I am Germany originated as a Twitter account in 2012, and has been going for 12 years. I am the latest curator and we're trying to see if we can revitalise the concept on Bluesky as well!

By now you should know the drill: Most will have an extra day off. Regular shops will be closed, but gas stations, restaurants and so on should be open. Expect more people travelling around and on the long weekend. Cars, trains and of course if the weather is fine people will be outside doing fun stuff (or at least something they consider fun).

The festival is an international event held in Berlin that was set up to encourage change from within the government. It showcases good practice examples.

The wheels of German bureaucracy may move slowly, but the pop-up museum will not be around for long. It will be consigned to history on June 25 and hopes to take a large chunk of red tape with it. Only time will tell if that €500,000 investment was well spent.

A higher regional court in western Germany rejected on Monday an appeal by the  Alternative for Germany (AfD) party against its classification as a "suspected" far-right extremist organization.

The judges at the court in Münster said the designation was appropriate and did not violate the constitution or European law.

"The court finds there is sufficient evidence that the AfD pursues goals that run against the human dignity of certain groups and against democracy," they wrote.

"There are grounds to suspect at least part of the party wants to accord second-rank status to German citizens with a migration background."

The party criticized the decision, claiming that the proceedings lacked "sufficient clarification of the facts." It said it would "of course" lodge another appeal.

What does the decision mean?

The status makes it easier for the domestic intelligence agency BfV to investigate and surveil AfD members or recruit informants from within the organization.

DW correspondent Simon Young, reporting from Münster, said the court likened the status to a "smoke alarm" to mean that if an alarm went off in a house, police would break down the door to see if there was a fire.  

German Interior Minister Nancy Faeser, a Social Democrat, welcomed the decision. "Today's ruling shows that we are a defensive democracy," she said. 

The AfD unsuccessfully challenged the designation at a lower court in the western city of Cologne in 2022. It can still appeal the decision on a federal level.

How popular is the AfD in Germany? 

The AfD is topping opinion polls in several eastern states, such as Saxony, that are due to hold elections later this year. It is also polling nationally at around 20% amid high dissatisfaction with Chancellor Olaf Scholz's left-leaning ruling coalition.

However, the party is less popular in some major cities and western parts of Germany. 

The party has increasingly come under scrutiny from government agencies amid allegations linking it to espionage on behalf of Russia and China. 

"It remains to be seen if this decision by the court puts any dent in that [popularity] or possibly, as some suggest, it might even embolden some supporters of the far-right AfD," DW's Young said.

Ich besuche meine Familie nächste Woche, und ich will kleine Geschenke mitbringen.

I know American chocolate is inferior, but I assume it's still a novelty. Some kind of candies probably, too. What else? Many years ago they loved to get boxed breakfast cereal and paper napkins, which seems quaint now.

It's been years since I've seen them, and I'm sure everyone there can buy whatever they want on the Internet, but it will still be fun to bring something.

Any suggestions for an Ausländer?

Baraa Odeh, 34, works for the German Agency for International Cooperation (GIZ), and was detained by Israeli border guards on March 5 while returning to her home in Ramallah from a work trip to Germany.

She has since been sentenced to three months of administrative detention without charge. Neither her husband, who is a German national, nor her family have had direct contact with Odeh since her arrest. “Our life is upside down,” her sister Shireen Odeh told Al Jazeera, adding that her family is extremely concerned for her wellbeing.

“When she arrived [at Hasharon] prison, she was strip-searched while the policewoman was shouting at her. She was kept in a cell and later, a policeman that also shouted at her beat her on her leg,” said Hassan, who works with Addameer Prisoner Support, an NGO that supports Palestinian prisoners.

Tomorrow is Labour Day and next week on Thursday is Ascension Day. Most shops will be closed. But restaurants, petrol stations and shops that offer 'Reisebedarf'/travel necessities will be open.

There will be festivities in a lot of places especially tonight (Tanz in den Mai - dance into May) and also tomorrow. And as it's Labour Day there will be Union organised demonstrations and more.

Ascension Day in some areas more commonly known as the less spiritual and more spirits-induced Herrentag or Vatertag. Expect a lot of people out walking, cycling, partying.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/14275159

In Berlin, police swiftly shut down a pro-Palestine conference just after it kicked off, citing concerns regarding a speaker prohibited from engaging in political activities within Germany.

Although the police didn't disclose the speaker's name, attendees of the congress indicated on X that it was Palestinian researcher Salman Abu Sitta.

