Today's Topics:
1. Britain, Class War: MARILYN - FROM BAND AID TO CLASS WAR!
(a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
2. Czech, afed: Black and Red Scout - Introduction of the new
organization and report from the first meeting [machine
translation] (a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
3. Britain, Class War Official: Our Story (a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
4. France, Alternative Libertaire AL #286 - Unemployment
insurance: the announced breakage (fr, it, pt)[machine
translation] (a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
5. Ways of Life 3: Indigenous Anarchism By DJ Zhao
(a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
6. Czech, AFED: Indefensible: Idlib and the World left [machine
translation] (a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
7. wsm.ie: The Legacy of Occupy - an audio interview with
author Mark Bray at #DABF 2018 (a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Message: 1
Our new video 'FREE NANNY CROOK' features not only the creative genius that is ADAM
CLIFFORD but also singer MARILYN who featured on the original BAND AID film.
Since news got out the track has been rocketing up the charts
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w0Mag5nNGHw&feature=share
Performed by Adam Clifford and Marilyn
Produced by Richard Torry
------------------------------
Message: 2
The idea of black-and-red scouting comes as a free movement that does not set goals, but
sets its course. Here I will try to describe briefly, but these are already reflected in
my actions. It could be said that the movement is based on a combination of hiking, free
walking and exploring nature, with the development of the personality of the individual,
towards the understanding of their own meaning for their own and community life. Every
individual has a sense of the community they live in, an important part of the whole. A
human being has the ability to be strong, free and in balance with all living in nature.
Nature is the whole of which one is a part, it is alive, and equality is connected with
the right to life, and the individual parts have their own voice that must be respected.
The movement rejects the hierarchical arrangement of classical scouting, its militant
upbringing, its embedding in created structures such as the state, the church, financial
or other artificial dogmas. The movement is not only aimed at young people, we want to
broadly associate people differently old so that we can inspire and support each other in
their abilities and thus form society. Efforts are made so that reason fulfills our deeds
with sense and that our hearts fulfill our actions by feeling for solidarity and a sense
of life. We would like to go on a path of self-sufficiency and responsibility for our
actions, learn to know nature, live in such a way that we do not destroy and disrupt our
world. They were collaborations, through emancipation from classical schemes that have
been, often in good faith, given to education and socio-economic education. Show the
children that another world is possible and that it depends on each of us what it will be
like. Going out into nature, walking and discovering wildness can understand their
relationship to life. We believe, that the concept of life so conceived will have an
overlap in the everyday reality of each individual, and his activities will then follow
that path. We have no order, no uniforms, no common "supervision". But we each have our
own personal vision and the will to live freely.
The movement was initiated by several individuals from different areas, initiating the
emergence of regional or local associations. They agreed to meet together and create space
for sharing, entertainment, development and relaxation. Associations are autonomous so
that there is room for creativity and prerequisite for different applications, different
forms and conceptual concepts. We have created a contact area on the social network, a
website with the help of people from the 451.cz team and we started to print a magazine.
We also spread the information orally among friends and acquaintances, with the hope and
the notion that if we want to bring this concept into life, then it should be our own
initiative for each of us.
At the end of August, the first meeting took place in Brdy. Pre-agreed place and time. The
first moments were familiar with us as we almost all saw each other for the first time.
Gradually we gathered around 20 adults, 6 children and one dog. We talked, for example,
about personal interests and the places we come from. We walked to the woods from the
meeting point. The route was not far away and soon led us to a tramp village with a fire.
It was pleasant, it seemed to have been used on the tourist route. There was water, there
was a kettle, and everybody had something to eat, so it did not take long and the first
flames licked a kettle with a potato àwhat a backpack he gave. She was great, warm, and
almost as magical as it was around the fire. Talks, drinking, tents were growing, children
were running around the woods. They all looked around the fire, which became a twilight of
significance as a meeting point. The flames danced in the darkness and illuminated our
faces. We did not solve complicated philosophical themes, after all, it was the first
meeting and especially the acquaintance. Whoever wanted to talk, who did not want to talk,
looked into the fire. The woods whispered through the trees, the night was dark and
merciful, and the moon was full in the clouds. In the morning, we were welcomed by the sun
and a dense lentil soup. He walked on, walking around a storm and similar stones, a
forest, a footpath on a nearby hill. Here was a terraced rock, named the Devil's pulpit,
before which a wide view of the valley and a view of the brick hills opened. Devil did not
appear for preaching, but we were enough after the hell, and we were even without him.
