A statement from the National Secretary of the Anarchist Federation (IAF/IFA) on the recent letter bombing campaign and it's attribution to Italian anarchists.
Anarchist Federation – IAF/IFA
c/o 84b Whitechapel High Street,
London E1 7QX
info@afed.org.uk
www.afed.org.uk
As an anarchist I am disgusted by the recent attempts to link Italian comrades to the current bombing campaign against targets connected to the EU, including Gary Titley, a New Labour MEP in Manchester. These outrageous claims should come as no surprise to those who are familiar with the Italian State’s shameful history of provocations and attacks against it’s own civilians, the most infamous of these being the ‘strategy of tension’ employed by the Italian state during the late 1970s.
In this period worker’s struggles were becoming increasingly numerous and militant. Italian fascist groups, with the backing of sectors of the Italian State, responded with a bombing campaign, which was then blamed on Anarchists, and designed to incite a breakdown in public order and enable sectors of the Italian State to crush rebellious sections of the Italian working classes. The most horrific of these bombings took place in Bologna in 1980, in which a bomb was detonated at a rail station killing 85 people and injuring over 200. The ‘strategy of tension’ is well documented – a report from the Italian parliamentary committee of inquiry into the bombings reported that ‘some Fascists in the group of terrorists in question worked for the Carbinieri (Italian Paramilitary Police), that others had contact with the army or the police and that they received valuable and timely information in the progress of investigation into their activities’ (1). Similar well documented provocations and brutal restrictions of the rights of Italian citizens occurred as recently as July 2001 during the anti-G8 demonstrations in Italy.
I cannot help but notice the similarity between these horrific attempts and the current bombing campaign. Yet again resistance to the Italian state and capital is growing, with anarchists at the forefront of this fight. Whilst the EU, European Parliament and European Central Bank are oppressive institutions there are many worse offenders. For example Italian anarchists and workers see Berlusconi’s government as a much greater threat to freedom. If it really is anarchists behind these attacks why didn’t they attack Berlusconi and his government, which are so much more relevant to their daily lives? Why were the bombs so amazingly ineffectual? A well known fascist, Gabriele D’Annunzio, wrote the book used to hide the bomb sent to Romano Prodi this is not the kind of action anarchists would take. Is it just an amazing coincidence that the ludicrously named ‘Informal Anarchist Federation’ has claimed responsibility? No Italian Anarchist group has ever heard of this organisation before and unsurprisingly, for those who are familiar with the Italian State’s history of provocations, the acronym (F.A.I.) matches that of an ‘above-ground’ revolutionary organisation, the Italian Anarchist Federation (F.A.I.), an organisation strongly opposed to both terrorist tactics and the terrorism of governments and capital.
These attacks throw up more questions about the Italian state and its history of provocations (which I urge all anarchists to familiarise themselves with) than it does about the anarchist movement in Italy. I thus call for an immediate end to harassment and insinuations against Italian Anarchists. If the investigators are serious about stopping this latest wave of terrorist attacks they could do a lot worse than investigating Berlusconi and the Italian State.
National Secretary
Anarchist Federation – IAF/IFA
c/o 84b Whitechapel High Street,
London E1 7QX
info@afed.org.uk www.afed.org.uk
As an anarchist I am disgusted by the recent attempts to link Italian comrades to the current bombing campaign against targets connected to the EU, including Gary Titley, a New Labour MEP in Manchester. These outrageous claims should come as no surprise to those who are familiar with the Italian State’s shameful history of provocations and attacks against it’s own civilians, the most infamous of these being the ‘strategy of tension’ employed by the Italian state during the late 1970s.
