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reflections & analysis: the wombles, the esf & beyond - extract

wombles | 22.12.2004 02:33

Below are extracts from the document 'reflections & analysis: the wombles, the esf & beyond', the full text of which can be seen at:  http://www.wombles.org.uk/auto/reflections.php


"We are critical not only of the UK organising process but of the ESF as an objective, & the hypocrisy of government money used to fund such gatherings. If the ESF ‘process’ is going to free itself from its contradictions, if it is to become more than a showpiece for academics & political elite to talk down from platforms, & political parties & organisations to recruit new members while stifling any dissent they themselves have not authorised, it must be taken beyond its current parameters with honesty & a reflective anger. We reject the notion of the “left-wing of capital” being capable or inclined to take that step, to promote radical political or social change. We are aware, though, that within the ESF framework there are those who recognize these contradictions & seek to express a more progressive agenda, to move beyond the initial spectacle of ‘counter-conference’ which, despite the rhetoric, reinforces existing global power relations & provides a suitable distraction into which all the energy, enthusiasm & potential of a radical movement can be safely contained & effectively neutralized, & where the major players, having taken charge of this essentially commercial event, seek to use it as a tool to influence government policy & business decisions on a European level".

"We reject claims made by Weyman Bennett that he was punched in the face during the intervention. The allegations are completely untrue & without foundation. We categorically state that no violence was used towards anyone during the intervention. We further state that the only person being aggressive was Weyman Bennett himself as he attempted to manhandle, push & drag people from the stage. The claim that he was punched in the face has no basis in fact & is unsupported, uncorroborated & unsubstantiated by any other evidence. We feel it is necessary to say this simply because it has been used again & again by people (& their institutions) who were not present, to demonise those who took part in the action. This tactic of dividing people & criminalizing their activities is a familiar one. Both Ken Livingstone & Lee Jasper have used it to demonise anti-capitalist protestors on Mayday demonstrations in London over the past 3 years giving their unconditional support to the police to arrest & repress anyone who wished to take part in these demonstrations".

"We agree that violence has no place at the ESF & we condemn the violence. We condemn the violence of the police attacking ESF & Beyond ESF participants. This was the only violence that occurred during the ESF. Left parties & organizations have a tradition in this country of tacitly supporting (by never condemning) such violence as shown during London ESF".

"Let us not forget the energy & anger & momentum of this ‘movement’ came from the streets of Genoa, Prague, Nice, Evian, Gothenburg, where state forces were happy to teargas us, happy to break our bones as we slept in school buildings, happy to shoot us in the back as we ran away, happy to murder us in cold blood, the very same forces we now go to for funding to hold these Forums, the same forces that “welcome the anti-capitalists” (Jacques Chirac Paris ESF). The same forces we allow to arrest & beat fellow ESF participants before our very eyes as we make political speeches from the stage under the watchful eye of government employees. The ‘movement of movements’ unravels itself & reveals an empty space".

"If the failure of government leaders to stem the tide of mass anti-globalisation protest on the streets of Europe on a practical level, then it must be contained by other means. The ESF can be seen as one of those means. In these terms it retains no political legitimacy. Indeed the ‘English exception’ becomes the blueprint".

"We continue to take a critical stance against the ESF/WSF not because of the way it is developing but because its central premise was always flawed at its inception, incapable, or unwilling, of generating outwards beyond the contradictions that hold it together.".

www.wombles.org.uk/auto/reflections.php

wombles
- e-mail: wombles@hushmail.com
- Homepage: http://www.wombles.org.uk

Comments

Hide the following 22 comments

he he he

22.12.2004 16:12

my own particular favourite:

"We leave you with a quotation from another balck ski-mask wearing renegade: 'i shit on all the revoultionary vanguards of the planet'"

Can't think who that could be

acutie


Is this a fake or a real WOMBLES statement?

22.12.2004 22:16

The merciless Revenge of the WOMBLES against imposters!
The merciless Revenge of the WOMBLES against imposters!

Anarcho- wombles
Anarcho- wombles

The wooly bible
The wooly bible

Group picture after manipulation and dogmatism have taken their toll
Group picture after manipulation and dogmatism have taken their toll


Remember, the only real and official website of the WOMBLES is:  http://www.wombles.easyweb-solutions.co.uk/

As such no individual can speak on behalf of the Wombles as a group, not even Bungo and Madame Cholet, all decisions are made collectively based on consensus, except when there is no consensus. Our background, initiatives, motives & commentaries can all be found on the website.  http://www.wombles.easyweb-solutions.co.uk/
This is the only source of valid information concerning the group including our involvement & actions throughout Beyond The Party in the Park.

Anybody who isn't wearing or hasn't got a white coat, long enough snout and is not fluffy enough is not a real WOMBLE, but a fake one, and is not to be trusted and therefore an incredible imposter and so our enemy and will will be hit with unmercifull revenge by the weapons of our enemies (see picture 1).!

