On Saturday, September 17, AVA took part in the anti-TTIP/CETA demonstration here in Berlin. We joined our German friends from Campact, the Berliner Wassertisch, the World Wildlife Fund, Brot für die Welt, Oxfam, Greenpeace, Bund für Umwelt und Naturschutz, Attac, the DGB and many other organisations.
Come to our first-Thursday-of-the-month Stammtisch on September 1 at 8:00 pm. There’s no special event planned – so there will be time to talk about EVERYTHING. And we can definitely make plans for AVA’s participation in the big anti-TTIP demo on September 17. For anyone who needs them, we’ve got leaflets and posters, and maybe even door knob hangers, explaining the treaties and advertising the demonstration.
WE WILL BE AT CAFE DADDY AT KOLONNENSTRASSE 50. CAFE DADDY IS A FAMILY-RUN TURKISH CAFE. They have a glass case with homemadeTurkish dishes like stuffed peppers and zucchini pancakes, and they also bake their own cakes. They do not serve alcohol. We always look forward to meeting new people
Our own RICH ROSEN will talk with us about mitigating climate change and common misconceptions about what will work followed by questions and discussion.Location: Cafe Daddy; Kolonnenstr. 50; Berlin-Schöneberg
Time: 20:00-22:00: Raamson is on vacation–this is a Turkish cafe next door.
Remember: we love new people. So if you are new in town, or just haven’t been to an AVA event lately, join us.
click on photo for more photos and one video.
Next Sunday, November 29, one day before the opening of the Paris climate conference, there will be demonstrations all over the world calling for 100% renewable energy by 2050. AVAers and their friends will be meeting at 11:45 a.m. outside the Hauptbahnhof. LOOK FOR OUR BANNER next to the statue of the rolling horse on the north side of the station (Europaplatz). We will then walk to the south side of the station (Washingtonplatz), which is where the march will begin. In case of inclement weather, we’ll meet at the DB information (more…)
Panel: Paul Edwards, Anjana Shrivastava, Prof. Dr. Martin Lüthe. Click on photo for more photos.
German Premiere of the film 3 1/2 Minutes/Ten Bullets directed by Marc Silver presented by the One World Berlin Human Rights Film Festival (organized by Natalie Gravenor) and AVA-Berlin. Introduction by Pam Selwyn. The film was followed by a panel discussion with Prof. Dr. Martin Lüthe (FU Berlin/John F. Kennedy Institute), Paul Edwards (DAAD Fellow), and moderated by Anjana Shrivastava.
More information on Facebook about the movie 3 1/2 Minutes/Ten Bullets
Q&A following the film with director Marc Silver (via Skype), Prof. Dr. Martin Lüthe (FU Berlin/John F. Kennedy Institute), Paul Edwards (DAAD Fellow), moderated by Anjana Shrivastava.
click on photo for more photos
At the November 5 Stammtisch, Miguel Verde talked to AVA about the massive, and massively problematic, international trade treaty, the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership or TTIP. Miguel gave an informative talk about a complex theme followed by a lively discussion. (For additional information from Miguel, see below.) (more…)
Our regular monthly Stammtisch meets at Café X-Zeit at Welserstr. 10-12 just a few steps 
from Viktoria Luise Platz at 8 p.m.
Our dear friend David MacBryde died of pancreatic cancer on Wednesday, September 9.
His widow Sabine has sent us this invitation to David’s funeral on Wednesday, September 30, at 10:30 in the morning in the chapel of the Friedrichwerderschen Friedhof, Bergmannsgtr. 42-44 in Kreuzberg.
The next day, Thursday, October 1 at 8:00 in the evening, American Voices Abroad will dedicate its regular Stammtisch to David – we’ll look at photos and reminisce. All friends of David are welcome.
On June 4, AVA-Berlin dedicated the monthly Stammtisch to David Solomon. Ann Wertheimer read emails she received about David, Karen’s photos were shown as a slideshow, and other friends of David shared reminiscences. I’ve added these new photos to the album on flickr with the memorial service and some old photos of David. 
Dave Solomon’s friends are gathering to remember Dave and to mourn his loss tomorrow, Saturday, May 23, 
from 4:00 to 6:00 p.m. Dave’s parents, Mark and Pauline, and his brother Bill invite you to join them in the courtyard behind Books in Berlin at Goethestraße 69, 10625 Berlin. Feel free to bring memories to share. If you wish, you may donate in Dave’s memory to a cause that reflects his spirit, but the family prefers that you do not bring flowers.
