As the #ImpossibleRebellion draws to a close, the analysis will inevitably begin.
One of the things that has been clear though is a shift in the way XR is being covered in the 🇬🇧 🗞.
Like a samba-dancing mosquito🦟, our persistence is paying off. 1/7
This piece by the @FT’s @henrymance discovers a quality long since thought extinct in the UK press: nuance – and it’s a joy to read. Henry *gets* us. And in a world of ‘but China’ 🇨🇳and ‘Gail’s car’ 💀🚙💨 that’s a step change in the narrative from the streets of shame. 2/7
We never started #ExtinctionRebellion thinking we were ‘right’🤓📚, that we had all the answers. Nor that we were going to be the people 👩🏽🚒🚑who sorted anything out. This shit is way too complex, interrelated and 🤯 for the kind of quick-fix activism of old. 3/7
And besides, nobody else was doing anything. Like really doing anything any more. It was as if the NGOs had made peace with the end of the world🌍, at the same time as political activists were still coming to terms with the end of the 20th century ☢️. We filled a vacuum. 4/7
Truth is, we’re rarely what people say we are. We’re more employable👔 and more diverse 🧕🏽👩🏾💼👨🏾🏭👳🏽♂️, less smelly 👃🏽💐and less old 🧒; we don’t fit the ✊✊activist stereotype anywhere near happily enough to be dismissed, as anyone whose spent any time with XR will attest. 5/7
But mainly, we simply don’t care. We absolutely don’t care that only 26% trust what we say about the crisis, as opposed to the 90% that trust David Attenborough. Because (trigger warning) we’re saying the same thing. We’re utterly fucked. ☠️🪦6/7
So thank you @henrymance and @FT for getting XR in it’s imperfect, autonomous, iterative experimentation. So much of your trade pomps and preens, desperate to be right. We’re just desperate to be heard 🚨
📽️‼️ WATCH as protesters are arrested for throwing paint at the HQ of financial lobbying firm @UKFtweets.
The protesters targeted the headquarters at 1 Angel Court in London to highlight the corruption of the financial system and how it prioritises profit over people and planet.
.@UKFtweets claims to be “the collective voice for the banking and finance industry.” It represents more than 300 firms across the industry to “enhance competitiveness”
Today the Financial Services & Markets (FSM) Bill will pass the Committee Stage in Parliament. This could devastate ordinary people’s lives, handing more power to the banks by further deregulating the economy, and causing another financial crisis.
A tree protector has climbed the same tree in the early hours of this morning that @paulpowlesland climbed yesterday, to stop it being felled. Solidarity with these brave people protecting nature 💚
❗️❗️ UPDATE: Police have arrested the brave protester from the ground as he remains in the tree, refusing to allow these trees to be cut down
🌳 TREES STILL PROTECTED 🌳
This brave tree protector has been up the tree for 4 hours now, making sure they aren’t cut down whilst conversations with the council happen today.
Supporters are beginning to show up! Head to Wellingborough, London Road, if you can! 💚
On the last day of 2022, let’s reflect on some of the key events of the year. 2022 has been full of political turmoil, climate disasters and fossil fuel corruption. To this we say, FUCK THIS SHIT.
In April, activists across Europe forced Russian oil ships to u-turn, blocked trains, and targeted Gazprom offices as govs continued to buy Russian fossil fuels that fund the war in Ukraine
In September, the explosions of the Nord stream 1 and 2 pipelines released huge amounts of methane. When Malm wrote How To Blow Up a Pipeline, he didn’t say destroy the planet doing it…
#Barclays is the UK’s and Europe’s largest financier of fossil fuels. Since 2021, when the International Energy Agency concluded there could be #NoNewOil, gas or coal development if the world was to reach net zero by 2050, Barclays has invested $19.583B in fossil fuels.
Extinction Rebellion, along with other groups, are calling for Barclays to end all investment in fossil fuel expansion. In March 2020 #Greenpeace activists shut down nearly 100 Barclays branches in protest against #Barclays support for fossil fuels.
The arrest of several journalists this week sparked concern for press freedom. But while the state increase repression, the papers and right wing think tanks want the police to go further & faster.
What led us to this point, and what was the press's part in it? 🧵
The only question police asked @charlotterlynch before she was held for 7 hours was how she knew to be there.
But @TheSun journalists who knew about Just Stop Oil weren't arrested. They were invited to take photos of a nonviolent protesters front door being smashed in.
Why? 🧵
This week journalists, photographers, and film makers were arrested during @JustStop_Oil protests.
But if this was just a mistake in the heat of the moment, why was this photographers house searched while he remained in custody for hours?
As Egypt hosts #COP27 let’s not forget the estimated 60,000 political prisoners held there.
We join the calls to release Alaa Abd El Fattah who is on hunger strike right now. #FreeAlaa
We also want to shine a light on some of those in prison here in the UK in this thread:🧵
While the eyes of the world are on #cop27egypt it's crucial to pressure their Government on their human rights record and for political prisoners release.
Reports of human rights abuses range from harassing activists & journalists to torturing prisoners: theintercept.com/2022/10/07/egy…
But many of the delegations arriving in Sharm el-Sheikh today are also increasing repression of protest. Often in direct response to nonviolent climate movements.