#Calling it a genocide is seen as an 'extremist' position

[kittyprincessofcats]

ICJ Ruling

Okay, let's get into this.

First of all, I get the frustration at the court not ordering a ceasefire. I was disappointed and frustrated at first too, since a ceasefire was the biggest and most important preliminary measure South Africa was requesting - and of course we just all want this horror to finally end for the people in Gaza. So I get the frustration and disappointment, I really do.

However, I do think this ruling is still a major win for South Africa, Palestine, and international law as a whole and here's why:

The court acknowledged that it has jurisdiction over this case and completely dismissed Israel's request to throw out the case as a whole. It will now determine at the merits stage (that will probably take years) whether Israel is actually commiting genocide.

The court acknowledged that Palestinians are a "distinct national or ethnic group and therefore deserving of protection under the genocide convention". Pull this out next time someone tells you "there's no such thing as Palestinians, they're all just Arabs".

The court acknowledged very unambiguously that "at least some" of Israel's actions being genocidal in nature is "plausible". South Africa has a case, officially. Israel is accused of genocide, in a way the ICJ deems "plausible", officially. This is huge. (And seriously, how freaking satisfying was it to hear all of those genocidal statements by Israeli politicians read out loud and used as justification for this rulling?)

The court might not have ordered a "ceasefire" in those words, but they did order Israel to "immediately end all genocidal acts" (which includes killing and injuring Palestinians) and submit proof that they actually did. How are they going to comply with this ruling without at least severly reducing or changing what they're doing in Gaza?

In fact, this wording might actually be more appropriate for a genocide (vs a war), as author and journalist Ali Abunimah notes on Twitter:

He's completely right. Israel lost today, by overwhelming majority (I mean, 15 to 2? I heard people predict the rulings would be very close, like 9 judges vs 8, but instead we got 15 to 2 (and even 16 to 1 on the humanitarian aid). Holy shit.) The court disimissed almost everything Israel's side of lawyers said, while acknowledging that South Africa's accusations are "plausible".

And this is important especially because of Mr Abunimah's second tweet there^. Because the question is, where do we go from here?

This ruling means that Israel is officially /possibly/ commiting genocide and that should have huge international consequences. The rest of the world now HAS to take these accusations seriously and stop arming and supporting Israel - and if they won't do it on their own, we, the people, have to make them. This is THE moment to rise up all around the world, especially in the countries most supportive of Israel (the US, the UK, Germany): Protest, call your representatives and demand a ceasefire and an end of arms deliveries to Israel.

We now have a legal case to back our demands: If Israel is, according to the ICJ, "plausibly" commiting genocide, then all of our governments are, according to the ICJ, "plausibly" guiltly of aiding in genocide. And we need to hold that over their heads and demand better. We need to do that right now and in huge numbers. Most politicians only care about themselves and saving their skin. We have to make them realize that they could be accused of aiding in genocide.

(As a German, I'm thinking of Germany here in particular: After South Africa's hearing, our government dismissed their case as having "no basis" - how are they going to keep saying that now that the ICJ officially thinks otherwise? Over the last months, people here have been arrested at protests for calling what's happening in Gaza a genocide. How are the police supposed to legally keep doing that now that the ICJ has officially deemed this accusation "plausible"? I used to be scared to use the word "genocide" at protests or write it on my protest signs - not anymore, have fun trying to arrest me for that when the ICJ literally has my back on this one 🖕🏻.)

So yeah - don't be defeatist about this, don't let Israel's narrative that they "won" (they didn't) take over. This might not be everything we wanted, but it's still a good result. Don't let what the court didn't say ("ceasefire"), distract you from the very important things that they did say. Let this be your motivation to get loud and active, especially if you live in any country that supports Israel. Put pressure on your governments to not be complicit in genocide, you now officially have the highest international court on your side.

#ICJ #ICJ ruling #ICJ hearing #South Africa vs Israel #Free Palestine #Palestine #Palestinian genocide #Gaza #Germany #I get why Palestinians are disappointed and I don't want to devalue those feelings #(but maybe this can give you hope) #But thinking about this as a German this is huge #Most politicians and people here still deny (or at least strongly doubt) that there's a genocide happening #Calling it a genocide is seen as an 'extremist' position #And some of our politicians have been borderline gaslighting us and calling anyone who calls it genocide 'crazy' #So I'm just feeling immense vindication and a newfound fearlessness and motivation to be louder and more active than ever #and I hope others here feel the same #I hope the quiet masses stop being scared to say something now

[abla-soso]

So I have seen your Israel vs Palestine posts. I don't know much about the conflict so I have been doing some research on the history and watching some news coverage.

I admit that I am slightly biased for Israel but there is so much information that it is hard to tell truth from lies. Israel says they want to eliminate Hamas but I don't understand how bombing Palestine is supposed to do this. I mean I don't think the Nazis were defeated by just bombing German towns. That makes no sense.

I want your take on this:

What is your ideal solution to this conflict?

After the attacks on Israel, how you would have preferred Israel to respond?

What is your opinion on Hamas and how they got elected into power?

How would you respond to people who disapprove of Palestinians on the news not condemning Hamas' attacks?

@fanfic-lover-girl

Hello. Sorry it took me so long to answer, but I've been mentally and emotionally drained by what's happening in Gaza. I'm glad you're willing to learn the truth and I hope you commit to it no matter how difficult it is to unlearn years of propaganda. The fact that you're open-minded and decent enough to admit your ignorance and your biases is a positive sign for growth.

I hope you've read my latest Palestine posts because they pretty much answered all of your questions, but I will try to summarize them as best as I can:

This genocide was never about Hamas. It was always about ethnically cleansing the land from Palestinians and turning the legally recognized Palestinian territories into Israeli ones. Israeli officials have publically stated this. There is no Hamas in the West Bank, yet the Palestinians there are still been bombed. Israel has been slaughtering and ethnically cleansing the Palestinians since 1948. That's 40 years before Hamas ever existed. Hamas existed as a response to Israel's state terrorism. Israel is using "fighting Hamas" as an excuse to justify its war crimes.

The ideal solution is justice. Peace can not happen without justice. The apartheid of Israel must end. The brutal occupation and military dictatorship must end. The genocidally racist government and ethnostate of Israel must be dismantled. Palestinians should get back their basic human rights. Zionists - whether they were Jews or Arabs - must be kicked out, because the defeated colonizers can NOT peacefully co-exist with the newly freed population and they'll always be a danger. Non-zionist Jews are welcome to stay as full citizens and they're allowed to call freed Palestine their home.

Hamas - like any freedom fighters group aiming for liberation from brutal tyranny - is certainly flawed and some of its methods can be problematic. But it's not a religiously extremist group. It's not a terrorist group. They're not aiming to kill all Jews or whatever bullshit Israeli propaganda spews. Their only enemy is the armed zionists. Do they care about Israeli citizens? No, not really. Hamas as a group does not systematically aim to kill or torture Israeli civilians (their humane treatment of the Israeli hostages should be clear proof of that), but they don't care if some Hamas members lash out on their own. They don't view Israeli citizens as innocent civilians, and I can't blame them. Not when ALL of these "civilians" have worked in the Israeli military (because military service is mandatory in Israel) and are actively and directly supporting the genocide of Palestinians. Most of Hamas members are deeply traumatized orphans who suffer from unimaginable oppression every single day. I can't condemn them when they lash out. Just as I can't condemn Nelson Mendiola (who was labeled a terrorist for using armed resistance). Just as I can't condemn the Native Americans who raged many wars against their colonizers. Just as I can't condemn the freed slaves in Haiti who massacred their white slavers during the slave revolution. I can objectively find some of their actions unjustifiable (mainly if they deliberately targeted children) but no one has any right to condemn them.

I'd tell them it's pretty fucking shitty to focus on the oppressed when they lash out at their oppressors, and it's even more shitty to condemn them for not being passive victims. I'd ask them: Why is no pro-Israel person being asked to condemn Israel's war crimes on the news? Why are they equating the violence done by the oppressive colonizers with the violence done by the colonized who are trying to be free?

#palestine #fuck israel

[buzz-london]

Anti-India bias of the BBC

BBC's recent 2 part documentary, India, the Modi question, on PM Modi is very divisive and has a strong anti-India, anti-Hindu bias. (January 2023)

Instead of focusing on the life or achievements of the Prime Minister of the largest democracy in the world, BBC focused on the controversial riots that happened at the beginning of his career as the Chief Minister (CM) of Gujarat state in India. 

On the morning of 27th February 2002, a mob of muslim rioters from Godhra, Gujarat, burned a train, killing 59 Hindu pilgrims (9 men, 25 women and 25 children). A state wide strike on the 28th Feb sparked riots across Gujarat. Army was called in and arrived on the 1st of March. Despite that, violence lasted for weeks, resulting in the death of over 2000 people, of which, 75% are presumed to be muslim. 

The main claim of people accusing PM Modi of post-Godhra riots is that he waited 3 days before calling in the army, allowing rioters to kill muslims with impunity. 

Sloppy journalists assumed 28th till 1st March was a delay of 3 days. Intelligent ones knew that Feb 2002 had 28 days! So the 1st was the very next day of the month and there was no delay of 3 days! Indian army was there the very next day of the riots, not 3 days late! I wish the BBC had checked facts rather than rely on hear-say before making grave allegations of genocide on the PM Modi! 

BBC's prog on India's PM Modi shows its obvious bias and absolute colonial arrogance! It assumes it knows more than the police, investigating agencies and the High Court (HC) of India! Every court in India, from its HC in the state of Gujarat to the Supreme Court (SC) in the centre, investigated Mr Modi for over a decade. They went through a mountain of data, investigating every claim made by every NGO and journalist to try and see if Mr Modi was complicit in the Gujarat riots of 2002. This is when the Congress party was in power and being opposed to CM Modi's BJP party, they used every lever of gov to try and nail Mr Modi. Yet at every turn, evidence showed that Mr Modi did his best to quell the riots, including calling in the army on the very day the riots started and they arrived the very next day! 

No less than the SC of India exonerated Mr Modi on all counts of all charges levelled at him. Yet, 20 years after the event, BBC continues to rack up old, unfounded allegations and continues to malign the PM of India. 

BBC has strongly insinuated in the documentary that CM Modi was voted as the PM Modi because of his anti-Muslim views. It totally ignored the fact that the nation voted him in for his 'development' model, which was explicitly agnostic of voters' religious affiliations. His party's slogan is 'Sab ka saath, sab ka vikas', ie With everyone and progress for everyone’. People across India voted him to be their Prime Ministership because of the progress and development they saw in Gujarat during his 12 year tenure as its chief minister. BBC also ignores that PM Modi has been voted back to power for a 2nd term because of the positive growth people have seen progress seen across India in his 1st term.

Last week, BBC spent the best part of the hour exploring what Mr Modi did or did not do after the riot. But, crucially, it spent no time exploring the cause of the riots - the cold blooded murder of 59 Hindu pilgrims by a muslim mob who burned them alive! Why were the lives of Hindus victims so easily disregarded by the BBC? BBC spent a lot of time talking to the muslim victims of the riots. Why did the BBC not speak to the family of the Hindu victims? Why did it not speak to the muslim extremists who murdered Hindu pilgrims? Why did it not spend any time examining the 31 people found guilty by the court system of the heinous murder of Hindu pilgrims, and instead waste time examining the 1 person exonerated of any guilt! 

BBC's series on PM Modi will do nothing to rehabilitate its image as a racist, left-wing organisation that produces biased programmes that are not fair or balanced in their content or views.

#bbc #pm modi

[el-smacko]

There is a bumper sticker not uncommon on Teslas which says something like “I got it before we knew [about Elon Musk].” He had a cameo in Iron Man 2 where “his” design for something is praised by Tony Stark. The latter character goes on to single-handedly invent time travel, while Elon. Well. If I had a nickel for every Anglo figure for whom “genius” was merely a carefully curated brand… would be rad if we could somehow ever at all realize that detail before we put them in unaccountable positions of power, but the people always saying “I told you so” usually have their politics called “utopian.” There was literally never a liberal reckoning for being wrong about Elon Musk. He said “I make electric car” and Al Gore voters literally fucking launched him into the stratosphere. He said, “America, don’t ever change, just ~switch to renewables~,” like? Our way of life is toxic.

People on the left and right hear the unofficial motto of Iran, “Death to America,” and, because their Americanness makes them epistemologically vacant, they never bother to ask: shit, what did we do? Because ending a nation’s sovereignty for oil and then bullying them out of nuclear energy—so they wouldn’t have to worry about oil!—when they become self-governing is fucking bleak dude. The Ayatollah is an Islamic Extremist? Weird! I wonder if that’s because the native Persian military and kingship had become so tainted by hostile European influence that the only governmental medium left for the executive was ecclesiastical? They used to be Persia, does that sound familiar? It was the name of the country for decades of my parents’ life! Notice though how Persians are treated in the American movie 300–yes, the Zach Snyder one. The British and the Russians are the ones who ended Persian sovereignty (this latest independence came after almost a millennium of dominion by khans and caliphs), then America’s “market.” Imagine being a Persian in a bipolar world, Anglos on one side, Russians on the other, both of them the ideological descendants of Greek civilization, the original polity to brand them as the paragon of barbarity. No, they would be Iranian, “comrade.” I’m not Iranian, I don’t agree with the Ayatollah, this digression was to point out that if we would have a little humility and patience, we could understand a person’s reasoning, no matter how inimical to us it might be.

