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Why the German Teachers’ Union prevented me from speaking about Child Labour in Palestine

Briefing by Israeli anti-Zionist activist and academic, Shir Hever


28/07/2023

This article is the publication of an update sent out by Shir Hever to an email list.

Dear friends,

It has been a while since you heard from me. First of all, I apologize for sending you a long letter. It is possible this might even be the last letter related to the GEW scandal. Throughout this process, I have learned a great deal about German politics, legal structures, and how McCarthyism, censorship, and racism are handled.

Overview of the facts:

Last year, the GEW invited me to give an online lecture on child labor in Palestine. However, a week before the scheduled lecture, it was canceled without any explanation by Frank Orthen, the chairman of GEW Rhein-Neckar District.

The resulting scandal forced the GEW to provide an explanation. They referred to a secret letter from Dr. Michael Blume, the anti-Semitism commissioner of the state of Baden-Württemberg, as the reason for canceling the event. The GEW stated that while the topic of child labor in Palestine was important, they had concerns about the speaker (me) and did not believe I could say anything that the GEW could endorse.

Ricarda Kaiser, the deputy chairwoman of GEW Baden-Württemberg (GEW-BW), refused to show me the letter from Blume. Although she affirmed that I would still receive my lecture fee, the GEW did not pay it. Instead, they offered me hush money, hoping that I would not speak about the issue or publish anything. Naturally, I declined this offer.

The GEW doggedly refused to explain their reasons, meet with me, or discuss the situation. Hundreds of protest letters were sent to the GEW by individuals, including GEW members and the GEW group in Kassel, as well as various German organizations.

In response, I filed a lawsuit against the GEW to claim my fee. Monika Stein, the chairwoman of GEW-BW, refused to discuss the cancellation of the lecture at the GEW-BW assembly in Stuttgart with other GEW members, on the basis that the legal proceedings were ongoing.

For a comparison to my situation, the Volkshochschule in Offenburg also received a secret letter from Dr. Blume against their speaker, Peter Michael-Kuhn. However, unlike the GEW, the Volkshochschule decided to share the letter with Peter Michael-Kuhn and did not cancel the lecture. A simple act of responsibility and solidarity. Peter Michael-Kuhn also showed solidarity with me by allowing me to publish the letter about him, for which I am grateful.

Likewise, deeply outraged members of GEW-BW leaked Dr. Blume’s letter to me. As expected, Dr. Blume continues to insist that the BDS movement is anti-Semitic, despite the European Court of Human Rights establishing otherwise. Dr. Blume attacked me based on my opinion and not the subject matter of the lecture, which had no relation to the BDS movement.

This issue quickly spread beyond Baden-Württemberg. Claus Walischewski wrote an excellent article about the Nakba for the Bremen GEW newsletter. Sadly, at the end of the issue, the article was marked with a red stamp distancing the GEW from its content, although this stamp was not used for other articles. It seems that the Bremen GEW believes that the rights of the Palestinians are a subject they cannot support.

In response to this, a group of GEW members in Hesse wanted to organize a lecture with me on child labor in Palestine as a protest against the censorship in Baden-Württemberg. When Dr. Simone Claar, the deputy chairwoman of GEW-Hesse, learned about this, she announced that she would not allow an event with me to take place.

Dr. Simone Claar is a researcher who specializes in trade union issues in Africa, particularly in South Africa. She knows that the Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) supports the BDS movement. It is questionable whether the GEW invites trade union members from South Africa as speakers, only to later disallow them due to their support for the BDS movement. Or does this censorship only apply to me?

I contacted Dr. Simone Claar to find out if her decision was racially motivated. I asked her if she imposed a professional ban on Jews or anyone who supports BDS. Unfortunately, I cannot quote what she said to me on the phone, but GEW-Hesse sent me a statement in response. It did not address the issue of racism or the reasons for banning an event with me; it merely emphasized the organizational structure of GEW-Hesse, stating that decisions about events are made by the GEW Hesse board and not activists.

