We are pleased to present issue one of Trespass Journal. Trespass is self-managed, open access, and unfunded. It is multidisciplinary and publishes work in different languages. It is an online journal which also publishes selected works in print. [2022 – https://blogs.sindominio.net/trespass/en/]
Amsterdam: The living breathing lungs of ADM terrain Westpoort
On the edge of an expanding industrial area in Amsterdam called Westpoort, a special development took place.
A group of people created a forest. The forest functions as a natural filter for emissions from local industries. It filters particulate matter, which are small particles of toxic debris and dust from the coal, concrete and petroleum industries located in the nearby area.
On the ADM terrain the trees and plants continually capture these small particles and hold on to them with their leaves and branches until they are washed away naturally by the rain. This is a pollution barrier at work.
The ADM trees also work as a sound barrier to the activity in the industrial freight and coal terminals located in the area. The trees also capture and store CO2 gas. This sound barrier, natural air filter and CO2 storage works every day.
At present the ADM forest forms a direct benefit for the surrounding living areas such as Westzaan and Zaandam, but also for the environment in a much bigger sense. [Read More]
Athens: 400 refugees, 7 floors, 1 home – Solidarity space City Plaza Hotel
Since 2015 and the emergence of the refugee movement to Europe, Greece has become a major stopover on the journey of people seeking a better and safer life. Thousands of immigrants from Syria, Kurdistan, Iraq, Afghanistan and other war zones have abandoned their homeland in search of a new home, where their life and freedom are not compromised.
Unfortunately, the EU and Greek governments have been unable (and largely unwilling) to respond to the issue. Instead of providing safety and solidarity to war victims, they have signed a (rather shameful) agreement with Turkey, with the purpose of “managing refugee flows” and further securitizing the “forbidden” European borders. As a result, thousands of refugees are currently trapped in Greece, cramped inside detention centers and camps, away from the public eye.
In this context, on 22 April 2016, activists and refugees squatted the City Plaza Hotel in Athens, which had been abandoned for seven years, in order to create “here and now” a model of dignified housing inside the city. Since then, City Plaza became a home for 400 refugees, including 100 families and 168 children. More than 100 solidarians (locals, activists and volunteers) have mobilized to break with the reality of detention, to build new social relations and multicultural forms of coexistence between locals and immigrants, and to animate a living example of self-organization. [Read More]
Athens: Trial against activists who re-occupied Villa Amalias begins
On January 9, 2013, 93 anarchists fight their way in against riot cops in and re-occupied Villa Amalias, after it was evicted on December 20th, 2012. After more than 4 years, the trial against the 93 anarchists will start on March 28th.
On December 2012 as part of a far-right delirium, the State targets Squats and proceeds to evict several of them in Greece. On 20 December 2012 the State evicts one of the historical and oldest squats in Athens (since 1991) named Villa Amalias. In the morning of 9 January 2013, 93 comrades moving collectively and decisively fight their way in against riot policemen that continue to guard the building and succeed to retake the grounds, sending a message of resistance and solidarity, against the onslaught of State and capitalist barbarism. After a few hours special police forces invade the building and arrest the 93 activists.
After more than 4 years, (a usual State and judicial tactic to keep activists’s lives “imprisoned” in perpetual waiting) on March 28, 2017, the 93 are being taken to trial for the reccupation of Villa Amalias, because they dared to disturb the “peace” during the regime’s war and because they remained unruly against the imposed state of emergency and the authoritarian rules, whilst they declare that ‘for the “crime” of fighting for a world of equality, solidarity and freedom they remain consciously “guilty”’.
Solidarity to the 93 activists that retook the grounds of Villa Amalias Squat. [Read More]
UK: Bristol Council and Camelot on back foot as property guardians fight for rights
Bristol Council’s decision to dive into the property guardianship game seems to be coming a cropper as several “guardians” have launched legal and direct action challenges demanding something be done about rat-infested and dangerous tenancies in its buildings.
Having closed public services across the city, the council has found itself flush with empty commercial and office properties, which it decided to make a few pennies on by jumping into bed with Camelot property management in 2013. The firm, along with another company Ad Hoc, now rents out much of its portfolio.
Camelot specialises in the gray-area rentals market of property guardianship, getting hard-up people needing a home to fork out anything up to £500 a month, plus deposit of £500-600, to stay in empty non-residential properties with few rights and eviction at a month’s notice. The firm has repeatedly been condemned as trying on dodgy practices, including initially only offering three weeks’ notice (breaching minimum guidelines) and using “pseudo-legal gibberish” to intimidate people they want out. [Read More]
Dublin: Support & solidarity to Apollo House occupation
Ireland is in the depths of a severe homelessness crisis, with 7,000 people without a home. With the government refusing to act, some activists in Dublin did. Apollo House was occupied by Home Sweet Home Eire on the 15th December, to intervene in the housing crisis and to save lives.
There are around 190,000 vacant buildings in Ireland, that’s 27 houses for every homeless person.
