Hello everyone,
There are several demonstrations for Palestine happening this week. The two most important ones seem to be tomorrow (Friday) at 6pm at Checkpoint Charlie called by the Jüdische Stimme and others, and Saturday at 2pm at Oranienplatz, called by Global South United. On Friday, there is also a protest at Brandenburger Tor at 5pm, against the restriction of debate in the German cultural scene, particularly around Israel and Palestine. If you know of any other protests for Palestine, please contact us, and we will include them in our Events page and future Newsletters.
On Sunday, there will be two cultural events in support of Palestine. At midday, Rasha Al-Jundi will be holding a Palestinian embroidery workshop open to those of Palestinian or Arab roots in the city. There will be a €5 charge to cover material costs, and all extra money will go to Gaza. For more information, including the venue, you can register here. Rasha’s workshop Rooted / Verwürzelt is our Campaign of the Week.
Also on Sunday, from 7pm, there will be a Film Screening and fundraiser for Palestine in Bilgisaray, Oranienstraße 45. The Berlin LINKE Internationals will be showing two films – Gaza Calling and My Heart Beats Only for Her. The director of Gaza Calling, Nahed Awwad, will be attending and available to talk about the film. All funds raised will be donated to the Palästina Kampagne, the Kampagne für Opfer rassistischer Polizeigewalt (KOP), and for printing materials (such as posters). If the event is successful, it may be followed by a series of similar screenings.
On Wednesday, at 6pm, Brot für die Welt is organising a screening of the film Temperature Rising. As climate induced disasters are on the rise across Southern Africa, three activists grapple with what thinking globally and acting locally means in practise. Taking place between two major climate conferences – COP26 Glasgow and COP27 Sharm el-Sheikh, Temperature Rising uncovers the barriers to climate action and calls loudly for movement building from below, at a time where the very survival of large numbers of people depends on what activists can get political leaders to do. The film, in the EWDE, Caroline-Michaelis-Straße 1 will be followed by a discussion with the director Rehad Desai. To register, send an email to Jasmin.Skau@Brot-fuer-die-Welt.de.
Also on Wednesday, at 6.30pm, the Tech Workers Coalition is organising a meeting An Introduction to Works Councils. Interested in hearing about what Works Councils are, and what they can do? This session is for you! It will run from 6.30 to 8.30pm (2 hours total) Join us to learn the basics on forming a Works Council, what its role in the company is, hear other coworkers’ experiences and discuss your own situation during the Q&A. This training will be held in person at the ver.di headquarters: The Othello room @ ver.di Paula-Thiede-Ufer 10 10179 Berlin.
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 in which we are directly involved in here.
In News from Berlin, thousands march for Palestine through Berlin.
In News from Germany, CDU opposition to naming a street in Dortmund after a Jewish Communist, Habeck blames left for rise in antisemitism, ver.di announces strikes in the public sector, Chancellor Scholz rethinks Germany’s asylum policy, SPD announce new tax policy, and environmental organisations question government’s new investment plan.
Read all about it in this week’s News from Berlin and Germany.
In other news, the Volksbühne has uninvited keynote speaker Jeremy Corbyn because of his statements on Palestine. Corbyn was supposed to be talking about the EU tomorrow at a conference organised by the Rosa-Luxemburg Stiftung. Lena Fuchs, press spokesperson for the Volksbühne announced “because of the position that Jeremy Corbyn currently holds on the Middle East conflict, we have decided not to offer him any public space in the Volksbühne. You can contact Lena Fuchs with messages of complaint at presse@volksbuehne-berlin.de.
Meanwhile, a group of international activists in Berlin have written an Open Letter to the German Left on Palestine. Before they publish the letter, they are looking for first signatories, particularly international organisations based in Berlin or Germany. If you are a member of such an organisation or can help find signatories, you can contact them at solidaritypalestineberlin@gmail.com. More information in future Newsletters.
This week on theleftberlin, Nathaniel Flakin previews last week’s demonstration for Palestine, we have a picture gallery from that demo, Rasha Al-Junia introduces Palestinian embroidery, and Tareekh Yaadgar looks at German reactions to Palestine.
We also talk to Udi Raz about 20 years Jüdische Stimme in Germany and Shir Hever about boycotts and Israel’s economy, and publish a call for action against the narrowing of space for culture in Germany.
Outside Palestine, Andrei Belibou talks to people from the Bildungszentrum Lohana Berkins, an educational centre by migrants, for migrants.
This week’s Video of the Week shows one of the livelier blocks in last Saturday’s demonstration for Palestine in Berlin,
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Keep on fighting,
The Left Berlin Editorial Board