Thread of sources on Uyghurs oppression and concentration camps that cannot, by any sane person at least, be called western propaganda:
This continues to be an important piece considering it comes out of a large Marxist-Leninist party in the colonized world and challenges Marxist Leninists to actually be materialists here: cpiml.net/liberation/202…
A powerful piece by Chinese communists on Uyghur oppression including discussion of the capitalist and settler colonial economic basis of the “People’s war on terror” chuangcn.org/journal/two/sp…
Connected to that last piece this book is helpful to understand the capitalist developmental logics of empire going back at least to the 16th century: sup.org/books/title/?i…
From a historian of modern China and shared by decolonial leftists in Hong Kong analyzing the connections between the the Uyghur camps and global imperial and capitalist systems: lausan.hk/2020/camps-in-…
Shared by Chuang this is a powerful piece by @dtbyler framing what apologists use to justify the camps as a reaction to and turning point in an ongoing colonial process using the perspectives of Uyghur, Han, and Kazakh people who were there: chuangcn.org/2019/07/requie…
Now I will share pieces that share the chinese states own language and reports on the subject or witch complicate the narrative of who is benefiting from these camps (and talking about them) as presented by apologists.
Here is a chinese state official favorably comparing their policies to Trump’s Muslim ban: aljazeera.com/news/2017/3/12…
Leaked data on detentions (which the Chinese state has not challenged the legitimacy of) which used “ordinary activities such as praying, attending a mosque, or even growing a long beard” as cause for detention: apnews.com/article/890b79…
Although “re-education” is frequently used by apologists if you actually read what the state says about it it is chilling (also includes discussion of the “strike hard against terror” campaign of the Chinese state): reuters.com/article/us-chi…
Here is an incredibly eugenicist graph from the Chinese state tracking The birthdate in Xinjiang compared to “voluntary” IUDs
Here is the chinese state celebrating the drop in birthrate in not even slightly vague eugenics:
On the involvement of Blackwater and Erik Prince (a private military contractor closely associated with the CIA and US war on terror) in the Xinjiang camps: reuters.com/article/us-chi…
From the first link in the thread but worth specifically highlighting. Despite the recent backlash against western brands for making statements against forced labor, those brands are in fact profiting from it:
Here is an analysis of Chine State population data in Xinjiang that shows not only an incredibly stark drop in birth rate but a literal decline of minority populations along with an increase in the Han population:
Now this data is important because recently a tankie doctor on here convinced people it disproves genocide, but let’s look at it. It shows consistent increase until the data cuts off (around when camps start), minority pop (which includes other groups) then shrinks in that time:
An interview with Shohrat Zakir, chairman of the Government of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region in which he mentions that they detain people only suspected of minor criminal offenses but may exempt them from punishment in favor of labor (remember for whom) xinhuanet.com/english/2018-1…
This is one of the best critiques of the movement in which denialism circulates in the west (examples for Canada but certainly just as applicable south of the border) written by Vincent Wong of Lausan briarpatchmagazine.com/articles/view/…
Here is an article summarizing a book about the chinese state encouraging the US to classify a Uyghur group that didn’t even really exist a terrorist organization in exchange for supporting the war on terror: foreignpolicy.com/2020/11/10/why…
Another article published by Lausan focusing on the ways chinese policy in Xinjiang relates to, draws on, and builds on US, British, and Israeli counter insurgency strategy and technology: lausan.hk/2020/chinas-xi…
An article by a Kashmiri poet and academic living in diaspora reflecting on the similarities of Indian oppression of Kashmiris with Chinese oppression of Uyghurs. She explicitly argues against using colonial histories to justify colonial policy: madeinchinajournal.com/2020/10/05/chi…
Published by @newbloommag which published radical perspectives on Taiwan and the broader Asia pacific by @brianhioe on China’s use of the American war on terror to justify its Uyghur policy: newbloommag.net/2017/03/14/chi…
Another good piece from the same author again comparing US and Chinese policy this time the similarity in terms of involuntary sterilization in ICE camps and the Chinese actions in Xinjiang newbloommag.net/2020/10/30/ice…
Collection of video testimonials of Uyghurs who were detained or otherwise victimized read by volunteers: youtube.com/channel/UCxtHB…
And the Xinjiang Victims Database @shahitbiz has compiled a primary evidence report based on eyewitness testimony: shahit.biz/primrep.php
Here is another source on Uyghur’s discussing their own oppression this time in a clubhouse group which until it was shutdown had thousands of members and was moderated by Uyghurs themselves. It’s been closed by the state but the record remains: supchina.com/2021/03/03/tru…
Feels worth adding although the focus is somewhat different. The US state has no actual interest in solidarity with Uyghurs and treats Uyghur refugees as badly as any other group of refugees (with the added surveillance all Muslims here face): prospect.org/world/after-ui…
According to the Palestinian center for Policy and survey research in September 2020 “83% of the public believe that Palestinians should be in solidarity with the Uighur
Muslims against the Chinese government” pcpsr.org/sites/default/…
Here is a source that uses google earth image to track mosque destruction in Xinjiang (includes pictures). The research is by a Uyghur man who’s father was detained in the camps and hosted on a site run by a Uyghur in diaspora uyghurism.com/culturalgenoci…
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My family is has a lot of artists including painters, musicians, a poet etc. all of them seem to immediately recognize the suit against internet archive as an attack on culture not a defense of it. So it’s bizarre for me to see some artists threat IA as some existential threat.
