Analyzing the Strategy of Tertiary Targeting

As the Israeli bombardment of Gaza intensifies, with over 10,000 deaths recorded to date, it is more urgent than ever for people everywhere to take decisive action to stop the war machine. In this episode, we share the strategic reflections of a collective of Jewish anarchists based in the US on Palestinian solidarity. The authors propose a shift from making demands to taking direct action, relying not on appealing to the consciences of politicians but on concretely interrupting the functioning of the businesses and agencies that are enabling the slaughter. After offering historical context to Israeli settler colonialism and Palestinian resistance, this article connects the movement to defend the Weelaunee Forest and Stop Cop City to Palestinian solidarity struggles, and describes approaches used by different collectives involving targeting war profiteers and law enforcement/military exchange programs. A publisher’s afterward reflects on the uses and limits of tertiary targeting through reflections on the SHAC model and the Green Scare. Tune in for vital strategic reflections on what we can do from wherever in the world we’re listening to take action against militarism, displacement, and death in Palestine. {November 7, 2023}

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• Table of Contents:
  • Introduction {0:37}
  • The Ceasefire in Gaza Starts Here {3:43}
  • 75 Years of War {6:06}
  • “Ceasefire now!” {10:33}
  • How to Start a Ceasefire {15:44}
  • Publisher’s Afterword: The Uses and Limits of Tertiary Targeting {19:50}
  • Outro/PSA {22:45}

• This episode offers an audio version of Strategizing for Palestinian Solidarity: Expanding the Toolkit From Demands to Direct Action, published on November 3rd, 2023.

• This episode includes the analysis of The Fayer Collective of Jewish anarchists. To learn more about their work, see their text “Finding Our Own Fire” and this article in Jewish Currents.

• Our coverage of the war in Palestine includes “From the Galilee to Gaza—A Voice From Palestine” – also available as Episode 98 of the Ex-Worker – and ““A Nuclear Superpower and a Dispossessed People”: An Anarchist from Jaffa on the Escalation in Palestine and Israeli Repression”. For further background, see “A Coup d’État in Israel? The Bitter Harvest of Colonialism” (March 27, 2023) – also available as Episode 92 of the Ex-Worker - “The Revolt in Haifa: An Eyewitness Report” (2021), and “Contemporary Israeli Anarchism: A History” (2013).

• For background on our discussion of tertiary targeting and direct action strategy, check out our critical assessment of The SHAC Model (2008) and the broader context of The Green Scare (2008).

• You can also read more about why we don’t make demands and what we mean by direct action.

• The authors connect Palestinian solidarity to the movement to Defend the Weelaunee Forest and Stop Cop City. For our coverage of that movement, see Episodes 85, 86, 96, and 97 of the Ex-Worker for audio coverage; you can also read “The City in the Forest,” chronicling the first year of the movement; “The Forest in the City”, chronicling the second year of the movement; “Balance Sheet,” exploring the strategies that different currents in the movement have employed; and “Living in an Earthquake,” on the most recent wave of repression and resistance.