• Home
  • News
  • International Newsletter n.3 #J14

International Newsletter n.3 #J14

 

 

Weeks June 30 – July 13

Index

1Repression and police brutality
a) Coal miners’ protest harshly repressed by police in Spain
b) Amnesty International denounces Greek police brutality
c) Protesters in Durban, South Africa, facing increasingly violent repression
2Democracy
a) Mexico: fraudulent elections and anti-fraud actions by YoSoy132 and other activist groups
3. Housing
a) Members of PAH (a platform of people affected by mortgages) occupied Madrid’s Cathedral for a few hours
b) Rent Strike Against Slumlord in New York
4. Environment 
a) Call for a “global frackdown day”, a Global day against fracking.
b) Petition against Cajamarca Gold mine killings
c) Two brazilian activists brutally murdered after denouncing Petrobras in Rio+20
5. Health care for the 99% in NYC
6. Law
a) EU and Mexico. Different positions on ACTA
7. Education
a) The International Student Movement calls for a Global Education Strike
8. Direct Action. Raising awareness and empowering the 99%
a) USA: national gathering of the Occupy movement
b) Spain: computer experts and IT workers protest
c) Portugal: unemployed rally in Lisbon and Porto
d) England: Art  collective “Liberate Tate” denounces the Tate’s linkages with oil companies.
9. Collective Memory: video and photos of the 99%
Documentary on the NoTav movement
10. Olympics
London 2012 Olympic’s corporate sponsors
 

1. Repression and police brutality

Protesters and occupiers in Spain, Greece and South Africa are facing police brutality.
The Spanish police is reacting with increasing violence against  the Asturian miners, protesting against cuts in the mining sector. The cuts are part of the austerity policies started by the Spanish government after the bailout to Spanish banks by the EU. Coal miners are at the vanguard of the fight against the new austerity measures.
On the 3rd of July, struggles erupted in the small town of Ciñera [ESP]
A note from the miners to the international press [ESP, FR, ENG ,GR], with links to pictures and news
 “We cannot fight Capitalism  alone”. A video describing the miners’ struggle and their call for unity and support.
[ESP with ENG sub]
Hundreds of workers started a march (the ‘marcha negra’ – black march) on foot from different points in Spain on June 22nd to converge in Madrid on July 11th. During the march the workers have been assaulted by riot cops.
The march was joined by masses of workers from other sectors, the vast majority of them peaceful. Tens of thousands of  Spaniards including public sector workers–who  lined along La Castellana Avenue of Madrid to welcome the miners–joined the  coal miners as they marched into Madrid’s Puerta del Sol.
Spanish miners’ protest reaches Madrid – in pictures
The large rally in Madrid’s main square on July 11th ended in chaos. Police  chased protesters, seized and beat them with  their  batons and fired rubber bullets to disperse others as  the  march  reached the heavily protected Ministry of Industry, in northern  Madrid.
Amnesty  International denounces Greek police brutality. In a report released on  July 3rd, Amnesty International documents and condemns the brutality of Greek police against protesters, journalists and  bystanders [ENG]
Protesters from the Ward 88 in Umlazi (Durban, South Africa) are facing increasingly violent repression [ENG]
The Ward 88 community further demands respect for women’s rights in a  township notorious for patriarchy and rape, and an end to discrimination, xenophobia, tribalism, racism, political  warfare and economic injustice. See Occupy Umlazi!

2. Democracy

In  Mexico, Enrique Peña Nieto claimed victory in the last elections,  amidst accusations of fraud. YoSoy132 and other activist groups tried  to record illegal activities before, during, and after election day,  and have generated a huge, crowdsourced database
For a brief analysis of the electoral aftermath
 

3. Housing

When the right to housing becomes exceptional #Stopevictions #OccupyOurhomes
In Spain, members of PAH (a platform of people affected by mortgages) decided to enclose themselves in Madrid’s Cathedral to demand a stop to evictions due to nonpayment. In Madrid, 50 families are being evicted everyday. Banks receiving bail outs are still evicting hundreds of people a day across the country. On June 29th a group of evicted families occupied the Almudena’s Cathedral after the 19h mass. Church representative rejected any dialogue with the families and called the police, who appeared in large numbers. Policemen arriving in 22 riot police vans took dozens of families out of the Cathedral.
New York Residents on Rent Strike Against Slumlord. Tenants and Occupy activists rallied to defend housing rights of working class residents.

