Unity of Fields

📍Los Angeles: Last night at CSULA, anti-genocide protesters occupied, barricaded, and looted the admin building to protest the administration's support for genocide. They barricaded the building using flipped campus security vehicles, metal umbrellas, tables, and chairs. The protesters dispersed before the pigs could arrest anyone. Graffiti was left saying "Escalate 4 Gaza, ACAB, Down with Imperialism, End the Genocide" and more. Reshare on Pal Action Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/p/C8KSu8huHuu/

📍Los Angeles, CSULA: flipped vehicles used as barricades outside of the admin building where students were occupying

🔻UCLA Students Were Attacked Last Night So We Retaliated With a Firebomb on UCB Campus - via indybay.org NOT SURE WHAT BUILDING IT EVEN WAS. HONESTLY DONT REALLY CARE. EVERY SINGLE BUILDING ON THE UC BERKELEY CAMPUS DESERVES TO BE INCINERATED FOLLOWING THE UC SYSTEM'S TREATMENT OF STUDENT PROTESTORS. LAST NIGHT THEY ATTACKED A YOUNG WOMAN STUDENT WHO WAS SPEAKING HER MIND ON A MEGAPHONE. SO WE UNLOADED A FIREBOMB ON THE SIDE OF A CAMPUS BUILDING. THE FLAME WAS BIG AND SPREAD ACROSS THE TREES AND BUSHES ON THE SIDE OF A BUILDING. LONG LIVE THE STUDENT INTIFADA FOR PALESTINE LIBERATION STOP THE GENOCIDE NOW UC SYSTEM MUST DIVEST FROM ISRAEL OR FACE OUR WRATH OF REVENGE BLESSED IS THE FLAME

🔻A group of autonomous actors targeted the Consulate General of Israel in New York City in the morning on Wednesday, June 12. The American and Zionist flags were burned in protest of settler-colonial violence, dispossession, and genocide, from Turtle Island to Palestine. ​​​​​​​ The American empire is an active participant in the current genocidal onslaught, not only by funding and arming the Zionist entity, but with US military and intelligence presence in Gaza itself. The Zionist entity is an immoral and illegitimate state, built on the ethnic cleansing of the Palestinian people and constructed as an outpost of Western imperialism. The Palestinian people have suffered for far too long under the chokehold of Zionism, aided, abetted, and driven by the unquenchable thirst of American empire—but we know that, through the steadfast resistance of the Palestinian people and the movement for Palestinian liberation around the world, Zionism will fall and Palestine will be free. This action is part of a broader international escalation—undertaken in response to calls from Gaza—to hold accountable all entities that aid and abet the ongoing colonization of the Palestinian people. The Zionist entity relies on a network of puppet states, normalizers, and imperialist allies to maintain its brutal status quo. Other actions in New York City today targeted ​​​​​​​the U.S. Campaign on Palestinian Affairs, the German Consulate, and the Permanent Mission of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan to the United Nations. In a communique issued this morning, the New York City actionists write: “Through our actions we continue to globalize the intifada. We locate complicity in the genocidal campaign against Palestinians among all nations who refuse to cut ties with the Zionist settler state, refuse to support Palestinian freedom and the right to return, and profit from the attempted annihilation of Palestinian people. We as dissidents in the imperial core urge comrades everywhere to consider all normalizers our enemies and join in creative resistance to every state actor and institution that aids and abets genocide.” Repost on Palestine Action instagram: instagram.com/p/C8I0KpGNNSJ

GERMANY: STOP BEING NAZIS! A group of autonomous actors targeted the German Consulate in New York City in the early hours of the morning on Wednesday, June 12. Actionists splashed blood-red paint on the exterior of the consulate and wheatpasted an official-looking apology from the German government for their active participation in the Zionist entity's genocidal assault on Gaza. The German state supplies 30% of the IOF's weapons and is the second-largest supporter of the Zionist entity, behind only the U.S. In 2023, Germany approved $320 million in military aid to the entity — over ten times more than in 2022. Germany's generous funding has made this genocide possible. Meanwhile, German leaders have criminalized the Palestine solidarity movement, making mass arrests and cynically banning protests in the name of so-called antisemitism. In solidarity with pro-Palestinian movements in Germany, the actionists demand that Germany recognize the Palestinian State and support the recognition of an independent Palestinian state in the EU.  This action is part of a broader international escalation—undertaken in response to calls from Gaza—to hold accountable all entities that aid and abet the ongoing colonization of the Palestinian people. The Zionist entity relies on a network of puppet states, normalizers, and imperialist allies to maintain its brutal status quo. Other actions in New York City today targeted the U.S. Campaign on Palestinian Affairs, the Permanent Mission of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan to the United Nations, and the Consulate General of Israel. In a communiqué issued this morning, the New York City actionists write:  "Through our actions we continue to globalize the intifada. We locate complicity in the genocidal campaign against Palestinians among all nations who refuse to cut ties with the Zionist settler state, refuse to support Palestinian freedom and the right to return, and profit from the attempted annihilation of Palestinian people. We as dissidents in the imperial core urge comrades everywhere to consider all normalizers our enemies and join in creative resistance to every state actor and institution that aids and abets genocide." Reshare on Pal Action Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/reel/C8H6vviu9hg/

