Newsletter Shut down NATO/NATO-ZU - No 1, February 2009

25 Feb 2009

Dear supporters of Shut down NATO,

This is the first newsletter of Shut down NATO (in German: NATO-ZU, in
which ZU stands also for Civil disobedience), with which we want to
give you information on the status of the preparations for the
actions in Baden-Baden and Strasbourg, and especially about the
planned nonviolent blockades in which we are involved.

Before
1 April, the first day of the action camp in Strasbourg, we will
surely send one or two more newsletters.

This newsletter includes:

The presentstatus of preparations, including information on
the official NATO summit
Informationen on the multi-spectrum initiative Block-NATO
First information on the nonviolence guidelines for our action
A call for support
Available materials to order
An appeal for donations
Links to selected media reports
Links to background information

Present status of preparations

NATOs plans for the summit are slowly getting more concrete,
which also allows us to plan in more detail. But the problems are
often in those details. At the moment we know that:

On 3 April German Chancellor Angela Merkel will meet the heads of states
and governments in Baden-Baden at 5.30 pm. At 7 pm they will meet in
the Kurhaus Casino Baden-Baden
for an official dinner. Accommodation of the heads of states and
governments and their delegations will be in different hotels along
the Rhine between Baden-Baden and Freiburg. Who will be staying were
is not yet known.

On 4 April at 8.30 am there will be an a photo shooting for the heads of
states and governments on the pedestrian bridge Passerelle des deux Rives.
At 10 am will be the beginning of NATO summit proper in the Palais De La Musique Et Des Congres in Strasbourg.
The end of the meeting is scheduled for 3 pm.

Some time during the day there will also be a pompous lunch in the Palais Rohan, but we do not know the exact time.

A map of Straßbourg which shows the relevant summit locations is
available at /sites/default/files/public_files/public_files/br81-en-spread.png.

There will be large security zones in Baden-Baden, Kehl and Straßbourg.
For the people living in these areas this means controls or even a
complete curfew (or leaving only with prior announcement and
escorted by police). In Kehl this will effect 700 people. In
Straßbourg over 2000 people were asked to contact the authorities.
Probably 2/3 of the city centre, including the entire old town will
be barricaded and only people with a special permit will be allowed
to pass. Where exactly the security zones will be is at the moment
not known. They will probably include the surroundings of the Palais
de la Musique et de la Congres and the surroundings of the Palais de
Rohan. Also all the street markets, over 100 schools and
kindergartens and all sight-seeing spots in the city centre will be
closed. From Friday afternoon until Saturday noon there will be no
train transportation between Offenburg and Straßbourg, and in
Straßbourg buses and trams will be partly closed and/or diverted.

There are presently also problems in relation to the planned international
demonstration on 4 April in Strasbourg, and with the negotiations for
the camp in Ganzau in Strasbourg Neudorf. While there exists in
principle an agreement about the location of the camp, the
authorities now demand unacceptable conditions.

For these reasons, the preparations for the nonviolent action of Shut
down NATO/NATO-ZU are presently a bit difficult. Nevertheless, we
made some progress:

at the Activist Conference
in Strasbourg we founded the initiative Block-NATO (see below) together
with other political spectrums, and also came to some concrete
agreements.
We have a clear decision to
focus our action on Strasbourg, and that Shut down NATO/NATO-ZU will
take on one or more blockading points in coordination with Block-NATO.
There are preparations for
nonviolent action training in the camp, and for the formation of
affinity groups and a spokes council. We agree that we will make
decisions in line with nonviolent and grassroots democratic principles
by consensus.

But it is also clear, that many of things are still unclear. And: we will
need your help (see below):

Initiative Block-NATO – the multi-spectrum initiative for actions of civil disobedience on 4 April in Strasbourg

On 14/15 February 2009 a international Activist Conference took place in
Strasbourg, during which the plans for the blockades, the
demonstration and the counter summit against the NATO summit in April
have been advanced. During this conference those participants that
are engaged in the preparation of mass blockades in Strasbourg on 4
April came together in the coalition “Block NATO”
(http://www.block-nato.org).

This coalition, of which also Shut down NATO/NATO-ZU is a part, unites
initiatives, networks and activists of the peace and anti-war
movements from several European countries.

Our aim is to effectively blockade and disrupt the NATO summit, with
thousands of people occupying the access routes to the meeting place
in Strasbourg in the morning of 4 April, and thus cutting of the
summit from its infrastructure. For this, there will be different
blockading points with different forms of action and expression,
which relate to each other in solidarity, and only jointly can be
successful. Shut down NATO/NATO-ZU will take the responsibility for
one or two of these blockading points.

To organise these mass blockades with international support, there will
be an international preparatory meeting on 7 and 8 March in
Strasbourg.

Nonviolence guidelines of NATO-ZU/Shut down NATO

Within our coalition we agreed on nonviolence guidelines for our nonviolent
actions of civil disobedience. In these guidelines, we articulate the
aim of the action and the basic principles of nonviolence and
decision making. They serve as the basis for our action and should be
followed.

The guidelines would be too much for this newsletter – they will be
available on our webpage.

Call for support – Who can do what?

We urgently need your support – both, now before the action, in the
camp (1-5 April) and during the action.

Task overview:

Translation of texts: German, English and French
Support in mobilising (distribution of flyers, organisation of transport, etc.)
Setting up and taking down of the camp
Oral translation French and English (in the camp and during the action, i.e.
spokes council, info points, police liaison, megaphone ...)
Paramedics (in the camp and during the action)
Maintenance and updating of our website during the action.

More on this (presently in German) at http://www.natozu.de/index.php?id=36

If you want to offer your help, please email mitmachen@nato-zu.de.

Materials

Support the mobilisation

You can order materials at:

DFG-VK

Hausmannstraße 6 | 70188 Stuttgart | Germany | Tel: +49-711-2319479

email:
material(aet)nato-zu.de

We only have printed material in German. You can order 50 copies of the
call plus 50 flyers for 10.00 Euro – you can transfer the money
within the Eurozone after you got the parcel. But please be aware
that we have to advance all the money.

You are also welcome to donate.
The account for international donations is:

DFG-VK NATO-ZU

Bank für Sozialwirtschaft IBAN DE10 3702 0500 0008 3046 07, BIC BFSWDE33 

Flyer

Flyer only exist in German. You can order them or download them.

>
flyer_nato-zu.pdf (251kb)

Call

You can download the call in English at

>
call Shut down NATO/nato-zu.pdf (130kb)

We need donations!

We have ambitious plans and a successful action against the summit needs
to be well prepared. We especially need money for

* the mobilisation – the website, flyers, etc...

* the infrastructure in Strasbourg – we will be part of the common
camp, tents, food, drinks, and sanitary equipment

*materials for the actions (banners, blankets, etc...)

*after the action – possibly legal support

Almost everyone in the team works as a volunteer. But many of us cannot
cover the expenses for travel, telephone and office material.

We expect to need about 10,000 – 15,000 Euro in donations.

We are also looking for individuals, organisations and associations that
can give a financial guarantee, in case of a debt.

Here you can donate online:/node/1630

For questions or if you want to enter into a special agreement, please
contact:

kontakt(aet)nato-zu.de

Account for donations

DFG-VK NATO-ZU 

Bank für Sozialwirtschaft IBAN DE10 3702 0500 0008 3046 07, BIC BFSWDE33 

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