Lawmakers visit 'Alligator Alcatraz,' but some wonder how much they'll get to see
https://apnews.com/article/alligator-alcatraz-immigration-detainees-florida-dd1cd271b864a72e6fed1f95d62ee8f7?utm_source=flipboard&utm_medium=activitypub

Posted into U.S. News @u-s-news-AssociatedPress

US to raise tariff rate on EU goods to 30% from 1 August, EU open to talks but ready to respond
https://www.euronews.com/business/2025/07/12/trump-eu-goods-will-face-30-us-tariff-rate-starting-on-1-august?utm_source=flipboard&utm_medium=activitypub

Posted into Business @business-euronews

US to raise tariff rate on EU goods to 30% from 1 August, EU open to talks but ready to respond

The European Commission responded to Trump's announcement in a written statement, saying it remains ready to reach an agreement, while also taking "necessary steps to safeguard EU interests, including the adoption of proportionate countermeasures."

^{Emma De Ruiter (Euronews.com)}

[1/2] middleeasteye.net/news/new-yor…
nysfocus.com/2023/11/16/new-yo…
stallman.org/archives/2025-may…

*New York lawmakers [including Zohran Mamdani] relaunch bill to stop charities funding Israeli settlers.* The bill would also prohibit donations to Israeli military units operating in Gaza. About

New York lawmakers relaunch bill to stop charities funding Israeli settlers

A group of state-level lawmakers in New York have resubmitted a piece of legislation that would bar any charities in the state from sending tax-deductible money to Israeli settlers and Israeli military units in Gaza.

^{MEE staff (Middle East Eye)}

Need a laugh to forget all the 24/7 psyops?

Love & Marriage -Vicar of Dibley

youtube.com/watch?v=Q_VeGFPY6B…

love & marriage -vicar of dibley.wmv

vicar of dibley episode love and marriage

^YouTube

'Israel reports casualties as Resistance grows in Gaza, Khan Younis

Intense Gaza battles continue in Khan Younis and al-Shujaiya as Palestinian Resistance factions strike Israeli forces, causing multiple casualties and vehicle losses.'

Al Mayadeen

#Gaza #Resistance

en.mdn.tv/8ZR9

'Israel' reports casualties as resistance grows in Gaza, Khan Younis

^{Al Mayadeen English ('Israel' reports casualties as resistance grows in Gaza, Khan Younis)}

'#Microsoft shareholders demand report into the company's 'human rights due diligence' over allegations of #warcrime complicity in #Gaza' | PC Gamer

share.google/Mo4XWSuvQRtEKKK2V

Microsoft shareholders demand report into the company's 'human rights due diligence' over allegations of war crime complicity in Gaza

A group of more than 60 Microsoft shareholders has filed a proposal that will be voted on at the company's next Annual General Meeting.

^{Andy Chalk (PC Gamer)}

Al Jazeera reports that a map it obtained shows Israel’s forced displacement plan covers 40% of Gaza, including Beit Lahia, Beit Hanoun, Khuza’a, and areas near Salah al-Din Street, displacing 700,000 to Rafah. - MenaLive

#Gaza #GazaGenocide #IsraelWarCrimes #WesternDoubleStandards

This is such BS

nbcbayarea.com/news/local/fate…

What they aren't saying is that of they even get the 4 billion from the feds there is another 7 billion they have no idea how to get to finish the project.

California awaits fate of high-speed rail in federal funding clash

The deadline for California to counter the White House’s claim that the state’s high-speed rail has no viable path forward has arrived.

^{Kris Sanchez (NBC Bay Area)}

what's going on with this random flooding all over the planet right now????

i swear someone is doing a global warming psyop. watch what's coming next in the msm they'll be pushing climate lock-downs or something

The Wretched of the Earth: Fanon’s Anti-Colonial Manifesto Lives on in Yemen, Palestine, Sahel States

In the spring and summer of 1961, as Algeria bled through its seventh year of war against French colonial rule, a dying Frantz Fanon poured his revolutionary vision into words. Too weak to write, he dictated “The Wretched of the Earth” — a book that would ignite liberation movements across the globe — to Josie Fanon, his life companion and fellow anti-colonial fighter. Around them, the struggle for independence raged; inside their exile in Tunisia, a manifesto for the oppressed was being forged.

The Algerian people waged a guerrilla war against French colonial and allied right-wing forces. The war took a tremendous toll on Algerian fighters, workers, and peasants.

Fanon was battling leukemia, a disease that would claim his life on Dec. 6 of that year. Just months after his death, 1962 witnessed the triumphant conclusion of the Algerian War, as the liberation forces achieved victory and secured the complete withdrawal of French colonial rule. This hard-won independence became a beacon of hope for liberation movements worldwide — a legacy that continues to inspire oppressed resistance across the globe.

Beginning at the outbreak of the war in 1954 and until he was exiled for his nationalist politics, Fanon served diligently as a physician and psychologist at a French Hospital in Algeria. For years, he treated not only Algerian people tortured by French authorities but also French soldiers traumatized from carrying out acts of torture and murder against the Algerian people.

This gave Fanon a critical perspective into the brutality and inhumanity at the center of any colonial regime. The same brutality Fanon observed in French colonial rule in Algeria can be seen today in the Zionist apartheid state and the U.S. military assault on Yemen.

In “The Wretched of the Earth,” Fanon analyzes the crippling long-term impacts of colonial repression on colonized people. Due to Fanon’s political beliefs, he did not stop at psychology. Fanon actively encouraged the oppressed masses of African people to rise up and take back their culture, their society, and their lives by any means necessary – and particularly through armed struggle.

Fanon’s legacy of anti-colonial resistance resonates powerfully today in Africa and the West Asia region. In the Sahel states, Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger have expelled French-backed regimes, seeking to reclaim their nations’ resources and wealth for their own people rather than enriching billionaires in Paris.

Similar defiant resistance against imperialist domination can be witnessed across West Asia, particularly in Yemen and Palestine, where populations have courageously confronted vastly superior military powers. Despite the immense sacrifices these struggles have demanded, the resolve of these peoples remains unbroken, embodying the same revolutionary spirit that Fanon championed decades ago.

This year will be the 100th anniversary of Fanon’s birth on July 20. The best way to honor Fanon’s commitment to decolonization is to support the continued struggles of colonized and oppressed people across the planet, from Yemen to Palestine to the Sahel.

source: Struggle La Lucha

abolitionmedia.noblogs.org/?p=…

#antiColonialism #antiImperialism #burkinaFaso #palestine #resistance #sahel #yemen

The Wretched of the Earth: Fanon’s Anti-Colonial Manifesto Lives on in Yemen, Palestine, Sahel States
abolitionmedia.noblogs.org/202…

"In the spring and summer of 1961, as Algeria bled through its seventh year of war against French colonial rule, a dying Frantz Fanon poured his revolutionary vision into words.…"

A look at the countries that received Trump's tariff letters
https://apnews.com/article/trump-tariffs-countries-letters-166230b4fa2be33ece1825322b34ff6a?utm_source=flipboard&utm_medium=activitypub

Posted into U.S. News @u-s-news-AssociatedPress

Understanding Yemen 2/2: Ansar Allah Values

To understand how Ansar Allah-led Yemen defeated an apparently superior military force, led by Washington, and then directly confronted the Israelis and their sponsors in the Red Sea, we should return to the values and ideology of the movement.

