 Hello, hello, hello, I am Meron Khalili and we are DM25, a radical political movement for Europe. And this is another live discussion with our coordinating team featuring subversive ideas you won't find anywhere else and today. Well, we're doing something a bit different. Not that different because we tend to do this every year about this time of year, but we're going to have a retrospective of 2023. Yes, we'll be stepping a little bit outside the everyday European politics scene and thinking more about what's happened over the course of the last year, what kind of year could we be moving into? And also to get the recommendations of our panel in terms of fantastic things that they've consumed over 2023 that could be books, podcasts, series, anything, and also of course to get your recommendations. That's you, you out there. If you've got thoughts, comments, rants, anything you want to say, but especially things that you've encountered during 2023 that you would love to share, then please put them in the chat, in the YouTube chat, those of you watching live and we will share them with the rest of the panel and of course everyone else watching. So without further ado, Yanis 2023, tell us about your 2023. It was a dismal year and I'm very, very glad to be seeing the back of it. We lost the general election here in Greece twice as if once was not enough. We had a lot of recognition of the importance of the parliamentary work we did and a great deal of sympathy. People loved us, but they didn't vote for us which has given us plenty of food for thought because it just goes to prove that being right is not enough and you can be right and fail spectacularly. Besides that, there were some events that many of you witnessed, some of which many of you witnessed here in Greece, personal attacks, physical attacks, which left a mark on the nine me psychologically. It was a year of catastrophe in Thessaly. We had two tragedies. We had the train crash, which killed 57 young people going to university. We had the disaster summer of fires that created an inferno out of Greece, in roads in the north of Greece and Tras in Eurus. And of course, as if in a bid to ensure that all these catastrophes were forgotten, we had Gaza. On the 7th of October, the tragedy began to unfold and everything I had to say, good or bad about 2023, has been completely overshadowed by a massacre, a continuing massacre, a continuing crime against humanity, which is going to stigmatize the whole generation, certainly us. In years to come, people will be asking us, especially younger people, what on earth did you do? Back then to stop this genocide, we are supposed to be making recommendations to people for movies to watch and books to read. I have a number of books here that I was going to share with you, but it all pales into insignificance when one is thinking of, as we speak, as we speak, this is a very moment, this very moment. There are children that are being turned into dust, dust under rubble. The whole population of 2.5 million Palestinians in Gaza are like fishing a barrel with a sadistic army shooting into the barrel, people that have nowhere to go. I do not, I cannot think of any such event of the last decades. We had a long discussion some time ago whether we should be calling Gaza a prison camp or a concentration camp. It's a death camp. It is a death camp. Now they are shooting at them from all quarters. They are sending them QR codes and messages, go to that place, and the moment they go to that place, they bomb it with nowhere to go. And even the worst part of it is that from our perspective, we have to heed the calls of the Palestinians who say that, look, the solution is not for us to leave. This is a refugee camp. I mean, it's our home. It's part of the Palestinian territories. And what Israel would love to do is to just get rid of everyone. Just take 2.5 million people and put them in Africa, in Africa, in Europe, in South America and Antarctica somewhere. It's a settler project, the purpose of which is to essentially ethnic cleansing the whole population. So I'm not going to share the books with you that I had, but I will recommend one movie which I watched very recently with comrades at Mera 25 here in Greece. It's by our comrades, I should say, Ken Loach and Paul Loverty. Ken Loach, the director, and Paul Loverty, the screenwriter. We screened that movie at the beginning of our party conference, Mera 25 party conference two weeks ago, and it was absolutely devastatingly brilliant. For me, it was very moving personally because there were echoes in it of the minor strike in 1984. The movie unfolds in a town near Durham, in the north of England, that was devastated by the minor strike. I experienced the minor strike for eight months. I took time off, what I was doing at the time, lecturing, and I was in picket lines. And the reason why 1984 was so important, that defeat, not only was it, it coincided with the famous novel by George Orwell, but primarily it was the greatest victory of fascism. Everything that follows after that, the neoliberal term, which I don't like the term neoliberal, because there's nothing neoliberal about it. But nevertheless, what people refer to as neoliberalism succeeded and established its hegemony after the defeat of the miners, which was the defeat of the labor movement in Britain. And it was the beginning of the complete privatization of everything across the European Union, across