<nettime> few not-elephants in the room

[Morlock Elloi <morlockelloi@gmail.com>]

Lots has been written about Gilets jaunes, usually from the left, right, 
neoliberal and neocon partisan perspectives (if you can tell them apart, 
that is.) They do not dominate mass media, except in the context of 
weather reports, when they simply cannot be ignored. Some meek attempts 
ere made to co-opt and subvert. The leaders are more or less anonymous. 
The first article below is a first-person account.
Much less has been written about 4-month ongoing protests in Serbia (the 
2nd article below.) It's usually about the ones in Belgrade, and from 
even more stark and simplistic partisan perspectives from the same 
suspects, almost the Cold War flavor. In fact, there are sustained 
protests in several dozens of cities, even in Kosovo serbian enclaves 
which have military-grade unisonity (the word exists) regarding what 
citizens are supposed to think and protest about (hatred towards 
Albanians, that is.) The protesters do not let politicians from anywhere 
head or talk at protests, so these can be seen pathetically giving 
interviews with protests in the background, from a safe distance. The 
leaders are predominantly popular actors and writers.
What is common to these is immunity to professional partisan thugs of 
all persuasions and surprising resiliency. The most disturbing and 
telling part is that by rejecting all these hacks, they (the protesters) 
have placed them (the hacks) in the same category of essentially useless 
parasites. The hacks understand this well, therefore little coverage. 
Occupy Wall Street failed to do this, and various hacks leeched and bled 
the movement to death - from Zizek to the far right.
A new phenomenon, utterly unexplainable by tenured theorists and 
theories - regardless of how hard they try to fit it in the wrong hole, 
is facing us. A specter, even? We live in exciting times, and there 
might be hope for the species.

====


[machine translated from
https://www.heise.de/tp/features/Was-ist-los-mit-den-Gelbwesten-4330155.html 
]
What's wrong with the yellow vests?
March 10, 2019 Christian Schmeiser


A review: Visiting the protests in Paris on the storm and urge phase of 
the Gilets jaunes
The "Gilets jaunes" has been reported regularly for months. The French 
yellow vests, their forms of protest and their concerns are in no way 
balanced by the great media (led by the ten richest Frenchmen in 
France). Instead, they have been overshadowed for months with a barrage 
of negative news: From the central violence charge of right-wing 
radicalism to anti-Semitism everything is there. The Ukrainian Maidan 
uprising five years ago states that it is debatable in a dubious way 
about a "revolution of dignity" that would never have been granted such 
a fine "appreciation".
Spontaneous visit to Acte IV of the "gilets jaunes"

I personally spontaneously decided twice to take part in protests of the 
"Gilets jaunes" in Paris: on 8/12/2018 (Acte 4, often written Roman IV) 
and on 9.2.2019 (Acte 13, or XIII). Some of my live impressions deviate 
considerably from the well-known "negative press" to the yellow vests. 
Visiting the yellow vests in Paris (5 images) Picture: Christian Schmeiser
Of course, this brief presentation can only be done from my own 
individual point of view - and is therefore necessarily subjective and 
therefore vulnerable. An article on a demonstration in the Gilets 
Jaunes' "Sturm und Drang" phase at the present time, when the protest 
movement has passed its zenith, I think makes sense, because it provides 
a glimpse of the original and thus in striking light observations 
original dynamics of the yellow vests.
Because I failed to go to the "nuit debout" scene in France in 2016 (see 
"Nuit Debout" protesters, a new opposition? ), I have been struck by the 
news of the worst clashes between the brand new ones G ilets jaunes 
movement and the French police on 1.12.2018 (Acte III) spontaneously 
decided to go to Paris with an early train on December 8 (Acte IV) and 
to visit the yellow vests on site.
Coincidentally, after only a few minutes on foot after arriving at the 
Gare de l'Est, I ended up in a yellow-vested protest train, which 
presumably started at the Place de la République. What I have seen and 
experienced as a simple witness, I will describe below.
Obviously, it was a very large participation in the ever-expanding 
demonstration from all age groups and a broad support from the 
population, all in the sense of a highly explosive dynamics that I can 
only grasp in spiteful words. The term "pre-revolutionary mood" 
describes most of what I was able to experience at Acte 4.
This "mood" was initially due to the permanent sympathy of the Parisian 
population: friendly shouts from the balconies and from passing cars, 
encouraging Beckon passing passing people - immediately answered by the 
protest train participants.
A fire truck protrudes halfway out of the driveway towards the street to 
make it clear that they are participating in the "general strike". The 
occasional appearance of smaller police units is answered regularly by 
the G ilets jaunes with boos, because the serious clashes Acte 3 are 
only a week back.
At Diaghilev Square, the protest march does not move on, police units 
block three different streets. Protestants immediately protect 
themselves against a possible "gaz lacrymogène" (tear gas) attack with 
special goggles and gas masks. The protest swells again and now turns 
towards Boulevard Montmartre.
Striking is not only the participation of many older Frenchmen, of which 
one can safely assume that they are usually not to be found on 
demonstration trains, also striking is the high proportion of women, 
with me so not yet come "energetics" against the Macron on 13 July 2018 
to declare issued taxes. Loud "Vive la révolution!" - Calls from young 
French women are still unfamiliar to me.
Of course, comparisons are limping: But the discrepancy between a West 
German Easter march and this Gilets jaunes protest march bursting with 
energy and genuine indignation can be compared to the "distance" between 
a Mary Roos hit evening and an early Buzzcocks punk concert - it's just 
light years in between ,
In addition, it should be noted that I do not see any real hooligans and 
vandalism on this 8th of December, but a very large number of indignant 
French citizens who, with imaginative and witty forms of protest, point 
out that they are suffering because of "neoliberal reforms" Macron and 
his predecessors can no longer handle their everyday lives, because the 
money simply does not last until the end of the month.
Imaginative protest

