21개의 게시물을 찾았습니다.
THE INT'L STRUGGLE DAY OF THE WORKING CLASS
IN BERLIN/GERMANY
About y'day's events in Berlin the German (bourgeois) magazine Der Spiegel reported following (of course the report is partly just bourgeois propaganda^^):
MAY DAY DÉJÀ VU
Berlin's Ritual Riot
Like a neatly choreographed dance, "revolutionaries" and police engage in a ritual riot in Berlin every year on May Day. This year was no different, with dozens arrested and several people injured.
Every year Berlin observes its own very peculiar tradition. On May 1 -- International Workers Day -- its citizens brace themselves for a day of rioting and mayhem. And this year was no different.
Many Berliners had been hoping that this year's May Day would pass off peacefully, that the idea of a ritual riot had become just a little old hat. And for most of the day it seemed it might actually happen: there were family-friendly street parties and peaceful left-wing demonstrations.
But once night fell, the revolutionary habit was back: gangs of rioters threw stones and bottles at the police and garbage bins were set alight. Several people, including police officers, were injured and there were dozens of arrests.
Nevertheless, Berlin's police chief Dieter Glietsch said that he was pleased with how the operation had gone this year, pointing out that there was a lot less violence than in previous years.
Earlier in the day, around 50,000 Berliners had gathered to enjoy the "Myfest" street party in the Kreuzberg district, which included concerts and various events for children. The festival had been organized by local government, residents and local businesses to try to create an alternative to the traditional revolutionary antics. Two left-wing demonstrations with around 6,000 participants also passed off peacefully.
But once the party was over and the stages had emptied, around 600 people decided there was nothing better to do than have a riot. And while the police initially held back in order to prevent the whole thing from escalating, they eventually began to pick off the ringleaders and arrest them. Still, by midnight the revolution was over.
A tradition is born
The rioters were "celebrating" the 20th anniversary of the first major riot in Kreuzberg in 1987. The district, which belonged to the western part of the then-divided Berlin, was a kind of sub-culture enclave with punks, squatters and assorted revolutionaries living side by side with a large Turkish community. On that first May Day over 900 rioters fought running battles with the police for 12 hours. Shops were looted and cars were set on fire -- and a ritual was born that would be reenacted to a greater or lesser extent over the next 20 years.
In recent years, the authorities have revised the way they deal with the disturbances: Instead of heavy-handed tactics, they now employ a more softly-softly approach, using "anti-conflict" teams to keep the peace and imposing bans on glass bottles and cans at the street parties.
Still, this year the police had been prepared for trouble, and there were 5,000 officers deployed to keep the peace. There were concerns that some left-wing groups might use May Day as a dress rehearsal for protests against the upcoming G8 summit at Heiligendamm in June. And already on Monday night, on the so-called Witches Night, there had been some disturbances in the eastern district of Friedrichshain. A riot broke out after a punk concert, during there were 119 arrests and 15 police officers were injured...
4.30, the pre-Mayday demo..
Mayday, the first "revolutionary" demo under the motto of:
"No Liberation Without Revolution"
After two more different "revolutionary" demos, the last one under the motto:
"Attacking G8 - Prevent Imperialist Wars - Abolish Capitalism. For the
Social Revolution Worldwide"
And the final event - street "riots":
RADICAL WELFARE IN THE GAZA STRIP
Uncle Hamas Cares for Palestinians
The West classifies Hamas as a terrorist organization, but in the Gaza Strip, the Islamist organization is widely respected for helping families in need. International aid groups also praise Hamas for being free of corruption.
Etidal Sinati's life in poverty began one night in March 2003. Israeli helicopters were flying air attacks on the Jabalia refugee camp in northern Gaza City and Etidal's husband Mohammed and a group of other men from the neighborhood went out to assess the damage. But the Israelis weren't done; an attack helicopter returned and fired on the onlookers. Etidal's husband was killed, leaving her with seven children and no one to provide for them. Overnight, the Sinatis became a welfare case -- and loyal to Hamas. The radical Islamist group took the destitute family under its wing.
"My husband was not a Hamas supporter. In fact, he was for Fatah," says Sinati, now a widow. It is cold in her two-room hut; a mentally ill uncle sits in a corner occasionally laughing to himself and pulling his wool blanket over his head. "But without Hamas we wouldn't have survived, and even with their support it's been difficult."
The official pension for the wife of a "martyr" -- a Palestinian killed by the Israeli military -- is €100 every three months. For a large family living in Gaza, this is about enough for one good seafood meal, but is not enough to live on. "So Hamas adopted my children," says Etidal Sinati. The widow receives €15 a month in child support for each child, and all of her children attend a school run by Hamas free of charge. "I voted for the crescent in the January election," says the illiterate Etidal. The crescent moon is Hamas's symbol.
