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Category: Letter from the Editors

Letter from the Editors, 28th September 2023

Safe Abortion Day, Fight Fortress Europe, and new expropriation referendum is launched


28/09/2023

Hello everyone,

Today (Thursday) is Safe Abortion Day, with several events organised to defend a woman’s right to choose and to protest against the fact that abortion in Germany is still illegal.

Also Thursday at 7pm, the Palestine Campaign (formerly Nakba75) is organising a showing of the film Ghost Hunting. Released Palestinian prisoners relive and recreate harrowing experiences from their time in Israeli detention facilities. Following the film, there will be a discussion with Saja, who works as a human rights lawyer and is part of the committee against torture in Palestine. The event is in English, and will take place in Refugio, Lenaustraße 4.

Tomorrow (Friday), the Ararat Collective is organising a demonstration against Azerbaijani genocidal aggression. The demo has the following demands:

  • The military aggression against, and forcible deportation of the Armenian population in Artsakh must be recognized and responded to as a continuation of the Armenian Genocide.
  • Immediate sanctions against Azerbaijan and a termination of the EU‘s strategic partnership with them.
  • A legitimate peacekeeping mission for Artsakh and safety ensured for all Armenian inhabitants.
  • Access for international observers to document war crimes and crimes against humanity.

It starts at Hermannplatz at 5.30pm.

On Saturday there is a rally, Fight Fortress Europe! Before FC St Pauli’s game against Hertha Berlin, they will be protesting together with Seebrücke Berlin against the GEAS reform and Fortress Europe. The rally begins at 5pm at Coubertinplatz in front of the Olympiastadion. The organisers want to use the opportunity to let people know about Europe’s inhumane asylum and migration politics. Seebrücke is our Campaign of the Week.

On Monday, it’s the next planning meeting of the Berlin LINKE Internationals. For the first half hour or so, there will be discussions on our political walking tours, the coming public meeting on the ongoing decolonialism in Africa, the upcoming Christmas party, and the main topics and speakers for next year’s Summer Camp. This will be followed by an exchange of opinions about how the international Left should react to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and its political aftermath. The meeting will be held in Ferat Kocak’s office, Schierker Straße 26, and starts at 7pm. Everyone is welcome.

There are many more activities this week in Berlin, which are listed on our Events page. You can also see a shorter, but more detailed list of events which we are directly involved in here.

In News from Berlin, Deutsche Wohnen & Co Enteignen announce a second referendum, cyclists protest the CDU’s attempt to cut down on bicycle lanes, tenants in Rigaer Straße fight gentrification, and mayor Kai Wegner plans a fence around Görlitzer Park.

In News from Germany, AfD fail to win a mayorship – but the vote is close, and the Ifo Business Climate index reports that the German economy is stagnating.

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

This week’s Video of the Week is the new Crowdfunding Video for Deutsche Wohnen & Co Enteignen. Real estate companies continue to make big profits with rising rents. However, the Berlin government is not working on the implementation of the expropriation referendum, for which 59.1% of Berliners voted. Therefore, we now have to write the law for the socialisation of big real estate companies ourselves and bring it to implementation through a second, legally binding legislative referendum (“Gesetzesvolksentscheid”). Together with your support, we will take back the city! You can donate to the crowdfunding campaign here.

You are also encouraged to join Right2The City, DWE’s working group for non-Germans. Right2TheCity meets on alternate Wednesday evenings at Nansenstraße 2, and is contactable by Instagram or by mailing right2thecity@dwenteignen.de. For more information, follow this linktree link.

You can follow us on the following social media:

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

Letter from the Editors, 21st September 2023

Demonstrate for better education


21/09/2023

Hello everyone,

Tomorrow evening (Friday) from 6-9pm, there will be a meeting Let’s talk about Strikes – Inputs about strike movements in France, Myanmar and Bangladesh with authors from Communaut and activists from International Confederation of Labor, ICL.The workshop will be held in English and take place in Neukölln or virtually (more information when you register). The participation fee is based on self-assessment, that means you can decide for yourself how much you wish to pay.

Tomorrow at 8pm, there will also be a film showing of Start Wearing Purple, the film about Deutsche Wohnen & Co Enteignen’s fight to expropriate the big landlords. Choosing hope over despair, Berliners are banding together to get their houses back from big investors. Situated in the middle of an inspiring and refreshing movement that could turn the tables around the world, Start Wearing Purple is not only a report and documentary, but also a call to action. The film is in English and German, starts at 8pm and is part of a week of action at Alt-Stralau 68 against the A100 motorway.

