August 16 2025  Beauty to Balance the Terror of Our Nothingness: In Search of the Bay Rum Aftershave of My Dreams

      Recent days have seen the return of my sister’s scented products shop online, and our celebration of resilience and survival as a triumph of will and vision.

      Fragrance can be an art which brings Beauty to balance the terror of our nothingness, the flaws of our humanity, and the brokenness of the world. I like fragrance because it asks nothing of us other than breath to behold and live its conjured dreams, being a thing of the Invisible and unbound from of the limits of form. So also may it take us up into the gaps as it ascends to the heavens, opening passages to the Infinite as vision, exaltation. and rapture.

       Here is her original post and link to her store:

    “I’ve been working on my fragrance website. It’s not finished but I’ve got a rough draft of my note list page.”

       Here follows our conversation in the comments and my interrogation of the idea and role of Bay Rum fragrances in the special category of aftershaves which I call The Arming of Achilles in my page on Fragrantica.

      Myself writing to my sister in the comments: Your Pirates Bay sounds like the aftershave I used to buy, maybe like C.O. Bigelow. Of this I have curious thoughts; what if you deconstructed the components of exquisite liquors, and built out from this scaffold? Fine rum can have so many nuances, and its what Cavendish process tobaccos are cured in. So they pair nicely. Lots of information online from hobby tobacconists who make their own, as a cottage industry. I’ll put together a precis for you on this.

       Erin Lale: cool, I’d love to see your list. Drink based fragrances are part of the gourmand trend so there are actually a number of them out there. Just today as I made myself a Black Aviator I was thinking it would make a great fragrance. The cocktail notes are black cherry juice (or black cherry electrolyte drink, which is what was in mine), creme de violette, and a splash of lemon juice.

     Oh, wasn’t there a thing you used to buy that you wanted me to try to replicate? I just now remembered, seeing your mention of something you used to use.

     My reply to her: I’m not sure what the name was or who made it, but I used it as an aftershave in my twenties. It had a gold foil stamped label with a very nice image of a sailboat, maybe originally etched art, in a glass bottle; I may have found it in Cuba at a Congress of the Joint Revolutionary Council, which included representatives from just about every such organization globally and was led personally by Raul Castro, because someone told me Hemingway used to wear it. If it was made in Cuba, probably as a labour of love in someone’s home shop and sold by appointment only, that explains why I can’t find an image of the bottle online or any references to it. This would have been between the liberation struggles in Central America which for myself began in the wake of the 1982 Siege of Beirut, and the 1988 Battle of Cuito Cuanavale which began the liberation of South Africa from Apartheid, a period of my life when I often worked with Cuban international volunteers.

       What I’d like from a fragrance with which to launch the day is something to wear while defending the Bridge at San Luis Rey; “There is a land of the living and a land of the dead and the bridge is love, the only survival, the only meaning.”

      There is a truth to perform in being alive, in never staying down and refusal to submit regardless of the cost and becoming Unconquered, in living with grandeur as Jean Genet once advised me to do, in embracing both the terror of our nothingness and the joy of total freedom which balances it; for each moment of our lives is a victory no matter the horrors that may come with it, the grief and loneliness of our disconnectedness, the pain and flaws of our humanity which like sacred wounds open us to the pain of others as compassion.

     Each day is a Last Stand, as I have now made more times than I can remember, as I did in recent years at Mariupol in Ukraine, Panjshir in Afghanistan after the Fall of Kabul, throughout Palestine and in the Red Sea Campaign to counter blockade the Israeli blockade of humanitarian aid to Gaza where both Biden and Trump tried and failed to kill me in bombing our positions in Yemen. As I said to Genet when we met in Beirut, after my morning dash across a sniper alley to reach a marvelous café that had the best strawberry crepes in the world, in reply to his asking me “I’m told you do this every morning, steal breakfast from death“; Such moments stolen from death are all we truly own, and which make us real.

     I have lived for forty three years now in the places beyond all laws and all limits, where human being, meaning, and value are forged from nothing, in the unknown spaces marked Here Be Dragons on our maps of becoming human, where we can claw back something of our humanity from the darkness and make yet another Last Stand beyond hope of victory or survival, and I say to you that we must live our lives as if every day were a Last Stand. Live boldly, on your own terms and by your own rules, and love like you have laughed in the face of your executioner.

      Live with grandeur, friends.

       With all of this written into my flesh like a living brand, I find myself like Schopenhauer increasingly reliant in my sixth decade of life on Beauty to balance the terror of our nothingness, the flaws of our humanity, and the brokenness of the world.

        So I look herein to fragrance as a kind of Beauty which is unbound from the limits of form as conceptual art, in this case the Bay Rum shaving paraphernalia which I associate with starting the day.

      Here follows an interrogation of existing aftershaves and scented instruments of personal beauty and the evocation of a liminal space in which to begin the day.

      C.O. Bigelow no. 32 Bay Rum, which has the Bay leaf, clove and other pie spices balanced with pepper, and citrus with a gorgeous Bay or pimenta racemosa note is the nearest I’ve found to the aftershave of my dreams.

      I like the idea of the Barbary Coast company- all natural ingredients, the Bay Rum is listed alcohol, glycerin, bay, cinnamon, clove, allspice, orange, vanilla, purified water; havent tried it yet.

     Generally I like the Taylor of Old Bond Street products, and like all shaving products are designed to remain close to the skin rather than lure in passersby and to evanesce quickly rather than linger as a main fragrance through the day; but their Bay Rum is no longer a Dominican product and is sadly limp seeming now where it used to smell like something to wear during the Running of the Bulls. So began my search for the Bay Rum of my dreams, lost to history; when Taylor of Old Bond Street’s lost its mojo.

     A Bay Rum should smell of daring, adventure, and the elegance of a stalking lion.

    St Johns Bay Rum lands a punch like the old ToOBS, with a camphorous menthol underlying the composition; its supposed to tingle when you slap your face with it after shaving to signal disinfection. Rich, bold, deep spices of cloves and cinnamon are balanced with real West Indian Bay, and trailed by attendant shadows of camphor, eucalyptus, and a clean musk which deepens them.

     The eucalyptus top note can be problematic; like the actual tree it smells like cat piss or astringent fougere depending, and it can smell like both. I’d choose other green or fresh notes for this balance in a formula; maybe something of the dark jungles that smells of voodoo and secrets.

    If one were looking to the botanical diversity of the Caribbean, floral scents of ravishing plumeria and intoxicating jasmine abound, and I cannot imagine why no one has used this iconic pairing as the opening act of a luxury Bay Rum. Indigenous spices and herbs include nutmeg and cinnamon, mace, ginger, cocoa, cloves, turmeric, and of course bay leaves.  

     The chocolate note could be played up; my picks for best chocolate fragrances are Guerlain Fève Gourmande for a woman or Écrin de Fumée by Serge Lutens for a man. That last is among my favorites; what I would advise wearing to a first romantic encounter for its luxurious opulence and seductiveness. Its on both my favorites and Imaginal Calling Cards lists, but could also be listed under Dreams of Love, Acts of Desire or Ports of Call as it evokes the ravishing darkness of Mexican chocolate. 

     As a Gourmand fragrance one may consider the culinary arts of the region; here I am thinking of the signature Scotch Bonnet Pepper, both fruity and fiery,  in Haitian epis, which also has the Djon Djon black mushroom with its deep, earthy flavor and used to colour black rice dishes, though I would leave out the smoked herring which confers to epis its remarkable stink; epis also has a spice component of which the thyme and cloves are better in a fragrance than the garlic. Cuban sauces balance citrus, savory, and earthy flavors; I find the counterpoint of bay with oregano, cumin, and cilantro interesting, and annatto is a signature facet of many dishes, peppery, nutty, and earthy.

      Bentley For Men Intense offers a parfum version of Bay Rum, of complex and sophisticated nuances and classical structure. While the Bay Rum notes inscribe Bentley For Men Intense as a fragrance of this kind, the wood and leather smell exactly like the interior of a luxury classic car, just as intended. Restoring classic cars was a hobby of my partner Dolly’s father, and the scent  is enveloping and wonderful, smelling of tailgate parties and family road trips. https://www.fragrantica.com/perfume/Bentley/Bentley-for-Men-Intense-17666.html

     So completes my survey of existing Bay Rum fragrances, and I return now to my original suggestion of deconstructing the scent profile of rum as a model for a fine Bay Rum perfume.

     Yes, drinking alcohol is haram under Islamic law, but nothing suggests we cannot smell it.

     My sister makes fragrances using the enfleurage method of maceration in alcohol, so we use the target rum as the base and add things to it, and with time voila it is perfume.

     Herein one intends to amplify, echo and reflect existing notes, and sometimes to create counterpoint and chiaroscuro with new notes which balance them. 

     Let us begin with the world’s finest luxury rum, Zacapa No. 23 Centenario. As described on the distiller’s site;

“Nose

     Soft, sweet start with aromas of caramel, vanilla, cacao and butterscotch. Continued by sherried notes of caramelized roasted brazil nuts and toasted hazelnut, rounded out by toffee, banana and dried pineapple.

Taste

     Complex, generous and full-bodied. Starting with a depth of dried fruit and apricot, building to savory oak, nutmeg, leather and tobacco with notes of coffee and vanilla, balanced with a spicy touch of cinnamon and ginger.

Finish

     Intricate with honeyed butterscotch, spiced oak and dried fruit.”

     Tasting notes in Digest Miami’s Worlds Best Rums are; “Balance of sweetness, fruit, spice and spirit. Long, smooth and sweet with dark cherry, chocolate, date, prune with sweet oak spices of clove, vanilla and cinnamon.”

     The Luxury Editor describes it as; “Luxurious rum with notes of honeyed butterscotch, spiced oak, Christmas cake fruit, chocolate orange, roasted apricots, brown sugar, sweet tobacco, marzipan, and a faint waft of cigar smoke.”

     As described on Bespoke Unit; “Ron Zacapa 23’s Nose

Notes: Forest honey, bitter chocolate, brown sugar

Nosefeel: Caramelised

    The nose is immediately lured into a creamy sweet, caramelized sugar aroma. An abundance of sweetness is the first impression, slowly transforming into forest honey notes. Some nutty qualities start to emerge, whilst a charred, roasted hazelnut and some almonds add a layer of complexity.

     Bitter walnuts are coated in rich bitter chocolate. To lighten the rather thick impression a bit, ethereal freshness and citrus zest make themselves noted. The combination almost reminds me of a mint chocolate chip cookie, that is drenched in dark brown golden syrup.

     A gentle smokiness reveals hints of pipe tobacco, with a sprinkle of fresh mint leaves, basil, and thyme. Finally, it all comes back to a vanilla-like, caramel fudge, nutmeg, and mace expression, that perfectly sums the sweet, spicy, and caramelized signature of this solera rum.

     It’s a very mellow bouquet with intense aromatics, an intriguing level of complexity, and medium-plus diversity.

   Ron Zacapa 23’s Palate & Mouthfeel

Primary Tastes: Dried prune, golden syrup

Mouthfeel: Oily

Opening:  Raisin, eucalyptus, wood cask

Heart: Licorice, golden syrup, vanilla

Finish: Long [bitter chocolate, mint, roasted walnut]

     As the nose already indicated, the mouthfeel and palate are predominantly sweet and opulent. The rum feels thick, oily, mouth-coating, almost chewy in texture.

     I sense dried fruits, mostly prunes, every now and then accompanied by a touch of charred nuts, which were also detectable in the olfactory analysis. Furthermore, that ethereal quality, which really elevates the experience by giving an extra layer of liveliness and freshness, makes a stellar comeback. It very much brings a eucalyptus note to the retronasal impression.

     To further support these complex nuances, a sprig of mint is thrown in for good measure, and the side of the palate is tickled with a whiff of astringency. I get some wood spice and more of the dried fruit, sweet raisins that distinctively points towards Pedro Ximénez Sherry.

     The lingering finish is carried by licorice, golden syrup, and sweet, luscious vanilla.

     Hands down, the Ron Zacapa 23 is a cigar lover’s dream-come-true rum. Smoky, woody, lusciously sweet, velvety in texture, creamy in the finish. Me personally, I’d probably choose a Cameroon wrapped cigar.

     A great example would be a Don Carlos from the Fuente family, using that distinct wrapper from Meerapfel in Cameroon. There you can also find an intriguing combination of sweetness, with just a hint of spice, further elevated by the characterful blend of the filler and binder tobaccos. “

      So with Ron Zacapa 23 as a fragrance base I would add spices, beginning with star anise for the licorice though experimentation with absinthe may be interesting. My partner Dolly loves licorice, something I search for in fragrances with which to please her like the long lost icon Lolita Lempicka au Masculine. Basil, thyme, mace, cinnamon, clove, nutmeg, ginger, and the finest vanilla one can source round out the spices. But there is a special herb, possibly both mint and eucalyptus, which gives it astringency without being camphoraceous.

     Then there are the candied and dried fruits, fig and apricot which suggest simply adding drops of Amaretto liqueur which is processed from apricot. The dark fruits tie the spices together, like a candied fig and clove morsel. And tobacco, which here seems like a candied fruit as well and offers glimpses of honey and sherry.

     Finally that dark bitter chocolate note remains; between Hershey’s Special Dark and Bittermens Xocolatl Mole bitters for rum cocktails.

     Diplomático Reserva Exclusiva, a confection of licorice, toffee, and orange peel set in a vanilla goblet of luminous amber.

      Bespoke Unit describes it as; “The bouquet is luscious, with bold tones of honey and chocolate, in addition to some brighter notes of citrus, particularly orange.

Robe: Rich mahogany/amber color

Nose: Distinct caramel, butterscotch, and orange

Palate: Velvety smooth, full-bodied texture with a slight spice and prominent notes of chocolate and candied fruits.”

     Other luxury rums which might make a fine base for fragrance:

     Mount Gay XO with its velvet caramel, fig, clove, and chocolate. Described by the distiller as

“Aroma

     Perfect baance between vanilla, oak, and dry spice notes

Taste

     Salted caramel, baked fig and clove, dark chocolate.

Body

     Round, smooth, and richly creamy with a long finish.”

XO

    Appleton Estate 21 Year Old Nassau Valley Casks, with ghosts of ginger and clove dancing among the sumptuous notes listed by the distiller.

“Color

    Mahogany hue with an olive green ring of age.

Aroma

     Floral scent that develops into a unique, mature, nutty bouquet, with notes of deep vanilla, echoes of orange peel, nutmeg, warm coffee, and cocoa.

Finish

     Long and dry, with a slight sweetness that is subtle on the palate.

Process

     Crafted by Joy Spence, with Jamaican limestone-filtered water and no added flavours.”

     Rhum Barbancourt Estate Reserve, described by the distiller as;

“Color / Nose

     Amber-hued, the nose hints at vanilla with dried fruits, such as grapes and prunes.

Palate

     Fruity with prune notes dominating in a fine and elegant manner.

Finish

     Long, Rich and Complex, but not overbearing. Notes of dried fruits.”

     Clement XO, a rum Agricole, with a silky balance of floral, tarragon-forward herbal, and dark dried fruit notes.

     Rhum, Ron de Cuba, Eminente, Reserva 7 years old, described in The Luxury Editor as “notes of coffee, tobacco, dark chocolate, spices, cherry and florals abound to create a deep, rich flavour.”  

     As described on the Pleasure Wine website; “Tasting notes for the Eminente Ron de Cuba “Reserva” 7 YO

EYE:

      The gold-colored robe of this Ron de Cuba “Eminente” 7 YO Reserva elegantly captures our gaze. Its amber tint, an evidence of careful aging, suggests a tasting session worthy of our expectations.

NOSE:

     This rum unveils a harmonious bouquet. Subtle aromas of vanilla and caramel blend with woody wafts, foreshadowing a balanced sensory experience. Light notes of tropical fruits and honey add an exotic touch to this olfactory symphony.

MOUTH:

     The “Eminente” 7 YO Reserva convinces us with its velvety smoothness. Sugarcane flavors marry nuances of candied fruits and nuts. The discreet presence of oak imparts subtle complexity, while spicy notes punctuate this tasting with elegance.

      In short: Its enticing visual aspect, balanced nose, and smooth palate make the Eminente Reserva 7 YO an accessible option for Cuban rum enthusiasts. With its 7-year aging, it has reached an ideal maturity to fully express its gustatory qualities, combining smoothness and complexity. Pair this Reserva with caramelized desserts, soft cheese, dried fruits, or savory canapés.”

     Flor de Caña 18 Year Old Centenario, possibly the ultimate gourmand rum with an opening of peaches, bay, and praline, a middle of toffee, gingerbread, and Turkish delight, and a finish of earthiness, caramel, and dried fruit, and a nose which is our main interest here of Cavendish tobacco, roses, and gingerbread which hides a pomander of Christmas dried fruits in its darkness.

     As described by Bespoke Unit;

   “Flor de Caña’s Nose

Notes: Cavendish, Gingerbread, Roses

Nosefeel: Unctuous

     Flor de Caña 18 boasts an unctuous yet refined nose. While its bouquet isn’t exactly intense and rather mild, it’s rich in flavour. It reveals complex aromas that are somewhat diverse and vivid in the nostrils.

     Its most overt note is a distinctive aroma of black Cavendish tobacco. Spicy and yeasty gingerbread quickly follows, which is then finished by a light hint of floral rose petals.

Flor de Caña 18’s Palate & Mouthfeel

Primary Tastes: Salty, Sweet

Mouthfeel: Oily

Opening: Peaches, Praline, Bay Leaf

Heart: Turkish Delight, Gingerbread, Toffee

Finish: Earth, Dried Fruit, Caramel

     Firstly, Flor de Caña’s palate follows closely from its aromatic bouquet. An overall mild rum with intricate complexity, it reveals a juxtaposition of sweet and salty flavours.

     Delivered with an oily velvet texture, it opens on ripe peaches, praline confections, and crushed bay leaf. Its long and natural ageing process is immediately apparent and the depth of its flavours flourish shortly afterwards.

     The resulting heart offers Turkish delight, gingerbread, and toffee, which partly echoes the initial nose given the presence of the former two notes. Finally, Flor de Caña results in a long finish, which reveals an earthy note reminiscent of patchouli, shortly followed by dried fruit, and sticky caramel.

     If I were pairing this with a tobacco, which is an entirely different fragrance from our Bay Rum, Flor de Caña Centenario or Ron de Cuba Eminente Reserva are the rums I would choose, because both are structured around a central facet of tobacco. Were I to recommend a rum to be sipped while smoking at ones cigar club, these are again my first choices. In cigars, the Plasencia Original Reserva offers a gingerbread spice and toffee profile that compliments both rums.

     My pipe tobacco of old, which I smoked from my senior year of high school as a daily alternative for cigars for over twenty years, was always a Golden Virginia Vanilla Cavendish blend with a bit of fire cured mixed in, redolent of fine Madagascar vanilla and stored with orange peel.

     Why did I do this? Because for myself the smells of tobacco are associated with memories of my father smoking his pipes in the evening, evenings he often spent playing chess with me after dinner from childhood in the comforting semi darkness by the fireplace, and telling fabulous stories. Pipe smoking became a ritual conjuration of safety, refuge, serenity, and space of reflection for me.

     Cavendish refers to the process of fermentation in rum, also to the long ribbon cut, and Virginia is a type of tobacco, with a sweet hay like scent. The vanilla or other flavoring is pressed or steamed into the leaf, sometimes both, which classifies it among tobaccos as an Aromatic.

       Top choices in or near this category include Mac Baren Vanilla Cream, the very charming Peter Stokkebye PS27 Pistachio, Royal Yacht which was once Dunhill but now Peterson, Peterson Connoisseur’s Choice, Sutliff Tobacco Company Creme Brulee #701, Cornell & Diehl Autumn Evening, and the superb dessert blend W.O. Larsen Signature Vintage Mixture.

      Quite different but also superb are John Aylesbury Dragon Flake, the iconic Virginia-Perique blend now reintroduced by STG Escudo Navy Deluxe, Dan Tobacco Devil’s Holiday, and the extraordinarily sophisticated G. L. Pease The Virginia Cream.
https://www.tobaccoreviews.com/blend/10969/john-aylesbury-dragon-flake/?retSearchTerm=Golden%20Virginia%20Cavendish%20Vanilla

     During this time through my university years I smoked Arturo Fuente cigars upon occasion, the limited edition Hemingway when possible. Cigar International calls it; “rich, toasty, and spicy” and by a reviewer “impeccably crafted… spicy and woody notes turn to sweet leather and cedar. Balanced and elegant, medium-bodied.” Also the Don Carlos Personal Reserve Robusto, described by Cigar Aficionado as; “an earthy and sweet smoke, offering a profile of molasses, vanilla, nutmeg and a touch of pepper”  .

      My ideal rum and tobacco fragrance therefore adds vanilla and orange oil to the molasses and hay of tobacco leaf, gingerbread spices of cinnamon and nutmeg its attendant throughout the whole, and shadowed with chocolate bitters, with a drydown of caramel-toffee, leather that smells like the naked skin of a lover, and dried fruits of darkness like the ghost of Christmas past.

      When the Abyss looks back at me, Beauty can restore the balance. My thanks to Schopenhauer for solving the riddle Nietzsche posed for us in Beyond Good and Evil.

      We cannot know the future, for the possibilities are limitless. But we know this; the universe cares nothing for us, there is no Great Plan, no reward for goodness nor punishment for evil, nor good or evil of any kind, for these are human words and cannot exist without human deeds to make them real.

      This is the terror of our nothingness in a universe without imposed meaning or value, no Authority either beneficent or tyrannical to create and order ourselves and our lives. But the reverse is also true; in such a universe of total freedom, wherein the only human being, meaning, and value is what we ourselves create, we hold the only powers that exist, that of poetic vision in the reimagination and transformation of ourselves and our choices about how to be human together, of love to transcend the limits of our form, realize the truths of others, and to liberate us from hierarchies of belonging and otherness, of hope to free us from systems of oppression, from tyranny and terror, and from the state as embodied violence in the primary defining human act of refusal to submit and granting us the will to claw our way out of the ruins to make yet another Last Stand beyond hope of victory or even survival, and of faith in each other as solidarity of action and a United Humankind in a free society of equals in which we are guarantors of each other’s universal human rights.

     On this day American patriots gathered in mass action and protest at our capitals and palaces of government throughout the nation, against the capture of the state by a fascist regime of tyranny and terror, the subversion of democracy and destruction of its values and institutions, against vote suppression and the theft of citizenship from Black Americans through gerrymandering, against the ethnic cleansing of Latin Americans by the ICE white supremacist terror force, and against the federal Occupation of our sanctuary cities and bastions of democracy.

      This day we reached out to each other and held fast our line against the darkness. And with each such act of solidarity and refusal to submit to the force and control of an Authority of white supremacist terror and theocratic patriarchal sexual terror, we remain Unconquered.

     This is the beauty of human beings.  

     What shall we do with our lives, whatever may remain of them, and how shall we live if we are to become human?

     Live with grandeur, my friends.

Postscript

      Thank you for sharing this journey with me; your friendship has brought me joy, as I hope mine has to you. These past days I was reminded of our mortality and the limits of our form as an imposed condition of struggle, of the flaws of our humanity and the ephemeral and impermanent nature of our lives.

      I dreamed of a cat we once shared our home with named Bunny; we saw someone throw her out of a car window driving past the animal shelter near our home, and stopped. I opened my door and said; “Do you want to come home with us? We have lots of food” and she jumped right up into my lap and started purring. We had some lovely years together before she got sick, and after treatments she seemed to recover a bit, and spent a glorious day running in the park, chasing butterflies and climbing trees, but died in the night.

      Sometimes you only get one good day, and you never know when that will be.

      Make each of your days glorious, find your joy, and chase your dreams.

The Bridge of San Luis Rey, Thornton Wilder

                   Hemingway, a reading list

Author page on Goodreads

Papa Hemingway, A.E. Hotchner

Everybody Behaves Badly: The True Story Behind Hemingway’s Masterpiece The Sun Also Rises, Lesley M.M. Blume

Ernest’s Way: An International Journey Through Hemingway’s Life,

Cristen Hemingway Jaynes

                 Schopenhauer, a reading list

The Essential Schopenhauer, Arthur Schopenhauer, Wolfgang Schirmacher

 (Editor)

Schopenhauer’s Telescope, Gerard Donovan

The Schopenhauer Cure, Irvin D. Yalom

When Nietzsche Wept, Irvin D. Yalom

Schopenhauer and Nietzsche, Georg Simmel

The Philosophy of Schopenhauer, Dale Jacquette

The Riddle of the World: A Reconsideration of Schopenhauer’s Philosophy,

Barbara Hannan

Hemingway’s Philosophy, as written in a FB post by Classic Literature https://www.facebook.com/Classicsliteratures

     “Forget your personal tragedy. We are all bitched from the start and you especially have to be hurt like hell before you can write seriously. But when you get the damned hurt, use it, do not cheat with it.”

     In this single paragraph, Hemingway compresses a worldview, an ethics, and a challenge. At first glance it sounds cruel. Forget your personal tragedy? The modern ear resists such advice, steeped as we are in the language of self-care and the dignity of wounds. Yet Hemingway is not asking us to deny our suffering. He is asking for something harder. He is asking us to turn the raw material of hurt into something that lives beyond us.

The opening assertion, “We are all bitched from the start,” carries the fatalism that runs through much of his work. It is not only the writer who is born into a compromised condition. Every human being begins with an inheritance of loss, fragility, and impermanence. To be alive is to live in the shadow of endings. For Hemingway, this is not a source of despair but the common ground upon which all art stands.

     The second clause, “you especially have to be hurt like hell before you can write seriously,” is not romanticizing pain but acknowledging its strange capacity to strip us of illusions. Deep hurt exposes the fault lines in the self. It forces us to see what our ordinary defenses conceal. Without that stripping away, writing risks becoming decoration rather than revelation.

     But Hemingway’s most important demand comes in the final sentence: “When you get the damned hurt, use it, do not cheat with it.” To use the hurt is to transform it, to work it through the discipline of craft until it speaks not only for the self but for others who share the condition of being human. To cheat with it would be to indulge in mere self-expression, to lean on the easy drama of suffering without undertaking the harder labor of turning it into insight.

This is the alchemy of art at its most uncompromising. Pain is the unrefined ore. The writer’s task is to submit it to the fire of language until it yields something both personal and universal. Hemingway’s own life was a long test of this creed. His war wounds, his broken loves, his mental unraveling were not things he romanticized in their living, but they became the very muscle of his sentences.

     In the end, Hemingway is telling us that the writer’s responsibility is not to be spared but to be transformed. Hurt is not the obstacle to serious writing. It is the starting point. What matters is whether you shape it into something that, like a well-made story, can stand in the world long after you are gone.”

      For learning about the world of spirited liquors, Bespoke Unit: A Guide to the Dapper Life is an excellent resource. https://bespokeunit.com/spirits/

Bunny July 13 2024

 From Erin Lale

Just a nice kitty. Look how attentive she is watching something. Is it a bird?

Reply

Jay Lale To Erin Lale

She beholds the past behind, poised to leap into the future.

June 13 2024 Bunny and Amok on the front porch

Bunny April 25 2024

Bunny August 1 2023

Also August 1 2023

Bunny June 29 2023 Bunny follows Sheryl Crows advice and soaks up the sun

Bunny May 4 2023

Bunny May 14 2022 

Bunny April 2022

Bunny October 2022

Bunny September 2021

August 16 2025 Anniversary of the Fall of Kabul and Afghanistan

     Of the Fall of Afghanistan we may say with Charles Dickens as written in A Tale of Two Cities; “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair …, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way …”

     This Defining Moment of our history, of both America and Afghanistan and of the broader conflict of civilizations of which our story is a part, beginning with the creation of civilization itself in the wars between the democracies of Greece and the autocratic Persian Empire, I imagine the Fall of Kabul now not in terms of vast systemic forces but as darkness illuminated by sudden flashes of vivid memories out of time from what has thus far been my final expedition into this theatre of war and ground of struggle; terror, pain, death, and hope, that gift and curse of Pandora to us all.

     I wrote my journal entry of this day three years ago from Peshawar during preparations for the expedition; by August 24 2021 I was across the Khyber Pass, and my journal for that date includes a film clip from Inglorious Basterds, Shoshanna Prepares for German Night with the glorious music by David Bowie, my theme song for Last Stands, which I post only when I am about to do something from which there is no return.

      Long ago I lost count of such Last Stands; it seems now to be my true state of being, this leap of faith into the Abyss. As Jean Genet said to me in 1982 Beirut, in a burning house, in a lost cause, in a suicide pact of refusal to surrender when he swore me to the Oath of the Resistance which set me on my life’s path; “When there is no hope, we are free to do impossible things, glorious things.”

     During our Defense of Panjshir that September a forlorn hope of Independence for her people was lost, but never shall be forgotten.

     Afghanistan my love; one day I will return to you, though hell should bar the way.

    As written by Alfred Noyes in The Highwayman;

PART ONE

The wind was a torrent of darkness among the gusty trees.  

The moon was a ghostly galleon tossed upon cloudy seas.  

The road was a ribbon of moonlight over the purple moor,  

And the highwayman came riding—

         Riding—riding—

The highwayman came riding, up to the old inn-door.

He’d a French cocked-hat on his forehead, a bunch of lace at his chin,  

A coat of the claret velvet, and breeches of brown doe-skin.

They fitted with never a wrinkle. His boots were up to the thigh.  

And he rode with a jewelled twinkle,

         His pistol butts a-twinkle,

His rapier hilt a-twinkle, under the jewelled sky.

Over the cobbles he clattered and clashed in the dark inn-yard.

He tapped with his whip on the shutters, but all was locked and barred.  

He whistled a tune to the window, and who should be waiting there  

But the landlord’s black-eyed daughter,

         Bess, the landlord’s daughter,

Plaiting a dark red love-knot into her long black hair.

And dark in the dark old inn-yard a stable-wicket creaked

Where Tim the ostler listened. His face was white and peaked.  

His eyes were hollows of madness, his hair like mouldy hay,  

But he loved the landlord’s daughter,

         The landlord’s red-lipped daughter.

