Attempts to squat Tempelhof Airport - Berlin

Passing the redundant airport just now I saw the aftermath of the demo and the attempted squatting of it. It is a vast area awaiting new use and the Berlin government is looking forward to some serious money. A clash of interests is in the making and will put Neukölln again on the map.

Quite so and it got rather messy after 16:00. The Police were not taking any nonsense. The people there all seemed rather confused apart from them who thought it was the first of May all over again. It was one of the more pointless Demos I have ever attended as it's intentions were to transform the place into a Guinness Book Of Records dog toilet... for all.

It didn't make the record book then... ?

No, not in the slightest. Not one person made it. The protestors were useless. God forbid the country ever needed a real revolution as they were all pretty crap. I must however pay tribute to the well pierced family trying to throw their baby over the fence and understand how aggrieved they were at spilling their bottle of Sternberg in the process.

i heard some people got through. they drove through the fence in a car with wings.

i don't agree that it was pointless, yes everyone was a bit confused, there was no real plan of action that was known to all, but the fact that so many people turned out speaks for itself (5,000 according to the squat tempelhof blog). i was personally pretty disgusted to see the police throwing people to the floor for standing next to a fence, dancing in the street, or spraying pepper spray in the eyes of someone playing a drum. also i saw a police van nearly knock a girl off a bike, not once, but twice, the second time being an attempted push to the face from the passenger side as they sped past. regarding the 1st of may comment, i was there a good 6 hours, covered the whole boundary and street routes and didn't see one (glass) bottle or stone thrown

in my opinion it's not important whether anyone got in or not, i don't even believe that was the real motive for action, it was about raising awareness, encouraging people to take an interest in how this land will be developed and whether said development is a fair balance between public and private interests. the way this field was so impatiently "defended" through the constant herding through the streets of demo-goers was somewhat inappropriate. also the photo of the cop in civvy clothes pulling a gun on someone is truly heartbreaking.

here are some amazing images http://www.demotix.com/news/berliners-atte...airport-protest

The human snowplow blew my mind, just imagine the piles of crippled people . They should really start working on the human vacuum cleaner where you get sucked into a cell.

Fucking stupid twatty students sitting on the floor like they're taking part in something so earth-shatteringly important that they feel the need to put their stupid hoods up over their stupid heads. Twats!

It was a tremendous show of stupidity that cost Berlin another 500,000€ in police overtime the city doesn't have. The project was set up by idiots who couldn't organize a piss up in a brewery. It was a distraction.

1,8 million euro according to the tagesspiegel, and to HAL, seeing as you were there, you're as responsible for the cost to city as the "idiots" who organised it. well done and thanks for taking part

Nothing to do with nothing... the original builders of Flughafen Tempelhof (the nazis) planned that the airport would be shut down (due to safety and pollution concerns of an airport being located in a central metro area) by 1952 and turned into a huge carnival type of park (ala Tivoli in Copenhagen)

From the very beginning, it was slotted to be closed.

Wonder why the students dont protest something REAL, as they are on their way to the flughafen to go on record with their 200€ jeans, floppy haircuts and latest wannabe hollywood fashion, they step over and ignore the homeless in their own city.

does anyone ever take these lifelong students seriously?

I was there yesterday taking photos and regardless of what everything thinks of the reasoning, the police were far too heavy handed.

i'm sorry but where is it stated this was a student only protest? i'm not a student and i was there, HAL, are you a student? one of the main organisers of the event is a quite old man of maybe, his name escapes me, but with short white hair and his C&A pastel blue pullover, i don't think he fit your student description. regarding helping the homeless, one of the suggested items in the ST manifesto was to use the land for super cheap housing and wagendorf type accommodation.

What? Like the Govt. raising the cost of Uni. Tuition. - Students start nationwide education strikes

well said!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QY1H_87PX9U

here too: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hFKJ8-4o9v8...feature=related

yes, look at them all with their floppy hair, 200€ jeans, and "hollywood fashions"