Thursday 17 september 2020, benefit for Rosa Nera squat. Food will be served on the Steve Bikoplein, the square next to Joe’s Garage, from 19:00 and will be directly followed by music, also on the square. Rebetika with Georges, Charis and others. No reservation, vegan food, veggies from the garden. Donations welcome. If you want food to take away, bring your own containers.
On 5 September 2020, Rosa Nera squat in Chania, Creta was evicted by surprise at 5 o’clock in the morning. 16 people sleeping inside got arrested. 5 of them are immigrants. All of them got released after some hours.
Rosa Nera was squatted in 2004. The building belongs to the Polytechnic School of Chania. Rosa Nera has been for 16 years an emblematic space, not only in Creta but for the whole Greece, for the movement. Various groups and collectives have been using the space.
During the summer, a potential buyer came to check the building and was welcomed by a group of 200 people. Prime minister Mitsotakis is from Chania and had promised many years ago that when he will be in the government, he would evict Rosa Nera.
ROSA NERA is an autonomous, anti-authoritarian political collective and since 2004, has squatted and given its name to the historical building that was formerly known as the “5th Army Division”, declaring it, for the first time in its history, a liberated space.
The squatted building of ROSA NERA, was built around 1880 by the Turks as a palace for the local pasha. It continued to house different representatives of the authority, the latest being the local military command, during the military dictatorship of Papadopoulos.
In 1985 the building passes from the ministry of defense to the ministry of education, which offers it to the Technical University of Crete, under the condition that it would be used solely for educational activities. Nevertheless, from 1985 till 2004, the building was totally abandoned.
In June 2004, the building was occupied and revived. It was transformed from a ruin that was falling apart, into a political, cultural and social activities center, as well as a house. Everything was accomplished with collective work, collective will and collective financial support. That means that the people did it all, by organizing themselves through horizontal and non-hierarchical procedures.
ROSA NERA squat had organised and operated amongst many other things, an non-commercial cafe-bar, a theater, a clothes exchange bazaar, a children’s space, an event and film projection room, a library, a workshop, a guest house, a collective kitchen, and an open vegetable-garden. At the same time, many political and cultural events were taking place, always with a free entrance or voluntary-donation based.
Most importantly, ROSA NERA, as a political group, supported and participated in social and class struggles, always standing in solidarity with the oppressed and struggling people, fighting against any exploitation and oppression, for justice, equality and freedom.
On the 5th of September 2020, after 16 years of active presence in the social and political life of the town of Chania, police forces evict the squat, arrest the people inside and empty the building with the assent of the municipality and the administration of the Technical Universcity of Crete. The reason behind this eviction was the leasing of the building by the university, to a privately owned hotel group (BELVEDERE) in order to turn it into a luxury hotel.
In a town that is suffocating under the unrelenting growth of tourism, where the public space has all but disappeared and during a health crisis that has gravely affected the labour market and has highlighted the catastrophic character of the economic monoculture of tourism, the eviction of Rosa Nera and the plans of turning this historical building into another boutique hotel, seems to be the straw that broke the camel’s back.
The struggle is just beginning.
SOLIDARITY WITH ROSA NERA SQUAT
STRUGGLE FOR FREE, NON-COMMERCIAL SPACE
Chania, Greece, 2020
Rosa Nera squat http://rosanera.squat.gr/
Expect food to be handed out on the Steve Bikoplein, or simply a take away at the door, depending of the weather conditions. Join us and the Transvaalbuurt on the square to share some food, meet the community and play some basketball. Your donations are welcome. Starting from 19:00 untill 21:00, vegan, no reservation.
Volkseten Vegazulu is a people’s kitchens existing since the very beginning of Joe’s Garage, June 2005. All benefits go to social & political struggles. Joe’s Garage is a space run by volunteers. Without a collective effort, without your active participation, we’re remaining closed. Get in touch in you feel like giving a hand. We’re always looking for cooks. Any help is welcome in the kitchen. Experience not required. If you want to know which days are still available, mail us.
