The Palestinian anarchist group Fauda posted a Q&A series on Instagram during the Israeli Occupation Forces’ horrific attacks on Gaza in the weeks following the Al Aqsa Flood on October 7. Fauda, a collective “mostly concentrated in the West Bank,” was established four years ago, and says it is the “first and largest anarchist movement in Palestine.” Our knowledge about the group is limited, aside from the information available over their public channels and this interview published by Black Rose / Rosa Negra – International Relations Committee (IRC). Therefore, it’s important to note that publishing the following excerpts from interviews with Fauda members does not imply an endorsement. Nevertheless, we believe it is crucial to express international solidarity with resistance movements in occupied Palestine and to learn from the perspectives of those closest to the struggle for Palestinian liberation.
Through these excerpts, we aim to present important perspectives from individuals living within the occupied territories. The following topics are covered: the “one-state” and “two-state” solutions, from an anarchist standpoint; Fauda’s projects and organizational structure; George Floyd and International Anarchism; Hamas and the unification of militant resistance movements; and Anarcha-Feminism.
The content provided here consists of excerpts from Instagram posts, edited solely for brevity. For the complete interviews, please refer to the linked text in the headings. More information can also be found on their telegram channel.
Excerpts from Q&A #1 with Fauda, The Anarchist Movement in Palestine: Questions Submitted from Anarchists & Others From Around the World
First, regarding your question about the “two state solution”, we will never accept the two-state solution. Imagine someone comes to your home and forcefully robs your home. After he sees that you are resisting and won’t leave your home, he suggests that you share your home between you both. Does this make sense to you?…There are many, very comparable examples to our situation with the Zionists, and no sane mind accepts them, so why do you expect us to accept the “two state solution”?
We completely reject the two-state solution. But this does not mean that we do not accept Jews in Palestine. Before the Zionists occupied our lands, we all lived in peace in our lands and did not face any problems, neither with Muslims, nor with Christians, nor with Jews, nor with any other religion.
We seek our individual & social freedoms.
In fact, we do not want any country to rule us, but this will lead to other matters and will complicate matters. The conditions in Palestine are completely different from the atmosphere in Europe and America.
Currently, we reject the Palestinian Authority headed by Mahmoud Abbas, and we completely reject the Zionist occupation, which takes away all the freedoms of the Palestinians.
Frankly, currently the only practical solution we have is the one-state solution. But this does not mean that we will not offer other options in the future…
One of the very dangerous actions and activities practiced by Israel is that it is trying to change academic subjects in Arab schools through its influence with the traitorous Palestinian Authority, in favor of its policies…When we see these practices by the apartheid regime, how do you expect us to believe that Israel seeks to establish two independent “states” on Palestinian lands? How do you want us to believe that it will allow us to be independent?…Israel has lied to us for the past 75 years on many issues. We will not let them deceive us again…
We also believe in the complete abolition of states, but if there is no escape from the existence of the state, there must be a small state with very limited powers in which all segments of society participate.
But currently in Palestine the main issue is not this. We are now living in an atmosphere of war. We first want to remove the occupying entity from existence. That’s why no one is raising these issues now. Conditions do not allow us to search for these matters. We are currently experiencing a crisis. We need to make great efforts and it will take a long time for people to recognize these theories, let alone accept them.
Most people here in Palestine live in a religious atmosphere (whether Islamic, Christian, Jewish, or other) and have cultures that are completely different from European, American, and other cultures…
But what do we do? First, we focus on the new generation, which has more vitality and activity than others and can accept many of the new ideas that we put forward, or at least can deal with them more openly. Secondly, we do not see the time as appropriate to discuss controversial matters, but rather we emphasize solidarity and cooperation together to achieve our common goals…
In-Depth Interviews with 3 Members of Fauda, The Anarchist Movement in Palestine
Excerpts from Part 1: Member 1: The Anarchist Movement in Palestine
Note: Member 1 is the same member interviewed by Black Rose Anarchist Federation, please see that interview for topics not covered here.
