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mumia on genoa
THE REAL MEANING OF GENOA
By Mumia Abu-Jamal
Column Written 8/1/01
All Rights Reserved
When one mentions the very name of Genoa these days,
the historical significance of its Columbian roots mixes with
its new-found renown as the site of the G-8 Meeting, and
the state killing of a young, anti-globalist demonstrator,
Carlo Guiliani.
It is now an historical marker of another kind -- one of
the state's brutality. The images from the tear-gas
streaked streets of the ancient Italian city mark a
transformation in the growing anti-globalist movement.
It marks a new low in the violent savagery of police, who
will go to any lengths to protect those they are sworn
to really protect: the rich, the wealthy and the
established.
Much less is known or reported about the vicious,
unprovoked attacks on young people who were working
out of the Independent Media Center in Genoa. Squads
of hooded Genoan cops unjustly raided, beat, brutalized
and terrorized independent journalists covering the
massive protests. Some bystanders reported hearing
screams emitting from the building for hours.
Others on the scene reported that activists were taken
to a room, shown a picture of the late Italian Fascist
dictator, Benito Mussolini, and ordered to shout, "Viva
Il Duce!", at a nearby police station ('Il Duce' was a term
of respect accorded Mussolini during Italy's Fascist,
World War II period, similar to the Nazi honorific,
"Der Feuhrer' for Hitler; 'Viva' means 'Long Live').
This is a scene that reflects the hidden, fascist
heart of Genoa.
Where were the millionaire star reporters, who
love to gather in 5-star, ritzy hotels to lament what
happens to their brother journalists in the Third
World, or Bosnia? When have you heard a peep
out of the corporate punditocracy about the assaults
on poor, independent or radical journalists who
were at the front lines of Genoa?
When young activists who were peacefully
assembled to write, to interview, to report, to
prepare and to broadcast what they witnessed
at the Wealthfest (G-8 Summit), their persons
were attacked, their freedoms were shattered,
and their terrorization at the hands of a repressive
state was all but ignored. Their shocking
treatment at the hands of neo-fascist, hooded
cops for capital was simply not news.
"So sorry," the gentle corporate press sniffs,
"We don't see a story here."
And, in truth, there is no story, simply because
it is not in the interests of their bosses to do such
a story. That way, they can continue to engage
in useless prattle about 'freedom of the press,' or
the 'right to peaceful assembly,' or even the
'right to dissent' and the like. For, aren't the G-7
(plus Russia) 'industrial democracies'?
They cannot afford to report what happened
in Genoa, for it tells us too much about what
really happens in democracies.
The terror, the torture, the brutality, that
lies at the heart of all 'industrial democracies.'
"Viva Il Duce!", indeed, for great
dictatorships have ever been great bedfellows
of capital.
The Nazi state worked with a cruel efficiency
that used Jewish, Romani, and other untermenshen
(German for subhumans) as slave labor that
earned healthy profits for the wealthy ruling,
industrial class.
Genoa, which sent forth the greed of Columbus
to pilfer and colonize and enslave, unleashes her
corporate army upon those who now look unkindly
upon the neo-colonialization, and exploitation
hidden under the rubric of a New World (Economic)
Order.
The anti-globalist movement, so young, so
precious, spawned just a few moments ago
in Seattle, must now come of age.
That is the gift of Genoa.
© 2001 Mumia Abu-Jamal
