Watch longer video here:
https://www.instagram.com/reel/DT62Nr9iKec
Violent police assault at the demo for Pro-Palestine hungerstriker Umer Khalid on the grounds of HMP Wormwood Scrubs. On Saturday 24th January a demo happened in solidarity with Umer. The peaceful crowd briefly occupied the entrances, grounds and reception of the prison and then were subjected to a sustained violent attack and mass arrest.
Now that the masses all over the world have expressed their solidarity with Gaza, I’d be curious to know how social scientist Elias Canetti(1) would describe his concept of the “masses” in such a technological, warmongering and at the same time, exterminating age as ours. He says that mass society exists in the mind of human beings before it materially expresses itself. If ancient societies chose certain social and economic forms of mere subsistence, it was because they deliberately chose not to use bureaucratic or authoritarian methods: they foresaw their dangers. Our ancestors, therefore, were perfect political animals, aware and active observers of the community’s social life.
So what are these squares and streets full of people today, if in our daily lives we go back to the riverbed of a life organized and imposed by others?
Now that the “truce” in Gaza is divulged and imposed with the stamp of the army boot and the mediatic hype on the Flotilla, now that they are silencing and dampening the surge against the massacre, how to transform it into an action going beyond the manifestation and expression of opinions? Power uses human emotions as a can opener; often, the former gives its best in its “delayed reaction” empathic emotion and during “emergencies”, and it coagulates in peaks of scorn. A humanity which is nevertheless still alive despite all the efforts to atomize it. Its more progressive components are proving united in the face of the evidence of an extermination. Over the reaction timing, we should reason at length. Unfortunately, we haven’t yet understood in depth how deceitful and blackmailing the tactics of the enemies of life are, to what extent do commodities and quiet living manage to recuperate the movements, even sincere ones, at least here in Europe. In order to be more incisive and longsighted they have to doggedly overcome exactly the traps scattered over the ground of the struggle, which have the precise function of making everyone go back to the wishy-washy pen of the democratic morals, to issues such as the use of liberating violence or not, to inaction. Let’s move from emotions to self-organizing and direct action. If the roads of freedom are hindered, revolutionary movements of the past teach us opacity and going underground.
Though with a delay, we return with the monthly news roundup of analysis on prison rebellions and imprisoned freedom fighters that is IN CONTEMPT! Once again, the US has seen unprecedented authoritarian repression confronting determined community resistance. As we enter another insurrectionary moment, we are reinvigorated by the relentless struggles of political prisoners worldwide who continue to inspire collective action through words and deeds.
Following the closing of It’s Going Down, a new collective will continue publishing monthly “In Contempt” updates on this noblogs. We hope this publication helps develop networks of inside-outside solidarity – over 100 copies are mailed to people behind bars each month! Please submit any updates and calls to action to the new email in_contempt at autistici dot org.
We’re also interested in providing more up to date roundups about international political prisoners, so please contribute if you can, whether updates or translations.
This month’s column includes:
Palestine Action UK Prisoners End Hunger Strike on 73rd Day
RICO Charges Dismissed for All 61 Stop Cop City Defendants
New Arrest in the Prairieland Case
11 Charges Against the Northumberland 2 Dropped
Repression against Indonesian Anarchists
Calls to Action
Phone Zaps
Free Them All!
Political Prisoner / POW Updates
George Floyd Uprising Prisoners
Prarieland Defendants
New Years Eve Prison Demos
ICE Watch
Deaths in ICE Custody
Repression
Media
Birthdays
In Memorium: Sekou Odinga
Two printable zines will be available in the coming days to print & share with our comrades inside, so be sure to check back!
PROIEZIONE DI “TO KILL A WAR MACHINE” SU PALESTINE ACTION
(CARRARA, 11 GENNAIO 2026)
Proiezione di To Kill a War Machine su Palestine Action
Domenica 11 gennaio 2026
Ore 18:00. Proiezione del documentario To Kill a War Machine (2025) sull’attività di Palestine Action contro l’industria bellica nel Regno Unito.
Il percorso di Palestine Action e lo sciopero della fame attualmente in corso nelle carceri britanniche da parte degli aderenti al collettivo Prisoners for Palestine ci interrogano sulle prospettive e i limiti delle forme di attivismo contemporanee. Mentre gli Stati si attrezzano per la guerra e le condizioni di sopravvivenza qui da noi si fanno sempre più difficili, non è più rimandabile lo sviluppo delle lotte antimilitariste in una prospettiva antiautoritaria e internazionalista.
