The CGT-Spain, CNT-Vignoles-France and the SAC-Sweden have met in in a summercamp arranged by the Vignoles student organisation FAU in the town Masseube in France to evaluate the mobilisations from Gothenburg to Genova. The SAC-paper « Arbetaren » has a three page article from Masseube written by Bella Frank in the issue 35/01 (31/8 – 6/9 – 2001). It`s called « Syndicalists about the summers mobilisations ». We give you herby some quotes from the article that we suppose will interest you:

« During the debate, the thought of a new syndicalist international was raised. But even though many thought that it is a good idea in sight, the majority thought that the time is not mature. Nilala Hadadi means that the priority should be to continue to develope the cooperation between the CNT, the CGT and the SAC without demanding ideological purity. They should even, according to her, cooperate with other independent unions » (from page 8 of Arbetaren)

On page 9 of Arbetaren they discuss Gothenburg. The SAC had the policy to denounce both the violence from the Police and the « destruction » made by the demontrators.

« Among the French anarchosyndicalists it is huge surprise that the SAC was in a dialogue with the police before Gothenburg. They are even more surprised that SAC-members did not expect that the police would break the cooperation- We could have told that to you- says a CNT member. »

Then the article says: « The SAC must defend its cooperation again, but this time in another persepective that in Sweden. Orjan Bergsten says that we inside the SAC and the « Goteborgsaktionen » were too blue eyed concerning the police- We were too naive concerning the police and how far they were able to act. We hadn`t understood the huge power that we had against ourselves. A lot was made hidden behind the curtains, as for example the American secret -service work with Bush- these things should we have been more prepared for,- he says. »

And the article continues: « The secretary of the SAC- Hannele Peltonen means that it was correct to participate in the cooperation with the police before Gothenburg. If this cooperation had functioned the way it was ment, she believes that most of the violence could have been avoided. But even she means that they were too naive.- The cooperation was necessary and promising, but the police broke it even the first day with the siege of the Hvitfeldska school. Today we would have been more sceptical. It is important to see what happened in an international and historical context- it is a pattern in the increasing police violence and that the establishment is on the side of the police »

The Secretariat of the IWA can translate the whole article if you want and if you give us some more time to show that these quotes speak for themselves and are not distorted from their context.

Oslo the 10th of September 2001

With anarchosyndicalist greetings

on behalf of the IWA-Secretariat

General Secretary

IWA AIT : http://www.iwa-ait.org