Bra men ikke komplett oppsummering av Gøteborg for de som ikke var der,
av en av bandmedlemene i The International Noise Conspiracy (TINC).
"Everything I ever read and heard about class struggle, human rights
struggle, politics and history became true and alive this weekend."
Mvh,
Per
So, this is an e-mail to all my friends, people I met once or twice and
people I know might be interested in this...
I was participating in the demonstrations/riots in Gothenburg this weekend
between the 15th and 17th of June 2001. This thing has been all over the
news in Sweden/Scandinavia, but I don't know how much it has been hitting
the news around the world. And if it has, it's probably a very, very
"produced" version of it. We all know who owns the media and what their
purposes are. This is my story and my version of what happened and other
people might have different opinions of what and why things happened like
they did, but I will try to give as much of a "live and direct" uncut
version of what I experienced. I'm writing this only one day after coming
back to Stockholm from all this and it's still very emotional to me and
I'm still very tired so this e-mail might be full of misspellings and
messed up grammars. My English always betrays me when I'm not in shape.
But I will try my best...
I will start by giving you a background to what was going on in
Gothenburg...
Sweden has had the chairmanship of the European Union this year and this
weekend they called in all the big shots, the Eurocrats, to have a big
meeting in Gothenburg to discuss the future of European politics and the
future of the European Union. I have been active against the European
Union for 10 years now. For 10 years ago the debate if Sweden was going to
join it or not was the topic on everybody's lips and I quickly understood
that it would not be benefiting for me or any minorities of Sweden at all.
I saw, and still see the European Union as a undemocratic, neo-liberal
hell machine, like a bulldozer of law-enforced capitalism running over all
the rights that labor movements and civil rights movements has won by
fighting for 100 years now. A fortress around "rich Europe" against the
rest of the world and a new super state to compete with USA and Asia when
it comes to production, consumption and exploitation of the 3rd world. And
it's all in the name of free trade. I was active in the "no to EU" line
during the election of if Sweden was going to join the European Union or
not, even though I was too young to vote by then. The "YES" line won the
election by buying all media a couple of weeks before the election and
putting a lot of pressure on the Swedish labor movements. The "YES" side
won with 2 percent... Anyway, back to this weekend. Unlike government
meetings, this meeting was behind closed doors and the public was not
invited at all. There is still a big critical movement against the
European Union and it's neo-liberal agenda in Sweden and around Europe and
none of those organizations were invited to debate with the politicians
who represents the European Union. And all past meetings of the European
Union, the G8, WTO etc has been followed by mass protests and criticism.
So I don't think that it was a coincident that the politicians choose to
have the meeting the same weekend as Sweden's biggest summer festival, The
Hultsfred festival, to keep kids out of town. This was a closed meeting
for the men with power about our future. And no radical or critical
perspectives were allowed to be represented there. This was the first
mistake made by the politicians that weekend, and there is more to come.
One funny thing about this meeting was that George Bush II was invited to
participate on Wednesday. He was there for 20 hours and the city of
Gothenburg brought in flowers and planted them all around town so it would
look like the town was in full bloom. According to rumors, George Bushes
visit to Sweden did cost something like 2 million dollars for the Swedish
taxpayers. For 20 hours... I really hope he said a lot of things that
might be good for Swedish taxpayers and the Swedish working class in the
long run, but something tells me he didn't...
A lot of EU-critical organizations, grassroots organizations, labor
organizations, environmentalists, socialists, anarchist, gay rights
people, anti racist organizations, immigrant organizations had asked the
authorities to participate in the meetings, but the meeting was to be
closed from the public eye no matter what. That made a lot of people mad
and the organization and the politicians of the city of Gothenburg
organized meetings and tried to find a solution that would be fitting for
everybody, even tough the critical organizations already had compromised
with the authorities. There was a lot of meetings and preparing to make
the demonstrations and the activities around the meeting to run as smooth
as possible and the people representing the police had PROMISED the people
representing the critical organizations that they would go very easy on
the activists and use no violence, no horses and no dogs. The police said
that they wanted to cooperate if the activists were ready to cooperate,
and the activists were. They expected around 25.000 activists from around
the world and they didn't want the situation to go completely out of hand.