A party for the poor
At first glance Hamas, a party that looks after the poor with its money and charity, appears to be playing a well-known tune on the instrument of populism. On the other hand, every major international aid organization is singing the Islamist group's praises when it comes to the quality of its work. "In the International Crisis Group's 2003 report, the most important American NGOs gave perfect marks to Hamas's work; they couldn't have achieved a better result," says Helga Baumgarten, a lecturer at Birzeit University in Ramallah.
Baumgarten believes that the success of the party, which emerged from the radical Muslim Brotherhood in 1987, is based on two factors: the highly professional work of the group's welfare agencies and Hamas's oft-cited integrity. "In fact, all studies have concluded that Hamas operates without a trace of corruption," says Baumgarten. "This has enabled it to gain the respect of the population over the years."
Nevertheless, Hamas is no moderate party. It sees itself as the spearhead of Palestinian resistance against the Israeli occupation. Following its surprising election victory in January, the organization refused to renounce armed conflict or to recognize Israel. Its repeated use of suicide bombings against Israeli citizens since its founding has also contributed to Hamas being classified as a terrorist organization in the West -- despite its day-to-day charitable activities.
But it is difficult to say whether Hamas deliberately uses its charitable work to generate sympathy within the population. "Social commitment is not a means to an end; I would not interpret this merely as exploitation," says Baumgarten. And even if it were, parties the world over operate no differently.
Building on faith
Al-Mujamma al-Islami, or the Islamic Center, in southeastern Gaza City is proof positive that Hamas literally builds on faith. The mosque on the ground floor of the newly constructed center has been in operation for weeks, while the center's employees sit between boxes on the fourth floor above the women's gallery in the prayer room. The center, founded in 1973 by Sheikh Ahmed Yassin making it the oldest Islamic charity in Gaza, had grown too big for its old headquarters. Its 150 employees just moved in to their new offices on the weekend.
At first the wheelchair-bound Yassin, who founded Hamas in 1987 and was killed in a targeted Israeli missile attack in 2004, managed the organization's funds from the living room of his modest house a few streets away. Today the center has evolved into a giant charitable institution in Gaza, operating 16 kindergartens, 30 Koran schools, and providing thousands of families with money, food and clothing. The center also pays child support for 5,000 orphans. Etidal Sinati also collects aid payment for her seven children here.
Nidal Shabana, the center's director, currently manages an annual budget of about $1 million. Despite his prominent position, Shabana remains a modest man, although a hint of pride for his work trickles through when he talks about the Islamic ping-pong team that recently won the Gaza championships under his tutelage. "Modesty and honesty are principles that are especially valued in Islam," he says. When asked his opinion about the growing strength of Islamist parties in the Arab world -- a phenomenon viewed with great concern in the West -- Shabana becomes circumspect. The behavior of Islamic leaders happens to be exemplary, he says, adding that their hands are clean. In a roundabout way, Shabana is saying that he considers the political leaders in neighboring Arab states to be corrupt and morally weak.
Since the 1970s, the failure of authoritarian regimes in the Arab world -- dominated by ruling families intent on lining their own pocketbooks and bloated, inefficient bureaucracies -- has led to Islamist groups filling a social and political vacuum in the Palestinian Territories, Lebanon, Egypt and Jordan. The fact that Hamas hasn't received recognition as the sole governing party in the Palestinian Territories is by no means just a local quirk. Resistance to Hezbollah's quest for power up the road in Beirut is similar. These religious fundamentalist organizations are a threat to the region's established regimes; it's not just Israel and its Western allies that are interested in keeping the Islamists in check.
Etidal Sitani is also aware that the organization that has thrown her family a lifeline is facing pressure from within the Palestinian Territories and from abroad. But this has only strengthened Sitani's support for her benefactors. Her eldest son recently tried on his father's uniform. But while the father was a reservist in one of the Fatah Movement's security forces, the son plans to fight for Hamas. "I will not allow him to join the militias just yet. After all, he is only 15," says the mother. "He can do it when he is 20."
(Der Spiegel, 12.20)
FATAH BY DAY, HAMAS BY NIGHT
The Double Life of Abu Khaled
By day, he's a member of Fatah security forces. By night, he wages holy war with Hamas. With the two Palestinian groups fighting against each other these days, Abu Khaled's life has become a dangerous balance. If need be, he says, he would even kill his friends.
The private car heads north out of Gaza City. A rat-a-tat-tat of machine gun fire echoes through the side streets, belying what remains a fragile cease-fire between Hamas and Fatah in the Palestinian Territories.
