Peace Demonstrations in Berlin and Stuttgart

Following the large peace concert on Friday afternoon in front of the Brandenburg Gate, major demonstrations by the peace movement took place yesterday in Berlin and Stuttgart. The broad coalition of organizations estimated 15,000 participants in Stuttgart and 20,000 in Berlin. Activists from Aktion Freiheit statt Angst e.V. were present at the Brandenburg Gate.

Friday’s concert, themed “Unzwingbar” (“Uncompellable”), was aimed primarily at young people, who are currently facing the threat of questionnaires and invitations to military conscription screenings for the Bundeswehr. On Friday, October 2, from 4:00 to 9:00 p.m., the following message rang out from the loudspeakers at the Brandenburg Gate:

We don’t want to be a generation of conscripts! The already mandatory requirement to fill out questionnaires, the compulsion to undergo military conscription examinations, and the plans to reinstate the draft are massive infringements on the freedom of young people. We firmly reject this militarization of society.

We are witnessing the most extensive military buildup since World War II. Soon, every other euro in the federal budget will go toward military spending and war. We all have to pay for this — with rising prices, cuts to social services, crumbling schools, an unresolved climate crisis, and underfunded hospitals.

No to the arms race, conscription, and war! – For peace, democratic rights, and social security!

The Peace Alliance’s press release states: As in previous years, the action was supported by a broad coalition of over 300 organizations and peace groups. Following the school strikes against conscription and the trade unions’ day of action against the government’s attack on the welfare state, demonstrators in Berlin and Stuttgart protested against dangerous developments in peace policy and society: the ever-escalating hostilities in the war in Ukraine, aggressive military buildup, and the growing danger of a major war in Europe — one that could even involve nuclear weapons. The wars in the Near and Middle East and the continued dismantling of international law through Western support for U.S. and Israeli aggression were also condemned.

Representatives of youth groups announced further resistance against the reintroduction of mandatory military service and the militarization of society. Trade unionists combined their criticism of the arms race with a warning that the exorbitant spending and the pressure of debt will inevitably come at the expense of social services and deepen social divisions.

Our Demands

• No reinstatement of the draft!
• No recruitment of minors by the Bundeswehr!
• Keep the Bundeswehr out of schools, universities, and research institutions!
• Full recognition of conscientious objection as a human right and grounds for asylum for people worldwide!
• Fund education, health care, and social services instead of blind military buildup and war!

P.S. The route from the Central Station to the Brandenburg Gate was lined with people who, too, refuse to accept the federal government’s policies. Under the slogan “It’s Burning”, a coalition of 133 NGOs called for human chains to protect the foundations of our lives. Their rally in front of the Federal Chancellery was directed specifically at Chancellor Merz, and here, too, it became clear that this insane arms race is robbing us of the chance to limit climate change to a tolerable level.

Read more https://www.friedenskooperative.de/
und https://esbrennt.com/

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