Saving Iceland

July 15th Saving Iceland held a public meeting with inhabitants of Thorlakshöfn, accompanied by Lerato Maregele from EarthLife South Africa, struggling against ALCAN, and Attilah Springer from Rights Action, Trinidad, struggling against ALCOA. They talked about similarities in the way these companies operate in their respective countries and Iceland. Concern was expressed about pollution, climate, and the way the aluminium industry abandons towns to waste when they will close smelters in a few decades. Thorlakshöfn is named as a new smelter location by Rio Tinto ALCAN, Norsk Hydro, Arctus/Altech and Down Corning. The mayor of Thorlakshöfn has suggested his town as a location for two new smelters.

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Police Brutality Brings Chaos to Street Party Against Heavy Industry

Does dancing in the street really merit this kind of treatment?

Video report of the streetparty on July 14th, 2007 – now on our own server because YouTube took it off, after more then 3000 views…

When the crowd descended Snorrabraut on it’s way to Laugavegur, the main shopping street, police blockaded the road and there was a standoff for an hour and a half. When the driver of the sound system tried to exit the vehicle, police attempted to arrest him, violently attacking bystanders. A number of people got injured and four arrested. Police went for people’s throats, knocked people face down on the ground, leg-cuffed people and smashed a car window. Activists stayed non-violent.

The crowd moved on to the police station down the road, and sympathizers welcomed us with a surprise second sound system. The police station was stormed by the international rebel clown army that has set up shop at Saving Iceland’s camp in Mossfelsheidi. A number of people climbed the roof and hung down anti-heavy industry banners.
Police did a sortie, apparently with the sole purpose of a surprise arrest of a photographer.

Police have announced that the five people arrested will not be released tonight. It is currently uncertain on what charges they are being held, or what their medical condition is, since some were injured in their arrest. One of them has a broken rib.

Various individuals are considering sueing the police. Please send in any footage or photos you might have of police violence.

On a brighter note, the Dutch RTL4 evening news showed an interview with Iceland’s environmental minister, Þórunn Sveinbjarnardóttir, who stated that she opposes new aluminium smelters in the country. The program also showed images from Saving Iceland’s conference in Olfus last weekend.

RUV shows some police violence, but more interesting is Siggi Superstar and the clown army being interviewed by the RUV journalist, in matching colours…

List of proposed new smelters and enlargements:

The new ALCOA smelter in Reydarfjordur.
The new ALCOA smelter in Husavik.
The Rio Tinto ALCAN enlargement of the existing smelter in Straumsvik.
The new Rio Tinto ALCAN smelter in Keilisnes or Thorlakshofn.
The recent Century Aluminum/Nordural smelter enlargement in Hvalfjordur.
The new Century Aluminum smelter in Helguvik.
The new Altech smelter in Thorlakshofn.
The new Norsk Hydro smelter in Thorlakshofn.
The enlargement of the Icelandic Alloys/ELKEM in Grundartangi.
The new R & D Carbon anode rod factory at Katanes in Hvalfjordur.

The party begins on the ring road

…In a very relaxed fashion…

…Until police blockade Snorrabraut and attack protestors

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PARTY AGAINST HEAVY INDUSTRY

Saving Iceland invites you to a street party, saturday 16.00 hrs at the hot spring by Perlan, Oskjuhlid, Reykjavik. DJ EYVI, DJ KIDDI GHOZT and DJ ARNAR [HUGARÁSTAND].

Saving Iceland Streetparty Against Heavy Industry July 14th

REYKJAVIK – The international direct action network Saving Iceland will organize a street party in opposition to heavy industry and large dams in Iceland and around the globe. A number of well-known Icelandic DJ’s will attend, including DJ Eyvi, DJ Kiddy Ghozt and DJ Arnar (Hugarástand).

The ‘Rave against the Machine’ will take place on Saturday July 14th and starts at 16.00h at the hot spring by Perlan, Oskjuhlid.

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Takið þátt í einstæðri athöfn fyrir sálarheill þjóðarinnar þar sem Séra Reverend Billy mun særa á brott orkusugur og illa anda stóriðju.

Athöfnin mun fara fram 10. júlí í Kringlunni, musteri græðginnar, og hefst kl. 12.00.

The one and only Reverend Billy from the Church of Stop Shopping shall lead a flock of anti heavy industry activists through the pits of Heavy Industry hell in Iceland.

The preacher calls upon you to join him at noon of the 10th of July, Krínglan shopping mall, Reykjavik, Tuesday July 10th, 12:00!
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“We have the passive mentality of the eternal colony.”

A talk delivered by Iceland’s foremost author Guðbergur Bergsson (1932-2023) at the Saving Iceland Conference 7 July 2007.

