Today's Topics:
1. France, Alternative Libertaire AL #279 - Right of reply:
"Some standards are in favor of peasant agriculture" (fr, it, pt)
[machine translation] (a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
2. France, Alternative Libertaire AL - Political show, Eyes for
the eyes by Al Aude (fr, it, pt) [machine translation]
(a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
3. Greece, "Black & Red"[APO]: "The Wolves Embrace With Dogs"
[announcement about the events of Thessaloniki] (gr) [machine
translation] (a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
4. sosyal savas: Russia: Call for International Days of
Solidarity with Russian Anarchist Political Prisoners Feb
5th-12th, 2018 (tr) (a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
5. France, Alternative Libertaire AL - Against selection, let's
inform, fight back ! by Secrétariat Jeunesse (fr, it, pt)
[machine translation] (a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
6. wsm.ie: Finally a referendum to Repeal the 8th - organising
made this happen (a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
7. KARAKÖK AUTONOME TR/CH: Aerial attack on Afrin
(a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
8. anarkismo.net - Vanguards of Humanity: Why I support Afrin &
the Rojava Revolution by Marcel Cartier - The Region
(a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
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Message: 1
Maxime Bergonso, of the Confederation paysanne wished to answer to an article published
two months ago in Alternative libertaire. ---- In the November 2017 issue of Alternative
Libertaire, Pierre, a farmer in Saône-et-Loire, accuses, in his article " Norms have not
prevented mad cow ", the peasant Confederation to defend " the good standards ", the "
good controls " and to be a co-managerial union. ---- This is not the first time that the
Outsized collective is attacking us on our union work and we want to make things clear.
---- In the preamble, we wish to reaffirm our solidarity with struggling peasants who feel
they are rightly victims of excessive controls or unjust standards. We are just as
revolted to see the peasants treated as criminals as was the case for Jerome Laronze.
Several peasants of the peasant Confederation went to a meeting of the collective. It
seems important to us to work together to protect the peasants, in this sense we reiterate
our proposal of meeting made to the collective " Hors standards " and already formulated
to its leaders during the 30 years of the peasant Confederation, event in which Yannick
Ogor and Xavier Noulhianne have had a platform.
Now, there is a debate about the strategy and the spectrum of action. It must not be
forgotten that certain norms and laws stem from a period when class relations were not the
same as today.
Consider the status of renting, introduced in 1945, which protects the tenant from the
owner or the control of structures, in the 1960s, which favors the installation rather
than the expansion. It seems to us that these laws and the norms they engender are norms
in favor of peasant agriculture.
However, the State and the European Union are striving daily to attack peasant work by
tightening the controls of CAP aid, applying industrial standards for controls on
livestock or farm products, and this unacceptable. For the Farmers' Confederation it is
therefore necessary to establish a balance of forces sufficient to ensure that the
specificities of peasant agriculture are recognized and that industrial agriculture is
constrained in its development.
In this case, if fighting against the CRS against the slaughter of ducks in the Basque
Country, but also propose a guide so that the norms of the farms are adapted to the
peasant farm is of co-management, then it is a vision that we do not share. We prefer to
say that it is union work that moves the struggle from an individual level to a collective
level.
Mr. Bergonso (Peasant Confederation)
http://www.alternativelibertaire.org/?Droit-de-reponse-Certaines-normes-sont-en-faveur-de-l-agriculture-paysanne
------------------------------
Message: 2
Glimmers for the eyes. The great factory of the dominant imaginary, a political spectacle
by Marie and Myriam. ---- Thursday 1 st February 20h, social center Montsarrat (Viguier),
Jules Verne Avenue, 11000 Carcassonne ---- The collective for an Alternative Libertarian
Aude offers a show evening and politics with the presentation of a conference gesticulated
... well almost ! ---- The great factory of the dominant imaginary Imagine a world where
the real does not exist ... No, imagine a world where everyone must make real what does
not exist. You see ? No ? So, let's start at the beginning. ---- This is the story of a
factory, a huge factory ... no. It's more about Billie, an amazing person ... No, that's
not it either. It is primarily the story of two people. Two girls who are alike ! Well
almost. In any case, one day, they tell their childhood memories: stories of Barbies,
Indiana Jones ... No. No no. It's the story of two women who decide to make a shrill
conference ! Well, not really a gesticulated conference ... rather, a show ! Well, not
really a show ... Anyway.
It's mostly the story of a meeting. Yes, that's it !
