A-Infos (en) WORLD TRASHED ORGANISATION

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SchNEWS

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CUCKOO! CUCKOO! IT'S YER SWISS CHEESE...

SchNEWS

Published in Brighton by Justice? - Brighton's Direct Action collective

Issue 168, Friday 22 May 1998

RESIST REFUSE RECLAIM

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WORLD TRASHED ORGANISATION

Tripods tower against the Birmingham skyline as people dance around in a
10,000 strong street party, in front of a canary yellow army of nation-wide
conscripted police. Only streets away, inside the secure walls of
Birmingham's G8 conference hall, Clinton, Blair and the global summit team
are dancing away to "All you need is love". By Monday the G8 globalisation
tour has moved to the Palais des Nations in Geneva for World Trade Day to
pay their respects to the great dollar of capitalism. Meanwhile, out on the
street, hundreds of protesters are being arrested, beaten and deported by
the Genevan authorities. And that's just for starters. Here's the SchNEWS
guide to reclaiming the world...

As Clinton, Castro, Mandela and Blair flew out of Geneva this week, they
left a city in shock after the worst riots seen here since 1932.

For four days this small city was under siege as the leaders of the
132-nation World Trade Organisation (WTO) met for their 50th anniversary at
the United Nations building. The opposition was led by People's Global
Action rejecting the whole process of globalisation and corporate power
that is the new world government.

Even before the Ministers had stepped off the planes, the city had erupted.
Five thousand people came to Saturday's Street Party, and by midnight it
had turned into a full scale riot. One car was set alight and thousands of
police charged the main encampment, firing tear-gas into the crowd. The
demonstrators smashed hundreds of windows, mainly banks and corporate
offices, until 5am causing over half a million pounds damage.

Genevans awoke as one on Sunday to a tense atmosphere of confusion, and a
city resembling a warzone. On pavements, phone boxes and walls the graffiti
message was clear:

"WTO ASSASSIN"... "WTO vs THE PEOPLE"... "REVOLUTION '98".

>From the moment the world leaders sat down on Monday morning to the
conclusion on Wednesday evening the streets were filled with riot police
and demonstrators, with the constant noise of sirens and low-flying
helicopters.

MONDAY: The offices of Lockheed, multinational arms traders, were occupied
by one group, while another spontaneous street demo stopped traffic and set
off smoke bombs. By lunchtime the United Bank of Switzerland was forced to
close and police kept back while road after road was blockaded. The group
continued up to the UN building, surrounded by armed police, chanting in
French, Spanish and English. By nightfall there was a highly-charged
stand-off as a party kicked off next to the University.

TUESDAY: Activists from Colombia, India, South Korea, Mexico, Nicaragua,
Argentina, Aotearoa/NZ and across Europe, continued a frenzy of meetings
under the banner of People's Global Action, networking and organising
direct action. In a deliberate display of non-violence, hundreds marched
gagged and bound through town, symbolising the global muting of human
rights. At the Rousseau statue, they enacted a burial of his "social
contract" between people and rulers. Meanwhile the director of the WTO,
Renato Ruggiero, told the conference that everyone must pedal faster
towards globalisation, or face the danger of falling off. (His Mercedes was
later overturned).

Then, as darkness descended, so did the people. A crowd of around 500, many
"L'Hiphop", kids from nearby council estates, confronted police at Plain
Palais, systematically trashing the nearby McDonald's and Pizza Hut. The
police fired CS gas to disperse the angry mass, who began to smash more
shops, overturn cars and run through the city in small groups, causing
chaos. Plainclothes police on mopeds gave chase. At 2am they surrounded
Artamis, a huge squatted alternative Centre, and arrested everyone. Since
Monday the total detained stood at 287. As SchNEWS went to press over 100
people were still being held in prison.

WEDNESDAY: Hundreds assembled outside the UN for a final push - an attempt
to enter the building and stop the General Assembly using Gandhi-style
tactics. As they walked headlong into the line of riot police, there was a
blur of truncheons and the ambulances began to arrive. According to staff
at the hospital over 60 people a day have been treated, some requiring
major operations. The squatters are organising demonstrations against
police brutality tomorrow (Saturday), and the inhumane treatment of those
arrested: strip-searches, lack of medical assistance, and psychological
stress. The conference is over, and for now Geneva is quiet.

"This is without doubt a popular uprising against the issue of
globalisation," one activist told SchNEWS. "Not just in Geneva but in
cities all over the world people are beginning to realise the consequences
of this crazy process and the importance of resisting by any means
necessary."

   * The next meeting of People's Global Action will take place from April
     1st 1999 in Bangalore, India. See http://www.agp.org/

   * SchNEWS and Squall have produced a little booklet 'United Colours of
     Peoples Global Action' - interviews with people involved in global
     resistance from East Timor to India. For a copy send SAE to SchNEWS.

Global summits like the G8 are not cheap. Entertaining the world's richest
robber baron national leaders costs a cool $15 million dollars a shot. In
contrast, for every pound that reaches Southern countries in aid, #10 is
paid back in debt to the World Bank.