New and unexpected to me is that yellow vests disguise themselves as 
Gauls and thus incorporate the myth of the small Gallic village, which 
still resists the Roman occupying power, in the political debate. The 
protest is now on the boulevard Montmartre to a halt, the French police 
has driven heavy equipment.
Directly in front of the water cannon and the police chain kneel now 
young yellow vests with behind the head entangled hands. With this 
"stressful position" they demonstrate against the dubious decision of 
the French police to let striking students kneel in this way for a 
longer period in the schoolyard.
Immediately thereafter begins a militarily precisely planned and 
organized large-scale employment of the French police. In front of the 
water cannon and the tear gas I flee with many others in a side street. 
A long chain of police emergency vehicles rushes past me in the 
direction of Boulevard Montmartre, everything seems to be planned on a 
master plan. In another side street, heavily armed French policemen 
track fugitive yellow vests.
Shortly thereafter - surprisingly for me - a group of French policemen 
reappear in a narrow alley. Their leader beats me to go back to the 
boulevard - in the direction of a possible cauldron. After a short 
exchange of words, in which I imagine myself as "tourist allemand", the 
baton lowers, the "centurion" lets me pass.
Use of the Eurogendfor (this obviously failed to translate)

Later I return to Boulevard Montmartre via the Rue du Faubourg 
Montmartre to see the progress of the police action - together with many 
passers-by. On their retreat, the Gilets jaunes have apparently formed 
barricades, which are now being eliminated by the police.
On the boulevard are now endless emergency vehicles, police units - and 
some matt blue painted armored vehicles, whose national emblem I can not 
recognize, to see. On December 8, units of the Eurogendfor (European 
Gendarmerie Force) are to be used , which has been used since 2006 as a 
military unit - not mentioned by the corporate media - including 
counterinsurgency.
This is apparently a legal gray area: protests and demonstrations of 
French citizens who can no longer cope with their everyday life 
financially after numerous "neoliberal reforms" are interpreted as 
"uprisings", which then "legitimized" the use of this largely unknown in 
the public special unit. , Significantly, the alleged use of Eurogendfor 
on 8 December a little later on Wikipedia "disappeared".
"A nous la démocratie": Democracy is ours

