Notulen GA 22.05.2012

Minutes meeting General Assembly Occupy Utrecht, Tuesday the 22nd of May 2012.

Present: Joanne, Maan, Maria, Floris, Bram, Hans, Zacharias, Florian, Abraham, Pieter-Jan, Patrick, a lady doing research, James & Jack (visitors from Occupy Leeds, UK) newbie Richie, Freek, Lonneke, Daan at Ter Apel (joins in by Telephone).

Agenda:
1. Announcements
2. Last week
3. Ter Apel
4. 26th of May Poetry Afternoon
5. 28th of May - do we leave temporarily from the Ganzenmarkt?
6. Contact with the council

1. Announcements
Froukje has decided not to be present at every GA because she suffers from insomnia afterwards, she can’t sit on a chair for a long period of time nor concentrate so she asks to be excused if she goes for a short walk during a meeting.

2. Last Week
Floris says we do not get much attention at the stand. People don’t stop and talk, nor has there been a lot of donations for Ter Apel. Abraham suggests that the stand needs more knowledgeable persons. Saturday night was as usual - quiet though some people came and played with the herrings of the tent. PJ suggets more banners and a topic to focus on. He suggests ESM.

This and next weeks schedule for the stand:
Since Maria and PJ are busy with their studies. They’ll pass by occassionally. Floris volunteers to take the stand on Wednesday afternoon, Jack and James agree to be present on Thursday afternoon.

Jo Ann has seen a kind of flash mob action by Occupy Wall Street, people getting together and going out into the streets declaring their solidarity with for instance Montreal and the student protests. They were singing protest songs. It was a short and powerful action. She suggests OU could do the same.
Maria has been to Bloccupy Frankfurt. The police blocked the blockade to the entrance of ECB. Before entering the city a lot of coaches were sent back . Many of the protesters on the coaches that did enter Frankfurt had to hand over their luggage. The camp on the square was removed before bloccuppy started.
Jack and James visited Occupy Antwerp last week. There isn’t a camp but the people meet once a week. They’ve got their own radiostation. They’re getting on and are still enthousiastic.

3. Ter Apel
There are more than 350 people in the camp coming from different countries, Iraq, Iran, Somalia, Eritrea, and Azerbeidzjan for instance. The people are discussing different alternatives and the possibility of eviction. Every group has different priorities.The minister of foreign affairs of Iraq will visit the camp at Ter Apel.

4. Poetry Afternoon
One extra microphone might be handy. Lonneke agrees to bring more chairs. Zacharias makes a soap box or a small solid stage. It promises to be a warm day. Everyone is asked to bring empty plastic bottles. Those can be filled with tapwater. Plastic cups are also needed. People are requested to come at twelve o’clock to distribute more flyers.

5. 28th of May - do we leave temporarily from the Ganzenmarkt?
Florian: The council The mayor of Utrecht wants the camp to leave on May the 28th, next Monday. It seems some construction work needs to be done before the start of a cultural festival. According to Florian the mayor didn’t inform OU about this date and asks the persons who are present what to do, stay or leave on the date the council and OU agreed on earlier. Patrick opts for a no go. He doesn’t like the way the decision of the mayor was taken and communicated. According to Florian the mayor can decide to remove the camp if it doesn’t leave on its own accord. He argues that up till now the council kept their word. That the mayor’s latest decision wasn’t communicated earlier could have to do with a shift in personnel: “Anyway, they say that they’ve got sort of a case against us, two pages of complaints of the entrepreneurs in the surrounding area.” He offers alternatives for the people of the camp: Ter Apel, occupy Camp Zeist or another location, or join Occupy Madrid for instance.

Richie thinks OU should stay for at least another two years.

PJ asks if we can make OU an assembly. The camp has been hijacking the meeting for weeks.

Patrick doesn’t agree. OU is not only an assembly. He thinks the assembly is important but also thinks that Occupy has many fascets and the assembly is just one of them. The campers are entiteld to stay and call it Occupy.

PJ thinks it’s time for OU’ers to fly and not to stick to the floor. OU’ers could join the Caravan and concentrate on different focus points.

Lonneke suggests that the camp leaves on the 28th as a sign of goodwill and to write a letter to the council with the complaints of the OU, officially protesting against the decision to move OU earlier than planned. In this letter OU could ask the council permission for OU to come back after the end of the european championship. For the meantime she suggests to occupy a different park every week .

Freek has an two action plans, one for a jam session on Sunday the 17th of June in the Griftpark on the ‘Bult’. He wants us to invite people who can play an instrument or just want to recite a poem.

6. Contact with the council
Hans is willing to learn Frederik the subtleties of handling the communication with the council and the press. Frederik will be spokesman together with Florian and, if necessary, Floris.