Rest of Europe – Page 45

Day 7 of the revolt in Greece

Following the police shooting of a 15 year old anarchist, riots, protests & vigils continue throughout Greece, with worldwide solidarity protests taking place. Latest report below (click Read more). For much more info and all the latest, see https://www.indymedia.org.uk

The Greek Intifada continues and the government is unable to impose its control in the country, spreading fears among the ruling classes all over the European Union.

The Greek Intifada continues and the government is unable to impose its control in the country, spreading fears among the ruling classes all over the European Union. In the EU Summit in Brussels, Sarkozy but also the other bourgeois leaders demanded to the Greek right wing Prime Minister Karamanlis “to arrest immediately those responsible for the chaos”. So in today’s demonstration in Athens of tens of thousands of schoolchildren, students, parents, teachers and professors, the riot police tried to make mass arrests of 12-15 years boys and girls. The teachers and parents intervened to save the kids, fought with Police and liberated most of them apart from 3(more or less kids of 12-13 years old) who are added to the 176 already officially arrested.

Clashes between schoolchildren and riot police took also place in front of the parliament in Syntagma Square. The repressive forces of the State attacked afterwards the Law Faculty under occupation where our Independent Action Center is functioning. The center of Athens has been suffocated with the chemical gazes used by the riot police. But the police had to retreat as the students defended themselves with stones and a few Molotov cocktails. Then the Students Assembly took place and a new program of actions was decided for the next days.

The Karamanlis government was unable to have the support of other bourgeois parties and the official Left to declare the stage of the siege. The government itself is split on that crucial issue. Nevertheless, the real State of Emergency was declared by the schoolchildren who have put under siege tens of Police Stations in Athens and all over the country.

The Stalinist KKE continues to escalate not only its attacks against Synaspismos /Syriza accused to be “protectors of the hooligans”, but the revolt itself. Officially the leaders of KKE insist that there is no… any revolt! Today, at the same time that the schoolchildren waged their battles with the riot police in front of the Athens University and in the Syntagma Square, the Stalinist bureaucrats kept their supporters away, in Omonia Square and rapidly dispersed them in a few blocks distance from that Square. Nevertheless, KKE deputies and their newspaper Rizospastis repeated their slanders against the revolted – to be hooligans, Talibans, drug dealers, prostitution racketeers( 12-13 years old boys?) , police agents- adding now a new slander: that those fighting the police are agents of imperialist agencies namely of CIA!!!

As the political crisis intensifies, the economic crisis is exacerbated. Today’s news show that over-indebted Greece finds more and more difficult to get new loans to pay both its past debts and its deficits. To give an idea: the spread( the difference between the interest rates) of the Greek State bonds in relation to those of Germany has escalated to 202, while in the beginning of 2008 was just 20. Until March 2009 it is expected that the spread will grow to 500 or more. Greece is de facto bankrupt. It is the weakest economic link in the chain of the Euro-zone countries, and now it is proved above any doubt that it is also the weakest political link. The global capitalist crisis not only destabilizes all social relations but produce now explosions and a tendency towards a pre-revolutionary and/or revolutionary situation.

http://www.eek.gr/default.asp?pid=6&id=639

Direct Action in Iceland

Since early this winter, Iceland has been facing economic crisis. The three major business banks have been nationalized, putting their dept on the people’s shoulders. People have been losing their livelong savings, loans have increased and are getting sky high (and for sure they already were high enough).

Activists vs. the police

People are getting angry, some of them wanting back the “good old” prosperity, while others and hopefully the majority, are realizing the real cost of capitalism. More and more people are standing up against corruption and demanding new form of society – society of justice. But every day the current government proves that it’s main aim is to save their own and their friend’s ass. A loan from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has been granted, most likely leading to the common aftermaths of an IMF loan: the privatization of social systems as the health care and the education system, and more destruction of the Icelandic wilderness.

Weekly demonstrations

For more than 2 months people have gathered weekly in a park in front of the parliament. The first protests demanded that the government would “break it’s silence” about the current situation. People were tired of not even being told about what was happening and what the government was doing about it.

One of the weekly domonstrations

But soon people realized that it was not enough to ask the government to speak, so the protests took up another and more radical demand: the resign of the government and new elections as soon as possible. The government has completely ignored this demand and people are getting more and more angry.

Anarchists and other radical leftists have come to most of the protests, but not to protest against the economic situation, not to ask the government for solutions, not to ask for new elections, not to ask any member of the government or parliament or any other official institution to do anything to “solve” the crisis we are facing. But to spread anarchistic and anti-capitalistic information among people, analyse the problems of authority and capitalism and to encourage Icelandic people to take direct action against the forces of corruption.

Burning flag and money

Burning of bank flags and “hanging” of a capitalist

During a protest in front of the prime minister’s office in late October, the flags of two Icelandic banks were burned. A group of anarchists, probably the biggest in Icelandic history at that time, shouted anarchistic slogans, pointing out capitalism as the real problem. Until then, capitalism seemed to be a ban-word among the protesters. The flag burning caught the interest of foreign media, e.g. CNN which showed the burning in their news show later the same evening. An event like this had not happened in Iceland for a long time.

Burning the flag of Landsbanki bank

A week later, a big demonstration parade went through the center of Reykjavík, demanding the resign of the government. Anarchists, which grew bigger and stronger every week, joined the march with banners, black flags, leaflets about direct actions, and anarchistic slogans. While other protesters chanted “Away with the government”, anarchists shouted “Never again government!”