There was talk during the journey. The trees provided not only a shadow, but also the news
of the curious eye of a curious child who asked how to distinguish trees from each other.
One day he will know, and we too, the whole story of the forest. We swing, drifting with
the train set, each one alone. It was agreed that we would meet once a month and I believe
that every other meeting will be richer. There were many words at the meeting, and there
are many options to do next. It's a good start. that every other meeting will be richer.
There were many words at the meeting, and there are many options to do next. It's a good
start. that every other meeting will be richer. There were many words at the meeting, and
there are many options to do next. It's a good start.
https://www.afed.cz/text/6877/cerno-rudy-skaut
------------------------------
Message: 3
There is a class war waging and we are losing it. The rich are getting richer and the
gilded elite who have ruled us since Norman times remain in power and dominate land
ownership just as they did when they first robbed it. We live in a feudal society
dominated by an oligarchy of privately and Oxbridge educated toffs who run not just the
government, banks, diplomacy but the media, music. comedy and even the opposition. We see
no difference between any of the parties - we oppose Labour with the same venom we hate we
hate the Tories . We don't want to kick the tories out to replace them with Labour or any
variety of failed Trots. We don't want to kick them out at all - we want to kick them in!
Comrades whatever our yesterdays you are welcome now. join in. reject cynicism. have fun.
FULL STEAM AHEAD THROUGH THE SHIT
------------------------------
Message: 4
This was one of Emmanuel Macron's campaign promises in 2017: the " reform " of
unemployment insurance. This reform is presented with great announcements of
communication, announced as being as beneficial to the companies as to the workers. We try
here to unravel the effects of announcements, the consequences of this reform, which will
be really suffered by the private and the precarious. ---- The unemployment insurance
reform, which should be launched in the autumn of 2018, has been prepared for a long time.
In December 2016, Emmanuel Macron, in his major campaign of electoral seduction, announced
a flagship measure: to allow all employees who had resigned to access unemployment
insurance once every five years. Already, this principle had a perverse effect: the
possibility for an employer to push more easily a worker to the exit, certainly with
compensation but without the certainty of finding a job at the height of the previous ...
or simply that of find one.
A measure that would have had a greater negative effect on the lower-skilled workers.
Because, it should be remembered, the unemployment rate is less than 5% for bac + 2 but
nearly 20% for those without diplomas or holders of a certificate of primary education
(CEP) and a patent [1].
Should we be surprised ? This promise has been revised downward. To benefit from the
allowance, it will be necessary to justify a " professional project[...]real and serious "
according to Muriel Penicaud. This project will be verified by a regional commission.
Then, after six months, the resigners will be subject to a specific control. Speaking of
control, the agents assigned to the policing of the unemployed should triple, from 200
agents to 600, according to Muriel Penicaud.
Uncontrolled control of the unemployed
Since the Act of 1 st August 2008 the Sarkozy government, refusing two offers " reasonable
" job can lead to radiation and that even though 50% of job vacancies available on the
Pôle Emploi website are illegal or not do not give all the information required, according
to the work of the Committee of " unemployed rebels " of the CGT.
Result of the analysis of offers of August 2018. Find details on the blog Cgt Unemployed 56
With the reform of Macron, the definition of " reasonable " offer hitherto fixed by law,
could now be decided " in common " by Pôle emploi and the applicant. In other words, it is
subject to an arbitrary definition of the institution, the main objective of which today
seems to be to write off a maximum of private employees who are entitled to benefits in
order to reduce official unemployment figures.
New concessions to employers
Another promise made by Emmanuel Macron during his campaign is abandoned. For, having come
to power, Macron is only returning to the beautiful promises made to employees, even if
these promises were already debatable.
It is now preparing a new concession to shareholders and business leaders: the taxation of
precarious contracts (interim, fixed-term, intermittent.es) has simply disappeared from
the bill. In replacement of this measure, companies are invited to find their own
solutions to reduce the number of precarious contracts. This reminds us of the masquerade
of the Tax Credit for Competitiveness and Employment (CICE) and the Government of the
Netherlands Liability Pact, asking companies to create jobs in exchange for financial
exemptions, but not providing for control ... In short thus allow businesses to get rich
without hiring. Between " responsibility "To the professional stability of the workers and
the profit of the shareholders, the choice has been made !
