Victory to the Dongas
First published in ELPAN No.1
The Dongas are a tribe of about 40 people who have settled in
Twyford Down.They have named themselves after the ancient trackways
which converged onTwyford Down. Some of these were up to 20ft deep.
They have gradually cometogether over a year, are mostly under 25
and have few possessions beyonda goat, an axe and some bits of
canvas, bedding and rudimentary cookingutensils. One of them told a
reporter "Call us indigenous Albion, ifyou like. We have chosen
this. We are passionate about Life." (Guardian,15th Dec)
On 9th December, the day of the Lunar Eclipse the Ministry of
Transportand Tarmac joined forces mounted a vicious attack on them
in pursuit ofthat notorious piece of vandalism known as the
Winchester Bypass. AfterWinchester Collegesuccessfully
took the Dongas to court (the collegemade a cool
£300,000 by selling land given to them to protect
fromdevelopment), 80 security men with bulldozers steamed into the
pathwaysripping up trees. The Dongas resisted as much as they
could, throwing themselvesin front of bulldozers and climbing
trees.
As Professor David Bellamy said: "I have been in many protests
aroundthe world in some very hairy countries and have never seen
such unreasonableforce used, especially on women. These boys were
putting the boot and fistin and they didn't care if they were men
or women. There were ministry peoplethere but no one tried to call
them off. The security men went completelyover the top." (Guardian,
15th Dec)
While David Bellamy adopted the pose of 'outraged observer', the
Friendsof the Earth washed their hands of the matter. Eventually
seventy policewere drafted in to mop up the last of the resistance
on 12th December. Itis clear that such reformist organ-isations
will always back off even beforepush comes to shove.
Meanwhile the "War against the Hippies",is a part of a major
propaganda effort to isolate and destroy some of themost
intransigent elements who refuse to subordinate their lives to
thelatest money-making schemes of big business.
The danger of trusting such reformist groups can be readily seen in
therevolting Glastonbury Festival, whereby the Free Festival at
Stonehengewas diverted up the garden path. At first an entrance fee
was extorted onthe grounds that it was going to charity, but the
travellers were allowedin free. Word got round, so others felt they
also had no need to pay. Lastyear the travellers who had created
the festival were driven away by theorganisers. Security was
organised to extract money from anyone attending.Meanwhile, the
money so raised gets distributed around various local landownersand
a whole host of entrepreneurs have been encouraged. A small amount
tricklesdown to green 'charities', whose social practice ends up
encouraging complacencyand denying support to such as the Dongas.
This is a stitch up.
A festival which you have to pay to attend is not a festival, but a
moneymaking business. There has been a struggle for free festivals
now for overtwenty years. In that period, whether through a
conscious choice or in consequenceof the draconian housing and
benefit laws concerning young people, the numberof travellers in
Britain has increased from 3,400 in 1965 to 13,500 in 1992.(Squall
No.3)
The government is planning more legislation against travellers.
This ispart of a policy to increase homelessness, particular when
seen in conjunctionwith their plans to make squatting harder.
What appear as gross stupidities to the liberals, make clear sense
whenseen in terms of the class interests dominating society. The
attack on councilhousing, squatting and the travellers means that
private landlords willbe able to extract higher rents for more and
more cramped living quarters.
Of course the notion that anyone can own land is simply a
justificationfor robbery. No-one can own land anymore than they can
the sky. The notionof land ownership simply serves to cover the
brutal oppression exercisedfirst by feudal lords and now by the
capitalists.
The LPA is planning a
studyof the "War against the Hippies"which as far as we can see
certainly goes back to the struggles to makethe Isle of Wight a
Free Festival, and the plans of the LondonStreet Commune to open up
mass squats in London. We would welcome anyassistance in this by
participants in these struggles, or people who haveany leaflets,
articles etc., that may have appeared over the last twentyfive
years or so.
Squall, the magazine for Squatter-Homeless is available free
from;
2 St. Paul's Road, London N1 2QN
Traveller and Gypsy Action Group can be contacted at:
16 Greenhill Close,
Winchester, Hants
SO22 5DZ
Tel: 0962 861 685
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