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Friday 3rd July 2009 Free/Donation Issue 682

Migrants face constant harassment by po- RUMBLE IN THE JUNGLE lice who raid and destroy their camps, tear gas whole sections of the jungle and regu- REPORT BACK FROM THE CALAIS NO BORDERS CAMP larly arrest and detain people, taking their No Borders campaigners, calling for free- from Iraq and Afghanistan; many worked fi ngerprints before releasing them, only to dom of movement for all people and an with British forces during the occupation repeat the whole process over again. Mi- end to migration controls, culminated their and now fear persecution as collaborators. grants have no access to health care or legal week long camp in Calais (See SchNEWS FRONTIÈR SANS MÉDICIN representation. It is illegal to assist migrants 681) with a demonstration outside the city’s in any way; as a result of article L622-1 of main port last Saturday. Over 2,000 people In 2002, the French and UK authorities the French penal code anyone “aiding or took to the streets against the increasingly forcibly closed a Red-Cross run refuge facilitating either directly or indirectly the tight border controls at the channel cross- centre in Calais, the Sangette, claiming it arrival, circulation or residence of illegal ing, the bottleneck of Fortress Europe creates ‘incentives for immigrants’. Cur- immigrants in France” is a punishable with where many undocumented migrants - or rently, a couple of voluntary organisations, up to fi ve years in prison and a £25,000 fi ne. ‘sans papier’, people without papers – risk through tacit agreement with local authori- There is a high suicide rate amongst the mi- their life for months, sometimes years, just ties, provide food handouts fi ve days a grants, who are forced to live in inhumane to move from France to the UK. week. Ministers have shot down ideas of conditions, risk their lives every night try- The demo was subject to severe police re-opening the Sangette or establishing a ing to climb into, or under, trucks and face controls before it even began. Hundreds of new refugee centre. However, the UNHCR abuse from truck drivers and police. demonstrators were blockaded by police – the UN refugee agency - announced last By the end of this year, in collaboration around every corner, with a drafted force Tuesday (1st July) that they will be es- with the UK, France plans to evict all mi- of 2,500 - including CRS riot police - pre- tablishing a full-time presence in Calais. grants from Calais by clearing out the jun- venting people from reaching the starting While recognizing the ‘squalid’ conditions gle and building a new detention centre to point of the march. Despite police repres- people are living in, the UNCHR is limited supplement the existing Croquelles CRE, sion, and after hours of cat and mouse, pro- to only providing information and advice enabling mass deportations, mainly to Af- testers from the camp joined other groups ‘to help the migrants and asylum seekers ghanistan and Iraq. French immigration including trade unions, humanitarian or- to make an informed decision’. minister, Eric Besson said, “We are going ganisations and left leaning political par- to make the zone around Calais watertight ties, quadrupling the number of people on No Borders supports freedom of move- to illegal immigration”. the march. But with the town centre barri- ment and as fi rst steps, demands: Currently French courts are refusing to caded out of bound by riot vans, the demo 1) Unconditional entry into the UK for all send illegal immigrants back to countries was forced into the outskirts and around 2) The places where migrants are living where they may be persecuted so, through the dock, out of the public eye. must not be raided or destroyed, and technical manoeuvring, the new detention The No Borders camp, from 23rd - 28th access to healthcare must be guaranteed centre will be a hybrid of Franco-British of June, was set up alongside the main mo- 3) Freedom of movement for all powers, located on a carved out ‘British torway leading to the harbour and near a around Calais: the ability to travel to control zone’ in Calais. This will allow them junction where many migrants try to jump all parts without restriction, harrass- to pick-and-mix legal loopholes, manipulate on passing trucks heading to Britain. During ment or fear of arrest ambiguous legal grey areas and cut through the week practical workshops ranging from 4) No repeat arrests red tape, allowing migrants to be deported fi rst aid to direct action, and meetings with 5) Freedom of expression for all, more easily under UK immigration law. campaigning groups from across Europe, including migrants: the right to protest The system will effectively create an focused on organising transnational action and the right to make complaints to the ‘off-shore, on-shore’ detention centre that against closed borders and draconian im- authorities, individually or collectively exploits legal systems and evades Euro- migration policies. The camp was made up 6) No deportations (whether by charter pean and international law on immigration of 500-800 activists mainly from France, fl ight or not) and asylum in order to fast-track people UK and Belgium, along with around 100- out of Europe, no questions asked. 