The Brevik Trial and the European Far-Right May 14, 2012

*Written a month ago, partially updated*

Four weeks ago we saw the beginning of what looks to be the long and traumatic trial of Anders Brevik, the attacker responsible for the deaths of seventy-seven people in Norway last year. Already, the trial has been filled with controversy as a juror was suspended on the second day due to an internet post last July stating he believed Brevik should be sentenced to the death penalty which has ultimately led to the court being forced to question his impartiality. The most talked about details both prior to and now during the trial, has been the mental state of Brevik. Many of the survivors and families of the victims were outraged when the first psychiatric report was released declaring Brevik to be mentally unstable and therefore unable to stand criminal trial. This report was later refuted, and another assessment was released declaring Brevik to be mentally and physically able to stand criminal trial and thus conviction.

Despite these assessments, many are still questioning their validity since the trial has begun. This raises a very serious issue. Whilst people commentating on the trial persist on labelling Brevik as a ‘mad-man’ and mentally unstable, the ideology behind his attacks is being ignored and dismissed. I can appreciate that most people believe that he is crazy and that what he stands for is completely void of any rationality, however, if no-one can accept the fact that this ideology is still prominent in our society and that there are thousands of potential Brevik’s across Europe, then we will fail to prevent massacres such as this from happening again.

Many people who have been involved in Anti-Fascist campaigning use the slogan ‘Adolf Hitler, never again. Mussolini, never again’, yet we have seen that despite the strong opposition to Nazis in our towns and streets, people are still failing to recognise the threat that these people pose to our society. Throughout his manifesto and his trial, Brevik has articulated that he was ‘protecting Norwegians from militant Islam’, that ‘Islam is barbarianism’ and that ‘multiculturalism has failed’, incidentally the same line spoken by Prime Minister David Cameron the same day as the English Defence League marched on Luton last year. This is exactly the same hateful rhetoric that we have heard time and time again from the likes of the EDL and the BNP. Brevik gave a Nazi salute in his first day in court as well as explaining that he had done ‘the bravest thing in Europe since Hitler’. You don’t have to look far on the internet to find EDL and BNP members performing the same Nazi salute, or bearing white pride or swastika tattoos shamelessly.

This ideology stretches further than Norway and Britain, and is becoming increasingly visible across Europe. The first round of this year’s French Presidential Elections saw Marine Le Pen of the Front National gain third place with 18% of the vote, the highest the FN has ever finished in the first round of the elections. There has been a revival of fascist street groups in Spain and Italy and in response to the crisis in Greece, neo-nazi party ‘Golden Dawn’ has just secured almost 7% of the vote gaining 21 seats, a party that has taken to street violence and hate crime in response to the protest and strike movements against Greek austerity. When crisis hits, people react and accept the first and easiest explanations they are given. There isn’t a day that goes by when you cannot find an article published in the Daily Mail detailing something that ‘immigrants’ can be blamed for. When the easiest explanation for a financial crisis is immigration, people buy it because it seems logical to them that when jobs disappear it is because immigrants are taking them. However, we know this not to be the case, and as this racist, fear mongering scapegoating continues to be perpetuated by the press, the ignorant and the right-wing, we are divided when we should be united.

For as long as the Nation-State exists, so will nationalism and fascism. In this current climate of crisis and austerity more than ever we see how workers facing cuts and redundancies in the UK, Greece, Spain etc have far more in common with each other than with the political elites and national ‘idols’ of their ‘own’ countries. For as long as we continue to distinguish ‘foreigners’ as ‘us’ and ‘them’, we fail to direct anger at the elites who have created this crisis, who are making us pay and who will, given the opportunity, screw us all over eternally. So, the next time you read the Daily Mail and you feel like you should put your allegiance somewhere, place it with the workers striking all over the world, with the unemployed and the pensioners and stick two fingers up to the governments across Europe screwing us all and to the nationalists and the fascists who buy in to ignorant patriotic rhetoric. The people in struggle, these are who we are really all in it together with!

 

From Indignation to Revolution? May 14, 2012

*Written over a month ago*

The 29M General Strike is the first in eighteen months, revitalising the protest to austerity after the general strikes of 2010 and the 15M Indignados movement of last year. The strike was an early hard hit to the recently elected PP (Conservative Popular Party) as it came only four months into their government and shows strong opposition to the austerity plans led by Mariano Rajoy and his European counterparts, trying to reduce the Spanish deficit to avoid what many argue will be an inevitable repeat of Greece.

Spain has already seen an enormous cut in public spending. Unemployment currently stands at 23% – the highest it’s ever been in Spain with 50% of the unemployed being under 30. There are currently estimated to be around 40 home evictions per day, and the hardest hit region by far is Andalucía, consistently the poorest and most under-developed region of Spain. Building sites for schools, hospitals and housing projects have been stopped mid-construction due to a lack of funds and laws trying to prohibit ‘precarious’ workers (predominantly gypsies and North African immigrants in the south) from working on such sites have affected (and were clearly targeted) at the poorest and most vulnerable workers. Today Mariano Rajoy has made a further £27b in cuts on top of the £15b announced in December. Further cuts are expected in the coming months in order to keep on track with the austerity plan presented by the EU.

The strike was called by the two largest Spanish Unions; UGT (linked with the Labour Party) and the CCOO (Independent workers Commission). Despite the inspirational turnout on yesterday’s demonstrations and pickets, only 30% of members went out on strike. The Unions have been losing support in Spain for quite a while now due to public outrage with regards to unresolved disputes under the former labour government and the willingness of Unions to jump into negotiations with the PP in December with little to no negotiations with Union members.

