We can do more than be overwhelmed by the scale of violence against Kashmiris under occupation. We can use social media to educate others, hold rallies, organize teach-ins, include Kashmiri speakers in all our political work. As these statistics show, those enduring war, occupation, & genocide live in constant danger. We cannot allow them to stand alone. Not just because human solidarity demands that but because their triumph over brutal oppression would change the course of human history to the advantage of the oppressed.
So many of you must be disappointed that more pressing matters caused me to neglect my usual commentary on Betty Windsor’s annual Christmas address. Privilege has not served our girl well spiritually or intellectually & her Christmas greetings are always a cornucopia of limp-assed egalitarian pretenses, banalities, & non sequiturs. Mostly the latter. In one address she linked WWII to Jesus in the manger–& that was the most cohesive part of it.
This year, sitting in front of a gold-gilded piano, she spoke of the importance of respect for others–at the same time that her courtiers were plundering the public coffers for the entire moochocracy to live lavishly off the dole without an ounce of shame. She must not have had time for her usual barrage of platitudes since People magazine tells us she had a full holiday schedule: on Wednesday, she had lunch; on Thursday, she went on vacation; & on Sunday, she went to church. A regular whirligig of activity without even time for her usual trifectas at the track.
If there’s one thing the British moochocracy doesn’t know a damn thing about, it’s respect for others–except those of high economic & social stature. Our Betty’s heritage is colonialism of unspeakable violence & British militarism & neoliberal policies which continue that tradition. The most exuberant enthusiasts for the British moochocracy are American media who haven’t gotten the message about the American Revolution–or for that matter, the Irish freedom struggle, the Indian, Asian, & South Asian anti-colonial struggles, the African freedom struggles, & those in the Caribbean. All those American journalists see is gold, glitter, & pomp galore & they go gaga for feudalism
Down with feudalism. Find the moochocrats gainful employment. Give Betty a few books to read about something other than trifecta strategies.
(Photo of Betty giving her 2018 address by REX/Shutterstock)
US senators Schumer & Cardin (both Democrats) are co-sponsoring a bill to make it a felony to support the BDS campaign against Israel. The penalties would include up to $1 million in fines or 20 years in prison. If we do not immediately form state & national coalitions to legally & politically oppose this outrageous aggression against Palestinians & civil liberties, we are looking at the United States of Zionism & the death of the Bill of Rights. This can & must be defeated. That begins with a call for a national conference to gather the forces of democracy from around the world.
For those who have any lingering doubts about the racist character of Zionist Israel: the government is accelerating its deportation of Eritrean & Sudanese refugees because Netanyahu says they jeopardize the Jewish-only character of Israel. Can you think of any other country in the world where that would not be condemned as apartheid? And yet millions of Americans are required to sign a loyalty oath to Israel for employment & social services.
“a young kashmiri boy sings to his brother killed by the indian occupation. the young boy is asking his brother to return home and play with him.
it can only be new year for kashmiris when these heartbreaking scenes are not repeated over and over. until then its just a mere date change.”
–Ather Zia
It may seem so trite to offer new year’s greetings to Palestinians, Kashmiris, Rohingyas, Uyghurs, Syrians, Afghans, Yemenis, Iraqis, & others sustaining war, occupation, genocide. But what the new year represents is a renewal of humanity’s hope that their struggles will advance & triumph & our commitment to building active, consistent solidarity to strengthen their political power against tyranny.
Venceremos.
18-month-old Kashmiri Hibba Han: the youngest pellet gun victim in the world. Did the Indian occupying army mistake this little girl for a terrorist or was it another of their so-called stray bullets?
Call me a slug, but I’ve never ever made a single self-improvement new year’s resolution. Long ago, I threw away all my self help books knowing it was a hopeless project & they made me feel guilty about that. I share the singular resolution as all of you: come hell or high water, to do my part to make this world a better place to live in, for children to come of age in, for human beings to live & love in. May 2019 see major advances in the struggles against war, occupation, genocide.
Happy New Year to all my friends.
