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My introduction into higher education began in 2015 through my experience ...
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<title>Thinking Beyond the Bars: How Higher Education Helped Me Develop Confidence in Myself and Rediscover My Humanity</title>
<link>https://dissidentvoice.org/2025/09/thinking-beyond-the-bars-how-higher-education-helped-me-develop-confidence-in-myself-and-rediscover-my-humanity/</link>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[Darrell Jackson]]></dc:creator>
<pubDate>Tue, 16 Sep 2025 15:00:42 +0000</pubDate>
<category><![CDATA[Education]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Incarceration]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Clallam Bay Corrections Center]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Dwuan Conroy]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Mullin-Coston]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[rehabilitation]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Seattle Central College]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Taking Education and Creating History]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act]]></category>
<guid isPermaLink="false">https://dissidentvoice.org/?p=161566</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Ambitious young people are told that a college degree is necessary to launch a successful career. For me — a “lifer” taking courses from my cell in a state prison — higher education isn’t about job preparation but rediscovering my humanity, about learning to think beyond the bars. I’m not the first person to discover […]
The post <a href="https://dissidentvoice.org/2025/09/thinking-beyond-the-bars-how-higher-education-helped-me-develop-confidence-in-myself-and-rediscover-my-humanity/">Thinking Beyond the Bars: How Higher Education Helped Me Develop Confidence in Myself and Rediscover My Humanity</a> first appeared on <a href="https://dissidentvoice.org">Dissident Voice</a>.]]></description>
<content:encoded><![CDATA[Ambitious young people are told that a college degree is necessary to launch a successful career. For me — a “lifer” taking courses from my cell in a state prison — higher education isn’t about job preparation but rediscovering my humanity, about learning to think beyond the bars.
I’m not the first person to discover the power of education while incarcerated, but I feel a responsibility to tell this story, not only to reach other prisoners but for all the people who feel left behind by educational institutions. There have been a lot of obstacles between me and higher education — times I didn’t believe in myself and times when institutions didn’t believe in people like me — but I have learned that no one has to settle for that.
Let me start with a stereotype of young Black men — that they think excelling in school is for nerds, not for tough guys on the street. That doesn’t describe all Black boys, of course, but it was true of the guys I ran with. I had loved learning when I was younger, but a combination of institutional failures and peer pressure knocked me off that path. I regret giving up so easily, which was reinforced by a school system that didn’t seem to care much about Black children. I ended up in that “school-to-prison pipeline” for the poor and marginalized.
A series of bad choices as a young adult led to my current residence in the Washington Corrections Center, serving a life-without-parole sentence. While incarcerated, I became a “better late than never” enthusiast for higher education.
But the prison system hasn’t made that easy. The tough-on-crime politics of the 1990s produced the federal Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act in 1994, which eliminated almost all financial aid to prisoners. (It was only in 2023 that prisoners once again became eligible for Pell Grants.)
In 1995, Washington state passed a law that prohibited public funding to support higher education for prisoners beyond adult basic education and the General Education Diploma (GED). Prisoners who had been sentenced to life without the possibility of parole were denied access to more than one post-secondary degree, unless it was pre-vocational or vocational training was needed for their work in prison. The legislation was supposed to eliminate “unnecessary” spending by the Department of Corrections. (That law was partially repealed in 2017, allowing some funding up to two-year degrees.)
Tough-on-crime laws — including “Three Strikes, You’re Out” and “Hard Time for Armed Crime” — led to larger prison populations in Washington state and around the country. Access to education was not a priority, and budget cuts after the 2008 recession led the Department of Corrections to prioritize education for prisoners with less than seven years on their sentence. The rest of us were out of luck.
Don’t ask me to explain how that fits with the rehabilitation mission of prisons — people who are incarcerated know the gap between that rhetoric and the reality of warehousing prisoners. That’s why incarcerated people have done much of the work themselves, one of the most exciting aspects of my experience.
My introduction into higher education began in 2015 through my experience with the <a href="https://www.kimonticarter.com/teach" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.kimonticarter.com/teach&source=gmail&ust=1757992514906000&usg=AOvVaw34qT2zNDYhKLVVTm0rp1x7">TEACH program</a> (Taking Education and Creating History) at Clallam Bay Corrections Center, another prison where I was incarcerated. TEACH was created in 2013 by the Black Prisoners Caucus to address the educational disparities that exist within the prison system for minority, long-term, and undocumented prisoners.
That experience helped me rediscover my humanity.
At that facility, we had a healthy working relationship with prison officials, who gave us classroom space. Through TEACH, we were able to develop and facilitate the courses we needed. We understood that the educational system had left most of us behind, and I learned that some of us came with life experiences and credibility that some of the most decorated professionals did not have.
But we couldn’t deepen our knowledge from experience without help. TEACH leaders established a relationship with Peninsula College and Seattle Central College. For me, getting ready for college-level study took some work.
Before I could start taking college courses, I needed to earn certificates in college-prep math and anger management. After the completion of those two nine-week courses, I took African American studies, a parenting class, and college-prep writing. Then I felt ready to take my first college course through Seattle Central. That sociology class required a lot of writing, which was intimidating at first, but I loved what I was learning, and that course showed me that my experience was shaped by larger social forces.
At the beginning of my college journey, I was uncertain of my ability, an insecurity rooted in so many bad experiences in school. But TEACH had helped me believe in myself, teaching me not to accept the limits of the bars I lived behind, and eventually I was able to start giving back to the program. I was given a chance to facilitate the stress and anger-reduction class I had taken, which led to me joining the program’s board at Clallam Bay. After being transferred to Washington Corrections Center, I was elected vice chair of the program when it was brought to that prison in 2018.
As I worked with the program, I learned my experience was not unusual.
I talked with Taking Education and Creating History) at Clallam Bay Corrections Center a prisoner-student who went on to create and facilitate a sound and song-production course at WCC, which taught prisoners to play and create songs on a keyboard. He said that initially he wasn’t sure he could teach a class, let alone one that he created. TEACH helped him gain the confidence he needed, encouraging him to teach the course the way he thought best. More prisoners sought his expertise, deepening his confidence.
Dwuan Conroy, another TEACH student, said that in addition to the direct benefits for him, the funding for this program took the burden off his wife and family to pay for his education. And when he is released, his enhanced ability to set goals and meet deadlines means that he’ll have a chance at better paying jobs. And, he said, it shows his family that he is making the changes needed to be a better man.
Unfortunately, six months later Mullin-Coston’s sound course was canceled, because it was “not serving a facility need.” That is an example of short-sighted decision-making. If we care about rehabilitation, any learning that creates a positive environment and promotes healthy interactions among prisoners should be seen as a crucial facility need.
The COVID pandemic also created obstacles, shutting down the WCC TEACH partnership with Centralia College and Seattle Central. Conroy was enrolled in courses in biology, anthropology, and English, but lockdowns meant that formal classes were canceled. With little help available from teachers and staff, he said, the prisoner-students relied on each other to finish courses.
“It was these interactions with other prisoners that helped me through the course work despite my learning disabilities,” Conroy said. ”Knowing I had others around in TEACH that could help me through it and not judge, that empowered me to continue my focus during such a difficult time.”
Once the college’s staff members where allowed back into the prison, it was clear that our peer-support work had been crucial in keeping us on track, and 10 students graduated in the fall of 2023.
Taxpayers and politicians who prioritize punishment over rehabilitation may not care about how education enhances prisoners’ mental health and intellectual development. Once again, that’s short-sighted, because education also reduces recidivism. For every dollar spent on education programs, <a href="https://www.justice.gov/archives/prison-reform" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.justice.gov/archives/prison-reform&source=gmail&ust=1757992514906000&usg=AOvVaw1X1k23SkotOBqwrkxUo9Up">four dollars are saved</a> on re-incarceration costs. <a href="https://standtogether.org/stories/strong-safe-communities/6-stories-of-transformation-from-prisoner-to-professional" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://standtogether.org/stories/strong-safe-communities/6-stories-of-transformation-from-prisoner-to-professional&source=gmail&ust=1757992514906000&usg=AOvVaw1fy2fZU-1xHmsAPHiHn6xo">One study</a> showed that prisoners who complete some high school courses have a recidivism rate of 55 percent. Vocational training cuts recidivism to 30 percent, an associate degree to 13.7 percent, and a bachelor’s degree to 5.6 percent. A master’s degree brings the recidivism rate down to zero,
Prison education is not a frivolous expense for society but instead an essential investment in human beings. Education reduces conflict among prisoners. Communities are safer when educated and empowered prisoners return home.
As for me, I need two classes to earn my associate degree, after which I want to pursue a bachelor’s degree in behavioral health, and perhaps a master’s degree someday. I still live behind bars. But developing my mind has helped me find the humanity in myself and see more clearly the humanity in others as well.The post <a href="https://dissidentvoice.org/2025/09/thinking-beyond-the-bars-how-higher-education-helped-me-develop-confidence-in-myself-and-rediscover-my-humanity/">Thinking Beyond the Bars: How Higher Education Helped Me Develop Confidence in Myself and Rediscover My Humanity</a> first appeared on <a href="https://dissidentvoice.org">Dissident Voice</a>.]]></content:encoded>
</item>
<item>
<title>Three Precepts Muslims Should Remember</title>
<link>https://dissidentvoice.org/2025/09/three-precepts-muslims-should-remember/</link>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[B.R. Gowani]]></dc:creator>
<pubDate>Tue, 16 Sep 2025 15:00:32 +0000</pubDate>
<category><![CDATA[Human Rights]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Humanitarianism]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Islam]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Murder]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Allah]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Muhammad]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Priyantha Kumara]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Quran]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Sialkot]]></category>
<guid isPermaLink="false">https://dissidentvoice.org/?p=161530</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Priyantha Kumara was a Sri Lankan export manager in a factory in Sialkot, Pakistan who was falsely accused of insulting Islam. He was beaten to death and his body was set on fire on December 3, 2021. IMAGE/Lankan Muslims should remember three precepts: Allah is a concept – it cannot be destroyed. Muhammad is […]
The post <a href="https://dissidentvoice.org/2025/09/three-precepts-muslims-should-remember/">Three Precepts Muslims Should Remember</a> first appeared on <a href="https://dissidentvoice.org">Dissident Voice</a>.]]></description>
<content:encoded><![CDATA[<img decoding="async" class="CToWUd a6T" tabindex="0" src="https://ci3.googleusercontent.com/meips/ADKq_Na_2ingndNvrxeWTylqYZL_6Q18gLXfZmGiV1eNfy_CW-Txz5bBQJD1eGLaOI7IBd1VTTZBBASI094ShGvxLy8ExcPpBkbRUvIpp1zoFJndPefIjwnN=s0-d-e1-ft#https://lankan.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/death-1024x580.jpg" alt="" data-bit="iit" />Priyantha Kumara was a Sri Lankan export manager in a factory in Sialkot, Pakistan who was falsely accused of insulting Islam. He was beaten to death and his body was set on fire on December 3, 2021. IMAGE/<a href="https://lankan.org/2021/12/04/pakisthan-is-dangerous-for-foreigners-a-sri-lankan-man-has-been-beaten-to-death-and-set-on-fire/" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://lankan.org/2021/12/04/pakisthan-is-dangerous-for-foreigners-a-sri-lankan-man-has-been-beaten-to-death-and-set-on-fire/&source=gmail&ust=1757948575007000&usg=AOvVaw3ERWh3aVoNFXomeDq3vgf7">Lankan</a>
Muslims should remember three precepts:
<ul>
<li> Allah is a concept – it cannot be destroyed.</li>
<li> Muhammad is with his Allah*, so is beyond any harm.</li>
<li> Quran is reprintable and can be replaced when haters burn Quran.</li>
</ul>
*A Quranic scripture with consoling words for bereaving believers at time of death is:
         “<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inna_Lillahi_wa_inna_ilayhi_raji'un">Indeed, we belong to Allah, and indeed, to Him we will return.</a>”</li>The post <a href="https://dissidentvoice.org/2025/09/three-precepts-muslims-should-remember/">Three Precepts Muslims Should Remember</a> first appeared on <a href="https://dissidentvoice.org">Dissident Voice</a>.]]></content:encoded>
</item>
<item>
<title>Marionettes</title>
<link>https://dissidentvoice.org/2025/09/marionettes/</link>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[Allen Forrest]]></dc:creator>
<pubDate>Tue, 16 Sep 2025 14:58:08 +0000</pubDate>
<category><![CDATA[Cartoon]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Technology]]></category>
<guid isPermaLink="false">https://dissidentvoice.org/?p=161516</guid>
<description><![CDATA[What is stringing up the puppets?
The post <a href="https://dissidentvoice.org/2025/09/marionettes/">Marionettes</a> first appeared on <a href="https://dissidentvoice.org">Dissident Voice</a>.]]></description>
<content:encoded><![CDATA[<a href="https://dissidentvoice.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/puppet_people_2_12x9_2019_w.jpg"><img fetchpriority="high" decoding="async" src="https://dissidentvoice.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/puppet_people_2_12x9_2019_w-768x1024.jpg" alt="" width="500" height="667" class="aligncenter size-large wp-image-161517" srcset="https://dissidentvoice.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/puppet_people_2_12x9_2019_w-768x1024.jpg 768w, https://dissidentvoice.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/puppet_people_2_12x9_2019_w-225x300.jpg 225w, https://dissidentvoice.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/puppet_people_2_12x9_2019_w.jpg 1125w" sizes="(max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px" /></a>The post <a href="https://dissidentvoice.org/2025/09/marionettes/">Marionettes</a> first appeared on <a href="https://dissidentvoice.org">Dissident Voice</a>.]]></content:encoded>
</item>
<item>
<title>A DSA Chapter Struggles With Zionism</title>
<link>https://dissidentvoice.org/2025/09/a-dsa-chapter-struggles-with-zionism/</link>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[David Klein]]></dc:creator>
<pubDate>Tue, 16 Sep 2025 14:50:40 +0000</pubDate>
<category><![CDATA[Activism]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[BDS (Boycott Divestment and Sanctions Movement)]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Genocide]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Israel (part of Mandate Palestine)]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Racism]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Zionism]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[antisemitism]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Democratic Socialists of America]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[IHRA definition]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Michael Harrington]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Nithya Raman]]></category>
<guid isPermaLink="false">https://dissidentvoice.org/?p=161487</guid>
<description><![CDATA[At its August 2025 biennial convention in Chicago, the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) adopted a powerful resolution, “For a Fighting Anti-Zionist DSA“. The resolution, which the 1200 delegates passed by 56 to 44 percent, has been recognized as a significant step forward for the organization. It makes “organizing in solidarity with the Palestinian cause a priority until Palestine is […]
The post <a href="https://dissidentvoice.org/2025/09/a-dsa-chapter-struggles-with-zionism/">A DSA Chapter Struggles With Zionism</a> first appeared on <a href="https://dissidentvoice.org">Dissident Voice</a>.]]></description>
<content:encoded><![CDATA[At its August 2025 biennial convention in Chicago, the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) <a href="https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__prospect.org_politics_2025-2D08-2D14-2Ddsa-2Dconvenes-2Dargues-2Dand-2Dcelebrates_&d=DwMFaQ&c=Oo8bPJf7k7r_cPTz1JF7vEiFxvFRfQtp-j14fFwh71U&r=o1Fmq5iPNOm916m1hd6KTGbCbTY_SS3TX_LiAfvuQ-w&m=KasoCfRJpoklP6kBfqSbw38Xzoz-Om-Ri-iIelZndeHaytLIr0Ict8EluBPuPgkq&s=732tVGzesRHVWzVBgSy4tsffZkuC5_njYrdWAeyBSpI&e=" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u%3Dhttps-3A__prospect.org_politics_2025-2D08-2D14-2Ddsa-2Dconvenes-2Dargues-2Dand-2Dcelebrates_%26d%3DDwMFaQ%26c%3DOo8bPJf7k7r_cPTz1JF7vEiFxvFRfQtp-j14fFwh71U%26r%3Do1Fmq5iPNOm916m1hd6KTGbCbTY_SS3TX_LiAfvuQ-w%26m%3DKasoCfRJpoklP6kBfqSbw38Xzoz-Om-Ri-iIelZndeHaytLIr0Ict8EluBPuPgkq%26s%3D732tVGzesRHVWzVBgSy4tsffZkuC5_njYrdWAeyBSpI%26e%3D&source=gmail&ust=1757902863931000&usg=AOvVaw2jsc7ADZqRES8ZqRDTA6e8">adopted</a> a powerful resolution, “<a href="https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__docs.google.com_document_d_1uVRuqCw1UKgNmurmCWvswerswEHHmkJ4UyXo8zvCVaM_edit&d=DwMFaQ&c=Oo8bPJf7k7r_cPTz1JF7vEiFxvFRfQtp-j14fFwh71U&r=o1Fmq5iPNOm916m1hd6KTGbCbTY_SS3TX_LiAfvuQ-w&m=KasoCfRJpoklP6kBfqSbw38Xzoz-Om-Ri-iIelZndeHaytLIr0Ict8EluBPuPgkq&s=KnKMgGDtCzwr9AGKMQJys3vhymSKECQ-2NuEUngzStk&e=" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u%3Dhttps-3A__docs.google.com_document_d_1uVRuqCw1UKgNmurmCWvswerswEHHmkJ4UyXo8zvCVaM_edit%26d%3DDwMFaQ%26c%3DOo8bPJf7k7r_cPTz1JF7vEiFxvFRfQtp-j14fFwh71U%26r%3Do1Fmq5iPNOm916m1hd6KTGbCbTY_SS3TX_LiAfvuQ-w%26m%3DKasoCfRJpoklP6kBfqSbw38Xzoz-Om-Ri-iIelZndeHaytLIr0Ict8EluBPuPgkq%26s%3DKnKMgGDtCzwr9AGKMQJys3vhymSKECQ-2NuEUngzStk%26e%3D&source=gmail&ust=1757902863931000&usg=AOvVaw3z1UIBLRKKotUNLr9S5nmw">For a Fighting Anti-Zionist DSA</a>“. The resolution, which the 1200 delegates passed by 56 to 44 percent, has been recognized as a <a href="https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__www.instagram.com_p_DNd0uetAvYV_&d=DwMFaQ&c=Oo8bPJf7k7r_cPTz1JF7vEiFxvFRfQtp-j14fFwh71U&r=o1Fmq5iPNOm916m1hd6KTGbCbTY_SS3TX_LiAfvuQ-w&m=KasoCfRJpoklP6kBfqSbw38Xzoz-Om-Ri-iIelZndeHaytLIr0Ict8EluBPuPgkq&s=dqsayvHRJCHn0efcVCt-XnrSSsAebEAom6j1JP02ErA&e=" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u%3Dhttps-3A__www.instagram.com_p_DNd0uetAvYV_%26d%3DDwMFaQ%26c%3DOo8bPJf7k7r_cPTz1JF7vEiFxvFRfQtp-j14fFwh71U%26r%3Do1Fmq5iPNOm916m1hd6KTGbCbTY_SS3TX_LiAfvuQ-w%26m%3DKasoCfRJpoklP6kBfqSbw38Xzoz-Om-Ri-iIelZndeHaytLIr0Ict8EluBPuPgkq%26s%3DdqsayvHRJCHn0efcVCt-XnrSSsAebEAom6j1JP02ErA%26e%3D&source=gmail&ust=1757902863931000&usg=AOvVaw09bCX-YyT4cpJe1bKGVtE3">significant step forward</a> for the organization. It makes “organizing in solidarity with the Palestinian cause a priority until Palestine is free” and recognizes the Palestinian people’s right to resistance and self-determination, with Jerusalem as the capital of Palestine.
