Mastodawn

abolitionmedia Apr 14, 2025

ELN: The Boomerang

The fight against narcotrafficking, in the ELN, is old–fashioned. It is also old the way the State and the Military Forces allow and promote that the paramilitaries are financed with narcotrafficking to combat the armed insurgency, a practice that has come since the 1990s. There will never be room in the ELN for “traquetos’ or “narcos,” nor for vicious ones. The dream of the DEA and the intelligence of the Colombian state has been to try to introduce us a Trojan Horse linked to the narco–trafficking business to show the “evidence,” the “proof.” But we have always discovered them and their plans have failed. They will not be able to find any evidence, because there is none, simple as that. We have told the truth, because we do not have crops, laboratories, routes, tracks, nor do we market their products. As we have proposed, when there is an opportunity, we can bring forward a national debate to address in depth this issue of drug trafficking and in that context to establish an International Commission to verify or verify whether what the ELN has said is true and consistent with its practice. They have never captured an ELN militant with a gram of cocaine, nor have they found any laboratory to process it. There is no record in the justice system to prove it. What the media have said are montages of soldiers and police, which have never been substantiated, lack any seriousness. Since the plans of the DEA and the Colombian intelligence have not worked for them, now, Petro pretends that at the point of lies, the reality is another, sad task in which they have placed him. These are pure lies that will continue for a while circling in the “opinion,” but then everyone will know that Petro lied, it’s that simple. It’s something that we shouldn’t give him so many spins. True or not, but in reality, not because Petro says so. Then we will be able to say who was the liar: Petro or the ELN. The same happened with the lies that were told about Camilo Torres, they spoke to the satiety that he was a bandit, a criminal, but now they can no longer sustain the same. As Petro continues to listen to his friends in the Gang of 33, he now repeats that the ELN hires mercenaries of other nationalities. No one is paid in the ELN, nor is anyone recruited. The fighters who join its ranks do so voluntarily, all go through fighter schools where they receive training.

That has been and will continue to be the strength of the ELN. Reality is not what Petro has in mind. They have never captured an ELN militant with a gram of cocaine, nor have they found any laboratory to process it. There is no record in the justice system to prove it. What the media have said are montages of soldiers and police, which have never been substantiated, lack any seriousness. The ELN is a modest organization, we manage our resources judiciously, we spend our needs on a daily basis. We have to make a lot of efforts to get the resources that are required to advance the fight. I wish we had what we really need, so that our fighters had the weapons both in quantity and quality. That way we would have many more fighters and better armed. Traquetos and mercenaries are the Banda del 33, the laboratories they had in Catatumbo were in charge of processing, by that time, 12,000 kilos of cocaine for the Mexican narcos, said by the same captured “cook”. It is surprising that Petro receives “intelligence” information from Rubén Zamora and Felipe Tascón, characters closely linked to the Banda del 33 and takes it as a reference for their performances. As well as the fact that the Military Forces protect the band in the Catatumbo and as soon as they are attacked by our units run to defend them and we end up facing the military. Has anyone known or heard of any military or police fighting against the Band of 33 in the Catatumbo? No, there is none. That means there is a clear alliance with them or they are part of the state. And since the Band of 33, they are “rattlesnakes“; so the boomerang that Petro threw us back into his hands, or rather, he is hand in hand with them. Source: ELN-Voces

