Joe’s Garage 18th birthday, 18 years Pretoriusstraat 43


[nederlands] [english] [français]

On September 16th 2023, we celebrate Joe’s 18th birthday on the Steve Bikoplein and at Joe’s Garage.

Joe’s Garage on Pretoriusstraat 43 has been squatted for 18 years. Join us this Saturday, September 16th, for performances, music, coffee and cakes, food and more… Bring your friends & comrades and spread the word around your squats and further! Starting at 2pm/14:00 hrs. Interested in helping out? Send an email! FULL PROGRAMME:

FAJADJA
ASOCIAAL KABAAL
Peikor
Bas Punkt & Tijdelijke Toon
Jan Modaal
Big Future Raffle with Prizes!
Bleeding Eye Cabaret by Bloody Vag (18+)
DJ Trashy Lords, Van Kulo & Molok, Vudopia, Dj Matters, CnB, Bloody Hool, Bass Punk, Loosen Skroo rec.
and more…….

18 years Pretoriusstraat 43 / Joe’s Garage in the East of Amsterdam.

On September 25, 2005, Pretoriusstraat 43 was squatted by the Amsterdam-Oost squatting group as a protest against long-term vacancy, criminal money laundering practices and real estate speculation.
For 18 years the house has been a place for a living group on the upper floors, and in 2008, after 3 years of residence and the eviction of Pretoriusstraat 28, Joe’s Garage moved to the Pretoriusstraat 43 ground floor.
The Amsterdam-Oost squatting group has now been present in the Pretoriusstraat for more than 20 years. Joe’s Garage is a political / social center, run by a broad volunteer collective. Independent, in solidarity and non-profit. A place where the ‘cold wind from the market’ does not blow, a meeting place for many.
Joe’s is also 18 years old, with more than 1800 (people’s) kitchens (Voku’s), more than 1000 openings of the give-away shop, countless film evenings, music performances, language cafes, the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and of course, every Tuesday evening for 18 years, the housing / squatting assistance hour (KSU Oost) for help & info.

18 years squatted, 18 years precarity!

Now that we are coming of age, it’s time to say: This property, this place will & can never again appear on the speculative real estate market. Pretoriusstraat 43 deserves a stable future after 18 years!
We as residents and the Joe’s Garage collective will do everything we can to claim this future !
We cannot do this without your support & solidarity to achieve this. Don’t leave PS43 to the market, but to our community of solidarity !

RIGHT TO THE CITY !

Solidarity and greetings,
Residents & Joe’s Garage collective […Lees verder]

Benefit Voku in solidarity with the squatted neighbourhood of Prosfygika

Monday 17 July 2023, Benefit Voku in solidarity with the squatted neighbourhood of Prosfygika. Food served from 7pm, no reservation.

“Prosfygika”, or otherwise refugee homes, is a complex of residential flats built in 1930’s to house refugees resulting from the Asia Minor conflict between Greece and Turkey. The buildings are situated on a central avenue of Athens, surrounded on either side by the police HQ and the supreme court, in a heavily gentrified area . After years of abandonment, Prosfygika has been increasingly reclaiming its original purpose as many refugees, migrants, poor, greek and foreigner working class people have sought to resolve their need for housing by squatting the empty flats.

Communıty of Squatted Prosfygıka https://sykaprosquat.noblogs.org/
Info-night and benefit for Prosfygika in 2014 at Joe’s Garage https://joesgarage.nl/archives/9989
– Statement from Community of Squatted Prosfygika in November 2022: https://joesgarage.nl/archives/16341

Volkseten Vegazulu is a people’s kitchens existing since the very beginning of Joe’s Garage, June 2005. Your donations are welcome. Food is vegan, no reservation. All benefits go to social & political struggles. Joe’s Garage is a space run by volunteers. Without a collective effort, without your active participation, we’re remaining closed. Get in touch in you feel like giving a hand. We’re always looking for cooks. Any help is welcome in the kitchen. Experience not required. If you want to know which days are still available, mail us.

Benefit VoKu for Prosfygika & music by Rembetiko Against The Machine

Thursday 26 January 2023, Benefit Voku in solidarity with the squatted neighbourhood of Prosfygika with music performance by Rembetiko Against The Machine. Food served from 7pm, no reservation.