The story of a meeting where their memories mingle with each other, their life
experiences, their awareness, their rants, their surprises and theoretical contributions
that made them grow.
It's also a bit of storytelling and theater, so you can think together about how to build
a dominant racist, sexist, homophobic imaginary, and how we try to get away from it ! You
take it all, add a pinch of poetry and a spoonful of humor. That's it, it's ready. You
just have to serve it with a good cup of tea ...
A creation by Marie Carrere and Myriam Cheklab
Directed by Pauline Christophe and Clara Guenoun
Sound editing: Vianney Davienne
Poster: Hélène Maurel
http://www.alternativelibertaire.org/?Des-lueurs-pour-les-yeux
------------------------------
Message: 3
The agitation of the Macedonian issue was expected to be a first-rate opportunity to
express the most intolerant, racist, open nationalistic and fascist narratives with Nazi
"avant-garde" and army-ecclesiastical rearguard. Yet even in this juncture, the White
Tower of the White Tower was unable to develop its criminal activity - even in the
conservative city of Thessaloniki - more than 3 hours the Sunday theater. This was
prevented by the courageous initiative of a single political area: the Anarchists. Once
again, it was the real inner enemy of the state, the capital, the partisan gangs and the
Nazis. The Left or ruling forces the cops that promoted Nazi attacks against squats or
gouged ethnic coexistence crowns with fascist esmo White Tower (LAE) or simply evaporated
to not cause (KKE ANTARSYA, NAP etc). Her immobility has been characterized by a morbid
rigidity. Both microphones of January 18 and the motorized demonstration of January 20, 24
hours before the nationalist / fascist gathering as well as the fascist intervention and
patrol the streets of Thessaloniki during the week of anarchist groups have ensured that
the city will remain safe fighters and anti-fascists, while at the same time the
interventions managed to break publicly the unified nationalist narrative. No one bent his
head in front of the beast.
The White Tower
"No matter what they can think of themselves (those who go to the White Tower), this
gathering will be the hare for the runner fascist. The "pure patriotism" claimed by some
is but the great court of nationalism and fascism. "
(from the announcement of "Black & Red" for the Macedonian)
No matter how fascist they are celebrating for the "partisan participation" at Sunday's
rally, the truth is that they were few. Not because the volume of the White Tower was
missing, but because of what nationalism and fascism and the given ideological and real
support of the Greek state's pillars are still a few. The "success" of nationalism lies in
this simple question: "would like in a state where the state, all governments, bosses and
your strong have xeftilisei, humiliate and ftochopoiisei feel even for a few hours, even
in lies , powerful - without having to put them with the powerful without paying the cost
of imprisonment, beating, extortion and terrorism cultivating the feeling that you can
blackmail hate and suppress others more poor and desperate people who live on the other
side of the border? "While the Greek society nurtured by the Church for thousands of years
to hate, from the State has for hundreds of years obeyed, by the media, where for decades
the powerful "national plans" and the nationalist gangs, the patriarchy, which always
falters human dignity and the police from being established for centuries to harassing,
covering, arming and protecting your unarmed battalions, fascists, you were once again
very few. Your parastral action is well known to Thessaloniki, but even its dead are
standing barricades on your miserable gatherings.
As for those who rushed to the side of the Nazi, they simply backed, they actually
supported the fascist vanguard that used the concentration as a base for its criminal
movements under the general supervision, of course, the support of the state, the
government and the Police. General Frangos used the crowd as a fool to use his platform as
a useful idiot to set up his career, Anthimos and the church bullies were banging from
their pulpit to fill their huge belly even more, and the Nazis recognized the German
citizens of C Reich who would convincingly make the descendants in front of the
crematoriums that would stand. The neonazis washes at the greatest intensity.
On the other hand, as we have written in the past, the SYRIZA / ANEL government will
objectively strengthen the fascist right, on the one hand for small-political purposes,
and then because it attempts to commit to an overwhelming repression of movements
identical or even worse than those of previous years , in order to be able to keep as much
power as possible. Their policy is criminal. And this design passes through the waves of
the "Macedonian".