On the way back to the Place de la Republique I discover on the asphalt 
the grafitti "à nous la démocratie" (translated: "democracy belongs to 
us"). The yellow vests go in many places for a "Référendum d'Initiative 
Citoyenne" (RIC) on the street and thus demand a direct democracy - the 
representative democracy, which shapes the balance of power in the sense 
of a neoliberal oligarchy, they reject.
There is also nothing to read in the corporate media. Although the Place 
de la République is cordoned off by a police cordon, I am still allowed 
to pass by and can still look at this gilets jaunes folk festival in the 
early evening, which apparently follows the "nuit debout" tradition. 
Yellow banners with the inscription "vivre oui - survivre non" (live yes 
- survive no) are next to posters against the impending climate catastrophe.
What I also notice here is a lightness in dealing, are forms of human 
interaction, which were so far not familiar to me demonstrations. 
Apparently, the Gilets Jaunes largely renounce "leaders", in their place 
is a collective "we" that can be experienced directly on the Place de la 
République.
I join in the crowded square of a rather funny brass band, playing South 
American revolutionary songs and having to make an alley again and again 
so they can circle on the huge Place de la République. Somehow the whole 
scenario reminds me of an early Jacques Tati movie.
My evening impressions of wit, urbanity, liveliness, and subversion 
combined with an unexpected floating lightness are pretty well captured 
in this Gilets jaunes clip . Due to my immediate escape from the 
Boulevard Montmartre, I did not notice any police violence against the 
Gilets jaunes . Albrecht Müller has commented on the Nachdenkseiten.
Detailed information about the many police brutal (seriously) injured 
people is posted on the Internet. Particularly controversial are the 
plastic steel bullets from the Swiss-made LBD 40 , the use of which has 
led in several cases to the loss of an eye (see police violence against 
protests of the yellow vests: "In-line mutilations" ).
The cases of Fiorina Lignier and Jérôme Rodriguez , both of whom lost an 
eye through police bullets, became known. The yellow vests regularly 
demonstrate against the use of the LBD 40. Needless to say , the police 
violence against the Gilets jaunes in the mainstream media is a 
subordinate, clearly neglected topic.
A village populated by indomitable Gauls

My second visit to the "gilets jaunes" on the 9.2.2019 (Acte XIII) 
should be outlined here only in terms of new impressions. At first I 
also met Gauls again, but also Marianne as a national icon. Here is a 
note: The narrative of the small, populated by indomitable Gauls village 
against the King of Versailles is immediately appealing, awakens with 
outsiders quite sympathy for the yellow vests - and nowhere in the 
"corporate media" present.
It should be remembered at this point that Asterix and his friends in 
the context of the clashes between the France de Gaulle and the 
hegemonic claims of the then young US Empire in the late 1950s have 
emerged - makes the emergence of "indomitable Gauls" in the yellow vests 
So it makes sense (how about yellow vests in the next Asterix issue ?).
Agents provocateurs

At the big demonstration march on February 9th (Acte 13) from the Place 
de l'Étoile I can observe for the first time a small group of young 
black-masked men who deliberately cause destruction. To me, this group 
does not seem like a club of chaotic rioters, but - on the contrary - 
like a well-ordered paramilitary structure that deliberately hits shop 
windows and shatters ATMs. The large number of peaceful demonstrators 
buys these "agents provocateurs" in their "busy activity", but does not 
intervene.
Significantly, the black mummed "produce" exactly the images that 
constantly appear in the "yellow west violence discourse" of the 
corporate media. Is there a covert "strategy of tension" here to 
discredit the yellow vests? special forces
The emergence of special forces finally causes me to leave the 
demonstration in the late afternoon. These special units can be 
recognized by their red armbands, missing national insignia, the lack of 
armored uniforms and simple motorcycle helmets. They are notorious in 
their support of the French police for excessive use of force .
How they reacted to renewed provocation of the black-muffed agents 
provocateurs on 9 February (Acte XIII), can be on this video (from 
3:45:00) "admire".
Clarification

Finally, following my eyewitness accounts, I would like to point out 
that much more needs to be clarified regarding the context of 
contemporary history, which includes the yellow-vests protests that have 
been going on since November. For example, Michael Chossudovsky (Center 
for Research on Globalization) rejects the well-known position in the 
conventional media, according to which the protest of the yellow vests 
of an ecologically inspired excise tax of the Macron government was ignited.
According to him, Macron adopted on 13 July 2018 a whole package of 
taxes (which incidentally also includes the mineral oil tax), all of 
which are directly linked to the current European upgrade course. Is 
Chossudovsky right? That may decide the reader.
A second example: in Rubicon magazine , author Aaron Rosenbaum 
speculates that the Aachen Treaty of January 22, 2019, signed by Macron 
and Merkel, will serve the massive militarization of a "Franco-German 
superstate" and, moreover, enable in the future "the German army defeats 
protests of French citizens". What is to be held?
Although the yellow-vein scene is currently declining, the underlying 
serious conflicts are in no way resolved. The "nuit debout" scene in 
2016 was followed by the Gilets jaunes at the end of 2018. Can we expect 
the "Gilets jaunes reloaded" in the near future?
As a mental outlook, I would like to conclude the reflections of an 
Internet blogger on the yellow vests, published by the weekly newspaper 
"der Freitag": "The Uprising [of the Gilets jaunes ] is the helpless 
reaction of the subjugated to the doomed neo-liberalism is an increasing 
complexity of chaos that continues to lead to destruction, and thus to 
the coming change of the system that no one can foresee, politically, 
there is nothing left and we should all be happy if we could do it 
without a mistake War on which one already works hard to get through the 
downfall. "

