The Grand Mufti & executioner of Syria with fascists David Duke & Vanessa Beeley

The Mufti

According to Amnesty International’s report titled “Human slaughterhouse: mass hangings & extermination at Saydnaya prison, Syria” issued February 2017, Syria’s Grand Mufti Hassoun was one of three men deputized by Assad to sign execution orders for up to 13,000 political prisoners hung in Saydnaya prison over the last five years.

On the left is a photo of Grand Mufti Hassoun with former KKK official David Duke who just officiated at the white supremacist rally in Charlottesville. The photo was posted on Duke’s official website on December 3, 2005, six years before the Syrian revolution erupted as part of the Arab Spring uprisings. But Duke has made other trips to Syria after the revolution, including in the fall of 2016 where he again met with the Grand Mufti. On both occasions, according to Duke’s blog reports, the issue of Jews & Israel were foremost in their discussions–not because they both support Palestinians but because they are profoundly hateful toward Jews. Under the dictatorial regime of Hafez Assad, father of Bashar, Jews were persecuted & eventually most chose or were forced to leave Syria. During his trip last year, Duke said he learned that “Zionist Jews” just love “jihadists” of the most murderous kind, like ISIS.

On the right is a photo from Vanessa Beeley’s Facebook wall of May 10, 2017 where she comments: “Grand Mufti Hassoun, one of the greatest living peace makers on this Earth. I am proud & blessed to be called his “sister”, we are all family…”. Since Beeley frequently reports on her involvement with European fascist groups, it comes as no surprise that she & David Duke have found common cause with the Assad regime, including with one of its executioners. But it would be interesting to know what kind of political associations Beeley has with Duke. Would that finally snap some of the credulous regime-change advocates out of their reveries about the character of revolution & counter-revolution in Syria?

Maybe if Pakistan wasn’t armed to the teeth with billions of dollars of US high-tech military aid & playing such an invaluable role as a US ally in Afghanistan, it would be easier to take the over-the-top praise for Pakistani militarism & nationalism.

The US militarily funds Pakistan & India, playing both ends against freedom in Afghanistan, Kashmir, Pakistan, & India. Militarism is what it is: a scourge to freedom & to the survival of the human race.

Free speech for fascists is not bone-headed largesse but protection for social justice activists

Loath as I am to agree with Glenn Greenwald–since he went from writing about civil liberties which he understands to writing about capitalist politics where he’s in over his head & talks rubbish–his article titled “The Misguided Attacks on ACLU for Defending Neo-Nazis’ Free Speech Rights in Charlottesville” is fundamentally sound politically.

We support free speech even for fascists–free speech does not include violence or criminal misconduct–because if we attempt to legally restrict free speech for anyone, we set legal precedents that will be used primarily against the forces of social justice. It’s an old debate; it’s an elementary one & it’s tiresome to replay it a thousand times because some just don’t get it. We don’t support fascist free speech out of largesse or some false sense of fair play but to protect our own rights, for heaven’s sakes. The way to oppose fascists is not by silencing them through legal restrictions but by out-mobilizing them & driving them back under their rocks.

Where I strongly disagree with Greenwald on this issue is his assessment of the ACLU which differs considerably from state to state, depending on the primary funding sources. In many areas, the ACLU is completely mortgaged to corporations. My experience with them in the state of Minnesota is illustrative of an ACLU affiliate hogtied by corporate money. My first experience was when I approached them for legal assistance for my younger brother Paul who was employed by 3-M Corporation as a cafeteria worker. Paul had a learning disability & was being egregiously & viciously exploited by 3-M. The ACLU case worker was up in arms at what Paul & I told them & began girding his loins for battle until we identified the company involved as 3-M, a major donor to Minnesota ACLU. We were shut down & dismissed abruptly.

My second experience was when I approached them by phone, letter, & email for legal assistance in getting the FBI accusation of using a Weapon of Mass Destruction off my criminal record (placed there by FBI agent Coleen Rowley who is now a leader of the corrupted US antiwar movement). They never responded to any of my appeals, even with a formal denial.