Reported by IndyBay: 4am -- 11 June 2024 -- Windows were smashed and a firebomb was allegedly lit at the Federal Building in downtown Oakland, as an act of retaliation for SFPD's violent siege on the Sidra's Sanctuary encampment at the SF Federal Building. This act was therefore committed in solidarity with all peoples who were arrested at the city encampment, as well as in unity with the global axis of resistance and the protracted war for Palestine liberation and the decolonization of occupied lands. To learn more about the police attack and violent arrests of the most recent city encampment, check this out: https://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2024/06/10/18867249.php At around 4am this morning, two heavy rocks were thrown at the windows of the Oakland Federal Building and a firebomb was allegedly placed and lit outside of the window, in a row of bushes that spans the west side of the building. Allegedly, the window did not break completely when rocks were thrown at it, which seems to have limited what the insurgents could do with fire in the moment, so the device may have been placed in the bushes for this reason. We assume the intended plan was to throw the incendiary device inside the building offices, but unfortunately, while the torch was being lit, a security officer ran out of nowhere and began to yell and chase after one of the insurgents. The insurgent got away quickly, evading three security guards in a full sprint. One person chasing the insurgent may have been a plain cloths officer lurking in their car. We are unsure if the firebomb caught hold of the building front, as there has been no news reportage yet of this retaliatory attack on the police State. But this was a clear message, if the State continue to harm protestors, campers, and anyone out in the streets fighting for Palestine liberation, then they will be faced with a decentralized, horizontal, and widespread solidarity movement that grows daily with every state aggression When the pigs mess with our people we must retaliate to level the score. Redirect the violence back at the rulers and managers of global Settler Empire. We cannot allow anymore of our comrades and loved ones to get beat-to-shit, arrested, and harmed by the white supremacist U.S. government. Blessed is the flame. Glory to the martyrs. Burn down the Amerikkkan plantation.

#ShutElbitDown Call to action from BDS Boston: As we witness the U.S. use a pier allegedly installed to bring aid to Gaza to facilitate Israel’s murder of hundreds of Palestinians in Nusseirat, our mandate is clear: we must escalate against every single supporter of this US-“Israeli” co-genocide. And that begins with the murderers working at Elbit Systems right here in Cambridge, MA. JOIN US this Wednesday June 12th at 12:00pm to disrupt Elbit's workday operations. We'll be in front of Elbit's Cambridge facility, located at 130 Bishop Allen Drive Reshare on BDS Boston Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/p/C8CRrlxO9SU/

🔻Action report: Autonomous NYC activists target Magellan Aerospace Corp in Queens, which contracts with Lockheed Martin to manufacture F-35 jet parts to bomb civilians in Gaza and around the world. The Israeli military (IOF) just ordered more F-35s for Gaza using US military aid in a multi-billion dollar deal. With our tax dollars, Magellan and Lockheed Martin are profiting off the death and destruction in Palestine. Art reads: FUCK AN F-35 FUCK LOCKHEED MARTIN FUCK MAGELLAN FREE GAZA

Dispersing now‼️ Form crews and make moves🔻 Take autonomous action for Palestine against the cultural institutions invested in genocide🇵🇸

🚨 BREAKING: Over 20 branches of Barclays bank in England and Scotland were targeted by actionists today. In the name of the martyrs, the banks were smashed and covered in paint due to their investment in Elbit Systems, the zionist entity's largest weapons manufacturer, as well as their $190 billion funding of fossil fuel companies. Barclays remains heavily invested in Elbit Systems as Elbit seeks to increase weapons production to facilitate genocide. The activists, from Palestine Action and Shut The System, called for escalating action, also stating: "If you associate with Elbit, Palestine Action will become associated with you."

