Amsterdam: Bad news for the ADM

admThe municipality of Amsterdam lost from the so-called owners (‘the Chidda’s) in the court case about ‘enforcing’ (the fact that one isn’t allowed to live on the ADM, according to the zoning plan). This means in fact that the municipality is now forced to make plans to evict the ADM and has to make a decision within 6 weeks about the time schedule. The municipality could appeal this verdict, but will they? We also expect very soon the verdict in the appeal of the ‘bodemprocedure (in depth court case) The question is then also how they’re in relation to each other. We can appeal this decision as well. More information about what we’re going to do will follow… [Read More]

Frankfurt (Germany): New Project Shelter squat in Bornheim

On Friday, Project Shelter squatted an empty building next to the Bistro in Berger Straße 307 in Frankfurt-Bornheim (Germany).

The Bistro itself was squatted a year ago and turned into an active political and social place – now the owner announced that the agreement on a short-term usage ends. „We achieved a lot in the bistro, but we still need a self-organized centre. There are enough empty buildings for that in Frankfurt: We just packed our stuff and moved 30 Meters down the road to the next empty building.“ This building is empty for a decade now – and so the condition is really bad. „This happens all over the city: We want to use buildings, instead of letting them rot.“ With the opening of the house and an exhibition, in a creative way the group raises the issues of empty buildings in Frankfurt and the situation of the project. The invitation to the exhibition is at the same time an invitation for a talk between the group, the neighbors and everybody from Frankfurt who is interested. Although there are a lot of empty houses in Frankfurt, many people find it difficult to find a place to stay because of rising rents and the logics of the housing market. [Read More]

Solidarity actions across Europe for City Plaza, SquatBo and all other squats

In Athens, Berlin, Brussels, Frankfurt, Lübeck, Wuppertal and many other cities across Europe people protested against eviction threats against squats on Friday; #HandsOffAll Squats!


Spontaneous demo in Wuppertal, Germany, June 23rd 2017. [Read More]

Bochum (Germany): SquatBo sold to investor and under eviction threat

After this week’s eviction of the UnsereVilla squat in Kassel, Germany, the squatted building at Hernerstr 131 in Bochum was sold to an investor and is now under immediate threat of eviction. Three squats in Athens, Greece, are also under immediate threat of eviction. [Read More]

Montréal (Canada): Let them eat paint! De-gentrification action against “3734”

Just over a year ago, a masked crowd looted the yuppie grocery store attached to the “3734” restaurant on Notre-Dame street and redistributed the food to people in the neighborhood, one of dozens of actions against gentrification in recent years. The grocery store shut down several months ago, but we noticed that the 3734 restaurant was still serving business lunches and expensive dinners to local yuppies. So last Wednesday night we paid them a visit, breaking a window and covering the inside of the restaurant with paint, using a fire extinguisher. [Read More]

Slovenia: Koper needs UPInde

20170607_Indeplatforma_KoperAfter the official handover on the 6th of June the new owner, Valter Krmac, wasted little time as his workers began the construction works which hinder the access to the spaces used by UPI.
Valter Krmac, the new part owner of the Inde complex is CEO of KMK Box and the head of the Oljka political party – the party of the Slovenian Istria. The same party states the following in its manifesto: »Oljka strives to transform politics up the point when us citizens and countrymen who have the willingness to actively shape our surroundings will no longer be neglected and limited by the politicians elected by our very own votes«. The same man now claims that UPInde »does not exist« and that it is »just a bunch of people who have claimed the right to run rampant in the abandoned buildings«.
What does UPInde do if not actively shape its surroundings? And what does Krmac do but neglect the citizens and countrymen with his ignorance and arrogance?
He bought the building knowing that it is used by people who work selflessly on different levels to benefit the local community thus making it INADMISSIBLE for him to act as if UPI does not exist! Let us not forget over 450 artistic, socially motivated, educational, musical and sports events in the span of two years. [Read More]

Greece: Anarchist refugee squats prepare for State onslaught

City_Plaza_AthensA new spate of recent evictions and interventions by the Greek State against refugee solidarity occupations run by the anarchist movement in Athens has prompted callouts for a major emergency gathering this Friday.

The callout and associated international day of action comes in the wake of a series of crackdowns and repression [1][2] against the solidarity movement, which has helped thousands of refugees self-organise to house themselves and defend against far-right violence since the Syrian crisis began.

