We have received a report from the Red League NRW, which we would like to share here.

This week, from April 15 to April 21, we participated as part of the Open Palestine Meeting Bochum in the week of action for the release of Palestinian prisoners, which was proclaimed by the nationwide Kufiya network, of which the Open Palestine Meeting Bochum is a member.

The week started on Monday with an information stand of the Open Palestine Meeting at Bochum Central Station. Over 8 hours we distributed leaflets in several shifts, denouncing the unlawful imprisonment and torture of Palestinian political prisoners and prisoners of war by Israel and demanding their release. The leaflet placed particular emphasis on how German monopolies, which are either based in Bochum or have particularly strong operations there, are profiting economically from the maintenance of the Israeli occupation of Palestine. Using the examples of Siemens and the Herrenknecht subsidiary H+E Logistic, we showed that for the German capitalists and their state, the oppression and exploitation of the Palestinians is not only a strategic necessity, but also a profitable business. The leaflets were received with great interest by many passers-by.

Movie night in Duisburg

On Tuesday, we attended the film evening of the comrades of the Palestine Solidarity Duisburg, who also mobilized and carried out actions as part of the Kufiya network for the release of the Palestinian prisoners. The film "Fedayin, the struggle of Georges Ibrahim Abdallah" was shown in Duisburg, which starts with the life and capture of the Lebanese Marxist and revolutionary and tells the story of the Palestinian and Lebanese armed resistance against the imperialist aggression of the USA and France and their Israeli lackeys. After the screening, there was a very productive discussion in which Palestinian participants shared their own experiences of imprisonment and torture by the Israeli state. Many of the participants also made powerful speeches denouncing the complicity and oppression of the reactionary Arab regimes in the region and also recounted how family members were imprisoned and tortured by these imperialist-serving regimes. Overall, the evening was characterized by an enthusiastic, collective exchange and combative points of view.

Film screening in Bochum                                                                         The jointly prepared buffet

On Thursday, our film evening of the Open Palestine Meeting took place in Bochum, which was attended by around 50 people. To our great pleasure, many friends and relatives of the activists of the Open Palestine Meeting came, as well as some people who we had previously invited to the film evening at the information stand on Monday. There were also people who had heard about our work in Bochum and wanted to get to know us. Before the movie, a comrade gave a few introductory words in which he drew attention to the situation of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli prisons. In a short overview of the background of the film, the internationalist and revolutionary understanding of Georges Ibrahim Abdallah was emphasized, who on the basis of the national liberation struggle of Palestine dedicated his life to the struggle against imperialism, exploitation and oppression as part of the proletarian world revolution. Before, during and after the movie there was a great buffet with Arabic food that had been prepared together beforehand and was very popular among the participants.Besides the food, there was again an information stand where you could take the leaflets and posters of the action week of the Kufiya network as well as the revolutionary newspaper Rote Post and the May Day call of the Red League. After the screening of the film, the participants were informed by the moderator about the current status of the important work of the comrades of the Unified Campaign for the Liberation of Georges Ibrahim Abdallah and referred to the greeting for the last demonstration of the Open Palestine Meeting, which was also part of the information stand.

Movie night in Bochum                                                                               Discussion round after the film screening

After a break, the discussion was opened, in which many new and old faces took part. In particular, the necessity was discussed of organizing the accumulating anger and building powerful resistance in the face of fascist repression against the Palestine solidarity movement, such as the ban on the Palestine Congress in Berlin. Another topic that was taken up in various speeches was the necessity of building a broad anti-imperialist front, from the most exploited and oppressed people in the working class neighborhoods to combative trade union activists to the environmental movement, on the basis of a consistent anti-imperialism, in which Palestine solidarity is understood as part of an international struggle against imperialism. Among other things, it was discussed that the economic and political crisis of German imperialism offers a lot of room to broaden our struggle for Palestine, for example to fight against the armament of the German army, because this armament is also used to attack the Yemeni people, who are opposing the genocide in Gaza. Or that it is important to defend democratic rights, because the increasing restriction of freedom of expression and assembly is also being used against the anti-imperialist and Palestine solidarity movement in particular.

It is therefore only right to say that the movie night was a complete success. Once again, we formed various workgroups to prepare food together, choose a film, mobilize with flyers for the events, organize venues, invite people and raise the flag of the Palestinian resistance struggle together. This shows that the Open Palestine Meeting is something alive and is carried above all by the activism and great initiative of its members.

Demonstration in Bonn

But the week was not over with the movie night. The week of action for the release of the Palestinian prisoners was to end with a joint demonstration in Bonn by all the groups organized in the Kufiya network in NRW.Together with other Palestine solidarity groups from Duisburg, Cologne and other cities, we traveled to Bonn to support the "Alliance against Genocide" there. The demonstration opened with some combative speeches. The group "Zaytoun" from Siegen spoke above all about the need to support the armed resistance of the Palestinian people. Throughout the entire demonstration, the point of view was present that the defense of the Palestinian prisoners means, above all, the defense of the Palestinian national resistance front, because the prisoners in the majority represent the leaders, fighters and activists of the Palestinian national resistance.

Demonstration in Bonn

This consciousness was also expressed when, at the beginning of the rally, the police briefly detained a participant from the crowd and charged him with incitement to hatred because he was allegedly carrying a sign with the slogan "From the River to the Sea - Palestinian Prisoners will be free" written on it. Despite the detention, the cops were forced to release the detained comrade within a few minutes because the majority of the demonstrators were immediately mobilized to surround the police and denounce the police action with strong and angry slogans.In general, combative slogans were shouted throughout the demonstration in Arabic, German and English, explicitly upholding the resistance in Palestine and calling for uprising and struggle against the imperialists and occupation.Right in the middle and constantly side by side with the most combative participants of the demonstration, the high banner of the Red League could always be seen, which, together with the members of the Open Palestine Meeting, called for the building of an anti-imperialist front. In this context, a large number of the revolutionary workers' newspaper Rote Post was also sold at the demonstration and the Red League's leaflets for May Day were distributed to promote the upcoming activities for the international day of struggle of the working class.

Demonstration in Bonn

In conclusion, the week of action for the release of the Palestinian prisoners was a complete success for the Palestinian solidarity and anti-imperialist movement in Bochum and throughout NRW. The large number of activities was organized by a broad spectrum of different groups, associations and individuals from the Kufiya network on the basis of uncompromising anti-imperialism and it was made clear in many places that solidarity and support work for Palestine is particularly successful when it is carried out as a class against class struggle against German imperialism. Now it is time to take these successes as a prelude to the upcoming actions of the Red League and Open Palestine Meetings around and on May 1st and to continue in the same way.

Upcoming activities:

27.04.: Lecture on anti-imperialist struggles around the world at 6 pm at VielRespektZentrum, Rottstraße 24 in Essen.

28.04.: The next Open Palestine Meeting in Bochum, 5 pm, location on request at Roter Bund NRW or on Instagram at @palaestinasolibochum.

30.04.: Palestine solidarity mobilization for the revolutionary eve demonstration, 7 pm Bochum main station.

01.05.: DGB demonstration at 12 noon at Rüttenscheider Markt in Essen.

01.05.: Revolutionary demonstration at 5 pm in Cologne, starting point at Kalk-Post.