Dumb as a dog he listened, and he heard the robber say—

“One kiss, my bonny sweetheart, I’m after a prize to-night,

But I shall be back with the yellow gold before the morning light;

Yet, if they press me sharply, and harry me through the day,  

Then look for me by moonlight,

         Watch for me by moonlight,

I’ll come to thee by moonlight, though hell should bar the way.”

He rose upright in the stirrups. He scarce could reach her hand,

But she loosened her hair in the casement. His face burnt like a brand

As the black cascade of perfume came tumbling over his breast;  

And he kissed its waves in the moonlight,

         (O, sweet black waves in the moonlight!)

Then he tugged at his rein in the moonlight, and galloped away to the west.

PART TWO

He did not come in the dawning. He did not come at noon;  

And out of the tawny sunset, before the rise of the moon,  

When the road was a gypsy’s ribbon, looping the purple moor,  

A red-coat troop came marching—

         Marching—marching—

King George’s men came marching, up to the old inn-door.

They said no word to the landlord. They drank his ale instead.  

But they gagged his daughter, and bound her, to the foot of her narrow bed.

Two of them knelt at her casement, with muskets at their side!  

There was death at every window;

         And hell at one dark window;

For Bess could see, through her casement, the road that he would ride.

They had tied her up to attention, with many a sniggering jest.

They had bound a musket beside her, with the muzzle beneath her breast!

“Now, keep good watch!” and they kissed her. She heard the doomed man say—

Look for me by moonlight;

         Watch for me by moonlight;

I’ll come to thee by moonlight, though hell should bar the way!

She twisted her hands behind her; but all the knots held good!

She writhed her hands till her fingers were wet with sweat or blood!  

They stretched and strained in the darkness, and the hours crawled by like years

Till, now, on the stroke of midnight,

         Cold, on the stroke of midnight,

The tip of one finger touched it! The trigger at least was hers!

The tip of one finger touched it. She strove no more for the rest.  

Up, she stood up to attention, with the muzzle beneath her breast.  

She would not risk their hearing; she would not strive again;  

For the road lay bare in the moonlight;

         Blank and bare in the moonlight;

And the blood of her veins, in the moonlight, throbbed to her love’s refrain.

Tlot-tlot; tlot-tlot! Had they heard it? The horsehoofs ringing clear;  

Tlot-tlot; tlot-tlot, in the distance? Were they deaf that they did not hear?

Down the ribbon of moonlight, over the brow of the hill,

The highwayman came riding—

         Riding—riding—

The red coats looked to their priming! She stood up, straight and still.

Tlot-tlot, in the frosty silence! Tlot-tlot, in the echoing night!  

Nearer he came and nearer. Her face was like a light.

Her eyes grew wide for a moment; she drew one last deep breath,  

Then her finger moved in the moonlight,

         Her musket shattered the moonlight,

Shattered her breast in the moonlight and warned him—with her death.

He turned. He spurred to the west; he did not know who stood  

Bowed, with her head o’er the musket, drenched with her own blood!  

Not till the dawn he heard it, and his face grew grey to hear  

How Bess, the landlord’s daughter,

         The landlord’s black-eyed daughter,

Had watched for her love in the moonlight, and died in the darkness there.

Back, he spurred like a madman, shrieking a curse to the sky,

With the white road smoking behind him and his rapier brandished high.

Blood red were his spurs in the golden noon; wine-red was his velvet coat;

When they shot him down on the highway,

         Down like a dog on the highway,

And he lay in his blood on the highway, with a bunch of lace at his throat.

.       .       .

And still of a winter’s night, they say, when the wind is in the trees,

When the moon is a ghostly galleon tossed upon cloudy seas,  

When the road is a ribbon of moonlight over the purple moor,  

A highwayman comes riding—

         Riding—riding—

A highwayman comes riding, up to the old inn-door.

Over the cobbles he clatters and clangs in the dark inn-yard.

He taps with his whip on the shutters, but all is locked and barred.  

He whistles a tune to the window, and who should be waiting there  

But the landlord’s black-eyed daughter,

         Bess, the landlord’s daughter,

Plaiting a dark red love-knot into her long black hair.

     As I wrote in my post of August 16 2021, The Fall of Kabul and Afghanistan;     We are confronted with mesmerizing images this weekend of the Fall of Kabul and Afghanistan to the victorious forces of the Taliban and the collapse of our Potempkin Village regime and its mirage army who fired not a single shot in resistance, images which recall the Fall of Saigon in 1975 under parallel conditions.

     If America wants a seat at the table in shaping the policies of the new government, we must recognize it as the legitimate independence movement that it is and refuse to play the role of foreign ogres of imperialism. We may win with the carrot what we have lost with the stick.

      Send not soldiers but diplomats with humanitarian aid and material support; this can be conditional on adherence to the principles of universal human rights. The Taliban need something from the US and the world at large; recognition of legitimacy, and this can be a powerful lever.

      As Shakespeare’s Henry the Fifth says; “When lenity and cruelty play for a kingdom, the gentler hand is the surest winner.” 

      America’s epic crusade and imperial adventures in Afghanistan began with a stunningly successful campaign to bring down the Soviet Union by luring and trapping it into an unwinnable invasion and conquest, a lesson subsequently forgotten, in which we armed, trained, funded, and often directly commanded and fought alongside freedom fighters who are today the warlords who actually rule Afghanistan. These American clients infamously included the brilliant religious scholar Osama bin Laden, and I think we all know how well that worked out.

    It seems we have learned nothing from the failures of our imperialism; this time may be different, but I doubt it.

     Unless we change the forces and conditions which make war profitable to elites and useful to authorities in the centralization of power.

    This will not be the first time the Taliban, a Pashto word meaning “students”, have ruled Afghanistan, as they did so from 1996 to 2001 as proxies of Pakistan, until America invaded in the wake of 911. Nor is it the first time Afghanistan has merited its title as “the Graveyard of Empires”; Alexander the Great’s successor state of Bactria, the Mongols, the British Empire and the Soviet Union all were broken upon its anvil. It has also been the birthplace of great empires which then fragmented; Parthia, Scythia, the Buddhist Kushans, White Huns, Kidarites, the Hindu Shahi Dynasty, and the empire of Nader Shah. Modern Afghanistan was founded in 1747 by Ahmad Shah Durrani from the remnants of the Mughals and Nader Shah’s heirs in Persia, after a mutually destructive conflict between the Safavid Dynasty of Persia and the Mughals of India for possession of Kandahar.

     And now, it seems, it is America’s turn. What madness possesses us, we humans, that we are driven to dominate and control others, with the institutionalized psychotic rage and violence of war on the one hand and the seductive lies and illusions of falsification and capitalist theft of public resources and wealth on the other?

    How can we escape the destructive vicious cycle and Wagnerian Ring of fear, power, and force?

    What are some lessons we can learn from our imperial failures to divide and conquer through manufacturing proxies and hegemonic elites along balkanized sectarian and ethnic lines, warlords, illusory client states, and the harnessed strategies of state terror and tyranny and a global carceral state of torture, surveillance, repression of dissent, borders, and police, in tandem with assimilation, co-optation, colonial exploitation through the pawns of corrupt oligarchs and puppet regimes, and the weaponization of our values and ideals, of democracy and universal human rights, as propagandistic bait for the trap of our dominion?

     Who bears arms bears death; choose life.

     Let us abandon the social use of force.

     Let us send no armies to enforce virtue.

     As I wrote in my post of April 19 2021, Biden Proclaims the End of America’s War in Afghanistan: Hooray, and Good Luck With That; In Afghanistan we came for vengeance, and stayed for profit. It has proven difficult to let go of either.

     President Biden has proclaimed the end of America’s War in Afghanistan; this I celebrate, my joy at news of peace shadowed only by the fact that we have been here before. Declaring peace is one thing; keeping the peace is quite another.

     2019 was a year of great hope tempered with tragic failure, typified by its end and the start of a new year with a fragile peace in Afghanistan after 18 years of war, a peace lost a few days later in a six hour fight in the total darkness of a cave, rescuing the SEALs trapped in a Taliban fortress by the destruction of their helicopters during an assault in violation of the treaty, a mission of provocation whose objective was sabotaging the peace, in which the whole history of millennia of civilizational conflict was borne by four men who free climbed a mountain in recapitulation of Alexander the Great’s capture of the Sogdian Rock and then with stealth, misdirection, and precision defeated a force which had overwhelmed and pinned down an airborne assault team of SEALs.

     As with many events which unfold as a regression of throwing words into throwing stones, it was both a tactical success and a strategic failure, a glorious act of heroism and an imperialist provocation which sabotaged our withdrawal from the madness of a forever war.

      This was a theatrical set-piece action designed to provide a casus belli, a secret mission to sabotage peace modeled on the ruse used by the Japanese to legitimize their invasion of Manchuria in 1931, the Mukden Incident, which involved a single Japanese soldier, a Missing Man whom other soldiers were sent to rescue.

     Biden’s Peace will be a test of the soul of America, of our true values and intentions toward the world, and of our unity of purpose. This is a line I hope we can hold, for if our profiteers of death and what Eisenhower called the military-industrial complex sabotage the chance for peace yet again in service to wealth and power, as Trump did in 2019 and the forces of Imperial Japan did in 1931, the possible futures which unfold from that moment do not promise a better world.

     We know what happened the last time, at Pearl Harbor.

     As I wrote in my post of January 2 2020, An end in sight to the Forever War in Afghanistan?;  The New Year brings a gift of peace, or its possibility, which may allow us to end our 18 year Forever War in Afghanistan and bring our 12,000 troops there home.

      Hundreds of thousands have died in this epic conflict with no real benefit to anyone, a war in which the objectives, alliances, and constellations of power have been amorphous and shifting, a flood America has tried to oppose with a bucket brigade.

     If a peace can be forged, if a nation can be put together again like Humpty Dumpty, it will be a miracle, but one much like Vietnam in which America flees in defeat and abandons its allies to an implacable enemy dedicated to enforcing its vision of an ideal society on everyone it can. Such comparison is limited in many ways, among them the odd fact that America has been subsidizing the  Taliban through the tribute paid by our civilian contractors while our militaries have been savaging each other in a pit fight marked by war crimes on all sides, attended by dehumanization and the civilizational loss of values.

      War makes for good business for a few, and incomprehensible horror for the many.    

     As described by Rahim Faiez and Kathy Gannon in Huffpost; “A key pillar of the agreement, which the U.S. and Taliban have been hammering out for more than a year, is direct negotiations between Afghans on both sides of the conflict.

     Those intra-Afghan negotiations are expected to be held within two weeks of the signing of a U.S.-Taliban peace deal. They will likely decide what a post-war Afghanistan will look like, and what role the Taliban will play. The negotiations would cover a wide range of subjects, such as the rights of women, free speech and the fate of the tens of thousands of Taliban fighters, as well as the heavily armed militias belonging to Afghanistan’s warlords who have amassed wealth and power since the Taliban’s ouster.”

    And in my subsequent post of February 29 2020, Peace in Afghanistan?; We celebrate today the historic signing of the peace accord between America and the Taliban, and the chance to bring our troops home from an 18 year war which has achieved little at great cost in blood and treasure. It is a tentative, conditional peace, formulated in a brilliant document which will forever remain an example of masterful diplomacy, in which both sides may claim victory.

      America has won the destruction and disavowal of a great enemy, al-Qaeda, by their Taliban allies; this also poises the Taliban as a Sunni nation with de facto American recognition directly on the eastern border of Iran as a counterweight, an unqualified win in terms of geopolitical strategy.

     The Taliban can claim victory over America in their long war to free their nation of foreign imperialism. We have ceded legitimacy to the Taliban and admitted in writing our total defeat, by direct order of our cowardly idiot President Trump, whose words mean nothing; it remains only to abandon our allies and flee Afghanistan like whipped dogs.

     This may not be how the narrative will be framed, spun, and sold in America, either by our government nor a nation weary of meaningless destructive forever wars, but I guarantee you this is how much of the world will interpret it.

     But this is not the reason I am uneasy and filled with brooding dread at the prospect of a chance for peace which this accord offers. Why am I not jubilant and dancing with victorious rapture at the chance of an end to war, any chance at all?

     As Jennifer Hansler writes in CNN; “The four-page agreement states that the Taliban will take steps “to prevent any group or individual, including al-Qa’ida, from using the soil of Afghanistan to threaten the security of the United States and its allies.” Those steps include commitments that the Taliban will instruct its members “not to cooperate with groups or individuals threatening the security of the United States and its allies” and that it “will prevent any group or individual in Afghanistan from threatening the security of the United States and its allies, and will prevent them from recruiting, training, and fundraising and will not host them in accordance with the commitments in this agreement.”

     “The text of the agreement does not contain any specific language regarding the protection of women or civil society,” such trivialities as universal human rights and democracy, and especially the rights of women, being of no value to the Republican government of America, the abolition of liberty and equality in both domestic and global spheres constituting the main goal of all three factions which allied to seize what has become the Party of Treason; the Patriarchy and sexual terror of the Gideonite fundamentalists, the white supremacists who want to overturn the rule of law entirely, and the plutocrats who would dehumanize and enslave us.

      The idea that all of us have equal rights under the law is a nuisance for the Republican alliance which seeks to impose a tyranny of fascism on the whole world as the Fourth Reich. They want to contain and limit viable external threats like Al Qaeda and ISIS, not eliminate them, as such enemies are very useful in driving nationalist fear and rage and in winning the submission of our own citizens to an authoritarian state of force and control, of surveillance and the counterinsurgency model of policing. Tyrants must create such threats if they do not actually exist.

     How many of the terrorist acts against us were perpetrated by pawns who were unaware of their true masters? How many such deniable forces does America employ globally to sow fear and hate, historically in the cause of our imperialism and now also in the subversion of democracy throughout the world?

     We fail to challenge the mechanisms and structures of our enslavement because they are well hidden, devious, subtle, made of smoke and mirrors. Fascisms of blood, faith, and soil now resurgent throughout the world are often characterized as outliers, but they are central to the course of human history. The long game of the Fourth Reich, its invisible tentacles sinuously proliferating  and seizing power throughout decades of influence operations until it ensnares us in its grasp, must not be underestimated.

     So my gladness at news of peace is shadowed by my mistrust in our government, for making peace and bringing our soldiers home conditional to the Taliban policing their areas against al-Qaeda and any terrorists at all, threats they may be powerless to save America from, sabotages peace and renders this accord a spectacle of Trump’s election campaign whose failure can be blamed on others.

     I hope that in this I am wrong, and we will soon be reunited with our loved ones who serve with honor and valor a government which has none, and that nevermore will we fight wars.

    May peace be upon us all.

The Fall of Kabul

Restrepo

     “Restrepo documents the 15-month deployment of a US Army platoon serving in Korengal Valley, Afghanistan in 2007” 

Korengal

     “Korengal continues the eye-opening and terrifying account of a US military platoon in the Korengal Valley of Afghanistan during 2007 and 2008. The documentary follows the same soldiers featured in Restrepo. Rather than focusing on the action and battles experienced by the platoon, the aftermath on the psyche is considered. With hauntingly detached, yet emotional interviews, soldiers from the platoon give their personal account of the war in all its facets. Shot in what’s called extreme closeup, the interviews are meant to physically and emotionally dive into the man under the uniform.

     Battle-worn soldiers from the Korengal Valley discuss their experiences: the good, the bad, and what’s leftover. Fear, adrenaline, brotherhood, honour and bravery are some of the topics brought into the full light of the war in these interviews. With a bittersweet note, several soldiers speak longingly for the intense bonds developed with one another.”

Inglorious Basterds: Shoshanna Prepares for German Night

The Highwayman, by Alfred Noyes

https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/43187/the-highwayman

A Tale of Two Cities, Charles Dickens

Arabic

16 أغسطس 2024 ذكرى سقوط كابول وأفغانستان

     من سقوط أفغانستان ، قد نقول مع تشارلز ديكنز كما هو مكتوب في حكاية مدينتين ؛ “لقد كانت أفضل الأوقات ، كانت أسوأ الأوقات ، كانت عصر الحكمة ، وكان عصر الحماقة ، لقد كان عصر الاعتقاد ، لقد كان عصر الشق ، كان موسم الضوء ، لقد كان موسم الظلام ، لقد كان ربيع الأمل ، كان شتاء اليأس … ، لم يكن لدينا شيء أمامنا ، كنا جميعًا نذهب مباشرة إلى الجنة ، وكنا جميعًا نسير في الاتجاه الآخر … “

     هذه اللحظة الحاسمة من تاريخنا ، لكل من أمريكا وأفغانستان ، لا أتخيل الآن ليس من حيث القوى الجهازية الشاسعة ، ولكن مع ظلام الظلام من خلال ومضات مفاجئة من الذكريات الحية في الوقت المناسب من ما كان حتى الآن بعدوتي الأخيرة في مسرح الحرب هذا وأرض الصراع ؛ الإرهاب والألم والموت والأمل ، تلك الهدية ولعنة باندورا لنا جميعًا.

     كتبت مجلسي في هذا اليوم من العام الماضي من بيشاور خلال الاستعدادات للبعثة ؛ بحلول 24 أغسطس ، كنت عبر ممر خيبر ، وتتضمن مجلتي لهذا التاريخ مقطع فيلم من Inglorious Basterds ، تستعد Shoshanna لـ German Night ، مع أغنيتي الموضوعية لـ Last Stands ، من قبل David Bowie ، والتي أنشرها فقط عندما أكون حولني لفعل شيء لا يوجد منه عودة. خلال دفاعنا عن Panjshir في سبتمبر الماضي ، فقدت أمل في الاستقلال لشعبها ، ولكن لن يتم نسيانها أبدًا.

     أفغانستان حبي. في يوم من الأيام سأعود إليك ، على الرغم من أن الجحيم يجب أن يمنع الطريق.

منذ زمن بعيد فقدت عدد هذه المدرجات الأخيرة ؛ يبدو الآن أنه حالتي الحقيقية ، قفزة الإيمان هذه إلى الهاوية. كما قال لي جان جينيه عام 1982 ، بيروت ، في منزل محترق ، في قضية خاسرة ، في ميثاق انتحاري لرفض الاستسلام وقسم المقاومة الذي وضعني على طريق حياتي. “عندما لا يكون هناك أمل ، نحن أحرار في القيام بأشياء مستحيلة ، وأشياء مجيدة.”    

كما كتبه ألفريد نويز في الطريق السريع ؛

الجزء الأول

كانت الريح سيلًا من الظلام بين الأشجار العاصفة.

كان القمر جاليون شبحًا تم إلقاؤه على البحار الملبدة بالغيوم.

كان الطريق شريطًا من ضوء القمر فوق المستنقع الأرجواني ،

وجاء الطريق السريع – ركوب –

         ركوب – الدوافع –

جاء الطريق السريع يركب ، حتى باب النزل القديم.

لقد كان قبًا فرنسيًا على جبينه ، حفنة من الدانتيل في ذقنه ،

معطف من مخملي كلاريت ، ومؤخرات من الجلد البني.

أنها مزودة مع أبدا التجاعيد. كانت حذائه حتى الفخذ.

وركب مع وميض مرصع بالجواهر ،

         مسدسه بأعقامه ،

رابيره أقصى طوبان ، تحت السماء المرصعة بالجواهر.

فوق الحصى ، اشتبك واشتبك في ساحة الظلام.

استغله مع سوطه على مصاريع ، ولكن تم قفل كل شيء ومنعه.

صفير نغمة إلى النافذة ، ومن يجب أن ينتظر هناك

لكن ابنة المالك السوداء ،

         بيس ، ابنة المالك ،

ضفيعًا لعقدة حب حمراء داكنة في شعرها الأسود الطويل.

ومظلمة في ساحة النزل القديمة المظلمة

حيث استمع تيم أوستلر. كان وجهه أبيض وذروة.

كانت عيناه جوفاء من الجنون ، وشعره مثل القش متعفن ،

لكنه أحب ابنة المالك ،

         ابنة المالك الحمراء.

غبي ككلب استمع إليه ، وسمع السارق يقول –

“قبلة واحدة ، حبيبتي البوني ، أنا بعد جائزة ليلا ،

لكنني سأعود مع الذهب الأصفر قبل ضوء الصباح ؛

ومع ذلك ، إذا ضغطوا علي بشكل حاد ، وهاري لي طوال اليوم ،

ثم ابحث عني بواسطة ضوء القمر ،

         شاهد لي بواسطة ضوء القمر ،

سآتي إليك بواسطة ضوء القمر ، على الرغم من أن الجحيم يجب أن يمنع الطريق “.

ارتفع منتصبا في ركاب. نادر يمكن أن يصل إلى يدها ،

لكنها خففت شعرها في الدسم. محترق وجهه مثل العلامة التجارية

عندما جاء سلسلة العطور السوداء على صدره.

وقبل موجاتها في ضوء القمر ،

         (يا ، الأمواج السوداء الحلوة في ضوء القمر!)

ثم قام بسحبه في ضوء القمر ، وخرج بعيدًا عن الغرب.

الجزء الثاني

لم يأت في الفجر. لم يأت عند الظهر.

ومن بين غروب الشمس المقلق ، قبل صعود القمر ،

عندما كان الطريق شريط الغجر ، يحلق المستنقع الأرجواني ،

جاءت قوات حمراء في مسيرة-

         مسيرة – مارشينغ –

جاء رجال الملك جورج يسيرون ، حتى باب النزل القديم.

قالوا لا كلمة للمالك. شربوا البيرة بدلا من ذلك.

لكنهم وضعوا ابنته ، وربطوها ، على سفح سريرها الضيق.

ركع اثنان منهم على قذائفها ، مع المساحات إلى جانبهم!

كان هناك موت في كل نافذة.

         والجحيم في نافذة مظلمة واحدة ؛

لأن بيس يمكن أن يرى ، من خلال قاعها ، الطريق الذي كان يركبه.

لقد ربطوها بالانتباه ، مع العديد من الدعابة.

كانوا يرتبون مسكيت بجانبها ، مع كمامة تحت صدرها!

“الآن ، حافظ على مراقبة جيدة!” وقبلوها. سمعت الرجل المحكوم يقول –

ابحث عني بواسطة ضوء القمر.

         راقب لي بواسطة ضوء القمر.

سآتي إليك بواسطة ضوء القمر ، على الرغم من أن الجحيم يجب أن يمنع الطريق!

انها ملتوية يديها خلفها. لكن كل العقدة كانت جيدة!

كانت تتلوى يديها حتى كانت أصابعها رطبة بالعرق أو الدم!

امتدوا وتوتروا في الظلام ، وساعات الزحف من قبل سنوات

حتى الآن ، على السكتة الدماغية في منتصف الليل ،

         بارد ، على السكتة الدماغية في منتصف الليل ،

طرف إصبع واحد لمسته! كان الزناد على الأقل لها!

طرف إصبع واحد لمسته. لم تسعى أكثر للباقي.

صعودا ، وقفت انتباه ، مع كمامة تحت صدرها.

لن تخاطر بسماعهم ؛ لن تسعى مرة أخرى.

للطريق وضع عارية في ضوء القمر.

         فارغة وعارية في ضوء القمر.

ودماءها ، في ضوء القمر ، تخثرت على امتناع حبها.

tlot-tlot ؛ tlot-tlot! هل سمعوا ذلك؟ الرنين Horsehoofs واضحة.

tlot-tlot ؛ tlot-tlot ، في المسافة؟ هل كانوا صما لدرجة انهم لم يسمعوا؟

أسفل شريط ضوء القمر ، فوق جبين التل ،

جاء الطريق السريع ركوب –

         ركوب – الدوافع –

نظرت المعاطف الحمراء إلى تحضيرها! وقفت ، مستقيمة وما زالت.

tlot-tlot ، في الصمت الفاتر! tlot-tlot ، في ليلة الصدى!

أقرب جاء وأقرب. كان وجهها مثل الضوء.

نمت عيناها للحظة. رسمت نفسا عميقا آخر ،

ثم تحركت إصبعها في ضوء القمر ،

         حطم بندقية ضوء القمر ،

حطمت صدرها في ضوء القمر وحذرته – مع وفاتها.

التفت. دفع إلى الغرب. لم يكن يعرف من يقف

انحنى ، مع رأسها على المسكيت ، غارق بدمها!

ليس حتى الفجر سمعها ، ونما وجهه رمادي لسماع

كيف بيس ، ابنة المالك ،

         ابنة المالك السوداء ،

كانت قد شاهدت حبها في ضوء القمر ، وتوفي في الظلام هناك.

مرة أخرى ، حفز مثل رجل مجنون ، صرف لعنة على السماء ،

مع تدخين الطريق الأبيض خلفه ورصاصه العالي.

كان الدم الأحمر يوتنهام في الظهر الذهبي. وي

كان NE-Red معطفه المخملي.

عندما أطلقوا النار عليه على الطريق السريع ،

          أسفل مثل كلب على الطريق السريع ،

ووضع في دمه على الطريق السريع ، مع مجموعة من الدانتيل في حلقه.

. . .

يقولون إنه لا يزالون في ليلة الشتاء عندما تكون الريح في الأشجار ،

عندما يكون القمر جاليون شبحًا يتم إلقاؤه على البحار الغائمة ،

عندما يكون الطريق شريطًا من ضوء القمر فوق المستنقع الأرجواني ،

يأتي طريق سريع – ركوب –

          ركوب – الدوافع –

يأتي الطريق السريع ركوبًا ، حتى باب النزل القديم.

فوق الحصى يتساقط ويتطوع في ساحة النزل المظلمة.

انه ينقر مع سوطه على مصاريع ، ولكن كل شيء مغلق ومنع.

صافرة نغمة إلى النافذة ، ومن يجب أن ينتظر هناك

لكن ابنة المالك السوداء ،

          بيس ، ابنة المالك ،

ضفيعًا لعقدة حب حمراء داكنة في شعرها الأسود الطويل.

كما كتبت في منصبي في 16 أغسطس 2021 ، سقوط كابول وأفغانستان ؛ نحن نواجه صورًا ساحرة في نهاية هذا الأسبوع من سقوط كابول وأفغانستان إلى القوى المنتصرة في طالبان وانهيار نظام قرية بوتمبكين وجيشه الميرغ الذي أطلق النار على لم يتمتع بمقاومة ، صور تتذكر سقوط سقوط سقص في عام 1975 في ظل الظروف المتوازية.

     إذا أرادت أمريكا مقعدًا على الطاولة في تشكيل سياسات الحكومة الجديدة ، فيجب علينا أن ندركها على أنها حركة الاستقلال المشروعة وهي ترفض أن تلعب دور الغول الأجنبي للإمبريالية. قد نربح مع الجزر ما فقدناه مع العصا.

      لا ترسل جنودًا بل دبلوماسيون بمساعدة إنسانية ودعم مادي ؛ هذا يمكن أن يكون مشروطًا بالالتزام بمبادئ حقوق الإنسان الشاملة. تحتاج طالبان إلى شيء من الولايات المتحدة والعالم بشكل عام ؛ الاعتراف بالشرعية ، ويمكن أن يكون رافعة قوية.

      كما يقول هنري شكسبير الخامس. “عندما يلعب التسامح والقسوة للمملكة ، فإن اليد اللطيفة هي أفضل الفائز”.

      بدأت الحملة الصليبية الملحمية الأمريكية والمغامرات الإمبراطورية في أفغانستان بحملة ناجحة بشكل مذهل لإسقاط الاتحاد السوفيتي من خلال جذبها ومحاصرةها في غزو وموقد لا يمكن التغلب عليه ، وهو درس نسيه لاحقًا ، نسلح فيه وتدريبه ، وغالبًا ما تم تمويله مباشرة ، وغالبًا ما تم تمويله مباشرة ، وغالبًا ما تم تمويله مباشرة ، وقاتلوا جنبا إلى جنب مع مقاتلي الحرية الذين هم اليوم أمراء الحرب الذين يحكمون بالفعل أفغانستان. شمل هؤلاء العملاء الأميركيين بشكل سيء العالم الديني الرائع أسامة بن لادن ، وأعتقد أننا جميعًا نعرف مدى نجاح ذلك.

    يبدو أننا لم نتعلم شيئًا من إخفاقات الإمبريالية ؛ قد تكون هذه المرة مختلفة ، لكنني أشك في ذلك.

     ما لم نغير القوى والظروف التي تجعل الحرب مربحة للنخب ومفيدة للسلطات في مركزية السلطة.

    لن تكون هذه هي المرة الأولى التي يحكم فيها طالبان ، وهي كلمة الباشتو التي تعني “الطلاب” ، أفغانستان ، كما فعلوا ذلك من عام 1996 إلى عام 2001 كوكيل في باكستان ، حتى غزت أمريكا في أعقاب 911. كما أنها ليست المرة الأولى وقد أستحق أفغانستان لقب “مقبرة الإمبراطوريات” ؛ تم كسر ولاية ألكساندر الخليفة الكبرى في باكتريا ، المغول والإمبراطورية البريطانية والاتحاد السوفيتي جميعها على سندانها. لقد كان أيضًا مسقط رأس الإمبراطوريات العظيمة التي تم تجزئها بعد ذلك ؛ Parthia ، Scythia ، The Boddhist Kushans ، White Huns ، Kidarites ، The Hindu Shahi Dynasty ، و Empire of Nader Shah. تأسست أفغانستان الحديثة في عام 1747 من قبل أحمد شاه دوراني من بقايا المغول وورثة نادر شاه في بلاد فارس ، بعد صراع مدمر متبادل بين سلالة السفافيد في بلاد فارس ومغول الهند لحيازته كاندهار.

     والآن ، يبدو أن دور أمريكا. ما يمتلكهنا ما الجنون ، نحن البشر ، ونحن مدفوعون للسيطرة على الآخرين والسيطرة على الآخرين ، مع الغضب الذهاني المؤسسي وعنف الحرب من جهة والأكاذيب المغرية وأوهام التزوير والسرقة الرأسمالية للموارد العامة والثروة على الآخر ؟

    كيف يمكننا الهروب من الدورة المدمرة المدمرة وخاتم فاجنر من الخوف والقوة والقوة؟

    ما هي بعض الدروس التي يمكن أن نتعلمها من إخفاقاتنا الإمبراطورية في تقسيم وتهاب الوكلاء التصنيعيين والنخب المهيمنة على طول الخطوط الطائفية والعرقية البلقان ، وأمراء الحرب ، ودول العميل الوهمية ، واستراتيجيات الحنطة الإرهابية والطغيان ودولة تعذيب عالمية. ، مراقبة ، قمع المعارضة ، الحدود ، والشرطة ، جنبًا الطعم الدعائي لفخ هيمنةنا؟

     الذي يحمل السلاح يحمل الموت. اختيار الحياة.

