MIM(Prisons) is a cell of revolutionaries serving the oppressed masses inside U.$. prisons, guided by the communist ideology of Marxism-Leninism-Maoism.
Under Lock & Key is a news service written by and for prisoners with a focus on what is going on behind bars throughout the United States. Under Lock & Key is available to U.S. prisoners for free through MIM(Prisons)'s Free Political Literature to Prisoners Program, by writing:
MIM(Prisons) PO Box 40799 San Francisco, CA 94140.
I just received and read my first issue of Under Lock &
Key. Thank you and your contributors for putting out such a thought
provoking publication! I especially appreciated the reporting on
Palestine and Syria.
…Would it be out of line for me to offer a criticism? In the graphic
of Hitler and Netanyahu – a legitimate comparison! Netanyahu is
portrayed with a yarmulke, which he seldom wears, and side-locks, which
he has never(?) worn, thus emphasizing his Jewishness, when the real
problem is his Zionism. I happen to believe that all of us have a degree
of anti-semitism (and anti-blackness, misogyny, etc.) instilled in us by
growing up in this society and it’s important to keep centering love and
solidarity toward our Jewish anti-Zionist brothers and sisters.
MIM(Prisons) responds: Yes, we always welcome
criticism, especially from our fans and comrades. And we completely
agree that Zionism is the enemy, as an extension of imperialism, and not
Jews or even Judaism. Jewish people in this country have been
represented disproportionately at the front lines of opposing the
genocide in Gaza in recent months.
We would agree that we all have sexism and racism implanted in us by
virtue of being in this society. Don’t necessarily agree about the
anti-semitism, as that is not universal in the context of the United
$tates. Though we can’t speak for the artist behind that art, which was
made some years ago. It may have been that the artist just didn’t know
what Netanyahu looks like, we don’t know. And as we’ve published the
slogan before, “Zionism is Anti-Semitism.” We’d also point out that
citizens of I$rael, just as citizens of the United $tates, are criminals
(some of us in the process of reforming) for their roles in oppressing
and exploiting other nations. As you say, we are all impacted by this
oppressive society in negative ways. But yes, we agree with you in
opposing any blanket condemnation of Jews because of I$rael and did not
intend to promote such a message.
Operation Al-Aqsa Flood, where the Palestinian resistance factions
(of which the Islamic Resistance Movement, Hamas, was the largest)
united in response to the continued occupation of their homeland by the
Zionist entity, was launched on 7 October 2023. Since then, the brutal
daily oppression by the occupation forces, and the continued desecration
and assaults on Al-Aqsa Mosque atop al-Haram al-Sharif in occupied
Al-Quds continues.(1) In the last 15 months, there have been many
occasions to have political discussions and pass out literature
regarding Palestine in the hopes of bolstering the support for Palestine
among the imprisoned lumpen here in the South Bay. I would never assume
this to be an easy task, and it hasn’t been, but slowly but surely more
people are breaking from the miasma of post-9/11 anti-Arab/Islamophobic
sentiments (which itself is an accomplishment as this has been deeply
ingrained in the Amerikan consciousness since the beginning of the
so-called “War on Terror”).
Here in the majority liberal South Bay, the main sources that
prisoners get their news from is the San Jose Mercury News
newspaper and the local news channel, Fox 2 News. Like all
bourgeois media, both have been reporting on the genocidal Zionist war
on Palestine from the general viewpoint of the Democratic Party, that
is, a pro-U.$., pro-i$rael view (with some small exceptions, most coming
in the form of re-prints of articles by New York Times columnist
Nicholas Kristof and the occasional pro-Palestinian letter to the
editor, though they have never printed any that I persynally have
sent).(2) So on that note, it has been of paramount importance to combat
the repetitive assertions of the usual incessant line, “the war began
when Hamas terrorists (sic) launched a surprise attack on southern
Israel (sic) …”, which is taken as unquestionable truth in line with the
discourse of post-9/11 hysteria plaguing the psyches of those here on
Occupied Turtle Island.
Being that the events of 11 September 2001 (9/11) are the main source
of today’s generalized sentiments in a large portion of Amerika’s
collective psyche, I believed it to be fitting to begin my organizing
work by passing out and making available copies of Ward Churchill’s
wonderfully insightful 2001 essay “On the Justice of Roosting Chickens
(Some People Push Back),” which echoes a quote made by Malcolm X shortly
after the assassination of John F. Kennedy on 22 November 1963. I chose
this essay because it, more than any other short and concise work on the
subject, blows out of the water the commonly accepted reasons,
propagated by the U.$. government, on the causes of 9/11. Churchill
centers the reasons firmly on the shoulders of Amerikan imperialism and
neocolonial exploitation and oppression of the Arab world.
I paired this essay with copies I made of AIPS comrade Lila’s equally
insightful and engaging article “What is
Hamas?” (see Under Lock & Key No. 85). USW comrade Da
Pale One’s October 2023 article “A
Brief History on Palestine” from ULK No. 84 was also very
helpful for laying a basis for those willing to challenge their
preconceived notions on Palestine, and those who had no previous opinion
on the region and its indigenous inhabitants and wanted to learn
more.
The conversations I had regarding the above writings led to much more
interest into what the actual truth is behind the Palestinian people’s
valiant struggle against the ideology of Zionism and its
settler-colonial project, and why it seems that Amerikan media has over
the decades either been completely silent or ambivalently acquiescing to
the will of the Zionist entity, protecting its blatant aggression and
genocidal mentality towards the Palestinian people and its denial of
their legitimate claims to the hystoric land of Palestine.
Who Supports Palestine
vs. I$rael?
Though it is probably obvious, those who are most against Palestine
in this jail are most of the Euro-Amerikans, as well as the
bible-thumping Christians. On the flip side, the people I have been
working with and who I have persynally found to be most interested are:
the Vietnamese prisoners and the Samoans/Pacific Islanders. There are
large communities of both in San Jose and, just like the New Afrikan
neighborhoods and the Chican@ varrios, they are also subject to brutal
occupation and surveillance by SJPD pigs and at times also catch the
ever-watching gaze of the FBI, which has a main field office in the
largely gentrified town of Campbell, west of downtown.
I have had many interesting conversations with Vietnamese prisoners,
not just on Palestine, but also on the the genocidal Amerikan war
against the people of Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia. I get a general
feeling from these discussions that, though they are fiercely proud of
their peoples’ decisive victory against the world’s #1 bully,
imperialist Amerika, they are also troubled by the largely unanswered
and undiscussed questions of, “What went wrong? What happened to our
peoples’ beautiful vision of a future communist nation?” I am glad to
see them attempting to answer these questions, decades after many of
their family members fled the atrocities of the Amerikan military and
their South Vietnamese puppets.
On a final note, both the people of Vietnam and the people of Samoa
have had firsthand experience with European colonialism and Amerikan
hegemony. The fact that they are able to connect their peoples’
struggles to the relatable struggles of the people of Palestine is a
success that I am willing to celebrate.
Prison Tablet
Propaganda Continues, With a Victory
A barrier that those organizing for Palestine behind the walls, have
had to deal with since Al-Aqsa Flood is the Christian Zionist prison
ministries whom, as comrade Firewater noted in ULK No. 87,
“have a monopoly on [the] tablets … [that] needs to be broken up!”(3) I
want to thank both comrade Firewater and comrade Triumphant very much
for their insights on this topic in the Texas Department of Criminal
Justice (TDCJ). Before writing my original article on it, comrades in
California began submitting multiple complaints related to the education
app on Our tablets, “Edovo”, which allows ministries like the right-wing
evangelists who produce the “Real Vida TV” podcast from their studio in
Tyler, TX, to continue to upload content that radiates conservative
Christian or Christian Zionist rhetoric and beliefs. Much of this
messaging is equal parts antisemitic, anti-Arab, Islamophobic, queer and
transphobic and anti-immigrant. Thankfully, in apparent response to this
deluge of complaints, Edovo removed all of Real Vida’s content from
their platform, which is as much of a win as We could have hoped. A more
long-term goal would be to get MIM content on our tablets for a
refreshing counterpoint to Our enemies’ propaganda.
This removal of Real Vida from Edovo does not account for the fact
that on other tablets and apps in other states’ jails and prison
systems, Real Vida continues to be available as Triumphant and Firewater
have noted from the Texas prison system. In research I conducted after
reading both comrades’ responses, I found out several things. Firstly,
the tablet app called “Pando” is indeed, as Firewater suspected, created
and maintained by “right-wing evangelist kooks” as I was able to
ascertain from watching a podcast interview with the main creator of the
app, Isaac Holt.(4) I further learned that the apparent go-to excuse for
Pando refusing content from providers is because “they only want to
upload high-quality Christian content”(4), which apparently means
refusing content from Christian organizations and denominations with a
more liberal/progressive worldview like Unitarian Universalists.
I also heard a radio show/podcast that our TX comrades are likely
familiar with called “The Prison Show” (which airs every Friday night
from 9-11 PM central on KPFT 90.1 FM out of Houston). They recently
uploaded about 50 of their previous episodes to Edovo, from December
2023 to November 2024. In several episodes they discuss the ridiculous
game of stringing along and avoidance that both TDCJ and Securus
Technologies played with David Collingsworth (the current producer of
the show) for over four years in the shows quest to get on the tablets
so everyone across TDCJ and in other states could tune in. He also spoke
about their meetings with Pando executives who asked them to sign a
mandatory contract, that states that in order to be allowed to upload
content, you must agree that all content will emphatically “preach the
word of Jesus”.(5) This ridiculous prerequisite should tell you all you
need to know about Pando, its CEO Jake Bodine and what they and the TDCJ
are trying to promote: an endless cycle of brainwashed evangelic “field
ministers”, of which I’m told TDCJ already has a great deal of.
Origins of Zionism and
Christian Zionism
Central to the understanding of the land of Palestine and the
Palestinian liberation struggle is understanding the twin ideologies of
Zionism and its mostly Amerikan cousin, Christian Zionism.
Both ideologies are antisemitic in nature and began that way from
their respective origins. Zionism, like any other settler colonial
project, is based in the genocidal erasure of the indigenous inhabitants
of a land, in this case the Palestinian Arab people, and the
self-indigenizing of the settlers. The strange thing about Zionism is
that far from being helpful to the Jews, both ideologies are grounded in
antisemitism. This can be hard to grasp for people, as one would think
that something supposedly in favor of the Jews couldn’t possibly be
antisemitic. The truth however, as with most things, lies in its
hystory.
