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Video that we have made after the last invasion of the police on 23/8.

On Sunday 23/08 at 10:30 in the morning, several squads of cops raided the Libertatia squat in Thessaloniki. More precisely, during the reparation of the building’s roof that had been burned down by fascists, the cops broke the door’s padlock and raided the squat where they arrested 12 people that were inside. After that, for one more time, they stole several building tools and other necessary material for the reconstruction of the roof, as they had done one month before, when they raided the squat together with Ephorate of Modern Monuments-assistants and had taken a part of the squat’s equipment for the rebuild project. Right after the raid, comrades that were rallying outside the building, came in and re-occupied it. Other than the 12 arrested people, the cops held two more comrades that were standing outside the building and released them a couple of hours later. The arrested comrades spent the whole day both in Toumba’s Police Department and the General P.D. Of Thessaloniki where they have been released late at night, The accusations that have been charged to the comrades are : illegal working, damaging a monument of cultural significance and disobedience. It is also worth mentioning the disgusting tentative of the police and some media to connect the accidental arrest of a woman for drugs possession with the 12 arrested comrades.

This raid is the third in order in less than a year and aims to stop the rebuild project for Libertatia squat. All these attacks shows that the state continues targeting the structures of the movement, as also the timeless cooperation between the State and paramilitary-fascist groups against the libertarian movement. At the same time that the state’s mechanism supports those who burned Libertatia, it releases its stooges in order to arrest the comrades that chose from the very beginning to defend politically the squat and reconstruct the burnt building. As for the accusations for “damaging an historical monument”, against the people who undertook its conservation and its reparation (before and after the arson), they can only consist of a surrealistic and unsuccessful attempt of reversing reality about who’s the real destroyer.  Additionally, the role of the  Ephorate of Modern Monuments as a legal representative of the above accusations, with it’s sudden intrest can only be characterized as ridiculous. It is more than obvious who’s really interested in saving this building. For those who are still wondering, let us ask rhetorically where was the Ephorate when the so called “Stratou street jewel” completely abandoned and ruining over the years. Where were they when the fascist groups burned down the whole building. To conclude it is quite obvious what are the interests that the Ephorate serves, who are they covering and protecting and to who they are against. In the case of Libertatia things are quite simple and clear. All these facts -that Libertatia’s neighborhood was witnessing the last two and a half years- is now clear to every corner of Greece. Once again the neighbors showed to us their solidarity  in several ways, booing the police forces during the raid, informing us of the police presence and supporting us morally.

This particular attack against Libertatia squat cannot be disconnected from the previous repressive actions and evictions of squats, with the most fresh example being the eviction of Terra Incognita squat.

During a tense social condition, where the lives of people are more and more devaluated and impoverished and the management of the Covid-19 pandemic puts in danger thousands of people, the State decides to strike and intensify the repression in order to weaken the revolutionary movement. Fearing the social upheaval and the generalized indignation of people, the State tries to destroy every resistance, targeting once again the anarchist movement and its structures as places of resistance against the State and Capialism. It is in this condition that the revolutionary movement shall respond actively, defending its structures, its political presence and its history of social struggle. The rebuild project of Libertatia is an objective for all the squat movement. The victory in this struggle will be our answer against State and fascist attacks to our structures.

The reconstruction of Libertatia squat is not only an affair concerning itself. On the contrary it concerns the whole antifascist, anarchist and revolutionary movement. It is about the all-encompassing defense of the squats, as the whole rebuild project sends a very powerful message against State’s repression and fascist violence and establishes a strong symbolism during a generalized repressive condition. Our political presence in the squat has been already assured a couple of weeks after the arson attack. Libertatia squat will survive and will continue to exist as already does, by organizing plenty of demonstrations, political discussions, movie projections etc. The whole point is the completion of the rebuild project by revolutionary means, in order to highlight both the political responsibility of State’s repression and the political defense of the revolutionary occupied spaces.  The State will exploit every retreating-step we are making. That is why, we have to stand up, resist, defend our structures and our struggles, organize ourselves better and broaden the ongoing class war.Libertatia  26/08/20

Libertatia  26/08/20

ON THE POLICE ATTACK AND INVASION IN LIBERTATIA SQUAT ON NOVEMBER 8TH

Solidarity to squats – Libertatia will stay!

