The Twin Cities Anti-War Committee, whose members were among those targeted by the recent FBI raids, is calling for protests outside FBI offices and Federal Buildings across the country. A protest is already scheduled at the Minneapolis FBI Office Monday, 4:30, September 27th (111 Washington Ave. S.).
Emergency Actions to Support Anti-War and International Solidarity Activists
September 25, 2010
Stop FBI Raids and Harassment
A call for action at Federal Buildings and FBI Offices
We denounce the Federal Bureau of Investigation harassment of anti-war and solidarity activists. The FBI raided seven houses and an office in Chicago and Minneapolis on Friday, September 24, 2010. The FBI handed subpoenas to testify before a federal grand jury to eleven activists in Illinois, Minnesota, and Michigan. The FBI also attempted to intimidate activists in California and North Carolina. Read the rest of this entry »
“It is good if we are attacked by the enemy, since it proves that we have drawn a clear line of demarcation between the enemy and ourselves. It is still better if the enemy attacks us wildly and paints us as utterly black and without a single virtue; it demonstrates that we have not only drawn a clear line of demarcation between the enemy and ourselves but achieved a great deal in our work. “
Note the last part. It is true (in Mao’s stage of his actual armed struggle) that:
“…we have not only drawn a clear line of demarcation between the enemy and ourselves but achieved a great deal in our work. “
The raid on multiple sites of an organization within our movement should alarm us all. It is part of a growing governmental trend targeting the left.
The FBI continues to stretch beyond all meaning the designation of “terrorist” in order to make wide sweeps and go on fishing expeditions with seemingly very little hard facts. Too often the designation of “terrorist” has been applied to organizations and movements seeking freedom and independence. For example, the ANC was on the “terrorist” list right up until they won electoral victory in South Africa.
“The International Action Center condemns the FBI raids on anti-war and solidarity activists homes on Friday, September 24 and supports the right of all social justice activists to defend the rights of workers here at home and to be in solidarity with our sisters and brothers around the world resisting occupation and military dictatorship. The IAC urges full support of the activists targeted by the FBI and wide distribution of the statement below issued by activists targeted in the raids.”
In solidarity,
Sara Flounders, Co-director, International Action Center
* * * * * **
Stand with Anti-War Activists Targeted by the FBI!
ANSWER condemns FBI intimidation tactics
The ANSWER Coalition unequivocally condemns today’s FBI raids on the homes of anti-war and solidarity activists in Illinois and Minnesota, and the intimidation of activists there and elsewhere.
This morning, Sept. 24, teams of FBI agents from the “Joint Terrorism Task Force” served search warrants and grand jury subpoenas on the activists, allegedly relating to political speech in defense of the Palestinian and Colombian peoples. The FBI subpoenaed around a dozen activists to testify before a grand jury in Chicago in October. They confronted and intimidated activists in additional states as part of the operation.
The FBI raids on the Midwest have brought home to many people the serious and ongoing danger of government repression — particularly of people determined to defend international struggles that the U.S. government considers dangerous.
It has also brought home some of the many ways this Obama administration is no different from previous governments — in its use of raw and unjustified police action to intimidate.
We have attached here a pdf of a pamphlet from the The Center for Constitutional Rights — If an Agent Knocks.
“Federal law enforcement agencies like the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) have a dark history of targeting radical and progressive movements. Some of the dirty tricks they use against these movements include: the infiltration of organizations to discredit and disrupt their operations; campaigns of misinformation and false stories in the media; forgery of correspondence; fabrication of evidence; and the use of grand jury subpoenas to intimidate activists. Today’s activist must know and understand the threat posed by federal law enforcement agents and their tactics as well as several key security practices that offer the best protection…
FBI raids homes of several prominent members of Twin Cities antiwar movement
Search warrants were executed on six addresses in Minneapolis and at two addresses in Chicago in an “investigation into activities concerning the material support of terrorism.”
By Randy Furst and Abby Simons
The homes of six Twin Cities activists, including three prominent leaders of the Twin Cities antiwar movement, were raided Friday by the FBI in what an agency spokesman described as an “investigation into activities concerning the material support of terrorism.”
An FBI spokesman Steve Warfield confirmed that six Minneapolis homes were raided this morning.
Among the homes raided were the apartments of Jessica Sundin, who was a principal leader of the mass antiwar march of 10,000 on the opening day of the Republican National Convention two years ago, and Mick Kelly, who was prominent in that protest and among those who announced plans to march on the Democratic National Convention in Minneapolis, if the city is selected to host it in 2012. Neither has been arrested.
