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Month: June 2025

ADIRA x Gaza Biennale

Queer Arabic Pop Party


18/06/2025

“ADIRA” is a slang term in Arabic, used in the Levantine queer culture, signifying someone with a strong presence who is capable and accomplished.

ADIRA is a queer Arabic-pop club night and collective. Founded in 2023 by Lebanese artist Hassandra and Syrian-German podcaster Zuher Jazmati, aka xanax_attax, ADIRA is a self-organized club night series that challenges orientalist stereotypes and embraces the diversity of queer Arab* identities.

Our mission is to revive the nostalgia of 80s’, 90s’, and early 00s’ Arabic-pop music, paying homage to iconic divas like Nawal Al Zoghbi, Haifa Wehbe, and Assala, alongside the unforgettable one-hit wonders from Melody Hits. As a collective, we curate community events, panels, drag shows and workshops that aim at strengthening the community as well as at providing more space for individuals to grow.

ADIRA provides a platform for both emerging and established Arab* talents in Berlin and beyond, whether they’re DJs, drag performers or activists. We are committed to creating a safe(r) environment and fostering community connections, welcoming allies and lovers of Arabic music to join us in our celebration of Arab* culture. 

*Note: Arab denotes inclusivity of diverse identities and ethnicities within Southwest Asia and North Africa.

Initiated by artists in Gaza and the Forbidden Museum in Ramallah, the Gaza Biennale is a decentral, global art project shown in multiple places worldwide throughout 2025. It creates a platform for Gazan artists in a moment of unthinkable violence inflicted upon them. Its Berlin Pavilion | jinnah unfolds in collaboration with spaces and collectives marked by community work, solidarity, and care to elevate the voices of artists from Gaza in a time when it is most pressing that they are heard.

This fundraising event with ADIRA aims to make the Berlin Pavilion a reality. Artists in Gaza have kept producing art amidst genocide—creating to find ways to express the unspeakable, exhibiting to resist oppression. Together, we can make sure that their work is seen.

Amidst cultural repression, the Berlin Pavilion of the Gaza Biennale sets out to be more than just an exhibition—it is a practice of autonomy through collective effort. To bring it to life, we need your support, love, and solidarity. So bring your friends and help lay the foundation stones of the Gaza Biennale in Berlin!

ADIRA x Gaza Biennale – Berlin Biennale 2025 are cooperating for a fundraiser event

📍 Where: Panke Culture, Hof V, Gerichtstraße 23, 13347 Berlin
⏰ Time: 6pm – 2am
🎟️ Tickets: At the Door or at tzkrti.com

News from Berlin and Germany, 18th June 2025

Weekly news round-up from Berlin and Germany


NEWS FROM BERLIN

Hundreds of pro-Palestinian demonstrations since October 2023

The Berlin police have counted 674 pro-Palestinian demonstrations and hundreds of related incidents since October 2023. A further 24 demonstrations have been banned, as the Senate and police responded to an SPD questioning. According to the police, the number of recorded violent offenses at pro-Palestinian demonstrations up to the end of May was 714, almost 600 of them in the past year. In addition, 615 propaganda offenses and incitement to hatred were recorded during the demonstrations. The Senate Interior Administration stated that the majority of demonstrators were peaceful. Source: rbb

Neo-Nazi attacks in Lichtenberg

In 2024, the police registered the highest number of right-wing extremist crimes in Berlin for 10 years: 2,791 cases, an increase of 20% compared to the previous year. The significant increase in coercion and threats is particularly striking. The number of so-called propaganda offenses also rose. These include the distribution of banned symbols in the form of stickers or graffiti. Last year, Lichtenberg was one of Berlin’s hotspots for right-wing crimes: 246 offenses were counted in the district, compared to 147 in 2022. 85 right-wing extremist crimes were already documented in the first quarter of 2025. Source: rbb

Soldiers honored at the first National Veterans Day in front of the Reichstag

National Veterans Day were celebrated for the first time in Germany on Sunday. Bundestag President Julia Klöckner (CDU) opened the central ceremony. Around ten million Germans currently count as veterans. Federal Chancellor Friedrich Merz (CDU) described the Bundeswehr as an “integral part” of society. On the other hand, several counter-demonstrations were announced in the capital. At midday, “Veterans against war” met in Scheidemannstraße in front of the Reichstag, with 110 registered participants. There was also a counter-vigil in Spreebogenpark near the Reichstag. According to the police, ten arrests were also made at another demonstration in Mitte. Source: rbb

