Lone gunman of Toulouse probably a fascist: all victims belong to minorities [Update: an Islamist fascist in the end]

It has finally surfaced, after the attack against the Jewish school in Toulouse, that all three previous victims of the motorcycle gunman of Toulouse belonged to ethnic minorities. 

Previously it was only known, at least to me, that they were military personnel, what made the xenophobic motivation of a Le Pen or Sarkozy supporter less apparent. So today, as I read on the massacre in the Ozar Hatorah religious school, I even speculated with a lone Islamist criminal (who may hold generic resentment against Jews for the Zionist colonial imposition), but after reading the small print today at Euronews, which clearly said: 

All the troops were from ethnic minority backgrounds.

... I immediately realized that the murderer must be a racist.

The killer had already murdered in the past days three soldiers and injured a fourth one, and now also a Jewish religion teacher and three children (aged 3, 6 and 10), two of them sons of the educator, while seriously injuring yet another person.

The attacker used always the same modus operandi, attacking in cold blood with a pistol (the same one in all three attacks until it got jammed, when he began using a second weapon) and running away in a motorcycle. 

While I can't be sure, I would imagine that he is a member or former member of the armed forces, not only because accessing weapons is difficult in the French state but also because his first victims were all troopers. 

References: Euronews, Gara[es].


Update:

It seems that my logic was right and three Nazi officers are being investigated already. The officers were briefly (in)famous in 2008 when they published a photo of themselves with the Nazi ensign and performing the Roman (Fascist) salutation with the extended arm.

All three correspond with the profile of the murderer: a tattooed and very strong man dressed all in black.

Refs.: Le Point[fr], Público[es].


Update (March 20):

The attacker may be a follower of the butcher of Utoya, A. Breivik, because he apparently carries a camera to document his crimes, as allegedly Breivik advised to do (or so claims Al Jazeera - first time I heard that).

However while Breivik was openly Christian-Zionist and resented European fascist antisemitism as useless and counter-producing, this terrorist is obviously antisemitic. So the comparison stops there.


Update (Mar 21): 

A young man aged 24 is in the end apparently the murderer. Against expectations, he is an Islamic Fundamentalist (another type of fascist), identified as Mohamed Merah and who claims to be member of Al Qaeda. The gunman claims that he killed the soldiers in protest for French intervention in Afghanistan and the Jewish children to avenge the Palestinian victims of Israel.

As of now Merah has been surrounded by police in his apartment of Côte Pavée (a neighborhood of Toulouse), from where he has shot against the agents. An attempt to involve his mother in preventing further bloodshed failed as she declared to hold no influence on her son.

Merah is a French citizen of Algerian origins who had been indoctrinated, apparently, in Pakistani and Afghani infamous madrasas.

Japan bans foreign radiation dosimeters, Geiger counters

Fukushima Diary reports that radiation dosimeters not built in Japan have been banned to sell in the East Asian state. This includes repairs of already sold or gifted Geiger counters.

Iori Mochizuki also mentions that after last year's catastrophe, thousands of dosimeters were donated to Japan from outside, however as many as 40,000  are missing (the authorities dumped them probably). 

In a separate post, the same author mentions that some among the corrupt Japanese elite, (specifically the vice-governor of Tokyo, Mr. Inose) are considering restoring conscription (abolished after WWII) in order to send the Japanese youth to work in Fukushima forcibly instead of the seemingly costly subcontractors, which he compares with mercenaries. 

Of course, he has not volunteered himself to clean up the radioactive rubble, talk about shamelessness and hypocrisy!

A personal warning for the Japanese people: either you go out to the streets massively now and throw down the current regime of you will live in a totalitarian state worse than North Korea very soon. Why do I say that worse than North Korea? Because in that state so far there is no widespread radiation pollution being scattered around by corporate mafioso madmen, as happens in Japan.

Punk-rock band 'Ardor de estómago' brought to the Inquisition for saying the truth about the King of Spain

Ardor de Estómago (Heartburn) has been brought before the Spanish state's political tribunal Audiencia Nacional (aka New Inquisition, created by fascist dictator Franco under the name of  Public Order Court). The reason? Insults to the King.

