Category Archives: Government Oppression

By Samy Magdy| Associated Press

CAIRO Nearly two years after the overthrow of autocrat Omar al-Bashir, Sudan is taking steps to rejoin the international community from which it was long shunned. That includes its film industry.

For the first time in its history, Sudan has a submission for the Academy Awards. Produced by a consortium of European and Egyptian companies but with a Sudanese director and cast, "You Will Die at Twenty" will compete in the Best International Feature Film category.

The story follows a young man whose death at the age of 20 is prophesied not long after his birth, casting a shadow over his formative years, and parallels the burdens placed on a generation of Sudan's young people.

Based on a short story by Sudanese novelist Hammour Ziyada, critics say it demonstrates that the country's cultural scene is reawakening after decades of oppression.

The film was produced amid mass demonstrations against al-Bashir, who was toppled by the military in April 2019 after ruling the country for nearly 30 years.

"It was an adventure," filmmaker Amjad Abu Alala told The Associated Press. "There were protests in the streets that had grown to a revolution by the beginning of filming."

Sudan's uprising erupted in late 2018, and as the number of people in the streets swelled, many of them young, the military stepped in and toppled the Islamist president. Since then, the country has embarked on a fragile transition to democracy, ending years of theocratic rule that limited artists' freedoms.

The film's submission was announced in November by the country's ministry of culture, a month before the second anniversary of the start of the uprising.

It follows a narrative written by Ziyada in the early 2000s that chronicles the life of a child in 1960s in a remote village, located between the Blue and White Nile rivers. The inhabitants are largely guided by ancient Sufi beliefs and traditions, a mystical strain of Islam.

The film starts when a mother, Sakina, takes her newborn boy to a Sufi ceremony at a nearby shrine as a blessing. As a sheikh gives his blessing, a man in traditional clothing performs a meditative dance, suddenly stopping after 20 turns, falling to the ground a bad omen.

The frightened mother appeals to the Sheikh to give an explanation. But he says, "God's command is inevitable." At this point, the crowd understands this is a prophecy predicting the child will die at 20.

Stunned and frustrated, the father leaves his wife and son, named Muzamil, to face their fate alone.

Muzamil grows up under the watchful eye of his overprotective mother, who wears black in anticipation of his early demise. He is haunted by the prophecy even other children name him "the son of death."

Despite that, Muzamil proves to be an inquisitive boy full of life. His mother allows him to go to study the Quran. He receives praise for his memorization and recitation of verses. Then comes a turning point.

A cinematographer, Suliman, returns to the village after years working abroad. Muzamil, who is by now working as an assistant to the village shopkeeper, gets to know him through delivering him alcohol, a social taboo.

Suliman, who lives with a prostitute, opens Muzamil's eyes to the outside world. Through their discussions, he starts to doubt the prophecy that has governed his life so far and torn his family apart.

As he turns 19, Muzamil takes it upon himself to decide what it means to be alive, even as death beckons.

The film has received positive reviews from international critics. It premiered at the 2019 Venice International Film Festival's parallel section, Venice Days. It won the Lion of the Future for Best First Feature the first Sudanese film to do so. Since then, it has won at least two dozen awards at film festivals worldwide.

Abu Alala says his team tackled obstacles in making the film, thrown up by the same conservative milieu that it depicts. He blames the environment created by al-Bashir, who came to power in an Islamist-backed military coup in 1989. Under his rule, limited personal freedoms meant art was viewed with suspicion by many.

One major challenge, he said, was that local residents at the initial filming location objected to their presence. The crew was forced to move, but they persevered.

"We believed that it should be done under any circumstances," Abu Alala said. He says that it was lucky that the film's production period coincided with the cultural watershed moment of the uprising. The previous government wouldn't have been a proponent of his work.

The movie has also been met with commendations from inside the region.

"It is a very real and local film that makes the audience feel all of its details whenever and whoever they are," wrote Egyptian film critic Tarik el-Shenawy.

The film is only the eighth to be made inside Sudan. Abu Alala says that its selection shows Sudan has countless stories that remain untold.

"There wasn't a film industry existing in Sudan only individual attempts ... Sudan's rulers communists or Islamists were not interested in cinema. They just were interested in having artists on their sides," he said.

Now, he hopes that he and other filmmakers will have the freedom to share Sudan's stories with the world.

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A Sudan in transition presents first-ever film for Oscars - LubbockOnline.com

At the end of 2019, people gathered to embrace the New Year. Claiming the phrase, The Year of 20/20 Vision, many of us had no idea of the words we spoke. The end of 2020 marks a year unlike any in our recent memories. It was a year filled with a global pandemic, death, racial injustice, and a government in turmoil. This year tested the resolve of many Americans like no other. In this challenging year, we also saw glimpses of the best parts of ourselves in everyday heroes. It was a year of great revelation, both good and bad.

The year began with the impeachment trial of Donald Trump and the death of Kobe Bryant. Trump became the third impeached President in history. Accused of abuse of power and the obstruction of Congress, the Senate acquitted him, voting along party lines. Killed in a helicopter crash on January 26, the death of Kobe Bryant, his 13-year-old daughter, Gianna, and seven others, left the world stunned.

It would not be the last time Americans would feel numb, bewildered, shocked, or disgusted.

A GLOBAL PANDEMIC.

At the close of 2019, the world learned of a man who died of an unknown virus in Wuhan, China. Similar cases continued in China as news of this new deadly virus began to spread. Americans watched from afar, never thinking the virus would affect the world. Scientists in China identified the virus as a type of coronavirus. The World Health Organization said it was monitoring this new virus, but the worst was yet to come.

By February, the virus spread to other counties. Cruise ships were among the first to see the rapid spread of this new virus. The first coronavirus case was diagnosed in the US on January 20. The first case diagnosed in Illinois occurred in March. Countries began initiating travel restrictions and lockdowns. Cruise ships became stuck at sea with sick vacationers. State officials wondered how to prevent this viruss spread. When asked by the media, the President told the American people, there was nothing to worry about. He compared the virus to a different strand of the flu. As the numbers began to rise in the US, individual states took matters into their own hands. Cities across the country initiated Stay at Home orders allowing only essential services to remain open. Offices and schools closed and moved to remote working and learning. We learned new phrases like pandemic, COVID-19, and social distancing. We ceased going anywhere without a mask and sanitizer. The world, as we knew it completely changed.

Restaurants and businesses closed. Weddings, Graduations, and proms became drive-in and virtual events if they werent canceled or postponed. Scientists became household names as Americans tuned in for daily briefings from the nations expert, Dr. Anthony Fauci or Dr. Ngozi Ezike in Illinois. Parents struggled with remote learning while working from home. Death was massive with many COVID-19 patients dying alone without family and friends present. The losses were staggering, with many losing loved ones and livelihoods. Employers furloughed or laid off their staff. Artists, Actors, and Musicians saw their incomes disappear with event cancelations. Freelancers and Gig Workers saw their incomes shrink as people stayed home. As a result, unemployment skyrocketed to rates unseen since the great depression and the recession. Black people were dying at higher rates from COVID-19. With many working as essential workers, living with pre-existing conditions, and lacking access to good medical care, our communities were suffering.

In November, a vaccine was announced by the pharmaceutical company, Pfizer. Recently approved the vaccine has been distributed to first responders around the world. Vaccinations need to be taken by at least 70% of the public to call an end to the pandemic. Coronavirus changed everything for everyone all around the world. Nothing about the year 2020 would be the same.

8 MINUTES 46 SECONDS THAT OPENED THE FLOODGATES

Police killings of unarmed black people are not new. Still, the trifecta of the murders of Ahmaud Arbery in February, Breonna Taylor in March, and George Floyd in May hit Black Americans hard. Fed up, Americans took to the streets in anger, frustration, and rage to protest their killings and the polices lack of accountability. With the world watching, Black Lives Matter went global with protests happening around the world. Countries stood in solidarity with Black people exhausted by the increasing number of hashtags. Collective anger turned to rage as some looted businesses already struggling in a pandemic. The world learned what a Karen or Ken was. Corporations and businesses rushed to initiate diversity and inclusion committees and programs often out of fear of being canceled or highlighted negatively on social media. There was a newfound interest in black-owned everything. The media went into overdrive, highlighting black everything; Film, Books, Music, TV, and Art, to appear diverse. Emotionally drained and mentally exhausted Blacks were asked by well-intentioned white friends and allies to explain it all so they could understand 400+ years of injustice, racism, and systematic oppression.

