Hello everyone,

We apologise for the late arrival of this newsletter as a result of technical difficulties.

Monday sees the start of Ake Dikhea, the 7th International Festival of Romani Film under the motto “Decolonise Imagination!” The world of art is seen by many as the embodiment of freedom, the imagination as a resource of infinite possibilities. In film, in fairy tales, on the screen or in the theatre, everything seems to be achievable. But when it comes to Roma, the imagination quickly reaches its limits, guided by centuries-old processes of othering and colonisation in the minds of society. The festival takes part at Babylon cinema and the Grüne Salon (both on Rosa Luxemburg Platz) and runs until Sunday.

Unfortunately, Monday’s planned public meeting by the Berlin LINKE Internationals on Ongoing Decolonisation: France’s Economic and Political Interests in West Africa has had to be cancelled after one of the speakers was involved in a car accident. The LINKE Internationals are still organising a discussion on Die LINKE, Palestine, and the Left Internationals pm Monday, 9th November. This is a partly internal discussion but is open to anyone who is interested in the subject.

We’d like to be able to announce demonstrations against the inhumane bombing of Gaza, but in Berlin they’ve all been banned. If we hear of any planned activities, we’ll let you know.

Not this week, but on Sunday, 9th December, there are events in Bilgisaray, Oranienstraße 45. More information in future Newsletters, but you can save the date now.

•  theleftberlin is having an open face-to-face editorial meeting for editorial board members and anyone who’s interested in what we do.
• Later on, the Berlin LINKE Internationals are having a non-Christmas party.

There are many more activities this week in Berlin, which are listed on our Events page. You can also see a shorter, but more detailed list of events which we are directly involved in here.

This week’s Campaign of the Week Help Us Reunite is an attempt to bring together a Cameroonian woman in Berlin with the son that she has not seen in 4 years. You can send donations to Help us Reunite here.

In News from Berlin, Palestine demonstrations in Berlin are banned – including one organised by Jews, police break up protests in Neukölln, one demonstration for Palestine is allowed – and attracts an unexpected number of people, Bernie Sanders visits Berlin and attacks “extremists on both sides” in Israel/Palestine, and Berlin sinks in the Smart City Index.

In News from Germany, antisemitism is on the rise in Germany, Palestines also have reason to be afraid, and Elon Musk links to a video calling for an AfD victory in German elections.

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

This week on theleftberlin, we have an unapologetic concentration on Palestine (despite the taz condemning us for being the left-wing friends of the Islamists). In an extended version of an article we published last week, Rahaf Abu Alhassan looks at the ongoing terror in Gaza. Aisling Salim reflects on the Left’s attitude to Hamas, Nathaniel Flakin gives an Ausländer’s perspective of the demo bans in Germany, and a collection of Palestinian and Jewish groups document the police repression of Palestinians in Berlin. Meanwhile, Andrei Belibou looks at the recent gains of the AfD in East and West Germany.

This week’s Video of the Week shows members of the Palestine campaign reading out their statement on Racist Police Violence and the repression of Palestinians and Palestine Solidarity in Berlin.

In this week’s Radio programme of the Week, Radio Berlin International talks to Nadija Samour, a criminal defence lawyer who has been busy with a flood of cases against Palestinians and their supporters in Berlin.

You can follow us on the following social media:

• Instagram
• Twitter
• We also support the Berlin LINKE Internationals facebook page.

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 please do encourage your friends to subscribe to this Newsletter.

Keep on fighting,

The Left Berlin Editorial Board

Hello everyone,

This week, some people will be celebrating Columbus Day. But there is nothing to celebrate! Since the genocide by the Spanish occupation of Abya Yala, official history from 1492 until today is written with the blood of Native peoples all over the world. Colonialism never ended – it continues to generate death and exploitation, imposing a falsely „civilising“ model of economic and cultural „development“, embodied in the extractivist structure of global racial capitalism. For this reason, Initiative 1210 Anti-Colonial and El Sur Resiste are organising a Global Day of Action against Neocolonialism. The demonstration takes place today (Thursday) at 4pm at the Auswärtiges Amt and will be going to the Humboldt Forum. El Sur Resiste (The South Resists) are our Campaign of the Week.