Stammtisch theme: “Facts and Trends in Immigration” guest: Dr. Henriette Litta, Head of Office Expert Council of German Foundations on Integration and Migration.
Many thanks to our guest Dr. Henriette Litta for her informative talk about immigration in Germany. We had a lively discussion on this timely topic.
Drawings by CP, made at an AVA business meeting, found recently in a sketchbook.
From the TAZ, January 17, 2015
Photos © Karen Axelrad
Our regular monthly Stammtisch meets at Café X-Zeit at Welserstr. 10-12 just a few steps from Viktoria Luise Platz at 8 p.m. Phil Hill, one of our founding members, died on December 22, 2014 (he is pictured above at our brunch at the beginning of Dec.). We intend to spend some time at the Stammtisch reminiscing about Phil, telling stories or passing around photos.
On Sunday, December 7, from 12:00 am to 3:00 pm, American Voices Abroad Berlin will again be holding its annual business meeting in the separate room at La Parrilla at Albrechtstr.11 right behind the Friedrichstrasse station. If you are coming from the S-Bahn, cross the Spree and Schiffbauerdamm and there it is.
The meeting will begin promptly at 12:00. An excellent Mediterranean brunch will begin at 11:00 for all who are hungry at that hour or would just like to sit around and talk.
This meeting is open to all AVAers but only paid-up members will have voting rights (you cannot pay at the meeting) . If you still haven’t paid but would like to, please transfer €30 (or, if that’s too much at the moment, a self-assessed lesser amount) to our treasurer. For details, click on MEMBERSHIP.
More photos here.
The premiere of 1971 at the One World Film Festival was a great success. It was introduced by Natalie Gravenor and our own Isabel Cole, and followed by a panel discussion with, from left Annie Machon (former UK spy and whistleblower), Wolfgang Kaleck (European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights e.V. ECCHR) Nadja Vancauwenberghe (Editor-in-chief Exberliner Magazine), Johanna Hamilton (director 1971) and our own Ann Wertheimer, (in a double role as chair AVA-Berlin and telling her story of being spied upon by the U.S. army in the 1970s).
On November 20, AVA-Berlin will sponsor Johanna Hamilton’s film 1971 at the One World Berlin film festival. Co-produced by Laura Poitras, 1971 will open the festival on NOVEMBER 20, 7 p.m., at the ARSENAL movie theater on Potsdamer Platz. 1971 tells the story of the break-in at FBI offices in Media, Pennsylvania, in that year. Here’s the trailer for this ‘cat- and-mouse thriller’: http://www.1971film.com/. It’s a real bit of American history “before Watergate, Wikileaks and Edward Snowden”!
A discussion moderated by Nadja Vancauwenberghe, the editor of the Exberliner, will follow the screening. Special guests include director Johanna Hamilton, Wolfgang Kaleck of the European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights e.V. (ECCHR), and our own Ann Wertheimer as ‘Zeitzeugin’ of the surveillance here in Berlin in 1971. Additional special guests will be announced as soon as their presence is confirmed.
September 21, 2014 Photo by Florian Schiedhelm
Joan Klakow introducing Rev. Zorn More photos here,
It will be 50 years this coming September that Martin Luther King, Jr. visited West Berlin at the invitation of Mayor Willy Brandt. AVA’s own contribution to the Martin Luther King anniversary celebrations took place at its regular first-Thursday-of-the-month Stammtisch on September 4 at 8:00 p.m. On that evening we hosted the Rev. Ralf Zorn, an American Pastor in West Berlin and Dr. King’s interpreter and driver on that weekend 50 years ago.
AVA-Berlin supported “Call to Action: Join the Mass Rally ‘Freedom not Fear’ against surveillance at the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin”. More information here. Not all the photos represent the views of AVA-Berlin. Photos of the Demo here.
Freedom Not Fear protest march; August 30, 2014
Our chair Ann Wertheimer briefly explained our organization at the Berlin Chapter of Democrats Abroad Annual Cocktail Party/Fundraiser.
Our own Rich Rosen will give a talk with discussion on “The Science of Climate Change, and its Implications for Prevention” on June 5th at our monthly Stammtisch. Our monthly Stammtisch will, again temporarily, meet at Café X-Zeit at Welserstr. 10-12 just a few steps from Viktoria Luise Platz.
Rich, himself a scientist, has long traveled between Berlin and Boston working with the Tellus Institute – for a Great Transition – research and action for a global civilization of sustainability, equity, and well-being. The institute was established in 1976 as an interdisciplinary not-for-profit research and policy organization. The institute has launched a website called The Great Transition Initiative.