200 migrants stranded at the border. 7) End repression of associations/indi- viduals who support migrants, includ- Earlier this year, when discussing pro- At any one time there are 1,000 – 2,000 ing by transporting them posals to externalise the UK’s powers and refugees in Calais alone, mainly young control migration from beyond its borders, men and children from the Middle East and 8) Free and impartial legal advice on Phil Woolas, British immigration minister, UK and other asylum and immigration Horn of Africa who squat in town buildings said he wants to ‘send a message… back to systems or make-shift settlements in ‘the jungle’, a Afghanistan and Iraq that Britain is not the wooded area surrounding the port. Many 9) Britain’s policy of arbitrary im- Promised Land’. migration detention without time limit have travelled for years, forced to leave * See www.noborders.org.uk their homes to escape war, poverty and must not be exported to Calais. There abuses and see the UK as the end point of must be no new detention centre and “Free immigration prisoners, their journey. People go to the UK for many especially no Guantanamo style facility. no one is illegal” reasons, not least because of colonial ties. Copyleft A large proportion of migrants in Calais are Published in Brighton since 1994 AN INDEPTH LOOK AT THIS WEEK’S streets outside the presidential residence to restrict the military’s movements and prevent the arrival COUP BLIMEY COUP D’ETAT IN HONDURAS of reinforcements. Protests have since broken out around the country with marches, blockades of “Imagine if I had proposed a real reform? They in order to make a decision about the creation of a National Constitutional Assembly that would major transit routes and strikes, including a na- would have executed me on the spot.” - Manuel tionwide teachers strike. The police and military Zelaya, deposed President of Honduras approve a new Constitution?” Even though Ze- laya did not once mention presidential terms and have responded with tear gas, rubber bullets, wa- Early in the morning of Sunday the 28th dozens ter cannons and live ammunition, resulting in a of soldiers stormed the Honduran presidential the proposed assembly would have convened after the end of his term before probably spend- large number of injuries and mass arrests. residence, disarming and beating the guards be- ing several years bitterly debating reform which It’s been impossible to determine the scale of fore seizing the pyjama clad president, Manuel may or may not have included mention of term the protests due to the severe repression of any Zelaya, and escorting him to a waiting plane limits, this was quickly reported in the Honduran media reporting anything other than the coup destined for Costa Rica. Within hours protest- right-wing media as being an attempt to secure government line. Journalists on the streets face ers were out on the streets confronting the mili- the ability to extend his rule. This idea, which violent harassment and gunshots. Independent tary and the coup was being condemned by ev- was only ever stated as opinion, was seized on and pro-Zelaya media have essentially been ery international government and organisation by “cut-n-paste” hacks (step up those liberal gi- shut down, with a number of raids on local TV from the US to the UN. ants The Guardian and The New York Times) and radio stations, foreign channels such as By the time of the operation, the military had and repeated until it became an accepted truth. CNN (yes that CNN) and Venezuela’s Telesur been surrounding the residence for several days Like in most of Latin American, the Hondu- being blocked, as well as arrests of both local in response to a chain of events that began when ran constitution is an elite stitch-up designed to and international journalists. Pro-coup media, Zelaya proposed a popular consultation to deter- ensure that no matter who the people elect, real however, have operated unimpeded. mine whether November’s presidential poll – in structural change is impossible