On New Year’s Eve, around 50 people gathered outside the Holstenglacis remand prison in Hamburg to celebrate the New Year with the prisoners.
Unannounced and undisturbed by the cops, the prisoners were greeted with fireworks and slogans.
The prisoners responded with applause, shouts and fires at the windows of their cells.
A moment of solidarity – a small crack in the totality of prison society.
In this context, the anarchist comrade-in-arms Kyriakos Ximitiris, who died two months ago, was also remembered and our solidarity with the prisoners of the Ampelokipoi case Marianna, Dimitra, Dimitris, Nikos and A.K. was emphasised.
They are with us in our struggles, in the small and the big moments – despite the borders and the walls.
Constellation will be back in 2025, but things are going to look a bit different this year! Instead of one weekend, the festival will span an entire week, from May 15th to the 21st. Like last year, we encourage everyone to submit events to the online calendar (to be relaunched soon). We’ll also be organizing two large events on Saturday and Sunday. Keep reading for more info!
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Anarchist Bookfair
Saturday, May 17 – CÉDA
As you probably guessed, the Anarchist Bookfair will be happening again–same place, same time, same general idea. Tablers will be able to set up inside and outside CÉDA (no CCGV) with books, zines, art, and other materials relevant to anarchy. We’ll also have access to a handful of rooms in CÉDA and spots in Parc Vinet for book talks, workshops, discussions, reading circles, and more! We’re hoping that the content of events on this day can be a bit more conceptual or theoretical. Think reading circle of your favourite anarchist essay, discussion on an ongoing social struggle, workshop sharing new perspectives on security culture, and all that kind of fun stuff.
Anarchist Skill Faire
Sunday, May 18 – CÉDA
As for Sunday, we are excited to host the Montreal Anarchist Skill Faire (10 points if you spotted the bilingual pun). Remember school science fairs? We want to do something similar, but with more anarchy (trifold displays welcome). We call for a tabling event that brings a chaotic and dazzling range of anarchist-relevant skills together with the purpose of sharing it freely. Maybe you want to give tips on protest first aid, provide a hands-on introduction to lockpicking, or teach people how to set up a mesh network. Anything goes, as long as it centres the diffusion of hands-on knowledge and practical skills. There will also be rooms for more intensive, workshop-length skillshares!
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Anarchists have had an enduring understanding that theory and practice can’t (and probably shouldn’t) be separated. Ideas incite action, practice inspires theory, and politics influence the types of skills we seek to develop. Theoretical and conceptual conversations will touch on practice and have implications for action. Discussions related to hands-on knowledge and practical skills will be shaped by ideas and be of relevance to theory. We’re organizing Saturday and Sunday along these two themes as an experiment, and we recognize that both are equally important and intrinsically linked to one another.
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Kids Zone
We want Constellation 2025 to be engaging and accessible to people of all ages! Once again, childcare and kid-friendly activities will be provided at the Kids Zone in CÉDA. We also encourage festival-goers to organize workshops and skillshares geared toward young people on either Saturday or Sunday.
Get Involved
The table reservation and workshop application forms will be available soon. Check our website or social media pages later this month to learn more. If you have any comments or questions, feel free to reach us at constellationmtl@riseup.net.
A new short zine (The Responsibility of Criminals) questioning how one acts under political persecution and certain risks of being a political criminal.
SAN CRISTÓBAL DE LAS CASAS, Chiapas. Tsotsil Catholic parishioners from San Pedro Chenalhó made a pilgrimage on Sunday to demand justice for the murder of the priest Marcelo Pérez Pérez and to denounce that in the Highlands region of Chiapas, there are communities controlled by criminal groups.
Two and a half months after the murder of the priest, the parishioners asked that the innocence of Father Marcelo be publicly recognized, on whom there was an arrest warrant for the disappearance of 18 residents of Pantelhó that occurred on July 26, 2021.
“Without security and without justice, the communities will remain depopulated, so it is necessary that the three levels of government recognize that there are localities controlled by criminal groups that have burned their houses, stolen their food, prevented them from working their plots and have forced families to abandon them,” said the parish council when reading a statement.