This did not happen 25 years ago, mind you. Spain has been evolving more and more in the direction of absolute monarchies like Thailand or Morocco, in which no dissidence or disrespect to the icon of the monarch is tolerated (a clear sign of weakness incidentally).

But worse is that they are being accused for simply saying the truth: all the lyrics (except the chorus which is subjective and I'd say that sexist) just states the truth on the monarchy. Hence I'm translating the lyrics here for your interest:

(Note that it's full of references to the 1981 February 23rd coup and other dark issues of the monarch's past - see below for explanations). 

Who killed his own brother

with a hunting rifle**?

Who shot in strange circumstances?

Who was named successor

by a creepy dictator?

Who was the White Elephant*?

Who was Franco's friend?

Chorus:

The son of a bitch of King Juan Carlos

The son of a bitch of the King - Bastard!

(repeat)

Who has ships given as gifts

by the bankers and capitalists?

Who is above the Law

and pretends to be popular?

Who censors hazardous affairs?

Who is best buddy of mafiosi?

Who spoke badly of Adolfo Suárez*

in front of the generals?

Who made Tejero and Armada uprise*

then leaving them on their own?

Who showed up in television

as leader of the Transition?

Whose back is well protected

through state secrets?

Who has adulators stuck to him as limpets

following him everywhere?

(Chorus).

Notes:

* All these elements are references to the whitewashed role of the Bourbon monarch in the 23-F coup, which was intended to stop or weaken the democratic reform, specially the federalist trend, and which, in spite of the appearances succeeded in most aspects. It is generally accepted outside the mainstream quasi-official versions that the leader of the coup (which was not as straightforward as some believed) was the King (the White Elephant in the code of the conspirators) and that only the fact that Colonel Tejero, who was the most fascist and naive of all those implicated, resisted the second part of the maneuver, which implied that he was sent to Venezuela in a plane and a "national unity" government with social-democrats and communists was formed afterwards, actually damaged the plan.

** Juan Carlos Bourbon-Bourbon killed his brother (15) when he was barely 18 years old in a so-called accident. Some versions even pretend that the victim shot himself. Nobody who is not monarchic believes it was an accident but rather a personal and dynastic settlement.

Video with the song (lyrics in Spanish at YouTube):

Naturally, if, as they say we are all equal before the law, then the criticism of the King, as of any public figure should be automatically accepted as a matter of course. It was that way in the past. I do not remember any trial of any sort against, for example La Polla Record for their "I want to be King" (in which they called him lazy and hypocrite) and so many others. Yet since the turn of century freedom of speech is more and more difficult in the realm and more and more criticisms of the institutions are considered crimes, what, as I said before, can only be understood as a sign of weakness by institutions which have no legitimacy whatsoever.

Source: Sare Antifaxista[es].

Update: They have been sentenced to fines of €900 each (SA[es]).

Australian authorities want to import radioactive Fukushima soil

Why? Because they expect that way to attract Japanese investments (never mind that Japan as economic power is doomed: radioactive countries with low transparency can't export). 

Whatever the reasons, the move is the first one to actively export the Fukushima catastrophe outside Japan. Already the Japanese government has managed to lure with promises of money and demands of "solidarity" (solidarity through suicide?) many municipalities through Japan, even in Okinawa, rendering that way all the country contaminated with radiation. 

Now they aim to export that pollution and the first useful fool to eat the bait has been Australia. 

Source and more info at Ex-SKF.

From the Net: 'Women demand change to Moroccan rape law' (Euronews)

Women’s rights activists in Morocco have demonstrated outside the parliament building in Rabat, to demand a change in the law on underage rape.

It follows the suicide of a 16 year old girl, who was forced to marry the man she claimed had raped her.

Amina Filali’s mother said the girl found herself in an abusive relationship after being pressured into the marriage in a custom enshrined in law.

