Germany

Berlin’s Pledge To Socialize A Quarter Million Apartments In Danger

February 6, 2023 Molly Shah, The Real News Network. Educate! Berlin, Corporatism, Germany, Housing

Just over a year ago, Berliners won one of the biggest victories in decades for tenants in large cities. On September 26, 2021, in a landslide victory, locals voted overwhelmingly in favor of a referendum that called for the drafting of a new law to socialize almost a quarter of a million apartments in the city. Such a law would clear the way for the largest expropriation of housing in post-unification Germany—a significant step forward in the global fight against vampire real estate and the large private companies and wealthy investors that have gobbled up housing stock and maintained a death grip on rent prices throughout the world. The passage of the referendum was a rare victory and a lesson to many tenant activists that, through organization and education, they can fight back—and win. The fight, however, is far from over.

Germany Risks Forgetting Its History

February 1, 2023 Scott Ritter, Consortium News. Educate! Germany, History, Holocaust, Russia, Ukraine, Wars and Militarism

Two days before Holocaust Remembrance Day last week, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, under heavy pressure from Washington and pro-war members of his own government, announced that Germany would be sending 14 Leopard 2A6 main battle tanks to Ukraine. Answering media questions at the German Bundestag, Scholz declared: “It is right that we act closely with our international partners to support Ukraine — financially, with humanitarian aid, but also with weapons deliveries. Now we can say that, in Europe, it is us and Britain who have made the most weapons available for Ukraine. Germany will always be at the forefront when it comes to supporting Ukraine.” Two days later, at her own press conference, Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova responded: “We all remember what are German tanks. These are machines which became a symbol, not only of death…not only of deathly ideology. They became a symbol of misanthropy, as a global existential threat to the planet. When you read about Nazism and fascism about those times in the Second World War, I think that these SS uniforms and these very German tanks and these symbols of the Third Reich had become a global symbol of the fall of the humankind into the abyss of hatred and horror and massacre.”

Mass Protests Follow Eviction Of Occupied German Village

January 30, 2023 Kian Seara Rey and Roma Kwiatkiewicz, Unicorn Riot. Resist! climate crisis, Coal Mining, Germany, Mining

Thousands protested the planned expansion of an immense open-pit coal mine, one of the largest in Europe. The forceful eviction of climate activists who were occupying Lützerath for more than two years and the demolition of the village itself became a call to action, sparking the largest protest yet seen in the region. The sheer number of people, together with the presence of famed Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg, attracted the attention of both local and international media, helping to broadcast climate activists’ searing criticism of the German government’s energy policy, which has used the war in Ukraine as an excuse to continue burning coal. The Garzweiler open-pit coal mine, operated by energy giant RWE, has expanded to consume around 15 villages since the 1960s.

German Foreign Minister Says ‘We Are Fighting A War Against Russia’

January 26, 2023 Dave DeCamp, Antiwar.com. Educate! Germany, NATO, Russia, Ukraine, US Imperialism, Wars and Militarism

German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said Tuesday that Germany and its allies are “fighting a war against Russia” in rare candid remarks about the Western role in the conflict. Baerbock made the comments at the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe in Strasbourg, France, while discussing the criticism her government has faced for its hesitancy to send tanks, although that impasse has been broken as Berlin confirmed Wednesday it will send its Leopard 2 tanks. “And therefore, I’ve said already in the last days — yes, we have to do more to defend Ukraine. Yes, we have to do more also on tanks,” Baerbock said. “But the most important and the crucial part is that we do it together and that we do not do the blame game in Europe, because we are fighting a war against Russia and not against each other.”

Greta Thunberg Detained At German Village Menaced by Coal Mine

January 19, 2023 Olivia Rosane, EcoWatch. Resist! climate crisis, Coal, Direct Action, Germany, Greta Thunberg, Mining

Greta Thunberg was one of the climate activists detained Tuesday during the struggle to protect the German village of Lützerath from being swallowed by an expanding coal mine, the second time this week that the Swedish climate campaigner has been detained during the protests. Images revealed Tuesday showed German police physically carrying Thunberg away from the edge of part of the mine, as DW reported. Police told Reuters that she was being held with other demonstrators who would all be released later in the day. “Greta Thunberg was part of a group of activists who rushed towards the ledge. However, she was then stopped and carried by us with this group out of the immediate danger area to establish their identity,” a spokesperson for the police of Aachen, Germany, told Reuters.