When the parade came down the the park were weekly speeches took place, a group of people climbed a big fence and hung a doll of a capitalist. Again foreign media captured the performance on tape and screened it around the world.

Couple of meters away from the park were the protests take place, a Food Not Bombs groups has been giving away food every Saturday for the last 8 or 9 months. Food Not Bombs has for sure had it’s effect of the walking-by Icelanders, who are getting more curious and interested in alternative solutions to the problems of capitalism.

During a protest, Saturday November 8th, an anarchist climbed on top of the parliament were he hung the flag of Bónus, Iceland’s cheapest supermarket. The message was clear since the flag is yellow with a pink pig on it: “The government is a cheap and dirty pig!” Unlike to the usual Icelandic protesters, people celebrated this act and sang along “The government is a cheap and dirty pig!”

Soon hundred protesters surrouneded the parliment to help the anarchist to get away from the police, which had already arrested a mate of him. After a bit of a struggle with the police, people managed to help the flag-man (like he later became known as) to get down of the roof and de-arrested him more than once. One could feel some change in the air.

Illegal arrest

Less than a week later, on a Friday night, the police arrested the flag-man. He was in the middle of a research trip to the parliament, organized by his university, when some parliament staff recognized him and called the pigs.

The man had been arrested two years before, for an action with the environmental direct action campaign Saving Iceland, protesting against the building of a big dam, Kárahnjúkavirkjun, in the eastern higlands. For this action he had got sentenced and fined, but refused to pay the fine and instead insisted on sitting in jail for 18 days. But after only four days of his jail-sentence he was “thrown out” because of lack of space in the prison.

Now, the police stated that the man would have to sit the other 14 days of the sentence. The fact is though that the it is not allowed to split the sentence like this, and the man was supposed to get an announcement about finishing his sentence with at leas 3 weeks notice. This had not been done in his case.

People claimed this was especially done by the police, fundementaly to “take out” an activist who was likely to take more actions during the upcoming weekly demonstration. So the next day, during the protest which 10.000 people had joined, another protest was announced, this time in front of the police station, a little bit later that day.

Riots by the police station

500 people came to the police station and demanded that the man would be set free. After a while, no sign of the police was seen and nothing looked like the man would be set free. The protest got heated and soon people had started to break windows of the station and in the end the door of the station was broken. A group of people went in were the police welcomed them with a splash of pepper spray, without even announcing it.

The protest got even hotter, red paint and eggs were thrown at the station and on the riot squad which now had formed a chain in front of the station. A lot of people were peppersprayed, including the flag-man’s mother and young kids down to 16 years old. In the end, the flag-man was payed out of the prison by an unknown person. The flag-man came out were he was celebrated like a hero. He thanked people for the support but encouraged people to use their energy for something else: a revolution!

The Invasion of the Central Bank

A week after the riots by the police station, the weekely protest was a little more chilled. Instead people hoped for something big taking place the upcoming Monday, December 1st, the day of Iceland’s sovereignty.

1st of December used to be a free day in Iceland but couple of years ago the proletariat movement disclaimed it´s right. This 1st of May people were encouraged not to pay their bills, not show up in work and come to a big outdoor meeting on a big hill close to the government offices and the Central Bank. Few speeches took place, most of the including some nationalistic piffle which the radicals answered with a slogan: “No nationalism – International solidarity!”

After the meeting was formally over the word on the street was that more radical action was going to take place. Suddenly a big group of people marched to the Central Bank and entered the first entrance.

The entrance was completely full of people shouting and demanding that Davíð Oddsson, the chairman of the Central Bank board and a former prime minister, would resign. Few policemen had closed the second entrance but people shouted at them, asked in “what team” they were in, telling them to join the public, leave the entrance and let the people in. Suddenly the police left the entrance, the people cheered and opened the door to the second entrance.

Pepper spray again?

The second entrance became completely full as well as the first one, but behind big glass doors the riot squad had formed a chain of c.a. 30 pigs, armed with shields, clubs and pepper spray. Again, instead of speaking to the people, the pigs started shaking their spray cans, forcing to use it against the people it they would not leave.

The riot squad, ready to strike inside the Central Bank

People started banging on the door, shouting slogans against the Central Bank and the police. After a while, when a police officer had several times threatened to use the pepper spray, people decided to sit down peacefully and not stand up until Davíð Oddsson would resign. The action stood over several hours and had it’s peaks when people stood up, lifted up their hands to show they were unarmed and challenged the police to leave, open the doors and let the people bring Oddsson out.

When it became clear that Oddsson had already left the building the protesters gave the police an offer: the riot squad would leave and than the protesters would leave the building. About 30 seconds later, the pigs walked back and the people cheered some kind of a victory of the people.

Into the parliament

A week later, last Monday December 8th, thirty people went in to the Icelandic parliament, heading to the inside balcony were the public is legally allowed to sit, watch and listen to what takes place there. The group announced that the parliament no longer served it’s purpose and the government should therefor resign right now, the other MP’s should use their time for something more constructive.

Protester thrown out by police after telling the MP’s and ministers to leave the parliament

Only two persons got to the balcony and shouted at the MP’s and ministers to leave the building. Quickly they were brutally removed by a police officer, while the rest of the group was stuck in a staircase inside the building. The parliamentary session was delayed and all the MP’s left the room.

Meanwhile the protesters were brutally handled by security guards and police, which ended up arresting 7 people, most of them for housebreaking. But like said before, the public is allowed to enter the parliament balcony.