Demo 10/3 – Pregathering 11.00 Libertatia – Demo 12.00 Kamara (Thessaloniki)

For the importance of the antidemos against the rallies for the “Macedonian” issue

Starting from the so-called “Macedonian” issue, we think it is not necessary to mention again what happened in the two rallies of Thessaloniki and Athens, which political forces have derived political surplus value from the people who where there, how fascism was washed away in the dust of oblivion. These are things that the anti-fascist movement (and our collectiv respectively) have thoroughly analyzed lately.

What we want to point out is the importance of publicly announced anti-concentration against nationalist rallies, as they have shown that even in the worst days of nationalist frenzy, the people of the struggle will be on the streets. Considering the volume of the Macedonian rallie, but without fear, comrades standed in Kamara – Thessaloniki (21/1) and Propylaea – Athens (4/2) against the delirium of those days. Recognizing the historical significance of such events, part of the movement decided not to let bigotry, racism and fascism to act undisturbed in the public space and the central political scene and stood opposite them proposing internationalism and class solidarity. It has decided to express the people that stand against nationalism, war and hatred to everything different. Without wishing to put the matter of protecting the squats at a second place of importance, we consider that these actions act in a passive level of addressing the sociaty, which, of course, we recognize that it did not happen as it should in the case of Thessaloniki. These gatherings have to remain as political and historical memoirs for the movement, and additional effort is needed so as to quantify and qualify these moves in the coming years to face the fascist threat on the streets, to answer publicly to nationalist rhetoric and to fight massively against chants of hatred that have risen in the wider region.

The proposal of international solidarity

Therefore, one of the two main challenges at the moment is international solidarity. Against the increasing nationalism in the Balkans and the eastern Mediterranean, the embankments of internationalism and solidarity among the oppressed must be built. As we have emphasized in our analysis of the Macedonian issue: “Internationalism, then, is the only feasible, unifying and peaceful solution. This is because it does not seek the extermination of populations and entire folks. On the contrary, it proposes the solidarity among the proletarians and oppressed against those who exploit us and destroy our lives. And let’s not fool ourselves. Content may change, but the form of exploitation is the same on both sides of the border, as in every state. Ιmpoverishment, degradation of our lives, removal of our rights are only some of the aspects of the attack that has been unleashed against us by the state and the capital. And the only real resistance is class-antistate-internationalisτ. “And that’s exactly what we’re going to do on March 10th.

Side by side with comrades from other Balkan – and not only – countries, we will show that there are people who resist the absurdity of war, hatred and nationalism, people who see real enemies from all sides of the border, that are no other than the state and the capital, along with their reserves, the fascists and the parαstate gangs.

How do we see antifascism

We believe that massive and feisty answers have to be given against the fascist threat. The struggle against fascism is not a confrontation of two “extremes,” as it appears to be presented by the dominant narrative of the state and its ideological mechanisms to conceal the historical role of fascism as a reserve of the existing system. On the contrary, it is part of the struggle of the oppressed parts of society against their oppressors and the gangs they use to intimidate and suppress the people that resist. This battle can only be done in terms of social direction, in order to thicken the lines of the anti-fascist movement, as well as with combative attidute to crush all fascists on the streets. Against the logic of a sterile denunciation of fascist violence and the logic of confrontation with fascists in hooliganist terms, we suggest the further organization anti-fascists with class, combatitive, and anti-hierarchical characteristics. By providing solutions to the ever-increasing problems of the oppressed parts of society, we are building our own structures, which are fighting for a society of equality and freedom. Operating without dominative and exploitative relationships, we are preparing the anti-fascist movement to intensify our struggles in massive terms, building up embankments to fascism and nationalism, and eliminating them from the public domain (workplaces, schools, universities, neighborhoods, parks, stadiums).

The importance of occupations and their defense

The shock of the arson of an occupation, which is, a structure of struggle and resistance, is great. However, the emergence of solidarity at material, moral and political level and the power of the movement to rebuild what has been shattered by the destructive forces of fascism in one day,with all its forces assembled at one point, overcomes every obstacle, highlighting the second stake that exist at the moment. That is, that of showing solidarity to squats and defending the structures of the struggle at a central political level. At the moment where the attacks on occupations and free social spaces of fascist gangs have intensified, the movement must respond by defending them. . Following the events that took place in the days of the two rallies for the Macedonian issue, the latest attacks on the occupation of Lelas Karagiannis (Athens), the followers of the self-organized group of Progressive Toumpa (Thessaloniki), the Free Social Space of Favela (Piraeus) and the squat of Panetolio 21 in Koukaki (Athens) show the attempt to intimidate the people of the struggle from the parastate, which always acts in addition to state repression. Our structures, however, do not simply cover housing needs of people, but they are also spaces of resistance to the existing, fields of creating relations of equality, solidarity and respect among the oppressed people and the vision of a better world. That is why we will defend them by all means, highlighting their importance and role. By putting the issue of defending occupied spaces and Libertatia squat as a center issue out in the streets, we propagate and highlight the squatting projects, their role in the wider movement and society, and make it clear to the state, the capital and the fascists that we will defend our structures, making the occupation a social term.