The fascist attacks and the concentration of Kamara
"Fascism is the only one who knows what he wants from this gathering. To organize new
people in the lines of hatred to reproach them with their intolerant racist stupidity and
to slander them against the poor, the weak, the refugees, the immigrants, the aliens, the
anti-fascists and the anarchists. "
(from the announcement of "Black & Red" for the Macedonian)
Following the decision to attend the city all week was the decision of the presence of
anti-nationalist concentration on Sunday in Kamara. This concentration has been one of the
most important stories in the history of the anarchist movement in recent years. But it
was not just that. Beyond the public and fearless depiction of the position that
anarchists remain - even under the most difficult circumstances - against fascist beasts
and state terrorism, they do not subdue the flags and do not disappear from the streets
when the wolves of the peasant embraced by the dogs of the assailants of murderers, Kamara
was our outstretched prison so as not to surrender the entire city to the fascist gangs
assisted by the police, while preserving all the structures of the upper center of the
city. Also, in order not to create misunderstandings, Kamara and her protection would not
fall as many fascist gangs as they were attacked. The fighters who formed the guard know
very well that our name is important and is a name that has not been made in the craft of
national myths, relaxed mogul, NATO designs, state torture and cleansing, party maneuvers
and positions, but in the persecutions, prisons, struggle, solidarity, equality and the
dream of another world, that is why our soul is defending ANARCHIA as the last outpost,
and this simply meant that the fascists would were or would have to be talking about
counting the victims. There was no other road.
Next to us at this gathering for which we can only feel proudly were the Libertatia
comrades who paid at this stage the greatest prize in this struggle against fascism. This
struggle has never ceased and its course is unfortunately filled with blood, murdered
innocent people, concentration camps, wars, violence, extermination chambers, dissolute
societies and immeasurable material damage. In this huge series is added the building of
occupation Libertatia. The problem with nationalism is that in order to understand its
criminal nature, it must constantly reflect the results of its criminal action.
Libertatia was not fired because of some irresponsibility of some inertia or indifference.
On the contrary, the comrades displayed the greatest sense of responsibility towards the
history of the struggles against fascism, they took on a very large responsibility not to
leave the city, they made a political act in the form of "fascism first comes to me, but
in the end it comes for all ". Whoever makes such decisions is not lost, is not defeated
by the striking of a building. Whoever can not understand this simple reality would rather
be silenced, because in no way today should we be given the strongest and most convincing
answers, letting the vulgarity flow into the body of the movement.
The capture took two attacks by one of the bodies of the concentration organized by the
Ideadopolis circle and the other fascists (Sacred Lotus, AM, C18 etc.) who attempted to
fire the occupation and a second of a body with a similar composition from shared with a
piece of fascist fans of PAOK. They are the same 70 who did that they are going up to
Kamara. The existence of an organized core of PAOK fans that is identified and acted
together with neo-Nazi criminals is a phenomenon that depicts the social history of the
Toumba association, which for decades has been the real homeland of the conquered and the
popular racing spirit of the people who supported historically the club.
State - offshore: absolute identification
The Police oversaw all three attacks, one in the ESC. School (warded by security) and 2 in
LIbertatia. It completely covered the perpetrators, there was not a single adventure while
a whole building was burned. And if someone absolutely naive believes that this does not
constitute a single government-government-partisan plan, the reality is to deny him. The
next day at the Libertatia solidarity rally, EL.AS. finds the forces they need to protect
the "Macedonians" link while the course did not even intend to go there. It is simply used
as an excuse for the MAT to forbid the course to pass through the main streets of Eastern
Thessaloniki. They deploy cages and squads, who are attacking a racket with rabies in the
protest by capturing 5 people. The same night, cops in full synergy with the prosecutor's
office upgraded the indictment to impose the ironic charge of arson (felony) on those
arrested in the process that denounced the arson of an entire building. The gathering of
solidarity in the courts, ordered by the authorized prosecutor, was not even allowed to
enter the room. The five are detained by Friday to decide whether they should be detained.
Situations are more eloquent than ever. The government's plan is to hit the social
movement and put anarchist fighters on a permanent basis, while terrorizing the world to
empty the streets. Why can the fascist rally end, but our struggle for social revolution
never ends.
DO NOT FACE
THE PHASE TO RESPOND TO STATE SELF-RELATIONSHIP &
BECAUSE TO LEAVE FREE AND ARE LOOKING FOR THE COMPETITORS OF THE PLAY
CONCENTRATION THURSDAY 25.1 14:00 KAMARA
CONCENTRATION IN THE COURTS FRIDAY 26 GENARI 09.00
Collectivism for Social Anarchism
"Black & Red" member of the Anarchist Political Organization
https://maurokokkino1936.wordpress.com/2018/01/24/
------------------------------
Message: 4
Days from the 5th till 12th of February are the days of solidarity with repressed Russian
anarchists. ---- In October of 2017 in Penza six anarchists and antifascists were arrested
by officers of Federal Security Service on a charge of creating a terrorist group.
