Interview with Comrades on the Situation in Indonesia

from Durian Distro

Since the ascension of the Prabowo Subianto presidency, the valiant people of Indonesia have resisted and pushed back on Prabowo’s authoritarian designs. Prabowo Subianto was the son-in-law of the hated Suharto, the dictator of the New Order period. During the New Order, Prabowo orchestrated massacres in occupied Timor-Leste and oversaw the forced disappearance of democratic activists. He rose to the presidency in an electoral campaign making use of fake news, AI-generated images, and authoritarian nostalgia.

It is theorized that the period of Indonesian democratization known as the Reformasi (reformation) has ended and that a new period of militarization and dictatorship has arisen known as the Neo-Orba (the new New Order), a civil-military dictatorship. This Neo-Orba is part of a global trend of democratic backsliding or autocratization.

Annual Philly Skillshare Convergence Workshop List

Submission


The list of workshops for the 2025 Philly Skillshare is now available. It’s a big one this year so workshops are scheduled for all 3 days, Oct 3-5. Full schedule and location info dropping soon so if you haven’t seen it still by Sept 28, send us an email at phillyskilly2025@proton.me and we’ll share it.
Workshop List:
-Applying Radio Technology
-Meditations on Drug Use & Liberation
-Federated Social Media for Anarchists 101
-Making, Mending, and Creative Re-Use: Clothing Ourselves Outside of Capitalism
-Community Care Through Somatics and Breathwork
-Invisibility for Cyberpunks: hiding from drones, thermal, and night vision
-Seed Saving Practices
-Off-Grid Basics: A Discussion and Workshop for Short-Term and Medium-Term Outdoor Living
-Dont turn yourself in, be fugitive: repression preparedness, material/prefigurative practices to resist state coercion
-Running/Hitting Da Bricks
-Hurricane Responsive Transexuals: how to share far and wide safely after a disaster
-Accessibility for Wheelchair/Mobility Aid Users at Demos
-One-Time Pad LARP Session
-Power Anywhere: Introduction to 12v Electricicty and Solar
-Building Abortion Care Networks & Reproductive Autonomy
-Car Leaks: Repairing Your Rust Bucket
-Safety Planning for Parties, Orgies, and Actions

L.A. Reportback: Resistance to I.C.E.

from O.R.C.A.

Tuesday, September 16th

6pm

O.R.C.A.

Join comrades coming from Los Angeles for a report back and Q&A discussion about ICE resistance, from rapid response networks to tactical observations. A photo of an ICE vehicle with masked people swarming around it. Text reads: "ICE Resistance in LA: A Reportback. 9/16 6pm@ ORCA

 

Suspect in vandalism of Weitzman Museum of American Jewish History’s Israeli flag surrenders to police

from Mainstream Media

The museum near Independence Hall and its Israeli flag display were vandalized with red paint twice last month.

A worker washes off red paint last month from the first vandalism on the “The Weitzman Stands with Israel” banner and Israeli flag on the side of the Weitzman National Museum of American Jewish History on Independence Mall.
A worker washes off red paint last month from the first vandalism on the “The Weitzman Stands with Israel” banner and Israeli flag on the side of the Weitzman National Museum of American Jewish History on Independence Mall.Read moreTom Gralish / Staff Photographer

Philadelphia police on Tuesday said a 33-year-old South Jersey man has been charged in connection with two incidents last month of vandalizing the Weitzman National Museum of American Jewish History and its large Israeli flag display with red paint.

Leroy Hayes, of Woodbury, was charged with ethnic intimidation, criminal mischief, and possession of an instrument of crime, police said.

Hayes surrendered to police on Monday.

On Aug. 18, the Israeli flag and a white section beneath it that reads “The Weitzman Stands with Israel” on the west-facing wall were vandalized with red paint.

On Aug. 25, the museum’s manager notified police that an unknown individual had vandalized additional areas of the museum’s walls and grounds.

The museum had been planning to replace its entire Israeli flag display with a large “Bring Them Home Now” display to commemorate the two-year anniversary of the Oct. 7 attack on Israel by Hamas and to bring attention to the hostages who are still in captivity, a spokesperson for the Weitzman said last month.

A few days after the second incident, however, Dan Tadmor, president and CEO of the museum, issued a statement saying a version of the Israeli flag would remain as part of the building display.

Tadmor said the museum did not want to create “a perception that we were capitulating to vandals or had somehow walked back our position of unequivocal support for Israel and its people.”