The legal process for my fee lasted about half a year. The GEW’s response to my lawsuit was that the event was organized by GEW volunteers who did not have the authority to decide on event scheduling or fee payment. Agnes Bennhold, the organiser, has been volunteering for the GEW for many decades. She organized the event and officially requested the lecture to take place on October 27, 2022, with a fee of 250 euros. However, the GEW stated in court that they did not receive such authorization and did not explain why they sent an invitation and a link to the online event if it was not approved.

The court ruled in favor of the GEW, and I lost the case.

Political remarks:

Undoubtedly, there is a deep-rooted racism problem within the GEW. While the organization emphasizes democratic and progressive values in its statutes and declarations, its practical actions lean towards promoting McCarthyism, censorship, and discrimination. It is regrettable that they punished a Jewish speaker based on a secret letter from a white Christian. Additionally, Palestinian children are discriminated against in German schools, and the GEW, as a teachers’ union, seems to be part of the problem rather than the solution.

The GEW could have chosen a different path, but instead, they opted to silence critical voices rather than engage in open discussions with those who hold different opinions. The issues of racism and censorship were consistently ignored, and their responses were always the same — obedience to authority.

The GEW in Rhein-Neckar-Kreis had the opportunity to proceed with the original event as planned, but they regretfully chose to follow the “recommendation” from GEW-BW and canceled it. This recommendation was made based on a letter from Dr. Blume — a white Christian — without any discussion with me — a Jew. Why? Because Dr. Blume represents the government, and GEW-BW aligned themselves with the powerful against the weak.

Dr. Simone Claar did not explain her decision to ban the lecture, and her response to the accusation of racism merely referred to the hierarchical structure within the GEW, placing even greater responsibility for any misconduct on her shoulders. I will pass this response on to my contacts in COSATU to ensure they do not collaborate with the GEW and Dr. Claar.

Similarly, GEW-BW abused the trust of their volunteers, such as Agnes Bennhold (and many others), to win the court case. The most significant evidence presented by the GEW in court was the organization’s hierarchical structure, demonstrating that Agnes Bennhold could not decide on the event alone.

By doing so, the GEW saved 250 euros that should have been paid as a fee, but at the same time, they lost the trust of their volunteers. Who will now be willing to organize an event for the GEW without a written contract? Who will still be motivated to volunteer and promote initiatives within the GEW? The GEW was willing to go so far as to commit perjury and lie to the court just to win the legal proceedings.

A union’s duty is to protect its employees and represent them against powerful employers. Yet, the GEW consistently does not act like a union but rather more as a tool of suppression, aligning themselves with the strong against the weak — be it for Israel against Palestine, for Dr. Blume against me, or for Frank Orthen against Agnes Bennhold.

There are two possible explanations for this policy within the GEW in Baden-Württemberg, Hesse, and Bremen — a policy which has caused discontent among members and harmed the reputation of the GEW as well as the individuals in leadership positions: Frank Orthen, Ricarda Kaiser, Dr. Simone Claar, and Monika Stein. One explanation would be that the GEW acts uninformed and thoughtlessly regarding the situation in Palestine, leading to poor strategic decisions. The other explanation would be that the GEW is more willing to make sacrifices than to confront the structural racism within the organization itself, which leads to bowing blindly to authorities, even when they act unjustly. Both explanations have weighty arguments, which convince me that the GEW, under its current leadership, cannot be considered a serious trade union.

If the government decides to save money in the future by cutting teachers’ salaries, can we trust the GEW to stand up for teachers’ rights against the government? Maybe, but only if the teachers are white Christians.

I find it extremely difficult to understand how ethically minded people can continue to be members of the GEW and, more importantly, how they can continue to support the organization under its current leadership. Following the GEW abusing the trust of its own volunteers to win the court case, Frank Orthen, Ricarda Kaiser, Dr. Simone Claar, and Monika Stein all have no choice but to resign.

