Celebration of cannabis legalisation in Berlin

Numerous people celebrated the legalisation of cannabis in front of the Brandenburg Gate on the night of Easter Monday. The police estimated, that 1,500 people had gathered in front of the landmark. Several joints were lit at midnight. Shortly afterwards, a strong smell of cannabis wafted across the square. A metre-high cannabis leaf could be seen and some people danced to reggae music. According to the police, the event ended at around 0:40 am. There were also celebrations on the Warschauer Brücke. At midnight, activists from the Hanf Museum and the umbrella organisation of German Cannabis Social Clubs (CSCD) lit up a joint. Source: rbb

Video surveillance system for Leopoldplatz

Last week, the Greens and the CDU announced their plans to re-install a video surveillance system at Leopoldplatz, as reported by Berliner Zeitung. It will begin with a 6 month trial phase, after which an evalutaion will take place. The Left’s Jacky Sanehy, Spokesperson for Health, has criticised the decision. She argues that bringing video surveillance back to Leopoldplatz would lead to the displacement of homeless and drug-addicted individuals, simply moving the problem elsewhere and rather than solving it. Instead of surveillance, the Left is calling for increased social welfare systems, including a space for drug consumption and more social work facilities on and around Leopoldplatz. Source: the berliner

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Queer shelter in Berlin fights against displacement

The oldest queer housing project in Berlin, Plutonia, has lived in the Tuntenhaus in Kastanienallee since 1997. But it was sold last February. The residents fear that the last piece of subculture on Kastanienallee will be displaced. They are fighting for the district of Pankow to exercise its right of first refusal and to turn it into a co-operative. The fight is against the clock, as the right needs to be exercised before May. Source: nd

Colour attack on Brandenburg Gate: trial against climate activists suspended

The trial against two climate activists because of the paint attack at the Brandenburg Gate has been suspended for the time being. The Tiergarten district court halted the proceedings against two members of the “Last Generation” climate group. The reason is a dispute over the cost of cleaning the Berlin landmark after the attack on 17 September 2023. The defence affirms the costs would not have amounted to more than 25,000 euros “with expert cleaning.” According to the prosecution, however, they rose to 55,000. The estimated total damage is 115,000 euros. Source: rbb24

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Climate money: it’s simple

It is hardly surprising that social injustices are also manifested in the energy transition and climate protection. For instance, the CO2 emissions of top earners are on average around 50 per cent higher than those of low-wage earners. The advantage of climate money is that everyone is relieved, but the lower income groups are relieved proportionally more. However, the climate money announced in the coalition agreement is likely not to materialise until 2026 or even 2027. That is why the Sanktionsfrei association and allies are now taking the payment of the climate money – at least to a symbolic number of people – into their own hands. Source: nd

Germany struggles with its pension system

The baby boomers are retiring. However, at the beginning of the 1960s, there were still six employees for every pensioner. Today this ratio is 2:1, continuing to fall. Who pays for the pensions of the elderly? To make it more complex, pensioners have become a significant group of voters. The pension system has therefore become the subject of fierce debate. Finance Minister Christian Lindner (FDP) presented a plan for managing the situation, making use of the financial market. Many politicians have also called for groups such as the self-employed and civil servants to be integrated into the statutory insurance system. Source: dw

Twice as much approval

According to the CDU-affiliated Konrad Adenauer Foundation, 14% of first-time voters in Germany believe the AfD is “most likely to solve the problems facing Europe.” This makes the extreme-right party the strongest force among first-time voters. The SPD comes in second, with roughly the same proportion, followed by the Greens (13%). The study also shows the proportion of potential AfD voters among 16 to 22-year-olds is more than twice as high as among all eligible voters. This high level of support for the extreme-right among first-time voters seems surprising because many of them, 81%, also support the EU. Source: taz

Naturalisation test in Germany: to include questions on the Holocaust and Israel

The Federal Minister of the Interior, Nancy Faeser (SPD), plans to have questions regarding the Holocaust, Israel’s right to exist and Jewish life in the state naturalisation test. Faeser declared to Der Spiegel that anyone who wants to become German must know “what that means and acknowledge Germany’s responsibility.” The Minister intends to amend a regulation for this “shortly.” The new questions for the naturalisation test, as reported by Der Spiegel, would include for instance the name of a Jewish house of prayer, when the state of Israel was founded, and the reasons for Germany’s special responsibility towards Israel. Source: presse augsburg

