@RaniaKhalek's Threads
“Hezbollah media relations: We have nothing to do with the motorcycle protest that descended on downtown Beirut this evening.” #LebanonProtests #لبنان__ينتفض
Small protests like this one in Hamra are springing up around Beirut, so it’s not just secluded to downtown. I hear there are also protesters gathered at the Central Bank, even more than yesterday. #LebanonProtests #لبنان__ينتفض
Protesters in Lebanon are gathering downtown and blocking some roads with burning tires against government attempts to increase taxes. Though it’s unclear, disorganized and chaotic, one thing is clear: people are frustrated w/ the economic situation. 
This comes after fires that spread across the country and the state was helpless to put them out bc the government didn’t pay to maintain the aircraft capable of putting out fires. People have had enough it seems
Protests in Lebanon continue. So much discontent over decades of corruption, economic stagnation and decline and a political elite that enriched itself while the country crumbles. This is similar I think to the frustrations that provoked protests in Iraq.
Thanks for the PHD thesis but what’s this got to do with my point that white nationalism predates the Bosnian war & Murtaza's orientalist article does not prove a connection? It’s not about anti-imperialism or revisionism, just the attempt to prove a causality which isn’t there
The guy above keeps accusing me of historical revisionism but I was not discussing the history of the Bosnian conflict. @JasminMuj, you chose to launch some bizarre ad hominem tirade against anti-imperialists that is not related to anything I said.
There is no disputing the crimes committed by Serb militias. My point is that it is not unique, nor is it a significant inspiration for the new white nationalism.
Look dude, if you want an excuse to go on summer vacation in the Balkans that’s fine, but don’t try to make ahistorical connections between massacres in Bosnia and massacres in the US.
White nationalism and fear of "lower races" having too many babies was a fear long before Yugoslavia was created or collapsed. Most white nationalists have never heard of Bosnia's massacres any more than they heard of Rwanda, Cambodia, the Nakba, or Bangladesh.
We dont need to look for false causes and invent inspiration in far away obscure towns for today's massacres in the US. white nationalism is a very American phenomenon. And one guy in New Zealand is not a pattern of Serbia inspiring a global hate movement.
Israel is bombing Iraq apnews.com/06ef6f4d525e40…
And sending drones laden with explosives to Beirut bloomberg.com/news/articles/…
And they want you to believe Iran is the aggressor in the region
And sending drones laden with explosives to Beirut bloomberg.com/news/articles/…
And they want you to believe Iran is the aggressor in the region
Israel is now attacking Lebanon, Syria and now Iraq with increasingly regularity, and of course this is all done with a nod of approval from the US.
This is hilarious, apparently the first Israeli drone that crashed in Beirut was brought down by people throwing stones at it, according to Al Jadeed.
Another mass shooting, another far right hate-filled manifesto by a white supremacist, this time aimed at perceived immigrants. 20 people are dead. He was inspired by the Christcurch killer. We have a far right terrorism problem and it’s transnational nytimes.com/2019/08/03/us/…
The killer’s manifesto says he did this in part to prevent Texas from going Democrat bc of Hispanic “invader” voters. He also cites American wars to justify killing people, as in: if the US govt does it, why can’t he. These 2 points prob won’t make it into media coverage
I also notice he’s very angry about corporations and environmental degradation, which he infuses with racism and anti-immigrant hatred.
This is a thread debunking the absurdities in Charles Lister’s recent article on Syria.
foreignpolicy.com/2019/07/11/ass…
Let’s call it “Charles Lister has lost everything.” Here’s why.
foreignpolicy.com/2019/07/11/ass…
Let’s call it “Charles Lister has lost everything.” Here’s why.
1/ Ppl like Lister preferred to see war & suffering continue as long as it achieved their goal of state collapse rather than focus on abstract issues like humanitarian suffering. Lister opposes attempts to restore normality for Syrians if it means dealing w/ the government.
2/ “The Assad regime has not “won” anything...”
The regime didn’t start the war, but it survived, so it is winning. And it was your insurgency which led the bloodshed & fear just as much as the government’s response to it. Take some responsibility for the policies you supported
The regime didn’t start the war, but it survived, so it is winning. And it was your insurgency which led the bloodshed & fear just as much as the government’s response to it. Take some responsibility for the policies you supported
1/ Thread on why this report is problematic. theguardian.com/world/2019/may…
2/ 1st I laud the bravery of a western media crew entering an active warzone risking injury/death/capture to report. Even more when they’re embedded w Islamic extremists in Idlib, where many journos were kidnapped/killed. The Sky crew were doing their job & deserve respect. But…
3/ To claim they were “deliberately targeted by the Syrian government” is absurd. This is a regime that does not even have the ability to conduct targeted strikes and for the last 8 years has been condemned for indiscriminate targeting.
A gang of fascist vigilantes made up of ex-cops and ex-military live-streamed themselves detaining 300 undocumented immigrants at gunpoint and then handing them over to border patrol dailymail.co.uk/news/article-6… how are they allowed to do this??
It’s legal for fascists at the border to point guns at immigrants?
The comments on the live-streamed video are so hateful. The undocumented immigrants are clearly children and families. But the commenters call for hurting them. This is so sick.
