IndyMedia - Vrij Media Centrum Nederland

Hier kun je discussieren over Rozengracht 19 Squatted in Amsterdam.
The winter is biting hard while evictions continue unabated. It has to be said that something has changed in the last two years or so in the city, as police in Amsterdam have lost the habit of carrying out speed evictions for all new squats, as was the case in the previous years. In fact not that long ago, anarchists from other towns in the Netherlands felt the need to remind us of the hopelessness of squatting in the ring of Amsterdam, since virtually all new squats were met with instant evictions. Since then a lot of new squats are in the city, bucking this trend and providing respite from the cold and offering a social and political space to the neighbourhoods in which they reside.

The newly squatted building is owned by the two brothers Jos and Henk van de Mortel under the company name Metroprop. They have been owning the building for the past few decades. It had been squatted before in the 80s or 90s, after which those squatters got a rental contract from the owner and they were then given a sum of money to leave last year. its been left empty since then. These brothers own multiple properties in the province of Limburg and a hotel called Park Hotel Valkenburg. Jos van de Mortel can be a bit emotional as you can see from this video of his drunk visit on the night of the 25th of January. For all the anger and greediness of disgusting landlords as the one shown here, squatting will never stop!