Nèdeem Elmahjoub's blog

“ Anyone who has read Widgery’s report on Bloody Sunday or Hutton’s report on David Kelly will recognize the methodology at work. Instead of beginning with the evidence and proceeding step by step until you reach a set of conclusions, you begin with the conclusions you want to reach and torture the evidence until it signs a full confession. This methodology can be used to condemn the innocent just as easily as it can be used to absolve the guilty.” Lawfare in the UK

  ألمانيا والمملكة المتحدة وفرنسا

Interview with Sevda Karaca Interview with Iskender Bayhan

One of the striking aspects of Boroujerdi's vision is his focus on the history of Iran before Islam, which is counter to the administration and those clerics close to it, who attempt to ignore ancient Persian civilisation. Boroujerdi highlights the significance of the Cyrus cylinder, a sixth century BCE document recognised by the United Nations, which notes that the texts "indicate that everyone is entitled to freedom and choice and that all individuals should respect one another". "I praise the Cyrus cylinder, while some people believe that [there is nothing valuable before Islam]. This is not right," Boroujerdi has said. Cyrus II of Persia  (c. 600-530 BCE), commonly known as Cyrus the Great, founded the Achaemenid Empire, the First Persian Empire. Excavated at Babylon in 1879, the cylinder was inscribed in Babylonian cuneiform on Cyrus's orders. It promotes human rights, tolerance, courage and the respect of minorities. Boroujerdi also defends the Mahsa ...

The International Energy Agency thinks peak oil use is in sight this decade

It is a good summary. “ With the husk of revolutionary language retained, capitalism has encircled the very idea of leftist transformation. Pepsi may have  figured out how to create a resurrectionist Pepsi Generation in the 1960s , but now brands conjure group identities from inchoate public feelings by tailoring messages towards those who want to feel radical; Buzzfeed structured its entire business model around this approach for more than a decade. Change without change.” You may only to create an account to read the article.

Joes Biden has rewarded Abrams with a top appointment

“Sallam interrogates the changing roles of leftists and Islamists in relation to political power in Egypt. Why, for example, did the Islamist movement dominate the political arena in Egypt since the late 1970s? Why, in the era of neoliberal economic assault on the working class, did the Left fail to organize a class politics around economic disenfranchisement? And finally, did autocrats provide Islamist groups with a space for political organization and maneuver denied to those that challenged the state’s economic liberalization schemes? ” The Egyptian Left, “without a mass political movement to lead or organize, became obsessed with culture rather than class war, tailing the state in its fight against “terrorists” and “religious fascists.” This alienated the Left from exactly the social groups that it historically needed to challenge economic and social inequality — a recipe for political irrelevance.” How ironic, and how similar to most of the Western Left! “On the eve of the revolut...

The pandemic may have subsided, but the epidemic of ‘identity culture’ carries on. Reactionary nationalism is openly expressed in comments

“ At its best, the dysfunctional marriage at the centre of the show becomes a metaphor for the US and its foreign policies in the region. At its worst, the show exemplifies how - after two decades of the terror of US militarism under successive administrations, both Republican and Democrat - the fate of millions of Afghans has become a background prop for a romantic comedy to tickle the political fancies of American and British audiences.” American ‘foreign policy’ as a dysfunctional marriage 

  المكانة المتواضعة جدا التي أصبحت تحتلها المسألة النقابية والاجتماعية ككل في الجزائر.

“Conceit, arrogance and egotism are the essentials of patriotism. Let me illustrate. Patriotism assumes that our globe is divided into little spots, each one surrounded by an iron gate. Those who have had the fortune of being born on some particular spot consider themselves nobler, better, grander, more intelligent than those living beings inhabiting any other spot. It is, therefore, the duty of everyone living on that chosen spot to fight, kill and die in the attempt to impose his superiority upon all the others.  The inhabitants of the other spots reason in like manner, of course, with the result that from early infancy the mind of the child is provided with blood-curdling stories about the Germans, the French, the Italians, Russians, etc. When the child has reached manhood he is thoroughly saturated with the belief that he is chosen by the Lord himself to defend his country against the attack or invasion of any foreigner. It is for that purpose that we are clamoring for a greate...

An interview with Cihan Tugal 

“The future of Britain under Starmer looks like an outdated 90s tribute act to Blairism and Thatcherism.”

