Workers Solidarity Movement

In the wake of this week's violent eviction of a squat in London, the state propaganda offensive is in full swing to intimidate and criminalise any opposition to the their savage anti working class agenda. Their divide and conquer strategy has been given an added boost by the organisers of this Saturday's march in Belfast city centre.

In response to yesterday’s Irish News (Mon 20 May 2013) front page article, “Police to Occupy hundreds of vacant premises in Belfast during G8”, the Workers Solidarity Movement condemned security forces scaremongering in the media.

The 34th G8 summit took place in Japan July 7th to 9th 2008. Andrew Flood interviewed Diane K. a member of the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) and the (US) Northeast Federation of Anarchist-Communists (NEFAC) who traveled to Japan from New York to take part in the summit protests and counter summit.

Go Hirasawa mobilizes against the G8-summit in Japan with the group „No G8! Action“. He is lecturer of film studies at the Tokyo University and a media activist. Very recently, he has coordinated the retrospective of the Japanese director Koji Wakamatsu at the international film festival Berlinale.

(Translated from japanese, via german it give a a bit of insight inrto the state of play in japan at the moment)

In July 2008, heads of the states that monopolize two thirds of earth’s
wealth will gather at Toya Lake in Hokkaido Japan. Although the
so-called Group of Eight does not have any legitimate right for deciding
planetary affairs, they have self-appointed themselves world rulers. Thus
the G8 has driven neo-liberal globalization at the same time as
spreading poverty, violence, hatred, segregation, and environmental
destruction.

A member of the WSM travelled to the protests against the G8 in Heilegendamm, Germany July 2007. He reports on the actions that were taken and then on his arrest and mistreatment.

The Build-Up - 2nd June 2007

We travelled to Rostock on one of the 30 buses going from Hamburg. When we arrived the city was awash with people and also a gargantuan police presence. We made our way to the starting point of the rally in which the anarchist block was due to march, the second rally being composed more so of NGOs and political parties. After an hour or so of boring speeches and the monotone gloom of David Rovics, the march set off.

The situation at present as I sit in the convergence centre is that several large demonstrations have taken place in Rostock and elsewhere and the police presence has been heavy and aggressive.

From 6-8 June 2007, the G8 Summit – the meeting of the heads of state and government of the USA, Canada, Japan, Great Britain, France, Italy, Germany and Russia – will take place in Heiligendamm in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern on Germany’s Baltic Sea. The Summit location is the Kempinski Grand Hotel. As there seems to have been a remarkable absense of discusion, debate and practical organising surrounding this years G8 blockade mobilisations in germany this june, ive attempted to collate some info that may be useful for readers.

In July 2001 after the Genoa G8 summit protests during which Carlo Giuliani was shot dead by police a WSM member and Irish protester Joe Moffat was arrested.  He was held for 16 days during which he was beaten and imprisoned.  On his release and return to Ireland he released the following statement detailing what happened to him during those days of arrest and prison.  For details of what happened in Genoa before these events see Eyewitness account of the Genoa G8 protest written by another WSM member who was there.

Republished to mark the 10th anniversary of the Genoa G8 summit protest these are the recollections of a WSM member about the days running up to the protest and the main event itself.  Ho took part in one of the Genoa Black Bloc's.  It includes about 50 photos taken in Genoa.