Given my ventures into seperatist areas in Europe, I was left with this question. Does a national liberation movement need to ‘tick the left wing boxes’ so to say for ML’s to consider their support, or is support given regardless of political stances?
One movement in particular that caused this question to arise is the Flemish independence movement which is almost entirely filled with right wing nationalists. I do not support their movement. But why? If they wanted to be independent, should I be against that based on their politics? Is that a valid thing to do?
The same thing can be asked with regards to the Basque movement. Should I support them because of their wish to independence regardless of their more left leaning ideologies? Or should the politics be entirely irrelevant in this?
What do you think?
If something is obviously a reactionary movement, it shouldn’t be supported. Personally I didn’t ever support Rojava bc they were obviously a proxy for US imperialism in West Asia, and in general the idea of an ethnostate in a historically multi ethnic area doesn’t really sit well with me. I have only felt vindicated in that position with recent events in Syria, almost a decade after forming my own opinion not to support them.
Now, if the right wing group is stirring up trouble in a bourgeois reactionary state that has no real worker movement, I think “let them fight” can be a fine conclusion, but that isn’t support for either group. It can also cause new issues down the line, look at how reactionaries taking over Ukraine played out for the average Ukrainian.
If a legitimately colonized or oppressed group is fighting for national liberation, I generally support it as long as they aren’t allies of a NATO country.