In-depth Interviews with 3 Members of FAUDA
The Anarchist Movement in Palestine

PART 1: MEMBER 1

Note: Member 1 is the same member interviewed by Black Rose Anarchist Federation, please see that interview for topics not covered here.

Everyone suffers. The great disaster is in Gaza, but people in the West Bank and in the occupied interior also suffer from the deprivation of personal and collective freedoms. Arrests and torture in prisons have increased greatly in the past weeks. They are usually large, but in the past weeks they have increased greatly for fear of the outbreak of clashes and confrontations in the West Bank and internally. Yesterday night, they bombed the Alma’madani Hospital in Gaza and killed more than 1,500, including a large number of children.. Are you listening?? children..

Close to 1,000 innocent women and children were killed in this massacre… The world must see and know the truth about the terrorist Israeli Nazis…. Just imagine your child taking refuge in a hospital in the hope of getting protection and sitting there and feeling safe. Then you come to the hospital to see your child, and the surprise is that your child has been turned into dismembered pieces.

Yes, this is what the Nazi Israeli occupation did in Gaza. It killed more than 600 Palestinians, all of them children and women, and turned them into dismembered pieces after Israeli warplanes fired a missile towards the Baptist Hospital known as the « Ahly Arab » in Gaza.

Tell your people what is happening here
Let them know the truth
Not the lies of occupation

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.

One of the main reasons that led to following this approach is, firstly, the freedom of thought of anarchists and their acceptance of other ideas and personal freedoms of others. Secondly, the methods used by them to express their opposition to the state and authority. When Palestinian youth want to express their protest, unfortunately, they only use old methods. But when we learned about anarchism and anarchism in Europe and America, we discovered that there were various other methods for confronting the occupation.

For example, in the past and to some extent today, some Palestinian youth see the fight against occupation only in armed resistance. Since the Israeli security environment is very tight here, these armed actions, which are known here in Palestine as the « lone wolf operation, often lead to the killing of many Palestinian youth without having a significant impact on the apartheid regime and its security forces. So pay attention: the life of a young Palestinian man is facing a simple and unnoticeable event. Therefore, we decided to adopt other policies in fighting the occupation, and we found these policies in anarchism. Here, for security reasons, I cannot reveal our plans and some facts on the ground. 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 here we are facing a fierce media war that distorts the facts and turns the facts in favor of Israel. As you know, Israel has channels that broadcast around the clock in 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). Unfortunately, for security reasons, I cannot send pictures.. but you will find some of them in our Telegram group @fauda_ps and @fauda_education.

We only want peace
We only want to be given freedom
And to return our lands to us

Yes, there are many needs that we have to provide here in order to help others and also in order to carry out demonstrations and protests in the streets, such as:

1. Helmets, goggles, gas masks and gloves for personal safety during protests.

2. Basic medical supplies such as bandages, painkillers, etc.

3. Banners, posters and speakers.

4. Smartphones and walkie-talkies.

5. Water bottles, snacks, and portable food during long protests.

6. Flags and clothing that represent the anarchist movement (especially during black bloc protests).

7. [REDACTED]

8. Notebooks, pens, and cameras to document events.

9. Identities and documents relevant to emergencies or unforeseen circumstances.

10. Money for hospital and other expenses, whether for anarchists or to help some needy people and poor Palestinians.

11. [REDACTED]

12. [REDACTED], and also purchasing some tools for self-defense during protests, such as [REDACTED], a computer cable, [REDACTED], wooden boards, tools for blocking streets, and [REDACTED] to make it difficult for the police and security forces to see.

This is a section of the needs for which we will disburse aid. We support whatever you want to do with the money you have fundraised, whatever charity you decide to send it to. But usually this aid does not reach the Palestinians. Especially if you want to provide it through some international organizations… because in more than 90 percent of cases the occupation prevents this aid from reaching the Palestinians.

PART 2 & 3: MEMBER 2

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. Because we act like headless movements in other parts of the world. In the Middle East, many leaders and political officials who have been the head of a party or group have deviated the movement from its original ideals and beliefs for their personal and party interests. 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.

