A-Infos (en) France, Monde Libertaire - On September 10th, were we, in Lyon, "indignant"? (ca, de, fr, it, pt, tr)[machine translation]

This is a question that the Lyon Commune liaison of the Anarchist 
Federation asked itself during the September days. The social movement, 
which matured over the summer, seems to be affecting all spheres of 
activism in Lyon. It seems that the entire far left followed the call to 
"block" from "Let's Get Indignant," once the far right was "publicly" 
excluded from the event[note]. Because we didn't want to indulge in 
militant purity, we decided to follow and participate in the events... 
But, anarchists that we are, we still boycotted the reformist meetings 
of LFI and the CGT. We then invested our time in a rally organized by 
the "lieu-dit," a former squat in Villeurbanne, well known to our 
black-clad undercover agents: "Île Égalité." On September 4th, the 
"island" collective organized a meeting entitled "What to do to prepare 
for September 10th and beyond? Public meeting open to all, Thursday, 
September 4th at Ile Égalité."

The meeting recorded on Rebellyon[note]doesn't provide many details. At 
first, stunned by the resonance of Lenin's words "What to do," we try to 
decipher the description of the event. We then assume that this meeting 
will take the form of a discussion assembly, more 
"possibilist"[note]than "revolutionary," about the usefulness of the 
global "10th and beyond" movement, presenting the "things" already done, 
then the "how to" to do more. In short, many things are possible. We 
still appreciate this overall theme of "mutual aid." For context, we had 
just met with the "Villeurbanne Committee," which, like us, is proposing 
a mutual aid network in Villeurbanne. We expected to meet them again on 
September 4th.

As dedicated organizers, we wrote a proposal on behalf of our Liaison: 
for self-organization and mutualism, against the dreams of reformism. We 
pressed into our rag the usefulness of "organizing" on September 10th 
through a sustainable and anarchist mutual aid network. And therefore, 
not to "bet everything on a blockage," which, for us, always ends up 
being repressed and forgotten amidst the indifference of most of our 
contemporaries.

On "D-Day" at the "island," we didn't fly the "FA" flag... because we 
sat on a couch too deep to appear credible. Moreover, it seemed the 
atmosphere was one of non-partisanship. The assembly gathers just over 
150 people. After a few minutes of speeches, we understand that the 
gathering is designed to "block" the country. A moment of "free" 
speaking is given so that "everyone" can propose ideas to "destabilize 
the country," to "sabotage," or to "annoy" whatever happens on the 10th.

But... The speeches quickly turn into "heroic" speeches, accompanied by 
legitimizing applause[note], about uniting against the government, 
setting "the country on fire" to oust Bayrou and Macron. The assembly 
transforms, and the "votes" are made by applause, where the speakers 
seem to seek validation from the audience, in increasingly "populist" 
speeches. Thus, those accustomed to "call-out" speeches and practices 
are the masters of the assembly. Two people were then overtaken by 
another, more "virulent" person: one had an overly intellectual speech, 
and another proposed mobilizations with the neighborhoods, which didn't 
go down well. Ultimately, it all boiled down to how to "block" the 
country, but we always wondered: what for?

We then avoided proposing our anarchist, overly mutualist, rather than 
"revolutionary opportunist" discourse. Moreover, for each of the 
speakers, no one introduced themselves, spoke about political 
organization, or made clear statements about their motivations for this 
mobilization.

Through all this, ultimately, we still understood that there was a 
strong motivation to "block." And that the rest-the "ideas and 
organization"-was secondary for most people. We then decided to discuss 
things with people after the meeting and distribute our proposal 
individually.

Despite our negative TripAdvisor review, we're following this 
mobilization. One of us is involved in the solidarity canteens for 
September 10th, while the others are on strike or attending events 
organized by the "Indignons-nous" network. The liaison plans to meet at 
the Place Guichard rally organized by the CGT (General Confederation of 
Labour).

Regarding the canteens, our correspondent is very inspired. It seems 
that there is hope in these solidarity actions, which can lead to 
something long-term.

Regarding the strike on the 10th, one of us confronted, at a meeting at 
work, the reformists of the Force Ouvrière union, who denounced this 
national mobilization, supposedly far-right, as a Russian plot to 
immobilize France. The icing on the cake: the goal was to sabotage 
France's progress on its nuclear projects. So many reasons to support 
the movement as anarchists of the FA!

On the day of the blockade, everything seemed to go "as planned." Two 
members of the FA helped with a blockade on the M7 motorway, only to be 
quickly dispersed. The picket lines were formed, and the demonstration 
at Place Guichard took place at noon. There were reportedly around 
15,000 people there. There was a good diversity of people, including 
high school students, university students, and union members. It's also 
clear that a good portion of the population is "ready" to endure the 
repression that is about to befall us. However, the police allow three 
wild demonstrations to form (heading south and east), which eventually 
converge on Guillotière to march on the Presqu'île. We later understand 
that another part of the procession remains and is "trapped" in Guichard.

By "luck," the police only "divert" the wild demonstrations while 
violently targeting the groups that find themselves isolated. They 
"freely" blockade the town. We manage, by detours, to cross a bridge and 
reach Perrache. Heading toward Bellecour, our dear CRML member, 
fascinated by a discussion on urban planning, finds himself bare-assed 
on the front lines with a red and black flag. He is hit with a grenade 
at his feet and then tear gas in his nose.

Besides, in this street, for a moment, we are proud to be the last to 
fly flags, alongside the totos, but we advance by retreating. Because in 
the same street, the "IFA - FA" standard-bearers are also gassed, but 
quickly hidden in a building that luckily opens in front of them, a sign 
from God... Or from Satan, because a frightened bourgeois woman then 
shouts to the leftists in her property to try to warn the police. On the 
other side, our Esperantist anarchist, "FA" flag in hand, does not 
succeed in blocking the station alone, he is gassed and charged. The 
processions are caught in a pincer movement, from north to south. They 
find themselves scattered on the peninsula, pushed to the limits of the 
Saône (to the west) and the Rhône (to the east). A moment of calm, the 
rich people are on the balconies and calling us vermin, laughing: "Look, 
they're wearing masks, all those leftists are troublemakers!"

By happy coincidence, the connection ends up on the banks of the Saône. 
We put away the flags and walk towards Bellecour anyway. But this time, 
we're looking for a café, to find our lost friends... As luck would have 
it, we notice the police are waiting for us there. We manage to pass 
ourselves off as passersby until a guy throws a bottle at us. After a 
good run, we finally arrive at a café above Bellecour, where we give up. 
There, we find a team of broken arms sporting war wounds: baton wounds 
and torn t-shirts. We finally leave. A festive demonstration in 
Charpennes allows us to enjoy a moment of calm. We know that people 
continue to bother the police everywhere.

One last experiment was conducted by our least tired member. A meeting 
that same evening brought together up to 2,000 people on the banks of 
the Saône. But due to a lack of sound equipment, the experience was 
mixed. It produced criticism and comments about the day, and hope for 
the future... She would also end up getting gassed, thanks to a guy and 
a firework accidentally aimed at the police...

Crabi, appointed as the "IFA-FA" standard-bearer for the Commune de 
Lyon[FA69]liaison.

https://monde-libertaire.net/?articlen=8562
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