On 7 October, I went for dinner in Neukolln, Berlin. In the street, German police officers were asking people for their ID cards, dismissing pro-Palestinian crowds, and making sure that people were no longer handing out stickers with the flag of Palestine on them or chanting “Free Palestine”. This reminded me of a scene from the infamous 1999German movie Sonnenallee, where a checkpoint was still in operation for a few months and East Berliners had to show their identity documents, which were stamped at the time by the GDR border authorities.
A few Palestinian youngsters were celebrating at Hermannplatz earlier by handing out Arabic sweets in the middle of Berlin. This was their way of celebrating the revival of Palestinian resistance which has been diminished for many years within occupied Palestine because of the complicity of the Palestinian Authority with Israel, as well as beyond Palestine due to the oblivious international community and its refusal to apply international laws and conventions to the occupation. These youngsters are the exiled children and grandchildren of those Palestinians driven out of their homeland in the 1948 Nakba and the 1967 Arab-Israeli War (the Naksa). They will cheer for anything that gives them hope that they might return to their homeland. According to Nagib Mahfouz, Egyptian writer and Nobel Laureate, “Home is not the place where you are born. It is the place where all your attempts to escape cease.” Perhaps Germany will be such a place one day.
Once you arrive in what is known as the “Street of Arabs” in Berlin, you are greeted by the official street sign: Sonnenallee (Sun Avenue). The writing is underlined by a sticker proclaiming “Free Palestine”. Walk the lively streets in the neighbourhood and ghosts of Palestinian detainees, prisoners and martyrs gaze at you from every poster on their walls. Various Arabic dialects are heard; poetic graffiti is sprayed left and right; signs are in Arabic, German and Turkish; and the smells are of frying oil and tobacco, Syrian desserts, Turkish doner and baklava, Iraqi spices and Lebanese pastries, with a soundtrack of Kurdish and Egyptian music. It is very loud and chaotic compared with other parts of the city. Such is life. Sonnenallee is a space that allows for cultural translation and healthy dialogues.
Source : MEMO