A seguire aperitivo a buffet.
Circolo Culturale Anarchico “G. Fiaschi”, via Ulivi 8/B, Carrara
Solidarity with Hunger Strikers at Free Derry this evening as several political prisoners have now entered their 48-day of action. Families of the two Irish National Liberation Army (INLA) hunger strikers, Patsy O’Hara and Mickey Devine, issued moving tributes in solidarity as many of those gathered held deep memories of those tragic days in Derry back in 1981.
Over the coming days, other solidarity actions are being planned locally as several of those hunger strikers edge closer to death. Calls for their immediate release and those of the Filton 24 have also been repeatedly made before this evenings action came to a close.
A member of the DAC commented afterwards, stating: “We are all too aware that this situation should not have been allowed to get to this stage. But as we know, only to well, the actions of the British State have once again attempted to crush a movement opposed to their military machine and its authoritarian regime. A grassroots movement that is fundamentally opposed to the unfolding terror and deliberate genocide on the people of Palestine. Many have taken to the streets, taken part in direct action, and have been forcibly silenced or unjustly imprisoned.
“The widespread solidarity shown here today to demand immediate humanitarian intervention to help bring an end the hunger strikes. To help bring an end to their unjust treatment of all of the prisoners involved, and to see their immediate release will continue to grow. They can not silence or imprison all of us, we are seeds!”
In the twilight zone of sorts I find myself in- neither free nor fully imprisoned – I have decided to give up my daily work release from prison for the next week, as a gesture of solidarity with the Palestine Action comrades on hunger strike in British prisons, a strike my friend and brother Stecco has also joined. I know that my staying in prison instead of going to work will not bother the prison administration in the least. But my message is not addressed to prison management – whom I have nothing to say to and nothing to ask of but to those who are fighting against the genocide of the Palestinian people, alongside its indomitable resistance.
What I can offer, along with this small gesture, is a basket of thoughts, a handful of words with which to express what is in my heart.
The strength that comes to me from British prisons which, in turn, reflects the tenacity of that resistance which Zionist prisons and administrative detention centers are unable to bow, despite the isolation, the torture, and the rapes has not only the form of a commonality of ethics and ideals, but also the intensity of the emotions I feel in reading the hunger strike statements. Continue reading “A Basket of Thoughts – Italian Anarchist Massimo Passamani Solidarity With Hunger Strike”→
Yesterday, November 4th, I received news of the start of a hunger strike called by tens of political prisoners imprisoned in the United Kingdom for their struggles in solidarity with and for the liberation of Palestine.
In recent months, I read about comrade Teuta “T” Hoxha’s hunger strike, and was able to follow her story and that of comrades Casey Goonan and Malik Muhammad. I had time to ponder in case, as I expected, another chance presented itself to join a struggle which I feel an affinity for, which I feel deeply is my own.
The struggle against prison and the military techno-industrial system is essential for a struggle of broader scope, of revolutionary and internationalist resistance.
I am joining in the hunger strike, starting on November 8th, and will carry it out with an eye to the tactics and approach proposed by the comrades who initiated it. If it continues indefinitely, I will go on while paying attention to my body’s limits, deciding for myself whether and when to stop and continue the protest by other means.
I will take the time I need to share further thoughts as the protest continues. The reasons for this struggle, the actions for which these comrades are now imprisoned, speak for themselves.
I stand by their side with serenity and resolve.
Currently, I do not know whether the Palestinian comrade Anan Yaeesh, imprisoned in Melfi, is still on hunger strike. Regardless, my solidarity with him, Ali, and Mansour is vivid and strong.
With humility and respect, I close these lines by quoting the Kurdish comrade Sakîne Cansiz:
“On the other hand, facing the enemy on your own is also a special thing. Revolutionary will gathers in you. You can feel within yourself conviction, determination, the pure desire to fight. It is the most beautiful part of revolutionary struggle. Nothing distracts you, and you demolish the enemy with the strength of your personality. It is something to do with you, but also with the enemy’s image reflected in you. In your defense, it recognizes its impotence.”