Muslims in Berlin under general suspicion

It is estimated that up to 10% of Berliners are Muslim, but it is difficult to say exactly how many. This is because those who identify as Muslim do not necessarily have to be part of an Islamic community. The organization CLAIM brings together 50 Muslim and non-Muslim civil society actors and it runs a center on anti-Muslim discrimination in Berlin. Last Wednesday, it published its current annual report, which shows that 70% more cases of discrimination were registered last year than in 2023. The office registered 644 incidents, roughly two incidents per day. Almost two-thirds of those affected were women (64%). Source: nd

Berlin activist after Gaza mission: “Israel won’t exist for much longer”

The Berlin activist Yasemin Acar, who intended to travel to the Gaza Strip together with Greta Thunberg on a ship of the Gaza Freedom Flotilla, landed at Berlin’s BER airport last Thursday. She was greeted there by dozens of supporters. Acar accuses Israel of kidnapping the crew members of the sailing ship Madleen in international waters. The activist group had set sail from Sicily at the beginning of June. According to their own statements, they wanted to bring relief supplies such as baby food and medical supplies to the suffering people in the Gaza Strip. “We will come back until we stop the siege,” Acar added. Source: BZ

NEWS FROM GERMANY

Making peace? Only with weapons!

The reactions to the modest manifesto against unlimited militarization by SPD politicians show how far the internal mobilization has progressed—no matter how much the Social Democrats, who are pleading for a reversal of the “turnaround” delusion, claim that they also stand for the EU’s defense capability and military support for Ukraine. Today, even the most well-founded warning about the growing danger of a nuclear inferno associated with the stationing of US medium-range missiles in Germany is considered treason. Rheinmetall and Co. are happy about this, as are, of course, the arms investors in other parts of the world. Source: nd

Border control with Austria was unlawful

The Bavarian Administrative Court has decided that a personal check on June 11, 2022, at the German-Austrian border was unlawful. During an identity check at that time, the Federal Police came across the international law expert Stefan Salomon. He is a junior professor of European law at the University of Amsterdam. Salomon then took action against the check, represented by Christoph Tometten from the Berlin law firm Möckernkiez. The decision nevertheless does not address the general legality of internal border controls. Source: lto

“Drama in the billions”

Last Saturday, Jens Spahn, head of the CDU/CSU parliamentary group, made a public demand for a return to compulsory military service.  For a moment, the headline “Jens Spahn demands” displaced the numerous accusations directed at Spahn himself—about the masks affair and about Spahn’s mistakes at the beginning of the 2020 coronavirus pandemic, when he was Federal Minister of Health. On Sunday, NDR, WDR and the Süddeutsche Zeitung quoted from the 170-page report by special investigator Margaretha Sudhof: driven by “political ambition,” Spahn had wanted to “master the procurement of the masks alone.” The result was “a drama costing billions.” Source: taz

Being on the right side of history is Parful

Pro-Palestine, Irish band Kneecap contests ‘terror offence’ charge as political policing


Silhouette of Kneecap singer Mo Chara against black and white image of the band in the background

It’s a dreary day in November and I’m listening to my favourite radio station when I suddenly feel overwhelmingly ‘PARFUL’ and so it was that I was first ‘Kneecapped’ (sozusagen). In the six months that followed the Northern Irish rap trio Kneecap went on to storm the stage of political music to become the raging and indeed, raving elephant in the room. 

In the song ‘Parful’ the bouncy playfulness of the beat and lyrics connects the whimsy of youth with deep idealism. 

The song starts:

Well, this wall was built years ago to stop the Protestants on this side fighting with the Catholics on the other

It’s there 24 hours a day

The thing is that it divides the two communities

but every Saturday night hundreds of people go out down-town, just go out clubbin’

forget about the divides between each other.

