Several times in the past few weeks, both on Facebook & Twitter, I’ve read rueful, not at all bitter comments by Kashmiris about the lack of solidarity for their struggle compared to that of Palestinians when their freedom movements are of comparable duration. Palestinian solidarity is massive, though still not massive enough, but only goes back less than a decade. For most of the past 70 years they’ve been entirely isolated & were in fact abandoned by most of their so-called left supporters after the Oslo Accords. The growth & strength of Palestinian solidarity can only in the long run strengthen Kashmiri, Rohingya, & Uyghur solidarity since they are so yoked by Islamophobia & Israeli weapons.

The reason the Kashmiri freedom struggle was almost completely unknown is the systematic news blackout–the same blackout imposed on the Rohingya & Uyghur struggles–& for a long while, the Palestinian struggle. Activists from all those movements have brilliantly used social media to break that blackout & the fact that media reports them today is due directly to their work. Media & governments have to get ahead of the freedom narrative of activists to put their own spin on things which offer equivocations, rationalizations, war on terror rhetoric, all that head-chopping Wahhabi/Salafi jihadi jazz intended to undermine international solidarity.

The isolation felt by those suffering war, occupation, genocide must be unbearable. Their use of social media to overcome that is revolutionary & has significantly advanced their movements. Their struggles are our struggles because the outcomes will directly affect all of suffering humanity by inspiring the oppressed everywhere.