Zionism, began as a political ideology, grounded in the antisemitic
belief that the Jews did not belong in Europe and therefore should be
removed from Europe to some other locale. The land of Palestine was also
not the first place that Theodor Herzl, the founder of Zionism, proposed
to remove all of the Jews to, as Herzl considered locations in Uganda in
East Afrika and South America before landing on Palestine.(6)
This removal to Palestine was of course fully backed by Britain,
culminating in the oft-cited Balfour Declaration of 1917 written by Lord
Arthur Balfour, himself an antisemite, with strong backing from other
British and Amerikan antisemites like Lloyd George, Woodrow Wilson, and
Harry Truman. Britain was the major imperialist power vying for control
of the region at the time, with France a close second.(7) This is the
same Arthur Balfour who was quoted as writing in an August 1919
memorandum, “The four great powers are committed to Zionism, and Zionism
be it right or wrong, good or bad, is rooted in
age-long tradition, in present needs, in future hopes, of far
profounder import than the desire or prejudices of the 700,000
Arabs [the actual number at the time was at least several hundred
thousand more] who now inhabit that ancient land. In my opinion
that is right.”(8)
Having an ostensibly European outpost in the Arab world was also
thought by the Amerikans and Western Europe to be a strong tool for
holding the spread of both Islam and communism at bay.(9)
As the horrors of the Nazi genocide became apparent and as European
Jewish refugees continued to flood out of German-occupied Europe aside
other groups singled out by the Nazi regime, instead of accepting these
refugees into U.$.-allied countries, they were vehemently refused and
forwarded on to seek refuge in the New Yishuv (in Hebrew:
settlement/community) created by the Zionists in the land of
Palestine.(10)
The Old Yishuv of Jews had been living in Palestine long before the
creation of Zionism and the First and Second Aliya (Zionist-sponsored
immigration waves of Jews to Palestine beginning in 1882). It bears
mentioning that the Old Yishuv was, until the end of 1945 and WWII,
majorly against Zionism and the hopes of the Zionists of creating a
Jewish state on top of and instead of Palestine. However, this mostly
changed after the world was made fully aware of just what the Nazi
regime planned and carried out in regards to their so-called “Final
Solution” to the so-called “Jewish problem”.
Finally, after the initial 1948 Nakba (“the catastrophe”, or ethnic
cleansing of Arabs) and into the present day, the Zionist entity has
supported, partnered with, trained the military forces and death squads
of, and aligned themselves with some of the most genocidal and
virulently antisemitic regimes and individuals in recent decades. These
range from Somoza and the Salvadoran and Guatemalan generals and Central
American dictators (11) to recent interactions in late 2023 and 2024
between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other i$raeli leaders and
Elon Musk, a purveyor of antisemitic and white supremacist rhetoric and
conspiracy theories, all in the name of Zionism apparently.(12)
The ideas behind Christian Zionism were around long before Herzl’s
ideology in Christian Europe. Christian Zionism, like its cousin
Zionism, is predicated on antisemitic tropes about the Jews which date
back to the Christian belief that the Jews (in the biblical form of the
Pharisees, an ancient Jewish sect) are responsible and to blame (and to
be hated for eternity) for the death of Jesus. As I’ve discussed
previously in ULK, Christian
Zionism is led in Amerika primarily by sections of the Christian
Right, mostly consisting of right-wing evangelists.(13) These
evangelists descend from the Protestant sect of Christianity that
seceded from the Roman Catholic Church during the Reformation and
adhered to the doctrine of Martin Luther, a staunch antisemite who
authored the antisemitic work, “On the Jews and their Lies”, in
1543.(14) Hitler and the Nazis were admirers of Martin Luther, as
exemplified by a 1933 Nazi propaganda poster that read, “Hitler’s fight
and [Martin] Luther’s teaching are the best defense for the German
people.”(15) Today the Trump administration supports Netanyahu, includes
Evangelical Christians and the richest man in the world Elon Musk who
gave a Nazi salute at the inauguration.
Christian Zionists see the Jewish people as simply a pawn in their
deranged so-called “End-Times prophecies”, believing that the only Jews
who are “redeemable” in their eyes are those who accepted Jesus as the
“messiah” and their “lord and savior”, thus converting to Christianity
and leaving their own religious beliefs behind. They call these converts
“Messianic Jews”. According to these “prophecies”, those who do not
convert will burn in hell with the rest of the non-believers, as the
true believers ascend in “glorious rapture” with their “messiah” Jesus
Christ to the pearly gates of Lala Land. In short, those “washed in the
blood of Jesus” are worthy and all others are the scum of the Earth.
The largest specific grouping of those who hold these hateful and
outrageous beliefs in the United $tates are known as the New Apostolic
Reformation (NAR), a right-wing Christian nationalist movement of around
3 million Pentecostal and evangelical Christians whose ideology also
commands adherents to capture the so-called “Seven Mountains” of
societal influence – education, religion, family, business, the
government and military, the arts and entertainment, and the media.(16)
They are an organization that we, as revolutionaries, should keep an eye
on, especially in lieu of the “Oompa-Loompa Man” and his MAGA fanatics
taking control of the presidency and both houses of Congress this
year.
Groups like the Proud Boys have been relatively inactive since the
Capital riot on 6 January 2021, mostly due to fracturing after their
leadership was locked up. In addition, other white
supremacist/nationalist formations, like the “White Lives Matter” crowd,
the virulently antisemitic Goyim Defense League, Identity Evropa,
Patriot Prayer, Blood Tribe, Nick Fuentes and the “Groypers”, the
so-called “Active Clubs” and many others (some of which have been
reported as trying to worm their way into the Palestine solidarity
movement with antisemitic signage, chants and pseudo anti-Zionist
discourse, i.e. anti-Jewish rhetoric masquerading as being
pro-Palestinian or anti-i$rael) may feel they have some wiggle room to
recruit and organize after Genocide Joe leaves office and MAGA becomes
the “law of the land”. These concerns stem from discussions I’ve had
with some of my outside comrades that have been active in the Palestine
solidarity movement recently in college campus “Liberated Zones” and in
the streets.
Concluding Thoughts
As the Palestinian resistance continues on, steadfast in their
struggle for liberation and return and in fierce opposition to the
genocidal logic of Zionism and settler-colonialism; as the Lebanese
resistance takes time to restructure their leadership apparatus in lieu
of the aggressive Zionist
assassination operation of Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah and the majority of
the political and military leadership of Hezbollah; as the brave
members of the Yemeni Ansar Allah party continue their assault on the
Zionist entity and their widely successful operation to throw
innumerable monkey wrenches into the gears of the imperialist war
machine and a global capitalism in unshakable support of the Palestinian
people and their resistance; and as uncertain possibilities
open up in Syria, all of Our eyes should continue to be firmly
focused on Palestine and the Levant. The Christian Right’s “stand-in
messiah”, Trump 2.0, is threatening there will be “hell to pay” if the
Palestinian resistance doesn’t return the i$raeli citizens taken during
Al-Aqsa Flood. Trump may also take revenge against the Islamic Republic
of Iran for allegedly plotting to assassinate him before the
election.
May we all continue to learn from the steadfast courage of the
Palestinian people, and may they find swift victory against the Zionist
entity in the coming year.
Glory to the Marytrs
Freedom to the Prisoners
Healing to the Wounded
Revolution until Victory
Notes: 1. Hamas Media Office, January 21 2024, “Our
Narrative… Operation Al-Aqsa Flood”,
www.palestinechronicle.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/PDF.pdf 2.
Nicholas Kristof, November 24 2024, “Warrant for Netanyahu’s arrest also
implicates United States”, San Jose Mercury News 3. Firewater and
Triumphant, October 2024, “Christian Zionism Tablet Propaganda Helps
Keep Support for Palestine Small”, Under Lock & Key 87 (Fall
2024) 4. Inside Out Podcast, Season 1 Episode 7, “The International
GPT Version” 5. The Prison Show, September 27 2024, KPFT 90.1 FM
6. Edward W. Said, 1992, “The Question of Palestine”, Vintage Books, pg.
23; and Ilan Pappé, 2022, “A History of Modern Palestine” (3rd Edition),
Cambridge University Press, p.47-48 7. Noam Chomsky, 2014, “The
Fateful Triangle - The United States, Israel, and the Palestinians”,
Haymarket Books, p.96-97 8. Said, op. cit., p.16-17 9. Ibid,
p.29 10. See generally, David S. Wyman, 1984, “The Abandonment of
the Jews: America and the Holocaust, 1941-1945”, Pantheon Books 11.
Chomsky, op. cit., p.29-31 12. Shane Burley and Ben Lorber, 2024,
“Safety Through Solidarity: A Radical Guide to Fighting Antisemitism”,
Melville House, p.219-220 13. Grim, July 2024, “On Christian Zionism
and the Prison Tablet Propaganda Machine”, Under Lock & Key 86
(Summer 2024) 14. Burley and Lorber, op. cit., p.82 15. Facing
History and Ourselves, June 2022, “Nazi propaganda depicting Martin
Luther”,
https://www.facinghistory.org/resource-library/nazi-propaganda-depicting-martin-luther
16. Burley and Lorber, op. cit., p.160 and p.163-164
Recently, in my heathen circle, we experienced some religious
backlash. An offender was caught/told on for passing a kite/note. The
note had nothing in it damaging, but it’s classified as trafficking
here. Noted. But the heathen caught was punished with threats to demote
his legal proceeding; a sentence modification, and threatened. Denounce
your faith, cut your hair, and join a more “realistic” faith, or face
serious punishment including solitary confinement for “investigation”.
Personally I was outraged. We should be “free” from religious
prosecution, even in prison. Just punish the man normally, leave his
faith off the table, and allow the punishment to fit the crime.
Heathenism carries with it heavy undertones in prison, and we do not
preach hate or separatism. We follow and pray to Gods and give thanks,
nothing more. Brothers, keep your head up and avoid feeding into the
hype. Hailsa! And thank the ULK for giving us a voice!
