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Month: November 2023

We will not allow our fight against antisemitism and racism to be divided

Speech at the “We Need to Talk” demonstration on November 10th


24/11/2023

Dear friends,

Thank you for the invitation. It is an honor for me to be on stage today with so many important voices for a just peace in the Middle East and to be able to speak here.

And I would like to emphasize that it is a scandal, a low point of democracy, that we always do not know until the last moment whether it is possible for us to gather in public in Berlin in the context of Israel/Palestine, whether the fundamental right to freedom of assembly for Palestinians, Israelis, Muslims, and Jews who are critical of the policies of the right-wing government of Israel and in favour of human rights will be allowed. Germany: Your fight against antisemitism is built on sand if you simultaneously forbid Jews to assemble, if you violently disperse Jewish protests like this year’s Nakba Day at Oranienplatz through the police, if you silence Jewish intellectuals, scientists and artists whose positions do not fit with German politics. What is happening in Germany right now is antisemitism.

And we are also here today to make it very plain and clear. We will not be divided. We will not allow our fight against antisemitism and racism to be divided.

But first, I would like to express my deepest sorrow, my sympathy and my solidarity. October 7 has left deep wounds in Israeli society. We mourn the loss of at least 1,400 civilians who were murdered by Hamas and call on all those involved to ensure the safe and speedy return of the civilian hostages. That is why we are also demanding here today: Release all hostages!

The terror and violence of October 7 did not arise in a vacuum. It is not a justification, because nothing can justify the terror of Hamas, but it is an explanation when we say that the decades-long occupation of the Gaza Strip, the construction of settlements in the West Bank and the systemic discrimination against Palestinians form the breeding ground for this escalation. An escalation that is now being continued by the Israeli government: 10,000 Palestinians have probably died so far [editor’s note: since this speech, that number has grown to 14,000] as a result of the indiscriminate bombardment by the Israeli military, among them many children. I mourn for them. And how abhorrent it is here, between the children murdered by the terror of Hamas and the children murdered by the bombing of the Israeli military. They are all children, they are all human beings. This killing must stop immediately and in so many countries the call is rightly going out: ceasefire now!

At this point I must mention the double standards of the German government. If the German government really wants to work for peace, if you really want to work for the release of the hostages, why don’t you put your economic partners, and Hamas supporters, Qatar and Turkey under political and economic pressure? Quite the opposite. Next week, Turkish President Erdogan is even due to pay a state visit, and the red carpet is being rolled out for him again while the NATO partner in northern Syria invades Rojava in violation of international law and bombs Kurdish villages. In this fucking capitalist system, nothing is above the economy, neither human rights nor the fight against antisemitism. Do you know who is still profiting from the war today? The German war industry. Rheinmetall’s shares have gone through the roof since October 7th. And regarding the German government’s priority in the fight against antisemitism: before October 7th, the German government was planning to save millions in the fight against antisemitism. That is a double standard.

Ceasefire now! The call for a ceasefire has also become ever stronger in Germany in recent days and, quite honestly, this has had to be fought for hard here. Even before October 7th, basic rights were restricted by the Berlin police and the Senator of the Interior. In 2022, a ban was imposed for the entire month of May to mark the Nakba, when Palestinians commemorate their expulsion. It was not a rare sight in Neukölln to see small groups of young people with migration backgrounds being stopped on the street by the police because they were wearing a so-called Pali scarf. A scarf that is worn by many peoples in the region. I recently experienced for myself how racist this behavior is when three young people wearing the scarf, Kurdish in this context, wanted to go to a Kurdish demonstration at Hermannplatz and were stopped and checked by the police. The low point for the time being came when the education administration recommended scarves with this pattern to schools as an example of clothing that should be banned. This is madness! School must be a place for communication, a place where understanding is sought, not a place of blanket bans!

The spaces for exchanging ideas about Israel and Palestine, the spaces for understanding and communication are becoming increasingly limited. As LINKE Neukölln, for example, we have protested massively in recent days against the fact that the Senate is going to withdraw funding from the “Oyoun” cultural center in North Neukölln. Oyoun is a valuable center and place of migrant self-organization. It is one of the few places where it is still possible to discuss Palestine and Israel at all, because otherwise everyone is afraid of repression and state harassment. And that is precisely what is a thorn in the side of the Senate. It even went so far as to accuse a mourning event organized by the “Jewish Voice for a Just Peace in the Middle East” of antisemitism and question Oyoun as a result. It is another case of Germans being quick to blame antisemitism on migrants, even on Jews, while German antisemitism is kept quiet.

