Category: politics

Non pas une, mais des identités juives – Kiffe ta race

excellent discussion about anti-semitism, racism, and the role of the state and media in france.

‘Sur la scène politico-médiatique française, le constat d’une recrudescence des faits antisémites est souvent associé aux personnes musulmanes. Mais l’antisémitisme n’est pas imputable à une partie de la population, et il est à aborder avec nuances. Ce type de discours tend à jeter une ombre sur la longue histoire de l’antisémitisme, qui a entre autre forgé sa rhétorique dans l’Action Française, et s’est illustré par la responsabilité de l’État dans la déportation de 76 000 personnes juives lors de la Seconde Guerre mondiale. En écho aux débats autour de la proximité entre les luttes antiraciste et contre l’antisémitisme, Grace Ly et Rokhaya Diallo reçoivent Cloé Korman. Pour cette écrivaine, essayiste et professeure, les actes de violence commis à l’encontre des personnes juives sont à rapprocher de “l’océan” du racisme discriminatoire et des violences policières à l’encontre des autres minorités.’

More here.

Monster. A Fugue in Fire and Ice

I listened to this lecture yesterday instead of focusing on the US elections. It’s a lecture by Anne McClintock, the A. Barton Hepburn Professor of Gender and Sexuality Studies at Princeton. Her presentation is called ‘Monster. A Fugue in Fire and Ice.’ “McClintock engaged three of the great crises of our time — climate catastrophe (especially melting ice and rising oceans), global militarization, and mass displacement. Through creative nonfiction and her own photographs, McClintock explored the question of how we can make scientific data and the planetary upheavals of the Anthropocene more publicly visible and tangible to facilitate more creative strategies for change.”

Although I voted and would prefer some disruption to the Trump regime, a return to neoliberal ‘normalcy’ and bipartisan support for militarism and empire do not reassure me. I feel nauseous when I think about 4 years under Biden-Harris and what that will mean for healthcare, housing and food security in the middle of a pandemic – 40% of low-income Americans have lost their jobs and 8 million additional people have slipped into poverty. What will a Biden presidency mean for Palestine, for Kashmir, for the Dalits and Muslims of India, for the people of the Middle East and Central and South America? And what will it mean for our planet? I am much more invested in these larger concerns than in the results of sham presidential elections. This is not a democracy. [not interested in apologias for Biden, Harris or American democracy]

robert fisk (1946 – 2020)

i will never forget his searing, disturbing description of what he saw at the sabra and shatila refugee camps, right after the massacre in 1982. he was one of the first journalists on the scene. an incredibly important witness.

“He reported extensively on the first Gulf War basing himself for a time in Baghdad where he was fiercely critical of other foreign correspondents whom he accused of covering the conflict from their hotel rooms. He also covered the US-led wars in Afghanistan and Iraq and frequently condemned US involvement in the region.”

voting one’s conscience

i’m a firm believer in people voting their conscience (or not voting, if that is their considered decision) – otherwise what’s the point? i don’t attack people for doing so, just because i happen to disagree w their choices. pls do ur thing. just no need to get all self-righteous about it. allow others the same agency u want for urself, and the same presumption of intelligence. thank u.

Angela Davis on the Struggle for Socialist Internationalism and a Real Democracy

Astra Taylor: It can be very utopian to think about including nonhuman life in our democratic politics. I personally feel like our lives depend on it. With the destruction of the environment, illnesses are increasing in number and virulence. People say we need to prioritize humans as though solidarity is a zero-sum game, but I feel that we have to reject that and expand the circle of concern. I would love to hear your thoughts on that.

Angela Davis: I completely agree with you. The prioritizing of humans also leads to restrictive definitions of who counts as human, and the brutalization of animals is related to the brutalization of human animals. This will be a very important arena of struggle during the coming period.

If we are to engage in ongoing struggles for freedom and democracy, we have to recognize that the issues will become ever more expansive, because initially, the question of democracy only addressed a small subset of white, affluent men. I’m not suggesting that the trajectory of history is automatic. But we have witnessed an ever-expansive notion of the nature of democracy. And I do not see how we can exclude our nonhuman companions with whom we share this planet. More here.