In Barcelona where many workers are members of regional Catalan Unions, the turnout was huge with conservative estimates of more than 500,000 marching. There were similar numbers in Madrid with what I imagine to be just short of a million congregated in Puerto Del Sol – the birthplace of the Indignados. In Valencia, workers occupied the local transport authorities EMT for most of the day until they were forcefully removed. In Granada, the smallest political town of Andalucía, there were 5,000 marching in a joint Union and Occupy protest.

Spanish authorities and Police are condemning violence that broke out on the streets across the country despite the fact that the riots in Valencia not two months ago were far more prolific than the isolated actions of the strike. It is estimated by Spanish press that more than 200 people were arrested nationally yesterday, many held on petty charges of public disorder offences. In Barcelona, two protesters were taken to hospital with serious head wounds after police brutally attacked them for cheering anarchists who were smashing a bank. Small groups of unionists and students came out at midnight when the strike began and started forming barricades with metal fences and burning tyres in Madrid, Barcelona and Valencia to stop scabs entering factories and blocking motorways to stop deliveries to petrol stations, supermarkets and high street stores. In Granada, 2,000 protesters made their way to a workplace where the employees had scabbed to create an impromptu picket line outside. After 15 minutes, seventeen police vans turned up as well as a helicopter to disperse the crowd and make arrests for an ‘illegal picket line’. Fifteen arrests were made earlier in the day at a local supermarket for what was apparently an ‘illegal picket’ however; many have accused Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy of misinterpreting the law in his call for arrests to be made for illegal pickets and protests in the attempt of getting people off the street.

Alongside the unions was the 15M Indignados movement which came out in full force in solidarity with striking workers. Whilst many are incredibly critical of the Indignados movement in Spain as well as the UK and the US, they were integral to popularising the action and making the day accessible for non-unionised workers, single mothers, disabled, unemployed, students and pensioners. Assemblies were set up in cities across the country, acting as a base for placard making, first aid for protestors, legal advice and supplying water, coffee and snacks to workers on picket lines. This made the demonstrations far more diverse than they have previously been with pensioners making just as much noise on the megaphones as the unionists and the students.

Wherever you walk now in Granada, every street has graffiti saying ‘Strike today, fight tomorrow’ with posters plastered everywhere saying ‘29M General Strike…30M the struggle continues’. Further strike action is now being planned for May but the disillusionment with the unions still continues. Rajoy has announced that no amount of public opposition will deter him, but this has not deflated the spirit of the fight back, it has revitalised it with more and more people joining local assemblies and taking an active role to stop forced evictions, stop school and hospital closures and put pressure on local authorities. Now in Granada alone, there are demonstrations called every other day drawing workers into Palestine campaigns, women’s campaigns and anti-fascist organisations. The movement, even concerning the rank and file union members is no longer just a left vs right battle, nor is it for the preservation of jobs and growth – it is strongly anti-capitalist. Unionists wearing UGT caps and stickers held banners calling for system change and democracy.

This week, the Indignados have kick started another wave of demonstrations, rallies and assemblies throughout the country. This could not come at a better time. Whilst Spain and the UK have voted in Conservative leaders as an answer to the crisis, France and Greece are changing the balance of power in Europe. With centre-left ‘socialist’ Hollande now the new President of the French Republic and Greece still left hanging in negotiations, the fight against austerity has to continue. This Saturday 12^th May, we will see Occupy movements around the world taking to the streets once more, the first international day of action since the recent European elections. For Spain, Greece, Portugal and Italy the future remains uncertain. Many sit on the edge of their seats waiting to see whether Hollande’s anti-austerity rhetoric will amount to anything for the countries with IMF hanging over them like the plague. The next few months will determine the fate of Europe both in parliament and on the streets. Keep your eyes on Spain, it has only just begun!

Baltasar Garzόn May 14, 2012

*Written over a month ago*

For the last forty-two years Spain has been ‘free’. 1975 saw not only the death of General Fransisco Franco, yet that of his dictatorship. A public admirer of Hitler and Mussolini, Franco led the army, loyalists and monarchists in what I can only describe as a fascist crusade through Spain, killing millions in the Spanish Civil War through opposition to the legitimate Spanish Republic. After democracy was established, many wanted, and have succeeded to an extent, to forget the horrors of the war and the regime and to embrace freedom. Even now, all these years later there remain thousands who know nothing of how their relatives, friends and neighbours died or where they are buried, nor are they likely to find out.

Over the last few months, it seems that everything the nation has been trying to forget has resurfaced, and with popular media coverage. First there was the death of Francoist minister Manuel Fraga in January and now the suspension of Judge Baltasar Garzόn, the man responsible for ordering an international warrant for the arrest and extradition of General Pinochet not 15 years ago in London. The story of Garzόn has been a favourite of the media for some time. He was investigated for breaching the Spanish 1977 Amnesty Law by reopening cases of Francoist war crimes and crimes against humanity, a case said to be ‘beyond his authority’. However, after immense reaction from human rights campaigners, history and memory organisations and ordinary Spanish people in disgust of the trial, the courts found another way of suspending Garzόn on charges of wiretapping suspects of million euro fraud. Funnily enough, the media hadn’t picked up on this so-called ‘ongoing wiretapping’ investigation and rather focused in a very insensitive and tasteless manner may I add, on the Francoist war crimes story. Garzόn was then suspended for 11 years on charges of wire tapping and some days later acquitted of breaking the Amnesty law.  Coincidentally, the allegations against Garzόn on the separate counts he was investigated for were brought to the attention of the court by ‘far-right’ trade union, Manos Limpias. Only a few weeks later, a grave of three women and one teenage boy was found in Catalonia, all four killed by Francoist Military after the war.