Fouzia Assouli from Morocco’s Democratic League for Human Rights said: “What we have witnessed is scandalous. We have had enough. We must change this law. We must change this penal code.”

... full story and video at Euronews.

From the Net: 'Protests in solidarity with Hana Shalabi and against the wall brutally suppressed across the West Bank'

Bilin

Upon the arrival to the Abu Lemon area participants raised Palestinian flags, posters of prisoner Hana Shalabi and slogans calling for national unity, the end of the occupation, destruction of the apartheid wall, and freedom for Palestinian prisoners. A few protesters entered between the barbed wire fence and the wall. Some were able to remove additional part of the barbed wire fence. Some young demonstrators threw rotten eggs at the soldiers. The soldiers reacted with a sound bomb, rubber bullets, tear gas canisters and the "skunk" machine.

...

Also at Kfur Qaddum, al Ma'sara, Nabi Saleh, Beit Ummar,Nil'in and Rafah: full story at Anarchists Against the Wall.

Blogger now redirects all blogs to state adresses and half the gadgets don't work

You may have noticed that all Blogger blogs you're visiting have now the local state address of the jurisdiction you are under, so if for example you're in Sweden, this blog should show up as:

forwhatwearetheywillbe.blogspot.com.se 

instead of the proper address which is

forwhatwearetheywillbe.blogspot.com

This is a big problem for links and stuff and it is already showing up in many gadgets that do not work properly anymore, for example the followers' window on the right or even something as simple as the quick edit button under each post because, even if I am the author, I can only watch my blog and you blog and every Blogger blog as:

<name>.blogspot.com.es 

and not anymore under the universal

<name>.blogspot.com

Besides of the technical issues, which I imagine that they will work out eventually, the fact of having an adress ending with the locator of the state that is invading my country doesn't please me at all. 

But most worrisome is why is Blogger changing this:

Q: Why is this happening?
A: We are doing this to provide more support for managing content locally. If we receive a removal request that violates local law, that content may no longer be available to readers on local domains where those laws apply. This update is in line with our approach to free expression and controversial content, which hasn’t changed.

In other words: bending to the possible censorship demands from the states.

I just discovered this tonight so I will have to sleep over it but I think this means that I will be migrating to Wordpress or some other resource. 

After an arbitrary, never explained total closure of my Google account not long ago, which was eventually solved by ringing up from a borrowed mobile phone (can't Google understand that I do not have a damn cell phone?) but with extremely bad robotic attention in any case, I became concerned about my dependency on a single source, Google, for much of my Internet life (mostly mail and blogging but that's a lot). 

It's always bad when you are too dependent on a single resource: that's why species go extinct and civilizations collapse: lack of diversity, lack of options. So when Google+ came I decided to stay away less that all my Google account could be scrapped overnight without any explanation. 

So right now I'm considering seriously a migration before I have to repent of my laziness. 

Anyhow, in the meanwhile, please take notice of this trick:

Q. Can users outside of the United States still access the service’s .com domains?
A. Yes, we allow anyone to view the .com version of a Blogger blog by typing: http://[blogname].blogspot.com/ncr – which always goes to the .com version of the blog. The “no country redirect” (ncr) will temporarily prevent Blogger from redirecting readers to the local version of the blog.

Whatever they say, you may want to do it as user as well, specially if you love your quick edit buttons.

From the Net: 'Japan’s triple disaster: An indictment of capitalism' (WSWS)

...

The natural forces unleashed on March 11, 2011 were uncontrollable, but the impact of the disaster was greatly magnified by the inadequacy of the safety and emergency procedures, the government’s chaotic response and the lack of money for relief and reconstruction. The terrible consequences are an indictment of capitalism, especially as Japan is a sophisticated industrial economy, the world’s third largest.

The subordination of the social needs of ordinary people to corporate profit was most graphically exposed in the crisis at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant. Despite the warnings of scientists, emergency planning by the Tokyo Electric Company (TEPCO) failed to take into account a massive tsunami. The wave swamped the plant and cut its electricity supplies, triggering a chain of events that led to a partial meltdown in three of the six reactors.