Both the driver and the guide are talking nervously into their mobile phones. Instructions are delivered, detours ordered, until finally the vehicle arrives in an empty street and pulls up next to one of Gaza's typical yellow taxi limousines with two rows of back seats. Motors running, the bulletproof vests are quickly loaded from the car into the taxi. The journey then continues in the Mercedes limousine -- until it reaches the end of the road, marked by the wall that separates the Gaza Strip from Israel.
It's cold and the sun is about to set into the Mediterranean. Nevertheless, sweat is running from under Abu Khaled's beard when he jumps into the taxi. Hardly surprising really. If the other soldiers he stands guard with at the gate of an abandoned military base knew his story, the lives of everyone in the taxi would be in danger.
By day, the 23-year-old serves in the Palestinian security forces, which are controlled by Fatah. When Abu Khaled's workday ends, though, he goes home, changes his uniform, pulls out his weapons and transforms himself into a fighter with the Qassam Brigades -- the military arm of Hamas. If his fellow Fatah security officers knew what he did at night, he says, "they would open fire on us immediately."
No wonder the situation in Gaza is so confusing
"We are not a rarity," says the fighter. He estimates that about 30 percent of the men who officially serve with the Palestinian security forces are secretly active members of militia groups with ties to Hamas -- armed men who change sides depending on the time of day. No wonder the situation in Gaza is so confusing. In most of the gun battles between Hamas and Fatah in recent days, it was almost impossible to tell who was shooting at whom, when they were shooting, and why. After each new incident, the barrage of back-and-forth accusations merely triggered the next shoot-out -- a spiral of violence that is difficult to stop.
As the taxi drives slowly through abandoned streets, Abu Khaled tells his story -- the story of a young man who sees no other choice but to fight the enemy any way he can. "The official forces are poorly trained and armed," he says. "They could never do much harm to the Israelis."
He's likely right. A visit to a Fatah training camp that morning was unconvincing. Although the camp's 50 recruits were able to perfectly recite Fatah's various slogans after three months of training, most were incapable of performing even the most rudimentary of combat maneuvers.
But Fatah, the party of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, has recognized Israel and is no longer interested in doing damage to the country. Indeed, it is the party's moderation which has made it a negotiating partner for the West and Israel. Hamas, on the other hand, remains dedicated to eliminating Israel and has yet to renounce violence. Over the years, it has been responsible for numerous suicide attacks on Israeli citizens and is considered a terrorist organization in the West.
Khaled says that even as a teenager he realized that the organizations affiliated with Fatah were "much too soft" to prevail against the Israelis. The Palestinians, he says, are prisoners in their own country. "The Israeli crimes have kindled my emotions and my passion." This passion prompted him to join the Qassam Brigades at 15 -- an early age for a fighter, but not unusual for many of the "converts," as he calls them. "The Islamic ideology is close to my heart and mind."
"Tanks attacked, rockets fired, mines laid
He tells the driver to drive up and down a few more streets. Israeli cameras mounted on balloons hang over the wall and monitor their progress. It wouldn't be the first time a taxi was mistaken for a rocket launcher. "We expect the Israelis to attack at any time," says Abu Khaled. "They have broken cease-fires many times before."
He normally spends five nights a week with the Qassam Brigades, stationed at the border with Israel. "In the past few years, I have attacked Israeli tanks, fired rockets and grenades and laid mines," he says, listing his achievements. According to Khaled, the weapons are homemade; land mines, rocket launchers and even Kalashnikovs and ammunition are produced at Qassam's secret workshops in the Gaza Strip. The material, he says, is smuggled in from Egypt through tunnels or comes "from the Israeli mafia."
Four times, he says, he was almost hit by rocket attacks from Israeli drones; he was injured once in the head and once in the leg. His nighttime duties have been reduced to two nights a week since the cease-fire with Israel came into effect, finally allowing him to turn at least some of his attention to his studies. Khaled, who wants to become a journalist, enrolled in the Islamic University at the beginning of the year. "I would love to work in Hamas's press office."
For his mother's sake, he takes along a mobile phone at night
Though already 23, Abu Khaled doesn't have a family of his own. "I chose the armed path. I could be killed any time. It would be bad enough if my parents and my siblings had to suffer." His mother, he says, is already beside herself out of fear for his safety. He keeps a second mobile phone for her sake alone -- "so that she can call me at night, when I embark on jihad, holy war."
His seven siblings are proud of Khaled, the eldest, who commands a six-man combat unit. "The little ones are anxious to become Qassam fighters themselves. I'm the star of the family," says Abu Khaled, grinning. Financial concerns are partly responsible for the fact that he hasn't married yet. He received his last full pay nine months ago. He uses part of the money he occasionally receives for his daytime services to pay his membership dues in the Qassam Brigades. "It is an honor for us to be permitted to fight for Hamas. We give some our money so that the fight can continue."
