Today (August 18) Bios Lab-Spazio Autogestito in Padua was evicted. Yet another eviction, yet another attack on an autonomous place of political, social and cultural production. Since 2013, Bios provided space for political, artistic and cultural projects used by hundreds of self-organised people, as well as many other things such as the free legal support office for asylum seekers.
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Padua: Eviction of Bios Lab-Spazio Autogestito
Second edition of Venice Climate Camp to be held at CS Rivolta
We have decided, as Centro Sociale Rivolta, to host the second edition of the Venice Climate Camp. There will be four days of debates, assemblies and discussions on the ecological and climate crisis. A moment of confrontation and organization for local and global struggles for climate and social justice. We have chosen, for this year, to move this edition to Rivolta to guarantee maximum possible safety and tranquility for the participants. We will take all the necessary precautionary measures by implementing a specific protocol that has at its core the concept of care and responsibility for one’s community.
More info (Italian)
Wassenaar: The Danger of Occupied Ivicke
Why does the municipality of Wassenaar consider our residency at Ivicke to be a “danger”? And what exactly are we endangering? Here, I will give these questions some space, that necessarily lead us back in time.
In January 2019, Ivicke’s owner requested the municipality to enforce the bestemmingsplan (zoning plan), which was rejected a few months later in June. The municipality justified this decision by pointing out that our eviction would constitute a danger to public order given the owner’s lack of a plan for the building – that is, more vacancy could lead to a second act of squatting.
[Sidenote: The notorious bestemmingsplan is the bureaucratic destiny of Ivicke which was changed to an office function in the 1980s from its original purpose as residency. Thereafter, antisquat companies, hired by the current owner, made use of some rooms, which moves in a legal grey area but is tolerated due to its corporate nature and temporary status. While our residency is quite certainly of a temporary nature as well, the bestemmingsplan has been used as a strategy to evict the “danger” we pose by both the owner and the municipality.]
Back in time: The owner’s lawyer appealed on 29th of July, which was received on the 31st of July by the municipality – interesting timing, as the mayor got to know about the upcoming No Border Camp (NBC: 01.08.-04.08.) on the 30th of July. The NBC is an international gathering with workshops and actions, that inform about and act against the inhumane migratory policies of EU-states, and that aim to connect struggles in other parts of the world. Here, we pause in time because those days were packed with legal procedures and political struggles.
After the owner’s lawyer was informed about our plans with the terrain, she took the municipality to court in order to force them to prohibit the upcoming camp. When the judge didn’t grant her will, she went in appeal hoping that another judge would forbid the – at that point – ongoing camp. Luckily, this didn’t happen and the NBC proceeded. It is however interesting to investigate the lawyer’s justification for this legal upheaval. Her main argument emphasised the potential harm that the activities during the camp could cause to the monument. Her concern is quite ridiculous, as she is representing the person – Ronnie van de Putte – that has remorselessly observed the gradual degradation of the monument and not taken any steps to prevent its eventual destruction.
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UK: Tales from the Trees & Tracks
Hello, I am @mushrooni and I travelled down from West Yorkshire on the train to Crackley Protection Camp. Ironically I took the planned HS2 route from the north to Birmingham…
So I brought a tent and initially planned to stay for a couple days but it has nearly been a month now!
I joined this campaign to engage with others and take action against HS2. Obviously I’m here to protect and stand up for the trees, birds, bats and wildlife that are being ripped apart and killed, though it’s much bigger than this – it’s about the whole capitalistic project and the system that HS2 is part of and represents. Protectors have been mistreated, harmed and put in really serious situations – the National Eviction Team, HS2 security and police departments are getting away with their dirty work.
I have never felt so much kindness, generosity and openness from strangers as I have done being involved in these communities. I’ve realised how important it is to be around like minded people, working towards the same goal and how necessary it is to be able to stand up to what is wrong.
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UK: HS2 High Speed High Tension
Over the last fortnight I have gone down a High Speed 2 research wormhole, sparked by the thought that I hadn’t heard much about what was going on lately with this bloated project. I started to google around and to read the media outside my usual reference points, which led to a fair few discoveries, some good some bad. This is a time of high tension, a time when the white elephant should be retired before it’s too late. With my head full of statistics and controversies, I chatted to friends and families in the park and at barbecues and received a fascinating range of opinions. There are protest camps going on and I visited some of them. There are reports from various groups, for and against, which I have read. I came to realise that Stop HS2is a huge socio-political issue which the mainstream media (and to be fair also the alternative media I tend to read) are simply not covering in all its complexity.
In this article, I’d like to draw attention to a few issues. The judicial review launched by Chris Packham has just failed on appeal and that’s a real shame, but the struggle is far from over. Various court cases are in progress and these people need our support, as well as the camps which are springing up to protect threatened areas of natural beauty. Nobody is against a railway in itself, but the story is far more nuanced than that.
Birmingham: Report back from Jellytot StopHS2 courtcase
There are currently several courtcases going on prosecuting Stop HS2 activists, whilst HS2 Limited recently announced that their chief executive earned £659,000 last year, making him the highest paid UK government official. The board of directors got £1.6m remuneration in total … and this was all paid for by our taxes!? Instead of this greed and corruption being investigated, at the end of July young tree protector Jellytot faced charges at Birmingham High Court for allegedly breaking an injunction seventeen times. Defending ancient woodland in Warwickshire is the alleged crime!
