Greece: Students Remain on the Streets to Protest the Murder of Alexi

The protest movement against the murder of sixteen year old Alexandros Grigoropoulos shall continue, the students have decided.

Students will conduct protests outside the General Police Directorate of Attica (G.A.D.A.) and outside police stations in the rest of the country.

At this hour, students have blocked roads on Gregoriou Lambraki St. in Korydallos. In addition, students plan to shut-down the streets near the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Defense, the Square of Kalogiron, and a number of other streets.



The spiritual center and public radio station of the municipality of Ioannina, the old City Hall of Halandri, and the City Hall of Aghios Dimitrios remain under the occupation of anti-authoritarians, with the goal of felicitating grassroot meetings.

The Ministry of Education claims that 100 schools are under the occupation of the students, but information from the students suggests between 400 to 600, and about 100 universities are under student occupation.

The students plan to remain on the streets all week and continue their protests.

SOURCE:
"TO VEMA" (15 December 2008, 12:11 p.m.)
http://www.tovima.gr/default.asp?pid=2&ct=1&artId=246746

Translator's note:
"To Vema" is one of the major dailies in Greece and typically has a centrist politics. The article was edited for brevity.

France: demonstrations by school students continue to grow

Demonstrations against the Darcos reforms of the education system are intensifying with more students joining protests and taking more direct action.

Students are angry about reforms to the French secondary examination course, the baccalaureate and also about the planned loss of 25000 teaching posts over the next two years. Today's demonstration (11th Dec.) was called by the school students' union (UNL), the union has called for another day of action next Thursday although it looks as if many students will continue action tomorrow.

In most cases students, although some may have connections to political organisation have organised assemblies themselves and voted on the action they will take. In Lyon, for example, there has been a steady stready of wildcat demos and blockades over the last few weeks, with at least four occupations attempted on Tuesday alone. In Ambérieu (Bugey) students and teachers have voted for strike action and occupied the building, during the anti-CPE struggle students from this town were extremely resourceful and mobile, going as far as to blockade the local airport. Last Friday students left the school en masse and went to other local schools to call out the students there, eventually forming a demonstration of up to 200 people.

Country-wide police are reporting that 15000 took to the streets today and that a total of roughly 30 schools have been blockaded. Outside of the west of France there have been blockades in Marseille and Lille and a headteacher is pressing charges in Nimes after getting bruised while trying to stop students forming a blockade.

The demonstrations are strongest in the west of the country, in Rennes 3500 students took to the streets today while in Brest students fought with police for the fourth day running. Gendarmes fired tear gas at a group of 150-200 who were attempting to blockade a bridge, they responded by throwing stones. Yesterday there were demonstration in: Bordeaux, 2.000; Brest, 200 to 300 students clashed with police; Rennes, 2.000; Orléans, 250; Montpellier, between1.700 et 3.000; Toulouse, 1.000-1.500; Marseille, 1.500; Paris, several hundred; Besançon, 1.000 personnes; Tours, 800; Nancy, 500 and 500 in Strasbourg. In Pau where university students voted for a strike and blockade last week 900 school students took to the streets.

Hundreds of students demonstrated in the following cities and towns: Lyon, Landerneau, Saint-Nazaire, Vannes, La Roche-sur-Yon et Les Sables d'Olonne, Quimper and Nantes where at least 15 schools have been blockaded by pupils.

In related news Bruno Julliard, the head of the French student union (Unef), has reported that President Sarkozy, then interior minister, told him to "keep it up" and "no give in" during the anti-CPE struggle. The defeat of the CPE caused massive damage to Sarkozy's political rivals, he was one of the few top-level politicians to emerge relatively unscathed from the anti-CPE protests.

http://libcom.org/news/france-demonstrations-school-students-continue-grow-11122008

Take Action in Solidarity with the Chicago Workers of Republic Windows and Doors

As students and youth, we stand in solidarity with the Chicago workers at the Republic of Windows and Doors factory in their just struggle against closure, and for the right to their jobs and health care. The wealthy bankers at Bank of America got $25 billion in the bailout, but are refusing loans to the company. The management owes over 1 million dollars in severance and vacation pay. We know it is the big bankers and bosses who have laid off, cut benefits, and sold out the worker. Everyone should support the workers’ occupation of the factory to demand workers’ rights and justice.

