I Hate New Year’s Day

“No day of celebration with its mandatory collective rhythms, to share with all the strangers I don’t care about. Because our grandfathers’ grandfathers, and so on, celebrated, we too should feel the urge to celebrate. That is nauseating.” —Antonio Gramsci

I celebrate every defeat or even a setback of American, British, French, Russian state violence and military adventure.

I would celebrate a regime change in the U.S., UK, France, Russia …

I celebrated the recent French defeat in ‘the Sahel’.

I celebrated the American ‘defeat’ in Afghanistan.

I celebrate any defeat, a toppling of or a setback for the Arab regimes. 

I celebrate any setback for both NATO and Russia.

I would celebrate any defeat or even a setback for the IDF and the reactionary Israeli state.

I celebrate the birth of any Palestinian child.

I celebrated the death of Henry Kissinger.

I would celebrate the death of Hilary, George, Barack, Joe, Tony, Immanuel, Ursula, Vlad …

I would celebrate any labour movement and any labour gain.

I celebrate any new revelation of war crimes and corruption, of Western support of genocide and authoritarianism, and of Western hypocrisy, of justification of huge inequality wrapped in liberal cloaks.

I would cautiously celebrate an emergence of progressive thorns, who disturb the status quo.

I celebrate any new comments of ignorance and arrogance by journalists, politicians, students …

I celebrate the successful entry of any refugee into Europe or the US.

I would celebrate seeing the Other causing more anxiety among Europeans.

I would celebrate the overthrow of the Iranian regime.

I would celebrate the mutual destruction of the Sudan’s warring factions.

I celebrate the struggle of the Uyghur Muslims and Myanmar Muslims against any firms of oppression. 

I would celebrate any new news of commodification and sexualisation of women’s body and any liberal feminist hypocrisy.

I celebrate everyday my resistance to conformism, mediocrity, normalisation and to the system of oppression, and be as less complicit as I could.

“I want every morning to be a new year’s for me. Every day I want to reckon with myself, and every day I want to renew myself. No day set aside for rest. I choose my pauses myself, when I feel drunk with the intensity of life and I want to plunge into animality to draw from it new vigour.”

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Hammamet, Tunisia. April 2023. A photo by Nèdeem M.