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Victory at the Gates!
These protests have changed the political world.
The demonstrations against this year’s G8 summit in Heiligendamm,
Northern Germany have been a major success: “We managed to cripple the
summit on the streets from the first day of the summit”, stated Lea
Voigt of the ‘Block-G8’ campaign. Official G8 organizers were forced to
call “Plan B,” Ferrying summit attendees by boat or helicopter, as land
routes were blocked by thousands of summit objectors.
For many people of all ages and backgrounds blockading the G8 their
first encounter with mass protest and direct action, demonstrating not
only their opposition to the inherently unrepresentative summit, but
also their ability to create a better world. More than 18,000 people
overfilled three self-organized protest camps in Rostock,Wichmannsdorf
and Reddilich during the days of the G8 summit, creating a diverse space
where everyone had an equal voice.
Despite the largest security operation in German history since World War
II, over 10,000 people succeeded to block the G8 inside of their own 12
kilometer security fence, effectively penetrating the four kilometer “no
protest zone” for two entire days. Thousands brought sleeping bags and
spent nights on the blockades. Some were turned away by water cannons
and tear gas, but returned the next day to resume their blockades. As
one activist stated at the blockades, “Democracy will always be found in
some form, where it is least allowed. They cannot forever keep out the
people who come to hold them accountable. Our numbers will continue to
grow.”
Despite bans on protests and marches people took to the streets, forests
and fields around Heiligendamm. During the week of resistance in
Germany, 700 people were arrested for protesting the G8, many of them
never having attended such an action. The generosity of local
residents was a great boost to activists, providing water and food to
activists at blockades, even when they were encircled for many hours and
denied access to such necessities.
The movement has been boosted. The alliances created in the greater
campaign against the G8 will continue the struggle against undemocratic
corporate controlled globalization that values war over peace, fences
over democracy, and profits over people and planet alike.
Media G8way
Saturday 9th June 2007