From Killer Drones to Gentrification: The Struggle In Germany and Internationalism

Report by Elsa Rassbach and Harald Gindra
Longtime Berlin activists Elsa Rassbach and Harald Gindra will discuss from personal experience some of the key peace and justice campaigns in Germany today and will explore together with participants what can be learned for current struggles in the US.

Harald Gindra; A former German print industry worker, engineer, and an experienced grassroots local politician, was elected in 2016 to represent the Left Party in the Berlin state legislature.  The Left Party, the Social Democratic Party (SPD) and the Green Party now make up the ruling coalition in the Berlin government and have undertaken an extensive program of progressive reform in the arenas of city development, housing, and integration of refugees and minorities, with a focus on stopping rent increases and gentrification.    

Elsa Rassbach; A German-American filmmaker and journalist, was a member of the team that launched the PBS NOVA series and is producer-writer of “The Killing Floor” shown at this years LaborFest. A peace activist since the Vietnam War, she has led campaigns on behalf of GIs stationed in Germany who resisted the Iraq war and solidarity efforts on behalf of Palestine. In 2013 she co-founded the German Drone campaign that has inspired large protests at Ramstein Air Base and AFRICOM and played a key role in winning majority support in the German Bundestag for a historic rejection, in June 2017, of the planned acquisition of armed drones for the German military.