https://abolitionmedia.noblogs.org/?p=18311

#colombia #eln #guerrillaStruggle #petro

EL BOOMERANG – ELN VOCES

abolitionmedia Mar 26, 2025

8M: Our Commitment to Depatriarchalization

As announced by the Central Command in the March 10 Insurrection Magazine, the VI National Congress defined the ELN’s anti–patriarchal character, in articulation with the anti–capitalist, anti–imperialist and anti–colonialist struggles. This is not a minor or incidental definition, but it is the result of deep reflections and debates led with the life and revolutionary example of great guerrilla women, who gave their lives to the cause of national liberation; and who, with their example, today lead the ELN to build an anti–patriarchal policy as a revolutionary strategy for the whole of society. Setting an example For the ELN this discussion is fundamental, because, as Alexandra Kollontai put it, the urgency for women’s liberation is not only a cultural or practical aspect of social transformation, but above all an integral part of the proletarian struggle for liberation. It runs through not only the revolutionary program for Colombia, but also involves a permanent exercise of revision, debate and training in all our guerrilla structures, in every fighter and command of the organization. We recognize that while capitalism and patriarchy are embodied in everyday social discourses and practices, their transformation requires permanent work and discipline within our own organization. Our commitment to the liberation of Colombian women has been expressed in the important participation of peasant women, workers and youth from all regions of the country in the ELN. The ELN women have helped build an insurgent organization in which the daily tasks and political and military responsibilities of our guerrilla struggle are distributed without gender distinction. Men and women have the same obligations and rights: to train, to work, to care for and to fight. Violence against women is prohibited and not tolerated in the ELN. Any act of physical, psychological or sexual violence is sanctioned on the basis of our Statutes, applying revolutionary justice which provides for severe punishments for aggressors. However, our organization is aware of the persistence of violence and macho practices that we learn and inherit from the patriarchal system, we are not strangers to these. We have great challenges to be an anti–patriarchal organization, because we are aware that the struggles and contributions we make to eliminate violence against women in society will be legitimate and meaningful as long as we are witnesses and examples of it. The lethal duet The women of the ELN are clear about the place from which we take our fight against machismo. We understand that capitalism and patriarchy work hand in hand, to steal women’s work associated with reproduction and the care of life, work without which society could not be sustained. They act together to deprive communities around the world of the goods of nature, usually defended and protected by women. They work together to prevent women’s participation in politics and decision–making, because the global bourgeoisie, white, patriarchal and warlord, knows that the active and determined participation of working women and the working class puts at risk its supremacy. We are part of the ELN because we live the lives of the majority of the country’s women in the countryside and the cities. We are 51.2 percent of the national population, but only 26 percent of the land belongs to women. More than 40 percent of the poor in the country are women, so for every 100 poor men in Colombia we are 121 poor women; when in the best case we manage to insert ourselves into the labor market, we do so from precariousness and absolute exploitation or facing huge wage gaps: in Colombia, for every 100 Pesos a man earns, women earn only 60 Pesos doing the same work. Poverty has our face. Patriarchal violence gives us no respite. In Colombia, every 3 days a woman is killed by her partner, ex–partner, family or close people, our daughters are raped and abused in contexts of total impunity, which is why numerous feminist organizations and women’s rights defenders have agreed to declare a Humanitarian Emergency for sexist violence in the country. For these reasons we became guerrillas, for these reasons, 60 years after the founding of the ELN, we have succeeded in getting an insurgent organization to recognize and take on the challenge of depatriarchalizing and depatriarchalizing society; we became insurgents to radically transform this capitalist and patriarchal society. Amalia Santana Source: Eln Voces

https://abolitionmedia.noblogs.org/?p=17835

#colombia #eln #feminism #guerrilla #guerrillaStruggle #Patriarchy

8M: NUESTRO COMPROMISO POR DESPATRIARCALIZAR – ELN VOCES

abolitionmedia Nov 4, 2024

I am an indigenous woman born in Antioquia, since I was 6 years old I was brought to the Bajo Atrato in Chocó, where I grew up, I had my childhood and adolescence. I studied a year of school, I speak Embera Dóvida language and Spanish.

Since I was a child I began to know the guerrillas, I met the ELN in 2015, I joined in 2016. When I arrived at the camp the command spoke with me and explained the regulations I had to comply with, how was the coexistence of comrades in the group. I arrived on December 30 near a river, at 10 o’clock at night we went to sleep, each to his place to be aware of the security. From there began my guerrilla life until today, in all these years I have encountered many things, experiences, good practices and some negatives, but there are more than a few positives; I joined a company of the Western Front, which is called Néstor Tulio Durán Quintero.

I started to participate in the collective studies that they give on guerilla, on ideology, learning to read and write; they taught me the hymn, the rules. Like everyone, I fell in love and got a boyfriend, we started talking and became a couple, here for one to come together to live with a boyfriend you must have 3 months of knowledge, in other words, this is a courtship.

The activities I have carried out are guarding, ranching, surveillance in outposts, looking for provisions 3 or 4 hours away; after receiving political and military training my command took me to combat with the paramilitaries; when I was not fighting, I helped prepare the food to take to comrades in ambushes, I also helped to attend to the wounded, carry the sick and carry the medicines.

At the moment I continue in my struggle, I think a lot about my indigenous people, because they have many needs, they are displaced a lot by paramilitary groups and the government army. I too have lived displacements when I was a child, together with my family, so I fight for the welfare of my community and from the ELN I tell them to live always organized and united, for the defense of the territory that is our Pacha Mama, I feel very happy to have taken the path of belonging to the ELN.

Source: ELN Voces

https://abolitionmedia.noblogs.org/post/2024/11/04/sureya-from-the-eln-i-fight-for-the-welfare-of-my-community/

#colombia #eln #guerrilla #guerrillaStruggle

8M: ‘YO LUCHO POR EL BIENESTAR DE MI COMUNIDAD’ – ELN VOCES

abolitionmedia Sep 20, 2024

On June 11, 2024 at 10:40 p.m., in Mina Proyecto, jurisdiction of the municipality of Arenales, South of Bolivar, units of the Dario Ramirez Castro War Front of the ELN, enter into combat against the paramilitaries of the Gulf Clan, where paramilitary Jonefer Sayas Gallardo, who declares to be active Agent of the Military Intelligence of the Army, was captured.

