IndyMedia - Vrij Media Centrum Nederland

Wanneer: 14/01/2021 - 15:24

Call for a weekly Anarca-Feminist assembly in Afrin Squat
Every Friday at 8 PM @ Agatha Dekenstraat 37

The decision to form an Anarca-feminist assembly was made last Sunday by some comrades during the General Assembly of Afrin Squat. From some discussions that arose during the Open Assembly we decided that it was both necessary and useful to set up a separate Anarcha feminist structure, which will work together with but exist autonomously from the general open assembly of Afrin Squat.

Aims and Principles

Intersectional not Liberal

We are anarchists and we believe in intersectionality. We are against all forms of exploitation and oppression including but not limited to those based on class, race, sex, sexuality, gender or ability. Our feminism is trans and sex-worker inclusive. We believe that we can not effectively challenge the patriarchy if we do not also fight to abolish capitalism and the state. At the same time, we are tired of waiting for our own liberation, too often other forms of oppression are seen as an after thought or as coming secondary to the class struggle. Our spaces, although they are anarchist, are not exempted from structural forms of violence and oppression. As long as we do not have effective structures in places to challenges these forms of violence they will not go away by themselves.

Aims
Our aim is to create a space that encourages education, experimentation and growth, where we can learn from each other and hold one another accountable when necessary. As stated in the principles of the Open Assembly of Afrin squat, speaking of safety while living under capitalism does not make any practical sense. We prefer not to use the term safe spaces, because under capitalism and patriarchy safety is an illusion. Claiming that we can provide such a thing would be performative only and cause disappointment and distrust. This does not mean we should just give up. We are committed to intervening, challenging and preventing abusive and oppressive behaviours in ourselves and in others and to create resilient and strong communities that can deal with conflict without relying on carceral logic. We are committed to doing the hard work and education required to transform our communities to become more inclusive, accessible and fair to marginalised and oppressed groups.

Open Assembly
Our assemblies are open to all people that self identify as womxn or non-binary and who agree to our aims and principles and have a willingness to participate in the assembly. We always work on the principle of self-identification only, we will never police or question someone’s gender identity. If we have a capacity and a willingness to do so we will organise events in which cis men are invited, but we decided it was important to exclude them from our organisational structure as we believe any movement against patriarchy should be let by those most effected by it.

Our next Open assembly
In our next assembly we are going to discuss alternative forms of doing justice in autonomous space. Below a reading list with some resources on restorative and transformative justice, safer spaces and other ways of doing justice and some criticism of these systems. We understand that these issues are complex, and don’t believe we have the right answers, rather we see it as a work that is constantly evolving and that we need to figure out together through educating ourselves, experimentation and sharing our experiences. Please don’t feel obliged to do the reading, this is just something that is there for whoever is interested. Feel free to bring your own materials and experiences to the assembly to share.

Reading list:
https://radar.squat.net/nl/node/381295
What about the Rapists? -Zine
Accounting for ourselves
Is this Anarchist man our comrade?
Safety is an Illusion
Suggestions for people called out for Abusive Behaviour (zine)
The Revolution starts at home: Confronting Partner Abuse in Activist Communities (Zine)