Ansar Allah ideology comes from the Quranic Project of Hussein Badr al-Din al-Houhti, who was killed in 2004 during the six northern wars, carried out by the late President Saleh, following a green light from US President George W. Bush (Root 2013), as part of his “war on terror”; even though Saleh himself had been linked to Al-Qaeda (Jordan 2015). This Quranic Project shares values with many independence movements, some with the Iranian Revolution, along with some of its own distinct features.

Ansar Allah is a movement, not a party like Hezbollah. Mohammed Ali al-Houthi, head of the Supreme Revolutionary Committee (SRC), said, “The revolution is every member within the … Yemeni fabric who rejects corruption and … upholds values and freedom, rejects tyranny, guardianship, invasion and occupation and resists aggression, siege and blind subservience” (Almahfali and Root 2020; Sputnik Arabic 2018). The Yemeni people “are a people who reject injustice, humiliation, subjugation, arrogance and conceit. They are a people who, by nature, carry within their culture and awareness a revolutionary sense … [they] have always rallied and moved with those who reject colonialism … those who stand with the invader are rejected and denounced and remain agents and mercenaries in the eyes of the popular majority” (Sputnik Arabic 2018).

This movement grew with a charismatic leader, Sayyed Hussein Badr al-Din al-Houthi, but it is not a personality cult. Sayyed al-Houthi “had a leadership personality, everyone that knew him loved him,” said Abdulkareem Jadban, an MP from Saada. “He urged people to face the [North] American hegemony after 9/11” (Root 2013). His ideas remain important, as should be obvious from the strong growth of Ansar Allah in the 20 years since Hussein’s death.

We could speak of the values of Ansar Allah under six themes: the defense of an independent nation and culture; Islamism through Quranic values; a culture of resistance in the face of hegemonic attack; clear identification of the enemy; social inclusion and avoidance of war; and the persistence of Yemeni customary law and tribal governance.

Understandings of these values are particularly important in view of several Western war myths that Ansar Allah are “Houthi rebels” who are “Iran’s proxies” and part of a “Shia crescent” destabilizing the Arabian Peninsula and the region. These myths disguise the revolution of 2011-2014, underline the refusal to recognize the new government in Sanaa, and help bolster UNSC resolutions, which legitimized the dirty war and siege of the country.

Some of the better Western analyses of Ansar Allah appreciate its local origins and that it has been influenced, but not determined or controlled, by the Iranian revolution (Gordon and Parkinson 2018); and that it builds on nationalist and republican roots which recognize religious traditions and authority (Almahfali and Root 2020). But most tend to turn against the Yemeni revolution for its Islamism and incompatibility with bourgeois liberalism (i.e. Anglo-American corporate rule with a semblance of individual liberties).

Despite that deep prejudice, there is huge popular interest in how Ansar Allah-led Yemen defeated the US-Saudi-Emirati aggression and then came fearlessly to the direct defense of the Palestinian people under attack by the Israelis in Gaza. I suggest the answers to these questions lie in popular support for Ansar Allah values. So what are those values and how are they seen in practice?

First, as an independence movement, Ansar Allah aims to protect and defend indigenous, inclusive Yemeni culture and values in the face of foreign intervention. This is a common theme of all anti-imperial and anti-colonial movements, including the Islamic Revolution of Iran.

The defense of independent cultures, values, and nations is a key global theme. We could go further, arguing that the central polemic today is not capitalism versus socialism or liberal democracy versus the rest, but rather a globalist dictatorship versus independent nations. In a supposedly post-colonial era, we still see this struggle for independence across Africa, Asia, Latin America, and the Arab and Muslim world.

Anti-imperialism, anti-colonialism, and anti-Zionism – counter-hegemonic struggles – are all consequences of this drive for political, economic, and social independence. In Yemen, despite the important national unification of the 1990s, there remained a corrupt regime that collaborated with the imperial power and its agents, making use of sectarian groups to divide and rule the nation.

Second, Ansar Allah shares with the Iranian Revolution an Islamic foundation of independent values based on the Quran – humility, honor, self-sacrifice, social justice, and social inclusivity – values which inform and sit alongside nationalism, anti-imperialism, and anti-Zionism (Panah 2008: ch.3; Almahfali and Root 2020).

Ansar Allah, from its Zaydi roots, while recognizing the Prophet’s Holy Family (Ahlul Bayt) and the Sayyed lineage, does not share the Shia doctrine of Twelve Imams (including the Mahdi) nor does it accept the infallibility of Imams (Almahfali and Root 2020). Mandated struggle against the unjust rule is one feature that the Zaydi tradition has in common with the Shia. In the tradition of Zayd ibn Ali, true imams must fight corrupt rulers; but imams are neither divinely ordained nor infallible and this leads to greater jurisprudence in Islamic law, preventing the idea of an imamate or strict religious rule (Almahfali and Root 2020).

Sayyed Hussein was deeply impressed by Iran’s Khomeini and Lebanon’s Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah because of their firm principles. He said of Khomeini and Nasrallah that, in their application of Islamic values, “we do not notice the doctrinal side,” and so there is room for jurisprudence (Almahfali and Root 2020). So, while the historic sacrifice of Imam Hussein (a central Shia theme) has entered Ansar Allah’s broad Islamic tradition, other more secular or non-doctrinal themes have developed, such as Sayyed Abdul-Malik al-Houthi’s stress on nationalism and social justice.

Recognizing the legacy of the leader of the Iranian Revolution, Sayyed Hussein said, “Imam Khomeini was a blessing to the Arabs if they had wanted liberation from Israel.” Sayyed Khomeini was “a great leader with a correct vision and a strong people.” It has been said that Iran’s Islamic Revolution both “does and does not” influence Ansar Allah (Almahfali and Root 2020). Ansar Allah extends the Zaydi principle of “commanding what is just and forbidding what is wrong” (Almahfali and Root 2020).

Importantly, Ansar Allah also parallels Sayyed Khomeini in placing a similar emphasis on a pure Islam of “the downtrodden and humble … the barefooted” [Al-Mustadh’afin] as opposed to what he called “American Islam … the Islam of comfort and luxury … of compromise and ignominy, the Islam of the indolent” (ITF 2014) – following the Quranic declaration (al Qassas 28:5) of “our favour on the oppressed.”

That responsibility to the oppressed and downtrodden [Al-Mustadh’afin] was fundamental to both Sayyed Khomeini’s initiatives in support of Palestine and to Ansar Allah’s Red Sea operations, after the Resistance’s Operation Al-Aqsa Flood.

Nevertheless, Ansar Allah leaders have made it clear that Yemen’s governance is for Yemenis to decide. “There is no Iranian intervention in Yemen. and the Saudis can inspect the missiles [we fire] … they are purely Yemeni made … We reject any sort of foreign intervention either by the Saudis, the Americans, the Egyptians or the Iranians” (Mohamed Ali al-Houthi in Ya Libnan 2015).