Kelly said in an interview this morning he had “absolutely not” been involved in illegal activities. Read the rest of this entry »
“The activists involved have done nothing wrong and are refusing to be pulled into conversations with the FBI about their political views or organizing against war and occupation. The activists are involved with many groups, including: the Palestine Solidarity Group, Students for a Democratic Society, the Twin-Cities Anti-War Committee, the Colombia Action Network, the Freedom Road Socialist Organization, and the National Committee to Free Ricardo Palmera (a Colombian Political Prisoner).”
Activists Denounce FBI Raids on Anti-war and Solidarity Activists Homes
Subpoenas, Searches, and FBI visits carried out in cities across the country
By Staff
We denounce the Federal Bureau of Investigation harassment of anti-war and solidarity activists in several states across the country. The FBI began turning over six houses in Chicago and Minneapolis this morning, Friday, September 24, 2010, at 8:00 am central time. The FBI handed subpoenas to testify before a federal grand jury to about a dozen activists in Illinois, Minnesota, and Michigan. They also attempted to intimidate activists in California and North Carolina.
These events are unfolding. We will post updates as more information becomes available.From Twin Cities Indymedia
Three houses in Minneapolis raided, other houses in Michigan, NC, Chicago targeted.
Urgent – Community Meeting tonight! 5:30 pm Walker Church 3104 16th Ave S (Minneapolis) regarding the FBI Raids
On Friday morning, three houses in the Minneapolis area are believed to have been raided by SWAT Teams. While we have few details right now, the F.B.I. appears to be targeting people associated with the Freedom Road Socialist Organization. Besides the raids in Minneapolis, houses in Michigan, North Carolina and Chicago were also targeted.
Raids occurred at 1823 Riverside, above the Hard Times Cafe, and the 2900 block of Park Ave. One other raid is reported, as well. Outside Hard Times Cafe, three unmarked black SUVs (one with an Illinois license plate) sat in the parking area as of 10am, when a lawyer observed 8 FBI agents sitting in the residence examining materials. Otherwise the scene was calm.
Agents had broken in the door there at 7am Friday morning, breaking an aquarium in the process.
The Federal search warrants appear to be focusing on seizing electronic devices, international travel, and allegeing “co-conspirators.” They do not authorize arrests.
The search warrant for 1823 Riverside, the residence of activist Mick Kelly, sought information “regarding ability to pay for his own travel” to Palestine and Columbia from 2000 to today. The warrant hyped potential documents indicating any contacts/facilitation with FARC, PFLP, and Hezbollah – what it called “FTOs” or “foreign terrorist organizations”. It mentioned seeking information on the alleged “facilitation of other individuals in the US to travel to Colombia, Palestine and any other foreign location ins upport of foreign terrorist organizations including but not limited to FARC, PFLP and Hezbollah”.
The wording of the warrant appears to indicate the government seeks to create divisions among social justice and international soldarity activists by hyping alleged connections to what they call “foreign terrorist organizations.”
The warant also sought information on “Kelly’s travel to and from and presence in MN, and other foreign countries [sic] to which Kelly has taveleled as part of his work in FRSO [Freedom Road Socialist Organization”, as well as materials related to his finances and the finances of FRSO, and all computer and electronic devices.
The federal warrant was signed by Judge Susan Nelson at 3:30pm yesterday, September 23.
It is important for many reasons to uncover the facts of this outrage as they become known, and to help left activists understand the ways the government is currently exploiting their own post-9/11 laws.
There have been repeated targeting of people for alleged contact with organizations the U.S. government considers “terrorist.” This has often allegations of “material support,” and accusations that foreign groups are giving instructions. There has also been repeated examples of agent provocateurs who have tried to pull unsuspecting people into illegal activity.
Three houses in Minneapolis raided, other houses in Michigan, NC, Chicago targeted.
On Friday morning, three houses in the Minneapolis area are believed to have been raided by SWAT Teams. While we have few details right now, the F.B.I. appears to be targeting people associated with the Freedom Road Socialist Organization. Besides the raids in Minneapolis, houses in Michigan, North Carolina and Chicago were also targeted.
Raids occurred at 1823 Riverside, above the Hard Times Cafe, and the 2900 block of Park Ave. One other raid is reported, as well. Outside Hard Times Cafe, three unmarked black SUVs (one with an Illinois license plate) sat in the parking area as of 10am, when a lawyer observed 8 FBI agents sitting in the residence examining materials. Otherwise the scene was calm.