Maybe someone has a point when they say “death to America”? Have you seen this place? Everybody puts up with being tired, depressed, anxious, and broke with the worst healthcare, education, and life expectancy in our income bracket, which is the fucking highest. Literally the very top. Our preferred mode of travel kills north of 500 people a week. A week. To say nothing of injuries and the fucking ludicrous cost of all these wrecks. Not for nothing, car travel is that deadly and guns are still the leading cause of death for American children. Our “War on Terror,” most recently manifesting as an ongoing genocide, is waged for oil for these fucking cars. And Elon fucking Musk says: “Keep building roads, we’ll just stop using oil,” and then sold his carbon credits to car companies not making electric vehicles while torpedoing large-scale non-car infrastructure. His individualistic, carbon-footprint-centered propaganda wagons are therefore worse for the environment than any pickup truck, with none of the sex appeal.

Did you know that so many Japanese people lived in Hawaii, an indigenous nation whose independence we robbed in the 20th century, that the entire state was put under martial law for the duration of the war? Less Japanese people lived in internment on the mainland than under martial law in Hawaii. Together they are approximately the number of Japanese massacred in Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Just so we’re all on the same page, America murdered with atomic fire almost as many people of the same ethnicity as they had in internment camps domestically. But that wasn’t genocide and Hawaii is not an imperial province under apartheid? I long for the day that an international criminal court awards even a fraction of the proceeds from Disney’s Lilo and Stitch or Moana properties as reparations. Hawaiians would be able to have free healthcare, public transportation, a military, and a space program just from that. Considering the mere—well, I say “mere,” but I must emphasize: nihilistically cynical, numbingly unintellectual—mere existence of American Godzilla movies, we should consider ourselves lucky that “Death to America” is not a much more common sentiment in Japan. Godzilla, a dinosaur, is an antediluvian reptile made a fire-breathing devil by the crime of the men living in a place they style Eden. As an atom bomb incarnate, he must be killed by the only deadlier weapon, one meant to signify supreme hostility to life: the “Oxygen Destroyer.” You do not have to believe in God to know that atomic weapons are Satanic and that it is literally diabolical that their Nazi-assisted inventor and only ever user appropriated the tragic atomic monster invented by their victim, especially as some kind of objective moral paragon when for the majority of his history he had been a specifically Japanese tutelary figure. They place him beside King Kong while entirely erasing the latter’s history as a parallel for African Americans: taken from their home to be exploited in chains, then murdered for scaling a tower of industry and “stealing” a white woman.

These examples are prototypical, not outliers. America as the heir of Britain is the Great Satan, the propaganda calumniator, the single greatest fountain of evil in human history, a Rome and a Babylon to countless people… but it says it is all worth it because of the benefits of “civilization” and the market which floats it. You will not convince me that any of its geopolitical objectives are righteous, done in good faith for the common good. That is Edenic naivety.

#politics #history #godzilla #king kong #elon musk #death to america

[bopinion]

2021 / 48

Aperçu of the Week:

A human being needs two years to learn to speak, and fifty to learn to be silent.

(Ernest Hemingway)

Bad News of the Week:

Recently, there has been a lot of talk about a split in society. This refers to the two camps of those vaccinated against COVID-19 and those unvaccinated. The former are increasingly annoyed because, although they have "done everything right", they now nevertheless have to live with restrictions. The latter - and here I explicitly exclude the fraction of hard-core cross-thinkers, conspiracy theorists, subversive fantasists and right-wing populists - are feeling increasingly stigmatized and harassed by increased testing obligations and partial exclusion from public life.

The increasing restrictions for the unvaccinated - soon, for example, "2G" will apply in retail stores as well, what means access only for vaccinated ("Geimpft") or recovered ("Genesen") persons - are seen by the former as a logical receipt for unsolidary behavior, and by the latter as mandatory vaccination through the back door. And it is precisely that which is now knocking at the front door: More and more leading politicians, including prime ministers of all parties, are speaking out in favor of compulsory vaccination. And according to a survey conducted yesterday by the opinion research institute YouGov on behalf of dpa (German Press Association), 63 percent of the German population is now also in favor.

A view after Austria, the only comparable country, in which so far a vaccination obligation for all and not only for example coworkers in nursing facilities was concretely announced, lets thereby shudder. Yesterday alone, about 40,000 people took to the streets in Vienna to express their rejection of compulsory vaccination. Unfortunately, the dominant images of this are terrible. Here is a typical triad of banners or placards held up to the camera: "Control the border - not your people" to "Government plans genocide" to "Better die standing than live kneeling".

Once again, it is obvious that legitimately critical citizens allow themselves to be harnessed to the cart of extremists over and over again. And thereby each possibility of a reasonable, objective argument about the actual topic is obstructed. Unfortunately also by elected representatives of the people, of course by the right-wing party AfD ("Alternative für Deutschland" / Alternative for Germany). A demonstration of the district association Potsdam / Brandenburg is officially under the motto "Vigil for freedom - against vaccination coercion and Corona madness" and is supported by members of the German federal parliament. A Bavarian AfD member of the state parliament goes even further and writes under her clear name: "Without overthrow and revolution we achieve here no more change of course". That doesn't really need any more commentary.

The fuse has been lit, the first matches are already being drawn. Actually, arson is a criminal offense. I hope very much that our democracy and/or their righteous representatives bring up the courage to refer against it clearly position. This weekend, a torchlight procession "against dictatorship" took place in front of the private house of the Saxon Minister of Health. I am curious when and where the constitutional state will draw the line.

Good News of the Week:

Self-determination in North America is a two-sided coin. So, of course, U.S. Rep. Thomas Massie has the freedom to tweet "Santa, please bring ammo!" with a family armed to the teeth and grinning insanely. But a raped woman in Texas not the freedom to choose abortion. North America? That's right, there's that other country....

In Canada, therapies designed to change the sexual orientation and gender identity of transgender and homosexual people will be banned in the future. These so-called "conversion therapies" can cause great psychological damage to those affected. The Canadian Minister of Family and Gender Justice (just the existence of this department makes me happy) Marci Ien says the coming ban is a matter of human rights.

Okay, the Canadians don't have a spotless record with civil rights for minorities either - just think of the "re-education camps" for indigenous children. So it's all the better to learn from it. And then act accordingly.

Personal happy moment of the week:

My son is a typical teenager. And as such, he needs to be reminded not only of self-evident things (tidiness in his room, seriousness in school, regular personal hygiene, etc.), but usually also of the benefits of "real life." That is, what takes place out there. And not on some screen. So today I found it all the nicer that he left one friend in the online room to walk through nature with another for an hour. At 0° Celsius and sleet. Lust was also that my wife (who is not his mother and was taking a walk herself) did not even recognize him at first - because it is simply not expected to meet him outside in the wilderness.

I couldn't care less...

...that a dominant topic in today's media is an alleged handball in a soccer match last night. After all, there are such minor issues that don't need to get so much media space for much longer and can be quietly displaced by something like this. Example: There are still dramas going on at the Polish-Belorussian border. And it is getting cold, very cold. There it is only about dead people (e.g. this seriously ill young man who was separated from his cousin - stupidly he had his life-saving medicine in his backpack) and not about wounded egos. I had always imagined fair play to be something else...

As I write this...

...I realize that all of Frank Sinatra's songs sound like Christmas carols - whether they're about big US cities, flying, women, or simply his own way.

Post Scriptum:

Liberal party leader and incoming German Finance Minister Christian Lindner has posted a special tweet every Sunday at noon so far, saying, "It must not be forgotten: Alexei Nawalny has been in custody for x days." Not today. Because he no longer cares in his new portfolio, for which he is expected to be sworn in this Wednesday? That would be a shame. After all, liberties are part of the liberal brand core. But maybe he'll get around to it later today. Or his Green coalition colleague Annalena Baerbock, the future foreign minister, will take up the ball. After all, it's true: this must not be forgotten!

#thoughts #aperçu #bad news #good news #news of the week #happy moments #politics #ernest hemingway #covid19 #coronavirus #society #restrictions #unvaccinated #austria #afd #dictature #demonstration #self determination #thomas massie #Marci Ien #canada #minorities #teenager #real life #handball #poland #belarus #frank sinatra #christian lindner #alexei navalny

[alexanderpusheen]

what frustrates me the most abt this china narrative is that the US created al qaeda and ISIS, those groups are recruiting and causing terrorism in xinjiang, china has been trying to handle the situation with re-education programs often suggested by westerners, and its still being treated as this major human rights violation. there are actually dozens of countries with several robust anti radicalization programs that are just as strict, like singapore, colombia, yemen, bangladesh, saudi arabia, and indonesia. this paper ive linked to was even funded by the DHS so like...why has detaining someone and basically reverse brainwashing them out of being a terrorist been so acceptable for so long but now its an issue? 

if you take issue with chinas program, you have to prove its somehow exceptional to these other programs. since we really dont have any way of knowing what is truth or reality thanks to the enormous disinformation campaign going on, you fucking cant. we dont even know what the programs entail because even googling it gets you exclusively hyperbolic concentration camp accusations. 

what i will say is that relations between the han majority and the uyghur minority have been strained since at least the 80s. link is the notoriously conservative and pro US intervention human rights watch, so dont say im using pro commie sources or anything. every time i do any bit of research on this i seem to find an attempt from major news outlets in the early to mid 2000s or late 20-teens to prove this all started or became dramatically worse now, but things have always been tense. and its not really a surprise that things really got bad after the collapse of the soviet union, an event that was geographically close to china and the xinjiang region and also just like, a fucking major global event in general.

what i find to be very odd is just how dramatically the narrative has changed. the diplomat, one of my favorite periodicals, went from taking very nuanced and balanced positions on xinjiang that i almost completely agreed with to being just as aggressive as outlets like the BBC and CNN in the span of five years. they have eleven pages worth of articles on xinjiang, mostly covering the terrorism and beijings response (which i agree is too harsh) and xinjiang muslims’ relationships to the greater muslim world. 

an example is how this article talks about the conflict at the time which warns of escalating violence as a result of han chauvinism and beijing being unable to deal with the extremism holistically. it points out how there were uyghurs captured among taliban ranks in afghanistan and how many might have even been working with ISIL.

The threat will not be an existential one to the Chinese state, as most Uighurs would prefer a peaceful accommodation. But even if only 1 percent of Uighurs hold extreme views, there are 10 million in Xinjiang and even for a state security apparatus as formidable as China’s, 100,000 or more angry people present a tough challenge.

i think its totally right that china does not allow people in that area to have cars, woodcutting tools, and amonium nitrate (which is used in bombs) is very strictly regulated. i completely agree that this is not how you combat terrorism. most people do not want war and broadly punishing these people is itself a human rights violation that went unnoticed until now.

however, in that same year, the diplomat also published this article about the infamous turkestan islamic party. members of TIP are like, literal jihadists lmfao.

TIP fighters call on the world’s Muslims to join the jihad against Western countries in internet videos. Perhaps most worringly for China, the TIP believes that Muslims may fight locally using various means instead of coming to Syria and Iraq to conduct a “holy war” against the “infidel” Western regimes.  

yeah i definitely want to hear more about what these guys have to say. the article is really good because i think it highly illustrates just how dangerous these people are. theyve killed hundreds of people across china and want to establish a fascist religious state in xinjiang. while the article speaks for itself, i believe the last paragraph really highlights why china is being singled out whereas countries like france and canada are considered allies to muslims for whatever reason:

However, as experience has shown, China takes a passive position in the struggle against global Islamic jihad in Syria and Iraq. Beijing has not sent its troops to the Middle East to fight ISIS and has instead confined itself to diplomatic support for Russia and the United States. The Chinese government uses the attacks of Islamic jihadists to persuade Western countries to support Beijing’s position on Xinjiang and turn a blind eye when the freedom and rights of Uyghurs are harshly suppressed by Chinese security forces. Therefore, China is not perceived by the West as a reliable partner in the fight against terrorism. [emphasis mine]

im just a little surprised to see that a lot of these violent attacks from extremists throughout the years have targeted not just han chinese but also other uyghurs. in the west people do not typically sympathize with terrorists as freedom fighters, even on the left, because we know that no matter how angry or how seemingly justified the violence might seem, terrorism is unacceptable and it grossly misrepresents islam. it is a fascist act because those terrorists often follow an extremely right wing version of islam. also, we know that those who carry out terrorist attacks even outside of the west are middle class and professionals in some way, not poor and marginalized people. the level of nuance afforded to terrorists outside of xinjiang is pretty staggering. 

yet in china, there seems to be this excitement than they are killing chinese people, even if some of those chinese are other uyghers or otherwise muslims. those who carry out attacks in xinjiang dont get any nuance or analysis because theyre justified.

ive referenced the diplomat earlier but this article from 2013 says it perfectly: Call Tiananmen Attack What It Was: Terrorism. except terrorism is bad. and the west wants you to support the uyghurs. and make no mistake, they do not want you to support the millions of uyghurs who want to live peacefully, free of any repression, american or chinese. they want you to support the jihadists randomly blowing up chinese and tourists alike because you are meant to sympathize with their plight.

terrorism isnt something to be romantacized or cheered on. it is something someone or someones do when they feel they have no other option. people do not want to kill even those they feel they have every right to because thats a line you cant uncross. murder changes you, justified or not. see the last chapter of wretched of the earth for this.

terrorism is great, however, for destabilizing a region or a country, and xinjiang is resource-rich. establishing a US-friendly regime, no matter how good they are on human rights, is the goal. the US does not care about muslims. they do not care about human rights. china, also, does not really seem to care about muslims or human rights either. but we’ve seen this since vietnam, and the US has learned since vietnam. the vietnamese were sympathetic. they were minding their business. 

