Call for solidarity action on January 19th by Russian antifascists

Posted by antifascist turku/åbo on January 16, 2011 · 1 Comment 

Manifesto of the January 19 Committee

On January 19, 2010, a year to the day from the murders of Stanislav
Markelov and Anastasia Baburova, we, the organizers of an antifascist march,
call on you to join our campaign against neo-Nazi terrorism.

The word fascism has been utterly devalued today. It is hard to find a
political movement that avoids branding its opponents as “fascists.” But
there are also meaningful interpretations of this term. Many of them have a
direct bearing on what is taking place in contemporary Russia.

For some people, fascism is the extreme intolerance intrinsic to
authoritarian societies. For others, it is an ideology of exploitation and
coercion. For still others, it means the use by the authorities of covert
paramilitary units for the suppression of democratic movements. Finally, for
some, fascism is a force that murders good people, people like the lawyer
Stanislav Markelov and the journalist Nastya Baburova, the young
antifascists Fyodor Filatov and Ivan Khutorskoi, the ethnologist Nikolai
Girenko, the chess player Sergei Nikolaev from Yakutia, the programmer Bair
Sambuev from Buryatia, and hundreds of others. People who define fascism in
this way do not divide their enemies into Russians and non-Russians,
grown-ups and children, priests and punk rock fans, young activists and
defenseless janitors from Central Asia.

It is not a matter of definitions, however. All the murderers come from one
and the same environment.

They can be defeated only through a combined effort, only by overcoming the
barriers that separate political activists from each other and from people
who do not trust politicians and are not involved in the political process.
For this purpose we are organizing an antifascist initiative that will unite
people of various political persuasions with all those who consider
themselves apolitical but who are convinced that the rise of fascism in
Russia demands a clear response from society.

The neo-Nazis have changed. They now not only attack marketplaces, they also
blow them up – along with railroad tracks, concert halls, churches, cafes,
and the entryways of the buildings where their political opponents live. The
fascists now not only beat up people on the streets, they also murder them.
Neo-Nazi terrorism has become a reality.

If this goes on much longer, Russia will turn into a country wracked by
ethnic cleansing and inter-ethnic war. We appeal to everyone who would
rather not wait to see this happen. Act now: take a public stance using
whatever means you have at your disposal.

We also call on well-known and respected people – scholars, artists,
writers, and intellectuals – to support our cause with their good names. We
believe that the struggle against the neo-Nazi scourge in Russia must be
raised to a new level. It has to become a mass campaign of solidarity that
reaches beyond youth subcultures and activist groups. The understandable
aversion people feel to politics should not prevent them from recognizing
the threat posed by neo-Nazism.

We believe that we have three main tasks today. First, we need to deprive
neo-Nazis and racists of the explicit and implicit support they receive from
bureaucrats and establishment politicians. Second, we have to drive members
of ultra-rightist organizations out of mainstream politics. Third, we must
put an end to the practice of using radical right-wing gangs to intimidate
and murder social and political activists.

We call on people in various cities and countries to take to the streets on
January 19, 2010, and show their solidarity with our cause.

Присоединиться \ Join Us.

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Filed under Antifasismi / Anti-fascism, Toiminta / Action · Tagged with antifascism, antifasismi, Baburova, Markelov, Russia, solidaarisuus, solidarity, Venäjä