The Left Berlin News & Comment

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Queer Trans Mutual Aid Berlin

Mutual aid by and for Berlin’s trans and queer community


12/07/2023

Queer Trans Mutual Aid Berlin (QTMAB) is a left wing project from Berlin. We were formed in the tradition of the Black Panther Party and various Jewish mutual aid networks. We support Trans* Inter* and non-binary people in Berlin with self-defence, fundraising, help and questions around medical transition, gender affirming clothing, cooking, translation, bureaucracy, looking after pets and children, accompanying people to government buildings or shopping, and much more. We prioritise Black and Jewish people, and People of Colour. We are always looking for volunteers and welcome donations.

Our next campaign requires an explanation of our community “Tzedaka” box. Tzedaka comes from the Hebrew root meaning “justice” or “righteousness.” A Tzedakah box is a container put into Jewish spaces where people donate money after praying, learning, or hanging out. Some people also choose to donate a percentage of their income every month. This money is not given back to the Jewish institutions/houses of worship (like as is common in the Christian tradition) but instead it is redistributed to the community members in need, or given to nonprofits of the collective’s choosing.Tzedakah is an obligation to one’s community, not a choice. Tzedakah can also be done through sharing material goods and services such as cooking or driving or shopping. 

Queer Trans Mutual Aid Berlin was started based off of the Jewish Principal of Tikkun Olam, repairing the world. Together as a community, we can come together to do our part by practicing being in good relationship with each other. One of the ways to do this is by participating in Tzedaka. We have a patreon where people can donate a percentage of their incomes, and now we are creating an online Tzedaka box for the Queer Trans Berlin Community. 

How it works

What it is for? These funds are to be used for Transgender people based in Berlin who need some help affording basic necessities. Priority will go to Community members affected by Racism, Colonization, Antisemitism, and/or Ableism.

We will give out the same amount of small (5-30 euro) grants that we receive. If we get 25 euros, we will give 25 euros. The goal is to always have a pool of money like this to give away, constantly refilling itself before it is completely empty. You can help make that happen by donating generously and often to our PayPal

You can find out more information about QTMAB from our Instagram account, our Iniradar page and our linktree.

 

“After Sabeen“, screening by AKEBi and the PoC art collective

Film on violence against activists in Pakistan, with Q&A session with director Schokofeh Kamiz.


05/07/2023

When: 8 July 2023, 16:00
Where: fsk Kino, Segitzdamm 2, 10969 Berlin

Karachi, Pakistan. 24 April 2015. A car stops at a red-light. Inside are two women: Sabeen and her mother Mahenaz. Two men on a motorcycle stop and open fire. Sabeen dies on the spot; her mother gets wounded but survives.

The evening that she was killed, Sabeen Mahmud, founder, and director of the well-known Karachi institution T2F, had hosted a discussion on the unexplained and ongoing disappearances of more than 20,000 activists and civilians in the country. Sabeen had been given ominous warnings by unknown visitors and advice by concerned friends, to cancel this event, which others had refused to host. But Sabeen had gone ahead undaunted.

After the film, there will be a Q&A session with Schokofeh Kamiz, the director of the movie.

The language of the movie is English and Urdu. It will be screened at fsk with English subtitles. AKEBİ is organizing the event together with the POC ART Collective.

AKEBİ e.V. Irkçılığa, Milliyetçiliğe, Ayrımcılığa Karşı Aktivist Eylem Birliği

AKEBİ aims to combat the racist, nationalistic, sexist and discriminatory approaches and practices that exist in Germany and among migrants from Turkey. It organizes actions against racism, nationalism and discrimination of any kind in accordance with its political principles and works to create awareness in society in terms of these principles.

POC Art

POC Art is an art collective based in Berlin consisting of artists and curators who emphasize the art of People of Color. POC Art aims at organizing cultural events such as film screenings, concerts, talks, and workshops.

