The Left Berlin News & Comment

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Category: Campaign of the week

Apartheid, Racism and International Law?

Food + fundraiser for Gaza


24/03/2026

Palestinian voices are being systematically marginalised in Germany—in political debates, media coverage and at universities. Discriminatory narratives have become institutionally entrenched, restricting freedom of expression and democratic spaces. At the same time, the ICJ, ICC and UN have documented the illegality of the occupation and ongoing genocide in Gaza, raising urgent questions about the complicity of universities and corporations.

These two panels bring together expertise in psychology, lived experience and international law to ask: How has anti-Palestinian racism become normalised in Germany, and what responsibility do universities, institutions and civil society bear?

Panel 1 (3pm-5pm) Palestinians Speak: Experiences of Racism. A talk with Dr Yasmeen Daher, Rayan El-Haj-Mohammed

We bring together perspectives from Critical Race Theory, Psychology, and lived experience, and ask:

  • How do discriminatory narratives emerge?
  • How do they operate institutionally?
  • And what does this mean for democracy and freedom of expression?

Panel 2 (6pm-8pm) International Law and Academic Complicity with Yasmin Khuder (lawyer, Amnesty International). Further speakers to be announced

German Universities maintain partnerships with Israeli institutions.

  • What are the legal and ethical consequences?
  • What responsibility do Universities bear?
  • And what options for action do students and staff have?

Both panels will be held in English

There will be food and a fundraiser nearby at Cafeteria

Date: Friday, 27 March 2026

Place: Audiomax, TU Berlin, Straße des 17. June 135

Organised by Allgemeiner Studierendenausschuss TU (General Student Committee TU)

The Ulm 5

Arrested and imprisoned for fighting Elbit Systems’ support for genocide


18/03/2026

As reported by The Left Berlin here, here, and here, the Ulm5 continue to be held in pre-trial detention for their action against Elbit Systems, the weapons manufacturer complicit in the Gaza genocide. The five friends are being charged as a criminal organization under Section 129, which amounts to sentencing before their case is heard in court.

Crow, Daniel, Leandra, Vi and Zo have variously been facing repressive conditions for over six months, including visits restricted to only one hour per month, mail withheld for weeks or months, and solitary confinement for 23 hours per day.

On Sunday, March 22, you can learn the latest on the five Berliners being preemptively persecuted for their pro-Palestine activism.

📍 Germany v. The Ulm5: Presentation & Panel, 6 pm at Jockel (Ratiborstr. 14C, 10999 Berlin-Kreuzberg)

In advance of the Ulm5 trial in Stuttgart starting in late April, family members from the UK and Ireland, an Ulm 5 attorney, an expert from Amnesty Deutschland and a representative from Palestine on Trial will give insights and updates on the case. You can look forward to an overview from legal and everyday perspectives, ways to show solidarity, and a forecast of the coming months as the trial unfolds.

Free the Ulm5! Free all prisoners! Free Palestine!

Alliance “Keine Einzelfälle”—No isolated incidents

For justice, against police violence


10/03/2026

On March 15, the International Day Against Police Violence, Join us on the street to demonstrate for justice!

📍 Memorial 1 pm at Oranienplatz, 2 pm march to Hermannplatz

Time and again, the police kill. We know that these are not isolated incidents. Their violence is systematic, affecting disproportionately poor, Black, migrant, queer people, and anyone who fights back.

We are the alliance “Keine Einzelfälle—Polizei tötet” (No Isolated Incidents—the police kill), a coalition of more than 20 organizations. We want to make visible what too often remains invisible and to fight together for justice, transparency, solidarity with those affected, and profound structural change.

We will share more information, the call to demonstrate in various languages, the detailed program, and all participating organizations on our platform in the coming weeks.

Follow our account, share our call, and most importantly, join us on the streets on March 15th to resist—for Lorenz A., for Achidi J., for Oury J., Mouhamed L.D., N’deye Mareame S., Christy S., and many more, including those whose names we do not know.

