Anti-fascists paintbomb fascist pub in Brighton.

[Anarchist Skinhead]

Doesn't look like his mind did the same though
Back to the topic though, whoever did it- well done! Don't worry about naysayers, internet forums are always full of clever folks that know the best

[Olentzero]

How, exactly, are a few paintbombs and spraypainted slogans going to convince the community at large to actually organize themselves and show the fascists they're not welcome? Especially since those directly responsible disappeared as soon as the deed was done. All the neighborhood is left with is the lingering odor of paint in the air and, more than likely, a few muttered comments about how the damn kids need to find something better to do. How is that going to keep the nazis out of that pub and the neighborhood?

...or is your point not to organize the neighborhood against fascism?

[Anarchist Skinhead]

But actions like that don't stop anybody from organising the neighbourhood at all! It is completely different sort of action and it doesn't mean that in Brighton Anti-fascists are only throwing paintbombs, quite the opposite actually.
At the same time it sends the message to the pub- want to host fascists in your pub and make money on it, there will be consequences and you might find that it is actually not that profitable as you think.

[Olentzero]

True, such actions don't stop anybody from organizing, but they don't do anything to organize the neighborhood, either. And if the Brighton antifas are doing both (guerrilla actions and organizing), it's going to have a limiting effect on their ability to organize because people who could otherwise be won to organizing against fascism might be leery of joining the Brighton group precisely because they don't wish to be associated with the paintbombing type of tactics.

Additionally, organizing the neighborhood to do something like picketing the pub around the time the fascists are due to congregate would do a lot more towards hurting the Bell barkeep's bottom line than having to pay out of pocket for paint removal (if it's not covered by his insurance, that is). Plus if the cops break up the picket - there's the bonus of anti-cop sentiment among the larger community. More organizing potential!

[Tim Finnegan]

Of course, everybody knows that we beat fascism by selling loads of papers, making arrangements with the police and shouting "narzis" at the edl from behind the safety of the police cordon, following glorious UAF leadership

What is with this whole "hierarchy of anti-fascism" stuff on the left? The UAFers look down on the non-confrontational liberals, the AFAers look down on the UAFers, the RAers look down on the AFAers.. Is there someone at the top of the tower who, I don't know, breaks into Nick Griffin's house every Tuesday and sets fire to the bed?

[Anarchist Skinhead]

the AFAers look down on the UAFers,

Its painful experience my friend
@Olentzero- while some of the stuff you say/write has certain merit to it, you are far away and don't know the local situation very well, yet you seem to be totally sure how things work here and what is the best solution- unless of course I am reading it wrong , in which case I apologise

[Quail]

I think its fairly obvious that if the EDL are in a pub and some people paintbomb it its probably not a random act of vandalism.

My point was, how do the general public know that the pub sympathises with the EDL and gives them a place to hang out before and after their demos?

depends by what you mean by raising awareness? there had been some posters around that i have seen etc. but no proper action highlighting the role of that pub in fascist mobilisation. Saying that it is only what I know and not being directly involved I might have missed some stuff.

I meant anything really. Any kind of information campaign. For example, activists could have used facebook (or something similar) to inform people and encourage them to tell the pub that their support for the EDL is unacceptable. Flyering, postering, etc. An action like this is pretty pointless unless people who aren't involved understand why it is happening.

[Olentzero]

Its painful experience my friend
@Olentzero- while some of the stuff you say/write has certain merit to it, you are far away and don't know the local situation very well, yet you seem to be totally sure how things work here and what is the best solution- unless of course I am reading it wrong , in which case I apologise

Well, yes, I'm not in Brighton, but I do have experience organizing and participating in anti-fascist demonstrations. One of my favorites was a march in Washington DC to shadow what was supposed to be a march by the World Church of the Creator, culminating in a rally in front of the White House. On the day of the march, some 2,000-3,000 radical and progressive activists showed up to march; as we approached the White House we found out that a grand total of 4 WCC fascists had showed up at the staging point and, clearly having heard about what was waiting for them, called the whole thing off. They ended up being sued by the city for misuse of funds because they'd arranged for a police escort and everything. That was sometime in the late 1990s, if I remember correctly, and there hasn't been a hint of open fascist activity in DC since.

So no, perhaps I don't know every last detail of what's going on in Brighton, but I have a damned good idea of what works.