Or can anyone remember if anyone called for bans like those that have taken place in recent weeks on the Querdenkers, or the Corona Nazis, who clearly reproduced the antisemitism from the time of German fascism, and relativized the Holocaust.

Nazis are marching through Germany again, terrorizing and murdering people. How many Almans have openly distanced themselves from this? All Almans who have not distanced themselves are now Nazis. Have we, victims of Nazi terror, ever demanded that the democratic Alman society distance itself from the NSU terror, from the terror in Hanau or the attack on the synagogue in Halle? We have not. Because it’s damn clear that democrats and anti-fascists condemn Nazi terror in this country and therefore don’t have to distance themselves. But why am I asked to distance myself from every shit that happens in the Muslim world? Just because I look like one. I’m not even Muslim. That’s nothing other than racism! And we are also protesting against this racism in German society today.

We are in the country where Hubertus Aiwanger won a direct mandate just a few weeks ago. Hubertus Aiwanger, who very, very probably wrote a leaflet whose blatantly antisemitic content I do not want to repeat here. We are in a country where, according to the latest poll, 41% of the population of Thuringia can imagine Björn Höcke as prime minister. We are in the country where the AfD is achieving record results and the overwhelming majority of antisemitic crimes are committed by the right.

But instead, being discussed or decided are: stricter deportation laws, attitude tests for foreigners or, most recently, a “migration cap” for city districts by the FDP. It is convenient for German politicians to blame their own racism on people with migration backgrounds.

Dear friends, we are standing here together against antisemitism and racism, for human rights and democracy. Every restriction of fundamental rights can potentially affect every other left-wing or progressive group tomorrow and it is clear to me: We will not remain silent! We will not allow our fight for international solidarity to be banned! With this in mind, let’s raise international solidarity!

This speech was originally given in German. Translator: Negro Matapacos. Reproduced with permission.

Letter from the Editors, 23rd November 2023

Join our Palestine Reading Group every Friday


22/11/2023

Hello everyone,

This evening (Thursday) at 6pm, Egyptian Diaspora Resists are organising a demonstration outside the Egyptian embassy. Under the title Open Rafah Crossing, the demo is demanding that the Egyptian government open the border with Rafah, provide security clearances for the convoy, and allow in all the aid and fuel needed to end the suffering of more than two million people besieged in Gaza. Gaza needs at least 500 trucks of aid every day. Gaza needs clean water, food, medicine, journalists, and emergency responders. The people of Palestine have no choice but to turn to humanity for help. And we, as people of conscience, have no choice but to do everything in our power to provide that help.

Friday at 7pm, you can join a Palestine Reading Group organised by theleftberlin. Following a dry run with two small reading groups last week, we are well prepared and look forward to meeting in the H48 Projektraum on Hermannstraße 48, which means that there will be space for anyone who wants to attend. We will be gathering together before breaking into small groups. The texts will be looking at Zionism and the foundation of the State of Israel. You can register and access the suggested texts here. The plan is to organise weekly sessions, probably on Fridays, on different aspects of Palestine solidarity. More information in future Newsletters. For the most up-to-date information, follow the Reading Group channel in the Berlin LINKE Internationals Telegram group.

On Saturday at noon, Letzte Generation (Last Generation), Scientist Rebellion, and Eltern gegen Fossilindustrie (parents against the fossil fuel industry) are planning a mass blockade of the Straße des 17. Juni between the Brandenburger Tor and the Siegessäule. Over 1000 people took part in the last blockade. The protest is demanding a just withdrawal from fossil fuels by 2030. If you are interested in taking part in the action, but are worried about getting arrested, you can read legal information in English here. Letzte Generation are our Campaign of the Week.

There are a LOT of other demonstrations on Saturday. We are taking our lead from Palästina Spricht who recommend two of them. At 1pm there will be an anti-war demo from Brandenburger Tor, where Nadija Samour from Palästina Spricht and Iris Hefets from the Jüdische Stimme will be among the speakers. Then at 3pm there is a demo against gendered violence and for a free Palestine at Oranienplatz.