“Prosfygika”, or otherwise refugee homes, is a complex of residential flats built in 1930’s to house refugees resulting from the Asia Minor conflict between Greece and Turkey. The buildings are situated on a central avenue of Athens, surrounded on either side by the police HQ and the supreme court, in a heavily gentrified area . After years of abandonment, Prosfygika has been increasingly reclaiming its original purpose as many refugees, migrants, poor, greek and foreigner working class people have sought to resolve their need for housing by squatting the empty flats.
(Info-night and benefit for Prosfygika in 2014 at Joe’s Garage https://joesgarage.nl/archives/9989)

Rembetiko Against The Machine – A session with rebetiko tunes from the 1930’s till the early 1950’s. The period between the 1st and 2nd World Wars had a crucial role in the development of the Greek bouzouki players and the texture of the genre. We are gonna perform rebetiko tunes from each period. Looking forward to see you there and enjoy the night with this unique atmosphere!!!

Ilias Konstantinidis: guitar, vocals
Giannis Leloudas: bouzouki, vocals
Argyris Papadimitriou: bouzouki, baglamadaki, vocals

Statement Community of Squatted Prosfygika
ON THE ATTACK ON PROSFYGIKA OF L. ALEXANDRA

On the morning of 22/11, the forces of repression entered the 7th block of the squatted neighbourhood of the Prosfygika arresting comrade Kostas Dimalexis and then, in the afternoon of the same day, in the 6th block, arresting 79 of its defenders. The media once again did government propaganda.

There are more than 400 people living in the Prosfygika – The community of the squatted Prosfygika consists of about 150 adults and 30 children. We propose to organize society outside the state capitalism. We are the birthplace of the popular uprisings of December 2008 and the anti-monetary struggles of 2010-2012. We do not and have never believed in parliamentary fairy tales.
We promote the model of social self-management; we organize ourselves in direct democratic processes in our general assembly and in the regular and extraordinary procedures. We create and operate structures for living, education and and internal economy. At the same time we organize and participate in the struggles of the oppressed, because we fight until the collapse of this tyrannical and unjust regime. Until the whole world becomes one a community of equality, freedom, solidarity and social justice. […Lees verder]

Demonstration against all evictions and state repression

Callout for a demonstration on Friday 25th of February, 19:00, Leidseplein, Amsterdam.

We are calling for this demonstration as a response to the eviction of the Waldeck Pyrmontlaan, the court case of our arrested comrades, the repression at the housing demo in Leiden and every other time the police used their violent means to protect the rich and structures of oppression. These speed evictions and police repression concern all of us, not just the anarchists or the squatters.

Since the last housing protests, more people seem to be losing faith in reformist approaches and the false promises of politicians. Squatting is widely supported, rent strikes are called for and people everywhere are taking direct action against gentrification. Politicians from volt and groenlinks were drowned out of demos and were unable to promote their fake promises.

Fighting for our own solutions- without relying on the state or making demands of the government is seen as a viable solution. As more people are embracing anarchist tactics and methods of organising, the state’s response seems to be to repress it before it can spread. A whole arsenal of tactics is employed to attempt to shut us down, break bonds of solidarity and scare people away.

From police violence at demonstrations, evictions, preventive searches, sending informants and so on. This repression must be met with a collective response. Our rage, like our movement, will not be contained or repressed.

Let’s come together and show our rage. Come prepared, come in block if that makes you feel safer. There will be a sound system, speeches, a march and good spirit! Everyone is welcome, email us with any concerns or questions you might have.

We envision:
A world without police and prisons
Cops and cameras of campus
Free meals
Free public transport for everyone
Decolonising the university
Cancelling of all debts
Free housing for everyone that needs it

Autonomous Student Struggle
https://radar.squat.net/en/autonomous-student-struggle
https://astudentstruggle.noblogs.org/

Benefit for Het Kraaienest, new squatted social center in Groningen

Monday 21 February 2022, Benefit for Het Kraaienest, new squatted social center in Groningen. Volkseten Vegazulu. Food served from 6pm, no reservation.

Het Kraaienest is the new squatted social center in Groningen. The former café restaurant Het Heerenhuis on Spilsluizen was squatted around the new year, after almost 2 years of emptiness. Closed down during the first lock down, the restaurant never reopened. The owner hasn’t been granted permits to build housing. He already took the squatters to court and lost the case. Het Kraaienest blijft, yeah!
The doughy real estate investor behind Het Heerenhuis is Joshua Camera, chosen Slumlord of the Year 2018. He would have bought the building in May 2020, handing it over to straw man business partner Jaqcues van den Berg. Joshua Camera has already built up himself a disastrous reputation in Groningen.
During this benefit event, we’ll be talking about the Kraaienest, Zuiderkuipen, Akerkstraat and other squatted spaces around the city, with a short film and some pictures. What’s up with Rollend Goed, Het Wieland, Betonbos? The council has recently provided a temporary terrain to one group. Not only Groningen and Amsterdam have provided such terrains to squatters, Utrecht would be also tempted by the same move.
And by the way, Kraakspreekuur Groningen is back on track. Is this a sign of the times?