The resolution stipulates that candidates for office, seeking national DSA endorsement or a DSA chapter endorsement, must “support the BDS movement, refrain from any and all affiliation with the Israeli government or Zionist lobby groups, and pledge to oppose legislation that harms Palestinians and support legislation that supports Palestinian liberation.” The resolution also requires that previously endorsed candidates holding office, who fail to uphold these expectations, must have their endorsements revoked. Much the same applies to DSA members themselves. Members face expulsion for making statements such as, “Israel has a right to defend itself,” or for knowingly providing financial aid to Israel.
The rationale for DSA’s anti-zionist resolution is clear. Zionism is a form of racism. Therefore, zionist members should be no more tolerated by a socialist organization than membership in the KKK, or any other manifestation of racism by a member. And yet, at the DSA chapter level, the Los Angeles chapter in particular, where I am a member, the struggle against liberal zionism continues.
When an <a href="https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__www.middleeasteye.net_news_largest-2Dus-2Dsocialist-2Dorganisation-2Dpasses-2Dresolution-2Dsupporting-2Dpalestinian-2Dresistance&d=DwMFaQ&c=Oo8bPJf7k7r_cPTz1JF7vEiFxvFRfQtp-j14fFwh71U&r=o1Fmq5iPNOm916m1hd6KTGbCbTY_SS3TX_LiAfvuQ-w&m=KasoCfRJpoklP6kBfqSbw38Xzoz-Om-Ri-iIelZndeHaytLIr0Ict8EluBPuPgkq&s=mnRIx40e64CLV9EEalIL1aoHWx9MLFvow8LGPvQwJVA&e=" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u%3Dhttps-3A__www.middleeasteye.net_news_largest-2Dus-2Dsocialist-2Dorganisation-2Dpasses-2Dresolution-2Dsupporting-2Dpalestinian-2Dresistance%26d%3DDwMFaQ%26c%3DOo8bPJf7k7r_cPTz1JF7vEiFxvFRfQtp-j14fFwh71U%26r%3Do1Fmq5iPNOm916m1hd6KTGbCbTY_SS3TX_LiAfvuQ-w%26m%3DKasoCfRJpoklP6kBfqSbw38Xzoz-Om-Ri-iIelZndeHaytLIr0Ict8EluBPuPgkq%26s%3DmnRIx40e64CLV9EEalIL1aoHWx9MLFvow8LGPvQwJVA%26e%3D&source=gmail&ust=1757902863931000&usg=AOvVaw1MDqqHijdb3nwsiFTz7v3f">article</a> describing the new resolution was posted on a DSA-LA Signal chat, in August 2025, the response was largely negative. One person wrote that the resolution is “truly terrible” and should have been voted down. Another complained that the resolution might unfairly preclude people from making donations to synagogues that send collected money to Israel, and lamented, “like there just aren’t synagogues in la that don’t give money to israel.”
Another post expressed worry that Bat Mitzvah photos with Israeli flags in the background could violate national DSA’s anti-zionist resolution.
These and other oppositional posts received multiple positive emojis from other DSA-LA members. By contrast a post that called for honoring DSA’s commitment to BDS, and another which pointed to the Star of David on the Israeli flag as a <a href="https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__mondoweiss.net_2024_11_i-2Dstopped-2Dwearing-2Dthe-2Dstar-2Dof-2Ddavid-2Dbecause-2Dit-2Dhas-2Dbecome-2Da-2Dsymbol-2Dof-2Dsupremacy-2Dand-2Dfascism_&d=DwMFaQ&c=Oo8bPJf7k7r_cPTz1JF7vEiFxvFRfQtp-j14fFwh71U&r=o1Fmq5iPNOm916m1hd6KTGbCbTY_SS3TX_LiAfvuQ-w&m=KasoCfRJpoklP6kBfqSbw38Xzoz-Om-Ri-iIelZndeHaytLIr0Ict8EluBPuPgkq&s=XqvkDaVOOeCuNm33StUKXeZ9ClWUwmFDw4DFc18a4Tw&e=" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u%3Dhttps-3A__mondoweiss.net_2024_11_i-2Dstopped-2Dwearing-2Dthe-2Dstar-2Dof-2Ddavid-2Dbecause-2Dit-2Dhas-2Dbecome-2Da-2Dsymbol-2Dof-2Dsupremacy-2Dand-2Dfascism_%26d%3DDwMFaQ%26c%3DOo8bPJf7k7r_cPTz1JF7vEiFxvFRfQtp-j14fFwh71U%26r%3Do1Fmq5iPNOm916m1hd6KTGbCbTY_SS3TX_LiAfvuQ-w%26m%3DKasoCfRJpoklP6kBfqSbw38Xzoz-Om-Ri-iIelZndeHaytLIr0Ict8EluBPuPgkq%26s%3DXqvkDaVOOeCuNm33StUKXeZ9ClWUwmFDw4DFc18a4Tw%26e%3D&source=gmail&ust=1757902863931000&usg=AOvVaw1S_P0YFd47MPJ6UGwoPld6">hate</a> <a href="https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__agelender.substack.com_p_the-2Dstar-2Dof-2Ddavid-2Das-2Dzionisms-2Dswastika&d=DwMFaQ&c=Oo8bPJf7k7r_cPTz1JF7vEiFxvFRfQtp-j14fFwh71U&r=o1Fmq5iPNOm916m1hd6KTGbCbTY_SS3TX_LiAfvuQ-w&m=KasoCfRJpoklP6kBfqSbw38Xzoz-Om-Ri-iIelZndeHaytLIr0Ict8EluBPuPgkq&s=jH615EbrhmqhQ9uPTyIKFM0I0hefZ_vxHlYQn2iVq5o&e=" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u%3Dhttps-3A__agelender.substack.com_p_the-2Dstar-2Dof-2Ddavid-2Das-2Dzionisms-2Dswastika%26d%3DDwMFaQ%26c%3DOo8bPJf7k7r_cPTz1JF7vEiFxvFRfQtp-j14fFwh71U%26r%3Do1Fmq5iPNOm916m1hd6KTGbCbTY_SS3TX_LiAfvuQ-w%26m%3DKasoCfRJpoklP6kBfqSbw38Xzoz-Om-Ri-iIelZndeHaytLIr0Ict8EluBPuPgkq%26s%3DjH615EbrhmqhQ9uPTyIKFM0I0hefZ_vxHlYQn2iVq5o%26e%3D&source=gmail&ust=1757902863931000&usg=AOvVaw2P1QWmUKi1nvU2lU8CaKUu">symbol</a> (for examples from around the world, see <a href="https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__www.instagram.com_reel_DNVWlaBK2S8_&d=DwMFaQ&c=Oo8bPJf7k7r_cPTz1JF7vEiFxvFRfQtp-j14fFwh71U&r=o1Fmq5iPNOm916m1hd6KTGbCbTY_SS3TX_LiAfvuQ-w&m=KasoCfRJpoklP6kBfqSbw38Xzoz-Om-Ri-iIelZndeHaytLIr0Ict8EluBPuPgkq&s=WWHyRVaCNIRsocZvf-08agiy-0eUddDaAPBevIIk4IY&e=" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u%3Dhttps-3A__www.instagram.com_reel_DNVWlaBK2S8_%26d%3DDwMFaQ%26c%3DOo8bPJf7k7r_cPTz1JF7vEiFxvFRfQtp-j14fFwh71U%26r%3Do1Fmq5iPNOm916m1hd6KTGbCbTY_SS3TX_LiAfvuQ-w%26m%3DKasoCfRJpoklP6kBfqSbw38Xzoz-Om-Ri-iIelZndeHaytLIr0Ict8EluBPuPgkq%26s%3DWWHyRVaCNIRsocZvf-08agiy-0eUddDaAPBevIIk4IY%26e%3D&source=gmail&ust=1757902863931000&usg=AOvVaw0jSOya3kBaHJxEDZp79A5t">here</a>, <a href="https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__www.middleeasteye.net_news_israeli-2Dpolice-2Daccused-2Dbranding-2Dstar-2Dof-2Ddavid-2Dpalestinian-2Dman-2Dcheek-2Dreport&d=DwMFaQ&c=Oo8bPJf7k7r_cPTz1JF7vEiFxvFRfQtp-j14fFwh71U&r=o1Fmq5iPNOm916m1hd6KTGbCbTY_SS3TX_LiAfvuQ-w&m=KasoCfRJpoklP6kBfqSbw38Xzoz-Om-Ri-iIelZndeHaytLIr0Ict8EluBPuPgkq&s=SPegNptjyJEn56R4cwjW52w21qUel5E_wRMzz6ceCUU&e=" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u%3Dhttps-3A__www.middleeasteye.net_news_israeli-2Dpolice-2Daccused-2Dbranding-2Dstar-2Dof-2Ddavid-2Dpalestinian-2Dman-2Dcheek-2Dreport%26d%3DDwMFaQ%26c%3DOo8bPJf7k7r_cPTz1JF7vEiFxvFRfQtp-j14fFwh71U%26r%3Do1Fmq5iPNOm916m1hd6KTGbCbTY_SS3TX_LiAfvuQ-w%26m%3DKasoCfRJpoklP6kBfqSbw38Xzoz-Om-Ri-iIelZndeHaytLIr0Ict8EluBPuPgkq%26s%3DSPegNptjyJEn56R4cwjW52w21qUel5E_wRMzz6ceCUU%26e%3D&source=gmail&ust=1757902863931000&usg=AOvVaw08w2BAqZRMpDAnkAislc4d">here</a>, <a href="https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__english.wafa.ps_Pages_Details_80478&d=DwMFaQ&c=Oo8bPJf7k7r_cPTz1JF7vEiFxvFRfQtp-j14fFwh71U&r=o1Fmq5iPNOm916m1hd6KTGbCbTY_SS3TX_LiAfvuQ-w&m=KasoCfRJpoklP6kBfqSbw38Xzoz-Om-Ri-iIelZndeHaytLIr0Ict8EluBPuPgkq&s=ZzqP6yI8jiJmfrU9Nto5w0m9_zTLk5sUib0NethJ_oM&e=" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u%3Dhttps-3A__english.wafa.ps_Pages_Details_80478%26d%3DDwMFaQ%26c%3DOo8bPJf7k7r_cPTz1JF7vEiFxvFRfQtp-j14fFwh71U%26r%3Do1Fmq5iPNOm916m1hd6KTGbCbTY_SS3TX_LiAfvuQ-w%26m%3DKasoCfRJpoklP6kBfqSbw38Xzoz-Om-Ri-iIelZndeHaytLIr0Ict8EluBPuPgkq%26s%3DZzqP6yI8jiJmfrU9Nto5w0m9_zTLk5sUib0NethJ_oM%26e%3D&source=gmail&ust=1757902863931000&usg=AOvVaw2winpKA6l93KhRvtyPe_rC">here</a>, <a href="https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__spectrumlocalnews.com_nc_coastal_news_2025_07_28_vandalism-2Dtexas-2Dcalifornia-2Dmosques&d=DwMFaQ&c=Oo8bPJf7k7r_cPTz1JF7vEiFxvFRfQtp-j14fFwh71U&r=o1Fmq5iPNOm916m1hd6KTGbCbTY_SS3TX_LiAfvuQ-w&m=KasoCfRJpoklP6kBfqSbw38Xzoz-Om-Ri-iIelZndeHaytLIr0Ict8EluBPuPgkq&s=YMZKXMABMtCP1uqv_NJlc3MSaNPJ9n4l7dH-xG7RvrU&e=" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u%3Dhttps-3A__spectrumlocalnews.com_nc_coastal_news_2025_07_28_vandalism-2Dtexas-2Dcalifornia-2Dmosques%26d%3DDwMFaQ%26c%3DOo8bPJf7k7r_cPTz1JF7vEiFxvFRfQtp-j14fFwh71U%26r%3Do1Fmq5iPNOm916m1hd6KTGbCbTY_SS3TX_LiAfvuQ-w%26m%3DKasoCfRJpoklP6kBfqSbw38Xzoz-Om-Ri-iIelZndeHaytLIr0Ict8EluBPuPgkq%26s%3DYMZKXMABMtCP1uqv_NJlc3MSaNPJ9n4l7dH-xG7RvrU%26e%3D&source=gmail&ust=1757902863931000&usg=AOvVaw2ntsuM_f3bmapl8O0mkcwe">here</a>, <a href="https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__www.thedp.com_article_2024_01_penn-2Dmosque-2Dvandalized-2Dwest-2Dphiladelphia&d=DwMFaQ&c=Oo8bPJf7k7r_cPTz1JF7vEiFxvFRfQtp-j14fFwh71U&r=o1Fmq5iPNOm916m1hd6KTGbCbTY_SS3TX_LiAfvuQ-w&m=KasoCfRJpoklP6kBfqSbw38Xzoz-Om-Ri-iIelZndeHaytLIr0Ict8EluBPuPgkq&s=HHZN6isFLjAjyE8bnE_N0XIr5-XawuZJiyLkK1DwizU&e=" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u%3Dhttps-3A__www.thedp.com_article_2024_01_penn-2Dmosque-2Dvandalized-2Dwest-2Dphiladelphia%26d%3DDwMFaQ%26c%3DOo8bPJf7k7r_cPTz1JF7vEiFxvFRfQtp-j14fFwh71U%26r%3Do1Fmq5iPNOm916m1hd6KTGbCbTY_SS3TX_LiAfvuQ-w%26m%3DKasoCfRJpoklP6kBfqSbw38Xzoz-Om-Ri-iIelZndeHaytLIr0Ict8EluBPuPgkq%26s%3DHHZN6isFLjAjyE8bnE_N0XIr5-XawuZJiyLkK1DwizU%26e%3D&source=gmail&ust=1757902863931000&usg=AOvVaw34QR7yYT-n-N4u0vichNUo">here</a>, and <a href="https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__www.israelnationalnews.com_news_153934&d=DwMFaQ&c=Oo8bPJf7k7r_cPTz1JF7vEiFxvFRfQtp-j14fFwh71U&r=o1Fmq5iPNOm916m1hd6KTGbCbTY_SS3TX_LiAfvuQ-w&m=KasoCfRJpoklP6kBfqSbw38Xzoz-Om-Ri-iIelZndeHaytLIr0Ict8EluBPuPgkq&s=tdjrVe4w1kUBAkoiTQEUie_Lx7Norn8UzpO0GfMwaCY&e=" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u%3Dhttps-3A__www.israelnationalnews.com_news_153934%26d%3DDwMFaQ%26c%3DOo8bPJf7k7r_cPTz1JF7vEiFxvFRfQtp-j14fFwh71U%26r%3Do1Fmq5iPNOm916m1hd6KTGbCbTY_SS3TX_LiAfvuQ-w%26m%3DKasoCfRJpoklP6kBfqSbw38Xzoz-Om-Ri-iIelZndeHaytLIr0Ict8EluBPuPgkq%26s%3DtdjrVe4w1kUBAkoiTQEUie_Lx7Norn8UzpO0GfMwaCY%26e%3D&source=gmail&ust=1757902863931000&usg=AOvVaw3TpLysCZObyNsNkCPReOXH">here</a>) were broadly denounced. Indeed, criticism of the Star of David was censored by the DSA-LA chat administrators.
One might suppose that this recent discord is just an anomaly. But DSA-LA has a history of missteps when it comes to zionism. The most striking examples were the chapter’s multiple endorsements of Los Angeles City Council member <a href="https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__medium.com_-40PalestineSWG_socialists-2Ddont-2Denable-2Dzionism-2De89f7d79b85b&d=DwMFaQ&c=Oo8bPJf7k7r_cPTz1JF7vEiFxvFRfQtp-j14fFwh71U&r=o1Fmq5iPNOm916m1hd6KTGbCbTY_SS3TX_LiAfvuQ-w&m=KasoCfRJpoklP6kBfqSbw38Xzoz-Om-Ri-iIelZndeHaytLIr0Ict8EluBPuPgkq&s=9iYVBm81KUo2dWK5G_Whvk23DHWSwhFKp1CjzmVVcOQ&e=" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u%3Dhttps-3A__medium.com_-40PalestineSWG_socialists-2Ddont-2Denable-2Dzionism-2De89f7d79b85b%26d%3DDwMFaQ%26c%3DOo8bPJf7k7r_cPTz1JF7vEiFxvFRfQtp-j14fFwh71U%26r%3Do1Fmq5iPNOm916m1hd6KTGbCbTY_SS3TX_LiAfvuQ-w%26m%3DKasoCfRJpoklP6kBfqSbw38Xzoz-Om-Ri-iIelZndeHaytLIr0Ict8EluBPuPgkq%26s%3D9iYVBm81KUo2dWK5G_Whvk23DHWSwhFKp1CjzmVVcOQ%26e%3D&source=gmail&ust=1757902863931000&usg=AOvVaw3ByAOXtNY-d5rh1HrdJ9BF">Nithya Raman</a>. Following DSA-LA’s first endorsement of Raman in 2019, she also sought the endorsement of “Democrats for Israel Los Angeles” (DFI). DFI withheld its endorsement for her first four-year term in 2020, but endorsed her second successful electoral run in 2024, as did DSA-LA again. DFI’s change of heart may have come about as a result of Raman’s services to zionism. She voted to <a href="https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__cityclerk.lacity.org_onlinedocs_2022_22-2D1241-5Freso-5F10-2D19-2D22.pdf&d=DwMFaQ&c=Oo8bPJf7k7r_cPTz1JF7vEiFxvFRfQtp-j14fFwh71U&r=o1Fmq5iPNOm916m1hd6KTGbCbTY_SS3TX_LiAfvuQ-w&m=KasoCfRJpoklP6kBfqSbw38Xzoz-Om-Ri-iIelZndeHaytLIr0Ict8EluBPuPgkq&s=yVW8jucHDDe4CvLNR5LbhCLTdOwgXouqWMGhbzUlHdc&e=" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u%3Dhttps-3A__cityclerk.lacity.org_onlinedocs_2022_22-2D1241-5Freso-5F10-2D19-2D22.pdf%26d%3DDwMFaQ%26c%3DOo8bPJf7k7r_cPTz1JF7vEiFxvFRfQtp-j14fFwh71U%26r%3Do1Fmq5iPNOm916m1hd6KTGbCbTY_SS3TX_LiAfvuQ-w%26m%3DKasoCfRJpoklP6kBfqSbw38Xzoz-Om-Ri-iIelZndeHaytLIr0Ict8EluBPuPgkq%26s%3DyVW8jucHDDe4CvLNR5LbhCLTdOwgXouqWMGhbzUlHdc%26e%3D&source=gmail&ust=1757902863931000&usg=AOvVaw3CrZUKiIZB6vollkXnExQz">adopt</a> the <a href="https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__www.hrw.org_news_2023_04_04_human-2Drights-2Dand-2Dother-2Dcivil-2Dsociety-2Dgroups-2Durge-2Dunited-2Dnations-2Drespect-2Dhuman&d=DwMFaQ&c=Oo8bPJf7k7r_cPTz1JF7vEiFxvFRfQtp-j14fFwh71U&r=o1Fmq5iPNOm916m1hd6KTGbCbTY_SS3TX_LiAfvuQ-w&m=KasoCfRJpoklP6kBfqSbw38Xzoz-Om-Ri-iIelZndeHaytLIr0Ict8EluBPuPgkq&s=7WPDwoyLG4yPojPNP-Dqp7Mf5ngXU2w7CNsicRvM0I8&e=" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u%3Dhttps-3A__www.hrw.org_news_2023_04_04_human-2Drights-2Dand-2Dother-2Dcivil-2Dsociety-2Dgroups-2Durge-2Dunited-2Dnations-2Drespect-2Dhuman%26d%3DDwMFaQ%26c%3DOo8bPJf7k7r_cPTz1JF7vEiFxvFRfQtp-j14fFwh71U%26r%3Do1Fmq5iPNOm916m1hd6KTGbCbTY_SS3TX_LiAfvuQ-w%26m%3DKasoCfRJpoklP6kBfqSbw38Xzoz-Om-Ri-iIelZndeHaytLIr0Ict8EluBPuPgkq%26s%3D7WPDwoyLG4yPojPNP-Dqp7Mf5ngXU2w7CNsicRvM0I8%26e%3D&source=gmail&ust=1757902863931000&usg=AOvVaw1Vdr8McWFqU4WNmqaHC8k6">IHRA definition</a> of antisemitism, which conflates antisemitism with anti-zionism, despite public <a href="https://www.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=pfbid0yCiB3Go5nC6QckabvGU8LH9zoXBp6YRKrYeNoMRmvj2FUZ9bYPD9ZCUWLe9ThVucl&id=555368774595271">opposition</a> from the L.A. Chapter of Jewish Voice for Peace. Raman also <a href="https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__medium.com_-40PalestineSWG_socialists-2Ddont-2Denable-2Dzionism-2De89f7d79b85b&d=DwMFaQ&c=Oo8bPJf7k7r_cPTz1JF7vEiFxvFRfQtp-j14fFwh71U&r=o1Fmq5iPNOm916m1hd6KTGbCbTY_SS3TX_LiAfvuQ-w&m=KasoCfRJpoklP6kBfqSbw38Xzoz-Om-Ri-iIelZndeHaytLIr0Ict8EluBPuPgkq&s=9iYVBm81KUo2dWK5G_Whvk23DHWSwhFKp1CjzmVVcOQ&e=" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u%3Dhttps-3A__medium.com_-40PalestineSWG_socialists-2Ddont-2Denable-2Dzionism-2De89f7d79b85b%26d%3DDwMFaQ%26c%3DOo8bPJf7k7r_cPTz1JF7vEiFxvFRfQtp-j14fFwh71U%26r%3Do1Fmq5iPNOm916m1hd6KTGbCbTY_SS3TX_LiAfvuQ-w%26m%3DKasoCfRJpoklP6kBfqSbw38Xzoz-Om-Ri-iIelZndeHaytLIr0Ict8EluBPuPgkq%26s%3D9iYVBm81KUo2dWK5G_Whvk23DHWSwhFKp1CjzmVVcOQ%26e%3D&source=gmail&ust=1757902863931000&usg=AOvVaw3ByAOXtNY-d5rh1HrdJ9BF">co-authored a resolution</a> to support an anti-Palestinian school district resolution, which was later used to help defeat a pro-BDS teachers union policy resolution.
