#democracy international

[democracyinternational]

Renewing the Social Contract: Building Municipal Trust in Kosovo

By: Nicholas Battaile, Program Management Associate

Trust between people and their government is one of the essential underpinnings of functioning democracies. Research and evidence from around the world underscore that low public trust undermines citizens' willingness to engage in civic participation, which in turn reduces the accountability of government institutions. The result is a feedback loop that continually weakens trust. Although efforts to encourage transparency sound like a straightforward solution to address dwindling public trust, they have a mixed record of success. As Democracy International’s Kassidy Irvan wrote in her three-part blog covering trust at the municipal level, building lasting trust between officials and their constituents requires more than simply working to increase local governments’ transparency. People hold established, multifaceted views of their governments; many things influence public trust beyond the degree to which government shares information about its operations. Social and behavioral science research suggests that people's trust in government depends on the extent to which they perceive public servants as benevolent, competent, and honest. While the root of public distrust in municipal government may vary from case to case, interventions seeking to improve public confidence should always consider these three essential components of trust.

One approach aligned with this insight, called “intergroup contact intervention,” involves facilitating interaction between members of different groups to help diminish prejudices and encourage collaboration. In doing so, groups may see each other as more willing to cooperate and capable of arriving at a common ground. In other words, intergroup contact intervention often improves the group members’ perceptions of others’ benevolence and competence. This approach becomes more complicated, however, in situations where there is an imbalance of power between conflicting groups. Without addressing such a power disparity, intergroup contact can be completely counterproductive. When facilitating intergroup contact, it is imperative to level the playing field for all participants by establishing a fair process and preventing any one side from dominating the interaction. The U.S. Agency for International Development’s Social Contract Activity in Kosovo, which DI implements, offers a programmatic illustration of how practitioners can apply an intergroup contact intervention to build trust between citizens and their municipal governments.

The Social Contract Activity has been ongoing in five pilot municipalities since the beginning of 2022 and is scaling up to include an additional 10 municipalities.[1] The core objective of the Social Contract Activity is to improve the relationship between Kosovo citizens and their municipal governments, particularly by establishing sustainable public participation practices supported by officials and citizen groups. The issue of trust runs both ways in this environment. While citizens distrust existing public participation mechanisms and doubt local governments’ interest in genuine engagement, a significant number of municipal officials perceive citizens as lacking the competence or motivation to take advantage of civic engagement opportunities.

To better understand the perspectives of both citizens and municipal officials, the Social Contract Activity team conducted assessments exploring both sides’ beliefs about the underlying causes of municipal service delivery challenges. These assessments aimed to draw out the perceived barriers and enablers to public participation among citizens and officials. They also sought to delineate the roles that key stakeholders play in each community’s public participation process. Through two rounds of workshops, the first with municipal officials (referred to as Behavioral Harvest Workshops) and the next with citizens (referred to as Interactive Workshops), the team learned about factors distinct to each municipality that deterred or aided cooperation between officials and citizens.[2] Following the assessments, the Social Contract Activity team facilitated a subsequent round of workshops in each municipality, bringing municipal officials and citizens together to identify entry points for introducing effective, feasible public participation practices. The workshop participants selected at least two issues that they agreed could be addressed through active public participation. Then, the team worked with participants to formulate action-oriented plans (Social Contract Agendas) to resolve each issue and sustain emerging valuable public participation practices beyond the life of the program.

By introducing intergroup contact interventions in the form of the Social Contract Agenda workshops, positive interactions emerged between municipal officials and citizens, offering an opportunity to reshape participants’ perceptions of each other as reliable local partners, even in the face of initial mutual distrust. Through collaborative activities, citizens and officials could reevaluate whether the other group was benevolent enough to genuinely engage on community issues and competent enough to cooperatively resolve those issues. To avoid the interference of the obvious power imbalance between government officials and private citizens, workshop participants selected Social Contract Agenda issues by voting.

Each citizen had an equal say in deciding where they wanted to effect change in their community, reinforcing the perceived honesty of the process and those involved. Speaking after the completion of the Agenda workshops in the Municipality of Gjilan, one of the citizens said, “The objectives of this agenda help to openly support cooperation between municipal officials and citizens to solve their current problems, to help municipal officials and citizens to better understand their duties, and to build trust between the citizens and the municipal administration, which seems like a very small step but carries a lot of weight.”

