"Countries are just lines drawn in the sand with a stick" (Enter Shikari)

Racism, intolerance, sexism, antisemitism, hatred, nationalism, antifeminism, fascism, to name but a few words that serve some people as justification for drawing boundaries between "us" and "the others". They construct identities through mechanisms of demarcation that have a clear counterpart that is to be "fought". Some carry this demarcation with them throughout their lives without ever recognising that "the others" have done nothing more than exhibit the same random factor of existence.

Under the motto "Overcoming boundaries", the self-organised Würzburg group "Peace, Love & Solidarity" invited people to a rally at the Vierröhrenbrunnen on Thursday, 9 November 2017. The 28th "birthday" of the fall of the Berlin Wall in Germany was a good opportunity to link current issues with historical events. The aim of the rally was to establish analogies in people's minds between what was and what is happening now.

The named "boundaries" today take the most diverse forms. They can be physical in nature like the wall that divides Lima (Peru) into two parts: rich & poor. It can be Donald Trump's imagined wall, which has long since separated the USA from Mexico in his head at least. It can be the border fences that some Central and Eastern European countries have erected around themselves. Boundaries and walls are found today as they were back then everywhere.

The fall of the Berlin Wall plays such a major role because the wall was overcome and torn down here. Families, friends, lovers, people of all colours who were torn apart by the wall and had to live in different states for 28 years were able to reunite. The artificial division of Germany into East and West was a thing of the past. This historical event was commemorated on 9 November 2017, but what is forgotten in the process is that walls, boundaries and fences are experiencing a renaissance in today's times. They are sprouting from the ground and from people's minds.

Many parties and alliances (e.g. AfD, Front National, Lega Nord) stoke the construction of these boundaries and fuel them with bar-room talk. It is alarming to observe how right-wing, xenophobic thinking is again gaining a foothold in people's minds and becoming socially acceptable. Whilst it was unthinkable a few years ago that xenophobic ideas would become electable again, they even entered parliament with the 2017 federal elections.

Little remains of the old wisdom of learning from the mistakes of the past. History apparently runs in circles and constantly repeats itself.

In our present-day, globalised world, national structures are increasingly dissolving. The reduction of the complexity of our existence through clear demarcations – whether territorial or otherwise – is no longer possible. These developments are progressing rapidly, too rapidly for many people. However, violence and racism, fear and hostility do not represent sustainable solutions to the current multiple crises. What is needed is a spiritual revolution and a shift in values towards a solidaristic community that neither exploits the environment nor people, but coexists in love and peace. The common denominator of this community should be humanity alone.

Fortunately, many have already recognised this and are combating boundary-drawing, racism, discrimination and many other abhorrent words and content in their own way and with their own means: as does Peace, Love & Solidarity from Würzburg. A loose, self-organised association of activists who, alongside many other political and social issues, primarily advocate for refugees and furthermore condemn the political situation in Germany and Europe.

"As Peace, Love & Solidarity, we organise cultural and political projects and events together to create spaces where people can exchange ideas and organise. Only through personal encounters characterised by respect and solidarity can societal exclusion mechanisms such as capitalism, sexism, racism, homophobia (…) be counteracted", as it says on their website.

On Thursday, 9 November 2017, they called on people to overcome boundaries and walls together. Together with participants and passers-by, the group erected a wall made of cardboard boxes on the square next to the Vierröhrenbrunnen in Würzburg city centre. With colourful paints, everyone could write what needs to be overcome: racism, right-wing populism, narrow-mindedness, sexism, fascism, Fortress Europe are just some of the keywords that were sprayed onto the cardboard boxes. Others marked the words with a large X to make it immediately clear that there is no place for this kind of thinking. In the end, the wall was rammed down and symbolically overcome by the participants together. Everyone was cordially invited to take part in the action and speak at the open microphone. The contributions included, on the one hand, appeals for reflection and humane action and, on the other hand, told of the personal fates of people who are discriminated against by deportations, boundary-drawing and the walling-in of Europe.

Furthermore, the group has already organised several solidarity parties for refugees. In June 2017, they organised a dance demo through Würzburg city centre under the motto "Our celebration against their fortress". They drew attention to Europe's isolation as well as the inhumane, arbitrary deportation policy of the federal government. Furthermore, the group organised, in association with other committed groups from Würzburg such as MediNetz, Mehr als 16a and the Initiative Bleiberecht, the weekly vigils against deportations.

Outraged & get involved

Julia Boving