Our units have respected the rights of enemy combatant to Agent Sayas, despite being an enemy spy in joint missions with the paramilitaries.The government army advances joint and coordinated operations with the Gulf Clan paramilitaries in the territories of the Lower Cauca, Northeast Antioqueno and South of Bolivar, against the ELN in the implementation of the counterinsurgency plan.

These joint operations of the Military Forces of the State and Paramilitaries, permanently and synchronized in such a wide territory, as the one mentioned, and which are the jurisdictions of the joint task forces Mars and Achilles, are not possible without the command and control of the high Command of the Military Forces.

The capture of Agent Sayas is the clear evidence of the existence of these plans of joint operations, which is not the only case, and therefore requires a clear route for their treatment. In this sense, Mr. Minister of Defense, it is necessary that the responsible command that sent you on missions of operations receive it.

For such humanitarian action, a Commission can be formed with the participation of the Church and the United Nations.

On the other hand, this paramilitary force together with the Government Army is responsible for serious human rights violations affecting social organizations, leaders and communities in the region.Colombia… for the workers!

Not one step back…

liberation or death!

War Front Dario Ramirez Castro

National Liberation Army

September 19, 2024

https://abolitionmedia.noblogs.org/post/2024/09/20/11271/

#colombia #eln #guerrillaStruggle #NationalLiberationArmy #openLetter #southAmerica

ELN: Open Letter to the Minister of Defense – Abolition Media

abolitionmedia Sep 20, 2024

Colombian rebels have reopened their war on the oil industry with a wave of pipeline attacks.

The world’s oldest guerrilla force, known as the National Liberation Army, or ELN, is reactivating its six-decade campaign of sabotage after peace talks with the government broke down, raising the stakes for Colombian President Gustavo Petro by hitting the sector that produces a third of the nation’s exports. The leftist group also renewed hostilities with government security forces.

Producers had been pumping crude oil relatively unhindered while guerrilla leaders met negotiators, seeking a deal that would see the group lay down its arms in exchange for legal and constitutional reforms to provide more support for the poorest citizens. The latest attacks show that the ELN still has the oil industry in its sights and is nowhere near to ending its war.

The group is trying to establish that Colombia should have sovereignty over its natural resources, rather than selling rights to private companies, according to Carlos Velandia, a former senior commander in the group who left in 2004.

“…Oil companies have been able to get contracts that are very advantageous for themselves, but bad for the country,” said Velandia.

Colombia’s state-controlled oil company, Ecopetrol, which owns the pipelines, said Sept. 4 that the attacks, along with the truckers’ strike and protests at a natural gas plant, have seriously affected its operations. The company hasn’t provided an estimate of how much production has been curtailed since the attacks restarted.

As of Friday, the Caño Limon-Coveñas pipeline was still damaged, while the Bicentenario pipeline was functioning again. After placing explosives, the ELN often deploys mines and snipers to make it harder for the army and repair teams to enter the area.

Most of the recent attacks took place in Arauca province, the ELN’s biggest stronghold. The two pipelines connect Arauca, which produces about 58,000 barrels of crude per day — or 7% of the nation’s output — with refineries and a Caribbean port. Canada’s Parex Resources and SierraCol Energy, a subsidiary of the Carlyle Group, operate in the region.

Petro took office in 2022 pledging to seek “total peace” through talks with the guerrillas, but so far the various negotiations have had limited success.

Negotiations with the ELN broke down in May over issues including the government’s refusal to remove the rebels from a list of organized crime organizations. But the group stuck to its cease-fire until it expired in August as efforts were made to get the talks back on track.

Petro is himself a former leftist guerrilla. But the ELN, which was inspired by the communist revolution in Cuba, says Colombia’s oligarchy is blocking his attempts to reform the nation’s conservative economic model.

ELN Taxation at Work

Electricity company Grupo Energía Bogotá, the fourth-most valuable business on Colombia’s stock exchange, recently ran into the ELN when it studied building a power line to connect Arauca with the national grid.

Taxation by the ELN have made Arauca among the most expensive places in Colombia to do business.

“When we looked at how much it would cost to get people to build the towers, to transport the materials, everybody began to charge 45% more” than in other regions of the country.

The ELN sets fire to trucks and buses operating in its territory without its permission. Even if big companies don’t make payments to the group, their subcontractors have little choice, pushing up the price of everything from transport to security services.

https://abolitionmedia.noblogs.org/post/2024/09/20/eln-worlds-oldest-guerrilla-force-revives-war-on-oil/

#colombia #eln #guerrilla #guerrillaStruggle #petro

ELN: World’s Oldest Guerrilla Force Revives War on Oil – Abolition Media

abolitionmedia Sep 7, 2024

There has been a disturbing trend within anarchism in the last few years. It could be called the right wing of anarchism, liberal anarchism, anarchism in name only, or reformism. Whatever it is called, people who believe that they are anarchists have taken positions that side with colonizers, nation-states, and western hegemony.

