We´ve seen it everywhere people are rising up: governments are militarizing police, attacking their own people, criminalizing protest, and engaging in coordinated surveillance and disruption of social movements. The 1% and their puppets in government are waging a war on dissent.

Local governments across the world are arming their civilian police forces with body armor, automatic weapons, and military-grade ¨less lethal¨ technologies, ranging from sound cannons to ¨bean bag rounds¨ like the ones that nearly killed Iraq War-veteran Scott Olsen, who suffered a fractured skull after being shot in the head with lead-filled bags by the Oakland police during an Oct. 25 Occupy protest. More recently, a protester in Montreal lost an eye after police fired explosives into a crowd of students on strike against tuition hikes. In the United Kingdom, police are pushing for expanded use of tactics like water canons and chemical gas. Many of the same defense contractors getting rich selling tear gas and rubber bullets to autocratic regimes in the Arab world are happy to cut a profit by providing police with expanded weaponry.

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Occupy Amsterdam is again being threatened with eviction.

Amsterdam is home to the world´s oldest stock market - and it is #Occupied. Protesters in Amsterdam, along with dozens of cities across the Netherlands and hundreds throughout the world, took their square on a Global Day of Action on October 15, 2011, four weeks after Occupy Wall Street began. Occupy Amsterdam has occupied Beursplein (Exchange Square, directly in front of the Amsterdam stock exchange, now owned by Wall Street-based NYSE Euronext) ever since. Alongside the Acampadas in Spain and Portgual and the popular assemblies in Greece, the Netherlands remains among the most active Occupy movements in the non-English speaking world.

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After the brutal attack on the attempted re-occupation of Liberty Square by NYPD on the 6-month anniversary of #OWS, a number of Occupiers have relocated their base of occupation to Union Square in midtown Manhattan, a point of convergence for several #OWS protests over the past 6 months.

According to reports on the ground, several dozen people slept in the park after the illegal and violent raid on Liberty Square. Over 70 people remain, now on Day 3. Although tents and tables are still banned, Occupiers have brought blankets and sleeping gear. Many are calling it ¨The New Occupation.¨ In addition to holding General Assemblies, Union Square Occupiers are providing vital jail support for those arrested on #M17 as they are released from NYPD custody. So far, the NYPD has made no attempt to remove Occupiers or prevent them from sleeping in the park.

Our ability to occupy the commons in order to voice dissent is a vital political right. We do not need a permit to exist in public space. We call on all those who would stand for equality, justice, and liberation - and against the banks, corporations, wealthy elites, and corrupt politicians who have stolen our democracy and ruined our economy - to join us now. Although our plans are flexible and constantly evolving, we want everyone with an interest in this movement against Wall Street greed to take part in the evolving conversation. Spring is coming. The time to get involved is now!