A year after finalizing the Social Contract Agendas in the Activity’s pilot municipalities, officials and citizens are making steady progress in addressing their chosen community issues and have instituted public participation methods beyond the Agendas and the Social Contract Activity. For example, the Social Contract Activity helped the pilot municipalities introduce the practice of participatory budgeting, a process by which citizens vote on subjects that they want officials to spend a percentage of the municipal budget on. The municipalities have since replicated the process by their own initiative. The mayor of Prizren described the process as

enhancing opportunities for citizen inclusion in the budget planning process, which has led to an increase in confidence in the institutions of the Municipality of Prizren. As a result, citizens have more information on the municipal budget planning processes and an increased awareness of the way their direct participation contributes to joint decision-making.

This is an encouraging demonstration of the potential for countering the harmful feedback loop of public distrust by providing a setting for positive interaction.

[1] The pilot municipalities of the Social Contract Activity are Gjilan, Obiliq, Pristina, Prizren, and Suhareka.

[2] The Social Contract Activity team intends for the Behavioral Harvest Workshops to 1) leave municipal officials with an understanding of social and behavioral science and its potential in helping them complete their objectives, 2) identify an objective to focus on and behavior(s) that must change to achieve it, and 3) identify influences on the target behavior(s).;

Through the Interactive Workshops the Social Contract Activity team aims to 1) asses the state of public participation in the municipality from the direct experience of citizens; 2) identify enablers and barriers to citizen public participation; and 3) identify the ideal chain of communication between citizens and officials within existing municipal mechanisms.

#program update #kosovo #international development #democracy international #usaid #latest #governance #trust #social and behavioral science #municipal government #Social Contract Activity #Social Contract Agendas

[reasonsforhope]

Note: I super don't like the framing of this headline. "Here's why it matters" idk it's almost like there's an entire country's worth of people who get to keep their democracy! Clearly! But there are few good articles on this in English, so we're going with this one anyway.

--

2024 is the biggest global election year in history and the future of democracy is on every ballot. But amid an international backsliding in democratic norms, including in countries with a longer history of democracy like India, Senegal’s election last week was a major win for democracy. It’s also an indication that a new political class is coming of age in Africa, exemplified by Senegal’s new 44-year-old president, Bassirou Diomaye Faye.

The West African nation managed to pull off a free and fair election on March 24 despite significant obstacles, including efforts by former President Macky Sall to delay the elections and imprison or disqualify opposition candidates. Add those challenges to the fact that many neighboring countries in West Africa — most prominently Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger, but other nations across the region too — have been repeatedly undermined by military coups since 2020.

Sall had been in power since 2012, serving two terms. He declined to seek a third term following years of speculation that he would do so despite a constitutional two-term limit. But he attempted to extend his term, announcing in February that elections (originally to be held that month) would be pushed off until the end of the year in defiance of the electoral schedule.

Sall’s allies in the National Assembly approved the measure, but only after security forces removed opposition politicians, who vociferously protested the delay. Senegalese society came out in droves to protest Sall’s attempted self-coup, and the Constitutional Council ruled in late February that Sall’s attempt to stay in power could not stand.

That itself was a win for democracy. Still, opposition candidates, including Faye, though legally able to run, remained imprisoned until just days before the election — while others were barred from running at all. The future of Senegal’s democracy seemed uncertain at best.

Cut to Tuesday [April 2, 2024], when Sall stepped down and handed power to Faye, a former tax examiner who won on a campaign of combating corruption, as well as greater sovereignty and economic opportunity for the Senegalese. And it was young voters who carried Faye to victory...

“This election showed the resilience of the democracy in Senegal that resisted the shock of an unexpected postponement,” Adele Ravidà, Senegal country director at the lnternational Foundation for Electoral Systems, told Vox via email. “... after a couple of years of unprecedented episodes of violence [the Senegalese people] turned the page smoothly, allowing a peaceful transfer of power.”

And though Faye’s aims won’t be easy to achieve, his win can tell us not only about how Senegal managed to establish its young democracy, but also about the positive trend of democratic entrenchment and international cooperation in African nations, and the power of young Africans...

Senegal and Democracy in Africa

Since it gained independence from France in 1960, Senegal has never had a coup — military or civilian. Increasingly strong and competitive democracy has been the norm for Senegal, and the country’s civil society went out in great force over the past three years of Sall’s term to enforce those norms.

