Thursday 25 August 2011

Dale Farm eviction resistance » Freedom Press - The Home of Freedom Books and Freedom Newspaper

‘BIG WEEKEND’ PREPARATIONS
: : : Important update : : :

Saturday 27th – Monday 29th August is the Solidarity Long Weekend at Dale Farm and the opening of Camp Constant, built to resist Basildon council’s attempt to evict families from Europe’s biggest Travellers site in Essex.

Camp Constant, the mass gathering of national and international supporters of the Dale Farm community, will commence on the ‘Big Weekend’ of Saturday 27th to Monday 29th August, which is the final weekend before Travellers have been told they must abandon their homes or face the bulldozers. Residents of Dale Farm have invited supporters down for a long weekend of skill sharing and cultural celebration.

Join us for:

  • Training for legal observers and human rights monitors
  • Practical eviction resistance workshops and eviction simulations
  • Acoustic music on Saturday night
  • Media training
  • Traveller history & celebration

Sleeping space is available in caravans and residents homes or you are encouraged to bring a tent, and you are welcome to sleep over on Friday August 26th. A vegan kitchen will be running, and there is a child’s space. We will be asking for donations to cover our costs.

We would love to hear from people who to help out with the following -

Workshops: We’re planning a full programme of workshops for the weekend. We may have space for some additional workshops if you have some constructive/inspiring ideas, relevant to resistance and Traveller heritage. We’re also looking for people with good ideas/energy/kit for some workshops for kids and young people. There are over 100 children facing eviction at Dale Farm and residents have especially asked for creative workshops that the young people can enjoy. If you think you can help
Email: savedalefarm@gmail.com

Music: residents are keen for some acoustic music on Saturday night ‘to cheer us all up’ without disturbing elderly and unwell residents. There are likely to be several small music tents on Saturday evening and some open mic spots. Traditional Irish music with fiddles extremely welcome, but if you have a band who can play a good uplifting acoustic set, or are just happy to fill an open mic slot
Email: savedalefarm@gmail.com

Transport or Childcare: want to help with transport or childcare?
Email: savedalefarm@gmail.com

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Haven’t been to Dale Farm yet?
Well, either wait for the ‘big weekend’ 27th – 29th August, or get a head start on site this week. There’s still loads to do, so join us on site at 11am for a morning briefing and site tour. See: http://dalefarm.wordpress.com/activity/

August 30-31 are our final days for site preparation, and you are encouraged to stay to help with this. From September 1st onwards, we need to maintain a constant presence at Dale Farm in case of eviction. To sign up to spend a night or several at Dale Farm go to:
https://smsalerts.tachanka.org/dalefarm/
Your long term presence is also encouraged.

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Invite your friends to join the facebook groups
For pledging to spend a night at Dale Farm:
https://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=170414852985935
For the Big weekend of resistance:
https://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=194868883902698

Or if you want to distribute our leaflets
Email: savedalefarm@gmail.com to get some sent.

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Amnesty International
has sent a call out to all their many thousands of supporters, condemning a forced eviction which would leave families homeless, when no alternative culturally appropriate site has been made available. This follows last week’s letter from the UN Special Rapporteur to the UK government, expressing concern that the planned forced evictions will be a clear breach of human rights legislation, if families are not offered an alternative site before forced evictions take place. See the Essex University Human Rights Clinic for more information on this.

Seeking a peaceful solution, see: RomaBuzzMonitor.

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Remember the Demo
Saturday, 10th Sept, 1pm. Join us at Wickford Train Station, a mere 30 minutes by train from London Liverpool Street Station. The march will then proceed to Dale Farm and Camp Constant, a base for human rights monitors and those who will engage in civil disobedience to stop the bulldozing.
See: http://dalefarm.wordpress.com/2011/07/27/demo/ for more information
Email: savedalefarm@gmail.com to add your group’s support to the list


See you at Dale Farm

Dale Farm is about 40 minutes from London by Train, you can find directions and maps on the website here: http://dalefarm.wordpress.com/contact/. From Wickford Station, its a 15 minute cycle/45 minute walk from the station.
To arrange a lift Email: dale.farm@btinternet.com
or call 07757533380
or you can call the site phone: 07583621312

Dale Farm
Oak Lane
Crays Hill
Billericay
Essex CM11 2YJ
Map/Directions

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dalefarm-solidarity mailing list
dalefarm-solidarity@lists.ucrony.net
https://lists.ucrony.net/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/dalefarm-solidarity

 

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