Nèdeem Elmahjoub's blog

Bab El-Maqam ("Passion") by Mohamed Malas The story of the film takes place in a conservative neighbourhood in Aleppo, Syria, and with the loming 2003 war on Iraq. The murder of the woman in the film was based on a real event that occurred in 2001.  Very good filming and outstanding acting.

State violence in France and America compared

"The problem with the 'cheap food' system is that, it is only 'cheap' for capital: it really isn't remotely cheap for most of the world's populations of people, animals and plants. It is in fact enormously expensive, and we are beginning to pick up the tab." What, or whom, will we eat? Related article: Capital's hunger in abundance

Guendelsberger lays out in awful detail how a pathological desire for maximum profit over almost all regard for workers has trapped people like rats in circumstances where companies would rather install painkiller vending machines than alter their meat-grinder operations. Low-wage work in America

This is a good picture of Britain's political-economic situation There is a historical background prior to 2016 and the crisis that led to Brexit. "There was now a clear division between those leaders who represented the interests of big business and the City of London wanting ‘free trade’ and a big role in the EU and rank and file Conservatives who    represented small businesses and the narrow nationalist and racist elements in small provincial towns. They wanted no truck with ‘Europe’ and harkened back to ‘good old days’ of a white imperial Britain ploughing its own furrow – something, of course, that had disappeared even before the UK joined the EU. This division was heightened by the bulk of the ‘popular’ press, whose moguls were either Australian-Americans like Rupert Murdoch, or aristocratic empire believers like the Rothermeres or the Barclay brothers." The analysis also includes the impacts of "no-deal Brexit" on business and labour. A crucial ar

Syria Despite the length of the war and the catastrophes it has brought, the deeper forces behind Syria’s conflict remain poorly understood, even on the Left. The protagonists are too often seen in the culturalist terms of “Sunnis vs. Shias,” or “Islamists vs. Secularists.” Just as often, the war is reduced to pure geopolitics, with the lead actors assumed to be mere proxies for America and its international opponents (or allies). Rarest of all is any developed discussion of the class dynamics that shaped the Syrian state and society even before the 2011 conflict. Yet these had a decisive effect on the uprising and the regime’s ability to withstand it. Grasping these social elements of the conflict is just as important today if we want to understand the Assad regime’s strategy for the “new Syria,” and how it intersects with the plans of his Russian and Syrian allies.

Very interesting development  in Nigeria "Mr Sowore’s Coalition for Revolution movement is calling for Nigerians across the country to take to the streets to demand an end to insecurity. They also want free education and healthcare for all as well as for key economic sectors to be nationalised."