For more on the subject, La Jaima de Tiris and the Sahrawi Diaspora in Germany are organising a Protest Rally to show their rejection of Spanish colonialism (whose last territory not being decolonized is #WesternSahara) and in favour of the right to self-determination of the Sahrawi people. The rally organisers also support all the actions called within the framework of the #worlddayofactionagainstneocolonialism #globaleraktiontaggegenneokolonialismus organized in Berlin by @blackearthkollektiv Join up! The rally will take place on Thursday in front of the Spanish Embassy, Lichtensteinallee 1 from 5pm.

Also this evening, Bernie Sanders will be promoting his new book It’s ok to be mad at capitalism. The book is an impressive witness to his political life’s work and a fighting appeal to the next generation to question the hyper-capitalist system. Sanders’ vision goes way beyond the demand of his electoral campaign. He shows that economic rights must be recognised as human rights, so we can fight growing inequality. He encourages his readers to fight for a society which offers a reasonable standard of living for all. The meeting, in the Haus der Kulturen der Welt, has been long sold out, but you can watch via live stream on Thursday evening here.

On Friday and Saturday, in the main ver.di building, the Berlin Tech Workers Coalition will host Tech Conference 2023 – the largest English speaking and tech worker-led conference in Germany. Friday, 13 October is open for all Works Council members. As a Works Council training, you can do this training during working hours, and conference fee is paid by your employer. Registration is mandatory. Find further instructions here. Email us conference@techworkersberlin.com if you have questions! Saturday, 14 October is free of cost and open for all tech workers. It will have both a broader focus on social movements, trade union organising and political education.

On Saturday, the LINKE Berlin Internationals and Right2TheCity, the English-language section of Deutsche Wohnen & Co Enteignen (DWE), are combining to offer Eine Küche für alle – a fundraising event for the new DWE referendum to expropriate the big landlords. With spoken word performances, music, screen printing and food, there will be activities throughout the day. Let’s hang out, eat yummy food and trash on corporate landlords. Join us in Bilgisaray, Oranienstraße 45, from 4pm!

The programme looks like this:

16:00: Dumpling making workshop / Screen printing

18:00: Dinner!

19:00 Spoken word and comedy with:

• Jacinta Nandi
• Trevor

20:00: Short campaign announcement/break from activities/more room to socialise

20:30 Music with:

• Nicolás Miquea
• Nümmes
• Franca

All money raised will go to the @dw_enteignen crowdfunding campaign to take back Berlin through a legally binding referendum ✊🏼

And on Sunday, it’s the latest LINKE Internationals walking tour – 1968 in West Berlin. As the year 1968 began, young people in West Berlin went wild. They began demonstrating against the imperialist war in Vietnam, against authoritarian structures at the universities, and against a “Federal Republic” run by former Nazis. All of West Berlin society opposed these “long-haired hooligans.” But this only radicalized them further.  1968 changed Berlin, Germany, and the world. The tour starts at 2pm in front of the Amerika-Haus, Hardenbergstraße 22-24. Follow the link to register, and receive more information on Saturday.

There are many more activities this week in Berlin, which are listed on 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, 5,000 right wingers demonstrate on Reunification Day, and teaching union plans strikes for smaller classes.

In News from Germany, no evidence to back up AfD leader’s claim that he was attacked, Bavarian politicians try to prevent the legalisation of cannabis, AfD makes big gains in elections in the West while die LINKE suffers significant losses, the CSU win in Bavaria but with their worst ever result, and 60 LINKE members call for the expulsion of Sahra Wagenknecht.

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

New this week on theleftberlin, Nathaniel Flakin looks at the chances of Berlin’s new housing referendum, As we will be working with Nathaniel and neues Deutschland to republish his Red Flag column, we talked to him about the column. There are responses to the latest events in Gaza by the Feminist Bloc | Palestine Speaks and the marx21 editorial board, and we interview Julia Schreiber about her work talking to Palestine activists in Germany.

