2007-02-16

February 16th 2007: Heiligendamm

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Jingle: Mobilization G8 Heiligendamm

there are radio-jingles for international mobilization online. they are
made quite short and even reporting about ALL mobilizations, for having
it distributed widely. at the end it is referring to dissentnetwork.org.
find two different versions here:

http://www.gipfelsoli.org/rcms_repos/Tools/Anti_G8_Jingle.mp3
http://www.gipfelsoli.org/rcms_repos/Tools/Anti_G8_Jingle_Helga.mp3

please forward it widely! don't forget to send it to your local radio
station...

--
p.s.: for those countries/ cities that are awaiting a g8 infotour soon,
you can play the following jingles (that are announcing infotour
coming). they are 10 seconds longer.

http://www.gipfelsoli.org/rcms_repos/Tools/Anti_G8_Jingle_USA.mp3
http://www.gipfelsoli.org/rcms_repos/Tools/Anti_G8_Jingle_USA_Helga.mp3

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Anti-fascist Working Group

At the last Dissent meeting in Germany an ANTI-FASCIST WORKING GROUP was established by some anti-fascist activists from Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. The aim of this project is to organize a powerful and creative resistance against the fascist demonstration in Schwerin at the 2th of June. Members of the fascist "Nationaldemocratic Party of Germany" (NPD) are planning a mass demonstration with 1500 neonazis. It's most likely that they try to present themselfes as "the only real anti-capitalists".
>From our point of view as regional activists there is big necessity to blocade this demonstration and to point out the anti-fascist character of the anti-globalisation movement. Although at the same time there is big anti-G8 demonstration in Rostock we are going to mobilise against the nationalist march in Schwerin.
Fascist structures in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern
Antifascists in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern are confronted with a strong and good-organised fascist scene. At the last elections in September 2006 60000 people voted for the anti- Semitic and fascist NPD, so they gained six seats in parliament.
Their strategy is controversial: On the one hand they try to create a social and peaceful image of themselfes as it can be seen in their ambitions to organise free meals for the unemployed or to arrange youth camps. Recently they place emphasis on anti-G8 activities. On the other hand violence is on their agenda too. There are lots of militant neo- nazis in the rows of the NPD but also in the unorganised fascist spectrum. Their infrastructure is well developed. Neo-nazis in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern have their own shops to sell their fascist stuff like CD's, T-Shirts etc, they own great estates, in which neo- nazi concerts or lectures take place and there a even some companies runned by fascists like the "National Print Office", where all the local neo-nazi magazines and flyers are printed.
Alerta Antifascista!
In our opinion it's highest time to show fascists in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern that there are lots of people who won't tolerate them on the streets of Schwerin on the 2th of June, as well as anywhere else anytime. Let us show them that we are more powerful, than they can possibly imagine :)
So if you want to get involved or if you are interested in more information about the fascist scene in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, don't hesistate to write to:
aag [öt] systemausfall.org

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Invitation to a Preparatory Meeting for the International G8-Demonstration on March 10th 2007 in Hamburg

An important part of the protests against the G8-summit 2007 in Heiligendamm/Germany will be the INTERNATIONAL DEMONSTRATION on June 2nd 2007 in Rostock. This Demonstration is a joint project of all organisations and spectra of the summit protests. The international participation is of particular importance.

Therefore the Demo Working Group of the German Preparatory Council invites you to a

International Preparatory Meeting

Saturday, March 10th2007

from 1 p.m. to 7 p.m.

at "Kölibri", Hein-Köllisch-Platz 12, 20359 Hamburg

(S-Bahn/city railway "Reeperbahn", http://www.koelibri.de/ )

We suggest the following agenda for the meeting:
1. Report about the status of the preparatory process for the Demonstration
· Plan for the whole week of protest from 1.6.-8.6.2007
· Political and strategical concept for the demonstration
· Intrenational Call and enlargement of the demo-preparation
· Route(s) for the demo and time schedule
· Mobilisation process
· How to get there and accomodation
2. Mobilisation in the different countries and the needs of the internationals
· Short reports from the participants about the status of the mobilisation in their countries
· What do you need, in order to achieve a broad and succesful mobilisation? (What can and should be done by the German Preparation Group?)
· How can you get involved in the preparation, planning and realisation of the International Demonstration (and the other modules of the protests)?
3. Preparation of the third Action Conference in Rostock (April 13th-15th 2007)
· Political and strategical significance of the Action Conference
· Participation of international organisations and networks
4. Miscellaneous
· Handing out and ordering of flyers, posters etc.
The meeting will be held mainly in English language. Translation into French and German will be provided. Your suggestions for modifications of this agenda are highly appreciated!
Please register at: office@heiligendamm2007.de (Hanna Poddig)
After registration we will send you detailed information about accomadation and how to get to the meeting in Hamburg.
In solidarity, on behalf of the Demo Working Group
Christine Buchholz und Christoph Kleine
P.S.: More info about the Demo and the Action Conference: www.heiligendamm2007.de

