The Right of Peoples to Determine Themselves
For the Independence of the Riff
From ‘Solidaridad Obrera’, AIT [International Workers’ Association], Voice of the National Confederation of Labour [CNT], Barcelona, August 28, 1936
The latest news from the African continent reveals that a formidable unrest is brewing. An honest rebellion against the fascist forces is noted. Acts of protest are being expressed everywhere and are occurring with a rare spontaneity.
The soul of the Muslims is at a full boil. The African soil again relives great days. It will not take much for the ground scorched by a burning sun to transform into a gigantic bonfire of freedom.
Since the expulsion of Ab-Del-Krim, the Moroccan territory has been a haven of peace and tranquility. The leader of the colossal uprising that kept in check two European powers was confined on the island of Réunion with his family and a large harem.
The phenomenon we are witnessing in the Moroccan zone is the logical corollary of the great unease that is manifesting among the faithful of Islam. In Palestine they are maintaining a fight to the death with the Jews and their protectors. The kingdoms of Arabia, of Iraq and Hedjaz uphold the banner of irredentist claims.
The occasion was favorable for the indigenous of the Riff. The power that subjugated an important area, graciously granted by an agreement between France and Spain, is writhing in a civil war of intense magnitude. Faced with the natives of the country, there exists no army to defend international legality. The text of the agreement has vanished entirely.
General Franco represents the breaking of the treaties established by the powers to share the terrestrial globe. The Rifians have absolutely nothing to do with the ignominious Spain embodied by the military insurgents.
Our internationalist thinking, one hundred percent, induces us to pose the problem of the colonies. We must consider the workers of the Riff as sufficiently capable of dealing with their own lives and wealth.
The struggle against fascism, which at this time has a clear international character, must advise us to try with all our means to foment a healthy atmosphere of rebellion in the communities of the Riff. It is in our interest to prevent the Spanish zone from serving as a sea and air base for our bitterest enemies.
This campaign must be carried out without losing time. We must pay attention to the measures taken by Germany in the last few days. Military service of two years has been decreed, which will be mandatory for all Germans.
It wouldn’t be unusual if German and Italian Fascism could rely on some of the positions held by Spanish Fascism. We can’t depend on the counterbalance of certain contradictions, because the war glimpses sharper details.
It is necessary that an irredentist spirit be fomented in the sector occupied by Franco. This decision is not at odds with our principles. It’s a matter of freedom.
We must be generous and idealist. The Spanish revolution must be a mirror in which the world proletariat contemplates. Our revolution must serve as a template. And we would be counter-revolutionaries if in obtaining freedom for the workers of the [Iberian] Peninsula we were to maintain under siege the Moroccan zone, entrusted years ago to monarchical Spain.
The revolutionary right that will emerge after the completion of the Spanish revolution will grant absolute freedom to the colonies as an essential chapter of the new popular conquests.
We must erase the bloody and muddy past that the Spanish military has charted in the towns and villages of the Riff. We must rectify the barbarism and lechery of the officials who took Morocco for a place of recreation and profit.
Peoples have to determine themselves. The Spanish zone of the Riff must be granted complete independence.
[Note: Thanks to Joan Brunet for help with this translation. -M.Gouldhawke]
El derecho de los pueblos a disponer de sí mismos
Por la independencia del Riff
Solidaridad Obrera, AIT [Asociación Internacional de los Trabajadores], Portavoz de la Confederación Nacional del Trabajo de España, Barcelona, 28 de agosto de 1936
Las últimas noticias recibidas del continente africano revelan que se está incubando una agitación formidable. Se observa una franca rebeldía contra las fuerzas fascistas. Los actos de protesta se manifiestan por doquier y se producen con rara espontaneidad.
El alma de los musulmanes está en plena ebullición. El suelo africano vuelve a revivir las jornadas magnas. No costará mucho para que el suelo abrasado por un sol ardiente se convierta en una hoguera gigantesca de libertad.
Desde la expulsión de Ab-Del-Krim, que el territorio marroqui ha sido un remanso de paz y de tranquilidad. El caudillo del colosal levantamiento que puso en jaque a dos potencias europeas fué confinado en la isla de la Reunión con sus familiares y con un harén numeroso.
El fenómeno que constatamos en la zona marroqui es el corolario lógico de, la gran desazón que se manifiesta entre los fieles del Islam. En Palestina están manteniendo una lucha a muerte con los judíos y sus protectores. Los reinos de Arabia, del lrak y de Hedjaz, mantienen enhiesto el pendón de unas reivindicaciones irredentistas.
