The Creative Platform Inde Collective is issuing a public call to DUTB (the so called: bad bank) to start a dialogue with regard to making arrangements to remove asbestos from the former factory Inde. We reiterate that the spaces which are in use by UPI have already been cleaned long ago and are in fact asbetos-free. We expect a response from DUTB so that in agreement with the cleaning contractors a temporary access to our premises during the clean-up will be arranged. There are several entrances to the UPI premises and we are sure it is possible to provide safe access to at least one of them. Also, the building which UPI uses is not covered with asbestos roofing.
We are willing to show the premises to licensed contractors to convince them that the cleaning of the area that we occupy is not necessary. We have also prepared proposals on how to facilitate access without hindering the clean-up.
It is our sincere wish that the cleaning of asbestos be carried out in the forecast time-line. We strongly reject the call to eviction which an unknown messenger left at the entrance to the former factory. Judging by this written notice, DUTB isn’t just planning to clean up the premises, but urges users of the premises to remove all personal belongings. This cannot be interpreted otherwise but as a threat of eviction. As responsible landlords we are obliged to take care of the premises which are in our possession. We owe it to UPI users and to the wider local community, since for more than two years we have been doing major socio-beneficial and completely non-profit, social, cultural, artistic and other work and activities. It would be inadmissible and irresponsible to leave and empty the spaces which provide a creative platform and shelter to a wide range of people. We will not allow DUTB to use the removal of asbestos as a cover for an effortless destruction of several years’ work, which was done for the benefit of all people in the wider local area. We reject in advance any hints of hindering the cleaning of asbestos. [Read More]
Koper (Slovenia): Public call to DUTB to dialogue with the collective U.P. INDE
Slovenia: Autonomous spaces under attack, support the struggle!
Call for solidarity actions for INDE squat in Koper, Slovenia
In the last few years we have seen new autonomous spaces emerging in Slovenia, joining the struggles of older squats all over the country. Along the Slovenian coast, two enormous buildings were occupied until recently. The occupations brought radical politics and different social relations to their environment. Both squats were always open to a variety of projects and initiatives, but had strong anarchist presence and activities as well. The spaces used to be factories, which were destroyed by the brutal privatization.
Right after New Years, ARGO squat in Izola was forcefully evicted. Eviction was preceded by a series of harassments from police and security company, that in some cases resulted in serious bodily injuries and fines for comrades there. The second coastal squat, called INDE, got an eviction notice just a few days ago. We are supposed to leave the premises on January 30.
Both squats are currently owned by so-called Bad Bank. This is a state institution under the management of the Ministry of Finance, created to resolve debt by big failed speculative financial investment that crashed during the economic crisis. In other words: they are there to sell buildings cheap and open them to further financial speculations, by which the rich will once again profit, while all of us will lose. The eviction of INDE is going to happen under a pretense of cleaning up dangerous material at the site. ARGO was also declared a dangerous zone by authorities, but the only thing they are trying to clean out of it are comrades who are bringing life into these spaces. [Read More]
Koper (Slovenia): Asbestos leaving, Creative Platform Inde remaining
The Creative Platform Inde (hereinafter UPI) welcomes the planned remediation of hazardous waste (asbestos, used needles) in the former factory INDE. However, we are announcing that we are not consenting to emptying the already restored spaces which from October, 5th 2014 have been in the use of UPI. We believe that the cleaning of hazardous waste is perfectly feasible without interrupting the activities of the collective.
Since October 2014 we have proved through active involvement and massive response of visitors that this space is one of tremendous importance to the region. At the premises of UPI we are carrying out social programs (food for the socially disadvantaged, gathering supplies for the refugees, etc.), cultural programs (more than 300 concerts, roundtables, art exhibitions, film evenings, etc.), educational programs (lectures, workshops, practical training, etc. .), environmental campaigns, remedial actions, sports programs (skate park, dance workshops, self-defense, sporting competitions and sports days) and so on. [Read More]
Uk: People need homes – empty spaces need people! Oxford resistance
This morning Oxford residents and local homeless people dropped an enormous banner from the front of the old VW garage on Iffley Road declaring “People need homes, empty spaces need people” as a new petition gains momentum and puts pressure on the owners, Wadham College, to support the plight of homeless people this winter.
The building, which has laid empty for two years, was opened on New Year’s eve providing shelter for rough sleepers in response to the growing homelessness crisis.
A group, which included Oxford University students and alumni entered the building after finding, to their amazement, the front door had been left open. A member of the group, Sandra Philips said,
“We have made a temporary home for some of the homeless and rough sleepers of Oxford because council cuts have forced the closure of night shelters and homeless people are dying on our streets. This building lies empty whilst hundreds are without a home or even a roof over their head. We all have an obligation to do what we can to help this situation, everyone is affected by the housing crisis in some way.” [Read More]
Dublin: Apollo House – well worth fighting for
Yesterday hundreds of people turned out to support the imaginative action which is known to all as Apollo house. Apollo House is the single point of light that emerged from an otherwise dismal year, a centennial year of significance, which gave us so little to be proud of. Homelessness, in spite of being a significant symptom of all that is wrong in our society, is both ignored and tolerated. Fortunately the sight of the homeless masses did not get in the way of the centenary celebrations of what a great little republic we have grown up to be.
