Left Party | Left according to Spiegel report: Under observation in the Don Xuan House

On the steps in the House of Representatives, but not yet in power: The Left faction on Thursday at the first plenary session Photo: IMAGO/Mike Schmidt The Berlin Left actually wanted to concentrate on its extraordinary state party conference. About the start of coalition negotiations, and that's all it should be about on Saturday in the Don Xuan House in Lichtenberg. This is probably one of the reasons why the question of what consequences will follow the diagnosed loss of trust in MP Vanessa Emde has so far been postponed.

Compared to "nd", the state chairmen Kerstin Wolter and Maximilian Schirmer tried to draw attention to issues related to Berlin: rent crisis, socialization, discounted social ticket, free bulky waste collection and neighborhood canteens. “We have set out on the path for an affordable Berlin, a social city and now want to continue on this path,” explained Wolter and Schirmer. "We are sure that on this basis the state party conference will vote with a large majority in favor of starting coalition talks." 175 delegates are expected at the party conference, which will focus exclusively on coalition formation. More than 20 applications were submitted. It is now absurd that the party congress ultimately does not agree to start coalition negotiations.

After the media publication of the "Spiegel" about the non-publication of an interview with mayoral candidate Elif Eralp, the party conference is now likely to attract even more attention. It's not just the press that will listen closely to the speeches of the two state chairmen and Elif Eralp himself. Members of the party and supporters of the extra-parliamentary left will be hoping for a variety of answers. Eralp will arrive with personal protection.

As an initial reaction to the Spiegel article, the leadership of the Berlin Left criticized the publication as such. Contrary to the requests of Eralp and her team, the magazine published the name of a hardliner supporting Palestine solidarity, whom Eralp held responsible for surprising border crossings during the election campaign. Also printed was Eralp's justification, which was also not intended for the public, that she and her family were "afraid of these people" and that the LKA had advised her never to mention the specific names of people with contact with Hamas.

While Eralp still seemed desperate in the comments published by "Spiegel", she appeared broad-shouldered in front of the press on the day of publication and on the sidelines of the first session of the Berlin House of Representatives. She promised that she would ensure the safety of all Berliners. She followed up in a video on Instagram in the evening. She is open to any discussion, but there are boundaries that have been crossed by “Spiegel” reporting, especially where her safety and that of her family are at stake. "But I won't let myself be intimidated," said Eralp.

"We are saying very clearly that a mother who is afraid for her children is predestined to ensure security in Berlin."

Eralp also wants to take legal action against “Spiegel” and has lodged a complaint with the German Press Council. Her co-parliamentary group leader Tobias Schulze described the approach towards the RBB as “dishonest”. The “Spiegel” itself described the publication as the result of a weighing process. “In the end, the security of Berlin trumps the security of a governing mayor,” wrote editor-in-chief Dirk Kurbjuweit. The courts are likely to weigh up the comments, but the unauthorized parts of the answer should not have been published, said media lawyer Christian Schertz in the “Tagesspiegel”.

The Berlin Left initially did not comment further on the not new accusations from “Spiegel”, according to which the origin of the threat extends to the radicalized Palestinian solidarity camp of their own party. However, Eralp emphasized: "In this Berlin, organized crime, violence and glorification of terror and any form of misanthropy and everything that threatens the safety of the people in our city have no place."

The day after its publication, there is no one in political Berlin who cannot empathize with Elif Eralp's fears, especially in her role as a mother. However, the conclusions differ. “Especially a mother who is afraid for her children,” said Tobias Schulze, is predestined to “ensure security in Berlin.” CDU parliamentary group leader Stefan Evers, however, doubted whether Eralp was suitable for this. With a view to the suspected threatening people and structures surrounding the Berlin Left, Evers said: "It is obviously limited in its possibilities and is exercising restraint here for various reasons that are not just political."

The possible coalition partners Greens and SPD will probably continue to be willing to form a left-wing alliance. Both factions were irritated by an invitation from the CDU to explore the matter. With the previous agreements on dealing with anti-Semitism, organized crime and internal security, Steffen Krach sees himself as well prepared, even after the most recent developments. The state chairman of the Berlin SPD told the RBB that he was "glad that these issues are now gone and that the Left also says we have to strengthen the police and we also have to strengthen the Office for the Protection of the Constitution."

These and other agreements that contradict one's own election promises are calling other leftists onto the scene. Under the motto »No coalition on our backs. Elected for Palestine. Betrayed for the Senate," calls the "Internationalist Alliance Berlin" for a rally in front of the Don Xuan House. In addition to the strengthening of the security authorities, they criticize, among other things, a weakening of the socialization of housing stocks of private real estate companies, an overly broad definition of anti-Semitism that restricts freedom of expression, social cuts and the continuation of military research with Israeli companies. All of this is falling victim to “government madness”. Instead, the groups are demanding that election promises be kept.

The members of the self-described Palestine solidarity alliance include, among others, the district association of the Left in Neukölln and the State Working Group for Palestine Solidarity of the Left in Berlin, but also the United Palestinian National Committee, in which the man who Eralp did not want to name in "Spiegel" is said to play a central role.

The Internationalist Alliance described the man as a comrade and said he was being unfairly portrayed "by the pro-Israel media as a terrorist and anti-Semite." In fact, many reports rely on unverifiable information from the secret services. The left increasingly has the impression that it is adopting racist narratives "in order to jointly attack internationalist forces with bourgeois media and force them out of the party and their own faction," an allusion to Vanessa Emde, who spoke out on Instagram on Thursday evening. She announced that she would soon speak plainly.

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