Police carries a man out after handcuffing him and rope his legs – “Fascist, fascists!” the man shouted while being carried out

The next morning, 30 people had gathered in front of the prime minister’s office were a government meeting was supposed to take place. The people had formed a human chain blockading the two entrances of the house. When ministers started to show up, the police had already arrived and started to try to remove the chain. The people resisted heavily and read out a statement sent out by the group.

The statement said that the aim of the action was to “prevent the ministers from entering the house and therefore stop further misuse of power. Money has controlled people on the cost of their rights and the authorities and their cliques have manipulated finance for their own benefits. That manipulation has not entailed in a just society, just world. Time of action has dawn, because a just society is not only possible, but it is our duty to fight for it.”

With the help of the police, all the ministers got in, but heard the statement and were under big pressure from the media. They were not prepared for questions and came out badly when asked. The government meeting was delayed because of the actions.

Two were arrested, one for entering a police line and the other one for sitting in front of the police car which was about to drive the other arrested one to the police station. More people sat on the street and it took the police quite a long time to get out of the street. Only when a police officer gave the driver an order to “just drive hard”, the driver did so and nearly drove over two persons.

One of the biggest newspapers in Iceland, DV, reported the brutal behavoiur of the police. The paper’s journalist and photographer were both attacked by the police, as well as noticing when a police punced a protester in the face, while he lay on the street. Most other media did not dare to report the brutal behaviour.

A left wing website, Smugan, told about a police officer who was asked by the protesters if he would have protected Hitler. His answer was simple: “Yes, if it would have been my duty.”

More actions have been announced and it will be interesting to see what comes next.

http://aftaka.org/

Tyres of luxury cars ventilated

December 5th 2008
This night the action Air gone! started to flatten the tyres of luxury cars as a contribution to the climate action day to paralyse climate killers.

While the climate alliance calls for promotion parodies against the greenwashing of the companies, radical climate activists went a bit further that night.

In different cities the tyres of expensive jeeps and sports cars were ventilated. Aim of the action is not only carbon expulsion, but also to put on the agenda the social and global injustices connected to climate change, the group calling for the action explained. The biggest amount of emissions are caused by the industrial states – and, as it is made more than

clear by the example of luxury cars, it is mainly the rich here as well – while the countries in the South are most affected already by the effects of climate change.

Flyers were left at the cars explaining the actiond and demanding from the owners to immidiately shut them down permanently.

Similar actions happened a year ago in Berlin and aroused a lot of public attention. This year the newspaper taz reported about the call to the action.

Meanwhile the world climate summit discussed about a follow-up of the Kyoto Protocol in Poznan (Conference of the partied COP 14), producing nothing but hot air, as a lot of climate activists think. Background info and statements from a semi-critical NGO perspective on wir-klimaretter.de. For the following summit in December 2009 an international mobilization was already started by the radical leftb from Denmark (Ungdomshuset-Scene) as well as b y sozial movements from the global south like Via Campesina

http://luftraus.wordpress.com

Protests mark the start of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change in Posnan (Poland)

Denmark: KlimaX rocks the COP15 summit site

Activists from the copenhagen based climate activist group KlimaX climbed onto the front of the conference site Bella Centret and threw out banners. The site is symbolic in the way that its the actual site of the COP15 summit excactly one year from now.

Denmark: KlimaX rocks the COP15 summit site

Activists from the copenhagen based climate activist group KlimaX climbed onto the front of the conference site Bella Centret and threw out banners. The site is symbolic in the way that its the actual site of the COP15 summit excactly one year from now.

“We need a humane solution to the climate crisis.” Says Sini Østergaard from KlimaX “We cannot stand by and watch while the rich countries buy CO2 quotas from the poor countries. We have take action now.”

The activists brought banners, music, cookies and tea while the security people and diplomats attending a conference watched the fun.

“The clock is ticking and time has run out. We have to face the consequences of our over-consumption in the west now.” says Thor from KlimaX.

The police arrived but didn’t bother anyone. The activists promises that they’ll continue their actions in the run-up to and under the climate summit. Already other actions are brewing for the imediate future.

The international mobilization for action at the climate summit:
http://climateaction09.org/

KlimaX – Copenhagen:
http://klimax2009.org

Video from a coorporate newspaper (ignore lame comercials):
http://ekstrabladet.tv/nyheder/indland/article1091836.ece

KlimaX – Copenhagen
international@klimax2009.org
http://www.climateaction09.org

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USA: Monday Dec. 1

Climate Activists Invade DC Offices of Environmental Defense, Daughter
of ED Founder Accuses Group of Pushing False Solutions to Climate Change

Off-site Media Contact: Matt Wallace, Rising Tide North America,
828-280-3462
On-site Contact: Dr. Rachel Smolker, Global Justice Ecology Project
802-735-7794

***high resolution photos available soon at:
www.risingtidenorthamerica.org***

Washington, DC-As the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change opened today in Poznan, Poland, grassroots climate activists took over the Washington DC office of Environmental Defense. The activists stated that they had targeted ED, one of the largest environmental organizations in the world, because of the organization’s key role in promoting the discredited approach of carbon trading as a solution to climate change.

Dr. Rachel Smolker of Global Justice Ecology Project and Global Forest Coalition read a statement, which said in part, “My father was one of the founders of this organization, which sadly I am now ashamed of. The Kyoto Protocol, the European Emissions Trading Scheme and virtually every other initiative for reducing emissions have adopted their market approaches. So far they have utterly failed, serving only to provide huge profits to the world’s most polluting industries. Instead of protecting the environment, ED now seems primarily concerned with protecting corporate bottom lines. I can hear my father rolling over in his grave.”

