Marco and I entered the meeting place of the AGA (Anarchist Group Amsterdam) and quietly sat down. We had come to listen to a talk by Doorbraak!, an organization that fights racism in a variety of ways. It was my first encounter with genuine anarchists.

I looked around. The anarchist sitting next to me took out a handkerchief, and poked it in his right ear, producing a loud squishy noise as he cleared out the mucus.

The first of the two speakers started with his presentation on the dangers of Geert Wilders’ party, the PVV. He told us about its racist tendencies, and its right-wing agenda. He explained how many voters don’t realize that the focus on immigration ‘issues’ hides the fact that voting PVV is really not in their best interest. On the whole, I was surprised by how clear, reasonable, and lacking in ‘anarchist sentiment’ the presentation was.

The anarchist sitting next to me once again took out his handkerchief, and from the sound of it, his ear had filled up again. I asked him if he had an ear infection, and he explained that during a G8 protest a water cannon had ruptured his ear drum. I nodded in understanding. I suppose those things happen when you’re an anarchist.

The first speaker finished. The second speaker, a Belgian member of Blokwatch.be fired up his powerpoint presentation. In a ‘propere’ Belgian accent, he told us about the rise and fall of Vlaams Blok, an openly racist party that did pretty well in Belgium until it was ‘banned’, in part due to the efforts of Blokwatch. He drew a comparison between the rise of Vlaams Blok, and the PVV. Then he explained how Blokwatch had been fighting Vlaams Blok, and advised us on how to do something similar. I was surprised once again by the level-headed, constructive and dialogue-centered approach. A bit disappointing really.

Time for questions. A girl in the audience raised her hand. I hadn’t noticed her before, but was strangely happy to notice that she had a mohawk and a large amount of piercings. I was not disappointed. She expressed her complete lack of faith in ‘the system’, and said something about occupying and barricading a building. I didn’t get the context, but it sounded positively anarchistic.

Both the speakers encouraged everyone, once again, to not shy away from dialogue, and to be pragmatic. Even if we don’t support a particular party, they might be the best tool that we have to fight the PVV, or more explicit racist groups that may follow.

I left the meeting satisfied that there was at least some ‘anarchist’ behavior, but mostly surprised by how reasonable most of them were. I like how stereotypes crumble, once they become physical, so to speak. Furthermore, I was impressed by their activism, their willingness to fight for what they believed in. They might be extreme at times, but is doing nothing and complaining a better option? As I considered this, I got sidetracked thinking that ‘blokwatch’ would be a good alternative name for my blog. For videos, or something. The domain is still free!

After the meeting, I joined squishy-ear guy and met up with a friend of his at a Heavy-metal café, for some mild, rather non-anarchist fun. I discovered that a drunk anarchist is really quite similar to a drunk ‘non-anarchist’.

It was an interesting night.

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