The Camp for Gaza opposite the Bundestag has decided to stay for another week. You can find out more by joining the Telegram group Besetzung gegen Besatzung / Occupy Against Occupation. Or just bring your tent and join us! The camp is open to everyone with regular workshops and rallies, including a large rally planned for Saturday at 6pm.

The Arab Film Festival started yesterday and will continue until Tuesday. It’s been 15 years since “ALFILM, the Arab Film Festival of Berlin”, has been presenting Arab stories in German cinemas. ALFILM has offered German and non-Arab audiences in Germany the chance to have a different window into the Arab World through genuine storytelling. With its 15th edition, ALFILM is inviting you to reflect on the state of things today, to dare to be critical, to explore the power of your voice, to ensure that you are seen, but also to dream of a better tomorrow. One that will resist being crushed by oppressive forces, whichever and wherever they are.

This evening (Thursday) from 6pm, there will be a meeting: Yemen: From the Arab Spring to International Proxy War. In 2011, a broad coalition of thousands of Yemenis began taking to the streets of Yemeni cities to demand an end to the rule of President Ali Abdullah Saleh, who had governed the country for more than 30 years, and to advocate for improved living conditions, motivated by the hope-inspiring events of the Arab Spring. The political entanglements arising from these events contributed to the outbreak of a brutal international proxy war involving regional and global powers. Mohamed Al-Thawr, Reem Jarhum, and Feda Alkashi will meet for a discussion in “-r0g” located at Knobelsdorffstraße 22.

Also on Thursday evening at 6pm, there will be an Info and soli event for the Freeedom Flotilla, on the occasion of the departure of their “break the siege” mission. The coming Flotilla promises to be the biggest and most powerful yet, also because of the situation in Gaza. We will screen the documentary “The Truth: Lost at Sea”, about the 2010 Mavi Marmara mission. A guest speaker who participated in that very mission will be present to share his experience. Also we will have a short live stream with the ongoing mission and an open discussion. It’s in the Mozaik Center, located at Grunewaldstr. 87.

Thanks to everyone who attended our Political Walking Tour last week on Riots in Kreuzberg. So many people attended that some people agreed to pull out and join the tour next time it’s available–which, is this Friday. Revolutionary Berlin Tours have agreed to organise an extra tour just for you! It begins at Kottbusser Tor, at the corner of Admiralstraße, in front of Südblock at 17.30, and will finish near Schillingbrücke (next to Ostbahnhof) 2 hours later.

On Sunday, it’s the latest R2CKino film against gerntification. This month, we’ll screen the documentary, “A început ploaia/It started raining”. This film offers a touching testament to the everyday revolution of Roma people who are fighting forced evictions from the centre of Bucharest. The film follows the story of the Vulturilor 50 community, who lived on the street from September 2014 to June 2016 in order to fight against the eviction from their home, which enacted the longest and most visible protest for housing right in the history of contemporary Romania. The Event takes place in Bilgisaray, Oranienstraße 45, and starts at 5.30pm.

Also on Sunday marks the 79th anniversary of the liberation of Italy from Fascism, the Italian Association of Partisans hosts a celebration event. Like every year, there will be food and an afternoon program with music and amenities. Since the global situation has worsened since last year, the association has been one of the few pacifist voices in the Italian political and media landscape, which at the moment is dominated by the belligerent government coalition. Because of this anti-militarist and pacifist vocation, the organisation has been under attack since the start of the Ukraine war. The event starts at 12pm in “Clash”, located in Mehringhof at Gniesenaustraße 2a.

Sunday also sees our latest Palestine Reading Group. This week, we’re back in the Agit offices, Nansenstraße 2, and will be discussing The ICJ ruling and the limitations of international law. You can find the selected reading here. The Palestine Reading Group takes place every week, on either Friday or Sunday. Check the page of Events we organise for the coming dates and discussion topics. If you’d like to get more involved in the group, you can join our Telegram group and follow the channel Reading group. The Reading Group starts at 7pm, and there is a meeting for Moderators at 6.30pm open to everyone who’s interested.

