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Thousands of Berliners form socially-distanced human chain against racism

Thousands demonstrated in Berlin against racism and for broader fairness, including sharing the coronavirus burden, as they stretched a human chain through the German capital Sunday while keeping safe distances.

Published: 15 June 2020 09:00 CEST
Thousands of Berliners form socially-distanced human chain against racism
Protesters took part in the 9 kilometre long protest between Neukölln and the Brandenburg Gate. Photo: DPA

Hundreds also turned out in other cities like Leipzig and Hamburg, although some faced rainstorms in the tail-end of a weekend of harsh weather across Germany.

A spokesman for progressive movement Unteilbar (Indivisible) told AFP “more than 20,000 people” had participated in the event in Berlin, while police estimated around 8,000.

The route of the human chain — stretching from the world-famous Brandenburg Gate past the landmark Communist-era TV tower at Alexanderplatz and down into the ethnically diverse Neukölln district — had to be extended to accommodate the numbers.

Family minister Franziska Giffey (SPD) participated in the protest and waved at a girl passing by. Photo: DPA

“The coronavirus is worsening existing inequalities. Many people are threatened with being left behind. We will not allow that,” said Unteilbar spokesman Georg Wissmeier in a statement.

“Human rights, social justice and climate justice belong together indivisibly.”

Over 10,000 people gathered in Berlin under the banner of Black Lives Matter last weekend in response to the May 25th killing of African-American George Floyd in Minneapolis, and the slogan was also in evidence on banners and T-shirts Sunday.

But the organisers of the latest demonstration posted a broader set of aims on their website.

READ ALSO: Tens of thousands rally across Germany against racism and police brutality

Coal mines to migrant camps

Their demands include better working conditions and pay for all including migrants, affordable housing, upholding asylum rights, relaunching the economy along green lines and allowing workers more say in how companies are run.

“Who bears the costs of the global crisis, who will be stronger afterwards and who weaker — that's being decided now,” Unteilbar organisers wrote.

Different groups ran individual stretches of the human chain, ranging from political parties like the Greens and Left party to civil society organisations like “Grannies against the far right” and the Fridays for Future youth climate movement.

And appearances by musicians and campaigners along the demonstration route were broadcast by organisers in a live stream of the event.

Demonstrator with a 'Racism Kills' sign. Photo: DPA

Messages from the “Ende Gelaende” group that has staged sit-ins at open-cast coal mines and fossil power plants appeared alongside an appeal from an Afghan filmmaker who lived in Greece's overcrowded Moria refugee camp for six months.

“Everything is getting worse on the island” of Lesbos, where many people fleeing the Middle East via Turkey first reach European soil, Ahmad Ebrahimi told viewers.

“Please do anything you can” to help, he urged.

Virus fears

Ahead of Sunday's demonstration, some had warned that the gatherings could provoke new transmission of the coronavirus.

“People not maintaining distance, shouting and chanting when packed close together — those are ideal conditions” for infection, Social Democratic Party (SPD) MP and epidemiologist Karl Lauterbach told the Tagesspiegel newspaper.

On their website, Unteilbar organisers urged sticking to “a responsible form of protest in times of pandemic and crisis”, telling participants to remain three metres (yards) apart to minimise the risk of coronavirus transmission.

As the human chain got under way, stewards handed out strips of brightly coloured tape cut to the right length as a guide.

Participants' infection control precautions had been “exemplary”, a police spokesman told AFP, adding that people had kept their distance and worn facemasks.

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POLITICS

ANALYSIS: What’s at stake in Germany’s eastern state elections?

After success in Thuringia and Saxony, the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) may well come in first in another eastern state election this Sunday. We spoke with a political scientist to analyse what's at stake as Brandenburg goes to the polls.

Published: 19 September 2024 09:11 CEST
ANALYSIS: What's at stake in Germany's eastern state elections?

German politics’ “eastern September” is set to finally end Sunday – with more ruminations and reflections likely to come about the recent fortunes of the far-right AfD at the ballot box.

If current polls are anything to go by, the AfD could come in first in the eastern state encircling Berlin – which counts Potsdam as its capital.

After overtaking the governing Social Democrats (SPD) in a recent shock poll, the party is currently at around 28 percent, compared to the SPD on 25 percent. The centre-right Christian Democrats come in at 16 percent in the latest poll and the left-populist Sarah Wagenknecht Alliance (BSW) – named after its founder – charts in at 14 percent.