In this period worker’s struggles were becoming increasingly numerous and militant. Italian fascist groups, with the backing of sectors of the Italian State, responded with a bombing campaign, which was then blamed on Anarchists, and designed to incite a breakdown in public order and enable sectors of the Italian State to crush rebellious sections of the Italian working classes. The most horrific of these bombings took place in Bologna in 1980, in which a bomb was detonated at a rail station killing 85 people and injuring over 200. The ‘strategy of tension’ is well documented – a report from the Italian parliamentary committee of inquiry into the bombings reported that ‘some Fascists in the group of terrorists in question worked for the Carbinieri (Italian Paramilitary Police), that others had contact with the army or the police and that they received valuable and timely information in the progress of investigation into their activities’ (1). Similar well documented provocations and brutal restrictions of the rights of Italian citizens occurred as recently as July 2001 during the anti-G8 demonstrations in Italy.
I cannot help but notice the similarity between these horrific attempts and the current bombing campaign. Yet again resistance to the Italian state and capital is growing, with anarchists at the forefront of this fight. Whilst the EU, European Parliament and European Central Bank are oppressive institutions there are many worse offenders. For example Italian anarchists and workers see Berlusconi’s government as a much greater threat to freedom. If it really is anarchists behind these attacks why didn’t they attack Berlusconi and his government, which are so much more relevant to their daily lives? Why were the bombs so amazingly ineffectual? A well known fascist, Gabriele D’Annunzio, wrote the book used to hide the bomb sent to Romano Prodi this is not the kind of action anarchists would take. Is it just an amazing coincidence that the ludicrously named ‘Informal Anarchist Federation’ has claimed responsibility? No Italian Anarchist group has ever heard of this organisation before and unsurprisingly, for those who are familiar with the Italian State’s history of provocations, the acronym (F.A.I.) matches that of an ‘above-ground’ revolutionary organisation, the Italian Anarchist Federation (F.A.I.), an organisation strongly opposed to both terrorist tactics and the terrorism of governments and capital.
These attacks throw up more questions about the Italian state and its history of provocations (which I urge all anarchists to familiarise themselves with) than it does about the anarchist movement in Italy. I thus call for an immediate end to harassment and insinuations against Italian Anarchists. If the investigators are serious about stopping this latest wave of terrorist attacks they could do a lot worse than investigating Berlusconi and the Italian State.
National Secretary
Anarchist Federation – IAF/IFA
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Comments
Hide the following 6 comments
Not so sure...
07.01.2004 20:22
Nonny Mouse
Italian Letter Bombs - An Excuse for Repression?
07.01.2004 22:09
EU officials across Europe are being targetted by a series of small letter bombs. A previously unheard of Italian anarchist group is being blamed for the attacks.
Anthony - Indymedia Ireland(reposted by guidoke)
Ninny mouse
08.01.2004 08:52
Dan
Sneaky State.
08.01.2004 11:54
What gives away the underhand state tactics here is that although the first 3 letters
were to the EU the fourth was to MEP Titley. He was prominant in denouncing
Berlusconi when he made the nazi gaff mid 2003.
The italian state appears to have used the 'cover' of an anarchist group to get back
at critics and to get the EU to 'crack down' on radical groups.
How long before Bliar and Co try the same here using the new Civil Cont Bill and
other such laws?
The Gov and media hype in the run up to Mayday could be worse than ever this year.
PizzaHut.
You mouse be joking!
08.01.2004 15:41
You are the ludicrous one- go back to your kiddy game caricatures of what anarchists should be. Meanwhile I think I'll stay in the real world and actually try and do work among the working class than send Mickey Mouse bombs in the post so that the media idea of "anarchist bombers" can be reinforced
BIG BAD BAKUNIN
Unsure
12.01.2004 08:59
However jumping in immediately and saying it definitely wasn't anarchists sounds a bit like ''we're all warm fuzzy angels'' syndrome to me.
Their are assholes who claim to be anarchists, lets not forget anarchist movements have used these assasination tactics in the past. Whether they should be veiwed as proper anarchists is another question entirely.
On a personal note its a pretty stupid thing for any leftist group to do. As all this does is persoanlise a struggle that is supposed to be against an economic and social system. plus terror is contrary to libertarianism.
and on and on with the intellectual babble and such
nobody