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“I think we’re at a very dangerous tipping point”

Interview with Zoë Claire Miller from the Visual Artists’ Union Berlin


14/04/2024

Hi Zoë. Thanks for talking to us. Could you briefly introduce yourself?

My name is Zoë Claire Miller, I am an artist and organizer. I’m also one of the two spokespersons of the bbk berlin [berufsverband bildender künstler*innen berlin], which is Berlin’s visual artists’ union. I’m part of the board, which is composed of artists. It’s a honorary, elected position as opposed to a job.

The bbk berlin is one of the oldest and one of the largest artists’ organisations in Germany. We represent artists’ interests and work to improve their labour conditions in the city. We are also active in infrastructural terms, for instance bbk berlin’s subsidiary, the Kulturwerk des bbk berlin, runs printing and sculpture workshops. But a lot of our day-to-day work is around reacting to cultural policy in Berlin.

How many people do you represent? And how do you defend artists?

We have 3000 members. We do classic advocacy work – engaging with politicians and the cultural administration, trying to ensure that artists have a say at the table when decisions are made that affect them. Over the last decades a pretty good culture of dialogue was developed on the state level in Berlin. We ran successful campaigns for an increase in the amount of grants for artists, and the Berlin model of artist fees, which was a fore-runner to obligatory artist fees being introduced in many cities and states in Germany and Austria. The federal government is now finally making it an obligation that artists get paid in programs that they fund as well.

Berlin is an international city, especially in the art scene. How many of your 3,000 members are German and how many are international?

You know, I actually recently tried to find this out. But it’s not something that we ask when people join us, so we don’t actually have an overview. But I would say that our younger members are increasingly international, we can tell by the number of requests for information in English. Earlier, our membership was more homogenous. 

There’s been a number of cases in Berlin, and in Germany, of artists getting into trouble because of their views on Palestine. How has this been discussed in the bbk berlin?

Within our membership and board, there are different perspectives on the issue. In general, we share a great concern for threats to artistic freedom and freedom of speech – and we are particularly concerned about the ongoing demonization of arts and culture and the atmosphere of fear it creates within our community. Discrimination over artists’ views on Palestine is a major issue, but discrimination directly or indirectly linked to the situation in Israel/Palestine and Germany’s involvement in it takes other forms as well. We have seen Muslim artists deplatformed over artwork featuring Muslim themes, Jewish artists being tokenized, and instances of discrimination running from racist microaggressions, deplatforming, silencing and censorship. This is not just coming from the right wing press and politicians, but also from some organisations that purportedly represent the interests of culture, notably the Deutsche Kulturrat [German Cultural Council].

The Deutsche Kulturrat was among the first organizations to push the narrative of a supposed “unbearable silence” within art and culture after the terrorist attacks of Hamas on October 7th. This unsubstantiated claim was effectively instrumentalized as “proof” that arts and culture are more antisemitic than the rest of German society. In reaction to carpet allegations of antisemitism, we looked into what kind of work is already being done within arts and culture to counter discrimination and specifically antisemitism, and where statements were released after 7th October. Many cultural institutions did in fact publish statements empathizing with the Hamas attack victims.

Beyond discussing and researching these questions, we provide legal consultation for our members with a lawyer, and we are planning workshops that help artists understand their rights when faced with discrimination. We recently joined forces with many other cultural organisations in concern over the legality and potentially discriminatory effects of the Berlin “antidiscrimination clause.” The clause was withdrawn – at least for now.

Could you expand on this? The last time we covered it on theleftberlin was in an interview on the day that the clause was withdrawn. What has happened since?

The clause was retracted quickly after it was introduced, after facing massive criticism. What was dangerous about the clause wasn’t just that it forced everyone receiving funding to adhere to the IHRA definition of antisemitism. This aspect was the most widely criticised, as IHRA is controversial on several levels, for instance how it is often weaponized, and is unsuitable as a regulatory tool. But the clause also placed anyone receiving funding under suspicion of funding terrorism and extremism. This amounted to the demonization of a whole professional sector, and seemed especially bizarre since a parliamentary inquiry to the Senate on whether Berlin cultural funding had ever been funneled to terrorism/extremism received a negative reply.

