Rest of Europe – Page 61

Community Day at Bellanaboy

Sunday December 16, 2007

A special prayer and carol service was held today at Bellanaboy, County Mayo, marking the end of another year of community struggle against Shell’s proposed raw gas pipeline and inland refinery.

Sunday December 16, 2007

A special prayer and carol service was held today at Bellanaboy, County Mayo, marking the end of another year of community struggle against Shell’s proposed raw gas pipeline and inland refinery.

A good humoured gathering of more than 150 local people braved the bitterly cold east wind to take part in the occasion, which was presided over by local priests Fr. Michael Nallen PP and Fr. Sean Noone.

A banner declaring “Gan Cead an Phobail” (No Community Consent) was draped over the main gates while people sang Christmas Carols to welcome in the festive season.

Also present was Lelia Doolin, a high profile campaigner and member of the Burren Action Group, who travelled from Galway especially for the day. Ms Doolin spoke of the similarities between the Clare and Mayo campaigns, and how the determination of ordinary people can bring about real change.

Related Link: http://www.shelltosea.com/

Strike, demonstrations, clashes (Athens-Thessaloniki-Larissa) – luxury cars, cash machines, CCTV & McD all trashed or burned

12/12/2007
All reports come from athens.indymedia.org Another report in greek can be found at www.anarchy.gr.

One-day long general strike was called by federations, labor unions and syndicates that belong to the GSEE (general syndicalist union), PAME (tied to the Communist Party) but also independent syndicates and other groups, against government plans to overhaul the pension system (raising retirement ages, cutting benefits etc).

Athens: The police repeatedly attacked with tear gas and flash light and sting ball grenades in order to tear apart the anarchist/antiautoritarian blocs (more than 1.500 persons) from the other demonstrators (more than 150.000) while the demonstrators fought back with stones and sticks. A luxurius car had its windows broken and was set on fire, together with a bank’s ATM and a police surveillance camera. Near Great Britain hotel, the cops attacked again the demonstration but were held back by the people. In Omonoia Square, the cops attacked once again the demo and cut back the anarchist/antiatoritarian blocs. In Panepistimiou street, some demonstrators attacked the cops and set free 2 persons that were handcuffed by the cops, in a previous police attack. Then, there was a constant tear gas attack and police striking the demo in order to separate the anarchist/antiatoritarian blocs from the rest of the demonstrators, though they never manage to do so, thanks to the strong self-defence of the anarchists/antiautoritarians and the support of the rest of the demonstrators that did n’t run away, regardless the amounts of tear gas and police attacks. In the same time, employees of “Olympic Airways” some of them protesting with greek flags against the bunkruptsy of this state-sponsored company, were offering flowers to the policemen ouside the parliament house… During the demonstrations, bank ATMs and surveillance cameras were destroyed, and 2 linemen of the Public Power Corporation got arrested a few hours after the demonstrations, for covering up police surveillance cameras with bags. In total, there were dozens of arrests, and 4 of them are prosecuted under misdemeanours (disruption of public order, damaging public property).

Thessaloniki: Demonstrators broke down the McDonalds at Lagkada street and bank windows, and burnt up power supply boxes of police surveillance cameras. In total, more than 30.000 people participated in the demonstrations.

Larissa: Paint bombs and eggs were thrown at banks and party offices.

Marches and open gathering were organised in most cities and towns of the country.

French activist Bove to go on anti-GMO hunger strike

REUTERS, Dec 10 2007

TOULOUSE (Reuters) – French radical farmer Jose Bove, who became a worldwide celebrity for his fight against junk food, said on Monday he would go on a hunger strike to win a one-year ban on genetically modified (GMO) crops.

REUTERS, Dec 10 2007

Speaking at the Millau Court of Justice in southern France, where his four-month jail sentence for trashing a GMO field in 2004 was commuted to a fine, Bove said he would start his unlimited strike on January 3, along with 10 to 15 other activists.

The walrus-mustachioed, pipe-smoking Bove, sometimes dubbed France’s Robin Hood, spent six weeks in jail in 2003 for smashing up a McDonald’s restaurant in protest at tariffs imposed by the United States in retaliation for a European Union ban on imports of North American hormone-treated beef.

While GMO crops are common in the United States, France — Europe’s biggest grain producer — along with other European nations remain highly suspicious of them.

Supporters say it could lead to hardy strains to help feed the world’s poor. Opponents, which polls say include a majority of French people, fear they could harm humans and wildlife by triggering an uncontrolled spread of modified genes.

In an attempt to calm these concerns, France last week formally suspended the commercial use of GMO seeds until February 9 and ordered a biotech safety study.

It also set up a committee charged with assessing the health and environmental implications of using the only GMO seeds used in Europe, which are reliant on the MON 810 technology developed by U.S. biotech giant Monsanto.

‘This decree is ridiculous. It is a scarecrow,’ Bove said.