====


https://www.pri.org/stories/2019-01-17/thousands-serbia-continue-march-nationwide-anti-government-protests

Thousands in Serbia continue to march in nationwide, anti-government 
protests

January 17, 2019
By Nick Ashdown


Thousands took to the streets of Belgrade and other Serbian cities on 
Jan. 13 for the sixth straight Saturday in a collective uprising against 
the government, low quality of life and lack of media freedom.
The protests kicked off on Dec. 8 after separate attacks on a prominent 
political opposition leader and a journalist.
On Nov. 23, in the central city of Kruševac, a group of men with steel 
bars attacked Borko Stefanovic, president of the Serbian Left political 
party, and three other party members. Nearly a month later, on Dec. 11, 
in an apparently unrelated political attack, assailants threw Molotov 
cocktails and shot at the house of 70-year-old investigative journalist 
Milan Jovanovic, who narrowly escaped.
Protests continued Wednesday with a silent vigil marking the 
assasination of Kosovo Serb politician Oliver Ivanovic, who was killed 
on Jan. 16 last year.
While initially protesting the recent attacks, demonstrations across the 
country soon gained broader popular support. They have since grown into 
a wider display of opposition against President Aleksandar Vucic and his 
ruling Serbian Progressive Party, which dominates the Balkan country’s 
political landscape. In the 1990s, Vucic served as minister of 
information under President Slobodan Miloševic, who was later tried by 
the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia for war 
crimes.
Vucic has since refashioned himself from an ultra-nationalist to a 
pro-Western populist conservative. He maintains friendly ties with the 
West and claims joining the European Union as his signature policy, but 
his increasingly authoritarian tendencies and close ties with Russian 
President Vladimir Putin, who was treated to a red-carpet welcome and 
mass rally as he visits Belgrade this week, have stirred anger and 
frustration among citizens.
    “This is a civil movement, a civil uprising.”
    Vanya Tsarin, 72, retired civil servant, Belgrade

On Saturday evening, thousands of people, young and old, many 
accompanied by young children or pet dogs, flooded the streets of 
central Belgrade. The atmosphere was jubilant and social. Protesters 
blew whistles or horns, chanted slogans, sang songs or quietly chatted.
“We thought about the violence in our country, violence in the media, 
discrimination,” said 24-year-old political science student Jelena 
Anasonovic, one of the protest organizers. “That was the main reason to 
go to the streets.”
The organizers consist of a loose group of students and activists who 
began calling the protests “One of Five Million” (#1od5miliona) after 
Vucic said he wouldn’t meet their demands, even if the number of 
protestors reached five million.
Trade union members carry a sign reading "They are telling us that it's 
better, but in the post it’s never been worse” at anti-government 
demonstrations in Belgrade, Serbia, Jan. 12,
Logistical support to the protest organizers has been powered by 
Alliance for Serbia, an umbrella organization for 30 political 
opposition parties and other organizations. Alliance for Serbia was 
co-founded by Stefanovic, and includes both moderate and far-right 
nationalist parties.
Anasonovic; said the organizers are calling for press freedom and more 
media coverage of the protests and opposition politicians, an end to 
political violence, a proper investigation into the assassination of 
Ivanovic, and more transparency over ongoing negotiations with Kosovo.
A deal to normalize Serbian relations with Kosovo is a prerequisite for 
both countries to join the EU. This has been a bitter sticking point 
since the dissolution of Yugoslavia and bloody regional wars. Kosovo, a 
former province of Serbia, declared independence in 2008, but 
international recognition of its sovereignty is mixed. Neither Serbia 
nor Russia acknowledges Kosovo's independence. An EU-mediated deal could 
involve a land swap and remains highly controversial.
“People don’t have jobs. They live really poorly. We don’t have free 
media,” she said, explaining some of the reasons for the country’s 
endemic brain drain. “My sister left the country. A lot of people left 
the country. People are really struggling in everyday life.”
But for Vukovic;, like many of the protestors, anger at Vucic doesn’t 
necessarily mean support for any opposition politician.
“I’ve always voted against, rather than for someone," she said. "That’s 
very frustrating. At this point in time, I don’t think there’s a 
political party ready to take this country forward.”
Vanya Tsarin, a 72-year-old retired civil servant, also doesn’t support 
any particular political party and stresses the non-partisan nature of 
the protests.
“This is a civil movement, a civil uprising,” she said.

