Philadelphia Area Weapons Manufactures and Facilities

  • January 27, 2024 1:22 am

Submission

The United States is the single largest manufacturer and distributor of armaments in the world.  This means weapons producing facilities are all around us, yet seldom do anti-war/anti-colonial movements identify and target the private companies that profit and enable these wars to be fought.

In this particular historical moment, with a years-long land war in Ukraine depleting the global stockpile of munitions and armaments, any disruption to the supply chain related to the production and distribution of armaments and ammunition in the United States has an immediate and real world impact on the ability of forces to drop bombs, fire rockets, deploy mines or bombard with artillery.

Movements attempting to disrupt the live-streamed genocide by Israeli forces in Gaza for over the last hundred days have periodically managed to identify and disrupt the flow of arms from the United States to Israel by targeting facilities or blockading infrastructure such as ports.

In the spirit of free people’s taking matters into their own hands, of autonomous direct action and a refusal to wait for permission, salvation or the intervention of a higher power, we offer the following list of local area arms manufacturers.

As with anything you come across on the internet, we urge groups and individuals to do their own research and reconnaissance prior to engaging in any action.

Day and Zimmermann (D&Z)

  • 87th largest defense company
    • Headquartered at 1500 Spring Garden St, Philadelphia PA, 19130
  • Family owned company that operates several major US Army ammunition plants, producing 155mm artillery rounds, 120mm tank rounds, mines, hand grenades and more.  Does private security for US Embassy in Jerusalem.
  • Parent company of American Ordinance LLC, Kansas LLC, SOC, Mason & Hanger

L3 Harris

  • L3 Harris is the ninth largest defense corporation
  • Philadelphia location:
    • 13500 Roosevelt Blvd, Philadelphia, PA 19116

Leonardo

  • 11th-largest defense company
  • Philadelphia location: 
    • 3076 Red Lion Rd, Philadelphia, PA 19114

Boeing

 

  • Fifth largest defense company in the world by revenue.
  • Philadelphia location: 
    • 300 Industrial Highway, Ridley Park, PA.

Ghost Robotics

  • Maker of weaponized robotic dogs
    • 3401 Grays Ferry Ave Bldg 200 (2nd floor), Philadelphia, PA 19146
    • 150 Rouse Blvd, Philadelphia, PA 19112

Action Manufacturing Co.

  • Bristol Facility (Production and Testing)
    • 190 Rittenhouse Circle, Bristol, PA 19007 (20.5 miles from Philadelphia)
  • Atglen Facility (Loading Facility)
    • 500 Bailey Crossroads Rd, Atglen, PA 19310

 

Elbit Systems of America (Aydin Displays, Birdsboro, PA)

  • Aydin Displays (https://www.aydindisplays.com/), an Elbit Systems of America company
  • 1 Riga Ln, Birdsboro, PA 19508
  • Makes ruggedized displays for military application
  • Elbit systems is an Israeli arms manufacturer with operations in the US and contracts with Homeland Security for US Border security.  It is the target of an international campaign by Palestine Action

General Dynamics Ordnance and Tactical Systems

 

Lockheed Martin

  • World’s top defense company by revenue
  • Philadelphia-area locations:
    • 459 Kennedy Drive, Archbald, PA 18403
    • 199 Borton Landing Rd, Moorestown, NJ 08057
    • 6000 Midlantic Dr, Mt Laurel Township, NJ 08054 (
    • 230 Mall Blvd, King of Prussia, PA 19406
    • 1021 W 8th Ave, King of Prussia, PA 19406
    • 11 Federal St, Camden, NJ
    • 3 Executive Campus, Cherry Hill, NJ 08002

BAE Systems

  • Seventh-largest military contractor.
  • Philadelphia-area location:
    • 8000 Midlantic Dr # 700N, Mt Laurel Township, NJ 08054

Raytheon/RTX

  • Second-top defense company in the world by revenue
  • Philadelphia-area location
    • 8000 Midlantic Dr # 201N, Mt Laurel Township, NJ 08054

Informality, Anarchy, and the Black Radical Tradition

  • January 26, 2024 1:00 am

Submission


The last couple years’ Black-centric revolts have been organized mostly informally. Informality is often overlooked when it comes to discussing Black liberation organizing, yet today’s cutting edge rebels are almost exclusively organized along these lines. We’ll be discussing informality, and anarchists’ strategies surrounding it, to better understand Black revolt and the Black left and to strategize destroying the civil society that has made Black liberation movements so necessary.