Beyond Equality: Feminisms Reclaiming Life

An Internationalist Gathering


28/06/2023

Iranian feminist revolutionaries, Latin American “mulherismo”, Kurdish “women’s liberation” movements, and similar feminist approaches do not – as liberal and predominantly Western feminist agendas do – restrict themselves to demands for equal shares in the eroding paradigm of the current toxic way of life. For those struggles, feminism is more than a quest for equality or individual empowerment – it is a political project that aims at justice and structural transformation: decolonization and planetary care work, socialization of social reproduction, and revolutionary democratization of the everyday.

The gathering assembles prominent feminist movements, researchers, and cultural workers – Latin American collectives, Kurdish, Iranian, and North African liberation movements, as well as queer and trans-feminist positions – through a collective curatorial process.

Discursive engagements, assemblies, (online) talks, and workshops will focus on war, border politics and revolutions, decolonial ecofeminism and the political economy of “race”, feminist abolitionism, anti-fascism, gender violence, hetero-cis normativity, and investigative journalism. Following the slogan of the Kurdish liberation movement, we want to give expression to the struggles that reclaim life: “Jin, Jiyan, Azadî.

With Sara A. Abbas, Parvin Ardalan, Delal Atmaca, Simone Dede Ayivi, Sandra Bello, Lara Bitar, Lorena Cabnal, Anna Carastathis, Luci Cavallero, Carmen Cariño, Christina Clemm, Andrea Dip, Dilar Dirik, Anielle Franco, Véronica Gago, María Galindo, Denise Garcia Bergt, Dalia Gebrial, Encarnación Gutiérrez-Rodríguez, Sabine Hark, Becka Hudson, Nesrine Jelalia, Liad Hussein Kantorowicz, Fatemeh Karimi, İida Käyhkö, Aysuda Kölemen, Agata Lisiak, Ewa Majewska, Erica Malunguinho, María do Mar Castro Varela, Zethu Matebeni, Débora Medeiros, Miriam Nobre, Somayeh Rostampour, Evren Savcı, Kate Sheese, Jamile da Silva e Silva, Rub(én) Solís Mecalco, Myrto Tsilimpounidi, Nazan Üstündağ, Louise Wagner, Galina Yarmanova, Himmat Zoubi und organizations and collectives like Casa Kuà, CENÎ – Kurdisches Frauenbüro für Frieden e.V., Damigra e.V.- Dachverband der Migrant*innenorganisationen, Feminist Autonomous Centre for Research (Greece), Feminists4jina, Initiative Schwarze Menschen in Deutschland Bund e.V., International Women* Space, Jineoloji, medico international e.V., Maternal Fantasies, S.U.S.I. Interkulturelles Frauenzentrum, Transnational Feminism, Solidarity, and Social Justice, TranStyX: Tunisian Queer Art Project and others.

Short biographies of all participants can be found here.

“Beyond Equality: Feminisms Reclaiming Life”is curated by a Berlin-based collective of women* situated in struggles like the Iranian Revolution, the Kurdish Liberation Movement, diasporic and migrant movements, as well as in feminist anti-extractivist, media and artistic articulations between Latin America and Germany. The collective is consisting of Firoozeh Farvardin, Barbara Marcel, Camila Nobrega, Bahar Oghalai, Bafta Sarbo, Elif Sarican and Margarita Tsomou.

30.6.–2.7.2023 / HAU1, HAU3.

 

European Legal Support Center (ELSC)

The European Legal Support Center (ELSC) is the first and only independent organisation defending and empowering the Palestine solidarity movement in Europe through legal means.


21/06/2023

The European Legal Support Center (ELSC) is the first and only independent organisation defending and empowering the Palestine solidarity movement in Europe through legal means. We provide free legal advice and assistance to associations, human rights NGOs, groups and individuals advocating for Palestinian rights in mainland Europe and the United Kingdom.

We develop effective legal defence strategies with lawyers against disinformation, smear campaigns and discriminatory policies to protect the fundamental rights to freedom of expression and assembly; document and analyse the restrictive measures that result in “shrinking space” for civil society defending Palestinian rights across Europe; and facilitate and promote strategic litigation against public and private actors involved in Israel’s violations of Palestinian human rights to confront corporate impunity and strengthen accountability.