To put these events into context, despite Manuel Fraga’s vital importance in the Francoist regime and his ability to later merge into the transitional right-wing government, nothing but kind sentiments were attributed to him on his death. Even the PSOE came out and credited him as integral to the rebuilding and democratisation of Spain despite his significance in the Francoist regime. Fraga was also the founder of the recently elected Partido Popular who have since made a powerful enemy among the Spanish working class.

In the case of Garzόn, the media have painted the picture of him as some sort of huge lefty embroiled in a conspired ‘anarchist’ plot to stage a coup and dissolve Spanish democracy and sovereignty into a hippy paradise of weed smoking, dreadlocked peace crusaders. Okay, maybe an exaggeration, but the point is that Garzόn, as left as he may seem to the more conservative population of Spanish society, is really just a conscious member of the ruling class. He is no socialist and he is by no means an anarchist. He held a position in the PSOE for several years, a party which the Spanish public turned its back on last year, plainly manifested in the 15-M Indignados movement, not to mention a party that is continuously literally translated into English by British press as the Spanish Socialist Worker’s Party. The Spanish Labour Party would be a far more accurate translation so it’s no wonder he’s presented as a huge lefty.

This raises an interesting question with a very simple answer. Why has the media and the PP presented Garzόn as such a rebel? Quite simply, because admitting that an ordinary, mainstream, liberal left politician is challenging the status quo of one of the most powerful institutions of the country would be political suicide for a recently elected party that has been craving electoral power for years. Ultimately, the point is that national history should not be rewritten and forgotten based on left-right politics. The atrocities committed under Franco should concern all mainstream politicians and all political institutions. Garzόn did not open this case through any personal extreme leftist politics, merely just to preserve the ‘liberty’ of Spain that so many gave their lives for. If this case demonstrates anything, it’s that the PP is not trying to cover the ideological attack they are committing against Spain in the same way that the Conservative Party, for example, have done in the United Kingdom.  To say the PP is fascist is wrong, but it’s very dangerous territory for a party created by a Francoist to get into, and the conduct of Garzόn’s trial proves that the popular motto of Democracia Real Ya (Real Democracy Now) is still relevant.

Since the 15-M Indignados movement started in Spain last year, we have seen not only mass mobilisation against cuts, police brutality and in support of free education yet also against corruption.  In the November 2011 General Election, activists went all over cities sticking ‘Ballot Box’ stickers on dustbins and recycling bins in the city, quite clearly in protest to corruption and a system that people no longer believe to be transparent, fair nor democratic. The voter turnout decreased with many voting blank or spoiling their ballots completely. Among many of the 15-M demonstrations that I have been on, many people continue to carry the Spanish Republican Flag. However small, the Republican movement is still alive, primarily among the left and activists involved in history and memory campaigns. This is very telling.

When Garzόn started reopening the doors to Spain’s Francoist past, he didn’t do it as a puppet of the left. With the atmosphere as it is currently in Spain, people are looking for signs of hope, and for a split second, people believed that Garzόn would bring some of the justice and democracy promised to the people during the transition. He has now been silenced, but the people will not. Younger generations are starting to question ‘why?’ in a country that has for decades been trying to forget it’s horrific past. The doors will not remain closed for much longer ¡Democracia Real Ya!

Women of the World, Rise Up… March 8, 2012

A year ago today, I decided to start writing, mainly out of anger and frustration at the things I saw happening around me. Today, I write again on International Women’s Day and I find myself wanting to repeat the same sentiments that I expressed back then. But if this proves anything, it is that we still have a tremendous fight ahead of us and that we still remain, as we have always been, second class citizens.

It has been by no means, a boring year. Since the last International Women’s Day we have seen the emergence of ‘Slutwalk’, Women at the front of the Egyptian Revolution, the veil ban come into full force in France not to mention the vast numbers of working women who have been out on strike in defence of their jobs and standing up against the vicious Con-Dem cuts that are disproportionately effecting Women. On a local level in Portsmouth, we have seen strong opposition to further strip clubs opening, Zero Tolerance policy about to be implemented in the Student’s Union and one of the most controversial debates we’ve ever had regarding the Naked Calendar.

But with all of these events, Women have been divided. In many cases, the ‘fear of feminism’ has stopped a large number of women from joining these debates and taking action on issues that affect all women in case they are perceived as ‘too radical’. This blame should not be put on feminists nor women’s organisations. This ‘fear’ is largely created by the media and the male dominated spheres that women are trying to seek acknowledgement in. You don’t have to be a feminist to want equality for women and you don’t have to be a feminist to speak out against violence, intimidation and discrimination. Hell, you don’t even need to be a Woman! There are plenty of men out there who fight tirelessly against sexism and challenge chauvinist attitudes. So why are some people hell bent on perpetuating stereotypes that any woman who stands up and speaks out is automatically a scary feminist – and by extension the common stereotype of man-hating, angry woman who wears dungarees and burns bras?

Well, for one, when we succeed in attaining ‘true’ equality, there will be an incredible restructure of power. From my perspective as  a Marxist, this restructure will not only take absolute power away from men but also from the ruling elite (which is predominantly male but not exclusively) who have institutionalised women’s oppression by maintaining the family unit and capitalising on women’s sexual identity. It would change the mentality of certain ‘rights’ that some men feel they are ‘entitled’ to, such as the ‘freedom’ or ‘right’ to buy and watch pornography, buy sex from women and visit lap dancing clubs as if they were the local zoo. Finally, it would create a sense of solidarity and respect that would diminish if not eliminate violence towards women. Through education and true universal promotion of equality and diversity free from economic or power interests, we would assume proactive roles in every level of society, we would be given complete free choice on how to look, how to dress, how to behave and do whatever we wanted with our bodies, whenever we wanted to do it.

