Leuven - EU transport ministers' meeting
15 September 2001
On Sept. 15 more then 300 people joyfully liberated the
town centre of Leuven, Belgium, from cars, in a succesful Reclaim the
Streets. Anarchists carried a banner stating "Capitalism =
Terrorism".
Locals responded enthusiastically. Police limited
themselves to guarding the EU ministers of transport, using horses and two
water-cannon vans. The ministers had moved to a different location
for their meeting at the last minute. The Belgian chairing minister,
being from the green party, wanted to avoid a confrontation with
the anticapitalists.
The anarchist social centre, made a statement describing the alienating
role of the car: "Who has any real influence over her own life? 'My car,
my freedom' has democraticised a dream, the American dream or the workers
dream of an own house, garden and car..., an all-dominating dream. But the
number of awakened will steadily grow with polarisation of society and the
dream will reveal itself as a fata morgana - the deceit! - in
a destroyed desert of barbarism populated by completely alienated
and frightened (white) individualists!"