Another critical aspect was that the clause also contained a section requiring a sort of pledge of allegiance to Israel, thus endangering artists from many countries with authoritarian governments who do not recognize Israel, or excluding them from funding.

There are a few interesting updates on the clause. A Freedom of Information Act enquiry on www.Fragdenstaat.de produced files that evidence strong legal advice against the introduction of the clause. In-house legal counsel basically showed it was unconstitutional and unenforceable. A newer external legal opinion concurred, while exploring the possibility for the Senate to change Berlin law to enact a clause which wouldn’t just apply to culture, but to every type of public funding. This is currently the topic of controversial debate in the Senate.

We’ve talked mainly about the artists who you represent. There are other artists like Candice Breitz or Laurie Anderson who are not necessarily represented by you but still face repression because of their views on Palestine. Are you able to do anything with these cases?

We’re following the instances of censorship, the atmosphere of mistrust towards artists and fear among artists with great concern. Germany seems to be damaging its reputation as a liberal, open-minded and welcoming locus of cultural exchange. But as the bbk berlin, our main focus is Berlin.

Do you think there’s a connection between what’s happening in Berlin and what’s happening in the Arts in Germany as a whole?

I’m shocked and sad that some of the same provincial attitudes are displayed towards the arts in Berlin as in places in which culture is more marginal or sparse. You would think that in Berlin, culture wold be highly valued, because the city is so dependent on it, literally. It is one of the most important economic motors of the city. One would assume that politicians here would be attuned to the fact that freedom of expression is particularly important for Berlin, that our city is very international, and thus a diversity of opinions exists and is a blessing, rather than something to be repressed.

So I’m quite shocked, actually, that there have been statements made by powerful politicians here, that have an almost authoritarian, divisive and repressive ring to them than in small towns without an art scene. It’s also not just a governmental problem. The effects of the current atmosphere of fear of retribution and defunding are causing institutions to implement pre-emptive censorship, blacklisting those deemed or suspected to hold “risky” opinions.

You see the same pattern again and again of artists set to win a prize, take on a job, have an exhibition, or hold a lecture in Germany. Then right wing blogs, media or social media users comb the accounts of the artists, trying to find something that can be scandalized. They then fabricate a shitstorm, which applies pressure on institutions and politicians to denounce and drop the artist. I have also heard of cases where the second step is skipped – those with the power to create online outrage just go straight to institutions and threaten a shitshow, unless the institution cancels the artist. It seems just as challenging as it is urgently necessary to break this toxic cycle.

We just had the Berlinale, maybe the main cultural event in Berlin, where there were at the very least two shitstorms. First there was the invitation and uninvitation of AfD politicians. How did the BBK react?

We didn’t take an official stance on it, because film isn’t our our field. My personal opinion is that it was the right decision to disinvite the politicians, at least one of whom was a participant in a secret meeting plotting the mass expulsion of foreigners and German citizens. I don’t see how it is appropriate for those plotting the destruction of democratic principles to smile on the red carpets next to those they hope to deport.

Then, hot on the heels of the AfD shitstorm there was No Other Land. Did you get to see the film?

No, the tickets were hard to get, they sold out so fast. I am looking forward to seeing it soon.

Let’s try and recap what happened. No Other Land won the public documentary prize. Both directors – one Israeli, one Palestinian – made a speech. The German Cultural Minister Claudia Roth was caught on camera clapping, and she said she was only clapping for the Israeli director.

Both she and the Berlin mayor were sitting next to each other, smiling and clapping.

And then all of a sudden, the media and politicians are criticising the antisemitic directors who the public have falsely awarded a prize. Can we understand all this in the context of everything else which is happening in the Arts in Berlin?