“I think that it is really the victory of the democratic institutions — the government, but also civil society organization,” Sany said. “They were mobilized, from the unions, teacher unions, workers, NGOs. The civil society in Senegal is one of the most experienced, well-organized democratic institutions on the continent.” Senegalese civil society also pushed back against former President Abdoulaye Wade’s attempt to cling to power back in 2012, and the Senegalese people voted him out...

Faye will still have his work cut out for him accomplishing the goals he campaigned on, including economic prosperity, transparency, food security, increased sovereignty, and the strengthening of democratic institutions. This will be important, especially for Senegal’s young people, who are at the forefront of another major trend.

Young Africans will play an increasingly key role in the coming decades, both on the continent and on the global stage; Africa’s youth population (people aged 15 to 24) will make up approximately 35 percent of the world’s youth population by 2050, and Africa’s population is expected to grow from 1.5 billion to 2.5 billion during that time. In Senegal, people aged 10 to 24 make up 32 percent of the population, according to the UN.

“These young people have connected to the rest of the world,” Sany said. “They see what’s happening. They are interested. They are smart. They are more educated.” And they have high expectations not only for their economic future but also for their civil rights and autonomy.

The reality of government is always different from the promise of campaigning, but Faye’s election is part of a promising trend of democratic entrenchment in Africa, exemplified by successful transitions of power in Nigeria, Liberia, and Sierra Leone over the past year. To be sure, those elections were not without challenges, but on the whole, they provide an important counterweight to democratic backsliding.

Senegalese people, especially the younger generation, have high expectations for what democracy can and should deliver for them. It’s up to Faye and his government to follow."

-via Vox, April 4, 2024

#senegal #africa #bassirou diomaye faye #elections #2024 elections #democracy #voting matters #young people #political corruption #coup attempt #good news #hope #international politics #african politics #fair elections #autocracy #macky sall

[worstloki]

Yemen in every single announcement: and we continue to stand in solidarity with the oppressed people of Gaza

the US: the black men attack international shipping routes in order to threaten our noble democracy which they baselessly hate

#the US like yeah this is our uhm democracy and this is our baby democracy and The Africans Hate Us For No Reason #the US is like this is completely unrelated to any other international event and they have always been volatile #the US like they're a terrorist organization so we must air strike on their civilians to stop them #Yemen #Palestine

[davidaugust]

“Ukrainians are also fighting for our safety and for everyone’s freedom. By resisting Russian dictatorship, they show that democracy can defend itself. By defending their borders, they are protecting the international order and holding off chaos. By fighting Russia alone, they protect Europe. By showing how hard offensive operations are, Ukrainians make a Chinese war in the Pacific less likely. By fighting a conventional war against a nuclear power, they are making nuclear proliferation and nuclear war less likely.”

Tell Speaker Johnson to support Ukraine now:

[phone]

https://edition.cnn.com/2024/04/10/opinions/sean-penn-barbra-streisand-imgaine-dragons-congress-ukraine-snyder/index.html

#russia #russian #ukraine #ukrainian #europe #european #dictatorship #democracy #war #nuclear #nuclear proliferation #proliferation #security #global security #international #politics

[redditreceipts]

I haven't been posting a lot this week because I've been a bit sick, but I can't just let International Women's Day pass without congratulating y'all! I hope you had a wonderful day!

#international women's day #feminism #international women's month #I couldn't make the arabic writing bigger idk know why #women's rights #france #gaza #free palestine #russia #democracy #radblr #radical feminism

[nanamins-overtime]

Happy international human rights day!

Unless you're Muslim. Or brown. Or black. Or Arab.

#international human rights #human rights #human rights day #united nations #UN #International Criminal court #human rights declaration #hypocrisy #western hypocrisy #free palestine #Palestine #democracy #muslim #arab #asian #black #poc #racism #inequality #equality #occupation #apartheid #ethnic cleansing #genocide #terrorism #peace #war #israel

[allthebrazilianpolitics]

Kissinger’s unwavering support for brutal regimes still haunts Latin America

In Chile, leftists were tortured, tossed from helicopters and forced to watch relatives be raped. In Argentina, many were “disappeared” by members of the brutal military dictatorship that held detainees in concentration camps.

It all happened with the endorsement of Henry Kissinger, the former U.S. secretary of state who died Wednesday at age 100.

