Radio

News about Budapest and Copenhagen today (Monday, 21 December) 17-00 - 18-00 CET at Freakuency Decentralized Radio: http://212.117.183.135:8008/listen.pls

Belgrade 6

Human Rights continue to be violated in Serbia, the country that strives to become a part of the EU. With current state policies fueled by money of mafia the European perspective of Serbia is unacceptable.

CASE STUDY: Belgrade 6
On Saturday, September 4, 2009, five* political activists were arrested in Belgrade on trumped up charges. The five, Tadej Kurepa, Ivan Vulović, Sanja Dojkić, Ratibor Trivunac, and Nikola Mitrović, are activists in or associates of the Anarcho-Syndicalist Initiative (ASI), the Serbian section of the International Workers’ Association (IWA). (*The sixth person sought by police, Ivan Savić, was also arrested some days later.)
The arrests are allegedly related to a direct action which took place at the Greek Embassy on August 25. Negligible damage was done: a crack in one window, a tiny burn mark on the facade and a circled A graffiti on the embassy as a act of symbolic solidarity with Thodoros Iliopoulos. The prosecutor however imagines this as an act of “international terrorism” and would like to charge our comrades with such. If the state allows such charges to be pressed, they could be facing 3-15 years in prison.

Members of ASI have clearly and publicly declared that they knew nothing of the action, which was claimed by a group nobody has heard of, Crni Ilja. It is not the first time that authorities have come after activists for no other reason than the fact that they are radical critics of the state. Powerful stakeholders are involved, and ASI activists were on their way, therefore they were silenced and put in prison.

The activist were in prison for several month without being informed about any charges, but in November they were accused in „international terrorism” and the trial took place. ON DECEMBER 7, THE COURT DECIDED TO HOLD THE 6 IN CUSTODY UNTIL THEIR TRIAL. THIS IS EXPECTED TO TAKE PLACE IN SPRING AT THE EARLIEST.

Now solidarity and media attention to this case is highly needed, as the activists are facing serious accusation without proof of their fault. What you can do is at least e-mai a protest letter to high Serbian officials, including the president and prime minister. You can access it here: http://asi.zsp.net.pl/free-the-anarchists/emailpage/
Sample letter from Slovenia can be found here: http://chtodelat.wordpress.com/2009/12/15/free-the-belgrade-six/

RUNNING START screening at the Infoshop

COP15 in Copenhagen

The show is going on! Danish Indymedia is burning!!!
Here are some links:

Climate Justice Action: http://www.climate-justice-action.org/index.php

Never trust a COP: http://nevertrustacop.org/Main/Propaganda

COP15 LIVE: http://cop15live.com/

COP15 Aggregator: http://icop15.org/

System Change, not Climate Change: http://climateandcapitalism.com/?p=1395

LMV: http://lmv.hu/koppenhaga2009

Copenhagen Cops and the Climate of Fear: http://blog.indexoncensorship.org/2009/12/14/copenhagen-cops-and-the-climate-of-fear/

COP15 Demos live: http://www.abovetopsecret.com/forum/thread526185/pg1

Poor nations and COP15: http://www.rechargenews.com/business_area/finance/article201687.ece
12 December, 100,000 protest: http://www.climateimc.org/en/climate-actions/2009/12/12/100000-protest-cop15-police-make-mass-arrests

14 December, Timeline: http://www.indymedia.dk/action_timelines/8

15 December, 196 arrests: http://indymedia.dk/articles/1772


Flickr: #1  #2  #3

XXIV конгресс Международной ассоциации трудящихся

С 4 по 6 декабря 2009 г. в Порту-Алегри (Бразилия) проходил 24-й конгресс анархо-синдикалистского Интернационала – Международной ассоциации трудящихся (МАТ). Интернациональное объединение анархистских профсоюзов было воссоздано в 1922 г. как продолжение антиавторитарного, федералистского крыла Первого Интернационала. Впервые за всю историю МАТ ее съезд состоялся на Американском континенте.

Конгресс заседал в помещении театра «Компания де арти» в историческом центре столицы бразильского штата Риу-Гранди-ду-Сул, раскинувшейся на берегу озера Гуаиба. В работе форума приняли участие делегации от большинства секций Интернационала: Аргентинской региональной рабочей федерации (FORA), Бразильской рабочей конфедерации (COB), британской Федерации солидарности (SF), Национальной конфедерации труда Испании (CNT), Итальянского синдикального союза (USI), Норвежской синдикалистской федерации (NSF), Португальской секции МАТ (AIT-SP), российской Конфедерации революционных анархо-синдикалистов (КРАС), словацкого «Прямого действия» (PA), сербской Анархо-синдикалистской инициативы (АСИ), Национальной конфедерации труда Франции (CNT-AIT), а также наблюдатели от Союза польских синдикалистов (ZSP). Две секции МАТ – Свободный рабочий союз Германии (FAU) и чешская секция – прислали свои решения в письменной форме. В ходе конгресса ZSP был официально принят в состав МАТ в качестве ее секции в Польше. Были получены приветствия от анархо-синдикалистских организаций Перу, США, Австралии и Чили.

Представители анархо-синдикалистских организаций мира встретились в трудный для Интернационала момент. В сентябре 2009 г. секретарь МАТ Ратибор Тривунац был арестован в Белграде вместе с 5 другими активистами АСИ и сербскими анархистами. Им попытались приписать швыряние двух бутылок с зажигательной смесью в здание греческого посольства в Сербии – инцидент, который вызвал чисто символический, минимальный ущерб. Хотя арестованные товарищи категорически отрицают свою причастность к делу, и никаких реальных доказательств их участия нет, судебные власти Сербии обвинили анархистов ни много, ни мало в «международном терроризме», и теперь анархо-синдикалистам и анархистам грозит до 15 лет тюрьмы!

Кроме того, арест секретаря Интернационала на время парализовал международную работу и угрожал поставить под вопрос само проведение конгресса. Пришлось принять срочные меры и избрать специальную комиссию, которая вместе с временным секретариатом и бразильскими товарищами завершила подготовку к форуму в Порту-Алегри.

Неудивительно, что вопрос о «Белградской шестерке» стал одной из основных тем, обсуждавшихся на конгрессе. Делегация АСИ представила подробный доклад о ситуации и перспективах ее развития, после чего состоялась подробная дискуссия. Выступавшие делегаты отмечали, что нынешние репрессии касаются не только сербских товарищей. Дело не только в том, что сфабриковано дело, которое призвано разгромить одну из секций Интернационала. Власти Сербии опробуют сценарий, который может быть в будущем применен против любого социального протеста, любого сопротивления, любой оппозиции. В этом отношении белградское дело имеет характер модели и сопоставимо по значимости с делом Сакко и Ванцетти. Поэтому крайне необходимо развернуть широкую международную кампанию солидарности с арестованными, привлечь международную научную и культурную общественность, правозащитные организации, собирать по всему миру подписи под петициями протеста, пригласить юристов из-за рубежа, направить делегацию на процесс, который намечен на весну. Но самое главное – нужно обязательно координировать выступления и акции протеста в разных странах. Эту работу будет выполнять Секретариат Интернационала. Одновременно решено создать Комиссию помощи заключенным.

