Both up on zines page.
#FreeCaseyNow: On Casey Goonan and the Abandonment of Political Prisoners in the Pro-Palestine Movement Version 1 print
FreeCaseyNow: On Casey Goonan and the Abandonment of Political Prisoners in the Pro-Palestine Movement Version 2 print
submitted anonymously
Casey Goonan is the only US political prisoner from the 2024 pro-Palestine student encampments. They are an abolitionist and anarchist who has dedicated themselves to multiple forms of prisoner support work and directly engaging with incarcerated comrades. The impact they’ve made inside is prevalent, as indicated by statements from their comrades Stevie Wilson and Hybachi Lemar. They’ve always pushed to ensure an understanding of Black struggle and revolt as central to their abolitionist work, and through understanding the totality of anti-Blackness the importance of an anti-police and anti-prison perspective was brought into any and all of their efforts towards liberation.
In June of 2024, they were arrested by a task force comprised of the FBI and other law enforcement agencies in connection with an alleged direct action which took place in solidarity with the UC Berkeley encampments which had been brutalized by police and zionists earlier in the year* . If convicted, they could face up to 20 years in prison with a minimum sentence of 5. The investigation and court proceedings are currently ongoing but a non cooperative plea deal is pending in which Casey will plea guilty to one charge to allow additional charges to be dropped. This plea deal does not include information or testimony against anyone else.
While Casey has received a great amount of support from decentralized community in New York, Chicago, California, and elsewhere, the pro-Palestine movement needs to be publicly and actively supporting them. Right now, their primary accomplices are those who personally know them, those who prioritize prisoner support, and fellow anarchists. Despite vague assertions of the interconnectedness of repression and struggles between the American policing and prison apparatuses to that of Israel, there has been little material manifestation from that understanding within the US pro-Palestine movement. Meanwhile, coordinated struggle between prisoners and outside militants has been a key point of success for Palestinian liberation.
We must recognize the necessity of attacking the infrastructure of occupation domestically. Amidst calls for escalation, it is of vital importance to defend those experiencing repression from the legal system. To not do so is to allow one of the state’s most well-funded and structured counterinsurgency tactics to take complete hold of movements. If people are abandoned to incarceration, the fear of repression will throw everyone towards inactivity. This need for defense is especially true for those facing charges beyond the more palatable ways of dissent, like marches and encampments.
State repression must be met with expanding our community resources to reach those inside. Bravery must be met with support.
It’s not surprising that, despite the large presence of the Palestinian diaspora in the American pro-Palestine movement, tactics focus primarily on vocalizing dissent through marches and making demands of the state, which are a far cry from the struggle within Palestine itself. This is partially attributed to the class character of the diaspora — a petty bourgeois group would have no investment in attacking infrastructure they partially benefit from even if that same infrastructure perpetuates the genocide of indigenous groups including Black people and Palestinians both domestically and globally. Equally, the motivations and interests of the community organizations and student groups that are largely in control of the movement not only harbor that class character but also rely on funding from the infrastructure they refuse to attack. Despite the student movement being referred to as an intifada, it’s activity is incomparable to what has occurred during the numerous intifadas leading up to the Al-Aqsa Flood.
Considering pro-Palestinian community groups and political organizations like USPCN, CJP/SJP, Dissenters, NAARPR, JVP and PSL are supplied with enough funds to bus people in for marches, plan conferences, and campaign for local policy, certainly donating money towards legal fees for those facing repression would be no issue.
Even with all the attention and credibility being given to the pro-Palestinian student movement and despite the numerous pro-Palestine student groups on university campuses, there have been no publicly circulated student-led support efforts for Casey. Outside of participants of the Columbia University encampment, there has been no mention of them from any other university space, most likely attributed to groups aligning themselves with certain tactics, a hesitancy towards anarchists, and the fear of repression.
Beyond the bare minimum of ensuring people are supported in obtaining adequate legal counsel, any revolutionary horizons with teeth require long term prisoner support. This practice is key to the current struggle that led to the Al-Aqsa Flood as exhibited by the rich history of organizing within prisons and the ongoing liberation of those being held hostage by Israel. In Khalida Jarrar’s words, “[t]he ongoing conquest to liberate prisoners is in tandem with the Palestinians’ constant and multifaceted struggle against colonialism. Hence, the slogan “emptying the prisons” is derived from and a core component in the Palestinian struggle through various stages in its history.”.
Those of us living under a plantation economy already have our own reasons to ensure incarceration is a central site of struggle. But if one does insist upon taking guidance from elsewhere and if one intends to “bring the Intifada home” or “escalate for Gaza”, Palestinians have provided plenty of methods for how carcerality can be attacked.
Casey understood this prior to their incarceration and there’s no doubt this knowledge influenced their own political horizons. If the pro-Palestine movement wants to also tote itself as an intifada they should take note of the militant organizing and support infrastructure within and between prison walls that occurrs in Palestine. Abandonment of prisoners is where revolutionary ideals die.
Empty The Prisons Free Casey Goonan
For More Info and Updates on Casey
cscommittee@proton.me
freecaseynow.noblogs.org
IG: @freecaseynow
Ways to Support Casey
– Organize a fundraiser for legal fees, commissary, or a nutritional package
– Host a letter writing night
– Form a defense committee
– Make + put up some propaganda
Readings Recs
A Practical Guide to Prisoner Support
Practical Abolition From The Inside Out
More Effective Prisoner Support
The Soledad Brothers Defense Committee: A Brief Consideration
San Quentin Six Defense Committee
A Spirit, Unbroken (Discusses the Martin Sostre Defense Committee)
Submitted Anonymously
NOVEMBER UPDATE – first version posted to scenes
Over one year from the start of the escalation of the genocide in Gaza, it’s time to question what it means to be called a terrorist.
The United States calls its enemies “terrorists” to malign them. Why? Those who fought on the American side of the American Revolution were once called terrorists by the British. It seems that “terrorist” is simply what an imperial power calls the people who threaten its power the most.
From those living in the Atlanta forest called “domestic terrorists” for setting fire to death-making equipment, to Palestinian resistance fighters defending their land, people and dignity — the US consistently calls some of the bravest, most radical people terrorists. It’s time we wear the name like the badge of honor it is.
Dylan Rodriguez, founding committee member of Critical Resistance, highlights the importance of being insurgent. If we can do nothing else, it is our responsibility to uplift the insurgency. The artist, a person of the global majority, invites people around the country to do just that — wheatpaste these posters as a way of uplifting the insurgency, both at home and abroad.
IMAGE DESCRIPTION: A series of three posters printed onto thin paper and wheatpasted to a public wall. The first in the series reads “WE SHOULD ALL ASPIRE TO BE TERRORISTS” next to a Palestinian freedom fighter. Behind his head is a yellow halo and a lotus flower, a symbol of purity and divinity. Spotted across the poster are poppies, a symbol of the resistance. They add a floral look, but also look a bit like splotches of blood.
