Clashes
break out as police try to keep thousands of Blockupy activists from
shutting down the European Central Bank in Frankfurt’s financial
district.
This
Saturday, June 1, was not just the day of the breakthrough of protest
in Turkey, with the police withdrawing from Taksim Square and thousands
of protesters occupying it. On the same day, tens of thousands of
protesters marched throughout Europe. In Frankfurt, thousands
demonstrated against a central financial institution in the heartland of
neoliberal Europe, a day after actually blocking it. For the second
year in a row, a sizeable, militant Blockupy action was held in front of
the European Central Bank (ECB) in Frankfurt.
The
choice of target is as significant as the name of the action. Together
with the EU and IMF, the ECB is part of the so-called Troika of foreign
lenders, who together impose stringent austerity policies in return for
bailouts. Simply put: the Greek government owes billions to Western
banks; the Troika loans billions to the Greek government to pay back its
creditors; the Troika then demands that the Greek government lowers
pensions, attacks social security, lays off workers in the public sector
— all to save some money to pay the creditors.
The
same happens in Spain, Portugal, Ireland, Cyprus, and where else in the
future…? The ECB, as part of the Troika, is rightly seen as centrally
responsible for this socially devastating bailout-cum-austerity
package deal. Austerity in Europe is condemning millions to poverty,
homelessness and unemployment. Unemployment in the eurozone as a whole
now stands at 12.2 percent,
youth unemployment at 24.4 percent. These are averages. In Greece, no
less than 62.5 percent of those of 25 years of age and younger were
unemployed in February.
Austerity is
pushing the economy into chronic recession: people who don’t have money
cannot spend it in shops; consumption markets are drying up; ever more
people lose their jobs. From a mainstream economic point of view,
austerity “is not working”: it actually makes things worse. But from the
view of bankers and creditors wanting their money back, it’s working
very well. And from the view of capitalists and governments, who want to
get rid of as many taxes and social security provisions as possible,
it’s working splendidly — thank you very much!
But
the whole austerity program is provoking enormous anger — and the
Blockupy protests are both an expression of that anger and an expression
of solidarity to all those suffering and fighting back. This is why the
name is so significant: it signifies an escalation of the Occupy
movement, which previously limited itself mostly to occupying public
place. This action does not just occupy; it actually – if only
temporarily and symbolically – intends to block one of the central
institutions of European capitalism. Of course, the state reacts in its
usual repressive manner.
On May 31, there was an actual blockade
of the ECB building in Frankfurt. Demonstrators, several thousands of
them, blocked the entrance streets to the bank building. “Humanity above
profits” was one of the key slogans. There was plenty of police at the
scene, fully prepared with pepper spray and water cannons. A police
helicopter kept watch overhead. There were scuffles, and a number of arrests. There was a demonstration near the airport as well.
On
June 1, the next Blockupy action took place: a demonstration in
Frankfurt. The march started peacefully – until riot police blocked the
route. Fighting broke out, with a demonstrators throwing objects at
police, and with police kettling demonstrators and attacking them with pepper spray. Exact numbers are not clear, but the Turkish news site Zaman mentions 7,000 protesters, signs reading ‘Make love, not war’ and ‘IMF, get out of Greece’”. Dutch media speak of “thousands of demonstrators”, which, translated back into the reality-based community, probably means many thousands.
However,
it was not just the protest in Frankfurt that was important. Protesters
rallied in Portugal, Greece and Spain as well – three countries where
austerity and impoverishment have struck hardest. June 1, although
slightly overshadowed by the spectacular events unfolding in Turkey, was
truly an international day of action against capitalism and the many
anti-social ways in which it tends to solve its crises.
Compared
to last year, the Blockupy action seems to have been a step forward in
terms of strength and organization. Last year, riot police practically
made demonstrating impossible through mass preventive arrests and an
overwhelming presence in the streets. Back then, people jokingly said
that there was an effective blockade of the ECB: by the police itself,
whose exaggerated presence was more effective at blocking traffic
through Frankfurt’s financial district than the organizers of Blockupy
had ever dreamed of achieving themselves.
This
year, it seems that there was much more of an actual blockade by the
demonstrators themselves, marking significant progress. Hopefully , the
activists will be back in stronger force next year — and maybe much,
much sooner.
Peter Storm is a blogger from the Netherlands and writes on ravotr.nl.
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