As tributes poured in for the towering figure who was the top U.S. diplomat under Presidents Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford, the mood was decidedly different in South America, where many countries were scarred deeply during the Cold War by human rights abuses inflicted in the name of anti-communism and where many continue to harbor a deep distrust of their powerful neighbor to the north.

“I don’t know of any U.S. citizen who is more deplored, more disliked in Latin America than Henry Kissinger,” said Stephen Rabe, a retired University of Texas at Dallas history professor who wrote a book about Kissinger’s relationship with Latin America. “You know, the reality is, if he had traveled once democracy returned to Argentina, to Brazil, to Uruguay — if he had traveled to any of those countries he would have been immediately arrested.”

Continue reading,

#united states #us politics #henry kissinger #democracy #international politics #brazil #chile #argentina #uruguay #mod nise da silveira #image description in alt

[vyorei]

Multiple groups both civil and religious have pressed the US to refuse to supply artillery shells to Apartheid Israel

#free gaza #free palestine #gaza strip #irish solidarity with palestine #palestine #gaza #news on gaza #al jazeera #boycott israel #israel #USA #Biden #Joe Biden #amnesty international #The Evangelical Lutheran Church #oxfam #Project on Middle East Democracy #lloyd austin #Yemen #Congo #Human Rights #Jerusalem #Tel Aviv #Current events

[astraystayyh]

oh and the USA vetoing a UN resolution for a ceasefire because, apparently, more than 7000 dead Palestinian children isn't enough for this "democracy". I'm seething with anger because Israel is committing a genocide and the USA is giving them a free permit to do so. Truly disgusting how the one country who backs/funds Israel with no regards to Palestinians is also the one who has the right to overrule ANY UN resolution regarding this genocide.

what's the use of such an institution then if it can't even establish a ceasefire in a SMALL STRIP where more than SIXTEEN THOUSAND civilians have died??? why do we give such horrible governments this much power?

also this happening after Antonia Gutteres invoked the 99th article of the UN charter, an article that was last used 52 YEARS ago, to bring into the attention of the council the URGENT need for a ceasefire, something he has NEVER done in his tenure as Secretary- General. all for it to be vetoed by the USA LMAO what is the use of these fucking articles then???? there are no human rights only an illusion of them, every institution that is created to protect them is just a performative tool for western powers

(if you didn't know a veto vote has the power to overrule any UN resolution, no matter how many countries voted in favor of it. the countries who can veto a resolution are the five permanent members of the council : USA, China, Russia, France and the UK. Also Art. 99 is invoked when in the opinion of UN's Secretary-General, a matter may threaten the maintain of international peace and security)

#USA'S reasoning being that a ceasefire would enable a new war #what about the fuckin palestinians that are dying RIGHT NOW???? #why do they grasp onto hypothetical situations when a genocide is happening IN REAL TIME #biden reassuring its citizens that the USA is doing anything to prevent civilian loss #idk maybe the first step would be to pass a resolution for a ceasefire??? idk just a thought #what has our world come to #no justice no international law no democracy NOTHING

[connorthemaoist]

1st July - International Campaign in honor of the martyrs of the revolution in India and the Philippines

#India #pw #maoism #communism #marxism leninism maoism #maoist #marxism #revolutionary #communist #socialism #revolution #mlm #Indian #internationalism #international solidarity #political prisoners #the philippines #new democracy #New Democratic revolution

[usauthoritarianism]

OK So Context

I kind of progressively lost my mind in college. What with the learning about the specifics of what is going on and how it relates to what has happened in the past. -and subsequently took the time to develop a series of presentations about why the US sucks.

Specifically, the interventions in Latin American, just the astoundingly predatory nature of American Capitalism domestically and The Police, like, as a concept.

Fast forward to the Summer of 2022 and I realized that working with an editor and publishing a book is hard and expensive but its measured in thousands not tens of thousands so I committed to doing that at some point in my life with this project, and began working on adapting the presentations with more research and more connections between these different expressions of White Supremacy.

I let the research balloon. There's just so much.

Anyway, the whole social media campaign thing was to distract me from pinning all that down. -and last month one of the members of my subreddit, u/acebush1, self immolated in the time it took to get around to responding to his most recent comment. That made this all very real. The US' support for Israel and it's foundation as a settler colonial state are critically relevant.