The second poster in the series reads FROM ATL TO PALESTINE. An image of the Atlanta forest is overlaid onto a grungy background. Illustrated watermelons can be found on the forest floor.
The last poster in the series reads DEFEND INDIGENOUS LAND & PEOPLE. The main image in the background is the very first excavator that was burned in the Stop Cop City movement, posted to Scenes on June 9th, 2021. Beneath that is a Palestinian freedom fighter looking into a scope.
DOWNLOADING FILES These print well on 8.5” x 11” paper. Print on thin paper, make wheatpaste, and post them around town.
Files also available on Visuals page.
submitted anonymously
[I am writing as an insurrectionary anarchist in the u$a and speaking to that context]
Unity Of Fields is a counter-info project that emerged in August of 2024. They describe their project as “a militant propaganda front against the US-NATO-zionist axis of imperialism.” It used to be Palestine Action US and has since changed its orientation. It has a website and some social media accounts, some of which have are banned at the time of this writing, they seem to be most popular on Telegram. Although it links to mostly anarchist sources for technical knowledge, Unity Of Fields does not seem to be an anarchist project and their political reading and media suggestions are all over the map. They suggest classic decolonial texts by Fanon and Cesaire, Black liberation writings from the BLA and BPP, texts from various Palestinian resistance factions, as well as authoritarian communists like Lenin and Mao among others.
Mostly their website is a clearing house for news, action analysis, and communiques. Many of the communiques posted are original submissions though they also repost from other counter-info projects and from social media. They also post some of their own original writings to their website. The fact that they post sketchy criminal stuff and link to technical advice on how to better carry out insurrectionary forms of struggle is probably a large part of why they are discussed in anarchist circles at allWhat does the emergence of a project like Unity Of Fields mean for us as anarchists? For one thing Unity Of Fields expands some spaces we occupy as anarchists — the combative struggle space and the digital counter-info space. We are clearly not the only ones re-coloring walls, opening windows, and carrying out our little sabotages and then writing about it, though at least for now others seem to look to our collective knowledge and experience for technical guidance. We are sharing a struggle space, one which is not limited to riotous moments and combative demonstrations, with other rebels who have made themselves visible to us. We are being included (at least some of the time) in a dialogue with other rebels through the sharing of our words and news of our actions, and anarchists have shared writings from Unity Of Fields on our own websites.
Local struggles against zionism, imperialism, and colonialism are visibly taking on more destructive, decentralized, anonymous, and autonomous approaches, a long-term dream of insurrectionary anarchists, yet new questions arise for us. How do we want to contend with other rebels with whom we have ideological differences and tactical similarities? How do we avoid getting lost in the vanguardist, unifying, nationalist tendencies that often accompany revolutionary leftist approaches to combative struggle? Are we interested in conspiring with these others outside the spontaneity of spiky demonstrations, occupations (and potentially riots), and if so how?
As anarchists we both seek to expand and connect anarchic forms of struggle yet also hold a healthy skepticism of unity with people who don’t hold anti-authoritarian views of freedom. Our history includes many betrayals by the left and progressives, from peace policing at demonstrations to executions and imprisonment from newly established revolutionary governments. The question of who to coalesce with and why is not an easy one, and one that is best addressed on a case by case basis. The appearance of Unity Of Fields potentially facilitates the dialogues and understanding that can help us better decide if and how we want to team up. As anarchists can often find ourselves isolated from others who we may have some political parallels with, the opening up of a “militant propaganda front” is a bridge to dialogue and learn across. This is not a call to join forces with anyone on the basis of being anti-zionist or anti-amerikkkan, it’s simply a reminder to always be analyzing the changing terrain around us and to think critically as we carry forward our struggles.
“Towards The Last Intifada” and “Towards Another Uprising” seem to be the beginnings of a dialogue among anarchists that address some of these questions. I look forward to more.
Relevant Readings:
Unity Of Fields: Opening Up A New Front
Archipelago – affinity, informal organization, and insurrectional projects
Voices from the Front Line Against the Occupation: Interview with Palestinian Anarchists
PS: Some Thoughts On Spectacle
Many if not most of the actions posted to Unity Of Fields are accompanied by some visual media, usually photos, sometimes videos. I want rebels to consider some pitfalls of spectacularizing our struggles. Every photo or video is another crumb for the state to eat up as part of their investigations. Digital media can offer up metadata about where and when and what kind of device it was recorded on if not properly removed. Footage that shows rebels gives the state valuable information, such as number of participants, approximate time of day, whether any passersby were present, as well as biometric data even when a person is masked. Height, skin tone, gait, approximate weight, and other information can be determined from even grainy footage.
Additionally there are the downsides of understanding our struggles in a quantitative way. This approach may blunt the qualitative changes that participating in struggle can bring us individually and collectively. Of course propaganda is useful, the seductive appeal of revolt is made easier with imagery, and these things must be weighted out, no struggle will be pure. I want to remind us that though this is the path that is being worn into the ground, it is not the only one, and should we choose it let us choose it intentionally.
It has been more than a year since israel commenced its genocidal assault on Gaza. Armed and enabled by the US government, the Zionist entity has slaughtered more than 42,000 captive Palestinians within this timeframe while also systematically destroying Gaza’s civilian infrastructure and killing tens of thousands more by starvation and preventable disease. Nor has israel’s genocidal rampage been limited to Gaza—Zionist forces have murdered hundreds of Palestinians in the West Bank within this timeframe, aggressively expanded israel’s settlement enterprise, and launched repeated attacks on Yemen, Syria, Iran, Lebanon, and Iraq.
In the past week, israel’s aggression both in Gaza and across the region has reached unprecedented heights. As part of its ongoing effort to ethnically cleanse and erase Northern Gaza, it has imposed a total siege on the area, preventing all food and aid from entering it for the past 13 days. Deliberately assassinating journalists in the northern Gaza Strip, few bravely remain to broadcast to the world. Simultaneously, Israel has launched an all-out invasion into Lebanon, displacing over a million Lebanese citizens and slaughtering nearly 2,000 in recent weeks.
UChicago United for Palestine called this action to interrupt business as usual at the University of Chicago, whose financial and institutional ties with the Zionist entity mirror its objective role as a colonial outpost on Chicago’s South Side—gentrifying neighborhoods and surveilling, policing, and displacing the people who live here. Our experiences during last year’s encampment taught us that our demands—disclosure, divestment, and repair—would not be taken seriously without demonstrating our willingness and ability to use every means at our disposal, including suspending the daily operation of the university. We called this action in conjunction with an international movement against a civil society, state, and international order that prop up the Zionist entity, facilitate its genocide in Palestine, and enable its war of expansion in Lebanon.