‘Everyone knows that there are no sowings during winter. We demand a real pause in GMO use in 2008. It must be a year without GMOs and we are stating this hunger strike to show our determination,’ he added.

http://www.reuters.com/article/environmentNews/idUSL1011368420071210

EarthFirst! blockade at coal-fired power plant in Rotterdam, NL

8.12.2007
On Saturday morning a collective of twenty Dutch EarthFirst! activists blocked the coal conveyor- belt to a plant owned by the German energy giant E.on on the Maasvlakte near Rotterdam. This day, December 8, has been announced as an international actionday in the protest against the coal industry. The growing number of coal-fired power plants worldwide and in the Netherlands at the moment is the biggest threath to the climate. Secondly, this action is part of the protest against the plans for a new E.on coal-fired plant, right next to the existing one on the Maasvlakte.

Several activists have locked themselves to the conveyor-belt which transports the coals to the powerplant. ‘Unfortunately that won’t mean they’ll shut down the entire power plant. There’s enough supply at the furnace to keep it running for a while. If we really manage to shut down the plant there’ll be enough other plants to cover the shortage’, according to Flip, one of the participating activists. The activists plan to stay as long as possible. They demand the cancellation of the construction plans for the new E.on coalpowerplant.

In the Netherlands five new coal-fired power plants are planned to be built. E.on is making a concerted effort to be the first company to start building next spring. E.on is also planning to build a coal-fired plant in Antwerpen, Belgium. These new power plants do not correspond at all with the climate-ambitions of the Netherlands and specifically Rotterdam to reduce CO2 emissions. Coals are the most polluting energy source possible, because apart from CO2, the emissions also include heavy metals, radioactive particles and other greenhouse gases. Because of this, building a new power plant makes sure any attempt to solve the climate crisis will never succeed. Besides, the building of new coal-fired plants interferes with the development of sustainable energy. The polluting sources fill the energy grid and sustainable development investments will only be used for carbon capture and storage.

The company E.on is running a PR campaign, using pretty words like ‘Clean Coals’ and ‘the Capture Ready preparation’ of the new plant to defend themselves. Both these terms have been proved to be based on nothing. The mining of coals is extremely polluting; so there is no such thing as ‘Clean Coals’. Large partsof the Earth are being destroyed; there is severe pollution of water and soil in the mining areas of the United States, Columbia, Indonesia and South Africa. In the coalmines, miners are being exploited and annually thousands of people die as a result of disasters.

The term ‘Capture Ready preparation’ used by E.on is a fraud. A carbon-capturing power plant will use between 24 and 40 percent of its produced energy on the capture process. It must therefore burn more coal to provide the same amount of output energy as a non carbon-capturing power plant.

The type of plant E.on is about to build has proven to be extremely unsuitable for carbon storage. The fumes released by this specific type of plant contain many pollutants and thus are complicated and expensive to treat. E.on’s promise to start capturing carbon ‘as soon as it is technically and commercially viable’ is therefore completely pointless and has only resulted in an empty spot on the blueprints, reserved for a future capturing installation.

So what if you cannot burn coals as an energy source? Flip: ‘Besides the possibility of decentralised and actual sustainable energy, it is most of all necessary to use less power. Sustainable power has its limits as well. If we really want to anticipate the depletion of natural resources and the ensuing climatic disaster, we’ll somehow have to find a different way of living that won’t include dogmatic economic growth. Play more with less’.

The Dutch EarthFirst! action is part of the ‘Shrink or Sink’ campaign, fighting both the climate and energy crisis and rapidly decreasing bioversity. Direct action against the construction of new coal-fired plants is one of the main topics of the campaign.

Fossil Fools Day, April 1st 2008

Rising Tide International is calling for a day of action against the fossil fuel industry on April 1st 2008…

Rising Tide International is calling for a day of action against the fossil fuel industry on April 1st 2008…
FOSSIL FOOLS DAY!

Roll up, roll up! The climate circus is in town. Climate change threatens our very survival, but the fools at the head of the fossil fuel empire continue to plunder the earth, with governments the willing court jesters at their side.

They would have us believe that we can escape climate change with techno-fixes, market mechanisms and offset schemes – all technocratic acrobatics that distract us from the truth: the only real solution to climate change is to keep fossil fuels in the ground.

For over a century the fossil fuel industry has been fooling with our lives. From extraction to combustion they have poisoned our air, polluted our water and ruined our climate. On April 1st, 2008, we’re going to turn the tables and show them who the real fools are.

Find a local fossil fool – the coal-mining clown, the offset contortionist, the aviator tripping on the high wire, the supermarket food mile freak show, the oily strong man, or any other fool that deserves your attention – and join with thousands around the world in taking one step closer to dismantling the fossil fuel industry.

On Fossil Fools Day, bring the spirit of carnival and mischief to the fight for climate justice.

www.fossilfoolsday.org
www.risingtide.org.uk

(More info and resources coming soon… for now, put the date in your diary, spread the call-out above far and wide, and start scheming!)

300 on the streets of Helsinki for squat Elimäki – International Days Of Action For Squats & Autonomous Spaces – April 08

Helsinki, Finland: We get more time – 300 on the streets of Helsinki for squat Elimäki

Thursday was a day of victory for the squatting scene in Helsinki. 300 people defied the really shitty weather and gathered to demonstrate at the Youth Department of the city to show their support to the social centre Elimäki, aka squat E15.