In the past, Israel was the only enemy. But now the gun battles between rival Palestinian groups that are audible in the distance force Khaled to confront new problems. He spends his days with 15 other members of the Fatah security forces in the no man's land between the Israeli border and the last few houses in Beit Hanoun. The small unit would be an ideal target for rival militias on the hunt for Fatah supporters.
"It would be difficult for me to shoot them"
Khaled vehemently denies the possibility that the Qassam Brigades could attack his unit. "The Qassam Brigades never attack their brothers. We only defend ourselves." But the possibility has crossed his mind. "If we are attacked by the Qassam Brigades, I will identify myself and switch to their side."
It is a moral dilemma for Khaled, who feels a bond to his fellow members of the Fatah security forces, "as if they were my family. We cook together and spend the entire day talking. It would be difficult for me to shoot at them."
When asked what he would do were his fellow Fatah members to learn of his excursion with a journalist and realize his split loyalties, Khaled says: "I would try to escape."
And if that didn't work, he would kill friends, if necessary. "It has come to this in Palestine."
(Der Spiegel, 12.21)
"ONE BIG PRISON"
A Glimpse at Daily Misery in the Gaza Strip
The 1.5 million inhabitants of the Gaza strip are trapped in poverty and hopelessness. The violence between the Palestinians stems not only from political disagreements, but from deep, daily despair.
Barefoot; dressed in a long gray nightshirt; sleep in his eyes: if his uncle hadn't banged away at the door, Ahmed Kahlout would most likely still be asleep. Instead he dragged himself out of bed at 11:30 a.m., opened the door and invited his visitor in.
Like an old man, he then sank back down onto the two mattresses serving as a sofa in his parents' house -- the only piece of furniture in the living room apart from a fake Persian carpet. He sat there and wearily told his story, one of many such stories in the Gaza Strip: A good education at a school set up by an aid organization, followed by a degree. Since then, the reality of living in Gaza City has ruined all his dreams.
"I did a degree in pedagogy, and wanted to be a teacher," the 23-year-old explained. Instead he is unemployed and spends his days sleeping. "I can't marry, because I have no money to feed a family. So I have a lot of time to kill."
And he does that sitting in semi-darkness. The streets of the Shati refugee camp in the north of Gaza City are so narrow that hardly any light shines into his family's two-room apartment. An old man is perched outside, selling moldy bread as feed for chickens and goats. Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh only lives a few streets away. The Hamas leader didn't move out of the slum following his election to the post of prime minister -- a fact that earns him great respect amongst his followers.
But Ahmed Kahlout is too apathetic to become a radical, despite things going so badly for him. In this respect he is like most of the Gaza Strip's 1.5 million inhabitants: they get on with lives that are marked by poverty and despair. They live an existence in which the bloody conflict between radical Hamas and the seemingly corrupt Fatah is just one more misfortune.
The Gaza strip is just 40 kilometers long and 10 kilometers wide (25 by 6 miles) -- and for years it has been a byword for misery. This year has been even harder for its inhabitants to bear. To understand the sheer scale of the misery, one has to visit John Ging. He is the director of the United Nations Refugee and Works Agency (UNRWA), the body that has been dealing with the Palestinians since they were expelled following the foundation of the state of Israel in 1948.
Gaza, Bureij refugee camp
"Living in one big prison"
The statistics that the Irishman reels off speak for themselves: 89 percent of the population is poverty-stricken, living on less than $2 a day. Over 60 percent are unemployed, and since the election of the Hamas government in January, international aid has dried up. It had been used to pay the salaries of public officials. Now, even those who have jobs have been thrown into poverty, meaning that over 860,000 people in the Gaza Strip are now living on food parcels distributed by the UNRWA. Over half of the population.
Gaza, Rafah refugee camp
But the real drama, says Ging, is that the Palestinians are "effectively living in one big prison." After the withdrawal of Israeli troops last year, there was a feeling of optimism -- that just as quickly turned into hopelessness. "Everyone was counting on an economic upswing once the border with Egypt was open," Ging says.
Instead, trade has come to a virtual standstill as the border has remained mostly closed. Israeli pressure has ensured that the border crossing for people at Rafah is only open 14 percent of the time. And only 14 trucks get through the crossing at Kareni every day -- instead of 400 originally planned. It is the only crossing for those goods not produced in Gaza and thus have to be imported from Israel.
"According to the Dec. 5 treaty on the freedom of movement, the Rafah border can be open if European observers are present," says Ging. However, these observers live in Israel and Israel can use their discretion to prevent them from crossing into the Gaza Strip. "That's how you close a border."