Tadmor added: “As the nation’s Jewish museum, there can never be any misunderstanding as to our identity and positions: we are a proudly Jewish and proudly Zionist institution.”

Gov. Josh Shapiro said in a statement after the second vandalism incident:

“The Weitzman Museum is literally steps away from the birthplace of democracy and a symbol of liberty and justice for all. Antisemitic vandalism has no place there — or anywhere in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania — and must be universally condemned. Expressing views through acts of hate doesn’t further a cause.”

Hackitat: 9 Layers of Political Hacking Screening

from O.R.C.A.

Friday, September 12th
7pm
ORCA
Hackitat: 9 Layers of Political Hacking (2020)
Directed by Alex Veitch
Description:

“This documentary takes a look at hacking in the place where technology and activists meet. Where the need to circumvent state surveillance and surveillance capitalism is grave. Where people see an unfair system in society and find a way to hack it. This is the true hacker habitat.

In direct opposition to banks, corporations and entrepreneurs who appropriated the words ‘hack/hackathon’, the film aims to fill these expressions with the subversive and anarchist tradition they originally contained. Delivered in chapter form, this film shows hacker projects and system hacking from Japan, Cuba, occupied Western Sahara, Belgium and Sweden. These chapters are intertwined with thought provoking interviews where hackers talk about the ethics behind what they do. Furthermore, the film mirrors these ideas in a discussion with the political theorist Emma Goldman’s writings. Filmed under the 2010s it provides an unique insight into a global political hacker movement.”

The film is in multiple languages with English subtitles.

Statements about the police brutality in Indonesia

from Durian Distro

Press Statement: On the ongoing crackdown against West Papuan activists (27th August 2025)

The Merdeka West Papua Support Network strongly condemns the ongoing crackdown on democracy activists in Papua, today, Wednesday, 27 August, in the town of Sorong, following the unlawful transfer of four Papuan political prisoners to Makassar District Court — a clear violation of Article 85 of Indonesia’s Criminal Procedure Code.

Milk Tea Alliance Statement on the Brutality of Policing in Indonesia (29th August 2025)

A rail station tear-gassed, Affan Kurniawan killed by being run over by an armoured car protesters attacked with water cannons, batons, and the brutality of policing. Over 600 people have been arrested. That was just on the 28th of August in Jakarta, when thousands protested against excessive government pay. Yet it is not isolated, protests in Pati a few weeks earlier faced similar police violence, as did the protests against the TNI law earlier this year. This is not okay, the violence by the police and security forces has been brutal, excessive, and indiscriminate. Moreover, journalists have been attacked and media organisations threatened.

Tails Training

from Instagram

This Saturday September 13th 3:30pm at LAVA: TAILS training! This will be a lecture and hands on lab for use of tails, an operating system you can use for increased privacy and anonymity online. Come out to learn and practice some useful skills!

Running Down The Walls 2024 Reportback

from Philly ABC

Philly ABC held our 25th Anniversary Running Down the Walls (RDTW) on Sunday, September 15th 2024 in solidarity with political prisoners everywhere and Palestinians resisting genocide in Gaza, the biggest prison on earth. This was, to our knowledge, the largest RDTW ever, with 398 comrades on sneakers, rollerblades, and weelchairs, multiple dogs, and a kitten joining us at FDR Park. More comrades participated from within prison walls, including Toby Shone and other prisoners at HMP Garth in the UK, Marius Mason and other prisoners at FMC Fort Worth, Jesse (Tall Can) Cannon at the Sierra Conservation Center, and Jerome Coffey at SCI Pine Grove. We’re thrilled to announce that in addition to being the most well-attended, this RDTW was also the most financially successful: we raised $41,243! All of the proceeds have now been disbursed to the Anarchist Black Cross Federation (ABCF) Warchest and Palestinian mutual aid projects.

The morning began with scholar, facilitator, and yoga teacher Sheena Sood leading us in a warm-up in the grassy area in front of the Boathouse Pavilion. Emceeing the rest of the event was YahNé Ndgo of Homegrown Maroons, the Annual Maroon Legacy Prisoners’ Families Brunch, the Care Space Project, and the Black Alliance for Peace. YahNé got the 5k going in three waves―fast, medium, and leisurely―while supporters lined the path to cheer and hand out water. After reaching the finish line, participants visited tables representing Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network, the Philly chapter of the Malcolm X Grassroots Movement, Solidarity Food Not Bombs, the Philly Socialist Rifle Association, and others. Black Liberation Army militant and ABCF co-founder Ojore Lutalo was also present to share his most recent art.

