London,UK : Please come to Grow Heathrow

We will give more updates as soon as we can, but the short story is that we urgently need people to come to site to help us plan. We’ve just heard that we lost our appeal in the UK’s second-highest court so the landowner now has a live possession order. We don’t know the landowner’s plans, so we don’t know whether or when he will apply for a warrant from the County Court for bailiffs, and beyond then whether or when he might hire bailiffs.

Oakland, USA : National Lawyers Guild Wins Settlement for Occupy Oakland Injuries in Campbell vs Oakland

Twelve people injured by the Oakland police department during Occupy Oakland demonstrations have settled a federal civil rights lawsuit with the city of Oakland for a total of $1.17 million. The physical injuries came as a result of OPD’s violent response to Occupy Oakland on October 25 and November 2, 2011. Plaintiffs to receive compensation for injuries include David Morse, a long-time member of the San Francisco Bay Area Independent Media Center (Indybay).

The settlement in the Campbell vs. City of Oakland case comes on the heals of another $1 million settlement still pending final approval, Spalding vs. City of Oakland. As a result of both cases, OPD has agreed to allow the federal court to enforce OPD’s compliance with its own crowd control policy and to negotiate with the National Lawyers Guild (NLG) and the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) before making any changes to the policy. The control policy prohibits police from shooting “less lethal” impact munitions or tossing explosive teargas grenades into crowds, and prohibits mass arrests without warning or opportunity to disperse.

[Read More]

San Francisco Tenants protest at Rick Holman’s Home as part of ‘Eviction Free Summer’

Tenants facing eviction from the historic 17 Reasons building by developer and landlord Rick Holman protested outside of his home in South Park in San Francisco this Tuesday. Since the start of the eviction process, Holman has used a variety of tactics such as illegal lockouts of tenants, harassment from security guards, as well as a web of surveillance systems against those paying rent at the building that he wants gone. During a recent block party against gentrification in the Mission District, Holman also worked closely with the police to ensure that the building would not be “occupied” by protestors, and also issued an ‘unlawful detainer’ to residents inside on the day of the event. How many times have we all had landlords come to our homes, walk around, issue demands, and threaten us? Landlords hold great power over our lives and also take massive amounts of money out of our hands that we make by our labors and put it into their pockets. Thus, it’s great to see people taking the fight to their doorsteps and raising a ruckus in their bourgie neighborhoods. Often, most people are too afraid to stand up to the cops, the landlords, and the developers, but we need only keep in mind that are all united in our experiences and our desire to live freely. Hopefully, this is just the start!

[Read More]

Manila: Squatters clash with police over gentrification project

Thousands of people living in slums in Manila have fought fierce battles with police, who are trying to evict them from their homes in order to make way for a multi-billion dollar project to turn the area into a new business district.

As police moved in to the 72 acre site, residents erected barricades, and fought back the police using rocks, nail bombs, and bags of faeces. The police repeatedly charged the barricades with batons and teargas, but without success.
[Read More]

London, UK: Made Possible by Squatting Call-out for Submissions

Made Possible by Squatting seeks submissions for an exhibition in September 2013 and an on-line archive that celebrate how squatting has positively affected the lives of individuals & communities in London.

Against the back-drop of the criminalisation of squatting Made Possible by Squatting is looking for work that depicts or embodies a particular chosen experience, movement, space or place in relation to squatting.

The story you choose to tell could be your own, or a history you want to investigate and share.

It could be current or historic – a huge chapter in the life of a community, or a tiny forgotten moment in time, extraordinary or quite ordinary.

The format is completely open – works can be sculptural, photographic, print based, archive materials, workshops, performance, digital, video, audio, temporary or permanent…

[Read More]

Cologne (Germany): Gather & Resist, 28.6. – 7.7. 2013

AZ_Köln_Gather&Resist

Yes, let`s squat again
Trapped by contracts, orders an regulations – it’s time to break free.

If the legal contract with an autonomous center is terminated we* are able to take a new step towards empowerment. The uprising takes shape and we can already feel it´s warmth, like numbed hands coming back to life in a mad tickling. We won´t complain no more, that the shitsystem as it is won´t let us have spaces of dissent. We understand that we will always have to fight for our politics, art and culture, since our ideas draw a line against the ruling class – razor sharp.

The autonomous center in Cologne has been the crystallization point of our debates and struggles in the last years – may all of it continue. The ideals that have been present in this house, for which we argued and which we celebrated, for which we had discussions and worked for, those ideals are independent of any rigid building. After all a building is just a small space in a world of force and oppression. [Read More]

House of Brag Address Announced for the London Queer Social Centre: June 22 – July 6

OUR NEW HOME!