Third, dedicated resistance is a step beyond simple claims of political independence. Resistance is a commitment in the face of a hegemonic attack. Ansar Allah stresses active defense of the nation and culture in the face of those who “occupy our countries and wage war against our religion” (Hussein Badr al-Din al-Houthi 2001b). That includes the duty toward other oppressed Arab and Muslim peoples, especially the Palestinians. One Ansar Allah leader explained to me: we oppose war, but fighting in self-defense and in defense of the oppressed is both permitted and mandated. This moral obligation to support the oppressed comes before political considerations and helps explain Ansar Allah’s unhesitating confrontation with the Israelis and the Anglo-Americans.

An Ansar Allah cultural leader explained to me that, historically, the Muslim communities in Yemen’s highlands, farther away from colonial invasions (mainly Zaydi), had maintained a stronger resistance to invading cultures than those (mainly Shafi) on the coast.

Secular parallels are made to stress the necessity of resistance and social transformation, in defense of indigenous culture. Mohamed Ali al-Houthi said, “The scale of the conspiracy [against Yemen] has pushed the people to engage in a long-term battle until … victory, just as revolutions around the world, including the Bolshevik Revolution in Russia, triumphed” (Sputnik Arabic 2018).

The steadfastness of Ansar Allah has become a thing of legend. They have repeatedly vowed to maintain their support for Gaza even after multiple bombing attacks by the Israelis and the Anglo-Americans (Abdul Malik al-Houthi 2025). Those Red Sea operations have established the Yemeni resistance as an icon for the world (Tuboltsev 2025). Even conservative British bodies recognize that the Yemenis are “diversifying their alliances and deepening their military capabilities, leveraging regional conflicts and pragmatic partnerships to expand their influence beyond the Iranian-led ‘axis of resistance’” (Ardemagni 2024). Hundreds of thousands of Yemenis have rallied in support of these commitments by Ansar Allah leaders (MNA 2025).

Fourth, clear identification of the enemy is a distinct emphasis in Ansar Allah’s ideology. Sayyed Hussein put this in the context of a world where North Americans elevated former collaborators like Osama Bin Laden and Saddam Hussein to the status of ‘enemies’ of the imperial powers, but these were false stories designed to fool people. “Thus they direct people towards imaginary figures and illusory danger.” We are in a “civilizational struggle,” and “the Jews know who really poses a threat to them,” and this is why in Iran they chant “Death to America, death to Israel” (Hussein Badr al-Din al-Houthi 2001a).

In this deceptive world, Yemen must clearly identify its enemies, including cultural enemies, so as to empower and focus the masses in their popular struggle. Hussein added we must “train ourselves and our children to carry enmity towards the enemies of God – the Jews and the Christians.” Borrowing from Iran but building its distinct Yemeni character, Hussein railed against the US attempts “to force their culture upon us, to occupy our countries and to wage a war against our religion” (Almahfali and Root 2020).

While Ansar Allah shares with Iran the slogans “Death to America, Death to Israel”, in their political sense of opposing those regimes, Sayyed Hussein also demanded recognition of the cultural assault from “Jews and Christians”. Has “the Ummah [Islamic community] reached a point where it cannot stand up to the Jews?” he asked. Quoting the Quran (Al Baqarah 2:120), he said, “Never will the Jews or the Christians be satisfied with you until you follow their religion” (Hussein Badr al-Din al-Houthi 2001a). By this, he means they force us to adopt their ideas and terminology.

Hussein spoke of the need to “train ourselves and our children to carry enmity towards the enemies of God – the Jews and the Christians. Enmity in Islam is positive and important. If you carry genuine enmity towards America and Israel, if the leaders carry genuine enmity, and if Muslims carry genuine enmity, then they will prepare themselves to be able to face the confrontation. But if there is no real enmity then they will not prepare” (Hussein Badr Din al Houthi 2001b).

The same confusion applies to opposing a particular Israeli regime rather than the usurping entity itself. Hussein said, in his time, they spoke of “Sharon’s government [referring to former Israeli PM Ariel Sharon] but not Israel … Israel is not considered a problem, not even its existence is seen as a problem. So they say Sharon’s government” (Hussein Badr Din al Houthi 2001b).

The cultural influence of these Western colonial cultures, beyond just the invading occupation projects and the Zionist entity, was therefore part of the enemy that sought to “wage war on our religion.” Hussein decried the colonization of Arabic and Islamic language so that, for example, “jihad” (in its original sense of a holy or spiritual struggle) has been virtually disqualified as an aim (Hussein Badr al-Din al-Houthi 2001b).

Fifth, Ansar Allah leaders have stressed their commitment to social inclusion within Yemen and their desire to avoid war. There is much evidence of this. Mohamed Ali al-Houthi said, “Yemen has not fired the first shot in the war … rather it is resisting and will triumph over the richest and strongest countries” (Sputnik Arabic 2018).

Recall that former President Ali Abdullah Saleh was the one who declared war against Ansar Allah and killed its leader Hussein in 2004. Nevertheless, after the Revolution and until the 2017 betrayal by Saleh, Ansar Allah included him in its Supreme Political Council. Many from the GPC, the main opposition party, are still included in Yemen’s revolutionary government. Others have defected to Ansar Allah from the Muslim Brotherhood. This is another reason why it is absurd to call the Sanaa government “Houthi rebels”.

Ansar Allah did not simply seize power in 2014; it filled a political vacuum left by the collapse of both Saleh’s regime and his transitional regime, plus the widespread rejection of the repartition proposals from the GCC (Popp 2015).

After the US-Saudi coalition declared war on the Sanaa Government, Ansar Allah leaders were ready for peace talks in 2015, without conditions. It was the puppet Hadi regime, which made demands that Ansar Allah surrender territory before any talks, which killed that early peace process (Ya Libnan 2015).

Sixth, the preservation of customary law and tribal governance continues to play an important role in Yemen and has long had a relation to state law, but its composition has changed since the rise of Ansar Allah (Worth 2016).

Tribal authority and mediation are used for everything from land disputes to justice over violent conflict (Mojalli 2015), and relations between local clan authorities have been a factor in the national war of liberation against the Coalition of Aggression and its sectarian agents.

It has been said, by some hostile sides to Ansar Allah, that their system of regional supervisors or mushrifin (Carboni 2021; Mugahed 2022) has weakened tribal authority.

Yet, principles of customary law seem to have remained well incorporated into Yemeni leadership and justice. In this way, traditional authority and many social norms remain embedded in Yemeni Islamic principles. For example, the use of the Yemeni dagger (jambiya) is regulated by both traditional and state law. It is often displayed, but there are penalties for withdrawing it or making threats with it.

In sum, Ansar Allah is a genuine, Indigenous Yemeni movement that led the only real and successful revolution of the so-called “Arab Spring”. It has been subject to dirty war and siege by Washington and its allies precisely because it is an independent movement. The Yemeni Revolution shares many values with the Iranian Revolution but remains a distinct revolutionary force and a key addition to the regional resistance, especially since the collapse of Damascus. The strength of the revolutionary government in Sanaa and its commitment to the Palestinians can best be appreciated through an understanding of the unique mix of Ansar Allah values and their mass support in Yemen.