The wealth divide is growing in Ireland and the lives of the homeless mean nothing to a government that values profit over people. For instance, Dublin is in the world’s top 15 for concentration of millionaires, something only intensified as the wealth trickled up after the financial crash. If it is shocking that the rich have become richer as the rest of us have gotten poorer, this is because of the class divide built into our society. When the capitalist class gains, the working class loses. [Read More]
Dublin: Video tour of previous Dublin eviction by injunction sites on the morning of Apollo House hearing
This video was shot on the morning of the Apollo House injunction hearing at the High Court, 21st December. As well as footage from outside the courts on our way there we had earlier visited the sites of other occupied buildings evicted in the last 20 months. We discovered all of them were still vacant and in most cases no visible work at all had been done on them.
Apollo house is a NAMA building occupied to provide emergency accommodation for homeless people. 35-40 people have been accommodated there over the last couple of nights. As expected the judge granted the injunction, it will come into operation on January 11th.
We visit 4 other occupations evicted after the same judge granted injunctions over the previous 20 months. All four of those sites are currently vacant and in 3 cases no apparent work has been done. At the largest, Grangegorman all the habitable structures have now been demolished, it had previously housed 30 people. [Read More]
Den Haag: About the mass arrests at the Fight Repression Demonstration
Yesterday (19th of November) at 16:00, 250 people gathered at the Kerkplein to march in a demonstration against the repression that anarchists and antifascists in The Hague and elsewhere have been facing during the last few years. Repression such as constantly prohibiting demonstrations, and mapping the activities of anarchists and antifascists in order to implement repressive measures. This demonstration was also crushed with repression and violence from the police, per order of Hague mayor van Aartsen.
The demonstration was surrounded from the outset by the Riot Cops and was filmed by the police on all sides. Afterwards, the police ordered that everyone remove their face coverings because, “that was the agreement”. One thing is certain, there was no agreement made about this and this was also not in the notice that the police drafted listing the conditions.
It was immediately clear that the riot cops were just looking for an excuse to engage in a mass arrest, which also happened. The police kettled the demonstration and attacked the group. While the police were attacking the demonstration, they called on people to be calm; a prime example of the way The Hague police try to deescalate. During this mass-arrest, people were hit in their faces, an arm was dislocated, and several people had leg injuries. The police used chokeholds several times and the few people who left the demonstration after being ordered to do so were subsequently beaten. Eventually between 166-184 people were arrested. [Read More]
The Hague: November 19th, Fight Repression! Stop repression against anti-fascists and anarchists!
On Saturday November 19th, there will be a demonstration in The Hague, The Netherlands, against the wave of repression that Hague anti-fascists and anarchists have been facing in the last year. One who attacks one of us, attacks all of us. Solidarity through struggle!
Within the last year, repression against anti-fascists and anarchists has greatly increased, with The Hague in the middle of it. An area ban for anarchists was issued for the Schilderswijk, in an attempt to break the struggle against the racist, violent, and murderous police. After that that, another area ban was issued, this time against anti-fascists who have been resisting against the extreme right wing Pegida demonstrations. Damage claims of 50,000 euro were demanded from several anarchists who resisted against the eviction of social center De Vloek, which had been squatted for 13 years. The mayor also tried to shutter the local Autonomous Center. Furthermore, subsequent demonstrations were forbidden, people were intimidated by the police at home and on the street, numerous preventative arrests were made, and attempts were made to recruit informants.
But these are not just attacks against individual anarchists and anti-fascists. This is an attack against all who fight against racism, this is an attack against all who stand for a world without exploitation and discrimination, this is an attack on all of us. And this attack cannot go unanswered! This is a call for solidarity, because solidarity is our weapon against the isolation being forced on us by the police and the mayor. We must defend our autonomous spaces and structures! [Read More]
Ljubljana: Massive graffiti on Autonomous Factory ROG
The Rog Factory is a squat in Ljubljana, Slovenia, occupied since 2006. During June it resisted a brutal eviction by the municipality and a neo-nazi-shit attack during the night. [Read More]
Rotterdam: Films screened at WORM
The film night at WORM back in May was packed out. As promised, here are the films which were screened. These have all been carefully ripped off the internets and subtitled in english. Much respect to all the original film makers and also to Cineac / Pietje Bell Rotterdam, which was great local community television (lots on youtube!). Unfortunately it lost its funding in 2015.
Kraken gaat door! All films listed below:
Ljubljana: Barricades in Autonomous Factory ROG
Today in the morning (3:30) the city mayor of Ljubljana with security forces and police attacked the autonomous factory ROG that is squatted since 2006. They tried to evict the place and start to demolish the place. People reacted fast and soon after the initial attack few hundred people successfully resisted the violence, eviction and demolition. Barricades were lifted and after few hours security forces and police were pushed out of the factory. The space is since morning again under the control of the people. Different activities are planned for next days since the situation is unclear. [Read More]
Radar Online Agenda
