NationStates Jolt Archive

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/6187213.stm

Police in Denmark have arrested some 300 demonstrators in the capital, after a protest against the closure of a youth centre turned violent.

About 1,000 protesters in Copenhagen threw cobblestones, bottles and fireworks and erected barricades.

Police used teargas to try to break up the protests, comparing the scene on the streets to that of a "war zone".

The protesters are angry about orders for young squatters to leave a building occupied since 1982.

Local government sold the centre in 2000 and tension has been building since the sale.

Some footage of the events here. (http://politiken.dk/poltv/?ExtID=1237)

Even with my conenctions to the social centres scene and inevitable sympathy, I have to say that rioting in defense of one is a bad move. The original stated aim of the Ungdomshuset faction was to protest and garner support for their cause from the wider community. It seems like that is no longer the case and protest has given way to acts of resistance.

There seems to be something Quixotic about continued attempts to hold onto the place.

In my opinion there is something deeply flawed here where these kind of riot-tourism events take place and that if that same energy was expended in actually setting up new establishments then all would be much better off, but no - painting walls, unblocking toilets and repairing knackered roofs just ain't as darn sexy as fighting with the cops. Therein lies the problem.

EDIT: for some background details try here - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ungdomshuset

I'm afraid I have very little sympathy for the Ungdomshuset people. They had every right to go to court and try to get fair usage rights, and I've never had a problem with peaceful demonstrations (even been on the receiving end of a few), but rioting and street violence just drives me away from their entire program.

Given the historical significance of the building, it might be wise for the Danish government to comp purchase it as a museum. That would end all the bickering.

I would be mad to if politicians sold a youth house to a christian group were I'd spent a lot of time just like that.

The article doesn't mention the fact that fundamentalist Muslim youth have infiltrated many of these protests. :(

Disco Inferno?

The article doesn't mention the fact that fundamentalist Muslim youth have infiltrated many of these protests. :(

Do you have an article that does say that?

Being as Danish as I happen to be, you are a little closer to all of the commotion than most of you are.

I'm not as proficient in English, as I'd like to be, but I'll try to explain the incident with Ungdomshuset from my point of view:

The building had been taken over by young people most of which were teenagers. In Ungdomshuset, it was more common that not for people to smoke either cigarettes (which certainly is a sign of being apathic towards life and ... everything - yes, I'm 16, don't take this comment seriously) or hashish or even worse drugs. I know this because several of my friends have been there.

Worse than this however, is that alot of these youths came from poor and mostly uneducated backgrounds and alot of them were ... stubborn and violent so to say - a little too generalizing for my taste, but hey.

The spokesmen for the Ungdomshuset have tried to gain the politicians sympathy for a long time, years even. Yet our quite crappy government never budged and now they decided to storm the place.

Everybody expected a violent resistance.

Poor, pathetic Danish leaders.

The article doesn't mention the fact that fundamentalist Muslim youth have infiltrated many of these protests. :(

Yeah, we can't have a thread in NS without the obligatory Muslim-bashing!

Yeah, we can't have a thread in NS without the obligatory Muslim-bashing!

*bash bash bash*

What bothers me is the fact that there were foreign (German, Swedish, Dutch) rioters there too. It was none of their business.

What bothers me is the fact that there were foreign (German, Swedish, Dutch) rioters there too. It was none of their business.

I disagree, this building represents a movement that encompasses all of the European youth, not just Denmark. If German, Dutch, and Swedish young people use, and believe in, the Ungdomhuset, then they have every right to defend it from the xenophobic, anti-liberal Danish government.

Do you have an article that does say that?
Yeah, we can't have a thread in NS without the obligatory Muslim-bashing!
Hehe, true. I just made that shit up, to see how people would react. It's a pity that there's a dearth of Nordlanders to squeal with joy at the prospect!

It's very unlikely that any Muslims are involved in this.

Hehe, true. I just made that shit up, to see how people would react. It's a pity that there's a dearth of Nordlanders to squeal with joy at the prospect!

It's very unlikely that any Muslims are involved in this.

Exactly. Muslims have better things to do, like gang raping white women or blowing themselves up on public transportation.

Exactly. Muslims have better things to do, like gang raping white women or blowing themselves up on public transportation.

Well, the more they get on with the latter, the quicker this will all blow over...

Exactly. Muslims have better things to do, like gang raping white women or blowing themselves up on public transportation.

Dont forget running around gabbling funny words and wearing towles on their heads on their days off.

What bothers me is the fact that there were foreign (German, Swedish, Dutch) rioters there too. It was none of their business.

However, the building was not used solely by Danes - there is quite a bit of movement between all these different social centres in Europe. It is doubtless true to say that there will have been an increased participation of foreigners with the festival surrounding these protests, but to declare that it is none of their business point blank is to misunderstand the situation.

Europeans need to buy this toy from the US:

http://www.defensetech.org/archives/001219.html

You could clear the building out pretty quick, and make any crowd run away.

Europeans need to buy this toy from the US:

http://www.defensetech.org/archives/001219.html

You could clear the building out pretty quick, and make any crowd run away.

Call us old traditionalist, but we generally believe that brute force should be the last solution tried to resolve problems, rather than the first.

Call us old traditionalist, but we generally believe that brute force should be the last solution tried to resolve problems, rather than the first.

I guess that explains why Europeans use the water cannon, and the US does not.

That aside, since the pain beam is non-lethal, the threshold for using it will be appallingly low.

anti-liberal Danish government

uhm… Venstre, the largest party of Denmark is a liberal party… that’s Rasmussen’s party.

And it still bothers me that Dutch people as well as Swedes and Germans go to another country to riot against the local police.

I guess that explains why Europeans use the water cannon, and the US does not.

That aside, since the pain beam is non-lethal, the threshold for using it will be appallingly low.

maybe if they hadn't used force in the first place there wouldn't have been riots, seeing as how they only started after police intervention (according to wikipedia)

Would they have left the place if the police didn't react?

Call us old traditionalist, but we generally believe that brute force should be the last solution tried to resolve problems, rather than the first.

I wonder what the people who live/work in the area those rioters are in think about that...
I mean, the police have already politely asked the rioters to stop. Whats the next step? A stern warning and a time out?