Moreover, in that time the period of raids in anarchists and antifascists' houses has
started all over Russia. The objects of Security Service's attention were different people
from absolutely different towns. At last, a new wave of detentions was launched in January
of 2018. An antifascist Victor Filinkov was kidnapped by Security Service in Saint
Petersburg. The officers of Federal Security Service have been torturing him in the forest
out of the city. They told Victor to admit his participation in mythical anarchy-terrorist
group. Unable to withstand the torture Filinkov was forced to incriminate himself and now
he is remaining in Temporarily-staying Isolation. Filinkov's lawyer claims that he has
never seen so serious damages and trails of the torture during his practice of struggle
with a police outrage.
There is another antifascist who has claimed about torture in St. Petersburg. Ilya
Kapustin was also threatened by officers from FSS, but he has refused to incriminate
himself and after that he was released on bail. There weren't any proofs that
anarchy-terrorist group exists in real life, only the confessions gained by the threats
and torture.
Nevertheless, police is doing everything in order to force people to confirm an existence
of mythical terrorist organization named "Net", spoofed by FSS. The officers affirm that
this organization has a lot of cells in every town. It means that the situation which has
occurred in Saint Petersburg will be observed in the other Russian towns very soon.
Obviously, everything what's going on in our time is an attempt to clear out an anarchist
movement before the Elections of the President in 2018. In recent years we could see how
the anarchist movement increased its activity after the repressions of 2012 year. These
repressions can only intimidate people and crush the anarchist movement.
In this case it's necessary to show that we are not afraid and we can't be destroyed by
their force. Otherwise, the repressions will be used every time when the anarchist
movement calls an attention of FSS. We should show them that the stronger their
repressions, the more furious will be our resistance. Now it's important to support the
prisoners, to prevent the continuation of the "witch-hunting" and give a global publicity
for this event.
We call you for a solidarity campaign with repressed anarchists from the 5th till 12th of
February.
Arrange different street actions, evenings of solidarity, distribute information in the
media and in the Internet. Do everything you can come up and implement.
The only one weapon we can counter the face of the state terror is the unity and
solidarity with each other. Without these two things we will be crushed by this monster
one by one.
We are ready to provide the space for publication solidarity actions, just send them on
media_ns[at]riseup[dot]net
The address for your solidarity letters: to
VIKTOR SERGEEVICH FILINKOV,
UL. SHPALERNAYA, D. 25,
G. SANKT-PETERBURG,
191123, RUSSIAN FEDERATION
(Only PAPER letters)
Fund-raising:
paypal
prodavec@protonmail.com
fight_for_your_rights!
http://sosyalsavas.org/2018/01/rusya-rusyali-anarsist-politik-tutsaklarla-uluslararasi-dayanisma-gunlerine-cagri-5-12-subat-2018/#more-31734
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Message: 5
With Parcours Sup and the license reform, high school students are already discovering the
new university promised by the government. Is it the end of college failure and Post-Bac
Admission problems ? Not at all ! ---- ParcoursSup is the selection ---- The government
wants to question the right to study. Before ParcoursSup, having the bac was supposed to
give the right to enter the university, now no. Each university stream will set its
expectations. These are notes, like having more than 12. And skills that will actually be
acquired during the license. The choice of the pathway in high school becomes crucial for
the course in college, the freedom to orient is limited. High school students in pro or
techno trainees will suffer the most from the selection. And since many sectors do not
have enough resources, because of budget cuts, they will not accept everyone. A high
school student who has been refused in the field of his choice, may be assigned far from
home and in a sector that he or she did not want, or have nothing at all. While high
school students will have had their bac,! Students have invaded in some cities the
councils of the facs to prevent the vote of those expected that make the selection possible.
The average in all subjects for the license
And college students are also touched because the government wants to destroy the license.
Instead of registering for a course model, students will choose modules, courses by
course, which will not be compensated between them. So ... It will be necessary to have
the average in ALL the subjects to validate its license ! The license may vary between two
and four years instead of three years now, but the duration of the scholarships will not
be lengthened! An individualized path means selective subjects with all means and more
teachers for the most favored-es and for others only courses on the internet. It is the
destruction of a diploma with national value because the licenses will have different
values according to the course and the university. No guarantee to enter master's degree
or the job market. Instead of having the guarantee that our salary corresponds to the
national value of our diploma, we will fight alone to have it recognized by our boss.
