#Worldwide #Information #Blogger #LucSchrijvers: #Update:#anarchist #news and #information from all over the #world - 3.03.2020

Today's Topics:

   
1.  cnt-ait: TRADITIONS OPPRESS WOMEN (ca, fr) 
     (a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
   
2.  France, Union Communiste Libertaire UCL - International, The
      Left, War and Us: Response to Michel Collon and Saïd Bouamama
      (fr, it, pt)[machine translation] (a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
   
3.  Melbourne Anarchist Communist Group: The Anvil Vol 9 No 1 -
      WHY CLASS STRUGGLE? (a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
   
4.  [Spain] This 8M is always: anarcho-feminism as a spearhead
      in the anti-fascist struggle By ANA (pt) [machine translation]
      (a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
   
5.  France, Union Communiste Libertaire AL #302 -
      Antipatriarcat, Felis, a children's self-defense (fr, it,
      pt)[machine translation] (a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
   
6.  US, black rose fed: Build Our Power - Spread the Strike: A
      UCSC Strike Leaflet (a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)
   
7.  Czech, AFED: Roots of Turkish Fascism (II.) [machine
      translation] (a-infos-en@ainfos.ca)


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Message: 1






A society based on human exploitation needs a rigorous sexual order. The status of women in a society is a fundamental element of the
analysis of the political context; and women's status is inseparable from the weight which is given in the community to traditions and
religions. ---- This obviousness is often "forgotten" today. Indeed, even in circles that think themselves to be progressive, even in the
libertarian milieu, which nonetheless pretends to be feminist and anti-patriarchal, the heaviest conservatisms have corrupted discourses and
thoughts (1).Certainly, reactionnaries did it skillfully. They no longer express themselves according to the old rhetoric, "Work, family,
homeland". They camouflage themselves behind new clothes and take the disguises of "regionalism", of the defense "of the native peoples", of
that of the concept of "customs" when it is not "respect" for "certain religious traditions" or even "decolonialization"...
A detour through history will help us understand the issues. That of the Russian Revolution is particularly enlightening from this point of
view. In his book "The Unknown Revolution ", a work of the greatest interest, russian anarchist Voline shows us how, during the Russian
Revolution of 1917, more than three centuries of oppression have been suddenly swept away by the total break with the ideology of power and
by the deconsecration of the tsar (the Russian emperor).

The ideological starting point of the tsarist regime can be found during the reign of Ivan the Forth "the Terrible" (1547-1584). It was he
who introduced the crucial notion for tsarism regime, that which founds absolutism, the notion "of divine right". To this purpose, Ivan the
Forth was supported by the Orthodox religion and its clergymen. From this period, the Tsar, the emperor of all the Russias took on a sacred
character and became the depositary of the divine word ... So nobody could contest him, as it would had been contesting God himself ... It
would exposed you to death with no appeal.

The revolution of February 1917 will mark in a grandiose manner the end point of this belief. Between the two extreme dates (1547 / 1917),
mentalitie are under the domination of the dogmas of the Orthodox church - pillar of autocratic power - and evolve slowly. Then, from 1825
everything accelerates. A marker of this historic development is the status of women in the Russian society. At the end of the 16th century,
whether in the highest spheres of society or among the poor and also the Cossacks, women were subjected to unlimited domination. Religion,
which is the pillar of the regime, makes women something like a demon; or to put it simply, an "filthy creature". This anti-feminine
delirium is such that masses of men voluntarily castrate themselves in order to protect themselves from any sexual temptation and live in
communities made up entirely of eunuchs.

The consequence of this ideology is that the only alternative for woman is to be locked up or enslaved. In the Russian aristocracy, she
lived as a recluse in rooms provided for this purpose. Everywhere else, she is exploited like an animal. The prejudices of the dominant
ideology imply that women do not have human status. It should be noted that we find - including in the peasant and Cossack revolts - this
lack of recognition which is correlated with the rooting of the legend of the divine origin of the tsar.

When they revolt, the masses are by no means revolutionary: there is basically no break with tradition. This paradox is very notable among
the Cossacks. Cossacks define themselves as "free men"; they are at the forefront of many rebellions; they are organized in a kind of
"general assembly meetings". But these Cossack assemblies are made up entirely of men, and the decisions made about women are simply
heinous. Such a woman suspected of adultery is dragged by the hair to the center of the assembly by the husband who feels ridiculed, and if
no man wants her and defends her, she is sewn alive in a bag and thrown away in the Volga river. It is also in the Volga that Stenka Razine,
another leader of the rebels, will get rid of his concubine in order to maintain the respect of the troops and to remain their Ataman, their
leader.

The first notable creaks in this ideological construction occur at the top of the Power structure, in particular during the struggle of
Princess Sophie for the conquest of the throne against her brother, the future Peter the Great. Sophie will end her life in a convent but
this fight will have opened the way to a series of tsarines (women russian emperors), of which the most famous, Catherine, will be in the
18th century at the origin of the creation of the Smolny institute for the education of noble young girls.

But everything will accelerate in the middle of the 19th century, parallel to the penetration of revolutionary ideas in the country. We owe
to the nihilist movement the appearance of a position of global ideological rupture which will consist in a total rejection of ancestral
culture. This movement, which started out as purely intellectual, admitted absolutely nothing of the heritage of the past ("nihil" =
nothing). It will be the origin of something radically new: individuals of both sexes will lead the fight for emancipation on an equal footing.