the European Union, across Europe. And with the precautions for India, and for the rest of the world. So that defeat was crucial, because it was done with the support. It was aided and abetted by the Labour Party back then, in exactly the same way that Syriza was essential in bringing about that defeat in 2015 here in Greece. In exactly the same way that Kirsten Stammer and the Social Democrats in Germany are instrumental in the defeat of decency, of humanism, of the peace movement, of trade unions, of the labor movement, because the Social Democrats are the worst enemies of humanity, humanism, and organized labor. Today, they have been joined by the Greens, which are equally bad, including for the environment. There's nothing green about them, they are brown. And the way in which the movie, the Old Oak by Loge and Lamparty, brought out the connection between that defeat, the solidarity which remains amongst the defeated, and the manner in which they connect that story to the story of refugees from Syria, and the solidarity between the defeated Syrians and the defeated working class in North England, that is a tale that, if that doesn't bring hope back into our hearts and minds, nothing can. So I sort of recommend it. And since I've been talking about Ken and Paul, an hour ago, an hour and a half ago, Paul Leverty sent me an email, and I want to read part of it to you, because he and I have been talking about how we find it impossible to sleep at night, properly, knowing what's happening in Dazm. So he wrote the poem. I didn't even seek his permission to read it out, but I'm going to do it. He's a comment. I don't, he doesn't believe in property rights. I'm sure he doesn't. So let me, it's a long poem, so I want to read all of it to you, just the selected verses. It's called Chalk. Chalk. Have you given it a thought since you left school? Chalk is soft, part composed of tiny fragments, of calcite shells and skeletons of plankton, easily pulverized. It washes off with the rain. Does it wash away with tears? Children are soft, part bone, easily pulverized, Gaza as a snow globe, the world stares in, every flakish, shrapnel piece, tiny dots inside, scramble over new-formed piles like ants on a hill. Do you feel a fury that makes your body shake, your soul scream out, your brain boil hotter, hotter than US-made phosphorus weapons? As Biden, Sunak, Starmer, and their ilk call for more precision as they drop bunker-busting bombs on Gaza. 6,300 souls per square kilometer, 47% children, children are soft, easily pulverized, ashes to ashes, dust to dust. Do you sit in your kitchen and wonder who you are, what to do? As the United Nations Charter, the Geneva Convention, are used as toilet paper by the suited colluders of death who defecate on dignity. Does the black hole of near despair sap your strength and make you want to hide? A fat lot of good, that's going to do. We hear the Gazan kids to cry. Remember childhood, walk the chalk, feel mind and body connect as you hold it in your hand. What does that breeze carry? Faint whispers from under rocks. One day, child killers, you will stand in a dock. Remember the haughty greens of Argentine torture generals in their prime, ended up in cuffs at last. It takes its time, the just clock, but it ticks on you as you turn gray, failing which on your deathbed, on your last breath, you won't escape the gaze of the Gazan kids, whose child could you betrayed? Ashes to ashes, dust to chalk, chalk. Paul Aberdeen and Nibra, 19th of December, 2023. This is what we're here for. This is what we do. The only thing that can scare the living daylights out of Ursina von der Leyen, Olaf Scholz, Manuel Macron, Misotakis, Giorgio Meloni, all those people who pretend to be leaders is the possibility that they will lose power. This is why at DM25 we are not a think tank, we are a movement. This is why we will go against our better judgment even and we're going to run in the European elections in June. And in this pursuit, we need your help. We need you to join us. We need you to run with us in the elections. We need you to take a piece of chalk, as Paul Aberdeen said, and turn the walls of your towns, of your cities, of your neighborhoods into a blackboard so that we don't give them any quarters. Support DM25, join us, donate if you can because we only have your five euros, eight euros, ten euros to go with, and let's make 2024 a better year than 2023. Thank you, Jannis, for those words, and thank you, Paul Laviti, for that incredible, powerful poem. Jannis mentioned the European elections. I'd now like to bring in Karin Durego, who is our number one candidate for our German bid for next year's European elections. Karin, the floor is yours. Thank you, Maron. So, yeah, 2023 was really a good example on how things can continue to be. There were wars, natural catastrophes, general instability, turmoil, permanence shift to the right. I mean, it's obvious because people, when they feel scared, they want to go in their comfort zone and they are scared to choose something new. I think the only positive thing I see on all this is that there are a lot of people who now are getting really involved in politics. They are so pissed off by everything is happening, especially here in Germany. Now, if the FDA is winning everywhere, we have really a disaster situation also in Italy, where I come from. So now people cannot be neutral, obviously, and it's good as long as they remember