Digital Imperialism from Tel Aviv to Texas

Army Software Factory at Austin Community College

What is Israel, and what is its geopolitical function? First and foremost Israel serves as a forward operating base for American imperialism, a military and ideological bulwark for maintaining US domination over Southwest Asia. But Israel is also increasingly a hub for military and surveillance technology with strengthening research and financial connections to the United States. 

– Israel’s Geopolitical Role –

Joe Biden has said repeatedly, “Were there not an Israel, we would have to invent one.” In contrast to dangerously mistaken analysis that suggests Israel “takes advantage” of the United States, or somehow directs American foreign policy, Biden understands quite clearly Israel’s worth as a strategic asset.

As two settler societies founded upon the robbery and murder of indigenous people the United States and Israel are joined at the hip. Due to its isolation in the region Israel is fully reliant upon American military, financial, and diplomatic support. Israel is compelled both by its nature and by dependence to act as a loyal agent of US imperialism.

Whenever a country in the Middle East or North Africa attempts to free itself from American control of its natural resources and finances Israel stands by as a ready launchpad for American forces. Israel is also trusted to act autonomously, operating against Syrian, Iranian, or even Colombian targets deemed insufficiently obedient to American corporations and their “international institutions” such as the IMF and World Bank.

To cope with Palestinians’ fierce struggle against colonization, Israeli society is fully devoted to war and repression. All Jewish citizens of Israel are required to join the Israeli military (with exemptions for orthodox Yeshiva students) and soldiers are omnipresent throughout schools, malls, parks, and city streets. It is not surprising, then, that Israel boasts an exceptionally advanced and well-resourced weapons and military technology industry.

– Student Becomes Teacher –

Israel’s status as a world leader in weaponry and brutality has driven a deep integration between American and Israeli repressive institutions. The New York Police Department has opened branch offices in Israel and receives training from Israeli forces, as did the police chief who led the brutal assault against the Ferguson uprising. Israeli malware is used to spy on activists and journalists worldwide.

The United States seeks to benefit in all areas from Israel’s expertise in reactionary violence and colonial repression, and imitating Israel’s military “startup” culture is the next frontier. When Israel proudly labels itself a “startup nation”, it refers to its myriad high-tech munitions, surveillance and spyware companies that export their products all over the world. Rather than operating under direct military supervision these “startups” are lean, self-directed, and raise money from venture capital firms looking to recoup their investments when army contracts are eventually signed.

Companies that originated in Israel’s infamous Unit 8200 cybersecurity division

– Army Futures Command, or the Future of Neoliberal Procurement –

This seemingly “fast” and “flexible” model is, in the eyes of other capitalist states, a compelling alternative to traditional “top-down” military procurement. With America fighting more colonial police actions than genuine peer conflicts, the defense industry has abandoned mass production of basic armaments in favor of low-volume, high-tech “wonderweapons”. This is a highly profitable arrangement for the industry, even if the products don’t always work as advertised.

Palantir stands with israel

No less enamored of the “startup” cult is the CIA, who have a little-known investment arm called In-Q-Tel that provides funding to companies like Palantir. Palantir, founded by fascist billionaire Peter Thiel, aims to be a private partner in surveillance and intelligence analysis.

Another concrete manifestation of this “high-tech turn” is the US Army Futures Command, an Austin, Texas based project that aims to recruit software talent from private industry and train officers in engineering and “agile” project management. Despite substantial funding the Army Future Commands Center has flown largely under the radar. 

The University of Texas’ board of regents has set aside tens of millions of dollars to support the project. This collaboration was enthusiastically sought by Varun Rai, an Associate Dean of UT’s LBJ School, on the basis that students would benefit from “technological research activity” that the Army will conduct.

Army Software Factory at Austin Community College

Austin Community College has also launched a partnership at its “Software Factory” where it will “upskill hidden tech talent within the military.” ACC’s own faculty will train soldiers in “agile software development, product management, and design.” The center claims to have  a “startup-esque culture” that emphasizes teamwork over chain of command. The marketing pitch leads many in the media to ignore a key fact: the Army Future Commands Center is designing technology to extort, maim, and murder.

Texas A&M University is also fully committed to the project, opening the $200 million Bush Combat Development Complex in 2021. With a full-time staff of 45 employees, plus contributions of 22 A&M faculty members, the BCDC provides facilities and assistance for companies like Raytheon to test high-energy LASER weapons.

Most students are likely unaware their tuition is funding weapons of imperialist terror. It is unacceptable that our supposed educational institutions willingly act as a conduit for imperialism and colonialism. In doing so they serve to further collaboration between Israeli repression of Palestinians and American repression of the whole world.

