BREAKING RANKS:

Subverting the Hierarchy
& Manipulation Behind
Earth Uprisings
At this point, many anarchists in the US are already familiar with how
tiqqunists destroyed the struggle at the Notre-Dame-des-Landes zan
(Zone 1o Defend) occupation in France in favor of legalization and
property ownership.' The narrative that this tragic conclusion to the
decade-long struggle was actually a victory has been regurgitated ad
nauseum by tigqunist platforms in the US. For example, 1l Will Edition’s
“The Strategy of Composition” is about applying this “strategy” to the
struggle against Cop City: “The territorial phase of the struggle took
shape gradually over a ten year period from 2008 until its eventual victory
in 2018, and has since continued to nourish collective experiments on the
Zone to this day.”

‘The next initiative of the ex-zap tiqqunists failed when those familiar
‘with their methods of recuperation and authoritarianism sabotaged their
attemps to take the vanguard of a zan located in Carnet. Comrades from
the Camet za0 along with those from several other struggles co-authored
a statement outlining the attempts at cooptation and centralization,
‘which we included as an appendix in this zine as an inspiring example of
anti-authoritarians making a struggle inhospitable to authoritarian power
plays.

After this failed attempt at bringing autonomous and decentralized
struggles under their control, the tigqunists of the ex-zan moved on to
their most recent initiative: Soulévements de la Terre (which translates
to “Earth Uprisings,” aka sor). Exploiting the momentum of groups like
Extinction Rebellion, and the broader youth climate movement, sor offers
activists a militant altemative to civil disobedience: mass demo-actions
against ecologically destructive targets. While these have included some
notable acts of sabotage, it is important to notice that their actions are
often just as limited to symbolic engagement as those of the non-violent
environmentalists, designed to promote the organization through sensa-
tionalism aimed at capturing the attention of the mass media. A recent
mass action against a water basin on March 25" resulted in serious inju-
ries, prompting anarchists to more broadly articulate warnings about this

1 See The Mohavhed Salamanders Burn Down the Salamander s School:
Why We Attacked the 240
organization’s political foundations and motivations. The authors of these
texts are careful to critique the centralized forces behind sot and not the
participants, clarifying that they are not telling anyone to stop attending
sor actions, but rather encouraging them to maintain a critcal eye to-
‘wards how the actions are organized and what they are being asked to do.

Predictably, the two primary tigqunist platforms in the US have champi-
oned Soulévements de la Terre: 11l Will Editions republishes their pro-
paganda, and Inhabit does the same while proclaiming that their actions
are “an exhilarating example of all that has gone well in the movement
up until this point and chart a path forward we hope others can imagine
‘walking themselves.”* The following three critiques from anti-authoritar-
ians in France are therefore also relevant to our context. These texts focus
on manipulative and vanguardist practices, the spectacularization of the
struggle, and the use of radicals as shock-troops. The goal of these texts,
and our translation effort, is to increase familiarity with these deceptive
practices and strategies, an essential first step towards sabotaging the in-
fluence and control of any similar attempts in our own neck of the woods.

2 To Those Who Marched at Sainte-Soline (1l Will Editons) and Sabotage:
‘Beyond the mega-basin, the horizon (Inhabi)

4
CONTENTS

6 Against the Appropriation of Struggles by

Soulévements de la Terre

12 Manipulators & Assassins

14 Struggling andior Being Manipulated in the
Name of the Struggle? Earth Uprisings vs

the State: Same Struggle

25 Appendix: When NDDL Sees Itself as
the Father of Struggles — Between
Recuperation and Authoritarianism

* In French, “The Call” (L Appel) thymes
with shovel (1 pell).

HERE! TAKE
“THE cALL*"
IN YOUR FACE!!

AGAINST THE APPROPRIATION OF
STRUGGLES BY SOULEVEMENTS DE
LA TERRE

April, 2023

“The aim of this text is to warn against the practices, objectives and po-
litical ine of Soulévements de la Terre. It is based on direct knowledge
of the struggles at the Notre-Dame-des-Landes zap until 2018, where
the future leaders of Soulévements made a name for themselves, and on
several recent experiences of people who attended events organized by
them. Itis not intended to discourage anyone from going to these events,
but rather aims to share some concerns and distrust, particularly from an
anti-authoritarian point of view.

‘The leaders of Soulévements de la Terre (“Benoit Feuillu” or “Basile
Dutertre,” for example) are the very same people who, at the 7ap, man-
aged to transform and control the struggle to their own ends, often using
brutal o even violent methods. At the head of a group called cxo0
(“Committee for the Maintenance and Defense of Occupations”), they
gradually presented themselves as representatives of the occupation
movement as a whole, while refusing o take part in struggle meetings
and assemblies. They promoted “unity” with reformist organizations

in the name of a political pragmatism they called “strategy.” After the
official cancellation of the airport project in January 2018 — the result of
a decades-long struggle — they proclaimed “victory” and ultimately orga-
nized the liquidation of the 240 as a movement. They agreed to negotiate
‘with the state, not on their own behalf but on behalf of all, which enabled
them o obtain houses and land for themselves legally, even including a
clause in which they pledged to report any illegal occupation to the state
and to not oppose their eviction. Those who resisted were intimidated,
threatened and beaten. On this whole chain of events, and the struggle
that preceded it, we recommend you read the excellent text “Reflections
on the zao: Another History” (reference at the end of the text).”

3 “Translator's note: Unfortunately, his artcleis the exception t the rule con
ceming this subject; Crimethinc’s main sorce of analysis from France over the years
has been Lundi Matn (the primary tigqunist platform in France), they've closely col-
laborated with 1l Will Ediions, and thei coverage of the strugle o defend the forest
in Atlanta has been predominantly solicied from people with a tiqqunist perspeciive.

6
Over the past two years, Soulévements de la Terre (sor) have been in the
news often, especially since the Sainte-Soline demonstration in March
2023, when some 30,000 people were subjected to an appalling outburst
of police violence. sor are not — for the moment at least — waging an
‘occupation struggle, but are instead organizing events all over the place,
more or less in tandem with pre-existing groups. The sor’s role since then
largely consists of directing and coordinating struggles, absorbing local
groups, defining strategies and controlling communication.

“The transition between the cyino and the st (via the organization “xpo. —
poursuivre ensemble”) can be illustrated by the attempt to take control of
the struggle against an industrial park at Le Camet, a few dozen kilo-
meters from Notre-Dame-des-Landes, in 2020-2021. The leaders of the
o, armed with their “victory,” used every means at their disposal to
pass off this struggle s an “extension” of the z4p, claiming responsibil-
ity for its actions, attempting to decide by themselves which methods to
use — exclusively spectacular ones — and imposing their objectives. As
those involved in the struggle at Le Carnet refused to accept this takeover,
the cino leaders soon decided, without consulting them, to hold “meet-
ings to organize the struggle at Le Camet,” at Notre-Dame-des-Landes.
‘The idea was not to support their struggle by respecting its autonomy, but
0 organize it for them, in other words, to take control of it

At sor events and demonstrations, don't expect assemblies to build a
struggle together: everything is decided in advance, and we have to con-
tent ourselves with participating. Would discussions jeopardize sor con-
trol? Be that as it may, this control s almost total, and the accounts agree
unanimously: sor doesn’t organize open meetings (apart from “briefs” on
the Internet), either during events or between them. They are character-
ized by total verticality. It seems to us that, if you're going to take part in
astruggle, i’s essential to be able to discuss the political foundations as
well as the methods, strategies and consequences

‘What's more, sor s characterized by total opacity: in the name, no doub,
of the security required to organize “dynamic” actions, we can’t know
anything in advance, nor even while the action is taking place. But this
“security” cannot be a blank check for “using” people. At Sainte-Soline,
“sous-chefs” equipped with megaphones were content o transmit orders
1o the “troops” “forward,” “hold the line,” “backward.”

Basically, sor is not a “movement”: i’s an organization. Of course, they
claim the opposite (by declaring, with a straight face, their “imaginary”
nature), but, whether they like it o not, they have the characteristics of
an organization. In this respect, we have to acknowledge that we attend

7
demonstrations called by “classic” organizations like the car or others. In
this case, however, we're not being deceived — we know in advance that
we won't be able to discuss the methods of action, the objectives or the
political foundation.

And yet, “it” works. One of the obvious reasons for the success of s is
the profound sense of despair in light of the permanent reorganization of
capitalism, which in this particular period was around the themes of land
and resources. At last, we were offered a struggle full of enthusiasm and
sure of its success in the context of permanent dispossession and pas-
sivity. Despair mixes with anger, energized by the social movement: we
‘welcome a desire to converge struggles and even to broaden anger beyond
the question of pensions and work. But this is never mentioned in the
sor’s communications: not once do the words “pensions” or even “cap-
italism” appear on their website. So what is their political line, to which
S0 many thousands of people are supposed to adhere (without, let’s not
forget, ever having the opportunity to discuss it)?

