/ CLASS WAR / We publish here our English translation of a small contribution made by AST comrades from Germany who recently intervened among others last May at the Action Week in Prague and in September at the Anarchist Bookfair in Berlin-Kreuzberg. These comrades are taking a courageous and uncompromising stand in the bloody conflict tearing Israel and Palestine apart, and particularly against the two jaws of the same trap that is crushing our class on the altar of nationalism. We must have the militant courage to proclaim loud and clear, once again, that there is no statist solution to the despicable situation of proletarians subjected to capitalist exploitation: neither one State nor two States, nor from the River to the Sea – abolition of all Nation-States!
It’s also worth noting that AST comrades, while openly siding with our class brothers and sisters in struggle in Israel and Palestine, call for “antinational solidarity” instead of internationalism. Although we don’t use the concept of antinationalism in our writings, we can well understand the acuteness of the problem as a result of the genuine nauseating practice of all these pseudo-internationalists who defend one bourgeois faction (Palestine, Ukraine…) against another (Israel, the USA, Russia…) ad nauseam!
As we’ve written before: “Internationalism is not the addition of various or even different nationalisms or all nationalisms, but on the contrary its complete and accomplished negation…”
/ GUERRE DE CLASSE / Nous publions ici notre traduction française d’une petite contribution des camarades de l’AST en Allemagne qui sont intervenus récemment, entre autres en mai dernier lors de la Semaine d’action à Prague puis en septembre lors du Salon du livre anarchiste à Berlin-Kreuzberg. Ces camarades prennent ici une position courageuse et intransigeante dans le conflit sanglant qui déchire Israël et la Palestine, et tout particulièrement contre les deux mâchoires du même piège qui broie notre classe sur l’autel des nationalismes. Il faut avoir le courage militant d’affirmer haut et fort, une fois de plus, qu’il n’y a aucune solution étatiste à l’ignoble situation que vivent les prolétaires soumis à l’exploitation capitaliste : ni un État ni deux États, ni de la rivière à la mer – abolition de tous les États-Nations !
Soulignons également que les camarades de l’AST, tout en prenant parti ouvertement pour nos frères et sœurs de classe en lutte en Israël comme en Palestine, en appellent à « la solidarité antinationale » au lieu d’en appeler à l’internationalisme. Bien que nous n’utilisions pas dans nos écrits ce concept d’antinationalisme, nous pouvons très bien comprendre l’acuité du problème au vu de la véritable pratique nauséeuse de tous ces pseudos-internationalistes qui défendent une fraction bourgeoise (la Palestine, l’Ukraine…) contre une autre (Israël, les USA, la Russie…) ad nauseam !
Comme nous l’avons déjà écrit précédemment : « L’internationalisme n’est pas l’addition de divers ou même différents nationalismes, voire même de tous les nationalismes, mais au contraire sa négation complète et accomplie… »
Zu den schlimmsten und blutrünstigsten Spaltern des Weltproletariats gehören das zionistische Regime in Israel und der palästinensische Nationalismus. Konkurrenzförmig-arbeitsteilig organisieren sie das permanente Gemetzel an der jüdischen und palästinensischen Zivilbevölkerung. Zum Gründungsakt des zionistischen Terrorregimes Israel im Jahre 1948 gehörte die nationalistische Vertreibung von 750.000 PalästinenserInnen. Ab 1967 hält der israelische Imperialismus die palästinensischen Gebiete Ostjerusalem, Westjordanland und Gazastreifen besetzt. Israel ist ein rassistischer Apartheidstaat. Er beutete das palästinensische Proletariat rassistisch extrahart aus und verhinderte die Entstehung einer palästinensischen ökonomischen Bourgeoisie. Es bildete sich lediglich eine erbärmliche palästinensische Politbourgeoisie, die einen eigen Nationalstaat anstrebt, der jedoch wie immer nur kapitalistisch-sozialreaktionär sein kann.
/ CLASS WAR / We publish here a small article from the CWO about the very recent demonstrations which took place in several localities of the Gaza Strip. Contrarily to the whole of the leftist mercenaries who are partisans of the filthy campism, and who take sides with one or another bourgeois faction, we are fully aware of the class character of this expression of anger “against the war” but also “against the Hamas” which is nothing but the statist and nationalist storm-trooper acting against the working class in this region.
