London: Police exploit anti-racist BLM rally to arrest green activists

By: fawda - June 12th, 2020  Filed under: News

Three people, including green activists, were arrested by a City of London snatch squad at today’s Black Lives Matter march.

Two who were sitting in Hyde Park in the early part of the day were swarmed by around 20 police who arrested them under a City of London warrant, allegedly over an incident on February 28th.

Freedom has since heard that a squatted social centre in Islington was also raided under a Section 18 search.

The arrests are just the latest of many which have taken place over the course of the last week, as police attempt to keep a handle on a militant mood which has driven large rallies against racism and in support of black lives matter.

The march itself, which was moved at short notice to today following threats from the far-right, was otherwise a success, with thousands of people marching from Hyde Park to Trafalgar square as part of the peaceful protest. [Read More]

Tags: , , , , , , , , ,

Berlin: Attack the city of the rich. Defend the projects

By: fawda - June 12th, 2020  Filed under: Communique, News

The gentrification in Berlin continues incessantly, and with it displacement. Not only people but also spaces are affected: Spaces of the radical movement, open spaces, safer spaces for people affected by discrimination, non-commercial spaces, spaces of subculture, of political networking and spaces where people try to live concrete utopias.

One struggle – one fight
In recent years, spaces such as the Liebig14 house project, the youth centre Drugstore , the community space Friedel54, the wagon places DieselA & Sabot Garden, the O-Platz occupation and the occupied school in Ohlauer Straße have already disappeared.
But it does not stop there. Many other spaces are currently under threat. The youth centre Potse, the house project Liebig34 and the bar collective Syndikat & Meuterei expect an eviction before the end of the year. Other spaces such as the house project Rigaer94, the house project Köpi137, the community house Lause10/11 or the community garden Prachttomate face a similar threat in the near future.

No spaces – no movement
All of these are spaces that live and fight for a different Berlin: a Berlin in which we know our neighbours, in which we create our houses and our neighbourhood together and jointly determine how public space is used. A Berlin where there is room for self-chosen living concepts. A Berlin in which we can try out alternatives to the exploitative and oppressive relations of wage labour, care work, educational system and on the basis of rent and ownership. [Read More]

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Rotterdam: Temporary new place of DHZ

By: sisulscz - June 11th, 2020  Filed under: Communique

Since March we have been going through a lot, globally and also in our workshop.

After a fire at our neighbour we had to close the workshop temporarily. It then turned out to be a serious damage to the building and we were evicted from our lovely workshop on Burgemeester Roosstraat where we stayed almost 6 years. It is very sad for us all but we would like to keep our activities going on.
[Read More]

Tags: ,

Uppsala: Imminent eviction of Försvara Blodstensskogen

By: fawda - June 9th, 2020  Filed under: Communique, News

The occupation of the forest aim to stop the clear cut of a centenary forest. Besqab company and Uppsala commune have plan to build luxury apartment.

The gentrification of Uppsala has been an ongoing process over many years. 2013 saw a luxury renovation of Rikshem’s housing in Gränby, 2016 saw the demolition of the community center (sw. allaktivitetshuset, colloquially known as Allis) on Kungsgatan for a luxury housing development project by Magnolia Bostad. The end of 2020 require the youth center (Ungdomens hus) to move for the space it currently occupies can be used for more lucrative endeavors. These mentioned are only a few examples of gentrification and urbanization that results in increased rent and degradation of living standards. However, the gentrification monster is still hungry and has its sights set on the forest. Blodstensskogen along with other various surrounding nature areas are on the menu as the appetizer, Norra Lunsen as a possible main course, and we can only imagine what will be served as dessert.
Eriksberg is currently in the most acute danger, as the company Besqab plans to begin its housing development project of Blodstensskogen. The company, along with the municipality, believe that something more important than biodiversity is luxury housing (four 8-story apartment buildings and five 4-story apartment buildings) along with a shopping center where customers can consume relentlessly. [Read More]

Tags: , , , , , , , , , ,

Berlin: Syndikat Stays! New eviction date on August 7th

By: fawda - June 9th, 2020  Filed under: News

! Assembly / Rally !
Sunday, 14.06. | 4 pm | in front of Syndikat (Weisestr. 56)
Current information, dates & material and space for exchange and ideas. And, of course, make it loud and clear: Syndikat Stays!
Whispered translation is organized.

