Thus Searchlight seems to be the best European
Antifascist organisation, the perfect war machine,
surrounded with an auora of mystery: in a nutshell the
kind of group we all dream of. The problem is that
Searchlight is not as perfect, as limpid as we could
hope.
Politically, Searchlight could not be more commited to the
'democratic' system as is shown by its many leaflets
inviting the reader to go and vote against the BNP or
National Front (NF). Is voting a weapon we can use
against the rise of the extreme right? We could leave the
debate to the intellectuals, who have thought about it for
donkey's years: for example the dreary Pierre-Andre'
Taguiev. To say that it is an outrage that Searchlight
should call on people to vote against the extreme right
seems, unfortunately, a little beside the point even if the
debate has taken on a new dimension given the number
of local government electoral successes for the French
Front National (FN) which occured in June.
Let's look instead at the relationship between Searchlight
and the British police. Searchlight regularly announces
that several of its members have worked with the police
helping to bring militant fascists under arrest or even
giving the police information to update their records or
participating in the work of various Commissions of
Enquiry concerning the links between the extreme right
and the secret services. Are we dreaming?.... Does
Searchlight only fight the far right within a given
framework? If so it is a well organised struggle which
forgets (as if by chance) the real cause of the problem:
capitalism. It is however obvious that the antifascist
struggle must include the struggle against capitalism and
in this context the police are simply one of the guard
dogs.
Another shadowy area which merits some observation
by French militants if the Tim Hepple affair. Tim Hepple,
today 28 years old, has been a far right militant since his
teens. He joined the NF and then the BNP and
participates in the activities of other violent neo-nazi
groups. He has taken part in various violent activities in
Sheffield. In 1991, Hepple 'saw the light' whilst holding
an important position in the BNP. He decided to jump ship
and work for Searchlight which he did for 3 years.
The problem was that Hepple was also a militant in
libertarian groups like Green Anarchist which led, to
Searchlight's distress, to the discovery of a mole.
Clearly, the libertarian groups didn't know what was
going on and Hepple played, throughout this period the
curious role of *provocateur*. He had no hesitation in
pushing the militant anarchists and radical ecologists
towards a more violent form of activism. Searchlight ...
stopped using him as an infiltrator.
In Brief, our hero wrote a book: At War with Society, and
the far right, especially the BNP, were taken apart.
Hepple's double infiltration into the far right and the
libertarian movement was not to everyone's taste
because it seemed as though searchlight had somewhat
used Hepple's involvement in anarchist groups to glean
information about the militant network. Why? Simply
because Searchlight is involved in surveillance of the left
'left watchers'. How true it is, the old adage, that
extremes meet...
In order to finish with the Hepple story, a large part of
the English libertarian movement suspect hiom of having
close links with the English security forces (MI5) just as
was the editor of Searchlight Gerry gable. These
suspicions have been given support by a number of
strange facts and sometimes ambiguous relations with
the police. Moreover, Searchlight does not take criticism
and is launching some discrimination campaigns against
some militants on the far left and in particular in the
libertarian movement. Briefly they don't baulk at the
chance of giving trouble for the activities of some
militants and some groups. The Direct Action Movement
(DAM) was one victim, as was Tim Scargill, a Class war
member who was attacked by Searchlight. It is a shame
that the libertarian movement in France should never
have considered the dangers of Searchlight. Only the
extreme right (such as Nouvelle Rsistance with their
banner People's Struggle) have has been targeted by
collaboration between anti-fascists, anarchists and
searchlight in France.We need not dwell on attacks
against individuals which as in France sometimes have
repercussions beyond the plolitical. Searchlight is a
profoundly anti-revolutionnary and anti- libertarian
organsisation which is only carrying out anti-fascist
activity within the confines of democratic institutions
which are themselves threatened by fascist elements.
So what can we say?
First response is that Searchlight has done remarkable
work against the far right and the rest is unimportant.
Second solution : Searchlight, whatever it's work and
effort, because of its position and its attacks against our
English comrades is a political enemy and it is annoying
that libertarians and/or antifascists continue to work with
an organisation whose political objectives have nothing
to do with ours.
As for Searchlight, I invite you quite simply to do as the
libertaraian in England have done: boycott it
Mandrin
FREEDOM PRESS
http://www.lglobal.com/TAO/Freedom