– Informing Our Strategy –

Because Israel is an arm of US imperialism and utterly dependent upon its financial and military backing, antifascists and revolutionaries in North America have a unique role to play in the liberation of Palestine. We are obligated to think seriously and creatively about the strategies needed to win.

While educational outreach and building popular support are important we must remember that the pillars supporting Israel’s colonial project are primarily material, not ideological. Weaponry and funding do not come from media coverage and voter sentiment but from investment funds and factories.

In your city, or a city near you, there will be defense contractors, weapons manufacturers, AIPAC offices, weapons shipments and technology companies with Israeli ownership or partnerships. These are the concrete, physical nodes that transform capital into bombs falling on Palestinian hospitals and churches. They can be identified, exposed, and disrupted, often more directly and with greater efficacy than the “political” servants of capital.

– Human Resistance Breaks Digital Chains –

While profit and capitalist ideology have led Israel and America to place their faith in high-tech toys, we know that the masses make history. Their delusions of superiority have been shattered by the rebirth of rebellion, occurring right under their noses but catching them utterly off-guard and unprepared.

All of their cell phone spyware, surveillance satellites, and “artificially intelligent” missile shields cannot elevate the IDF above concentration camp guards of the past. They will flee or fall like any other cruel jailer in the face of humanity’s struggle for liberation.

Organizations everywhere should direct activism and protest not just at their state capitols – buildings that are empty even when at maximum capacity – but identify the specific centers of imperialist collaborationTell the University of Texas, Texas A&M University, and Austin Community College to end their partnerships with the Army Futures Command, and to divest from all Israeli companies!

Army Futures Command Center

210 West 7th Street
Austin, TX
(512) 664-9060

ACC Rio Grande:

1212 Rio Grande St,
Austin TX
(512) 223-3000

LBJ School of Public Policy

2300 Red River St, Unit 3
Austin, TX
(512) 461-3200 

Bush Combat Development Complex
Research Integration Center
Texas A&M Rellis Campus, Building 8700
Bryan, TX
(979) 317-1316

Unite against imperialism and fascism! Victory to Palestine!

CenTex ARA
Central Texas Anti-Racist Action

William “Bill” Fisher: Arizona White Supremacist and Grassroots Republican Activist

William C. Fisher of Phoenix, Arizona is a longtime white supremacist who claims that “Hitler was right.” Under his online persona of “Preston Brooks,” Fisher references “the Day of the Rope,” a white supremacist fantasy of mass murder, and repeatedly calls for lynching. Fisher is also a grassroots Republican Party activist who serves as a committeeman with the Legislative District 20 Republican Party (LD20 GOP) in Arizona. Fisher’s wife, Kimberly K. Fisher, is also an LD20 GOP committee member. Kim Fisher is currently serving her second term on the Deer Valley Unified School District’s governing board, which is responsible for over thirty thousand students. As we discuss, Kim Fisher must be aware of her husband’s white supremacist agitation. She calls her husband “the smartest man I know” and consults with him on political issues.

William C. Fisher and wife Kimberly K. Fisher
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Daniel Turetchi is “Grant MD”

  • 4500 Chaucer Way, #106, Owings Mills, MD 21117
  • Telephone: 347-782-4785
  • Telegram: @danimal88
  • Real Estate Agent *no broker affiliation as of 1/25/22*

Thanks to the latest release of Patriot Front Chat logs by Unicorn Riot, we can identify Daniel Turetchi of Owings Mills, Maryland as “Grant-MD”. Turetchi was employed as a Real Estate Agent in Parkville, MD and an active member and Network Scribe of Patriot Front’s Network 9 (NW9), encompassing the Delaware, Maryland, Washington D.C., and Virginia areas. He resides at Beckett Green Condominiums in Owings Mills, Maryland, a Baltimore suburb, since purchasing a unit in 2018

*UPDATE* As of January 25th, 2022, Tuertchi’s former brokerage confirmed that his employment has been terminated. This article has been updated to reflect that.

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Paul Michael Gancarz

Brought to you by Antifa Seven Hills and NYC Antifa

  • DOB: September 2, 1989
  • Height: 6 feet, Weight: 250lbs, Eye Color: Blue, Hair: Red
  • Patriot Front Network Director, former Proud Boy
  • AKA “Samuel” AKA “Ganz” AKA “DeltaGanz”
  • Lives in Virginia Beach, Virginia, but is originally from NYC and returns often.
  • Works as a Professional Engineer for the Hampton Roads Bridge-Tunnel Expansion Project in Virginia
  • Drives a 2020 Chevy SUV, VKX 5434 (VA); 2018 Honda Accord HXZ 7766 (NY)
Meet Paul Gancarz, Patriot Front Network Director for Virginia, Washington DC, Maryland, and Delaware. Paul attended Unite the Right in Charlottesville as a Proud Boy; was involved in scrawling swastika graffiti in Greenpoint, Brooklyn; and was a previous Network Director for New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania. Among other things…

