antimilitarism | Protests against maneuvers: No NATO port in Hamburg!

A new symbolism: In the Barmbek district of Hamburg, the anti-militarist alliance has already put up posters for the demonstration on Saturday. Photo: IMAGO/Hanno Bode Starting Thursday, war will be played in Hamburg for three days. To be more precise: rehearsals are carried out in an emergency. During the “Red Storm Charlie” maneuver coordinated by the Bundeswehr, the Hanseatic city will be transformed into a training field for military emergencies for the third time since 2024. So for a scenario in which Germany has to quickly move troops and material to the so-called eastern flank of the alliance as part of its NATO commitments?

As in previous years, the focus is on the Port of Hamburg. Troops and material arrive here and are then supposed to pass through Hamburg quickly from west to east. It will also be tested how cooperation with the police and fire brigade works and how injured people can be cared for. For the first time, the University Hospital in Hamburg-Eppendorf (UKE) will also be included.

The “No NATO Port” alliance is calling for widespread protests against maneuvers. On Tuesday, at a press conference in Hamburg, the initiators described their motives for the actions, which will begin on Thursday and end on Saturday with a large demonstration in the city center. The alliance criticized the military exercise as “preparing for war,” said Raoul Klein from the General Student Committee of the Hamburg University of Applied Sciences (HAW). He also complains that parts of the HAW are involved in the maneuver. Klein finds this “forgetful of history.” Because it goes against “academic freedom, which, as a consequence of fascism and the world war, is committed to the finality of peace and human dignity in the Basic Law.” In addition, a civil clause still applies at the HAW, which obliges it to work on “exclusively peaceful goals and civil purposes”.

The Auschwitz Committee in the Federal Republic, the student association Die Linke.SDS, the youth association Linksjugend solid and the Trade Union for Education and Science (GEW) Hamburg are calling for the actions. The alliance also includes representatives of the service union Verdi, the critical doctors at the University of Hamburg and the Hamburg initiative against arms exports. In addition to the demo, a concert for peace is planned on Thursday at Jungfernstieg. The poster motif for the demo completely dispenses with the depiction of military equipment. You can see an older lady with a basket full of lemons, next to the slogan “Zitroon instead of Kanoon”.

In addition to the militarization of society, the initiators are also concerned about the direction of the maneuver - towards the east. “For the repeated time in history, the focus is on the danger from the East,” warns Lars Kaufmann from the Democratic Left 21 in the SPD, which is also calling for protests, in the interview “nd”. Russia is being demonized and once again portrayed as a central threat.

Svenja Horn from the Hamburg Initiative Against Arms Exports agrees with him. She called for “nd” to “return to the lessons of 1945.” The UN Charter and the Basic Law were the answer to the devastating consequences of the Second World War. The planned maneuver opens the space towards preparation for war.

In addition to the relocation of military equipment, the alliance also criticizes the involvement of civil society. This year, the UKE will demonstrate its functionality as an expanded field hospital for the first time. »Helicopters should fly injured people to the UKE. In addition to the noise pollution, the waiting time for patients could also be significantly longer during the maneuvers. Instead of creating sensible and health-preserving conditions in the long term, billions are being invested in armaments," criticizes Hagen Pöhlmann from the Critical Medical Scientists at the University of Hamburg.

In addition to the UKE, the district offices should also be used to support military logistics. And the Chamber of Commerce and Crafts invites you to a “Red Storm Business” to rehearse for a power outage in the event of war. Instead of “geopolitical fantasies,” Tom Weitkämper of the Left Youth demands that more investment should be made in emancipatory education, a healthcare system that actually heals and civil science.

Franz Krause, active at ver.di Hamburg and a staff member at the job center, wants to take part in the protests against the increasing integration of the military and civil institutions. He is convinced that the maneuver serves to "declare the military as normal, war as everyday, fateful and insurmountable."

With their concert under the motto "Those who dance, don't stand at attention" and the planned large-scale demonstration "No to Red Storm Charlie - Yes to social progress," the initiators want to set an example for peace. When asked, the activists emphasized that they were also not satisfied with Russia's current policy. »The populations – whether in Germany, Russia or Ukraine – want peace. But you can only achieve this through diplomacy,” says Lars Kaufmann. The West, on the other hand, is relying unilaterally on rearmament. The current crisis of capitalism and the purely military response to it would also obscure the real contradiction, namely that between top and bottom. For Svenja Horn, the problem is not an allegedly threatening “invasion from the East”, but rather social cuts, social division and the billions invested in armaments.

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