Right, so,. Last month someone asked me how to buy the book and that was the thing I had said to myself would mark the transition back to a writing and research focus rather than just research and learning social media.

Site is up. Its an email submission form with a set your own price stripe link.

#US Authoritarianism Project #Aaron Bushnell #US Politics #protest #writeblr #History #Colonialism #Imperialism #Police #Duopoly #Democracy #republicans #American Fascism #american exceptionalism #Slavery #Jim Crow #Segregation #Mass Incarceration #reservation #deportation #forced migration #sterilization #eugenics #ethnic cleansing #dred scott #japanese internment #guantanamo #trail of tears #US Authoritarianism #Anarchy

[democracyinternational]

Democracy International Wins Multi-Million Dollar IDIQ to Further USAID’s Localization Efforts Worldwide 

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) has awarded Democracy International (DI) the Compliance and Capacity Support for Diverse Partnerships (CCSDP) Indefinite Delivery, Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) contract. The five-year mechanism from the Local, Faith, and Transformative Partnerships Hub of USAID’s Bureau for Democracy, Development, and Innovation, which has a $250 million shared ceiling, represents a significant milestone in DI’s effort to advance effective and inclusive development partnerships. The CCSDP IDIQ aims to ensure that local partners and governments have the capabilities and resources to serve as prime partners for USAID programming and supports USAID Missions to improve and expand local partnerships.

“We are deeply honored to be selected as a holder of the CCSDP IDIQ mechanism,” said DI President and CEO Eric Bjornlund. “This recognition underscores DI’s dedication to working with USAID to advance localization approaches that contribute to the sustainability and effectiveness of development initiatives.” 

In partnership with Abt Associates and KPMG International, DI is ready to collaborate with USAID Missions and Operating Units globally to implement CCSDP programming. Through this IDIQ, USAID can leverage DI’s evidence-based approaches to localization.  DI and its partners offer services including monitoring, evaluation, and learning; risk mitigation; and tailored capacity strengthening for local actors. 

### 

Democracy International supports active citizens, responsive governments, and engaged civil society and political organizations to achieve a more peaceful, democratic world. By developing and using new knowledge, tools, and approaches and drawing insights from behavioral science, DI works to change people’s lives and improve development assistance. 

#program update #democracy #governance #democracy international #international development #usaid #latest #localization #local partners #MEL #monitoring #capacity strengthening #risk mitigation #CCSDP

[agentfascinateur]

Another day, another school torn down by a "democratic ally"

#palestine #israeli apartheid #palestinians #israeli occupation #illegal settlements #free palestine #democracy #idf terrorists #idf #right wing terrorism #right wing extremism #benjamin netanyahu #ben givr #united nations #un violations #un sanctions #international law #west bank #free gaza #jenin #shireen abu akleh #ramallah #usa

[kp777]

By Brett Wilkins

Common Dreams

April 17, 2024

Yanis Varoufakis hailed the effort as "a treasure chest of well-researched reports on how the reactionaries of the world unite."

"Coups. Assassinations. Riots. Detentions. Disinformation. We know the tactics that have been deployed to undermine our democracies. But who is behind them?"

Progressive International (PI) asks and answers this and other questions with an extensive new database published Wednesday that connects the dots in what the leftist group calls the "Reactionary International"—a loose global network of right-wing leaders and organizations working to subvert democratic institutions.

PI calls it an "illicit network undermining democracy around the world."

"Today is a mask-off moment for the Reactionary International and the parties, politicians, judges, journalists, foundations, think tanks, tech platforms, NGOs, activists, financiers, and entrepreneurs that comprise it," PI said.

"After a year of preparation, we finally open the doors to our new research consortium, exposing the global network of reactionary forces that corrode our democracies, destroy our planet, and drive us closer to world war," the group added.

"The twin insurrections at the U.S. Capitol in 2021 and Brasília's Three Powers Plaza in 2023 left no doubt about the international coordination of reactionary forces," PI argued. "Yet far too little is known about the entities of this network, their sources of financing, and their institutional allies operating inside our political systems."

Ultimately, PI aims to "support democratic systems to become more resilient to their insidious tactics."

From leaders like Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and former U.S. President Donald Trump—the presumptive 2024 Republican presidential nominee—to evangelical Christian groups influencing laws in African countries criminalizing LGBTQ+ people and tech companies empowering ubiquitous state surveillance, Reactionary International is a who's-who of the world's right-wing forces.

