Welcome to this week’s Left Berlin Newsletter. This week-end, we are having our Summer Camp in Steinhöfel in Brandenburg. Summer Camp is an annual Event organised by The Left Berlin full of workshops, political discussion and culture. You can see a programme here. If you would like to attend, please fill in this form.

Thanks also to everyone who attended our Left Journalism Day School last week-end. We have now posted most of the presentations and some photos from the Event on theleftberlin.com. Our editorial board is organising an open face-to-face meeting next Monday at 3pm in the Agit buildings, Nansenstraße 2. If you are interested in helping out on the website in any capacity, you are welcome to attend.

This week in Working Class History - 3rd-10th June 1984 - Attack on the Golden Temple in Amristar

In this week in 1984, the Indira Gandhi-led Indian administration stormed the Golden Temple complex in Amritsar in a military operation called Operation Blue Star. The aim was to kill Jarnail Singh Bhindrawale and other militants--encamped in the temple complex—who were demanding Indian adoption of the Anandpur Sahib Resolution that asked for greater autonomy of Punjab.

On June 3, the Indian Army stormed the Golden Temple complex—arguably the holiest Sikh site— on Gurupurab, a day of remembrance for Sikhs amidst a large presence of Sikh devotees who were unaware of the curfew and impending doom. No warnings were given to the civilians. The operation ended on June 10 with scores of civilians killed, the killing of Bhindrawale and other militants, and the Akal Takht destroyed.

In October of that year, Indira Gandhi was assassinated in Delhi by Sikh bodyguards which led to the ethnic cleansing of Sikhs nationwide, sponsored by the Congress party. The centre of events was the massacre in Delhi, and many perpetrators from that day continued to maintain political power, till today.

The Anandpur Sahib resolution was never implemented. Bhindrawale became a figurehead for the Khalistan movement—a secessionist Punjabi movement demanding a separate Sikh state—although he never demanded a separate Sikh nation. The movement continues till today, ebbing and flowing between ethno-nationalism and self determination.

The outrage over the military operation in Punjab was violently crushed in the following years, which led to widespread Sikh resentment with the Indian state, that continues today.

This week’s article is a guest post by Manu Kalia. If you would like to contribute to This Week in Working Class History, please contact us on team@theleftberlin.com.

Coming Up This Week

This afternoon (Thursday), students are organising a Street Lecture: The Senate is cutting our learning spaces? We study on the street! in response to cuts in education in Berlin. The Berliner Senat has money for Olympic bids and fences around parks, for police and building roads, but is implementing cuts at Universities. Join the lecture at 2.30pm on the Weidendammer Bridge near S-Bahn Friedrichstraße.

Speaking of fences, this evening also sees a planning meeting against the fence in Görlitzer Park. The meeting has been organised to have a joint discussion about how the planned closure of Görli can be stopped. The main language will be German, but translation into English should be available. It starts at 6pm at the Pamukalle fountain near the park entrance on Skalitzer Straße.

This week-end, from Friday to Sunday, France Insoumise Berlin are having their International Summer Festival in the Kiezkapelle. Although the event is primarily in French, it intends to be also an international event where left activists and leftist movements can meet and exchange with each other. This means that some of the meetings will be in English.

Starting Saturday, The Left Berlin invites you to our Summer Camp. This year, Summer Camp will be at the Haus des Wandels – a large beautiful event space with sleeping rooms and a garden (plus pizza oven) that is near a lake. Vegetarian/vegan/gluten-free food (plus coffee and tea) for the whole weekend will be provided, drinks are available for purchase. We encourage people to stay over on Saturday night when we will have a pub quiz and bonfire. You can register by filling out this form.

On Saturday, at 2pm, there’s a demonstration Victim Festival in the Time of Genocide. Saturday is Eid al-Adha, the victim festival, which is for many people a festival of hope, belief and sharing. But how can we celebrate when children are being buried under rubble. For this reason, we’re taking to the streets, not to celebrate but to be visible. The demo starts at Checkpoint Charlie.