DSA-LA was aware of Nithya Raman’s DFI endorsement as well as her pro-zionist activities, but the chapter voted to reconfirm its second endorsement anyway, albeit with a perfunctory <a href="https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__dsa-2Dla.org_letter-2Dof-2Dcensure-2Dnithya-2Draman_&d=DwMFaQ&c=Oo8bPJf7k7r_cPTz1JF7vEiFxvFRfQtp-j14fFwh71U&r=o1Fmq5iPNOm916m1hd6KTGbCbTY_SS3TX_LiAfvuQ-w&m=KasoCfRJpoklP6kBfqSbw38Xzoz-Om-Ri-iIelZndeHaytLIr0Ict8EluBPuPgkq&s=fIWEIDJF3Xf1dVrONvZgAdbQX3f8BE4XMEMN9s2cEQA&e=" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u%3Dhttps-3A__dsa-2Dla.org_letter-2Dof-2Dcensure-2Dnithya-2Draman_%26d%3DDwMFaQ%26c%3DOo8bPJf7k7r_cPTz1JF7vEiFxvFRfQtp-j14fFwh71U%26r%3Do1Fmq5iPNOm916m1hd6KTGbCbTY_SS3TX_LiAfvuQ-w%26m%3DKasoCfRJpoklP6kBfqSbw38Xzoz-Om-Ri-iIelZndeHaytLIr0Ict8EluBPuPgkq%26s%3DfIWEIDJF3Xf1dVrONvZgAdbQX3f8BE4XMEMN9s2cEQA%26e%3D&source=gmail&ust=1757902863931000&usg=AOvVaw3E_68SfSW0ej4rBBxT6mqv">letter of censure</a>. Remarkably, in her 2023 DSA-LA “Incumbent Candidate Questionnaire”, Nithya Raman reaffirmed her support for the racist IHRA definition of antisemitism. She declined a pledge to reject funds from organizations that profit off of Palestinian occupation and refused to promise to decline “education trips” to Israel sponsored by pro-Zionist organizations. During an interview with DSA-LA members she even verbally declined to identify herself as a socialist. Yet, the chapter endorsed her without questioning those responses.
Another endorsed candidate for local office gave mostly satisfactory answers on a similar DSA-LA questionnaire, but also wrote, “The Likkud Government of Israel and Hamas are both responsible for war crimes; Likkud for its asymmetrical warfare, domicide, and ethnic cleansing, and Hamas for its sickening willingness to use its own people as pawns in a greater geopolitical game,” thus creating a false symmetry and blaming Palestinians in part for their own genocide. This response should have been probed prior to endorsement but was not.
As the genocide progressed in 2023 and 2024, DSA-LA appropriately undertook actions in support of a ceasefire, but some were compromised. In a DSA-LA organized demonstration at a local congressional office, DSA-LA leaders led with the chant, “from the river to the sea,…”, except that the usual rejoinder, “Palestine will be free” was replaced by “everyone will be free.” This was presumably done to appease zionists who complained that the standard chant is “antisemitic.”
To its credit, DSA-LA formed a Palestine Solidarity Working Group in December 2023, which continues its activism to the present day. But soon after its formation, it was proposed that the working group request a meeting with the chapter’s Electoral Politics Committee for the purpose of discussing ways in which that committee could better flag and respond to pro-zionist statements by candidates for office seeking DSA-LA endorsement. However, this proposal was rejected. While DSA-LA has broadly supported Palestinian human rights, publicly called for a ceasefire and an end to the genocide, it has been unwilling to engage in its own “zionist house cleaning.”
When the DSA was founded in 1982, its leader, Michael Harrington, supported Israel, and described zionism as a “national liberation movement.” The national organization has since progressed well beyond its beginnings. At the national level, DSA has taken important steps to disengage from its zionist foundations, but the degree to which the policies identified in its new resolution, “<a href="https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__docs.google.com_document_d_1uVRuqCw1UKgNmurmCWvswerswEHHmkJ4UyXo8zvCVaM_edit&d=DwMFaQ&c=Oo8bPJf7k7r_cPTz1JF7vEiFxvFRfQtp-j14fFwh71U&r=o1Fmq5iPNOm916m1hd6KTGbCbTY_SS3TX_LiAfvuQ-w&m=KasoCfRJpoklP6kBfqSbw38Xzoz-Om-Ri-iIelZndeHaytLIr0Ict8EluBPuPgkq&s=KnKMgGDtCzwr9AGKMQJys3vhymSKECQ-2NuEUngzStk&e=" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u%3Dhttps-3A__docs.google.com_document_d_1uVRuqCw1UKgNmurmCWvswerswEHHmkJ4UyXo8zvCVaM_edit%26d%3DDwMFaQ%26c%3DOo8bPJf7k7r_cPTz1JF7vEiFxvFRfQtp-j14fFwh71U%26r%3Do1Fmq5iPNOm916m1hd6KTGbCbTY_SS3TX_LiAfvuQ-w%26m%3DKasoCfRJpoklP6kBfqSbw38Xzoz-Om-Ri-iIelZndeHaytLIr0Ict8EluBPuPgkq%26s%3DKnKMgGDtCzwr9AGKMQJys3vhymSKECQ-2NuEUngzStk%26e%3D&source=gmail&ust=1757902863931000&usg=AOvVaw3z1UIBLRKKotUNLr9S5nmw">For a Fighting Anti-Zionist DSA</a>” will filter down to the chapter level remains an open question.The post <a href="https://dissidentvoice.org/2025/09/a-dsa-chapter-struggles-with-zionism/">A DSA Chapter Struggles With Zionism</a> first appeared on <a href="https://dissidentvoice.org">Dissident Voice</a>.]]></content:encoded>
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<title>It’s a Bitch</title>
<link>https://dissidentvoice.org/2025/09/its-a-bitch/</link>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[E.R. Bills]]></dc:creator>
<pubDate>Tue, 16 Sep 2025 14:40:30 +0000</pubDate>
<category><![CDATA[Culture]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Opinion]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[United States]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Texas]]></category>
<guid isPermaLink="false">https://dissidentvoice.org/?p=161563</guid>
<description><![CDATA[As I walked into a Fort Worth Post office the other day, I passed a young redneck wearing a patently ignorant t-shirt. Not just ordinarily stupid, run-of-the-mill cretinous or incredibly ignorant. But extraordinarily ignorant—if not full-blown delusional. The wearer was the usual type. Hair high and tight underneath a straw cowboy hat, a forearm tattoo […]
The post <a href="https://dissidentvoice.org/2025/09/its-a-bitch/">It’s a Bitch</a> first appeared on <a href="https://dissidentvoice.org">Dissident Voice</a>.]]></description>
<content:encoded><![CDATA[<a href="https://dissidentvoice.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/ER-Bills.jpg"><img decoding="async" src="https://dissidentvoice.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/ER-Bills.jpg" alt="" width="183" height="276" class="alignleft size-full wp-image-143874" /></a>As I walked into a Fort Worth Post office the other day, I passed a young redneck wearing a patently ignorant t-shirt. Not just ordinarily stupid, run-of-the-mill cretinous or incredibly ignorant. But extraordinarily ignorant—if not full-blown delusional.
The wearer was the usual type. Hair high and tight underneath a straw cowboy hat, a forearm tattoo or three, with at least one rendering of his favorite phallic stand-in … daring a nonexistent mob to “Come and Take It.” He was flaunting his pseudo-badassery for all who were susceptible (or as ill-informed as he).
I rolled my eyes as we passed, but I didn’t look back. It was pointless for me to respond, even nonverbally. But it was too much, really. Too much of too much on a tortuous loop.
The teen ranger’s t-shirt read: “UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: YOU MEAN TEXAS AND ITS 49 BITCHES”
Yeah.
Yeah, I thought. Sexist, asinine and perversely grandiose.
I mean, I’m a native Texan and all, and proud to be so. Except when young troglodytes brandish apparel that flagrantly illustrates Lone Star idiocy. He might as well have been wearing an “I’m With Stupid” tee except, instead of the arrow pointing left or right, it pointed straight up, at the dip’s dip-stained chin.
To be fair, though, the teen ranger was probably educated in Texas, where—in the teen ranger’s vernacular—literacy rates are inferior to the citizens of 47 other bitches in America. But he did get the current number of states right, and that’s reassuring. Because the numeracy levels of the wayward denizens in 45 other bitches are superior to those of Texas.
Forty-five? Forty-seven? Why do those numbers ring a bell? Hmmm.
For the peanut gallery, numeracy is the capacity to understand, reason with, and apply basic numerical concepts. It’s essentially the numerical counterpart of literacy. As in, if you’re ranked 46th out of 50, you’re darn near illiterate in terms of math, which is why you may still consider the state of your birth swell. And why your clueless opinion of said birthplace is so groundlessly swollen.
A colloquial corollary to someone being one’s bitch is making someone one’s bitch. Are Texas conservatives watching too many prison dramas? Or is it an unconscious itch they’ve found a way to metaphorically scratch?
It’s becoming increasingly difficult to explain things to Jethro Q. Pudwhack, because he is fiercely unworldly, proudly ill-informed and comfortably illiterate in terms of culture, politics and ethics. Not to mention insensate in terms of his own sexism, chauvinism and—yes, again—perverse braggadocio.
Now, I, myself, grew up a redneck. We had a small pasture, a garden, a few dogs and spent a little time around cattle. But even I know that if you’re trotting near the rear of fifty head of cattle, you’re getting the last lick of feed, grass or hay, and you’re settling for backwash at the trough.
The real head-scratcher for me is, why are teen ranger and his ilk okay with backwash?
Where were his ma and pa when conservative knuckle-draggers rode into their town, and why didn’t they run them off before their little Jethro Q. Pudwhack was intellectually handicapped by their talking points?
Stupid may be as stupid does, but Joannie and Jethro Q. Pudwhack elected the current batch of scamps and they, in turn, made “stupid” the state bird. But what’s the point in Bocephus going around giving every state that’s not full of doofuses the bird?
Now, I know what you’re thinking.
Well, maybe not thinking, but vaguely wondering.
You’re wondering if I’m really from Texas, because, in that dim space between your ears, you suspect real Texans don’t run their heads about education or opine polysyllabic about the lack or sad state thereof. But you and yers are simply mistaken simps.
Not everyone in Texas drinks piss from a boot and breathes through their mouth. And a bunch of us are plumb tired of settling for backwash at a shrinking trough and teen rangers who don’t have a lick of sense.
You may not have realized our state is no longer great, and you may not be able to get your hat around the implications of our current morass: our legislature is full of dumbasses and the only thing really big around here these days is our clear and present acceleration backwards … or, in the words of teen rangers, moving backwards bigly.
It’s a bitch.The post <a href="https://dissidentvoice.org/2025/09/its-a-bitch/">It’s a Bitch</a> first appeared on <a href="https://dissidentvoice.org">Dissident Voice</a>.]]></content:encoded>
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<title>After Five Decades, It Comes to This: The PNG-Australia Pukpuk Treaty</title>
<link>https://dissidentvoice.org/2025/09/after-five-decades-it-comes-to-this-the-png-australia-pukpuk-treaty/</link>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[Binoy Kampmark]]></dc:creator>
<pubDate>Tue, 16 Sep 2025 07:22:19 +0000</pubDate>
<category><![CDATA[Anthony Albanese]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Australia]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Fiji]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Papua New Guinea]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Sovereignty]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Don Rothwell]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Mike Pezzullo]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Richard Marles]]></category>
<guid isPermaLink="false">https://dissidentvoice.org/?p=161576</guid>
<description><![CDATA[It’s clearer than ever: the Albanese government is continuing its efforts to shut out China in wooing and seducing island states across vast expanse of the Pacific Ocean. Bilateral security treaties are being pursued as a matter of urgency. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has, for instance, stated that he is open to closer defence ties […]
The post <a href="https://dissidentvoice.org/2025/09/after-five-decades-it-comes-to-this-the-png-australia-pukpuk-treaty/">After Five Decades, It Comes to This: The PNG-Australia Pukpuk Treaty</a> first appeared on <a href="https://dissidentvoice.org">Dissident Voice</a>.]]></description>
<content:encoded><![CDATA[It’s clearer than ever: the Albanese government is continuing its efforts to shut out China in wooing and seducing island states across vast expanse of the Pacific Ocean. Bilateral security treaties are being pursued as a matter of urgency. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has, for instance, <a class="western" href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-09-10/pacific-islands-forum-australia-fiji-security-treaty-talks/105757640">stated</a> that he is open to closer defence ties with Fiji, which “could range from increased interoperability, the sort of training that we are seeing with the Pacific Policing Initiative, being expanded to increased engagement between our defence forces”.
The template, however, would seem to be the Pukpuk Treaty between Australia and Papua New Guinea (pukpuk being the pidgin word for “crocodile”). It was reported on September 15 that the PNG cabinet had, despite a few procedural hiccups, approved the pact, with a PNG cabinet submission <a class="western" href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-09-16/australia-and-png-defence-treaty-could-oblige-military-action/105776214">observing</a> that the treaty is intended “to prepare our militaries to be battle-ready and for a very bad day”. With exaggeration, the document also envisages a treaty with the bite of a crocodile in linking the militaries of the two countries.
While the contents of the treaty have yet to be published – the Albanese government is showing itself increasingly secretive – the Australian national broadcaster has seen a copy. There are also clues about what is expected. PNG Defence Minister Billy Joseph <a class="western" href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-09-14/australia-and-png-defence-treaty-to-integrate-military-forces/105770088">has said</a> that a provision much like Article 4 in NATO’s founding treaty, obliging member states to consult when any one feels a threat to their territorial integrity, political independence or security, is in the offing. The existing 1977 Status of Forces framework will be modernised to include a mutual defence obligation, a hefty expenditure on weapons and equipment for PNG while permitting unimpeded access of Australian Defence Forces to facilities in PNG. PNG nationals will also be able to be recruited into the ADF, as will Australians wishing to be recruited into the PNG Defence Forces.
Despite celebrating five decades of independence, PNG has decided to throw a good bit of it away by surrendering the complete autonomy of its armed forces to Australian influence and control. Such arrangements are always advertised as ostensible exercises of “interoperability”, consultation and equality, with various domestic processes needing to be observed. In truth, this gives Canberra greater say over what Port Moresby will do with its armed forces and, by implication, its foreign policy.
Such greater say also risks involving Australia in a range of security concerns. Don Rothwell, an international law authority based at the Australian National University, <a class="western" href="https://www.postcourier.com.pg/australia-to-modernise-png-military-under-hugely-significant-treaty/">sees</a> the prospect of Canberra being snagged in PNG-Indonesia border issues arising from West Papua, and dirtying itself with “an active independence movement in Bougainville, which raises issues of PNG’s ‘political independence or security’.”
With the attraction of a pathway to Australian citizenship and the prospect of equal rates of pay as earned by members of the ADF, there is a genuine chance that PNG will see its own forces depleted while swelling the ranks of the ADF. In terms of planning, this looks like a fantastic instance of self-harm and diminishment.
International relations commentary rarely does a good line in ironic reflection. A <a class="western" href="https://theconversation.com/with-new-png-defence-treaty-australia-is-delivering-on-its-rhetoric-about-trust-at-a-critical-time-265064">piece</a> in The Conversation by Ian Kemish does not disappoint, flecked with platitudes on “deep roots in shared history”, Australia being the “most trusted partner” to PNG, and sentimental guff about “partnership and equality”. Port Moresby had evidently felt that the relationship with Canberra was “unique – the only one that combines proximity, capability and an enduring sense of shared history.” Michael Shoebridge of the Strategic Analysis Australia think tank, <a class="western" href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-09-14/australia-and-png-defence-treaty-to-integrate-military-forces/105770088">described</a> the pact as “a pretty big step”, with PNG saying “‘Yes we agree, you actually are our security partner of choice, and we mean it enough to put it into a treaty’.”
Australian self-interest, ever jittery about China’s regional influence, shines so brightly in these arrangements as to make such remarks feeble. Australian Defence Minister Richard Marles, often circuitous and waffly at press conferences, was <a class="western" href="https://www.minister.defence.gov.au/transcripts/2025-09-14/television-interview-abc-insiders">candid in admitting</a> that “PNG is obviously on our northern flank. It really matters that we have the very best relationship we have with PNG in a security sense. And I’m really excited about the fact that this agreement is going to give expression to that.”
The need to keep PNG close to Australia’s military interests is also of ongoing interest to such anti-China hawks as the sacked and disgraced former secretary of the Department of Home Affairs, Mike Pezzullo. For some reason, press outlets think his predictable views matter. To The Australian Financial Review, he <a class="western" href="https://www.afr.com/politics/federal/australia-set-to-sign-ambitious-defence-treaty-with-papua-new-guinea-20250912-p5mun9">explained</a> rather banally that “PNG would be in peril were it to be attacked by a foreign power.” He advised that Australia “for the first time in our bilateral relationship, commit to coming to PNG’s assistance in the event of it being attacked by a foreign power.” Any agreement that did not codify such an undertaking “would be, while useful, not reflective of our deep strategic interdependence.”