Personal remarks:

At the beginning, I mentioned that this might be the last letter I send regarding the GEW scandal. Yet here I am again because I believe I have done everything in my power to respond to the shameful submission of the GEW to racist pressure.

Initially, I was strongly tempted to leave the whole matter uncommented. In Germany, many lectures by speakers of different backgrounds are canceled, but when it comes to Palestinians, censorship is often accepted without newspaper articles or angry protest letters.

It was Monika Stein’s responsibility not to side with Dr. Blume and recommend the cancellation of my lecture without speaking with me or informing herself of the facts. The same applies to Frank Orthen, who should have stood by his volunteer and his promise to hold the event as planned, even when confronted with a recommendation from the regional chapter.

And so, it was also my responsibility not to remain silent in the face of arbitrary cancellation and to launch a campaign to expose the GEW and its McCarthyist behavior. This responsibility weighs even heavier considering my privilege as a Jew in Germany. I am not subjected to the same extent of racism and discrimination that Palestinians experience daily. In light of the prevailing racism in the GEW, it was more difficult for them to ignore my case than the many cases of silenced Palestinian voices that are simply overlooked. I could not simply shirk my responsibility.

The process undoubtedly demanded much from me. I was afraid to stand up against a powerful organization with an expensive lawyer and thousands of members. At the same time, I was angry at the wall of silence behind which Stein, Orthen, and Dr. Claar attempted to hide. And I was disappointed and saddened when I ultimately lost the case. These feelings still accompany me—fear, anger, and sadness.

Throughout this process, I lost time, sleep, and some money. I regret the money the least, instead I recall the Yiddish word “rebegeld” — money lost in exchange for a valuable lesson.

I wish I could now say that the story ends here. However, regardless of what happens with the GEW and whether the responsible individuals resign or not, I must continue the fight against Dr. Blume, who continues to spread hatred and justifies it with the excuse of “opposing anti-Semitism.” I will not cease to oppose such behavior.

With many solidarity greetings,

Shir Hever

Translation: Ali Khan. Reproduced with permission

We were not born in a prison and you will not put us in one

Speech from the Nakba Day commemoration gathering, 20th May 2023, by Majda


07/07/2023

This is the text of a speech from the Nakba Day commemoration gathering on the 20th of May 2023, by Majda. The text has had minor edits for clarity, but is being reproduced here in its original format as a speech.

Germany, you outdid yourself.

You outdid yourself this time, and not for the first time.

You outdid yourself in your own so-called Wilkommenskultur, in bringing over cheap migrant labour, us, to whom your Wilkommenskultur is served as no more and no less than Ordnung muss sein (there must be order).

You outdid yourself in bringing over us, “the others”, only to bring us to order, only to integrate us in your likeness, to assimilate us so we become to your taste.

You outdid yourself in crashing us when we refused to be in your likeness, when we refused to be to your taste, when we refused to dance to your music.

You outdid yourself in crashing us when we wanted to be us, when we wanted to mourn our dead, our martyrs in Palestine, to mourn our lost homeland, our lost land, our lost way of living with other human beings and with nature, the beautiful nature of Palestine.

You outdid yourself, Germany, in your violence, your suppression and oppression. You outdid yourself in siding with the oppressors and turning against the oppressed.

Us, the oppressed, your new Gastarbeiter*innen, brown and black, queer and non-queer, Palestinians, Syrians, Algerians, Sahrawis, the non-conforming to the German-Israeli narrative anti-Zionist Jews, Kurds, Sudanese, Armenians, people of Afghanistan, Latinas, Tamils… the list goes on.

You outdid yourself in asking us to be good girls and good boys, not to “import antisemitism”, as if it there was a deficit of it here, in asking us to carry your guilt so that with time we arrive closer to being “civilised”, so that we are allowed to eat at your table and enjoy the full benefits of your “democracy”.