Also on Saturday, but at 3pm, there is a demonstration 58 Years of Naksa – We Remember, We Resist. 1967 marked another mass displacement, another occupation, another crime in Isael’s ongoing colonization of Palestine. 58 years on, the Naksa continues — in Gaza, in exile, under apartheid. 🇵🇸 Free Palestine. The demonstration starts at Mehringplatz (U-Bahn Hallesches Tor).

On Sunday afternoon, there’s a Musical Flashmob for Humanity in Gaza. Musicians from Berlin’s orchestras and choirs are setting an example for humanity, and making the suffering in Gaza visible. Whether you’re professional or amateur, bring your instrument and join in. It’s taking place at Neptunenbrunnen on Alexanderplatz from 2.30pm.

On Monday from 3pm. The Left Berlin is holding an Open Editorial Meeting. We hold these meetings roughly once a quarter for our medium-term planning. The meeting is open to anyone who is interested in our work, and at 2pm we are offering an on boarding session for new people who would like to get more involved. Please mail us at team@theleftberlin if you are coming to the on boarding session.

On Tuesday, there’s a Book presentation and discussion by Maria Alexopoulou on her historical study "Racial Knowledge in the Transformation of the Federal Republic of Germany into an Immigration Society 1940-1990." The discussion will focus on systemic racism in Germany's immigration society to the present day, far beyond the "AfD problem”. It starts at 7.30pm in the Spore Initiative.

There is much more going on in Berlin this week. To find out more about Events we organise, please look at our new-look 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

This week, the Gaza Freedom Flotilla set sail from Sicily, with a number of activists including Greta Thunberg. The Freedom Flotilla Coalition (FFC) is a grassroots people-to-people solidarity movement composed of campaigns and initiatives from different parts of the world, working together to end the illegal Israeli blockade of Gaza.

News from Berlin and Germany

In News from Germany, Bundestag threatens to ban Green Youth leader for wearing an ACAB sweater, German-Israeli Society argues about support for Israel, increase in discrimination in Germany particularly against Black and Muslim women, Interior Minister ignores court ruling and promises clampdown on migration, Germany economic growth among the lowest in the OECD, Germany has sent nearly €500million worth of arms since October 2023.

Read all about it in this week's News from Berlin and Germany.

New on theleftberlin.com

Inês Colaço interviews David Bakum from the XPOSED Queer Film Festival

Leandros Fischer and Nathaniel Flakin both ask why some politicians have suddenly discovered the genocide in Gaza

Siegfred Deduro celebrates the trial of former Philippines president Rodrigo Duterte

Not in Our Name TU call for Berlin Universities to speak up on Gaza

Jakub Simon examines Die Linke’s rejection of the IHRA definition of antisemitism

Photojournalist Dave Gilchrist reports from Nazi and anti-Nazi demos in Berlin-Mitte last weekend

Sascha Cornejo P asks why the German environmental movement has a problem with Palestine

MJ Williams is disappointed in Keir Starmer’s Labour government in the UK

Phil Butland reports from our Left Journalism Day School

Open letter from Journalists to Reporter Ohne Grenzen demanding more accurate coverage of Palestine

Video of the Week

The Video of the Week is from Ilan Pappe’s talk Has Germany Forgotten Palestine? in Berlin this week. The meeting was moderated by Nahed Samour and organized by Gaza Komitee Berlin

Audio of the Week

The Audio of the Week is the keynote discussion from our Left Journalism Day School. Journalists Farah Maraqa, Tina Lee, and Hebh Jamal talk about How the German media manufacture consent about Palestine.

Stay in Touch

You can follow us on the following social media:

• Instagram

• Bluesky

• facebook

If you would like to contribute any articles or have any questions or criticisms about our work, please contact us at team@theleftberlin.com. And please do encourage your friends to subscribe to this Newsletter.

Thanks for reading! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.

Keep on fighting,

The Left Berlin Editorial Board