Once everyone returned, we gathered to listen to Abu Ali from Samidoun speak movingly about the importance of supporting prisoners and the connections between resistance at home and in the tunnels. Other speakers followed, including Indigo from Philly Queers for Palestine and a representative from Casey Goonan’s support group. We also read solidarity statements sent by imprisoned comrades Xinachtli, Marius Mason, Oso Blanco, Toby Shone, and Jesse Cannon.

All participants received the official event t-shirt. This year we also printed two limited edition shirts in solidarity with Gaza and commemorating the 25th anniversary of RDTW. The remaining stock of all the designs are still for sale on our website.

Ordinarily, we split profits evenly between the ABCF Warchest and a different political prisoner or organization each year. This year, for the first time, we did not designate a specific co-recipient before the event. Early in our planning, we corresponded with people in Cairo who facilitated evacuations from Gaza, but then Israel seized and closed the Rafah Crossing, making this work impossible. Acknowledging that the situation would likely continue to be fluid and unpredictable, we decided to rally simply for “mutual aid in Gaza” and choose specific co-recipients based on the emerging reality on the ground. Given the strength of our fundraising and the urgency of the situation in Palestine, we ultimately decided to send equal amounts to the ABCF Warchest and four carefully selected Palestinian mutual aid organizations: Thamra, the Sameer Project, the Operation Olive Branch Family Encampment, and the Sanabel Team.

Thamra promotes food sovereignty in Northern Gaza through restoring water access, building urban food gardens, and providing fresh produce. It was created by farmer Yousef Abu Ra- bea, whose family has cultivated straw- berries in Beit Lahia for generations, and photographer Leena Almadhoun. Early in the escalation of the genocide, Yousef managed to hastily collect seeds and seedlings from his family farm before evacuating amidst heavy IDF shelling. Upon his return, he scavenged dried-out peppers and eggplants from the ruins. He and his brothers began planting anew in rooftop containers, and in the land between their home and a destroyed kindergarten. Once they could provide fresh produce for their family and surrounding community, they began traveling across Northern Gaza, sharing food, seeds, and water, and creating new gardens. On Octo- ber 22nd ― shortly after Philly ABC learned of Yousef and Leena’s work but before we were able to make contact with them ― we learned that Yousef was martyred alongside another team member, Zakaria Abu Sultan, by a targeted IDF airstrike. Their work is now being continued by the organization Yousef created. We extend our support and solidarity to Thamra in Yousef and Zakaria’s memory.

The Sameer Project is a grassroots aid organization led by four Palestinians in the diaspora. Originating as an informal mutual aid network within an extended Palestinian family, it expanded to coordinate shelter and medical aid in central and South Gaza, and food, water, diapers, and medical aid in north Gaza. We are supporting their recent initiative, the Refaat Alareer Camp, which provides shelter and medical care in central Gaza for perinatal and neonatal people, children with disabilities, and adults with special needs and mobility issues, war injuries, and chronic diseases. The Refaat Alareer Camp is named after the professor, writer, and co-founder of We Are Not Numbers, whose last prophetic poem written to his daughter Shaimaa, “If I Must Die,” has become a touchstone of Palestinian resilience both in Gaza and internationally. In December 2023, after months of death threats, Refaat was martyred in a targeted Israeli airstrike that also killed his brother, sister, and four of his nephews. In April 2024, after being displaced from their home in Shujayya, Shaimaa was martyred alongside her husband and two month-old son in an Israeli airstrike. In September 2025, the Refaat Alareer Camp was targeted by the IDF and had to be relocated. On April 6th 2025, the IDF assigned a “red zone” to the area surrounding the new camp, and it was displaced a second time. In June 2025, camp manager Mosab was martyred. We extend our support and solidarity to the Sameer Team in the memory of Refaat Alareer, Shaimaa, and Mosab, and in the spirit of Alareer’s final printed words: “If I must die, / you must live.”

Since July 2024, the Operation Olive Branch Family Encampment has faced evacuation orders and the closure of humanitarian corridors to provide food, water, medical care, and other necessities to 300 residents requiring urgent perinatal care in Gaza. It is expanding to provide the same level of support to 1000 residents with disabilities and urgent medical needs. OOB is an international organization that links on-the-ground mutual aid projects with international support. The Family Encampment is coordinated by PAL Humanity, two Palestinian doctors and sisters who provide field visits and distribute medical aid; Palestinian dentist Dr. Zayn Eldeen, who distributes infant formula and hot meals; and Palestinian cook Amani Alkahlout, who cooks for hundreds of families in Rafah and runs supply deliveries.

