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EuroMayDay in Helsinki: Flames and Repression
May 14, 2006 - 7:31am -- stevphen
EuroMayDay in Helsinki: Flames and Repression
Aleksi
In Helsinki this year's EuroMayDay didn't go unnoticed. Everyone – from the streets, to TV and the tabloids – seems to be discussing the big issues: precarity and basic income.
The strength of the parade surprised everyone with about 1500 participants, which means that it was probably the biggest radical demonstration organized in Helsinki for decades. The atmosphere was jubilant and everybody was having a great party. Dancing, chanting, performance – and crowds of white-hatted Vappu-day Finns brought out of their holiday reverie by a wicked sound-system.
The reason for so much resonance, however, was not only the MayDay parade itself, but the clashes with the authorities that followed. After the demonstration, people gathered at the temporarily occupied space, the former railway warehouses called "Makasiinit", right across from the Finnish Parliament and next to the biggest media-headquarters in the country. The clashes were provoked by firemen and the police trying to extinguish the beautiful and peaceful bonfire in the midst of the celebrations. As the police moved in causing havoc, the media lapped up the “activists’ violence”, getting a lot of sensational material from the clashes and fireside revelry that night.
A lot of bad journalism followed. The clashes themselves were not engineered by activists, but were only the defensive reaction of party-revellers to the riot police’s attack. Nevertheless, the clashes were immediately depicted in the press as orchestrated by a gang of conspirators, and described as very violent and highly unusual in the Finnish context. Many news stories drew connections between the confrontations and the EuroMayDay parade, and links were often also made to the French riots.Through all of this the demands and arguments of EuroMayDay got an enormous amount of attention. Especially the demand for a “universal basic income” has been put on the agenda, and is now a serious topic of debate. Activists and researchers have been asked onto TV and there is a continuous flow of interviews in the mainstream newspapers.
After the night of festivities and clashes, the Makasiinit warehouses were empty again. Yet on the Friday after, only few days later, the building was set on fire by anonymous arsonists. It was a blaze of shocking size, gathering onlookers with subsequent smoke poisoning in the dozens. It also (conveniently?) gutted the buildings which developers had scheduled for demolition on Monday – avoiding the need to deal with possible protest actions against the destruction. Some bastards were of course quick to put the blame for the fire on "the activists" and EuroMayDay.
The current situation in Finland is very strange. The demands and arguments of the EuroMayDay have received enormous attention in the media, but at the same time, a very repressive atmosphere has been created towards "the activists".
We treat it is an honour, however, to have brought even the Prime Minister and the Minister of Internal Affairs to add their two measly cents to the Finnish MayDay events!
Some pictures:
http://koti.mbnet.fi/lotus72/Kuvat/valokuvia/vappu 06/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/emdhki/
EuroMayDay in Helsinki: Flames and Repression
Aleksi
In Helsinki this year's EuroMayDay didn't go unnoticed. Everyone – from the streets, to TV and the tabloids – seems to be discussing the big issues: precarity and basic income.
The strength of the parade surprised everyone with about 1500 participants, which means that it was probably the biggest radical demonstration organized in Helsinki for decades. The atmosphere was jubilant and everybody was having a great party. Dancing, chanting, performance – and crowds of white-hatted Vappu-day Finns brought out of their holiday reverie by a wicked sound-system.
The reason for so much resonance, however, was not only the MayDay parade itself, but the clashes with the authorities that followed. After the demonstration, people gathered at the temporarily occupied space, the former railway warehouses called "Makasiinit", right across from the Finnish Parliament and next to the biggest media-headquarters in the country. The clashes were provoked by firemen and the police trying to extinguish the beautiful and peaceful bonfire in the midst of the celebrations. As the police moved in causing havoc, the media lapped up the “activists’ violence”, getting a lot of sensational material from the clashes and fireside revelry that night.
A lot of bad journalism followed. The clashes themselves were not engineered by activists, but were only the defensive reaction of party-revellers to the riot police’s attack. Nevertheless, the clashes were immediately depicted in the press as orchestrated by a gang of conspirators, and described as very violent and highly unusual in the Finnish context. Many news stories drew connections between the confrontations and the EuroMayDay parade, and links were often also made to the French riots.Through all of this the demands and arguments of EuroMayDay got an enormous amount of attention. Especially the demand for a “universal basic income” has been put on the agenda, and is now a serious topic of debate. Activists and researchers have been asked onto TV and there is a continuous flow of interviews in the mainstream newspapers.
After the night of festivities and clashes, the Makasiinit warehouses were empty again. Yet on the Friday after, only few days later, the building was set on fire by anonymous arsonists. It was a blaze of shocking size, gathering onlookers with subsequent smoke poisoning in the dozens. It also (conveniently?) gutted the buildings which developers had scheduled for demolition on Monday – avoiding the need to deal with possible protest actions against the destruction. Some bastards were of course quick to put the blame for the fire on "the activists" and EuroMayDay.
The current situation in Finland is very strange. The demands and arguments of the EuroMayDay have received enormous attention in the media, but at the same time, a very repressive atmosphere has been created towards "the activists".
We treat it is an honour, however, to have brought even the Prime Minister and the Minister of Internal Affairs to add their two measly cents to the Finnish MayDay events!
Some pictures:
http://koti.mbnet.fi/lotus72/Kuvat/valokuvia/vapp
http://www.flickr.com/photos/emdhki/