On the other hand, the fact to publish an article from a self-proclaimed “left communist” group doesn’t mean that we adhere globally and even not partially – far from it… let’s make it clear! – to its Bolshevik program and views about the world social revolution as well as the necessary organization of the struggling proletariat as a class and therefore as a party, as a full force, as a militant energy for the destruction of this World of Death…
/ GUERRE DE CLASSE / Nous publions ici un petit article de la CWO sur les toutes récentes manifestations qui ont eu lieu dans plusieurs localités de la bande de Gaza. Contrairement à l’ensemble des mercenaires gauchistes partisans du campisme crasseux, et qui prennent parti pour l’une ou l’autre fraction bourgeoise, nous sommes pleinement conscients du caractère de classe de cette expression de colère « contre la guerre » mais aussi « contre le Hamas », qui n’est rien d’autre que le garde-chiourme étatiste et nationaliste agissant contre la classe ouvrière dans cette région.
D’autre part, le fait de publier un article d’un groupe autoproclamé « communiste de gauche » ne signifie pas que nous adhérions globalement et même pas partiellement – loin s’en faut… qu’on se le dise ! – à son programme bolchevik et à ses points de vue sur la révolution sociale mondiale ainsi que sur la nécessaire organisation du prolétariat combattif en classe et donc en parti, son organisation en pleine force, en énergie militante de destruction de ce Monde de la Mort…
/ TŘÍDNÍ VÁLKA / Níže zveřejňujeme náš překlad důležitého příspěvku soudruhů z Proletarios internacionalistas, který se týká samotné podstaty a vývoje revolučního defétismu. V době, kdy má neúprosný průběh kapitalistické války a míru tendenci čerpat sílu z takového „řešení“, jakým je „vojenský konflikt“, a to nejen v regionálním, ale i v globálnějším, planetárním měřítku, v době, kdy žene stále více proletářů v uniformách i bez nich do procesu širší reprodukce tohoto světa bídy, ničení a vykořisťování, by komunisté měli vyzdvihovat to, co naší třídě umožňuje ukovat si zbraně a odpovídajícím způsobem se organizovat.
Jsme pevně přesvědčeni, že mezinárodní diskuse o následujících tezích je součástí tohoto militantního úsilí, jehož konečným cílem je vymýcení nesnesitelného „stávajícího“, které nám lidská prehistorie, tvořená třídní společností, vnucovala po staletí a tisíciletí… Můžeme pouze plně podpořit každou takovou militantní iniciativu, která představuje nesmiřitelnou kritiku světa hodnot a peněz, a jejíž společenská praxe je ukotvena v rozvoji životního plánu lidstva, kterým je komunismus.
A jak říkají naši soudruzi z Proletarios internacionalistas: „Vyzýváme revoluční bojovníky a skupiny, aby se na tomto poli boje, konfrontace, ale také soudružství a života, připojili k našemu úsilí při organizaci revolučního defétismu a obecně při organizaci všech úkolů, které si stanovuje komunita boje proti kapitálu, samozřejmě s ohledem na to, co nám současný kontext dovoluje z hlediska našich kapacit a možností.“ Příjemné čtení…
In many parts of the world, right now the capitalism is once again kicking off its inherent war machine to slaughter thousands upon thousands of proletarians. They are being relentlessly bombed and shelled; deliberately starved and deprived of water; forced to shoot, stab or poison each other with gas in the trenches, raped, tortured and mutilated…
When our class is confronted with this carnage, this horrific intensification of inhumanity of the capitalist society its only reaction is to refuse to submit to it! This is coming from our guts and at the same time it is an expression of our historical class interests.
Because of that soon after the war in Ukraine started, the so-called “incidents” started popping up on both sides of the front. Soldiers of both armies have been increasingly trying to avoid being drafted and sent to the front. They hide when they can and if they are forced into the military units, they try to escape and leave their positions at first opportunity. It went so far, that the Ukrainian generals complain about “total disintegration of the army discipline”. Same thing is happening, even though on smaller scale unfortunately, in other inter-bourgeois conflicts in the Middle East, Sudan and elsewhere. Both in Ukraine and in Russia army officers and military recruiters have been attacked by their “own” troops.
But what can we as proles living in the “peaceful” territories of “the home front”, do to practically support the struggle of our class brothers in uniform revolting against the capitalist war and practically connect it with our own struggles? Even if we are lucky to live far away enough from the “kill zone” that we do not suffer from bombings, rockets, military occupation or a presence of roaming bands of “special unit” cut-throats?
