#pubdate 2022-10-15T17:21:45
#title Smashing the State in Rojava and Beyond
#subtitle The Formation and Intentions of the International Revolutionary People’s Guerrilla Forces
#author International Revolutionary People’s Guerrilla Forces
#LISTtitle Smashing the State in Rojava and Beyond
#SORTauthors International Revolutionary People’s Guerrilla Forces
#SORTtopics International Revolutionary People’s Guerrilla Forces, Rojava, Insurrectionary, armed struggle
#date 2017
#source Retrieved on 2020-04-12 from [[https://archive.org/details/IRPGFIntroZine/][archive.org]]
#lang en
#sku ZBH02
To the comrades, revolutionaries, partisans & guerrillas who have fought, struggled & died
To those who continue to fight and sacrifice for liberation and a new world
To our comrades held in the dungeons of the state & capital
To the ones who silently suffer under tyranny
To the unknown martyrs
GLORY AND HONOR TO ALL THE HEROIC MARTYRS OF ROJAVA!
VICTORY TO THE REVOLUTION IN ROJAVA AND KURDISTAN!
MILITANT HORIZONTAL SELF-ORGANIZED COLLECTIVES & COMMUNITIES
FOR THE REVOLUTION AND ANARCHISM!
*** Who We Are...
The International Revolutionary People’s Guerrilla Forces
(IRPGF) is a militant armed self-organized and horizontal
collective working to defend social revolutions around the world,
to directly confront capital and the state, and advance the cause of
anarchism. We recognize and affirm that principled action
necessitates principled politics. We are not a political party or
platform but rather an armed collective comprised of comrades
with different anarchist positions. The IRPGF’s collective unity
manifests itself in the praxis of militant action which we consider a
prerequisite for achieving liberation.
Our role is twofold; to be an armed force capable of defending
liberatory social revolutions around the world while
simultaneously being a force capable of insurrection and struggle
against all kyriarchal forms of power wherever they exist. We do
not enter conflict zones with intent to command but rather, while
retaining our autonomy as a collective, to fight alongside other
armed groups in solidarity with those who are oppressed, exploited
and facing annihilation. The IRPGF believes collective action,
solidarity and unity are necessary for struggle. International
solidarity is the most powerful weapon of the oppressed.
*** Why We Fight...
We fight not only in defense of life but for life itself. The life we
fight for is one of total liberation where we can voluntarily choose
to form communities of solidarity and mutual aid with the goal of
both truly flourishing as individuals and as a collective. Therefore,
we fight against the isolation and prison of capitalist modernity
which has alienated us not only from each other but from ourselves
and nature; turning us into the monotonous, self-absorbed and
depressed “zombie” consumers. Our communities are ones in
which no one dominates or oppresses but a place where all work
together to achieve common goals. Liberated communities are
ones that are no longer under the constant threat of violence,
eviction and capitalist market values and speculation, but places
that belong to the community members as a whole and one that can
ecologically coexist with the planet. Our communal strength
provides the foundation for a free life whereby we can prevail and
transcend hierarchical relationships and become authentic human
beings free from the identities systemically imposed on us.
The current social revolution in Rojava (Western Kurdistan — Syria)
is the epicenter of such a struggle. It is one of the greatest beacons
of militant self-organized and autonomous revolutionary praxis of
the 21 st Century. Within a brutal civil war in Syria that has cost
upwards of half a million lives, the Kurdish peoples along with
other ethnic groups including Ezidis, Arabs, Assyrians, Armenians,
Turkmen and Circassians as well as foreigners from other countries
outside the region, have stood up to the barbarity of both Bashar
al-Assad and the theocratic totalitarianism of Daesh (ISIS) in order
to create a democratic entity which transcends the archetypal
nation-state.
The fight for social autonomy, gender equality, direct democracy
and worker controlled industries is at the heart of the project in
Rojava and the goal for an autonomous Kurdistan. We recognize
the struggle against all forms of kyriarchy and we support the
ongoing revolution in the region.
*** Who We Fight...
The nation-state, authority, capital and social hierarchy are the
enemies of a liberated world and therefore enemies of us all. While
we struggle through self-criticism and collective criticism of our
personal and collective internalizations of these oppressive
behaviors, attitudes and practices, the external enemies; the bosses,
along with their armies and police, must be confronted with
bullets, bombs and dynamite. The fires of justice and freedom are
cleansing and all consuming. For us, there is no stepping back and
no way to achieve liberation except through struggle. Our
communities will only be liberated when we destroy those few
whose wealth and power depend on the suffering and exploitation
of many.
Meanwhile, hierarchy and domination are only becoming further
entrenched with the rise of the far right in Europe and the United
States. As millions of people seek to escape the horrors of the wars
in the Middle East and Africa in an effort to survive and to save
their families and themselves, they are met with tear gas, batons
and barbed wire. The fences and walls that only a few decades ago
were torn down to welcome those in the Eastern Bloc countries are
now built at a rapid pace to keep out those undesirable; the
outsiders, the foreigners and those who are Muslim.
The rise of the far right is, for the IRPGF, a direct function and
result of the continuing disillusionment of the people in regards to
their governments and the ongoing economic crisis. While people
understand that something is deeply wrong with the system, the
ones that are able to provide the simplistic “answers” are the ones
who profit or seek to profit from the emerging conflicts and
instability. They claim to provide an alternative by blaming those
that are “other”; the refugees, the foreigners, the Muslims,
gays/trans* peoples, Jews etc. The right wing calls for a return to
traditional values; the family, gender roles, religion and patriotism.
They want to convince people of a glorious golden age of
democracy and national strength that is simply a myth.
Once again we witness that fascism is in fact a consequence of
democracy. Fascism is not the opposite of the democratic state but
merely a further entrenching of the democratic states’ authority.
While many have rejoiced in the emergence of the far right and
their ability to capture hearts, minds and state power; there are
many who have realized the system is and always was bankrupt.
This is where the fight for freedom and the abolition of hierarchy
are a new path forward for humanity. The fight for the revolution
in Rojava is about creating and defending one such society.
*** Werin Barîkadan!
As anarchists and members of the IRPGF, we acknowledge that
non-violence only legitimizes the state and its authority. We do not
recognize any borders, nations or states as legitimate. For
antifascism to be effective, it must be violent; smashing the fascists
and their organizations and burning and looting their spaces. While
we recognize the humanity of our enemies, we realize that they
give up their humanity when they embark on a crusade to oppress
other people and seize state power. We will defend our spaces and
all oppressed people’s wherever they are.
Therefore, we announce the creation of the International
Revolutionary People’s Guerrilla Forces (IRPGF) to defend the
revolution in Rojava and all those who find themselves under the
heel of a boot. The comrades in the IRPGF are a mixture of
anarchists who are committed to militant action to achieve
revolutionary goals. We are committed anti-fascists, anti-
capitalists, anti-imperialists and against all forms of patriarchy and
kyriarchy. We declare our support and alliance with the YPJ/YPG,
the PKK and the International Freedom Battalion including its
member organizations. We declare our open struggle with all
imperialist, fascist and counterrevolutionary forces.
DARE TO STRUGGLE, DARE TO WIN!
ABOLISH BORDERS AND PRISON SOCIETY!
VICTORY TO THE REVOLUTION IN ROJAVA!
VICTORY TO THE BARRICADES, THE SOCIAL
INSURRECTION AND
THE COMMUNE!
International Revolutionary People’s Guerrilla Forces (IRPGF)