TEPCO downplayed the extent of the disaster to minimise the impact on its share prices and profits. Despite its record of safety breaches and cover-up, the government of Prime Minister Naoto Kan left the corporation in charge. A recently released report revealed that Kan and his top officials were forced to consider a worst-case scenario that involved a “demonic chain reaction” of nuclear plant meltdowns, necessitating the evacuation of 30 million people from Greater Tokyo. Yet the public was deliberately kept in the dark.

At every stage, the government put the interests of TEPCO ahead of working people.

... full story at WSWS.

Amnesty International denounces police abuses and lack of real democracy in Spain

The Secretary General of Amnesty International, Shalil Shetty, has been visiting Madrid and has denounced the major abuses of police against Basques and the illegalization of a major Basque party (Sortu). He also asked for Basque prisoners to be moved to the Basque Country and for the Spanish government to be more open in order to take advantage of the current situation and advance towards Human Rights. 

Not that anything of that matters to the heirs of Franco who rule in Moncloa after him. Human Rights? Rajoy would be rolling on his back laughing... if he could even smile.

Shetty was very specific on his criticism of not just the Law of Political Parties, which is the pretext to ban Sortu (or any other party that the heirs of Franco deem inconvenient) but also many articles (571-589) of the Penal Code: those that make reference to terrorist organizations and groups, crimes of terrorism, crimes of treason or against peace or against the independence of the state and crimes related to national defense, whose redaction he finds utterly ambiguous and open to interpretation.

Source: Gara[es].

Fukushima marine contamination reaching Hawaii

Fukushima diary reports, citing TEPCO, that this is a most realistic estimate where free floating material (fish larvae, algae, phytoplankton, zooplankton…) present in the sea water near the damaged Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power station plant could have gone since the earthquake on March 11th.

They warn in capital letters that this is not a representation of the radioactive plume concentration but nothing more and nothing less that their best estimate of where the Fukushima radioactive debris may be in the said months:

However they also say that TEPCO monitoring indicated radiation higher than the legal limit (in Japan?) during the months after the accident. So be warned.

Fukushima: 30% of children have thyroid nodules (likely cancer)

In a radio interview at Green Acre Radio, Dr. Helen Caldicott reported that c. 30% of Fukushima children have already developed lumps in their thyroid gland, a likely symptom of cancer among those under 20 (in adults it is less alarming).

Now that’s really early. That’s within the first year. That’s unheard of.

In Chernobyl, which was much more effectively evacuated and whose accident was probably quite less severe than that of Fukushima, the incidence of thyroid lumps in children grew a 60%.

Source: Energy News.

Nicaragua to produce 50% of energy from renewables by the end of 2013

There you have, I understand, a country that will damage less its natural resources, that will be less reliant on foreign imports and that will be in advantage as the old energy sources (fossil, nuclear) are becoming obsolete.

Right now it is already producing almost that figure because of the seasonal conditions (strong winds) but the figure of 50% will become stable, according to the government by the end of 2013.

Since the return of the Sandinista Front to the government in 2007, the problem of energy has been solved, first with a short term solution: thermal power (oil) but then with a growing reliance on renewables. It is also working on reduction of energy consumption by means of education.

Source: LINyM[es].

Arizonan antifascist on trial for opposing Nazi demo in Tucson 2010

Dane Edward Rossman (pictured) has been brought to trial after two years of legal limbo (it can last as much as seven years) for alleged 'aggravated assault' in a demo against members of the National Socialism Movement in Arizona, where these sported paramilitary black uniforms and chanted white supremacist slogans, exhibiting lots of Nazi paraphernalia (video).

You can read more about this persecution at Arizona Antifa Defense.

Another source: Sare Antifaxista[es].

From the Net: 'The Irish Begin to Wake Up to the Fact That They are Repaying Money That is Then Burned' (Philip Pilkington at naked Capitalism)

About a year ago a couple of friends and I were sitting around drinking beer and talking. As so often happens today in day-to-day Irish conversation, the economic situation and the repayment of debts was raised. One of my friends said that, naturally, the debts had to be repaid. I pointed out to him that by repaying the debt we were just sending away money to be effectively destroyed.

