Many different people with different motivations and needs will participate in the planned mass action in the Oldenburg region and around it. It is therefore all the more important that everyone can be sure of some common basic assumptions that represent as many ideas as possible, so that, despite being a large group, individual needs can be realized. This action consensus was therefore developed in a collective process of the alliance. It is to be discussed in the respective reference groups and is considered a binding framework for the mass action.
With our mass action we want to block big profiteers and players of the animal industry, as well as draw attention to the social catastrophes caused and reproduced by them. The meat industry is in no way sustainable, as it profits from the exploitation of humans and animals, the destruction of the environment and climate, and global injustice. Our protest also includes forms of civil disobedience: with diverse forms of action we want to disrupt the operations of major players in the animal industry. As a cross-movement union of left groups, we understand this as an expression of our collective self-determination and our resistance against the oppressive, capitalist and life-despising system of the animal industry.
The safety of the participating activists, the workers, the animals and all participants has top priority for us. We are currently working on a security and awareness concept for the mass action in order to meet this demand. There should be no hostility towards people who reject our mass action (e.g. counter-demonstrators). We want to avoid escalations and not put people in danger. The mass action of the alliance ‘Together against the animal industry’ does not aim to hurt people or other animals and also not to damage infrastructure or other constructions. However, construction barriers and other barriers will not be obstacles for us and, if necessary, will be overcome.
We want a mass action that is accessible to many and conveys an image of diversity and openness. We are aware that social structures of discrimination and power also operate in our movement. Accordingly, we do not tolerate misanthropic or discriminatory statements, actions or messages in mass action. We go into action with the awareness that certain groups of people are particularly affected by state repression, e.g. due to institutional racism. We do not want to reproduce this and actively work against it. This means that we reflect on our own privileges when dealing with the police and show solidarity with those affected. We take the side of those affected by racist police violence. Such solidarity also includes refraining from deliberate provocations (insults, …), e.g. towards the police. We deal with repression in solidarity. Our Working Group ‘Antirepression’ will support you before and after the mass action if you need support or further information.
We fight together and do not belittle each other. Among each other we strive for a low hierarchy and we want to make decisions during the mass action in a grassroots democratic and consensus oriented way. We also stand in solidarity with those who are oppressed in the animal industry system and/or affected by its ecological destruction. Many workers in the animal industry are systematically exploited and precarized. We do not perceive them as opponents but as addressees and potential allies of our protest. We want to encourage people to show alternative and inclusive solutions to the existing destructive system that enable a good life for all.
For a solidarity-based and ecological food system change!
SHUTDOWN ANIMAL INDUSTRY !
We consider it our duty to counteract the spread of the Covid-19 virus and therefore adhere to the hygiene concept that we publish before the mass action.