Volkseten Vegazulu is a people’s kitchens existing since the very beginning of Joe’s Garage, June 2005. Your donations are welcome. Food is vegan, no reservation. All benefits go to social & political struggles. Joe’s Garage is a space run by volunteers. Without a collective effort, without your active participation, we’re remaining closed. Get in touch in you feel like giving a hand. We’re always looking for cooks. Any help is welcome in the kitchen. Experience not required. If you want to know which days are still available, mail us.

Sweet sixteen and still angry! Protestmanifestatie

[nederlands] [english] [français]

Sweet sixteen and still angry! Protestmanifestatie op 11 september

Joe’s Garage is 16 jaar geleden gekraakt. De kraakgroep Oost is nu zo’n 20 jaar aktief in de Transvaalbuurt, vanaf de kraak van Pretoriussstraat 28 in 2001. We zijn wekelijks open voor de buurt met de weggeefwinkel, het kraakspreekuur, de films en de volkskeuken.
Naast de aktviteiten als kraakgroep met panden als Het Blijvertje en de Valreep hebben we mede aan de wieg gestaan van initiatieven in Oost als Bajesdorp in het Amstelkwartier, de Nieuwland in de Dapperbuurt en binnenkort de Nieuwe Meent aan het Archimedesplantsoen waarbij we panden in collectief eigendom hebben verworven en dat gaan combineren met activiteiten voor en in de buurt.

Ondanks dit alles staat in Amsterdam-Oost/de Transvaalbuurt de sociale verhuur en ander betaalbare woonruimte onder grote druk van speculatie op de woningmarkt, waarbij steeds meer mensen financieel in de knel komen. Steeds meer onzekerheid van je huisvesting vanwege tijdelijkheid en/of betaalbaarheid maken mensen wanhopig.

Goede betaalbare en zekere huisvesting is geen luxe artikel, maar een noodzaak voor een ieder!

We willen onze vejaardag gebruiken om een oproep te doen om aan te sluiten bij het nationale woonprotest.
We willen een einde aan de uitverkoop van Oost, te beginnen in de Transvaalbuurt.
We steunen Het Wonen Protest, en de demonstratie tegen de wooncrisis op 12 september vanaf het Westerpark om 14:00.

Kom spandoeken maken we op het Steve Bikoplein. We organiseren op 11 september een protestmanifestatie tegen de totale uitverkoop van de Transvaalbuurt. Je kan van 14:00 tot 19:00 op het Steve Bikoplein terecht voor de manifestatie, heel veel flyers en leeswek, eten op donatie en muziek.
Tot dan!

[…Lees verder]

New Squatting Law – Squat Wars IV, Return of the squatting ban.

The Dutch government recently passed a new law, Wet Handhaving Kraakverbod (or law to Enforce the Squatting Ban), with the aim of evicting squatters more quickly. There is a lot of confusion and uncertainty about what exactly this law will entail and especially what influence this will have on squatters and their housing rights.

Unfortunately, this text will not be able to answer all questions since this law has been written by politicians who see squatting as a terrible thing and want to get rid of it, without actually seeming to have much understanding of the legal protocols and procedures. The result is a law that says that from now on, squatters must be evacuated more quickly without clearly establishing exactly how this should work. Both the Public Prosecution Service, the Council of Judiciary and Bond of Lawyers strongly criticised the proposal and called for this law not to be adopted, nevertheless a large majority voted in favour and this law entered into effect on 19 May, 2021. […Lees verder]

Benefit for legal fund. Vegan Shoarma Take to the square

Monday August 10th 2020, Benefit for legal fund. Vegan Shoarma Take to the Steve Bikoplein, the square next door, from 7pm till 9pm. No reservation.
The anti-authoritarian collective Ajo Negro is cooking at Joe’s Garage. The benefit will go to support squatting legal costs in Amsterdam.

Ajo Negro is an anti-authoritarian collective that cooks to support events and projects of social transformation. It is run by volunteers based on a libertarian perspective. Encouraging human and non-human freedom. We are an active kitchen that criticise capitalism and welfarism. We choose vegan as a nourish option and as a political decision. We help each other in a horizontal way, considering that the collective effort is more fruitful that the individual one. […Lees verder]