I want to talk about #Brics but I suspect I'll be attacked the moment I open my mouth because it isn't aligned with the current US narrative. 🙃
Better to talk about #CDramas on #mastodon. 😅
I may write a blog post of the notes I've made - I don't think I'm informed enough about #geopolitics to give a solid commentary, but the common topics I've seen around Brics:
It does not accurately describe either the foundation of #Israel or the tragedy of the #Palestinians.
By Simon Sebag Montefiore
“…Whatever the enormous complexities…, one truth should be obvious among decent people: killing 1,400 people & kidnapping >200, including scores of #civilians, was deeply wrong.
Just finished “How to Hide an Empire,” by Daniel Immerwahl
I’m often surprised by how much I don’t know, but this #book really astonished me with my own ignorance. I’m embarrassed to say how little I knew of US colonialism, territories, and global military bases
Immerwahl explains the post WWII #decolonization / #recolonization as a product of technological innovation in a clear (and very readable) way. Highly recommend!
More than half a century ago, the British and the Americans established the Diego Garcia military base, breaking international law in the process. The locals were forcibly exiled. But now, after decades of court battles, the people who once called the Chagos Archipelago home are closer to returning than ever before.
"For many Māori modern health services lack recognition of taha wairua (the spiritual dimension). In a traditional Māori approach, the inclusion of the wairua, the role of the whānau (family) and the balance of the hinengaro (mind) are as important as the physical manifestations of illness."
It's quite remarkable how the narrative around #WarInUkraine always gets redirected to the topic of #Ukraine borders, its right to have its own agency or independence, but never to the topic of of #decolonization of #Russia.
I think that both Kremlin and ruzzian society during this invasion are going through five stages of grief - anger, denial, depression.
Anger phase started after their retreat from Kyiv. In this stage they leveled to the ground #Donbas (Mariupol, Popasna, Sievierodonetsk, Volnovakha and many others cities in region are in ruins), blew up #NordStream and started mobilization.
After failure, both military and diplomatic, russians moved to denial stage. In which they tried to destroy energy infrastructure of Ukraine with missiles and Iranian drones, and to capture #Bakhmut in meat attacks.
As for now, if consider #Girkin and #Prigozhin statements, and the behavior of the ruzzian horde in general, they moved into defense/depression stage. It looks like they gonna be depressed until West supplies Ukraine with fighter jets, or until russia runs out of money (which could happen faster if Western oil companies stops maintaining russian colonial oilfeilds)
After the final collapse of russian colonial expedition, the bargaining stage will start. There will be no acceptance stage (like never ever), russians will forget this invasion as they forgot unlucky (for them) WW1 or their failed colonial expedition to Afghanistan. But they will continue to celebrate their Victory over Germans, as they did yesterday 🙂 Still, acceptance stage is possible as a result of #decolonization of russian empire
Papua New Guinea Prime Minister James Marape has backtracked on his comments that PNG had “no right to comment” on human rights abuses in West Papua and has offered a clarification to “clear misconceptions and apprehension”....
[...]
If Israel escalates by attacking Iran and striking at the country’s infrastructure, then Iran’s counter will be to take a page out of Russia’s book and commence the one line of attack which Israel, the US and their allies cannot withstand any better than Ukraine – that’s Electric War.
For the seven months which have elapsed since Hamas began its operation against Israel on October 7, and Israel commenced its genocide against the Palestinians, there has been no targeting by Hamas, Hezbollah, the Houthis, or the Syrian and Iraqi groups of Israel’s highly vulnerable maritime gas platforms, gas pipelines, coal and oil-fired electricity generating plants, the coal and oil storages nearby, solar and wind power units, or the electricity grids keeping the country alight.
The Arab inhibitions and calculations are understandable. Iran’s will disappear if Israel triggers a new round of attacks.
[...]
✍️ Until 30 April, you can still submit your manuscript for the issue of Práticas da História dedicated to the theme "(Digital) Retrospectives on African Historiography: Decolonisation, the African press and the uses of knowledge".
The editors are Noemi Alfieri and Cassandra Mark-Thiesen.
Through the mailinglist of the Nib: Cartoonists for Palestine
"Comics have no walls nor borders, and the youngness of our medium represents an opportunity to reject the boundaries that were assigned to us. All around the world, in newspapers, magazines and on mobile phone screens, comics speak about the most important topics of the day. We are not powerless. Through comics, we can shape the narratives told about ourselves and our world—and in that way, we hope to provoke change.
Recent events are extreme, brutal, and shocking, but they are part of a continuum–the long ideological project of settler colonialism that requires the systematic denial and destruction of indigenous peoples. Now is the time to build something new and different."