For the demo 10/3

We call the people of the movement to support the pan-Balkan internationalist demo of solidarity in Libertatia, with the proposals of international solidarity and the defense of squats and the structurs of the struggle. In continuation of the reflective demo for the arson of our occupation on 22/3 and the actions of solidarity all over Greece and other countries, we call comrades from Greece and the Balkans on 10/3 in Thessaloniki to give a mass answer to nationalist frenzy and fascist attacks. No fascist attack is left unanswered. Libertatia will stay!

To defend the structures of the struggle

To rebuild with our own hands what was destroyed

From Sofia until Kamara and Propylaia the internationalist solidarity will swap away the fascist threat in the Balkans

Fight against Fascism, State and Capital

For the Social Revolution, Anarchy and Liberterian Communism

Libertatia, Political collective for libertarian communism

A few weeks ago we all witnessed an incident that shuddered the neighborhood of Faliro in Thessaloniki. The arson of Libertatia squat, the neoclassical building in L.Stratou & Sarantaporou, the roof of some people but also of libertarian ideas, one of the few old buildings preserved in this city. This happened on the day of the Macedonia demo, where the people closed the streets to come out to defend the “greekness” of Macedonia. Once again in society, pseudo-dilemmas are spreading that disorientate it from reality, offering fertile ground to its creeping fascism.

All of that happened in Thessaloniki. At the whilom multicultural “capital” of the Balkan peninsula, the city of refugees, persecution and extermination of the Jewish and other ethnic populations, the city of the murdered workers in 1936 and the murder of Lambrakis in 1963. Among the crimes of fascism and nationalism that have happened in this city, one more came to add, the arson of a historical building, which was standing for over a century. Unfortunately, whoever forgets history must be ready to live it again. (quote from the political statement of Libertatia squat 29.01)

Few words for Libertatia squat

„Libertatia stands for libertarian, inspired by the semi-mythical liberal community of pirates around 1600. As then, the waves of our lives have led us to a self-managed raft towards freedom.” (From the first brochure of occupation “The need for housing and the solution to occupation as a means of revolutionary action”).

In 2008, the mansion was occupied at the corner of the Army and Sarantaporos street, giving it life after many years of desolation. We tried to make it sustainable and we did it, which, due to its age and its architecture, was achieved with great effort, with our own money and help from comrades.

Of course we did not expect any rewards, our satisfaction was moral and political. The assembly of occupation laid the foundations based on equality and anti-hierarchy. This created a place open to all those who are struggling to overthrow a social system based on exploitation. In the summer of ’09 there was a call in the neighborhood for a meeting. This call took place because the neighborhood for us is and remains vital space for intervention, so every event was firstly addressed to it (with texts, posters, interventions). Our good relationship with it is still evident today, when during the attack the people came out to the balconies shouting to the fascists, who of course replied with sworing and bengalen. Anyway, the people of the neighborhood know well who and why they burned the occupation, they are next to us and support us, and this attitude gives us the power to remain in the building and to repair the damage.

Besides our ideas, Libertatia housed ourselves, housed the needs of people without the intermediation of rent, people who did not have the means to rent a home, such as immigrants and people of the lower social classes.

The squat, despite the difficulties it had to overcome due to the problems concerning the building, held a steady social profile without, of course, losing its political identity. Movie projections of the film group took place almost every week, and also the occupation bar. Concerts were also frequent. But one of the most important activities was the structure of self-education. Like every revolutionary movement that existed before and set its foundations on education, we also tried to study revolutionary theory and history. By opening it to society, we set the terms of our revolutionary function: “action requires knowledge and knowledge requires education”. All of this will of course continue to exist because Libertatia will stay. The rebuilding has begun and we are ready.