     دعونا نتخلى عن الاستخدام الاجتماعي للقوة.

     دعونا لا نرسل أي جيوش لفرض الفضيلة.

     كما كتبت في منصبي في 19 أبريل 2021 ، أعلن بايدن نهاية حرب أمريكا في أفغانستان: الصيحة ، ونتمنى لك التوفيق في ذلك ؛ في أفغانستان ، جئنا للانتقام ، وبقينا من أجل الربح. لقد ثبت أنه من الصعب التخلي عن أي منهما.

     أعلن الرئيس بايدن نهاية حرب أمريكا في أفغانستان ؛ هذا أحتفل به ، فرحتي في أخبار السلام التي تظل فيها فقط حقيقة أننا كنا هنا من قبل. إعلان السلام شيء واحد ؛ الحفاظ على السلام هو آخر تماما.

     كان عام 2019 عامًا من الأمل العظيم الذي خفف من الفشل المأساوي ، الذي تم تصويره بنهايته وبداية عام جديد بسلام هش في أفغانستان بعد 18 عامًا من الحرب ، خسر سلام بعد بضعة أيام في معركة مدتها ست ساعات في المجموع ظلام كهف ، إنقاذ الأختام المحاصرة في قلعة طالبان من خلال تدمير طائراتهم الهليكوبتر خلال اعتداء في انتهاك للمعاهدة ، وهي مهمة الاستفزاز التي كان هدفها تخريب السلام ، حيث كان تاريخ آلاف السنين في الحضارة كله.

تم تحمل CT من قبل أربعة رجال قاموا بحرية تسلق جبلًا في إعادة تسوية ألكساندر ذا كبرز القبض على صخرة سوجديان ، ثم مع خلسة ، وتوجيه خاطئ ، وهزمت الدقة قوة طغت عليها وتثبيتها في فريق هجوم محمول جواً من الأختام.

     كما هو الحال مع العديد من الأحداث التي تتكشف باعتبارها انحدارًا لرمي الكلمات في رمي الحجارة ، فقد كان نجاحًا تكتيكيًا وفشلًا استراتيجيًا ، وعملًا مجيدًا للبطولة وإمبريالية استفزاها التي أجرت انسحابنا من جنون حرب إلى الأبد.

      كان هذا بمثابة عمل مسرحي مصمم لتزويد Casus Belli ، وهي مهمة سرية لتخريب السلام على غرار الحيلة التي يستخدمها اليابانيون لإضفاء الشرعية على غزوهم لمانشوريا في عام 1931 ، وهو حادثة موكدن ، التي تضمنت جنديًا يابانيًا واحدًا ، وهو أحد الجنود الياباني ، رجل مفقود تم إرسال الجنود الآخرين للإنقاذ.

     سيكون سلام بايدن بمثابة اختبار لروح أمريكا ، وقيمنا ونوايانا الحقيقية تجاه العالم ، ووحدتنا للهدف. هذا هو الخط الذي آمل أن نتمكن من الاحتفاظ به ، لأنه إذا كان مستثنينا للموت وما وصفه أيزنهاور بتخريب المعقدة العسكرية ، فإن الفرصة للسلام مرة أخرى في الخدمة للثروة والسلطة ، كما فعل ترامب في عام 2019 وقوى الإمبراطورية اليابانية فعلت في عام 1931 ، فإن العقود الآجلة المحتملة التي تتكشف من تلك اللحظة لا تعد بعالم أفضل.

     نحن نعرف ما حدث في المرة الأخيرة ، في بيرل هاربور.

     كما كتبت في منصبي في 2 يناير 2020 ، نهاية في الأفق إلى الحرب إلى الأبد في أفغانستان؟ يجلب العام الجديد هدية من السلام ، أو احتماله ، مما قد يسمح لنا بإنهاء حربنا 18 عامًا إلى الأبد في أفغانستان وإحضار قواتنا البالغ عددها 12000 قوات إلى المنزل.

      مات مئات الآلاف في هذا الصراع الملحمي دون أي فائدة حقيقية لأي شخص ، وهي حرب كانت فيها الأهداف والتحالفات وأبراج السلطة غير متبلورة وتتحول ، وقد حاولت أمريكا الفيضان معارضتها مع لواء دلو.

     إذا كان من الممكن تزوير سلام ، إذا كان من الممكن تجميع أمة مرة أخرى مثل Humpty Dumpty ، فستكون معجزة ، ولكنها واحدة مثل فيتنام التي تهرب فيها أمريكا في الهزيمة وتتخلى عن حلفائها لعدو غير مريح مخصص لإنفاذ رؤيتها لها مجتمع مثالي على الجميع يمكنه. هذه المقارنة محدودة بعدة طرق ، من بينها الحقيقة الغريبة التي تدعمها أمريكا طالبان من خلال الجزية التي يدفعها مقاولينا المدنيين بينما كانت الجيوش لدينا توفر بعضها البعض في معركة حفرة تتميز بجرائم حرب من جميع الأطراف ، التي حضرها تجريد الإنسانية وفقدان الحضارة للقيم.

      الحرب تجعل العمل الجيد لعدد قليل ، ورعب غير مفهوم للكثيرين.

     كما وصفها رحيم فايز وكاثي غانون في HuffPost ؛ “إن الركن الرئيسي للاتفاقية ، التي كانت الولايات المتحدة و Taliban تتخلى عن أكثر من عام ، هي مفاوضات مباشرة بين الأفغان على جانبي الصراع.

     من المتوقع أن تُعقد تلك المفاوضات داخل الأفغان في غضون أسبوعين من توقيع اتفاق سلام في الولايات المتحدة. من المحتمل أن يقرروا كيف ستبدو أفغانستان بعد الحرب ، وما هو الدور الذي سيلعبه طالبان. ستغطي المفاوضات مجموعة واسعة من الموضوعات ، مثل حقوق المرأة ، وحرية التعبير ومصير عشرات الآلاف من مقاتلي طالبان ، وكذلك الميليشيات المسلحة المسلحة التي تنتمي إلى أمراء الحرب في أفغانستان الذين جمعوا الثروة والقوة منذ طالبان الإطاحة “.

    وفي منصبي اللاحق في 29 فبراير 2020 ، السلام في أفغانستان؟ نحتفل اليوم بالتوقيع التاريخي لاتفاق السلام بين أمريكا وعلى طالبان ، وفرصة لإعطاء قواتنا إلى المنزل من حرب 18 عامًا والتي لم تحقق سوى تكلفة كبيرة في الدم والكنز. إنه سلام مبدئي ، مشروط ، صُمم في وثيقة رائعة ستبقى إلى الأبد مثالًا على الدبلوماسية الرائعة ، والتي قد يطالب فيها كلا الجانبين بالانتصار.

      لقد فازت أمريكا بتدمير وتنسيق عدو عظيم ، تنظيم القاعدة ، من قبل حلفائهم في طالبان ؛ هذا أيضًا يتأرجح طالبان كدولة سنية مع اعتراف بحكم الواقع على الحدود الشرقية لإيران باعتباره ثقلًا موازًا ، وهو فوز غير مؤهل من حيث الاستراتيجية الجيوسياسية.

     يمكن لطالبان المطالبة بالفوز على أمريكا في حربهم الطويلة لتحرير أمهم الإمبريالية الأجنبية. لقد تنازلنا عن الشرعية إلى طالبان واعترفنا في كتابة هزيمتنا التامة ، من خلال النظام المباشر لرئيسنا الأبله الجبان ترامب ، الذي لا تعني كلماته شيئًا ؛ يبقى فقط للتخلي عن حلفائنا والفرار من أفغانستان مثل الكلاب المخفوقة.

     قد لا تكون هذه هي الطريقة التي سيتم بها تأطير السرد ، وتنسجها ، وبيعها في أمريكا ، إما من قبل حكومتنا ولا أمة من حروب الأبد المدمرة التي لا معنى لها ، لكنني أضمن لك أن هذا هو مقدار ما سوف يفسره العالم.

     لكن هذا ليس هو السبب في أنني غير مرتاح ومليء بالفزع الحضنة على احتمال وجود فرصة للسلام التي يقدمها هذه الاتفاقية. لماذا أنا لست مبتهجًا ويرقص مع نشوة الطرب المنتصرة في فرصة إنهاء الحرب ، أي فرصة في آل

ل؟

     كما تكتب جنيفر هاندلر في سي إن إن ؛ “ينص الاتفاق المكون من أربع صفحات على أن طالبان ستتخذ خطوات” لمنع أي مجموعة أو فرد ، بما في ذلك القاعدة ، من استخدام تربة أفغانستان لتهديد أمن الولايات وحلفائها “. تتضمن هذه الخطوات التزامات بأن طالبان ستوجه أعضائها “عدم التعاون مع مجموعات أو أفراد يهددون بأمن الولايات المتحدة وحلفائها” وأنها “ستمنع أي مجموعة أو فرد في أفغانستان من تهديد أمن الولايات المتحدة وحلفائها ، وسيمنعونهم من التوظيف والتدريب وجمع التبرعات ولن يستضيفهم وفقًا للالتزامات في هذه الاتفاقية. “

     “نص الاتفاق لا يحتوي على أي لغة محددة فيما يتعلق بحماية المرأة أو المجتمع المدني” ، مثل هذه التظاهرات مثل حقوق الإنسان والديمقراطية العالمية ، وخاصة حقوق المرأة ، لا قيمة لها للحكومة الجمهورية الأمريكية ، إلغاء الحرية والمساواة في كل من المجالات المحلية والعالمية التي تشكل الهدف الرئيسي لجميع الفصائل الثلاثة التي تحالفها الاستيلاء على ما أصبح حزب الخيانة ؛ الإرهاب الأبوي والإرهاب الجنسي لأصولي الجدونيت ، والتفوق البيض الذين يرغبون في إلغاء حكم القانون بالكامل ، والبلوتوقراطيين الذين يتجاهلوننا ويستعبدونا.

      إن فكرة أن جميعًا لدينا حقوق متساوية بموجب القانون هي مصدر إزعاج للتحالف الجمهوري الذي يسعى إلى فرض طغيان من الفاشية في العالم بأسره باعتباره الرايخ الرابع. إنهم يريدون احتواء وتقييد تهديدات خارجية قابلة للحياة مثل القاعدة وداعش ، وليس القضاء عليها ، لأن هذه الأعداء مفيدة للغاية في قيادة الخوف القومي والغضب وفي الفوز بتقديم مواطنينا إلى حالة سلطنة من القوة والسيطرة ، من المراقبة ونموذج مكافحة التمرد للشرطة. يجب أن يخلق الطغاة مثل هذه التهديدات إذا لم تكن موجودة بالفعل.

     كم من الأعمال الإرهابية ضدنا ارتكبها البيادق الذين لم يكونوا على دراية بسادائهم الحقيقيين؟ كم عدد هذه القوى التي يمكن إنكارها التي توظفها أمريكا على الصعيد العالمي لزرع الخوف والكراهية ، تاريخياً في قضية الإمبريالية والآن في تخريب الديمقراطية في جميع أنحاء العالم؟

     نفشل في تحدي آليات وهياكل استعبادنا لأنها مخفية جيدًا ، ملتوية ، خفية ، مصنوعة من الدخان والمرايا. غالبًا ما يتم تمييز الفاشية من الدم والإيمان والتربة في جميع أنحاء العالم على أنها القيم المتطرفة ، لكنها أساسية في مجرى تاريخ البشرية. اللعبة الطويلة في الرايخ الرابع ، مخالبها غير المرئية التي تنتشر بشكل خاطئ وتستولى على السلطة على مدار عقود من عمليات التأثير حتى لا تنفجر في قبضتها.

     لذا فإن سعادتي في أخبار السلام قد تظل من خلال عدم ثقتني في حكومتنا ، ولعمل سلامهم وجواد جنودنا إلى المنزل الشرطي لبطولة طالبان مناطقهم ضد تنظيم القاعدة وأي إرهابيين على الإطلاق ، قد يكونون عاجزين لإنقاذ أمريكا من ، تخريب السلام ويجعل هذا الأمر يتفق على مشهد في حملة ترامب الانتخابية التي يمكن إلقاء اللوم على فشلها على الآخرين.

     آمل أن أكون مخطئًا في هذا ، وسنجمد قريباً مع أحبائنا الذين يخدمون بشرف وشجاعة حكومة لا يوجد بها شيء ، ولن نحارب الحروب أبدًا.

    قد يكون السلام علينا جميعًا.

Pashto

6 اګست 2024 د کابل او افغانستان د سقوط کلیزه

 د افغانستان د سقوط په اړه موږ ممکن د چارلس ډیکنز سره ووایو لکه څنګه چې د دوه ښارونو کیسه کې لیکل شوي؛ “دا تر ټولو ښه وخت و، دا تر ټولو بد وخت و، دا د حکمت عمر و، دا د حماقت زمانه وه، دا د باور زمانه وه، دا د بې باورۍ دور و، دا د رڼا موسم و، دا د تیارو موسم و، دا د امید پسرلی و، دا د نا امیدۍ ژمی و …، زموږ په وړاندې هیڅ شی نه و، موږ ټول مستقیم جنت ته روان وو، موږ ټول په مستقیم ډول بل لوري ته روان وو … “

 زموږ د تاریخ دا ټاکونکې شیبه، د امریکا او افغانستان دواړو او د تمدنونو د پراخې جګړې چې زموږ کیسه یې یوه برخه ده، د یونان د ډیموکراسۍ او د فارس د استبدادي امپراتورۍ تر منځ په جګړو کې پخپله د تمدن له رامینځته کیدو سره پیل شو. د کابل سقوط اوس د پراخو نظامی ځواکونو له نظره نه، بلکې د تیارو په څیر د وخت په تیریدو سره د ناڅاپه روښانه یادونو په رڼا کې د هغه څه څخه چې تر دې دمه د جګړې دې ډګر او د مبارزې ډګر ته زما وروستی سفر دی؛ ډار، درد، مرګ، او امید، دا ډالۍ او د پانډورا لعنت موږ ټولو ته.

 ما د دې ورځې د ننوتنې په ورځ کې درې کاله مخکې له پېښور څخه د سفر لپاره د چمتووالي په حال کې لیکلی و. تر 24 اګست 2021 پورې زه د خیبر د لارې په اوږدو کې وم، او د دې نیټې لپاره زما په ژورنال کې د Inglorious Basterds څخه یو فلمي کلپ شامل دی، شوشانه د ډیویډ بووی لخوا د عالي موسیقۍ سره د جرمن شپې لپاره چمتو کوي، د وروستي سټینډز لپاره زما موضوع سندره، کوم چې زه یوازې هغه وخت پوسټ کوم زه د هغه څه په اړه یم چې له هغې څخه بیرته راستنیدل نشته.

 ډیر پخوا ما د داسې وروستي سټینډونو شمیر له لاسه ورکړ. اوس داسې بریښي چې زما ریښتیني حالت دی ، د عقیدې دا کودتا په حبس کې. لکه څنګه چې ژان جینټ په 1982 بیروت کې ما ته وویل، په یوه سوځیدلي کور کې، په یوه ورک شوي دلیل کې، د تسلیم کولو څخه د انکار په ځانمرګي تړون کې او د مقاومت حلف چې زما د ژوند لاره یې جوړه کړه؛ “کله چې هیڅ امید شتون ونلري، موږ د ناممکن شیانو، عالي شیانو ترسره کولو لپاره آزاد یو.”

 زموږ د پنجشیر د سپتمبر د دفاع په جریان کې د هغې د خلکو لپاره د خپلواکۍ یوه هیره شوې هیله له لاسه ورکړه، مګر هیڅکله به هیر نشي.

 افغانستان زما مینه؛ یوه ورځ به زه تا ته بیرته راستون شم، که څه هم دوزخ باید لاره بنده کړي.

 لکه څنګه چې د الفرډ نویس لخوا په Highwayman کې لیکل شوی؛

لومړۍ برخه

باد د شنو ونو په منځ کې د تیارو څپې وه.

سپوږمۍ یو شیطاني ګیلون و چې په ورېځو سمندرونو کې غورځول شوی و.

سړک د ارغواني مور په سر د سپوږمۍ د رڼا ربن وه،

او د لویې لارې سړی راغی –

 سواری – سواری –

د لویې لارې سړی په سواره راغی، د کور زاړه دروازې ته.

په تندی یې فرانسوی خولۍ اغوستی وه، په زنه کې یې یوه لیسه وه،

د کلارټ مخمل کوټ، او د نسواري رنګ پوټکي برچونه.

دوی هیڅ کله هم د چاغوالي سره نه دي سمبال شوي. د هغه بوټان تر ران پورې وو.

او هغه د ګاڼو په څرمن سره سپاره شو

 د هغه د تومانچې ګولۍ یو ځلیږي،

د هغه ریپیر د ګاڼو لرونکی اسمان لاندې یو ځل بیا ځلیده.

د کوبلو په سر یې په تیاره انګړ کې ولویده او شخړه یې وکړه.

هغه د خپل څراغ سره په شټرونو کې ټپ کړ، مګر ټول تړل شوي او منع شوي وو.

هغه کړکۍ ته یو غږ وواهه، او څوک باید هلته انتظار وکړي

خو د مالک د تور سترګو لور،

 بیس، د مالک لور،

د هغې په اوږدو تور ویښتانو کې د تیاره سور مینې غوټۍ اچول.

او په تیاره زاړه انګړ کې یو باثباته ویکټ ټوټه شوه

چیرته چې ټیم اوسترر غوږ نیولی و. مخ يې سپين او سپين و.

سترګې یې د لیونتوب کندې وې، ویښتان یې لکه د وریجو په څیر و،

خو هغه د مالک له لور سره مینه درلوده،

 د ځمکې د مالک سور شونډې لور.

د سپي په څیر ګونګۍ غوږ نیولی و، او هغه یې واورېد چې غل وویل:

“یوه ښکل کړه، زما خوږې خوږې، زه نن شپه د انعام وروسته یم،

خو زه به د سهار له رڼا مخکې د ژېړ سرو زرو سره بیرته راشم.

بیا هم، که دوی ما په چټکۍ سره فشار راوړي، او ما د ورځې په اوږدو کې ځوروي،

بیا راته د سپوږمۍ په رڼا کې وګوره

 د سپوږمۍ رڼا راته وګوره

زه به د سپوږمۍ له لارې تا ته راشم، که څه هم دوزخ باید لاره بنده کړي.

هغه په غېږ کې نېغ پورته شو. هغه په ندرت سره د هغې لاس ته رسیدلی شي،

مګر هغې خپل ویښتان په قضیه کې خلاص کړل. د هغه مخ د نښې په څیر سوځیدلی

لکه څنګه چې د عطرو تور څاڅکی د هغه په سینه کې راوتلی و.

او هغه د سپوږمۍ په رڼا کې د هغې څپې ښکل کړې،

 (اې، د سپوږمۍ په رڼا کې خوږې تورې څپې!)

بیا یې د سپوږمۍ په رڼا کې خپل بام ته وخندل او لویدیځ ته یې منډه کړه.

دوهمه برخه

هغه په سهار کې نه و راغلی. هغه ماسپښین نه و راغلی؛

او د لمر ختو څخه د سپوږمۍ د راڅرګندیدو دمخه،

کله چې سړک د جپسي ربن و، ارغواني خټکی لوپ کول،

یو سور کوټ سرتیری راغی –

 مارچ کول – مارچ کول –

د پاچا جورج سړي په مارش کې راغلل، د زاړه هوټل دروازې ته.

دوی د ځمکې خاوند ته څه ونه ویل. دوی د هغه پر ځای د هغه شراب وڅښل.

مګر دوی د هغه لور وتړله او د هغې تنګ بستر ته یې وتړله.

له دوی څخه دوه یې د هغې په غاړه کې زنګونونه وهلي او په څنګ کې یې موسکاوې!

په هره کړکۍ کې مرګ وو

 او په یوه تیاره کړکۍ کې دوزخ؛

ځکه چې بیس کولی شي د هغې د قضیې له لارې هغه سړک وګوري چې هغه به پکې سپاره وي.

دوی د هغې پام ځان ته تړلی و، په ډیری مسخره ټوکو سره.

دوی د هډ تر څنګ یو ټوټی تړلی و

r، د هغې د سینې لاندې د خولې سره!

“اوس، ښه پام وکړئ!” او هغوی یې ښکل کړل. هغې د وژل شوي سړي غږ واورېد چې وايي:

د سپوږمۍ په رڼا کې ما لټوه؛

 د سپوږمۍ په رڼا کې زما لپاره وګورئ؛

زه به د سپوږمۍ له لارې تا ته راشم، که څه هم دوزخ باید لاره بنده کړي!

هغې خپل لاسونه شاته وغورځول؛ مګر ټول غوټۍ ښه ساتل شوي!

هغې خپل لاسونه تر هغه پورې ومینځل چې ګوتې یې له خولې یا وینې لمدې شوې!

دوی په تیاره کې غزیدلي او ستړي شوي ، او ساعتونه د کلونو په څیر تیریدل

تر اوسه، د نیمې شپې په ټپه کې،

 سړه، د نیمې شپې په ټپه کې،

د یوې ګوتې سر یې لمس کړ! محرک لږترلږه د هغې وه!

د یوې ګوتې څنډه یې لمس کړه. هغې د پاتې نورو لپاره هیڅ هڅه ونه کړه.

پورته شوه، هغه د پاملرنې لپاره ودرېده، د هغې د سینې لاندې توپک سره.

هغې به د دوی اوریدل په خطر کې ونلري. هغه به بیا هڅه ونه کړي؛

سړک د سپوږمۍ په رڼا کې پروت دی؛

 د سپوږمۍ په رڼا کې خالي او خالي؛

او د هغې د رګونو وینه، د سپوږمۍ په رڼا کې، د هغې د مینې ډډه کوله.

Tlot-tlot; tlot-tlot! ایا دوی دا اوریدلي دي؟ د آسونو پښې روښانه دي؛

Tlot-tlot; tlot-tlot، په فاصله کې؟ ایا دوی کاڼه وو چې نه یې اورېدل؟

د سپوږمۍ د رڼا ربن لاندې، د غونډۍ پر مخ،

د لویې لارې سړی راغی –

 سواری – سواری –

سور کوټونو خپل لومړيتوب ته وکتل! هغه ودریده، مستقیمه او لاهم.

ټلوټ-ټلوټ، په یخنۍ خاموشۍ کې! ټلوټ-ټلوټ، په ګونګو شپه کې!

هغه نږدې راغی او نږدې شو. د هغې مخ د رڼا په څیر و.

د هغې سترګې د یوې شیبې لپاره پراخې شوې. هغې یوه وروستۍ ژوره ساه واخیسته

بیا د هغې ګوته د سپوږمۍ په رڼا کې روانه شوه،

 د هغې مسکا د سپوږمۍ رڼا ټوټه کړه،

د سپوږمۍ په رڼا کې یې سینه ټوټه کړه او خبرداری یې ورکړ – د هغې له مرګ سره.

هغه وګرځېد. هغه لويديځ ته وهڅاوه؛ هغه نه پوهیده چې څوک ولاړ دی

سجده شوې، د خپل سر په موسکا سره، په خپله وینه لمده شوې!

تر سهاره پورې يې دا واوريد او مخ يې په اورېدو خړ شو

څنګه بیس، د مالک لور،

 د مالک د تور سترګو لور،

د سپوږمۍ په رڼا کې یې خپلې مینې ته کتل، او هلته په تیاره کې مړه شوه.

شاته، هغه د لیونۍ په څیر وخوت، آسمان ته یې لعنت وویل،

د هغه شاته د سپین سړک سګرټ څکول او د هغه ریپیر لوړ لوړ و.

د سرو زرو په غرمه کې يې د وينې سورې وې. د هغه مخمل کوټ و؛

کله چې دوی هغه په لویه لاره وویشتل،

 په لویه لاره کې د سپي په څیر ښکته،

او هغه په خپله وینه کې د لویې لارې په اوږدو کې پروت و، د هغه په لږه کې د لیسې سره.

. . .

او بیا هم د ژمي په شپه کې، دوی وايي، کله چې باد په ونو کې وي،

کله چې سپوږمۍ یو شیطاني ګیلن وي چې په ورېځو سمندرونو کې غورځول کیږي،

کله چې سړک د ارغواني مور په سر د سپوږمۍ د رڼا ربن وي،

د لویې لارې سړی راځي –

 سواری – سواری –

د لویې لارې یو سړی په سپرلۍ راځي، د زاړه کور دروازې ته.

هغه په تیاره انګړ کې د کوبلونو په سر چغې وهي او چغې وهي.

هغه د خپل څراغ سره په شټرونو نل، مګر ټول تړل شوي او منع شوي دي.

هغه کړکۍ ته غږ کوي، او څوک باید هلته انتظار وکړي

خو د مالک د تور سترګو لور،

 بیس، د مالک لور،

د هغې په اوږدو تور ویښتانو کې د تیاره سور مینې غوټۍ اچول.

 لکه څنګه چې ما د اګست په 16 2021 کې زما په پوسټ کې لیکلي و، د کابل او افغانستان سقوط؛ موږ د دې اونۍ په پای کې د کابل او افغانستان د سقوط په زړه پورې انځورونو سره مخامخ یو چې د طالبانو د فاتح ځواکونو او زموږ د پوتیمکین کلي د رژیم سقوط او د هغه مرجان اردو چې په مقاومت کې یې یوه ډزې هم نه وې کړې، هغه انځورونه چې د سیګون د سقوط یادونه کوي. په 1975 کې د موازي شرایطو لاندې.

 که امریکا غواړي د نوي حکومت د تګلارو په جوړولو کې د میز په سر کې ځای ولري، موږ باید دا د خپلواکۍ د مشروع غورځنګ په توګه وپیژنو چې دا دی او د امپریالیزم د بهرنیو غلو رول لوبولو څخه ډډه وکړي. موږ ممکن د گاجر سره وګټو هغه څه چې موږ په لرګي سره له لاسه ورکړي.

 د بشردوستانه مرستو او مادي مرستو سره عسکر نه بلکې ډیپلوماټان راولئ. دا کیدای شي د نړیوالو بشري حقونو د اصولو سره په مشروط ډول وي. طالبان له امریکا او نړۍ څخه یو څه ته اړتیا لري. د مشروعیت پیژندنه، او دا یو پیاوړی لیور کیدی شي.

 لکه څنګه چې د شکسپیر هنري پنځم وايي؛ “کله چې نرمي او ظلم د سلطنت لپاره لوبه کوي، نرم لاس د ډاډ وړ ګټونکی دی.”

 په افغانستان کې د امریکا تاریخي صليبي او امپریالستي سفرونه د شوروي اتحاد د راپرځولو لپاره په زړه پورې بریالۍ کمپاین سره پیل شو چې د یو نه ماتیدونکي یرغل او فتحې په لور یې راکش کړ، هغه درس چې وروسته یې هیر شو، په کوم کې چې موږ وسله وال، روزل شوي، تمویل شوي او ډیری وختونه په مستقیمه توګه امر شوی. او د آزادۍ د جنګیالیو سره یوځای جنګیدل چې نن ورځ هغه جنګسالاران دي چې په حقیقت کې پر افغانستان واکمن دي. په دې امریکایی مراجعینو کې په بدنامه توګه تکړه دیني عالم اسامه بن لادن هم شامل وو، او زه فکر کوم چې موږ ټول پوهیږو چې دا څومره ښه کار شوی.

 داسې ښکاري چې موږ د خپل امپریالیزم له ناکامیو څخه هیڅ شی نه دی زده کړی. دا وخت ممکن توپیر ولري، مګر زه شک لرم.

 پرته لدې چې موږ هغه ځواکونه او شرایط بدل کړو چې جګړه د اشرافو لپاره ګټوره او د واک په مرکزي کولو کې د چارواکو لپاره ګټور وي.

 دا به لومړی ځل نه وي چې طالبان

د شتو کلمه چې “شاګردانو” معنی لري، په افغانستان کې د 1996 څخه تر 2001 پورې د پاکستان د نیابتي په توګه حکومت کړی دی، تر هغه چې امریکا د 911 په پایله کې یرغل وکړ. “; د الکساندر اعظم د ځای ناستي دولت باختر، مغولستان، د برتانوي امپراتورۍ او شوروي اتحاد ټول د هغه په نس کې مات شول. دا د سترو امپراتوریو د زیږون ځای هم دی چې بیا ټوټه ټوټه شو. پارتیا، سیتیا، د بودايي کوشانیانو، سپین ږیرو، کیدارایټس، د هندو شاهي کورنۍ او د نادر شاه امپراتورۍ. عصري افغانستان په ۱۷۴۷ کال کې د احمد شاه دراني له خوا په پارس کې د مغلو او نادرشاه د وارثانو له خوا د کندهار د نیولو لپاره د پارس د صفوي سلطنت او د هند د مغلو تر منځ له دوه اړخیزې ویجاړونکې جګړې وروسته تاسیس شو.

 او اوس، داسې ښکاري، دا د امریکا وار دی. موږ انسانان هغه څه جنون لرو چې له یوې خوا د جګړې بنسټیز رواني قهر او تاوتریخوالی او له بلې خوا د عامه زیرمو او شتمنیو د پانګوالۍ غلا او د پانګې اچونې د فریب کارۍ له امله موږ په نورو باندې د تسلط او تسلط لپاره هڅول شوي یو. ؟

 موږ څنګه کولی شو د ویره ، ځواک او ځواک له ویجاړونکي شیطاني دورې او واګنرین حلقې څخه خلاص شو؟

 کوم درسونه دي چې موږ کولی شو د خپلو امپراتوري ناکامیو څخه زده کړو چې زموږ د امپراتوري ناکامیو څخه د بالکان شوي فرقه ایزو او توکمیزو کرښو په اوږدو کې د تولیدي پراکسي او تسلطي اشرافو، جنګ سالارانو، د فریب ورکوونکي مشتریانو دولتونو، او د دولتي ترور او استبداد او د یو نړیوال ظالمانه دولت څخه کار اخیستلو ستراتیژیو سره ویش او فتح کړو؟ نظارت، د مخالفانو جبر کول، سرحدونه او پولیس، د مفسدو اولیګارچیانو او ګوډاګیو رژیمونو د انضمام، هماهنګۍ، استعماري استثمار، او زموږ د ارزښتونو او نظریاتو، د ډیموکراسۍ او نړیوال بشري حقونو د وسلو په توګه. زموږ د واکمنۍ د جال لپاره تبلیغاتي بیت؟

 څوک چې وسلې په لاس کې لري، مرګ یې ژغوري. ژوند غوره کړئ.