Comrade Grim was spot on with what was said about the ideas and
ideals driving Christian Zionism generally and as it manifests itself in
the prison tablet space.
Regarding the group Grim mentioned by name, Real Vida TV, i
was able to work closely with Real Vida while organizing on behalf of
Texas T.E.A.M. O.N.E. At the time their line on solitary confinement was
that they saw it as torture and that it should be shut down in its
totality. This matched Our own line on solitary confinement and Real
Vida was willing and did assist us in spreading Our message, connecting
us with interested groups and opening their platform up to us and our
supporters. At the time it was only an audio radio show, not a podcast,
and there were no tablets. They also acted as communication assistants
helping us make important contacts with each other from plantation to
plantation as we organized a state-wide hunger strike against solitary
confinement. All this is to say that at the time we had a working
relationship, regardless of their Christian Zionist beliefs.
However, this changed after Operation Al-Aqsa flood. Personally
speaking i couldn’t even listen to the garbage they were spewing let
alone look past it. Ties were severed. To me the question of the Third
World proletariat and the Palestinian nationalist struggle far
out-weighs the U.$. prisoner class-based struggles.
They’re the most reactionary manifestation of the christian prison
ministries and also one of the most popular. A lot of their videos are
widely discussed afterwards and i’ve had more than a few disputes and
even fisticuffs surrounding the B.S. they spew. The cold truth is that
as MIM(Prisons) says, not all prisoners are swayed by this garbage. But
the Palestinian struggle has unearthed the reactionary, patriotic
amerikkkan spirit among the lumpen here. What i observe is that only the
most politically and socially conscious prisoners side with the
Palestinian struggle, and this is the minority.
The tablets play a role in that they have very limited selection of
voices and ideas, particularly on this sort of issue. Pando App
dominates the landscape and prior to March 2024, when podcasts were
uploaded onto all tablets, Pando was basically the only source of
entertainment. i have filed complaints concerning discrimination in
content that is available on the KA Lite app, which is an education app
that has a wide variety of scientific and hard historical factual
knowledge, but the prison admin has to allow permission to download
content. My complaint came after observing that there was no content
concerning Africa, the Black Liberation struggle, and anti-colonial
revolutions. Although these videos have been made by the app creator,
the Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ) has not allowed us
access to the content. i also filed a complaint on the podcast platform
for similar reasons but pertaining solely to Palestine.
The final comment is that outside comrades have to begin to get their
content on the music and/or podcast platforms. i sent a previous note to
MIM(Prisons) on how to do that with the Securus people.
Firewater of USW also responded: Grim, read your
article in ULK 86. I totally agree with you about the Christian
religion and these “evangelists” supporting mass murder and exploitation
around the world. The people at Real Vida are real nice folks, but they
are brainwashed and misguided like all Christians. We need to be able to
copy what they do only for our revolutionary work.
We need to be doing what Real Vida is doing but like you said the
Christian Zionists have a monopoly on these tablets and it needs to be
broken up! I was in medium and high security and all we could watch was
“Pando App”, which is nothing but Christian Evangelists and we have an
FYI App that is run by TDCJ and is all Jesus all the time!
TDCJ is run by these Christian Chapels and they oppress other
religions such as Muslim, Native American, Eastern religions, etc. The
Church of the Larger Fellowship (CLF) Unitarian Universalists’ Prison
Ministry said that the “PANDO” App would not allow the CLF to
participate. Probably because the PANDO folks are right-wing evangelical
kooks and the CLF and UUA are extremely liberal organizations.
Grim is right on when ey talks about the genocide of Turtle Island
and the raping and pillaging of Mother Earth’s treasures. They love to
tout capitalism as the greatest engine of wealth ever created. But it’s
like Orwell’s Animal Farm, where the farm animals are ruled by
their newly formed governance of PIGS!
by Grim of United Struggle from Within July 2024 permalink
Same Struggle - a piece connecting the liberation struggles of New
Afrika and Palestine from the years of their colonization
At the end of Orisanmi
Burton’s Tip of the Spear: Black Radicalism, Prison Repression, and
the Long Attica Revolt – a book USW cadre have been studying
since its release in late October 2023 – Burton correctly labels the
prison tablets supplied to the imprisoned lumpen by predatory prison
communications companies like Securus and Global Tel Link(GTL)/ViaPath
Technologies as “the cutting edge of carceral war.”(1)
Much has already been written by
MIM and USW comrades about these tablets including the several areas
Burton shortly discusses: the use of predatory pricing strategies that
extract even more money from oppressed nation communities, expanding the
surveillance state, and behavior modification/digital babysitters.(2)
What has not been discussed in much detail is the use of the tablets as
imperialist propaganda machines.
Of course, all of the content on the tablets is highly censored, with
an extensive vetting process for orgs who want to place their content on
them. On the GTL/ViaPath tablets we have at Main Jail in San Jose (Model
VT-TABLET-5081S) the only app we have besides the GTL phone app is the
free edu-tainment platform “Edovo”, which is – to no ones’ surprise –
full of garbage content.
Shortly after the Palestinian resistance launched Operation Al-Aqsa
Flood, smashing the Iron Wall and entering the rest of their homeland as
a force to be reckoned with, there was an almost weekly upload of
Christian Zionist and other Zionist propaganda pushed onto the platform.
The first of these that I noticed was the feature film “Exodus: Gods
& Kings” which details the Old Testament story of Moses leading the
Israelites to Palestine, or as it is called in the movie, Canaan. This
story, along with several other books of the Old Testament, are the
basis for what Zionists today use as their claim to Palestine as their
“ancient homeland”. And yet, as Palestinian hystorian Nur Masalha
writes, “The Old Testament is not actual history but imaginative
fiction, theology, sacred literature, ethics and wisdom.”(3) In short,
the stories that Zionists base their land claims to Palestine on are
myth narratives, not proven hystory.
Roughly around the same time, episodes of a Christian Zionist podcast
started to be uploaded to Edovo. This podcast, called “Real Vida TV”, is
put together by evangelists from Tyler, Texas who use their show to
spread vaccine/COVID conspiracy theories popular among the Amerikan
right, as well as anti-immigrant, queer & transphobic rhetoric
alongside Bible verses.
Since October 7th they’ve been spreading the usual Zionist
lies of mass rape, beheading babies, etc… that the imperialist media
continues to propagate. They also have been tying everything occurring
in Palestine and the Middle East into the strange and insane “end times”
prophecies that are the main reason for the strong support of Christian
Zionism, led mostly by Amerikan evangelists.
To understand this a bit better, let’s take a step back from the
Zionist podcast and take a closer look at Christian Zionism, which, to
my knowledge, hasn’t had anything substantial written on it in
ULK.
Evangelical Christians, the bulk of Christian Zionists in the United
$tates, take the writings in the bible literally. To get a numerical
picture, there are roughly around 15 million Jews around the world today
(which I’d like to note, a large percentage are anti-Zionist and
completely reject the genocidal state of “i$rael”); in comparison there
are over 70 million evangelicals who share the same “ironclad” support
of “i$rael” as Genocide Goe in the United $tates. Christian Zionism also
finds its roots in the Bible, but it is not because of some altruistic
wish to “return” the Jews to the safety of their so-called “ancient
homeland”. The return and consolidation of the Jews in the land of
Palestine is supported so strongly by the Christian Zionists because
they believe once this has been finally accomplished their “messiah”
Jesus Christ will return, render judgement(punishment) upon the
nonbelievers (which includes Jews as they do not believe Christ is the
“messiah”), and then get into motion the so-called end-times prophecies
of the Book of Revelation (which depicts Armageddon), where the
non-believers will burn and the true believers will float up with Jesus
to LaLa Land.
No, I am not making this up sadly.
Even more sadly, these views are being used by those who produce the
podcast to justify the ongoing genocide and dispossession of Palestinian
people, the actual indigenous inhabitants of the land of Palestine.
What’s worse, at least for Our comrades in Texas, is that these
Christian Zionists go to and have access to all of the TDCJ gulags where
they can spread this poisonous rhetoric, possibly making it even harder
to shift public opinion in the units in favor of the Palestinian
liberation struggle (I’d be interested to know the point of view of Our
comrades in Texas on this). As the Zionists and their imperialist
backers continue to spread their lies to try to sway the opinions of the
masses toward support of their genocidal logic, We must counter them in
every way We can, especially in the writing and dissemination of
articles on Palestine in the pages of ULK, and by
supporting/working on the USW Palestine campaign.
From the river to the sea, Palestine will be
free!
MIM(Prisons) adds: A USW leader in Florida wrote an
article on the Biblical “history” of the Jewish people. We are not
printing that article. But here is their explanation for the approach
they took in that piece:
“I’m hearing pro-I$raeli comments in the quad and on the yard every
day. Prisoners are completely swallowing and promoting the CIPWS zionist
pro I$raeli narrative, ie., that the Palestinians brought the genocide
upon themselves when they attacked I$raeli citizens, rather than
settlers/invaders, on October 7, 2023, rather than in response to
70-plus years of CIPWS zionist occupation and oppression.
“I am surrounded by prisoners who hear the word”Israel” and
automatically think “Jesus”. Prisoners see the entire
Israeli-Palestinian conflict and situation from a biblical point of view
rather than a historical and U.$. imperialist political one.
“The average prisoner had never heard of Hamas, Zionists, Hizbullah,
Houthi, etc. until recently. Prisoners identify with Israel mostly due
to religion and all they are told is that Israel was attacked by
Palestinians, and that Palestinians want Israel extinct, even as they
see the total opposite happening with their own oppressed eyes. Even
Muslims here, due to subliminal incognizance, do not support or identify
with he Palestinians’ plight. They see the Palestinians, not as victims,
but as terrorists, not as brothers.”
As members of United Struggle from Within (USW) have come out in
strong support of the Palestinian resistance, we see this is not
representative of the consciousness of the imprisoned lumpen as a whole.
Thus the need for our leaders inside to continue this campaign to
support Palestine in the realm of education and ideological struggle
among the oppressed in this country. People who are suffering a lower
level genocide through the prison system itself are somehow identifying
with their own oppressor. If the national liberation struggles were
stronger in this country, we would be seeing a lot more support for
national liberation of Palestine here as well.
