[fse-esf] AUSTRIAN SOCIAL FORUM ( ASF ) SUPPORTS THE MOVEMENT AGAINST STUTTGART 21 AND CONDEMNS POLICE VIOLENCE

[Hermann Dworczak]

The Austrian Social Forum ( ASF ) declares its full support for the movement against Stuttgart 21 and condemns police violence.

 

" STUTTGART IS EVERYWHERE"- Long lives the international solidarity!

 

      Hermann Dworczak ( activist in the Austrian Social Forum/ASF , 0043 / 676 / 972 31 10 )

 

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-----Ursprüngliche Nachricht-----
Von: "Johannes Lauterbach" <johanneslauterbach at gmx.net>
Gesendet: 02.10.2010 21:05:41
An: WTO-INTL at LISTSERVER.CITIZEN.ORG, social-movements at lists.riseup.net, club-belemexpanded-discussion at lists.openfsm.net, "SOS WTO" <sos-wto-eu at s2bnetwork.org>, wsfic-wg2010-discussion at lists.openfsm.net
Betreff: [social-movements] Call for support - mass protest and police violence in Stuttgart / Germany - please sign
 
>Call for support in the struggle against Stuttgart 21 – please circulate 
>widely
>
>
>Dear Friends,
>
>we, activists against “Stuttgart 21 (S21)” in Germany are asking for 
>your solidarity and support in our struggle to stop Europe's “largest 
>infrastructure-project”, to protect our city and to achieve true democracy.
>
>Two days ago, Thursday September 30th, the escalation began: a massive 
>police force - using water-canons, pepper spray and batons - pushed 
>aside over 10.000 peaceful protesters, who were trying to protect their 
>park and its trees with acts of civil disobedience, simply refusing to 
>get out of the way. The demonstration of state-power was shocking. Over 
>300 protesters were injured, some seriously, many of them 
>school-children, who had been participating in a students protest-march 
>officially scheduled for that day a long time in advance. Four people 
>had to have eye-surgery after being hit by the water-canon, one may 
>loose an eye. In the night the shredders moved in and began turning the 
>beautiful old trees into sawdust in front of thousands of shocked but, 
>strong and peaceful demonstrators. Yesterday, 100.000 (one hundred 
>thousand) demonstrated peacefully against this act of state violence – 
>the largest protest against S21 ever.
>
>Below we give some background-information on the project. But it is 
>important to consider that this struggle is not just about a railway 
>station in a German provincial-capital.
>It is about overcoming the arrogance of those in power, it is about 
>peoples voices being heard, it is about real democracy. And it will not 
>only affect people in Stuttgart or in Germany: if we stop Europe's 
>“largest project” in the centre of one of its most conservative and 
>economically powerful corners, we can change Europe from the bottom up!
>
>Please sign on the letter below (and attached) – asking for an end of 
>police-violence, a moratorium and to let the citizens of Stuttgart 
>decide – and send your signatures to
>johanneslauterbach at gmx.net and carol.bergin at gmx.net
>by Saturday 9th October.
>We will deliver the letter with the list of signatories to the local, 
>regional and federal government and also to the media.
>
>Please, also send messages of solidarity and support to the activists – 
>we will try to publish these and read them at the rallies
>
>In solidarity
>Johannes Lauterbach and Carol Bergin
>Colibri e.V.
>
>
>
>Background:
>
>The Stuttgart 21 project is advertised as part of the “Magistrale for 
>Europe”, a high-speed railway line from Paris/France to 
>Bratislava/Slovakia. As such, it is part of the neoliberal EU agenda, 
>which places infrastructure in the service of corporate interests above 
>the interests of local communities. It involves the building of an 
>entirely new railway station in the centre of Stuttgart, which will be 
>built deep underground as a drive-through station to replace the 19th 
>century terminus. To achieve this
>a large section of the city's central park with hundreds of beautiful 
>old trees will be destroyed
>one of the best working railway stations in Germany, with easy one-level 
>access to all trains, will be turned into a narrow tunnel, threatening 
>to become a bottle neck due to limitations in size of the tunnel and 
>forcing passengers to climb up and down long stairways
>parts of the railway building – a national heritage – are being 
>dismantled: this destruction has already started and roused the anger of 
>tens of thousands of citizens
>the tunnel is posing a potential threat to precious mineral-water 
>sources, which are located a few miles downhill
>a series of tunnels will be built into sensitive geological formations, 
>threatening the stability of Stuttgart's hillside, and likely going to 
>produce massive additional costs
>Estimates calculate the resulting gain in travel time at 1-2 minutes. 
>But then, this project offers huge real-estate deals and 
>billion-Euro-contracts for tunnel-building companies – which we now know 
>to have close ties to decision-makers.
>While billions of Euros (estimated costs officially are 4.1 billion, 
>critical sources estimate rather 10 billion) are lavished on this 
>prestige-project, urgent improvements in the local and regional railway 
>system – needed to help remove traffic from the roads to reduce 
>fuel-consumption and carbon-emissions – are being neglected in the name 
>of speeding up long distance-travel by a few minutes.
>
> From the early planning stages in the nineties, this project was 
>opposed by a growing citizens movement. A faked citizens-participation 
>was offered, in which the one issue not to be discussed was, if the 
>project should be built at all, or if there were any alternatives. 
