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These Berliners will be happy. A file photo of an anti-fascist march. Photo: DPA

Berlin councils join forces to freeze fascists out of public buildings

Published: 19 Jan 10 10:28 CET
Online: http://www.thelocal.de/society/20100119-24667.html

Berlin’s local councils have developed a joint strategy to ban far-right, racist and anti-Semitic meetings from being held in public buildings.

A new clause in rental contracts will ban such meetings from public buildings, and enable city officials to enter rented rooms and end meetings should their content be unacceptable.

The clause was agreed during a conference of the 12 Berlin district mayors on Monday and announced in a statement. Lichtenberg district mayor Christina Emmerich of The Left party, said such measures were generally taken in her constituency, but that there was now formal agreement between the districts to pull together.

The mayors said they would also take measures to try to sensitise private landlords to the subject of far-right extremism and encourage them not to rent their properties to clothing shops or pubs with a far-right clientele.

“We will publicise the relevant clause and notify landlords of this opportunity,” said Gabriele Schöttler, Social Democrat mayor of Treptow-Köpenick district.

Bianca Klose, head of the mobile advice against far-right extremism project in the capital, welcomed the move and said the district councils could play a key role in the fight against fascism.

DDP/The Local (news@thelocal.de)

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13:23 January 19, 2010 by ECSNatale
Does this far-right extremism cover ALL far right extremism, including far right religious extremism? or is this limited to politics? I am not thrilled about the "far right religious extremists" that call for my death because I am European, gay, a Kafir, etc.

Fair is fair.
15:40 January 19, 2010 by -GD-
Bolshevik automotons on parade.

Always willing to give up the rights of someone else to force their beliefs into law.
16:44 January 19, 2010 by Bruno53
I can still see you are still haunted by what happened decades ago. I understand.
22:50 January 19, 2010 by Talonx
ECS, critisize one religion gotta critisize um all. I'm fine with that.

GD, what about this measure evokes memory of a very specific group that mandated central com. to run all government? Don't even bother trying to answer that, there's no comparison.

Bruno, at least they have sense enough to even attempt to remember their ancestors autrocities.

I'm not comfortable with this sort of activity being stopped in the way that it is either, but I'd still say Germany is freer than either the U.S. (at least they don't have mandated free speach 'zones' here) or the U.K. (anti-social behaviour orders).
23:28 January 19, 2010 by wxman
This is easy. I'm with GD.
07:10 January 20, 2010 by snorge
Dunno, seems to me that Democracy is based on free speech. I don't like that Neo Nazis can congregate in peace anywhere (because it seldom ends like that with them), but I have to wonder about the right for a government to come in to private property and break up any meeting they deem unacceptable.

How is that different than what they are trying to accomplish to avoid what happened here 60 years ago?

There has to be some other better way to do this....
12:58 January 21, 2010 by -GD-
I do concede that naming these people as Bolsheviks may not apply to all of them. Marxists would be a more applicable term that would include any Mensheviks that may be among them. We could even just defer to Lenin, who described them best and just call them "Useful Idiots".

I would say that they are very useful and idiotic, as they are willingly collaborating in the destruction of their Nation and their People:

They are being blatantly racist by raising certain racial groups to a special elevated status, while consigning the native race to a criminal under-class.

They are forcing the German people into literal slavery and are making criminals of anyone who may resist them or who might have any Nationalistic thoughts that they don't approve of.

They are using their positions to enforce a boycott against Nationalist opposition and criminalizing anyone who does business with them.

How did the saying go?

Deutsche! Wehrt euch! Kauf nicht bei....Deutsche?

P.S.

What if the article had been written like this:

Berlin councils join forces to freeze Marxists out of public buildings

Berlin?'s local councils have developed a joint strategy to ban far-left, foreign-racist and pro-Semitic meetings from being held in public buildings.

A new clause in rental contracts will ban such meetings from public buildings, and enable city officials to enter rented rooms and end meetings should their content be unacceptable.

The clause was agreed during a conference of the 12 Berlin district mayors on Monday and announced in a statement. Lichtenberg district mayor Christina Emmerich of The Right party, said such measures were generally taken in her constituency, but that there was now formal agreement between the districts to pull together.

The mayors said they would also take measures to try to sensitise private landlords to the subject of far-left extremism and encourage them not to rent their properties to clothing shops or pubs with a far-left clientele.

?"We will publicise the relevant clause and notify landlords of this opportunity,?" said Gabriele Schöttler, Social Democrat mayor of Treptow-Köpenick district.

Bianca Klose, head of the mobile advice against far-left extremism project in the capital, welcomed the move and said the district councils could play a key role in the fight against Marxism.
21:11 January 21, 2010 by Talonx
I never said I was for this issue, I was just trying to correct the usual idiots that post their nonsense on this website. It's odd that you've assumed as such though even when I wrote the opposite for all to see above.

Have fun building your strawman?

You're still wrong for alleging these policies have anything to do with leninism/Bolshevism (your marxism comment is off the wall, you get your history and philosopy out of American high school or what?), they could someday, they could also lead to nationalism and fascism, which is exactly why I'm completely against them (catch it this time?).

This is an issue with which the entire german govt. is in agreement, try and use your critical thinking on that, what do you think motivates them (hint: don't think 1919-1923 and 1933-45)? Could it be that right now they are motived purely by trying to stop nazis, independent of any ideology?

Where you got race in this whole thing is entirely beyond me.
02:33 January 22, 2010 by CalBill
So, who gets to determine which group is fascist, rascist, etc..? This is the first step any truely fascist government (see:Hitler, Adolph) takes to stifle free discourse.
09:40 January 22, 2010 by Talonx
The first step of a truely fascist government is banning fascism? I think you may want to reevaluate youre statement, read up on fascism, and stop speaking in hyperbole.
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