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London Calling, December 2001
Xmas Social
We hope to see many friends, old and new, at our Xmas Social on Friday 14th December (see below).
Justice For Mark Barnsley
Supporting our prisoners is important any time of the year, but more so at Christmas. There is a picket of the Home Office in support of Mark Barnsley from 12.30-2.30pm on 20th December. Be there.
Silly Nonsense
The last couple of weeks have seen two undercover investigations into the far-right/racism in the UK, courtesy of BBCs Panorama and Channel 4s Sleepers. Add to that the overdue revelation on Panorama and the Sunday Mirror (2/12/01) that Darren Wells was a spy in Combat 18 and its clear that the media/police/security service interface is currently in overdrive.
In our view these programmes do little to increase understanding of the dangers posed by the far right in this country, in fact they more usually serve to advertise those organisations far more effectively than the groups themselves sometimes manage. When Nick Griffin points out on the BNP website that presenter Jane Corbin would not have the guts to walk through any Muslim area in Britain alone at night he rallies the supporters he has, as well as bringing in new ones. Could you imagine a poncey middle class BBC journalist spending any time in your community other than to look down their noses at you?
As for C18 would they ever have existed, or continued to exist but for the publicity given them by Searchlight and the Searchlight led media? Searchlight already expect us to believe former C18 leader Charlie Sargent was a Special Branch asset, yet it now emerges one of the leaders of the rival Browning faction was working for Searchlight all along. Those anti-fascists who continue to provide ballast for the rusty hull of the Searchlight ship really should ask themselves long and hard what the fuck they are doing.
Tickets Please
The threatened strike on South West Trains has caused a few giggles at Class War HQ. The strike has been provoked by the demotion of SWT driver, and well known Looney Leftie Socialist Alliance activist Greg Tucker.
Greg has been demoted to the rank of ticket inspector after committing a speeding offence whilst driving his train. Should you be approached by Greg, and should he demand a ticket from you, please remember that he has no power of arrest and you should just walk away. If he attempts to detain you he is committing a criminal offence himself. The same goes for all of Greg's colleagues.
New This Month
Not so much new as re-issued is the Australian Class War video "Incitement to Riot". Over seventy minutes of inspiring footage from demonstrations at home and abroad, accompanied by hard hitting music from across the spectrum. At just £6 (plus 10% postage and packing) this is an absolute bargain. Cheques/POs to "London Class War" only. Its also last orders please for the Class War 2002 calendar, available for a bargain £6 from the usual address.
Membership News
Class War membership is £12 waged and £6 unwaged and runs for the calendar year 1 January - 31 December. This means membership money for the year 2002 is due on 1 January, and the more members that pay up - and pay up in full - the more idea we have of how much - or how little we can do in 2002. Those willing to give a donation on a regular basis can obtain a direct debit form from the London CW address.
Money is sadly no problem for the mainstream parties with their backers in big business and the union establishment. Equally groups such as the BNP and the various left wing groups get huge donations from befuddled supporters (during the general election the BNP raised £4000 in just 2 weeks). There are far too many people in the Anarchist movement unwilling to put their money where their mouths are, yet whinge down the pub about every political group under the sun. Do we want to effectively oppose and abolish these bastards or do we want to talk into our beer?
How Was It For You?
The Anarchist Bookfair organisers are keen to get feedback from October's bookfair, which we reckon was the biggest and best yet. If there was a downer it was the poor quality of the PA during Jello Biafra's turn, but you can't have everything. You can contact the bookfair organisers c/o 84b Whitechapel High Street, London E1 7QX or email them at mail@anarchistbookfair.org.
Northern Hospitality?
Following an advert in Freedom, Class War approached the organisers of the Radical Bookfair in Manchester on December 8th, to organise a stall. Nothing very difficult about that. Or so you would think. Sadly we will not be at this event due to a succession of rather mealy mouthed excuses from the organisers, who rather than just say "we don't want you to come" - which would at least have been honest, the organisers have waffled excuses. "We want keep it to groups from Lancashire and Yorkshire" (we assume South and West Yorkshire CW were not included in this list) "We didn't think any national groups would be interested" "We haven't got any space".
The only one we did not hear was that the organisers were washing their hair that day! Why advertise an event in a national Anarchist publication unless you want groups to actually come and get involved?
