G8 Bike Caravan Action Nijmegen

7.05.2007 — Today a bicy­cle demo against the G8 was held in Nijmegen, Hol­land..

Today the bicy­cle demo against the G8 was a suc­cess. Despite the pour­ing rain and the absence of the major­i­ty of the inter­na­tion­al bicy­cle car­a­van, there were still 30 cyclists ready for action. Sev­er­al loca­tions that had some con­nec­tion with the G8 pol­i­tics were vis­it­ed by bike for some good-spir­it­ed demon­strat­ing . Unlike in Utrecht the police was wise enough not to show up. Tonight the rest of the car­a­van will arrive in Nijmegen, where the cyclists will stop for the night. Tomor­row the car­a­van will con­tin­ue towards Ger­many, where the G8 sum­mit will take place from 6th to 8th of june, in Heili­gen­damm.

7.05.2007 — Today a bicy­cle demo against the G8 was held in Nijmegen, Hol­land..

Today the bicy­cle demo against the G8 was a suc­cess. Despite the pour­ing rain and the absence of the major­i­ty of the inter­na­tion­al bicy­cle car­a­van, there were still 30 cyclists ready for action. Sev­er­al loca­tions that had some con­nec­tion with the G8 pol­i­tics were vis­it­ed by bike for some good-spir­it­ed demon­strat­ing . Unlike in Utrecht the police was wise enough not to show up. Tonight the rest of the car­a­van will arrive in Nijmegen, where the cyclists will stop for the night. Tomor­row the car­a­van will con­tin­ue towards Ger­many, where the G8 sum­mit will take place from 6th to 8th of june, in Heili­gen­damm.

The first stop was made at the local Mcdon­alds. This was sur­round­ed by the cyclists and the entrance road to the mcdrive was blocked with fences.This fast food chain is a sym­bol of exploita­tion of work­ers and envi­ron­ment in third world coun­tries by the rich west­ern soci­ety.

Of course Beren­don­ck was also vis­it­ed. Here, envi­ron­men­tal groups and local nature enjoy­ers are resist­ing the expan­sion of the golf ter­rain, into a valu­able for­est and lake area. The activsts reclaimed the pub­lic space by plac­ing signs pro­claim­ing “This is not a Golf State / Free access recre­ation­al area”. Trees were plant­ed in the holes, and there was a game of foot­ball. Like Beren­don­ck is wast­ed for a small group of rich peo­ple, the same goes for the G8 — on a world wide scale.

The last action was at the local head­quar­ters of the marechaussee (immi­gra­tion police). The gates to the build­ing were locked from the out­side by thick chains. Ban­ners were hung on the fences, on which was writ­ten “no human being is ille­gal” and “break the pow­er of the G8” By this way the activists protest­ed against the Fortress of Europe. The marechaussee plays an impor­tant role in the inhu­mane immi­gra­tion pol­i­tics. Migra­tion is one of the main themes of the protests against the G8.

Pho­tos: http://www.indymedia.nl/nl/2007/05/44322.shtml

Video : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n5LnmkG2zOQ