———————————————————————————————————————
On the afternoon of October 11th, following a rally that drew more than 150 students, community members, and faculty, protestors locked the main gate of the University of Chicago shut before hanging a banner reading “FREE PALESTINE – HANDS OFF LEBANON.” This was the first of a series of autonomous actions that marked the end of the Week of Rage for Palestine and Lebanon, as we passed a year of genocide in Gaza.
Protestors later marched to a statue commemorating the University’s involvement in the development of the nuclear bomb. A speaker said: “Today, Palestine and Lebanon are being used as the testing grounds of technologies built by universities like this one.” Tags reading FREE GAZA, FUCK THE BOMBS, and KEEP ESCALATING proliferated, and balloons full of paint were thrown at the statue. He continued: “our ultimate message today is that we can pick apart this university, and when we do, we can build something better in its place.” When the crowd regrouped and began to march north to disperse, UCPD cut into the middle of the march, targeting several protestors.
As cops resorted to violence far beyond what we’ve seen in past protests, we witnessed the crowd band together to protect each other as protestors moved to surround a squad car. The twenty-minute standoff that ensued was Hyde Park’s most intense confrontation between protestors and police in recent memory, and the bravery and commitment displayed by dozens of people let the march hold its ground against UCPD and CPD for longer than anyone presumed possible. In the face of this substantial escalation of police violence, the crowd reacted instinctively and successfully prevented more than a dozen arrests.
Eventually, UCPD and CPD realized that protestors would not budge of their own accord. Sergeant Grays Sr. began to issue orders. First, he demanded the driver of the squad car run over protestors: “Just drive!” The car tried and failed to drive through the crowd, which again refused to yield. This prompted Grays and another UCPD officer to repeatedly pepper spray upwards of twenty protestors, one CPD captain and another CPD officer. When the crowd held together and continued to de-arrest despite the pepper spray, CPD joined in to beat protestors with batons—one later remarked that “that was fun for a little while.” Like before, when confronted with police violence we worked to help each other: people circled around the crowd washing eyes and teaching others to do the same.
Whether on campus, in the city, or in the street, the Palestine movement must recognize and confront its enemies: the university, the police, American civil society, and the state, all of which collaborate to facilitate dispossession, land theft, and occupation at home and abroad. The people who locked the gate did so to shut down a university that has refused to even acknowledge the destruction of all Gazan universities, much less the ongoing genocide. It symbolized how, while we walk to class every day, the schools in Gaza are bombed, while israel’s genocide against Palestinians continues and the university remains materially and intellectually invested. Protestors painted the nuclear bomb statue red to expose the university’s culpability in the nuclear weapons program, a fact they memorialize through a statue that was explicitly designed to reflect “the mushroom cloud of a nuclear explosion, but also ha[ve] the shape and eye sockets of a skull”—mirrored in the present by its ‘neutral’ research and development programs which directly abet the slaughter in Gaza and Lebanon.
When UCPD and CPD came at protestors with batons, attempted to run people over, and mass pepper-sprayed in a drastic escalation of police violence from prior protests at the University, the crowd responded instinctively, recognizing that we must protect each other from the university’s agents of brutality. The people who spontaneously decided to surround a squad car, confront two police departments, and not back down in the face of pepper spray and batons realized that UCPD and CPD stand between us and divestment: the police are an occupying force, and the solidarity movement for a free Palestine will have to go through them.
In Palestinian culture, there is a state of being called sumud, which translates to steadfastness. The Palestinian people have remained steadfast for a century, planted firmly on their land and resisting all zionist attempts at displacement and ethnic cleansing. Over the past year of escalated genocide, Palestinians in Gaza and Arabs facing zionist attacks across the region have not, for a single moment, abandoned their sumud: their commitment to their land, their people, and their right to live with dignity and pride.
We will never stop fighting as long as they face genocide and occupation. We will remain steadfast and committed in solidarity with the Palestinian struggle for liberation, and the cause of all those who face brutal violence and occupation from UCPD and CPD every day. And we will not stop fighting until Palestine is free!
This release is issued by UChicago United for Palestine (UCUP), a student coalition calling for the immediate end of israel’s genocide against Palestinians, an immediate ceasefire, and the immediate end of israel’s siege on Gaza and occupation of Palestine. This coalition is committed to the liberation of Palestine and supports the ongoing campaign demanding that the University of Chicago cut its ties to the Israel Institute on campus and also supports the Boycott, Divest, Sanctions movement.
IG: @uchicagounited
LET the FLOOD of AL-AQSA DROWN the SETTLER EMPIRE!
Call for a Week of Rage from October 7–14: Direct action in solidarity with the Palestinian Resistance and anti-colonial movements in Turtle Island.
To act alongside the Al-Quds Axis and ‘bring the war home’ requires nothing less than a revival of anti-colonial militancy in this occupied continent. Free Palestine means death to amerika.
In commemorating one year of Operation Toufan Al-Aqsa, this is a call to go beyond the routine stage-managed ‘protest’ parades; this is a call to organize and sustain attacks on all entities, institutions, and infrastructures of the genocidal u.s.-zionist settler-imperialist order. Strike fear into the hearts of the comfortable colonizers, unsettle the settlers, just as the Palestinian Mujahideen have done.
Honor the martyrs through action. From Palestine to Lebanon to Yemen, to the millions of Native and Afrikan peoples across these lands—carry on the fight of those who dared to resist the settler-invader hordes and their capitalist slaveocracy. Target the many politicians, pigs, and profiteers that uphold the amerikan settler empire and its zionist spawn.
Share this graphic online, print and disseminate this call to action at demos, gatherings, study groups.
Organize a crew—at least three people—map out the terrain, assemble necessary tools, make a plan, and go on the offensive. For ideas, check out past actions and tactical resources on unityoffields.org, and submit a report back to the_unity_of_fields@proton.me.
As Al-Qassam urban guerrillas have demonstrated, a small dedicated cell can do untold damage upon the enemy. In the midst of total genocidal devastation, the Resistance is still able to obliterate the zionist entity’s tanks with just a few men. Let’s muster the courage and conviction so we too can learn from their revolutionary example.
GLORY to the MARTYRS
VICTORY to the RESISTANCE
WHAT IS COMING IS GREATE
What liberation strategy takes from the enemy? This is the antithesis of self autonomy, a violation of the spirit of #althawabet, a breach of trust, a willingness to be tokenized, careerism, and is a form of submission to the limitations of what “can be said” and what “can be done.” In other words: #CONTAINMENT.
Via the now suspended Instagram account @BadTakes Pali.