This reform is also a great blow to the counter-power of the unions. Until today, the
Unédic, the body that manages unemployment insurance, was run jointly by unions and
employers. With the reform, the government will decide the modalities of the financial
balance to be respected. Patronage and unions will have to apply. A financial equilibrium
which - in view of the entire policy of the Macron government obsessed with the criteria
of profitability - will be detrimental to the rights of the private sector of employment
and precarious.
According to the government, this is to reduce Unédic's debt. This is not caused by the
functioning of unemployment insurance. Contribution income is now sufficient to cover the
allowances paid to jobseekers.
An attack on the unions
The economic crises of the 1970s and 1980s pushed up unemployment. Successive governments
have imposed on Unedic borrowing on the financial markets and its interest rates. And
today it would be up to the private sector to repay the effects of financial crises !
Finance is enriched by its own crises.
What is the government proposing to fix the problem ? Not an increase in unemployment
insurance contributions, ie wages, of course, but their outright abolition, offset by an
increase in the CSG for everyone, including pensioners, to get paid. the box.
This is yet another excuse from a Liberal government to serve the employers. Since its
creation in 1945, the decoupling of Social Security has not stopped. It accelerated during
the Mitterand years and the turn of rigor. The government actually plans to remove what is
left of the payroll contribution from unemployment insurance. Already passed from 2.40% to
0.95%, a decrease of 1.45 points in January 2018 (for an increase of the CSG for all of
them of 1.7 points), the government plans to make disappear the remaining part remaining
with its reform. With an unemployment rate that only increases, and a Unédic supposedly
already too much debt, we walk on the head.
As well as the very principle of social security
All this will have a logical consequence: to justify the cuts in unemployment benefits "
required " by the debt that is being organized, to the detriment of the precarious and
job-seekers, for the benefit of those who already have too much.
Florian (AL Nantes)
[1] Insee.fr - The gaps are even more important for young people during the four years
following the end of their schooling. Unemployment affects more massively this social
category already more fragile financially. If the rate is less than 10% for bac + 2 (and
more), it reaches nearly 50% for those without diplomas or holders of a CEP or a patent.
http://www.alternativelibertaire.org/?Assurance-chomage-la-casse-annoncee
------------------------------
Message: 5
African forms of democracy and egalitarianism exists independent of, and predates, modern
Western progressive social movements. It is time we revived their histories from
systematic erasure, because they may hold the key to our collective future ---- Editor's
note: This article is the third in a three-part series investigating different ways of
organising human life on earth. ---- Indigenous Democracy ---- An epiphany of cosmic
proportions dawned upon me during a taxi ride from Kampala International airport to the
city last year. My incidental travel companion was the Ugandan filmmaker Dilman Dila; and
in his unhurried, quiet, and measured tone, this is what he said: ---- "Of the 53 major
"nations" in the region today known as Uganda (name arbitrarily taken from one of them,
Buganda, by the British), only 10 featured any kind of hierarchical political structure.
The majority of them, with population size from 1 to 3 million, lived in entirely
egalitarian organizations, voluntary cooperatives, and share/gift economies, without
centralized political power, high levels of inequality, or warfare."
The filmmaker continued, "for instance, Acholi, the 2nd largest society in Uganda, lived
in communal, collaborative, and mutualistic arrangements. In these societies elders and
experts were respected, and held influence, but did not have exclusive decision making
power over others. In fact, the people of these societies having almost entirely no
concept of power, control, domination, and subjugation was a significant factor for the
ease with which Europeans conquered these lands."
Dila's disquisition continued, "When an Englishmen said to them "I will rule this
territory from now on", they probably looked at each other, shrugged, and with such trust
toward their fellow men, as strangely dressed as these were, said something like: "We
don't know exactly what that means, but why not, it should be fine.'"
My sleep deprived brain cells all of a sudden began working in top gear, and I immediately
sensed the vital significance of this information, its far reaching implications, as well
as the colossal crime which is its total absence in the rest of the world.
"The Iteso (of Uganda) (has) a highly decentralized, largely egalitarian society in
which social groups enjoyed significant autonomy concurrent with social unity..."
Not long after my return to Europe, all of this was confirmed by German curator and
researcher Dr. Nadine Siegert, deputy director of Iwalewahaus, University of Bayreuth. She
described decision-making processes of East African traditional societies as direct
democracy in its purist form, mostly consisting of long hours in conversation and debate,
until literally everyone is in agreement. The message is then relayed to other groups by
messengers (with no representative power), leading to further negotiations, and finally,
action is only taken when the decision is unanimously agreed upon by every member of society.
