Americans who live abroad may wonder why they should join an American political group if they don’t live in the United States. Shouldn’t we be concerned with the politics of the country where we live? Can’t we express our political opinions with international groups like Amnesty International or Greenpeace? Can’t we take part in U.S. politics by donating to candidates in races in the United States, or by writing letters and signing petitions as individuals? Yes, yes, and yes.
Yet many of us want to get together to clarify and discuss the issues that concern us. And some of us have found such a forum here in Berlin with American Voices Abroad. Independent of political parties and party lines, AVA provides an opportunity to think about issues more deeply and share information about them. If we’re lucky, our discussions lead to a sense of community and connection to the world. And if we’re very lucky, the discussions may even lead to action: demonstrations, public letters, cooperative actions with other groups.
Our history: Two groups of anti-war Americans planning to march from opposite ends of Berlin’s biggest Iraq war demonstration on February 15, 2003, got wind of each other and arranged to meet in the middle. Needless to say, this proved to be an impossible endeavour in the crowd of 500,000 people—but find each other we did, if not that afternoon. Originally we called ourselves Americans in Berlin Against the War. Conversations and meetings then led to the creation of American Voices Abroad Berlin or AVA for short.
By now, over 20 years later, we can say that AVA offers the forum that we wanted and the community that grew out of it. We hope that you will join us at our Stammtisch on the first Thursday of every month, usually face-to-face but now and then via Zoom. There will be a lot to talk about and a lot of things to do in 2024.
—Ann Wertheimer, Chair, American Voices Abroad Berlin