and power re- In attempts to quell the escalating resis- which Zelaya can’t stand due to the one term mains concentrated in the hands of the wealthy tance the coup leadership has stepped up the limit – should include a referendum on whether and powerful. As the current coup government repression. On Wednesday, Micheletti passed to elect an assembly to re-write the constitution. claim, the constitution does state that seven of an emergency decree that ironically stripped The Supreme Court declared the consultation il- its 379 articles are not subject to reform. One Hondurans of a number of constitutional rights, legal and ordered the police and military to not of these articles refers to term limits and states including the right to protest, freedom of as- distribute ballot boxes, threatening those that that anyone who proposes changes can be re- sembly, freedom of association, freedom of did with 8–12 year prison sentences for ‘abuse moved and be disqualifi ed from offi ce for ten movement, freedom from unwarranted search, of authority’. The army sided with the Supreme years. However, what Zelaya proposed was the seizure and arrest and the rights of due process Court and confi scated the ballot boxes and elec- election of an assembly to completely re-write while under arrest. tion materials. In retaliation Zelaya fi red the - not reform - the constitution, and the issue of Under pressure from both the streets and the head of the military’s Joints Chiefs of Staff, term limits would have been for them to decide. international community, the military is now General Romeo Vásquez. The Honduran Con- Nevertheless, following the Supreme Court also facing dissent from within its own ranks gress then promptly began an investigation into judgement, Zelaya changed what would have with at least two battalions heeding the protest- Zelaya, not only over his ‘administrative ac- been a binding consultation to non-binding, ef- ers chants that “Soldiers, you are part of the tions’ but also into his mental health. fectively an opinion poll, nothing more. people” and refusing to participate. Not to be intimidated, Zelaya led a caravan of The constitution also states that it is neces- Having postponed his original return, sched- 25–30,000 (claimed Radio Es De Lo Menos – an sary to gain a two thirds majority of a specially uled for Thursday (2nd), in order to wait for the convened Congress to depose of the head of the independent Honduran radio station present on the expiration of an OAS ultimatum for the return army. Which raises the question of what sort of caravan, while Associated Press said “dozens”) to of democracy, Zelaya now plans to return to military bases to retrieve the boxes and distribute constitution allows the immediate removal of an elected president but requires a massive ac- Honduras on Saturday (4th). While Micheletti them in time for the Sunday poll. With everything has promised to arrest him the “moment he sets set up for the poll the military moved in. tion to remove the head of the army? No need to ask where power really lies. foot on Honduran soil”, social movements and As far as our lazy and ignorant media are con- supporters are preparing to meet the President cerned, ambivalence prevails. Even as the White BANANA REPUBLIC to provide an escort and protection. House (yes, that White House – supporter of just Since Zelaya was deposed and replaced by the In the current political environment in Latin about every Latin American military coup since military backed President of Congress Roberto America, ‘80s-style military coups are as out of independence) condemned the coup in surpris- Micheletti, a fellow Liberal, Honduras has been fashion as shoulder pads and Wham, a fact that ingly unambiguous terms - labelling it a coup, in lock-down. After imposing a curfew from even the less than squeaky-clean US adminis- stating that they only recognise Zelaya as presi- 9pm and 6am, the coup regime immediately set tration recognises. While Zelaya is far from a dent, suspending joint military operation with about clamping down on both resistance and revolutionary man of the people, his relatively the Honduran army and threatening prompt ac- anyone reporting on it. minor challenge to the ruling oligarchy has tion with the Organisation of American States Protests began within hours of the coup, with shown just how diffi cult it still is to effect genu- (OAS). Weird, it’s going to take some years to supporters of the president, grass-roots social ine change. However, it seems that the Hon- get used to a president who uses diplomacy. The movements and anyone not up for living under duran powers that be might just