Some thoughts on Reclaim and police violence.

national | miscellaneous | news report Monday July 08, 2002 16:12 by Martin K. - IMC Norway robin_lefay at yahoo dot com

In contrast to the violence of Ireland, our one in Oslo was a paradise. Reason? No police intervention.

Last monday, Norway experienced its first Reclaim arrangement. About two to three thousand individuals gathered after a legal rally against the world-bank, and had a illegal party with sound systems, skipping ropes, football, etc. In advance the media had labeled it as a sure-riot thing, saying it would be like the riots in Gothenburg. The police had invested round five million british pounds (55 mill kroner) in new gear, and had called in more than two thousand police in uniform. New laws were passed, and the whole of the centre of Oslo had been declared a no-stop zone for cars, since they envisaged us blockading the streets with wrecks. The papers reported avidly, and at least four fabricated stories were out on the news-wire. They closed down the whole centre of Oslo, including public transport.

As a member of the autonome scene in Oslo, wich numbers between 150 and 300, we were amazed and a bit full of laughter. Thewre we were, making our carnival costumes, painting our banners, looking forward to a party, and the press were picturing us as a horde of bloody barbarians. The "serious" political left-wing groups were calling us names. There was repeated mention to "militant" leaders. They were setting us up for a beating, while we were getting ready to dance.

Then the police did their intelligent move. Having gotten all their money, their overtime and their bonuses, they wisely decided not to show up. Not one cop in sight the whole day. Whatso ever. It was amazing, most of us were ready for the heavy hand and the iron fist, it was like breathing free air. The demo was good, the party even better. A lot of immigrants gradually drifted into the party, and one of my best meories is seeing a friend of mine who is two meters and ten and a absolute dirt-punk skipping rope together with a small traditionally dressed muslim girl of about twelve. They were both laughing and grinning, happy as hell and rushing on the sense of freedom. An old alcoholic came with his arm-chair, sat down in the middle of thstreet hes normally chased from, and proceeded to drink himself good and drunk. We danced around him, so happy to not have been beaten up, to have been treated as humans instead of terrorists.

And that leaves us thinking: Is this the state of the free world these days, that *the fact of having not been hurt by the police* is a positive experience? That youre surprised when they dont attack you for protesting the new fascist order? I was in Gothenburg myself, and that was like being attacked by a high-tech viking army. That spell of imminent possible violence that is being made the standard of the Schengen system these days, that knowledge that youre going to get hurt for disagreeing with the mainstream of money and greed, the knowledge that Mammon will hurt opposition, that is what were dealing with.

And to those who say that the carnival tactic of dressing up funny will make us seem less serious:
I answer back, to whom? The leaders do not care. They have accepted the dogma of the End of history and the One True Way of Capitalism, so theres no point trying to argue with them. The police are certainly not swayed by arguments about civil rights and democracy, to them its a job and the job is sometimes to hurt people because of politics. The everyday people are in general fed what they have to choose from by the mainstream media, taught how to understand complex issues by 30 second sound-bite information and expert opinions who never challenge the ruling dogmas of the state. How can you protest in a rational way?

So the carnival as a tactic is chosen, in addition to rational argumentation. That way you show the politicians and moneymen for what they are, grey apparitions filled with greed and without any texture, any moisture, any belonging to the land in their hearts and souls. That way you get to look the copper in the eye and see if he is really willing to bash a sixteen year old girl dressed up as a butterfly. And we get to at least our segment of the population, the youths and adults who do not have the necessary energy, time or strength to be seriously political, yet is still deeply worried. And, not least, its a unconventional approach, we make them react to us, not the other way around.

Also, to reclaim public grounds is a deep and in many ways poetic way of showing opposition to the concept of the state being the owner of the land and people. There is a fundamental thing here, something you Irish perhaps can appreciate more than most western European people: It is about asserting the freedom of the individual in opposition to the unending absolutism of the ever-growing, tumor like phenomena of control society. We dance, they kick us, we keep on dancing, they keep on kicking. They kill children in Iraq for profit, we get thrown in jail for dancing. The irony, the shere grotesque imagery of the propositions should make some people think twice about what systems they are currently supporting. that is the point of Reclaim. That is why it should be taken seriously.

It seems to me, that our local police force have understood some of this here in Norway. In relation to an action we did last year against the shortage of cheap housing in Oslo, we occupied/reclaimed a reality-tv show, and the police came, they gave us compliments for a good peaceful action and expressed support for the wrongly jailed in Gothenburg. There seems to be a battle going on inside the politics of law-enforcement, in the higher circles of Schengen, about wether to adapt the Bush jr. line of fascism and no civil rights for those who disobey, and those who still remember their humanitarian principles. The ACAB line is too easy these days. Perhaps we should do a Reclaim the Cops international day? God knows that nothing we say to the politikos will ever work...