"Here and no further" - the day when People stopped Coal
An account from a friend :-) ...
2015
The "EndeGelaende" (here and no further) action in August 2015 marked the beginning of a new era.
The era of trespassing actions carried out by thousands of "common" people directly into the arenas where the climate crimes are being committed.
The goal? Disruption of "normal operation".
As other similar events have demonstrated (for instance the Halkidiki Gold mine protest) it is only when acts of mass resistance take place "on the front line" (in the mines, in the factories....rather than in a far-off square in front of a ministry) that they "hurt" fossil capital. This is indicated by the inevitable plummeting of the stock price of the targeted company...
The coal diggers were stopped for about 12 hours, which is not much in the grand scheme of things, but when the state needs to send an army against its own people to protect the private interest of a corporation (RWE), it is a clear sign to stockholders that their investments may not be the safest bets. According to the press, the number of policemen that the State had to (reluctantly) deploy to face the people was almost 1000, alongside a range of armored vehicles and even 3 helicopters..and all that on the first day of the Bundesliga....
EndeGelende was not a surprise action conceived by a handful of rebels, nor a sabotage operation with the aim to destroy infrastructure. It was a peaceful demonstration declared in advance to the press and carried out under the open sun by fully aware individuals from both the Rhineland region, the whole Germany, Europe, and the World.
A state of overall pre-alarm from the authorities could be sensed in the air. Packs of police were storming the area already days before the D-day. Helicopters were surveying the base camp of the protesters. The news leaked that the police requested RWE to let the peaceful activists enter their premises and stay for the weekend until they tired out. But the company refused. A sense of determination spread across everyone's face and we were suddenly reminded on the moral evil of our enemy and the righteousness of the cause.
The best words to define this action is "Vulgar display of power", where Vulgus is the Latin for People.
The success of the operation is a simple matter of geometry.
A 50 square-kilometers open cast mine has a huge perimeter. If people wanna take it, they will. Only by deciding to use violence can anyone stop them. The real barrier with which corporations defend their indefensible property are imaginary walls built with the bricks of fear. The fear of legal repercussions for trespassers, the fear of police violence, the fear of taking risks on an action that is not going to dent the status quo...
Once we, the People, get together and build enough momentum to face our fears, we are a human river flowing past police lines, a stormwind blowing in the face of RWE investors and CEO. Instead of bare numbers, we become a real force. We find resources we did not know we had, we learn to stand our ground, to be fierce, resistant and shrewd, to complicate the job for those who are payed to break our spirit.
The day itself started in the middle of the night when the loud roar of helicopters made our tents shake for a whole hour. It was then in a state of half-sleep that I awaited the wake up call at the break of dawn, followed by the last preparations and group briefings before a prompt 630am departure. We were split into 4 groups (the Fingers), dressed with Tyvek suits and equipped with a map -where our dreams could already draw potential itineraries and scenarios. We were soon to discover that on the front line nothing ever turns out as planned.
The moment of truth came when we left the main road, turning towards a bridge under a highway, only to find it blocked by multiple lines of policemen heavily equipped with batons, shields, helmets and pepper spray. It was an illegal block since the area was still outside of RWE's property. Under the encouragement of the most experienced activists on the front ranks, the People faced the block head-on with the energy of a shock wave. When the police lines fell open, the sudden release of the wave and the panic created by the cops' violence gave rise to a stampede, where a wrong step could have been fatal. Then suddenly we were past the point of no return. All I could think of was avoiding getting grabbed badly by the rucksack or losing my glasses during the chaos.. I was keeping close to my fellow friends from the "affinity group" and holding the hand of my nearly-lost buddy, Linx. We were now between two enemy fires as we found the town of Borschemic -thru which we planned to reach the mine- completely sealed off by fences and vehicles. After the adrenaline injection, I was experiencing no fear but only determination. I changed my glasses to the old 'expendable" pair with an elastic on the back.
We now had to circumnavigate the village via the surrounding fields but I was not sure on the direction...As we spread our lines across the corn fields, blinded by the rising sun on a Martian landscape, it suddenly felt like D-day. The group was now zig-zaging and splitting into small formations. Some mates were falling, more due to the rough terrain than to the blows of the furious police, but the horizon was now so wide that most of us made it past. All at once the mine rim was in front of us! We slided along the steep edge to avoid RWE security vehicles to stop us and film us, then headed towards a long corridor alongside a conveyor belt and leading to our final target: the coal digger.
RWE and police vehicles were behind us on the sandy terrain trying to overtake us and form yet another frontal block. But we were now spread horizontally linking our arms to create a long line, blocking the vehicles with our bodies. We kept going for a couple of kilometers, but another line of police was waiting at the diggers. The dark silhouttes of the robocops extended their arms by means of pepper spray, generating a thick irritant wall. Most people were tired and pepper-sprayed already from previous contacts, and so we fell.
