Assadists claim “jihadi” kids foam at the mouth on cue to discredit Assad regime

Syrian refugee kids (Nino Fezza) Apr 20 2018
Syrian refugee kids. Or what Assad propagandists & their guppies call “jihadis” who foam at the mouth on cue when the White Helmets pull them out of rubble & give them medical care. As they come of age in refugee camps, they will come to terms with how the Syrian Arab Spring uprising was trashed & they will rebuild that vision & the struggle for a new society based on equality, democracy, & justice.

(Photo from Nino Fezza)

over 51-percent of Syrian refugees are children

Syrian children refugees (Nino Fezza) Apr 20 2018
Of the 5.5 million registered Syrian refugees, 50 percent are female & over 51 percent are children under 17 years of age. Of course like Palestinian & Rohingya refugees, many are unregistered with the UN. Census & UN estimates disagree markedly but various sources report that there are at least 3.5 million Syrians living in refugee camps in Turkey, over 2 million in Lebanon, over a million in Jordan, 500,000 to 2,500,000 in Saudi Arabia, over a million in other Arab countries, & at least a million in Europe.

Much of the political accounting for the betrayals of the Syrian Arab Spring uprising will come from the refugees & the children growing up in refugee camps, as we have seen with the Palestinian struggle. In that regard, it is of note that Syrian bombers & artillery are today laying siege to Yarmouk, the Palestinian refugee camp south of Damascus. They are doing so, of course, under the guise of taking out “jihadis” holed up in the camps.

Refugee rights are human rights. Stop the bombing. Open the borders.

(Photo tweeted by Nino Fezza)

Zionist Natalie Portman rejects Genesis Prize

Portman:Genesis Prize Apr 20 2018

The actress Natalie Portman who was born in Israel & retains dual citizenship has long been an ardent Zionist. It was announced last year that she would win the 2018 Genesis Prize, a $1 million award for Zionist notables, raised to $2 million for Portman in the name of women’s empowerment. The prize, given to those renowned in their fields who give exemplary service to the state of Israel, was started in 2012 by Russian-Jewish businessmen in league with Netanyahu & the Jewish Agency for Israel, a group that recruits Zionists to move to Israel. Previous recipients are Michael Bloomberg, the actor Michael Douglas, Ruth Bader Ginzburg, Itzhak Perlman. Actress Helen Mirren, also an ardent Zionist, once served as the master (sic) of ceremonies. The fund has been making quite a to-do over Portman, plastering her image all over their website & social media pages in anticipation of the June ceremony.

The Genesis Prize Foundation just announced that they have cancelled the award ceremony because Portman’s representative notified them that “recent events in Israel have been extremely distressing to her & she does not feel comfortable participating in any public events in Israel” & that “she cannot in good conscience move forward with the ceremony.” Although she did not specify which events have been distressing, we needn’t play stupid about it. Prize officials expressed “fear that Ms. Portman’s decision will cause our philanthropic initiative to be politicized, something we have worked hard for the past five years to avoid.” But who’s kidding who? The damn thing was part of the continuous campaign to legitimize the state of Israel & add celebrity glamour to apartheid & genocide. It’s quite a blow to the prestige of the Genesis Prize that Portman refuses to accept it.

Portman has been critical of the cultural boycott but she has also been critical of Netanyahu for his shameless racism. She isn’t likely to turn on the state of Israel & become an anti-Zionist but her action highlights the growing discomfort many have with the extreme genocidal violence of Israel against Palestinians. A political fault line is emerging among American Zionists, reflected also among leading Zionist feminists who were horrified by Israel’s bombing campaign over Gaza in 2014 or comedian Sarah Silverman, who supported the 2014 bombing of Gaza but now supports Ahed Tamimi. In the long run, the only workable solution is a democratic, secular state where Jews & Palestinians are equals. So these fissures & ruptures over Israel’s genocide are a political opening that bode well in the long run for that vision.

Photo is cover page the The Genesis Fund website.

Justice for Asifa billboards greet Modi in London

Asifa billboard in London Apr 19 2018

Justice for Asifa billboard greets Modi on his trip to London. Our little sister who suffered so unbearably is now the battle cry for women & children around the world, especially those in war, occupation, & genocide. The savage crime against her has brought to the fore justice denied for sexual violence against women under occupation in Kashmir, against women of the oppressed castes in India, against Rohingya women by the Burmese army, against Mayan women in Guatemala, against Syrian women by the Assad regime. May her memory keep us steadfast in the struggle against sexual violence.