NATO protestes in Strasbourg

[bellyscratch]

There doesn't seem to be as much in the news or on here about the protests going on in Strasbourg.

I just searched through the guardian website and all I found was a journalist using twitter
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2009/apr/04/protest-france-nato

and here are some pics that have been linked from that page
http://twitpic.com/2t6wp

Does anyone have any more info or pics?

[bellyscratch]

Some more pics here
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/in_pictures/7983335.stm

Video here
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/7980518.stm
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/7980070.stm

[An archist]

Apparently, the police blocked 2 bridges, preventing people from going to the place where the demonstration was supposed to start, riots erupted and the police immediately responded with loads of tear gas canisters.
Around 5000 people attended the actual demonstration wich lasted for about half an hour, then it was boxed in and shot apart with tear gas.
The police didn't differentiate between rioters and peacefeul protesters, everyone got their share of teargas.

dutch report: http://www.indymedia.be/fr/node/32526
pictures: http://www.indymedia.be/fr/node/32531

[An archist]

Some more pictures:
http://www.indymedia.be/en/node/32545

[Enragé]

The police used teargas from the get go. No warning was given. The first time I saw the cops (around 4.30 am) they shot teargas straightaway and continued to do so throughout the day.

Let the following be clear: THE RIOTS WERE A RESPONSE TO POLICE AGGRESSION not the other way around. Also, the type of teargas used contained pepperspray, making your skin burn. Only once did i see a cop from closeby: we peacefully pushed the police line back, the response was telling: teargas fired straight into the crowd.
This all happened near a bridge where at the other side the big demo was to be held. I must commend the black block for fighting for three hours in a cloud of teargas, with percussion grenades fired at them, thus making it possible for us to cross the bridge. Peaceful protesters (of which i was one), continually tried to advance towards the police line, but HUGE amounts of teargas prevented us from getting there en masse. In the end, as i see it, the fighting spirit of the black block and peaceful protesters made clear that they wouldnt be able to lock us in without continuous harassment, continuous resistance, and so they decided to give us the way. Throughout the day I was gassed over 10 times - they were using teargas to make up for the obvious fact that the jackboot of the state will always be outnumbered by the rage of the people.

Dozens of buses of the CGT (big union in france) and Die Linke (radical left party in germany) were kept outside of the city, and in response apparently a border post was burnt to the ground. Preventing the mass organisations from attending meant that the demo itself wasnt that big; the total amount of protesters in and around strasbourg was about 30.000. Organisations present included everything from the newly founded NPA to the greek SEK to various anarchist organisations, to ofcourse the usual hippies

YESTERDAY WE SHOWED THE STATE THAT EVEN IF THEY BANN OUR DEMOS WE WILL STILL TAKE TO THE STREETS IN NUMBERS

let this be the beginning, the end, the next step.

[Mike Morin]

Everywhere they go the leaders need SS & Police Protection.

Then, there are the covert operators...

And like an invisible hand?

The Wealth of Nazions!

What's your GDP?


MM
peu

[Pogue]

Good luck to everyone who is out there, keep up the struggle.

[Mowgli]

Big respect to everyone who was there in name of all of us, fighting or protesting peacefull. My thoughts were with you the whole time.

Thanks

[An archist]

Another clip online:
http://www.indymedia.be/fr/node/32560

[Marxist]

What left groups were there? Anrachists and Maoists?

[Enragé]

Trotskyists, Stalinists, Maoists, Anarchists, the CGT mainstream trade union (though most of their buses were stopped outside strassbourg) and the Linke (radical left, not as a whole revolutionary but parts are) was prevented from being there [stopped at the border]. The newly founded New Anti-capitalist Party was out in force too. And ofcourse there were the usual humanists, pacifists etc.

A very interesting and hopeful thing was that the Black Block walked next to and among the other groups, not as a seperate block behind or in front of us. It really showed alot of unity. I think this was because the peaceful demonstrators (including me) had shown that they were willing to defy constant teargas barrages and keep on trying to get to the police lines. We were in this together, each our own tactics, but together, for the same thing.

[Marxist]

Well , on october the next NATO summit is in Bratislava , which is about an hour from my home city , so expect report...

[Comrade B]

Not a damn mentioning of the whole thing in any US papers I have found, searching online though, European papers seem to say it was pretty large

[RaiseYourVoice]

Trotskyists, Stalinists, Maoists, Anarchists, the CGT mainstream trade union (though most of their buses were stopped outside strassbourg) and the Linke (radical left, not as a whole revolutionary but parts are) was prevented from being there [stopped at the border]. The newly founded New Anti-capitalist Party was out in force too. And ofcourse there were the usual humanists, pacifists etc.

A very interesting and hopeful thing was that the Black Block walked next to and among the other groups, not as a seperate block behind or in front of us. It really showed alot of unity. I think this was because the peaceful demonstrators (including me) had shown that they were willing to defy constant teargas barrages and keep on trying to get to the police lines. We were in this together, each our own tactics, but together, for the same thing.

I largely agree with this. I took part in the blockades from the camp in the morning, it was weird to see the police shooting teargas at us without even saying a word. The french police didnt seem to have any interesst in seeing peacefull protest, or for that matter probably didnt want to see any protest at all. After fighting our way to the beginning point of the demonstration the police totally disappeared though. Either they didnt want to get their ass kicked, or they needed some destruction to justify all their violence. Anyhow it was great to have a space free of police and state, if only for 1 hour. People took down surveilance cameras, tagged the walls, destroyed commercials. However the situation turned after the police got the pictures they wanted, some burning buildings. (Which does not mean i condemn burning buildings, though setting something on fire in the middle of apartment houses is pretty dangerous.) Overall the violence wasnt hooliganism or anything of the sort but concious political action (as far as i could tell at least, i cant read peoples minds).

Then the police starting attacking everyone that looked like he/she wanted to protest with teargas while the demonstration started with 10-20 thousand people, luckily many had already gotten used to teargas and knew how to react. (Put sand on them or kick them away) Then in my opinion the organisation did a big mistake, we walked into a small street without any ways to the side and the police blocked the front (where the burning building was. They started shooting teargas from behind so people moved to the front, then they started shooting there too. They were obviously hazarding a mass panic, which luckily didnt happen. In the front people got angry and started attacking the police with stones, fireworks and the like and the police started shooting rubber bullets. Many had already left the demonstration when the police moved the teargas closer from both sides. There is was pretty clear for everyone that the chance to win anything here was over. The police randomly took down people with black clothes when we left, pretty violently and sometimes with pepperspray on close range. On the way to the camp they had controlls stationed checking bags and helicopters up. While leaving the camp the next morning people got checked by the police again and all the political material was stolen. (Yes stolen, they took posters, flyers etc. without giving anyone a protocoll of what was taken or information where it will be taken to or why it is taken)

In the end i would say the protest was succesful in so far that the dominating factor in the news was not what the NATO had to say but that in an imperalist center tens of thousands of people protest against this war alliance and will not be silenced by gas, shock grenades or even rubber bullets.