Pete Ross, who took part in the resistance to the eviction of Dale Farm by police and bailiffs sent by Basildon Council on 19 October, describes its significance and the necessity of ongoing solidarity with the Traveller community.

The day riot police stormed the homes of the Dale Farm community to violently evict 80 families from their land will be remembered as a flashpoint in a long-standing campaign of state-sponsored racism against the Traveller community of this country. The public protest against the injustice of the eviction, and outcry over the £22m bill for carrying it out, mobilised unprecedented numbers of the settled community in support of Travellers’ rights, and exposed the degree of state violence against Travellers in the UK.

But it was not just the state that was not responsible. At Dale Farm we witnessed a concerted effort by a wide variety of corporate interests to both maximise profit from the eviction and shape the dialogue in a way that painted corporate interests as the upholders of 'law and order.' Constant and Co, the bailiffs that won the contract to carry out the evictions, are estimated to have made almost £3m for their role in the eviction. Other companies, such as H.E. services, and Unit Hire, profited from providing personnel, machinery and equipment for the operation. Furthermore, it was a broader victory for any company seeking to move individuals from land in order to expropriate space for big business interests, as millions in taxpayers’ money was used to create homelessness.

They were supported in this by large media interests who swarmed Dale farm for months on end. Their taglines of “Illegal Traveller Site” and “Breach of Planning Law” were intended to drum up public support for the eviction.

The eviction and the resistance to it go beyond the battle between state racism and anti-fascist action. It is a broader confrontation between overarching economic structures and the people who these structures have so far failed to assimilate to “normal” socio-economic behaviours.

Traveller communities have faced state repression and systemic racism all across Europe for centuries, particularly as their traditional lifestyles have become incompatible with capitalist modes of production. Laws were brought in to prevent the free roaming of Travellers and from the 1990s it became impossible to lead a travelling lifestyle in England, as the culture of an entire population was effectively criminalised. Many Traveller communities, including the families who ultimately made their home at Dale Farm, began to settle in sites across Europe to live as small communities.

It is vital we target the companies responsible for the systematic and violent oppression of an ethnic minority, and punish them for the role they played in the Dale Farm eviction.

The newly formed Traveller Solidarity Network is calling for a phone blockade of Constant and Co on the morning of 19 December, a day when several activists from Dale Farm are in court. Find out more at http://travellersolidarity.org