The Left Berlin Newsletter, 9th April 2026
Stop Trump and Netanyahu's wars
Welcome to this week’s Left Berlin Newsletter.
This week, we put out the last article in the series we’ve been publishing for the last two months: Neo-Nazis and anti-fascism in Germany since the 1990s. With it we set out to provide an introduction to some of the core moments of anti-fascist struggle in Germany over the past decades.
Many of the activists who have moved to Germany in the past years know little-to-nothing about things like the Hanau murders, the NSU Komplex, the Baseballschlägerjahre [baseball bat years], the racist pogroms in Rostock-Lichtenhagen, and so on.
By covering these topics in this series, we are not trying to provide an exhaustive (and inevitably exhausting) history of anti-fascism. Instead, we focus on concrete stories and groups in order to provide an entry point to the often quite literally hard-fought knowledge and experiences of anti-fascists in Germany.
We also attempt to provide nuance to much discussed and complicated issues which have been particularly misunderstood, such as the divide between East and West Germany. Rather than give much space to the already much discussed Antideutsche, we focus a large part of our series on what is actually a much more important history for the German left: the prominent and combative role taken by migrant anti-fascist groups in the past years.
We are not trying to provide simple answers to these themes. Instead we hope that these stories can serve as jumping points for readers living in Berlin who want to learn more about the context in which they are living and organising. We welcome other contributions to this debate. Send your suggestions here.
This week in Working Class History: 9 April 1948 - The Deir Yassin Massacre
78 years ago today, Zionist soldiers entered the Palestinian village of Deir Yassin. “Only” 100 Palestinians were killed, but the Zionists exaggerated the figures to encourage people in neighbouring villages to flee. This was the start of the Nakba - the forced expulsion of Palestinians from their homeland. One month later, when the State of Israel was declared, half of the Palestinian population had fled the country. Read what happened in Deir Yassin here.
Repression in Berlin
In their latest coverage of repression of Palestine activism in German courts, Palestine at the Forefront look at the case of Ahmad Othman. Ahmad’s employer, the State of North-Rhein-Westphalia tried to fire him for his activism. The Duisburg Labour Court ruled his sacking invalid twice. Read more about Ahmad’s case here.
Demonstrations in Berlin
Today at 3pm - Rally: Where is the women’s centre in Lichtenberg?, Rathaus Lichtenberg
Friday at 4pm - Rally: Hands of Iran, Neptunenbrunnen
Saturday at 2pm - Prüf Demo against the Far Right, Brandenburger Tor
Sunday at 2pm - Who killed Burak memorial rally, Burak Bektaş memorial site
This week’s Events
This evening (Thursday) from 6pm, “You are the enemy” is a meeting about mass arrests and systematic torture of Palestinian prisoners, and the use of law as a weapon of war in Israel and Germany. Speakers are Tala Naser, Nahed Samour, Alexander Gorski, and Nadija Samour. The meeting is in Jockel beer garden and will be in German, with translation into English.
This evening also sees the Berlin launch of No Tech for Apartheid in Café Karanfil. This is a public meeting to invite tech workers, students, technologists and public society to discuss the militarization of technology. The launch is at 7pm, with a gathering at 8pm. It is intended as a preparation for the Cables of Resitance conference (see below).
Tomorrow night (Friday), there’s a Soliparty: keep Sailing with music, food, games and a charity flea market. All proceeds will go to the next flotilla to Gaza, which will deliver urgently needed aid supplies, medicine, and support. Come along and bring your friends. The party is in die Ziele, Fasanenstr.1 (Reuleaux-Haus, TU Berlin), and starts at 6pm.
While ecosystems are collapsing and human life on Earth is becoming increasingly precarious, CEOs of large tech companies are shooting themselves into space for fun. The extraction of the raw materials needed for their products devastates entire landscapes. Cables of Resistance is a movement conference against Big Tech from Friday to Sunday in Franz-Mehring-Platz 1.
On Sunday afternoon, from 1pm till 7pm, there’s a Bake Sale for Palestine and Lebanon in K-fetisch. Join us for a Sunday of sweets, savoury bites, and solidarity. Every bite helps support grassroots relief and food sovereignty efforts in Lebanon and Palestine. All proceeds will be split between community-led initiatives in both regions.
On Wednesday at 8pm, Lichtblick Kino is showing Tehran without Borders. Director Sepideh Farsi experienced revolution at 13, jail at 16 and exile at 18, when she finally fled Iran in 1984 following eight months in prison. She has publicly opposed the US-Israeli military intervention, arguing against regime change imposed from outside through bombs. The film will be followed by a Q&A with Sepideh.
There is much more going on in Berlin this week. To find out more about Events we organise, please look at our Events page where you can choose between viewing All Events or just the ones organised by us. If you would like to recommend other Events, please contact us on team@theleftberlin.com.
Campaign of the Week
Local organizers of the Kufiyas in Buchenwald campaign were banned from proceeding with a vigil registered for this Sunday, 12 April, at the memorial site.
The group, among it numerous Jewish and anti-fascist organizations, says the gathering intended to commemorate victims of genocide and fascism, honour the oath of Buchenwald, and uplift the fundamental duty to fight against all genocides, particularly the genocide currently taking place in Palestine. However, a written ban from the police was received on 30 March.
The campaign hasn’t received the outcome of our lawsuit challenging the ban. We will post updates on our website and Instagram as soon as they are available and encourage all to follow, share, sign the statement and consider donating to the legal fees. Kufiyas in Buchenwald is our Campaign of the Week.
News from Berlin and Germany
In News from Berlin, rents in Berlin rise 69% in 10 years; thousands demonstrate at Easter against war; more than 20,000 signatures collected so far for car free Berlin; and IG Metall sue Tesla for intimidating voters in works council elections.
In News from Germany, police in Baden-Württemberg accused of storing data on trans people; health cuts planned in Germany; German men between 18 and 45 to need permission from the army before spending 3 months abroad; Ulm 5 trial to start at the end of April; and 500 demonstrate in Friedrichshain after neo-Nazi machete attack.
Read all about it in this week’s News from Berlin and Germany.
New on theleftberlin.com
We interview Mimi, mother of Daniel - one of the Ulm 5
The second part of our interview with Migrantifa and the final part of our series about anti-fascism in Germany
Ukrainian poet Ilya Kharkow is back to write about journalism in his country
Louis Kushner looks at how neoliberalism has made the world worse
Video of the Week
The Video of the week is a message from Hüseyin Dogru to everyone. Hüseyin, who The Left Berlin interviewed last year, has been sanctioned by the EU after critical reporting on Palestine.
The German state froze the bank accounts of both Hüseyin and his wife (a German court suspended the freezing of his wife’s account this week, saying it has “serious doubts” about the legailty of the measure),
In this video, Hüseyin thanks his supporters for the solidarity that thy have shown and says how you can help him and his family. #FreeDogru
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Keep on fighting,
The Left Berlin Editorial Board