Другой темой на конгрессе был нынешний капиталистический кризис с его социальными последствиями. Секции МАТ активно участвуют в борьбе против закрытия предприятий, безработицы, ухудшения условий работы, прекаризации и заемного труда. Делегаты поддержали проведение международных анархо-синдикалистских кампаний. Так, в течение двух последних недель апреля 2010 г. и 1 мая будут организованы скоординированные выступления против заёмного труда. В те же недели следующего,  2011 г. планируется проведение международных анархо-синдикалистских дней борьбы против границ и за солидарность с трудящимися-мигрантами. Решено координировать действия секций в борьбе против ТНК, прекаризации и сезонной занятости, а также укрепить контакты между членами секций различных стран, которые заняты в одной и той же отрасли экономики. Обсуждалась возможность организации символической интернациональной антивоенной стачки. Отмечалась необходимость активного распространения анархо-синдикалистских идей и практики в мире (в качестве одного из регионов, где необходимо организовать подобную работу, был назван Китай).

Делегаты конгресса отклонили предложения об изменении принципов голосования в МАТ и приёма в Интернационал. Анархо-синдикалисты исходят из федералистского принципа «одна секция – один голос» и отвергают принцип представительной демократии, который дал бы преимущество более крупным секциям. Подтверждена антипартийная позиция МАТ: члены партий не могут занимать ответственные посты в Интернационале.

Острым вопросом для некоторых секций является наличие в их странах раскольнических группировок, которые пытаются узурпировать их название или, не имея на то никаких оснований, претендовать на место в Интернационале. В этой связи о поддержке попросил итальянский USI, против которого ведет кампанию отколовшаяся группировка «USI – Рим». Аналогичные проблемы существуют во Франции. Делегация КРАС выразила полную солидарность с итальянскими товарищами в этом вопросе, объяснив, что недавно российская секция столкнулась с подобным фактом враждебных действий со стороны маленькой группы, исключенной из ее рядов за антисиндикализм и этницизм (форму национализма). Конгресс МАТ выразил поддержку секциям, которые оказались в такой ситуации, и тем самым подтвердил их безоговорочное признание.

Решено организовать международный летний лагерь МАТ в 2010 г. в Хорватии.

МАТ выразила поддержку развитию анархо-синдикализма в Латинской Америке. COB (Бразильская рабочая конфедерация), которая наряду с конгрессом организовала различные лекции, дискуссии и культурные мероприятия, пояснила, что положение трудящихся в Бразилии очень тяжелое, и репрессии оказывают
неблагоприятное влияние на независимое рабочее и анархистское
движения. МАТ также решила оказать финансовую поддержку библиотеке и образовательным центрам, которые откроет СОВ.

Параллельно с конгрессом состоялись семинар "Свободный синдикализм в Америке" и общенациональная встреча бразильской COB, на которой присутствовали делегаты от Рабочих федераций Риу-Гранди-ду-Сул и Сан-Паулу, а также групп из Санта-Катарина, Баия и Сержипи; собравшиеся отдали дань памяти прославленному анархо-синдикалисту, историку Эдгару Родригешу, который скончался в мае 2009 года.

В рамках конгресса товарищи из бразильской COB продемонстрировали организованную ими выставку. посвященную истории и современности анархо-синдикалистского движения в Бразилии, либертарного образования и коллективизации в Испанской революции. Ну и, конечно, очень важным и интересным для КРАС был обмен мнениями с участниками других делегаций, с активистами из Бразилии и Аргентины.

Следующий конгресс анархо-синдикалистских профсоюзов намечено провести в 2013 г. в Испании. Функции Секретариата до этих пор решено возложить на норвежскую секцию - NSF.

В целом, несмотря на некоторые трудности технического характера, 24-й конгресс МАТ можно признать успешным. Следует надеяться, что он будет способствовать развитию и распространению мирового анархо-синдикалистского движения.

Source: http://aitrus.info/node/496

Radio Show on Freakuency Decentralized Radio

Today the first radio show about activist life in Budapest is coming out. It will be from 5p.m. to 6p.m. CET on Freakuency Decentralized Radio at http://212.117.183.44:8008/listen.pls

More details can be found here.
You can find the podcast here too: radio 1.mp3.html

COP 15 Demonstrations: 1st Day

12 December 2009. Police broke the demonstration against the COP 15 in Copenhagen with riot vans during the protest. Almost 400 people were blocked inside the trap. Police forced the people to sit down in the middle of the street. Then they were taken away handcuffed and put on to buses.
Today is the first day of mass demonstration in Copenhagen against COP 15 summit that reached its middle. Although the demonstration was peaceful, still, hundreds of people (700-900) were arrested in Copenhagen today after some of the demonstrators threw bricks in police. Several activists from Budapest who went to Copenhagen to participate in the demonstration were arrested today, but they are already released.
More information at: http://indymedia.dk/articles/1526

Human Rights Day

Amnesty International Hungary organizes the Human Rights Day on Thursday, Decemebr 10th in Tűzraktér (Hegedű u. 3).

PROGRAM

16:00-20:00, Tűzraktér Courtyard: Human Rights Galleryí - experience human rights through someone else's eyes
16:00-24:00, Tűzraktér Café: Letter Writing Marathoní - use your pen to fight human rights abuses! Cafe
16:30-20:30, Human Rights Quizesí: How much do you know about human rights? (new quizzes every hour!)
17:00-19:00, Tűzraktér Kiskávézó: Living Libraryí- challange your stereotypes!
17:30: Human Rights Quiz Level 2
18:00-21:00 Human Righs Charity Market
18:30: Human Rights Quiz Level 3
19:30: Human Rights Quiz Level 4
Humana Human Rights Journal
AI posters exhibition in the Couryard
Info Table

Detailed program can be found at http://web.amnesty.hu/amnesty/dec10

Antifa Demo in Budapest

The demonstration against murder of Ivan Khutorskoy and neo-nazi movement in Russia started around 4p.m. and lasted for more than one hour. Ca. 30 participatns, mostly red skinheads (a stream of skinhead movement that celarly opposes any racism and nacism and follows clear antifa goals) and antifa activists, gathered in front of the Russian embassy in Andrassy St. in Budapest. It is worth mentioning that this location is rather close to Heroes' sq. - one of the favourite places of Hungarian neo-nazi gathering.

