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Kom naar Londen 26 maart
London calling - 15.03.2011 16:14
Kom naar Londen voor het weekend van 25-27 maart. Op 26 maart staat de grootste demo gepland sinds het begin van de Irak oorlog. Dit keer geen rondje rond de kerk maar directe actie. De felle studentenprotesten, de stadhuisbezettingen, het platleggen van de winkelstraten, met black blocs, book blocs, en bike blocs, en een opbouw van een half jaar aan acties, zal 26 maart de radicale geschiedboekjes ingaan als 'M26'. Komt dus ook. Slaapplekken worden geregeld.
London March 26 information for visitors
It looks like we could have as many as a million people in the streets of London on March 26 for the march / day of action against the cuts. International comrades will be very welcome: we are facing austerity attacks all over Europe and beyond now, and as our prime minister Cameron says "we're all in this together". There will be convergence / sleeping spaces set up for people to stay. More details on contacts etc. for convergence spaces will be sent out in a few days ... for now, a bit of general info if you're thinking of coming over ...
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---The Official March---
The main event of the day is a traditional march organised by the TUC (Trades Union Congress -- or maybe "Tories' Unofficial Coppers"), the big reformist trade union organisation in the UK. The trades unions are organising hundreds of coaches from all over the country, and all
indications are this march could be as big as the million person anti-war demonstration in 2003. However, the TUC is scared of its own shadow, terrified of the idea that the march might turn into effective action, and its stewards are actively working with the police to try and stop this.
The official march starts at Victoria Embankment (by the river) at 12 noon and goes to Hyde Park (a big park) for the workers to listen to speeches from our leaders. Here is the official website with more details:  http://marchforthealternative.org.uk/
---Feeder Marches and Blocs---
There are a number of unofficial "feeder marches" which will leave from different starting points and join the main march. The TUC is not supporting these at all, and there is a possibility of clashes with the police. These include:
1) Student march ("Education Bloc") from ULU (University of London Union, Malet Street (centre of London near the British Museum) starting 10am. This is organised by ULU and NCAFC ("National Coalition against Fees and Cuts"), which did much of the central coordinating for the big student
demos recently. Website here: http://anticuts.com/2011/03/08/march-26/
2) South London March. The South London feeder march starts at Kennington Park at 11am. This includes some migrant groups and the "Radical Workers Bloc", called by the Anarchist Federation and Solidarity Federation (Anarcho-Syndicalists) -- see here:
http://london.indymedia.org/events/7772. As well as local anti-cuts groups from the working class and immigrant areas south of the river.
More feeder marches and blocs: http://london.indymedia.org/events/7176
---Direct Action---
Lots of direct actions, big and small, are likely to take place on the day. See below for a militant call for action (translations coming soon): http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2011/03/475557.html
1) UK Uncut. This is a direct action group focused on non-violent and symbolic actions against banks and shops. They have been very successful recently in getting media attention and a big following. They are planning to shut down Oxford Street (big shopping street) at 2pm. Then after 3.30 they will do another big action at a secret location (coordinated by text message and twitter). Details here: http://www.ukuncut.org.uk/blog/occupy-for-the-alternative
2) Autonomous occupations. One of the most militant aspects of the recent activity in the UK has been the wave of occupations which has spread from universities to buildings all over the city, including, e.g., the mansions of Guy Ritchie and Saif Gadaffi. Occupation is likely to be one of the main focuses for direct action on March 26th. Many activists involved in the occupations movement are calling for affinity groups to organise and take new buildings near the march route as well as shutting down roads, train stations and more. The occupations movement will also be involved in providing convergence spaces.
3) Some more "fluffy" (less confrontational) carnevalesque stuff is being organised by the clique around Professor Chris Knight, a controversial clownish figure on the London activist scene. They are planning to camp on Hyde Park overnight after the rally, to hold parties at five locations around the city in the shape of a pentagram, and to storm London with a giant wooden horse. Note though that many people think these ideas are silly. More details here:
http://www.battleofbritainmarch26.org/march26/Site_Guide.html and
http://www.resist26.org/
---logistics---
Green and Black Cross. This is the new anarchist collective set up to provide logistical support to the recent demonstrations in the UK. On March 26th they will be coordinating legal support (legal "observers" and arrestee support), medics, and kitchens. Website here: http://greenandblackcross.org/
Convergence Spaces. There will be room for all. Contacts and more info coming soon ...
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An alternative callout: http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2011/03/475557.html
UK Ungoverned: a call to action on March 26th.
The TUC has called for a mass demonstration on March 26th against the cuts. We call to make the 26th a day of effective action and resistance.
What they are doing...
This government of the super-rich has declared class war on the rest of us. The austerity plan is a 'shock and awe' assault on the heels of crisis, which aims to finish the job started by Thatcher and Blair and dismantle the post-war welfare state. They are sure they can get away with it, believing the past 30 years have erased all traces of community and solidarity and turned us into atomised consumer sheep walking ourselves into the slaughterhouse.
What we are doing...
The world is changing: but it's not turning out the way they hoped. In the UK in the last few months we have seen an unpredicted explosion of rage, action and creativity by students, youth, and the wider anti-cuts movements. Since Millbank we have occupied buildings, outmanoeuvred riot police and swarmed through the streets of London, setting corrupt politicians and compromised union bosses scurrying. Each day the movement gets smarter, stronger and more infectious.
What the world is doing...
Like the European youth movements, the firestorm raging across the Arab world was inconceivable a few short months ago. Like our youth movements, these have been decentralised uprisings inventing new tactics and technologies as they go. The rumbles of rebellion are being heard in the streets of Beijing and are shaking the foundations of the house of Saud. This is not a conspiracy organised by Al Qaeda or any other fantasy enemy. This is us, angry and creative.
What you can do...
The 26th is set to be a turning point: it's time to spread the new energy and tactics beyond the youth to workers and to all who will stand and fight. We will be together in the streets in our numbers. The TUC bosses, collaborating with the police, plan to make this just another pointless march. We won't let this happen: we will refuse all attempts to restrain our demonstration, our energy, our struggle.
In Cairo and Benghazi we can find clues for the next steps here. This is for real: it's time to move beyond symbolic protest to material action. Blockade the economy, disrupt the supply chain, stop production and consumption. Make new maps, identify weakpoints, strike, occupy or hit and run. Get together, prepare, organise, build solidarity. Keep each other safe. And get ready to bring down government. There's no going back. We can make a new future.
Please sign and/or circulate this call-out. Or change it. Or make a new one.
some anarchists
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