He couldn’t believe what I was saying and I didn’t blame him because it sounded like madness. But I pointed out to him that the money the Irish people were repaying by accepting decreases in government spending and increases in taxes was simply going to the central bank and from there it was being destroyed. I explained that what had happened was that the central bank had created a load of new money and thrown it into the crumbling Irish banking sector. Now the Irish people were paying back this newly created money so that it could be destroyed by the central bank.

My friend thought about it for a while and then pointed out that if the new money wasn’t paid back and destroyed it would result in inflation. Not so, I said, because the money has already entered the economy. The Irish banks loaned out the money during the boom years and this had driven a speculative bubble in the property market. But now we were just trying to prop up the banks that had made these loans. Effectively we were taking newly created money, throwing it into a black hole in the banking system and then scalping tax payers and citizens so that we could pay back money that would be destroyed by the central bank.

He refused to believe me. The story was too incredible. After all, why on earth would the central bank want the money back if they were just going to destroy it? Why would they want to destroy it if it would not lead to inflation? Politics, I said. He shook his head and took another sip of beer.

That was almost a year ago. To say such things in polite circles was to be labelled a crank or a joker. But now the Irish politicos are beginning to see what’s really going on.

...full story at Naked Capitalism.

Goldman Sachs takes a major hit: director for Europe quits and denounces the company's practices against their own customers

Greg Smith, executive director and head of Goldman Sachs’s United States equity derivatives business in Europe, the Middle East and Africa, resigned explosively by means of a letter of denounce (NYT, pay per view) of the bad practices of the super-bank, which systematically rips off clients and pays bonuses to managers for doing it. 

Naturally this is a bomb and GS stocks have fallen four points since the letter was published today. And it's probably just the beginning. 

According to Matt Taibbi at Rolling Stone:

The essence of Smith’s piece is devastating. He points to one simple, specific problem in the company: the fact that Goldman routinely screws its own clients.

Smith confesses his ultimate disgust about the company's practices:

It makes me ill how callously people talk about ripping their clients off. Over the last 12 months I have seen five different managing directors refer to their own clients as "muppets," sometimes over internal e-mail. Even after the S.E.C., Fabulous Fab, Abacus, God’s work, Carl Levin, Vampire Squids? No humility? I mean, come on.

Muppets? That's professional!

In a higher tier and more uptight magazine, Forbes, Peter Cohan writes:

What is so bad about Blankfein’s Goldman? In Smith’s view, it gives power to the people who make the most money — and it encourages people to do that by shifting complicated financial instruments that Goldman wants off its own balance sheet onto those of its clients.

In other words: they sell junk to clients so GS can have more profits.

He also posts three possible reasons why GS still have customers in spite of its many wrongdoings and increasingly bad reputation:

• That they still make some benefits in spite of all
• That they are naive enough to be blinded by GS' name the same that they or others were by Maddoff
• That they have no alternative: GS is a monopoly in its market segment

Maybe a combination of the three, although I doubt that you can make any benefits trusting someone who calls you muppet on your back.

Still, one wonders if all this is little more than a maneuver, to prepare the return of Henry Paulson (yes the Paulson who bailed out Goldman Sachs while he was Secretary of Treasury under Bush Jr.) to the most powerful corporation on Earth (or otherwise replace current CEO Lloyd Blankfein by someone else, like his second on board Gary Cohn).

One also wonders what implications this may have on the widespread domination of GS over today's European Union or even if the inter-penetration of GS and the European crisis have something to do with it. 

I can even imagine secret ethic wars between the WASP, the Jewish and the Italian mafias within this corporation. But I do not know. 

Not yet at least but it is a matter to watch carefully, not in vain this is probably the most powerful bank and economists' mafia on Earth.

