Italy: The housing struggle and even beyond

casa_reddito_dignitWe translated our editorial from almost two months ago, which was written soon after a first, successful “March of the  Peripheries”, a day in which people from working-class and suburban neighbourhoods rose along housing rights militants  and activists to tackle the gruesome Lupi housing plan, preventing people living in housing occupations and squats from  accessing basic services and citizenship rights.

As the Lupi minister himself was forced to resign after his associate Ettore Incalza – a longtime state manager which did supervise great unnecessary works’ projects such as the TAV high-speed railway – was prosecuted for corruption, a second march of dignity approaches in Bologna and other initiatives are developing in other cities, to reaffirm the people dignity against the neoliberal austerity and the individualist dogma of the Renzi government.

The struggle for housing rights gave an important message on January 31. A real mobilization that featured thousands of people taking the streets all over the country. It was able to address the social composition that lives in the housing occupations as well as those many characters – both involved in the politics of housing and in the more general and inclusive debate on the city and its criticism – that ended up at its side in the streets and in the squares. [Read More]

Bristol: Rising Up evicted

Today (March 15) marked six weeks of Rising Up protecting, supporting and loving the land, trees, wildlife and community at Stapleton allotments and Avon & Frome Valley Conservation Area.

After 4 days of a complex and drawn out eviction, due to the persistence and ingenuity of the activists, all of the tree protectors have now been brought down. The eviction has been a generally peaceful but at times challenging experience, with some instances of aggression and assault on protectors, which have been logged and will be reported.
[Read More]

Finland: Mummola evicted

Squat Mummola was evicted a few days ago and there was a demo afterwards.

There doesn’t seem to be any English news about it but there are some fotos (anarchist news in Finnish 3/3/15 and 10/3/15).

[Read More]

Sivens, France: Eviction of the ZAD of Testet!

Since the morning of the 6th March, the situation at Sivens has rapidly evolved…after some days of tension and repetitive aggressions from members of the FNSEA [*] towards the occupants of the ZAD of Testet, all has accelerated. Here is information about what happened, as taken from the website Tant qu’il y aura des bouilles and from an info of AFP, among other sources.

-Early this morning, the Maison des Druides [House of Druids] was “softly” evicted.
-Rally at 9:30, Griffoul place, Gaillac, to regroup and move towards the zone to recuperate friends of the ZAD. The eviction has already begun. But visibly, we are all waiting for the decision of the Council: will they abandon the dam project, or not? [Read More]

War against housing occupations in Florence. Let’s march this evening!

20150304_Firenze_evictionThe eviction campaign kicks off in order to pave the way for the approval of the new regional law on housing. While people are still resisting in via Baracca, the movements’ response gets organized. Let’s march from Piazza Medaglie d’oro at 6pm today.

A direct attack against housing struggles. Early this morning, police showed up in large numbers at the new housing occupation in via Benedetto Marcello-via Toselli corner. After the eviction was carried out, as the readily arrived solidarity picket was surging, rumors came about a massive police deployment close to via Baracca. At about 10 am some 12 police wagons closed the street in both directions, carrying out the eviction of the building located at number 18 in that street, a place that was occupied since last summer and that was hosting the social space of struggle, too.

During the eviction, the occupiers tried to crack the police blockade, stirring up a charge. Nobody was reported to be hurt. At the time of writing, some occupiers still resist inside the building. Meanwhile a picket of the Movimento di lotta per la casa (Housing Struggle Movement) assembled in piazza Puccini, close to via Baracca, calling up a march for this evening at 6 pm in order to counter the evictions, starting from piazza Medaglie d’Oro in the Novoli neighbourhood. [Read More]

Lelystad (NL): Freespace De Waaghaals unjustly and illegally evicted

Quick translation from indymedia

The police came to tell the people that they had to pack their belongings and the property had to be empty before 14:00 in the afternoon.

