The Left Berlin News & Comment

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Category: Campaign of the week

Exhibition: Witness

شاهد Gaza Through Children’s Eyes


31/07/2024

In a land where bombs are a more frequent sound than birds, drawing, painting, and craft become important channels for children to express their feelings and fears.

Welcome to WITNESS شاهد, an exhibition that offers a glimpse into the lives of Palestinian children. These drawings are created by children living in the Gaza Strip, who have been enduring forced displacement, trauma and loss.

The Palestine Humanitarian Response Campaign  (PHRC) established the Children’s Village outside the IDP camps in Rafah in December 2023. The Village aims to provide a sense of security and support for more than 250 children amidst the chaos and the deadly Israeli assaults. Every day, 15 dedicated adults with professional backgrounds in various fields run activities that bring joy and hope to the young people, including arts, music, dance, circus performances, or games.

As you walk through this exhibition, we invite you to see the world through the eyes of the children of Gaza. Let these silent voices move you, and let this exhibition be a call to action for justice and humanity.

Here and now, you are a WITNESS شاهد too!

The Witness exhibition is in the Moos gallery, Moosbergerstraße 7-9, between 12 noon and 8pm each day. You can find the Event programme here.

Internationalist Queer Pride 2024

For an anti-colonial, anti-racist, anti-capitalist fight for freedom


24/07/2024

The Internationalist Queer Pride 2024 is taking place on Saturday, 27 July 2024 at 3pm (Hermannplatz). Our Internationalist Queer Pride for Liberation is not a rave! It is a fight!

We are a network of queer and trans groups and individuals who are connected by the same goal: a transformed world where all of us live free from any level of systemic oppression and discrimination; where our sexualities are freely expressed and explored; where our identities are self-determined; where our bodies —and all bodies — are free to be, to choose, to move; where we care for each other; where there are no borders, no weapons, no cops; where everything is organized towards our well-being, and the well-being of animals and the environment. We are all contributing to building this revolutionary world through our everyday struggles.

We come together in this spirit to organize the Internationalist Queer Pride for Liberation, a revolutionary queer/trans-led protest where we bring our bodies, our voices, and our struggles to the street to connect, to be in solidarity, and to build collective empowerment to win rights. We are fighting for liberation in Palestine, in Sudan, in Congo, in Kashmir, in Abya Yala, in Afghanistan, in Haiti, and elsewhere.

Queer liberation can only be achieved by a revolutionary politics: a rebellious existence that challenges the violence of the gender binary, normative body and sexual politics, colonial oppression, the criminalization of sex workers, and constant ecological transformation; one that starts from anti-colonial and anti-capitalist perspectives.

Our queerness opposes the concentration of power and wealth in the hands of the very few who continue to profit from centuries of exploitation, genocides, wars, and all forms of colonialism. Through our queerness, we imagine and redefine alternative ways of being, of living, and of organizing. In the face of warfare and fascism, we stand firm in our determination to survive and thrive, united in revolutionary love and solidarity. We stand together to say: “None of us are free until all of us are free!”

If you would like to march with other international activists, people around theleftberlin will be meeting outside Nansenstraße 2 near Reuter Park, at 2.30pm.

Call for donations for my family from GAZA

Fundraiser for the family of a Berlin student


17/07/2024

I’m Qasem, from Gaza, now a student in Germany. I’m writing to ask for your support to help my family survive the genocide in Gaza.

I was born and raised in Rafah and moved to Germany 3 years ago to study. My entire family is still in Gaza, living in catastrophic conditions. Our home was completely destroyed, and we couldn’t even repay the debts we incurred when we built it in 2018.

We are a family of 9 people, who have lost everything and have nowhere to live because of the genocide in the Gaza Strip. My family is currently seeking shelter in a tent, as living conditions continue to worsen due to lack of clean water to drink or bathe, extreme scarcity of food — and what little food is available has become extremely expensive. The poor living conditions have led to a high outbreak of illnesses and diseases without functional hospitals or resources to treat them.

The Israeli occupation continues to attack so-called “safe zones” where they direct refugees to flee to. There are no “safe” zones in Gaza.