In the meantime, we are to shut up, we are to put our heads down and to work. We are to speak only when asked to, otherwise we are to remain silent and to make ourselves invisible, and we are not to march 15,000 non-white people through the streets of Berlin as we did on the Nakba Day two years ago.

We are not to scream our lungs out when our people are being killed by the Israeli regime, again and again, day after day. Nor when our children are maimed and imprisoned by this regime, and especially not when our political prisoners defy it with their hunger strikes. We are not to resist the Israeli occupation, aggression and oppression.

We are not to call a spade a spade, we are not to call an apartheid an apartheid, we are not to call the Israeli apartheid the Israeli apartheid. This, because “it is not helpful in the German context”, because of “the special relation” – we’ve heard this bullshit, this wack talk, millions of times. We are not to name names.

Or yes, we are to name names only when you, Germany, allow it. It’s ok, it’s allowed, to name names when crimes against humanity are being committed in Ukraine or in Syria by the Syrian regime and its killing machine – which we applaud you for. But it’s the same universal jurisdiction, simply justice, which you, Germany, do not want to apply to crimes committed by the Israeli regime and its killing machine against the Palestinian people — then, we are not to name names.

We must break it to you, Germany: you asked for workers, you got people instead. We, the workers, your “Gastarbeiter*innen”, we were not born in a prison and you will not put us in one — a prison of silence, a prison of orders and your Ordnung, a prison of visas and Aufenthaltstitel, a prison of press censorship on Palestine, a prison of silence and of invisibility.

We Palästinenser*innen, we Arbeiter*innen, we are free — free people. And Palestine is free. It is already free in our hearts, and it will be free, from the river to the sea.

Palestine and the German Left

Challenges and Opportunities for Building a Mass Solidarity Movement


04/07/2023

The Main Problem is Silence

I have been active in the Palestine solidarity movement in Germany for over 25 years. I started by attending public meetings with my friend Samieh, a Palestinian from Yafa. 

Just about every single meeting followed the same rough script. First, the speaker acknowledged the difficult conditions endured by Palestinians. Then the discussion was opened up to the public, where the second or third contributor said: “but of course Germans can’t discuss the Middle East”. This was the point at which Samieh’s and my hands shot up.

When called to speak, we would ask if we could say something, as we weren’t German. Usually our contributions won applause. It slowly dawned on me that it wasn’t that the German Left didn’t want to hear about Palestine, but that they seriously believed that if Germans were to express an opinion, this would be the first step on a path towards invading Poland and building Concentration Camps.

The result was a prevailing opinion that “it’s too difficult to talk about Palestine”, “everything is complicated”, or “there must be blame on both sides”. This has resulted in less discussion and understanding about what is happening to the Palestinians.

People who first encounter the German Left’s lack of solidarity with Palestinians sometimes believe that most German Leftists are pro-Israel or “Antideutsch”. I don’t believe this to be the case. Although some German Leftists are aggressively pro-Israel, this is a very localised phenomenon. Outside some areas of academia and local government, the dominant attitude to Palestine is not “we love Israel” rather “this is too complicated for us to have an opinion on it at all.”

If everyone is shouting, it is difficult to hear what anyone is saying. The German Left’s silence on Palestine means that often the only voices that you hear are those of the Israel fans. It is not that they are powerful or influential, just that no-one else is saying anything.

However, something is starting to change. In this article, I want to show how and why the debate on Palestine in Germany has shifted in the last 10 years, and why – although current support for Palestine appears to be derisory – we do have some cause for hope.

Bombing of Gaza in 2014

In 2014, Israel carried out a massive bombing campaign on Gaza. This was by no means the first attack, but this time it was more blatant than usual, with regular news reports of civilians losing their homes and lives. Many found the dominant narrative from the media and politicians – that Palestinians were responsible for their own destruction – to be implausible at the least.

