On the traditional day of action 6th of December three demonstrations were organized similarly to the past years: the fascist Suomi Herää (SH) and the “nationalist” 612 torch march led by fascists as well as the antifascist Helsinki ilman Natseja (HIN). According to the police, 1000-1500 people took part in HIN, 400-500 to 612 and 300 to SH. This corresponds to the previous years. It is worth noting that contrary to past years there was great public interest in the fascists due to the Finns Party parliament member Teemu Keskisarja taking part in 612.
Police had already in forehand announced in the media that HIN will not be allowed to assemble at Töölöntori because 612 had reserved the place first, and it said that HIN could assemble at Taivallahti square. Last year the police had violently disbanded HIN and arrested 50 demonstrators. In this year’s demonstration the police clearly stated multiple times in the loud speakers: “The police orders the demonstration to end. The crowd must disband.” It also enhanced its demand with threats of use of force and arrests.
Despite this the broad masses participating in HIN did not obey but continued with HIN and held onto their antifascist position, and the police failed to disband the demonstration. The mood in the demonstration was strongly against the police. The most common were such as “the police is protecting Nazis”. The demonstrators honored and showed their support to their comrades arrested in the struggle against the police when the bus with the detainees started moving.
It is a very important fact that the police did not manage to reach its goal to disband HIN, because in the media it stays silent about this fact and focuses on a secondary point: “We succeeded in the plan, that is to keep the groups away from each other.” To be precise the main goal of the police was to protect the right of 612 to assemble which serves the fascists and overturning democratic rights, and in connection to this main goal it set the goal of disbanding HIN (because HIN did not accept to assemble at Taivallahti square) and in the end the goal of keeping the demonstrations apart. Even though the police succeeded in two of those goals, it failed to disband the antifascist demonstration. This is the most important thing in perspective because it paves the way for future triumphs for antifascist masses.
When looking at the success of the police we need to focus on especially three questions:
First, very early, when the demonstration had started to assemble, the police started a powerful attack to crush communist and other most combative forces on the front line. With this the police showed clearly who it regards as its main enemy. Despite its fierce efforts the police did not manage to make many of the arrests, which again is a sign of its weakness, but in the end it managed to capture most of the flags and banners on the front lines.
Second, the police applied especially violent, illegal means or means on the grey area of the law. Last year the police was criticized for using the horses as a means to attack and the police assured it would not do this this year. However Yle has published a video, where the mounted police hits a single demonstrator with a baton. In another video published by HIN in their Instagram-story it is seen how a mounted police rides onto a demonstrator. According to eye witnesses the police used the baton in the front lines which is not common in demonstrations in Finland. Journalists were also prevented from doing their work especially in the case of some arrests. According to reports this happened for the first time already when the police attacked the front lines. Later STT (a news agency in Finland) reported that its photographer was prevented from taking pictures of one specific arrest. Hindering the work of journalists serves using illegal, on-the-grey-area or otherwise especially condemning means by the police.
Third the amount of the police was unusually high, but despite this there were many situations where the police was weak and the crowd could have easily made it retreat, and it also experienced some small defeats in different situations. The estimation of the unusually high presence of the police was echoed in the accounts of the demonstrators as well as in the words of journalists of different media.
In addition to this, even the own forces of the police were not enough but it received support from the Border Guard, which precisely points out that the police mobilized the maximum amount of its own forces. Second, even though the amount of the Border Guard was not huge, it is important in principle, because it is in connection to the militarizing of the reaction in the current international political situation. In the past year they have among others made the push-back-law, which tells the Border Guard to break international agreements, as well as reformed the law on conscription by adding an article on mobilizing reservists for additional training at the border. Of the machinery of violence of the reaction the Border Guard is the most militaristic when not taking into account the “Defense Forces”, but mobilizing the army, which is possible according to the law in Finland, would have given out a too harsh of a image. Using the Border Guard as support on its part highlights the importance of anti-imperialism in antifascist struggle.
Even though the police achieved multiple of its goals and the antifascists failed with their main goal of denying the 612 the right of assembly, the masses in the demonstration cannot be blamed for lack of will or understanding. They clearly showed that they want to prevent the 612 from assembling, even though the police forbid this in a fascist manner. The masses showed that they see the police as the direct main enemy, the “protector of Nazis”, and they also showed their support to their arrested comrades. Even after 612 started moving many masses started harassing the demonstration in different places, lastly in the Hietaniemi cemetery. The masses cannot be blamed for lack of will.
To prepare future antifascist successes the unwavering will to struggle of the masses must be grasped firmly, their activeness must be better channeled in struggle and it must be spearheaded towards effective struggle to achieve goals. Communists have shown they are the most willing and ready to throw themselves into the front lines, they are organized in a disciplined way and they go into struggle with a clear understanding of the essential questions of the antifascist struggle, especially on the main enemy, which is the fascist-nurturing, rotten and decrepit bourgeois democracy and its police forces. Only this understanding enables effective struggle against fascism and it serves building the revolutionary front against Finnish imperialism.
Many antifascist forces showed their strong and unwavering unity at HIN, which creates trust in the power of working together and serves the development of solidarity and antifascist front. This is especially important because the fascists tried to sharpen contradictions within HIN by provocation, in which they failed miserably.
Thus as a whole the perspectives for development are very positive.