Yeah. I assume they would have happily clapped, maybe taken the words of the filmmakers to heart, and nothing would have happened if the lobbyist Volker Beck hadn’t scandalized it. Then the right wing press amplified his framing, and then many mainstream media outlets did the same thing without questioning whether what was said was in fact antisemitic. It’s hard to understand. When someone Jewish with expertise on antisemitism, like Prof. Meron Mendel, head of the Anne Frank Institute, says the Berlinale speakers were not antisemitic. When a non-Jewish ex-politician with an extremely colorful history, to put it kindly, says they were, the second voice becomes the official narrative. I really think this could have been a learning experience. But unfortunately, it seems none of the German media or politicians who defamed the Israeli filmmaker Yuval Abraham as an antisemite, thus endangering him and his family, have seen grounds for an apology. I hope so much that this might make German politicians reconsider attacking artists in the future – the fact that doing so not only puts their careers but their lives in grave danger.

Israel is a country with a right-wing extremist government which is at war. So, not a dissent-friendly climate! And yet the one Israeli media platform that called Abraham an antisemite withdrew the statement. In Germany, no-one has said they’re sorry, no-one has retracted their allegations. This should raise concerns about whether Israeli, Palestinian, and other foreign artists are going to want to come here in the future, or whether they will feel it is too dangerous.

My experience from talking to artists outside Germany is a sense of shock about the level of discussion here. More and more people are talking about the Strike Germany campaign. Do you as an organization have a position towards Strike Germany?

We don’t have an unified position on it. In general, we support every artist, every worker’s right to strike, it has always been an important tool of political pressure, and protest, and it will always be a tool that for artists – freelancers by definition – to use, means risking a lot. Whether there was an organized strike or not, there are increasing gestures of protest aimed at Germany, for instance the return of Goethe medals.

What do you think the balance forces in the art world is? It seems that the repression is increasing, but the reaction to the repression is also growing. Are we going in a positive or negative direction at the moment?

I don’t know, it’s really hard to say. This situation is extremely polarizing, a lot of beliefs are being tested, a lot of trust is damaged, and more and more international cultural workers are considering or planning to leave the country.

I think a lot of Israelis and Palestinians, Jews and Muslims are acutely aware that they are serving as a projection surface, and that they are being portrayed as monolithic homogenous groups in a relationship of enmity. And that this serves political interests that are not their own, and this portrayal makes life harder and more dangerous for members of all of these groups.

Do you see a special role for international artists?

Choosing a career in art generally means prioritizing freedom over security, perhaps this makes artists more likely to voice their convictions publicly. International artists, like all migrants, bring different perspectives into a national discourse, different histories, cultural values, experiences of otherness. Reading media in other languages, from other countries than the place one lives in, means noticing when a national discourse or consensus starts to shift away from international standards. So many migrants, whether they work in the arts or not, tend to notice this is happening now here. For example, recently a journalist criticizing foreign artists in Germany on a publicly funded radio station stated that “Germans are the new Jews”. A pretty shocking and shockingly inaccurate opinion, but unfortunately indicative of extremist tendencies taking hold within the German media mainstream. Paying attention when foreigners living here say that they are troubled by what is happening could help Germany to avoid increasing international isolation.

Where do you see the Arts in Germany or Berlin going now?

I think we’re at a very dangerous tipping point. Legislation is being proposed on many levels that is purported to protect Jewish life in Germany, but that could also be easily used to suppress critical voices, say, resistance against fascist movements within Germany. This was another concern regarding the clause, how it set a precedent for governmental interference into freedom of speech that could easily be misused for very different purposes down the line. The election prognoses are terrifying. How Germany as a country and how the German government decides to move forward in terms of respecting freedom of speech and freedom of expression is crucial to protecting democracy in Germany.

A discussion on Antisemitism with almost no Jews

An “Antideutsch” club in Berlin held a panel discussion about antisemitism — and excluded left-wing Jews. An interview with Daniel, a Jewish activist and member of Jüdische Stimme (Jewish Voice) in Berlin.


13/04/2024

Last Thursday, the “Antideutsch” club ://about blank in Berlin held a panel discussion on antisemitism. How did you experience the event as a Jewish Berlin leftist?