For a more just world in which we can best protect each other and ourselves through self-organization.

Final Girls Berlin Film Festival

Horror cinema directed, written, or produced by women and non-binary filmmakers.


02/03/2026

Final Girls Berlin film festival showcases horror cinema that’s directed, written, or produced by women and non-binary filmmakers. We are committed to creating space for female voices and visions, whether monstrous, heroic or some messy combination of the two, in the horror genre. We’ve seen more than enough representations of women as beautified victims and constructions of male fantasies or anxieties, and are working towards the primacy of women as subjects and storytellers in horror.

Our definition of women includes anyone with female experience –past or present– and is trans-inclusive. Anyone who feels addressed by the term is welcome to submit their films to the festival.

Get ready for a diverse and expansive experience at this year’s Final Girls Berlin—featuring FGB’s most international selection yet! The opening film, Laura Casabé’s THE VIRGIN OF THE QUARRY LAKE from Argentina, centers on a spell-binding teen who uses her powers to satiate her dark desires.

Folk horror is well-represented this year, with Aislinn Clarke delving into Irish folklore and trauma in FREWAKA, a retrospective screening of Kasi Lemmons’ Southern Gothic tale about a young girl confronting family secrets, and the Adams’ family MOTHER OF FLIES (German Premiere) about a young woman striking a sinister deal with a witch after receiving a terminal diagnosis.

The talents of Canadian director and actress Grace Glowicki are on full display—she directs and stars in the unconventional DEAD LOVER (German Premiere) about a grief-stricken gravedigger trying to resurrect her beloved, and can be seen in Madeleine Sims-Fewer & Dusty Mancinelli’s HONEY BUNCH, a twisty love story about a husband trying to help his amnesiac wife.

On the lighter side of things, we have Tina Romero’s (daughter of George) zombie comedy QUEENS OF THE DEAD, full of glitter, and drag queens. The feature program is rounded out by the moving, otherworldly CAMP (German Premiere) directed by Avalon Fast and the award-winning panic attack of a movieIF I HAD LEGS I’D KICK YOU directed by Mary Bronstein starring a never better Rose Byrne.

As always, you have your share of short blocks to choose from—there’s Final Girls Berlin staples such as Midnight, Queer Horror, and Social Horror, as well as Religious Horror, the Psychosexual, films exploring the dark side of Ambition and Friendship, and more!

Sound is at the forefront of the events in 2026. There’s the very first FGB Live Score event with horror prog trio Pavone Cristallo accompanying Maya Deren’s MESHES OF THE AFTERNOON (1943) and Germaine Dulac’s THE SEASHELL AND THE CLERGYMAN (1928) as well as two sonic workshops: “Make Your Own Damn Sounds: How to make sound effects and foley for your film“ and “Hysterics Unplugged—the Sound of Horror.“ In addition, there will be talks about “Deconstructing Sex/Gender and the Body in Contemporary Horror Shorts“ and “Female Hunger, Appetite, and Consumption“ as well as an empowerment through horror workshop for BIPOCs and a “Frankenstein Technique“ collage workshop.

Berlin Peace Conference

Disarmament


24/02/2026

In the German economy, the prevailing mood is tense. The German government is spending hundreds of billions on war production while cutting social programs and healthcare. It demands that we work longer hours and robbing us of our youth. For some of us, these are friends, for others, children or grandchildren—they all face the same fate: being prepared for war.

In times of crisis, there is no room for peace; in these times, we are supposed to tighten our belts and join the war machine.

But why should we? We gain nothing from their warmongering! We will not participate in this game of more drudgery, suffering, and destruction!

It is time for anger—let us defend peace against the threat of war.

The Berlin Peace Conference is intended to provide a forum for joint discussion, networking, and uniting our efforts for peace.

The Conference takes place between February 27th and March 1st in the City Kino Wedding. Discussion will be in German.