Because we all know, that there is only one REAL way to live, and that's our ANARCHO way! (picture 2)

The wooly bible as to which to conduct your life: The WOMBLES manifesto. (picture 3).

Anybody with other opinion will be expelled under false pretenses and is not allowed to take any more part in group pictures. (see picture 4).

Fazit:
The strategy of the White Overall Movement Building Effective Libertarian Struggle has failed, and so the WOMBLES are only good enough to make soap (out of - see picture 5) untill they re-evaluate their motives, strategies, processe and tactics and name.


Uncle Bulgaria


mates in masks ?

23.12.2004 05:56

In the immediate aftermath of the invasion of the plenary about dealing with the far right in Europe one the proud boasts on indymedia was "storming the Palace2
The masked maurauders who did the storming were so effective that several east europeans thought the stage was being attacked by British fascists...
It really wont do you know.Nowhere in the labour or anti capitalist movement is acceptable for masked individuals to go attacking a stage and roughing up the chair of the meeting. The joint secretary of Unite Against Fascism was punched { and robbed of his phone ] by masked white men and try as the apologists might that is not acceptable and has rightly been condemned by many. Olease do not now come whining about how innocent it all was because that it was a disgrace!
There were speakers present from the Roma community who face a real and continued danger in their communities.They had stories to share and ideas to suggest to the meeting ..a meeting which was hijacked by masked invaders .What were they to make of that?
huw

huw


HAAAAA

23.12.2004 12:45

This is my favourite...

"We agree that violence has no place at the ESF & we condemn the violence. We condemn the violence of the police attacking ESF & Beyond ESF participants. This was the only violence that occurred during the ESF."

Why then did you violently invade meetings against the democratic vote (taken again and again) of the majority present at the most representative gathering in UK history??

Why was I punched and kicked for daring to ask you violent anti-democrats to leave and pushing you off me as I sat in my seat and you fell on me in a scrum rioting with security?

I think you should let this topic rest and hope people dont have long memories rather than leep on returning to it and digging a hole deeper for yourself every time.


de457


There were hundreds of cameras in the stormed plenary . . .

23.12.2004 15:13

So where are the pictures of the alleged violence? Post 'em up or stop making unsubstantiated allegations.

gamma


Sickening

23.12.2004 16:18

"So where are the pictures of the alleged violence? Post 'em up or stop making unsubstantiated allegations"

...the same reply police give when they are accused of violence.

Eye Witness


Violence at ESF

23.12.2004 16:28

If there was no violence by the wombles then what would motive hundreds of people to come forward and complain about their actions at the ESF?

Are they all lying and part of a big conspiracy directed aganst the wombles?

Infact perhaps they closed their own meetings, wrestled security for an hour, put themselves in headlocks and invaded their own stage in order to smear the wombles.

Yes...this is a much more plausable explination.

T


the thing

23.12.2004 16:55

the thing that made loads of people come and complain about alleged violence is the SWP blatant opportunism and lying.

(A)


yup, really good

23.12.2004 18:28

well if the swp get so angry about autonomous spaces being a success and their shitty corporate event being slagged off then I think the anti-capitalist movement has done pretty well! If we aren't pissing off these pro-capitalists then we're either powerless or on their side.

Basically, the authoritarian left fucked up, anarchists and libertarians of other shades did pretty well. Success all round I would say.

weyman bennet's alter ego


Violence at ESF

23.12.2004 23:16

So what we have here is NOT another monumental f+*k up by a handful of anarchist freaks who lost every vote they bothered to attend including in the meetings they assaulted (!)

but rather an...
SWPconspiracylivingstoncapitalismmiddleclassbennettjaspermeetingfifthcolumnleftlabourflankbeurecraticfixstacksecretfundMI5trotskyist sort of thing.

Obviosuly.

T


"...the same reply police give when they are accused of violence"

24.12.2004 00:07

except there are hundreds of pics/videos of police violence. Not one pic of any violence by the 'stormers' has been posted, so you seem to be evading and slandering your way through this exchange - do you have any evidence at all or just weyman bennet's word for it?

You're completely free to disagree with the wombles action in principle and practice, but say so rather than making slanderous accusations and refusing to back them up with anything.

gamma


Violence at ESF

24.12.2004 09:37

Sorry your Honour, I did not think to ask someone if i could borrow their camera while I was in a riot against 50 people. How stupid of me.

I realise these bruises on me don't count in court your Honour, as they could have been inflicted by the SWP as part of an elaborate disinformation programme.

I also realise that the testimony of 1000 people attending the meeting who witnessed this violence and voted against the actions of this tiny handful of thugs, over and over again, is also useless because they too are obviously part of an anti-womble conspiracy. Democratic votes have no place in a riot. The views of the rioters are superior to democracy at the ESF and they will be imposed otherwise they will 'punch ya bloody face in'.

Eye Witness


exactly

24.12.2004 10:04

But they NEVER disagree with the actions etc because they are too scared of losing a paper selling opportunity. They always slander and lie because they are scared that they will either lose members or miss out on recruiting new members. They have no idea of the meaning of honesty.