The most glaring of these positions are: 1) the Resistance in Palestine should not be supported or should only be partially supported because Hamas is not sufficiently ‘anarchist.’ 2) Money and solidarity should be sent to ‘anarchist’ battalions in Ukraine which fight alongside fascist battalions and under the direction of the Ukrainian State and the United States. 3) Armed struggle against the US is a foolhardy endeavor.

Let’s look at each of the three examples in more detail to explore their specific contradictions.

The Resistance in Palestine:

While once the leftist Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) was one of the strongest Resistance factions in Palestine, Hamas has become the most prominent. This marks a shift from leftists at the forefront of the Resistance to a group that is known for its focus on Islam. Islamic Jihad (PIJ),“a national Palestinian Resistance movement which is rooted in our people’s faith, culture and belief, namely Islam,”i bridges the gap between leftism and Islam. Dr. Mohammed Al-Hindi of PIJii has explained that this transition was not imposed, but rather rose out of a desire from the people. During this transition period, Palestinians were looking for Islamic groups to play an active role in the Resistance and when they did not initially find recourse through the Muslim Brotherhood and other Islamic groups. Groups like Islamic Jihad and Hamas arose to fulfill the need. Despite the differences in ideology, all of the Resistance factions (from the PFLP to Islamic Jihad to Hamas and others) have committed to working together in Al Aqsa Flood.

The Palestinian struggle is a massively significant struggle against one of the most egregious colonizers in the region, an agent and ally of the US and the west. The entire takeover of the region and creation of the Zionist entity was facilitated by the original colonization of the area by England. Armed settlers of the area come predominantly from the US and Europe and are highly visible Western agents of its hegemony. People in struggle are literally fighting the right-wing neighbors of those of us who live in the west.

When people in the west (purportedly as part of a liberatory movement) evaluate Hamas based on their own narrow definitions of what is the right and wrong way to build a movement, they are ironically bringing a western measuring stick to a struggle against the west. They form the second tier of colonization: measuring and categorizing a people’s struggle to judge and decide if it is worthy of their solidarity. This process reinforces differences between us. It is the same process of ‘othering’ that creates acceptance for colonization within civil society to occur in the first place. The colonized people are designated as the ‘other,’ a concept the allows for a process of dehumanization: to use the differences of culture as a wedge that forces them out of our shared humanity and into a new category that allows for exploitation. If people are different from us, should they be colonized? Any anarchist would adamantly say, no! The people of Palestine want to fight back against torture and attempted genocide and out of this desire groups like PIJ and Hamas were born.

As anarchists it is our duty to understand why our politics are not the unique driving force behind oppressed people as it once was. In Palestine, while having some adherents to traditional revolutionary left politics, in PFLP and DFLP, the left has generally faded as the main oppositional ideology. If we want to become relevant again, our role, as anarchists, is to understand how Hamas has become so relevant to people there and what role Islam plays in the Resistance.

Furthermore, withholding support while the Resistance factions are being bombed and shot at does not put your movement in a strong position to make suggestions after the war. The strongest bonds are forged through struggle and the connections between those who fight side by side will continue after the fighting is over. There is a reason Aaron Bushnell’siii likeness is spread throughout the Resistance areas. His action speaks loudly over the din of naysayers critiquing the Resistance and with his action he has brought anarchism to the forefront of the struggle by showing unequivocal solidarity. May he rest in peace.

Russia-Ukraine War:

Contradictorily, while now questioning the legitimacy of Hamas, liberal anarchists had been rallying support for the Resistance Committees of Ukraine, which were nominally anarchist battalions that fought with the Ukrainian military and even within fascist battalions.

What was clear from the start of the Russia-Ukraine conflict was that the pressures and overtures of the west had pushed the Russian state to its breaking point. Since the end of Cold War, the United States promised Russia that NATO, an aggressive military alliance, wouldn’t move past Germany. Since then, there have been several expansions of NATO, under Clinton and then Bush. The red line for Russia was always the inclusion of Georgia and Ukraine in NATO. In 2008 at the Bucharest Summit, the US announced that Georgia and Ukraine would join NATO – a direct provocation. In 2014 the Maidan uprising occurred in Ukraine, with protagonists being funded on one side by the United States and on the other by Russia. Simultaneously a conflict was brewing in the Donbas region, between Russian separatists and the Ukrainian State. Some Ukrainian anarchists joined the state in fighting against the separatistsiv. Anti-fascists from Europe arrived to fight on the side of the Russians. This area became the center point of the conflict, as Russia sought to bring it back within its fold and Ukraine, with the support and at the bidding of the West, fought to keep the region.

When Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022, anarchists from Ukraine took a nationalist position that they needed to fight Russia in tandem with the Ukrainian state. This put them under the direct control of the Ukrainian military, and thus the United States. The Ukrainian military has received training and billions of dollars from the US since 2014v. This year a direct arms ban against the fascist Azov Battalion was lifted by the US Congressvi. Azov is among many fascist battalions that had heeded the call to combat and had already been fighting in the Donbas region. Even beyond it’s association with the US and the many far-right battalions, the entire Ukrainian military has a fascist bent, with soldiers wearing patches of and commanders sitting beneath the portrait of Stepan Bandera, the former fascist leader of the radical militant wing of the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists. Ukrainian anarchists have been fighting shoulder to shoulder with fascists and many eventually directly joined Azov battalionvii.

The result was the absurd situation of having so-called anti-fascists on both sides of the conflict, fighting each other alongside fascists and at the bidding of and for the ends of State actors. Despite this contradiction, anarchist groups all over Europe and the US beat the war drum for the fighters, encouraging solidarity and cash donations. One anarchist group raised over 100,000 Euros for fighters on the side of the USviii. The justification for this bizarre alliance was that the anarchist community should put its concerns aside and follow the lead of local anarchists and that they were fighting ‘imperialism.’ Yet what good is listening if one cannot see the broader context? And is there one type of imperialism that is better than another?

This point is not to argue in any way that Russia is a good choice of the two and that the military regime of Russia will be any more liberatory than NATO. There is no good choice in this conflict. In an ideal situation anarchists would be able to create a third front and take advantage of the melee to take their own territory. Unfortunately the capacity for this does not exist. And, unfortunately, it never will if the movement doesn’t strengthen anarchist projects that are committed to anarchist principles. The result is a half-hearted bumbling down a path towards liberalism. In the end liberalism always strengthens fascism.ix

Whereas the Palestinian Resistance is clearly fighting western colonialism, Ukraine is fighting on the side of the US and the west. It must be asked: why can western so-called anarchists overcome the contradiction of anarchists fighting alongside the US military and with fascists, but cannot accept that Hamas is a legitimate fighting force for the Palestinians? The answer is probably more complex than they themselves can answer, but it does appear suspiciously pro-west, leading this author to wonder if they are subconsciously harboring nationalistic sentiments. Furthermore, the overtones of racism cannot be ignored.

The Critique of Taking Up Arms Against the US State:

At the same time that these reformists in the west have been beating the war drum for NATO and denying solidarity with the Palestinian Resistance, they have been taking a stance against armed struggle against the US state.

This hypocrisy was explained and well-documented by the authors of the text ‘No War But Class War: Against State Nationalism and Inter-Imperialist War in Ukraine: “A concerning and not-unrelated double standard has also developed among some US/NATO-aligned anarchists, with regard to anarchist and anti-racist/anti-fascist struggle in the US. In August 2020, on the heels of the George Floyd Uprising, anti-fascist Michael Reinoehl shot and killed fascist Aaron Danielson, a supporter of the far right group Patriot Prayer in Portland, OR. Before anyone knew the details of what had happened, CrimethInc. and their allies at Ill Will Editions and the Vitalist International (two projects that include ‘Tiqqunists’ who have flirted heavily with the far right) denounced what they assumed had happened by calling on comrades ‘not to be drawn into grudge matches…[or] seek revenge in symmetrical warfare.’ They lamented, ‘The escalation to lethal force is tragic for all.’”x

Sadly and misguidedly, these groups were not referring to the actions of the State, which gunned Michael Reinoehl down in the street. They were referring to the actions of the comrade himself. This was a clear denunciation of using arms to stand up against homegrown fascism in the United States.

This sentiment was further solidified in this group’s text, ‘Against the Logic of the Guillotine.’xi They couch it softly by first admitting that, “self-defense is necessary” but modify this statement with, “but wherever we can, we should take the risk of leaving our adversaries alive.” Yet later in the text they pull back the cover entirely to show their true feelings and state point blank, “We don’t want to exterminate our enemies.” The absurdity of this statement is apparent in the modern day chain gangs in Alabama, migrant detention camps, the poisoned waters of Flint, Michigan, systemic raping by prison correction officers, and the list goes on. But the author separates themselves from these realities to show their class and privilege when they explain how they had come to this conclusion: “As for our immediate adversaries…[h]owever selfish and rapacious they appear, at least some of their values are similar to ours…” And because they seem to identify so closely with fascists and agents of the US state, they giddily assert that the struggle of their revolutionary project should be for their benefit: “When we are compelled to use coercive force, the only possible justification is that it is a necessary step towards creating a better world for everyone—including our enemies….”

