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Red Flag: Berlin universities bend the knee for the AfD

In his weekly column, Nathaniel Flakin looks at unprecedented campus repression on the orders of the Far Right.


19/11/2025

AFD Universities - Faschismus ist keine alternative

Last Wednesday, student assemblies were scheduled at Berlin’s three main universities. On November 29-30, the far-right party Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) is founding a new youth organization in the city of Gießen. The campus meetings were part of the antifascist mobilization to block the creation of “Generation Deutschland,” as the reactionary youngsters plan to call themselves.

But the same day, the administrations of both the Free University (FU) and the Humboldt University (HU) cancelled the assemblies after receiving complaints from the AfD. The official reasoning: universities are supposed to remain neutral regarding party politics. In the context of Germany’s history—in 1933, universities quickly subordinated themselves to the fascist regime and supported its genocidal policies — this “neutrality” on antifascism is nothing short of astounding.

Only the Technical University (TU) allowed the event to take place—but on the condition that “no statements about party politics” be made, so nothing about the AfD. Hundreds of students gathered and made plans to head to Gießen.

Useful Idiots

This is more than the latest episode in the Rechtsruck, Germany’s seemingly boundless shift to the right. As both an FU alumnus and a historian, I can say this campus repression is unprecedented. Berlin’s universities have always hosted political assemblies, from the 1968 youth rebellion to the 2009 Bildungsstreik (education strike).

University presidents capitulating to far-right pressure is an echo of what’s going on in the United States under Trump. This authoritarian turn on Berlin campuses did not fall from the sky—nor is it a result of the AfD’s influence among students, which thankfully remains vanishingly small. This is a direct product of the violent repression against pro-Palestinian protests. According to retired professor Hajo Funke, who started studying at FU in 1964, this was the worst repression since the university’s founding more than 75 years ago. 

When students peacefully protested against the genocide in Gaza, they were attacked by government ministers and big media. University leaders sent in heavily armed cops, who attacked young people with batons and pepper spray, and then pressed hundreds of charges against their own students. As I’ve reported, numerous Jewish students were also beaten and doxxed in the name of “protecting Jewish students.”

There were some liberals, useful idiots of the Far Right, who thought this assault on academic freedom would be limited to Palestine. But any attack by the state on student protests automatically strengthens authoritarian forces. Thus the supposed “fight against antisemitism” benefits the party of Beatrix von Storch, the granddaughter of Hitler’s finance minister.

Pseudo-Democracy

After the assemblies were banned, the discussion at TU was bewildering: according to multiple comrades, there was little talk about the censorship. Instead, pre-prepared speeches about the mobilization to Gießen were read out—as if students could simply ignore this unprecedented assault on their rights and continue with the agenda.

This is very much the modus operandi of Studis Gegen Rechts (Students Against the Right): While an event may be called an assembly, everything is carefully choreographed, with each speaker chosen and prepared beforehand. Students who wanted to speak about defending democratic rights were consistently “overlooked” by the chair.

The result is not an assembly at all, but a pageant—a simulacrum of direct democracy. It is a method that has been slowly introduced to Berlin over the last decade by self-described “organizers”: young bureaucrats working for Die Linke or the trade union ver.di who are often associated with the post-Trotskyist network Marx21.

The problem with this was visible on Wednesday: a pre-prepared non-assembly is incapable of reacting to new developments—all the speeches “from the floor” had been planned before the bans were announced. Such pseudo-democracy cannot fulfill the task of an assembly: a mass of people discuss and vote on how they are going to act.

The history of Berlin’s student movement shows us what a central role assemblies can play. On April 11, 1968, for example, over 2,000 people gathered in the exact same hall at TU to discuss how to respond to the attempted assassination of student leader Rudi Dutschke. They decided to march to the headquarters of Axel Springer’s far-right media empire, and tens of thousands joined in the Easter Riots. Direct democracy is key to mass action.

To fight the authoritarian turn today, we need the ideas and the energy of every single student. The efforts of even the most intelligent “organizers” will not be enough. We need proletarian democracy, where the masses make their own decisions and carry them out together.