The remaining parties come in much lower – with the Greens, Left and liberal Free Democrats all facing possible ejection from the state parliament.

Another victory for the AfD – or even a strong showing should the SPD still manage a narrow surprise win – will certainly boost the far-right’s confidence, after it came in first in Thuringia and second in Saxony earlier this month, following state elections that saw all three of Germany’s federally governing parties take massive losses.

Thuringia and Saxony results will likely hang over Brandenburg on Sunday – with Germany’s governing parties, many everyday Germans, and foreigners all watching with some trepidation. Here’s what to watch out for following the Brandenburg result.

READ ALSO: ‘Political earthquake’ – What the far-right AfD state election win means for Germany 

A newly confident AfD insists it must be part of government

The AfD has repeatedly argued that it must be considered as a possible coalition partner to join German governments – whether at the federal, state, or local level. 

“There are no politics without the AfD,” its co-leader Tino Chrupalla said following the Thuringia results. However, all other parties have explicitly refused to work with the AfD to form a governing coalition – meaning that as high as its results this month have been, they fall well short of the absolute majority that would be required to govern alone.

READ ALSO: ‘We need change’: Germany’s far-right eyes power after state election win

However, its getting more difficult to form coalitions to keep the AfD out, with the centre-right CDU in Thuringia even open to governing with the leftwing populist BSW after mainstream parties like the Greens and FDP were thrown out of state parliament entirely.

University of Mainz political scientist Kai Arzheimer, who specialises in the German far-right, says whether the far-right ever get into a German government or not depends mostly on whether – and how – the CDU is willing to work with the AfD.

Thuringia election results on a screen

People watch the first exit polls results for Thuringia’s state elections come in at the State Parliament in Erfurt on September 1st, 2024. Photo by Joerg CARSTENSEN / AFP

“For the time being, it should be able to form coalitions against the AfD, even if they are rather awkward,” says Arzheimer, who adds that even the different regional chapters of the CDU may have different opinions about working with the AfD.

“Within the eastern state parties of both the CDU and the FDP, there seems to be some appetite for coming to an arrangement with the AfD. While a formal coalition would probably split either party, we have already seen some tentative moves towards an informal cooperation.”

Ultimately, the Brandmauer or “firewall” concept in German politics – in which all other parties refuse to work with the AfD – may end up coming under increasing stress on the back of eastern state election results, where governing with the far-right no longer becomes unthinkable.

READ ALSO: EXPLAINED: Could the far-right AfD ever take power in Germany?

What the mainstream parties take from eastern election results

It’s probably no coincidence that Germany’s ruling government decided to re-institute border controls at its land borders with other EU states shortly after the AfD topped the Thuringia state poll, according to Arzheimer, who says the elections are just the latest in a number of things at work when if comes to Germany’s migration debate.

“The border controls, the plans for the stricter enforcement of repatriation orders, and most of all the government’s harsher rhetoric are as much a reaction to Saxony and Thuringia as they are an attempt to control the fallout from the Solingen knife attack and a response to the whole ‘debate’ on immigration,” he says.

“Many experts seem to agree that they are neither practical nor that useful, and introducing them more or less overnight smacks of a degree of panic.”

READ ALSO: Should foreign residents in Germany be concerned about far-right AfD win?

Polls conducted following the election found that migration and internal security issues were big drivers of the AfD vote – despite these being issues for the national, rather than regional, government. 

Of the AfD voters in Thuringia, more than 70 percent said either migration or crime and internal security played the largest role in influencing their vote. Slightly less than ten percent said social security. Despite the AfD’s pro-Russian views, only three percent of AfD voters in Thuringia said Germany’s support of Ukraine decisively influenced their votes.

Besides the mainstream parties like the SPD reacting with spur-of-the-moment migration policies, the Brandenburg result may end up putting pressure on Chancellor Olaf Scholz from within his own SPD.

Brandenburg SPD’s Dietmar Woidke may still be able to hold onto the premiership, but he has said he will resign if he doesn’t beat the AfD outright. Should he lose, calls may grow louder within the SPD for Scholz to resign himself – or at least declare that he won’t stand as a chancellor candidate again.

READ ALSO: How an explosive row over immigration has divided Germany

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