Here we attempt to inform not dutch reading people about the aims and activities of the Anarchist Group Amsterdam, this will always be under construction.

The article below is a report of a person that is coincidentally visiting one of our info/benefit nights. every month we organize a event in our anarchist library, sometimes 5 people show up, sometimes 60. We did info events about antifascists in Russia, direct actions against detention centers for refugees, squatting and gentrification in Berlin, Anarchism and Surrealism, anti-militarism in Holland, anti prison/repression struggle, Spain 1936, and so on and so on.

from the website www.munandu.com
An Amsterdam Anarchist Appointment Against Anti-Alien Affect July 2nd, 2007

Anarchist Image Marco and I entered the meeting place
of the AGA (Anarchist Group Amsterdam) and quietly sat
down. We had come to listen to a talk by Doorbraak!,
an organization that fights racism in a variety of
ways. It was my first encounter with genuine
anarchists.

I looked around. The anarchist sitting next to me took
out a handkerchief, and poked it in his right ear,
producing a loud squishy noise as he cleared out the
mucus.

The first of the two speakers started with his
presentation on the dangers of Geert Wilders’ party,
the PVV. He told us about its racist tendencies, and
its right-wing agenda. He explained how many voters
don’t realize that the focus on immigration ‘issues’
hides the fact that voting PVV is really not in their
best interest. On the whole, I was surprised by how
clear, reasonable, and lacking in ‘anarchist
sentiment’ the presentation was.

The anarchist sitting next to me once again took out
his handkerchief, and from the sound of it, his ear
had filled up again. I asked him if he had an ear
infection, and he explained that during a G8 protest a
water cannon had ruptured his ear drum. I nodded in
understanding. I suppose those things happen when
you’re an anarchist.

The first speaker finished. The second speaker, a
Belgian member of Blokwatch.be fired up his powerpoint
presentation. In a ‘propere’ Belgian accent, he told
us about the rise and fall of Vlaams Blok, an openly
racist party that did pretty well in Belgium until it
was ‘banned’, in part due to the efforts of Blokwatch.
He drew a comparison between the rise of Vlaams Blok,
and the PVV. Then he explained how Blokwatch had been
fighting Vlaams Blok, and advised us on how to do
something similar. I was surprised once again by the
level-headed, constructive and dialogue-centered
approach. A bit disappointing really.

Time for questions. A girl in the audience raised her
hand. I hadn’t noticed her before, but was strangely
happy to notice that she had a mohawk and a large
amount of piercings. I was not disappointed. She
expressed her complete lack of faith in ‘the system’,
and said something about occupying and barricading a
building. I didn’t get the context, but it sounded
positively anarchistic.

Both the speakers encouraged everyone, once again, to
not shy away from dialogue, and to be pragmatic. Even
if we don’t support a particular party, they might be
the best tool that we have to fight the PVV, or more
explicit racist groups that may follow.

I left the meeting satisfied that there was at least
some ‘anarchist’ behavior, but mostly surprised by how
reasonable most of them were. I like how stereotypes
crumble, once they become physical, so to speak.
Furthermore, I was impressed by their activism, their
willingness to fight for what they believed in. They
might be extreme at times, but is doing nothing and
complaining a better option? As I considered this, I
got sidetracked thinking that ‘blokwatch’ would be a
good alternative name for my blog. For videos, or
something. The domain is still free!

After the meeting, I joined squishy-ear guy and met up
with a friend of his at a Heavy-metal café, for some
mild, rather non-anarchist fun. I discovered that a
drunk anarchist is really quite similar to a drunk
‘non-anarchist’.

It was an interesting night.