Consequently in the revolutionary groups which will take action against the regime - the populists first, then the socialists and anarchists
- women will take their part in the terrible fight which will be waged against despotism. One of them, Sofia Perovskaïa, will take part in
the attack of 1881 which will put an end to the life of the tsar Alexander the Second. She will be executed with four of her comrades. This
political equality between men and women, which is concretely achieved thanks to this negation of traditions, is a crucial fact. It contains
within itself the destruction of the old tsarist world which from that moment is doomed and will not take forty years to crumble.

Gender equality, resulting from an ideological breakthrough work, is an element which measures the penetration of revolutionary culture in a
society. This culture has crossed the whole ethnic mosaic of populations who inhabit the vast Russian territory and in revolutionary groups,
men and women but also believers and atheists, have have rejected their cultural differences, have rejected the division imposed by the
Power: these facts foreshadowed the real unity of the working-class and peasant population, which would be a condition for its passage to
direct and massive action from 1905 until the fall of the tsarist tyranny in February 1917.

In the historic moments of struggle against domination, as in Russia from 1880, figures of anonymous or famous women stand out, such as
Maria Spiridonova, leader of the Russian revolutionary socialist party, who are only the visible face of a deep awareness. Conversely, the
lack of involvement of women in the revolutionary movement, or their marginalization from the social struggle, is an indicator of the
prevailing conservatism or of the progress of the reaction.

We find exactly the same symptoms in revolutionary Spain in 1936, with the appearance in the fighting of free and armed working-class women.
It is no coincidence that the reactionary campaign for the militarization of the anarchist and revolutionary Militia Columns began with a
formal attack on the militia women who fought there. This propaganda touched on a sensitive point of "Native Spanish culture", a point which
had not yet been sufficiently annihilated, which is the place of women in society. "Native Spanish culture" is related to machism (which
derives from the Spanish word, macho). Thus, in the various medias of the bourgeois, of the communists or of the socialist, one began to
treat these militia women of being prostitutes and syphilitics. Then after that "Solidaridad obrera" - the Catalan CNT press organ - had
been "recentered", it could be read in this newspaper identical innuendos in favor of the return to traditional sexual order. And when, in "
Mujeres Libres" (Free Women), the anarchosyndicalist women group, sprang the explicit slogan "Los hombre al frente, las mujeres al trabajo"
("Men at the front, women at work" ) and after which the last militia woman laid down her gun to go home, it can be said that the Spanish
Revolution was also over.

The conclusion is simple: no freedom for women without rejection of oppressive traditions!
Nanard

(1) These "ideas" - known as "post-modernism" did not come by themselves but were produced knowingly by US think-tanks to penetrate and
destroy ideological adversaries such as anarchists (see the texts from Jordi Vidal for instance).

Original in French: http://blog.cnt-ait.info/post/2019/10/29/LES-TRADITIONS-OPPRIMENT-LES-FEMMES

In spanish: http://blog.cnt-ait.info/post/2020/02/29/Las-tradiciones-oprimen-a-las-mujeres

http://blog.cnt-ait.info/post/2020/02/29/TRADITIONS-OPPRESS-WOMEN

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Message: 2






The two authors undertook to publish the responses sent to them on the Investig'action site. We have no doubt that they will. In the absence
of investigation, their book contains false information, which we pointed out to them, but also bad interpretations on the anti-imperialist
line of the libertarian communist current. ---- Michel Collon and Saïd Bouamama have co-authored a book, La Gauche et la guerre, in which
they appeal to the PCF, EELV, NPA, PG, CGT, CFDT, Alternative libertaire (AL) as well as "the Trotskyists" and "the anarchists" (without
further details), accusing them - to go quickly - of supporting the imperialist wars.
The back cover summarizes the case as follows: "In 2003, millions of people were on the streets to prevent the United States from attacking
Iraq. But in 2011, to stop the bombing of Libya: no one left. Worse ! The same organizations were demanding this time ... war."

The two authors conclude their book with a call, "let's learn to debate", and (page 335) invite the organizations they challenge to write to
them ; "We are committed to publishing these reactions on the Investig'action site in order to promote public and wide-ranging debate".

Leaving the care of other organizations to defend themselves, we wish to respond to Michel Collon and Saïd Bouamama with regard to the
former AL, but also for the former Coordination of anarchist groups (CGA), organizations merged in June 2019 into the Libertarian Communist
Union.

Our response will begin with a disclaimer. We will not write "Collon and Bouamama are lying," as the conspirators like to do. We will simply
demonstrate that your presentation contains errors that need to be corrected.

And, below, we will explain our political orientation clearly, because we do not take anti-imperialist engagement lightly.

False information in The Left and the War
Reminder of the facts: on March 17, 2011, after seeing condemned the massacres perpetrated by Gaddafi against the revolting people in
Cyrenaica (resolution 1970), the United Nations Security Council decided to set up a no-fly zone (resolution 1973 ). Hijacking the objective
of this resolution, a coalition of NATO member states began a bombing campaign on the Libyan army on March 19, which ended in October, after
the rebels' lynching of Gaddafi.

How then did AL and the CGA react ? They unequivocally condemned Western intervention.

The very day of its launch, the CGA denounced "the hypocrisy of the States which try to pass their attempt to take over imperialist control
for a" humanitarian "intervention alongside the rebels"[1].

