Please sign & share this petition: Facebook stop censoring Kashmiri activists & journalists: restore Aasif Shafi’s account!
Daily Archives: October 27, 2018
As part of censorship of Kashmiri activists on social media & Indian repression of journalists in Kashmir, the personal Facebook wall of photojournalist Aasif Shafi which had 67,000 readers has been deleted. You can take a stand for free speech & a free press, show solidarity with Aasif, & follow his important work by liking & sharing his wall.
Not unlike European fascists of the 20th century, modern fascist demagogues & their libertarian & Stalinist affinity groups rail against capitalism but in every instance support state power against popular democratic movements. Assadist support for the Syrian dictatorship is of a piece with their support for Putin, Duterte, Suu Kyi, Mohammed Ben Salman, Ortega, Maduro, & even Trump. To disguise their support for state & corporate power they scapegoat–then Jews & Roma; now Muslims & Jews. Zionism & Israel serve to justify that scapegoating without rendering hatred of Jews one whit less malignant. Hatred of Jews & of Muslims are the twin pillars of Assadism & permeate everything they write.
The prominence of Jews in media, arts, politics does not reflect intellectual superiority or control over the world as posited by anti-Semites but primarily their historic urban character & culture. In the same way as Israel serves the purposes of US hegemony in the Middle East, so does the demagogic vitriol of Islamophobia which justifies wars, occupations, & the genocide against Palestinians (as well as Rohingyas, Kashmiris, Uyghurs, & others). The fact that fascists & their Assadist affinity groups support the Palestinian struggle is only an expedience, a maneuver to corner Jews & eliminate them before they turn on Palestinians, who are also Semites. The point is to strengthen Palestinian political power that it may transform Zionists into anti-Zionists in the same way the US civil rights movement transformed racist relations in the US. That there were setbacks in that struggle does not mean it was not worth fighting but only that we must learn how to solidify & prevent reversals in the historic gains we make in creating just & democratic societies.
Fascist scapegoating of Jews & others led to the holocaust; Zionism led to the genocide of Palestinians. The way out of this stinking morass of social hatred is to understand the power relations between the state & suffering masses, to elaborate the character of fascist & Assadist demagoguery, & to reject & scorn anti-Semitism & Islamophobia in every form. That makes no concessions whatsoever to Zionism but completely undermines its power. We all have a right to live in this world with peace, justice, & dignity. There is no place for supremacist delusions that put us at war with one another.
“From that day on when India forcibly took control of Kashmir:
Our each morning is mourning.
Each Day, we shoulder the coffins of our brothers.
Each day, we attend funerals of our martyrs.
Each day is black day.
Each day Kashmir bleeds.”
–Zara Ali 🇵🇰 🍁@Iam_ZaraAli on Twitter
You may want to look at Maung Zarni’s public Facebook wall to follow his speaking tour in Japan. It’s a good example of the kind of political work others can do to build the Rohingya solidarity movement.
“Stop calling it “communal violence” when it’s clear that it’s anti-Muslim violence.
Don’t call it a “riot” because it’s actually a state-engineered pogrom.
Stop using vague words like “scuffle between two groups” when the evidence points to a hate crime.
Don’t just call it “mob violence” because the mob enjoys institutional impunity from state agencies.
Your language demeans the lives of a minority community. Check it.”
–Heba Ahmed
A vigil in NYC this coming Sunday to protest the Kulgam massacre last Sunday & to oppose the occupation of Kashmir. Please like & publicize this event.
A truly iconic photo:
The photograph of a young, shirtless protester in Gaza holding a Palestinian flag in one hand and swinging a slingshot over his head with the other was shot on October 22 by Mustafa Hassouna of Turkey’s Anadolu Agency. The young boy is 20-year-old Palestinian A’ed Abu Amro, who lives in al-Zaytoun neighbourhood in Gaza City. ‘I was surprised this picture of me went viral,’ he said. ‘I participate in protests on a weekly basis, sometimes more. I didn’t even know there was a photographer near me.’
CIA director Gina Haspel was unimpressed when she heard the audio of the torture & beheading of Jamal Khashoggi by Saudi officials. The CIA extracted much more suffering when she oversaw the torture of prisoners in US rendition prisons.