With each utterance on sovereignty from Canberra, officials in Port Moresby would do well to consider the implications of the pact. PNG may have existed as a nominally independent state for fifty years, but that independence is set to come to an end.The post <a href="https://dissidentvoice.org/2025/09/after-five-decades-it-comes-to-this-the-png-australia-pukpuk-treaty/">After Five Decades, It Comes to This: The PNG-Australia Pukpuk Treaty</a> first appeared on <a href="https://dissidentvoice.org">Dissident Voice</a>.]]></content:encoded>
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<title>Five Actions that Definitively Disqualify Trump for his Coveted Nobel Peace Prize</title>
<link>https://dissidentvoice.org/2025/09/five-actions-that-definitively-disqualify-trump-for-his-coveted-nobel-peace-prize/</link>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[Kim Petersen]]></dc:creator>
<pubDate>Mon, 15 Sep 2025 15:10:53 +0000</pubDate>
<category><![CDATA[Ansar Allah (Houthis)]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Barack Obama]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Benjamin Netanyahu]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Donald Trump]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Genocide]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Iran]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Israel (part of Mandate Palestine)]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Marco Rubio]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Palestine]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Ukraine]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Venezuela]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[War Crimes]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Yemen]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Abraham Accords]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Colonel Douglas Macgregor]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Nobel Peace Prize]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[nuclear program]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Operation Rough Rider]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[proxy war]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Sean Hannity]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Yván Gil]]></category>
<guid isPermaLink="false">https://dissidentvoice.org/?p=161552</guid>
<description><![CDATA[I am especially proud to be the first President in decades who has started no new wars. — Donald Trump, Farewell Address, 20 January 2021 I am the Peace President and only I will prevent WW3! — Donald J. Trump, Truth Social, 6 September 2024 I think I’m going to get a Nobel Prize for […]
The post <a href="https://dissidentvoice.org/2025/09/five-actions-that-definitively-disqualify-trump-for-his-coveted-nobel-peace-prize/">Five Actions that Definitively Disqualify Trump for his Coveted Nobel Peace Prize</a> first appeared on <a href="https://dissidentvoice.org">Dissident Voice</a>.]]></description>
<content:encoded><![CDATA[<blockquote>I am especially proud to be the first President in decades who has started no new wars. 
— Donald Trump, <a href="https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/proud-to-be-the-first-president-in-decades-with-no-new-wars-donald-trump-2355040">Farewell Address</a>, 20 January 2021</blockquote>
<blockquote>I am the Peace President and only I will prevent WW3! 
— Donald J. Trump, <a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/facepalm/comments/1fb0whw/i_am_the_peace_president_and_only_i_will_prevent/#lightbox">Truth Social</a>, 6 September 2024</blockquote>
<blockquote>I think I’m going to get a Nobel Prize for a lot of things, if they gave it out fairly, which they don’t. 
— Donald Trump, <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/trump-says-he-is-worthy-of-a-nobel-prize-for-a-lot-of-things--but-isnt-treated-fairly/2019/09/23/e715baa2-de2c-11e9-b199-f638bf2c340f_story.html">Washington Post</a>, 23 September 2019</blockquote>
Seemingly crushing Trump’s aspirations, Cross World News has <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0sf1S33HIR4&t=322s">headlined</a>: “Donald Trump’s Nobel Peace Prize Push Rejected.”
It has long been obvious that the self-described “<a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2025/08/14/the-kingmaker-trump-relishes-his-diplomacy-as-he-jockeys-for-nobel-prize-00509869">president of peace</a>” Donald Trump has been immodestly pining and campaigning for a Nobel Peace Prize. Trump figures if Barack Obama — <a href="https://countercurrents.org/petersen101009.htm">audaciously</a> though — was awarded the peace prize, then he should be as well. “They gave it to Obama. He didn’t even know what he got it for. He was there for about 15 seconds and he got the Nobel Prize.” <a href="https://news.sky.com/story/why-donald-trump-believes-he-deserves-the-nobel-peace-prize-and-ended-seven-wars-13415259">Trump complained</a>, “With me, I probably will never get it.”
Nonetheless, Trump believes that he has the bona fides to win a <a href="https://dissidentvoice.org/2010/10/what-purpose-does-the-nobel-prize-serve/">vaunted and tainted Nobel Peace Prize</a>. Trump prides himself on his having held negotiations with the DPRK and on his role in pushing for the Abraham Accords in the Middle East. In more recent times, he has taken credit for <a href="https://news.sky.com/story/why-donald-trump-believes-he-deserves-the-nobel-peace-prize-and-ended-seven-wars-13415259">having ended seven wars</a>. Even if all this were indisputably true, he still should not be in contention for a peace prize.
Five solid reasons that invalidate peace credentials
To start, a nomination from Israeli president Benjamin Netanyahu — indicted for alleged responsibility “for the war crimes of starvation as a method of warfare and of intentionally directing an attack against the civilian population; and the crimes against humanity of murder, persecution, and other inhumane acts from at least 8 October 2023 until at least 20 May 2024” as cited by the <a href="https://www.icc-cpi.int/defendant/netanyahu">UN-backed International Criminal Court</a> (ICC) — should raise some eyebrows.
Even so, Berg Harpviken, who guides the Nobel Peace Prize committee said, “To be nominated is not necessarily a great achievement. The great achievement is to become a laureate.” Trump is just one of 338 individuals and organizations nominated this year.
1) — More egregious for Trump’s Nobel Peace Prize aspirations are his administration’s actions that are strongly supportive of the Israeli government’s genocidal actions in Palestine.
2) — There is the case of the ongoing US-NATO proxy war against Russia in Ukraine. This was admitted by secretary of state Marco Rubio, in an interview with Sean Hannity, <a href="https://www.state.gov/secretary-of-state-marco-rubio-with-sean-hannity-of-fox-news?cmplz-force-reload=1757889606576">saying</a>, “And frankly, it’s a proxy war between nuclear powers – the United States, helping Ukraine…” US involvement is cited as <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FJKrj1Hn77c">prolonging the fighting</a> that has seen, according to retired US colonel Douglas Macgregor, over 1.7 million Ukrainian soldiers killed or missing in action, including over a hundred thousand Russians.
3) — In March 2025, the United States launched Operation Rough Rider, a large campaign of air and naval strikes against Ansar Allah targets in war-ravaged Yemen.
4) — On 22 June 2025, the US air force and navy bombed three nuclear facilities in Iran, this despite Iran having not attacked or threatened the US and being in negotiations at that time with the US over Iran’s nuclear program.
5) — On 3 September 2025, the US Trump attacked a small Venezuelan boat, allegedly carrying drugs bound for the US, killing all eleven people onboard. The <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cdjzw3gplv7o">BBC cites experts calling the attack illegal</a>:
<blockquote>[Prof Michael Becker:] “Not only does the strike appear to have violated the prohibition on the use of force, it also runs afoul of the right to life under international human rights law.”
Prof [Luke] Moffett said that the use of force in this case could amount to an “extrajudicial arbitrary killing” and “a fundamental violation of human rights”.</blockquote>
The US narrative has since <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WtM3TGWzXsc&t=378s">been heavily called into question</a>.
Subsequently, on 13 September 2025, <a href="https://www.ctvnews.ca/world/article/venezuela-says-us-marines-raided-a-fishermens-boat-in-the-caribbean-as-tensions-rise/">according to the Venezuelan foreign minister Yvan Gil</a>, the US navy further ratcheted up tensions by raiding a Venezuelan tuna boat with nine fishermen while it was sailing in Venezuelan waters.
Conclusion
Actively abetting a genocide, promoting a proxy war, launching attacks on nuclear facilities, bombing war-ravaged Yemen, and illegally bombing and raiding small boats in open water on unproven claims, separately, and definitively in totality, must rule out any consideration for a peace prize. The post <a href="https://dissidentvoice.org/2025/09/five-actions-that-definitively-disqualify-trump-for-his-coveted-nobel-peace-prize/">Five Actions that Definitively Disqualify Trump for his Coveted Nobel Peace Prize</a> first appeared on <a href="https://dissidentvoice.org">Dissident Voice</a>.]]></content:encoded>
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<title>Psyop Landfill</title>
<link>https://dissidentvoice.org/2025/09/psyop-landfill/</link>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[Allen Forrest]]></dc:creator>
<pubDate>Mon, 15 Sep 2025 15:00:23 +0000</pubDate>
<category><![CDATA[Cartoon]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Media]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[antisemitism]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[pandemic]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[school shooters]]></category>
<guid isPermaLink="false">https://dissidentvoice.org/?p=161497</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Where media garbage is disposed.
The post <a href="https://dissidentvoice.org/2025/09/psyop-landfill/">Psyop Landfill</a> first appeared on <a href="https://dissidentvoice.org">Dissident Voice</a>.]]></description>
<content:encoded><![CDATA[<a href="https://dissidentvoice.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/psyop_landfill_12x9_ink_on_paper_w.png"><img decoding="async" class="aligncenter size-large wp-image-161498" src="https://dissidentvoice.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/psyop_landfill_12x9_ink_on_paper_w-768x1024.png" alt="" width="500" height="667" srcset="https://dissidentvoice.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/psyop_landfill_12x9_ink_on_paper_w-768x1024.png 768w, https://dissidentvoice.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/psyop_landfill_12x9_ink_on_paper_w-225x300.png 225w, https://dissidentvoice.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/psyop_landfill_12x9_ink_on_paper_w.png 900w" sizes="(max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px" /></a>The post <a href="https://dissidentvoice.org/2025/09/psyop-landfill/">Psyop Landfill</a> first appeared on <a href="https://dissidentvoice.org">Dissident Voice</a>.]]></content:encoded>
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<title>Bajaur’s Unfinished War: From Operation Sherdil to Operation Sarbakaf</title>
<link>https://dissidentvoice.org/2025/09/bajaurs-unfinished-war-from-operation-sherdil-to-operation-sarbakaf/</link>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[Syed Salman Mehdi]]></dc:creator>
<pubDate>Mon, 15 Sep 2025 15:00:20 +0000</pubDate>
<category><![CDATA[Militarism]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Terrorism]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[United States]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Baitullah Mehsud]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[insurgency]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Jamaat-ul-Ahrar]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Lashkar-e-Jhangvi]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Maulvi Faqir Mohammad]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Operation Sarbakaf]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Operation Sherdil]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[TTP]]></category>
<guid isPermaLink="false">https://dissidentvoice.org/?p=161368</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Bajaur is among Pakistan’s tribal districts that witnessed the greatest battle in the war on terror. In the days of the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and the Al-Qaeda strongholds, it has seen military operations time and again over almost two decades. The campaigns like Operation Sherdil during 2008–2009 showed some fierce counterinsurgency fighting; Operation Sarbakaf in […]
The post <a href="https://dissidentvoice.org/2025/09/bajaurs-unfinished-war-from-operation-sherdil-to-operation-sarbakaf/">Bajaur’s Unfinished War: From Operation Sherdil to Operation Sarbakaf</a> first appeared on <a href="https://dissidentvoice.org">Dissident Voice</a>.]]></description>
<content:encoded><![CDATA[Bajaur is among Pakistan’s tribal districts that witnessed the <a href="https://southasiajournal.net/bajaur-presents-a-dilemma-to-pakistan/" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://southasiajournal.net/bajaur-presents-a-dilemma-to-pakistan/&source=gmail&ust=1757543920987000&usg=AOvVaw3CC3juVEzQHTC4qzyutl-v">greatest battle</a> in the war on terror. In the days of the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and the Al-Qaeda strongholds, it has seen military operations time and again over almost two decades. The campaigns like Operation Sherdil during 2008–2009 showed some fierce counterinsurgency fighting; Operation Sarbakaf in 2025 highlighted how militancy stayed but in a different form ever since it was nearly defeated. The occurrence of various successful and funded coercive instruments, however, did not automatically dissolve the insurgency in Pajaur, reflecting the difficult situation for the <a href="https://www.cfr.org/global-conflict-tracker/conflict/islamist-militancy-pakistan" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.cfr.org/global-conflict-tracker/conflict/islamist-militancy-pakistan&source=gmail&ust=1757543920988000&usg=AOvVaw2AFbxGVRSRAXKyKPW7rlhU">extremist institutions</a>. The unfinished war develops the argument that counterterrorism in the region is not only a military challenge but also a struggle counted in politics and society.
Operation Sherdil: Breaking the TTP Stronghold
<a href="https://tribune.com.pk/story/722391/timeline-major-offensives-launched-by-army-against-militants" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://tribune.com.pk/story/722391/timeline-major-offensives-launched-by-army-against-militants&source=gmail&ust=1757543920988000&usg=AOvVaw0agNwxuWy4BLF1fh1nQ_nn">Operation Sherdil</a> was launched in August 2008, illustrating one of Pakistan’s largest counterinsurgencies in FATA. About 8,000 plus troops of the Pakistan Army and Frontier Corps, supported by <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Bajaur" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Bajaur&source=gmail&ust=1757543920988000&usg=AOvVaw1NUTNZCw1s0UJRwsMuauGC">air power</a>, marched into Bajaur Agency as an anticipating preemptive force to dislodge the established TTP. They had fortified the district as a headquarters from which to influence northeastern Afghanistan. By February 2009, the operation was <a href="https://www.cfr.org/global-conflict-tracker/conflict/war-afghanistan" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.cfr.org/global-conflict-tracker/conflict/war-afghanistan&source=gmail&ust=1757543920988000&usg=AOvVaw1kvGNC8qbOFjaZwX609KBn">declared a success</a>, with approximately <a href="https://satp.org/terrorist-activity/pakistan-fata-fata-bajaur%20or%20bajur%20or%20bajour-Jul-2009" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://satp.org/terrorist-activity/pakistan-fata-fata-bajaur%2520or%2520bajur%2520or%2520bajour-Jul-2009&source=gmail&ust=1757543920988000&usg=AOvVaw0nfVnYamJZCIFBm5MpEDgl">1,800 estimated militants killed</a> and some hundreds captured. Yet the cost was high in terms of lives of coalition forces, the lacerated <a href="https://tribune.com.pk/story/722391/timeline-major-offensives-launched-by-army-against-militants" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://tribune.com.pk/story/722391/timeline-major-offensives-launched-by-army-against-militants&source=gmail&ust=1757543920988000&usg=AOvVaw0agNwxuWy4BLF1fh1nQ_nn">civilian displacement</a>, and infrastructure of the military bases. Still, the <a href="https://jamestown.org/program/a-profile-of-militant-groups-in-bajaur-tribal-agency" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://jamestown.org/program/a-profile-of-militant-groups-in-bajaur-tribal-agency&source=gmail&ust=1757543920988000&usg=AOvVaw11TrnRha8xupMEQiR3ehVJ">TTP retaliated</a> with strikes, indicating the limitations of Sherdil to provide Bajaur long-term peace.
The TTP’s Enduring Threat
The TTP group was founded in 2007 under <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baitullah_Mehsud" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baitullah_Mehsud&source=gmail&ust=1757543920988000&usg=AOvVaw1IvxYWWpqTBOm3XU5rCjP2">Baitullah Mehsud</a>, quickly becoming among the most deadly militant groups in Pakistan. Unlike the Afghan Taliban, whose interest is in national control, the TTP is more inclined towards <a href="https://main.un.org/securitycouncil/en/sanctions/1267/aq_sanctions_list/summaries/entity/tehrik-e-taliban-pakistan-%28ttp%29" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://main.un.org/securitycouncil/en/sanctions/1267/aq_sanctions_list/summaries/entity/tehrik-e-taliban-pakistan-%2528ttp%2529&source=gmail&ust=1757543920988000&usg=AOvVaw27YT1DSFkkdzGLrUL0r_mB">sectarian violence</a> and used to stage regular bombings with frequent suicide bombings, particularly carried out against <a href="https://www.xcept-research.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/The-reinvention-of-the-Tehrik-e-Taliban-Pakistan_a-case-study.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.xcept-research.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/The-reinvention-of-the-Tehrik-e-Taliban-Pakistan_a-case-study.pdf&source=gmail&ust=1757543920988000&usg=AOvVaw2TUYZYocg0xX8-5pir6Aut">Shia Muslims and state institutions</a>. For them, Al-Qaeda was a <a href="https://icct.nl/sites/default/files/import/publication/911_TerrFin_Ch2.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://icct.nl/sites/default/files/import/publication/911_TerrFin_Ch2.pdf&source=gmail&ust=1757543920988000&usg=AOvVaw0FhCffyqFLT2EUNij5pHFS">source</a> of financial, logistical, and ideological sustenance. Over time, the group found its links to various <a href="https://www.xcept-research.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/20240802-Borderland-Pak-stability-clean-for-typeset-.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.xcept-research.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/20240802-Borderland-Pak-stability-clean-for-typeset-.pdf&source=gmail&ust=1757543920988000&usg=AOvVaw1feDfUst5SxOC1m8XxN6fX">cross-border sanctuaries</a> between Afghanistan and Pakistan, being based in an underground shelter and sheltered in caves. In 2025, TTP had lost quite a bit but retained <a href="https://ctc.westpoint.edu/leaders-fighters-and-suicide-attackers-insights-on-ttp-militant-mobility-through-commemorative-records-2006-2025" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://ctc.westpoint.edu/leaders-fighters-and-suicide-attackers-insights-on-ttp-militant-mobility-through-commemorative-records-2006-2025&source=gmail&ust=1757543920988000&usg=AOvVaw0Hl-66cceTq2oZR4g1EWkb">fighters</a>, mostly resorting to having bases inside of Afghanistan. Pakistan formally blamed some Afghan intelligence elements and forces shaped by Afghanism [Urdu term افغانیت (Afghanīyat), which reflects the ideological mindset among certain Pashtun groups that only their interpretation of Islam and law should prevail — an outlook carried by both the Afghan Taliban and later the TTP] for the incursion and for not providing real assistance against <a href="https://moderndiplomacy.eu/2025/08/23/afghan-soil-regional-fault-lines" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://moderndiplomacy.eu/2025/08/23/afghan-soil-regional-fault-lines&source=gmail&ust=1757543920988000&usg=AOvVaw3qRj6v5MhS5llEb9qgeLwS">TTP militancy</a>. All the foregoing compels us to see why <a href="https://www.pakpips.com/article/8261" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.pakpips.com/article/8261&source=gmail&ust=1757543920988000&usg=AOvVaw1PaX79N9AzSNwY0q07aKcy">militant violence</a> in Bajaur has resisted almost everything.
U.S. Military Assistance and Its Controversies
Fighting against terrorism in Bajaur has been broadened to get financial support for Throne of Dollars from the USA. The American government started <a href="https://www.centcom.mil/MEDIA/PRESS-RELEASES/Press-Release-View/Article/903796/us-releases-2009-coalition-support-funds/" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.centcom.mil/MEDIA/PRESS-RELEASES/Press-Release-View/Article/903796/us-releases-2009-coalition-support-funds/&source=gmail&ust=1757543920988000&usg=AOvVaw3Iae0vtEd4s0gLLCfqSTL8">granting millions of dollars</a> for Pak Army equipment endowing the F-16, MI-17, <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-11606431" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-11606431&source=gmail&ust=1757543920988000&usg=AOvVaw3QCSo7lxe50VgDN664MbOL">night vision devices</a>, and secure communication infrastructures. All of these things were like shooting adrenaline to Pak war machinery and let campaigns like Sherdil dominate the battlefield. This aid was highly controversial in its own way as critics raised questions on the effective use of this assistance and warned of <a href="https://ctc.westpoint.edu/pakistans-anti-terrorism-courts/" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://ctc.westpoint.edu/pakistans-anti-terrorism-courts/&source=gmail&ust=1757543920988000&usg=AOvVaw3jHS_W8e2oZ0KUM6bH8dMt">weapons leakage to militant groups</a>. After a consequence of the Taliban from Afghanistan in 2021, a public shift is seen from <a href="https://globalinitiative.net/analysis/afghanistans-unchecked-arsenal-under-taliban-rule/" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://globalinitiative.net/analysis/afghanistans-unchecked-arsenal-under-taliban-rule/&source=gmail&ust=1757543920988000&usg=AOvVaw0NvDpIBMniG9-l5OjSZz3b">NATO-grade arms to TTP arsenals</a>; this incident added fuel to suspicions concerning diversion and battlefield capture. This <a href="https://www.voanews.com/a/taliban-threaten-to-use-us-arms-to-thwart-attempts-to-retake-them-/7962251.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.voanews.com/a/taliban-threaten-to-use-us-arms-to-thwart-attempts-to-retake-them-/7962251.html&source=gmail&ust=1757543920988000&usg=AOvVaw2LExAAipvdIXkmSKaOExXU">$7-billion figure</a>, almost as commonplace in the media debates as is the perception that a good chunk of the money spent continued to indirectly <a href="https://library.fes.de/pdf-files/bueros/pakistan/18346.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://library.fes.de/pdf-files/bueros/pakistan/18346.pdf&source=gmail&ust=1757543920988000&usg=AOvVaw3Hnx0anMtgjz7SovMbnAYQ">aid insurgents</a>, goes a long way to underline that support can equip the state but also foster political mistrust.
