The Left Berlin News & Comment

This is the archive template

Month: April 2026

News from Berlin and Germany, 8th April 2026

Weekly news round-up from Berlin and Germany


08/04/2026

News from Berlin

Asking rents in Berlin almost 70% higher than a decade ago

Rents in Berlin have risen particularly sharply in the past ten years – despite rent control. According to the German government, asking rents in the capital are now on average 69% percent higher than in 2016. Nationwide, the increase is around 43%. This information comes from the German government’s response to an inquiry from the Left Party MP Caren Lay. According to the Ministry of Construction, the figures are based on online listings in 14 major cities. The average base rent per square meter in Berlin has climbed from €9.02 to €15.25. The highest advertised rents were in Munich: At €21.29 per square meter. Source: rbb

Easter March participants demonstrate against wars and conscription

In Berlin and in Brandenburg demonstrators took to the streets for peace at Easter marches as early as Saturday. In the German capital, a peace demonstration marched through Prenzlauer Berg. A police spokesperson told “rbb” that approximately 1,600 people participated, but organizers estimated the number at several thousand. The Berlin Peace Coordination (FriKo) had called for the demonstration. The demonstrators called for an end to the wars in the Middle East and Ukraine, many carrying Palestinian and Iranian flags. The demonstrators also spoke out against the reintroduction of conscription. During the weekend, there also were demonstrations in Brandenburg an der Havel, Strausberg and Frankfurt (Oder), among others. Source: rbb

Fact check on the Traffic Referendum

More than 20,000 signatures have been collected so far for the “Car-Free Berlin” referendum (https://verkehrsentscheid.de/). Around 174,000 valid signatures are needed by May 8, 2026, for the referendum to be successful. But what would the law mean for residents? For instance, as of December 31, 2025, nearly 30% of Berlin’s residents live in “Living oriented” (LOR) planning areas that lie entirely or partially within the S-Bahn ring, the areas which are proposed to go “car free”. This means that almost one in three Berliners would be affected by the initiative’s planned measures. Also, a central argument of the initiative is safety. In 2024, the Berlin police recorded a total of 133,370 road traffic accidents. The majority of those injured (2,627) were in the district of Mitte. Source: Statistik Berlin-Brandenburg

IG Metall to take Tesla to court

IG Metall claims Tesla management threatened staff would lose their jobs if they voted for union representatives in works council elections in early March. More than 10,000 employees voted in the election, an 87% turnout, down 6% compared to the 2024 works council election. IG Metall needed 19 of the 37 works council seats to maintain a majority but secured only 16. In mid-February, Tesla called the police, claiming that an IG Metall representative had illegally recorded a works council meeting. Police took the representative’s laptop. The representative has since filed a defamation claim against the Grünheide plant manager, and accused the company of a “brazen and calculated lie”. Source: iamexpat

News from Germany

Police to automatically receive data on trans people – those affected are fighting back

Concerns are growing within the trans community in Baden-Württemberg regarding regulations on data storage and potential security gaps. The reason is the registration ordinance of the Ministry of the Interior. The Self-Determination Act, introduced in 2024, makes it easier for trans, intersex, and non-binary people to change their first name and gender marker. There is a prohibition on disclosure, protecting against the unwanted publication of previous entries. According to the queer community, this is precisely what is jeopardized by the registration ordinance. This is to apply regardless of whether there are any outstanding charges against the individuals concerned. Data sharing is scheduled to begin on November 1, 2026. Source: tagesschau

Germany planning a reform on healthcare cuts – what this means for you?

Germany’s statutory health insurance system is expected to run a 10 billion euro annual deficit from 2027 onwards unless something changes. The CDU/CSU-SPD coalition government believes the solution lies in tightening the purse strings. Around 90% of people in Germany are covered by statutory health insurance. What would the prospective changes mean for those? Among the issues, there might be, for instance, the end of non-contributory dependents insurance; higher co-payments, covering eventually costs such as prescriptions, and stays in hospital; and scraping some services as certain orthodontic treatments. Criticism of those proposals has already been widespread, including from health insurance providers. Source: iamexpat

German men need military permit for prolonged stays abroad

A new military service law took effect in Germany in 2026, aimed at boosting the armed forces amid threats to European security. The legislation was contentious and many people even took to the streets to protest against it. But another provision in the law has so far gone largely unnoticed: it relates to a requirement for men between the ages of 18 and 45 to “obtain an approval from the relevant Bundeswehr Career Center if they wish to leave the Federal Republic of Germany for more than three months.” Acknowledging the “extreme” impact of the amended conscription law, the Defense Ministry said it is working on new rules for exceptions to the exit permit requirement. Source: dw