At 5pm on Saturday, in the H48 Project Room, there will be a screening of the film Censoring Palestine: The Weaponisation Of Anti-Semitism. This has been added after last week’s screening sold out overnight. As the global far-right grows in size and influence, antisemitic attacks are on the rise and an ongoing concerted effort led by Israel’s government is working to frame Palestinian activist groups as the main culprit. Redfish explores how allegations of antisemitism levelled against critics of Israeli policies are being weaponised to suppress and censor the global movement in support of Palestinian rights. Produced in 2022 the film is more relevant than ever. The film will be followed by a Q&A with international speakers about how we can fight today for Palestinian rights.

On Sunday, at 1pm at Oranienplatz, there will be a demonstration against the abolition of the right to asylum in Europe. At the beginning of December, the EU Parliament will vote on a whole bundle of regulations to tighten the Common European Asylum System (GEAS). As a result, there will be systematic human rights violations. The fundamental right to asylum is at stake. As if these planned tightenings of asylum law were not bad enough, the EU is currently planning a mechanism that could lower the still-valid protection standards for refugees even further: The so-called „crisis regulation.“ You can get more information by mailing stopgeas@posteo.de.

There is much more going on in Berlin, it’s another very busy week. To find out what’s happening, go to our Events page. You can also see a shorter, but more detailed list of events in which we are directly involved in here.

Get your calendars out, as there are a lot of events planned for early December. As well as the planned Demo for Palestine on the 2nd and the weekly reading groups on Fridays, we and our allies are organising the following events:

More information in future Newsletters.

In News from Berlin, thousands more demonstrate in Berlin for Gaza, Berlin discusses hosting the Olympics on the hundredth anniversary of Hitler’s Olympics, and the Berliner Senat overturns the referendum decision banning building on Tempelhofer Feld.

In News from Germany, Nazi Björn Höcke to lead his party’s election list in Thüringen and “pose the question of power”, politicians are outraged that the head of Afghanistan’s food and drug body spoke in Berlin, die LINKE prepares its campaign for the EU elections, and head of Germany’s Protestant Church following claims that she knew about sexual abuse.

Read all about it in this week’s News from Berlin and Germany.

This week on theleftberlin, we publish an open letter signed by several international groups in Germany calling on the German Left to show solidarity with Palestine, Iranian women activists call for Free Palestine, and Nathaniel Flakin talks to Jewish students about why they are afraid of state racism, not Palestinians.

Outside Palestine, Phil Butland looks at the radical artists buried in Berlin, we report from the appearance of Right2theCity (the international working group of Deutsche Wohnen & Co Enteignen and the Berlin Tech Workers Coalition conference, on the opening of a new museum Hari Kumar remembers the revolutionary artist Käthe Kollwitz, and in anticipation of a protest tomorrow, Evan Bernel looks at H&M’s exploitation of Bangladeshi labour.

In this week’s Video of the Week, Berlin-based US-American jew Rachael Shapiro talks about why she supports Palestinian rights.

You can follow us on the following social media:

If you would like to contribute any articles or have any questions or criticisms about our work, please contact us at team@theleftberlin.com. And please do encourage your friends to subscribe to this Newsletter.

Keep on fighting,

The Left Berlin Editorial Board

Jewish Students in Germany Are Afraid of the State Racism

Bourgeois newspapers claim that Jewish students in Germany are feeling intimidated by pro-Palestinian demonstrations. In reality, many are scared that they could be defamed as “antisemites,” detained, and deported. Here are some testimonials.


Bourgeois newspapers are reporting about antisemitic threats at German universities. The Berliner Zeitung for example wrote that “Jewish students fear violence” at a rally for Gaza at the Free University. The only source quoted by that newspaper is a pro-Zionist NGO with no connection to FU. The author writes about “antisemitic incidents almost every day,” but has made no effort to document even a single such incident. We spoke to Jewish students at the Free University about what they’re afraid of. Here are their words.

Report 1

Coming from the U.S., one of the most common negative responses to being a Jewish anti-Zionist is that I am somehow self-loathing. This blatantly false criticism is something that to this day has never stuck with or intimidated me. Coming to Germany, however, there is a lot more on the line. As someone without EU citizenship who is here on a student visa, supporting the right of the Palestinian people to live free from occupation has the potential for much greater consequences.

Especially during the first few weeks of the siege on Gaza, the threat of being arrested was extremely scary, as it was unclear what consequences would befall someone who was not a citizen. As time has gone on, while this threat is still there, I have found also found it extremely difficult to navigate this topic on campus. I am newly starting a thesis and being introduced to others in my research group. There is not a day that I do not think, read, and worry about this issue, but the climate at FU is such that silence is expected.

