End of Seville Lock-in: Joy and Optimism

At 7.30 this evening the 300 disobedients who had locked themselves into the Iglesia del Salvador in Seville opened the doors and came out, led by the delegation from the lock-in of immigrants at the University Pablo de Olavide. They came out with banners proclaiming the struggles of migrants and women, shouting ‘no-one is illegal’ and reading the manifesto of the lock-in. They came out into a crowd of over a thousand which had gathered outside the church in order to escort them to join the main demonstration. The demonstration itself was massive, and the inmigrants from the lock-in formed the head of it.

Thus a very long day ended with joy and success, all the participants moved by the power and collective intelligence they had been able to create in a disobedient action which managed to draw political and media attention (even Spanish president Aznar, whose policy is generally the complete disappearance of social movements, was obliged to mention the lock-in in the Summit) without any participants identified, arrested or injured. The action succeeded in making the struggle of the migrants a central issue in the demonstration, and forcing that struggle to have visibility even within the Summit itself. It remains to be seen to what extent the negociations advanced today between public institutions and the migrants’ lock-in will continue.

Today’s excitement represents not only an isolated action, but a possible sustainable articulation of struggles: the migrants’ lock-in and the organizations in Seville that participated today will continue to work together, and the European Disobedient Laboratory proposed by the Disobedients (Italy) can consider today’s action a very auspicious beginning.

links:
manifesto of Iglesia del Salvador lock-in:

http://uk.indymedia.org/front.php3?article_id=34466&group=webcast
information on Pablo de Olavide lock-in:

http://www.nodo50.org/elencierro/
the European Disobedient Laboratory:

http://acp.sindominio.net/article.pl?sid=02/06/18/2357232&mode=thread