WORLD WORLDWIDE ITALY SICILIA News Journal Update - (en) Sicilia Libertaria: Clearance in Catania - Clearance of Student Residence and Counseling Centre, a look (ca, de, it, pt, tr)[machine translation]

Social spaces in the city constitute fundamental realities of
aggregation and resistance for the urban centre. Points of reference
that practice bottom-up organization and make up for the absence of
institutions. The eviction of Student Residence 95100 and the
self-managed counseling center Mi cuerpo es mio took place last December
5th, in the early morning. An unfortunate action for a city like Catania
which needs places, such as social spaces, that act as glue for the
social fabric.
A winter morning saw the police break into the student residence,
located in via Sant'Elena 26, and the counseling center, located in via
Gallo 1. In the first accommodation students/sses eligible for the
student house but not assigned as the ERSU does not have the facilities
for this. A violent raid at dawn on December 5th, justified by the
pretext that the social spaces did not have an authorization to stay.
The municipal administration ordered the eviction of the counseling
center and student hall on November 6, without any warning. Therefore
the activists did not have the material time to organize themselves, nor
did they assign other places to continue their multiple activities.

The eviction took place in the most total arrogance and absurd arrogance
of those in power and those who defend it, as if it were organized
crime. Activists point out that legality does not necessarily coincide
with social justice. The boys and girls carried out the activities with
absolute transparency, responding to the mayor's allegations of
profiteering with the initiatives. If anything, many measures taken by
the municipal administration are not very linear with respect to the
management of the city.

Both have been important garrisons for Catania for years, the activists
do not give up. The Student Residence 95100 opened 7 years ago. It was a
completely abandoned place, with moldy books that were recovered. A
public property whose management should belong to the Ursino-Recupero
joint libraries, the Superintendence and the Municipality of Catania.
But it found new life only thanks to the desire of activists to use a
new space for the city. Numerous, especially cultural, initiatives took
place at Student Residence 95100. Book presentations, film clubs,
artistic exhibitions, including photographic ones, musical performances,
round tables, seminars and much more enlivened the social space.
Furthermore, numerous events have found support from UNICT, which has
given them patronage. Furthermore, the Studentate has allowed various
political-cultural groups, such as Thorns in the Side, and associations
to meet and organize assemblies, thus creating a good synergy.

The self-managed counseling center began its activities at the beginning
of 2020. A fundamental point of reference for women victims of violence,
who have found help to get out of toxic relationships with abusive men.
The interviews always took place from Monday to Friday, with Tuesday
being the day they were open to the public. The activists often took
women into their homes, especially if they were segregated. On the day
of the eviction of the student hall and counseling center, seven women
were expected, one of which was segregated. Furthermore, an appointment
was scheduled with a lawyer to set up an anti-harassment desk. The mayor
accused the activists of the consultancy of making money. but dozens of
women can fully testify that the consultations were all free. An unjust
measure, that of eviction; the activists do not intend to retreat with
their struggles and demands.

On 7 December the procession in defense of the Counseling Center and the
Student Hall took place. A well-attended event, with hundreds and
hundreds of demonstrators. Everyone has claimed the need for social
spaces, especially in a city like Catania whose latest municipal
administrations want to make it only a playland for tourists and the
rich. Inhabited centres, places of art and culture, are increasingly
used for mass tourism and a swarm of places to eat and drink. Power,
starting from the top down to the local level, wants people to lead a
banal and ephemeral existence. Cities and towns must be places of
alienation and income, rather than places that encourage aggregation,
sharing and bottom-up culture. The activists resist the eviction of the
Student Hall and Counseling Centre.

In via Sant'Elena there is a permanent garrison with various
initiatives. One dates back to December 11th, a Tuesday afternoon, the
Call to artist. A call to creative young people to design, build and
create material to support social spaces. Furthermore, the activists
received a lot of solidarity from various characters such as
Zerocalcare, the cartoonist Sted and Carlotta Magnoli. The eviction of
the student residence and counseling center took place on 5 December,
the same day as the funeral of Giulia Cecchettin, victim of femicide. An
absolutely grotesque coincidence, because a reality against violence
against women is forcibly closed. All this after the hypocrisy on the
part of the institutions for November 25th.

In the following weeks, solidarity towards male and female activists
continued. The activities of the self-managed counseling center continue
in temporary spaces that are expanding. Organization of a signature
collection to ask the Municipality to take over the premises between Via
Sant'Elena and Via Gallo, which received a wide response. The activists
ask for discussion tables with the Municipality and other bodies
involved. Furthermore, an interlocutory proposal has been registered, as
a request to be presented at the discussion tables for the assignment of
the premises, but all is silent. Last December 27th a demonstration took
place under the headquarters of the Municipality of Catania to make the
requests. We loudly await the meeting with the mayor and the entire
municipal council, so that the criminalization and repression of social
spaces ends. Solidarity with activists, men and women, who manage to
have an impact and continue with their projects!

https://www.sicilialibertaria.it/
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