An Scéal

Irish Bloc Berlin

An Scéal is an interview podcast from members of the Irish Bloc Berlin. It aims to amplify voices from the Palestine solidarity movement in Germany and beyond, featuring interviews, stories, and analysis from activists, organisers, and cultural workers. Focused on the connections between Irish and Palestinian solidarity and struggles, the podcast explores shared histories, current challenges, and practical ways to support justice and liberation efforts. The podcast will also engage with other themes relating to the current historical moment, and the role of culture and art in global struggles.

  1. Protest Under Pressure: Crackdown on Dissent and Academic Freedom at Freie Universität Berlin

    May 11

    Protest Under Pressure: Crackdown on Dissent and Academic Freedom at Freie Universität Berlin

    An interview with Noa Élie Monaé, co-director of the documentary film Protest Under Pressure. All over the world students have joined the movement for the liberation of Palestine and an end to the genocide in Gaza. They have frequently borne the brunt of state-sanctioned police violence – often with the explicit approval of their universities. Be it on campus or on the streets, Palestinians as well as other racialised and marginalised groups face significant consequences in advocating for universal human rights, including legal procedures, smear campaigns, and threats of deportation.The documentary Protest Under Pressure by Noa Élie Monaé, Elena Avolio, and Nora Weise situates the crackdown on dissent and academic freedom at Freie Universität Berlin within the wider context of repression in Germany, serving as a testament to the complicity of German universities in Israel's war crimes. Interview by Síofra of the Irish Bloc Berlin. Trailer: https://youtu.be/m6qIw_kuwSg Protest Under Pressure linktree: https://linktr.ee/protestUP for applications for screenings, trailer, email, poster etc. Information regarding institutions and people mentioned in the interview: The ‘BILD Zeitung’ is a German tabloid newspaper, with the largest circulation in Europe. ‘After more than 300 lecturers from Berlin universities signed an open letter that accused Freie Universität Berlin of violating its duty towards dialogue and non-violent engagement with students ... Three days later, the right-wing tabloid, BILD, published the names and faces of several signatories under a headline that described them as “Tater”, the German word for “perpetrator”, which often carries an implied comparison with the Nazis.’ Source:https://www.aljazeera.com/features/2024/5/25/punched-choked-kicked-german-police-crack-down-on-student-protests FU: Freie Universität Berlin (Free University Berlin). Udi Raz, author of ‘Jew. Despite Germany’, an illustrated autobiography with artwork by Ariel Victor:https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/germany-crackdown-israel-gaza-jewish-activist Hebh Jamal: https://hebhjamal.substack.com/ Maya Wind, author of ‘Towers of Ivory and Steel’, book on how Israeli universities serve as pillars of Israel's system of oppression against Palestinians: https://www.mayaywind.com/book Rudi Dutschke, German sociologist and political activist, considered the face of the 1968 student movement, shot by a right-wing extremist following smear campaigns in newspapers such as ‘BILD’ in 1968, died in 1979: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rudi_Dutschke Shir Hever: https://www.shirhever.com/ The Palestine Test for German Universities: https://www.merip.org/2026/04/the-palestine-test-for-german-universities/ Urgent alert, Germany: your academy’s complacency has just been ruptured:https://etosmedia.de/politik/urgent-alert-germany-your-academys-complacency-has-just-been-ruptured/

