Amsterdam: The new squat ‘eFFi’

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Amsterdam has a new squat in the West.

Since the 18th of January 2014, the ground floor apartment of the Van Effenstraat 2, located in the Kinkerbuurt, is squatted. It hosts from this day on the house project group ‘eFFi’ which is doing renovations and makes it livable again; under the slogan “Better to renovate through squatting than to destroy through ownership.” The apartment as well as most of the building blocks around were supposed for social rent since their construction around 1900 under the ‘social’ housing cooperation Rochdale. The ownership and therefore the responsibility for maintaining these houses lie still by Rochdale, which however is defining these quite different and lets its properties empty and rotting. [Read More]

Utrecht: Eviction of squatted apartments in Zuilen

Squatted apartments in Zuilen

Tomorrow the squatted apartments in Zuilen will be evicted by Mitros, with help of the police. The judge decided not to wait for the higher appeal, but just allow the eviction.

Perhaps you’ve read in the newspaper that the squatted apartments at the Boelesteinlaan will soon be evicted. These places were squatted about a year ago to highlight the fact that Mitros is not doing their job even according to their own statutes and to protest the lack of affordable housing in Utrecht.
In 2010 there was a fire in one of the apartments. Instead of cleaning the little bit of soot from the hallway Mitros evicted the remaining houses and shortly afterwards cut off the basic services to prevent anyone from living in the building. [Read More]

France: Squatters turn the table on Calais’ authorities – Court case on 22nd of January

House evicted illegaly, 221 route de Saint-Omer, Calais

In theory, there are laws which protect squatters in France, but these are shirked everyday in Calais. It is apparent that the police and the City do not feel that they have to respect the law when it comes to squats in Calais, both because of their racist politics and the fact so far they have not had any negative/legal consequences for the illegal evictions they have performed in the past.

Squatters, who occupied a house in Route de St. Omer, Calais last week and had been evicted illegally, decided to challenge the cop’s reckless behaviour, authorized by the prefect. He and representatives of OPH will have to face justice/retribution already on 22nd of January.
[Read More]

Turkey: Reclaim the Urban Commons: Istanbul’s First Squat

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Squatters in Istanbul reclaim their ‘right to the city’ and fight for social justice in a city where big business sets the urban development agenda. 

Another construction site in Istanbul. Prime Mininster Erdoğan’s special inclination towards so-called “urban renewal projects” has made them pop up all over the city. In both 2010 and 2011 Istanbul was ranked number one among European cities in terms of real estate investment and development, due to its high-speed urban transformation.

But the three-story building taking shape in the increasingly popular district of Kadiköy is not exactly contributing to the kind of urban transformation aspired by the current AKP administration. The colors, the music, and the crowd filling the corner house on this Saturday afternoon in late November are not indicating the inauguration of another shopping mall — on the contrary, they are part of the daily life of Istanbul’s first squat.

While many European cities have a long and proud squatting tradition, evolved primarily out of the problems of rising rent and lack of proper living spaces, in the case of Istanbul the focus seems to be a slightly different one. “Under the domination of money and unearned income all the commonly used places are being taken away,” one of the activists explains in Fatih Pınar’s short documentary about the new squat. “What we are after, in fact,” someone else adds, “is to create again the public spaces that have been taken from us.” [Read More]

From Madrid to Istanbul: Occupying Public Space

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Istanbul’s first squat is more than an experiment: it is a counter-hegemonic intervention that challenges the neoliberal dogma of growth at all costs.

In “Occupy the Squares, Squat the Buildings”, a paper written shortly after the eviction of Madrid’s Puerta del Sol, Miguel Martínez and Ángela García show how two movements — the mass popular occupation of Madrid’s central Puerta del Sol, and that of Madrid’s squatted and self-managed social centers — interacted to reinforce one another through shared resources, shared physical spaces, shared logistics and people, and of course shared (but by no means homogeneous) ideas and practices. Horizontality has been the organizational modus operandi of these movements, advancing a staunchly anti-neoliberal, if not outright anti-capitalist critique of Spain’s deteriorating economic and political status quo. This is a status quo primarily characterized by heinous and growing wealth inequality, desperate unemployment, savage austerity, opportunistic privatizations and deeply embedded political corruption.

The opening of Istanbul’s first squatted and self-managed social center, appropriately named Don Kişot (Quixote) shortly after the eviction of Gezi Park, has key parallels with the Spanish experience. The inquisitiveness of one of forty odd police officers during a first visit to Kadiköy’s first squatted and self-managed social center, is revealing: does this have something to do with Gezi Park? The answer, of course, is yes — it has a lot to do with the predominantly anti-authoritarian uprising against the AKP government. The critical yet pragmatic anti-neoliberal or anti-capitalist strand of protest that was so apparent during the Gezi Park occupation has resurfaced in this once empty building, which now houses autonomous community projects of all shapes and kinds. [Read More]

Calais: A new house occupied – illegal eviction after 5 days

Calais eviction squatted house on 221 Route de Saint Omer

On Monday the 6th of January 2014 a house in 221 Route de Saint Omer, Calais was squatted, which was left empty for more than 1 year.

5 days later, the house got evicted and all legal procedures have been ignored by the authorities. On Thursday, the cops and representatives of the owner, OPH (Office Public de l’Habitat) came to the house. The mayor of Calais, Natacha Bouchard, actually ‘president d’honneur’ of the OPH, is for sure not amused about people claiming their need of a safe shelter.

On friday about 30 cops, together with the workers from OPH, arrived at the house. [Read More]

Brazil: FIFA Forces Evictions For World Cup, Police Brutality Rages

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A dozen houses in the Mangueira slums of Rio de Janeiro have been demolished, and residents have been removed at gun point by the government of Brazil in order to build a parking lot for the upcoming World Cup.

[Read More]

Madrid: Police threaten to evict the anarchist squat La Gatonera

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We received a notification from the police, threatening once again to evict the social centre if the concert takes place on January 5th, 2014.

The door was forced but they didn’t enter the squat.
[Read More]

Tbilisi: Melting pot squat

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Artists, activists, intellectuals and travellers have finally found a focal point for the changing face of Tbilisi’s cultural scene. In the spirit of European squats, the space is a melting pot for ideas and free expression. And there’s even a camel.
[Read More]

Amsterdam: First squat of 2014

Plantage Middenlaan 72 Amsterdam

First squatting action in Amsterdam 2014. Good start of the year, lots of people, beautiful empty house Today visit of neighborhood cop and for the moment we stay. Thanks to all the people that show solidarity and help to make it possible. Kraaken gaat door 2014. The house is located on Plantage Middenlaan 72, Amsterdam. Neighbourhood letter below [Read More]

London: Peoples Kitchen returns to Hackney & Open Day at 52B Well Street this Saturday

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Peoples kitchen returns to Hackney after a festive break, continuing every Thursday from 7pm with free/donation based food and film screening after.

So come check out our new home for the social centre at 52B Well Street, E9 7PX, and let us know what you think (or how YOU can make it better!)

A public open day will also be taking place on Saturday 11th January for our ‘official’ opening. [Read More]