Travellers are not the only ones affected. Farmers who used to export their fruit and vegetables to Israel are now stuck with them. That is the daily lunacy of the Gaza Strip: there are plenty of tomatoes in the markets, but no fish. The chunk of land is on the coast, but the fishermen are only rarely allowed to go out to sea by the Israelis. And frozen fish seldom makes it over the border from Israel.
"No one has any money"
Mahmoud Abu Djayab operates a repair shop for electrical goods in the central market, and he has more work than ever. People can't buy any new appliances, so they need to get even the most worn out cooker fixed. "But that's no use to me," complains the 51-year-old. "All that I have earned is a book full of IOUs. Everyone is living on credit. No one has any money to pay me."
Ging doesn't blame the Israelis for everything. When he speaks about Hamas, his voice is filled with anger: "Hamas knew that the money would stop flowing if they didn't maintain relations with the international community," he said. "But they didn't do it anyway. That was irresponsible. The party took into account the fact that the people would suffer." He says that international donors have the right to stop their aid payments. "But then they can't act surprised when the psychological strain leads to a greater tendency towards violence." The fact that the Palestinian government was 70 percent dependent on foreign aid wasn't considered either. "The absence of aid deliveries caused chaos."
As bad as the economic situation is for the inhabitants of the Gaza Strip, the psychological strain is even worse. "In the past people hoped that the Israelis would leave. Today there is no more light at the end of the tunnel," Ging says. Morale is terribly low. People feel oppressed. Hopelessness leads to despair, which in turn leads to violence. What worries Ging is that a lost generation is growing up. "Just try inspiring a young person to learn, when he knows that after school absolutely nothing awaits him."
Ahmed Kahlout had finally woken up, and he even put on a shirt and trousers for his visitor. But he remained uncommunicative. No, he had no idea what he would be doing in five years time. No, he wasn't political and he hadn't bothered voting. "The civil war will eat everything up anyway," he said. To John Ging "the Palestinians' spirit isn't broken yet, they have the will and the ability to organize their own affairs." But the UN man may be a bit too optimistic.
(Der Spiegel, 12.18)
The German magazine Der Spiegel published following story 6.18..
An African Dream
"I'll Make it to Europe, or Die Trying"
Africans looking to leave the continent for Europe face a long journey across the Atlantic in rickety boats. Many don't make it. But that doesn't deter the thousands looking for a better life.
Henry Mafarna was still a child when he lost his home -- barely 14 years old. Militias swept through Liberia in 1990 and the West African country was torn apart by civil war. In the ensuing chaos, Mafarna, who is now 29, lost track of his parents. Today, he has no idea whether they are still alive.
Ever since then, Mafarna has been a refugee -- sometimes staying in refugee camps, sometimes finding shelter with relatives in neighboring countries. But he hasn't stayed anywhere for long. Confused and restless, he has moved frequently. But one goal has remained constant -- he has repeatedly tried to find a way to leave Africa.
For the last six months, Mafarna has been in Nouadhibou, at the northern tip of Mauritania for what he hopes will be the last leg of his trip. Last month, he was planning on squeezing into the hull of a small boat under cover of darkness. The boat, he was hoping, would take him to the Canary Islands -- some 1,000 kilometers (620 miles) into the Atlantic Ocean -- where he planned to start a new life. "I've got just two options," he said. "I'll either make it to Europe or die trying."
No future in Africa
He's got no future in Africa, he says. "There's no education system, no work -- just violence." Yet all his efforts to leave the continent have so far failed. He tried applying for an Australian visa; later he tried his luck with the Canadian visa program. But he was rejected every time. "There are just too many people who want to get out of here," he says with resignation. "I don't know anyone who wants to stay."
Henry is just one of thousands of African refugees waiting to travel from Mauritania on the west coast of Africa to Europe. His story is like that of many others living in the refugee slums of Nouadhibou -- a life of war and poverty, without any future to look forward to. In the end all that remains is despair -- a despair that makes people willing to risk everything. Even the last thing they own: their lives.
Africa's west coast has become the new gateway to Europe.
Henry has worked hard to earn his ticket to the future. Every day he joins other men from Senegal, Mali and Guinea in front of the entrance to the harbor. They stand around waiting for the next small job: It could be a job on a construction site or one helping a fisherman unload his boat. No one earns more than $3 a day -- usually less. Henry generally most of a day's wages just to pay for his shabby room. The rest he saves for his risky trip to Europe. The $600 he's managed to ferret away so far, he reckons, should be enough.