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Hello everybody,
We want to invite you to the next dissent meeting in Hamburg. The meeting will start on Friday, 2nd of March at 6 p.m. and end on Sunday, 4th at approximately 2p.m.

Further information about the time schedule, the workshops which will probably take place and everything else is listed below. The agenda for the assemblies will be decided together Friday evening during the first assembly. The moderation of the first assembly is already organized but for the others there are still needed people who'd like to moderate. So please everybody think in advance if you can imagine taking over part of the moderation the other two assemblies during the weekend.

Friday, 2nd of March 2007
18:00 - 20:00 Arrival
20:00 - 22:00 Assembly (1): Agenda, exchange of information
Saturday, 3rd of March 2007
09:00 - 10:00 Breakfast
10:00 - 12:00 Assembly (2)
12:00 - 13:00 Lunch break
13:00 - 16:00 Workshops, phase 1
17:00 - 20.00 Workshops, phase 2
20:00 common kitchen
Sunday, 4th of March 2007
09:00 - 10:00 Breakfast
10:00 - 14:00 Assembly (3)
From 14:00 onwards Workshops, phase 3 (if needed)
If you've got special needs and/or wishes (for ex. languages for which there are needed translators during the weekend etc.), please send an e-mail in advance to the following address: dissent_ag@yahoo.de
To plan how much rooms are needed during the weekend, we need a feedback of all the workshops who want to gather in Hamburg. Please send us an e-mail as soon as possible telling us your exact room and time needs, especially if there are needed rooms for workshops on Sunday as well. After the last two meetings we are expecting more or less the following workshops:
- Activist trauma
- Anti-repression
- Blockades
- Rostock-Laage / anti-militarism
- Demonstrations
- Bicycle caravan East/West
- Global agriculture
- Migration
- Video activism
- Info-tour
- Info-points
- Camp(s)
- Finances
- Decentralized action
- Women/lesbian/transgender network
- International mobilisation/network (international workshop)
- Anti-sexist contact and awareness group
- Convergence centre
- Queer network
- Transportation
- "Rokoko"/German Coordinationcircle
- Demonstration 28.05. in Hamburg
Place of workshops: following
Sleeping facilities
If possible, please organize somewhere to stay for yourself. If you need a place to sleep, write an e-mail to dissent_sleepwell@yahoo.de. In any case, don't forget your sleeping bag and thermo mat. It would also be great if you could bring your own knife, fork, spoon, plate and mug.

So far for now - Looking forward to seeing you in Hamburg!

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Message in a Bottle: The World Social Forum and the G8

Many different things have been written about this year's World Social Forum: Only 50.000 people, instead of the expected 100.000 came to Nairobi. Does this signify the movement's decline, due to lack of professionalism or lack of interest? Is the World Social Forum no longer needed as German newspapers from "Frankfurter Runschau" to "Der Spiegel" have been auguring? Should "professional" protagonists of movements and NGOs look towards Davos and the World Economic Forum instead, which has begun to invite select members of World Civil Society to its meetings?
Most activists who were in Nairobi see both positive and negative aspects to the first African World Social forum - but there is one common denominator: What made this World Social Forum worthwhile and different from the preceding ones was that it took place in Africa. This not only led to the hitherto unknown diversity of movements and NGOs from all over Africa, it also made a different focus on well-known discussions possible.
An example: during the World Social Fora in Brazil, the USA (or more specifically: the US-Government) were firmly ensconced as arch-villain and arch-enemy of the world-wide anti-globalisation movement. The European Union was viewed as either a lesser evil or a possible partner against US-influence. In Africa, things tend to look quite different: A massive protest movement is forming against the plans for Regional Economic Partnership Agreements (EPA) between the European Union and African countries. African activists and movements fear that the dumping of EU commodities on African markets may ruin local markets and fragile economies.
Doing the Groundwork
How does this relate to the World Social Forum's reaction to the G8 in general and the G8 summit in Heiligendamm, Germany? First of all, for many African participants, the G8 are not easy to place because they do not have a directly felt impact on their lives. G8-decisions are implemented "at home", through EU legislation and international agreements. One lady from the island of Zanzibar, participating in a G8 mobilisation workshop put it in a nutshell: "People here in Africa don't know anything about the G8, and what impact their decisions have on our lives. Before we organise workshops on the G8, we all need to do the groundwork." This became clear not only in the three WSF-events directly relating to the G8, where there were many more Europeans than Africans, but also in many other events: You either had an audience of mostly African people, or it was mostly Europeans. It seems that both the issues discussed and the audiences discussing them have yet to merge.
Of course, this is not to say that Africans did not have anything to say about the G8: During a workshop on the "Legitimacy of the G8" the discussion soon shifted from the question whether the G8 should be abolished or NGOs and Social Movements should try to influence their agenda to another question, that seemed much more important to participants from all over the world: How do we manage the world-wide exchange of opinions and information, of ideas and agendas amongst activists, movements, NGOs, faith groups and all the diverse parts of Civil Society? How do we make sure that we don't stand in each other's way or even work against each other? How do we ensure that NGOs aren't "taken over" by governments and institutions, while movements are left to fend for themselves, now that their issues are being taken up by the G8 and the World Economic Forum and "VIP" NGO-representatives are invited to these meetings?