The new youth poster has arrived !
Order now on the libertarian alternative shop
Elitism and precariousness
The real problem is the budget cuts in recent years as the number of students increases.
That's why there are students who fail at college, by dint of attending classes on the
steps of amphis instead of having a place we abandon. And also because of student salary,
odd jobs in addition to our studies. This is the goal of the Macron government and the
bosses: to make the university increasingly elitist and even less accessible. They want to
break our collective rights, on our places of study, as at work. The government's plans
for the university have the same logic as the Macron ordinances against the labor code:
more insecurity, the end of guarantees and collective rights.
Download the leaflet in pdf
The 1 st February everyone in the street !
Our rights have won them, and we will defend them through social struggles. Organize us to
challenge what we want to believe. No, the selection and the Vidal plan are not the
solution, it's quite the opposite. Organize in our high schools and in our schools between
high school students and students. In general assemblies we decide together to inform
around us, to manifest, to block.
http://www.alternativelibertaire.org/?Contre-la-selection-informons-ripostons
------------------------------
Message: 6
The announcement that there will be a referendum to Repeal the hated 8th amendment is the
product of decades of active campaigning. Pro-choice campaigners built for repeal ever
since the referendum was passed in 1983. If at first this seemed like a distant demand now
repeal looks by far the most likely outcome in May. The story of how this happened
illustrates how change comes in general. That is not through elections but through people
getting organised to demand that change, regardless of which politicians happen to be
running the show in any particular year. ---- After all few would have predicted that it
would have been a Fine Gael government supported by Fianna Fáil that would finally move
forward on the referendum to repeal the 8th. We can say this with great certainty because
when Labour were thrown out of power in the last election a range of pundits from the
right and the left, including the Labour Party, tweeted very definite declarations that
this meant there could be no referendum. How wrong they were but fortunately most
pro-choice organisers stepped up their activity rather than waiting for the next election.
https://www.wsm.ie/c/finally-referendum-repeal8th-organising-made-happen
------------------------------
Message: 7
The invasion attempt initiated by the Turkish state against Afrin continued. Turkish
warplanes have shelled the countryside of Afrin's Cindires district today.
Turkish troops and FSA gangs attacked the positions of YPG/YPJ and self-defense forces in
several locations of Afrin and Shehba region last night. The attacks were repelled.
Unable to advance on the ground, the Turkish army has started airstrikes.
According to reports, Turkish warplanes have shelled the countryside of Afrin's Cindires
district on Saturday. No information is available yet regarding the results of the aerial
bombardment.
https://karakok.wordpress.com/2018/01/20/aerial-attack-on-afrin/
------------------------------
Message: 8
The dark clouds of 21st-century fascism are once again hanging over the heads of the
people of northern Syria. As if the inhabitants of the region often referred to as Rojava
haven't suffered enough over the course of the past 7 years of war, the Turkish state has
come to the conclusion that the time is ripe to pick up the fallen, bloodied sword from
the corpse that is Islamic State. Together with Salafist mercenaries carrying flags of the
Syrian ‘rebels' - one of the many components of what at one historical juncture seemingly
all so long ago was a cohesive ‘Free Syrian Army' - Erdogan's regime vows a ‘swift
operation' to destroy ‘terrorism' in Afrin. ---- It is Afrin that has been a beacon of
stability in Syria over the course of the war, not only taking in tens of thousands of
refugees from elsewhere in the country, but establishing the principles of direct
democracy, women's liberation and ecology in the midst of an otherwise catastrophic and
tumultuous period. It is precisely this model of a socialistic, multi-ethnic, feminist
canton advocated by the Democratic Union Party (PYD) that Erdogan's AKP government sees as
‘terrorism'. The irony could not be more obvious.
For those who have been following closely over the past few years the events in not only
Afrin, but in the other two cantons that make up the Rojava region (officially the
Democratic Federation of Northern Syria), the current battle faced by the Kurdish forces
is strangely reminiscent of the 2014-15 battle for Kobane. At that point, the so-called
Islamic State was on the verge of reaching the Syria-Turkey border by securing the city
known officially as Ayn al-Arab (a brutal reminder of the Arabization and monolithic
nation-state mentality of the Ba'athist government). The Kurdish forces of the YPG and YPJ
found themselves fighting off the fascist forces as Turkey allowed Daesh militants to
enter Syria freely. Turkish tanks sat idle at the border, and soldiers watched the action,
hoping for the elimination of the ‘terrorists' - not Daesh, of course, but of the Kurds!