This same group of so-called anarchist-journalists were the first recipients of Aaron Bushnell’s footage of and statement about his self-immolation for Gaza. He entrusted them with this content, believing that they were conscientious actors who would treat his final moments with the gravity and respect they deserved. According to CrimethInc., Bushnell emailed the group: “Today, I am planning to engage in an extreme act of protest against the genocide of the Palestinian people. The below links should take you to a livestream and recorded footage of the event, which will be highly disturbing. I ask that you make sure that the footage is preserved and reported on.”

While not a direct armed confrontation with the US, this is a powerful action by a sober and politically driven comrade who intended to make the ultimate sacrifice to bring attention to the martyrs and civilians of Gaza who were being bombed and gunned down relentlessly. Instead of honoring his sacrifice, CrimethInc. wrote a text passing many judgements on the deceased.

They wrote: “Many things that are worth doing entail risks, but choosing to intentionally end your life means foreclosing years or decades of possibility…” And with even more scorn towards his actions, they proselytize, “It is not willingness to die that will sway our rulers.” They even go so far as to say he should not be considered a martyr.xii

It is difficult to comprehend and bear the weight of a young comrade taking such a final and meaningful action only to be judged harshly by the very group he entrusted with publicizing it. Instead of focusing their piece on the actions and thoughts of Aaron Bushnell, CrimethInc. chose this moment to reflect on their role as journalists, and the effect and power they might have by publishing this action. They were worried they would inspire others to follow suit. It is strange to see such a phenomenon displayed so brazenly: that the reflection of themselves outweighs their responsibility to a comrade, his sacrifice and his desire to draw attention to Gaza.

This may be the key to understanding why this reformist tendency has taken root in the United States in particular, and why this group would be so horrified by a revolutionary sacrificing their life. These reformists are so focused on their own overblown role in the movement, they cannot see the bigger picture: the colonial role of the United States, the war on black and brown people in the US itself, and certainly not the humanity and self-determination of people from the global south. They are deeply ensconced in the conception that their thoughts and considerations far outweigh those of other people – yet another hallmark of western superiority.

The final point of this heartbreaking episode is that it is clear that while reformists anarchists write eulogies of people who fought with the Ukrainian State, and promote articles about the Resistance Committeesxiii – including the armed branch – of Ukraine, they are critical and skeptical of an action for Gaza on US soil.

In this last section I have referred to the journalist-‘anarchists’ CrimethInc. exclusively but they are merely a public representation of a broader tendency and set of beliefs. It is clear from their popularity that in espousing these positions, there are many who are anarchists in name only, unwilling to jeopardize their comfortable position within the US and therefore not fully dedicated to the end of colonization and the destruction of nation-states (especially when it is their own).

They have essentially become a mouthpiece for US state propaganda: trafficking in Islamophobia, pushing the west’s agenda in Ukraine, and fear mongering against living up to an anarchist’s greatest responsibility: to fight the nation-state where they reside.

These three positions are miles away from the original intentions of the anarchist movement. Anarchism has always been based on 1) building a society of federated communes 2) fighting against the nation-state where you reside 3) fighting colonial powers 4) creating counter-narratives to State propaganda 5) fighting fascists and against fascism 6) operating with an international purview in a borderless struggle 7) standing and fighting on the side of the oppressed.

When you consider the clear tenets of anarchism as a political and social movement, it is hard to imagine how any of the deviations I have detailed here could occur. Yet there is another facet to consider. The fact is that anarchists do not have as strong a pole in the world as we once did. In the heydays of the Spanish Civil War, Emiliano Zapata, Nestor Mahkno, and the Shinmin Prefecture, there was a widely understood definition of the anarchist position, regions functioning based on anarchist principles and militant battalions defending these regions and launching attacks against imperial and colonial forces.

Despite the movement being at such a low point, it is not time to give up and settle into the values of a colonial society. Instead it is up to those of us who call ourselves anarchists to rebuild the movement to not just it’s former status, but, having the ability to reflect on the successes and failures of former initiatives, to use our hindsight to destroy the States that have wreaked colonial havoc on the world for so long, create long lasting liberated territories and form a foundation from which to truly support the liberation of all people.

To have success, we must have a look at the situation and take into account important considerations. The first is to look very deeply and concertedly at what anarchism is as a revolutionary movement: to study former examples of anarchist movements and societies. The second is to bring a stronger understanding of the current situation in global politics to bear. For example, to understand the bloody and fascistic role of the United States in Central and South America, to understand the history of colonization in West Asia, to study and understand the fights of the Polisario Front and West Papua. That is to say, anarchists must have an anti-colonial and anti-imperialist understanding of the world. To support this perspective, we must learn to decipher the propaganda of the State and differentiate between that what we stand for.