The “Ulm 5” and a question of Justice

“Ulm 5” is a group of activists currently in pretrial detention, and they are accused of breaking into an Elbit Systems weapons factory in Ulm. The trial against philosophy student Daniel, queer activist Vi, and the three other defendants begins on April 27 in Stuttgart. V.’s partner, Josie, as well as Daniel’s mother and sister, share their perspectives in the interview. All five defendants face the same charges, including property damage and alleged membership in a criminal organization. The break-in at the factory is presented in the context of protests against the genocide in Gaza. The interviewees criticize the increasing restrictions on opportunities for protest in Germany and the repressive treatment of pro-Palestinian activism. Source: jungewelt

Hundreds of people demonstrate against right-wing extremism in Friedrichshain

Around 500 people demonstrated against right-wing extremism in Berlin-Friedrichshain on Easter Sunday. Participants carried banners with slogans such as “Stand up to Nazis” and “If you attack one, we’ll all respond.” As the police confirmed to “rbb” upon inquiry, the event remained largely peaceful. The protest was prompted by the attack on two 19-year-olds on Jessnerstrasse ten days earlier. The attackers allegedly injured and beat their victims with a machete on the head. As the two unknown assailants fled, they reportedly shouted the unconstitutional slogan “Sieg Heil,” according to witnesses. The State Security Police have taken over the investigation. Source: rbb

NRW wasted thousands in public money to silence a Palestinian activist, yet they lost twice

Repression in Berlin – report #7


The recent court ruling in the case of Ahmad Othman, a Palestinian-German activist in North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW), shows that the German state’s repression isn’t just brutal – at times it is also remarkably incompetent in its attempt to disregard the laws it claims to uphold.

Ahmad, who was active in the group Palästina Solidarität Duisburg (PSDU), – which was banned by the Ministry of Interior in May 2024 – had been working as a technician for the federal state of NRW.

However, after PDSU was banned, his employer tried to fire him precisely because of this political activism. Yet despite having hired a law firm with 60 lawyers at its disposal, the state of NRW could not convince the court of the lawfulness of Ahmad’s firing in the first or second instance.

In April 2025, the Dortmund Labour Court ruled his first dismissal invalid. NRW then issued a second, nearly identical termination – which a court also struck down on 26 March 2026.

In the latest hearing, NRW couldn’t provide a single example of misconduct or prove that Othman posed any security risk. Desperate, they shifted to pure political persecution: calling the slogan “From the river to the sea” a Hamas symbol (despite court rulings to the contrary), and even threatening criminal charges for using a red triangle or the word “nonsense” about CDU minister Herbert Reul. However, as in the first instance the judge wasn’t convinced.

The victory came after two years of state efforts to wear Ahmad down. From non-compliance with deadlines to providing false reasons for the termination to the Agentur für Arbeit, leading to a benefits block, and to refusing to pay back his full salary after he won the first instance by placing him deliberately in another tax category with substantially lower pay: NRW tried to pull all the registers to unlawfully punish the activist.

But the intimidation did not stop at the courthouse door. After the won case on March 26, as Ahmad thanked supporters, around five police officers stormed into the crowd. With batons drawn, they dragged him away – claiming his chant “Yallah Intifada” might constitute a crime and thus absurdly stated they need to verify his identity.

Despite multiple and prolonged state attempts at intimidation and deterrence of his surroundings, the activist stayed joyful, optimistic and strong. After winning against his employer, Ahmad is now filing criminal complaints against the police officers with his lawyers. The fight continues.

Kufiyas in Buchenwald

Remembrance, Not Repression


07/04/2026

Local organizers of the Kufiyas in Buchenwald campaign were banned from proceeding with a vigil registered for 12 April at the memorial site. The group, among it numerous Jewish and anti-fascist organizations, says the gathering intended to commemorate victims of genocide and fascism, honor the oath of Buchenwald, and uplift the fundamental duty to fight against all genocides, particularly the genocide currently taking place in Palestine. However, a written ban from the police was received on 30 March—a ban which the campaign leaders plan to challenge in court.