A number of demonstrations were organised in Berlin by Islamists and Turkish nationalists. More importantly, 200 Israelis and German Jews marched through Kreuzberg behind the slogan “Deutsche Linke Wach Auf!” (German Left Wake Up!). The demo demanded that a Left which called itself anti-colonialist could no longer ignore what was happening to the Palestinians.

These Israelis came together with Palestinians and German Leftists to organise a demonstration which would bring 1,500 people onto the streets. This may seem tiny – especially compared to the 150,000 who were marching through London at the same time – but it was the largest left wing demo for Palestine in Germany that I had ever experienced.

The demo was backed by some local LINKE groups, but the most enthusiastic support came from young people. While the German Left was still tying itself in knots with abstract arguments about German responsibility or the writings of Moshe Postone, kids – many of whom went to school with Palestinians – saw the attacks on the news and just wanted to know what they could do to help.

In the years following 2014, I organised several tours through Germany with Saeed Amireh, a teenager from Ni’lin in the West Bank. Saeed’s meetings were always well-attended, but the liveliest and most effective were always those in schools and youth centres.

2020 Black Lives Matter

In 2020, Berlin experienced its first significant post-Covid demonstration. Following the police murder of George Floyd in the US, 15,000 people protested in Alexanderplatz. I went down to the demo from the working class district of Wedding. The trains were full of young Black girls with home-made placards, many apparently attending their first ever demo.

This was not just the biggest left-wing mobilisation in over a year. The character of the demo was different to many organised by the Old Left. The organisers were young and Black, and in tune with Black Lives Matter’s (BLM) solid support for Palestine. A typical article of the time was titled How Black Lives Matter helped resurrect a politics of solidarity for Palestine.

The perceived trauma which has hindered the German Left from showing solidarity with Palestine was always stronger amongst the white Left and some academics. A vibrant, inspirational movement led by young Black people opened up new opportunities to discuss occupation and settler colonialism in the Middle East.

The Role of Palästina Spricht

If 2014 represented a mild shift in German solidarity for Palestine, 2021 was a massive leap forwards. This was partly because of a growing international movement spearheaded by groups like BLM, but was also the result of a significant change in Palestinian leadership in Germany.

The new leadership in Germany reflected changes in Palestine itself. In 1993, the PLO/Fatah signed the Oslo accord with Israel, condemning Palestinians to live in Bantustans for the foreseeable future. Disappointment in Fatah led to Hamas winning the 2006 Palestinian legislative elections but their incendiary rhetoric was not matched by social reform.

As younger activists became disillusioned with official politics, new independent groups like Gaza Youth Break Out emerged. In Germany, a new generation, which had its roots in the international anti-capitalist movement, started to assert itself within organisations like Palästina Spricht.

Palästina Spricht realised that Palestinians are so marginalised in German society, that the State and politicians can safely ignore their demonstrations. If the Palestinians were to win, they had to make inroads into “German” organisations. This meant winning an argument with the German Left that silence on Palestine was no longer an option.

One further change was happening, at least in Berlin. In 2011, 11.9% of Berliners did not have a German passport. Ten years later, this was over 20%. Increasingly,  international activists were getting involved in German politics. On the Nakba Day demo in 2021,  you could hear a multitude of languages – Arabic and Hebrew, of course, but also Russian, English, French. And, sometimes, even German.

It is hardly surprising that many Palestine solidarity meetings are now taking place in English. Of itself, this does not ensure that Germans will be drawn into a movement which doesn’t even have its discussions in German. But it has helped break down the prejudice that Palestine is only an issue for “hysterical Arabs” and created an opening to bring discussions about Palestine into the German Left.

The Bundestag Resolution (May 2019) and its Consequences

Not everything was going our way. In 2019, the Bundestag, the German parliament, passed a resolution which equated BDS with antisemitism. Despite some reports to the contrary, die LINKE did not vote for this resolution, although they did put forward their own resolution which was nearly as bad.

