BY JAMES VASSILOPOULOS
GENOA, July 20 — Five hundred years ago, the Genovese Christopher Columbus "discovered" the Americas and opened it for plunder and genocide. Now, the Group of Eight is in town to continue that grand tradition. And thousands and thousands of protesters are also in town to turn the world upside down, and to stop the plunder.
The response from the powers-that-be has been murderous: one protester, a young Italian man, has been killed, shot twice between the eyes from close range and then run over twice by a police jeep, while a woman is close to death in hospital. More than 120 other protesters have been injured by police.
Of course, it is the protesters who are being accused of "terrorism".
Genoa is a north-western town, with narrow steep streets and windy roads running down to the port, with ochre and light brown buildings and sea-green shutters.
The G8 summit itself is happening in the medieval castle in the centre of the town, the Palazzo Ducale, surrounded by a walled and fortified "red zone" which no-one can enter. Leaders from Britain, France, Italy, Japan, Russia, Germany and Canada are staying on a specially-designed ship in the harbour; George W Bush is staying elsewhere.
Around the red zone, there is a "yellow zone" where protests are not supposed to happen. The situation can only be described as a pre-emptive state of emergency.
People have been coming here for days from all countries: hundreds of buses and trains carrying Italians, Swiss, Spaniards, Germans, Brits, a 3000-strong contingent of Greeks, and many others.
At the Piazzelle Kennedy, by the sea, there is a convergence centre: a massive space filled with an eating area for 1000, an information point and a huge three-storey high stage for performance.
A little higher on the hill is Punta Vagno, where the massive conference of the Genoa Social Forum is scheduled. There are camping venues, accommodation at the Stadio Carpini and also in a far-northern suburb of Sciorba. Anarchists have set up an organising centre at the social centre at Pinelli. There is even a three-story Independent Media Centre set up in a primary school.
Days before the G8 summit of the eight richest industrialised nations began on July 20, 10,000 protesters gathered for the Genoa Social Forum. From July 16, they discussed and debated topics including debt, trade and alternatives to corporate globalisation, and planned their demonstrations.
Police intimidation began long before the summit started, too. In the days before the Genoa Social Forum began, there were bomb threats and even a letter bomb which exploded in a police station — convenient justifications for police harassment of protest organisers.
On July 19, 60,000 people marched for migrant and refugee rights, far surpassing organisers' expectations of a maximum of 20,000, chanting "No deportations, no camps, no borders".
The march was loud and colourful — a 30-piece brass band played the Specials' "A message to you, Rudy" and protesters held up hands painted white to show their support for refugees. It felt like the city was ours as we marched.
July 20 was the day of civil disobedience, more than 25,000 taking to the streets of the city to protest the summit and the red zone. Many groups sought to break through the wall and into the Palazzo Ducale.
Two radical union federations, CUB and COBAS, met away from the red zone and then marched towards it. Both unions called national strikes for the day.
The Non-Violent Bloc of the Lilliput Network, the Network Against G8 and women's groups staged protests away from the red zone.
The anti-globalisation network ATTAC, the anti-racist group Arci, the metalworkers' union and the Rifundazione Comunista held a peaceful protest of 3000 at Piazza Dante on the boundary of the red zone — and symbolically "invaded" the red zone with balloons.
One thousand activists from the British group Globalise Resistance organised their own attempt to invade the red zone, this time physically but without protective equipment. They hooked up a rope to the top of a fence and tried to pull it down, without success.
A hole was temporarily created in the fence, and police responded with tear gas and water cannon, dispersing the protest. Protesters were chased by police and beaten and kicked.
An anarchist bloc of about 300 attempted to invade the red zone in another place, but were driven back. Over the whole day of direct action, the only group who smashed windows before the police violence started was the anarchist bloc, but they hit specific targets like banks.
Two thousand nuns began a hunger strike demanding the cancellation of debt. There was also the Pink Bloc, a mobile unit who all wore pink and did cheerleader routines.
