Volume 3, No. 6, June 2002

May Day in France was unprecedented. In about 100 cities, towns and villages across the country over 11 lakh people — 2% of the entire population — demonstrated against the fascist National Front party led by the 73 year old Le Pen. Since the 1968 May student uprising in France, never has there been such a gigantic people’s upsurge in that country. Paris on May 1st was a picture of contrasts. On the one side were 4 lakh people gathered at the Bastille — a symbol of revolution; where the 1789 French Revolution began — demanding, not only the end to the fascists, but also to globalisation. On the other side stood the 20,000 mob of Le Pen supporters, gathered at the Joan-of-Arc statue — a symbol of Christianity — spouting venom at immigrants and calling for fascist legislation within the country. And to control the huge crowds of anti-fascists and protect the Le Pen supporters, the existing ‘socialist’ government had: 330 hidden surveillance cameras installed above Paris streets, as well as two helicopters to help police monitor the crowds from a command centre at police headquarters.

Demonstrations were to be seen all over the world, particularly in most of the developed countries. Many were militant resulting in clashes with the police. But what happened on May Day was only the culmination of a gigantic upsurge throughout April against globalisation, against the US war in Afghanistan, and more particularly against the Israeli/American axis that has been massacring Palestinians. In all these demonstrations, though the people themselves have been badly hit by unemployment and cuts in social security, they have rallied not for their own demands, but in support of their brethren in West Asia, Afghanistan and the third world in general. All the demonstrations have been political, targeting aspects of the economic and political system itself. As the bulk attending were not Marxists, they may lack an alternative; but the disgust for the system is deep, and was also reflected in the poor poll turnout during the first round of the French Presidential elections, where, for the first time ever as many as 30% did not vote.

Today, in Europe we see two trends. First, a mass upsurge against the system. Second, the growth of fascist parties. But, before trying to understand these trends, let us take a glimpse of the huge upsurge against the US/Israeli combine in April, culminating in the May Day rallies. Not surprisingly, the international media has systematically suppressed news of most of these events, in order to minimize its worldwide impact.

Most of these demonstrations were against the Israel-America combine and its butchery of Palestinians.

In dozens of U.S. towns, large and small, diverse groups have protested Israeli atrocities.

As George Bush and Tony Blair met in Crawford, Texas, to plan more crimes against humanity, several hundred gathered at a community center to protest.

Militant demonstrations have rocked the campus of UC Berkeley . On April 2, hundreds took the streets and marched to a major intersection and blocked traffic for hours. A Palestinian youth whose family lives in Ramallah later wrote, "When I saw that a lot of the protesters last night were Americans and Jews, something inside filled me with spirit and happiness to the sight of diverse races and religions helping the Palestinian cause." An estimated 5,000 protesters marched on the Israeli consulate in Chicago on April 6, to protest the Israeli occupation and Sharon’s latest war on the Palestinian people. The march drew huge numbers from local Palestinian, Arab and Muslim communities, and also included participants from a wide variety of local social justice and peace groups.

On April 9, in remembrance of the 1948 Deir Yassin massacre in which over 250 Palestinians were murdered by Zionist gangs, 1,500 people gathered in Sproul Plaza at UC Berkeley. After a rally and march, 250 people occupied Wheeler Hall. An RCYB member who was arrested with 78 others in the hall reported: "The Students for Justice in Palestine, the group that organized the day, issued a list of demands and insisted on negotiating with the Chancellor. They called out the University of California for supporting Israel and demanded it begin divesting immediately. When the Vice Chancellor came to threaten us with suspension or possibly expulsion if we continued to occupy the building, we countered his threats with determined resistance and 80 of us stayed inside, sat down, and linked arms."

The next day a coalition of labor unions and Jewish Voice for Peace had a picket and sit-in at the Israeli consulate in San Francisco , where at least 20 were arrested.

Thousands have marched in Los Angeles, San Diego, Seattle, Boston, Chicago, Houston and Atlanta. There have been almost daily protests at Times Square in New York, including actions of over 2,000 people. Protest actions have happened in Atlanta, Kansas City, Missouri; Austin, Texas; Lansing, Michigan; Santa Clara, California; Dearborn, Michigan; and Dayton, Ohio.