after vietnam, merely being communist isnt enough to warrant invasion. theyre killing their own people. nevermind that bolsonaro kills his own people and no one wants to invade (yet--biden has mention sanctions wrt us which is scary but again, thats got everything to do with making sure latin america is loyal to the west, not HR offenses). korea, although it was before vietnam, was less publicized and learning from vietnam gave the US a valuable lesson: always blame the victim. and thus, the US blames the victims of its violence. even if its ‘justified’, even if its ‘true,’ as was the case with saddam hussein, invading and occupying was the nightmare no one but the imperialists anticipated. because they dont broadcast what occupying forces do to the occupied. i am old enough to remember abu ghraib. have it seared in my memory forever. you perhaps are also old enough to remember, but also think millions of abu ghraibs and guantanamo bays are always worth it, always justified. 

i know people arent going to read this and remind me really rudely that they didnt read it but i want to really emphasize how one of imperialism and colonialisms features is ethnic and racial separatism. how the rwandan genocide couldnt have happened without previous belgian and french rule. how yugoslavia wouldve remained a single country had it not been for NATO. i think its easy to diminish the role of the colonizer in all of this, but it is actually one of its goals: divide and conquer. exacerbate the existing conflicts to the point of genocide. 

and if the west succeeds in balkanizing china, you will get more racism rather than less. you will see more violence against muslim minorities rather than less. they will feel less empowered rather than more. china has to learn that they are also to blame in a way that will be catastrophic for over a billion people. han chauvinism and outright racism must be addressed beyond window dressing.

wrapping up, china is in the wrong here. what theyre doing is racist and humiliating a population that has to be empowered. and the one child rule, even for the han majority, is imo fucking evil lol like sorry tankie tumblr im tankie too but i cannot for the life of me accept that as a good thing.... but i also dont buy the accusations of genocide, because even tho a lot of these articles are kind of glossing over it, china is trying to handle the terrorism in the region. imo theyre feeding into it by getting more han in the area, but also having more han but forcing them to take worse jobs would be a show of good will. idk, this situation is extremely complex and frankly, most uyghers do not want secession. 

i also take extreme issue with people saying that adrian zenz is somehow reliable. not only is he a nazi crackpot, hes also literally the only source for almost all of what we know about this in the west. that is not how you do journalism. i dont understand how people are saying ‘yeah hes an extremely fascist grifter but also i believe him because hes anti communist and also anti china’. thats also not really the point? the point is that hes also the ONLY SOURCE on almost all of this, which is alarming. 

i also find it very startling that in order to keep interest in the story, every few weeks the US has to remind people that the chinese are also doing what the US is doing to women in its own camps. forget that the US is separating minors from parents (since 2008). forget that the US is sterilizing women en masse (since 2017). forget that the US is raping women at the border (since there was a border). forget the US even has camps because now they arent even called that anymore. this is not that ‘you can be angry at two things at once’ but a clearly cynical attempt to get its citizens to forget that the US is detaining, deporting, sterilizing, and raping, and gassing non US nationals. 

they are not ‘your own people.’ they are me. the other. i am an immigrant to the US, currently in my country of birth, so i am the other to you, the american. the chinese are doing the evil crime of killing their own. but the americans could never kill their own because they dont consider black americans to be their own. latin american nationals are not their own. bombing millions globally is not their own. thats always justifiable. there is clearly an element of racism in how these crimes are perceived as more or less evil.

the way immigrants and black americans are brutalized in the US is almost naturalized. like its the way things are supposed to be. you can live with that. its upsetting that you have to hear about antiblackness and the like but you know thats just how life is. you dont necessarily call for the US to be sanctioned or bombed by other countries because you believe in the inherent goodness of white america. but countries like china and iran and north korea deserve to be starved and killed for their crimes. and you can never say ‘maybe bombing and starving a country isnt the answer’ because it means you agree with it. you can never say ‘this is clearly propaganda to make me hate another race so much’ because it means youre a genocide denier. im sorry, but again, i remember iraq in 2003, i remember libya in 2011. i dont buy it.

finally, theres been a lot of attacks on asian people in the US lately and if you cannot see the violent way the US talks about china the country and how that influences people to harm asians within the US then idk what else to tell you. people will really believe this shit and say the chinese are all blood thirsty islamaphobes and thus need to be harmed. ‘im not like that! i defend my asian friends from racism!’ thats nice and all but idk how spreading some sinophobic propaganda designed by the US to make you support some kind of violence against one billion chinese people isnt inherently racist. also its unhelpful because sanctions dont really solve problems. but ive spoken too much.

[aotopmha]

Chapter 126 went back to showing AoT's greatest weakness - which is getting the story, specifically plot, where it needs to be.

I think it's the weakest chapter we've had in quite a while because of how scattered it is, but I very much appreciate we're actually closer to uniting everyone in one location now, which is one part of giving the story it's final direction.

One thing I feel is that the Tumblr demographic *probably* won't like where the story is going and the other more right-leaning places will probably take the wrong message out of it in a very different direction.

The hero we've been following all this time is now the "villain" and will probably have to die.

At the very least, there will have to be massive consequences for Eren here.

He started a damn *genocide attempt* and his actions have already killed many people, no matter how understandable his fall to this place he's at right now has been.

We had an entire chapter dedicated to how his idealism was destroyed from a very empathic perspective. It's so strange to me people claim we have no perspective on Eren when we literally had an entire chapter about it. We've seen the flashback to Eren sitting in the cart with his friends for like 3 times now.

We've literally been told this is going on because he doesn't want anyone he cares about to be killed and he's seen so much hate for everyone he cares about that he just saw no other solution anymore, but is simply going too far with it.

Nothing wrong with people feeling confused about or feeling like it's not enough etc. It's never directly stated, but I personally feel like we also don't need to be spoon-fed everything.

Personally speaking it was even becoming a little too in-your-face to me. You have to be careful empathising with a character that wants a genocide.

We can't have a fairy tale ending where everything is "pure" and "okay" now and I think most of us have pretty much expected that.

Ending it in a way where Eren is forgiven would be the standard, most straight-forward dramatic solution (and, well, people like stuff in their comfort zone, which is also very understandable as to why people want this to end that way), but it's also very morally screwed up.

On the flip side, I think ending it with no understanding for Eren is also equally wrong and something AoT also probably won't do because that's not what it has ever done and would very much go against it's philosophy of showing every single character as human in some way.

Tl; dr, if you know Connie's character, Connie's just being his hyperbolic self, the story is not saying you should start seeing Eren as the villain now, which is where I think most of the complaining comes from.

Right now, we're seeing complete chaos - the victory of extremism and radicalisation, which is an extremely important element to a story about fascism.

It's the lowest point preceeding the highest and it has to be there to see how fascism and it's "excuse" of freedom could be defeated.

It's also extremely uncomfortable, heavy and chaotic.

While browsing for some other perspectives for this chapter, I saw an observation along the lines of "why can't everything just sort itself out? Everything feels so forced."

You could 100% read it as the plot just being forced to where it needs to go, but I suspected Connie would hesitate and I don't feel like his reaction was out of character, myself. He's been idealistic and talks in extremes a lot, but he's also extremely empathic. Connie's mom was addressed, but the ultimate point was to bring a bunch of fractions together again.

People are extremely irrational and this is a extremely politically complicated situation.

A extremist movement within a minority race is threatening to subjugate the whole world - along with their *own country*. The people Eren so wants to protect are suffering because of him, too.

I think that's what will probably save the Eldians, though.

We got a bunch of the 104th together again, but more importantly, we got the highest ranking officers, Hange and Magath, talking and they're both some of the (if not the only) high ranking officers of both countries that are still alive.

If nothing else, there is at least a chance Marley and Eldia can reach a truce here if both countries are still functional once this whole thing ends.

I think Levi's story possibly won't have a very happy conclusion because he seems pretty focused on his revenge and we don't have a place for that right now.

I really appreciate Hange's proactivity and Annie loosening up.

I can see Mikasa ending up pretty angry when confronting Eren again.

Another child is about to die because of Eren's indirect actions and presence. I can see Mikasa actually growing very angry with him because the Jaegerists are literally called *The Jaegerists*.

Eren is not only hurting the people he wants to protect, but also being extremely irresponsible about the position of power he has. Something Mikasa has learned not to do.

So yeah, we're heading for Eren, but I think it's 100% going to be a lot more nuanced than I see being talked about.

I think this is a pretty valuable narrative for making people examine their relationships.

When is the time to put your foot down in a relationship?

Alternatively, when is the time to forgive someone you care about?

Pride also couldn't be a more appropriate title for this chapter.

Armin was talked down from killing himself.

Connie and Levi are being extremely stubborn right now.

Mikasa is reminded of her own values in the scene with Louise - she doesn't want any more children to die.

Other than that Gabi, Falco, Mikasa, Connie, Annie, Armin and Reiner are all in one place.

Yelena, Onyakapon and Jean are also together with Hange, Pieck and Magath now.

We now have two larger groups instead of everyone being separated and a specific direction for both: Eren/Zeke.

Floch is now the only straggler from the cast.

What remains to be seen is how the story handles this and I am interested.

I think I won't be doing my more detailed chapter posts for a while for now because I'm busy with work, but I will get to them eventually. If I can write them, full chapter posts will be out once the other chapter versions are out.

#Attack on Titan #Shingeki no Kyojin #AoT 126 #SnK 126 #Chapter 126 #AoT #SnK

[creepingsharia]

California congressman, Michigan governor honor terror-linked Muslim group ICNA

Democrats Lou Correa and Gretchen Whitmer laud those linked to South Asian terror.

The Islamic Circle of North America (ICNA) has a long history rooted in terror. However, recently the group has been giving out food, in response to the coronavirus pandemic. Can a few bags of fruits and vegetables remove ICNA’s horrors of the past and threat to the present? Two lawmakers, US Congressman Lou Correa and Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer, seem to think so, as they have showered ICNA with praise and commendations, while ignoring the organization’s extremism and bigotry. Correa and Whitmer should rescind their unwarranted words and awards immediately.

ICNA was established, in September 1968, as the American arm of Jamaat-e-Islami (JI), the largest Islamist group in South Asia. Not long after ICNA’s founding, JI’s then-paramilitary wing, al-Badr, was helping to massacre people in East Pakistan, what is now called Bangladesh, in a genocide that took the lives of up to three million individuals. One of al-Badr’s commanders, Ashrafuz Zaman Khan, who was sentenced to death (in absentia), in November 2013, for multiple murders, held the positions of Vice President of ICNA National and President of ICNA-New York and, according to his LinkedIn page, is still involved with ICNA.

In August 2006, JI announced on its website that its charitable apparatus, the Al-Khidmat Foundation (AKF), had taken a delegation to the Damascus, Syria home of then-global head of Hamas, Khaled Mashal, presenting Mashal with a check for $100 thousand. Mashal thanked the delegation and said that Hamas would continue terrorist activities against Israel. At the time of the transaction, ICNA was a partner to AKF and topped the list of donors on AKF’s website. AKF’s current President, Muhammad Abdus Shakoor, is a former Secretary General of ICNA; ICNA continues to be a partner to AKF; and JI continues to openly support Hamas.

In December 2017, ICNA’s overseas relief function, Helping Hand for Relief and Development (HHRD), organized an event masked as something to help people with disabilities that featured representatives from AKF as well as the Timergara, Pakistan chief of Falah-e-Insaniat Foundation (FIF), Qari Rehmatullah. In November 2010, the US government designated FIF a front for the Pakistani terrorist organization Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT).

In October 2000, on the homepage of the website for ICNA’s South East Region, links could be found to the official websites of Hamas, Hezbollah and the Taliban. The group also published a link to qoqaz.net, a now-defunct financing and recruitment website for al-Qaeda. The webmaster of the ICNA site, Syed Khawer Ahmad, was also a webmaster for Hamas, itself.

Syed Ammar Ahmed is the Government Affairs Specialist for ICNA Relief USA, the division of ICNA that has been giving out food during the coronavirus pandemic. In February 2010, following a debate he participated in at a school, Ahmed wrote on Facebook, “I hate white people” and joked that he “should have threatened to blow up the school.”

None of this should be overlooked. Yet, two powerful lawmakers have ignored all of it.

Last month, on May 21st, US Representative Jose Luis Correa presented ICNA with a Congressional Certificate of Special Recognition. And not only did he honor the group, but he made it seem as if the entire US Congress did so as well. With the Congressional Seal atop the certificate, Correa wrote, “I join with Congress to recognize your outstanding and invaluable service to the communities of Anaheim in hosting food distributions for families in need during the COVID-19 Pandemic.”

On May 27th, Governor of Michigan Gretchen Whitmer penned a letter of praise to ICNA. It says in part, “On behalf of the state of Michigan, I would like to extend my utmost gratitude for the caring and compassionate services you have provided to people across our state and nation during the COVID-19 pandemic… ICNA Relief’s sacrifice and service reflect the compassion, generosity, and leadership of its members and have been crucial to providing valuable resources... to those in need of help. Your actions have made a positive difference in the lives of many people and have become an inspiration to myself and to countless others.”

While it is indeed commendable to provide food to the needy, for ICNA it is only seen as a method of whitewashing the group’s extremist and bigoted past and present. Congressman Correa and Governor Whitmer, who is also reportedly a consideration for Vice Presidential running mate of Democrat Joe Biden, should consider this and rescind the certificate and letter immediately. By not recognizing the terrorist and hateful relations of ICNA, the two lawmakers are legitimizing it.

Congressman Correa and Governor Whitmer, do the right thing. Rescind your awards and words honoring the terror-linked ICNA, now!

For those who wish to contact Congressman Lou Correa to demand he rescind his certificate, call [phone] and/or [phone]. To contact Governor Gretchen Whitmer to demand she take back her letter, call [phone]. Please be respectful in any and all communications with these individuals and their offices.