Some participatns of the demo put the portrait of Ivan and an article about him on the fence of the embassy. A bigger portrait of Ivan surrounded by candles and flowers was put on the floor in front of the fence. The participanss gathered around the portrait and commemorated the memory of the murdered antifa activist who was one of the leaders of Russian red skinheads.

The participatns were holding banners "Szolidaritás az orosz antifasisztákkal" ("Solidarity with Russian Antifascists"), "Skins gegen (against) nazis", one antifascist flag and one anarchy flag. After a while, the participants brought the transparency in Russian "How many more people need to die? Enough!"

Everyone was standing in front of the Russian embassy fence, and there was also police, but there was more police than as if it were for a small demo of 30 people, as there was a threat of a possible attac by Hungarian neo-nazis that were indeed circulating around the embassy watching the antifa demo and making their evil plans. Unfortunately, this is the bitter reality that the right for assembly (peaceful demonstration) needs to be protected by police in Hungary.

The passers by were generally interested, and some even stopped to ask what was going on.
This demonstration was an important step to raise awareness of people in Budapest about neo-fascism threat and movement in Russia, as well as to express solidarity with Russian antifa activists.

For the rest of photos >>click here.

Antifa Demo

At 16-00 on 5 December 2009 a solidarity demonstration that commemorates Ivan Khutorskyy will take place in front of the R u s s i a n embassy in Budapest. Ivan Khutorsky was a Russian antifa activist (one of the red skins leaders) that was murdered by Russian neo-nazi on 16 November.
More details about this accident: http://antifa-action.org.ua/node/113
A summary of solidarity actions in Ukraine: http://antifa-action.org.ua/node/124
and Russia: http://www.antifa.ru/3483.html

Anarcho-Syndicalist Presentation at the Infoshop

Education is not for Sale

On 30 November a group of activists appeared in the park near Petöfi bridge in order to protest against commercialization of education. The location was not chosen randomly, as this park is on a way of students from tram 4 and 6 stop to ELTE.
At 8 the action began as two activists took the transparency with the words 'Education is not for sale' in English and Hungarian of it. They were standing just in the middle of the road from the tram stop to the university so that all the students and teachers who were going to the university could see the transparency. As the studies start at 8-15 a.m. and 8-30 a. m. accordingly, around 400 students and teaching stuff saw the transparency.
Most of the students were in a hurry, but some stopped on their way to ask for the reasons of this small action. There were also several professors that got interested in this action as they had negative attitude towards commercialization of education, as well as implementation of Bologna system in Hungary. The most interesting experience was the question by one of the professors about the reason of the action: "Who wants to buy the university?"
Overall, it was a successful action and hopefully it made students think about the system of education and their place in it. Moreover, if there is such an action, this means that not everyone is satisfied with the current state of arts in higher education system in Hungary, but not many people can do anything about it, or even express their concerns openly to the public. Hopefully, this situation will change in the future, and Hungarian students will start learning how to fight for their rights.

On a way to BREAD and CIRCUSES. Crisis Edition

The Workshop "On a way to BREAD and CIRCUSES. Crisis Edition" takes place from the 4th of December 2009 until the 6th of December 2009 in Tűzraktér, Budapest. It is organized by Art Sector Foundation, Budapest within crisis_mania project about alternative ways of living during crisis.
With the support of Embassy of Czech Republic and Czech Center in Budapest.

The system is experiencing its crisis that is affecting each and everyone nowadays. At such times people will start thinking about satisfying their basic needs like finding food and ensuring they have a place to live. In order to find food, people need to move, change their locations, they NEED TO TRAVEL. Usually, the people need to travel within their cities or towns.
After people find food (BREAD), they will need CIRCUSES, and for that they will need to travel outside their cities or towns. The reasons for traveling outside the cities/towns can be, of course, various, and it can be disputed whether traveling is a basic need of human being or a luxury.
The fact is, that during crisis people tend to travel less, just because they think it is too expensive.

This workshop will discuss alternative ways of TRAVELING inside and outside cities/towns, we will discover how TRAVELING can exist outside the rules of the current system, and which practices are the best. We will emphasize eco-friendly nature of alternative ways of TRAVELING, as well as compare the situation in Hungary, Slovakia and Czech Republic with regards to TRAVELING.

The topics covered by this workshop are:
- Hitch-hiking;
- Public transport;
- Bicycling and Critical Mass movement;
- Ecological ways of traveling.

The PROGRAM of the workshop:


Friday, 4 December (Tűzraktér, Infoshop): Welcome Day
18-30 - 20-00: Dinner + introduction round
21-00: PASO Concert at Dürer kért

Saturday,  5 December (Tűzraktér, 3rd floor): City, Ecology & Transport Day
10-00 - 11-00: Expectations, experiences
11-00 - 12-00: Ecotopia Bike Tour (http://www.ecotopiabiketour.net)
12-00 - 12-15: Coffee Break
12-15 - 13-00: Discussion on Bicycling and Biking Tours
13-00 - 14-00: Lunch
14-00 - 15-00: Film about Critical Mass + discussion about Critical Mass movement in Visegrad countries
15-00 - 16-00: Short films about public transport, city, bikes and alternative transportation within a city in general
16-00 - 16-15: Coffee Break
16-15 - 18-00: YOU and the CITY: Public transport, pedestrian rights, alternative travel in the city, ecological aspects of city. Presentation & interactive play 'design your city'.
18-00 - 18-15: Wrap-up
18-15 - 19-00: Dinner
19-00 - 20-00: Film about crisis in Cuba
20-00 - ...:   Birthday party of Bike Kitchen

Sunday, 6 December (Tűzraktér, 3rd floor): Hitch-hiking Day
10-00 - 10-30: Expectations round
10-30 - 11-45: Hitch-hiking in Asia
11-45 - 12-00: Coffee Break
12-00 - 13-15: Changing the world without taking power: Hitchhiking
13-15 - 14-15: Lunch
14-15 - 15-15: Hitch-hiking: Pitfalls, caution, self-defense, creative solutions: simulation game
15-15 - 16-30: Psychology of hitch-hiking & cultural experiences
16-30 - 16-45: Coffee Break
16-45 - 17-45: Wrap-up



See you there!
In case you want to participate, please, drop a line at mojito@riseup.net

Buy Nothing Day

On November 25 around 30 activists celebrated 'Buy Nothing Day' in Budapest. 'Buy Nothing Day' is an international day of anticnsumerism that is celebrated all around the world. On this day activists and supporters express their protest against capitalist world and in particular it's consumerism oriented approach. Moreover, people are encouraged to 'unshop' and 'unspend' the money on such a day.