They pointed out that “the security promises of the new government campaign (MORENA member Eduardo Ramírez Aguilar), have a lot of force in the news and on social networks, but not in our reality. We understand that there are operations, searches and arrests against organized crime, but without dismantling them, these actions do not guarantee the path of justice or peace.”
To these actions, they said, “is added the complicity of public officials, police and investigative agents with criminals, following the money trail, increasing impunity. To be credible we need their coherence, commitment to the truth and justice (for) their closest victims.”
They assured that the insecurity they experience in the municipality, “is fueled by the excessive sale of alcohol, drug use, prostitution and displacement; we have seen violence explode in Pantelhó – it still continues – and we see it escalate in communities of Chenalhó, which border that municipality, in front of the authorities who seem to see it as normal.”
The Tsotsils from various communities, including members of the Las Abejas de Acteal organization, who participated in the pilgrimage, recalled that on December 11th, 2024, the San Cristóbal de Las Casas City Council awarded him the Fray Bartolomé de Las Casas Medal. “Both (Fray Bartolomé de Las Casas and Marcelo Pérez) showed that justice is not for the poor, it is for the privileged who have the money to pay for it. Because these events have no coherence.”
They added, “We have to continue fighting against discrimination, classism and racism that hinder justice. The words of our bishop Rodrigo Aguilar Martínez and the indignation of Romeo Pérez, Father Marcelo’s brother, still resonate in our hearts when the San Cristóbal City Council awarded the posthumous medal to the priest, and both showed that justice is not for the poor, but for the privileged who have the money to pay for it.”
During the pilgrimage they also demanded the release of the former president of the municipal council of Pantelhó, Pedro Cortés López, and the former councilor, Diego Mendoza; the safe return of displaced inhabitants and the repair of damages and that criminal groups be disarmed and dismantled.
The religious march, called by the parish council of Chenalhó, left from the junction to the community of Chixiltón towards the municipal capital, where it ended with the celebration of a mass.
A box truck owned by Rapid Response Bioclean was set on fire on Friday, Dec 27th in Portland OR. Rapid Response Bioclean is responsible for sweeping homeless camps in the Portland area, stealing people’s belongings and leaving them to freeze. It seems like someone had enough and decided to fight back.
Last year, someone fought back against a sweep by pulling a gun on Rapid Response workers.
Rapid Response Bioclean has a fleet consisting of box trucks and stake bed trucks. They are often staffed by crews of 3+ workers.
Sirens sounded across Zionist-occupied territories in central Palestine and the West Bank, early on Friday, as a result of a Yemeni missile attack.
At approximately 4:35 AM (local time), the missile arrived over occupied Palestinian airspace, triggering sirens in major city settlements, occupied cities, and occupied areas.
This included Tel Aviv, occupied al-Quds, Ramat Gan, Rishon LeZion, Petach Tikva, and Beit Shemesh, among other areas.
Footage captured from the West Bank city of Qalqilya showed the missile descending rapidly toward its target before exploding at a distance. However, reports are yet to emerge of a direct impact site or of the fall of shrapnel.
The Yemeni Armed Forces (YAF) has fired multiple long-range missiles and drones at Zionist targets in recent days, as a continuation of its support to the Palestinian people and in response to Zionist strikes against the country.
On the other hand, the Zionist regime has launched multiple assaults on Yemeni civilian infrastructure, focusing its aerial strikes on the Sanaa airport, the port of Hodeidah, and power and energy facilities. The YAF has also defended against American and British aggression, downing highly prized drones and engaging in naval battles that have thwarted or minimized the effects of multiple assaults.
This comes as the Yemeni people continue to reaffirm their commitment to the Palestinian cause, support for the YAF, and resolve to end the Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip in weekly demonstrations.
More than 3,000 people gathered in the Zapatista community of Oventic, in the municipality of San Andrés Larráinzar, to commemorate the 31st anniversary of the appearance of the Zapatista Army of National Liberation (EZLN) against the federal government. Amidst songs, music and cheers, they celebrated from the stage set up in the center of this community. Activities continued until the morning of January 1st, 2025. In the afternoon, the attendees left the location, while the Zapatistas continued to celebrate the anniversary of the armed uprising.