Men like Henry are willing to run any risk at all. A man from Senegal lives not far from his little wooden shed. He's already tried to reach the Canary Islands once, but the Moroccan harbor patrol stopped him a short distance from the island of Lanzarote. A few hours later, the haggard man was back in Nouadhibou. He's working again, saving money for his next attempt.
"It was hell out there"
Many others die chasing their European dream across the rough waters of the Atlantic. Those who don't, experience a nightmarish journey they're unlikely ever to forget. "People started to vomit shortly before we left the coast," the Senegalese man remembers. Many of the travellers have never been on a boat before; the waves terrify them. "Less than an hour had gone by when the first people started screaming." People often needed to be punched before they quieted down, he said.
No one is allowed to stand up or lie down during the trip. Some 80 people are forced to sit closely side-by-side for three or four days, their knees and legs are soon covered in bruises. Their joints begin to ache. Salty seawater mixes with urine and feces, causing a painful burning sensation in open wounds. A terrible stench develops. "It was hell out there. All I did was pray it would be over soon," says the Senegalese man.
Even worse, the refugees never know exactly where they're going. Hours of darkness and cold are followed by days of hot, baking sunlight.
When the Moroccan police finally discovered the boat the Senegalese man was travelling on, most of his companions had been reduced to a state of mindless torpor. A number of them had to be taken to hospital, where they're still suffering from dehydration and panic attacks. The Senegalese man says he was glad the trip was over; he didn't care that he didn't make it to Europe.
Many refugees die of dehydration during the trip. Others drown in shipwrecks or are thrown overboard by other refugees. The Spanish and the Moroccan police find their corpses almost every day. Mohammed Wal, the chief of the nautical police, collects their photographs in his records. They're a chronicle of horror: deformed and bloated corpses, partly eaten by fish. The pictures are sorted by date. He adds new ones every day.
Good news by text messaging
The chief of police likes to present his pictures to foreign journalists. He would prefer showing them to the refugees living in Nouadhibou's slum neighborhoods. "Many people still aren't aware of the risk involved in crossing the ocean," he says. "They think of it as a day trip." He says he's powerless to prevent further boats leaving the port, meaning his gruesome documentation is sure to continue growing.
Henry Mafarna knows the horrible stories and he's seen the pictures on the Internet. But he's still able to exude forced optimism. "I have no choice but to try," he says. "I promised my son I would."
Macpena, Mafarna's son, is 14 months old and lives in Guinea with his mother. Mafarna has decided he's going to take a picture of the curly-haired boy with him on the trip -- nothing else. If he doesn't survive the trip to Europe, Macpena's mother will never mention Henry. That's the deal he made when he left.
But Henry doesn't want to think about death. "Many people make it," he says. Some boats do indeed arrive. As soon as they reach the other shore, they send SMS text messages to those still waiting to make the trip. The news travels like wildfire in the slum where Henry lives.
"Even if I have to live on the streets in Europe, even if people there look down on me, it can't be any worse than here," Henry says. When night begins to fall, he proposes a bet. He asks me to give him my e-mail address. "I'll write to you from Spain," he says grinning, "and then you have to come and visit."
So far, he hasn't written.
Please check out a more personally report by manic about the latest developments there..
Although I was requesting MTU for a short/summary report about the rally/demo last Sun., till now I got nothing...
But yesterday morning I found on 'Migrant Workers'(Internet) Broadcasting' following article about it(in Korean):
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위원장 석방과 노조 탄압 분쇄를 위한 이주노조 투쟁대회 |
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"우리는 결코 흔들리지 않을 것"
이주노조는 독자적인 이주노동자들의 노동조합을 세운 이후에 힘겨운 길을 걸어왔다. 그 중에서도 이주노조 위원장의 연행과 더불어 이주노동자들에게 처해진 극심한 단속은 누구나 인정하고 있는 것처럼 이주노동자들의 노동권과 생존권을 위협하는 행위였다. 샤킬 이주노조 직무대행은 “이주노동자들에 대한 단속이 더욱 심해졌다”며 “여성 남성 가리지 않고 수갑까지 채워가면서 알몸수색을 하고 있다. 일하다 다쳐도 치료받지 못하고 비인권적 단속에 시달리는 이주노동자들의 권리는 반드시 이 땅에서 보장받아야 한다” 면서 이주노조를 인정할 때까지 투쟁하겠다는 결의를 보여주었다.
Please read the full article here: http://migrantsinkorea.net/webbs/view.php?board=mignews&id=206
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노동자, 농민, 학생, 민중의 단결의 승리다
(..I hope as soon, as possible...!)
Yesterday, 12.4, the annual Peoples Demonstration took the streets in Seoul.
