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year end hunger strike- the attack continues
nn - 30.01.2010 01:45
a reflection by gabriel pombo da silva regarding the year end hunger strike.
The Attack Continues
text by Gabriel Pombo Da silva, from  http://culmine.noblogs.org/
Dear comrades,
Behind us we feel the strength of our gesture of insurgent love; informal and coordinated, lived and felt in as many ways as our creativity, our imagination, our desires and resources, (personal or material), have allowed and guided…
It seems to me that I am not the only one who has been moved by the interest that this hunger strike stirred up, by the demonstration of revolutionary solidarity and its results. I also don’t think I’m the only one that wants to see that all that was experienced and shared during these days remain “only” a gesture… Gestures are for remembering (monuments, comrades, situations, etc.), but IDEAS and ACTIONS are for continuing and advancing…
We have remembered our own, not with the intention of creating “sanctuaries” to mourn at every anniversary, but to keep our comrades present in our lives and actions.
Our comrades have been neither “angels” or “devils”, but conscious individuals who remind us why they fought, and continue to fight. Their death reminds us of the determination of their struggle, a determination that is still alive…
What was the “crime” of Salvador Puig Antich? And the one of Augustin Rueda Sierra? Or the one of Franco Seratini? Or the one of Giuseppe Pinelli? Or the one of Soledad and Edo? Or the one of Carlo Giuliani? Or the one of Paco Ortiz? Or the one of Xose Tarrio? Or the one of Mauricio Morales? What were the “crimes” of these comrades? Should we now be stuck on the organizational label from where their militant practice emerged (those who had one), or focus on the IDEAS they defended?
Do you know where the murderers of our comrades are? Do you know which targets they attacked? The existences they lead? What were their dreams?
I remember Flores Magon once wrote: “It is not the rebels that create problems, but the problems that create rebels”…
Of course! The worlds' problems are not going to resolve themselves… this is our endeavor.
Personally I will not wait (to act) for the masses (the exploited, the oppressed, the ignorant) to “awaken” … I will also not wait for the “elite” to give up their privileges, for mercenaries to give up their paychecks or become “conscious” of their condition…
Some are guided by fear, others by greed or indifference, while most are buried alive by mental conformism… All of them remind me, day after day, that the solution to problems (personal or political) begins within ourselves. When I witness so called “comrades” scared to raise their voices, to speak clearly, or to take a stance in front of so much injustice, instead remaining silent…this convinces me even more that IDEAS, without will, are worthless. I hope therefore, that nobody is surprised if I continue to defend anarchists who practice direct action... all the Mauricio Morales and the Zoes…
We are not going to waste time and energy trying to convince those who have given up on direct action for a position in a union… or those who "talk shit," but live a drab existence… They are not useful to the revolution.
From within ourselves we find the choice of being “object”, “subject” or protagonists of our own existence.
(...)
During these days of action, December 20th to January 1st, which are in memory and tribute to our fallen (or murdered) comrades, we have found many things that reaffirm our methods and confirm others: our IDEAS and desires will continue on the offensive (with unconfined expectations).
This initiative would have not been successful without all of those who participated and committed themselves to it; the comrades that took part in the hunger strike (from the inside) and those who contributed equally with their reflections; those who distributed and translated communiqués and texts, those who manifested (in hundreds of ways) and participated in solidarity demos or made murals, and those who sought the complicity of the night to place explosives and fire starters, or those brothers who grabbed their weapons and expropriated those capitalist temples of exploitation - helping the struggle and themselves meet material needs…and of course the great action in Tijuana where they kicked off the new year by machine gunning some mercenary patrols…
Yes, we are aware of everything that has happened and we’re proud of it! Thank you to everyone, comrades, for being there, for your solidarity, and for your revolutionary love…
With every action or demonstration we create bonds and feelings of complicity that make each other stronger in the current social war. Aside from this, everything that happens is being forged in our histories and in our warrior conscience…
Together we broke isolation and fake separations; we demonstrated our “operative” force, strength, anger and love, internationalism and combative commitment from a decentralized and anti-authoritarian perspective…
I am agreeing with what was written by comrades at “presos a la calle” (a big hug!) when they declared, “It is not possible to rely soley on affinity-based mobilizations, or, exclusively on those reactionary in character. There is a possible equilibrium, and it is imperative to know when to use certain specific forms of struggle. This is why we cannot write-off reactionary mobilizations (fighting for an end to raids, to isolation, to displacement etc..), but likewise, cannot dismiss those based in affinities, about which some deluded people say there is nothing concrete to be earned.”
So, even though we are often gaining nothing concrete (for example in our struggle against FIES, against raids, or against the evictions of our spaces etc.), even if we are engaged in retaliatory/vindictive struggles, we still keep going… On the other hand, struggles shouldn’t be measured in terms of value dictated by the market: either you “win” or “lose”… In fact there are “losses” that help us to grow, and “victories” that fall short (even though at first it doesn’t seem so). These struggles are not a competition, but processes that develop with the intention of changing or destroying the powers that destroy us.
Our ability to obtain the goals that we set, succeeding at what is projected or being left half-way there, depends on our own capacities and resources.
What can never be taken away from us is what we learn from these journeys (our memories and experiences) and above all no one can ever say that we didn’t try with all our means.
As hard as it is to admit this, not all the factors in these processes are in our hands, or only in the hands of the forces in power. But, we have at our disposal a huge theoretic and practical arsenal to put to the test. We will not make one method more sacred than another… some of them will be effective… it all depends on the destination that you chasing…
I take this occasion to greet those who were subject to the repression of the authorities during the demonstration in Santiago, Chile, on December 23rd: Strength to you, comrades!
I also send my greetings to comrades at Culmine and their projects: informal reflections, hunger strike not-til-death, international ties, informal insurrectional project… for those interested please check out culmine.noblogs.org. This is also a reminder that two comrades from Culmine will be sentenced on January 19th*… Let's be alert and ready to express our solidarity towards these comrades. All my solidarity to them and all my disgust to those who rail against the anarchist!!
This is a call out to all my internationalist brothers regarding the arrest of the Mexican comrade Socorro Molinero Armenta… does someone know the address where I can write him?
Good, then for now I’ll stop writing… we shall continue to debate the proposals arriving from Culmine and Presos a la Calle to deepen our thoughts on topics and questions brought up.
A strong anarchist and revolutionary hug to all our accomplices.
Gabriel Pombo Da Silva, concentration camp in Aachen, Germany
January 2010
__________
*the two comrades were absolved in the first degree in the charges 270 bis and 270
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| supplements | | Concentratiekamp? | nn - 30.01.2010 05:02
De schrijver van dit artikel vergelijkt zijn luxe hotelkamer in de gevangenis van Aachen met een concentratiekamp. Zichzelf doodhongeren lijkt me een goeie aktie, niet alleen voor hem zelf maar ook voor de rest van ons.
| | translator's note | nn - 30.01.2010 22:07
I would like to clarify one issue. In the original of this text the words that i translated as "concentration camp", can be more literally translated as "extermination camp", or "death camp". In retrospect, to not make such an explicit reference, i should have kept to the more literal translation.
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