The ELSC intervenes to end arbitrary restrictions and criminalization of peaceful advocacy and humanitarian work. It also develops legal tools and engages in strategic litigation to support civil society advocacy and campaigns.

The Center was established in January 2019 as a joint initiative of European jurists, the Palestinian civil society network PNGO and the Dutch NGO The Rights Forum, which has been hosting the ELSC in Amsterdam in the start-up phase.

Our Work

In order to provide effective legal support, the ELSC combines monitoring, defensive strategies, impact litigation, trainings and advocacy.

• Document and analyse the restrictive measures that result in “shrinking space” for civil society defending Palestinian rights across Europe;
• Produce unique country reports exposing incidents, policies, legislation and case law related to repression of the Palestine solidarity movement in Europe.

• Develop effective legal defence strategies with lawyers against disinformation, smear campaigns and discriminatory policies to protect the fundamental rights to freedom of expression and assembly;
• Carry out paralegal advocacy to engage authorities and public institutions.

• Facilitate and promote strategic litigation against public and private actors involved in Israel’s violations of Palestinian human rights to confront corporate impunity and strengthen accountability;
• Organise legal trainings and seminars for human rights defenders.

Panel Discussion 23rd June

At the SAOT festival in Berlin, the ELSC will be taking part in a Panel Discussion on Friday, 23rd June at the Haus der Statistik..

In this panel discussion, the ELSC, together with Palestinian activists and journalists, will provide insight into the political context surrounding our struggles and critically assess growing anti-Palestinian racism in Germany. In line with this year’s festival theme of victory, we invite you to a discussion on how to successfully push back against these attacks and support/empower the artist, activist, scholar, journalist, and all those who advocate for freedom and justice.

Entry is free.

 

Wolt Protest

Wolt Owes us Money and Rights


14/06/2023


Dear Wolt, stop breaking the law and pay workers now!

The delivery riders at Wolt and Wolt fleet are outraged that for 6 months you have not paid any wages to more than 100 of us. Countless Wolt Fleet workers continue to receive hourly wages below the minimum wage of €12. Directly hired riders don’t receive enough hours according to the contract.

We demand that Wolt:

  • immediately pay back all the Wolt Fleet riders whose wages were stolen. In full and with interest.
  • provide at least the minimum contractual hours to directly  hired Wolt riders.

 

Dear Wolt workers

  • We will gather hundreds of signatures from Wolt riders
  • Your name will NEVER be revealed to Wolt, only your signature
  • The name and phone number is for us workers to keep in contact.

Why make a petition?

  • This is the only way to pressure Wolt into taking us seriously. They’re more scared of us acting collectively than they are of paying the workers their stolen wages. It’s cheaper for them than the media finding out!
  • On that note, the media will pay attention if they see that hundreds of workers have signed and stood next to a photo. This will raise public awareness.

Does it work?

  • Seeing examples helps you believe it! Hundreds of workers in similar photos have signed their petitions, showed them to management and the media, and were able to win their demands. This includes workers here in Berlin.

Next steps

  • We will invite you to take a photo next to the petition.
  • You can cover your face with a helmet to stay anonymous if you wish.
  • Bring your Wolt bag!

 

Dear Supporters – Join the Protest on Monday 19th June

Wolt workers are staging a protest on Monday 19th June at Kottbusser Tor. Over 100 workers are still without pay since six months! 🤬 This will be a standing protest will be at Kotti outside Rossmann. The purpose is to get media attention for workers’ rights. It will create pressure before Emre’s case hearing.

We want to  show Wolt that we are organising, not just mobilising, and to demand payment of stolen wages now.

Please wear a blue t-shirt (any shade of blue works!). Everyone who has a Wolt bike should bring it and park it by the protest.

If you don’t want to be photographed with your face, wear an FFP2 mask. Free masks (with slogans) will be available to anyone who needs them.

Food will be provided by Kotti and Ko at the Gecekonda at Kotbusser Tor. Theater X will have a performance at the end of the protest.