For part 1/2: Understanding Yemen 1/2: The Revolution

References:

Abdul Malik al-Houthi, (2025) ‘Ansar Allah leader says US war failed to stop Yemen, reaffirms support for Palestine’, The Cradle, 8 May, online: https://thecradle.co/articles/Ansar Allah-leader-says-us-war-failed-to-stop-yemen-reaffirms-support-for-palestine

Ahmed, Omar (2021) ‘Why Yemen’s was the only real revolution, post-Arab Spring’, Middle East Monitor, 12 November, online: middleeastmonitor.com/20211112…

al-Fasly, Mahmoud Sagheer (2015) ‘Witnessing the Yemeni Revolution’ in Voices of the Arab Spring, Columbia University Press, online: degruyter.com/document/doi/10.…

Al Hadaa, Karima (2017) ‘The Dynamics of the Houthi-GPC alliance’, The Yemen peace project, 2 June, online: yemenpeaceproject.org/blog-x/h…

Almahfali, Mohammed and James Root (2020) ‘How Iran’s Islamic Revolution does, and does not, influence Houthi rule in Northern Yemen’, Sana’a Center for Strategic Studies, 13 February, online: sanaacenter.org/publications/a…

al-Qarawi, Hisham (2011) The Yemeni Revolution: replacing Ali Abdullah Saleh, or replacing obsolete institutions?, Arab Center for Research & Policy Studies, Doha Institute, online: dohainstitute.org/en/lists/ACR…

Al-Mouallimi, Abdallah Y. (2017) ‘It’s Up to the Rebels to Stop Yemen’s War’, New York Times, 3 October, online: nytimes.com/2017/10/03/opinion…

Amos, Deborah (2015) ‘For Yemen’s Ousted President, A Five-Star Exile With No End In Sight’, NPR, 14 June, online: npr.org/sections/parallels/201…

Anderson, Tim (2023) ‘The Betrayal of Yemen’, Centre for Counter Hegemonic Studies, online: counter-hegemonic-studies.site…

Ardemagni, Eleonora (2024) ‘Beyond the Axis: Yemen’s Houthis are Building their ‘Network of Resistance’, RUSI, 18 November, online: rusi.org/explore-our-research/…

Bell, Steve (2022) ‘Time to end, not escalate, the war on Yemen’, Stop the War Coalition UK, 24 January, online: stopwar.org.uk/article/time-to…

Bransten, Jeremy (2006) ‘Middle East: Rice Calls For A ‘New Middle East’, RFERL, 25 July, online: rferl.org/a/1070088.html

Carboni, Andrea (2021) ‘The Myth of Stability: Infighting and Repression in Houthi-Controlled Territories’, Armed Conflict Location & Event Data (ACLED), 9 February, online: acleddata.com/2021/02/09/the-m…

CCHS (2022) ‘The UN Security Council has betrayed the Yemeni people’, Centre for Counter Hegemonic Studies, 21 January, online: counter-hegemonic-studies.site…

CEP (2022) ‘Houthis’, Counter Extremism Project, [US Govt led] online: counterextremism.com/threat/ho…

CIA (1990) ‘North and South Yemen: in search of unity’, US Directorate of Intelligence, 19 January, online: cia.gov/readingroom/docs/DOC_0…

Source: Al Mayadeen

abolitionmedia.noblogs.org/?p=…

#ansarAllah #antiColonialism #Islam #yemen

Understanding Yemen 2/2: Ansar Allah Values
abolitionmedia.noblogs.org/202…

"To understand how Ansar Allah-led Yemen defeated an apparently superior military force, led by Washington, and then directly confronted the Israelis and their sponsors in the Red Sea, we should…"

A recent announcement that Israel intends to "concentrate" Gaza's population into camps built on Rafah's ruins before forcibly displacing them has elicited widespread international condemnation. But Israel has already been rolling out this plan for months.

mondoweiss.net/2025/07/israels…

#Palestine #Israel #Gaza
@palestine @israel

Israel’s plan to build Gaza ‘concentration camps’ was rolled out months ago

A recent announcement that Israel intends to “concentrate” Gaza’s population into camps built on Rafah’s ruins before forcibly displacing them has elicited international condemnation. But Israel has already been rolling out this plan for months.

^{Qassam Muaddi (Mondoweiss)}

You want to see the difference between real government and fake one? Let's talk about the floods in China and the floods in Texas.

#usa #china #politics #socialism

The Reckoning

The experience of genocide is, beyond agony, a peculiar one. While it is the bombs above your head, it is also the seeing those dearest to you retract their hands from a burning child for fear of a legal code, and a baton. As for the child engulfed, he discovers quickly who suffices themselves with tears, and who dares the flames.

If the past century had not, these last 21 months have evoked the sharpest of contradictions. Rage is a prevalent theme. Devastation. Inertia. Erecting walls and widening the divides has been an effortless task. With every massacre—the families burned alive tonight in Khan Younis, and every slaughter before and after it—we erupt in rage and renew our unwavering allegiance to the resistance. Taking sides is a forgone conclusion. Cursing the Jewish death cult, burning flags, and castigating traitors—we perform these rituals multiple times a day.

And yet today, I am confronted by an all-together more jarring reality. That this rage is a lie. These immovable convictions too. That the bodies once hidden in our closets now fill our homes. That they surround us at every turn. That we are drowning in blood. That there is hypocrisy in every word I pen. Our revolution makes no appearance beyond these pages, beyond weekends, beyond slogans bellowed—all too knowingly into the abyss. And it vanishes, instantly, at the first forecast of rain.

The devastation, and the required path of action—of searing bullets and blood stained knives—have never been more stark. Today, our cowardice is legendary. It stands as naked as the emperor, cocooned in all manner of exoneration. Our unbreakable spirits and rivers of wrath perish in the face of sacrifice. And what sacrifice?

When the people of Yemen exclaim, “our blood is not more valuable than the blood of Gaza,” they do so from hospital beds, in scattered bouts of consciousness, with exposed flesh. They speak, having fired rockets.

As for us, ours is a world of performance. An entire ethos governed by fear, inferiority complexes, sculpted by the sensitives of empire. Here, we are the harem, flaunting our bodies for western eyes, parading the limbs of our people. There are corpses everywhere. And we dance all around them. Some of us grieve. We weep. In the face of charred flesh we proclaim shamelessly that our hearts are aflame.

Imprisoned by fear, the escape routes are endless. Out of risk mitigation, wisdom, and greater goods, we forge careers. Life must go on. Sitting in cafes, we persuade ourselves of our piety. We clutch at our pearls and convince ourselves that these manicured hands are shackled. We appease ourselves with tears, frolic in prayer, and pour our guilt into carpets. At best, we demonstrate our convictions in humanitarian charity—here too, we escape the resistance.