You can follow us on the following social media:

• Instagram
• Twitter
• We also support the Berlin LINKE Internationals facebook page.

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 please do encourage your friends to subscribe to this Newsletter.

Keep on fighting,

The Left Berlin Editorial Board

Hello everyone,

This evening (Thursday), there’s a meeting in English on Agents of System Change. The moral force of the environmental movements in the Global North seems undeniable: they are right about the destruction of the planet and its disastrous consequences for the majority of the world’s population. But are these movements actually capable of becoming agents of fundamental change, namely the transition from capitalism to feminist eco-socialism? This opening public talk of the “Allied Grounds” conference on Thursday, October 5, will invite us to 1) re-evaluate the struggling global proletariat, especially informal and subsistence workers turned ‘fugitive laborers,’ as agents of systemic change and 2) discuss the allied grounds necessary for that change. It starts at 7pm, free admission, in the Haus der Demokratie und Menschenrechte (Greifswalder Straße 4).

Tomorrow, there are two memorial rallies. At 4.30pm, at Oranienplatz, we will be remembering Kupa Ilunga Medard Mutombo. On 14th September 2022, Kupa was in an assisted living home in Spandau for people who have been made mentally ill. He was to be transferred to a hospital. Three police officers, a doctor and an ambulance were called for the transfer. When Medard opened his door and saw the police, he panicked. The police officers used brutal force against the 64-year-old, throwing him on the floor, restraining him. One pushed a knee into his neck, while another lay on his back and prevented him from breathing. At least 13 other police officers entered the dormitory and did not let anyone into the room. According to one witness, Medard could no longer breathe. Kupa suffered injuries that caused him to die three weeks later, on 06.10.2022

The second memorial is at 6pm at Rudolf Reusch Straße 8 for Kurt Schneider. 24 years ago, Kurt was murdered by neo-Nazis in Urnenhain in Lichtenberg. We will also be there this year to commemorate him and, together with you, to talk to the neighbours. Feel free to bring candles and flowers. Social chauvinism kills! No-one is forgotten!

On Saturday and Sunday, there will be a workshop Harvesting Resilience; Foraging and Guerilla Gardening. This workshop series gives you the opportunity to rethink your relationship with nature, food and consumption. You will be able to connect with different people in an exchange of skill, knowledge and thoughts. Curated by Zeren Oruc, Harvesting Resilience workshops series are part of a long-term research project focusing on the food-land-culture relationship to examine the impact of our food production and consumption habits on the environment, land degradation, and forms of exploitation. They start on Saturday at 1pm in Treptower Park and on Sunday at 11am in the Oyoun garden. Harvesting Resilience is our Campaign of the Week.

On Saturday, journalist Özge İnan will be moderating a meeting with Yanis Varoufakis and Ece Temelkuran on The EU is failing. What should we do? The EU faces many challenges: economic disparities, skyrocketing living costs, political divisions and the threat of war. We’re in dire need of fresh thinking on possible solutions. The event promises a dynamic exchange of ideas and perspectives on the current state of the European Union and potential paths forward. And there will be lots of time for Q+A and networking after the panel debate. It starts at 7pm (doors open 6pm) at the Theater im Delphi.

There are many more activities this week in Berlin, which are listed on 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, the €29 monthly travel ticket is returning – but only for zones A and B, increased criticism of the Tesla factory in Grünheide, and lights turned off in Berlin public buildings to save money.

In News from Germany, Minister of State for Eastern Germany speaks about 33 years reunification, prison sentences for Last Generation activists, and 0.1% fall in unemployment.

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

New this week on theleftberlin, Palestinian photographer Rasha Al-Jundi was recently allowed to visit her homeland for the first time. We publish her visual diary. Deutsche Wohnen & Co activist and theleftberlin editorial board member Maria Cofalka tells us that Deutsche Wohnen & Co Enteignen are back, and lets you know what you can do to support the campaign. Meanwhile. Phil Butland explains how you can learn about Berlin’s radical history by looking at who’s buried in its cemeteries.