But how can 3 million people all agree on anything, I wondered. And then I considered that
these societies were based on reciprocity and gift economies, almost entirely without
inequality, and must have featured levels of social cohesion and connection all but
unimaginable to us. And the amount of time this process must take seemed burdensome, until
i thought about how much of the time and energy of Western societies and its citizenry is
taken up by bureaucracy.
Siegert's voice in this matter is supported by other scholars. British professor in
political science Dr Alison J Ayers has written extensively about the sociopolitical
system of the Iteso in Uganda, which "reveals a highly decentralized, largely egalitarian
society in which social groups enjoyed significant autonomy...". In their society "the
pursuit of justice and the maintenance of law, order, and harmony were highly important
tenets, harmony being achieved through the overriding principle of consensus."
But absence of centralized power does not mean being without leaders, only that the
leaders do not have authority over others. "Iteso society was governed by elders. But
although vested with influence and respect, they possessed limited power - power being
held and exercised by the people." (1)
Funtunfunefu-Denkyemfunefu, the siamese crocodiles which symbolize democracy and unity in
many African cultures
Homegrown Consensus
Further research, and a bit of necessary luck, turned up more information, and revealed
that variations of non-authoritarian social arrangements are by far not exclusive to the
East coast of Africa, but found all over the continent.
Nigerian Historian Dr D. I. Ajaegbofa notes that among the Igbo, "The values of
consultation, negotiation, cooperation, compromise, and consensus were recognized and
applied in the decision making process" (2)
Ghanaian Philosopher Kwasi Wiredu writes that "decision making in Africa was generally
based on consensus". Looking in detail at how this worked among the Ashanti, he notes,
"The principle of consensus... was based on the belief that ultimately the interests of
all members of society are the same, although their immediate perceptions of those
interests may be different. This thought is given expression in an art motif depicting a
crocodile with one stomach and two heads locked in struggle over food. If they could but
see that the food was destined for the same stomach, the irrationality of the conflict
would be manifest to them. But is there a chance of it? The Ashanti answer is: ‘Yes, human
beings have the ability eventually to cut through their differences to the rock bottom
identity of interests.' ...the means to that objective is simply rational discussion.
‘There is', they say, ‘no problem of human relations that cannot be resolved by
dialogue.'" (3)
Dr Alison J Ayers continues:
...African political systems of the past displayed considerable variety. There is a basic
distinction between those systems with a centralized authority exercised through the
machinery of government, and those without any such authority in which social life was not
regulated at any level by government. Meyer Fortes and Evans-Pritchard classify the Zulu
(of South Africa), the Ngwato (also of South Africa), the Bemba (of Zambia), the
Banyankole (of Uganda), and the Kede (of northern Nigeria) under the first category, and
the Logoli (of western Kenya), the Tallensi (of northern Ghana), and the Nuer (of southern
Sudan) under the second. (6)
...societies of the second description - that is, anarchistic societies - existed and
functioned in an orderly manner, or at least not with any less order than the more
centralized ones. It is also, perhaps, easier in the context of the less centralized
social orders to appreciate the necessity of consensus. (1)
East African Unity. Photo courtesy of Anonymous
African Anarchy
Dr. Ulf Vierke, Director of Iwalewa house, told me of his own experiences in Northern
Ivory Coast, when he lived for some years within a decentralized conglomeration of
societies during the 1990s:
It was a truly pluralist world, consisting of very many small to larger ethnic and tribal
groups, each with their own culture, identity, and language, without central authority.
Poly-cultural clusters formed highly organised webs of communication and trade in a
constant process of negotiation, in which exactly no one is neglected or marginalized. It
took a lot of work and time to settle disputes or get things done, because literally
everyone is involved in decision making; but things did get done, in a way with which
everyone was happy.
These groups maintained intimate contact with each other, and with many groups in far away
regions. For instance, women's pottery groups collaborated, and shared information and
resources with other such groups, sometimes across great distances. There were also
societies within societies, who performed secretive dances and rituals only when no member
of the other groups were present, maintaining their own identity and culture. Politics,
spirituality, magic, art, and music were all inextricably intertwined in this way of life:
a differentiated yet linked totality of multitudes.