The holiday celebrated for generations, Juneteenth, all of a sudden, became important to businesses and corporations who decided to recognize it. Despite all these cosmetic changes, Colin Kaepernick remains blackballed from the league, and the killers of unarmed black people remain free. The second half of the year would mark Jacob Blakes shooting, shot seven times in the back, the unlawful search warrant executed against innocent civilian, Anjanette Young, and the latest police murder of Casey Goodson, Jr.

Young people became leaders and activists using social media to mobilize and engage. Tired of watching their community fight the same battles against racism and racist structures as generations before them, young people were defiant and loud. They were bold in their requests to dismantle systems of oppression. These young people used social media to engage like never before, and they harnessed their power in protests and at the polls.

THE REALITY SHOW KNOWN AS THE OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT

Staying true to form as the craziest year ever, we watched in sheer disbelief; a President reveal his admiration of racists, denial of science, and praiser of himself.

Trump refused to believe America was amid a pandemic, constantly refuting scientists, and casting doubt on whether masks and social distancing worked. Filled with conspiracy theories and outright lies, his press conferences often stunned the press. He even suggested Americans inject their bodies with disinfectant or UV rays. It sounds interesting, he said. His response to the coronavirus pandemic has been abysmal. Trump contracted COVID-19 in the latter part of the year after hosting super spreader events and maskless rallies. While Americans were dying, cities struggling financially, and people suffering, Trump sang his praises, telling reporters he has done a phenomenal job controlling the virus. As of December 2020, the United States has 19.1 million confirmed COVID-19 and over 300K deaths.

He attacked the press calling many of them idiots and morons. He called fallen soldiers and war heroes suckers and losers. He refused to address the murders of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and Ahmaud Arbery but made sure to admonish protestors while praising the police. He even had protestors sprayed with tear gas so he could pose with a bible upside down at a local church.

Americans watched the road to the election that held enough drama for a Bravo reality show. He fueled racists, calling the coronavirus the Chinese Virus, and refused to denounce white supremacy in a chaotic debate.

Joe Biden made history when he selected Kamala Harris as his running mate as the first Black Woman to secure the role. The pandemic drew more people to vote by mail as Americans voted in record numbers. After a lengthy count, Joe Biden secured both the popular and electoral vote to win the election. Since election day, the nation watched Trump become even more unhinged. From denying the election results, suing states to void election numbers, and repeating false claims of a rigged election, many wonder if he will leave the office peacefully in January.

He has initiated a firing spree of any of his elected officials who do not side with him on his baseless claims. To anger republicans who have not remained loyal to him, Trump recently refused to sign the new Coronavirus bill to provide Americans with additional financial help, protect unemployment benefits, and prevent evictions and a government shutdown. Unemployment benefits expired at midnight on December 26. The President reluctantly signed the bill on December 27.

With less than 20 days in office, Americans wonder how much more damage and chaos he can do. He refuses to work with Biden on a peaceful transition of power. He refuses to discuss the surge in COVID-19 cases across the country, choosing instead to post tweets about unfound election fraud and golfing.

A pandemic, revolution, uprising, and a President unhinged affected all our lives in many ways. Tomorrow, we will explore how Black Americans adjusted to the new normal and the good that came from one of the most revealing years in history. 2020 The Year that Opened our Eyes will continue tomorrow with Part 2.

Danielle Sanders is a writer and journalist living in Chicago. Find her on social media @DanieSandersOfficial.

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2020: The Year that Opened Our Eyes-Pt. 1 - Chicago Defender

The Role of Minorities and their Significance in Building Social Stability. Let 2021 Be the Year of Minorities in Iraq. Remarks by SRSG Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert, Thursday 31 December 2020

Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen,

I am very pleased to be addressing this timely workshop on a topic that could have easily been ignored, given the numerous competing challenges facing Iraq. It is most encouraging that critical issues of citizenship, diversity, inclusion, and coexistence, have been placed front and centre today.

My years in Iraq have reinforced the conviction that tolerance and inclusiveness are not only moral and political imperatives: they are a precious source of national vitality, of cultural and indeed economic wealth. A society in which diverse groups peacefully coexist is not only a secure society, but also a dynamic, prosperous and self-confident one.

It is at once a clich and a fundamental truth that Iraq is, and has always been, a rich mosaic of cultures. Some of the greatest inventions in human history were created or perfected here: the wheel, the written word, algebra, and countless more.

Crucially, these were not the innovations of one community, speaking one language, sharing one culture. Instead, they are the products of diversity, of ideas and viewpoints being exchanged. The communities who gave humanity these legacies embraced and leveraged their differences.

And Iraqis should take just as much pride in their current diversity. Not only does it offer immense cultural beauty, it can also provide a competitive edge in the global knowledge economy.

A strong House of Wisdom, however, requires solid foundations. Sadly, these have recently been shaken to their core. Mismanagement, geopolitical tensions, callous communitarianism, incitement and hate speech, the horror of Daesh, have all conspired to render many people in Iraq extremely vulnerable.

Displacement, rights deprivations and poor access to essential services disproportionately affect Iraqs minorities, along with women, the young, the elderly, and those suffering from disabilities. This has only worsened with the economic downturn.

In my most recent briefing to the UN Security Council, I emphasized that combatting divisive muhassassa, fighting corruption, building domestic resilience and more inclusive forms of development, are not just economic necessities: they offer political alternative to constant crisis management. Moreover, cohesion undermines those pursuing private gains instead of the national good. And unity strengthens sovereignty: the more Iraqis speak and act as one, the less vulnerable they are to external meddling.

Conversely, a community that is united will be best positioned to defend its interests at the national level: therefore, intra-community reconciliation is just as important as the work at the inter-community level.

We all agree that that defending diversity is imperative, but the question is: how? Well, the key is: respect for fundamental rights and the rule of law, applied to all without exception.

Like a physical crossroads, a crossroads of civilizations offers multiple options, and allows us to go in different directions. But properly navigating a crossroads, requires rules, and for these rules to be respected. Anyone who has driven in Baghdad will agree that very few adhere to any rules in sharing the road.

Building on that metaphor: respecting multiple identities, which can combine and complement each other rather than suppress, exclude or supersede each other, requires the recognition of every citizens equality before the law.

Political and community leaders must step up, join hands and serve the interests of the Iraqi people, never engaging in or condoning inflammatory actions and statements that stigmatize, blame or dehumanize.

Just as Iraq must be treated as equal and sovereign within the international community, so must all Iraqis be treated as equal citizens at home. The UN is based on the sovereign equality of all members, and Iraqs sovereignty is strongest when the equality of all its components is assured.

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the Declaration on the Rights of Persons Belonging to National or Ethnic, Religious and Linguistic Minorities are essential reading. But today we will focus on a central principle: States have a responsibility to protect and promote the identities of minorities, and may not discriminate against them.

Of course, individual and collective identities intersect in complex ways. But there can be no superior or separate rights for any group that would place its members outside the rule of law. Social, cultural or religious identity should never be invoked to justify any form of oppression or rights violation.

Todays workshop asks us to examine the role of diversity in building citizenship: in fact, we can emphasize the importance of citizenship rights in preserving diversity.

Now, as you know, the promotion of human rights and the rule of law is central to the UN mandate in Iraq:

In recent conversations with minority representatives as well as young demonstratorsI felt (once again) their great disappointment and despair. I explained that change requires time, and hard work by many. I also explained that a collective understanding on the way forward cannot be imposed by the UN: Iraqi ownership is essential.