I don’t want to go into why these industries are exploitative as I have so done before and will continue to do so in the future. Instead I want to look at the other side. Violence towards women is still an everyday occurrence; the government are attacking women not only in lexis (“Calm down dear “– famous last words, and Willett’s assertion that feminism is to blame for lowering social mobility) but in services such as the NHS, in education and abortion rights. ‘Lad culture’, though it has existed for a while, is dominating our University life and making serious issues such as rape and sexual violence that we are trying to unite against, a mockery, or more colloquially, just a bit of ‘banter’.

On this International Women’s Day it is important to remember how far we have come, but ultimately we have to realise how far we still have to go. We should not sit back and be complacent because we have achieved ‘something’, we should stand up and fight as if we have achieved nothing because equality is not a negotiation and it’s not a series of concessions. We do not just demand equality in the political and judicial spheres, but in every sphere of public life. You do not have to identify as a feminist to fight for this equality and you don’t have to be a feminist to do something radical and be counted. We are all Women, and for that we have something in common. Certain issues we face don’t discriminate between different groups of women and some do. The point is, we want to make the lives of all Women better; it’s about standing up not being forced down.

We should be taking a look at the really inspiring manifestations of solidarity; the sheer determination shown by Palestinian Women marching in the West Bank for justice, the Women of Egypt who occupied Tahir Square to bring down Mubarak – the same Women who started the strike movement in the Mahalla Textile Factory shouting ‘where are the men’ to get them out on strike, and the Women’s Assemblies created out of the 15-M Indignados movement in Spain that have forced everyone involved to acknowledge our injustices and give us a platform to speak as equals in a movement seeking change. These are incredibly inspirational and courageous examples of strength and conviction that demonstrates Women are integral to any social movement that seeks justice and equality. So today, rather than being angry and frustrated, I look at the world with faith – that our struggles combined with others will continue, and that eventually, we will succeed.

 Women of the world, unite! You have nothing to lose but your chains! 

Your Grandad didn’t debate with Fascists… January 30, 2012

 

 

The first Student Council of the year saw the adoption of a ‘No Platform Policy’ with overwhelming support from the floor. The motion proved to be very controversial, with the debate stretching just short of an hour. ‘No Platform Policy’ is supported by NUS and has been adopted and enforced in many Student Unions up and down the country.

The principle feature of this policy is to refuse entry to known racist and fascist organisations into the Union to sit on a platform with students and student groups. For example, if the BNP were to come into the Union during local elections to try and gain support from students, we would not allow them to enter. The other features of this policy are; to stop any student in an elected position, i.e. a Sabbatical Officers from sharing a platform with fascists or racists, to refuse entry of any student known to hold extreme racist or fascist views into the Union and to prevent the creation of racist or fascist Student Societies such as the BNP Student Society etc. The motion that was put to Council also resolved to affiliate with Unite Against Fascism (UAF), a national multi-ethnic and multi-political campaign that promotes equality and diversity and organises peaceful mobilisations against groups such as the EDL and BNP when they come to our towns. This resolution was amended to ‘support’ UAF as President Amy Baker told Council that there were certain Union regulations that had to be considered when affiliating with national groups and campaigns.

The opposing arguments to this motion were primarily to ensure ‘freedom of speech’ in our Union. All of these arguments were met with fierce opposition. Several members of the floor suggested that we should allow fascists into our Union to debate with them, as if magically, their racist and hateful views would disappear. Others suggested that sitting on a platform with fascists would make them look stupid and would discourage people from supporting or voting for them. Yet, as we saw when Nick Griffin, leader of the BNP, appeared on Question Time in 2010, the majority of people in the audience and sitting at home may have thought ‘What a dick!’, but in the days following his appearance there were 3,000 requests to join the BNP.

It’s quite easy for those who sit and try to make educated and rational decisions to criticise when they have had no exposure to such groups. The majority of student’s (hopefully) will not have or will ever come into contact with the racist thugs of the EDL and this policy aims to keep it that way. Truth be told, you cannot debate with racists and fascists and you should not grant freedom of speech to people who intend to take away that freedom from others. Granted, there are some people who are really misguided and blindly ignorant to the roots of the problems in our society that the Daily Mail love to blame on immigrants and black youth, yet unfortunately, the vast majority of people involved in groups like the EDL and BNP hold these views because they are deeply convinced by such vile propaganda.

Whilst this policy does make a very strong and loud political statement that we, as a Union will not tolerate any sort of fascism or racism being smeared across our campus, there is also a very serious element of protecting our students. The Union should operate as a safe space for all students, free of intimidation and harassment. Whilst the ‘Zero Tolerance’ Policy passed last year is an excellent way of spotting and addressing harassment, this policy is pro-active, stopping this behaviour and changing these attitudes before anything happens. We have to take student safety into account with every decision and the fact that the EDL were freely able to come into our Union last year, intimidate students during a cricket game and stick up their disgraceful posters on our campus without any opposition is wrong. The fact that four European students were attacked by racists and no more has been said on the matter is unacceptable. Such stories are becoming more and more frequent and it’s not something we should have to endure.

So we say no to racists and fascists on our campus and good riddance!

¡No Pasarán!