to stay human. But the time now is ripe because next year we're gonna have two important things. So one is the European election, obviously, where we have the time and the possibility to make a difference and to raise our voice, especially. On the other hand, we have also the United American elections, where really there we will have to fight. So the fact of voting in the next election is going to be so important because we are going to say that Europe is not going to accept everything like now. I mean, we all are going to stand for our values and try to really defend the citizen interests, especially those who cannot defend themselves. We won't really try to say to everybody that we are independent, we are based on democracy, we are based on respect and solidarity and peace, especially, because what we are doing now is shameful. So I must say it was not very easy to take it after the beautiful poetry of Yanis because obviously our thoughts now are only going together and to the West Bank and all the Palestinians that are suffering. And it's seeming kind of silly now to talk about books and recommendation and how our personal solitaires are going to be. But one thing I can say is that I really pray that the people in Gaza are resisting because we are not stopping going on the streets every week until there will be a ceasefire permanent. I think my book recommendation, we can leave it for after. Okay, fair enough. Thank you, Karin. And as you said, this horrible crisis in Gaza, it has politicized a lot of people. And I think that's some silver lining there, if we can say that, that a lot more people are getting active than I haven't seen such a mobilizing force on the left. Well, for a long time, I just hope that soon it's going to come to an end and that there will be peace and a positive resolution towards this because it can't go on. It just can't go on like this. Juliana, Juliana Zeta, the floor is yours, also based in Germany. Thank you, Mechan. Do you hear me well? Yep, we... Yeah, I mean, it's really difficult for me after 2020 to look at each year because I feel like since 2020, there is this ongoing plot that is developing in the world. I mean, it just really feels like we have entered like a very difficult decade. And I believe that the next years will be even filled with more crisis, maybe even more wars popping up. I do not believe that there will be wars between, you know, US, China or Russia. I think there will be much more, many small wars and many more crises popping up everywhere. And for me to be honest with this was the first time, I mean, usually when things happen somewhere far away, you are kind of having your thoughts there, but what happened in Gaza was also seeing it on social media and for the first time, there was kind of a lot of activism on the suffering of the people in Gaza. And it really got everyone emotional, I think. I mean, for me especially when you're sitting in your kitchen and you're watching these photos and then the next thing is your kids running in the room and you're looking at them and you're like, you're just so happy that you are kind of living in a peaceful situation and where your kids don't have to suffer, but this makes you even more emotional. And also at some points, I think it makes people also freeze kind of because you cannot do anything. So I really had to kind of also stop to watch the content because it paralyzed me at some point. And I think this is the worst thing that can happen. So I think what happened since October, I think that set the tone for the whole year for sure. So it's really difficult to think about something positive in 23, like it's already been said. I also believe that the next year will be up to the US election. Also in terms of Europe's development, I believe that it will depend on also the support for Israel of the US will depend on how the voters will see the situation and who will be actually the candidate for the Republicans, which I'm not sure at this moment will be Trump, to be honest, at least correct me, anyone if you think it's set in stone. But I think this development will have a heavy influence on what's happening in Israel and last consequence also on what our politicians in Europe will do. So yeah, it will be, I think again, a difficult year. The European elections will be again, like every election in Europe will be very crucial. I think although people to end with this, I know people often say, you are so critical of the EU. Why are you running in these elections? Why are these elections so important? And I think it's really important to point out that there is some sort of power in the EU and it's better to have good people in there than more bad people. So I think next year will matter a lot. And I'm also looking forward to, yeah, to attack these elections together with comrades all over Europe. I think our moderator has lost his sound, his audio here. So no, still, I'll fill in for the moment. How about now? Is that better? There you go, he's back. I'm sorry, I seem to have having microphone trouble there. Dear me, I was sitting there going, Dushan Paevich, Earth calling Dushan Paevich, the floor is yours. And I thought, dear me, forgive me. I was just going to hand over to Dushan, our campaign coordinator based in Montenegro. Apologies for the technical errors. Dushan. Thanks, Mehan. Yes, I also need to start with the statement that the genocide is happening literally in front of our