We join in the chant with them:

Bank of America got Bailed Out! We got Sold Out!

Students for a Democratic Society
December 7, 2008

Take Action!

1. Sign the petition: http://www.petitiononline.com/solidfac/petition.html
2. Organize a protest outside your local Bank of America this week in solidarity: http://www.jwj.org/bailout/12-08actions.html

Actions SDSers are already planning/plugging into:

�NYC: Wednesday, December 10, 2008, 5:30pm - 7:30pm, Bank of America/SW Corner of Union Square, University Place/South of 14th Street, New York, NY

�Washington DC: Thursday, December 11, 2008, 4:00pm - 5:00pm, Bank of America closest to the Treasury Department Street: Pennsylvania Ave and 15th st NW, Washington, DC

http://studentsforademocraticsociety.org/home/

Protesters enter Greek consulate in Paris

Paris - Protesters entered part of the Greek consulate in Paris on Tuesday after three days of rioting in Greece triggered by the shooting of a teenager by police, an embassy spokesperson said on Tuesday.

"They have entered the building but not the consulate offices on the first floor," Alexandre Bouzis, the Greek embassy press attache said.

The action came a day after demonstrators staged a similar protest at the Greek consulate in Berlin.

"This is a symbolic occupation. There are about 20 students outside and 60 inside," a spokesperson for the protesters said.

Bouzis said police were at the scene but the situation appeared to be under control.

"They are there, they are demonstrating, the situation is quite calm, they are quite calm. French police are there," he said.

http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=24&art_id=nw20081209142629303C599561

http://www.besternews.com/article/Bester+News+-+World+News/Students+hold+protest+at+Greek+consulate+in+Paris/

SDS Milwaukee Shows Support for Working Class Heroes

MILWAUKEE - Milwaukee Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) demonstrated outside a Bank of America office in downtown Milwaukee on Dec. 9 in an afternoon show of support for the United Electrical Local 1110 Chicago workers.

The Chicago workers, largely Latino, were illegally laid off four days ago by their company Republic Window and Door after Bank of America refused to continue credit to the company, despite having just received a $25 billion taxpayer bailout. The workers have since occupied their work site, earned international attention, and called for a national week of action.

Armando Robles, President of UE Local 1110, spoke in front of the Fight Back! annual fundraising People's Thanksgiving on Saturday night, and stated, "We're not going to leave [Republic Window and Door] until we get every penny we deserve."

SDS members who attended the event visited the occupying workers at the company later that night. A 20-year company employee stated the place was his "home away from home" and that the fellow workers were "his family." Family members also accompanied the occupying workers. The occupying workers, arriving in 30-person shifts, seemed very pleased and encouraged by the local and national support of their occupation.

The National Working Committee of SDS has endorsed the worker's bold and militant occupation. Numerous student protests have since taken place all over the country to support these working class heroes.

Despite the blizzard, about 20 people attended the Milwaukee rally. SDS students who just got back from an over-night visit to the occupying workers spoke over a loud speaker. The crowd also chanted "Bank of America: you got bailed out, we got sold out!"

Natasha Morgan, an SDS organizer who visited the occupying workers and attended the rally, said, "This is the end of the Bush era!"

Learn how you can directly help the workers by donating and signing their petition here: http://www.unionvoice.org/campaign/bankofamerica

Clashes outside Greek parliament

Protesters have clashed with police guarding the Greek parliament in Athens, as elsewhere in the capital the funeral of Alexandros Grigoriadis, who was shot dead by police on Saturday, took place.

The 15-year-old boy's death sparked protests over the weekend which have now spilled over into four days of rioting across the country.

Hundreds of demonstrators threw petrol bombs and other projectiles at the police on Tuesday, before riot police charged to push them back towards Syntagma square.

The central square had been the scene of violence on Monday night when rioters torched shops, government ministries and banks.

The killing has touched a raw nerve among young Greeks, angry at years of political scandals and rising levels of poverty and unemployment, worsened by the global economic downturn.

Panayiotis Stathis, a police spokesman, said 89 people had been arrested for attacks on police, vandalism and looting since the violence began.

Another 79 people had been detained for questioning over the riots in which dozens of police officers have been injured.

