Tens of Thousands Confront Global Oppressors at G-20 Summit
UPDATED July 8, 2017 | Revolution Newspaper | revcom.us
Hamburg News update [Saturday]:
Saturday, July 8. More than 50,000 people flooded the streets of Hamburg, Germany for a third day of protest against the G-20. There were two separate demonstrations that then converged making it the largest demonstration since the G-20 started on Thursday.
The police had the city center on lockdown, with the main streets barricaded after clashes between the cops and protesters the night before, when protesters had again fearlessly gone up against the police, erecting barricades using trash cans, bicycles, and road signs. One protester told a reporter, “The police are provoking people by running into the protests, crowding people together so that they start to panic. They know people will get injured.” Hundreds of cops went into buildings to arrest people and continued to use water cannons against protesters. At least 11 protesters were severely injured after they fell from a wall during a confrontation with the police. News reports on Saturday said that at least 143 people have been arrested and another 122 taken into custody. And now the police are going after people, including calling on people to upload photos and videos to their server to help identify people to be arrested and prosecuted.
On Saturday, once again, people spoke out in different ways against a long list of outrages perpetuated by the capitalist system: holding signs and chanting about climate change, the rights of women and migrants, Kurdish independence, LGBT rights, environmental issues, and more. Hip-hop and Turkish music blasted out from speakers. The huge crowds of protesters included all kinds of people, including lots of youth, families with their children, and Kurdish groups. One news report described the protest as an “eclectic and international mix ... a show of anti-capitalist muscle in earshot of the world’s top leaders who were finishing up at the G20 summit.” Some of the signs read: “One World―One Vibe,” “Unlimited Solidarity,” and “Hamburg Shows Attitude.” For days tens of thousands had taken to the street, marched, taken over parks, defied police orders to disperse, and defended themselves against vicious police attacks—sending a message to the whole world of protest and RESISTANCE against the G-20 and all it represents.
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Friday Night, July 7. In Hamburg, Germany, over the last two days, some 100,000 people have taken to the streets in protest and rebellion and reporters on the scene say it doesn’t look like this is going to end anytime soon. People are protesting the G-20 meeting and acting against a whole host of outrages perpetuated by the capitalist system. In many ways these protesters in Hamburg are speaking for many more around the world—going fearlessly right up in the face of the heads of state who carry out crimes against the people all over the world.
The G-20 (short for Group of 20) is dominated by the world’s most wealthy and powerful governments, and their annual summit is where they get together to compete over and plan how to continue preying on the people of the world. Many protesters came to confront Trump, who is there representing the U.S., and who is despised, among other things, for his attack on any effort to combat life-threatening climate change and his war on immigrants. Some of the signs people carried read: “No Ban, No War,” “War on Terror, War on Climate, War on the Poor, NOT IN MY NAME,” “Capitalism Kills,” “Stop Ruining Our Amazing Planet,” “Planet Earth First,” “Build Bridges Not Walls,” and “Freedom of Movement.”
The G-20 is taking place at a time when the world is facing its biggest problems perhaps in human history: continuing wars in the Middle East; massive migration due to famine and war; climate change threatening the very life of the planet; a growing danger of nuclear war. And the “world leaders” presiding over the imperialist world face big contradictions and uncertainty. The Western-dominated post World War 2 order is breaking apart on many fronts. The exploitation and oppression of people around the world is ever more unbearable, giving rise to protest and rebellion. And as tensions between big powers intensify, fascism has reared its genocidal head—with the fascist Trump/Pence regime and other fascist leaders in Europe. None of the leaders gathered at the G-20 have any answers to these world problems—because they’re representatives of the global capitalist-imperialist system, fighting over how to maintain their own reactionary interests and that system overall.
There were actions leading up to the summit—12,000 people took to the streets in a protest which was called “G20—Welcome to Hell.” One protester, quoted in the news, said the “point is to disturb the G20... it’s not right that a few countries get to decide what happens to the rest of the world at this summit.”