    42 min
  2. EU-Israel: Partners in Crime

    Apr 21

    EU-Israel: Partners in Crime

    Interview with Niamh Ní Bhrían about the Transnational Institute’s (TNI) report on EU complicity in the Gaza Genocide, including the EU-Israel Association Agreement. The report, titled ‘Partners in Crime – EU complicity in Israel’s genocide in Gaza’ can be found here: https://www.tni.org/en/publication/partners-in-crime-EU-complicity-Israel-genocide-Gaza The petition ‘European Citizens' Initiative - Demand the full suspension of the EU-Israel Association Agreement in view of Israel’s violations of human rights’ can be signed here: https://citizens-initiative.europa.eu/initiatives/details/2025/000005_en Or at https://www.justiceforpalestine.eu/ or at https://www.instagram.com/justiceforpalestineeu/ The Transnational Institute (TNI) is also on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/transnationalinstitute/ According to Raz Segel, an Israeli historian, Associate Professor of Holocaust and Genocide Studies and Endowed Professor in the Study of Modern Genocide at Stockton University, USA, on 19 Sep 2025 : "Israel has, so far, killed in its genocide in Gaza since October 2023 more than 115,000 Palestinians and created the conditions for the painful deaths of nearly 350,000 more. Almost half a million people out of a population of 2.3 million – more than 20 percent." Link: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/14623528.2025.2557712 Skewering History: The Odious Politics of Counting Gaza’s Dead https://arena.org.au/politics-of-counting-gazas-dead/ We discuss the activities of arms companies and other actors during the interview. Elbit Systems: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elbit_Systems Rheinmetall, German arms company, with a long history. According to Wikipedia: ‘During the Second World War, numerous forced labourers worked in the Rheinmetall factories. In the Unterlüß plant alone, around 5,000 foreign forced labourers and prisoners of war, approximately 2,500 Poles, 1,000 from the USSR, 500 Yugoslavs, 1,000 from other countries, were liberated by British troops at the end of the war. Between 1944 and 1945, Rheinmetall-Borsig took over the sponsorship of the nursery for foreign children in Unterlüß, which was also a maternity home for forced labourers and a killing centre for their children. At times, Hungarian Jewish women from a subcamp of the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp were deployed in Unterlüß.’ Link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rheinmetall Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Israel_Aerospace_Industries Frontex: ‘Much of the technology used to monitor migration in the Mediterranean — and to follow the Madleen activist vessel — was battle-tested in Gaza’. Link: https://newlinesmag.com/spotlight/the-israeli-drones-guarding-fortress-europe/ EU Group of Personalities report: https://op.europa.eu/en/publication-detail/-/publication/acbeac0e-faf0-11e5-b713-01aa75ed71a1

    43 min
  3. Lemkin Institute: German Genocide Denial

    Apr 8

    Lemkin Institute: German Genocide Denial

    The Lemkin Institute for Genocide Prevention recently issued a ‘Statement on the Role of Civil Society Organizations in Sustaining German Genocide Denial’, which ‘condemns the persistent efforts by several high-profile German civil society organizations to deny the ongoing genocide in Gaza and to disseminate disinformation and denialist narratives among German political decision-makers.’ In this podcast we speak to Melissa Eichhorn, member of the Lemkin Institute leadership team, about what led the Lemkin Institute to issue this statement and its content. The Lemkin Institute statement: https://www.lemkininstitute.com/statements-new-page/statement-on-the-role-of-civil-society-organizations-in-sustaining-german-genocide-denial--- The Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide can be read here (it’s quite short) and worth a read: https://www.ohchr.org/en/instruments-mechanisms/instruments/convention-prevention-and-punishment-crime-genocide Some of the organisations mentioned in the interview are Christen an der Seite Israels (CSI): https://csi-aktuell.de/english/ The European Leadership Network (ELNET):https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ELNET German Israel Society: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German%E2%80%93Israeli_Society Europe-Israel Press Association:https://ngoreport.org/europe-israel-press-association/ Raphael Lemkin: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raphael_Lemkin Also of relevance is the report by UN Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese’s report ‘ Forever-Occupation, genocide, and profit: Special Rapporteur’s report exposes corporate forces behind destruction of Palestine’: https://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2025/07/forever-occupation-genocide-and-profit-special-rapporteurs-report-exposes