The Bundestag resolution had no legal value. This was possibly intentional, as a non-legal resolution cannot easily be challenged in court (although the Bundestag 3 for Palestine are currently attempting to do just this). Its main intention was to further intimidate people who already felt insecure about raising the issue of Palestine.

In the wake of the Bundestag resolution, pro-Palestinian speakers were cancelled, academics were denied contracts, and rooms were made unavailable. It did not matter whether the speakers were Palestinian, German, or Israeli. The vaguest association with the BDS movement would be enough to make institutions feel that allowing meetings to take place would not be worth the aggravation. 

It was not just pro-Israel institutions that cancelled meetings on Palestine. An anti-colonial cultural centre in Berlin cancelled 2 meetings, one of which had the title: “Are we allowed to discuss Palestine in Germany?” This followed a visit by representatives of Berlin’s city council who told the centre that if the meetings were to take place, it would lose all future funding.

Journalists were also intimidated. Nemi al-Hassan, a Palestinian journalist, was denied a job that she had been offered presenting a science programme. Seven journalists at Deutsche Welle, the “German BBC” were fired amid accusations of antisemitism. Their court cases are still running, as Deutsche Welle are now appealing the judges’ decisions that the sackings were unjustified.

2022-2023 Demonstration Bans

This rising solidarity combined with an increase of repression provide the context for recent demonstration bans. In 2022 – one year after the huge Nakba Day demo – Berlin’s police and politicians collaborated to ban all demonstrations around the Nakba anniversary. This was shortly after the election of Franziska Giffey as Berlin mayor, campaigning on a “Law and Order” platform.

Despite the ban, some people gathered at Hermannplatz – a popular square in Berlin’s “Arab district” of Neukölln, where they were kettled and arrested. Many were fined over €300, and the court cases are still running. A Palestinian friend contested her fine and won – but is still liable to pay over €800 legal fees.

The following year, all Palestinian demos were once more banned. This time, a rally by the Jewish Voice for Peace was allowed, only for attendees to be brutally attacked by the police. The press responded with the most dishonest reporting that I can ever remember.

All press coverage – with the exception of the Berlin news portal rbb – reported that Palestinians took over a Jewish rally, and shouted antisemitic slogans. The online edition of the Berliner Zeitung carried headlines about hatred against Jews – next to a photo of Adam Broomberg being led away by police. Adam is a Jewish photographer from South Africa.

The intensity of these attacks has meant that some Germans can no longer stay neutral. For years, it has been difficult to raise Palestine in my LINKE branch in Wedding, because “it is too difficult to have this discussion in Germany”. After the bans, Die LINKE Wedding published a statement which did not just condemn the bans, but also showed explicit solidarity with Palestinians.

We have seen similar expressions of support elsewhere, particularly from the environmental movement. Lützerath Lebt!, a popular campaign against energy company RWE, issued a statement of solidarity with the Nakba75 campaign, Fridays for Future Bremen supports Palästina Spricht, and BIPoC for Future, the FFF group for BIPOC people has regularly supported pro-Palestine actions.

It is not really surprising that organisations of mainly young activists who have not been subject to the stultifying discussions in the German Left have been quicker to show solidarity. As the German State shows the same repression against groups like the Letzte Generation as they do against Palestinians, many environmental activists are starting to see how the fight for Palestine is an intrinsic part of their fight too.

How Can We Win?

The demonstration bans and other attacks are part of a more general assault against anyone who opposes the neoliberal hegemony. This assault has many aspects – the criminalisation of environmental activists like the Letzte Generation, attacks on workers’ pay and conditions and aggressive policing of demonstrations. If Palestinian demonstrations are banned, other bans will follow. If Palestinian workers are sacked without resistance, this will make it easier for companies to attack the pay and conditions of other workers as well.

Unlike 10 years ago, there is now a solidarity movement in Germany which is led by the direct victims of repression. This movement remains a pole of attraction for people who are sickened by the German State’s support for occupation and repression in Palestine and want to do something about it.