Remember, remember the 11th of November? November 16, 2011

In many countries across the world, the weekend has been spent commemorating the fallen. The 11^th of November is Armistice Day, the day of ceasefire that marked the end of the First World War in 1918. Traditionally in the UK, this day has also commemorated the fallen of the Second World War, however in recent years; the day has also been marked as a tribute to British soldiers who continue to fight in Iraq and Afghanistan.  In France, the day remains solely about World War I, with little to no mention of the lives lost fighting Hitler in the Second World War. My preoccupation is that regardless of the country, Remembrance Day is celebrated in no way to help us remember, yet to help us forget and to mask the true agenda of the nation-state.

The idea of « Devoir de mémoire » is a concept that emerged specifically in the aftermath of the Second World War, yet only started to really be spoken about in France around twenty years ago. The concept was originally introduced as a way to commemorate particular groups throughout history that had been ‘involuntarily sacrificed’ at the hands of war. Throughout the years, it has grown into a worldwide phenomenon, seeking to almost to rectify the wrongs of the past through commemorative national holidays, law, education curriculums and hyper-memorialisation. Yet, if we piece these depictions of history and memory together, we are left with an incomplete and incoherent account of the past.

Firstly, take Remembrance Day in the UK. We are told that we are paying respects to those who gave us our freedom, yet the First World War was a battle to maintain Imperialism, rival European economic powers and to perpetuate Nationalism for which, roughly one million British people lost their life. However, when services are held in memory of the fallen, we are always told how they heroically gave their life for Queen and country, how brave and patriotic they were and how we live in a better world because of their sacrifice. There is usually a singing of the National Anthem, Union Jacks draped as far as the eye can see and important politicians making up pro-war propaganda to unite us all against the ‘enemy’ whilst wearing the nation’s most beloved poppy. This takes away from the tragic loss of one million people and instead, forces us to bow to patriotism and nationalism. We are told to remember their sacrifice for our ‘great country’ in order to make us forget that it was at the hands of the state that they were forced to do so.

Consider France. At the Armistice service in Toulouse on Friday 11^th November 2011, there was one passing mention of the Second World War. French nationalism was very apparent in the First World War with the desire to recapture the lost territory of Alsace Lorraine during the Franco-Prussian War. The graphic description of mutilated soldiers killed in battle by German forces is intended in its very nature to evoke patriotism and unity with the Republic. With huge flags dominating the landscape and slogans of «Vive la République» spoken by any self-important person invited the podium, it is not hard to see the interest of the state. Not to mention, that Armistice Day in France is a public holiday. The war memorials are plastered with phrases such as «Liberté, Egalité, Fraternité» (the official slogan of the French Republic) and «Morts pour la Patrie» (Dead for the motherland – literal translation) which once again depict this idea that soldiers died for the emancipation of all people as opposed to for the extension of French borders.

The day commemorating the end of the Second World War is the 8^th May in France and in many other European countries where it is a public holiday. Yet, in France the service held on this day is often referred to as « la mémoire des résistants » (Memory of the resistors) or «L’Hommage aux martyrs de la Résistance» (homage to the Martyrs of the resistance). In 2007, Sarkozy created quite some controversy when he read the letter of Guy Moquet, a 17 year old French communist killed by Nazi firing squad during World War II, during his speech. This is a perfect example of an incoherent past. Guy Moquet was a communist, he did not fight the Nazi’s for the sake of the French Republic, he fought the Nazi’s because of his ideology and his political integrity. Yet the tragic fate of this young man who was hated by France before the war and would have been after the war precisely because of his politics, has been twisted and manipulated as a symbol of French resistance. Charles de Gaulle is now considered to be the great liberator of France, despite spending much of the war seeking refuge in the UK at the side of Winston Churchill. He returns to France, wins the war and then keeps three Britons locked up in a French Concentration Camp located near Toulouse so the world could not discover the extent of French collaboration with the Nazi’s. To talk of De Gaulle is forgetting. To talk of the North African armies who gave up their homes and lives to fight for their coloniser, the thousands of French Jews shipped off to Auschwitz and the Women who were encouraged to marry Nazi’s yet were later paraded through the streets naked, bald and baring Swastikas, is remembering.

When talking about the Second World War in the UK, we hear the same familiar lines yet it is very rare to hear anything about why these people fought. Instead of remembering that so many lives were lost fighting nationalism and fascism, not to mention the lives that were lost because of fascism, we forget the despicable actions of Hitler, mourn the fallen as if it were just any other war and unite under nationalism to do so. The Second World War was not only brutal yet incredibly ideological and we forget the ideology so much so that we allow groups such as the EDL and BNP to freely roam our streets, terrorise our cities and receive our votes. We wear poppies that symbolise the blood spilt in the First World War, yet how many of you bought them from Help for Hero’s or some other organisation sporting the slogan ‘Supporting our troops in Iraq and Afghanistan’? This is not what the poppy represents.

The ongoing conflict in the Middle East is another war of Imperialism and desired global dominance for which people are losing their lives. Yet, when people in the UK talk of this conflict they are almost proud. On the BBC website on Remembrance Day there was an article giving the basic statistics of military death. There have been 565 military deaths in Iraq and Afghanistan combined since 2001 to present. There were one million British lives lost in World War I over just four years and 50-70million global fatalities as a result of World War II. Yet, we allow nationalist thugs such as the EDL to use the poppy and the 565 deaths in the Middle East to perpetuate the ideologies that were manifested leading up to the Second World War and play along with the patriotic, respectful expectations of the state because we are terrorised, bullied and hunted if we don’t. There are so many people who refuse to wear a red poppy because of what it has come to symbolise; Iraq, Afghanistan, and forgetting the reason why so many lives were lost due to British Imperialism and Nationalism, yet we get told by members of the EDL and related nationalist trolls that we are all disrespectful, supporting terrorism and the rest of the never ending ignorant rubbish that follows. I do not wear a poppy because I want to remember. I want to remember the nationalist propaganda of World War I that killed so many people, I want to remember the atrocities of Hitler so as never to commit the same fatal mistakes and I want to remember the more than 100,000 innocent Iraqi men, women and children that have been murdered since 2001.

