Czech squatting weekend in Amsterdam

By: Hlulome - January 31st, 2015  Filed under: News

20150220_Czech_squatting_weekend_in_AmsterdamCzech squatting weekend in Amsterdam, February 20th – 22nd 2015. Klinika on tour!
Friday 20.02.2015 Klinika soli night with food, presentation, discussion & more @ Squatted autonomous space Joe’s Garage http://www.joesgarage.nl/

19:00 Soli dinner (some Czech traditional dish in the vegan style)
20:00 Presentation
21:00 Discussion, maybe some movie about current squatting theme in Czech Republic and maybe some acoustic concert

Some members of Czech squatting movement are coming to Amsterdam to present and discuss about the actual breakthrough in the squatting movement in Czech Republic. On Saturday, November 29th, an abandoned building of a former clinic in Prague district of Žižkov was occupied by a group of activists. Cleaning works, reconstruction and program started immediately. Despite widespread support, including neighbors, politicians, artists, journalists etc., the owner of the house – Office for Government Representation in Property Affairs – withdrawed from negotiations. Regarding to some sources, the “anti-extremist” department of Czech police played an important role in this decision.

20150220_Klinika_Soli_nightAutonomní sociální centrum Klinika (Autonomous Social Centre Klinika /Clinic http://451.cz/klinika/ ) was evicted December 9th after ten days of struggle and hundreds of people participating. Spontaneous demonstrations immediately took place in front and inside of Žižkov city hall and in office of the owner. After a few days, one thousand people demonstrated in support of the autonomous center. The building is now being guarded, but the struggle isn’t over yet. Žižkov councilors agreed that they will start negotiations with the state. The public support of squatting is now the highest in Czech history. The ministers of interior, finance and social affairs publicly admitted the possibility of decriminalization of squatting. We, as a group supporting a project of social centre, are calling for international support! A pressure on Czech state can help us to create a historical success. Every city needs it’s clinic!

Saturday 21.02.2015, Soli concert and party @ DisKontrol, Papaverweg 7, Amsterdam Noord [Read More]

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London: Squatters bloc @ March for Homes, January 31st

By: fawda - January 30th, 2015  Filed under: Communique, News

20150131_london_SQUATTERS_BLOC_March_for_HomesFrom Squatters in North and South London.
SPREAD WIDELY. JOIN US.
Whose City? Our City.

Are we going to let all of London become a playground for rich fuckers? Where every inch of space is taken for profit? A sterile zone drained of history, culture and life? Are we going to hand it to them without a fight?

Squatters and Tenants unite.
Fight ALL evictions.
Homes for all.
Take the empties.
Take back our city.

Join the SQUATTERS BLOC on the March for Homes.

UPDATE: the main squat bloc meet up will be at Elephant & Castle at 12 noon: St Mary’s Churchyard, Newington Butts, SE1 6SQ. Though there will certainly also be squatters on the East London march, which starts from St Leonards Church, Shoreditch High Street, also at noon. [Read More]

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Cremona, Italy: Solidarity with Emilio!

By: dolph-l - January 26th, 2015  Filed under: News

On the 18th January, in Cremona, Italy, the squat CSA Dordoni [1] was attacked by a group of around 60 fascists (among others from CasaPound [2]) armed with iron bars. A comrade, Emilio, was hit on the head and has since been in hospital in critical condition, between life and death.

Saturday 24th January, an antifascist demonstration “Emilio resist” took place in the streets of Cremona. It was attended by between 2,000 and 10,000 people. A very active black bloc formed and threw many projectiles at the police (smoke bombs, bottles, stones…) as the demo approached the local headquarters of CasaPound. The riot police hit back with tear gas. Further on, the clashes resumed near the train station. And later in the evening, several banks were attacked and the police station was stormed and vandalised! [Read More]

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Soho, London: The Bohemians Manifesto

By: dolph-l - January 25th, 2015  Filed under: News

Soho is under threat of gentrification endangering Our cultural heritage. Without culture society cannot exist.
We are a collective of Artists, activists and campaigners who are willing to become Cultural Heritage Wardens, in order to prevent the disillusion of culture from Our history.
For too long the GLA(Greater London Authority) and local Councils have dictated through Rent increases, as well as business rate increases the services available in specific areas of London.
It is unfair, discriminatory and in-just that areas established in the 1690 ’s are not subjected to heritage laws, that protect the establishment and their aims. As opposed to the will of the people, that the establishment represent.
In history there is a point which determines revolutionary action. We feel that the unification of activists, squatters, musicians , landlords, sex-workers and the public is the beginning of measures,which when implemented by the people and for the people can bring about social change within our society. [Read More]

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London: Meeting the Protesters Squatting Soho’s Doomed 12-Bar Club

By: dolph-l - January 25th, 2015  Filed under: Interviews

London’s venues are dying a grisly death. There are high-speed rails to build and cultural institutions to be redeveloped into luxury flats that nobody’s going to live in, and it’s the city’s nightlife that’s been selected to pay the price. Madam Jojo’s, The Joiners Arms, The Intrepid Fox and Vibe Bar – among a raft of others – have all already been forced to serve their last pints and shut up shop.