If you want to help the Deutsche Wohnen & Co campaign and want to learn more about what’s happening, come along to the fundraising evening – Eine Küche für Alle – next Saturday in Bilgisaray. More information in next week’s Newsletter.

You can follow us on the following social media:

• Instagram
• Twitter
• We also support the Berlin LINKE Internationals facebook page.

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 please do encourage your friends to subscribe to this Newsletter.

Keep on fighting,

The Left Berlin Editorial Board

Hello everyone,

Today (Thursday) is Safe Abortion Day, with several events organised to defend a woman’s right to choose and to protest against the fact that abortion in Germany is still illegal.

• At 5.30pm, Omas gegen Rechts and others are organising a demo – Abortion: no punishment for self.determination! Get rid of paragraph 218!  The demonstration starts at the Charité hospital and goes to Leopoldplatz.
• At 6pm, there is a rally for the right to a safe abortion outside the offices of the AfD’s Beatrix von Storch, Zionkirchstraße 3.
• At 7pm, Terre des Femmes is organising a showing of the pro-choice film Call Jane at ACUD cinema.

Also Thursday at 7pm, the Palestine Campaign (formerly Nakba75) is organising a showing of the film Ghost Hunting. Released Palestinian prisoners relive and recreate harrowing experiences from their time in Israeli detention facilities. Following the film, there will be a discussion with Saja, who works as a human rights lawyer and is part of the committee against torture in Palestine. The event is in English, and will take place in Refugio, Lenaustraße 4.

Tomorrow (Friday), the Ararat Collective is organising a demonstration against Azerbaijani genocidal aggression. The demo has the following demands:

• The military aggression against, and forcible deportation of the Armenian population in Artsakh must be recognized and responded to as a continuation of the Armenian Genocide.
• Immediate sanctions against Azerbaijan and a termination of the EU‘s strategic partnership with them.
• A legitimate peacekeeping mission for Artsakh and safety ensured for all Armenian inhabitants.
• Access for international observers to document war crimes and crimes against humanity.

It starts at Hermannplatz at 5.30pm.

On Saturday there is a rally, Fight Fortress Europe! Before FC St Pauli’s game against Hertha Berlin, they will be protesting together with Seebrücke Berlin against the GEAS reform and Fortress Europe. The rally begins at 5pm at Coubertinplatz in front of the Olympiastadion. The organisers want to use the opportunity to let people know about Europe’s inhumane asylum and migration politics. Seebrücke is our Campaign of the Week.

On Monday, it’s the next planning meeting of the Berlin LINKE Internationals. For the first half hour or so, there will be discussions on our political walking tours, the coming public meeting on the ongoing decolonialism in Africa, the upcoming Christmas party, and the main topics and speakers for next year’s Summer Camp. This will be followed by an exchange of opinions about how the international Left should react to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and its political aftermath. The meeting will be held in Ferat Kocak’s office, Schierker Straße 26, and starts at 7pm. Everyone is welcome.

There are many more activities this week in Berlin, which are listed on 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, Deutsche Wohnen & Co Enteignen announce a second referendum, cyclists protest the CDU’s attempt to cut down on bicycle lanes, tenants in Rigaer Straße fight gentrification, and mayor Kai Wegner plans a fence around Görlitzer Park.

In News from Germany, AfD fail to win a mayorship – but the vote is close, and the Ifo Business Climate index reports that the German economy is stagnating.

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

This week’s Video of the Week is the new Crowdfunding Video for Deutsche Wohnen & Co Enteignen. Real estate companies continue to make big profits with rising rents. However, the Berlin government is not working on the implementation of the expropriation referendum, for which 59.1% of Berliners voted. Therefore, we now have to write the law for the socialisation of big real estate companies ourselves and bring it to implementation through a second, legally binding legislative referendum (“Gesetzesvolksentscheid”). Together with your support, we will take back the city! You can donate to the crowdfunding campaign here.

You are also encouraged to join Right2The City, DWE’s working group for non-Germans. Right2TheCity meets on alternate Wednesday evenings at Nansenstraße 2, and is contactable by Instagram or by mailing right2thecity@dwenteignen.de. For more information, follow this linktree link.