Remembrance in the eyes of the state is a way to create national unity, patriotism and loyalty to a ruling class that we have nothing in common with other than the fact that we live within the same borders. We forget whatever it is we are not told to remember, be it through education, media or politics, and allow ourselves to fall into the trap of celebrating a twisted inaccurate history, manipulated for the sole purpose of the survival of the nation-state. We do this because of a fear of speaking out because of the accusations that get thrown at us, when really we should be asking the questions that truly help us remember. From World War I to the present day, wars have been caused because of state power and the eternal struggle for political and economic domination of a nation, a state or the nation-state. If we were to truly reflect on the selective periods of history that the state uses to subjectify us, and question the legitimacy of war, we would learn from the mistakes of the past and break the mould of the nation-state, finally giving us the courage to stand up and say…Never again!

Peace!

The bullet that entered Qaddafi blew away any hope of justice November 4, 2011

It has been nine months since the uprising in Libya began, and just over two weeks ago the Libyan people finally had reason to celebrate with news that Colonel Qaddafi had been captured in his hometown Sirte. Within the hour, pictures and videos soon emerged online that showed Qaddafi being killed by rebel forces and the very next day, Qaddafi’s defiled blood-stained body was on the front page of every newspaper.

In western coverage of Qaddafi’s death, reporters seemed quick to stress that Libyan people by and large weren’t terribly worried that Qaddafi had been killed rather than captured to stand trial for crimes against humanity. Yet Libyan officials don’t tell it that way. It’s hardly surprising that the Western powers were quite happy to send NATO forces into Libya under the guise of a UN humanitarian intervention mandate; yet don’t seem too concerned about the breach of International Law that is associated with his murder.  Mahmoud Jibril insisted that the bullet wound to Qaddafi’s head was caused by crossfire yet videos and images that have spread online tell a different story. Seemingly, the International community have accepted this analysis and an investigation is to be launched into his death. Yet the West have failed to respond to questions surrounding the context of his death, the breach of International Law and the conduct of the rebel forces who allowed his dead body to be kicked through the streets of Sirte.

The situation in Libya will not improve. The National Transitional Council is still plagued with ex-Qaddafi loyalists and cabinet members of the former regime. Furthermore, Qaddafi isn’t the first nor will he be the last of corrupt African and Middle Eastern tyrants, and the uprising in Libya will not be the last conflict against oppression.  You only need to look at the protest against Abdoulaye Wade running another term in Senegal and the conflict that has been going on for months in Syria.

If Barack Obama was shot in the head and had his corpse dragged through the streets of Washington, there would be global disgust and outrage, especially if these images then appeared on the front pages of international newspapers. Yet, Obama is committing crimes against humanity, killing thousands of Americans by denying them access to healthcare and shelter not to mention the thousands of innocent civilians killed by American troops in Afghanistan and Iraq. But this violation doesn’t stop with Qaddafi and Libya. We saw a blind eye turned on the murder of Osama Bin Laden by US troops and the emergence of photos of his corpse online taken by a US soldier. Also, the hanging of Sadam Hussain filmed on camera which then spread like wildfire over youtube.

The point is, is that for too long the West have used ‘us’ and ‘them’ tactics to divide the rationality and morals of people. The friendly, electable, western dictators of the market kill just as many people if not more than the horrible, undemocratic tyrants of the Middle East, yet for some reason we are complacent with allowing them to do so. There are plenty of corrupt regimes still at large in the world, especially in Africa yet we turn a blind eye because intervention isn’t beneficial.  This is why there were so many against intervention in Libya because it was just used as another tool of the West to divide and conquer. Now Libyan people have another corrupt government and the West have a new ally. Of course we are glad to see the back of Qaddafi but things won’t improve and now the Libyan people will never have neither the answers nor the justice that they fought so hard so gain.

Barack Obama & Mustafa Abdul Jalil at the UN

Naked Calender: Liberation or Exploitation? July 29, 2011

Every year Portsmouth Athletics Union makes a naked Calender featuring both men and women for charity. Yet, yesterday Portsmouth students found out that what they perceived to be seemingly innocent naked photos intended for charity have managed to creep their way onto not only one, but several websites unrelated to the Student Union. Many of these sites are adult and soft porn pages, some of them forums where the users all have incredibly sexually explicit usernames and talk about the women appearing in these photos with predatory intentions and total disrespect. For those unfamiliar with this Calender, there is a male and female option for each month, compiled into one Calender. Funnily enough, only the female photos seemed to have spread like wild-fire over the internet.

 

Any Student Union has a responsibility to its students, to protect them and support them, not to mention, uphold a reputation in keeping with an educational institution. Quite shockingly, it is said that the Union has known about this issue of redistribution for three years, and has received a large volume of complaints from students yet have not acted. Yet, as much as I hate to say it the Union is to blame. Not only in the instance of the naked Calender, yet in many aspects of the Union they seek to manipulate ‘the student experience’ to full advantage and exploit not only the images of women, but also the behaviour and values of our female students.

 

Last year the Union sought to hold a ‘wear 70% less day’ to show disgust towards our budget cuts…coincidentally on the same day as the naked Calender launch. For something as serious as budget cuts, which are already becoming increasingly more detrimental to the standard of our services and education, it is hardly responsable, intelligent or respectful to promote nudity. Furthermore, many women students that I have spoken to have expressed how uncomfortable they feel in the Union bar on certain nights. Despite the fact that there is a harassment policy in place, no action is ever taken and our students are subjected to sexual harassment, abuse, assault and unwanted contact because the union fails to protect and promote the welfare of our female students. 