Reading through the manifesto of the far right New Zealand shooter. He’s obsessed with the idea of “white genocide” and the fertility rates of non-whites. Inspired by Candace Owens and Anders Breivik. Doesn’t understand Australia/New Zealand were built on indigenous genocide.
In his manifesto, the suspected New Zealand shooter calls for the assassinations of Angela Merkel, Erdogan and Sadiq Khan. He hates Turks more than anything and calls Turkish people “ethnic soldiers within Europe”
This manifesto reminds me of others, especially that of Dylann Roof. This far right white supremacist violence is increasingly global, with each act of terrorism transnationally inspiring other like minded racists thanks to the internet.
Facebook has suspended all of @IntheNow_tweet's facebook pages, apparently in coordination w/ CNN, on the grounds that In The Now doesn't disclose who funds it (Ruptly). This is an outrageous standard that is not applied to other outlets, like NPR or AJ+. amp.cnn.com/cnn/2019/02/15…
This is after weeks of CNN digging around to find dirt on us. We then reached out to CNN and let them interview us, which felt more like a police interrogation. The interviewer didn’t like my anti war political views, even attacked my criticism of Trump’s coup in Venezuela.
CNN says it was alerted to @IntheNow_tweet by The German Marshall Fund, which receives funding from the US government. So here you have a US government funded outfit prompting CNN to help get us kicked off Facebook.
Actually she didn’t insist. They repeatedly made the discussion about Assad to distract from the point she was making about destructive US wars. This is an instance of cable news pundits ganging up on someone bc they can’t accept their anti war position
People really should watch the video above, it’s a perfect example of how pro war the mainstream press is. @TulsiGabbard presented a very sensible and calm argument against US wars, and their response was outrage and eye rolls
Tulsi: I served in a war based on lies. I want to make sure that doesn’t happen again. Syria doesn’t pose a threat to the US.
Cold warrior journalists: Omg she wouldnt call Assad an enemy, russia loves her, she can’t be in our club
Cold warrior journalists: Omg she wouldnt call Assad an enemy, russia loves her, she can’t be in our club
1/ Hi Clifford, thank you for your polite and thoughtful question. It is indeed one worth asking. I don’t think the term imperialism applies to modern day Russia or China. This is not a defense of their foreign, economic or military polices, its just a dispute over terminology.
2/ Imperialism is a structured relationship to transfer value from a poor country’s economy to a rich country’s economy, or to restructure power in a way that serves the rich country, and it’s usually enforced through military force.
3/ China’s economic policies in parts of Asia and Africa may be problematic and unfair but they are not enforced by its global military might or its control over the global currency.
Leaked documents reveal a covert government-funded influence operation and smear machine that is colluding with journalists to propagandize the public under the guise of combatting Russian disinformation. And the mainstream press is totally ignoring it grayzoneproject.com/2019/01/08/new…
“Through cash inducements & off the record briefings, the Integrity Initiative has sought 2 organize journalists across the West into an international echo chamber hyping up the threat of Russian disinformation & 2 defame politicians & journalists critical of this new Cold War”
“A newly released Integrity Initiative document reveals that the outfit plans an aggressive expansion across the US.”
It’s ironic that western governments are guilty of precisely what they insist the Russians are doing with regard to disinformation. And no one seems to care.
It’s ironic that western governments are guilty of precisely what they insist the Russians are doing with regard to disinformation. And no one seems to care.
1/ Even when the US withdraws from areas it is occupying it finds a stupid way to do it.
2/ Trump is going to hand over north eastern Syria to Turkey and its local Sunni extremist mercenary forces who hate the Kurds, like militias from Der Ezzor who are part of Euphrates Shield forces, in addition to Jeish al Islam remnants from Douma.
3/ This will create the perfect zone for a revival of ISIS and similar forces who will have a second chance to pursue their goals and threaten the fragile stability that was emerging in Iraq and Syria.
There’s a segment of the left that has clear ideas about foreign policy, but they’re often drowned out or attacked by both the establishment & pro interventionist segments of the left (like with Syria). Part of the problem is the (weak) western left is fractured on foreign policy
Then there is a segment of the left that is somewhat indifferent about foreign policy. They want free healthcare and higher education for all but they won’t engage with the cost of US empire bc either they don’t care or they recognize that anti-imperialism provokes intense attack
Which is a huge shame bc it’s an argument the left should be making. Billions and billions of dollars are spent on sustaining wars, starting new wars and subjugating weaker countries, while Americans can’t afford basic medical care.
1 While the lack of accurate on the ground reporting and the chaos of first reports makes it hard to know what happened in Sweida and why, here is what we can say so far.
2 Sweida was vulnerable to attack because it was not fully under the control of Syrian security. As a concession, the regime had given the Druze of Sweida a degree of local autonomy including their own local security.
3 Sweida was also a hub for smuggling. This included smuggling from east Sweida villages towards tribal areas formerly controlled by ISIS that still have ISIS pockets and included smuggling from south west Sweida to opposition areas in Daraa city and west Daraa province.
Trump takes the podium at the United Nations General Assembly, brace yourselves #UNGA
Trump brags to #UNGA about record spending on American military, says its the strongest it has ever been. Sounds like a threat.
"Terrorists & extremists have spread 2 every part of the world ... traffic drugs weapons ppl threaten our borders" Jeez this is dark #UNGA
