GERMANY / BELGIUM Students strike back ON Tuesday, November 24, exactly one year after "Black Sunday" — the date of the far-right Vlaams Blok's electoral breakthrough - high school and university students of the two biggest cities in Flanders, Antwerp and Ghent, went on strike and massively flooded into the streets. This was an unexpected success: 10,000-strong demonstrations in both cities.
This is a big step forward for the anti-racist and antifascist struggle. The youth have met the Vlaams Blok threat head-on - the same Vlaams Blok which claims to have the support of a majority of youth. They have shown that the relationship of forces can be changed through mass mobilizations.
International Viewpoint spoke with Nadine Peeters, a 21-year old university student in Antwerp and spokesperson for the organizing committee
AJOKAR (Anti-racist
Committee of Antwerp
Youth). She is also a national leader of the Jeune
Garde Socialiste, Belgian youth section of the Fourth
International.
H OW do you explain this
enormous success? Everything happened very quickly. The Vlaams Blok had been preparing a victory celebration 1 1
Raining on the Vlaams Blok's parade
ON November 24 anti-racists and anti-fascists took over centre stage in the streets, in the media and in political life - and not the
Vlaams Blok (VB), in spite of its promise to celebrate the first
International Viewpoint # 241 • December 21, 1992
BELGIUM for quite a long time, to commemorate the first anniversary of its electoral breakthrough. One year ago, electorally it became the biggest party in Antwerp Its victory celebrations were seen as a real provocation, especially considering anniversary of its spectacular electoral breakthrough.
that they were to take place in the Ant-
The stakes were high, and there was a real test of strength, werp neighbourhood of Borgerhout, even though this took place without direct confrontations (aside where many North African immigrants from the partial destruction of one of the fascists' offices and the overnight occupation of the VB's meeting room).
The united movement that was created
Initiated during the November 9 demonstrations — called by after November 24, 1991, to react to the European Network Against Racism and for Equality - people racism and the social crisis decided to were surprised by the size, combativeness and diversity of the organize a demonstration and a party.
The Charta '91 citizens' movement, the
First, there were the high school strikes and demonstrations in
Anti-fascist Front, the "Hand in Hand"
Antwerp and Ghent. Indeed, the ensemble of anti-racists and anticoalition of unions and new social movefascists of Antwerp made themselves heard through the youth.
ments and its youth group "Color Team",
That same evening, there was a torchlit demonstration that and the anti-racist neighbourhood combrought together 3,000 people thanks to a broad unity around the mittee of Borgerhout united under the
Anti-fascist Front, followed by a meeting and party where Gilles name "A totally different Antwerp".
Perrault brought greetings from French anti-fascists.
We decided to call a strike and street
At the same time, 2,000 people celebrated the success of anodemonstrations in the morning with high ther undertaking: the one-year long collection of 500,000 signaschool and university students, following tures on a petition demanding the right to vote for immigrants.
the example of Ghent where these types
On Sunday, November 22, in an auditorium filled with more of activities were already being prepared.
than 1,000 concerned citizens, the dozen government ministers,
The success is due to the fact that a the secretary of state and the leaders of political parties got an majority of youth are ready to mobilize against racism and the far-right. We had
Invited by Charta '91, the movement of concerned citizens born already seen that the day after last year's out of the anti-racist demonstrations, they had to reply to one elections, when students in Louvain and question: "Given that the victory of the Vlaams Blok is due first
Ghent immediately descended into the and foremost to the social crisis, what changes have you made in your policies to resolve this crisis since the November 24, 1991
• So, there was a willingness to
If the Vlaams Blok has not yet gone down in the polls, at least struggle. All that was needed was a the anti-racist and anti-fascist movement is continuing the upsgood initiative?
wing which started with the 150,000-strong demonstration of
Yes, that's right. And ours was perfect-
March 23, 1992. This is the meaning of the activities planned for ly timed - coming as it did in the wake the International Day Against Racism next March and the mass of the neo-Nazi attacks in Germany and demonstration planned for the city of Ghent in May 1993. - Fran-
Spain. And in Antwerp, a member of the
Young Socialists was nearly killed by a gang of fascists while putting up posters for the unitary meeting. He was only saved thanks to emergency surgery. A few weeks before, the fascists had attacked t wo bookstalls which were selling books on the Vlaams
Blok.
All this sparked the reaction from youth. This is the biggest demonstration by high school students
12 that Antwerp has seen elections?"
çois Vercammen * since 1973 against Vanden Boeynants, the minister who wanted to suspend postponements of military service.
• In Belgium, there are several school boards. Did they all participate?
Traditionally, the state schools were always most heavily involved in the high school activities. But this time, students from the private Catholic boards massively participated for the first time. There were rows and rows of young women in blue uniforms singing anti-racist songs and shouting their rejection of the
• Did the anti-racist groups support your action?
We received strong support.
From our first meeting, representatives of the Anti-fascist
Front and Hand in Hand came out to help us. The Socialist
Party teachers union and Public Service
Employees Union-Teachers (CGSP) of Antwerp immediately helped us with the passage of a motion of solidarity and a memo to the schools requesting that students leaving school to participate in the action not be punished. • What were the demands put forward in your platform?
It was a simple and completely correct platform: for tolerance and democracy (put forward by Hand in Hand), for equal rights, against racism and fascism, against the Vlaams Blok, and in order that we never forget November 24, 1991.
We distributed 20,000 leaflets in about 40 schools. We explained that we wanted to strike because, like immigrants, high school students do not have the right to vote, and therefore striking was the only way to make themselves heard.
On the fringes of the demonstration, a minority of youths smashed up the far-right's well-known meeting place. Shop