Sunday, November 20, 2016

ANTI-FASCISTS STORM RESTAURANT HOSTING NEO-NAZI, ALT-RIGHT NPI DINNER

https://itsgoingdown.org/anti-fascists-storm-restaurant-hosting-neo-nazi-alt-right-npi-dinner/

November 19, 2016

On the 18th of November, the “suit-and-tie Nazi” National Policy Institute (NPI) attempted to hold a quiet dinner meeting on the subject of white supremacy at an Italian restaurant on Wisconsin Ave called Maggiano’s. Anti-fascist protesters stormed the restaurant and got most of the way up the stairs to the second floor where NPI was meeting. A few got in via the elevator. The Washington Post is reporting that “a foul smelling liquid” was sprayed on NPI President Richard Spencer, notorious for peddling “white nationalism.”

One security guard or NPI member (not sure which) pushed back hard trying to force activists back down the stairs. He did so even though his pushing caused the wooden rail on the staircase to bow and bend under the weight of people being forced against it. Due to the height of the staircase this constituted acting in reckless disregard of human life, though anyone familiar with the history of fascism and Naziism would know this is par for the course.

Eventually activists withdrew to the outside of the restaurant, with many of the orginary, non-Nazi supporting diners on the first floor bursting out in applause for the performance of the protesters in confronting the Nazis upstairs in this tense time of Donald Trump. Outside, anti-fascists kept up a noisy dance party with a sound system,pots and pans, and other noisemakers until NPI slinked out a back exit. One who left early had a police officer summon a cabdriver who was then forced to give the Nazi a ride. Had he refused in front of police he would have risked an expensive ticket under a regulation normally used against cabdrivers who refuse rides to African-Americans.

Originally the Nazis were going to meet at The Hamilton, a hotel downtown but the Hamilton refused to host NPI after finding out who they really are. They then tried to throw off antifascists by claiming they would meet at Trump Hotel at 7PM to walk elsewhere. About 60 people held a protest at Trump Hotel, but they started at 6PM with more than enough time to be redirected when the true meetup point was found:Friendship Heights Metro. From there the Nazis were tracked to Maggiano’s, which one protesters said should be renamed “Mussolini’s” for hosting fascists after being clearly told by the protesters just who they are.

Friday, February 27, 2015

Kvinnan med handväskan (woman with handbag): photo, sculpture, debate

Kvinnan med handväskan
1985 by Hans Runesson
The moment before a woman hits a marching nazi-skinhead with a handbag. The photograph was taken during a demonstration of the Nordic Reich Party supporters.

The Swedish sculptor Susanna Arwin made a miniature statue based on the photograph and was to
erect a life-size bronze version in the city of Växjö (2014). This has been blocked saying that it promotes violence.

The debate is ongoing and can be followed in the Swedish news.d

http://www.aftonbladet.se/ledare/ledarkronika/karinpettersson/article20338109.ab

http://www.svt.se/nyheter/regionalt/smalandsnytt/ingen-staty-av-tanten-med-vaskan

UPDATE IN ENGLISH:

Town Says “No” To Statue Of Swedish Woman Who Smacked A Nazi With Her Purse, But…

by Rafi Schwartz

202

102

March 2, 2015 at 6:10

It was the smack seen ‘round the world.

It’s 1985. Danuta Danielsson, the Polish-Swedish daughter of a Holocaust survivor, steps out into the street during a Neo-Nazi march in the Swedish town of Växjö, and swings her purse directly into the head of a passing skinhead. Photographer Hans Runesson is nearby, and captures the moment in a picture he unambiguously titles “Kvinnan med handväskan” (“A Woman Hitting a Neo-Nazi With Her Handbag”). The image goes viral and Danielsson becomes something of a folk hero as a result.

image via twitter.com

Flash forward thirty years to today. Danielsson has since passed away, never speaking publically about the incident. But her purse-smacking legacy of standing up to European fascism lives on. It’s understandable, then, that artist Susanna Arwin would want to memorialize this act of ordinary heroism by erecting a bronze statue of Danielsson, purse in hand, near the site of Runesson’s now-iconic photograph. Arwin has even created a small mock-up of her design, which she posted to her Facebook page this past Spring:

The town of Växjö, however, isn’t interested. As Radio Sweden reports, the municipal Culture, Leisure and Recreation Committee last week rejected Arwin’s proposed statue, partially due to an alleged request from a member of Danielsson’s family, but also out of a belief that the installation could somehow be interpreted as supporting violence.

As city councilor Eva Johansson told The Washington Post:

"We in Växjö work for democracy and free speech. Of course, we don't like Nazis. But we can't accept that one can hit a person because one does not like him or her."

Given that we’re talking about the daughter of a Holocaust survivor swatting a Nazi with her purse, Johansson’s non-violent explanation has felt, to many, just a bit thin. In a show of solidarity with Arwin, people across Sweden and beyond have begun hanging purses, handbags, and satchels off various sculptures in their respective cities, blasting the images of their tributes across social media, using the hashtag #tantentillVäxjö:

image via twitter

Following Växjö’s rejection of the proposed statue, The Washington Post points outthat other Swedish communities have offered themselves as homes for the Arwin’s installation. And with purses popping up on sculptures across Europe, it’s clear that Arwin’s tribute to Danielsson has become much more than just a statue: It’s become a movement.