The activists rearranged furniture in the office, illustrating how marketing carbon is “like rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic.” Others held signs reading “Keep the cap, ditch the trade” and “Carbon trading is an environmental offense.”

Leo Cerda, an indigenous activist with Rising Tide Ecuador said, “ED wants to turn the atmosphere and forests into private property, and then give it away to the most polluting industries in the form of pollution allowances that can be bought and sold. Not only is this an ineffective way to control emissions, it is also a disaster for the poor and indigenous peoples who are not party to these markets and are most impacted by climate change.”

ED has been key in establishing the U.S. Climate Action Partnership, a business consortium advocating for a cap and trade system with extremely weak emissions reductions. US CAP allows polluters like Duke Energy, Shell, BP, DuPont, and Dow Chemical to claim they are green while continuing with business as usual. In recognition, activists awarded ED the “Corporate Greenwash Award,” a three foot tall green paintbrush. “We think this award is appropriate since Environmental Defense spends more time painting polluters green than actually defending the environment,” said Matt Wallace of Rising Tide North America.

Opposition to carbon trading is growing as it becomes apparent that market based schemes do little to fight climate change while helping corporations rake in profits. Earlier this year, over 50 groups came together in the US to denounce carbon trading in a Declaration Against the Use of Carbon Trading Schemes to Address Climate Change. Globally, hundreds of environmental, social justice, and indigenous groups have come together to oppose such market based initiatives as inherently unsustainable and ineffective in creating a just transition away from fossil fuels.

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Australia: Coal-fired power station blockade on the eve of international climate negotiations

November 27, 2008: This morning, four people entered the Munmorah Coal-Fired Power Station on the NSW Central Coast, attaching themselves to conveyor belts carrying coal.

Spokesperson Ann-Marie Rohlfs says “In two days, the Rudd Government will go to the United Nations climate change meeting in Poland. Instead of showing leadership, they are set to announce weak and ineffective domestic emissions reduction targets…”
“With the upcoming release of the Climate White Paper, the Rudd Government will hand tens of billions of dollars in compensation and free permits to polluting industries. Public money would be better spent investing in a green renewable future for Australia.”

Spokesperson Nicky Ison says, “This week we witnessed the closure of the BP solar plant in Homebush Bay. Australia is missing out on tens of thousands of new jobs by continuing to prop up the coal industry and preventing the transition to a renewable energy economy.”

In September, Nobel Prize Winner Al Gore said “I believe we have reached the stage where it is time for civil disobedience to prevent the construction of new coal plants.”

We are taking him at his word.

Today’s blockade at the Munmorah Power Station is part of a huge community effort to kick Australia’s coal habit.

“We are facing a climate emergency, but our emissions are still rising. We call on the Rudd Government to ensure 2010 is the year Australia’s greenhouse emissions peak and begin to rapidly decline.

“If half of the homes in NSW had solar hot water systems, there would be no need for Munmorah Power Station. We would save 1.5 million tonnes of CO2 annually. As the oldest power station in NSW, Munmorah Power station must be the first to go in the new green economy.”

For further comment:
Holly Creenaune- 0417 682 541
Ann-Marie Rohlfs – 0406 021 920
Nicky Ison – 0423 717 567
For high resolutions photos and video footage, contact Nicky Ison on 0423 717 567

Shell to Sea / Rossport Solidarity Camp Update from Erris Co. Mayo. November 2009.

While Glengad and Shell issues have largely gone from the public eye, and indeed things have quietened down some what, that’s not to say that stuff hasn’t been going on, it just doesn’t always make the media.

The last few months have seen a few developments since the Solitaire left our shores.

* Shell have completely vacated the Glengad compound in the last few week or so. Unfortunately they haven’t done a wonderful job of cleaning up after themselves. Plenty of rubble was left behind on the beach from the causeway that they extended out to sea and then removed.

The “cliff” has been banked up with soft materials which don’t look too stable to me and will likely continue to be washed out by the rainwater. In the old compound itself large heaps of materials have been piled and netted over to prevent birds nesting? Strangely they have not attempted to net the re-banked cliff area, as they had before. Some of the old netting can be seen on the cliff top, intermeshed with the grass on top.

Their channel buoy markers have been washing ashore recently also, as they left these behind to. At the road entrance to the Glengad compound all the fencing and gates have gone (as it has around the whole site), to be replaced with regular cattle fencing and gates, having pulled out at this time of year the whole place is a bit of a mud bath.

* The road, left unfinished by Mayo County Council now Shell have pulled out, is already showing signs of deterioration, with potholes forming in the tarmac beside where the entrance gates to this compound stood. The Co.Co. have left the road as it stands from what I can see, without finishing the works, just loads of signs and bollards left around everywhere.

* Nov 10th last saw a procession along the Bellanaboy Road up to the main refinery gates, attended by about 50 local people carrying crosses with the names of the Ogoni 9, to mark the execution of Ken Sara Wiwa and 8 of his colleagues in 1995, the Nigerian activists who were executed by the Nigerian Military Dictatorship at the time, at Shell’s behest.

* The Garda presence is likewise down, but still tangible.

* After a meeting some time ago with a few ministers, the silence has been loud from the powers that be, despite their recent announcement of setting up some forum or dialogue with people involved in the Corrib Gas issue. However no one here has actually heard anything or been contacted about as of yet. Minister Eamon Ryan has admitted in the media that ‘mistakes were made’ but has refused to discuss the moving of the refinery or the appropriacy of a pipeline landfall at Glengad. “There will be no re-visiting of the consents / permissions already given to Shell”, he said. As usual the terms of reference are pre-set by the ‘authorities’ in order to avoid a fair and proper addressing of the issues.

