New excitement about the Rally of Wagenknecht and Schwarzer: The women's rights activist is said to have insulted a ZDF reporter as a "rat".
The news ticker for the demo.
Ukraine rally in Berlin: different information on the number of participants
Demo in Berlin: Wagenknecht insults the Greens
"March for Peace" demo: Wagenknecht calls for the end of arms deliveries to Kiev.
Flags in Russian colors: 10,000 participants demonstrate in Berlin for talks with Moscow.
This
news ticker for the "March for Peace" demo in Berlin
is continuously updated.
Update from February 27, 10:37 a.m .
: New outrage about Sahra Wagenknecht and Alice Schwarzer: One day after their controversial demonstration in Berlin, a video recording that appeared caused a stir.
Schwarzer is said to have massively mistyped the tone on the sidelines of the rally.
As a video published on YouTube shows, the women's rights activist insulted the
ZDF
reporter Fabian Köster, known from the satirical program "heute show".
After Köster attempted an interview at the demo, Schwarzer went on and apparently called the 27-year-old "a rat".
Demonstration by Wagenknecht in Berlin: did Schwarzer insult a ZDF reporter as a "rat"?
This is reported by numerous media unanimously.
However, the passage is difficult to understand in the video linked at the beginning.
Schwarzer had previously described the
ZDF
reporter as a "clichéd type".
So far, neither Köster nor Schwarzer has commented on the allegations of the insult as a "rat".
Demo by Wagenknecht and Schwarzer: Linke distances itself from the rally on the Ukraine war
Update from February 26, 12:49 p.m
.: The top of the left has distanced itself from the Ukraine rally by Wagenknecht and Schwarzer.
She was not agreed with the party, said party leader Janine Wissler.
She had also warned Wagenknecht to clearly distance themselves from right-wing extremists.
Nevertheless, many left-wing representatives took part in the demo.
Meanwhile, Schwarzer defended himself against criticism of also offering a stage to the right-wing scene and conspiracy ideologues.
“We don't want to be defamed and labeled as right-wing when we call for peace.
There is nothing more left than peace," she told the Phoenix broadcaster on the sidelines of the event.
At the same time, Schwarzer called on Russia to withdraw: "Russia is the brutal aggressor and must withdraw from the areas occupied on February 24." Ukraine must receive security guarantees from the West.
"Why don't we talk about it now and only in three years, when another million people have died?" This war cannot be won militarily.
Ukraine rally in Berlin: different information on the number of participants
Update from February 26, 8:19 a.m
.: The information about the participants in the rally in Berlin initiated by Schwarzer and Wagenknecht differs.
According to the
Tagesspiegel
, the police speak of 13,000, but Wagenknecht, citing the folders, of 50,000.
Two
Tagesspiegel
reporters were present at Wagenknecht's speech.
A selection of quotes: She herself grew up in the 1980s "with the fear of a mushroom cloud over Berlin," said the left-wing politician in front of the Brandenburg Gate.
In addition, in their opinion, the participants were also there because they did not feel heard by the traffic light coalition.
Foreign Minister Baerbock described her as the "elephant in a china shop" on the international stage, Chancellor Scholz as someone who "promotes thoughtfulness and caution, but then still regularly caves in to the war drummers in his coalition and crosses one red line after the next."
+
Sahra Wagenknecht during her demo speech in Berlin
© Monika Skolimowska/dpa
Demo in Berlin: Alice Schwarzer says she is “totally happy”
Update from February 25, 9:20 p.m .:
Was the controversial demo in Berlin a success?
Alice Schwarzer even described the rally she and Sahra Wagenknecht initiated on Saturday in Berlin as a "huge success".
"I'm totally happy," said the women's rights activist in the evening of the
German Press Agency
.
“It was such a peaceful and happy atmosphere.
No partisan mood, no sectarian mood.
There were simply people from the middle of society who had traveled from all corners of Germany to set an example.”
Demo in Berlin: "Travel Service" is probably fooling demonstrators for the "March for Peace" rally
Speaking of arrival: Apparently, a "travel service" has tricked various demonstrators across Germany who wanted to go to Berlin to demonstrate.
