Thread by @n1ckism

@liebig34bleibt, an anarcha-fem-queer squat in berlin, is currently being evicted after 30 years - with 5000 police, tanks, saws, water canons and a heavily armed SEK unit / THREAD
1/12
#liebig34 #liebig34stays #b0910 #Liebig34verteidigen

the building is home to around 40 women, non-binary and trans-identifying people - marginalized groups who will loose the roof over their heads in the middle of a pandemic
2/12
#b0910 #Liebig34verteidigen

before the pandemic, the #liebig34 hosted open kitchens with vegan food, an info space on the history of squat culture, as well as organizing neighbourhood fêtes w/ cinema, performances and flea markets
3/12
#b0910 #Liebig34verteidigen

#liebig34 was squatted in 1990 + technically owned by a joint-heirship til 2007. due to huge debts it was put on sale in a forced auction. the liebig tried to acquire the house themselves through a co-operative
4/12
#b0910 #Liebig34verteidigen

but it was instead sold to the property speculator gijora padovicz in 2008 for the bargain price of €600,000. he had a rental agreement w/ #liebig34 which expired in 2018. since then they have been squatting it again, refusing to leave
5/12
#b0910 #Liebig34verteidigen

padovicz owns over 200 buildings in berlin-friedrichshain alone. he also rents to the AfD. he has been repeatedly criticised for highly dubious practices (gentrification through luxury renovations, leaving buildings empty, speculation etc.)
6/12
#b0910 #Liebig34verteidigen

every attempt by berlin’s senate to enter into negotiations with padovicz have failed - he is completely unwilling to find a solution
7/12
#b0910 #Liebig34verteidigen

so far on eviction day, the liebig’s lawyers have reportedly been refused access to the house and their clients, the residents - this makes the eviction illegal
8/12
#b0910 #Liebig34verteidigen

there have been lots of reports of the press being denied access and massively hindered by the police in their coverage, despite press IDs - this too is illegal
9/12
#b0910 #Liebig34verteidigen

many people may never have been in the #liebig34 or needed the protection it offers within our patriarchal-capitalist society. but i think this eviction is highly symbolic and relevant to us all:
10/12
#b0910 #Liebig34verteidigen

what kind of a city do we want to live in? one that evicts marginalised groups during a pandemic to secure the rights of a ruthless property owner - by any force and means necessary?
11/12
#b0910 #Liebig34verteidigen

or a city organised from below that’s capable of meeting its residents’ needs, offering safe spaces for marginalized groups, spaces to organise, politicise and support one another? in that spirit: long live #liebig34!
12/12
#b0910 #Liebig34verteidigen

forgot to add: liebigstraße and part of adjacent rigaerstraße have been declared a “red zone” by police. all cars have been removed, no one can enter/stop there, all shops have closed. it’s essentially martial law which again raises the question of how appropriate this is
#b0910