The so-called international community was silent, until the U.S. intervened with
airstrikes after an enormous amount of pressure in the form of massive global protests.
Today in Afrin, as Turkish planes and tanks aim to finish the job that the Islamic State
was incapable of accomplishing, world leaders are again silent. Although a relationship
had been forged in recent years between Russia and the YPG/J in Afrin, Moscow now seems to
have withdrawn its forces, clearing the way for the Turkish incursion. The United States,
although supportive of the YPG/J's operations against Daesh east of the Euphrates River,
has wiped its hands of any association with their ‘allies' in Afrin. The Syrian government
has said that it will shoot down Ankara's planes - yet it seems as if the actions of
Erdogan's regime have so far gone unopposed.
This understandably leaves the Kurdish people and their forces in Afrin feeling as if the
old maxim ‘the Kurds have no friends but the mountains' is once again deeply relevant.
Perhaps they understood throughout the complexities and twists and turns of the war that
this was always the case.
After all, my experiences in Rojava last year confirmed to me that the YPG/J was far from
a ‘pawn' of ‘puppet' of anybody, despite the often misunderstood relationship between them
and Washington. In fact, it was clear to me that they were preparing more than a year ago
for not only an eventual Turkish military operation, but for the moment that self-reliance
would have to be stepped up and a fight undertaken on their own to protect the territory
of Rojava and the gains of their revolution.
My inability to Understand Rojava Before 2015
Today, I am yelling at the top of my lungs in support for the people of Afrin and for the
Kurdish forces of the YPG and YPJ. There are hundreds of solidarity demonstrations taking
place across the western world. Yet, just over three years ago when the Islamic State was
threatening to take Kobane, I lacked the understanding of the situation in the country to
adequately provide that same solidarity. I didn't attend any of these protests despite the
considerable threat that was being manifested toward an anti-fascist militia that espoused
principles largely in line with my own.
Indeed, this is part of my confessions - or rather, self-critical assessment. I wasn't
always the most supportive of the idea that what was taking place in northern Syria
constituted a real revolutionary process. In fact, much of the reason that I have decided
to undertake such a considerable amount of writing since the time I spent in Rojava last
year is that my experiences there made me feel a sense of urgency about being critically
reflective of my previous erroneous positions. I knew that if ‘observation and
participation' in the revolution has altered my understanding of Syria, there was at least
the possibility that my work could have that kind of impact on others who perhaps hold
positions akin to those I used to.
Let me break it down from the beginning. In 2013, exactly five years ago next month, I
visited Kurdistan for the first time. This trip took me to the territory controlled by the
Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) in northern Iraq. Although I may have set foot in
Kurdish lands, the week that I spent there did little to reveal the true nature of
Kurdistan as a whole - or perhaps I simply didn't bother to look hard enough or
investigate aptly. Nonetheless, I was convinced that the KRG was little more than a puppet
entity of the United States. That assessment may not be so far off the mark - but the
problem was that I failed to grasp the differences between ‘the Kurds' of Bashur (Iraq)
and Rojava (Syria), not to mention Rojhilat (Iran) or Bakur (Turkey).[see my previous
article ‘The Kurds: Internationalists or Narrow Nationalists?]
Throughout 2013, the focus of the United States was on whether it should engage in a
direct intervention in the Syrian war by means of airstrikes on Syrian Arab Army targets.
Understandably, this put the anti-war movement and socialist activists in the U.S. in a
position of putting its emphasis on opposing any machinations of the Obama administration
to launch a wider war in Syria. At this time, my principal obligation seemed clear -
oppose the aggression of the Obama administration and my own government. I believe such a
position is pivotal. However, all too often socialist activists in the western metropoles
have a tendency to put anti-imperialism on ‘steroids' - in other words, to reduce
geopolitics to a single contradiction, refusing to seriously investigate the
contradictions of the state in question, or of the other dynamics at play.
