Pooler, Michael

Pooler, Michael

Michael Pooler

1 September 2011Feature

Michael Pooler reflects on the “Pedal: 100 Days to Palestine” project that took him to communities of change and resistance across Europe

It took over 100 days but in the end we did it. After passing through spectacul-ar landscapes from lush forest to barren desert, experiencing unbounded human warmth and pushing ourselves to our physical and mental limits while cycling 7,000km – we finally arrived in our destination: Palestine.

“PEDAL: 100 Days to Palestine” was conceived as a solidarity cycle ride based on the idea of linking people and groups struggling against different forms of oppression, with the goal of…

1 July 2011Feature

Peace News last visited the Slovenian long-lived social centre, Metelkova, in 1995. Michael Pooler stopped by when the PEDAL: 100 Days to Palestine cycle ride to Palestine passed through last month.

Almost twenty years ago a group of artists and political activists squatted a disused army barracks in Slovenia, a republic in the former Yugoslavia, in an act of defiance against local authorities. The site has been transformed into the Metelkova Autonomous Space, a hub of cultural creativity and positive resistance.

After the 10-day war in 1991 which followed Slovenia’s declaration of independence, the Yugoslav army withdrew from the nascent state – leaving behind the Metelkova…