‘When it comes to political thinking, they mainly dish out strategic think-
ing: “building broad alliances,” “establishing effective resistance strate-
gies”; the b1 g0 50 far as to proudly quote the bosi (General Directorate
for Internal Security, a French security agency): “a movement tran-
scending affiliations and divergences of strategy,” “federating the great-
est possible number of militants and groups from different ideological
horizons” (Appel d la saison 5, “Call for Season 5°). What counts here
is numbers, the mass, which obviously has no other point of view than a
naive “defense of the earth.” Above al, they're careful not to define a po-
litical line that might harm “broad alliances™; see the bewildering lst of
signatories of the We are the Earth’s Uprisings (“Nous sommes les sor”)
appeal, from Mélenchon (presidential candidate) to former minister Yves
Cochet, as well as the infamous Yannick Jadot (member of European
Parliament). Returning to the topic of the za, the cvio had distinguished
itself by writing “Principles on fire, the purists in the middle” on the road:
the “purists” were those who stubbornly proposed altematives to unity at
any price, with anybody. By rejecting “principles” in the name of allianc-
es with bourgeois parties, the sor has shown itself to be an opportunist
group. Unity at any price strengthens the positions of the most reformist
and bourgeos factions, serves their interests, and hinders the possibility
of overtaking them in the struggle.

I "Al quotarions come from the sor website.
8
Sensationalism is a central element: they call for “seasons” which are
broken down into “acts,” i.e. one-off actions, coordinated and decided

on by sor leaders. A local struggle being elevated to an official “act” of
a“season” (ie., sor calling for people 1o attend, according o their terms
‘and plans) seems to be the supreme ambition: “Local committees can give
support (o these struggles, even when it's not yet time to include them

i the national acts of sor” (Des dizaines de comités locaux fleurissent
dans toute la France, “Dozens of Local Committees Spring Up All Over
France”). Patience, it will come, we'll give you our blessing when we
deem it necessary. So, in addition to their vertical, authoritarian character,
they also have a clear tendency towards paternalism.

But what's it all about, politically speaking? We don’t know. Emphasis is
placed on the “ecological” aspect of struggles, without details (no doubt
in order to appeal to a wide audience): “fighting against concrete, against
megabasins, against those who poison life”; “the defense of land and
‘water as a common good in the face of monopolization by the agro-indus-
trial complex and concrete by the metropolitan mega-machine.” When we
have been able to see, alas, the relationship of sor leaders to the “common
good” at Notre-Dame-des-Landes, there is cause for concern.

Nowhere is the political underpinning of these struggles more precisely
defined; the empty way of speaking makes it possible to bring together
diverse tendencies (from the Anarchist Federation to the Green Party).
‘Why oppose megabasins? To “defend water” — but what does that mean?
‘We've been looking in vain for any kind of in-depth political analysis of
the issue, one that goes beyond the “monopolization by the agro-indus-
trial complex” (what's at stake? for what profit? to whose detriment?)

and explains in concrete terms the processes at work and the reasons o
oppose them. As for the mishmash of the “metropolitan mega-machine,”
we'll have to come up with our own definition. In fact, what they re doing
is setting vague ideas against abstract concepts, when what we really
need to do is produce a material analysis of wha's at stake with honesty,
transparency and an indispensable touch of humility.

But o do that, you'd have to get your feet a bit wet,* questioning capital-
ist relations and property — something sot never does, and it's easy to
see why. If they did, the Greens and other deeply bourgeois organizations
‘would be more reluctant to lend their support. What's more, given the sor
leaders’ relationship with land ownership and agriculture, it's easy o see
why they don’t want to be too specific about what “victory” would mean
for them and the masses they aspire to command.

5 But the basin was empry.
“The sor’s way of speaking literally comes from the military. Over and
over again, we are called to “battle”; over and over again, we are prom-
ised “victory.” “Victory is at hand” (Appel d la saison 5); it must be
achieved at all costs. And so, their website unabashedly describes the
‘weekend of March 25 as “joyous” (La base arriére fait un récap, “Rear
base reportback”); the masses are praised for their “creativity” and “au-
dacity” in the face of repressive forces (30 000 personnes manifestent &
Sainte-Soline malgré la brutalité policiére, 30,000 People Demonstrate
in Sainte-Soline Despite Police Brutality”). It should be remembered that
this “joyous” weekend left at least 200 people injured, at least 40 of them
Seriously, and one of them is still in a coma, three weeks later

Similarly, at the zan, “victory” meant the acquisition of a few plots of
land, but also the eviction of dozens of residents, and the end of the
movement of struggle. The zap is now a zone of legal, conventional,
market-integrated agriculture and artisans. Yet, this end to the struggle
‘was celebrated as a “victory,” and continues to be. At Sainte-Soline, as at
Notre-Dame-des-Landes, “victory” pays litle heed to those who must be
sacrificed to achieve it

I, after the camage at Sainte-Soline, “priority must be given to care [for
the injured]” (30 000 personnes manifestent a Sainte-Soline malgré la
brutalité policiére), that doesn’t stop an obscene “victory party” being
held that same evening, despite the hundreds of injured, with “shows for
all” and “concerts.” Does this “victory” consist in having succeeded in
“excavating and disarming a pump and a pipe”? Who could call such an
achievement even a strategic success (let alone a “victory”)? No, clearly,
the “victory” being celebrated is that of having succeeded in federating
thousands of people, of feeling their strength, of being able to get them
to come and throw them into the “battle” (Appel d la saison 5), without
the leaders’ decisions being questioned. Better stll, the “victory” will
enable the “movement” to expand stll further, by the addition of thou-
sands of people who are “world famous” (too bad for those who are only
non-world “famous,” or not famous at al). sor sees itself as the generals
of a somewhat obscene war; as such, they don’t detail their objectives,
strategies or political foundations.

‘As anti-authoritarians, we want to ask questions and discuss, but not sub-
mit to decisions made elsewhere and by others. We want to fight, includ-
ing against the dispossession of land and resources, against the stran-

10
glehold of capital on even the smallest aspects of our lives, against the
brutality of the state. But it's a question of knowing with whom to fight,
‘why to fight, how to fight. For us, the end does not justify the means.
‘We’d rather not have Yannick Jadots “support” f it means we can’t hold
horizontal assemblies in the struggle where we can discuss our political
objectives and the means to achieve them. We believe it's more important
o build a struggle together, even when its difficult, even when we make
mistakes, than to passively contribute to an organization’s “victory.” And
‘we consider so7 10 be vertical, opaque and authoritarian organization.

‘The enthusiasm, lets repeat, is quite understandable: the so proposal is
seductive, full of promise, full of strength, and hints at the possibilities
of overtaking capitalist existence. In a terrible period when social move-
ments are repressed without restraint and we watch helplessly as the
bourgeoisie destroys the planet, such a proposal seems like an answer to
despair — especially when we're guaranteed “victory.”

“This text is not intended to discourage you from going to the sor oper-
ations, but it does encourage you, if you do go, to do 5o at least with a
certain amount of suspicion, continually observing the mechanisms at
‘work, seeking to question what s at stake, and even to challenge the way
the sor operates. Let it be known that we’re dealing with strategists, au-
thoritarians and opportunists; knowing this, perhaps it's possible to avoid
abandoning the struggles to them, and to force Soulévements de la Terre
into horizontality, discussion, political honesty, decency and solidarity.

—Two fools from Ariége, April 2023

References:
An account ofthe Sainte-Soline demonstration in October 2022: Playing at war,
playing pawns (Un témoignage de la manifestation de Sainte-Soline d'octobre 2022

Jouer a la guerre, jouer au pion), nantes.indymedia.org.

“Text from accupiers of Carmet: When xooL Sees Iiself as the Father of truggles —
‘Between Recuperation and Authoritarianism (sce: appendi)

Reflctions on the 240: Another History, crimethinc.com

“Outside supporters” ake the floor at the 240's “assembly of uses.” (Prise de parole
des « soutien de Iextérieur » d « 'assembiée des usages » de la 240,), mars-infos.org,

u
MANIPULATORS & ASSASSINS

April, 2023

‘Assassins murder. They often miss. And the broken bones today and yes-
terday are innumerable. But they don’t always miss. Assassins sometimes
Kill. Al the wounded, the tortured and the murdered must be avenged.
And we will take revenge.

Of course, nothing is being said against those who decided to confront the
assassins with the means they saw fit. But we will say that people who
plan an offensive without being physically present on the front line are
manipulators.

“The plan was scripted in advance. For example, on the media page of a
movement that called for a gathering on March 25, 2023: “concretely
impact basin projects and their construction.” Manipulative communica-
tion. Here, there’s nothing to sabotage, not even a construction machine.
Only an empty hole, closed off with fencing. And do you have to gather

a few thousand people at the same time in the same place to sever a pipe?
In fact, the Newspeak says: “disarming a pipe.” (If it were just idle chatter
with no real consequences, we’d find it funny). Of course, the conditions
for engaging in sabotage in a way that doesn’t damage those who act are
exactly the opposite — when neither the cops nor the cameras are on

the scene. Under the light of the moon, at a time chosen for stealth. So,
schedule an offensive against the cops in the field to breach their line.

And then? Plant a flag in the empty hole? Make the assassins flee, pitch
our tents, bring in wood and build huts and palisades? ... A party was also
scheduled for Saturday evening, upon the return from the offensive. Some
dared to say “We're celebrating victory!” and put on some music, but the
party didn’t go ahead.

Launching an offensive, breaching the police line, celebrating victory:
these are all words that have been around for years. Their function is to
rally crowds, large and small, under a military command that is imagined
if not always realized, but lso to aggregate ideas in order to confuse
them.

