In response to the murder of antifacist Pavlos Fyssas on the 18th of September in Greece there was an open meeting for self organisation of actions and counter information. The people who gathered for this meeting were individuals who come from a variety of different political backgrounds within the anti-authoritarian spectrum. Although we were not a homogenous group, we managed to organise some actions and a demonstration which took place on the 27th September. Despite the fact that there was a short time for organisation, the demonstration was a dynamic expression of our outrage and Solidarity. The anger felt on the streets of Kreuzberg and Neukölln resonated and showed a connection to the antifascist and anti authoritarian struggles in Greece and elsewere. This process showed that reaction can be self organised, open and direct!
Although we were generally excited by the mobilisation and the demo itself, as always there are some points which we hope could be better for the future. We hope that next time participants will feel able to bring banners and flyers and use the opportunity to communicate outside of the demonstration and generally take more self initiative. It is easy to get frustrated within the Berlin demo context, we often question the sense and meaning of such activity. It is important to have an open dialogue on this topic here in Berlin and for this reason we thank our comrades in Neukölln who organised a talk on the subject (this event took place on the same day as the demonstration, more info @ linksunten.indymedia.org)
We are living in a time of a global financial crisis and capitalism is in its most fierce and aggresssive stage worldwide. The abolishment of labour rights, 'flexible' contracts, precarious work conditions, unemployment, exploitation and gentrification, the rise is racism and anti-immigration policies, all of this impacts our lives. This social barberism generates a dissatisfaction in society and has the potential to create resistance. The system (so the State and all its aparatus) needs its scapegaots (groups of 'vulnerable' people) to blame, marginalise and repress in order to secure and reinforce itself. To those who resist, the State answers with heavy repression, social control, surveillance and imprisonment. At this phase of social turmoil fascism is used to create fear within society and reinforce control over peoples behaviour. The recent murder of Fyssas and the many other attacs and murders of immigrants and antifascist (like those in Hellersdorf Berlin and all over the world) can be only understood as a result of the capitalist strategy to manage the social and economic crisis by creating, empowering and when it suits, disempowering the fascist threat. The capitalist attack is holistic and therefore needs to be confronted as a common struggle for us all!
Struggle exists in many froms and is experinced from a varitey of different perspectives. Single issue campaigns (against cops, nazis, sexism, racism, bosses and the work place, gentrification etc) are imortant. We believe however, that there is a need for another form of self organisation. Under this term we understand that a broader proposal is needed which confronts capitalism and aims towards the destruction of all institutions that exploit and oppress. The self organised social struggle must have a constant presence within society and must resist recuperation, attempts of integration and/or isolation enforced on us by the State, political parties and institutional mechanisms. This form of self organisation can allow us not only to follow and react to the given circumstances but also to create our own.
This is especially relevant for us in Berlin today. We feel that a discussion is needed concerning these forms of organisation, our strategies and the meaning of our struggle. Even in our most developed small group contexts, this reflection and drive is lacking. We need to develop and revolutionalise our social relationships, we should connect with each other more to prevent our struggles from remaining in isolation and build a shared basis to fight further together. What remains of the autonomous organisation of the last decades are some larger political groups. These formations are clearly of significance and importance but also have their limitations. Their existance is often used by many to indulge in their own inactivity and consumer tendencies; the mentioned groups take responsibility for organising an action or demonstration or some other form of spectacle which others passively consume. We see this as problematic. As for us, we organise ourselves in small numbers so that we can tackle deeper hierarchies and are often able to be flexible in acting and responding to situations. Although we of course have a lot of self critique too! What we need is the fusing of autonomous strategies for organisation and other new attempts, ideas and proposals. Open communication between groups and individuals to further our perspectives and to revitalise our sense of revolutionary spirit. We have felt some momentum in the streets during the last months in Berlin and Hamburg regarding anti-immigration policies and fascist attacks, the acts of solidarity seen give us hope that self organisation and the spirit of revolt can be reignited.
For all these reasons the development of self organised structures, channels of communication and networks through open assemblies are necessary to to work toward the creation of a common political basis whilst also avoiding any imposition of specific characteristics from one group to another. Through the exchange of experience and ideas, direct action should flow as a result. The participation of non-homogenous groups and individuals open up possibilities for wider communication in different social spheres, independent from the States mediation, propaganda of the mainstream medias and any dogmatic ideas and 'ready-made' solutions offered. Last but not least, it could help us improve our ability to react quickly to any given emergencies which might occur in the future.
Inspired from the events which followed the murder of Fyssas and considering the necessity to push forward the aforementioned processes, we call for a new open meeting on the 9th December 2013 at 7pm at Mehringshof – to discuss the perspectives of communication, cooperation, direct action and continuity of our struggle with a special focus on Berlin.
