The movement Extinction Rebellion has invited all the inhabitants of Belgium to peacefully occupy the garden of the Royal Palace of Brussels on 12 October, it announced on Monday.
This will be the first part of a series of civil disobedience actions planned in the capital by spring 2020, to alert on the "state of climate and ecological emergency".
"In view of the scale of the ongoing climate, ecological and social disaster, any claim to neutrality is either completely irresponsible or purely suicidal," the group announced.
"Extinction Rebellion calls on all Belgian residents to brave the ban on demonstrations in the so-called "neutral" zone established around federal political institutions, by occupying the garden at the entrance to the Royal Palace of Brussels," it added.
Participants are invited to bring a chair. "Throughout the occupation, some twenty assemblies will be held in parallel, each welcoming between 30 and 50 people. Each assembly will deal with a particular aspect of what should be done in Belgium to act against the ongoing climate and ecological disaster. The meetings will last as long as necessary, continuing until the next day if necessary," Extinction Rebellion said
Other large-scale non-violent actions will follow, warns Extinction Rebellion, "following the example of the actions carried out in April 2019 in London".
The movement claims to have about 2,000 members in Belgium since its launch in January 2019.
The Brussels Times