FAUDA movement has a steering group that consists of several main and old members whose work is done with their coordination. This group is responsible for directing and issuing orders for campaigns, demonstrations and operations. Under this steering group, there are 4 departments. Each of these 4 departments has a manager and dozens of Palestinian youths are working in these departments. These sections are present in most parts of Palestine, especially in the West Bank. Many people also join us when we hold rallies or demonstrations.

Regarding the political prison guard, you should know that more than 7,000 innocent Palestinians are in the prisons of the Israeli apartheid regime. Some of them are women and even teenagers. Teenagers who were imprisoned at a young age and have been in prison for more than 15 years now.

Israel does not even allow a trial for them and they are in prison without charge! We call this, « phenomenon » (اعتقال الإداري). You can search the same Arabic phrase on the Internet and see and read about the injustice and cruel approach against the prisoners.

The FAUDA movement carried out activities for these prisoners for their support. In different cities, we held rallies in front of the courts or the headquarters of the Israeli police. We organized a campaign on social networks. We went to visit some families whose members are prisoners and they talked to us about the torture that Israeli forces have on prisoners. Unfortunately, Israel’s security systems interpret all our work, even our humanitarian work, as security threats. That’s why we don’t publish photos and videos of many of our actions, such as going to prisoners’ homes.

We reject large international organizations, because they ultimately always stand with or are passive to Israel. When Palestinian youths are assassinated by Zionist settlers or Israeli forces, or when Israeli warplanes bombard Gaza and kill defenseless people and civilians, international organizations do nothing. What is the point of simple words of condemnation? Israel brings whatever disaster it wants to the defenseless Palestinian people and organizations only express regret!

But we announce to all the anarchist and humanita 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. Fascist Israel will imprison the father of a Palestinian family on trumped-up charges then the family has almost no income and becomes poor. That father stays in prison for several years and there is no one to help his family. We ask the freedom loving groups of the world to pay attention to this issue and help us in this direction.

In our opinion, every Palestinian can be on the path of resistance by declaring his disgust with the apartheid system of Israel. What does resistance mean? It means standing in front of the enemy with all the strength, initiative and creativity and not giving up on one’s right. This is the philosophy of resistance and we follow it in the FAUDA movement. We have stated many times that a student, student, poet, teacher, painter, musician, composer and singer, media activist, seller, an armed fighter, etc., can all be popular resistance by declaring disgust and taking appropriate physical action. This is the basis of the movement FAUDA. Resistance must be popular resistance. We should not wait for foreign armies or foreign organizations to come and defend us. In this movement, we have started a path that all people can die for and stand against Israel’s racist policies. Today, the movement has entered an important period. We used to be a small movement. By the grace of God, today we are present all over Palestine and we are present and active in various news, cultural and social sections, in the month of Ramadan, and guerrilla sections and campaigns against the occupying Israeli police forces. This is our national and people’s resistance, and people’s resistance has shown in history that it always overcomes the oppressors of fascist regimes. The resistance throughout Palestine and even in the Syrian Golan Heights, where Israel has occupied it, is a uniform resistance and has one goal, and that is to expel the Zionists who have conquered our land and homes. Therefore, we should. not look at Gaza and the West Bank from a separate point of view. But naturally, there are differences in the way of resistance and fighting model in different regions.

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. Our forces need equipment to strike the oppressive Israeli police who attack the Palestinian people with weapons of war and kill hundreds of our friends every year. Obtaining this equipment is sometimes very expensive. Israel uses ultra-advanced equipment with foreign aid, especially American aid, but we really stand against them with the least facilities. We need financial help to take the initiative and deliver more [REDACTED]. Also, our friends provide financial aid to help the families of the victims, the families of the prisoners and the people who help us on the path of resistance so that they can have the lowest level of welfare. You can be with us in helping these oppressed people.