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UK: Stop HS2 Update
Despite a media blackout, lots is happening in the world of HS2 resistance. High speed 2 is a corrupt scheme now predicted to cost over £100 billion which will both devastate areas of natural beauty and enrich Tory cronies and construction companies. Whilst the idea to have a superfast railway line connecting the north of England to London has some merit, since the south-east is over-crowded and the UK desperately needs to reduce carbom emissions, the implementation of HS2 is completely stupid. It’s a slow ecological catastrophe. Instead of building better transport links in the north, HS2 construction has started in the south and the midlands. Ancient woodlands are being trashed by contractors who have ignored the nesting season for birds and used hawks illegally to clear zones. Just the other day in Denham, a beautiful alder tree was chopped down and a tree protector was hospitalised.
The HS2 railway project is a bloated white elephant which needs to be stopped. The Woodland Trust estimates more than 100 areas of ancient woodland will be trashed, over 30 sites of special scientific interest lost and more than twenty nature reserves destroyed. The most recent reserve under attack is Calvert Jubilee in Buckinghamshire, which has been compulsory purchased and will be cleared by HS2 beginning Tuesday 28 July. HS2 had previously entered the site in January pretending to be the owner and had chopped down trees. You know that something is going deeply wrong when the Tory leader of Buckinghamshire Council tweets: “Absolutely dreadful. Have visited this beautiful Reserve many times. This is a crime against nature”
So where is the resistance? Currently there are several protest camps dotted along the proposed route. It’s hard to find out exactly what’s going on without using facebook and twitter, so there’s clearly a need for anarchist and alternative media to do more on this important issue.
Onto a list of the camps:
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UK: Poors Piece Conservation Project
Hello there. Thank you everyone for your continued support. It is much appreciated. Please see below a camp wish list for some basic foodstuff essentials. Every donation is valued and appreciated.
Thank you.
- Tinned tomatoes
- Tinned baked beans, chick peas, kidney beans, sweetcorn,etc.
- Tinned coconut milk
- Soup
- Dried green and red lentils.
- Cereal (not oats at the moment)
- And….clothes for a two year old girl.
Location:Steeple Claydon, Bucks, MK18 2HH
Facebook: Poors Piece Conservation Project
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UK: Save Roald Dahl Woods from HS2
Jones Hill Wood is a small woodland situated between Wendover and Great Missenden. This wood is at the start of the planned Wendover viaduct for HS2. It is also bordered by two family farms under the threat of impending forced evictions.
These families and woods are part of our literary, cultural and social history, inspiring Roald Dahl’s Fantastic Mr Fox adventures. This is something we should cherish and preserve for future generations.
This inspirational woodland is a key location in the Chilterns HS2 development and we need to come together to save this land and the trees around it!
We need people to come and help form a rota to occupy this woodland or it will be lost forever. We have limited time, the HS2 fence is one field away. We have limited numbers and resource. It’s time to act.
There is a small number of us right now and we are calling out to locals, and concerned humans across the United Kingdom. Come and play your part in helping reverse the decision to press ahead with the colossal mistake that is HS2. Do not leave this to the few!
Location: See pic, Jones Hill Woods near Wendover, Bucks HP22 6QD
Facebook: Save Roald Dahl Woods from HS2
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UK: Save Crackley Woods Camp
Crackley, Birches Roughknowles and Broadwells, all ancient woodlands outside Kenilworth, Warwickshire, are under threat from HS2. Recently, some work in ancient woodland was halted but some is still happening, and HS2 Ltd still plan to take down parts of the Queens Diamond Jubilee Wood during the current review.
The camp is not in the main bit of Crackley Woods, and is most easily found just behind the HS2 compound on Cryfield Grange Road, CV8 2JU (some satnavs may send you to where the university cycle path crosses the road, we are NOT there, we are at the Crackley Lane end, behind the HS2 compound). The camp is also accessible via the bridleway that starts at Crackley Farm and crosses the Greenway on a bridge.
Google maps or what3words
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UK: Wendover Active Resistance Camp
Wendover Active Resistance Camp is situated in the direct route of HS2 in Buckinghamshire. We are a collective of autonomous individuals here to protect the environment and our precious wildlife.
Please come visit us and check out the wish list to support us protecting this area and find out more about what we do.
Location = Beside London Road (A413) at HP22 6PN – Opposite Road Barn Farm! – Concealed entrance signs written in red paint
Instagram: w.a.r.camp
Facebook: Wendover Active Resistance Camp
WISHLIST:
We’re really low on food and SOCKS!
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Philadelphia: Report On Attempted Occupation Of Hahnemann Hospital
On Saturday, June 27th, Health-Care Workers And Community Members In Philadelphia Put Up Barricades And Attempted To Occupy The Entrance To The Shuttered Hahnemann Hospital.
For a brief moment on Saturday, nurses, patients and community members seized a shuttered hospital in Philadelphia and turned it over to the people to use as a clinic. Following a rally at the City Hall, a crowd of around 100 people marched north to the empty hospital tower, erected canopies, tables, and chairs, and began to attend to patients who had joined the march and were eager to receive care. They were the first people to be treated at the hospital since the pandemic began, during which the absentee owner kept its doors shut to the city in the hopes of forcing the city to pay a ransom.
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Radar Online Agenda
