[Nettime-bold] 'that fury that will shine'

["Lachlan Brown" <lachlan@london.com>]

From: Tiziana <T.Terranova@btinternet.com> 
To: Lachlan Brown <lachlan@london.com>, Tim Lawrence <timlawrence@freenet.co.uk>, Jeremy Gilbert <jeremy.gilbert@ntlworld.com>, Jo - Essex <jentwist@essex.ac.uk>, Ashwani Sharma <a.sharma@talk21.com>, Pauline van Mourik Broekman <pauline@metamute.com>, patricia clough <Stmart96@aol.com>, Andrew Ross <andrew.ross@nyu.edu>, Josephine Berry <josie@metamute.com>, Timothy Bewes <timothy.bewes@btinternet.com>, ian craib <icraib@essex.ac.uk>, Iain Chambers <i.chambers@tiscalinet.it>, Simon Critchley <simonc@essex.ac.uk>, luciana parisi <l.parisi@btinternet.com>, shawn lonergan <baldbeast1@yahoo.com>, "Canessa, Andrew L" <canessa@essex.ac.uk>, Anthony Barnett <Anthony.Barnett@opendemocracy.net>, Marc Bousquet <marc.bousquet@louisville.edu>, Jonathan Burston <jburston@yahoo.com>, "carole@southspace.org" <carole@southspace.org>, domietta torlasco <domietta@yahoo.com>, eammon carrabine <eamonn@essex.ac.uk>, Gaetano Sassone <g.sassone@tin.it>, Gholam Khiabany <khiabag@westminster.ac.uk>, !
herbert pimlott <hpimlott@uwindsor.ca>, Les Levidow <L.Levidow@open.ac.uk>, Annamaria Morelli <morellan@tin.it>, Raminder Kaur <raminder100@hotmail.com>, Silvana Carotenuto <silcarot@tiscalinet.it> 
Cc: 
Subject: 
Date: Sun, 22 Jul 2001 17:05:15 +0100 
 
      

This is a message that just got to me from my friend Betti in Genoa. For 
those of you who might have followed what has been going on through the 
indymedia reports, this will be old news, but i thought it is worth 
circulating. The Italian police, with the authorization and blessing of the 
Italian government, has obviously crossed a very dangerous line, where they 
think they can carry out violent expedition on civilians with no 
accountability whatsoever. The killing of carlo giuliani, and the 
indiscriminate attack on pacifist protesters, have been compounded by last 
night fascist raid on the Indymedia headquarters and the headquarters of the 
Genoa Social Forum movement, where over fifty young protesters, asleep in 
their sleeping bags, were barbarously attacked and obviously very badly 
beaten up by the police. No journalists or MPs were allowed into the 
building while the beating went on, they were left outside to hear the 
terrified screams of the young people in the building. Ambulances picked up 
the injured protestors and drove them to the hospitals, again without 
allowing any witnesses to monitor the situation. The centre (a school in 
normal times) was covered in blood, spots and pools as somebody has 
described it. The news this morning is that many of those sleeping at the 
Centre have been arrested and taken straight from the hospital to jail with 
no legal advice. Berlusconi has promised the police a pay rise for their 
performance (www.repubblica.it). This behavior is intolerable and an insult 
to basic civic and political rights. Do e-mail, fax or write to the Italian 
Embassy in London to show your opposition to political tactics that are more 
than reminiscent of fascist days... 

  The Embassy of Italy 
14 Three King's Yard 
London W1Y 2EH, England 
T: +44 (0)171.312.2200 
F: +44 (0)171.312.2230 
Tx: 051 23520 ITADP 
emblondon@embitaly.org.uk 

For those of you who are in London there is a demo organized in front of the 
Italian Embassy tomorrow at 10 am and 6pm. More info on www.indymedia.org.uk 

This is Betti's report from Genoa 

Sunday morning helicopters still above what are they looking for I wonder 
more blood? 

there were 200thousands people yesterday probably more and no leaders one 
word only echoed in the unreal deserted city: murderers. 

police Friday killed a young man, 23 years old. A 'carabiniere' shot him in 
the FOREHEAD. The minister of internal affairs and the government 
immediately spoke of legitimate defence. Carlo Giuliani, the man killed, was 
armed with an extinguisher. The cop had a gun, loaded, pointed against his 
head. To kill. 

