Occupy Amsterdam at Beursplein

Occupy Amsterdam is located on a main street, the Damrak, at Beursplein. I talked to the information guy there, who told me that they had been there since October 15, that he came here from Costa Rica via London, and that there were a number of people who had felt the call to turn out in Amsterdam, describing them as healers, people who cook, who want to serve. Many are Dutch, but not all.

 

He explained that his role was to bring clarity to discussions, that his math training made this possible. Almost all Dutch people speak English well, and some of the meetings are conducted in English. While I was there, there was a mic check, conducted in English. He explained that the ability to clarify issues was valuable in keeping things on track.

I saw about 50 small tents. Most of the people I saw looked like tourists out on a rainy day, including the people cleaning up and the people checking tarps and getting ready for a general assembly. The TV guys were there, filming the old shabby people and the dreadlocks, but ignoring the people cleaning up the square, the information guy and his Dutch-speaking counterpart, and everyone who looked like a tourist out on a rainy day.

What's an occupation without one's best friend?

Things were quite organized. People sleep in tents set up on wooden shipping pallets, which are easy to find in this port city. The tents are neatly arranged. There is an information booth, a couple of private places to talk, a lending library, and a kitchen.

The information booth gets a workout

The mayor of Amsterdam appeared at a general assembly today [I use google translate}. The Mayor has asked the occupiers to move to one of several spaces in the City for sleeping, at least one of which is in a large park. The occupiers would maintain a presence at the park, that would include a large tent, on about 1/4 of the space in the park. The Occupiers want to keep their information tent, their public library and a kitchen tent, all of which could be put inside a large tent. The mayor seems agreeable, provided that people quit sleeping in the park, except those on night duty, as long as someone is awake and monitoring the facilities. He offers to arrange transportation, and to set up a safe place for people to leave their valuables at the existing site. It looks like the occupiers will accept this generous and negotiated offer.

The mayor said that he is the Mayor of 100% of Amsterdam and is therefore neutral. He admires the sincerity of the occupiers and their willingness to work towards a solution.

I guess it’s asking too much for American mayors to look to Europe for a civilized response to the Occupy Movement.