Anyway, the city authorities rented a couple of schools to the critical
organizations for people to sleep in during the night and for workshops
and discussion groups during the days. The theme for all those meetings
was "For a different Europe" and we had the authorities blessings to have
our own "EU critical conference" with our topics, our guests to talk about
our future. The authorities also promised us to have 3 legal
demonstrations against the meeting of the European union a couple of
blocks from the buildings of the meeting. Not outside, of course. We are
allowed to say what we think about the people ruling our lives and future
on placards and banners, but not where they can see us...
I live in Stockholm at the moment and I was going to Gothenburg with my
friends so that I could be there on Thursday night. We were driving to
Gothenburg listening to the radio and on the news they said that the
police had been surrounding one of the schools where the forums and the
sleep ins took place. They had formed a line of cops and quickly
thereafter built a wall of containers around the schools so no one could
get in and no one could get out. The first reason for all this that they
gave people was that someone had used a slingshot (you know one of those
kids toys) to attack the police with. But they changed the reason quickly
to suspections about preparing violent activities against police officers.
That night about 200 activists were arrested in the school building and
outside when people were gathering to protest against the lock-up. Friends
of mine were held in a police car for 12 hours without getting any real
reasons why they were taken. And the police used the "bad cop" style to
scare them, make them beg to go to have a pee outside and stuff like that.
The activists that protested outside the school decided to go back to
avoid police violence, but then the police struck with full power and
there were clashes between the police forces and activists inside and
outside the school. By this time, the police came in with horses, which
they had promised a couple of days ago that they wouldn't use. So much for
trying to talk things over with authorities. Everybody involved in the
protest saw this as something very provocative and it was clear that the
police had set the tone for how they wanted the rest of the weekend to be.
On Friday morning, there was a big legal meeting in the center of
Gothenburg where the critical groups met up to rally and to listen to
speeches about what was going on. A lot of people were still kept by the
police and people were angry because of the police brutality and behavior
the night before and because of having their friends held by the police,
for what seemed to be, no reason at all. And people were angry because the
police had blocked the school where people, who had traveled to
Gothenburg, were supposed to sleep and the workshops were supposed to take
place. People gathered and there were thousands of us. I don't know
exactly how many, but thousands. After having the big, outdoor meeting the
people started to march down towards the building where the politicians
were having their meeting. A couple of blocks away from the building, the
police were lined up, in full riot gear with dogs and horses and the
activists had to stop a couple of meters from the police. It was a very
narrow street and thousands of people were coming from the back and the
tension was high. The police screamed to the protestors to back off, but
the activists refused and all of a sudden, the police advanced against the
activists, letting the dogs on the people in the front and then hell broke
loose. People were running for their lives, people picked up stones and
bottles and started to throw them at the police and the police hunted the
crowd, who fled in panic back to the spot were the outdoor meeting was.
There the clash between police and activists continued and it was very,
very violent. People were attacked by the police who had horses and dogs
and swinging their clubs at kids in my own age and people picked up stones
from the street and threw them back at the police. Many kids were brutally
beaten up by the police, even people who just lied down and said "I give
up, don't hit me". An innocent man that just passed by was beaten up by
the police even though he wasn't participating in the riot at all. Maybe
his crime was that he was not white.
Anyway, the police hunted the crowd down to the Gothenburg strip called
"Avenyn". A strip with a lot of chain stores like McDonalds and H&M. This
was maybe the stupidest thing by for the police to do at the moment. We
were thousands of angry people and they drove us back and denied us to go
down to outside of the meeting to protest. And they used horses and dogs,
even though they had promised not to. The situation got out of hand. I
felt so powerless, so degraded by the people ruling my life and angry for
being denied to protest outside the meeting and angry for knowing that the
police broke all their promises and that I still had friends held by the
police. And a lot of people was angry and started to smash the windows of
McDonalds, H&M, Bang & Olufsen and a Swedish Bank. This was widely
reported in the Swedish media and all the activists were portrayed as
"hooligans and terrorists destroying the inner city". There were even
writings about "raping" the city and the people there, and that was
completely ridiculous. What media didn't report was that a lot of small
businesses and cafes did not get smashed at all. Only the big chain stores
like McDonalds, who have made a fortune by exploiting poor people and
using child labor around the world.
