Been seeing an eruption of abandon hope posts directed at Kashmiris, Palestinians, Syrian revolutionists, & Rohingya at a time when they are under sustained violence. According to the hopeless who call themselves realists, it’s all over but the requiems.

Let the hopeless sit it out on the sidelines crying in their beer. Forging through the obstacles in struggle & standing undaunted against extremes of violence is not the same as burying your head in the sand. If you fetishize & focus on the obstacles to freedom, you will not be able to realistically assess them & find strategies around them nor see the possibilities to advance the struggle. If we learn nothing else from those freedom struggles, we should at least learn how to steel ourselves against demoralization. As they have.

(Montage created by Satyadeep Satya)

Israel does not return the bodies of Palestinians it has gunned down so that forensics cannot show they were mostly executions but also to assault the dignity of the deceased & the need for families & friends to grieve & give their beloved proper burial.

This wrenching video is Palestinians fleeing with the body of Muhammad Hassan who was killed by Israeli soldiers in Al Aqsa mosque protests so that Israel will not abduct the body & he can be given respectful burial.

https://t.co/AzBxLUnrMe

Today Indian troops in Kashmir killed an elderly man, a young man, & a small boy. Does anyone have photos of them before they were gunned down? We should remember them not just wrapped in funeral shrouds but for the life taken so brutally from them.

Israeli concept of religious freedom for Palestinians:

The media caption to this photo said Israeli troops “clashed” with Palestinians who in protest refused to enter the occupied Al Aqsa mosque compound & prayed outside in the streets.

We need to get terminology straight when it comes to occupation & military violence against unarmed worshippers & protesters & not be confused by the obfuscations of language. This is a brutal assault, not a “clash.” This is military occupation, not new security measures.

Our fullest solidarity with Palestinians. End the occupation. Self-determination for Palestine.

(Photo from The Independent)

Palestinians are protesting Israel’s new so-called security measures at Al Aqsa mosque in occupied East Jerusalem. Although Israel has no rights of sovereignty over East Jerusalem & no rights to control or desecrate a Palestinian place of worship, they have armed troops patrolling within the compound & installed metal detectors at entrances & surveillance equipment as if Palestinians were the source of the violence. Israeli authorities claim three Palestinian gunmen smuggled weapons inside the mosque compound, necessitating the metal detectors, but if the surveillance cameras had been operating it would more likely have shown the summary execution of those three young men by Israeli troops.

Border police are deploying tear gas, stun grenades, water cannons against unarmed protesters. Seventeen-year-old Palestinian Mohammed Mahmoud Sharaf was shot in the neck & killed by an armed settler during these protests. Was the gunman arrested & hauled in for assault with a deadly weapon & for murder? Almost certainly not.

Palestinians refuse to go through the metal detectors not because they’re carrying concealed weapons but to protest Israel’s attempts to control the mosque compound. Instead they are holding prayer vigils in the streets outside the mosque. Israel long ago imposed age restrictions on men under 50 entering for prayer services so they are accustomed to praying in the streets.

Our fullest solidarity with Palestinians. Our condolences to the family of young Mohammed; may he Rest In Peace.

End the occupation. Self-determination for Palestine. Build the economic & cultural boycott of Israel (BDS). Buy nothing with barcode beginning 729.

(Photo from Documenting Oppression Against Muslims (DOAM)

A wisecrack from Robert Alvarez:

“Describe everything you have ever heard about the anti-Christ and tell me Donald does not fit the profile.”

(Reposted from July 21, 2016)

This article by Baba Umar is from July 21st last year when Facebook began taking down one Kashmiri account after another to censor news of the brutal crackdown. The Dawn had a few articles on this issue which is still relevant today. Almost once a week we hear from another Kashmiri whose account has been shut down.

https://www.dawn.com/news/1272236/silencing-kashmir-the-two-faces-of-facebook

This is a Facebook wall that supporters of Kashmiris, Palestinians, & the Syrian revolution will want to like & share:

https://www.facebook.com/FreePalestine2016/?pnref=story

Free Kashmir. Free Palestine. Free Syria.