This is only the beginning.
Eitan Fischberger
@EFischberger
A few days ago, to little fanfare, organizers from the Yale and Columbia's "Liberated Encampment Zones" published this guide containing 14 points that explains the protestors' strategy in the weeks and months to come.
The guide was endorsed by the National Students for Justice in Palestine (it could have easily been written by SJP members, by the way).
It's currently being circulated among many of the encampments and is being translated into multiple languages.
Everyone who wants to understand how potential widespread anarchy in the US might look should read it. Here are some of the most important points:
Point 2:
"An occupation needs to spread in order to survive. New buildings need to be taken on campus, throughout the city, and across the country. Take the enemy by surprise. Strive for daily or even hourly successes, however small. At all costs, retain superior morale."
Point 6:
"Occupations draw strength from the specter of a riot. The April 1968 occupations took place in the immediate aftermath of the 'Holy Week' of riots in the surrounding neighborhood and cities across the country after the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.. Campus administrators, city officials, and the police department worried that any attempt to suppress the occupations might lead to unrest in the surrounding neighborhood; Harlem might invade Columbia. An occupation today will be in a stronger position if it is similarly able to build and mobilize support from the surrounding neighborhood."
Point 7:
"The first task then is to open the campus to the community. Students from other campuses, residents of the surrounding neighborhood, and outside agitators need to be welcomed in. In April 1968, five hundred people marched on the gate at 116th St and Broadway. The NYPD stood down out of fear that violence might otherwise erupt. Similar tactics might be necessary today."
Point 9:
"Form committees. Once you seize a building, get organized around practical tasks. In 1968, a defense committee built barricades and coordinated the night watch. A liaison committee established communication between occupations and with the outside world."
Point 11:
"This is only the beginning. A number of revolutionary organizations emerged from the 1968 occupations movement. Pushing the university struggle to its limit might contribute in a similar way to producing a constellation of revolutionary forces in the city today."
Point 12:
"Two, three, many Columbias. Then as now, it will take the opening of new fronts and the spread of increasingly disruptive tactics, such as building occupations, to pull the emergency brake on the war machine."
View: https://twitter.com/efischberger/status/1783088889072070840?s=61