Israel keeps its promise of a ‘Holocaust’ in Gaza
4 Mar 2008
After months of inhuman siege and daily attacks, Israel last week mounted a massive offensive against the Gaza Strip, which has claimed the lives of over 100 Palestinians, including many civilians and children. Israeli officials had threatened the Palestinians with “a holocaust” if home-made rockets fired at nearby Israeli towns did not stop. As the aggression continues, so do solidarity protests throughout the world.From the Newswire: Children gassed and shot in Gaza solidarity protests | Blockade on Gaza: Crime against humanity | The Gaza Strip’s People are dying, Help us! | Palestine in darkness | Israel’s policy in Gaza: at least as evil as it is self-defeating | Still no justice for October 2000 killings | Palestine society not allowed in Birmingham Audio: Indy Global Report from Bethlehem | Palestine Today & This Week in Palestine | Flashpoints Recent solidarity protests: London: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | Manchester | Sheffield: 1 | 2 | WalesLinks: International Middle East Media Centre | Palestine News Network | Electronic Intifada | End Gaza Siege | Indymedia UK’s Palestine topic page

End of the Road for ASBO
4 Mar 2008
According to an undisclosed source, squatters at the ASBO centre have been given notice to quit the premises by 27th Feb.Social activists, who initially squatted the building to provide a community space, have long since left. The remaining occupants have been implicated in a string of violent attacks against the Sankofa Foundation, a project supporting asylum seekers in the lower part of the building. An attempt to reopen another part of the building was also violently repelled.The disastrous end of the squat has prompted some to question why the wider community who benefited from the ASBO haven’t helped to sustain the project.Newswire: Sankofa Foundation in Crisis | ASBO, The Last Days | asbo squat – end of daysPrevious feature articles: YES, we’re open ! | Abandoned for over 7 years…Background: Chief Executive of Nottingham City Council drops by at the ASBO | ASBO welcomed by community! | Nottingham Squatting Project, The Tidy-Up :: The pictures | Council serve eviction notice | New Squatting Project in Nottingham | Notts Indymedia Free Spaces Topic PageLinks: Asbo Website | Sankofa Foundation | Days of Action for Squats and Autonomous Spaces

Flood Victims blockade Government Office in Leeds
2 Mar 2008
Residents from flood stricken areas of Yorkshire and Humberside blockaded the Government Office in Leeds on Friday to protest at its continued promotion of airport expansion. Inspired by last year?s camp for climate action at Heathrow, the protesters from Hull, South Yorkshire and the Calder Valley used pop-up tents to set up camp outside the main entrance.The timing of the protest coincided with the final stages in the adoption of the Regional Spatial Strategy (RSS) ? the area?s fifteen year development plan which is currently on the desk of government minister Baroness Andrews, awaiting final approval. The plan allows for a threefold expansion of passenger flights from Yorkshire and Humberside. Bizarrely, voices which you might have expected to argue against this madness seem all to eager – Friends of The Earth made a submission to the RSS suggesting that an expansion of air travel was acceptable. (Maybe they should rename themselves Foes of the Earth?)

Report on Sefton Park 24th February 2008
29 Feb 2008
On a visit to Sefton Park looking for a location (amongst others being considered) for Merseyside CND’s 2008 Peace and Ecology Festival tree felling was very obvious, logs still left around and saw dust.

Protesters Demand Hands Off Iraqi Oil!
28 Feb 2008
As part of the international day of action called by Hands Off Iraqi Oil on Saturday 23rd February, a group of protesters and local people closed down a Shell forecourt for two hours in Birmingham whilst in Coventry there was a series of 5 banner drops. Both actions sent a defiant message of solidarity to Iraqi oil workers resisting attempts to steal billions of dollars in oil revenue from their devastated country.Since 2003, the UK and US governments, the IMF, and various oil corporations including Shell and BP are trying to force through a proposed oil law which will allow oil corporations unhindered access to their oil wealth, bypassing the Iraqi economy entirely.Elsewhere the callout for action resulted in actions in, London, Liverpool, Wrexham, Coventry, Bristol, Southend, Amsterdam and Washington [video]Action report’s from the West Midlands [1, 2] | Pics [1, 2, 3] | Audio from the London tour of the Corporate Oil ProfiteersHands Off Iraqi Oil | Iraqi Federation of Oil Unions | Stop the Iraqi Oil Law | The Stirrer coverage | 2007 IMC article | And now for the plunder |”/>