Civilian Toll of Bajaur
The tribal communities of Bajaur are among those that have suffered unimaginably over the years due to repeated military operations. Operation Sherdil left <a href="https://irb-cisr.gc.ca/en/country-information/rir/Pages/index.aspx?doc=459005&wbdisable=true" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://irb-cisr.gc.ca/en/country-information/rir/Pages/index.aspx?doc%3D459005%26wbdisable%3Dtrue&source=gmail&ust=1757543920988000&usg=AOvVaw0c14zX40MaCRjqLOjAPoGl">thousands of families homeless</a> and destroyed the infrastructure: schools, bazaars, and clinics were destroyed. Operation Sarbakaf was supposed to somewhat rectify this situation by evacuating people into relief camps and providing medical services, but civilian casualties were still left to <a href="https://freedomhouse.org/country/pakistan/freedom-world/2025" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://freedomhouse.org/country/pakistan/freedom-world/2025&source=gmail&ust=1757543920988000&usg=AOvVaw3cs22hbSH4U03PKRxaak32">bear the brunt</a> of displacement and trauma. The unending cycle of violence has eroded the trust of the masses in the state, which militants capitalise on. Local elders lament that development and <a href="https://issi.org.pk/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/IB_Amina_Apr_7_2025.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://issi.org.pk/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/IB_Amina_Apr_7_2025.pdf&source=gmail&ust=1757543920988000&usg=AOvVaw3ejlpKKwo_Y60tKKsIZtcZ">governance promises</a> are often abandoned once operations are declared over. This social aspect shows that military success alone cannot bring peace to Bajaur. Without education, jobs, and credible governance, the space for militant groups to recruit and regroup will remain. Thus, the war in Bajaur is as much about rebuilding lives as it is about annihilating the insurgents.
Evolution of Militancy 2009–2025
Militancy in Bajaur has changed so much with the passing of years. In 2009 TTP, foreign Uzbeks and <a href="https://www.satp.org/terrorist-activity/pakistan-fata-fata-bajaur%20or%20bajur%20or%20bajour-Jun-2009" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.satp.org/terrorist-activity/pakistan-fata-fata-bajaur%2520or%2520bajur%2520or%2520bajour-Jun-2009&source=gmail&ust=1757543920988000&usg=AOvVaw3M0afHhXXnP9_SJUlt9Q9U">Arab jihadists</a> were controlling areas like Damdola and Khazai Ghar under commanders like Maulvi Faqir Mohammad), sitting pretty and openly boasting of their power. The victories of the Pakistani Army pulled them out of territories, but the fighters withdrew into the mountains where they regrouped under new banners. TTP, while <a href="https://www.usip.org/publications/2023/02/pakistan-poised-take-ttp" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.usip.org/publications/2023/02/pakistan-poised-take-ttp&source=gmail&ust=1757543920988000&usg=AOvVaw2Q8dpfAmlhMYoDNfWUQnO-">internally fighting</a>, allied with other factions like Jamaat-ul-Ahrar and Lashkar-e-Jhangvi; some factions tilted toward ISIS-K. By 2025, the insurgency had become less about holding territories and more about sporadic ambushes, assassinations, and recruitment drives. This evolution is a clear demonstration of the flexibility and adaptability of the militants, as they changed their mode of action from open warfare to clandestine insurgency. This explains why even after so many “victories”, Bajaur remains an <a href="https://southasiajournal.net/bajaur-presents-a-dilemma-to-pakistan/" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://southasiajournal.net/bajaur-presents-a-dilemma-to-pakistan/&source=gmail&ust=1757543920988000&usg=AOvVaw1qZroThtPWhrhmQVv5ywKq">unresolved security</a> concern two decades onwards.
Conclusions
The trajectory of Bajaur has transformed from Operation Sherdil to Operation Sarbakaf, revealing transformations of Pakistan’s counterinsurgency strategies and an evolving resilience of militant networks. Sherdil’s heavy fighting in 2008-2009 reclaimed territory at a terrible cost to civilians, while Sarbakaf in 2025 sought to combine targeted strikes with humanitarian safeguards. Sustained by regional safe havens, ideological networks, and alleged external sponsorship, however, TTP’s persistence shows that this war is far from over. While U.S. massive military aid has given Pakistan leverage, it has opened the Pandora’s box of fears of leakage to insurgents and another complication to counterterrorism discourse. The Bajaur conflict ultimately points out that victory over militancy requires more than force; it requires prolonged governance, social rehab, and regional cooperation. Until these dimensions are aligned, Bajaur’s war remains unfinished, a reminder of how insurgencies live where politics and development cease.The post <a href="https://dissidentvoice.org/2025/09/bajaurs-unfinished-war-from-operation-sherdil-to-operation-sarbakaf/">Bajaur’s Unfinished War: From Operation Sherdil to Operation Sarbakaf</a> first appeared on <a href="https://dissidentvoice.org">Dissident Voice</a>.]]></content:encoded>
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<title>Calling All Canadians: Gorilla Radio Asks Prime Minister Carney Three Questions</title>
<link>https://dissidentvoice.org/2025/09/calling-all-canadians-gorilla-radio-asks-prime-minister-carney-three-questions/</link>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[John Helmer]]></dc:creator>
<pubDate>Mon, 15 Sep 2025 14:45:35 +0000</pubDate>
<category><![CDATA[Canada]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Donald Trump]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Interview]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Mark Carney]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Chris Cook]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Ursula Von der Leyen]]></category>
<guid isPermaLink="false">https://dissidentvoice.org/?p=161493</guid>
<description><![CDATA[The three questions are: 1. Has any politician in the NATO Coalition of the Willing Warfighters against Russia lied more brazenly to win his domestic election than Mark Carney (not counting Vladimir Zelensky)? 2. Has any politician in the Coalition calculated more mistakenly that spending more on the losing war in Europe would appease and […]
The post <a href="https://dissidentvoice.org/2025/09/calling-all-canadians-gorilla-radio-asks-prime-minister-carney-three-questions/">Calling All Canadians: Gorilla Radio Asks Prime Minister Carney Three Questions</a> first appeared on <a href="https://dissidentvoice.org">Dissident Voice</a>.]]></description>
<content:encoded><![CDATA[The three questions are:
1. Has any politician in the NATO Coalition of the Willing Warfighters against Russia lied more brazenly to win his domestic election than Mark Carney (not counting Vladimir Zelensky)?
2. Has any politician in the Coalition calculated more mistakenly that spending more on the losing war in Europe would appease and ingratiate President Donald Trump, and relieve his country of Trump’s penalty tariffs?
3. Has any politician in the Coalition benefited more personally and more directly in his bank account from fighting the Russians in the Ukraine and capitulating to Trump (except for Trump himself and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen)?
Listen now to Chris Cook’s latest <a href="https://gradio.substack.com/p/gorilla-radio-with-chris-cook-john-dd6">Gorilla Radio show</a>, broadcast on Sunday evening British Columbia time. In the discussion we show how the ideology of warfighting against Russia is promoted by Canadian Prime Minister Carney, no matter how false the narrative, how damaging for the Canadian economy, and how feeble in the aim to mitigate Trump’s anti-Canadian policies.
<figure class="wp-block-image size-full is-resized"><a href="https://johnhelmer.net/wp-content/webpc-passthru.php?src=https://johnhelmer.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/3265-1.jpg&nocache=1"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="wp-image-92289" src="https://johnhelmer.net/wp-content/webpc-passthru.php?src=https://johnhelmer.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/3265-1.jpg&nocache=1" sizes="auto, (max-width: 519px) 100vw, 519px" srcset="https://johnhelmer.net/wp-content/webpc-passthru.php?src=https://johnhelmer.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/3265-1.jpg&nocache=1 577w, https://johnhelmer.net/wp-content/webpc-passthru.php?src=https://johnhelmer.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/3265-1-300x213.jpg&nocache=1 300w" alt="" width="505" height="358" /></a></figure>
<code>Click to listen: <a href="https://gradio.substack.com/p/gorilla-radio-with-chris-cook-john-dd6">https://gradio.substack.com/p/gorilla-radio-with-chris-cook-john-dd6</a> </code>
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<h2 class="pencraft pc-reset color-pub-primary-text-NyXPlw line-height-36-XIK16z font-pub-headings-FE5byy size-30-tZAWf_ weight-bold-DmI9lw reset-IxiVJZ title-X77sOw" dir="auto"></h2>The post <a href="https://dissidentvoice.org/2025/09/calling-all-canadians-gorilla-radio-asks-prime-minister-carney-three-questions/">Calling All Canadians: Gorilla Radio Asks Prime Minister Carney Three Questions</a> first appeared on <a href="https://dissidentvoice.org">Dissident Voice</a>.]]></content:encoded>
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<title>Charlie Kirk</title>
<link>https://dissidentvoice.org/2025/09/charlie-kirk/</link>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[Ted Glick]]></dc:creator>
<pubDate>Mon, 15 Sep 2025 14:35:04 +0000</pubDate>
<category><![CDATA[Donald Trump]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Martin Luther King Jr.]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Prejudice]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Racism]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[The "Left"]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[The "Right"]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Civil Rights Act of 1964]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[MAGA]]></category>
<guid isPermaLink="false">https://dissidentvoice.org/?p=161507</guid>
<description><![CDATA[I knew almost nothing about Charlie Kirk when he was killed on September 10, other than that he was a leading organizer and thought leader for MAGA. One of the first things I saw in my email inbox about him after that misguided, violent act that took his life referenced the fact that he publicly […]
The post <a href="https://dissidentvoice.org/2025/09/charlie-kirk/">Charlie Kirk</a> first appeared on <a href="https://dissidentvoice.org">Dissident Voice</a>.]]></description>
<content:encoded><![CDATA[I knew almost nothing about Charlie Kirk when he was killed on September 10, other than that he was a leading organizer and thought leader for MAGA. One of the first things I saw in my email inbox about him after that misguided, violent act that took his life referenced the fact that he publicly supported dialogue between the Left and the Right. Here’s that quote, prominent on his website: “We heal our divides by talking to people we disagree with… You heal the country when you allow disagreement.”
I agree with these words. To what extent he acted upon these words I do not know.
I do know that he was a huge Trump backer and enabler, and Trump is all about division and hate. I wonder if Kirk ever said a word of criticism about this fact about the man he helped elect President and whose policies he advocated for until he died.
USA Today came out with <a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/arizona/2025/09/11/what-did-charlie-kirk-believe/86101407007/">an article</a> after he died summarizing what can only be called his racist, sexist, homophobic views.
It remains to be seen how many Trump/MAGA supporters follow what Kirk said about healing the country through allowing disagreement and talking to those we disagree with. The Republican Governor of Utah, where the killing took place, seems to have done so, to his credit.
For those of us on the political Left, the Kirk murder and Trump’s efforts to use it to ratchet up attacks on us, using a very broad, hysterical brush, should be just the latest lesson about the importance of nonviolent tactics as we continue to strengthen our resistance movement.
It appears as if Trump’s alleged killer was not a Leftist. His family appears to be very Republican and pro-Trump. Perhaps as he went out on his own he was exposed to ideas and facts he had not known about before, but unfortunately he doesn’t seem to have been exposed to the importance of nonviolence and dialogue in efforts to oppose what is seen as wrong.
I’m not a pacifist. I support people defending themselves, their family and their community as necessary against violence of any kind. But acts like those alleged to have been taken by Tyler Robinson are not self-defense; they are self-defeating and destructive.
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. pointed the way forward, with active and militant, mass nonviolence at the center of that way. In his famous “Beyond Vietnam” speech at Riverside Church in NYC in April, 1967, he said this: “We as a nation must undergo a radical revolution of values. We must rapidly begin the shift from a ‘thing-oriented’ society to a ‘person-oriented’ society. When machines and computers, profit motives and property rights are considered more important than people, the giant triplets of racism, materialism, and militarism are incapable of being conquered.”
Charlie Kirk did not like King. He said the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was a mistake. About King he reportedly said, “MLK was awful. He was not a good person.” I wish Kirk was still alive so that, perhaps, someday, through dialogue with people who disagreed with him, he would have changed his mind.The post <a href="https://dissidentvoice.org/2025/09/charlie-kirk/">Charlie Kirk</a> first appeared on <a href="https://dissidentvoice.org">Dissident Voice</a>.]]></content:encoded>
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<title>Pressure Mounts on Indian Government over “Genocidal” Great Nicobar Mega-project</title>
<link>https://dissidentvoice.org/2025/09/pressure-mounts-on-indian-government-over-genocidal-great-nicobar-mega-project/</link>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[Survival International]]></dc:creator>
<pubDate>Mon, 15 Sep 2025 14:34:49 +0000</pubDate>
<category><![CDATA[Capitalism]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Genocide]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Human Rights]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[India]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Life]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Logging]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Original Peoples]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Andaman Islands]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Indian National Congress]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Nicobar Islands]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Rahul Gandhi]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Shompen and Nicobarese people]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Sonia Gandhi]]></category>
<guid isPermaLink="false">https://dissidentvoice.org/?p=161526</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Shompen band traversing a river on Great Nicobar Island. © Anthropological Survey of India Calls are growing for the Indian government to scrap its controversial Great Nicobar project after it suffered a series of setbacks in recent weeks They include: • The Tribal Affairs Ministry has demanded answers from the Andaman and Nicobar Islands’ authorities […]
The post <a href="https://dissidentvoice.org/2025/09/pressure-mounts-on-indian-government-over-genocidal-great-nicobar-mega-project/">Pressure Mounts on Indian Government over “Genocidal” Great Nicobar Mega-project</a> first appeared on <a href="https://dissidentvoice.org">Dissident Voice</a>.]]></description>
<content:encoded><![CDATA[<a href="https://act.survivalinternational.org/s/8489537/NZSreLMeb" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://act.survivalinternational.org/s/8489537/NZSreLMeb&source=gmail&ust=1757946874919000&usg=AOvVaw2XOvsoWVHOKgYbGf4K7vQC"><img decoding="async" class="CToWUd" src="https://ci3.googleusercontent.com/meips/ADKq_NYnyInHHR-K-5nH4f3JlgVSCzfRGcmACfaQKkFiQATfDilWV4LeJEB9yVoSx56mN5PwLO5LFMs2X22BPEPG56N-takylCf2a2oJcdT8bHWYIHRgwI_hnjQGLnSxDwoVlm58TNafsJ9FDSEOI-_B30mlRiAg-65mVKAXWgM38xQH=s0-d-e1-ft#https://aaf1a18515da0e792f78-c27fdabe952dfc357fe25ebf5c8897ee.ssl.cf5.rackcdn.com/2330/Shompen3_600pxl.jpg" alt="Shompen people in river" width="600" height="auto" data-bit="iit" /></a>Shompen band traversing a river on Great Nicobar Island. © Anthropological Survey of India
Calls are growing for the Indian government to scrap its controversial Great Nicobar project after it suffered a series of setbacks in recent weeks
They include:
• The Tribal Affairs Ministry has <a href="https://act.survivalinternational.org/s/8489538/NZSreLMeb" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://act.survivalinternational.org/s/8489538/NZSreLMeb&source=gmail&ust=1757946874919000&usg=AOvVaw1teVWwNJzkJeYo30L4OvJA">demanded answers</a> from the Andaman and Nicobar Islands’ authorities after it emerged that they had wrongly claimed the project had the consent of the Indigenous peoples of the islands, whose lands are set to be devastated by it. This has been confirmed by the Great Nicobar Tribal Council.
• The main opposition party, the Indian National Congress, has come out strongly against the project, with both Opposition Leader <a href="https://act.survivalinternational.org/s/8489539/NZSreLMeb" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://act.survivalinternational.org/s/8489539/NZSreLMeb&source=gmail&ust=1757946874919000&usg=AOvVaw35jsCq1cD7c0_PwaiOiiOY">Rahul Gandhi</a> and Congress Parliamentary Chair <a href="https://act.survivalinternational.org/s/8489540/NZSreLMeb" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://act.survivalinternational.org/s/8489540/NZSreLMeb&source=gmail&ust=1757946874919000&usg=AOvVaw3tVJCBhGNn72ui9V_IRTwM">Sonia Gandhi</a> raising serious concerns about its impact on the mostly uncontacted Shompen and the Nicobarese peoples.
• The estimated cost of the project has risen dramatically – the latest government estimates say it will now cost more than US $10 billion, compared to the 2020 figure of just over $1 billion.
• A series of earthquakes in the region have underlined the warnings of seismologists and <a href="https://act.survivalinternational.org/s/8489541/NZSreLMeb" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://act.survivalinternational.org/s/8489541/NZSreLMeb&source=gmail&ust=1757946874919000&usg=AOvVaw3cYLMXmz1lMbCkI-9lHoAd">geologists</a> that building a huge infrastructure project in one of the world’s most active seismic zones is a recipe for disaster.
Last year 39 international <a href="https://act.survivalinternational.org/s/8489542/NZSreLMeb" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://act.survivalinternational.org/s/8489542/NZSreLMeb&source=gmail&ust=1757946874919000&usg=AOvVaw2xe3VtByMFw6KF12fl20qZ">genocide experts wrote to the Indian President</a>, describing the mega-project as a “death sentence for the Shompen, tantamount to the international crime of genocide”. They called for the scheme to be immediately abandoned.
Survival International’s Director Caroline Pearce said: “With every passing week it’s becoming clearer that this project is a disaster waiting to happen – from every perspective. It’s a scandalous violation of international human rights law; it will be disastrous for the Shompen and Nicobarese people whose lives are at stake and whose livelihoods will be destroyed; its price tag is now astronomical; and it all stands every chance of coming crashing down when the next major earthquake strikes, as it inevitably will. The government must now abide by its own laws and scrap this ill-conceived project.”