Two days later, AL also condemned the intervention and, while declaring its solidarity with the "Maghreb and Mashreq peoples struggling for
their freedom", demanded"an end to the bombing in Libya and the withdrawal of foreign troops from the Bahrain". The organization concluded
by calling on "all of the political, union or association organizations in France opposing the war to act jointly to put an end to French
military intervention in Libya"[2].

On March 31, finally, on the occasion of a day of protest against the bombings in Libya on the initiative of the Peace Movement, AL issued a
leaflet repeating, updating them, the terms of this press release. "We support the revolutions in the Maghreb and the Machrek but it is not
under the American bombs that they will triumph", he said among others, while clamoring: "No to the bombings in Libya ! Withdrawal of
foreign troops from Bahrain !"[3].

Tract 31-03-11
PDF to download
It is difficult to make it clearer. What you write in your sub-chapter "Do anarchists progress ?", Pages 10-11 of your book, on the "180
degree turn" of AL who would have decided to "support the US war in Libya" is therefore false.

But where does this invention come from ? You could say that you were the victim of a "mediamensonge", to use a term dear to Michel Collon.
Indeed, the only source you cite - and which has not been cross-checked - is an article, "Revolutionary left: big manipulation", published
on a critic: the conspiratorial and reactionary (and climato-negationist) website. and sovereignist, etc.) Stop on info .

This use of sources obviously questions the methodology used in your book. A quick investigation would have saved you from this mistake:

rather than questionable secondary sources, consult primary sources, which are very easily accessible on the web ;
question the actors and actresses of the time ;
discern valid sources. For example: studying collective expression (articles, tracts, press releases, political orientation texts) and the
action of libertarian organizations can be a valid source of analysis. On the other hand, drawing randomly from the Internet anonymous
texts, or texts emanating from ephemeral or unknown groups (pages 237 and 240 of your book) to deduce generalities about the libertarian
movement, this is not a valid method.
A clarification on "campism" and "ninism"
A number of Western imperialist wars were fought on the pretext of overthrowing dictatorial regimes and establishing democracy (Panama,
Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, etc.). On page 232, you write that "we can criticize these regimes while effectively mobilizing against
imperialist aggression. What is problematic is when this criticism leads to an abstentionist position on the issue of engagement against
this aggression. "

For you, this "abstentionist position" stems from what you call "ninism" ("neither for imperialism nor for the dictator").

It is a hasty conclusion.

In 1991 and 2003, in the protests against the 1 st as against the 2 e Gulf War, slogans like "Neither Saddam nor Uncle Sam" were common.
They were a simple and direct way of saying that the dictator was an enemy of the people (and not an honorable patriot, as the FN professed,
for example), but that it was up to the Iraqi people to overthrow him by themselves ... And that did not in any way prevent us from
mobilizing on a very clear basis for refusing the imperialist war.

This is the position of the Libertarian Communist Union, after having been that of AL and the CGA. Unlike the "campers" however, we do not
engage in selective anti-imperialism. We condemn both US imperialism and French, British, Russian or (soon ?) Chinese imperialism .
Consequently, we neither praise nor denigrate a popular uprising according to the imperialist camp which it embarrasses .

At the time of the "Arab Spring" of 2011, we therefore demonstrated, in France, with the Tunisian, Libyan, Egyptian or Syrian diasporas, in
solidarity with the popular uprisings which wanted to sweep away police, racist, corrupt, clan regimes, even dynastic. All this by
denouncing foreign interference which, alas, threatens any revolution (French, Mexican, Russian, Chinese ...), as history teaches us.

At the time, in 2011, the "campers" sorted them out. They applauded the revolutionaries in Tunisia and Egypt. But in the Libyan and Syrian
cases, they opted, at best, for silence and a "abstentionist position" ("neither dictator, nor revolution") ; at worst, for the negation of
the popular uprising and the defense of a regime allegedly the victim of an international plot... ("neither Uncle Sam, nor revolution")...

Other forms of "ninism", in short, but shameful !

The International Commission of the Libertarian Communist Union

This text was transmitted on February 15, 2020 to the Investig'action site, for publication, in accordance with the commitment made by the
authors.

[1] CGA press release, "Libya: For the revolution, against the imperialist war !"" , March 19, 2011.

[2] Press release AL, "Libya: Refuse the hypocrisy of humanitarian war !" , March 21, 2011.

[3] "Refusing the hypocrisy of humanitarian war" , AL leaflet of March 31, 2011.

https://www.unioncommunistelibertaire.org/?La-gauche-la-guerre-et-nous-reponse-a-Michel-Collon-et-Said-Bouamama

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Message: 3






It's not uncommon for contemporarybread is buttered on. Anarchists to say "class struggle is Looked at this way, at least 80% of outmoded
and isn't how to make a people in Australia are working class. revolution these days" or "the working And, far from being composed purely of
class is so sexist and racist that we straight white males, the working class have to turn to radical struggles outside is multi-racial,
multi-cultural and gender the workplace to get anywhere". The diverse. Almost all migrant communities Melbourne Anarchist Communist in
Australia, particularly those recently Group disagrees. We think these views arrived, are overwhelmingly working are based on a mistaken
idea of who class. Many people popularly regarded the working class are and a lack of
as middle class are, in fact, working understanding of who has the power in
class. Teachers and nurses, for example, our society.
are working class - something proven by
The Working Class
the fact that they have joined unions in
The capitalist media have a sociological
view of class. Their perspective is that
The middle class, by contrast, is
the working class is composed of people
composed of two groups, both being
in blue collar occupations, or people on
the meat in the sandwich between the
low incomes. Often, they draw an even
working class and the capitalists.
worse picture - they portray the working
class as a group of straight white men in
blue overalls. This suits the interests of
the middle class liberals who conceive
of themselves as the bearers of social
progress and also the reactionary Right
who have the same picture of working
class people as the liberals, but claim to
be on the side of the workers.