Convictions For Activists – Climate Criminals Walk Free
27 Feb 2008
On the 10th April 2007, 11 people walked into the Ratcliffe-on-Soar power station and locked on to the coal conveyor and assorted plant there. Their objective was to take direct action to halt operations and thus to diminish the CO2 emissions of the E-on plant, the greenhouse gas thought to be largely responsible for climate change. They were all charged with aggravated trespass and throughout the court case (which lasted for 3 days), the defendants argued that yes, they did take these actions, but employed the defence of “duress of circumstances” or necessity, and pleaded not guilty.On Monday 25th Feb, 10 defendants (one having had the charges dismissed due to lack of evidence) returned to court to receive the judgement. Judge Cooper had earlier said that he wished to compliment all the defendants on the way they had handled themselves and on the presentation of their case. However all were found guilty.Audio: Featured in #2 ‘the March Show’ on Riseup Radio (available 1st March)Features: Clean Coal On Trial | Climate Activists Bring Powerstation Operations To A HaltOn The Newswire: Power station 10 found guilty | Ratcliffe Power station Climate Action, The Verdict | Ratcliffe Power Station Court Case : Nottingham Magistrates [day 1] | Ratcliffe Power Station Court Case : Nottingham Magistrates [day 2] | Ratcliffe Power Station Court Case : Nottingham Magistrates [day 3]Links: Eastside Climate Action

Interview With A Hacktivist
25 Feb 2008
I recently conducted an interview with ‘Shai’, Liverpool’s resident hactivist. He’s organising a hactivism evening at the city’s social centre, Next To Nowhere, on Wednesday 5th March. I talked to him about his plans for the event, his ideas for improving activists’ use of technology, and asked what’s so damned exciting about all those zeroes and ones anyway…

Hands Off Iraqi Oil!
25 Feb 2008
On Saturday 23rd February, a number of actions took place in the UK and Netherlands, in solidarity with the Iraqi peoples’ struggle against the plunder of their oil reserves. The callout for action by the Hands Off Iraqi Oil Campaign resulted in actions in, Birmingham, London, Liverpool, Wrexham, Coventry and Amsterdam.In February 2007 the Iraqi cabinet approved an oil law which, if passed into law, would allow the likes of Shell, BP and Exxon to take over control of most of Iraq’s oil reserves, depriving ordinary Iraqis of scores of billions of dollars. Shell and BP, with the help of the UK Government have been actively pushing for this law and these contracts since 2003.Action reports: 1 |2 |3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | Audio reports: London tourHands Off Iraqi Oil | Iraqi Federation of Oil Unions | Stop the Iraqi Oil Law | The Stirrer coverage | 2007 IMC article

Reclaim Love Warms up the Heart of London
23 Feb 2008
Each year people are under pressure to prove their love to each other by shopping for ‘love gifts’ at large corporations while huge human rights abuses take place within the flower, chocolate and diamond industries.Reclaim Love began as an annual event to bring the heart back into Love.

Wikileaks censored by US Court
23 Feb 2008
Transparency website Wikileaks has been muzzled with a legal injunction by a US court following the publication of leaked documents about a Swiss bank implicated in alleged money laundering. The anonymous whistleblower site, devoted to battle against corruption and censorship, published several hundred documents from a Swiss banking whistleblower purportedly showing that Bank Julius Baer and its Cayman Islands subsidiary had been involved in offshore tax evasion and money laundering by extremely wealthy and, in some cases, politically sensitive clients from the US, Europe, China and Peru. Rather than ordering the removal of specific documents, however, the San Francisco District Court ordered Wikileak’s DNS registrar, Dynadot, to remove all DNS hosting records for the wikileaks.org domain name and prevent it from resolving to the wikileaks.org website or any other website or server other than a blank park page. There have also been reports of attempts to lock down the site through Denial of Service attacks and threats to its DNS record.From the newswire: US judge arranges summary execution of Wikileaks.org | US Court order shuts down Wikileaks.org | US court attacks web freedom, enjoins Wikileaks.org out of existence | Wikileaks and Internet Censorship: a comparative study | Full correspondence between Wikileaks and Bank Julius Baer | Reports elsewhere: IndyBay | Indymedia Ireland | About Wikileaks

