The Left Berlin News & Comment

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Aktionsbündnis A100 stoppen​

Stop the extension of the A100 motorway


04/06/2021

Aktionsbündnis A100 stoppen! (Action Group stop the A1000!) is a network of Berlin initiatives and activists who are campaigning for a sustainable, humane and ecological urban development and transport politics. The alliance is independent of political parties.

An important goal is to prevent the extension of the Berlin urban motorway, the A100.

The 16th construction phase of the A100 from Neukölln to Treptow started in May 2013. Now there are plans for a 17th phase from Treptower Park through Friedrichshain up to Storkower Straße. This would be the prelude of a new motorway ring through the East of Berlin along the Ringbahn.

The motorway plans come from wishes in the 1950s for a car-friendly city and were revisited after the fall of the Berlin wall.

On 5th June, there will be a national action day for a social and climate-friendly mobility change, where citizens initiatives, climate groups and NGOs will be taking part in bicycle demos, rallies and protest actions against the construction of motorways and trunk roads across the country.

In Berlin, the focus will be on the A100 and the demand to stop building now.

Let’s turn the future motorways into a recreation space and meeting place. Walking and cycling are still desirable.

Our demands

  • An immediate moratorium for plans and construction of the A100 between Neukölln and Storkower Straße

  • The plan for federal transport routes and the development act for building the A100 must be removed!

  • The money which is freed must be used to finance a socially just and ecological change in transport policies.

  • Enable the building of social housing on the 16th construction phase! Cycle lanes on the areas which have been sealed off until now.

  • Keep the clubs on the planned route!

A hygiene concept will be in force throughout the whole action, We will be protesting with masks and social distancing.

Parkplatz Transform

Reducing the number of cars in Berlin


28/05/2021

There are 1.2 million vehicles in Berlin – more than ever before. These cars must park somewhere. Public space in cities does not grow with the population, nor with the number of vehicles. On average, every parked car uses up 12 square metres of space.

When we formed the initiative “Parkplatz transform” (transform parking spaces), we asked “how many public parking spaces there are in Berlin?” No-one knew exactly. Where local government does not manage parking and parking remains free, the number of free spaces is unknown to local authorities. We want to raise awareness about the amount of space allocated to cars in town and plan to map the whole city. Before the pandemic, we organized outings to map the number of parking spaces in an area together. During the Corona pandemic, we have developed the prototype of an App with which parking spaces can easily be mapped individually. We are currently testing this prototype.

We want less space to be allocated to parking, and that car owners pay for their privilege of using public space. We want to develop these alternatives with people in every kiez. We already have many ideas that we want to promote. We want more gardens, streets where kids can play, public meeting places, more footpaths and bicycle lanes, and more park benches. We want to make these alternatives visible. All people who live in limited city space would benefit from having more air to breathe when there are fewer cars. Everyone stands to gain from habitable cities with congestion-free mobility.

Urban transport must change. We need more space for public transport, car sharing and commercial transport. Designated areas for disabled parking will make life easier for those who do need a car.

If you are interested in getting involved, collecting, analyzing data feel free to get in touch at parkplatztransform@riseup.net

Gemeinsam gegen Verdrängung und Mietwahnsinn

Together against evictions and rent madness


21/05/2021

Stop the rent madness – now more than ever!

We don’t just want the lid, we want the whole pot – for the socialization of housing in Berlin and everywhere else!

We are angry! The rent cap we fought for was taken away from us by the Constitutional Court. Again we are facing rents that are driving us into poverty, once more we have to fear eviction and displacement. Homeless people are already forced to live in crowded mass accommodations. Is this our right to housing?!

Our homes and the whole city of Berlin have become a playground of speculators. Our bookstores, pubs, Spätis and youth centers are falling victim to the logic of profit. Contracts are canceled and collectives evicted. The latest sad example of this is the self-organized youth center Potse, which is about to be displaced.

You don’t want to give us the lid? Then we take back the whole pot and reclaim the city!
The end of the rent cap shows that we cannot just rely on the state, but that we can only help ourselves. The ruling of the courts show how important it is that we stick together!

Let’s continue to fight for the expropriation of real estate companies and the socialization of housing! Fight for a city where everyone can live as they want! And let us demand a rent cap at the federal level!
We call out to the market radicals and landlords: The last word on rent madness has not been spoken! We will take to the streets even more decisively and loudly and work together for the solidary city of tomorrow!