  But class is not about social stratification.
It's about how society is organised
economically. If you work for a wage or
a salary, you don't have the right to hire
or fire and you don't exercise the power
of the State like a police officer or a
magistrate, you're working class. More
broadly, you are working class if you have
nothing to sell but your labour and you
don't exercise the power of the capitalist
class. Class is a matter of what side your
bread is buttered on.

Looked at this way, at least 80% of
people in Australia are working class.
And, far from being composed purely of
straight white males, the working class
is multi-racial, multi-cultural and gender
diverse. Almost all migrant communities
in Australia, particularly those recently
arrived, are overwhelmingly working
class. Many people popularly regarded
as middle class are, in fact, working
class. Teachers and nurses, for example,
are working class - something proven by
the fact that they have joined unions in
droves and gone on strike for their rights.

The middle class, by contrast, is
composed of two groups, both being
the meat in the sandwich between the
working class and the capitalists.
The first group of the middle class is
made up of self-employed people who
run their own business and work beside
any employees they have; the second is
middle managers who have the power
to hire and fire their subordinates but
don't exercise significant power inside
their organisation. Altogether, the middle
class is a pretty small group, especially
when you remove sham contractors who
are only technically self employed in
order that their bosses can get around
labour laws. It should also be noted
that, historically, the most politically
conservative sector of the workforce is
composed of self-employed people in
blue collar occupations - people who
aren't workers but are often regarded as
such by the capitalist media.
continued page3

WHY CLASS STRUGGLE?
Continued from page 2
The Power of the Workplace
Anarchist Communists advocate a class
struggle perspective because the power
of the capitalists derives from their control
of production in each workplace. The most
effective way to defeat the capitalists is
for workers to organise to take the means
of production off the bosses and wield its
power themselves.
Of course this doesn't mean that forms
of oppression outside the workplace are
unimportant. We recognise that Australia
is built on stolen land and that the
Aboriginal people have never ceded their
sovereignty. We recognise that racism,
sexism, Islamophobia and homophobia
are forms of oppression which can be
The Anvil 4
Continued from previous page
more intense than that suffered by workers in the
workplace. These forms of oppression are the
product of class society. Various forms of struggle
can reduce those oppressions, but they cannot be
eliminated without abolishing capitalism - and that
requires the workers taking the workplace away
from the capitalists.
This also doesn't mean that Anarchist Communists
idolise workers as people whose opinions and
actions are always left wing. We are well aware
that reactionary politics has its dirty grip on wide
sections of society, including the working class. If
that wasn't so we would have had the revolution a
century ago. Instead, the consciousness of workers
is contradictory. It will be when they are struggling
for their own interests that they will come to see
that racism, sexism and all other forms of special
oppression are not only morally wrong but also a
practical impediment to their victory. Class struggle
drives workers to the left.
The Way Forward
The Melbourne Anarchist Communist Group
advocates that Anarchists should orient their
strategies to the workplace.
Other areas of struggle are also vital. People can
and should struggle against oppression wherever
they find it and struggle outside the workplace
can win reforms and radicalise people. But unless
we take the workplaces off the capitalists we'll
never beat them. Our victories will be partial and
reversible. Our struggles outside the workplace
should also be directed towards building a force
that can take its politics inside it. Only the multi-
racial, multicultural and gender diverse working
class can rid the world of capitalism.
WORKERS OF THE WORLD, UNITE!

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Message: 4






The CNT union calls to fight patriarchy in all its forms, both on the street and in work centers. ---- The National Labor Confederation
(CNT) on this 8M, Day of Working Women, asks to join forces around the anti-fascist struggle. Feminism will be the spearhead that ends this
weapon of repression, inequality and hatred, which is increasingly strong in institutions and public discourse. In the face of this,the
anarcho-union demands that diversity and transversality be the engine of a classy and combative feminism , which breaks the siege of
uniformity that capitalism, patriarchy and fascism intend. ---- Houseworkers, migrant, trans, racialized women, pensioners, workers,
qualified or not ... we are all called to a struggle that is for the rights of all, but also for a better society. Feminism as a wall
against fascism. Something that has always existed but that, today more than ever, it is necessary to remember. We will not stop listening
to speeches about the priorities of one or another movement, about what separates us, what differentiates us, but we must be clear thatthe
common enemy is what it is. What wants to be retaliated, precarious, without rights and isolated.

So this 8M, as in the previous ones,CNT takes to the streets to complainequity in jobs, the repeal of labor reforms that specifically affect
workers, denouncing the exploitation and vulnerability of rights especially in sectors called 'feminized', demanding recognition as a
professional illness of diseases that occur in these sectors and that are not recognized for affecting the majority of women, claiming the
incorporation of domestic work at the same level as other jobs, denouncing the wild unemployment suffered by trans people, the helplessness
in which the Foreigners Law leaves our migrant companions, the discrimination and stereotyping suffered by racialized people in the labor
and social spheres,rejecting fallacies such as that of Ibex 35's capitalist feminism and betting on decent pensions both for women who
contributed economically and for those who worked in the home, giving the face to those who have no other option than to survive in the
informal economy.