* The AFRI hedge school a few weeks ago was really fantastic with some great people coming to have an input/speak including Dennis Halliday and other people who have been dealing with Shell in other countries.

The fight goes on.

TopShop SwapShop (London), Buy Nothing Day action (+ Steal Something Day) + Leeds + Liverpool + Bristol

Ladies and Gentlemen we are proud to announce the restyling fashion mash-up event of the year!

TOPSHOP SWAPSHOP
2pm Sat 29th November – Topshop Oxford Street
Credit Crunch!

Ladies and Gentlemen we are proud to announce the restyling fashion mash-up event of the year!

TOPSHOP SWAPSHOP
2pm Sat 29th November – Topshop Oxford Street
Credit Crunch!

In the light of the current economic crisis and the outrage over the sweatshop conditions that most high street brands make their clothes in, the swapshop is your chance to re-vamp your wardrobe with a free conscience! Leaping away from the drudgery of big corporate fashion with it’s dodgy business practices and spend spend spend attitude, the Topshop swapshop takes fashion back to it’s roots.

Simply turn up at TOPSHOP on Oxford Street wearing an outfit you wish to upgrade, then on the stroke of 2, marvel as hundreds of fashion moguls offer to trade your clothes with you.

Fancy that girls jumper? Why not offer to swap your belt for it?
That boy’s hat is to die for, how about a trade for your jeans?
Nice skirt, fancy trading my t-shirt for it?

After a hectic re-working of your look you can then walk proudly back onto the streets of London town with a new wardrobe and not having spent a single penny.

You can buy lots of clothes but you can’t buy style.

Please spread far and wide…

DISCLAIMER:

The above event is in no way supported or condoned by TopShop. Any similarity to any brand living or dead is merely coincidental.

http://www.spacehijackers.org

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Steal Something Day, a shameless 24-hour stealing spree! a critique of BND and call to action, recycled from previous years for your entertainment

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Buy Nothing Day Leeds

In Briggate this Saturday (29th of Nov) there will be a Buy Nothing extravaganza. We will have Christmas carols telling people of the woes of shopping, there will be hot tea and coffee to help ex-shoppers readjust to there new found happiness, and ideas of presents that do not involve consumerism. From
11am – till dark we will be asking people to question consumerism and join us in buying nothing!

Last year was a major success and BND strikes again. Please bake cakes, bring food and anything you would like to give away. There will be a free shop, music and tables. Bring anything down to join in the party!
Leeds BND

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Liverpool

next to nowhere is proud to present an opportunity for all the liverpool activists to join together in a spirit of togetherness, openness & communication.

i guess we can all agree that over-consumption is a very bad thing & i reckon that most of us see capitalism as the root of the sickness that is infesting our society. yes?
anyone a racist? no? oh my, we seem to have something in common after all!

well, on saturday 29th november it’s time to put your mutual aid where your mouth is.

at 11am maybe meet & greet nick griffin (bnp) who could be pleasuring our city with his presence in his bid to become mep for the north west of england. he’s called for the party faithful to gather in protest at thearrest of several members last week. are we really going to let this happen?
meet at the top of church street at 10am.

afterwards, from 12pm, the social centre shall be transformed into an oasis of anti-capitalism.

we’ll have:
a fabulous free-shop full of quality free goodies,
free tea n’ coffee,
vegan cafe (donations only),
open mic, film, performance, spoken word…

now, i know that some people are a bit scared of actually getting involved in next to nowhere, prefering to discuss the shortcomings of the booking policy from a safe distance. just to be clear, and restate the bottom line of next to nowhere from its constitution – everyone is welcome to get involved at the social centre provided that they are willing to work in a non-hierarchical way through consensus.

‘actions speak louder than words’ – please can people work together in mutual support to help make this world a better place and take on the evils which are fucking up our world or say nothing and stop this on-going criticism from the sidelines, whilst doing nothing at nowhere.

who knows, the open-mic forum could even provide an opportunity for people to express their feelings about the social centre, in a non-hierarchical way of course!
or, we could just have a good old-fashioned knees up…

together, let’s start to dance on the graves of multi-national corporations!

feistyfingers[at]yahoo.co.uk
http://www.liverpoolsocialcentre.org

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Buy Nothing Day 2008 – Freeshop in Broadmead, Bristol

Free shop, live music, circus skills and face painting? UWE students from the People and Planet society are going to be taking part in a ‘buy nothing day’ and will be running a free shop on Saturday, brightening up the cold, grey, wintry streets of Bristol city centre.

To recapture some of that lost Christmas Spirit (the giving that is, not the spending!) we’ll be giving away clothes, bric-a-brac and plenty more little gems for you to get your mitts on as well as bringing a little sunshine to the often not-so-happy shoppers of Bristol. If you have anything you want to get rid of, bring it along!

We’re looking for volunteers to help inform and entertain (musicians, circus entertainers, etc) so if your game bring your unicycle down and get involved! It kicks off at 11am and will be running till 4pm, so Pop down to our marquee in-between the Galleries and Cabot Circus (Just down from Ann Summers!).

For more info e-mail Lisa at lisatozer@hotmail.com

I’ll see you there!

KELSTERBACH FOREST OCCUPATION CAMP AGAINST AIRPORT EXPANSION CALLS FOR SOLIDARITY & UNRÄUMBAR FESTIVAL 28-30TH NOVEMBER

Waldbesetzung Kelsterbach (Kelsterbach Forest Occupation Camp)

Big parts of the beautiful forest of Kelsterbach near the airport of Frankfurt/Main (Germany) are in danger of being destroyed.