Indymedia UK and the Atzmon-Greenstein affair
22 Feb 2008
Although moderation discussions and disagreements within the IMC UK collective are not that rare, never before has a post proved so controversial and divisive like an article by controversial Israeli writer and musician Gilad Atzmon titled “Saying NO to the Hunters of Goliath”. The disputed post has triggered serious, heated discussions among Indymedia UK moderators, two active IMCers leaving the collective, as well as a malicious campaign of spamming and disinformation against Atzmon and Indymedia UK itself. However, the controversy was also an opportunity for IMC UK to reflect on the process of moderation and the need for a deeper political discussion. The purpose of this feature is to establish the facts and clarify IMC UK’s position(s) on the Atzmon-Greenstein affair, anti-Semitism and moderation issues in general.

Protesters Demand Freedom of Expression at University
22 Feb 2008
On Thursday around 80 protesters marched around the University of Nottingham’s campus to demand freedom of expression and an end to the University’s repression of student activists.The campaign was started following the arrest of a student at a Palestine solidarity protest on the campus in November last year.In spite of the University’s deployment of undercover spies and a police cameraman, the mood was good and protesters recieved a warm reception from other members of the student body.Photos: Pics 1 | Pics 2Newswire: Protestors demand freedom of expression at University | Freedom of Speech demonstration at Nottingham Uni | Heavy Handed Police Condemned Over Peaceful Protest | Arrest at Nottingham Uni over Palestine Protest

The Harmondsworth Four acquitted
21 Feb 2008
The four migrants accused of “conspiracy to commit violent disorder” during the Harmondsworth uprising in 2006 were today found not guilty. Relying on a clearly insufficiently indoctrinated jury, the attempt to single out and punish few individuals with violent criminal convictions and long sentences has been thwarted. Of course, all four have already served one year and three months in prison, on top of varying times in immigration detention. Now they will have to resume their struggle against the immigration system, which imprisoned them for seeking refuge in the first place, and will most probably be dispersed around Britain’s detention estate until their cases are ‘resolved’.Today the Support the Harmondsworth Four Campaign held a protest outside Sodexho’s London headquarters. There had been a solidarity protest outside the court every Monday [ 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5]. Background: letter from two of the Harmondsworth 4 to Fight Racism! Fight Imperialism! | ‘Report of the Investigation into the disturbances at Harmondsworth and Campsfield House Immigration Removal Centres’, Robert Whalley | Chief Inspectors of Prison Report on Harmondsworth Immigration Removal Centre

Council Under Fire From Campaign To Save Leisure Centre
19 Feb 2008
Nottingham City Council were under fire this week from campaigners trying to prevent the local authority from closing one of the city’s oldest and most cherished public services, the Victoria Baths leisure centre. A move to rush the closure this spring has been greeted by uproar from local residents, who gathered for a protest at the Council House.Over a hundred people mounted a vocal and insistent protest that the recently announced intention to force the closure is unacceptable for the residents of St Anns and Sneinton. Dozens of children from William Booth infant school, one of the schools who regularly use the pool for swimming lessons, bore placards they had drawn and coloured, and chanted ‘we want swimming!’. The next demonstration is planned for Saturday 1st March, 11.30am in Market Square.Report from the demonstration: audio | videoPhotos: Save Victoria Baths from closure, Demo at the Council House | Council propose to shut Victoria Baths, SneintonArticles: Council propose to shut Victoria Baths, Sneinton | City Council intends to Close popular leisure facilityLinks: Save Victoria Baths! Campaign | Sign the online petition | 1st March poster | City Council online consultation