Advance registration appreciated.

This event will be a presentation followed by open discussion.

Atticus is a communist theorist and an anarchist in action. He’s been involved with anti-police struggle for the past 10 years of his life. His published writing is concerned with Black anarchism, the Black Radical Tradition, and small city organizing.

Cres is an anarchist living in Philadelphia. She’s participated in various struggles and uprisings over the last decade and a half. She’s interested in anarchy, incorrect and subversive uses of space and tools, and making memes.

Thursday, February 22, 2024
5:00 PM 6:30 PM
Making Worlds Bookstore & Social Center
210 South 45th Street

Khalif Milller Needs Your Court Support

  • January 25, 2024 1:21 am

from Mastodon

Khalif Miller needs your court support!! Khalif Miller was one of three co-defendants with Anthony Smith that was prosecuted federally for his actions during the uprising in 2020. He has been held in prison for more than 3 years and is also facing state charges. Please come support our comrade on Friday in court!

Friday 1/26/24, 9am
1301 Filbert St, Philadelphia, Room 707

Flyer with text included in post, and pictures of Khalif Miller

O.R.C.A. Grand Opening!

  • January 24, 2024 1:16 am

Submission

O.R.C.A Grand Opening

screening How To Blow Up A Pipeline
Feb 11
Doors 5pm
Film 7pm

DM for addy

O.R.C.A is a new nautical-themed social space in Philadelphia for anarchists and our radical friends. Organizing a reading group? looking for a space for an anarchist meeting? Screening a film or hosting a discussion/workshop? Hit us up if you want to do it at O.R.C.A! Expect open hours soon. We’ll be having our grand opening Sunday, February 11th! Come grab a zine, catch a film, and warm the space. Bring zines and posters to populate the space if you feel so moved.
We expect attendees to wear masks at this event, and will have masks available should you forget your own. We’ll have some seltzer and snacks, but always welcome more.
Access Info:
Unfortunately, O.R.C.A is not a very physically accessible space. Located in Southwest Philly off a trolley line, the space is up two flights of stairs in a building without an elevator. There are two gender-neutral bathrooms on the same floor as O.R.C.A.. The space is cold in the winter and warm in the summer. O.R.C.A has masks and covid tests available for free, always. Expect couches, chairs, benches, and soft surfaces in the space. If you have any access questions please feel fee to reach out.
You can reach us at orca.philly@protonmail.com

Our twitter is @OrcaPhilly it’s suspended at the time of this writing and maybe one day it won’t be.

 


Black Out. Controversy about meaning and efficiency of sabotage

  • January 20, 2024 1:41 am

Submission
Between February and March 2020, all over the world, heads of state made
solemn and grave announcements in order to prepare
their populations for what appeared to be a new era : one of war against
the virus. Within a couple months, the sabotage of telecommunication
infrastructures had almost become a daily event in France, as well as in
other European countries. Simultaneously, a debate sprang up within
anarchist and radical ecological publications, in particular about the
meaning and efficiency of these acts. How could we undermine
technological control ? Could we provoke a tipping point within this
situation? What scenarios did these sabotages open up ? How could we
consider efficiency, organization and ethics altogether?
Nowadays, the situation has evolved, but the problems brought up by the
following texts remain unresolved, maybe even more
so now, and without obvious answers : what are the links between direct
action and social or ecological movements? What strategies emerge when
we separate or combine anarchist, ecologist and techno-critical
perspectives? How do these strategies integrate a now-decisive element :
the war in Europe, which will guide and harden the grip of states on
their populations.