A group of Twitterers duped people across Germany with non-existent travel offers who wanted to take part in the alleged “peace demo” by Sahra Wagenknecht and Alice Schwarzer in Berlin on Saturday.
This is reported by the news portal
t-online.de.
They had offered ride-sharing and bus transfers, which did not exist but were advertised by the organizers.
Which is why the participants ended up with empty hands, because nobody picked people up at the specified meeting points.
The campaign was apparently planned by a loose association that had already appeared in summer 2021 with a "travel service Anette" and had accepted bookings for the big lateral thinker demo on August 30, 2021.
Instead of the “Anette Travel Service”, several of the people behind it probably offered trips from different cities.
Anyone demonstrating with a Nazi is treated like one.
That's why we were active again.
Dear #b2502 #Peace-Schwurbler:
There is no bus from the Ore Mountains to Berlin today, you won't make it in time.
😬
There is no lift from Dortmund, (1/x)
— DennisKBerlin (@DennisKBerlin) February 25, 2023
Demo in Berlin: “Travel Service” dupes demonstrators in front of a rally
As a result, some potential participants did not manage to start their journey to the demo in Berlin and possibly secure another transport option quickly.
The tweeter also had some advice, which can be found below the post.
"You shouldn't believe everything that's on the net, neither Russian propaganda from Wagenknecht nor ride offers or requests from any patriots for peace." He also added a clear assessment of why he took action against possible demonstrators who took part in the Sahra demonstration Wagenknecht and Alice Schwarzer wanted to take part in Berlin.
“Whoever demonstrates with Nazis is treated like one.
That's why we were active again."
Demo in Berlin: people from the “right spectrum” at the Schwarzer and Wagenknecht rally
Update from February 25, 6:30 p.m.:
At the controversial demonstration in Berlin for negotiations with Russia in the Ukraine war, according to a spokesman, the police have no knowledge of right-wing extremists on site.
On Saturday after the end of the "March for Peace" rally by Sahra Wagenknecht and Alice Schwarzer, the spokesman could only confirm at the request of the
German Press Agency
that participants from the right-wing spectrum had mixed with the demonstrators at the demo.
According to police estimates, 13,000 people took part in the demo in downtown Berlin.
However, a spokeswoman for the organizers reported that there were almost 50,000 demonstrators during the rally at the Brandenburg Gate.
Demo in Berlin: members of the AfD probably at "March for peace by Wagenknecht and Schwarzer
Update from February 25, 5:15 p.m .:
According to party information, some members of the right-wing populist AfD were also present at the controversial demo in Berlin.
According to the
German Press Agency,
the party included the Saxon state chairman of the AfD, Jörg Urban, who could be seen in a Twitter photo with a sign with a dove of peace.
In a post on the short message service Twitter, the party showed its solidarity with the demand of the demonstrators on the "Peace March" to stop arms deliveries to Ukraine and instead call for peace negotiations.
"One year after the beginning of the war, we finally need serious efforts for peace negotiations instead of even more escalation!" wrote the AfD, according to
dpa
.
It is alarming that people who work for peace are now being discredited and called traitors.
AfD chairman Tino Chrupalla was also one of the better-known signers of the manifesto by Alice Schwarzer and Sahra Wagenknecht, who initiated the controversial demo in Berlin.
Demo in Berlin: the police correct the number of participants upwards – the organizers blame the police and the media
Update from February 25, 4:50 p.m .:
In the course of the rally, the Berlin police corrected their estimate of the number of participants significantly upwards.
According to this, around 13,000 people would have come to the demonstration in downtown Berlin.
Organizers, on the other hand, assume 50,000 participants and accuse the police and media of deliberately downplaying the numbers.
Although demonstrators "had vented their displeasure" in places that right-wing extremists had also taken part in the demo, according to the police, the event was largely quiet, reports Der
Spiegel
.
On posters and banners, many participants at the demo in Berlin called for arms deliveries to Ukraine to be stopped in order to create peace.
Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) and Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock (Greens) were compared to Hitler and Napoleon on a dummy wooden tank.
Co-organizer Alice Schwarzer said on stage that it was "ridiculous" to persuade Ukraine that it could win the war against Russia.
