GROENOORD - THE BEGINNING OF A NEW ERA?

First Dutch Action Camp in years evicted

By Pim

This summer in The Netherlands, an Earth First! action camp emerged in the sand dunes and trees of an area called Ruigoord, west of Amsterdam. In July a group of 30 people squatted the area to prevent it from being turned into a new harbour, the Afrikahaven. Thirty to 40 people lived there for almost three months until October 6, when they were evicted. They managed to stop the digging for three months, and the eviction itself took hundreds of riot police and a huge amount of money (rumors say over a million Dutch guilders).

A New Movement

It all started over a year ago when the Dutch direct action movement Green Front! formed, based on the ideas of British Earth First! Several Dutch activists had learned from their British counterparts at action camps at Newbury, Fairmile and Manchester. A small group of activists decided it was time for Green Front! to start because the Dutch environmental movement is ruled by big bureaucratic organisations with their own agendas that do not cooperate much with each other or with small local actions.

Green Front!'s actions concentrated around traffic and nature issues. Several times roads and bridge construction sites were occupied. In July the main event began. Groenoord action camp was founded on July 16, 1997.

A Hot Summer

It was a wet July morning when people moved into the natural area slated to become a concrete harbour. They carried pallets, tools and tent materials, and were accompanied by a troupe of reporters. A central area was built out of wooden pallets to be used as a bar, kitchen, toolshed, living room and information point. A mixed group of young and old activists moved in. The camp was situated next to the village of Ruigoord, a place well-known for art and summer festivals, a place where the '60s and '70s are still very much alive. The village itself was evicted 25 years ago to make way for the harbour but was squatted by the present villagers. The harbour was never built because, in 1997, the Amsterdam City Council decided to build the harbour after all because it was supposed to be good for employment and the economy.

The villagers were really helpful. Though they were still doing their own legal actions, they were happy with "those young people" out there to change the world, like they did so many years ago. The camp was built up steadily and without police interruption it was summer holiday. Treehuts were built. People started digging tunnels. New camps were built outside of the main camp. Waiting for the holidays to end, Groenoord developed into a living alternative community with a lot of media attention. On August 24, hundreds of people came to the place where the diggers had already started on the harbour before the camp-a canal of a few hundred meters, officially a "returnable activity." The activists, many with children, dogs or parents, came to return the returnable. Hundreds of people put sand back in the canal with spades or by hand, and at the end of the day the canal was crossed by several sand bridges and was not very deep anymore.

That Monday, the holidays ended, and the waiting began.

The Waiting

The action camp was prepared. People practiced what to do during an eviction. Locks and lock-ons were checked; food packets were stored in huts and tunnels. On August 28, the first digging machine came, accompanied by police. After a short while, a group of activists seated themselves in front of and on the machine. It retreated, taking the cops with it. It was quiet again for awhile.

In the meantime, solidarity activities for the camp were organised. The Amsterdam Autolozen (Critical Mass) blocked the highway west of Amsterdam to protest against the new road and the harbour plans. A month passed. On September 27, a big benefit party was held in one of Amsterdam's most famous squats, Vrankrijk. Bands played, videos were shown and people from the camp performed.

The End?

On Monday, October 6, they came: an army of 850 riot police with shovels, diggers and cherry pickers. The camp prepared, and the media checked their cameras. People chained themselves to the roads, climbed in their trees and tunnels and put up barricades of burning wood.

The police started closing the camp off from the outside world. Several kilometres of fence were put around the area and guarded. Shovels started making parking places for the police and roads for the other machines. Activists who jumped on the shovels were beaten off by the police. People came to the camp and tried to get in with supplies by climbing over fences. In trees and huts people sat, listening to the police radio and talking to each other by portable phones. The press called it "activism by satellite." By Monday night the police had cleared the ground; people were taken out of the area and bussed to the nearest railway station. Most of them came back. The area looked like a prison camp: long fences as far as you could see, big lights and guards with dogs. Some people managed to sneak in, and one activist was arrested for destroying three lights.

Early Tuesday morning the police started evicting the occupants from the tunnels and treehuts. A careless shovel drove over a tunnel and it collapsed; the activist could have gotten out. He stayed. One by one people were taken out of their tree huts. The tunnels were dug out by hand mostly. The last activists were taken out of the camp around 6:00 in the evening. They gathered at the church in the village. The area was destroyed and locked off, guarded heavily. The camp was gone. Was all for nothing?

Groenoord Is Not Dead!

It ain't over till it's over, they say. The harbour is not there yet, but the village still is.

On October 11, close to a thousand people protested in the Amsterdam city centre against the destruction of the camp, the land and the village. At the demonstration a group of dockers from the Amsterdam harbours joined in. They had just been fired and did not believe the talk of employment in the new harbour.

The demonstration stopped at the Dam Square, where some climbers from the camp climbed onto the national monument and let down banners with the words "Groenoord Leeft Voort!" (Groenoord lives on!) At city hall, the deputy mayor received a petition for a referendum on the harbour.

During the weekend, the fences and guards disappeared from the camp area because they costing hundreds of thousands a day. On Sunday, a walker's action group walked the area, and a requiem mass was held in the village church. On Monday morning the activists established the action camp "Groenoord II" at the same place as its predecessor.

If no referendum is held, activists want to start an environmental people's trial against the city government. Other actions are being prepared; one includes the start of a senior's action group, 50+ Against Environmental Destruction.

Groenoord lives on! The harbour is not there yet! ??

More current info and photos can be found at http://www.contrast.nl/groenoord/ or e-mail us at ruigoord@hotmail.com or ruigoord@oudenaarden.nl (mostly in Dutch)

"Groen(m)oord Leeft Voort!

Groenoord Gaat Door!"

(Groenoord Lives on!)