all pics liberated from elsewhere

At sunrise on 19 October 2011 the eviction of Dale Farm began.  More than 100 riot police entered the site through the rear fence like a Roman legion, and two people were tasered. As reported by the Guardian on a live blog at 13.32 on 19 Oct 2011, journalist Stephen Bates confirmed that officers were on the offensive and were not under threat from both men when they were Tasered - link to original live report here). Police forced entry onto the site by using sledgehammers to break down a wall of a fully legal plot on the edge of the site. After electricity for the site had been cut off prior to the invasion of riot police onto the site at first light, a resident of the site had to be taken to hospital later on after his defibrillator shut down. Bailiffs followed after 12 am to begin dismantling buildings. Police spent most of that afternoon removing people from the 12-metre high scaffold tower on the front gate, with the help of cherry pickers. Police secured the area and removed protesters by early evening. Protestors locked on with arms in plastic tube arm linked through buckets of cement were removed the following morning (so endured spending the night outside on a bitterly cold night wrapped in blankets). The scaffold tower was likewise dismantled the following morning by baliffs.

Late afternoon the following day on 20 October, Dale Farm travellers and supporters walked out of the site. Removal of mobile homes on the site by the bailiffs began, with reports of racial abuse and heavy handed destruction of remaining caravans on site.

The following taken from the Dale Farm Solidarity website is a full-statement of the travellers at the time of their mass walk-out with supporters off the site on Thursday 20th Oct:

Mass Dale Farm walkout: “you can’t take away our dignity”

At 4.45 pm today, Dale Farm residents and supporters jointly walked off the site to begin the next stage of the battle against eviction which has been waged across courts, barricades and protests. The decision to leave together was made in order to show the unity of the residents and supporters after two months of supporter presence at Dale Farm through Camp Constant.

Resident Mary Sheridan said, “Leaving with supporters today is about our own dignity and our appreciation of the support we’ve received. We’re leaving together as one family, and we are proud of that- you can’t take away our dignity”.

The mass walk-out leaves the site free of people except legal observers, who are required to make sure that the bailiffs stick to the letter of the law in leaving the walls, fences and most of the hardstanding in place.

Now the Travellers are outside the Dale Farm site, the legacy of Tory Councillor Tony Ball and local MP John Baron who drove the forced eviction to conclusion is laid bare. Where will these families go? How will their needs be met? The Travellers’ and supporters’ next move remains to be decided. Mr Ball and Mr Baron have declined to respond when asked for advice on what the Dale Farm community should do now.

Ali Saunders, a Dale Farm supporter added, “We have held off eviction for over a month, and our sense of togetherness has been amazing. Anyone who has visited the community cannot fail to see the importance of a movement to promote the rights of Travellers. Dale Farm will have a legacy for years to come.”

A new group, the Traveller Solidarity Network [1], has emerged in recent weeks, in response to the Dale Farm crisis.

Ali Saunders continued, “The Dale Farm forced eviction showed that the UK’s reputation for tolerance is a smokescreen for systematic discrimination against a Travellers because of their ethnicity and culture. That’s why groups from Amnesty International to the United Nations opposed the forced eviction.

Dale Farm has brought the ingrained prejudice against Travellers into public view, from constant rejections of planning permission, to hostile local authorities, to violent evictions. The true long-term impact of Dale Farm will be a movement of travellers and supporters to change attitudes so travelling people can live in peace and not be criminalised.”

[1] http://travellersolidarity.org/

Traveller Solidarity Meeting, Saturday 5th November in Whitechapel

11am Saturday 5^th November, 3^rd Floor

Cityside House, 40 Adler St, London E1 1EE.

Near Aldgate East and Whitechapel tube st. (District Line, Hammersmith & City)

Buses: 205 (from Paddington), 15, 25, 67, 115, 135, 205, 254, D3.

To attend you need to RSVP- email savedalefarm@gmail.com

Traveller Solidarity: http://travellersolidarity.org/