Wednesday is International Workers’ Day, which is a bank holiday in Germany. There will be a trade union demo at 11am, starting at Keithstraße 1, additionally MyGrüni is organising a satirical demo in the Villa Quarter (meeting point: Johannaplatz at 1pm), and the Revolutionary 1st May demo will assemble at Südstern from 4.30pm. Meanwhile, all afternoon and into the evening a political festival will be held at Mariannenplatz in front of the Bethanien building. Visit our stall where you can meet members of the theleftberlin team, learn about our future Events, and buy Palestine-themed T-shirts and tote bags. We’ll be there from midday, with the stall officially opening at 1pm.

There is much more going on in Berlin this week. To find out what’s happening, go to our Events page. You can also see a shorter, but more detailed list of events in which we are directly involved in here.

If you are looking for Resources on Palestine, we have set up a page with useful links. We will be continually updating the page, so if you would like to recommend other links, please contact us on team@theleftberlin.com. You can also find all the reading from our Palestine Reading Groups here. You can also visit the Palestine film evening every Wednesday at 8.30pm in Al Hamra. The title of the film is usually released too late for us to name it in this Newsletter, but you can stay informed by following Al Hamra on Instagram and facebook.

This week’s Campaign of the Week is Gewerkschafter_innen4Gaza  (trade unionists for Gaza). Get involved by signing up on the G4G website! We will launch our first canvassing action on 1 May or International Workers Day. Our campaign and website are freshly launched (and need updating still), so we are excited for any support to help make this a lasting campaign that speaks to a broader trade union audience, both domestically and internationally. On Sunday, 28 April from 11.00-13.00 we have an online Zoom call, if you are interested in participating, sign up on the website.

In News from Berlin, Berlin rents have increased by nearly 20% in the last year, and Tesla plans layoffs in Grünheide.

In News from Germany, AfD festival in Thüringen as the party moves further to the right, increase in right-wing extremism in schools, more Germans are for a speed limit, cannabis to be banned at railway stations, and Björn Höcke uses Nazi phrases in his election speeches.

Read all about it in this week’s News from Berlin and Germany.

New on theleftberlin, we interview Jara Nassar about the Camp for Gaza opposite the Bundestag, and Anna Younes about the erasure of Palestinian voices from Germany, Emily O’Sullivan accuses Germany of complicity in the destruction of Gaza, we publish a statement from the Frieda Frauenzentrum about 2 girls* centres closed because of private Instagram posts, Ilya Kharkow looks at the relevance today of the novels of Alan Sillitoe, we interview Zohar Chamberlain Regev, organiser of the new Freedom Flotilla, David P. Carroll wrote a poem for Gaza, Nathaniel Flakin looks at the ban on speaking and singing in Irish at the Camp for Gaza, and Noa Paul argues that new asylum laws will make life for refugees even worse.

This week’s Video of the Week is the panel discussion on state repression and cancellations of pro-palestinian voices in Berlin/Germany with Ghayath Almadhoun Udi Raz, and Nicky Böhm. The discussion was held in the Spore Initiative last week.

You can follow us on the following social media:

• Instagram
• Twitter
• We also support the Berlin LINKE Internationals facebook page.

If you would like to contribute any articles or have any questions or criticisms about our work, please contact us at team@theleftberlin.com. And please do encourage your friends to subscribe to this Newsletter.

Keep on fighting,

The Left Berlin Editorial Board

The Camp for Gaza opposite the Bundestag is still active. You can find out more by joining the Telegram group Besetzung gegen Besatzung / Occupy Against Occupation. Or just bring your tent and join us! “The camp is open to everyone with regular workshops and rallies. The participants would welcome your support, so please visit them and bring food and drink, and anything else which could support them. Press requests should be sent to Besetzunggegenbesatzung@systemli.org. We will be publishing an interview with camp organiser Jara Nassar on theleftberlin soon.