‘Two examples among many. In June 2016, a text called for the social
movement against the Labor Law to be given “organizational consisten-
cy” and to “produce its own war machine.” A simple mater of verbose
‘words, no doubt. But words that aimed to polarize all the ideas and
destructive forces present. As if they couldn’t distinguish themselves from
each other and aim for autonomous goals.

2
In April 2018, in the forest of Notre-Dame-des-Landes, those calling for
an offensive against the cops to fight the squatters from being evicted
reached a high point of duplicity. Because offensives against the cops in
this context are clearly bullshit! Except for those who don’t know. Those
‘who don’t know that in order to get out of the struggle by agreeing to sign
‘occupation forms with the authorities, which are required for those who
‘want to live there in peace, you have to look like you're still fighting.
Look like. For those who have been fooled: to the offensive! Give all or
part of your body! For the callers:* the land and the buildings are ours!
Since then, there’s been a stunned silence on the subject of this manipu-
lation, for example in the online left-wing cultural magazine. And with
good reason, since it is among the vague left that the callers are trying to
fundraise for the purchase of the zone.

1ts now possible to send children to summer camps — for a fee, of
‘course — and order Christmas lamb. And in a deliberate confusion of
ideas, the callers celebrate victory: the renouncement of the struggle, col-
lectively owning a zone, and treating those who do not give up the fight
against this world like sore losers.

S0 this latest manipulation was not the only one.

Such manipulations are more easily repeated when they are kept under
‘wraps. Rage against the assassins is a good glue to keep them under
‘wraps. The trick, then, is to build a front against repression. And to call on
people to join this front of struggle without discord. But will we stll see
autonomous groups adhering to this? And renouncing their own ideas?
Against assassins and in all struggles, these manipulators are false friends.

“To destroy all the arms of domination — police forces, courthouses, data
centers — and to fight against the ravages of this world, many ideas are
luminous and many gestures are possible.

And the sadness will end.

5 “Translator's note: This phrasing is making reference to appelists, with is
Synonymous with tiqunist. This poliical tendency is named afte the Invisible Com-
it text dled L'Appel (The Call), which “the calers” is playing on.

1
STRUGGLING AND/OR BEING
MANIPULATED IN THE NAME OF
THE STRUGGLE?

Earth Uprisings vs. the State: Same Struggle
April, 2023

Itis imperative and essential to root ourselves in the protection of life,
water, and land, to fight against the commodification of the world and of
our human relationships, to fight against all forms of domination, to sup-
port interational struggles that are in line with these perspectives, and to
welcome all those who have long been paying the price of neoliberal war-
fare around the world. We are all grappling with anxiety-inducing situa-
tions linked to the accelerating drive to subdue our lives by rulers who are
ever more greedy for power and money. So we're desperate to create and/
or contribute to dynamics of struggle that can halt the prevailing destruc-
tive madness. And so, how can we not lose track of our judgment a litle
bit, carried along by the momentum of our burning desire to live, when
siren songs flatier our need to act on this world and our wounded pride?

We're here to talk about the methods used by political enemies: inhab-
itants of the former zap of Notre dame des Landes (xobt) who have
become generals of Soulévements de la terre (sor), and who are affiliated
with tigqunism, at least i their practices.

‘Those very same who worked andor contributed to the destruction of
the cabins on the route des chicanes.’

‘Those who signed papers with the authorities while others fought the
police on the paths, barricades and in the fields to keep the zone out of the
state’s hands.

‘Those who were carrying out propaganda on the zap website in April
2018, calling for people to come and defend the zao... all the while con-
cealing all information on the negotiations underway that aimed o take
over the squatted land. The result: people come out, exposing themselves
1o the State’s weapons, are arrested, mutilated, and subjected to other
delights typical of confrontations with state terrorists

‘Those who, in April, May and June 2018, kept a watchful eye on the
w0 281 and 81 to ensure that no barricades were blocking traffic...includ-
ing the movements of the cops!

7 “Translator's not: the route des chicanes was the name given to the main
road passing through the 24 that igquniss cleared fo the police o aid their negoti
tons with the Stat.

1
‘Those who dismantled their neighbors” barricades, without their
knowledge, endangering the squatters, and arguing that “barricades attract
cops” (sic)!

‘Those who mapped out all the sites that agreed to officially declare
themselves for an agricultural o cultural project for the authorities, there-
by establishing a map of the unyielding ones who refused to negotiate
with the state (many thanks to them for this audacious collaboration, we
‘would have preferred them to put their audacity elsewhere), which facili-
tated the work of identifying the sites where it was necessary to repress!

‘Those who enacted and/or approved of the beating of a comrade who,
rightly judging that asphalt doesn’t make for good food, had the impu-
dence to rip up a stretch of it during the asphalting of the d281 route in
March 2018,

‘Those who, while calling for donations for the purchase of land in the
area to tm it into common land, have never stopped privatizing culti-
vated areas and community life for the exclusive use of those who claim
their political allegiance (tigqunists and other authoritarians) or those who
pledge their allegiance to them.

‘Those who censured any attempt to question their rush to acquire land
at the expense of those who wished to maintain an occupation outside
institutional and market rules.

“The list o their deceptions is too long for us to be exhaustive; the links at
the end of the text are more comprehensive.

sor includes these individuals, comfortably installed in an imagined
position of professionals of struggle as they brandish their resumes that
mention the 2ap of oo, which unfortunately is synonymous with, in
many people’s imaginations, glorious struggle.

‘That's forgetting a bit quickly that on the zap, we fought against the air-
port... wo 11s woreD, untl some individuals, measuring the spoils of war
they were coveting, joined forces with citizens, farmers’ unions and other
political parties to build a retun to the abnormal: the re-establishment and
development of farms with a commercial vision, animal exploitation ev-
erywhere, the end of illegal occupations, the re-establishment of commer-
cial activities in the area well before evictions, the privatization of spaces,
the legalization of buildings.

1 there was any glory at the zao, it was in being able to live there for
more than 5 years outside institutional control, and in being able to devel-
op, for those who wished to o so, human relationships devoid of com-
mercial interests, a place where it was possible to organize, live, eat and
take care of oneself, free of charge

5
‘The sor generals are working today as they did on the zap: welcome to
the zadosphere... authoritarian and dangerous for all those who are un-
aware of its inner workings.

Some of their methods

Seductive revolutionary propaganda

To reach a wide audience, e.g.: “common lands” which are common in
name only — go take a walk on their common lands and see how you'll
be welcomed! They had no intention of collectivizing these lands. Even
before the 2018 evictions, many of these legalists had already registered
agricultural activities including squatted plots, without informing the
squaters living on these plots...oops. Today, these residents are legalized
and properly registered with the MSA and other coercive bodies. And as
a reminder, the precarious occupation agreements signed by these za
residents in 2018 stipulated that they authorized the State to evict anyone
‘whose presence was unrelated to the legalized activities on these plots of
land, and would willingly report any activity not listed in the agreements.

And on the sor website: “Thousands of people invaded infrastructure that
is emblematic of the privatization of our most precious common good.”
Water has been privatized and paid for for a long time, hasn’t it? And as
for invading, this military vocabulary says a lot about their megalomaniac
masculinity.

Marketing

“Telling a hyped-up story, to give a
sugarcoated vision of reality. It has
been, and siill i, very common to
hear the ex-zap referred o as a
place where people developed
horizontal relationships. Yet
from 2012 10 2018, when we
‘were among the squatters,

there was no horizontality in
interactions. While some of

us wanted to move away from
relationships of domination,
particularly the anti-authoritar-
ians, a large proportion of the
occupants did litle or nothing

o question their ways of inter-
acting; it's not easy to let go of
one’s privileges!

GO SABOTAGE
THIS BASIN!!

15
‘To make people believe that the relationships are devoid of hierarchies,
as conveyed by the myth of the 24 promoted by Mauvaise Troupe or by
texts that were circulated on the za website (which has long been con-
trolled by authoritarians) is to present a (false) willingness to move away
from relationships of domination. At best,this is a misunderstanding of
‘what relations of domination are. At worst, it's a manipulative means of
seduction, aiming to amass people who come to consume seltzer thinking
that i’s top shelf whiskey... Unless it’s a denial of reality, though reality
speaks for itself. Since the beginning of the occupations at the zap and
up until today, classist, sexist, racist, homophobic, transphobic, ageist,
speciesist and ableist relations are a daily occurrence, especially as the
ex-squatters who are stil present quickly positioned themselves in author-
itarian, power-grabbing positions, with all the contempt required for this
kind of behavior.

— selling the dream, using a whole variety of revolutionary, megalo-
maniac and flattering vocabulary: snatching victories, holding banquets
(o picnics, that’s for the proles!),

— joining forces with people from the worlds of entertainment, “cul-
ture,” politics and trade unions, to gain prestige, even if these individuals
or groups don’t share the same political outlook

Hierarchy

— At the 7ap, these authoritarians seized power in countless ways: im-
posing demonstrations and demonstration locations, taking over the zan
website, taking over assemblies locked down by them, taking over spaces,
imposing marked paths, beating up and using violence against people
‘who dissent from them, showing contempt for those who do not pledge
allegiance to them.

— Pyramid-like organization of events: sor generals don’t get a
scratch during demonstrations; they hide out at rear bases, commenting
and disseminating spectacular information in order to legitimize their
methods of action, while concealing the human costs required for results
that are often highly questionable.

