Belgian EU-presidency: pupil and student strike!

The following is about repressions against globalisation critics and the idea of a strike of pupils und students as it will happen in Belgium on October 19th.
Compared to european habits Geuoa repressions were of incredible hardness. The sad balance: one person dead and hundreds injured. The Genoa events could actually have been anticipated since repressions of this severeness are nothing really new. For the second time after the Gotheburg shots, police in Genoa fired at demonstrators after Italian borders had been closed and activists had been forbidden to leave their mothercountries. A well known practice: As early as in 1997 activists had been arrested during protests against the EU summit in Amsterdam. Since the arresting had been illegal due to dutch law this activists had to be set free later and many were even granted reparation last year(information: http://autonoomcentrum.nl). Later in December of the year 2000 a number of Italian activists were forbidden to enter France although they were in possession of regular tickets and passports. European heads of states want the public to believe in public order being endangered by demonstrations and more restrictive measures being necessary in order to fight against violent demonstrators. That is why cities where summits take place are turned into fortresses with huge police troops.
But actually it is not only the notorious "black block" who brings violence to protests. Since European as well as U.S. and Canadian heads of states are afraid of the globalisation critics` arguments, they are prepared to do anything in order to put the movement´s credibility into question even by means of calculated violence. Time and again rumours about police agents provocateurs are circulating: When after the cancellation of the Worldbank-summit in Bacelona this year, demonstrations were turned into a huge celebration of the Worldbank´s retreat, suddenly some individuals started riots at the final of a peaceful demonstration. Videos and pictures give evidence of the rioters being spanisch police´s agents provocateurs. These riots instigated by their own colleagues served as a perfect excuse for spanisch police forces to beat up peaceful demonstrators. After this events a spanish member of parliament for the PSOE (Spanish Social Democrats) demanded an official examination.
In the "Toronto Star" of May 3rd official sources are quoted telling police forces having fired about 4.907 tear-gas granates into demonstrations. A fact-finding-committee later judged this a non-adequate reaction of the police-forces. In Genoa as well, police violence escalated and a fact-finding-committee has been installed. But what facts can a committee, announced by politicians responsible for the escalation, find? A smokescreen? Cover-up?
Not only is violence used as a means of putting the movement´s credibility into question but to devide it, since police violence is a tried method to intimidate and deter people from protesting. Simoultaneously with increasing police violence a propaganda-campaign against the globalisation-critical movement has been instigated, featuring either a distorted picture of the movement or right-out lying. Paul Krugman, economist of the Messachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)is quoted in "The International Herald Tribune" of April 23rd 2001 saying that in his opinion globalisation-critics had already been remarkably successful in harming people and concerns they pretend to stand up for. George Bush is quoted with remarks of the same effect. A right-out lie, remembering that WTO-negotiations` failure in 1999 is amongst other reasons due to the fact that the countries of the south, the so-called developing-countries, share the Seattle-protesters` critics in many respects. Claims about the movement´s alleged lack of legitimacy contitute a plain attack against the right of free speech. Britain´s prime minister Tony Blair declared himself not being interested in the Genoa protestors` arguments, since they had not been elected but he was. As early as after the Seattle demonstrations in 1999 the magazine "The economist" described NGOs as being in possession of illegitimate influence. Regarding judgements of this kind, it is no surprise that any demonstration except a rally at Salzburg central station was prohibited during the WEF-summit (World Economic Forum) in Salzburg (Austria) in July this year. Evidently the ruling classes are panic stricken - police brutality and propaganda are their answers.
The question we have to find an answer for is: What´s next?. The Belgian "Global Resistance" (Internationaal Verzet) is calling for a pupil and student strike on October 19th. By means of this strike the subject of resistance against a Europe of transnational corporations is to be transported into the schools and universities of the country. At 10 am many pupils and students are taking part in an anti-capitalistic march during the informal EU-summit in Gent. We regard this idea important and very useful. We are of the opinion that beside the numerous solidarity-actions with the victims of state-violence of ie. Genoa and Gothenburg another answer has to be given by transmitting criticism against neo-liberal globalisation by means of local actions. Schools and universities are the right places to transmit our issues in the cities. By means of GATS (General Agreement on Trade in Services)and severe cuts in the EU-budget´s expenses on universities, privitisation of universities is pushed. These are severe changes under the flag of globalisation concerning every student. This is an important subject suitable to gain the attention of students and pupils and demonstrate the dangers of neo-liberal globalisation beyond personal inflictions. We call up students and pupils to create action-groups at their respective schools and universities. The aim is to organise actions and to do some research in how far organising a pupil and student strike from December 10th up to December 14th might be successful. On the starting days of the strike actions and conferences should take place in the cities, schools and universities. On Friday December 14th we call up all students and pupils to take part in the huge march during the EU-summit in Brussels. For a different Europe, for a different world.
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