A rotten history

   أسوأ عقد في تاريخ مصر الحديث؟

   غسان بن خليفة،  تونس 10 يوليو 2022  نضال خلف، 14 يوليو 2023

Excavating Lebanon’s history of violence

Caged, stripped, beaten

“The pretense of “saving” Iraqi women was a dimension of the neocolonial narrative of democracy building leveraged by the US administration to invade and occupy Iraq. “Saving” implies that US imperial domination is superior and even necessary and inherently good for women. Iraqi women are perceived as an ahistorical homogenous object, portrayed as essentially voiceless victims. Even 20 years after the destructive and devastating invasion and occupation, the gendering of the democracy narrative on the Middle East remains. The focus on women’s political participation and visibility is a central dimension of the democracy narrative that has dominated the US discourse on Iraq: the idea that Iraq now runs free elections, has women in its parliament and therefore the country is a democracy. In reality, Iraqis have turned away from the polls—the 2021 elections had the  lowest voter turnout  in Iraq post-2003—and many have decided to take to the streets to voice their political vision...

The point here is what ‘West’? The article itself does not mention a single major European state and its position. All is about the US vs. the rest. Related A shift in global power structures World Oil:  Contemporary transformations in ownership and control

  توقفت الاحتجاجات ولكن ما سيبقى هو الغضب الذي يمكن أن يتجدد

“From the point of view of the regime, it may well be that riots are welcome , for they guarantee  renormalisation , they permit social ‘bantustans’ to remain such, and they deflate discontents that could otherwise be perilous. Naturally, for them to perform this stabilizing function they must be subject to outward condemnation: vandalism should be denounced, violence should spark indignation, looting should cause disgust. Such reactions justify the ruthlessness of the repression, which becomes the only means to beat back the tide of barbarism. It is under these conditions that riots serve to ossify social hierarchy.” “A social system is not only characterised by its internal structure, but also by the reactions it provokes: a system founded on commandments can, in certain moments, imply reciprocal duties of aid carried out honestly, as it can also lead to brutal outbursts of hostility. To the eyes of the historian, who must merely note and explain the relationships between phenome...

"There was a wave of racist videos on social media. I was seeing such disgusting posts. So I was already worried such an upsurge of anger could only result in violence …  What was shocking was finding myself in the minority, defending basic principles against violence and racism," says Ms Bribri. Not a single hint to the EU’s responsibility  and as if such a violence was disconnected from another violence.

“According to Caroline Rose, co-author of the New Lines Institute report  ‘most production happens in Syria, in labs she describes as ‘industrial-scale’. The operation is thought to involve at least 15 major sites, many on the coast, which is controlled by the Assad regime. It spans Damascus, Aleppo and Homs provinces, as well as areas on the borders with Lebanon, Iraq and Jordan. Since the regime rules with an iron fist, it’s clear that captagon production is only possible because the authorities turn a blind eye. Syria, diplomatically isolated, under Western sanctions, and until recently on poor terms with neighbouring Turkey and Iraq, is trying to diversify its revenue sources, even if that means being labelled a narco-state – an accusation Damascus rejects.” My sources suggest that Major General Maher al-Assad, the president’s brother and commander of the Syrian Republican Guard’s elite fourth armoured division, plays a key role. ‘ The fourth division oversees a series of indus...

The main points in this long but very good article Gautam  Adani “was not only a beneficiary of the new political and economic order devised by Modi to consolidate Hindu supremacism in India. The neglected details of his frictionless rise show that after their calamitous romance with Russia’s oligarchy, Western politicians, journalists and bankers facilitated the ascent of another hyper-nationalist elite with dubiously sourced wealth and an extreme aversion to the rule of law and civil liberties.” “When Modi was barred from travelling to the United States and the European Union because of his suspected complicity in the anti-Muslim pogrom in Gujarat in 2002, and many Indian businessmen recoiled from him, Adani worked hard to rehabilitate his associate. Since becoming prime minister in 2014, Modi has repaid the favour: he turned Adani into India’s biggest operator of private airports and ports, as well as its leading producer of power from coal-fired plants. McKinsey’s global managi...