Editors’ note:
<ul>
<li>The Indian government plans to transform Great Nicobar Island into the ‘Hong Kong of India’. The Great Nicobar project involves the creation of a mega-port; a city; an international airport; a power station; a military base; an industrial park; and tourism zones, spread over more than 244 square km of land, including 130 square km of rainforest.</li>
<li>Experts estimate that <a href="https://act.survivalinternational.org/s/8489543/NZSreLMeb" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://act.survivalinternational.org/s/8489543/NZSreLMeb&source=gmail&ust=1757946874919000&usg=AOvVaw0xSeHkLAbvPFYrYlbC1XKD">10 million trees</a> will be destroyed in the mega project’s creation.</li>
<li>The government claims it will offset the rainforest loss by planting trees in the scrublands of North India. Crocodiles and thousands of coral colonies would be translocated to other parts of the island.</li>
<li>The mega-project will take up around a third of the island – half of it within the official Tribal Reserve.</li>
<li>The project would create a massive population explosion. Currently an estimated 8,000 people live there. The government plans to settle up to 650,000 people under the scheme, a population the size of Las Vegas. In addition to the inherent problems of a sudden population rise, it would drastically increase the Shompen’s exposure to outside diseases for which they have no immunity, and which could wipe them out.</li>
<li>The government plans to encourage 1 million tourists and others to visit the island every year.</li>
<li>For more information on the Great Nicobar project and its effects on the Shompen and Nicobarese, see <a href="https://act.survivalinternational.org/s/8489544/NZSreLMeb" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://act.survivalinternational.org/s/8489544/NZSreLMeb&source=gmail&ust=1757946874919000&usg=AOvVaw2UFpB_IIzlxSBRS1PJNJqm">Survival’s 2025 report</a>.</li>
</ul>
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</table>The post <a href="https://dissidentvoice.org/2025/09/pressure-mounts-on-indian-government-over-genocidal-great-nicobar-mega-project/">Pressure Mounts on Indian Government over “Genocidal” Great Nicobar Mega-project</a> first appeared on <a href="https://dissidentvoice.org">Dissident Voice</a>.]]></content:encoded>
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<title>Trump & Conservative Supporters Weaponizing Kirk’s Murder: Dems “Have Blood on Their Hands”</title>
<link>https://dissidentvoice.org/2025/09/trump-conservative-supporters-weaponizing-kirks-murder-dems-have-blood-on-their-hands/</link>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[Bill Berkowitz]]></dc:creator>
<pubDate>Mon, 15 Sep 2025 14:30:11 +0000</pubDate>
<category><![CDATA[Assassinations]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Democrats]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Donald Trump]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Elon Musk]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Republicans]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[United States]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Violence]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Charlie Kirk]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Shaun Maguire]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Turning Point USA]]></category>
<guid isPermaLink="false">https://dissidentvoice.org/?p=161503</guid>
<description><![CDATA[As of this writing, the person who shot and killed Charlie Kirk, the founder of the highly influential conservative organization Turning Point USA, on Wednesday during his “America Comeback Tour” at Utah Valley University, is still at large; their motivation a mystery. While numerous studies over the past 10-15 years have shown that the extreme right […]
The post <a href="https://dissidentvoice.org/2025/09/trump-conservative-supporters-weaponizing-kirks-murder-dems-have-blood-on-their-hands/">Trump & Conservative Supporters Weaponizing Kirk’s Murder: Dems “Have Blood on Their Hands”</a> first appeared on <a href="https://dissidentvoice.org">Dissident Voice</a>.]]></description>
<content:encoded><![CDATA[<img decoding="async" title="President Donald Trump shakes hands with moderator Charlie Kirk, during a Generation Next White House forum at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building on the White House complex in Washington, Thursday, March 22, 2018. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)" src="https://cdn.prod.dailykos.com/images/674377/story_image/AP_18082029003484.jpg?1557514890" srcset="https://cdn.prod.dailykos.com/images/674377/story_image/AP_18082029003484.jpg?1557514890 1024w, https://cdn.prod.dailykos.com/images/674377/lightbox/AP_18082029003484.jpg?1557514890 768w, https://cdn.prod.dailykos.com/images/674377/large/AP_18082029003484.jpg?1557514890 600w" alt="President Donald Trump shakes hands with moderator Charlie Kirk, during a Generation Next White House forum at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building on the White House complex in Washington, Thursday, March 22, 2018. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)" width="505" height="356.5" />
As of this writing, the person who shot and killed Charlie Kirk, the founder of the highly influential conservative organization Turning Point USA, on Wednesday during his “America Comeback Tour” at Utah Valley University, is still at large; their motivation a mystery. While numerous studies over the past 10-15 years have shown that the extreme right is responsible for most political murders and attempted murders in this country, it didn’t take long for the right to weaponize Kirk’s murder.
While the weapon, a high-powered bolt-action rifle, has been recovered, the hunt for the shooter goes on. Law enforcement officials also announced this morning that they believe they have video of the suspect, and that they have tracked his movements before and after the shooting.
As veteran investigative reporter David Weir noted on his Substack this morning: “It’s likely only a matter of time before they apprehend him. Then, and only then will a motive possibly be discovered, assuming the suspect survives his arrest.”
Weaponizing Kirk’s Murder
It didn’t take long for the president and some on the far right to weaponize Kirk’s shocking murder. President Trump and a cohort of right-wing politicians and influencers are claiming Democrats have “blood on their hands.” Some are calling for mass arrests of Democrats and leftists.
Trump railed only against “radical left-wing political violence”; Elon Musk claimed, “The Left is the party of murder”; Silicon Valley’s Shaun Maguire said “the Left lectured us for the last decade about the dangers of violence from the Right” but “the danger was actually on the Left.”
(Whatever happened to “thoughts and prayers” being the right’s first response? And their usual response after a horrific shooting: “it’s too soon to inject politics into shootings”?)
Political Violence: The Facts Point to America’s Right
At these moments, which hopefully will not be an inflection point for more political violence, it is important to look at some facts.
While there have been incidents of leftist violence, studies have consistently shown that the vast majority of extremist-related murders were committed by the far-right.
At the Zeteo Substack Medhi Hasan pointed out a <a href="https://zeteo.com/p/charlie-kirk-killing-political-violence">series of recent right-wing violent actions</a>:
* The man who targeted and killed Democratic state lawmaker Melissa Hortman and her husband Mark in their home in Minnesota in June was a <a href="https://substack.com/redirect/921dbf4d-b43b-4071-b6ff-c737b8e4edf2?j=eyJ1IjoiMTNubDgifQ.TrnGLDgQKtKf_EgpPglIu4M_t7jp-EjG1U-HWsq1ZrE" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Trump supporter</a>.
* The man charged with the attempted assassination of Pennsylvania’s Democratic governor Josh Shapiro in April was a <a href="https://substack.com/redirect/5146e1bd-1077-4bb4-acb1-e77388bc3cfe?j=eyJ1IjoiMTNubDgifQ.TrnGLDgQKtKf_EgpPglIu4M_t7jp-EjG1U-HWsq1ZrE" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Trump supporter</a>.
* The man convicted of orchestrating a series of shootings at the homes of four Democratic elected officials in New Mexico in 2022 was a <a href="https://substack.com/redirect/c7609145-2ae7-4df7-9fc0-b9b25a46abfb?j=eyJ1IjoiMTNubDgifQ.TrnGLDgQKtKf_EgpPglIu4M_t7jp-EjG1U-HWsq1ZrE" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Trump supporter</a>. 
* The man who tried to kidnap then Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosiand assaulted her husband Paul in 2022 was a <a href="https://substack.com/redirect/81fb71d6-567a-4582-ad81-34976a6262b3?j=eyJ1IjoiMTNubDgifQ.TrnGLDgQKtKf_EgpPglIu4M_t7jp-EjG1U-HWsq1ZrE" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Trump supporter</a>. 
* The men who wanted to hang Mike Pence on Jan 6, 2021, were <a href="https://substack.com/redirect/2f783549-42e8-4bc6-a1c8-4c3909526ab6?j=eyJ1IjoiMTNubDgifQ.TrnGLDgQKtKf_EgpPglIu4M_t7jp-EjG1U-HWsq1ZrE" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Trump supporters</a>. 
* The man who killed the son of Obama-appointed District Judge Esther Salas in 2020 was a <a href="https://substack.com/redirect/ab12afc4-09e5-4845-acc6-188ac318bce0?j=eyJ1IjoiMTNubDgifQ.TrnGLDgQKtKf_EgpPglIu4M_t7jp-EjG1U-HWsq1ZrE" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Trump supporter</a>. 
* The men who were convicted of trying to kidnap Michigan’s Democratic governor Gretchen Whitmer in 2020 were <a href="https://substack.com/redirect/82b896ea-c86f-427f-b4f9-a37c2ea75790?j=eyJ1IjoiMTNubDgifQ.TrnGLDgQKtKf_EgpPglIu4M_t7jp-EjG1U-HWsq1ZrE" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Trump supporters</a>. 
* The man who sent pipe bombs to the homes of Barack Obama, Joe Biden, Hillary Clinton, and other top Democrats in 2018 was a <a href="https://substack.com/redirect/7834a130-1b28-4598-8c8e-6c0c41d5ca3f?j=eyJ1IjoiMTNubDgifQ.TrnGLDgQKtKf_EgpPglIu4M_t7jp-EjG1U-HWsq1ZrE" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Trump supporter</a>. 
* The man who killed left-wing activist Heather Heyer after driving his car into a crowd of counter-protesters in Charlottesville in 2017 was a <a href="https://substack.com/redirect/1430f913-6248-478a-9526-dcba3836ef50?j=eyJ1IjoiMTNubDgifQ.TrnGLDgQKtKf_EgpPglIu4M_t7jp-EjG1U-HWsq1ZrE" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Trump supporter</a>.The post <a href="https://dissidentvoice.org/2025/09/trump-conservative-supporters-weaponizing-kirks-murder-dems-have-blood-on-their-hands/">Trump & Conservative Supporters Weaponizing Kirk’s Murder: Dems “Have Blood on Their Hands”</a> first appeared on <a href="https://dissidentvoice.org">Dissident Voice</a>.]]></content:encoded>
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<title>Australia Excludes the Pacific Island Press Corps</title>
<link>https://dissidentvoice.org/2025/09/australia-excludes-the-pacific-island-press-corps/</link>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[Binoy Kampmark]]></dc:creator>
<pubDate>Mon, 15 Sep 2025 14:15:27 +0000</pubDate>
<category><![CDATA[Anthony Albanese]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Australia]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Censorship]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Fiji]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Media]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Oceania]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Papua New Guinea]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Scott Morrison]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Solomon Islands]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[National Broadcasting Corporation]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Pacific Freedom Forum]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Pine Gap]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Robert Iroga]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[secrecy]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Sitiveni Rabuka]]></category>
<guid isPermaLink="false">https://dissidentvoice.org/?p=161456</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Bullies, never able to hit upwards, always kick down. The United States beats their vassals in the Indo-Pacific and Europe with vulgar presumption. Their vassals kick down to their own appointees, expecting compliance and respect to various degrees. Australia, long known as Washington’s regional deputy sheriff, looks down on its Pacific Island neighbours as basket […]
The post <a href="https://dissidentvoice.org/2025/09/australia-excludes-the-pacific-island-press-corps/">Australia Excludes the Pacific Island Press Corps</a> first appeared on <a href="https://dissidentvoice.org">Dissident Voice</a>.]]></description>
<content:encoded><![CDATA[Bullies, never able to hit upwards, always kick down. The United States beats their vassals in the Indo-Pacific and Europe with vulgar presumption. Their vassals kick down to their own appointees, expecting compliance and respect to various degrees. Australia, long known as Washington’s regional deputy sheriff, looks down on its Pacific Island neighbours as basket cases for charity, potential enclaves for terrorism, and vulnerable to the temptation of rival powers. The language of a relationship falsely described as friendship is better seen as one of financial asymmetry, strategic use and a mockery trapped in the formaldehyde of colonialism. Australians are both confused tourists and mercenaries in the region – and it shows.
On the sidelines of the 54th Pacific Islands Forum Leaders Meeting in Honiara in the Solomon Islands, Australian officials had made it clear that all Pacific Island media would have no role in covering the September 10 press conference with Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, held, with boisterous irony, at a sports facility funded by the People’s Republic of China. Papua New Guinea’s National Broadcasting Corporation (NBC) <a href="https://www.nbc.com.pg/post/26375/pacific-journalists-barred-from-albanese-press-conference">was told</a> that “the presser was only for Australian journalists.”
When he was asked by an Australian journalist, Stefan Armbruster, about the bar on Pacific journalists attending the press gathering, the words, delivered with snotty indifference were: “I don’t know what you are talking about mate.” Armbruster expressed his dissatisfaction with the whole matter, <a href="https://www.nbc.com.pg/post/26375/pacific-journalists-barred-from-albanese-press-conference">insisting</a> that this had “to stop and Pacific journalists treated with respect.”
The Fijian Prime Minister, Sitiveni Rabuka, tried to soften matters by <a href="https://www.fijitimes.com.fj/rabuka-not-my-call-pacific-journalists-locked-out-at-albanese-press-conference/">assuming</a> that this was an entirely Australian matter, and therefore something for the Australian Prime Minister and his coddling minders. Landlords, it would seem, must have their day, while native scribblers should repair elsewhere. “The press conference was his so his press people would have made that arrangement, and they might have restricted access to it, and it’s got nothing to do with the Pacific Island Forum.” The <a href="https://www.pressreader.com/fiji/fiji-sun/20250913/281711210793725?srsltid=AfmBOoqe9IJ8X7WsEKhWZAMhDM_yKouQ38B5QqMLUswkSMPpmBx5Waq_">Fiji Sun</a> was less accommodating, complaining that “the exclusion was both confusing and detrimental to the representation of regional media.” The decision threatened “to reinforce a narrative that Australia is more focused on controlling its own story than on being a responsible regional partner to Pacific communities.” Rarely has a paper been so relevantly sharp.
On September 12, the Pacific Freedom Forum <a href="https://pina.com.fj/2025/09/12/australia-must-address-shameful-exclusion-of-pacific-journalists-at-pif-venue-says-regional-media-freedom-watchdog/">released a message</a> condemning the exclusion. “This ‘shameful’ act represents a direct assault on press freedom and democratic principles within our Pacific region,” complained the PFF chair from the Solomon Islands, Robert Iroga. “You cannot claim to be part of the Pacific family while silencing Pacific voices. You cannot talk about partnership while blocking journalists from doing their jobs. This cannot happen in our region, at our own forum.” He went on to fume that, “The decision to restrict media access exclusively to Australian outlets while excluding regional journalists demonstrates a troubling disregard for transparency and democratic accountability.”
Appositely enough, these complaints mirror a state of constrictive circumstances that affect Australia’s own relationship with the United States, the paternal bully and Freudian Daddy Canberra struggles to do without. Australian officials do little to enlighten the press corps in their country about what, exactly, is going on with such momentous agreements as AUKUS, or the next security bash with America’s uniformed finest. Canberra’s near criminal expenditure on nuclear powered submarines that Australia will never have with any degree of autonomy, in exchange for bolstering US naval shipyards and creating imperial naval hubs in Australia for deployments against China, is something that the Albanese government remains silent about. Their preference is to do things in plain sight.
Better information, without exception, is always to be found in the US State Department and the Pentagon. The US intelligence facility in Pine Gap in the Northern Territory, ostensibly described as a jointly run outfit with Australian personnel, does nothing to inform the residents of the territory, or of Australia, about its role in maintaining US hegemony. Guest lists to events on the base rarely feature locals, and certainly not the local political representative. The facilities have, with little doubt, been used for such unsavoury acts <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-11-21/pine-gap-activists-face-court-in-alice-springs/9176350">as directing drone strikes</a> against areas of the world most Americans, or Australians, would be unable to locate, spells of strategic bombing, and sharing intelligence with allies no Australian journalist would ever be allowed to officially confirm.
It may well be that the Albanese government’s inexorable gravitation to secrecy is starting to look, rather disconcertingly, like that of his pathologically clandestine predecessor, Scott Morrison. Exuding the confidence that comes from a heaving electoral majority, and the concern that his policies might be subjected to greater scrutiny than he would wish, Albanese is embracing the dark magic of the controlled narrative, the heavily curated truth. If so, such moves are cloddish, insensitive and foolish to the vulnerable island states whose support he so desperately needs. “Not to put too fine a point on it,” <a href="https://x.com/VanuatuDan/status/1965648700900081983">suggests</a> Dan McGarry of the Organised Crime and Corruption Reporting Project, “but if Australia wants the Pacific to choose it over China, maybe it should make the differences easier, not harder to see.”The post <a href="https://dissidentvoice.org/2025/09/australia-excludes-the-pacific-island-press-corps/">Australia Excludes the Pacific Island Press Corps</a> first appeared on <a href="https://dissidentvoice.org">Dissident Voice</a>.]]></content:encoded>
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<title>Undeniable Proof: How 1945 Taiwan Surrender Ceremony Smashes “Independence” Myths</title>
<link>https://dissidentvoice.org/2025/09/undeniable-proof-how-1945-taiwan-surrender-ceremony-smashes-independence-myths/</link>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[CGTN]]></dc:creator>
<pubDate>Sun, 14 Sep 2025 15:55:21 +0000</pubDate>
<category><![CDATA[China]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[History]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Japan]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Taiwan]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Video]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Chinese People’s War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[historical nihilism]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[one china]]></category>
<guid isPermaLink="false">https://dissidentvoice.org/?p=161535</guid>
<description><![CDATA[This year marks the 80th anniversary of victory in the Chinese People’s War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression and #WWII. Eighty years ago, Japan’s surrender ceremony took place in Taipei. Behind it, a few telling details completely shatter the narrative of “historical nihilism”… all pointing to one undeniable fact: #Taiwan has always been part of […]
The post <a href="https://dissidentvoice.org/2025/09/undeniable-proof-how-1945-taiwan-surrender-ceremony-smashes-independence-myths/">Undeniable Proof: How 1945 Taiwan Surrender Ceremony Smashes “Independence” Myths</a> first appeared on <a href="https://dissidentvoice.org">Dissident Voice</a>.]]></description>
<content:encoded><![CDATA[This year marks the 80th anniversary of victory in the Chinese People’s War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression and <a class="yt-core-attributed-string__link yt-core-attributed-string__link--call-to-action-color" tabindex="0" href="https://www.youtube.com/hashtag/wwii" target="">#WWII</a>. Eighty years ago, Japan’s surrender ceremony took place in Taipei. Behind it, a few telling details completely shatter the narrative of “historical nihilism”… all pointing to one undeniable fact: <a class="yt-core-attributed-string__link yt-core-attributed-string__link--call-to-action-color" tabindex="0" href="https://www.youtube.com/hashtag/taiwan" target="">#Taiwan</a> has always been part of <a class="yt-core-attributed-string__link yt-core-attributed-string__link--call-to-action-color" tabindex="0" href="https://www.youtube.com/hashtag/china" target="">#China</a>. Watch the video and revisit history! <a class="yt-core-attributed-string__link yt-core-attributed-string__link--call-to-action-color" tabindex="0" href="https://www.youtube.com/hashtag/vday" target="">#vday</a>
<iframe loading="lazy" title="Undeniable Proof: How 1945 Taiwan surrender ceremony smashes 'Independence' Myths" width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/pdHsKu5UM30?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe>
 The post <a href="https://dissidentvoice.org/2025/09/undeniable-proof-how-1945-taiwan-surrender-ceremony-smashes-independence-myths/">Undeniable Proof: How 1945 Taiwan Surrender Ceremony Smashes “Independence” Myths</a> first appeared on <a href="https://dissidentvoice.org">Dissident Voice</a>.]]></content:encoded>
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<title>New Pentagon Plan Prioritizes Western Hemisphere and the Homeland Over China</title>
<link>https://dissidentvoice.org/2025/09/new-pentagon-plan-prioritizes-western-hemisphere-and-the-homeland-over-china/</link>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[Gary Olson]]></dc:creator>
<pubDate>Sat, 13 Sep 2025 21:44:19 +0000</pubDate>
<category><![CDATA[China]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Donald Trump]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Fascism]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Nazis]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Politics]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[United States]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Venezuela]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Chipocolypse Now]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Elbridge Colby]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Francis Ford Coppola]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Melvin Goodman]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Narco Terrorism]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[National Defense Strategy (NDS)]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[neoconservatives]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Reichstag moment]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Robert Duvall]]></category>
<guid isPermaLink="false">https://dissidentvoice.org/?p=161467</guid>
<description><![CDATA[A draft of the latest National Defense Strategy (NDS) was leaked to Politico (09/5/2025). If implemented, the plan proposes pivoting away from China and prioritizing the protection of the homeland and the Western Hemisphere. The speed of this radical pivot away from China is astonishing, and its impact enormously consequential. It’s also confounding as its […]
The post <a href="https://dissidentvoice.org/2025/09/new-pentagon-plan-prioritizes-western-hemisphere-and-the-homeland-over-china/">New Pentagon Plan Prioritizes Western Hemisphere and the Homeland Over China</a> first appeared on <a href="https://dissidentvoice.org">Dissident Voice</a>.]]></description>
<content:encoded><![CDATA[A draft of the latest National Defense Strategy (NDS) was leaked to Politico (09/5/2025). If implemented, the plan proposes pivoting away from China and prioritizing the protection of the homeland and the Western Hemisphere. The speed of this radical pivot away from China is astonishing, and its impact enormously consequential. It’s also confounding as its author is none other than Elbridge Colby, the current Deputy Secretary of War. It was Colby who co-wrote the 2018 NDS, which unequivocally focused on deterring China, earning him praise from neocons in both political parties. Colby, grandson of former CIA Director William Colby, followed this up with a highly influential book, Strategy of Denial (Yale University Press, 2021), in which he advocated for shifting the U.S. focus toward China and away from Europe and the Middle East. His fear-mongering reached fever pitch when he wrote that “If China succeeds, we can forget about housing, food, savings, affordable college for our kids, and other domestic needs.” This amplified what happened back on November 17, 2011, when former President Barack Obama announced his “Pivot” or “rebalance” to China. Years of warnings about “The China Threat” followed — until last week.
