Photo Essay – Pike & Hurricane

Women’s march: feminism from below smashing the patriarchy

Silas de Saram — Tue, 24 Mar 2020 15:09:55 +0000

On March 8 (International Women’s Day), I had the pleasure to attend the women’s march in Malmö, which was organized and attended by multiple feminist and leftist organizations. Especially prevalent were the groups ‘Feminism Underifrån’, a feminist group from Malmö, ‘Activista Feminista’, a Malmö based anticapitalist collective fighting for Women’s rights and LGBTQ+ emancipation, and ‘Mangla’, a group fighting for women’s rights and trans rights in Sweden.

The demonstration began at Möllevängstorget, where speeches by various organizations, as well as by the swedish Left Party (Vänsterpartiet), who’s protest occurred earlier on the same day. One speaker stressed the importance of fighting fatphobia as a part of the fight against sexism and racism. Another speech was held on the topic of LGBTQ+ rights in Poland under the Polish far-right administration. The third speech was held on the topic of Rojava, the Kurdish autonomous region in northeastern Syria.

After the speeches, the procession began moving through the streets of Malmö’s Möllevången and Rådmansvången.

Especially visible was the banner of ‘Revolutionär Kommunistisk Ungdom’ (RUK), the youth wing of the Swedish Communist Party (Kommunistiska Partiet), a revolutionary Marxist-Leninist party.

Multiple anarchist groups were in attendance, such as Sveriges Arbetares Centralorganisation (SAC), Syndikalistiska Ungdomsförbundet (SUF) and Red and Black Collective.

Many different feminist issues were represented at the Women’s March. One specific issue that was represented is the horrible abuse of women in Mexico, and the staggering numbers of femicide in the country.

Overall there appeared to be a large anticapitalist presence, this women’s march was attended by a more revolutionary audience than the protest of the Left Party, earlier on the same day.

by Silas de Saram

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UF trip to Albania

Isa Tiilikainen and Jasmin-Leyla Virta — Tue, 05 Nov 2019 13:57:12 +0000

Albania is said to be one of the oldest European nations and yet the history and the culture of the nation and the country itself are not very familiar to most of us. In the beginning of October 2019 we had the unique chance of travelling to Albania and getting to know the country as part of the fall trip arranged by UF Malmö.

On the first day of our trip, we took part in a walking tour of Tirana, saw a lot of important sights and heard interesting stories of its history. All the historical facts about Albania in this article are based on the information presented by the local guide on the tour.

The capital surprised us with its beauty, tons of greenery and colorful houses. The metropolitan area of Tirana hosts 1 million citizens, which is around a third of the country’s whole population.

The city of Tirana is located next to the mountains, to one of which we took a day trip.

Landscape of Tirana from Mount Dajti

Painting the city’s buildings in bright colours in the early 2000’s originally was the idea of the then city mayor, now Prime Minister of Albania, Edi Rama who is also a painter. It was his vision to highlight the bright and happy future ahead after the grey years of communism.

During our trip we gained a lot of insights into the historical chapter of Albania, in particular, when it was a lesser known communist dictatorship within Europe. However, this nation’s history starts from the ancient times, when the country was part of Illyria. Before the modern era, Albania was ruled under the Roman, the Byzantine and most significantly the Ottoman Empire, until it gained independence on 28th November 1912.

The most prominent feature of Albania’s recent history, has been it’s strict communist rule under Enver Hoxha from 1944 until 1991. Albania sometimes even was referred to as the ‘’North Korea of Europe’’ due to the personal cult surrounding Hoxha, strong restrictions to citizens freedoms and severe violations of human rights during this time period.

Small statue of Hoxha together with a statue of Lenin and two of Stalin

The beginning of Hoxha’s rule was strongly influenced by the Soviet leader Josef Stalin as Hoxha followed his footsteps in creating a communist regime with a closely planned economy. In the 1950s, once the Soviet Union abandoned Stalinism, Albania tightened its relations with the People’s Republic of China led by Mao Zedong but eventually also this relation was destroyed and Albania was left without allies. This lead to the isolation of the nation, and no man could freely enter or leave the country.

In the 1980s the Pyramid of Tirana was the Enver Hoxha Museum, today, it is waiting to be reconstructed as a youth center

The communist era was marked by Hoxha’s paranoia of foreign powers invading Albania. Its legacy is still one of the most visible features of the country, as the leader built over 700 000 bunkers all over the country to protect the people. Today, a great amount of these bunkers are still visible in the Albanian landscape and two museums called Bunk’art 1 and 2 are telling the story of communist Albania to the public.