have backed media has been happy to follow the line of the an junta, pouring onto the streets to demonstrate themselves into a corner that it will be diffi cult Honduran right-wing press - framing it as a sim- against the regime. On the fi rst day of the coup to bully their way out of. ple case of deposing a leftist megalomaniac who protesters set up barricades of burning tyres in the * For extensive coverage see www.narconews.com was in the process of a power grab. Even the most rudimentary analysis (a SchNEWS spe- DON’T COAL HOME ciality) demonstrates this clearly isn’t the case. Mainshill Solidarity Camp in South Lanark- to be heard, saying only: “Given that you’re a Zelaya was elected in 2005, not as a popu- shire, Scotland, (See SchNEWS 681) are call- lay person, I’ll cast my eyes over it”. list leftist, but as the candidate of one of the ing for volunteers to help guard an ancient two main parties - the Liberals - who over the * For details on how to get there and more call woodland from being turned into an opencast 07806 926 040 and see www.coalactionedin- years had carved up power between themselves coal mine. The landowner, Lord Home - son and the Conservative party and kept politics a burgh.nofl ag.org.uk/?page_id=415 of Sir Alec Douglas-Home the former PM - is * While Home wants to dig up the woods, strictly elite business. Zelaya, however, broke happy to sell off to Scottish Coal - the UK’s ranks, fi rst by joining Hugo Chavez’s Bolivar- here’s a bit of dirt on Homes himself: He is a largest open cast producer - for an undisclosed hereditary peer elected Conservative member ian Alternative for the Americas (ALBA), a (huge) sum. The site is only 1000yds from a grouping of Left leaning Latin American states of the House of Lords, and also the current local hospital and nearby town of Douglas. President of the British Association for Shoot- committed to alternative strategies of coopera- In a farcical court hearing on 29th June in tion and development (i.e without Uncle Sam’s ing and Conservation. Shooting and conserva- Lanark Sheriff Court, the eviction order brought tion? Or is that shooting the conservationists! strings attached dollar), and then by implement- by Lord Home and Scottish Coal against the ing various pro-poor policies such as raising the He is also chairman of Coutts & Co, the pri- occupiers at Mainshill Wood was granted. vate banking arm of the infamous taxpayer- minimum wage by 60% (i.e. about $1.20 - most Despite being given just two working days to money sucking bank, RBS. Coutts is currently live on less than $2 a day). seek legal advice and prepare a defence, the going through one of the biggest and longest The current crisis was triggered when Zelaya, Sheriff refused the group’s reasonable request running criminal conspiracy corruption cases with just a few months remaining of his one for more time. The local council had prepared and the subject of major criminal allegations term, proposed a referendum which would have a statement to present to the court which sup- of conspiracy to defraud, racketeering, and asked the Honduran people one, yes or no, ques- ported the occupation and raised concern about money laundering - see www.nowpublic. tion; “Do you think that the November 2009 the time-scale of the eviction order. The Sheriff, com/world/coutts-bank-chairman-lord-home- general elections should include a fourth ballot however, would not even allow the statement named-carroll-trust-case-0 A LOT TO ANSAR FOR ISLAND MENTALITY Two sweatshop workers in Bangladesh were While No Borders activists have been raising Germany and Ireland. The charter arrived at 9am shot dead last weekend during protests over pay awareness of the plight of migrants stranded in the next morning where a total of 94 people, in- cuts and outstanding wages. Another worker is Calais, for those that do make it to Britain it’s cluding 8 children were left at Lagos airport. in a critical condition and dozens more injured no guarantee of a safe and peaceful life. How- * Meanwhile fellow activists also staged a dem- as the police and Ansar civilian volunteer forc- ever, here in the UK there are lots of organisa- onstration outside the offi ces of WH Tours in es attacked the workers with tear gas and live tions campaigning for fair and just treatment of Crowley, the private coach company used by bullets at a garment zone near Dhaka. people seeking to settle in a country where they the Home Offi ce to transport deportees from Following several days of strikes last week by will not be persecuted. Here are just two exam- detention centres to the airport. 