Funeral held

Thousands of people dressed in black attended Grigoropoulos' funeral at the municipal cemetery of Palio Faliro, a residential southern Athens suburb.

Some groups shouted anti-police slogans at the cemetery but the funeral was mainly calm after a request from the family that respect be shown for Grigoropoulos.

Nicole Itano, Al Jazeera's correspondent in Athens, said: "The family had asked for the funeral to be low key and private."

Earlier, Karolos Papoulias, Greece's president had appealed for calm, calling on Greeks to "honour Alexis' memory peacefully".

"This is a day of mourning for us all... but there must be respect for institutions and laws," Papoulias said in a statement.

"As the member of a generation that lived heavy years in our nation's history, I call for a peaceful honouring of Alexis' memory."


Two officers have been charged over the shooting - one with premeditated manslaughter and the illegal use of a weapon and the other as an accomplice.

They are due to appear before a court on Wednesday and both have been suspended - along with the Exarchia precinct police chief.

Opposition call

A demonstration by thousands of students and teachers was organised by the OLME teachers union in Athens on Tuesday.

A large banner reading "Assassins, the government is the culprit" led the parade.

A similar demonstration was held in the northern city of Thessalonika.

In the port of Patras, the police headquarters was under siege by demonstrators, local authorities said.

Around 500 protesters were attacking with stones and Molotov cocktails with riot police firing tear gas and trying to hold them back, police said.

Three separate demonstrations by youths and students had been held in Patras ahead of the attack on the building.

Meanwhile, George Papandreou, Greece's Socialist opposition leader, has demanded that the conservative government step down and call elections to help end the violence.

Addressing his parliamentary group on Tuesday, Papandreou said: "We claim power. The only thing this government can offer is to resign and turn to the people for its verdict."

Itano said: "The government is fighting a battle on two fronts, not only on the streets but for its own political survival."

Costas Karamanlis, Greece's prime minister, has vowed to end the country's worst unrest in decades, but a government spokesman denied reports that the government planned to declare martial law.

Greek labour unions rejected an appeal by Karamanlis on Tuesday to cancel a mass protest planned for Wednesday to avoid further violence.

"Our answer is that the strike and the rally will take place as planned," said Stathis Anestis, spokesman for GSEE, Greece's largest labour confederation.

The 24-hour nationwide strike and rally, which was arranged before the shooting took place, is taking place to protest against the government's economic policies and reforms.

Greek reaction

Residents of Athens have been debating whether the mayhem and rioting that has shaken the country was justified.

Zahos Varfis, a 30-year-old architect, said: "All this violence is inexcusable. It's a pretext for certain people whose daily lives are very difficult to express a general feeling of unhappiness, of poverty and pressure."

Anastassia Kotzamani, a sociologist, said the destruction was a justified display of fury and exasperation on the part of Greek youth.

"When you're 25, you've finished your studies and you cannot find work, your only solution is to go abroad," she said.

Speaking to Al Jazeera, Yannis Maistros, from the Hellenic Federation of University Teachers, said: "This action comes after a series of police brutality over the last three years, and this was the last drop to fill the water glass.

"We, pupils and teachers, are demonstrating because we want to express our anger for the cold blooded killing.

"Ordinary people are taking part in demonstrations in cities all over Greece, they are asking for some resignations because somebody, some politician is responsible for this killing.

"The protesters want to change this policy that allows all this brutality to go without any punishment, there needs to be a change of policy," he said.

http://english.aljazeera.net//news/europe/2008/12/2008129121636926497.html

Rebellion against Italian education reform grows

Protest against government cuts in school and university research funding has escalated with mass street demonstrations and occupations spreading across the country.

Massive protests are taking place in many Italian cities and towns against Berlusconi's government school reforms, which consist of cuts on public university and research funds, the introduction of student behavior evaluation and the separation of foreign students from the Italian ones in different classes.

For almost 1 month throughout Italy High Schools and Universities have been occupied by students and teachers, and lessons are taking place outdoors.

Massive street protests have disrupted the normal functioning of the cities.

The demonstrations are growing as they go along and this trend is expected to continue next month.

There was an assault on the Roma Film Festival as Al Pacino arrived, and on Sunday primary schools children joined the protest.

