Another alternative space is gone, reduced to rubble meanwhile.
Last Thursday anti-terror squats raided the Ungdumshuset (youth house) in Copenhagen, a squat that existed since 1982 and that has been an institution both in leftwing politics and the alternative culture in Danmark and Scandinavia. The building had been owned in fact by the city and was sold to the rightwing sect Faderhuset who then pressed for eviction. Within days of the eviction the building was torn down and meanwhile it was announced by the sect that the place would probably left vacant or become a shopping centre at one point because they are afraid of retaliation by activists.
This whole development doesn't seem to be a coincidence as Danmark turned into a very rightwing state over the last decade and even though officially the city government of Copenhagen was involved here it seems more than probable that the government had a ball to finally have a chance to get rid of undesired elements. Remember the fuzz about the caricatures of the prophet that upset the islamic world a time ago? It has to be stressed that two fundamentalist parties were involved here, not just overzealous islamic fanatics on one side who certainly got a perfect ball kicked to them to play with but also a rightwing christian establishment in Danmark that deliberatly triggered all of this just to withdraw later to "freedom of speech" positions. It seems like no coincidence here that the Faderhuset sect became a tool in fighting political resistance here. I won't go into details of the whole deal here after all this is a blog rant and not a scientific article but it seems very dodgy.
The point of this rant is that another place of counterculture against the capitalist rightwing establishment in Europe is gone! Remember there are NO fuckig squats left in Germany because they already cleanded the slate? And while at this point enough critisicm of the way radical leftwing groups are behaving could be voiced here and while there are also different tactics that are promoted from an anarchist stance it has to be stressed that these places are indeed important and have to be defended in order to have certain spaces that are not completely controlled by the reign of money.
Another thing is that we all have to realize - once more - that "democratic" rights mean shit when the government decides it has to crush opposition. Borders are closed, news are repressed and mass-arrests of people are conducted as well as arrests of medics, beatings of children and raids on support organisations for arrested people. It has to be very clear to everyone that these so-called democratic rights in the end mean shit and if the powers-that-be feel threated they won't hesitate shooting you. And don't give me the line that "if there wouldn't have been any violence by the supporters then..." Bullshit! Experience shows that you're gonna get it anyway by the cops - maybe you can try to walk away but eventually they still hit you over the head and destroy what you worked for so you might at least offer some resistance.
