A-Infos (en) Holand, vrije bond: ANARCHIST BOOK FAIR AMSTERDAM 2020

We have had long and expansive discussions about the book fair this year because 
of the corona pandemic. And we have decided we will have a physical event, 
although it will be in a very different form than usual. We take the pandemic 
very seriously and haven't made this decision lightly. We are aware of the 
dangers we face today and the need to keep our exposure to each other to a 
minimum as to not risk more widespread infections. Because of this we have taken 
a lot of measures to ensure the book fair can happen as safe as possible, but 
more on this later. We want to save lives and make this world less dangerous. To 
be able to do this we have to organize politically and we have to do part of that 
in real life. The Anarchist Book Fair Amsterdam isn't just a fun event to go book 
shopping, it is also the place where comrades meet and make plans, where new 
people become active and where new projects are launched. In a time of a 
worldwide health crisis, an emerging economic crisis and rising tides of 
conservatism and fascism, we have to step our game up. It is now that we have to 
come together (in a safe way), organize and fight back. What we do as a political 
movement matters and can and does actually save lives. We should keep looking for 
new ways to organize, especially now.

This year the Anarchist Book Fair Amsterdam will happen in a much smaller and 
different form. We will not have workshops and will only have a very small amount 
of stands. Instead we will have 2 days of discussions and brainstorms about how 
to fight for a better world. Especially during the crisis fighting for each other 
is all the more important, while it is also getting more difficult. We still want 
to have a physical event, because we believe it is important to bring people 
together to make plans, exchange ideas and just to see and meet comrades.

The day will have timeslots for which you have to make a reservation. There will 
be a maximum of 25 people per timeslot.

Corona measures
We are going to have a completely different event to make it as safe as possible. 
Each space will have a limited capacity of people as to not overcrowd the spaces 
and have room to keep 1,5 meters distance from everybody. We will have the event 
split up in different timeslots for which people have to make a reservation. This 
way we can keep the amount of visitors within our maximum and prevent a big line 
in front of the door. Wearing face masks will be mandatory at all times inside.

Amount of people allowed inside
The big hall and cafe both have a maximum of 30 people per room. But we will keep 
each timeslot to a maximum of 25 people. This 25 will be excluding the volunteers 
(which is 1 or 2 people per room). We will keep the numbers of volunteers as low 
as possible during open hours to help minimize the amount of people who are 
present. The volunteers will show people where to go and ensure that everyone 
wears their face mask covering both the mouth and the nose. In the breaks between 
the timeslots all the rooms will be cleaned thoroughly from head to toe. We 
encourage you to clean your hands after visiting each stand and keep distances 
between others and the people behind the stands. We will provide disinfectants 
throughout the room but you have the responsibility to use them.

The full program will be announced on Monday November 23.

We are also planning to organize a more full version of the Anarchist Book Fair 
Amsterdam in the spring of 2021 at an outside location. More information will 
follow soon.

For questions you can reach us at:
anarchistbookfairamsterdam[at]riseup[dot]net

November 28 & 29
11.00-19.00
Dokhuis
Plantage doklaan 12
Amsterdam


PROGRAM OF THE ANARCHIST BOOK FAIR AMSTERDAM 2020
Reservations
You can make a reservation by mailing us at 
anarchistbookfairamsterdam@riseup.net. Please mention for which timeslot you want 
to make a reservation. There is a maximum of available spots per timeslot. It is 
first come first serve, so if you want to attend, mail us as soon as possible. If 
you know you can't come anymore, but have made a reservation, we ask you to 
notify us, so someone else can take your place.

Of course you don't have to use your legal name to make a reservation (we would 
advise you not to), but please do remember the name you use when you show up to 
the book fair, cause we will keep track of who has a reservation and who hasn't.

The timeslots
All timelots will follow the same pattern. There will be a talk or discussion for 
an hour and afterwards there will be 30 minutes for browsing stands and talking 
to and hanging out with comrades. The timeslots end a quarter to the hour at 
which moment we will ask everyone to leave. We do this so we can use the last 15 
minutes to clean everything before the next group enters. We ask everybody to 
respect this and leave when asked to. We also want to ask people to not hang 
around in one large group in front of the door after they've left the book fair.

The program
Saturday
Modern right wing radicalism and Qanon 11.00-12.45
These last years have seen a lot of developments and new trends in right wing 
radicalism. From "gamergate" through Milo Yinopolis to Richard Spencer, the alt 
right has been able to gain a momentum that other factions before them could not. 
The alt right is mostly building on memeculture and new factions in social 
conservatism. Most recently, fucking Qanon has emerged as a global phenomenon.

In this collective discussion we wil talk about defining Qanon, try to place it 
in its context and see what historical parallels we can draw. We will also talk 
about how we can combat this phenomenon from an antifascist perspective.

As a starting point of the discussion we recommend that you to watch part 2 of 
this video (37:39 onward) that we think is very informative in defining the 
phenomenon.

Abortion Network Amsterdam -Talk About the Struggle for Access to Safe

Abortions 13.00-14.45
As COVID-19 cases continue to rise in Europe, adding numerous obstacles to 
abortion travel (again!), it definitely doesn'twas help that on October 22nd the 
Polish Constitutional Tribunal ruled abortion in the case of foetal abnormalities 
(one of only 3 instances where abortion in Poland

is legal) to be unconstitutional. This decision instantly sparked protests and 
strikes across Poland, having been yet another assault on reproductive rights in 
Poland in the last years. The developments in Poland have had a tremendous effect 
on Abortion Without Borders, a

network of six organisations across Europe helping people from Poland access 
abortions,

which Abortion Network Amsterdam is a part of. In this talk we would like to 
present what we as ANA do to support abortion seekers who have limited access to 
this medical procedure, discuss the impact of COVID and talk about the reactions 
of the intersectional feminist movement to the recent ruling in Poland.