It has been supported by six major occupied centres and groups, Oniro, City Plaza, 5th School, Notara 26, Underground Railroad, Spirou Trikoupi, Jasmine School and Acharnon School, which have put out a joint statement on the deteriorating situation in the city:

During the last month we witnessed the State escalating its anti-immigration policy of restrictions against refugees and the solidarity movement. In Addition to the EU management of migration issues which include forcing people to live in horrible conditions ,deporting them and denying them their basic human rights, the Greek government is revealing its totalitarian face by demonstrating its repression power through evicting political and housing squats for refugees. [Read More]

Durban (South Africa): We March on the City Hall on 26 June 2017

Tuesday, 13 June 2017 – Abahlali baseMjondolo Press Statement

One death and several injuries in Marianhill, three arrests in Kranskop

Today we came under serious attack from the Land Invasions Unit in eMansenseni in Marianhill. One person is confirmed dead, two are in a critical condition in hospital and a number of others are injured – all shot in the back. It was a war zone. The Land Invasions Unit didn’t talk to anyone. They just fired live ammunition. The intention was clearly to kill, to teach a lesson. [Read More]

Chania (Crete): Solidarity with the squat Rosa Nera

rosa_nera_cretaThere are no hotels in Crete. Missing spaces are missing.

During the last years all the governments have carried out several campaigns of elimination of the self-managed spaces. What they want to achieve is that we find ourselves only in our homes, in the cafes, in the bars and in the shopping centers. That is, they want us to be just consumers and customers. Consequently, the offensive that Rosa Nera is facing in Chania is not fortuitous. The Rosa Nera building belongs to the Polytechnic School of Chania, and for thirteen years has been a place of struggle and emblematic culture, also covering roofing needs. In its facilities the tireless people who have worked hard to give life to the building have created a theater, a library and reading room, a space for presentations (of artistic creations), a children’s park, a construction workshop, a space in which is a bazaar of gifts, an oven for the production of artisanal bread, and a coffee. [Read More]

London: Because they were poor: The Grenfell

Angry Londoner writes: “The people who died and lost their homes – this happened to them because they are poor,” Akala, rapper and poet, local resident.

“Regeneration is a euphemism for ethnic and class cleansing”: Kensington resident and writer Ishmahil Blagrove.

Guilty: Boris Johnson. When Mayor of London he put through cuts including the closure of 10 fire stations and the loss of 552 firefighters jobs despite pre-election promises not to do so. When questioned over this at the Greater London Assembly he said: “Get Stuffed”. The loss to the fire services meant a slower response time to the fire, with fire teams having to be called in from outside London.

Guilty: Kensington and Chelsea Council. They repeatedly ignored warnings for years from residents about fire hazards. They attempted to close down a blogger, Francis O’Connor, member of the Grenfell Action Group (GAG) after he warned about fire hazards at Grenfell. They sent a lawyer to threaten him, which he ignored. Nicholas Paget-Brown, leader of the council, attended a private dinner to which he was invited by organizers of the MIPIM (property developers’ event) conference in 2015. The council has had plans to cleanse the residents and build luxury flats in the neighbourhood for the last three years. Now Paget-Brown is trying to put blame on the residents by falsely saying that they objected to water sprinklers. [Read More]

London: Grenfell Tower must mark a turning point for UK housing

Grenfell Tower must mark a turning point for UK housing – community protest called for Saturday 18 June, 12 noon.

In response to the horror at Grenfell Tower, Grenfell Action Group and Radical Housing Network have called a protest at Kensington & Chelsea (RBKC) Town Hall this Saturday.

Radical Housing Network is a London-wide alliance of grassroots housing campaigns of which Grenfell Action Group are a member. The group are calling on estate campaigners, community groups and tenants from across London to join Saturday’s protest to demand #Justice4Grenfell. [Read More]

Athens (Greece): Statement of CityPlaza Squat against the threat of eviction

City Plaza will not bend / Resist the “immigration & passport bureaus”, the frightful flags of states and diplomacy war weapons factories

The court order for the evacuation of the Refugee Accommodation Space City Plaza is the latest scene in the repressive management of refugees and the solidarity movement. From the closure of the borders to the shameful EU-Turkey deal, from the prisonlike camps to the evacuation of squats, a policy of casting refugees as a peculiar enemy is being articulated. [Read More]