Talk to your neighbors, organize in your houses, in your neighborhoods, and in our movement. Set a sign against the rent madness – now more than ever!

[zait wa: zaʕtar] Festival

Revealing the beauty of Palestinian culture


14/05/2021

The [zait wa: zaʕtar] Festival presents Palestinian culture less known to audiences in Germany and elsewhere. Its events reveal the beauty of Palestinian culture – a diverse and vibrant culture as it is alive in Palestine and its diasporic communities today; in everyday life as much as in high culture. The festival aims to contribute in a meaningful and positive way to the image of Palestine and Palestinians that exists in many places in an incomplete and biased way. Palestinian culture is shown from all kinds of angles, and in a way that makes audiences ‘feel’ Palestine.

The [zait wa: zaʕtar] Festival for Palestinian Arts & Culture presents an opportunity to meet to talk about films, exhibitions, literature, music and much more. We are presenting narratives less explored, like the vital role Palestinian literature plays in preserving diasporic as well as Palestinian identities. Like the importance of archives and memory for preserving a collective identity. The meaning of food for constituting and expressing one’s identity (although, due to Covid, the cooking workshops have had to be postponed to the next season). How performing parkour is an acrobatic, artistic and meaningful way to claim one’s right to freedom of movement.

In this season, which has been dominated so much by covid-related regulations, digital audiences in Berlin and elsewhere have the opportunity to expand their imaginations and thoughts on Palestine and Palestinians. We are showing the exhibition Eyes of Gaza عيون غزه from May 18 to May 22nd in Forum Factory Berlin, visiting the exhibition is possible by personal appointment and according to the covid regulations in place during that week. Different workshops and panels will also be screened live from Forum Factory, please check our website or our facebook page.

We were hoping to receive a film from Amjad Al Fayoumi, a photographer and our partner in Gaza, to show via online screening during the next week. This has now become practically impossible, especially since his office and studio have been hit by the bombs on Gaza in the last days. The building, which housed mainly offices of media and film productions, was destroyed; Amjad is alive, but all he could save was a camera and a lens.

  •  Support our [zait wa: zaʕtar] Festival for Palestinian Arts and Culture here.

  • Read an interview here with Cora Josting, curator of the festival, and Nahed Awwad, Nahed Awwad is the curator of the exhibition Eyes of Gaza عيون غزه  which is part of the festival and opens on 18th May.

Wrangelkiez United

Fighting exclusionary and racist police controls in Wrangelkiez


07/05/2021

We are residents of the Wrangelkiez and we are strongly opposed to the exclusionary and racist police controls in the neighborhood. We are a diverse group: Some of us have lived here all their lives, others moved here only recently. We are in different life situations, belong to different age groups and pursue diverse occupations. What unites us is the daily observation that the police in Görlitzer Park and Wrangelkiez use the unlawful practice of racial profiling and often violence, some of which we ourselves are affected by.

We know about the different opinions in the neighborhood. We see the existing conflicts linked to issues such as gentrification, homelessness, the asylum and drug policy, and the aggravation of social problems by Corona. We are also annoyed by some things in our neighborhood. But we know that police violence does not help against poverty, against work bans for asylum seekers or against high rents and displacement. Repression, criminalization and displacement by the new focal point unit of the police therefore cannot be the solution. We are against a reflexive call for more police, and for a reconceptualization of alternative ideas for solutions.

We want to live in a neighborhood of solidarity, which does not simply react to conflicts and contradictions with police and exclusion, but rather searches for solutions together. That’s why we have joined forces to add some perspectives and ideas to the discussion.

What you can do

Copy and distribute our flyer. Get creative! Make banners and signs and hang them from your windows or balconies. Don’t look away when you see racist police controls and say aloud what you think of them. If you feel alone and powerless, speak to people around you. Take videos / photos and send them to us with details of the date, time and place for documentation purposes.

Keep your distance, behave in a de-escalating way, and document that too. Although it is legal to observe and film/photograph police activities, police officers are reluctant to have their racist behaviour seen and documented and often use flimsy accusations (obstruction of police measures, coronavirus prevention, resisting arrest, etc. ) against observers.

We don’t want any racist controls and we don’t want a permanent police presence in our neighbourhood!

Wrangelkiez united! ★ Contre le Racisme!