dissent! Network Of Resistance

In Hamburg the Convergence Center in the squatted autonomous social centre called “Rote Flora” starts at Friday the 25.05. There will be food and information, workshops, etc. available there. Accomodation is organized decentrally in different communities but coordinated in the Convergence Center. There will be an info point in the Rote Flora as well.

On Thursday the bycycle caravan from Belgium is arriving.
On Friday there is a critical mass in Hamburg.
On Saturday there is a mass demonstration against the g8 education politics and against the neoliberal bologna-process.
On Monday there is the international demonstration “gate to global resistance” against the EU- and G8 summit.
On Tuesday there is the arrival of the no lager caravan and actions against the EU-summit in Hamburg.
On Wednesday there are no lager action at the deportation camp near Hamburg.

More information here

In Berlin there is a convergence center starting today. any information about it can be found csb.nostate.net

Antifascist Alliance Mecklenburg-Vorpommern
Tuesday, 22nd of May

Press release

*International Antifascist demonstration against the German Nationalist Party (NPD) march on June 2nd 2007 in Schwerin*

With the slogan, “Against Fascism and Capitalism – For a World without Borders!”, antifascists from Germany and beyond will protest against the planned right-wing extremist march on June 2^nd 2007 in Schwerin. On this day, the regional leader of the German Nationalist Party (NPD), Stefan Koester, previously convicted for grievous bodily harm, has registered a march with over 1000 Neonazis from the whole of Germany.

The reason for this right-wing extremist demonstration is the the G8 Summit from 6th – 8th June in Heiligendamm. For some time now, Neonazis have been trying to jump on the bandwagon of the alterglobalisation movement. During the regional elections last year, the NPD, supported by right-wing thugs, took up the theme in their flyers and pamphlets. “With simplistic explanations and anti-Semitic conspiracy theories, the right-wing extremist party sought to diffuse the fears of the population about globalization in their own interest.
Over 7% of the population voted the NPD into the Schwerin Parliament”, says Gerhard Hahn, spokesperson for the “Antifascist Coalition Mecklenburg-Pommerania”. Also, the first right-wing extremist demonstration after their formal entry to Parliament, which took place on May 1st in Neubrandenburg, had this thematic focus.

“This development has to be stopped. On June 2nd we will hold a resolute demonstration to prevent nationalists, anti-semitists and Holocaust revisionists from spreading their misplaced anticapitalism to a broad public”, explains Gerhard Hahn. Further he says, “Our aim is to make visible the anti-fascist character of the alterglobalisation movement and our ideas for an emancipatory society in which there is no room for right-wing perspectives to have a presence on the streets.”

Meeting point for the antifascist demonstration on June 2nd is 10am at the Spieltordamm (the north shore of the Pfaffenteich).

Contact Antifascist Alliance Mecklenburg-Vorpommern
0176-76067918
www.demo-schwerin.tk
aag(at)systemausfall.org

Contact International Press Group “Media G8way”
g8-press-int(at)nadir.org
+49 16092437902 (Alex Smith)

On Thurs 17th May we had a G8 preparation meeting in London. Here be the notes therefrom.

REPRESSION UPDATE: RE RAIDS ON GERMAN CONVERGENCE CENTRES:

No one ‘really’ arrested (just ‘detained’ in the after-raid protests). Police do have the right to ask for ID and stop and search at any time. During the German raids a little over a week ago, they simply copied the contents of hard drives instead of physically confiscating items.

June 7th ‘Star’ march: Has been banned, but there are still 3 weeks until then, and legal proceedings have started to challenge this ruling.

BORDER UPDATE:

There has been some talk of closing borders, but this is simply not possible, and has been suggested that people try not using trains and highways, but smaller border crossings. If turned away, try somewhere else. And be sensible and leave the leaflets, black hoodies and masks at home.

Border checks - face checks - seem to generally be more concerned with drug trafficking.

There does not seem to be any indication of cross UK/German sharing of intelligence, but then again, it’s ultimately difficult to ascertain just how anyone can know.

TRANSPORT:

Manchester Bus update: There was some interest in generated in the first meeting about hooking up with some Manchester folks for an ‘illuminating’ coach ride to G8.
Seems that they are pretty much full up, but that someone should maybe email them.

Car Share: Check out English page on Dissent site, or check out www.mitfahrgelegenheit.de/ for ride share info in Germany. It’s a pretty good system of getting rides, but will be expected to pay for petrol.
[See this post :admin]

Eurolines: about £79, cheaper if you book online. still spaces left. 17 hour ride, with a stopover in Hamburg or Amsterdam.

