News from Berlin
Progress in Senate coalition talks
Die Linke, Die Grüne and the SPD have settled another round of coalition talks in Berlin, this time coming to agreement on the topic of economy. A key point of debate was the expropriation of Berlin’s largest corporate landlords, and the parties agreed to carry out this expropriation for all landlords with more than 10,000 apartments. DWE, who led a successful referendum in favour of expropriation several years ago, had hoped that all companies owning more than 3,000 apartments would be expropriated. Nonetheless, with the agreed upon measure around 10% of Berlin’s apartments would become publicly owned. The coalition talks also agreed to bring back free museum Sundays, support Kiezkantine, and improve biking infrastructure. While Stefan Krach (SPD) stood against expropriation while campaigning, he called the agreed upon measures an “absolutely justifiable compromise.” Source: taz
Queer health centre raided by Police
A total of 38 police officers raided the queer health centre Casa Kuà on Sunday evening. The reason given for the raid was the alleged sharing of medication which must be bought with a prescription; many consider the current German system transphobic. The raid took place during a workshop called “The Dolls Workshop DIY & Cryptocurrency.” Around 150 people gathered outside the centre in a spontaneous protest during the raid, protesting under the title “hormones for all.” Source: Queer.de
Die Linke leadership distances itself from Vanessa Emde
The leadership of Die Linke has said it does not “see a basis for further cooperation with Vanessa Emde,” who was elected to the Berlin Abgeordenetehaus with a direct mandate from Neukölln in the recent elections. Emde has become a controversial figure for her positions in solidarity with Palestine, and has recently refused to distance herself from past comments regarding Israel’s right to exist. Source: rbb
Student protests coming to Berlin
France’s student protests are spreading to Berlin. On Friday, there were two more school blockades in Friedrichshain. Alongside calls for more investment in the school system, the students used the peaceful protest to criticise Germany’s ongoing militarisation, and police reported that several Palestinian flags were also present amongst cries of “free Palestine.” One video circulating online shows a scuffle between police and students, as the students chant “wir sind friedlich, was seid ihr?” [we are peaceful, what are you?] Source: Tagesspiegel
News from Germany
SPD seeks new leader
Following the resignation of SPD co-leader and federal minister for labour Bärbel Bas, the the party is facing a new round of leadership searching. The remaining co-leader Lars Klingbeil has said the entire party leadership should go through an election process at the coming party congress in January. Klingbeil himself has not made clear whether he plans on standing for re-election or not, while other figures in the party such as Boris Pistorius are keeping their distance from the position. The SPD’s struggling electoral results appear to have finally reached their leadership. Source: nd
Jewish students face death threats after AfD blockade
Jewish students in the German city of Halle are receiving threats online after they created a human chain to block local AfD politician Hans-Thomas Tillschneider from entering a synagogue. Tillscheider was trying to attend a commemoration event for the neo-Nazi shooting attack on the synagogue in 2019. Ron Dekel, board member of the Jewish Student Union of Germany and present for the human chain, said “since the action in front of the synagogue in Halle we are getting much more hostility and hate, including death threats.” Source: nd
Germany’s core economy weakens amid massive job losses
The German economy has lost nearly half a million industry jobs since 2019, according to a study by the Ifo-Institut. This is a drop of 7.1%, mostly from the car industry, metal industry and mechanical engineering. While some other industries have seen a rise in jobs, the study’s author Joachim Ragnitz warns that the core of Germany’s economy is nonetheless weakening and with it Germany’s potential for growth. Source: junge Welt
AfD staffers drunkenly brawl in Bundestag office
Although far from the first people to break the law from within the offices of the German Bundestag, two AfD staffers caused an unusual scene by getting into a drunken fist fight in the offices on Wednesday evening last week. Police were called to break up the fight just before midnight, which was taking place under the installed artwork “Auf und Ab und Unterwegs” [Up, Down and Underway]. Source: Tagesschau
