The Netherlands: May Day wild demo in The Hague

On the evening of May 1st we walked a wild demo in the Schilderswijk neighbourhood in The Hague, the Netherlands with some twenty anarchists. We held this May Day demo against repression, police violence and capitalism.

For around twenty minutes we walked a route through the Schilderswijk. Flares were lit and hundreds of flyers were thrown in the air and handed out, among which a flyer with the text of the Anarchist Wallpaper about the revolt in the Schilderswijk last year. On suspicion of spreading this wallpaper someone was arrested last week and accused of instigation and inciting violence.

Politicians screamed bloody murder about the Anarchist Wallpaper. They proposed that anarchists be banned from the Schilderswijk and asked for “harsh prosecution” of those who supposedly pasted the wallpaper. Once again it becomes obvious that those who scream for the “freedom of speech” at the top of their lungs do not actually care that much about it as soon as ideas are put forward that are incompatible with theirs and that do not fit into their political games. Another example of this is the general prohibition on demonstrations in the Schilderswijk that has been installed since a year and a half. As soon as people revolt against those who oppress them – the police, bosses and the State – the “freedom” of speech and demonstration quickly comes to its end.



We do not wait until someone gives us this freedom, we take our freedom by consciously breaking the prohibition on demonstrations, by not asking the cops and major where and when we are allowed to have a demonstration, by spreading texts that we have chosen, whether they are “illegal” or not.

People in the neighbourhood reacted positively on the message against police violence, repression and capitalism. This is important to us; to be in solidarity with anyone who struggles against the police-state and for a better life, and no one can stop us from doing that.

This is why the struggle against the police, the state and capital continues. Neither prison nor prohibition can silence us. While the authorities prohibit and demolish, we will continue to build toward a world that is free and equal. That this summer may be a hot one!

Down with the cops and the State! Long live anarchy!