Why did this belligerent, “China Hawks’ China Hawk” and those within his circle dramatically change course? It’s plausible that they are choosing to conform to Trump and J.D. Vance’s “America First” agenda (and keep their jobs). It’s also likely — and this is my hope — that influential members of the national security state finally concluded that the U.S. global empire is extremely overextended, in inexorable decline, and no longer financially sustainable. China is being considered a peer power and has conceded its own sphere of influence.
Concurrently, many neoconservatives in both political parties have lamentably realized that their acknowledged proxy war in Ukraine against Russia has, in all essentials, failed. The fighting will go on for a time, but Russia has won, and Trump knows it. With Trump’s dramatic new policy, we can also expect the gradual withdrawal of some 80,000 troops from Europe and the closing of many of the 750+ military bases across the globe, including hundreds surrounding China. All available evidence suggests that the U.S. unipolar moment is over and a new era is unfolding. This is welcome news for most people around the globe, and it also helps to avoid a possible war between the U.S and China.
However, for those in the Western Hemisphere, NDS 2025 means that under the guise of democracy promotion and fighting “narco-terrorism,” we can expect accelerated efforts at “regime change” in Latin America — starting with Venezuela — to secure favorable conditions for U.S. corporations. Beyond that, the phrase “protecting the homeland” has an ominous ring. Protection from whom? Former CIA analyst Melvin Goodman argues that the Department of Homeland Security is “the ideal authoritarian tool” and the tool Trump will use against all left protesters. I fear “Making America Safe Again” will not stop with “border emergencies” and deportations but give rise to increasingly authoritarian rule.
Depending on the degree of public opposition, I would not rule out Trump declaring a national emergency and martial law. On his Truth Social account, Trump wrote, “I love the smell of deportations in the morning…’ Chicago about to find out why it’s called the Department of War,” alluding to Francis Ford Coppola’s 1979 film “Apocalypse Now” where Robert Duvall’s character says, “I love the smell of napalm in the morning.” The text reads “Chipocolypse Now.” Trump has mentioned sending federal authorities to Portland, Oregon, to “wipe ‘em out,” meaning protestors. Will he also “love the smell of pepper spray in the evening used on peaceful protestors?”
In an interview with “Fox and Friends,” Trump tried to make the case that the “radical left” was behind most political violence in the country, saying, “We have radical left lunatics out there and we just have to beat the hell out of them.” And even before learning that Tyler Robinson was arrested for the murder of Charlie Kirk, Trump said, “The radicals on the left are the problem, they’re vicious and they’re horrible and they’re political savvy.” There is every reason to believe that Trump will weaponize Kirk’s killing to demonize and repress the left in the “homeland.”
Finally, I’m thinking here of the “Reichstag moment” (February 17, 1933) when the German parliament building (the Reichstag) was set ablaze and the Nazi regime, led by Hitler, blamed it on Communists. He used it as a pretext to suspend traditional democratic rights, claim emergency power, and begin eliminating opponents — all on behalf of protecting the German “homeland.” How far are we from such a moment? Our political leaders have already capitulated to Trump, and it remains to be seen how the rest of us will respond if the danger continues to escalate.The post <a href="https://dissidentvoice.org/2025/09/new-pentagon-plan-prioritizes-western-hemisphere-and-the-homeland-over-china/">New Pentagon Plan Prioritizes Western Hemisphere and the Homeland Over China</a> first appeared on <a href="https://dissidentvoice.org">Dissident Voice</a>.]]></content:encoded>
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<title>Albert Einstein, Palestine and Israel Today</title>
<link>https://dissidentvoice.org/2025/09/albert-einstein-palestine-and-israel-today/</link>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[Rick Sterling]]></dc:creator>
<pubDate>Sat, 13 Sep 2025 21:03:25 +0000</pubDate>
<category><![CDATA[Anti-semitism]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Genocide]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[History]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Internationalism]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Israel]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Judaism]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Nationalism]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Palestine]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Zionism]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Albert Einstein]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Balfour Declaration]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Chaim Weizman]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[cultural zionism]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Deir Yassein]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Fred Jerome]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Henry Wallace]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Irgun]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Izzy Stone (I.F. Stone)]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Judah Magnes]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Martin Buber]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Max Planck]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[McCarthyism]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Menachim Begin]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Michael Schiffmann]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Paul Robeson]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[political Zionism]]></category>
<guid isPermaLink="false">https://dissidentvoice.org/?p=161465</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Albert Einstein is one of the most famous and influential scientists of all time. His theories and equations regarding time, energy, space, and gravity are foundational to modern physics. Less well known, Einstein was a very political figure, with strong beliefs and a willingness to act on them. The book “Einstein on Israel and Zionism” […]
The post <a href="https://dissidentvoice.org/2025/09/albert-einstein-palestine-and-israel-today/">Albert Einstein, Palestine and Israel Today</a> first appeared on <a href="https://dissidentvoice.org">Dissident Voice</a>.]]></description>
<content:encoded><![CDATA[Albert Einstein is one of the most famous and influential scientists of all time. His theories and equations regarding time, energy, space, and gravity are foundational to modern physics.
Less well known, Einstein was a very political figure, with strong beliefs and a willingness to act on them. The book <a href="https://www.barakabooks.com/catalogue/einstein-on-israel-and-zionism/">“Einstein on Israel and Zionism”</a> documents what he thought about Palestine, discrimination against Jews in Europe, and what he would probably say about Israel were he alive today.
Background on Albert Einstein
Born in Germany in 1879. Albert Einstein was a precocious student, mastering mathematics and appreciating philosophy, especially the philosophy of Thomas Kant, at a young age. With his father’s permission, he left Germany at age 15 to avoid being drafted into the army. He became a Swiss citizen and completed his education in Switzerland. Einstein graduated from the University of Zurich and began his landmark research and writing. In 1905, he published four groundbreaking papers, and his fame spread rapidly. In 1914, Einstein was enticed by Max Planck and other German scientists to return to Germany shortly before World War 1 began. Antisemitism against Jews in Germany, especially against Jews migrating from Eastern Europe, was widespread. Einstein said, “When I came to Germany (in 1914) … I discovered for the first time that I was a Jew.”
Einstein opposed the intense nationalism of World War I. While many prominent Germans signed a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manifesto_of_the_Ninety-Three">“Manifesto of the Ninety-Three” </a>which justified Germany’s belligerence, Einstein was one of the few who signed a contrary <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manifesto_to_the_Europeans">“Manifesto to Europeans”</a> which said, “The struggle raging today will likely produce no victor; it will leave probably only the vanquished … the time has come where Europe must act as one in order to protect her soil, her inhabitants, and her culture.”
In 1933, as Adolph Hitler came to power in Germany, Einstein immigrated to the U.S. at the invitation of Princeton University. He became a U.S. citizen in 1940.
Einstein fought against anti-Semitism.
After WW1, the economy in Germany was bleak, and there was a sharp rise in anti-Semitic attacks. Einstein wrote, “East European Jews are made the scapegoats for the malaise in present-day German economic life, which in reality is a painful after-effect of the war.”
Einstein developed his sense of being Jewish and his wish to see a “safe haven” for discriminated Jews. He supported the campaign for migration to Palestine. In 1921, he toured the U.S. with Chaim Weizman, president of the World Zionist Organization. Their goal was to raise funds for Hebrew University in Jerusalem. Einstein wrote to a friend, describing the tour’s success. He was especially impressed with the support and funds raised from Jewish American doctors. However, in an early forewarning, Einstein also noted that “a high-tensioned Jewish nationalism shows itself that threatens to degenerate into intolerance and bigotry; but hopefully this is only an infantile disorder.”
Einstein was a “cultural” Zionist.
Einstein believed that Palestine could be a “safe haven and homeland” for Jews if they lived in peace and equality with the indigenous Arabs. This was termed a “cultural zionist”. Like some other prominent Jews, such as philosopher Martin Buber and the head of Hebrew University, Judah Magnes, Einstein wanted an independent and sovereign Palestine to be a binational state, NOT a “Jewish state.”. As the German translator of Einstein’s documents, Michael Schiffmann, explained, “This volume clearly demonstrates that Einstein, right from the beginning, championed what was in accord with elementary morality: The creation of a ‘Jewish home’ in Palestine would turn into a crime if it resulted in the dispossession of the native Arab population.” Another translator explained, “Professor Einstein’s nationalism has no room for any kind of aggressiveness or chauvinism.” “For him, the domination of Jew over Arab in Palestine, or the perpetuation of a state of mutual hostility between the two peoples, would mean the failure of Zionism.”
In 1929, in the wake of Arab- Jewish conflicts in Palestine, Einstein wrote, “The first and most important necessity is the creation of a modus vivendi with the Arab people. … We Jews must show above all that our own history of suffering has given us sufficient understanding and psychological insight to know how to cope with this problem …. Let us therefore above all, be on our guard against blind chauvinism of any kind, and let us not imagine that reason and common sense can be replaced by British bayonets…. We must not forget for a single moment that our national task is, in its essence, a supra-national matter, and that the strength of our whole movement rests in its moral justification, with which it must stand or fall.”
Einstein advocated “the creation of an Arab-Jewish community that brings those two tribally related peoples to each other while excluding nationalist fanatics.”
He believed, “All Jewish children (in Palestine) should be obligated to learn Arabic.”
Balfour Declaration and differing zionist goals
The editor of this book, journalist and Columbia University professor Fred Jerome, provides the historic context. He explains how Herzl proposed to the British that European Jewish immigration to Palestine “would form part of the rampart against Asia, serving as an outpost of civilization against barbarism.” Jerome explains, “Supporting Zionism and a Jewish settlement in the Middle East clearly had a direct value to the British and other colonial powers as they sought to extend their grasp further into Africa and Asia.”
The 1917 Balfour Declaration facilitated Jewish migration to the land of Palestine. When conflict with the indigenous population erupted, this was also advantageous because it justified the installation of tens of thousands of British troops in a key region close to Egypt and the vital Suez Canal.
Einstein believed that Britain (which took over management of Palestine after WW1) was intentionally promoting division between Arabs and immigrating Jews. He believed they were practicing a divide-and-conquer policy, as done in other British colonies, to prevent the locals from uniting, assuming control of the land, and expelling the colonial power.
In 1948, Einstein wrote, “When a real and final catastrophe should befall us in Palestine, the first responsible for it would be the British, and the second responsible for it the terrorist organizations built up from our own ranks.”
Einstein urged equality and a binational state.
Einstein was remarkably clear and consistent. In 1946, he wrote, “I am firmly convinced that a rigid demand for a ‘Jewish state’ will have only undesirable results for us.”
He also said, “Only direct cooperation with the Arabs can create a dignified and safe life. If the Jews don’t comprehend this, the whole Jewish position in the complex of Arab countries will become, step by step, untenable. What saddens me is less the fact that the Jews are not smart enough to understand this, but rather that they are not just enough to want it.”
Einstein was egalitarian and anti-fascist. He urged to “institute complete equality for the Arab citizens living in our midst… The attitude we adopt toward the Arab minority will provide the real test of our moral standards as a people.” ”
The famous American journalist Izzy Stone (I.F. Stone) was also a progressive Jew. He wrote, “To have the greatest Jewish figure of the period oppose a Jewish state as unfair to the Arabs was a very noble thing.” ”
Einstein condemned Jewish nationalism and terrorism.
Einstein was clear and consistent in condemning Zionist ultra-nationalism and terrorism. Einstein wrote, “I have come across Zionism only after my move to Berlin, in the year 1914 at the age of 35……The time has come to take care that this movement avoids the danger of degenerating into blind nationalism.” ”
In 1948, Einstein and twenty-eight other prominent American Jews sent a 750-word letter to the New York Times. In the letter, they assailed the upcoming visit of Menachim Begin, who was formerly the head of the terrorist Irgun and current leader of Israel’s new <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herut">Herut (Freedom)</a> party. This party is the predecessor of today’s Likud Party, led by Benjamin Netanyahu. The letter compares Begin and his organization to Nazi and Fascist parties. The massacre of about 200 Palestinians in the village of Deir Yassein, carried out by Begin and his organization, is described. The letter also says, “Within the Jewish community, they have preached an admixture of ultra-nationalism, religious mysticism, and racial superiority.”
At different times over this period, Einstein expressed his concern that Judaism would be damaged by ultra-nationalism (political Zionism). He said, “I am afraid of the inner damage Judaism will sustain – especially from the development of a narrow nationalism within our own ranks.”
He also said, “I think that nationalism is always a bad thing, even if it is Jews among whom it is raging.”
After Israel replaced Palestine
After Israel declared its “independence” in 1948, Einstein recognized that his struggle to create a binational state rather than a “Jewish” state was lost. He did not change his views that this was negative, but recognized the new reality.
Due to his international prominence, Einstein was invited to serve as the figurehead President of Israel after the death of Chaim Weizmann. He declined, saying privately that he would have had to tell them things they would not like to hear.
Einstein supported the non-aligned movement and leaders like Nehru of India, Sukarno of Indonesia, and Nasser of Egypt. When a famous Egyptian journalist visited the U.S. and requested an interview with Einstein, he used the occasion to reach out to the Egyptian president discreetly. He hoped to serve as a catalyst for rapprochement between Israel and the Arab states. Unknown to Einstein, the Israelis were doing just the opposite: they were planting bombs and carrying out sabotage actions against U.S. and British targets in a false flag effort, trying to sow chaos and implicate the Egyptians. Instead of seeking compromise and reconciliation, the Israeli leadership was exacerbating conflict with Egypt and other Arab states.
In a January 1955 letter, Einstein expressed his wishes regarding Israel: “First: Neutrality with regard to the international East-West antagonism…. Second, and most importantly: We must incessantly strive to treat the citizens of Arab descent living in our midst as our equals in every respect, and we must develop the necessary understanding for the difficulties of their situation, naturally accompanying it.” ”
Einstein was an internationalist and pacifist.
Einstein opposed McCarthyism and the suppression of free speech that was pervasive in the early 1950s. He was a good friend to the legendary African American Paul Robeson when Robeson was being attacked by the right as well as the FBI. Einstein supported Progressive Party candidate Henry Wallace in the 1948 presidential race. He was especially concerned with the rise of the Cold War. He opposed the nuclear arms race and the establishment of NATO.
Based on Einstein’s biography and political views, it is clear that he would be horrified and strongly oppose Israel’s genocidal actions and apartheid against Palestinians. He would be outraged at the suppression of free speech and blind support for Israel as it practices fascism based on an “admixture of ultra-nationalism, religious mysticism, and racial superiority.” He would also be very sad.The post <a href="https://dissidentvoice.org/2025/09/albert-einstein-palestine-and-israel-today/">Albert Einstein, Palestine and Israel Today</a> first appeared on <a href="https://dissidentvoice.org">Dissident Voice</a>.]]></content:encoded>
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<title>Washington Projects Its Drug Problem onto Latin America: Narco-State Myth Used to Attack Venezuela</title>
<link>https://dissidentvoice.org/2025/09/washington-projects-its-drug-problem-onto-latin-america-narco-state-myth-used-to-attack-venezuela/</link>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[Roger D. Harris]]></dc:creator>
<pubDate>Sat, 13 Sep 2025 19:36:47 +0000</pubDate>
<category><![CDATA[Barack Obama]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Claudia Sheinbaum]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Cuba]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Donald Trump]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Drug Wars]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Ecuador]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Guns]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Hugo Chavez]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Nicolas Maduro]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Terrorism]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[United States]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Venezuela]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Bolivarian Revolution]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Daniel Naboa]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Delcy Rodríguez]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Narco Terrorism]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Narcotics]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Pino Arlacchi]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Tren de Aragua drug cartel]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[UN Office on Drugs and Crime]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[US Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA)]]></category>
<guid isPermaLink="false">https://dissidentvoice.org/?p=161462</guid>
<description><![CDATA[A big Cadillac limo with Jersey plates was parked down the block. Few locals in East Harlem even owned cars, let alone new ones. Curious, I asked the street kids what’s up. They casually explained that the mafioso comes weekly to collect their drug money. Later, I found a playground, which served as a veritable […]
The post <a href="https://dissidentvoice.org/2025/09/washington-projects-its-drug-problem-onto-latin-america-narco-state-myth-used-to-attack-venezuela/">Washington Projects Its Drug Problem onto Latin America: Narco-State Myth Used to Attack Venezuela</a> first appeared on <a href="https://dissidentvoice.org">Dissident Voice</a>.]]></description>
<content:encoded><![CDATA[A big Cadillac limo with Jersey plates was parked down the block. Few locals in East Harlem even owned cars, let alone new ones. Curious, I asked the street kids what’s up. They casually explained that the mafioso comes weekly to collect their drug money. Later, I found a playground, which served as a veritable narcotics flea market each night. If a blanquito from the suburbs and some third graders could uncover the illicit trade, I wondered why the officials – who plastered the city with “keep New York drug free” signs – couldn’t do the same.
That was in the late 1960s, and I am still wondering why the US – the world’s largest consumer of narcotics, the biggest money launderer of illicit drug money, and the leading weaponry supplier to the cartels – hasn’t resolved these problems.
One thing is clear: the drug issue is projected onto Latin America. White House spokesperson Anna Kelly <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2025/09/10/trump-drug-boat-strike-congress/">warned</a> of “evil narco terrorists [trying] to poison our homeland.” Drug interdiction has been <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JwCducQ8HHw">weaponized as an excuse</a> to impose imperial domination, most notably against Venezuela.
Since Hugo Chávez was elected Venezuela’s president in 1998 and initiated the Bolivarian Revolution – a movement that catalyzed the Pink Tide in Latin America and galvanized a counter-hegemonic wave internationally – Washington has tried to crush it. In 2015, then-US President Barack Obama accused Venezuela of being an “extraordinary threat” to US national security when, in fact, the opposite was the case; the US threatened Venezuela.
Obama imposed unilateral coercive measures – euphemistically called “sanctions.” Each subsequent administration renewed and, to varying degrees, intensified the sanctions, which are illegal under international law, in a bipartisan effort. But the imperial objective of regime change was thwarted by the political leadership of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro in concert with the country’s people and in firm alliance with their military.
Now that draconian sanctions have “failed” to achieve regime change, President Trump dispatched an armada of warships, F-35 stealth aircraft, and thousands of troops to increase the pressure.
Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t8drPKkt5wg">responded</a>: “What Washington wants is to control Venezuela’s wealth [including the world’s largest oil reserves]. That is the reason why the US deployed warships, aircraft, missiles, and a nuclear submarine near Venezuelan coasts under the pretext of fighting drug trafficking.”
