2023-05-26 18:08:04
“You immediately feel who is going to demonstrate,” says criminal lawyer Bénédicte Ficq. She refers to the occupation of the A12, Saturday followingnoon in The Hague. Ficq is participating once more. She has recently become the figurehead of the Extinction Rebellion (XR) climate movement.
At the station you immediately pick out the ‘peace-loving, nice, non-violent people’, she says. They walk in groups to the highway, says Ficq in an XR promotional video, to collectively block things on Saturday. Until the police send them away or arrest them. Participants do not have to fear a fine or criminal record, according to Ficq. The right to demonstrate would provide enough space.
Citizens and companies express their support
Nothing crazy regarding it, the top lawyer likes to say, to sit together on the highway for the climate. Gradually, this view appears to be gaining wider acceptance in society. The climate issue is so urgent and threatening to life on earth that more and more citizens and companies are showing support for XR.
Stop fossil subsidies is the main demand. It now receives support from 130 social organizations, including Urgenda, Pax and trade union FNV, which sent an urgent letter to the cabinet regarding this this week. Financial institutions also signed, such as pension funds ABP and PME and ASN Bank. All those sympathizers do not queue on the A12. But their support for the expected nearly 3,000 XR activists who do is telling.
Riots or excesses do not occur
When the XR movement blew over to the Netherlands in 2019 following roadblocks in the heart of London, the group mainly had an image of radical green activists in broad layers of the population. Although right-wing political parties and organizations are still striving for a tough approach to climate activists, social understanding is emerging. Significant is the decision this week by a broad collective of Green Churches to join XR. The churches do not call to sit on the asphalt, but to participate in the ‘support demonstration’ above the road.
What contributes to the acceptance of the actions, which are non-violent but ‘civil disobedient’, is that riots or excesses do not occur at XR. Apart from some fuss, such as following the defacement of a memorial for the Dakota disaster in Haarlem with the slogan ‘Tata closed now’ and criticism of (graffiti) damage to buildings, the demonstrations usually run smoothly. That is, XR activists deliberately violate the law, such as the occupation of airports for private jets, but without disturbances.
That can be called special. Because the organization, which is active worldwide, has no leadership. So anyone can join or start a group, such as Scientists Rebellion, and carry out climate action on behalf of XR. That’s a risk, you might say. Going too far gives the whole movement a bad name. What helps is that XR welcomes newcomers to local groups and familiarizes them with the rules of the game. Non-violence and respect for others are central.
Do not climb on trains
That basic attitude means that, apart from Ficq, many more public figures feel comfortable with XR. Actress Carice van Houten has recently joined. Across the border, actress Emma Thompson, writer Philip Pullman and actor Benedict Cumberbatch are known supporters, to name a few.
If XR members go too far, a corrective mechanism can kick in. That was shown in the documentary Rebellion, which shows the early beginnings of the movement under founder Roger Hallam in the United Kingdom. Activists climbed on top of the train on behalf of XR at a busy subway station. The movement disapproved of this.
Raids on homes of climate activists
The police and judiciary are still looking for an attitude towards XR and related groups, such as Letzte Generation and Just Stop Oil. More than 400 scientists published an open letter to governments this week calling on not to criminalize climate protests. In the UK, for example, 2,000 rebels must appear in court and demonstration rules have been tightened. In Germany, police raided homes of climate activists this week.
Earlier this year, Dutch activists were lifted from their beds and interrogated because of their call to block the A12. A number received an area ban, which was declared unfounded by the court this week.
The police usually look at it for a while, especially with playful actions such as XR members dancing disco. During blockades such as on the A12, a tougher approach follows following warnings. Activists are dragged away, arrested and detained. The intelligence service sees no danger. Climate activists do not pose an ‘extremist threat’, according to the AIVD’s latest annual report.
Read also:
‘Stop fossil subsidies’, shouts XR. But how doable is that?
Big companies pay much less energy tax than citizens. Why? Is there no other way? And then what happens?
How Extinction Rebellion’s green uprising began
The members of Extinction Rebellion deliberately break the law to demand attention for the climate crisis. The film Rebellion shows how the movement started: with the pride and perseverance of the founding fathers, but also with disappointment.
Lawyer Bénédicte Ficq (65) is now a member of Extinction Rebellion: ‘I think it’s moronic if people don’t take action’
Top lawyer Bénédicte Ficq, known for her fight once morest the tobacco industry and Tata Steel, has become a member of Extinction Rebellion. “It is high time to speak out once morest all pollution.”
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