The Left Berlin News & Comment

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Category: Campaign of the week

Stolen Cameras Fundraiser

Fundraiser for cameras to Sahrawi citizen journalists


26/08/2022

Join us in supporting a people that never gets any attention in the media and help them get the tools to share their story. Your donation will make an impact whether you donate a lot or a little. Anything helps. Thank you for your support. Learn about the campaign and the Sahrawis below.

We are biking 48,000km and fundraising for cameras to Sahrawi citizen journalists. Why is this needed? Sahrawi journalists are the only ones that document human rights violations in occupied Western Sahara. The occupying Moroccan regime does not allow foreign journalists or human rights organizations entry to the occupied territories. This has led to Western Sahara being one of the most underreported areas in the world. The brave Sahrawis who document the human rights violations often get their cameras stolen and are harassed by the Moroccan authorities.

Western Sahara is Africa’s last colony. Morocco has been occupying Western Sahara since 1975. The indigenous people of Western Sahara, the Sahrawis, are being subjected to grave human rights violations on a regular basis. They are beaten, imprisoned and tortured when they demonstrate peacefully. They face a litany of abuses. Many who demonstrate are women who have been sexually assaulted by the Moroccan police and military without any way to punish their raper.

This is why we need this campaign and your support. Almost no one has heard about the daily violations against the Sahrawi people. The ongoing arrests, beatings, torture and rape of the indigenous Sahrawi people will only be known if the Sahrawi journalists have access to camera equipment so they can document it and share it with the outside world. Without proper documentation these violations will continue in the dark.

We, who live in freedom from oppression, need to support those that fight for theirs. By donating to this fundraiser you are supplying Sahrawi citizen journalists with camera equipment so that they can continue their important work documenting human rights violations and help open the world’s eyes to one of the last colonies still existing today.

If you have a camera you don’t need or are working in an organisation that has a supply, you can also donate that. Just contact Solisarity Rising on social media or the e-mail address below.

This campaign is initiated by Solidarity Rising and all proceeds will go to Sahrawi citizen journalists. For any inquiries contact us at solidarityrising@gmail.com,

  • Make a donation here
  • Read theleftberlin interview with Sanna and Benjamin from Solidarity Rising here.

WEAREBORNFREE! Humanity Matters

Visible art by black and people of colour (BIPoC) artists


18/08/2022

Wearebornfree! is an open platform – we welcome everyone – but we especially call out to refugees, Black people, people of colour, LGBTIQ+ people, women*, children and other marginalized groups to connect and collaborate with us

WEAREBORNFREE! is a fundamental principle to understand the true essence of being a human. Unfortunately, in the capitalistic colonial exploitative world of today, only a few of us acknowledge this fact. While a minority hold the keys of power and feels entitled to determine who is human and who isn’t, the majority of people are dehumanized.

It is crucial to recognise that blacks and people of colour (BIPoC) refuse to be dehumanized and that they retain their dignity through cultural and artistic expressions, through political activism, and through writing their stories so that they do not become invisibilized.

We recognise that over time and space marginalized people have expressed themselves in different ways such that their voices, expressions and stories have broken free through the chains of confinement. In this way, the people who have been dehumanized have regained their dignity through their expressions.

Wearebornfree Decolonial Mission Academy (WDMA) aims to create a space such that it becomes possible for people on the margins to express themselves in a multitude of ways and thus share their various journeys with people who may or may not have had similar experiences.

Wearebornfree Decolonial Mission Academy (WDMA) is happy to curate an Art Day on 20th August @ Al Berlin from 12 noon onwards. Our aim is to fight against European hegemony as well as to celebrate, display, and make visible art by black and people of colour (BIPoC). The programme will include food art, comedy, dance, drums, poetry performances, displays, music, DJ set and open mike reflections by the performers.

Curated by Bino Byansi, Moro Yapha and Fazila Bhimji. We look forward to seeing you!

Programme:

12:00-16:00 Decolonizing Media: Wearebornfree Radio on Air

16:00-20:00 Open Art & Performance

20:00-22:00 Food & Networking

22:00-03:00 DJ: Hip-Hop, Reggae, Trap, Afro Beats, R&B

RevolutionaryBerlin Tours

Anticapitalist walking tours since 2009.


11/08/2022

Revolutionary Berlin has been offering anticapitalist walking tours since 2009.

“Turning the May Day riots into a tourist attraction,” as the far-right tabloid BZ helpfully informed readers. The city’s revolutionary history is not limited to the Neighborhood Uprising of May 1, 1987. Karl Marx made his home here, as did Rosa Luxemburg, Karl Liebknecht, and many other revolutionaries. The city was shaken by protests in 1848, 1918-19, 1968, 1989… Many of the buildings have been destroyed and even the streets have been rerouted, but this history can still be found everywhere.

