A report from the recent System Change Camp and Action Days in Germany. Comrades from Plan C joined Ende Gelande and others in actions to shut down natural gas installations.
Last weekend we participated with Ende Gelände, in a mass action camp targeting liquified natural gas (LNG) infrastructure in the port of Hamburg, a key zone in the rush for gas being carried out under the pretext of the war in Ukraine.
All fingers successfully carried out their actions and shut down the port. Cranes stopped moving and crucial bridges and railways were blocked.
The mass action used a strategy of mass direct action: many ‘fingers’ of around 800 people who took marched together after some action training and legal briefings. Our members were in two of those fingers, the purple international finger targeted two bridges, rail and road. On the approach to the bridges the finger split in two, those who made it to the road bridge (which was a drawbridge providing vital ship access to the LNG terminal) successfully blocked their target for a number of hours, although the finger was blasted repeatedly by water cannons. The other part of the finger attempted to block the railway, some people made it on for a short period, but the bulk of people were viciously pepper sprayed and kettle for a number of hours. The pepper spraying was so prolific that many police were put out of action and later released a press release accusing protestors of using pepper spray against them! This is despite video footage of them spraying themselves and the presence of 10L tanks strapped to their backs..
The gold finger coordinated by our comrades “ums Ganze!” Bündnis coalition was well organised and blocked the only rail access to the container terminal for 12 hours. Unfortunately as we expected the police were extremely violent. However many months had been spent doing reccies and planning the day meticulously and as a result they found a vulnerability in the logistics network and managed to easily exploit it in the end.
Just goes to show that these are still winnable struggles!
Ende Gelande was a big big victory in spite of the police repression, and a sign that social movements will not stand for a rush to gas under the pretext of securitisation when alternatives such as solar and reducing demand are available.
Our comrades from Ende Gelande posted the following report on their social media:
End of land for fossil and colonial infrastructure! The action days are coming to an end. Y’all wonder what happened?
On Friday, the fossil normal condition was interrupted and a LNG construction site in Wilhelmshaven was blocked. And that’s not enough: The construction of fossil infrastructure has also been disrupted permanently. The LNG terminal construction site in Wilhelmshaven stands for the progress of fossil, colonial exploitation and is a crime scene of the climate crisis. The import of liquid gas is going closer to an expansion of fracking in the global south and in indigenous territories. And the methane in gas is much more climate harmful than CO2. We say: Where climate-friendly infrastructure is built, we are the investment risk.
Saturday morning at 6am three fingers started from the camp. A few hours later, three places in Hamburg harbor were no more getting through: Pink and Gold blocked the railroad, Lila the Kattwykbrücke. Hamburg harbor is a place of neocolonial, capitalist exploitation. Here fossil energy carriers are being killed, which were demolished under despicable, environmental-destructive conditions in the Global South. This is the system we have been against!
As a conclusion, we were present at the demo for a right to stay for everyone. Several hundreds have demanded: Freedom for all refugees regardless of origin and skin color! Down with state racism!
We disrupted the fossil, capitalist, colonial normality this weekend and blocked part of the system with our bodies. Whether on the camp or on the blockade: Together we take the system change ourselves!
Photocredits: Pay Numrich (1), Thomas Herterich (2), Jens Volle (3), Fabian Steffens (4., Luca Engelhard (5), Tim Wagner (6.7), Leonhard Lenz (9)