Helsinki, Finland: We get more time – 300 on the streets of Helsinki for squat Elimäki

The Youth Department of Helsinki had gathered to decide on whether to rent the squatted house on Elimäenkatu (Elimäkistreet) to be used as a social centre for the youth of the city. This was the second time officials from the city came together to decide on the issue. After postponing the decision at their first meeting a month ago the board now unanimously decided to investigate the real condition of our house. The decision can be understood as an official recognition of the importance to have an autonomous space in Helsinki.

The house on Elimäenkatu has been deemed in very bad condition by the officials of the city. The statement has been supported by no real measurements or data whatsoever and on the contrary been proved wrong by the investigations we ourselves have made. This fact got recognized by the board of the Youth Department in their decision to appoint a private construction firm to investigate further on the matter.

The solution that the squatters and some people from the city have been working on is to have the house rented by the Youth Department to be used as an autonomous social centre. The house has been in this use since it was squatted in the beginning of August. After a long period of bad events on our issue the outlook is now better. But it would be overtly optimistic to say that if the investigations on our house turn out to be good the city would support us. During the last months the politicians and officials of the city have been changing their statements on whether to legalise the house or not on a daily basis. The Finnish media does not follow the game in the side-scenes where politicians and officials are manipulating each other to topple our project. We are far from securing the only social centre in Helsinki but much closer than before.

However the situation of Squat E15 develops the squatting scene in Helsinki and other Finnish cities is now stronger than ever before. We are constantly growing in numbers and a support demo of 300 people (or more) is more than we ever could have mustered half a year ago. We now have recognition for our needs and will not give up until we have this house or an equally good place guaranteed to us. Last but not least the international support we have been getting (Ghent, Copenhagen, Amsterdam, Tallinn and Malmö as far as we know) means a lot to a small
but growing scene like ours. The struggle for free spaces continues!

Love and solidarity
Social centre Elimäki
www.valtaus.org

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On Friday the 4th and Saturday the 5th of April 2008, we call for two days of demonstration, direct action, public information, street-party, squatting… in defence of free spaces and for an anti-capitalist popular culture. Through these two days, we want to help create more visibility of autonomous spaces and squats as a european/global political movement. We want to develop interconnections and solidarity between squats and autonomous spaces. We want to keep linking our spaces with new people and new struggles, and support the creation of autonomous spaces in places where there has not been a history of this kind of action. We want to build, step by step, our ability to overcome the wave of repression falling on us.

We call for decentralised and autonomous actions of all kinds, depending on what people feel to be the most appropriate to their local context. You’ll find below the political content we wish to give to these two days.

= We are everywhere…

For centuries, people have used squats and autonomous spaces, either urban or rural, to take control of their own lives. They are a tool, a tactic, a practice, and a way for people to live out their struggles. For decades, squat movements across Europe and beyond have fought capitalist development, contributing to local struggles against destruction; providing alternatives to profit-making and consumer culture; running social centres and participatory activities outside of the mainstream economy. Demonstrating the possibilities for self-organising without hierarchy; creating international networks of exchange and solidarity. These networks have changed many lives, breaking out of social control and providing free spaces where people can live outside the norm.

Among other things, these places provide bases for meetings and projects, for the creation and distribution of subversive culture, for the non-monetary based exchange of goods, resources and knowledge, for experimentating with new ways of living, for collective debates, for recycling and construction, for agricultural activities, for the production of independant media.

Whether we speak of urban squats or of purchased land, of negotiated or re-appropriated rural land, of restored factories or self-built buildings, these spaces are refuges for rebels and outlaws, poor and homeless people, radical activists, illegal immigrants. Social centres are crucial to us as part of a movement for social change.

= All over Europe, repressive agendas are being pushed by governments

They are attacking long-standing autonomous spaces such as the Ungdomshuset in Copenhagen, Koepi and Rigaer Straße in Berlin, EKH in Vienna and Les Tanneries in Dijon, squatted social centres in London and Amsterdam, Ifanet in Thessaloniki, etc. In France, squats have become a priority target for the police after the anti-CPE movement and the wave of actions and riots that happened during the presidential elections period. In Germany, many autonomous spaces have been searched and attacked before the G8 summit. In Geneva and Barcelona, two old and big squatting “fortresses”, the authorities have decided to try to put an end to the movement. Whereas it is still possible to occupy empty buildings in some countries, it has already become a crime in some others. In the countryside, access to land is becoming harder and communes face increasing problems from legislation on hygiene, security and gentrification by the bourgeoisie and tourists. All over Europe, independent cultures are being threatened.

Several months ago we saw running battles in the streets of Copenhagen and actions everywhere in Europe in an explosion of anger at the eviction of the Ungdomshuset social centre. Since then, and with a few other big resistance stories that happened over the last months, we’ve managed to renew the meaning of international solidarity.