To be clear, it's not as if I saw the Ba'athist government as one that I was ideologically
aligned with. It's not as if I didn't engage in some level of investigation of the
situation on the ground throughout the whole of the country. In fact, in songs like ‘Hands
Off Syria' - which I released in the Spring of 2012 - I explicitly mention that ‘there's
been problems in Syria for quite a long time.' Perhaps this was too little in the way of
expressing the reality in the country, but it did try to account for the fact that the
dynamics in the country were complex and that any defence of the Syrian state vis-à-vis
imperialism wasn't the same as overt support for the policies of that state.
Grappling with Kobane and the Resistance of the Kurds
However, the general tendency that I grew to express was more and more toward full
solidarity with Syrian Arab state. The problem with this position wasn't so much the fact
that I explained the machinations of imperialism toward a government that defied its
diktat in the region, particularly in regards to the colonial settler entity of Israel.
The problem also wasn't that I expressed how the U.S. government's support for the
so-called ‘rebels' was creating a situation in which Shia, Christian, or even Sunni
communities were facing genocidal consequences. It was simply that I was simplifying the
narrative, and not giving voice to those who had been the victims of a monolithic Syrian
state based on racial and ethnic prejudice for decades.
I first began to grapple with this during the battle of Kobane. It was obvious that the
so-called Islamic State was enemy number one in the country. This was largely agreed
across political lines - by so-called ‘moderates' within the FSA, by the Syrian state, and
of course by the Kurdish forces who were bearing the brunt of their fascistic attacks.
Kobane first highlighted the fierce resistance of the YPG/J to the world at large.
Although these forces had defended predominately Kurdish lands in Syria since the
beginning of the Rojava Revolution in the Spring of 2012, this battle would finally bring
these fighters' struggle to international attention, as well as that of the Kurdish
question in general. Suddenly, the nearly 40 years that the Kurdish movement had fought
the genocidal policies of the Turkish state also began to achieve a certain level of
recognition.
It is true that the women's revolution in Kobane and Rojava was fetishized in the
mainstream western press. Beyond the H&M adverts, a more thorough examination showed that
it was the consequence of a deliberate policy to liberate women from patriarchal
oppression that was first undertaken in the ranks of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK),
not in Syria, but inside of Turkish borders.
It was not until the martyrdom of Ivana Hoffmann, a German internationalist in the ranks
of the Marxist-Leninist Communist Party (MLKP) in Syria in March of 2015 that I began to
seriously reflect on the correctness of my political understanding of Syria. I knew that
there were communist parties in Syria that had been in a de-facto alliance with the Syrian
state against the moves of imperialism. Yet, I did not realise that there had been Turkish
communist groups that had been fighting side by side with the Kurdish forces. Not only
were these cadres from Bakur but many of them - like Ivana - were young internationalists.
Ivana did not die in Kobane, but her death became linked to that decisive battle in
historical memory.
Investigation and Participation
I knew that I needed to investigate the matter further. Therefore, I made it my business
to make sure that I travelled to Rojava to see for myself what was taking place in the
areas of Syria which were experiencing what the Kurdish forces called a ‘revolution'. Was
this really the case? Or was this a mere attempt by the U.S. to carve out a proto-state in
a part of Syrian territory?
Any doubts I may have had about whether or not the ‘Rojava Revolution' was a genuine
revolutionary process were put to bed within mere days of arriving in Syria. I soon
realized what an absolute travesty it was that people who are generally aligned with the
left in the west had fallen into the mistaken position of referring to these Kurdish
forces as ‘Zio Kurds' (despite a historical relationship with the revolutionary
Palestinian movement), ‘separatists' (despite an unflinching opposition to any plans to
partition Syria), or imperialist proxies (despite fighting imperialism for nearly 40 years).
Let me be honest: admitting that I have been wrong, especially for years on end on such a
key political question, wasn't easy. In fact, the hardest thing about being in Syria was
having to engage in the daily ‘tekmil' - criticism and self-criticism sessions. Coming
from our western experiences, it just isn't that easy to not take such sessions deeply
personally, even if their focus is on improving the character of revolutionaries.
To be clear, this does not mean that I think those journalists and activists who have been
to government-held areas of Syria are necessarily wrong in the positions they have put
forward in the so-called western alternative media. Given the malicious war propaganda put
forward by the western mainstream press, particularly in the U.S, it is important to defy
these perspectives. I do not doubt that the Ba'athist state enjoys considerable support in
many areas of Syria. Personally, I know countless Syrians who may have been critical of
the state before the war, but who have increasingly sympathised with Bashar al-Assad's
leadership and view his presidency as a stabilising factor. This is particularly true,
from my experiences, among Christians from Syria who see the Ba'athist government as a
secular and moderate force.
