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