You can follow us on the following social media:

• Instagram
• Twitter
• We also support the Berlin LINKE Internationals facebook page.

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 please do encourage your friends to subscribe to this Newsletter.

Keep on fighting,

The Left Berlin Editorial Board

Hello everyone,

Tomorrow evening (Friday) from 6-9pm, there will be a meeting Let’s talk about Strikes – Inputs about strike movements in France, Myanmar and Bangladesh with authors from Communaut and activists from International Confederation of Labor, ICL.The workshop will be held in English and take place in Neukölln or virtually (more information when you register). The participation fee is based on self-assessment, that means you can decide for yourself how much you wish to pay.

Tomorrow at 8pm, there will also be a film showing of Start Wearing Purple, the film about Deutsche Wohnen & Co Enteignen’s fight to expropriate the big landlords. Choosing hope over despair, Berliners are banding together to get their houses back from big investors. Situated in the middle of an inspiring and refreshing movement that could turn the tables around the world, Start Wearing Purple is not only a report and documentary, but also a call to action. The film is in English and German, starts at 8pm and is part of a week of action at Alt-Stralau 68 against the A100 motorway.

On Saturday, there’s a demonstration for a change of direction in Germany’s education policy. Did you know that each year nearly 50,000 young people leave school without any qualifications? Are you aware of the feeling of helplessness when political representatives just plug holes, rather than starting a serious change in education? Do you not want to wait any longer for schools and daycare centres become what they should be? Then get active! and come to the demo–11am at Brandenburger Tor.

There are many more activities this week in Berlin, which are listed on our Events page. You can also see a shorter, but more detailed list of events which we are directly involved in here.

And here’s one for your calendars: Monday, 23rd October from 7-9pm, the Berlin LINKE Internationals are organising a public meeting in Karl Liebknecht Haus: Ongoing Decolonisation: France’s Economic and Political Interests in West Africa with speakers Professor Dr. Baz Lecocq (Executive Director of the Institute of Asian and African Studies), Franza Drecsel (Rosa-Luxemburg-Stiftung) and Nathalie Yamb (Cameroonian/Swiss communication specialist and activist). More information to follow.

This week’s Campaign of the Week is the Center for Popular Education–Bildungzentrum Lohana Berkins which provides education for migrants by migrants and is currently holding a crowd funding campaign. The Lohana Berkins Education Centre has helped many migrants learn German and understand their labour rights. We have participated in important debates on the right to the city and the struggle for climate justice. But we need your help to grow, to become more professional and to reach more and more migrants who want to participate in our courses.

In News from Berlin, 250,000 people march throughout Germany in the latest Climate Strike, Last Generation climate activists spray paint the Brandenburg Gate, and O2 will extend its coverage throughout the Berlin U-Bahn network.

In News from Germany, the Office for the Protection of the Constitution gets permission to monitor the AfD in Bavaria, a neo-Nazi group is banned and more are targeted, CDU works with AfD in Erfurt to implement tax cuts, booster vaccines against Covid available, and a TV documentary criticises Internet speed in Germany.

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

New on theleftberlin this week, Jérôme Chakaryan-Bachelier looks at imperialist interests supporting Azerbaijan’s attack on Armenia, a photo gallery of Saturday’s demonstration against “pro-Life” fundamentalists, Phil Butland remembers how theleftberlin website started and where we want to go, Palestine Speaks, Palastina Kampagne, and the Judische Stimme report from a meeting about antisemitism which ended in antisemitic abuse and broken ribs, and Claudia Haydt argues that die LINKE is a party of peace and must remain so.

In this week’s Video of the Week, Ramsy Kilani speaks at last week’s anti-colonial climate protest about why there is no climate justice without freedom for Palestine.

You can follow us on the following social media:

• Instagram
• Twitter
• We also support the Berlin LINKE Internationals facebook page.

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 please do encourage your friends to subscribe to this Newsletter.

Keep on fighting,

The Left Berlin Editorial Board