Continue reading “Containing Palestinian orgs through zionist funding”This communique describes an attempt by a crew of fiends in Chicago to coordinate a disruption for a fundraising event benefitting the Illnois Friends of the IDF in March. This attempt ultimately failed to achieve its goals. The organizers hope to share what they learned during this attempt, as well as some information on the FIDF & its connection to the genocide of the Palestinian people, in hopes of inspiring & aiding the continued effort to disrupt this group.
As enemies of the IOF and the zionist state of israel, an autonomous crew began organizing against the “Friends of the IDF” Illinois Chapter. The Chapter planned to host its annual Young Leadership Bar Night & Fundraiser in the River North neighborhood of Chicago on Saturday night. They were disgusted at the thought of zionists safely gathering in bar in one of the wealthiest neighborhoods in Chicago to celebrate the genocide of Palestinians and raise funds to futher the genocide.
In deciding to disrupt a party to raise funds for the IOF’s bloodsoaked 35th Paratroopers Brigade, the crew identified 2 primary goals:
No money to the IOF. Materially prevent and/or disrupt the ability of zionists to make donations to the IOF (eg. ideally by shutting it down and/or ensuring the event does not take place as planned.)
Make zionists afraid. Instilling fear in zionists particularly to be public with their support, feel any comfort in gathering together, etc.This crew thought about their experience with past actions to disrupt similar fascist events, and concluded that a passive sidewalk protest was unlikely to acheive either of these goals. The FIDF is very aware that it has enemies in Chicago, so having to walk past some people holding signs was unlikely to dissuade the type of people who will attend this fundraiser. In fact, it would probably contribute to their persecution complex. A public-facing call to action would also probably result in a large NGO call for a counter-protest, and the resulting peace-policing would prevent truly disruptive action from being taken.
Based on this assessment, they decided to try and coordinate a disruption only within the group, and to keep the project off social media & out of big chats unless mass support became necessary. It seemed likely that something could be done in the building where the fundraiser was going to be held, with a small number of people, that would close down the location or otherwise force them to cancel the fundraiser.
The initial advertisement said the fundraiser would be at “a River North nightclub,” and the actual address was only available to those who purchased a nearly $100 ticket. The group made a list of River North nightclubs with party spaces and did some internet sleuthing. Certain locations were ruled out due to size and other factors. The group then emailed these spaces, posing as a group inquiring on booking the space on the same day during an overlapping time. Spaces that responded and said they were available were ruled out. A different fake persona reached out to all the spaces on the list, posing as a clueless zionist mother wanting to buy her son a ticket to the gala. “I heard you’re hosting the event. Can I buy a ticket directly from you?” One of the spaces, Bodega Imports, responded, “How did you know we were hosting the gala?” And from there the crew got to work.
The process of deciding on, researching, & preparing for a disruptive plan ended up being riddled with dead ends. Supplies were unavailable, difficult to acquire in non-traceable ways, or tactics proved ineffective in test experiments. The biggest hurdle was when the event seemingly changed venues 4 days before — something that would not have been discovered if a group member hadn’t been following the social media of some FIDF admin. A story post boasted the number of tickets sold (over 650), which vastly outpaced the capacity of Bodega Imports. The apparent location change, and lack of scouted information on the new location, sent the group back to the drawing board impossibly close to the event date.
Someone floated the possibility of coordinating a group to be on stand-by for an above-ground disruption if the other routes of action failed, and the group agreed. They still wanted to cancel the fundraiser, but didn’t want it to go completely un-disrupted if that plan failed. They reached out via DM to some friends, and formed a chat with people who agreed to go to River North on the night of the event.
Despite continued ambitious investigation attempts, right up until the start time of the event, the location was discovered way too late. One group member found out through social media sleuthing that the event was at a bistro and nightclub called Tao. Unfortunately, this information was revealed only after the fundraiser ended.
Of course, the crew was devastated that this celebration of genocide went off without disruption. They met to discuss what could be done differently in the future, and came up with the following points:
The investigation of possible locations could have been kept open longer, alongside the process of preparing tactics.
A group could have been formed to focus on preparing above-ground disruption tactics such as bird-dogging, protesting, or blockading the club. The group could be separate from, but in communication with, the original crew.
The examination of the social media of FIDF admin & associates could have started earlier, as this was a very useful source of information.
Some method of accessing FIDF's internal comms, such as by infiltration or purchasing a ticket to the event, could have been done early in the process.
The above plans would have required additional people to be brought in, as the group was at capacity with investigating the first location and preparing tactics. More people would involve having a nimbler vouching process. Of course, it was only in hindsight that the need for these plans was indentified -- but, bringing in more people may have helped generate these ideas & more.While the crew doesn’t generally regret their underground approach, they agreed that if they knew how tight the FIDF’s infosec was going to be, they would have moved differently from the beginning. Namely, they would not have counted so much on being able to identify & access the location, and in their ability to get the event canceled. They believe that having a larger group pursuing a wider array of investigative & disruptive tactics would have increased the likelihood that the event could be disrupted, and also, may have catalyzed a bigger movement to counter the FIDF’s operations. There was not general knowledge amongst Chicago anti-zionists, whether above- or below-ground, that the event was even happening, and having a media strategy to address this would have benefitted the organizing by adding more capacity. In the end, an over-reliance on below-ground organizing was a weakness of this particular project.
The rest of this document provides information about the FIDF, and about the particular brigade of the IOF that it financially supports. The crew hopes that this communique will be disseminated to anyone interested in continuing to organize against the FIDF and any similar groups funding of the genocide of the Palestinian people.
Where does the IL “Friends of the IDF” Chapter’s Blood Money Go?
The IL Chapter of the Friends of the IDF (ILFIDF) sponsors the 35th Paratroopers Brigade – an “elite airborne infantry” brigade. This level of sponsorship goes beyond what is typical for most chapters of FIDF which is to “adopt a battalion”. The 35th consists of three battalions, and like their benefactors at ILFIDF, they too are overachievers — when it comes to war crimes. Service is voluntary, and admission is highly competitive with 4 out of 5 applicants rejected in an average year.
As a result the Brigade has played a critical and leading role in the ethnic cleansing of Palestine. Formed in 1955, the 35th’s first commander was Ariel Sharon, and they were responsible for the theft of the Western Wall and Al-Aqsa Mosque in 1967. They have been involved in every major military operation since their formation including suppression of the Second Intifada, both invasions of Lebanon, and the invasion of Khan Younis in 2014.
Today the 35th Brigade is once again invading Khan Younis. Self-reported troop movements by the IOF have placed them in the vicinity of the Al Amal and Al Nasser Hospitals during the siege and subsequent invasions of each hospital. Whether directly responsibly or not, they are at the very least implicated in the shellings, assassinations, kidnappings, torture, disappearances, and forced displacement of patients, refugees, and medical/humanitarian workers, and destruction of aid, medical equipment, and public health infrastructure at these locations and throughout western Khan Younis.