The fights continued for about two hours. The police were attacking the
people and the people were throwing stones at the police. The police
picked up stones and threw them back at the activists.
After a couple of hours things calmed down. Some people were trapped by
the police on a bridge and about 100 people were arrested. I went home to
a friend to lie down and just think and rest for a while. Because I knew
that this was only the beginning...
Later that night, me and my friends went out again to participate in the
announced "Reclaim the City" party that was supposed to be held in a park
in the city. We came there and there were a lot of kids gathered and two
big trucks were rented and some DJs were playing music and kids were
dancing and I thought it was pretty neat. But there was a weird tension in
the air and you could tell that this would not last very long. All of a
sudden, I heard screams like "You scum! You fucking commies" and right
beside me a fistfight broke out between activists and some fascist kids
that had shown up. It was started by the fascists. They quickly fled when
the activists started to hunt them away from the spot and it sort of made
me laugh, even though I hate fights. Because I know that right wing people
are seriously brain damaged, but I didn't know they were so stupid so that
they would go to a outdoor party, arranged by left wing people that are
angry because they have been hunted by the police all day, and call them
"commie scum" and look for a fight.
The fascist kids ran away, but not shortly thereafter the real fascists
entered the scene, the Swedish police. They surrounded the park, in full
riot gear and with horses. It was about to blow... Somewhere the fight
between activists and police broke out and people started to run from the
cops who were riding and swinging their clubs. The more militant activists
responded by throwing stones at the police. The police were driven back
and then they attacked again and people fled down the streets, but the
police had surrounded the whole area and you were lucky if you got out of
there. The police were hunting the people down the street and some
activists started to smash windows of businesses. I think that was very
unnecessary. To smash the window of McDonalds or H&H in a situation like
this, I can clearly see the logic of that, but to smash the local
bookstore? What's the point? I don't know...
The clash continued and many people that were not participating in the
demonstration were gathering around to see what was going on. And some of
them started to throw rocks at the police too! That was interesting.
People who looked quite ordinary, without black masks throwing stones at
the violent police force. Interesting.
The activists advanced and started to run up against the cops again. The
clash continued. All of a sudden I heard a sharp bang, and another one...
I don't know how many bangs I heard. But I looked at the police and I saw
one of the police officers holding his gun aiming it at the activists. And
I was hearing screams about somebody being shot. As far as I know, the
Swedish police haven't fired at demonstrators since the black days in
Ådalen 1931 when five (or six, don't really know for sure) labor activists
were shot dead. But anyway, seeing a Swedish police aiming his gun against
kids in my own age will stay in my memory forever. When the shots were
fired, panic broke out and I was able to escape a couple of blocks away
from the scene. On my way, trying to avoid being hit (or even worse, shot)
by the police I saw random clashes with the police everywhere. I saw the
police ride over a naked guy with their horses. A friend of mine was run
over by a horse and she had to go to the hospital. Another friend came up
to me with blood on her hands. She had been taking care of one guy that
the police had shot in the leg. It felt so unreal... Like being on TV or
in the news (which we probably were all the time, because the sky was full
of police helicopters). The activists gathered in a park and squeezed
together and started to chant "no more violence, no more violence" while
the police were surrounding the park ready to strike at any minute. The
people in the park continued to sing and dance and after a couple of
hours, the police left the place to the sound of cheering activists
dancing in the park. Later that night there was a meeting at one of the
schools that wasn't yet surrounded by the police. A guy who had been
representing the activists in the meetings with the authorities and the
police told us that two or three kids had been shot by the police that
night. One had been shot in the back or in the chest (no one was quite
sure at that point) and he said that there should be "no more
collaboration with the police". People cheered. The meeting was very
short, because people from outside were calling in telling us that the
police was closing in to the school. We left the place really fast and
took off to the place we where sleeping at. During the night the police
formed tighter lines around the schools where the meeting had been held.