This evening (Thursday) at 7pm, there is a public meeting Why Palestinian Liberation is a Climate Justice Issue. The meeting offers a (hybrid) space to connect, discuss, and to get informed. Why is the decades long struggle for Palestinian liberation deeply connected to climate justice? Why is it crucial for the German climate justice movement to understand those systemic links in order to take meaningful action in solidarity with Palestine and other anti-colonial struggles? The meeting takes place in the Jerusalem Kulturforum e.V – Mozaik Zentrum, Grunewaldstraße 87. Meeting organisers, Klima4Palästina are our Campaign of the Week.

Also tonight (Thursday), there is the book presentation in the Hopscotch Reading Rooms which we wrongly included in last week’s Newsletter (sorry for any confusion). John Merrick will be introducing the new book Workshop of the World: Essays in People’s History, which he has edited. “’Workshop of the World’ reveals how Raphael Samuel dived into the nineteenth century to find just how onions were pickled or the temperature of cheese tested, extending far and wide from the rough sleepers in Willesden to Roman Catholic missionaries in Wallasey. The meeting starts at 7pm at Gerichtstraße 45.

On Saturday evening, the Spore Initiative and the Jüdische Stimme will be screening H2: The Occupation Lab. Legally segregated, highly surveilled, heavily filmed and intensely guarded, H2: THE OCCUPATION LAB uncovers the way a one-kilometer long street in Hebron fuels the entire Israeli-Palestinian conflict: past, present, and future. There will be 2 screenings – one at 5pm, the other at 7pm. The second screening of the film will be followed by Q&A with Noam Sheizaf, one of the film’s directors. It all takes place in the Spore Initiative, Hermannstraße 86.

Also on Saturday evening at 7pm, we are screening the film While We Watched in Karl Liebknecht Haus on Rosa Luxemburg Platz. Declining freedom of press is a hallmark of authoritarianism, and India, clearly headed down that path under the Modi government, is no exception. Over the past decade, conditions for journalists have gone from bad to worse. While We Watched is a documentary that chronicles the tragic saga of Ravish Kumar, a journalist at NDTV: a left-liberal news platform critical of the BJP government. The screening will be followed by a discussion on press freedom under capitalism.

On Sunday, it’s the latest monthly Political Walking Tour, now under the management of theleftberlin. This month’s tour will be looking at Riots in Kreuzberg. Every year since 1987, Kreuzberg has seen protests on May 1. “Revolutionary May Day” combines Germany’s knack for organization with Berlin’s predisposition for nihilism. This is our very first tour, which we started in 2009 and have been updating ever since. Our tour will be meeting at Kottbusser Tor, at the corner of Admiralstraße, in front of Südblock. We will meet at 14:00 and leave by 14:10. The tour will end two hours later next to the Schillingbrücke. We will not be using public transportation — the tour will be entirely outside. People who register will receive an e-mail with more information on Saturday.

Our next Palestine Reading Group is on Sunday at 7pm. Last week, we spent our time discussing the cancellation of the Palestine Conference and what it meant for us. This means that this week we will be talking about Feminist Perspectives on the Occupation of Palestine, which we had planned to discuss last week. You can find the selected reading here. The Palestine Reading Group takes place every week, on either Friday or Sunday. Check the page of Events we organise for the coming dates and discussion topics. If you’d like to get more involved in the group, you can join our Telegram group and follow the channel Reading group.

Note that this week’s Reading Group will not be at the usual venue. Instead, we’ll be meeting in the Gaza camp, opposite the Bundestag. Although we’re starting at 7pm, there will probably be a rally at the Camp at 5pm, so please come early to take part in that as well.

The Arab film festival starts in Berlin on Wednesday evening. More information about the festival in next week’s Newsletter.

Finally, once more many thanks to Al Hamra who let us use their rooms to livestream and discuss the Palestine Congress last week-end. Al Hamra have a weekly Palestine film evening every Wednesday at 8.30pm. The title of the film is usually released too late for us to name it in this Newsletter, but you can stay informed by following Al Hamra on Instagram and facebook

There is much more going on in Berlin this week. To find out what’s happening, go to our Events page. You can also see a shorter, but more detailed list of events in which we are directly involved in here.