— building up central powers, by giving lessons in struggle in accor-
dance with the experience and know-how that comes with a diploma in
zaistology.

— join forces with power-holding structures: unions, informal groups,
citizens’ collectives to use their power and networks.

Mass manipulation

Manipulate: to act on people in such a way s to get them to do and/or
think what you want..but is it what they want?

u
On several occasions on the zap, we’ve seen techniques used to manip-
ulate meetings, demonstrations, individuals and groups; the January 9,
2016 demonstration on the Cheviré bridge in Nantes is just one example,
butlet’s stay with more recent burning issues.

How do they do it?

— blurring political lines: mixing the lexicons of anarchist sympathiz-
ers with those of communist sympathizers, without omitting the jargon
of citizenists, to cast a wide net and give the illusion that all these people
could do well together in the struggles.

— nurturing the myth of unity: the recent call o sign a text entidled
“We Are the sp1” bids everyone to line up behind them, as if all those in
revolt today were operating identically and could not act outside of this
political apparatus,

— calling for demonstrations by saturating the networks of ecologists,
alterativists, trade unionists, in shor, of the “respectable” Left, in order
o get as many people as possible to come and add to the count. In shor,
attempting to demonstrate a fighting force to the State, amounting to a
symmetrical position against a government whose bellicose intentions
against civilian populations no longer needs to be demonstrated. The
problem is that they don’t have weapons as harmful as those of the State.

HO HO! IT'S GETTING
DIRTY ON THE FRONT LINE!
GO AHEAD! SHARE AS MANY
PHOTOS A5 POSSISLE ON
THE NETWORKS!

1
How does the call to demonstrate on March 25, 2023 constitute mass
manipulation? “The aim of this demonstration will once again be to have
a concrete impact on the basin projects,” and, from “On October 29-30,
2022, all of France learned of the existence of megabasins thanks to the
mobilization of thousands of people. After a few days’ pause, work on
France’s biggest basin continues. But, for how long?”

“This was the challenge issued to the demonstrators on March 25, to try
and bring the worksite to a definitive halt? With covid masks, scarves, a
few molotov cocktails, fireworks and stones? Against 3200 police armed
with explosive grenades, stun grenades, rubber bullets, assault rifles,
some mounted on quads to chase down peaple who were on foor?

Isn' that both arrogant and terribly dangerous?

How could a half-day demonstration, even if sabotage took place, put a
definitive stop to such a project, when we know that the rxseA (National
Federation of Agriculture Union) lobby, which is at the helm, is largely
endorsed by the government, which goes so far as to speak of water reser-
oirs that are beneficial to ecosystems (their bad faith knows no bounds).

If it hadn’t been for all these cops, what would the demonstrators have
done? They would have ransacked the gates and the pump, because that’s
all there was to ransack, which obviously wouldn’t have put a stop to the
project.

How well informed were those present on Saturday morning about the
militarization of the site and the weapons which they were facing? Who
knew about the site well in advance of the action? How could people as-
sess the appropriateness of going (o the central locations on the 25, given
the state of the site a the time? Who was in charge of the big game? Who
drew up an action plan, including 3 processions that were supposed to
gather around this basin? Who knew that, apart from an empty hole and a
pump, there would be no possibility to impact this gigantic structure, only
an armada of State terrorists? The saff.

“The people who hide away in their rear base and observe, out of harms
way, the police charges against all these civilians. How to manipulate the
masses?

— by exploiting existential inactivity and making people believe that
they have tried and true methods of operation; these authoritarians never
cease to tell a romanticized story of the struggle at the zap, colonizing
imaginations with beliefs that are totally disconnected from what actually
happened there.

19
— by giving essential information at the last moment, notably by
hiding what repression to expect; this is the hallmark of a commanding,
manipulative leadership. People went to Sainte Soline partly unaware
of what was planned, and for good reason. Information concerning the
detailed organization of the day was given piecemeal, leaving out every-
thing abou the police mobilization they were going to face, exposing
people to risk of injury beyond what they’d ever imagined.

Many people returned from the Sainte Soline rally in October 2022 trau-
matized by police repression they hadn’t expected. Of those who came
back wounded, few spoke out and questioned not only the State practices,
but also the organizational practices at work n this situation.

How do you gather a lot of people together and silence any criticism?
By providing those planning to come with a ready-made program: starter,
main course, dessert guaranteed!

In the rear base booklet you'llfind this:
— a ready-made team to monitor sexist/sexual violence. . but not
other forms of violence?
— a day-care center (0 be available,
— care and legal rear bases,
—a “general organization” entity... by the generals, no doubt.

Very seductive. A ready-to-struggle kit, giving the illusion of total control
over what might happen at this event, with festivities to complete the
program that invites us to a militant-tourist weekend: thrils to scare us a
litle, and comfort to celebrate a hypothetical victory, but which ends up
‘with so many injured that the organizers and the State blame each other
for the endless camage.

In their recruitment propaganda in the run-up to the weekend, there’s
nothing about the formidable weaponry of the state terrorists, which will
inevitably be used against the demonstrators in abundance? Though these
events have been widely documented, nothing is mentioned about their
dramatic consequences, known only to those who have lived them; forgot
the carnage inflicted on the zan in 2018? Forgot the camage inflicted on
the Yellow-vests? Have you not seen the current carnage inflicted on dem-
onstrators against the pension reform?

‘The program is presented in such a way that as many people as possible
agree with the event, perceiving it as reassuringly comprehensive, as

if the medics were going to tape up mutilated limbs and tom flesh, and
remove shrapnel lodged in bodies with their tweezers! These major risks
are silently passed over.

‘The concealment of part of the information, combined with propaganda
that saturates their information channels, annihilates all critical thinking.
“This is the hallmark of the manipulative techniques usually employed by
governments and authoritarian structures.

‘Why are the organizers of the March 25 rally railing against the unbridled
repression, counting the injured: “we're outraged by the violence of the
cops in defense of an empty mega-basin.”.. “the government only knows
excess and brutal repression”? Aren’t they outraged to have sent 50 many
people o be bruised and beaten in front of an empty crater? The sor gen-
erals can’t be unaware that, while they're organizing a mass movement
that’s well publicized in the media, the government s also planning a
repressive response commensurate with the mobilization it fears... So the
police are pulling out all the stops, just as they pulled out all the stops for
us at the 2 for the evictions in 2018, where serious injuries and muti-
lations punctuated our days for several weeks... But these generals were
10 doubt at home reading Damasio, or at the mayor’s office groveling in
front of “officials” to obtain a few acres of land?

‘The perfectly legitimate condemnation of this outrageous monopoliza-
tion of privatized water does not mean that we shouldn’t give ourselves
the means to try to assess what we are up against, be it lobbies, the state

2
and its unrestrained militias... This is required in order to build effective
responses that also minimize the risk of paying dearly for our search to
regain a horizon

Hating one’s enemies is one thing, but underestimating them is a big mis-
take that the zp collaborationists make while pretending to be experts in
ecological struggles. And what would be their interest in being manipula-
tive like this? ICs quite clear, take for example Basile the traitor, spokes-
man for the sor, who’s been wagging his tail in the media lately, whether
right or left, because the show must o on. At the zap, he showed himself
1o be particularly thirsty for power and quick to make any move that feeds
his reputation. We'll s00n be seeing him as an M, with his sor acolytes
as parliamentary attachés lol!

But entering the political arena through careerism requires... human sac-
rifices, because without the sensational images that followed the carnage
of March 25, our dreadful Basile wouldn’t have been able, once again, to
‘come and display his empty words woven from the politics of politicians.
Diversion by not answering questions, lies: “sor is an imaginary minori-
ty” Just like his enemies, whom he dreams of supplanting, another lie
‘won’t make much difference.

1f we are part of those who take action to counter this destructive system,
it seems to us much wiser, i view of the many forms repression takes and
the human cost of our actions, which we hope wil be as low as possible,
to align our practices in the direction of greater autonomy through self-de-
termination. What if we took care of everyone at all times, and anticipated
the state violence that we know has been and will continue to be at the
Tocations of our revolis? What if we fought on terrain we could explore,
‘where we could assess the challenges, the ins and outs? What if we didn’t
‘wait for a mass gathering, for instructions to do what we have to do:
‘whether its the agro-industry or any other deadly production, the oppor-
tunities for sabotage are innumerable, because they’re everywhere. What
if we shared operational methods that enabled us t0 act while circum-
venting repressive measures, because any comrade who becomes targeted
by repression is much less available to put their ideas into action. Seeing
‘comrades terrorized by beatings, surveillance, trials, injuries, mutilations
and deaths, brings us pain and undermines our joy of fighting. The less
we are affected by state violence, the more effective and available we are
o pursue and nourish our dynamic struggles.

“This doesn’t mean that we can master the outcome of everything, but that
‘we must, at the very least, give ourselves the means to share our infor-
mation. Acts of revoltare not more effective just by nature of being more

2
visible. Claiming (or not) our actions by self-organized means allows
us to be visible and does not feed the debauchery of sensational images
typical of the entertainment world. What if we left behind the masculinist
cult of visible performance and the hysteria of sensationalism? What if
‘we decolonized our imaginations, impoverished by heroic romances, and
refused all allegiance to so-called stars? Let’s not lose sight of the fact
that a dominant narrative most often belongs to the dominant. And what
if we were to accept the fact that we don’t know everything, and take the
time to learn, 5o s to build up resistance wherever we are? Do we need to
travel hundreds of miles to sabotage these crazy projects as they emerge
just about everywhere? Let’s be curious, let’s leam.

