Resistance

From Chiapas To Rojava: Seas Divide Us, Autonomy Binds Us

February 18, 2015 Petar Stanchev, www.roarmag.org Resist! Autonomy, Fascism, Resistance

As the battle for every street and corner of the city intensified, Kobani managed to capture the imagination of the global left — and of left-libertarian groups in particular — as a symbol of resistance. It was not without reason that the Turkish Marxist-Leninist group MLKP, which joined the YPG/YPJ on the battlefield, raised the flag of the Spanish Republic over the ruins of the city on the day of its liberation while calling for the formation of International Brigades, following the example of the Spanish Revolution. It was not necessarily the battle for Kobani itself, but the libertarian essence of the cantons of Rojava, the implementation of direct democracy at the grassroots, and the participation of women in the autonomous government that gave grounds to such historical comparisons.

Until The Pipeline Is No More

December 9, 2014 Kevin Woster, www.westcoastnativenews.com Resist! Energy, Environment, Indigenous Rights, Resistance

A small group of Native Americans opposing the proposed Keystone XL Pipeline continue to occupy a protest camp northwest of Winner. A handful of protesters have been at the Spirit Camp every day since March, although the camp population increases for events and gatherings. The camp is on tribal land along the route of the proposed pipeline, near the Rosebud Reservation. Campers have persevered through blizzards, heat waves and rain storms, as well as what they call the theft of large bales from the camp wind breaks. But camp spokesman Gary Dorr says they won’t leave.

Gaza’s Resistance Paradigm

August 8, 2014 Ramzy Baroud, www.atimes.com Strategize! Israel, Palestine, Resistance

"Where is the Palestinian Gandhi? In Israeli prison, of course!," was the title of an article by Jo Ehrlich published in Modoweiss.net on December 21, 2009. That was almost exactly one year after Israel's concluded a major war against Gaza. The so-called Operation Cast Lead (December 27, 2008 - January 18, 2009) was, till then, the deadliest Israeli attack against the impoverished strip for many years. Ehrlich was not in the least being belittling by raising the question about the "Palestinian Gandhi" but responding to the patronization of others. Right from the onset, he remarked: "Not that I'm in any way playing into the Palestinian Gandhi dialogue, I think it's actually pretty diversionary/racist. But sometimes you have to laugh in order not to cry." Indeed, the question was and remains condescending, ignorant, patronizing and utterly racist. But the question was also pervasive, including among people who classify themselves as "pro-Palestinian activists".

Sonoma County Says ‘No’ To Walmart

July 19, 2014 Martin J. Bennett, www.beyondchron.org Resist! Inequality, Resistance, Walmart

Wal-Mart has again submitted a proposal to expand its existing discount store in Rohnert Park into a supercenter, selling both general merchandise and groceries. In 2010, widespread organized opposition across Sonoma County and a successful lawsuit derailed the project. Much has changed since Wal-Mart first proposed a supercenter five years ago in Rohnert Park–and the ongoing campaign by a broad coalition of labor, faith, environmental, and community-based organizations to oppose the project has implications for the entire state, if not the nation. For the past five quarters Wal-Mart has experienced falling sales. The retail giant is desperate to expand its market share in large metropolitan regions like the greater San Francisco Bay area. To penetrate metro regions Wal-Mart seeks to increase both the number of supercenters with groceries and to construct 40,000-square-foot ‘Neighborhood’ grocery stores—as Wal-Mart’s grocery sales climbed from 7 percent nationwide in 2002 to 18 percent in 2011. Hence, in addition to proposing the first supercenter in the North Bay (i.e. Marin and Sonoma counties), Wal-Mart is building a ‘small mart’ grocery store in Rohnert Park, also the first in the two counties.

World Bankers Expect Protests Are Coming

July 19, 2014 Andrew Gavin Marshall, www.occupy.com Resist! Bank, Mass Movement, Resistance

These two groups – financial institutions and the consultants that advise them – play key roles in the spread of institutionalized corporate and financial power, and as such, warnings from these groups about the threat posed by “social unrest” carry particular weight as they are geared toward a particular audience: the global oligarchy itself. Organizations like the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank were responsible for forcing neoliberal economic “restructuring” on much of the developing world from the 1980s onwards, as the IMF and E.U. are currently imposing on Greece and large parts of Europe. The results have been and continue to be devastating for populations, while corporations and banks accumulate unprecedented wealth and power. As IMF austerity programs spread across the globe, poverty followed, and so too did protests and rebellion. Between 1976 and 1992, there were 146 protests against IMF-sponsored programs in 39 different countries around the world, often resulting in violent state repression of the domestic populations (cited explicitly by Firoze Manji and Carl O’Coill in “The Missionary Position: NGOs and Development in Africa,” International Affairs, Vol. 78, No. 3, 2002).

Greek Cleaners Become Symbols Of Resistance

July 16, 2014 Maria Zepatou, www.youngist.org Resist! Europe, Greece, Policy, Resistance, Unions

It took nine months for the 396 cleaners that had been made redundant by the Greek Finance Ministry to gain their victory. Since September 2013, they have been on strike, selling T-shirts to survive and pay for banners and other activism materials, and facing police brutality. In May 2014, the court of Areios Pagos ruled that the women, who used to clean tax and customs offices across the country, should return to their posts immediately, since the layoffs were not supported by any study that proved them to be in the state’s best interests. However, this was only the beginning. The Greek government declined to comply with the court’s ruling, and applied for an appeal. The case will be transferred to a higher court in September, but, according to the cleaners’ lawyer, Yiannis Karouzos, the case can’t be re-examined, and the first decision will only be technically checked for legal errors. The Supreme Court that accepted the government’s request for an appeal issued the reasoning behind this decision, stating that “ensuring the continuation of the state’s financial policies (…) is linked with the general public interest, as opposed to the personal interest of each cleaner.”