Saturday morning. About 25.000 people gathered to do a peaceful
demonstration against the European Union and the police brutality. 25.000
people must be the biggest demonstration in Swedish history ever. But the
demonstration was not allowed to go into the center of the city, which was
blocked with walls built by freight containers, but had to stay outside
the city, even though nothing dangerous or violent were happening. The
demonstration was very inspiring and really what I needed after a day of
violence and shooting. Being together with comrades from all around the
world showing our discontent for the present capitalist society and our
hopes for another world order was so positive and inspiring. I loved every
second of it, even tough it was a bit rainy. The "funny" thing is that
this big, peaceful demonstration was not at all as widely reported in
media as the shootings and the riots. 25.000 people walking down the
street to show people what they believe is not interesting in mainstream,
tabloid press.
After the demonstration I went down to the inner city to find something to
eat. I went to a restaurant and ate and after that I went back home to
rest for a while. I got back into the city and I was walking down the
street to get to the place where we were supposed to play that night. I
walked in a city that was a war zone. Containers everywhere, scared people
and a weird tension in the air. I was thinking about the shooting that I
had witnessed the day before. It still felt so unreal. All of a sudden I
started to hear police sirens and cops in riot gear filled the street in a
minute and police truck after police truck after police truck was passing
by. I heard the sound of the cars, I saw the blank looks of the police
officers faces, and I saw truck after truck. The sound of power was
hitting the walls of the houses. The sound of fascism and violence was in
my ears. I was scared so I decided to take another way down to the tent
venue where the gig was rather than go where I planned to go in the first
place. And that was good, because I got there without being harassed by
the cops. The cops had stormed into a square in the city, surrounded
people who hadn't done anything and pushed them into police buses and
drove them away. My friends mother was riding her bike when a police
officer pulled her off the bike, dragged her to the ground and arrested
her. For no reason at all. Another friend was held by the police and got a
gun to his face. About 100 innocent people were harassed and arrested.
That night we did a wonderful gig. It was the right place for us to be. In
the center of the class struggle, where the action was and where power and
people met. People were going nuts while we played and we ended the show
with screaming "International solidarity working class unity" over and
over again. One of our best gigs ever. I was almost crying when we were
done. It felt so god damn right at the moment to be in a political rock
band. For once it made a little bit sense.
That night the tension was high in the city. I was walking down the street
and I met activists in the street. No one knew what was going on really...
They said that the police officially had given up, but no one believed
that at all. I saw police cars passing by me while I was walking in the
dark streets and I looked away all the time, hoping that they wouldn't
stop and pull me into the car because they had been performing that kind
of kidnaps all day long. But I didn't get arrested or anything like a guy
that had been pulled down and handcuffed the same day by the police. He
was innocent and asked what he was handcuffed for. The police answered
that "that's because you are causing trouble" and he replied "but it's you
guys who are shooting people" and they said "yes, and next time we will
shoot even more!"
That night I didn't sleep that very much. It felt like war was in town and
I knew that even if the protests and the meeting was officially over, the
war on the street wasn't. That night the police stormed one of the schools
that activists had rented from the authorities to use for sleeping. The
police came in with drawn guns and arrested almost everyone who didn't
escape.
The next day, all of this was over and we went back to Stockholm again.
The events of the weekend was all over the radio, the newspapers, the
TV... All about the violent activists and the riots. Nothing about the
peaceful demonstrations. Nothing about the fact that the police started
the violence. Nothing about the violence that the police practiced on
innocent people of all ages, nothing about the structural violence that
the European Union is for poor people and poor countries, nothing about
our side of it. The policeman who had shot a guy was portrayed as a hero
and claimed that he did it in self-defense (even though he shot the guy in
the back). The papers were full of the readers comments, everybody saying
that "the police were right... we need more cops, we need harder cops, we
need to control those terrorists".. Tony Blair called the 25.000 activists
a "travelling anarchist circus". People that he should listen to...It was
very sad, but I was there I know what happened. I'm an eyewitness to the
whole thing and that's why I'm writing this. To get my side out to the
people I care about and to people that might understand and not just buy
everything that bourgeois media is telling them.