eyes. And in 20 years, everyone is going to be like, we cannot forget this and we will never repeat the same mistakes. And those are the sentences that are always said by politicians, but they always repeat history and let the history repeat itself. Fortunately, people that are listening to us now, I assume are not those politicians, but the people who know this and the people who acquired solidarity because once you acquire solidarity towards sentient beings, you carry Palestinians, Ukrainians, Kurds, and everyone else who is oppressed alongside you. They are always with you. So I will actually say that that burden is something really important, that burden gives the drive for activism and for political change. But if you out there who is listening to us feels that it's too much, you can also take a short break at least for an hour or two or three. So I would like to give some book and movie recommendation, particularly because of that. First of all, it's really amazing for me to see how we were always on the left talking that big companies are somehow always incorporating and washing identities with having shows on Netflix who are incorporating identity politics like LGBTQ plus race and so on and so on, but never the class. In the last two years, we've seen the big increase of anti-capitalist movies that are made by big companies. They're actually good. They're actually good. So I'm wondering what is happening and is this even the last laugh at our faces and is this that late stage capitalism that even mocks itself and gaining money out of it? But I will suggest these three movies. It's The Menu, it's Triangle of Sadness and it's Succession, TV show. And regarding the books, I went to some classics, back to some classics. The first one is The Right to Be Lazy, which changed a lot my view on jobs and job guarantee and other things that the left is always vocal about. It's basically like a 19th century version of bullshit jobs of David Gerber, if you read that book, which is much more popular than The Right to Be Lazy. The second one is Anthological Prison Notebooks by Gramsci. And right now I'm reading Naomi Klein's Double Ganger and that's the final one. Since the last time we spoke on Christmas special, I recommended one Montenegrin writer, Andrei Nikolaidis and now I'm recommending another one, Ogniens Paket. So it's not just one work, you can check which works are translated in your language, but it's definitely the big recommendation. Thank you Dushan for kicking us off in earnest with the recommendations. And I have to chime in with a few of my own because they're so similar to yours. Firstly, well, yes, I'm also reading Naomi Klein's book at the moment, I'm about halfway through. And it's brilliant. It's a political memoir on polarisation and conspiracy thinking. And it's also very darkly humorous. So I highly recommend that. And you mentioned something Dushan about, I can't remember about not being ashamed to be lazy or something like that. One of my book recommendations was this, it's called 4,000 Weeks by Oliver Berkeman, which is just like, they say time management for mortals. It's a beautiful alternative to the productivity porn that reigns on the internet these days. Talks about simply reframing what's possible rather than optimising, optimising, optimising. And the last thing I was gonna say was yes, succession. I'm a bit late to that party, but my God, what a fantastic series that is. I mean, just, it's Shakespeare in an Uber Capitalist setting and really, really powerful and fantastic to watch. But I'm sure everyone's already watched it anyway. Right to be lazy, yes. That was the one that you mentioned. And I will say also for you out there, if you've got recommendations of things that you would like to share, works of art or anything, books, podcasts, whatever, that really touched you in 2023, then please put them in the YouTube chat as well. There are a couple of recommendations I'm getting from people here. Books by Michael Hudson. The End of Oil by Paul Roberts, a book on oil and energy as a whole. And, oh, they shoot horses, don't they? British TV series. Who is next? Let me have a quick look. It was Eric, Eric Edmund, our political director based in Brussels, but not in Brussels right now. Eric, floor is yours. No, taking the opportunity to visit family in Greece. Just arrived today. Taking the cue from the turn that Duchenne made, I would also like to focus on recommendations. For one to paraphrase Marx's End of Year statements are for fools who didn't say enough during the year by, you know, joking aside. It's impossible to look at 2023 and not feel overwhelmed by the direction of the world, whether it's the environment or our society's slid to the far right or what is going on in Gaza on our watch as Europeans or Ukraine for that matter. And it's overwhelming. And I don't know what coping mechanisms you all have, but I personally, unashamedly subscribe to escapism. And that gives me the space that I need to breathe a little bit and recharge one's energy to dive back into the battle rather than being burnt out because this is a long-term fight that we have ahead of us if the indication of the direction that we're going in is anything to go by. So not only do I just want to talk about recommendations, I will even try to keep them non-political, at least not explicitly political. There are, of course, values within all of these, but these are things that I found