Tag Archives: Germany

Declaration by glokal on Hanau

We from glokal e.V. express our condolences and solidarity with all relatives and victims of the racist terrorist attack in Hanau on 19.02.2020.
We feel the loss of their loved ones and the deep, painful cut in their daily lives.
We stand firmly by the side of the victims and send our best wishes for the recovery of the injured.

We note a continuity in the neglect of racial threats by state agencies as well as in the investigations and consistent prosecution of abuses in the police and other institutions.

The representatives of the “bourgeoisie” as well as more and more “conservative” politicians have to face their responsibility for this violence.
We must all stand up against agitation, racist politics and stigmatization of migrant, Muslim spaces such as shisha bars, among others.

We call for consistent support of civil society that works against racism on a daily basis, especially diasporic – migrant civil society.

Glokal will forever cherish the memory of the murdered Gökhan Gültekin, Ferhat Ünvar, Mercedes K., Sedat Gürbüz, Hamza Kurtović, Kalojan Welkow, Fatih Saraçoğlu and Said Nessar El Hashemi.

Message from Doğan Akhanlı

Message of Doğan Akhanlı to the participants of the “Arsch huh” event: “Wähle jon – Demokratie braucht keine Alternative!” on 27.08. in Cologne:

“Dear friends!

Because of my arrest in Spain due to Turkey’s intervention, I am a bit tired and exhausted right now, but despite the current threat, my strength against racism and discrimination has not diminished. On the contrary!

Continue reading →

kassel postcolonial

In German colonialism, Kassel was an important hub for advancing colonial expansion and securing relations of domination. Traces of this can still be found in many places today: the Orangerie was the setting for a colonial exhibition, in the Witzenhausen
Colonial School, personnel were trained for the African colonies and along Untere Königstraße numerous colonial goods stores marketed products. It is important to the kassel postcolonial project to establish connections between Kassel’s role in the historical
colonialism and our everyday life today and to make visible the after-effect/continued effect of colonial traditions, perspectives and power relations.

“You have been attacked in my rescue country”.

On the occasion of the anniversary of the Mölln arson attack, writer, activist and active glocal member Doğan Akhanlı delivered the Mölln speech this year. On the initiative of the Arslan family, the victims of the attack are commemorated every year around November 23. For several years, the speech has been held in exile, this year in Cologne. The moving speech in which Akhanlı draws a bow from Mölln to the politics of remembrance and the reappraisal of the NSU murders can be read here.

Immediately recognize the genocide of the Ovaherero and Nama!

Press release of the alliance “Völkermord verjährt nicht!” from 13.06.2016:

The alliance “Völkermord verjährt nicht!” welcomes the criticism of the President of the German Bundestag Prof. Norbert Lammert on the lack of an official recognition of the German genocide against the Ovaherero and Nama 1904-08 by the German Bundestag expressed on 12.6.2016 in the ZDF program “Berlin direkt”.

With his reference to regret and embarrassment, the Bundestag president addresses, albeit in highly restrained language, serious failures of official German policy. The longstanding refusal of successive federal governments to recognize the genocide in Namibia remains an indictment of the Federal Republic of Germany and in no way fits its self-image as the “world champion of remembrance” and the associated exemplary critical approach to its own history. It is shameful that German politicians have to accept this omission from Turkish President Erdoğan in the same breath as his racist and abusive insults of members of the Bundestag. Here, the German government, as well as successive majorities in the Bundestag, have been shockingly caught flat-footed by decades of refusal to deal honestly with Germany’s colonial past.

The new fun EZ

With the slogan “Brave types – extremely help” the Hamburg campaign Viva con Aqua writes out at present a journey to Uganda as price for a profit play. The tender text states:

“You will fly from Germany to Uganda accompanied by a Viva-con-Agua staff member on 18.03.2016. […] In Kampala you will meet Nobert Latim and Papa Shabani, co-founders of the crew Viva con Agua Kampala. You will accompany them in their everyday life and get to know other friends, artists and supporters of Viva con Agua in Uganda. Together you are preparing for the upcoming World Water Day on 22/03/2016: Some music and art activities and WASH workshops are planned in the Moroto project area. On 23.03.2016 you will travel back to Kampala with the Viva con Agua activists. On the two following days, workshops, music and art events, incl. Song and video shoot planned. All this will then culminate in the WELOVEYOUGANDA Music- & Artfestival #2 on Saturday, 26.03.2016. On 27.03. you will take the return flight from Kampala (Entebbe), so that you will be back in Germany on 28.03.2016.”

Actions like these are to be questioned not only under racism-critical points of view, but even development-politically very much. You could dismiss it as a barely noteworthy Twitter ad and pay no further attention to the action. However, we observe, Continue reading →

#exceptions

spontaneous poster advertising for #ausnahmslos in Erfurt, via twitter

After the racist media reports in the aftermath of New Year’s Eve in Cologne, a group of feminist bloggers and authors have launched the call #ausnahmslos. Together with hundreds of signatories, they are calling for “Against sexualized violence and racism. Always. Everywhere.” and formulate demands to politicians and the media.

The appeal can be co-signed here.

Why children are not Christmas gifts

The Berlin-based association“ProNats e.V. – Verein zur Unterstützung arbeitender Kinder und Jugendliche” published an article shortly before Christmas with demands on development policy organizations. Under the title“Why children are not Christmas presents – 12 demands on fundraising campaigns“, they criticize the way children from the Global South are presented in the fundraising of German development cooperation from a child rights perspective and formulate concrete demands ranging from “presenting children as actors” to ending child sponsorship programs.

From subject back to object?

Whether in France or among left-wing activists in India, the world is enthusiastic about Germany. The self-profiling as “welcome world champion” and “refugee helper” has above all one effect: It drowns out the tightening of laws and the repression policy against migrants as well as the hate speech and violent attacks of “concerned citizens”. Government policies and the right have shifted the public discourse on migration and asylum to the right, trampling everything that refugee and migration protests have built, reformulated, re-set, fought for in recent years. Read more