The 5th Annual Tarsands Healing Walk

July 3, 2014 Mike Hudema, www.greenpeace.org Resist! Healing Walk, Indigenous Rights, Resistance, Tar Sands

It was a walk of prayer and healing. It was a walk to heal the land, a walk to heal ourselves and a walk to give the earth the strength to resist the damage that is being done to it. Once a year for the past 5-years we have gathered. The first year it was those most directly affected by the tar sands beast joined by a few allies. It was started as a way for the communities most directly impacted to speak in a way that respected their culture and traditions. It was not a protest but a walk of healing. Each year afterwards the healing walk grew. The fifth healing walk brought people from all four coasts – from the Gulf to the Northwest Territories, from B.C. to New Brunswick. From all the pipeline fights (KXL, Northern Gateway, KinderMorgan, Line9, Energy East etc.) we came together in the belly of the tar sands to pray, heal and unite. As tar sands destruction grows so do the movements against it. The routes of pipelines become maps of resistance. They show the Nations and communities to connect to, the struggles to unite, and places to come together. This year, the healing walk joined many of them - a walking tribute of the unity that has been built.

Detroit Citizens Vow Direct Action

July 2, 2014 Lauren McCauley, www.commondreams.org Resist! Detroit, Human Rights, Privatization, Resistance, Water

Rallying on the steps of the Michigan governor's office in Detroit, activists and religious leaders on Monday called for an immediate moratorium on the city's plan to shut off water to tens of thousands of households. “This is everybody's fight, water is a human right!” the protesters chanted. In recent weeks, activists in Detroit have mobilized against the city's efforts to cut off the water supply to 120,000 delinquent accounts, or over 300,000 city residents. News of the shut-offs has spread following a statement issued last week by the United Nations that the city's plan "constitutes a violation of the human right to water." Now, with Detroit under the media microscope, activists are hoping that the state government halts its plan to deprive residents of this essential human right and instead adopt an affordable payment plan based on an individual's income. The threat has catalyzed many individuals and groups in the community to act. The Detroit Water Brigade, which has begun distributing water and information to Detroiters facing shut off, vowed: "We are prepared to take direct action to prevent shut-offs if the city does not immediately cease and desist."

Growing Resistance To Pipeline

June 26, 2014 IdleNoMore, www.idlenomore.ca Resist! Canada, Indigenous Rights, Pipeline, Resistance

In the past few weeks, thousands of people across Turtle Island have been organizing major campaigns to protect Indigenous sovereignty, land, water, and, territories. NO to Northern Gateway First Nations and non-First Nations gave a resounding NO when the Harper Government approved Enbridge Northern Gateway Project this week. People have joined in a wide variety of actions such as legal cases, mass rallies, and peaceful sit-ins in local MP’s offices. This is just the beginning!! There will be a wall of resistance as First Nations groups and other concerned citizens have vowed to fight the Canadian government’s approval of the Northern Gateway pipeline. The ongoing failure to consult First Nations violates Indigenous inherent rights. Enbridge’s Northern Gateway, a $7 billion pipeline, would carry tar sands oil from the province of Alberta to the coastal town of Kitimat, British Columbia, where the oil will be loaded onto tankers and transported along the coastlines.

The Take: Documentary On Factories Occuped By Workers

June 17, 2014 Top Documentary Films, www.topdocumentaryfilms.com Educate! Argentina, Cooperatives, Democracy, Elections, Resistance

We heard rumors of a new kind of economy emerging in Argentina. With hundreds of factories closing, waves of workers were locking themselves inside and running the workplaces on their own, with no bosses. Where we come from, a closed factory is just an inevitable effect of a model, the end of a story. In Argentina today, it's just the beginning. In suburban Buenos Aires, thirty unemployed auto-parts workers walk into their idle factory, roll out sleeping mats and refuse to leave. All they want is to re-start the silent machines. But this simple act - The Take - has the power to turn the globalization debate on its head. In the wake of Argentina's dramatic economic collapse in 2001, Latin America's most prosperous middle class finds itself in a ghost town of abandoned factories and mass unemployment. The Forja auto plant lies dormant until its former employees take action. They're part of a daring new movement of workers who are occupying bankrupt businesses and creating jobs in the ruins of the failed system. But Freddy, the president of the new worker's co-operative, and Lalo, the political powerhouse from the Movement of Recovered Companies, know that their success is far from secure. Like every workplace occupation, they have to run the gauntlet of courts, cops and politicians who can either give their project legal protection or violently evict them from the factory.

The Manifold Fronts Of Cascadian Liberation

June 6, 2014 Geran Wales, www.waterandmountains.wordpress.com Strategize! Cascadia, Community, Environment, History, Resistance

Perspective matters. What makes a Bioregional Politics different from State-centric thought is the imperative to see things out-side the perspective of the managing class of people. Earlier we thanked the dreamers among us, and were not doing so in a purely rhetorical fashion. Imagination makes reality, and we need to be bold, clear and lucid with our dearest dreams. Gardens and Gardening are essential to the world we need to create; but in addition to the loving care we give to plants we need to articulate the way we will build well loved patches of yard into the institutions to carry us through the turbulent first years of the post-carbon era. In this venture we want to present the models and thinkers that (in our limited perspective) are shaping and have shaped the possibilities of the Emergent Cascadian culture. We can demarcate three main paths we are taking towards Cascadia Resistance: What forces are hurting our bioregion and our human kin? Why are so many groups systematically not having their needs met? What are the true causes of social ills and how can we address them as a social body? What kinds of forces make it so difficult to live a principled life in economic certainty? How can we organize against them?

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