 

As for the naked Calender, the recipient of the money raised if unknown. The Union operates a fundraising and volunteering programme called RAG yet the Union itself is also considered a charity. Either way, there is no problem with fundraising for your Union nor for charity, yet in this instance, something that students should be conscientious about and care about, has turned into a sexualised commodity for profit. In my opinion, for as long as the students are naked in this Calender, people will still buy it, even if the money went towards shooting polar bears or paying someone to happy slap old ladies! I’m sure many people would twice about supporting the Calender unconditionally if students were posing naked with autistic children to raise money for charity or with abused kittens for the RSPCA…its just not appropriate nor respectful to say the least! So, why does the Union think its appropriate to actively encourage its students to get their kit off?

 

The answer is simple. We live in a society that still treats women as second class citizens. This is a fault of the capitalist system, not men yet unfortunately, a majority of men are complacent in accepting this as a social norm instead of standing alongside their mothers, grandmothers, sisters, girlfriends, wives and children and saying no! Our society is becoming more and more sexualised on a daily basis, women are used and abused in every way from providing sex on demand to selling a tin of baked beans and this is extremely apparent at university. Our female students are at University because they are talented and intelligent, the exact same reason that our male students are there. Yet, rather than a man meeting a woman in a bar at Uni and thinking ‘she is on my wave length’, or ‘she is incredibly intelligent and passionate’ or even ‘that was a conversation’ you get ‘wow she has great tits’ or, to a mate, ‘i bet you a pint I can pull her’. These women, just like in broader society, have been transformed into sex objects, commodities to be bought, sold or won or seen for their bodies and looks as opposed to their compassion and intellect. Students are encouraged to drink until they throw up their snakebite, promotions companies known to objectify women infiltrate our Union and have more influence than the student voice, and then these students are left to make their way home, after been exploited on so many levels and have male friends, partners, housemates or sometimes even strangers take advantage. And what does our Union do….absolutely nothing! As long as women can be used to sell more Calenders, more beer, more tickets to Tiger Tiger or Eskimo 11 events…nothing will change.

 

So ultimately, is the naked Calender exploitation or liberation? Well some have argued that it is an ‘empowering image of women’, or that women should have the choice…some have even gone as far to suggest that as long as it makes money it’s ok. This is rubbish. For as long as women are naked and viewed by men as sex objects, it is not empowering. A woman empowers herself. A woman having total autonomous control over her own sexuality is true empowerment. When society is telling women that they have to be naked to be sexy, or slim to be sexy or that you can only get a man by being what is deemed ‘sexy’ or ‘feminine’, there is no anonymity. This is also the case in terms of choice. A woman has no choice in this matter because we are all brought up in an environment where this is normal, acceptable and actually very well received by men especially. And finally, to suggest that it is ok as long as it makes money actually completely disgusts me. People should always come before profit and you would have to be a complete monster to think that a woman being forced into anything is ok as long as it sells, or that killing children in Iraq is ok as long as we get a cut of America’s oil money or that we should never give aid to stop famine in Africa as it would be seen as a financial loss.

 

This doesn’t even scratch the surface of the extent of these problems in our society and our university, nor does address the attitudes and perceptions of women in other sectors however this will come soon! Even still, I encourage you all to help us try to put a stop to this violation of trust and the passive attitude of our Student Union. Please, sign the petition below to ban the Naked Calender. Please search for our Women’s group on Facebook (UPSU Women’s Group) and please add our new women’s officer Becky Gardner to keep up to date with all campaigns to actively challenge these perceptions of women, raise awareness and most importantly, to hold our Union accountable to promoting the welfare of ALL students, including women!

 

Petition – http://www.petitiononline.co.uk/petition/to-call-on-upsu-the-au-to-ban-the-naked-calandar/3281

‘Slutwalk’ – A backwards step for Women. May 15, 2011

When Emma Goldman said “If there’s no dancing at the Revolution then I’m not coming”, she didn’t mean dancing on tables, topless in a sleazy ‘Gents’ Club in Washington…

Given the recent spurge of media attention anyone would think that ‘slutwalk’ is a movement embraced by all women, leaving behind the ‘old-fashioned’ stereotypes of feminism and bring a fresh new radicalism to the women’s movement…but unfortunately, it isn’t. What ‘slutwalk’ is doing is  playing on conventional stereotypes and reopening wounds of a divided women’s movement that is exclusive and segregating.

In a recent statement regarding their upcoming fundraiser at a ‘Gentleman’s’ Club, ‘slutwalk’ stated “Feminism is supposed to be able equality, non judgement, and fairness. Feminists are supposed to stand up for their fellow woman and not disavow her for lifestyle choices that Feminists worked so hard to allow her to make.” From my understanding, it appears as though ‘slutwalk’ are suggesting that the whole point of the feminist fight for sexual revolution was actually to give women the ‘choice’ to commodify our sexuality and view ourselves as objects of sex, lust and desire as opposed to giving us the freedom to enjoy sexual fulfilment, defy the social norms of gender roles and stereotypes and to control our own fertility.