Japanese G8 Info Tour Comes to UK
18 Feb 2008
The next G8 2008 summit will take place from the 7th to the 9th of July in Hokkaido, Japan. The heads of the world’s more powerful states will gather at Toya Lake in the nothern Japanese island, to push further an agenda of world-wide neo-liberal reforms that result in spreading poverty, violence, hatred, segregation, as well as social and environmental destruction across the globe.The Japanese based network of anti-authoritarians and anarchists No! G8 Action was formed in May 2007, right before the G8 summit 2007 in northern Germany. Japanese activists got involved in the protests with the intention to network with and learn from the experiences of the European anti-G8 movement. As a result they began to prepare their own projects “hoping to bring Japanese and East Asian impetus into the stage of the global anti-capitalist struggle.”Now, the ‘No! G8 Action’ network, in collaboration with the German Dissent! info group, and together with groups and activists across Europe, have organised an european wide tour that will stop in over 30 cities in 14 different countries, including the UK. From the 22nd to the 28th of February, Japanese activists will visit Brighton, Bristol, Edinburgh, Leeds, Nottingham and London [See tour dates and locations]Related links: Call for Anti-G8 Action July 2008 | Statement of the Anti-G8 Summit Hokkaido | G8 2008: Latest Info-Tour and Planning Updates | Japanese Government to Keep ‘Hooligans’ Away from Summit | Anti-repression Protest at the Italian Embassy in Tokyo | A short history of the G8… | The G8: A Study in Power (or why people should protest)See also: NO! G8 Action | Japan G8 Media Network | IMC-Japan | G8 Action Network (jp) | Hokkaido G8 Summit Citizen Forum (jp) | Japan G8 Summit NGO Forum

Sheffield military recruitment centre blockaded
17 Feb 2008
On Friday 15th Feburary protestors from the Sheffield Activist Network (SAN) blockaded the city’s military recruitment centre on Church Street [ photos | video ]. The protest was to mark the 5th anniversary of the F15 2003 protests against war with Iraq.The BBC has reported that two activists were remanded into custody on Saturday and a third was due in court on Monday.Other recent Sheffield protests against war include invasion of a lecture on aerial warfare and the disruption of arms dealers at a careers fair.

Stunning victory for wildcat strikers
16 Feb 2008
AN AMAZING victory has been notched up by wildcat strikers in Brighton.After two days on “illegal” strike, refuse workers at Brighton’s Hollingdean Depot have won their fight against management bullying.The striking bin staff had been complaining about management bullying after staff refused to double their workload due to lack of vehicles and under-staffing.As part of what workers called management’s “bully tactics”, four refuse workers had been moved onto different crews sparking anger amongst the depot and leading to the wildcat action.The GMB union had advised members to go back to work and only strike under official conditions.

International Actions against Israeli Apartheid
15 Feb 2008
The period leading up to Valentine?s day saw actions against Israeli apartheid taking place in the USA, England and Belgium. A week of action had been called against the import of Israeli flowers for Valentine?s Day. The call to action was against Carmel-Agrexco, the 50% state owned Israeli export company, and in support of a boycott of apartheid Israel.On Friday 9th February Belgian activists blocked trucks at Agrexco?s depot in Liege, On Monday in Hayes, Middlesex, Activists blocked the entrances and exits of Agrexco?s UK headquarters. Some activists opted for another Valentine?s day target, the Israeli diamond trade: In London Architects and Planners for Justice in Palestine and Jews for Boycotting Israeli Goods picketed Lev Leviev?s new store while activists from Adalah in the US targeted Levievs? New York branch. Leviev, an international diamond merchant, is responsible for developing illegal settlements on Palestinian land near the West Bank Villages of Bil In and Jayouss. His New York store has been targeted for several months by anti-apartheid activists.Report of the Belgian Carmel-Agrexco action Photos | Video – 1 | 2 | 3| 4|5Report of the London Carmel-Agrexco Action – 1 | 2Original call to action against AgrexcoPrevious Actions against Carmel-Agrexco 1 2 3 4 .London Pickett of Lev Leviev?s Store| VideoReport of the US Picket | Video | PicturesMore info on the campaign against Leviev so far

