Let’s start with thank you. The support and solidarity we have received over the past six weeks, but especially this weekend, has been overwhelming. On Saturday, we were harshly evicted, with police brutality and a demonstration of power. More on this later, but for now: so much love for everyone who stood there with us. And especially so much love for the people who voluntarily exposed themselves to state violence, prosecution and very literal physical violence by the police. Many thanks to Extinction Rebellion and Comrade Twingo without whom the eviction would have been a lot easier for the police. Thanks to everyone who helped us ensure that Hotel Mokum could not be quietly swept away. But also thank you to everyone who supported us in any other way, this weekend and for the past six weeks. You are all so amazing and so fucking brave and we couldn’t have done this without you. [Read More]
Paris: Call for a rally in front of the 20th district police station after the eviction of a squat
A building located at 124 rue de Belleville, belonging to the city hall of the 20th district and empty for several years, was squatted to make it an anarcha-feminist space as well as a living space for about ten people. The place was evicted this Wednesday and 8 people are in custody.
For a long time, everything has been done so that the district of Belleville and its surroundings are reserved for the rich. Rents are constantly rising, cheap fast food is replaced by trendy bars and restaurants with ever more expensive drinks, migrant workers’ hostels have been transformed into controlled social residences, the authorities are sending more and more cops into the streets to wage war on the poor, etc. [Read More]
Amsterdam: squat action attempt on Gravenstraat and police brutality
Today 12 september there was an attempt to squat Gravenstraat 26-28 on the day of the Housing Protest. Thousands of people took the streets to demonstrate against the so-called housing crisis – the shortage and exploitation in the housing market, the lack of affordable housing and the disproportionate increase in rents.
The police used excessive force to beat us away from the place that was to become our new home. From the moment we arrived at the demonstration, certain activists were excessively watched by the police and even arrested for wearing an anti-Nazi symbol. From the beginning, the police were out to repress and arrest activists. Police brutality escalated as soon as we arrived at Dam Square. We were beaten up, dragged out of the crowd by silent cops, and some of us were even beaten to the ground and walked over by cops until we were bloody. The police deliberately chose to escalate and we even heard them say that they deliberately “went full on”. [Read More]
Bristol: Squat Repression
This is a statement from some squatters in Bristol, who had 4 squats, including 40a Space, Salvation Army mutual aid/social centres and Wonky Arrow Books, a radical library.
In the past days, we’ve had our buildings forcibly closed with anti-social behaviour orders, and we’ve been raided by hundreds of riot police. We’ve been beaten, pepper-sprayed, arrested, and sectioned.
This is an escalation– it hasn’t been like this in the UK in years. Not that this is new. No, we see this as part of a long and brutal history of the repression of marginalised communities, and anyone who shows resistance or alternatives.
The police and state media will try and paint this as the result of us being ‘anti-social’ – but isn’t it the police who hurt and intimidate us? Who break down the doors; who criminalize and target poor people, people of colour, travelling communities, people who live differently? It is the state and the police that are truly anti-social, at the core of the troubles we face in our lives.
This is an attempt to intimidate us, to repress mobilization in Bristol (especially around Kill the Bill) and to break down a community that is challenging the police and what they represent. We know that real community makes police obsolete.
Against police repression, in defence of squats and social centres everywhere, and in solidarity with all prisoners and those targeted by the state! [Read More]
Amsterdam: squat eviction, what happened at Oudezijds Voorburgwal 136
This is going to be personal, this is going to be emotional. We are people with feelings, with political convictions, with longing for freedom. Our struggle and our wounds are written and felt in our bodies. We are angry and we are sad, we are tired and we are determined. Evictions are public spectacles, collective traumas. Certain people are to blame. So we will name them and we will shame them.
Why we squatted Oudezijds Voorburgwal 136:
There are many reasons to squat. The line between personal reasons and political is – as always – blurred. We not only squat because of a need for affordable housing with an imagination of what this space could be, but also with anger towards the racism, colonialism and capitalism this building represents. Watch the video to see our political statement. [Read More]
Arlon: the Zablière evicted
Early this monday morning, March 15, the forces of disorder evicted the zadists present in the area. The Arlon police mobilized last night with the support of the federal police on the outskirts of the Zablière to begin an eviction at dawn. This method of intervention without prior notice aims to avoid having to confront the movement as a whole, to prevent solidarity and resistance from organizing.
Motivated by a study of the local police attesting that the zadists were “a serious threat to security” the eviction was able to take place outside the classic legal channels; an eviction must be served by bailiff several days in advance. Nine zadists were arrested. It is essential that we do not let them make us invisible.
Vincent Magnus talks about an end of the saga, let’s show him that he is not at the end of his surprises, let’s be numerous at the beginning of the evening. Let’s bring back to the center of Arlon the resistance movement that he did not want to meet this morning. Let’s remind once again that we are a large and diverse movement, rich in colors and motivation! [Read More]