During the evictions, the zap collaborationists deemed that we don’t fight
‘where we live... because of cowardice, o they let rotten things happen
‘where they live... they accept compromises so they can play war leaders a
few miles away?

WE'RE FINE
IN THE
REAR BASE

What if we weighed up the meaning of words and left behind the sheep-
like behavior we’ve been trained to adopt? What if we dispensed with
all these self-proclaimed or instituted leaders? Let’s not confuse urgency
with haste, lets refuse the urgency that the purported thinkers would like
to impose on us. Speed and the imposition of a thythm are among the
‘weapons of the authoritarian. Let’s be the experts of our lives and our

2
desires: nobody knows better than each of us, in our innermost secrets,
what we aspire (.

Lets not delegate our ability to reflect on our needs and ways of fighting
to anyone, let’s be creative and unpredictable. Police aren’t everywhere
all of the time. Let’s find the weaknesses in this deadly system — they
exist, and are countless.

And when it comes to knowing how each and every one of us wants to go
about putting meaning back into our existence and regaining some control
over the course of our lives, blind obedience to instructions from suppos-
edly super competent warriors s not going o bring us the Holy Grail!
‘These people’s goverance techniques are dangerously statist. This is
‘what motivated us to write this text, because we are appalled to see so
many people being trapped by these purveyors of dreams!

Aword 1o the wise!

And for the curious:
‘Dynanics Inherent to Protest Movements, M. (The Anarchist Library)

Notre-Dame-des-Landes: lettre ouverte au comité de rédaction de la
revie Z

Déclaration lue le 8 novembre 2022 devant IAssemblée dite Générale
des Usages au sujet de Iagression du 19 octobre et de ses suites

2
APPENDIX: WHEN NDDL SEES ITSELF
AS THE FATHER OF STRUGGLES® —

Between Recuperation and Authoritarianism
September, 2021

This text is a collective response from people who have struggled at the
2ap du Carnet, the z4o de la Dune, and against the Surf Park of Saint-
‘Pére-en-Retz following attempts of political recuperation from the resi-
dents of the 24D of Notre-Dame-des-Landes (xoot). We wanted to clarify
how the practices of some groups currently living in the 240 of nooL
weaken us collectively in our horizontal and anti-authoritarian struggles
and why we don't want them in our struggles.

Introduction

“This text emerged from numerous meetings between zabists, militants,

and locals living near the imposed bullshit projects i the west of France
and elsewhere.

During our meetings, we realized that the tensions we had separately or
collectively with the residents of the ex-zap of Notre-Dame-Des-Landes
(3pot) were often not understood. We had to take the time to explain the
history of these tensions, the reasons for these conflicts. It was almost
impossible for people discovering all these stories to process so much
information and this could collectively hinder us.

We wrote this text to present our collective history, to facilitate the trans-
mission of information and analysis about the practices of some inhabi-
tants of the ex-zap of NooL.

“This story begins with our recent collective experience: that of the za du
‘Carnet and the numerous tensions we had with the inhabitants of the ex-
24 of NDDL. We then understood that far from being isolated or without
reason, these conflicts had a history, they had structural reasons to exist.

Since the legalization process, the residents of the ex-zan have entered
into a process of integration into the capitalist world. They use the media
image of the Nob1. 240 for their own personal profit: to help them in the

8 “Translator's not: the Soviet propaganda machine conferred upon Stalin the
title of “Father of Nations.”

2
balance of power that is necessary for the legalization process and to
accumulate money. But in addition to using the image of the ex-zap, they
are monopolizing the image of our own ongoing struggles: those of the
240 de la Dune, the struggle against the Surf Park, or the zap du Camet

By doing this, they weaken our struggles because they monopolize our
imaginary, our struggles, and our experiences for commercial purposes.
‘They put us in danger by relaying only their communication about our
struggles and not our own communication. They o not relay our calls for
support against the repression that we face, while simultaneously con-
gratulating themselves on our victories as we can see during the recent
intergalactic gathering of July 2021

In light of these attempts at political recuperation for personal gain, we
call for continuing to struggle in horizontal and anarchist ways. We call to
‘connect through interpersonal ties and not at a vertical and centralized or-
ganizational level. We call to mutually support each other between strug-
gles by lending a hand, not by trying to sponsor each other. We call for
sharing our collective experiences, sharing our differences and mutually
enriching our practices. All this in order to strengthen our anti-capitalist,
anti-racist, feminist, ecologist, anarchist and radical struggles.

1. The latest attempts at political recuperation by the
people of NDDL

“This text does not see all the current inhabitants of the ex-zap of NooL in
the same way.

‘We believe that currently groups like the o (Comité de Maintien Des
Oceupations) have considerable power over the ex-zap and it is mainly.
their practices that we denounce. Many current residents of the ex-zap
‘continue to organize with the cyibo or remain silent in the face of the
authoritarian practices that we denounce, which makes them de facto ac-
complices. Individual residents have supported the struggle at Carnet by
lending a hand and skills, and we are grateful to them. Other residents of
the ex-20 of oL continue to fight against the influence of the cvbo and
suffer the consequences, and we wish to give them our support.

Moving forward, we will no longer make distinctions between people

living in the ex-2p of NobL. in order to avoid cluttering the text, even if
‘we do not necessarily wish to lump them all together.

2
‘We will call the people living in oot with whom we are in conflct the
authoritarians of the ex-zap, the legalists of the ex-zap, the appelists of
the ex-20 or the appelo-authoritarians of the ex-zap. These residents of
the ex-2p are linked to an organization called noor. Poursuivre Ensemble.

1.1, Why we distrust the people currently living in the ZAD of NDDL

A “brief” history since 2018 of the sometimes violent conflicts on the
2an of NooL

Before talking about more recent attempts at political recuperation on the
part of the residents of nooL, it seems important to us to recall the broad-
er context. We have selected a few significant facts, referring to more
precise sources.

— At the end of January 2018, 200 people removed the barricades located
on one of the roads of the zap, the D281 known as the road of the chi-
canes, by pushing out the uncooperative rebels.”

— On March 20, 2018, five masked people armed with baseball bats and
pepper-spray beat up people in a squat of the zan of Koo, (one person was
Tocked in the trunk of a car, with his legs and arms broken!). Following
this, the legal team of the zap denounced “militia actions at the z40” ina
statement published on Indymedia Nantes'® on March 30, 2018,

Afterwards, in order to recuperate the land and places that could be le-
galized but also to silence and break the last anarchist friends wishing to
resist the gentification of oo, the appelo-authoritarians of Noot. did not
hesitate to use means worthy of a militia: beatings and attempts to evict
‘and arson places out of the appelos’ control

— In April/May 2018, the evictions on the zap of NooL. revealed deep di-
visions between people defending legalistic strategies and other people on
the zap. These divisions would be hard to synthesize in a few lines. For
more details, we invite you to consult “Reflections on the zap: Another
History” which denounces many authoritarian practices that took place on
the zaD of noot. by people defending legalistic strategies

— On March 21, 2020, a shack in Le Rosier used for sleeping was set on
fire."

3 See the text When Lama Faché, Lama Spit!
10 Seethe text Legal team’s position on the milita actions a the 240
1L Seethe text Auacks on th inhabitants o the Rosier contine, and The Rosi-

2
‘We denounce these violent practices on the zap of oo The lst of prac-
tices worthy of militias, of a summary justice just as violent as the statist
justice that we wish to abolish is long, The list of compromises with the
State is also long, even if it meant betraying and imposing their will on
the hundreds of friends who gave part of their lives (and sometimes paid
the price with serious injuries or imprisonment) to defend the anarchist
utopia of the zp of NooL. Many of these people were let traumatized by
the seizure of power and the betrayal of the oot appelos!

1f this is their new world, we don't want it!

“To this violent and summary “justice,” serving their inerests (class justice
that isn’t acknowledged), even if we are far from having found the solu-
tions and know that it is difficult to apply them, we affirm the necessity
of rying to discuss in groups, of finding solutions before exclusion, of
listening to the various parties engaged in a conflict and trying to find a
solution through dialogue and means other than exclusion. And above all
ot o resort to violent and authoritarian methods such as beatings and
Kidnappings, practices that the stast would be very proud oft

1.2. The very strained contacts between the ZAD du Camet and
the ex-ZAD of NDDL

When the ex-2ap proposes to pull up plants by hand while we struggle to
find food

“The tensions between the zao of Carnet and the ex-zap of xpot. began
at the very beginning of the zp of Camet, in early September 2020.

On September 11, 2020, people from the ex-zap asked to organize a
ready-made action on the zap of Camet. This action planned to remove
a so-called invasive plant, the Baccharis, by hand for the purpose of
‘communication. As a matter of fact, during the establishment of the 70,
‘we had prevented the arrival of excavators that would have removed the
Baccharis as well as 30cm of earth all along the banks. This would have
completely destroyed the flora and fauna of a considerable area." The
ex-zadists of xpot. wanted to do this action in order to gain local support
‘The communication plan was the following: we prevent the excavators
from removing the Baccharis in a brutal and violent way and instead, we
remove it by hand.

er squat colonized, destroyed and razed
12 Seethe brochure Arguments agains the industrial poject of Le Carnet and
the text At Le Carnet we also mabilize against the li of the ecological transiton.