If you are looking for Resources on Palestine, we have set up a page with useful links. We will be continually updating the page, so if you would like to recommend other links, please contact us on team@theleftberlin.com. You can also find all the reading from our Palestine Reading Groups here.

In News from Berlin, police break up Palestine Congress, widow of refugee shot by police sues the state of Berlin, and U-Bahn driver reported for racism.

In News from Germany, Yannis Varoufakis banned from Germany, nearly half of AfD funding comes from the state, law passed which will make changing gender entry easier, over 80% of Germans support decriminalising abortion, and Tesla threatens job cuts.

Read all about it in this week’s News from Berlin and Germany.

New on theleftberlin, both Nina Frey from the Nicaragua solidarity movement, and Spanish activist Roser Garí Pérez look at Nicaragua’s case against Germany in the International Court of Justice, Nathaniel Flakin interviews one of the few Jews allowed into a meeting about antisemitism, we interview Zoë Claire Miller from the Visual Artists’ Union Berlin about the German Art Scene and Palestine, Ukrainian poet Ilya Kharkow argues that supporting a country and supporting its people are not always the same thing, Roser Garí Pérez looks at the ban of the Palestine Congress, Marijam Sariaslani suggests how we can stop the AfD, and we published a statement by the activists a banner drop to protest the complicity of the Berliner Philharmonie and Deutsche Bank in supporting Israeli apartheid.

This week’s Video of the Week, shows the start of Hebh Jamal’s speech at the Palestine Conference last weekend before it got shut down by the police.

You can follow us on the following social media:

• Instagram
• Twitter
• We also support the Berlin LINKE Internationals facebook page.

If you would like to contribute any articles or have any questions or criticisms about our work, please contact us at team@theleftberlin.com. And please do encourage your friends to subscribe to this Newsletter.

Keep on fighting,

The Left Berlin Editorial Board

This week. Nicaragua took Germany to the International Court of Justice for aiding and abetting Israeli genocide. As a response, a Camp for Gaza has been set up opposite the Bundestag where it plans to stay all week. You can find out more by joining the Telegram group Besetzung gegen Besatzung / Occupy Against Occupation. Or just bring your tent and join us! “The camp is open to everyone – since Monday, more and more people heard about the camp and joined spontaneously. There will be regular workshops and rallies. The participants would welcome your support, so please visit them and bring food and drink, and anything else which could support them. Press requests should be sent to Besetzunggegenbesatzung@systemli.org.

Tonight (Thursday), at Hopscotch Reading Rooms, John Merrick will be introducing the new book Workshop of the World: Essays in People’s History, which he has edited. “Workshop of the World reveals how Raphael Samuel dived into the nineteenth century to find just how onions were pickled or the temperature of cheese tested, extending far and wide from the rough sleepers in Willesden to Roman Catholic missionaries in Wallasey. John Merrick’s collection of Samuel’s essay provides the reader with an invaluable introduction to the political and cultural background which inspired this insightful and exploratory radical historian.” – Sheila Rowbotham. The meeting starts at 7pm at Gerichtstraße 45.

Tomorrow, and all weekend, it’s the Palestine Congress. If you have a ticket, well done. The congress sold out weeks ago. You will soon be receiving a message from the organisers about the venue. If you don’t have a ticket, don’t worry, you can watch the main meetings on a livestream, which will be posted on the Congress homepage. On Saturday and Sunday, theleftberlin is organising a communal livestream, where you can watch with other people. Doors open at Al-Hamra, Raumerstraße 16, each day at 9.30am. On Saturday afternoon there will be a Networking meeting to coordinate existing activities and plan for the future.

On Saturday at 3pm, there’s a demonstration against Transphobia. On 13th November there was a brutal attack against a Trans woman in Weißensee. Four men attacked her on her way home. Transphobic violence has many faces. And we should stand up against all these forms. Do not look away from anti-queer attacks, and show solidarity with one another! Come at 3pm to Antonplatz to take to the streets together and show that no-one is alone. If someone in our district is the victim of anti-queer attacks, we will answer together and make sure that that was the last attack! Be active in everyday life and on the streets! Come to the demonstration! Weißensee remains queer and antifascist!

