Tonight (Thursday) at 6pm, Spore Initiative hosts the second Film Forum of Solisur, a grassroots organization of the Latin American Bloc Berlin. Tonight’s film, The Panama Deception, focuses on reflecting on the relationship between neoliberalism, militarization, violence, and drug trafficking in Latin America. After the film, we will open a dialogue that will address other cases of US military interventions in Latin America such as Plan Colombia and the Mérida Initiative or Plan Mexico. What do these interventions teach us considering current contexts like that of Ecuador? Is violence the answer to violence? Solisur is our Campaign of the Week.
On Saturday, also at the Spore Initiative, the Jüdische Stimme is showing the film Arna’s Children. Juliano Mer Khamis tells the story of a theatre group which was founded by his mother Arna Mer Khamis. Arna came from a Zionist family and married a Palestinian Arab Saliba Khamsis in the 1950s. In the West Bank, she opened an alternative education system for children whose normal life had been disturbed by the Israeli occupation. The film starts at 7pm and will be preceded at 5pm by a reading with clarinet accompaniment. Leila Boukarim and JK Langford read poems and statements from children and young writers from the Gaza strip.
On Sunday from 1pm, there’s a Solifleamarket for repression costs of Palestine struggles. We invite you to the Solifleamarket at the Infoladen Schererstr.8. The money raised will be used for repression costs of the Palestine struggles. You are welcome to bring your well-preserved treasures for the flea market, from clothes and children’s toys to books. There will be several tables with recommended donations, after which the items will be sorted. Delicious snacks, cakes, and cool drinks will be provided.
On Sunday at 3pm, the LINKE Neukölln is organising a rally Hands off Tempelhofer Feld! – Against Building and Privatisation. The CDU-SPD local government wants to push through the building development of Tempelhofer Feld. This contravens the referendum against building on the Feld when a clear majority of 64.7% voted for keeping ThF and against building. At the rally, let us clearly say: “No! Berlin belongs to us! For a free Feld – as a place of recreation and green area which is available for all Berliners”. The rally will be in the park near the Herrfurthstraße entrance.
Also on Sunday at 6pm, in Treptower Park, Die Linke Tempelhof-Schöneberg and Mitte are organising a rally Wages Up, Weapons Down! As the wealth of the five richest Europeans has risen to €5.7 Million per hour, millions of people no longer know how they can pay for rent, electricity, and the daily shopping. At the same time, as part of the “changing times”, billions are being invested in armaments as EU militarisation proceeds. We say No to rearmament, weapons export, and wars. Speakers at the rally include Özlem Alev Demirel MEP.
Finally, on Sunday, it’s our latest Palestine Reading Group. This week we will be asking Who Are the Antideutsche? You can find the recommended reading here. The Palestine Reading Group takes place every week on either Friday or Sunday. Check the page of Events we organise for the coming dates and discussion topics. If you’d like to get more involved in the group you can join our Telegram group and follow the channel Reading group. The Reading Group starts at 7pm, and there is a meeting for Moderators at 6.30pm open to everyone who’s interested.
There is much more going on in Berlin this week. To find out what’s happening, go to our Events page. You can also see a shorter, but more detailed list of events in which we are directly involved here.
If you are looking for Resources on Palestine, we have set up a page with useful links. We will be continually updating the page, so if you would like to recommend other links, please contact us on team@theleftberlin.com. You can also find all the reading from our Palestine Reading Groups here. You can also visit the Palestine film evening every Wednesday at 8.30pm in Al Hamra. The title of the film is usually released too late for us to name it in this Newsletter, but you can stay informed by following Al Hamra on Instagram and facebook.
In News from Berlin, Die Linke Neukölln opposes a brochure containing lies about the Nakba which the local government wants to distribute in schools, police arrest 25 people on the Nakba demo, the queer housing project Tuntenhaus will not be forced to close after all, and Tesla is given the green light to expand its controversial plant.
In News from Germany, 16 and 17 year olds may now vote in the EU elections, and AfD’s #2 candidate in the EU elections is raided by the police following accusations of money laundering and bribery.
Read all about it in this week’s News from Berlin and Germany.
New on theleftberlin, Nathaniel Flakin looks at Berlin mayor Kai Wegner’s contempt for democracy on ths housing questions, Phil Butland argues why Berliners should demonstrate on Nakba Day, we publish a video gallery of all the speeches and acts at Palivision, Johanna Rothe criticise Germany’s dialogue about Palestine, Steve Cedar in Barcelona analyses a setback for the Left in the recent Catalonian elections, there’s a photo gallery from the Nakba Day demonstration, Ilya Kharkow asks how much does freedom cost?, Hari Kumar visits an exhibition of DDR art in Dresden, and Colin Falconer in Paris looks at the ongoing uprising in New Caledonia.
This week’s Video of the Week is the speech from Palästina Spricht at last Saturday’s Nakba demo.
You can follow us on the following social media:
- 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