I am the first to admit that Iraqs challenges did not arise overnight, and are larger than any single government. But the essential spirit of unity is too often being undermined by narrow divisive interests.

Iraqis have overcome immense challenges in the past, and should not despair today. This October, the UN celebrated its 75th anniversary in the service of humanity. Iraq is a founding member of the United Nations - and we will continue our partnership, working together for a safer, more prosperous and just Iraqi society.

In the short term, Iraq will continue to face multiple storms at once, from economic and security challenges to the pressing need for reform.

The June 2021 elections can give all Iraqis the opportunity to have their voices heard in shaping their future. The credibility of these elections will prove essential, and political leaders must ensure that debates are about ideas and policies rather than bankrupt identity politics.

I sincerely hope that 2021 will be the year in which every Iraqi can proudly say I too am Iraq.

Thank you.

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Social, Religious and National Diversity in Iraq and its Importance in Building Citizenship and Peaceful Co-existence - Iraq - ReliefWeb

Ten years ago, on 17 December 2010, a Tunisian street hawker named Muhammad Bouazizi set himself ablaze when a policewoman confiscated his fruit cart and slapped him. To take such an extreme step, he must have reached the end of his tether with nothing more to lose, including hope. His death ignited the spark of a collective rage that quickly became revolution and promised to usher democracy into the Arab world by overthrowing the dictators who had ruled people with an iron hand. However, ten years later, the Arab spring that swept the region with the force of a gale and kindled hearts with the hope of freedom is all but dead, and the spring of discontent has vanished into the Arab winter of despair and despondency. The world let the day pass almost unnoticed, not even bothering to write an obituary.

The Arab Spring did unseat dictators who seemed invincible till then ~ Tunisias Zine el- Abidine Ben Ali, Egypts Hosni Mubarak, Libyas Muammar al- Qaddafi and Yemens Ali Abdullah Saleh. But except in Bouazizis Tunisia, democracy has remained elusive in the Arab world which, as The Economist has observed, is less free today than perhaps it was then. Egypts brief sojourn with democracy was ended by a military coup in 2013, and the country under General Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi toady is certainly much more authoritarian and oppressive than it was under Mubarak. Qaddafi is dead, but Libya remains as dysfunctional as Syria and Yemen are ~ they descended into chaos and are being torn apart by civil wars that have killed half a million people and displaced 16 million more. In Syria Bashar al-Assad is still in the saddle ~ proposed up by Iran and Russia, but Syria is one of the most violent places in the world today. It has also become the chessboard where foreign powers ~ USA, Russia, Turkey, Iran and others are playing their own geopolitical games.

Twenty-two African and Gulf countries ~ members of the Arab League ~ constitute the Arab world. Most are still dictatorships, and the rest, with the sole exception of Tunisia, are either failed states that lock up and kill their critics, crush civil society and muzzle their press, or are ruled, under the garb of fragile democracies, by dictators who have clawed back most of their powers and are now sitting secure on their thrones.

As Merc Lynch wrote in Foreign Affairs, Autocrats have learned how to co-opt, disrupt, and defeat challengers. Domestic unrest or regional contagion is unlikely to catch regimes offguard, and governments are less likely to refrain from using force in the early stages of protest. Reinforced in their belief that repression works, they continue to deny their citizens any freedom to debate and criticise, often by using coercive state power riding piggyback on Islam and jihad.

Without civil society and political institutions, without a system of education that encourages critical thinking, democracy is an alien sapling yet to take root in this world. Nothing much has changed here during the decade except for the worse ~ it is the same tinderbox of poverty, corruption, inequality, unemployment, failed governance, abuse of human rights and political oppression that is probably waiting for another spark to get ignited.

Nowhere is the situation worse than in Syria. Following the Arab Spring, Syria has descended into utter chaos which indeed has proved a boon to its dictator, but a nightmare of misery and bloodbath for its people. What began as a peaceful movement against Assad has morphed into a protracted sectarian conflict that provided fresh blood to the Islamic Jihadists and resulted in a never-ending trail of horror and depressing images of an endless stream of refugees trying to flee from violence. The heartrending photo of the three-year old Syrian boy Alyan Kurdi, lying dead, face down in sand on the Turkish shore, has been a defining image of this conflict and its terrible humanitarian cost.

Syria was the seat of the Umayyad Empire ~ the first Arab dynasty after Muhammad, and no stranger to bloodbaths, being the arena for the nearly 200 yearlong conflicts of Crusades between the Muslims and the Christians. As Robert Kaplan wrote in The Revenge of Geography, Syria will continue to be the epicentre of turbulence in the Arab World. It is a multi-faith, multi tribal state with a population of 20 million of which Sunnis constitute about 70 per cent but is ruled by the minority Shiite Alawites or Followers of Ali. Alawites are a hill tribe who constitute only 12 per cent of the Syrian population, but were placed by its erstwhile rulers, the French, in the army and the police in which they entrenched themselves.

After the French left in 1946, they further consolidated their power. The Alawite Hafez-as- Assad assumed power in a coup in 1970. His rule was unpopular and in 1982, he ruthlessly crushed a Muslim Brotherhood-sponsored uprising in Hima ~ killing an estimated 30,000 people. As Tim Marshal reminds us in Prisoners of Geography, the Sunnis have never forgotten or forgiven the Alawites for this massacre. They got their chance for revenge during the Arab Spring in 2011. Lebanon was a part of Syria till 1920 when the French separated it as a separate nation, cutting Syrias only outlet to the Mediterranean. Desperate to restore Lebanon to itself, Syria intervened during the Lebanese civil war in 1976, sending 25,000 soldiers to prevent the defeat of right-wing Christian militias. It still remains heavily engaged in Lebanon ~ both militarily and politically along with its Shiite ally, Iran which backs the Hezbollah militants in Lebanon with arms and funds. Sunni Jihadists, supported by Turkey, hate the Alawite Bashar.

Bashar al-Assad succeeded his father Hafez in 2000. After a brief initial romance with democratic reform, in 2001 he cracked down brutally on opponents, imposing pervasive censorship and surveillance. He liberalised Syrias state-controlled economy only to benefit the crony capitalists close to his regime. Inequality and corruption became as endemic as the poverty and deprivation of the vast multitudes and devastating droughts in 2006 and 2010 had reduced hundreds of thousands of farming families to abject poverty.

It was in the impoverished drought-stricken rural province of Daara in southern Syria that the first major protests erupted in March 2011. The trigger was the arrest and torture of 15 schoolchildren for writing Arab Spring graffiti; one child was killed. Security forces responded by unleashing unrestrained firepower on unnamed demonstrators, killing many and provoking nation-wide protests. It seemed that the regimes days were indeed numbered.

As the protests intensified, the regime responded with heavier force, using tanks, artillery and even attack helicopters, forcing some groups of protesters to take up arms against the security forces.

By late 2011, combat between poorly organised rebel militias, many armed by foreign powers, and government troops were erupting all over. This was when the initial trickle of refugees fleeing violence became a flood; they sought shelter all over Europe and forced European countries to erect barriers to their entry. As rebels seized key cites like Aleppo in the north, Iran stepped in, sending Hezbollah fighters from Lebanon and its own Revolutionary Guards as military advisors to prop up the beleaguered Assad government.

Within Syria, as the sectarian divisions hardened, by the summer of 2011, its regional neighbours and global powers had both begun to split into pro- and anti-Assad camps. The USA and the European Union (EU) and the Arab League wanted Assad to step down, while Syrias longstanding allies, Iran and Russia and Iran-backed Hezbollah in Lebanon, continued to support the regime, later enlisting China in their support. There was also a regional anti-Assad bloc of Qatar, Turkey, Jordan and Saudi Arabia which was supporting the opposition to Assad, with each supporting a different opposition group.

Funds and arms ~ and sometimes fighters ~ flowed freely into Syria to the respective forces from their backers, making it one of the most dangerous places on earth. Involvement of Iran drew Israel into the conflict, which targeted Iranian military infrastructure within Syria in 2018 prompting Iran to respond by shelling Israels Golan Heights.

