[fse-esf] 4th ESF Press release-Declaration

Wed May 10 12:56:55 CEST 2006

I find it disturbing but unsurprising that Tina finds no way of =20
condemning the comrade(s) who decided to send an exclusively male group =20=

to police the demo.

Arguments on demos? Something for the men obviously. Were there any =20
female stewards on the march? I didn't see any, not one. Perhaps we =20
should all just make the women tail behind and keep nice and safe. As =20=

for when the demo started there was never any attempt to change the =20
order, and the macho stewards continued in their heroic role, ignoring =20=

the front where any attempt by outside forces would have concentrated. =20=

That's maybe why there is usually a large number of stewards at the =20
front of any demo. To try to accuse the IST of collaborating with the =20=

anarchists is just bizarre.

Guy Taylor

On 10 May 2006, at 10:30, tina at cpgb.org.uk wrote:

> Strange.... I was at the demonstration and saw what was happening - it
> looked rather different to what Guy is describing. A longer report =20
> will be
> appearing in tomorrow's Weekly Worker, but I don't think the SWP's
> 'falsification of history' deserves to remain unchallenged even for =20=

> another
> day.
>
> Clearly, the Greek organising committee decided (with a majority vote? =
=20
> with
> consensus? I don't know) that the front of the march should be made up =
=20
> of
> delegations from all over Europe - ie, like was the good practise at =20=

> every
> other ESF. Comrade Natascha even announced this on the Friday night at =
=20
> the
> daily meeting of the non-existing ESF leadership ;-). There was at =20
> least
> one leading SWP member present, as well as plenty of members from the =20=

> SWP=92s
> internationalised sect, the IST. None of them disagreed with Natascha =
-
> silence.
>
> Then on Saturday morning, we saw members of the Greek IST section =
(SEK,
> Genoa 2001 etc) push to the front of the march. Members of the Greek =20=

> Social
> Forum warned them that the front was reserved for the international
> delegations - as they knew very well.
>
> But under the watchful eyes of SWP tops Alex Callinicos, Chris Harman =20=

> and
> Chris Nineham (we have taken a very good picture of them) the Greek =
SEK
> organiser Maria Styllou organised her troops to carry on pushing to =
the
> front.
>
> What then happened is truly disgusting and deserves condemnation from =20=

> all
> democrats and socialists in Europe. She actually organised a row of =20=

> young,
> female SEK comrades to be at the =91frontline=92 - obviously hoping =
that =20
> women
> would not get pushed back. When this trick did not work out, the IST
> comrades started shouting about sexism and macho-ism (just like Guy =20=

> does) -
> when in fact it was them who didn=92t give a shit about the welfare of =
=20
> their
> young female comrades by sending them to the =91frontline=92.
>
>  The SWP has been applying similar tactics in Britain and - I=92m told =
- =20
> many
> other countries where they are organised. They send women comrades to
> attack critical voices and oppositionists - but they always have a row =
=20
> of
> men behind them so that they can start fighting when people defend
> themselves.
>
> CPGB members had leaflets ripped out of their hands by SWP women and
> materials wiped off our info stalls - but we know of much worse =20
> experiences
> from other people (who do not have the advantage of their publication =20=