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

That was Unframe 2025

Photo Gallery of the festival by Laura Steiner


18/11/2025

All photos: (c) Laura Steiner. Reproduced with permission

20 November 1975: the death of Franco

This week in working class history


Fifty years after the dictator’s death, Spain remains marked by the impunity of the Franco regime. The social movements that fought for decades against the dictatorship took to the streets during the so-called “transition”, only to face brutal repression from a state apparatus that was never purged of its fascist elements. This period was not the peaceful transition often portrayed, but one of intense social struggle met with state violence.

Various movements led this fight. Workers demanded fair labour laws against a Francoist elite; women fought for fundamental rights in the face of entrenched patriarchy; and the LGTBIQ+ movement confronted legislation that criminalised their identity. Students, youth groups, and neighbourhood associations simultaneously fought for educational freedom, voting rights, and housing justice, creating a powerful political fabric.

In contrast to these hard-won social advances, the political reforms were largely cosmetic. The 1977 amnesty law cemented impunity for the regime’s officials, exonerating judges, police officers, and torturers with the stroke of a pen. Key institutions, such as the repressive Public Order Court, were simply renamed, giving rise to what is critically known as the “Regime of ’78”.

This inherited impunity is still visible today. Francoist symbols and streets named after fascist leaders persist due to a profound lack of political will, not legal obstacles. The state’s effort to exhume the tens of thousands of disappeared from mass graves has been grossly inadequate, leaving civil society groups to lead the search for truth and identification.

This whitewashing extended into education, where for decades the dictatorship was sanitised as the “Franco era” and the 1936 coup was not even named as such. It was a deliberate strategy by Spanish elites—many of whom owe their fortunes to the dictatorship’s corruption—to hide the regime’s crimes and avoid accountability.

The economic legacy of the regime also endures. Major Spanish companies, such as the energy giant Naturgy, were built on the violent expropriation of property from those murdered by the regime. Francoist concentration camps, though not designed for industrial extermination, nevertheless served as instruments of political terror and forced labour, intended to crush opposition and instil lasting fear.

The German state’s unconditional support for the genocide of the Palestinian people puts pressure on the Berlin judicial system

With another prosecution of From the River to the Sea, the German state is trying to increase repression


16/11/2025

The repression of the struggle for the rights of the Palestinian people is nothing new in Germany. For decades, this country has been, among many other things, outlawing Palestinian associations, banning demonstrations and dismissing anti-Zionist journalists from its public media. Parliament passed the 2019 non-binding resolution against the BDS movement after accusing BDS of using Nazi slogans. There has been a surge in the cancellation of events involving individuals and associations that support this peaceful movement, all under the umbrella of the fight against antisemitism.

Since October 2023, the German state has intensified its efforts on all fronts to promote a single narrative that portrays Israel as the eternal victim, denying the occupation and apartheid in Palestine and describing the genocide in Gaza exclusively as Israel’s ‘self-defence’.

At the same time, the state and all kinds of private and public institutions repeat, that Germany denazified itself, and purged its institutions of the worst antisemitic criminals. They claim they had re-educated a population that was a victim of Nazism rather than collaborators. Finally they  claim they are now being invaded by irrational antisemitic barbarians importing antisemitism.

To justify all of Israel’s war crimes and crimes against humanity, the German state and its servile public media and most private media have not only repeated and amplified word for word each and every one of the lies of the genocidal state.

