Workers Solidarity Movement

You can now view the video of the Defending the Amazon defending life from the Dublin Anarchist Bookfair 

The Dublin anarchist bookfair panel on migration, state racism and anti-racist, migrant self organising.

Looking at issues faced by migrant activists involved in left-wing politics including the NGOization and electoralization of the migrant justice movement; confronting nationalism and white privilege within campaigns and the particular types of exploitation and oppression faced by different communities of working class migrants. Also discussing migrant self-organising, as in the Kinsale Road occupation, and strategies for making single-issue campaigns more inclusive of anti-racism organising.

Can we turn the water charge movements away from the self-destruction of taking the electoral route, can we convince people in large numbers that it is on the streets and in conversations with their neighbours that the battle will be won not in the ballot box?

Over the coming months we need to solidify the message of the twin direct action tactics of blocking meter installation and not paying the bills – the message of people seeing themselves as leaders in their communities in terms of having that conversation – ‘I’m Not paying.  You Shouldn’t Pay’ – retaining the many headed monster and avoiding the false ‘unity’ that involves leadership from above being imposed on self-organising community campaigns

March 21st saw tens of thousands of protesters take to the streets of Dublin once more for 3 marches from different points of the city that converged in O'Connell st. This video attempts to give a sense of the huge size of the marches by mixing footage taken from among the marches on the streets with that taken from overhead during the huge rally at the end.

Our coverage started early in the morning on our new Solidarity Times page with "19 buses are leaving Donegal as we write for the long trip to Dublin and the massive M21 protest marches against the Water Charge"

On Saturday February 21st, police in Greece batoned and tear gassed protesters outside one of the migrant detention camps now being run by Syriza. Militant protests both inside and outside the camp resumed last weekend after the suicide of a Pakistani migrant, Nadim Mohammed who had been held for 18 months, released and then returned to the Amygdaleza camp. The news of the suicide broke on February 14th along with the news that another migrant had killed themselves in Thessaloniki police station.

Regime sources are claiming there were only 12 people with a lot or mirrors at the Dec 10th huge water charges protest. And that they were in any case anarchist dissidents with bad haircuts who in no way represent middle Ireland which was safely tucked up in bed.

One of our dissident anarchist types was leafletting the march as it arrived at Merrion Square and doubled up by videoing sections of it . He then took a stroll down a jam packed Nassau street to have a look at the anti democracy barrier before, lured by the singing of Damien Dempsey returning to Merrion square itself . He kept the camera running and has edited together this video which gives a very good idea of both the size and composition of the crowd.

Note there are lots of places where lots of people were that he didn't get to, this is actually just a small section of a very much larger crowd.

WORDS Andrew Flood (Follow Andrew on Twitter )

Hundreds of people took part in an anti water charges rally at the Irish Water HQ in Talbot street Dublin Nov 29th.

It was clear that many protesters are deeply suspicious of the Irish Water company, and who can blame them. Quite apart from their arrogance and eagerness to get our PPS numbers a principal motivating factor behind the imposition of the water charge is to line the water service up for privatisation.

Following on from the rapid spread of Isis in Iraq & Syria Paul Bowman presented an update intended to inform on the contemporary politics of Jihadism and its entanglement with regional and global imperialist power plays.

He starts by looking in detail at the ideological / religious background of the Salafist movements including ISIS and how such movements differ from those of the Muslim Brotherhood / Ikwanite.

Andrew, a member of Workers Solidarity Movement, gave  an eyewitness account with photos of the Gezi park protests and the state brutality against people in Istanbul, where he spent a week recently. Sevinc , an anarchist from Turkey,  gave details of the background of the struggle.

The video is includes photos & video from Gezi park.    Recoded Thursday 27 June, 7.30 at Wynns hotel, Dublin