Tag: France

Tear Gas and Rubber Bullets on the Streets of Southern France

shared with thanks from  
  An eye-witness report from Act 16 of the ongoing Yellow Vest uprising against neoliberalism, by Paul Cudenec of Shoal Collective. 

We had just positioned ourselves downwind from the teargas canisters that had been fired towards us from the ranks of riot police protecting the Sous-Préfecture, the French state’s HQ in Alès, southern France.

Then suddenly we were coming under attack from the opposite direction. A squadron of cops was lurking, unseen, on the other side of the modern pedestrianised square and had started firing tear gas from behind us.

Choking and with streaming eyes, we fled down a little side street which, ironically enough, turned out to be dedicated to the “martyrs of the resistance”.

Passers-by, women with young children, stood gawping in the direction of the clouds of chemical warfare following us down the road. Continue reading “Tear Gas and Rubber Bullets on the Streets of Southern France”

The Intergalactic Week of Zad: August 17th-24th: Amazingly Occupied since 2010

 from   freedomnews.org.           The quiet, wildlife-filled countryside just outside Notre-Dame-des-Landes, north of Nantes has been a point of massive contention between various French governments and the country’s environmental direct action movement since 2008, when permission was granted to build a €580 million airport serving as “the international gateway” to Western France.

If you’re a French-speaker, or want a video impression of the Zad movement, try this from 2012:

Squats and camps sprung up on fields due for the rumble of the bulldozer in the early 2010s, and it came to be known as the Zone to Defend (zone à défendre, or Zad), inspiring dozens of other similar camps which have in some cases banded together into “back to the land” networks.

Next month will see a major gathering for the Zads in the form of a week-long camp at Nantes, the Intergalactic Week of Zad, building resources and establishing links between the disparate groups.

Organisers said the programme would be relatively open with a few broad themes, and would offer ample opportunity to learn and work on DIY projects:

Mornings will be dedicated to collective working opportunities, including the building of Ambazada, the Intergalactic cabin as well as collective work on various sites of the Zad (e.g., barn construction, carpentry, helping with collective crops, fence maintenance, collecting wood for the bakery, basket making…). Participants are asked to bring a tent, sleeping bag and a leash if you have a dog.

Running from August 17th-24th, logistics for the week only allow for 300 or so people, so interested campers should contact exclaimthezad@riseup.net ahead of time. Continue reading “The Intergalactic Week of Zad: August 17th-24th: Amazingly Occupied since 2010”

‘I Fight Sexism’.. Boys wear Skirts to School

Braving the cold, hundreds of schoolboys in the city of Nantes in western France swapped their trousers for skirts Friday as part of an anti-sexism initiative.

French schoolboys wear skirts to fight sexism

I Fight Sexism

A group of male pupils pose in their skirts. © @ BreizhWeCan (Twitter)

Hundreds of male pupils in the city of Nantes in western France ditched their trousers and came to school wearing skirts Friday as part of a campaign against sexism, despite opposition by some conservative groups.

The “Lift the Skirt” initiative, an idea put together by students, saw pupils at 27 schools in the region around Nantes invited to attend school wearing skirts as part of efforts to raise awareness of discrimination and sexism faced by their female classmates. In the photos the girls are also wearing skirts… could be the girls are forced to wear skirts to school in that area by sexist authorities and the boys protest is partly in ironic solidarity.

Continue reading “‘I Fight Sexism’.. Boys wear Skirts to School”

ZAD: anti-airport Occupation a battle for France’s future

How an anti-airport occupation became a battle for France’s future

Emilie Papillon reports from the ZAD – an occupation of the site of a proposed airport that has turned into something more
April 2014

The anti airport movement proposes an anti-capitalist assembly based revolution
The anti airport movement proposes an anti-capitalist assembly based revolution

After avoiding the police checkpoints, heading down road D42 and passing multiple barricades made out of wood, tires, hay bales and anything else burnable, you will eventually find yourself staring at a hand-painted sign: ‘welcome to the ZAD’. Continue reading “ZAD: anti-airport Occupation a battle for France’s future”

18 yr old anti nazi Clement killed by skins

 

 

justice clementFrench Antifascist Murdered by Nazis in Paris

 

Posted on June 6, 2013 by denverabc

 

from France24:

 

A young left-wing activist has died after an attack by skinheads left him brain dead on Wednesday night. Clément Méric fell to the ground after being physically assaulted by a group of skinheads in the 9th district of central Paris. Continue reading “18 yr old anti nazi Clement killed by skins”

Integral Revolution Coop takes off in Barcelona

translation  by The Free. From free paper ’20 Minutes’  and reprinted in ‘Rojo y Negro’ of the CGT union.

At least 1,200 Catalans manage themselves with their own ”money”, education and health , they do not use the euro but  ecos, a “free money” that can be exchanged for hours of work or products..cooperativa integral

They have organized a network of health care, education and access to housing, based on trust among  members.
They are expanding to the rest of the peninsula. in France and Italy similar experiences have been initiated.
They have a currency of its own, a self-managed health care system, an educational network and housing office. They are self-managed cooperatives and self-organization, groups of people living outside the system,  and make decisions in open assemblies based on trust organization. In Catalonia, there are already 1,200 citizens who have chosen this way of life and the implementation of these communities is spreading. The crisis and the 15M indignados movement has given it wings. Continue reading “Integral Revolution Coop takes off in Barcelona”

ZAD battles on: Rohanne Forest: This is Far from Over!

no ZAD

Wednesday 28 November 2012, by zadist

The Rohanne Forest, in the centre of the ZAD. People lived there fairly peacefully for around two years, in a big communal house and scattered treehouses.

The police came and destroyed the house what seems like a long long time ago, on the 18th October 2012.

A new communal was built high up in the trees. The cops came back with climbers and destroyed all the treehouses including the communal on the 30th and 31st October.

Another new communal was built. They came back on the 5th November and destroyed that one too.

Then things started to get interesting. Continue reading “ZAD battles on: Rohanne Forest: This is Far from Over!”

Sat 24. ZAD Airport. HELP DEFEND NEW OCCUPATIONS!

blame GOOOgle for the Lousy Translation!

Urgent: Rally on Saturday on the ZAD to defend the place of reoccupation!
by collective fight against airport Notre Dame des Landes

Urgent – Zad – gathering – Saturday – defense instead of reoccupation

– Saturday, November 24, starting at 6am and all day Saturday and
Sunday …

– Call to gather around the massive site reoccupation of
the chestnut grove and forest huts Rohanne.

The new cabins are still standing, DEFEND them!

Infopoint permanent camp established along the between d81
place called domains (cow-rit) and Rolandière.

Saturday, November 17 we had 40,000 coming reoccupy and rebuild
zad.Toute week on a new place of struggle is built into
a field provided by the owner. Continue reading “Sat 24. ZAD Airport. HELP DEFEND NEW OCCUPATIONS!”

ZAD Reocupación: 20,000 toman el solar /Re-take Airport Site!

17th November 2012 – Today marks the full-force reoccupation of an area known as the ZAD (zone à défendre – zone to defend) in Notre Dame des Landes, Brittany, France. In response to the brutal eviction and bulldozing of various farms, the disruption of livestock and tear-gas poisoning of vegetable gardens by riot police during the last week of October 2012, between 20,000 and 40,000 people are estimated to be on-site today. They are constructing cabins and cleaning up the land to get it ready to be inhabited once again. You can check out a weekend-long livestream here: http://ow.ly/flopU. Continue reading “ZAD Reocupación: 20,000 toman el solar /Re-take Airport Site!”

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