road protests (current)
| movement links
From: "Jo Makepeace" (webmaster@schnews.org.uk)
Subject: SchNEWS 558, Friday 1st September, 2006
Date: Fri, 1 Sep 2006 20:45:52 +0100
treehouse camp at Borsbeek (Belgium)
FORTRESS EUROPE
Titnore woods is just one small battle amongst many fighting the corporate interests that want to strip our planet of trees. Over in Belgium, a forest is being destroyed to enable the expansion of Antwerp airport. In protest against this, action group GroenFront! (Belgian/Dutch EarthFirst!) have taken to the tree houses around the former World War I Fortress in Borsbeek, and despite three weeks of initial logging, resistance remains strong, but there's an urgent call out for help. The forest is home to a habitat of endangered bats, but according to officials, the clear cutting of the oaks in question is nothing more than a case of much needed 'forest maintenance'. Over the past few weeks though, activists have been delaying the 'forest maintenance' significantly by chaining themselves to barricades or the logging machinery and by occupying trees using walkways, platforms and swings.
Not content with trees being dangerously felled only a few metres from protesters, health and safety concious cops joined in with pepper spray, and only backed off after the media took an interest in the aggressive tactics. Early on, the same cops got a bit excited when an activist dropped a hammer from a tree house and nicked them for attempted manslaughter.
On 1st September, the International Civil Aviation Organisation will determine whether Antwerp airport is 'safe' and, if there are still trees standing, the airport could potentialy lose its permit to operate medium sized jet aircraft! So more people are be needed urgently to help build more barricades, walkways and treehouses and of course to occupy them during the coming weeks.
Details on how to get there and what to take at -
https://ssl.direkte-aktie.net/cms/groenfront.php?itemid=496
road protests (current)
| movement links