I don't really have much time to do this, but I'd like you to at least introduce you to a political situation before it is officially resolved (?) on the 31st. The demonstrators in the pics below are members of and advocates for Kommando Rhino, a sort of trailer park/shantytown that was set up right across from my neighborhood.
Several years ago, the Kommando Rhino folks moved onto a piece of property that had just been sold by the city to a private company. The shantytown was originally a form of political protest, but after several years it became clear that they really just wanted to live there. After years of negotiations, a final deadline was set for their removal.
Yes, I said years of negotiations. When the police get involved with anything, elements of the media and anti-police protesters claim that Germany is degenerating into a police state, a statement that unfairly evokes images of Nazism and the GDR. In this case, police involvement would not have been a big deal had the Stuttgart 21 riots not occurred. Wanting to avoid a totalitarian image, Baden-Württemberg's representatives have been trying to work something out with the Kommando Rhino people.
Two years later, nothing constructive has been done. In recent months, Kommando Rhino has tried to improve its image, calling itself an art, culture, and trailer collective, but I don't think anything they do will have any kind of effect on the issue as it currently stands. The bottom line is that the place is an eyesore and although its members have made long-term living arrangements there, they pay nothing for it.
Well written, I absolutely share your point of view. I'm currently listening to their agressive form of protest, including their building of barricades. All I can do about it is laugh. They have these banners which read "Friedliche Lösung, gewaltsame Räumung". Actually they are the ones being agressive.
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