On Thursday thousands of militarized police confronted protesters, demanding people wearing masks take them off. Then when the police moved in to try and separate those wearing masks from the rest of the march, all hell broke loose as people defended themselves against the pigs. Police unloaded with high-powered water cannons, pepper spray and batons, claiming they had been attacked with bottles and other objects. For hours, there were skirmishes in the streets and defiant protesters stayed in the streets past midnight. Then on Friday, protests continued as tens of thousands continued to take to the streets, with more clashes with the police in some areas. People are righteously going up against the vicious attacks by the police, refusing to back down—which should give heart to all those who hunger for a better world.
By Friday night, some news reporters were estimating that 100,000 had taken part in protests—and more than 20,000 police had been mobilized against the demonstrations. On Friday night, a CNN crew on the scene said the sea of protesters stretched for at least one mile. Earlier that day, climate activists in 15 boats tried to reach a concert hall where G20 participants were gathered; some of the Greenpeace activists jumped into the water and started swimming toward the building before the police stopped all of them.
On Thursday and Friday police viciously attacked people with teargas, water cannons, and flash-bang grenades. Water cannons were used against people standing on bridges and rooftops—seriously endangering people’s lives. There have been more than 80 arrests and dozens of others detained and at least 14 demonstrators have had to go to the hospital, three with serious injuries.
The democratic Germany hosting the G-20, with its “moderate” chancellor Angela Merkel, has its police violently attacking the protests—revealing once again that bourgeois democracy has always been a ruthless capitalist dictatorship, even if at times it wears a tattered velvet glove. The media and authorities decry the “violence” of the protesters even as the G-20 carries out daily violence on an astronomical scale globally—from its wars of empire, to the savaging of the planet itself, to the brutality against and oppression of the masses every day.
It has been reported that there have been as many as 30 different protest marches in different parts of the city. Some were attacked by the police. There have been creative actions, like the day before the summit began where 1,000 artists from many countries carried out a powerful performance piece—covering themselves in ash and walking around like zombies, “to move the people in their hearts, to give them the motivation to get politically engaged again.” And as G-20 leaders gathered to hear a Beethoven concert at Hamburg’s famous Elbphilarmonie concert hall, protesters responded by blaring the music of Jimi Hendrix.
The name of one of the protests in Hamburg, “G20—Welcome to Hell,” speaks to the reality of a world of horrors created by capitalism—a world in which eight people have more wealth than 3.5 billion, a world of unending wars, a world whose fabric of life is being shredded, a world with billions with no jobs and no futures. As protesters are pointing out, those who rule over all this have no right to dictate the future of the people and the planet.
The future under the G-20 IS a hell. But there can be a better future. The myriad of contradictions faced by these world leaders; the breaking apart of formerly stable institutions; continuing rebellions from those who refuse to live this way—all this can present openings for revolution.
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July 6: Tens of thousands of people from all over Europe and beyond have been defiantly protesting in Hamburg, Germany, bringing their demands and their outrage to the G-20 Summit. The G-20 (short for Group of 20) is dominated by the world’s most wealthy and powerful governments, and their annual summit is where they get together to compete over and plan how to continue to prey on the people of the world. Many protesters came to confront Trump, who is there representing the U.S., and who is despised, among other things, for his attack on any effort to combat life-threatening climate change and his war on immigrants. One train entered the station with young people hanging out the windows holding up cutout signs with fists and “Stop Trump” painted on them.
Even before the march began thousands of militarized police confronted the protesters and demanded that people wearing masks had to take them off. When the police moved to separate those wearing masks from the rest of the march, all hell broke loose. Police unloaded with high-powered water cannons, pepper spray and batons, claiming they had been attacked with bottles and other objects. For hours, there were skirmishes in the streets.
More than 100,000 demonstrators are expected to be in the streets over the next two days.
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