The battle fortunes oscillated wildly between the government and rebel forces. In August 2013, chemical weapons attacks using rockets filled with the lethal nerve agent sarin in the suburbs of Damascus killed hundreds of civilians, prompting the US led coalition to call for international military action against Syria which was opposed by Russia, China and Iran. Eventually, an agreement between Russia, Syria and the USA placed all chemical weapons under international control which were finally removed by 30 June 2014, but that did not eliminate the future use of chemical weapons in the conflict. (To be Concluded)

The writer is a commentator, author and academic

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Spring to Winter ~I - The Statesman

ByRichard B. Spence, Ph.D.,University of IdahoLeaders can wield tremendous power in secret societies. (Image: ltummy/Shutterstock)The Early Life of Robert Mathews

The founding leader of The Order was Robert Jay Mathews. Like other leaders, Mathews wasnt only inspiring but inspired. Mathews moved from Texas to Arizona as a boy. The first hint of something out of the ordinary came in 1964, when 11-year-old Robert joined the rigorously conservative and fiercely anti-communist John Birch Society. It was an odd thing for an 11-year-old kid to dedicate himself to.

In high school, Mathews joined the Mormon Church. It was also during high school that he formed his own secret society, the Sons of Liberty. Mathews borrowed the name of a patriotic secret order from the American Revolution. Thats another pattern: new secret societies cannibalizing or copying old ones. Mathews Sons of Liberty attracted 50 members before it fell apart.

This is a transcript from the video seriesThe Real History of Secret Societies.Watch it now, on The Great Courses Plus.

One book that grabbed his attention was Which Way Western Man? by William G. Simpson. Simpson started as a devout Christian, and director of what became the liberal American Civil Liberties Union. But in the 1930s, Simpson repudiated Christianity and liberalism. He came to believe that race was the dominant factor in human affairs. Simpson restyled himself a white nationalist and argued that violence in defense of the white race was justified.

But the book that really lit a fire under Mathews was The Turner Diaries, published in 1978. Its author, William Luther Pierce, ran a white nationalist society called the National Alliance. The Turner Diaries, a novel, was set in a future dystopian America in which the government had collapsed, and race war raged. In The Turner Diaries, Robert Mathews found his vision. He joined the National Alliance.

By 1983, Mathews was living in Metaline, Washington. In September of that year, he invited eight other like-minded young men to his home. They pledged to form a new order to fight for the white race. In homage to the Nazis, Mathews and his comrades officially dubbed their group the Brder Schweigen, or Silent Brotherhood. Outwardly, it was known as The Order.

Over the course of just one year, The Order allegedly committed a string of violent crimes beginning with a robbery at a Spokane, Washington porn shop, and graduating to a $3.6 million armored-car robbery. The Order was also supposedly responsible for the assassination of late-night radio talk-host Alan Berg, who was an outspoken critic of anti- Semites, white supremacists, and neo-Nazis.

Learn more about American secret societies at the turn of the last century.

The Order also dabbled at counterfeiting, which proved to be the organizations downfall. A member was caught passing phony fifties, and the Feds turned him into an informant. By December 1984, the FBI had rounded-up most of the group, and cornered Robert Mathews, in his Whidbey Island, Washington, farmhouse. Mathews refused to surrender, and died in a fiery shoot-out with 75 federal agents.

More than 70 Order members and associates were convicted of crimes, though none for Alan Bergs murder. The best the feds could do was convict two Order brothers, David Lane and Bruce Pierce, for violating Bergs civil rights.

Robert Mathews career as a secret-society leader was brief and bloody, but it didnt really end with his death. In the white supremacist universe, he became a martyr and source of new inspiration.

FEAR is a more recent organization. This emerged in 2011, in the American South. Georgia police found the bodies of two young people, 19-year-old Michael Roark and 17-year-old Tiffany York, dumped along a road. Both had been shot execution-style. Investigation led to the arrests of four young men. All turned out to be members of a secret militant group called Forever Enduring, Always Ready; FEAR for short.

Interestingly, the four young men, along with the murdered Roark and most of their other associates, were current or past members of the US Army. The ringleader was an Army private named Isaac Aguigui.

Aguigui and his associates killed Roark and York because they feared that the couple would betray the group. FEAR took their oaths of secrecy very seriously. Among other things, they were planning to blow up dams, assassinate the President, and overthrow the US government.

Learn more about Irelands secret war for independence.

The most glaring example involved the sudden death in July 2011 of Isaac Aguiguis pregnant wife, an Army sergeant. She supposedly died from a blood clot. In fact, Aguigui murdered her and his unborn son to collect $500,000 in insurance. FEAR was planning similar murders while also engaged in theft, weapons smuggling, and probably drug dealing. They needed money to buy land in Washington State. Aguigui and his comrades planned to build a secret army that would take over the country. They even had a target date: 2031.

In true secret-society tradition, FEAR members took oaths, got matching tattoos, and adopted code names. Aguiguis was Loki. It all started with bored young men playing a video game that featured a heroic militia group, the Patriots, who battle forces of oppression. But Aguigui and pals werent just ordinary bored young men. They were soldiers.

They had access to weapons, and they knew how to use them. Most of them were disgruntled soldiers with troubled pasts. Aguiguis military experience hadnt lived up to his expectations. A history of disciplinary infractions was common among FEAR members. These were young men with chips on their shoulders. In some countries, they might have plotted a coup dtat. In the United States, they created a terrorist-criminal secret society.

The Order and FEAR were secret societies with leaders who were willing to take quite violent action to achieve their ends.

Robert Jay Mathews was the founding leader of The Order, a secret society.

Robert Mathews was first influenced by Which Way Western Man? by William G. Simpson. He was also influenced by The Turner Diaries, written by William Luther Pierce.

The Order, a secret society, allegedly committed a robbery at a Spokane, Washington porn shop, and carried out a $3.6 million armored-car robbery. The Order was also supposedly responsible for the assassination of late-night radio talk-host Alan Berg.

The ringleader of FEAR, a secret militant society, was a US Army private named Isaac Aguigui.

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Brief but Bloody: The Order and FEAR - The Great Courses Daily News

The year 2020 has been shaped by the global pandemic and international outcry over institutional racism and white supremacy.

A number of technology companies, for example, came under sustained scrutiny for their ties to law enforcement and how, despite their proclamations of using tech for good, their products are used to further entrench racist policing practices.

Facial recognition was another major focus of Computer Weeklys 2020 coverage. On the one hand, police use of the technology in south Wales has been found unlawful, while on the other, both public and private sector bodies are racing to develop facial recognition that can work on people wearing masks or other face coverings, which could severely limit peoples ability to protest or even exercise their basic privacy rights.

Big tech also came under fire from lawmakers around the world for their anti-competitive business practices, bringing the possibility of legal anti-trust action much closer to reality, and Amazon in particular caught flak for its poor treatment of workers throughout the pandemic.

Computer Weekly also looked at where the raw materials that technology companies rely on such as cobalt, coltan and lithium are sourced from, and the negative consequences this has for people living in these mineral-rich areas.

Here are Computer Weeklys top 10 technology and ethics stories of 2020:

Following a massive international backlash against police racism and brutality sparked by the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis in May 2020, private technology companies started coming under increased scrutiny for their relationships with law enforcement.

Within a month, the protests prompted tech giants Amazon, Microsoft and IBM to halt sales of their respective facial-recognition technologies to US law enforcement agencies. However, all three remained silent on how other technologies, such as predictive algorithms and body-worn video cameras, can also be used to fuel racial injustice and discriminatory policing.

Despite the moves, which were condemned by some as merely a public relations stunt, many privacy campaigners were not satisfied and are continuing to push for a permanent ban on the technologys use.

There should be a nation-wide ban on government use of face surveillance, said the Electronic Frontier Foundation in a blog post. Even if the technology were highly regulated, its use by the government would continue to exacerbate a policing crisis in this nation that disproportionately harms black Americans, immigrants, the unhoused, and other vulnerable populations.