Controversial demo in Berlin: Schwarzer speaks of the "beginning of a citizens' movement"
Update from February 25, 4:30 p.m.:
While the first speakers had spoken at the demo in Berlin, the police warned the participants via Twitter that showing war-glorifying symbols, such as the letters V and Z, currently used in Russia as a sign of war are banned in Uprising for Peace.
Various reports, such as the
Tagesschau
and the news magazine
Der Spiegel
, say that in addition to supporters of the 1980s peace movements in East and West Germany, numerous people from the "lateral thinking" milieu and from the Reich citizen scene came to Berlin would have come.
In Der Spiegel
, for example, there were reports
of loud boos when the demo management pointed out at the start of the event that the display of right-wing extremist symbols and Russian flags was "not desired".
A little later, co-organizer Alice Schwarzer called the event the “beginning of a citizens’ movement”.
On the fringes of the demo, however, there were clashes between members of the left, who loudly condemned the participation of the right-wing extremist "Compact" editor Jürgen Elsässer.
Update from February 25, 4:15 p.m .: The rally for negotiations with Russia and for an end to arms deliveries to Ukraine has already ended.
Left-wing politician Sahra Wagenknecht and activist Alice Schwarzer had called for a controversial demo in Berlin.
According to various media reports, more than 10,000 demonstrators came despite adverse weather conditions.
According to the police, there were minor fisticuffs on the sidelines of the demo in Berlin.
In addition, according to the police, a group of left-wing counter-demonstrators had a loud argument with the publisher of the "Compact Magazine", Jürgen Elsässer.
The Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution classifies the magazine as a proven right-wing extremist effort, writes the German Press Agency (dpa).
The police are on duty because of the demos around the Brandenburg Gate with 1400 forces.
She was supported by colleagues from Saxony-Anhalt.
We don't feel represented by all the green tank fools.
Left-wing politician Sahra Wagenknecht
"March for Peace" demo in Berlin: Wagenknecht calls for the end of arms deliveries to Kiev
Update from February 25, 3:55 p.m.:
Sahra
Wagenknecht (Die Linke), one of the initiators of the demo in Berlin, spoke to the crowd on the "Straße des 17. Juni".
"With every weapon that we deliver, the danger of a world war increases," said the 53-year-old left-wing politician at "Aufmarsch gegen Frieden": "We need a willingness to compromise on both sides." It is now a matter of increasing the suffering prevent the whole world, she said: "With every weapon that we deliver to the powder keg, the danger of a world war increases.
This has to end and this is not Putin propaganda!
How can you just close your eyes, how can you be so drunk on war that you don't see the danger?"
"March for Peace" demo: Sahra Wagenknecht railed against the Greens
Wagenknecht is also not without controversy in her party because of allegedly trivializing statements about the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
At the demo in Berlin, the member of the Bundestag continued to talk about her childhood during the Cold War.
In front of around 10,000 participants in the demo, she said she grew up in constant fear of war, and now all these fears are back.
"No one talks about disarmament anymore, they're being armed like crazy," she calls out to the crowd: "We don't believe your lies anymore.
We know guns kill.
Our freedom is not fought for in the Ukraine, just as little as in the Hindu Kush (
Afghanistan, ed.
).”
Wagenknecht sharply criticized the Greens as part of the traffic light coalition in Berlin.
Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock tramples like "an elephant through a china shop," said the Thuringian harshly: "We don't feel represented by all the green tank fools." Instead, the Greens would prefer to sit at the wheel of the Leopard tanks themselves, Wagenknecht railed loudly
Tagesspiegel
: "No, enough, down with the war."
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Called for the demo in Berlin: left-wing politician Sahra Wagenknecht and activist Alice Schwarzer (right).
© IMAGO/Andreas Friedrichs
"March for Peace" demo in Berlin: flags in Russian colors can be seen
Update from February 25, 3:15 p.m .:
The “March for Peace” rally will be opened by a speech by the American economist Jeffrey Sachs. At the controversial demo in Berlin, he said that it was the ninth anniversary of the start of the war.