Journalists and German journalists’ associations have spent two years accusing without evidence their Palestinian colleagues of being Hamas, and therefore legitimate targets. This past October, the German public broadcaster ZDF – and most of the German media – betrayed its own journalist collaborator in Gaza, Ahmed Abu Mutair, who was killed along with an 8-year-old boy, Bashar al-Zaanen, the son of his colleague Mohammed al-Zaanen, who was also injured. They accused these journalists – whose names they did not even mention when reporting the deadly attack – of being terrorists, thus justifying their murder.

he German press giant Springer Press, has a right-wing editorial line that is clearly anti-immigration, anti-Islamist, Zionist and in favour of rearming Germany. It  is coordinating with Israel to publish fake news that derailed the negotiations for a ceasefire in September 2024. Springer Press  also accuses Palestinian journalists of staging photos to spread what they classify as fake news, i.e. the well-documented famine in Gaza. For example they claim the work of  Palestinian photojournalist Anas Zayed Fteiha as fraudulent. Seeking truth and justice Anas initiated legal proceedings in Germany against Springer for defamation. Conveniently this was promptly dismissed on absurdly formal grounds, as he could not present an original document or one with electronic certification bearing the signature of the journalist in Gaza.

The press has also defended and justified the actions of the German state, both internally and externally. Germany has fervently supported the genocide, sending weapons, voting against or abstaining from UN resolutions for a ceasefire, repeating and amplifying all of Israel’s lies. Germany was the only country to join Israel in its defence in the genocide trial it faces at the International Court of Justice.

Internally, the German state and its lackey press have demonised the entire solidarity movement with Palestine. The press has published hundreds of articles justifying state repression and violence against pro-Palestinian activists. The latter are branded as “internal terrorists”, making them legitimate targets to be taken down and punished. Several legal attempts in Germany against the media’s smear campaign against the Palestine solidarity movement were systematically dismissed by the country’s courts.

From the river to the sea, the state’s trump card

One weapon of the state, especially in Berlin, to violently attack demonstrations, carry out mass arrests and bring hundreds of activists to trial is the phrase ‘From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free’.  Numerous first-instance trials that have determined that this slogan, used for decades around the world, is not exclusive to Hamas. Yet the police arrest those who say it with increasing violence.  The state’s legal team under orders  cannot admit defeat.

This slogan is now on trial in the second instance in the Berlin criminal court. The trial, which will last ten sessions, reeks of irregularities. It includes judges who have previously ruled that they consider this slogan a terrorist symbol. The trial, which is being held in high-security courtrooms, involves sharing photos on Instagram of Hamas soldiers using phrases that make the German state uncomfortable, perfectly portrays the establishment of this country.

An establishment that fiercely defends the psychopathic Zionist soldiers of the IDF. This establishment not only refused to prosecute IDF soldiers as other countries do, but also invites them to speak publicly in this city. For example the guard of the torture prison in Sde Teiman Elkana Federman, was invited to speak at the Nova exhibition on 28 October 2025 and presented as a hero. This exhibition cost Berlin’s coffers €1.4 million at a time of ostentatious austerity and cuts.

This same city persecutes, arrests and prosecutes any show of sympathy or admiration for individuals and groups fighting against the terrorist state of Israel. The right to self-defence of occupied peoples is ratified by international law. Yet Germany, as all colonising powers have done against indigenous populations, has declared Hamas (and several armed groups) a terrorist group and banned all its activities in the country. This effectively denies the right to self-government and self-defence of the population of Gaza. Germany demands Gazans ‘simply’ accept its fate, lay down its arms and abandon the coveted strip.

We witness an  elaborate spectacle in the 10-session trial – over a few photos and a slogan. The  allied press has already practically declared the accused guilty. It is nothing more than a pathetic and costly attempt to justify the increasingly authoritarian actions of the German state. A state in financial and moral decline, which is testing the limits of its institutions and testing its population with propaganda. That state once again divides its citizens into ‘them or us’, with increasingly openly Nazi rhetoric and word choice. It is attempting to emerge from its crisis through rearmament and continued war.

For now, the line of containment has been the courts.  Despite textbook lawfare against pro-Palestinian activism, the activists have remained steadfast, most fighting their cases to the end. They have mostly so far,  won with verdicts in their favour, or with relatively favourable deals. But this may worsen if this case sets a precedent.

This latest trial for ‘From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free’ is important. But it is just one of thousands and thousands of trials that the movement faces with dignity and using facts and truths. These  the German state lacks, whose ‘Staatsräson’ has portrayed it as what it is: a racist, fascist state rotten with love for genocide.