On April 20 one lakh people took to the streets in Washington DC to protest events in Palestine and the Bush administration’s support to Israel. While many diverse groups converged in DC to protest against the policies of the WB/IMF and continuing war in Afghanistan the overwhelming feeling was of solidarity with Palestinians and Arab Americans.

Cornel West, Harvard professor and prominent Black author and Rabbi Michael Lerner of Tikkun, a liberal Jewish journal, were part of a group of 26 activists who were arrested on April 11 while blocking the street in front of the U.S. State Department in Washington, D.C. The protesters were demanding that the U.S. act to stop Israeli violence against Palestinians.

There have been protests in Mexico City; Managua, Nicaragua; and Buenos Aires. In Canada, protests have been held in Toronto, Winnipeg, Edmonton and Vancouver.

In Jakarta, Indonesia, tens of thousands of marchers, most in traditional white Moslem dress, waved Palestinian flags and chanted "Save the Palestinians." There were actions in other cities in Indonesia as well. In Bangladesh and Pakistan there have been mass protests. Demonstrations have also been held in Australia and New Zealand.

In Pretoria, South Africa, on April 10, a group of women chained themselves to the offices of the UN. That same day, 1,000 to 1,500 people gathered in a solidarity demonstration in Reykjavik, Iceland.

There have also been protests in Israel itself. On April 5, over 3,000 Israelis and others, including international activists, staged a march to the Kalandia checkpoint. They were attacked with tear gas and clubs by Israeli cops, but two trucks they had filled with supplies for besieged Palestinians managed to get through.

In Gothenburg, Sweden demonstrators burned U.S. flags. Ten thousand marched in Berlin, 20,000 in Paris, 50,000 in Rome and several thousand in London demonstrated in support of the Palestinian cause. In London there was a huge turnout for the pro-Palestinian demonstration on Apr. 26. This was the third such demonstration in two months. On Apr. 13, Between 50,000 to 1 lakh streamed into London from Manchester, Birmingham, Cardiff and other places. Demonstrators in Manchester, England, staged a die-in to dramatize the massacre of Palestinians.

There were other actions in Amsterdam and The Hague; Lyon and Bayonne, France; Budapest, Hungary; Chemnitz, Germany; and Berne, Switzerland.

In Spain, actions took place in Barcelona, Valencia, Madrid and Zaragosa. Protests have also taken place in Athens and other Greek cities. On April 6, Cypriot, Turkish, Kurdish and Palestinian youth marched in Nicosia, Cyprus.

The Moroccan capital of Rabat had the biggest protest in its history. At least a million people marched Sunday, April 7, the day before U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell came to town. In Jordan, there have been literally hundreds of demonstrations, including an attack on the Israeli embassy on April 5.

In Cairo, the capital of Egypt, 80,000 people marched to support the Palestinian people on March 31. The next day, students took to the streets, charging the Israeli embassy and fighting running battles with the police. University, high school and middle school students were joined by many others in the fiercest demonstration since the 1991 Gulf War. There have also been protests by the Lawyers’ Syndicate and other professional organizations in Egypt.

In Lebanon, where thousands of Palestinian refugees live, protesters burned tires in the streets. The government was forced to allow protests in the refugee camps for the first time in years.

Many protests have targeted the U.S. as well as Israel. McDonald’s and KFC restaurants were destroyed in Cairo and protesters have burned U.S. flags throughout the Middle East.

Bahrain, a series of islands in the Persian Gulf with a population of 700,000, is the home of the U.S. 5th Fleet. On March 30, 7,000 protesters marched on Palestinian Land Day. "Taking part in such a demonstration is the least anyone can do," one 43-year-old man told reporters. "We are ready to give up our lives." The next week, demonstrators attacked the U.S. embassy with rocks and Molotov cocktails. One protester died after being hit in the head by a projectile fired from the embassy.

Big marches occurred in Sohag and Alexandria, Egypt; in many cities in Saudi Arabia; in the Arab countries of Yemen, Iraq, Libya, Syria, Sudan and Tunisia. In Kuwait, 4,000 people gathered in the capital and chanted "Death to Israel and Death to the U.S."

Besides France, there were May Day demonstrations throughout the world. May Day, a symbol of the struggle of the working–class, has becoming a rallying point for the anti-globalisation movement. This gives the anti-globalization movement a higher political content, linking it to the working-class movement.