Amidst GOP Outrage, Advocates Say There’s Nothing Controversial About Restoring the Vote to Parolees

Darien Lamen: When asked what he thinks is at the root of the controversy, Victor Pate says, “I believe that they don’t want people who have seen the worst of our system to be a part of changing the system. Because we know from being directly impacted what type of policies–especially as you talk about prisons and jails and criminal justice–should be passed to make it more transformative, more restorative, and more equitable,” Pate says.”They don’t want to hear from us because we could change this miserable system. It’s as simple as that. More here.

Yemen on brink of losing entire generation of children to hunger, UN warns

“Yemen is on the brink of a catastrophic food security crisis. If the war doesn’t end now, we are nearing an irreversible situation and risk losing an entire generation of Yemen’s young children,” said Lise Grande, the UN’s humanitarian coordinator for the country. More here.

Angela Davis on Dalit Lives Matter

“In a powerful video statement, philosopher and political activist Angela Davis emphasizes the need to forge meaningful international solidarity at this time of global outcry against the structures of white supremacy and casteist-Brahmanical patriarchy. She gives a shout out to ‘Black Lives Matter,’ ‘Dalit Lives Matter,’ and ‘Muslim Lives Matter,’ reminding us of the important connections between these calls for justice and struggles for human dignity.” A dear friend of mine helped put the talking points together.

supporting friends and community

hello roc friends, just wondering if a petition in support of Iman Abid-Thompson addressed to the NYCLU has already been started? if not, i’d like to get working on it quickly. as everyone knows, iman is one of the lead organizers for Free The People Roc. we need to come together, speak up as a community, and model solidarity. pls let me know if something is already in the works. thx.

gadot as cleopatra

a friend asked me to speak to her class about feminism and islam, something i’ve written about, so i’ve been refreshing my reading of texts by three spectacularly incisive women of color – saba mahmood, houria boutelja and francoise verges. the timing could not be better as the controversy over casting gal gadot, a white israeli actress, in the role of cleopatra continues on social media.

i know this will ruffle feathers, but i’ve been meaning to write this since the new ‘wonder woman’ came out (also played by gal gadot). i grew up in the middle of europe, when wonder woman was on fire (albeit dubbed in french) and i have to say, it never did anything for me. i’ve read ad infinitum how wonder woman changed the lives of western/white women and i’ve always felt completely disconnected from that discourse. wonder woman, as invented by a white man and played by a skinny white woman, did not resonate with me. most of the time, she seemed to be awkwardly balancing herself while twirling, burdened with an impractical costume, and, i felt as a child, more limited in her powers than other super heroes. she did not represent strength to me. the bionic woman (also dubbed in french) seemed more sensible and badass than her.

it’s pretty fitting then that gal gadot, a supporter of IDF and settler colonialism, came to embody white feminism, its artifacts and imagery – something i am indifferent to.
in the same way cleopatra, as delivered by elizabeth taylor, felt sad and campy, so very campy, and failed to project female empowerment. she was obviously conceived and executed by a bunch of men in hollywood. now that we’ve come a long way, in terms of women’s rights, a group of white women want their chance to co-opt the story of an egyptian queen. i’m sure that their counterparts will be inspired, but the rest of us — brown, black, women from the east and the global south — will just have to do our own thing:)

stop already, wajahat ali

a couple of years ago, wajahat ali goes to palestine with MLI, a zionist-supported program, and writes all about his insights on how settlers have feelings too (the atlantic gives him plenty of space to reflect on the hackneyed ‘competing narratives’ vis a vis palestine/israel). there is pushback as expected. wajahat ali doesn’t back down. he writes a second piece for the atlantic to defend himself and spit on retrograde muslims. now, once again, wajahat ali gets annoyed because steven salaita, ali abunimah and others point out how certain opinions get more media coverage than others and how the proponents of those views get bigger media platforms. wajahat ali bends over backward to frame that uncontroversial statement as being anti-semitic and sends armies of trolls and miscellaneous gatekeepers of speech on p/i their way, in spite of how much damage such allegations have already wreaked on scholars/activists/journalists. sadly wajahat ali is pakistani american. his shameless (and outrageous) centering of himself on the subject of palestine is embarrassing. dude, pls pipe down and go back to writing unimaginative plays like ‘the domestic crusaders’.