From the Net: 'University students sentenced to 15 years imprisonment and ongoing sham trials' (Bahrain Center for Human Rights)

The Bahrain Center for Human Rights expresses its grave concern over the continuous human rights violations against university students in Bahrain. A year past the start of the revolution, university students are still being subjected to injustice, unfair trials, arrests and torture.

On February 14 2011, Bahraini youth started to demand democracy and freedom from the oppressive Al Khalifa regime. Most of these youth were targeted even before the declaration of Martial Law in March, through a government-sponsored thug attack of the pro-democracy students at the University of Bahrain (UOB) during a planned protest which took place on March 13 2011. Following the state of emergency, the government targeted students in a fierce crackdown; more than 500 were expelled, many were arrested, tortured and put through sham trials. At least 6 UOB students were sentenced to 15 years imprisonment in an unfair trial lacking evidence.

... full story at Bahrain Center for Human Rights.

Seven Basque prisoners of conscience liberated (on bail), many others remain in jail

Seven Basque citizens, mostly from the Pamplona district (Iruñerria), jailed for their political activities were set free yesterday after paying bails of 30,000 euros. They are: Izaskun Goñi, Iban Esteban, Egoi Irisarri, Garazi Autor, Oihana Lopez, Eneko Villegas and Julen Zuaznabar. 

They are all victims of political persecutions by the New Spanish Inquisition (Audiencia Nacional: special political tribunal created under fascism).

Welcome to Ohiana Lopez in Burlata

Sources[eu]: Ateak Ireki (several more photos), Gara.

Fukushima workers: exploited, no rights, extreme conditions

That is what former worker Saburo Kitajima declared to Democracy Now!:

SABURO KITAJIMA: [translated] The workers at the Fukushima plant are currently working under extreme circumstances. To be more specific, the wages are extremely low, and there are no rights being observed at the moment. In spite of being exposed to radiation, the levels of wages run to about maybe $100 a day, more or less.

AMY GOODMAN: And exactly what were they exposed to, and what continues to happen at these plants? I mean, in the United States, we know very little about what’s happening in Japan.

SABURO KITAJIMA: [translated] In the course of our work, the type of work where people are exposed to the highest levels of radiation would be maintaining the water pipes that are being put in place to cool the reactor. And, of course, the entire site is extremely contaminated, and there is radiation that is coming from the ground.

AMY GOODMAN: What workers decided to go into—back into the plant afterwards, knowing how great the exposure would be?

SABURO KITAJIMA: [translated] We’re talking about workers who have always worked at perhaps the most marginalized jobs and who oftentimes are not aware of the risks and had no other choice but to go back.

AMY GOODMAN: You have been speaking at anti-nuclear protests in the United States. What is your message?

SABURO KITAJIMA: [translated] There’s two sides to it. And, of course, I would like the people who I met in New York to understand the situation in New York, to communicate what is exactly happening. At the same time, I would like that the people here support and stand with us in our struggles in Fukushima.

AMY GOODMAN: And what is your struggle in Fukushima? What are you calling for there?

SABURO KITAJIMA: [translated] For the moment, the workers at the Fukushima plant are demanding that they be compensated for exposure to radiation, which is not happening at the moment, and also kind of a compensation and being looked after, after working in these plants, since they must leave in a very short period of time.

AMY GOODMAN: And that short period of time is—what is the kind of levels of exposure they have right now?

SABURO KITAJIMA: [translated] Those exposed to the highest levels of radiation must leave the plant in a period of under two months.

Source: Democracy Now! (found via EneNews).

Working till maybe your death for a few thousand bucks, that really sucks! The less they could do is to pay super-wages for people doing super-work. Never mind workers' rights and all that.

Guatemala: genocidal general sentenced to 6060 years for 201 murders

Former Guatemalan Army General Pedro Pimentel has been sentenced to 30 years of prison for each one of the 201 people he murdered in the massacre of Dos Erres (Petén department, Maya Country). He also got other 30 years for crimes against Humankind. 

However he will only be in prison a maximum time of 50 years, as the Guatemalan Penal Code does not allow for greater effective penalties in any case.