The fact that a pole exists does not mean that people automatically flock towards it.  The statement by die LINKE Wedding in support of Palestinians did not emerge from nowhere, but was the result of years of persistent arguments by socialists within the branch for Palestinian rights. Environmental activists – particularly those with migrant backgrounds – are experiencing first hand how the new climate of increased repression affects their right to demonstrate. This makes it easier for them to empathise with Palestine activists and to argue why Palestine matters to the environmental movement.  

For several years, we have witnessed an inspirational international wave of support for Palestine. This has helped greatly, but the subjective factor remains important, particularly in Germany, where the tendency to keep silent is still the strongest. Palestine activists have a new audience, which is prepared to listen to arguments that they may have previously dismissed out of hand. We can win many of these people for the Palestine solidarity movement, but only if we are prepared to raise “difficult” questions about the inherently racist nature of Zionism, and the case for a single democratic state, and the need to consistently fight against settler colonialism in Israel. 

This is a fight we can win, but we can only win if we stand up and fight.

Deep cuts to hit Neukölln’s children, the homeless and addiction services

The new conservative-led government is showing a dangerous approach to austerity


02/07/2023

Only a few months after Berlin’s new conservative-led government took power, the CDU are wasting no time in enacting brutal austerity on the city’s most vulnerable residents. The district of Neukölln was the first to announce the impact of their slashed budget for 2024 and 2025, with a 22.8 million euro deficit. Its administration said it was left with no choice but to cut children’s, homeless and addiction services. 

The cuts in full: 

  • Three youth and family facilities are set to close
  • Reduced services for homeless people 
  • Addiction outreach programmes will be shut down  
  • Water playgrounds will be closed 
  • Broken playground equipment will not be replaced
  • Waste disposal in parks and green spaces will be halved
  • Trips for children from low-income families will no longer be funded 
  • The Alt-Rixdorf Christmas market will be canceled
  • Neukölln schools will have a reduced cleaning schedule 
  • Twelve schools will lose their security guard 
  • Vacant positions in the district government will not be filled 

Home to some of the most densely populated neighborhoods in Germany, and with a population of over 300,000, Neukölln is the size of a medium-sized city. It is also the most diverse area of Berlin with 40% of inhabitants having a migration background.   

Many have questioned the pointedness of this first round of cuts. The CDU came to power off the back of a racist and stigmatizing election campaign, which spread unfounded fears of youth crime and antisocial behavior in Neukölln. It is perhaps not a coincidence that the district’s young people are the first to be targeted with austerity measures. While the Berlin government has not directly mandated the targeting of these groups, the structure of district budget allocations means it is inevitable that budget cuts will hit children and vulnerable people first and hardest. 

The SPD Mayor of Neukölln Martin Hikel has made clear his strong opposition to the austerity measures. However, his own party continues to support the CDU after choosing to form a coalition with the right rather than continue its alliance with die Linke and Green parties, which retained enough seats to form a majority. Other district mayors have also expressed concern, appealing to the Berlin government to rethink this constellation.  

A demo has been organized outside Rathaus Neukölln next Wednesday 5th July at 17:00. A petition opposing the cuts can be signed here.

Rioting across France after police murder teenager

France is facing riots and protests after the police were caught on video murdering a 17 year old


01/07/2023

Nahel was a seventeen year old rugby enthusiast who worked as a delivery man. He was stopped by police as he was driving in a bus lane, last Tuesday morning, in a car with two friends as passengers. One of the policemen asked for his licence. Both of them drew their  guns and aimed them at Nahel. This is completely illegal, since the rules specify that only in a case of « absolute necessity » should guns be drawn. « Hurry up », said one cop, « You’re going to get a bullet in your head ». In response, Nahel started the car moving, and one second later was shot in the chest. He died half an hour later. One of the ambulance men, who had known Nahel since he was a small child, came across two police officers from the same brigade a couple of hours later. He shouted at them about how furious he was. Promptly he was arrested for «contempt towards a police officer » and spent 48 hours in a police cell.

