G20: Anti-globalization protests wedded to violence
Eric Gisin
Nothing like a bullet to the head to show society's contempt for terrorism posing as activism.
http://fullcomment.nationalpost.com/2010/06/18/g20-anti-globalization-protests-wedded-to-violence/
June 18, 2010, 14:39:29 | Jonathan Kay
Most Canadians won't remember the name Carlo Giuliani. But for a day or two in 2001, the death of
the 23-year-old anarchist protestor at the G8 Summit in Genoa was imagined to be a sort of
Freedom-Flotilla moment for the anti-globalization movement.
Mr. Giuliani, a convicted petty criminal outfitted in balaclava and combat boots, died in the act
of hurling a fire extinguisher at a police Land Rover - "direct action," as protestors of the day
euphemistically called it. In a famous photo, capturing one of the last instant's of Mr. Giuliani's
life, you can see an officer peering out the vehicle's back window, pistol in hand. The Land Rover
appears somewhat isolated, besieged among the chaotic street bottles that unfolded in Genoa
throughout the Summit.
Seen from the perspective of 2010, Mr. Giuliani seems like a man with a death-wish. But this was
early 2001. Much like the NGO activists on the flotilla intercepted by Israeli forces last month,
anti-globalization protestors of the era thought they could have it both ways. As part of their
direct-action tactics, they attacked police with potentially deadly force, and rampaged through
cities destroying "symbols of capitalism" (Starbucks was always a popular target). When the police
fought back, they cried brutality and wept for their martyrs.
The golden age of anti-globalization protest, such as it was, began at the 1999 WTO Ministerial
Conference in Seattle. It ended, two years later, on Sept. 11, 2001. The 9/11 attacks rendered
random political violence taboo. They also created an emotional cult of admiration for the
uniformed men and women who hold the thin blue line. The fire-extinguisher-throwers of the world
suddenly were on the wrong side of history. And the few who still bothered to show up at
international conferences of the WTO or G8 variety found themselves toe-to-toe with larger,
better-armed, and less indulgent uniformed cadres.
In truth, the anti-globalization protest movement always was composed of two distinct groups: (1)
Legitimate left-wing activists with placards, flyers and websites; and (2) full-time criminals and
delinquents who used anti-globalization as a pretext for street violence in the same way that
English hooligans go at each other during soccer matches. In this second category, the most
militant types affected a dimly understood attachment to anarchism, and played dress-up in combat
attire, usually under the banner of the "Black Bloc."
There was an unhealthy dynamic between these two groups, as I observed in Quebec City, while
covering the April 2001, Summit of the Americas. Many of the legitimate protesters I interviewed
insisted that the Black Bloc was a violent fringe with its own militant agenda. And there was truth
to that: As the weekend conference unfolded, I saw that it was the same few dozen black-clad
protestors who were throwing bricks at police and generally acting like criminals. But it was also
true that the rest of the protesters often acted as the Black Bloc's cheering section.
The two groups had a cynical, symbiotic relationship. The violent anarchists relied on the
legitimate protestors for the conceit that they were acting in the service of some political agenda
more respectable than mere hooliganism. And the legitimate protesters enjoyed the romantic frisson
that attends street violence, without actually picking up a brick or lead pipe. Some of them even
ended up getting tear-gassed - a great war-story for everyone back on campus.
After 9/11, most of the Black Bloc folks hung up their gas masks: The risk of getting treated as
real terrorists by a ramped up security state outweighed the thrills to be had. But it must also be
said that conference organizers became more intelligent at the game of divide-and-conquer, setting
up free-speech zones where only those protesters interested in actual speech would show up to make
their point.
Last month, it was announced that the official "Designated Speech Area" for the Toronto G20 will be
at the northern end of Queen's Park - this coming several days after neighbourhood complaints
prompted the summit's Integrated Security Unit to cancel plans to place the protest zone in Trinity
Bellwoods Park. Said a spokesperson: "Our main priority has always been an area close enough to the
downtown area that it respects the whole idea of a Designated Speech Area and, at the same time, it
be a far enough distance from the security perimeter so it doesn't compromise any of our security
plans."
There's something Orwellian in that term, "Designated Speech Area."
But if the protestors of 2010 are looking for someone to blame, they might want to cast their gaze
back to the anarchists who trashed Seattle, Genoa and Quebec City. A decade ago, these people
thought they were leading a historic revolution. But the only place their violence led to was a
giant playpen, miles away from the conference rooms where history actually unfolds.
National Post
jk...@nationalpost.com
Liberals are vermin
> If the black-clad fascists repeat this sort of violence, I hope the police execute some of them.
> Nothing like a bullet to the head to show society's contempt for terrorism posing as activism.
>
>
> June 18, 2010, 14:39:29 | Jonathan Kay
>
> Most Canadians won't remember the name Carlo Giuliani. But for a day or two in 2001, the death of
> the 23-year-old anarchist protestor at the G8 Summit in Genoa was imagined to be a sort of
> Freedom-Flotilla moment for the anti-globalization movement.
>
everytime there is some kind of violent, leftist agitation in Canada,
it's because of some piece of s--- who crept in here from Europe or
the U.S. Kill them all, they are invaders.