La ocasión se ha presentado propicia a los indígenas del Riff. La potencia que subyugaba una importante zona concedida graciosamente por un pacto concertado entre Francia y España, se está debatiendo en una guerra civil de gran envergadura. Frente a los naturales del país no existe un ejército que defienda una legalidad internacional. El texto del pacto se ha esfumado por entero.
El general Franco representa el rompimiento de los tratados que las potencias establecen para repartirse el globo terráqueo. A los rifeños no les liga nada absolutamente con la España oprobiosa que encarnan los militares insurrectos.
Nuestro pensamiento internacionalista, cien por cien, nos induce a plantear el problema de las colonias. A los trabajadores del Riff, los debemos considerarlo suficientemente aptos para disponer de sus vidas y riquezas.
La lucha contra el fascismo que en estas horas posee un neto carácter internacional ha de aconsejarnos que tratemos por todos nuestros medios de fomentar un sano ambiente de rebeldía en los aduares del Riff. Nos interesa evitar que la zona española sirva de base maritima y aérea a nuestros más encarnizados enemigos.
Esta campaña ha de realizarse sin pérdida de tiempo. Hemos de fijarnos en las medidas tomadas por Alemania durante estos últimos días. Se ha decretado el servicio militar de dos años, que será obligatorio para la totalidad de los alemanes.
No tendría nada de particular que el fascismo alemán e italiano contase de antemano con algunas posiciones de las que detenta el fascismo español. No podemos confiar en el contrapeso de ciertas contradicciones, porque la guerra se vislumbra con los más nítidos detalles.
Es necesario que se fomente un espíritu irredentista en el sector que ocupa Franco. Esta decisión no está en desacuerdo con nuestros principios. Se trata de un caso de libertad.
Hemos de ser idealistas y generosos. La revolución española ha de ser un espejo en el que se pueda contemplar el proletariado mundial. Nuestra revolución ha de servir de pauta. Y seriamos unos contrarrevolucionarios si al recabar la libertad para los trabajadores de la Península mantuviéramos aherrojada la zona marroqul confiada años atrás a la España monárquica.
El derecho revolucionario que surgirá al completarse la revolución española, concederá como capitulo esencial de las nuevas conquistas populares la libertad absoluta a las colonias.
Se ha de borrar el pasado sangriento y cenagoso que han trazado los militares españoles en las localidades y villorrios del Riff. Hemos de rectificar la barbarie y la lascivia de los oficiales que tomaron Marruecos por un lugar de recreo y de lucro.
Los pueblos han de disponer de si mismos. A la zona española del Riff hay que concederla una completa independencia.
See also:
Palestine, platitudes and silence, by Tommy Lawson (2023)
Against the Destruction of Gaza, For the Liberation of Palestine (2023)
Carrying the war into Africa?: Anarchism, Morocco, and the Spanish Civil War, by Danny Evans (2020)
Our Colonizations, from Le Révolté (1884)
The Indians, from The Alarm (1884)
For Candia, by Errico Malatesta (1897)
What can we do?, by Camillo Berneri (1936)
Militians, Yes! But Soldiers, Never!, by various Spanish anarchist militias (1936)
A Day Mournful and Overcast…, by an “uncontrollable” from the Iron Column (1937)
Palestine: Idealists and Capitalists, by Vernon Richards (1938)
Anarchist Tactic for Palestine, by Albert Meltzer (1939)
The Yankee Peril, by Marie Louise Berneri (1943)
Zionism, from War Commentary (1944)
British Army of Oppression Crushes Eastern Freedom, by Marie Louise Berneri (1945)
Fine Day For The Race, by Albert Meltzer (1947)
Palestine, by Albert Meltzer (1948)
Long Live Free Algeria!, by the Libertarian Communist Federation (1954)
Anarchism and the National Liberation Struggle, by Alfredo M. Bonanno & Jean Weir (1976)
Some very common theoretical errors, by Alfredo M. Bonanno (1982)
Anti-Semitism and the Beirut Pogrom, by Fredy Perlman (1983)
The Continuing Appeal of Nationalism, by Fredy Perlman (1984)
Simón Radowitzky and the People’s Justice, by Osvaldo Bayer (1991)
The Cairo Mutiny; Bounty on the Mutiny, by Albert Meltzer (1996)
Anarchism & Indigenous Peoples
“Dissolve the army and immediately withdraw from Morocco.”
Fourth demand formulated by the workers at the CNT-FAI rally in Barcelona, May Day, 1931
An Archive 
Did they ever publish a similar statement about Guinea or the Canary Islands?
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Dunno. Good question tho.
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