Maduro maintains his country is free of drug production and processing, citing <a href="https://x.com/telesurenglish/status/1965217422681444818">reports</a> from the United Nations, the European Union, and even the US Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA). The Venezuelan president could have also referenced the findings of Trump’s own <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2025/05/05/us/trump-venezuela-gang-ties-spy-memo.html?nvep=&hmac=&emci=6a46e56b-7e8a-f011-b484-6045bdeb7413&emdi=ea000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000001&ceid=12004723">security agencies</a> absolving him from the charge of directing the Tren de Aragua drug cartel.
And, speaking of collusion with drug cartels, Maduro could have commented on the DEA itself, which was expelled from Venezuela in 2005 for <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2005/8/8/venezuela-snaps-drug-ties-with-us">espionage</a>. Regardless, the DEA has continued to secretly build drug trafficking cases against Venezuela’s leaders in knowing <a href="https://apnews.com/article/venezuela-dea-drugs-cocaine-maduro-spying-law-e34d01bf3f4af828a96a06170aed27f2">violation of international law</a>, according to an Associated Press report.
Venezuelan Vice President Delcy Rodríguez <a href="https://english.elpais.com/usa/2025-09-10/venezuela-launches-offensive-to-show-the-us-and-the-world-it-is-fighting-drug-trafficking.html">highlights</a> that the DEA “has known connections with the drug trafficking world.” For example, an investigation by the US Department of Justice revealed that at least ten DEA agents in Colombia participated in repeated “<a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/2015/03/26/us-usa-justice-oig-idUSKBN0MM26P20150326/#:~:text=WASHINGTON%20%28Reuters%29%20,several%20DEA%20agents%20in%20Colombia">sex parties</a>” with prostitutes paid for by local drug cartels. In 2022, the DEA quietly removed its Mexico chief for maintaining <a href="https://apnews.com/article/politics-united-states-government-mexico-miami-c572727a7e7c740dde5e4da280de40b6#:~:text=Administration%20quietly%20removed%20Palmeri%2C%20its,%28DEA%20via">improper contacts</a> with cartels. This underscores a troubling pattern: DEA presence tends to coincide with major drug activity, but does not eliminate it.
The US “is not interested in addressing the <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t8drPKkt5wg">serious public health problem</a> its citizens face due to high drug use,” Maduro reminds us. He points out that drug trafficking profits remain in the US banking system. In fact, illicit narcotics are a major US industry. Research by the US Army-funded RAND Corporation reveals that narcotics rank alongside pharmaceuticals and oil/gas as <a href="https://www.rand.org/pubs/research_reports/RR3140.html">top US commodities</a>.
The former head of the UN Office on Drugs and Crime, Pino Arlacchi <a href="https://misionverdad.com/opinion/la-gran-mentira-de-definir-venezuela-narco-estado">commented</a>: “I was in Colombia, Bolivia, Peru and Brazil but I have never been to Venezuela; there was simply no need.” He added: “The Venezuelan government’s cooperation in the fight against drug trafficking was one of the best in South America; It can be compared only to Cuba’s impeccable record. This fact, in Trump’s delusional narrative of ‘Venezuela as a narco-state’, sounds like geopolitically motivated slander.” The UN <a href="https://www.unodc.org/unodc/data-and-analysis/world-drug-report-2025.html">2025 World Drug Report</a>, from the organization he led, tells a story opposite to that spread by the Trump administration.
According to Arlaachi, if any Latin American country should be targeted, it is US-allied Ecuador, now the world’s <a href="https://www.occrp.org/en/feature/stained-with-blood-new-port-brings-violent-drug-cartels-to-ecuador-fishing-town">leading cocaine exporter</a> using banana boats owned by the family of Trump’s buddy, right-wing President Daniel Naboa.
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/mexico-us-claim-cartel-alliance-slander-vows-tariff-retaliation/#:~:text=,she%20added">notes</a> that if any “alliance” exists with cartels, it lies “in the US gun shops,” highlighting how Yankee firearms fuel cartel violence. She urges Washington to look inward at its own drug demand and lax enforcement. If the US truly wanted to curb fentanyl, “they can combat the sale of narcotics on the streets of their main cities… and [stop] the money laundering” tied to the trade – steps “they don’t do.”
The resounding message from Latin America is that blaming them alone for the drug problem is misleading – the US’s own appetite for drugs and history of interventionism are key contributors. Solutions call for shared responsibilities and cooperative relationships.
<a href="https://www.american.edu/spa/news/classifying-cartels-as-ftos-06202025.cfm">US policy</a> under Trump, which confounds terrorism with criminal activity, is a cover for projecting military domination. Claiming the prerogative to <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/8/8/trump-signs-order-authorising-military-action-against-cartels-reports">unilaterally intervene</a> in the sovereign territories of neighboring states to fight cartels or <a href="https://cepr.net/newsroom/cepr-condemns-trump-administration-military-strike-on-boat-in-southern-caribbean/">murdering a boat’s crew</a> in the Caribbean are not solutions. Latin American leaders are turning the spotlight back on Washington. They point to US gun policies, consumer demand, and ulterior motives behind Washington’s renewed “war on drugs,” such as the current <a href="https://www.mintpressnews.com/trump-venezuela-cartel-war/290434/">regime-change offensive</a> against Venezuela. The drug problem won’t be solved by scapegoating Latin America when the US has yet to address root causes at home.The post <a href="https://dissidentvoice.org/2025/09/washington-projects-its-drug-problem-onto-latin-america-narco-state-myth-used-to-attack-venezuela/">Washington Projects Its Drug Problem onto Latin America: Narco-State Myth Used to Attack Venezuela</a> first appeared on <a href="https://dissidentvoice.org">Dissident Voice</a>.]]></content:encoded>
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<title>Superfluous Appointments: Albania’s Sunny AI Minister</title>
<link>https://dissidentvoice.org/2025/09/superfluous-appointments-albanias-sunny-ai-minister/</link>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[Binoy Kampmark]]></dc:creator>
<pubDate>Sat, 13 Sep 2025 18:55:22 +0000</pubDate>
<category><![CDATA[Artificial Intelligence (AI)]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Australia]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Politics]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Technology]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[AI minister]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Albania]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Diella]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Edi Rama]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Gazmend Bardhi]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Michele Bullock]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Reserve Bank of Australia]]></category>
<guid isPermaLink="false">https://dissidentvoice.org/?p=161460</guid>
<description><![CDATA[When countries have suffered the odd mishap regarding government paralysis or convulsive change, the frequent quip would often be: “Who noticed?” Much like university vice-chancellors or the parasitic management structures of most organisations, their forced absence merely induces a range of feelings from relief to indifference. They are all superfluous and know it. Reasons to […]
The post <a href="https://dissidentvoice.org/2025/09/superfluous-appointments-albanias-sunny-ai-minister/">Superfluous Appointments: Albania’s Sunny AI Minister</a> first appeared on <a href="https://dissidentvoice.org">Dissident Voice</a>.]]></description>
<content:encoded><![CDATA[When countries have suffered the odd mishap regarding government paralysis or convulsive change, the frequent quip would often be: “Who noticed?” Much like university vice-chancellors or the parasitic management structures of most organisations, their forced absence merely induces a range of feelings from relief to indifference. They are all superfluous and know it. Reasons to justify their existence must therefore be invented.
With the introduction of artificial intelligence into various spheres of society, a sense of superfluousness is bound to become even more profound. Little wonder that AI technology is very much in vogue in government circles, encouraging the Australian government, for example, to <a href="https://www.digital.gov.au/policy/ai/policy">praise</a> its “immense potential to improve social and economic wellbeing.” And seeing as government is very often a multiplication of the irrelevant, the hopeless, and the spurious, it only follows that AI would be praised for improving it. “For government,” the Australian AI policy goes on to explain, “the benefits of adopting AI include more efficient and accurate agency operations, better data analysis and evidence-based decisions, and improved service delivery for people and business.”
Little in the way of justice, human rights, or equity is mentioned in this glowing praise, which is often the problem with the next fad that captures those supposedly running a country. Efficiency chatter rarely features the welfare of the human. This has not deterred the introduction of machine learning to forecast inflation in the eurozone, nor has it prevented the US Federal Reserve from <a href="https://forklog.com/en/news/ai-agents-replace-politicians-in-simulated-federal-reserve-meeting/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">pursuing research</a> using generative models to analyze the minutes of the Federal Open Market Committee. The Reserve Bank of Australia has decided that AI might be best suited for policy briefings, though its governor, Michele Bullock, tried to reassure the public in a <a href="https://www.rba.gov.au/speeches/2025/sp-gov-2025-09-03.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">lecture delivered this month</a> that “we are not using AI to formulate or set monetary policy or any other policy.” Then again, in economics, who would know?
One country with its fair share of administrative problems and reputational issues is Albania, Europe’s fifth-poorest state. While its citizens are a resourceful bunch, its government has tended to wallow in the mire of corruption, a persistent hindrance to its efforts to join the European Union. And as every problem these days calls out for the AI panacea, Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama has decided to join the club in dramatic fashion. Rather than focusing on solutions that would presumably draw on people, insight, and experience, Rama thinks that appointing the world’s first AI minister is the way to go. Less messy, less problematic. Fewer people to blame.
The AI minister, named Diella (“sun” in Albanian), had already made an appearance as a virtual assistant to the e-Albania public service platform. From that debut, the bot was intended to assist users in navigating the system to obtain official documents. Few thought that this was a prelude to careerism. Now, this same artificial creature has the status of a cabinet minister with various responsibilities. “Diella is the first cabinet minister who isn’t physically present, but is virtually created by AI,” <a href="https://www.governmentnews.com.au/albania-appoints-ai-generated-minister/">says</a> Rama.
Leaving aside the issue of mental presence, Rama hopes that Diella will make his country one “where public tenders are 100 percent free of corruption” with the process being totally transparent. He is less than flattering about the ministries of government, which have long been blighted by corruption. How clever, then, to leave it to Diella to be “the public servant of procurement”. Importantly, she is bound to be safe, unlikely to vie for leadership of the country (at least for the moment), unlikely to leak to the press, and unlikely to cause those distracting scandals that terrify government ministers. As a BBC report caustically <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cm2znzgwj3xo">remarks</a>, “She will only be power-hungry in the sense of the electricity she consumes. And a damaging expenses scandal would appear to be out of the question.”
Certain lawmakers are unimpressed. “[The] Prime Minister’s buffoonery cannot be turned into legal acts of the Albanian state,” <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/9/12/albania-appoints-ai-bot-minister-to-fight-corruption-in-world-first">huffed</a> Gazmend Bardhi, parliamentary group leader of the Democrats. There is certainly the issue of the Albanian constitution, which clearly stipulates that government ministers must be mentally competent citizens who have, at the very least, reached the age of 18.
It is hard to avoid the accusation that Rama is merely peeing in the wind, splashing everybody with ample, sloshing nonsense. Impoverished states are often in the habit of seeking technological wonders to outdo their supposedly more advanced counterparts, leaving the structural rot unattended. The Albanian PM, in a similar vein, <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cm2znzgwj3xo">sees his country</a> “leapfrogging” other states, trapped by “traditional ways of working.” His seductive hook has certainly caught a few, <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cm2znzgwj3xo">including</a> Aneida Bajraktari Bicja, founder of the financial services company Balkans Capital. Having an AI cabinet appointment “could be constructive if it develops into real systems that improve transparency and trust in public procurement”.
Rama is confidently optimistic that he can secure EU membership for Albania within five years, with negotiations expected to conclude by 2027. By then, he may well be leaving the entire negotiation process to AI, relinquishing human agency in all its forms. That would say a great deal about the level of talent of those involved in the process, including those who tolerate it.The post <a href="https://dissidentvoice.org/2025/09/superfluous-appointments-albanias-sunny-ai-minister/">Superfluous Appointments: Albania’s Sunny AI Minister</a> first appeared on <a href="https://dissidentvoice.org">Dissident Voice</a>.]]></content:encoded>
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<title>There Was a Boat. That Was the Only True Part.</title>
<link>https://dissidentvoice.org/2025/09/there-was-a-boat-that-was-the-only-true-part/</link>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[David Swanson]]></dc:creator>
<pubDate>Fri, 12 Sep 2025 17:10:35 +0000</pubDate>
<category><![CDATA[Donald Trump]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Drones]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Drug Wars]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[International Law]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Murder]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Nicolas Maduro]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[United States]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Venezuela]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Chris Murphy]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[narcoterrorism]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[SOUTHCOM]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Tren de Aragua (TDA)]]></category>
<guid isPermaLink="false">https://dissidentvoice.org/?p=161452</guid>
<description><![CDATA[This was what the President of the United States initially lied: “Earlier this morning, on my Orders, U.S. Military Forces conducted a kinetic strike against positively identified Tren de Aragua Narcoterrorists in the SOUTHCOM area of responsibility. TDA is a designated Foreign Terrorist Organization, operating under the control of Nicolas Maduro, responsible for mass murder, drug […]
The post <a href="https://dissidentvoice.org/2025/09/there-was-a-boat-that-was-the-only-true-part/">There Was a Boat. That Was the Only True Part.</a> first appeared on <a href="https://dissidentvoice.org">Dissident Voice</a>.]]></description>
<content:encoded><![CDATA[<a href="https://worldbeyondwar.org/there-was-a-boat-that-was-the-only-true-part/venezuela-boat/" rel="attachment wp-att-106316"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-106316" src="https://worldbeyondwar.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/venezuela-boat.jpg" sizes="auto, (max-width: 1600px) 100vw, 1600px" srcset="https://worldbeyondwar.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/venezuela-boat.jpg 1600w, https://worldbeyondwar.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/venezuela-boat-300x169.jpg 300w, https://worldbeyondwar.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/venezuela-boat-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https://worldbeyondwar.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/venezuela-boat-768x432.jpg 768w, https://worldbeyondwar.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/venezuela-boat-1536x864.jpg 1536w" alt="" width="505" height="284" /></a>
This was what the President of the United States <a href="https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/115136798909755892">initially lied</a>:
<blockquote>“Earlier this morning, on my Orders, U.S. Military Forces conducted a kinetic strike against positively identified Tren de Aragua Narcoterrorists in the SOUTHCOM area of responsibility. TDA is a designated Foreign Terrorist Organization, operating under the control of Nicolas Maduro, responsible for mass murder, drug trafficking, sex trafficking, and acts of violence and terror across the United States and Western Hemisphere. The strike occurred while the terrorists were at sea in International waters transporting illegal narcotics, heading to the United States. The strike resulted in 11 terrorists killed in action. No U.S. Forces were harmed in this strike. Please let this serve as notice to anybody even thinking about bringing drugs into the United States of America. BEWARE! Thank you for your attention to this matter!!!!!!!!!!!”</blockquote>
How was this dishonest? Let me count the ways.
<ol>
<li>“Kinetic strike” is just a euphemism for murder. The above words accompanied a video of people in a small boat being blown up. You don’t see the blood spurting out of their bodies, as you might in an unacceptable murder objected to by Trump. You see a cool flash of light of the sort you’ve been conditioned by countless movies, television shows, and news broadcasts to ooh and aah at. But it’s just killing people.</li>
<li>There is no legal basis for the U.S. military to circle a giant chunk of the Earth’s surface and declare it the “responsibility” of a portion of that military named “SOUTHCOM.” This was at least 1,000 miles away from the United States, and therefore a job for a department of “defense,” only with the usual hypocrisy, even if there had been some sort of attack on anything — it’s a good thing the department is back to being one of “war.”</li>
<li>Nobody has publicly identified the people or identified them as drug dealers or as members of a particular gang.</li>
<li>Nobody has publicly established that there exists a gang engaged in “narcoterrorism” — that is, in dealing drugs and in terrorism. The most likely scenario for that happening will be city cops busting U.S. National Guard occupiers selling illegal substances to each other.</li>
<li>There is no way to define terrorism so as not to include the act of blowing up a boat and threatening to blow up more. Labeling the victims terrorists, even if true, cannot change that.</li>
<li>There is no public evidence that the president of Venezuela is in charge of the alleged gang.</li>
<li>There is no public evidence that the supposed gang of the president of Venezuela has done “mass murder, drug trafficking, sex trafficking, and acts of violence and terror across the United States and Western Hemisphere.”</li>
<li>The boat was not “heading to the United States.” The U.S. Secretary of State said it was headed to Trinidad & Tobago and then “corrected” his statement to agree with Trump’s. His initial statement was more plausible for such a small boat. We later learned that the people on the boat had apparently become aware of the drone or drones above them and <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2025/09/10/us/trump-drug-boat-venezuela-strike.html">reversed course</a>, so that at the time of their murder, they were headed in the opposite direction of wherever they had been headed at first.</li>
<li>It is highly unlikely that “No U.S. Forces were harmed in this strike.” The U.S. Air Force has long made clear that PTSD and moral injury are far more common among “drone pilots” who watch their targets on a screen than among airborne pilots.</li>
<li>Trump’s video did not show what we later learned were <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2025/09/10/us/trump-drug-boat-venezuela-strike.html">multiple strikes</a> on the same little boat, which would have looked less wrath-of-God cool than a single bolt of MAGAnite.</li>
<li>Bragging about something on social media implies that it is legal, acceptable, and admirable. <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/us/eight-days-later-questions-linger-about-venezuela-boat-strike-2025-09-10/">Reuters’</a> comical straight-faced “analysis” went like this: “Some experts questioned whether the decision to summarily kill people merely on suspicion of smuggling drugs violated international law. Trafficking in an illegal substance is not normally considered a capital offence.” In fact, murdering people violates international and national laws. Past U.S. presidents having done something does not legalize it. Even advocates for worldwide drone murder sprees have always maintained that it is only through the magic of being part of a war that such murders become totally admirable non-murders. If something were a “capital offense,” a president would still not get to be judge, jury, and executioner with no indictment or trial — not legally.</li>
<li>Drug dealing is not warmaking, and immigrating is not militarily invading. When someone like Senator Chris Murphy <a href="https://x.com/ChrisMurphyCT/status/1965813930397151296" target="_blank" rel="noopener">says</a> that those who were killed on the boat may have been members of a drug cartel or may have been civilians, he is selling snake oil. Drug dealers are civilians.*</li>
<li>Threatening more of the same is a crime under international and national laws as well, starting with the United Nations Charter.</li>
<li>When someone like Senator Chris Murphy <a href="https://x.com/ChrisMurphyCT/status/1965813930397151296">says</a> the big damage here is the setback for the war on drugs, he is obscuring our view of the mass murder just committed by Trump.</li>
<li>When the same senator <a href="https://x.com/ChrisMurphyCT/status/1965813930397151296">says</a> that blowing up boats would be legal if Congress had authorized it, he is pushing the lie that Congress has the power to overrule international law. It does not. War — and murder apart from war — are both equally illegal with or without the approval of the United States Congress. Yes, I am listing responses to Trump’s dishonesty as part of it, but he could count on just these non-responses.</li>
<li>There is no world in which such a small boat contained enough drugs even for a single Republican National Convention, and there is no boat large enough that blowing it up could distract even Trump’s own followers from their obsession with Epstein.</li>
</ol>
Sign the <a href="https://worldbeyondwar.org/venezuela-no-war/?clear_id=true">petition against war on Venezuela here</a>.
*Well, not <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Fort-Bragg-Cartel-Trafficking-Special/dp/0593655087">some of the U.S. Special Forces in Afghanistan</a>, for example, but most drug dealers.The post <a href="https://dissidentvoice.org/2025/09/there-was-a-boat-that-was-the-only-true-part/">There Was a Boat. That Was the Only True Part.</a> first appeared on <a href="https://dissidentvoice.org">Dissident Voice</a>.]]></content:encoded>
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