🔻 Anonymous report: Disabling CAT bulldozers in Los Angeles. "CAT KILLED RACHEL CORRIE. CAT KILLS PALESTINIANS." Share on Palestine Action US Instagram: instagram.com/p/C8Cny2jOyg1

🔻Anonymous submission: a belated observance of Memorial Day in Greensboro, NC. Actionists targeted the Armed Forces Career Center in memoriam of the victims of US empire. on Pal Action US instagram: instagram.com/p/C76vsi2uBZL

🔻Anonymous submission: 🚨 BREAKING RESISTANCE NEWS BULLETIN 🚨 Philadelphia Zionist War Mongering institutions and colonial monuments targeted by Philly Resistance 🪂 Among the targets hit were an Army Recruitment Center in North Philly, Weapons Manufacturing firm “Day & Zimmerman,” the George Washington Statue at the Philly Art Museum. #ESCALATE4GAZA on Pal Action US instagram: instagram.com/p/C76kzkouUYm

🔻Anonymous submission: A group of autonomous activists destroyed a Starbucks in Woodbury, MN in the early hours of Friday morning. The Starbucks was destroyed to say fuck you to corporate greed that funds genocide. We will escalate for Rafah. We will avenge Hind. We will avenge Al Shifa. We wil avenge George Floyd. We will avenge Tortuguita. Glory to the intifada. Glory to the martyrs. Long live the PFLP. Death to normalizers. Death to the united states. Death to zionism. Decolonize or death. Land back everywhere. IOF=MPD, Fuck the police. on Pal Action US instagram: instagram.com/p/C76k9gSO0Ti

An autonomous group just occupied the president's office at Stanford: "Pro-Palestine protesters entered and barricaded themselves inside Building 10, the president’s office, located in Main Quad, at 5:30 a.m. Wednesday morning, which marks Stanford’s last day of classes for spring quarter. Protestors plan to remain in the building until the University meets demands or they are forcibly removed. Around 10 students are barricaded in the building, while about 50 others surrounded the building with linked arms. Once inside, protestors barricaded doors with bike locks, chains, ladders and chairs and covered security cameras with tin foil. Outside, protesters spray painted on a window, “Our office now,” and chanted, “Palestine will be free, we will free Palestine.” Protestors issued three demands to the University: add the divestment bill submitted by Stanford Against Apartheid in Palestine (SAAP) to the next Board of Trustees meeting, with a recommendation by President Richard Saller supporting the bill, disclose finances from the previous fiscal year (2022) including endowment investments and drop all disciplinary and criminal charges against pro-Palestinian students at Stanford. The group has renamed Building 10 to “Dr. Adnan Office,” named after Dr. Adnan al-Bursh, “the Palestinian General Surgeon who was murdered in April by the Israeli genocidal campaign,” according to a press release." (Stanford Daily)

From the Casbah of Basel al-Araj, protestors demonstrated the possibility for forms of escalation that allows for an escape from marshals, peace-policing, student and nonstudent divides, and negotiation, and can allow for a variety of tactics. It also showed students disaffected from the encampment and failures to escalate that it is possible to attack and escape—both from the clutches of police and from the hierarchical peace policing of liberal student groups attempting to suppress more militant actions. The university is accidentally giving its students an education in autonomy and direct action. What we learn from disrupting the university, prepares us to intensify and deepen our actions to free Palestine. School may be out for summer, but the fight goes on.

Setting these expectations, and very visibly sharing and practicing the principles and demands that don't fit into liberal organizations' platforms, made it harder for liberals to co-opt our action. As we thought might happen, liberal organizations emerged after a few hours and tried to tell people what to do. When they did, they were shut down and ignored by the protestors, with some responding to people claiming to be "police liaisons" with "this action doesn't have police liaisons." These same liberal organizations also took issue with some of the demands because "fuck the police and gentrification" don't fit neatly into their single issue platforms, making the action harder to co-opt. Messaging should focus on reaching folks who share values and ideological leanings, like being critical of cooptation, reform, and negotiation. The demands issued also helped prevent co-optation. They were: 1. Free Palestine 2. Abolish the University 3. Land Back 4. Fuck gentrification 5. Fuck 12 Following the logic that making demands pushes movements and insurrections toward negotiation and moderation, and leaning into the observation that there is no centralized authority capable of granting us the world we insist on building (without abolishing itself...) the demands are maximalist, general, uncompromising, and reject incremental logic. They challenge respectability and the demands-based framework itself, making it harder for liberal organizations to claim credit for the energy or power built by the action. (5) On student radicalization -- learning by doing. Student organizations limit imagination of possible actions and control protests into being governable, peaceful, and nonviolent. Often, the heads of these organizations are obsessed with the idea that they are responsible for keeping a crowd safe and are willing to police the actions of others in the name of preventing arrest. When not intentionally challenged, the campus bubble of student organizing can isolate students from non-student genocide resisters, which means isolation from collective knowledge of resistance techniques. While the encampments did allow for some new networks to be formed and more militant tactics to be shared, some organizers were more interested in control than in escalation. This desire for control played out along racial lines, as students in the encampements policed Black protestors and failed to understand the reality of police violence. In addition to more methods to occupy, defend, and evade, this action also led students to think about the question of demands. Traditional organizing encourages creating "achievable" divestment demands and other institutional reforms. But students are seeing that demands and appeasement reforms don't go far enough. The full disruption of the University's ties to occupation, genocide and imperialism requires the abolition of the University institution. The Casbah of Basel al-Araj showed students that they can take actions which threaten power and that they can do so without the permission of a central organization. Students saw that actions do not have to end in performative arrest. We lose our ability to attack if we all go to jail. Risking capture can be done with strategy and material impact, but being captured is not the goal. At the Casbah, the possibility of autonomous action and militant escalation was not just theoretical. Students and non-students joined in by building barricades, covering for people exiting IOP, kettling the cops, joining other actions throughout the day, and opposing co-optation. CONCLUSION

