The Forest is now squatted!
A part of the Hambach forest has been squatted in order to save it from the excavators send by the gigantic energy corporation RWE to dig up brown-coal. During a cultural festival in the woods, under the slogan „Forest not Coal“, activists pulled up platforms in the trees.
At the festival people from different groups met up, forming a broad coalition to get active in saving the Hambach Forest and stopping the extraction as well as the combustion of the coal beneath it.
According to the plans of RWE, the Hambach forest, near Cologne, shall be completly destroyed to make space for the largest open-cast mine in Europe in the next few years.
During the festivity people got the chance of taking responsibility by godfathering their special tree and protecting it their way(s). By squatting we are also taking over responsibility godfathering our trees, protecting them our own way.
[Read More]
Germany: First Declaration of the Hambach Jungle
Dutch government wants to silence critic on queen
Comrades,
Today saw our dear server Squat!Net unreachable for several hours due to a court order directed at http://grotebroek.nl. The public prosecutor didn’t take kindly to a picture (mirror) of a poster announcing the Hang The Queen Party at this legalised squat in Nijmegen (NL). Considering this an insult to the monarchy and thus a felony offense, they ordered the datacenter colocating our server, Leaseweb, to take down the site.
[Read More]
London: SQUASH Picnic Attendees facing SOCPA Charges
The following piece has been written by Ashleigh Marsh, one of five currently being prosecuted under SOCPA legislation for her role is taking part at a picnic and sleep-out on the 31st October 2011, in order to visually show the effect that the criminalisation of squatting would have on between 20-50,000 people in England and Wales, ie having to sleep rough. Ashleigh is active in her community, for example working to get a new skateboard park built for local people in Woolwich, one of most deprived areas in London. SQUASH fully support Ashleigh and all the defendants as they face disproportinate charges, from Monday 23rd April, under the draconian and anti-democratic SOCPA law. This is Ashleigh’s story…
[Read More]
Porto: Autonomous social center Es.Col.A evicted on April 19th
The Squatted autonomous neighbourhood center in Porto, Es.Col.A was evicted this morning during a violent police action. An illegal act without notice. 3 people got detained and about 5 people badly injured.
Please support us with solidarity actions, translating and spreading the news! We need a strong international support, as the movement here in Portugal is weak and police still acts as in the times of dictatorship. [Read More]
Edinburgh: Doors closed on the People’s Cafe
The proposed centre for ‘non-commercial activity’ re-opened its doors to the public on the 30th November last year with a programme of participatory events that involved other non-profit organizations, local residents, activists and members of the Bilston Glen community. The People’s Café website was set up and a mission statement clearly set out their simple objective; ‘Direct action has been taken to ensure that the space is not left unused but can be reopened for the benefit of the local community.’
[Read More]
Australian Museum of Squatting
Established 2011
A celebration and documentation of Australians putting abandoned and disused property to good use.
[Read More]
Sydney Squattocracy
Squattocracy is Housing Democracy. When there’s a gap between affordability and need Squattocracy fulfils that need.
A succession of failed Government policies ostensibly to address homelessness and culminating with the current failure “The Road Home”: Government programs are widely viewed with derision as opportunistic Government / NGO constructs to monetise the marginalised.
[Read More]
Rome: Accusations against housing movements in Rome demolished by Tribunal
In September 2009, hundreds of Carabinieri stormed a school in the Magliana area of Rome and arrested dozens of people who were occupying it. The charges made against them were super harsh: organised crime, extortion, possession of weapons, theft, assaulting police officers, and more. The arrests took place during a relentless propaganda campaign orchestrated against the occupations by the local media.
[Read More]
UK: Demonstrations in support of squatting
As the move towards the criminalisation of squatting continues in the UK with the House of Lords waving through the legislation, there have been demonstrations in support of squatting and autonomous spaces.
See below for reports from Brighton (today) and Bristol (yesterday).
[Read More]
UK: Squatting in residential properties to be criminalised in months
What a joke! All of it, the whole process. Last night the House of Lords passed a clause hidden in the legal aid bill to criminalise squatting in residential properties essentially making thousands of homeless people criminals overnight. A whole section of the very poorest and most vulnerable in society have been made criminals and again the debate took place extremely late in the day.
[Read More]