“The ban on our vigil is just the most recent chapter in Germany’s long history of exploiting the Nazi genocide to criminalize and silence critical voices speaking out in solidarity with Palestine,” said Tair B., spokesperson for Jüdische Stimme and one of the organizers of the campaign. “The ban on the kufiya and our vigil demonstrate that for the German government and the management of Buchenwald, ‘Never again’ does not mean ‘Never again for anyone,’ but rather ‘Again for some.’”

The campaign was launched earlier this year to oppose the banning of solidarity symbols such as the kufiya, olive branch, and watermelon at the memorial, as well as the site’s other actions limiting free speech about the genocide in Palestine.

Meanwhile, German authorities continue to make the absurd but typical claims that the memorial site be “apolitical,” and that relatives of the victims of German fascism fail to honor their histories through their opposition to the genocides of today.

“As Jewish, queer and other anti-fascists, many of us the children and grandchildren of survivors of and those persecuted and murdered in the Nazi genocide, we wholeheartedly reject the German state dictating conditions around commemoration,” commented Rachael Shapiro, an organizer with the International Jewish Antizionist Network. “Through their insistence on the singularity and exceptionalism of the Nazi genocide of European Jews, Buchenwald and other sites of ‘commemoration’ actively provide cover for Germany’s participation in and funding of the mass murder of Palestinians.”

She continued, “We honor the legacy of those who resisted the Nazis by organizing today—for the Palestinian right to resist ‘Israeli’ and Zionist fascism, and to defend our moral obligation to act in solidarity with them.”

The Kufiyas in Buchenwald campaign is currently challenging the ban in court and remains committed to its core demands, calling on the Buchenwald and Mittelbau-Dora Memorial Foundation to:

1. Openly address the genocide in Gaza at the Buchenwald Memorial.
2. Lift the ban on Palestinian symbols at the Buchenwald Memorial and cease the
denigration of them as anti-Semitic.
3. Lift all entry- or speaking bans on the premises due to solidarity with Palestine or
criticism of the apartheid state of Israel.

9 April 1948 – The Deir Yassin Massacre

This week in working class history


Just before dawn on Friday 9th April 1948, two Jewish militias – the Irgun and the Stern Gang (also known as Lehi) – attacked the Palestinian village of Deir Yassin, near West Jerusalem. The Zionist militias who were the precursor to the Israeli army, the IDF, went through the village, throwing hand grenades into every house, before entering and butchering the inhabitants. Villagers were then allowed to flee the village as a warning to occupants of neighbouring villages. 

How could the Deir Yassin massacre happen? In November 1947, the UN ordered the partition of Palestine. 56% of the country was awarded to Jews who had until then only controlled 6% of the land. This was not enough for Zionist leaders like David Ben Gurion, later first prime minister of Israel, who said: “There are 40% non-Jews in the areas allocated to the Jewish state. Such a demographic balance questions our ability to maintain Jewish sovereignty. Only a state with at least 80% Jews is a viable and stable state”. 

To achieve this state with at least 80% Jews, Zionist forces started to organise the forced expulsion of Palestinians, the Nakba. Unlike recent attacks on Gaza, the aim was not extermination but expulsion. It is thought that around 100 Palestinians died in Deir Yassin, but their attackers inflated  the figures, so as to encourage Palestinians in neighbouring villages to flee. By the end of the Nakba, 750,000 Palestinians – half the country’s population – had been forcefully expelled.

In his book The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine, Israeli anti-Zionist historian Ilan Pappe argues that Deir Yassin was the start of Plan Dalet, the blueprint for  the occupation and ethnic cleansing of Palestine. Pappe wrote: “The systematic nature of Plan Dalet is manifested in Deir Yassin, a pastoral and cordial village that had reached a non-aggression pact with the Hagana in Jerusalem, but was doomed to be wiped out because it was within the areas designated in Plan Dalet to be cleansed.”

Deir Yassin was by no means the largest massacre of Arabs in 1948, but it showed that Palestinians would not be welcome in the new Israeli state; at best, they would be second-class citizens in their own country. Israeli historian Benny Morris later wrote that Deir Yassin “probably had the most lasting effect of any single event of the war in precipitating the flight of Arab villagers from Palestine.” The following month, the State of Israel was formed on the back of the expulsions and killings which started at Deir Yassin.

Changing the heart and soul

Reflecting on how neoliberalism has changed society in the past 45 years (for the worse)


06/04/2026

Black and white photo of former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher playing the drums.

Have you ever tried to hum your alarm tone in the middle of the day? Despite it being one of my most listened-to songs, the daze in which I usually find myself listening to it means I can never quite recall what it actually sounds like. Anyway—whatever it sounds like—it went off at 6:15am, it being a weekday.