These autonomous communities in the Ivory Coast region have likely never posed a threat to
surrounding states and empires (which tended to be more effective at waging war*). The
Arabic conquerers mostly left them alone, partially because they saw this way of life as
"primitive" and imagined that they would soon naturally disappear in the face of
"progress". Various waves of European colonists also did not bother with them much, for
some of the same reasons; and every generation of visiting outsiders has said many of the
same things about them, making similar predictions. In fact, Vierke himself had the same
feeling when he was there, that this way of life could not last long. Yet today, in 2016,
they are still living in large numbers in this way (but with cell phones); and something
tells me they will still be there long after the collapse of global capitalism.
*In the independence era the mobilization of these non-authoritarian groups was
indispensable: the hydra-headed guerilla army they formed acted autonomously, but in
supremely organized fashion; and while other battalions were lost if their commanding
officer died, these groups continued to function perfectly without central command.
These approaches to decision making have also been applied to the anti-colonial and
liberation struggles in Africa. The PAIGC in its struggle to end Portuguese colonialism
and the TPLF in its fight against the military dictatorship in Ethiopia, both developed
and used similar consensus based decision making models. (4)
Anarchist banners at World Conference Against Racism, Durban, 2001. Khanya: a journal for
activists, issue. 1, August 2002
There are similar indigenous and traditional societies all over the world with varying
degrees of horizontal configuration and classlessness, which are very different from the
modern Western top-down system of extreme economic and political inequality. From the
myriad forms of often fluid and mobile Native American societies to Aboriginal collective
councils, their stories are routinely, completely, ignored, displaced by glamorized tales
of states, of war, and of capitalism. A few academic papers have been written about these
diverse and incredibly numerous forms of traditional non-authoritarianism, but no doubt
read by only a handful of people world wide. Making this kind of information inaccessible
to the public is a violation against all life on earth, as it is only the structures of
hierarchical power and the inequalities they generate which has caused so much systematic
suffering and destruction during the last 10k years.
"...human beings have the ability eventually to cut through their differences to the
rock bottom identity of interests."
In literally every debate about communism or anarchism in the Western world, we run into
the same repeated sentiment: "It works only in theory or in small scale, but practically
impossible for large societies, without becoming authoritarian nightmares". But the
existence of these indigenous egalitarian democratic syndicates with "citizens" numbering
in the millions, and the fact that they have functioned very well for longer than anyone
can remember, is clear evidence to the contrary.
It is difficult to determine how long these various kinds of non-hierarchical societies
have existed prior to the arrival of Europeans, and we know nothing of their evolutionary
history. But African cultures should almost certainly be credited for the development of
true communism long before the birth of Karl Marx and Frederick Engels, anarchism before
the work of Mikhail Bakunin, Jesus Christ, or LaoZi, as well as democracy before the Greeks.
In fact, during the last decade of his life, Karl Marx began looking more and more into
the political philosophies of older, Non-European societies, and became increasingly
convinced that we have much to learn from them. A few weeks ago Noam Chomsky claimed that
"Indigenous people across the world are the ones keeping the human race from destroying
itself and leading earth to a disaster".
For too long we have falsely believed that everything progressive, democratic, and
radically left comes from the Modern West. As we support contemporary emancipatory and
revolutionary global movements, let us remember that truly equal and just
non-authoritarian societies are not only possible, but have existed on the African and
other continents for much longer than the recent phenomenon of tyranny, the state, and
capitalism.