Millennials Are Killing Capitalism: Al Shifa, Resistance, and Fanonian Psychoanalysis with Dr. Lara Sheehi
"In this episode we will talk about the war crimes the zionists have committed in Al Shifa, how this fits into the landscape of this genocide materially and psychologically. We will also revisit October 7th and discuss how psychological warfare has made it challenging to discuss what Al Aqsa Flood represented and enacted. In doing so we will seek to resist the framing of this day that places limits on our speech and actions in solidarity with the Palestinian Resistance. We will also incorporate some discussion of Fanon and his analysis of the Algerian revolution and the anticolonial process."
Millennials Are Killing Capitalism: Al Shifa, Resistance, and Fanonian Psychoanalysis with Dr. Lara Sheehi
"In this episode we will talk about the war crimes the zionists have committed in Al Shifa, how this fits into the landscape of this genocide materially and psychologically. We will also revisit October 7th and discuss how psychological warfare has made it challenging to discuss what Al Aqsa Flood represented and enacted. In doing so we will seek to resist the framing of this day that places limits on our speech and actions in solidarity with the Palestinian Resistance. We will also incorporate some discussion of Fanon and his analysis of the Algerian revolution and the anticolonial process."
The 44-year-old Faye will be the youngest president of Senegal. His victory is considered an upset–Faye is a self-described “left pan-Africanist” and his pledge to pursue significant systemic reforms in the country has been well received, in particular by Senegalese youth. Faye won as an independent after his party, the African Patriots of Senegal for Work, Ethics, and Fraternity (PASTEF) was unilaterally dissolved in July 2023 in a crackdown on opposition protests by the incumbent government of President Macky Sall, as covered last year in Liberation News.
The leader of the party, Ousmane Sonko was arrested along with Faye and barred from running in the 2024 presidential election. Sonko and Faye, who had been arrested earlier in 2023, were released along with hundreds of other political prisoners on March 14–just ten days before the election. Their release was triggered by the Constitutional Court barring an attempt by incumbent President Macky Sall to postpone the elections over concerns about which candidates were legally eligible to run.
The court overturned this move, affirming that Sall must leave office on April 2. Sonko ran for president on the PASTEF ticket in 2019, receiving just over 15% of the vote. This year, Faye stepped in as the party’s candidate as Sonko’s legal eligibility remained in question and decisively won with 54.3% of the vote in the first round over incumbent Prime Minister Amadou Ba’s 35.8%.
The 44-year-old Faye will be the youngest president of Senegal. His victory is considered an upset–Faye is a self-described “left pan-Africanist” and his pledge to pursue significant systemic reforms in the country has been well received, in particular by Senegalese youth. Faye won as an independent after his party, the African Patriots of Senegal for Work, Ethics, and Fraternity (PASTEF) was unilaterally dissolved in July 2023 in a crackdown on opposition protests by the incumbent government of President Macky Sall, as covered last year in Liberation News.
The leader of the party, Ousmane Sonko was arrested along with Faye and barred from running in the 2024 presidential election. Sonko and Faye, who had been arrested earlier in 2023, were released along with hundreds of other political prisoners on March 14–just ten days before the election. Their release was triggered by the Constitutional Court barring an attempt by incumbent President Macky Sall to postpone the elections over concerns about which candidates were legally eligible to run.
The court overturned this move, affirming that Sall must leave office on April 2. Sonko ran for president on the PASTEF ticket in 2019, receiving just over 15% of the vote. This year, Faye stepped in as the party’s candidate as Sonko’s legal eligibility remained in question and decisively won with 54.3% of the vote in the first round over incumbent Prime Minister Amadou Ba’s 35.8%.
If Israel escalates by attacking Iran and striking at the country’s infrastructure, then Iran’s counter will be to take a page out of Russia’s book and commence the one line of attack which Israel, the US and their allies cannot withstand any better than Ukraine – that’s Electric War.
For the seven months which have elapsed since Hamas began its operation against Israel on October 7, and Israel commenced its genocide against the Palestinians, there has been no targeting by Hamas, Hezbollah, the Houthis, or the Syrian and Iraqi groups of Israel’s highly vulnerable maritime gas platforms, gas pipelines, coal and oil-fired electricity generating plants, the coal and oil storages nearby, solar and wind power units, or the electricity grids keeping the country alight.
The Arab inhibitions and calculations are understandable. Iran’s will disappear if Israel triggers a new round of attacks.
Erasing the Existence of 1,500 People: Britain's Ongoing Colonial Crime in the Indian Ocean (www.spiegel.de)
More than half a century ago, the British and the Americans established the Diego Garcia military base, breaking international law in the process. The locals were forcibly exiled. But now, after decades of court battles, the people who once called the Chagos Archipelago home are closer to returning than ever before.
Papua New Guinea leader James Marape denies West Papua human rights comments were his (asiapacificreport.nz)
Papua New Guinea Prime Minister James Marape has backtracked on his comments that PNG had “no right to comment” on human rights abuses in West Papua and has offered a clarification to “clear misconceptions and apprehension”....