Sydney, Australia #StandWithKashmir protest, October 27th, 2019.
Columbus, Ohio #StandWithKashmir vigil, October 27th 2019.
Abid Bashir just listed 71 cities in several countries where #StandWithKashmir protests have been held since the Indian siege & blockade began on August 5th. So many times over the years, Kashmiris protested for Palestinians, Rohingya, Syrians, & others even though there were no protests for them because of the news blackout. This new movement is entirely due to the work of Kashmiri activists on social media who educated & campaigned for years about the importance of their struggle. Those living in Kashmir don’t know what they have created & inspired but their work explains why India is trying to find a way to restore the internet but maintain the ban on social media in Kashmir. What those activists have created cannot be undone by any scheming or trickeries on the part of the Modi gang. Kashmiri solidarity is here to stay until the last Indian troop is withdrawn from Kashmir & they have won self-determination & can wave the flag of azadi.
Toronto For Kashmir is doing brilliant educational work, including showing old news footage about Indian colonial rule & the Kashmiri struggle. This brief video is quite informative.
When speaking about the history of Kashmir, often time the discussion starts at 1990. There is no mention of the fact that the people of Kashmir suffered right from the onset of India’s occupation of Kashmir. While we constantly hear comparisons of the 100,000 murders, 30,000 disappearances, 10,000 rapes, and 6000 mass graves of Kashmiri Muslims to the 219 killings of the Kashmiri Pandit’s from 1990 to 2011 – there is much more suffering that the Muslims of Kashmir have faced prior to 1990. There is enough evidence to prove that thousands of Kashmiris were forced to leave their homes and migrate from Poonch and other regions in 1965. They sought refuge in Azad Kashmir as their villages were burnt down by Indian forces and their women were raped and assaulted. This is all long before Kashmiri Pandits and their controversial mass migration was even a topic for debate.The Muslims of Kashmir have a long history of suffering, this needs more recognition. #RedForKashmir #LetKashmirSpeak #TorontoForKashmir #Justice #Peace #Humanity #HumanRights #UNResolution #FreeKashmir #Referendum #Plebiscite #EndTheOccupation #MassGraves #Torture #ExtrajudicialKillings #Freedom #StandWithKashmir #Kashmir
Posted by Toronto For Kashmir on Friday, October 18, 2019
Medicin Sans Frontieres reports that over 7,400 Palestinians have been injured from live ammunition by Israeli snipers during Great Return March protests in Gaza. Many of them lose one of their legs; some have lost both. Over 1,000 of them have developed bone infections; ‘serious & complex wounds which require months, if not years, of dressing, surgery, physiotherapy; infections which prevent recovery & many of which are resistant to antibiotics.’
Disabling, if not outright shooting down young people, is a strategy of genocide both by Israel against Palestinians & by India against Kashmiris.
“Why people want me to shut up,” by Israeli anti-Zionist Jonathan Ofir:
“It’s well over five years since I started to write about political matters pertaining to Palestine/Israel in public, first on social media.
One of the very first responses I got was one asking me politely to stop, since I was upsetting people. Then it became a bit less polite, with old classmates calling me names and saying I was the worst of the worst. In between were all kinds of suggestions of how I hate the place I come from, how it’s unbelievable I’d talk like this etc.
At some point it dawns upon you that they don’t mind you being quiet, or saying things praising their ideology – Zionism. It’s just that they can’t stand the sight of you challenging the state ideology. And you start getting the logic, that what they really want is silence and obedience. Ostensibly, they’ll boast about their Jewish democracy – but they don’t want real democratic advocacy, because that is just not Zionist. They know it viscerally: they are against equality. It will be much harder for them to admit, though, that they support Apartheid.
And when you add it up, you see that the Apartheid is mostly carried forth by people who are silent. Not only are they silent, they try to silence those who protest it, and it’s not because they’re being paid to do so – the exposure of the Apartheid is seen by them as reflecting badly on them, and they do not want to pay the societal price, nor do they want to relinquish the privilege of the master-race.
That’s when you understand, that to speak up against this is a possibility that must be excercised. Even if your message is not as strong the one day, but stronger the next day. Speak up. For them, this is an offense in its very nature. They view it as unpatriotic, as unthankful, an offense to those who have sacrificed etc. They will likely not see it as an investment in our collective future, because for Zionists, the future is racial privilege or nothing.
So if you have something to say that can help dismantle the Israeli Apartheid, say it. Say it now, or withhold the peace. The supporters of the status quo will tell us that peace is somehow in the status quo, in any case with Zionism as a must. But there has not been a day of it since the start. They will say it’s because they hate us. But we’ve heard that before.
If you support a future of equality and dignity, speak up. Great evils continue through silence. You might even be impressed by the fact of your own voice, once you’ve stepped out of the indoctrinated chorus.”
“Last month India 🇮🇳 sent a commercial spicejet flight with 120 civilians on board, with a false military code assigned to it. So when it crosses over Pakistan 🇵🇰 Border it will be confused as an Indian military aircraft and shot down like they did in Feb 27th when 2 INDIAN military aircrafts were shot down. India just played with the lives of 120 Indian Civilans. Indian indiscriminate shelling last night damaged 53 Houses, 43 shops.
Stop this nonsense INDIA JUST FREAKIN STOP YOU FAKE DEMOCRACY!!!!!! STOP Lying to the world pls ffs 🙏🙏🙏”
–Kashmiri activist Mehran Khan
Doha, Qatar #StandWithKashmir vigil, October 27th, 2019.
Miguel, who is Charlie’s nephew & was at his birthday party tonight, is thirteen now & proficient in English & Spanish. I first met him when he was less than three. He isn’t just proficient in English but has a way with words that makes me think he could be a writer though his interests are mainly in mathematics. He’s a very smart kid.
He’s an American kid with family roots in Mexico & after spending the summer there at five, his first report to me on his return was how he had learned to fake fart. He’s so much cooler than that now. I love most kids but have a special place in my heart for Miguel. I just love the kid.
At Charlie’s party, I talked to two senior women who had both immigrated here from Mexico many years ago. One is 76 now but after her divorce in her 40s & with grown kids, she became an over-the-road truck driver, surely one of the first in a generation of women pioneers. The other was an ICU nurse who took a special master’s program in Mexico many years ago on bereavement counseling especially for those faced with sudden death from suicide, accident, or homicide. The course was 600 miles/965 km from here & she had to drive it every Friday after work for two years. Because she was proficient in Spanish & English, they needed her to explain to those coming out of comas, etc. why they were missing limbs or that their family members had been killed. Amazingly tough women & so beautiful in every way.
Charlie July 2009
This is my friend Charlie who turned 20 the day after I turned 75. His family were my downstairs neighbors when I first moved to McAllen & have remained my friends. Charlie & I both loved animals & chocolate so every day after school we would go to the animal shelter to walk the dogs & then go hunting for the best chocolate dessert we could find in town.
He’s always been a great kid, full of humor & kindness & committed to his family. When he was nine, he wanted to be an over-the-road driver of an 18-wheeler but he’s training as a mechanic on a road crew now. Who knows where life will take him but I wish him only the best. He’s been a blessing in my life & a cherished friend, as all of his family have been.