On Sunday from 1pm, there will be a Rave Rally – Save our Tuntenhaus in front of Kastanienallee 86, Berlin. Time is running out! – We only have 4 weeks left! Take to the streets against displacement and for the preservation of a queer Berlin! RAVE rally for and with the Tuntenhaus! Support our demand to the Berlin Senate: Enable the purchase & restoration of the Tuntenhaus by a co-operative through funding! We still want an experimental, subcultural and avant-garde Berlin! We want its creative potential to be nourished by enabling and affirming difference! Dance, sing and cheerlead with us on the streets! Together we RAVE and SAVE Tuntenhaus! Tuntenhaus Bleibt! is our Campaign of the Week.

Our next Palestine Reading Group is on Sunday and back to the normal starting time of 7pm. This week we’ll be discussing “Feminist Perspectives on the Occupation of Palestine”. You can find the selected reading here. The Palestine Reading Group takes place every week, on either Friday or Sunday. Check the page of Events we organise for the coming dates and discussion topics. If you’d like to get more involved in the group, you can join our Telegram group and follow the channel Reading group. Meetings are in the Agit offices, Nansenstraße 2. There is a meeting for moderators (open to anyone who’s interested) half an hour before the meeting starts.

There is much more going on in Berlin this week. To find out what’s happening, go to our Events page. You can also see a shorter, but more detailed list of events in which we are directly involved in here.

If you are looking for Resources on Palestine, we have set up a page with useful links. We will be continually updating the page, so if you would like to recommend other links, please contact us on team@theleftberlin.com. You can also find all the reading from our Palestine Reading Groups here.

In News from Berlin, campaign launched to make registration easier for everyone, and protests against the Amazon tower.

In News from Germany, 1,500 extreme right wingers in Germany have arms licenses, payment cards for refugees issued, meat consumption in Germany drops, Nancy Fraser uninvited by the University of Cologne for signing a statement by Philosophers for Palestine, increase in Germans eating in Imbisse, and Nicaragua takes Germany to court.

Read all about it in this week’s News from Berlin and Germany.

New on theleftberlin, Phil Butland looks at another left-wing centre in Berlin which is banning people who support Palestine, Nathaniel Flakin looks at the Israeli who is being fined for being attacked by the Berlin police, Jara Nassar looks at the items banned from Gaza and calls on you to support the protest Camp outside the Bundestag, Ukrainian poet Ilka Kharkow looks at Art after Auschwitz, Judy Cox argues at the Cambridge Union for Marxism in the 21st Century, the organisers of the Palestine Congress explain why their conference must go on, and Nathaniel Flakin argues that the new megatower in Berlin shows that gentrifiers and property developers are now just laughing at us.

This week’s Video of the Week, shows Nicaragua’s case against Germany in this week’s hearings at the International Court of Justice.

You can follow us on the following social media:

• Instagram
• Twitter
• We also support the Berlin LINKE Internationals facebook page.

If you would like to contribute any articles or have any questions or criticisms about our work, please contact us at team@theleftberlin.com. And please do encourage your friends to subscribe to this Newsletter.

Keep on fighting,

The Left Berlin Editorial Board

Firstly, thanks to everyone who attended our evening of film, food and discussion about Gaza last Saturday. We raised €550, which we will donate to the Unity for Gaza: Mutual Aid & Resilient Livelihoods financial appeal, organised by Gaza Collective. Amid the breakout of indiscriminate violence in the ongoing war in Gaza, numerous families find themselves trapped in a dire humanitarian crisis. Our primary objective is to assist them by addressing their urgent needs. This campaign is recommended by Gazan activists in Berlin and we recommend that you also donate.

