Last week 11 people were arrested when 450 cops raided anarchist social centers and homes, mainly in Barcelona. Finally seven of them, five women and 2 men, were denied bail and dragged off to Madrid prisons, on orders of the High Court, notoriously controlled by the neo-fascist ruling PP party in the Spanish State.

There is no real evidence against the seven, (apart from some knuckle dusters and kitchen knives, etc.) despite smashing down doors and holding people (including small children) at gun point face down for up to 13 hours (in the Kasa De La Muntanya raid).

Crònica concentració dissabte per la llibertat dels presxs anarquistes [Sabadell] … Continua llegint →

The police press release said they ‘believed they may’ be connected to the destruction of a few ATM machines in Italian banks 2 years ago. In fact there is no ‘terrorist campaign’ , only last year the state tried to frame up 5 young anarchists for ‘facebook terrorism’ but they were eventually released on bail.

The arrested are activists from a big and thriving ‘occupy’ scene in Barcelona with dozens of autonomous self run centers hosting every imaginable free activity.

Pandora Prisoners Rap

We know these people, five women and two men, they are feminists, anarchists if you like ..It’s the police who labelled them ‘violent anarchist terrorists’ and were parrotted word for word in the servile bought-out media. They thought to brand these excellent community activists, but their defenders instead accepted the term anarchist with pride…

But they are not ‘terrorists’, there is a consensus at present against the idea of ‘insurrectionary anarchism’ especially since the huge and largely pacifist 15M ‘take the square’ movement began. (This tactic has worked, the state has failed to provoke and criminalize the 15M movement and those arrested are usually cleared by the courts, severely irritating the police and PP.)

Núria ‏ @ nuria_sbdll 49m49 minutes ago… Pressumpció d’innocència segons @ elperiodico # OperacionPandora

Until now activists in the ‘Okupa’ movement didn’t usually advertise themselves as anarchists, the important thing is living out anarchist ideas in anti-authoritarian, self managed projects to sabotage capitalism.. But if they want to call us anarchists.. Ok fine!

International Support demonstrations have already been held in Berlin, Melbourne Australia, SanFrancisco, California and in Greece, Italy etc.

Melbourne Demo. https://www.facebook.com/events/304306116435173/

San Francisco Demo http://anarchistnews.org/content/san-francisco-solidarity-action-spanish

Greece Solidarity picket http://barcelona.indymedia.org/newswire/display/492868/index.php

Mexico. Free Radio Communique http://barcelona.indymedia.org/newswire/display/492791/index.php

Berlin Demonstrations https://twitter.com/Montecruzfoto/status/546313703403319296

So we have seen the unusual and interesting spectacle of social solidarity for anarchists, with leftists, nationalists and even middle class professionals chanting ‘I too am an anarchist’ in the dozens of anti gag law demonstrations last Saturday 20th December. (see thread # YoTambienSoyAnarquista ‘I too am an Anarchist’. )

There are various theories about these raids and arrests, the most plausible is that they try to justify an incredlbly repressive new law, the famous Gagging Law, which is opposed by over 80% of people.

The PP party still have a majority and are desperate to divert attention from dozens of corruption cases, including their Party Treasurer and the Royal Family. What their huge repressive State Security machine and ‘bought and paid for’ media really need is terrorists. Traditionally they have used the Euskadi struggle for this purpose.

The GAG Law… (Ley de la Mordaza)

”Here’s a quick breakdown of the financial sanctions the government seeks to impose (and, of course, collect upon) for acts of political protest or disobedience:

• Surrounding a government building: €30,000

• Criticizing or insulting the country, government or head of state during a protest or on social media: €30,000

• Participating in a demonstration that does not have the government’s prior approval: €100 – €1,000

• Organizing a demonstration that turns violent: €30,000

• Participating non-violently in a demonstration that gets out of control: €1,000

• Refusal to show personal documentation (I.D. card, passport) to the police: €1,000

20 anarchist Santas invade Radio Station

20 people dressed as Santas Raided Radio Station in Mataró City in order to read out a demand to Free the Anarchist Prisoners Encaputxa ts disfressats de Pare Nadal entren a Mataró Ràdio per llegir un comunicat contra l’operació Pandora . Later local police arrested 3 people. http://www.vilaweb.cat/noticia/4225219…

• Uploading images of riot police in action that the government considers against their honor, intimacy or the public image of the police force: €100-€1,000.

• Taking part in a demonstration outside a political party’s headquarters on election day: €30,000-€600,000.

• Trying to prevent the forced eviction of a local resident, something that has become common practice among communities in recent years: €1,000-€30,000.

The list goes on and on while the fines rise and fall between €100 and €600,000. For the government, the sweeping new measures are all about “securing public order,” as a prerequisite for “ensuring individual liberty” – a roundabout way of saying that it is instituting a police state to protect itself.

For many Spanish people, the new law is the ultimate affront, bearing disturbing echoes of the Public Order Tribunal that Franco’s dictatorship used to try political crimes such as public criticism of the Chief of State, justice courts and government; rebellion and sedition; public disorder, illegal propaganda, and the discovery and dissemination of official state secrets.”Don Quijones

Attack against the Spanish Consulate, Amsterdam

On the night of the 22nd of December we attacked the Spanish Consulate in Amsterdam. We threw paint bombs and sabotaged their door in solidarity with the people repressed by the fascist Spanish state………………….. Spain is moving towards a dictatorship. It has been a cruel regime since 1939. At times it has been less agressive with its people, but nowadays the fascism that lives in its core is more powerful than ever since Franco’s death.

We hope that this action will inspire you to react against authoritarian regimes and show your solidarity with the people in Spain and with others around the world fighting against their governments.

Fuck fascism everywhere!

The struggle is the only way

Pandora’s Patriarchal Box

Even the name given to the anti-anarchist raids..Operación Pandora.. shows what stupid misogynist bullies the police are, and don’t forget 5 of the seven ‘kidnapped’ are women. Like Eve, the myth of Pandora and her box of evil is a theodicy rife with misogyny. Man is good. Then women comes and seduces man into destruction. You stop and consider it and the femme fatale herself and you realize, “Holy hell, the femme fatale is a majorly sexist stereotype that seeks to blame women while absolving their “victims” of all responsibility.”

Attack on Zaragoza Church.. the non connection

The police and media statements also linked the arrests and raids to the attack on Zaragoza Cathedral last year, with zero evidence. In fact linking by pure speculation to the case of Monica Caballero and Francisco Solar, the Chilean born anarchists imprisoned for supposedly attacking the Básilica as a symbol of the hundreds of thousands of people killed by the fascists with church approval and connivance and total impunity to this day..

But this case is in fact ‘closed’ by the police, and those friends arrested with Mónica and Francisco were found innocent. Still the press all echoed this unsubstantiated link, but what was the point? Just to throw more mud perhaps, the rumour is that the Interior Minister Jorge Fernández Díaz, a fervent neo-fascist, was ordered by his superiors in Opus Dei (still well pissed off about the Zaragoza attack) to attack the anarchists.