    50 min
  4. "This Isn't Normal" – Families of the Ulm 5 Speak Out

    Mar 29

    "This Isn't Normal" – Families of the Ulm 5 Speak Out

    This episode is a recording of statements made by the families and friends of the Ulm 5 at an event held in Berlin on the 22 of March. The Ulm 5 are five activists who were arrested last September after attempting to stop the flow of weapons to Israel during the Gaza Genocide from an Elbit Systems factory in Ulm, Germany. They have since been held in separate prisons across Germany for seven months, charged with trespass, property destruction, and being a members of a ‘criminal organisation’ under ‘Section 129’ of the German criminal code. They are being subject to harsh detention conditions, including solitary confinement, 23-hour lock-up, extremely restricted activities, and surveilled visits, phone calls and post, under ‘under conditions that breach the right to adequate, confidential and unrestricted legal representation, the right to be heard, and the right to a fair trial’ (lawyers’ statement). Germany, which supplies a third of all weapons delivered to Israel, is currently on trial at the International Court of Justice for complicity in the Gaza Genocide. ‘Section 129’ is also being used against climate activists in Germany, which has been criticised by UN Special Rapporteurs. Other speakers at the event were Nehal Abdulla from CAGE International, and Yasmin Khuder from Amnesty International. Related press Conference: https://realmedia.press/ulm5-press-conference/ and https://www.youtube.com/live/Lm9whmEKyxI Support the Ulm5! website: https://ulm5.info/en/ Letter writing guidelines: https://ulm5.info/en/page/letter-writing-guidelines Ulm5 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theulm5/ Roser Gari Perez: https://theleftberlin.com/germany-vs-the-ulm-5/ NehalAbdulla, CAGE International: https://www.newarab.com/author/75089/nehal-abdalla Yasmin Khuder, Amnesty International Germany:https://verfassungsblog.de/author/yasmin-khuder/ ‘Germany: criminal proceedings and investigations against members of climate action group Letzte Generation (joint communication)’ by UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights Defenders and other UN human rights experts to the Government of Germany: https://srdefenders.org/germany-criminal-proceedings-and-investigations-against-members-of-climate-action-group-letzte-generation-joint-communication/ The Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide can be read here (it’s quite short) and worth a read:https://www.ohchr.org/en/instruments-mechanisms/instruments/convention-prevention-and-punishment-crime-genocide ‘Torture and genocide – Report of the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories occupied since 1967’, Francesca Albanese, 19 February 2026: https://www.ohchr.org/en/documents/country-reports/ahrc6171-torture-and-genocide-report-special-rapporteur-situation-human Irish Bloc Berlin: https://www.instagram.com/irishblocberlin

    39 min
  5. Saira Hussain: Medicine Under Siege, Famine, and Starvation in Gaza

    Jan 26

    Saira Hussain: Medicine Under Siege, Famine, and Starvation in Gaza

    This episode is a rebroadcast of an episode of ‘Not to Forgive, but to Understand’, a podcast series discussing topics in genocide studies with scholars and individuals deeply involved in understanding the complexities of genocide and its perpetrators, presented by Sabah Carrim, a writer and scholar of Genocide Studies, along with co-host Luis Gonzalez-Aponte. The interview is with Saira Hussain, an an anesthetist who has worked in Gaza at Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis through humanitarian deployments with Medical Aid for Palestinians and IDEALS. The conversation explores what it means to deliver critical care inside a collapsing health system. Drawing on firsthand experience, Saira discusses blockade conditions, mass-casualty medicine, famine and forced starvation, and the daily ethical and clinical decisions faced by medical professionals working under extreme constraint. The discussion also looks beyond the present moment, asking what rebuilding medical education, infrastructure, and professional capacity might entail in post-conflict settings. This interview was recorded in September 2025, during a period of enforced starvation in Gaza. It remains acutely relevant today, as United Nations reporting indicates that over 400 Palestinians have been killed since the October ceasefire, underscoring the ongoing humanitarian and medical crisis. Collapse of Gaza’s Health System, Why a Doctor Goes to Gaza, Practicing Medicine Below Standards, Patient Testimony Under Siege, Mass Graves Near Medical Facilities, Blockade, Aid Restrictions, Hospital Failure, Patterns of War-Related Injuries, Famine and Enforced Starvation, What Global Reporting Misses, Rebuilding Gaza’s Medical Community,Personal Cost of Medical Witnessing, Medical Ethics After Atrocity, Unprecedented Weapons and Trauma, Aid Sites and Civilian Death LINKS: Not to Forgive, But to Understand: https://perpetratorstudies.sites.uu.nl/2025/07/28/podcast-series-not-to-forgive-but-to-understand/ Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@NottoForgivebuttoUnderstand Medical Aid for Palestinians: https://www.map.org.uk/ IDEALS: https://www.ideals.org.uk/ Irish Bloc Berlin: https://www.instagram.com/irishblocberlin/