Tomorrow (Friday), the LINKE Berlin Internationals are organising a public meeting: Neosovereignism in the West African Sahel: Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger. What role do the military governments and their “neosovereignist” discourse play in West Africa? Are the juntas getting as close to Russia as is often claimed? What repercussions will these ties have? And what is, or could be Germany’s possible role in these new geostrategic developments in West Africa? Join the discussion with Prof. Dr. Baz Lecocq (HU Institute of Asian and African Studies),  Franza Drechsel (Rosa Luxemburg Foundation) and Dr. Lamine Doumbia (HU Institute for Asian and African Studies). It starts at 7pm in the Rosa Luxemburg Saal of Karl Liebknecht Haus, Rosa Luxemburg Platz.

There are 2 important demonstrations Saturday afternoon. At 1pm, #FreeCongo is demanding the immediate cessation of exploitation, corruption, and genocide by the government of the DR Congo. As well as, calling upon the German government and global corporations to cease their complicity in neo-colonial injustices and for ethical trade practices and reparations. In solidarity with the people of the Democratic Republic of Congo, we urge immediate mobilization to work for a just and sustainable future for all. The demonstration starts at 1pm at Wilhelmstraße 77, 10117 Berlin and ends at the Europahaus.

Then at 2pm, there is a demonstration to mark 9 years of war in Yemen under the title Together for Peace in Yemen and Palestine. The Berlin-Brandenburg-based peace initiative Stop the War in Yemen, together with international organisations and activists for human rights and peace, want to inform parties, trade unions, organisations and particularly the people in Germany– about this illegal war. Specifically a war in which Saudi Arabia and its war coalition have been carrying out against Yemen since 26th March 2015. Help to end this insane genocide through land, air and sea blockades, massive arms shipments by NATO and EU powers, as well as the US drone war from the US airbase in Ramstein. The demo starts at the US Embassy at 2pm.

On Saturday night, the Jüdische Stimme is showing a sneak preview of the film Israelism, a US-American documentary about the presentation of the Israel-Palestine conflict in US-American-Jewish institutions. As two young US-American Jews, who have grown up with unconditional love for Israel, witness the brutal methods with which Israel treats Palestinians, their life take a sharp turn to the left. They join a movement of young US-American Jews who are fighting against the old guard to redefine the Jewishness of Israel. This opens a new deep generation conflict about modern Jewish identity. The film starts at 7pm in the Spore Initiative, Hermannstraße 86. It will be followed by a discussion with members of the Jüdische Stimme.

On Sunday, R2C Kino goes to Lisbon. Right2TheCity, the non-German working group of Deutsche Wohnen & Co Enteignen is showing the film What’s going to happen here? As in many other cities, Lisbon is experiencing fierce gentrification over the last several years. This documentary follows Right to the City movements that resist the capitalistic development of urban spaces and fight to keep Lisbon liveable! We’ll start with a short introduction, and finish with a discussion after the film. Doors open at 18:00, the film starts at 18:30 in B53, B*raunschweiger*str. 53-55 (S/U Neukölln). This is part of the Housing Fight Movie Night series: screening films related to the struggle for fair and affordable housing, while looking at the housing crisis from different angles.

Also on Sunday evening, it’s our latest Palestine Reading Group at 7pm. This week we’ll be discussing Pinkwashing and Purplewashing – the attempt to use LGBTQ rights to justify Israel’s crimes. You can find the selected reading here. The Palestine Reading Group takes place every week, on either Friday or Sunday (partly depending on room availability). Check the page of Events which we’re organising for the coming dates and subjects under discussion. If you’d like to get more involved in the group, to suggest and vote on future subjects, you can join our Telegram group and follow the channel Reading group.  Meetings are currently in the Agit offices, Nansenstraße 2. There is a meeting for moderators (open to anyone who’s interested) half an hour before the meeting starts.

There is much more going on in Berlin this week. To find out what’s happening, go to our Events page. You can also see a shorter, but more detailed list of events in which we are directly involved in here.

