[4][5] As well as building a permanent fortress to resist evictions, the squatters organized a pirate radio station and a Volxküche (cafe) which was founded in 1982 and still exists.

[6] Christian Lochte, head of the Department for Protection of the Constitution of Hamburg, claimed that women from the Red Army Faction were living at Hafenstraße and the Hamburgische Electricitäts-Werke (HEW -Hamburg Energy Company) frequently raided the buildings.

[7]: 11  In June 1984, Hafenstraße was widely condemned after a woman was raped and tortured by three squatters; the three perpetrators were beaten up, had their heads shaved and were ejected from the houses.

Other struggles included publicising the hunger strike of imprisoned RAF members in 1984 and protesting the death of antifascist Günter Sare in 1985.

[2][5] As well as being a local symbol against gentrification and for the right to the city, the project became a centre for left-wing social movements such as anti-nuclear and anti-imperialist protests.

When negotiations failed in 1987, the squatters readied themselves for more fighting and the mayor, Klaus von Dohnanyi went against the feeling of his party (SPD) and offered to resolve the situation peacefully.

Dohnanyi later received the Theodor Heuss medal for managing the conflict; he had previously described Hafenstraße as a "wound in the city" ("eine Wunde in der Stadt").

[4] Indicating the international attention paid to the events in Hamburg, a New York Times article was written about Hafenstraße and entitled "Squatters Win!

New mayor Henning Voscherau offered to fix the contract dispute if Hafenstrasse inhabitants agreed with nearby developments and social housing was built.

The mural formed part of a broader campaign against the sale of Israeli goods in Hamburg which was endorsed by civil rights activists such as Uri Davis who saw Israel's treatment of Palestinians in the same light as how South Africa treated its black population under apartheid.