2007-06-10
A report from the last 2 days of the anti-G8 actions in Germany.
A report of hope, of victory and of belief in a better world.
In arriving to the place where the East Gate blockade had been running already for a day, we at first found weird that so few people were there. How did they manage to prevent the police from expelling them?
- A great movement of people to and fro was visible. Some were leaving to different places while others were going to the city to bring maintenance. Like us, many were arriving to join the blockade in this gate, or to help in the South and West Gates.
The majority of the people were in the street, but that looked much more like a "Summer Camp" than a real blockade:
- Nets were hanging from the trees and served as poise to the "terrible" activists that were sluggishly swinging.
- A van always bombing different kinds of music.
- People eating, reading, writing, singing, playing freezbee among other sports, people juggling...
People were completely disperse and unworried. The only visible policemen were immediately in front of the gate and weren't more than 50. They looked resigned in their conditon of doing nothing.
We soon realised that they were not resigned, but fed up.
Fed up of standing in the sun, controlling thousands of people that were having fun. Fed up of, inside their hot and heavy armours, waiting under the sun. Fed up of hearing the techno music so loud, coming from a strategically positioned van so that the agents could enjoy, hour after hour, the best techno music. Only 2 or 3 protesters seemed to enjoy the music, dancing freely in front of the policemen.
Once in a while a policeman would squat to give a bit of a rest to his legs. They also changed onde in a while, but the reinforcement didn't appear to be fresher than the leaving ones.
- All around us people lived a quite different mood of the experienced Northwestwards. All the people did their best so that everyone had enough food, water or simply company.
Here, the police had to ask permission to the protesters to do anything.
In this camp we decided to stay overnight. We were always in contact with the other group of portuguese people who were in another front.
Part of these actions can be seen at:
http://g8-tv.org/
- There was always someone with a loudspeaker informing all the others of what was going on in the other battle fronts. Besides that, information about our camp were given also. For example:
At night we shouldn't go far from the camp, as the police was in small squads arresting the isolated walkers.
When we started making firewoods a conversation happened between the police and the protesters, and of that conversation the following sentence came via loudspeaker: "We ask you all to be carefull with your firewoods, because the police water cannons are out of water." - everyone laughed.
In the middle of the afternoon, coming from the forest on our right, two or three groups of "punkers". Later they came back to the forest. Soon after the loudspeaker said, in a funny tone: "Come on, don't cause any problems to mister officers" - laughs.
That same night, one of the last messages from the loudspeaker informed about the final retreat of the around 3000 protesters that during 2 days had faced the police forces near the West Gate - Applause of support to the resistent.
- When your reporter was getting ready to sleep, one of the samba groups that had participated in the South and East confrontations came up. Big party. I woke up and joined them, in a group dance in front of the gate and the police. Although in the dark, some people from the samba group had lights on their hats, so the summer party was then a summer night party.
This blockade, contrary to the one of Rostock, was very well organized (self-organized), people were there to support each other, the people's kitchen (Volks Küchen) was 100% working and we never lacked food or water.
There was a real "Empowerment" in these people. The majority found in there their real power as a citizen of the world, as an equal human being.
We could think that the fact that the police didn't make any detentions wasn't because of the heat, but because their fight didn't make any sense - ours did, and it was because people believed in that fight that they stayed and faced all sorts of events. The result of the police repression in the last week and particularly in those 2 days was only a deception, a simulation smaller than the police. Those men weren't even in the level of police ideas, they were only hiper muscled men in clumsy armours screaming incoherent orders and protected by ridiculous laws and old-fashioned ideas of order and respect.
- The following morning the preparation to abandon the East Gate blockade started.
- We were informed at 9 a.m. that in 45 minutes we would abandon the position and would join the West and South Gate resistents.
- We were informed that the police wouldn't escort our march by the sides, but that they would be present.
- We were also informed that we would see some steel barriers on the streets (that weren't used, as the "fingers'" advances were made via fields), and that we shouldn't worry about it.
In fact, 45 minutes later, all the blockade group was ready to start their march and after the warning "this is no funeral march!", the samba group started to play music and the walk began, with joy and some anti-capitalist words among others.