-----------------------------

Here is a letter from from Congressman in 2019 warning of the ICNA/JI threat that you may be helpful. https://cloudfront.timesnownews.com/media/20191101_AmbSales-MOC.pdf

Lou Correa is the same California Dem Who Refuses to Remove Muslim Statue of Liberty Painting from Office.

#Islam #Jihad #Sharia #Muslim #News #Politics #Legal #Media #Terror #Travel #Finance

[jewish-privilege]

In October 2015, I found myself in a frightening situation: My name and face on a Neo-Nazi website identifying me as a Jew along with several hundred other Jews in politics, civics, and philanthropy. The website, which I will not name, warned its readers that Jews were too influential in American life; that we were a corruptive influence on America. While it didn’t advocate actually killing me, I was marked as a person to be silenced.

“How likely are these people to actually kill me?” I asked the expert at the Southern Poverty Law Center, an anti-hate group that researches white supremacist groups. I had called them seeking answers. My husband was sitting beside me, his face full of fear. I felt a tiny kick, a flutter inside me, my hands dropping to my belly. “I should probably mention that I am 8 months pregnant.”

There was a pause at the end of the line. “It’s very rare for these threats to escalate offline,” the nice man began. “They want to scare you. They want to scare you so much you decide that you never want to write again. That’s their goal. What you decide to do next is a personal decision.”

You can see that I decided to keep writing. But thinking back on the advice he gave me, it almost seems quaint: In the four years since those threats, especially since the 2016 election, white supremacists spewing anti-Semitic hatred have marched in Charlottesville chanting “Jews will not replace us,” shot up synagogues in Pittsburgh and California, and murdered gay Jewish student Blaze Bernstein. Anti-Semitic assaults are up 105% since 2017, according to the Anti-Defamation League’s annual audit on American anti-Semitism. More Jews have been killed in anti-Semitic violence around the world in 2018 than in the last several decades, according to the Kantor Center, based out of Tel Aviv University, which researches and analyzes global anti-Semitism. In New York City, a major center of Jewish culture and life, the NYPD has reported an 82% spike in anti-Semitic hate crimes in 2019. In fact, Jews are reporting the highest number of religion-based hate crimes — this is particularly troubling given that Jews are only approximately 2.2% of the U.S. adult population.

And while the majority of incidents and assaults are committed by white supremacists on the right, there has been a concerning spike in incidents and rhetoric from the left wing, too...

As a child growing up in Boston, I knew anti-Semitism existed. I even experienced it from time to time — including when my childhood synagogue was defaced with a swastika. But overall I felt safe in America... I was grateful for a country that had provided Jews with peace and prosperity. America was a rare safe place for us.

Today, that’s different. The baby I was pregnant with is now a thriving, rambunctious toddler. But when we tour Jewish preschools, my first question isn’t about education philosophy, recess or student teacher ratios — it’s always about security. In just a few short years we’ve gone from history to fear.

To understand what can be done, first we need to understand what it is: Anti-Semitism is the hatred of Jews as a distinct people, as opposed to anti-Judaism that targets our religious beliefs and practices. Anti-semitism is a conspiracy theory. It depicts Jews as a cabal secretly controlling the world for evil ends, hurting innocent people to further greedy, cruel agendas. How those agendas manifest changes based on your worldview. If you are far left, it may be that Jews are imperialists who start wars to enrich themselves. If you’re a white nationalist, it’s that Jews are the ringleaders of the White Genocide. If you’re Minister Louis Farrakhan, it’s that Jews were the secret orchestrators of the trans-Atlantic slave trade.

Anti-Semitism is an ancient, chameleonic monster. It adapts to circumstances and seemingly new excuses for age-old prejudices to take hold. This is especially true in periods of political and economic insecurity.

...It doesn't help that we are also living in an era when conspiracy theories can so easily spread (from anti-Obama birtherism to Pizzagate to QAnon). President Trump and his cohorts on the far right capitalize and promote them, fomenting hatred and division through fake news and an assault on the truth. They accuse prominent Jews like George Soros of treacherous crimes, while consorting with and justifying white supremacists and their actions (“very fine people” Trump called them.). They act shocked and appalled when fear mongering, the mainstream legitimization of white nationalists, and dangerously lax gun control leave them with blood on their hands (as it did at Pittsburgh's Tree of Life synagogue).

And yet while I fear anti-Semitism on the right will lead to more violence, I fear anti-Semitism on the left will cause that violence and hate to go unchallenged. As American Jews face rising hate crimes and domestic terrorism, progressives have grappled with a string of unsettling scandals. At first, it was the way left wing groups downplayed anti-Semitism. In the wake of the 2016 election, for example, the Women’s March conspicuously left anti-Semitism off its unity principles, while left wing groups erased it as a core issue in Charlottesville, and were silent during hundreds of JCC bomb threats. Then it got worse. The anti-Semitism scandal surrounding Women’s March leadership unfolded over several tense months, during which they publicly associated with anti-Semitic Farrakhan and engaged in anti-Semitic dog whistling and bullying.

This controversy was followed by statements by freshman Representative Ilhan Omar, in which she fell into anti-Semitic tropes referencing dual loyalty, foreign allegiance, and Jewish money in her criticisms of Israel. Omar had many defenders who dismissed the charges because Omar herself faces Islamophobia and racism. But such tropes do feed the beast. As Ilhan Omar struggled to contain criticism and put forth multiple apologies for her comments, David Duke, the Grand Wizard of the KKK, came to her defense dubbing her the “Most Important Member of Congress.” It’s not to say that Omar should be held accountable for the words of David Duke. But it does indicate the way anti-Semitism — be it from the left or the right — can connect to amplify the threat.

While the Women’s March has taken positive steps to mend fences, like expanding Jewish leadership in the organization and including Jewish women in their Unity Principles, and Omar and the New York Times have apologized, the situations have led to increased division as anti-Semitism continues to spread, and becomes a political wedge issue, all of which creates increased danger for the Jewish community. In a time of increased concern about Jewish security, these scandals have had a devastating emotional impact on the Jewish community. We were taught by our grandmothers to watch for signs of danger — hateful words from across the political spectrum is one of them.

Over the past three years, I have seen anti-Semitism break and undermine strong community relationships and budding movements for justice. This what anti-Semitism does: It attacks democracy and transparency, giving authoritarian actors scapegoats for national problems. It endangers women, people of color, and immigrants as it strengthens and animates white nationalism, xenophobia, and extremist movements.

American Jews know this intrinsically and are frightened. The jump from hate speech to exterminatory violence has been a short one in the history of global Jewry. Many of us were taught about the dangers of anti-Semitism and how quickly it could rise against us from very young ages, especially for those of us who had family who were Holocaust survivors or who endured violence against Jews in the Middle East or Soviet Union. We need Americans to listen to our fear and take a stand.

The first step is to call it out when we see it in our houses of worship, living rooms, libraries, college campuses and kindergartens. This doesn’t mean we dismiss or “cancel” our friends, families, colleagues, and community leaders who engage in anti-Semitism. It means we tell them they are wrong. We educate. Jewish history is over 5,000 years old, and learning what narratives have been used to oppress Jews can be lifesaving. And then, let’s build relationships between communities that are under attack and frightened.

...This is what we need to do for each other: Come together to fight not just anti-Semitism but racism, misogyny, transphobia, homophobia, ableism, Islamophobia, and xenophobia. If we learn each other’s histories, warning signs and dangers and fight for each other, we can make the monsters afraid of us. 

[mariolucario493]

A Frozen 2 review no one asked for! (POSSIBLE SPOILERS AHEAD)

Okay, hear me out. I’m probably in the minority when I say this, but...

I think it’s better than the first one.

I liked the original Frozen just fine. I liked how it depicted anxiety and how it subverted a lot of Disney tropes, but I probably wouldn’t put it in my top ten.

(Which, in case you’re interested, is:)

10. Tarzan

9. Aladdin

8. Beauty and the Beast

7. Frozen 2 (this one!)

6. Lilo & Stitch

5. Wreck-it Ralph

4. Moana

3. The Lion King

2. The Hunchback of Notre Dame

1. Zootopia

(And that’s not even including the Pixar ones.)

But it seems that the general consensus of Frozen 2 is the same as a lot of sequels (especially Disney sequels): that it’s not as good as the first one. Or, dare I say it, that it’s just the first one all over again. But here’s my argument against that. I think being similar to the first one actually works in its favor.

What do I mean by that? Well, after the prologue, the movie opens with a song called “Some Things Never Change,” in which all the characters sing about how happy they are in their current life. Although Olaf worries that change might be inevitable (I love how woke he’s become, btw), no one is really seeking anything new. Now that sounds like the setup for a lot of recent Disney movies, I know. But it's an idea that’s really explored throughout the entirety of the movie.

Every character reacts to change differently. Elsa is nervous, but tries to embrace it anyway; Olaf dismisses it as something he will understand when he’s older; Kristoff feels like he and his friends are drifting apart; and Anna struggles to accept it overall. And we see how each of them goes through it. Even the inclusion of darker themes allows the audience to react similarly to the characters onscreen. Kids probably won’t always understand what’s going on; but they’ll have a good time anyway. And just like Olaf, they’ll understand it when they’re older. That does seem to be one of the major criticisms I’ve seen for Frozen 2, that it’s too dark and too complicated for kids. But Disney’s never been afraid to tackle heavy subjects before, because they know that challenging the audience helps them grow. And hey, at least it’s not Crimes of Grindelwald, right?

I think the reason they made Frozen 2 similar to Frozen 1 was the same reason they used similar themes in Frozen 1 that we were already familiar with - princesses, magical kingdoms, curses, goofy sidekicks. And that’s to deconstruct and subvert them. In fact, I might even go so far as to say that this was an attempt to remind Disney to always try new things, which they have had trouble with recently. Just look at all those live-action remakes that no one asked for. The exact same thing all over again disguised as something new, but without all the stuff that made the originals so good in the first place.

Frozen 2 also continues the tradition of having interesting female protagonists. Well, interesting ANIMATED female protagonists, anyway. It’s not like the Aladdin remake, where Jasmine has a whole new song about girl power, but then she becomes the damsel in distress anyway and does nothing to fight back. It’s not like Captain Marvel, who makes a big deal about being a female superhero even though the Avengers already have several much more interesting female members. It’s not like the new Star Wars movies, in which they’re so focused with making Rey a strong female role model that they forget to give her a personality. And it’s not going to be like the Mulan remake, which I’m just going to assume is going to be another soapbox feminist’s wet dream. Oh, wait, I forgot this is Tumblr, and they love that shit.

But really. Starting with Tiana, Disney’s animated leading ladies have become such well-written characters. From Rapunzel to Vanellope to Judy Hopps to Moana to Elastigirl, they are fully fleshed-out characters first and agenda pushers second. Anna and Elsa are no exception. Elsa battles magical spirits and tames a water horse, and Anna has a crisis of ethics that feels really genuine. All without saying something dumb like “Look how capable I, a female, am in this situation, in comparison to my less competent male companions.”

Oh, by the way, for those of you who wanted Elsa to be revealed as a lesbian, I think we have a few more hints that she may be. She does not end up with a love interest, but I noticed she does seem to get along really well with Honeymaren. So maybe? Definitely better than the live-action Beauty and the Beast, am I right?

Oh, and the songs are great. We get not one, but TWO big numbers from Idina Menzel. Olaf and Kristoff both get new songs that are pointless, but still really funny. Anna has a new song that is one of the emotional highlights. The lyrics are just as clever, and they help further each character’s story arc. Even the lame pop versions of the songs over the end credits, which I usually DESPISE; hearing Imagine Dragons’ cover of “Into the Unknown” was actually pretty decent.

So, those darker themes. The reveal that one of Anna and Elsa’s ancestors was a genocidal tyrant who built the dam as a way to restrict the Northuldra tribe’s resources, and then declared war on them. Pretty ballsy, I have to say. And pretty creative that the villain of this movie is a character who is already dead before the movie even begins. Kind of like Coco, but they don’t even interact with him as a spirit or anything. What I like about this is that it kind of explains why the father in the first movie didn’t always do the right thing when it came to raising his kids. Locking up one of your daughters because she has supernatural abilities seems like a terrible move. But when you consider that Agnarr’s father was also distant from his son and had the goal of suppressing magic, you realize that it may have been a subconscious choice on his behalf. And hey, it’s also revealed that the reason Agnarr left on the ship that would eventually be his grave was to find answers about Elsa. So he probably felt remorse about it.

And now it’s time to compare this movie to today’s political climate. And before you start typing about how I’m wrong like Tumblr users are prone to do, maybe take a hint from the first movie and let it go. This is just my personal analysis.

The Northuldra tribe is clearly inspired by the Sami, the indigenous people of Norway, who have been persecuted for generations. But I don’t know much about Norwegian history, so let’s just compare it to America. Now let’s see...does America have a history of persecuting its indigenous population and disguising acts of war as offerings of peace? Hey, didn’t this movie come out just a week before Thanksgiving?

That’s right, I’m going there. Come to think of it, this whole movie radiates Thanksgiving vibes. It’s set in autumn, and it opens with everyone having a big feast with pumpkins and stuff.

King Runeard is a historical figure within Arendelle, and he is considered a hero. The dam that Runeard built is a monument that is ultimately destroyed by Anna in the film’s climax. And Anna initially refuses to do so because she believes the dam represents all that her kingdom stands for. I might be crazy, but this reminds me of how people are starting to take down statues of Confederate soldiers or how many cities have stopped recognizing Columbus Day as a national holiday, despite others saying that they are important parts of our heritage. One of the lines in “Some Things Never Change” is “Arendelle’s flag will always fly.” Sounds kind of like those conservative nuts who think the American flag is an infallible symbol and anyone who disrespects it (say, by taking a knee during the national anthem) is not a true patriot. Might be grasping at straws with that one.