I will proudly be for this cause until we see a free Palestine, but that said, I couldn’t help but be looking over my shoulder at the student demonstration at Mensa II seeing if any of my colleagues were around. When FU sent out an email notifying students of the “mental health checkpoints” around campus because of the Hamas attack on Israel, with no context of the occupation and perpetuating the standard German rhetoric around this issue, I really felt like: “wow, this school isn’t here for me or anyone like me who is witnessing a genocide in front of their eyes and is calling it as such.”

Report 2

I have been frustrated seeing German media claim Jewish students are scared to be on campus as a result of the protests in solidarity with Palestinians. It is especially frustrating seeing German media call these protests antisemitic and “Jew-hating.” I am an international student and an American Jew at the FU. What I have been scared of on university campuses since October 7 is the increasing repression and silencing of anti-Zionist Jewish voices, the huge police presence at campus demonstrations, the possibility of losing my residence permit should I be arrested at protests for being an anti-Zionist Jew in Germany, and the risk of not being able to continue studying here because calling for an end to genocide in Gaza can be seen as an act of antisemitism. After seeing the police arrest Jewish people at the Jewish-led „We Still Need to Talk“ rally on November 10, these fears have increased. 

Scapegoating antisemitism onto students from the Middle East, who have accepted me with open arms and who ensure Jewish voices are heard at protests, is the real fear for me, not the supposed “antisemitism” I have not seen or felt while taking part in these on-campus protests. I am scared of the way police are reacting. I fear repression from the university is only increasing Islamophobia and antisemitism (by pushing the false idea that all “real” Jews are Zionists and Zionism is required to be Jewish). I fear the current German atmosphere, and the willing commitment to defending Israel despite the ongoing crimes against humanity by the Israeli government.

First published in German at Klasse Gegen Klasse. Reproduced with permission

For Solidarity with the Strike at H&M Bangladesh

Why you should join the protest in Neukölln on Friday


For weeks now the Workers in the Textile Industry have been striking and protesting starvation wages in Bangladesh.

Bangladesh is the home of many of the production facilities for fast fashion brands like H&M, C&A, Zara, and Marks & Spencer. Bangladesh earns annually about $55 billion from exports of garment products, mainly to the United States and Europe, though the workers of Bangladesh don’t benefit from this. Although most fast fashion brands that source from Bangladesh claim to support a living wage, they are only required to pay the workers who make their clothes the legal monthly minimum wage, which is one of the lowest in the world and has until recently remained set at 8,000 taka (66,6€) since 2018.

Trade union negotiations over a new minimum wage for garment workers in Bangladesh have sparked mass demonstrations on streets across the capital. The protests have escalated since the government announced a minimum wage increase for the workers, from 1 December, to 12,500 taka (103,21€), far below the 23,000 taka (189,91€) a month workers say they need to keep their families from starvation.

Factory owners and police have responded to workers’ protests with threats and violence. The beatings a 22 year-old worker named Akhtar received by armed men at Dekko Knitwears left her with a broken arm. “They hit my back, my thighs and my arms repeatedly,” she says. Now, without use of one of her arms, she is unable to work. “I don’t know how I will survive the rest of the month,” she adds.

The only answer against this brutal exploitation and repression of our proletarian brothers and sisters in Bangladesh can be the international solidarity of our class, the working class. That means a general boycott of these companies, and demonstrations to peacefully block the entrances of these stores. We must also have full solidarity with the striking workers in retail stores in Germany, which are now being organized by the German trade union ver.di, and speak with them at the picket line about how their struggle is not isolated, but international in scope. This also goes for the striking locomotive workers in the German railways, who can put pressure on garment supply chains while also fighting for their demands with the GdL trade union.

It is with this message that I decided to spontaneously stand in front of the H&M store on Karl Marx Straße in Berlin Neukölln with a digital sign, calling for “solidarity with the strikers at H&M Bangladesh”. It took less than a half hour and the manager was already coming outside to threaten to call the police if I refused to leave. Mind you, I was standing on a public sidewalk, and despite the manager’s claims, was not on their premises.

We should not bend or not submit to the threats and gaslighting of the H&M corporation. That is why the Berlin left is supporting a protest on 24th November against this exploitation and the censorship of those who try to do something about it. We demand that the GdL, and ver.di trade unions schedule their next strikes for this same day, and for them to add the demands of their fellow workers in Bangladesh for a living wage to their own list of demands for a union contract. Because only with international solidarity can we win against modern day, multinational capitalism.