There are ongoing negotiations to have transportation between Hamburg and Rostock running 24 hours.

CAMPS:

3 confirmed camps:

• Rostock, the ‘north’ camp, which can hold about 4 - 5000 people (where it was proposed that maybe english folks initially meet up);
• Weichmanndorf, (or the ‘Wendland camp’) - which will eventually have water and electricity;
• Reddelich - has a contract to use space, can hold about 4000 people. There will be anti-sexist/trauma support there as well.

There are also convergence centers in Rostock, Berlin (decentralised convergence concept, with loads of little convergence centres, but that will close just prior to G8), Hamburg (which can be used by people coming a week or so in advance).

There is also the ‘official’ south camp (the commercial one), which student groups don’t really like as it’s too official, commercial, etc.

There will also be info points in cities like Hamburg to ask for updates, legal info, accomodation info, etc.

LEGAL:

Lawyers will try to be present ASAP at jails once they have been contacted, and there are approx 70 - 100 pro bono (that is, working for free, not pro ‘bono’). There is a well established legal organisation called Red Help that will be present, helping people pay court fees etc, but will be working primarily in post arrest situations.

Look for signs saying EA (Ermittlungs Ausschuss) This means Legal Team.

RUN DOWN OF EVENTS:

Again, refer to Dissent Network website for all details and updates.

Sat 2nd: East demo - anti capitalist groups
West demo - NGOs, anti racist and no borders groups will be at front of march.

Sun 3rd: Anti GM day

Mon 4th: No Borders Day - actions at detention centres, centralised demo in Rostock in afternoon, as well as conferences in evening.

Tues 5th: Anti Military day- actions at the airport in south.

Wed 6th: Blocades (where? everywhere?)

Thurs 7th: ‘Star’ march, from several surrounding cities, converging at fence.

There will be one additional meeting this coming Thursday, 7 to 9pm, and maybe a post G8 meeting on June 14th. As part of this meeting there will also be a get together of people staying in London to discuss and prepare the idea of a ‘London G8 Solidarity and Info Point’ during the G8 mobilisations in Germany. Come if you are staying in London but want to be part of the resistance to the G8!

See www.indymedia.org.uk

This is the address for international lifts from the UK:

www.mitfahrgelegenheit.de

Choose from where you want to go then click on the entry in the column “Angebote”. It should say something like “2 Einträge” which means “2 lift offers”.
Here is the list for London for example.

“Ankunftsort” means place of arrival. From which you would have to find yet another lift to “Rostock/Hamburg” through the same webpage:

www.mitfahrgelegenheit.de/

It has lots of international lifts. Its not an “alternative” project, but you don’t have to pay to get offers etc. Normally drivers expect you to share the fuel costs, which is approximately £60-£80 in total (depends on the car) for a trip, so you might pay £30-£40 if its just you and the driver.

Note:
“Von” = from
“Nach” = to

Rostock’s public transportation company seems to be somewhat friendly towards the protests. They are announcing a ticket for the whole region from June 2-9 for 15 Euro. This includes the trains to the Camps in Reddelich and Wichmannsdorf and the airport Rostock Laage. Tickets can be bought in the ticket selling counters, in regional buses and trains.

Also additional trains are running.
The regional train passing by the camp in Reddelich will be running also at night every hour (takes approx. 30 min from Rostock train station), trains from Rostock centre to Warnemuende, passing by Evershagen school with media center and convergence center, will be going:

from 10:00 to 20:00 every 10 minutes
from 20:00 to 24:00 every 15 minutes
after midnight regular schedule, ending around 1:30, starting around 4.
There are night buses in between.

Presentation in English prepared by gipfelsoli.org informing about police preparations in Germany - what they do; where they have their barracks; what the army is doing; info about the fence; and how to cope with all that.
The second part contains information on German police strategies, traumatisation and other helpful information.

PDF file here.

Email gipfelsoli ( gipfelsoli(at)nadir.org ) if you need PowerPoint for public screening.

G8-TV is a platform of video activists for the coverage of the Action Days against the G8-summit in Heiligendamm.

Details here!

• G8: Urgent appeal lodged against demonstration ban. If necessary, the ’star-march’ coalition plan to take matters all the way to the federal courts.
• G8 countries’ foreign policies are given as the reason for the “police emergency”.

