I have decided to publicly denounce fascism, Major League Soccer, and the Portland Timbers Front Office, by attending a game at Providence Park wearing and flying the symbol of the Iron Front, a group of social democrats from Germany in the 1920s and 30s. The following is an account of my actions on the evening of Saturday, September 7th, 2019, and an explanation of my motivations. My intention here is to demonstrate publicly that I am prepared to accept any consequences stemming from my actions, and steadfast in my commitment to oppose fascism and totalitarianism in all its forms.

Me riding the bus to the match, masked with my DIY Iron Front bandana, ready to lose my voice denouncing fascists

What are the Timbers Army protesting for? Why is the iron front symbol so important, you ask? Why can’t we settle for other antifascist symbols/messages? Hopefully I can help dispel some myths and explain how we got to this point. The league arbitrarily banned the Iron Front symbol at the start of the 2019 season. They allege that there are fans who are uncomfortable seeing it in the stands due to supposed connections to violence, but the Timbers Army has displayed the Iron Front intermittently for years, including every game since 2017 in our stadium with no complaints, and indeed Gorilla FC, a Seattle Sounders supporters club, have included it on their scarves since at least 2009.

The league has yet to provide any documented case of complaints. The ban included anything deemed “political” and failed to outline any defined parameters for enforcement. The league has instead has allowed clubs like the Timbers to interpret the Code of Conduct for themselves, and to choose how and when it will be enforced. This led to a patchwork of rules that are all equally arbitrary, in both substance and practice.

In Atlanta, for instance, fans have been ejected and banned for three games for displaying a banner that read “End Gun Violence”, or for unstated reasons due to their refusal to leave when security claimed they violated the code of conduct, in spite of the fact that no documentation or specifics were cited by those same security officials once the fans had been escorted from their seats. These fans still face sanction from the club, including a three game ban, and a four hour re-education course, a $250 fee, and submission of a written letter of apology for the unexplained violation.

In Salt Lake City, a fan was required to remove a longstanding banner of their Supporter’s Club crest, simply because it contains an image of a closed fist. What exactly is political about that? In Los Angeles on August 4th, a Sounders supporter who happens to be a leader of Emerald City Supporters, was ejected for hoisting a sign that they have at literally every game, and whose words adorn many of their tifos: Always Antifascist, Always Antiracist, Always Seattle. After this incident, MLS Commissioner Don Garber said “We want both sides to be comfortable”. Let that sink in… he literally says he wants racists and fascists to be comfortable. Not only that, he echoed the president’s “good people on both sides” remarks following the murder of Heather Heyer during the violent Neo-Nazi “Unite the Right” march in Charlottesville, Virginia. I’m sorry, Mr. Garber, but there are not two legitimate sides to this situation. We are standing against fascists. If you want them to be comfortable, you have no moral compass and must resign immediately. I respect the fact that you are facing some serious heat here and you probably spoke off the cuff, but your remarks acted as a dog-whistle for evil people.

Perhaps I should take a moment and explain what I mean by “dog-whistle”. In case you are not familiar, as they are somewhat uncommon, dog whistles make a sound that is higher pitched than humans can hear but that is well within hearing range for canines, and drives them crazy. When used in this context, however, “dog-whistle” refers to words or phrases that, for the uninitiated among us who for whatever reason are unfamiliar with the lexicon of contemporary fascism and other violent ideologies have no meaning beyond the literal, but for fascists, “red-pilled” misogynists like the proud boys™️, and white nationalists, carry associated meaning. An example of this is the “OK” hand gesture: 👌. This symbol may seem innocuous, and indeed most people who use it literally just mean “OK” or “good”. However, for the past several years, it has been co-opted by the aforementioned groups to mean something very different: white power.

Roger Stone and several proud boys making the “OK” hand gesture

When Donald Trump said there were “good people on both sides” he was knowingly sending a message that was heard loud and clear by white nationalists, neo-confederates, proud boys, and other associated fascists. He was telling them that he considers them good people. One of them had literally just driven his car at high speed into a crowd of protesters, killing Heather Heyer and severely injuring others. These are not “good people”. But that is what he said, it is what he meant, and that is what they heard. That was a dog-whistle. When Don Garber said “we want both sides to be comfortable” he may or may not have intended it, and unlike the case of our president, this cannot really be fairly judged based on his other actions and statements. That is not the point. What he said was a dog-whistle, and it was heard loud and clear by the aforementioned groups. The results were predictable and swift. Two weeks later, on August 17th, a group of proud boys assaulted a Sounders fan during the March to the Match. Shortly afterwards, Portland midfielder Andres Flores reported that his wife had been verbally assaulted in a racist attack outside Providence Park. On September 6th, Portland goalkeeper Adrianna Franch was subjected to racial slurs by a fan at Rio Tinto Stadium in Salt Lake City. The following day, fans at Providence Park reported hearing a similar racist tirade directed at players for Sporting Kansas City. These attacks are not an unpredictable, random occurrence. People feel safe doing racist shit. Period. The commissioner of the league contributed to that feeling of safety. The arbitrary ban on the Iron Front is having an effect, and we who fly the flag predicted exactly what we are seeing today.

So why can’t we just fly banners with other symbols and messages on them to make these racists and fascists feel unwelcome in our stadiums? The Iron Front symbol is important because it comes from a time and place that we would do well to learn from. It was designed by antifascists in Germany in the 1920s, who wanted something representing their opposition to Hitler and his Nazi party that could be used to easily cover up swastikas.

a black swastika covered with three red arrows pointing down and to the left, from the cover of “gegen Hakenkreuz”, translation: “against swastika”

It is especially important for me, as a Jew whose grandfather barely escaped Vienna in 1938, getting a visa to come to the United States the day after the Germans annexed Austria. The vast majority of his family, my ancestors, were murdered by the Nazis, and the Iron Front was the symbol of German opposition. It has since been adopted by American antifascists, like myself. I was told all my life never to let the Holocaust happen again. Well, my friends, NEVER AGAIN IS NOW. We are operating concentration camps, and though we are not yet exterminating people, we are detaining them in conditions that match the descriptions of those used by the Nazis. If you want a first hand account of the horrors of Nazi concentration camps in order to compare them with what we are doing to detainees on our own border, I suggest you read Elie Wiesel’s Night or Man’s Search for Meaning by Viktor Frankl.

Is the symbol associated with antifa? Perhaps, but what does that mean? I am antifa, and in fact you probably are too, if you’re reading this. Antifa is an idea. It means anti-fascist. Do you oppose fascism? Then you are antifa. Those who insist antifa are a violent group are lying to you. They have an agenda, and they know what they are doing when they demonize the people who oppose them as violent thugs.

We choose to stand up at a critical time for the world, and say no to hate, no to fascism, and no to bigotry. We are the Timbers Army, we are antifascists, and we want your help. Help us overturn the ban on the Iron Front, and reform the code of conduct with guidance from experts on human rights. This simple symbol represents opposition to the three most prominent forms of totalitarian government: Fascism, Monarchy, and Communism. Regardless of party affiliation, you likely oppose these things. Censorship is a very slippery slope, and if we allow the league to ban the Iron Front, what will be next is anyone’s guess.

I, for one, am proud to defy the ban and display the Iron Front in the terraces of my beloved Providence Park, and ready and willing to face any consequences for this action. I have a beautiful frame ready in case the Portland Timbers decide to send me a letter banning me for my defiance.