Germany Plans To Destroy This Village For A Coal Mine

January 14, 2023 Laura Paddison, CNN. Resist! climate crisis, Coal Mining, Direct Action, Germany

It’s a stark image in 2023: Police in riot gear flooding a village, pulling people out of houses and tearing down structures to make way for the arrival of excavating machines to access the rich seam of coal beneath the ground. Since Wednesday, as rain and winds lashed the tiny west German village of Lützerath, police have removed hundreds of activists. Some have been in Lützerath for more than two years, occupying the homes abandoned by former residents after they were evicted, most by 2017, to make way for the mine. More than 1,000 police officers are involved in the eviction operation. Most of the buildings have now been cleared, but some activists remained in treehouses or huddled in a hole dug into the ground as of Friday, according to Aachen city police. Protest organizers expect thousands more people to pour into the area on Saturday to demonstrate against its destruction, though they ultimately may not be able to access the village.

Europe And The Legitimization Of Deception

January 10, 2023 Patrick Lawrence, Scheer Post. Educate! Angela Merkel, Biden administration, Europe, Germany, NATO, Russia, Ukraine, Wars and Militarism

The U.S., having no need of or gift for statecraft, has long practiced what I’ve taken to calling the diplomacy of no diplomacy. You can’t expect much from bimbos such as Antony Blinken or Wendy Sherman, Blinken’s No. 2 at the State Department. All they can do is roar, even if they are mice next to any serious diplomat. But have the European powers now followed along? I fear to ask because I fear the answer. But I must, given recent events. Early last year, when Petro Poroshenko stated publicly that the post-coup regime in Kyiv had no intention of abiding by diplomatic commitments it made in 2014-15 to a peaceful settlement of the Ukraine crisis, a few eyebrows arched, but not over many. Who was the former Ukrainian president, anyway?

Antiwar Activist Faces Repression In Germany

December 27, 2022 Phil Wilayto, Popular Resistance. Educate! Germany, Peace, State Repression, Ukraine

June 22, 2022, was the 81st anniversary of Nazi Germany’s invasion of the Soviet Union, and a prominent German antiwar activist took the occasion to publicly question why the German government is now supporting neo-Nazi organizations in Ukraine. As a result, that activist is now facing the possibility of up to three years in prison. Heinrich Bücker runs Berlin’s popular Coop Antiwar Cafe, which since 2005 has been a gathering space for activists working on a wide range of issues. Since 2019 the cafe has co-organized the weekly event “Frente Unido América Latina” in front of the U.S. Embassy. He’s a member of the “Kommunistische Platform” in the party DIE LINKE; a member of the League of Anti-Fascists; and represents the U.S.-based World Beyond War in Berlin. The cafe also represents the “Aufstehen” Initiative in Berlin Mitte, backing the left politician Sahra Wagenknecht and organizing left events against sanctions and for peace.

Housing Rights Groups Renew Calls For Expropriation Of Private Properties

December 20, 2022 Muhammed Shabeer, People's Dispatch. Resist! Berlin, Germany, Housing, Privatization

Berlin, Germany - A coalition of housing rights activists and groups has condemned the Berlin State’s slow approach in implementing the mandate of the 2021 referendum on the appropriation of properties of large private corporations in the housing and real estate sector. Last week, the Deutsche Wohnen & Co Enteignen (Expropriate Deutsche Wohnen & Co Initiative, DWE), formed by housing rights activists and groups in Berlin, gave an ultimatum to the Social Democratic Party (SPD)-Greens-Die Linke (The Left) coalition to present a roadmap for the socialization of private real estate properties in the city without delay. On September 26 last year, alongside the federal and Berlin State elections, citizens of the city took part in a referendum which saw 59.1% votes in favor of expropriating the property of realtors who owned 3,000 or more residential units.

COP15 Greenwashing Alert

December 17, 2022 Rainforest Action Network, Forests and Finance. Educate! Banks, climate crisis, Germany, greenwashing

A little known market based initiative known as the Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures (TNFD) may not officially be part of the negotiations between nations, but the topic has been saturating panel events and side discussions throughout the UN Biodiversity Summit underway in Montreal right now. This profile has been further heightened with the announcement today that Germany and Norway have pledged 30 Million Euro to the TNFD. Biodiversity advocates are alarmed at the sudden prominence and high level support of a process driven by corporate executives – which few understand. CSOs have referred to TNFD as ‘the next frontier on the corporate greenwashing on nature’ and raised alarm that it is trying to insert itself as a template for future state and international level regulations.