Reconstructed bunker in the city center of Tirana

Collection of bunker photos at Bunk’art 1

In 1991 communism collapsed in Albania, surprisingly through elections, and the country was ready to open its borders and contribute to the international community.

Germany donated a piece of the original Berlin Wall to Albania as a memorial after the collapse of Communism

One rather ironic part symbolizing the end of communist era in Albania is the site of former leader Enver Hoxha’s house. The first international fast food chain ever to arrive in Albania was Kentucky Fried Chicken, and today their restaurant is located across the street from Hoxha’s house, the face of the logo smiling directly at it.

Enver Hoxha’s house

Since the communist rule, Albania has been developing rapidly, striving to get rid of the organized corruption and other societal issues, and today it is a member of many international organizations such as NATO and WTO. The modernization and shift to market economy took place quickly, as in the past 27 years the country has been able to establish remarkable reforms.

The country today is very pro-west and eager to join the EU, with as much as 94% of the population in favor of joining. Our visit in the Swedish Embassy in Tirana gave us more profound insights on Albania’s possible EU accession, and we discussed the role of Sweden as a big supporter of Albania’s accession after 50 years of bilateral cooperation. As you are reading this article, the EU leaders are discussing the opening of accession negotiations with Albania.

During our trip we also heard about the most current political and societal situation of Albania, when visiting CRCA – Children’s rights center Albania and Roma Active, an NGO helping Roma and working on challenges the minority faces in Albania. These visits gave us a lot of information about the current issues the nation is facing, especially in terms of becoming an applicant to the EU. One large problem is the fact that young people are leaving the country to study or work abroad and are not returning. NGOs like CRCA are working towards building trust and safety net for young people to return and invest in their home country. Though there are still major issues with transparency, grass-root corruption and trust in politicians, Albania seems to be on the right path in terms of becoming more and more democratic. It is likely that within the next decade, Albania will be ready to officially begin the EU application process, which we think would be beneficial to all parties.

UF Malmö visiting CRCA

by Isa Tiilikainen & Jasmin Virta

Photo credits

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Rebellion Week Berlin [Photo Story]

Merle Emrich — Tue, 05 Nov 2019 12:35:52 +0000

Berlin, Germany (7-13 October 2019)

read the article about XR Rebellion Week in Berlin here

Photo Credits

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Photo Essay: A Nation Sees Yellow

Merle Emrich — Fri, 12 Apr 2019 13:23:24 +0000

‘When it is pressed or attacked, it changes form and repositions itself. It exerts constant counter force to search for weakness.’ This is a quote from the website The Taoism for the Modern World describing an aspect of the Tao of water. But the quote could also be easily applied to both the Gilets Jaunes and to the French government.

The Gilets Jaunes movement that had started in mid-November 2018 is still going strong. And the government – unwilling to give into demands for more direct democracy, the re-introduction of the wealth tax and higher salaries combined with lower taxes for the working and middle class – appears, in a seemingly helpless manner, to rely on the use of force. Its most recent strategy has been revealed on March 18 by Prime Minister Édouard Philippe introducing new, stricter measures including more autonomy for the police forces employed, the use of drones, declaring certain areas such as the Champs Elysée (Paris) or the Place du Capitole (Toulouse) out of bounds for protests and banning the full or partial covering of faces.

The atmosphere at the protests, however, leaves to conclude that the Gilets Jaunes are as unwilling to give in as the government. As the protesters march through to Toulouse on one of the first warm days of March they shout ‘We are not tired’. And a woman wearing a yellow high-visibility vest – the source of the movement’s name – on which she has written ‘I am scared but I am here’ joins the other protesters in their singing: ‘We are here! We are here! Even if Macron doesn’t want it, we are here. For the honour of the workers, and for a better world, even if Macron doesn’t want it, we are here.’ A few steps away some protesters are collecting donations to pay the defence lawyers of imprisoned Gilets Jaunes – it is only one of many instances in which the solidarity between the protesters becomes evident.

While the French government is trying to staunch what some, more or less in jest, refer to as a revival of the French Revolution, and only seems to even more dam up the anger of the people that is already overflowing, it is no also criticised for excessive use of police force by human rights organisations and international political bodies alike. Criticism and accusations which it refutes or seeks to play down.

In early December 2018 the French human rights organisation Ligue des Droits de l’Homme (LDH) pointed out the disproportional and at time illegitimate use of GLI-F4 and LBD 40. GLI-F4 is a tear gas grenade that contains 25g of TNT which has caused several people to lose a hand. LBD stands for lanceur de balle de défense (defence ball launcher) and is a rubber projectile of about 4 cm size (diameter). It is classified as a ‘less-lethal’ weapon and can cause bone fractures and has cost a number of Gilets Jaunes an eye.