The European Unions upcoming Conflict Minerals Regulation is designed to stem the flow of 3TG minerals (tin, tantalum, tungsten and gold) from conflict zones and other high-risk areas. However, upon closer inspection Computer Weekly found a number of loopholes in the new rules that mean multinational technology companies which rely on these vital natural resources for their products and components are not covered.

For example, the technology companies will not be obliged to monitor, track or otherwise act to remove the minerals from their global supply chains; a number of minerals key to the tech industry, such as cobalt and lithium, are ignored by the regulation; and companies will not even be penalised if found to be in breach of the rules.

As is the case with previous regulatory or legislative attempts to deal with conflict minerals, the regulation will also do very little for those living and working on the ground in mineral-rich conflict zones such as the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Those Computer Weekly spoke to instead suggested moving away from voluntary corporate governance and social responsibility models to focus on increasing the productive capacity of those living in conflict zones, so they can develop their own solutions to what are essentially deeply political conflicts.

In early March, it came to light that the Home Office and the Metropolitan Police Service were collaborating with UK universities on a live facial recognition (LFR) project, known as face matching for automatic identity retrieval, recognition, verification and management, or FACER2VM, which could identify people wearing masks or other face coverings.

According to information listed on UK Research and Innovation, the project coordinators expected their research to have a substantial impact.

The societal impact is anticipated to be multifaceted, it said. Unconstrained face biometrics capability will significantly contribute to the governments security agenda in the framework of smart cities and national security. It can effectively facilitate access to public services.

While reports by other media outlets focused on FACER2VMs connection to Jiangnan University, which sparked fears that the project could enhance the Chinese governments ability to identify both masked protesters in Hong Kong and Uighur Muslims in Xinjiang, the use of this technology by UK police or security services is also worrying, as general LFR has already been used against protestors in south Wales, while officers across Britain now routinely film gatherings and demonstrations.

In mid-April, shortly after official lockdowns went into effect around the world, online retail giant Amazon which has done very well financially during the pandemic was hit by a wave of strikes across its European and North American warehouses as frontline logistics workers protested against unsafe working conditions and corporate inaction.

While the striking workers complained about a lack of protective latex gloves and hand sanitiser, overcrowding during shifts and high barriers to quarantine pay, the initial wave kicked off in Spain and Italy after Amazon refused to shut down its facilities after learning that a number of workers had contracted the coronavirus.

Following a similar pattern to their European counterparts, workers in the US began taking strike action after Amazon decided to keep warehouses open.

A number of Amazon employees have since been fired for either taking part in the strikes or showing public support for those who did allegations that Amazon continues to contest.

After reporting on the initial wave of Amazon strikes, Computer Weekly got in touch with Christian Smalls, a process assistant at Amazons Staten Island warehouse in New York, who was the first person fired for speaking out about the alleged state of its warehouses during the pandemic.

The termination of Smalls employment remains a contentious issue, with both parties giving different versions of events.

Smalls told Computer Weekly he was just the first in a growing line of people allegedly fired by Amazon for speaking out or protesting about Covid-related issues, despite Amazons claims that the employees were dismissed for violating various guidelines or internal policies.

This includes the firing of user experience designers Emily Cunningham and Maren Costa, organisers in the Amazon Employees for Climate Justice (AECJ) campaign group who publicly denounced Amazons treatment of employees such as Smalls.

It also includes Minnesota warehouse worker Bashir Mohamed, who was advocating better work conditions and pushing for more rigorous cleaning measures.

In May, Computer Weekly interviewed Shoshana Zuboff, author of The age of surveillance capitalism: the fight for a human future at the new frontier of power (2019), to discuss how the practice of surveillance capitalism is intersecting with the Covid-19 coronavirus pandemic and public health crisis.

As part of a growing body of work alongside texts such as Safiya Nobles Algorithms of oppression and McKenzie Warks Capital is dead: is this something worse? that seeks to analyse and explain the increasingly pivotal role of information and data in our economic, social and political lives, The age of surveillance capitalism argues that human experience (our experience) is captured in data, which is then repackaged in what Zuboff calls prediction products.

These are then sold in behavioural futures markets, making us and our experiences the raw material of these products, which are then sold to other companies in closed business-to-business markets.

Zuboff told Computer Weekly that the current health crisis presents a massive opportunity for surveillance capitalism, adding: While it is a crisis for all of us, it is something like business as usual for surveillance capitalists, in the sense that it is an opportunity to, possibly, significantly enhance their behavioural data supply chains.

She concluded that the fight against surveillance capitalism is a problem of collective action: We need new social movements, we need new forms of social solidarity. Lawmakers need to feel our pressure at their backs.

Although awareness of algorithms and their potential for discrimination have increased significantly over the past five years, Gemma Galdon Clavell, director of Barcelona-based algorithmic auditing consultancy Eticas, told Computer Weekly that too many in the tech sector still wrongly see technology as socially and politically neutral, creating major problems in how algorithms are developed and deployed.

On top of this, Galdon Clavell said most organisations deploying algorithms have very little awareness or understanding of how to address the challenges of bias, even if they do recognise it as a problem in the first place.

She further noted that while companies regularly submit to, and publish the results of, independent financial audits, there is no widespread equivalent for algorithms.

We need to change how we do technology, she said. I think the whole technological debate has been so geared by the Silicon Valley idea of move fast, break things that when you break our fundamental rights, it doesnt really matter.

We need to start seeing technology as something that helps us solve problems. Right now, technology is like a hammer always looking for nails Lets look for problems that could be solved with blockchain, lets look for problems that we can solve with AI actually, no, what problem do you have? And lets look at the technologies that could help you solve that problem. But thats a completely different way of thinking about technology than what weve done in the past 20 years.

In a landmark decision, the Court of Appeal ruled in August that South Wales Polices (SWP) facial recognition deployments breached human rights and data protection laws.

The decision was made on the grounds that SWPs use of the technology was not in accordance with citizens Article 8 privacy rights; that it did not conduct an appropriate data protection impact assessment; and that it did not comply with its public sector equality duty to consider how its policies and practices could be discriminatory.

However, speaking to Computer Weekly at the time, Matrix Chambers barrister Tim James-Matthews said the problem the Court of Appeal ultimately found was an absence of regulation around how the technology was deployed, as opposed to anything particular in the technology itself.

He added: What they said was that, essentially, South Wales Police hadnt done the work of identifying and determining whether or not there were equalities implications in using the technology, and how they might guard against or protect from those.

In the US, following a 16-month investigation into the competitive practices of Amazon, Apple, Facebook and Google, the Democratic majority of the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Antitrust, Commercial and Administrative Law published a report detailing their recommendations on how antitrust laws and enforcement can be changed to address the rise and abuse of market power in the digital economy.

They found that although the four corporations differed in important ways, the investigation into their business practices revealed common problems.

First, each platform now serves as a gatekeeper over a key channel of distribution, the report said. By controlling access to markets, these giants can pick winners and losers throughout our economy. They not only wield tremendous power, but they also abuse it by charging exorbitant fees, imposing oppressive contract terms, and extracting valuable data from the people and businesses that rely on them.

This echoed the opening remarks made by David Cicilline, chairman of the antitrust subcommittee, during its questioning of Facebook, Amazon, Apple and Googles CEOs in July.

The report suggested imposing structural separations and line-of-business restrictions on the companies, which would respectively prohibit a dominant intermediary from operating in markets that place the intermediary in competition with the firms dependent on its infrastructure and generally limit the markets in which a dominant firm can engage.

At the tail of 2019, Computer Weekly reported on a landmark legal case launched against five of the worlds largest multinational technology companies, which were accused by the families of dead or maimed child cobalt miners of knowingly benefiting from human rights abuses in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

The lawsuit against Alphabet, Apple, Dell, Microsoft and Tesla marked the first legal challenge of its kind against technology companies, many of which rely on their cobalt supply chains to power products such as electric cars, smartphones and laptops.

