When Socialist Action, a Lilliputian US cult around Jeff Mackler, first formulated its support for the Assad regime, it acknowledged he was a dictator. But by stringing together out-of-context quotes from Lenin they came up with a banal justification for supporting Assad & betraying the Syrian Arab Spring which Mackler, poisoned by ‘war on terror’ ideology, designated as “Islamist.” When Russia joined Syria in bombing civilians, Mackler & his groupies defended it & when Assad gassed civilians, they denied it. Calling themselves Marxists, they became full members of the “US regime change operation” cult. Now Mackler has written an article calling Ilhan Omar “retrogressive” for calling Assad a dictator. It’s a slippery slope from sectarianism & cultism to sucking up to dictatorship. Or maybe not. Maybe it’s the natural trajectory.
Monthly Archives: April 2019
Thousands protest Quebec’s proposed ‘religious neutrality’ law banning public sector workers like teachers from wearing religious attire in the workplace. The law is anything but neutral & directly targets Muslims & Sikhs. Catholic nuns & priests will not be barred from wearing religious habits in parochial schools. Islamophobia begins with these discriminations & ends in massacres & bombing of civilians.
The sarcasm that Kashmiris so constantly employ against occupation & that so many Muslims around the world use in their resistance to Islamophobic laws, confirms in spades that satire is the genre of the oppressed. In the hands of the oppressors, sarcasm is nothing more than ridicule, humiliation, & stinking elitism. But in the hands of those resisting war, persecution, occupation, genocide, it is brilliant, defiant, liberating.
“A Muslim man was not lynched but made to eat pork, be thankful and vote for the sanghi terrorists.”
–Muheeb Sharief on the upcoming general elections in India
Madonna’s public relations firm confirmed that she will perform at the Eurovision song contest in Israel next month. To break the BDS cultural boycott of Israel, she is reportedly getting paid $1.5 million for two songs. Not just ‘the material girl’ but the apartheid girl shilling for genocide.
“Thinking loud : It is true that the whole political class in india endorses occupation of Kashmir, however the saffron variety displays extreme, rabid, hatred against Kashmiri Muslims. Some Kashmiris argue that if BJP comes to power again, it will bring about the disintegration of india and therefore might hasten the freedom of Kashmir. This should not be misconstrued as support for fascism in india, Kashmiris are in no way able to impede or bring BJP to power in India. It is an assertion reflective of a people pushed to the wall with naked cruelty, indignity and extreme oppression. In my opinion coming of BJP to power again will be disastrous for the struggle of Kashmiris, regional peace and also for marginalised people in india. Though the cancer of hatred, ignorance and prejudice prevalent in india, which makes BJP possible, may take a longer time to cure, but for the sake of whole humanity, peace and our already difficult struggle may BJP lose, irreversibly.”
–Mir Laieeq on the upcoming general elections in India
“Love these foody anti-racism protest signs!
Left: “We Gave You Samosas, Have Some Respect”, Sikhs protesting Quebec’s secularism law that will prohibit wearing religious symbols in the workplace.
Right: “No Falafel for Racists!”, Free Syria block during Berlin mass rally against racism and hate.”
There was a time on Facebook when many of us got involved in knock-down-drag-out political fights, some of which went on for days. We sharpened our polemical & repartee skills but exhausted ourselves trying to persuade others to adopt our point of view. It was very much like family reunions, with liberal & conservative relatives, writ large: a hell on earth of indigestion. From this experience, I have developed the pearl of wisdom that one of the arts of politics is learning when to save your breath. It’s a truth I live by now when someone tries to lure me into one of those long-winded disputes. It’s better for one’s health & sanity to concentrate on building solidarity with the oppressed rather than debating those who find that the status quo of injustice suits them just fine.
When Bernie Sanders aggressively campaigns against open borders & calls for ‘comprehensive immigration reform’, he’s trying to pulling a fast one on his liberal & oh-so-gaga socialist supporters. Comprehensive immigration reform is a day late & a dollar short when there are tens of thousands of refugees encamped on the US southern border, including thousands of little kids, unable to enter the US & when there are thousands in US concentration camps, including thousands of kidnapped children, arrested for trying to enter the US. What about them? Don’t their rights matter? Some of those refugees, like Haitians, have preferred immigration rights under US law allowing them to enter the US which the Trump regime is denying them. What about them?
Would champion of the people Bernie Sanders turn away tens of thousands of refugees because he is so busy campaigning that he hasn’t gotten off his ass to propose ‘comprehensive immigration reform’? Are they supposed to just trudge 1,500 back home because his being president is more important than their humanity? Will his supporters please smarten up & stand with refugees rather than with another windbag promising the stars at the expense of the ‘poor, unskilled workers’ Sanders is so afraid of?
Accepting the Muslim-hating ideology of the ‘war on terror’ means pogroms & assaults like this in India, massacres like in New Zealand, fetishizing & outlawing the scarf, & supporting the bombing of civilians in Syria & elsewhere.