European Union & Libya attempting to stop search & rescue operations in Mediterranean

SOS Mediterranee (Aug 14 2017

MSF Sea & SOS Mediterranee who operate search & rescue vessels in the Mediterranean are reporting that the European Union & Libya are restricting & interfering with rescue operations. Last week, Libyan authorities announced they will establish a search & rescue (SAR) zone in international waters off the Libyan coast & will restrict the access of rescue vessels. Libyan authorities are also creating blockades for those attempting to leave Libya & Libyan coast guard ships are “rescuing” them at sea & returning them to Libya where they face kidnap, rape, sex trafficking, torture, slave labor, arbitrary detention.

As a result, MSF has suspended search & rescue operations of its ship Prudence. SOS Mediterranee continues to operate its ship Aquarius in those waters because they haven’t yet received formal notice from Libya of the restriction but they are monitoring the situation so as not to endanger rescue personnel. MSF will continue to provide medical assistance on the Aquarius.

UNHCR reports regularly on the number of refugees crossing the Mediterranean on the different routes (from Turkey to Greece, Morocco to Spain, Libya to Italy). It’s estimates of drownings are completely unreliable since they are not monitoring the numbers of boats leaving Libya or the numbers of refugees packed into each one. According to their most recent report, 97,241 refugees from Libya reached Italy just in 2017. MSF says it has rescued about 67,900 on the Libyan route since 2015. While UNHCR estimates that 2,420 are dead or missing on all of the Mediterranean routes in 2017, MSF estimates that one in 36 refugees drown attempting to cross just on the Libya to Italy route. That is a staggering number of drownings & monstrous human rights crimes by the European Union & Libya.

No one need attempt to offer a cogent defense for the European Union whose policies have proven a death trap to immigrants & refugees. Asylum to the millions displaced around the world is one of the most important political issues of our era. Those institutions that get it wrong, causing death & harm to tens of thousands of refugees, have no reason for existence except to obstruct & destroy human solidarity.

Immigration is a human right. Asylum to refugees is international law. Open the damn borders.

(Photo is rescue operation on SOS Mediterranee ship Aquarius)

Assadists on the white supremacist attack in Charlottesville

Fields (2)

There is no reliable evidence yet that 20-year-old James Alex Fields Jr. who drove his car into counter-protesters (killing Heather Heyer & injuring nine others) was a supporter of Assad’s dictatorship. A photo of Assad is circulating that some claim comes from his FB wall but his wall is not public & his photos cannot be viewed. It’s likely, if not certain, that he does support Assad since we know he admired Hitler & because Syria is a cause célèbre of the fascist right internationally–but the evidence is not verifiable.

We do know that KKK fascist David Duke who was a leader at the Charlottesville rampage is an ardent, tireless supporter of Assad & there are videos of other rabid Assad supporters at the rally expressing enthusiasm for Syrian barrel bombs.

Beeley & Bartlett are too engaged in attacking the White Helmets to weigh in on what their fascist allies in the US are engaged in. However, both of them have often posted praise for European fascist groups & individuals. They probably aren’t unaware of how damning such political association is but rely on their followers lack of investigative integrity. Syrian Girl thinks the protesters attacked the car & not that Fields drove it into them; other Assadists claim the counter-protest was a leftist provocation. Rania Khalek is embedded in the trendy bars of Damascus doing war reporting & Max Blumenthal is campaigning against the fake news of Russiagate so neither has weighed in. Assadists Jay Tharappel & Navid Nasr are talking at two-forty velocity to distance themselves from fascism but they have never once criticized David Duke or other fascist individuals & groups for their pilgrimages to Syria offering fealty to Assad because that is the political heart of Assadism internationally.

It’s not too late for those who supported Assad out of naiveté to retreat from their march with the fascist camp. The ideas of libertarian rednecks can be confusing but those who want to stand against fascism anywhere in the world cannot stand with the Assad dictatorship & counter-revolution in Syria.

(Photo is mug shot of James Alex Fields, Jr.)

Do you think Tariq Ali is any more useful on Lenin & the Russian Revolution than he is on Syria & Venezuela? You have to question the scholarship, let alone grasp of reality, of a guy who posts fake news sites all the time & then says “oops” when he’s caught.