[PDF]

NJ Hate Watch: White Lives Matter PA Leader and Unidentified J6 Rioter “Insider #140”, Evan Plumlee

  • January 12, 2024 1:13 am

from Jersey Counte-Info

Antifascists have positively identified 54 year old Evan Wendell Plumlee of Feasterville-Trevose (Bucks County), PA as a neo-nazi, unidentified J6 rioter “insider ”, and leader of White Lives Matter (WLM) PA.

Evan Wendell Plumlee

Plumlee is also a member of NJEHA and an associate of S14 and the Atlantic Nationalist Club, among other local nazi crews. Plumlee has long-standing connections both in-person and online to the far right scene in the tri-state (NY, NJ, PA) area. Over the past few years he has been occupying himself with joint actions between NJEHA, WLM PA, WLM NJ, Embrace Struggle AC, S14, and Atlantic Nationalist Club, while running the WLM PA Telegram channel with, the recently deceased, Jackson Bradley.

Plumlee’s Gab and Telegram account. They both have the same screen name and dog picture.

Plumlee first came to the attention of antifascists through a routine check of active fascist accounts in the tri-state area. A Telegram and Gab account by the handle AndailChanter was flagged due to its activity. After running some basic checks it was discovered that the account name, AndailChanter, was not unique to Telegram and Gab but existed across several other platforms, some of which were connected directly to Evan Plumlee.

One of Plumlee’s accounts, in this case bitbucket, was attached to his AndailChanter username.

Plumlee made an amateur mistake by linking his legal name to his online neo-nazi persona, which is reminiscent of other S14 member blunders such as Mark Kauffman, Sara Sheaffer, Jackson Bradley, Mathew Bair, Erin Gurel, Paul Minton, and Daisy McGowen. Additionally, Plumlee confirmed on his Telegram account that he lived in Bucks County, PA, further removing any plausible deniability over his identity.

With Plumlee positively identified, antifascists were able to trace his in-person and online activity and connect him to the earlier referenced local groups. Over the past few years Plumlee has forged a strong connection with NJEHA leader Dan D’ambly, S14 leadership, and has regularly attended actions in NJ, PA, and NY.

Plumlee circled in red attending a Embrace Struggle and WLM NJ and PA chapter rally.

 

Plumlee is on the left, standing next to Paul Minton, during the ill fated Tom’s River Irish Festival rally. This is the same rally that Nicholas Mucci attended prior to his arrest.

 

A close up picture of Plumlee attending the Tom’s River Irish Festival rally.

Plumlee has also maintained WLM PA’s online presence, using in-person actions to bolster their content to try and recruit new membership.

 

These two pictures from the S14 chat are referencing a 2023 rally that Plumlee attended. He specifically grabbed footage from that day’s event for WLM PA’s 2023 Day of Action, which is a part of a larger nationwide push by WLM National where individual chapters are encouraged to do simultaneous racist actions.

Outside of his regular online and physical presence in the tri-state area neo-nazi scene, Plumlee is active in moderate right-wing politics on a national level, having connections to more palatable pro-Trump groups. Of note, his involvement in these circles and his connections to other neo-nazis enabled him to join a caravan to Washington D.C. in 2021 for the January 6 Trump rally that devolved into a violent convergence and occupation of the U.S. Capitol Building.

Plumlee traveling to D.C. with Vincent Deluca, pictured on the left.

Plumlee can be seen throughout footage from the J6 riots being an active participant in storming the building and working with others to occupy the building.

Plumlee is circled in red, shortly before the Capitol building was stormed.

 

Plumlee gathering with other rally goers right before the building is invaded.

 

Plumlee entering the Capitol building.

 

Plumlee and others are at one point confronted by a Capitol police officer while inside the building.

At the time of publishing, while over 1,000 people have been identified and faced criminal sentencing for their involvement in the January 6 riots, hundreds of people have not, including Plumlee. It is time to expose Plumlee for his actions on J6 and membership in neo-nazi organizations.