This development unfolded alongside another incident where British-Palestinian doctor Dr. Ghassan Abu Sittah was refused entry into Germany to participate in the conference.

Short Summary

1. Pro-Palestine conference in Berlin shut down by police due to concerns about a speaker prohibited from political activities in Germany.
2. British Palestinian Dr. Ghassan Abu Sitta was also denied entry to Germany for the conference.
3. Dr. Abu Sitta was questioned for 3.5 hours and informed he would not be allowed to enter Germany for the whole of April.
4. Concerns about crackdown on free speech, especially in light of the situation in Gaza described by some as a genocide.
5. Airport authorities cited safety concerns and public order for denying entry to Dr. Abu Sitta.
6. Berlin Police have taken a firm stance on pro-Palestinian demonstrations since the Gaza conflict began.
7. Germany is accused of aiding genocide in Gaza due to its military sales to Israel, making it one of Israel's primary military suppliers.

Prominent British-Palestinian surgeon Ghassan Abu Sittah said authorities in Germany have detained him and are refusing him entry into the country.

Abu Sittah was due to speak at a Palestinian conference in Berlin on Friday. The surgeon said he had been invited to the conference to speak "about my work in Gaza hospitals". "The German government has forcibly prevented me from entering the country," he posted on X.

Since leaving Gaza in late November, the doctor has been raising awareness about the impact of Israel's war, which has killed more than 33,000 Palestinians.

In the initial weeks after Israel began its assault, Abu Sittah was the unofficial English-language representative of Palestinian doctors and surgeons treating Palestinians wounded by Israeli attacks.

He accused the Israeli military of using white phosphorus, which is illegal in built-up and populated areas like Gaza, and deliberately targeting children. In an interview with MEE after he left Gaza, Abu Sittah said medics were using household items to treat patients because of an Israeli-imposed blockade on medical equipment entering the enclave.

Berlin has been a key supplier of armaments to Israel in its war on Gaza and has also been one of its main advocates.

Germany is currently subject to an International Court of Justic (ICJ) case filed by Nicaragua, which accuses it of “facilitating” Israeli genocide in Gaza. The ICJ is also considering a case filed by South Africa accusing Israel of genocide.

A leading Jewish American philosopher has been disinvited from taking up a prestigious professorship at the University of Cologne after signing a letter expressing solidarity with Palestinians and condemning the killings in Gaza carried out by Israeli forces.

They said the letter, titled Philosophy for Palestine, which was signed by Fraser and several hundred other academics, was separate from Fraser’s work as a scholar and that her guest professorship had nothing to do with the Israel-Palestine conflict.

Cologne University said in a statement its decision to cancel the invitation had been made “with great regret”. It said the reason was that in the letter signed by Fraser, “Israel’s right to exist as an ‘ethno-supremacist state’ since its foundation in 1948 is called into question. The terror attacks by Hamas on Israel of 7 October 2023 is [sic] elevated to an act of legitimate resistance.”

Boooooooo!!!

It seems that with unusually warm temperature came unusually bad air. Any ideas why?

Happy Easter everyone, btw!

Good news for people who need to use the Deutsche Bahn. It won't help much concerning the general problems of reliability/punctuality unfortunately.

My buddy and I were discussing the allowed blood alcohol content for driving (purely hypothetically) and how it varies across countries and then we stumbled upon the question in the title. Would be curious to hear if you guys know any good examples.

Today, noyb has filed a complaint and report against the German credit agency SCHUFA with the Hessian data protection authority. The company appears to be making millions of euros by selling people in Germany their own data. With the help of manipulative designs, people are prevented from obtaining a free copy of their data in accordance with Article 15 GDPR – even though they would actually be legally entitled to it. The company’s primary aim appears to be to profit from people looking for accommodation. In Germany, they often have to provide proof of solvency in order to obtain a lease.

The part that might be interesting for people:

Concealed rights. On its own website, SCHUFA only advertises its so-called “BonitätsAuskunft” for €29.95 to private individuals and claims that it offers an “advantage on the housing market”. A transparent reference to the Article 15 GDPR right to free information is not provided. Using manipulative designs, the company is trying to push the sale of paid products and even falsely presents the free information as unsuitable for submission to third parties.

Martin Baumann, data protection lawyer at noyb: “SCHUFA is falsely claiming that only its paid products can be presented to third parties. In reality, the European Court of Justice has emphasised several times that data subjects are allowed to do whatever they want with their free information."

Obviously a 10/10 but I'd be interested in your thoughts? 🤔