To celebrate the 31st anniversary of the appearance of the Zapatistas, which occurred in 1994, when they took over several municipal presidencies such as Palenque, Ocosingo, Altamirano, Las Margaritas and San Cristóbal de las Casas, as well as during the attack on the military barracks in Rancho Nuevo, the hooded individuals performed plays. In these representations they showed how the army continues to besiege the Zapatista communities and highlighted that they feel increasingly safe thanks to the support of various social organizations, both nationally and internationally.
The cultural event began yesterday afternoon, Tuesday, December 31st, 2024, with a parade of EZLN militants that concluded in the early hours of Wednesday, January 1st, 2025. After 10 a.m. the activities continued, including musical presentations and plays organized by the militants of the Zapatista Army of National Liberation.
More than 2,000 attendees interacted with the Zapatistas, who assured that the fight will continue from the regions where the Zapatista commands operate, such as Oventic, Altamirano, Las Margaritas, Ocosingo and Palenque. The hooded ones reiterated their commitment to protect the land, which they consider theirs since they took it in 1994, and asked their supporters to continue walking alongside them.
Finally, in the center at Oventic, it was emphasized that since its armed emergence, the EZLN has been a symbol of resistance and rebellion, denouncing the structural inequalities and social exclusion faced by the indigenous peoples of Chiapas and Mexico. A call was made to the organizations to continue fighting against these government abuses. After 3:30 p.m. on Wednesday, the representatives of various organizations who attended the event left without incident.
1) It does not take many people to change the course of a protest.
2) When the police are busy defending a fixed point it opens possibilities for exciting action in other places.
3) Our comrades can be de-arrested, and doing this against security officers is good, lower-stakes practice for doing it against the police
The takeover of Concordia’s Hall building was yet another instance of the slow building militancy in the Tiohtià:ke (Montréal) solidarity movement for Palestine.
On November 21st, over 85,000 students across Quebec were on strike demanding their academic institutions align with the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions movement, drop the political suspensions of student activists, and against police on campus — making it possibly one of the biggest strikes for Palestine, outside of the occupied territories, in world history.
Committed to swinging the protest into a more combative stance, the rough idea was to make the Concordia rally on the first day of the province-wide student strike for Palestine militant enough to force the university to shut down for the day, thereby enforcing the strike mandate and causing maximum disruption. The primary proposal for doing so was to take over a building.
On the day of the rally organized and publicized by Students for Palestine’s Honour and Resistance (SPHR) Concordia, a few anarchists from all over the city (collaborating across Francophone and Anglophone milieus) found each other and shared ideas for ways to make the rally more interesting and disruptive. To avoid another ritualistic demonstration of the same chants and speeches, they decided they would try to enter Concordia’s Hall Building: the center of the University’s student activity, and known target to the broader Tiohtià:ke anarchist community that was hit several times in the fall 2024 semester, causing hundreds of thousands of dollars’ worth of damage.
The building was being guarded by a line of private security mercenaries — not exaggeration, everyone would soon find out that these goons were hired by the university from “Perceptage,” a security firm whose CEO advertises his IDF training. After some comrades grabbed hold of the door and held them open, a first group of brave protestors pushed through the security line yelling “move” and beckoning for the crowd outside to join them in storming the Hall lobby. The crowd reacted quickly and did just that. Security also reacted quickly and violenty grabbed the first few comrades pushing through, putting them in head locks and ripping their clothes, but other protesters fought back, grabbing onto their comrades’ bodies and tearing them out of security’s grasp. These were the first sucessful de-arrests since Concordia security began their practice of “citizen’s arrests” at protests, and it showed that our comrades can be snatched back if we move fast. Doing so aginast unarmed security can be good, lower-stakes practice for doing so against the police
Security soon realized they were totally overpowered and outnumbered and stepped aside, defeated. They could only watch as hundreds of students and “outside agitators” stormed the Hall building lobby.
Meanwhile, the riot police – who are often a significant factor at protests in Tiohtia:ke due to being highly equipped (tear gas, pepper spray, etc.) and trained more specifically for “crowd control” than riot cops in other cities, were busy forming a barrier around a small group of zionist counter-protestors. As was seen a number of times over the summer, when the SPVM have a fixed point they must defend, it can open up possibilties for protesters.