A note from NJ Hate Watch: this is not done in cooperation with the state, any of its agents, or those who cooperate with the state on any level. If Plumlee finds himself on the other end of a state investigation it is because of his own stupidity and arrogance. Any past, present, or future charges/state repression levied against those who participated in the J6 riots is a poor attempt by the state to show that it is against fascism. The U.S. state is by far the largest purveyor of fascism, and stands to benefit from sacrificial arrests and prison terms of J6 defendants.

Send tips and information: njhatewatch@protonmail.com

Anathema Volume 10 Issue 1

  • January 12, 2024 1:01 am

from Anathema

Volume 10 Issue 1 (PDF for reading 8.5×11)

Volume 10 Issue 1 (PDF for printing 11×17)

In This Issue:

  • What Went Down
  • Fashion
  • Things Are Getting Weirder
  • Shifts In The Philadelphia Anarchist Space
  • World War III?
  • What The Fuck Does Reconstruction Even Mean To Y’all?

Urgent Fundraising Support Needed For NJ Antifascist Daryl Lamont Jenkins

  • January 10, 2024 1:47 am

from Jersey Counter-Info

On New Years Day 2024 Daryle Lamont Jenkins was admitted to a hospital in the New Jersey area, three days later and he is still there. Doctors have removed several blood clots and are now concerned with his kidneys. Daryle has been fighting for the cause of civil rights in the United States for well over a quarter of a century, traveling over the country at his own expense, giving help to all of us whenever we needed it- he now needs our help to heal.

I am writing this asking for your help. Daryle is going to need time to heal and get well, not get out of the hospital and get back to work- that may cause damage that there is no coming back from, so we are asking for funds that will help with rent and bills and food while he recuperates. Your generosity is appreciated it will allow him to continue this important work that too few people are willing to do on all of our behalf.

Update From Daryl on January 7, 2024

I figured I will be the one who updates this time. As you might know from some of the vids I have posted on social media, I’m home now. Next week, I will be talking with doctors to see what my next steps are because there needs to be alternatives to the treatment I have been getting and we need to pursue them. That’s not the only issue as before I had to deal with all the craziness of the past week, I had to make plans to get surgery on my hand because of some issues I have been having for a few months. So I am pretty much spending the next month or two doing doctor appointments and making sure things stay good. I should by the way note that due to the proximity of the two situations there might have been some confusion so let me note that me going to the hospital was unrelated to the accident with the train a few days prior. There were no injuries that day and only the car was hurt. Still, that is going to hurt me financially on a few levels which is why Luis suggested this GoFundMe in the first place. I’m glad he did because I was very down and stressed out these past few days and this effort took me out of that. I know I have said thank you before but frankly I can’t say it enough. So once again thank you and I will be out there with you all soon enough!

If you are interested in donating to help support Daryl please do so through this gofundme link: https://www.gofundme.com/f/a-fighter-is-fighting

The Blue Agave Revolution – Book Release from Oso Blanco

  • January 8, 2024 1:41 am
from Philly ABC

oso-blanco-blue-agave-revolution-book-event.jpg

Join us at 3:30pm on Sunday, January 28th at Iffy Books for the premier release of freshly published, The Blue Agave Revolution: Poetry of the Blind Rebel. Collaboratively written by indigenous anarchist political prisoner Oso Blanco and Michael Novick, The Blue Agave Revolution is a joint work of speculative/magical realist fiction containing tales of the Mexican Revolution, analyses of contemporary Indigenous struggle, engagement with the work of other political prisoners including Leonard Peltier, Mumia Abu-Jamal, and Jessica Reznicek, art, poetry, and meditations about what struggles for freedom may look like in the future.

After introducing the book and hearing a piece from Oso Blanco himself, we’ll jump into a multimedia program on contemporary aspects of the Zapatista movement and other topics related to Oso Blanco’s wholehearted connections to indigenous autonomy in Turtle Island. We will be joined by author and journalist Scott Campbell to shed light on the role of Magonismo in the early Mexican revolution.