Copyright laws hurt far more artists than they help, especially in an era of digital production, sampling, etc. they present a barrier to entry, while only really benefiting a handful of celebrity artists and primarily large corporate entertainment conglomerates.
Why have seemingly a sizable number of artists on here become convinced that rather than a capitalism exploiting labor of all kinds, the threat to their livelihood is people who can’t afford exorbitant fees that go to publishers, & private companies who exist to restrict access?
Potentially losing one of the largest archives of human knowledge, and a freely accessible one at that, because of a copyright really shows how much copyright laws are a threat to human knowledge and culture.
The internet archive hosts so much, and so many different kinds of things, art, music, and films, primary documents, books, and research journals, audio and visual recordings, and website backups.
The focus of the lawsuit is on the books, a major blow in itself as there are so many books I can only find there or can only find not for hundreds of dollars there, but would likely also threaten everything else.
I think it’s really telling that some leftists on here who seem to be exclusively posting content about fascists in Ukraine totally ignore shit like Neo-Nazi paramilitary leader Vladimir Zhoga fighting for and being honored by the Russian state:
People who definitely understand why constantly saying shit like “free Gaza from Hamas” is fucked up for ignoring the occupation, & that Israel is its main source of legitimacy, even if they recognize Hamas as being reactionary, clearly cannot apply that same analysis to Ukraine.
I have no idea who is winning the war, nor do I think it is worth speculating on as I do not have reliable information on what is happening behind the scenes on either side and neither do most of the people making confident proclamations about who is winning.
A lot of people seem to be making assumptions based on who they want to win and as such many people who generally back Ukraine are pretty confident Russian supply lines are about to collapse. While many who generally back Russia highlight territorial losses for Ukraine.
It is especially difficult to say who is winning a battle of occupation. Even if the flag changes in the center of town, or even say the capital, do the occupied accept the rule of the occupier? Remember the US occupied Afghanistan for decades and still lost.
Abolish the death penalty. Even for Dzhokhar Tsarnaev.
Shows the hollowness of the whole idea of a “progressive DA” that Rollins is supporting using it here. And so much for Biden claiming to want to end the death penalty but still appealing this case to kill a man.
To be clear Rollins is not the DA anymore, she is now a US attorney for MA but she made her name for herself as a “progressive DA” in Suffolk county (which includes Boston) despite calling to end cash bail in elections only to raise bail on people about to be bailed out by MBF.
From what I’ve seen so far the solidarity and anti-war statements from leftists in Russia and in Russia’s periphery (Lithuania, Georgia, Finland, etc) and of course in Ukraine are so much clearer about what is actually happening and the stakes than statements from the US/west EU
I think the underlying difference is that for those whose people have been subjected to versions of Russian imperialism directly Russian expansion is not an abstract force that is seen as a counter balance to western imperialism but a genuine & material threat to freedom itself.
Russians are also writing from the same position as Liebknecht in his essay “The Main Enemy Is At Home!” Their state is the clear imperial aggressor
What is often left out of the essay, is that he also says “Down with the war instigators here and abroad!” marxists.org/archive/liebkn…