We in Berlin’s Jewish anti-Zionist community, which includes the Jüdische Stimme and many others, were acutely aware that we would not be welcome at this conversation about us. Some of us have already been made notorious either through journalism or social media. So we needed to plan to enter ://about blank discreetly, spreading out in the line and feigning unfamiliarity from one another. I even dressed to look antideutsch, in all black with skinny jeans and a bomber jacket.

The line was full of white friends and couples, some that I’d even seen on Grindr before, who were scowling at the pro-Palestine protest across the street, which was in fact, led by Jews. As people started entering, I quickly witnessed how at least two Jewish comrades who are well known for their activism were denied entry. I was one of only two anti-Zionist Jews who got in undercover. The crowd was otherwise German and non-Jewish — except for a handful of Israeli gay men seemingly friends with panelist Daniel-Ryan Spaulding.

An interesting note of mention is that the event forbade audio or visual recording of the panel, which is quite unusual for panels in Berlin. Certainly pro-Palestine discussions I attend are welcome to the public recording.

If there weren’t many Jewish people present, who was actually discussing?

Four of the five panelists were a somewhat random selection of non-Jewish self-proclaimed experts on anti-semitism. ://about blank had originally announced an event about anti-semitism with no Semitic speakers. After they were panned online, they deleted the post and added one Jewish panelist at the last minute.

The most well known speaker was Daniel-Ryan Spaulding, a fellow gay Canadian and a comedian. In the last half year he has become, in the words of panel moderator Anastasia Tikhomirova, “the leading voice of Zionism.” He is not Jewish, but wears a Star of David necklace and has been known to refer to critical Jews as “kapos.” He is known to publicly fetishize Israeli dicks. The Zionist movement has welcomed him as an expert, in spite of his often contradictory and reductive approach. 

Throughout the 2.5 hour discussion, none of the speakers was able to provide any concrete opinions, facts, or strategies about hatred toward Jewish people nor strategies on Jewish safety. During the redundant and self-congratulatory discussions, I often found myself zoning out. When I managed to listen carefully, I was disturbed by the weak arguments against the pro-Palestine rally that my friends were organizing across the street.

The claim of the event was that artists and leftists are antisemitic and “lack empathy” (presumably for the Israeli government).  What kind of empathy did the speakers display?

They seemed to forget the theme of empathy entirely until the last 30 minutes. And when they were reminded, they focused the discussion on how pro-Palestine activists (including the Jews among us) lacked empathy, whereas they, the Antideutsche, are “doing a pretty good job at empathy,” in Spaulding’s words. They would regularly gesture to the Jewish-led demonstration across the street and accuse them of lacking empathy in the fight against antisemitism.

At one point, Spaulding found himself on a tangent about the atrocities of what is happening in Gaza, and he seemed to become quite emotional. But before our eyes, he shifted back into his comedic persona and said “oh, not me getting emotional!” He did not go far enough in his empathy to call for an immediate ceasefire, or to argue for an end to weapons shipments that are being used to commit genocide.

How would you describe the feelings in Berlin’s Jewish community right now? The German press reports about a spike in antisemitic incidents, but when you dig into the numbers, an “attack” might consist in someone peacefully holding up a sign against the genocide in Gaza — and that person might be Jewish. And then we’ve seen a terrible wave of repression against left-wing Jews, including assaults, arrests, and firings.

I can only speak for those of us who are anti-Zionists. Before October 7, I wasn’t involved in any Jewish community here in Berlin. (Where did they go? This is yet another reminder of the genocide that took place here.) But in the last six months, so many more of us have been getting organized in Palestine demonstrations and joining decades-old groups like Jüdische Stimme.

We are scared, but also enraged, energized, and united in a shared cause. We are constantly aware that as mostly white Jews, we hold a massively privileged position compared to Palestinians or any people of color, and we feel a collective responsibility to use it to offer any support we can.

At the same time, our privilege is quickly dwindling, as it’s becoming normal for Jews in Germany to be accused of antisemitism — the German authorities, surprise surprise, have no sense of irony at all. For many of us, as Jewish expats from North America or the UK, our Judaism has always been inseparably defined by Zionism. We are going through a mass and disorienting identity crisis as we unlearn this brainwashing and restructure what our Judaism can mean to us and the greater community.