The demonstration, organized by Peoples Solidarity, the National Peasents League, KCTU and many other organizations started with several rallies in Seoul’s University district Daehak-no. The main topics of the demo: (of course) the police brutality during the peasents' protest against the bill of increasing the quota of rice import (it was already reported about it here..), the current "General Strike" by KCTU for better rights and conditions of irregular workers, the wish of withdrawal of the S.K. troops out of Iraq...
After the rallies a mass demonstration, Minjung-ui Sori wrote 15,000 people participated, took the streets in downtown Seoul, leading to the Sejong-no/Jong-no crossroads, THE main traffic lines in the city.
Of course here at first, as usual, everything was blocked by police buses and large units of the infamous riot cops.
But after a while the demonstrators just took a detour around City Hall Plaza and finally, despite thousands of riot cops and water canon tanks, they were able to take the Sejong-no avenue to finish the demonstration there.
Source of the pics: Minjung-ui Sori
A little the entire thing is remembering me at the anti-USFK demonstrations in the end of 2002, where tens of thousands of unarmed people were running over, sometimes, 20,000 riot cops.
If there would be an realistic aim what for the people were on the streets yesterday, and maybe 90,000 demonstrators more, a revolution, just by the power of the people would be possible. You just have to see the documentaries... the cops, complete confused..., no plan, not at all... But unfortunately yesterday, perhaps, no-one wanted to make revolution...(^^) So, after all, situations like that are just good opportunities for training for the future...(^^) Here you can read an article in Korean and see three video docus about the event:
http://www.vop.co.kr/new/2005120433661.html
And here you can see some more impressive pictures from y'day:
http://blog.jinbo.net/torirun/?pid=163
On Saturday, 3.12, afternoon in Seoul’s Insa-dong, a small rally was held to mark the "Day of Global Protest on Climate Change". But while, for example in London at the same day 10,000 people blamed Blair as a "Killer of our planet" and in Montreal, Canada – here right now the International Climate Conference take place – about 40,000 people demonstrated against the "climate killers", in Seoul, one of the dirtiest cities, just maximum 150 joined the protest.
Source: Daham-kke
A Korean article you can read here:
http://www.vop.co.kr/new/2005120333647.html
At the same day in the evening in Myeong-dong, actually also in downtown Seoul, a small demonstratin ("unlawful"?? - There is no law for us!!!) took place to protest against the police brutality during the farmers demonstration on 11.15.
Source: Minjung-ui Sori
About 150 people, so Minjung-ui Sori, joined the demo. The Korean article (there is also a video) you can read here:
http://www.vop.co.kr/new/2005120333654.html
Ha, and the semi-official news agency Yonhap wrote yesterday (7 pm) about the peoples demo this:
5,000 workers, farmers stage street protests in Seoul
About 5,000 workers and farmers rallied in downtown Seoul on Sunday, demanding greater protection of part-time employees and the local farm market.
There were no immediate reports of violence in the protest, organized by the Korean Confederation of Trade Union, a major umbrella labor group, but traffic was seriously jammed in and around Gwanghwamun, a major intersection of the capital.
2005 Summer Struggle Tour
Because last year I was joining 2004 Summer Struggle Tour as the representavive of ETU-MB (on the second day I was nearly arrested...) I want to publish this here. More about the last year's tour you can read here:
Following the first part of 2005 Summer Struggle Tour
(source: www.nodong.com )
2005노동자 여름 현장활동 투쟁 발대식 과 한나라당사앞 집중투쟁!!
오늘 오정 11시에 여의도에 자리잡고 있는 노사정 위원회 앞에서 투쟁사업장에 계신 동지들과 전해투동지들 그리고 학생동지들과 철거민동지들이 힘차게 2005노동자 여름 현장활동 투쟁(이하:여름투쟁) 발대식을 전개했습니다.
닭장차에 둘러싸인 가운데 서 진행이 되었지만 참석한 동지들은 각자의 현장의 목소리들을 직접 폭로해내고 이후 투쟁을 결의를 힘있게 모아내기도 했습니다.
"사회적 합의주의 분쇄와 비정규직철폐 그리고 노동자 민중 생존권쟁취의 기조를 가지고 진행될 이번 여름 투쟁은 각단위 동지들의 일정상 좀 늦은감이 없지 않지만 그동안의 시기별 투쟁에서 볼수 없었던 현장투쟁 실천단에 여러단위에서 대거 합류해 참가하고 있는 동지들은 공세적인 싸움판까지도 준비하고 있습니다.
