Tuesday 8 May 2012

Updated International Squatters Convergence Info

 
 
Following on from successful gatherings in Dijon ’07, Leeds ’08, Berlin ’08, Bristol ’09, Barcelona ’10 and Grenoble ’10, a convergence will be held in Brighton this May. Come enjoy the sand, sea and sun (maybe) and network with squatters from all over the world.

There will be practical workshops on skills and politics relevant to contemporary squatting. There will also be film showings and exhibitions to showcase the struggle of housing and squatting movements worldwide .

There are already workshops confirmed by attendees, however, we always need more. Please get in contact if you can offer something. There will also be open spaces throughout the convergence to run spontaneous workshops, exhibitions or discussions, both formally and informally.

This convergence will be more necessary than ever, given the impending criminalisation of squatting in the UK, following the example of many other European countries, e.g. Holland. Come to network and strategise about how we can survive the impending law change and ever-present state repression.

This is a chance to catch up with your fellow squatters, to learn new skills and to enjoy yourself!

For more information or if you want to bring stuff for the exhibition, get involved in organising, host workshops or other events at the convergence please contact  convergencebrighton@riseup.net or phone 07583010898.

Sunday 6 May 2012

Illegal squat eviction in Bristol, residents move next door!

After heavies broke down the door at 4 Pritchard St, St Pauls (opposite Cabot Circus) this afternoon, squatters resited barricading themselves in an upstairs room for over half an over. People turned up to show support and there was a brief attempt to re-occupy but heavies began assualting people to remove them from the building, as cops were breaking down doors upstairs. More cops were then called who arrived in numbers with a crowbar to aid the illegal eviction.

Once the remaining squatters were evicted, and police largely left leaving only two to talk to the heavies inside number 4, people began moving their belongings into next door, number 5, which had also been recently squatted. One of the remaining cops attempted to get to the door, but people blocked his ability to do so reminding him that Section 6 prevented him legally from even stepping on the doorstep without premission from the occupiers - much to his dissapointment!

Within a few minutes both the cops left, not bothering to call for back up as squatters celebrated on the roof and continued to further secure the building. End result of the illegal eviction? Strangely overwhelmingly positive!

Friday 4 May 2012

Bristol May-hem: 2 Highstreets attacked in 1 night

From Bristol Indymedia:


On the night of May 1st (2am Wednesday morning) a number of targets in 2 different locations were attacked. In Downend, the windows and ATMs of Lloyds and HSBC banks were smashed, with a Besley Hill and St Andrews estate agents both smashed up as well. On Wells Road in Knowle, the windows and ATMs of a Natwest were destroyed, as well as a Money Shop; Besley Hill and Mathews estate agents were also attacked.

Whilst Mayday once commemorated the lives of anarchists murdered by Chicago State Police, it has now been recuperated by the reformist left into a celebration of the working class. We wish to destroy work – its logic and content – and no state sanctioned bank holiday, party or celebration even begins to touch on our hatred of it.

We are not specialists in social struggle, we work as you do, we shop where you shop and we catch the bus with you, yet we’ve decided that enough is enough.

Banks and estate agents represent the ownership of property, privatization and corporate control. Banks play a leading role in the impoverishment of our lives through the destruction of our environment and our dependence on the economy. They support dictators, arms dealers and the military who invest in murderous regimes. Money lenders such as the Money Shop are legalized loan sharks, flourishing in times of recession by preying on the poor. The estate agents make huge profits from the gentrification of our neighborhoods and the urban landscape. All these businesses show the extent to which the land and our lives have been colonized by capitalism.

That is why it brings us joy when banks are continuously attacked in Bristol, blown up and robbed in Santiago (get well Tortuga, freedom for Marcello, Freddy and Juan!), set alight in Ottawa (freedom for Roger Clement!) and Yogyakarta (freedom for Eat and Billy!).

With regards to the criminalization of squatting, we wish to be part of no campaign defending its legalization. Instead we stand with the excluded who act in a manner that serves their own autonomy, independent of any governing body. This includes those on rent strike, strategic squatting in the context of genuine struggle (rather than as an end in itself) and all those who have taken back space from the rich without falling into the monotonous binary of legal/illegal. We hope that the autonomous housing movement can develop into something more dynamic, radical and dangerous. Because property is still theft, rent is still robbery, and profit is still only another word for plunder!

We choose this method to break the illusion of social peace. Taking action means taking control of our lives, not asking the state for scraps.

The future is unwritten…

Wednesday 2 May 2012

Kilnaboy + Private Gain + The Migraines @ The Plough: for two people arrested and fined after the illegal eviction of a squat in Easton, Bristol last year

 
The Bastard Squad Collective presents a benefit for two people arrested after the illegal eviction of a squat in Easton, last year. All money raised will go towards paying court costs. Any money left over will go towards squatting and legal defence groups. 
 
KILNABOY
South Wales’ own rowdy rebel folk punk!

PRIVATE GAIN
Bristol’s knees-up, beat down skacore!

THE MIGRAINES
Fresh-faced hardcore upstarts from Bristol!

SATURDAY 12TH MAY
THE PLOUGH, EASTON

£4 | 8PM