It goes on to describe the potency of unity and freedom in Irish youth culture. For those that didn’t grow up on or around the so-called British Isles that entails: ‘Gettin’ whacked in the rain is parful/ Chain smokin’ with your mates is parful/ Arriving late to rave with an 8th and your jawbone aches and ye still feel parful.’ If you know, you know.

Kneecap’s ability to captivate the imaginations of disenchanted youth, combined with earnest and unflinching idealism, punching up, not down, to challenge sectarianism and imperialism in Ireland and beyond, is what has catapulted the group into the spotlight and onto the political agenda.

With a name like Kneecap and singles like ‘C.E.A.R.T.A.’ (cearta meaning ‘rights’ in the Irish language) and ‘Get your Brits out!’, the staunchly Republican, anti-Zionist, Irish-speaking trio is blowing the narrative of the imperialistic status quo wide open and ruffling more than a few feathers on the way.

Unlike many other UK bands, the group managed to ‘break America’ in no uncertain terms with their performance at Coachella Festival in May. 

During the performance, band member Mo Chara explained: “The Irish not so long ago were persecuted at the hands of the Brits, but we were never bombed from the… skies with nowhere to go. The Palestinians have nowhere to go.”

At the end of their second set the following three messages were projected onto screens:  ‘Israel is committing genocide against the Palestinian people,’ and ‘It is being enabled by the US government who arm and fund Israel despite their war crimes,’ and finally: ‘F*ck Israel. Free Palestine.’

And so, the audience were galvanised and chanted: ‘Free, free Palestine.’

It was after this, that Sharon Osbourne decided to chime in to suggest they have their visas revoked, serving only to push Kneecap even further centre stage to amplify their message: ‘Statements aren’t aggressive, murdering 20,000 children is though.’

Meanwhile, the gatekeepers of the pro-Zionist narrative are grasping at straws, doing their best to find ways to criminalise and silence the group. Due to a recently surfaced video of a concert held at the O2 Forum in London last November whereby Liam Óg Ó hAnnaidh––who performs under the name Mo Chara––was shown displaying a Hezbollah flag, he was consequently charged on terrorism offences.

The band has responded by saying the charges are an attempt at political policing intended to silence criticism of Israel’s war on Gaza.

On the 22nd of May they posted this statement on Instagram:

‘14000 babies are about to die of starvation in Gaza. With food sent by the world sitting on the other side of a wall, and once again the British establishment is focused on us. We deny this “offence” and will vehemently defend ourselves. This is political policing. This is a carnival of distraction. We are not the story. Genocide is. […] You stand complicit with the war criminals. We are on the right side of history. You are not. We will fight you in court. We will win. Free Palestine.’

As the footage of Israel withholding aid from starving Palestinians and subsequently shooting them as they scramble for food flashes across our screens, the attempts at silencing and criminalising voices of dissent sound increasingly feeble and delusional and have rapidly become yesterday’s news. 

The extermination of an entire people, however, will never be forgotten.

Mo Chara is due to appear at Westminster Magistrates Court today, represented by an impressive legal team including: 

Gareth Peirce, solicitor for WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange and for Gerry Conlon and the Guildford Four, who were falsely convicted of being Provisional IRA bombers; Rosalind Comyn, who has represented Extinction Rebellion protesters; as well as Darragh Mackin from Phoenix Law; Brenda Campbell KC; Jude Bunting KC; and Blinne Ní Ghrálaigh KC, who recently appeared before the ICJ on behalf of South Africa against Israel and the genocide on Gaza.

Kneecap’s performances in Germany this summer have all been cancelled, however you can catch them at venues across Europe. Full tour details can be found here.

“Germany, you’re not getting rid of us until you stop supporting genocide”

Interview with Jara Nassar from the Occupy against Occupation Camp opposite the Bundestag


17/06/2025

So here we are again. Could you just remind people who you are?

Hi, I’m Jara. I’m one of the press speakers and organizers of Besetzung gegen Besatzung (Occupy against Occupation), which is a Palestine Solidarity camp in front of the German parliament, the Bundestag. Two days ago, on Friday the 13th, we set up for a third time to protest Germany’s weapons exports to Israel and the ongoing genocide,

Could you also remind us what happened to the first two camps?