The selection of 27-28 November is not random as these are one of the busiest shopping days in the entire year in the consumerism heaven of the US and Canada. As this day is usually celebrated on a Friday after American Thanksgiving in North America and the following day internationally, in 2009 the dates are November 27 and 28 respectively. This day was founded by Vancouver artist Ted Dave and subsequently promoted by Adbusters magazine, based in Canada.

Modern capitalist world encourages people to buy in different ways, starting from fashion shows and TV advertisement to success in the society due to the success in buying more and better things. The wwhole capitalist machine works in a way that the things people buy are not good enough or are simply out of fashin in a very short period of time, so that people need to throw them away creating additional piles of garbage and polluting the planet, and buying new and more trendy things that will be thrown away soon too. Therefore, it is important for public to show it's disagreement with the current system that fuels the fire of consumerism and also overconsumption.

In Budapest the celebration was held at TESCO in Fogarasi ut close to Pillango u. metro station. The action started at 22-00 and lasted for 20 minutes. First, the people with empty shopping carts were going around TESCO and afterwards everyone made a long line at the same cash desk with these empty shopping carts. As there were 30 people, it was quite a long line. Other people who came to buy things at TESCO, security and shop assistants were a bit surprised and they did not show great interest, but their attitude was al least neutral. At the cash desk the participants of the 'empty shopping cart race' gave the information about this action to the cashier and left.
It was a good action to attract public attention, but next time it should be even more numerous and rather on the weekend so that more people become aware of the pitfalls of consumerism.

A useful link explaining what 'Buy Nothing Day' is about: http://www.buynothingday.org/faq.html

Student Solidarity Demonstration in Kyiv

On 17 November students of Kyiv celebrated their professional holiday with a protest action “Student’s Day. Break the Wall”. They were protesting against the repressive education system and expressing their solidarity with students in Austria and Germany that occupied more than 70 universities.

In front of the main Red Building of Taras Shevchenko University of Kyiv an independent student union "Direct Action" made a performance symbolizing overthrow of the existing education system.

While Pink Floyd music (‘We don’t need no education…”) was playing, the students went behind a screen with the words "education system" on it and came out in similar robot masks. A few minutes later smoke went out from the screen followed by some small explosions. After this symbolic wall representing repressive education fell down and two dozen students took off the masks and displayed a banner with the words "Student Solidarity”.

The Union activists believe that modern education brings to students stereotyped thinking, conformism and competition spirit among the students. Instead, free education should bring mutual solidarity and ability to question things.

The participants of the demo stated: "While in Ukraine the Bologna system is being introduced only now, students and teachers in Europe have already started with her uncompromising struggle. In Austria and Germany more than 70 universities are occupied, and today there are demonstrations with hundred thousand participants in these countries. Also pupils in Greece started school occupation out of solidarity."  In solidarity with European colleagues, the students were holding banners that were aimed to support calls for protests in Austria, Germany and Greece.

"Direct Action" activists also reminded that the International Students' Day is celebrated in order to commemorate the murder of five students and teachers who came to protest in Prague and were killed by Nazis.  "In a situation of total absence of any rights the students have nothing to celebrate!" the participants emphasized that in a situation of total absence of any rights the students have nothing to celebrate.  In their view, the Students' Day in Ukraine should gain its initial meaning as the students’ rights day.

Source: http://direct-action.org.ua/?fn_mode=fullnews&fn_id=114

Solidarity Demosntartion

On November 17 a group of 10 activists and students came to the Austrian embassy to express their support to and solidarity with Austrian students and squatters.
The demonstration started at 10-20 a.m. after majority of people gathered on the opposite side of the street. 

First, we tried to ring the bell of the embassy, so that someone will go outside and take the support letters addressed at the Austrian ambassador in Hungary. Unfortunately, these tries had no result, as nobody came out. Then we started the demonstration itself. We wanted to put the transparencies and banners on the windows of the embassy, but as the embassy building belongs to Austria, and not Hungary, we could not do that. Instead, we were just holding the transparencies and standing in front of embassy. 


At 10-35 the official part started. I held a speech about the reasons for us to gather in the morning in front of the Austrian embassy instead of doing other things. 

Two major reasons were the following:
- Solidarity with Austrian students who occupied the universities to protest against fees increase and discrimination. The date, 17 November, was chosen due to the fact that 9-18 November are the Global Week of Action "Education is not for Sale". During this week a number of solidarity actions, demonstrations and blockades of the universities were taking place all around the world, from US to Bangladesh.  
- Solidarity with squatters from Vienna who were evicted on 12 October from the newly squatted building in Vienna that was supposed to become a new social center.

During the speech some people were going out and in the embassy, and we were asking them to take the letters to the ambassador. At last one person agreed to call some official representative who could take the letters. At the very end of the speech, the door opened and two people went out. The person who was an official representative was friendly, and listened to the reasons for us being there with interest. Then he took the letters and promised to give them to the ambassador. 

After this each of us expressed our reasons of being present at the demonstration. The major reason was, apparently, solidarity with Austrian students and squatters. Unfortunately, we were not allowed to leave the transparencies at the embassy or on the trees in front of it. Therefore we took them with us and brought to the university of Fine Arts where an informal lecture on student occupations and demonstrations is planned on 18 November - the last day of the action week.

Are You An Anarchist? The Answer May Suprise You!

Chances are you have already heard something about who anarchists are and what they are supposed to believe. Chances are almost everything you have heard is nonsense. Many people seem to think that anarchists are proponents of violence, chaos, and destruction, that they are against all forms of order and organization, or that they are crazed nihilists who just want to blow everything up. In reality, nothing could be further from the truth. Anarchists are simply people who believe human beings are capable of behaving in a reasonable fashion without having to be forced to. It is really a very simple notion. But it's one that the rich and powerful have always found extremely dangerous.

Read more...

On a need of ideological background for antifascists (In Russian)

Аполитичный Антирасизм В последние годы в российском антифашистском движении четко прослеживается нездоровая тенденция оттока кадров. Причины сложившейся ситуации в каждом случае примерно одинаковы. Активисты разочаровываются в плодах своей деятельности: количество нацистов в результате физического противостояния им на улицах не уменьшается, а само движение находится в стагнации, в связи с отсутствием новых идей и тактик. Возникает историческая необходимость эволюции антирасистских инициатив. Читать полностью...