1800 RMG (Ready Made Garments) workers at one sweatshop, management fi nally agreed to the ples of the successes and heartbreaking failures * See also http://stopdeportation.net demands last Thursday. But on returning to work of refugees in the British asylum system - and Another campaign in Sheffi eld recently saw on Saturday (27th), three workers who had taken their supporters - and these sorts of stories hap- a more positive outcome when Claude N’deh, his leading roles in the agitation and negotiations pen on a daily basis... wife Majolie, and their three children won their were told they were sacked “on charges of lead- Members from the campaign group Stop battle to remain in the UK. The family had come ing the demonstrations”. Upon learning this, the Deportation staged a sit-in demonstration at here seeking asylum after they were arrested and workforce immediately left the factory to dem- Yarl’s Wood detention centre in Bedfordshire tortured in prison in Cameroon for being involved onstrate and demand the reinstatement of their earlier this week, blocking the way of the de- in human rights demonstrations. Two of their fellow workers. This led to fi erce arguments fol- portees’ coaches, to stop the deportation of 20 children, both born in the UK, were later diag- lowed by scuffl es with the factory bosses, two of Nigerian refugees to Lagos. Earlier in the day, nosed with sickle cell anaemia, a condition that whom were reported to have been beaten up. the non co-operating refugees inside Yarl’s requires daily medication with a 50% survival The workers blockaded a main road and re- Wood had been forcibly removed by immigra- rate in Cameroon. After their initial application sisted police attempts to disperse them using for asylum was declined, a huge campaign started tear gas, responding with hails of stones and tion offi cers and security guards. The sit-in at Yarl’s Wood lasted until around in support of the family, backed by direct action bricks. The Ansars then shot into the crowd, groups and the community in Sheffi eld that they killing two, later claiming that the workers 4.30pm, when offi cers removed protesters and had come to be part of during their six years liv- were about to seize their guns. arrested one campaigner for ‘obstruction of a As news of the fatalities spread during the police offi cer’. The coaches carrying the deport- ing in the city. The family have credited the hard afternoon the workers’ numbers swelled, joined ees left soon after although many of the refugees work of the support network of community and by other factories striking in solidarity and RMG onboard had no prior notice of their deportation campaign groups around them as being integral factories being closed early by bosses due to or had valid Removal Directions, clearly fl out- to the successful appeal. fears of the unrest spreading to their premises. ing the correct legal process. Waiting at Stansted * For more information on other cases see www. The insurgent crowd then occupied a factory, – not Gatwick as previously thought – was a pri- ncdac.org.uk smashing windows and wrecking offi ces. They vate charter fl ight destined for Lagos. The Yarl’s remained in occupation for an hour and a half, Wood refugees, along with others collected from * To get involved in direct action groups, during which time they set fi re to the the factory’s three more detention centres, delayed the fl ight campaigning and to keep up to date with warehouse and the hated Ansar camp on factory the issues surrounding freedom of move- grounds. The Ansars have a history of clashes for over four hours by refusing to board the plane, but it eventually took off around 9.45pm. ment and how refugees are treated in with RMG workers in recent years and are some- the UK see www.noborders.org.uk www. The fl ight stopped in Dublin and Prague, picking times deployed within factory compounds as a ncadc.org.uk www.noii.org.uk semi-permanent para-military presence. up further deportees from the Czech Republic, Thousands of workers gathered on the out- skirts of Dhaka on Monday morning and set off SEZ WHO? to the nearby Export Processing Zone, location In mid-June the Indian government launched ating with the adivasis until being recently driv- of many sweatshops. Police blocked their way a massive operation in an adivasi (indigenous) with tear gas and rubber bullets leaving 100 en out by federal forces. The police responded protesters injured. Numbers swelled to 50,000, region of West Bengal, where locals had been by beating and arresting locals, leading them overwhelming the security forces and reducing protesting against the state facilitated corporate to effectively seize control of the rural region. a still