The police explained, in their official report of the shooting, that one of the officers had been standing in front of the car, and that the driver had attempted to run him down, so it was necessary to shoot him. This spectacularly flimsy excuse is the classic police report in such circumstances, and was faithfully repeated on all the news channels.

But there was a video. A passerby had filmed the scene, including the threats, and social networks made sure it could not be ignored. The policeman has now been arrested and is in prison charged with murder. The second police officer, though, has not even been arrested.

Riots

On the following nights, rioting broke out in over a dozen towns around France. On Thursday night, 650 people were arrested, mostly very young. Police stations were attacked with fireworks, many were burned.  The mayor of Romainville, in the Eastern suburbs of Paris explained on Friday morning « It was calmer than the previous night, but we did have a group of sixty people attacking the police station at two O clock in the morning ». This happened in over a dozen  towns.

Some town halls and a number of cars were set on fire.  Supermarkets  and other shops were sacked. In the centre of Paris – the shops ‘Nike’ and ‘Zara’ saw all their stocks looted, as some took advantage of a situation where the police are overstretched.

The lawyer of the murderer complained on television that it was because of the riots that his client had not been allowed bail.

News channels are now inviting parents from various poor suburbs onto the TV, along with genial sociologists. The parents are asked « How can we avoid more cars being burned tonight? ». The sociologists are asked to explain how more sport and culture could help multi-ethnic youth feel more integrated into society. No one seems to be asking “How we can stop police from carrying out racist executions”, or “What sort of police training leads cops to aim a gun at you when asking for your licence?” Or indeed “What do do about the enormous fascist presence in the police force?”

Political reactions

Faced with the unrest, Macron was obliged to say that the killing was «unacceptable ». But for years he has been organizing increasing brutality in the French police force. In 2017, police engagement rules were changed to encourage the police to use their guns more, resulting a doubling of police killings. In 2022, thirteen unarmed people – almost none of them White – were shot dead by police. Thirty nine people in total were killed by police that year. Prosecutions are rare and convictions almost unheard of.

Marine Le Pen, and most of the police trade unions, have defended the shooter and claimed that he acted in self-defence. She is calling for the imposition of a state of emergency and curfews. Nazi Eric Zemmour is screaming that this is the beginning «of a race war».

Meanwhile France Insoumise MP, Clémentine Autain denounced what she called «a summary execution», and the France Insoumise is demanding a parliamentary enquiry into the murder. Jean-Luc Mélenchon of the FI tweeted «The media guard dogs say we should call for calm. We call for justice!». This  statement led to Mélenchon being denounced by right wingers as a danger to the Republic.

Macron has rushed back from Brussels to chair an emergency cabinet meeting.
The authorities are afraid that the riots could spread, like they did in 2005, after two teenagers, Zyed Benna and Bouna Traore, died fleeing the police. The riots continued for three weeks and 233 public buildings were damaged. The ruling class was shaken: over the next few years, 50 billion euros were invested to improve housing and public services in 600 of the neighbourhoods involved.

Riots are complex things, and can be very hard on the local population. Committees of parents in many poor neighbourhoods and council estates are meeting urgently to see what they can do to protect their youngsters from the police, and stop the anger from hitting the wrong targets (in one or two towns, for example, schools have been set on fire). In my neighbourhood of Montreuil, the mothers’ committee was out talking to the young people all evening.

But how much worse it would be if the cops killed our children and there was no reaction! Without the riots, the policeman would not be in prison, and the official prosecutor would not have been obliged to publicly state that police firearms rules had not been followed.

Six thousand people joined a march in Nanterre Thursday under the slogan «Justice for Nahel ». There exists already a good network of small organizations fighting police violence. But we need a broader movement with the confidence to demand that the second police officer involved be arrested, that the police be disarmed, and that fascists be expelled from their ranks. That would be, in any case, a good start.