The Brigade, along with the larger 98th Division with whom they are embedded, has also called in airstrikes to the Israeli Air Force on multiple occasions. While we cannot definitively link any one bombing to them, we can establish that the 98th is “the unit that is leading the offensive in Khan Younis” according to Brig. General Dan Goldfuss. The overwhelming majority of the targets and deaths have been civilian including strikes on the Khalil Al-Rahman and Khalid bin Al-Waleed Mosques, the Ahmed Abdelaziz school, as well as countless homes and dwellings. In addition to the unmitigated slaughter, this coordinated campaign of terror has forced hundreds of thousands to flee to Rafah, many of them people who had already fled to Khan Younis from the north.
We hold ILFIDF responsible for their enthusiastic and vicarious participation in the 35th Brigade’s atrocious conduct, and as such call on all people of conscience in the greater Chicagoland area to disrupt their operations by whatever means appropriate to the task at hand.
Submitted Anonymously
Anonymous submission to Unsalted Counter Info. Reposted
here’s a zine reportback of various encampments on University of Chicago’s campus.
Printable version here
Full text below:
29-30 April 2024
Northwestern University 2.0???
Uchi’s encampment has been very disappointing. For starters, the community agreements are not community agreements. They are rules. One silly thing that they have decided for the quad is that no one can smoke or vape when it’s the norm. They have also decided to declare that people will not engage with any form of authority while they behave as such. Organizers and marshals have formed an internal divide within the encampment. On day one of the encampment, members decided to take down the israeli multi-flag display, and marshals chased them down and took pictures of them. It says on the community “agreements” that people are not supposed to take pictures of others without consent. Does that only apply to people who do what they say? Zionists eventually put them back up with UCPD guards. If marshals are supposed to “keep the camp safe,” wouldn’t it have been a great time to block them from taking the flags down?
It was stated that the unnecessary dichotomy between students and non-students is irrelevant and would not be applied here. However, undergraduate organizers have been silencing grad students, community members, and other radical individuals who came to support the cause. They say that they want people to escalate for Gaza. They don’t.
It was decided on day two that people could build certain kinds of barricades. When individuals decided to autonomously move the art installation a little to the left and stop people from walking within the encampment as if it ceases to exist, FJP came over. They policed and asserted respectability politics. They expressed worry about people walking through the flowers. As if they are not making that choice! As if people do not have free will! As if it is not a decision of the self! To blame community members for the actions of one is a pattern that has happened within this encampment. They expressed that they (they said “we” but there is no we here) want to lessen escalation, and we don’t want the university to retaliate against the camp.” This is not how the majority of the camp feels. The organizers agree with the faculty, as they have cemented the same points towards encampment members. The word autonomy has been abused tremendously within the last couple of days. Marshals have told people they can do things and they support autonomous action, but “we should all have a meeting about something before acting.” Organizers have said that autonomous actions need to be a group decision, autonomous actions are okay, and people want to escalate. But, individuals have to “assess the risk it causes the group.” People should “think about the safety of the group.” This is one example of how infantilizing yellow vests and organizers have been. This presumption that people taking autonomous action have no regard for the rest of the group is fatuous. The people escalating and taking autonomous action are thinking about the group. They are thinking about how to support the group with a diversity of tactics.
Autonomous actions do not happen after a “group meeting.” It seems like people do not understand what autonomy means. Autonomous actions do not need a damn coordinating meeting and a schedule. They happen whenever and wherever someone feels comfortable. Mind your business, and you’ll be fine. It feels like the organizers want this encampment for clout-chasing purposes instead of standing with people who deserve liberation. They do not want individuals who know what they are doing to spread their knowledge base throughout the camp. This could be a learning experience for all, but they are halting this educational process.
Another form of infantilization is the infantilization of Black people. Certain individuals within the camp have been advising people not to escalate because “there are Black people here.” They have expressed that people should not escalate because what if Black people get hurt?” “What if brown people get hurt?” They are not thinking about how historically Black people have escalated as a community. This is the same bullshit that happened in 2020. When Black people did what they autonomously wanted, white marshals and non-black organizers would try to shut shit down under the guise of protection. An organizer at the camp called a Black person antagonistic just for speaking to her about her actions. Community members should be able to converse with organizers without anti-black language thrown in their faces.
Back to autonomous actions being shut down, there are zine tables distributing different kinds of materials. People are passing out flyers, zines, and stickers all around the camp. One table was approached by marshals and was asked to leave because someone painted “Escalate for Gaza” in a breezeway and circled one of the As in an anarchist fashion. The autonomous table was told that they should leave because, obviously, this table did it because they’ve been distributing anarchist media. This particular table is not a collective or an organization. It has been random people holding the table down and putting out tactile information that has frustrated certain marshals. They want to act as if this is a decentralized community while forcing hierarchy upon others. Not all of the marshals wanted people to leave, but the sheer fact that people felt like it was okay to accuse others of illicit acts outside the camp is not cool. People around them did not want them to leave, and this is another instance of the internal divide, with marshals saying that they’re protecting the camp but choosing peace police instead. They say that they want to protect the camp, but they want everyone to focus on the respectability politics that they have encouraged. “We don’t want to look bad. We don’t want to give the university justification to shut us down.” The encampment already looks bad. The encampment is already antagonistic. These respectability politics help no one. It may give organizers and marshals peace of mind for everyone to contain their anger against the state by exhibiting passive behavior, but that’s not what everyone’s okay with.
This is the south side of Chicago. You can tell who has left the UChi bubble and who hasn’t. People are going to do what they want. Shit is going to go down here this summer. When students leave, UCPD does not. They continue to police and harass the south side. On day two, the police were attending to something outside of the camp. Someone on the megaphone decided to alert people to not worry after individuals went to check it out and exclaimed, “It has nothing to do with us.” This is NOT true. It has everything to do with UChicago. UChicago is the reason why UCPD exists. This is a gentrified neighborhood because of this filthy campus. These rich kids and out-of-state attendees are part of the reason the south side is so policed. Anytime UCPD harasses somebody within the boundaries of Hyde Park and the surrounding neighborhoods, it is a student’s problem. UChi students need to hold themselves accountable for their sheer presence and understand the privilege that they have. The amount of displacement that the university has assisted with is disgusting. This encampment should be for everyone. This encampment should challenge the university to hold itself accountable for not only helping out with genocide but also the destruction and displacement of racialized people everywhere. They have helped displace people in Gaza and on the south side of Chicago.