And what Anna decides to do ultimately makes Arendelle a better place, even though she worries that it will be an unpopular decision. So we have a person in a position of political power who puts aside her own hubris for the good of her people. She asks for nothing in return, and knows that the right choice is not the easy one. She destroys a physical bridge, but builds a metaphorical one. Anna really is the type of leader we need. And if you think that it’s ethnocentric that a white person saves the day for a minority, remember that Anna and Elsa are actually half Northuldran on their mother’s side.

Yes, I believe Frozen 2 is up there with Zootopia as one of the great Disney flexes on right-wing extremists. But it’s subtle enough that we can enjoy the characters, the music, and the story first; and the message second. It reminds us to step outside our comfort zones and to always think about what it means to do the right thing.

If you didn’t like the first Frozen, you probably won’t enjoy this one either. I can understand what people mean when they say the movie throws a lot at you and doesn’t always feel focused on a coherent story. But regardless, I think it is an important movie.

#frozen 2 #disney #review #anna #elsa #olaf #kristoff #sven

[alexsmitposts]

“Warrior” Steve Bannon Arrested as Trump’s America is Crumbling It often happens this way: extreme right-wingers, or call them ‘ultra-conservatives,’ either in the United States or Europe, suddenly fall from grace, after committing the most heinous crimes. Sometimes it is child abuse or sexual harassment, but most of the time, it is a corruption of tremendous proportions. In theory, in their own theory, it is not supposed to be this way. Listen to the conservatives, and they will tell you that they are there in order to uphold law and order, as well as the traditional culture of their countries. But the reality is often very far from the theory. Steve Bannon has fallen. He has fallen hard, flat on his face. But definitely not as hard, as others would fall, would they commit crimes of similar magnitude. Steve Bannon was actually not caught and charged with trying to ignite the WWIII or conspiring to overthrow the left-wing governments all over the world. He was not charged with an attempt to destroy China. He was arrested ‘only’ on charges of ‘defrauding investors,’ together with his cohort Brian Kolfage. On 28 August, CNN reported: “Kolfage was arrested last week, along with Bannon and two others, and charged by the US Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York with defrauding investors out of hundreds of thousands of dollars a project pledging to construct a wall along the southern US border. He is due to be arraigned on the charges on Monday in a video court appearance.” In February 2020, I wrote for NEO: “Steve Bannon, a former White House strategist and Breitbart editor, was finally kicked out of an Italian monastery, which even Newsweek wittily described as a “far-right boot camp.” Or, as even some of the Western mainstream media outlets defined it – a modern ‘gladiator’s school.’ The monastery was supposed to offer “classes,” which Bannon described as “the kind of underpinnings of the Judeo-Christian West.” That, for already quite some time, means ‘insulting and antagonizing China,’ as well as several other nations which the Western extremist and often openly racist ideologues have been depicting as hostile to the US and European hegemonic interests. Some of those who oppose Bannon’s radical political stands are now bringing vast charges against him, but legal and moral, and such charges are ranging from pushing the United States towards the war with the People’s Republic of China to interfering with internal affairs of other countries, including those in Europe. There are other, unsavory accusations against the former White House strategist and a close ally of President Donald Trump: child abuse and enormous corruption. The question is: how could the individual against whom so many accusative fingers are pointed at, survive at the top of the establishment for so many years, in so many different roles and positions? Yes, he gets kicked out from places: first from the White House, then from the “gladiator booth camp,” and finally from the luxury yacht belonging to an anti-Beijing apostate. But somehow, he always manages to bounce back. Until now. Hopefully, for not much longer. *** Alarms should have been ringing for so many years. But were they? If yes, no one has been paying much attention. As early as in 2016, even an extreme right-wing FOX News picked up Associated Press report which was accusing Bannon of anti-Semitism: “In a sworn court declaration following their divorce, Piccard said her ex-husband had objected to sending their twin daughters to an elite Los Angeles academy because he “didn’t want the girls going to school with Jews.” “He said he doesn’t like Jews…” In August 2019, Mail Online raised an alarming issue, connecting Mr. Bannon with an accused child sex trafficker George Nader: “A convicted pedophile visited Donald Trump’s White House on at least 13 different occasions in 2017 to meet with then-chief strategist Steve Bannon, according to leaked visitor logs. George Nader, who has been convicted of sexually abusing young boys and is now in federal prison awaiting trial on child sex trafficking charges, first visited Bannon in the White House in February 2017, the month after Trump’s inauguration, the Washington Examiner reported. After that, he kept visiting Bannon, who had a West Wing office yards from the Oval Office, the leaked visitor logs revealed, but it isn’t clear if he entertained Nader in his office or somewhere else in the White House. The revelation raises serious questions about how a convicted pedophile could be allowed entry repeatedly to the White House. The Secret Service is responsible for carrying out background checks of all visitors.”   The “revelation” also raises questions about whether there have been two tiers of justice: one for the common US citizens, and another one for those who are levitating in the highest spheres of, mainly right-wing, power. Steve Bannon was also apparently giving false testimonies under oath, related to the Wikileaks and Julian Assange. And if one would think that Steve Bannon is ‘only’ anti-Semitic, then what about his deep allergy towards the Muslims; and the support for the Trump’s so-called “Muslim ban” and keeping out from the United States all those “bad people” (meaning non-whites and non-Christians)? His obsession with the wall between the US and Mexico is, of course, related to the “topic.” *** But who would be Steve Bannon without China? He is hatred impersonated against China. As for his fellow right-wing crusaders, like Peter Navarro, Marco Rubio, and Mike Pompeo, China is always ‘there,’ in the middle of vile speeches, dragged through the dirt, belittled. Steeper and faster is a decline of the American Eagle, more confident is an ascend of the Chinese Dragon, louder, more desperate, and bizarre is the anti-Chinese rhetoric of the pro-Western warriors, led by Steve Bannon and his mates. On 08 June 2020, AntiWar.com described something that would be unimaginable just several years ago, but what is turning into a norm, under the present White House administration: “New Yorkers looked to the sky in puzzlement the night of 03 June as a fleet of airplanes circled New York Harbor with banners that read “Congratulations New Federal State of China.” Behind the bizarre stunt was exiled Chinese billionaire Guo Wengui and former White House Chief Strategist Steve Bannon. The duo deemed the Chinese Communist Party illegitimate and declared a new state of China from a boat floating in front of the Statue of Liberty. In a live stream, Guo and Bannon read the Chinese and English versions of “A Declaration of the New Federal State of China,” a document that lays out their fantastical plan to take out the CCP and form a Western-style democracy in China. The live stream aired in China on 04 June, which marked the 31st anniversary of the Tiananmen Square protests and crackdown in Beijing. “The Chinese Communist Party is a terrorist organization funded by the Communist International which has subverted the legitimate Chinese government in the past,” the document declares.” Would this be done the other way around, like if the People’s Republic of China declared the United States of America a terrorist genocidal and illegitimate state, because it exterminated most of its native population, forced slaves from Africa onto its territory, and then massacred tens of millions of people on all continents of the world, that would be surely considered a declaration of war. But obviously, the US and its leadership are truly ‘spoiled’; they are used to getting away, literally, with a murder. Or with a war. Steve Bannon has been twisting the narrative on basically everything that is related to China, from Xinjiang to the South China Sea, an extremist religious cult such as Falun Gong, recent historical events, Chinese Revolution, and the leadership of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). He and his cohorts are fanatically anti-Communist, as they are outrageously racist. The danger of Bannon lies in the fact that he is an integral part of the extreme right-wing network, which is now spreading from Europe to India, from North and South America to Asia. He is its product, as well as its maker. Whoever is confronting China is his ally: from India’s Modi to Donald Trump. Or all those West-backed rioters and the anti-Beijing individuals like Elmer Yuen Gong Yi. In fact, the Hong Kong riots are direct results of the activities of Steve Bannon and his mates. If they are not stopped, there really may be a war. But that does not frighten Steve Bannon. He has nothing against a war. He desired a war. He is igniting it. Like the crusaders of the middle ages, he thrives on expansions and the conflicts. Forbes reported, somehow sarcastically, on 20 August 2020: “The yacht former white house senior advisor Steve Bannon was arrested on recently is the 152-foot-long Feadship Lady May that’s reportedly owned by Guo Wengui, an exiled Chinese billionaire who has business ties with Bannon. And it’s for sale.” It is all very symbolic. It is shocking. But at least the man who did so much harm to the world, and who has been pushing his country towards direct confrontation with the most populous nation on earth, is under arrest, although presently released on $5 million bail. Associated Press reported on 24 August 2020: “US District Judge Analisa Torres said President Donald Trump’s former chief strategist can appear in her court along with three co-defendants on a video screen because of the health threat posed by the coronavirus.” A lenient treatment. But logical; shockingly, Mr. Bannon is not seen as a delinquent by the US establishment. To many, he is just a pro-Western, pro-Christian, pro-right-wing warrior. As he himself so proudly declares he is.

[mentalmimosa]

the opposite of answered

“He’s not one of ours.”

“Meaning what?”

Felix chuckled and tugged out another cigarette. “Meaning that he generally hangs out with a different set of shady characters than you and I do, James. He’s one of Nick Fury’s boys.”

The headache that had been crouching behind Bond’s eyes all day sat up and stretched with a roar. “You’re pawning me off on S.H.I.E.L.D, Felix?" he said, incredulous. "What the hell did I ever do to you?”

“I was just as surprised as you are, believe me. It wasn’t my call.”

"Christ."

Felix's eyebrows lifted over the bright tip. “A little birdy told me you’ve worked with Fury before.”

“Once. Just bloody once. That all parties emerged with limbs intact is something of a miracle.”

“Job go bad?”

“From Fury’s perspective, no.”

“And from yours?”

Bond swept back the last of his scotch. “Let’s just say I made it extraordinarily clear to the powers that be back home that they’d be well served never to put me in such a position again.”

Felix signaled for the bartender and pointed at Bond’s empty glass. “Well, my friend, it looks like your prayers have been the opposite of answered.”

“Apparently.”

“But, if it’s any consolation, I know this Rogers guy. He’s good. Ex-military. Enormous but surprisingly stealthy. Not one of the regular S.H.I.E.L.D showboating types. He won’t talk your ear off about aliens he’s killed or sea monsters he’s wrestled or any of that other bullshit."

“Well,” Bond grumbled. The stale smell of last call and the absolute cock-up of it all made his temples throb. "That’s something, at least.”

****

The meet was set for 10 am at the Cloud Gate in Chicago. The sunlight and the happy Sunday crowds--never mind the splashing, shrieking children--did nothing to improve Bond’s mood.

He normally liked working in America; he didn’t get to do it often. The Company lads had never been particularly eager to throw open their turf to anybody, even those who were ostensibly friends, and in the last decade, their tightfistedness had become only more pronounced. He’d spent more time with Leiter in Prague and Sao Paulo than he ever had in the States. Most of his colleagues on the other side of the Atlantic would have considered that a blessing, not a curse.

But there was something about the vastness of the US that appealed to Bond, the sheer volume of it: the great plains and the rivers, the tight clusters of the cities, the sky. No wonder its denizens were such fans of excess; they were surrounded by it, steeped in it, so much so that they were blind to it, too. Their openness fascinated him, their sometimes inexplicable propensity to smile at strangers on the street. Their anger, he’d found, could be just as quickly expressed when given the right impetus. In America, more so in nearly every country in the world, emotion lay so close to the surface that it seemed all you had to do was reach out and touch.

Which was why the Americans were the only ones who could’ve come up with an outfit as ostentatious as S.H.I.E.L.D., an organization founded, so far as Bond was concerned, on a frankly ridiculous set of fears. Pakistani extremists getting hold of a nuke or the Russians reclaiming Alaska or climate change, for fuck’s sake--those were the kinds of things one should be afraid of. Not invasion from the outer regions of the galaxy or murderous robots or gods who walked among men. Humans were perfectly capable of orchestrating their own destruction; they didn’t need any assistance from a deux ex machina or a flying man in a gaudy red suit.

“Look,” Fury had said twenty years before, knee deep in a Bosnian graveyard, “you’re a dinosaur, Bond. Or you will be, soon. Believe me, man, there’s shit so far out there that’s happening all around us that you can’t even fucking fathom. You really think that this is as bad as it gets? A localized genocide? Pfffft. Bond, the crap that my people deal with day to day are on the scale of extinction level events--as in multiple on a weekly basis.”

“Really? Then how come I’ve never heard of any of them?”

“Because you and the fellas at Langley aren’t looking for them. Your eyes are trained on a different place, and that’s ok. That’s good, in my book. Because there’s plenty of shit to be shoveled and no reason we all gotta dig in the same place.”

Bond had swept his hands at the carnage around them: mud and bones, the evidence of pointless suffering. “You were sure there were extraterrestrials involved in this, weren’t you?”

“I was.”

“Well,” Bond had snarled, “there fucking aren’t. Just people, Fury. Just goddamned terrified people who bought some bullshit about ‘ethnic cleansing.’ We’ve seen that movie before, eh?  And look what the sequel has wrought.”

The look in Fury’s eyes had been almost pitying. “You don’t have to believe me, Bond. It’s ok if you don’t. You’re a smart guy, though; I thought you deserved to hear the truth. Whether you believe it or not is entirely up to you.”

Now, parked on a bench at the center of a living city, it was too easy for Bond to imagine the paving stones pulled and the giant video screens lying in ruins. Blood everywhere. The hollow echo of screams. It wouldn’t take aliens to get them there; all it would take was a bomb. A few pounds of explosive, some radiation or smallpox mixed in, and someone like him failing to stop it, to even see it coming, and--

He sat back and pulled at his tea, grimaced. Fuck. It never tasted right in a paper cup.