Leaving the building so quickly was not the only way things could have unfolded. Had the front door barricade held, or had protestors blockaded more successfully from outside, UCPD cops would not have entered the building so quickly, and protestors could have remained inside longer. This would have necessitated longer-term organizing from supporters outside the building, and perhaps a different police response. By the time police entered the building, it might not have been possible for protestors to exit into a friendly crowd; leaving in handcuffs was thus a possibility protestors likely anticipated. However, the protestors at Casbah of Basel Al Araj had no apparent interest in symbolic arrests, and seized the opportunity to leave when pigs breached the building and an escape route presented itself. This flexibility, and mental preparation to leave if possible rather than submit to forms of "surrender" and planned arrests, was a strategic strength.   (2) On scouting, preparation & logistics - practice more. At the Casbah, cops were able to move relatively quickly through barricades protestors attempted on the building's doors. Had there been more materials on site for back-up barricades—or more knowledge on site about methods of barricading doors—protestors might have been able to improvise stronger barricades and hold the space for longer. Practicing skills routinely, to be more ready to act in escalated action situations and to pivot on the fly when plans change, is an evergreen takeaway that's especially relevant at actions where success hinges on specialized techniques and tactics. Further, having more supplies on site for the full range of possible scenarios would've served the action well. Tents, chairs, food, and more defensive materials didn't arrive on site as soon as they could have, which delayed the crowd's ability to jump in and support holding the space. (3) On Identifying Cop Tactics—Repression goes beyond arrests. The fact that no arrests were made is always something to celebrate. However, it's important not to reduce state repression to a single tactic. Cops may not have taken anyone away on the day of the protest, but they did stand by with body cameras recording footage throughout, and at several moments pointed out specific individuals within the crowd, seeming to single them out for increased attention. We can't be sure why specific people were pointed out. The cops could be noticing people arrested in previous protests, they could be trying to identify potential organizers of an action, or mapping networks to see who might know each other. Observing these practices underscores the importance of disguising identities when in action spaces, and having a robust threat model. For all we know, arrests could be attempted weeks after an action using footage of people involved, as we saw in 2020 in Chicago after a protest in Grant Park where a statue of Col*mbus used to stand.   (4) On liberal co-optation -- strong principles set the tone. This action aimed to disrupt the pattern of liberals deescalating confrontational tactics through peace policing. So, we created principles of unity that included escalation, self-defense, non-cooperation with the state, and diversity of tactics. We shared those principles through fliers handed out to the crowd before the march, and through announcing them over the megaphone at the rally outside the Casbah.