Our lives are still impacted daily by cuts in “social spending”, worsening of working conditions and intensification of exploitation, increase in prices of housing, food, energies and other means of survival, increased social control and repression and overall militarization of society.
This of course is nothing new, we experience this misery in times of capitalist “peace” as well and we struggle against it all the same. But during the war or intensive preparations for the war, Capital and its State need to concentrate increasing part of the production into so-called “war economy”. In other words, to rapidly produce weapons, ammo and military vehicles, fuel, food rations, etc. only to just as rapidly spend them in the process of mass killing of proletarians – i.e. US! And because each State has to do it faster and more massively than the “enemy”, this creates an immense pressure to make us work always harder, longer hours, with less protection and so on. At the same time the State has to double down on propaganda of the nation and sanctity of “the Motherland”, “democracy” and “freedom” in order to convince us to sacrifice ourselves for the interests of Capital which can never be our own.
The first answer to the question of what to do therefore is: to revolt against our own exploitation! Through strikes, occupations, blockades and sabotage of highways and railways, looting of goods as well as their redistribution among our class and so on during war time we attack the production, valorization and reproduction of Capital needed for the war efforts. But also, by claiming our class interests in opposition to the interests of the ruling class we subvert their fairy-tale of “national unity”! Our class enemies will also have to send more cops and soldiers to try to repress our struggles – and those will be missing for hunt on deserters and refugees, for enforcing mobilization, for guarding the borders… and their loyalty to the State is not given. After all, mutinies in Russian army in February 1917 were sparked when the soldiers were given a command by their officers to repress striking workers in Petrograd!
To make our attack on the war machine direct and efficient we need to focus our subversive activity on several fields:
Disruption of military infrastructure like ammunition warehouses, railroads, ports, airports and roads used to deliver troops and the military material to the fronts.
We can take inspiration from our proletarian brothers and sisters from collectives sabotaging the railways in Belarus and Russia since the beginning of the war to stop the delivery of military material to the front.
Also, from port workers in Genoa and Trieste in Italy and in Piraeus in Greece blocking the shipment of weapons and munitions to Ukraine, Israel or for American bombing of Yemen.
Disruption of military recruitment, draft and “busification” of enlisted men to the front. Both in Ukraine (Zakarpattia and others) and in Russia (Dagestan and others), pigs and military patrols coming to arrest the enlisted men are being confronted by their angry relatives and friends.
If we live in countries further from the front, the State so far uses either some sort of “voluntary” recruitment tactics, and nationalist manipulation like the patriotic education programs that are being run for example in France or in Poland or projects of compulsory military service. If we look for inspiration of what to do about it, let’s point out the long tradition of protests and riots against military recruiters and “military career advisers” in American universities, going back to the so-called wars in Vietnam, the Persian Gulf up to the recent one in Gaza.
Why should military recruiters, nationalist propagandists, or those good citizens that snitch for the State and denounce the anti-militaristic class resistance – those that force us to sacrifice ourselves for the “good of the nation” – be allowed to live their lives in peace and safety? Let’s deal with them as our class movement has always dealt with scabs and strikebreakers! Snitches get stitches!
Helping the deserters to escape, hide them and smuggle them across the borders, but also organize our struggle together with them! There already exist networks both in Russia and Ukraine that help soldiers escape from the army and we need to practically connect them with our own networks of struggle. This means secure contacts, secure phones, safe houses, fund collections…
History of class struggle shows us that the only way how we can truly oppose the capitalist war, not in favor of continuation of our misery in capitalist peace, but for destruction of the society of misery and exploitation altogether, and therefore to end all wars, is when the revolt of proletarians on the front-lines and struggle of those on the “home front” practically unite!
Let us recall the experience of the proletarians in Iraq during the so-called First Gulf war of 1991, when army deserters, many of them keeping their weapons, have congregated both in the marshes in the south and the mountains in the north where they organized together with the militant workers the insurrection against the State!
When faced with a global capitalist catastrophe, the revolution is our only perspective! Let’s turn our weapons against “our own” exploiters and against “our own” generals! Let’s struggle together against the capitalist war, against the capitalist peace! Let’s turn the capitalist war into a global class insurrection for communism!