We will continue in the first line of action and fight shoulder to shoulder with the rest of the feminist movement so that care or
motherhood is not a brake on women. We believe that extending maternity and paternity leave is not enough to ensure thatthe center of the
economy is life and not the market. Therefore, we demand that it is the market that adapts itself to life in order to build a society with
values. We want real and effective help for the care of minors, the same as for family members or dependent people for whom we are
responsible. Co-responsibility for caring for our partners, more presence of women in representation positions giving us visibility in
social organizations, claims as well as unions. Starting with ours.

  We want to be the drop that overflows the tide to end the sexist violence . From workstations, at home and on the street, against
harassment of any kind or threats that endanger the human rights of more than half the population, with which the CNT is committed as an
anarchosyndicalist, class, anti-militarist organization , anti-fascist and feminist that we are.

Source:https://www.cnt.es/noticias/este-8m-y-siempre-el-anarcofeminismo-como-punta-de-lanza-en-la-lucha-antifascista/

Translation> Sol de Abril

anarchist news agency-ana

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Message: 5






When we talk about violence against women, several observations are obvious. On the one hand, 80% of violence (especially sexual violence)
suffered by women occurs before the age of majority. On the other hand, you should know that when a woman is sexually assaulted before the
age of 18, her life expectancy decreases by 20 years. This is how the establishment of specific training for children was imposed. ---- When
we talk about violence against women, several observations are obvious. On the one hand, 80% of violence (especially sexual violence)
suffered by women occurs before the age of majority. On the other hand, you should know that when a woman is sexually assaulted before the
age of 18, her life expectancy decreases by 20 years. This is how the establishment of specific training for children was imposed. This is
how some activists have created the association Femmes et Enfants Libres (Felis) to conduct self-defense training for children. To do this,
the association relies on the Children assault programprevention (CAP) launched by American feminists. Self-defense for children is based on
the principle that, statistically, we are more likely to get out of an aggressive situation if we defend ourselves. The Felis association
intervenes in school (elementary and nursery schools), associations (family planning), and trade union (training of education personnel)
executives. Indeed, the association can both train children, so that they learn to defend themselves, and adults, to make them aware of the
prevention of violence. During these self-defense workshops for children, at first, the objective is to make children aware that they have a
certain number of fundamental rights, to give them tools to identify abnormal situations, and put in place defense and protection
mechanisms. We explain to them, for example, that the body works like a fire alarm, that we have to know how to listen to it, because it
warns us in case of danger: when the body says no, then it's no.

Louise (UCL Saint-Denis / Felis)

https://www.unioncommunistelibertaire.org/?Lorsque-l-on-parle-de-violences-faites-aux

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Message: 6






As the UC Santa Cruz #COLAstrike is escalating with threats of mass firings by administration, other campuses are organizing themselves with
UC Davis and UC Santa Barbara announcing strike action. Graduate student worker members of Black Rose/Rosa Negra on various campuses across
the University of California system created this statement advocating the need to build our collective power and spread the strike. ----
Download the leaflet ---- The strike is now spreading. With each passing day it seems to gather steam - a sickout here, a teach-in there,
marches on administration buildings, solidarity pickets and sit ins, all culminating in decisive and enthusiastic "YES!" votes being cast in
strike polls.
Where we once felt the inertia of an unresponsive union bureaucracy, we're now riding on a wave of self determined momentum. Though
resignation had before appeared to be the only option in the face of an inadequate contract, militancy and workers' self-organization have
jolted both our peers and ourselves into shaking off this useless self pity. A new path has emerged, blazed first by workers at Santa Cruz,
but now widening and branching off onto campuses statewide.

We have conjured a mass movement, which presents us now with this choice: allow it to be smothered by fear and self-doubt already trickling
in through the expected channels, or, to animate it by reproducing our activity in every corner of the state. For it to live, we must spread
the strike.

No one can say for sure what lies ahead. The coming struggle requires us what has oftentimes thought to be unachievable: we must contest the
power of one of the world's largest employers, we must fight on the terrain of a housing crisis decades in the making, and we must make
clear that the rank and file, not bosses or bureaucracy, determines the agenda of our union. This will be a long struggle, but the COLA
movement proves our power everyday.

Already, fellow workers within and outside the academy cite us as an example of a worker militancy once thought to have been lost in this
country. In the words of one midwestern UAW auto plant worker watching our wildcat from afar: "This system is complete and utter
bullshit[...]These graduate workers know the game and are actually doing something to change it."

BeyondsimplyaCOLA,whatwouldit look like to rid ourselves of the ‘system'sbullshit'? A worker-student run university would be a good start.
The American Universityingeneral,andtheUCinparticular,isamicrocosm of the ills whichinfect our society: austerity measures fuelled by
capitalist greed and brutality which seek to break the will of those who dare imagine and build a better future; a militarizedpoliceforce
intent on protecting property interests and maintaining aracist, colonial social order; and ecologically disastrous policies based in the
myth ofnever-endingexpansion,extraction,andprofit.Ifwecontinuebuildingourpower, the seeming impossibility of radical, bottom-up
transformation starts to meltaway-muchthesamewaythatourpessimismaboutasystem-widewildcat strike is melting away now. Another university is
possible. Another world is possible.

We believe, as the chant goes, that we will win. Not only will we win our COLA, but we will also win a combative spirit to carry into the
next struggle.

Let's Go.