$20 suggested donation (includes a copy of the book). No one turned away for lack of funds.

Remote participation is welcome! If you can’t make it in person, we’ll ship it to you so you can follow along. We also encourage those who are joining in person, to purchase and familiarize yourself with the book ahead of time, but that is completely up to you. Cash donations at the event are welcome too!

“If the Cops Kill Me I Want You to Riot”

  • January 6, 2024 1:02 am

Submission

“If the cops kill me I want you to riot
Burn down their stations and set their cars alight
Know that I went out fighting and wish we all
Could just have peace and be free
…
We cannot have peace until this empire falls. Even then, peace takes work and freedom is a constant struggle. If the cops kill me I want you to riot, to kill as many of them as you can.” – Tort’s diary p. 121
Tortuguita lived and died fighting for the dispossessed, the wild, and the feral; against the world of empire, prisons, and police. It was a true warrior who made the forest its home, devoted their life to the struggle, and was willing to die a revolutionary death rather than be captured. We invite all those who knew Tort, and all who were impacted by its life from afar, to take the anniversary of their death as an opportunity to reflect on our own commitments and deepen our resolve, so that we might invigorate and intensify our conflictuality.
Rather than retreat into the bounds of comfort and safety, let us allow our memory of Tort to remind us of what it means to truly act in accordance with our values, and to challenge ourselves to follow through. We are rendered harmless only when we allow our fear of the enemy to eclipse our desires to defend the land and reduce this capitalist hellworld to ashes. Remember that the mechanisms of subjugation and control encroach all around us. Wherever you are, you need not venture far to find the veins of industry; go out and sever them.
We need not be concerned with optics and media portrayals. We have no interest in seeking validation, recognition, or understanding from the same media outlets — agents of the society we wish to destroy — that deadname and misgender Tortuguita and relentlessly whitewash its life as one of nonviolence and passivity. Additionally, to contort our actions to render them acceptable to the general public is to inevitably dull them to the point of irrelevance. To work only within the confines of the existent is to disarm ourselves completely. As anarchists, we are able to speak to each other in a language all our own. When we redecorate walls, shatter windows, and set fires, we speak to each other in ways that the media and the general public need not understand; we become beautiful. When we refuse legibility, when we refuse sympathy and demands, we refuse cooptation, we refuse recuperation, and we seek out life.

Avenge Tortuguita — Avenge the Forest

NJ Hate Watch: S14 Member Jackson Bradley, Dead At 25

  • January 2, 2024 1:20 am

from Jersey Counter-Info

It has been confirmed that Jackson Bradley, who was exposed as a S14 member in October 2023, has died at the age of 25 of septic shock. Bradley had been prolific in his online career as a neo nazi, and was revealed to have an extensive network to local neo nazi crews around the United States, like NSC 131, and was behind the White Lives Matter PA Telegram channel, the White Pill Cafe 2.0 Telegram channel, and a number of other national socialist Telegram content. Among his in-person neo nazi activities, Bradley was a member of NJEHA and S14, in addition to other crews like Embrace Struggle Active Club.

A recent photo of Bradley.

One of Bradley’s friends, a fellow (unidentified) S14 member who goes by the handle booboo kittyfck, reported the news of his death to S14 this week. Booboo kittyfck appeared destroyed, as she had worked closely with him for years, helping run the White Pill Cafe 2.0 Telegram channel and other virtual projects.

 

Reportedly, booboo kittyfck was in touch with Bradley’s family and received confirmation from them that Bradley had died. She also confirmed that she talked to Bradley on the phone on Christmas day.

A few different neo nazi organizations put out memorial statements for Bradley and not only verified that he went by the Telegram handle Robert Mathews, something that antifascists exposed in October 2023, but that he worked on other projects such as the New Dawn of White Action. Looking at the reactions that booboo kittyfck and others had over his passing, one would think Bradley was the epitome of national socialist ideals, intelligence, and masculinity.