Gladly. The first time we set up was last year, April 8th, 2024. We set up our tents out of a random push for wanting to do something different, because the genocide in Gaza had been going on for six months. We had a wonderful 19 days of workshops and panels and protests and all sorts of people coming and having community space up until the 26th of April, where we got brutally evicted by the Berlin police .

The police gave us about an hour’s notice. They showed up on Friday morning with riot gear, locked down almost all of the streets coming to the camp, and proceeded to evict us very brutally, smash our stuff, and injure and arrest a lot of people. 

Then we had a second camp in November and December of 2024 that lasted for six weeks. We packed that one up just before Christmas. And now we’re back. 

Why now? 

The right time to protest for Palestine is always — but specifically now we’re standing in solidarity with the Sumud convoys, the march to Gaza, and the Freedom Flotilla, which are all projects that are trying to break the 18 year long siege and and naval blockade of Gaza. 

Gaza has been under a complete siege for more than 90 days now, which means that barely any aid, food, medical supplies, fuel have been let in, all things that are extremely necessary to the survival of the people there. Israel has been blocking all of it, and people are trying to break that siege.

How do you think that the camp is contributing towards breaking the siege?

Germany is the second largest weapons exporter to Israel, which means that our domestic protest here is incredibly important as part of a global solidarity movement to stop Israeli war crimes and crimes against humanity, and the ongoing occupation of Palestine. If we can stop the weapons getting delivered from Germany, that would be a massive blow to the Israeli war machine. 

Some people in Germany like to think that they can’t really do anything, but Germany is one of the staunchest supporters of Israel. This is very much a protest in the belly of the beast.,

The camp is directly opposite the Bundestag. If people visit, when should they come and what can they expect?

Come anytime. We’re here 24/7. During the daytime, you can expect Community Care workshops, readings, and interesting conversations with people from all walks of life. In the afternoon, you can expect workshops, rallies, drumming, and then in the evenings we usually have a film screening. 

Because it’s June, and it gets dark so late, the films start at 9.30. Tomorrow, (Monday 16th), we’re screening No Other Land and then having a discussion about it. 

Where could people find a program of what’s happening when?

They can find that on our Instagram, our Telegram, or our Website. They all have the name besetzunggegenbesatzung.

How long do you expect to be there? You said you were brutally forced out the first time round, and last time you packed up for Christmas. Is there a plan for this time?

We have now registered for 10 days until 23rd June, and then we will see whether we continue or consider this a success, pack up and continue pressuring the German government in other forms. Even when the camp gets packed up, that doesn’t mean we stop.

What exactly are you protesting? You said you’re in solidarity with the Convoy and the Madleen, but as you were setting up, Israel attacked Iran. Is that part of your protest?

Our protest is against Israel’s ongoing settler colonial regime that has expansive ambitions all over the region. Not only is Israel attacking Iran, but it is also still bombing and killing people in Lebanon and Syria.

Our protest is against the entire Israeli war machine and the German complicity in it, because all of this would not be possible without German weapons, bombs, diplomacy, and finance.

Do you get a sense that things are changing in Germany? Now even Friedrich Merz and Annalena Baerbock are saying that Israel is going too far. Is anything practically changing in German politics, or are these just words?

So far, these are just words of a regime that wants to establish itself as the dominant military power in Europe. Germany strategically sees that more and more of the world’s tide is turning against Israel. It would be naive to believe that the German government has actually come to a moral awakening. As long as Germany benefits from this war machine, with all of its weapons production, this will continue.

But there is a narrative shift, and we do hope that more and more of the German people wake up to what’s happening and start protesting. It’s not enough to sit at home and quietly disapprove, which seems to be the case for most people in Germany. Now is really the time to get up and start doing something.

A friend of mine was at Camp yesterday, and she said there were more Germans there than she was expecting. Are you witnessing this too?

There were definitely more Germans than expected yesterday, because there was a protest around the corner that was co-organized by ver.di. I would say that proportionally there were definitely more old white Germans than at any of the Palestinian or diaspora organized protests that I’ve seen so far. 