hoping in the same way that I don't know how many of you are familiar with the Lord of the Rings, but in some ways Gamgee says to Frodo Baggins that this thing seems lost. What are we fighting for? And the answer is because of the belief that still some good is left in the world and is worth fighting for. And for me, that is art, those are the things that we produce and it's the hope that we produce that things can be different in the future. And I find that these days more in art than in politics. So we lost Shane McGowan this year, the singer of the Pogues, beautiful folk punk band. It's Christmas, beautiful alternative Christmas song, the fairy tale of New York. If you haven't listened to it, give that a listen. I personally love the Pogues. I've been introduced to a brilliant old school metal band that goes back to sort of arcane or cult, witchy foresty vibes from London called Green Lung, saw them live, brilliant, brilliant guys, beautiful work, kind of music that doesn't get produced these days. This is a really good animated series on Netflix right now called Blue Eyes Samurai, a beautiful rendition of Edo period Japan, beautiful political messages as well, even more powerful because they're kind of detached from our current timeline but absolutely beautiful animation, voice acting, and the storyline, the kind of script writing that you just don't get these days with series and mass produced series, especially on platforms like Netflix. So absolutely recommended. What else? Video games. I normally recommend video games. This is really good video game by a game developer who worked on Fallout Las Vegas and Pillars of Eternity for those of you who are familiar with video games to superstar games, and it's called Pentamount. And it's all set in early modern European, the monastery, the little village, you're an artist working on an illuminated manuscript and it's... I talk about escapism, it's beautifully rendered, everything is designed, the video game itself is designed as a medieval illuminated manuscript, so the art itself is phenomenal and the storyline is so deep and it's a role-playing game, so every decision you make influences the turnout of the game. Beautifully written storyline, very compelling, absolutely recommended as well, playing it with my wife now for the holidays. And finally, in terms of books, I'm taking my time in the last two, three years reading through Carl Uwe Knausgaard's My Struggle series. I don't know how many of you are familiar with it. It's essentially autobiographical and of all the writers I'm familiar with, he's really managed to bring out the sublime and the extraordinary from the mundane from everyday life, whether it is raising children or not going to work or just waking up or yet another day of being alive and really extrapolating a lot of beauty and meaning out of that in a way that isn't conceited. So Knausgaard, anything by Knausgaard, that's something I've woken up to and absolutely recommend. So that's my little guide to escapism for all of you for the holidays and of course, as was the message I believe in the old dope that Yanis spoke about at the beginning, the Ken Logefo, and this is a point that Alain de Bouton makes in his brilliant book, Religion for Atheists. Community is something we've lost and religion used to offer and it is a religious holiday after all and for many of us I think this sense of meeting again with friends, an opportunity, a yearly sort of annual ritual of meeting friends, meeting family again and this kind of togetherness that comes from that that we've lost in neoliberal society, that society that has been killed by Margaret Thatcher and Harold is incredibly important at the risk of sounding like a hallmark holidays card, I think community and reconnecting with each other that is very much at the heart of being able to pull through and build hope for being able to change things in 2024. Thank you, Eric. Feel recommendations. Witchy foresty vibes. I like it. It's a technical term used in the industry, I believe. Ah, okay. Some recommendations from the chat. Nemanja recommends warhammer fantasy again. Kurt Boss recommends the Joker which is the best build in the last five years, he says. And Ferros recommends dust capital by Marx. Your partner parties are a Ferros. Next up, Amir, Amir Kiayi facing the Hague. What was yours? Thank you, Mehran. So of course we've talked about the shadow of the genocide of Palestinians that's sitting on our hearts and minds. And it's very difficult, although, you know, there is an element of hope that Eric talked about and the element of optimism, maybe. That we see that there's at some point an end to this nightmare. And it will end. History shows that these things are not permanent. Especially when there's a solidarity and unity and working together internationally towards ending such carnage. So the books that I have for recommendation for this upcoming few weeks that people have more time to read. The first one is this book here. It's called All Rise Resistance and Rebellion in South Africa 1910 to 1948. It's a graphic novel kind of style book. And it takes six stories of, you know, workers, minors, women who rose up against pre-apartheid laws. So this was the past laws and the Colour Bar Act and everything else that was introduced gradually until apartheid was much more formalized in 1948. So it gives us a bit of an idea of the pre-apartheid days as well in South