A clear allusion to Russia's occupation of Crimea in 2014. He complains that there are no negotiations and sees the blame for the war in NATO interference.
The war must end immediately to prevent nuclear war.
Update from February 25, 2:55 p.m .:
Many participants in the controversial demo in Berlin wear symbols or flags in the Russian colors, although national flags are actually not wanted at the meeting.
But no one seems to have a problem with it.
It seems to be different with Ukrainian symbols.
A counter-demonstrator was probably at the Brandenburg Gate
asked by a steward to put back his Ukrainian flag.
"March for Peace" demo: Police have counted 5,000 participants so far
Update from February 25, 2:45 p.m .:
In Berlin, several thousand people gathered at the Brandenburg Gate for a rally for negotiations with Russia instead of arms deliveries to Ukraine.
Shortly before the demo began, the police initially spoke of around 5,000 participants and a continued strong influx.
So far, however, there have been no special incidents.
The organizers estimated the number of participants at at least 10,000.
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Numerous people with flags and banners take part in the demonstration.
Several thousand people gathered at the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin for a rally for negotiations with Russia in the Ukraine war.
© Monika Skolimowska
"March for Peace" demo: Sahra Wagenknecht and Alice Schwarzer initiate a protest
First report from February 25, 2022:
Berlin – In the past few days there has been a lot of talk and much discussion about one person: Sahra Wagenknecht.
The left-wing politician is polarizing with her attitude towards the Ukraine war.
This began with the "Manifesto for Peace" and culminates in the "Rebellion for Peace", the demonstration in Berlin where up to 10,000 participants are expected in front of the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin.
But Wagenknecht has been polarizing with her attitude since the beginning of Russia's war in Ukraine.
She repeatedly advocates negotiations with Vladimir Putin and openly criticizes arms deliveries to Kiev.
She is also increasingly coming under criticism in her own party, but also from the traffic light coalition, including Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD), Vice-Chancellor Robert Habeck (Greens) and Federal Finance Minister Christian Lindner (FDP).
But Wagenknecht does not seem to be rejected everywhere.
Instead, the left-wing politician receives support and admiration from an unfamiliar quarter: from the right.
"March for Peace" demo: Höcke makes Wagenknecht AfD offer
This encouragement has now ended in an offer from the AfD.
None other than the Thuringian AfD boss Björn Höcke spoke out.
Accordingly, before the controversial demo in Berlin, the politician classified as right-wing by the Office for the Protection of the Constitution praised Wagenknecht for her commitment and her political stance.
When it comes to peace policy, she is "in the right position" and Höcke herself is proud and happy about the call for a peace demonstration on Saturday in Berlin, which she organized against "a lot of resistance".
According to RND,
Höcke said that
at a parallel event to a peace rally in Dresden on Friday.
But that's not all.
In fact, Höcke even reached out a little further to Wagenknecht and tried to make a change of party palatable to her with an offer.
In the video: Compact - The most important news about the Russia-Ukraine war
"You will never push through your ideas of peace policy with this party," he declared one day before the controversial demo in Berlin.
In addition, Höcke reached out to the left-wing politician Wagenknecht for a change of party to the AFD.
"Therefore, dear Ms. Wagenknecht, I propose a second step.
I beg you, come to us,” said Höcke's offer to Wagenknecht, fueling rumors of a new party being founded or a change from Wagenknecht.
His party offers her every opportunity to enforce her policies.
The Jewish Forum for Democracy and Against Anti-Semitism (JFDA) had published an excerpt of the politician's speech on Twitter.
"March for Peace" demo: traffic light coalition expresses sharp criticism
10,000 participants have been registered with the police for the protest at the Brandenburg Gate.
The police are expecting demonstrators from different political camps – from the far right to the far left.
The initiators received a lot of cross-party criticism for their call, mainly because of the lack of differentiation from radical currents.
Both Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Economics Ministers Robert Habeck and Christian Lindner sharply criticized the "march for peace" in the run-up to the controversial demonstration.
Habeck spoke of "misleading the population", while Lindner said: "Anyone who does not support Ukraine is on the wrong side of history." Words: "I do not share the conviction of this call".
(mst)
List of rubrics: © Monika Skolimowska / dpa