Show Some Solidarity!

Jul 01, 2026 via thefreeonline at wp.me/pIJl9-I56 telegram t.me/thefreeonline/6167

At the center of it’s black, decrepit heart, fascism is about division. Fascists buy into the idea that they and people who are similar to them in some arbitrary way are somehow uniquely different from other people; that this difference must be protected at all costs; and that people not arbitrarily similar to them are defacto threats to them who must be dominated, exploited, and ultimately exterminated. Even a cursory look at what fascists say and do abundantly demonstrates this.

Meanwhile and on the side of humanity, anti-fascists tend to seek affinities and common ground to establish alliances and comradery, particularly with those who might appear superficially different. Anti-fascism finds similarities in goals, values, and struggle with people around the world, going well past superficial differences. This is a major reason why anti-fascism is a global movement. Our own collective, Antifa International, is one example of this, with a membership spanning ten countries and three continents.

It is in this anti-fascist tradition that we’ve been lately thinking about two concepts often bandied about on the left side of the political spectrum:

Allyship: which we take to mean using your own power, privileges, and resources to fight for the rights and well-being of other people who don’t have access to those same power, privileges, and resources – even when doing so won’t necessarily benefit you personally and may put you at risk of some kind.

Solidarity: which we define as supporting the struggle of others to assert their rights, protect themselves, and improve their lives, even when their success won’t necessarily have a direct impact on yourself.

You’ll note that the two concepts as we’ve defined them share a common characteristic of fighting selflessly, in support of others who need your support, even when, as my grandfather would say, “you don’t have a dog in that fight.” This contrasts distinctly from fascism insofar as fascists only rise up when the believe they are fighting for personal benefit (which they are typically very mistaken about, as the their own lines of solidarity are based on random, meaningless factors like skin color).

So this month we are calling on anti-fascists all over the world to act in allyship and solidarity with people targeted by fascists or resisting fascism. And we have a few examples, starting with the photo above, which is pretty self-explanatory (and yes, we’ve had football on our minds lately for some reason!). Some other examples:

INSERT ….ANTIFAS GET 100 YEAR AND 70 YEAR SENTENCES FOR US dEMO

BY MARGARET KILLJOY https://margaretkilljoy.substack.com/p/thoughts-and-notes-and-barbarian

Prairieland

The Prairieland defendants were sentenced yesterday, and all of their sentences are cartoonishly long. Seriously, it’s impossible to read sentences of 70 years in this case without imagining the judge twirling a mustache while he makes his proclamations.

Prairieland was a noise demonstration outside of an ICE facility that went horribly wrong when an officer showed up and drew a gun on an unarmed, fleeing protestor. One of the defendants, Champagne, was armed and shot and injured the officer, presumably saving the fleeing person’s life. It seems likely to me that if Champagne had not been present and not thinking fast, someone would have died at that protest. Instead, nobody did.

Champagne was just sentenced to a hundred years in prison. Here is their statement from yesterday.

Now everyone who was at the small noise demonstration is being told they will be locked up, most of them for the rest of their natural lives. To quote the support committee:

• Between 1936 and 1938, 35,000 volunteers from more than 50 different countries travelled to Spain to fight in support of the Spanish Republic, against Francisco Franco’s fascist army. Few of them had any connections to Spain or spoke any Spanish! Nearly one of every three volunteers would be killed in action, with the survivors returning home to face black-listing and derision from authorities who considered them to be communist agitators. Many of the surviving volunteers would be back in action just a few years later, in the global fight against fascism in World War II.

• The International Brigades of the Spanish Civil War were a major inspiration for thousands of anti-fascists from all over the world to leave home and travel to Rojava (in Northern Syria) from the 2010s to today, to help locals there push back fascism in the form of Daesh/ISIS and Turkish-supported military attacks on the civilian population. Again, few of the volunteers had any connections to the region or spoke the local languages when they arrived at places like the YPG Academy for training. Many of these volunteers were martyred in operations to liberate towns, villages, and cities from Daesh/ISIS and from Turkish-backed fascists.