 راځئ چې د زور ټولنیز استعمال پریږدو.

 راځئ چې د فضیلت پلي کولو لپاره هیڅ لښکر ونه لیږو.

 لکه څنګه چې ما د اپریل په 19 2021 کې زما په پوسټ کې لیکلي و، بایډن په افغانستان کې د امریکا د جګړې پای اعلان کړ: هورې، او د دې سره ښه بخت؛ په افغانستان کې موږ د غچ اخیستو لپاره راغلي یو او د ګټې لپاره پاتې شو. دا ستونزمنه ثابته شوې چې دواړه پریږدي.

 ولسمشر بایډن په افغانستان کې د امریکا د جګړې د پای اعلان وکړ؛ دا زه لمانځم، د سولې د خبرونو په اړه زما خوښي یوازې د دې حقیقت له مخې سیوري لري چې موږ مخکې دلته یو. د سولې اعلان یو شی دی. د سولې ساتل بل څه دي.

 2019 د سترې هیلې کال و چې له غمجنې ناکامۍ سره مخ شو، چې په پای کې په افغانستان کې له اتلس کلنې جګړې وروسته د یوې نازکې سولې سره نوی کال پیل شو، څو ورځې وروسته په ټولیزه توګه په شپږ ساعته جګړه کې سوله له لاسه ورکړه. د غار تیاره، د تړون څخه د سرغړونې په ترڅ کې د برید په ترڅ کې د دوی د چورلکو په ویجاړولو سره د طالبانو په کلا کې د بندو سیلانو ژغورل، د اشتباه یو ماموریت چې هدف یې د سولې سبوتاژ کول وو، په کوم کې چې د زرګونو کلونو د تمدن جګړو ټول تاریخ و. د څلورو کسانو لخوا زیږیدلی و چې د لوی سکندر د سغدیان ډبرې د نیولو په یادولو کې یې په آزاده توګه غره ته وخوت او بیا یې په پټه، غلطه لار او دقیقیت سره هغه ځواک ته ماتې ورکړه چې د SEALs د هوایی برید ډله یې مغلوبه کړې وه.

 لکه د ډیرو پیښو په څیر چې د تیږو په غورځولو کې د کلمو د تکرار په توګه راڅرګندیږي، دا دواړه یو تاکتیکي بریا او ستراتیژیکه ناکامي وه، د اتلولۍ یو عالي عمل او د امپریالیستي هڅونه وه چې د تلپاتې جګړې له جنون څخه زموږ وتل یې سبوتاژ کړل.

 دا یو تیاتر سیټ ټوټه عمل و چې د کاسوس بیلی چمتو کولو لپاره ډیزاین شوی و ، د سولې د سبوتاژ کولو لپاره یو پټ ماموریت چې د جاپان لخوا په 1931 کې په منچوریا د دوی د برید مشروعیت لپاره کارول شوی و ، د موکډن پیښه ، چې یو جاپاني سرتیري پکې ښکیل و. ورک شوی سړی چې نور سرتیري یې د ژغورنې لپاره لیږل شوي.

 د بایډن سوله به د امریکا د روح، د نړۍ په وړاندې زموږ د ریښتیني ارزښتونو او ارادې او زموږ د هدف د یووالي ازموینه وي. دا هغه کرښه ده چې زه امید لرم چې موږ یې ساتلی شو ، ځکه چې که زموږ د مرګ ګټې اخیستونکي او هغه څه چې آیزن هوور یې نظامي – صنعتي کمپلیکس سبوتاژ کړي د سولې فرصت یو ځل بیا د شتمنۍ او ځواک په خدمت کې ، لکه څنګه چې ټرمپ په 2019 کې وکړ او د امپریال جاپان ځواکونه. په 1931 کې ترسره شوي، احتمالي راتلونکې چې له دې شیبې څخه راڅرګندیږي د یوې غوره نړۍ ژمنه نه کوي.

 موږ پوهیږو چې وروستی ځل په پیرل هاربر کې څه پیښ شوي.

 لکه څنګه چې ما د جنوري 2 2020 په خپل پوسټ کې لیکلي و، په افغانستان کې د تلپاتې جګړې پای ته رسیدل؟ نوی کال د سولې ډالۍ راوړي، یا د هغې امکان، چې کیدای شي موږ ته اجازه راکړي چې په افغانستان کې زموږ 18 کلنه د تل لپاره جګړه پای ته ورسوو او خپل 12,000 سرتیري خپل کور ته راوړو.

 په دې سترې جګړې کې په سلګونو زره انسانان مړه شوي دي چې هیڅ چا ته یې هیڅ ګټه نه ده رسولې، داسې جګړه چې هدفونه، اتحادونه او د قدرت کنډکونه یې بې بنسټه او د بدلون په حال کې دي، یو سیلاب امریکا هڅه کړې چې د بټۍ لوا سره مخالفت وکړي.

 که سوله رامنځته شي، که

یو ملت د همپټي ډمپټي په څیر یوځل بیا سره یوځای کیدی شي، دا به یوه معجزه وي، مګر د ویتنام په څیر یو هیواد چې امریکا په ماتې سره وتښتي او خپل متحدین یو داسې ناپیژانده دښمن ته پریږدي چې د یوې مثالي ټولنې لید په هرچا باندې پلي کړي. دا ډول پرتله کول په ډیری لارو محدود دي، د دوی له جملې څخه یو عجیب حقیقت دا دی چې امریکا طالبانو ته زموږ د ملکي قراردادیانو لخوا د پیسو ورکولو له لارې سبسایډي کوي پداسې حال کې چې زموږ پوځیان په یوه کنده جګړه کې یو بل ژغوري چې د ټولو خواوو جنګي جنایتونه په نښه شوي دي. غیر انساني کول او د ارزښتونو تمدن زیان.

 جګړه د یو څو لپاره ښه سوداګرۍ رامینځته کوي ، او د ډیری لپاره د نه پوهیدو ویره.

 لکه څنګه چې رحیم فایز او کیتی ګنن په هفپوسټ کې تشریح کړی؛ “د موافقې یو مهم رکن، چې امریکا او طالبان له یوه کال څخه زیات وخت نیسي، د جګړې د دواړو خواوو د افغانانو ترمنځ مستقیمې خبرې اترې دي.

 تمه ده چې دا بین الافغاني خبرې به د امریکا او طالبانو ترمنځ د سولې د هوکړې له لاسلیک وروسته په دوو اونیو کې پیل شي. دوی به احتمالا پریکړه وکړي چې د جګړې وروسته افغانستان به څه ډول وي، او طالبان به څه رول لوبوي. په دې خبرو اترو کې به د ښځو حقونه، د بیان آزادۍ او د لسګونو زرو طالب جنګیالیو برخلیک او همدارنګه د افغانستان د جنګسالارانو د درنو وسله والو ملېشو چې د افغانستان له جګړې راوروسته یې شتمني او واک تر لاسه کړی، په پراخه کچه موضوعات تر پوښښ لاندې راولي. د طالبانو له منځه وړل.»

 او زما په ورپسې پوسټ کې د فبروري 29 2020، په افغانستان کې سوله؟ موږ نن د امریکا او طالبانو تر منځ د سولې د تاریخي تړون د لاسلیک او د دې چانس لمانځو چې خپل پوځیان له ۱۸ کلنې جګړې څخه چې د وینو او خیانت په بیه یې په کمه بیه لاسته راوړې، کور ته راوړو. دا یوه لنډمهاله، مشروطه سوله ده، چې په یوه روښانه سند کې جوړه شوې ده، چې د تل لپاره به د بااستعداده ډیپلوماسۍ یوه بیلګه پاتې شي، چې دواړه لوري پکې د بریا ادعا کوي.

 امریکا د خپلو طالبانو د متحدینو په واسطه د یو ستر دښمن القاعدې له منځه وړل او تباهۍ ګټلې ده. دا هم طالبانو ته د یوه سني ملت په توګه د ایران په ختیځه پوله کې په مستقیمه توګه د امریکا په رسمیت پیژندلو سره د مقابل وزن په توګه، د جیو پولیټیکل ستراتیژۍ له نظره یوه نا وړه بریا ده.

 طالبان کولای شي چې خپل ملت د بهرني امپریالیزم څخه د خلاصون لپاره په خپله اوږده جګړه کې پر امریکا د بریا ادعا وکړي. موږ طالبانو ته مشروعیت سپارلی او د خپل بزدله احمق ولسمشر ټرمپ په مستقیم امر مو خپله ټوله ماتې په لیکلې بڼه ومنله، چې خبرې یې هیڅ معنا نه لري. دا یوازې د خپلو متحدینو پریښودو ته پاتې کیږي او له افغانستان څخه لکه د سپکو سپیو په څیر وتښتي.

 دا ممکن دا نه وي چې داستان به په امریکا کې څنګه جوړ شي، سپړل شي او وپلورل شي، نه زموږ د حکومت لخوا او نه هم د تل لپاره د بې معنی ویجاړونکي جنګونو څخه ستړي شوي، مګر زه تاسو ته تضمین درکوم چې دا به د نړۍ څومره تشریح کړي.

 مګر دا د دې لامل نه دی چې زه د سولې لپاره د هغه فرصت په اړه چې دا تړون وړاندیز کوي ناخوښه او له ویره ډک یم. ولې زه د جګړې د پای ته رسیدو په چانس کې د بریالۍ خوښۍ سره خوښ نه یم او نڅا کوم ، په هیڅ چانس کې؟

 لکه څنګه چې جینیفر هینسلر په CNN کې لیکي؛ په څلور مخیز هوکړه لیک کې راغلي چې طالبان به د القاعدې په ګډون د هرې ډلې یا فرد د مخنیوي لپاره اقدامات کوي چې د افغانستان له خاورې د امریکا او د هغې د متحدینو امنیت ته ګواښ پېښ کړي. په دې ګامونو کې هغه ژمنې شاملې دي چې طالبان به خپلو غړو ته لارښوونه کوي چې “له هغو ډلو یا اشخاصو سره همکاري ونه کړي چې د متحده ایالاتو او د هغې د متحدینو امنیت ته ګواښ پېښوي” او دا چې “په افغانستان کې د هرې ډلې یا فرد مخه نیسي چې د متحده ایالاتو امنیت ته ګواښ پېښوي.” او متحدین به یې د استخدام، روزنې او تمویل څخه مخنیوی وکړي او په دې تړون کې د ژمنو سره سم به د دوی کوربه توب نه کوي.”

 “د تړون متن د ښځو او مدني ټولنې د خوندیتوب په اړه کومه ځانګړې ژبه نه لري،” د نړیوالو بشري حقونو او ډیموکراسۍ او په ځانګړې توګه د ښځو حقونه لکه د امریکا د جمهوري غوښتونکي حکومت لپاره هیڅ ارزښت نلري. په کورنیو او نړیوالو دواړو برخو کې د آزادۍ او مساواتو له منځه وړل چې د ټولو دریو ډلو اصلي هدف جوړوي چې د هغه څه د نیولو لپاره متحد شوي چې د خیانت ګوند بدل شوی؛ د ګیډونیت بنسټپالو سرپرستي او جنسي ترهګري، هغه سپینې واکمنان چې غواړي د قانون حاکمیت په بشپړه توګه له منځه یوسي، او هغه پلوټوکراټان چې موږ به بې انساني او غلامان کړي.

 دا نظر چې موږ ټول د قانون له مخې مساوي حقونه لرو د جمهوري غوښتونکو اتحاد لپاره یو خنډ دی چې غواړي د څلورم ریخ په توګه په ټوله نړۍ د فاشیزم ظلم مسلط کړي. دوی غواړي چې د القاعدې او داعش په څیر باثباته بهرني ګواښونه محدود او محدود کړي، نه یې له منځه یوسي، ځکه چې دا ډول دښمنان د ملتپالو ویره او قهر په راپارولو او د زور او کنټرول حاکمیت ته د خپلو اتباعو د تسلیمولو په ګټلو کې خورا ګټور دي. نظارت او د پولیسو د بغاوت ضد ماډل. ظالمان باید دا ډول ګواښونه رامینځته کړي که دوی واقعا شتون نلري.

 هغه څنګه

زموږ په وړاندې ډیری تروریستي عملونه د پیادانو لخوا ترسره شوي چې د دوی اصلي بادارانو څخه ناخبره وو؟ امريکا په نړيواله کچه څومره داسې منکر قوتونه استخداموي چې د وېرې او کرکې د کرلو لپاره، په تاريخي لحاظ زموږ د امپرياليزم او اوس هم په ټوله نړۍ کې د ډيموکراسۍ د تخريب په حال کې دي؟

 موږ د خپل غلامۍ میکانیزمونو او جوړښتونو په ننګولو کې پاتې راغلي یو ځکه چې دوی ښه پټ، منحرف، فرعي، د لوګي او شیانو څخه جوړ شوي دي. د وینې، عقیدې او خاورې فاشیزم اوس په ټوله نړۍ کې بیا راژوندي کیږي ډیری وختونه د بهرنیانو په توګه پیژندل کیږي، مګر دوی د بشري تاریخ په جریان کې مرکزي دي. د څلورم ریخ اوږده لوبه، د هغې نه لیدل کیدونکي خیمې د لسیزو د نفوذ عملیاتو په اوږدو کې په پراخه کچه پراخوي او واک ترلاسه کوي تر هغه چې دا موږ په خپل گرفت کې راګیروي، باید له پامه ونه غورځول شي.

 نو د سولې په خبرونو زما خوښي زموږ په حکومت کې زما د بې باورۍ له سیوري لاندې ده، ځکه چې سوله کول او زموږ سرتیري کور ته په دې شرط راوستل چې طالبان خپلې سیمې د القاعدې او هر ډول تروریستانو په وړاندې پولیس کړي، هغه ګواښونه چې دوی ممکن د امریکا د ژغورلو توان نلري. ، سوله سبوتاژ کوي او دا تړون د ټرمپ د ټاکنیز کمپاین یوه تماشه وړاندې کوي چې ناکامي یې په نورو باندې اچول کیدی شي.

 زه امید لرم چې پدې کې زه غلط یم ، او موږ به ډیر ژر له خپلو عزیزانو سره یو ځای شو چې په غیرت او زړورتیا سره د داسې حکومت خدمت کوي چې هیڅ نه لري ، او دا به هیڅکله جګړه ونه کړي.

 پر موږ ټولو دې سوله راشي.

Persian

6 آگوست 2024 سالگرد سقوط کابل و افغانستان

 در مورد سقوط افغانستان می توان گفت با چارلز دیکنز همانطور که در داستان دو شهر نوشته شده است. «بهترین روزگار بود، بدترین روزگار بود، عصر خرد بود، عصر حماقت بود، عصر باور بود، دوران ناباوری بود، فصل نور بود، فصل تاریکی بود، بهار امید بود، زمستان ناامیدی بود…، ما چیزی پیش روی خود نداشتیم، همه مستقیم به بهشت می رفتیم، همه از طرف دیگر مستقیم می رفتیم…»

 تصور می‌کنم این لحظه تعیین‌کننده تاریخ ما، هم در آمریکا و هم در افغانستان و درگیری گسترده‌تر تمدن‌هایی که داستان ما بخشی از آن است، با ایجاد خود تمدن در جنگ‌های بین دموکراسی‌های یونان و امپراتوری استبدادی ایران آغاز می‌شود. سقوط کابل اکنون نه از نظر نیروهای گسترده سیستمی، بلکه به مثابه تاریکی روشن شده توسط جرقه های ناگهانی خاطرات زنده خارج از زمان از آنچه تاکنون آخرین سفر من به این تئاتر جنگ و میدان مبارزه بوده است. وحشت، درد، مرگ و امید، آن هدیه و نفرین پاندورا به همه ما.

 من دفتر خاطرات خود را در این روز سه سال پیش از پیشاور در حین آماده سازی برای اعزام نوشتم. تا 24 آگوست 2021 من در سراسر گذرگاه خیبر بودم، و دفتر خاطرات من برای آن تاریخ شامل یک کلیپ فیلم از حرامزاده‌های بی‌عظم، شوشانا برای شب آلمانی آماده می‌شود با موسیقی باشکوه دیوید بووی، آهنگ موضوع من برای Last Stands، که فقط زمانی پست می‌کنم من در شرف انجام کاری هستم که از آن بازگشتی نیست.

 مدت‌ها پیش شمار این آخرین جایگاه‌ها را از دست دادم. به نظر می رسد اکنون وضعیت واقعی من است، این جهش ایمان به ورطه. همانطور که ژان ژنه در سال 1982 در بیروت، در یک خانه در حال سوختن، در یک هدف از دست رفته، در یک پیمان خودکشی برای امتناع از تسلیم و سوگند مقاومت که مرا در مسیر زندگی ام قرار داد، به من گفت. “وقتی امیدی نیست، ما در انجام کارهای غیرممکن آزاد هستیم، کارهای باشکوه.”

 در جریان دفاع ما از پنجشیر در آن سپتمبر، امید ناامید شده استقلال برای مردمش از دست رفت، اما هرگز فراموش نخواهد شد.

 افغانستان عشق من; روزی به سوی تو باز خواهم گشت، هر چند جهنم راه را ببندد.

 همانطور که توسط آلفرد نویز در بزرگراه نوشته شده است.

بخش اول

باد سیلابی از تاریکی در میان درختان تند بود.

ماه یک گالیون شبح مانند بود که روی دریاهای ابری پرتاب می شد.

جاده نواری از مهتاب بود بر روی لنگر بنفش،

و بزرگراه سوار آمد-

 سواری – سواری –

بزرگراه سوار سوار شد، تا در مسافرخانه قدیمی.

او یک کلاه فرانسوی روی پیشانی اش گذاشته بود، یک دسته توری روی چانه اش،

کتی از مخمل کلارت، و شلوارک از پوست خس قهوه ای.

آنها با هیچ چروک. چکمه هایش تا ران بود.

و با چشمک جواهر سوار شد،

 قنداق تپانچه اش چشمک می زند،

دسته راپیرش در زیر آسمان نگین دار.

روی سنگفرش ها در تاریک حیاط مسافرخانه با هم برخورد کرد.

او با شلاق به کرکره ضربه زد، اما همه چیز قفل و مسدود بود.

او آهنگی را به پنجره سوت زد و چه کسی باید آنجا منتظر بماند

اما دختر چشم سیاه صاحبخانه،

 بس، دختر صاحبخانه،

گره عشقی قرمز تیره را روی موهای مشکی بلندش می‌بافد.

و در تاریکی تاریک حیاط مسافرخانه قدیمی دریچه اصطبلی به صدا در آمد

جایی که تیم صحرا گوش داد. صورتش سفید و اوج گرفته بود.

چشمانش گودال های جنون بود، موهایش مثل یونجه کپک زده،

اما او عاشق دختر صاحبخانه بود،

 دختر لب قرمز صاحبخانه.

گنگ مانند سگ گوش داد و دزد را شنید که گفت:

“یک بوس، عزیزم، من امشب دنبال جایزه هستم،

اما من با طلای زرد قبل از روشنایی صبح برخواهم گشت.

با این حال، اگر آنها به شدت مرا تحت فشار قرار دهند و در طول روز مرا آزار دهند،

سپس در نور ماه به دنبال من بگرد،

 زیر نور ماه مراقب من باش،

من با نور ماه پیش تو خواهم آمد، هرچند جهنم باید راه را ببندد.»

او در میان رکاب ها ایستاده بود. به ندرت می توانست به دست او برسد،

اما او موهایش را در جعبه شل کرد. صورتش مثل مارک می سوخت

همانطور که آبشار سیاه عطر روی سینه اش می چرخید.

و امواج آن را در نور ماه بوسید،

 (ای امواج سیاه شیرین در مهتاب!)

سپس افسار خود را در نور مهتاب گرفت و به سمت غرب رفت.

بخش دوم

او در سحر نیامد. ظهر نیامد.

و از غروب خرمایی، قبل از طلوع ماه،

وقتی جاده روبان کولی بود که لنگه بنفش را حلقه می کرد،

یک سرباز کت قرمز آمدند و راهپیمایی کردند –

 راهپیمایی – راهپیمایی –

مردان شاه جورج در راهپیمایی آمدند، تا در مسافرخانه قدیمی.

آنها به صاحبخانه چیزی نگفتند. به جای آن دمنوش او را نوشیدند.

اما آنها دهان دخترش را بستند و او را به پای تخت باریکش بستند.

دو نفر از آنها در کنار قاب او زانو زدند و مشک ها در کنارشان بودند!

مرگ در هر پنجره بود.

 و جهنم در یک پنجره تاریک.

زیرا بس می‌توانست از لابه‌لای جعبه‌اش، جاده‌ای را ببیند که سوار می‌شود.

آنها او را با شوخی های خنده آور زیادی به او جلب کرده بودند.

آنها یک تفنگ در کنار h

بسته شده بودند

وه، با پوزه زیر سینه اش!

“حالا، خوب مراقب باش!” و او را بوسیدند. او شنید که مرد محکوم به فنا گفت:

در نور ماه به دنبال من بگرد.

 زیر نور ماه مراقب من باش.

من با نور مهتاب نزد تو خواهم آمد، هرچند جهنم باید راه را ببندد!

دستانش را پشت سرش چرخاند. اما همه گره ها خوب بود!

دستانش را آن قدر می پیچید که انگشتانش خیس عرق یا خون شدند!

آنها در تاریکی دراز می‌کشیدند و می‌کشیدند و ساعت‌ها مانند سال‌ها می‌خزیدند

تا به حال، در نیمه شب،

 سرد، در نیمه شب،

نوک یک انگشت آن را لمس کرد! ماشه حداقل مال او بود!

نوک یک انگشت آن را لمس کرد. او دیگر برای بقیه تلاش نکرد.

بالا، او در حالی که پوزه زیر سینه اش بود، در مقابل توجه ایستاد.

او شنوایی آنها را به خطر نمی اندازد. او دوباره تلاش نمی کند.

زیرا جاده زیر نور مهتاب برهنه بود.

 خالی و برهنه در نور مهتاب؛

و خون رگهایش در نور مهتاب به صدای عشقش می کوبید.

Tlot-tlot; تلات-تلات! آیا آنها آن را شنیده بودند؟ صدای سم اسب ها واضح است.

Tlot-tlot; Tlot-tlot، در دوردست؟ آیا کر بودند که نشنیدند؟

پایین روبان مهتاب، بالای پیشانی تپه،

بزرگراه سوار آمد-

 سواری – سواری –

کت های قرمز به رنگ آمیزی خود نگاه می کردند! او صاف و بی حرکت ایستاد.

Tlot-tlot، در سکوت یخبندان! Tlot-tlot، در شب پژواک!

نزدیکتر آمد و نزدیکتر شد. صورتش مثل نور بود.

چشمانش برای لحظه ای گشاد شد. او آخرین نفس عمیق را کشید،

سپس انگشت او در نور ماه حرکت کرد،

 مشک او مهتاب را شکست،

سینه‌اش را زیر نور مهتاب شکست و به او هشدار داد – با مرگش.

چرخید. او به سمت غرب حرکت کرد. او نمی دانست چه کسی ایستاده است

خم شده، با سرش روی مشک، آغشته به خون خودش!

تا سپیده دم آن را شنید و چهره اش برای شنیدن خاکستری شد

چگونه بس، دختر صاحبخانه،

 دختر چشم سیاه صاحبخانه،

در نور ماه مراقب عشق او بود و در تاریکی آنجا مرد.

به عقب، او مانند یک دیوانه جهش کرد و نفرینی به آسمان فریاد زد،

با جاده سفیدی که پشت سرش دود می‌کرد و راپرش بالا می‌زد.

خارهای سرخ او در ظهر طلایی بودند. قرمز شرابی کت مخملی او بود.

وقتی او را در بزرگراه تیراندازی کردند،

 پایین مثل یک سگ در بزرگراه،

و در اتوبان دراز کشید و دسته‌ای توری در گلویش داشت.

. . .

و هنوز از یک شب زمستانی، می گویند، وقتی باد در درختان است،

وقتی ماه یک گالیون شبح مانند است که روی دریاهای ابری پرتاب می شود،

وقتی جاده نواری از مهتاب بر روی لنگر بنفش است،

یک بزرگراه سوار می آید –

 سواری – سواری –

مرد بزرگراهی سوار بر مسافرخانه می آید.

روی سنگفرش ها در حیاط تاریک مسافرخانه به صدا در می آید و به صدا در می آید.

او با شلاق خود به کرکره ضربه می زند، اما همه چیز قفل و مسدود است.

او آهنگی را به پنجره سوت می‌زند، و چه کسی باید آنجا منتظر بماند

اما دختر چشم سیاه صاحبخانه،

 بس، دختر صاحبخانه،

گره عشقی قرمز تیره را روی موهای مشکی بلندش می‌بافد.

 همانطور که در پست خود در 16 اوت 2021، سقوط کابل و افغانستان نوشتم. ما در این آخر هفته با تصاویر مسحورکننده ای از سقوط کابل و افغانستان به نیروهای پیروز طالبان و فروپاشی رژیم روستای پوتمپکین ما و ارتش سراب آن روبرو هستیم که حتی یک گلوله در مقاومت شلیک نکردند، تصاویری که سقوط سایگون را به یاد می آورد. در سال 1975 در شرایط موازی.

 اگر آمریکا می‌خواهد در شکل‌دهی به سیاست‌های دولت جدید، یک کرسی بر سر میز داشته باشد، باید آن را به عنوان جنبش استقلال‌طلب مشروع بدانیم و از ایفای نقش غلامان خارجی امپریالیسم خودداری کنیم. ممکن است با هویج چیزی را که با چوب از دست داده ایم به دست آوریم.

 نه سرباز، بلکه دیپلمات‌هایی را با کمک‌های بشردوستانه و حمایت مادی بفرستید. این می تواند مشروط به رعایت اصول جهانی حقوق بشر باشد. طالبان به چیزی از ایالات متحده و جهان در کل نیاز دارند. به رسمیت شناختن مشروعیت، و این می تواند یک اهرم قدرتمند باشد.

 همانطور که هانری پنجم شکسپیر می گوید; “وقتی نرمش و ظلم برای پادشاهی بازی می کند، دست مهربان تر مطمئن ترین برنده است.”

 جنگ صلیبی حماسی و ماجراجویی های امپریالیستی آمریکا در افغانستان با یک کمپین موفقیت آمیز خیره کننده برای سرنگونی اتحاد جماهیر شوروی با فریب دادن و به دام انداختن آن در یک تهاجم و فتح غیرقابل پیروزی آغاز شد، درسی که متعاقباً فراموش شد، که در آن ما مسلح، آموزش دیدیم، کمک مالی کردیم و اغلب مستقیماً فرماندهی می کردیم. و در کنار مبارزان آزادی که امروز جنگ سالارانی هستند که در واقع بر افغانستان حکومت می کنند، جنگید. این مشتریان آمریکایی به طرز بدنامی شامل اسامه بن لادن، محقق مذهبی باهوش بود، و فکر می‌کنم همه ما می‌دانیم که این کار چقدر خوب انجام شد.

 به نظر می رسد ما از شکست های امپریالیسم خود چیزی یاد نگرفته ایم. این بار ممکن است متفاوت باشد، اما من شک دارم.

 مگر اینکه نیروها و شرایطی را تغییر دهیم که جنگ را برای نخبگان سودمند و برای مقامات در تمرکز قدرت مفید می کند.

 این اولین باری نخواهد بود که طالبان، یک پا

کلمه shto به معنی “دانشجویان”، از سال 1996 تا 2001 به عنوان نیابتی پاکستان، تا زمانی که آمریکا در پی سال 911 به آن حمله کرد، بر افغانستان حکومت کردند. ”؛ کشور جانشین اسکندر مقدونی باختری، مغول ها، امپراتوری بریتانیا و اتحاد جماهیر شوروی همه بر سندان آن شکسته شدند. این شهر همچنین زادگاه امپراتوری های بزرگی بوده است که سپس تکه تکه شدند. پارت، سکا، کوشانی های بودایی، هون های سفید، کیداریت ها، سلسله شاهی هندو و امپراتوری نادرشاه. افغانستان مدرن در سال 1747 توسط احمد شاه درانی از بقایای مغولان و وارثان نادرشاه در ایران، پس از درگیری ویرانگر متقابل بین سلسله صفویه ایران و مغولان هند برای تصاحب قندهار تأسیس شد.

 و حالا، به نظر می رسد، نوبت آمریکاست. چه جنون ما انسانها را در بر می گیرد که با خشم و خشونت روانی نهادینه شده جنگ از یک سو و دروغ ها و توهمات فریبنده جعل و سرقت سرمایه داری منابع و ثروت عمومی از سوی دیگر به سوی تسلط و کنترل بر دیگران سوق داده می شویم. ?

 چگونه می توانیم از چرخه معیوب ویرانگر و حلقه واگنری ترس، قدرت و زور فرار کنیم؟

 چه درس هایی می توانیم از شکست امپریالیستی خود در ایجاد تفرقه و تسخیر از طریق تولید نیابت ها و نخبگان هژمونیک در امتداد خطوط فرقه ای و قومی بالکانیزه شده، جنگ سالاران، دولت های مشتری واهی، و استراتژی های مهار شده ترور و استبداد دولتی و وضعیت جهانی شکنجه بیاموزیم. نظارت، سرکوب مخالفان، مرزها و پلیس، همراه با همگون سازی، همدستی، استثمار استعماری از طریق پیاده‌های الیگارشی فاسد و رژیم‌های دست نشانده، و سلاح‌سازی ارزش‌ها و آرمان‌های ما، دموکراسی و حقوق بشر جهانی، طعمه تبلیغاتی برای دام سلطه ما؟

 کسی که اسلحه حمل می کند مرگ را تحمل می کند. زندگی را انتخاب کن.