operating complex to ashes – the fi re bri- land-grab for one of the notorious Special Eco- Road blockades were formed from felled trees gade was denied access by those blocking the nomic Zones (SEZ). and trenches, and locals stopped selling the po- road. Meanwhile, others roamed the area and Since the mid-nineties the Indian government lice food, forcing them to withdraw. attacked another 50 factories and 20 vehicles. has seized thousands of acres of land, uprooting The adivasis have distanced themselves from Clothes sweatshops in Bangladesh have long adivasis, dalits, small farmers and landless farm the Maoists, asserting their peaceful credentials been notorious for appalling pay and conditions workers - affecting around 250 million. The whilst the Maoists have never claimed the adivasi and the latest unrest coincides with the release land was handed over to multinationals – Indian movement to be under their control. The Maoists of a report by the Bangladeshi Government and foreign – in the name of economic liberali- were recently declared a terrorist organisation. Factory Inspector’s offi ce. At least one in every sation. SEZs were created where industries are As the press and independent monitors have seven garment factories does not pay salaries exempted from labour and environmental laws, been banned from the area, the extent of the to the workers regularly and one in every three granted complete tax exemption and are consti- factories breaches labour laws. Labour leaders abuses suffered by the adivasis at the hands of tutionally to be treated as foreign territories on say these violations are actually more wide- the military is unclear, although there have been spread, with factory owners using the global Indian soil, fully equipped with special courts reports of mass detentions and the displacement recession as a pretext for worker exploitation. to serve the purposes of the corporations. of entire villages. Although conditions had improved since the There was already local anger at torture and The repression of resistance to land grabs last major worker strikes in 2006 with workers arbitrary arrests at the hands of the Lalgarh po- for SEZs is commonplace in West Bengal. In earning up to $100 a month for 7-day weeks, lice when the state government of West Bengal protests against forced displacements in early wages have recently been cut by 20-30%. seized 5000 acres of land for an SEZ to be hand- 2007, 25 locals were killed by state police and Back in 2006, 4000 factories in Dhaka went ed over to Indian multinational steel company over 20 women raped. An Amnesty report in on wildcat strike; sixteen factories were burnt Jindal Steel. Last November, a convoy carrying January 2008 condemned widespread human down, three strikers were killed plus thousands the chief minister of West Bengal was targeted rights abuses including killings and rapes car- injured, and the army was brought in to restore by a land mine on its way back from laying the ried out by West Bengal state forces. order. Last week’s events are only the latest in foundation stone of the steel plant, injuring six A picket of the Indian Consulate in Bir- a series of recent similar clashes in the Bangla- policemen. The attack was claimed by India’s mingham has been called for 4pm on Friday deshi garment sector. With the deepening eco- Maoists (CPIM) who had been active in cooper- nomic crisis and further downward pressure on 10th July to protest the Indian state aggression wages fuelled by greedy rich world consumer- PARTY & PROTEST against the adivasis of West Bengal. ism, such confl icts look set to escalate. For events listings updated weekly see * See also http://antilandgrab.wordpress.com * For more see www.libcom.org www.schnews.org.uk/pap http://sanhati.com ICH BIN EIN BURNIN’ SQUATS UP: South West London Squat Round Up “We believe for a space to be truly autonomous KEEN SQUATTERS eight and a half weeks. This site was notable it must fi rst be liberated. Liberated in our sense This week a house was squatted in West Lon- for being occupied by The Diggers in 1649 - doesn’t just mean taking something out of the exactly 360 years ago - and is near St Georges hands of capitalists (the mere re- appropriation don owned by Ann and Alan Keen, Labour MPs up to their eyeballs in the expenses scandal. It Hill, made famous by Gerard Winstanley’s Dig- of a building) but rather taking space and fi nd- ger community. ing ways to use it as a weapon against the State had been empty for up to a year, with the Keens On Monday a group of around 35 bailiffs and Capital.” living at their posh pad nearer to Parliament - The recent Action Days for autonomous