• you don’t have to travel far from home and take up arms to show some anti-fascist allyship and solidarity. In London in 2025, two women’s football teams – Clapton Community FC and Dulwich Hamlet Reserves FC – (yes, we’re talking about football again!) were set to face off against each other for the league title. Both clubs have strong anti-fascist followings and on the day of the championship match, supporters for both sides brought Palestinian flags and banners condemning the genocide in Gaza with them. Partway through the match, an official at the football grounds took exception to this and demanded that both clubs either order their supporters to remove the offending items, ask their supporters to leave and play the match in front of empty stands, or cancel the match altogether.

• After some consultation, both teams decided that football without fans is nothing and a champion’s trophy was worth less than their solidarity with Palestinians – the match was abandoned and players joyfully climbed into the scaffolds to chant and cheer and sing with their supporters.

• Earlier this year, the people of Minnesota really showed the world what true allyship and solidarity is, when they put themselves on the line defending their family, friends, neighbors, and coworkers from a campaign of kidnapping and terror by thousands of ICE agents. Practically overnight, every neighborhood, town, and city had networks of volunteers ready to drop everything and come running at the first sign of ICE kidnappers in the area. Whistles and encrypted chat groups would sound the alarm, summoning Minnesotans to flood the streets, doing whatever they could to stop the kidnappings. “Minnesota nice” was also clearly on display with actions designed to deny ICE gestapo any rest, sleep, or a chance to eat a meal.
  
  At the height of the resistance, Minneapolis labor unions declared a one-day general strike and, on one of the absolute coldest days of the year, hundreds of business closed for the day as 70,000 people took over the downtown core.70,000 in downtown Mpls. vs. ICE gestapo – WHO YA GOT???The resistance was not without sacrifice. Dozens of Minnesotans were arrested for their courageous actions, including 15 last month who were charged for an alleged “conspiracy to impede or injure federal officers.” Alex Pretti and Renée Good were shot dead by ICE agents, joining six others killed while under ICE detention in the first month of 2026 alone. And while the actions of the people of Minnesota forced ICE to dramatically descale operations, ICE abductions continue to happen, both there and elsewhere in America. So here’s what we want you to do this month: do some research and give some thought to which people (where you live or where you might be able to connect with) are most impacted by the rise of fascism, or who are doing the most to resist fascism. Then think about the skills, time, and resources you can offer up to contribute to the fight. THEN DO THE DAMN THING! Afterwards, take some time to analyze how it went, what worked well, and what you’d do differently next time. Rinse & repeat!
  
  If you’re still absolutely stumped about what to do or who to back, it just so happens that July 25th is the International Day of Solidarity with Antifascist Prisoners. This is the day when antifascists remember the other antifascists who are currently behind bars for the “crime” of defending their communities from fascist violence. You’ll find a list of current antifascist prisoners here. You could hold a small event that day like a letter-writing party or fundraiser for prisoners’ commissary accounts. You could contribute to support antifascist prisoners, their families, or help to pay their legal bills. Or you could just take the time to write one (or more) of them a letter (trust us when we say that, as small of a thing as it may seem on the outside, getting mail from supporters & well-wishers is HUGE for people locked up on the inside!).
  
  Anti-fascist allyship and solidarity is the most authentic way to demonstrate our movement’s humanity and clearly separate us from our fascist opposition. Demonstrating real allyship and genuine solidarity together strengthens our ties to one another and creates a culture of resistance that can, and will, withstand the tides of repression.
  
  What If I Don’t Like This Antifa Action Of The Month?
  
  No problem – feel free to skip ahead and choose one of the other 29 actions we came up with! Or go with one of the 40 actions from 40 Ways To Fight Fascists. Or go completely off-book and come up with your own action!

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