On April 30, 2024, clashes broke out between anti-Zionist protesters and pro-Israel counter-demonstrators at the University of California, Los Angeles.

Footage from the scene showed those involved shoving, kicking and using sticks to beat one another as days of tensions over the war in Gaza burst into outright violence.

Watching a livestream of the altercation was Casey Goonan, a far-left activist from California’s Bay Area. The following day, Goonan moved into a protest encampment at the University of California, Berkeley, declaring that he was “on strike from life.”

Weeks later, Goonan carried out a series of arson attacks that led to his arrest. In September, a federal court sentenced him to more than 19 years in prison; US Attorney General Pam Bondi called Goonan a “domestic terrorist” who could have claimed “untold lives.”

Federal prosecutors said Goonan placed a bag with six Molotov cocktails under a police vehicle and lit the bag on fire, igniting the car. Video showed a black-clad figure setting the blaze and fleeing the scene, minutes before officers doused the fire.

Prosecutors said Goonan had also attempted to firebomb a federal courthouse in Oakland and had set three fires on the UC Berkeley campus. He pleaded guilty to damaging property with fire, a felony.

While he was in jail, awaiting his trial, Goonan outlined his ideology and activities in a document released last week that provided a detailed view into the radical flank of the far-left anti-Zionist network in the US. The document described Goonan’s motivations, the activists’ philosophy and the role of outside agitators on campuses.

A group of Goonan’s supporters released the 209-page document, titled “Lines in the Sand,” to mark Palestinian Prisoners’ Day, saying Goonan had written the missive in the Santa Rita Jail.

Much of the document is focused on Israel, while other sections include Goonan’s poetry, critiques of the academy, analyses of protest tactics and discussions about activist strategy in his circle. The claims in the document could not be independently corroborated, although details in Goonan’s account align with statements from prosecutors.

Extremist manifesto — with footnotes

The anti-Zionist movement associated with the campus protests is the product of a complex ideological history with influences including Soviet propaganda, postmodernism and settler-colonial academic theory — themes echoed in Goonan’s missive. Goonan, who has a doctorate in African American studies from Northwestern University, wrote in academic jargon and cited thinkers such as Edward Said, Frantz Fanon and Michel Foucault throughout the document.

Goonan described himself as a 35-year-old anti-colonial anarchist from the San Francisco area, with a history of activism against police, racism and in support of the incarcerated. He said he had more than a decade of experience in political organizing on campuses, and that the document was meant to reflect on the “socio-historical context” for his........

© The Times of Israel