In fact, it does not surprise me that many who have been to Damascus and other regions of
the country see the government as a progressive entity. Especially given the war and the
outlook of the factions opposed to the state, this seems to be an entirely understandable
conclusion. In some parts of Damascus, I am certain that the Ba'athist state may be viewed
as the bastion of progressiveness, secularism, and inclusiveness. I do not doubt the
sincerity of the journalists and activists who have reported on this reality within the
country. The only thing I doubt - and have come to understand - is that their views are
incomplete.
What is a secular, progressive government to an Arab Christian, Alawi, or even Sunni
living in a considerable part of the country is the same government that I came to see
that for an Assyrian, Kurd, or other ethnic minority in the north of the country was a
‘fascist' regime. The stories I heard of the repressive policies of this state were
harrowing. For sure, if I had simply gone to Damascus, I may have just reinforced my
existing beliefs and perspectives. Yet, I was eager not to do precisely that. I was eager
to see more of the country, to do what many of my other journalist colleagues as yet
hadn't done.
It is true that the Syrian Arab state has been part of the so-called ‘resistance axis' to
Zionism and imperialism in the region. Yet, everything has a dual character. The state's
orientation vis-à-vis imperialism may be progressive. It may be anti-colonial. However, it
is internal policies have also exhibited a considerable degree of colonialism as far as
the Kurds are concerned. It seems laughable to many in the north of the country to
seriously speak of a ‘resistance axis' to occupation when their lives have been
characterised by exclusion and suppression of their language and culture.
The Left Must Express Its Solidarity With Afrin
Things changed post-Rojava. Gone was any conception or idea that perhaps the
administration behind this region's transformation was anything less than revolutionary.
Gone was any semblance of thought that this governing structure was a proxy of
imperialism. Gone was any notion that this system should not be supported overtly. I knew
that I had to turn over a new leaf in raising my voice in solidarity with Rojava, and of
convincing those who thought as I previously had - who were at the very least sceptical
about ‘the Kurds' - that this was a historical process worth supporting, even if critically.
Of course, I'm well aware that just as the views of those who have only travelled to
Syrian government-held areas are limited in scope, so are mine. My assessments are frank,
sincere, and I believe correct. However, I certainly won't fall into the trap of claiming
that I am a Syria ‘expert' or that I possess all of the answers. I will only assert that
what I have seen gives me tremendous hope in the potential for humanity and for
socialism's revival.
Until now, I do not think I have clearly expressed that I know my previous position on
Syria to have been incorrect - or perhaps to phrase it better, to have been far too
simplistic and incomplete. In that regard, take this as my public self-criticism. I will
never again be so arrogant and simplistic to believe that major world conflagrations can
be boiled down to a single contradiction. I will do my utmost never again to fail to
express my solidarity with the struggle of the oppressed and downtrodden resisting
fascistic structures and barbarism.
Three years ago, I should have been in complete solidarity with the resistance of Kobane.
Honestly, I failed. Today, I am demanding the international left engage in a serious
assessment of just how significant the Rojava Revolution is at this historical juncture as
the radical left reconstitutes itself globally. Solidarity with Afrin should be front and
centre at this moment. I fully believe that anything less than this is a full betrayal of
the principles of humanity and abandonment one of the most progressive forces currently in
existence.
Although it is, of course, true that my writings on Rojava may be reflective of the human
flaw of containing romantic sentiments - and I believe they probably are - I would not
consider it an overstatement to say that the revolution being defended with the gun by the
YPG and YPJ is akin to the vanguard of humanity.
That makes it all the more difficult to be within the confines of western capitalist
modernity while this attack on Afrin takes place. My soul and my spirit are in Rojava at
this crucial moment. I yearn to be able to be there to physically resist the attacks of
the fascist Turkish government and mercenaries against this radical, democratic
experiment. Although I know that this is not possible for the time being, what is possible
is that we do all we can in the western metropoles to raise our voices to make sure that
Afrin does not become a victory for the neo-Ottoman ambitions of the Erdogan government.
Anything less is indeed to betray the principles of revolution and internationalism.
Related Link:
http://theregion.org/article/12577-vanguards-of-humanity-why-i-support-afrin-amp-the-rojava-revolution
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» Anarchic update news all over the world - 4.02.2018