I’m a teaching assistant who is regularly assigned to various schools around the city to cover for others who are sick or on holiday. Sometimes I’ll be at a school for a week or two, though often just a couple of days. My assignments are mediated by a ‘recruitment agency’ (read ‘middle-man’) and when a school needs a supply teacher, they contact the agency, who links them up with me. Sometimes this means waking up and getting ready for work before knowing whether I will actually be working or not. On this particular day, the call didn’t come. These middle-men often charge schools up to twice the amount they pay the teachers, amassing huge profits from state budgets for doing very little.

I could continue writing this as a piece about another example of how private companies drain public money and fill the pockets of shareholders with profits skimmed off the top. But I would like to talk about how the above scene of a fruitless wakeup call—the uncertainty, the middle-men, the isolation—is a small piece reflecting a larger social revolution that was launched in the 1970s, and became dominant the world over in the decades that followed.

In the UK, supply teachers like me used to belong to a pool managed by the local council. A school in need of a supply would be linked up with one by the council and the school would pay a standard fee. No room for profits—simple.

In 1979, the new Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher, decided that these systems were inefficient and should be subject to ‘marketisation’ along with the rest of the economy. This meant opening up previously unexploited areas for the private companies to insert their tendrils. The public pools of supply teachers were almost completely replaced by commercial agencies in England and Wales, a few of which now dominate the market, and supply teachers the rare access to secure work and pension schemes. A typical story of the neoliberal revolution.

And yet, it would be a mistake to view neoliberalism as an amoral project. Thatcher was a social engineer who viewed economic policies as the tools with which to change society. “Economics are the method,” she told a Sunday Times reporter in 1981, “the object is to change the heart and soul.” So, 45 years later, are our hearts and souls changed?

The neoliberal view of the human condition is one where the threat of destitution hanging over our heads is what disciplines us into waking up to our alarms; where the possibility of poverty motivates our sense of personal responsibility; and where the distant chance of amassing a fortune encourages us to strive. The outcome of a collectivist society, they say, is one of lazy individuals; the outcome of the individualist society is a wealthier collective. Thatcher even claimed, “There is no such thing as society. There is only the individual and his family.”

So this was the vision, and for us to view ourselves as individuals in competition with each other, social bonds had to be broken and reorganised. Trade unions—an organising focal point outside of the state—were systematically weakened, markets were deregulated to allow the accumulation of huge private fortunes, and people were encouraged to become shareholders and homeowners. Each family was to become an island. Whether the family next door was struggling was none of our business. It almost feels too obvious to state that we aren’t better off because of it.

And yet the project has never been discredited. That is because the transformation was so total that it now passes for common sense. Think of the black-pilled crypto-investor who sees an investment portfolio as his path to wealth and comfort; the young couple living with a parent and working extra hours to get on the housing ladder and start their very own family unit; and the newly-qualified professional, endlessly refining their CV to be noticed among a sea of applicants for a single opening. Each is absorbed in an inward struggle, yet together they could demand luxury, housing, and employment for all. This is the neoliberal social revolution.

The revolution was complete when other visions of society became utopian and unserious. By the 1990s, the basic questions of how we structure our economies and social worlds were considered settled, and economics underwent a makeover. No longer was it ‘the method’ of achieving a particular moral vision of society, but rather it was a neutral science of experts arguing over the right formula that would send us soaring towards prosperity. Economists began to model themselves on natural scientists, as if they were meteorologists tracking wind-patterns and predicting hurricanes. Economics stopped being a means to an end, and became the end in and of itself. This is perhaps the neoliberal revolution’s greatest achievement.

To see this is to demystify economics and understand how it shapes our social worlds—from the uncertainty of daily life, to the routines of work, and the ways we relate to others. Seeing the systems behind our daily routine confirms what we already feel: that the atomised conditions we live in aren’t natural. Unlike the weather, economies are shaped by human hands, and so can be remoulded.

If economics is the method, then building associations on the ground alters the balance of power, whether it be through tenants’ unions, community projects, or mutual support in our workplaces and neighbourhoods. Each is work towards a movement capable of taking the reins of our economies and commanding a different society into being. It means trying to live, as far as we can, as though the society we wish to see already exists.

In the words of Howard Zinn, “the future is an infinite succession of presents, and to live now as we think human beings should live, in defiance of all that is bad around us, is itself a marvellous victory… small acts, when multiplied by millions of people, can transform the world.”