4. Environment

Food  & Water Watch Europe is calling to turn the “national frackdown day”  –  fixed in the United States for September 22nd 2012 – into a GLOBAL day against fracking. Following  the regional/international meetings in Marseille (The  Alternative World  Water Forum – March 2012) and Rio (Peoples’ Summit  – June 2012), there is a  growing consensus among  the anti-fracking movements around the world  about the need of a global anti-fracking day to mobilise locally and build solidarity within the movements.
As a result of the campaign against Cajamarca gold mine,  on July 4, 2012, there were attacks against the inhabitants of the town of Celendín, Peru, who were  mourning the death of three people. A series of illegal arrests were conducted.
In Brazil, two activists, Almir Nogueira de Amorim and João Luiz Telles  Penetra, have been brutally murdered. They were local fishermen campaigning against the construction of gas and oil pipelines by the Brazilian multinational Petrobras, which disrupted their fishing and livelihood. They spoke at the recent Rio + 20 conference.

5. Health care for the 99%!

The  US Supreme Court decision on the Affordable Care Act  was favourable. But is ACA really going to live up its expectations? Rallies in NYC to Demand Real Healthcare for the 99%.
 

6. Law

Last week ACTA was rejected by the EU Parliament, a victory for anti-ACTA activist and hacktivist groups
For background on ACTA:
but ACTA is still not dead. The European Commission may try to bring it back with CETA
ACTA was passed in Mexico
 

7. Education

The International Student Movement (ISM) is an independent communication platform for groups and activists around the world to exchange information, network and coordinate protests in our struggle against the increasing privatisation of education and for free emancipatory education for all! http://ism-global.net/
 ISM is coordinating a Global Education Strike, to be held on 14-21st November 2012.
On July 15th there will be a global chat meeting to formulate the call to action

8. Direct Action. Raising awareness and empowering the 99%

USA: 30 June – 4 July in Philadelphia: national gathering of the Occupy movement.
Schedule
The vision for a democratic future created at the national gathering  in Philadelphia http://interoccupy.net/newswire/natgat-vision-results/ . The  National Gathering  working group invites anyone interested in  continuing the conversation  about how to further build on, and utilise  this vision to visit the new  Interoccupy vision hub or join  the next National Gathering working  group conference call this Tuesday, July 17th at 9PM EST.
Spain: On  the 30 of June, computer experts and IT workers took the streets to  protest against worsening working conditions, exploitation and precarious  contracts [ESP]
Portugal: rally in Lisbon and Porto on the June 30th, to demand the right to work. Video and pics [PT]
England: Art collective Liberate Tate (liberatetate.org)  installed a massive 16.5 metre, one and a half tonne wind turbine blade in Tate Modern’s Turbine Hall in London Saturday 7th July 2012, submitting the artwork to be part of Tate’s permanent collection. The artwork, called ‘The Gift’, was installed in an unofficial performance involving over 100 members of the group that has become internationally renowned for artworks aimed at ending the relationship of Tate and other  national cultural institutions with oil companies.
Hong Kong protests – in pictures. Fifteen  years after British colonial rule ended and China regained control of  the city, tens of thousands of protesters took to the streets in the  annual pro-democracy march.
 

9. Collective Memory: video and photos on the 99%

Sins of Maddalena: a short documentary on the NoTav movement in Val di Susa, Italy, who are struggling against the construction of a high speed railway in the Val di Susa mountains [IT, ENG subs]
 

10. Olympics

A video shows the London 2012 Olympic’s shameful corporate sponsors.

 

About Occupy London International WG

2 Responses to “International Newsletter n.3 #J14”

  1. Occupy Hong Kong Protesters Given Two Weeks to Respond
    http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-07-16/hsbc-asks-court-to-order-hong-kong-occupy-protesters-off.html

    Protesters occupying the plaza under HSBC Holdings Plc (HSBA)’s Hong Kong headquarters were given two weeks to respond to the bank’s lawsuit asking for permission to remove them.

    Master K. Lo at Hong Kong’s Court of First Instance today set Aug. 13 for the next hearing of the case against the nine- month protest, one of the longest-running demonstrations sparked by the Occupy Wall Street movement. HSBC had requested occupiers leave voluntarily on May 29 and wants to clear the area for a number of community events, bank spokesman Gareth Hewett said earlier.

    Protesters for Occupy Wall Street, whose movement to highlight income inequality spread from New York to other cities globally, were evicted in November, and others in London were evicted from their Finsbury Square camp on June 14. In Hong Kong, protesters numbering about 50 at the peak have pitched tents and laid out couches as they played guitars and ran photography classes in the ground floor plaza under HSBC’s Central building.

     
  2. No matter how strong you are ,how notable your attainments ,you have enduring significance only in your relationship to others.

    http://www.jerseysfromchina-vip.com/

     

Leave a Comment

You must be logged in to post a comment. Log in »

© 2012 Occupy London
Powered By DynamiX