Many of the demonstrations have been of a highly creative and amusing variety. The mainstream media has remained quite quiet on the issue, but News has been spreading via social networking and user generated content websites such as youtube.

http://www.libcom.org/news/we-wont-pay-the-crisis-26102008

2008 National Conference Report back

MORE THAN 170 students representing 36 schools around the country gathered at the 2008 Campus Antiwar Network (CAN) national conference to discuss the way forward for the movement.

Titled "It's Up to Us to Stop the War," the conference was held the weekend of October 10-12 at DePaul University in Chicago. CAN made a major shift in organizational priorities with the addition of a demand for immediate withdrawal from Afghanistan to its points of unity.

During the opening plenary discussion on why the U.S. is in the Middle East, speakers tackled the two pillars of U.S. imperialism today: oil and empire. They challenged the ideas that the race for oil is an issue of the past or motivated entirely by consumption.

In addition, they broke down some of the myths about the state of Israel and its oppression of Palestinians, the role of Israel and Saudi Arabia in the Middle East, and how they factor into the U.S. thirst for geopolitical domination.

Workshops addressed important questions for the movement, with Afghanistan taking center stage in light of the decision by U.S. rulers to pummel that country with a surge in military forces.

Presentations also were given on Palestine, the role of multinational corporations in the pillaging of Colombia, torture, the Iraqi refugee crisis, and divide-and-conquer strategies in Iraq. Some students said that they had learned more at a workshop than in a semester-long college course.

With that excitement, students broke out into strategy workshops to discuss their ideas and experiences in shaping their organizing when they return to their campuses. There was something for everyone: working with veterans; publicity and media; the economic war on students; a report back from the Republican National Convention student protest contingent; and the basics on how to develop a CAN chapter.

The "How to Start a CAN Chapter" workshop took on questions of confronting and working around university policy in order to promote a chapter. A student from Drake University spoke of not being able to approach people while tabling at her student union, and having to sit behind the table waiting for people to come to her. Some constructive suggestions were given, including one student who recommended that the table be on wheels, so that she could approach people and still be behind it.

On the evening of October 11, members of Iraq Veterans Against the War (IVAW) gave testimony about their experiences. Images provided during their testimony confirmed the use of white phosphorus on Iraqis. The presentation showed that chaos and a lack of infrastructure are rampant in Iraq. The dehumanization of not only Iraqis, but gays in the military was discussed, as well as subordination of women and ethnic minorities.

In reference to the United State's supposed goal of ridding Afghanistan of women's oppression, to paraphrase one of the veterans, "if you think that the military is on some feminist mission to free the women of Afghanistan, you are mistaken."Students agreeing

Organizing from the bottom up is a challenge, yet CAN has been able to double in size within the last year to over 50 chapters. Remaining independent from any political party has definitely added to its success, given that the Democratic and Republican parties are allied over the "war on terror." Additionally, the democratic process--the ability for each student to have a say and take part in action, has allowed for student members to flourish and leaders to develop.

At the voting session held on October 12, students debated and voted on the direction CAN should take for the next year.

Structurally, CAN will take on more responsibility in getting members educated on Afghanistan and Palestine. Politically, the movement took a large step and has added to its points of unity a call for immediate withdrawal from Afghanistan. In solidarity with their allies in IVAW, CAN now also stands for full economic reparations to the people of Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as full health and educational benefits for all military personnel regardless of their discharge status.

http://www.campusantiwar.net/news/national/2008_national_conference_report_back.html

It's Up to Us to STOP THE WAR!

It's Up to Us to STOP THE WAR!
National Campus Antiwar Network Conference
October 10-12
DePaul University, Munroe Hall 114

As the presidential elections near, the death and destruction being brought to Iraq by the US military continues. Instead of removing the US military out of the Middle East, it looks as though expansion and endless war is on the horizon. The billions of dollars used every month to continue the occupation should be used to to fund our schools. Instead, military recruiters continue to swarm our campuses in search of desperate students that find little stability and economic security as the economy worsens.

We deserve better. We deserve a future free of war.

At our upcoming national conference we will be discussing how we can build and strengthen the student antiwar movement so that we can pressure whoever is in the White House and Congress to bring an immediate end to the occupation of Iraq. Topics will range from the history of the Vietnam antiwar movement to the occupation of Afghanistan to strategies for grassroots organizing.

Help shape the next year of the student antiwar movement!

http://www.campusantiwar.net/