The trouble is that once you see it, you can't unsee it. And once you've seen it, keeping quiet, saying nothing, becomes as political an act as speaking out. - Arundhati Roy

Hamburg Rote Flora Activists: “We Don’t Care Who Owns The Building”

Posted: Januar 20th, 2014 | Author: | Filed under: Autonome Räume, Deutschland, Hamburg, Recht auf Stadt, Rote Flora | Tags: , , , , , , | Kommentare deaktiviert für Hamburg Rote Flora Activists: “We Don’t Care Who Owns The Building”

Appeared originally on Revolution News 18/01/14

RoteFlora 2014-01-18

On Thursday, activists held a press conference to speak about the Rote Flora, the danger zone, and police brutality in Hamburg. There was another demonstration for the Rote Flora, the Esso houses and the right to stay for the “Lampedusa in Hamburg” refugees group today.
Earlier this week we reported that the city of Hamburg wants to buy the autonomous cultural center Rote Flora, but activists of the Flora said during a press conference on Thursday that they “don’t care who owns the building.”
This comes as no surprise, as the Rote Flora has never compromised since it was occupied in 1989.
Activists have always made it clear that they are against the capitalist system, and that they do not care to negotiate contracts with it. Rote Flora stands firm in its view that cultural and social centers should be free and available to everybody.
Today, there was another demo for these 3 projects and against the danger zones. Although it wasn’t a nationwide demo, it started with about 1500 people and finished with more than 5000, as more and more people joined the demonstration. There was a huge police force with armoured vehicles, as well as several water canons, but the police did not intervene. It was a peaceful march, as they often are when the police do not attack.
It is unknown what will happen with the Flora if the city buys the building; owner Klaus-Martin Kretschmer has already said he will not sell the building to the city anyway. Kretschmer has found foreign investors and wants to evict the Rote Flora, demolish the building, and build a commercial concert hall with a parking lot in the basement. There has been resistance since activists announced last year that they will not abandon the project, and began a campaign to defend it.
After  the nationwide demonstration on December 21 – when 10,000 people where stopped by a brutal police attack after they marched only 20 meters – there were daily demonstrations against the so called danger zones which were lifted last week. On Monday there was a demo for the “Lampedusa in Hamburg” refugees, the Esso houses and the Rote Flora with 600 or more people.

Today’s march was an important step for a growing resistance that is fighting  gentrification, for free autonomous spaces, and for the rights of refugees, in order to get these important topics back on the agenda again after activists successfully fought against the danger zones. Next Saturday, on January 25, there will be another demo in Hamburg.


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