Some will claim this is Black Bloc Anarchism, I on the other hand believe it is simply infantile leftists trying to justify their juvenile delinquency as political when it is no different than drunken louts on Whyte Avenue fighting riot cops.
The demonstration was supposed to be for 'making a statement ',but the message got lost.
ENOUGH!! A Woman's Place is NOT at home!
Call to action: International Day Against Police Brutality, March 15 (details below)On Thursday, March 8th -- International Women's Day -- Montreal police brutally attacked and injured three women who came to the aid of Jaggi Singh when the police arrested him at the annual Women's Day celebration in Montreal.
As the state spins it, Jaggi Singh is to blame for everything! We see it very differently. The arrest of Jaggi Singh and the brutalization of the three women are inextricably linked. Jaggi Singh was there to celebrate International Women's Day with his sisters and got arrested. As women we are very familiar with being blamed for our own victimization -- the woman who was raped "asked for it", what was she doing out there anyway? Why was she dressed like that? Milia Abrar, who was murdered in Montreal in 1998, had challenged traditions: she asked for it. The missing women, mostly Indigenous sisters, along the 'Highway of Tears' asked for it. The women at École Polytechnique asked for it. The woman whose partner killed her asked for it. The women who were brutalized by the police on 8th March asked for it!
However the result was vandalism, which is neither radical nor revolutionary, but reactionary. And you can tell from the headline below, the message got lost in the reporting. Nice going folks. You didn't make the point, you missed it.
This is neither Direct Action nor Anarchism in Action. It is just a justification for hooliganism. It is reactionary, like soccer hooliganism, as it brings more police violence on people. It does not expose that violence as unjustified in the mind of the public.
Anarchism is about propaganda and agitation aimed at educating the masses that they can be self reliant, self sufficient and live in a cooperative fashion without the State, police or fear of violence. Supporting or engaging in this kind of vandalism is the antithesis of that message.
See my previous posts on the futility of this kind of infantile anarchism.
More than a dozen arrested after Montreal anti-violence demo turns ugly | |
 | Rioters build a fire in the middle of the intersection of Berri and de Maisonneuve as demonstrators protest against police brutality. Thursday in Montreal. (CP PHOTO/David Boily) Anti-police rallies turn ugly in Montreal, Vancouver CBC British Columbia - Anti-police rallies in Montreal and Vancouver turned violent Thursday as demonstrators clashed with police, leading to several arrests. Montreal police arrest 15 at demonstration More than a dozen arrested after Montreal anti-violence demo turns ... |
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ReplyDeleteI'm gonna kick myself for saying this(lol), but this is a great post.
ReplyDeleteI've seen some pretty partisan comments on these ridiculous actions... glad to see you wrote this intelligently and responsibly.
Too bad for NEFAC in Montreal, 4 years hard work bringing anarchist communism to working people and a handful of people (out of 500) have to go trash shops. But I do wonder about the Vancouver event, if it was not in part a reaction to the police mugging of the Olympic Clock demonstators last week. From what I could see on TV last night the people involved looked like typical young activists and not thugs. Not that I think 100 people doing a Weatherman Days of Rage repeat is such a good idea mind you... But there is a lot of anger out there and I suspect that it will manifest itself in some manner, but not in small adventurous actions like this.
ReplyDeleteYou can put the protesting commie-hordes into civilization, but you can't put civilization into the protesting commie-hordes...
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