Class War Europe Report
So what have we been up to? October started with an anti-war demo which quite frankly was a waste of time. The meet-up point was Bielefeld Jahnplatz at 1100. The sun was being friendly to us and I regretted wearing my black sweatshirt. And so we waited. People from various factions handed out their lame propaganda and mingled meaningless in the crowd.
At 1200 the "crowd" was...well...to be blunt, pathetic. 260 people out of a population of 300,000 is a disgrace. For an hour we listened to one oaf after another, grab the P.A. in a white van and aspire to their 15 minutes of fame. By this time Clemens had ridden off on his bike and my girlfriend Buffy went to buy our lunch. Then the procession started through the city. It was like a bunch of Sunday school pupils on their way to their next lesson. The white vans P.A. struggled to be heard above the derisory noise from the Saturday shoppers. When we reached the end of the pedestrian zone the van stopped and another 20 minutes of waffle was endured before the final 500 metres to the bahnhof. The highlight of the march was Buffy being offered a balloon by an over zealous promoter, on account of her diminutive stature (1,63m). I can't believe I hauled my carcass out of bed for this blatant display of apathy. I have my own opinions on the events of 11th September, as do the other members of CW Europe, not entirely agreeable with the CNN/CBS sponsored media bandwagon.
Apart from a few rich cunts having the locks to their mansions superglued (I know it's immature but we had fun) not much going on .The sticker campaign is going well, with a few police cars now decorated with a "Fuck the police" sticker. Plans are afoot to have a sticker translated into German with our address, and for myself to produce a newsletter akin to "London Calling" for our ever growing membership. We now have an email address which is bexy1972@lycos.de which you can drop us a line in English, German or Russian, as well as our postal address Class War Europe, Postfach 160 127, 33721, Bielefeld, Germany.
South Wales Class War
We are pleased to announce the arrival of a new Class War group, this time based in south Wales, where Class War first began! Anybody interested in getting involved should email southwales_cw@hotmail.com. Telephone or postal enquiries to London for the time being please.
Missing Banner
The Anti-War demo on November 18th sadly saw our Class War banner half inched. A reward is available for its safe return. For those who missed it on the day - which includes half the membership - it was green with white lettering in the style of the Carlsberg adverts and said "Class War - Probably The Best War In The World". Any wiseacres suggesting it is in Finsbury Park mosque because Abu Hamza can't get it off his hook are being very silly indeed!
Diary Dates
Thursday 13 December - 1.30pm Action at Nelson Bakewell. Auction of Hackney Community buildings. To be held at Claridge's Hotel (!), Brook Street, London W1. Contact hackneynot4sale@yahoo.com for details of counter demo.
Friday 14 December - 7pm London Class War Xmas Social - This year our annual event is at The Wenlock Arms, 26 Wenlock Road, London N1. Wenlock Road is off City Road via Windsor Terrace and the pub made the Camra guide so look out for beards and Arran sweaters a plenty!
Saturday 15 December - 1pm - Guildford Anti-Capitalist Demo, in solidarity with the anti-capitalist demonstration at the EU summit in Brussels. Assemble at Guildford Train station.
Monday 17 December - Nationwide - Hunting returns. Expect large numbers of parasites to chase around the countryside in silly outfits murdering anything they can find. Contact the Hunt Saboteurs Association on 0845 4500727. Class War Hunt Sabs will also be out on Boxing Day at one of the south east hunts, they can be contacted at PO Box 135, Basildon, Essex SS15 5SA.
Thursday 20 December - Picket of the Home Office in Support of Anarchist Prisoner Mark Barnsley. Starts at 12.30pm, The Home Office, Queen Annes Gate, SW1. Nearest tube St James Park.
Sunday 6 January 2002 - 6.30pm London Class War meeting at a top central London location.
Saturday 26 January - 10.30-5pm - Prison Abolition or More Prisons? A conference on the abolition of prisons and what we can do to bring it about. Conway Hall, Red Lion Square, London WC1R (tube Holborn).
2002 - A Hackney Community Conference, organised by Unison is planned. (Tel: 020 8985 7134) This could be a positive development, especially if Unison restrict political pontificating and sales of leftie rags inside and outside the event! Date to be announced. |
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