Do you remember your first reaction when you learned about ://about blank and this whole milieu? Berlin’s Jewish community has grown massively in the last 10-15 years, via immigration from Israel, North America, and Europe. How do Antideutsche relate to Jews?

Antideutsch are infamous among us and radical leftists in general. It is abundantly clear that they have no relation to actual Jews in any significant way. At the panel discussion, they did not discuss antisemitism in any deeper way, not even once. The whole message of this panel was to assert that the root of antisemitism lies completely on Palestine solidarity. Although the Antideutsch are, by name, against Germany and claim to be “leftist progressives,” they ironically align themselves exactly with the German government. This is an obvious and terrifying distraction from real antisemitism, which is on the rise in Germany and abroad, and comes almost entirely from the Right.

My takeaway from infiltrating this meeting is that the Antideutsch “community” ( more like a group of individuals) feel deeply marginalized, like an ostracized subsect of the Left. They spoke without much conviction as if they are the true empathetic leftists and everyone else, both the left and the right, simply don’t understand. They have no concept of intersectionality.

Author’s Note: For people who are not familiar, the Antideutsche are a bizarre milieu in Germany who consider themselves left-wing yet support Israel’s far-right government. The name “anti-German” belies the fact that they are in complete agreement with German government policy, or actually to the right of it

Solidarity with Palestine Will Outlive the German State

The German state is finding new ways to debase itself for the sake of defending Israel’s right to murder civilians.


On April 5, 2024, the same morning that Germany voted No on the UN resolution to stop sending arms to Israel, a group of Berlin lawyers’ associations filed an emergency legal action against the German state for its complicity in the genocide in Gaza by continuing to send arms after the precautionary measures ordered by the International Court of Justice in The Hague. The entities and associations European Legal Support Center (ELSC), Palestine Institute for Public Diplomacy (PIPD), Law for Palestine, which have united under the initiative Justice and Accountability for Palestine, and Forensis with this action want the German government to immediately stop the approval of arms shipments to Israel.

As shown in the report presented by Forensis, Germany in the past 20 years has sent weapons to Israel worth billions and in the last two years provided Israel with 47% of conventional weapons, making Germany the second largest arms supplier to the Zionist state after the US.

During the press conference to present the lawsuit in the state capital, Berlin, several international media outlets were present, but only one German, Junge Welt, one of the few newspapers critical of Israel and its government’s actions. During the round of interviews, through a video call, a journalist from the public broadcaster ZDF interviewed lawyer Nadija Samour with questions such as: “What about Hamas and international law?”, “Does Israel have the right to defend itself? After 6 months of genocide and war crimes, the German press, public and private, follows the guidelines set by Israel and focuses attention on Hamas and October 7, and thus on Israel’s alleged legitimacy to self-defense, and does not find it important to attend and report on the filing of a legal action against its government for its complicity in the present genocide.

In a move not seen in 75 years, the Sparkasse bank …blocked the Jewish NGO’s account and requested a list of the names and addresses of all members. Instead of a popular outcry from all the people and media supposedly fighting anti-Semitism in this country, there has been silence and thus acceptance.

Germany has faced this week on the 8th of April at the International Court of Justice in The Hague a lawsuit filed by Nicaragua for having continued to export arms to Israel and to have ceased funding UNRWA, following the interim measures issued by the same court in the case of South Africa against Israel for possible genocide. Nicaragua argued that Germany with these actions is failing to prevent genocide, as it is obliged to do as a signatory to the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide. This lawsuit and trial proceedings has not received much media coverage in this country either.

At the same time associations fighting for the Palestinian people in this country, such as the Palestinian United National Committee (Vereinigtes Palästinensisches Nationalkomitee), Jewish Voices for Peace in the Middle East (Judische Stimme), Workers’ Force (Arbeiter: innenmacht), Revolutionary Left (Revolutionäre Linke), Diem 25 and BDS are organizing for the weekend of April 12-14 the Palestine Congress in Berlin, where they accuse the German government for its complicity in the extermination and apartheid committed against the Palestinian people. Among the speakers are such prominent activists of the Palestinian cause as Ghassan Abu Sittah, Noura Erakat and Yanis Varoufakis.