spaces which they had claimed £140,000 for over the and police arrived, and bailiffs began to evict had Berlin in chaos throughout the last week of May last four years, as their ‘second home’. On top the eleven occupants, gratuitously trashing and as anarchists converged for varied and often militant of that, Alan Keen had an offi ce at the back of burning their benders and dwellings, and rip- actions in defence of ‘free space”. We could go into the house, which he was claiming £250 month- ping plants out of their beds. an indepth, theoretical analysis of anarchism here, ly travel expenses to get to – even though it was The site was taken on April 26th, and was the but we won’t: let’s go straight to where the real in the same house they were calling their ‘main setting for a Rainbow Gathering in early May. action was happening, down on streets... residence’. In Alan’s so-called offi ce, squatters After two court adjournments – due to the de- Fires raged as cars, vans, trucks, billboards, found a dusty old computer lying around. fendants drawing on historical documents - a bins, construction cranes and other vehicles in While the old Bill visited last Saturday – do- possession order was fi nally issued two weeks their dozens were torched, yuppie new-builds ing nothing - the owners haven’t started eviction ago at Guildford County Court. were trashed by paint bombs and stones, win- The squatters’ case - that Tyting Farm is dows were smashed, roads were littered with proceedings yet. What they have done is letter dropped around the area with a notice saying common land - was based on a 1915 covenant caltrops (bent nails designed to puncture car by then-owner Duke of Northumberland be- tyres), advertising screens destroyed and estate that their house has been occupied by squatters, agents were graff-ed and glue put in the locks. that it is empty because the builders went into queathing the land to the people of London and Buildings were squatted in their numbers and an liquidation, and work will start in two weeks Guildford, remaining on condition of sale. In anti-gentrifi cation rally was held. and they will move back in the summer. Those 1942 Guildford Council acquired the land for Amongst the multifarious actions, McDonalds letters are yet more taxpayers’ money down the its protection. Part of the building dates back to in Kreuzberg was trashed, a banner was dropped drain. It’s also suspected that the Keens haven’t a chapel built in 1300. Either way, despite the from the roof of the cathedral Berliner Dom and paid the broke builders, and squatters found the eviction, public access remains, and in fact the barricades were built in Friedrichshain, Kreuzberg house as a partial building site. They are cur- site could be re-occupied. and Wedding. Targets were numerous and diverse, rently getting it liveable. The on-the-case network of SW London/Sur- including Media Spree land developers, SAP - a The squat has had a lot of mainstream public- rey squatters have had an active few months, software company connected to arms trade, the with the historic Ravens Ait island on the Verdi Hotel and banks like Sparkasse. ity, riding on the furore about MP expenses. The house is in the seat of Brentford & Isleworth, Thames near Kingston being occupied from A web-based real time info-ticker kept eve- February to May (See SchNEWS 675), as well ryone informed with up-to-the-minute info on where Ann Keen is the local MP. To gauge the true feelings of her constituency, the squatters as a cross-over with the West London lot oc- demos, actions, arrests, police locations and de- cupying Kew Bridge and the Keen house. After scriptions of undercover cops and their vehicles. are holding a public meeting outside the front The Kopi squatted centre held workshops, voku gates of the house this Sunday (5th), 3pm. a brief moment to recharge their batteries, look (people’s kitchen) and a pirate radio station. Also, tonight (3rd), is ‘Having A Laugh out for another squat in the area soon. Despite beatings and arrests, Berlin’s activ- At Your Expenses’, a comedy benefi t gig at * Site mob 07842137535 email savetytingfarm ists remain undaunted after their week-long the house featuring Mark Thomas, Attila The @googlemail.com revolt. See http://wba.blogsport.de and Indy- Stockbroker and Wil Hodgson. The money * See www.tytingcommunityproject.org.uk, www. media Berlin. goes to refugee support. Starts 8pm, £4. facebook.com/group.php?gid=80809116892 LIONS AND TIGERS The house is at 38 Brook Rd South, Brent- * For more about the history of Tyting Farm see Just because the civil war between the Tamil Ti- ford, TW8 0NN, Site mob 07912078757 