Two days previously we were suddenly cut off from our electricity without notice while we busy putting our name on a bill. The same afternoon we actually had the appointment for a reconnection.
[Read More]

Amsterdam: Pieter Vlamingstraat 98 resists eviction

Today, Friday the 16th, the building is not yet evicted.

The buildings on the Pieter Vlamingstraat 94-96-98 had been empty since 2008, when the tenants were kicked out. The demolition of these and other surrounding buildings started in 2009 with the exception of Pieter Vlamingstraat 98, where the owner of the coffeshop on the ground floor refused to leave. The original plan of De Key was to demolish the existing social houses for building luxury apartments for the free market. The neighbors protested against the plan, started a court-case and the project was eventually rejected. De Key then proposed to build both social and private sector apartments, but this was rejected as well. Eventually De Key proposed to build 145 apartments for students, and the projects got finally approved despite the opposition of the neighbors, who started yet another court case against De Key but lost it at the end of 2014.

In July 2012 a group of people squatted the Pieter Vlamingstraat 98 and the empty field that was left after the demolition of the buildings aside. These fields are quite common in Amsterdam Oost, where housing corporations like De Key, after demolishing entire social housing blocks, run out of money to complete the project and left only waste lands behind. At the time of the occupation, the state of the house was very poor. All the basic infrastructures were missing, and the structure of the building was rotting away. The squatters massively renovated the building to make it livable. Through these years more then 30 people have called this building ‘home’. A lively communally grew around it, and started a number of activities for the neighborhood such as a neighborhood garden (Roomtuintje Oostbos), a give away shop and a free library. [Read More]

Chatham: Squatters attacked by gang wielding baseball bats, metal poles and screwdrivers

The three had been staying in an empty building in New Road, Chatham, for four days when they claim they were targeted.

Following the alleged attack, which left one man in hospital, five men were arrested and have since been released on bail. [Read More]

Mexico City: Chanti Ollin squat was violently evicted but reoccupied!

After huge solidarity the Zapatista affiliated Chanti Ollin has been reoccupied.. though at least 9 people are still arrested, needing bail money, and some injured, the damage is huge, things have been robbed, children terrorised, workshops ransacked, etc. [Read More]

London: Love Activists in court over illegal eviction & callout for March for the Homeless in April

From Counterfire, December 29th 2014:

A group who occupied an empty bank to shelter and feed homeless people over Christmas are fighting to establish that their eviction was unlawful reports Dan Poulton

Activists who occupied a former NatWest bank over the Christmas period went before a civil court this morning [December 29th 2014] following their eviction by bailiffs last Wednesday, Christmas Eve. The premises at 2a Charing Cross Road had lain empty for two years and are now owned by Greencap Ltd.

The ‘Love HQ‘ occupation aimed to shelter and feed homeless people over the bitter winter period and raise awareness of a major housing and homelessness crisis in London and the rest of the country. [Read More]

Charing Cross, London: Police and council officials evict Love HQ street kitchen for New Years Eve

[Videos: eviction, as well as attempted eviction]

Following the Christmas Day eviction from the central London Royal Bank of Scotland premises the Love Activists set up a soup kitchen outside, giving out food, tea and coffee to the homeless. On the night before New Years Eve police and council officials forcibly evicted the soup kitchen in order to clear the streets for the end of year party revellers

[Note: It was confirmed yesterday that Love Activists have now squatted a new building] [Read More]

Charing Cross, London: Love Activists Christmas project evicted by bailiffs with injunction

Updates from Love Activists facebook page (from 12:30pm), see video from Occupy London:

5o mins: Police are threatening to seize residents’ belongings if they do not leave the premises
1 hr: Police Are intimidating residents and dragging them out,
1 hr : Come make as much noise as possible, police have taped off the street as bailiffs illegally evict love activists from 2a charring cross road
1 hr: HELP!! We are being illegally evicted!
2 hrs: Baliffs have forced entry and are illegally evicted the squat as we speak. They can not produce any paperwork or identification. Please help if you can! 1a charing cross road, london [Read More]