8 October 2024 – 🧵 Unity of Fields Thread
This PSL statement on the anniversary of the heroic Al-Aqsa Flood epitomizes the arrogance and delusions of the Counterinsurgency Left in the US. They’re taking a victory lap a year into an accelerating genocide, breaking their arm patting themselves on the back for the demobilizing role they’ve played since November 2023.
The first sentence of their statement centers the United States, but even that framework is too broad. The further one reads the narrower the focus becomes, finally centering on the PSL’s own half-hearted and feckless protests.
There is no mention of the Palestinian Resistance, let alone the specific faction that led and leads the Al Aqsa Flood revolt, Hamas. No mention of the Axis of Resistance. No notice of the sacrifices of Hezbollah, or Ansarallah. No notice of the war against Syria and Iran.
Nor is there mention of the martyrs and prisoners in the US. No mention of Aaron Bushnell, Matt Nelson, and the anonymous woman in Atlanta, who all made the greatest sacrifice that anyone can make in protest of evil.
No mention of the specific cases of repression and imprisonment, whether the Merrimack 4, Casey Goonan, or any of the hundreds of others facing jail time across the country.
In short, recognition of resistance of any kind, whether on the ground in Palestine or within the US movement, is completely missing from the PSL’s statement. Not even the word “resistance” makes an appearance.
As for PSL’s efficacy, they’re telling lies & claiming easy victories. Their measure of impact is the number of ppl mobilized to march in circles. Impact isn’t measured in terms of the freedom of zionists to commit genocide. If it were, they’d have to admit to no impact at all.
Nothing has been “Shut Down” or meaningfully disrupted by their protests. The Student Intifada is the only wave of protest to cause sustained disruption to business as usual over the last year.
But these protests have been rooted in frustration with the limits set by PSL and the Counterinsurgency Left. IOW, the most advanced struggles in the United States in the last year happened in spite of PSL’s mobilizations, not because of them.
Moreover, the numbers PSL claims are a lie. Back in November 2023, they claimed their march had 300k attendees, 11mths later and the number has grown to 500k.
They exaggerate the numbers at their marches, while giving no account of the shrinking numbers at each subsequent mobilization. The movement gains nothing from these exaggerations. These distortions serve no other purpose than self aggrandizement for PSL.
Instead of congratulating themselves, PSL cadre should stop to consider how their leadership have acted as a brake on the advancement of resistance in the US. They should reflect on why resistance is not the beginning and the end of their statement regarding the Al Aqsa Flood.
Ask these questions & seek their answers honestly, and you will recognize that PSL is not an organization that is leading or can lead a revolutionary movement. Objectively, its role has been to demobilize and slow the development of resistance in the US.