Arizona State University (ASU) students across disparate activist groups are uniting for a common cause: supporting Hamas attacks on Israel. Some are capitalizing it as another reason to start a revolution in the U.S.
On Tuesday, Movimiento Estudiantil Chicano de Aztlán (MEChA) of (de) ASU called for a revolution over Israel’s response to Hamas in an Instagram post.
“Revolution at home is the only true way to prevent the carnage our government perpetuates abroad. Self determination [sic] of the internal colonies in the US is the only way we prevent the ‘US’ from continuing its crimes both abroad and at home,” stated MEChA. “Death to the ‘Israeli’ entity! death to the ‘American’ entity! Long live Palestine! Long live turtle island!”
(“Turtle island” references the Native American myth that North and Central America were formed on the back of a turtle.)
MEChA de ASU helped Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) at ASU host their protests against Israel’s retaliation to the Hamas attacks. The next protest is scheduled for Saturday, Oct. 21 at 10 am, with the location to be announced on Oct. 20.
The National SJP declared Hamas terrorism as “a historic win for Palestinian resistance” and encouraged its supporters to engage in “armed confrontation with the oppressors” in addition to rallies.
“This is what it means to Free Palestine: not just slogans and rallies, but armed confrontation with the oppressors,” stated NSJP.
Others involved in the protests include the Phoenix branch of the Party for Socialism and Liberation (PSL), the Young Democratic Socialists of America (YDSA) at ASU, the Arizona Palestine Network, and the Communist Party USA of Phoenix.
MEChA was founded to advocate for separatist Aztlán ideology: the reconquest of all lands formerly held by Mexico, including Southern parts of the United States. It has since expanded to advocate for other social justice issues.
“[We] devote ourselves to ending settler colonialism, anti-Black racism, heteronormativity, borders and prisons because our liberation does not exist until these legacies of colonization are abolished,” states the MECha de ASU handbook.
The handbook further outlines that it will liberate colonized people, thwart assimilation efforts, and oppose colonialism, capitalism, heteropatriarchy, imperialism, and racism.
MEChA has long stood on the side of the Palestinians in their opposition to Israel. Their organization embedded a propagandized curriculum that violated state law in Tucson schools, and then attempted to recruit students of their teachings to their national conference advancing both their separatist goal and the Palestinian cause. That year, the national conference theme focused on “rekindling […] guerilla tactics and activism to create safe spaces.”
This year’s annual conference for high schoolers is themed “fighting for our communities” at the University of Utah in November. The regular national conference was held at University of Colorado Boulder in May, themed “Revolutionary Love.”
Notable past members of MEChA include Rep. Raúl Grijalva.