On Saturday, there’s a demonstration for a change of direction in Germany’s education policy. Did you know that each year nearly 50,000 young people leave school without any qualifications? Are you aware of the feeling of helplessness when political representatives just plug holes, rather than starting a serious change in education? Do you not want to wait any longer for schools and daycare centres become what they should be? Then get active! and come to the demo–11am at Brandenburger Tor.

On Sunday afternoon, there is a series of films and discussions about China under lockdown. At the end of 2022, in the immediate wake of the widespread “blank paper” or “A4” protests, the Chinese government suddenly lifted all Covid measures. In the rush back to “normality,” the prevailing sense of release and excitement was so strong that three years of experiences with Covid in China seemed to vanish. But the surveillance technology developed during the Covid years in China has taken hold throughout society. It starts at 3pm at the FMP1 Salon, Franz-Mehring Platz 1.

There are many more activities this week in Berlin, which are listed on our Events page. You can also see a shorter, but more detailed list of events which we are directly involved in here.

And here’s one for your calendars: Monday, 23rd October from 7-9pm, the Berlin LINKE Internationals are organising a public meeting in Karl Liebknecht Haus: Ongoing Decolonisation: France’s Economic and Political Interests in West Africa with speakers Professor Dr. Baz Lecocq (Executive Director of the Institute of Asian and African Studies), Franza Drecsel (Rosa-Luxemburg-Stiftung) and Nathalie Yamb (Cameroonian/Swiss communication specialist and activist). More information to follow.

This week’s Campaign of the Week is the Center for Popular Education–Bildungzentrum Lohana Berkins which provides education for migrants by migrants and is currently holding a crowd funding campaign. The Lohana Berkins Education Centre has helped many migrants learn German and understand their labour rights. We have participated in important debates on the right to the city and the struggle for climate justice. But we need your help to grow, to become more professional and to reach more and more migrants who want to participate in our courses.

In News from Berlin, 250,000 people march throughout Germany in the latest Climate Strike, Last Generation climate activists spray paint the Brandenburg Gate, and O2 will extend its coverage throughout the Berlin U-Bahn network.

In News from Germany, the Office for the Protection of the Constitution gets permission to monitor the AfD in Bavaria, a neo-Nazi group is banned and more are targeted, CDU works with AfD in Erfurt to implement tax cuts, booster vaccines against Covid available, and a TV documentary criticises Internet speed in Germany.

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

New on theleftberlin this week, Jérôme Chakaryan-Bachelier looks at imperialist interests supporting Azerbaijan’s attack on Armenia, a photo gallery of Saturday’s demonstration against “pro-Life” fundamentalists, Phil Butland remembers how theleftberlin website started and where we want to go, Palestine Speaks, Palastina Kampagne, and the Judische Stimme report from a meeting about antisemitism which ended in antisemitic abuse and broken ribs, and Claudia Haydt argues that die LINKE is a party of peace and must remain so.

In this week’s Video of the Week, Ramsy Kilani speaks at last week’s anti-colonial climate protest about why there is no climate justice without freedom for Palestine.

You can follow us on the following social media:

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

Letter from the Editors, 14th September 2023

Hello everyone, Today (Friday) is the latest Global Climate Strike. The climate crisis is here. It can no longer be ignored. We feel it in all areas of life. But politicians continue to do nothing. The German government is delaying, blocking and preventing climate protection. Germany is far from living up to its historic responsibility […]


14/09/2023

Hello everyone,

Today (Friday) is the latest Global Climate Strike. The climate crisis is here. It can no longer be ignored. We feel it in all areas of life. But politicians continue to do nothing. The German government is delaying, blocking and preventing climate protection. Germany is far from living up to its historic responsibility to the Global South. Many people are frustrated by the political standstill. We want to change that. In a broad civil society alliance, we will take to the streets on September 15. The majority of society still and now more than ever wants ambitious climate protection and thus social justice. Join the demonstration at Brandenburger Tor at midday.

At 4pm, also on Friday, an anti-colonial Climate protest will be starting at Oranienplatz. Join us on the streets in solidarity for an Anti-Colonial Climate Justice protest alongside our siblings and communities in the global majority. This is an intersectional global struggle; its facets are interconnected. Abolish Frontex, bring down the walls of fortress and lets break the borders between us to free Palestine, Kurdistan, Sudan, Abyala, Balochistan and libration in the rest of the world. In solidarity and empowerment, let us always keep in mind: “The people united will never ever be defeated.”

