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Athens: Bomb explodes outside stock exchange

Human | 02.09.2009 07:01

A bomb, believed to be from Revolutionary Struggle, was detonated outside the Athens Stock Exchange. A woman passing by had minor injuries due to flying glass.

Previously the group had promised to attack capitalist targets. In their last statement sent to a satrical newspaper the group stated that "We need to rid ourselves for good of all the scum of economic and political power so that humanity can free itself from these criminals."


fair play

Human

Additions

A Decent Critique of Armed Struggle in Greece

02.09.2009 13:03

'THE SPECTACULAR SEPARATION OF ARMED "STRUGGLE"

The need to mediate proletarian anger politically, even if it is to mediate it with an armed mediation, was not something that stemmed from the struggle itself but it was something that was being imposed on the struggle from the outside and afterwards. In the beginning, there were two attacks by the so- called "armed vanguard", one on the 23rd of December after the peak of the rebellion and one on the 5th of January, when the resurgence of the rebellion was at stake. From a proletarian point of view, even if these attacks were not organized by the state itself, the fact that after a month all of us became spectators of those "exemplary acts", that had not at all been part of our collective practice, was a defeat in itself. The "armed vanguard" evades admitting not only that they were not the first ones to target the police but also that no "armed vanguard", nowhere and never, has achieved to make the police literally disappear from the streets and to make individual cops not dare carry their official identities with them for a few days; they evade admitting that they were surpassed by the movement. Claiming that there is "a need to upgrade" violence, the so-called "armed vanguard" essentially tries to downgrade the socially and geographically diffused proletarian violence and violation of the law; the latter are the true opponents of the "armed vanguard" within the movement and as long as such practices go on no interventionism of "upgrading" things can find a fertile soil. It is on that basis that the armed struggle allies with the state: both are challenged by the proletarian subversive activity, the continuation of which constitutes a threat to the existence of both of them.

The proletarian subversive activity in the rebellion gained a temporary but not so superficial victory: an insubordination which weakened the security-surveillance state for a month and proved that we can change the power relations. This became possible since the rebels targeted the social relations in which they are forced to live, something that no "armed vanguard" has ever managed to do.

Considering the range and the intensity of all the December events, the state repressive apparatus proved practically weak. Since they had to deal with a delegitimization of the institutions of control and not just bullets and grenades, the infamous zero tolerance became a simple tolerance towards the rebels’ activities. The state counter-attack could actually become successful in January only when it made use of the "armed vanguard" operations: first, on an ideological level, by equating the state murder with the wounding of a riot police cop, thus relegitimizing the police and the security-surveillance state in general, and, second, on an operational level intensifying its repression. They even exploited the place of the attack (Exarchia), presenting the rebellion as a spectacular vendetta between cops and "anarchists", as a grotesque and banal performance staged in a political ghetto.

As the rebellion was dying away, there was a notable proliferation of attacks against banks and state buildings by several groups, which cannot be placed in the same category with the "armed vanguard" "deeds", since most of them do not claim to be ahead of the actual movement (although they do not necessarily lack a voluntaristic, arrogant posture). However, the return of the "armed vanguard" proper with the execution of an antiterrorist-squad cop in early June, when even the memory of the rebellion had weakened, has given militarism and the escalation of pure violence a pretext to present themselves as an attractive alternative to a (small?) part of those who participated in the rebellion, if we are to judge by the political tolerance of the anti-authoritarian milieu towards this action. The limited class composition of the rebellion, its restricted extension beyond the level of the delegitimization of the security-surveillance state and the gradual weakening of several communal projects in the centre and the neighbourhoods –mostly in Athens– led to the flourishing of a separated kind of blind violence as a dangerous caricature of "struggle" or rather a substitute. As certain important subjects of the rebellion were gradually leaving the stage (the high school students, the university students, the immigrants), its social content got weaker and weaker and political identities became again strengthened as was the norm before. The "armed vanguard" violence is just one of these political identities, even in its naive and nihilistic form, appearing in an era of a generalized crisis of reproduction where the state and the capital are unable to offer any social democratic type of "remedies" to heal the wounds of the rebellion. It’s not important for us now to doubt about the real identity of these hitmen with the ridiculous but revealing name "Revolutionary Sect"; what causes us some concern is the political tolerance of some quarters towards them, given the fact that it’s the first time that in a greek "armed vanguard’s" text there’s not one grain of even the good old leninist "for the people" ideology but instead an antisocial, nihilistic bloodthirst. The crisis of neoliberalism as a certain phase of the capitalist accumulation and legitimization crisis seems to lead to a deeper crisis (even to serious signs of social decomposition) and not to any signs of revival of reformism. Even the recent electoral failure of the governing party combined with the high percentage of election abstention (the highest ever in an excessively politicized country like Greece), which was an indirect result of the legitimization crisis that the rebellion expressed and deepened, have not led to any concessions on the part of the state. With all its own limits, the rebellion made the limits of capitalist integration even more visible than before. The slogan "communism or capitalist civilisation" seems timely more than ever. "

From the longer analysis of the recent Greek uprisings - ''The rebellious passage of a proletarian minority through a brief period of time' - by TPTG.

 http://libcom.org/library/rebellious-passage-proletarian-minority-through-brief-period-time-tptg

Alexis
- Homepage: http://libcom.org/library/rebellious-passage-proletarian-minority-through-brief-period-time-tptg


Comments

Hide the following 6 comments

Satire

02.09.2009 09:35

"Revolutionaries" give statemetns to a satirical paper . Now, there's satire.

