Greece: The occupied refugee center Notara26 in Athens

By: fawda - January 2nd, 2016  Filed under: Audio, News

Κατάληψη_Νοταρά_26We had the opportunity of making an interview with two activists of the occupied and self-organized refugee center Notara26 in Athens, Greece. The comrades tell us about the origins and ideas of their center as well as of the anarchist influence and importance of the Exarchia neighborhood. They also comment on the topic of governmental (Syriza) policies and the difference of their work to such policies. And they also mention problems encountered in this project.

Some more interviews with anarchist organizations and anarchist projects will follow soon as part of our new series on anarchism and social struggles in the Mediterranean. This is part is on the occupied refugee center Notara26 in Athens, Greece.
Length: 12:36 min
You can download the audio at: archive.org (wav | mp3 | ogg).

Here you can listen to it directly:
[Read More]

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“London 2016: the terrain of struggle in our city” – Aylesbury Estate and some seeds of resistance

By: dolph-l - January 1st, 2016  Filed under: essay

By Some London Foxes.

This is a small contribution towards mapping the terrain of social conflict in London today.

First, it identifies some big themes in how London is being reshaped, looking at: London’s key role as a “global hub” for international finance capital; how this feeds into patterns of power and development in the city; and the effect on the ground in terms of two kinds of “social cleansing” – cleaning out undesirable people, and sanitising the social environment that remains.

Second, it surveys recent resistance and rebellion to this pattern of control including the short-lived “grassroots housing movement” of last winter, the confrontational Aylesbury Estate occupation, anti-raids mini-riots, and some riotous street parties. [Read More]

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Thessaloniki: a visit at the Orfanotrofio squat

By: fawda - December 31st, 2015  Filed under: News

Orfanotrofio_ThessalonikiOn 26th December we visited the Orfanotrofio Squat in Thessaloniki’s Toumba district. A place that was squatted and is now administrated by refugees and the “Anti-authoritarian Space” [1] as well as other active people from Thessaloniki.

About the history

The plan to collectively organize a project like this emerged in September 2015. Connections and contacts between refugees and activists from Thessaloniki were established through the “No border kitchen” in Eidomeni. Together opportunities for meeting and living spaces were sought. Because the border closed three weeks ago (see also part 2 of our report) the creation of a self-organized space got necessary. For many people it became obvious that immediate action was inevitable. Consequently refugees that were rejected at the Macedonian border squatted together with people of the „Anti-authoritarian Space“, the so called ‘Orfanotrofio’. The church owned property was already squatted once in 2013.Three weeks ago, priests together with the cops, threatened to evict the place which did not happen yet. An anarchist comrade estimates the situation right now to be relatively relaxed. According to her, the cops have no reason to evict the place, because there seems to be no apparent political perspective nor will to create spaces for refugees and other socially marginalized groups. Nevertheless, it remains a squatted place and therefore is never absolutely safe. [Read More]

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Notre-Dame-des-Landes, France: Call-out for a massive day of action on Saturday 9th January (change of date)

By: dolph-l - December 31st, 2015  Filed under: News, Press release

ATTENTION! Change of date

General mobilisation of opponents to the airport project the 9th January, following the announcement of the hearing for the 13/01/2016 to evict historical inhabitants and peasants.

After the ‘adjourned’ trial of December 10th aimed at evicting the historical inhabitants, and within a climate of announcing evictions and resuming work early 2016, let’s show Vinci and the state that we won’t let them do so.

The movement against the airport calls for a massive day of action on Saturday 9th January. [Read More]

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London: Former Royal Mint building occupied

By: dolph-l - December 30th, 2015  Filed under: News

Update from approximately 2pm: Royal Mint still occupied but security are preventing people from entering.. Support needed! We should set up tents etc outside asap!

Yesterday [December 28th] squatters occupied a former Royal Mint building in Tower Hill in protest against homelessness, empty buildings and the ongoing criminalisation of squatting.

The building on Royal Mint Court was converted into offices in 1980, when the Royal Mint completed its move to Llantrisant in Wales. At its height, the building symbolised the monetary power of the City of London and, as its occupiers point out, has become to represent the vast inequality it once had a part in producing. [Read More]

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Notre-Dame-Des-Landes, France: Call for bids on the ZAD “To build a future without an aeroport”

By: dolph-l - December 30th, 2015  Filed under: Communique, News

Resumption of public works 30th and 31st January 2016

Herein-below the list of proposed lots, updated 25th December

The “steering committee for a future without an aeroport” launch a call for bids to start the public works (which never ceased from our side) on the ZAD the 30th and 31st January 2016, just after the confectioners’ truce.