Agents had broken in the door there at 7am Friday morning, breaking an aquarium in the process.
The Federal search warrants appear to be focusing on seizing electronic devices, international travel, and allegeing “co-conspirators.” They do not authorize arrests.
The following contains excerpts from a recent piece by Zizek. The full version appears in the current New Left Review.
“The standard liberal motto—that it is sometimes necessary to resort to violence, but it is never legitimate—is not sufficient. From the radical-emancipatory perspective, one should turn it around: for the oppressed, violence is always legitimate—since their very status is the result of violence—but never necessary: it is always a matter of strategic consideration whether to use force against the enemy or not.
“The state of permanent economic emergency does not mean that the left should abandon patient intellectual work, with no immediate ‘practical use’. On the contrary: today, more than ever, one should bear in mind that communism begins with what Kant called the ‘public use of reason’: with the egalitarian universality of thought.
“Lets put it this way: Marxist dialectics without negation of negation is less fixated on “lawful” motion– less convinced of the determining role of necessity.. It gives more rein to unpredictable events and less to prophetic prediction. It is less triumphalist and sees more role for both accident and the impact of creative human decisions.”
By Mike Ely
Some of the following was originally tacked onto an earlier post on dialectics (discussing Badili Jones’ essay “Dialectics for Community Organizers.“) That essay puts forward the concept of “negation of the negation” as one of Badili’s three core principles of dialectical logic.
“Engels talked about the three categories, but as for me I don’t believe in two of those categories. (The unity of opposites is the most basic law, the transformation of quality and quantity into one another is the unity of the opposites quality and quantity, and the negation of the negation does not exist at all.)
The juxtaposition, on the same level, of the transformation of quality and quantity into one another, the negation of the negation, and the law of the unity of opposites is ‘triplism’, not monism. The most basic thing is the unity of opposites. The transformation of quality and quantity into one another is the unity of the opposites quality and quantity. There is no such thing as the negation of the negation. Affirmation, negation, affirmation, negation . . . in the development of things, every link in the chain of events is both affirmation and negation.
“Slave-holding society negated primitive society, but with reference to feudal society it constituted, in turn, the affirmation. Feudal society constituted the negation in relation to slave-holding society but it was in turn the affirmation with reference to capitalist society. Capitalist society was the negation in relation to feudal society, but it is, in turn, the affirmation in relation to socialist society.”
This article was originally entitled: “China’s dark side: On Yellow River, corpses mean cash” and appeared on the McClatchy Newspaper site.
By Tom Lasseter
NEAR CHANGPO VILLAGE, China — From his perch on an overhang above the Yellow River, Wei Jinpeng pointed to a fisherman’s cove below and began counting his latest catch. He stopped after six, and guessed that perhaps a dozen human corpses were bobbing in the murky waters.
The bodies were floating facedown and tethered by ropes to the shore, their mud-covered limbs and rumps protruding from the water.
Wei is a fisher of dead people. He scans the river for cadavers, drags them to shore with a small boat and then charges grieving families to recover their relatives’ corpses. Wei said he kept the faces submerged to preserve their features. Any dispute about identity makes it harder to collect his bounty.
Revolutionaries need to understand change well, so we need to elevate the visibility of dialectics and its controversies. I welcome the chance Badili has given us to engage with dialectics — and with the verdicts he chose to embedin his popularization.
When we raise dialectics, the question forces itself to the fore: Which dialectics? It is linked to our previous controversy: Which mass line?
There has been sharp conflict inside of communist philosophy over the concept that there are “normal” forms of negation, and therefore typical motion inherent to certain contradictions. This has been struggle over how ground our worldview in full appreciation of contradiction, conflict, accident, anomaly, complexity, particularity and unpredictability.
That is why it jumps out when Badili elevates of two particular formulas within his discussion of dialectics:
Negation of the Negation,
Thesis-Antithesis-Synthesis.
My own views on communist philosophy are in a process of transformation, so I naturally don’t want to jump at Badili’s controversial statements in a knee-jerk way. But, it needs to be pointed out when someone promotes aging orthodoxies — when we should be examining these very concepts critically, and when we should be appreciating the effort of communists like Mao to break with precisely those same mechanical formulas.
Adopting these two particular schema would be a step backward for a communist movement that needs creative reconception. Especially because these particular schema have been associated with non-revolutionary and semi-religious tendencies within the ranks of communists.
Fox News recently reported that 58% of U.S. residents believe that the U.S. “did the right thing” in going to war in Iraq. This reflects the fact that most have been persuaded that combat is over, the troops having succeeding in toppling a dictator and establishing a democracy.
