Around a hundred animal liberation activists gathered for a week of skillsharing in the Hambach Forest in Germany.

On Monday 15th of March, activists hung a banner on a bridge of A4 highway close to Buir train station.
The banner read “animal liberation” in multiple languages.

“We dropped this banner in German Catalan Arabic French English Spanish Basque Polish Welsh to send an international message. We wanted to raise awareness to people on their daily commute to work that animal oppression is happening worldwide on an overwhelming scale, and only WE have the power to stop it.” said Skirma, an animal liberation activist from Lithuania. She came to the Hambach Forest to share and gather knowledge on how to best bring the movement forward and end animal oppression.

On the same day in Cologne, an activist group called Anonymous for the Voiceless showed footage from farms and slaughterhouses to the people on the streets close the Cathedral of Cologne.

“We are in the streets to raise awareness about the needless exploitation of animals for food, entertainment, clothes and experimentation. We hope that people will reconsider their daily habits which result in the murder of 2.7 trillion animals. We hope that they will chose a more ethical path.” said Seb from the Anonymous for the Voiceless group.

The animal liberation activists stand in solidarity with the people protecting the Hambach Forest from being destroyed by the expanding open cast coal mine. “The goal of ending animal exploitation stands as one struggle against capitalist exploitation. Our fight is against all power structures, and as an anti-speciecist I believe that all sentient beings have the same moral value,” said Marla, an activist from the forest.

These actions finished a week long event called Liberate or Die taking place in the Hambach Forest. A large group of international activists shared skills and ideas about animal liberation movements and ways to end the oppression of animals.

“This is the first time that such an event is held in the forest, bringing people from all over the world and backgrounds together. It has been hugely successful and is planned to happen again,” said one of the organisers.