#39: The Rojava Revolution, Part II
:US anarchist solidarity with Rojava, Social Insurrection interview
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Listen to the Episode — 76 min
Summary
In the latest episode of the Ex-Worker, we continue our discussion of the unfolding social revolution in the autonomous Kurdish territories of Rojava. Building on our coverage in Episode 36, we share two interviews themed around international solidarity with the struggle for autonomy and the fight against ISIS. In the first, a member of Rojava Solidarity NYC, the group of American anarchists that produced the book "A Small Key Can Open a Large Door", discusses democratic confederalism and the council system in the cantons, compares and contrasts the Zapatista uprising with the Rojava revolution, and describes the solidarity projects they've undertaken and what's at stake for anarchists in our response to the events in Kurdistan. In the second, a member of the Turkish anarchist group Social Insurrection discusses his experience fighting with the United Freedom Forces militia. We address some critiques of the revolutionary structures in Rojava as well as our coverage of them and trace the emergence of international solidarity brigades. A member of Antifa International announces the formation of an International Anti-fascist Defense Fund, and we share info about several recently released anarchist publications. Our discussion of the news takes on Obama's sudden transformation into a prison reform advocate, indigenous resistance to profiteering off alcoholism, and the outing of a corporate infiltrator into the animal rights movement, while our indignant coverage of Syriza's entirely predictable betrayal of Greek social movements in their EU bailout austerity proposal concludes with a helpful diagnosis of "The Five Stages of Leftism". {July 27, 2015}
Notes and Links
For more info on US anarchist solidarity efforts, check out Rojava Solidarity NYC. They recommend as a source of ongoing news and analysis on events in Rojava the website kurdishquestion.com.
We shared part of an interview with a member of Social Insurrection who is fighting with United Freedom Forces alongside the YPG and YPJ against ISIS. The UFF form part of the International Freedom Battalion.
In our discussion of international volunteers fighting in Rojava, we mentioned Ivana Hoffman, aka Avashin Tekoshin from Germany, and Reece Harding, aka Heval Bagok Australi, who died while fighting as volunteers with the YPG. You can see a video Harding filmed upon taking up arms to be showed to his family in friends in case of his death, which was released by the YPG.
In our discussion of critiques of the PKK/PYD and YPG/YPJ, we alluded to collaboration between Kurdish leaders and the US and UK militaries, and the risk of the militias of Rojava fighting a proxy war against ISIS that benefits imperialist interests. This perspective is discussed in the article “Dear Cheerleaders: We Need to Have a Chat About Imperialism”. We also mentioned some of the other international volunteers joining the militias, including former US servicemen, members of a Dutch motorcycle gang, and at least one former member of the Israeli Defense Forces.
For more background on this episode, check out our previous coverage in Episode 36, which included excerpts from the CrimethInc. feature “Turkish Anarchists on the Fight for Kobane”, a Dilar Dirik interview with the Chicago-based radio show This is Hell, a short clip from a talk by David Graeber, and a review of “A Small Key Can Open a Large Door”, published by Strangers in a Tangled Wilderness and Combustion Books. Its insightful introduction, which is available to read online, provides a very helpful introduction to the ongoing events.
July 25th has been announced as an International Day of Solidarity with Antifascist Prisoners.We spoke with Todd from Antifa International, the group behind the recently founded International Anti-fascist Defence Fund. You can email the group for more information or to request funding at antifaintl[at]gmail[dot]com.
Get ready for a shocker: the Greek leftist party Syriza, swept into power on an anti-austerity platform, has betrayed everything they supposedly stood for and collaborated with the EU to impose brutal austerity conditions on the Greek population. Not to say we told you so, but… if you haven’t seen it, check out the CrimethInc. feature “Syriza Can’t Save Greece”, published in January with, we have to admit, considerable foresight. Say it with me, folks: there are no state solutions to the capitalist crisis.
We also shared the hilarious piece called “The Five Stages of Leftism”, which we found via our friends at Dialectical Delinquents.
The animal rights group PETA outed a SeaWorld employee who for years has been working undercover infiltrating animal rights protests against SeaWorld in California. The article describes how the infiltrator was discovered and outed by PETA’s investigation; it’s definitely worth reading for advice on the kinds of tactics you can use to rout out potential corporate infiltrators from radical groups.
No New Animal Lab campaign has called for a 3rd “Storm Skanska” week of action July 23rd to 30th, as part of their ongoing campaign to stop the construction of a vivisection lab at the University of Washington.
Former Earth Liberation Front press secretary Leslie Pickering has set up a multimedia art installation at the ¡Buen Vivir! Gallery in Buffalo through July 25th titled “A Radical Time Capsule,” featuring artifacts seized from him by the FBI in two raids in 200 and 2001, as well as photos, documents, and more.
Interested in some summer reading? We mentioned several newly released anarchist publications, including: issue five of Avalanche, a journal of international anarchist correspondence including analyses, action communiques, and ongoing threads of reflection and debate among insurrectionary anarchists from Mexico to Spain to Chile to Belgium; EASTWEST #12: Bay Area Analysis, Revolt, History, and Subversion, with articles on curfews and state surveillance, the marijuana industry, resistance to displacement, and more; the summer 2015 issue of Fifth Estate, with a set of articles reflecting on the legacy of the Vietnam War and the resistance against it, as well as reflections on the politics and consequences of technology; a new zine about the Hambacher Forest occupation, which we profiled in Episode 37, including a chronology of actions and some analyses written by participants; issue 28 of Perspectives on Anarchist Theory, published by the Institute for Anarchist Studies, focusing on the theme of the concept of “justice” from an anarchist perspective; and issue 5 of FTP, a biannual report on anti-colonial, anti-state resistance,within the occupied territory known as Australia. Enjoy!
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As we mentioned in Episode 38, animal rights activist Amber Canavan is in jail this month for exposing brutal conditions and liberating two ducks from a foie gras facility in upstate New York. If you’re reading this before the end of July, drop her a note to thank her for her courage to this address:
Sullivan County Jail
Attn: Amber Canavan
4 Bushnell Avenue
Monticello, NY 12701 -
Upcoming prisoner birthdays:
Eric King #27090045 [August 2nd]
CCA Leavenworth
100 Highway Terrace
Leavenworth, Kansas 66048Bill Dunne #10916–086 [August 3rd]
FCI Herlong
P.O. Box 800
Herlong, CA 96113Debbie Sims Africa #006307 [August 4th]
SCI Cambridge Springs
451 Fullerton Avenue
Cambridge Springs, Pennsylvania 16403Dr. Mutulu Shakur #83205–012 [August 8th]
USP Victorville
Post Office Box 3900
Adelanto, California 92301