Matina
1st April 2009, 00:34
On Saturday around 30,000 demonstrators responded to the appeal of the "We Won't Pay For Your Crisis" alliance in Berlin. On the same day there were also demonstrations in Frankfurt/Main, London, Paris, Vienna and other European cities. The police initially estimated 5,000 participants, but already by the evening the bourgeois press quickly agreed on the figure of 15,000. But according to the information of the organisers there was a permanent presence of around 25,000 and in total around 30,000 people participated in the protests in Berlin.
http://www.marxist.com/images/stories/germany/demo_280309_berlin1.jpg
The mood amongst all the participants was very radical. The fact that the working class is being forced to foot the bill for the crisis of capitalism is sinking more and more into the consciousness of ordinary working people, and school and university students. There were more people present than the "usual left scene". Whole trade union branches and areas issued a call to take part in the demonstration despite the trade union apparatus attempting to sabotage the mobilisation. These demonstrations can and must be used as a starting point for a "hot" spring and summer of working class militancy. Also in Germany this idea is beginning to sink in amongst the rank and file of the trade unions and Die Linke and a movement against the effects of the economic crisis and the attacks against the working class will emerge.
http://www.marxist.com/images/stories/germany/demo_280309_berlin2.jpgOne highlight at the end of the demonstration was certainly the speech of Gregor Gysi [joint parliamentary party leader of Die Linke in the Bundestag]. Very radical in words, he demanded the expropriation and nationalisation of all the big banks and spoke about the failure of capitalism. But it is now the task of the revolutionary left inside Die Linke to make sure that socialist deeds will follow these anti-capitalist words. What is also required is to raise the demand for further nationalisations of the major companies under workers' control, reducing the working week without any loss in pay and for a political general strike. These demands should be carried into the existing protest movement and the fight back should be organised on the streets and in the workplaces.
At the margins of the demonstration in Berlin there were repeated attacks of the police on a section of the protestors. Especially the so-called "Black Block", the anarchist and Autonomous groups, was repeatedly provoked but also accepted the provocations. But, according to the organisers, there were also some trade unionists who were arrested by the police. It can only be assumed that the police consciously attempted to escalate conflict in order to discredit the whole movement. One person taking part in the demonstration reported that on the edge of the demonstration a ton of cobblestones was initially being guarded by one police unit, but when the demonstration passed by the police pulled back leaving the stones unguarded, clearly inviting demonstrators to make use of this "ammunition". We should not let them use these tactics to divide us! Only united are we strong!
taken from www.marxist.com
http://www.marxist.com/images/stories/germany/demo_280309_berlin1.jpg
The mood amongst all the participants was very radical. The fact that the working class is being forced to foot the bill for the crisis of capitalism is sinking more and more into the consciousness of ordinary working people, and school and university students. There were more people present than the "usual left scene". Whole trade union branches and areas issued a call to take part in the demonstration despite the trade union apparatus attempting to sabotage the mobilisation. These demonstrations can and must be used as a starting point for a "hot" spring and summer of working class militancy. Also in Germany this idea is beginning to sink in amongst the rank and file of the trade unions and Die Linke and a movement against the effects of the economic crisis and the attacks against the working class will emerge.
http://www.marxist.com/images/stories/germany/demo_280309_berlin2.jpgOne highlight at the end of the demonstration was certainly the speech of Gregor Gysi [joint parliamentary party leader of Die Linke in the Bundestag]. Very radical in words, he demanded the expropriation and nationalisation of all the big banks and spoke about the failure of capitalism. But it is now the task of the revolutionary left inside Die Linke to make sure that socialist deeds will follow these anti-capitalist words. What is also required is to raise the demand for further nationalisations of the major companies under workers' control, reducing the working week without any loss in pay and for a political general strike. These demands should be carried into the existing protest movement and the fight back should be organised on the streets and in the workplaces.
At the margins of the demonstration in Berlin there were repeated attacks of the police on a section of the protestors. Especially the so-called "Black Block", the anarchist and Autonomous groups, was repeatedly provoked but also accepted the provocations. But, according to the organisers, there were also some trade unionists who were arrested by the police. It can only be assumed that the police consciously attempted to escalate conflict in order to discredit the whole movement. One person taking part in the demonstration reported that on the edge of the demonstration a ton of cobblestones was initially being guarded by one police unit, but when the demonstration passed by the police pulled back leaving the stones unguarded, clearly inviting demonstrators to make use of this "ammunition". We should not let them use these tactics to divide us! Only united are we strong!
taken from www.marxist.com