Die Linke’s four-day week: against neoliberal dogmas

Four-day week with full wage? In opposition to much of the neoliberal belief, Die Linke showed on Monday that nothing is more necessary today than a general reduction in working hours. This would free up time for social engagement as well as for recreation. It is also natural that publicly-owned areas of society make the start. After all, they encompass crucial areas such as nursing, education, public transport and waste disposal. The shortage of skilled labour is particularly serious in these areas, precisely because pay is still below average in many cases. Source: nd

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Demonstrations for and against Tesla in Grünheide

Environmental activists demonstrated against the expansion of the Tesla factory in Grünheide on Sunday. The alliance “Tesla den Hahn abdrehen” (“Turning off the tap on Tesla”) spoke of 1,000 participants and called on politicians to accept and implement the citizens’ vote against the expansion of the plant. The police recorded five criminal charges during the demonstration. One person allegedly performed a Hitler salute to a group of protesters. The police are also conducting investigations on suspicion of dangerous bodily harm. A counter-demonstration by local residents who wanted to show their solidarity with the US e-car manufacturer took place at the same time. Source: rbb24

Delivered on a bike

The investment hype of delivery services such as Getir, Wolt, and Lieferando may be over in Berlin, but working conditions in the industry are still poor. “I’ve seen a lot of riders who simply continued biking after an injury,” reports Wolt employee Muhammad Bhatti. Many are afraid of losing their job, which they depend on, during the probationary period. Bhatti discussed the question of how working conditions in the industry can be improved with other participants on the panel “Delivery first, health second?” during the “Poverty and Health” congress at the Freie Universität Berlin. Source: taz

Berlin presents plan for former Tegel Airport

Berlin’s State Secretary for Climate Protection and Environment Britta Behrendt (CDU) has revealed plans to transform the former airfield of Berlin’s Tegel Airport into a park and nature conservation area. Like the Tempelhofer Feld, the 190-hectare airfield will become a spot for locals to jog, cycle, or skate on the airport’s former runway. Tegel’s Stadtheide, as it will be called, is planned to be inaugurated in 2029. After 72 years in operation, the last flight out of Tegel Airport took off in November 2020. Since then, it has been used for housing development, offices, a refugee centre, and a nightclub. Source: iamexpat

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“We no longer need the stickers”

Instead of stickers, the climate activists “Letzte Generation” will resort in the future to demonstrations, meetings, and other forms of protest, although the group has not yet revealed their exact plans. “This spring should really be a spring of resistance,” announced spokeswoman Carla Hinrichs, adding: “We simply won’t need the stickers anymore because there are so many of us.” The climate activists’ website has announced “disobedient assemblies” throughout Germany on March 16 at noon. Actions will take place in Berlin, Bremen, Freiburg, Karlsruhe, Cologne, Leipzig, Munich, Regensburg, Stuttgart, and on the island of Rügen. Source: tagesspiegel

BSW goes to the small towns

The Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance (BSW) intends to run in the Saxony local elections, in addition to the state parliamentary elections. These will take place on June 9, at the same time as the European Parliament elections. The BSW founded its first state association in Saxony at the end of February, when a founding meeting took place behind closed doors in Chemnitz. Sabine Zimmermann, a former Bundestag representative, and entrepreneur Jörg Scheibe were elected state chairpersons. The BSW also wants to take part in the local and state elections in Thuringia. The regional association there is planned to be founded on March 15. Source: taz

GDL calls for new strike

In the wage dispute with the Deutsche Bahn (DB), the train drivers’ union GDL has called for a new strike. As the union explained in a press release, the strike in passenger transport began at 2 a.m. on Tuesday and ended at 2 a.m. on Wednesday. In freight transport, the work stoppages began on Monday at 6 p.m., also for 24 hours. There was only one day between the announcement of the industrial action and its start. GDL boss Claus Weselsky had already announced before that the railway and passengers would be given significantly less time to prepare themselves. Source: tagesschau