The massacre is one of the 660 which, according to the Commission for Historical Clarification, took place in Guatemala through the armed conflict (1960-1996), which left some 250,000 casualties among dead and missing people.

Many of the massacres, mostly against Native Americans, happened in the short dictatorship of Ríos Montt (1982-83), who was also recently brought to trial.

Source: Gara[es].

From the Net: Morocco town sealed by repressive forces (IDOM)

Morocco: Revolt in the city of Bni Bouayach – Solidarity appeal against the ferocious repression

Written by Communist League of Action (Morocco)

Monday, 12 March 2012

The city of Bni Bouayach in the mountainous area of the Northern Rif in Morocco has been sealed off since Wednesday, March 8. All the repressive organs of the state, the army, the gendarmerie together with the secret and public police, have joined forces to blockade the small city. The inhabitants live in fear of police terror and the raiding of houses and arrests. Other repressive forces are hunting down activists who fled into the neighbouring mountains to escape arrest. The media black-out is total.

This violent intervention is the dictatorship’s response to peaceful demonstrations organised by the young unemployed and the activists of the 20F movement that have been ongoing for many months. The protest is against the generalised lack of jobs and bad social and economic conditions in this marginalised city of the Rif.

The regime has used a variety of tactics against the protest movement, from “containment” to targeted repression of the leaders of the action. One activist, Kamal al-Hassani, was killed on October 27th last year, another, Bachir ben Shu'ayb, was abducted and put on trial. His imprisonment and the accusations against him have provoked new protests in the city.

National highway Number 2 was blocked and a sit-in was organised in front of the municipal buildings and the National Electricity Company. On March 5 the youth wanted to organise a march (25 km) to the city of Al Hoceima in support of the arrested comrade but the police stopped them.

Then on Thursday, March 8, the forces of repression attacked the demonstrators during a sit-in. The police used truncheons, teargas and water cannons to disperse the demonstrators. The masses of this city, known for their fighting traditions and activism, have defended themselves by throwing stones (see this report).

Demonstrations have been organised in the main streets leading to clashes in different neighbourhoods. Many people have been injured in those clashes. Fearing arrest, most of them have avoided being treated in the hospitals. Dozens of demonstrators have also been detained. The attack of the repressive forces was ferocious. No-one was spared, not even the women and the children. In seeking out demonstrators, the police entered people’s homes and destroyed the contents or plundered them. They are even hunting down the young activists in the mountains all around the area.

Friday the police arrested a group of activists, including Wael Faqih a leader of the unemployed youth association (Association Nationale des Diplômés Chômeurs au Maroc), and Mohammed Jalloul, a teacher in a primary school and also an activist of the 20F movement.

This attack against the city of Bni Bouayach is taking place against a background of growing revolt in some cities (such as Taza and Khénifra) that are completely marginalised by the state. These protests are organised by the 20F movement. They reflect the absolute bankruptcy of the system and the lack of alternative. It also shows the real nature of the dictatorship which is not ready to reform itself out of existence.

Therefore we declare:

• Our rejection of the violent and repressive intervention against the city of Bni Bouayach.
• Categorical rejection of the attacks against the population and the arbitrary arrests.
• We call for the immediate release of all prisoners detained during recent events
• The immediate lifting of the state of siege in the region around Bni Bouayach.
• All those responsible for the brutal repression against the youth, men and women of the city, should be put to trial.
• An immediate acceptance of all the demands of the population
• We appeal to the unions to take up their historic responsibility in reacting firmly and systematically against all forms of oppression and to call for a general strike!

>Please send messages of support to contact@marxy.com
(March 11, 2012)
[More photos and videos about the situation in Bni Bouayach here
Original Arabic article here]

From: In Defense of Marxism.

Nothing of this has transcended in the news as far as I know, never mind it's just a few kilometers outside of Spanish territory.

According to Spanish and French Wikipedia entries, the people of Bni Bouayach are Berbers and many have been pushed to emigrate to Europe in the last decades.