At the end of 2010 an individual act of despair in the town of Sidi Bouzid ignited a daring, enraged, and joyful upheaval that travelled through North Africa into the Middle East and beyond. People defied the oppressive systems they had been immersed in for generations and came together in the streets to topple the political elites at their helm. The authorities, at first stunned by this courageous spirit that they couldn’t understand, then unleashed a cynical and brutal response.
This defeat is still being inflicted on the people in the region, and is also felt all over the world by those who stood in solidarity with the uprisings but were mostly unable to overcome their powerlessness as the uprisings were massacred.
The horrors in the region during the last decade are many. To name some that stick most in my mind: Sisi has turned back the clock in Egypt to military dictatorship with the material support of the US. The regimes in the other North-African countries are paving over any sign of freedom while being coaxed by European countries to shut down the immigration routes over the Mediterranean. Without the murderous military campaigns of Hezbollah and the IRGC in Syria, Assad wouldn’t have survived the uprising. The Iranian regime itself brutally oppressed three different uprisings in the country in the last decade. Most people in Lebanon are in a daily struggle for survival because of the greed of its political leaders while mobs at the orders of Hezbollah beat down street protests. Early on in the uprisings, Hamas, who has shot political opponents in broad daylight on the streets of Gaza, culled attempts at an uprising by rounding up protest organizers and threatening them with murder. Leaders in the region understood once again that they can use any means against the populations under their control without real push-back from outside. Indifference, cynicism and opportunism trump moral appeals, and strategic alliances are always in play. The world churns on. For those of us who have not looked away, how can we not see a connection between Assad bombing Syrian cities into obliteration and Netanyahu razing Gaza?
The authors of “Towards the Last Intifada” (Tinderbox #6) don’t acknowledge these experiences of the last decade. Instead, they propose to join the opposing side of an American geopolitical alliance (keeping true to American centralism in their own way). According to them, the Axis of Resistance shows the path forward for anarchists to struggle against empire. This article seems to confound resistance with ‘the Resistance’. That is to say, they collapse any form of resistance from people in Palestine, and more broadly in the region, into a particular representation, adopting an umbrella term used by states, militaries, para-state/para-military organizations to describe their own activities. The authors of the article warn anarchists against being too sensitive to hierarchy – as if that is the only aspect of ‘the Resistance’ anarchists might find difficult to accept.
It is now a year after the bloody incursion of Hamas into Israel. Apart from discourse, the accomplishments of the Resistance so far are: Hezbollah has launched ineffectual rockets that have only inflicted significant damage on a Druze village, Iranian leaders are busying themselves with making appeals to the West to reign in Israel, militias in Iraq attacked a couple of US military bases in the country early on and then fell silent, while only the Houthis seem to have taken Nasrallah’s “Unity of Fronts” seriously. They succeeded in disrupting global shipping routes and have carried out some unexpected aerial attacks on Israel. In the meantime, Israel has wiped out the leadership of Hezbollah, drops bombs on Lebanon on a daily basis, has regularly bombed sites in Syria without retaliation, and commits executions in Tehran. The Axis of Resistance and the Unity of Fronts are mere slogans that obscure the strategic dealings among political, authoritarian organisations and states with their own (often differing) interests. It’s delusional to see it as something else. And Israel is calling the bluff of ‘the Resistance’ with an exponential military escalation.
Israel’s massacres in Gaza, with the material support of the Western countries, are relentless. The apartheid regime in the West Bank and Israel has been built up for decades, leaving almost no oxygen to breathe for those living under its control. Faced with this bleak reality and an overwhelming powerlessness to put a stop to it, anarchists may be looking for an effective resistance (or rather, as it appears, an image of one). But if we want to fight against oppression, we can’t be content with any opposition. Choosing to join one authoritarian, militaristic system against another will not put an end to the horrors of this world – neither in this conflict nor in any other. It is neither inherently defeatist or a sign of privileged indifference to refuse to take sides between warring groups and states. That conclusion can only be reached if we would reduce reality to simplistic representations. Instead, by being open to complexity and specificity, anarchist action can be a liberating endeavor. It is here that we can find affinities, build relationships on a different basis, and muster the strength and courage – or perhaps, humility and passion – to attack. Anarchists find their effectiveness when they can undermine and destroy oppressive systems. We will not find it in a military prowess which, at the end of the day, produces more oppression and misery. And so those that have a spirit of their own and a memory of past rebellions will fight for another uprising.