This week’s Campaign of The Week is the campaign Stop Political Expulsion at Berlin Universities. On March 26, Berlin is debating a change to the Higher Education Act, where “politically motivated expulsion” can be used as a disciplinary measure in universities. This not only threatens people’s right to stay in Germany (as visas can be tied to student status), but sets a frightening precedent of shutting down student political organizing and restricting academic freedom. They are quickly pushing this in during semester break, and leaving little possibility of organized opposition. We need a wide alliance of students and non-students to oppose the right-wing turn in Germany: WE CANNOT LET THIS PASS! 

If you are looking for Resources on Palestine, we have set up a page with useful links. We will be continually updating the page, so if you would like to recommend other links, please contact us on team@theleftberlin.com. You can also find all the reading from our Palestine Reading Groups here.

In News from Berlin, fire breaks out at refugee camp at Tegel, and Berlin’s techno clubs fight for state support.

In News from Germany, CDU suggest restricting support to the unemployed while SPD defends “citizens’ income”, cooperation between the CDU and the AfD is growing, government breaks its promises on climate protection, and fdp blocks bill to fight right-wing extremism.

Read all about it in this week’s News from Berlin and Germany.

New on theleftberlin, Photographer Rasha Al-Jundi and cartoonist Michael Jabareen look at homelessness and gentrification in Berlin, DD Habib looks at the ties between ethno-nationalism in India and Israel, Phil Butland salutes Welsh singer and activist Charlotte Church, and Nathaniel Flakin looks at Berlin mayor Kai Wegner’s antisemitic friends.

This week’s Videos of the Week are taken from last week’s demonstration for Syria and Palestine held in Berlin on the 13th anniversary of the Syrian revolution.

You can follow us on the following social media:

• Instagram
• Twitter
• We also support the Berlin LINKE Internationals facebook page.

If you would like to contribute any articles or have any questions or criticisms about our work, please contact us at team@theleftberlin.com. And please do encourage your friends to subscribe to this Newsletter.

Keep on fighting,

The Left Berlin Editorial Board

Hello everyone,

Friday sees the next national climate strike organised by Fridays for Future. This month’s stike is organised in cooperation with transport workers in the trade union ver.di. In recent months, a climate activists and trade unionists have built a strong alliance under the slogan Wir fahren zusammen (we’re travelling together). We have built bridges, listened to each other, swapped ideas and learned from one another. And we have forged plans: we are building a movement which is fighting for climate protection and social justice. In Berlin, strikers and activists will be gathering in Invalidenpark at 10am.

A new pamphlet containing myths about the formation of the State of Israel is going to be distributed in schools. This pamphlet, which falsifies history and denies the historic suffering of Palestinians, has no place in schools. The pamphlet has been supported by the Berlin office for political education and will be used in Neukölln schools after a vote by the CDU and SPD members of the local parliament. The Greens abstained, and die LINKE opposed the proposal. A protest against this falsification of history has been called by Kifaya and the Palestine Campaign. It will take place on Friday at 4pm outside the Rathaus Neukölln.

On Saturday, the Global South Unites alliance has called a Joint Demo for Palestine. Resistance gives us meaning. Resistance is an on-going purpose. From Gaza to Algolan Heights, from Jenin to Idlib, from Al-Quds to Cairo, from Tulkarm to Ayn al-Hilweh and Shatila, from Nablus to Al-Yarmouk Camp and Al-Nayrab Camp, from Palestine to all of the diaspora; we see no borders! Together, we end colonialism, racism, and white supremacy! The demonstration starts at Neptunenbrunnen, near Alexanderplatz, at 2pm. If you would like to march with other international activists, we will be meeting at the Marx-Engels statue at 1.45pm.

There is no Palestine Reading Group this week as the current venue is booked for something else, and we are still negotiating new, larger rooms. Instead, on Friday night, members of the Reading Group will be attending the performance Court Fantasies in Ballhaus Ost. With the help of visions of the future, the performers Salma Said und Miriam Coretta Schulte take a look at the apparently unchangeable asylum system. They invite the public to look at a future archive. The performance starts at 8pm. If you’d like to meet members of the Reading Group, you can find us in the theatre bar before it starts (and possibly afterwards). If you can’t make it on Friday, there’s also a showing on Saturday as well.