On Saturday, Christian fundamentalist and right-wing nationalist opponents of the right to sexual determination are once more staging a so-called “March for Life” in Berlin-Mitte. They are demanding a total ban of abortions and are agitating against non-heterosexual couples or families, and the diversity of sexual identities. Thousands of right-wing fundamentalists will be marching through Berlin. In response, the Bündnis für Sexuelle Selbstbestimmung has called a demonstration Live and Love without Paternalism. Take to the streets for sexual self-determination for all. It starts at Brandenburger Tor at midday. If you want to join like-minded people, you can march with the Berlin LINKE Internationals.

On Sunday, at 2pm, it’s the latest Berlin LINKE Internationals walking tour. This month it’s the 123rd anniversary edition of Unrest in Moabit. When we picture riots in Berlin, we all think of Kreuzberg. But 77 years before the Neighborhood Uprising in Kreuzberg, Moabit saw the biggest riots in the city’s history. In 1910, a run-of-the-mill strike by coalmen escalated. Within a week, up to 30,000 workers were on the streets fighting against police. This week of street battles became known as the Moabit Unrest.  The tour starts at 2pm at the Amtsgericht, near U-Bhf Turmstraße.  Follow the link above to register. More information will be sent to everyone who has registered on Saturday.

On Tuesday, Gabriela Germany is organising the first of 2 sessions of a Free Online Mental Health Training-Workshop for women with migration background! Among the most vulnerable groups that were affected by the crisis brought by the COVID-19 were migrant women. Many migrant women, especially BIPOCs (Black, Indigenous and People of Colour), suffer from isolation, anxiety and depression over accumulating loans and interest payments, loss of livelihoods, or the prospect of having to return to- or stay locked down in abusive or violent environments. Register here. Gabriela’s Mental Health Training Workshops are our Campaign of the Week.

There are many more activities this week in Berlin, which are listed on our Events page. You can also see a shorter, but more detailed list of events which we are directly involved in here.

In News from Berlin, Deutsche Wohnen & Co Enteignen activists talk about the next steps towards expropriation, a combination of gentrification, Covid, and motorway extinction is threatening Berlin’s club culture, and 20 arson attacks by neo-Nazis have been reported in Neu-Hohenschönhausen in the last 18 months.

In News from Germany, Sahra Wagenknecht is one step closer towards launching a new party, 42.1% vote for the AfD in the first round of mayoral elections in Nordhausen in Thüringen, anonymous forensics for rape victims extended, and Germany’s new heating law comes into effect at the beginning of next year.

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

New on theleftberlin this week, Polish socialist Andrzej Żebrowski calls for opposition to all imperialisms, East and West, we publish a translation of the Bündnis für Sexuelle Selbstbestimmung’s Call to Action against the fundamentalist “March for Life”, Tanzanian human rights lawyer Joseph Oleshangay reports on his country’s latest round of repression, and Dr. John Puntis reports from a recent European conference on Saving Public Health.

You can follow us on the following social media:

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

Letter from the Editors, 7th September 2023

50 Years since the coup in Chile, No Cops in Görli, and trade unions mobilise against AfD leader


07/09/2023

Hello everyone,

This evening (Thursday), AfD leader Björn Höcke will be speaking in Oranienburg, a town just north of Berlin. Höcke is from the Nazi “Flugel” wing of the party and is a very dangerous man. The trade union IG Metall is supporting a counter-protest: “All together against Fascism”, saying “the AfD claim to be fighting for participation and democracy because they are for referenda. In fact, the AfD want to weaken or even remove these elements of democracy, which are important for defending the interests of opposition and minorities–No platform for Fascists. Stand up against racism and come to the demo against the AfD meeting with Björn Höcke in Oranienburg at 6pm. Come to the meeting point at Oranienburg station.

On Friday from 4pm, there’s a Rally and Concert No Cops for Görli – Protest against the Berlin Security Summit. The action is demanding an end to violence and for Germany to finally implement a right to stay and work permits for everyone, including migrants. It calls on the government to provide appropriate support for drug takers. That will create real security! Come along to the platform in front of the CoLab in Görlitzer Park and show the cops and co, what we think of their work in Görli.

Monday is the 50th anniversary of the “other” 11th September – the US-backed coup in Chile which removed socialist president Salvador Allende and installed General Pinochet’s brand of fascism and neo-liberalism. There are a number of events commemorating the coup, including:

On Saturday, Rheinmetall Entwaffnen and Berlin Migrant Strikers are organising an International Exchange – The Left and the war. We must act. Including speakers from the RFU (Ukrainian Workers Front) and the Russian RKSM(b) (Revolutionary Communist Youth League (Bolshevik)). This will be followed by a session with two anti-militaristic dockers from Genoa and Jürgen Wagner from the German Information Centre Militarisation (IMI). This networking event will be in different languages. The organisers will try to offer “whisper translation” into English. It starts at 2pm in Mehringhof, Gneisenaustraße 2a.