The second is media assistance. If there are me teams who want to help us in producing and publishing content, we are ready to cooperate with them. This is very useful in Gaza. When you check the media, you will see that the western media affiliated with the fascist system do not publish any content about the oppression of thousands of children and women and girls and boys or old men and women! You don’t know about many inhumane incidents in Gaza, such as lack of medicine, lack of sanitary materials, lack of safe. drinking water, etc. The youth of FAUDA in Gaza can present these documentaries with your support and the anarchist media groups will publish them so that the world will know. In this war that we are in these days, many western media have closed their eyes and our friends outside of Palestine say that they show Israel as a victim and consider you Palestinians as terr**ists!

The third case is in our campaign organizations, which we cannot talk about due to our security agreements. Libertarians (context: outside of the US, « libertarian » is synonymous with anarchist, and always has been) all over the world are fighting against elements affiliated with the fascist system. We are also fighting with the Israeli police and we need help. The fourth thing is that our movement is ready to participate in meetings and interviews to introduce the world to this movement formed in Palestine. We invite all the press and media to introduce this movement to the freedom seekers of the world. Write and publish, even the plan of making a documentary film about the first anarchist movement in Palestine would be very suitable.

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 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. When they entered the settlements of the Gaza Strip, they didn’t go after the elderly and children, they didn’t cut off anyone’s head. In the first hours of the war, Israel announced that H***s would behead and slaughter the Jewish people, later the Americans said the same thing. A day later they retracted their statement, and said that they don’t have evidence to prove their claim!

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.

The number of active and effective anarchist groups here is very small. Many of them are no longer active. There are some groups that we have a relationship with and in some cases we work together. In Israel, i.e., the occupied territories of 48, there are also some anarchist groups formed by anti-Zionist Jewish youth, and we support them. But in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, our movement is the only one that operates according to anarchist principles, and unfortunately, this opinion has not yet spread in Palestine as it has spread in Europe and America.

We are trying to enlist the help of all Palestinian friends, regardless of race, tribe, or religion, to resist the fascist regime. Many Jewish youth have helped us in these years. Also, Muslims and Christians have many activists in this movement. All of us today are the leaders of a movement that is nationally and popularly seeking to achieve the same ultimate goal.

Supporters of Palestine can helps us in 2 ways:

1. print our flag (fauda flag) and go into the street with friends and make videos. We will share these videos so our people see world supporters

2. help us with donations. We need some items to resist zionists and need money to buy them.

Q&A with Fauda: questions submitted by anarchists & others from around the world

Firstly, 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? If this is logical, then all of the following events are also logical: Someone steals your mobile phone on the street, gets caught, and then suggests you share that phone or sell it and split the money. Or someone steals your car and after he realizes that you will never give up your car, he suggests that you share the car or sell it and split the money.

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. We may face some circumstances in the future that enable us to present other options and pursue them. Most of our focus as anarchists here is on the new generation. The new generation must know how our conflict with Israel began. The Israeli media is currently focusing on reversing historical facts. The Arabic « Makan » channel, which broadcasts around the clock in the Arabic language, broadcasts films, documentaries, and television programs targeting the new generation and seeking to shape their ideas, mislead and brainwash them.

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. In other words, Israel cannot even accept the differences in cultures among us.Look! 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? All of these are lies. Israel has lied to us for the past 75 years on many issues. We will not let them deceive us again. We first determine what Israel’s goals are (whether political, cultural, intellectual, or other goals) and then we organize activities that are compatible with the local Palestinian culture to confront these Israeli racist practices. The main question we have as Palestinian anarchists is to guarantee our individual and social freedoms. Often, even a workers’ state as a transitional stage causes major problems and can lead to tyranny, injustice, and the abuse of power to take away the freedoms of others. Focusing excessively on laws and the management of society by the state will lead to excessive accumulation of power, as we have seen in many Marxist movements, and this will increase the possibilities of corruption and tyranny. 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 here 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. This is why our people sometimes see social classes and the differences between these classes as very natural and sensical. Here in Palestine, we try to focus on commonalities more than differences. Of course, there are many things that Palestinian society, especially the older generations, may not accept. The reason is that they were raised in a somewhat traditional and religious environment.