From the northern coast of the Mediterranean, with a heavy heart and a soul on fire
Early October, 2024
Comments
Fact checks
anon (not verified) Sat, 10/19/2024 - 15:25
"Early on in the uprisings, Hamas, who has shot political opponents in broad daylight on the streets of Gaza, culled attempts at an uprising by rounding up protest organizers and threatening them with murder."
I know Hamas has been repressive, but can we be specific about which incidents are being referenced here, & why the even bloodier repression of the Palestinian Authority in the same time period goes unmentioned?
"Hezbollah has launched ineffectual rockets that have only inflicted significant damage on a Druze village"
I am genuinely confused as to where the writer is getting their information. Did they just forget about the evacuation of 100,000 colonists, the hundreds of wounded or dead troops, & the repeated targeting & disabling of intelligence & surveillance outposts? The incident they refer to is just the one Israeli state media has the most interest in broadcasting. I don't think it's necessary to ignore this damage to make the argument that Hezbollah aren't anarchists.
Besides this, it would be interesting to see critics of anarchist support for the "Axis" or Hamas in particular actually engage the positions of Palestinian anarchists: https://intimitescriminelles.noblogs.org/?p=61
Fauda's (regardless an
anon (not verified) Sat, 10/19/2024 - 20:27
In reply to Fact checks by anon (not verified)
Fauda's (regardless an existing "movement" or not) rhetoric is still delving in brutish nationalism and even Islamism, based on demagogy and ressentiment about how everyone in Israel except those supporting the Cause are Evil Zionist invaders. Just like in those publications by "anarchist" Ukrainian militias, I have not seen any evidence of their anarchist leanings and practices, beyond claims they're supplying aid to the wounded, maybe.
Palestine is a spook. I mean, like, seriously. One gigantic, terrible spook... the whole thing is a sham. PLO came up with it after the collapse of the Pan-Arab movement and the two massive defeats of "48 and the Six Day War.
As I'll keep repeating here 'til one of you brainwashed tools provide me with historical evidence of the contrary; "Palestine" as a Muslim/Arabic constituency has not existed since the 7th century when it was still a Roman province (of the Eastern Empire). It is since the '60s a botched concept recycled from the British Mandate. that was only fully Arabic for about a year before the Balfour declaration. The fucking Palestinian flag is the former flag of the Hashemite Kingdom (that along with the Saudi has fought for the British against the remaining Ottoman Empire), and has also been used by several other fucked up organizations like the Ba'ath party.
Resistance to imperialist
anon (not verified) Sun, 10/20/2024 - 10:20
In reply to Fauda's (regardless an by anon (not verified)
Resistance to imperialist-backed settler colonization doesn't require a state-recognized "constituency" as a pre-condition
You didn't get it... It's
anon (not verified) Sun, 10/20/2024 - 12:42
In reply to Resistance to imperialist by anon (not verified)
You didn't get it... It's about the claim of liberating a country that didn't exist in the first place.
As said by others also... Russia, Iran and the Saudi regime are also imperialist powers. Turkey as well. So like you might wanna call that an inter-imperialist conflict for better accuracy?
It seems like the author of
anon (not verified) Sun, 10/20/2024 - 10:05
It seems like the author of "Towards Another Uprising" is someone who got a copy of Tinderbox 6, but let's not forget that the zionist Diaspora Affairs Ministry literally paid a company to make a fake anarchist website to push this line:
Yet another site was called Serenity Now, which branded itself as anarchist and anti-establishment, sought to convince young Americans to oppose the creation of a Palestinian state because "states are manmade structures" and a Palestinian state "would hurt the goals of the progressive movement."
https://archive.is/EXvpn
Glory to the state! Let's
anon (not verified) Sun, 10/20/2024 - 19:42
In reply to It seems like the author of by anon (not verified)
Glory to the state! Let's create more states! We are not fake anarchists who want to destroy states.
MAN, I LOVE THE STATE SO
anon (not verified) Sun, 10/20/2024 - 21:17
In reply to Glory to the state! Let's by anon (not verified)
MAN, I LOVE THE STATE SO MUUUUUCH!!! CAN'T GET ENOUGH OF THIS STATE THING!!! I'M STATEOOMIIIIIING!!!