Notes: (1) Burton, Orisami, “Tip of the Spear: Black
Radicalism, Prison Repression, and the Long Attica Revolt”,(University
of California Press, 2023),p.227 (2) Ibid. p.228 (3) Masalh,
Nur, “Palestine: A Four Thousand Year History”,(I.B. Taurus, 2018)
p.30
The aim of this article is to provide a brief summation of what Hamas
is as a movement. It will expand on the history
of Palestine written by a comrade in ULK 84. Both imperialist media
and revisionist propaganda create false narratives around Hamas,
oftentimes mistaking basic facts to suit their interests. It is
important to understand that Hamas is a movement and that over the
course of history has changed, likely changing as We speak. The primary
aim of this article is not to formulate an opinion on how communists
should approach Hamas or to speak over Palestinian and Arab analyses of
Hamas. Rather it is to point out the fundamental, but often obscured,
facts and history of the origins of Hamas and what it represents.
The Joint Room for Palestinian Resistance Factions brings the
resistance together to coordinate a counter-attack against I$raeli
colonization on 7 October 2023. Ayman Nofal, senior commander in
Al-Qassam Brigades, the militant arm of Hamas. was a main leader in
unifying resistance for this counter-attack who died in 2023 soon after
the counter-attack.(1) The current war is not just between Hamas and
I$rael, but one between the entirety of Palestinian resistance against
I$rael for the national liberation of Palestine. Hamas is the largest
faction of the Palestinian resistance so an understanding of the
movement and its history is crucial for understanding the ongoing
struggle.
The origins,
emergence and development of Hamas
Hamas is an Arabic abbreviation for Islamic Resistance
Movement(Harakat al-Muqawama al-Islamiya). The movement was founded in
December 1987 at the beginning of the First Palestinian Intifada. Before
Hamas there was the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood, which had a branch in
Gaza since 25 November 1946(founded this year to coincide with year 1366
of the Islamic calendar). The Muslim Brotherhood was non-confrontational
with I$rael, which led to criticism and division internally during the
1970s-1980s. Hamas was formed as a way to join the First Palestinian
Intifada(Uprising) without endangering the position of the Muslim
Brotherhood. Under the defense minister Yitzhak Rabin, the I$raeli
military adopted the so-called “iron fist” policy of violent repression:
it used live ammunition against unarmed protestors, jailed
demonstrators, and imposed punitive curfews and closures. This only
added fuel to the fire, escalating into a full scale intifada.(2) The
participation of Hamas in the First Palestinian Intifada was a major
success, leading it to become more than just an associated organization
of the Muslim Brotherhood.(3)
The origins of Hamas lie within the Muslim Brotherhood and the
Islamic Centre(Al-Mujamma’ al-Islami). The Islamic Centre was
established on 7 September 1973, by the founder of Hamas, Sheikh Ahmed
Ismail Hassan Yassin(Ahmed Yassin). It emerged out of the Muslim
Brotherhood, with it’s stated goals of being the independence of Muslim
lands from foreign occupation and establishment of an Islamic
sociopolitical system.(4) The rise of the Islamic movements in
Palestine, specifically in Gaza, only really took off after the First
Intifada. This started on 9 December 1987, in the Jabalia refugee camp
after an I$raeli truck driver collided with a civilian car, killing four
Palestinian workers. Palestinian resistance emerged in response, being
met with 80,000 I$raeli soldiers being deployed to crush it. Hamas
emerged specifically for the Muslim Brotherhood to engage in the First
Palestinian Intifada, beforehand militant struggle against I$rael by
Islamic movements in Palestine were scarce.
Palestinian fedayeen(freedom fighters) network was primarily united
under the Palestinian Liberation Organization(PLO) after the Six-Day
War, a war between I$rael and a coalition of Arab nations in 1967 which
led to I$rael attaining West Bank, Jerusalem, Sinai Peninsula and Gaza
Strip. The resistance was primarily led by the Palestinian Liberation
Front(PLF), Palestinian National Liberation Movement(Fatah), and Popular
Front for Liberation of Palestine(PFLP). In the end, it was harshly
repressed by I$rael with the death of Muhammad al-Aswad, known as
“Gaza’s Guevara,” on 9 March 1973, marking the end of the military
struggle. The failure of the Palestinian national movement marked a
major turning point in Palestine.(5)
The Muslim Brotherhood was spared this harsh repression and Ahmed
Yassin during this time led a variety of political activities and
creation of various social institutions. These were under the name of
the Islamic Centre, being recognized more formally on 7 September 1973,
when the I$raeli governor attended the Jawrat al-Shams mosque
inauguration. Later on, the Islamic University of Gaza, one of the first
universities in Gaza, was founded by the Islamic Centre. The
institutions and activities of the Islamic Centre played a major role in
its establishment, with the university becoming a major site of
recruitment for the Muslim Brotherhood. The Islamic Centre was
officially recognized as a charity in September 1979 by the I$raeli
occupation. The reason for I$rael’s benevolent tolerance toward the
Islamic Centre was to weaken the Palestinian national movement in
exchange for a more conciliatory Islamic alternative.
The Palestinian national movement was even further divided with the
PLO adopting the 10 Point Program which was the basis for the two-state
solution and drafting of peace with I$rael. The Front of the Palestinian
Forces Rejecting Solutions of Surrender was established in 1974 by a
coalition of communist and progressive nationalist organizations who
wanted to continue armed struggle. The PLO became more conciliatory
towards I$rael, and today it rules over the now I$raeli puppet
government called the Palestinian Authority. The 10 point program in its
content may have had some progressive demands, such as right for
displaced Palestinians to return and take back their homes. However, its
calls for peace with I$rael and usage in justifying and end to
resistance led to collaboration as we see today in the West Bank.(6)
In regard to social institutions, the main competition to the Islamic
Centre was the Palestine Red Crescent Society under Haidar Abdel-Shafi,
who was close with the PFLP. Specifically, Haidar was part of the Arab
Nationalist Movement which was started by one of the founders of the
PFLP, George Habash. The PFLP emerged directly out of the Arab
Nationalist Movement after the Six Day War in July 1967. The executive
committee of the Arab Nationalist Movement decided that the Palestine
Section should move toward armed struggle. Three commando groups merged,
the Revenge Youth, Heroes of Return, and the Palestine Liberation
Front(PLF) to announce the founding of the PFLP on December 11th, 1967.
Haidar Abdel-Shafi was both the founder and director of the Palestine
Red Crescent Society, which served as a bastion of Palestinian
nationalism in 1972.(7)
The PLO, Muslim Brotherhood and Islamic Centre were dominated by
different sections of petty-bourgeois, national bourgeois and even
comprador elements. As a result, the PFLP was a major threat to the
projects of both groups given the revolutionary nationalist outlook that
the front upheld, rooted in the proletariat. The PFLP took heavily from
the Chinese and Vietnamese revolutionaries both in political and
strategic developments.(8) Also, the the front correctly identified the
enemies of Palestinian revolution as “Israel, the world Zionist
Movement, global imperialism and Arab reactionaries.” In contrast to the
other factions within Palestine, the front adopted a firmly dialectical
materialist outlook, one based in scientific analysis of material
reality with all its developments and changes.(9) This is what led to an
allied struggle against communism by the other factions, as the PFLP
presented a major threat to the PLO and Islamic movements. To note, the
PLO refers to the mainstream conciliatory section, as the PFLP was still
part of the PLO.
The co-founder of Palestinian National Liberation Movement(Fatah),
Assad Saftawi, was a former member of the Muslim Brotherhood who was
crucial in negotiations between the Islamic movement and Fatah in
Palestine. He was the pioneer of an anti-communist strategy and alliance
between the factions, running against Haidar Abdel-Shafi for leadership
of the Red Crescent Society with the support of the Islamic Centre.
After an overwhelming defeat, hundreds of protestors supportive of the
Islamic movements ransacked Red Crescent offices on 7 January 1980. The
protestors continued to attack cafés, cinemas, and drinking
establishments in the town center. The I$raeli authorities did not
intervene in response to the violent attacks against the Palestine Red
Crescent Society intentionally.(10)
Coming back to the Islamic University of Gaza, in 1981 there were
protests over the Islamic movement’s monopoly over the policies in the
university. The Islamic Centre decided to turn against its former
allies, the Palestinian National Liberation Movement. The I$raeli
authorities and the Islamic movement formed a strange coalition to end
the secular nationalist opposition in the university. The Islamic Bloc,
an offshoot of the Islamic Centre, won 51% of the votes in student
elections and were able to impose Islamic policies; from separate
entrances for women and men to the way in which certain ideas and
courses were taught.(11) It was reported in 1983 that the Islamic Centre
hired armed gangs to attack striking students and teachers. Later on,
certain Islamic dress standards among students were encouraged, with
women who refused to wear Hijabs being attacked for it. A further
bolstering of the Islamic movements against the national movements in
Palestine had ensued with the Islamic University of Gaza becoming a
bastion for the Muslim Brotherhood and Islamic Centre.(12)
On June 1984, sixty pistols and sub-machine guns hidden in Ahmed
Yasin’s mosque led to his arrest and sentencing to thirteen years in
prison. Even if the arms were primarily intended to intimidate other
Palestinian factions.(13) Yasin’s incarceration allowed his supporters
to wash him of all suspicions of collaboration with I$rael. The leader
was freed in May 1985 within the framework of a prisoner exchange
between Israel and the PFLP–General Command, a faction that emerged in
opposition to the PLO after it created it’s 10 Point Program, based in
Damascus. The Muslim Brotherhood remained non-confrontational despite
the repression against it and built up the Islamic Centre, with the
number of mosques doubling from 77 in 1967 to 150 in 1986. This
non-confrontational and passive stance was opposed by Fathi Shikaki, who
split off to form the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, inspired by the Iranian
Revolution. In response to the Islamic Jihad multiplying attacks against
I$rael, the Islamic center formed the Majd. It performed the function of
protecting the Islamic network from attacks and in suppression of what
was seen as social ills.(14) The priority remained in combating
oppositional factions within Palestine rather than I$rael.