Corona’s over!? – The Senate is starting evictions again…

Corona has been an up and down of emotions for us so far. After the very sudden shutdown and the fear of having to experience the first evacuation attempt on April 17th without a proper conclusion, the cancellation followed shortly before. Thereupon a long hangover, financial worries and the uncertainty whether we would ever be able to open again in any form. Then, last week, the rather surprising news of being able to open again under certain conditions. Unfortunately, the joy did not last long, because on our 2nd (semi-)open day, we received mail from Bossin, the bailiff of the high court, again: the second first eviction attempt is now scheduled for Friday, August 7th at 9 am. [Read More]

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , ,

The Hague : Short Stay? No Way! Nothing’s over, we’re just getting started!

By: fawda - June 8th, 2020  Filed under: News

Today, Monday the 8th of June, we left the building at the Waldeck Pyrmontkade 872 (WP872) in The Hague. After a month of occupation as a protest against the planned construction of luxury short-stay apartments in the Zeeheldenkwartier, the Court of The Hague has given permission for the eviction of the building. We have therefore decided to leave the building within the aforementioned period of three days, not out of good-will nor out of understanding, but with our eyes looking at the future.

The squatting of the building on the Waldeck Pyrmontkade was a first step in the fight against short-stay apartments and gentrification in The Hague and in the Zeeheldenkwartier in particular. At the basis of this struggle lies the issue of ownership and housing law. As a group we had decided to break ownership and claim our right to live. This is a necessary step since real estate companies do what they want with (potential) homes under the guise that “they are theirs”. We are not talking about private property here, but about ownership, the property right that is going crazy and is unleashing a dictatorial dynamic in many neighborhoods of our city. It is built for profit and not for needs, real estate is a profitable thing. Neighbourhoods are sold out and the houses that are built are sold and rented for the maximum price. The possibilities to raise this issue in an administrative or legal way are almost non-existent. In a courtroom there is little to gain from the start: the judge always judges in favour of the owner, no matter how awkward the situation is. Possession, ownership and corporatism outweigh a fundamental human right, the right of residence. Such a ground is written in the law book, it is written in black and white. A problematic case. [Read More]

Tags: , , , , , ,

Wassenaar: Ivicke Sales Seizure, First Step To Expropriation?

By: fawda - June 7th, 2020  Filed under: Communique, News

The municipality of Wassenaar is going to court to annul the recent sales of Ivicke by the owner, Ronnie van de Putte, to two of his newly-established companies.

Van de Putte is currently subject to an administrative order from the municipality of Wassenaar to carry out restoration works on Ivicke by July 20. Otherwise, the municipality intends to carry out the work itself and send him the bill.

Thing is though, this bill could quickly add up. And van de Putte isn’t known for paying his debts.

Ivicke’s restoration costs are thought to be around 500,000 euros but this can (and probably will) shoot up once the works begin. Especially since there has not yet been a full architectural assessment.

Kees Wassenaar, the city’s alderman for spatial planning, said the dispute over Ivicke has already cost Wassenaar hundreds of thousands of euros. A spokesperson for the municipality did not want to give an exact overall figure, but the city has incurred around 40,000 in legal costs alone.

These spiraling costs are what led the municipality of Wassenaar to ask the province of Zuid-Holland for help. In response, Zuid-Holland pledged a maximum of 500,000 euros from its monument restoration fund for 2020. We stand against this abuse of public funds for a project that does not meet the criteria set by Zuid-Holland’s own monument restoration policy, where there is no guarantee the money could be recouped, and which does not guard against a new cycle of neglect and decay. [Read More]

Tags: , , , , , , ,

Wassenaar: Report on Ivicke’s ‘Emergency Repairs’

By: fawda - June 6th, 2020  Filed under: Communique, News

In January, following the court ruling stating that the owner must comply with the municipality’s order to carry out emergency repairs, a contractor began the works on Ivicke.

At the request of members of two monument protection organisations, we sent a report (below) to the municipality, with details about how the repairs were carried out. We didn’t receive a response. Instead, municipal officials announced they would inspect the building. We agreed to this and showed the inspectors and the contractor around, pointing out the issues we’d already raised in the letter. The officials barely engaged with us, and merely went around with a clipboard and ticked off boxes. The conclusion of the municipality was that the owner fulfilled the obligation to do emergency repairs. Yay! Win-win for the municipality, who successfully enforced their administrative order, and for the owner, who can keep them off his back (for now). [Read More]

Tags: , , , , , , ,

Amsterdam: ADM community has to pack again!