The hilarious truth here is that couldn’t be further from the truth. Bradley’s death was his own doing and completely avoidable.

Mark Kauffman also confirms that Bradley was on the ground for the December 16 Jackson, NJ action that NJEHA and S14 held.

Bradley was reportedly not feeling well for over a week prior and talked to booboo kittyfck about it when they spoke on Christmas day. She tried to get him to go to the emergency room that day, but Bradley did not listen.

Bradley’s stubbornness was so bad that he needlessly suffered for days on end as his infection got worse. At this time  its not clear what kind of original infection Bradley had, but given how sepsis commonly forms he likely had an easy to treat lung or urinary tract infection that evolved over time, going into his bloodstream. This means that Bradley actively ignored his primary infection and did not receive initial treatment.

Additionally, if an infection progresses into sepsis and is caught early, the survival rate is around 80%. If the infection is allowed to get worse and develops into septic shock, the survival rate is only 20%. In plain terms, if Bradley had listened to his fellow S14 members and went to the hospital, he likely would still be alive.

Bradley was also upper middle class and his mom helped support him financially, so it’s not like he couldn’t have afforded medical care either. Bradley had every option possible to him to receive treatment, but refused, due to his own arrogance. In the end Bradley killed himself with his own poor decision making, and likely endured a very painful death, when he succumbed to septic shock.

Bradley’s death is both ridiculous and from his own hand. Rest in Piss.

Send tips and information: njhatewatch@protonmail.com

Graffiti Photos from Dec 3 Demonstration

  • December 15, 2023 1:37 am

Submission






Palestine Supporters Rally Outside Biden/Shapiro Fundraiser in Philly

  • December 15, 2023 1:06 am

from Unicorn Riot

Philadelphia, PA — Several hundred supporters of Palestinian rights gathered at Washington Square Park and marched through the historic Society Hill district, arriving at the war memorial parks built above I-95 next to the waterfront Hilton at Penn’s Landing on the Delaware River for an early afternoon protest on Monday, December 11. Unicorn Riot interviewed several participants and heard from the organizers who called upon the Biden Administration to support a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip.

Biden, on his ninth visit to the city this year, was at the Hilton for a political fundraiser with Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro, a fellow Democrat. Earlier in the day he touted federal funding to reopen fire stations.

Protest organizer Sam Rise mentioned how student organizations have been suspended on college campuses, and “institutions and academics have been shamefully bullying and silencing” Palestine supporters. She added that members of the Working Families Party (WFP) have been introducing ceasefire resolutions in local governments. (Two WFP candidates won at-large seats last month in Philadelphia, ejecting the GOP from slots the party held for decades.) “Come November, we’ll remember” was a common chant at the event, as attendees vowed to hold the Biden Administration accountable for his support for Israel at the ballot box in 2024.

Anissa Weinraub from Jewish Voice for Peace talked about the “death and destruction at a rate that is unprecedented in recent human history” in Gaza, where the vast majority of the population is now displaced, with “so many on the brink of starvation”, referring to a “merciless military and their AI-programmed death machine“:

In a throwback to the Vietnam era chant “Hey, hey, LBJ, how many kids did you kill today?” another organizer called out, “Biden, Biden, what do you say? How many kids did you kill today? Biden, Biden you can’t hide, you are funding genocide. Biden, Biden, you will see, Palestine will be free.”

One participant wearing a keffiyeh told Unicorn Riot,

“We are here to fight for human rights, we are here to fight for the people of Gaza, the innocent children that are being bombed day-in day-out. Our cousins, our brothers, our sisters, our mothers, our fathers, we are all humans at the end of the day. We are here to fight for their human rights to live just like we get to live here in America. We should all have the right to live, to live in peace, and the innocent children did nothing wrong, they are just being bombed, for being alive, for being Palestinian.”