2
At that time, the zaists of Le Camet were busy building cabins, barri-
cades, finding water and food to survive from day to day! Faced with the
vital needs of the zan, the NooL. proposal was completely out of touch and
disconnected from the struggle. The way the action was proposed was
almost contemptuous of the Carnet zapists. Under the pretext of having
“won” at xpo., did the ex-zadists, from the top of their militant ivory
tower, think they were omniscient and didn’t need to be on the ground

to determine what to do? Moreover, the action was stamped with NooL
Poursuivre Ensemble and was designed to make positive PR — that ot
helped the zan du Carnet, which in fact was not the case. In the end, the
request remained unanswered and the action did not take place. After-
‘wards, of course, no local resident reproached us for not having removed
the Baccharis

When the ex-zad of NooL wants to organize the defense of the Carnet
without inviting those struggling on the ground

On September 15, oot Poursuivre Ensemble sent an email entiled “cGex-
ERAL CALL T0 ORGANIZE THE DEFENSE OF THE DU CARNET SITE.” The email was
an invitation to a meeting to counter the industrial project on the island of
‘Carnet which would take place on October 10 at the Ambazada, a place in
Notre-Dame-Des-Landes. This call is for us symbolic of the centralizing
and authoritarian intentions of ooi. as well as their complete disconnec-
tion from the struggle on the ground. Moreover, let us specify that a “call
to organize” s not a “call to support,” the intentions are quite different.

Indeed, neither the zavists of Le Carnet, nor the Stop Caret collective,
‘which is very active in the struggle, were made aware beforehand of the
existence of this meeting, The call is written as if the Carnet zadists did
not exist, as if we were not capable of organizing ourselves... And why
choose to hold a meeting in oot and not ask the Camet zadists to hold
it on the very island of Carnet, located only about an hour away, if not to
gain centralizing power and to make publicity for xooL?

“The Stop Camet collective denounced this initiative and asked that the
meeting be canceled immediately. On the zap, no collective position was
taken, even if the general tendency was to find the initiative shocking.
Only a few zabists from Le Carnet went to the meeting on October 10 in
a personal capacity to observe the discussions.

“The other participants in this meeting were environmental non-profits
that had accompanied the Saint-Nazaire port expansion project, as well as
representatives of political parties, unions and legalist associations. After
long and heated debates, nothing constructive came out of this meeting

20
except an attempt to meet again for a “coordination of the defense of the
Estuary” at the end of October at the Village du Peuple.

Following this first meeting and in particular the presence of political par-
ties and non-profits that had accompanied the industrial project, the Stop
‘Carnet collective and the zap du Carnet communicate together that they
do not wish to participate in the coordination.

‘We think that oo Poursuivre Ensemble and the ex-2ap of noot. wanted
to show the “general public of militants” that they were not just focused
on themselves and financing their eco-spaces, but also active in local
struggles. Yet, strangely, we hardly saw them at the fight against the Surf
Park (z¢ la vague) and at the zap de la dune (Brétignolles sur mer).

Despite the explicit refusal of the zab du Carnet to participate in a
coordination launched by oo, xoor. continues its attempts

After the eviction of the Village du Peuple on October 14, the *coordina-
tion of the defense of the Estuary” found itself without a place to meet. We
then discovered that oot Poursuivre Ensemble decided, once again in an
authoritarian and vertical manner, to organize the meefing in Paimboeuf, a
town located just a stone’s throw from Camet Island. We reiterate our re-
quest 1o stop this coordination by telling them that i there is a coordination
ora general collective to defend Le Carnet, it il start from the initiative of
the people and collectives involved on the ground in Le Carnet

‘The meeting still took place despite our repeated emails and phone calls,
as if we didn’t have other things to put energy into like the urgent con-
struction of cabins for the coming winter or communication with the local
inhabitants... But the ex-struggle of Noot is “all knowing”: they know
‘what is good for us!

Members of the Stop Carnet collective and inhabitants of the Camet zan
then read a shared communiqué at the very beginning of the meeting
specifying all the things we thought about this initiative and then left.
Despite the reading of this communiqué and despite the boycott of the
main actors of the struggle at this coordination of defense of the Carnet,
the participants (mostly from nooi. Poursuivre Ensemble and the authori-
tarians of the ex-zo) continued the meeting s if nothing had happened.

‘The coordination then came to a sudden end and did not give any more

news, the pandemic lock-down having certainly played a part in stopping
this dynamic of attempted recuperation of the struggle of Le Carnet.

0
1.3. The latest provocation: the debate on territorial struggles
during the intergalactic gathering

“This summer of 2021, we leamed that the victories against the Saint-Pére-
en-Retz Surf Park project and against the Brétignolles port project were
going to be celebrated at the 2021 Intergalactic Gatherings. The same
eventincludes a discussion on “how to stop .1 a relaunch of the machine
at Le Camet.”

‘We recall that the ex-zadists of noot. have in no way participated in either
the struggles against the Surf Park or the struggles against the port of
Bretignolles. And that, once again, neither the zadists of the Dune who
fought against the port project, nor the collectives engaged against the
Surf Park, nor the zadists of Le Carnet were made aware of this meeting
beforehand and that they were not invited.

And what a moment to celebrate our victories without us and before us!
Indeed, at the time, following the expulsion of the zao du Carnet and
facing the intense repression that followed, we were exhausted and could
not organize the “celebration” of these recent victories. It s also strange
to notice that these three struggles in which the ex-2ap of oot did not
partcipate or in which we did not want to include them were added at
the last moment in an update of this workshop (about 3 days before the
organization of the workshop, at the beginning it was only referenced as
a discussion on the struggles in the west without mentioning these three
struggles).

1f we had noticed in advance that these three struggles were mentioned,
‘we would have organized ourselves to come in large numbers to this
‘workshop-discussion, to ask that this discussion and these celebrations
of victories not take place in Nob. But maybe the ex-zap of noot. had
anticipated this.

Our anger is even stronger knowing that some of our friends from the zab
of Le Camet, who had no housing after the eviction, have been in the East
Zone of oo since then and weren’t even slightly informed about this dis-
cussion about Le Carnet! This shows more than anything the will of the
ex-2p of NobL. to organize a discussion directed by them, to recuperate
the struggle and to exclude any dissonant voices.

Our anger s even stronger because they also allow themselves to organize
celebrations of victories without supporting them afterwards (and without

13 Seethe program of the 2021 intergalactc gathering
a
having supported the struggles beforehand). Some friends are stil dealing
with heavy repression linked to the fight against the Surf Park project
‘while the ex-zp continues not to relay this information! To celebrate a
victory while not supporting the main actors of this struggle undergoing
repression, what a beautiful proof of militant solidarity!

Butif there is one thing that demonstrates their total disconnection from
these struggles that they wish to coordinate and celebrate without sup-
porting them, it is the mention of “celebrating the victory against the
expansion of the port of Bretignolles!” Sic! The struggle in Bretignolles
‘was won in particular thanks t0 the 2o de la Dune which prevented the
destruction of the Normandeliére dune. It was not against the enlargement
of a port...since there is no port in Bretignolles! It was precisely to fight
against the senseless creation of an artificial port!

Celebrating a victory without even knowing the basis of it bravo to the
ex-zap for this beautiful proof of their close ties with local struggles!

1.41tis not only a question of being invited, we refuse these
people’s help

But the problem is not limited to a question of invitations, we refuse the
paternalistic help of the ex-za of npot, because we want a horizontal
relationship between the struggles. We are not interested in being led by
a “natural” authority; whether it is benevolent or not is not the question.
More precisely, we refuse the help of the institution that the ex-2ap of
Noo. has become. This does not prevent us from building relationships
‘and solidarity with some of the inhabitants of NooL.

2. Our differences in relation to practice are
irreconcilable.

2.1. The ZAD communicates to support the balance of power in its
legalization process

After the evictions of 2018 and the willingness of the xpor. authoritarians
o negotiate with the state to legally recover land, the ex-zao of nooL.

is focusing all its energy on mobilizing people to engage in a relation of
force with the institutions to recover legal leases on oot land. The mo-
bilizations in Nantes are gradually running out of steam, gathering only a

14 The famous televised tea taken between the prefect Nicole Klein and certain
“leaders” of the 240

2
hundred people. The balance of power is pretty insignificant and support
for the struggle is less and less present.

‘The movement Agir contre la réintoxication du monde (“Act against the
pollution of the world”) and the Soulévements de la terre (“Earth Upris-
ings”), ultra-centralized around xoo., as well as the relaunch of the mili-
tant festival zap Envies from 2020, allow the ex-240 of NooL. o put itself
back in the spotlight... But in order for these movements not to escape the
ex-2ap and its desire to remain the center of attention and to oversee the
struggles, the organization of these movements must remain centralized in
NoDL.