We are motivated by the same passions, we feel the same determination, face a common enemy in repression, and are united across borders by our desire to build a world of equality and self-determination. As unaligned and ungovernable islands of uncontrolled freedom we want to continue to act in solidarity, and strengthen our international links, no matter how many kilometres there are between us.

= Issues beyond the actions

We also would like these days of actions to enable and inspire discussion, to demonstrate various possibilities & strategies, to be an occasion to share skills. These are some of the issues we would like to push:
* what do we expect from and understand by autonomous spaces?
* What is their role in the pursuit of radical social change?
* Where do they lie on the scale of’alternative’ to ‘confrontational’?
* share information on the range of activities that take place in autonomous social spaces along with ideas for how to make them work;
*question the production of goods and services; and encourage the exchange of knowledge particularly between the town and the countryside.
* share experiences, inspire each other, find out how others live collectively, and their activities, alternative economic exchange systems…
* share various ways of getting spaces all over europe: illegal occupations, Do It Yourself constructions, wagenburgs, buying collectively, free contracts…
* share practical resources and a feeling of solidarity between:
different users of autonomous spaces (either current or potential): co-operatives, people without papers, activists, travellers, immigrants, urbanites, rural dwellers, small farms;
different ways of using spaces; activities for the community, meeting area for groups, living spaces;
* enable the forming of common strategies when faced with state repression or eviction;

= Who are we, how can we collaborate on this project, and make it happen?

At the moment, we are a group of people involved with various autonomous spaces around Europe, who decided to start discussing this call. We’ll meet various collectives in the coming months and see how people feel about this proposal for european days of action, and how they want to get involved. Its success depends a lot on our capacity to create a bigger international working group. This would mean everybody who wanted to take part into it would try to start discssing the idea in various spaces, creating and distributing some propaganda materials and networking information about what’s going on near them during those days. We would also like to organize a physical meeting about all this in the upcoming months. Get in touch!

= Materials

Flyers etc can be found on our website. Please download the PDF file, print it and spread it around squats and autonomous spaces in your area.

= Preparation meeting

The success of this call now depends upon our capacity to create a bigger international working group. The whole event will happen without any “central commitee”, and will be made of a various autonomous decentralised actions. Still, we think it is important to have a physical meeting, in order to exchange ideas and strategies, discuss the contents of the call, see how to create common information tools around that project, how to connect and help the various local initiatives.
Thus, we’re calling for an international preparation & coordination meeting on November 24th & 25th 2007, in the autonomous space “Les Tanneries”, located in Dijon, France. It is a squatted social centre in a post-industrial environment, occupied since 1998. Thanks to years of struggle against the city council owning the buildings, the project has reached a certain degree of stability. It hosts a collective house, a gig room, a hacklab, a free shop, an infoshop, a collective garden, a library…

We hope that many of you will be able to join. Please tell us a bit in advance if you’re planning to come, so that we get an idea of the number of people we have to accomodate and plan food for. You’re very welcome to pass this invitation to squats and autonomous spaces that you know.

= Getting in touch & helping out

Please get in touch, by writing to april2008 at squat dot net. Any help with translations in whatever languages is greatly appreciated.
http://april2008.squat.net/

Privatisation planning barbed wire destroyed (Athens, 11/11/2007)

After an open assembly of the district residents, with an attendance of more than 300 persons, that focused on the matters of the privatisation of the Filopappou hills, the tresspassing, the fences and the commercialisation of the area (check out the sources for more information), it was decided that the fences and wires should be brought down by the residents theirselves, as it was realised despite the police presence.

Sources (Greek only) – photos: http://militant-entertainment.blogspot.com
http://filopappou.wordpress.com
http://www.indy.gr/newswire/oi-katoikoi-kslosan-perifraksi-stoy-filopappoy

Climate Action News Sheet, 73 November 2007

CONTENTS:
———————————————-
UPCOMING ACTIONS AND EVENTS:
———————————————-
1) WILD LIE EXHIBITION PURSUES SHELL TO ABERYSTWYTH – 10-17.11.07