“The sun’s higher than it usually is, isn’t it?”

A shadow fell across his lap. Bond looked up.

“There’s something about fall that throws the angle off, I’m told.”

“Ah,” the man said. “That’s funny, isn’t it? Since astrologically, it's still summer.”

“Mr. Rogers,” Bond said, the ritual completed.

The man smiled and sat down beside him. “Mr. Bond. Nice to meet you.”

#00Cap #james bond/steve rogers #because why the hell not

[ebola-kun]

Lifting of US Propaganda Ban Gives New Meaning to Old Song

Though its ostensible purpose is to fund the U.S. military over a one year period, the National Defense Authorization Act, better known as the NDAA, has had numerous provisions tucked into it over the years that have targeted American civil liberties. The most well-known of these include allowing the government to wiretap American citizens without a warrant and, even more disturbingly, indefinitely imprison an American citizen without charge in the name of “national security.”

One of the lesser-known provisions that have snuck their way into the NDAA over the years was a small piece of legislation tacked onto the NDAA for fiscal year 2013, signed into law in that same year by then-President Barack Obama. Named “The Smith-Mundt Modernization Act of 2012,” it completely lifted the long-existing ban on the domestic dissemination of U.S. government-produced propaganda.

For decades, the U.S. government had been allowed to produce and disseminate propaganda abroad in order to drum up support for its foreign wars but had been banned from distributing it domestically after the passage of the Smith-Mundt Act of 1948. However, the Modernization Act’s co-authors, Reps. Mac Thornberry (R-TX) and Adam Smith (D-WA, no relation to the Smith of the 1948 act), removing the domestic ban was necessary in order to combat “al-Qaeda’s and other violent extremists’ influence among populations.”

Thornberry  that removing the ban was necessary because it had tied “the hands of America’s diplomatic officials, military, and others, by inhibiting our ability to effectively communicate in a credible way.” Yet, given that Thornberry is one of the  of weapon manufacturers’ campaign contributions, the real intent — to skeptics at least — seemed more likely related to an effort to ramp up domestic support for U.S. military adventurism abroad following the disastrous invasions of Iraq and Libya.

Read more by Whitney Webb

Five years later, the effects of the lifting of the ban have turned what was once covert manipulation of the media by the government into a transparent “revolving door” between the media and the government. Robbie Martin — documentary filmmaker and media analyst whose documentary series,  “A Very Heavy Agenda,” explores the relationships between neoconservative think tanks and media — told MintPress, that this revolving door “has never been more clear than it is right now” as a result of the ban’s absence.

In the age of legal, weaponized propaganda directed at the American people, false narratives have become so commonplace in the mainstream and even alternative media that these falsehoods have essentially become normalized, leading to the era of “fake news” and “alternative facts.”

Those who create such news, regardless of the damage it causes or the demonstrably false nature of its claims, face little to no accountability, as long as those lies are of service to U.S. interests. Meanwhile, media outlets that provide dissenting perspectives are being silenced at an alarming rate.

The effects of lifting the ban examined

Vice founders Shane Smith, left, and Suroosh Alvi, attend the Webby Awards at Cipriani Wall Street in New York. The formerly independent Vice News saw a precipitous uptick in citations of BBG sources after securing corporate funding.

Since 2013, newsrooms across the country, of both the mainstream and “alternative” variety, have been notably skewed towards the official government narrative, with few outside a handful of independently-funded media outlets bothering to question those narratives’ veracity. While this has long been a reality for the Western media (see John Pilger’s 2011 documentary “The War You Don’t See”), the use of government-approved narratives and sources from government-funded groups have become much more overt than in years past.

From Syria to Ukraine, U.S.-backed coups and U.S.-driven conflicts have been painted as locally driven movements that desperately need U.S. support in order to “help” the citizens of those countries — even though that “help” has led to the near destruction of those countries and, in the case of  Ukraine, an attempted genocide. In these cases, many of the sources were organizations funded directly by the U.S. government or allied governments, such as the White Helmets and Aleppo Media Centre (largely funded by the U.S. and U.K. governments) in the case of Syria, and pro-Kiev journalists with Nazi ties (including Bogdan Boutkevitch, who called for the “extermination” of Ukrainians of Russian descent on live TV) in the case of Ukraine, among other examples. Such glaring conflicts of interests are, however, rarely — if ever — disclosed when referenced in these reports.

More recently, North Korea has been painted as presenting an imminent threat to the United States. Recent reports on this “threat” have been based on classified intelligence reports that claim that North Korea can produce a new nuclear bomb every six or seven weeks, including a recent article from the New York Times. However, those same reports have admitted that this claim is purely speculative, as it is “impossible to verify until experts get beyond the limited access to North Korean facilities that ended years ago.” In other words, the article was based entirely on unverified claims from the U.S. intelligence community that were treated as compelling.

As Martin told MintPress, many of these government-friendly narratives first began at U.S.-funded media organizations overseen by the Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG) — an extension of the U.S. state department.

Martin noted that U.S.-funded media, like Voice of America (VOA) and Radio Free Europe (RFE), were among the first to use a State Department-influenced narrative aimed at “inflaming hostilities with Russia before it soaked into mainstream reporting.” Of course, now, this narrative — with its origins in the U.S. State Department and U.S. intelligence community — has come to dominate headlines in the corporate media and even some “alternative” media outlets in the wake of the 2016 U.S. election.

This is no coincidence. As Martin noted, “after the ban was lifted, things changed drastically here in the United States,” resulting in what was tantamount to a “propaganda media coup” where the State Department, and other government agencies that had earlier shaped the narrative at the BBG, used their influence on mainstream media outlets to shape those narratives as well.

A key example of this, as Martin pointed out, was the influence of the new think-tank “The Alliance for Securing Democracy,” whose advisory council and staff are loaded with neocons, such as the National Review’s Bill Kristol, and former U.S. intelligence and State Department officials like former CIA Director Michael Morell. The Alliance for Securing Democracy’s Russia-focused offshoot, “Hamilton 68,” is frequently cited by media outlets — mainstream and alternative — as an impartial, reliable tracker of Russian “meddling” efforts on social media.

Martin remarked that he had “never seen a think tank before have such a great influence over the media so quickly,” noting that it “would have been hard to see [such influence on reporters] without the lifting of the ban,” especially given the fact that media organizations that cite Hamilton 68 do not mention its ties to former government officials and neoconservatives.

The ridiculous, opaque joke from Bill Kristol & Democratic hawks called "Hamilton 68" – mindlessly treated as Gospel by US media – claims that unnamed Russian bots & pro-Russia accounts spent yesterday talking about Ronald Reagan and Antonin Scalia. pic.twitter.com/IKmoNyxt00

— Glenn Greenwald (@ggreenwald) February 7, 2018

In addition, using VOA or other BBG-funded media has become much more common than it was prior to the ban, an indication that state-crafted information originally intended for a foreign audience is now being used domestically. Martin noted that this has become particularly common at some “pseudo-alternative” media organizations — i.e., formerly independent media outlets that now enjoy corporate funding. Among these, Martin made the case that VICE News stands out.

After the propaganda ban was lifted, Martin noticed that VICE’s citations of BBG sources “spiked.” He continued:

One of the things I immediately noticed was that they [VICE news] were so quick to call out other countries’ media outlets, but yet — in every instance I looked up of them citing BBG sources — they never mentioned where the funding came from or what it was and they would very briefly mention it [information from BBG sources] like these were any other media outlets.”

He added that, in many of these cases, journalists at VICE were unaware that references to VOA or other BBG sources appeared in their articles. This was an indication that “there is some editorial staff [at VICE News] that is putting this in from the top down.”

Furthermore, Martin noted that, soon after the ban was lifted, “VICE’s coverage mirrored the type of coverage that BBG was doing across the world in general,” which in Martin’s view indicated “there was definitely some coordination between the State Department and VICE.” This coordination was also intimated by BBG’s overwhelmingly positive opinion of VICE in their auditing reports, in which the BBG “seemed more excited about VICE than any other media outlet” — especially since VICE was able to use BBG organizations as sources while maintaining its reputation as a “rebel” media outlet.

Watch | VICE’s Fall From Counterculture Hipster Rag To Neoliberal Mouthpiece

Martin notes that these troubling trends have been greatly enabled by the lifting of the ban. He opined that the ban was likely lifted “in case someone’s cover [in spreading government propaganda disguised as journalism] was blown,” in which case “it wouldn’t be seen as illegal.” He continued:

For example, if a CIA agent at the Washington Post is directly piping in U.S. government propaganda or a reporter is working the U.S. government to pipe in propaganda, it wouldn’t be seen as a violation of the law. Even though it could have happened before the ban, it’s under more legal protection now.”

Under normal circumstances, failing to disclose conflicts of interests of key sources and failing to question government narratives would be considered acts of journalistic malice. However, in the age of legal propaganda, these derelictions matter much less. Propaganda is not intended to be factual or impartial — it is intended to serve a specific purpose, namely influencing public opinion in a way that serves U.S. government interests. As Karl Rove, the former advisor and deputy chief of staff to George W. Bush, once said, the U.S. “is an empire now, and when we act, we create our own reality.” This “reality” is defined not by facts but by its service to empire.

Meanwhile, counter-narratives, however fact-based they may be, are simultaneously derided as conspiracy theories or “fake news,” especially if they question or go against government narratives.

The revolving door

Former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper and former CIA Director John Brennan appear on CNN to discuss allegations of Russian influence in the presidential elections. (CNN Screenshot)

Another major consequence of the ban being lifted goes a step further than merely influencing narratives. In recent years, there has been the growing trend of hiring former government officials, including former U.S. intelligence directors and other psyops veterans, in positions once reserved for journalists. In their new capacity as talking heads on mainstream media reports, they repeat the stance of the U.S. intelligence community to millions of Americans, with their statements and views unchallenged.

For instance, last year, CNN hired former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper. Clapper, a key architect of RussiaGate, has committed perjury by lying to Congress and more recently lied about the Trump campaign being wiretapped through a FISA request. He has also mad racist, Russophobic comments on national television. Now, however, he is an expert analyst for “the most trusted name in news.” CNN last year also hired Michael Hayden, who is a former Director of both the CIA and the NSA, and former Principal Deputy Director of National Intelligence.

Former top US officials who now are analysts for CNN: —Michael Hayden, director of CIA/NSA —John Kirby, State Dept spox, Pentagon press secretary —James Clapper, DNI —Lisa Monaco, homeland security advisor —Spider Marks, head of US Army Intelligence Centerhttps://t.co/7AejlAfi8p

— Ben Norton (@BenjaminNorton) February 8, 2018

CNN isn’t alone. NBC/MSNBC recently hired former CIA director John Brennan — another key architect of RussiaGate and the man who greenlighted (and lied about) CIA spying on Congress — as a contributor and “senior national security and intelligence analyst.” NBC also employs Jeremy Bash, former CIA and DoD Chief of Staff, as a national security analyst, as well as reporter Ken Dilanian, who is known for his “collaborative relationship” with the CIA.

Stand by for propaganda! NBC hires CIA director!https://t.co/HTcD5xIYRQ

— Defectio.com (@DefectioLive) February 7, 2018

Remember when new NBC analyst John Brennan blatantly lied to NBC's Andrea Mitchell about using the CIA to spy on Democratic staffers investigating torture? https://t.co/ZaetE53gcshttps://t.co/y7fybCi3Dt

— Trevor Timm (@trevortimm) February 2, 2018

This “revolving door” doesn’t stop there. After the BBG was restructured by the 2016 NDAA, the “board” for which the organization was named was dissolved, making BBG’s CEO — a presidential appointee — all powerful. BBG’s current CEO is John Lansing, who – prior to taking the top post at the BBG – was the President and Chief Executive Officer of the Cable & Telecommunications Association for Marketing (CTAM), a marketing association comprised of 90 of the top U.S. and Canadian cable companies and television programmers. Lansing’s connection to U.S. cable news companies is just one example of how this revolving door opens both ways.

Media-government coordination out of the shadows

Defense Secretary James Mattis chats with Amazon founder and Washington Post owner, Jeff Bezos , during a visit to west coast tech and defense companies. (Jeff Bezos/Twitter)

Such collusion between mainstream media and the U.S. government is hardly new. It has only become more overt since the Smith-Mundt ban was lifted.

For instance, the CIA, through Operation Mockingbird, started recruiting mainstream journalists and media outlets as far back as the 1960s in order to covertly influence the American public by disguising propaganda as news. The CIA even worked with top journalism schools to change their curricula in order to produce a new generation of journalists that would better suit the U.S. government’s interests. Yet the CIA effort to manipulate the media was born out of the longstanding view in government that influencing the American public through propaganda was not only useful, but necessary.

Indeed, Edward Bernays, the father of public relations, who also worked closely with the government in the creation and dissemination of propaganda, once wrote:

The conscious and intelligent manipulation of the organized habits and opinions of the masses is an important element in democratic society. Those who manipulate this unseen mechanism of society constitute an invisible government which is the true ruling power of our country.”

While this was once an “invisible” phenomenon, it is quickly becoming more obvious. Now, Silicon Valley oligarchs with ties to the U.S. government have bought mainstream and pseudo-alternative media outlets and former CIA directors are given prominent analyst positions on cable news programs. The goal is to manufacture support at home for the U.S.’ numerous conflicts around the world, which are only likely to grow as the Pentagon takes aim at “competing states” like Russia and China in an increasingly desperate protection of American hegemony.