(A)


all my trials

24.12.2004 10:42

I have read the above posting with care and what a load of self serving tosh it is.
Those masked characters who stormed the ESF stage [and how they loved the word "stormed"] were a disgrace.They were so proud of their actions and announced their intentions well in advance of the actual attack .Apparently some Polish radicals were so taken aback by the "storming" that they thought the stage was being taken over by british fascists!
The assault on the joint secretary of Unite Against Fascism was a disgrace .He also had his mobile stolen which has compromised the safety of him and others.What a sight masked white men attacking the black chair of a huge european wide meeting called to discuss how to take on the euro fascists.The Roma speakers waiting to speak to the audience must have been totally bewildered and amazed at the antics of those who stormed up to liberate the stage.I onder what they told their beleagured communities on their rreturn to the Slovak Republic and Romania.Something along the lines of
"The ESF was well worth attending but beware the masked maurauders who punch and thump their way to taking over the stage".
I am all in favour of reflection and analysis but an apology would be more apropriate.
Huw

huw


These people are not Wombles

24.12.2004 14:31

I can’t believe that the Wombles of 5 years ago is the same as the Wombles who boasted about “storming” the anti-fascist meeting at the this year's ESF. Five years ago the Wombles protected other demonstrators from police violence, now the Wombles have started attacking other activists themselves. Instead of patiently persuading other activists of their point of view, the Wombles have taken to breaking up meetings instead. The Wombles have shed their overalls and padding and their sense of humour has gone too.

The storming of the meeting was incredibly politically naïve – to have a gang in hoods break up an anti-fascist meeting and assault black and Jewish people was a gift for people like Lee Jasper who used his national profile to paint the Wombles as a bunch of racists.

And what was the reason for breaking up the meeting? The Wombles said it was a protest at being excluded from the London ESF, but they had announced months before that they were boycotting the event, and in fact set up their own to run in competition! They said they were upholding the principles of the WSF, but on their website they reject the WSF as reformist and capitalist! They said they wanted to prevent a “pro-war” Ken Livingstone from speaking - but he wasn't even at the meeting and has condemned the Iraq war!

The Wombles pretend to be the guardians of democracy in the ESF process, but in fact they acted in the most hierarchical of ways. They treated other anti-capitalists like we were share-holders attending a meeting of BP or Shell. They claim that others hijacked the ESF, when in fact it was them who did the hijacking.

The way to change views held by fellow activists is by reasoned argument, not by violence.

Discussion, not violence is the way to change other activists minds


Violence at the ESF

25.12.2004 21:02

"They have no idea of the meaning of honesty."

You say this at the same time as you try and say 1000 people did not see what we all saw with our own eyes. Who is being dishonest?

Eye Witness


agree

26.12.2004 21:08

In complete agreement with eye witness, huw etc. The only bad part of my weekend was the storming. I thought anarchist were supposed to be MORE democratic than Trots. But they refused to leave even when the overwhelming majority of people didn't want them there.

Someone mentioned the success of the autonomous spaces. Let's compare the numbers at the autonomous spaces, to the ESF...actually, I don't want to embarass you!

How do you expect people to come round to your ideas without discussing with them? I had a long chat to the Socialist Party of Great Britain (non-Leninist). I am a Trotskyist, but I spent ages having a very good chat with a leading member of this group. I have begun to question many parts of the Leninist doctrine, thanks to this discussion. And that's all down to this group taking part in the 'official' ESF.

Like it or not, you are in a minority. And also, its not 'your' movement. That's just elitist bullshit! Join in, and try to convince people democratically!

LDT


Hey freak-show, why so shit scared of the wombels?

27.12.2004 01:43

no comment

Anticapitalist


The wombles didn't exist 5 years ago

27.12.2004 03:54

just so yer know

puttyinyerhands


Doublespeak doesn't wash

28.12.2004 01:18

Anarchists attacking fellow activists Weyman Bennet and Ken Livingstone? I think we know whose side you're on - the side of the police, the state and your party. The ESF was well and truly stitched up by you authoritarian 'leftists'. I was present at the storming, and saw first hand that the ONLY violence was from Weyman Bennet himself. He tried to attack a Babels translator; there was no other violence. 'Huw', 'Eye Witness', all the rest pretending that something happened that didn't - give it up, you've made a fool out of yourselves already. At Athens in 2005 you won't have a friend in Europe ready to help you stitch it up again; consigned to the dustbin of history for good. Intentional suicide you might call it.

Not A Womble


Athens

28.12.2004 14:19

...except that there were thousands of Greeks present in Genoa in 2001 that remember all too clearly how Anarchist acted as cover for the police.

So you may find your reputation is rather dented in the Greek movement. And not without reason, yes?

London ESF shows you are once again travelling in the opposite direction to the movement just like in 2001.

Memories


Last Word

28.12.2004 20:08

Memories:

No, imaginaries.
The only Movements you're into are bowel movements
and they are headed where they belong:
down the pan
flusssshhhh...

Flusher