> being
> read by tens of thousands of people every week).
>
> It was the IST who tried to sabotage the demonstration and good on the
> Greek organising comrades for successfully defending the march.
>
> As an aside: when anarchists tried to hijack the front of our =20
> demonstration
> to attack the police, there were hardly any stewards around. Where =
were
> they? At the back, keeping the SWP in check.
>
> So, SWP comrades, that was really an =91intervention=92 to be proud of =
- =20
> and
> don=92t worry, everybody will know the truth about it.
>
> With comradely greetings
>
> Tina Becker
> Communist Party of Great Britain
>
>
>
> Original Message:
> -----------------
> From: Globalise Resistance office at resist.org.uk
> Date: Tue, 9 May 2006 12:31:39 +0100
> To: fse-esf at lists.fse-esf.org
> Subject: Re: [fse-esf] 4th ESF Press release-Declaration
>
>
> The Social Forum was indeed a huge success, the attendance of a large
> number of Eastern European delegates and especially the huge =
contingent
> from Turkey is absolutely welcome and needs to be lauded. However, a
> few corrections to the below press release are needed:
>> For the first time in a European Social Forum, trade unions had a
>> significant role as members of the organizing committee.
> This was not the first time. In Florence and London the trade unions
> were prominent (It may also have been the case in Paris, but it was
> more difficult to tell). In London the treasurer, and some of the key
> organisers were trade union representatives. The events received much
> input from trade Unions, both organisationally and financially. It is
> misleading to claim otherwise.=C2=A0
>> To the hundreds of volunteers of the Greek Social Forum, who did =
their
>> best for the organization of the 4th ESF. To them we owe the success
>> of the event.
> It seems a little remiss to concentrate your gratitude on one group of
> the organisation. Notable was the friction in the organisation of the
> forum, perhaps a little thanks beyond your own ranks might be =
gracious.
>> To the Greek Social Forum=E2=80=99s teams of safeguard that =
contributed in =20
>> the
>> successful finishing of the rally as it was originally planned by the
>> organizing committee.
> If that is referring to what I think it is, perhaps the phrase "macho,
> sexist, violent, self appointed police" might be a more accurate term
> than "teams of safeguard".
>
> guy taylor
> globalise resistance
>
> On 8 May 2006, at 10:55, Tasos Koronakis wrote:
>
>> 4th European Social Forum: its success exceeded even the most
>> optimistic expectations
>> Press Release
>> The success of the 4th European Social Forum (Athens 4-7th May)
>> exceeded even the most optimistic expectations. With 100.000 people
>> participating in the rally and with more than 35.000 participants
>> attending the seminars and workshops, the Forum proved both the
>> potential of the Greek movements and the strength of the alterglobal
>> movement. For four days, Athens was the European capital of
>> resistance, for four days, tens of thousands of people have been
>> sending the message: Another world is possible!
>> =C2=A0
>> Beside the mass participation we should also mention some qualitative
>> characteristics of the 4th ESF:
>> 1.=C2=A0=C2=A0=C2=A0=C2=A0=C2=A0=C2=A0 The participation of activists =
from Eastern Europe and
> Turkey
>> was larger than ever (more than 2.000 people), showing that the Forum
>> embraces the whole continent and not just Western Europe.
>> 2.=C2=A0=C2=A0=C2=A0=C2=A0=C2=A0=C2=A0 There has been mass attendance =
in the seminars and
> workshops.
>> People came to listen and discuss, not just to browse around.
>> 3.=C2=A0=C2=A0=C2=A0=C2=A0=C2=A0=C2=A0  For the first time in a =
European Social Forum, trade
> unions
>> had a significant role as members of the organizing committee.
>> 4.=C2=A0=C2=A0=C2=A0=C2=A0=C2=A0=C2=A0  Art and culture had a central =
place in the Forum, with
> more
>> than 120 cultural events and with a participation of hundreds of
>> artists.
>> =C2=A0
>> The greek social forum addresses its warmest greetings:
>> =C2=B7=C2=A0=C2=A0=C2=A0=C2=A0=C2=A0=C2=A0=C2=A0=C2=A0  To the =
thousands of citizens from all over Greece =20
>> and
>
>> abroad who filled the streets of Athens and marched with =
determination
>> despite the throw of tear-gas from the police
>> =C2=B7=C2=A0=C2=A0=C2=A0=C2=A0=C2=A0=C2=A0=C2=A0=C2=A0  To the =
hundreds of volunteers of the Greek Social
> Forum,
>> who did their best for the organization of the 4th ESF. To them we =
owe
>> the success of the event.
>> =C2=B7=C2=A0=C2=A0=C2=A0=C2=A0=C2=A0=C2=A0=C2=A0=C2=A0  To the Greek =
Social Forum=E2=80=99s teams of safeguard =20
>> that
>
>> contributed in the successful finishing of the rally as it was
>> originally planned by the organizing committee.
>> =C2=A0
>> =C2=A0
>> The groups that used the demonstrators as a protection shield between
>> them and the police, showed with their actions that they consider the
>> Forum and its people as enemies. Their behavior during Saturday=E2=80=99=
s
>> rally is a sample of an extreme authoritarian political behavior.
>> With the closing of the 4th ESF, we have every reason to be =
optimistic
>> for the potential of the alterglobal movement as well as for the
>> forthcoming struggles in Greece. All those of us who were present in
>> the events taking place in the 4th ESF, sensed the breath of a
>> forthcoming Spring=E2=80=A6
>>
>>  The press office
>>  of the Greek Social Forum
>>  =C2=A0
>>
>>  =CE=A7=CF=81=CE=B7=CF=83=CE=B9=CE=BC=CE=BF=CF=80=CE=BF=CE=B9=CE=B5=CE=AF=
=CF=84=CE=B5 Yahoo!
>>  =CE=92=CE=B1=CF=81=CE=B5=CE=B8=CE=AE=CE=BA=CE=B1=CF=84=CE=B5 =CF=84=CE=
=B1 =CE=B5=CE=BD=CE=BF=CF=87=CE=BB=CE=B7=CF=84=CE=B9=CE=BA=CE=AC =
=CE=BC=CE=B7=CE=BD=CF=8D =CE=BC=CE=B1=CF=84=CE=B1 =20
>> (spam);
> =CE=A4=CE=BF Yahoo! Mail =CE=B4=CE=B9=CE=B1=CE=B8=CE=AD=CF=84=CE=B5=CE=B9=

>> =CF=84=CE=B7=CE=BD =CE=BA=CE=B1=CE=BB=CF=8D=CF=84=CE=B5=CF=81=CE=B7 =
=CE=B4=CF=85=CE=BD=CE=B1=CF=84=CE=AE =CF=80=CF=81=CE=BF=CF=83=CF=84=CE=B1=CF=
=83=CE=AF=CE=B1 =CE=BA=CE=B1=CF=84=CE=AC =20
>> =CF=84=CF=89=CE=BD
> =CE=B5=CE=BD=CE=BF=CF=87=CE=BB=CE=B7=CF=84=CE=B9=CE=BA=CF=8E=CE=BD =
=CE=BC=CE=B7=CE=BD=CF=85=CE=BC=CE=AC=CF=84=CF=89=CE=BD
>> http://login.yahoo.com/config/mail?.intl=3Dgr <Declaration of the
>> Assembly of the
>> =
Movements.doc><4thESF_press.doc>______________________________________=20=

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