Indigenous liberation includes Black people. Indigenous liberation is about embracing autonomy. Indigenous liberation cannot happen with white supremacist values. Indigenous liberation when others are trying to force respectability politics down the throats of radicals. This is bigger than the atrocious deaths of Hind and Refaat. The true radicals in this camp will not be silenced. We will continue to dissent. Escalate for Gaza. Give Palestine back to the Palestinian people. End the invasion now. Fuck a ceasefire! End the IDF and for the love of everything on this planet, BLOC UP!
1 May 2024
Dear Plebs and other actual radicals,
We heard that organizers have been on a manhunt to find who wrote the first reportback.
Well, we’re back.
This reportback/letter isn’t just about organizers. It is about the gentrifying entitled atmosphere of that quad. Before we start, we want to say if you feel called out: this reportback is about you. If it doesn’t apply, let it fly by. We also want to state that any mental decison to denounce this in the name of the moral crimes committed at Columbia and UCLA;you know for a fact that doesn’t apply here because they are actually escalating for Gaza, UChi is not.
Reportback:
On the first day of this occupation performance, the vibes were okay until someone tried to actually show up for Palestine. By the 3rd day, the energy of that quad was weak and suffocating. It makes sense, though. Anti-Black spaces are always like that. A homeless community member was camping out with us (which is what an encampment is supposed to be about: building fucking space for everyone). Unfortunately, this man was arrested after harassment from a white custodian. Marshals were nowhere to be found during this incident. We thought that marshals were supposed to protect the camp from oppressive bodies and repressive forces, but obviously that only applies to Uchicago kids. Organizers-without bloc as usual-ran around trying to find out the name of this man so people could provide jail support. What a beautiful gesture. Maybe it would have been easier for you to give him jail support if you all had given him the time of day and spoke to him. But wait! That would mean leaving your little trust fund bubble for even a second, right?
Throughout the day, zionists came in and out of the camp with ease. There was no protection around the camp. The amount of marshals that are stationed around that camp policing people for taking action and reading anarchist literature (which for the last damn time, we are not a monolith. That’s kind of our whole thing). You see, there are organizers of anti-carcerality all over the city who want to organize, because they hated the cops, not these new organizers. The original SJPs of this fake nation state (not all) wanted to organize, because they wanted justice for Palestine. These newer ones do care about these issues, but some of the energy that came with planning this performance seems like a claim to fame.
For example, there is soooooo much concern over not graduating and the “repression from the University”, while there are actual, raw af activists who have been in prison since they were 18 and never got the chance to go to school. There are activists and members of the south side who have never met their parents, because of the prison system. There are members of the community who cannot come to protests because of conditional release and probation. But, we’re supposed to care about a degree that your dad paid for? we’re supposed to care about a degree that you might have gotten on scholarship, but made you a gentrifier in the process?
Several community members have tried to tell organizers and marshals alike how encampments work. We tried to give them knowledge outside of academia and into the streets. South siders and lifelong Chicagoans who have spent their entire adult lives have passed through this camp to support, but felt excluded and unwanted. If we did feel welcome, we could have helped educate others and facilitated conversations about encampments and occupations that we have lived in/supported/loved. The organizers of this display were spoken to about their lack of transparency around finances. They spoke to them about their logistical strategy. Apparently, the organizers did not expect the encampment to change with the involvement of community members. This camp was never supposed to be hierarchical. Same thing as Northwestern. These meetings that happen every morning are performative. They planned out escalations with the assumption that everyone would center them, their expensive degrees, and their stuffy scared attitudes.
Another Black person, on May Day of all days, was assaulted by police while attempting to dearrest someone while a radical act was happening outside of the camp. They grabbed him by the throat and restrained him. A singular fucking person helped him dearrest himself. The rest attempted to tell him KYR training in the moment, which was somewhat helpful. The marshals again were nowhere to be fucking found. No one cared except for afterwards when the individual made an announcement.
Later, a Black organizer saw three Zionists circling the camp and heading towards the children’s tent and rushed to the the scene to force the Zionists out of camp. They did not use force but were told by marshals to leave the man alone and walk away. The organizer broke down in tears and begged the marshals to fence off the camp to protect protestors. They left the quad because they felt unprotected. They were tired of trying to warn organizers about the possibility of sexual assault in the encampment.
We do not need peace police. We need community and autonomy. Do not trust the organizers and again, do not trust a yellow vest. If you want to be trusted, take off the vest and do what is fucking right.
On the 3rd of May, the university emailed students about a possible meeting and told them it would not be recorded by either side. The university is attempting to intimidate and cause even more controversy/conflict within the group. Do not let them scare you. Form your AGs (affinity groups), read up on autonomous tactics: paint the walls, throw what you want, and barricade a damn building if you need to. You know your body and its capabilities. Listen to yourself and your trusted comrades!
Do not listen to anyone you do not trust and stay safe.
Tips: put an alphanumeric password on it NOW, put disappearing messages on for everything, delete all apps off your phone, better yet: put your phone in your house and leave it there.
Stop using safari and only search through duckduckgo.
Bloc up, wear gloves, and cover your forehead.
After encampment reflections:
The Casbah Basel al-Araj encampment seemed to be the high point and only southside encampment focused on liberation. It was led by radical alumni, southsiders, and comrades who care about the south side outside UChi’s oppressive bubble. The division between student and non-student was non-existent. It doesn’t matter when it comes to Indigenous solidarity. Barricading the “IOP building” was more than just shutting down a building;it was an example of what southside actions are capable of. It was an example of what determination can look like. SJP’s encampment harmed people? Well, we’re going to have fun and fuck with the university. Even though no one got to stay the night, we still messed with the university and their delusion about on-campus resistance ending.
We are extremely proud of our comrades for fucking with the “alpha” squad of UCPD and state-sanctioned pigs. It is amazing that no one got arrested. Protesters escaped safely from the second floor of Casbah Basel al-Araj after pigs entered the building. Individuals fought back against the cops. People broke bread and shared comradeship. We marched and beat up a spitting image of President Paul. Hopefully, this summer, we hope to keep this energy of fucking with pigs and keeping the southside halal/kosher. No pork on the streets unless it’s dead and jerked in the back of a truck!
We are forever grateful to everyone who pushed back against UChi and state oppression. We keep each other safe! We defend our comrades because no one else will!
It wasn’t disappointing to see or technically not see many of UChi’s SJP organizers say anything about the IOP. It was expected. It wasn’t their event. It didn’t support the hivemind they so desperately want. It made sense considering some of SJP’s main organizers barely wanted non-students there. It wasn’t disappointing, because alumni and year-round southsiders were already disappointed. As community members, we think it is comical that so many of these third-year and fourth-year organizers wanted to impress their radical predecessors with… what? a performative encampment? lack of community? anti-Blackness? We don’t know. We do know this though: we’ve been laughing and rolling our eyes for weeks about that shitshow of a camp.