The actions of the Irish Housing Network and the alliance of supporters which has become known as Home Sweet Home, has taken over an ugly brutalist building and former dole office on Tara Street, and gave homeless people hope of a fresh start. What it has also done is shone a light on the inhumane bureaucratic approach of this to dealing with people who live on the streets. Getting people who have no bed for the night, to phone a free phone number in order to secure one for a single night, only to be thrown back out into the dark pre-dawn streets to do it all again the next day. Apollo House is the golden lamp that emerges from 2016 – and that’s why it has touched the people of Ireland, and been so massively supported. It is an example of what this state should do to support the dispossessed, and would have been a far more fitting tribute than having parades or concerts. [Read More]
Athens: Exarchia, one Year Themistokleous 58 Squat
On January 10th 2017, Themistokleous 58 Squat in Exarchia completed one year of activity. During this year our squat took a series of initiatives towards intensifying social war, and participated in numerous actions in support of projects and individuals targeted by repression of all authority.
We have put forward internationalist anarchic solidarity between rebels, believing that it can only be a reciprocal relationship aimed at building up affinity and complicity against the State, Capital and domination, and we continue to do so by factually tearing down phony divisions based on origin, language, gender, sexual orientation and religious or irreligious background of anyone in any way associated with our project.
We have stood up against the diffuse patriotism and racism (both overt and covert), and refused to discriminate against those who migrate on the basis of the status attributed to them by the authorities (refugees vs. non-refugees). We have sought to interlace the struggle against the control and repression of migration with a comprehensive, practical critique against the complex of domination, which is fragmenting and isolating any liberatory attempts to weaken and suppress them more easily.
We have shielded the anti-institutional character of our project by all means necessary, keeping the squat and its activities free from the presence and influence of NGOs, media and any intermediary. We have defended our political autonomy without altering the fundamental characteristics of our combative community. At the same time, we chose to meet with others on paths of multiracial clashes, working together whenever and wherever we considered that the respective political and organizational framework corresponded with our goals. [Read More]
Dublin: Hundreds form protection ring around Apollo house as High Court demands evictions
Hundreds of people responded to the High Court demanding the eviction of Apollo House by linking arms to form a protective ring around it. The judge refused the residents an extra week to find accommodation despite the housing minister failing to deliver what had been promised.
As the protest continued one resident told the Irish Times live feed that “We are not knocking on NAMA doors, we are kicking them in” People chanted ‘Homes not Hostels’, ‘Homes for All’ and ‘House the Homeless’ while a banner declared ‘Homeless people are not the problem, they are the result of the problem.’ Traveller activist Eileen Flynn who has volunteered at Apollo House told the crowd “We need to stand together … this is the best movement since 1916″
Speaking for Apollo House Rosie told the crowd about the betrayal of the minister and the treatment of residents who trusted his word but found conditions in the places they were brought to were “worse than prison”. She continued “They are treating us like dogs, they are treating us like fools, we are not taking it anymore, this housing crisis is going to end”. [Read More]
Dublin: Support & solidarity to Apollo House occupation
Ireland is in the depths of a severe homelessness crisis, with 7,000 people without a home. With the government refusing to act, some activists in Dublin did. Apollo House was occupied by Home Sweet Home Eire on the 15th December, to intervene in the housing crisis and to save lives.
There are around 190,000 vacant buildings in Ireland, that’s 27 houses for every homeless person.
The wealth divide is growing in Ireland and the lives of the homeless mean nothing to a government that values profit over people. For instance, Dublin is in the world’s top 15 for concentration of millionaires, something only intensified as the wealth trickled up after the financial crash. If it is shocking that the rich have become richer as the rest of us have gotten poorer, this is because of the class divide built into our society. When the capitalist class gains, the working class loses. [Read More]
Lleida (Catalonia): Squatted Social Centre ‘La Chispa’ Resists Eviction
After a lengthy legal process against four ex-occupiers the vibrant, active, self-managed SPARK project among the orchards of Lleida is condemned to be evicted in the new year by capitalist speculation
original by Sergi Bertran and Sonia Perez at La Directa. … translated summary by The Free
….We are on the outskirts of Lleida city (in Lleida province). This area has undergone a major change in recent years… where there were small family orchards and country houses today they have built fast food chains, department stores, hotels and luxury villas. The companies and new owners of the land have been moving out the locals, buying up their land at high prices…
[Read More]
Dublin: Demands of Apollo House Residents
Home Sweet Home squatted Apollo House in Dublin on Thursday 15 December. This building is the former Department of Social Protection offices, which is now being used to house the homeless.
THE DEMANDS OF APOLLO HOUSE RESIDENTS
“We want somewhere we can close the door behind us and call home.”
[Read More]
London: Journalist Spotter Card
In the past year or so, the bottom feeders of the press managed to write many lurid stories about comrades in the UK and our networks, which have not only invaded people’s privacy but have put them at risk from the state and fash. These journalists infiltrated our protests and social events, took close range pictures, trawled social media and pieced together sensationalist and often wildly inaccurate pieces about individuals, and put footage on the internet that led to people being targeted by the cops.
[Read More]
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