Next, anarchists – particularly those in the west – must learn how to listen to people who have been colonized or oppressed. When a group of Marxists traveled to Chiapas to put their textbook left movement into practice, they were met with questions and the different perspectives of people in the region. After discussions and a melding of ideas, the current Zapatista movement emerged: a mix of leftism and indigenous concepts and traditions. It is in this melding of ideas that our movement will become relevant and much stronger. Anarchism’s strength does not come from maintaining a rigid measuring stick to judge would be comrades, but from allowing a multitude of perspectives to co-exist simultaneously. However to be clear, there is no room or time to entertain right wing or fascist perspectives. These must be rooted out and crushed.

Finally, anarchists, particularly in the west, must establish militancy in their home terrains– not in the service of colonizers, but in the service of oppressed people. It is time for anarchists to turn the guns from fighting in the service of western interests, and point them at the perpetrators of so much grief and devastation worldwide. The armed struggle must fight fascism and weaken the State where they live. They must use their force to fight for the colonized, to challenge western hegemony, and to defend the type of society that anarchism stands for. The west is currently in a decline in terms of its global position, and anarchists have a political opportunity to stand on the right side of history, as well as the strategic potential of this moment. Many other armed groups are taking advantage of the changing global order and it is time for anarchists to step up.

It is only in this way that anarchists can avoid being a proxy of the very forces we are supposed to fight, to live up to the sacrifices of our predecessors, to hold up the torch of anarchism for the martyrs of the movement and its history, to stand on the side of those who have been thoroughly wronged by this global system and finally to become relevant again to everyone who struggles around the world.

–Friends of Russell Maroon Shoatz

i https://www.dropsitenews.com/p/oslo-is-over

ii ibid

iii Aaron Bushnell was an anarchist and servicemen in the US Air Force who set himself on fire outside the ‘Israeli’ Embassy in Washington DC to protest the attack on and ongoing colonization of Gaza. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Self-immolation_of_Aaron_Bushnell

iv Ukraine’s Anarchist Militants Fighting neo-Nazis. 5:48: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m5ZLpFIsMH8&rco=1

v https://www.dvidshub.net/search/?filter[type]=news&filter[tags][]=jmtgu&filter[date]=19691231-20240818&sort=date

https://theconversation.com/in-2014-the-decrepit-ukrainian-army-hit-the-refresh-button-eight-years-later-its-paying-off-177881

vi https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/us-lifts-ban-azov-brigade-ukraine-american-weapons-russia-rcna156487

vii https://www.anarchistnews.org/content/no-one-will-be-forgotten-new-losses-anarchist-movement

viii https://abcdd.org/en/2022/03/23/update-donation-for-solidarity-with-anarchist-and-anti-authoritarian-activist-from-ukraine/

ix The evidence of this can be seen both in the election of Donald Trump in the US and at the end of the Spanish Civil War

x https://abolitionmedia.noblogs.org/post/2022/04/12/no-war-but-class-war-against-state-nationalism-and-inter-imperialist-war-in-ukraine/

xi https://crimethinc.com/zines/against-the-logic-of-the-guillotine

xii https://theanarchistlibrary.org/library/crimethinc-this-is-what-our-ruling-class-has-decided-will-be-normal

xiii https://crimethinc.com/2022/02/24/russia-and-ukraine-grassroots-resistance-to-putins-invasion

https://abolitionmedia.noblogs.org/post/2024/09/07/anarchists-against-counter-revolution/

#000000 #anarchism #antiColonialism #antiImperialism #guerrillaStruggle #resistance #whiteSupremacy

Anarchists Against Counter-Revolution – Abolition Media

abolitionmedia Jul 15, 2024

The Palestinian resistance continues to confront the Zionist occupation forces that have penetrated various combat axes in the Gaza Strip, especially in Rafah and Netzarim, where they are inflicting heavy losses on the occupation.

The occupation has admitted that 3 of its troops were injured in battles within Gaza in the last 24 hours.

The al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas, announced that it had bombarded the occupation forces that had penetrated the vicinity of the Tell al-Hawa neighborhood, southwest of Gaza City, in addition to its command headquarters in the Netzarim axis, with short-range missiles.

In southwestern Gaza City, in Tell al-Hawa, occupation forces have launched another incursion into the neighborhood that has lasted for a couple of weeks. On Friday, occupation forces made it seem as though they had retreated from certain areas, luring citizens who had been displaced back to their homes,

Gaza’s Health Ministry on Sunday reported that over 140 people were killed and 400 were injured in Zionist strikes in the span of 24 hours.

“Over the past 24 hours the occupation has committed four mass murders of families in the Gaza Strip, 141 dead and 400 injured were taken to hospitals,” the ministry said in a statement

In eastern Rafah, the al-Qassam Brigades clashed directly with members of a Zionist special force, from point-blank range, using light weapons and individual shells, killing and wounding all of them.

The Brigades explained that its fighters were able to spot the Zionist force that had infiltrated disguised inside an aid truck, and clashed with it when it arrived at the project intersection in the area.