CONTENTS:
———————————————-
UPCOMING ACTIONS AND EVENTS:
———————————————-
1) WILD LIE EXHIBITION PURSUES SHELL TO ABERYSTWYTH – 10-17.11.07
2) FREE FILM SCREENING OF ‘THE WARNING’ – LONDON, 12.11.07
3) TOTTERDOWN ART TRAIL – BRISTOL, 16-18.11.07
4) OXFORDSHIRE ECO-HOUSE OPEN DAYS – 24-25.11.07
5) BANNER PROTEST AT BIOFUELS CONFERENCE – LONDON, 27.11.07
6) CRITICAL MASS DATES AND UPDATES – OCT/NOV 2007
7) CLIMATE CHANGE BIKE RIDE / NATIONAL MARCH – LONDON, 8.12.07
8) BEYONDTV FESTIVAL – SWANSEA, 28.11.07-2.12.07
9) CLIMATE CAMP EXHIBITION ON TOUR – WINTER 2007
10) LOW-IMPACT LIVING INITIATIVE COURSES – WINTER 2007
11) PLYMOUTH ENVIRONMENT CENTRE ART EXHIBITION – NOV/DEC 2007
12) EARTHFIRST MOOT / NEW ACTION UPDATE – WINTER 2007
13) FOSSIL FOOLS DAY – 1.4.08
———————————————-
RECENT HAPPENINGS:
———————————————-
1) SONGS OF FREEDOM AT OPENING OF SHELL’S WILD LIE EXHIBITION – 27.10.07
2) NATIONAL DAY OF LOCAL ACTION VS. ROYAL BANK OF SCOTLAND – 15.10.07
3) PEOPLE’S BLOCKADE OF WORLD’S BIGGEST COAL PORT – AUSTRALIA, 3.11.07
4) GREENWASH GUERILLAS DISRUPT “CARBON TRAITORS” IN NEW YORK – 30.10.07
5) BP EXECUTIVE PIED AT EUROPE’S LARGEST BIOFUELS EVENT – 17.10.07
6) CAMP HOPE, GLOUCESTER – 20-21.10.07
7) PLANE STUPID AT MANCHESTER AIRPORT – 8.10.2007
8) GREENPEACE PROTESTORS SHUT DOWN POWER PLANT – 8.10.07
9) TOTAL BLOCKADES – OCTOBER / NOVEMBER 2007
10) NUFFGLOBAL FILMS – NOVEMBER 2007
11) ESCALATING DEFLATION CAMPAIGN AGAINST 4X4S IN SWEDEN – OCT ‘07
12) DIRECT ACTION NEWS FROM GREECE – 7-15.10.07
13) BATH BOMB, ISSUE 4 – NOVEMBER 2007

———————————————-
UPCOMING ACTIONS AND EVENTS:
———————————————-
1) WILD LIE EXHIBITION PURSUES SHELL TO ABERYSTWYTH – 10-17.11.07
Immediately after hosting the 2006 Shell Wildlife Photographer exhibition (organised by the Natural History Museum and BBC Wildlife magazine) Aberystwyth Arts Centre is showing our counter-exhibition; ‘Shell’s Wild Lie’. http://www.aberystwythartscentre.co.uk/whatson/exhibitions/
‘Shell’s Wild Lie’, has been put together as part of London Rising Tide’s ‘Art Not Oil’ campaign, and features photographs and illustrations that we consider give a truer snapshot of the disastrous effects that Shell and the whole fossil fuel industry have on our planet:
http://www.artnotoil.org.uk/gallery/v/Shell/
Book it yourself, and tell the Museum and BBC Wildlife what you think:
m.dixon@nhm.ac.uk, cc’ing to feedback@nhm.ac.uk,
wildlifeletters@bbcmagazinesbristol.com & info@artnotoil.org.uk

2) FREE FILM SCREENING, THE WARNING – LONDON, 12.11.07
The first UK screening of the award-winning film “The Warning” will be on 12th November, 8pm at Passing Clouds Works in Dalston, east London. This documentary charts the struggle of Siberian communities to protect their sacred lands from predatory oil companies. Passing Clouds is behind ‘Uncle Sam’s’, which is on 438 Kingsland Road. Get there from Shoreditch /Old Street on the 242, 243, 67 or 149 buses.

3) TOTTERDOWN ART TRAIL – BRISTOL, 16-18.11.07
Including art, films and exhibitions connected with climate change and peak oil. www.frontroom.org.uk

4) OXFORDSHIRE ECO-HOUSE OPEN DAYS – 24-25.11.07
Are you planning to renovate your house in the most environmental way possible? Do you want to slash energy bills and make your house warmer and healthier? Are you selling your house and want to improve its poor energy rating? Do you want to prepare for life in the climate change century? 18 eco-houses in Oxfordshire are opening their doors to the public to share the techniques, products and possibilities of eco-renovation. This is a superb opportunity to see a wide range of approaches and talk to the house owners directly about their experiences.
www.ecovation.org.uk
www.coinet.org.uk

5) BANNER PROTEST AT BIOFUELS CONFERENCE – LONDON, 27.11.07
This will take place outside the Biofuel Finance and Investment World Conference at Royal Garden Hotel, Kensington High Street (near High Street Kensington tube station) on Tuesday, 27th November, 12 noon to 2pm.
Biofuel investment means more global warming, more deforestation, more people going hungry because of higher food prices and food shortages, and more human rights abuses and refugees as agribusinesses take control over ever larger areas of land.
www.biofuelwatch.org.uk

6) CRITICAL MASS DATES AND UPDATES – OCTOBER / NOVEMBER 2007
Sheffield; last Friday of the month, 5:30pm at the University Concourse.
London; last Friday of the month, 6:00pm under Waterloo Bridge by the NFT, South Bank. Next ride November 23rd 2007.
http://criticalmasslondon.org.uk/main.html
For reports on the October rides see;
http://earthfirst.org.uk/actionreports/node/6274