List of references
Ayers, Alison J. "Beyond the Imperial Narrative: African Political Historiography
Revisited". Jones, Branwen Gruffydd. (2006) Decolonizing International Relations //Rowman
& Littlefield Publishers
Ajaegbo, D. I. (2014) African Democratic Heritage: A Historical Case Study of the Igbo of
Nigeria // IOSR Journal Of Humanities And Social Science (IOSR-JHSS) Volume 19, Issue 4,
Ver. VIII (Apr. 2014), PP 17-23,
Holman, Peggy. (1997) Democratic Decision Making that Works // At Work, Vol. 6,No. 4, p. 7-11,
Shaw, Robert Keith. (2011) The Nature of Democratic Decision Making and the Democratic
Panacea // Policy Futures in Education Volume 9 Number 1
Wiredu, Kwasi. (2000) Democracy and Consensus in African Traditional Politics // Polylog:
Forum for Intercultural Philosophy 2,
Fortes, M. Pritchard, E. Evan, E. (1950) African political systems // International
African Institute, Oxford university press
------------------------------
Message: 6
This text was contributed to Freedom by Leila Al-Shami: British Syrian activist and
writer, co-author (with Robin Yassin-Kassab) of Burning Country: Syrians in Revolution and
War. Leila's blog on popular struggles, human rights and social justice from an
anti-authoritarian perspective can be found here. ---- On Saturday regime and Russian
airstrikes intensified on Idlib in what appears to be a prelude to the long anticipated
campaign to regain control of the province. ---- Only a day before, thousands of Syrian
men, women and children took the streets in over 120 cities towns and villages across the
remaining liberated areas under the slogan ‘resistance is our choice'. ---- They were
demonstrating for their lives. Idlib is now home to three million people, a third of whom
are children. Of the current population, over half have been displaced, or forcibly
evacuated, to the province from elsewhere. Their options for fleeing the assault are
limited. Borders are closed and there are no safe-zones left. They don't want to be
forcibly displaced from their homes. At the protests many held signs rejecting recent
calls by UN envoy Staffan de Mistura to evacuate civilians to regime-controlled areas,
where they could disappear into torture chambers or face forced conscription, as has
happened to others before them. ‘Reconciliation' in the Syrian context means a return to
subjugation, humiliation and tyranny.
Through signs and chants, the aim of the protests was clear: to prevent an assault by the
regime and its backers, to show the world that there are civilians in Idlib whose lives
are now under threat, and to affirm that they continue to refuse Assad's rule. As-shaab
yurid isqat al nizam (the people want the downfall of the regime) rang through the crowds,
reminiscent of the early days of the uprising. They were not only protesting domestic
fascism, but foreign imperialisms too - those of Russia and Iran - which have backed the
dictator in his campaign to wipe out domestic opposition.
Yet once again the calls of Syrian anti-war protesters were largely ignored by the western
‘anti-war left'. Instead of calling for an end to the bombing or supporting the victims of
war, many have instead chosen to buy into the regime's ‘War on Terror' narrative that the
aim of the assault is to wipe out militant jihadists. Such illusions should have been
shattered on Saturday. Sham hospital in Has village, southern Idlib, was targeted by
barrel bombs and missiles, taking it out of service. The hospital had been located
underground, in a cave, in an ultimately futile attempt to protect it from aerial
bombardment. According to the Union of Medical Care and Relief Organizations, three
hospitals, two Civil Defence Centers and an ambulance system were attacked on 6 and 7
September in Idlib and northern Hama, leaving thousands without access to medical care.
Extremist groups have a presence in Idlib - some have been sent by the regime itself
following evacuation from elsewhere. Hayaat Tahrir Al Sham (HTS) with former links to Al
Qaeda dominates much of the province with its 10,000 fighters. Yet far from being an ‘Al
Qaeda stronghold' HTS has failed to win support from much of the population which has
continually resisted the group's presence and hard-line ideology. At last Friday's
protests in Idlib city, HTS fired live ammunition to break up the demonstration. The crowd
quickly turned on the militants calling them shabiha (an insult once reserved for regime
thugs) and chanting "Jolani get out" - in reference to the group's leader.
Many on the ‘left' claim that out of a population of three million individuals there are
‘no good guys left' to support. Or believe the presence of a few thousand extremists is
justification enough for razing Idlib to the ground and collectively punishing its
residents. The invisible majority of Syrians who don't use guns to wield power are
dismissed as irrelevant. They choose to ignore those who have been resisting all forms of
authoritarianism and are committed to creating a better future for their families,
communities and society at large. They present a grotesquely simplified binary in which
the choice is between Assad and Al Qaeda, as if the conflict and deep-rooted social
struggle were a football match between two sides. The side they back is a fascist regime -
because at least it is ‘secular' - a regime which gasses children to death in their sleep,
operates death camps in which dissidents are tortured to death and which has been accused
by the UN of ‘the crime of extermination'. Anyone who resists a return to regime control
is presented as an enemy and a legitimate target for attack. Freedom, democracy, social
justice, dignity - they are goals to which only westerners should aspire. The rest should
just shut up and make do.