But the problem is not only the destruction of an occupation. The problem is fascism and the society that nourishes it. Fascism is not only golden dawn and the various far-right groups, nor all those “bad” things we know from history that it did, but is also the passivity and the apathy, is also the society that observes history but doesn’t change it, does not speak, and does not take position. It is clear to everyone that what happened could not be done without the cover-up of the rally. Let everybody therefore consider his attitude towards fascism.

As a closure, we would like to say that the decision to rebuild the building comes from our will to respond to the disastrous tendency of fascism. For us, occupations are not their walls, but the people – they are the relationships that are built within them. It is structures of struggles that take us out to the road. The occupations are us. And we will prove that the anti-fascist movement has the will, the forces and the determination to rebuild what has been destroyed. Libertatia will stay and the building will be rebuilt on our own means, with our own people. This will be the best answer to the state and its fascist gangs. It is a great challenge for the people of the struggle all this process and its ultimate success will show that we can live and create without state, capital and power. It is a battle that has to be won and will be won.

Libertatia, political assembly for libertarian communism

Internationalism & solidarity

The only solution against state and parastate, against fascists and bosses

10.3 Pan-Balcanic internationalist solidarity demo
Gathering 12.00 Kamara / pregathering 11.00 Libertatia Squat

No fascist attack will stay unanswered

Libertatia will stay

«Whoever stays home when the battle begins

and lets others fight for his cause

ought to watch out:

because whoever has not shared in the fight

will share in defeat.

He who wants to avoid fighting

will not once avoid the fight:

because he will fight for the cause of the enemy

who hasn’t fought for his own.» (B. Brecht)

Libertatia, Political collective for libertarian communism

On January 21, 2018, a series of fascist attacks on emancipatory structures of the left-wing radical movement took place in the Greek city of Thessaloniki. Tens of thousands of fascists, nationalists, patriots and clericals had gathered to give new impetus to the long dispute over the name of Macedonia and the legacy of Alexander the Great. Nationalists in Greece and the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) claim the name Macedonia in equal measure. Both states provoke themselves again and again for years, i.e. by naming historical places or airports after Alexander the Great. Since 2014, there have been no negotiations between the two countries.

Nevertheless, an agreement emerged lately.
At least on the Greek side, however, the nationalist movement wanted to stifle such an agreement, and therefore mobilized since weeks to the first nationalistic mass demonstration since 1992 in Thessaloniki, the capital of the northern Greek region of Macedonia.

On January 21, a mix of right-wing parties and organizations, members of the fascist party Chrysi Avgi, nationalist hooligans, conservatives, Orthodox and patriots marched in Thessaloniki, making clear what they think: “Macedonia is Greek!”. It must have been nearly 100,000 people.

Out of this nationalist demonstration, attacks on people and structures which were fighting against the nationalist consensus of the fascists, patriots and clerics in the past, have been repeatedly committed. First it hit the occupied school Sxolio, an autonomous social and cultural project of the anti-authoritarian movement (AK) in the district of Faliro. The attack of the fascists could finally be fended off.

However, the attackers moved on to the house of the libertarian communist group Libertatia, which is only about 300 meters away from Sxolio. A first attack on the occupied house could also be fought off. But two hours later, around 3:00pm, 60 to 70 fascists returned to the house and set fire to it.

The approximately 100-year-old building, which was occupied since 2007, completely burned down with its large library and all belongings of the occupants. In response to this coward attack, an anti-fascist demonstration was announced for the evening of January 22nd. In the course of this demonstration it came to some smaller riots and aggressions against the police, which had the day before not only let happen but also partly actively supported both, the attack on Sxolio as well as the attack on Libertatia.

While not one of the fascist arsonists was arrested, on January 22nd the police arrested five participants of the antifascist demonstration, including one member of the collective of Libertatia. But not enough, the prosecution now accuses the five antifascists of arson of category two – an offense punishable by a sentence of five to ten years imprisonment.
Despite of this massive repression by the state and the militant attacks of fascists, the comrades in Thessaloniki keep on fighting: They call for the intensification of resistance to fascism and capitalism – in Greece as well as throughout Europe. Furthermore, the comrades want to rebuild Libertatia.

We urge you to financially support this project: Support the reconstruction of Libertatia! Support the imprisoned comrades! Support the anti-fascist resistance in Europe!

Freedom for the Thessaloniki Five! Death to fascism! Long live Libertatia!

Friends of Libertatia in Vienna, January 2018