You must have seen the photo sequence of the hand of the cop coming out of 
the police van to shot Carlo. Immediately after he fell the van reversed 
fast trampling his body twice. We only hope he was already dead. 
Berlusconi and the president spoke of the necessity of MORE order in the 
streets, and of their solidarity with all the police forces in action in 
Genova. Their grotesque meeting went on in a city in which the only redzone 
is now the abnormal calm little square where somebody's blood will stain 
forever this city, this movement, this protest. 

Yesterday it was the day of the huge authorised demo. The police brutally 
cut the demos in two and for hours threw teargas on the protesters who were 
all pacific. I was at the start of the second part of the demo surrounded by 
pacifists of all sort, there were many very recognisable flags, green, 
environmentalists, old communists, trade unionists, people on wheelchairs, 
kids, nobody was armed, it was utterly pacific, nevertheless the police 
threw teargas to push everybody back and did not allow the meeting with the 
other huge group ahead. 
In the middle of the two branches of the demo, the infamous few dozens so 
called 'black bloc', destroyers, violent, urban fighters with molotov, 
stones, sticks. Everywhere they passed the city has been tore apart, shops 
looted, petrol stations and banks destroyed, cars burned, barricades 
erected, glass smashed, fire and chaos. They even attacked Genoa Social 
Forum HQ, the committee that organised the antig8 protest and that collects 
all sort of protesters. 
Police did nothing to isolate the responsible of the more evident violence, 
while they used all their power to stop and arrest protesters who were 
trying to reach Genova. What really happened and many witnessed it, was that 
police stood back to watch looting+destruction only to attack the mass of 
pacific protestors who were following and this happened both Friday and 
Saturday. Witnessed report of suspicious collusion between people in black 
and the police forces. There are pics of people in black taking a break from 
throwing stones and finding shelter among the police, as well as some of 
them coming out of the police station, also cops dressed in black and 
disguised as protesters. 

There is a history of institutional forces operating in this way to increase 
the social+political tension, to have the pretext for tighter measures of 
repression and we know how close can be this 'strategy of tension' with a 
fascist government. 

Forget any appearance of democracy: Italy is again in the grip of a fascist 
regime. One that legitimate the public execution of those who claim the 
right to protest, to disobey, to say no. There were so many tears in the 
streets and only few of them were because of the teargas. People is 
angry+sad. Very angry+very sad. 

These Genova days must mark a threshold in the anticapitalist 
antiglobalization movement and not only because of its first victim, but 
because of the sudden shift in awareness these events caused. First of all, 
the awareness that the movement is strong, and what the state, the organised 
transcapital, and their armed guardians really fear is not a tiny group of 
masked vandals but the immense multitude of people in the streets who do not 
agree with this political situation. They will try to use black bloc as the 
responsible, the scapegoat and the ultimate culprit for their actions of 
aggression and violence against the people, but it will not work. 

This awareness of strenght despite the blood is spreading fast and furious, 
everywhere, from the teenager of the social centres to the old genovese men 
and women who were helping protesters opening their doors during the police 
assaults, and that with no hesitation connected these days with their 
memories of nazi occupation and brutality. This awareness is here spreading 
fast and furious, among the anarchists, whose name is constantly associated 
with the worst of violence, the pacifists with their hands painted white and 
raised up, which didnšt save them from the police batons, the drop the debt 
activists, the environmentalists, the women, the refugees, the Kurds, the 
migrants, the greens, the anti-hiv, the autonomen, the communists, the free 
spirits, the 'loose dogs', well everybody who was here regardless of their 
flag and their grouping. 

But awareness on its own is not enough. Talking with other people at the 
meeting point of Indymedia, which was in the night assaulted by the police 
searching for the black bloc, the main thing emerging is really how to 
negotiate forms of collective action able to address violence in its 
senseless and gratuitous forms. This is not an easy task. The Bern activist 
I was talking with and myself ended up debating testosterone and male 
education by women as a root action to channel violence, but really it is as 
much about solidarity and testing communal living and action. 

I leave with a great sadness in my heart, because somebody was killed and 
the 8 most revolting people didnt even have the dignity to suspend their 
lavish dinners, and I will not be able to look at my city in the same way 
after thsi. But also I have a great fury in my soul, of that kind that can 
move rocks and achieve the impossible. That kind of fury that wants action, 
direction, and great focus, that fury that will shine and find its action, 
direction and focus even more if togehter with other similar furies. 

love to all of you 
be 


betti marenko 

> 
 
 
 
 

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