D. E. M. O.: Solidarity with Austrian Students and Squatters

Time: 10a.m., 17 November
Place: Austrian embassy, 6th district, Benczúr utca 16 (close to Andrassy)
IMPORTANT: It will be legal and take place for sure. The police allowed to make the d.e.m.o.
Scope: the d.e.m.o.n.s.t.r.a.t.i.o.n.  is mainly dedicated to the following:

1) We want to express solidarity with Austrian students that were and/are occupying the universities in Austria in October-November. This action is held within the "Education is NOT for $A£€ - Global Week of Action" [Nov.9-18th].
http://emancipating-education-for-all.org/

2) We want to express our solidarity with the squatters that were evicted on 12 October in Vienna.
http://hausprojekt.noblogs.org/category/untersttzen
http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2009/10/439765.html

Stencil Workshop

In order to commemorate INTERNATIONAL DAY AGAINST FACISM AND ANTISEMITISM which is on 9 November, Budapest Infoshop organizes a stencil workshop this Monday at 7-30. We will make some antifa and related stencils, but other ideas are welcomed!
Please, bring small cutters if you have them and some pieces of thick paper or plastic sheets, as well as some balloons with paint for practicing spraying the stencils.

9 November: INTERNATIONAL DAY AGAINST FACISM AND ANTISEMITISM

The World March for Peace and Nonviolence

http://www.theworldmarch.org/

http://www.vilagbekemenet.hu/portal/index.php/aktualitasok/566-megerkezettamenet

US Chamber Shuts off TheYesMen.org and Websites of Hundreds of Other Activist Groups

Hundreds of activist organizations had their internet service turned off last night after the US Chamber of Commerce strong-armed an upstream provider, Hurricane Electric, to pull the plug on The Yes Men and May First / People Link, a 400-member-strong organization with a strong commitment to protecting free speech.

"This is a blow against free speech, and it demostrates in gory detail the full hypocrisy of the Chamber," said Andy Bichlbaum of The Yes Men. "The only freedom they care about is the economic freedom of large corporations to operate free of the hassles of science, reality, and democracy."

After suffering embarrassment at the hands of the Yes Men on Monday, the Chamber immediately threatened legal action, then followed through Thursday by sending a Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) notice to Hurricane Electric Internet Services. In the DMCA notice, the Chamber claimed that the parody Chamber website operated by The Yes Men constituted copyright infringement, and demanded that the site be shut down immediately and that the creator's service be canceled.


But the Yes Men are not served directly by Hurricane Electric, but by May First / People Link. And when Hurricane Electric shut down the fake Chamber of Commerce site (now relocated), they also took down the websites of 400 other organizations.

May First / People Link fought back. They immediately "mirrored" the site, and then quickly negotiated with Hurricane Electric to restore service to their other members.

"The DMCA attacks the critically important right we have to effectively comment and criticize institutions and companies," said May First/People Link Co-Director Alfredo Lopez. "It's an undemocratic, backwards law, a perfect example of how the government shouldn't intrude on our lives. But the Chamber was perfectly happy to use it to stomp on the Yes Men's rights to free spech, and the rights of hundreds of other organizations to operate on the web."

The 400 May First / People Link members weren't the only victims of the Chamber's action on Thursday. Today is the start of the national release of the Yes Men's new film, The Yes Men Fix the World. The film is being released in a number of independent theaters - who, not being part of a chain, are heavily dependent on the Yes Men website for selling tickets to the film. The Chamber's actions thus impinge on the ability of these small businesses to turn a profit.

"The Chamber claims to represent 3 million businesses of every size, yet their actions undermined a fair number of small businesses," said Mike Bonanno of the Yes Men. "The Chamber is clearly much less interested in actual freedom, economic or otherwise, than in the license of their largest members to operate free from the scientific consensus." (The Chamber has opposed or refused to endorse a climate bill, the absurdity of which the Yes Men's Monday action was designed to highlight.)

This isn't the first time a Yes Men site has found itself targeted by a DMCA complaint brought by a large corporation. The Yes Men have in the past received DMCA notices from Exxon, Dow Chemical, DeBeers, and the New York Times. In each case, the the Yes Men (represented by the Electronic Frontier Foundation) refused to comply, and prevailed. Even the George W. Bush campaign sent a complaint to try to interrupt service to GWBush.com, in 2000, resulting in extensive ridicule that culminated in Bush's mind-boggling gaffe that "There ought to be limits to freedom."

Sources:
http://anarchistnews.org/?q=node/9976/
http://info.interactivist.net/node/13235

Austrian Universities Occupied: Education is not for Sale!

A number of universities were occupied recently in Austria. The students protest against higher fees for education.
Some information and the video can be found here: http://thecommune.wordpress.com/2009/10/28/the-battle-for-free-education-begins/

And here is a message from Mo Gas I have got recently:


Dear all,

I am part of the student representative body at the Philipps University in Marburg and initiator of the independent platform "International Student Movement" (ISM).
It is great to see this group grow and reaching almost 5.000 members within just a few days.
Please keep inviting people. It inspires the occupiers and helps to spread the global perspective of the struggle.

--- BREAKING NEWS ---

University of Vienna (Austria) is occupied
University of Graz (Austria) is occupied
University of Klagenfurt (Austria) is occupied
University of Linz (Austria) is occupied
Academyof Fine Art in Vienna (Austria) is occupied
Technical University of Graz (Austria) is occupied
Technical University of Vienna (Austria) is occupied

Demonstrations are scheduled to take place across the country today [28/10].
_________________________________

We have a VERY unique situation right now:

Protestes are spreading across Austria, groups are preparing protests across Germany [esp. on Nov.17th], Italy [esp. on Nov.17th], the U.S. of A. [especially on Nov.10th; 2 buildings of the University of California (Santa Cruz) are still occupied], Canada [esp. on Nov.5th], Croatia [to begin soon] and in Bosnia Herzigovina [warming up already].

Further protests are expected in Ireland, Nepal, Bulgaria, Marocco, [f.Y.R.o.] Macedonia, the UK, Switzerland, Indonesia, Spain, Bangladesh and elsewhere in the coming month.

Most of the actions will also be part of the
"Education is NOT for $A£€ - Global Week of Action", which is called for by 60 groups in 24 countries on the independent platform "International Student Movement".
Details:
http://emancipating-education-for-all.org/content/global-week-action-reloaded-nov-2009

We must free public education from economic interests!!

Our struggle for FREE and EMANCIPATORY public Education [and against the increasing commercialisation and privatisation] can only be won, if we unite globally!!

Therefore I ask ALL of you to consider to JOIN the struggle on an international level by joining this Global Week of Action!

Show locally, that this struggle is GLOBAL!!

The infrastructure is there! We just need to make use of it!

Just drop me a line, if you have any questions or suggestions in connection with the ISM or the Global Week of Action.

