Thursday, January 11, 2024

Gaza: Understanding the Houthis & Will US Muslims Abandon Biden? with Sa...

-- We have now passed three months of the Gaza slaughter, and according to the UN, Gaza has become uninhabitable. During these past few days, we have seen another frenetic series of diplomatic meetings by US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken in the region as the US looks to consolidate the status quo. The genocidal intent of the Israeli state. If it was unclear at the start of the conflict, it is clear now that the United States has given the green light to the Israelis to mete out their punishment. The Arab and Muslim states have, it seems, mostly acquiesced with the US. In public, they condemn, whereas in private, they look the other way or, in the case of Egypt, conspire with the US and Israel to make sure Gaza’s resistance is erased. We have, however, seen signs, that can be interpreted as further escalation. The Houthis in Yemen have now accosted over 20 ships in the Red Sea, and on Lebanon's southern border, there remains an active engagement with Israeli soldiers.

Sunday, December 3, 2023

Gaza: Graveyard of America's World Order with Wadah Khanfar

 Wadah Khanfar is the President of Al Sharq Forum and former Al Jazeera Director General from 2003 to 2011.
Gaza has been described as a graveyard of children. But it also represents a graveyard of the liberal world order. The very values that undergird this so-called rules-based system have been revealed for what they really are — a set of norms created to preserve the interests of the West. Their unrepentant support for the worst crimes of Israel, the brutality of indiscriminate bombings, the targeting of civilian infrastructure, the carpet bombings of entire neighbourhoods, and the use of the most wicked weaponry – without even the slightest murmur from Western capitals have consolidated a new consciousness. Violence has never been absent under the auspices of this order. Instead, the system was created to safeguard these perpetrators from prosecution. Like the rotten empires of old, as their failures domestically and internationally mount, so too does the duplicity with which they act. This is not an abdication of liberalism; this is, in fact, consistent with the very programme this ideology has to offer. Our guest today argues that in many ways, this is a coming of age for many, including much of what is called the ‘Global South’.