So... What did we learn from all this? Well, right now it's very hard to
tell. Maybe in a historical perspective we'll know everything about the
protests in Gothenburg, Prague, Niece, Seattle etc etc and what the
consequences of those events were. What I see right now is that Globalized
capitalism, neo imperialism is the cause of all this. The structural
violence against poor and working people everywhere is getting so apparent
that people all over the world is gathering against the same enemy. it's
the same ideology and same corporations everywhere in power. And as times
and repression gets harder, the clashes between people and the power get
more violent and harder.
A lot of people are condemning the violence used by activists during the
demonstrations in Gothenburg. The stones thrown at the police and so on...
But, the police knew that they had no control over the situation at all
and they tried to show everybody in town who was boss so they became very
violent against everybody and everything. And no one in mainstream media
seems to be criticizing the police throwing stones and beating up people
who just passed by. And everywhere the policeman who shot a guy in my own
age in the back is portrayed as a hero. It's scary. And the reactions of
many people in the left make me very confused. Everyone is cheering the
zapatistas and the people arming themselves against corporation hell in
the third world, but when the violent side of the battle against
capitalism comes too close to home, people are to quick to condemn
everything. McDonalds, H&M and Burger King got their windows smashed
during the riots. Corporations that got big by exploiting natural
resources in poor countries and using child labor. Everybody hates that,
but as soon as someone get enough of that that person is a "terrorist" and
the cops are free to shoot him. The right wing moralism is spreading down
to ordinary, decent people who get exploited by the big corporations every
day. And the police violence is just a sign of everything that people like
us has been talking about for so long, that globalization and neo
liberalism will lead to violent and hard times for everybody, except for
the people hiding behind container walls, laughing at us. The European
Union was not for the working class and the police are not on the people's
side. We are up against the European Violence Machine and if you have any
thing that you want to say to the people who are in charge, off you go...
or even worse, you will get shot for doing it.
I think that this weekend will go to history. Maybe in a negative way,
because the police will get free hands in the future and maybe they will
bring in water cannons and tear gas in Sweden (that stuff is still illegal
over here). And maybe it will be harder to organize protests in the
future. And people will maybe only remember the violence they saw on TV
and not the 25.000 activists gathered together peacefully to demonstrate
and to say what they believed in. But people forget history so quick.
Sweden used to have Europe's most militant labor movement until the 30ies.
And all the rights that we have, such as the right to vote, freedom of
speech, women's right to abortion, holidays and stuff like that was won by
the working class after fights with the police and people in power. But
they don't teach us that in school.
I think this is a challenge. We have to organize globally to confront this
new, violent phase of capitalism. We have to do this together and win by
the strength in numbers. I'm not a pacifist at all, but I think the most
important thing right now is to organize your friends, your neighbors, and
your parents, friends at work and school. Let people know what is going
on! It's our future that they wanna sell to the one who pays us the
least... And now it's up to us to change it and to do what people have
done throughout history, over and over again, to win their rights. To
educate, to organize and to activate! And it might be violent, and it
might not be. But I'm quite sure that the people in power won't give up
their money, power, modes of production, corporations to the masses
without trying to kill us all first.
Anyway, I feel very alive after all this. My life will never be the same.
Everything I ever read and heard about class struggle, human rights
struggle, politics and history became true and alive this weekend. It made
me relate to everything from Karl Marx "Das Kapital" to N.W.A:s song about
the police...
So, I guess my story ends here. Or, it's just begun. I guess as time goes
by, I will get more perspectives on this and we will all see the
consequences and I'm ready to debate this with anyone. But for now, I'm
finishing this by saying
Smash Capitalism! Tear down fortress Europe! Another world is possible!
/Inge
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