To put it as plainly as possible, if the proponents of the U.S. settler-colonialism theory are correct, then there is no basis whatsoever upon which to build a multinational working class communist party in this country. Indeed, such a view sees the “settler working class” as instruments of colonialism, hostile to the interests of the colonized people, rather than viewing all working and oppressed people as natural allies in the struggle against imperialism, our mutual oppressor.

A shame, a sad sad shame. For anyone that's read settlers, or knows about the history of labor zionism, or prioritizes any kind of indigenous voice in their praxis, this is really bad. No peace for settlers! Settlers cannot lead the revolution! I hope we see an end to any respect given to this "settler colonialism is over" politic soon.

cross-posted from: https://lemmygrad.ml/post/6450119

By Vijay Prashad.

Check out the first two paragraphs:

U.S. laws require healthcare practitioners and anyone else who suspects they may have encountered a case of child abuse to report it to “the state.” But what is one to do when it is the state itself that’s doing the abusing?

The Lancet medical journal, published in Britain and read throughout the world, recently condemned the Israeli state and the “ongoing Israeli military assault on Gaza” for causing “an unprecedented rise in maternal deaths, miscarriages, and stillbirths.”

Welcome again to everybody. Make yourself at home. In the time-honoured tradition of our group, here is the weekly discussion thread.

On Sunday last week, Damascus fell to Salafi terrorists and other imperialist-aligned forces. Regardless of the flaws of the ousted government, this is a horrible situation for the Syrian proletariat as well as for the people of Palestine, Lebanon and others. We can only hope for the perseverance of the Syrian workers and the remaining anti-colonial resistance.

☭ Matrix homeserver and space
 ☭ Theory reading group on hiatus, will move to Lemmygrad next year
☭ Find theory on ProleWiki, marxists.org, Anna's Archive, libgen

On Dec. 8th, "rebels" entered the Syria's capital and assumed control of the government in a shocking development that has huge ramifications for the region and the world. Prof. Mohammad Marandi joins from Tehran to discuss how regime change in Syria changes the geopolitical calculus and what we can expect going forward.

Syrian rebels announced on Sunday that they had "freed Damascus" and ousted President Bashar al-Assad. Meanwhile the Syrian military said it is continuing operations against "terrorist groups" in the towns of Hama and Homs and Deraa countryside. Footage from Damascus showed Syrian rebels stormed the Iranian embassy there.

Syria's collapse is a loss for the Syrian people and their Iranian, Russian, and Chinese allies;

It is a reminder that while US military and industrial power wanes, it still possesses potent "superweapons" in terms of monopolizing information space, poisoning populations against their own best interests, and toppling nations;

The US strategy has been to create multiple crises for Russia along its periphery including in Syria, forcing Russia to make difficult decisions regarding where it commits limited resources;

The multipolar world must accept the reality that what is essentially World War 3 is ongoing and they will all eventually be targeted in turn;

Investment is required in securing and defending national and regional information space from US interference through the creation of local education programs producing journalists and analysts, local social media platforms to replace US-based platforms, and laws ending foreign funding of media inside targeted countries;

I have seen no end of Muslims, almost exclusively Sunni, online and in real life, celebrating the fall of the Syrian Arab Republic. Even where I live, there are Syrians celebrating it. I don't know if it's just sectarianism, brainwashing, or ignorance, or some combination of it, but almost all of them I have seen are celebrating this.

Be it in comment sections, social media posts, cheering in the streets of European cities, etc. How have so many of these people consistently sided with Gaza from the start, but celebrate an Israeli backed terrorist takeover of Syria?

The reaction to stories from Al Jazeera revealing the reality in Palestine were unanimously celebrated by these same people as standing up for the truth, meanwhile, when the same Al Jazeera peddles anti-Syrian propaganda, they are happy to welcome it as equally good news.

I don't want to lose faith in the Muslims and Arabs of the world, but if they're so mixed up in sectarianism and willing to lap up the propaganda in support of a Jihadist regime, I can't see how we'll ever know peace or stability in the Middle east.

Islamist US proxies have captured Damascus. Bashar's government has fallen. Is it joever for the Axis of Resistence?

I must get over it, but all the same, I have friends in Syria and their lives may be lost.

I worry how this will effect the genocide in Gaza.

Map: https://syria.liveuamap.com/

Israel builds up forces near Golan citing rebels taking control https://www.timesofisrael.com/syria-rebels-take-areas-near-israel-border-idf-warns-them-not-to-turn-in-our-direction/

Edit: They've entered Damascus, taken the Republican Palace but Assad is not there.

Wonder what will happen to Russian bases near the sea.

With Chad and Senegal joining Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger in demanding the withdrawal of the French military from their countries, a surge of sovereignty continues to ripple across the Sahel.

I see conflicting arguments about the matter.

It's about at least every quarter-year or so that I ask some kind of question about how the USSR could have gone differently in some way.

With the current situation in Syria I have realized I'm not very well read on Syria at all and am sort of lost.

I'd be grateful if anyone could recommend some good books on Syria so I don't feel completely lost

Israel is also increasing its presence near Syria. https://syria.liveuamap.com/

Our latest study explores how the decline of Global North hegemony has shifted the geopolitical landscape and opened new possibilities for emergent organisations of the Global South.

This study by The Tricontinental (Vijay Prashad's institute) was published earlier this year.

I find it is worth a read (or re-read) in order to evaluate the accuracy of our predictions and our current reality given the instability in NATO's ranks and recent push for WW3.

It covers the historical formation of the form of modern-day imperialism, and their definition of the current stage as one of "Hyper-Imperialism" (a collapse of distinction between subimperialist powers under a completely US-led imperialist bloc against the rest of the world), and a geopolitical-economical definition of the world between the Imperial North (grouped into "rings", from core to periphery) and the "Rest of the World" South (subdivided into 6 subcategories).