This year there were once again clashes with the police in England and Germany.

Immediately after the Pen victory in France daily demonstrations shook the entire country. The protests spanned every region, including those where the NF made an impressive showing. So, on Apr.25 one lakh youth took to the streets of Paris, which culminated in a clash between the protestors and the police. Tear gas shells were fired, while people retaliated with bottles and stones. It was the third night running that the police resorted to tear gas to disperse groups of young protesters. Witnesses saw 3 people on the ground, being violently hit by policemen — one was kicking them in the head. The following days also saw lakhs of people on the streets in towns and cities around France. Finally, this culminated in the mammoth rallies on May First.

Separate demonstrations took place in various parts of London. Yet again this year thousands of demonstrators were hemmed in at Oxford Street and a number were arrested. Last year just 500 people attended the TUC march in London, but this year more than 5,000 people joined a march to Trafalgar Square, which brought together a wide range of different groups, from traditional unions to international radical organisations. Also prominent were the orange banners of Globalise Resistance, an umbrella anti-capitalist organisation. Planned events included a traveling circus of street performers; a wake for capitalism, and a free-for-all football game down Oxford Street. In the evening about 200 protesters clashed with the police.

In Germany clashes occurred once again in the capital city of Berlin. Three major demonstrations by workers’ groups, anti-globalisation protesters and peace movements took place in the city centre. Berlin police sprayed demonstrators with water, after dozens of people stormed the shop after an open-air concert "against fascism", throwing fruit and bottles onto the street outside. Thousands of police have been deployed on the streets of Berlin following a night of pre-May Day violence, which left at least two people seriously injured. Twenty-nine people were taken into police custody when clashes broke out after left wing and anti-Nazi attacked the police in two separate districts of the city overnight. Police in Berlin had used teargas to quell overnight clashes with anarchists who threw rocks, started street fires and ransacked a supermarket. An estimated 5,000 police turned several parts of the capital into restricted zones.

Kreuzberg saw its worst violence in three years. A supermarket was ransacked in Kreuzberg, where there has been a history of May Day clashes between police and protesters since 1987. In Prenzlauer Berg, another area of annual May Day unrest, a young woman was hit in the head by a flying beer bottle and a man was discovered with knife wounds. The woman is believed to be fighting for her life in hospital

Police used water cannon and teargas against the demonstrators who threw stones and bottles back. A police spokesman said 62 policemen were injured in Prenzlauer Berg, and 21 in Kreuzberg.

Meanwhile in the northern city of Hamburg, police also clashed with demonstrators, a dozen of whom were taken into custody. In Frankfurt demonstrators opposed to the far-right’s march and tried to block the streets with burning tyres, but these were removed by the police.

Germany is facing its first major strike for seven years after members of the country’s biggest trade union, with 28 lakh members, IG Metal, voted for industrial action over pay. This was followed by a 10-day strike.

In Greece round 3,000 protesters burned effigies of the Israeli prime minister, Ariel Sharon, and the US president, George Bush, in Athens, and in several gatherings throughout the country.

In Italy some 75,000 union members, many clutching red carnations, attended a rally in Bologna with the slogan: "For peace, employment, the defence of rights and against terrorism."

In Russia hundreds of thousands of Russians attended marches and rallies, many carrying red banners, flags, and other symbols of the Soviet past. In Moscow at least 140,000 took part in demonstrations.

In Spain around 60,000 people took part in a Madrid demonstration headed by leaders of labour groups, who have threatened a general strike if the government of Jose Maria Aznar tries to push ahead with plans to shake up unemployment benefits.

In Turkey tens of thousands gathered in the streets of Istanbul to celebrate May Day. Many waved Palestinian flags, while others carried placards. Security police used armoured vehicles to break up a protest in eastern Turkey.

In Australia police on horseback charged demonstrators after 500 people blockaded offices of a company that runs asylum seeker detention centres.