In turn, the Al-Quds Brigades, the military wing of the Islamic Jihad Movement, targeted the occupation soldiers who had penetrated the airport area, east of Rafah, with a barrage of mortar shells.

The Al-Quds Brigades also targeted the occupation and their vehicles stationed at the Rafah crossing gate and its surroundings, with several mortar shells.

Also, the regular 60mm mortar shells targeted the positions of the occupation soldiers in the areas of Al-Abd Jabr, Al-Tuma, and Al-Asi Tower, southwest of Yebna camp, west of Rafah.

As for the Netzarim axis, the brigades targeted the occupation command headquarters at the Abu Oreiban site, with Ababil explosive devices and heavy-caliber mortar shells.

The Al-Quds Brigades’ war media published footage documenting the targeting of the occupation’s Fajjah military site, and the positions of Zionist soldiers in Netzarim with rockets and mortar shells.

The Brigades also published another video showing the targeting of settlements and occupation gatherings with rocket barrages and mortar shells, in cooperation with the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, the Martyr Abu Ali Mustafa Brigades, the Ansar Brigades, and the Martyr Omar Al-Qassem Forces.

Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, for its part, targeted a gathering of Zionists and their vehicles stationed around the Rafah crossing, with a barrage of 107mm rockets and heavy-caliber mortar shells.

It also targeted, with mortar shells, a concentration of occupation forces and their military vehicles stationed on the Palestinian-Egyptian border, north of Rafah city. It also targeted the occupation forces in the east of the city.

Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade also carried out operations against the occupation in Netzarim, where it bombed a gathering of Zionist forces on the supply line with mortar shells, and the headquarters of the occupation army with two 107 mm rockets.

Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades published footage of its shelling of the occupation forces’ vehicles that had penetrated the eastern part of the central Gaza Strip with heavy mortar shells.

As for the Martyr Omar Al-Qassem Forces, the military wing of the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine, they targeted the occupation and their vehicles west of Rafah with mortar shells.

Palestinian martyrs in Al-Shati massacre rise to 22

The number of Palestinian martyrs in the massacre committed by the occupation army at the Al-Shati refugee camp has now risen to 22.

The occupation bombed the Al-Abyad Mosque in the camp during prayer hours, on Saturday, slaughtering many of the worshipers that had been praying there.

The crime came shortly after the al-Mawasi massacre, which led to the martyrdom and injury of over 400 Palestinians after the occupation struck the tent city in what was designated earlier as a “safe zone.” Zionist news website Maariv reported that the bombs used in the airstrikes were US-made JDAM bombs.

In another crime in Gaza today, reports state that liberated Palestinian prisoner Nemr Hemadah, who was transferred to Gaza after his release, was among the martyrs in the Al-Shati Camp massacre.

After the al-Mawasi massacre on Saturday, the occupation claimed to have killed a high-ranking al-Qassam commander in the area. However, it later retracted the confirmation after sources within the Resistance confirmed that Commander Muhammad al-Deif was alive and well.

Yemen continues assasults

The spokesperson for the Yemeni Armed Forces, Brigadier General Yahya Saree, announced that the naval forces, air force, and missile force of the Yemeni Armed Forces (YAF) carried out a joint operation targeting a Zionist ship in support of the Palestinian people and in response to the genocidal massacre in al-Mawasi.

The joint operation targeted the Zionist ship MSC UNIFIC in the Gulf of Aden with a number of ballistic missiles and drones.

In turn, the drone force carried out a joint operation against several military targets located in the Zionist-occupied Umm al-Rashrash (Eilat) area in southern occupied Palestine. According to the spokesperson, the drone mission achieved its objective successfully.

The Yemeni Armed Forces spokesperson further renewed Yemen’s call to all Arab and Islamic armies to fulfill their religious, moral, and humanitarian duty towards the Palestinian people and affirm their full readiness to carry out joint military operations with any Arab or Islamic party that supports the oppressed Palestinian people.

Yemeni AF spox vows ‘necessary’ measures in championing Palestine

Earlier, yesterday, Saree, stated that they are closely monitoring the developments in Gaza, including the recent massacre by the occupation forces, which resulted in hundreds of martyrs and injured Palestinian people.

“The Arab and Islamic complacency has encouraged the Zionist enemy to continue committing these crimes in full view of the world,” the spokesperson said.

The Yemeni Armed Forces affirmed their commitment to supporting the Palestinian people, vowing to “take necessary steps and measures” to achieve a “genuine victory for the blood of the Palestinian people.”

They warned they would “not hesitate to expand their military operations against the Zionist enemy and its backers” until the aggression ends and the blockade on Gaza is lifted.

https://abolitionmedia.noblogs.org/post/2024/07/15/zionist-forces-suffer-heavy-casualties-in-rafah-netzarim/

#alAqsaFlood #ansarallah #gaza #guerrilla #guerrillaStruggle #hamas #palestine #resistance #yemen