In this sinister and racist world view, everyone is either an Al Qaeda member or
sympathizer. The fact that there are women in these conservative, rural communities that
don't dress like them, or have to courageously overcome numerous obstacles and threats to
their safety in order to participate in the public sphere (as they did at last Friday's
protests) is presented as evidence of terrorist leanings, justification in itself for
their annihilation. Instead of standing in solidarity with the courageous women in Idlib
who are resisting both the regime and other extremist armed groups and fighting to
overcome deeply entrenched traditional and patriarchal social mores, they would rather
support a state which sent militia to carry out mass-rape campaigns in dissident
communities, which inserts rats into the vaginas of female detainees. The dehumanization
of Syrians has been so thorough that many struggle to believe that amongst the chaos and
war-lords there may actually be ordinary human beings worthy of support - people like ‘us'.
It is hard to understand how devastating bombing campaigns carried out by the Syrian state
and Russia on densely populated residential areas, which have killed hundreds of
thousands, can be ignored by anyone who claims to be ‘anti-war'. It seems Syrian lives are
only meaningful if they're destroyed by western bombs. Today's ‘anti-imperialism' is often
used as a cover in support of totalitarian regimes, by people privileged enough to never
have experienced what it's like to live under them. Not content to ignore war crimes and
other mass atrocities, attempts are also made to absolve the perpetrators from blame and
deny that atrocities have occurred. Conspiracy theories, often originating in Russian
state or far-right media, are circulated about chemical attack ‘false flags' to white-wash
regime crimes and justify the targeting of civilians and humanitarian workers. Syria has
become a talking point to score political points without a second thought given to the
real-life danger such false accusations place people in, or the deep pain and offence
caused to the victims.
In her recent book, Indefensible: Democracy, Counter-Revolution and the Rhetoric of
Anti-imperialism, Rohini Hensman asks; ‘How has the rhetoric of anti-imperialism come to
be used in support of anti-democratic counterrevolutions around the world?' She argues
that there are three kinds of ‘pseudo-anti-imperialists'. The first are those who believe
that "‘the West' has to be the only oppressor in all situations", a "Western-centrism
which makes them oblivious to the fact that people in other parts of the world have agency
too, and that they can exercise it both to oppress others and to fight against
oppression". The second category consists of "neo-Stalinists" who "will support any regime
that is supported by Russia, no matter how right wing it may be". The third "consists of
tyrants and imperialists, perpetrators of war crimes, crimes against humanity, genocide
and aggression, who, as soon as they face a hint of criticism from the West, immediately
claim that they are being criticised because they are anti-imperialists."
In support of her argument, Hensman gives a detailed overview of genuine anti-imperialism
as opposed to ‘pseudo-anti-imperialism' through case studies from Russia and Ukraine,
Bosnia and Kosovo, Iran, Iraq and Syria. She shows how self-declared ‘leftists' have
repeatedly supported authoritarian regimes over people's democratic struggles, spread
anti-Muslim bigotry, built tactical alliances with fascists, spread conspiracy theories
and Kremlin/state propaganda, and engaged in genocide/atrocity denial and victim blaming.
Her book is a timely reminder that the narratives propagated around Syria, in which the
far-left echoes the talking points of the far-right and places geo-politics over people's
struggles and lives, are emblematic of a much broader malaise.
As bombs rain down on Idlib, few Syrians expect to see mass protests around the world in
support of their cause or in defence of their lives. Those who claim a politics of
‘internationalism' have abandoned them and retreated into isolationism or, worse, into
apologia for fascism. Without addressing these issues the prospect of building an
international movement against authoritarianism, imperialism, war and capitalism seems
unlikely. In the meantime, we can expect the horrors which led the world to declare ‘never
again' to happen again, and again and again.
Leila Al-Shami
Featured image: protest in Idlib, 7th September 2018
https://freedomnews.org.uk/indefensible-idlib-and-the-left/
------------------------------
Message: 7
An in-depth interview with Mark Bray, author of ‘Translating Anarchy', a book which tells
the story of the anti-capitalist anti-authoritarians of Occupy Wall Street who
strategically communicated their revolutionary politics to the public in a way that was
both accessible and revolutionary.[Audio]
https://www.mixcloud.com/workerssolidarity/the-legacy-of-occupy-an-interview-with-mark-bray-at-dublin-anarchist-bookfair-2018/
By "translating" their ideas into everyday concepts like community empowerment and
collective needs, these anarchists sparked the most dynamic American social movement in
decades. Andrew Flood, a WSM member, discussed the ongoing legacy of that anarchist
influenced social movement with Mark, touching on its successes and failures and what we
can learn from them https://wsm.ie/c/legacy-occupy-interview-author-mark-bray-dabf2018
------------------------------
Geen opmerkingen:
Een reactie posten