We do welcome and encourage that shift, but we don’t have people coming up to us and saying: “Oh, I’m so sorry. I should have been here a year and three months ago when you first set up”. If you want accountability, that means that people need to reckon with their own role. If they only wake up late, that’s cool. Good that you woke up. Now make up for it.

At least it’s good that some people are changing.

Some people, yes, but without a fundamental shift, that’s just window dressing.

Today there’s also a protest for Veteranentag against German militarization. Are you finding ways of linking up with this? Is this an opportunity to address young Germans who are worried about conscription, but are not yet necessarily thinking about Palestine?

There’s obviously a big connection between Germany gearing up for war, changing its economy to produce more weapons, and now edging closer to reintroducing enforced conscription. We are linked up with the organizers of the Veteranentag protests. We absolutely support them. We mobilize people to go there and then afterwards come to the camp. 

We do hope that this is something that we can address within the camp for young Germans, or older Germans who are worried that their kids are going to go to war. All of these things are connected.

Back to the camp. You say you’re organising workshops. Who is running these workshops? Can someone just turn up and offer their own workshop?

Absolutely. Anyone who is in solidarity with Palestine and wants to offer a workshop, a panel, anything, they are very welcome to come. This is not organized by a closed group. It’s very DIY organizing. Yesterday, we had someone do a yoga workshop that was relatively spontaneous. 

If people want to get involved, there’s a daily plenum at 12 noon. But also join the Telegram, chat, text us and just come by. We’re here 24/7.

Last time you had some bigger events with people like Michael Barenboim speaking. Is there anything on that level planned this time round?

We’re working on it. We do hope that we will get that. Stay tuned.

Do you think there’s a chance of getting people from the Freedom Flotilla along?

Two members of the flotilla were just deported back to Berlin after they were illegally abducted to Israel. We do hope that we will get them here to the camp, but obviously being abducted by Israel and then deported is a little bit of stress. We admire and honour their commitment. They may first need a couple of days to rest.

[Editor’s Note: Yasemin Acar, who was on the Flotilla, will now be speaking at the camp at 6pm on Wednesday, 18th June]

People can camp as well. Do you have spare tents? Or should people bring their own? 

We do have some spare tents, but we also have a great amount of campers right now. So we encourage everyone to come and camp with us, and bring your tents and sleeping bags. If you don’t have any, we do have stuff here. 

And if you’re in Berlin and you have camping gear, but you can’t camp, drop it off. We do our best to give this stuff back, unless the police destroy it again.

What about people not in Berlin? People in Berlin should come to the camp and get involved. Is there any way people outside Berlin can support you? 

People outside of Berlin can share the message. We have some events that we’re going to be live streaming. They can also reach out. We’re happy to do a Skillshare for how to organize your own protest camp. 

You are more than welcome to come here on 21st June, when the United for Gaza march is mobilizing people to come to Berlin. We very cordially invite anyone and everyone who is traveling to Berlin for that march to bring your tents. Come camp with us.

You talked about being attacked by the police. We are currently sitting in the camp and can see a number of police looking at us. What’s the likelihood that the police will try and break you up again?

I think for now, it’s rather low, because after the first brutal eviction, they did get a lot of bad press, and we are now very linked with international organizations that have an eye on us. If something happens, we can scandalize it. 

But of course we do see the absurd administrative obstruction of the police. Yesterday, they put up these metal barricades which mean that the entire front side of the camp is now locked off. They told us that they would just be there for a march which was passing by. We said: this amazing march was pro-Palestine. You don’t need to protect us against it.

We asked the police if they’d take them down. And they said, no, these will now stay. This is what we see from the German police and the Berlin police especially. As soon as the repressive measure is in place, it will stay. It’s completely absurd. 

It’s obviously intended to make us harder to reach, to make us appear like criminals, to make us feel caged in, fenced in from 2 sides. We hope that we can get the police to take it down, seeing as this is completely absurd and unnecessary. But we’re also not going to be intimidated. 

I know some people with precarious residency status who say that they’re not sure whether they’ll come here, because if they’re arrested the repercussions are much more. What would you say to them?

Unfortunately, that is always a risk. At the moment, we have had three arrests. But there are very low risk ways to get engaged. There was never a situation where the whole camp got kettled and everyone was arrested, or we couldn’t get out anymore. 