On Saturday at 3pm it’s the Pride Parade Berlin. Under the slogan Disabled and mad – back on the streets, this is the tenth anniversary of Mad-and-Disability Pride in Berlin! The demonstration starts at 3pm from Hermannplatz, 10967 Berlin. We’ll finish with a stage at Südblock at Kottbusser Tor, Admiralstraße 1-2. Spoken contributions will be held in German spoken language and translated to German Sign Language. The route is about 1.7 km long. The route leads over asphalt roads. At the end, there will be lowered curbs leading to a square with sidewalk slabs. The entire route is step-free and easy to roll on. It has a total of 13m uphill and 9m downhill. Mad and Disability Pride is our Campaign of the Week.

There are many more activities this week in Berlin, which are listed on our Events page. You can also see a shorter, but more detailed list of events which we are directly involved in here.

In News from Berlin, 700 people demonstrate against war in Berlin, and police plan a bigger clampdown on environmental acticvists.

In News from Germany, 27 members of Letzte Generation are jailed without trial in Bavaria, CDU leader Merz wants to increase deportations, the German government proposes a 3 year rent freeze … but landlords will still be allowed to raise rents, 3 million people without work are not officially unemployed, and Bavaria’s Deputy Prime Minister is accused of antisemitism.

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

New on theleftberlin this week, John Mullin in Paris looks at Macron’s latest ban of Islamic dress in schools, while Polish socialist Andrzej Żebrowski calls for opposition to all imperalisms.

You can follow us on the following social media:

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

Letter from the Editors, 31st August 2023

Anti-war day, how do we fight the repression of Palestinians in Germany, and the far right and antifeminism


31/08/2023

Hello everyone,

This evening (Thursday) at 6.30pm, there’s a public meeting: Joint fight against State Repression, but how? with inputs from the Palestine Campaign, the Kurdish movement, BIPoCs for Future, the Campaign for the victims of racist violence (KOP) and a lawyer. Whether it’s the movement for Palestine, Climate Justice or Kurdistan, or the fight against racist police violence – the State is attacking several left-wing  movements at the same time. A “divide and rule” strategy is used to separate them from another. Come and join a discussion in the Mehrgenerationenhaus (Gniesenaustraße 12) about how we can break this isolation. The meeting will be in German, with translation into English available.

From Friday to Sunday, there’s the Situated Economies conference. Situated Ecologies weaves together ecology, art and activism, focusing in on the locality of Berlin. Taking place at the Floating University, it aims to become a space for reflection on climate justice and ecological entanglements in urban environments. Featuring workshops, soundwalks, performances, and collective meals, Situated Ecologies invites artistic and collective constellations to open the space for exchange, storytelling and listening. It is organised by Sonic Tomorrow, who are our Campaign of the Week.

Friday is Anti-War Day – the anniversary of the start of the Second World War. A number of Events have been organised over the weekend, including the following:

On Saturday lunchtime, Deutsche Wohnen & Co Enteignen are organising a Graffiti battle for Expropriation. Show your creativity in the fight for affordable housing. At the large graffiti wall in the Mauerpark near the Eberswalder entrance, the spray cans will be unpacked again this year, and the best logo wins! Come along and join the spraying for a Berlin for everyone. We want to exchange views, sprays and jointly demand: finally implement the referendum! It all takes place between 11am and 3pm.

Spanish football president Luis Rubiales has shown that sexist ideas are still very much mainstream, And far right groups like VOX in Spain and the AfD in Germany are trying to roll back women’s rights even further. On 16th September thousands of fundamentalists, including the AfD’s Beatrix von Storch, will be marching through Berlin. This Monday, the Berlin LINKE Internationals will be meeting at 7pm in Schierker Straße 26 to discuss the Far Right and Antifeminism, and strategies of fighting back. The discussion will follow half an hour planning future activities.

There are many more activities this week in Berlin, which are listed on our Events page – especially so this week. You can also see a shorter, but more detailed list of events which we are directly involved in here.

In News from Berlin, Berlin doctors warn that there will be a shortage of medicines this winter.

In News from Germany, as schools reopenm there is a shortage of nearly 1,500 educators in Brandenburg, the first stage of the law making German citizenship easier has passed, fourth decline in-a-row leads the German economy into recession, Munich authorities crack down on climate protestors, Germany will legalise cannabis, the citizens income which replaced Hartz IV will rise, and prosecutors drop charges against Rammstein singer Till Lindemann.

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

New on theleftberlin this week, Hari Kumar looks at Madame Butterfly and charges of cultural appropriation.

You can follow us on the following social media:

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