AH


correction

02.09.2009 10:54

Usually guerilla groups in greece after the attacks send a statement in a newspaper or an internet site, to explain their view and the reason of the attack. It was not a satirical newspaper, it's one of the papers that these kind of groups usually use to communicate with the public.

nope


Additional info - Previous communique of the Revolutionary Sect

03.09.2009 09:37

The critique by TPGP is a typical leftist reaction, it could be written by a communist with their eyes closed after watching the Television, it certainly reads that way, it is unsurprising dogma. It deserves a place on the Libcom website, as they obviously also write a lot about events they don't understand nor participate in, but nevertheless wish to have an dominating leftist ideological influence over.

For social war and the escalation of the struggle.

-------------------------------------


‘Those who remained unarmed die. The ones who don’t die are buried alive in the prisons, in the reform schools, in the cement coffins of the new housing projects, in the suffocating schools, in the newly decorated kitchens and bedrooms, so prettily decorated on credit’ (RAF)

Following the recent visits of the deputy minister of public order Marcoyianaki and the president of Pasok George Papandreou to various police stations for the purpose of raising the morale of the cops, we decided for the same reason on early Tuesday morning to surprise visit a not at all random police station, the one just 500 metres from the prison hell of Korydallos, and attack some random cops. Our goal was to execute them. We knew that around the corner of the police station were situated a special guard and often two or three of his colleagues. For this attack we used a sub-machine gun type scorpion 7.65 mm, a 9 mm gun and a defence grenade which didn’t go off when we threw it at them. Lucky them, unlucky us, next time luck will not be on their side. Our bullets clarify things. ‘Organised urban guerrilla offensive is the only road revolutionary forces can take in order to overthrow the state’ It’s a clear act that doesn’t need much explaining.

Did you really think that we would be talking about struggle without at the same time taking up arms and being ready to give everything to the struggle? Perhaps the fucking pigs in the police who kill with impunity thought that we would allow them to slaughter us like sheep?

In our first act as Revolutionary Sect we targeted the police. Now it is our militant forces against the mercenary army of the regime. From now on every cop’s life is worth the same as a bullet, their bodies a perfect target for shooting practice. No tears for the parading coffins to come. Cops have no name, no age; they just have a rank and their number. And so like the doughnuts they scoff down, they’re no good without a hole in the middle.

To those who ask why we chose some random cops and not some high ranking officer, a big-shot journalist, a state executive or even a capitalist, we reply... their turn will come. Moreover through our act we begin a long term plan utilising the tactic of permanent threat. The bullets against random cops deliver an ultimatum to cops of all ranks. Now every faceless cop should know they may be the next target of the Revolutionary Sect. Perhaps right this minute as he is reading these lines the barrel of a gun may be pointed at him. These are the ‘benefits’ of his job. ‘When you carry a gun you have to accept the risk. However cops want to receive their paycheque without paying the consequences.’ Start giving in your notice or start counting the graves.

Perhaps some are shocked by our cynicism and they talk of a ‘lack of political and ideological foundation’. However we do not feel the need to justify or even explain our action. We are not in politics, we are in armed struggle. In all these decades political parties, judicial and executive powers have exposed the interests of the status quo they work for. The time for analysing is over...

We are already aware of the fact that a few dozens fighters, men and women are preparing to come to the frontline of armed resistance.

We welcome them.

P.s. We are in accord with the fighters of the Revolutionary Struggle in their choice to target the police.

We disagree however in their choice of the battlefield between them and the pigs. A basic principle of urban guerrilla warfare is that we do not attack from the grounds where the diverse forms of resistance develop, thereby transforming them into vulnerable zones of repression. On the contrary we attack the enemy’s impassable ground. In this way we gather our strength and avoid a situation of a police occupation. The second round of the armed struggle has begun...

A hundred flowers blossomed... a hundred revolutionary groups.

Revolutionary Sect

International Solidarity


From RAF to Revolutionary Sect

03.09.2009 11:43

It's no surprise that Revolutionary Sect begin their statement with a quote from the Red Army Fraktion. They obviously haven't learned much from that total disastrous episode in German history. The TPTG critique tries to look at the failure of most spectacular acts of armed struggle to in any way increase the mass social nature of resistance.