>Demands for a referendum – backed by over 60.000 signatures (more than 
>10% of Stuttgart's population) – were denied by those in power. Opinion 
>polls show, that 54% of citizens are against the project (with only 35% 
>in favour). There were massive demonstrations, growing in numbers every 
>week. A new movement emerged: the “park-protectors” – who prepared 
>themselves for non-violent action with over 2.000 people having pledged 
>to chain themselves to the trees when the chainsaws move in.
>But building permissions were pushed through and this summer the 
>machines started to attack the old railway building.
>The authorities however, underestimated the peoples willingness to 
>resist. Immediately mass rallies with ten thousands of protesters took 
>place in addition to acts of peaceful civil disobedience, blocking the 
>streets for hours. Since July, people are guarding the park and the 
>building site around the clock, providing early warning. And an amazing 
>new culture has emerged in the centre of the city, with people holding 
>meetings in the park, sharing food and talk, joining in art-performances 
>and strangers having conversations in the public buses. With the state 
>now using massive police force against its own citizens this struggle 
>has reached a new dimension.
>
>article in English about S21:
>http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/rail-plan-could-be-terminal-for-merkels-coalition-2047321.html
>
>further info (in German only):
>www.kopfbahnhof-21.de
>
>videos from protest:
>blockades and police-action 30.09.10: 
>www.youtube.com/watch?v=c17cIyO3S4Q&feature=youtube_gdata_player
>killing trees 01.10.10 early morning: 
>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=goXwtSKJNqU
>Demonstration 01.10.2010: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ZgogP5jCCY
>
>------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
>Open letter / Offener Brief
>
>To / an
>Angela Merkel, chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany
>Stefan Mappus, Minister-President of the federal state of Baden-Wuerttemberg
>Wolfgang Schuster, Mayor of Stuttgart
>
>We, active citizens, civil-society organisations and social movements 
>from all over the world are deeply concerned about the recent events in 
>the city of Stuttgart related to the controversies about the 
>infra-structure project „Stuttgart 21“.
>We are shocked to hear that, police used water-canons, pepper-spray and 
>batons against citizens engaging in peaceful acts of civil disobedience 
>on 30th September, injuring hundreds of people, including many 
>school-children.
>Germany has a reputation as a democratic country, which owes its 
>existence to active citizens taking to the streets in the face of state 
>oppression. We are very disturbed to hear that, in this country today 
>police-force is used against its own people to implement a highly 
>controversial project.
>
>Given that:
>- the Park “Mittlerer Schlossgarten” and its trees have a special place 
>in the heart of the people of Stuttgart
>- opinion polls show, that over 50% of citizens in Stuttgart and 
>Baden-Wuerttemberg are opposed to this project
>- there have been increasing numbers of reports giving evidence of 
>potential technical problems and uncertainties in costs, some of of 
>which have even reached international media attention (see article in 
>The Independent from 09th August 2010)
>- people already have been severely injured and any further enforcement 
>would result in an escalation
>we call upon you
>- to stop the use of police-force,
>- to put a moratorium on the project, and
>- to let the people of Stuttgart decide
>
>We would highly appreciate to see Germany setting an example in peaceful 
>and democratic conflict resolution, that is giving priority to the 
>concerns of citizens
>
>(Germans trans.)
>Wir, aktive Bürgerinnen und Bürger, Organisationen der Zivilgesellschaft 
>und soziale Bewegungen aus der ganzen Welt sind tief besorgt über die 
>jüngsten Ereignisse in Stuttgart bezüglich der Kontroversen um das 
>Infrastruktur-Projekt “Stuttgart 21”.
>Wir sind schockiert zu hören, daß die Polizei Wasserwerfer, 
>Pfeffer-Spray und Schlagstöcke gegen Bürgerinnen und Bürger einsetzte, 
>die friedlich zivilen Ungehorsam ausübten und dabei hunderte Personen 
>verletzte, darunter viele Schulkinder.
>Deutschland ist im Ruf eine Demokratie zu sein, deren Dasein aktiven 
>Bürgerinnen und Bürgern zu verdanken ist, die im Angesicht staatlicher 
>Unterdrückung auf die Straße gingen. Wir sind sehr verstört zu erfahren, 
>daß in diesem Land heute Polizeigewalt gegen die eigene Bevölkerung 
>eingesetzt wird, um ein hoch umstrittenes Projekt durchzusetzen.
>
>In Anbetracht, dass
>- der Park „Mittlerer Schlossgarten“ und seine Bäume der Stuttgarter 
>Bevölkerung ans Herz gewachsen sind
>- Meinungsumfragen zeigen, daß 54 % der Bürgerinnen und Bürger das 
>Projekt ablehnen
>- es eine zunehmende Anzahl von Berichten gibt, die auf mögliche 
>technische Schwierigkeiten und Kostenunsicherheiten hinweisen, über die 
>selbst in der internationalen Presse berichtet wird (s. The Independent 
>vom 09. August 2010)
>- bereits viele Menschen schwer verletzt wurden und eine weitere 
>Erzwingung nur zu einer Eskalation führen würde
>rufen wir Sie auf
>- den Einsatz von polizeilicher Gewalt zu beenden
>- ein Moratorium über das Projekt zu verhängen und
>- die Bevölkerung Stuttgarts selbst entscheiden zu lassen
>
>Wir würden es sehr begrüßen, wenn Deutschland ein Beispiel für eine 
>friedliche und demokratische Konfliktlösung geben würde, bei der die 
>Sorgen der Bevölkerung im Mittelpunkt stehen.
>

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