This article [from Rabble] is about developments in the ZAD (‘Zone to Defend’), the site in Western France of a 9+ year occupation against the construction of the Notre-Dame-des-Landes airport by French construction giant, Vinci.
Things have been heating up in France following the decision by a Nantes court to press ahead with the eviction of the last remaining official residents on site, who refused to sell their land. The court ruled that, of the residents, the farms and three families could be evicted straight away, but gave a two month delay to the eight other families. With this legal hurdle out of the way, it looks likely that attempts will be made to evict the occupations in the coming weeks.
Attempts to build an airport have been ongoing since the 60s, with resistance taking various forms since 1972. The site has been squatted for the past nine years. Occupiers are calling on people to get ready to act on the first sign of eviction.
‘On and around the ZAD:
Call to come resist on the zone and to make sure that we’re not encircled and cut off. Disturb the check-points and movements of the police and ensure the circulation of supporters and supplies.
In the region :
– From the first day of the operation, coordinated actions to blockade roads, whether access points of the zone or the main axes and strategic points of the region.
– Occupations of “places of power” (government or private contractor buildings/offices, police stations, etc)
– Nighttime noise demos outside the hotels where the police and military police sleep.
– The first evening, meeting point of different actions or blockades, in front of the police headquarters at 6pm.
– Demo Saturday in Nantes after one week of intervention.
Outside of the region :
Callout to occupy places of power or local operations to slow the flow of capital, as well as coming to the ZAD to defend for those who can.
The airport will not be built – The zad of Notre Dame des Landes will continue to blossom!’
People are also now gearing up for a big mobilisation on 27th February, with a week of discussions and outreach in nearby Nantes from 15-21st February.
26th January: 7 trucks belonging to Vinci subsidiary torched
Seven trucks belonging to Eurovia Limousin Poitou-Charentes, a Vinci subsidiary, were burnt to a crisp in Limoges, in solidarity with the ZAD. ‘ZAD partout’ (ZAD everywhere) was left sprayed on the shutters of one of the buildings, [and a communique was issued on February 1st stating:]
eurovia: die!
as vinci or as AREVA
shit multinationals
and all your associates
your pals in the ministries, your slaves in the bulldozers
your concreters under oath and your lobotomized robocops
from Notre Dames des Landes to Val de Suza
from Flamanville to Fuckushima
it seems you are determined to make this earth a garbage bin
and it’s not rémi fraisse that will stop you
and it’s not a state of emergency that will stop us
anonymous and any
we are everywhere
down with the airport project at Notre Dame des landes
down with the dictatorship of the economy and authoritarian “democracy”
Long live the zad, social struggles and solidarity
25th January : demos against the court ruling
Following the court verdict, over 100 people marched in Nantes, stopping traffic and shouting « Résistance, sabotage. Vinci dégage » (Resistance, sabotage, Vinci get lost), and « Ni prison, ni expulsions n’enterreront nos rebellions » (Neither prison nor eviction will bury our resistance). The town hall was grafittied using a fire extinguisher filled with paint, which was then thrown at the doors, smashing the glass. The police station was also tagged and CCTV that had just been reinstalled was neutralised another time.
Another hundred or so people gathered in Rennes and attacked the town hall with paint bombs and fire extinguishers full of paint, leaving the word ‘ZAD’ in giant letters across the facade.
22nd January: Two houses of Vinci collaborators attacked
Guy and Béatrice Lamisse, who own houses on the edges of the airport site, started a petition calling for the eviction of the ZAD. On 22nd February, their houses were broken into and the words “collaborators” “not for sale” and “capitalists” left on the walls. The regional president of the Republican party (formerly UMP), condemned the act and called the area «une zone de non-droit » (a lawless zone).
Above reports loosely translated from Le Chat Noir Emeutier.
