Revolution #250, November 15, 2011
Defend Occupy Wall Street – No Police Attacks on Zuccotti Park!
No Police Attacks on the Occupations!
Revolution received the following statement:
The early hours of Tuesday, November 15—suddenly and brutally, the New York Police Department, with police chief Ray Kelly personally presiding, moved to shut down Occupy Wall Street. In a massive coordinated attack, police sealed off the area, subway stations were closed and trains rerouted. Hundreds of supporters who came in response to emergency alerts, as well as media trying to cover the attack, were barricaded blocks away and reportedly pepper-sprayed by police. Police in full riot gear swept the park, slashing tents and sleeping bags with knives and destroying everything they could get their hands on. The communal kitchen, the communications center, and thousands of donated books in the shared library were trashed. By morning rush hour, an estimated 200 people had been arrested between those taken from Zuccotti Park, and people taken trying to reach the park to support the occupiers. Hundreds more gathered, marched and regathered throughout downtown Manhattan. One of the chants was “We are unstoppable; another world is possible!”
As the eyes of the world woke up to the violent attack on the heart of the Occupy movement in New York, occupations in Oakland, Portland and elsewhere had also been attacked, and occupations in other cities are threatened. What should be learned from this and what should be done?
Recently, Bob Avakian, Chairman of the Revolutionary Communist Party, made this statement:
“The main—and, up to this point at least, the overwhelming—aspect of these 'Occupy' protests has been their very positive thrust: in mobilizing people to stand up against injustice and inequality and the domination of economic, social and political life, and international relations, by a super-rich elite class whose interests are in opposition to those of the great majority of people; and in contributing in significant ways to an atmosphere in which people are raising and wrangling with big questions about the state of society and the world and whether and how something much better can be brought into being. It will be a very good thing if these protests continue to spread and further develop, with this basic thrust and this positive impact.” (See full statement and coverage of the Occupy movement on revcom.us.)
The massive attack on the occupations was coordinated nationally from the highest levels of power—including those who claim to support the 99%. What does this tell you about pouring hopes and dreams into the electoral process that legitimizes this capitalist-imperialist state power? Enough of that!
In just two months, this new resistance has opened up political space and the geographic focal point for millions to grapple with and imagine alternatives to the horrific every-day capitalist-imperialist destruction of human spirit and human life and the planet. The defiance of the limits of tired acceptable protest—with the occupiers coming back from political attack, arrests and police beatings, with courage and creativity and righteous anger—is raising precious hope and determination that the world does not have to be this way.
People in New York: the whole world is watching! The attacks on Zuccotti Park cannot be allowed to stand. Join the resistance to these attacks—now, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and beyond. Show the world that this resistance will be defended, nurtured and supported as it grows in determination and focus.
Join the Occupy Wall Street call for a day of action at Wall Street on Thursday, Nov. 17
Begins: 7AM at Zuccotti Park. Actions all day. 5PM Foley Square.
DEFEND OCCUPY WALL STREET
FOR A WORLD WITHOUT WALL STREETS
WE ARE BUILDING A MOVEMENT FOR REVOLUTION
Revolutionary Communist Party, New York City Branch
Material and information available at Revolution Books
146 W. 26th St. (between 6th/7th Aves.) * New York, NY 10001 * 212-691-3345 * revbooksnyc@yahoo.com
If you like this article, subscribe, donate to and sustain Revolution newspaper.