Last week, after an 18-month battle with the Crossrail project, the The 12 Bar Club on Soho’s Denmark Street closed down, too. The venue has been moved to a new location in Islington, so at least it’s still alive in one sense. But the story is the same here as it was when the Southbank Centre suggested moving the nearby 40-year-old skatepark from the “undercroft” to another spot just down the river; the Tin Pan Alley location was steeped in a history that’s a little harder to relocate.

On Tuesday, a group of protesters calling themselves The Bohemians started squatting the Grade II listed building, both in a bid to save it from demolition and to inspire others to unite to save Soho. After reading their manifesto – “Without culture, society cannot exist” – I walked in for a chat. [Read More]

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Marseille: Occupation of the Park Michel Levy

By: dolph-l - January 24th, 2015  Filed under: Communique

DENUNCIATION OF THE PRIVATISATION OF THE PARK,
STOP THE DESTRUCTION OF ANCIENT TREES!
RECLAIM OUR COMMON SPACE!

Since May 2013, the collective “Michel Lévy” took over legal challenges brought to the court by residents near the park. They are fighting to avoid the square Michel Levy and it’s trees, centuries old, from disappearing. Notably a “remarkable” tree is listed in the national register of the association ARBES [Remarkable Trees: Appraisal, Research, Study and Protection]. [Read More]

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Amsterdam: Eviction letter Kerkstraat 104

By: fawda - January 22nd, 2015  Filed under: Communique, News

Today, just after the eviction of the Pieter Vlamingstraat 98, the squatted building on Kerkstraat 104 got the 8 weeks eviction letter.
The house was squatted on the 7th of December, and according to the letter it will be evicted before the 18th of March.
Will there be an eviction wave, as Van der Laan wishes to re-establish it?
If other houses got eviction letters for the same period, please let us know.
Rebel, resist, revolt! [Read More]

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Roybon, France: Open Barricade Festival

By: dolph-l - January 21st, 2015  Filed under: News

The 7th, 8th and 9th February 2015 an OPEN BARRICADE Festival will take place on the zone à défendre (ZAD) of Chambarans, against deforestation and the construction of a Center Parcs. Two days of building original barricades of course.

Meet Saturday 7th February at 10am at Lake Roybon, starting at midday for a picnic at 1pm on the zone, then building barricades and cabins to occupy and defend the zone. [Read More]

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London: Police launch two-day crackdown against Love Activists street kitchen

By: dolph-l - January 20th, 2015  Filed under: News

Police have launched a two-day crackdown on squatters and housing activists in one of London’s most iconic squares after complaints of harassment.

Police have designated the area between Trafalgar Square and Charing Cross as a dispersal zone in a bid to rid the area of rough sleepers and street drinkers.

[Read More]

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London: 14 historical pictures of the city’s squatting subculture

By: dolph-l - January 19th, 2015  Filed under: Press release

London has a long and varied history with squatters. Whether you support or despise them, these pictures give an insight into one of the city’s most controversial subcultures. From London24…

[Read More]

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Amsterdam: Pieter Vlamingstraat 98 resists eviction

By: fawda - January 16th, 2015  Filed under: Communique, News, Press release

Today, Friday the 16th, the building is not yet evicted.

The buildings on the Pieter Vlamingstraat 94-96-98 had been empty since 2008, when the tenants were kicked out. The demolition of these and other surrounding buildings started in 2009 with the exception of Pieter Vlamingstraat 98, where the owner of the coffeshop on the ground floor refused to leave. The original plan of De Key was to demolish the existing social houses for building luxury apartments for the free market. The neighbors protested against the plan, started a court-case and the project was eventually rejected. De Key then proposed to build both social and private sector apartments, but this was rejected as well. Eventually De Key proposed to build 145 apartments for students, and the projects got finally approved despite the opposition of the neighbors, who started yet another court case against De Key but lost it at the end of 2014.

In July 2012 a group of people squatted the Pieter Vlamingstraat 98 and the empty field that was left after the demolition of the buildings aside. These fields are quite common in Amsterdam Oost, where housing corporations like De Key, after demolishing entire social housing blocks, run out of money to complete the project and left only waste lands behind. At the time of the occupation, the state of the house was very poor. All the basic infrastructures were missing, and the structure of the building was rotting away. The squatters massively renovated the building to make it livable. Through these years more then 30 people have called this building ‘home’. A lively communally grew around it, and started a number of activities for the neighborhood such as a neighborhood garden (Roomtuintje Oostbos), a give away shop and a free library. [Read More]

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Chatham: Squatters attacked by gang wielding baseball bats, metal poles and screwdrivers

By: dolph-l - January 16th, 2015  Filed under: News

More details have emerged of an alleged gang attack on squatters, said to have involved a 30-strong mob armed with bats, poles and screwdrivers.

The three had been staying in an empty building in New Road, Chatham, for four days when they claim they were targeted.

Following the alleged attack, which left one man in hospital, five men were arrested and have since been released on bail. [Read More]

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