On 9 December 1987, the First Palestinian Intifada began in the Gaza
Strip and quickly spread to the West Bank. The growing popularity of the
Palestinian Islamic Jihad led to an agreement within the Muslim
Brotherhood between the conservative old guard, supportive of a
non-confrontational approach to I$rael, made up mainly of urban
merchants petty-bourgeoisie and general upper petty-bourgeoisie, and the
younger generation of new activist cadres, pro-resistance, made up
mostly of lower petty-bourgeoisie and refugee camp petty-bourgeois
students. Hamas was created in December 1987 as a separate but
affiliated organization which joined the First Palestinian Intifada. It
was largely successful and began to attract a lot of sympathizers. The
post-1973 oil boom allowed for many neighboring Arab nations to back
Islamic movements across the region, including Hamas and the Islamic
Centre.(15)
The
Second Palestinian Intifada and liberation of Gaza
The PLO suffered major setbacks abroad, with the Black September in
Jordan, a period of major repression of the PLO there. It led them to be
deported and transferred to Lebanon. Later in 1982, the PLO was expelled
from Beirut to Tunisia. All of this led to the PLO, led by Fatah, to
seek out a diplomatic solution rather than pursuing armed struggle. The
Oslo Accords were signed later on in 1991 between I$rael and the PLO,
leading to the Palestinian Authority ruling over parts of the West Bank
and Gaza. Military collaboration between the Palestinian Authority and
I$rael had increased against the Islamic movement. The Palestinian
Authority allowed continued colonization and occupation.
On 28 September 2000, Ariel Sharon, a Likud party candidate for
I$rael, visited the Temple Mount, also known as Al-Haram Al-Sharif, an
area sacred to both Jews and Muslims, accompanied by over a thousand
security guards. He stated on that day, “the Temple Mount is in our
hands and will remain in our hands. It is the holiest site in Judaism
and it is the right of every Jew to visit the Temple Mount.” This led to
the start of the Second Palestinian Intifada, with Palestinian
resistance being carried out by the PLO, Hamas, and other factions. It
led to I$raeli settlement and occupation forces withdrawing from the
region after being ousted by the resistance in 2005.(15)
In January 2006, Hamas had won the elections in the Gaza Strip,
winning 72 out of 132 seats with 42.9% of the vote. I$rael and I$rael’s
imperialist backers enforced sanctions on the Hamas-led government soon
after. Just a year later, tensions rose between Fatah and Hamas, with
Hamas reigning victorious and expelling Fatah from Gaza in 2007 after
the Battle of Gaza. The government faced major issues, with the poverty
rate sharply rising to 65% by the end of 2006.(16)
The I$raeli blockade banned importation of raw industrial materials
and put a siege on Palestinian banks to create an artificial financial
crisis. Despite this and the rapidly deteriorating conditions, the
oppressor classes enjoyed great luxuries and had high levels of
consumption. This was especially the case of private tunnel dealers who
controlled a monopoly on prices. A large portion of workers in Palestine
found themselves in extreme poverty. There are two aspects to this,
internal and external, and the external blockade by I$rael was only the
external cause behind this.(17)
The origins of the tunnels were historically havens for both
smugglers and outlaws but also for freedom fighters. Before the Second
Palestinian Intifada the tunnels were primarily used for drug and gold
trafficking for high profits. Near the end of the year 2000 they became
primarily used for smuggling arms for the resistance factions.(18) After
the Hamas takeover of Gaza in 2007, the regeneration and construction of
tunnels ensued in response to the siege. During this period, the main
lifeline for those in Gaza became these tunnels with an economy
centering around it. This led to a regression and neglect of the
development of a productive economy or sustainable development. It is
possible that during this time the primary class within Gaza was the
lumpen-proletariat and perhaps still is.
The number of tunnels increased from 20 in mid-2007 to up to 500 by
November 2008.(19) Some estimates by a variety of sources, from the
Hamas-led government, Egypt, and others, estimate higher. Regardless,
most of the tunnels belonged either to Hamas or its sympathizers. The
risks that workers face in the tunnels are immense and there is a
popular saying about the tunnels:
hundreds of tunnels deployed on the border, hundreds of young men
waiting to get involved in the game … write your will, you are facing
the unknown, but this is the land that you loved, roll up your shirt
sleeves, and be a man, you are now at a depth of 20 meters in the land
of Gaza, trust in God and finish your shift … 12 hours in hell, but
remember that hungry mouths awaiting you. Here, death is merciful and
quick … No pain… No white phosphorus … nor Israeli soldiers who might
use you as a human shield, it’s neither a prison here nor jail; here is
God and the darkness of the tunnel and breathing slowly till you
die(20)
Hamas is heavily dependent on the tunnel economy, estimated to make
more than $700 million annually. This economy is ultimately unproductive
and heavily dependent on exploitation, creating a class of private
tunnel owners and merchants who make up the leadership of Hamas today.
Ismail Haniyeh, the current leader of Hamas, is a millionaire from the
money made from his ownership and respective taxation on trade through
tunnels. The specific class relations will not be commented on here, but
this inquiry into the tunnel economy is done specifically to point out
its importance to Hamas. The large national bourgeoisie who own these
tunnels and the petty-bourgeoisie merchants who conduct trade within
them make up the class basis of Hamas today. This leads to an interest
in opposing imperialism and I$raeli occupation while maintaining the
exploitation of the proletariat and lumpen-proletariat.
The Hamas charter frames the struggle as a Jihad(holy struggle)
against Zionism. In its first charter in 1988, it was openly
anti-Semitic, claiming that both liberal and communist revolutions were
carried out because of the Jews.(21) The first charter also employs
idealism to obscure the internal class struggle and only emphasizes the
external one in an idealist manner. This was possibly put in due to the
opposition to Hamas by elements of the PLO and PFLP. Later on, this was
removed completely possibly in part due to the downfall of both of these
factions. As we can see, the ideology of Hamas changes as a result of
its class character and relationships with different factions. For that
reason, we see that Hamas broke with the Muslim Brotherhood officially
in the second charter in 2014 for being too passive. It also shifted
toward a more materialist conception of struggle against Zionism,
settler-colonialism/colonialism, and imperialism here rather than
against Jews and Judaism. In a recent document by Hamas, the
organization states this more clearly:
Hamas affirms that its conflict is with the Zionist project not with
the Jews because of their religion. Hamas does not wage a struggle
against the Jews because they are Jewish but wages a struggle against
the Zionists who occupy Palestine. Yet, it is the Zionists who
constantly identify Judaism and the Jews with their own colonial project
and illegal entity.(22)
This shift in position is important to note. The specific reason why
this occurred is hard to track down but the downfall of elements of the
PLO and PFLP is likely an important factor. So is the Second Intifada
and liberation of Gaza from I$raeli occupation and imperialism. As we
see, resistance to occupation forced Hamas to adopt more correct and
materialist political positions in regard to I$rael. It still obscures
internal class relations for its own benefit, but given the primary
ongoing struggle is against occupation, Hamas is able to maintain
majority support. A wartime poll of Palestinians in both Gaza and the
West Bank showed a vast majority supported: the Al Qassam Brigades(Hamas
brigades) at 89%, Palestinian Islamic Jihad at 85%, Al Aqsa
Brigades(Fatah brigades) at 80%, and Hamas at 76%.(23) Smaller
organizations like the PFLP were not included in the survey. So despite
the exploitation internally which Hamas is responsible for, its recent
practice of being one of the largest groups in the counter-attack
against I$rael leads it to win the sympathy of the masses.
Conclusion,
Reflections and Future Analysis
Palestinian resistance factions following a press conference in Beiruit,
Lebanon. Pictured are Hamas, the Popular Front for the Liberation of
Palestine (PFLP), Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ), the Democratic Front
for the Liberation of Palestine (DFLP) and the Popular Front for the
Liberation of Palestine — General Command (PFLP-GC).
As we can see, the Islamic movements in Palestine are not a monolith
and have changed overtime. The formation of Hamas and its class basis is
important to have clarity on, but this article is by no means an
extensive analysis of such. It hopefully has helped in clearing up
common myths and confusions around Hamas, with imperialist media
constantly making frivolous claims. They range from Hamas having spawned
out of the I$raeli far-right funding to Hamas being a terrorist group
which kills Palestinians and I$raelis. This article hopefully provided
both facts and summarized analyses of why both of these common
narratives are false. However, there are major issues left unaddressed
and a few will be listed here. The political economy of the Levant and
the Palestinian clans/tribes are a crucial factor that has not even been
mentioned. The displacement by I$raeli settler-colonialism and
imperialism has not been analyzed enough in detail. The Muslim
Brotherhood and its relationship to Hamas was glossed over as well. As
an analysis and presentation of facts from a foreign perspective, many
crucial elements are likely missed that are not known about.
Some of these shortcomings may be addressed in future articles.
Specifically, an article about Fanon’s writings on the
lumpen-proletariat leading a revolution in Algeria will be pursued. The
underground national bourgeoisie of oppressed nations in the United
$tates are quite similar to Hamas in current times. The displacement of
Palestinians by I$raeli settler-colonialism and imperialism mirrors the
conditions of oppressed nations and oppressed national minorities at the
hands of Amerika. A greater understanding of how revolutionary struggle
can be conducted in conditions of settler-colonial displacement by the
participation of the lumpen-proletariat and First World lumpen will be
important.
Before ending this article, i would like to make a general
acknowledgement. This article was written with the direct help of a
variety of MIM(Prisons) and AIPS members along with a variety of
comrades not affiliated with MIM(Prisons). The work of Arabic and
Palestinian documentation and analysis played a major role in being able
to answer this question here in more detail. These sources are worth
checking out and have been cited below for readers to read into
themselves if they wish. This is not meant to advocate for communists in
the Third World to pursue a certain policy toward Hamas, but to provide
the facts about and a brief analysis of Hamas to give a deeper
perspective of what the movement is and represents.
From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free!
The illegal, inhumane, and barbaric war of genocide taking place
against the people of Palestine must be addressed from a historical
perspective without fear of retaliation or being “white balled” by the
white supremacist and neo-fascist power structure.
FEAR = False Evidence Appearing Real, and there is nothing more false
than the Khazarian Settler-KKKolony in Northeast Afrika (Canaans)
posturing as the descendants of the ancient Israelites and committing
mass genocide against its melanated population.