The Sanabel Team is a Palestinian-led mutual aid initiative launched in 2018 to help families in need in Khan Yunis. It has since expanded to provide food, clean water, and basic needs to families displaced internally in Gaza and externally to Egypt. The Gaza team continues to provide daily hot meals despite constant threat of violence and repeated displacement. On at least one occasion (October 7th 2024), the team has been forced to flee their mobile kitchen under Israeli bombardment. On May 27th 2024, Sanabel worker and video editor Muhammad was martyred during the Israeli bombing of a refugee camp that killed 44 other people and wounded more than 200, most of them women and children. Muhammad was 27. We extend our support and solidarity to Sanabel in Muhammad’s memory.

The Anarchist Black Cross Federation Warchest was established in 1994 through coordination between the ABCF and political prisoners Ojore Lutalo, Sundiata Acoli and Sekou Odinga. It covers monthly stipends to political prisoners and prisoners of war with insufficient other sources of support. It also provides one-time grants in emergency situations and when prisoners are released. Many of its recipients are movement elders facing lengthy sentences for significant work in support of Black liberation, decolonial, ecological, and anarchist movements. Longer-term prisoners tend to be forgotten over time―indeed, this is one of the primary goals of their incarceration. By staying in dialogue with these comrades and making sure they remain materially supported, the ABCF not only ensures we don’t leave behind those who’ve given the most for our struggles, it also ensures that their voices are at the center of how we evolve our movements into the future. Please read more about the current Warchest recipients―14 friends and comrades most of whom have spent decades in prison for their beliefs or actions for freedom, autonomy and justice―using the link above. Get involved in our work keeping connections with those locked up by sending them mail or signing up for our announcement list.

Disbursing funds took longer than usual this year due both to the extreme complexity of making sure people on the ground in Gaza would actually receive the funds — including the martyring of intended recipients by the IDF before we could get funds to them — and also the sudden stroke that afflicted our fiscal sponsor, Daryle Lamont Jenkins. A full accounting of money in and out is listed in the tables below.

Proceeds
Event registrations and day of shirt sales $16,418
Matching donations $23,250
Post-event shirt sales $1,575
Total $41,243
Costs
Wholesale participant t-shirts $2,440
Benevity (matching program) fee $779.76
Fiscal sponsorship fee $400
Total Costs $3,619.76
Subtotal to disburse $37,623.24
Beneficiary disbursements
Thamra $7,575
Operation Olive Branch Family Encampment $7,575
The Sameer Project $7,575
The Sanabel Team (+$221 Givebutter fees) $7,343.24
ABCF Warchest $7,555
Total $37,623.24

We send you this reportback with thanks for your support for Philly’s 2024 RDTW and celebration of its success, but also with ongoing concern. The struggle continues both for Gazans facing an ever-intensifying genocide, and for our longtime comrades behind bars, some of whom have now been imprisoned for over 50 years. Let’s stay committed to these interlinked struggles, and continue supporting our comrades everywhere.

From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free.

Free them all.

Book Launch Event for Black Arms to Hold You Up by Ben Passmore

From Making Worlds Bookstore and Social Center

Join us with local Philadelphia author and Ignatz and Eisner Award-winning cartoonist Ben Passmore for the launch of his upcoming graphic novel BLACK ARMS TO HOLD YOU UP: A History of Black Resistance (Pantheon; On-sale: October 7, 2025). This graphic highlights historical figures of the Black Nationalist Movement like Marcus Garvey and Audley Moore to George Floyd while incorporating a dark sense of humor throughout this retelling of Black Liberation.

Ben Passmore is the author of the ongoing comic book series Daygloayhole, as well as the Eisner Award-nominated and Ignatz Award-winning comic collection Your Black Friend. He also wrote and illustrated Sports Is Hell (Koyama Press), collaborated with Ezra Claytan Daniels on BTTM FDRS (Fantagraphics), and contributes to publications such as The Nib and the New York Times. He lives in Philadelphia.

Thursday, October 9, 2025

5:00 PM – 7:00 PM

Making Worlds Bookstore & Social Center

210 South 45th Street

Philadelphia, PA, 19104