@ (most, not all) UChicago SJP: You failed. That encampment was embarrassing. Your predecessors think you were misguided and shady. Your neighbors want nothing to do with you.
We heard some of you were open to conversations and growth from older/more experienced/outside organizers. Great. However, most of you who wanted to have conversations wanted to silence those darker than you and those who have to deal with your drunken blabbering on our streets during the school year. The word “autonomous” was constantly whispered as if autonomy should be hidden and not embraced. The term “community” was either followed with the word agreement or prefaced with “outside”. You guys were not too keen when it came to non-undergrads making decisions or voicing their opinions. The respectability politics in that camp were disgusting; they started with the disrespect of street medics and ended with state violence towards Black people with no support from the yellow yests. Weren’t marshals supposed to protect the camp? Most organizers seemed to be focused on badjacketing and silencing anyone with the ability to understand why you should wear a mask and cover your face (newsflash: state repression sucks).
There was a lot of fear-mongering about “anarchists”. Individuals were told not to check in on the Black southsider who was attacked on the quad, because “they’re one of the anarchists”. Two whites attempted to shut down the autonomous zine table, because “you’re distributing anarchist media” and accused them of tagging one of the enclaves with an anarchist A & the words “Escalate for Gaza”. Accusing someone of “criminal” activity and then trying to remove them from a camp is kinda wild. What does this behavior remind you of? Accusing people with insufficient evidence…basing the findings around profiling…telling people to leave because they don’t want to do things exactly they want you to? Sounds like cop behavior to us.
But what do you expect from anti-Black racist fools? Anything outside of white supremacist standards has to be eliminated, right?
Several Black organizers, internal and external, were shut down during the encampment. They were silenced during meetings and only given the time of day when they had full-on breakdowns. Faculty walked around gripping their colorist bias harder than their purses when a Black man walks past.f Did SJP do anything about that? No. Did non-Black SJP organizers step in when their friends were racist? No. Black people who wanted to focus on mutual aid and community care this summer left the SJP encampment with anxiety and doubt. Black people left a lot of these encampments with anger, grief, and despair. Non-Black SJP organizers left that encampment with a lot of misguided twitter followers and a chip on their shoulders.
The last question we’ll ask is: what’s SJP going to do with the money they raised and can we see the receipts? 🙂
“The flea has fascinating fighting strategies and techniques…It does not kill its host…what it does is exhaust its host and consume its blood, causing constant disturbance, eventually preventing the host from being able to rest. It makes the host nervous and demoralized. […]
[T]he guerilla fights its wars like fleas…If the battle lasts long enough to exhaust the host then it will fail in the battle due to its weakness while unable to locate the flea(s)…[F]ight like a flea.” Live Like A Porcupine, Fight Like A Flea
“The beginning of every revolution is an exit, an exit from the social order that power has enshrined in the name of law, stability, public interest, and the greater good.” Exiting Law & Entering Revolution
CONTEXT
Since October 7th, Chicago has seen countless marches and actions that have been successful in bringing out hundreds and thousands of people. However, many of these numbers consist of suburbanites driving or being bussed into the city to show support, rather than a mass of Chicagoans coming together from across the deeply race- and class-segregated city. In addition, these marches have usually been put on by a small number of nonprofit organizations. They have been heavily marshaled and largely symbolic, leaving many people demoralized and looking for more.
As every day sees more Gazans murdered by the zionist entity, symbolic parades that play into respectability politics at every turn and ask the state for permission to protest are clearly a toothless and insufficient response. Small, isolated acts of sabotage aren’t enough either—it is crucial to seek more militant forms of collective action. These actions should demonstrate an understanding of the throughline between the colonial states of the US and Israel, and the need to abolish both entirely—prisons, police, military, and state bureaucracies alike—to stop both the genocide in Gaza and the daily forms of state violence here in Chicago. From within the imperial core, there’s an obligation to interrupt the material support that the “U.S.” provides “israel.”
In order to encourage more militant collective action, there is a need for a change in protest culture that is rife with peace policing liberal concerns about “outside agitators.” Contrary to what peace police, protest managers, and the heads of liberal social justice organizations would have us believe, many people are looking to take more escalated action and learn the skills to do so together. This desire clearly expressed itself in flashes at the campus encampments here in Chicago, including in the brief but impactful establishment of the Casbah of Basel Al Araj on the University of Chicago campus.
SUMMARY OF EVENTS
Around 4:40 pm on Friday, May 17th, as the University of Chicago’s Alumni Weekend kicked off, a group of protestors marched to the Institute of Politics on the University of Chicago campus. Soon after they arrived, a group entered the building and barricaded its entrances from the inside. Banners were dropped from the upstairs windows. Staff working in the building were told that the building was being occupied and it was time for them to leave. Most of the building’s occupants complied, but the director of the institute, who happened to be a former senator, refused to leave. Cops were able to breach a first-floor door on the side of the building that led to the basement, but protestors prevented them from accessing the inside of the building for the time being.
Meanwhile, the crowd outside was trying to prevent cops from entering the building but did not succeed in blocking pigs from going up the porch stairs to the front door. Once the pigs got to the front door, it only took them a few hard yanks to break the barricade’s pull on the front door. From there, the protestors regrouped to the second floor and tried to barricade that floor. As pigs started to enter the second floor, the protestors retreated to a small conference room, and held off the pigs for long enough to leave the building through windows and onto a porch roof. Just as the cops were able to enter the room, everyone escaped onto the roof and climbed down into the crowd. From there, people were able to escape using the cover of the crowd. No arrests were made.
As police worked to enter the building, protestors outside had set up barricades in the gangway between the IOP and a neighboring building, making it harder for cops to move between the front and back yards. After protestors made their escape and active clashes with cops slowed down, people began to set up tents and chairs on the front lawn of the building, and continued to occupy space in the back yard as well. Food and snacks arrived, attempts were made to set up a speaker system (though cops threw a wrench in this plan by cutting an extension cord), and kids played on the lawn. The demands of the action and the principles guiding it were read aloud.
Struggles with police occurred in the building’s backyard, as cops attempted to control the space and warned that arrests would be made if any more tents were set up. A nearby frat blasted shitty music (the national anthem and mediocre dad rock with a quick reprieve in the form of Dolly Parton’s 9 to 5), trying to drown out protestors’ chants. Protestors continued to surround the building and hang out until around 9:30 PM, at which point protestors assessed that there was not enough energy, support, or numbers to spend the night amid cops’ threats to start making arrests. The group marched to the University president’s house nearby with chants of “we’ll be back.”
TAKEAWAYS
We share these takeaways in an effort to contribute to tactical and strategic knowledge developing across campuses, as solidarity encampments have been set up, attacked, repressed, voluntarily disbanded, and in some cases escalated. We hope this can be useful to others pursuing escalated tactics in solidarity with Gaza and in resistance to colonial violence at home and far away.