This text was written and edited by University of California graduate student workers across various campuses who are members of Black
Rose/Rosa Negra Anarchist Federation.

https://blackrosefed.org/build-our-power-spread-the-strike-leaflet/

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Message: 7






... and the threat it poses. Completion of the text on the roots and nature of the regime in Turkey. ---- The Kurdish struggle continues
---- The Kurdish movement in Turkey and beyond in Syria has repeatedly shown its ability to rediscover and overcome its enemies. The recent
resurrection of GDP has given hope to the left across western Turkey. For the first time, there is a hint of a united front of progressive
forces based on traditional Kurdish regions. Although the prospects have their limits, the party's shaky political success poses serious
problems for AKP's dominance. However, the greatest victory was recently achieved by the Kurdish Liberation Movement on the northern front
of the Syrian Civil War in Rojava.
When AKP first took power, it initially lived in the Kurdish movement, as well as within the Liberal Left, that it could finally deny the
Turkish nationalist heritage. Erdogan's rise was a departure from traditional Turkish politics, and it was understandable that cautious
optimism appeared among historically oppressed minorities, such as the Kurds, who had been denied fundamental freedoms under the official
policy of brutal nationalist assimilation for many years. In addition, a peace process was launched, in which Abdullah Öcalan, held in total
isolation on the island of Imrali, participated. However, the tremors of optimism faded quickly. AKP began to consider GDP as a threat to
its hegemony after the lost parliamentary elections in June 2015.

The social revolution brought about by the Kurdish movement in Rojava was received with enthusiasm in various radical media. Even the
mainstream and corporate channels highlighted military capability to the point that there was no need to re-analyze it here. What is
important for understanding the situation is that Turkey's policy is closely linked to the crisis in Syria. The Rojava revolution poured
blood into the veins of the Kurdish movement in Turkey, but at the same time caused the Turkish regime to intensify repression. On one side
of the border with Syria, the Turkish state facilitated the supply of arms and recruits to the Islamic State. On the other hand, the dream
of Kurdish autonomy came to life in Turkey. The ideas embodied in Rojava inspire revolutionaries around the world. This enthusiasm is best
illustrated by the multitude of international volunteers fighting in YPG and YPJ militias and by the boosting of international solidarity in
support of the invasion of Rojava.

The Islamist ideology, introduced into the structures of the Turkish army of Gülenists, has taken root even more thanks to new relations
with jihadists active in the Syrian war. The actions of these groups alongside Turkish soldiers could all be seen during the attacks on the
Kurdish forts in the summer of 2015. Islamist inscriptions left on the walls by Turkish soldiers persuaded the last doubts.

Suicide bombers focused in particular on goals of solidarity between the Turks and Kurds. The first of these attacks took place in July
2015. He targeted a delegation of young leftists in Suruç, trying to get into the ravaged Kobanî and deliver toys to the children. 33 people
have died, and the Turkish state has avidly used the situation for harsh repression. Even more devastating on 10 October 2015 was a bomb
attack on a parade protesting in Ankara against the war in the Kurdish areas, which killed 109 people. In both cases, Turkish ISIS-linked
cells attacked well known and tolerated by the Erdogan regime. The police in the city of Adiyaman, where they came from, and the National
Intelligence Organization (Millî Istihbarat Teskilati, MIT) knew about them, had arrest warrants on them, and yet left them at large.

The AKP made minor concessions and allowed the operation of a public Kurdish television station and partially relaxed the restrictions on
speaking and singing Kurdish. These crumbs, however, are completely lost in the ashes left by the crushing of all efforts for autonomy. Even
participation in parliament or in municipal politics has become virtually impossible. Many deputies and municipal politicians have been
imprisoned. Since the last municipal elections in the spring of 2019, GDP representatives have been rushed out of their positions in 15
municipalities and replaced by the people of Ankara.

Turkish nationalists are very pleased to point out the prominent Kurds, who enjoy a privileged position in Turkish society, just as American
nationalists have claimed that Obama's administration heralded the arrival of post-America America. But a handful of prominent people cannot
hide the fact that the Kurds, as humans, have always been second-class citizens in Turkey. In the Turkish economy, it serves as a cheap,
highly exploited labor force destined for dangerous unskilled jobs, such as seasonal workers in agricultural production, workers in the
lowest rungs of the service sector and construction. Environmentally and culturally destructive gigantic structures, such as a giant dam
producing electricity exclusively for Western Turkey, are also being built in Kurdish territories, while public investment for local benefit
is minimal. The resistance of the Kurds has been intense over the past decades,

As is well known, the Kurds do not have a dominant belief or belief. One is more political than the other, some are more left-wing and, in
terms of religion, some are very pious, others are not. One of the factors contributing to the electoral success of GDP is the absence of
the national liberation and Marxist rhetoric of the PKK, which has attracted a wider range of Kurdish voters. There are also Kurds
supporting the AKP, but the biggest threat to the Kurdish liberation movement is the growing segment of the Kurdish population, who is
already tired of what looks like an endless conflict. Although they do not support AKPs, they are exhausted by the war and in some cases
very disappointed with the PKK's strategic mistakes.

The Kurdish crisis also contributed to the restructuring of the Turkish army after an unsuccessful coup. In fact, many prominent officers
involved in the coup were responsible for a brutal military invasion of Kurdish settlements in Turkey in the summer and fall of 2015, which
resulted in the murder of more than 4,000 people. Thanks to the involvement of these officers in the coup, Erdogan could wash his bloody
hands and get rid of his responsibility for the massacres. Paradoxically, Gülenist prosecutors and judges who led trials against Kurdish and
left-wing activists ended up in cells alongside their victims. The entire judicial and law enforcement apparatus was occupied by gülenists
and completely failed after a coup d'état.