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. There are a large number of our siblings from other religions and different orientations with whom we cooperate, including Jews, Christians, Muslims, LGBTQ+, and others. We need very broad media support. Currently, the Palestinian media is blacked out and blocked all over the world, especially in the West. We call on all our siblings and comrades in the world to officially monitor Palestinian news from Palestinian channels, translate it into English or other European, Asian and African languages, and publish it in their media. But unfortunately so far no one has responded to us. We call on all our anarchist siblings and others who stand in solidarity with the Palestinian cause not to be satisfied with the news published by well-known Western government channels. Because we see that they distort and falsify the facts and do not publish much of what is happening in the Palestinian arena.

PART 4 & 5: MEMBER 3

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 expand it in the future.

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. I have a brother who is 3 years older than me and a sister who is 4 years younger than me. In childhood, my life was normal and everything was good. But as soon as I became an adult, problems started with my father and brother. My personality was different from most of the girls around me. Originally, I couldn’t bear to live in a cage. 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. That’s why usually, after I came back from school, I would go to see one of my friends who was an older girl than me and studying at the university. She painted wonderfully. That’s why I fell in love with drawing too. I used to talk to her about everything. She was a very beautiful girl. I loved her with all my heart. That’s why we always talked together about everything. But on the contrary, my relationships with my father and brother were getting worse day by day. I was living between two completely separate worlds. A world that I loved and adored with my friend, and a second world filled with hatred, orders, and prohibitions violating all the boundaries of my life and every little, private aspect of my life.

Imagine… I used to hear these sentences several times daily:

Do not wear these tight clothes
Why are you late?
Where were you?
Don’t be friends with so-and-so.
Why are you wearing all this makeup?
Why do you make your voice soft when you speak?

And many similar questions that targeted all the private aspects of my life. I had nothing left that I could control for myself. I had nothing left until I personally decided what I waswilling 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. They were deciding what I should do, how to do it, when to do it, where to do it, and, and, and.. The only person I could talk to comfortably at home was my mother. My mother loved me, but she did not have the ability to stand up to my father or do anything for me. She too was a woman, but what did a woman have in this house? Nothing. I could go on but…I’ll cut it short: 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 her university. She said that there are some young people who talk about freedom and liberation, and that human rights are the most important thing in this life, and she mentioned to me that they adopted some ideas called…anarchism.

This was 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 cage and wants to determine for me how to live and what to do.

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. These are all nonsense and lies. What is the fault of children and women? Do they die of hunger and thirst and without any humanitarian supplies in hospitals? Children are killed in front of their mothers in hospitals that are out of service. Why and for what sin? Israel and America aren’t fighting Hamas. They only fight children, women 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… All of these are just propaganda to polish Israel’s image in the world, but from within, Israel is 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. We are tired of these situations.

We are tired of the many problems, war, fear, and notliving in safety. All I want is to be able to walk down the street without worry. All I want is to sit in a café, walk along the coast, or attend a party with my friends and have fun together. I don’t think that’s a big ask. This is what everyone around the world experiences and this is our right. These are the least of our rights on our land. 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? Why don’t America, Britain, France, and Europe receive them themselves? We lived here in peace. 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. Would America, for example, accept that Arabs from all over the world meet in America and that Arabs assume leadership there? Does this make sense in your opinion? This is as clear as the sun in the middle of the day. I don’t know why everyone discusses these simple matters as if they were solving complex mathematics equations!

I am very grateful to my friends in the Fauda movement. They helped me a lot. I’ve had very difficult days. I was alone and they helped me find a job and supported me so that I wouldn’t feel alone. I learned a lot from them. I learned from them the meaning of life. I learned freedom from them. I learned from them how to live on my own and how to rely on myself. They even gave me sums of money to get a job. They are really cool. I love each one of them. It is wonderful to live among people who appreciate you, respect your feelings, understand you, and try to help you. It feels very nice. A feeling I never found in my family.