7) CLIMATE CHANGE BIKE RIDE / NATIONAL MARCH – LONDON, 8.12.07
Saturday 8 December, Cyclists assemble 10am Lincoln’s Inn Fields. Cycling to Parliament Square to link up with main march to US Embassy, (timed to coincide with the UN climate talks in Bali). Marchers assemble 12 noon Millbank for main march. [Westminster Tube]
2.30 pm Rally at US embassy. Speakers include Chris Huhne MP, Michael Meacher MP, Caroline Lucas MEP, Zac Goldsmith, George Monbiot. The National Demo in London will be one of many global climate demonstrations taking place on the 8th.
http://www.campaigncc.org

8) BEYONDTV FESTIVAL – SWANSEA, 28.11.07-2.12.07
Undercurrents will host the 8th annual BEYONDTV festival of political documentaries, animations and music videos from inspiring media directors. All films will have a theme of social or environmental activism. Hosted in the very heart of Swansea, BeyondTV promises to be an entertaining week with all proceeds going to to support the charity work of undercurrents.
http://beyondtvfestival.clearerchannel.org/whatisbtv

9) CLIMATE CAMP EXHIBITION ON TOUR – WINTER 2007
The Climate Camp exhibition documents in sound, words, installations and images the life, workshops and direct action of those ten busy days in August. It examines the issues and thinking of people who seek to stop the world sleepwalking into a disaster that is manifestly preventable, but hugely profitable for a powerful few. This exhibition will be touring UK cities threatened by regional airport expansion.
Workshops, talks and film screenings will appear at http://www.minimouse.me.uk/show as they are confirmed.
Photographs from the show are a selection from those to be seen at
http://www.minimouse.me.uk/photographers.html

10) LOW-IMPACT LIVING INITIATIVE COURSES – WINTER 2007
LILI will be running 10 courses at a new venue called Unstone Grange (nr. Sheffield) and 28 one day courses at Hackney City Farm in London. For the full range of courses for 2007-2008, see;
http://www.lowimpact.org/courses.htm

11) PLYMOUTH ENVIRONMENT CENTRE ART EXHIBITION – NOV-DEC 2007
Plymouth Environment Centre is holding a fund-raising art exhibition and auction at the B-bar in the Barbican Theatre, Plymouth.
Exhibition – Friday 23rd November to Thursday 13th December 2007
Auction – Thursday 13th December 2007 starting at 7pm
http://plymouthenvironmentcentre.org.uk/art_auction.php

12) EARTHFIRST MOOT / NEW ACTION UPDATE – WINTER 2007
To download the EF! Action Update and for advance notice of the Winter Moot (February gathering of eco-activists) see;
http://earthfirst.org.uk/actionreports/node/6347

13) FOSSIL FOOLS DAY – 1.4.08
The site is now running and will be filling up with images, ideas, graphics, posters, links…
Check for updates on what promises to be a memorable day of action.
http://www.fossilfoolsday.org

———————————————-
RECENT HAPPENINGS:
———————————————-
1) SONGS OF FREEDOM AT OPENING OF SHELL’S WILD LIE EXHIBITION – 27.10.07
15 or so folk from all over Carbon Town gathered today to sing a new hymn of hope to an oil-free future in the co-opted cathedral that is the Unnatural History Museum, where the heartbreakingly beautiful Shell Wildlife Photographer of the Year exhibition has just opened. Gradually the singers were removed, gathering again on the pavement outside with
images from the Shell’s Wild Lie exhibition and more songs. Spirits were high, and responses from the public lovely and heart-warming. No police were present. It still looks as if the campaign to get Shell kicked out as sponsor might bear fruit – we’ll find out very soon if its 2 year contract will be renewed. Let’s keep the pressure up!
For a full report and what you can do to help, see;
http://risingtide.org.uk/node/231
http://www.artnotoil.org.uk//content/view/39/1/
For a short film of the action, see;
http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2007/10/384607.html

2) NATIONAL DAY OF LOCAL ACTION VS. ROYAL BANK OF SCOTLAND – 15.10.07
From Edinburgh to Cornwall, blockades to invisible theatre, polar bears to treacle tarts; RBS felt the sting today. All in all there were 32 actions across the country including firsts for several groups. Everyone is delighted with the phenomenal response to the day of action…except RBS of course! The actions highlighted their role as one of the world’s
largest funders of climate-wrecking oil and gas extraction. For full reports on the various fantastic protests see;
http://risingtide.org.uk/node/230
http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2007/10/383812.html
http://earthfirst.org.uk/actionreports/node/5176

3) THE PEOPLE’S BLOCKADE OF THE WORLD’S BIGGEST COAL PORT – AUSTRALIA,
3.11.07
Rising Tide Australia estimate that about 400 people came to Horseshoe Beach, Newcastle and that about 250 entered the shipping channel to blockade the world’s biggest coal port with canoes, kayaks and inner tubes. This was a fantastic show of community determination to take action against Australia’s biggest contribution to climate change, despite
resistance from government and industry. As well as being a powerful and symbolic action, the protest succeeded in disrupting coal exports from Newcastle Harbour.
http://www.risingtide.org.au/peoplesblockadereport