Greed Reduction
At the conference "What do the Poorest expect from the G8?", convened by German Development and Aid organisations the mostly African panelists had clear messages for the G8. Odour Ong'wen, one of the main forces behind the WSF in Kenya, saw "Greed Reduction" as a major issue: "We need to get control over our resources instead of asking the G8 for mercy. The G8 will not change on its own: they have been making promises for over 30 years without keeping them." Candido Grzybowsky, another leading force within the World Social Forum, sees the G8 as creating an ecological and economic crisis, pushing toward deregulation, investment and open markets with their agenda. Instead of more development aid, he insisted "the only solution lies in changing the whole system". Nyanseko-ni-Nku, Cameroonian president of the All African Council of Churches argued along a similar vein: "Africa should be allowed to set their own agenda, instead of being patronised. Instead of more aid, what we need is economic justice." World Social Forum veteran and well known eco-activist Vandana Shiva targets this year's G8 agenda as "a free market fundamentalist agenda, creating division in poor countries". She insisted on the importance of a Civil Society partnership between North and South: "It is just as important to defend the potato "Linda" against being patented in Germany, as it is to defend biodiversity in India". Father George Ehusani, of the Catholic Bishop's Conference in Nigeria sees limitless growth as impossible in a limited world: The only solution is to "live simply, so others may simply live".

G8 - We have a Question for you!
Finally, not only NGO specialists offered a very clear view on what the G8 mean to them: In a song they presented at the G8 mobilisation workshop two boys from the slum of Kibera on the outskirts of Nairobi chanted : "G8- we have a question for you: Why do you make us suffer?" - to the roaring applause of the other workshop participants.
Backed by the Social Movements Assembly at the WSF, who issued a worldwide mobilisation call to Rostock and Heiligendamm, German delegates at the World Social Forum are taking all these impressions, discussions, questions, hopefully even some suggestions for solutions back home with them in order to make them part of their preparations for the G8 Summit in June 2007.

Photos of the World Social Forum, videos of the G8-events and other G8-related video material will be placed on the website shortly.
A photo impression of the workshop: "Legitimacy of G8: Should the G8 be abolished or should we try to influence their agenda?":
http://www.flickr.com/photos/anna_imc/387958646/

February 14, 2007
Mona Bricke
German NGO Forum on Environment and Development

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Borderpoint Dresden

From 6-8 June 2007, the G8 Summit - the meeting of the heads of state and gouvernment of the USA, Canada, Japan, Great Britain, France, Italy, Germany and Russia - will take place in Heiligendamm in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern on Germany's Baltic Sea.
Many people are expected to take part in protests against the summit. For all those who plan to cross the German border in the south east of Saxony (e.g. from the Czech Republic), we will establish a meeting point in Dresden.
We will monitor the situation at the frontier and will provide general and actual tips for crossing the german border at our website an via phone. Although the Czech Republic is also a member of the European Community we expect strong supervision at the border during the time of the G8 Summit.
We will provide legal help and, if needed, engage an attorney for those who failed to cross the Border or have problems to do so. For those who need a rest or want to wait for friends we can offer sleeping places for free as well as access to the media to get infos on the actual situation in Heiligendamm (internet, telephon etc.).
If you plan to have a stop in Dresden please contact us in advance to give us the possibility to arrange all the things needed. Please bring your camping mat and your sleeping bag.
If many are rejected at the border we will displace the protests to where the people are.
The borderpoint will be engaged from xxx to xxx for 24 hours. For further information please have a look at our website.
phone: +49 351 89960455
legal aid: +49 351 89960456
e-mail: n.n.
website: n.n.
Our website will contain the following contents:
• Borderpoint: what for?
• How to get there?
• Actual situation at the border crossings
• Tips, support, legal aid
• Links (e.g. Rote Hilfe - Red Aid)
• Other Borderpoints

