{"id":9377,"date":"2018-06-01T15:00:00","date_gmt":"2018-06-01T13:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.deanreed.de\/AmericanRebel\/2017\/?p=9377"},"modified":"2018-06-02T12:45:04","modified_gmt":"2018-06-02T10:45:04","slug":"vorlage-berlin-bulletin","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.deanreed.de\/AmericanRebel\/2017\/2018\/06\/01\/vorlage-berlin-bulletin\/","title":{"rendered":"– Sunday hits at racists"},"content":{"rendered":"

Victor Grossman<\/h4>\n

Sunday hits at racists<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/h2>\n

Berlin Bulletin No. 146
\n.<\/span><\/h4>\n
\"\"

Victor Grossman<\/span><\/p><\/div>\n

Hopes and fears compete amidst the turmoil of today\u2019s world. Fears for the worst in Korea have lessened with hopes, after a series of typical Trumpian somersaults, that the thrust of the Bolton-Haley-Pompeo line may yet give way to negotiations and diplomacy.<\/strong><\/p>\n

But looming ever closer is the question of Iran, with the same cabal pushing demands, treaty-busting and impossible to fulfil, which recall Serbia, Afghanistan, Iraq and Libya. The world knows all too well the tragic results in all four, also far beyond their borders, while their direct comparisons with Libya make their goals all too clear \u2013 and fearsome. A single click tells us that Iran, far stronger, has a larger population than the latter three combined.<\/p>\n

Can and will the other Iran treaty partners bow to the potent pressures from Washington \u2013 or will they uphold an agreement which has provided such welcome relief? Europe must decide. With Germany the strongest power in Europe, the outcome will largely depend on its decision.
\nAt the moment it seems to be following the advice of my second favorite wit (after Mark Twain), the late, great baseball player and joker Yogi Berra who, along with many other wise words, counseled: \u201cWhen you come to a fork in the road, take it.\u201d<\/p>\n

In the current fork situation, one main road, paved from the start by mighty interests in both Germany and the USA, is cemented by the huge trade between them, often bound up with making and selling cars (even cleverly\u2013manipulated poisonous ones). But it\u2019s hard to obey Trump\u2019s brazen demands for internationally illegal sanctions without seeming wimpy and subservient. And that is odious, with Germany facing challenges enough these days in Europe, with London still teetering with its Brexit, Macron vying for European leadership, Eastern Europe rebelling on accepting refugees, Spain torn by the Catalan issue and corruption scandals and Italy now in a total mess.<\/p>\n

The other road, defying Donald, has gained some ground with Angela Merkel\u2019s recent visit to China, Germany\u2019s other main trade partner. Will she and her government have the strength and will to join France, Britain – and Russia and China as well \u2013 and show the Bolton gang that middle finger? Who knows? Thus far they are still stuck in Yogi Berra\u2019s divided position.<\/p>\n

But there is another earnest road fork in Germany, with equal dangers in the long run. It is the increasing threat of a fascist track! The five-year-old Alternative for Germany (AfD) won seats in 14 German states (with the last two soon to come) and has 92 representatives in the national Bundestag. This enables its often clever and highly educated spokespersons to spout their poison in every debate and, thanks to their rank in seats, as the first speakers after those of the government. Much of the media, even government-run TV channels, has been overfriendly in giving them air-time. Their positions fluctuate; they may oppose sanctions on Russia but then demand a bigger, aggressive army, once again with a draft. They express deep sympathy for the millions hit by rising rent costs, but are against all cuts in the take-home millions of the super-wealthy. Some leaders praise the brave soldiers in Hitler\u2019s Wehrmacht and denounce the Holocaust Memorial as a shameful blot on Germany\u2019s fine reputation, but then loudly oppose anti-Semitism while praising Netanyahu\u2019s leadership for making Israel \u201ca model in dealing with illegal Muslim migration.\u201d Aside from anti-feminism their one consistent appeal, aimed at worried and disturbed German voters, is pure, unadulterated hatred of \u201cnon-Germans\u201d, especially refugees from war-torn regions in the Near East. \u201cWe are the many who love Germany. The rule of Islam in Germany is nothing but the rule of evil!\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

The polls give them 13-14% nationally, even 22-23% in some East German states. In Berlin their stand is now 11%; they were able to win seats – and a nasty voice – in all 12 borough councils. Maybe this is why they chose Berlin for a big all-German demonstration, to march from Washington Platz at the main railway station through a downtown area to a big final meeting on the west side of the Brandenburg Gate.
\nBut they had no sooner announced this plan when, Berliners, or a large number of them, said loudly NO! And this is what made last Sunday the biggest heart-warming event in years! The slogan was: \u201cStop Hatred! Stop the AfD!\u201d.<\/p>\n

The far-right plans, with the slogan \u201cGermany\u2019s Future\u201d, were first set at 10,000 adherents; allegedly they hoped for many more from all over Germany. But on Sunday all such plans and hopes had to be abandoned; their ranks were far thinner, even with buddies from openly pro-fascist gangs. All the same, after bold start-off rhetoric and distributing a thousand or more big German flags, they joined ranks and set off on their anti-foreigner, anti-Islam, anti-leftist Berlin crusade.<\/p>\n

