COMMUNITIES AGAINST CAPITALISM
 

Fascism in Genoa
by Starhawk
Thu, 26 Jul 2001

I was there when the carabinieri raided the Indy Media Center and the Diaz school, in Genoa, at the 
end of the protest against the G8 meeting.  We heard the shouts and screams, couldn't get out the 
door, ran upstairs and hid, fearing for our lives.  Eventually the cops found us, but we were the lucky 
ones.  A Member of Parliament was in

 our building; lawyers and media arrived.  There was some 
obscure Italian legal reason why the police could be deterred.  They withdrew. But nothing could 
save our friends across the street, at the school where people were sleeping and where another 
section of the

 Independent Media were located.  The police entered: the media and the politicians 
were kept out.  And they beat people.  They beat people who had been sleeping, who held up their 
hands in a gesture of innocence and cried out, "Pacifisti!  Pacifisti!"  They beat the men and the women.  

They broke bones, smashed teeth, shattered skulls.  They left blood on the walls, on the 
windows, a pool of it in every spot where people had been sleeping.  When they had finished 
their work, they brought in the ambulances.  

All night long we watched from across the street as the stretchers were carried out, as people

 were 
taken to the jail ward of the hospital, or simply to jail.  And in the jail, many of them were tortured 
again, in rooms with pictures of Mussolini on the wall.

This really happened.  Not back in the nineteen thirties, but on the night of July 21 and the morning of 
July 22, 2001.  Not in some third world country, but in Italy:  prosperous, civilized, sunny Italy. And 
most of the victims are still in the hospital or in jail, as I write this four days later.

I can't adequately describe the shock and the horror of that night.  But as terrifying as it was to live 
through it, what is more frightening still are its implications: 

--That the police could carry out such a brutal act openly, in the face of lawyers, politicians and the 
media means that they do not expect to be held accountable for their actions.  Which means that they 
had support from higher up, from more powerful politicians. According to a report published in La 
Repubblica from a policeman who took part in the raid, when the more democratic factions within the 
police complained that the Constitution was being violated, they were told, "We don't have anything to 
be worried about, we're covered." 

--That those politicians also do not expect to be condemned or driven from office means that they too 
have support from higher up, ultimately, from Berlusconi, Italy's Prime Minister, himself.

--That they could beat, torture, and falsely arrest Italians means that they do not expect to be held 
accountable by their own people.

--That they could beat, torture and imprison internationals shows that they do not expect to be held 
accountable by the international community.  And indeed, who is going to hold them accountable?  
George Bush, the unelected, unmandated heir of a coup?  Sweden, which

 just used live ammunition 
on protestors?  Canada, builders of the Wall of Shame?

--That Berlusconi could support such acts means that he must be certain of support from other 
international powers, and that these overtly fascist actions are linked to the growing international 
escalation of repression against protestors.

--That the Italian government used tactics learned from Quebec:  the wall, the massive use of tear gas, 
and that the RCMP had observers in Genoa in preparation for next year's meeting in Calgary, means 
that police repression is also a global network.  As we learn from each action, so do they.

--That the Italian government are now targeting the organizers of the Genoa Social Forum shows 
where their agenda was heading all along: the discrediting of the antiglobalization network, the 
discouraging of peaceful and legal protest as well as direct action.  The leader of the Forum has lost 
his job.  Others are fearing for their freedom and safety.

It's hard to make sense of all that happened in Genoa.  So much happened so fast, and in the middle 
of it was hard to know what was going on.  The Black Bloc suddenly appear in the midst of a square 
that is supposed to be a safe space for peaceful gatherings:

the police gas and beat the women and the pacifists and let the Bloc escape.  We are having a quiet 
lunch in the convergence center by the sea, when suddenly tear gas cannisters are flying into the eating 
area and a pitched battle begins directly outside, not a hundred yards away from the main march.  
Prisoners report being tortured until they agree to shout "Viva il Duce!"  The police rationale for the 
attack on the school was the supposed presence of members of the Black Bloc-but they never 
attacked the actual Black Bloc encampment, and by the night of the attack most of the Black Bloc 
had left the city.

 I'm not an investigative reporter-I'm an activist and once upon a time when life was not so 
overwhelming I was a novelist.  I don't like conspiracy theories but I make sense of the world 
through stories.  Genoa makes sense to me if this is the plot:

"Memo:  Italian Security to Italian Government/U.S. and International Advisors:


"Subject:  Covert Security Plan for Genova


"Top Secret!

