Dear humans,
We occupied an empty area today to open up a free space.
Why are we doing this?
On the one hand, superfluous money always creates new spaces that are only accessible to a few.
On the other hand, even those parts of society that think they have
something to offer investors play directly into their hands. Building
cooperatives are nothing more than huge heaps of capital, and are not a
suitable means against the fight against real estate speculation.
Intermediate use companies such as Projekt Interim are instrumentalized
to prevent occupations and at the same time financially exploit already
percarious people. They are nothing more than a new way of regulating
the space they monitor and control.
The situation looks bleak, but time and again people fight for and win real freedom. This is what we are doing today. We are not leaving Zurich to the rich without a fight. Together we want to create a place where every person feels welcome, a place where it is easy to join in. As of today, this space stands for freedom and equality. It is a zone for encounters and a foundation for another direction. This place stands for the fight for freedom.
These barracks were built for guest workers, economically exploited and geographically partly involuntarily moved.
These barracks were then used by the Asylum Organisation Zurich (AOZ) as
a laboratory of oppression and testing ground for the recently opened
federal camp. Here it was tested which repressive measures worked
particularly well. Here people were controlled, imprisoned, prevented
from participating in society and denied basic rights. Today we see the
result of these experiments, in Embrach and in the federal camp on the
Duttweilerareal, in the increasingly violent discourse in the media
about fugitives, in the collective looking away from racial profiling of
the police. What has been tried here is now anchored in law, in the
strict asylum regime that became active this year.
We do not want to live in an enclosed, controlled world in which such deprivation of liberty is possible. No jails, nowhere! We do not look away from the injustices that have happened here and even less from the massive injustices that continue to happen every day. We will fight for a solidary society without investors and without jails. Together, let us oppose all forms of discrimination and make it possible for every person to feel comfortable in this room: Discriminatory behaviour based on gender, appearance, sexual orientation and origin has no place here! Be aware – be attentive!