The Left Berlin News & Comment

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Category: Campaign of the week

Heyva Sor a Kurdistane

Aid for Kurdistan


16/02/2023

Heyva Sor a Kurdistane was founded in 1993 in Bochum, Germany. Since then the charity, with its 190 volunteers spread across Germany, has grown with each day and become a beacon of hope for people in crisis. Kurdish Red Moon runs to the aid of vulnerable people under all conditions and is the only aid organization of Kurdistan. Kurdish Red Moon has endeavoured to help, aid and reach people with its brochure. Furthermore, as we value transparency, all our work has been made public.

Our Vision

Kurdish Red Moon, through compassion and readiness, has made it a principle to work on the basis of transparency and meticulousness, to ensure funds reach families in need safely. This vision ensures the importance of cooperation of all branches of society and values every contribution to help people in need and alleviate their suffering.

Our Mission

Kurdish Red Moon’s purpose is to carry out its activities in light of universal values and principles, with the aim to bring assistance free from discrimination in its national and international capacity to alleviate human suffering in Kurdistan and wherever it may be found, with precedence to

  • War zones and areas experiencing the effects of war;
  • Disaster areas;
  • Areas of poverty in all countries and regions.

Fundamental Principles

  • To build bridges between those in need and those willing to help.
  • To make no discrimination when relieving the suffering of individuals.
  • To master the understanding of being diligent in cooperation.
  • To be responsible and guiding in our duty.
  • Not to interfere but support endeavors with our involvement.
  • To make it our duty to endlessly follow-up on our aid.
  • To demonstrate our unity and carry out our efforts committedly.
  • Not to expect any gain or compensation for our actions.
  • To communicate our fundamental principles in shaping our activities and projects.

As the Kurdistan Red Crescent, we express our deep sorrow for those who have lost their lives due to recent earthquakes. In accordance with our duty and responsibility, our organisation has decided to send aid to the earthquake victims as soon as possible. The Kurdistan Red Crescent is only collecting financial aid and will soon meet the families who need urgent help.

On this basis, we appeal to the Kurds and all our friends in Europe and abroad to help the earthquake victims through the Kurdistan Red Crescent.

Donate here.

 

POC Art Collective

POC Artists working in Berlin


09/02/2023

“The relation between what we see and what we know is never settled.” John Berger

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.

On Tuesday, 14th February, POC Art is organising a showing of 3 short films from Palestine. (Films are in Arabic with English subtitles)

BETHLEHEM 2001

Dir. Ibrahim Handal, Palestine, 2020, 15 min.
While reflecting on the present, a young Palestinian recalls his childhood memories of the military invasion and siege of Bethlehem in 2001 during the second Intifada. By trying to understand how his parents led him through those difficult times, he hopes to find the strength and support he needs to cope with the present. “Bethlehem 2001”, which premiered in Locarno Film Festival, is a personal cinematic exploration to understand childhood trauma and its effects it can have on later life.

BY THE SEA (A’lbahr)
Dir. Wisam Al Jafari, Palestine, 2021, 12 min.
Struggling with both the occupation and the pandemic, a woman left alone with her son insists on having a semblance of normalcy by baking a cake to mark a special occasion. This film is an original take on a woman’s fight to keep her family together under unusual circumstances and against all odds.

AMBIENCE
Dir. Wisam Al Jafari, Palestine, 2019, 15 min.
For Ahmad and Khaled, music provides a welcome escape from the chaos and hectic atmosphere of the refugee camp where they live. Through a music competition, they hope to gain some fame. But where can they record their demo undisturbed? Ambience had its premiere at the Cannes Film Festival’s Cinéfondation and shared the 3rd prize.

Wisam Al Jafaris, director of By the Sea and Ambience, will be attending the Event, Wisam Al Jafari was born in Dheisheh Camp in Bethlehem. He has a BA in Film Production from Dar Al Kalima University College.

The Event will take place in the Apartment Project Berlin, Hertzbergstr 13

 

Artsformation

Exploring the intersection between arts, society and technology.


02/02/2023

Artsformation is a research project exploring the intersection between arts, society and technology. We aim to understand, analyse, and promote the ways in which the Arts can reinforce the social, cultural, economic, and political benefits of digital transformation.

Artsformation investigates the potential of the Arts to intervene in critical social issues, with a view to remedying a range of abusive and exploitative aspects of digital technologies, such as labour politics, privacy and education. We aim to support and be part of the process of making our communities resilient and adaptive in the 4th Industrial Revolution through research, innovation and applied artistic practice.

