On October 10th and 11th, several actions targeted different faces of the “logistics empire”, understood as the colonial and imperial logic of using mostly flows of goods to dominate, exploit and destroy 

Under the name of the coalition against “Bombs, barrels and bullshirt” activists showed two of this empire’s ugly faces:

• the destruction of land, ecosystems and livelihoods through industrial agriculture and global food markets competition, and
• the direct destruction of human lives through the military industry and its profiteers.

 In Germany

Two “fingers” from Disrupt Tierindustrie blockaded their own targets, one taking on the meat company Könecke and the other one the logistics giant J.Müller. The actions were building on and coming in support of local resistance around the harbor of Brake, close to Bremen, against the deepening of the Weser to allow for ever bigger ships to come in. Among other destructive flows coming through the harbors was pointed out the import of soy from Latin America / Abya Yala, used for a very greenhouse-gas heavy livestock farming industry in Germany.
The deepening of the Weser will also threaten farmland (through salt water seeping into the ground), and beyond this, is part of a global destructive logic carried by the Mercosur agreement which will benefit major chemical companies such as Bayer and BASF.

 More: https://www.instagram.com/p/DPtjAemiD4e/

 In the Netherlands

800 activists answered the call from Geef Tegengas and blocked the port of Rotterdam, biggest of them all in Europe, to prevent the export of weapons towards the genocidal state of Israel. They first kicked it off with a surprise blockade on Friday, and then went on to carry out the announced mass action on Saturday. Several more hundred people than expected showed up, and the diversity of activists was much bigger than would have been on an “usual” climate justice action but unfortunately the day was tainted by massive police violence.

 More: https://www.instagram.com/geeftegengas/

 In Belgium

400 people signed up in just a couple of weeks to join a day of direct action on the 11th, with multiple tactics deployed against an ArcelorMittal factory in solidarity with the people of Gaza. The international steel giant still provides the state of Israel with its products. The coalition included groups such as Code Rouge, Stop Arming Israel, Soulèvements de la Terre Brussels and Against the Flow. Some part of the action got blocked already at train stations in the Dutch-speaking part of the country, but other fingers managed to reach their target and heavily disrupt the location.

 More: https://www.instagram.com/against_the_flow_belgium/

 In France

2000 people gathered against “the project of the century” as it is dubbed by its very own promoters. The “Canal Seine Nord Europe”, in short Mega Canal for its opponents, is the project of a new canal, parallel to an existing one, that should enable mass industrial agricultural exports outside of France, and equally big imports of the necessary components such as sand and gravels for the construction industry. Cutting the north of France in two, a region already economically devastated and voting mainly to the far right, its goal is to boost grain exports, and turn the whole region into a “logistics hub” with an estimated additional 8 million trucks on the roads.

Through climbing, marching, swimming and shooting fireworks from the inside of the construction site, the mobilization was a resounding success in showing that this devastating project is not necessarily a done deal and that defending the over 3000 hectares of fertile land that will be destroyed is still possible.

 More: trailer and swimming action to reach the construction site