Poland, Warszawa: Open invitation to antifascist march on 11th of November [ENG]

An open invitation to the “For your freedom and ours. History is happening today” – antifascist march, that will take place on the 11th of November 2017 in Warsaw, Poland.

Every year, on the 11th of November, Polish far-right groups organize
the biggest nationalist march in Europe. They march through the center
of Warsaw. Every year, we, a network of antifascist groups, organize
resistance. This year we would like to invite all of you to join. Here
is a bit of context: As the far-right grows stronger across Europe, from
the Golden Dawn in Greece, AfD in Germany, to the National Front in
France, from Putin and Erdogan to Trump, it is easy to overlook Poland,
where in recent years the right wing hegemony has become almost
complete. In 2015, almost three dacades after a devastating transition
to capitalism, the national-conservative party, PiS (Law and Justice),
won the elections in Poland and the liberal facade disappeared. The
semblance of rule of law, liberal democracy or political correctness is
gone. The government openly flirts with neo-nazi militias, empowers the
police and secret services, and arms paramilitary groups as part of a
new “homeland defense” army. At the same time, they launch a massive
offensive against women, minorities and foreigners. Groups that had
already been marginalized through eg. the abortion ban, lack of any
legal recognition of LGBT relationships and the rejection of asylum
requests. The national TV spreads messages of hate, airing disgusting,
manipulated, islamophobic, homophobic and anti-left propaganda. Views
that filled the pages of neo-nazi zines and obscure forums only ten
years ago, are now spouted by MPs and the public media. This sewage is
filling the mainstream and gradually ceases to shock anyone. That hatred
takes its bloody toll – physical attacks on non-white people are common,
while LGBT teens hang themselves to escape persecution. The
parliamentary opposition has done nothing to stop the far-right, and
there is not a single political party in the parliament that could be
called “left-wing”. Different factions of liberal, conservative or crazy
right-wing unite in their hatred for refugees, love for the nation and
respect for most shameful episodes of the past. Years of downplaying
nationalism in the media and politics, years of liberal hysteria about
“two extremes”, years of tolerance towards racial, ethnic and gender
hatred finally have their effect. This is exactly what the antifascist
movement has always warned about. Is it time to run? Or is it time to
sit in front of the news feed, posting cries of horror in the comments?
Is it time to wait and see how far it will go? We believe we can awaken
from this great historical reconstruction, and – while the right-wing
plays SS marches, masturbates to the vision of reopening Auschwitz, and
trains shooting in the forest – remind ourselves of our traditions.
Traditions of resistance based on international solidarity. From the
workers organizing against wars and expoitation, the fronts of the
Spanish Revolution and anti-nazi underground, to solidarity with
decolonization, non-withe struggles and migrant movements. Our best
weapon against fascism has always been our unity. This is why we call on
all antifascists, anticapitalists and anarchists to join us and once
again show our unity. Lets stand hand in hand as another kind of
community – one that doesn’t have racial, ethnic or gender divides, but
forms around resistance to injustice and hate. With that in mind, we
invite you to the 11th of November march – “For your freedom and ours.
History is happening today”.


How you can support us:
All forms of support are welcome – from 
organising benefit gigs and fundraising, 
through banner drops, solidarity videos and 
spreading this call out, through coming to 
the demonstration  in person. For details, 
contact : antyfaszystowska.warszawa@riseup.net 
(we use PGP)

The Antifascist Coalition collective




PS. As we address this letter to our friends in Germany, we want to make clear: 
solidarity from groups supporting  Zionism is not welcome here. We fully 
stand  by the Palestinian people and their right to self-deteremination and their 
struggle against the settler-colonial project.
PS2. We also want to stress that we stand by the Syrian people and their
right to self-determination. If you see the regime of Bashar al-Assad as
anti-imperialist and therefore positive, you are not welcome either.
Assad is a butcher and together with Russia, Iran and Hezbollah, he is
responsible for a genocide on the Syrian people: in his prisons, and
through massive bombings of Syrian cities.