Revolutionaries, community activists, and all good-hearted people
cannot afford to tiptoe around this issue. To continue to call these
people “Israel” is to continue to perpetuate a blatant lie and become
co-conspirators to one of the greatest frauds and identity thefts in
modern day history. They are not Israelites and have no historical
connection to the land. They are invaders who have seized control of the
major means of production – backed by U.$. and British imperialism – and
turned Palestine into a neo-KKKolony where its people must fight for
their national liberation and self-determination. Just as AmeriKKKa is
an imperialist empire consisting of neo-KKKolonies fighting for their
self-determination from their invaders, conquerors, and oppressors,
Palestinians are doing the same.
These invaders, like every other rapist, abuser, and tyrant, have the
audacity to blame the victim for their victimization when they decide to
stand up straight so that their oppressor falls off their back. They
claim everything was going well until several members of Hamas decided
to invade their territory and kidnap and murder dozens of innocent
“Israeli” children, wimmin and men. I’m pretty sure all rapists think
that their savage actions are going well until their victim gets hold of
something to defend themselves, and fight back!
History is often defined by its conquerors, and especially when that
conqueror is in control of the propaganda networks, they are able to
shape the narrative for the future generations to come. These Khazarians
are no exception! We must collectively, through international
solidarity, diametrically oppose the systemic lie that they have
introduced to the world through religion, geo-politikkks, the
mis-education system, and the media.
The falsification of consciousness is so prevalent that they have
conceived the world that people can actually be anti-semetic against
them, when in fact:
There isn’t even a son named “Sem” in all of the Torah. Noah had
three sons: Shem, Khem, and Japheth.
“Ashkenaz”, a name which at least 90% of these modern day
Khazarians identify themselves as, are descendants of Japeth
(Gen. 20:2-3), Since they, by their own admission, are not Shemitic
(descendant from Shem’s bloodline, not “religion”), no one can possibly
be “anti-shemetic”, “anti-semetic” or whatever else you want to call
it.
Words matter. Historical materialism matters. “Anti-semetic” is a
politikkkal term they’ve developed in order to prevent those who become
conscious of their international zionist agenda from speaking out or
engaging in the growing struggle against kkkapitalist exploitation and
white supremacy of which they are dead at the center of.
Khazarians in 740 began to practice much of the spiritual discipline,
culture, and way of life of the Hebrew Israelites. History reveals that
prior to this decision these Khazarians were already at war with Arabs
and Muslims from 642-652 and again from 722-739 in what is called the
“Arab-Khazarian Wars”.
When the Khazarian Kingdom began to decline, the national identity of
the Khazarian people got absorbed by other European nations that they
amalgamated into, but holding on to the only thing that would always be
able to identify them no matter where they ended up so that one day they
could come back together and resurrect their Khazarian empire:
“Ashkenazi Judaism”.
During the Moorish rulership of Southern Spain, the great Hebrew
Israelite chief minister of the Caliph of Cordova, a diplomat, scholar,
physicians, and financial advisor, Hasdai Ibn Shaprut, shared multiple
correspondences with King Joseph of Khazaria where Joseph admits that
his bloodline and that of the Khazarian people go back to Japheth not
Shem!
The reason this is so important to point out is because it destroys
the lie that they are some “chosen people” based on spiritual text, with
some divine rights of dictatorship over Afrikan people and other people
of color. What is going on in Northeast Afrika is not a war between the
“white” descendants of Isaaq and the “black” descendants of Ishmael – it
is a war for national liberation against foreign domination… period!
They have perverted the text and twisted it for their own opportunistic
benefit.
To continue to allow this to go unchecked and label people who are
actually descendants of Abraham “anti-semetic” – rather Hebrew Israelite
and Hebrew Khemite – will allow those who are actually being
“anti-shemetic” to continue to drop hundreds of bombs on innocent people
who just want to be free. Since 7 October 2023, a little over 2 months
ago, the Khazarians have murdered over 20,000 Palestinians! And I
understand the reluctance of some people to speak this truth. The world
has witnessed what these imperialists have done to the Nick Cannon’s, Kanye’s,
and Kyrie’s, not to mention the Afrikans and others who dare to
speak truth to power. But all oppressed people everywhere have a humyn
right to resist KKKolonialism – white supremacy. We have an obligation
to our ancestors and a responsibility to our children to say that
oppression anywhere affects us everywhere!
Whenever Europeans are oppressing people of color, just already
expect them to come up with a clever word in order to cover up their
savagery, while at the same time discouraging you to extinguish the fire
of your revolution. That is what they’ve done, and that is what they
will always do! They will call your response “reverse racism”, “woke
theory”, “anti-semetic”, etc. But as a conscious Hebrew
Israelite and a dedicated New Afrikan revolutionary nationalist, I
say it’s time to call it what it is: Revolutionary Justice!
Wiawimawo of MIM(Prisons) responds: We have much unity
with this comrade’s conclusions regarding the role of I$rael in the
world, and the relationship of oppressed peoples to I$rael as an arm of
the U.$. empire. This article validates some of the things we wrote in
ULK 79 about the overall alliances of the New Afrikan masses
who are followers of Black Hebrew Israelites(1) and in ULK 80
on Kyrie Irving and Ye(fka Kanye West).(2)
We are not scholars of ancient civilizations, and will not try to set
the records straight here on the history of Khazarians. What we do know,
is that similar ideas to those above have been used by conspiracy
theorists who believe that Khazarians have controlled the world for 100s
of years, even calling people like the Bolshevik revolutionaries V.I.
Lenin and Joseph Stalin Khazarian Satanists. Clearly such ideas have
strayed far from historical materialism into the realm of fantasy.
Therefore we caution the author above, and our readers regarding these
ideas.
Certainly there is much to be learned by studying ancient
civilizations. But what we won’t learn is who is controlling things in
our world today and why. And while the bible has historical value, it is
not a document of factual history. I$rael today exists by the grace of
U.$. imperialism and its military industrial complex. We must attack
Zionist oppression, without succumbing to idealistic thinking.
Conspiracy theories that attempt to explain all of history are such
idealistic thinking, that serve to disempower the masses at the hands of
an all-powerful oppressor.
While playing with the words of the fascist conspiracy theorists, the
author above does not fall into these traps in what ey wrote. Ey
correctly points out that European settlers are using anti-semitism as a
shield to their genocidal project in the interests of imperialism. And
we join em on the side of the oppressed nations against imperialism.
1. MIM(Prisons), October 2022,Some Discussions on Bad Ideas
Pt. 1, Under Lock & Key 79. 2. A New York prisoner, January
2023, Sorting Out a Defense of Kyrie Irving, Under Lock & Key
80.
Religion was part of the impetus that went into the creation of modern prisons in the United $tates of Amerika. With the opening of the Eastern State Penitentiary in 1829 in Philadelphia, the experiment of molding human behavior with confinement and a bible, the idea was isolation and self-reflection would lead to penitence and a corollary eradication of sin, or criminality. However, the seeding of religion within such a volatile atmosphere never took root as designed, but has nevertheless served a persisting role behind the walls, bars and fences of condemnation and incapacitation, with positive and negative consequences. This short article visits the phenomenon of Black religion as it occurs from a materialist perspective within the Michigan Department of Corrections (MDOC), and its implications relative to Black life inside and outside the walls.
Social organization within the MDOC is controlled by Black men from the enclaves of cities hosting large segments of Black denizens. Power dynamics on the prison yards were determined by crews and cliques from these enclaves, with the inhabitants of Detroit overwhelmingly determining the direction and atmosphere of the prison yard; but the power of crews and cliques would start to diminish as a result of the Black power movements of the 1960s and 70s which had serious implications on how social (power) dynamics would be reformed. This reshaped the inner prison structure within the MDOC.
The prison system witnessed an exodus of Blacks from Christianity into the bosom of Black Muslimhood (Islam) for many Black cons – often infused with a radicalism endemic of the times. As prisoners from the cross-section of Michigan cities with the largest Black neighborhoods adopted membership into religious organizations like the Moorish Science Temple of America (MSTA), Orthodox Islam, the Nation of Islam (NOI), and lastly the Melanic Palace (and Islamic Palace) of the Rising Sun (MPRS/MIPRS), the diversity of the crews/cliques coagulated into unions of these religious folds. The yard was now structured, for the most part, by these four religious blocs who set the rules of compliance and how prisoners related to the powers that be: prison guards and administrators.
These Black religions served multiple functions from individual protection and a greater collective security in the face of growing quantitative and qualitative changes characterized by violence; a sense of belonging; quasi-familyhood and a material support system, however loose; an avenue to educate oneself and engage in character edification for self-betterment; an alternative power base to offset, counter and resist the state agency of the MDOC and its forms of repression, oppression, and aggression typical of a white political body utilized to isolate, control and dominate potential Black rebels, societal dropouts, and the politicized elements capable of organizing and fomenting direct opposition to white racism and anti-Black hate and containment.
During the onset of the 1980s, the Melanic Islamic Palace of the Rising Sun caught fire with its inductee membership [soaring] to rival other Black religious groups. But what set the Melanic Islamic Palace apart was their willingness to inflict violence on prison guards and staff. This, too, would prove to have both positive and negative consequences. Positive in that energy was invested in degrees of political education and the building of a requisite consciousness steeped in Black nationalist rhetoric, which spilled over and was consumed primarily by the NOI, and to lesser degrees the MSTA and Orthodox Muslims. Negative in that the State, like any serious sociopolitical entity, started focusing attention on these groups which would later bloom into a tsunami of backlash and repression that would blast the political and radical elements out of MDOC religious groups, pushing them to take up a near exclusive God-centric and moralistic brand of religious practice.
The Melanics would eventually be repressed, banned from group service, and branded a security threat group which is tantamount to free society’s terrorist designation. The ripple effects of this move would fuel the aftershocks for decades to come to this very day. Political content and its verbiage are now nearly obsolete among the Black religious groups for fear of repression and possible banishment of group worship. Radical activism has not only largely died out, but can also be frowned upon by Black religious adherents. The yard structure and its rules based compliance has all but evaporated with exception of a few prisons. And with those older prisoners from the 1970s and 80s having returned to society, become frail seniors in prison or having died off, a leadership vacuum was opened to be filled by the incoming street gangs of the younger generation who would steer asunder the remaining residue of rule by structure. A by-product of this alteration in yard power has been that the Black religious groups have become old in age relative to its membership, have become socially and politically ineffective, and have reverted to existing as mere prison social groups who sometimes operate as prison yard gangs.