~ One World - One Struggle ~

In Solidarity,
Mo.

PS: Please also sign & spread the "International Petition for Free and Emancipatory public Education":
http://UNITEDforEDUCATION.org

PPS: JOIN the "United Video Project":
http://emancipating-education-for-all.org/content/united-video-project

PPPS: Consider to join an international "video-conference" on Nov.5th:
http://emancipating-education-for-all.org/video-conference

More information:

Regular updates are here http://emancipating-education-for-all.org/.
see also: http://facebook.com/group.php?gid=163329887062

5 hours ago a message went out "More than 40.000 people protested in support of the occupations and for Free public Education in Vienna (Austria) tonight!!"
http://youtube.com/watch?v=aEmd7wKUVp8
http://youtube.com/watch?v=8eyxv_k4KVs

Anarcho-syndicalists involved in this struggle have an article here http://www.syndikate.at/node/218

other links:
http://www.syndikate.at/
http://www.facebook.com/pages/syndikate/157109460041
http://austria.indymedia.org/node/16008

Anti-Squat Actions around the EU: Fall Edition

AUSTRIA: 2 October: a squat in Vienna got evicted: http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2009/10/439765.html

UK: 15 October: after 5 year of threats Rampart (London) got evicted: http://london.indymedia.org/articles/2587

NETHERLANDS:
On Oct. 15th 2009 the Dutch parliament has passed a new law making squatting a felony. Only the senate still has to vote on it’s passing now. However, with a rightwing majority, odds are effectively january 1st all squats in the Netherlands will be up for eviction. This will mark the end of an era, a carte blanche for the destruction of our social centers and infrastructure. Not to mention the criminalisation of thousands of people suffering from the housing shortage, for whom squatting has always been a legal means of acquiring a roof over their heads. An occupation of parliament square during the voting ended with riot cops charging into the tent camp and arresting about one hundred people. Photo’s can be seen on http://www.indymedia.nl/nl/2009/10/62251.shtml (during the day) and http://www.indymedia.nl/nl/2009/10/62308.shtml (the eviction).

Ukrainian Antifa in Action

Antifa March in Kyiv on 14 October

Вечером 10 октября 2009 года в Киеве состоялся несанкционированный марш антифашистов. Больше сотни молодых людей вышли на улицы с целью привлечь внимание общества к проблеме неонацизма и помянуть честь погибших побратимов. Марш стартовал от „вечного огня” в парке Славы и закончился минутой молчания возле ст. м. „Арсенальная”. Во время шествия активисты сожгли несколько десятков „фаеров”, а в руках несли транспарант с портретами Федора Филатова и Ильи Джапаридзе – убитых нацистами российских „антифа”. Благодаря скоординированным действиям активистов задержаний удалось избежать.

Поводом для акции была трагическая годовщина от гибели „Федяя” (Федора Филатова) – антифашиста, который не боялся открыто выступать против неонацизма и различных форм дискриминации. Его убийство было четко спланировано – 27-летнего москвича атаковали под его домом четверо ультраправых, вооруженных ножами. Последней жертвой неонацистов стал „Голова” (Илья Джапаридзе). 28 июня при схожих обстоятельствах на него было совершено нападение. Получив ранения от ножей и травматического оружия, он умер в больнице. Убийцы до сих пор не найдены. Обоих погибших объединяло то, что многие киевляне из антифа-движения знали их лично.

„Ежегодно в Европе антифашисты погибают за свои взгляды, – заявляют участники акции в своем обращении. – Напрасно ожидать защиты от государства, потому мы избираем путь самоорганизованной борьбы. В то же время мы осуждаем убийство за идейные убеждения”. „Отход от идеалов равенства и братства выгодно лишь тем, кто желает манипулировать; тем, кого интересует лишь собственная прибыль и слава”, – отмечают активисты.

Мероприятие проведено автономной группой киевских антифашистов, не связанных с любыми партиями или политическими объединениями. Напомним, что это не первый в Украине антифа-марш, проведенный без разрешения властей 8 мая 2009 года состоялась акция в Чернигове (ВИДЕО).


Source: http://news.zaraz.org/?n=1284

8 причин стать н е о н а ц и с т о м

Morze Infoshop Event on Carbon Trading

Ecological problems are a part of the system, and therefore the system tries to regulate them. Morze Infoshop is happy to have a guest THIS THURSDAY, 15 OCTOBER at 19-30 who will show a short film "The Carbon Connection" and afterwards we will have a discussion on
* carbon trading and its impact
* UN climate process (what will go on in Copenhagen, why people are protesting)
* climate justice
* current situation in Hungary with regards to carbon trading
Come to the Infoshop at Tűzraktér, just follow the signs!!!
The map: http://morzeinfoshop.narod.ru

Infoshop Event #1 out of Fall-Winter 2009/2010 Series

Today we had an event dedicated to the situation in Serbia, anarcho-syndicalist movement and the Belgrade 6 case. It was the first one out of the series of other events planned for this fall and winter.
After emergency search for an appropriate room at Tűzraktér (it turned out today that the room upstairs we wanted to use was unavailable) we were sent to the basement that turned out to have another room with bike repairing workshop. The Tűzraktér people were very helpful, as they brought us the chairs and an extension for the projector. We made some DIY screen from the Freeshop facilities (yes, there was an old white sheet there and some nice swimming suits) and also managed to install everything by 8.

We had a great presentation and afterwards a fruitful discussion among 10 people together with the presenter. The presentation started with description of orldwode ASI movement, afterwards it came to the situation is Serbia, state policies with regards to different activist groups and minorities (like Roma) and current political situation in the country. Then the Belgrade case 6 was presented, followed up by a discussion about the causes of and possible solutions to this situations.

The overall conclusion was that this case caused more international solidarity (from USA to Australia) and in order to solve it more media attention and international cooperation is needed.
The presentation will appear online soon, so I will add the link to this blog entry later.

Belgrade 6 Case Discussion at Morze Infoshop

More than 30 days have passed since 6 young Belgrade activists were imprisoned, under the assumptions for »International terrorism«. 6 activists are associates of Anarcho-syndicalist organization (ASI, Belgrade, Serbia), a member organization of International Workers Movement. They are the victims of a political prosecution, facing the very best cruelty of the state repression: under the Serbian law, the state has a possibility to keep these people in prison for 6 months without announcing the charges.

Until today, a lot of protests and solidarity actions took place around the world, namely in Germany, Hungary, Austria, UK, Australia, Poland, Slovenia, Croatia, Russia, Bulgaria, Greece, Serbia and Spain.

We are happy to invite you to discover more about the case of Belgrade 6 and take part in the discussion this Thursday, 8th of October, at 8p.m. at Morze Infoshop!