Africa. I'll drop the titles and everything in the chat as well for people who want to look. The second book, which is maybe also more relevant for now, especially is edited by Ronnie Casaros. It's called International Brigade Against Apartheid. And it contains the how, right, of decisive supports that the international anti-apartheid movement gave to the South Africans and how this was, in a way, created a bit of a unified international resistance to the apartheid South Africa, no matter where people were located geographically. So for example, we have Palestine action in the UK that's doing their part. There's other comrades throughout Europe right now and especially also in the two days time. Taking on Elbit, which I think Dushan has mentioned or will mention, we'll also link it down in the chat. And last but not least, this talk about the day after, you know, the hopeful future will need some sort of a truth and reconciliation process. And this is a short book about the truth and reconciliation process by King of Wilburton. She was on the commissioners on the TRC in South Africa and that's also good to keep that in mind in terms of at some point there will need to be that element of reconciliation in Palestine, but also in Ukraine, but also in Western Sahara and everywhere else that we have these acts of colonialism and anti-colonial struggle and secular colonialism, et cetera. Thank you, that's me. Thank you, Amir. A couple of more recommendations at one recommendation for In Our Time, the BBC podcast on the history of ideas. A recommendation when money dies, I think it's a book from 1975 about the Weimar Republics. Sorry, I'm just catching up here. And okay, well, I'll come back to that once I've clarified exactly what people are recommending. Rather than doing it on the fly, you did it. You did it, Maya, based in Berlin, our IT whiz. Who was yours? Thank you, Mechren. I was listening to all of your fascinating perspectives and I want to pick out a few things, not that the others weren't interesting, but we don't have all that much time to waste on me. So first I noticed that Eric's bid, and I have to really agree with Eric, we must reclaim Christmas from the Christians. Because it has always been a time of celebration. The Yuletide, the winter solstice, the Germanic tribes were decorating the trees and singing songs about the winter and things like that. And the Christians stole that from us. And I don't think they should get away with it, especially when anyone might feel that they cannot meet their family and friends at this time of year because it might be interpreted as religious. It totally should not. It should become normal again to celebrate the winter solstice in a secular way. And then I wanted to connect with Dushan and what Dushan said about capitalist movies that are anti-capitalist or social issues. Similarly, I heard a point by Slavoj Žižek recently who was talking about this thing also in the context of the Venice Biennale and so on that now have a preface where they say we're all part of this capitalist process. So it's kind of hypocritical, but Žižek has another word. I forgot what he called it. He also said he's going to write another book, so watch out for that. But basically what he argued was that this is a kind of obsessive, neurotic kind of approach to keep watching this kind of stuff, to keep consuming this kind of anti-capitalist content produced by the big companies or by people in power in order to watch instead of getting active. Because if they can get every leftist to watch the latest Hollywood blockbuster, that's sometime that all of these leftists are not doing anything. Now, of course, I'm saying escapism is all good if you need it and to the extent that you need it, but we should really get active and I recommend reading, watching books, movies, series that actually get us further. They don't just talk about the problems that we have making nice analogies of the problems, but actually suggest how we can solve them. And in this mood, I would like to recommend Corey Doctor of Lost Cause, a recent book by Corey Doctor of... another now, which also talks about how to solve these. And if you want to get really active and not just consume, then please join DM25, get active with us, write to us if you're ready to meet people locally, we can connect you up. And just remember that a small group of thoughtful and committed citizens can change the world and it's the only thing that ever has. Thank you. You did. Reclaim Christmas from the Christians. And to what you said, there was a really interesting article. I'll drop a link in the chat on Unheard about exactly this a couple of days ago. It was called Only Don Draper Can Save Us about how capitalism has co-opted the counterculture. Interesting. Okay. Up next, Lucas. Lucas Verbaro. Nice in Germany. I'll come as director. Go for it. Thanks, Aaron. I'm going to follow in the footsteps of Amir here and joining the task at hands and what is actually on our minds right now, which is Gaza and Palestine. And I'll recommend a book called The Hundred Years War on Palestine by Rashid Khalidi, a great introduction or reintroduction to the history of the oppression, the wars, the declarations of war, the successive declarations of war, even the non-official ones that the Palestinian people have suffered over the last century. Great book. Moving away from that for just a second, I just want to also highlight from my part