“This strategic intention on the part of the ex-zap to remain at the center
of the struggles also requires it to oversee the struggles, to constantly
network. This is not a horizontal network, but rather a network centralized
towards Noo_(the principle of “convergence”). Even if it means using au-
thoritarian or dirty means, as you could read at the beginning of this text

“This strategy also requires significant communication around Noot, even
if it means overshadowing the current struggles which face urgent human/
material/financial needs in terms of militant attention! The ex-24p of NoDL
iis not in struggle and is still in the process of being legalized as a vst
militant eco-village which already exist all over France.

Al this s done as the very inverse of any idea of real convergence of
struggles, starting from the ground to go towards horizontal organization!

2.2, The ZAD® communicates to finance its legalist eco-villages at
the expense of other struggles

Centralize around NooL® to make money and gain publicity

Our impression is that the intention to centralize the struggles of the
‘west of NobL® results from ex-2an’s need to prevail in the ongoing arm
‘wrestling match with the prefecture and the department in the legaliza-
tion process. I is also a way (o give meaning to their presence on this.
former place of struggle through big events that gather struggles and
people concerned by these struggles like zan Enviest® or the Intergalactic
meetings(®, or as a rear base that sponsors other struggles, especially in
Loire-Atlantique, or actions like the campaigns of Soulévements de la
terte.

“This way of being central in the struggles is also a way to exist and to
‘communicate on its sigificant financial needs for the purchase of the

F9
land and the projects of the zao®, such as the Mohawked Salamanders®
school.

Indeed, the NpoL® eco-village’s needs in order to recuperate the land are
substantial.

An endowment fund is launched with great publicity to buy land and the
goals are more than ambitious: “3 million euros in the medium term and
1.5 million euros from the beginning of 2020”.

And the problem is not so much that there was this call for donations, be-
‘cause many other places everywhere in France need this, but that it comes
from the ex-zap of nooL® which still claims to be in struggle against cap-
italism, the State, claiming to be close to the Zapatista struggle and other
struggles in rupture with the capitalist and State system. The problem is
that this Dantesque call for donations, with a lot of publicity in the zan
2,08 start-up version, goes against all the imaginary still conveyed by the
24 of Noo and the thousands of people who fought in oo for a space
liberated precisely from private property and money!

By the way, 3 million euros captured by the Noot struggle means that not
much money goes to other struggles that are isolated and having trouble
finding money to support their friends in jail or for trials! Including the
struggles only a stone’s throw away from their home!

But this ambitious objective requires them to constantly be at the fore-

front of the scene in order to get enough donations. Faced with the NooL
mobilization’s l0ss of momentum, it was surely necessary for the ex-zan
of NooL.to show that it was still fighting and not only focuseded on itself.

Yet itis not so complicated to support struggles without taking them
over for one’s own benefit

1f NpoL wants to support struggles, they are not obliged to o so by orga-
nizing things in place of the collectives and people who are involved and
engaged in these struggles. And they are not obliged to do it by putting
themselves before the struggles in question. There is no lack of ways to
support these struggles (without asking for compensation...: relaying
news, offering logistical support or sharing their big fortune, relaying
calls for donations to help anti-repression funds, sharing their contacts.

15 hups:/encommun.ccolfag
2.3 We do not wish to reduce struggles to the spectacle of
communication

Legalization and market privatization

In fact, if we try to shift the gaze with regard to the actions of these:
environmentalists in the activist world, we can explain in part why oot
is indeed in a logic of recuperation of external struggles, for individual
profit (or at least on the local scale of a bunch of buddies on their legal-
ized land).

‘The legalists of Noot. have jumped into the professional bureaucracy of
the state by agreeing o start negotiating and then legalizing, This nec-
essarily involved abandoning the anti-capitalist aims of the participants,
in favor of a forced liberalization'* of the site (perhaps we should say
“privatization” instead). Really! How could the most bourgeois and
scholastic fringe of the Zone’s inhabitants have started to believe that by
legalizing themselves, by capitalizing from at least a minimum wage per
eco-village, these people were not going to rush open-mouthed into a
logic of accumulation? Of accumulation of wealth, of a reconversion of
living time into salaried time, and of a departure from the predominantly
non-market functioning on the za?

Are these ecologists, including the illustrious future “Mohawked Sala-
mander School” (to name but one), who propose summer camps at 500
euros a week per person with an obligation to work “[..] 15 hours a week
of work time,”” really anything other than merchandise for capitalist
Society? Are they capable of inventing something other than making their
activities part of a process of production of market value? Doubtful. In
fact, it can be said that Noot, or at least the places that have consciously
‘worked t0 legalize themselves, have become integrated into the state.

The struggle “against the airport,” the struggle against “its world,” and
the society of the spectacle”

16 That old bourgeois saying that private enrichment would benefit the devel-
opment of al,

17 See the description of these colonies on the Bidouillrie website

18 TheSociety o the Spectacle by Guy Debord (which we undersiood as vell

s we could) is a book that talks roughly about the evoluion of capitalism. We have
exolved from a capitalism of the ransformation of the material world into marketable
object, 0 a capialism of the transformation of the lived reality into marketable value.
through images that can be bought and sold. n the liberal society of the capitalism,
everything is monetizable, as well the products coming from it s the protest that is

)
“This set of survival strategies, framed by the prefecture, necessarily
follows this logic — if the legalization enterprise is not zealous enough
they risk losing the place: a profitable “salamanders school” pretending to
train kids to be close to nature, Soulévements de la terre’s laser focus on
publicity, or the “zap envies,” whose foundation is no longer the construc-
tion of radical altematives in a direct conflict with the state, but rather the
disembodied use of tactics that define our means of struggle (sabotage,
occupations...etc), in a spectacular way. We'll explain.

‘One of the characteristics of the liberalization of our struggles, is the es-
sentialization (reduction of milltancy to an image) of militancy, of tuming
struggles into the image of struggles. Struggles are processes, living re-
groupings of collectives and diverse individualities to counter determined
projects, and ideally, to invent something else instead. Whether it is the
‘composition of the Black Bloc, the political evolution of the Yellow Vests
movement or even the vivacity of the political forces at the time of the
real 24D of NDDL, protest movements are always i constant evolution. It is
because they are alive that they are constantly evolving and can in some
cases be difficult to define.

50 to link, t0 the point of exclusivity, a political struggle to a story of pub-
licity, of spectacular approach of the struggle, s to reduce a struggle to an
image, a spectacle. And, like all images, they have neither life nor depth,
but above all they are recuperated and even generated by the commercial
society of capitalism: they are converted into merchandise.

Noo. finds iself, especially since the end of the 7o, in this disembodied
position. Since it is no longer in struggle, the peaple who live there today
have no choice but to surf on the memory of the zxp, constantly appealing
to these past images in order to eam money to prove to the authorities that
they have fallen in line. Added to this i the obligation to stay alive via
state-imposed modes of organization.

In the case of Noot, the experience of struggle (of a terrtory defined in
and by struggle via a communism of practice with an anarchist dynamic
and values), is moving further and further away from Noot. Whether its
freshly converted state agents like it or not, whether they try to manage
the Soulévements de la terre elsewhere or intergalactic meetings here
doesn’t change anything, The ex-zap of noot s, through this kind of
recuperation, no more than the representation of what it once was: it is no

Tecuperated. Appellism cravs is influences from the stuationst movement of which
Debord is a reference. And to think that the appellsts of xpoi. are wallowing in pre-
cisely what Debord denounced...

)
more than a spectacle, no more than a dead and frozen image. This is why
itis very serious that noot. celebrates the victories of struggles in which it
did not participate (2 la vague), or even tried to sabotage (Le Camet), or
tried to use in order to advertise iself (24 de la Dune).

In the end, s there still a radical difference between the eco-villages that
are springing up all over France® and those that are actually located on
the former za0? Doubtful. For the villages that have participated in the
intergalactic meetings program, there only interest i to mimic militancy
for financial purposes, because their logic is always turned towards safe-
guarding the grave that they themselves have dug in their own bullshit by
collaborating with the institutions.

2.4. We prefer to fight over the long-term and on the ground

At the level of our struggles, we may not have the PR efficiency of the
NooL authoritarian-appelists, but we prefer to focus on the long-term by
creating ties between different struggles in a horizontal way. This is not
o say that we reject all initiatives launched by the ex-zp of ooL. such
as Agir contre la réintoxication du monde and the Soulévements de la
terte. We simply prefer to fight in a different way — non-centralized,
networked, horizontal and on events less oriented towards spectacular
communication

“This also allows us to avoid a strategic and authoritarian dogma such as
that used by the ex-za of Noor. and which we have been confronted with
several times, notably in Le Camet but also during the evictions of 2018

on the ex-zap: “we know how to struggle, we know what is good for the

struggle, so listen to us and let s do it, we won in NoDL. 50 we know how
o do it” sict).

‘The victories against the Surf Park of Saint Pére en Retz and against the
port of Brétignolles, as well as the temporary halting of the project of Le
Carnet go precisely against the dogma carried by the appelos of noo, that
is t0 say, composition with the legalist and citizenist structures as well as
a PR smoothed of ts radicalism to avoid displeasing inhabitants alongside
hyper-organized, centralized evens.

On the contrary, in these three zones, the struggle has been organ-
ic, sometimes unstable, but has never lost its radicality and its force,

19 Inaway,itis pleasing thateco-places are flourishing if they do not have
the history of compromise and of breaking the struggle of those who have established
themselves in oot and if they are n a collectivst approach.

