>From nyt%nyxfer@igc.apc.org Sun May 2 19:42:57 1993 Date: Thu, 01 Apr 93 23:53:33 EST From: NY Transfer News To: act%nyxfer@apc.org, actpub%nyxfer@apc.org, activ-l%nyxfer@apc.org, rc%nyxfer@apc.org, rcpub%nyxfer@apc.org, rc%tbbs@apc.org, smp%tbbs@apc.org Subject: Autonomedia:EURO-RACISM Via NY Transfer News Collective * All the News that Doesn't Fit from Autonomedia The following came to us from Contra Flow, a publication of the European Counter Network(London) (ECN) Contra Flow c/o 56a INFOSHOP 56 Crampton St., London SE17 UK EURO RACISM Racism In Europe What follows is a very shallow summary of some events in Europe in the last three months. It would be impossible for us to cover every proposed change in European country's Asylum laws, electoral gains for far right parties, fascist attacks, etc. There is simply too much happening in too mant towns for us to keep up with. It's difficult to balance out the resistance to racism and fascism with the overwhelmingly bad news about the far-right's successes but all we can say is that there is a hell of a lot of fightback going on that will remain by it's nature under and unreported. France 22 year old Mohammed Bahir was shot dead by the cops in the Vaulx-en-Velin suburb of Lyon in France whilst allegedly driving a stolen car. Following the killing, 200 youths stoned the police station and battles between Arab youth and the police lasted for three nights. This is almost a repeat of two years earlier when the police killed an Arab youth in Vaux-en-Velin in Oct.90 resulting in widespread revenge rioting. In December 92, a 17 year old North African was also shot dead following a car chase by the police in the southern French city of Beziers. The police claim the gun went off accidently and the cop has been charged with manslaughter. Angry clashes followed between North African youth and police. In February 1989, Maria-Jose Garnier shot dead Ali Rafa, a 23 year old North African youth after he had stolen croissants from her bakery. During her court case, her lawyers presented her case as one of self-defence and the judge ruled out racism as a contributing factor. In court, considerable evidence emerged that Ms Garnier often refused to serve Maghrebians and that she and her husband used weapons in an "ostentatious way". Violent disturbances followed her acquittal in Nov. 92 in which the CRS were deployed to charge crowds outside of the court. Ali Rafa's mother had a heart attack on hearing the verdict and is now paralysed. The family's lawyer commented that "The life of a man is worth less than a croissant". On 29th October 92, over 700 police officers including the CRS riot cops,broke up a camp of homeless African's camped at Vincennes in the South East of Paris. Three hundred and twelve families have now been resettled, many in decaying hostels on the outskirts of Paris. Previous to the eviction, the fascist Front National had protested about the camp at the Ministry of Towns. Hungary In Hungary, the first pogroms against gypsies have occurred since the War. In the village of Ketegyhaza on the Great Hungarian plain, villagers threw petrol bombs into the homes of gypsies and burnt their horses alive in their stables. At Budapest University on 15th October, a Libyan student was attacked by ten skinheads. Two men were arrested after the assault. The appearance of skinhead gangs is a new phenomenon for Hungary. During an official ceremony last year commemorating the 1956 Hungarian Uprising, skinheads dressed in Arrow Cross (Hungarian fascists) uniform disrupted President Arpad Gonc from speaking. The Government refused to start an inquiry into skinhead activities bur is considering banning fascist and communist symbols fom public use. Italy In Italy, on the anniversary of Kristallnacht and to protest the rise of Anti-semitism, 30,000 people marched in Rome and in 31 other towns and cities. Previously, 45,000 people took part in a march on Rome organised by the neo-fascist MSI as a recreation of Mussolinis infamous March On Rome in 1922. A counter demo was banned. The day after a survey was published in "L'Espresso" declaring that 10.5 per cent of those questioned thought that Jews should leave Italy, two dozen mainly Jewish shops were daubed with racist graffiti. Following this, on Nov. 6th, Jewish youths ransacked the Rome HQ of the neo-fascist Western Political Movement destroying the offices. Elsewhere, organised bands of Nazi skins attacked black tomato harvesters in Caserta near Naples on a site where a multi-racial community centre is being built. A viciously racist campaign against the black workers had been underway in the area with the support of the MSI. The far-right Northern League's share of the vote rose in the December elections from 10 to 16 percent. In Monza and Varese they took 37 percent. The League now has the right to hold mayoral seats and form it's first civic governments. The MSI took 18 percent in Reggio Calabria preposing an alliance with the PDS (ex-communist party) and Marxist Communist Refoundation Party and the left-wing Network movement. (Sounds like a fun bunch, all around --Ed.) A protest in Milan, believed to be the first of it's kind in the city, involved 200 Gypsies from the via Idro encampment which is a council run site. They formed a torchlit procession to protest the councils neglect of the site and for the right to water, electricity, jobs, education. ------------------------------------------------------------------ Autonomedia A-5 1720 Douglas Victoria, BC V8W 2G7 Canada email: uc006@freenet.victoria.bc.ca + Join Us! 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