Many of my dear friends and family have been martyred by bombs and attacks by the IOF. I am deeply worried for my family’s safety and am seeking your support to help them survive.

I need to evacuate my family, which comes at an extremely high cost of $10,000 per person. Until I am able to evacuate them, I need to send them money for food and basic supplies.

Thank you for taking the time to read this. Please consider to donate — every donation helps — or continue to share my family’s story.

Blessings,

Qasem

You can donate to Qasem’s family here.

Fundraising Event for Qasem’s family: Sunday, July 21, 17-21h, Herrfurthstrasse 6

FESTIWALLA 2024

No fear! Class Struggle!?


10/07/2024

 July 10th – 14th at Volksbühne, Rosa-Luxemburg-Platz

FESTIWALLA – Five days packed with theater, performances, music, rap, spoken word, dance, (art-) installations, games, discussions, workshops, food, and community – on the big stage and in the streets! FESTIWALLA brings you marginalized youth perspectives and their art, featuring local ensembles from Berlin and collectives from Palestine, Italy, Spain, Chile, Bolivia, and Nigeria. Under the motto “No fear! Class Struggle!?” it addresses work and strikes, war and the rise of the right, migration and flight, and many other pressing political issues. Young artists tackle burning questions: Who or what defines class? What does class struggle truly mean? Where does oppression come from? How can we resist and empower ourselves? And can theater become a place shaped by and for working-class kids?

About Theater X and FESTIWALLA 

Theater X is an alternative community theater in Berlin Moabit, co-managed by youth and staff. At the heart of its work is critical artistic engagement with social conditions. FESTIWALLA by Theater X is a platform for young, marginalized cultural creators, a cultural event blending a international youth art festival, a block party, a trans-local expert forum, and a cultural-political jam session. FESTIWALLA aims to open the doors of high-culture institutions, providing young artists a stage for cultural and political self-representation. After several editions at locations such as the Haus der Kulturen der Welt and ufaFabrik, the 7th FESTIWALLA will take place for the first time at Volksbühne, Rosa-Luxemburg-Platz.

Block Party Against the Right Wing

YALLA! Enough! Siamo tutti Antifacisti! Because of recent events, the platform for Migration Matters invites all young people to our “Block Party against the Right Wing” on Friday, 12th July from 4 pm until 7 pm as part of FESTIWALLA 2024. This will be an opportunity to discuss how we can resist the growing right-wing threat. The event will be in German, but translation into English will be provided.

 

 

Solidarity Prints

t-shirts and prints for Gaza


02/07/2024

@synecdocheberlin has produced a series of t-shirts and prints in support of @besan.baroud9, who is raising money to evacuate her family from Gaza. After the tents massacre in Rafah at the end of May, which happened very close to their tent, Besan, her parents and two brothers have been displaced again to Nuseirat. They’re now living in another tent there, together with her brother’s wife and two young daughters. Facing massive inflation and without income for 9 months now, the family have had to use some of these funds – which are now supporting 9 people – to cover basic living costs. 100% of your donations to this campaign all go directly to that goal, and help them survive until the borders reopen.

Three ways to support!:

A4 native Palestinian herb prints, €15:

This series of riso printed linocut illustrations features Palestinian native herbs whose collection has been criminalized by the occupation through weaponizing dubious claims of “environmental protection”. Because foraging for these traditional staple plants is currently punishable by fines and up to three years in prison, harvesting them is regarded by some as an act of resistance. Inspired by the work of Jumana Manna, and all the constant gardeners and plant relatives who in the face of unrelenting horror, continue to teach us life.

T-shirts (available in size L, XL, XXL), €25:

Wear it to the grocery store, to the reading group, to the next action. Keep donating, keep showing up. ❤️ 🌱 This design is inspired by the poppy anemone, used as a symbol of Palestine because it shares the colours of the Palestinian flag.

A3 Palestinian flag prints, €25:

The prints are LARGE! A3 size (29.7×42 cm/11.7×16.5″) and will come flat packed with a hard backing.

The text on all prints and shirts reads “Free Palestine”.

You can order from @synecdocheberlin on Instagram or by mailing apriebe@ualberta.ca.

Solidarity is a practice – today and every day until Palestine is free. Until then, we don’t stop.

فلسطين حرة