No To Restrictions On Freedom Of Expression!

December 14, 2022 Coop Anti-War Café Berlin. Resist! Germany, Israel, Lawfare, State Repression

On the occasion of the attack on the Soviet Union by the fascist German Wehrmacht in June 1941, the Friedenskoordination (Friko) Berlin organized the commemoration event „We will not forget!“ on June 22, 2022 at the Soviet memorial in Treptower Park. Due to my speech, which I gave as part of this commemoration, and a statement on the Russia-Ukraine conflict on my website, investigations have been initiated against me. According to a letter from the Berlin State Criminal Police Office dated October 19, 2022, a Berlin lawyer has accused me of having committed a crime. One refers to the § 140 StGB „Reward and approval of criminal offenses“. This can be punished with imprisonment for up to three years or with a fine.

‘Minsk II Was Agreed On To Arm Ukraine’ – Did Merkel Really Say That?

December 10, 2022 Moon of Alabama. Educate! Angela Merkel, Germany, NATO, Russia, Ukraine, Wars and Militarism

Helmholtz Smith, Andrew Korybko and Andrei Martyanov have some thoughts about a recent interview the former German chancellor Angela Merkel gave to the German weekly broadsheet Die Zeit. Smith says it shows that the 'West' is not trustworthy. Korybko thinks the interview will prolong the conflict in Ukraine. Martyanov says that Merkel is stupid. She isn't. In the interview Merkel seems to claim that the Minsk agreements between the Ukrainian government and the Donbas region, which she negotiated and co-signed as guarantor, was never meant to be fulfilled. It was only meant to give time to build up the Ukrainian military. I however think that such an interpretation is wrong. Merkel is under very harsh critique not only in the U.S. but also in her own conservative party.

Merkel Reveals West’s Duplicity

December 6, 2022 Scott Ritter, Consortium News. Educate! Angela Merkel, Germany, NATO, Russia, Ukraine, Wars and Militarism

Recent comments by former German Chancellor Angela Merkel shed light on the duplicitous game played by Germany, France, Ukraine and the United States in the lead-up to the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February. While the so-called “collective west” (the U.S., NATO, the E.U. and the G7) continue to claim that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine was an act of “unprovoked aggression,” the reality is far different: Russia had been duped into believing there was a diplomatic solution to the violence that had broken out in the Donbass region of eastern Ukraine in the aftermath of the 2014 U.S.-backed Maidan coup in Kiev. Instead, Ukraine and its Western partners were simply buying time until NATO could build a Ukrainian military capable of capturing the Donbass in its entirety, as well as evicting Russia from Crimea.

German Military Preparing For Potential War With Russia

November 26, 2022 Ben Norton, Multipolarista. Resistance Report Germany, Military Budget, NATO, Ukraine

Germany’s top newspaper Der Spiegel obtained a leaked confidential strategy paper that reveals the country’s military is preparing for a potential war with Russia. The German military, the Bundeswehr, released the secret 68-page document internally in September. The Bundeswehr chief, Inspector General Eberhard Zorn, warned that Germany could be attacked, and he proposed plans for a future armed conflict with Russia. The report claims that Germany faces “existential” threats. The document opens stating, “War in Europe is a reality again.” It predicts that the most likely scenario would be a conflict with Russia on NATO’s eastern flank. Der Spiegel noted that the strategy paper stresses the need for “deterrence.”

Decades After Berlin Wall Fell, Victors Still Trashing East Germany

November 26, 2022 John Wojcik, Orinoco Tribune. Educate! Berlin Wall, Cold War, Germany, Socialism, USSR

Germany - A few years ago, there were events in Germany commemorating the 30th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall. In the pages of the press, prominent persons—from former U.S. Secretary of State James A. Baker to then-German Chancellor Angela Merkel to the now-deceased former Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev—all weighed in with their commentaries on the significance of Nov. 9, 1989, all celebrating to a greater or lesser degree the demise of the former socialist state in the east. This year, there will again be speeches condemning the memory of that lost country. As someone who traveled frequently to the German Democratic Republic when it existed and spent years involved in the movement for friendship and solidarity with that country, I offer here some thoughts that I hope will put such celebrations in balance.

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