Tear Down the Bastille

Description

‘Tear Down The Bastille. Hunger Strike as a Means or Struggle. Voices From Inside the Walls. ‘ contains texts about the history of hunger strikes within the prison walls and about the struggle of anarchists within prison. The texts were written by anarchist prisoners themselves who are held in the dungeons of the Greek prisons.

In April 2016 the texts were published in Greek by Solidarity Fund For Imprisoned And Persecuted Fighters. The assembly of the Solidarity Fund has added texts about the history of hunger strikes as a means of action within the walls. The texts were distributed inside as well as outside the prison walls.

The Solidarity Fund writes this about the texts: Through publishing the thoughts and experiences of prisoners, through the spreading of their words, we seek to make them as present as possible in the daily processes of the fighters outside the walls, we want to shake the barriers of silence, fragmentation, the division among the oppressed, we chose to incarnate the projects of struggle and solidarity in one more way.

This specific issue refers to hunger strike as a means of struggle, a matter that has intensely concerned not only those directly involved but also those in solidarity, as well as a large part of Greek society. A hunger strike, as a means of struggle, was never a desperate move, or simply a “peaceful” protest in order to project the victimisation of the hunger striker and extract sensitivity and charity. It is a conscious struggle, where the coordination of those inside and outside is a necessary condition in order for there to be a result, but also to maintain the strengths of those fighting. Despite all this, we realize that the hunger strike is the ultimate means that a prisoner could choose, we think it is of imperative need to cultivate a bidirectional struggle dynamic inside and outside the walls, that will prevent the condition of someone placing their own body as a mound. The struggle for revolution and the tearing down of every prison still remains open.

Revolt Press now publishes the booklet in English on paper, in order to contribute to the publication and dissemination of texts written by anarchist prisoners.

‘Tear Down The Bastille. Hunger Strike as a Means or Struggle. Voices From Inside the Walls.’

Printed and published: Revolt Press, the Netherlands, 2018
Pages: 106
Print: Riso, 120 grams Bio-Top paper.
Circulation: 400