With the propaganda ban now a relic, the once-covert propaganda machine long used to justify war after war is now operating out in the open and out of control.

Top Photo | “U.S. Official War Pictures”, propaganda poster by Louis D. Fancher circa 1917. (Public Domain)

Whitney Webb is a staff writer for MintPress News who has written for several news organizations in both English and Spanish; her stories have been featured on ZeroHedge, the Anti-Media, and 21st Century Wire among others. She currently lives in Southern Chile.

The post Lifting of US Propaganda Ban Gives New Meaning to Old Song appeared first on MintPress News.

This content was originally published here.

[dailybuglenow]

TUESDAY, 9 SEPTEMBER 2023. EDITED BY J. JONAH JAMESON.

BELOVED REPORTER SLAUGHTERED: IS MURDER A FAMILY AFFAIR?

TW: the article discusses and describes murder

New York is a big place filled to the brim with a lot of people. So many, in fact, that it seems at time that we’re all stuffed on top of one another. Of these people, a staggering amount will be murdered according to statistics in 2022, not counting lives lost in natural disaster or superhero collateral damage. Those numbers seem low due to the mass decimation caused by Thanos, but in a post-Cleanse world we need as much good as possible. That being said, murder rates are up 55% from the last year which could be due to the societal disorganization that is still being reestablished. But I know what you’re thinking: why all of this talk about murder? With all the crime and super powered damage we don’t can’t report on each individual, unfortunately, but today the Bugle reports with heavy hearts that we lost one of our own.

Gayle Rogers might have been a newer face at the Bugle, but her coverage on the Jean Grey Incident and Mutant Decimation were incredibly popular on our site. A junior reporter who transferred from Los Angeles, CA, Roger’s had a bright and exciting future in journalism. What’s most tragic about this terrible loss of life, however, is the cause. Approximately two days on the 7th of September police were called to Roger’s apartment when neighbors complained that her dog would not stop barking. What police found in side was horrifying. Ms. Rogers was found pinned to her wall, crucified by shards of metal. Police were initially baffled by who did this and how they managed to as nothing else in the apartment seemed to be out of place. That’s when attention began to turn to one person who can wield metal like no one else: Erik Lehnsherr.

Lehnsherr, also commonly known as Magneto, is a mutant extremist who has posed a threat to humanity for years. His name may sound familiar as we recently detailed his involvement in the Time Square Incident where he was seen carrying the body of a deceased Jean Grey from the scene before issuing a statement. Lehnsherr has killed many humans over the course of his life and has been especially cruel against those who spoke against mutants. Aside from Lehnsherr, the other reasonable suspect is one Lorna Dane, the daughter of Magneto. Dane has a history of mental illness and arrests dating all the way back to when she was a minor and was involuntarily institutionalized. Both father and daughter have been connected to the mutant Hellfire Club at one point or another and have murdered in the name of mutant rights.

As it currently stands, no arrests have been made in the murder of Gayle Rogers but both Lehnsherr and Dane have been asked to come in for questioning. Another reason a mutant is suspected to be at fault is the fact that Rogers was unapologetically anti-mutant and never shied away from being so in her pieces. Silencing a voice that has called them out and held them accountable is what some suspect has happened. This reporter remains a little more evenly keeled on the situation, but I will dutifully update you as the investigation continues. In the meantime, we mourn the loss of a friend and voice that was taken too soon. 

—- Jennie Sheldon, Daily Bugle News Junior Reporter

MUTANT DECIMATION: HOW A GENOCIDAL AVENGER IS TO BLAME

It was five years ago that Thanos snapped his finger and the mutant population was decimated. Although they were once 32 million strong it was in one second that the population dropped to a mere 198-200 people, a case of genocide very rarely matched in numbers. While Thanos’ snap turned half the population to dust everyone who remained alive was untouched except for the mutants. Over the five years before Thanos was beaten scientist after scientist looked into the mutant genome for reason or explanation but none could be found. When it was realized that no mutants were being born either what remained of the population panicked and began looking for anything they could do to stop themselves from reaching the inevitable extinction. One of the solutions they found was isolation.

Mutants had splintered off in the past to form their own societies, whether it was in a smaller setting such as the institution formerly known as Xavier’s School for Gifted Youngsters or the short lived island of Genosha run by Erik Lehnsherr in the 1990′s. Once again the mutants sequestered themselves off, this time on the living island of Krakoa that scientists and researchers are still trying to understand. For now we’ll simply agree that Krakoa is mysterious, as are the laws that govern the mutants and what that looks like on an international political scale. Mutants hid themselves from the world to cope with a great tragedy, but they never believed the source of their pain could be one of their own. What you are about to read is information that has been obtained through a verified but confidential source who is close to the mutant population and the one who tried to wipe them out. Before we get into that, let’s do a little recap.

 Wanda Maximoff is an Avenger with a rocky past. Originally seen in the 2015 fight against Ultron, Maximoff was a Sokovian national experimented on by HYDRA agents alongside her brother, the deceased Pietro Maximoff, who gave his life saving Avenger Clint Barton. Following the destruction of her brother and loss of her country Maximoff joined the New Avengers alongside the likes of Sam Wilson and the Vision and is responsible for civilian casualties in Lagos. Maximoff was later involved in the Berlin battle and the Superhuman Civil War in 2016 on the side of Captain America. After becoming a war criminal due to her refusal to sign the Sokovian Accords, Maximoff escaped from the Raft prison and went off the grid for two years before surfacing to fight against Thanos in Wakanda where she was turned to ash during the battle. Since her return Maximoff has rejoined the Avengers and received the full support of the team. It’s not what’s known about Maximoff that’s interesting though. It’s what’s not.

Although raised by Django and Magda Maximoff, sources have revealed that both Wanda and Pietro had a different biological father, and that man was Erik Lehnsherr. While the two were believed to be mutates it was later agreed upon that the experiment only activated their mutant genes instead of giving it to them. Maximoff’s status as a mutant has called her Avengers position into question as the Avengers and mutants have been at odds and Maximoff has never made an official statement on the extremist acts of her father or half sister Polaris, also known as Lorna Dane. Instead Maximoff has worked to clear her own name of her international charges and be a hero even if it meant not associating with her family or species. Now, however, we have to ask ourselves if Maximoff had it in for the mutants all along.

The exact moment the mutants were decimated cannot be pinpointed, only that it happened within moments of the Cleanse. Scientists now have examined the scene and have taken note of the fact that Maximoff was trying to destroy the Mind Stone that resided in the head of the deceased synthezoid Vision while also trying to hold of Thanos. Tracing the frequencies of her powers, Maximoff’s energies fluctuate on the same level as both the Mind Stone and the dangerous Phoenix Force. The Cleanse caused a great deal of things that range from a Multiversal Incursion (more on that will be released later) to galaxy wide destruction, but it may not be fully to blame for what happened to the mutants. The reality warping and infinity stone based power of Maximoff in conflict with the Gauntlet that Thanos wore is now believed to be the reason the mutants were decimated.

If all of this is true, Wanda Maximoff could very well be one of the most hated women in the world and to blame for an international tragedy. Ever since rumors were released of this mutants around the world and on Krakoa had begun to call for Maximoff to be held responsible. “If someone kills another there is a price to be a paid, a consequence to be given,” Briar Raleigh, representative of the Hellfire Club read in a statement. “And Wanda Maximoff has done more than kill someone. She has stripped millions of who they were, their essence. She has invaded them and the people she hurt deserve to see her stand trial. They deserve to see her held responsible and she must know what she’s done. This isn’t a witch hunt. This is justified and it’s five years overdue.”

Whether or not Maximoff will respond personally to the mutants is unknown, but the Avengers have called a meeting with mutant representatives on 9 September to talk matters through. In an attempt to show good will they offered to do so on Krakoa, giving the X-Men the home field advantage. If Maximoff has plans to attend has yet to be determined, but if she does she’ll have both hell and family to face for her crimes and the pain she has brought on to so many.

—- Irene Merryweather, Daily Bugle News Senior Reporter of Mutant Affairs

IN OTHER NEWS:

What many believed to be a human comet that crashed into Manhattan last night has now been revealed to be one of the human space cops, Nova. He crashed into Midtown around midnight and an Avengers ambulance took him from the sight. Nova, also known as Richard Rider, was heard trying to issue some kind of warning to onlookers and appeared to be semi-coherent.

Construction on the formerly demolished Avengers Compound has now been finished. The new facilities was opened in honor of Tony Stark and Natasha Romanoff and will have meeting rooms, training rooms, spaces for various teams to meet and outbuildings for mutants and intergalactic representatives. Clearance to the Compound is only given to those who are classified to enter and will not be open to the public in the near future.

Rumor has it that prodigal son Harry Osborn, the heir to the Oscorp legacy, will be returning to New York City soon. Although Osborn’s father, Norman Osborn, has been running the business from what was once the Avengers Tower, there have been very few sightings of the mogul with his only child. Hopefully this family reunion is nothing but good news for two of New York’s most eligible bachelors!

#daily bugle news #all #mutants #mutates #daily buzz #irene merryweather #jennie sheldon

[surflove808]

On “social justice warriors” in the SPN fandom, knee jerk reactions and why they’re harmful to everyone.

I keep seeing people trolling Jensen after the (insert sarcasm font) terrible, horrible, remark he made during a roundtable discussion at SDCC2018.  When asked about the challenges of speaking another language as a new character, he said, and I quote:  "It was Arabic and it was an actual verse from the Quran and so, um, you don't wanna mess that up. (laughter from around the table) (Said with nervous laughter) I mean is ISIS gonna come after me if I'm saying the wrong thing?"  (More laughter from around the table).  

In another interview he talked about the importance of speaking and enunciating the language correctly especially because it was a holy verse from the Quran. Respect for the language, respect for the verse and respect for the religion was the name of the game, thematically speaking.  However... we have our usual peanut gallery making a mountain out of a molehill, so here I am to be an equal, but just as obnoxious voice on the matter.  

Even though my brother-in-law and his family are from Iraq and have been a part of my family, and ours theirs, for many years....even though my sister and a handful of friends (Palestinians and Iraqis predominantly) are practicing Muslims, I'm not arrogant enough to speak on behalf of the Muslim majority based on my small association.  Unlike a lot of commenters I’ve been seeing.

I'm not of the Muslim faith.  What I'm about to tell you guys is based on my knowledge and opinion alone.  But I can tell you, my brother-in-law thinks the uproar over this is ridiculous with a capital R.  AKA:  "Majnun"

Islam is complex and misunderstood, to say the least.  But for those of you who care to educate yourselves or others on the basics, read this:  https://www.islamreligion.com/articles/10256/core-values-of-islam/  But really, read more.  Much, much more.

The core values of ISIS are similar to the core values of Islam, but the way they practice is fundamentally opposed to the Muslim faith at large.  That's why they're considered an extremist group.  They're responsible for countless human rights violations, genocide and acts of terrorism not only against Westerners, but fellow (and especially) Muslim people who don't bow to their attempts at suppression.

Jensen stated that it was important to him to get the Arabic language and enunciation right because he was reciting holy verse from the Quran (which in and of itself, is a dangerous thing to do as a public figure on a t.v. show as far as ISIS is concerned) and he's pretty fucking on the mark about being concerned about flubbing the verse and dialect as far as ISIS is concerned.  I guarantee you that this is a conversation that took place on set that day.  This is a real thing, people.

What he did NOT do at any point in time, was equate fear of retribution with Islam or Muslims.  He equated fear of retribution with ISIS.  A splinter group of jihadists.  It's a pretty valid concern, even said jokingly.  Because these people do NOT have a sense of humor.

The only people I see generalizing around here and on his instagram/twitter are the people insisting he apologize and going off on him for his remark.  They are literally assuming that ISIS=Muslim, and that’s beyond ignorant.  They can assume all they want, but his statement does not reflect what they are accusing him of.  Bottom line.

Reactionary children are equating his comment with anti-Muslim sentiment when it's simply not.    ISIS is a relevant, dangerous and very real group of individuals who seek to terrorize their own countrymen into submission and the world-at-large, if possible.  Stop conflating the two, people.  You're only making matters worse with your fake "wokeness".

Some misguided people and their dire need to be social justice warriors could very well turn this into a very real, and very dangerous issue.  You think I'm kidding?  Remember Charlie Hebdo??  Try reading a bit, learning a bit...before you go off on social media.  For fucks sake, people.  If you don’t know about the massacre at the offices of Charlie Hebdo, google it.

I see some comments on Instagram saying "Well, I've spoken with MANY Muslims and they're ALL offended...."  I'm sure you took a poll in the past 4 hours in order to compile your results.  That must have been very challenging...I'm just kidding, you're full of shit.

It's always easier to go after a random celebrity when you're arrogant enough to think you can influence their lives, their decisions.  Makes you feel powerful knowing that maybe something YOU said helped them see the light and change their ways.  Right?  Gives you some sense of control over the object of your adoration.  

In some instances, I could see the logic in public shaming.  Holding a public figure accountable for actions that are genuinely harmful.  I get it.  But (and I hate to say this.  Because it sucks) this is the SPN fandom we’re talking about.  Rife with ship wars, trolls and anti’s.  After everything I’ve seen around here, it’s becoming difficult for me to trust attempts at calling one of these guys out on the basis of “social justice”.  It feels dirty, because most of the time - it is. 

If you want to change the world.... there are much more effective ways than misguidedly harassing an actor on a t.v. show.  I've stated a variation on this theme a few times in past posts.  And I'm not thrilled that I felt compelled to write and post this, but when I see and have seen the destructive power of the gloriously anonymous comment sections on social media and the ripple effect that can come from a few determined Boneheads On A Mission.... it sets me off on the fucking broke down, held-together-by-duct tape rantmobile that I call my conscience.

