"Nobody listened to us when we spoke
So we used the noise of gunpowder as our rhythm"
-- Algerian national anthem, lyrics written 1955
Colonizers ignore every call of justice, every call of liberty, every scream of pain... until the oppressed take up arms. Then, they call them terrorists and launch a devastating total war "against terrorism" and in defense of "civilization".
And then you have the "civilized world" stand on the side of the colonizers, decry "terrorism", and double down on all forms of support for that "war on terrorism", until the country - liberated or not - ends up a traumatized wasteland for generations.
I believe in strategic nonviolence. But we must be clear that the violence of the oppressed can never be morally equated with the violence of the oppressor. It is the oppressor who creates the conditions under which it the oppressed start to consider picking up arms.
Violence is often a trap set up for us by the oppressors. They want us to be violent so they can kill us. Strategic nonviolence negates their advantage in doling out violence and turns it into a liability. But we cannot have a grand strategy until we have a grand vision first.

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More from @iyad_elbaghdadi

30 Sep
A confession that I want to approach respectfully (but honestly). When I compare the radicalization story of my (20-year younger) former self to the radicalization stories of people who got sucked into white supremacism, one main difference really surprises me
What truly surprised me was that while my sense of grievance (as a Palestinian Arab Muslim kid growing up in the Middle East) was based upon real, hard stuff. Meanwhile theirs was based upon "feeling" persecuted. It just seems to me that what broke my psyche was far heavier stuff
Obviously this is a very personal observation and I could be very wrong. It could be that I'm not empathetic enough with their experiences; or these experiences could be distant. I only intimately know my own story. I'm just putting this out there to see how right or wrong I am
Read 5 tweets
27 Sep
A big part of my daily reading/writing is about the future (as a strategist, this is what I do). Lately, this is leaving me with a deep feeling of sadness. The MENA lies at the intersection of every bad trend that defines humanity's future yet is not part of the conversation.
Climate change? Water stress? Ecology collapse? Desertification? Food security? Refugee & migrant movements? Economic inequality? Social inequality? Demographic transitions? Mental health? Intergenerational trauma? We're at the nexus of all of them
And yet we're locked out of the conversation because we are led by dictatorships gripped by strategic nihilism, dictators who no longer care about the future of the region, only about the future survival of their power and privilege. They're sending us to hell and we have no say
Read 6 tweets
23 Sep
How do you prefer to get informed, on a day-to-day basis?
- Threads
- Newsletters
- Podcasts
- Videos (Youtube, etc)
- Articles
- Books
- TV
- Other?
(If you leave a reply, please also retweet)
I have to admit I am developing a preference for threads because they are compact. There's just *so* much information to consume daily that I no longer have the patience for long-form narrative/storytelling formats (except perhaps as a downtine activity)
Read 4 tweets
21 Sep
For some reason, over the past few weeks I've been fascinated by Flat Earther videos (did quite a number on my Youtube homepage). I guess I should write a bit about what I saw but here's a few quick thoughts
1. It's a modern movement. They aren't holdovers from a previous historical or traditional movement. This tells you something - if this is a modern movement then the reasons it exists are also modern issues
2. They actually *do* seem to obsess over "evidence". Only, they twist it around in a clever way. "Evidence" for them is redefined to "whatever can change my mind" (and since nothing can, then problem solved)
Read 9 tweets
11 Sep
Optimism is not a plan. Anger is not power. Euphoria is not a national vision. Emotions are not a roadmap.
Mental prisons are more oppressive than physical prisons. And the worst prisons are those we build for ourselves
I'm a strategist. My job is to live in the future. To look at the big picture, to see everything as a trend, to think 20 moves ahead (and 20 years ahead). My brain is wired this way now.
Read 10 tweets
1 Sep
Should I lift weights at the end of a 48 hour fast? Assuming I'll eat right after
Ok, I won't. It's not a function of "energy" btw but of electrolytes + hydration. Easy way to get a cramp.
Maybe something softer today, like yoga or a stretching routine
Read 4 tweets

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