By Laura Jedeed and Shane Burley
It started last June with squatting. Quietly and without fanfare, Philadelphia activists affiliated with OccupyPHL and the Black Renter’s Cooperative broke into long-vacant public housing buildings and supported houseless families moving in. Then came the massive, barricaded protest encampment on Benjamin Franklin Parkway, a tree-lined oasis in the middle of the Pennsylvania city surrounded by some of Philadelphia’s most expensive housing.
“They totally could have used the cops to disperse the encampment,” activist Wiley Cunningham of Philadelphia Housing Action remarked. “But politically, it would have looked bad for them.”
Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney, who…
The Proud Bo ys have become a key part of Donald Trump’s base, with Trump even ordering them to “stand by” in case of accused ele ction interference in November during Tuesday night’s presidential debate. This prompted Proud Boy organizer Joe Biggs to say that Trump basically gave the group the green light to fight anti-fascists.
“For years, this anti-fascist coalition has built a c ommunity of people who pour their creativity into community defense. And the uprising has built an anti-racist, anti-capitalist community of greater strength and resolve,” says Evan Burchfield of the Portland chapter of the Democratic Socialists…
Over the last couple of years, the term “antifa” has been moved from its historic role describing a type of militant anti-fascist organizing to a codeword for any militant, left-wing protest by right-wing ideologues bent on manipulating white anxiety. As a new wave of Black Lives Matter protests began in the wake of the police killing of George Floyd, a frantic far right in the U.S. has accused every demonstration as being orchestrated by “antifa,” despite no antifascist organization being in the driver’s seat and the protests being an organic mass uprising. Donald Trump has accused antifa “outside agitators” as…
On August 22, a far right confederation of Three Percenter militia, Proud Boys and Trump Republicans confronted Black Lives Matter (BLM) protesters in Portland, Oregon. They came armed to the teeth: open-carried rifles and handguns, shields paired with pipes and batons, and body armor with heavy-duty bulletproof helmets. They formed a shield line, many emblazoned with far right slogans like “ Save the Children,” a reference to the conspiracy theory that Democrats are running child sex-slave rings. After an hour of taunts, they charged into the crowd. …
Introduction
When I first pulled up to Zuccotti Park the camp’s culture was in flux, which, in large part, was because of the sprinkling of frost from the first sub-freezing mornings of the year. In November of 2011, just a month after Occupy Wallstreet began, we thought the real test of the movement was how outdoor living would play in a New York winter. But as people started opening their tents, bustling about to the food table, a small entourage started running to a street corner where some lingering news cameras had started gathering around a lone person waving a…
Abstract:
As an introduction to the topic of anti-Semitism, this article brings together the common issues that lead to the conceptual complexity of anti-Semitism. The breach of anti-Semitism into public politics and the organized left through the two-axis points of Israel and conspiracy theories are discussed, in particular recent controversies in the Labour Party, attacks on religious centers, and discordant views on what qualifies as anti-Semitism. Weaving together personal narratives, the essay unpacks the difficulty of considering anti-Semitism in the contemporary understanding of oppression, colonialism, and white supremacy.
Keywords:
Conspiracy theory, Anti-Semitism, Anti-Zionism, Palestine, Labour Party, White Nationalism
Bio:
Shane…
Book Review: Patrick Hermansson, David Lawrence, Joe Mulhall and Simond Burdoc, The International Alt-Right: Fascism for the 21st Century?. London: Routledge: Fascism and Far Right Series, 202020. ISBN-13: 978–1138363861 (paperback). 268 Pages. $23.60.
When the term Alt Right arrived into the popular lexicon in 2015, it sent journalists and pundits into a scramble to define it, partially because of the undo electoral influence that was ascribed to it. “What I’m trying to do is explain this weird Internet movement that no one has heard of but now may be poised to sway a presidential election,” one reporter told me in…
In our latest episode, the Green and Red Podcast crew talks with author and journalist Shane Burley (@Shane_Burley1) about antifascism and the targeting of antifa by the Trump administration in the midst of the rebellion against police violence currently sweeping the US. We get into lots of good discussion about about Antifa, anarchism, mutual aid, and what the fascists are up to.
Shane is a filmmaker and author of Fascism Today: What It Is and How to End It. His work is featured at Jacobin, Al Jazeera, NBC News, Roar Magazine, Full Stop, In These Times, Salon, Truthout, etc…
The sight of burned police stations and looted corporate shopping centers sent right-wing media into a tailspin as protests escalated the weekend of May 29. Those media and right-wing politicians quickly concocted a narrative that deemed anti-fascists (or “antifa”) the enemy of choice. The aggressive protest tactics were said to be the work of “outside agitators,” a common theme used to delegitimize protests. …
“I’m going by the name ‘Doug,’” my contact said, explaining his pseudonym. “The reason is that Nazis want to kill us.”
Doug is a member of Atlanta Antifascists, an activist group based in Georgia. We connected via a secured encrypted channel using the Signal app to obscure Doug’s exact location and personal details.
His hesitation was warranted.
Days before we spoke, Jacob Kaderli, Luke Austin Lane and Michael John Helterbrand — three members of the white nationalist extremist organization called “The Base” — were arrested in an FBI sting operation as they were allegedly planning to kill a couple they…
Filmmaker and author of Fascism Today: What It Is and How to End It. His work is featured at Jacobin, In These Times, Salon, Truthout, etc. @Shane_Burley1