We do have people here with precarious residency status, and the people with the European and German passports are aware of that and have the solidarity to then put themselves on the line a bit more.

Is there anything we haven’t talked about that you’d like to say?

On June 21st there’s also an open house at the Rotes Rathaus, close to Alexanderplatz. We all know that our mayor, Kai Wegner, is very complicit in the genocide in Gaza. He has said that there is no genocide in Gaza full stop. So this is a good opportunity to go and confront him.

Apart from that, the Camp is just a really nice place to come and meet people and talk strategy. We have to reaffirm that, even with everything going on, the focus is always Gaza. The last internet cable in Gaza has just been bombed by Israel. They have a complete communication blackout. And that is the people we are fighting for, because those are the ones who are in most danger. 

If you do close down the camp, what happens then?

Then we move on to other forms, and we might be back. We always have our tents in the back of our minds. Many of us who are at the first and second camps are really happy to be back here. Germany, you’re not getting rid of us until you stop supporting genocide.

Red Flag: Seven years in prison for a tweet in support of Palestine?

In his weekly column, Nathaniel Flakin calls for solidarity with the railway worker Anasse Kazib from Paris


When the German government insists on ramping up military spending to the tune of half a trillion euros, European leaders assure us this isn’t about shoring up billionaires’ profits. No, they say, militarism is necessary to defend our freedom, democracy, and basic rights.

But rearmament isn’t very popular. Germany’s unflinching support for the genocide in Gaza is opposed by up to 80 percent of people. So in their struggle to defend their “democracy,” imperialist politicians have been attacking our democratic rights. 

In Berlin, police repression has become completely unhinged. The US government has carried out unprecedented attacks on freedom of speech, such as the attempted deportation of Mahmoud Khalil. Even in France, where the authoritarian-centrist president Emmanuel Macron recently began criticizing Israel and announced plans to recognize a Palestinian state, the judicial apparatus is taking aim at pro-Palestinian voices.

On Wednesday, the rail worker and union activist Anasse Kazib will appear in a Parisian court on charges of “apology for terrorism.” If convicted, he faces up to seven years in prison or a fine of €100,000. His “crime” consists of a few tweets criticizing EU and French leaders for their support for mass murder. 

The son of Moroccan immigrants to France, Kazib has been fighting for the rights of fellow rail workers for over a decade, organizing protests and strikes against privatization plans and pension reforms. He has run as a candidate for the Trotskyist organization Révolution Permanente.

The French state has investigated different left-wing politicians, including Rima Hassan from the European parliament (and more recently the Gaza Freedom Flotilla), for tweets about Gaza. The persecution of Kazib is a test to see how far they can go in criminalizing opposition. If he is convicted, it will make it harder for anyone to speak up against the genocide — and if he is victorious, then it will throw sand in the gears of repression.

This is why over 1,000 public figures declared their solidarity for Kazib, including the Nobel Prize winners Adolfo Pérez Esquivel and Annie Ernaux. Well-known activists and and artists like Angela Davis, Tariq Ali, Pablo Iglesias, Adèle Haenel, Yanis Varoufakis, Nancy Fraser, Brian Eno, and Ken Loach signed the petition, as did leaders of the Palestine solidarity movement like Mohammed el-Kurd, Rashid Khalidi, Noura Erakat, Ilan Pappé, Chris Hedges, Abby Martin, and Norman Finkelstein.

There will be rallies in defense of Kazib on Tuesday, the day before the trial begins, in over a dozen cities worldwide. Activists in Berlin will gather at the French embassy at the Brandenburg Gate, on June 17 at 17:00.

At a rally in Paris last month, Kazib spoke to 2,000 people about the need for internationalism. “If we are not profoundly internationalist today,” he said, “we will be nationalist tomorrow”. As the big capitalist powers lurch toward ever greater conflagrations, they will try to whip us into a national frenzy. But the main enemy is at home. We need to stand with revolutionary worker-politicians like Kazib, and with everyone who is being targeted for solidarity.

Red Flag is a weekly column on Berlin politics that Nathaniel Flakin has been writing since 2020. After moving through different homes, it now appears at The Left Berlin.