Nèdeem Elmahjoub's blog

Richard Lewontin obituary

  هذا موقف أكثر واقعية ورصانة من المواقف التي قرأتها إلى حد الآن حول 25 جويلية: مصلحة الطبقات الشعبيّة أهمّ من النقاشات الدستوريّة أنهى قيس سعيد هذه العشرية من الالتفاف على الثورة بتغيير من فوق. تلقّت الجماهير الشعبية بفرح كبير طرد كل الوجوه المشؤومة التي حوّلت حياتها إلى جحيم وشوّهت بفشلها ورداءتها الفعل السياسي، أيْ الفِعل الجماعي لتغيير الواقع ونفّرت الناس منه. لا يهمّنا النقاش الشكلي العقيم حول الدستور والقوانين وتوصيف ما حصل بالانقلاب من عدمه. كما لا نثق في الأشخاص وقدرتهم على التغيير بمفردهم، كائنًا من كانوا. تبقى ثقتنا الوحيدة في مبادرة وتنظّم الطبقات الشعبية لفرض مصالحها وإحداث التغيير من تحت، لا من فوق. يفترض ذلك الحفاظ على المكسب الوحيد الذي حققته ثورة 2010-2011، وهو الحرّيات العامة. تجدر هنا اليقظة حتى لا تأخذ "المحاسبة" منحى التشفي والقمع والاستئصال. يجب ضمان حق الدفاع للجميع ورفض المحاكمات الجائرة. فالقمع والاستبداد إذا انطلق لا يتوقّف عند أحد. كما يجب رفض عسكرة البلاد والدولة وفرض إعلان نظام سياسي جديد وانتخابات، بشروط جديدة، في أقرب وقت. انتهت عشر سنوات حكَمها ...

It might not be that left at all

This is not a radical anti-capitalist analysis, but it’s an interesting read. Why neoliberalism needs neofascists

How hardship and hopelessness have been exploited by the US. And it is acknowledged by the liberal the Guardian . “Cuba launched mobile internet late, in 2018, but more than 4 million people now access the web via their phones. The internet – and particularly social media – has altered the power balance between citizens and state. After hundreds of people came out in the western town of San Antonio de los Baños on Sunday morning, videos were viewed by people in Havana within minutes. The approximately $20m a year of US federal funds spent on “democracy promotion” factors into the way Cubans experience the internet. Anti-Castro news websites funded by US tax dollars advertise heavily on Facebook and YouTube . VPNs are needed to make purchases with credit cards in Cuba, and to download many apps. When using the popular VPN Psiphon, for example, adverts for Cubanet, ADN Cuba and Diario de Cuba – all financed by the state department – pop up as paid content. Articles from these outlets are...

Ideological, financial, physical and military contributions to colonisation

Farewell and thank you, Mona!

Ben & Jerry’s in West Bank settlements

“ Sunday’s coup had nothing to do with the virus. It was planned at a time when the virus was under control.” True. However, one also needs to look at what social classes and social strata involved in the protests on the eve of the coup and what alternative to the 10 years of political instability and worsening of living conditions the leaders of the coup have.  Is the situation in Tunisia unique and isolated from the global crisis and not structurally connected to the weak capitalism and the ‘unpatriotic’ bourgeoisie–be it Islamic or secular? Can a small, poor country with very limited resources escape the domination of and dependence on powerful states–regional and Western–and international capital? David Hearst speaks about the involvement of the United Arab Emirates. But is it disingenuous from him to ignore the involvement of other regional powers, including Qatar. There is nothing constitutional about Qais Saied’s coup In May, the country started talks with the International ...

Paintings that define atrocities

Is it changing?

 كيف يمكن لاتفاقية مع الاتحاد الأوروبي تدمير الاقتصاد التونسي؟

 لتتعفن في الجحيم

The 1936 revolt Related A radical analysis by Ghassan Kanafani

Racial/Sexual Terror and US Empire

The right is creating its own new stories. Because culture war is not about winning a debate about what constitutes England through factual disputes about its character, its statues, its football team or its history of empire. It is not a peripheral indulgence, or a mere confection. Culture war is an aggressive political act with the purpose of creating new dividing lines and therefore new and bigger electoral majorities. It aims to create its own truth, and its own England, through what Nietzsche called a “mobile army of metaphors” The right is winning

This looks like a must-read book. “Islamic movements emerged as Saudi cities turned into sprawling suburbs, with massive highways, single family houses, and shopping malls. I ask: is there a link? My colleagues often see the rise of Islamic movements in sync with religious doctrines or geopolitical changes. I put the cursor elsewhere: I look at activism and space. I ask: what in sprawling suburbs favors the emergence of Islamic activism? What in the suburban graveyard of clerics prompts new forms of religious engagement?” Everyday activism in Saudi Arabia

Millions at grave risk

 

The best article I have read so far  about the current situation in Cuba. “When the Cuban government responded with violence to the claims of the people whose interests they are supposed to defend, it acted like any other government anywhere in the world, rather than following the socialist character that once defined the revolution. For some, this is a difficult truth to accept.” “I year for more solidarity from the global left” Related My diary of a visit to Cuba