Meanwhile, the crowd outside was trying to prevent cops from entering the building but did not succeed in blocking pigs from going up the porch stairs to the front door. Once the pigs got to the front door, it only took them a few hard yanks to break the barricade's pull on the front door.  From there, the protestors regrouped to the second floor and tried to barricade that floor. As pigs started to enter the second floor, the protestors retreated to a small conference room, and held off the pigs for long enough to leave the building through windows and onto a porch roof. Just as the cops were able to enter the room, everyone escaped onto the roof and climbed down into the crowd. From there, people were able to escape using the cover of the crowd. No arrests were made. As police worked to enter the building, protestors outside had set up barricades in the gangway between the IOP and a neighboring building, making it harder for cops to move between the front and back yards. After protestors made their escape and active clashes with cops slowed down, people began to set up tents and chairs on the front lawn of the building, and continued to occupy space in the back yard as well. Food and snacks arrived, attempts were made to set up a speaker system (though cops threw a wrench in this plan by cutting an extension cord), and kids played on the lawn. The demands of the action and the principles guiding it were read aloud. Struggles with police occurred in the building's backyard, as cops attempted to control the space and warned that arrests would be made if any more tents were set up. A nearby frat blasted shitty music (the national anthem and mediocre dad rock with a quick reprieve in the form of Dolly Parton's 9 to 5), trying to drown out protestors' chants. Protestors continued to surround the building and hang out until around 9:30 PM, at which point protestors assessed that there was not enough energy, support, or numbers to spend the night amid cops' threats to start making arrests. The group marched to the University president's house nearby with chants of "we'll be back." TAKEAWAYS We share these takeaways in an effort to contribute to tactical and strategic knowledge developing across campuses, as solidarity encampments have been set up, attacked, repressed, voluntarily disbanded, and in some cases escalated. We hope this can be useful to others pursuing escalated tactics in solidarity with Gaza and in resistance to colonial violence at home and far away. (1) On escapes and exits—hope for the best & prep for the worst. Protestors who entered to barricade the IOP were able to make a full escape—footage shows them climbing safely from the roof into the waiting arms of friends. It wasn't clear in advance that this would be possible, but folks inside were quick on their feet and had the foresight to leave to fight another day. The University of Chicago's campus is highly policed by the private University of Chicago Police Department (UCPD) and the municipal Chicago Police Department (CPD), so drawing enough protestors to fend off an initial police response was going to be difficult, especially during Alumni Weekend when police presence was already heightened. UCPD responded most actively to the protest, quickly moving past protestors attempting to block the front steps; removing furniture blocking the front door; shoving protestors and throwing chairs at them; and then entering and sweeping the building. CPD officers set up lines on all sides of the building, but mostly sat back and watched events unfold, after initially chasing some protestors who attempted to barricade the alley behind the building back into the crowd.

🔻Fight Like a Flea:  Lessons from the Casbah of Basel al-Araj (Chicago) "The flea has fascinating fighting strategies and techniques...It does not kill its host...what it does is exhaust its host and consume its blood, causing constant disturbance, eventually preventing the host from being able to rest. It makes the host nervous and demoralized. [...]  [T]he guerilla fights its wars like fleas...If the battle lasts long enough to exhaust the host then it will fail in the battle due to its weakness while unable to locate the flea(s)...[F]ight like a flea." Live Like A Porcupine, Fight Like A Flea "The beginning of every revolution is an exit, an exit from the social order that power has enshrined in the name of law, stability, public interest, and the greater good." Exiting Law & Entering Revolution CONTEXT Since October 7th, Chicago has seen countless marches and actions that have been successful in bringing out hundreds and thousands of people. However, many of these numbers consist of suburbanites driving or being bussed into the city to show support, rather than a mass of Chicagoans coming together from across the deeply race- and class-segregated city. In addition, these marches have usually been put on by a small number of nonprofit organizations. They have been heavily marshaled and largely symbolic, leaving many people demoralized and looking for more. As every day sees more Gazans murdered by the zionist entity, symbolic parades that play into respectability politics at every turn and ask the state for permission to protest are clearly a toothless and insufficient response. Small, isolated acts of sabotage aren't enough either—it is crucial to seek more militant forms of collective action. These actions should demonstrate an understanding of the throughline between the colonial states of the US and Israel, and the need to abolish both entirely—prisons, police, military, and state bureaucracies alike—to stop both the genocide in Gaza and the daily forms of state violence here in Chicago. From within the imperial core, there's an obligation to interrupt the material support that the "U.S." provides "israel." In order to encourage more militant collective action, there is a need for a change in protest culture that is rife with peace policing liberal concerns about "outside agitators." Contrary to what peace police, protest managers, and the heads of liberal social justice organizations would have us believe, many people are looking to take more escalated action and learn the skills to do so together. This desire clearly expressed itself in flashes at the campus encampments here in Chicago, including in the brief but impactful establishment of the Casbah of Basel Al Araj on the University of Chicago campus. SUMMARY OF EVENTS Around 4:40 pm on Friday, May 17th, as the University of Chicago's Alumni Weekend kicked off, a group of protestors marched to the Institute of Politics on the University of Chicago campus. Soon after they arrived, a group entered the building and barricaded its entrances from the inside. Banners were dropped from the upstairs windows. Staff working in the building were told that the building was being occupied and it was time for them to leave. Most of the building's occupants complied, but the director of the institute, who happened to be a former senator, refused to leave. Cops were able to breach a first-floor door on the side of the building that led to the basement, but protestors prevented them from accessing the inside of the building for the time being.