[PhoenixAsh]

I like the action. But without content its useless. Both are needed to make an actual impact. Both the literature and the arguments.

Without it it would be just another attack on just another shop...or even interpreted as trying to stiffle "freedom of speech" (the horror of it all...ieee) by the neighborhood population....or be completely ignored.

Imagine what would happen when the next day a flyer was distributed defending the action and explaining it...some would disagree but almost everybody would actually be forced to acknowledge the issue.

[Niall]

Imagine what would happen when the next day a flyer was distributed defending the action and explaining it...some would disagree but almost everybody would actually be forced to acknowledge the issue.

I like the action too but youre right, this could and should have happened also.

[Olentzero]

Still don't agree with the action itself, but I gotta go with the content definitely being necessary.

[Anarchist Skinhead]

Olentzero- I don't see at all how what you described has ANYTHING to do with Brighton and the action itself. So I am not sure if you know "pretty damn good how IT works". Not convicing so far
As for the action- i have seen some posters in the area before , thousands of locals also had seen dozens of fash in the pub on the day and their flags all over it, so i reckon if somebody would have seen it paintbombed, they would figure it out why it happened. For those more inquisitive its always possible to find the message on indymedia as well. Perhaps there were some leaflets/posters in the are as well, i have no idea. It just strikes me as ...lets say strange at the very least.. that everybody not even from anywhere close to Brighton has so much to say about this action. To me personally not every action, especially so small like this , has to be widelly explained everywhere possible becasue lets face it, main idea was obviously to pass on the message to pub owners/landlords.

[Olentzero]

Olentzero- I don't see at all how what you described has ANYTHING to do with Brighton and the action itself.

Oh, I don't know, perhaps organizing members of the community against an unwanted fascist presence?! Brighton's not some special place where community organizing tactics don't function. Lessons learned elsewhere can be applied here.

[Decolonize The Left]

There's nothing wrong with this action. It's neither the most useful nor the least productive, it's simply another anti-fascist action and all anti-fascist actions contribute towards the battle.

I'm not going to dance at my laptop because it happened, but I'm also not going to hate on it because it wasn't something else. Everything contributes and is useful in some way.

- August

[Sam_b]

all anti-fascist actions contribute towards the battle

Wow. All antifascist actions (legit and 'so called') have got to have at their very basis a class understanding of the issue and posess a stragegy of awareness and community-building within the larger class itself. Squadism does not work as a long-term strategy.

[Decolonize The Left]

Wow. All antifascist actions (legit and 'so called') have got to have at their very basis a class understanding of the issue and posess a stragegy of awareness and community-building within the larger class itself. Squadism does not work as a long-term strategy.

I never claimed it was a long-term strategy, nor would I. What I am saying is that you (nor I) understand the simple impact of paintbombing a fascist pub. It could result in infuriating some guys, it could result is further solidifying their support for one another, or it could cause one guy to wonder how many people actually support what he's doing... we don't know.

What it does demonstrate is resistance. Is it petty? Yeah, for the most part. But it's still resistance and I'm not going to crap on the way someone resists fascists because it's not academically intelligent or my kind of long-term strategy. Doing this would be counter-productive. Better to express simple support and attempt to elevate this form of resistance into something more effective and long-term, no?

- August

[RedSunRising]

Have these antifascists been raising awareness about this pub and its support of the EDL/ENA as well as paintbombing it? To someone who doesn't know much about the situation, this could just seem like a random act of vandalism.

Sometimes the point of actions is terrorizing reactionaires as opposed to propaganda work.

Heres to those who done it!

[CommieTroll]

Fuck the islamophobes but I wouldn't show support for defacing someone who probs doesn't even support the EDL's property, or am I wrong?

The owner of the pub obviously knows his regular customers and is probably happy for the trade but reguardless of that he is responsible for giving these fascists a meeting place

[nuisance]

Wow. All antifascist actions (legit and 'so called') have got to have at their very basis a class understanding of the issue and posess a stragegy of awareness and community-building within the larger class itself. Squadism does not work as a long-term strategy.

They ain't mutually exclusive, and the only people that assert this false dichotomy are Trots that attribute new 'ism's left right and centre. What jokers!

[Anarchist Skinhead]

well, he is a Trot