This call for bids is addressed to everyone who participated in the struggle from within the area and beyond, whether organised in committees or groups of friends. It is designed to reinforce the collective, material, agricultural, defensive and festive structures that exist on the ZAD of Notre Dames des Landes. It consists of diverse projects, adapted to all different tastes and all bodies of work. The construction should take place, or at least be well under way, the 30th and 31st January 2016. [Read More]

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Geneva, Switzerland: Burying the airport of Notre-Dame-Des-Landes

By: dolph-l - December 30th, 2015  Filed under: Communique

In these days of celebrations, we wanted to also extend our wishes to the French government. Death wishes where the Notre-Dame-Des-Landes project is buried once and for all.

Faced with the growing ZAD eviction threats, a small team of artist-apprentices in the night of December 25th to 26th went to decorate the French consulate in Geneva, to thereby also mark down the resistance in Switzerland. [Read More]

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Person Shot by Police at Fundraiser Outside of Casa Naranja Squat

By: pinkxedge - December 21st, 2015  Filed under: News

From Unicorn Riot

Four squad cars of local police attacked a fundraiser party outside of Casa Naranja Okupa – a nine-year old squat. People were raising funds to start a bike collective. After the early morning incident on Saturday, December 19th, one person is still hospitalized from police gunfire but expected to recover fully.

[Read More]

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Leipzig: EWI – this is only the beginning

By: fawda - December 19th, 2015  Filed under: Communique, News

20151219_Leipzig_EWI_erst_der_AnfangWe will keep going next year!

We squatted rooms in the EWI (faculty of education) together with los of different people to show, that it is possible to realize our political demands. The squatting happened as an act of basic democratically organized civil disobedience.

The rooms here are to small for a Social Center For All and for next year they will probably be used as a communal housing for refugees. Therefore we ended the squatting with a demonstration to the city hall to stress on our demand for an appropriate building!

After the last 2 days, we will try to spend some time in reflection and think about how to pick up on what happened. As a fact: The Occupation of EWI was a big success for us! By squatting we reached the aim to raise attention. There’s no way not to see we are here! We achieved, that public and politics opened for the project, so for now we are in a good position to get closer to our goal: having a Social Center for All! [Read More]

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Leipzig: the EWI is squatted!

By: fawda - December 17th, 2015  Filed under: Communique, News

leipzig_ewiActivists recently squatted several rooms of the unused “Erziehungswissenschaftliche Fakultät” of the University Leipzig (Karl-Heine Straße 22b)! 🙂

We demand space for a “Social Center for All”. Around 80 people are participating, there is food and we will continue our discussion. Join us!

update for tonight:
– at 8:30pm we decided to squat the old library of the University, which is not in use anymore. It is located at Karl-Heinse Str. 22b in the building of “Erziehungswissenschaftliche Fakultät”
– there has been between 60 and 100 motivated people all the time.
– we really had disturbing discussions with the university administration. In between we faced absurd threats and police got ready to move in.. in the end negotiations worked out and we will stay till the morning, at least!
– tomorrow we will move on: planing, networking, more discussion about what we want to do.
Come by and participate! Breakfast at 8, see you tomorrow! [Read More]

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France: Against the airport and the Cop21 – Attacks in solidarity with the ZAD of Notre-Dame-des-Landes

By: dolph-l - December 15th, 2015  Filed under: Communique

While the multinational Vinci is an official partner of the “COP21 Solutions: Come live the climate experience” exhibition at the Grand Palais in Paris, providing two conferences there (one of which is co-presented by an executive director of Veolia), to explain to the public at which point their approach is “green”, sustainable and eco-responsible; its Airport of Grand Ouest subsidiary has just relaunched eviction procedures against all inhabitants of the ZAD, to be able to start building its “Environmentally High Quality” airport.

Faced with this obsession of concreting our living spaces, a group of paint-artists meanwhile decided in the night of Friday 4th to Saturday 5th December 2015 to cheerfully redecorate the gloomy greyish SOGEA Atlantique building, another of multiple Vinci subsidiaries, in Saint-Herblain [Nantes outskirts]. [Read More]

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London: Call-out for court solidarity with those arrested at Sweets Way eviction

By: dolph-l - December 14th, 2015  Filed under: News, Press release

JOIN US TO STAND UP AGAINST SOCIAL CLEANSING AND THE CRIMINALISATION OF PEACEFUL PROTEST!

Friday, December 18, 1pm
Willesdon Magistrates Court, (448 High Road, London, NW10 2DZ)

On 23 and 24 of September, the Sweets Way estate was evicted by dozens of High Court bailiffs and 7 vans of London Met police. Nearly a hundred occupiers of dozens of homes were turfed out, as was Mostafa, the last original resident of the estate. Supporters peacefully attempted to stop Mostafa’s eviction, many of whom were arrested. Fifteen now face criminal charges for obstructing High Court Enforcement Officers. [Read More]

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