     

Jesus, a leader of an upcoming universal power knew that he would soon be physically destroyed when he heard women cry over his condition. He then turned to them and said: “Daughters of Jerusalem don’t cry over me, cry rather over you and your children.”
At that time the Roman Empire dominated the world and the lesson Jesus gave reminded people that destruction was not something that would only happen to him but also to future generations. He seems to have already known that in spite of being the Saviour of the world, his death, uprising and the ethics of his learning, destruction as such would go on having future and be constant in acting of Christian nations, at least the European.

Devastation was obviously the nature of great powers.

Till our days they succeed one after another and nothing has changed, people live in constant fear the land and they themselves would be destroyed. So daughters and sons of Iceland will still have to cry over their land which is only a small part of the world at this moment due to globalisation of economical growth which has in stead of promised glory brought widespread hate in form of terror, hate as ethics and revenge, a claim for justice. In our time hate has become a sense of justice.
Because of globalisation there is no reason why we in this country should only cry over our condition. Of course to everyone the nature of a homeland is dearer than the one of others. The world is too big for an individual to have true feelings for it, at least not in details. Feelings for faraway nations with strange sounding names tend to be abstract rather than real, more intellectual than emotional.
This is at least so in my case. I have sailed up the Yangtze River through the impressive XiLing Gorges before that beautiful phenomena of nature was going to disappear for ever in name of Chinas giant progress. I saw cities along the riverbanks, empty houses without dwellers; citizens had been chased away and the rivers turbulent brown water to supply power stations for heavy industry was to take their place. I listened to speeches of proud authorities and common people too. The population is obedient and as usual follow the words of mighty rulers. But at the end they become victims when it will be too late to resolve anything. Nations do not eye destruction until benefit brought to them is harm. Then women cry as daughters of Jerusalem but nothing can be repaired and no universal saviour.
I have seen Egyptian monuments destroyed at the Aswan dam and heard voices of pride but the poverty of neighbour people seemed to be as it always had been. In Spain during Franco’s time villages were wiped out to build dams in name of economical progress. The inhabitants protested, they climbed up to the rooftops to defend their homes and farmers were seen beating police with stick. But they lost. And now, years later, they still cry over the waterpower station producing electricity for heavy industry. Read More

Ólafur Páll Jónsson
Reykjavík Grapevine
Issue 7, 31 May 2007

Democracy is hailed as the best form of government, but yet the countries that have been ruled by this best form of government are responsible for the worst consequences in the history of humanity: climate change and other environmental crises threaten the very living conditions of millions of people around the globe and no part of the world will be unaffected. Some people believe that democracy itself is responsible for this severe situation � that democracy as such undermines environmental rationality and plays into superficial and unreasonable preferences while ignoring long term consequences by making environmental decisions subject to procedural standards. In other words, since democracy is primarily about procedures while environmental rationality requires certain outcomes, democracy has no way of guaranteeing environmental rationality.

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Featuring Múm, Ólöf Arnalds, Rúnar Júl, Bogomil Font og félagar, Magga Stína, Ellen Eyþórs, Mr. Silla og Mongoose, Bloodgroup, Evil Madness, Skátar, Retro Stefsson, Strakovsky Horo, Dimma, Reykjavík, Velvet Ego, Dj Árni Sveins and Captain Tobias Hume.

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Grapevine.is
Valgerður Þóroddsdóttir
Issue 10, July 13, 2007

Who: Various artists Where: NASA When: July 2, 2007

A barefoot girl with long blonde hair reaching down to her lower back was dancing enthusiastically to the deserving catchy beats of Retro Stefson when I entered NASA on a slow Monday night. In front of and around her people were leisurely sprawled across the floor, many sitting Indian style, patiently watching as the Stefson teens effortlessly spun out their unpretentious, soulful and enchanting pop.

Organised by the campaign group Saving Iceland as a protest and fundraiser against large-scale industrial projects in Iceland, the concert had drawn a crowd and an atmosphere certainly unfamiliar to the nightclub. Giant banners on each side of the dance floor protested Landsvirkjun, the national electric company, and their funding of the Kárahnjúkar hydropower plant under construction in eastern Iceland, a plant that will power an enormous aluminium smelter in Reyðarfjörður. Read More

15th of June 2007

Two of the biggest punk/hardcore bands in Iceland, Gavin Portland and I Adapt, will support the camps kitchen with a concert friday the 15th of june.

The concert takes place in the wonderfull organic café Hljómalind in Reykjavík, where the local punks will jump the floor off.

Guests will be informed with endless Saving Iceland propaganda.

SHUT THEM DOWN!

Saving Iceland will be presenting workshops at the G8 Counter Summit in Northern Germany. We will be discussing and introducing our campaign, the 2007 camp and conference, international actions and the potential for a global movement against heavy industry. Read More