[http://dissentnetzwerk.org/node/681]

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Call for action on the international day of peasants' struggle
VIA CAMPESINA

Dear friends, dear members of grassroot organisations.
As already practised in the last years VIA CAMPESINA - a worldwide network of small farmers' organisations - calls for global action on April 17th, 2007.
We, supporters of the German network for activities concerning global agriculture (Aktionsnetzwerk Globale Landwirtschaft), are in solidarity with VIA CAMPESINA. In context with protests against dominating agricultural policies during the next G8 summit we are planning several events and protest ralleys in various German cities on April 17th, 2007. We invite everybody - individuals as well as organisations - who are interested in the politics of agriculture, food, environment and development to go public with your criticism of the destructive agricultural policies of the states of the G8 summit. Show your solidarity with the struggles of peasants, rural workers and landless people. Participate in events and organise activities yourselves in your own town on April 17th, 2007.
We intend to create more public awareness in Germany for the work of VIA CAMPESINA and their struggle to proclaim free access to land, seeds and water and we wish to emphasize how big farmers and multinational companies push away peasant economies worldwide. Political, social and ecological consequences of this ongoing process are extremely destructive: on one side there is more and more power in fewer hands, on the other side increasing dependency.
What will happen on April 17th, 2007 in Germany, where and when? It's up to you! Our fantasy, our commitment and YOUR participation will determine the outcome of the day. We hope as many groups as possible are going to provide a colourful program. Imagine maybe a public viewing in the pedestrian area of your town, an exhibition, an information session, a soup-kitchen, a street performance, a public meeting or... For public viewings we can offer you two short video clips, one showing VIA CAMPESINA, the other struggles for land. Also we are going to publish a small brochure containing information about the above matters and the international day of peasants' struggle. Last but not least we would like to create a central website showing all activities around April 17th, 2007 and to coordinate press contacts in order to advertise the wide range of events and to attract public attention as much as possible.
We - participants in the German network for activities concerning global agriculture (Aktionsnetzwerk Globale Landwirtschaft) - will focus on publishing the brochure, coordination work and press contacts. The organisation of local activities will be the responsibility of all local groups themselves. Who would like to support VIA CAMPESINA and make them better known to the
German public by organising creative events on April 17th, 2007?
If you are interested or need more information please contact
aktionstag17_4 [at] yahoo.de.
Yours sincerely
Anne and Pia
Aktionsnetzwerk Globale Landwirtschaf
p.s. Resistance is fertile!

[aktionstag17_4 [at] yahoo.de]

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"how can you help a person to get a visa to come in your country"
This document has been made for the French case, which I know. There must be common points and differences from one country to another.
Important Preliminary Notice : time and material

Getting a visa can take time. It is thus necessary to start the process the earliest you can. Concerning the meetings, which gather people from varied countries, you have to start even more in advance. When you organize an "international" event, think well, when you fix the dates, that it will take very long time for people to receive the invitation, to decide to come, to arrange their journey, to ask for assistance for a visa...
Then, people can wait for weeks until they obtain an appointment and a visa, especially in summer, but that depends on the countries. Moreover, if you are in charge of getting several visas for an event, keep in mind that : it is lot of work full of unexpected events and it is necessary that the person in charge is very available, because there are often things to make at the last minute. Also keep in mind that the exchanges will be made in a foreign language perhaps not perfectly spoken by each participants, so many misunderstandings have to be forecasted. In addition, it is necessary to plan material to communicate by e-mail, fax and international phone calls. If there is available material, it is immediately much easier... If not, find an appropriate Internet Cafe, much less expensive and more effective than the Post office. Such expenses have to be planned.

