Arrests at the May Day Autonomous Demo in Berlin

Jessica from Hamburg still needs to practice hating capitalism a little. Although she is on Sunday with a friend at the “revolutionary May Day demonstration” in Berlin and holds up a self-painted protest sign, she earns her money herself, even though she has given up her previous job in an agency in order not to ” to make someone else rich”. The pros among their fellow demonstrators have already made it further: they allow themselves to be financed by the state they reject – a dialectical existence.

Since those fellow demonstrators still feel exploited by the “system”, they take to the streets every year to protest against the system. In the past two years, this was only possible to a limited extent due to the pandemic, but this time all restrictions have been lifted, there is a lot to catch up on, and there is also war in Ukraine and inflation in Germany.

Of the numerous May Day demonstrations in the German capital – about 20 were registered – this is ritually the worst. Cars regularly go up in flames, stones fly and windows shatter. It usually starts peacefully and escalates after dark.

This Sunday around 14,000 people come to the demonstration in the notorious Neukölln district. The protest march is led by a block of mainly Turkish and Arabic migrants known as “Migrantifa”. In the evening, bottles are thrown, bengalos and firecrackers are lit, a policeman gets a smoke pot on his head. Escalation is in the air. A Palestinian demonstration was banned two days earlier. Anti-Israel slogans are shouted.

The demonstrators have a wide variety of concerns: against war, for Afghan women, for animal rights, against Israeli settlement policy, for sex work. A woman is out and about with bare breasts, and people are smoking pot like crazy, all under the eyes of the police, but they are concentrating on other things and ignoring the violations of the law.

Part party mood, part wanted escalation

Around 6 p.m., the atmosphere in Neukölln, where the various groups have been gathering for the large demonstration since 4:30 p.m., is still peaceful. This “Labor Day” means a lot of work – and turnover – for the kebab shops and late-night shops along the route. After a short time, large quantities of empty beer bottles are already standing in islands around the public garbage cans; later they make even more destructive careers as projectiles. A huge police force with impressively brawny officials from several federal states spread around and in the surrounding streets. The district of Neukölln has approved five street festivals, so the originally planned route for the demonstration train has to be changed, which “Migrantifa” immediately denounces as a “dirty trick”.

The festival organized by the district to break the fast is particularly well attended. In the middle of the Arabian mile Sonnenallee around 2000 people celebrate the end of Ramadan with music and singing.

The new guest workers

Of course, speeches are also held at the Autonomendemo, there is talk of exploitation and class struggle. A speaker describes the workers as “the marginalized of our society”. A migrant also speaks, in English, and here the word about exploitation suddenly no longer sounds so wrong: “We are everywhere and yet invisible,” she exclaims, “we clean buildings and deliver food, we have temporary contracts and no social security, we are being exploited. Until we finally reach the promised land and our diplomas are recognized, we are the new guest workers.» There’s something to it – measured by the fact that the German economy is desperately looking for skilled workers, Germany actually makes it surprisingly difficult for qualified newcomers.

By 9 p.m. the demonstration had reached Oranienplatz in the neighboring district of Kreuzberg. According to the police, it remains “mostly” peaceful. Bottles and firecrackers occasionally fly, as well as stones, and there are arrests.

In the morning, however, there had already been an egg toss at the social democratic governing mayor Franziska Giffey when she spoke at the central rally of the German trade union federation at the Brandenburg Gate. The egg was repelled by her bodyguard, and Giffey then broke off her speech. The organizers reacted indignantly and shouted “Are you having a bang?” into the audience. In the evening at the Autonomendemo, many were happy about the egg toss. The social democrat Giffey is in charge of a left-wing alliance, but is considered by many to be too “right”.

The nationwide central May Day rally took place in Düsseldorf; German Chancellor Olaf Scholz spoke there. He repeatedly referred to the Russian war of aggression in Ukraine. Among other things, he expressed concern that the war would also result in famine, since the Ukraine, one of the world’s great breadbaskets, was now massively restricted in its export opportunities. Scholz assured: “We will not leave these poor countries alone, we will support them.” He rejected the demands of his critics not to supply heavy weapons to Ukraine.