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GLOBAL STREET PARTIES ROUNDUP

BIRMINGHAM: Seventy thousand people have gathered to hold hands round the
International Convention Centre and are calling for the eight leaders of
the worlds most industrialised nations (the G8) to give debt relief to the
third world.

However, those eight leaders whom US President Bill Clinton said "will
focus on things that really affect people on the street" won't hear them
cos they've moved 35 miles away. The reason, according to a report on BBC
"Midlands Today" was the planned protests!

A few hours later and most of the Christians have gone and it's the turn of
a ten thousand strong Reclaim The Streets (RTS) posse, to bring the
Bullring part of the city to a standstill, as they party and protest in the
street.

Welcome to the Global Street Party, happening in 37 cities across the
world, not just against car culture but also free market
globalisation...here's a selection...

TORONTO, CANADA: Hundreds of people took over one of Toronto's major
streets, but soon after the party kicked off police did their best to spoil
the fun, pushing people over and bursting balloons with knives just like
the nasty kids that you didn't want at your party. A part of the crowd was
intimidated and left, the rest tried to keep the street reclaimed and were
met by more police violence. In the end four people were nicked under
'unlawful assembly' legislation. One man, Gregory Herrington, was also
charged with three counts of assault police and one assault with a weapon,
and released on a $2,000 bail with his wrist in a cast. He faces the most
serious charge against political activist in well over a decade.

TEL AVIV, ISRAEL: Over 500 people joined Israel's first RTS. The organisers
decided to get a police permission, but as the crowd got far bigger than
they expected they ended up choosing their route as they pleased, ending in
a pleasant sunset rave.

LJUBLJANA, SLOVENIA: The Ljubljana lot went for Critical Mass instead
where, unfortunately only 40 people showed up. Still they had a good time
biking around at an average speed of 5.3km/h as their "Ministry of Correct
Image, Department of Statistics" informed us.

LYON, FRANCE: Lyon crew (about 200) managed to block a main street for a
while with tripods, drumming and a float, but decided to withdraw when
"nearly a million police" (perhaps a slightly exaggerated estimate)
eventually showed up with clear intentions to behave badly.

UTRECHT, NETHERLANDS: Nearly 1,000 had a wild party and blockaded a six
lane highway for five hours. We don't know if there was a translation error
but they say police mixed with the crowd at the meeting point, sat on the
pavement, assisted to get the soundsystem generator going and were eager to
go wherever the crowd would lead them, keeping a very low profile until the
very end!

BRISBANE, AUSTRALIA: No info about the numbers. Lots of arrests, after one
hour police towed away the soundsystem. Still the party went on with
drumming and whistling until dark.

SIDNEY, AUSTRALIA: The third RTS in Sidney seems to have been a massive
success; about 3,000 people, three different stages (Rock, Techno and
Reggae) and a nice and cheerful party. The English Judges on the scene
voted "9.9 across the board, absolutely the best, culturally most diverse
and interesting party we've ever seen"

PRAGUE, CZECH REPUBLIC: The party set off very well with four soundsystems,
drummers, puppet theatre and fire performances enjoyed by more than 3,000
people. Somehow police didn't get the joke and ensured what turned out to
be the biggest riots in their for the last four years. Three McDonald's
were destroyed and sixty four people nicked, but all were later released
without charge except nine who remain in custody facing hooliganism
charges.

STOCKHOLM, SWEDEN: Had a demo against "mad car disease" with party mood,
colourful costumes, carnival drums and high spirits!

TURKU, FINLAND: 1,000 people occupied a bridge and a street in the city
Centre; they had seven bands playing and a hell of a time.

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RTS LONDON

Reclaim The Streets, London: 0171 281 4621

Sat 6th June - meeting points @ 12 noon

   * North - outside Euston Station
   * South - outside Ritzy, Brixton Tube

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CRAP ARREST OF THE WEEK

For being in a wheelie bin. OK the two occupants were pushed by their mates
into the ranks of riot cops gathered in Birmingham. The two were held
overnight but released without charge.

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SCARY MONSTERS

It's slightly unusual for Euro MPs to resort to direct action to make their
point, but on May 12th the Greens, dressed in pirate costumes, unfurled
Jolly Roger flags & banners inside the Strasbourg plenary saying, "Stop
Bio-piracy!". The incident - to mark the second reading of the European
Life Patents Directive caused consternation, with one member declaring to
the chairperson, "This ship has been taken over by pirates. Will the
chairman get rid of them." The vote in favour of the Directive ended a 10
year battle between the biotech industry and everybody from patients to
indigenous peoples.

The decision gives the go-ahead for the privatisation of life in Europe.
Human genes, embryos and body parts will become corporate property along
with animals and plants, including entire species. Already, under current
stricter rules, human umbilical cord blood cells have been patented by US
company Biocyte and the application for the cloning process that created
"Dolly" covers all mammals including humans.

Massive lobbying by pharmaceutical and biotech companies has taken its toll
on MEPs who finally adopted this directive. "This is a most deplorable step
on the road to degrading life into an industrial commodity... [and] an open
invitation to bio-piracy in Third World countries," says Greenpeace's
Benedikt Haerlin.