What needs to be pointed out is that when people like those involved in ‘slutwalk’ talk about women having a choice, they are looking at the better side of a crap deal. Let’s face it, a woman has a choice over what time she gets up in the morning, what she will eat for breakfast and whether the weather is fitting for a coat or a jacket. She does not, however, get the choice over whether she is sexualised or not. ‘Slutwalk’ embraces women dressing like ‘sluts’ in order to emphasise a point that a woman can be whatever she wants, yet if a woman were to wake up and wear baggy trousers, flat shoes and a baggy jumper with no makeup and her hair in a pony to work, it would not take away the fact that she is a woman, and in the view of the over-sexualised society we live in, she would still be a sex object, merely a commodity of lust and desire that can be bought and sold.

For women involved in sex industries such as pornography, prostitution, stripping and erotic dancing there is often no choice. A study in Leeds of over 200 lap dancers found that 1 in 3 were working to fund their education and furthermore, being exploited in the worst sense by having to pay entry into the clubs to work. In a time of job cuts, unemployment and rocketing tuition fees, the question has to be asked, do these women have a choice? On the other hand, there are the women in these industries who genuinely believe that they are making the choice. Yet why do they believe this? Is it because they meet the measurements and therefore think well, if I’ve got it i’ll flaunt it? Or is it because from a very young age they were confronted with page 3 and women’s magazines telling them what to wear to be ‘sexy’ and how to act to be ‘sexy’? Or, is it because they’ve been told that taking your clothes off is real empowerment, that men will never be interested in you unless you look and act like a porn star or that this is what it means to be ‘feminine’, how all women should look? My money is on the latter.

Essentially, what we are seeing from this movement, particularly by hosting a fundraiser in a ‘Gents’ club, is that they are not concerned with the welfare of the women they supposedly represent and are protecting. They say that a woman should be able to work in these industries and not be subjected to violence and unwanted attention yet, they are not addressing the real root of this problem. When men (and on occasions women) feel as though they can purchase sex with no attachments, come and go as they please and never have to worry about not having it available to them, they are in a position of power. They can flash the cash and get their way. When a woman relies on this money to live, to eat, to provide for a family or get an education, she is subjected to this man and becomes submissive. This is not a choice.

This isn’t about what you wear and how you look as much as people like to think it is. A woman has the choice to wear whatever she wants. But by labelling yourself as a ‘slut’ you make it ok for other people to call you a slut. You cannot reclaim a word that has caused women such suffering and insecurity in the name of liberation and equality. And what are the requirements of being a slut? If you dress modestly but sleep around are you still a slut? If you dress provocatively and you do it for yourself, yet you don’t sleep around are you still a slut? The point is, that when society continues to abuse women, by sexualising our image, commercialising our femininity and commodifying our bodies then they are essentially saying ‘this is what women are here for, enjoy’. And until we start to fight with unity against this institutional sexism and brutal capitalist misogyny, we will never move progressively forward to achieve the liberation we have all been dreaming of for so long!

International Women’s Day – Are we equal? May 15, 2011

                

      

On the 8^th March we saw the 100^thAnniversary of International Women’s Day, an occasion that was once revolutionary and inspiring to women all over the world fighting for civil rights, reproductive rights, sexual freedom and equality. However, this is sadly no longer the case. What we now see is a once prolific occasion transformed into a day for ignorant observations and false illusion. The harsh reality is that women still have a long way to go to achieve the equality and freedom that our mothers, grandmothers and great-grandmothers were fighting for in the ‘60’s.

A poll conducted in Britain on International Women’s Day by Ipsos concluded that 52% of men believe that Women are treated equally while only 34% of women believed they were treated equally. Shockingly, 60% of women aged 15-30 said they had been a victim of sexism ranging from passing remarks in the street, to sexual advances, harassment and inappropriate touching most prominently in bars, at work or at their place of study.

But we have it all don’t we? We can vote, control our own fertility and have equal access to education…so what’s all the fuss about? Well, just for starters there is still unequal pay, male dominated sectors of work and education on top of staggering figures that 1 in 4 women are victims of domestic violence. But the real scare is the emergence of a ‘new sexism’…Raunch Culture. This is the theory that women are equal and therefore empowered. The notion that taking off your clothes to be a glamour model or a porn star or a lap dancer is no longer for the benefit of men but for yourself.

This is flat out ignorance. None of these were ever for the benefit of men, and they most certainly are not now tools of empowerment for women! They are and have always been lucrative business opportunities to exploit women at a profit. Our feminist sisters in the ‘60’s did not fight for a sexual revolution so that women could remain exploited and have their femininity sexualised and commercialised for someone else’s profit.

This goes for pole dancing being sold as ‘keep fit’, pornography being sexually liberating and female students being asked to ‘get their kit off’ for charity. When the University of Portsmouth Student Union asked their students (men and women may I point out) to wear 70% less to University to ‘protest’ against the cuts, it was no coincidence that on the same night there would be a ‘Naked Calendar Launch Party’ at the local nightclub. The Union did not consider how this would implicate their students, particularly female students during their night out or on their way home.

As women, we should respect our femininity and our sexual liberation. We should not be accepting women posing naked as ‘positive image campaigns’ which was a suggestion made to support the wear 70% less day. Not only would this have sexualised a very serious and important campaign had it gone ahead (like everything else in our culture is sexualised), but it creates a stereotype that gets placed on all women. This is a backwards step. We still live in times of hypocrisy whereby men can sleep around and be held up as Macho heroes yet if women do this, we are branded as ‘sluts’. These are stereotypes we have to combat and we can only do so by rejecting the sexualisation and commercialisation of our femininity!

For every right that we have now, we should thank a feminist. We should thank those who marched for abortion, those who marched for contraception and the likes of Emily Davison who died fighting for women’s right to vote in this country. But we should continue this struggle and fight against having our sexual identity and our femininity as women, taken out of our control.

Written in March 2011.