The Hague (NL): De Vloek resists

From saturday 28th til tuesday the 31st of March 2015 there will be four days of solidarity actions for De Vloek. During these four days of ‘Carnival of the Undercurrent’, De Vloek will take over the city with a Streetrave and a Critical Mass Bike Ride, among other fun things. We haven’t forgotten waterbased activities either, there will be enough room for that at #DeVloekDrijft.
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Den Haag: Criminalization and silencing of De Vloek, judge also prohibits demonstration

The demonstration planned for this coming Saturday against the eviction and demolition of De Vloek has been banned by the Mayor of The Hague. Even the judge decided to support the city’s fallacies. We are calling on everybody to come this Saturday at 15:00 to the Kerkplein to NOT demonstrate together.

Protesting has been made impossible and we will also let this be known. We will assemble on the Kerkplein with tape on our mouths. Demonstrating has been prohibited, but coming together on the Kerkplein is not forbidden. To be able to demonstrate, one needs to have a right to free speech, and this has been taken away from us. We will symbolically illustrate this.

Because this demonstration would have involved many different people, including children and the elderly, we are canceling the demonstration. We have absolutely no faith in the empathy of The Hague police, and we don’t want children and elderly people to be beaten up by them. [Read More]

Den Haag: Mayor prohibits demonstration route. Stop the criminalization of De Vloek!

This Saturday, De Vloek and its supporters will demonstrate against the planned eviciton and demolition of the social center in the Scheveningen harbor. The protesters want to march a route from the Kerkplein through the city along places such as the site of the now demolished squat the Blauwe Aanslag and the office of the Christian Democrats. Mayor of The Hague van Aartsen has banned the route of the demonstration, on the basis of fallacies and is criminalizing De Vloek.

About a month before the planned demonstration against the eviction and demolition of social center De Vloek, the city and the police were given a heads up. However, the city kept delaying its response and the official limits placed on the demonstration were not made known until Wednesday November 26. The demonstration will not be allowed to follow the planned route, and we will also not be allowed to assemble at the Kerkplein. The reason that they gave was that actions centered around De Vloek have an increased chance of disturbing the public order because people were arrested at earlier actions, such as the squatting action at the Pier. From these imposed limits, it is apparent that the mayor wants to put a definitive stop to all future demonstrations by De Vloek and their supporters. [Read More]

Maastricht: November 29th, squatters demo, De Vloek stays!

Squatters, alternative people, artists, vegans, students, grown-ups, children, youngsters, employed, unemployed and everything else that lives!

We invite you to join us the 29th of November at 13:00 hs to protest in Maastricht! We are taking our voices to the streets, because we no longer stand it that freezone after freezone is is taken away from us. Hotel de Ossekop and Mandril have been erased from the Boschstraat last year, recently De Valreep in Amsterdam has been evicted and now De Vloek in Scheveningen faces the same threat…

De Vloek has been squatted 12.5 years ago and in this time the building has been developed to an amazing space where everyone can go for cultural, social and political activities or to enjoy some nice food. Now De Vloek has to make space for a top sailing centre, while another new sailing centre in the same street for a big part is empty. Again a bottom-up social initiative has to move for a propaganda image of the elite, so the social, open vibe of the location will disappear. When will we start creating a society in which solidarity and great initiatives from the people come before money, power and elitist behaviour? [Read More]

Den Haag: December 26-27-28, Action Days for De Vloek and autonomous spaces

Because more and more autonomous social centres are being threatened and evicted, an Action Weekend will take place on December 26-28 in The Hague. The city of The Hague wants to evict De Vloek social centre in January 2015. Sometimes you have to fight for what you love, and now is the time! Stop the eviction of De Vloek, defend autonomous spaces and social centres.

Time and again, autonomous social centres have to step aside for yuppie projects. This year, De Valreep in Amsterdam was evicted to make room for a luxury Grand Café, and now the city of The Hague wants to evict and demolish De Vloek social centre to build a sailing centre. Everywhere you go, beautiful initiatives that have been built from the bottom up have to disappear for yuppies. The world should not revolve around the interests of real estate developers, but around people. That is why we are organising three days full of demonstrations and actions on December 26-28. [Read More]

Den Haag: December 6th, demonstration. The City Belongs To Us! De Vloek Will Not Go!

On Saturday December 6, a demonstration will take place against the approved plans of the city of The Hague to evict social centre De Vloek, and for the preservation of squatted social centres in general.

The city of The Hague wants to evict and demolish De Vloek in January 2015 to make room for a sailing center. There is already enough space for sport sailing in the harbor, but De Vloek must nevertheless step aside for the latest prestigious real estate project which nobody is looking forward to.

Even though the plan to build a sailing center for the rich
was not defeated in the city council, our campaign is still not over. The city promised to look for a replacement space for us, but the question remains whether this will happen or whether this space will be affordable. A unique quality of social centres is that financial pressure on projects and initiatives is low, allowing for more freedom for development; freedom that is difficult to find anywhere else. But our struggle extends beyond the preservation of De Vloek. [Read More]

The Hague (Netherlands): Call-out for international solidarity with social centre De Vloek

The city government of The Hague wants to evict social center De Vloek on January 5, 2015 to make room for a sailing center. Located in the harbor of Scheveningen, De Vloek was squatted 12.5 years ago and meanwhile has grown to be an essential social space in the harbor. There is already enough space for sport sailing in the harbor, but De Vloek must nevertheless move aside for the latest prestigious real estate project which nobody is looking forward to.

On Thursday October 16, the city council will make a final decision about whether or not De Vloek must disappear. [Read More]

Den Haag: City wants to evict De Vloek on January 5th, 2015

Den_Haag_de_Vloek_blijft

Today, July 2 2014, a process-server delivered a letter from the municipality to De Vloek free space. The letter states that we have to vacate the premises before January 5th, 2015. If the city gets its way, then one of the last squatted free spaces in The Hague will disappear.

The city already let us know in a letter that De Vloek has to move aside for a Top Sailing Center. Currently, this sailing center is located in the Nautical Center across from De Vloek. The Nautical Center, which has been built especially for sport sailing, was completed in 2006 but has been mostly vacant for years. Many other building in the area are also vacant. There is certainly enough room for sport sailing. More new construction is simply unnecessary, and our free space will most likely have to disappear to make room for more vacant buildings. [Read More]

Den Haag: Council wants to evict and demolish the Vloek

On May 30th, De Vloek (Pirate Bar) received a letter from the city of the Hague indicating that there are construction plans for their location. The city wants to demolish the building and sell the land to a developer who wants to build a top sailing center.
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