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From: Mark Clement <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Reply-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Date: Wed, 10 Jan 2001 09:23:30 -0500
Subject: [pttp] News on Mumia from Germany
Karl-Marx-Allee 49
10178 Berlin
January 9, 2001
Dear Friends,
Here's some news from Berlin, Germany.
1. We have been spreading the story about Clark Kissinger's
imprisonment as widely as possible - and know that some protests at least
have been sent to Judge Kauffman -probably some petitions as well.
2. The big news here is good, though so far as we know conspicuously
ignored by all but leftist media in Germany and probably the USA. In
mid-December the Bundestag, Germany's national congress, passed a resolution
supporting Mumia - unanimously!!! For a long time the PDS (Party of
Democratic Socialism), centered mostly in eastern Germany, had been pushing
for a resolution, as adopted in Belgium and approved by many delegates in
the French parliament. But delegates of the two sort-of-liberal parties, the
Social Democrats and Alliance 90/The Greens, at present the ruling
government parties, though uttering more or less vague support, kept
postponing a decision on the matter. Some said it would be intervention in
USA politics, others said:"Wait till after the election" etc. They obviously
did not want to support a PDS resolution, since the PDS (which descends from
the former ruling party in the eastern German Democratic Republic) is still
a pariah to many. But they refrained from writing their own resolution. But
finally - with growing anger about the US death penalty (and executed German
citizens) they took the big step and wrote their own resolution, not as
sharp as the PDS one but quite good all the same. The PDS received
(expectedly) only the votes of its own delegates (about 40) and
(unexpectedly) those of the oppositional, conservative Free Democratic Party
plus abstentions by 4 of the Greens. But then the resolution of the Social
Democrats and Greens won unanimous support!! The aim of the PDS in the first
place was to push the others into action. The resolution states in the
relevant passage:
"In a trial about whose irreproachable legal procedure earnest doubts may be
entertained the black journalist was sentenced to death for the murder of a
white policeman. The German Bundestag hopes for a quick reopening of the
trial."
None of the deputies opposed this resolution; not even those from the
reactionary Christian Democratic Union and Christian Social Union (the
sister parties of Helmut Kohl). As I said, this story was almost completely
ignored -perhaps by agreement. But maybe it's useful for you!
3. This coming Sunday - January 14th - there will be the annual
commemoration of Karl Liebknecht and Rosa Luxemburg, the two great leftist
leaders who opposed World War One, were jailed, and during the revolution at
the end of that war tried to build a socialist republic - but were brutally
murdered in mid-January 1919 by the forerunners of the Nazis. Usually
anywhere up to a hundred thousand or more go to the socialist-communist
cemetery, mostly Berliners (where the memorial is an old tradition),
including many from Berlin's two main minorities, Turks and Kurds, but also
many young leftists from other parts of Germany and other countries. The
police authorities hate the tradition and customarily do everything to
provoke violence or splits betwee the PDS (see above), a main sponsor) and
the other participating organizations. But they haven't succeeded in
destroying the tradition. And this year groups supporting Miumia will also
be present. The Berlin "Action Alliance for Mumia Abu Jamal" will carry a
big banner in the march and so probably will groups from other cities.
Lastly (4). One such Mumia group in the east German town of Merseburg (well
over a thousand years old, population about 40,000) organized a march
through town to the market square on December 12th, partly motivated by the
election victory of George W. Bush with his terrifying record of executions.
The 180 mostly young participants planned to include singing and dancing at
the square and wanted to interest other young people in the fight for MAJ
but also to protest the growing threat here of racism and anti-foreigner
hatred (especially against people of color). But they were heckled, filmed
and later attacked by a growing group of about 50 neo-Nazis (often with
steel-tip boots if not other weapons) - the kind they had been protesting
about. The 15 cops summoned to help out or at least cool the situation sided
instead with the nazis and shouted imprecations at the Mumia demonstrators.
Some shook hands with the Nazis and patted them on the back. Four persons
were hurt but the police refused to take down any names of the nazi
attackers.
In other words, the battle is continuing - here and there. We wish
you luck with Clark Kissinger and especially a hearing and a trial for
Mumia! Everyone wants to know when "Day X" will finally arrive!
All the best.
Victor Grossman for the
Aktionsbündnis für Mumia Abu-Jamal
Kreutziger Str. 18,
10247 Berlin
T/Fx: (030-2949 1699
Knowledge is Power!
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