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Festival of Dissent Prepares for G8 |
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Friday, 13 May 2005 |
 From Wednesday
the 6th
to 10th of
April,
over three
hundred
people from across
Scotland
and beyond
met in
rural Lanarkshire
at the "Festival
of Dissent!" They met to plan resistance to the G8 summit, to
further educate themselves,
and
to build
and discuss
better ways of living and
working together with
their local communities. The
public
gathering made
its
decisions collectively
and
consensually. Meanwhile, the
police
prepared for
violence
at a nearby
"boot
camp" in Carluke
and
spent public
money to
deploy a
helicopter to
hover over the
festival.
In contrast
the
gathering focused
on
creatively challenging the
problems caused by
the G8. The final plenary of the Festival of Dissent declared:
"The Iraq
war has
further demonstrated
the
deceit of
world
leaders. The purpose of the G8 is to preserve the
plunder
of the world's most powerful. It is
ridiculous to
expect
the G8 to
'make poverty
history' or
tackle climate change;
it's like putting the fox in charge of the hen house."
The gathering worked on plans for a convergence in Scotland. "We invite
others from across Scotland and the world to join us in preparation for
the convergence, and to gather with us during the G8 summit.
We
invite people to help us oppose the G8 and its policies, and
most
importantly, to contribute to the daily struggle to create
new
worlds."
The gathering
discussed
the practicalities of
accommodating, feeding and
providing support
for
thousands of
protesters
in a sustainable and
environmentally friendly
way. A
number
of action
plans were
further developed, reflecting the diversity of those attending. This
includes:
- a public day of blockades on July 6th which aims
to isolate the G8.
- a Peoples Golfing Tournament on July
7th
- a day of action on July 8th against the real
causes of climate change
- a creative family and
community festival and the construction of community gardens and social
space
It was also decided that refugees / asylum seekers attending future
events would be financially supported as a form of political support to
reflect their self-organized struggles against
forms
of persecution in the U.K. and in their homelands.
For more
information
please contact: 07813 406159 or
e-mail
dissentinfo(at)gmail.com
For the original invite and information on the Festival of Dissent!
Please
Click Here!
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Practical Info 
Tuesday, 26 June 2007
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