[Deutsch] Solidarity with City Plaza in Athens and all other squats on the planet! Friedel 54 in Berlin will stay! Take the streets for an autonomous May Day!
Today, the 30th of April we did a small action in front of the building at Marien street 41 to create awareness of the many empty buildings at the Ölberg district and the repression against self-organised housing projects. It was an action in front of the building. Still.
In August and September 2014 the Marien Street 41 was squatted twice and immediately evicted again. The protected monument was barricaded with aluminium plates by the former owner to make it more difficult to occupy the building. Until today the city of Wuppertal did nothing against this clear violation of the regulations for protected monuments.
After years of vaccantness the former squatters wanted to create, apart from affordable living-space, a district social- and refugees welcome center in the building. But the police evicted the building only hours after it was squatted. Several people were detained and some people were injured because of police violence at the Ölberg district.
But why was the building evicted in the first place? In 2015 the Marien Street 41 was sold by court order. New owner became the Triacon Ltd from Braunschweig. Triacon paid about 136.000€ for the building. Representatives of the company asserted that they wanted to reconstruct the building and indeed some demolition waste was transported out of the building. But the promised reconstruction never took place. In February 2017 the news came out that Triacon wants to sell the building for 225.000€.
A ludicrous price and we are afraid that the Marien Street will remain empty in the near future. Unless... Unless... Its squatted again and will not be evicted to remain empty this time. There is still a need for affordable housing at the Ölberg district in Wuppertal and a district social- and refugees-welcome-center is still desirable. This became very clear at the assembly with neighbours at September the 21st in 2014, where many neighbours supported the proposals of the former squatters. After this years media reports about the plans of the Triacon Ltd to sell the building, there was outrage in the Ölberg district because of the broken promises by the owner to reconstruct and use the building.
It becomes more and more clear that we have to start using the building ourselves. Neither owner Triacon, nor the city of Wuppertal used the building during the past years. The solidary neighbourhood of Elberfeld north is more capable to give the building a meaningful purpose. A self-organised project for people who are living for a long time in this neighbourhood and for people who just arrived here.
Solidarity with City Plaza in athens and all other squats on the planet!
But not only in Wuppertal houses are evicted to remain empty. A few days ago a squat in Münster was evicted and in other cities this happens again and again. In Greece, where tens of thousands of people who fled war and persecution are still trapped because of EU border closures and the so-called EU-Turkey Deal, several squats where evicted in the past months. In some of these squats refugees found a place to live, so they didn't have stay in tents in Greek military refugee camps. The City Plaza squat in Athens is also under eviction threat. About 1500 people are involved in the project. Refugees and people from Greece and other countries. In the self-organised City Plaza squat people who's dignity was robbed by EU refugee policies, can organise their life themselves again.
But self-organised people and projects seem to be anathema for the wannabe leftwing Greek government and EU authorities. They dont have a problem to distort facts. Like with the life-saver on the mediterranean sea, who were accused by EU representatives for causing the drownings. Instead of stopping the cause of mass mortality by creating legal ways to travel to the EU or by abolishing borders, the people who try to save as many peoples lifes with rescue missions are defamed and criminalized by EU politicians. In contrast to the refugee camps in Europe, self-organised projects like City Plaza are small paradises.
The self-organised project Friedel 54 in Berlin is also under immediate threat of eviction. In the faster and faster turning gentrification spiral many residents and social projects like Friedel 54 are being displaced out of the city. There are still a few small paradises like Friedel 54 in Berlin and the resistance against displacements is growing. The Marien street 41 could also become such a small paradise. Its time we start to do something.
For a District Social- and Refugee Welcome Center at Marien Street 41!
Hands Off City Plaza!
Friedel 54 in Berlin stays!
Take the streets for an autonomous May Day! 1st of May, 02:00pm, Platz der Republik, Wuppertal, Germany
