On Monday, 22nd January, the Berliner Senat withdrew a clause which would have removed all funding from any artist who did not accept the IHRA definition of antisemitism. The IHRA definition conflates antisemitism with legitimate criticism of Israel.

The withdrawal was a victory for the Palestine movement, but the fact that the Senat felt confident to bring it in the first place shows that something is very wrong in the German art scene. Exhibitions have been stopped, venues have been closed down, artists have been cancelled because they once signed an open letter supporting BDS.

But artists are fighting back. 5000 Berlin artists signed an Open letter to the Berlin Senate Cultural Administration and to Joe Chialo, State Minister for Culture and Social Cohesion calling for the preservation of the freedom of art and the freedom of expression. Artists have been demonstrating or organising demos. Some are involved in the new Strike Germany campaign calling for a cultural boycott of Germany.

It is becoming increasing evident that Germany’s support for Israel and the attacks on artistic freedom are related. But what is the best strategy to fight against these attacks? On Monday 5th February, the Berlin LINKE Internationals are having our monthly meeting in Ferat Kocak’s office, Schierker Strasse 26. In the main part of the meeting we will be discussing the current repression of the arts in Germany and what we can do to challenge it.

The discussion will be introduced by a member of the Arts and Culture Alliance Berlin (ACAB) who have been organising the demos to defend artistic freedom and show support for Palestine. There will then be time for everyone to contribute or ask questions.

 

This discussion will be preceded by around half an hour planning our activities, including the following

• report back from our Palestine Reading Group

• report back from our meetings on Apartheid Israel and the eye witness report from Gaza

• preparation of the Gaza film and Küfa on February 10^th

• Discussion of a possible meeting on Imperialism in Africa (postponed from last year)

• preparation of our Summer Camp at the end of June.

• How do we ensure that speakers at our meetings are appropriate?

• International Conferences on Palestine (12-14 April in Berlin, Planning Meeting 13 February, International Peoples’ Tribunal, 17-18 May, somewhere Europe)
• Discussions on our Telegram Channel

The meeting is open to everyone, especially non-German activists living in Berlin