Gen Z mobilizes for November 20th – hundreds on the streets on Saturday

The Gen Z Regulates initiative took to the streets in several cities on Saturday. With demonstrations and creative actions such as street theater, she mobilized again for the Europe-wide day of protest on November 20th. The police responded in many places with a massive contingent and sometimes with violence.

Hundreds of demonstrators were once again on the streets on Saturday for the Gen Z Regulates initiative's day of action. In addition to demonstrations in Berlin and Düsseldorf, various actions took place across the country. Throughout the day there was mobilization for the next big day of protest on November 20th, when young people across Europe will take to the streets.

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The focus of the protest was resistance to social cuts, rearmament and conscription. As a speaker in Berlin summarized, Gen Z is at the center of the protests because they “feel the political crises very directly.” “But we are not just protesting for our own generation, but for everyone who has been torn apart by this state before us,” she continued. “For all those who come after us.”

Anger at Merz and police violence on the Kudamm

In BerlingatheredAround 5:30 p.m. around 1,400 demonstrators gathered near the Kudamm. Opposite them was a large police presence: 700 police officers, even though the demo was only registered for 100 participants. The police even deployed dog squads to protect individual luxury shops on Kudamm.

Despite the one-on-two support and the police attacks that began shortly after the start of the demonstration, the procession remained confident and combative. Accompanied by slogans against conscription and social cuts, pyrotechnics were set off. Chancellor Friedrich Merz (CDU) was also repeatedly the focus of the protest: a large banner with the inscription “Merz must go” could be seen at the back of the train, and the slogan “War, crisis, inflation – Friedrich Merz, you son of a bitch” was chanted again and again.

Before the demonstration began, a speaker made it clear once again why Friedrich Merz's policies were so unpopular with Gen Z: "Bundeswehr in our schools. Universities that have to close one building after another because they are falling apart. Closed youth clubs. Forking out 4,000 euros for a driver's license and a Friedrich Merz who sees half of us as cannon fodder and the other half as little pashas who disrupt his cityscape."

As on October 31st in Berlin, the police used violence against demonstrators, arrested 22 people, used pain grips and beat one after the end of the demonstrationS-Bahnon demonstrators.

Gen Z rules: A step forward

Merz as a theater character and police checks in Frankfurt

In Frankfurt it was also about Friedrich Merz, albeit in a different way: in a street theater, an activist in the role of the Federal Chancellor presented the “Gen Z Calming Act”. Activists in the audience protested against this and were apparently arrested. The sentence “Defend yourself so we can really beat you in the face!” was usedreal casefrom Leipzig after the demonstration on October 31st.

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But the actual police were also on site with several cars and a drone. During the event, activists also reported how they were pushed against the wall by the police on the way there and had to hand over their personal details.

Ban on demonstrations in Stuttgart and resistance to racist division

Hundreds of teenagers and young adults also took to the streets in Baden-Württemberg. In KarlsruheexplainedSpeaker Emma said the protest was “fighting for a future in which we can afford rent, food and a good life”. The racist division in the media and politics, for example through terms such as “riot migrants” in the run-up to the last demonstration, was also rejected: People fight “together, regardless of skin color, religion or origin”. By attempting such a division, they are “only distracting from the social ills to which they have no answers,” she explained.

The second big demonstrationwas allowedin Stuttgart with over 500 participants didn't even start. According to the city and police, the meeting was registered too late and the necessary traffic regulations could not have been organized in time. DemcontradictThe organizers said vehemently: The demo had been registered early and officially confirmed.

A small feeder demonstration defied the ban on demonstrations even before the rally began. The police, who were deployed with horse squads, briefly surrounded the activists and, according to eyewitness reports, beat one person bloody, who then had to be treated in hospital. Even during the rally, the mood remained good despite the police violence and extensive shielding by vehicles and officers.

There are also reports of police violence during the demonstration from Karlsruhe. The demonstration was stopped several times and the police are said to have physically attacked young people. A spokeswoman assures: “We will not be intimidated, the mood was combative throughout.” Another demonstration is also planned in Karlsruhe on November 20th.

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Against broken schools, rearmament and conscription

Young people also took to the streets in North Rhine-Westphalia, in Düsseldorf and Wuppertal. There were around two police officers for every 200 participants. A demonstrator in Düsseldorf focused on broken schools, rising rents and inflation. At the same time, armaments are being continued and compulsory military service is being introduced. “As young people, we obviously suffer enormously from this,”explainedshe.

Several speakers in Wuppertal emphasized that the protests had to be cross-generational. One speaker pointed out the precarious situation of trans people, whose rights are being increasingly curtailed. Another reported on her experiences helping migrants who were marginalized in Germany and who were particularly exposed to racist incitement during the Gen Z protests.

There was police action during the open microphone: several participants were detained after distributing flyers. One of them was then taken away by state security and the police because of an alleged pending identification measure. In solidarity with the activist, who said he had not previously received a summons in the mail, a large proportion of the demonstrators held a spontaneous rally in front of police headquarters.

It continues on November 20th

The day of action showed that the anger over social cuts, rearmament and conscription has not yet subsided. Despite a ban on demonstrations in Stuttgart, huge police presences in Berlin and Frankfurt and reports of police violence in several cities, hundreds of young people took to the streets across Germany. At the same time, there was no major mobilization like on October 31st. This will now follow again on November 20th. Then young people all over Europe are called upon to take to the streets together. The message remains the same as Saturday: Gen Z cannot be calmed down.

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