The following Reading Groups are planned for March:

• Friday, 8th March: Palestinians in the Diaspora
• Sunday, 17th March: Reading Ghassan Khanafani
• Friday, 22nd March: Pinkwashing, patriarchy and feminist theories of occupation
• Sunday, 31st March: Manufacturing global Islamophobia

The Reading Group currently meets in the Agit offices, Nansenstraße 2, but we are seeking a larger venue. To be sure of the right venue, check our Events page and future Newsletters. You can also join our Telegram Group to keep up with the debate and suggest future subjects or readings.

On Monday at 7pm, it’s the next monthly meeting of the Berlin LINKE Internationals. This month, the main discussion is on how we can stop the AfD. Currently, the AfD is polling second in polls, which continues to strengthen the likelihood of German support in the upcoming elections. How can they be stopped? Are social democrats and Greens our friends or our enemies? How can we build broad demonstrations which are welcoming to everybody? With large demonstrations planned against the AfD national conference at the end of June, are demonstrations alone enough? We will be discussing these questions and more with Ferat Kocak, anti-racist activist, local councillor and blogger (active on social media as Der Neuköllner). Everyone is invited to join the debate which takes place in Ferat’s office, Schierker Straße 26.

There is much more going on in Berlin. To find out what’s happening, go to our Events page. You can also see a shorter, but more detailed list of events in which we are directly involved in here.

Two dates for your calendars:

• On Saturday, 16th March, we will be showing the film Aisheen, Still Alive in Gaza in oyoun. The film was originally scheduled for 10th February. Food will be available, and following the film there will be a discussion with Palestinian activist Ramsy Kilani.
• Please note: the LINKE Internationals Summer Camp has now been postponed to avoid clashing with a big demo against the AfD. Summer Camp will now take place on 21-22 September, still in the Naturfreundehaus Hermsdorf.

This week’s Campaign of The Week is a project by Palestinian journalist Hebh Jamal, and British journalist Tom Wills, both of whom are long-time collaborators with theleftberlin website. Hebh and Tom are currently fundraising so that they can make a film: The Reason of State. The film aims to investigate, explain, and reveal Germany’s support for Israel, its impact on Europe’s largest Palestinian community, and how those affected are fighting back. After producing the first episode, Hebh and Tom hope to extend the project into a series or a feature-length film focusing on how Germany’s pervasive pro-Israel bias has infiltrated society. You can make your donations here.

If you are looking for Resources on Palestine, we have set up a page with useful links. We will be continually updating the page, so if you would like to recommend other links, please contact us on team@theleftberlin.com. You can also find all the reading from our Palestine Reading Groups here.

In News from Berlin, transport strikes in Berlin unite with climate activists, Deutsche Wohnen charged with breaches of data protection, fast mobile phone links to be available on Berlin U-Bahns, and Berlin’s mayor calls for punishment measures against the Berlinale.

In News from Germany, Grünheide residents vote against the extension of the Tesla plant, investigation into racism allegations against law students in Hessen, cannabis is decriminalized – but not legalized – in Germany, survey calls for a Digital Reset to protect the climate, and AfD to be categorised as a “confirmed extremist party.”

Read all about it in this week’s News from Berlin and Germany.

New on theleftberlin, we report from the police assault on the Palestine bloc at this week’s demonstration commemorating the Hanau murders, Rasha al-Jundi and Michael Jabareen visualise state surveillance. Nathaniel Flakin looks at the fabricated Berlinale antisemitism scandal, and Phil Butland is impressed by Jonathan Glazer’s new Holocaust film, The Zone of Interest.

This week’s Video of the Week shows the acceptance speech of Palestinian film maker Basel Adra and Israeli journalist Yuval Abraham after their film No Other Land won the public prize for documentaries at this year’s Berlinale. The speech has enraged German politicians. Watch it and judge for yourself.

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Keep on fighting,

The Left Berlin Editorial Board