Book review: No borders, no fatherland! France – What’s New for the Left?
(Ni patrie ni frontières, Paris 2017, 454p., no ISBN)
I first came across the journal Ni patrie ni frontières (subtitled: Ni États, ni Eglises – Ni “races”, ni ethnies – Traductions et débats) around 2003/2004 when they published a collection of texts in English by the Dutch group De Fabel van de illegaal, titled Nationalism, Anti-Semitism and the Anti-globalisation Movement (1998-2003). At a time when things were going seriously wrong in the radical Left and especially the wider “anti-globalisation” movement, the brochure was a welcome signal that there were critical voices that were sensitive to the growing overlap of far right and far left anti-imperialist positions, often manifesting themselves as “anti-Zionist”.
I started picking up copies of Ni patrie ni frontières whenever I could find them. The French journal was started in 2002 by Yves Coleman and a fair number of issues appeared in quick succession. Initially published in the form of photocopied and staple-bound A4 editions, they switched to printed softcovers in 2007 with issue 21/22.
The journal presents a wide range of historical texts and contemporary analysis of the pressing questions of the “revolutionary” Left, with views from a spectrum of radical writers and groups ranging from Left Communism to anarchism and Third Camp Trotskyism. Among the writers are Loren Goldner (Insurgent Notes), and the groups the Alliance for Worker’s Liberty, (the German) Wildcat publication, Temps critiques, Movement Communiste, the Worker-Communist Parties of Iran and Iraq, as well as anarchist and left communist classics.
Infiltration and Agents Provocateurs A heavily redacted FBI document revealed that the FBI in 2011 used agent provocateurs against Occupy Houston to gather information and photographs, spy on supporters and activists, and then planned to ‘kill the leadership via suppressed sniper rifles’. A federal judge ruled that the FBI could refuse to release the documents un-redacted to conceal the identities of the infiltrators who joined OH, which the FBI labeled as an ‘organized violent group’.
In January 2015, Eric McDavid, who had been convicted to 19 years for ‘domestic terrorism’ in his role in an Earth Liberation Front plot in California in 2005, was released from prison after serving 9 years when federal prosecutors agreed to a settlement when it was exposed that thousands of pages of evidence were withheld from the defense during the 2007 trial. The concealed evidence included a plethora of information about the FBI agent provocateur known as ‘Anna’, who had a ‘romantic relationship’ with McDavid, and entrapped the small ELF cell into conspiring to bomb the Nimbus Dam, cellphone towers, science labs and other targets. ‘Anna’ was central to entrapping other protesters as well. [Read more →]
Strike! – Streitschrift für revolutionären Unionismus und Rätekommunismus
Ausgabe 1, January 2013.
A nicely produced 40 page magazine that situates itself in the tradition of the Unionen of the post-WWI years and of the Industrial Workers of the World. With articles addressing direct action, a manifesto of class autonomy, “notes on workers struggles”, a debate on the role of trade unions, and a first part of a history of revolutionary Unionism, the magazine makes a promising beginning. But it remains to be seen if it will keep up the good work with regular future issues and arrive at a convincing contemporary political form derived from Unionism and classical Council Communism. A historical publication on currents of the anti-authoritarian workers’ movement which will deal with various aspects of the Unionen-movement as well as some post-68 developments is announced for publication this autumn.
Contact: Strike! C/o Rotes Antiquariat, Rungestr. 20, 10179 Berlin
Fight Back #5 – Neonazis in Berlin & Brandenburg – eine Antifa-Recherche. April 2013
This is the 5th edition of Fight Back, and with 108 A4 pages the most detailed yet. It’s essentially a compendium of the far and extreme right in Berlin and surrounding Brandenburg, with the intention of providing material to anti-fascists. This includes both background info on organisations and structures as well as outing individual fascists. The whole spectrum from new rightists, to the NPD, to “Reichsbürger” to autonomous nationalists is covered. 12 years after the first version of Fight Back came out, this is by far the most comprehensive. Anti-fascists can pick up a free copy in left wing book and info shops in and around Berlin. http://antifa-berlin.info [Read more →]
In the year since the last issue of datacide came out there has been continued fallout from the scandal surrounding the activities of the National Socialist Underground terror group and the involvement of the state security forces in the extreme right. Well, at least until about May, which is when the court case against Beate Zschäpe finally started after a few weeks delay. One reason for the delay was that the 50 seats for the press had been allocated, and not a single Turkish newspaper was allowed to report from inside the courtroom. Needless to say, there is considerable interest in the case in Turkey, as most of the victims had Turkish roots. Finally, the seats were rearranged and the trial could start.
There are obvously many open questions: Where did the NSU come from, and how was it possible it was not detected for so many years despite the fact that the state security had paid agents very close to the perpetrators of the killing spree? [Read more →]
