GP announced the publication of a new book titled Why are they back? Historical falsification, political conspiracy and the return of fascism in Germany. The book attracted great interest and sparked many discussions.
Demonstration at Potsdamer Platz
A young woman who had come to the demonstration with her mother from Luckenwalde in Brandenburg expressed great concern over the strengthening of the AfD and the increase in right-wing violence.
“I think it is high time to fight right-wing tendencies and violence,” she said. “It is already the case that too much is accepted that is inhuman. We saw in World War II where that leads. In my opinion, we can see the beginnings here. We have to oppose that.”
Another demonstrator said she was participating in the protest to deliver on a promise she had made to her grandmother that she would never again experience such terrible events as she had experienced in her lifetime.
In many discussions, the right-wing policies of the grand coalition came up. It is widely understood that the establishment of a system of camps and the brutal deportation of refugees means that the government has adopted the slogan of the AfD, “Foreigners Out!”
A young man from Frankfurt am Main, who did not want to give his name for fear of reprisals, expressed indignation at the government’s policy. The treatment of refugees was “completely unacceptable,” he said. It was also “unacceptable that those who wanted to help refugees were treated like criminals,” he added. One had to assume, he continued, that in the next few years, because of the effects of climate change and the exploitation of the countries of Africa and the Middle East, more migrants would be forced to leave their homelands.
People are outraged by the fact that more than 1,500 refugees have drowned in the Mediterranean this year alone, and the German government and European Union are under such conditions constantly tightening their refugee policies. This was made clear by banners such as “Sea Rescue is Not a Crime.”
Michael said he was “appalled and angry” about the situation. The sealing off of Europe’s borders meant the government was allowing “hundreds of refugees to drown in the Mediterranean, which is terrible.”
He stressed that the government’s inhumane policy was directed not only against refugees, but also against its own people. While “billions of euros” were being spent on arming the military, “there is just as little money left for refugees as for healthcare, kindergartens and many other social needs,” Michael said.
At the closing rally, when it was announced from the platform that there were also SPD officials and leaders of the Left Party and the Greens present, there were loud whistles and boos. Maya, a sales assistant from East Berlin, said angrily that it was “unheard of for the SPD to be demonstrating here while it carries out in government exactly the policy that is being protested against.”
Overall, the protest was characterized by a marked contradiction. While many demonstrators were outraged by the AfD, the growth of neo-fascist forces and the right-wing policies of the government, and were looking for a way to counter this, most of those addressing the rally sought to calm things down and de-escalate the situation. Their key words were harmony, reconciliation and neighbourly love.
In his speech, the secretary-general of the German section of Amnesty International, Markus Beeko, referred to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which was passed almost 70 years ago. This guaranteed, he said, “universal and indivisible rights to every human being on this earth.” The right to think and say what you want, to believe who you want, to be protected from torture or persecution, to marry whomever you love—it was “a great idea” for which it was worthwhile getting involved.
The Protestant theologian and Berlin General Superintendent Ulrike Trautwein emphasized that hate damages social coexistence. She pointed to the peaceful demonstrations in East Germany in the autumn of 1989. At that time, a common slogan was “no violence.” The pastor exclaimed, “That should connect us today! No violence!” She said she feared that racism and anti-Semitism could make social violence socially acceptable again.
Jutta Weduwen, executive director of the Action Reconciliation Service for Peace (ASF), also expressed concern over the increase in social conflict and warned against “eroding solidarity and cold feelings.”
Many protesters responded to such calls for harmony with unease or hostility. This sentiment clearly emerged in a conversation with a couple from Berlin, Hannah and Mathew, who marched while wheeling their child in a pram.
“I’m not as full of love as keeps being stressed here,” said Mathew, who comes from Scotland and is studying in Berlin. “When I see the right-wing extremists on the rise again, I’m angry. What I miss in all the speeches is a fight—not violence, but a political struggle.”
“It’s not all about love,” added Hannah, who has already completed her biology studies. “The cause of the problems is capitalism and the constant intensification of exploitation. We need a left-wing movement that fights against the existing system and does more than say love one another, be nice to each other. What is missing is a vision, a political idea.”
The demonstration Saturday was marked by the fact that very different positions on the fight against right-wing extremists and neo-fascists existed side by side. But it can already be seen that the aggravation of social conflicts will very quickly lead to a political differentiation.
The intervention of the Sozialistische Gleichheitspartei was directed toward preparing the next stage of the struggle and making clear that the fight against the right requires a struggle against capitalism and therefore a socialist perspective.
The SGP has shown in recent years how the rise of the AfD and the neo-fascists was ideologically prepared. It has fought against efforts to downplay the crimes of German imperialism and the Nazi regime by professors such as Jörg Baberowski and Herfried Münkler at Humboldt University. It has warned of and exposed the return of German militarism. It has fought to mobilize the working class against these developments and their source in the capitalist system and all of its political parties and apologists, including the supposedly “left” organizations such as the SPD, the Left Party and the Greens.
The SGP leaflet to the demonstrators states: “The only social force that can counter this development and stop the right wing is the international working class. For this reason, we call for the expansion of working class struggles across the continent. The conspiracy of the grand coalition, the intelligence services and right-wing extremists must be ended.
 and to take up the fight against capitalism, fascism and war.”
*Land to buy in Civitacampomarano (CB) land of 5495 sqm with a ruin (a part of it) of about 30 sqm. 95 olive trees. Land for sale in Molise in a good position, accessible by an asphalted road. Nearby there is water and electricity (it is situated near the town).International Relations | June 10, 2013 Written by June Teufel Dreyer For a summit billed as informal—for any summit, for that matter—the Xi-Obama meeting generated an extraordinary amount of media attention. Speculation abounded over peripheral issues: why was the meeting being held in California rather than in the nation’s capital? Why did First Lady Michelle Obama not plan to attend, even though Xi Jinping would be accompanied by his wife? A matter of convenience, said some: Xi had visited Trinidad-Tobago, Costa Rica and Mexico: California is conveniently located on the way back. I’m inclined to a semiotic explanation. In making his first overseas trip after investiture as the PRC’s president to Russia, and the second to the three aforementioned countries, Xi was sending a clear message to Washington that the United States didn’t matter that much to China. And, by not inviting Xi to Washington, the Obama administration was indicating that the message had been received and it was responding in kind. As for the non-appearance of Mrs. Obama, while it is true that, as explained, her schedule was already full, many and perhaps all of these appearances could have been re-scheduled should the Xi visit been deemed to have higher priority. One need not doubt the explanation that she wished to be with her daughters during the last week of their school term—the Obamas have indeed made a consistent effort to make sure the girls have as normal a childhood as possible given the fact that dad is in the White House—but the last week of school is usually one of the most skip-able of the semester. In the antiquated protocol that guides foreign visits, the consort is expected to appear on formal state visits. Which Xi’s visit to the first three countries on his itinerary definitely were, but this one was not. Madame Obama’s non-appearance may therefore also be explained by semiotics. As a side benefit, both ladies were thus spared the inevitable media comparisons between them—each stunningly attractive and stylishly dressed, with an impressive career of her own. In terms of content, results were meager, with the U.S. administration signaling beforehand that deliverables were unlikely. The meeting, it was said, would allow the leaders to get to know each other—as if they had not already met in Washington last year, when Xi was heir apparent—facilitated by the informal nature of the venue. Oddly, some media described the meeting as the first one after the leadership transition in both countries, glossing over the fact that Obama had already been president for four years