The Struggle for Food is the Struggle for Freedom

Food is never just about nourishment. It is about power, access, and justice. Around the world, food systems are shaped by inequality, exploitation, and political violence. In contexts of war, occupation, and structural adjustment, hunger itself becomes a weapon – while farmers, communities, and social movements continue to resist, to organise, and to develop alternatives.

Together, we will share perspectives from Lebanon, Palestine, Tunisia and agrarian movements in Germany/Brandenburg to explore food sovereignty, resistance, and cross-regional solidarity.

Films und Panel Discussion mit Raya Ziada (Ramallah), Imen Louati (Tunis), Michelle Eid (Beirut), Julia Bar-Tal (Brandenburg)

Moderation: Tanja Tabbara, Rosa-Luxemburg-Stiftung

Films:

• Seeds of Dignity (Lebanon, 30:30 min, OmU), Germany Premiere
• Path to Sovereignty (Tunisia, 07:51 min, OmU)

Simultaneous Translation in English – German will be provided for the panel discussion. Admission is free of charge.

Speakers and Contributions:

• Raya Ziada (Palestine) is a program manager for food sovereignty in Palestine and Jordan. Her work bridges agroecology, radical pedagogy, and collective action, focusing on confronting colonial violence and advancing practical strategies of decolonial feminism and food sovereignty. She is co-founder of the Manjala Agri-cultural initiative and the Palestinian Agro-ecological Forum.
• Michelle Eid (Lebanon) is a Lebanese researcher, aspiring farmer, and the program manager for food sovereignty at Rosa Luxemburg Stiftung in Beirut. Her work focuses on agricultural politics and socio-economic justice in the Levant. She is deeply engaged in questions of land and community resilience, with a commitment to connecting local struggles and rethinking fairer food systems across the region.
• Imen Louati (Tunisia) earned her PhD in Ecology and Evolution from Sorbonne University in 2015. She has worked in both national and international organizations as a researcher and program manager. Her research explores issues, including food sovereignty, energy transition and just transition. She is currently a researcher and the regional manager of Political Ecology program at the Rosa Luxemburg Foundation's North Africa office in Tunis. She supports actors in North Africa who are working to develop transformative socio-ecological alternatives.
• Julia Bar-Tal (Brandenburg) is a farmer, agricultural and human rights activist. She is a co-founder of the Alliance for Young Farming in Brandenburg, the first Syrian network for food sovereignty “The 15th Garden”, and “Farmers without Borders”. For several years, she served as the Executive Director of the Working Group on Peasant Farming Northeast (AbL Nordost).

Further Event: 30.9. Kulturkombinat Perleberg