The most significant and largest of the blocs was the one staying at the Stadio Carlini, comprising the autonomist Tute Bianche (the White Overalls), the Giovane Comunisti associated with Rifundazione Comunista, RAGE from Rome, the Napoli mobilisation committee, most of the Greeks, the French Revolutionary Communist League (LCR), Euskal Herria from the Basque country and Workers' Power.
This group sought to march to the red zone and enter it, believing the G8 summit and the red zone to be illegitimate. Organisers repeatedly stated that they would respect the city of Genoa and not smash up buildings, and that they would be peaceful, carrying only defensive devices like padding, shields and helmets.
The preparations for this Civil Disobedience Bloc began with a general assembly of 6000 people in the Stadio Carpini. It was organised chaos, people rushing around looking serious, looking ecstatic in clusters, flows of people.
A seven-person coordinating team was appointed, who would make tactical calls. An organiser stressed that whatever was to happen, it would be important to remain calm and not panic.
"Us being one united body is key to our success, it's important people don't make any tactical decisions as this would jeopardise the collective", the woman, Eva, said.
Other tasks were divided up: a medical team, a team to dish out water to deal with tear gas, and a team of 50 to pick up the tear gas canisters and throw them away from protesters. This last group got a lot of applause: it's a courageous act, touching a canister can severely burn your hands.
Then the march began, 15,000 strong.
At the front of the protest were translucent battering rams and shields, followed by a massive truck with a loudspeaker system.
Then, there were eight giant pig's heads, each with huge flappy ears and a tongue in the form of a G8 country flag, and totems: a huge yellow flower, a mutant creature.
Then there were the Tute Bianche, padded with body armour, cardboard elbow and shin pads carrying one-metre tall shields, looking like US football players. Then the other contingents, also prepared for battle, mostly young, wearing T-shirts of Che and the Zapatistas.
The chants started: "Genoa Libertad", "Rev-oooo-lu-tion", "No Pasaran". The mood was festive. A bellowing rendition of "Bandiera Rossa" broke out.
The padded people moved into formation, like a medieval army of the oppressed attempting to overthrow an evil tyrant. They banged their shields with the palms of their hands creating a thunderous echo; people screamed and whistled.
Some of the Genovese gave out water to the protesters, many hung out of windows watching. No damage to any property was done, just some graffiti on walls and boarded-up windows.
When a cop helicopter goes over head, everyone gives it the one finger salute. The Greeks chanted "Today we will break the gates. We are thousands, you are eight." The French sang, passionately, revolutionary songs.
Music blasts out from the sound system: Rage Against the Machine's "Killing in the name of", Chumbawamba's "Tub-thumping".
The crowd marched down Corso Garibaldi, towards the centre of town. At 3.30pm, everyone is still festive, marching perhaps a kilometre from the red zone. The sinister-looking carbinieri are in their paddy wagons, cops in full riot gear.
At that point, we have done nothing wrong, no damage, no provocation, the rally has been extremely disciplined and well organised.
Suddenly, there were tear gas canisters flying through the air. There was that awful banging sound. The people with gas masks try to challenge them, but fail. As the smoke approached, we fled. But the street is narrow, there is an obstacle, some get crushed. I began to feel the tears, and the headache started.
Then the street fighting began. Garbage bins and bottle recycle bins were rolled out. Cobble stones were ripped up, broken and used as weapons of defence.
Cops came in in their dark blue vans, people fled, there was more tear gas. Then the protesters responded, advancing, even though we were vastly outgunned. Perhaps there were 10,000 street fighting, but few with gas masks.
The protesters advanced and retook a part of the city, the carabinieri got into their vans and fled — a huge cheer goes out.
I bumped into the Filipino activist and academic Walden Bello; of all the anti-corporate protests he's been at, this is "the most provoked yet". Then a Spanish journalist showed me a bullet cartridge he found near the fight: during the fight, the police had killed a man.
We learn later that the dead man is Carlo Giuliani, 23, a Rome native living in Genoa. He was shot twice, once in the forehead, once in the cheek, from close range when he attempted to throw a fire extinguisher at a police van. He was then run over, twice, by the van. Another woman was seriously injured in the same incident and is fighting for her life.
The pattern is 500 years old, older even: the people rise up, they are repressed, but they never stop and they never give up.