We officially established our movement in Palestine 4 years ago. We knew little about anarchist and anarchist movements in advance, but due to the academic study of some members of the movement in the United States and Britain, we learned more deeply about anarchism and saw its activities closely, and that is why we decided to follow this approach in occupied Palestine…We are present throughout occupied Palestine, but are mostly concentrated in the West Bank.
Our projects revolve around several axes. The first axis is educating and training Palestinian youth on new methods of confronting the occupation (the educational unit). The second axis is implementing these methods on the ground in different ways (executive unit). The third axis is to publish everything related to arrests, killings, humanitarian crimes, and the deprivation of individual and social freedoms practiced by the occupation against the Palestinian people, to keep this issue alive in the consciences of all segments of society, especially anarchists (Al-Wehda News). The fourth axis is to disseminate important information about the history of Palestine, the history of the Palestinian and Israeli conflict, and the intellectual differences that the new generation may face from its past, because the facts and turns of the facts in favor of Israel. As you know, Israel has channels that broadcast around the clock in Arabic in order to distort historical facts and spread its false narrative about the past and what is currently happening on the ground (Media Unit).
We only want peace
We only want to be given freedom
And to return our lands to us…
*Please visit @ps_fauda on Instagram to follow up on the status of their Venmo account and how to support Palestinian anarchists.
Excerpts from Part 2: First Half of Member 2: George Floyd & International Anarchism
In 2020, when we saw the anti-racist demonstrations for George Floyd and actions of anarchist Americans, we decided to create this movement in Palestine. On the one hand, we did not want to be like Hamas military groups, and on the other hand, we did not want to remain neutral and forget the cause of Palestine. Israel is really apartheid here. Zionists are racist. We do not criticize Jews. Many Jews have helped us and are helping us, but the Zionists want the Arabs to leave Palestine.
They occupied our houses and support the attacks of the Israeli army against children and defenseless women. Therefore, it was necessary to form a proudly Palestinian group of young people to resist Israel. We have friends in almost all parts of Palestine who help this movement as the main staff. We are present in the West Bank and Gaza as well as the occupied territories of 48.
Our collective is an anarchist collective. Of course, you cannot appoint a leader for an anarchist group…In Palestine, many officials and heads of the government headed by Mahmoud Abbas are corrupt people and have an economic and security agreement with Israel. The Arab representatives who are in the Israeli Parliament are also corrupt people and have accepted the sovereignty of Israel…
But we announce to all the anarchist and humanitarian groups of the world that we are ready to cooperate with them to be the voice of the oppressed Palestinian prisoners, we must help their families…
As the first and largest anarchist movement in Palestine, the FAUDA movement has extended its hand for help to all freedom-seeking groups in the world from the east and the west. These groups can help us in several areas. First, in the discussion of financial aid [see original post for more information]…The second is media assistance. If there are media teams who want to help us in producing and publishing content, we are ready to cooperate with them…
Excerpts from Part 3: Second Half of Member 2: Unifying the Movement
There are about 15 anti-Zionist resistance groups in Palestine, of which our movement is one. H***s and Islamic Jihad are among these groups. All resistance groups are together and follow the same goal. We should not divide them. Israel wants to divide them between the left and groups like H***s and use this division for its own benefit. So we must be alert and not play in the enemy’s playground. H***s, Islamic Jihad, Kitab al-Aqsa and other armed resistance groups in Palestine have always been destroyed in the Western media for their anti-Zionist stance and actions.
The image of H***s reflected in the media is not real…But there are differences in the fighting pattern. Fauda movement has invited all people, whether Muslim, Jewish or Christian, to join the popular and national resistance against apartheid. Well, H***s is purely Islamic and has no non-Muslim forces. But it doesn’t matter, now is not the time for internal conflicts.
In the early months when the movement started, senior members of ***** contacted us. And we had a meeting and they asked about the quality and quantity of our work and we talked together. They fully agreed that Palestinian Christians and Jews should also be helped as part of the anti-Zionist resistance.
Therefore, the goal is the same, but there are differences of opinion in some fields and patterns, which are not the place to raise them here. In addition, H***s is currently engaged in a war and we cannot comment further.