4) GREENWASH GUERILLAS DISRUPT “CARBON TRAITORS” IN NEW YORK – 30.10.07
Rising Tide North America’s Greenwash Guerrillas paid a surprise Halloween visit to the Carbon Market Insights conference in New York City. Posing as delegates, two protesters took the stage at the exclusive event and presented the 700 attendees with a “Deed to the Atmosphere” denouncing Carbon Trading as a sham approach to the fossil fuels crisis. The action was the first in the US to target the growing Carbon Trading industry.
http://risingtidenorthamerica.org/wordpress/category/front-page/

5) BP EXECUTIVE PIED AT EUROPE’S LARGEST BIOFUELS EVENT – 17.10.07
A stunned audience gasped as a cream-pie was launched at BP Biofuels’ Europe & Africa Director Oliver Mace, while activists swarmed the stage and handed out leaflets to attendees. One of the protesters D-locked himself to the podium, telling delegates “we need to reduce our consumption now – technological fixes are not the answer.” Panic alarms
were then set off around the room and the conference was halted.
There was also a demo outside the event and a lock on blockade at a D1 refinery. D1 are one of the biggest traders in biofuel specific crops.
http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2007/10/384123.html
http://earthfirst.org.uk/actionreports/node/5205
http://www.biofuelwatch.org.uk/expoprotests.php

6) CAMP HOPE, GLOUCESTER – 20-21.10.07
Camp Hope took place in a field opposite the entrance to Gloucestershire Airport on the weekend of 20/21 October 2007. Activists set up the camp in protest at the proposed expansion and increased aviation at Staverton in Gloucester. Workshops and discussions included those given by; Bicycology, Plane Stupid, Seeds For Change, Stop Bristol Airport Expansion and Biofuelwatch.
http://www.myspace.com/campofhope

7) PLANE STUPID AT MANCHESTER AIRPORT – 8.10.2007
Activists from Manchester Climate Action and Manchester Plane Stupid blockaded the security check-in of terminal 3 of Manchester Airport. Passengers were denied access to the departure lounge by seven activists locked together using arm-tube devices. Leaflets and train timetables were handed out. Two banners were unfurled reading, Manchester City Council…supporting climate chaos and Domestic flights cost the Earth. The action was inspired by the Camp for Climate Action.
http://www.planestupid.com/?q=content/climate-change-activists-blockade-domestic-flights

8) GREENPEACE PROTESTORS SHUT DOWN POWER PLANT – 8.10.07
Greenpeace campaigners staged a dawn raid at a power plant which could be the site of Britain’s first new coal-fired station for 20 years. More than 50 activists said they wanted Prime Minister Gordon Brown to reject the proposal for the Kingsnorth site, on the Hoo Peninsula, in Kent. After entering the site, one team locked on to conveyor belts while another team climbed to the top of the chimney.
http://greenpeace.org.uk/tags/kingsnorth

9) TOTAL BLOCKADES – OCTOBER / NOVEMBER 2007
A wave of demonstrations against the oil giant Total and its role in supporting the brutal regime in Burma have taken place in London, Bradford, Cardiff and Oxford. While not strictly climate-based, these protests keep the spotlight on criminals like Total. Aung San Suu Kyi, Burma’s pro-democracy leader, said that “Total has become the main supporter of the Burmese military regime.” She told the French weekly Le Nouvel Observateur that “Total knew what it was doing when it invested massively in Burma while others withdrew from the market for ethical reasons”.
http://earthfirst.org.uk/actionreports/node/5122 & 5137, 5204, 5207 & 6346

10) NUFFGLOBAL FILMS – NOVEMBER 2007
NUFFglobal film festival supported a project to produce 25 short films on different aspects of climate change made by young film-makers from around the world. For more info and to watch the clips online see;
http://nuffglobal.net/

11) ESCALATING DEFLATION CAMPAIGN AGAINST 4X4S IN SWEDEN – OCT ‘07
One thousand 4x4s have now been disarmed by The Indians of the Concrete Jungle! The campaign is spreading like wildfire, prompting national debate and furious aggression among SUV-owners.
http://asfaltsdjungelnsindianer.wordpress.com/

12) DIRECT ACTION NEWS FROM GREECE – 7-15 OCTOBER 2007
http://directactiongr.blogspot.com

13) BATH BOMB, ISSUE 4 – NOVEMBER 2007
For the 4th edition of Bath’s premiere radical tabloid see; http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2007/11/385124.html

Compiled and sent out by Rising Tide UK: info at risingtide.org.uk
To receive this News Sheet monthly, email news-subscribe at risingtide.org.uk
with the subject line ‘subscribe’ (without the quotes).

Road builders raided, Digger diving done at Tara, Ireland

November 9th

Diggers Ahoy!

Road builders offices raided by cultural conservationists.

TARA CAMPAIGN LATEST!

THE TARA cultural conservationists halted work on a controversial section of the proposed new M3 on Thursday.

November 9th

Diggers Ahoy!

Road builders offices raided by cultural conservationists.