But they were faced from the start, across the narrow Spree River, by a crowd of over a thousand calling out its opposition, and soon joined by a small flotilla of boats and rafts, with equally loud anti-fascists shouting \u201cNo to Nationalism\u201d and big banners saying \u201cF\u00fcr Menschenrechte \u2013 gegen rechte Menschen!\u201d (approx. transl. -\u201cFor Human Rights – Against Rightists!\u201d) and \u201cRefugees Are Welcome Here\u201d.
\nThe AfD route of march was carefully protected by two thousand policemen, who blocked off every non-rightist attempt to cross near the meeting place at Brandenburg Gate. But a long detour led to the back of it, in Berlin\u2019s big central park, the Tiergarten, where more and more thousands listened, loudly applauding but relaxed, to hours of short speeches and musical offerings on the huge lawn in front of the Reichstag building where the Bundestag holds sessions (but was hermetically kept off bounds on this Sunday).<\/p>\n

Then, down the long thoroughfare which cuts through the park, came the about thirty sound trucks, decorated as floats by Berlin\u2019s many popular dance and entertainment clubs, each one with different clothing, (including one \u201cqueer\u201d float, of course) and with different but always very loud music, under the slogan \u201cBass away the AfD\u201d! It was a hot day, clothes of the mostly young crowds on and around each truck were colorful if often very skimpy, while everyone, it seemed obvious, was both very determined but also having a good time.
\nOne club leader explained their participation: \u201cBerlin\u2018s club culture is everything which the Nazis aren\u2019t and which they hate: We are progressive, queer, feminist, antiracist, inclusive, colorful and we even keep unicorns\u201d.<\/p>\n

Crowds and crowds, with young and some elderly LINKE, Social Democrats and Greens, but mostly from no party or organization, many with young children, moved as close to the AfD meet as the police permitted. The closest ones climbed every flagpole, mast or tree and made as much noise as possible, not quite able to outdo the AfD amps, but loud enough to make their point. A great number carried signs or big stickers or wore sloganed tee-shirts saying \u201cWelcome to Refugees\u201d, \u201cNo to Racism\u201d, \u201cNo Fascists in Berlin\u201d plus a wide assortment of responses to AfD anti-abortion and homophobic \u201cfamily\u201d policies. (Personal note: My sign, \u201cNew Yorker against AfD and Racism\u201d, got at least a thousand smiles or thumbs up greetings plus maybe a hundred photo requests.)<\/p>\n

But the opposition was not just in the Tierpark. A large number of theater people, free-lance artists and musicians joined in a \u201cGlorious Demonstration\u201d that moved from a northern city park through town until it reached and filled the eastern side of Brandenburg Gate (near the US Embassy), usually filled only with tourists.<\/p>\n

A gay organization met, separately to start with, then hastened through the Tiergarten to join the main crowd. Another contingent was \u201cGrannies against the Rightists\u201d. There was one group of refugees and immigrants, defying the fascists and thanking for solidarity in a \u201ccosmopolitan Berlin\u201d. Bertolt Brecht Platz became a second, symbolic gathering place for many anti-fascists. In all, thirteen different organizations joined in to say no to the AfD.<\/p>\n

How many were there on one side or the other? For the AfD crowd, estimates varied from 2000 to 5000 but circled in at about 2500.
\nAnd on our side? Who could count them? Aside from those in organized groups and at the main meeting sites there were so very many who just joined in on their own to add their voices or their presence. The policy counted 25,000; other estimates topped 70,000 \u2013 even on a hot, sunny Sunday when large numbers of Berliners usually flee to the lakeshores or their summer bungalows.<\/p>\n

There were a few minor clashes when masked, black-clad \u201cautonomists\u201d, as they call themselves, tried to break through police cordons to attack the AfD crowd physically. Tear gas was used once; a few were arrested. And when crowds from both sides collided at the big Friedrichstrasse subway-elevated station on their way home there were a few fights, naturally exaggerated by the right-wing media. But this was peripheral; the event was largely not just violence-free but cheerful, permeated with a feeling; \u201cThis time we showed them! They won\u2019t be coming back soon to Berlin!\u201d<\/p>\n

But while fully enjoying this successful Sunday, most remained well aware: that other road fork has not disappeared, and has moved the general political scene rightward. A few recalled that in 1928 Hitler\u2019s Nazi Party got just over 800,000 votes. Two years later, after the Depression hit, the sum jumped to 6.3 million, making it the second strongest party. Three years later it seized power and destroyed opposition, brutally and bloodily, and then most of Europe. In a poll yesterday the Social Democrats, though still in second place after Merkel\u2019s CDU, were down to 17-18%, while the AfD was up to 13-14%. Will there be another crisis \u2013 or depression?<\/p>\n

In his speech at Brandenburg Gate, AfD-boss Alexander Gauland spelled out future plans:
\n\u201cWe stand here because we love our country and will not give it up\u2026 Germany is the country of our fathers and mothers and we want to keep it the way it was… Nobody should think that the AfD will go away. We are staying and defending ourselves against the multi-kulti insanity. Our protest will continue and gain strength until the AfD takes over responsibility. And that will mark the end of open borders.\u201d<\/p>\n

I am reminded of two quotations. One famous one about fascism is by Bertolt Brecht: \u201cThe womb is fertile still from which that crept.\u201d Another, also famous, is again by Yogi Berra, but this time without a smile: \u201cIt ain\u2019t over till it\u2019s over!\u201d<\/p>\n

.<\/span><\/div>\n

More by Victor Grossman<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

.<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

Only the author is responsible for the content of this article.
\nIt doesn’t have to be the opinion of the editorial board.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n
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\nand even small donations can help to publish big things!<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"zur\u00fcck<\/a>\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\"Sag<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Victor Grossman Sunday hits at racists Berlin Bulletin No. 146 . Hopes and fears compete amidst the turmoil of today\u2019s world. 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