To the Chaos Computer Club, and to the larger community that makes the Chaos Communication Congress happen.
Congress has been a place for policitized hackers from all around the world to meet, share and learn. Yet this year's 38C3 event has been lived by many of us as an awkward space of silencing and self-censoring with regards to the Palestinian genocide. We couldn't help but feel terrified at that, although not completely surprised.
It has been dreadful to once again hear discussions in which the only "argument" issued was "it's a complex situation" when trying to face the harsh reality of a 2 million people country being destroyed, blocked and bombed with barely any food or clean water, while one of the last running hospital was bombed three days before [1].
As an heterogeneous group of people that are part of communities that are interested, active or impacted by the struggle for liberation of the Palestinian people, we've felt necessary to start this discussion.
What follows is a series of experiences, questions and reflections that have been shared in the self-organized session "Let's talk about the not talking about Gaza" that was announced on the last day of the Congress [2].
For starters, at CCC we have experienced:
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a near absence of talks and interventions tackling the many technological aspects of the ongoing genocide and apartheid, with the exception of Rainer Rehak's talk on the infamous Lavender "algorithmic murder machine" as well as the talk by CADUS that carefully avoided any possibly divisive points.
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it is also noteworthy to point out the speakers of "Security Nightmares" did not mention the war in Gaza focusing only on the war in Ukraine. Even the detonated pagers in Lebanon were qualified as "ethically questionable" and not as a war crime and violations of human rights, as it has been internationally established and agreed upon. It was all the more disheartening that the discussion was quickly brushed off and entirely evaded.
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even in the distros and stands that kept materials from liberation struggles all around the world, total absence of materials regarding Palestine even in stands and spaces that are invested in the Palestinian liberation movement.
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what we feel is a systematic sabotage of support for Palestine, e.g. the repeated removal of Palestinian flags and stickers, and the replacement/overwriting of sentences and slogans in support of Palestinians with zionist slogans. example: https://pouet.chapril.org/system/media_attachments/files/113/748/346/815/280/482/original/5ce62adf98dfe8d6.jpg
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a speaker wearing a T-Shirt depicting an armed Israeli soldier in front of an Israeli flag with the caption "NOT ALL HEROES WEAR CAPES". When signaled to the awareness team afterwards, the person was warned the next morning that similar transgressive statements won't be further tolerated and security instructed to keep an eye on him on his remaining other talks.
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trolling by a group of Israeli supporters towards a jordanian speaker ("Disaster Capitalism in Gaza (Call to Action)"), requiring them to distance themselves from Hamas, during the Q+A of a talk focused on a technical solution to a "humanitarian" problem.
Independently from whether talks about the Palestinian struggle were given priority in the official program, the absence of self-organized sessions and in general of material traces, left us wondering about what caused this mass silence. This is all the more serious considering the technological aspects of the occupation, the apartheid, and the current genocidal acts in Gaza, as recounted by both independent and mainstream journalism.
As we would find it very scary and problematic to think that all the mentions of the Palestinian genocide could be consciously removed from the program both by CCC organisers and all assemblies, we can imagine that people simply did not dare to contribute a critique or position on the matter. So what brought speakers to self-censor, systematically omit speaking about Gaza, and avoid addressing the war crimes commited by the Israeli army? Was this a result of speakers' "personal" preferences only?
We suspect that the reason for the massive self-censorship was partly due to the lack of spaces to debate and organize with concerned people about international, decolonial issues, including the Palestinian genocide. During the self-organized session, we established that many of us felt isolated, worried and frustrated, even paranoid or afraid. This suggests the need for another type of space at CCC, and/or for a self-critique from the assemblies that are dedicated to radical politics and/or freedom of expression and/or human rights.
We acknowledge the role that Germany's history and its current position (to finance and arm Israel while repressing solidarity towards Palestine) plays in this mass silence and self-censorship. However, being silent turns into complicity with the current genocide being commited in Gaza by Israel.
As a base of common ethics, we think, these are times in which the prescription to "be excellent to each other" may simply not be enough. The third sentence of the Hacker ethics, quoted on CCC website is "Mistrust authority — promote decentralization". From what we've experienced in this 38th edition, we are sincerely questioning whether the same "mistrust" also applies to the German state and the Israeli government, or if that is reserved for the official "enemies of the West".
We feel this is yet another step in the depoliticization of the hacker movement — many of the examples given above are in direct contradiction of the hacker ethics upon which the CCC was founded. Seeking truth and upholding human rights seem to be a core values of CCC but their absence here is both conspicuous and incoherent.
What we demand is spaces for debate so participants and speakers don't feel the need to self-censure, and what we desire is a repoliticization of our technical spaces. Discussing and taking position about the genocide in Palestine, but also about the depoliticization of hacker movement by the infosec culture in general is necessary. Instead of the courage to address serious issues that we could expect from such a meeting, we rather felt some collective denial if not cowardice. Did we get ultimately convinced by the mainstream, government military narratives so much? Let us ask these questions of ourselves and our local hacker communities.
This community is traversed by many contradictions, and at this point we don't even know what are the supposed basic values the CCC communities should share, or whether the very notion of human rights has become open to interpretation to the extent that these rights could be applied to only some humans. Avoiding to bring these issues to light, for the fear of possible 'internal conflict', will result in the fake sense of peace of a completely depoliticized community. Only if we fight to keep an open discussion and bring hidden but existing conflicts to the surface, allowing different realities to express their political stance without the fear of repression, we can in the process give space within this community to something actually political and not just a counter-cultural facade serving western imperialist interests.
To end on a positive note, we want to share something symbolic that was observed during the tear-down of the conference. Once the lights have been turned on, and all the posters and blinking LEDs removed from the temporary dividing walls, what stayed and stood out was dozens of slogans and tags in support of a free palestine. It is heartening to know that CCC is still inhabited by many who, finding no materials or space, decided to take a pen and mark their dissent on the wall.
"The building is on fire"; we need to talk about the fire. Not addressing it will only make it grow. Let's spray some paint on the invisible elephant in the room and facilitate discussions about it even if it means leaving our comfort zones and facing conflicts.
Links:
[1] Israeli Strikes in Gaza Kill at Least 30, Rescuers Say, as IDF Calls to Shut Down North Gaza Hospital, 22.12.2024 https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/2024-12-22/ty-article/idf-strikes-in-gaza-kill-over-30-rescuers-say-idf-calls-to-close-north-gaza-hospital/00000193-ef45-d8b5-ad9f-fff5a0dc0000
[2] „Let's talk about the not talking about Gaza“, 30.12.2024 https://events.ccc.de/congress/2024/hub/de/event/lets-talk-about-the-not-talking-about-gaza/
[3] Pastebin-Link of this text: https://pastebin.aquilenet.fr/?e76122dbb9db868b#ABGXujaTt1YjrpS1rifLBwRuY8PGKv6Yw838iXmDimmr