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10 ANARCHIST
THESES ON PALESTINE
SOLIDARITY INTHE,
UNITED STATES yy




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10 ANARCHIST THESES ON
PALESTINE SOLIDARITY IN THE
UNITED STATES

by anonymous


cl alls degiol sls clnanicl oaZll

glory to the martyrs, victory to the resistance, what is coming is greater
“The strategy of solidarity reached its limits long ago. Solidarity today is an industry
of conferences, lectures, book talks, and ritualistic protests—symbolic solidarity. The
‘war on Gaza has exposed the clear limits on solidarity movements in the United
States. Palestine solidarity is an extreme case in point in a much larger development
of solidarity activism and politics.

“The lesson of George Floyd uprising and other anti police struggles over the past
decade tells us two things: that the Black movement over the course of a decade de-
veloped more militant forms of struggle based on the failures of reform. And second,
new groups of people entered the fight against the police based on their immiscration
and willingness to act. The twin dynamics of the evolving Black liberation struggle
and capitalist immiseration created the conditions for the George Floyd uprising,

Materialist solidarity occurred historically under unique circumstances where
people in the United States were compelled to act in new ways. As bad as the con-
ditions in Palestine have gotten, they have not affected conditions in ways that force
broader segments of oppressed and exploited people here in the United States to act.

We have no definite answers about what to do in this moment. But we believe
that anarchists must be having honest and serious conversations about what this
‘moment means for us. In many ways, our theses seck to provoke questions among
anarchists and our fellow travelers about how we intervene in broader socal struggles
beyond parroting the dominant narrative and actions of the activist Left.

“The theses below map the contours of the struggle today. Ifwe find ourselves in a
valley, a least we know where we are, and begin a climb from the low point of sym-
bolic solidarity. Perhaps some comrades will be insulted by what we have said, but our
‘guide isthe Palestinian resistance to Israel, We stand with them..



1. The ongoing genocide in Palestine
cannot be stopped by more parades,
speeches and marches to nowhere. While
people may feel empowered by chanting
in the streets and making speeches, for
many of us who understand these pro-
tests to be useless ritual, itis just another
‘example of our weakness as revolution-
aries in the United States as we witness
another Nakba unfold.

2. The social conflict around Anti-Zion-
ism seems to have been mostly contained
to college campuses. It has not spread
into a revolt against broader sociery. Un-
like the George Floyd. uprising (which
continues to be our main reference point
as anarchists who desire social revolu-
tion), most oppressed and exploited peo-
ple continue to go about their day to day



lives. When the protests spread to the
streets, we do sce a broader composition
‘of people, families for example, But these
are hardly revolts but the public show of
frustration and symbolic support. Docs
mean that American. proletarians
care litle to fight against the genocide in
Palestine? What are we to do then?

3. Black and Palestinian Liberation
struggles are often held up as being in
solidarity. This claim must be re-exam-
ined for us to move forwards. Beyond,
that moment in 2014 where Palestinians
tweeted our support ro Ferguson protest
cers, it docs not seem that solidarity ex-
ists between these communities beyond
individual activists from those back-
‘grounds (Black and Palestinian) know-
ing one another. Rhetorical caims of sol-








idarity during speeches or on Instagram
Infographics is not material solidarity. It
is dishonest to make such claims when
a material solidarity does nor exist. An-
archists who fight alongside the Black
liberation struggle must be critical of the
idea of solidarity based upon such dubi-
‘ous claims as we ourselves see solidarity
4s material actions you take. While we
sce similarities between the Palestinian
youth who fight the IOF in Gaza and
the Black youth in American ghettos
who fight the police, we are not sure if
this is solidarity.

4, In.a more positive note, the non-vio~
lene direction actions by Jewish groups
such as IfNotNow and Jewish Voices for
Peace are a step ahead of the ritualistic
protests, but also a ritual themselves.
While it is inspiring to see Jewish com-
rides stand up to the warmongers and
Zionists, these actions do not meet the
needed requirements to stop the war on
Gara cither.