Luca Dolce, known as Stecco, anarchist comrade Sanremo prison 11/05/2025
Luca Dolce c/o Casa Circondariale Sanremo Strada Armea, 144 18038, Sanremo (IM)
Italia
Solidarity to the prisoners and hungerstrikers of the Palestinian liberation struggle. Freedom for all the incarcerated. Destroy all prisons, jailers and police forever. DN.
Dozens of political prisoners in the so-called United Kingdom who have endured months of targeted abuse behind bars due to their support for Palestinian liberation are announcing their intention to launch a hunger strike. Prisoners for Palestine representative Audrey Corno (who I interviewed last month) says it would mark the largest coordinated prisoners’ hunger strike in the UK since the Irish Republican Army/Irish National Liberation Army hunger strike in the occupied North of Ireland in 1981, when ten prisoners of war were martyred.
On 20 October, Audrey and Francesca Nadin, both of whom have spent time behind bars for direct actions against zionist weapons companies, delivered a letter to the UK Home Secretary “on behalf of the 33 people unjustly locked up as a result of taking action to stop the genocide in Palestine.”
They have five demands: an end to all censorship of their mail and communications; immediate and unconditional release on bail; the right to a fair trial; the removal of Pal Action from the proscribed “terrorist” list; and the closure of all Elbit Systems facilities in the UK.
The prisoners, who include members of the Filton 24 and the Brize Norton 5, have been detained without charge in multiple UK jails under the “Terrorism Act,” in some cases for over a year. Thus far, appeals for the prisoners to be released on bail have been unsuccessful.
We love promoting new ways to express your art (and defo not to cause enormous paint covering in speciesist businesses) so if you have been wondering about how you can paint places quickly, we have a great recipe for yo: How to fill fire extinguishers with paint!
Note that PalAction actually wrote an amazing guide which you can download at the end of the article. Whilst we give an overview of the steps to convert a fire extinguisher into a weapon of mass paintaction, it is not only inspired by their guide but you should actually follow their guide as it has all the details we cannot fit into a short post.
STUFF YOU NEED:
Extinguisher
Paint, water, funnel
Air compressor or high quality pump.
Hack Saw, rubber mallet.
A metal 1/4” BSP Taper Male Thread x 1/8” BSPT Female Thread Hex Bush.
A 1/8” BSPT Male Thread High Pressure Schrader Valve.
Barbed Hose Joiner, Barbe Hose Tail End Connector (check PDF for sizing)
LET’S GET THIS DONE!
1- Discharge the extinguisher. Ideally on some bailiffs, but if you can’t then remember foam and water extinguishers are full of shit, discharge in a bucket then empty into a toilet for fowl sewage disposal. CO2 and dust are “less” harmful.
2- Tie the operating leavers together. Then with force (or a rubber mallet) push anticlockwise on the leavers to release them. Unscrew full and pull valve and syphon tube out. Make sure you properly clean the innards of that fire extinguisher!
3- Remove the syphon tube filter. Either unscrew it if it lets you, or cut it out (as low as possible to not reduce length!
4- Unscrew the pipe from the valve assembly. In its place, screw the Hex Bush with a few layers of PTFE tape. To the Hex Bush, screw the Schrader Valve (that’s where you’ll pump the air in!!!!)
5- Fill the extinguisher with a mix of Matt emulsion and Water at equal parts. Please measure the volume of watered down paint and ensure you only fill up to the volume of the fire extinguisher and no more.
6- Screw the Valve assembly. Ensure that the leavers are fully engaged and tied/taped. Use your air compressor or pump to depressurise the system to the middle of the green zone on the pressure gauge. That should be around 14-15 BAR which will be perfect for your arts and crafts.
7- Release the operating leavers, either untie, un tape or whatever else. This will then hold the pressure inside, if you don’t do this you’ll end up covered in paint in the next step!
8- Unscrew the air compressor pipe, then with an adjustable spanner wind the Hex bush anticlockwise to disconnect it.
9- Modify the hose nozzle. Please read about this on PalAction’s PDF. Once the hose is good, screw it into the operating valve. You can tighten it a tad with a spanner.
10- Insert the pin and secure the extinguisher by taping that pin in place. Only remove it when you’re up to no good painting your room!
DOWNLOAD THE FIRE EXTINGUISHER GUIDE BY PAL ACTION HERE:
