The Left Berlin News & Comment

This is the archive template

Category: Letter from the Editors

Letter from the Editors: 27th April 2023

International Workers’ Day, repression of Palestinians in Berlin, and Stop War in Sudan


27/04/2023

Hello everyone,

Tomorrow (Friday), there’s a demonstration Stop War in Sudan. Sudanese activists, students, refugees, workers and others in Germany, call on the anti-war alliances and refugees movement and especially Sudanese around the country and all over Europe to come, protest, and march. The demo starts at 3pm at the Auswärtiges Amt (German Federal Foreign Office) until 6pm at the Bundestag .”The revolution is a people’s revolution, and power is the power of the people; the military returns to the barracks, and the Janjaweed to be disbanded!”

On Friday evening, there is a solidarity concert for Nakba75 in Café Karanfil, Weisestraße 3 from 7pm. You are invited to an evening full of music from Palestinian artists from Berlin, from Indie, via poetry and rap music to a jam session. All money raised will help to offset the court costs incurred by the people arrested on Nakba Day 2022, and for the costs of this year’s demonstration on 20th May.

Friday evening sees a public meeting Nuestro compromiso con el proceso de cambios en México at 7pm in Karl Liebknecht Haus. This is the opening event for a conference Convocatoria al Encuentro Somos 4T Europa 2023, which will also be taking place in Karl Liebknecht Haus. The event, by and about the Left in Mexico, will be conducted in Spanish only.

On Saturday, there will be a CommUNITY Event Yallah Klassenkampf. If you or your group are interested in preparing for 1st May, come to Theater X. From 11.30 till 6pm, there’ll be a street theatre workshop with “Teatro en Movimiento Callejerx“ from Barcelona. From 2pm till 5pm, banners will be painted and printed, and from 3pm till 5pm slogans will be prepared with the Widerklang choir. The event is organised by Theater X, who are our Campaign of the Week.

On Saturday evening, there’ll be an event in German, 75 Jahre Nakba: Anti-Palästinensischer Rassismus & Repressionen in Berlin (75 Years Nakba: Anti-Palestinian racism and repression in Berlin). We cannot remain silent! We must discuss the different forms of repression against Palestinian activism in Germany, as well as how we can bring the protest for basic human rights for Palestinians to the streets in Berlin and Germany during the 75th year of the Nakba. The event starts at 5.30pm in Spreefeld, Wilhelmine-Gemberg-Weg 14. Please note that the starting time and venue have changed.

Monday is International Workers’ Day, a public holiday in Germany. There are plenty of activities which you can visit. Here are just some of them:

On Thursday, 4th May, the Berlin LINKE Internationals have their monthly open organising meeting at 7pm in Erif Aralp’s office, Zeughofstraße 22 opposite Görlitzer Park. Everyone is invited to come along and discuss coming activities including a new walking tour about Marx’s Berlin, a book presentation on Modi and Israel, and a film about the British miners’ strike. Above all, the discussion will be about planning Summer Camp on 10th-11th June. Book your place at Summer Camp here to ensure free accommodation.

We always say that the week is full of activities in Berlin, but this week is particularly full. You can find out about many more events at our Events page. You can also see a shorter, but more detailed, list of Events which we are directly involved in here.

In News from Berlin, rail workers strike again, participation in Last Generation actions increases from 80 to 1000 people, and Franziska Giffey becomes Berlin’s new finance minister.

In News from Germany, the faction fight inside die LINKE in NRW continues, the AfD is now 10 years old and has established itself as a far right party, over 1,600 researchers sign a declaration that Last Generation’s tactics are legitimate, Labour minister Heil issues a proposal for working hours legislation, and more transport strikes are planned.

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

New on theleftberlin this week, we publish an open letter from Israeli and Jewish Berliners against banning Palestine demos, John Mullen looks at the chances of French protestors defeating Macron, Hari Kumar looks at the importance of Chilean poet Pablo Neruda, Evan Bernel looks at what Germany’s new cannabis laws really mean, Phil Butland looks at the hypocrisy of those attacking British Labour MP Diane Abbott, Sudanese socialists suggest how you can support them, and Florian Marchais reports from Serbia on a new wave of protests.

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 do encourage your friends to subscribe to this Newsletter.

Keep on fighting

The Left Berlin Editorial Board

Letter from the Editors: 20th April 2023

Küfa for Palestine, celebrate Italy’s liberation from Fascism, and remember the Armenian genocide


20/04/2023

Hello everyone,

Tomorrow evening (Friday) at 7pm, there is a screening of the film Factory to the workers. In 2005, the workers of a Croatian company occupied their factory for the production of tools. Since then, they have been managing their factory collectively. After the end of Yugoslavia and the return of capitalism in the post-socialist part of Europe, they are the only successful example. But they too are struggling with the conditions of the global market. Filmmaker Srđan Kovačević accompanied them over five years. In the end, the question remains: can a single collective business survive on the edge of capitalism, or does it need more? The film will be shown at MaHalle, Waldemarstrasse 110. Entrance is free.

On Saturday, at 1.30pm, there is a demonstration to mark the day of remembrance for the genocide in Armenia. The demonstration is happening because the genocide and the displacement of Armenians have no end. Today Armenians in Artsakh are suffering under pan-Turkism. Azerbaijan’s war of aggression in 2020 led to a blockade which prevents the only connection between Armenia and Artsakh. The demonstration organisers call on non-Armenians to show their solidarity, and the pain affects us all. The demo starts at Hermannplatz.

Starting at 2pm on Saturday, there will be an event on Oranienplatz in solidarity with the Turkish Green Left Party (Yeşil Sol). Speeches will be held (largely in Turkish), there will also be music and food.

Saturday also sees the next Berlin LINKE Internationals Küfa – an evening where internationals activists and eat together and discuss together. As ever, all food is free, but there will be a collection – this time for the reception at the coming meeting: 75 Years Nakba: Anti-Palestinian Racism and Repression in Berlin. The meeting is an important contribution to helping the German Left understand the ongoing struggle of Palestinians, and to build a serious anti-colonialist movement here. Note that this meeting will take place on 29th April and will now take place at Spreefeld, Wilhelmine-Gemberg-Weg 14 (the meeting will be conducted in German).

Sunday will see a day of action against the building of the A100 motorway, including a bicycle demo starting at Frankfurter Allee/Möllendorffstraße at 11am, and a concert on the motorway from 1pm near S-Bahn Tempelhof. The German transport minister does not see protecting the climate as his remit. Instead he wants to accelerate the building of motorways. The Berlin SPD is cozying up to the CDU which wants to build the A100 against the wishes of local residents and to extend it to Prenzlauer Berg. The protests want to set a sign for bicycle lanes, and investing in more public transport instead of concrete and environmentally damaging cars.

Sunday is also the anniversary of the liberation of Italy from Fascism. To celebrate the event, the Italian organisation ANPI is organising a celebration event Festa della Liberazione at Kolle 37, . Kollwitzstr. 35. ANPI Berlin-Brandenburg, Comites Berlin and VVN invite you to celebrate Liberation Day together with shows, music and a small food and wine offer. The proceeds will be donated to Mediterranea Saving Humans. ANPI are our Campaign of the Week.

Finally, on Wednesday at 6pm, there will be a demonstration at Potsdamer Platz to celebrate the Day of Lesbian Visibility. All L* and their supporters are warmly invited to join us in taking to the streets together for inclusive lesbian visibility. We want to be visible together, peacefully, in solidarity, and in a colorful and diverse way. So come out onto the streets with us on April 26th, join the ranks and let’s set a sign for inclusion and diversity together. Of course, we’re excited about your handmade signs, ideas, and chants, as well as your cheers from the sidelines.

This week is full of activities in Berlin, so make sure you find out what else is going on by looking at our Events page. You can see a shorter, but more detailed, list of Events which we are directly involved in here.

Remember that the preliminary programme for the LINKE Internationals annual Summer Camp is now online. Summer Camp takes place on 10th – 11th June in the Naturfeundehaus Hermsdorf, on the outskirts of Berlin. Please register to ensure free accommodation.

In News from Berlin, another pro-Palestine demo in Berlin is banned, and the FU student parliament comes into conflict with the police and politicians.

In News from Germany, Germany’s last nuclear power plant closes, environmental protestors from Letzte Generation are given jail sentences, the Green Party Conference refuses to discuss the clearing of Lützerath, and cannabis is decriminalized in Germany.

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

New on theleftberlin this week, we interview the organisers of a workshop about refugees from Senegal, Hari Kumar looks at the Silicon Valley bailout, Anna Southern is frustrated about the Labour Left’s weak response to the continued attacks on Jeremy Corbyn, John Mullen looks at the response of French fascists to the recent protests, Palestinian photographer Rasha Al-Jundi writes about resisting the suppression of Palestinian voices in Germany, and Lana Birley explains how non-Germans can gain dual citizenship.

By the way, you can see a gallery of Rasha Al-Jundi’s photographs here.

In this week’s Radio Programme of the Week, Radio Berlin International talks to Rosemary Grennan from AGIT about cultural resistance in Berlin, and to Zaid from Samidoun about Palestinian prisoners.

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 do encourage your friends to subscribe to this Newsletter.

Keep on fighting

The Left Berlin Editorial Board

Letter from the Editors: 13th April 2023

Spring Rebellion, saving lives in the Mediterranean, and Riots in Kreuzberg


13/04/2023

Hello everyone,

On Saturday, Extinction Rebellion are organising a demonstration Emergency: Species Extinction starting at 1pm outside the Bayer Health Care offices in Wedding. The demonstration is making 3 demands on the German government: (1) Declare a biodiversity emergency, (2) Act now with a 100% pesticide exit by 2030 and the immediate dismantling of factory farming and industrial fishing, and (3) Create a citizens council on the subject “Stop mass death, Save biodiversity”, similar to other initiatives in Ireland and France.

The demonstration is part of a week of action for a Spring Rebellion. This includes a Camp at Invalidenpark which started on Tuesday, and will carry on until next Tuesday. There is a full programme of events, including workshops and comedy available in English and German. The film LAND IS LIFE: Stories from the Farmers’ Struggle in the Philippines will be shown on Sunday at 8pm.

On Sunday at 2pm, it’s the latest political walking tour organised by the LINKE Berlin Internationals. In preparation for the 1st of May, the subject of this month’s tour is Riots in Kreuzberg. Every year since 1987, Kreuzberg has seen protests on May 1st. “Revolutionary May Day” combines Germany’s knack for organization with Berlin’s predisposition for nihilism. The first one was in 2009 and they have been updating ever since. The tour meets outside Südblock at Kotbusser Tor and will last around 2 hours. Participation is free, but you are encouraged to give a donation to the tour guide.

On Monday at 6pm in Refugio, there is a workshop From Senegal to Europe and Back. This is a sensitization event about displacement and irregularized migration from Senegal and other African countries, deportation and externalization practices. The workshop aims to raise awareness about the conditions that generate the Senegalese illegalised migration and the mechanisms that produce and reproduce it in a never-ending loop. Read our interview with the organisers on theleftberlin.

Monday also sees the start of an exhibition: Every Life Counts. on flight over the Mediterranean. The action is organised by Sea-Eye, and records their work rescuing fleeing people drowning in the Mediterranean. It takes place in restART in the open art project room for new arrivals and people interested in art, Residenzstraße 132. Sea-Eye Berlin is our Campaign of the Week.

This week is full of activities in Berlin, so make sure you find out what else is going on by looking at our Events page. You can see a shorter, but more detailed, list of Events which we are directly involved in here.

Important news on the planned meeting on 29th April  75 Years Nakba: Anti-Palestinian Racism and Repression in Berlin. Please note that this meeting will no longer take place in Oyoun. For more information, including the location of the new venue–check out next week’s Newsletter. The Küfa to raise funds for the meeting will now take place next Saturday, April 23rd, not this upcoming weekend as originally planned.

And the preliminary programme for the LINKE Internationals annual Summer Camp is now online. Summer Camp takes place on 10th – 11th June in the Naturfeundehaus Hermsdorf, on the outskirts of Berlin. Please register to ensure free accommodation.

Finally, on 17th June, one week after Summer Camp the LINKE Internationals will be showing Still the Enemy Within, a film about the British Miners’ Strike. The screening will take place in Karl Liebknecht Haus and will be followed by a Q&A with the film’s executive producer Mike Simons.

In News from Berlin, problems with the introduction of the €9 “social ticket” for public transport, environmental groups promise actions of civil disobedience in Berlin, allegations of antisemitic slogans at a demonstration, and government health reforms are criticised for lacking the necessary resources.

In News from Germany, study shows shortage in bicycle parking spaces, NATO war exercises planned for Germany, and Karstadt workers strike for collective bargaining.

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

New on theleftberlin this week, John Mullen looks at the response of the French Left to the ongoing strikes and demonstrations, and we interview the organisers of a meeting about refugees and migration from Senegal.

In this week’s Podcast of the Week, Hanna Grześkiewicz talks about Sounding a Revolution. Since the murder of Jina Amini by the Iranian morality police on 16 September 2022, Iran has been in the thralls of a feminist revolution. What does the revolution sound like? What is the role of sound in a revolution? This audio paper gathers the voices of scholar Chowra Mekaremi, Golchehr Hamidi Manesh from the Only Voice Remains collective, and Behrooz Moosavi from Tehran Contemporary Sounds festival, as well as songs, chants, and sounds in public space, in an attempt to sound a revolution. Sound is used as a tool for untangling the complexity of a revolution, and for hearing its vision for the future.

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 do encourage your friends to subscribe to this Newsletter.

Keep on fighting

The Left Berlin Editorial Board

Letter from the Editors: 6th April 2023

Left Media Academy, Cultural Intervention in Berlin, and International Roma Day


06/04/2023

Hello everyone,

This evening sees the opening night of the exhibition Wir Weben! Wir Weben! is a site-specific mural created by Hussein Mitha. The mural celebrates the multiple, contradictory and varied labour and social movement histories of Berlin. A single ‘red thread’ at the centre of the piece weaves together historical movements, from the German Revolution to the solidarity campaigns of the DDR, to squatting, and political print production in 1970s West Berlin, to contemporary housing movements. The exhibition is at Nansenstraße 2, and can be seen on Fridays and Sundays throughout April. The organisers, AGIT, are our Campaign of the Week.

On Saturday, at 1pm, the FAU union is organising a rally Happy Easter, You’re Still Fired. After promises in November 2022 of safe jobs, functional bikes, and new working facilities, the workers at ecoCARRIER AG and Velocarrier GmbH began 2023 with a rude surprise: a mass termination. The workers’ demands are simple: Management must pay for the promises they made to workers. Their failures should not be the burden of workers. Severance pay is the least they can do. The rally to support their demands starts at 1pm in front of REWE, Rollbergstr. 59 (Neukölln). It will be followed by a picnic at Tempelhofer Feld.

Saturday is also International Roma Day which remembers the worldwide emancipation of Roma* which started in 1971. The day is also intended as a counterweight to the abuses, oppression end the exclusion of Roma people from society. The 52nd ROMADAY will focus above all on the global consequences of environmental racism. To celebrate the day, there will be a Romaday Parade, which starts at 3pm at the Denkmal für die im Nationalsozialismus ermordeten Sinti und Roma Europas near Brandenburger Tor.

Tuesday sees the start of LiMA, the Left media academy. LiMA is an independent, non-profit educational association based in Berlin. They organise meetings and seminars, which since the pandemic have been increasingly online. Their aim is the promotion of critical, emancipatory perspectives in the media, and enabling media competence in social engagement, non-profit activity and journalism. As well as the online meetings, there will also be live events at the Neues Deutschland building at Franz-Mehring Platz 1.

On Thursday, there’s a party in solidarity with Greece, organised by ATTAC and Greek organisations. SoliOli organises an economy of solidarity. Once a year, it offers olive products from Greek cooperatives with the aim of supporting political and social projects in Greece. The evening will be in three parts – first an introduction to the organisation, then a sale of culinary components, and finally live music and dancing. It all takes place in the Regenbogenfabrik, Lausitzer Straße 21a.

This week is full of activities in Berlin, so make sure you find out what else is going on by looking at our Events page. You can see a shorter, but more detailed, list of Events which we are directly involved in here.

Looking further into the future, on Saturday, 15th April, the Berlin LINKE Internationals are organising a Küfa where international activists can cook, eat, and talk with each other, while we raise money for an important cause. This month, money is being raised to provide a reception at the coming meeting 75 Years Nakba: Anti-Palestinian Racism and Repression in Berlin. The day after the Küfa. Sunday, 16th April, it will be the next LINKE Internationals Walking Tour – this time on Riots in Kreuzberg.

Remember that on 10th-11th June, the LINKE Internationals are holding their annual Summer Camp on the outskirts of Berlin. The programme will be available soon. And on 17th June, there’ll be a showing of Still the Enemy Within, a film about the British Miners’ Strike, followed by a Q&A with the film’s producer Mike Simons.

In News from Berlin, complaints about discrimination in Berlin increase, Berlin’s new SPD-CDU government wants to introduce compulsory religious education in schools, and the area around Häckescher Markt is to become a pedestrianized Zone.

In News from Germany, survey by the police union records racism, misanthropy, and prejudice against refugees, finance minister Christian Lindner opposes increases in child benefits, the shortage of skilled workers in Germany is increasing, and left wing politicians criticise the reception of King Charles in the Bundestag.

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

New on theleftberlin this week, Jeroen van der Starre reports from the Netherlands about recent electoral gains for the right wing, both John Mullen and Colin Falconer report from Paris on the ongoing strikes and demonstrations, we interview the makers of a new guide to filming the police and a new organisation for cultural intervention in Berlin, and Negro Matapacos reports the unhealthy alliance between the Berlin Ostermarsch with the far right.