Demonstrations and protests continue against Edinburgh Council’s ‘Caltongate’ gentrification
13 Feb 2008
The hotly contested ‘Caltongate’ gentrification plan has been approved by city councillors on Wednesday, in meeting that lasted over 10 hours. The two listed buildings will be demolished. Save Our Old Town protesters were present inside the meeting, and there was a demonstration outside the City Chambers all day. Campaigners vow to continue the struggle against this development, and plan to provoke a public enquiry.[ full report | photos of demonstration | Save Our Old Town website | Independent Republic of Canongate | alternative strategy proposal by community forum | background article ]Other older gentrification features: [ Edinburgh Tenants vote No to Stock Transfer | Save Meadowbank Stadium | Glasgow Resident Network takes to the streets | Midlothian council’s destructive development plans | ACE under threat | Demolition Threat in Glasgow | Save the Cameo ]

Nottingham Hosts UK Indymedia Gathering
13 Feb 2008
On Saturday and Sunday, Nottingham hosted a national gathering of the UK Indymedia network, bringing together around 40 people from as far afield as Scotland and Bristol.A whole host of issues were discussed, such as the future of Indymedia, developments on the startpage and calendar, and aspects of moderating the site. A range of viewpoints on the role of Indymedia were expressed, and a number of proposals to take the project forward will be implemented as a result of the gathering.Audio: Interviews At UK Indymedia Network MeetingArticles: Notts Indymedia Launches Radio Show | Where Do We Go From Here? | Indymedia contributor comments on alternative media and Schnews gathering | Mexican Indymedia Activist Speaks In Nottingham | Articles related to Notts Indymedia itselfDocumentation: UkNetworkMeeting2008 | UK Indymedia startpage changes (2008)

Growing a green future in Sussex
13 Feb 2008
A NEW season of events has been announced by Brighton Permaculture Trust, including courses on growing fruit trees, creating wildlife-friendly gardens and green architecture.Brighton Permaculture Trust is a small charitable company formed in 2000 by people interested in putting permaculture firmly ‘on the map’ in Brighton and the Sussex area. It offers courses, talks, socials and seminars and from time to time gets involved in larger projects, such as the Brighton Earthship. People are welcome to join as a member, but most events are open to everyone.

Notts Indymedia Launches Radio Show
1 Feb 2008
Notts Indymedia and others have launched a new radio show called ‘Riseup! Radio’. The community based podcast includes reports covering issues often overlooked by other local media, as well as music from local artists and bands, and chat about stuff that matters. Each month a new podcast will be downloadable through the riseup! Radio website [link], or by subscribing to our feed [link]. Look out for extra features and new shows in the near future, but for now.. Download, listen, enjoy, distribute and comment on February’s show !Listen: #1 The February ShowLinks: Riseup! Radio Website | Notts Indymedia Audio Archive

Action Central at the Common Place
29 Jan 2008
Ever felt like it is hard to know how to take action? Ever had a good idea for an action but not had enough people to do it with? Want to know more about direct action and ongoing campaigns in Leeds? From 3rd Feb 2008 The CommonPlace will be hosting Action Central 6.30 – 8.30pm (ish) A monthly Sunday evening meal and get together to chat, share information about upcoming actions and campaign meetings and inspire each other to take action about the problems around us.

New Occupied Social Centre in Hackney
28 Jan 2008
London’s newest autonomous zone opened last night with a free cafe, music, and a series of short films. After three weeks of resisting illegal forcible evictions, the Hackney Social Centre opened last night for an evening of food, music, films – including one, Trainsquatting, about squatters and resistance to evictions in Slovenia.The social centre grew out of meetings through the Northeast Squatters Network, which seeks to strengthen solidarity and skill-sharing locally between the squats in north-east London.It is a non-commercial social space and plans to be home to activities such as free language lessons, a donations-only cafe, a free shop, meetings of local groups, skill-share sessions and a bike workshop.

Monday Love Returns….
28 Jan 2008
Monday Love returns with a one month residence at The InSpiral Lounge in Camden Lock. For the valentine month of February, Monday Love will be bringing you the finest in uptown, underground, raise your spirit and blow your mind live music, film and real life grassroots media.