A-Infos (en) Italy, Roma, FAI: October 5 in Rome (ca, de, it, pt, tr)[machine translation]

On October 5, a demonstration against the genocide of the Palestinian 
population was held in Rome. ---- We adhered to our content, in addition 
to the rejection of genocide, against the widening of the conflict, 
militarism, Italian military spending and the repression of any form of 
dissent. ---- The demonstration took on a particular connotation due to 
the ban, exclusively political, decided by Minister Piantedosi and 
confirmed by the Police Chief of Rome. After a year of weekly 
mobilizations for Palestine in Rome, all carried out in an absolutely 
peaceful manner, the desire to ban it for "reasons of public order" was 
so evident that they explicitly declared that it was prohibited due to 
the arguments that some of the participants could have supported.
This is a further authoritarian involution of a government that with the 
Ddl 1660 tries to bury with years of prison any form of social and 
solidarity opposition, that with the premiership wants an authoritarian 
and strong government, that wants demonstrations to take place only on 
topics that they decide and that wants to confine any form of opposition 
to vote, every four years, for the clown of the moment.
The mainstream press has, with continuity on what it is doing on the 
massacre in Gaza and Lebanon, supported the government's choices by 
spreading terror about what could have happened, fearing war scenes in 
Rome without questioning the legitimacy of the government's repressive 
choices and the elimination of the freedom to demonstrate.
The police then tried in every way to prevent the arrival of the 
comrades in the square. Since the evening before, Rome has been dotted 
with roadblocks. Buses arriving in the city were stopped and all 
travelers with political records were stopped. Several buses headed to 
the march were stopped on the highways, the passengers were registered, 
in one case loaded, in other cases sent back after having issued 
expulsion orders to some of the passengers. On the highways leading to 
Rome, traffic was reduced to one lane with checks on "suspicious" cars 
and a consequent almost total block of traffic. Rome's train stations 
were manned and besieged by suffocating checks with requests for 
documents from anyone who appeared "strange". The square where the march 
was called was completely surrounded by armored vehicles (often with 
grates closing the spaces between them). You could only enter through 
tiny gates and often those who entered were asked for documents.
According to the Police Headquarters, 1,600 demonstrators were 
identified and 40 expulsion orders were issued: an absolutely arbitrary 
measure against people whose only crime was wanting to demonstrate.
Despite these brutal intimidations (and despite the pouring rain) 
several thousand comrades managed to reach Piazzale Ostiense, where the 
gathering was planned. The Police Headquarters, to avoid further 
problems, then decided to authorize the picket (still leaving the 
roadblocks to get to the square, continuing to identify, intimidate and 
sanction with expulsion orders those who arrived). In the end there will 
be at least 15,000 comrades present, demonstrating that the 
intimidations have not stopped the will to demonstrate.
In the square there was only a van with minimal amplification where a 
few speeches took place, representing only a small part of the realities 
present in the square, heard only by those present in the immediate 
vicinity and with content, in many of them, sloganistic and fan-oriented.
For about two hours the picket was absolutely peaceful and calm. At this 
stage three students from Righi (two girls and a boy) left carrying with 
them a Palestinian flag. Not far from the gathering and despite all the 
police present they were attacked and beaten by four Zionists: the boy 
ended up in hospital due to the kicks received when he fell to the 
ground. In the square, given the uselessness of negotiating with the 
police to be able to hold a march, some of those present tried to force 
their way out by facing the armored vehicles that were closing the 
various exits in a march. In the meantime the demonstration was declared 
dissolved. When they reached the height of the Via Ostiense crossing 
there was a bit of shoving with the police. Nothing particularly 
sensational. There was a confrontation with the police with the throwing 
of firecrackers and tear gas canisters (those that are thrown by hand). 
Then suddenly the police decided to gas the whole square, to wildly 
charge those who remained there, and to also use a water cannon against 
the demonstrators. Six arrests and several injured demonstrators and a 
couple of small marches by those who had moved away from the square were 
the result of this last part of the demonstration.

In the coming days we will make more in-depth political assessments. For 
now we limit ourselves to recording the application, before its formal 
approval, of Ddl 1160, Piantedosi's threat of "a black autumn" and the 
expansion of the massacres of the populations in Palestine, Lebanon and 
throughout Southwest Asia.

Gruppo Anarchico Bakunin - FAI Roma e Lazio

https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=936618441837154&set=a.448484783983858
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