Yea we are fake anarchists
anon (not verified) Mon, 10/21/2024 - 10:03
In reply to Glory to the state! Let's by anon (not verified)
Yea we are fake anarchists who are for certain forms of oppression!!!! Particularly when their skin isnt milky white!
Maybe the real fake
anon (not verified) Mon, 10/21/2024 - 10:35
In reply to Yea we are fake anarchists by anon (not verified)
Maybe the real fake anarchists are the friends we made along the way.
Who calls October 7 "the
anon (not verified) Sun, 10/20/2024 - 10:06
Who calls October 7 "the bloody incursion of Hamas into Israel" except for zionists who accept the legitimacy of the settler-colonial state? Or fails to see that it was also an uprising ("the Gaza ghetto uprising," per Refaat Alareer, Adi Callai, etc.) where people unaffiliated with any faction also broke through their prison walls for the first time in 15 years and expropriated their oppressors?
No mention of the ongoing resistance against both the occupation and the PA in the West Bank, nor the trajectory of the first and second intifadas, etc.
No mention of CIA and Turkish/etc. backing of factions in the Syrian civil war, as if that was just a pure spontaneous uprising but Palestinians aren't capable of choosing their own forms of resistance.
Yea it's true, Jihadists were
anon (not verified) Sun, 10/20/2024 - 11:57
In reply to Who calls October 7 "the by anon (not verified)
Yea it's true, Jihadists were really just doing a free hugs & baklavas operation in Israel on that day... when those ZIONISTS ruined the party as usual by causing an instant bloodbath, rape and abduct Muslim women and blame it on Paleswhine.
I'm sorry for the dark humor, abudction murder & rape are terrible, yet they fucking happened and no matter how someone's bringing Franz Fanon to the mix doesn't make it an excuse. "Decolonization" my ass. Get Iran, Russia & the Saudi out of this conflict and you'll have a major part of the conflict solved.
Fuck Islamic fascists, here and elsewhere... but starting by those hanging out here, that confuse anarchy for monarchy or theocracy.
Or we can start with the
anon (not verified) Sun, 10/20/2024 - 21:23
In reply to Yea it's true, Jihadists were by anon (not verified)
Or we can start with the "anarchists" who are actually colonialists. Fuck "anarchist" imperial fascism and its foot soldiers.
Yes, and this starts with the
anon (not verified) Sun, 10/20/2024 - 22:31
In reply to Or we can start with the by anon (not verified)
Yes, and this starts with the "anarchist" Pro-Paleswindles and their Ukwaynian counterparts. As both of these national Causes got imperialism issues in their dead angles.
No it starts with the
anon (not verified) Mon, 10/21/2024 - 10:05
In reply to Yes, and this starts with the by anon (not verified)
No it starts with the 'anarchists' who are actually modern day Columbus supporters.
Lotta regions got invaded by
anon (not verified) Mon, 10/21/2024 - 12:35
In reply to No it starts with the by anon (not verified)
Lotta regions got invaded by the Caliph, too. I don't get your fixation with Colombus... u psychotic?
The Muslim Barbarossa wasn't very cool either. Or the Caliph of Baghdad.
I am sOooo glad the
anon (not verified) Mon, 10/21/2024 - 10:42
I am sOooo glad the moderators are working full time on moderating this anarchist website's comments
Bless their unique souls.
anon (not verified) Mon, 10/21/2024 - 10:53
In reply to I am sOooo glad the by anon (not verified)
Bless their unique souls.
Proudhon actually supported
anon (not verified) Mon, 10/21/2024 - 10:56
Proudhon actually supported the Confederacy, because they were fighting to limit the power of the federal government, which he saw as a move closer to anarchy. Many anarchists today are just like Proudhon.
Proudhon's an ancap confirmed
anon (not verified) Mon, 10/21/2024 - 12:21
In reply to Proudhon actually supported by anon (not verified)
Proudhon's an ancap confirmed.
Also, a quote from the spook master: "Every state is a despotism, whether the despot be one or many, or, as some like to imagine a republic, all be lords, i.e., play the despot over each other."
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