Leading military posts occupied by Gülenists by 2015 are now again in the hands of old-fashioned Turkish nationalist leaders who hate the
Kurdish movement as much as their predecessors, and it is also very likely that the same Turkish nationalists who freshly assumed positions
played a major role in preparations for the last invasion of Rojava called "Fountain of Peace".

The invasion of Rojava and the ensuing war mobilization again effectively silenced any hint of mainstream political opposition. All
parliamentary parties except for GDP have given the green light to the invasion. Individuals from CHP or other parties who oppose Erdogan's
conquest appetites are exposed to attacks by the media and the judiciary.

The pompous Erdogan likes to compare himself to a kind of neo-Romanesque sultan with self-confident imperial ambitions in the region. There
is a need to act decisively, vigorously, forcefully, even if there is no long-term strategy at hand. But the strategy of turning northern
Syria into a Turkish protectorate means tangible benefits. For too long, the Turkish currency and the economy have been staggering on the
brink of collapse. The war economy, construction and development projects in northern Syria can at least for a while ignite the inevitable.

At the same time, Turkey is home to more than three million Syrian refugees and an unknown number, probably thousands of jihadists,
dignifiedly housed and officially trained at bases administered by the Turkish state on both sides of the border. The policies of all
mainstream political parties are based on racism and hatred of Syrian refugees. AKP even blames refugees for their country's poor economic
condition. The latest figures refer to 14% unemployment. Inhabitants of Rojava refugees from other corners of the country will not only push
the Kurdish population, but submit to the anti-Syrian racist atmosphere that engulfed Western Turkish cities like Istanbul, a racist hatred
that permeates the ruling coalition and opposition.

The underlying cause of the invasion is deep-rooted hostility between the Turkish state, its substance, no matter who is in power, and the
Kurdish people fighting for autonomy and self-determination, recognition as an ethnic group. Recently, PKK militias on the Turkish border
have been more or less neutralized, now it is time for Erdogan to bring the war to the place where the Kurdish liberation movement is the
strongest, to the liberated enclaves of Rojava.

Opposition policy in Turkey and solidarity today

The treacherous withdrawal of the US military has opened the way for Russia, which now controls the vast majority of Syrian territory. If
Turkey wants to stay in the game, it has to pander to fasting Russian imperialism. Erdogan juggles with all possibilities. Still trying to
get the F-35 fighters, whose purchase is canceled, as well as the Russian missile system S-400, which is on the spot, but inoperative. Since
Turkey is still a NATO member, courtship with Russia must be delicate. The current distribution of forces in Syria makes the situation even
more complicated.

Over time, Turkey will have to recognize Assad's regime again without a Russian mediator, thanks to which it can now maintain its face. On
the other hand, the survival of the achievements of the last five years of the Rojava Revolution will depend on how the Kurdish movement can
succeed in this treacherous geopolitical terrain, while gaining international solidarity. Until now, Kurdish groups have shown a keen
understanding of ever-changing geopolitical dynamics, have survived ups and downs and are gradually building their place on the
international scene. In the short term, the situation looks hopeless, but it may not be so bad in the long run. It is difficult to examine
the prospects when they are still hazed by the haze of war.

And what chances does Erdogan's opposition have? The combination of the extreme concentration of power in the presidency, the policy pursued
after a thwarted coup and the psychological environment has established a solid place for the repressive apparatus in Turkey. Even if you
are referring to the situation in Syria as an "invasion" or "war," you are struggling with problems with state authorities. Expressing
resistance to the last invasion of Rojava and promoting peace guarantees a VIP ticket to the jail. There is no freedom of speech. Internet
censorship is reaching a high level. The happier opposition journalists are accused on the tables. They are imprisoned equally intensively,
sometimes without trial.

Anarchists and radicals have lately managed to disrupt Turkish politics. There are even successful demonstrations, such as the protest
against the construction of a gold mine. The positions of the feminist movement remain firm thanks to the annual mass marches on
International Women's Day. Even the workers' movement militants have not disappeared, but any "tolerance" of the state apparatus falls when
it comes to solidarity with the Kurds. Recently, the state even dismissed a number of bourgeois journalists and intellectuals with
opposition attitudes. It also seems that the apparatus will respect the Constitutional Court's decision to exonerate the guilt of about a
thousand non-Kurdish opposition academics who signed a petition against the occupation and military intervention in Kurdish settlements in
2015. This tremor of "mercy", however, is more of a warning to all pro-Kurdish activists.

Unfortunately, all that can be done at the moment is simply expressing disagreement with the invasion of Rojava, at great risk. It is very
difficult to organize direct events and demonstrations, with a maximum of small events directly in Kurdish cities and traditionally defiant
areas of western Turkey. These heroic acts of resistance are immediately brutally suppressed by the Turkish state.

According to polls, 75% of the population of Turkey supports the invasion of Rojava. But this means that a quarter is still against and many
of these people are actively expressing their solidarity with the Kurdish resistance and participating in other radical and revolutionary
activities wherever possible. Part of the Turkish left, through its own militias, engaged directly in the fight alongside the SDF (Syrian
Democratic Forces, Kurdish: Hêzên Suriya Demokratîk, HSD). Opposing wars directly in Turkey is still very difficult due to widespread
pervasive repression. This creates a false impression that the whole of Turkey supports war and does not agree with Kurdish autonomy.