This congress is being attacked by the political class and most of the media, which they label as “Anti-Semites of the world want to meet in Berlin”. While the political class seeks to effect their ban, the German press publishes the names, addresses and jobs of some of the speakers, who are now receiving threats, and the criminal police carry out searches and seizures of electronic devices in the homes of these speakers. In a move not seen in 75 years, the Sparkasse bank, where Judische Stimme, the organization that collected the congress entrance fees, has blocked the Jewish NGO’s account and requested a list of the names and addresses of all members. Instead of a popular outcry from all the people and media supposedly fighting anti-Semitism in this country, there has been silence and thus acceptance.

After the funds were frozen, an event was planned for Friday, April 5 in Berlin to raise money for the congress with a panel discussion on the repression in the German state of solidarity with Palestine. The venue where it was to be held, where political and artistic meetings often take place, received a call from the police, who alleged “security problems”, strongly suggested that the event should not be held. They did not see fit to perhaps do their job and protect the event, opting instead to pressure to cancel it, forcing the organizers and workers at the venue to call it off. This event was held on Sunday in a completely private center and therefore immune to state (economic) repression.

The organizers of the Palestine Congress in view of this dreadful situation have launched an international call for support and ask all groups and individuals in the Palestinian solidarity movement to demonstrate on April 14 in front of German embassies and consulates to show Germany that it is standing alone in its support for the zionist regime. More information here. They also inform that the congress will be broadcasted, you can look for information in the same web.

The German government and society are being exposed for their unwavering defense of Israel. More and more critical voices worldwide are paying attention to the serious events taking place in Germany. It is time for everyone to join those voices and there is no better time to let them know than on Sunday, April 14 in front of their embassy or consulate.

Nicaragua’s Historic solidarity and double standards

Nicaragua takes Germany to court: text of a speech given at the Camp for Gaza


12/04/2024

When I first heard that Nicaragua is taking Germany to court for aiding and assisting Israel in the genocide in Gaza, I had two immediate thoughts. First, how amazing is it, that someone is holding the German state accountable for their actions! Second, why the hell does it have to be Nicaragua?

Because not many people know what is going on in Nicaragua, I want to take this opportunity to talk about the context in which the Nicaraguan state has filed this important case against Germany at the ICJ. Firstly, I want to state that even though I have lived and worked in Nicaragua and with Nicaraguans for the last 10 years, I speak from my very personal perspective as a white German woman. That I am able to speak quite openly about this topic without endangering my livelihood or that of my loved ones is a privilege most Nicaraguans don’t have. Not only because of the repression by the German state, which we are all aware of, but also because of repression by the Nicaraguan state.

The people of Nicaragua have a historic connection with the Palestinian struggle against occupation and oppression. As a Nicaraguan friend of mine said: “we know what it means to be under occupation, we have lived the violence of war and oppression and have felt it in our bodies. We don’t have the privilege of westerners to talk about these atrocities from a distance. This makes it near impossible for us not to stand in solidarity with the Palestinian people.”

During the Revolution against the US-backed Somoza dictatorship and the Contra War in the 1970s and 80s, the Sandinista National Liberation Front held close personal, political and economic relations with the Palestinian Liberation Organization. In 2017, the 4th Congress of the Palestinian community in Latin America and the Caribbean was held in Managua, where the Nicaraguan government expressed its continued support for the Palestinian people and their struggle for national autonomy. In 2010, Nicaragua severed diplomatic ties with Israel (which were later resumed) and in 2019 Nicaragua opened an embassy in Ramallah, Palestine. In this context, opening a case against Germany as one of the strongest supporters of Israel in the ongoing genocide makes perfect sense and is a testament to this historic solidarity. Of course, there are also many geopolitical considerations that influence Nicaragua’s decision for filing the case, which are not mentioned here.