5. Multiple comrades who attended the
pro-Palestine parades in American cit
ies have talked about how many of the
cars in the demonstrations were expen-
sive, “This indicates something about
the broader class character of the move-
ment. As a comrade has said: Non-Black
middle class Muslims are similar to the
white middle class, absorbed in con-
sumerism and carcers. They worship 2
‘god: the U.S, Dollar. Their class contra-
dictions prevent them from doing any-
thing meaningful regarding Palestine. If
the class character of the leaders of the
Pro-Palestine movement in the United
States is petty-bourgeois, what is the
place of anarchists within i@ Should
wwe even be involved? It is critical to un-
derstand that historically anti-colonial
struggles are not only the domain of the







‘working classes and anti-capitalist revo-
Jutionaries. This seems to be the case in
‘our contemporary setting as well. Fanon.
teaches us that often the national bour-
sgxoisicorright wing clements of the petit
bourgeois often take part in anti colonial
scruggles while forsaking the class strug-
ide. As anarchists, we may share repul-
sion and outrage at the genocide in Gaza
bu we probably share litle else with the
leaders of these protests in terms of our
view of the world, This is an uncomfort-





domain of the POC Left in the United

States. POC Leftists read Fanon, tweet
about Haiti and wax poetics about armed
struggle. Despite this, we have yet to see
any militancy from these POC leftists
Instead they live vicariously chrough the
resistance of the Palestinians in Gaza
people while lacking any of that bravery
themselves. They chant intifada revolu-
tion in the street on megaphones and
then go home. Meanwhile, anarchist
‘comrades in Palestine train the youth in
Black bloc tactics and fight the Israeli oc-
‘cupiers in the streets of East Jerusalem.

7. To anarchist militants with an interest
in fighting alongside anti-colonial strug-
idles, there is a question that has arisen
for us witnessing and attending these
demonstrations in American cities. The
‘question is about why these demonstra-
tions have not been more conftontation-
al with the American police. If we under-
stand the reality that the IOF has trained.
American police, shouldnit the American
police be the immediate enemy for these
demonstrations? ‘This is complicated by
how there have been photos of Arab cops
with Palestinian flags in chicago. Even
more embarrassingly. aftr a Zionist pep-
per sprayed a cop in Skokie, Palestinian








solidarity activists helped him wash his
‘yes. The whole black liberation solidar-
ity thetoric continues to ring hollow
with these actions of support for police.
However Encouragingly, in Bay Ridge
Brooklyn, crowds clashed and taunted
the NYPD for their connections to the
IOF, However to our knowledge, this
remains an outlier. Unsurprisingly, these
demonstrations are also filled with many
authoritarian leftist cowards who seck to
recruit more young people to their cults.
‘When these protests are the only option
to engage in an “action” for Palestine, it
feels unfortunate for anarchists. Pechaps
more reason for anarchists and other
anti-colonial forces to organize autono-
ously.

8, Ie is clear that Islamaphobia is on the
rise again. The tragic murder of Wadea
Al Fayoume by a zionist trump support-
ing landlord is indicative of this. The
far right continues to label anyone who
supports Palestine as a terrorist. The at-
tacks on various Black and Arab activists
who have been Pro-Palestine speaks to
this. What is the anarchist intervention
against Islamophobia? At the same time
the fight against antisemitism cannot be
dropped cither. We have already seen
fascists attack Zionists in a Palestine sol
idarity demonstration in Raleigh. Our
stand must ahvays be clear. weare against
both antisemitism and Islamophobia.
How we position ourselves in this con-
text is difficult, but matters. Finally, we
must prevent the polarization to become
‘one of Jews versus Muslims. This has no
horizon of emancipation,

9. The ability of the AFAsqa Flood op-
eration to overwhelm and overextend
(if only for a moment) the Israeli State
shows that the imperialist powers are not
all powerful. ‘The breaking of the Gaza



wall is reminiscent of the destruction of
the 3rd Precinct in Minneapolis. The
struggle in Palestine should be a con-
stant inspiration for us here in the Unit-
ced States. In the United States, the first
step for Palestine Solidarity is to make
its position clear on Black liberation. A
rudimentary starting point is to chants
‘expressing support for Black liberation
and Palestinian liberation as well as con-
demnation of police to become com-
monplace at demonstrations. ‘There are
many other ways to do this but for us it
begins with honesty about material soli-
datity as opposed to rhetorical. This will
‘only be a firs step as plenty of Black peo-
ple have good reasons to distrust Arabs
and Muslims in the context of a white
supremacist America. But this is where it
all must begin.

10. Ultimately, our main task as revolu-
tionaries in the United States remains to
be the unmaking of the American em-
pire. Anarchists are for solidarity with
Palestine, But the solidarity of tweets, or
a few activists, is pretty thin compared
to the shared solidarity of struggling to-
agsther in large numbers. We have not
seen this in the United Stares. We are
for solidarity, but cannot prop up false
‘or razor thin claims either. From this
honest starting point we can ask why
there is so litte material solidarity and
‘what can be done about it. We eannot let
‘our emotional attachments to a move-
ment that has lead to no advancements
in our struggle here let alone providing
any relief or aid for Palestinians fighting
settler-colonialism in Gaza and the West
Bank to distract from the real mission.



Freedom for Palestine means
Death to America.


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“rysisa4 ays

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