- Soon after we were with the other group and the party was general. Great applause from both parts.
It's not worth it to describe the constant mock we made of the police forces on our way; the jokes, the screams, the jeer and the applause. We also had applause from some inhabitants in our way (not much - it wasn't an area with big population).
Arriving to Bad Doberan, we stopped to inform the city inhabitants about the lies of the media and the police. We also ate and drank something. We filled two trains, that were actually stuffed, and we followed towards Rostock. We were going to take our rally to the harbour again, joining the thousands and thousands of people that were participating in the alternative summit.
- The police looked very very worn out. Extremely tired and dispirited.
Now we looked them directly in the eyes, not with hate anymore, but in complete challenge, with the certainty of having won. They immediately looked away.
"No Nation! No Border! Fight Law and Order!"
Now we didn't care. Now we said "Fight the police!", among others.
Note: On saturday the 2nd, in our peaceful demonstration, the police was massively there, hyper-agressive. The slogans we screamed weren't violent. Still, the police found a good idea to charge on 80.000 people with an unspeakable brutality. In that day, before the police charge, fear was reigning between the demonstrators. Now the scenery was different.
If our state of mind towards the police could be put into a short sentence, it would be something like: "Come on now, we're ready."
- your reporter assures you that if the police had attacked, they would've been smashed by those few thousands of rebels heading towards Rostock harbour. We would never let ourselves be humiliated again.
- Also this time the almost totality of the police standing along the march was with no helmet and no gloves. In their faces you could read extreme weariness (Note: pictures of policemen suffering from sunstroke are visible in german media), the fatigue of two days of non-stop confrontation, the despair of not being able to stop that mass of people, the fear... yes, the fear of what we could do.
- Everytime a group of policemen was with helmet on, the protesters would scream furious: "Helmet out! Helmet out!". The police often did it, taking off the helmet and going away. Only one group of riot police in black didn't do it. It was a group that was near the harbour - some 40 officers. But they were hiding behind a police van. To our screams they only answered with absolute hatred eyes. They were greatly jeered - this time we didn't make arm-chain not even protected ourselves. They know what would happen if they attacked us. We gave them our order and then our scorn - worst for them, they should roast in those armours, ignored by the protesters. They should enjoy the pleasure of defeat in their provate sauna.
- Inside Rostock, also we started needing water. It was too hot a day. People from Rostock started bringing it, supporting us. We applauded, happy. In general they reacted to our applause with modesty - they didn't understand the great did of giving water to another human being. Those people have our gratitude.
Note: local people had also their water cut and for hours they were prevented from reaching their houses thanks to the efficient police action. Later, those same people made that action not only inefficient but pathetic by personally offering us their water and their bread. Our surprise was only took over by our happiness.
- I remember that lady who, from her 3rd floor window lowered bottles of water using a rope. The police, always ready to react, immediately did it, sealing the door of the building with officers. No one gave them water, of course. We thought the police had used the false statement "the rebels want to have teawith the lady" - we didn't want to.
Of mention, though, that some protesters headed towards the officers in worst state and offered them water - human action, that would be denied to us (that is denied to us) in their prisons.
- By meeting us, by throwing us bottles of water, by calling the police telling them to abandon their streets and properties, by passing food, water and blankets through the police lines (at a certain point there were spare blankets in one of the camps), we have a lot to thank to the local people.
- To end such a long report...
Arriving at the Rostock harbour, we were applauded by the thousands of people in there. They were not only alternative summit participants, but also inhabitants from the city. We also applauded them and thanked for their help.
We were again dozens and dozens of thousands of people, together in making a better world.
The two times in which our group was checked by the police in 50 meters and less than 5 minutes immediately after leaving the harbour aren't really important. There's no point in mentioning the furious screams of the german people watching foreigners being searched in the sideways of their city, their screams to the police - "You pigs!", maybe it's more interesting to remember a statement someone made in the middle of this last march:
"What History books will speak of us?"
This is not the end.
We're now abandoning Camp Rostock.
Above my head, a black kite flies.
Nearby someone plays a guitar.
I might just dance.
[http://de.indymedia.org/2007/06/183819.shtml]