Excerpts from Part 4: Member 3: Anarchafeminist Woman’s Perspective
Due to rapidly worsening israeli genocidal violence, including the arming of all israeli settlers, in the West Bank, we were unable to finish this interview, and hope to extend it in the future
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For your information, I don’t know much about academic studies. I have never done an interview before. I’m just a Palestinian woman engaged in and supporting my comrades in the Fauda anarchist movement. I was born into a Palestinian Muslim family…Here, if an Arab woman is born into a traditional family, she is usually obliged to stay at home (except in the case of exceptions and vows) and do household chores such as cooking, cleaning, sewing, and other things. But I didn’t like these tasks…my relationships with my father and brother were getting worse day by day. I was living between two completely separate worlds…
I had nothing left that I could control for myself. I had nothing left until I personally decided what I was willing to go through to get what I wanted out of life. All the affairs of my life were under the umbrella of control of my father and sometimes my brother…My mother loved me, but she did not have the ability to stand up to my father or do anything for me…
One day I was at my friend’s house and we were talking about her university. I don’t know how the conversation got carried away to the topic of some of the young men at the university. She said that there are some young people who talk about freedom and liberation, and that human right are the most important thing in this life, and she mentioned to me that they adopted some ideas called…anarchism.
This way my first encounter with anarchism. After weeks or months passed (I don’t remember), I asked this friend of mine to introduce me to these young men, and that’s how I got to know Fauda. Due to the difficult circumstances I was living in, I unfortunately did not study academic studies. But if feminism and anarchism mean that women have the right to determine their destiny in life and to choose their way of life, then I am a feminist and an anarchist. I cannot stand anything that puts me in a cage and wants to determine for me how to live and what to do.
Excerpts from Part 5: Member 3 Part 2: Anarchist Feminist Truths from the West Bank
Published on November 29, 2023
Already life-threateningly dangerous conditions in the West Bank have escalated even more in the past two weeks, especially for anarchists and youth organizers. We completed the second part of this interview to the best of our ability.
America and Israel lie to everyone. They never attack Hamas. Hamas forces have underground tunnels and use them well in order to eliminate the Israeli army. Therefore, the Israeli army has not yet been able to eliminate Hamas, and I believe that it will not be able to with ease.
But it bombs hospitals, mosques, churches, and residential neighborhoods inhabited by civilians who have absolutely nothing to do with Hamas. They deliberately kill women and children. They prevent any humanitarian aid from entering the Gaza Strip under the pretext that it will reach Hamas and Hamas will use it against them in the war….all nonsense and lies…Children are killed in front of their mothers in hospitals that are out of service…
Israel and America aren’t fighting Hamas. They only fight women, children and civilians. Israel is not a good society for women or non-women. This system is built on the foundation of apartheid. It divides people in one way or another. Even the Jews themselves in Israel are distinct from one another…
Statistics indicate that women in the Israeli army are always exposed to sexual harassment and assault by men. According to statistics, they had 1,542 complaints of “sexual harassment” in the Israeli army during the year 2020 alone. Is this a society suitable for women? That respects women? Or gives women their rights?
Israel is built on the foundation of extremist ideology. This ideology is the only thing that Israel cares about. Everything other than this ideology is just lies in order to maintain this apartheid system. All the propaganda and all the lies, such as the claim they are “the most moral army in the world,” and the propaganda carried out by the charming and beautiful women in the Israeli army and all the influential figures on social networking sites…just propaganda to polish Israel’s image in the world, but from within, Israel is just full of hatred. Hatred between different Jewish sects, hatred between Arabs and Jews, hatred between political parties and on and on.
I don’t know what Palestine will be like in the future. But I would like to see everyone living in peace in my country. Women and men. Children and adults. Young men and women. Jews, Muslims, Christians, even atheists, homosexuals, converts, and anyone who has any idea that might make him different from others…
Why should we be kicked out of our homes? Why do we have to leave our land? Why did the West gather the Jews in our land?…We lived with the Jews on our land in peace. We don’t have any problem with the Jews. Our problem is that they gathered foreign people in our land and handed them the leadership of our country…
