<nettime> NY Zaps Urge Protests and Electronic CD on April 10

[Stefan Wray <sjw210@is8.nyu.edu>]

[Moderators' note: "low-intensity warfare" is a polite-sounding phrase
for "deniable" warfare coined by the US military-industrial complex to 
sanitize murderous activities for domestic audiences. It began as anti-
partisan warfare during WW2, particularly in the Balkans; in the 1950s
it was modified and renamed antiguerilla warfare; and in the 1960s, it
was modified further and renamed counterinsurgency warfare; and, again
in the early 1980s it was modified again and renamed low-intensity con-
flict. The fundamentals remain the same: assassinations, psychological
warfare, war by proxy, and covert intervention of super-power military
forces. Anyone interested in a meticulous history of this "development"
should read Michael McClintock's _Instruments of Statecraft_ (Pantheon,
1992). --TB]

NEW YORK ZAPATISTAS JOIN CALL FOR
INTERNATIONAL DAY OF ACTION ON APRIL 10
URGES ELECTRONIC CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE

New York, NY (March 31, 1998) -- New York Zapatistas joins the U.S. based
National Commission for Democracy in Mexico in calling for mass actions on
April 10 to protest the Mexican government's escalating low-intensity war
against the Zapatistas and other indigenous peoples in Chiapas, Mexico. In
Mexico, the National Indigenous Congress and other organizations are
calling for mobilizations in Mexico City and elsewhere on this day, the
anniversary of Emiliano Zapata's death.

In New York City, the New York Zapatistas are calling for a protest in
front of the Mexican Consulate, at 8 E. 41st Street, at 5:00 p.m. on April
10. New York Zapatistas are also calling for an afternoon vigil to begin at
Noon that will last until the 5:00 p.m. protest. 

In addition to supporting demonstrations in the streets, the New York
Zapatistas are urging people around the world to send a powerful message to
the Mexican government by committing Electronic Civil Disobedience.

By Electronic Civil Disobedience we mean applying the principles and
tactics of traditional civil disobedience - like trespass and blockade - to
the electronic systems of communication upon which Mexican government
officials and their supporters depend. In this sense, we support the NCDM's
call for people to "phone, fax, and email" appropriate government officials
to voice protest, but we also urge people to autonomously and independently
go beyond merely voicing protest, and to use these means of communication
to disrupt business as usual. 

We therefore urge that the following tactics be used against governmental,
financial, and corporate sites responsible for the ongoing genocide in
Chiapas.

1) Phone Zaps: Repeated calling to disrupt normal operations. 
2) Fax Jams: Repeated faxing to overload fax machines.
3) Email Jams: Massive emailing to overload email inboxes and servers.
4) Virtual Sit-Ins: Trespassing and blockading of web sites.
5) Other More Sophisticated Computer Tactics

Since the Acteal Massacre at the end of December, 1997, we have seen a new
level of cyber-activism emerging within the global pro-Zapatista movement.
At the end of January, web sites for five Mexico City financial
institutions were subjected to virtual sit-ins. During a given time frame
repeated reloading of these web sites effectively blockaded so-called
legitimate use. At the beginning of February, cyber-activists hacked into a
Mexican government web page and placed pro-Zapatista and anti-government
messages on the site.

These new forms of Electronic Civil Disobedience and Direct Action need to
be developed, popularized, and applied more globally by the pro-Zapatista
movement. Recently, on March 22, a Panel on Electronic Civil Disobedience
was featured at the Socialist Scholars Conference in New York City. Written
presentations and an audio recording of this panel are now available on a
web page. Please set your browsers to the following site, bookmark it, and
link to your own sites: http://www.nyu.edu/projects/wray/ecd.html

Viva Zapata!



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