 Digital propaganda and Israel’s war narrative on TikTok

How Israel weaponises TikTok to sanitise occupation and sell war as social media content


14/11/2025

TikTok Logo

Scientists and communication strategists within Israel’s armed forces have highlighted the importance of the IDF’s presence on digital media as part of a broader effort to promote and justify its positions and objectives. The digital persona of the new generation of soldiers has become an inseparable and distinctive aspect of their military service. This strategy serves both military communication and psychological warfare, employing posts aimed at shaping public perception of what the Israeli occupation forces describe as a “calling” or “service to the nation.”

Already, numerous videos have surfaced online showing Israeli soldiers bombing while casually smoking shisha, bulldozing cars into apartment buildings, or taking mocking tours titled “This was my home”, ridiculing displaced Palestinians—scenes that no sane person could ever imagine as part of our shared reality.

The official IDF page on TikTok features everything from tank advertisements—“Get to know the jeep model that races across rough terrain at incredible speed, controlled by the driver of the military vehicle through a touchscreen”—to posts with Holocaust survivors, greetings, female soldiers, and young recruits vlogging their “war day routine”.

No, this isn’t an episode of Black Mirror—it is one of the most degrading and hollow moments in modern human and world history.

The short videos are truly shocking, though devoid of explicit violence. Green-uniformed soldiers with state-of-the-art weapons in hand, accompanied by background music and sentimental speeches—by historical or random figures—compose one of the most hypocritical tributes to militarism, nationalism, and authoritarianism.

“When terrorists attack us with rockets—don’t worry! We have the Iron Dome, whose job is to stop them…”

The Israeli army’s profile advertises peaceful and “safe” weapons—weapons that kill, but for a good cause.

“Accidents happen,” a female soldier later informs us, referring to certain “incidents” that took place in Judea and Samaria.

Specifically, Israeli soldiers vandalised local residents’ property, and of course, the IDF’s upper command rushed to contain the situation—presenting it as an isolated event supposedly incompatible with Israel’s moral code.

At the very same time that thousands upon thousands of children, women, the elderly, and civilians are suffering—being maimed, disabled, or killed—TikTok features, unbelievably, a post dedicated to World Autism Awareness Day.

Liri is a young scientist who contributes to a military programme designed to support the participation of individuals on the autism spectrum.

An army that kills—or rather, that massacres—now claims to care about the right of people with autism to participate in war. In other words, the IDF seeks to break down barriers of discrimination within the production of the human war machine.

Meanwhile, the people of Israel are themselves living through difficult times that affect their emotional vulnerability. For this reason, specialised scientists and teachers are involved in programmes that provide emotional support to individuals on the spectrum.

“Everyone can play an important role in defending their homeland…!” a soldier tells us before signing off in the video.

A little later, with a trap track by Gucci Mane playing in the background, he uses a trending format to ask his followers: “I hope you’ve never supported Hamas terrorists?”

The vulgarity and humiliation of human existence—and the hypocrisy—continue with the next trending post: the one we all know as “Never Have I Ever…” They share their experiences with followers, singing, laughing, and dreaming about their future in the most warlike of war industries.

The majority of people on the platform representing the Israeli army are, unfortunately, young—barely reaching thirty years of age. This observation only further highlights the character, moral code, and objectives of the nationalist state of Israel. It shapes generations and citizens with authoritarian, aggressive, and fascistic traits — people who will trample human rights, fight every trace of resistance, and, if necessary (as is already happening), disregard international institutions and laws, holding their heads high, wearing helmets of darkness, and wielding relentless violence.

Surely, humanity has walked—and continues to walk—the path of atrocities many times, including that of ethnic cleansing. Yet today, these conditions are being shamelessly and ideologically legitimised. The rejection of international and universal principles, combined with the tolerance of other states and the active support for Israel’s war machine, constitutes a murder of truth, of democracy, and of the very essence of human civilisation.

Let us not grow used to horror, for what we tolerate in silence will one day come for us too.