وعن الدور الغربي والعربي في دعم السيسي مدة سنوات ، أكد الباحث المصري، أن "الخليج أراد القضاء على موجة ثورات الربيع العربي في مصر وسوريا واليمن وليبيا، وسحق الإسلاميين، لذا دعم الجيش بمصر، وخليفة حفتر بليبيا". متعلق  سياسة قطر الخارجية وموازين القوى في الخليج

He wanted Americans to see the truth about war

A biography of a town – and camp – in resistance

A new centre of attraction for the Middle East? Related World Oil:  Contemporary transformations in ownership and control

From 2021 Rich countries drained $152tn from the global South since 1960

Lessons from the struggles in Sudan, Syria, and Palestine

John Nichols does not delve into class and capitalist imperatives that have shaped the American ‘foreign policy’. Class and capitalism in the US are the two drivers why she became “ the dictatress of the world’ and ‘no longer the ruler of her own spirit’. To know the origins of the US imperialism and its features one should refer to Gabriel Kolko Williams Appleman Williams Howard Zinn Robert Brenner Eric Foner Ellen Meiksins Wood Peter Gowan Dylan Riley and others.

Old, but very interesting and not a difficult read. It is in English and translated to Arabic . Today we speak about universes, not a universe, though. According to Paul Thagard, Stephen Hawking was wrong

Another example of the fragmentation of modern social thought : marginalisation, ghettoisation, inequality, unemployment, class … do not feature in this good article as an answer to the ‘why’ in the title, and it gives the impression that a ‘Muslim’ is not affected by those socio-economic phenomena along racism, ‘Islamophobia’ and police violence. Update: Alain Gabon responded to a question I had sent to him with the following: The Middle East Eye  editorial policy “dictates that a piece must be read in 5 mns and be easy reading, due to the fact everybody reads online on their cells these days).”  “Rather than a repetition  of History ,” wrote Gabon in his draft article, “all those  interrelated events —the murder of the Arabic youth, the  banlieues  riots recalling those of 2005, and this new legal discrimination against the ‘ hijabeuses ’— a re different  symptoms  of the  same long , deep, and structural problem s  that France—its va...

The policy of postmortem detention

The UN has accused France's security forces of systemic racism. Poor French suburbs catch media attention when they are in flames Related Reading Britain’s 2011 riots

Hassan Hamdan / Mahdi Amel 

An account available in four languages “We had great hopes and dreams of a better world in which social justice would prevail, and even if we were not able to fulfil our dreams, others will follow us to accomplish what we failed to achieve.” Albert Arié Related The Arab Gramsci

“Egypt’s historical trajectory is emblematic of pervasive military rule, particularly during the republican era that began in 1952. To entertain any notion to the contrary implies either a lack of historical understanding or a novice comprehension of political dynamics.” “This stance not only exposes the moral bankruptcy of some Egyptian liberals, but also underscores their complicity in endorsing state violence against their ideological and political adversaries. Such actions run counter to the basic principles and commitments of liberalism, which are firmly rooted in values of pluralism, tolerance and acceptance.” This is misguided/selectively liberal-biased approach. Liberalism from its inception was contradictory . Liberalism cannot be taken in isolation from the political economy of capitalism and its operations worldwide. “Pluralism, tolerance and acceptance” have to be analysed in history and reality, not by a sweeping statement such as the one made by Al-Anani in his article . ...

“If you think people are going to burn down a police station because they read a tweet, that’s a conspiracy-theorist way of seeing things, which ignores the social reasons behind these conditions. People have lost their lives, and the way it’s been handled hasn’t given the families any confidence. The police force needs to be rebuilt, and its control body cannot depend on itself.”  “What the working-class neighborhoods have been suffering for years, others are suffering today, even if not with the same severity. So everyone understands that it’s the same social order that’s at stake.” “ The Left’s ‘software’ has changed , and the basic axiom of the American sociology of riots, according to which they always have a political explanation, has been adopted. The subtext today is: Who protects us from the police?” “However, there is still a yawning gulf separating the Left from the poorest housing projects — and we should be under no illusions about its ability to impact the course of e...

A Dutch Research Council study found that 40% of economic growth between 1738 and 1780 could be attributed to the trade. The King apologises for country’s role

France has always waged war against  its  people for secular, imperialist, colonial, racist, capitalist reasons—all resolutely fascist. On lessons of street action and fire building in Paris

Reposting The imaginary separatism of salafist women