A cursory search of the database's contents shows users can:

Learn about Israel's NSO, Rayzone, and Team Jorge, and how a team of Tel Aviv tech entrepreneurs fuel unrest in Latin America;

Meet the Grey Wolves, Turkey's roving death squad with links to President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and the ethno-nationalists in his governing coalition; and

Explore the global network of the Falun Gong, its Trump-connected media outlet The Epoch Times, and its traveling dance troupe known as Shen Yun.

Yanis Varoufakis, a PI member and secretary-general of the left-wing Democracy in Europe Movement 2025, called the database "a treasure chest of well-researched reports on how the reactionaries of the world unite."

PI invites the public to contribute to the database.

"Together, we will not only name, shame, and expose the forces of the far right—but also dismantle their network of complicity," the group said.

#reactionary international #progressive international #yanis varoufakis #democracy

[if-you-fan-a-fire]

Photographs taken by Yon Shimizu, a Japanese-Canadian who was exiled from the west coast of Canada to Ontario during the second World War, along with hundreds of other Japanese-Canadian men. In 1942, he worked along with several dozen other men as a farm labourer with the Ontario Farm Service Force near Glencoe, equidistant from Sarnia, London and Chatham.  These are photographs he took of the sugarbeet harvest, and were digitized from a DVD of Yon Shimizu’s scrapbook by the Southwestern Ontario Digital Archive. All dated 1942 though they definitely show a range of time during that summer and fall - final harvesting of sugarbeets is in late October or November, and the last photo shows the men huddling from the cold in November.

1) At Glencoe train station; the ‘49′ Gang, according to the caption. Left to right: Tsutomu "Stum" Shimizu, E. Ono, T. Okamoto, T. Kuwabara.

2) Blocking 48 Gang, that is, thinning or "blocking" the sugar beets; left to right: S. Miyashita, Y. Madokoro, S. Kawahara, J. Henmi.

3) “He-Men.” Left to right: B. Hoita, K. Goto, T. Hoita.

4) “Siesta Time!” T. Okamoto taking a siesta during the beet harvest.

5) “Block Busters!” Showing off some huge sugarbeets during the thinning (blocking) process.

6) Gang 5 "Toppers A-1" Butch Hoita and Stum Shimizu.

7) Gang 5 "Toppers A-1" Tommy Hoita and Tomo Okamoto.

8) Gang 5 "Toppers A-1" Stum Okamoto and Esao Ono.

9) Gang 5 "Toppers A-1" Tom Kuwabara and Yon Shimizu. Toppers defoliate the beets as close to harvesting as possible.

10) Lunch, Cold November Day

#japanese canadian internment #internment camps #japanese canadians #canadian history #farm camp #nikkei #nikkei kanadajin #canada during world war 2 #dictatorship within democracy #relocation camp #defence of canada regulations #glencoe #kent county #chatham #london ontario #racism in canada #black and white photography #archival photography

[shotofstress]

U know what enrage me? That in Chile, being the country with the largest diaspora of Palestinians and their descendants in the world, say Palestinians are, a lot of them, christian conservatives, right wing, fascists. We haven't still kickout and close the israeli embassy and no one relevant have call for it yet. The world famous Palestinian FC? Is in the upper class neighbourhood in which the poor can't go bc is far af, u feel poorer and more brown when u go to the upper class area of the capital where the rich live behind walls bc they hate the poor. I can't buy the shirt of the football club coz is expensive af and was in fact easier and less expensive to bring a kufiya of Hebron 15 years ago. The Palestinian politicians are 99% of them seudo christian but full fascists and have supported the right wing governments since ever. Including the ones that supported the crimes of Piñera's dictatorship (torture, mutilation, rape, detentions, burning buildings like supermarkets, closing them in working class areas to control food and water, etc). Some palestinians here have huge companies and fabrics, being one of the migrant groups with more money in hands of some families which are the wealthiest of the country. And the representatives of Palestinians here, like club Palestine, have never say a thing. Never speak against the fascism, the crimes against queer people or the native nations of Chile which have been under colonisation and ethnic cleaning for centuries, the destruction of the land at hands of the upper class stealing water, food, killing ppl for lack of basic human resources, the killing of the land and our ppl at hands of the extraction of minerals, the constant political killings, the amount of nazis we had/have here and their descendants that are known for supporting every crime here. I can't stand that the faces of Palestine here are the upper class while the other Palestinians working class lives, works or study in middle class areas or the marginalised areas with other migrants.