 "The overt Security Plan for the Genova G8 meeting has been 
covered in a separate memo.  The subject of this memo is the covert plan.

"Phase One:  Lead up to the action:  This  phase is characterized by two 
major aspects:  the creation of a climate of fear and anticipated violence by 
the stockpiling of body bags, deployment of missiles, etc.  And second, a 
concerted effort to undermine the popularity of the stronger, radical groups 
such as the 'Tute Bianca' or White Overalls through smear campaigns, 
accusations that they cooperate with the police etc.  If necessary, we will 
plant actual bombs to increase the climate of fear.

"Phase Two:  Recruitment and infiltration:  We will concentrate on infiltrating 
the Black Bloc and strategically placing provocateurs who will be in positions 
to instigate attacks, violence, and destruction of private property which will 
turn the population

 against the protestors.  In addition, we will encourage 
Fascist groups to run as segments of the Bloc which will then give us an excuse 
to attack the main body of protestors.

"Phase Three:  Friday, 20 July.  We arm the police and carabinieri with live 
ammunition rather than rubber or plastic bullets.  With luck, deaths will result.  
Our 'Bloc' can appear strategically near any group we wish to attack, giving us 
the excuse to gas and beat the 'nonviolent' demonstrators.  Protestors should 
be severely beaten and arrested protestors tortured to deter them from further 
demonstrations.  In addition, our Bloc will instigate the destruction of property, 
particularly small shops, private cars, and will attack and beat other 
demonstrators, perhaps even a nun or two, further discrediting the anarchists.  
A high level of violence and destruction should lessen the numbers expected 
for Saturday's march.

"Phase Four:  Saturday, 21 July.  Our strategy here is directed to undermine, 
divide, and disperse the march.  We instigate more property damage and police 
battles in the morning near the assembly point of the march.  One of our 
factions will attack the Tute Bianca

 during the march itself.  Shortly after noon, 
we begin a battle just outside the convergence center, near the corner where 
the march turns north, giving us the excuse to gas the convergence center.  
We attempt to drive the battle into the march, splitting or disrupting it, and 
providing the rationale to attack the march with tear gas and other dispersal agents.

"Phase Five:  Post-march.  We continue the climate of fear with a midnight 
raid on the main communications center and sleeping quarters of the protestors.  
Severe force is justified by rumors of Black bloc presence.  We uncover 
'evidence' of connections between the Genova Social Forum and the bloc, 
thereby discrediting them.  Beatings, arrests and torture will discourage future 
involvement with protests. 

"Phase Six:  Sunday, 22 July and beyond:  We continue harassment and 
random arrests of foreigners and suspected protestors.  We begin a campaign 
of accusations against the Genoa Social Forum, connecting them with the Black 
Bloc, moving against their employment, their credibility, and possibly taking 
legal action against them.  This will also force them to disavow the Black Bloc, 
further splitting the movement.

This memo is fiction, but I believe it's essentially true.  Like a mathematical proof, it 
has a simple internal consistency that makes sense of the known facts.  And there is 
more and more mounting evidence that the 'black bloc' in Genoa was significantly composed 
of

 organized fascist groups working in collaboration with the police.  If it is true, even partly 
true, what does it mean to us?  It means that the response to the events in Genoa will determine 
what level of force can be used against future demonstrations, whether we

 will see smashed 
skulls and more deaths in Calgary, and blowtorches in the armpits in the third world.

There are signs, however, that their strategy may backfire.  On Monday all over Italy 250,000 
people took to the streets.  The pressure is on for the Minister of the Interior to resign; 
Berlusconi's government is threatened.  There were demonstrations at

 Italian embassies 
all over the world.

We need to keep the pressure on, to make sure the issue doesn't fade away.  Keep calling and 
writing the embassies. Get your political organization, union, workplace or group of best friends 
to write and call.  Ask your local news media why they are not telling this story.

Now is not the moment to be idealogical and purist; now is the moment to call in all our allies, 
set aside our differences, and act in solidarity.  For if this level of repression goes unchallenged, 
no one is safe, not the most legal NGO, not the most reformist organization with the mildest 
demands.  If we don't act now, when a political space remains open to us, we may lose the 
space to act at all.  Continue to organize and mobilize for the next one.  Fear is their most 
powerful weapon.  The fact that they must resort to fascist violence shows that we are a 
serious threat.  If we want to continue to be a threat, we also need to look critically at our own 
movement, to identify what we do that leaves us wide open to infiltration and manipulation. 
And we need both better preparation and better networks of support for these actions. 
The Genoa Social Forum needs support.  They've sent out the following call-please answer it.