(1) On escapes and exits—hope for the best & prep for the worst.
Protestors who entered to barricade the IOP were able to make a full escape—footage shows them climbing safely from the roof into the waiting arms of friends. It wasn’t clear in advance that this would be possible, but folks inside were quick on their feet and had the foresight to leave to fight another day.
The University of Chicago’s campus is highly policed by the private University of Chicago Police Department (UCPD) and the municipal Chicago Police Department (CPD), so drawing enough protestors to fend off an initial police response was going to be difficult, especially during Alumni Weekend when police presence was already heightened. UCPD responded most actively to the protest, quickly moving past protestors attempting to block the front steps; removing furniture blocking the front door; shoving protestors and throwing chairs at them; and then entering and sweeping the building. CPD officers set up lines on all sides of the building, but mostly sat back and watched events unfold, after initially chasing some protestors who attempted to barricade the alley behind the building back into the crowd.
Leaving the building so quickly was not the only way things could have unfolded. Had the front door barricade held, or had protestors blockaded more successfully from outside, UCPD cops would not have entered the building so quickly, and protestors could have remained inside longer. This would have necessitated longer-term organizing from supporters outside the building, and perhaps a different police response. By the time police entered the building, it might not have been possible for protestors to exit into a friendly crowd; leaving in handcuffs was thus a possibility protestors likely anticipated.
However, the protestors at Casbah of Basel Al Araj had no apparent interest in symbolic arrests, and seized the opportunity to leave when pigs breached the building and an escape route presented itself. This flexibility, and mental preparation to leave if possible rather than submit to forms of “surrender” and planned arrests, was a strategic strength.
(2) On scouting, preparation & logistics – practice more.
At the Casbah, cops were able to move relatively quickly through barricades protestors attempted on the building’s doors.Had there been more materials on site for back-up barricades—or more knowledge on site about methods of barricading doors—protestors might have been able to improvise stronger barricades and hold the space for longer. Practicing skills routinely, to be more ready to act in escalated action situations and to pivot on the fly when plans change, is an evergreen takeaway that’s especially relevant at actions where success hinges on specialized techniques and tactics.
Further, having more supplies on site for the full range of possible scenarios would’ve served the action well. Tents, chairs, food, and more defensive materials didn’t arrive on site as soon as they could have, which delayed the crowd’s ability to jump in and support holding the space.
(3) On Identifying Cop Tactics—Repression goes beyond arrests.
The fact that no arrests were made is always something to celebrate. However, it’s important not to reduce state repression to a single tactic. Cops may not have taken anyone away on the day of the protest, but they did stand by with body cameras recording footage throughout, and at several moments pointed out specific individuals within the crowd, seeming to single them out for increased attention. We can’t be sure why specific people were pointed out. The cops could be noticing people arrested in previous protests, they could be trying to identify potential organizers of an action, or mapping networks to see who might know each other. Observing these practices underscores the importance of disguising identities when in action spaces, and having a robust threat model. For all we know, arrests could be attempted weeks after an action using footage of people involved, as we saw in 2020 in Chicago after a protest in Grant Park where a statue of Col*mbus used to stand.
(4) On liberal co-optation — strong principles set the tone.
This action aimed to disrupt the pattern of liberals deescalating confrontational tactics through peace policing. So, we created principles of unity that included escalation, self-defense, non-cooperation with the state, and diversity of tactics. We shared those principles through fliers handed out to the crowd before the march, and through announcing them over the megaphone at the rally outside the Casbah.
Setting these expectations, and very visibly sharing and practicing the principles and demands that don’t fit into liberal organizations’ platforms, made it harder for liberals to co-opt our action. As we thought might happen, liberal organizations emerged after a few hours and tried to tell people what to do. When they did, they were shut down and ignored by the protestors, with some responding to people claiming to be “police liaisons” with “this action doesn’t have police liaisons.” These same liberal organizations also took issue with some of the demands because “fuck the police and gentrification” don’t fit neatly into their single issue platforms, making the action harder to co-opt. Messaging should focus on reaching folks who share values and ideological leanings, like being critical of cooptation, reform, and negotiation.
The demands issued also helped prevent co-optation. They were:
1. Free Palestine
2. Abolish the University
3. Land Back
4. Fuck gentrification
5. Fuck 12
Following the logic that making demands pushes movements and insurrections toward negotiation and moderation, and leaning into the observation that there is no centralized authority capable of granting us the world we insist on building (without abolishing itself…) the demands are maximalist, general, uncompromising, and reject incremental logic. They challenge respectability and the demands-based framework itself, making it harder for liberal organizations to claim credit for the energy or power built by the action.
(5) On student radicalization — learning by doing.
Student organizations limit imagination of possible actions and control protests into being governable, peaceful, and nonviolent. Often, the heads of these organizations are obsessed with the idea that they are responsible for keeping a crowd safe and are willing to police the actions of others in the name of preventing arrest. When not intentionally challenged, the campus bubble of student organizing can isolate students from non-student genocide resisters, which means isolation from collective knowledge of resistance techniques.
While the encampments did allow for some new networks to be formed and more militant tactics to be shared, some organizers were more interested in control than in escalation. This desire for control played out along racial lines, as students in the encampements policed Black protestors and failed to understand the reality of police violence.
In addition to more methods to occupy, defend, and evade, this action also led students to think about the question of demands. Traditional organizing encourages creating “achievable” divestment demands and other institutional reforms. But students are seeing that demands and appeasement reforms don’t go far enough. The full disruption of the University’s ties to occupation, genocide and imperialism requires the abolition of the University institution.
The Casbah of Basel al-Araj showed students that they can take actions which threaten power and that they can do so without the permission of a central organization. Students saw that actions do not have to end in performative arrest. We lose our ability to attack if we all go to jail. Risking capture can be done with strategy and material impact, but being captured is not the goal.
At the Casbah, the possibility of autonomous action and militant escalation was not just theoretical. Students and non-students joined in by building barricades, covering for people exiting IOP, kettling the cops, joining other actions throughout the day, and opposing co-optation.
CONCLUSION
From the Casbah of Basel al-Araj, protestors demonstrated the possibility for forms of escalation that allows for an escape from marshals, peace-policing, student and nonstudent divides, and negotiation, and can allow for a variety of tactics. It also showed students disaffected from the encampment and failures to escalate that it is possible to attack and escape—both from the clutches of police and from the hierarchical peace policing of liberal student groups attempting to suppress more militant actions. The university is accidentally giving its students an education in autonomy and direct action. What we learn from disrupting the university, prepares us to intensify and deepen our actions to free Palestine. School may be out for summer, but the fight goes on.
Submitted Anonymously