Morse Infoshop and The coalition of anarchist movements of Budapest invites you to join the meeting dedicated to the case of Belgrade 6 and take part in the discussion this Thursday, 8th of October, at the Morze Infoshop at Tűzraktér. The discussion will be held in English.

DATE & TIME: 8p.m., 8 October
LOCATION: Tűzraktér, 3 floor (cross the inner yard, turn left, and go
upstairs. Follow the pointers on the wall). Hegedű u. 3
You can find the map in WHERE? page at http://morzeinfoshop.narod.ru

Free the Belgrade 6! Sloboda za anarhosyndikaliste!

Morze Infoshop :)

Playing around... while some people are away in foggy Albion :)
http://morzeinfoshop.narod.ru/index.html

Demonstration in front of the Serbian Embassy in Budapest

In the evening of 29 September the coalition of anarchist movements of Budapest represented by comrades from Serbia, Slovenia, Croatia and Ukraine, as well as LGBT (lesbian-gay-bisexual-transgender) activists from various countries - Hungary, USA, Serbia, Austria, Russia etc. made a short demonstration in front of the Serbian embassy in Budapest. The major aim was to protest against state repression and governmental policies in Serbia.

The reasons - case studies - were:

a) imprisonment of 6 anarcho-syndicalists in Belgrade:
5, as it turned out later, 6 activists were accused without any evidence in a solidarity action (related to December events in Greece and murder of 15 y.o. anarchist) that took place on 25 August at the Greek embassy in Belgrade. They may get 3-15 years of prison: http://asi.zsp.net.pl/;

b) cancellation of Pride Parade in Belgrade one day before its date:
it was proclaimed that any demonstration is prohibited in Serbia from the date when the Pride Parade should have taken place, although the neo-nazi demo still happened that day.

The demo was supposed to be a short one, as it was not registered.


First, two big transparencies were put on the fence of the embassy


then the info-board of the embassy was covered by flyers (http://anarhobud.blogspot.com/2009/09/normal-0-false-false-false-en-us-x-none.html);


after some messages for the support of LGBT activists in Belgrade were put on stone parts of the fence;


a letter to the ambassador of Serbia in Hungary was put in the mail box together with some flyers. The letter aimed at attracting attention to the cancellation of Belgrade Pride Parade and asking for involvement of the Serbian authorities in LGBT issues and protection of LGBT rights;


finally, the rest of flyers were distributed among the participants (ca. 30) of the demonstration and thrown on the territory of the embassy and around.

This was a peaceful action aiming at attracting authorities' attention to current policies of the Serbian state and calling them to take action and protect rights of the groups that are victims of state repression - anarcho-syndicalists and LGBT activists.

Additional information: http://www.anarhobud.blogspot.com/

The Call!!!

Right to Know Day - September 28th, 2009, Budapest

The Right to Know Day, also known as the Freedom of Information Day is coming up on September 28th. Symbolizes the global movement for promotion of the right to information.
Budapest also celebrates this day in 2009. There will be an action day at Central European University. From 12 to 3 p.m. there will be an informational table at the Octagon, with informational leaflets and a power point.

The aim of having a Right to Know Day is to raise awareness of the right to information. It is a day on which freedom of information activists from around the world can use further to promote this fundamental human right and to campaign for open, democratic societies in which there is full citizen empowerment and participation in government.

Come join us and invite your friends!

HRSI: http://www.hrsi.ceu.hu/
FOIA.net: http://www.foiadvocates.net/es/2009

Freedom not Fear 2009

"Freedom not Fear" 2009 - Protests Against the Surveillance Mania

On Saturday, 12 September 2009, civil liberties activists in many countries again took it to the streets under the motto "Freedom not Fear - Stop the Surveillance Mania". It was the second time these activities took place after the first international action day on 11 October 2008.
The biggest event was held in Berlin, where more than 25 000 people marched through the streets and applauded the speeches and the bands. Frank Bsirske, chairman of the world's largest trade union ver.di, called for a comprehensive law for employee and workplace privacy protection. Patrick Breyer from the working Group against Data Retention (AK Vorrat), which again had initiated the protests, reminded participants of the democratic rallies and events of 1847 and 1989 and called for continuous resistance against the surveillance state. Other speakers included Franziska Heine from the Working Group against Censorship (AK Zensur), who had organized the most successful online petition ever to the German parliament against a recent German law that permits blocking of web sites by the federal police. The event sent a strong signal to the political parties and was widely reported in the context of the upcoming German federal election. At the end of the demonstration, activists from EDRi member Chaos Computer Club were able to film a police assault on a peaceful participant. Public pressure as a result of this has now led to an announcement of the Berlin police that all officers will get mandatory name badges in early 2010.
Other activities took place in Bulgaria, Finland, Italy, Macedonia, the Netherlands, Austria, Sweden, Switzerland, the Czech Republic, and the United Kingdom. Activists had organized a plethora of events, including a full week of activities in Prague; demonstrations in Amsterdam, Stockholm and Sofia; public teach-inns in Skopje (co-organized by EDRi member Metamorphosis), Milano, and Helsinki (co-organized by EDRi member EFFi); privacy parties and film screenings, and much more. Activists in Vienna (from EDRi member Vibe.at) reported such big interest from the population that they had to print 1000 more leaflets on the same day.
Outside of Europe, privacy activists in Guatemala joined the action day this year with a reading event from a new volume of fiction stories about surveillance, titled "stop the surveillance mania".

Overview of Freedom not Fear activities
http://wiki.vorratsdatenspeicherung.de/Freedom_Not_Fear_2009

Press center for the Berlin demonstration
http://wiki.vorratsdatenspeicherung.de/Press_center

Report from activities in Skopje - EDRi-gram: Macedonia: Activities for citizen education about their privacy rights (23.09.2009)
http://www.edri.org/edri-gram/number7.18/macedonia-freedom-not-fear-2009

Report from activities in Vienna (only in German, 12.09.2009)
http://www.heise.de/newsticker/foren/S-Bericht-FSA-Wien/forum-165693/msg-17357119/read/

Source: EDRi-Gram, contribution by Ralf Bendrath, EDRi member Netzwerk Neue Medien

Critical Mass in Budapest. Autumn Edition 2009

Critical Mass on 22 September 2009



The autumn edition of Critical Mass in Budapest takes place on 22 September 2009.

