Hello everyone,
The latest Global Climate Strike demo is gathering in Invalidenpark as this Newsletter goes out. Fridays for Future invite you to join them to celebrate all that we have achieved together in recent years, but also to ask why the new German government is seriously planning to build new motorways. What the fuck? Throughout the world, people are taking to the streets to demand real ambition from our politicians and decision-makers.
This weekend workers from Collettivo di Fabbrica are visiting Berlin from Florence, where they’ve been occupying their factory for a year, demanding a conversion to more environmentally friendly products (more information plus a video here). They will be addressing a meeting in the Neues Deutschland building on Saturday evening, and there will be a joint lunch on Sunday at 1pm at MaHalle, Waldemarstraße 110.
On Sunday, Wald statt Asphalt is organising a bicycle demo and Abseil action against the building of the A100 motorway. The bicycle demo starts at 1pm – the exact starting point has not yet been announced. The Abseil action will take place at 2:30pm from the Hermann-Ganswindt bridge. These events are part of the Ausbaustopp jetzt! (Building stop now!) programme of actions.
Also on Sunday, the Berlin LINKE Internationals are getting together with Zemin Art Space as part of a month long solidarity market at Zemin Art & Event. Gather to eat and meet international political activists in Berlin. Everything is free, but there will be a collection for earthquake victims in Kurdistan and Turkey. Money collected will be sent to the Kurdish organisation Heyva sor and the Aman Project for queer refugees in Turkey. It all starts at 5pm at Zemim’s buildings at Urbanstraße 3.
NOTE: last week’s Newsletter incorrectly said that the Küfa would be on Saturday. Sorry for any confusion.
Tuesday will see another day of strikes and demonstrations in France, and French Leftists in Berlin have organised a solidarity rally outside the French embassy at 5:30pm. The protests are against Emmanuel Macron’s planned pension reforms, which are opposed by 80% of the French population. Members of NUPES, the new Popular Ecological and Social Union ask you to join their protest. Bring your banners.
On Wednesday, it’s International Women’s Day (or, as Clara Zetkin originally baptised it, International Working Women’s Day). It is a bank holiday in Berlin, and you can choose from a wide number of Events, including the following:
- Purple Ride – a bicycle ride for women, lesbian, inter-, non-binary, and Trans* people, starting at Mariannenplatz at midday.
- Demonstration organised by the ver.di and GEW unions, together with the Bündnis für sexuelle Selbstbestimmung. Starts at Invalidenpark at 1pm with a final rally at Bebelplatz at 3pm.
- Our Revolution is Coming FLINTA*-only demo, organised by the Alliance of International Feminists, our Campaign of the Week. Starts at 2pm at Frankfurter Tor.
- Global Scream organised by Dziewuchy Berlin throughout Berlin at 4pm.
- Fight by Night demo starting at 6pm at Spreewaldplatz.
- Watch three shot films for International Women’s Day at City Kino Wedding at 7pm.
These are not the only interesting events in Berlin this week. For more information, please check out our Events page.
In News from Berlin, 35,000 attend a rally for peace, Greenpeace continue their campaign against motorway building by occupying the SPD headquarters, die LINKE demands expropriation by 2024, and the SPD start talks with the CDU about forming a new government in Berlin.
In News from Germany, Olaf Scholz looks for IT workers from India, vegetable harvests are down 12%, the Society for Freedom Rights wins court cases for freedom of data, public sector workers in Brandenburg strike for more pay, and energy price brakes are implemented, while Corona measures recede.
Read all about this week’s News from Berlin and Germany here.
New on theleftberlin.com, we mark the anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine with different opinions about the state of the anti-war movement in Germany: Andrei Belibou argues that Sahra Wagenknecht and Alice Schwarzer’s Manifesto for Peace ignores the concerns of Ukrainian people, while Chistine Buchholz, Ulrike Eifler and Jan Richter say that Wagenknecht and Schwarzer’s rally filled a gap caused by the inability of the political Left to adequately oppose war. Meanwhile, Phil Butland argues that the demand for NATO weapons can only strengthen the imperialist forces responsible for war and neoliberalism.
In other news, we interview Colin Macpherson, one of the organisers of next week’s Berlin demonstration for Scottish independence.
Among other articles on theleftberlin.com next week, we will be publishing an exclusive interview with Israeli historian Ilan Pappe, Don’t miss it.
In This week’s Media, Corner Späti takes on Axel Springer.
Social Media Alert: theleftberlin had a meeting this week to discuss how we can improve our social media presence. We are looking for people who can help us in every aspect from making Sharepics to simply sharing our posts. If you think you can help, please contact us at team@theleftberlin.com
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Keep on fighting
The Left Berlin Editorial Board