Waldbesetzung Kelsterbach (Kelsterbach Forest Occupation Camp)

Big parts of the beautiful forest of Kelsterbach near the airport of Frankfurt/Main (Germany) are in danger of being destroyed.

It has been well known for about 10 years that Fraport (the corporation running Frankfurt Airport) plan to build a new runway on this place by the end of 2011, cutting down every tree on 300 hectares of land (about 100,000 trees), doubling the airports flight movements per year to a level of at least one every 45 seconds. About 50 initiatives and nearly all communities around the airport are against the expansion because of the expected rise of fly-over noise.

Fraport plan to finish the runway by the end of 2011 and is already taking so-called “preparing measures” in the forest, cutting brushwoods to make way for their machines to cut the trees and capturing several animal species including frogs and bats to relocate.

Almost all forms of protest have not succeeded to stop the preparations of the building of a new runway. Activists have occupied a small area of the forest since May 2008 to stop the extension plans and a tent and hut village has emerged. About 30-50 people now regularly live in the forest village and welcome every help, may it be donations, new inhabitants or just people passing by and showing their solidarity.

The mayor of Kelsterbach has threatened to evict the camp as of 30th November 2008, claiming he cannot accept the huts in the forest for legal reasons, although it seems unlikely the eviction will actually be attempted then or any time soon.

Unräumbar Festival

The Waldbesetzung Kelsterbach (Kelsterbach Forest Occupation Camp) invite you to the Unräumbar Festival, a weekend of live music, art, dancing, cinema, workshops, playshops, info meetings, creative actions, good food, and much more, on 28-30th November. The whole festival will be non commercial, everything runs on donation basis. Bring a tent, sleeping bag and mat. Bring musical instruments, toys, good energy and food to share.

Other Ways to Support the Kelsterbach Forest Occupation

Spread the news about what is happening in Kelsterbach Forest. Tell people, journalists and politicians.

Donations are very welcome. Useful things include vegan and vegetarian food, building materials (a lot of construction wood, nails), old bedsheets (for banners), writing materials, polypropylene rope (10 or 14 mm), bicycles, tools (saws and hammers), wood stoves and other stuff for the winter, a cheap way to make flyers.
Visit or join Kelsterbach Forest Occupation. Bring a tent, sleeping bag and mat, warm clothes, a flashlight. Musical instruments and toys are nice! Dishes, fork, knives and spoons are already here.

Directions

from Kelsterbach centre:

By train (S-Bahn) from Frankfurt or Wiesbaden to station Kelsterbach.
Outside the station to the left (in the direction of Wiesbaden (south-west) at the right side from the track). Then with the track left from you, you follow Rüsselsheimer Straße for about 1,5 km. After you’ve seen an exit-way, you’ll see a traffic light. There you turn in the Okrifteler Strasse (not indicated) in the direction of Walldorf. You underpass a train track, ignore the first street (right) and take the second possibility, a parking bay. Walk into the forest.

by car:
From Köln to Frankfurt A3/E35, exit Raunheim #48, then to the north, direction of Kelsterbach (Rüsselheimer Straße / 43). Right at the traffic lights (not indicated: Okrifteler Straße, K152), under by a viaduct. Ignore the first street at the right and take the second possibility (150 meters further), a parking bay (see picture) and park your car there.
Behind the barrier you walk straight on, following the way and peace-signs. You’ll come by a lake (on your right) and find the camp a little further (after a crossroad) on your left.

Hitchhiking directions:
A3, from Köln direction Frankfurt, exit 48 – Raunheim, ask the driver to go north direction Kelsterbach to let you out after several 100 meters -where its possible to turn… go on till you find the first hard way (ignore the 1. earthy path) to the right… follow the signs of liberation.
or go under the train, turn left, go right under the tube, over the street and straight… along a lake after it turn right.

Contact

Address:
Baumbesetzung neben dem Pflanzgarten
Gelbe Grundschneise
65451 Kelsterbach
GERMANY
Phone: (+49)0175 833 59 58 (German/English)
e-mail: waldbesetzung@riseup.net
Website: http://www.waldbesetzung.blogsport.de
Coordinates: 50.038999, 8.504019

Climate suffragettes storm municipal city council! Stop the motorway!

On November 12th, 2008 at 5.15 pm. six climate activists dressed in period costumes as suffragettes complete with big hats, marched into a municipal city council meeting in Gothenburg, the second largest city of Sweden.

The politicians were debating a new six-lane motorway, called the Marieholm tunnel, planned to be built under the river that runs through the city. The six women, activists from the climate network Klimax, stormed in to the meeting blowing whistles. A banner was unfolded with the text: “No more tunnel vision – climate smart politics now!” The activists voiced two demands:

Stop Marieholm tunnel, no more motorways.
Local politics in accordance with the latest climate science.

From the stand other activists and members of the public cheered. Leaflets explaining the action were handed out. The action commemorated the 100 years anniversary of the Suffragettes bursting into the British Parliament to demand women’s suffrage.
The official climate goal of Gothenburg is to stabilize the emissions caused by the city to a globally sustainable and fair level by 2050. Still the politicians (conservatives, liberals and social democrats) are cooking up plans for a new six-lane motorway under the river, even though they know that new roads lead to more traffic. To build a new motorway is insanity. Its the absolut last thing we need in these times of climate change!
As did the Suffragettes 100 years ago, we are facing an urgent problem of huge injustice. It is women all over the world who will suffer the worst consequences of climate change, even though it isn’t women who are responsible for the largest sources of emissions. With this action we celebrate the strong women before us who fought for a better world. We have picked up the torch the suffragettes carried and we will pass it on!

greengoteborg at yahoo.se
http://www.klimatet.org

Remember remember, action security in November… [update: Observer article withdrawn]

Remember to think about security when planning actions & campaigns, every month – there’s been a helpful reminder in a Sunday newspaper that our aims and the aims of the state are somewhat different!