In August, the companies filed a joint motion to dismiss the case, largely on the grounds they did not have requisite knowledge of the abuses at the specific mining sites mentioned.

However, in the latest round of legal filings, the Congolese victims maintained that the companies had specific knowledge of horrific conditions facing child miners in DRC cobalt mines from a number of sources. Computer Weekly will continue to monitor the case.

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Top 10 technology and ethics stories of 2020 - ComputerWeekly.com

Everybody watched it burn to ashes, said Anmol Khindri.

Khindri, a Kenosha, Wisconsin, resident, watched helplessly as his family business burned down. Rioters destroyed the business, a car dealership.

Nobody did nothing about itnothing, said Khindri.

A woman who lived next door described the scene: Flames licking the sky, and then you hear boom boom boom! Explosion after explosion after explosion.

No help came, at least not in time. When she called 911, dispatchers told her it was too dangerous for the citys firefighters to respond. She fled her home shortly after hanging up.

The dealership was decimated, but Khindri was far from alone. Following the police shooting of Jacob Blake, several city blocks suffered massive destruction by rioters over a four-day period in late August. The majority of the destruction in Kenosha hit family businesses and the mostly black neighborhood of Uptown.

The right to protest is fundamental to our nations founding. Peaceful protests, especially those during Americas civil rights era, have defined our national discourse. And like the protesters and marchers of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.s time, many of the peaceful protesters of this summer laudably fought for true equality before the law regardless of someones skin color.

But riots are not protests. Property damage is not a protest. Riots and property damage are an aberration of this almost-sacred expression of our First Amendment. Yet despite rioting and property damage being despicable in every setting and context, they have had their defenders and apologists throughout our countrys history.

As horrific footage from citizen journalists went viral, two troubling perspectives began growing in prominence. The first was denying that any riots were happening at all. Instead of differentiating between truly peaceful and productive protests, and violent riots, major media outlets across the country were quick to reassure everyone that, despite what you might have heard, the violence and property destruction was mostly peaceful.

This trope was made most apparent by a CNN chyron, Fiery but mostly peaceful protests after police shooting.

These misguided perspectives not only oversimplify and conflate important issues, they do damage to the causes of justice and equality.

The second troubling perspective acknowledged that riots and property damage were taking place, but argued that property damage and violence were acceptable in light of the police killings and racial injustices happening today and in our countrys past.

These misguided perspectives not only oversimplify and conflate important issues, they do damage to the causes of justice and equality. No one should ever face discrimination because of their race, sex, or any other immutable trait. The fight against discrimination will forever be an essential tenet of individualism, and it is just as important today as it was during the civil rights movement. And just as it is important to battle discrimination in our laws and society, it is equally important to battle against the ideas that property (and property rights) can be damaged or destroyed as long as the cause is right.

Fortunately, even members of the media who attempted to deny and downplay the property damage done during riots have admitted their folly. CNNs Chief Media Correspondent Brian Stelter, for example, admitted his network made a mistake by airing the Fiery but mostly peaceful chyron.

Unfortunately, many of the property damage apologists have held fast to their absurd positions.

Its not counterintuitive to destroy property that isnt valued by society, noted Brookings Institution fellows Andre M. Perry and Jonathan Rothwell on Brookings website. UCLA Professor Robin D.G. Kelley wrote an article in the New York Times where he asked, What kind of society values property over black life? Vicky Osterweil, author of the controversial book In Defense of Looting, goes even further and claims that looting is good because looting rejects the legitimacy of ownership rights and property, the moral injunction to work for a living, and the justice of law and order. Osterweil even claims that the very concept of owning property is innately, structurally white supremacist.

This is a false dichotomy. By this logic, anyone who objects to violence and property damage must be an enemy to civil rights. But the American ideal of strong property rights, and the ability to build wealth through owning property, have been among the greatest tools of prosperity for people of all races in our country.

Khindris business wasnt just a car lot.

Anmol Khindri and his family immigrated to Kenosha from India 12 years ago. By 2013, they had cobbled together enough money to buy a used car lot. They started with just seven cars, but by 2020 they had expanded considerably. About 140 cars were destroyed over the first two nights of the riots. By Khindris estimate, $2.5 million went up in smoke overnight.

A business is not just its inventory. Its not just the bricks and drywall. Its someones dream. Its thousands of hours of hard work.

But the most traumatic aspect wasnt about the money. This business, its not just a business, Khindri told a local reporter in the aftermath. We built from the ground up, We built it car by car, like tile by tile.

A business is not just its inventory. Its not just the bricks and drywall. Its someones dream. Its thousands of hours of hard work. Its untold stress. Its food on the table and new ballet shoes for a daughter. Its how communities are formed and strengthened. In other words, it is a means by which we pursueand findhappiness.

This is a concept that crosses the political spectrum. Graeme Wood, staff writer at the left-leaning Atlantic said it well when he criticized Osterweils book by saying, When I think of riots and smashed storefronts, I think of Kristallnacht. I think of American businesses built by penniless immigrants who preferred to forfeit their vacations and weekends for 30 years rather than see their children suffer as they did; I think of these businesses ransacked in 30 minutes and left in ruins. Osterweil at least has the psychology right when she says that looting can be joyous and liberatory. I have never seen a sullen looter, but I have seen plenty of shop owners crying next to the smoking remains of their childrens future.

In an interview with The Federalist, Khindris brother Sam said, This is not the America I came into. What did we do to deserve all this? Im a minority too. Im a brown person. I have nothing to do with this.

Perhaps the most eye-opening aspect of Osterweils line of thinking came out in an NPR interview in which she claimed that looting was basically non-violent [] Its just money. Its just property. Its not actually hurting any people.

Not only is none of that true, its completely callous and indifferent to human life. Non-violent protests dont force people to spray-paint signs like we saw on buildings in Kenosha, pleading for rioters not to set any more fires: Please, Kids Above.

Rapper Killer Mike said it best just days after George Floyds death: We have to be better than burning down our own homes, it is your duty to not burn your own house down for anger with an enemy.

To the pundits and academics saying the riots were a desperate act by oppressed minorities: What justifies the destruction of businesses owned by immigrant families?

The Khindri family was far from the only minority-owned business to incur the misplaced wrath of rioters this summer. Run a Google search and youll find hundreds of stories of Black, Latino, and Asian businesses looted, burned, and destroyed.

Not that it should matter what a business owner looks like. But when so much of the riots destruction hurt minority businesses, homes, and neighborhoods, it exposes the lie that these crimes were justified on the grounds of racial oppression. These riots were not protests of injustice. The protesters and advocates truly fighting for criminal justice reform, police reform, and equality before the law all did so peacefullynot with bricks and Molotov cocktails.

Finally, we can reject the argument that the destruction of other peoples property is justified because rioting works to achieve needed policy reforms. It doesnt. Princeton professor Omar Wasow spent 15 years researching violent and non-violent protests during the civil rights era.

Wasows research found that nonviolent protests were more effective in garnering public support for much-needed civil rights goals. For instance, in 1964, Republican Barry Goldwater, who ran on a law and order platform, lost the presidential election in a landslide to the champion of civil rights, Lyndon Johnson. Wasow credits the major nonviolent protests led by Martin Luther King the previous year, such as the Birmingham campaign and the March on Washington.

Violent protests, on the other hand, tended to have the opposite effect: a stronger public sentiment for an intensifying police response to crime. Wasow cites the Watts riots of 1965 (among others) for tipping the 1968 election for the law and order candidate for president, Richard Nixon.

Owning propertyand having that property protected from destructionis one of the most proven ways to lift individuals, families, and nations out of poverty.

If rioters in 2020 wanted less policing of their cities, they did a whole lot to ensure that the larger public would feel exactly the opposite. But you didnt need a sociological study to tell you that.

Owning propertyand having that property protected from destructionis one of the most proven ways to lift individuals, families, and nations out of poverty. According to the World Bank, one of the few things almost every poor country around the world has in common is weak property rights. Why?