TARA CAMPAIGN LATEST!

THE TARA cultural conservationists halted work on a controversial section of the proposed new M3 on Thursday.
Twenty-one campaigners stormed the administrative complex (Dunshaughlin)of the site contractors (SIAC, Ferrovial and Eurolink.)near Tara Hill, occupying offices and filming surprised staff.

Then they went to a nearby construction site and climbed on to bulldozers, stopping roadmaking for an hour-and-a-half.

It was a significant escalation of the long protest, timed to coincide the old Celtic New Year’s Day.

One of the reasons for the action was the EU’s recent court ruling on contractors to stop, in view of the continuing damage to Ireland’s World Heritage Site.

A spokesman for the conservationists said: “This direct action has been taken by concerned citizens of the EU because the Irish government is ignoring European law.”
“Continued attempts have been made to persuade the government to stop the work on this section of the M3 while a decision is reached by the European commission.
“It was a very successful action and many messages of concern were conveyed to the senior management at the administrative site.
Connor McDermot, technical manager, when asked why the graves of our ancestors had been desecrated gave us no comment.
“Information was gathered on illegal road building activities.
“It has come to light that further destruction of this historic valley will be caused by 129 kilometres of slip roads as well as 79 km of motorway and the further development that will inevitably happen if this destruction is allowed.

Campaigners call on all Irish networks to activate and support the Save Tara Valley campaign,help urgently needed.

More reports on frontline action soon.
Video link soon Tech support needed.

http://www.tarapixie.net

Ogoni 9 Day – Rossport Endures to Prevail; Today Smelt Like Victory (photos)

November 9th 2007
Not in our name !

November 9th 2007
Not in our name !

Today, to commemorate Shell’s judicial murder of the Ogoni 9 and a look back in anger at the Garda baton-fest a year ago, some 400 activists journeyed from all reaches of Ireland to voice our outrage outside and inside Shell’s Bellanaboy site, I was with the section of protestors that first manned the front line at Bellanaboy bridge at 6AM at the request of S2S when it was rightly surmised that Shell and the Guards would attempt to steal a march by bringing the workers in early – for a while, before Garda weight of numbers prevailed, we were effective in blockading and preventing them from earning their 30 pieces of Mammon silver inside.

After being prevented from joining the main group by a two deep line of Guards, we successfully scaled the gates of the refinery to be greeted inside with wanton violence and rough handling by Shell’s thugs dressed in security uniforms.

What stimulated the title was an encounter with a German from Riegen and a couple from the UK Midlands who had spent the previous 48 hours travelling overland from mainland Europe and England just to attend today’s protest, what commitment?, even so, the people of Erris match it and, further afield, activists, who with a granite sense of conscience turn up again and again in Bellanaboy to bear witness against a rogue corporation and their shoe shine boys in government who pave and grease their way?

Updates received via Text Message from Protestors

6.47: Gate 2 blocked since 6am

7.10: Situation tense for a group from Cork hemmed in near Gate 2 (gate nearest the bridge). On the road but the guards have half of it.

7.35: The refinery site has been occupied. One group of 30 people have entered and are now occupying the site compound. Meanwhile on the road between the bridge and Gate 2, a group of 90 protesters prevented a truck from from entering the site for about 20 minutes. The truck drove over one person’s foot and an ambulance is on its way. One of the blockaders was arrested around the same time.

8:08: The same truck that drove over the protester’s foot is still being blockaded from entering the quarry (around 40 minutes at this stage).

8:35: There are currently two different groups on the building site and another two groups of blockaders at Gate 1 and Gate 2.

The protester whose foot was driven over has been taken to hospital. Guards were reported as being very rough while removing people from the road at Gate 2 – standing on people’s arms and chests and pulling them off the road by their necks. Local, John Monaghan had his camera pulled off him and thrown into the ditch by gardai.

8:57: The truck has since got past the blockade of Gate 2 (leaving it blocked for just over an hour). 30/40 local people were actively involved in the blockade. Guards reported as violently dragging people away – punching people in back and stomach. Many guards reported as not wearing their identification numbers.

The blockaders have now joined the group at the main gate to the site and there is a line of gardai (now including the public order unit) between them and the compound gate. Two other arrests have been confirmed aside from the protester blockading Gate 2. Further details on these two arrests to be confirmed.

9:05: One group of about 20 protesters on the site attempted to get past the inner gate (with spikes on top) to the site but suffered minor injuries (cut hands) as well as ripped and torn clothing as the site security prevented them from getting across by pushing them back against the spikes at the top of the gate. Two of the people who succeeded in getting to the inner site were ejected from the site by site security needed first aid but are now on their way up to join the group on the road by the main gate.

10:26: Six people have been escorted out of the compound after breaching it via a back entrance. The group managed to breach the inner perimeter and stop work temporarily. There were minor scuffles but security were ‘generally nice’.

14:56: 16 people are currently on site. There are security present but no gardai as of yet. The group is a mix of locals and supporters.

15:01: “Security guards assaulting protesters, grabbing cameras, work continuing”