In the midst of the expiring decades in prison from the 1970s to the 2020s, the move towards Black Muslim-ism in prison has had some serious uninttended consequences, mainly, a lost and/or move away from Afrikanism (consciously and unconsciously). Plagued by anti-Afrikan bias as a result of post-slavery cultural, spiritual and mental colonialism (mentacide), with the exception of few, the Black Muslim groups argued instead for an Asiatic and/or Arab identity that didn’t require them to identify with the savage, barbarian, backward, uncivilized Africans who had no history and remained primitive, as their white masters had intentionally misinformed them during the breaking process of Afrikans to Niggas. And when/where a colonial based Blackness was expressed, unbeknownst to its propounders, it was delivered from a religious package that actually vitiated Blackness as it grew out of a Eurocentric conceptuality birthed during the Hellenistic epoch.
This contradictory pro-Black western (Eurocentric) religious conceptuality carries itself from behind the walls into open society as one of the nails in the coffin to serious liberation struggle advanced by Black people inside the imperialist center of North Amerika. Unfortunately, Black has proven to be ineffective as a sole basis for unity in this country as its nuanced nature cultures fragmentation, and Black western conceptualized religion only fuels the fractures of Blackness into an extreme polylithic substance that rejects a collective Black consciousness that’s bound for, or even focused on liberation.
But does there exist any light to dispel this dark period of irrelevant prison-religion utility? With the 2022 revision to the MDOC religious policy permitting the group service of the indigenous Afrikan Ifa spirituality, and the often radical Hebrew Israelite religion, one might argue the cusp of change is potentially present, and a new day may be dawning. However, I am not convinced. The perpetual distortion of indigenous Afrikan spirituality with western conceptuality spells doom to prospects of Black religion being utilized for liberation purposes. And like education, if a subject is not used for liberation, despite whatever radical nature it may acquire, and pro-Black or anti-white rhetoric it protest, its final product will prove to be a pro-Amerikan assimilationist one.
So the problem with Black religion in prison, speaking in the context of Blackness, no different than Black religious experience in the free world, is it’s devoid of power politics, is Eurocentric (laden with western [Hellenistic] concepts), and is reformist-integrationist-assimilationist (pro-Amerika). These three elements fight against the ability of the Black body to develop a monolithic character (collective consciousness), at least as it concerns Black unity as necessary for our capacity to adequately struggle for liberation or an activist model and mentality that is capable of loosening the screws and weakening the bricks of the prison complex structure.
Prison religion, or Black religion in general has made Karl Marx into a prophet where they serve to actualize his quote: “religion is the opium of the people.” And while I am certain over time many brothers within the MDOC will be exposed to Ifa and even grow to appreciate and practice it, no different than those brothers who have acquired knowledge about Kemeta, it will yet remain tethered to western monotheistic conceptuality through which brothers will be taught to practice it. In this way, it’ll be of little consequence as the receiving receptacles will fail to decolonize their minds of western conceptuality. Instead, the example of the Haitian revolutionaries must be followed by marrying our spirituality to struggle for power. Otherwise, Ifa will function as a mere symbol of Afrikanism, and brothers will be lying to themselves about being Afrikan-centered while actually promoting an inconsequential cultural nationalism that does absolutely nothing to foment a consciousness that could serve as models to alter prison conditions to their benefit. Ifa will be a mere badge of knowledge; a gold chain or Rolex shown off as a fetish, and will soon be denigrated to the margins of irrelevancy on par with the rest of black prison religions within the MDOC.
In my final analysis, drawing from more than two decades inside the cage, I conclude Black religion in the MDOC has been regressive. And contrary to some external beliefs outside the walls, Black prison-religion is not progressing towards Afrikan-based religious affiliation. Black Islamism is still the preferred go-to as it has successfully positioned itself as the popular vehicle for black intellectualism, freedom and expression of Black pride. In the end, however, Black religion in the MDOC is failing Black convicts and has betrayed and continues to betray authentic Black activism and struggle.
A core aspect of Marxism-Leninism-Maoism is the bond between theory
and practice. For instance, there is a theoretical analysis of the labor
aristocracy in the imperialist countries and the practical application
of that theory is not organizing around labor aristocrat interests.
There is a theoretical analysis of building independent institutions
among the masses; and the practical application of that theory is
building United Struggle Within grievance campaigns, building Maoist
prison study groups, building peace between lumpen organizations through
the United Front for Peace in Prisons, etc. There is a theoretical
analysis of revolution; and the practical application of that theory is
boycotting elections, refusing to use armed struggle as a bargain chip
and instead see it as a necessity, etc. These are just some broad and
simplified examples of the relationship between theory and practice to
paint the picture. Incorrect practice and incorrect theories go hand in
hand: one strengthens the existence of another.
The main purpose of this article is to start a series of articles
akin to the “Ongoing
Discussion on Organizing Strategy” series which started among USW
comrades.(1) The series has been productive on maintaining a two-line
struggle within the USW and the overall prison movement, and delves deep
into the many questions raised in organizing behind bars. We hope to
bring that energy of discussing strategy and tactics of Maoist
organizing behind bars to that of political line both inside and outside
U.$. prisons. These bad ideas aren’t dividing line questions (such as
the labor aristocracy question or the class nature of the Chinese
Communist Party in 2022) that MIM(Prisons) struggle with other communist
organizations through polemics. Rather, these are day-to-day bad ideas
and attitudes that many people take up within the communist movement
(even good comrades). They enforce liberalism during line struggle, and
stunt scientific thinking. Let’s begin.
1.
Defending Revisionism Through One’s Laurels and Clout
One example of this was when Joma
Sison repeatedly refused to acknowledge the national contradiction as
principal in the United $tates, and communists refused and still
refuse to criticize due to his historically integral role in the
People’s War in the Philippines.(2) Communists don’t look at persynal
laurels or prestige when it comes to criticism; everything and everyone
that partakes in bad practice and bad beliefs is targetable for
criticism. If the Sison defenders said “historically and currently, the
United $tates’ principal contradiction has always been class and is
currently class” then perhaps there will be more legitimacy for line
struggle and discussion albeit it still being a chauvinist and
revisionist take. However, what does Joma Sison being a historically
great revolutionary leader that rectified the errors of the Communist
Party of Philippines in the 60s-70s have to do with the fact that the
current United $tates’ society has developed around the oppressed
nations in a historical materialist manner?
Now if a former neo-nazi prisoner who joined the United Struggle
Within brings up how the white workers are the masses, then bringing up
his past identity as a neo-nazi would be more relevant in criticizing
this individual comrade to the correct line from an incorrect one since
his past practice as an Amerikan First World lumpen could influence his
current politcs. Ultimately, bringing up his past errors (or victories
even) is only a small part of criticizing the comrade, and ultimately
it’s the combating of that idea and political practice that will be the
final nail in the coffin of getting rid of that bad line from that
comrade’s thinking and most importantly the overall movement. A part of
this problem contains in identity politics, which leads to the next
point.
2. Incorrect Handling
of Identity Politics
Identity politics has been a hot topic among communists with some
seeing it as non-antagonistic with Marxism and with many joining the
conservative reactionary bandwagon of fascists ranting about “woke”
culture and post-modernism. The classic Amerikan value of pragmatist
empiricism (the idea of the only way to truly know anything is through
directly experiencing it) is antithetical to Maoism, and it is our
stance that post-modernism and identity politics can be looked at it the
same or adjacent manner in terms of philosophy. The Maoist doctrine of
cadres learning from practice and the masses learning revolution through
waging revolution can become Amerikan pragmatism if we aren’t
careful.
Today in 2022, this pragmatist empiricist idea is popular among the
oppressed nations represented in popular day-to-day slogans such as
“don’t speak over (insert a particular oppressed group)” and “stay in
your lane” when a person not belonging to a certain social group
(gender, religion, sexuality, nation, etc.) is talking about issues
pertaining to said certain group since they don’t directly experience
that group’s existence. Some revisionists see no problem with identity
politics and post-modernism, and think that identity politics and
post-modernism must be a good thing because the fascists are complaining
about it and complaining about it must mean one is a fascist. Other
revisionists have straight up adopted national chauvinism. When the
masses criticize the communists with “a lot of communists are racist and
don’t really care about black/brown/indigenous people” these chauvinists
resort to taking up fascist talking points and attitudes against
identity politics and post-modernism.
It is an important Maoist doctrine that post-modernism and
pragmatist-empiricism are both unscientific capitalist garbage that
poisons the masses. It is another Maoist doctrine that the masses under
oppression will go to the current superstructure of the enemy
(capitalist philosophies, capitalist institutions, the capitalist state,
etc.) during times of oppression. When communists have failed the masses
of the United $tates for 400 years by supporting the white workers and
putting the national contradiction beneath white worker interests at
best and attacking oppressed nation masses alongside the white workers
at worst, then perhaps we shouldn’t be surprised when the oppressed
nations go to classical Amerikan pragmatism and post-modernism of
relying on lived experiences and changing discourse instead of
dialectical materialist thinking and revolution. This is especially true
for the case where the oppressed nations are majority labor aristocrat
as well – the class where this ideology grows the most ferociously
amongst.
The communists have failed in Afghanistan with Soviet revisionism, so
the Afghan masses went to the existing superstructures within the
semi-colonial, semi-feudal nation such as Jihad instead of people’s war.
Instead of lambasting the Afghan (or in this case the Chicano, First
Nations, and New Afrikan) masses, perhaps communists should get their
heads out of their asses, and try to appreciate
why Jihad/pragmatist-empiricism as an idea (despite its reactionary
content) is so popular among the masses in the first place.(3)
One interesting thing we see as a Maoist prison cell is that identity
politics tend to be less popular among prisoners which perhaps shows
that the oppressed nation labor aristocracy might go for identity
politics for its liberation far more than the oppressed nation lumpen
who might go for conspiracy theories or capitalist boot-strap mentality
which we see more popular among prisoners and less with the student
activist types that concern themselves more with identity politics. This
leads to the third point.
3.
Hating the Masses for their Reactionary Ideas under Oppression
Identity politics isn’t the only bourgeois idea that the masses hold
from the current capitalist superstructure. There are other ideas such
as patriarchy, homophobia, pulling one-self up by the bootstraps, voting
for the lesser evil, superstition, conspiracy theories, and religion
just for starters. When the masses show these tendencies, many
communists throw them into the enemy camp and treat them as if they were
enemies. For example, a communist student activist type might walk up to
a Black Hebrew Israelite and the topic of anti-semitism could pop up.
