UK Indymedia - UK Social Struggles Newswire Archive

"The clash of civilizations": Divide, conquer and rule the "New Middle East"

26-11-2011 09:39

In the past, the colonial powers of Western Europe would indoctrinate their people. Their objective was to acquire popular support for colonial conquest. This took the form of spreading Christianity and promoting Christian values with the support of armed merchants and colonial armies.

At the same time, racist ideologies were put forth. The people whose lands were colonized were portrayed as "sub-human," inferior, or soulless. Finally, the "White Man's burden" of taking on a mission of civilizing the so-called "uncivilized peoples of the world" was used. This cohesive ideological framework was used to portray colonialism as a "just cause." The latter in turn was used to provide legitimacy to the waging of "just wars" as a means to conquering and "civilizing" foreign lands.

Today, the imperialist designs of the United States, Britain, France, and Germany have not changed. What has changed is the pretext and justification for waging their neo-colonial wars of conquest. During the colonial period, the narratives and justifications for waging war were accepted by public opinion in the colonizing countries, such as Britain and France. Today's "just wars" and "just causes" are now being conducted under the banners of women's rights, human rights, humanitarianism, and democracy.

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Palestinian Film wins Awards at IDFA

26-11-2011 09:26

The winners of the various IDFA (International Doc Festival Amsterdam) competition programs were announced Friday, November 25 in Escape, during the awards ceremony of the 24th IDFA.

The Special Jury Award went to 5 Broken Cameras (Palestine/Israel) by Emad Burnat and Guy Davidi, who also won the Publieke Omroep IDFA Audience Award.

See trailer here:

http://vimeo.com/21967570

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Listen!!!

26-11-2011 08:38

The Workers to support all!

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SchNEWS: Nov 30: We're All In It Together

25-11-2011 22:22

Well, it’s been a long time coming... Wednesday 30th November will see the first mass strike in the UK for four decades. 17 unions, including the biggest ones Unite, UCU, Unison, various teaching unions and PCS, have balloted to strike on pension reform which will see an estimated 3 million off work and, hopefully, cause massive disruption. Demonstrations and pickets are planned across the country – see complete list. Amongst the strikers are some unlikely suspects: 18,000 Border Agency workers are expected to strike leaving the government having to employ sinister private security firm Serco to take over for a day. Even the National Union of Probation Officers voted to join the strike four-to-one.

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Bakers' Union Betrays Strong Strike Mandate

25-11-2011 17:49

Four weeks ago I wrote about the situation at Park Cakes - a baking company based in the northwest of England. I raised points about how the new, trade union-backed Agency Workers Regulations (AWR) were being used as a battering ram to enforce an "equality in misery" between permanent and temporary staff in workplaces. However, now the Bakers Food and Allied Workers Union (BFAWU) are on the verge of a sell-out, so the immediacy of the situation calls for critical analysis of the union bureaucracy.

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IT's On The Net!

25-11-2011 16:45

Pioneer of the alternative press, International Times, is now publishing new material featuring original writers and artists along with new contributers.

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Shell's Peat Haulage Has Begun... And Been Disrupted !

25-11-2011 10:31

Shell is removing peat bog from the tunnelling compound in Aughoose, Co. Mayo, Ireland, and replacing it with stone and gravel from nearby quarries. The increased truck movements has not gone unchallenged.

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Destroy CCTV!

25-11-2011 08:21

Direct actions against modern totalitarianism

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Anarchist demo against prison - New Orleans, LA, USA

24-11-2011 23:15

Noise Demo against OPP!

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Illegal Anarchism: the False Dichotomy by Gustavo Rodriguez

24-11-2011 19:16

Download:

http://www.mediafire.com/?74b7bf2fd746f83

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'No platform for filth, whilst students sit in prison'

24-11-2011 18:39

Sir Ian Blair, ex Commissioner of the Met Police was meant to give a talk at Sussex university last night, but students disrupted it - see the report below.

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Today: Occupy London protest with Old Bailey Cleaners

24-11-2011 13:46

On Thursday 24th November at 4:30pm, there will be loud and colourful demonstration at the historic Old Bailey*, supported by the IWW and Occupy London. The people who clean the offices of the law firm, McGrigors, at the Old Bailey, are protesting against the illegal practices, bullying and the union-busting treatment they have received by Apollo Cleaning Services.

Apollo Cleaning Services was awarded the cleaning contract on 3rd October. Since then, they have bullied and harassed a pregnant cleaner – whom they told pregnancy was ‘irrelevant’ to her conditions of work. When she complained about the new disregard for health and safety practices her concerns were ignored.

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Great Speech by Occupy Exeter Protester

24-11-2011 10:25

A great speech from a woman at the Occupy Exeter camp, she sums up many of the injustices and wrong doings in the world. She explains why it is so important to have a say and that the old structures that we serve, such as the banks and our love of consuming could be dying out for a new way of thinking. Please feel free to share the video. I have posted the text to the film on here also, and a link below to where you can watch the film in high quality video.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=5sb5t8pDCbY&feature=g-all

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Urgent From Tahrir: Join our struggle for the survival of the revolution

23-11-2011 19:16

We are in the midst of a decisive battle in the face of a potentially terminal crackdown. Over the past 72 hours the army has launched a ceaseless assault on revolutionaries in Tahrir Square and squares across Egypt. Over 2000 of us have been injured. More than 30 of us have been murdered. Just in Cairo alone. In the last 48 hours.

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University of Warwick Occupation

23-11-2011 15:09

At 1pm, on Wednesday 23rd November, 100 students at the University of Warwick set up 15-20 tents to occupy in front of the Warwick Arts Centre. The demonstration marks a ‘day of action’ called for by the National Campaign Against Fees and Cuts (NCAFC), belongs to similar occupations across the UK.

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Sparks demo leads to occupation of Grattes Brothers Head Office

23-11-2011 11:12

The Sparks weekly picket and demo became an occupation this morning as the group of 200 or so barricaded a door at the Grattes Brothers Head Office.

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David Willetts Silenced by Cambridge Fees Protest

23-11-2011 00:02

This evening, on Tuesday November 22nd 2011 in a lecture hall on the Cambridge University Sidgewick campus, battle lines were well and truly drawn, as David Willetts, one of the architects of the demise of our Higher Education system dared to show his face in public at Cambridge University, that, by his own doing has been manoevered into raising it's tuition fees by up to £9,000 per academic year.

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Letter to the anarchist galaxy

22-11-2011 19:50

Letter to the anarchist galaxy

http://actforfree.nostate.net/?p=6610#more-6610

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Brazil: I have a dream…

22-11-2011 18:17

But the best part of the dream was that the President commanded down the interest on the public debt to zero, and with it this year alone, remained over two hundred and fifty billion to invest in development, infrastructure, health, education, security and everything else even paying more than five hundred billion of other charges of the same debt.

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Demonstrate Againt Koch Brothers

22-11-2011 11:14

Monday 28th is the opening day of the Durban Climate talks. Who's really responsible for blocking progress on a workable treaty for global action on climate ? More than anyone else its the American hard right and their big-money backers! Outside the offices of Koch International, Fountain House, 130 Fenchurch Street, City of London - Monument or Bank Tube. Demonstrate Against Koch Brothers.