Nèdeem Elmahjoub's blog

Populism: a convenient enemy (A free ebook)

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Tax justice now!

Against oppression French men too should wear "hijāb" in solidarity with their Muslim wives. Iranian men in solidarity with their women

An Iraqi looking for a white Westerner with a middle class mentality to empower her

"Just three and a half years after the signing of the refugee deal, these camps have become symbols of Europe's failure to protect those who knocked on its door for help. These camps, with Moria chief among them, are now places where already traumatised people are stripped off their dignity." The invisible violence of Europe's refugees camps

The American state has done it again. They have saved the hapless and helpless Arabs and Muslims from a villain that cannot be a friend of the American regime, creating PR and American heroes in the process. The Americans are so powerful and they have the right to choose who is a friend and who is an enemy.  In fact the assassaniation is a revenge for Americans and Westerners killed by ISIS. It is an act that serves American domestic politics, especially Trump's politics. Like the assassination of Osama bin Laden , the intent and the instructions were to kill. No capture, no trial, no hearing, no "international law," no burial. The Assassination of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi I agree with the blog editor's reply to those who do not consider the killing an assassination. It is like the word "terrorism": "When they do it it is terrorism. When we do it, it is fighting for freedom." Related The word "assassin"  doesn't come from ha...

The first time I left the camp, I felt that crossing the fence was an adventure. But this adventure was sufficient to dispel any illusions I once had of “deliverance”. I walked away from the fence and headed through the woods towards the city and its bustling life. But little by little I was feeling more lonely and isolated, and I was realizing  that the Syrian lady was clueless and did not understand that the fence was not protecting us from evil Nazis outside, but it was protecting the outside from us. A Syrian Refugee visiting a Nazi Camp

"An alternative from the people of the global south"

Western news coverage: The white perspective

She was the first Arab parliamentarian woman and the first officer in the Egyptian Liberation Army.

 Via Corey Robin The fashionable fear in the media and academia of the working class as the bacillus of populist authoritarianism is very much in conflict with the empirical evi dence of decades of history, including contemporary history: "Many observers fear that [capitalist] democracy is currently at risk — including in the United States and some European countries. Some commentators blame less-educated members of the working classes for the democratic backlash....But are industrial workers really an anti-democratic force? In a new study, we systematically examine how citizens have sought to promote democracy in about 150 countries. Here’s what we find: Industrial workers have been key agents of democratization and, if anything, are even more important than the urban middle classes....We investigated all major mass protest movements around the world from 1900-2006, and recorded who dominated each movement — industrial workers, urban middle classes, rural laborers, ethnic...

ما هي الدوائر الدولية المعادية للإصلاح السياسي بالمنطقة العربية؟ Who are the international powers opposing political reform in the Arab region? لا يذكر كاتب المقال قوى أخرى معادية  للثورة أو قوى تلعب دورا متذبذبا خلال المسار الثوري. شرائح من الطبقة الوسطى مثلا تعادي التغيير الثوري والبرامج الراديكالية أو  تتذبذب في مواقفها وتحالفاتها. توجد أحزاب إصلاحية وليبيرالية وأحزاب إسلامية  معادية للثورة  تكتفي بإصلاحات طفيفة وتعقد تحلافات مع الدوائر الدولية لمواصلة السياسات الاقتصادية والاجتماعية المعادية للتنمية الحقيقية والطبقات العمالية والشعبية .

"White dominance is evident in the consumption of resources, in the balance of economic power, in capital flows, in the interpretation of conflicts, and in the writing of history. In all these areas, a new age is dawning," Charlotte Wiedemann writes.  For centuries, Europe dominated the world politically  and  imposed on it a capitalist market economy, which to this day benefits itself more than anyone else. Wiedemann has some very valid points, but speaking about "the end of white dominance" is premature. Yes, the world seems to be moving towards a multipolar world. However, economy goes hand in hand with military power. The U.S. and its European allies still have the upper hand. Although China looks as a rival, in reality it is still not a threat and it is not a power that could create an equilibrium in geopolitical terms. One has only to look at the American military budget and military bases around the world. That is coupled with NATO's military power. ...

" The protests have been remarkable for their territorial reach and the absence of political or sectarian banners in a country often defined by its divisions." Class remains the main determinant. "National unity" is a recipe of ignoring class and perpetuate the status quo in the name of "we are one nation, one people, etc. and let's all work together for Lebanon."

Soviet Film Festival Cairo, Egypt 1950s Credit: Rene Burri

"Impossible to anticipate the spur for rebellion. In Lebanon, it was a tax on the use of WhatsApp; in Chile, it was the rise in subway fares; in Ecuador and in Haiti, it was the cut in fuel subsidies. Each of these conjunctures brought people to the streets and then, as these people flooded the streets, more and more joined them. They did not come for WhatsApp or for subway tokens. They came because they are frustrated, angry that history seems to disregard them as it consistently favours the ruling class." There is something that's ours on the streets and we're going to take it back

We went to Iraq in 2003 and we "liberated" it from a brutal dictator. In fact we had tried to "liberate" Iraq before that, in 1991. 16 years later   " protests earlier this month were brutally put down by security forces, leaving nearly 150 people dead," reported the BBC. You see, there is no hope. These "backward people" even after helping them with training an army and security forces, they failed in front of the "Islamic State" and now they are killing their own people.

A very popular Algerian singer and political activist. She has been living in Prague since 2015. I don't think the word "monarchy" in the lyrics is meant to describe Algeria as a country ruled by a royal family.  This Arab woman needs, "empowerment," doesn't she?