At the same time, it is important to recognize the hypocrisy of the Nicaraguan government which demands the respect of international humanitarian law and human rights in other parts of the world while simultaneously perpetrating crimes against humanity in their own country. Daniel Ortega, the current president, has long strayed from the Sandinista ideals of freedom and equality for the Nicaraguan people. Since his election in 2007, the former revolutionary leader has systematically eliminated all political opposition and centralized all state power onto himself and his family – mostly his wife and, since 2016, vice-president Rosario Murillo.

Since 2018, when massive popular demonstrations against the government were violently repressed and resulted in over 350 deaths, Nicaragua constitutes an openly totalitarian dictatorship. Numerous unconstitutional laws sanctioning all political opposition as “terrorism“ and “treason“ have been passed. Last year Jan Simon, Chair of the UN Group of Human Rights Experts on Nicaragua, which presented an extensive report on the human rights violations in the country, stated:

“We can conclude that widespread and systematic human rights violations that amount to crimes against humanity – and are motivated by political reasons – have been committed against civilians by the Nicaraguan Government since 2018. […] They have been weaponizing the justice system, weaponizing the legislative function, weaponizing the executive function of the State against the population.”

The UN report identified a pattern of more than 100 extra-judicial executions carried out by agents of the National Police and members of pro-government armed groups as well as several hundred cases of torture and arbitrary detentions.

Because of participation in the protests or even political statements online criticizing the current dictatorship, people have been harassed, lost their jobs, have been denied healthcare, were expelled from universities and had all their academic records wiped. Over 300 people have been officially stripped of their citizenship and lost all access to their belongings, rights, and even their birth records, leaving them not only state-less, but also placing their whole families in precarious situations. Many more have had their passports confiscated and have been denied exit or entry into Nicaragua.

Meanwhile the government is still increasing the repression. Since 2018, almost 4,000 NGOs have been closed and/or forbidden, such as all human rights organizations, environmental groups, feminist organizations, etc. Well over half a million people emigrated in the last 6 years not only because of political persecution, but also because of economic reasons. In a country with only 6 million inhabitants, that means that roughly 10% of the population has left the country! It is important to note, that the Ortega-Murillo family and government not only control public spaces, but also all media outlets and school curricula, making independent or dissident organization in the country nearly impossible. There is no independent press left within the country and in the last year many private universities have been closed or converted into public ones.

Apart from the crimes directly related to political opposition, I also want to mention the systematic repression of the indigenous peoples living in Nicaragua’s Caribbean Coast, which has been going on for decades. In theory, the Miskitu, Sumu-Mayangna, Garifuna and Rama-Kriol peoples and their rights are protected by law. Their territories are officially recognized, and they have political autonomy over them. In reality, these rights are barely respected.

Especially in the two biggest natural reserves of the country (Bosawas and Indio Maíz) which are part of the autonomous regions and territories, there have been continuous conflicts around land. Mostly poor, non-Indigenous farmers from the pacific and central regions are illegally entering these areas, chopping down trees to sell the lumber, establish cattle farms, or sell the land. The government does little to nothing to protect the communities against these colonos (colonizers) and there have been many cases where it even actively encouraged them, for example by promising “free” land for party supporters. The government also actively benefits from the cattle ranching that comes after the massive deforestation. Especially in the North, there have been many violent assaults of armed colonizers against Indigenous communities. In 2021, one of the most gruesome attacks against a Mayangna community resulted in at least 13 deaths, including a 6-year old child, while some women were sexually assaulted before being killed. The police did nothing.

This is the political context in which the Nicaraguan state filed the case against Germany. While no nation-state in this capitalist system is a moral one, and double standards can be found everywhere, the blatant violations of human rights by the Nicaraguan government and their open dismissal of international institutions greatly diminish the credibility of their claim against Germany. I personally cannot help but feel cynical when hearing Nicaraguan representatives demanding respect from Israel for these same human rights as well as international humanitarian law.

Despite all of this, I want to reiterate the importance of the ICJ case. Whatever Nicaragua’s intentions, it is incredibly important to hold Germany accountable for its complicity in the ongoing genocide in Gaza. It is so important not to stop talking about Palestine, and so important to confront the Zionist rhetoric we see in mainstream media. And I think the case against Germany can at least help do that.