 بیایید استفاده اجتماعی از زور را کنار بگذاریم.

 بیایید هیچ ارتشی برای اعمال فضیلت نفرستیم.

 همانطور که در پست خود در 19 آوریل 2021 نوشتم، بایدن پایان جنگ آمریکا در افغانستان را اعلام کرد: هورا، و با آن موفق باشید. در افغانستان برای انتقام آمدیم و برای سود ماندیم. ثابت شده است که رها کردن هر یک از آنها دشوار است.

 پرزیدنت بایدن پایان جنگ آمریکا در افغانستان را اعلام کرده است. این را جشن می‌گیرم، شادی من از اخبار صلح تنها با این واقعیت که ما قبلاً اینجا بوده‌ایم تحت الشعاع قرار می‌گیرد. اعلام صلح یک چیز است. حفظ صلح چیز دیگری است.

 سال 2019، سالی سرشار از امید همراه با شکست غم‌انگیز بود که با پایان آن و آغاز سال جدید با صلحی شکننده در افغانستان پس از 18 سال جنگ مشخص شد، صلحی که چند روز بعد در یک نبرد شش ساعته در مجموع از دست رفت. تاریکی غار، نجات SEAL های گرفتار شده در قلعه طالبان با انهدام هلیکوپترهای آنها در جریان حمله ای که نقض معاهده بود، ماموریتی تحریک آمیز که هدف آن خراب کردن صلح بود، که در آن کل تاریخ هزاره ها درگیری تمدنی در جریان بود. با تحمل چهار مردی که آزادانه به تصرف صخره سغدی توسط اسکندر مقدونی پرداختند، از یک کوه بالا رفتند و سپس با مخفی کاری، هدایت نادرست و دقت، نیرویی را شکست دادند که یک تیم حمله هوایی متشکل از SEAL ها را مغلوب کرده بود و سرنگون کرده بود.

 مانند بسیاری از وقایع که به صورت قهقرایی از پرتاب کلمات به سنگ پرتاب می شوند، هم یک موفقیت تاکتیکی و هم یک شکست استراتژیک، یک اقدام باشکوه قهرمانانه و یک تحریک امپریالیستی بود که خروج ما از جنون یک جنگ ابدی را خراب کرد.

 این یک اکشن صحنه‌ای تئاتری بود که برای ارائه یک casus belli طراحی شده بود، یک ماموریت مخفی برای خراب کردن صلح با الگوبرداری از حیله‌ای که ژاپنی‌ها برای مشروعیت بخشیدن به تهاجمشان به منچوری در سال 1931 استفاده کردند، حادثه موکدن، که شامل یک سرباز ژاپنی بود. مرد گمشده ای که سربازان دیگر برای نجات او فرستاده شدند.

 صلح بایدن آزمونی برای روح آمریکا، ارزش‌ها و نیات واقعی ما نسبت به جهان و وحدت هدف ما خواهد بود. این خطی است که امیدوارم بتوانیم آن را حفظ کنیم، زیرا اگر سودجویان ما از مرگ و آنچه آیزنهاور آن را مجتمع نظامی-صنعتی نامید، شانس صلح را دوباره در خدمت به ثروت و قدرت خراب کنند، همانطور که ترامپ در سال 2019 و نیروهای امپراتوری ژاپن انجام داد. در سال 1931، آینده‌های احتمالی که از آن لحظه آشکار می‌شوند، نوید دنیای بهتر را نمی‌دهند.

 ما می دانیم که آخرین بار، در پرل هاربر چه اتفاقی افتاد.

 همانطور که در پست خود در 2 ژانویه 2020 نوشتم، پایانی برای جنگ برای همیشه در افغانستان؟ سال نو یک هدیه صلح یا امکان آن را به ارمغان می آورد، که ممکن است به ما اجازه دهد تا به جنگ 18 ساله برای همیشه در افغانستان پایان دهیم و 12000 سرباز خود را به خانه بازگردانیم.

 صدها هزار نفر در این درگیری حماسی جان خود را از دست داده اند که هیچ سود واقعی برای کسی نداشته است، جنگی که در آن اهداف، اتحادها و صور فلکی قدرت بی شکل و در حال تغییر بوده است، سیل آمریکا سعی کرده با یک تیپ سطلی با آن مقابله کند.

 اگر بتوان صلحی برقرار کرد، اگر

یک ملت را می توان دوباره مانند هامپتی دامپی گرد هم آورد، این یک معجزه خواهد بود، اما کشوری بسیار شبیه ویتنام که در آن آمریکا با شکست می گریزد و متحدان خود را به دشمنی سرسخت رها می کند که برای اجرای دیدگاه خود از یک جامعه ایده آل برای هرکسی که می تواند تلاش می کند. چنین مقایسه ای از بسیاری جهات محدود است، از جمله این واقعیت عجیب است که آمریکا از طریق خراجی که توسط پیمانکاران غیرنظامی ما پرداخت می شود، به طالبان یارانه پرداخت می کند، در حالی که نظامیان ما در یک نبرد چاله ای که با جنایات جنگی از همه طرف مشخص شده است، یارانه می دهد. انسانیت زدایی و از بین رفتن تمدنی ارزش ها.

 جنگ برای عده معدودی تجارت خوبی ایجاد می کند و برای بسیاری وحشتی غیرقابل درک.

 همانطور که رحیم فیض و کتی گانن در هاف پست توصیف کردند. یکی از ستون‌های اصلی این توافق که ایالات متحده و طالبان بیش از یک سال است که آن را امضا کرده‌اند، مذاکرات مستقیم بین افغان‌ها در هر دو طرف درگیری است.

 انتظار می رود این مذاکرات بین الافغانی ظرف دو هفته پس از امضای توافقنامه صلح میان ایالات متحده و طالبان برگزار شود. آنها احتمالا تصمیم خواهند گرفت که افغانستان پس از جنگ چگونه خواهد بود و طالبان چه نقشی ایفا خواهند کرد. این مذاکرات طیف وسیعی از موضوعات مانند حقوق زنان، آزادی بیان و سرنوشت ده‌ها هزار جنگجوی طالبان و همچنین شبه‌نظامیان به شدت مسلح متعلق به جنگ‌سالاران افغانستان را در بر می‌گیرد که از آن زمان ثروت و قدرت جمع‌آوری کرده‌اند. برکناری طالبان.»

 و در پست بعدی من در 29 فوریه 2020، صلح در افغانستان؟ ما امروز امضای تاریخی توافق صلح بین آمریکا و طالبان و فرصت بازگرداندن نیروهایمان به خانه از یک جنگ 18 ساله را جشن می‌گیریم که دستاوردهای اندکی به قیمت خون و گنج به دست آورده است. این یک صلح آزمایشی و مشروط است که در سندی درخشان تنظیم شده است که برای همیشه نمونه ای از دیپلماسی استادانه باقی خواهد ماند که در آن هر دو طرف ممکن است ادعای پیروزی کنند.

 آمریکا در نابودی و انکار دشمن بزرگ القاعده توسط متحدان طالبان خود پیروز شده است. این همچنین طالبان را به عنوان یک ملت سنی با به رسمیت شناختن واقعی آمریکا در مرزهای شرقی ایران به عنوان وزنه تعادل، یک پیروزی بدون صلاحیت از نظر استراتژی ژئوپلیتیک، قرار می دهد.

 طالبان می توانند ادعای پیروزی بر آمریکا را در جنگ طولانی خود برای رهایی ملت خود از امپریالیسم خارجی کنند. ما مشروعیت خود را به طالبان واگذار کرده ایم و به دستور مستقیم رئیس جمهور ترامپ احمق ترسو خود که سخنانش هیچ معنایی ندارد، به شکست کامل خود اعتراف کرده ایم. تنها باقی می ماند که متحدان خود را رها کنیم و مانند سگ های شلاق خورده از افغانستان فرار کنیم.

 ممکن است این روایت در آمریکا چه توسط دولت ما و نه کشوری که از جنگ‌های ویرانگر بی‌معنا خسته شده‌اند، در آمریکا قاب‌بندی، چرخانده و فروخته شود، اما من به شما تضمین می‌دهم که اینگونه تفسیر خواهد شد.

 اما این دلیلی نیست که من از چشم انداز فرصتی برای صلح که این توافق ارائه می دهد، ناآرام و مملو از هراس هستم. چرا در فرصت پایان جنگ، اصلاً هیچ شانسی، خوشحال نیستم و با وجد پیروزمندانه نمی رقصم؟

 همانطور که جنیفر هانسلر در CNN می نویسد; در این توافقنامه چهار صفحه ای آمده است که طالبان اقداماتی را برای جلوگیری از استفاده هر گروه یا فردی از جمله القاعده از خاک افغانستان برای تهدید امنیت ایالات متحده و متحدانش انجام خواهد داد. این اقدامات شامل تعهداتی است که طالبان به اعضای خود دستور می دهد “با گروه ها یا افرادی که امنیت ایالات متحده و متحدانش را تهدید می کنند همکاری نکنند” و “از هر گروه یا فردی در افغانستان از تهدید امنیت ایالات متحده جلوگیری خواهد کرد.” و متحدانش را از جذب، آموزش و جمع آوری کمک مالی ممانعت می کند و طبق تعهدات مندرج در این قرارداد میزبانی آنها را نخواهد داشت.»

 «متن توافقنامه حاوی هیچ زبان خاصی در مورد حمایت از زنان یا جامعه مدنی نیست.» موارد پیش پا افتاده ای مانند حقوق بشر جهانی و دموکراسی و به ویژه حقوق زنان که برای دولت جمهوری خواه آمریکا ارزشی ندارد. الغای آزادی و برابری در هر دو حوزه داخلی و جهانی که هدف اصلی هر سه جناحی را تشکیل می دهد که برای تصرف حزب خیانت متحد شدند. پدرسالاری و ترور جنسی بنیادگرایان گیدونیتی، برتری گرایان سفیدپوست که می خواهند حکومت قانون را به طور کامل زیر پا بگذارند، و پلتوکرات هایی که ما را از انسانیت خارج می کنند و به بردگی می کشند.

 این ایده که همه ما تحت قانون از حقوق مساوی برخورداریم، برای اتحاد جمهوری خواهان که به دنبال تحمیل ظلم فاشیسم بر کل جهان به عنوان رایش چهارم است، مزاحم است. آنها می خواهند تهدیدهای خارجی قابل اجرا مانند القاعده و داعش را مهار و محدود کنند، نه از بین بردن آنها، زیرا چنین دشمنانی در ایجاد ترس و خشم ناسیونالیستی و در برانگیختن تسلیم شدن شهروندان خود در برابر یک دولت استبدادی زور و کنترل بسیار مفید هستند. نظارت و الگوی پلیس ضد شورش ظالمان باید چنین تهدیدهایی را ایجاد کنند، اگر واقعا وجود نداشته باشند.

 چگونه

سیاری از اقدامات تروریستی علیه ما توسط پیاده هایی انجام شد که از اربابان واقعی خود بی خبر بودند؟ چه تعداد از چنین نیروهای انکارناپذیری را آمریکا در سطح جهانی به کار می گیرد تا ترس و نفرت بکارد، از نظر تاریخی در راه امپریالیسم ما و اکنون نیز در براندازی دموکراسی در سراسر جهان؟

 ما نمی توانیم سازوکارها و ساختارهای بردگی خود را به چالش بکشیم زیرا آنها به خوبی پنهان، فریبنده، ظریف، ساخته شده از دود و آینه هستند. فاشیسم های خونی، ایمانی و خاکی که اکنون در سرتاسر جهان احیا می شوند، اغلب به عنوان فاشیسم های پرت توصیف می شوند، اما در مسیر تاریخ بشریت محوری هستند. بازی طولانی رایش چهارم، شاخک‌های نامرئی آن که در طول دهه‌ها عملیات نفوذ به‌طور ناپیوسته تکثیر می‌شوند و قدرت را در دست می‌گیرند تا زمانی که ما را در چنگال خود گرفتار کند، نباید دست کم گرفت.

 بنابراین خوشحالی من از اخبار صلح تحت الشعاع بی اعتمادی من به دولتمان است، زیرا صلح و بازگرداندن سربازان ما به خانه مشروط به طالبان برای پلیس کردن مناطق خود در برابر القاعده و اصلاً هر تروریستی است، تهدیدهایی که ممکن است در نجات آمریکا از شر آن ناتوان باشند. ، صلح را خراب می کند و این توافق را به منظره کمپین انتخاباتی ترامپ تبدیل می کند که شکست آن را می توان به گردن دیگران انداخت.

 امیدوارم که من در این مورد اشتباه می کنم و به زودی با عزیزانمان که با افتخار و شجاعت به دولتی خدمت می کنند که هیچ کدام ندارد، متحد شویم و دیگر هرگز جنگ نخواهیم کرد.

 درود بر همه ما باد.

Urdu

6 اگست 2024 کابل اور افغانستان کے زوال کی سالگرہ

 افغانستان کے زوال کے بارے میں ہم چارلس ڈکنز کے ساتھ کہہ سکتے ہیں جیسا کہ اے ٹیل آف ٹو سٹیز میں لکھا ہے۔ “یہ بہترین وقت تھا، یہ بدترین وقت تھا، یہ حکمت کا دور تھا، یہ حماقت کا دور تھا، یہ یقین کا دور تھا، یہ بے اعتباری کا دور تھا، یہ روشنی کا موسم تھا، یہ اندھیروں کا موسم تھا، یہ امید کی بہار تھی، یہ مایوسی کی سردی تھی…، ہمارے سامنے کچھ نہیں تھا، ہم سب سیدھے جنت کی طرف جا رہے تھے، ہم سب سیدھے دوسری طرف جا رہے تھے…”

 ہماری تاریخ کا یہ متعین لمحہ، امریکہ اور افغانستان دونوں کی اور تہذیبوں کے وسیع تنازعات کا جس کا ہماری کہانی ایک حصہ ہے، یونان کی جمہوریتوں اور مطلق العنان فارسی سلطنت کے درمیان جنگوں میں خود تہذیب کی تخلیق سے شروع ہوا، میں تصور کرتا ہوں۔ کابل کا زوال اب وسیع نظامی قوتوں کے لحاظ سے نہیں بلکہ اندھیرے کی طرح روشن یادوں کے اچانک چمکنے سے روشن ہو گیا ہے جس سے اب تک جنگ کے اس تھیٹر اور جدوجہد کے میدان میں میری آخری مہم رہی ہے۔ دہشت، درد، موت، اور امید، وہ تحفہ اور پنڈورا کی لعنت ہم سب کے لیے۔

 میں نے اس دن کا اپنا جریدہ تین سال قبل مہم کی تیاریوں کے دوران پشاور سے لکھا تھا۔ 24 اگست 2021 تک میں خیبر پاس تھا، اور اس تاریخ کے لیے میرے جریدے میں Inglorious Basterds کا ایک فلمی کلپ شامل ہے، شوشننا ڈیوڈ بووی کی شاندار موسیقی کے ساتھ جرمن نائٹ کی تیاری کرتی ہے، لاسٹ اسٹینڈز کے لیے میرا تھیم سانگ، جسے میں تب ہی پوسٹ کرتا ہوں جب میں ایک ایسا کام کرنے والا ہوں جس سے واپسی نہیں ہوتی۔

 بہت پہلے میں نے اس طرح کے آخری اسٹینڈز کی گنتی کھو دی تھی۔ اب لگتا ہے کہ یہ میری حقیقی حالت ہے، ایمان کی یہ چھلانگ پاتال میں۔ جیسا کہ جین جینیٹ نے مجھ سے 1982 میں بیروت میں ایک جلتے ہوئے گھر میں، ایک گمشدہ مقصد میں، ہتھیار ڈالنے سے انکار کے خودکش معاہدے اور مزاحمت کے حلف میں کہا جس نے مجھے میری زندگی کی راہ پر گامزن کیا۔ “جب کوئی امید نہیں ہے، ہم ناممکن چیزوں کو کرنے کے لئے آزاد ہیں، شاندار چیزیں.”

 ہمارے پنجشیر کے دفاع کے دوران ستمبر اس کے لوگوں کے لیے آزادی کی ایک مایوس کن امید کھو گئی، لیکن اسے کبھی فراموش نہیں کیا جائے گا۔

 افغانستان میرا پیار؛ ایک دن میں آپ کے پاس واپس آؤں گا، اگرچہ جہنم راستے میں رکاوٹ بن جائے۔

 جیسا کہ دی ہائی وے مین میں الفریڈ نوائس نے لکھا ہے۔

حصہ اول

ہوا درختوں کے درمیان اندھیرے کا ایک طوفان تھی۔

چاند ابر آلود سمندروں پر پھینکا ہوا ایک بھوت گیلیون تھا۔

سڑک جامنی مور کے اوپر چاندنی کا ربن تھی،

اور ہائی وے مین سوار ہو کر آیا-

 سواری – سواری –

ہائی وے مین سوار ہو کر پرانی سرائے کے دروازے تک آیا۔

اس کے ماتھے پر فرانسیسی کاکڈ ٹوپی، ٹھوڑی پر فیتے کا ایک گچھا،

کلارٹ مخمل کا ایک کوٹ، اور بھوری ڈو-جلد کی بریچ۔

وہ کبھی بھی شیکن کے ساتھ لیس۔ اس کے جوتے ران تک تھے۔

اور وہ ایک جواہرات والی چمک کے ساتھ سوار ہوا،

 اس کے پستول کے بٹ ایک دم چمکتے ہیں،

اس کا ریپیر جواہرات سے بھرے آسمان کے نیچے چمکتا ہوا جھلک رہا تھا۔

موچیوں پر وہ ہڑبڑاتا اور اندھیرے سرائے کے صحن میں ٹکراتا رہا۔

اس نے شٹر پر اپنے کوڑے سے ٹیپ کیا، لیکن سب کچھ بند اور روک دیا گیا تھا۔

اس نے کھڑکی کی طرف سیٹی بجائی، اور وہاں کس کا انتظار کرنا چاہیے۔

لیکن زمیندار کی کالی آنکھوں والی بیٹی،

 بیس، زمیندار کی بیٹی،

اس کے لمبے سیاہ بالوں میں گہرے سرخ محبت کی گرہ لگا رہی ہے۔

اور اندھیرے پرانے سرائے کے صحن میں ایک مستحکم وکٹ گرنے لگی

جہاں ٹم دی آسٹر سنتا تھا۔ اس کا چہرہ سفید اور چوٹی تھی۔

اس کی آنکھیں جنون کی کھوکھلی تھیں، اس کے بال گھاس کی طرح،

لیکن وہ زمیندار کی بیٹی سے پیار کرتا تھا،

 زمیندار کی لال ہونٹ والی بیٹی۔

ایک کتے کی طرح گونگا اس نے سنا، اور اس نے ڈاکو کو کہتے سنا-

“ایک بوسہ، میرے پیارے پیارے، میں آج رات انعام کے بعد ہوں،

لیکن میں صبح کی روشنی سے پہلے پیلے سونے کے ساتھ واپس آؤں گا۔

پھر بھی، اگر وہ مجھے زور سے دبائیں، اور دن بھر مجھے تنگ کریں،

پھر چاندنی میں ڈھونڈو مجھے

 مجھے چاندنی سے دیکھو،

میں آپ کے پاس چاندنی سے آؤں گا، اگرچہ جہنم راستے میں رکاوٹ بن جائے۔”

وہ رکاب میں سیدھا اٹھ کھڑا ہوا۔ وہ کم ہی اس کے ہاتھ تک پہنچ سکتا تھا،

لیکن اس نے کیسمنٹ میں اپنے بال ڈھیلے کر لیے۔ اس کا چہرہ کسی برانڈ کی طرح جل گیا تھا۔

جیسے ہی عطر کا سیاہ جھرنا اس کی چھاتی پر گرنے لگا۔

اور اس نے چاندنی میں اس کی لہروں کو چوما،

 (اے، چاندنی میں میٹھی سیاہ لہریں!)

پھر اس نے چاندنی کی روشنی میں اپنی لگام کو کھینچا، اور مغرب کی طرف سرپٹ پڑا۔

دوسرا حصہ

وہ سحری میں نہیں آیا۔ وہ دوپہر کو نہیں آیا۔

اور چاند کے طلوع ہونے سے پہلے غروب آفتاب سے باہر،

جب سڑک ایک خانہ بدوش کا ربن تھی، جامنی رنگ کے مور کو لپیٹتی ہوئی،

ایک سرخ کوٹ والا دستہ مارچ کرتا ہوا آیا-

 مارچ کرنا – مارچ کرنا –

کنگ جارج کے آدمی پرانی سرائے کے دروازے تک مارچ کرتے ہوئے آئے۔

انہوں نے مالک مکان سے کوئی بات نہیں کی۔ انہوں نے اس کی بجائے اس کی ایل پی لی۔

لیکن اُنہوں نے اُس کی بیٹی کا گلا گھونٹ دیا، اور اُسے اُس کے تنگ بستر کے پاؤں سے باندھ دیا۔

ان میں سے دو اس کے کیسمنٹ پر گھٹنے ٹیکتے تھے، ان کے پہلو میں مسکٹس تھے!

ہر کھڑکی پر موت تھی۔

 اور جہنم ایک تاریک کھڑکی پر۔

کیونکہ بیس اپنے کیسمنٹ کے ذریعے وہ سڑک دیکھ سکتا تھا جس پر وہ سوار ہوتا تھا۔

انہوں نے بہت سے طنزیہ مذاق کے ساتھ اسے توجہ دلانے کے لیے باندھ دیا تھا۔

انہوں نے h کے پاس ایک مسکٹ باندھ رکھا تھا۔

r، اس کی چھاتی کے نیچے توتن کے ساتھ!

“اب، اچھی طرح دیکھتے رہو!” اور انہوں نے اسے چوما. اس نے برباد آدمی کو کہتے سنا-

مجھے چاندنی سے ڈھونڈو

 چاندنی سے مجھے دیکھو

میں چاندنی سے آپ کے پاس آؤں گا، اگرچہ جہنم راستے میں رکاوٹ بن جائے!

اس نے اس کے پیچھے ہاتھ گھمائے۔ لیکن تمام گرہیں اچھی ہیں!

وہ اس وقت تک اپنے ہاتھ مروڑتی رہی جب تک کہ اس کی انگلیاں پسینے یا خون سے تر نہ ہو جائیں!

وہ اندھیرے میں پھیلے اور تنگ کیے گئے، اور گھنٹے برسوں کی طرح رینگتے رہے۔

اب تک، آدھی رات کے جھٹکے پر،

 سردی، آدھی رات کے جھٹکے پر،

ایک انگلی کی نوک نے اسے چھوا! محرک کم از کم اس کا تھا!

ایک انگلی کی نوک اسے چھو گئی۔ اس نے باقی کے لیے مزید کوشش نہیں کی۔

اوپر، وہ اپنی چھاتی کے نیچے تھپکی کے ساتھ توجہ دینے کے لیے اٹھ کھڑی ہوئی۔

وہ ان کی سماعت کو خطرے میں نہیں ڈالے گی۔ وہ دوبارہ کوشش نہیں کرے گی۔

سڑک چاندنی میں ننگی پڑی ہے

 چاندنی میں خالی اور ننگے؛

اور اس کی رگوں کا خون، چاندنی میں، اس کی محبت کے گریز میں دھڑک رہا تھا۔

Tlot-tlot; tlot-tlot! کیا انہوں نے سنا تھا؟ گھوڑوں کے کھر صاف بج رہے ہیں۔

Tlot-tlot; tlot-tlot، فاصلے میں؟ کیا وہ بہرے تھے کہ انہوں نے نہیں سنی؟

چاندنی کا ربن نیچے، پہاڑی کی پیشانی پر،

ہائی وے مین سوار ہو کر آیا-

 سواری – سواری –

سرخ کوٹ اپنے پرائمنگ کی طرف دیکھ رہے تھے! وہ سیدھی اور ساکت کھڑی ہو گئی۔

تلاطم خیز خاموشی میں! ٹلو ٹلوٹ، گونجتی رات میں!

قریب آیا اور قریب۔ اس کا چہرہ نور کی طرح تھا۔

اس کی آنکھیں ایک لمحے کے لیے پھیل گئیں۔ اس نے ایک آخری گہری سانس کھینچی

پھر چاندنی میں اس کی انگلی ہل گئی

 اس کی مسکٹ نے چاندنی کو بکھرا دیا،

چاندنی میں اس کی چھاتی کو توڑ دیا اور اسے خبردار کیا – اس کی موت کے ساتھ۔

وہ مڑا۔ وہ مغرب کی طرف بڑھا۔ وہ نہیں جانتا تھا کہ کون کھڑا ہے۔

جھک گئی، اپنے سر کے ساتھ، اپنے ہی خون سے بھیگی!

صبح تک اس نے اسے سنا نہیں تھا، اور اس کا چہرہ سننے کے لئے بھوری ہو گیا تھا

کیسے بیس، مالک مکان کی بیٹی،

 زمیندار کی کالی آنکھوں والی بیٹی،

چاندنی میں اس کی محبت کو دیکھا تھا، اور وہیں اندھیرے میں مر گیا۔

پیچھے، وہ دیوانے کی طرح تیز ہوا، آسمان پر لعنت بھیجتا ہوا،

اس کے پیچھے سفید سڑک تمباکو نوشی کے ساتھ اور اس کا ریپیر اونچا نشان لگا ہوا تھا۔

سنہری دوپہر میں خون کی سرخی اُس کے شعلے تھے۔ شراب سرخ اس کا مخملی کوٹ تھا۔

جب انہوں نے اسے ہائی وے پر گولی مار دی،

 شاہراہ پر کتے کی طرح نیچے،

اور وہ ہائی وے پر اپنے خون میں لت پت پڑا، اس کے گلے میں فیتے کا گچھا تھا۔

. . .

اور اب بھی سردیوں کی رات کے بارے میں، وہ کہتے ہیں، جب ہوا درختوں میں ہوتی ہے،

جب چاند ابر آلود سمندروں پر پھینکا ہوا بھوت گیلیون ہے،

جب سڑک جامنی موور پر چاندنی کا ربن ہے،

ایک ہائی وے مین سوار ہو کر آتا ہے-

 سواری – سواری –

ایک ہائی وے مین سوار ہو کر آتا ہے، پرانی سرائے کے دروازے تک۔

موچیوں کے اوپر وہ اندھیرے سرائے کے صحن میں چیختا اور بجتا ہے۔

وہ شٹر پر اپنے کوڑے سے تھپتھپاتا ہے، لیکن سب کچھ بند اور روک دیا جاتا ہے۔

وہ کھڑکی کی طرف سیٹی بجاتا ہے اور وہاں کس کا انتظار کرنا چاہیے۔

لیکن زمیندار کی کالی آنکھوں والی بیٹی،

 بیس، زمیندار کی بیٹی،

اس کے لمبے سیاہ بالوں میں گہرے سرخ محبت کی گرہ لگا رہی ہے۔

 جیسا کہ میں نے 16 اگست 2021 کی اپنی پوسٹ میں لکھا، کابل اور افغانستان کا زوال؛ ہم کابل اور افغانستان کے زوال کے اس ہفتے کے آخر میں طالبان کی فاتح قوتوں اور ہماری پوٹیمکن ولیج حکومت کے خاتمے اور اس کی سراب کی فوج کے خاتمے کی دلکش تصاویر کے ساتھ سامنا کر رہے ہیں جنہوں نے مزاحمت میں ایک بھی گولی نہیں چلائی، ایسی تصاویر جو سیگون کے زوال کو یاد کرتی ہیں۔ 1975 میں متوازی حالات میں۔

 اگر امریکہ نئی حکومت کی پالیسیوں کی تشکیل میں میز پر بیٹھنا چاہتا ہے، تو ہمیں اسے آزادی کی جائز تحریک کے طور پر تسلیم کرنا چاہیے اور سامراج کے غیر ملکی غنڈوں کا کردار ادا کرنے سے انکار کرنا چاہیے۔ ہم گاجر سے جیت سکتے ہیں جو ہم نے چھڑی سے ہارا ہے۔

 فوجیوں کو نہیں بلکہ انسانی امداد اور مادی مدد کے ساتھ سفارت کار بھیجیں۔ یہ عالمگیر انسانی حقوق کے اصولوں کی پابندی سے مشروط ہو سکتا ہے۔ طالبان کو امریکہ اور پوری دنیا سے کچھ درکار ہے۔ قانونی حیثیت کی پہچان، اور یہ ایک طاقتور لیور ہو سکتا ہے۔

 جیسا کہ شیکسپیئر کا ہنری پانچواں کہتا ہے؛ “جب نرمی اور ظلم کسی بادشاہی کے لیے کھیلتے ہیں، تو نرم ہاتھ یقینی فاتح ہوتا ہے۔”

 افغانستان میں امریکہ کی مہاکاوی صلیبی جنگ اور سامراجی مہم جوئی کا آغاز سوویت یونین کو ایک ناقابل شکست حملے اور فتح میں پھنسا کر اسے گرانے کی ایک شاندار کامیاب مہم کے ساتھ ہوا، جو بعد میں ایک سبق بھول گیا، جس میں ہم مسلح، تربیت یافتہ، مالی امداد اور اکثر براہ راست کمانڈ کرتے تھے۔ اور آزادی کے جنگجوؤں کے ساتھ مل کر لڑے جو آج جنگی سردار ہیں جو حقیقت میں افغانستان پر حکومت کرتے ہیں۔ ان امریکی مؤکلوں میں بدنام زمانہ مذہبی اسکالر اسامہ بن لادن بھی شامل تھا، اور میرے خیال میں ہم سب جانتے ہیں کہ اس نے کتنا اچھا کام کیا۔

 ایسا لگتا ہے کہ ہم نے اپنے سامراج کی ناکامیوں سے کچھ نہیں سیکھا۔ یہ وقت مختلف ہو سکتا ہے، لیکن مجھے شک ہے.