Press Release May 18th 2007
[Gipfelsoli Infogruppe | International Press Group]

All demonstrations in the vicinity of Heiligendamm have been prohibited under a General Ban issued by the German Office for Association. The grounds behind the fence and a 4 kilometre area around the perimetre of the fence fall under the ban. With this ban, the protests are to be held at a 6 kilometre distance.

The planned ’star march’ is one of the initiatives that is affected by these measures. With the motto, ‘taking the protest to Heiligendamm’, the star march is intended to end with a closing rally in Heiligendamm. Today, the star march coalition is lodging an urgent appeal against the ruling. A decision is expected at the end of next week. “If necessary, we will have our right to protest confirmed by the federal courts”, a speaker for the star march coalition said. The prohibited area stretches from the camp in Reddelich almost all the way to the camp in Wichmannsdorf. A speaker of the BAO “Kavala” has declared that a congregation of 3 people within this area is illegal under the ruling. “This means that we can’t even leave the camp in groups of 3 and walk next to one another without the police breaking us up”, says a camp participant of the WomenLesbianTransgender Network. The rationale for the ban, according to “Kavala”, lies with the foreign policies of the G8 countries. A “latent threat situation” exists for the representatives of the G8 countries because of the wars in “Iraq, Lebanon, Syria, Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan and Palestine”. Even the German Government is perceived as endangered, because of its “increasing engagement in conflict regions”. What is meant is the war in Afghanistan.

Hanne Jobst of the Gipfelsoli Infogruppe finds this reasoning absurd: “Protest is forbidden because it would have negative effects for foreign decision-makers. The G8 makes decisions that affect the lives of millions of people every day, without the legitimacy to do so, yet inthe opinion of the police, the G8 should not have to be subjected to these people’s anger”.

Even popstar Herbert Groenemeyer has to admit this: “There is real anger”, he explained in the German newspaper ‘taz’ the day before yesterday.

Conicidentally, this week in Scotland, charges against five activists who were arrested and detained on their way to a closing demonstration at the conference hotel in Gleneagles during the 2005 G8 summit, were dropped. “As always during summit protests the police use arbitrary and often illegal measures to prevent protest from reaching those it seeks to criticise”, Gerda Achterhuis of the Dutch Dissent network argues.
“The move to ban the demonstration does not surprise us. However, we will not let ourselves be intimidated and will continue to mobilise for the star march and all other actions against the G8 meeting.”

Gipfelsoli Infogruppe: +49 0160 95314023
International Press Group: +49 160 92437902

Background:
Public statement of the police department Rostock (detailed justification for the ban, 23 pages): gipfelsoli.org

In the last two weeks more and more people asked for a compilation of basic info (German protest culture, demonstrations, police forces and repression).

You can download a .pdf file from dissentnetzwerk.org which hopefully answers most of these questions.

Also this for hitchhikers…

Is it legal to hitchhike in Germany, and if not, will you actually get stopped?

It’s legal and there are always people who do it.

Do you hitchhike the same way, by standing between an offramp and the highway and sticking out your thumb and holding a sign saying Berlin?

That’s what some people do. Some also try to get to a motorway service area (Raststätte) and ask people if they can give them a ride. That makes it more easy for both sides to estimate the others.

Is there a better way to go than hitching?

At that level of expense: no. Going by train is really expensive. Another option is to go with others in a car. There are places in the www where you can find people. Usually you share the cost with others in the car then. But I think the websites for that are all in German.
Try Google: www.google.de/search?q=mitfahrgelegenheit
Also check out the Car Sharing & Travel Forum

Are there radical spaces in Frankfurt… or radical people even?

You might find more information here: club-voltaire.frankfurt.org
(Kleine Hochstraße 5, 60313 Frankfurt am Main).
There seems to be a squat called “AU” (In der Au 14 - 16): www.au-frankfurt.org

What is the address and phone number of the Convergence Centre in Berlin?

There’s a flyer (in German) which has the email address: mail.cc_berlin(at)nostate.net

It’s illegal to stand/walk/sleep/have sex or whatever on motorways, keep that in mind. The best way to get through Germany is to try to get on a motorway and stay on it, let people drop you on big gas stations. Always try to let people drop you BEHIND big intersections or cities, because then you are sure a lot of people are heading in the direction you want to go. In that way you can travel through Germany in less than a day (autobahn). Ask truckers, its still legal in Germany to take you with them. In Spain its prohibited for example (only for Spanish truckers, others can still take you).

Try www.hitchhikers.org to get a ride in advance.