More than 160 organizations, unions and political parties around the world have joined in a campaign organized by Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network as part of the “Revolutionary Solidarity Coalition”, against the extreme anti-Palestinian repression taking place in Germany.
The “Revolutionary Solidarity Coalition” consists of revolutionary and internationalist groups and organizations in Berlin that are engaged against imperialism in Germany and worldwide. The coalition was formed as a collective response against an array of extreme repressive tactics employed by the German state, particularly in Berlin in May 2022.
These incidents of repression last year began with a nation-wide smear campaign against Palestinian organizing in April, the ban on Al Quds Day demonstrations on 29.04.2022, the ban of Soviet flags and communist symbols during the commemoration of the liberation of Berlin from Nazis by the Soviet Union on 08.05.2022, extreme repression and violence perpetrated by the German police against a Kurdish demonstration in Berlin on 14.05.2022, and the ban on all demonstrations commemorating the 74th year since the Palestinian Nakba (catastrophe) in the German capital. Nakba demonstrations mark the forcible displacement of well over 700,000 Palestinians from their homes and towns after a series of brutal massacres and atrocities all over historic Palestine by Zionist militias.
The creation of this coalition was a natural response to the extreme repression against anti-imperialist struggle in Germany and comes from the deep understanding that the German state is part of the imperialist camp. Therefore, anti-imperialist movements have historically been and continue to be faced with intense state repression, including the targeting of organizing for justice in Palestine.
The “Revolutionary Solidarity Coalition” responded to these repressive attacks in 2022 by taking to the streets despite the ban on Nakba day demonstrations under the motto “class struggle against repression” and decidedly chose to resist state repression. The direct action was later accompanied with an elaborate analysis of the repression attacks in May, multiple seminars, discussion rounds, and solidarity meetings, and the advancement of the coordination level between the member organizations throughout the past year.
This year, the German state is employing these tactics once again by launching a nationwide smear campaign against Palestinian organizing and Samidoun in particular, in clear coordination with Zionist institutions and the Israeli embassy. This smear campaign took the form of a week-long engagement of all mainstream/corporate German media in attacking Palestinian organizing in Germany, with the enthusiastic participation of German politicians. This campaign provided, again, the political cover for the German state to deploy a full ban on all demonstrations commemorating Palestinian Prisoners’ Day that were planned in Berlin on the 15th, 16th and 17th of April.
Read the full statement and endorse the campaign: https://samidoun.net/2023/05/over-160-organisations-political-parties-and-unions-join-the-international-campaign-against-anti-palestinian-repression-in-germany/