My personal run ended when I was blocked by a huge cop and bounced back in the sand. Captivity started. The clock had not yet struck 9.30 and there we were, divided in a few groups and constantly watched by policemen. After a few hours in the dust, we were taken one by one and -upon refusing to identify ourselves- searched and handcuffed with plastic bands. I must admit that was quite uncomfortable for me, as I had the pleasure to be one of the few who were handcuffed very tightly and with their hands on the back. But apparently I had no right to protest, as all I could hear was the standard reply, parroted by the whole team of cops: "you guys got into trouble, now accept the consequences".
After a few hours of this farce -which passed quite quickly and involved songs and a short volleyball game above the police heads- we were finally loaded first into a RWE special vehicle and then into a procession of buses. Fun times. We felt important and dangerous, as the escort consisted of several police vans and helicopters. The drove us all the way to Aachen police station, under the threat of fingerprinting us and then putting us into isolated cells for the night. After a long wait in the bus in front of the police station, we saw in a small park nearby the banners and the tents of some local supporters, which motivated us to continue chanting and resisting.
Finally, when it was well past 23, the buses departed again and we came to realize that we were going to be released at the train station, due to the impossibility of handling the identification process for us all. Overall there were more than 700 arrests, if we include people from all Fingers. Regaining freedom after 14 hours in the hands of the Polizei was an hilarious experience. With a big proud smile, we assaulted the last train and made our way back to the klimacamp, to be warmly welcomed with a well deserved vegan meal. Reunited once again with our friends we kept discussing the eventful day and hearing news about the other groups well into the night. Our Finger -the international one- was the most vexed and had to pass through 5 police lines, other 2 groups made it all the way to the diggers by crossing the highway and stopping the traffic... and even the fourth group entered the mine, but had then to turn back to escape arrest. Overall the event was a huge success, excavators were stopped for quite a while.
"What a day!" was my only thought as I was going to bed in my wet tent. "Only by living meaningfully can we gain our lost identity and rejoice for being who we are". COP 21 in Paris, here we come!
2016
Ups we did it again... This time we were over 4000 deployed into 5 different blockades completely stopping the coal supply to the "Black Pump" power plant of Vattenfall in Lusatia for over 48 hours.
As last year's repression to our "Finger" was violent, this year police response was minimal. Just a few patrolling vans were screaming at us with loudspeakers, but were each time buried by loud "boos" and "ende gelandes".... We blocked a vital coal deposit and train loading station, we were able to bring in people, supplies, water for a whole weekend. We climbed on top of vattenfall infrastructure with no resistance - even from their own employees. No arrest (in our group), just a minimal amount of pepper-spray received by people who were trying to bring us dinner on the first day...
The surrender of the state was total? it appears that Vattenfall did not even sued us initially. Is it because the Swedish government committed to 100% renewables? is it because the public opinion is now bitterly against coal? is it because Vattenfall was so prepared that our presence did not make a dent to their business? ...I don't know...the only thing we know is that all their train tracks were blocked and that on saturday noon one of the 2 cooling towers of the plant was switched off.
Only after people started building wood barricades on the unloading towers that police started flocking in, just to disappear again after a few hours. Only the elements were taking their toll. 2 nights camped on the track in improvised tents -protecting us from the dust storms that sometimes took off...and the freezing cold of the German nights. Most of us were fed only by meager soup portions and without sleeping bags. We were expecting to be in a cell after a few hours..and here we were on the cold cold ground for a whole weekend.
Black faces, blue eyes shining, sleeping in the straw,clumsily dressed with all our clothes, heating ourselves with each other's proximity, spending long days in each other's company -talking or in silence, times for reflection and for feeling as a part of something bigger, sharing food in true solidarity...We were back to the roots and the longest we held, the more we felt good about it, the more we felt connected to our companions. Our faces are one, a movement is rising..Can't wait to disobey together again...
Our ultimate enemy was ourselves. our plans, our work commitments. our buses and busy schedules. We could have stayed until eviction, but instead we left spontaneously on sunday afternoon (not after some "decorated" the train tracks, though). It was a strange feeling for me...happy for the amazing achievement, but dazzled.. our internal limits, the very structures in which we live and not the external limits of police lines and Vattenfall's angry workers was what stopped us in the end. As usual, the greatest journey is within.
We marched back following the tracks to prolong our occupation and after a small skirmish with a group of neo-nazis (shit, welcome to Germany..) we were welcomed in the camp as heroes returning from the battled field....