that this year, especially the past few months have been filled with tragic developments. But just to add my voice to the others who have said that silver lining here is the political awakening that we're seeing a lot of people undergo in a lot of places, including Europe. I've had the pleasure, memories I'll never forget, of joining massive, massive Palestinian demonstrations against state repression against media intimidation in places like Germany where I live. Dozens of thousands of people marching together in peace, calling for freedom for Palestine and for an end to this genocide. These moments are very rare. They're very rare. They're very rare, very precious. And I think that we will keep them alive, keep this one alive certainly for as long as needed. I think it's also important that we transfer that energy into other struggles after, hopefully, as we all hope, the oppression of the Palestinian people one day come to an end and more urgently the genocide will come to an end. You know, I'll bring this back into another book suggestion in a second, but I just wanted to mention to tie that into that. The other day I published a video in support of a strike that some students at the University of the Arts are doing here in Berlin in support of the Palestinian people and in protest of the unilateral stance of solidarity with Israel that the administration of the university has adopted. They've suffered all sorts of attacks and outrides lander from the media, from politicians as you can imagine if you know anything about the situation in Germany right now. And likewise, when I published this video there's a lot of people in the comments who are against these students, who are calling them and one person said to justify at one point their opposition to this action. Something along the lines of what is it that a group of students at a university in Berlin can do about the situation in the Middle East anyway. They can do everything about it. They should do everything about it. We should do everything about it. If not them, who? If not us, who? Who's left on the line? Joe Biden? No, so we will do everything about it until this horrible crime that's being committed with our money, with our weapons stops. And with that I wanted to close on that note with the book that I'm rereading right now, which was also mentioned in the chat The Russia of the Earth by Franz Fanon Harley, an obscure book, I'm sure a lot of you are familiar with it, but I was reading just last night, I was reading this passage that I highlighted which is very short and I wanted to close with that because I think it ties into a lot of the things that we're talking about here. It is commonly thought with criminal flippancy that to politicize the masses means from time to time haranguing them with a major political speech. It is thought that for a leader or head of state to speak on major current issues in a pendentic tone of voice is sufficient as obligation to politicize the masses. But political education means opening up the mind awakening the mind and introducing it to the world. It is as as they're said to invent the souls of men. To politicize the masses is not and cannot be to make a political speech. It means driving home to the masses that everything depends on them. That if we stagnate the fault is theirs and that if we progress they too are responsible that there is no responsibility for everything. But that the demure is the people and the magic lies in their hands and in their hands alone. Thank you. Thank you very much for that Lucas. Yes, you mentioned the book by Franz Fanon, the wretched of the earth and there's also a couple of other Palestine related recommendations in the chat. One of them Gaza inquests to its martyrdom Norman Finkelstein. Another person recommends the books of Susan Abu-Hawa and someone else recommends The Time That Remains 2009 semi-biographical drama film by a Palestinian director Elia Suleiman. I've been summoned. Thanks for spelling it so clearly. Well, I did have this wholesome list of mass produced piece of art from these years that now I don't want to share any more after Judith. But no, I appeal to the right of being lazy being summoned by Dujan before and me being lazy myself I spend a year rediscovering classics and when I say classics I mean stuff more than 10 years old. So lately I've been dipping into Debt by David Graber and Capitalism Realism by Mark Fisher and Debt is a very, very interesting piece of work of historical anthropology and I truly believe that rediscovering studying history in addition of you know, educating yourself is extremely helpful in this period in this dire period because I've personally felt extremely like all of you said before overwhelmed and constantly overburdened by you know, anxiety, social crisis, the war in Ukraine, this massacre in Gaza and I've seen in myself and in many people around me this utterly lack of energy and feeling useless and rediscovering history helps recognizing that the things that we know, the things that surround us hasn't always been like this the world changes a lot and not in the way we've been taught and it will change inevitably and it's up to us not to passively witness to the fate but to actually be part of the change. Let's say that I want to add one chapter of the recommendation in the filmography session although it's not a film, it's not a documentary but there are many documentaries produced by this