In this week’s Podcast of the Week, in the second episode of Delivery Charge, host Aju John looks at the Works’ Councils (Betriebsrat) elections at Flink and Lieferando. You can also listen to Rob and Mo, who were pivotal in the campaigns to establish the Betriebsrats at these companies. In doing so, we will learn a bit more about the institution of the Betriebsrat in German labour law, with some help from Dr. Eva Kocher, a professor of law at Centre for Interdisciplinary Labour Law Studies at the European University in Frankfurt (Oder).

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 do encourage your friends to subscribe to this Newsletter.

Keep on fighting

The Left Berlin Editorial Board

Letter from the Editors: 30th March 2023

Rent madness and fossil fools


30/03/2023

Hello everyone,

Tomorrow (Friday) at 4pm, the broad organisation Reinickendorf bleibt Bunt (Reinickendorf is staying colourful) is organising a demonstration against the headquarters which the AfD is planning to build in Wittenau. The opening rally will be at the Märkisches Zentrum, followed by a demonstration along Wilhelmsruher Damm and Eichhorster Weg to the site of the planned office in Wallenroder Straße 1.

On Saturday at 1pm, Die LINKE Neukölln (with the support of other Berlin districts) is organising a rally Stop the War! Russian troops out of Ukraine! End the Escalation! The rally demands a civil society instead of a spiral of militarisation. It is fighting for the unconditional right to stay for all refugees, not the current hierarchisation of refugees into first and second class. It rejects any joint work with the AfD and other Neo-Nazis. The rally starts at 1pm at Hermannplatz.

Also at 1pm, starting at the Ernst Thälmann memorial near S-Bahn Greifswalderstraße. there’s a demonstration against rent madness. This is part of the Housing Action Days 2023, which last from 24 March to 2nd April. This week of action was first organised by the European Action Coalition, and in the last 2 years, up to 70 European initiatives have organised actions, including some in Berlin.

A third action at 1pm on Saturday 1st April is the Fossil Fools Day organised by Extinction Rebellion. Is there anything more foolish than allowing the fossil fuel industry to destroy our planet so that the super-rich get richer? This April Fools Day, XR will satirize the fossil madness – with colour, costumes, laughs…and some tears, because the foolishness is ludicrous but also tragically sad. The action starts at Washingtonplatz, at the South of the Hauptbahnhof. You are promised a varied programme of talks, music and performances. There may also be a separate, unregistered action.

On Saturday night in Mensch Meier there will be a party starting at 10pm under the title “Love Enteignen Hate GroKo” You are invited to have a dance and resist skyrocketing rent with performances, interventions and banging music!! Put on your dancing shoes and let’s give GroKo the boot! The CDU government will be over eventually, but we’ll stay till it’s bright out! Every donation supports the Deutsche Wohnen & Co Enteignen campaign and brings us closer to expropriation. We celebrate our freedom Berlin will remain our home!

This week is full of activities in Berlin, so make sure you find out what else is going on by looking at our Events page. You can see a shorter, but more detailed, list of Events which we are directly involved in here.

Looking further into the future, on Saturday. 15th April, the Berlin LINKE Internationals are organising a Küfa where international activists can cook, eat, and talk with each other, while we raise money for an important cause. This month, money is being raised to provide a reception at the coming meeting 75 Years Nakba: Anti-Palestinian Racism and Repression in Berlin. The day after the Küfa. Sunday 16th April, it will be the next LINKE Internationals Walking Tour – this time on Riots in Kreuzberg. And remember that on 10th-11th June, the LINKE Internationals are holding their annual Summer Camp on the outskirts of Berlin. The programme will be available soon.

This week’s Campaign of the Week, Go Film The Police  is a call to film racist police violence to make police brutality as a from of organized violence visible, as well as to demand police accountability. The campaign also encourages people to record police violence on video themselves. They recently published a guide about filming police in the German legal context. The guide is currently available in German, English, French and Arabic!

In News from Berlin, the CDU-SPD coalition ignore the result of another referendum and decide to start building on Tempelhofer Feld, and the referendum to make Berlin Climate Neutral by 2030 fails as not enough people vote.

In News from Germany, inflation and energy price rises are hitting single parents particularly badly, Germany’s new migration law is criticised for ignoring women, German tanks arrive in Ukraine, and Germany’s public sector strike is the country’s biggest in decades.

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

New on theleftberlin this week, John Mullen reports further escalation of the French protests and argues that a general strike is necessary, as the trials of people arrested for assembling on Nakba Day 2022 continue, we publish the speech of a Jewish Bund member who won his case, and Victor Grossman looks at both recent developments in local and national German politics, and the threat of conflict with China.

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 do encourage your friends to subscribe to this Newsletter.

Keep on fighting

The Left Berlin Editorial Board