Ed
managing in a short time to put the projects in check without com-
posing with more citizenist structures. These struggles do not fit the
preconceived scheme of the noot. appelos who warned us that we had to
compose to win.

‘We prefer to take the risk of radicalism and this can pay off (we aren’t
saying, however, that this can work in any local struggle, we do not pre-
tend to have the recipe for struggle like the appelists o).

2.5. The emergence of the Convergence of Struggles in the West,
as an experiment in horizontal linking

In the fall of 2019, the idea of a “convergence of struggles in the west”
‘was launched following the observation that

— struggles were often isolated from each other,

— local struggles were often present in the countryside and lacked the
people to fight in a radical way

— the local inhabitants fighting against the projects take the easy and
most known solution when they are confronted with the low number of
radically committed people. They often choose the legal way which is not
necessarily most effective and which is reductive about the problems with
these projects,

— the problems with the projects are often reduced to local issues where-
as they concern all of us because of their cumulative impacts (plundering
of water, land, pollution, extractivism, destruction of lie,...) and the capi-
talist and state desire to control/exploit the territories which it occupies.

Linking up to support and strengthen each other

Faced with this, we have decided to launch an initiative to connect our
struggles together in a horizontal way in order to build a more consistent
relationship of force towards the state and capitalist machine.

A first meeting was set a the Maison du peuple in Nantes in Decem-
ber 2019 to which several friends participating in struggles in the west
responded. The idea is to tour regularly in different struggles in the west
by organizing discussions between us, and work parties to strengthen the
struggle we are in. The idea is also to organize common events to give
visibility to local struggles that are often not well known in urban militant
circles and among city dwellers. A convergence of struggles in the west

E
‘was organized in February 2020 in Nantes, in which several struggles
in the west will take part and 1500 people attend after several meetings
(Maison du peuple in Nantes, z4n de la dune in Rennes and Jardin des
Ronces in Nantes)

However, following the first lock-down and the struggle of the Carnet,
‘which required a lot of energy and mobilized many of the friends involved
in the organization of this horizontal convergence, the convergence of
struggles is running out of steam. But we have not abandoned this hori-
zontal “dynamic” of convergence of struggles that we hope to see spread
everywhere. And maybe it will inally die out to be reborn under another
form with other struggles, and other people, and so much the betier!

‘We prioritize organic solidarity between struggles based on mutual aid,
spreading communication, reinforcements in hard times ... less mediatized
but sustainable in the long run. Of course, some struggles will benefit
more from solidarity than contribute to it, but we don’t keep ledgers, and
this solidarity is another way of participating in the struggles. In turn, the
struggles that have benefited from solidarity will help others when their
situation allows it

We want to link struggles together, not organize them

‘The convergence does not have the visibility nor the strength of Souléve-
ments de la Terre or Agir contre la réintoxication du monde, nor the mas-
sive support of citizen or environmentalist city collectives, with which
we are sometimes linked, when they share common values and respect
the diversity of tactics. The people who compose it are not specialists in
the coordination of struggles or in strategy, they are busy with the strug-
gles in which they are involved, repression or the questions around the
organization of collective life and the collective. All these occupations are
time consuming and we sometimes have litle time and energy to devote
o them.

‘The convergence sees itself more as a tool that connects struggles more
than it organizes them, it proposes a space of meetings, more or less
regular, where discussions and reflections about our struggles are mixed
‘with individuals involved in different struggles against useless projects
but also ant-capitalism, feminism, anti-racism... This space aims to share
our individual and collective experiences and to make collective projects
of sharing or mutual aid emerge, but it has no pretension to carry this or-
ganization outside the struggles. It is not a collective of collectives aiming
to adopt a global strategy of struggle. Each one keeps ts autonomy and
the convergence does not have the vocation to deal with the way people

E
organize themselves, but only to facilitate the mutual aid between the
struggles as they are!

‘We wish to build a long-term dynamic where the means count more than
the result and without aiming for quantified results.

Conclusion: Our struggles are not perfect models or
ideals and do not wish to become so

1f we have collectively written this text to denounce and visiblize the
attempts of recuperation by the eco-villages of novt.since the end of the
24D, if we have insisted on their authoritarianism, the internal violence
thanks to which the “appelo-authoritarian” groups (or simply those who
adhered to the strategy of normalization in order to save their own asses)
have succeeded in infiltrating the future of the Zone after the project with
lies and low blows, we must remember that we are clearly criticizable on
several poins.

“This “we,” let's remember, i the coagulation of zadists, militants, and
locals living near the shitty projects imposed in the west of France and
elsewhere, and of peaple around collective projects that connect different
struggles.

It seems imperative to remain modest and to be vigilant on the authori-
tarian drifts, which appear in any group that organizes itself to accelerate
the fall of the old world, drifts also present in our places of struggles and
in our modes of organization. Starting from the fact that we are simply
people who resist the madness of a capitalism from which we were all
born, we can easily get used to the idea that our experiments are very far
from being perfect.

‘We remind ourselves that the struggles and the zones of struggle are not a
utopia but very concrete collective constructions, that there is no per-

fect model free of conflicts, that we don’t want o fall into the contest of
militant purity nor to hide conflcts to give a good image of the struggle as
one invents a registered trademark, that conflict is important and benefi-
cial because, when it s coherent, it makes us advance.

‘We must also remember that, as in the old world from which we all come,
atan inter-relational level our struggles still suffer from sexist violence,
racist violence, speciesist violence, ableist violence, LGeTiq+phobic vio-
lence (cis-sexism) etc. The dream of ultra-radical, deconstructed, perfect
militants evolving in 100% “safe” spaces does not exist

w0
On the other hand, we can work together, collectively, to get closer to

it. By taking care to permanently keep an ethical, anti-authoritarian line
against liberal individualism, against patriarchy in al is forms, against
militant classism, against all forms of domination coming from the old
‘world, whether they apply between us or towards other species, in short,
an anti-capitalist (anti-patriarchal) ethical line.

‘What we hope above all through this text i to show that it is important
to remain critical and vigilant about our movements, to denounce prac-
tices that discreetly interfere in our struggles, and from which we are
never safe: practices that can harm struggles and people. It s also time to
abandon the oot myth and to experiment with other ways of struggling
and of building solidarity together, with, if possible, an ethic of struggle:
horizontal, decentralized, non-authoritarian, non-spectacular.

The 240 of oo is dead, emptied of all it radical substance, authoritarian
and opportunistic, but it continues to capture all the attention and militant
imagination. However, there are many struggles that need you right now
and that do not need the support of KDDL to exist, 5o we count on you!

‘Against the authoritarians of oot who use the legalists and non-profits to
establish their petty power and define (by an incredible intemal violence)
the way in which the ecological and anticapitalist struggles should be
carried out, against their bureaucracy and their world, W b0 NOT FORGET,
WE DO NOT FORGIVE!

THE ZAD WILL OVERCOME (you)!

Signatories

— zavien-nes in struggle against the project of Surf Park of Saint Pére
en Retz,

— zavien-nes in struggle against the project of the Port of Bretignolles
sur mer and having lived on the z4p of the Dune,

— zavien-nes in struggle against the project of the industrial zone of
Carnet and having lived on the z4p of Carnet

Co-signatories

— zabien-nes in struggle against the project of Center Parks in Roybon
and having lived on the zap of Roybon,

— zabien-nes in struggle against the project of Liaison Intercantonnale
@Evitement Nord de Montpellier (1£) and living on the 2o du Lien,

— zabien-nes in struggle against the project of the Grand Contour-
nement Ouest de Strasbourg (cco) and having lived on the zap du Moulin.

a
Small selected bibliography

Cicatrice: réflexion & propos de la zap. This website lists many resources
related t0 the construction of an alterative history of the z4p of Notre-
Dame-Des-Landes far from the communication of the cvo. O particular
note is the audio reading of the translated brochure from the Crimethinc
‘website Reflections on the zap: Another History.

A propos du mépris de classe, 2013. A 2013 text that may explain one of
the origins of the conflicts that exploded during the 2018 evictions.

‘The Mohawked Salamanders Burn Down the Salamander’s School. Text
claiming the sabotage of the Newt School, a project that was announced
by the cvo in January 2021

Notre-Dame-des-Landes: colonies de vacances, bidoillerie et bizness
alternatif, Text denouncing the marketing business of the school of news
and the actions against the squat of the Rosier

Un an aprés les expulsions, quest ce qu’on fait encore sur la za? This
text presents the point of view of some inhabitants of the 7o on the
dynamics taking place on the zap one year after the evictions. We do not
appreciate the very “neutral” tone of the tex.

Economie verte et contre-insurrection. This text explains how the Mex-
ican state tries to impose individual property in a logic of limitation of
‘communal uses and counter-insurgency.

Limpasse citoyenniste (2001). A 2001 text warning of the dangers of
citizenism that can serve as a resource for understanding the impasse in
‘which the legalist strategies on the zap have put themselves,

zavissidences 1, 2 and 3 (January-June 2018) These three booklets com-
pile voices from the zad, to be found on Infokiosques.net.

Le milieu est pavé de bonnes intentions (October 2019). This brochure
talks about the mechanisms of normalization that were played out on the
Noo. zad during the end of the struggle against the airport.

For more info you can write to us at the following email address:
laissebeton@riseup.net

a2
TiENS. PRENDS