________________________________________________________________________

Another experience from Modena, Italy 
Author Unknown (unmodified)

many political prisoners jailed during the anti-G8 demos were released yesterday or today. All 
of them had terrible reports to make. All these things happened after the arrest:

- cops beatin them for hours and hours,

- cops pissin in their face,

- cops keepin them standin for 24 hours without letting them using a toilet,

- cops forcing them to sing fascist songs,

- cops smashin their head against walls,

- cops threatin women with rapin,

- no lawyers,

- keepin them for much longer than law allows,

- cops orderin to sit down and not look up...

and other amenities.

All of the arrested (some hundreds) were badly beaten, during and well after the arrest. About 
16 journalists, from many countries and from any media (mainstream, indie...) had serious 
injuries. When they showed the cops the "press" pass, the cops got even more angry -- broken 
arms, legs, permanent face scars.

Congressmen and women were beaten. A nun and several aged persons were, too. Many 
unharmful friends of mine were beaten, one of them is a City councellor of Italian Communist 
party, who was more badly beaten when he showed the "press" pass.

Many friends of mine, who were in Genoa on Saturday, came back home safe (in their body) 
cause they somehow escaped. Many of them hid for hours anywhere, until the following 
morning, to avoid being caught by cops, armored tanks (which were runnin 60 miles an hour 
tryin to run over them), helicopters (droppin tons of teargas), off-shore boats (shootin

 more teargas).

Missing people:

73 missing people have (used to have) a face and a name. no idea where they are, many of them 
are alien citizens. Probably there are more "missing" people, whose disappearin was not declared 
by families and friends.

Dead people:

sure one, 23 years old. He was allegedly throwin' a fire extinguisher back to a "Carabinieri" Land 
Rover, where it came from. There are many reports of a young woman called Liza, lyin' dead-like 
on the ground for hours. No idea where she is.

The "punishin" raid:

on Saturday night, it seemed all had ended. About a hundred protesters were sleepin in a school 
that Genoa Town Hall had "lent". In front, in another school, was the indipendent media and 
lawyers center. About 200 cops got into the 2 schools, started beatin people. Pools of fresh 
blood everywhere. Heads against the walls, kicks and heavy baton-beating (3 against one) on 
sleeping people -- we even have the tale that a right-wing journalist made: terrific. About 70 
people to the hospital, 2 of them (at least) still in a choma. Some congressmen and lawyers, on 
the outside, were not allowed to enter during the raid.    

All PCs, all notes, cameras, films, pads, all that the lawyers had collected to nail

 the 
Government to its responsabilities... all was destroyed. Some Swiss knives were seized, and a 
plastic bottle (a potential fire-bomb), to prove that the massacreed people were "black blocsters". 
Some friends of mine were in there, and this is TOTALLY false. Videos from the schools are 
nothin less than terrific. Pools of blood, vomit, shit everywhere. Many comrades and friends of 
mine swear that 4 cops carried out at least

 one body in a black plastic bag. The government 
denies. The body had dreadlocks, and the Government denies.

During the 2-days protest, the cops kept attacking the peaceful parts of the demos, allowing 
black blocsters, undercover cops, and neo-nazis from abroad to do a lot of arsoning and damaging.

 

The "work" on arrested people were carried out by a special group of jail police.

The Government refused to start a Congress commission on the events.

The Government said all is well cause the summit was not interrupted.

Amnesty international is asking for explanations.

We all do.

The life of some friends of mine were threatened, they were beaten with no reason and scared to death.

A 23 years old boy was shot in the face.

I fucking wanna know where my fuckin missin comrades are.

I'm fucking tired of hearin my friends cryin on the phone and I'm fuckin tired of cryin with them, 
I'm fuckin tired of consolin' my young girlfriend for she says "this is the world we gotta live in".

We all wanna know the truth about murders, at least we want the bodies back.

 

We won't let this go, Mr. Berlusconi and Mr. Bush and all other Six Big Pieces. We won't forget.

On saturday the New Serenaders will leave to England, try to witness all this and bring our solidarity 
to the english friends who were beaten in Genoa, arrested, beaten again, released because of no 
evidence and then chased out of the country.

This is the global market and its law.

We don't want a shit of all this.

We have a word for this and it's FASCISM.