In Italy today’s May Day rallies were taking place in the shadow of allegations of police torture after a violent clash last year. What has become known, as the torture chamber, is a collection of cells and bathrooms in a Naples police barracks. Here dozens of leftwing protesters were punched, kicked and sodomised with implements, turning it into a cesspit of blood, vomit and urine. They were allegedly forced to kiss portraits of Benito Mussolini, threatened with rape, mocked and terrorised, Hours earlier Naples had erupted when an anti-globalisation rally turned into a major clash. Protesters with clubs attacked police who responded by charging the crowd, leaving violent as well as non-violent protesters bloodied. When the city calmed, the police swept into the Vecchio Pellegrini hospital and took 80 injured people to the barracks, known as Raniero, where the alleged torture took place. The shadow of that day in March 2001 will darken today’s May Day rallies in Italy because for some it has become a warning of what can happen when the far right gains power.

After the Conservatives ruled much of Europe in the 1980s and early 1990s, people’s disgust with their anti-people’s policies resulted in the social democratic parties coming to power. Till the end of the 1990s this was the situation. But the social democrats did not take any steps to stem the tide against the working-class that came, in the wake of globalisation. Some, in fact, like Blair, even out-did the Conservatives in their reactionary policies. So, in the beginning of this century there was a general disgust with the entire ruling clan in the West, with little to distinguish the Social Democrats from the Conservatives.

It was in this political environment that the people began turning to the two visible alternatives — the fascists and the anti-globalistaion movement.

The fascists had been gaining ground from the late 1990s itself. Their major plank is anti-immigrant in order to tap the frustration of the large numbers of unemployed. They gained further ground in the first two years of this century. In many countries they are now sharing power with right-wing regimes, while in others they have been growing in strength. Le Pen taking 17% of the vote in the latest Presidential elections, and defeating Prime Minister Jospin in the first round, is one example.

In Austria, the fascist ‘Freedom Party’ is sharing power and holds six cabinet posts. In Italy, the right-wing Silvo Berlusconi’s ruling party has a pact with the pro-Mussolini Allianza Nazionale and the xenophobic anti-reformer, Northern-League. In Denmark the fascist Danish People’s Party swept to power last November. It has already passed new tough asylum policies and cut foreign aid. In Norway an administration propped up by the fascist ‘Progress Party’ took office last October. In Portugal a right-wing coalition, including the fascist ‘Popular Party’, took power in March 2002. In Spain Jose Maria Aznar won a second term in March 2000, badly defeating the social democratic opposition and obtaining the first Conservative majority since Spain became a democracy after Franco’s death in 1975. In the Netherlands the right-wing Christrian democrates and the fascist Pim Fortriyn List swept the polls in the recently concluded May elections. The ruling social-democratic were mauled. Also the fascist parties Vlaams Block (Belgium), Schill Party (Germany) and the ‘Truth & Life Party’ (Hungary) have seen sizable growth in recent years. In Britain the fascist BNP has just won three council seats in the Asian-dominated town of Burnley. In the USA the Bush administration is itself resorting to more and more blatant fascist measures.

Such measures are becoming necessary for the imperialists who are faced with increasing recessionary conditions at home and war-mongering abroad. In such conditions reforms are not possible, and fascist demagogy is the only way to divert the attention of the masses from their worsening conditions, and fascist rule becomes essential to crush the rising discontent of the masses.

With the genuine communists (Maoists) weak in all countries, the huge (and growing) anti-globalisation movement is the seen as only alternative for the progressive forces. Of late, even sections of the working-class are beginning to become part of this upsurge. But, this is not an organised force, but a scattered conglomeration of hundreds of organizations, most of which are comprised of and led by the petti-bourgeoisie. As conditions worsen, there will be the need for a far more organised force to take on the fascists and the state machinery. Such a force can only be organised by the proletariat and its vanguard, the genuine communists. The events in France have given a fitting reply to the fascists. But the fact that even the left were forced to vote for the corrupt, worn-out, dishonest and right-wing politician like Chirac, in order to keep the fascists out, shows the limitations of the existing movement. Even in Britain anti-racists protested across Britain on May 5, immediately after the BNP victories (even though they won just 3 out of the 6,000 council seats elected), indicating the growing anti-fascist sentiments. Anti-Nazi League members marched through city centers, shouting "stop the Nazis". But, here too there is no concrete alternative.

As the fascist attacks grow from both the street gangsters and the state, there is need for a more disciplined, organised and underground force, to effectively smash their advance.

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