Protests in Belorussia and the role of anarchists 15.00-16.45
https://www.agamsterdam.org/call-for-solidarity-with-belarus-demo/embed/#?secret=rFxd9Ip3yh
Neither Iran, nor Greece, the persecuted anarchist Abtin Parsa should stay in the 
Netherlands 17.00-18.45
Abtin Parsa will give a short talk about the current situation. After this there 
will be a discussion in which he will also parttake. The solidarity campaign to 
stop any attempts to deport or extradite him are still going strong. So we 
especially want to invite people who want to know more about his story, the 
current situation and possibly assist in the solidarity campaign to come to this 
discussion.

The persecuted anarchist Abtin Parsa is an former political prisoner with an 
atheist view from Iran who was imprisoned by the Islamic regime for one year and 
half. Even after his release from prison, he came under pressure from the Islamic 
regime, and in 2016 escaped to Greece from Iran. In Greece the persecuted 
anarchist Abtin Parsa joined the resistance movement and began to struggle 
against the systematic oppression perpetrated by the Greek state against society, 
especially immigrants. During these struggles, he was arrested and even tortured 
several times by the Greek state. After the Greek state revoked his political 
asylum he fled Greece and applied for political asylum in the Netherlands. A few 
weeks ago, the Dutch state rejected his political asylum application and intends 
to extradite him to Greece. If the persecuted anarchist Abtin Parsa is extradited 
to Greece, he may end up to Greek prisons or even extradited from Greece to the 
Islamic state of Iran, where his life will no doubt be in serious danger.

A more complete version of the story can be read here.

Sunday
Africa Roots Movement 11.00-12.45
The Africa Roots Movements organization experiences in the Netherlands in 
relation to black liberation experiences around the world.

Discussing narratives around police abolition 13.00-14.45
This summer the horrific murder of George Floid sparked worldwide insurections 
and revolts against the police under the flag of Black Lives Matter. The police 
murders in the US and especially the inspiring resistance against them have 
encouraged people in the Netherlands to rise up as well. As can be seen in the 
massive Black Lives Matter protests all over the country. These movements have 
also sparked a renewed interest and traction in ideas about police abolition and 
defunding the police. As anarchists we have always been involved in struggles 
against the police, in this collective discussion we will discuss what has 
changed in narratives around policing, what has not, and how we advance our 
struggle for police abolition.

What can we do to build networks of solidarity with people from different 
communities fighting against police brutality and institutional racism? How can 
we popularize the idea of abolition as opposed to reform? How can we connect the 
struggle against the police with other struggles?

Organising politically during Corona 15.00-16.45
This is an open discussion to talk about the impact of corona on our political 
organising. Some of our events and activities are being cancelled because we want 
to practice social distancing. Meanwhile there are people losing their jobs, 
houses and in general struggling to survive. During this crisis it is more 
important than ever to practice solidarity and to fight for our lives together. 
What are topics we have to focus on that most severely affect people nowadays? 
How can we support those in trouble? What can we do to combat growing state 
surveillance and police intervention? How can we support those targeted by state 
repression? How can we build long term projects and campaigns in a time of so 
much uncertainty? And how can we do all these things while dealing in a 
responsible way with the corona pandemic?

If you have been asking yourself these questions, have some possible answers for 
them or are just interested to discuss these topics in the hope of finding and 
sharing new ideas. Come to this discussion!

Mental health during corona 17.00-18.45
During this pandemis one of the main ways of dealing with it have been ‘social 
distancing'. The term, introduced by state agencies, betrays a way of looking at 
the world. A better term would have been physical distancing, because we have to 
stay physically somewhat away from each other not to spread corona. But these 
rules apply more and harsher where it comes to our social lives and other things 
that capitalism cares little about. People have to continue to work, shops can 
stay open and our social lives have been disrupted completely. The state and 
capitalism prioritizes profits and productivity over our safety and happines.

All of this is incredibly taxing on people. On top of that is added the fact we 
can hardly see each other nowadays and a lot of our old suport networks and 
coping mechanisms have become inpossible or irresponsible. There are people 
struggling with mental health issues they've had from before the pandemic or 
people dealing with newly developing ones during (and maybe because of) the 
pandemic. We have to find ways to support ourselves and support each other. How 
can we set up support networks during a pandemic? How can we keep physically 
distancing, but strengthen our much needed social ties?

The discussion is open to everybody, but we want to explicitly make this a space 
that prioritizes people who are dealing with mental health issues or those that 
are supporting people that do. If you are or know someone who has been dealing 
with mental health issues, wants to support people that are or both, please come 
to this discussion.

Movie: Pride 19.15-22.00
Doors open at 19.15

Movie starts at 20.00

The movie is about a group of Lesbians and Gays who decide to support the miner's 
strike during in the 80's and struggle against Thatcher. In these bleak corona 
times and the coming of winter we can all use an inspirational story about 
solidarity. Pride is exactly that!

Before the movie starts there will be some time for catching up with comrades, 
hanging out and chatting. After the movie we will ask everybody to leave, because 
we can't stay open past 22.00.

https://www.vrijebond.org/programma-anarchistische-boekenbeurs-amsterdam/

https://www.vrijebond.org/anarchistische-boekenbeurs-amsterdam-2/
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