GDP partly serves as a means of strengthening the Kurdish movement, mainly through an alliance with the Turkish progressive left in the west
of the country. As described earlier, this alliance is making progress, but the overall situation illustrates that the liberation of the
Kurdish people depends on their own organizational skills.

Actions aimed at Turkish state institutions abroad, such as embassies and state-owned enterprises such as Turkish Airlines, will help
maintain pressure, while also expressing life-giving solidarity with the Kurds, as well as with other radical groups suffering under Turkish
state oppression. Over the past 15 years, AKP politicians and their families have been pockets of political clientelism and, given the
instability of the Turkish economy, much of this money has been invested abroad. An analysis of the wealth flow of the ACP top cadres could
uncover other possible goals of solidarity actions.

Some part of the old-fashioned left adhering to alleged anti-imperialism effectively supports Turkish colonialism and Russian imperialism to
traditionally resist American imperialism. This attitude is increasingly absurd, especially from the perspective of the Kurdish population
and their desperate struggle for survival. It runs in the most difficult political terrain in the face of several imperial powers, and was
therefore betrayed by the US government and many others. Anarchists should express clear, albeit critical, support without being fooled by
the flimsy alliances that the Kurdish armed forces have to make with their enemies 'enemies, their enemies' friends, and even their own
enemies, hoping to put an end to jihadist massacres and turn Turkey supported genocide. Solidarity with the Kurdish liberation movement does
not support the US military or US imperialism. It means respect for complicated decisions that people at risk of extermination must make.

Many Turkish and Kurdish friends now live in exile and are still active. It is difficult to estimate how many political dissidents have left
Turkey, but are heading mainly to Germany. Since the failed coup in 2015, Germany has seen a tenfold increase in asylum seekers by Turkish
citizens; in 2018, 11,000 applications were submitted. In addition to traditional destination stations such as Germany or the United
Kingdom, Turkish and Kurdish dissidents can be isolated. In these countries, initiatives should be taken by anarchists and help to create
space for dissidents. By working on joint projects, supporters of Kurdish autonomy from around the world can learn more about the ideas and
movements that shaped Rojava, while dissidents in exile establish new contacts and gain new means to fight them. Learning from the practice
of democratic confederalism,

Captions to the pictures in the original English text:
Cover photo) Turkish fascists march in 2014 with torches, chanting slogans and displaying protikurdských symbol Gray Wolves.
1) Left-wing youth surrounded by the military in the coup on September 12, 1980.
2) Turkish General Kenan Evren came to power after the military coup on September 12, 1980. He is responsible for today's rise of political
Islam in Turkey.
3) Gülen and Erdogan mutter each other in the 1990s.
4) A no-cash zone during the Gezi Park Uprising. Take what you need, bring what is left to you.
5) One of many ceremonies to celebrate the martyrs on July 15th. This one is from the town of Bozüyük in the province of Biledzhik, where
the model of the Bosphorus Bridge stands, which was symbolized by a thwarted coup and in 2016 was renamed the Martyrs' Bridge on July 15th.
6) Turkish tanks occupying Africa in western Rojava in February 2018. The right hand of the soldier shows the symbol of the fascist Gray
Wolves, the left hand the Islamist symbol of the rabbi.
7) Erdogan and convicted mass murderer Evren in 2005 at the funeral of another serial killer Nurettin Ersen, which was just as responsible
for Evren coup in 1980.
8) Abdullah Öcalan visited during the peace process in 2013, now imprisoned co GDP Selahattin Demirtas and also currently imprisoned
Co-President Pervin Buldan.
9) Inscriptions left by Turkish soldiers in Nusaybin near the Syrian border say: "Where is Allah, there is no sorrow." And "Allah protects
the Turks."
10) Members of GDP attempt to distribute invitations to the annual party congress. Heavy-armors prevent them from doing so. Garo Paylan, the
first Armenian member of the Turkish Parliament in the country's history, is headed.
11) Wall inscriptions left in the rebellious procurator district of Sur in Amed province (Diyarbakir) during the summer-autumn siege in
2015. The slogan "Allah is all you need - feel Turkish power" is signed as "Esedullah Team", previously unknown paramilitary unit operating
within the Turkish army. Locals say paramilitarists spoke Arabic and shouted Islamist slogans.
12) Erdogan congratulates Assad on his holiday on the Turkish Riviera in Bodrum in 2008.
13) Suicide bombing demonstration against war and for peace in Kurdish regions, 10 October 2015, Ankara.
14) Göze Altunöz of the Revolutionary Communist Party, part of the United Free Forces fighting in Syria, shows a leaflet warning of
workplace deaths. She fell on November 6, 2019 alongside the warriors of YPJ.
15) Yasin Aydin from the same side, fell on the same day.
16) Resistance in the bosom of the beast, Gezi uprising, June 2013.
17) June 2013, Taksim Square, Istanbul. The revolutionary movement is suppressed, but not forever.
18) The Revolutionary Anarchist Action (Devrimci Anarsist Faaliyet, DAF) in a protest on the Turkish-Syrian border in 2014.
(16) Thirty-three young left-winged people died on July 20, 2015, in a suicide bomber attack in Suruç, Urfa province, trying to bring toys
to Kobanî.

https://www.afed.cz/text/7123/koreny-tureckeho-fasismu-ii

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