ZAD: message from those who haven’t submitted statements

On the 19th of April, a few of us were not only informed without much notice, but also by chance that there was a callout for a meeting at Le Camps des Chevaux Blancs. The discussion was around the state of negociations after the refusal by the government of the COP globale*. This is yet another attempt in a long list of attempts to destroy the collective running of the ZAD, this time thanks to a submission of statements for individual projects, nominative yet inter-dependent.

A certain number of us prefered to not or to no longer adhere to these “stunts” and so we got together today to try and explain why.

Part of it is that negoications with the state were never acceptable. Another is that, even though we started out relatively optimistic we have progressively lost all confidence and enthusiasm these last weeks and months…

Furthermore, this new loss of ballast was presented such that it was necessary to have “consensus”, that the accord of individual signatures must be complete, that if one collective refused that it would block everything. We rejected both this ultimatum and this paradox of forced consent. Our position is that our refusal to submit both a project and our signatures is clear and to be respected, and that it is not to block this process. It was never meant to be a veto.

We refuse judgemental and authorative practises, blackmail that plays on our fears, imposed reasoning based on urgency, lobbying etc., whether it comes from within or from outside of the zone.

We don’t accept that certain people exclude others who fight everyday against norms, whether experienced here or elsewhere. Nor that those in irregular situations find themselves musled… despite being sponsored.

We refuse to subscribe to the rule of law, collectively or individually.

We can understand or can imagine that there are those who stand by these tales of legalisation to either gain time or win back the solidarity of others components of the struggle. But now, seeing how it has played out over the last weeks and months, our opinion is that it has all become futile, if not harmful.

We no longer identify with this soft strategy.

Even in the best of outcomes, these accepted projects bring us in a round-a-bout way to the worst of scenarios: a normalisation that legitimises certain people to live here more than others.

In the end, despite all the presentations and the promises, we feel that the Legalisation for All damages other struggles that wish to remain without title, boss, plot or border…

Thank you to those who have arrived for the support and for the good vibes and our thoughts go out to our friends who have been wounded or incarcerated.

Now let us sort out those who speak of an “Us”

*comprehensive Precarious Contract of Occupation