We cannot let them get away with this any longer! We cannot let them use our tax money to fund this genocide!

Viva Nicaragua libre and free Palestine!

This is the text of a speech given at the Camp for Gaza outside the Bundestag. It has been edited for clarity. Reproduced with permission.

Estrel Tower: Berlin’s tallest building is laughing at you

The new hotel in Neukölln is a reminder that Berlin could build new housing – but investors prefer useless towers


10/04/2024

The building frame is slowly rising above Neukölln, as ominous as Barad-dûr with the Eye of Sauron from the movies Lord of the Rings. When it’s completed next year, the Estrel Tower will be Berlin’s tallest building, with 45 stories. It’s already impossible to miss, looming over every street.

This tower is an expansion of the Estrel Hotel right across the street. Germany’s biggest hotel opened in 1995, and strangely, it’s in the middle of an industrial area next to the Neukölln Ship Canal. The convention center is squeezed between a scrap metal yard and a factory for store-brand Nutella imitators. This is one of Berlin’s poorest neighborhoods: the White Settlement, a housing project next to the Estrel, has been systematically run down by private investors.

Right next to the hotel, the inner-city Autobahn A100 is cutting a deep path through the city. I always wondered: Why would someone who could afford a fancy hotel want to look down at the highway and the nougat creme plant? I found an article from ten years ago in nd, and Berlin’s ultra-racist former district mayor Heinz Buschkowsky thought this was a feature: you can basically drive your car right into the lobby! Plenty of German philistines want to hold a convention in Berlin – but without encountering any scary Berliners. Here, they can go from the parking garage to their hotel room without setting foot outside.

As Berlin’s housing crisis reaches ever-new heights, with the average student paying €640 for a room, the city has essentially given up on building apartments. The biggest landlord, Vonovia, has declared they have stopped all construction – it’s just too expensive, they say. Yet everywhere we see cranes for hotels and offices. Couldn’t people live in the Estrel Tower?

This is what makes the project so odious: As young people move from one six-month sublet to another, the bourgeoisie is erecting a monument to their own colossal indifference. “We know you need housing”, they yell at us from their tower, “but we don’t care”. Instead of construction, capital is now flowing into speculation with existing buildings, driving up prices and rents even more.

This is the context in which René Benko’s realty empire has collapsed. The Austrian billionaire has properties throughout this city – most famously the luxury department store KaDeWe. Rather, Benko had properties, as his Signa Group has entered bankruptcy. This is great news for Berliners: Neukölln will at least be spared a different useless tower, the reboot of the Karstadt palace at Hermannplatz.

As journalists sift through the ruins, we are learning how Benko went from a high-school dropout to one of the world’s top realty speculators, even snatching up the Chrysler Building. Benko’s skill set consisted in gaining billionaires’ confidence, making corrupt deals with right-wing politicians, and falsifying financial records. In the last few years, he got at least €700 million from German taxpayers. This money was supposed to “save jobs” at department stores – but it only ended up propping up a house of cards. Perhaps the money could have been sent directly to the workers, rather than to their exploiters.

I’m sure there are realty developers who are not sociopathic gamblers, mafia dons, and corrupt operators – I’m just not sure who they are. As Donald Trump goes on trial in the United States, his defenders remind us that his financial tricks are “used by every real estate developer everywhere on earth”, and “this has never been prosecuted”, in the words of the Canadian investor Kevin O’Leary. And that’s true. Yet if any of us used similar tactics to get a bank loan, we could expect to be thrown in prison. We just accept a certain amount of criminal behavior from the real estate sector.

If we want speculators to solve Berlin’s housing crisis, we’ll only get more useless towers. The only way to provide housing is to put it under public, democratic control. In a sense, this is our fault. This city’s rulers are clearly not worried about barricades going up. In fact, they feel so confident that they put up the Estrel Tower to mock us.

This is a mirror of Nathaniel’s Red Flag column in Neues Deutschland. Reproduced with permission