On Friday, 3rd February, Artsformation is organising an Event in Berlin: The Art of Decolonising Digital Resistance

The absence of real dialogue between the arts, communities and the policy making process is detrimental to both the arts, public policy and our society at large. The Art of Decolonising Digital Resistance is a live participatory action, where the audience is anticipated to engage and respond to a series of artist provocations exploring how arts and culture practitioners can become a catalyst for decolonising resistance practices and creating an equitable European digital transformation.

At the heart of the discussion is the need to unlock the potential contribution from the arts to policymaking in our digital society. Τhrough this process the aim is to achieve practical reconciliation between artists, policymakers and communities across Europe who have been long excluded from public discourse and decision-making.

What are the potentialities unfolded in the relation between artists, communities and policy-makers in our digital society? What are the logics and conditions that govern such relationships? Participants will interact with an Assembly of artists and through hands-on actions will explore the intersection between the arts and public policy in Europe’s digital transformation as well as its various societal impacts.  Common to all of these questions is the urgency to foster empathy, mutual understanding and common objectives in a time where the digital transformation permeates all spheres of life.

Artistes Provocateurs: Jamie Allen, Marta Espiridião, Vukasin Nedeljkovic, Vijay Patel, Alice Pedroletti, Samar Zughool

The event will take place in the Betahaus Kreuzberg Innospace Room, Rudi-Dutschke-Straße 23. It will be from 5pm until 8pm.  To attend, guests should contact latrafoundation@gmail.com. A ticket to attend the event is not required.

 

Omas Gegen Rechts Berlin

Diversity, Human Dignity, Justice, Rersponsibility, Participation, Solidarity


26/01/2023

OMAS GEGEN RECHTS BEERLIN (Grannies Against the Far Right) was formed in Berlin in early 2018 as a non-partisan civil society initiative, following the group Omas Gegen Rechts which has been working in Austria since 2017.

The number of Omas Gegen Rechts initiatives grew quickly. There are currently several Omas Gegen Rechts groups in Berlin, each with its own focus.

Every granny can become active as a political force, and organise joint resistance with other grannies. The can raise their voice against the dissemination of agitation, intimidation and lies from the right wing.

Engaged women, identified by the initiative as Omas are, because of their life experience, vigilant and loud for the protection of parliamentary democracy and for social peace – for our children and grandchildren.

What do we Omas stand for in Berlin? DIVERSITY, HUMAN DIGNITY, JUSTICE, RESPONSIBILITY, PARTICIPATION, SOLIDARITY. WE GET INVOLVED:

Political friends from all generations are welcome at out actions.

On Monday, 30th January, Omas Gegen Reichts Berlin are once more mobilising against right wing conspiracy theorists and antisemites. Under the slogan “We are Diversity”, the protest will take place at Stargarder Straße 77, near S-Bahn Schönhauser Allee.

You can read more about Omas Gegen Rechts Berlin on their website.

English Theatre Berlin

Music, Comedy, Drama


19/01/2023

English Theatre Berlin | International Performing Arts Center (ETB | IPAC) is the German capital’s only producing and presenting organization in the Hauptstadt expressly dedicated to English, the 21st century lingua franca, as the working language, as a bridge between cultures, countries and traditions.

We collaborate with both English native speakers and non-native speakers in order to achieve a continuous exchange between artists of different backgrounds who mutually inspire and influence each other to create something new together.

Learning Feminism From Rwanda by Flinn Works January 19, 20, 21 at 8pm

Women in Europe are still fighting for what Rwanda achieved long ago: 62% of their members of parliament are female. In Germany, the figure is just 34%. This East African country declared gender parity the basis of its politics in 1994. Meanwhile in Germany, this kind of parity is still a long way off despite gender equality being enshrined in common law since 1949.

A Rwandan and a German performer discuss numbers and realities from both countries, using a drum as the central symbol of power. They take a peek behind the curtain: if women are empowered, how do men deal with losing their power and what are the lines of confrontation in the home? How slowly or quickly do quotas change a culture and the mindset of a nation?

With speeches, statistics, songs and protest choreography, Learning Feminism from Rwanda follows the trail of Rwandan fast-track feminism from shiny statistics and glass ceilings to hearth and home. Let’s see how much Europe can learn from Rwanda?

Heartburn by Cosmino Productions  January 26, 27, 28 at 8pm

Two women face the truth of the dissolution of the European egalitarian dream.

Everywhere they look things are not equal; in the taxi at the end of the night, on the bench in the middle of a village, in the congregation, in the boardroom, in the home. They tell stories of abortion, sing about violence and dance about menopause. They remember the lies they were told as children and question the hope that things might be different for future generations.

The performance uses puppetry, comedy, song, text and movement to create a hybrid, humorous and powerful perspective on being a woman in Europe today.