I don’t know how accurate the statistic is, but my gut feeling is that it’s probably pretty accurate. And profoundly depressing. Have people forgotten that this war was fought, not for such reasons, but to destroy Saddam Hussein’s (alleged) weapons of mass destruction and end his (supposed) cooperation with al-Qaeda?
Have they forgotten how terrified the Bush administration made them, with carefully calculated talking points? (For example: “Let’s hope the smoking gun isn’t a mushroom cloud over New York City.”) With all the insane color-coded threat advisories, and all the Orwellian manipulation, in the background? With the “Information Awareness Office” under Adm. Poindexter, seemingly modeled after the surveillance system in the former East Germany, making all thinking people uneasy? With Bush spokesman Ari Fleischer saying–after comedian Bill Maher opined matter-of-factly that whatever else they were the 9-11 hijackers weren’t “cowards”–“All Americans need to watch what they say”?
Dialectical and historical materialism has already helped us to see some of the inherent contradictions in the capitalist system and the cyclical nature of economic crisis due to capital accumulation (profits for example) and overproduction (making more things than there are buyers). To go even farther by understanding how our capitalist present was born out of the past economic relations of feudalism we can begin to see how a society based on the fair and equitable distribution of resources and the possibility of a society that fulfills the aspiration of our humanity is being born out of this society.
In a recent exchange on Kasama initiated by the publication of Patrick Ryan’s letter of resignation from the Freedom Road Socialist Organization (FRSO), this article by Badili Jones, a member of FRSO’s National Executive Committee became a subject of debate. We are publishing it here in its entirety so that we can have a more thorough discussion of its strengths and weaknesses as a popularization of dialectics for community organizers.
Dialectical and Historical Materialism is for Community Organizers: an Introduction
by Badili Jones
If you are an organizer working in any way to make progressive change, this framework is probably familiar:
Work to build power by recruiting members and developing their leadership abilities.
Center the work on issues.
Use collective, direct-action strategies as a means to win change.
This was originally on newstatesman.com. This is the first part of a 2-part essay.
Exclusive essay: India in crisis
by Arundhati Roy
The law locks up the hapless felon
who steals the goose from off the common,
but lets the greater felon loose
who steals the common from the goose.
Anonymous, England, 1821
In the early morning hours of the 2nd of July 2010, in the remote forests of Adilabad, the Andhra Pradesh State Police fired a bullet into the chest of a man called Cherukuri Rajkumar, known to his comrades as Azad. Azad was a member of the Polit Bureau of the banned Communist Party of India (Maoist), and had been nominated by his party as its chief negotiator for the proposed peace talks with the Government of India. Why did the police fire at point-blank range and leave those telltale burn marks, when they could so easily have covered their tracks? Was it a mistake or was it a message?
They killed a second person that morning — Hem Chandra Pandey, a young journalist who was traveling with Azad when he was apprehended. Why did they kill him? Was it to make sure no eyewitness remained alive to tell the tale? Or was it just whimsy?
In the course of a war, if, in the preliminary stages of a peace negotiation, one side executes the envoy of the other side, it’s reasonable to assume that the side that did the killing does not want peace. It looks very much as though Azad was killed because someone decided that the stakes were too high to allow him to remain alive. That decision could turn out to be a serious error of judgment. Not just because of who he was, but because of the political climate in India today.
The Twin Cities Anti-War Committee, whose members were among those targeted by the recent FBI raids, is calling for protests outside FBI offices and Federal Buildings across the country. A protest is already scheduled at the Minneapolis FBI Office Monday, 4:30, September 27th (111 Washington Ave. S.).
from the 
“The activists involved have done nothing wrong and are refusing to be pulled into conversations with the FBI about their political views or organizing against war and occupation. The activists are involved with many groups, including: the Palestine Solidarity Group, Students for a Democratic Society, the Twin-Cities Anti-War Committee, the Colombia Action Network, the Freedom Road Socialist Organization, and the National Committee to Free Ricardo Palmera (a Colombian Political Prisoner).”
Dialectical and historical materialism has already helped us to see some of the inherent contradictions in the capitalist system and the cyclical nature of economic crisis due to capital accumulation (profits for example) and overproduction (making more things than there are buyers). To go even farther by understanding how our capitalist present was born out of the past economic relations of feudalism we can begin to see how a society based on the fair and equitable distribution of resources and the possibility of a society that fulfills the aspiration of our humanity is being born out of this society.