As well as the obvious ethical implications of patenting human and animal
genetic material for "medical" purposes, the freedom to patent plant
species could, in a short space of time, wreak havoc with the lives of
small-scale farmers. Already Nestle's L'Oreal has patented South Pacific
ceremonial plant Kava, for use in reducing hair loss, while India has
reacted furiously to news that Basmati rice has been awarded a US patent by
RiceTec.

Indigenous peoples, who reject the whole concept that the discovery of
living material can be owned, are at particular risk of having blood lines
and genetic sequences patented. The Directive will blatantly legalise the
theft of indigenous genetic resources.

Many genetically engineered crop test sites have been trashed by locals who
object to being guinea pigs in these often secret environmental
experiments. And pressure is still needed from consumers to persuade
retailers and manufacturers to label foods which contain modified
ingredients.

   * Early last Sunday morning a large X was scythed across a field of
     genetically manipulated rapeseed at the Walton experimental farm in
     Aberdeen (fit like?), while the Grim Reaper and an angry tomato (!)
     joined in the destruction of mutant oil seed rape at Edge House Farm
     in Belsay - one of the North East's licensed 'Monasanto' test sites.

   * Occupy a test site for a month! Starting this weekend somewhere in
     East Anglia and in London: 01603 768235.

   * Genetics Forum, 94 White Lion Street, London N1 9PF. 0171 837 9229,
     email geneticforum@gn.apc.org

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BARKIN' STUDENTS

Over 1,000 students at the Barking UEL have squatted the campus finance
department in protest over #2.4 million education cuts, which will put 80
people out of work, remove a medical Centre, and scrap much needed grants.
As SchNEWS goes to print they've been there for 60 hours- and have just
been served an injunction. With the support of the NATFHE teachers union
the students have lobbied board meetings and set up picket lines outside
the main building, and have now organised several committees. While the UEL
sits in the bottom 10 on the Times Higher Education League Table, its fat
cat manager Frank Gould is the fourth richest vice chancellor in Britain.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the Atlantic, students from Ohio State
University have occupied their presidents main office over administrative
cuts. Contact Cora Murphey: 0181 5906017 or 0956 267729.

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SCHNEWS IN BRIEF

   * Don't Forget the Dockers' March for Social Justice which kicks off 12
     noon at Thames Embankment (Temple Tube) on Sat 30 May

   * That is, if you're not taking part in a Party/Action (11am) to save
     the 20 acre wildflower meadow at Ashton Court, Bristol. Camps have so
     far been successful in delaying work but security is increasing so the
     camps need to do likewise. Call 0467 430211. NB It is not a beer free
     zone!

   * Faslane Peace Camp is party-actioning on 30-31st May in celebration of
     their recent eviction escape. 01436 820901.

   * AR/T/ERROR#1, a week of creation and activism (inc. films and DJ's!):
     23-30th May at an undisclosed Brighton location. Non-Brighton
     residents call 01273 685089

   * Calling all West Country bands - the newly formed Devon Youth CND are
     planning an open air benefit in Exeter in August. 01237 477750

   * On Sun 7 June the Movement for Socialism is holding a Founding
     Conference at Conway Hall, Red Lion Square, London WC1, 10am-5pm. The
     fee is #5/#2/#1, send it (payable to Movement for Socialism) to: S.
     Ballard, 14 Dorset Rd, London, N22 4SL

   * 50 activists (amongst them a 30-strong Dutch rent-a-mob) occupied a
     bridge in the Aspe Valley (French Pyrenees) to stop construction of a
     devastating motorway and blocked another construction site for the
     same motorway some days later, which is quite remarkable considering
     the heavy-handedness of local cops. Both actions were part of the
     Dutch action trip to the Aspe Valley (SchNEWS 159). La Goutte d'Eau,
     the action Centre based in a former railway station, is still
     threatened with eviction, the court decision is due in June.

   * Okay so it was a while ago, but the cases of those knicked at the
     Brighton New Year Summerfield party are coming up. Give solicitor Des
     Murphy a ring on 602 111 if you saw any arrests.

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AND FINALLY

Some people at Birmingham were having a happy time chucking missiles that
fell in party-goers nowhere near the police being targetted. What's this
about? Obviously they'd been reading the Oddbin's Book of Streetfighting
for Beginners. Those whose revolutionary credentials include an inability
to think or aim straight may find more gainful employment lain out in front
of oncoming police riot vans, and there's no shortage of people who'd like
to put them there.

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DISCLAIMER

SchNEWS warns all Brighton readers not to believe the rumours that we are
constantly loaded. Always try and book your coach tickets well in advance
so we won't have to run around like blue-arsed flies trying to find extra
coaches (which then cancel at the last moment). Put some donations in the
collecting tin in the Peace Centre so we can cover the few hundred quid we
lost taking people to Birmingham. Then we might be able to organise coaches
to other events in the future. Honest.

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SchNEWS, PO Box 2600, Brighton, BN2 2DX, England
Phone/Fax (call before faxing): 01273 685913
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