawn light and then sleep. I dream of cops, cops and more cops.

Aftermath
Sunday 12th. Tired, hungover. Rage at the newspaper. Commissioner McNee and others have the gall to blame 'outside agitators'. (The cops were the outside agitators.) The Frontline is crowded with people debating. Lots of cops patrolling warily. Firemen inspect damage. Discuss events with friends. News of arrests. Early evening. More trouble, but more easily contained, as over 1000 more cops are in the area. Brixton is sealed off, up as far as Kennington Oval. Fascist attack in Villa Road (famous squatted street). Cop station again heavily protected. Cops use 'Nightsun' helicopter for the first time. (Can light up an area the size of a football pitch and is fitted with infra red cameras.) More cops. They're gaining the upper hand.

Since the weekend there has been confusion and paranoia. The gutter press stress not only 'outside agitators' but also 'white anarchists conspiracy'. Comrades are raided. (Who's next?) Where are they held? Which court will they appear in? First fines are heavy - £200. Hassles about getting bail. Newspapers print photo-graphs showing faces. (Who's next?) Frontline now quieter than usual. Massive police presence but this isn't immediately visible. Coaches in side streets, up to 2 miles away.

Reports filter back about treatment of those arrrested. Heavy. Can't sleep. (How can the people of Northern Ireland have survived 10 years of this without cracking up?) The black community is divided. The rally for Easter Sunday is called off. Recriminations. The Brixton Defence Committee and Lambeth Law Centre are organising counter-information and compiling a list of cases against the police. It's still early days yet.

Easter Weekend. Frontline much quieter than usual Brixton still occupied. All varieties of political groupings trying to colonise the local initiative. (The worst I saw was Militant, with the headline 'Brixton Blame the Tories'.) Difficult to judge the atmosphere. People having to re-think, trying to get these extraordinary events in perspective. It is now a higher level of confrontation. All the shops in the market and main road areas are hoarded up. For how long? There is talk of more 'aid' for the community. Sticking plaster for leprosy. Class society is rotten through and through. Where will the next eruption take place? The struggle here is far from over.