| |
|
I think this bit in particular is really important re: the shooting, especially since so much has been made in the mainstream media of the fact that the guy who pulled the trigger was a "terrified" 20 year-old conscript, in a situation where the vehicle he was in was surrounded by protestors, etc etc.-
quote:Whatever the circumstances of the
actual shooting (and it was not the only occasion in which police used live ammunition, others were, apparently, wounded by live bullets), the decision to incite violence and then arm police with live ammunition was made beforehand with full knowledge of the likely results, and in open defiance of desperate pleas from the protestors not to take that course. It is the Berlusconi regime and the international police networks who have been coordinating the repression of the movement who are responsible for the violence and death in Genoa, not any particular policeman, carabinieri, or even fascist. These men knew exactly what they were doing.
And yes, the end of the piece is really important as well. It's very easy to throw up our hands and say "isn't it terrible, gosh the police are bad, shame there's nothing I can do" - everyone feels like that at some point and most of us feel like that all the bloody time, so this bit is probably worth memorizing:
quote:At this point it appears we have
no choice: we must appeal, in every way
possible, to civil society; to spread the word about what is happening and to hold those responsible to account. It is already starting to happen in Europe and it is much harder in the United States where the press is so much more systematically biased against us, but this is a time to start playing every card we have - every connection or access to the power structure, time to start making phone calls, to start daily protests and even, if necessary, scrupulously non-violent direct actions against the media itself if it refuses to reveal what is actually happening here. We have to jam their email and phone banks, not to let them get away with lying about us any more. These things can be done. We can turn it around. We can stop the engine of repression in its tracks if our pressure is massive and overwhelming. Every time we read a story saying "police raid headquarters of violent protestors" we need to have a hundred letters sent demanding that they print the truth. We need to start calling the journalists responsible and demanding to know why they use the language they did and will not publish key information. To ask them: if you admit (as they often do in private) that police attacked overwhelmingly peaceful protestors, why is it they never say so? Be creative. Be disruptive. Absolutely refuse to go away. |
|
|
espite the widespread international horror at the killing of Giuliani, the conduct of the police was defended by Tony Blair, who blamed a minority of demonstrators 'bent on violence'. 