It's pointless to slag them off as typically Leftist when the RAF were the worst sort of thrown together Leftism and Third Worldist politics. There's hardly anything redeemable and inspiring in any of the three generations of RAF. TPTG merely point out what is obvious - that social war is a struggle of all for themselves and not a imposition of crap politics and dubious actions upon that struggle.

What is amazing and inspiring around the world about the Greek rebellions are exactly the social nature of the uprisings and the extent of different people involved from young and old, Greek and settled migrant population, anarchists and left-commies. I doubt it will be remembered for some 'urban guerrilla warfare' that thinks that 'a hundred revolutionary groups' would have in any way any effect on struggle than the general day to day struggles that are happening everywhere.'Urban guerrilla warfare' is a militant dreamworld of their own making as is the eventual domain of all those who take on the role of armed militant.

A


Up the RAF - Up the SPK - Up Action Directe

03.09.2009 16:23

It's "Faction" not "Fraktion", you obviously have not learnt anything from the '70s either and I strongly doubt you were even born then, but keep regurgitating the scrap of politics you gleened off the internet.

You might not find anything inspiring from the struggle of the RAF, but I find there are lots of inspiring things from the three generations of the RAF, not least the 1993 attack at the Weiterstadt construction site of a new prison which totally destroyed the building. Also the many killings of capitalists and american military personel were fantastic. The RAF came out of the social movement and surpassed the Left at the time, of which your opinions would form part of. The RAF were not separate but answered to the movement, which was certainly much stronger than anything existing in the UK today, and was still defeated.

It might be unfashionable to be an anti-imperialist red these days but at least the RAF had style, force and a sense of humour, not like all you little fuckwits posing nowadays scrabbling around in the gutter. "Day-to-day" struggle my arse.

Anyway, who cares what you think, the main reality is that the cops and bosses are going to get killed.

Blam Blam!






Internationalist


RAF et al - Blam blam blah blah

03.09.2009 23:32

You can kill all the cops and bosses you like but it won't bring down capitalism. If there was no 'day to day struggle' and only armed attacks on bosses and cops, what would change for anyone in Germany, the U.K, Mexico, Angola, Thailand etc? There's nothing outdated about being anti-imperialist but the kind of tactics and strategies employed by the RAF and others made virtually no difference to anyone's lives in the third world. You could make a similar point about the armed struggle in South Africa in the late 1980's. It was only through a massive of popular and violent struggle of strikes, refusal and absolutely detemined resistance that the apartheid state was undemined. It wasn't the armed struggle campaign of the ANC military Umkhonto we Sizwe that finally won that day.

The1993 attack at the Weiterstadt prison construction site was the only good thing the RAF did and strangely it was out of step with all their other acts such as getting themselves killed and increasing the repression on the different movements that were active at the time. As much as I have some kind of respect for them as comrades I now think they were seriously fucked.

'At least the RAF had style, force and a sense of humour'. They seem a pretty humourless bunch to me. I wouldn't call driving around like a macho guy in a stolen BMW and getting pulled by the cops and arrested after jumping bail very stylish. Then when your comrades free you from a prison visit to a library they shoot the elderly librarian.

Second generation RAF member Margot Shiller's book 'Es war ein harter Kampf um meine Erinnerung - Ein Lebensbericht aus der RAF (2000) paints a picture of how stylish they were with a whole series of tales of how hallucinatory and paranoid the 2nd generation became and how they weren't even very accomplished or successful revolutionaries. She's not even one of those who later went on to belittle they whole RAF struggle or turn into a Nazi.

Rote Zora (once they has split from the Revolutionary Cells) were a bit better than the RAF in that they had some kind of popular agenda and usefulness in targeting big business involved in exploiting women in the third world and attacking the infrastructure that was criminalising and controlling migrants in Germany. They were also a lot more successful at not being caught despite numerous actions.

The best that can be said of European armed struggle was the early Red Brigades in Italy when their targets and actions came out of some kind of mass militant struggle and that were part and parcel of that struggle. By the time those struggles were over and the RB moved into assassination they had virtually no support in the movements. Once again, they had helped bring down massive state repression for their actions where hundreds of decent militants were rounded up, framed and imprisoned. Many remain in exile today.

By the way, I was involved in a support group in London for the 2nd generation RAF hungerstrikers in 1989 against their isolation torture. I was also part of a collective who publicised translations of the RAF communiques right up to 1998 when the RAF gave up the ghost. I don't regret any of that political work but I certainly don't see things in the same light. In fact, reading most of the statements is like wading through mud they're so turgid and arrogant.

Anyhow, since you were speculating on my age and Internet viewing, you sound to me like a young guy with a hard-on for guns but I bet you've never even had one in your hand. For you politics is all spectacle and extreme actions like bombs and shootings but you probably don't even talk to your neighbours or say hello!

Blam blam blah blah

A


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