Revolutionary Berlin is offering two tours in August 2022: –

  • This City Kills Fascists looks at the murder of Horst Wessel, a young Nazi leader from Friedrichshain who was shot one night in 1930. It’s a micro-study of life in a very red neighborhood. This tour is meeting on Monday, August 15, at 17:30 in front of Kino International (Karl-Marx-Allee 33).
  • (Anti)Colonialism looks at Berlin’s little-known history as a colonial metropolis, especially how it is reflected in street names today. This tour is meeting on Friday, August 19, at 17:30 in front of the Akademie Der Künste (Pariser Platz 4), next to Hotel Adlon, opposite the Brandenburg Gate.

Both tours last two hours and are donation-based. If you’re interested, sign up via e-mail at revolutionaryberlin@gmail.com

German Solidarity with Myanmar Democracy e. V.

People living in Germany who support a free, democratic and inclusive Myanmar


04/08/2022

We, the association German Solidarity with Myanmar Democracy e. V., are a group of people who mainly live in Germany and support a free, democratic and inclusive Myanmar. Many of us have lived in Myanmar for years and worked in development cooperation, business or the cultural scene.

We strongly oppose the recent illegal coup by the Burmese military, also known as Tatmadaw.

We want to show our support, love and solidarity with friends, partners and family members in Myanmar. They are not alone. We are watching. We are listening. We act to support them.

What we do

We support the democracy movement in Myanmar from Germany with various activities that show our solidarity and demand concrete changes in politics and the economy. We are in constant exchange with many people in Myanmar in order to be able to take concrete action.

We inform journalists and politicians, work against German companies that have business relations with the military junta, organise and support protest actions and vigils throughout the country, have launched a petition to expel the military attaché in Germany, mediate when people from Myanmar also feel threatened here on the ground and support fundraising campaigns that we are familiar with.

Demands / Claims

We are committed to a free, democratic and self-determined Myanmar. In doing so, we recognise that the domestic political situation in Myanmar is complex and multi-layered. Myanmar is a multicultural, multiethnic state and has a colonial past. The country’s future can only be shaped sustainably from within. Our hopes lie in the steady development of the country towards peace, federalism and democracy. With the military coup of 1 February 2021, the ruling military elites have finally discarded their self-portrayal as the protective power of democratic development. We therefore fully support the demands of the peaceful protest movement for a new, liberal and modern constitution. The future of the country lies in universal respect for human rights, a modern and tolerant education and health system and a responsible and sustainable domestic economy for all citizens.

In view of the current situation and the information available to us, we advocate for:

  • the release of political prisoners in Myanmar
  • the recognition of the democratically elected people’s representatives of the Hluttaw as the government-forming institution of the country
  • the recognition of the peaceful CDM movement as a justifiable form of resistance to the illegal military take-over of power
  • international sanctions against the Tatmadaw military leadership
  • the immediate termination of all international economic relations with the Myanmar military and its corporations
  • international companies to fully comply with their own standards of corporate responsibility in their business relations with Myanmar companies.

 

Refugee Voices Tours

Experience Berlin from the perspective of people who living with refugee status


28/07/2022

Refugee Voices was founded in October 2015 by activists and refugees who met on Oranienplatz and the Gerhard-Hauptmann-Schule, when both places were occupied by people trying to change the unfair situation for many people with refugee status in Europe.

The idea of our initiative is to give a voice to people who are often talked about in the media, but who are rarely given a chance to speak for themselves and explain their own stories. We aim to break down the stigma of the word ‘refugee’ by people who are themselves refugees speaking about their experiences, we hope this will open people’s eyes to the challenges that refugees face in Europe but most importantly we hope it will change people’s attitudes towards the current situation.

Our walking tours and workshops seek to inform the public about why so many people have been forced to flee their countries and seek refuge in Europe. We draw parallels between Europe’s own history of revolutions, wars and migration to create a relatable dialogue around what it means to be a refugee in 21st Century Europe and what issues lie at the heart of one of the most contentious topics of our time.

Since 2015 we have offered tours and workshops to thousands of people from all across the world, from all age groups and all walks of life. Our community of guides continues to grow across Europe and most recently we have made it possible for the public to attend our tours online.

On Saturday, 30th July, Refugee Voices is offering a new tour Afghanistan: caught between occupation and oppression, raising awareness of the situation Afghans are facing today and explaining this very complex history in a way that is both understandable and interactive.

The walking tour begins at the tourist information centre at the Brandenburg Gate and ends at Potsdamer Platz and will last around 2 hours. If you wish to attend the tour, please message us either via our FB page or send an email to contact@refugeevoicestours.org to secure your spot!