The INVITATION LETTER
According to the country where they live and their nationality, people who want to come to travel abroad must request or not a visa from the embassy of Germany of their country.
A tourist visa lasts three months. To obtain such a visa, the demander can be asked to prove that he has financial means to cover his expenses of lodging, food and travelling back to his country. Nice!
One of the means to obtain a visa is to be invited by an association. In this respect the person who manages the visas for participants has to be part of an association which will invite these people. You can be simply member of an association but it will seem perhaps more logical to the employees of the embassies than it is a member of the board which is in charge of the invitations.
This association must be legally registered. It appeared that some embassies check wether the inviting associations really exist. There is no need of having a big, rich and recognized association to send invitations for visas. An association with a 'serious name' is sufficient. It must send a beautiful letter to the embassy, where the visa will be demanded. This letter is decisive. Take a headed paper with the name of your association and ask for final read-through (be carefull to grammatic forms).

The letter must:
* briefly present the association and the reasons why you invite this person (cultural meetings, congress, workshops, artistic exchanges, etc),
* precise periode during which this person is invited,
* precise identity of the person: name, first name, date, city and country of birth, number and date of delivery and end of validity of his passport, and current residence address,
* specify that the expenses of lodging, food and travelling of your guest will be covered by your association, and that the association or one of its members will lodge your guest
* ask your guest if he has an insurance for this trip (having a travel insurance can be compulsory to get a visa). If not you must specify in the letter that you will also cover medical expenses,
* show the original and (not photocopied) stamp of your association
* show the original signature of the member of the association who sends the invitation.
* Give the way to contact you easily: some nice employees of embassies will contact you directly if there are a problem or questions. The others will only say to your guest that some papers or information are missing and that he has to start again the all process.
(You will find an example of letter hereafter)
Be carefull, if anything is missing on the invitation, you might have to start again the all process. In certain cases, the embassy or your guest can require another letter specifying and justifying the reasons of the invitation.
SENDING the INVITATION, AND FOLLOWING The DELIVERY OF The VISA
In the majority of the cases, embassies require an original of the invitation letter. The best is to send 2 exemplars of the letter directly to your guest by the Post office.
Be carefull, according to country, that can take time, and sometimes postmails are lost! It is probably better to send the letter in registered post, even if it is a little more expensive, even with acknowledgement of delivery. Do not dream: mailings through companies like DHL or UPS are very expensive. It is worth to start the sendings in advance. Meanwhile, send a copy of the letter by fax to the embassy. Contacting embassy by e-mail is not sure. However it appeared that e-mails are not very appreciated by embassies (it is a too easy way to get a visa!).

The best is to telephone to the embassy:
* to ask whether the fax was received,
* to ask when the request will be treated,
* to mean to them that it is an urgent and very important request for your association, etc.
If the embassy employees are directly in contact with you, that can speed up the process. Pay attention to opening times during which you can reach by phone the embassies. Sometimes they are very short, and inform you about the time shift. It is sometimes very difficult to join the embassies, even completely impossible, then good luck! Preciously keep a copy of the letter, and all traces of every document you sent. Note the dates of sendings and receiving, because if you treat several requests at the same time you are likely to get lost. Keep in contact with your guest. Do not forget that it is probably much more easier for you to telephone or send e-mail than for him.

EXAMPLE OF INVITATION LETTER:
(Nice headed paper, logos...)
Name of the Association
Contact Person
address
telephone of the contact person
fax
mail
To the attention of Mister or Madam the Ambassador, (or Office of the
visas).
Embassy of Germany
Address
Place, date,

Madam, Sir,
Association (Name of your association) invites: Miss Samira INVITED, borned the 01.01.70 in Bejaia, Algeria, holder of the passport number... (delivered the.... and valid until...), and leaving 3 rue Didouch, 19800 Alger to take part to the international meeting organized by our association: presentation of cultural and artistic projects, meetings and exchanges multicultural (to add topics or precise details if you want).
We invite Miss Samira INVITED, as a member of the religious organization Bidule (or "to present an exposure of photography", or "to collaborate to our workshop on agriculture", etc).
Moreover Samira INVITED will help us with the preparation of the meeting, and will stay after the meeting to develop the projects decided during the meeting.
The duration of her presence in Germany will be from August 18th. 2007 to November 18th 2007 included, that is to say 90 days.
Association (Name of your association) commit itself to cover Miss Samira INVITED's expenses of lodging, food and travelling, (as well as possible medical expenses) during her stay in Germany. Moreover Association (Name of your association) can offer Miss Samira INVITED a lodging during her staying in Germany.
For association (Name of your association) Elmira HOST, secretary. (stamp and signature)