We’re really happy to tell you that the new home for the London Queer Social Centre is …..

63 Sancroft Street, London SE11 5UG – in an abandoned pub called The Duchy Arms. Here’s a map.

We’ve been working away at making it nice, and we think you’ll like it. It’s wheelchair-accessible (though without adapted toilets unfortunately), and has space for all the events we have planned, plus a nice outside area for smoking. We open on Saturday. Be sure to check our full programme of events, and come by and see us. [Read More]

Calais: Squatting case adjourned

The UK and French government have been trying to ‘free’ Calais of migrants for years through a strategy of tight surveillance at the border and relentless harassment by the police in town.

In Calais undocumented people, asylum seekers and refugees sleep wherever they can find shelter : in abandoned buildings, under bridges, in parks or the jungles in and around town. Evictions are frequent, leaving people of all ages to sleep rough.
[Read More]

Amsterdam (The Netherlands): June 2013 at Joe’s Garage

Joes_Garage_June_2013

Since 2010, the anti squat law is stating house owners would get fined if they leave their buildings empty for more than six months. Well, years later, not a single owner has been fined. That’s is no surprise knowing the City of Amsterdam. Parallel to that, 15% of office buildings in Amsterdam are officially empty. The reality would be the double.
Amsterdam is gearing up to evict squatters these coming days. The house on Swammerdamstraat 12 will be evicted for a fourth time in a few years. Let’s hope this ‘monument’ won’t make place to a sand yard for the coming years. Other squats in Amsterdam who received the eviction announcement are Bessemerstraat 23 (El Taller), Cornelis Drebbelstraat 35 (LaRage), Simon Stevinsstraat 25hs (Willem Beukels Alternatief).
On May 31st, activists and squatters were taking over the empty office building on the Jan Tooropstraat 29. The door magically opened and within minutes, the refugees from the Vluchtkerk moved in. Off course, Eberhard van der Laan the apathetic mayor was again forced to show a bit of concern. Lucky us, there weren’t any comment from the Dutch squatting expert Eric D. that day. [Read More]

London: Day of the Stormtrooper

On the 11th of June, 10am, on the day of the G8 protests Riot Police surrounded the squatted Beak Street Convergance Space, kettling many of the days protesters before they even got out of bed. Some estimates put the number of occupants at 200. That is 200 people who were prevented from attending the G8 demonstrating, and excercising their right to protest. The excuse that was given; they were searching for articles likely to cause criminal damage on the march. Although there has been vandalism in the past we must ask, why could they not have searched people on their way out? A crowbar or a hammer is not going to cause any damage sitting in a squat. For many, it was clear that the massive police presence had one aim: to shut down the organisation of the G8 march and prevent them from protesting.
[Read More]

London: Stop G8 Social Centre Now Open

Come on down and join us to reclaim an empty building in the heart of London’s West End, and turn it into a vibrant social centre for talks, films, food, socialising, information and action. The address is:

40 Beak Street, Soho, W1F 9RQ.

Just off Regent street, in between Piccadilly Circus and Oxford Circus tube stations. (It’s also right in the centre of the #J11 carnival against capitalism map.)

There is room for people to stay, but please bring your own sleeping bags and bedding. Also note this is NOT a party space (gigs during the week will take place in separate venues), and please respect the safer spaces policy which you can read here.

The building is brilliant but, having been neglected and left empty, it needs some work to make it into a great space for the week. We are right now hard at work repairing, cleaning, and making stuff beautiful. Come along and join in. Also here is a list of stuff we need:

Cordless Drill

Furniture (all kinds)

Carpet / tiles

Sawdust

The London Queer Social Centre Opening Day

BRAG IS BACK!

We found another beautiful, empty and lonely-looking building. Ze told us to bring all our queer friends and come party with hir forever. We said we’d do 2 weeks, and ze said fine I guess that’ll do.

We’ll tell you where ze is nearer the time obvs.

We’re running from June 22nd to July 6th as an alternative to Pride London, an event that has become increasingly alienating and depoliticised as it has become larger, feeding on funds from ugly banks and corporations.

We run everything for free, spend as little money as possible and make things back from donations.

There’s going to be a full schedule of events coming up over the next couple of weeks, including more instalments of the intersectionality series, queer cinema, street parties, queering anarchism, queers in squatting, Bash Back! street patrols, poetry and a queer literary salon. More things to be confirmed and full programme coming soon. [Read More]