Though the article can be taken to be a police unit safeguarding their ongoing budgets and employment – as has happened in the past with similar scare articles (from the police & the security services) – it’s also a handy reminder of the security issues we should think about to ensure that our campaigning remains effective. Check out the background dirt on the journos below…

Also, try out this selection of links:

Security, Privacy, & Anonymity for Autonomy…
ELF Press Office’s security page
Top 100 Network Security Tools

The original newspaper article:

Police warn of growing threat from eco-terrorists

Fear of deadly attack by lone maverick as officers alert major firms to danger of green extremism

Mark Townsend and Nick Denning,
The Observer, Sunday November 9 2008

Police have warned of the growing threat of eco-terrorism after revealing they are investigating a group which has supporters who believe that reducing the Earth’s population by four-fifths will help to protect the planet.

Officers from a specialist unit dedicated to tackling domestic terrorism are monitoring an eco-movement called Earth First! which has advocates who state that cutting the Earth’s population by 80 per cent will ease pressure on other species. Officers are concerned a ‘lone maverick’ eco-extremist may attempt a terrorist attack aimed at killing large numbers of Britons.

The National Extremism Tactical Co-ordination Unit, which collates intelligence and advice to police forces, has revealed that eco-activists are researching a list of target companies which they believe are major polluters or are exacerbating the threat of climate change.

The unit is currently monitoring blogs and internet traffic connected to a network of UK climate camps and radical environmental movements under the umbrella of Earth First!, which has claimed responsibility for a series of criminal acts in recent months.

A senior source at the unit said it had growing evidence of a threat from eco-activists. ‘We have found statements that four-fifths of the human population has to die for other species in the world to survive.

‘There are a number of very dedicated individuals out there and they could be dangerous to other people.’

Earth First! says its mission is ‘about direct action to halt the destruction of the Earth’ and advocates ‘civil disobedience and monkeywrenching’, tactics that include sabotage and disruptive behaviour. The movement has links to US environmental extremists which have waged a campaign of violence in America, including the firebombing of a string of 4×4 car dealerships in California in 2003 and alleged arson attacks on other property.

The anti-extremist unit has already alerted a number of major companies which have been accused of being carbon polluters with advice on how they can withstand being targeted by eco-terrorists. Companies are thought to include airport operator BAA, an international mining conglomerate BHP Billiton and firms connected to UK coal-fired power stations.

‘They are doing research of possible targets, looking at shareholders and financiers. For example, they could research an airline and see how many of its aircraft are not environmentally friendly,’ said the NETCU source.

Although green extremists have yet to embark on an orchestrated campaign of violence in the UK, officers warn that they may be about to launch a campaign of intimidation and fear aimed at disrupting businesses. ‘For some people, if they can justify it in their minds, then it’s a noble cause even if it’s a criminal action. They haven’t started yet, but we believe they will come up with a strategy and tactics,’ said the source at the unit, who described the movement as well-funded and organised.

A spate of recent attacks, for which Earth First! supporters have claimed responsibility, has included vandalism of branches of seven German banks such as Deutsche Bank and Allianz AG. The actions were apparently because the banks hold shares in UK Coal, which plans to build new coal-fired power stations.

A statement on the Earth First! website explains the attacks by saying: ‘Exploitation of the environment and people by the state and industry go hand in hand. They cannot be separated and both must be attacked. Social war, not climate chaos.’

Another attack hit a quarry in Staffordshire which belongs to Bardon Aggregates, a company hat also owns a controversial quarry at Glensanda on the north-west coast of Scotland. The Scottish quarry is accused of spoiling the Highlands environment. The Earth First! website states: ‘We slashed tyres, stripped paint jobs, glued locks and trashed conveyor belts. All the earth movers were hit and many of the cement and aggregate trucks. This action cost us very little but should cost Bardon thousands.’

Among the network of groups under the Earth First! umbrella are various climate camps. Last August police found a stash of knives and weapons beside one such camp in Kent. Protesters, however, said they had nothing to do with the weapons and accused police of launching a ‘smear campaign’.

A spokesman for Derby Earth First! said the movement was strictly non-violent, if not always law-abiding. He said: ‘If someone does ecological damage we would perhaps break the law and protect the ecology, but the ecology also includes humans.

‘We’re all about communities. Capitalism is the problem and we want to return to a more sustainable time. But we are not about reducing the population, that is just scaremongering by the police.’

The rise of eco-extremism coincides with the fall of the animal rights activist movement. Police said the animal rights movement was in ‘disarray’ and that its ringleaders had either been prosecuted or were awaiting prosecution, adding that its ‘critical mass’ of hardcore extremists was sufficiently depleted to have halted its effectiveness. Last Thursday a prominent animal rights activist accused of planting petrol bombs at Oxford University was cleared of possessing an explosive substance with intent.

Reports on the Earth First! Journal website, which tells users how to send encrypted emails, reveals connections to the Earth Liberation Front (ELF) which has been linked to a series of violent attacks in the US. ELF was classified as the top domestic terrorism threat in the US by the FBI in March 2001.

