Workers Solidarity Movement

Israel's attack on the Mavi Marmara, Turkish Flotilla of IHH (Humanitarian Relief Foundation) this morning struck a very dangerous cord with Turks of all sides, it also received the mixed reaction of a very divided and confused society . Turkey has had a love and hate relationship with Israel from the beginning, being one of the first states to recognize the State of Israel.There is a considerable amount of USA/CIA backed liberal opposition to Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's and his party AKP's repositioning of Turkish foreign policy from being "the only friend of a loner aggressive child in the class" to being a friend of Syria and Iran. This reaction takes place despite the obvious backing of his party by the USA in Turkey. Similar opposition has been expressed about Erdoğan and Brazilian President Lula's deal/ mediation with Iran to nuclear fuel swap deal last week.

Protests are to take place in Dublin, Sligo, Galway, Belfast, Derry,  Monaghan & Cork today against the act of international piracy by the Israeli military last night when they attacked a flotilla bringing humanitarian aid to Gaza . The Globe & Mail is reporting that 19 people have been killed in an attack staged last night. The flotilla of six ships called the “freedom flotilla” includes one from the Ireland called the Rachel Corrie, named after the American activist murdered by the IDF in 2003. At least 8 Irish people are on board various ships in the flotilla.

As the march moved away from Stephen’s Green, it was met with an aggressive and heavy handed police response. As the three hundred or so demonstators attempted to move onto the road to march to Anglo Irish Bank, Gardai on foot and horses moved in to prevent the march from commencing.

Last Tuesday Gardai used extendable steel batons against the heads of protesters trying to enter the Dail carpark resulting in at least five head injuries. On Saturday they again attacked an occupation of Anglo Irish Bank by eirigi. We've seen the state react in a similar fashion to resistance in Rossport, Mayday 2004 and Reclaim the Streets. It's time to say Enough.

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Gardai have again attacked campaigners protesting at the bank bailouts this time with batons and dogs. This morning around 7am four people got onto on the overhang of Anglo irish Bank and chained themselves together with a banner read that read 'People of Ireland Rise Up.' In the last half hour a force of some 50 police, secret police and dogs attacked them and their supporters on the ground with batons, fists and feet. At least six were arrested as a melee broke out on Dawson street.

Kathleen McMahon the governor of Mountjoy Prison's Dóchas Centre has resigned after 10 years in the job saying that the prison was chronically overcrowded. 137 women are crammed into a space designed for 85 many for 'low risk' crimes including failure to meet loan repayments to credit unions for which she says "they never should have been jailed." A number of Shell to Sea campaigners have also been jailed in Mountjoy over the last few months including four for trivial Public Order offences that were later struck out at their trial and where it was judged they had been subject to wrongful detention.

Around the time of the visit of Shell’s pipe-laying ship the Solitaire in June it became clear that the Gardai had been told that they could do anything to remove Shell to Sea campaigners from the scene and they would be looked after. Rulings from the district court, in particular the denial of bail to 7 campaigners charged with the most minor of public order offences removed people with vital water skills from the area by interning them in Mountjoy and Castlerea prisons. Local fisherman Pat O’Donnell had one of his boat sunk from underhim when four masked men boarded the boat in the middle of the night and held Pat and the other crew member at gun point while they sabotaged the boat leading to its sinking. When Pat took to sea in another boat as the Solitaire arrived he was arrested under the Public Order Act for loitering and once more sent to prison leaving the way clear for the Solitaire.

Up until 2006 all WSM articles published after 1990 were hosted as part of the Struggle collection on another server.  We hope to eventually move all the articles stored there to this site but in the meantime these subject indices take you to the pages still stored on that site.

An Inquiry by the Garda Ombudsman's office into the death of Terence Wheelock in September 2005 has cleared the Gardai of wrongdoing. Terence Wheelock was taken to hospital from a cell in Store Street Garda barracks in June of 2005 he never regained conciousness and died on September 16th 2005.

Members of WSM and Organise gathered on a bright afternoon light of a cold Janaury day, in the leafy surburbs of Booterstown, Dublin, outside the German Embassy to protest recent Berlin District Court Decision to stop the Free Workers Union (FAU - Freie Arbeiterinnen- und Arbeiter-Union) from being able to call itself a Union.