Why Palestine here is represented by the blond pale upper class that speaks with the accent of the upper class and only interact with the upper class that hate the poor, the black, the brown, the natives, the left, the queers? Even a open supporter and known spy of pinochets dictatorship created the hymn of the Club and they honored him and shit at the club when the fascist piece of shit died some years ago? The ones that speak up in their ig account had our comments deleted. And that shit is every day when u point out how they betrayed the values that one is supposed to have if u call for Palestine liberation. Is not our obligation to be anti fascist, anti capitalist, anti imperialists if we belive in Palestine liberation?

In every single one of the protests and riots that occurred in Chile, the Palestinian flag is high in the sky like the chilean one, the Wallmapu, the Wiphala. Palestine flag is part of our daily life as well the histories of families and friends living, working, being friends with the working class palestinians back in the day. Even now Palestinians lifes are waved in our personal histories in one way or another. There is no place in which there is not palestinian food stores or restaurants, is impossible to not see al least 1 person with a kufiya or the flag in ur daily life, I growth up with a portrait of Yasir Arafat in my house, multiple Qurans in the house, multiple kufiyas and garments, books, art, even the food become part of my household. I ĥad school mates, neighbours of the area, one of the ppl I live with went to the beautiful mosque of the neighbourhood. In one of my school trips to other region of the country they took us to the mosque there in which ppl of all religions and faiths can pray together and was built with the idea of peace and living together, all the material are native to our land, and is one of the most beautiful buildings I have ever seen.

The little I know of my family history is that always, always, had relationship in some one or another with palestinians and other ppl from Middle East and the Arab world (heck anyone that was a migrante also). There is even a tradition to pass the same name from one generation to another, which i can only guess was bc a palestinian or other person of the region, but don't know if was bc a friend or even maybe someone in the past married or was in love with a palestinian. I don't know how many ppl back in the blood line carried the name, I know of at least 4 in different generations, but I carry it.

I remember being a kid and placing candles and drawings with the Palestinian flag in my balcony bc we always saw the news about Palestina. I wanted peace for them, and also wandered why no one send guerrillas to help them, like the armed resistance in Pinochets dictatorship, all the South American resistances fighting dictatorships, or all the people that went from all over the world to fight against the dictatorships of Hitler, Franco, Tito, etc. Why? Why no one went to help them? Years later, I thought the same but without the innocence of then, I asked out loud and also in my mind, why no one calls for an armed resistance from all over the globe. My couple said to me that make no sense the hippie upper class family friendly park activity in the rich neighbourhood made by the Club to raise money (which j don't know why considering that, as I said, that some of the upper classes families could take money of their own wallets comfortable without worrying of not been able to pay the bills the next months, they will not loss the money) when what Palestine needs is to fight, not thoughts and prayers. Certainly Palestina don't need the conservative right wing disguised as left descendents that feel more part of the chilean upper class that is terrible european-ish and gringo-ish as all upper classes of South America that want to distance themselves of the natives and the brown and black working class.

I saw an anarchist saying that they felt alone asking for the world to help with soldiers and guerrilleros. I said tons of times why when was the fascist Ukraine (that said brown and black ppl deserved war and blue eyes blonde ppl like them don't ) everyone was making graffiti of "freedom to the donbas" and literally bought military gear to use and tried to fly to Ukrain to fight the fascist Russia for days and weeks, calling to arms, even when tons of European countries decided to care bc geopolitics, but when was and is still Palestine??? Where are the people that are ready to fight? Where are they? The anarchist asked why ppl is being so indifferent. What I can tell them when not even the descendants are answering nor making that question here in the piece of crap country in which they live? I saw yesterday a video of Palestinians in other country singing for Palestine and calling for the arrive of freedom, independence, and socialism. Yes, socialism.

I just appreciate and feel empathy for Palestine. Is a problem that i feel this way? Idk I guess I am wrong af if I am more radical than the community here.