association called Break the Silence which is an association in Israel formed by a former IDF soldier that very well with footage and interviews and witnesses describe what is like the occupation in the West Bank and this is something that after you see you can no longer even accept that someone can oppose to the idea of apartheid and the most utterly occupation that has been going on for decades now and it's something that shows so clear and without any doubt what we need to do and what we need to stop and actually I have to say to end with a small light of note this is the first time in my life that I feel that maybe we can actually change something over there because the uprising all across the world I have never seen the light of it so finger crossed and Happy New Year everybody Thank you for that and then we got a positive note there Federico Danai, Danai Strato Well hello, not much to add after what everyone has said very inspiring and very true not to repeat the same exactly in alliance with everyone else just to bring back things a bit more locally because we might have some viewers from Greece as well and on the subject of women there are three pieces of news I wanted to share that was a bit shocking and it makes me want to fight even more everything wants to make makes me want to fight more what is happening in Gaza, the genocide there the fact that we lost the elections in Greece Merida it makes me want to fight but also just to let you know what happened today that they brought down an artwork by a woman, a Greek woman of Greece in New York this piece of art was the Greek flag created in red and pink colours and dedicated to the femicide victims that we have had and home violence which in Greece has increased extremely since Covid so this Greek flag was made by it was like a quilt and it was created by bed sheets donated by women who live in Greece as the majority of the femicide victims that were killed in their house and on their beds so this in the Greek parliament the party Niki asked, said that it's impossible to show a proud Greek flag in pink colours and it makes it a joke so the prime minister, the government agreed and they asked the Greek council to bring down this artwork just so that we remember where we live at here as well on a positive note to say that there's two amazing women artists in Athens showing at the moment the one is at the contemporary art museum in Athens with the exhibition title being what if women rule the world? Well I'm not sure but I'm sceptical but on the minus one on the ground floor there is Lida Papakonstadini, an amazing woman artist born in 1945 to put it in a context studied in England and she's one of the earliest feminist progressive women in art with the performance a lot of video work amazing texts it's a beautiful, sensitive and powerful exhibition that everyone who passes through Athens they should go and see it and the other amazing woman another mentor of mine is Renna Papasperou and she's at the National Gallery in Athens having a new show and both these women whom I admire are older, about 20 years older than me and they're younger in spirit and they still give us hope I would recommend personally I need to be in nature, this is what will give me strength this holiday strength to continue with the fight in the next year that we need a lot walking on the mountains looking at the horizon, anyone who can be in nature should try and take a long walk on the mountain this helps put everything in perspective and gives us the strength we need to continue, thank you and good year two more Palestine recommendations from the chat another book by Norman Finkelstein Beyond Hutzpah on the misuse of anti-Semitism and the abuse of history and also the work of Ilan Pape who we, Yannis interviewed Ilan Pape and we had a conversation with him about two years ago we'll drop a link in the chat that's on YouTube as well Juliana, Juliana Zeta to bring you back in who was yours? Thank you Mehran, I actually have at the end a little request from our viewers especially those who will be able to vote at the European election next year we are currently still in the collecting signatures phase we need 4,000 signatures to collect first before we can attend the European elections so if it's possible for you to help us over the holidays while you're coming together with your friends and family then please go to mehra25.de I think we will also put it in the chat the link it will be a huge help, every signature matters at this point, we have two months to accomplish our goal so that will be really great if you could be able to help us out of course also donations help us always but the signatures are really important to us and from me I wish you all a good holidays a happy new year and it will be great to see you next year Thank you Juliana we're at the top of the hour so Janis perhaps I could bring you back in just to help us close any final words of no particular significance except a Carvedium well said, short and sweet and with that then we will sign off again if you would like to help support DM25 as Janis outlined and others, we have no big backers everything is just small donors who are keeping us afloat and keeping the lights on go to dm25.org slash donate to dm25.org slash join thank you so much for attending these live streams and for all your input in the chat and we'll see you at the same time, same place on January 16th 2024 take care, stay safe