We escape the rifle at every turn. Of course, we preach earnestly of its virtues. We celebrate the green headbands, romanticise the miraculous faith. A stone-throwing child confronting a tank— we adore the spectacle. Asked to join him, we all flee. The child’s bravery was heroic only at distance. Suddenly, the futility of a stone fills the room. The child is a martyr, but our lives are not to be given recklessly. There are long standing conventions to abide by. The fervour of youth must never cloud sound judgment.

For even the best of us, the sheer impracticality renders resistance logistically untenable. Never mind the material precedents, the distance is immense and the walls insurmountable. And when, by some divine feat, a tenable scheme is devised, we remind ourselves quickly that liberation requires a multiplicity of tactics.

But if, amidst the rabid fluttering of our lips, we catch a glimpse of our eyes, we would find them revolving, overcome by death.

I know, because even as I write, I struggle to admit that I see it in my own.

Any mention of concrete action, any diversion from the opulent comforts of advocacy, and we see the uniforms charging, the steel of the batons against our skin, the frigid depths of incarceration. Blind to the irony, we conclude that the detriment dwarfs the good. Seated still all the while, we are defeated from the start.¹

Looking ourselves in the eye, we realise, instantly, the truth of our condition. That the words we so ritually, and vehemently recite, the creeds we claim adherence to, pass no deeper than our throats. That with every convolution, and under every breath, we crystallise our sole conviction: that our lives are more precious than Gaza’s.

All of this, however, is not in pursuit of mourning. For Palestinians in Gaza, mourning has been an impossibility; for us, it is a notion all too convenient. Gaza demands a reckoning. A reckoning of flames. And it begins with those closest, the millions who chant at protests and—like me—sit behind screens. Those with clear consciences. Because the urgency of the moment cannot be reasoned away.

The unbridled barbarity demands we interrogate the pretenses of our absolution.² The mental contortions we internalise and spew. The endless means by which we evade, and delay, the inevitable. The doctrines by which we maintain a godless sanity and stifle the rattling of our hands.

Are we not accountable? What have I and those like me given? What have we sacrificed? What sanctity did we preserve? Did we shatter the monotony of our daily lives in the face of genocide? How many times did we stutter? How often did we forsake the skins of our people to save our own?

Already, before we have had a chance for introspection, I hear calls for a solution. For a pristine path. The glaring apparency of the answer reveals the question’s insincerity. I am tempted to ask what you would do if it was your child. Your father? Your fighters calling? Such rhetorics, however, are centred in selfishness. It’s the same egoism by which the ‘Nazi’ becomes the global byword for evil, when Europe has enacted graver horrors on the reds, blacks, yellows, and browns, for centuries. We shouldn’t need to superimpose ourselves in an imagined suffering to heed the screams of the burning. Or have the fashions of liberal capitalism, and the isolation of the harm principle, forged our hearts? Have we forgotten how to act in the service of others?

Today, all of us stand in awe of Gaza. We look upon its people with the greatest admiration. From our living rooms, we lust over their faith. The scenes are undoubtedly breathtaking. Children reciting prayers in lieu of anesthetic; Kites—white, with a long tail; A mother ululating for her fallen sons; Prostrations atop the rubble.

Romanticizing the spectacle is natural. Still, I cannot help but notice the expediency of our tales. Our privilege as observers renders the idylls perverse.

At some point, the question begs: why are the suicides never mentioned at the party?³ The children who threw themselves from windows. The men who trampled women in the daily wars for food. The women who looked to men for a price. And what about the thieves?

Are these subjects taboo by virtue? Perhaps there’s something more sinister at play. Perhaps they threaten the serenity of our lullaby. Why is it that we worship the miracle, but turn our backs on its calling?

Revolution is the skeleton in our closet. We are all only too aware of its presence. How could we not be? We’ve spent the past 15 months running from it.

I know my fingers have not left this page. To some extent, we all rationalise our inertia—else there would be no reader, and I would not be sitting here writing. We remain dinner-table revolutionaries. But our indolence cannot endure.

I see light in the barrel of a rifle. In Molotovs. Shattered ceilings. And if the flame of the Molotov must scorch the compatriot before the enemy, so be it.

When I speak of mass popular mobilisation in revolutionary action, it is envisioned or manifests as a program of chaos, which is to say the spontaneity, anarchic decentrality, and unconfined radicality of organic instinctual rage. It is the decided intent to enact change that progresses at a rate almost too fast—where operations occur across the land, each complimenting, inspiring, and mimicking the other, where the settler’s safety is shattered irreparably, and the umbilical of impregnability is severed. Undoubtedly, the response will be brutal and the losses crushing—at end, it is a question of will.

Why does a march to the border disperse at the first fire of teargas? Why does the presence of a uniform allow us to watch a man pummeled without eliciting a response? Why does a blaring crowd of a thousand flee a baton? These are questions of will, of belief, intent, and the willingness to sacrifice, this unfiltered manifestation of the revolutionary impulse, will not occur until the colonizer’s violence encompasses all, until it barges through the front door and leaves no alternate path—but it is also true, that if this intellectual condition is not developed, if the fear and attachment to personal luxury is not expelled, that even as the coloniser’s bullets pierce flesh, the body will not writhe.

Even so, the absolute governing principle remains that a thousand shells of words do not equal a single shell of iron. Tens of thousands of true fighters won’t be stopped by the fractured tears of men searching in the depths of defeat for scraps of armour.⁴

There is no parallel between the man who visits the camps to distribute toys, and the man who emerges from that camp with a rifle.

Still there are some nagging questions. Absolution clings to us like a soul being ripped from the throat of the dying.

In the scales of pragmatism, this battle is unwinnable, and in it, we have no part.

Yet, how many a small party triumph over the invincible?⁵ The parables are quite literally clichés. Gaza stands.

But doesn’t victory require formal organisation?

Victory is inevitable. Isn’t that what we tell ourselves when action becomes too agitating, before sighing and moving on? Gaza has shown us that victory requires only a handful of true men, holding themselves to account. So fight—you are accountable for none besides yourself.⁶

But the matter requires more time.

For time, humanity is ever at a loss.⁷

What then, are we to do?

Enter upon them through the gate.⁸

But the risks are too great, and we cannot compromise our families, our livelihoods.

The audacity is stunning. It might have been humorous if the reality wasn’t so morbid. If the backdrop wasn’t protruding collarbones and exposed nerves. If we hadn’t heard the fading shrieks of relatives under the rubble. If our brothers weren’t being raped to death. If we hadn’t the breaking of our fathers, and seen men pulverised under tanks.

Our fear is a charade. Nothing could be more despicable.

At this gruesome juncture, the question is not when the hour shall arrive, nor even if victory is possible at all. Today, away from the cameras, each of us are faced with a more pressing quandary: at what point do we decide to join Gaza in blood? And are we worthy?