Peruvian economist Hernando de Soto painstakingly studied property rights and poverty in Third World nations and found that where there are strong protections of property rights, there was less poverty and a more stable middle class. Where stable governmental systems could assure clear ownership rights and where those rights were protected by the law, people could use the value of their homes and businesses to build wealth, lifting them out of poverty and into the middle class. But where ownership rights were insecure, whatever wealth may be in a poor persons home or business was too tenuous to build upon, and the poor would remain poor no matter what the larger economy may look like.

As de Soto put it, in the West, the legal property system became the staircase that took these nations to their full productive potential. In other words, prosperity does not create property; instead, prosperity is the result of property being fully respected and actualized.

When we rightly complain about the lingering effects of racial discrimination, consider the causes, and how government has enabled it. From the moment that African Americans arrived on American shores, their property, labor, andmost importantlytheir lives were stolen. As the years passed, discrimination and purposefully discriminatory lawsdenied many Americans an equal opportunity to create wealth through home ownership and employment. But the answer to these problems isnt to take away the property that people (including minorities) own, either through outright destruction, or sapping the economic vitality of city neighborhoods. If property and businesses become insecure, any hope for better times will be in vain. If we dont protect property, poverty and disparity will grow.

Our nations sordid history of slavery, Jim Crow, and the ongoing legacy of those injustices can never be cast aside or overlooked. But its important to recognize how critical the concept of property, and the property rights protected by our Constitution, are to lifting up Americans of every race, sex, and creed.

The miracle of this country is that our natural rights are, as Jefferson wrote, unalienable; they are for everyone, even if the term everyone has needed to expand in meaning over the past 230 years. That is the genius of our system: it is capable of self-correctionmore perfect, as the Constitutions preamble so beautifully phrased it.

Governmentsand ourobligation to protect people and property is paramount. We are not giving up on that vision. Not now, not ever.

This article originally appeared in the Winter 2020 issue of Pacific Legal Foundation's quarterly magazine Sword & Scales.

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Property Destruction Is a Blight on the Sacred Right to Protest | Jim Burling - Foundation for Economic Education

Check out that security guard, Alex said, nodding to my left.

Alex (not his real name) is a protester in his early 20s, and I was meeting him for coffee at the only yellow pro-democracy cafe in New Town Plaza, Hong Kong, a once quiet shopping mall in my home district that last year became a battleground in massive anti-government protests. I turned to look: sure enough, there was a guard standing to the side of the main square, staring out into the crowd. I hadnt noticed him before. Now I cant help but catch him in the corner of my eye every time I pass through.

It was November 2020, and Id just returned home for the first time after a year of tumultuous change.

This time last year, Hong Kong was at the peak of its protest movement, and the square was covered by an enormous display of pro-democracy posters and artwork. I remember tip-toeing around the confetti of rainbow origami cranes sprinkled across various printouts, trying not to crush their tiny paper wings.

Before that it was the site of a huge strike rally and clashes between protesters and police. In one, riot police stormed the floor with batons and pepper spray. In another, protesters beat up a man they accused of being a mainland Chinese spy, and defaced a Chinese flag. Last Christmas, protesters vandalised the shopfronts of various blue chain shops, owned by companies deemed complicit in the system of economic and political oppression that keeps Hong Kong one of the worlds most unequal cities.

Now the square is empty; a negative space around the weight of what once was.

Sitting by me in a secluded spot, Alex seemed cautious at first, clutching his takeaway cup as if unsure of how much to say. But he soon relaxed and began talking freely, reflecting on the rapid changes and how in the absence of protests hes been channelling his energy into one of Hong Kongs many new labour unions. After an interview that ran over by an hour, we parted ways. He might move to Taiwan but hell keep in touch, he said.

It was one of many candid and, for me, unexpectedly generative conversations I had with protesters, journalists and activists invested in the pro-democracy movement. On the plane from London, Id braced myself for a broken Hong Kong: one silenced and stripped of dissent, worse than in the period of fatigue Id witnessed as a reporter in the aftermath of the 2014 umbrella revolution. And, on the surface, thats what I found.

Since the pandemic enabled local authorities to successfully clamp down on mass protests and Beijing passed a sweeping national security law in June criminalising secession, subversion and other ambiguously-defined actions, the pro-democracy movement has experienced almost daily crackdowns. Hundreds of mostly young protesters have been put behind bars, including high-profile figures Joshua Wong and Agnes Chow. Chinese authorities have detained 12 Hongkongers who attempted to flee to Taiwan by boat. There have been newsroom raids, cancelled elections, the disqualification of pro-democracy lawmakers on the grounds of national security and more.

Censorship, both external and self-imposed, has choked my city now irrevocably cracked by the invisible lines of yellow and pro-Beijing blue. People are sanitising their social media output, surveying their surroundings before speaking, and rejecting even anonymous media interviews. The fear is palpable; the silence shocking for a city that once prided itself in being the bastion of free speech in China.

Yet beneath it all, theres a thread of resistance, strung tightly together by the resilience of people who continue to care about human rights, express their beliefs and quietly do what they believe to be right, despite intensifying pressures.

Theres the teacher who is worried about academic freedom, and plans to make alternative open-source course materials available online. Theres the reporter who has pro-Beijing parents but continues to cover political news, even as her family drifts further apart. Theres the artist who had a breakdown after helping friends flee the city, but is slowly creating theatre projects again, telling local stories. Theres the civil servant who feels persecuted at work but wants to stay and hopefully change the culture from within.

Theres also the mainland Chinese journalist who is saddened by anti-Chinese sentiment, and exhausted from balancing her job with the safety of herself and her family in China. When I arrived 10 years ago I was naive. I wanted to cover human rights maybe return home and change things. Now I dont even know if I have a future here, she confessed to me quietly, after a long day at work. Still, like everyone else I spoke to, shell carry on.

In Hong Kong, theres no denying that political life is severely under threat: the structures we have to advocate for rights are being rapidly eroded. But solidarity is a powerful force. Even under the most crushing conditions, it survives, breathing life into thoughts unheard, actions unseen.

Solidarity is a precondition for both the preservation and creation of mechanisms for change. Hongkongers who care about democratic freedoms will continue to establish and utilise existing sites of political struggle: for instance, through the district council the only body where representatives are directly selected by voters diaspora organising, unionisation or grassroots mobilisations. From migrant and prison justice to the plight of street cleaners, many socioeconomic struggles are being tied to the movement, keeping it alive.

Censorship is only total with our consent and complicity. To those who are carrying on and speaking out: Ill be here, with many others, listening. I only hope you will be too.

Jessie Lau is a writer and journalist from Hong Kong covering identity, politics, culture and human rights

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Hong Kong's democracy movement was crushed in 2020. But the spirit of resistance survives - The Guardian

When politics around identity and development has juxtaposed in Kashmir, land would always be the centrepiece.

View of the Pahalgam Valley in Jammu and Kashmir. Image courtesy KennyOMG/Wikimedia Commons

Land has always been integral to politics in Kashmir. While it has immensely shaped the political developments in the erstwhile state; it continues to hang high on recent developments as well. It wont be surprising to see the future political formations being shaped around the issues concerning land. The debate intensified recently when the Central Government notified the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation (Adaptation of Central Laws) Third order, announcing a plethora of changes to the existing land laws, thereby heralding a new era in the land politics of Jammu and Kashmir.

Much has been talked about how politics in Kashmir has drastically changed after Article 370 was read down from the Indian constitution last year. While alterations with the federal structure have been numerously enumerated upon, however, such analyses of Kashmir politics would rather give it only a perfunctory treatment if we dont understand how intimately has been land linked to different epochs of post-1947 politics.

In order to understand how land issues have shaped the politics in Kashmir throughout modern history, it is imperative to reflect upon the recent changes which would potentially change the agrarian relations in Kashmir forever. However, that would in no way diminish the importance land holds in Kashmir politics and we believe that land would remain a preponderant feature of how we analyse the regional political dynamism from within and without.