 جب تک ہم ان قوتوں اور حالات کو تبدیل نہیں کرتے جو جنگ کو اشرافیہ کے لیے فائدہ مند اور اقتدار کی مرکزیت میں حکام کے لیے مفید بناتی ہیں۔

 یہ پہلی بار نہیں ہو گا کہ طالبان، ایک پا

o لفظ کا مطلب ہے “طلبہ”، جس نے افغانستان پر حکومت کی ہے، جیسا کہ انہوں نے 1996 سے 2001 تک پاکستان کے پراکسی کے طور پر کیا، یہاں تک کہ 911 کے بعد امریکہ نے حملہ کیا۔ ”; سکندر اعظم کی جانشین ریاست باختر، منگولوں، برطانوی سلطنت اور سوویت یونین سب کو اس کی نالی پر توڑ دیا گیا۔ یہ عظیم سلطنتوں کی جائے پیدائش بھی رہی ہے جو پھر بکھر گئیں۔ پارتھیا، سیتھیا، بدھ کشان، سفید ہن، کیدارائٹس، ہندو شاہی خاندان، اور نادر شاہ کی سلطنت۔ جدید افغانستان کی بنیاد احمد شاہ درانی نے 1747 میں مغلوں کی باقیات اور فارس میں نادر شاہ کے وارثوں سے رکھی تھی، قندھار پر قبضے کے لیے فارس کے صفوی خاندان اور ہندوستان کے مغلوں کے درمیان باہمی طور پر تباہ کن تنازعہ کے بعد۔

 اور اب، ایسا لگتا ہے، امریکہ کی باری ہے۔ ہم انسانوں کو کیا پاگل پن حاصل ہے کہ ایک طرف ادارہ جاتی نفسیاتی غصہ اور جنگ کے تشدد اور دوسری طرف عوامی وسائل اور دولت کی سرمایہ دارانہ چوری اور فریب کاری کے موہک جھوٹ اور فریب کے ساتھ ہم دوسروں پر غلبہ حاصل کرنے اور ان پر قابو پانے کے لیے مجبور ہیں۔ ?

 ہم خوف، طاقت اور طاقت کے تباہ کن شیطانی چکر اور ویگنیرین رنگ سے کیسے بچ سکتے ہیں؟

 ہم اپنی سامراجی ناکامیوں سے کیا سبق سیکھ سکتے ہیں جو پراکسیوں اور بالادستی کے اشرافیہ کے ذریعے بالکانائزڈ فرقہ وارانہ اور نسلی خطوط پر تقسیم اور فتح حاصل کر سکتے ہیں، جنگجوؤں، فریب خوردہ کلائنٹ ریاستوں، اور ریاستی دہشت گردی اور استبداد کی حکمت عملیوں اور عالمی سطح پر کارسرل ریاست کے نگرانی، اختلاف رائے کا جبر، سرحدوں اور پولیس، انضمام، تعاون، بدعنوان حکمرانوں اور کٹھ پتلی حکومتوں کے پیادوں کے ذریعے نوآبادیاتی استحصال، اور ہماری اقدار اور نظریات، جمہوریت اور عالمی انسانی حقوق کے ہتھیار بنانے کے ساتھ۔ ہمارے تسلط کے جال کے لئے پروپیگنڈا چارہ؟

 جو ہتھیار اٹھاتا ہے موت برداشت کرتا ہے۔ زندگی کا انتخاب کریں.

 آئیے طاقت کے سماجی استعمال کو ترک کر دیں۔

 آئیے نیکی کے نفاذ کے لیے کوئی فوج نہ بھیجیں۔

 جیسا کہ میں نے 19 اپریل 2021 کی اپنی پوسٹ میں لکھا، بائیڈن نے افغانستان میں امریکہ کی جنگ کے خاتمے کا اعلان کیا: ہورے، اور اس کے ساتھ گڈ لک؛ افغانستان میں ہم انتقام کے لیے آئے، اور فائدے کے لیے رہے۔ دونوں کو چھوڑنا مشکل ثابت ہوا ہے۔

 صدر بائیڈن نے افغانستان میں امریکہ کی جنگ کے خاتمے کا اعلان کیا ہے۔ یہ میں جشن مناتا ہوں، امن کی خبروں پر میری خوشی صرف اس حقیقت سے چھائی ہوئی ہے کہ ہم پہلے بھی یہاں آ چکے ہیں۔ امن کا اعلان کرنا ایک چیز ہے۔ امن برقرار رکھنا ایک اور چیز ہے۔

 2019 ایک بڑی امید کا سال تھا جو المناک ناکامی سے دوچار تھا، جس کے اختتام اور نئے سال کا آغاز افغانستان میں 18 سال کی جنگ کے بعد ایک نازک امن کے ساتھ ہوا، چند دنوں بعد مجموعی طور پر چھ گھنٹے کی لڑائی میں ایک امن ہار گیا۔ ایک غار کی تاریکی، معاہدے کی خلاف ورزی کرتے ہوئے ایک حملے کے دوران ان کے ہیلی کاپٹروں کی تباہی سے طالبان کے قلعے میں پھنسے سیلوں کو بچانا، اشتعال انگیزی کا ایک ایسا مشن جس کا مقصد امن کو سبوتاژ کرنا تھا، جس میں صدیوں پر محیط تہذیبی تصادم کی پوری تاریخ تھی۔ چار آدمیوں نے برداشت کیا جنہوں نے سکندر اعظم کے سغدیان چٹان پر قبضے کی یاد میں ایک پہاڑ پر آزادانہ چڑھائی کی اور پھر چپکے سے، غلط سمت اور درستگی کے ساتھ ایک ایسی طاقت کو شکست دی جس نے SEALs کی ایک ہوائی حملہ آور ٹیم کو مغلوب کر دیا تھا۔

 جیسا کہ بہت سے واقعات کے ساتھ جو پتھر پھینکنے میں الفاظ کے رجعت کے طور پر سامنے آتے ہیں، یہ ایک حکمت عملی کی کامیابی اور ایک سٹریٹجک ناکامی، بہادری کا ایک شاندار عمل اور ایک سامراجی اشتعال انگیزی تھی جس نے ہمیشہ کے لیے جنگ کے جنون سے ہماری دستبرداری کو سبوتاژ کیا۔

 یہ ایک تھیٹریکل سیٹ پیس ایکشن تھا جو ایک کیسس بیلی فراہم کرنے کے لیے ڈیزائن کیا گیا تھا، جو کہ امن کو سبوتاژ کرنے کا ایک خفیہ مشن تھا جس کا نمونہ جاپانیوں نے 1931 میں منچوریا پر اپنے حملے کو جائز قرار دینے کے لیے استعمال کیا تھا، مکڈن واقعہ، جس میں ایک جاپانی فوجی شامل تھا۔ لاپتہ آدمی جسے بچانے کے لیے دوسرے فوجی بھیجے گئے تھے۔

 بائیڈن کا امن امریکہ کی روح، دنیا کے تئیں ہماری حقیقی اقدار اور ارادوں اور مقصد کے اتحاد کا امتحان ہوگا۔ یہ وہ لائن ہے جس کی مجھے امید ہے کہ ہم پکڑ سکتے ہیں، کیونکہ اگر ہمارے منافع خوروں اور جسے آئزن ہاور نے ملٹری-انڈسٹریل کمپلیکس کہا تھا وہ دولت اور طاقت کی خدمت میں ایک بار پھر امن کے مواقع کو سبوتاژ کرتے ہیں، جیسا کہ ٹرمپ نے 2019 میں کیا تھا اور امپیریل جاپان کی افواج 1931 میں کیا، اس لمحے سے سامنے آنے والے ممکنہ مستقبل ایک بہتر دنیا کا وعدہ نہیں کرتے۔

 ہم جانتے ہیں کہ پرل ہاربر میں آخری بار کیا ہوا تھا۔

 جیسا کہ میں نے 2 جنوری 2020 کی اپنی پوسٹ میں لکھا، افغانستان میں ہمیشہ کے لیے جنگ کا خاتمہ؟ نیا سال امن کا تحفہ، یا اس کا امکان لے کر آتا ہے، جو ہمیں افغانستان میں اپنی 18 سالہ ہمیشہ کے لیے جاری جنگ کو ختم کرنے اور وہاں اپنے 12,000 فوجیوں کو واپس لانے کا موقع فراہم کر سکتا ہے۔

 اس مہاکاوی تنازعہ میں لاکھوں افراد ہلاک ہوچکے ہیں جس کا کسی کو کوئی فائدہ نہیں ہوا، ایک ایسی جنگ جس میں مقاصد، اتحاد اور طاقت کے برج بے کار اور بدلتے رہے ہیں، ایک سیلاب امریکہ نے بالٹی بریگیڈ کے ساتھ مخالفت کرنے کی کوشش کی ہے۔

 اگر امن قائم کیا جا سکتا ہے، اگر

ایک قوم کو ہمپٹی ڈمپٹی کی طرح دوبارہ اکٹھا کیا جا سکتا ہے، یہ ایک معجزہ ہو گا، لیکن ویتنام جیسی ایک قوم جس میں امریکہ شکست کھا کر بھاگ جاتا ہے اور اپنے اتحادیوں کو ایک ایسے ناقابل تسخیر دشمن کے حوالے کر دیتا ہے جو ایک مثالی معاشرے کے اپنے وژن کو ہر ایک پر نافذ کرنے کے لیے وقف ہو جاتا ہے۔ اس طرح کا موازنہ بہت سے طریقوں سے محدود ہے، ان میں سے ایک عجیب حقیقت یہ ہے کہ امریکہ ہمارے سویلین کنٹریکٹرز کی طرف سے ادا کی جانے والی خراج تحسین کے ذریعے طالبان کو سبسڈی دے رہا ہے جبکہ ہماری فوجیں ہر طرف سے جنگی جرائم کی زد میں آنے والی گڑھے کی لڑائی میں ایک دوسرے کو بچا رہی ہیں۔ غیر انسانی اور تہذیبی اقدار کا نقصان۔

 جنگ چند لوگوں کے لیے اچھے کاروبار کا باعث بنتی ہے، اور بہت سے لوگوں کے لیے ناقابل فہم ہولناکی۔

 جیسا کہ رحیم فیض اور کیتھی گینن نے ہف پوسٹ میں بیان کیا ہے۔ “معاہدے کا ایک اہم ستون، جسے امریکہ اور طالبان ایک سال سے زیادہ عرصے سے ختم کر رہے ہیں، تنازع کے دونوں اطراف کے افغانوں کے درمیان براہ راست مذاکرات ہیں۔

 توقع ہے کہ امریکہ طالبان امن معاہدے پر دستخط ہونے کے دو ہفتوں کے اندر اندر افغان مذاکرات ہوں گے۔ وہ ممکنہ طور پر فیصلہ کریں گے کہ جنگ کے بعد کا افغانستان کیسا ہوگا، اور طالبان کیا کردار ادا کریں گے۔ مذاکرات میں بہت سے موضوعات کا احاطہ کیا جائے گا، جیسا کہ خواتین کے حقوق، آزادی اظہار اور دسیوں ہزار طالبان جنگجوؤں کی قسمت، نیز افغانستان کے جنگجوؤں سے تعلق رکھنے والی بھاری مسلح ملیشیا جنہوں نے اس کے بعد سے دولت اور طاقت جمع کی ہے۔ طالبان کا خاتمہ۔”

 اور 29 فروری 2020 کی میری بعد کی پوسٹ میں، افغانستان میں امن؟ ہم آج امریکہ اور طالبان کے درمیان تاریخی امن معاہدے پر دستخط کا جشن منا رہے ہیں، اور اپنے فوجیوں کو 18 سالہ جنگ سے گھر واپس لانے کا موقع ہے جس نے خون اور خزانے کی بڑی قیمت پر بہت کم حاصل کیا ہے۔ یہ ایک عارضی، مشروط امن ہے، جو ایک شاندار دستاویز میں وضع کیا گیا ہے جو ہمیشہ کے لیے شاندار سفارت کاری کی ایک مثال رہے گا، جس میں دونوں فریق فتح کا دعویٰ کر سکتے ہیں۔

 امریکہ نے اپنے طالبان اتحادیوں کے ذریعے ایک عظیم دشمن القاعدہ کی تباہی اور نامنظور جیت لی ہے۔ یہ طالبان کو ایک سنی قوم کے طور پر بھی پیش کرتا ہے جس میں ایران کی مشرقی سرحد پر براہ راست امریکی تسلیم کیا جاتا ہے، جو کہ جغرافیائی سیاسی حکمت عملی کے لحاظ سے ایک نااہل جیت ہے۔

 طالبان اپنی قوم کو غیر ملکی سامراج سے نجات دلانے کے لیے اپنی طویل جنگ میں امریکہ پر فتح کا دعویٰ کر سکتے ہیں۔ ہم نے اپنے بزدل احمق صدر ٹرمپ کے براہ راست حکم سے طالبان کو قانونی حیثیت دے دی ہے اور تحریری طور پر اپنی مکمل شکست تسلیم کر لی ہے، جن کے الفاظ کا کوئی مطلب نہیں ہے۔ یہ صرف اپنے اتحادیوں کو چھوڑنے اور کوڑے مارے کتوں کی طرح افغانستان سے بھاگنا باقی ہے۔

 ایسا نہیں ہوسکتا ہے کہ امریکہ میں بیانیہ تیار کیا جائے گا، کاتا جائے گا اور بیچا جائے گا، یا تو ہماری حکومت اور نہ ہی بے معنی تباہ کن ہمیشہ کی جنگوں سے تنگ قوم، لیکن میں آپ کو گارنٹی دیتا ہوں کہ دنیا اس کی کتنی تشریح کرے گی۔

 لیکن یہی وجہ نہیں ہے کہ میں اس معاہدے سے ملنے والے امن کے موقع کے بارے میں بے چین اور خوفزدہ ہوں۔ میں جنگ کے خاتمے کے موقع پر، کسی بھی موقع پر خوشی اور فاتحانہ خوشی کے ساتھ رقص کیوں نہیں کر رہا ہوں؟

 جیسا کہ جینیفر ہینسلر CNN میں لکھتی ہیں؛ “چار صفحات پر مشتمل معاہدے میں کہا گیا ہے کہ طالبان “القاعدہ سمیت کسی بھی گروہ یا فرد کو افغانستان کی سرزمین کو امریکہ اور اس کے اتحادیوں کی سلامتی کو خطرے میں ڈالنے سے روکنے کے لیے اقدامات کریں گے۔” ان اقدامات میں یہ وعدے شامل ہیں کہ طالبان اپنے ارکان کو “امریکہ اور اس کے اتحادیوں کی سلامتی کے لیے خطرہ بننے والے گروہوں یا افراد کے ساتھ تعاون نہ کرنے کی ہدایت کریں گے” اور یہ کہ “افغانستان میں کسی بھی گروہ یا فرد کو امریکہ کی سلامتی کے لیے خطرہ بننے سے روکیں گے۔ اور اس کے اتحادی، اور انہیں بھرتی، تربیت اور فنڈ ریزنگ سے روکیں گے اور اس معاہدے کے وعدوں کے مطابق ان کی میزبانی نہیں کریں گے۔”

 “معاہدے کے متن میں خواتین یا سول سوسائٹی کے تحفظ کے حوالے سے کوئی مخصوص زبان نہیں ہے،” عالمی انسانی حقوق اور جمہوریت، اور خاص طور پر خواتین کے حقوق جیسی چھوٹی چھوٹی باتیں، جو کہ امریکہ کی ریپبلکن حکومت کے لیے کوئی اہمیت نہیں رکھتیں۔ ملکی اور عالمی دونوں شعبوں میں آزادی اور مساوات کا خاتمہ جو کہ تینوں دھڑوں کا بنیادی ہدف ہے جو غداری کی پارٹی بن چکی ہے پر قبضہ کرنے کے لیے متحد ہیں۔ Gideonite بنیاد پرستوں کی پدرانہ حکومت اور جنسی دہشت گردی، سفید فام بالادستی جو قانون کی حکمرانی کو مکمل طور پر ختم کرنا چاہتے ہیں، اور Plutocrats جو ہمیں غیر انسانی اور غلام بنائے گا۔

 یہ خیال کہ ہم سب کو قانون کے تحت مساوی حقوق حاصل ہیں، ریپبلکن اتحاد کے لیے ایک پریشانی ہے جو فورتھ ریخ کے طور پر پوری دنیا پر فاشزم کا ظلم مسلط کرنا چاہتا ہے۔ وہ القاعدہ اور آئی ایس آئی ایس جیسے قابل عمل بیرونی خطرات کو محدود اور محدود کرنا چاہتے ہیں، انہیں ختم نہیں کرنا چاہتے، کیونکہ ایسے دشمن قوم پرستوں کے خوف اور غصے کو بھڑکانے اور ہمارے اپنے شہریوں کو طاقت اور کنٹرول کی آمرانہ ریاست کے تابع کرنے میں بہت کارآمد ہیں۔ نگرانی اور پولیسنگ کا انسداد بغاوت ماڈل۔ ظالموں کو ایسی دھمکیاں ضرور پیدا کرنی چاہئیں اگر وہ حقیقت میں موجود نہیں ہیں۔

 کیسے

مارے خلاف دہشت گردی کی بہت سی کارروائیاں ایسے پیادوں نے کی ہیں جو اپنے حقیقی آقاؤں سے بے خبر تھے؟ امریکہ عالمی سطح پر خوف اور نفرت کے بیج بونے کے لیے ایسی کتنی ہی قابلِ انکار قوتوں کو استعمال کرتا ہے، تاریخی طور پر ہمارے سامراج اور اب پوری دنیا میں جمہوریت کی سرکوبی کے لیے؟

 ہم اپنی غلامی کے میکانزم اور ڈھانچے کو چیلنج کرنے میں ناکام رہتے ہیں کیونکہ وہ اچھی طرح سے پوشیدہ، منحرف، لطیف، دھوئیں اور شیشوں سے بنے ہیں۔ خون، عقیدے اور مٹی کے فسطائیت جو اب پوری دنیا میں دوبارہ سر اٹھا رہے ہیں، ان کو اکثر باہر کے طور پر نمایاں کیا جاتا ہے، لیکن وہ انسانی تاریخ میں مرکزی حیثیت رکھتے ہیں۔ چوتھے ریخ کا طویل کھیل، اس کے پوشیدہ خیمے کئی دہائیوں کے اثر و رسوخ کی کارروائیوں کے دوران طاقت کو بے دریغ پھیلاتے اور اس پر قبضہ کرتے رہتے ہیں جب تک کہ یہ ہمیں اپنی گرفت میں نہ لے لے، اس کو کم نہیں سمجھا جانا چاہیے۔

 لہٰذا امن کی خبروں پر میری خوشی ہماری حکومت پر میرے عدم اعتماد پر چھائی ہوئی ہے، امن قائم کرنے اور اپنے فوجیوں کو اس شرط پر گھر لانے کے لیے کہ طالبان اپنے علاقوں میں القاعدہ اور کسی بھی دہشت گرد کے خلاف پولیس کر رہے ہیں، ایسے خطرات سے جو وہ امریکہ کو بچانے کے لیے بے بس ہیں۔ امن کو سبوتاژ کرتا ہے اور اس معاہدے کو ٹرمپ کی انتخابی مہم کا تماشا بناتا ہے جس کی ناکامی کا الزام دوسروں پر لگایا جا سکتا ہے۔

 مجھے امید ہے کہ اس میں میں غلط ہوں، اور ہم جلد ہی اپنے پیاروں کے ساتھ مل جائیں گے جو عزت اور بہادری کے ساتھ ایک ایسی حکومت کی خدمت کرتے ہیں جس کے پاس کوئی نہیں ہے، اور یہ کہ ہم کبھی بھی جنگیں نہیں لڑیں گے۔

 ہم سب پر سلامتی ہو۔

References

https://www.theguardian.com/world/gallery/2021/aug/16/the-fall-of-kabul-in-pictures

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/aug/15/the-fall-of-kabul-a-20-year-mission-collapses-in-a-single-day

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/aug/15/talibans-abdul-ghani-baradar-is-undisputed-victor-of-a-20-year-war

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2021/aug/16/taliban-afghanistan-rule-hardline-coalition-powers

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2021/aug/16/20-years-invasion-afghanistan-unnecessary-post-imperial-fantasy

https://www.msnbc.com/mehdi-hasan-show/watch/mehdi-false-narrative-about-american-greatness-led-us-to-fail-the-test-of-american-goodness-118771781596

https://www.washingtonpost.com/history/2021/08/15/saigon-fall-kabul-taliban/

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/afghans-fear-taliban-return_n_611955d2e4b0f7bc26a6b064?ncid

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/malala-yousafzai-afghanistan-taliban_n_6119af3be4b0454ed70ef11b?ncid

https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2021/07/06/afghanistan-war-malkasian-book-excerpt-497843

https://www.newyorker.com/news/our-columnists/does-the-great-retreat-from-afghanistan-mark-the-end-of-the-american-era

August 15 2025 End of the British Raj: Independence Day in India and Pakistan

      The world rejoices in the anniversary of the end of the British Raj, and Independence Day in India and Pakistan, nations which embody the civilizational duality of the subcontinent, long afflicted with sectarian division and its weaponization in service to power as a legacy of colonialism, and of the imposed conditions of anticolonial struggle.

     Fragmented at the origins of Independence like the Hobgoblin’s Broken Mirror in Anderson’s fairytale The Snow Queen, a thousand conflicting narratives and national identities born anew in pain and loss as a bifurcated myth of Exile like that of Mircea Cartarescu in his novel of Bucharest, Blinding; images which distort like those of funhouse mirrors, which lure and deceive as the lies and illusions of falsification, which capture and rob us of our uniqueness in endless repetition but which also exalt us into Infinity; history is a Wilderness of Mirrors in which we wander lost and alone, seeking to reclaim our interdependence, community, and wholeness.

     While the words of Gandhi are a light of nations and known to the whole world, I would like to amplify here my favorite quotes from India’s other national treasure, the brilliant and visionary Arundhati Roy:

    “The trouble is that once you see it, you can’t unsee it. And once you’ve seen it, keeping quiet, saying nothing, becomes as political an act as speaking out. There’s no innocence. Either way, you’re accountable.”

     “Use your art to fight.”

     “Nationalism of one kind or another was the cause of most of the genocide of the twentieth century. Flags are bits of colored cloth that governments use first to shrink-wrap people’s minds and then as ceremonial shrouds to bury the dead.”

     “Terrorism is the symptom, not the disease.”

     “Either way, change will come. It could be bloody, or it could be beautiful. It depends on us.”

    Ancestor spirits who embody the soul of India and the best of our infinite possibilities of becoming human among myriads of futures, represent ideals of masculine and feminine beauty in their actions toward others, and guide our choices about how to be human together, Gandi and Arundati Roy belong to India but also to all humankind and our universal struggle to become human.

     When the moment of decision comes we must place our lives in the balance with those whom Frantz Fanon called the Wretched of the Earth, the powerless and the dispossessed, the marginalized and the erased, or turn away; choose the path of beauty and not of disfigurement of the soul.

     When the forces of state tyranny and terror, of fascisms of blood, faith, and soil, of elite hegemonies of wealth, power, and privilege, of hierarchies of belonging and exclusionary otherness, come to claim us and steal our souls, let them find not a humankind subjugated by despair and learned helplessness nor divided in service to power, but united in solidarity and liberty, for the use of force and brutality in repression of dissent is hollow and brittle, and fails at the point of refusal to obey.

     Who refuses to submit and cannot be compelled is free, and becomes Unconquered as a living Autonomous Zone, and this no tyranny can take from us.  

     Let us seize the gates of our prisons, and be free.

     How shall we answer the terror of our absurdity and nothingness? With solidarity and resistance to tyranny and divisions of exclusionary otherness and hierarchies of belonging, and to all sectarian fascisms of blood, faith, and soil; this will ever be my answer, for we create ourselves anew when we refuse to submit to authority and authorized identities and become Unconquered and free, as Living Autonomous Zones.

     To fascism there can be but one reply; Never Again!

      One may also welcome total freedom and self-ownership with joy, as we do today, for with Independence come limitless possibilities of becoming human, and our exploration of the unknown within us is only beginning.

      Celebrate with me Independence Day as a liminal and transformative time of exploring unknowns beyond the boundaries of the Forbidden, the defiance of authority, the sabotage of hierarchies and of force and control, and the violation of normalities. 

      Let us run amok and be ungovernable.

Gandhi film trailer

References

Rashomon Effects: Kurosawa, Rashomon and Their Legacies

by Blair Davis (Editor), Robert Anderson (Editor), Jan Walls (Editor)

The broken mirror: intersectionality and the loss of the universal, by Tony McKenna writing in openDemocracy

https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/can-europe-make-it/broken-mirror-intersectionality-and-loss-universal/

Blinding, Mircea Cărtărescu

Gerontin, by T.S. Eliot

https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/47254/gerontion

The Wretched of the Earth, Frantz Fanon, Jean-Paul Sartre  (Preface)

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/66933.The_Wretched_of_the_Earth?ref=nav_sb_ss_1_25

                  Gandhi, a reading list

Why Gandhi Still Matters: An Appraisal of the Mahatma’s Legacy, by Rajmohan Gandhi

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/35158218-why-gandhi-still-matters

The Gandhi Reader: A Sourcebook of His Life and Writings, by Homer A. Jack (Editor)

Gandhi: The Man, His People, and the Empire, by Rajmohan Gandhi

                  History of Modern India

India After Gandhi: The History of the World’s Largest Democracy, by Ramachandra Guha

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/356824.India_After_Gandhi

The Discovery of India, by Jawaharlal Nehru

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/154126.The_Discovery_of_India

India: From Midnight to the Millennium and Beyond, by Shashi Tharoor

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/30845.India

                  Independence in Fiction: India Reimagines Herself

Midnight’s Children, by Salman Rushdie

The Great Indian Novel, by Shashi Tharoor

A Suitable Boy, by Vikram Seth

The Ministry of Utmost Happiness, by Arundhati Roy

     India Beholds Herself in the Mirror; nonfiction and interviews of Arundati Roy

The Shape of the Beast: Conversations with Arundhati Roy, by Arundhati Roy

My Seditious Heart: Collected Nonfiction, by Arundhati Roy

    My Seditious Heart collects two decades of essays, in a thousand pages; one could begin with the foundational The Algebra of Infinite Justice, a favorite of mine as it references and extends William S. Burroughs’ reimagination of Marxist dialectics and Sartrean alienation as The Algebra of Need, and Broken Republic which is an al fresco portrait of India.

The Algebra of Infinite Justice, by Arundhati Roy

Broken Republic: Three Essays, by Arundhati Roy

Come September, by Arundhati Roy (Goodreads Author), Howard Zinn (Introduction) (transcript and CD of her Lannan Award for Cultural Freedom address)

Hindi

15 अगस्त 2024 ब्रिटिश राज का अंत: भारत और पाकिस्तान में स्वतंत्रता दिवस

     इस सप्ताह के अंत में दुनिया ब्रिटिश राज के अंत की सालगिरह पर और भारत और पाकिस्तान में स्वतंत्रता दिवस पर खुशी मनाती है, जो देश उपमहाद्वीप के सभ्यतागत द्वंद्व का प्रतीक हैं, जो लंबे समय से सांप्रदायिक विभाजन से पीड़ित हैं और सत्ता की विरासत के रूप में सत्ता की सेवा में इसके हथियार हैं। उपनिवेशवाद, और उपनिवेशवाद विरोधी संघर्ष की थोपी गई स्थितियाँ।

     एंडरसन की कहानी द स्नो क्वीन में हॉबगोब्लिन के ब्रोकन मिरर की तरह स्वतंत्रता के मूल में खंडित, बुखारेस्ट, ब्लाइंडिंग के अपने उपन्यास में मिर्सिया कार्टारेस्कु की तरह निर्वासन के द्विभाजित मिथक के रूप में दर्द और हानि में एक हजार परस्पर विरोधी कथाएं और राष्ट्रीय पहचान पैदा हुई; छवियां जो फ़नहाउस दर्पणों की तरह विकृत होती हैं, जो झूठ और मिथ्याकरण के भ्रम के रूप में लुभाती हैं और धोखा देती हैं, जो हमें अंतहीन दोहराव में हमारी विशिष्टता को पकड़ती हैं और लूटती हैं लेकिन जो हमें अनंत में भी बढ़ाती हैं; इतिहास दर्पणों का जंगल है जिसमें हम खोए हुए और अकेले घूमते हैं, अपनी अन्योन्याश्रयता, समुदाय और पूर्णता को पुनः प्राप्त करने की कोशिश करते हैं।

     जबकि गांधी के शब्द राष्ट्रों के प्रकाश हैं और पूरी दुनिया को ज्ञात हैं, मैं यहां भारत के अन्य राष्ट्रीय खजाने, शानदार और दूरदर्शी अरुंधति रॉय से अपने पसंदीदा उद्धरणों को बढ़ाना चाहूंगा:

    “मुश्किल यह है कि एक बार जब आप इसे देख लेते हैं, तो आप इसे अनदेखा नहीं कर सकते। और एक बार जब आप इसे देख लेते हैं, तो चुप रहना, कुछ न कहना, बोलने जैसा राजनीतिक कार्य बन जाता है। कोई मासूमियत नहीं है। किसी भी तरह से, आप जवाबदेह हैं।”

     “लड़ने के लिए अपनी कला का प्रयोग करें।”

     “बीसवीं सदी के अधिकांश नरसंहारों का कारण किसी न किसी प्रकार का राष्ट्रवाद था। झंडे रंगीन कपड़े के टुकड़े होते हैं जिनका उपयोग सरकारें पहले लोगों के दिमाग को सिकोड़ने के लिए करती हैं और फिर मृतकों को दफनाने के लिए औपचारिक कफन के रूप में। ”

     “आतंकवाद लक्षण है, बीमारी नहीं।”

     “किसी भी तरह से, बदलाव आएगा। यह खूनी हो सकता है, या यह सुंदर हो सकता है। यह हम पर निर्भर करता है।”

     जब निर्णय का क्षण आता है जब हमें अपने जीवन को उन लोगों के साथ संतुलन में रखना चाहिए जिन्हें फ्रांट्ज़ फैनन ने पृथ्वी का मनहूस कहा, शक्तिहीन और वंचित, हाशिए पर और मिट गए, या दूर हो गए, सुंदरता का मार्ग चुनें और नहीं आत्मा की विकृति से।

     जब राज्य के अत्याचार और आतंक की ताकतें, खून, विश्वास और मिट्टी के फासीवाद की, धन, शक्ति और विशेषाधिकार के कुलीन आधिपत्य की, अपनेपन और बहिष्कृत अन्यता के पदानुक्रम, हम पर दावा करने और हमारी आत्माओं को चुराने के लिए आते हैं, तो उन्हें खोजने दें निराशा और सीखी हुई लाचारी के अधीन मानव जाति नहीं है और न ही सत्ता की सेवा में विभाजित है, बल्कि एकजुटता और स्वतंत्रता में एकजुट है, क्योंकि असंतोष के दमन में बल और क्रूरता का उपयोग खोखला और भंगुर है, और पालन करने से इनकार करने के बिंदु पर विफल रहता है।

     जो झुकने से इंकार करता है और मजबूर नहीं किया जा सकता वह स्वतंत्र है, और एक जीवित स्वायत्त क्षेत्र के रूप में अजेय हो जाता है, और यह कोई अत्याचार हमसे नहीं ले सकता है।

     आइए हम अपने जेलों के फाटकों को जब्त कर लें, और स्वतंत्र रहें।

     हम अपनी बेहूदगी और शून्यता के आतंक का जवाब कैसे देंगे? अत्याचार के प्रति एकजुटता और प्रतिरोध के साथ और अपवर्जनात्मक अन्यता के विभाजन और अपनेपन के पदानुक्रम, और रक्त, विश्वास और मिट्टी के सभी सांप्रदायिक फासीवादों के लिए; यह हमेशा मेरा जवाब होगा, क्योंकि जब हम प्राधिकरण और अधिकृत पहचानों को प्रस्तुत करने से इनकार करते हैं और जीवित स्वायत्त क्षेत्रों के रूप में अजेय और मुक्त हो जाते हैं, तो हम खुद को नया बनाते हैं।

     फासीवाद का एक ही जवाब हो सकता है; फिर कभी नहीं!