I'm not active on Twitter and don't do Instagram or FB because I generally feel social media does more harm than good.  I'm not gonna repeat myself here, there or anywhere.  I just needed to get this out of my system and hope that maybe someone reads this long ass essay and comes away with another perspective.  Because.... common sense?  

These issues are far more complex than a soundbite and the ensuing knee-jerk reactions.  This is an important discussion that transcends the “He said/She said” nature of this conversation and it merits real, thoughtful exploration.  And it deserves to be held with accountability and respect for one another and a degree of seriousness that you’re just not gonna achieve with your bullshit back and forth on an actors social media account.

My question for you is:  Are you more concerned about shaming someone, getting their attention even if for negative reasons, and bending them to your will... or do you want to make the effort, do the research and have an intelligent discussion with your friends, family, professors, the world at large?  Because I guarantee if you guided your attentions to positively provoking discussion and being receptive to other peoples experience, opinions and knowledge, you’d be a helluva lot more productive.

#jensen ackles #dean winchester #spn fandom #spn family #supernatural #fakewoke

[prakathesh]

May 18.

May 18. I still remember that day so clearly, I was 14 years old. My family and I were driving back home from Sydney after a protest. We were in the car. My mother gets a call…All I hear from her conversation is ‘Aiyo’ as she starts crying and screaming. We all were concerned. News broke out. The war had ended.

My entire body was frozen. Without understanding what to say. 3 decades of armed struggle. More than 3 decades of oppression. My entire childhood was centred around learning about Tamil, the war and our people. I didn’t even know any English until after I attended school which is not common for a child born in an English speaking nation such as Australia. All those years growing up thinking by the time I was an adult I would get to go home to Eelam and claim it as my country. It’s been 10 years since that day. 10 years since the lives of Eelam Tamil’s were shaken, shattered and broken. Our dream of an independent state. Our dream of freedom. Our dream for the next generation. It is so hard to write about this loss. This loss isn’t digestible. It is as if something has been stuck in my throat for a decade now. Every Maaveerar thinam, every Black July, every Mullivaikkal Remembrance Day. EVERY SINGLE DAY THE THOUGHT OF THE LOSS OCCURS IN MY MIND.

How could this occur? How are we still fighting for basic answers to the war crimes which were committed? How are were still seeking answers regarding the missing Annas and Akkas? How are we still seeking justice? How is oppression still occurring, where is this so called ‘unity’? When you look back in time, you will notice that the war began due to Tamil youth feeling that they could not rely on the government nor the politicians anymore. They felt the need to begin an armed struggle as they could no longer face oppression and started to realise that the continued oppression will only get worse for the future generation. Many of us grew up on the notion and belief of Tamil Eelam. Many of us grew up wishing for an independent state for the Tamil people, a state where there was equality and a place which was home without discrimination.

I ask you, for one moment, let us put the concept of having an independent state in the back burner. Let us focus on the present moment and focus on what is going on now, 10 years later. Let us start by asking this question first; why are we still living in oppression? Why are the Tamil people of Sri Lanka still getting monitored with systematic militarisation? It is one thing to say the war is over, yet why is there systematic militarisation still occurring? Why is there still constant harassment to former cadres and their families throughout the north and eastern provinces? Why?!

So far, I have poured my heart out and spoken about my raw emotions of a time that was a struggle and continues to be to this day. It’s a feeling that is scattered all over and lays in a bed of heartache. Going forward I have broken this piece into parts to educate and put these emotions into perspective. Let’s discuss a few things starting with;

-          The war

-          The aftermath

-          The next step forward

-          Removal of anger and hatred

-          Unity

-          The future generation

-          The closing paragraph

The War

This part is about education regarding why it all started, what happened and starting from the beginning of the bloody, gruesome, lengthy 30-year civil war. Firstly, this was a war which started due to the oppression our Tamil people faced from the Sri Lankan government and the opposing extremist. Notice how I state the government of Sri Lanka and extremist because to hate on all Sinhalese people will make us no different from those that commit the atrocities towards our people. To say that there are plenty of good Sinhalese people would be rude as its understating how many of them are good. So, hating them as an ethnicity group would be wrong. Both sides faced a loss and we must first acknowledge that if we want to rebuild. We are against the oppressor. Now moving onto the facts.

This war started in the 80’s but the oppression was established long before that, prior to the first president coming into power. This oppression occurred when there was a shift in power and the equally living Sinhalese and Tamils were placed in a position where the majority race was given ruling power. In the hands of power, small changes occurred which caused distrust in the Sri Lankan government and eventually the Sinhala Only Act was brought in to play in 1956. This was a major influence in distrust and a major impact to the Tamil people. This was the government saying that the Tamil people were not of the same value. Move forward a few more years and the Sri Lankan flag was officially adopted on December 17, 1978. Prior to 1815, the gold lion was originally the national flag of Ceylon; its four pippul leaves are Buddhist symbols and the sword is said to represent authority. On this modern version, the green represents Muslims, while the orange represents Hindus. Want to know more about the little things on the flag.... just Google it. Please don’t be ignorant. So, let’s be honest just from these two things you can tell there’s a major shift in power and there is definitely a sign of racism. Now skip forward to 1981. The burning of the Jaffna library. Our literature. Our history. Our ancestral information and writings. Then, what about Black July? 1983. Black July. Wow. The black and white images still haunt me and I haven’t even seen them all.

The 1983 riots are what led to the beginning of a 30-year war which saw the loss of countless innocent lives. It sparked a flame which continues to burn to this very day. As a child of an immigrant I grew up seeing our immigrant parents and the difficulty they faced. I grew up seeing and hearing the oppression my Tamil families faced back home. I grew up facing an identity crisis and a struggle of being so privileged that at times I too was ignorant. Once again, I’m rambling my emotions. Let’s go back to the facts. 1983 riots sparked the war to which there was a back and forth struggle between the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) against the Sri Lankan Government and Sri Lankan Armed forces. A war which lead to a multitude of innocent civilians being raped, tortured, discriminated, abused and living in fear. To this day, the rape, torture, discrimination, abuse and living in fear still occurs to Tamil people in the North and East of the country....

The Aftermath

10 years on.

No answers to the missing people. No answer to the white van kidnapping. No answers to all the questions we ask in regard to justice and war crimes. There is continued militarisation through the North and Eastern provinces. The Tamil provinces of Sri Lanka have been seeing multiple structural and cultural changes with Sinhala based identities being placed. With simple examples of a Buddhist temple being built in Jaffna. Religious logos being written in Sinhalese instead of Tamil. Whether it be a big change or a little change, there is systematic assimilation which occurs to this day.

Let’s break down the aftermath of the war. Firstly, the massacre in the end which led to the death of what is stated official as 40,000 innocent civilians. Mainly Tamil but Sinhalese too. However, some say the number reaches nearly 140,000 or more. For a second imagine how many people were injured, lost a limb, displaced and how many families were ruined by the loss of one or more members. This was the beginning of the aftermath. With no armed resistance the government started to kidnap and torture multiple Tamils. Anyone they were suspicious of, even without any proof they would take away and question them, torture them and hold captive until they pleased. In some cases, victims have stated that they have been held captive for more than 5 years. The officials had a list and documented all the people that they had captured or taken away and yet there is no list being released ten years on and those people are still missing or presumed dead. Just early this year and late last year various mass grave sights were found with a plethora of bodies from infants to grown adults. There has been a systematic assimilation of Sinhala into the North and Eastern provinces from the military based tourism projects, to building Buddhist temples and even tiny changes like signs in Sinhalese on our buses. There has been a systematic militarization of the North and Eastern provinces where the military operate as either military or locals working in military based businesses. Just recently as I write this the Sri Lankan government are celebrating their so called ‘Independence Day’ by having military parades and parading various weaponry as a sign of power and mass destruction. Independence should be about unity and peace yet their overall reflection on this matter clearly doesn’t show the same. The aftermath of all the genocide and civil war has left Tamil people in the same place they were prior to the civil war. They are still not treated with equality and they are yet to be given any justice or answers regarding all the people that are missing.

The next step forward

This is probably the most important part and why I began to write this piece. I cannot believe I have been trying to write this for over 5 months now. The present. The current moment. This is where the Tamil diaspora can investigate making a change and empowering our fellow Tamil people whether it be those in foreign nations or those back home. There are many organizations and individuals in the international community whom work towards rehabilitating. I recently read something which really stuck with me. When it comes to those who wonder what they can do for those back home, here is your answer. There are many ways and there isn’t one right thing to do. Knowledge is power and you need to educate yourself. Once you’ve educated yourself, you’ll be able to find out what you can do based on your suitability to help the struggle. There are many activists and organisations out there who are more than happy to help assist and spend their time assisting new activists find their feet. The learning should never stop as there will always be more to learn. Some of us focus on research and advocacy with countries, others focus on strengthening the community within the diaspora, then some choose to build institutions and support the people back home with education and livelihood. There is no one set path you must take when there are multiple options you can use in order to make a change and have an impact. After all its a ripple effect. Even recently early in May I was having a discussion with my partner and sister to which I heard this being said; ‘everyone has a role to play’, that is something that resonated so deep within me as it is so true. Those that want to give back and help, all have a role to play, what that role looks like is based on the individual. However, we should not look down upon or segregate those that are trying to help, in a way that suits their lifestyle.

The next step forward is to realise the rebuilding and unity are the core focuses. If our actions bring us to that goal then we have hope in a better future for the future generations. It gives us the opportunity to focus on rebuilding our communities and uniting our Tamil people together in order to achieve the greater good.

Anger and hatred

Recently with the Easter bomb blasts there was a lot of Tamil people speaking up and raising awareness regarding the atrocities which happened in 2009 as it was a time where the international media had a spotlight on Sri Lanka, and it was a great opportunity to spark debate and investigation. During this time there was a popular hashtag going around - #prayforthevictims. This was a response to the hashtag of -#prayforsrilanka. It was an interesting time as during this distressing and awful period, many Tamil people raised their voices without bashing any Sinhala people. So, kudos to us. However, I want to touch on 2 points regarding the topic of anger and hatred. First and foremost, I applaud everyone who genuinely was out there raising their voice for their rights and during that time there were many Sinhala supremacist who chose to attack various activists and threaten them. During that time, it was so upsetting to see our Tamil youth go through and face hatred aimed at them, although what prevailed in the end was adversity as they were supported through it all. It’s amazing to see that through all we faced, even then the concept of anger and hatred was not placed towards Sinhala people but only towards the Sri Lankan government, the Sri Lankan armed forces and Sinhala supremacists. With that being said, what I did see was my own people bash one another since there is a belief that we all should hold the same beliefs and play the same role towards helping back home. It got to the point where people I knew felt uncomfortable speaking up as they felt as if what they did and do with good intentions was interpreted incorrectly. We need to remember that spreading that anger and hatred towards our people whom choose to voice their opinions and help in their own manner will not do anything but cause them to show anger and hatred back.

Unity

This is something that truly means the most to me as even today I see so much distance between Tamil people and I truly believe we need more unity. I understand not everyone can get along with everyone though and when I talk about ‘unity’ it comes to helping those back home. At this present moment, the desire for a De Facto state of Tamil Eelam is not going to occur anytime soon, so what we need to really address is uniting as Tamil people and helping our brothers and sisters out. They deserve it. The Tamil brothers and sisters back home deserve more opportunities to live happy lives. Further, the Tamil brothers and sisters living within the diaspora, those who are seeking a new life and those who are the youth of the future generations of the diaspora, who are not fully informed about the struggle and the resistance. We need to come together and understand that the trauma and pain which each person has endured is will be different from one another. We need to accept that pain and trauma affects everyone differently and we must come together to unite and rebuild ourselves and those around us.

The future generation

My biggest concern is Tamil going extinct one day. I even wrote about it a few years ago, with that being said, it will only become extinct if we do not teach and educate the future generation of what our people went through or if we do not try and make sure that the future generations speak in Tamil and are proud to be Tamil. I see too many kids these days, refusing to learn or speak Tamil. Too many youth who are not even aware of the struggle and to what extent it was carried out in. So many people who choose to turn a blind eye when our brothers and sisters back home are still facing injustice. Remember, that could have easily been us or our parents. We are fortunate to live in a foreign nation with all these luxuries when our people back home are still being oppressed. Educate yourself and those around you as that alone will go far in making a change. If you cannot voice your opinions, if you cannot financially contribute, if you cannot advocate for the rights, at least educate yourself and those around you, that way it will spark a conversation and awareness and as that awareness is raised, you will be surprised to see how many people will be inspired. I am speaking from personal experience; the more you educate, the larger we will grow.  

The closing paragraph

With all that being said, I stand by a few things. First and foremost, being that Tamil is such a beautiful language with such rich culture and heritage, when you do your research you come to learn that it truly is such a marvel itself. For instance, growing up I used to wonder and think to myself how stupid it was to have three different mei ezhuthukal to pronounce one sound, yet when you truly explore it the differences between the ழ, ல and ள are used to distinctly emphasise the sound behind each part in a word. Our language, culture, traditions and the Tamil struggle for freedom are all significant things that make us who we are and which we must continue to emphasise and educate ourselves and one another on. The future of Tamil and Illankai Tamil is in our hands. It is in the hands of the youth and the future generation. So, let’s take a step forward and unite and find avenues to help those in need. There are so many organisations out there and so many individuals, so reach out. If you do not know where to begin, message me, I would be happy to provide you with various options so that you pick something that best suits you. Do what you can, the way you want, so that you are happy and satisfied at the end of the day. Because no matter what, we will forever be united and fighting for one cause that is, Tamil.