The ELF was founded in 1992 in Brighton by members of the Earth First! movement who wanted to form a breakaway group that would use more extreme tactics.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2008/nov/09/eco-terrorism-earth-first-elf

Dirt dug on article writers:

From: http://ianbone.wordpress.com/2008/11/10/the-guardian-eco-terrorism-and-the-armyexclusive/

THE GUARDIAN ECO-TERRORIST JOURNO IS ARMY INTELLIGENCE OFFICER……..EXCLUSIVE!

Curioser and Curiouser……I’m checking for Nick Denning – co-author with Mark Townsend of yesterday’s hilarous Observer piece on eco -terrorism. He doesn’t appear to have any previous as a journalist. But what’s this?? A piece written by Townsend in Afghanistan in August 2007 where he’s embedded with the Royal Anglian Regiment in Sangin………and sharing a helicopter ride with NICK DENNING – COMMANDER OF 1 PLATOON A COMPANY in the Royal Anglian regiment!!! And less than a year later this Denning is providing intelligence to his mate on The Guardian on eco – terorism!!! Some explanations from The Guardian reqired on this one methinks! Watch this space…………

Also see http://ianbone.wordpress.com/2008/11/09/guardian-journalists-police-patsies-yet-again/
And http://ianbone.wordpress.com/2008/11/11/god-bone-youre-a-cunt-the-observer-replies/

Funny & informative.

—OR—

This ‘Nick Denning’ is clearly not the cricketer and Ian Bone’s suggestion that he is an army officer is unlikely. It is more likely to be the ND who worked at the BBC as a researcher and a bit of work on Google pulls up a number of requests that he has made for information.

For instance:

http://www.stewartbyfc.co.uk/fusionnews/archive.php?show=month&month=July&year=2004

The most likely explanation is that this is the person – that he is a researcher who wants to break into national journalism.

——

Schnews article & quotes from the journo

——

The Observer/Guardian blog on the subject if you want to post something there is http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/blog/2008/nov/10/activists-kingsnorth

——
Update:
The readers’ editor on … anonymous sources and claims of eco-terrorism

The Observer, Sunday November 23 2008

You might think The Observer’s concern for the environment arose only in the past 20 years as global warming became apparent, but it has actually been reading the signs since 1925. Waldorf Astor, then the paper’s forward-thinking owner, took a keen interest in all things environmental and urged his editor, JL Garvin, to appoint a correspondent to cover ecology and agriculture. Step forward Sir William Beach Thomas, who became, in effect, the first environment correspondent.

Much later, The Observer was to investigate and reveal the ‘greenhouse effect’ and to warn of its possible consequences. Thousands of words have been devoted to the subject ever since, winning a loyal audience, particularly among those who are active in the environment movement. So there was understandable dismay at a recent story which told of a ‘growing threat from eco-terrorists’.

Police were said to be investigating the eco-movement Earth First! which, they claimed, had supporters who believed that reducing the Earth’s population by four-fifths would help protect the planet. The National Extremism Tactical Co-ordination Unit was concerned that a lone maverick might attempt a terrorist attack. It had also warned several companies they were being targeted as major polluters by the group and had offered them advice on how to withstand attack.

It’s perfectly legitimate to report police security concerns, but none of the statements were substantiated. No website links were offered, no names were mentioned, no companies identified and no police source would go on the record.

The article linked Earth First! to climate camps established last summer, including one at Kingsnorth power station, Kent, and at Heathrow.

While the paper had no intention of suggesting that every activist was a potential terrorist, several climate campers wrote to protest. ‘If a journalist is told by a single anonymous source that a movement of people has among it individuals who would take the lives of men, women and children in a terror attack, what standard of evidence does that journalist require? In this case: no evidence whatsoever. The claim itself was the story.’

We’ve been here before. Other newspapers reported on a predicted ‘summer of hate’ at climate camps that never materialised and the Press Complaints Commission found against the Evening Standard at climate campers were planning attacks at Heathrow.

Environmentalist Keith Metcalf explained that Earth First! supported direct action against property, but not against people. He believed that the debate around sustainable population size had been twisted to imply that environmentalists wished to kill people.

He also repeated the belief of several others that Nectu was briefing in this manner in order to make prosecutions easier and to boost its funding, which is at risk owing to the decline in animal rights campaigns. I can’t verify that or the fears about mass murder because, despite repeated requests, Nectu won’t respond. Accordingly, The Observer has decided to withdraw the story.

Activists in Dublin renamed the street where the Shell office is after Ken Saro Wiwa

Surprisingly, many streets in Dublin, capital of the Republic of Ireland, are still named after heroes of monarchy and colonialism.

Adelaide Road, which is home to the main entrance of Shell’s Irish head office as well as the government department which hands out licences for the exploitation of Irish gas and oil reserves, is named after Queen Adelaide, the unfortunate German princess who married the English King William IV (he already had a mistress and ten children).

At the weekend, opponents of Shell’s activities in Ireland and around the world took the decision to rename the street after Ken Saro-Wiwa. He was the leader, until his death, of the Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People and a fierce critic of Shell’s destruction of the Niger Delta and its people.

Ken Saro Wiwa and eight others were executed by hanging in Port Harcourt prison on November 10th 1995. The Nigerian government claimed he was guilty of conspiracy to murder, but executives from Shell privately admitted that they were behind the prosecution, trial and execution of Saro-Wiwa and the others.

You can see a short video of the changing of the signs here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yBHp–u4QVk

and a few more pictures here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/24935400@N06/sets/72157608792269359/

rememberkensarowiwa@gmail.com
http://www.remembersarowiwa.com