Tsarin joined the protests to show her discontent with the lack of media 
freedom — Serbia’s press freedom ranking on democracy watchdog Freedom 
House has plummeted under Vucic — and poor economic conditions. She said 
her pension, the equivalent of $422, isn't enough to cover her cost of 
living.
“[The government] is exploiting people … they’re supporting foreign 
investors instead of locals, and we’re a very poor country. We need a 
lot of local investment, local factories,” Tsarin explains.
Nikola Burazer, program director at the Belgrade think tank Center for 
Contemporary Politics, said political change is unlikely as long as 
opposition to Vucic doesn’t translate into support for a clear alternative.
“You have this big paradox — people are unhappy, they go to the streets, 
they yell, they’re against this and that, but they’re simply unwilling 
to give their trust to anyone in the elections, and this means their 
entire effort is futile,” said Burazer.
Jasmin Mujanovic, political scientist and author of “Hunger & Fury: The 
Crisis of Democracy in the Balkans,” said many people are frustrated 
with opposition parties in Serbia.
“The political opposition is fragmented, it’s fractured, it’s incredibly 
provincial in its perspectives. Many of them are about as corrupt — 
perhaps in some cases even more corrupt — than [the government],” he 
said. “Something that we might refer to as a genuinely progressive, 
reformist or liberal democratic opposition has not yet emerged.”
These demonstrations are the third wave of large anti-government 
protests in the last three years. In 2016, thousands protested against 
the controversial Belgrade Waterfront housing development plan, and in 
2017, thousands more took to the streets after Vucic won the 
presidential elections, which were marred by SNS party domination of the 
media and claims of voter intimidation.
There have also been recent anti-government protests, some ongoing, 
elsewhere in the region, such as in Albania and Bosnia-Herzegovina.
Burazer said the current protests in Serbia are more diverse than those 
of recent years and rank among the largest of the last two decades with 
crowds of many thousands. In addition to political moderates, they 
include politicians and supporters from the far right and far left, as 
well as pro-Russian, pro-European Union and pro- and anti-LGBT 
demonstrators.
Still, Vucic is the country’s most popular politician with approval 
ratings of about 54 percent and continues to appeal to the West with EU 
aspirations. Yet, he also maintains a close relationship with the 
Russian president — Putin is the most popular foreign politician in 
Serbia and competes with the EU and US for influence in the Balkans. 
Critics accuse Western leaders of turning their backs to Vucic’s 
authoritarian tendencies because he’s seen as pro-Western.
“There is quite a strong atmosphere of fear in Serbian society. Vucic 
manages to win the elections not only because he’s really popular, but 
also because there’s a well-organized machine of incentives but also 
intimidation of voters." Nikola Burazer,  Center for Contemporary Politics
Protests have also spread to smaller cities throughout Serbia. Mujanovic 
said this is significant, “[The SNS’s] political electoral base is 
rural, so the fact that we’ve started seeing some kind of response from 
the people in those communities is hugely important because 
realistically, those are the communities that are being most adversely 
affected by corruption, clientelism, cronyism, brain drain.”
Burazer said the protesters’ main grievances are corruption and a low 
standard of living.
“Growth is very low and you can say it’s not really evenly distributed,” 
he said. “Employment depends too much on political connections. There’s 
a very high level of corruption which hasn’t really decreased over the 
years — we can even say it increased, despite the anti-corruption 
narrative from the government.”
Vucic is a deeply polarizing figure, dominating most of the media and 
accused of corruption and authoritarian tendencies by his opponents.
“There is quite a strong atmosphere of fear in Serbian society. Vucic 
manages to win the elections not only because he’s really popular, but 
also because there’s a well-organized machine of incentives but also 
intimidation of voters,” Burazer said.
It’s this atmosphere that Anasonovic and the other protesters are trying 
to change.
“I really think we need to change our political approach and understand 
that if we want to change something, we need to do it by ourselves,” she 
said.


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