Here comes the description:

On Car Free Day 2009, Critical Mass Budapest will again organize a large scale ride to promote bicycling – one of the most environmentally friendly forms of travel – and to raise awareness about the need to improve cycling conditions in the city. Assembling will start at 5:30 PM by encircling the Budapest City Hall block with thousands of locked bikes. The ride will then begin with a bike lift at 6:35 PM, without any specifically set route, to circle around the Big Ring Road (Nagykörút), and end with another bike lift at 8:00 PM at City Hall Park. This ride will allow participants to travel from the start to the finish in normal traffic, without any streets being closed by the police. Traffic laws will be respected.

DATE: Tuesday, September 22, 2009

TIME:

5:30 PM - Bicycle cordon around City Hall & Kidical Mass

6:35 PM - Ride begins with bike lift, circles around Big Ring Road

8:00 PM - Bike lift at City Hall Park

ROUTE: from City Hall Park around The Big Ring Road (Nagykörút) back to City Hall Park

IMPORTANT: Since no streets will be closed off for the event, people not used to bicycling in the capital city traffic should exercise extra caution: it is advised that they follow the larger groups of bicyclists on a safe route. The organisers also request that participants abide by all traffic laws, including the use of appropriate lights during the evening hours and the avoidance of riding on sidewalks.

Source: http://criticalmass.hu/english

Other useful link: http://www.cyclingsolution.blogspot.com/

A Street Party aka. Kálvária Ball in Budapest

Kálvária Square Ball

When

September 26, from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m.

Where

Kálvária square, 8th district, Budapest

Program

Kálvária Free Picnic: varios dishes made of the dumpster dived food collected at the market

Free Shop: a possibility to exchange clothes and things, bring something you do not need and take whatever you feel you need

Bad Kids Kálvária program

Discussions about life and future among representatives of NGOs, activists and civil people

Dínom-Dánom concert

Come and participate, taste the free food, share your thoughts, ideas and opinions about life and how to make it better!

Details (in Hungarian): http://kalvariabal.blogspot.com/

Political Arrests in Belgrade: Call for Solidarity

ASI STATEMENT

On September, 4th 2009 District Court in Belgrade decided that arrested members of ASI will be held for thirty days in detention. Our comrades are accused of an act of international terrorism.

Union Confederation “Anarcho-syndicalist Initiative” found out about the attack on Greek embassy, and of the organisation that took the responsibility for this act, through media.

We use this opportunity to remind the public once again that these methods of individual political struggle are not methods of anarcho-syndicalism, quite the contrary – we proclaim our political positions publicly and through our work we seek to bring masses to the syndicalist movement and all the libertarian and progressive organisations.

Wanting to brutally suppress its fierce critics the state, through its mechanism of repression, acts with banal logic and maps as suspects those who explicitly stated their libertarian beliefs, and by their imprisonment ends the case and gives a false picture of its efficiency to the public.

Unscrupulous actions of regime’s organs can be observed from the first moments of arrest, unlawful searches of their apartments, intimidations of their families to extreme charges of international terrorism.

Given the fact that we do not support the acts of now famous anarchist group “Crni Ilija” (Black Iliya) we still cannot characterise what happened as “international terrorism”, because terrorism, by definition, entails threats to the lives of civilians, whereas in this case no one was even hurt and only symbolic material damage was done.

It is clear that this state produced farce is just one way of intimidating anyone who decides to point out the injustice and hopelessness of contemporary society.

In times of general social numbness individuals reach for the most unbelievable, sometimes even self-destructive, actions in order to break through the media blockade and to put their case in the centre of attention – let us remember the workers who cut off and eat their own fingers, or, for example, the unlucky, distressed man who threatened to activate a hand grenade in the building of the Presidency of Serbia – that is, trying to shed some light on their problems in a broader social space.

Lets not allow them to persuade us that one symbolic act of solidarity, even if expressed in a certainly ill manner, together with any other act of rebellion of those who are left with no rights should be treated as an antisocial act and an act of terrorism.

We express solidarity with the arrested comrades and their families and demand the truth about this case!

FREEDOM FOR ANARCHO-SYNDICALISTS!

ANARCHO-SYNDICALIST INITIATIVE

Sept. 5, 2009

Anarcho-syndicalist Initiative calls on people around the world to take action now! To get more details, send a protest letter and see the news about the demos or announce a demo in your city - go to http://asi.zsp.net.pl/political-arrests-in-belgrade/

Budapest Pride Parade 2009

This year's Pride Parade in Budapest was calm and rather boring, as fewer people showed up compared to the previous year. Indeed, Pride Parade 2008 was rather violent with neo-nazis and average observers, apparently homophobes, throwing eggs, tomatoes and bottles into the participants of Pride Parade 2008.

>> By the way, this violence is caused by the government headed by ex-prime minister Gyrcsany (who visited the Pride Parade 2009!) as before 2007 and 2008 the Pride Parade was peaceful and boring for the media. <<

The only positive thing about 2008 Pride was high attention of the media and increased security (Not all cops are bastards after all) this year. Not only Andrassy avenue, where the Parade took place this year, but also parallel streets were closed and surrounded by fences. Basically, a big part of central Budapest including metro was closed.

>> The righ to free assembly is a basic constituinal right. But in gulyas democracy of Hungary this right has to be protected by hundreds of policemen and rows of fences. <<

Crowds of people were to be observed outside the fences, apparently not as many as previous year. Moreover, this day was a football match between Hungary and Sweden and most probably most hooligans were already at the stadium by the end of the Parade. The Parade participants turned out to be hard nuts for those willing to attack them, as police was escorting them even after the end of the Parade at Deak sq. and Blaha Lujza sq., as all the participants were recommended to go to Blaha Lujza by metro.
This decision was based on previous year's accident when at the end of Pride Parade it turned out that the participants were trapped because most of neo-nazis gathered at the end point of the Pride 2008, Heroes' sq.

To the Pride 2009 itself: there were a number of groups and individual people from both Hungary and abroad. The opening speeches were delivered by Juris Lavrikovs, Paata Sabelashvili (ILGA Europe) who welcomed the participants and shared tehir thoughts of the importance of the Pride. There were two cars with sound systems, a froup of people carrying a rainbow flag, and a number of smaller groups including Amnesty-Hungary (the yellow group) and the pink-black bloc.

Overall, it was just another good opportunity for queer people to claim for their right for equality and for their supporters to express their solidarity. Hopefully, the peacefulness of Pride Parade 2009 will become a good tradition and the tolerance in Hungarian society to queer people will grow to the level that no fences will be needed in the future.

Long Live Pride Parade in Budapest!

>> More pictures from the Pride Parade 2009 are to be found here <<

>> Hungarian Media:

http://www.origo.hu/itthon/20090905-meleg-meltosag-menete-fokozott-ellenorzes-korlatozasok.html http://nol.hu/belfold/hangosan_tragarkodo_csoport_a_kordonokon_belul <<