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Fascism in Genoa

by Starhawk

 

I was there when the carabinieri raided the IndyMedia 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 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:

 

" 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 harrassment 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.

 

> On Monday the opposition has demanded in Parliament the resignation

of the

> Ministry of Interior and on Tuesday demonstrations in thirty Italian

cities

> are held, with more than 250,000 people participating.

>

> We ask your help for denouncing these threats to democracy and

justice.

> You could act in one or more of the following ways:

>

> 1. Write a short statement (or a brief article) in support of the

right to

> protest against the G8, in solidarity with the Genoa Social Forum and

the

> peaceful demonstrators. Please state clearly your affiliation. The

texts

> will be published by the Left daily Il Manifesto, and by other media

around

> the world.

>

> 2. Send formal messages of support on behalf of associations, NGOs,

media

> organisations, Universities, etc.

>

> 3. Write/sign an international appeal for democracy, justice, respect

of

> human and civil rights. If many of you are interested, we can work

together

> on a text in the next days.

>

>

> Please send your articles and messages to:

> redazione

>

> and to the

>

> Genoa Social Forum

> via San Luca 15/9 - 16124 Genova

> tel. 010 2461749

> fax 010 2461413

> e.mail info - webmaster

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