New York’s Anti-Israel CHAZ Wannabes

Comrades in New York City have constructed an autonomous zone at Zuccotti Park in the Financial District. The “People’s Park,” as it’s called, is reminiscent of Washington State’s Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone (CHAZ), a six-block occupation in Seattle’s Capitol Hill neighborhood that arose during the 2020 summer of rage fueled by George Floyd’s death.

No matter the scale, autonomous zones have a common goal: join together activists to promote the most hideous, and often unrelated, of social causes. In Seattle, it was the anti-cop movement, coupled with the “decolonization” effort, tacked on to movements to overthrow capitalism, the patriarchy, white supremacy, classism, and a few other -isms, probably. You’ll remember just how insane CHAZ’s concept was. It resulted in a racially segregated garden (a garden for only “BLACK AND INDIGENOUS FOLKS AND THEIR PLANT ALLIES”); a “reverse hierarchy of oppression” which Native-American, black, and transgender women led; and a rather robust border and security system — despite the group’s anti-cop mantra. The group eventually developed a sort of mob rule — and cops arrested 44 people on charges of rape, assault, and theft when they ended CHAZ’s occupation. With CHAZ as their most recent model, pro-Palestinian activists should not trust that an autonomous zone will promote justice; in National Review, Jason Rantz described the original CHAZ as “at times a street fair and at other times a social-justice workshop, with an unhealthy dose of violence and intimidation mixed in.”

About the Author

Haley Strack

Haley Strack is a former staff writer at National Review.

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Comrades in New York City have constructed an autonomous zone at Zuccotti Park in the Financial District. The “People’s Park,” as it’s called, is reminiscent of Washington State’s Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone (CHAZ), a six-block occupation in Seattle’s Capitol Hill neighborhood that arose during the 2020 summer of rage fueled by George Floyd’s death.

No matter the scale, autonomous zones have a common goal: join together activists to promote the most hideous, and often unrelated, of social causes. In Seattle, it was the anti-cop movement, coupled with the “decolonization” effort, tacked on to movements to overthrow capitalism, the patriarchy, white supremacy, classism, and a few other -isms, probably. You’ll remember just how insane CHAZ’s concept was. It resulted in a racially segregated garden (a garden for only “BLACK AND INDIGENOUS FOLKS AND THEIR PLANT ALLIES”); a “reverse hierarchy of oppression” which Native-American, black, and transgender women led; and a rather robust border and security system — despite the group’s anti-cop mantra. The group eventually developed a sort of mob rule — and cops arrested 44 people on charges of rape, assault, and theft when they ended CHAZ’s occupation. With CHAZ as their most recent model, pro-Palestinian activists should not trust that an autonomous zone will promote justice; in National Review, Jason Rantz described the original CHAZ as “at times a street fair and at other times a social-justice workshop, with an unhealthy dose of violence and intimidation mixed in.”