The communist university student will call the Black Israelite a fascist
for his views and say the Black Israelite should stay in his lane about
Jewish issues. When Mao said that we want politics in command and
political line is principal, he didn’t mean that our friends and enemies
are determined by their personal beliefs (whether that be politics,
religion, moral principles, cultural traditions, etc.). Mao didn’t say
“any Chinese peasant who participates in foot binding should be
ostracized from the movement.” And we can argue that foot binding is
much more backwards and patriarchal than the common
patriarchal/reactionary cultural values held by oppressed nations masses
in 2022. In fact, Mao’s method of finding out who our friends and
enemies were in China was by looking at a group of people’s relation to
the means of production, relation to consumption, and relations to other
classes; and through this method he concluded that the Chinese peasantry
were friends not enemies despite binding women’s feet so they don’t run
away from their husbands being a popular cultural trend among said
class.
Let’s look at the New Afrikan labor aristocracy as an example. We can
see that the class basically has access to the means of production
through its citizen status much like the Amerikan workers in 2022 (dead
labor of third world proletarians; higher wages gained through
super-exploitation of Africa, Asia, and Latin America; ability to buy
and invest in stocks; etc.) We can also look at how it consumes far more
than the international proletariat of Africa, Asia, and Latin America;
but consistently consume less than its Amerikan counterparts such as how
New Afrikan labor aristocrats are disproportionately more likely to live
under the country’s poverty line compared to Amerikan labor aristocrats.
We can also find out how its relations to the Amerikan labor aristocrat
are far more hostile than friendly as the poorer an Amerikan is the more
likely they are to hold extreme chauvinsit views (i.e. rednecks).
However, as embourgeoisfication of the New Afrikan workers solidified
during the later half of the 20th century, their relation to the migrant
proletarians (and migrants in general) of the Third World became more
hostile as well: previous contradictions which were relatively
non-antagonistic such as that in relation to the
Mexican/Nigerian/Caribbean migrants are more antagonistic in our current
day. So with these factors in mind, we can argue that this class of
people (yes that includes the Black Hebrew Israelite with anti-Semitic
tendencies) have interests for revolution against Amerika but might be
more reserved when it comes to internationalism and involving the class
in it self with other nations’ liberations. This is compared to the
Hindi proletariat who will be far less wishy washy as a class in
involving themselves with the struggle of the Dravidian proletariat when
reaching class consciousness. So in conclusion, with proper political
organizing the New Afrikan labor aristocracy would be a friend of the
revolution.
Instead of this method of finding out who our friends and enemies
are, most communists consider friends as people who have the correct
takes on an xyz issue most people don’t even care about and enemies as
people who hold reactionary views. One source of this ideology is how
Amerikan culture promotes individual thinking and behavior as the mover
of history rather than class struggle. With this mindset, racism is a
problem started by individual Amerikans thinking and behaving racist and
will end when individual Amerikans cease thinking and behaving racist.
The Maoist method on the other hand sees that racism is a problem that
was brought to inception by remnants of feudal European aristocrats (a
class of people) stealing this land at gunpoint and trickery from what
would become the modern First Nations, and enslaving what would become
modern New Afrikans and militaristically invading the Mexican nation’s
land, solidifying what would become modern Chicanos all for the various
Amerikan classes’ interests (whether that be the big capitalist class,
the small business owning capitalist class, or even the common Amerikan
worker).
The Maoist solution is for these national contradictions to be
resolved through the oppressed nations overthrowing Amerika through
revolution. These historical events of Amerikan land conquest, slavery,
and genocide were also crucial in acting as primitive accumulation for
global capitalism-imperialism in general not only for Amerika. There is
no modern day $outh Korea, Japan, Au$trailia, I$rael, $audi Arabia,
Kanada, and so on without Amerikan slavery, Amerikan land conquest, and
Amerikan genocide. Therefore proletarian dictatorship must be
established to resolve this contradiction as well as overthrow of
Amerika. But because of individualist Amerikan culture, national
chauvinism is something treated with tone and etiquette led by student
youth tired of their parents’ old backwards ways. This leads to the
fourth problem.
4. The Sub-Culture Problem
Many newer generation communists have begun their politics through
the internet. The original MIM was one of the first communist parties to
have a website and put credence in the importance of the internet. It
certainly is a politically important tool if it’s a major way youth are
becoming interested in Lenin, and how all the imperialist governments
partake in it in different ways from the FBI surveilling political
internet forums to the Chinese Communist Party banning entire social
media outlets. However, what the old MIM didn’t predict is that
communist groups on social media aren’t the ones that primarily
influence kids to read Mao Zedong and study the Black Panthers.
Communist groups are far outshadowed online by memes, twitch streamers,
tik tok spheres, instagram pages, internet forums, and the likes when it
comes to converting kids to communism than communist organization
internet presence. This has given rise to the problem of communism
becoming more akin to a sub-culture talked about on social media sites
like twitter and reddit than a political movement. Different political
stances from Maoism, Trotskyism, all the way to Stirnerite Anarchism
cease to become guides to action, but a thing to put on your bio.
Various people’s wars and nations at war become more akin to fandoms for
TV shows to obsess and argue over rather than a movement to popularize
and create awareness for. Political line ceases to become a belief and
action that one takes, but a take one has so they can get on the
algorithm. Line struggle turn into flame wars with no purpose of uniting
with others, but exist only to express one’s individual self for the
cathartic feeling of having the correct line.
In day-to-day real life, communism might be becoming less and less
pariah’d in the eyes of the average Amerikan; but communism itself is
becoming more and more revisionist, more and more toothless, more and
more a pop culture joke, and more and more a harmless icon of a once
revolutionary movement that became hijacked by the bourgeoisie after its
death, as Lenin spoke of. We took 20 steps forward and a million steps
back when it comes to fighting against anti-communist culture leftover
from the red scare era. Turns out Amerikan individualism was far more of
an obstacle in making Maoism popular than the legacy of McCarthyism.
We shouldn’t throw away the internet with the bathwater as it indeed
took a certain part in making the oppressor nation Amerikan youth become
interested in revolutionary politics, but we should also be acutely
aware of the sub-culture problem. A single New Afrikan, Chican@, or
Indigenous member of the masses understanding the Maoist concept of
reform and revolution and practicing to boycott the elections while not
calling themselves communist nor wearing red armbands is 100 times more
valuable to us in spreading popular support against imperialism than 300
college students with a Stalin portrait in their dorm rooms who thinks
the white worker is a friend.
Conclusion
Many of these problems can only really be solved through the
development of our movement as a whole. Even writing and publishing this
article in Under Lock & Key can only do so much. Our
dedicated prisoner comrades who read this will certainly be influenced,
and perhaps they will get more insight as to the problems of the
“activist” scene that they will be adjacent with once they get out; but
when it comes to student youth abandoning Liberalism or the masses on
the street taking up scientific thinking, it is up for the MIM (and not
just the prison ministry) to develop and go to the masses as Mao said.
For our readers and supporters outside, we challenge them to set up
geographical MIM cells or work with MIM(Prisons) to develop the modern
MIM. For our readers and supporters inside, we list these problems of
the movement to stay sharp and aware once they get released.
Notes: 1. starting in ULK 73, prisoners write in for a
copy of the full series 2. MIM, Applied internationalism: The
difference between Mao Zedong and Joma Sison. 3. Wiawimawo, January
2016, Islam a Liberation Theology, Under Lock & Key
No. 48.
by Melo x August 2022 permalink
This drawing is a response to one of the questions from our intro study
program on the materialist method of knowledge
[Responding to “What did you disagree with?” when studying “Where Do
Correct Ideas Come From?”]
I disagreed with the basis of idealism not being action. To think is
action. Thought can be provoked by stimuli collected by the body’s
sensors, which is more reactionary. Or you can create a thought or an
idea, but this is action. Mental action nonetheless but action
all-in-all. And it must be understood physical action comes from mental
action. As I write this I understand the materialist method is physical
action. Well I guess I don’t have a disagreement but rather a question,
is ideas placed on paper in book format considered materialism?
Wiawimawo of MIM(Prisons) responds: As comrade Melo X
explains, we can have thoughts that are reactions to physical stimuli,
or we can create thoughts. But this “creation” of thoughts is also a
response to the physical world. What we might call reason, abstracts
concepts based on our experience with real phenomena, or physical things
we can interact with.
“the faculty of understanding is not a ‘thing in and of itself,’
because it becomes real only in contact with some object.”(1)
Dietzgen explained how the idealists see the mind as separate from
the sense perceptions of the material world. So Melo X is correct to see
the unity between them. The comrade also distinguishes creating thoughts
from more passive perception. This realization demonstrates the role of
reason in developing scientific understanding from our perception of the
physical world around us.
We also agree that our thoughts impact our actions. Hence we stress
class consciousness as an educational process that is a product of our
interactions with the class system.
So, are ideas in a book part of the materialist method? Well, it
depends on what ideas. A book can promote contemplative reasoning.
Bourgeois books will promote bourgeois thinking that harbors much
idealistic reasoning in order to deny the contradictions inherent to the
capitalist system. All that said, 99% of our materialist understanding
of the world is based in history, and therefore must come from books (or
other historical record). If we discarded books in our scientific
pursuits we could not continue to build on the knowledge of the past,
but would be stuck relearning the same things with each generation.
It is a crass form of materialism that says everything must come from
persynal experience and direct interaction with the physical world.
Rather we must learn from the actions of the people who came before us,
and as we develop new theories they must be tested by us in practice
through action and not just tested in our contemplative, subjective
minds. Another way to look at this is that books are recorded practice
and direct experiences of other people. Frederick Douglas’ writings are
from eir practice with chattel slavery, and Lenin’s writings are from
eir practice with the first proletarian revolution. When we say that all
knowledge is 99% history, we’re not saying we should spend all our time
learning using books but to see it as a starting point so we can make
new practice in the future.
Notes: 1. Joseph Dietzgen, The Nature of Human Brain
Work: An Introduction to Dialectics, PM Press, 2010,
p.58.
