The movement aims to fight gentrification on the North Sea island of Sylt and “disrupt the elite’s holidays”. The recent scandal involving young upper-middle-class people singing xenophobic music on the island has strengthened the punk protest. Punks from different parts of Germany have started to gather on the North Sea island of Sylt to protest against capitalism. The young leftists arrived at the resort last weekend (20-21/07), mostly by train, with mohawk hairstyles, torn T-shirts and facial piercings, to “disrupt the elite’s holidays”.
About 30 small tents are pitched in a meadow near the local airport. This summer camp, which will be held for the third time in a row, will last six weeks, including readings, workshops and artistic events, according to the organizing group Aktion Sylt.
“The central issue is the gentrification of Sylt: rich people are moving here, the island is becoming aristocratic, and others can no longer afford the costs here,” explains co-organizer Jonas Hötger from Frankfurt. As a result, many employees of local fashion stores, restaurants, bars and private clubs can no longer afford to live on the exclusive island, having to commute to work every day.
The group used crowdfunding to finance food, portable toilets, waste collection and a stage. The protest camp has been registered with the authorities and is expected to be dismantled by midday on September 6, said North Frisian municipal spokesman Hans-Martin Slopianka.
The 2024 event will also address the topic of climate protection and one demonstration per week is planned. “Several hundred people will certainly gather here during the action,” says Aktion Sylt spokesman Marvin Bederke.
Scandal on Sylt: L’amour toujours with Nazi lyrics
On its website, Aktion Sylt promises to “make safe retreats for fascist subsidy collectors, tax-evading Nazi heirs and backward world destroyers a thing of the past.”
Known as a wealthy holiday resort on Germany’s North Sea coast, Sylt made headlines in May 2024 with the release of a video in an upscale nightclub in which young people superimposed xenophobic slogans onto the song L’amour toujours by Italian DJ Gigi D’Agostino. At least one attendee appeared to be making a Nazi salute, imitating Adolf Hitler’s moustache with his fingers.
Several commentators interpreted the images as an alarming revelation of how far-right ideology had penetrated German bourgeois circles. In response, a small group of punks gathered on Sylt shortly afterwards with the banner “Make noise against the far right,” promising a strong mobilization at the camp this summer.
Aktion Sylt’s first protest coincided with the temporary introduction of the 9-euro ticket in 2022, which allowed the use of public and regional transport throughout Germany for 9 euros per month.
Holidaymakers on the island have complained about the noise, garbage and odors caused by the camp, so much so that a court ordered its dismantling ahead of schedule in 2023. Sylt podcaster Frank Deppe reported clashes between protesters and local business owners, with insults and even fist-fights.
av (DPA,ots)
Source: Terra
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