1. Frantz Fanon, The Wretched of the Earth, New York 1963, p. 63. ↩︎
2. Mohammed El-Kurd, Perfect Victims and the Politics of Appeal, Chicago 2025, p. 191. ↩︎
3. Mohammad El-Kurd, Rifqa, Chicago 2021, p. 69. ↩︎
4. Ghassan Kanafani, Returning to Haifa, Beirut 1969, p. 77. ↩︎
5. Al-Qur’an. Chapter 2. Verse 249. ↩︎
6. Al-Qur’an. Chapter 4. Verse 84. ↩︎
7. Al-Qur’an. Chapter 103. Verse 2. ↩︎
8. Al-Qur’an. Chapter 5. Verse 23. ↩︎

By Zubayr Alikhan

source: Unity of Fields
Editorial disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect the views of Unity of Fields. Image by Rifle and Pen (@Rifleandpen5 on Instagram).

abolitionmedia.noblogs.org/?p=…

#antiColonialism #palestine #resistance #uof

The Reckoning
abolitionmedia.noblogs.org/202…

"The experience of genocide is, beyond agony, a peculiar one. While it is the bombs above your head, it is also the seeing those dearest to you retract their hands…"

Trump announces 30% tariffs on European Union and Mexico.

abcnews.go.com/US/trump-announ…

#usa #eu #mexico #tariffs #tradewar

Trump announces 30% tariffs on European Union and Mexico

President Donald Trump made the announcement on his social media platform.

^{Kelsey Walsh (ABC News)}

Sensitive content Reveal/hide

#nsfw #barelife #nude #naked #nudist #naturist #nudism #naturism #getnaked #staynaked #chillnaked #fkk #normalisenudity #nudistworld #naturistworld #casualnudity #normalstuffnaked #nudefreedom #nudistfreedom #bodyfreedom #nudistlifestyle #clothesfree #nakedactivities #nakedisnormal #normalisingnaturism #newd #nekked #nakey #nuditea

Statement from the DFW Support Committee on the Praireland Defendants

Texans are facing increasing repression by both the federal and state governments. Those on the frontlines of protecting people targeted by the state are especially being met with this repression in spite of our constitutional right to protest and dissent. Instead of listening to us, the government is arresting protestors, creating false narratives about their actions, and wholly ignoring their own obligation to due process.

Acknowledging this, we have formed a committee of loved ones, friends and comrades of defendants who are committed to supporting them through the legal process and have experience with legal support and anti-repression organizing.

We do not know what happened at the Prairieland Detention Center on July 4th, but we do know that 11 people were arrested and still sit in jail without legal representation. The framing of the case by the federal government should be concerning to all of us. The glaring inconsistencies in the official narrative and the alarmist accusations are a clear attempt to bolster the Trump administration’s claims that the United States is on the verge of chaos, warranting a dramatic increase in militarized police action. This, in turn, will almost certainly be used as a justification for broader expansion of repression not only of popular movements but all political activity in opposition to Trump and his regime. As such, what is happening to the 11 people connected to the Prairieland Detention Center protest should be a concern for anyone who does not want to see this country descend further into authoritarianism.

The Trump administration has consistently shown that it lies and distorts facts to advance its political narratives. In particular, they created news and propaganda that seem to confirm the far-right conspiracy theories that have fed Trump’s rise to power. Time and again these narratives have been proven false and dangerous.

These 11 people are some of the first arrested under this unbelievable narrative, but we should expect this sort of repression to spread further and wider. Trump does not distinguish between these defendants, Zohran Mamdani, the Democratic Socialists of America, 50501, or anyone else standing against him. They are coming for undocumented migrants, they are coming for supporters of Palestine, they are coming for those protesting ICE’s violence.

The first months of this adminstration have been a disaster. People have been kidnapped in broad daylight by masked agents and sent to hellish prison camps in other countries, with detention centers like Prarieland as stopping points along the way. Natural disasters have killed hundreds with little warning or care from the government, and even now we’re still trying to count the losses from flooding in North Texas. Decades of advancement in public health have being eviscerated: measles killed more children in Texas in the last month than in the last 30 years. Transgender people are being erased from our society. US-made bombs are slaughtering millions around the world. The list goes on. People see the nightmare that is unfolding, and the state is furiously looking for ways to distract, confuse, immobilize, and terrify. In this context, it should be clear that these recent criminal charges in Alvarado, Texas, are a dangerous and unconscionable stunt in service of this goal.

We are all affected by these disasters already, but criminalization of protest means that we risk arrest and worse as the state moves to crush everyone under its power.

However, the people of this country will not accept authoritarian rule. From the initial waves of protest, resistance and antagonism have generalized and deepened. It has involved not only elected officials and formal organizations, but more importantly, millions of ordinary people taking bold action to protect their communities and reclaim their autonomy. This spreading resistance has been met with violent state repression such as deployment of active duty military on the streets of Los Angeles and the arrest of sitting judges and US senators. Now the state is attempting to ruin the lives of 11 people and their communities in North Texas. It is clear that no amount of appeasement and capitulation will stop these threats to our freedoms. We must then support those facing repression and not bow to this state terror.

This is a historic moment and what will happen next is not clear. What we do know is that the best chance for all of us to live full and free lives is to join together and be brave. We in the DFW Support Committee have no choice but to push forward and fight for those we care deeply about who are currently sitting in jail. To the rest of you, we call on you to join us in our support. We will be releasing future updates and statements about concrete actions people can take. The first and most important action today is raising funds so that these 11 people have the best legal defense possible.

You can find our fundraiser at givesendgo.com/supportdfwprote… and can contact us at dfwsupportcommittee@hacari.com.

abolitionmedia.noblogs.org/?p=…

#anarchism #ethnicCleansing #ICE #repression #texas

Statement from the DFW Support Committee on the Praireland Defendants
abolitionmedia.noblogs.org/202…

"Texans are facing increasing repression by both the federal and state governments. Those on the frontlines of protecting people targeted by the state are especially being met with this repression…"

BRICS: Νέα από την σύνοδο της Βραζιλίας.

Υπεραισιόδοξοι οι Wolff & Hudson για την σοσιαλιστική τροπή των BRICS. Όλοι ελπίζουμε ρε σεις αλλά δεν έχουμε ακόμα κάτι σίγουρο και δεν ξέρω ακόμα πως ελέγχονται (γιατί αυτό κρίνετε, αυτές οι πολιτικές του ΔΝΤ των BRICS (NDB? & IMF reforms).

+++ συναλλαγές εκτός SWIFT μεταξύ των BRICS+.

+++ δικτύωση των μη-δυτικών MME.

BAP Stands Behind Kenya’s Youth Upholding Resistance Against U.S. Puppet State Imperialism

In June 2024, Kenya was racked by youth mobilizations, referred to as the Gen Z Movement protests, as that nation’s young people rose up against the neo-liberal austerity measures enacted by the U.S. lackey president William Ruto. In typical fashion, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) had demanded increased taxation and funding cuts to a country whose leadership has privileged the dictates of imperialism over its own people. Kenya’s police killed 60 people during those 2024 actions but the popular struggle resulted in the plans for taxation being cancelled.

On the first anniversary of these actions, the young people rose up again in opposition to the Ruto government, which sent its troops to Haiti at the behest of the U.S. government, and which was designated a major non-NATO ally in gratitude for its posture as a vassal state. Kenya’s police state is again killing those who oppose, including journalist Albert Ojwang, who died in police custody, and more recently Boniface Kariuki, ostensibly for protesting Ojwang’s assassination.

