Anti-Authoritarianism and the Syrian Revolution

A new website by the TAHRIR International Collective Network is trying to connect anti-authoritarian struggles in Europe and Middle East.

A fascinating post describes the work of Syrian anarchist Omar Aziz and his efforts to promote self-organization in the Syrian revolution, reflected in the Local Coordination Committees. Aziz had been living in the United States and returned to Syria when the revolution broke out. He wrote an important discussion paper on council organization that at the moment is only available in Arabic. Aziz was arrested by the mukhabarat (the Syrian intelligence service) in November 2012 and held in horrendous conditions; he died of heart complications in February 2013 just short of his 64th birthday.

One tribute to him stated: “at a time when most anti-imperialists were wailing over the collapse of the Syrian state and the 'hijacking' of a revolution they never supported in the first place, Aziz and his comrades were tirelessly striving for unconditional freedom from all forms of despotism and state hegemony.”