Germany Shocked by 'Disproportionate' Police Action in Stuttgart

[marmar]

from der Spiegel:




A hardline police operation against demonstrators protesting against a new railway station project in Stuttgart has shocked Germany, after more than 100 people were injured by tear gas and water cannon. German commentators argue that the police went overboard and warn of more violence to come.

The controversial Stuttgart 21 railway project has been the focus of increasing protests in recent months. But Thursday seemed to mark a turning point as the conflict between the authorities and protesters escalated dramatically.

Around 600 police used water cannon, tear gas, pepper spray and batons in an operation against over 1,000 demonstrators in the southwestern city of Stuttgart on Thursday. The activists had tried to use a sit-down protest to prevent the city's Schlossgarten park from being cleared so that work could begin on felling trees in the park as part of construction work on the new station. Thursday's protests were attended by a broad cross-section of society, including pensioners and children.

The protest's organizers said in a statement that more than 400 protestors had suffered eye irritation as a result of the police's operation, with some suffering from lacerations or broken noses.

The German Red Cross said on Friday morning that 114 demonstrators had been treated on site, and a further 16 were taken to hospitals. Among the injured were school children who had been taking part in an officially registered demonstration. ..............(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/0,1518,720735,00.html

[Iterate]

1. And nearly 100,000 protested the next day.

"A party leader, Cem Ozdemir, said in a television interview Friday that “these methods aren’t the way we do things in Germany, and we don’t want them.”"

"Crowds Fault Police Actions in Stuttgart"
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/02/world/europe/02germany.html

"Greens call for national Stuttgart 21 protests"
http://www.thelocal.de/politics/20101001-30217.html

In case you are wondering, yes, Germans are protesting against too much mass transit. But in this case the excess mass transit comes in the form of a development project that will also tear up a city park and demolish some historically valuable buildings.

[Lorien]

2. Can you imagine 100,000 Americans gathering to protest anything

without months worth of preparation and co-ordination?

[Mike Marble]

3. Why are Americans such wusses?

We need to mobilize like the Europeans, but instead we just angrily tap at our keyboards. That'll show 'em!

[Lorien]

4. The repeal of the fairness doctrine

we became "wusses" after the total corporate takeover of our press. The people aren't outraged because they don't really know what's going on.

[Mira]

5. ...

:thumbsup:

[Iterate]

6. Yes actually, I can.

I know the way you get a rapid, intense, and focused response is to have the network of protesters and local groups already in place, so maybe that's what is lacking. In effect, the months' worth of preparation is upfront.

Here's a link to one of the protest groups involved in Stuttgart 21, an issue that's been festering for 15 years now. It's in German, but that shouldn't matter, you'll get it:

http://www.campact.de/campact/home

Notice that Campact has several actions going at once from this one in Stuttgart to protests of BP drilling in the Med., and quite a bit of the effort is in providing info and staying in contact with individuals. Once a date and place are set, the notice can go out to tens of thousands within hours who can then contact their friends. Before you know it, 100,000 people are on the trains after work on a Friday, heading to the protest site.

I know that in the 1960's, most organizations had local offices or campus offices which preformed the same function. It was certainly grassroots, never top-down.

[Confusious]

7. Yay!

Lets protest against mass transit that'll take more cars off the streets!

[Iterate]

8. The protesters feel the existing system is fast enough,

that the Stuttgart station doesn't need to be changed into an underground through station, that they don't need another ICE line to Ulm, and that the cost is too high. They think the money would be better spent on the congested Rhine Valley Rail and the Frankfurt-Mannheim line. They also object to the destruction of some historic buildings and damage to the Schlossgarten park.

They see the project as one driven by the Federal government and property developers for private profit. After looking at the plans, I can see their point. Considering the damage we've all seen done to the US cityscapes by property developers, I think they should be wary.

As a compromise, they want a local referendum and the polls suggest the project would be defeated.

If you want some irony, consider that most of them went to the protest by rail.

[Confusious]

9. It looks stupid on a superficial level

Thank you for your explanation. I can see the point now.

I think a referendum would be excellent. If the government doesn't agree, then the bullshit will stand out.