*1/25/22 Update* – Gancarz’s BJJ gym membership has been terminated. This article originally indicated a gym Gancarz had used to register for competition, but was not his home gym. This has been corrected, and specific contact information has been removed out of respect for gym owners who have taken appropriate action

Summary

Paul Michael Gancarz is a fascist and Patriot Front’s Network Director for the region covering Virginia, Washington DC, Maryland, and Delaware. He currently lives in Virginia Beach, Virginia, but is originally from New York City where he has strong ties to Greenpoint, Brooklyn, and Forest Hills, Queens. As a member of Patriot Front, Gancarz is very active in the group’s propaganda campaigns in both New York and Virginia where he is responsible for much of the Patriot Front stickers, posters, and stencils reported in these areas. In his role as a Patriot Front Network Director, Paul would have been directly involved or consulted on high-profile vandalism in his network, such as the defacement of the Arthur Ashe mural in Richmond, Virginia. As the host for Patriot Front marches in Washington DC on January 29th, 2021 and more recently on December 4th, 2021, he would have had a large role in the organizing and staging of these fascist spectacles (and any U-haul mishaps that may have occurred). 

Paul Gancarz’s involvement in Far Right politics also goes well beyond Patriot Front. On August 12, 2017 he attended the deadly white nationalist Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia as a Proud Boy and has maintained strong connections to the group over the years. In December 2019, Paul and Proud Boy member Simon Ming Yui Lee (AKA Simon “Lee Greenwood”) scrawled swastikas outside of a Greenpoint, Brooklyn restaurant. Gancarz also helps distribute a variety of fascist and far right propaganda, notably those for white nationalist Robert Rundo’s groups, Rise Above Movement (RAM) and Will2Rise (W2R). His work as an engineer provides him the opportunity to travel around the United States, network with different fascists, and spread fascist/white nationalist propaganda and ideas. He currently works for the Hampton Roads Bridge-Tunnel Expansion Project in the Virginia Beach/Norfolk, Virginia area. 

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CALLING ALL ANTIFASCIST BANDS!

CALLING ALL ANTIFASCIST BANDS!

Do you dream of creating a culture of resistance to fascism – in the streets and every day? The Torch Antifascist Network is with you! We are a national network of antifascist crews in the US who have been fighting fascism since 2013. We’re seeking contributions from bands who identify as antifascist for a benefit compilation record, to be released Spring 2022. Proceeds from the album will be split 50/50 between our development and defense fund, and antifascist defendants who are currently fighting charges from the George Floyd uprising.

To learn more about us and the work we do, please check out torchantifa.org. Please direct questions and submissions to: [email protected]. Deadline for submissions is 2/1/22. Please send us a link to a fully personally owned, cloud hosted file so that we can be sure to add your song to our list.

Thanks and solidarity,

The Torch Antifascist Network

Update: This comp is already becoming an amazing soundtrack from the streets! Our utmost gratitude to everyone who has already submitted tracks. Our hearts are warmed by the support – please keep them coming!

Vanguard’s “DualKoonDog” Outfoxed

Kristopher Chase Koon, aka “Fox Tx”, Chase Koon, and “DualKoonDog”, is a Nazi organizer and podcaster from Sulphur Springs, Texas. He has been affiliated with Vanguard America and was a founding member of the National Socialist Legion. Professionally, he has been associated with Koon Jersey Farm in Brashear, Texas.

Kristopher Chase Koon was a young and enthusiastic recruit to Vanguard America, a group that organized the Unite The Right rally in Charlottesville, VA. The Unite the Right rally resulted in a vehicular assault by Vanguard member James Fields which injured marchers and took the life of Heather Heyer. Koon became a prominent member of the “Southern Front” Discord channel, uploading numerous photos of Nazi propaganda posters he placed in town squares and college campuses across Northeast Texas and the Dallas Fort Worth area.

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Oops, I Did It Again: More WLM Logs Published

By Corvallis Antifascists on 2021/05/08

Last month, White Nationalists tried and failed to host, “White Lives Matter” rallies across the country. Ourselves and other antifascists released their chat logs and seized their channels. Tomorrow, on May 8th, the same group of dorks is trying to do this again, and we’re here once more to provide you with those sweet sweet receipts. Today, we are once more publishing the telegram logs from one of the group’s admin “baskets” as well as the Oregon channel. If you are a journalist or an activist who would like to access these logs, please send an e-mail to cvantifa@riseup.net with a brief explanation of who you are and why you would like access.

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