    1h 5m

  6. Jan 6

    Under Siege: A Report on Palestine Solidarity in Germany

    Interview with Josephine Solanki of the Transnational Institute (TNI), the author of a recent TNI report on Germany’s repression of the Palestine movement. Since 7 October 2023, German authorities have imposed a far-reaching domestic crackdown on Palestine solidarity in tandem with its political, diplomatic and material backing for Israel’s genocide in Gaza. This ranges from protest bans and police violence, to smear campaigns, cultural deplatforming, workplace reprisals, and the instrumentalization of migration and asylum law. Together, these measures illustrate the emergence of a repressive infrastructure in Germany which criminalises almost any effective form of solidarity with Palestine and threatens broader civil liberties. The report covers the first 18 months of the genocide, from 7 October 2023 until mid-April 2025. TNI’s report ‘Solidarity under siege: Germany’s repression of the Palestine Movement’ can be downloaded at: https://www.tni.org/en/publication/solidarity-under-siege ‘Flirting with authoritarianism’ by Josephine Solanki in The Left Berlin: https://www.theleftberlin.com/germany-crackdown-palestine/ TNI website: ⁠https://www.tni.org/en⁠ TNI on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/transnationalinstitute/ ‘Modernity and the Holocaust’ by Zygmunt Bauman:  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Modernity_and_the_Holocaust Udi Raz of Jewish Voice for a Just Peace in the Near East, Germany: https://www.instagram.com/udiraza/ Statement by Fridays for Future, Munich, Germany: https://www.instagram.com/fridaysforfuturemuenchen/, actual post (one need to log in to view: https://www.instagram.com/p/DNvxD6FUHWQ/ Irish Bloc Berlin: https://www.instagram.com/irishblocberlin/

    46 min

  7. 12/01/2025

    Belarus: Europe’s Most Repressive Dictatorship

    Interview with Masha, a Belarusian anarchist in exile. We discuss how the dictatorship in Belarus functions, the general political and social situation, the general repression of dissent, the arrests of protestors, the use of facial recognition software, and how cases are processed through thecourts, the role of social media in organising resistance, and the situation regarding political prisoners. Belarus has the most political prisoners in Europe, more than in Russia. Masha, is speaking from Poland. Info on sending letters of support to political prisoners in Belarus: https://abc-belarus.org/en/main-page/ Belarus Anarchist Black Cross: https://www.instagram.com/belarus_abc/ Prisoners mentioned who have died in Belarus: https://www.instagram.com/p/DB6KhzFMVUR/ Synesis, facial recognition software company mentioned: https://www.biometricupdate.com/?posttype=all&s=Synesis Green Border – Agnieszka Holland – Official U.S. Trailer: https://youtu.be/7sfSUzVNNio Interview by Kurtis and Gerry of the Irish Bloc Berlin. Irish Bloc Berlin: https://www.instagram.com/irishblocberlin/

    1 hr

  8. 11/17/2025

    Strikes in Italy in Times of Genocide and Fascism

    Interview with Fabio, a member of the trade union SI Cabos (Sindacato Inter-categoriale Cobas), and of TIR (Tendenza Internazionalista Rivoluzionaria) in Italy. S.I. COBAS is a syndicalist trade union that follows in the footsteps of IWW (Industrial Workers of the World). Recently, both S.I. COBAS and TIR made the news by being one of the main organisers pushing for a general strike on the 22th of September and the 3rd of October. In this episode, we will be talking about the strike, labour struggles in Italy, and how labour struggles intertwine with social movements. Mimì, Dario and Francesco’s campaign against Israeli pharmaceuticals in Naples:https://www.instagram.com/p/DQPG8R2itdQ/ TIR (Tendenza Internazionalista Rivoluzionaria):https://coalizioneoperaia.com/tag/tendenza-internazionalista-rivoluzionaria/ S.I. COBAS (Sindacato Inter-categoriale Cobas):https://sicobas.org/ The General Strike call for 28th of November:https://www.usb.it/leggi-notizia/contro-la-finanziaria-di-guerra-e-il-governo-meloni-rompere-con-israele-palestina-libera-28-novembre-sciopero-generale-29-novembre-manifestazione-nazionale-a-roma-ore-1400-porta-san-paolo-1116.html SHUT IT ALL DOWN FOR PALESTINE, Francesca Albanese on the upcoming general strike: https://www.instagram.com/p/DQ1vkjZCI2O/ IWW (Industrial Workers of the World): https://www.iww.org/ and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Industrial_Workers_of_the_World Interview by Liav of the Irish Bloc Berlin.

    57 min
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About

An Scéal is an interview podcast from members of the Irish Bloc Berlin. It aims to amplify voices from the Palestine solidarity movement in Germany and beyond, featuring interviews, stories, and analysis from activists, organisers, and cultural workers. Focused on the connections between Irish and Palestinian solidarity and struggles, the podcast explores shared histories, current challenges, and practical ways to support justice and liberation efforts. The podcast will also engage with other themes relating to the current historical moment, and the role of culture and art in global struggles.

Information

  • Creator
    Irish Bloc Berlin
  • Years Active
    2025 - 2026
  • Episodes
    19
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © Irish Bloc Berlin
  • Show Website
    An Scéal