The WOMBLES (White Overalls Movement Building Libertarian Effective Struggles) are a loose Anti-Capitalist group in London that once dressed in white overalls with padding and helmets at protests, mimicking Tute Bianche - a group active in Italy.
They should not be confused with the British animated children's television characters, The Wombles from whom they drew their name and white colour.
The group was founded by some of those who came together as the September26Collective to organise transport to the Prague for actions to disrupt the meeting of the World Bank and IMF, on their return. Since then they have participated in various protests, including the Halloween 2002 protest, and May Day 2001, Thessaloniki, €uroMayDay and Gleneagles. They claim to operate in a "non-hierarchical but self-disciplined way".
"On Mayday 2000 the cops gave (the protesters) a good kicking", blank">their website says. In response to this, the group was started to provide "self-protection from the depredations of the constabulary" -- a.k.a. the police, or "few thugs with big sticks," as they call them.
They have since abandoned their trademark white overalls because they found it made them too visible and open to attack, instead favouring clothing that enables them to be anonymous.
Some of their professed aims include:
The group also provides information to anarchists on police tactics learnt at "secret training bases"http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/kent/2948855.stm where allegedly "cops are instructed in how to cause maximum damage to an individual with a two-foot long steel bar".http://www.batons.com/monpac.aspxhttp://www.tacticalselfdefense.com/LE/MEB/chart.htmhttp://www.globalsecurity.org/military/library/policy/army/fm/19-15/CH10.htm
The Wombles are fictional characters created by British author Elisabeth Beresford,originally appearing in a series of children's novels from 1968. The characters later became nationally famous in the mid 1970s as a result of a popular BBC children's television show using stop motion animation. A number of spin-off novelty songs also became major hits in the British music charts.
The Wombles are pointy-nosed furry creatures that live in burrows, where they help the environment by collecting and recycling rubbish in useful and ingenious ways. Their motto is Make Good Use of Bad Rubbish. This "green" message was ahead of its time in the 1970s. Although Wombles live in every country in the world, the stories focus on the life of the burrow in Wimbledon Common in London, England.