Having flooded the Hall building lobby, pacifying speeches on a megaphone began once again, and anarchists were seen continuously beckoning the crowd to remain dynamic and to begin going upstairs by chanting “Who’s school? Our school!” Some protesters spoke to the people giving speeches, who then announced to the crowd that people were moving upstairs. A critical mass began to move and a snake-demo through every floor of the Hall building ensued. Protesters were seen spray painting, disabling security cameras, tossing garbage cans onto the floor, creating chair barricades outside classrooms, even expropriating expensive university equipment, all as security just sat back and watched helplessly.
The dynamic movement created a real feeling of empowerment, and hopefully will encourage more serious attempts to liberate space and resources from the university. What felt powerful to see on this day was that it only took a handful of protesters to secure the doors, and with 15-20 militants on hand the protest shifted from a standard rally on the street, to a disruptive snake demo through a 12 story building. This taking of the school by force was something the secuirty was clearly desperate to avoid, and they responded by sending out an emergency alert encouraging people to avoid the area, as well as a message to professors that resulted in some classes and exams being cancelled into the evening. The day’s success was made possible partly due to activists at Concordia continuously organizing and trying to increase militancy and build relationships; there had been many previous unsuccessful attempts to escalate.
Surely thanks to a large portion of the crowd being in full kuffiyeh, black or student bloc, and totally concealed, as of this day, no one has faced legal or academic consequences for Thursday, November 21st actions.
There were also reports that an hour earlier, at McGill university, fire alarms were simultaneously triggered in every building on campus, forcing students out into the lawn where they could join the walkout happening at the same time.
The strikes served their function very well in this case, freeing up student time and energy and creating the conditions for an action that otherwise hasn’t been pulled off.
The 21st was unequivocally a success, yet there were a few things which could have made it even better and more impactful:
It became very clear that, once the snake-demo up the Hall building had begun, very few people had made plans for such a successful scenario, perhaps this comes from anarchists’ unfamiliarity with success in attempted manoeuvres, or the amount of work militants put into planning to enforce the strike instead of the possibility of other actions. Regardless of reasons, strategic or symbolic targets could have been plotted out beforehand, and further plans beyond just “getting into the building” could have been executed.
While people were beginning to flood into the Hall Building, one protestor who remained outside put up a nazi salute towards the zionist counter-protestors and shouted “The final solution is coming for you”. Regrettably, no one in the demonstration intervened when they saw this happening. While student associations, the Concordia Student Union, and community groups across the city denounced it after the fact, there needs to be a strong, shared understanding that nazis be immediately and physically confronted, and are in no way welcome in the movement for a liberated Palestine.
There is very little shared analysis that “If we desire an end to this world of genocide the university, too, must be destroyed.” Few students, or even non-students, understand the university as a location of social reproduction that enables capitalism and genocide and that must be attacked. This was seen in the general lack of antagonistic behavior on the 21st, in a scenario of possibility and freedom.
Despite having full access to the building, the intense repression students have faced from the university in recent months likely led them to police their own actions on that day, despite not having anyone physically stopping them. This self-policing could be counteracted by encouraging more non-students to join university actions, and encouraging students to be disruptive at each other’s schools. In addition, hopefully actions on the 21st can spread confidence and the skills to de-arrest and protect each other at our own schools.
Despite there being room for improvement, we can still celebrate and try to reproduce the palbable feeling of liberation, freedom and empowerment that filled the hallways of the university that day.
EN: A group of anti-Zionist militants smashed and wrote the word “Genocidas” (genociders, in Portuguese) at a Santander Bank in Almada, Portugal, in solidarity with Palestine. This is the fifth bank attacked since December, after BBVA, BPI and also Santander as well. These three banks are profit from genocide and are directly involved in financing some of the arms that the Zionist colony uses to kill Palestinians. Escalate for Palestine 🔻 PT: Um grupo de militantes antissionistas partiu vidros e escreveu a palavra “Genocidas” numa sucursal do Banco Santander, em Almada, em solidariedade com a Palestina. É já o quinto ataque a bancos desde dezembro, depois de terem sido alvos outras sucursais do Santander, BBVA e BPI. Estes três bancos lucram com o genocídio e estão envolvidos diretamente no financiamento das armas que os sionistas usam para matar pessoas palestinas. É tempo de escalar pela Palestina 🔻