Then it analyses the decline of the "Global North"/"West", through the cannibalisation/vassalasation of previously independent imperial powers such as Japan or Europe, the waning internal legitimacy of Liberal Democracy, and the stagnantion of the economy for countries in the bloc.

Part V describes the changes to the world order, from a "southward shift" of the global economy, to the imperial policy of trying to isolate and contain China's economy, finally ending in a growing Imperial push for war as the only recourse remaining in order to retain their hegemony.

The epilogue briefly elaborates on a possible new world order built over multilateral organisations such as BRICS, the SCO and FUNC for the advancement of shared interests of Global South states.

It's a worthwhile read, and it's available in English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, Arabic and Chinese, and has a PDF format version for download.

The peaceful rise of the Global South countries, led by Asia and especially China, poses a comprehensive economic challenge to imperialist world dominance. For the first time in 600 years, the Atlantic imperialist powers are confronted with a non-white economic force capable of countering them.

The fault lines of Ukraine and Palestine have exacerbated the polarisation of the social democrats, sections of whom have proven unable to overcome their desire for acceptability and join in a robust movement for peace.

Let us return to the quote from NATO and the EU that they would be ‘protecting our one billion citizens, preserving our freedom and democracy… against all threats’. This sentence, appearing in the first paragraph of the NATO-EU 2023 communiqué, clearly outlines the structure of today’s world: the imperialist camp, centred around the US and based on NATO infrastructure, is fully united and mobilised militarily, politically, and economically, ready to stifle any emerging forces that might pose a threat to their hegemonic status. This unprecedented immense imperialist pressure has forced many in the ‘rest of the world’ (those outside the imperialist camp) to identify alternative structures and identities for self-preservation.

Edit: Thank you to everyone who has wished me a happy birthday. Edit 2: Hi Wisconcom, I can see that you've downvoted my post, or at least, I think it's you.

1. After capturing the second largest city of Aleppo, the rebels have captured the 6th largest city of Hama which the Syrian army purposely retreated from https://www.kurdistan24.net/en/story/813079/withdrawal-temporary-preparing-for-counter-offensive-says-syrian-army

They are approaching the next city of Homs is the 3rd largest and is said to be more sympathetic to the rebels. https://syria.liveuamap.com/

In the first Syrian war, while the situation was worse for Assad territoriality, he retreated into and held the cities. Aleppo and Hama never fell.

2. The Kurds have continued fighting militias coming in to stabalize the situation in the name of fighting ISIS. Under this pretext they are also taking areas which the Syrian army has withdrawn from.

https://syria.liveuamap.com/

3. The rebels that were in negotiation with the government in the south of the country, near the capital of Damascus have begun fighting as well.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Southern_Syria_offensive_(2024)

When I was first invited to Manifesta, the annual conference of the Workers’ Party of Belgium (PTB), I had no idea what to expect. I had never heard of the PTB, and I knew very little about Belgium — still less about Ostend, the coastal city where the conference took place.

Arriving at my hotel, a grand, imposing building flanked by rows of columns that stretched along the seafront, I felt like I had travelled back in time. I have an abiding memory of walking into the high-ceilinged restaurant for breakfast to be seated at a table next to a huge mural of an old Belgian tourist advertisement for Ostend, depicting a woman sporting a billowing white dress and a parasol.

Given the air of nostalgia that pervades the town, I expected that the PTB would be no different. Most Communist parties are not, after all, paragons of modernity. As I made my way to the event, I expected to enter a dull conference in a grey, rectangular building filled with old men surrounded by earnest young radicals.

So, when I approached the gates, I was more than a little taken aback. I was greeted by a young, enthusiastic activist, who whisked me past winding queues of people of all ages. They were waiting to be waved through the gates by stern-looking security guards checking bags and wristbands. I realised that this was not a conference, but a festival.

We walked through the main gates and arrived at the top of a flight of stone steps that looked out over a vast field filled with tents, food trucks, and thousands of people wandering across the grass. The thing that struck me most was the colour. Not the grey walls flecked with red that I had expected, but an explosion of greens, blues, pinks, and yellows, interspersed with Palestinian flags and the PTB’s logo — a red heart surrounding a white star.

Manifiesta is like The World Transformed on steroids. Guests from all over the world are invited to address the ranks of the PTB, and tickets are available to the general public, too. Alongside panel discussions and political rallies, there’s art, music, sports, and even a cinema. This year, more than 15,000 people attended.

The first time I spoke at Manifiesta in 2022, I was politically and emotionally burnt out. When Jeremy Corbyn lost the general election in 2019, and the world was plunged into lockdown, I refused to mourn. I held out hope for socialist movements in other parts of the world, and I imagined that perhaps the pandemic would revive the spirit of mutual aid and solidarity that has always been the foundation of the socialist movement.

By 2022, none of these hopes had come to fruition. I finally allowed my grief to catch up with me. Maybe we really had missed our moment of opportunity. Maybe democratic socialism really was a lost cause.

What I saw in Belgium suggested otherwise. Here was an example of a party mobilising the working class in all its diversity, with strong links to the labour movement, the climate movement, and an array of social movements, and a deep sense of international solidarity. It didn’t just tick all the boxes you would hope for in a modern, left-wing party — it was actually building power.

“The United States spent billions over years arming and training militants in Syria, many linked to Al-Qaeda and ISIS. The extremist "rebels" who took over Aleppo (and rule Idlib) said they "love Israel". Ben Norton documents the Western dirty war on Syria, and how Washington is trying to divide and conquer the anti-colonial Axis of Resistance in West Asia (the Middle East).”