      कोई भी पूर्ण स्वतंत्रता और स्व-स्वामित्व का आनंद के साथ स्वागत कर सकता है, जैसा कि हम आज करते हैं, स्वतंत्रता के साथ मानव बनने की असीम संभावनाएं आती हैं, और हमारे भीतर अज्ञात की खोज केवल शुरुआत है।

      मेरे साथ स्वतंत्रता दिवस को निषिद्ध की सीमाओं से परे अज्ञात की खोज के एक सीमित और परिवर्तनकारी समय के रूप में मनाएं, अधिकार की अवहेलना, पदानुक्रम की तोड़फोड़ और बल और नियंत्रण, और मानदंडों का उल्लंघन।

      आइए हम अमोक दौड़ें और अनियंत्रित हों।

Urdu

15 اگست 2024 برطانوی راج کا خاتمہ: ہندوستان اور پاکستان میں یوم آزادی

     اس ہفتے کے آخر میں دنیا برطانوی راج کے خاتمے کی سالگرہ، اور ہندوستان اور پاکستان میں یوم آزادی کی خوشی منا رہی ہے، وہ قومیں جو برصغیر کی تہذیبی دوئی کو مجسم کرتی ہیں، جو طویل عرصے سے فرقہ وارانہ تقسیم سے دوچار ہیں اور اس کے ہتھیار کو اقتدار کی میراث کے طور پر استعمال کر رہی ہیں۔ استعمار، اور استعمار مخالف جدوجہد کی مسلط کردہ شرائط۔

     اینڈرسن کی افسانہ دی سنو کوئین میں ہوبگوبلن کے ٹوٹے ہوئے آئینہ کی طرح آزادی کی ابتدا میں بکھرے ہوئے، ایک ہزار متضاد داستانیں اور قومی شناختیں جو اپنے ناول بخارسٹ میں میرسیا کارٹاریسکو کی طرح جلاوطنی کے ایک منقسم افسانے کے طور پر درد اور نقصان میں نئے سرے سے پیدا ہوئیں؛ ایسی تصاویر جو فن ہاؤس کے آئینے کی طرح مسخ کرتی ہیں، جو جھوٹ اور فریب کاری کے فریب کے طور پر لالچ دیتی ہیں اور دھوکہ دیتی ہیں، جو نہ ختم ہونے والی تکرار میں ہماری انفرادیت کو چھین لیتی ہیں لیکن جو ہمیں لامحدودیت میں بھی بلند کرتی ہیں۔ تاریخ آئینوں کا ایک جنگل ہے جس میں ہم کھوئے ہوئے اور اکیلے گھومتے ہیں، اپنے باہمی انحصار، برادری اور مکمل پن کو دوبارہ حاصل کرنے کی کوشش کرتے ہیں۔

     اگرچہ گاندھی کے الفاظ قوموں کے لیے روشنی ہیں اور پوری دنیا کے لیے مشہور ہیں، میں یہاں ہندوستان کے دوسرے قومی خزانے، شاندار اور بصیرت اروندھتی رائے سے اپنے پسندیدہ اقتباسات کو بڑھانا چاہوں گا:

    “مصیبت یہ ہے کہ ایک بار جب آپ اسے دیکھتے ہیں، تو آپ اسے نہیں دیکھ سکتے۔ اور ایک بار جب آپ اسے دیکھ چکے ہیں، خاموش رہنا، کچھ نہ کہنا، اتنا ہی سیاسی عمل بن جاتا ہے جتنا کہ بولنا۔ کوئی معصومیت نہیں ہے۔ کسی بھی طرح، آپ جوابدہ ہیں.”

     “لڑنے کے لیے اپنے فن کا استعمال کریں۔”

     ’’بیسویں صدی کی زیادہ تر نسل کشی کا سبب کسی نہ کسی قسم کی قوم پرستی تھی۔ جھنڈے رنگین کپڑے کے ٹکڑے ہوتے ہیں جنہیں حکومتیں پہلے لوگوں کے ذہنوں کو سمیٹنے کے لیے استعمال کرتی ہیں اور پھر مردوں کو دفنانے کے لیے رسمی کفن کے طور پر۔

     ’’دہشت گردی بیماری کی علامت نہیں‘‘۔

     “کسی بھی طرح، تبدیلی آئے گی. یہ خونی ہو سکتا ہے، یا یہ خوبصورت ہو سکتا ہے۔ یہ ہم پر منحصر ہے۔”

     جب فیصلہ کا وہ لمحہ آتا ہے جب ہمیں اپنی زندگیوں کو ان لوگوں کے ساتھ توازن میں رکھنا چاہیے جنہیں فرانٹز فینن نے زمین کے بدبخت، بے اختیار اور بے گھر، پسماندہ اور مٹائے ہوئے کہا تھا، یا منہ موڑ کر خوبصورتی کی راہ کا انتخاب کریں اور نہ کہ۔ روح کی بگاڑ کی.

     جب ریاستی جبر اور دہشت کی قوتیں، خون، ایمان اور مٹی کی فسطائیت، دولت، طاقت اور مراعات کی اشرافیہ کی بالادستی کی، ہم پر دعویٰ کرنے اور ہماری روحیں چرانے کے لیے آئیں، تو انہیں تلاش کرنے دیں۔ مایوسی سے مغلوب اور بے بسی سیکھی اور نہ ہی اقتدار کی خدمت میں بٹی بلکہ یکجہتی اور آزادی میں متحد ہو کیونکہ اختلاف کو دبانے میں طاقت اور ظلم کا استعمال کھوکھلا اور ٹوٹا پھوٹا ہے اور اطاعت سے انکار پر ناکام ہو جاتا ہے۔

     جو تسلیم کرنے سے انکار کرتا ہے اور اسے مجبور نہیں کیا جا سکتا وہ آزاد ہے، اور ایک زندہ خود مختار علاقے کے طور پر ناقابل تسخیر ہو جاتا ہے، اور یہ کوئی ظلم ہم سے نہیں چھین سکتا۔

     آئیے اپنی جیلوں کے دروازوں پر قبضہ کر لیں، اور آزاد ہو جائیں۔

     ہم اپنی بے ہودگی اور بے ہودگی کی دہشت کا کیا جواب دیں گے؟ یکجہتی اور ظلم کے خلاف مزاحمت کے ساتھ اور الگ الگ الگ الگ ہونے کی تقسیم اور تعلق کے درجہ بندیوں، اور خون، عقیدے اور مٹی کے تمام فرقہ وارانہ فاشزم کے ساتھ؛ یہ کبھی بھی میرا جواب ہوگا، کیونکہ ہم خود کو نئے سرے سے تخلیق کرتے ہیں جب ہم اتھارٹی اور مجاز شناخت کے سامنے سر تسلیم خم کرنے سے انکار کرتے ہیں اور خود مختار علاقوں کی حیثیت سے ناقابل تسخیر اور آزاد ہو جاتے ہیں۔

     فاشزم کا جواب صرف ایک ہو سکتا ہے۔ دوبارہ کبھی نہیں!

      کوئی بھی خوشی کے ساتھ مکمل آزادی اور خود مختاری کا خیرمقدم کر سکتا ہے، جیسا کہ آج ہم کرتے ہیں، کیونکہ آزادی کے ساتھ انسان بننے کے لامحدود امکانات پیدا ہوتے ہیں، اور ہمارے اندر نامعلوم کی کھوج صرف شروع ہوتی ہے۔

      میرے ساتھ یوم آزادی کو حرام کی حدود سے باہر نامعلوم کو تلاش کرنے، اختیارات کی خلاف ورزی، درجہ بندیوں کی تخریب کاری اور طاقت اور کنٹرول، اور اصولوں کی خلاف ورزی کے ایک اہم اور تبدیلی کے وقت کے طور پر منائیں۔

      آئیے ہم آپس میں بھاگیں اور ناقابل تسخیر رہیں۔

August 14 2025 Anniversary of the Partition of India

     On this day the Partition of India unleashed all the timeless evils of Pandora’s Box, a tragedy with few parallels in the history of the world on such a mass scale, and very few hopes for the reimagination and transformation of human being, meaning, and value.

     For myself, I remain unconvinced that Partition was anything other than a scheme of the British Empire in partnership with nationalist elites to retain vestiges of dominion through the old colonial strategies of division by weaponization of faith, race, gender, class or caste, and narratives of victimization and identity politics.

     Modi’s India under the heel of the political party of Gandhi’s assassins reflects all of these historical legacies of imperialism and colonialism as an imposed condition of struggle. Here as throughout the world and history, we of the Resistance oppose fascisms of blood, faith, and soil, but it is important to recognize that the origins of evil in unequal power and the centralization of authority to a carceral state of force and control propagate from the crimes of masters through the successor states of their liberated slaves.

    Nationalism, and its expression as militarized authoritarian states, is a predictable phase of revolutionary struggle, especially anti-colonial revolutions. All of the things that make for victory against overwhelming force become systemic flaws once power has been seized; as if national identity changes benevolent for malign masks in the performance of realizing itself.

     What we must do to escape the legacies of our history, once power has been seized and the tyrants cast down from their thrones, is to abandon power over others and refuse to take the place of our abusers; to renounce the social use of force.

    Sadly, the flaws of our humanity make it far more difficult to wage revolutionary struggle against ourselves and our own power and privilege than to seize power from those who would enslave us.

     We must free ourselves from systems of oppression; this is our true enemy, and not other human beings. Regardless of hierarchies of belonging and exclusionary otherness, and identity as a strategy of subjugation by hegemonic elites, division which we must resist with solidarity, we must find ways to unite in common cause if we are to free each other, to embrace our uniqueness and to celebrate and learn from the uniqueness of others as diversity and inclusion in a free society of equals.

     In the subcontinent of India and its myriads of historical societies and cultures now riven into nations of Hindus and Muslims as political identities shaped by the legacies of history and the imposed conditions of anticolonial struggle, I mean that when the best solution, a secular state, is for now out of reach, we must begin with the abandonment of violence to enforce and authorize identities and fascisms of faith, blood, and soil, for the social use of force does one thing above all else from which myriads of injustices derive; it centralizes power to elites, then subjugates those it claims to speak for and dehumanizes, enslaves, and erases others in campaigns of ethnic cleansing, legitimizes authority, and creates tyrannies and carceral states of force and control.

     Faith serves power, and both are born of fear. Faith weaponized in service to power by authority centralizes power to carceral states of force and control, which create and enforce divisions and fascisms of blood, faith, and national identity; to restore our humanity to each other we must unite in solidarity to seize our power from those who claim to act and speak in our name and make us complicit in unforgiveable crimes as a strategy of our subjugation; for only love conquers hate, frees us from the Ring of fear, power, and force, redeems us from the flaws of our humanity and the flags of our skin, and confers liberation in refusal to submit to those who would enslave us.

      To combat the state as embodied violence we must build bridges and not walls.  

      This day we mourn the birth of a new India in blood and pain, like all human life cast into a world utterly without meaning or value, in which we must create our own in creating ourselves. This is the terror of being human; and this is the joy of becoming human in total freedom.

     How will we use this chance, conferred by seizure of power over a brutal oppressor in imposed conditions of struggle which include dehumanization, commodification, and falsification, and most especially divisions of faith, race, and caste?

     Here the past has consumed the present, and we must free ourselves from the legacies of our history as systems of oppression.

     We must let go of who we were, for the chance to become who we wish to be.

‘My mother was beheaded in front of me’: a survivor recalls India’s violent partition; Zareena Parveen was 12 years old when British colonial India was carved up along religious lines.  Documentary by The Guardian

                    Questioning Hindu Nationalism, a reading list

The New India: The Unmaking of the World’s Largest Democracy, Rahul Bhatia

In the Belly of the Beast: Hindu Supremacist RSS and BJP of India, Partha Banerjee

The RSS: A Menace To India, A.G. Noorani

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/45320765-the-rss?ref=rae_18

References

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/aug/14/finally-we-are-together-partitions-broken-families-reunite-after-seven-decades?CMP=share_btn_link

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2022/aug/14/anniversary-partition-hindu-muslim-india-pakistan-1947?CMP=share_btn_link

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/aug/14/we-must-forget-about-divisions-one-womans-journey-home-75-years-after-indias-partition?CMP=share_btn_link

                    Partition of India, a reading list

Remnants of a Separation: A History of the Partition through Material Memory,

Aanchal Malhotra

In the Language of Remembering: The Inheritance of Partition, Aanchal Malhotra

East of Indus: My Memories of Old Punjab, Gurnam Singh Brard

The Great Partition: The Making of India and Pakistan, Yasmin Cordery Khan

The Shadow of the Great Game: The Untold Story of India’s Partition,

Narendra Singh Sarila

Midnight’s Furies: The Deadly Legacy of India’s Partition, Nisid Hajari

The Other Side of Silence: Voices from the Partition of India, Urvashi Butalia

From Plassey to Partition: A History of Modern India, Sekhar Bandyopadhyay

The Long Partition and the Making of Modern South Asia: Refugees, Boundaries, Histories, Vazira Fazila-Yacoobali Zamindar

Hindi

14 अगस्त 2024 विभाजन की वर्षगांठ

     इस दिन भारत के विभाजन ने पेंडोरा के बॉक्स की सभी कालातीत बुराइयों को उजागर किया, इस तरह के बड़े पैमाने पर दुनिया के इतिहास में कुछ समानताएं के साथ एक त्रासदी, और मानव के रूप में, अर्थ, और मूल्य के पुनर्मिलन और परिवर्तन के लिए बहुत कम उम्मीदें ।

     खुद के लिए, मैं इस बात पर असीम है कि विभाजन, ब्रिटिश साम्राज्य की एक योजना के अलावा कुछ भी था, जो विश्वास, नस्ल, लिंग, वर्ग या जाति के हथियारकरण द्वारा विभाजन की पुरानी औपनिवेशिक रणनीतियों के माध्यम से प्रभुत्व के वेस्टेज को बनाए रखने के लिए था, और पीड़ित और पहचान की राजनीति की कथाएँ ।

     गांधी के हत्यारों की राजनीतिक पार्टी की एड़ी के तहत मोदी का भारत साम्राज्यवाद और उपनिवेशवाद के इन सभी ऐतिहासिक विरासतों को संघर्ष की एक थोपी हुई स्थिति के रूप में दर्शाता है। यहाँ दुनिया और इतिहास के रूप में, हम प्रतिरोध रक्त, विश्वास और मिट्टी के फासीवाद का विरोध करते हैं, लेकिन असमान शक्ति में बुराई की उत्पत्ति और प्राधिकरण के केंद्रीकरण को बल और नियंत्रण के लिए प्राधिकरण के केंद्रीकरण से पहचानना महत्वपूर्ण है। अपने मुक्त दासों के उत्तराधिकारी राज्यों के माध्यम से स्वामी के अपराध।

    राष्ट्रवाद, और इसकी अभिव्यक्ति सैन्य रूप से सत्तावादी राज्यों के रूप में, क्रांतिकारी संघर्ष का एक पूर्वानुमानित चरण है, विशेष रूप से उपनिवेश विरोधी क्रांतियों। एक बार बिजली जब्त हो जाने के बाद, भारी बल के खिलाफ जीत के लिए जीत के लिए सभी चीजें प्रणालीगत दोष बन जाती हैं; जैसे कि राष्ट्रीय पहचान खुद को साकार करने के प्रदर्शन में घातक मुखौटे के लिए परोपकारी बदलती है।

     हमें अपने इतिहास की विरासत से बचने के लिए क्या करना चाहिए, एक बार शक्ति जब्त कर ली गई है और अत्याचारियों को उनके सिंहासन से नीचे गिरा दिया गया है, तो दूसरों पर सत्ता को छोड़ देना और उनकी जगह लेने से इनकार करना है; बल के सामाजिक उपयोग को त्यागने के लिए।

    अफसोस की बात यह है कि हमारी मानवता की खामियां अपने और अपनी शक्ति और विशेषाधिकार के खिलाफ क्रांतिकारी संघर्ष को छेड़ने के लिए कहीं अधिक कठिन बना देती हैं, जो हमें उन लोगों से सत्ता को जब्त करने के लिए।

हमें खुद को उत्पीड़न की व्यवस्था से मुक्त करना होगा; यही हमारा सच्चा शत्रु है, अन्य मनुष्य नहीं। संबद्धता और बहिष्करणीय अन्यता के पदानुक्रमों के बावजूद, और आधिपत्य अभिजात वर्ग द्वारा अधीनता की रणनीति के रूप में पहचान, विभाजन जिसका हमें एकजुटता के साथ विरोध करना चाहिए, अगर हमें एक-दूसरे को मुक्त करना है, अपनी विशिष्टता को अपनाना है और साझा उद्देश्य में एकजुट होने के तरीके खोजने होंगे समानता के मुक्त समाज में विविधता और समावेशन के रूप में दूसरों की विशिष्टता का जश्न मनाना और उससे सीखना।

      भारत के उपमहाद्वीप में और इसके असंख्य ऐतिहासिक समाज और संस्कृतियाँ अब इतिहास की विरासतों और उपनिवेशवाद-विरोधी संघर्ष की थोपी गई स्थितियों से आकार लेने वाली राजनीतिक पहचान के रूप में हिंदू और मुसलमानों के राष्ट्रों में विभाजित हो गई हैं, मेरा मतलब है कि जब सबसे अच्छा समाधान, एक धर्मनिरपेक्ष राज्य, अभी पहुंच से बाहर है, हमें विश्वास, रक्त और मिट्टी की पहचान और फासीवाद को लागू करने और अधिकृत करने के लिए हिंसा के परित्याग से शुरुआत करनी चाहिए, क्योंकि बल का सामाजिक उपयोग अन्य सभी चीजों से ऊपर एक काम करता है; यह सत्ता को अभिजात वर्ग के हाथों में केंद्रीकृत करता है, उन लोगों को अपने अधीन कर लेता है जिनके लिए वह बोलने का दावा करता है और दूसरों को अमानवीय बनाता है, प्राधिकार को वैध बनाता है, और बल और नियंत्रण के अत्याचार और क्रूर राज्य बनाता है।

       राज्य को मूर्त हिंसा के रूप में मुकाबला करने के लिए हमें पुल बनाने होंगे, दीवारें नहीं।

इस दिन हम रक्त और पीड़ा से भरे एक नए भारत के जन्म का शोक मनाते हैं, जैसे कि सभी मानव जीवन को पूरी तरह से अर्थ या मूल्य के बिना एक दुनिया में फेंक दिया जाता है, जिसमें हमें खुद को बनाने में अपना खुद का निर्माण करना होगा। यह इंसान होने का आतंक है; और यह पूर्ण स्वतंत्रता में मानव बनने का आनंद है।

      हम इस अवसर का उपयोग कैसे करेंगे, जो संघर्ष की थोपी गई स्थितियों में एक क्रूर उत्पीड़क पर सत्ता की जब्ती द्वारा प्रदान किया गया है, जिसमें अमानवीयकरण, वस्तुकरण, और मिथ्याकरण, और विशेष रूप से विश्वास, नस्ल और जाति के विभाजन शामिल हैं?

      यहां अतीत ने वर्तमान को निगल लिया है, और हमें उत्पीड़न की व्यवस्था के रूप में अपने इतिहास की विरासत से खुद को मुक्त करना होगा।

      हमें वह बनने का मौका पाने के लिए जो हम थे, छोड़ना होगा जो हम बनना चाहते हैं।

Urdu

اگست 14 2024 تقسیم کی سالگرہ

     اس دن ہندوستان کی تقسیم نے پنڈورا کے خانے کی تمام لازوال برائیوں کو جاری کیا ، یہ ایک ایسا المیہ ہے جس میں اس طرح کے بڑے پیمانے پر دنیا کی تاریخ میں کچھ متوازی ہیں ، اور انسان کی بحالی اور تبدیلی ، معنی اور قدر کی تبدیلی کے لئے بہت کم امیدیں ہیں۔

     اپنے لئے ، میں اس بات پر متفق نہیں ہوں کہ تقسیم برطانوی سلطنت کی ایک اسکیم کے علاوہ کچھ بھی تھا جو عقیدے ، نسل ، صنف ، طبقے یا ذات کے ہتھیاروں کے ذریعہ تقسیم کی پرانی نوآبادیاتی حکمت عملیوں کے ذریعے تسلط کے حصول کو برقرار رکھنے کے لئے کچھ اور تھا۔

     مودی کا ہندوستان گاندھی کے قاتلوں کی سیاسی جماعت کی ایک ہیل کے تحت سامراج اور استعمار کی ان تمام تاریخی وراثت کی عکاسی کرتا ہے جس کی جدوجہد کی ایک مسلط حالت ہے۔ یہاں پوری دنیا اور تاریخ کی طرح ، ہم مزاحمت کے حامل خون ، عقیدے اور مٹی کے فاشزموں کی مخالفت کرتے ہیں ، لیکن یہ ضروری ہے کہ غیر مساوی طاقت میں برائی کی ابتدا کو تسلیم کیا جائے اور اختیار کی مرکزیت کو مرکزیت کا مرکز بنانا اور اس پر قابو پالنا۔ ان کے آزاد غلاموں کی جانشین ریاستوں کے ذریعہ ماسٹرز کے جرائم۔

    قوم پرستی ، اور عسکریت پسند آمرانہ ریاستوں کی حیثیت سے اس کا اظہار ، انقلابی جدوجہد کا ایک پیش قیاسی مرحلہ ہے ، خاص طور پر نوآبادیاتی انقلابات۔ طاقت کے قبضے میں آنے کے بعد زبردست طاقت کے خلاف فتح کے ل  جو ساری چیزیں سیسٹیمیٹک خامیاں بن جاتی ہیں۔ گویا قومی شناخت خود کو سمجھنے کی کارکردگی میں مہلک ماسک کے لئے فلاحی تبدیلیوں کو تبدیل کرتی ہے۔

     ہمیں اپنی تاریخ کی وراثت سے بچنے کے ل  کیا کرنا چاہئے ، ایک بار جب اقتدار پر قبضہ کرلیا گیا اور ظالموں کو اپنے تخت سے اتار دیا گیا ، دوسروں پر اقتدار ترک کرنا اور ان کی جگہ لینے سے انکار کرنا ہے۔ طاقت کے معاشرتی استعمال کو ترک کرنا۔

    افسوس کی بات یہ ہے کہ ہماری انسانیت کی خامیوں سے اپنے اور اپنی طاقت اور استحقاق کے خلاف انقلابی جدوجہد کرنا کہیں زیادہ مشکل ہوجاتا ہے جو ہمیں ان لوگوں سے اقتدار سے فائدہ اٹھانا پڑتا ہے جو ہمیں غلام بناتے ہیں۔

ہمیں اپنے آپ کو جبر کے نظام سے آزاد کرنا چاہیے۔ یہ ہمارا حقیقی دشمن ہے، دوسرے انسان نہیں۔ اس سے قطع نظر کہ تعلق اور الگ الگ دوسرے پن کے درجہ بندی، اور تسلط پسند اشرافیہ کے زیر تسلط کی حکمت عملی کے طور پر شناخت، تقسیم جس کا ہمیں یکجہتی کے ساتھ مقابلہ کرنا چاہیے، ہمیں مشترکہ مقصد میں متحد ہونے کے طریقے تلاش کرنا ہوں گے اگر ہم ایک دوسرے کو آزاد کرنا چاہتے ہیں، اپنی انفرادیت کو قبول کرنا چاہتے ہیں اور مساوات کے آزاد معاشرے میں تنوع اور شمولیت کے طور پر دوسروں کی انفرادیت کو منانا اور سیکھنا۔

      برصغیر پاک و ہند اور اس کے بے شمار تاریخی معاشروں اور ثقافتوں میں اب ہندوؤں اور مسلمانوں کی قوموں میں سیاسی شناخت بن گئی ہے جو تاریخ کی وراثت اور استعمار مخالف جدوجہد کی مسلط کردہ شرائط سے تشکیل پاتی ہے، میرا مطلب یہ ہے کہ جب بہترین حل، ایک سیکولر ریاست، ابھی تک پہنچ سے باہر ہے، ہمیں عقیدے، خون اور مٹی کی شناخت اور فاشزم کو نافذ کرنے اور اس کی اجازت دینے کے لیے تشدد کو ترک کرنے کے ساتھ شروع کرنا چاہیے، کیونکہ طاقت کا سماجی استعمال سب سے بڑھ کر ایک چیز کرتا ہے۔ یہ طاقت کو اشرافیہ کے لیے مرکزیت دیتا ہے، ان لوگوں کو محکوم بناتا ہے جو اس کے لیے بات کرنے کا دعویٰ کرتے ہیں اور دوسروں کو غیر انسانی بنا دیتے ہیں، اختیار کو قانونی حیثیت دیتے ہیں، اور جبر اور کنٹرول کی ظالمانہ حالتیں پیدا کرتے ہیں۔

       ریاست کو مجسم تشدد کے طور پر مقابلہ کرنے کے لیے ہمیں پل تعمیر کرنے چاہئیں نہ کہ

اس دن ہم خون اور درد میں ایک نئے ہندوستان کی پیدائش کا ماتم کرتے ہیں، جیسے تمام انسانی زندگی بالکل بے معنی اور قیمت کے بغیر ایک ایسی دنیا میں ڈال دی گئی ہے، جس میں ہمیں خود کو تخلیق کرنے کے لیے خود کو خود بنانا ہوگا۔ یہ انسان ہونے کی دہشت ہے۔ اور یہ مکمل آزادی میں انسان بننے کی خوشی ہے۔

      ہم اس موقع کو کس طرح استعمال کریں گے، جو ایک ظالم جابر پر اقتدار پر قبضے کے ذریعے جدوجہد کے مسلط کردہ حالات میں دیا گیا ہے جس میں غیر انسانی، اجناس، اور جھوٹ، اور خاص طور پر عقیدے، نسل اور ذات کی تقسیم شامل ہے؟

      یہاں ماضی نے حال کو کھا لیا ہے، اور ہمیں اپنی تاریخ کی وراثت سے اپنے آپ کو جبر کے نظام کے طور پر آزاد کرنا چاہیے۔

      ہمیں اس بات کو چھوڑ دینا چاہیے کہ ہم کون تھے، تاکہ وہ بننے کا موقع ملے جو ہم بننا چاہتے ہیں۔

Maria Popova on How to Bear Your Suffering; exemplars Dostoyevsky, Nietzsche, Simone Weil, Anne Aldrich, and Walt Whitman

August 13 2025 A Legacy of Revolutionary Struggle and Liberation: In Celebration of Fidel Castro, On His Birthday

     Celebrate with me the birthday of Fidel Castro, who became a figure of Liberty throughout the world, who dared to challenge and defy the power of unjust authority and the brutal colonial regime of the Mafia as an instrument of American imperialism in Cuba, who defended and stood in solidarity with the powerless and the dispossessed, with all whom Frantz Fanon called The Wretched of the Earth, against those who would enslave us, and whose heroic example in refusal to submit to tyrannies of force and control inspired generations of us in revolutionary struggle and liberation, and in the Quixotic quest to forge a better future for all humankind.

     As with all revolutions which become states, regardless of their ideologies, the qualities which made Fidel Castro and the Cuban Revolution victorious also shaped a regime which reenacted as tyranny many of the conditions it fought against as revolutionary struggle. Authoritarianism, macho culture and the valorization of war and fetishization of its instruments and symbols, a tendency to selective othering and repression of dissent and its justification through propaganda; these and other elements are artifacts of the nature of power and violence and the imposed conditions of anticolonial and anti-imperialist wars of liberation. Bands of freedom fighters and their charismatic leaders often make for terrible governments, the difference being who holds power.

     Unequal power and the social use of force combine poisonously to transform liberty into tyranny. Just look at the United States of America.

     Yet with all their many flaws, Castro and his Cuba have also been a beacon of hope and an emissary of mercy to the world. A case in point is the key role played by Cuba in the liberation of South Africa from Apartheid, a struggle in which I was a participant and a witness of history.