Around the same time as LDH, Amnesty International (AI) issued a report on police violence linked to the Gilets Jaunes protests and urged French authorities to ‘exercise restraint when policing demonstrations.’ West Europe researcher for AI, Rym Khadhraoui stated that ‘[a]s the clouds of tear gas lift, a clearer picture has emerged which shows police have used excessive force against largely peaceful protesters, journalists and even children. […] Whilst policing demonstrations is a difficult task and some protesters have committed unlawful and violent acts, it is essential that both French law and international human rights law is respected.’

On February 14, 2019, the EU Parliament was the first international political institution to criticise the manner in which force had been used against protesters by French authorities. The Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights, Dunja Mijatović, issued a memorandum on the situation. She noted a lack of respect for human rights in the attempts to maintain public order and criticised the, then planned and now introduced, measures including ‘excessive restrictions to freedom of peaceful assembly’, as well as the methods used, particularly the use of LBD.

In March, the United Nations (UN) placed France on its police violence list on which it now is the only developed country joining ranks with states such as Venezuela, Sudan and Zimbabwe. Yet, the French government is refuting all criticism of international organisations and human rights institutions, as well as calls from the Council of Europe, AI and the independent French human rights authority le Défenseur des Droits to put an end to the use of LBD. Interior Minister Castaner objected by stating that ‘French people [are allowed] to express themselves every day in our Grand Débat. We are already investigating the issue of police violence.’ And Secretary of State to PM Philippe, Benjamin Griveaux, responded to the UN’s decision: ‘I must say, I am surprised to find ourselves on a list between Venezuela and Haiti, where there have been death [due to force].’

Contributing to tensions are accusations of the police using illegitimate force against journalists and children. In early December 2018, parallel to the Gilets Jaunes protests, high school demonstrations against a planned school reforms, were taking place. In a Parisian suburb a peacefully protesting student was, according to AI, hit in the face by a LBD rubber projectile. Around the same time, a video went viral showing students being forced by riot police to kneel with their hands behind their heads or handcuffed behind their backs. According to lawyer Mourad Battikh, some of the students might have been kept in this position for up to four hours which would constitute a form of cruel and degrading treatment prohibited under international law. In addition to that, a number of journalists were injured. Some of the claim they had been deliberately targeted and repeatedly shot with LBD rubber bullets despite being clearly identifiable as press.

The task of the French police is undoubtedly a difficult one, especially given their already bad working conditions with the result of a worrying wave of suicides among the ranks of the police nationale. The EU Commissioner for Human Rights took note of them ‘working in the context of high tensions and fatigue’ and stressed the importance of adequate salaries, sufficient time off work, as well as psychological support and human rights training throughout the police officers’ careers.

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Iran: Photos From The “Forbidden” Middle East

Sascha Simon — Mon, 05 Jun 2017 22:27:22 +0000

When I told anyone about my plans of traveling to Iran, the first reaction was always scepticism. They were concerned if it was safe to go. After a lifetime of mostly negative news from the Middle East, I wanted to go myself and see if I could dispel the narrative. That was the main reason for me to visit. Iranians are painfully aware about their country’s reputation abroad and that only amplifies their hospitality, which is unlike anything I have ever experienced anywhere else. If a foreigner has a confused look on his or her face, it will result in multiple pedestrians coming to offer help. These people have extended their kindness and I was invited to dinner more often than not. Some have even become my impromptu guides and accompanied me around their cities, like showing me the backdoor entries of mosques. They would always insist on paying for my expenses and refuse to take any of my money for buses, restaurant bills or taxis. In the beginning this makes a guest sometimes feel quite uncomfortable, but the argument quickly becomes tiring and pointless so one should just accept their fate of constantly being invited.

Considering the swamp of negative news coming out of Iran since the 1979 Revolution, it was remarkable to me how safe I felt. I could walk the streets until dawn. Apart from my friends and family worrying about my safety, the most prominent worry they also had was me supporting such a government as Iran’s by simply visiting. While I cannot and do not want to dispute that, I would argue that actually going there encourages average civilians that the rest of the world still appreciates them even if their government is flawed (something Iranians frequently speak out about in private), and spending money in the tourism industry can only help with the struggling economy.

Apart from politics, the sites in the cities, like Isfahan and Shiraz, are breath-taking, as are the dunes of the Varzaneh desert or the alien-like colourful rocks and sands on Hormuz Island. Transportation from A to B is easy and accommodation and food are comparatively cheap. The Middle East does not have many countries to choose from if you want to travel within the region, but Iran ought to be on the top of everyone’s list. In my opinion, traveling is the best way to challenge Islamophobia and the predominant negative reputation of the Middle East and its people.

Photography by Sascha Simon

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