Nèdeem Elmahjoub's blog

عن جميع الذين تاجروا بالقضية الفلسطينية ماضيا والذين في خندق التطبيع والتواطئ حاضرا كم كنتَ وحدك

"We must revitalise the enlightenment and recommit to honouring its values of freedom, respect for knowledge and democracy." — Joseph Stiglitz Stiglitz, a renegade, has been attacking "neoliberalism" and intellectual orthodoxy. I wonder though which part of "the enlightenment he wants to revitalise." Is it the Steven Pinker's way of cheriching "the enlightenment"? "Recommiting to honouring the values of freedom." What were these "values of freedom" before the 40 years of "neoliberalism"? What were they in regard to what imperialism inflicted on what used to be called at that time "the third world" or the support of despotism, etc? If the solution is some sort of a new social democracy, what socio-economic form of capitalism could be the foundation?

Why International Law Can't Save Palestine

From time to time we are reminded of the Tiananman man facing the violence a "non liberal democracy". How come that "the international law/community"  ignores young blonde girls! Newsletter:  "We thought the house was empty"

Labour's economic policy: the challenge ahead

Extractivism and resistance in North Africa A paper available in Arabic, French and English

The BBC way of reporting 45,000 Uber drivers in London. Not a word on Why there is so many unauthorised drivers, What the working conditions are, How many hours these drivers work Whether they are insured or not What the rate of exploitation of illegal drivers is How much profit the company makes ...

For decades the dominant view in academia and outside academia has been blaming corruption for the ills and problems in the MENA region. Up until the 1970s, cultural factors had blamed been for the failures of the region to develop. Cultural factors were also used to explain China's underdevelopment from a capitalist perspective. It's been convenient for the centres of powers in the West and the international institutions to dessiminate such a view so that the structural roots and the form of capitalism (rentier economies) as well as imperialist domination is masked and not questioned. I am glad to see that an opinion on bloomberg , a hardly Marxist website, that is sceptical of that dominant view. One thus has to think of the class structure in the MENA region, the lack of the political will to pursue a development path based on productivity and acquire the technology to be able to compete globally in a world where technological know-how and markets are monopolised by a h...

Living Arabic , a multi-Arabic dictionary website, is a good source, but it is still a project that needs developing. Please, try to support it here .