Every time there is a massacre in the US, condolences pour in from around the world. And that is right & proper. But Muslims are forced to take distance from the violence, even when someone with only tenuous ties to Islam is involved, & as if they had a damn thing to do with it. Though they are always blamed. The hijab has already entered the TV talkathons though the Orlando gunman didn’t wear one & appears to be more psychotic & homophobic than religious.
At what point will we in the US reciprocate by massively & publicly opposing US wars & bombing which have taken out millions of people? How long will we allow them to grieve alone for unspeakable war crimes committed in our names & with our tax money?
The historic imperative remains: rebuild the international antiwar movement. Because as long as militarism is the gestalt of our era, massacres–both state-sponsored & Orlando-types–will continue. It doesn’t take Nostradamus to see that.
To those who have loved Dostoevsky, Chekhov, Tolstoy, Turgenev, & so many other greats of Russian literature, it is a thrill to hear Vladimir Putin is publishing his collected writings in multi-volume editions. The first three-volume set went on sale last week, regrettably only in Russian, but for only $40 which is a bargain for the richness of thought & language he so often displays–mostly macho blustering & guttural war cries.
There are likely to be throngs lined up at bookstores in Moscow so it’s a mystery why the first run is only 1,000 copies–especially because state-owned Russian polling companies continue to claim his approval rate is 83 percent. That’s even higher than Stalin’s approval scores when the alternative to giving approval was the gulag. But then again, that’s the alternative now.
Dostoevsky would turn over in his grave.
(Photo is Putin where he does his more creative thinking about bombing other countries.)
The horror of the Orlando massacre has become something we are too familiar with: people gunned down mercilessly by deranged, violent misfits. My heartfelt sympathies to the families & friends of those killed & injured & to those in the LGBT community who must feel very threatened by this event.
This isn’t the time to express outrage at how the massacre in Orlando is being used against Muslims & to justify US intervention in Iraq & Syria. But the culture of violence in the US derives from its culture of militarism & these shootouts will not end until we have ended that cause.
Those who live in London may want to attend this important educational event on Friday, July 8th, about the struggle in Kashmir against the Indian occupation & for self-determination.
As the organizers say: “Even though, the Kashmir conflict has resulted in deaths of over 70,000 people, disappearance of more than 8,000, countless stories of torture & rape & most importantly dehumanization of the Kashmiri people, nevertheless, it is one of the least known conflicts in the world.”
Attending is not just a way to learn about the struggle from Kashmiris but is also a way to express & build international solidarity.
https://www.facebook.com/events/1817376828481872/
The Bhopal justice petition surpassed 100,000 signatures, coming in three days early (out of the one month allowed) at 106,493 signatures. Not just congratulations but deepest respect to Bhopal activists.
Those who have not yet signed it take advantage of the days remaining to sign on to this project which is part of their campaign to bring long-overdue justice to the victims of the 1984 Bhopal environmental & human health catastrophe caused by the recklessness of US corporation Union Carbide now owned by Dow Chemical.
https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/petition/uphold-international-law-stop-shielding-dow-chemical-accountability-corporate-crimes-bhopal-india
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