NEWS FROM BERLIN
Antifa, there’s still room for improvement
At 2.30 pm, 1.5 hours after the planned start of a demonstration by the extremist group “Aktionsbündnis Berlin,” some 60 young fascists (from the 500 who registered) were still at the starting point at Ostkreuz. Just in front of them, around 30 anti-fascists, including left-wing MP Ferat Koçak (Die Linke). The police then decided to clear the road for the Nazis. One by one, the antifascists were pulled away by the police, using pain grips, and released into the neighbouring rallies – without previous warnings. However, several thousand people managed to block the right-wing extremist demonstration. The police reported stones and pyrotechnics were thrown, and parked police cars were damaged. Source: taz
Anti-fascism on the seminar programme
“Please don’t come in anymore. We have to open the second lecture theatre,” announces a loudspeaker in the overcrowded lecture theatre of the Freie Universität. But even the second lecture theatre is barely big enough for all those interested in attending the general assembly of the “Students against the Right” initiative. The anti-fascist movement at universities was formed in the spring after the so-called AfD secret meeting became known. There are groups nationwide, as in Berlin. The new initiative wants to oppose the social shift to the right and fight for non-discriminatory spaces at universities. Source: taz
Convicted of arson
Almost seven years after two arson attacks, the verdict is finally reached in the Neukölln neo-Nazi trial. The defendants are guilty. After so many years, Ferat Koçak (Die Linke) appeared in court and said in tears that the attack defines his life today. “If I had woken up a few minutes later, my parents would not have made it out of the house, they would have died, like the guest workers in Mölln or Solingen,” said Koçak, who comes from a Kurdish-Alevi family. He is forever scared for his parents. More than 70 criminal offences, including 23 arsons, are attributed to the series of attacks. Source: taz
Four arrests after attack on SPD members
Four young people were arrested following an attack by suspected right-wing extremists on SPD members in Berlin. The suspects had travelled to Berlin on Saturday to take part in demonstrations and engage in physical altercations with “leftists.” They are between 16 and 19 years old. According to the investigators, they attacked SPD members at an election campaign stand at a bus stop. The attacks could only be stopped when emergency services arrived. Meanwhile, the police have published details of the demonstration in the Friedrichshain district, which the suspects apparently wanted to attend. Police state security and the public prosecutor’s office are now investigating. Source: n-tv
NEWS FROM GERMANY
Housing makes you poor
“Anyone who only considers income, but not the fact that people have less and less money at their disposal because they have to pay high housing costs, overlooks the extent of poverty in Germany,” states a study published last week by the Paritätischer Wohlfahrtsverband. The association took a critical look at data from the Federal Statistical Office. According to the research group, income alone no longer provides information about the standard of living. After deducting rent, service charges, interest on loans and other costs, almost 18 million people are left with a disposable income in the poverty bracket. Source: jW
Germany: major challenges ahead of snap election
On Tuesday, the governing Social Democrats (SPD) and the opposition Christian Democratic Union (CDU) agreed to hold a new parliamentary election on coming February 23. The timing of Germany’s next election has become the subject of an embittered political debate that has dragged in the federal election administrator, the managing director of the country’s biggest ballot paper printing company and even the head of Germany’s paper industry association. Wilko Zicht, head of the nonprofit watchdog Wahlrecht, estimates that authorities will now have to do around four months’ worth of work in the span of only two months, in order to have a timely and legitimate election. Source: dw
Most young Germans see no point in politics
Most young people in Germany see no point in politics, according to a survey conducted by the Bertelsmann Foundation. They see too many hurdles and believe politicians don’t take their worries seriously. The findings come as Germany is headed toward a new general election in February. In the poll of 2,500 representative 16- to 30-year-olds, half of the respondents said there were insufficient opportunities for young people to participate in politics beyond voting in elections. Regina von Görtz, the foundation’s expert on youth and democracy, observes that “young people would be more politically active if they knew that their efforts actually had an impact.” Source: dw