Feldman accuses German government of betraying Jews

Writer Deborah Feldman accused the German government of betraying Jews with its unconditional support for the right-wing nationalist Israeli government. “As a Jew, as a descendant of Holocaust survivors (…), I live in a country where on the one hand I am surrounded by people who have learned all the right lessons from the culture of remembrance, and yet a government can stand there and align itself mainly with the right-wing nationalist Israeli government and all its lobbyists.” This is no longer acceptable, said the author of the global bestseller Unorthodox at the Lit.Cologne literature festival on Sunday. Source: zeit

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Yuval Abraham receives death threats after Berlinale

The Israeli Yuval Abraham, who was awarded together with the Palestinian Basel Adra the Berlinale’s best documentary award for No Other Land, has received death threats. Abraham also said several individuals turned up at his family members’ home in Israel. Abraham’s acceptance speech, calling for a ceasefire in Gaza, was one of several moments during the closing ceremony in which solidarity with Palestine was expressed. It sparked an outcry in German media, with several politicians considering the speeches as “antisemitic”. “If this is Germany’s way of dealing with its guilt over the Holocaust, they are emptying it of all meaning”, he affirmed. Source: guardian

After pro-Palestine demonstration: suspected incitement to hatred

Following a pro-Palestinian demonstration last Saturday with more than 7,000 participants in Berlin, the German Press Agency reported that six investigations into protest attendees were underway. According to the information provided, this was triggered by verbal statements made during the demonstration. An unauthorised drone flight is also being investigated for violating the Aviation Act. According to a police spokesperson, a person injured a police officerduring an identity check. Around 7,300 people took part in the “Global South Resists” demonstration, which started at Alexanderplatz at 2.00 pm and ended at Potsdamer Platz at around 7.00 pm. Source: Zeit

Environmental activists block Elsenbrücke bridge at Treptower Park

Environmental activists and activists from the “Stop Fossil Subsidies” alliance blocked the slip road to the Elsen bridge at Treptower Park on Saturday. Among other things, the action was directed against the expansion of the A100 motorway in Berlin. The Berlin police spoke of 150 participants, the organisers of 500. The blockade was preceded by a bicycle demonstration, and it includes several environmental groups, including the Last Generation and Extinction Rebellion. According to the plans of the Federal Ministry of Transport, the A100 motorway is to be extended from the Treptower Park exit across the Spree and through Friedrichshain towards Lichtenberg in the coming years. Source: berliner-zeitung

Forest peacefully occupied near Tesla plant in Grünheide

The protest action in the wooded area occupied by activists near the Tesla plant in Grünheide continues to be peaceful: the situation remained calm on the second day of the protest. The police present kept a low profile. The activists have built around a dozen tree houses at a height of around eight to ten metres. Many of the visibly young people are keeping their faces covered in order not to be recognised by the police. The protesters say they want to prevent the planned clearing of the pine forest. Tesla’s high water consumption has also come under criticism. The activists say they are preparing for a week-long protest. Source: rbb

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Migrant working conditions in Germany

Most migrants in Germany work for too little money and under particularly poor conditions. Just as the “Skilled Labour Immigration Act” came into full force on Friday, the Federal Statistical Office announced this – possibly involuntarily – with reference to figures from the 2022 microcensus. According to these figures, employees with a “history of immigration” are found more frequently than average in cleaning professions (around 60 per cent) or in the catering industry (45.6 per cent). With a share of 25 per cent of all employees, people with a “history of immigration” therefore make up more than half of all those working in “low-skilled occupations”. Source: junge Welt

Back to red

The next round of strikes at Deutsche Bahn AG (DB AG) has been scheduled: for freight transport action begins next Wednesday at 6 pm, and for passenger transport on Thursday at 2 am. Both actions are to last 35 hours each. Claus Weselsky, Chairman of the German Train Drivers’ Union (GDL), announced the upcoming industrial action at a press conference in Berlin. According to Weselsky, the decisive reason for the new round of strikes is the refusal of the railway board to fulfil the union’s demand to reduce working hours for shift workers from 38 to 35 hours without material losses. Source: junge Welt