www.savetytingfarm.com gers and the Sri Lankan military has come to an KEW BRIDGE ...and fi nally... end (or maybe a pause) the suffering of the is- The Kew Bridge squatted eco-community in lands Tamil civilians continues unabated. In or- Surprising a survey from the Daily Mail re- Brentford, West London is going strong after be- der to hammer home this message, British peace cently had 96% of participants voting that gyp- campaigner Maria Gallastegui imprisoned her- ing occupied on June 6th (See SchNEWS 679). sies should jump to the front of the queue in self in a mock-up concentration camp in front of The community has been set up in the middle of the NHS. This wasn’t quite the opinion that the Churchill’s statue, Parliament Square. a urban landscape with benders, yurts, compost Mail had expected, or even sought, however, Tens of thousands of Tamils suffer appalling loo and garden to prove a model of what can be when they posed the ever so slightly biased conditions at the hands of the Sri Lankan state. achieved. It will be used as a community gar- question in the MailOnline “Should the NHS At least 250,000 are being held in concentra- den and educational centre. The local response allow gipsies to jump the queue?” tion camps where whole communities have has been overwhelmingly positive. It’s just possible however, that the result been uprooted and collectively punished (See It was empty for 23 years and is currently SchNEWS 681, 672). might have gone a different way had it not been owned by St Georges – whose pipe dream is to for a virtual revolt amongst the UK’s army of Maria managed to stay put, surrounded by build an eight story 168-unit building, despite the barbed wire and placards on a plinth under the psychologists. After the dodgy survey came to shadow of the old Tory, from the early hours community not wanting the development, and the the attention of the shrinks they launched a full- until mid-morning on Wednesday (1st). She was plan being refused permission. There is a public on twitter/email offensive to get as many votes evicted by cops who, rather than use a specialist consultation process two weeks from now. for ‘Yes’ as possible to sabotage such a blatant- cutting team, seem to have used some blokes Events are being held all week: Wednesday ly biased, consensus-manufacturing poll. from the council and a stepladder to remove the nights 7pm-9m is workshops on a range of top- Said one Brighton-based senior lecturer in barbed wire wreathed protester. ics from bike generators to chanting, Tuesday experimental psychology Dr Sam Hutton, “One Maria was arrested for a host of spurious and Saturday 11am-8pm are gardening days, reason I think there were so many yes votes was rubbish - criminal damage (nothing was so Wednesday 11am-8m is community structure because a psychologist got hold of it, and sent an much as scratched) and that old standby pub- building. All are welcome. email which quickly got copied to virtually ev- lic order offence of ‘threatening words or be- The place is not currently under direct threat ery psychologist in the country, suggesting that haviour likely to cause alarm or distress’, as of eviction, so let’s hope they get the chance well as some mumblings about byelaws. The we all vote yes as a way of protesting against only distress around seemed to be found in the to get it fully up and running. Visit Kew such a ludicrously loaded question (psycholo- porcine form of Churchill’s grandson, Nicho- Bridge Road, Brentford, TW8 0JF, site mob gists care about questionnaire design)”. las Soames, who was reportedly thoroughly 07515166011. Do you think that the Daily Mail is a xe- narked at his ancestor’s legacy being subverted * See also www.facebook.com/reqs.php#/group. nophobic reactionary Hitler supporting small for peaceful causes. There was talk of Maria php?gid=88020757939 minded middle England rag? Vote on our on- getting an ASBO for her persistent opposition TYTING FARM line poll now. to genocide. Maria was released the same day The squatted 118-acre Tyting Farm near Guild- Disclaimer (after eight hours in the nick). SchNEWS warns all readers - Don’t Stop Til You Get * See http://peacestrike.org.uk ford, Surrey, was evicted this Monday after Enough... is no way to manage your drugs habits. Honest! Get SchNEWS free every week by email in pdf or text fi le - visit our site, or send us stamps and we'll post it to you. Copy and distribute! Keep SchNEWS free with do na tions (via website or cheques payable to Justice?). Posted free to all prisoners. SchNEWS, c/o Community Base, 113 Queens Rd, Brighton, BN1 3XG. Tel +44 (0)1273 685913 Email [email protected] Web www.schnews.org.uk