By: fawda - June 4th, 2020  Filed under: Communique, News

A first update from the Slibvelden crew itself was made public on May 24th 2020. One big part of the former ADM crew relocated at the Slibvelden on Buikslotermeerdijk 95 in Amsterdam Noord. The following statement is published on Indymedia on June 4th by Stichting ADM Leeft, with Hay Schoolmeesters (also Urban Resort, Free Spaces Accord), holding the pen:

ADM community has to pack again!

Almost a year and a half ago, the ADM site was evicted inappropriately. Under the supervision of the municipality, all that was from and dear to the more than 125 residents was completely destroyed by the owner of the site. Part of the close-knit community ended up on the Sludge Fields of the former Water Purification in Amsterdam North. Now this group is forced to relocate on November 1 this year, without any necessity.

At the end of 2018, a motion was passed by the Amsterdam city council, which instructed the college to work with the ADM community to find a definitive location where the community could continue their way of living and livelihood after the sludge fields. The sludge fields were made available to the ADM community for 2 years by means of a tolerance decision. In a recent meeting with the Municipality Noord, it turned out that, despite the motion and despite the fact that no other location is in the picture, the Municipality nevertheless wants to remove the ADM community from the site! [Read More]

Tags: , , , , , , , ,

Lausanne: Occupation of a building to accommodate homeless people

By: fawda - June 3rd, 2020  Filed under: Communique, News

On Friday May 29th at the end of the day, during the Critical Mass, we occupied the Place Bel-Air 4 building in downtown Lausanne with the aim of creating a place of welcome for people in need of housing, but also a place of solidarity, convergence of struggles, culture and sharing. The Municipality gave the order to evict and the building was emptied a few hours later by the police, but this event will be remembered and reminds us that autonomous, supportive and resistant places are more than ever necessary.

With the end of the lock down, Lausanne has reduced the number of housing units for the homeless. Friday’s occupation was made in response to the Sleep-In Association’s Appeal 212, which asked to do everything possible to ensure that the 212 beds that were provided during the coronavirus period would be maintained all year round, thus meeting the real needs of homeless people in the Lausanne region. The covid-19 pandemic has shown that many emergency measures can be put in place quickly and that immense financial resources can be found to support the economy and save multinationals. Why don’t we see a similar mobilization for climate emergency and social justice? [Read More]

Tags: , , , , , , , ,

The Hague: Summary of the court case Waldeck Pyrmontkade 872

By: fawda - June 1st, 2020  Filed under: News

The court case against the occupants of the Waldeck Pyrmontkade 872 in The Hague took place on the 25th of May 2020. The owners of this building, RE:BORN real estate, had started an urgent court case in a sped up procedure to evict the occupants. They were also claiming an indemnity of 100.000 euro. We had taken the decision to not yield in front of their pressure, and to take on this court case.

RE:BORN’s story was out of its hinges throughout the court case. Although their file appeared impressive at the first glance, a closer look revealed it to be rather hollow. The blueprints, contracts with contractors and renting companies were for the most dating back to two years ago and had been signed back then (although signatures were missing here and there). The ‘plan’ was clearly already there, but was probably on the shelf for 2 years already. As RE:BORN said themselves in an article published by Den Haag Centraal: “we have had to put various projects in the freezer” (23-04-2019). With the documents they delivered, it became clear that there was no emergency in this case. There was also no indication of when the construction would start. There were just a couple of dates summed up, from the past two weeks, to try and prove in this way that the `squatters were frustrating the project´ and so to legitimate the indemnity of 100.000 euro. [Read More]

Tags: , , , , , ,

Lyon: Call for donations. Help the inhabitants of Maria!

By: fawda - June 1st, 2020  Filed under: News

In the last few months, a new squat has been opened in the Guillotière district of Lyon. The residents are single mothers, single people and families. The personal situations are diverse, but all come together around the same need: to have a roof over their heads, which the metropolis and the public authorities are apparently unable to provide. In Lyon, the number of people on the street is estimated at around 3,000, including 310 children and 700 young isolated minors. What is happening at Maria is an opportunity, but also the fruit of everyone’s perseverance, hope as a banner, solidarity as a weapon!

Help the inhabitants of Maria!

We are launching a fund in order to provide for the primary needs of the inhabitants:
– to buy large quantities of non-perishable food and hygiene products,
– pay the health costs of those who cannot benefit from social security,
– acquire games and educational material for children.
In order to guarantee good living conditions for the inhabitants of Maria, we must also continue the work that has been started to ensure the healthiness of the apartments. However, we lack money to buy the necessary materials and tools. When all this has been solved, the residents would also like to organise cultural events. [Read More]

Tags: , , , , ,