But can I say that it makes me cry and feel deep pain and wrath that my fellow humans are exterminate in a Final solution crime at hands of a european and USA check point disguised as a country? Yes, I can say that. I know that never ever an ethno state or any colonialist has stopped because u ask please. I also know, from the history of the world, that only fighting helps (and economical sanctions from everyone against the opressor which the world will not make bc they will call them anti semitic and all that zionist rhetoric and questions colonialism). Yes, fighting fake news helps, but helps more, u know, physically fight the oppressors, saying the truth. I'm tired of hearing diplomatic "middle ground" and "both sides" bullshit. I'm tired of the world behaving like they didn't allowed the comeback in full force of the extremist far right in every corner and Palestine in used as experiment to what can be done without consequences. I can expect this from the Canadian, French, German or Statetian that want to deport everyone bc what can u expect of imperialists countries? But that the descendants of the oppressed support Conservative shit behaviour even when the land of their families is under ethnic cleaning???

How can capitalism, imperialism, right wing politics and life style transform you in a disgrace? Why then the working class chileans and mostly all south Americans rise the Palestine flag? Shpuld we not? We have no right, is not our place to fight for palestinians, we can only fight with them when they call for us. I repeat; fight with them but not for them. I wonder how many south americans from different cultures and nations would take arms if palestinians from the diaspora call us. But then I remember that we don't even help the neighbours and only help white ppl. Is this what displacement do? We all were displaced of territories. So is this why no one cares beyond the pantomime of seudo leftists speech, thoughts and prayers, and sharing info in social media?

Why I am angry when it feels like I should forget how every territory that has been colonised get rid of the imperialists? Should I stick to just share news with mouth shut in social media that censors and shadowban the truth and deletes the accounts of palestinians? Is this how we see the world sinking in full nazi shit and a entire country disappear? Extermination, deporting ppl, europeans creating ethno states, zionism, christo fascism, Islamic ppl that don't help their own ppl in other country, south america living a second Operation Condor and under full invasion of USA with tons of military bases and supporting dictatorships and corrupting elections. All happening at the same time and I just can't stop to remember that while genocide was declared internationally and here was the anniversary of the dictatorship of Piñera (with zero justice for the crimes and the declaration of war he made to his own country helped with israeli weapons and torture techniques) and the year of the 50th anniversary of the Coup against Allende the palestinians organisations here didn't say a thing about this things (as always) and didn't had an bank account for help to Palestine until 4 days later, but first they announced that they would had to cancel the lunch they made every week for the memebers of the club (for wich u have to pay of course).

How can be posible that my source of true and reliable information and hope is people from all over the world, but not the literal fucking palestinian club in the country with the most number of palestinians??? They share some fake news and the comments is full of anti semitic conspiranoic rich ppl for fuck sake. All bs Christians of course, forget u will see more muslims there or palestinian theology of liberation. They even make a Christian mass but nothing in the mosques, announced nothing.

Why I can trust palestinians and all the people that is fighting out there but not the ones here?

Should I just give up? Lost hope? Think that is preferable no """violence""" (aka no resistance) and only care if was a direct family member like I just read a person say? I just read a human saying their grandmother was palestinian and had to fly to Chile bc the colonialist settlement, and that her grandmother died some years ago, and that they, the human writing, don't belive in violence, but they would probably feel angry if were their kids corpse in a plastic bag and then they would feel that violence is necessary.

I feel this country stain everything and everyone that lives here for too long. The fascism and the lack of empathy and understanding corrupts all.

There are better countries to live, it must be one, this one is terrible and the next constitution being written and will be voted stripes working class of all our human rights, and the next presidential candidate is a far right pinochetist son of a nazi that had slaves here, stole land from indigenous ppl and country folk in the south which is full of nazis.

This is why u probably haven't seen news about huge manifestations here in Chile beyond the one of the other day (that wasn't really big) and see mostly from any other part of the globe. Here have been no really hard protests nor anything. There was a call for a international strike the other day and here nothing happened really. Palestinians of the world need to call out the ones here for forgetting the anti colonialist and anti capitalist fight, the fight for life and freedom.

All the ppl living in Palestine deserves better than this behaviour, my pathetic angry post, 20 miserable trucks that can't pass, and this soulless heartless world.

In my disable body for moments lives the hope that someday they will have socialism and every imperialist in the world would die at hands of the ppl they oppressed. Survive Palestine, Free Palestine, Independent 1 state Palestine, Socialist Palestine from the river to the sea.

#colonialism #colonization #genocide #ethnic cleansing #palestine #chile #diaspora #human rights #resistance #liberation #fascisim #guerrilla #armed resistance #support #class war #democracy #internalized colonialism #internalized fascism