Join us in protest at 2pm on Friday, 24th of November in front of the H&M at Karl Marx Str 92, 12043 Berlin. To volunteer as an organizer (Ordner) you can email viadrina@linke-sds.org with your Telegram, or Signal number so we can contact you.

News from Berlin and Germany, 22nd November 2023

Weekly news round-up from Berlin and Germany


NEWS FROM BERLIN

Thousands of people demonstrate against the war in Gaza

A pro-Palestinian demonstration marched from Invalidenpark in Berlin towards the Tiergarten district last Saturday. The number of registered participants was 10,000, while the police spoke of around 4,000 demonstrators. At the start of the rally many people shouted: “Freedom for Gaza” and “Freedom for Palestine”. The protest was announced as a silent march, however – no slogans were to be shouted for 15 minutes around 4 pm out of respect for the victims in Gaza. The police also had issued conditions in advance, read out by a demonstration leader. Among other things, no flags or other objects were to be burnt. Source: rbb24

Olympia ’36: when German megalomania craves renewal

The 2036 Olympics in Berlin are being seriously discussed. But… a new Olympic bid from Berlin? The discussion has been going on for years. When the Greens and, above all, the Left Party were in government in the German capital, this was more difficult to implement. However, arguments about a “green Olympics” show the extent to which history has been forgotten. The discussion also highlights the Eurocentric worldview behind some campaigns against the Olympics or football World Cups organized in countries of the Global South. Source: telepolis

Berlin Senate agrees on Tempelhofer Feld law

After weeks of dispute, the black-red Senate in Berlin has agreed to amend the Tempelhofer Feld Act. As Senate spokeswoman Christine Richter confirmed, the “Refugee Task Force” headed by Governing Mayor Kai Wegner (CDU) was able to seal the agreement on Tuesday. Environment Senator Manja Schreiner (CDU) will now introduce a new bill, which the Senate is expected to pass in a week’s time. The number of temporary refugee accommodations on Coumbiadamm will be increased, but the use of an area to the southwest of the airport building on Tempelhofer Damm is now off the table. The CDU particularly wanted to build social meeting places for refugees there. Source: rbb24

NEWS FROM GERMANY

Höcke top AfD candidate in Thuringia

Björn Höcke will lead the Thuringian AfD into the 2024 state election campaign as its top candidate. The 51-year-old Höcke was elected first on the list with 187 votes in favour, 26 against, and two abstentions at a meeting in Pfiffelbach near Weimar. There were no opposing candidates. The entire list still has to be voted on as a package at the meeting, which will last several days. Höcke, who is the state party and parliamentary group leader in Thuringia, reiterated his goal of participating in government. The AfD wants to “pose the question of power” in the state elections. Source: junge Welt

Outrage after a Taliban speaks at German mosque

German politicians demanded answers after the head of Afghanistan’s food and drug body spoke in Cologne. Abdul Bari Omar was previously in the Netherlands for a World Health Organization (WHO) event. The event in the German city was held by an Afghan cultural association at the Chorweiler Mosque, whose umbrella organization, DITIB, sharply criticized the incident. The Federal Interior Minister Nancy Faeser (SPD) also objected, affirming that “nobody is allowed to offer radical Islamists a stage in Germany.” “We protect many refugees from Afghanistan from the oppression of the Taliban,” she added. Source: dw

The Left Party: ready for the European election campaign

The Left Party is entering the European election campaign with party leader Martin Schirdewan and former sea rescuer Carola Rackete as its top duo. A party conference in Augsburg confirmed both with a large majority. They are running in a team with the trade unionist Özlem Demirel and the public assistance doctor Gerhard Trabert. The party’s European election programme focuses on asylum, climate protection, redistribution and disarmament. “Die Linke” is hoping for a fresh start after the break with Sahra Wagenknecht’s wing. The European elections will take place in Germany on 9 June 2024. Source: SZ

Top protestant church official resigns

Theologian Annette Kurschus, the head of Germany’s largest national protestant church federation (EKD), abruptly resigned both from her national post and as the most senior cleric for the region of Westphalia. She declared that recent reports of her knowing about alleged sexual abuse by a church employee years ago, in Siegen, were unfounded. Kurschus said the issue had nonetheless led to her decision to resign. She mentioned that the decision was a difficult one, affirming that the loss of public trust meant she could no longer help in the church’s work dealing with historical cases of sexual abuse. Source: dw