여름 투쟁 공동대표 동지의 대회사를 시작으로 본격적인 4박5일 투쟁에 돌입한 여름투쟁단은 노사정위에서의 발대식에서 코오롱 정투위 동지들과 이주동지들의 강한결의가담긴 발언, 사보, 발전 동지들의 발언을 들으며 여름투쟁에 임하는 결의 를 다시금 높이기도 하였습니다. 그리고 무엇보다도 실천단들의 결의와 실천단장의 공세적인 실천투쟁결의는 이후 노사정담합분쇄와 노사관계 로드맵 분쇄, 그리고 비정규직 철폐가 담긴 조형물에대한 화형식을 노사정위 앞에 깔린 폭력경찰들의 협박에도 굴하지 않고 당당하게 전개하기도 하였습니다.
발대식을 마친 투쟁단을 첫일정을 수행하기위해 다시 보수반동세력이 총집결되어있는 한나라당 사 앞에서 기만적인 한나라당의 폭압성과 한나라당 소속 기초단체장들의 악행을 폭로해내는 투쟁을 전개했습니다.
한나라당을 지키려는 깡패경찰들 이 새까맣게 동원되기도 했고 이들과의 마찰이 있기도 했지만 한나라당 집회는 경찰들의 집회방해에도 아랑곳 않고 참가한 동지들 모두가 질서정연하고 조직적인 대오를 유지하며 무사히 집회를 사수했습니다.
마지막으로 여름투쟁단은 근대화를 명분으로 수많은 노동자민중들에게 살인적인 탄압을 자행했던 아버지 박정희의 피를 그대로 이어받아 민중들을 기만하고 탄압으로 일관 하고 있는 유신잔재 박근혜 한나라당 대표에게 항의서한을 전달하려 했으나 마늘을 들고 농민들을 기만하러 (한나라당사 앞엔 박근혜가 마늘을 들고있고 그밑으로 민생과 경제를 책임진다는 문구가 기만적이게 적혀있습니다)간것인지 자리에 없다고 하여 항의서한을 그 자리에서 태우고 언제든지 이 자리는 철거민들과 생존권을 박탈당하는 노동자민중들이 접수할 것을 결의하며 집회투쟁을 마쳤습니다.
이후 실천단 들은 120일차 천막농성을 전개 하고 있는 현대기림 오피스텔로 향했고 실천단 을 제외한 동지들은 각자의 현장으로 돌아갔습니다.
현재 짜여진 일정을 별 무리 없이 진행하고 있는 여름투쟁 실천단 들은 현대기림 오피스텔 동지들과 간담회 및 철농을 함께 진행하고 있고 오늘 하루의 평가를 마지막으로 첫일정을 사수했습니다.
* 위의 사진은 오늘 노사정위앞 발대식장면과 한나라당 사앞 투쟁 상황이며 이후 상황 총화는 실천단 에서 올리는 것을 참고해주시기 바랍니다.
*오늘 수고해주신 노래공장 동지께도 연대의 인사를 드리는 바입니다
내일은 오전8시엔 목동 전화국 앞에서 통신비정규직노조의 출근투쟁에 합류하고 9시에는 노동자대회가 열리는 울산으로 이동하여 힘있는 투쟁을 전개할 것입니다. 각단위동지들은 여름 투쟁 실천단의 순회투쟁을 공유하여 주시기바랍니다=투쟁=
사회적 합의주의 분새!!
비정규직 철페!!
노동자민중생존권쟁취!!
를 위한
The MTU representative's speech
The other parts of the report of the entire tour you can read here:
(here in Mokdong in front of Seoul Immigration Office)
(pictures)
(more pics)
Please see also here:
http://pw87.jinbo.net/main/main.html
While the majority of the Koreans today is celebrating their consumer intoxication
(현충일), we, my colleague and me, have to work – editing the stuff we recorded y’day.
Yesterday was “Migrants’ Arirang” (MA), a culture festival, organized by the …Ministry of Culture and Tourism – yeah, the S. Korean government (next year, the Ministry of “Justice”, the deportation department, a.k.a. immigration office should be the organizer of the event)! The same m…f… who are hunting and deporting daily migrant workers! So the whole event was a totally lied event!
But a much greater shame: all the migrant communities were playing the government’s game, no one - inclusive us, the MTU - was effective protesting against it. Even we were talking about it the day before, at the time even we’d no one leaflet, no pickets, nothing, except our signature lists. And the event was a real great opportunity to stage a public-effectively protest against the government’s inhuman policy, and the daily massive acts of exploitation by the S. Korean capitalists/business people.
Instead for example the Nepalese community, usually very strong minded against this injustice system, celebrated a wedding ceremony, Stop Crackdown Band just played songs about the “love to Korea” and that they “one day want to go home” (exactly the same, what our enemies want to hear!), the next entertainer, a Korean, sung also about “good bye”, one of our supporting groups (www.stopcrackdown.net) was kicked out by the organizers of MA… After all it was a day of massive defeat for the case of migrant workers!!
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