Regarding Biden’s recent actions and presence in Philadelphia he added, “It’s sickening honestly. Philadelphia does not stand for this, Philadelphia stands for freedom, Philadelphia stands for human rights, and Biden does not stand for any of that. … Palestinians are people just like us. I have friends that are Palestinian, I am Palestinian. We just want to live, that’s all we want. We just want to live like everyone else, and we are not given that option.”

Protesters gather in Washington Square Park around 1:15 p.m. on December 11.
March on Pine Street in Society Hill.
A man on Pine Street in Society Hill flips off demonstrators marching for Palestine on December 11, 2023.
The waterfront Hilton at Penn’s Landing looms over Palestine protesters. A large obelisk-like monument to Christopher Columbus built in 1992 is at right.
A protest sign lampoons President Biden’s well-known love of ice cream cones on December 11, 2023.

We also found an innovative protest use of a DeWalt drill — this gizmo is known as an “impact train horn” and can make a 130 decibel racket with a squeeze of the drill trigger.

The cordless drill-powered “Impact Train Horn” easily generated noise in Philadelphia on December 11.

Palestine Solidarity Graffiti Spotted In South Jersey

  • December 13, 2023 1:26 am

from Jersey Counter-Info

Recently on state “owned” land in so-called Southern NJ, Palestinian solidarity graffiti was spotted.

This piece reads ” Free Palestine Free Lenapehoking, Death to Amerika and Israhell”.

The struggle for Palestinian liberation is one that is connected to settler states everywhere, especially the so-called united states. Palestine, Lenapehoking, and the rest of Turtle Island will be free.

Report on Dec 3 Flood Philly for Gaza Demonstration

  • December 12, 2023 1:03 am

Submission

The Philly Palestine Coalition called for another emergency action December 3rd, two days after the ceasefire. Over the past two—now going on three—months, the mobilization around Palestinian liberation has been a lesson to a lot of us: trust people’s rage. Trust the enormity of their grief. Trust that watching colonial genocide live-streamed has fractured some of the complacency of neoliberalism. If the demo intended to “Flood Philly for Gaza,” the chants were gushing through the cracks.

It was dreary out. PPC changed their demo location the day before (and then promptly got their IG deleted). Will the crowd be big enough? Trains were all out of wack. Will everyone be late? (Yes). While we initially felt discouraged and apprehensive, we underestimated each other and the crowd. We may have missed each other at the meet-up point (a lesson here about carrying a watch, or better yet, being punctual), but once we got dressed in black bloc we found each other easily. The larger crowd was tense, energized, and grew as we moved, swelling behind two pickup trucks hauling a PA system and speakers who addressed the crowd. The march snaked north from Rittenhouse Square, then west down side streets, where the vandals among us got bolder. Darting out in pairs and trios, people began writing decolonial and Palestinian solidarity graffiti, building momentum up to and across the Chestnut Street bridge.

Throughout the demo, people in bloc distributed fliers linking Israeli bombardment in Gaza to police violence in Philly, handing these to marchers and passersby, and ticketing them to the windshields of parked cars. A Philadelphia Parking Authority vehicle got itself vandalized along the way, too.

Graffitti at demos isn’t anything new — what feels remarkable was the support and complicity of more well-behaved marchers not in bloc. People looked out for graffiti writers, blocking the view of photographers, slowing foot traffic with bikes, and using Palestinian flags to shield writers from cops’ sight.

At a Starbucks on Penn’s campus, the march paused for speeches about the franchise’s support for Israel. Meanwhile, protestors crowded around the entrance, leaving room for people in bloc to write slogans on the walls and windows. One notable example: a writer painted “FREE GAZA” on a window while the students behind the glass bent over their laptops and pretended not to notice. Teens present in the march seemed particularly pumped here, surprised (and hopefully inspired) by vandals’ audacity. Continuing further west, the march ended at 40th St and Market, where a vigil for the UC Townhomes was already gathered. Speakers linked the displacement taking place in West Philly to the ethnic cleansing taking place in Palestine.

The demonstration ended with no arrests.