The Africa Team of the Black Alliance for Peace (BAP) and the organizing arm of the U.S. Out of Africa Network (USOAN) once again stands in solidarity with the masses of Kenyans fighting against the neo-liberal austerity schemes and obedience to U.S. imperialism. Despite the fascist repression, the youth of Kenya are fearless in their resolve and persist in declaring and exposing the illegitimacy of the compradors of neo-colonialism.

The Gen-Z Movement represents the offspring or torch bearers of the unfinished revolution of the Kenya Land and Freedom Army (KLFA), known also as the Mau Mau, whose valiant fight paved the path toward the defeat of their British colonizers in 1960. Gen-Z are the political cubs of their predecessors: Comrades Dedan Kimathi, Mzalendo Bildad Kaggia, Wasonga Sijeyo, Pio Gama Pinto, and Mzalendo Jaramogi Oginga Odinga, true revolutionary heroes who stood firm in the fight for the genuine independence of Kenya.

BAP and the USOAN are clear that for the movement to decolonize Kenya to be complete, the running dogs of imperialism must be driven from office and the neo-colonial economic structures must be dismantled, allowing a truly sovereign Kenya to be established, untethered to the U.S.-EU-NATO Axis of Domination.

BAP remains unequivocal in the demand for U.S. imperialism to cease propping up the Ruto regime, for the unconditional and immediate release of our Kenyan family detained and jailed during these protests, and for reparations to be dispensed to the family and loved ones of those killed by the state and their goons.

Forward to expelling AFRICOM from the entire continent!

Forward to dethroning the comprador class in Africa!

Forward to one united, socialist Africa!

No Compromise!

No Retreat!

source: Black Alliance for Peace

abolitionmedia.noblogs.org/?p=…

#africa #blackAllianceForPeace #blackLiberation #kenya #Solidarity

BAP Stands Behind Kenya’s Youth Upholding Resistance Against U.S. Puppet State Imperialism
abolitionmedia.noblogs.org/202…

"In June 2024, Kenya was racked by youth mobilizations, referred to as the Gen Z Movement protests, as that nation’s young people rose up against the neo-liberal austerity measures enacted…"

[Grand-Est] Pour un avenir paysan et écologiste – CIGEO, c’est toujours non !
bureburebure.info/grand-est-po…

"Nous, cultivateurices, agris critiques, paysan.nes avec ou sans terre et employé.es des métiers du vivant appelons à la manifestation unitaire du futur, contre CIGEO et les enfouissements de déchets toxiques à Bure et ailleurs. Retrouvons nous, le 20 septembre, à cheval, à pied et avec nos tracteurs, pour dire non à

[Grand-Est] Pour un avenir paysan et écologiste – CIGEO, c’est toujours non !

Nous, cultivateurices, agris critiques, paysan.nes avec ou sans terre et employé.es des métiers du vivant appelons à la manifestation unitaire du futur, contre CIGEO et les enfouissements de déchet...

^{Bureburebure.info}

POWERLINE BLOG - The Week In Pictures: Summer Vacation Edition

powerlineblog.com/archives/202…

POWERLINE BLOG - The Week In Pictures: Summer Vacation Edition

powerlineblog.com/archives/202…

POWERLINE BLOG - The Week In Pictures: Summer Vacation Edition

powerlineblog.com/archives/202…

Al-Qassam Kill Zionist Soldier in New ‘Scandal’ for Occupation Forces

The al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of the Palestinian Resistance movement Hamas, revealed on Friday that its fighters attempted to capture an occupation soldier during a daring daylight raid east of Khan Younis in southern Gaza. The group confirmed the operation targeted Zionist soldiers and military vehicles, including a Merkava tank and a troop carrier, using Yassin-105 rocket-propelled grenades.

In a statement, the al-Qassam Brigades said that although the battlefield conditions did not allow for the capture of the soldier, the fighter responsible killed him and seized his weapon. “Abraham Azulai’s luck was bad, and soon, the next soldier’s fate will be better as a new prisoner,” the statement read, referring to the failed capture attempt.

Footage exposes vulnerability of occupation forces in Gaza

Al-Qassam had earlier released a video as part of its David’s Stones operation series, documenting the moment its fighters engaged a military convoy in the same area. The footage showed direct contact with Zionist troops, capturing one soldier fleeing while others appeared unprotected and unsupported during the confrontation.

The video also showed resistance fighters attempting to seize the fleeing soldier, before ultimately killing him and confiscating his weapon. Notably, the footage highlighted the absence of covering fire or any immediate response from nearby Israeli forces.

Zionist media call video a “scandal”

The footage, which quickly circulated online, was described by Zionist newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth as a “new scandal,” pointing to repeated tactical failures within the occupation army. The paper noted this marked the second time in a month that occupation soldiers were left exposed without adequate protection or backup support.

Drawing a comparison to the deadly incident involving the Puma armored personnel carrier, in which seven Zionist engineers were killed, Yedioth Ahronoth criticized the occupation military’s lack of preparedness, especially as resistance fighters operated in broad daylight with cameras and heavy weaponry.

Zionist writer Zeev Rubinstein also weighed in on the footage, stating: “Hamas publishes a brutal clip from the Khan Younis bulldozer incident. At the end, the soldier’s weapon is in enemy hands, and his body nearly too.” He expressed disbelief at how al-Qassam fighters were able to move freely in the open battlefield, documenting their actions without interference, calling the scene “deeply frustrating.”

Occupation failed to break Resistance’s morale

The Islamic Resistance Movement, Hamas, affirmed on Tuesday that after 640 days of the genocidal war, the occupation has failed in its objectives to break Gaza’s morale or suppress its armed resistance.

In a statement, the movement declared that slogans of “total defeat” and “complete eradication” have collapsed in the face of Resistance tunnels and ambushes, which continue to defy the occupation’s military advances.

Hamas stated that the illusion of freeing captives by force has been shattered by the Resistance’s ongoing strikes and upper hand on the battlefield, emphasizing that Gideon military vehicles were destroyed with their crews inside and that Resistance fighters continue to confront the occupation forces despite the siege and starvation policy imposed by the occupation.

The group added that “the occupation now openly admits its inability to both liberate its captives and defeat the resistance, as all its invasion routes have turned into fields of death.”

Hamas also addressed Zionist plans for forced expulsion and ethnic cleansing, stating they were thwarted by the steadfastness of the Palestinian people and their refusal to accept political or intelligence dictates.

Occupation on blast amid discrepancies

Zionism is facing mounting scrutiny and accusations of suppressing real-time information from the public, following a deadly ambush by the Palestinian Resistance in northern Gaza that was initially misreported.

On Tuesday, the military confirmed that five soldiers from the Netzah Yehuda Battalion were killed and two others seriously wounded after explosive devices detonated during battles in the area. The announcement came only after occupation media had circulated inaccurate preliminary casualty figures.

