Brighton: Direct action to prevent deaths on the streets

A squatted night shelter in Brighton is housing homeless people. The Canary visited the squat and spoke to residents about the project.

Back in December 2019, people in Brighton called an emergency meeting to discuss how to act in solidarity with those facing life on the streets. The initiative was taken by Brighton’s Queer AF anti-fascist alliance and other grassroots groups.

Soon, activists took control of an empty Kodak shop on Brighton’s London Road and began using it to house rough sleepers. This week, the group squatted another unused building: the old Poundstretcher building on London Road.
[Read More]

Amsterdam: Five years since Bungehuis occupation

2019 was the year of the demonstration. 2020 will be the year of the uprising. That’s why we’re not only looking forward to this film night with the Vrije Bond Amsterdam, but also look back on previous protests to see what we can learn from them for the future. We pay special attention to the student protests. We will watch Street Politics 101 and have a discussion with veterans of the student protests, but also with the new generation of demonstrators.

We will hold a somewhat special performance of the film evening to mark the fifth anniversary of the Bungehuis occupation. We will also try to learn from this history and talk about new protests, such as the occupation of the P.C. Hoofthuis in 2018. What can we learn from each other for years to come where an even more repressive state and further deterioration of social services threaten? How can we work together towards more freedom and solidarity?

Vrijebond

Rotterdam: Illegal eviction currently at De la Reystraat

Since 15:30 today there is a big police operation at De la Reystraat in the Tweebosbuurt. One squat is threatened with illegal eviction again. You can join there to just witness the scene, it would be really supportive!
Kraaken in ze abyss!

Contact: squat-vestia [at] riseup [dot] net
https://squ.at/r/7o21
http://tweebosbuurt.noblogs.org/
OpenPGP Signature : C3E3 8AEA FB8A 58DD 5ED8 11CF 956E ADCD 4837 E212 [Read More]

Barcelona: About the Cinètika, on free and self-managed spaces

Our solidarity, mutual support and recognition of the humble, consistent, lively and generous daily work that the Cinètika does from an anti-capitalist, feminist, libertarian and inclusive position, open to all the neighbors and all the struggles of the neighborhood and the city. A work of resistance and construction of alternatives from direct action and self-organization. Also from critical culture, constant debate. There is no better discourse than the practice and it is already a few years of having recovered from money, from the market a space, occupying it, making it public without it being institutional. This shows that it is possible to do things in order without authority, that it can work without subsidies. A space for creation, to experiment freely.

There are more and more of them, and they can be seen in experiences such as the Cinètika. They encourage us to know that they exist, that we can use them, that we can support ourselves by creating networks of people and places where we can organize ourselves. It is not by chance that in Barcelona and in so many others, so much money wasted from institutions, so much bureaucracy and entertainment professionals, is born and is maintained in the face of cultural and political mediocrity. Experiences of free thought, of counter-culture, of free communities. Essays on the world we want to build. [Read More]

Pola de Lena (Asturias): The Civil Guard violently evicts the Palaciu de Ronzón

We spoke with a member of the El Palaciu Collective, which has been occupying the Palaciu de Ronzón for nine months, violently evicted this morning by the Guardia Civil.

This morning agents of the Guardia Civil have violently proceeded to evict the Palaciu de Ronzón, an old squatted manor house in Lena (Asturias) that belonged to the powerful family of the nobility Bernaldo de Quirós. During the eviction, two activists have been arrested and are still in the premises of the Civil Guard. At least one of the people arrested has broken his ankle and has had to be transferred to receive medical attention. In addition, numerous identifications have been made and another person has been detained, although she has not been arrested.

From La Haine we have been able to speak with Juan, one of the members of the Colectivo El Palaciu who had been occupying the building for 9 months, while they were gathered in front of the barracks in Pola de Lena demanding the freedom of the detained people. [Read More]

Athens: “The best days have yet to come”

On the 2nd of February we took the initiative to burglarize our own house. Gare is not just for the members of Gare, it belongs to the entire movement. We hung a banner in solidarity with the free spaces and in solidarity with D. of Gare banner saying “Power to the wanted Comrade D. Chatsivachiliadi, Solidarity to the Squats, The State is the Only Terrorist”. We do this action in solidarity and also as an act of resistance: our way of fiercely protecting our ideas, our lives, our spaces, our houses, and our futures.

On 26th of August, Gare was evicted and bricked up and was one of the first in a new wave of repression against the free spaces. Gare was one of the first targeted because the job of the state is to smash the most radical parts of the movement in order to clear the way for further repression and pacification. The state is trying through law and police oppression to put a straight jacket on the furious body of the oppressed peoples. In October, after a robbery action which led to the finding of a weapons cache, including the weapons of Revolutionary Self-Defense. D. was forced on the run and made a fugitive by the state. [Read More]

Vienna: Still lovin´squatting! Action in solidarity with squats! Smash §92a!

In November 2018, activists occupied an empty building in Vienna. They called their new house “Nele”. The occupation has been evicted after three weeks. There was a massive presence of police, including a lifting ramp, an emergency air cushion from the fire department and helicopters.
16 of the evicted people refused the ID control by the police and have been arrested. Two have been identified nonetheless, one other was put into custody for several months.
One of the two identified persons, who stayed on the pitched roof got a letter demanding a payment of 3808 €. The claim is that the person put themselves in danger by climbing the roof; hence is responsible to pay for the overblown police operation.
When the “Sicherheitspaket” (safety package) became law on may 25, 2018, in Austria, the §92a was updated. Because of the new interpretation of §92a SPG, it’ s now possible that people who cause a police operation can be obliged to pay for its costs if they bring themselves in danger.
Especially that the authority to decide, whether a person is in danger or not lies within the police makes this new way of interpreting the law vulnerable for misuse against all kinds of social or environmental activism. Simply people blocking a street in protest, everything could be affected by this new interpretation of the law. [Read More]