The recent changes

The central theme running through the recently notified legislations, such as the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation (Adaptation of Central Laws) Third order, the Big Landed Estates policy, and the newly formed Domicile Rules, is that they have massively liberalised the criteria for not only acquiring the residency rights but also for acquiring property anywhere in the erstwhile state. These changes invited a mixed response.

While the political parties and civil society groups from Kashmir have unequivocally condemned the move which they argue are aimed at disempowering the domiciles and aimed at altering the demographics of the region. Even in Hindu dominated Jammu region one does not see overwhelming enthusiasm to these changes, although the region continues to vote for BJP (recent BDC elections is a case in point).

The mainstream Indian response, on the other hand, has been cordial to such changes with the ruling government realizing its electoral promises to opening the gates of paradise to them. However, what was common to these narratives is that they have personified land as something integral to identity in the former case and national integrity in the later, thus reiterating and upholding the tradition of land-centric populist politics in Kashmir.

Revisiting how land issues shaped politics post-1947

The agrarian history of Jammu and Kashmir has never seen a day of stability. In order to understand these nuances, it is important to reflect upon the backdrop of how different epochs of history have witnessed a sharp contestation over how land relations were structured.

After 1947, redistribution of land was probably the most powerful method to ameliorate the crises which the agrarian sector in Kashmir was engulfed with. Pre-1947 saw political mobilisations around land issues against the Dogra oppression and the regressive taxations being followed.

In such a political milieu, the historic Big Land Estate Abolition Act, 1950 was introduced which radically reshaped the agrarian politics and ended feudal landlordism. How much prosperity did the peasantry witness under the changed conditions is however another debate? (see Aijaz Ashraf Wani, What happened to governance in Kashmir, OUP, 2019). It is, however, important to note that lakhs of acres of land were gradually transferred to landless tillers, thus ushering a new era in the agrarian history of the state.

Different populist trends have marked the Kashmir history differently. In a situation where more than 90% of the Muslim population was landless, the possibility of any land restructuring was bound to benefit the Muslim peasantry directly,wrote David Devdas inThe Wire.

However, it does not mean that non-Muslim landless peasantry did not benefit. After the early redistributions, the significance of land and politics over the issue further intensified. It is in this direction that during the Sadiqs liberalisation era, the progressive taxation system was introduced to liberate the small land-owning class from the payment of land revenue.

Another phase in land politics was witnessed during Mir Qasims rule. The introduction of the Jammu and Kashmir Reform Act 1972 redefined the land ownership and ceiling rights.

Sheikh Abdullah after resuming the charge in 1975 again resorted to the earlier strategy and resultantly the Jammu and Kashmir Agrarian Reforms Act 1976 was passed; abolishing the absentee landlordism and redistributing the surplus land. This opened another chapter in the history of land reforms in the state which not only helped Sheikh to restore his lost glory to some extent but fashioned the future politics to operate within the populist frame which was crafted decades ago.

Why study history?

If language can shape the way we think, history should in every way fashion our understanding of the present. It becomes necessary to perceive the Jammu and Kashmir State Lands (Vesting of Ownership to the Occupants) Act also named Roshni Act 2001 in the backdrop of various historical trajectories which have shaped the counters of state politics since 1947.

The Act was originally passed in 2001 during Farooq Abdullah led NC-Congress coalition government. However, further amendments were introduced by Mufti Syed led PDP-Congress coalition government in 2007. In the changed political milieu of the state, it was first repealed in 2018 and transaction made under the scheme were probed after Article 370 was read down in 2019.

The story however doesnt end here, propaganda over land jihad and later the petitions to review the terms of judgement by the government was peddled in the wake of DDC elections in the region. This again reified the age-old tradition of populist politics in Kashmir.

With such historical baggage, land issues in Kashmir reached new ascendency, thus stretching out their influence over the decades. If we appraise the major political developments since 1947, land has in one or the other way been the focal point of all the regimes to materialise their legitimation crises, no matter what the circumstances.

Approaching to investigate and understand history in this way becomes more important now like never before, when politics around identity and development has been juxtaposed, making land the centrepiece.

Muzamil Yaqoob is a post-graduate from Jawaharlal Nehru University, New-Delhi and Aijaz Ashraf Wani is a senior Assistant Professor of political science in the University of Kashmir and the author of What Happened to Governance in Kashmir? published by Oxford University Press, 2019.

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In Kashmirs struggle between national integrity and ..land has remained a quiet catalyst around its politics - Firstpost

The preparation weeks leading up to Hanukkah and Christmas give me a feeling of dissonance.

Primarily, were inundated with holiday TV crime and comedy specials, Christmas tree lightings, record-breaking sales, shopping obligations, and Santa, whereas in the background dwell the faith stories and meanings of the Hanukkah Festival of Lights and the Christmas Nativity.

This dissonance drives me to cynicism and a bit of depression. Im not concerned with the old chestnut, Put Christ back in Christmas! Im concerned with the sparse evidence of commitment to the vision of Peace (with justice) and goodwill among all people.

Observing this dissonance does not discredit the seasonal spirit of transforming the Scrooges among us and encouraging people to give to those in need. However, Hanukkah and Christmas are birthed out of conflicts of systemic and government oppression.

The Festival of Lights remembers the Syrian occupation and the Jewish rebellion that successfully drove the Syrians out of Jerusalem, cleansed the Second Temple, rebuilt the altar, and lit the menorah. The story of the birth of Jesus emerges from the Roman occupation. The Emperor Augustus decreed that all must return to their home towns to be registered. As a result of so many returning the Bethlehem, commerce thrived for the well-to-do, but travelers forced to come to Bethlehem struggled. Jesus was born into this world of injustice, suffering, and a great divide between the wealthy and the poor.

So, it seems, the holiday season is more than homecomings, feasts, and present exchanges. For the religious, it is more than pageants, carols, and lights. It is a political time. Political reform was a theme in Dickenss Christmas Carol. It exposes economic injustice, powerless employees, and the suffering of the poor. Hanukkah and Christmas are a time to call for freedom and justice for all, to resist the domination of economic powers, and to extend hospitality to refugees, asylum seekers, and the impoverished. It is a time to motivate all people to shake free from systemic injustice in our country and around the world.

This injustice includes the United States relationship with the State of Israel. Congress just voted $3.3 billion of U.S. taxpayer money for security assistance to Israel in 2021. Passed in both Houses by large margins, this works out to over $7,000 per minute. This aid helps to make possible the Israeli militarys enforcement of its will in the occupied Palestinian territory that includes Bethlehem and the disputed Israeli annexed Jerusalem.

Palestinians are refugees in their own land. The Israeli military severely limits their right to movement, economic freedom, civil law, and dignity. With its military aid to Israel, the United States is complicit in this unjust military, economic, and political domination of Palestinians.

George Washington warned against such passionate attachments to foreign nations. The Nation, which indulges toward another habitual fondness, is in some degree a slave. It is a slave to its affection, which is sufficient to lead it astray from its duty and its interest. Our nation has strayed from its duty to freedom and justice for all people.

These reminders of the historical and the contemporary political settings of Christmas and Hanukkah relieve me of some of the dissonance that has driven my cynicism and depression. It occurs to me that an awareness of these historical and political settings underlying religious and secular holiday traditions may stir feelings that demand justice for all, including those without shelter, food, and equality under the law.

Its in this spirit that we light our advent candles in our home and that we put the menorah in the window with its Hanukkah candles. There are also electric window candles and the indoor and outdoor Christmas tree lights. Surrounded by these lights, I feel an assurance to lighten up (pun intended). Go easy on myself and others. Before the holiday glitter fades, let it fall on the just and the unjust with a blessing showing a way through the pain, oppression, and mistrust to a more just society, government, and world.

A belated Happy Hanukkah and Merry Christmas, Happy Kwanzaa, and Happy New Year.

(John Buttrick lives in Concord and can be reached at johndbuttrick@gmail.com,)

See the article here:

My Turn: A holiday blessing and the path of justice - Concord Monitor