Later reports indicated that the total number of wounded occupation soldiers had reached 14, including two in critical condition, six with moderate injuries, and six with minor wounds.

The discrepancy between the initial and updated figures sparked public scrutiny over the concealment of accurate casualty data, raising further concerns about the deliberate withholding of critical data from the public.

abolitionmedia.noblogs.org/?p=…

#alAsqaFlood #alQassam #gaza #hamas #palestine #resistance #westAsia

Al-Qassam Kill Zionist Soldier in New ‘Scandal’ for Occupation Forces
abolitionmedia.noblogs.org/202…

"The al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of the Palestinian Resistance movement Hamas, revealed on Friday that its fighters attempted to capture an occupation soldier during a daring daylight raid east…"

POWERLINE BLOG - The Week In Pictures: Summer Vacation Edition

powerlineblog.com/archives/202…

The Zionist Prisoners and the Families of Our Prisoners in the Enemy’s Jails — Khaled Barakat

From the moment the Palestinian resistance in Gaza announced the capture of a number of Zionist soldiers and settlers during the glorious Al-Aqsa Flood operation, the issue of the Zionist “hostages” became the center of global attention. Hours upon hours of television programming are devoted to it. Political pressure is exerted, tents are erected in public squares, and tears are shed for those whom the media describe as “innocent victims.”

Meanwhile, more than 10,800 Palestinian prisoners, including women and children, remain in the occupation’s cells — some for more than thirty years —without the hypocritical world so much as blinking an eye, or hearing the cries of a Palestinian mother who has waited decades for a long-delayed embrace.

The Zionist captive is presented as a wronged human being, kidnapped from among loved ones, shown through emotional family photos and touching stories broadcast night and day. Western media is diligent in feeding this narrative: the child waiting for his father, the sleepless wife, the mother who never stops crying. All this is done in complete detachment from the context of war and occupation, as if these “hostages” were not part of a military machine that destroys Gaza, besieges the Palestinians, and squats on their land.

Governments, embassies, and international organizations are mobilized to pressure the Palestinian resistance, and any attempt to demand a prisoner exchange is condemned as “humanitarian blackmail,” while the root of the crisis — the Zionist occupation and settler colonialism — is entirely ignored.

No one hears about the 73 martyrs who have died in the enemy’s prisons since October 7, 2023, or about the 10,800 Palestinian prisoners suffering in the occupation’s cells, including about 400 children, 50 women, 500 sick detainees, and some who have been imprisoned for over three decades. There is no mention of their denial of visits, medical care, and education; no mention of the children snatched from their homes at night and thrown into interrogation dungeons; no mention of the 3,600 administrative detainees held without charge or trial. There are no images of Palestinian mothers’ tears or families awaiting news from behind bars.

For the Western media machine, the Palestinian prisoner is merely a “terrorist,” not treated as a human being, and not factored into calculations of justice and conscience. The resistance’s demand for their release is painted as a moral crime, not a legitimate right.

Amid this grossly uneven struggle, the “Palestinian Authority,” along with the defeated official Arab governments, stands in a position of impotence and complicity. The Authority does nothing, save for a few hollow statements on ceremonial occasions. Its embassies practice selective deafness and deliberate muteness, taking no part in solidarity campaigns for the prisoners or in legal and political battles on the international stage. There is utter silence in the face of daily massacres and mass arrests. In fact, the Authority has reached the point of repressing popular events in solidarity with the prisoners if they dare deviate from the official line.

The security coordination with the occupation, which the Authority secretly prides itself on while publicly disavowing, is one of the direct causes of the continued and systematic arrests and the collapse of popular trust in the Authority. This cannot be excused as weakness, but must be understood within the context of a political-security function that aligns with the logic of “managing the occupation,” not resisting it, and a futile reliance on negotiations, not a struggle to liberate the prisoners.

What makes matters worse is the state of paralysis afflicting the majority of Palestinian “factions” in the West Bank. With the exception of some individual and youth-led initiatives, there is no organized movement or sustained campaign that provides platforms for the voices of prisoners’ families, exposes the realities of imprisonment, or expresses the voice of their loved ones. Active prisoner committees have disappeared. These “organizations” and so-called “human rights institutions,” which were supposed to lead the street in defense of their sons and daughters in prison, have become incapable of addressing their own constituencies, let alone the world.

While weekly marches are organized in Tel Aviv for the families of Zionist soldiers, the cities of the West Bank lack continuous actions expressing the voices of Palestinian prisoners’ mothers, fathers, spouses and children. This silence is the result of organizational decay, bureaucratic stagnation, and the political division that has torn apart the national movement.

The world’s hypocrisy is laid bare when the Zionist soldier is presented as a victim worthy of sympathy, while the Palestinian prisoner is reduced to a “security number” or accused of “terrorism.” As soon as someone hears the phrase “families of the prisoners,” they immediately imagine the families of Zionist captives in Gaza. Western media does not see the Palestinian detainees as human beings—it does not record their stories, convey their suffering, or give them a platform to speak of their suffering. In contrast, doors are thrown open for the families of Zionist soldiers in international organizations and parliaments, and they are used as political pawns to pressure the resistance.

A Palestinian mother says:

“My son has been in prison for twenty years. He grew up without me, and I grew old at his prison gate. I haven’t touched him, haven’t hugged him, I don’t know what he looks like now. Why does no one hear my cry? Am I any less of a mother than others? Or is my blood cheap because I’m Palestinian?”

But these words fall on closed ears, because their speaker belongs to the “wrong side” of the colonial equation. The world does not care, and the human rights organizations are busy counting the breaths of Zionist soldiers — not the cries of Palestinian mothers.

The experience of the resistance in Gaza has shown that the issue of prisoners is not just a negotiating file, it is a symbol of national dignity. Indeed, the cause of the prisoners and their liberation was one of the main reasons behind the glorious Al-Aqsa Flood operation. Whoever seeks equality in suffering must begin by achieving justice, and breaking the wall of silence, complicity, and hypocrisy that has surrounded us for decades.

What is needed today is not only the adoption of a balanced and humane discourse, but the forceful extraction of the prisoners’ cause and their families from the grip of marginalization, neglect, and silence—returning it to its natural and rightful place at the heart of the national liberation struggle, as a central issue.

These brave prisoners in the enemy’s jails are in fact the trusted, legitimate, and true Palestinian leadership. They are, with the armed resistance, the sole legitimate representatives of the Palestinian people and their liberation struggle. And whoever does not stand with Gaza and the valiant armed resistance will never stand for the Palestinian prisoners’ movement, which remains the first line of defense for Palestine.

source: Samidoun

abolitionmedia.noblogs.org/?p=…

#alAqsaFlood #gaza #palestine #repression #resistance #westAsia #westBank

The Zionist Prisoners and the Families of Our Prisoners in the Enemy’s Jails — Khaled Barakat
abolitionmedia.noblogs.org/202…

"From the moment the Palestinian resistance in Gaza announced the capture of a number of Zionist soldiers and settlers during the glorious Al-Aqsa Flood operation, the issue of the Zionist…"

ALT
antifainternational.tumblr.com…

"ALT"