     In a massive campaign involving over 300,000 Cuban volunteer soldiers between December 1987 and March 1988, in coordination with Angolan fighters, international volunteers, and with Soviet aid and advisors, we defeated the far larger and technologically superior American forces, America’s puppet regime  South Africa, and their UNITA allies and mercenary armies in the Battle of Cuito Cuanavale, an Angolan military base which South Africa had failed to capture with five waves of assaults. The results included the independence of Namibia, the withdrawal of South African troops from Angola, the replacement of the racist Prime Minister Botha by de Klerk in South Africa and his negotiations with the African National Congress, the release of Nelson Mandela from prison and the end of Apartheid.

     History is a Hobgoblin’s Broken Mirror, and the many figures and images it offers are reflective of the beholder as much as any subject; Fidel Castro, the nation he came to embody, and the Cuban Revolution live multiple parallel lives in our imagination as a set of paradoxes whose narratives shift with the teller. But for me the meaning of this triple dimensional being of person, nation, and process of events is unambiguous, and we may say of Castro and his legacy what Chamberlain said of the Union Army at Gettysburg; “This is a different kind of army. If you look back through history, you will see men fighting for pay, for women, for some other kind of loot. They fight for land, power, because a king leads them or, or just because they like killing. But we are here for something new. This has not happened much in the history of the world. We are an army out to set other men free.”

     As Fidel Castro said in his epochal speech to the 1966 Tricontinental Conference of Revolutionary Leaders in Havana; “We revolutionary Cubans understand our international obligations. Our people understand their obligation because they understand that we face a common enemy. The enemy that threatens Cuba is the same enemy that threatens everyone else. That is why we say and we proclaim that Cuban fighters will lend support to any revolutionary movement in any corner of the earth.”

     We can but hope to bear forward his praxis of solidarity and his message of the universal liberation of humankind into the future.

Fidel Castro speech in 1966

full text of Castro’s 1966 speech to the Tricontinental Conference of Revolutionary Leaders

https://speakola.com/political/fidel-castro-tricontinental-conference-1966

My Three Days with Fidel Castro By The New York Times

https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=10150983230939999

Fidel Castro Lost Tapes (PBS / National Geographic, 2016

Spanish

13 de agosto de 2024 Un legado de lucha y liberación revolucionaria: en celebración de Fidel Castro

     Celebre conmigo el cumpleaños de Fidel Castro, quien se convirtió en una figura de libertad en todo el mundo, que se atrevió a desafiar y desafiar el poder de la autoridad injusta y el brutal régimen colonial de la mafia como oligarquía del imperialismo estadounidense en Cuba, que defendió y defendió se mantuvo en solidaridad con los impotentes y los desposeídos de la tierra contra aquellos que nos esclavizarían, y cuyo ejemplo heroico en negarse a someterse a las tiranías de la fuerza y el control inspiró a generaciones de nosotros en la lucha y la liberación revolucionaria, y en la búsqueda quijotescita Un futuro mejor para toda la humanidad.

     Al igual que con todas las revoluciones que se convierten en estados, independientemente de sus ideologías, las cualidades que hicieron que Fidel Castro y la revolución cubana victoriosa también dieron forma a un régimen que recreó muchas de las condiciones con las que luchó como lucha revolucionaria. Autoritarismo, cultura machista y la valorización de la guerra y la fetichización de sus instrumentos y símbolos, una tendencia a la represión de la disidencia y su justificación a través de la propaganda; Estos y otros elementos son artefactos de la naturaleza del poder y la violencia y las condiciones impuestas de las guerras de liberación anticoloniales y antiimperialistas. Bands of Freedom Fighters y sus líderes carismáticos a menudo hacen gobiernos terribles, la diferencia es que tiene poder.

     El poder desigual y el uso social de la fuerza se combinan venenosamente para transformar la libertad en tiranía. Solo mira a los Estados Unidos de América.

     Sin embargo, con todos sus defectos, Castro y su Cuba también han sido un faro de esperanza y un emisario de misericordia para el mundo. Un ejemplo de ello es el papel clave desempeñado por Cuba en la liberación de Sudáfrica desde el apartheid, una lucha en la que fui participante y testigo de la historia.

     En una campaña masiva que involucra a más de 300,000 soldados voluntarios cubanos entre diciembre de 1987 y marzo de 1988, en coordinación con combatientes angoleños, voluntarios internacionales, y con ayuda y asesores soviéticos, derrotó al proxy estadounidense mucho más grande y tecnológicamente superior Sudáfrica y sus aliados de UNITA y Mercenary Los ejércitos en la batalla de Cuito Cuanavale, una base militar angoleña que Sudáfrica no había podido capturar con cinco olas de asaltos. Los resultados incluyeron la independencia de Namibia, la retirada de las tropas sudafricanas de Angola, el reemplazo del primer ministro racista Botha por De Klerk en Sudáfrica y sus negociaciones con el Congreso Nacional Africano, la liberación de Nelson Mandela de la prisión y el final del apartheid.

     La historia es un espejo roto de Hobgoblin, y las muchas figuras e imágenes que ofrece reflejan al espectador tanto como cualquier tema; Fidel Castro, la nación que llegó a encarnarse, y la revolución cubana vive múltiples vidas paralelas en nuestra imaginación como un conjunto de paradojas cuyas narraciones cambian con el cajero. Pero para mí, el significado de este ser triple dimensional de persona, nación y proceso de eventos es inequívoco, y podemos decir de Castro y su legado lo que Chamberlain dijo del ejército de la Unión en Gettysburg; “Este es un tipo diferente de ejército. Si miras hacia atrás a través de la historia, verás hombres luchando por el pago, por las mujeres, por otro tipo de botín. Luchan por la tierra, el poder, porque un rey los lleva o solo porque les gusta matar. Pero estamos aquí por algo nuevo. Esto no ha sucedido mucho en la historia del mundo. Somos un ejército para liberar a otros hombres

     Como dijo Fidel Castro en su discurso de época ante la Conferencia Tricontinental de Líderes Revolucionarios de 1966 en La Habana; “Los cubanos revolucionarios entendemos nuestras obligaciones internacionales. Nuestra gente entiende su obligación porque entienden que enfrentamos un enemigo común. El enemigo que amenaza a Cuba es el mismo enemigo que amenaza a todos los demás. Es por eso que decimos y proclamamos que los combatientes cubanos prestarán apoyo a cualquier movimiento revolucionario en cualquier rincón de la tierra “.

     Podemos pero esperamos soportar su praxis de solidaridad y su mensaje de la liberación universal de la humanidad en el futuro.

                 Fidel Castro, a reading list

My Life: A Spoken Autobiography, Fidel Castro, Ignacio Ramonet

Fidel Castro Handbook, George Galloway

Cuba Libre!: Che, Fidel, and the Improbable Revolution That Changed World History, Tony Perrottet

The Real Fidel Castro, Leycester Coltman, Julia E. Sweig

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/431941.The_Real_Fidel_Castro?ref=nav_sb_ss_1_56

Ten Days in Harlem: Fidel Castro and the Making of the 1960s, Simon Hall

Fidel Castro Reader, Fidel Castro, David Deutschmann (Editor)

Deborah Shnookal (Editor)

King of Cuba, Cristina García

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/15803094-king-of-cuba?ref=nav_sb_ss_1_32

Fidel’s Ethics of Violence: The Moral Dimension of the Political Thought of Fidel Castro, Dayan Jayatilleka

                  Cuba: A Reading List

                              History

 My Life; a spoken autobiography, Fidel Castro

Fidel Castro Handbook, George Calloway

Reminiscences of the Cuban Revolutionary War: Authorized Edition, Ernesto Che Guevara

Cuba Libre!: Che, Fidel, and the Improbable Revolution That Changed World History, Tony Perrottet

Cuba: What Everyone Needs to Know, Inside the Cuban Revolution: Fidel Castro and the Urban Underground, Julia E. Sweig

The Real Fidel Castro, Leycester Coltman, Julia E. Sweig

The Yankee Comandante: Love and Death in the Cuban Revolution, Michael Sallah, Mitch Weiss

Persona Non Grata: A Memoir of Disenchantment with the Cuban Revolution, Jorge Edwards, Octavio Paz (Preface)

We Are Cuba!: How a Revolutionary People Have Survived in a Post-Soviet World, Helen Yaffe

Cuba: An American History, Ada Ferrer

The Cubans: Ordinary Lives in Extraordinary Times, Anthony DePalma

Havana Nocturne: How the Mob Owned Cuba and Then Lost It to the Revolution, The Corporation: An Epic Story of the Cuban American Underworld, T.J. English

Cuba: A History, Hugh Thomas

Cuba: Anatomy of a Revolution, Socialism in Cuba, Leo Huberman, Paul M. Sweezy

Cuba Libre: A 500-Year Quest for Independence, Phillip Brenner

The Great Game in Cuba: How the CIA Sabotaged Its Own Plot to Unseat Fidel Castro, Joan Mellen

The Cuban Counterrevolution, Jesus Arboleya, Rafael Betancourt (Contributor)

Fighting Over Fidel: The New York Intellectuals and the Cuban Revolution, Rafael Rojas

Visions of Power in Cuba: Revolution, Redemption, and Resistance, 1959-1971, Lillian Guerra

The Island Called Paradise: Cuba in History, Literature, and the Arts, Philip D. Beidler

The Cuba Reader: History, Culture, Politics, Aviva Chomsky (Editor), Barry Carr (Editor), Pamela María Smorkaloff (Editor)

Santeria Enthroned: Art, Ritual, and Innovation in an Afro-Cuban Religion, The Light Inside: Abakua Society Arts and Cuban Cultural History, David H. Brown

Voice of the Leopard: African Secret Societies and Cuba, Ivor L. Miller

Cuba and Its Music: From the First Drums to the Mambo, Ned Sublette

Music and Revolution: Cultural Change in Socialist Cuba, Robin D. Moore

La Belle Créole: The Cuban Countess Who Captivated Havana, Madrid, and Paris, Alina García-Lapuerta

Our Woman in Havana: Reporting Castro’s Cuba, Sarah Rainsford

Travelers’ Tales Cuba: True Stories, Tom Miller

The Reader’s Companion to Cuba, Alan Ryan (Editor), Christa Malone (Editor)

                          Literature

Singing from the Well, The Palace of the White Skunks, Farewell to the Sea: A Novel of Cuba, The Color of Summer: or The New Garden of Earthly Delights,

The Assault, Hallucinations: or, The Ill-Fated Peregrinations of Fray Servando, Before Night Falls, Autoepitaph: Selected Poems, Reinaldo Arenas

Dreaming in Cuban, The Lady Matador’s Hotel, King of Cuba, Christina Garcia

The Assimilated Cuban’s Guide to Quantum Santeria, Carlos Hernandez

Cobra, Firefly, From Cuba with a Song, Footwork: selected poems, Written on a Body, Christ on the Rue Jacob, Severo Sarduy

The Kingdom of This World, The Chase, Alejo Carpentier

Three Trapped Tigers, Holy Smoke, Mea Cuba, Guillermo Cabrera Infante

Adiós Hemingway, Havana Fever, Leonardo Padura Fuentes

Woman in Battle Dress, Sea of Lentils, The Repeating Island: The Caribbean and the Postmodern Perspective, Antonio Benítez Rojo

Cuba and the Tempest: Literature and Cinema in the Time of Diaspora, Eduardo González

The Distant Marvels, Chantel Acevedo

The Mambo Kings Play Songs of Love, Beautiful Maria of My Soul, The Fourteen Sisters of Emilio Montez O’Brien, A Simple Habana Melody, Thoughts Without Cigarettes, Oscar Hijuelos

In the Cold of the Malecon and Other Stories, Tales from the Cuban Empire, Antonio José Ponte

My Last Name/El Apellido, Nicolás Guillén, Roberto Márquez

The Poet Slave of Cuba: A Biography of Juan Francisco Manzano, The Lightning Dreamer: Cuba’s Greatest Abolitionist, The Surrender Tree: Poems of Cuba’s Struggle for Freedom, Lion Island: Cuba’s Warrior of Words, Dreams from Many Rivers: A Hispanic History of the United States Told in Poems,

Enchanted Air: Two Cultures, Two Wings, Soaring Earth: A Companion Memoir to Enchanted Air, Margarita Engle

References

https://jacobinmag.com/2020/08/happy-birthday-fidel-castro-south-africa-apartheid?fbclid=IwAR120K9XG1u5b2zaAg5oIhO30AFZJqxqsm7XoR4wW-XnW2WHlI10uhQidL4

https://jacobinmag.com/2016/11/fidel-castro-obit-cuban-revolution-imperialism

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/nov/27/fidel-castro-dead-revolutionary-history

https://jacobinmag.com/2016/11/fidel-castro-obit-cuban-revolution-imperialism

https://www.thenationalnews.com/world/fidel-castro-drew-parallels-between-cuba-and-the-middle-east-1.224030

August 12 2025 The Legacy of Charlottesville and the Murder of Heather Heyer, As Trump Begins the Federal Occupation of Washington D.C

    We remember the murder of Heather Heyer in a white supremacist terror attack in Charlottesville this day in 2017 during the Unite the Right march of Klu Klux Klan, Nazi revivalists, and other feral lunatics of racist ideologies and psychopathic rage.

     Trump’s authorization of violence against nonwhite people in the infamous line “There are good people on both sides” will remain a badge of the cruelty and criminality of his regime for all history.

      Yesterday to commemorate the Unite the Right march and authorize its fascist and racist ideology, Trump placed Washington DC under Occupation by federal terror forces. This he has tried before in a general campaign of repression of dissent and the criminalization of our rights of protest and free speech in numerous failed attempts to steal our citizenship and reduce us to subjects during the Black Lives Matter protests, and our capitol city is but the first of many of his list of majority nonwhite cities to terrorize; but there is no question or ambiguity of the meaning and intention of such crimes of tyranny and terror.

      The Confederacy many of the Deplorables dreamed of refounding under the Trump regime was nothing more grand than a human trafficking syndicate that had declared itself a nation.

     And we know Trump’s history as a human trafficking crime lord and key partner of his friend Epstein.

     This is the world Trump would condemn us all to; wherein human beings are things that can be owned and used.

      And above all else, the America of the Republican Party is a white ethnostate whose economy is based on the re-enslavement of Black citizens as prison bond labor, with migrants and other nonwhites gathered into concentration camps and the bond of their labor sold on the open market to white elites exactly like the Bantustan system of South Africa and those of the Nazis whom Trump idolizes.

     To make an idea about a kind of people is an act of violence.

     And no matter where you begin with divisions of belonging and otherness, and fascisms of blood, faith, and soil, you always end up at the gates of Auschwitz.

     As written by Blake Montgomery in Buzzfeed, in an article entitled Here’s What Really Happened In Charlottesville: Who came ready for violence? Was it on “many sides”? The answers are clearer on the ground; “Yes, you can blame the Nazis.

    The race-fueled chaos that wracked Charlottesville, Virginia, finally came to rest on Sunday night. And the hundreds of people who spent the weekend fighting in streets — and the millions who watched them — began what has become a new American ritual: arguing about what really happened, and what a spasm of localized political violence means.

     Was this an assault by racist extremists on innocent, rightly outraged Americans? Was it a clash between “many sides,” as President Trump notoriously said? Was the scale of the white supremacist threat blown out of proportion? Was the violence of the black-hooded “antifa” understated?

     The answers are clearer on the ground than they are in the filter bubbles driven by fierce partisan argument on social media and cable news. They are complicated but not ambiguous. Here are a few:

      The right-wing protesters were relatively homogenous — in ideology and appearance — and largely ready for violence. They ranged from old-line racists like the Ku Klux Klan to the ones who wear polo shirts instead of hoods who try to brand themselves “alt-right.” There was no ambiguity about their cause — they demand the nation become whiter, and they are emboldened by a White House administration they believe makes that promise when the president yells “America first.”

      The counterprotesters, in contrast, represented a far broader spectrum of the American center and left. There were self-identified “anti-fascists”; Black Lives Matter activists from around the country; religious leaders, including around 100 Christian ministers wearing their clerical collars; furious Charlottesville residents; and garden-variety liberals from as far away as Seattle. A handful of the “anti-fascists” wore Black Bloc garb — black shirt, black pants, black balaclava — to conceal their identities from police, though most did not.

      The right-wingers were more prepared for violence. Most white supremacist and Nazi groups arrived armed like a paramilitary force — carrying shields, protective gear, rods, and yes, lots of guns, utilizing Virginia’s loose firearm laws. They used militarized defensive maneuvers, shouting commands at one another to “move forward” or “retreat,” and would form a line of shields or a phalanx — it’s like they watched 300 a few times — to gain ground or shepherd someone through projectiles. It seemed that they had practiced for this. Virginia’s governor said that the right’s weaponry was better than that of the state police. The opposition was largely winging it, preferring to establish bases in other parks with water, coffee, food, first aid, and comfort. Conflict would start much the same as it has at other alt-right rallies: two people, one from each side, screaming, goading each other into throwing the first punch.

     By Sunday, even among the most radical voices on the left, there was incredulity at attempts — from various swaths of the mainstream to pro-Trump media, and of course, the president himself — to compare them to their enemies. This is Trump’s “many sides.”

     “No one on our side is calling for vast swaths of the public to be put to death,” said Lacy McAuley, an anarchist activist based in DC who led counterdemonstrators in a march through the streets.

     That is all to say that the neo-Nazis came to fight. And then their car attack escalated their rolling American streetfight with antifa to a far deadlier level than previously seen.

     White nationalist organizer Jason Kessler set the stage for the bloody day when he announced months ago that he would “Unite the Right” against the removal of a statue of Robert E. Lee from Emancipation Park in downtown Charlottesville.

     On Friday night, white supremacists gathered for an eerie torchlit march through the University of Virginia. They fought with counterdemonstrators and menacingly encircled student activists who held the line at the statue of Thomas Jefferson — the image of the darker circle of students surrounded by the light from burning tiki torches becoming an image that traveled widely on social media. The torch-bearers were chanting the Nazi slogan “blood and soil” and the KKK mantra “You will not replace us.” Richard Spencer led a similar march in Lee Park on May 15 to protest the removal of the statue of Lee.

     Kessler scheduled the Saturday rally to start at noon. By the time BuzzFeed News arrived at 10:30 a.m., violent conflict was already in full swing.

     Through the day, the right-wing extremists brawled with the leftists who had really come to fight, all in a park formerly named for a Confederate general. The day got bloodier and more dangerous until 1:45 p.m., when a young man identified by police as James Alex Fields, 20, drove his Dodge Challenger into a crowd of anti-racist counterdemonstrators, and peeled away in reverse. He allegedly injured 19 people and killed one, Heather Heyer, in the act of terrorism.

     Hard to see from afar, but intensely visible on the ground, were the different shades of right-wing extremist. They included new racist and personalities like social media personality Baked Alaska, Spencer, and Identity Evropa, a white supremacist group that argues for pure European heritage, alongside more old-school hate groups like the Traditionalist Workers’ Party, affiliated with the KKK, and the National Socialist Movement, a neo-Nazi organization that held its ornate banner, which clearly evokes a Swastika, aloft throughout the day. Fields was marching with Vanguard America, a small white nationalist organization, wearing the group’s uniform and carrying its shield.

    A few of the counterprotesters — namely members of a group called Redneck Revolt — were armed with shotguns, assault rifles, and pistols.

     But there were many more guns on the right, many carried by a group called the Three Percenters, a heavily armed “patriot” militia group that’s acted as security at other alt-right rallies in Portland and elsewhere. The group’s views align more with libertarianism — fundamentalist interpretations of the Constitution and an emphasis on personal liberty — than with the alt-right.

     Those groups, evidently aware of the real danger, appeared to keep members of each side separate from the other in certain areas. Three Percenters stood on one side of Emancipation Park, Redneck Revolters a few blocks away at a different park.

     Three Percenters said in an official statement after the rally that they disowned the racist groups at Unite the Right and issued a stand-down order during the rally. But they also served as a kind of armed guard for their leaders: After police forced the white nationalists out of Emancipation Park, Three Percenters formed a protective barrier around alt-right blogger Mike Enoch and Spencer. Enoch appeared to have been pepper-sprayed.

     The area of most intense conflict was on the steps into Emancipation Park. Each side squared off against the other in a schoolyard turf war. At around 11:00, counterdemonstrators deployed a large sign made from plywood spray painted with “alt-right scum your time has come” and a decapitated Pepe the Frog. It doubled as a barrier and quickly became a prize, with each side fighting to gain control of it. Eventually it fell, right-wingers stomped on it, and people continued fighting.

      Each side also threw dozens of water bottles at the other. It was the preferred projectile of the day, along with rocks, tomatoes, broken flagpoles, and balloons filled with paint, one of which splattered a police car.

     Right-wing extremists carried a variety of different flags — the libertarian “Don’t Tread on Me” with the familiar sliced-up snake, flags with symbols of the racist neo-pagan cause Odinism, Confederate flags, Blue Lives Matter flags, Kekistan flags, and others. Counterdemonstrators made a game of stealing the banners, though right-wingers would beat them with the shorn flagpoles.

     The weapon of choice — for the police, right-wing fighters, and antifa alike — was pepper spray. Police used the most, blasting it from large canisters at protesters. None of the fights that broke out lasted very long because one side or the other would use pepper spray to rescue their combatants.

    Around noon, both state and local police declared Unite the Right and the demonstrations in the surrounding streets an unlawful assembly. They evicted everyone from Emancipation Park by a police line. Right-wing extremists and white nationalists fought the police, which is highly unusual. (At previous rallies in Berkeley and Portland, the alt-right has complied with police direction and sought permits for their gatherings, which has helped them maintain the stance that they are acting in self-defense when things get violent. The permits, in particular, ensure that their left-wing antagonists, often antifa in Black Bloc formation, end up on the wrong side of a police riot shield.)

     In Charlottesville, though, white nationalists, including Spencer, leaned against police’s riot shields in a desperate attempt to keep their place. Police pushed them along the entire length of the park and down the stone steps into a waiting, screaming crowd.

     While police were removing people from the park, counterdemonstrators had a chance to storm one side of it as right-wingers retreated. There were mixed messages among right-wingers, some of whom said to fall back and some of whom wanted to hold their ground despite police warnings.

     One young white man carrying the black and white flag of Odinism started brawling with counterprotesters even as his own comrades retreated.

     “Let’s get this race war started! Shoot me!” he yelled.

     Instead, a counterdemonstrator stole his flag and tried to escape over a police fence. The man with the Odinist flag followed the protester, grabbed his backpack, and smashed his head into the metal barricade.

     After police vacated the park by force, both sets of protesters splintered. BuzzFeed News followed a group of white nationalists and Black Lives Matter activists who engaged in a brutal brawl involving metal poles in a parking garage adjacent to the Charlottesville police station. One of the victims, De’Andre Harris, said he was yelling curses at white nationalists and was wearing a white scarf with curses about the Klan scrawled on it. They chased him, caught him, and beat him with wooden poles and punches.

     When Fields allegedly drove his car into a crowd after the crowds were forced from the park, people at the intersection of 4th and Market were hysterical, calling out for friends and asking people they knew if others in their circles were safe, though each person seemed to have less information than the last. Emergency responders had difficulty making their way to the site of the attack because of the crowd’s sheer size. After, there were isolated reports that white nationalists were driving around town taunting people, but things remained largely quiet.

     The day after the rally, Kessler attempted to hold a press conference but was run off by protesters. Later, on Periscope, he disputed the characterization of the rally as affiliated with the KKK or neo-Nazis, saying it was “only about the statue” and blaming the day’s carnage on police inaction. Many right-wingers at the rally have charged police and Charlottesville city government with the crimes of the day.

     He did not reject the description of it as a white nationalist rally, and he did say that the KKK and neo-Nazi groups who were slated to speak had “good points to make.” He exaggerated the extent of the antagonism right-wingers faced by saying that antifa were armed with rifles and that right-wingers had been pinned in the park by thrown bricks. Police in fact evicted right-wingers from Emancipation Park, and the only left-wingers armed with guns appeared to be blocks away.

     At the heart of the arguments since Saturday has been the question: Was this a symmetrical battle between two parallel sides?

   Sheryl Gay Stolberg @SherylNYT posted on social media “The hard left seemed as hate-filled as alt-right. I saw club-wielding “antifa” beating white nationalists being led out of the park” 2/2 03:34 AM – 13 Aug 2017.

     Each side did engage in intense violence and attempted to seriously injure the other. But when the battle lines were formed, the right came better equipped and ready to use force to defend their belief that white people are better than nonwhite people. And on the white supremacist side is Fields, whose alleged act was named terrorism by people from the far left to members of the Trump cabinet (but not the president himself). He is charged with one count of second degree murder, three counts of malicious wounding, and one count of hit and run.

      After posting the tweets above, Sheryl Gay Stolberg later apologized and modified her statement, clarifying that she was talking about physical violence rather than hate.

     On the ground, leftists were incredulous at the parallel between the Nazis and their range of enemies.

     “One side wants to eject all black people from America, the other wants fair hiring,” said Emily Gorcenski, a Charlottesville activist. “It makes me sick to hear people say both sides are equally bad, especially when we tried so hard to make it nonviolent.”

     Despite the deep enmity on the ground in Charlottesville, the violence came after some backchannel efforts a week ago to prevent it failed. Gorcenski met with C.J. Ross and Daniel Highberger, members of the Virginia Three Percenters, in Fishburn Park in Roanoke, Virginia, last Saturday, Gorcenski and Ross both confirmed.

     Ross had been in conflict with right-wingers online; he did not want the event to have white nationalist overtones and did not want the Three Percenters to participate if it did. Kessler personally disinvited him. He went in plainclothes.

     Ross was looking for Gorcenski at the time of the car attack. She said she was mere feet from the Dodge Challenger. He said he was around the corner. In the mayhem following the attack, Ross said he tried to make way for emergency responders. As paramedics went to work, he said he got into conversation with Black Lives Matter activists and found he liked and agreed with them.

     “I had a great conversation with them. I’d never met anyone in a BLM group before. These particular people said they were all about freedom and liberty as well,” he said. “Something awful happened, and, for me at least, it turned into a small positive thing, which, I think, is what we all want.”

      As written by Eliott C. McLaughlin in CNN, in an article entitled Charlottesville rally violence: How we got here; “Despite the outrage and uproar, everyone had to know the protests were coming to Charlottesville, Virginia, over the weekend – and that they would get out of hand.

     This is how we got here.

     It began in February when the City Council voted to rechristen two parks named for Confederate generals and to remove a bronze statue of one of those generals, Robert E. Lee, from an eponymous downtown park.

     This came on the heels of several Southern cities removing dozens of Confederate monuments from public property after a self-described white supremacist massacred nine black churchgoers in Charleston, South Carolina, in 2015.

     The Charlottesville move met with resistance, as some residents sued, and a judge blocked the statue’s removal for six months as the matter was litigated.

     The City Council voted again in April, this time agreeing to sell the statue and let the buyer remove it, CNN affiliate WVIR reported.

     Violence began in May

     Prominent white nationalist RIchard Spencer led a demonstration in mid-May that served as prelude to Saturday’s violence. Angered by the city’s decision, torch-wielding demonstrators marched on the city, drawing condemnation from its leaders who regarded the protest as intimidation.

     They were met by counterprotesters carrying banners that read “Black Lives Matter” and “F**k White Supremacy.”

     Police made three arrests. One police officer was injured when a flying object struck him in the head.

     Fast-forward to July, and about 50 Ku Klux Klan members, some in Klan robes, arrived in the city, where they were outnumbered 20-to-1 by counterprotesters.

     Shouts of “Racists go home” clashed with chants of “white power.”

     Police had to employ pepper spray and tear gas to disperse crowds. They arrested 22 people.

     The most recent violence began Friday night, ahead of a planned Saturday rally that the Southern Poverty Law Center described as the “largest hate-gathering of its kind in decades.”

     Charlottesville had tried to move the demonstration, citing safety concerns, but a federal judge issued an injunction allowing the rally to take place at Emancipation Park, formerly Lee Park and the site of the contentious statue.

     Jason Kessler, who organized the “Unite the Right” rally, said the rally was aimed at “standing up for our history.”

     “The statue itself is symbolic of a lot of larger issues,” including preserving history against “revisionism,” combating political correctness, advocating for white interests and free speech, Kessler said.

     Scuffles erupted near a statue of President Thomas Jefferson on the nearby University of Virginia campus. Police declared the demonstration illegal and ran off the white nationalists and counterprotesters.

     The Saturday event lived up to its SPLC billing, as fistfights and screaming matches broke out in this blue town of 47,000 that is home to Monticello, Jefferson’s onetime estate.

    Protesters fired pepper spray at each other. Police scrambled to disperse the crowd ahead of the rally’s noon kickoff and declared an “unlawful assembly” just before the rally was slated to begin.

    Gov. Terry McAuliffe quickly declared an emergency.

     “Go home,” the Democrat told right-wing groups in the city. “You are not wanted in this great commonwealth. Shame on you.”

     By 1 p.m. police had cleared Emancipation Park, and by early afternoon, police in riot gear stood shoulder-to-shoulder behind their shields, at times advancing toward protesters.

    Fights continued to break out, with people kicking and swinging at each other, while other protesters tried to de-escalate tensions without police intervention. One side chanted, “Blood and soil!,” an old Nazi slogan, while counterprotesters cried, “Nazi scum off our streets!”

     Police reported 15 injuries associated with the rally, but that toll jumped around 1:30 p.m. when a man drove a silver Dodge Charger into a crowd, killing Heather Heyer, a 32-year-old local paralegal whose father said she was always fighting for others.

     Nineteen more people were injured. Video shows the Charger barreling down a narrow side street packed with protesters. It slams into a silver convertible, throwing one protester onto the convertible’s roof.

     The driver then backs down the street, its bumper dragging, and several protesters give chase.

     The suspect being held in a Virginia jail in connection with a deadly crash near a scheduled rally of white nationalists has been identified as James Alex Fields Jr., 20, of Maumee, Ohio.

      Authorities later arrested James Alex Fields, 20, of Maumee, Ohio, jailing him on suspicion of second-degree murder, malicious wounding and failure to stop in an accident that resulted in death. The Justice Department is also looking into the case.

     A social studies teacher at Fields’ Union, Kentucky, high school later told CNN the young man had “outlandish, very radical beliefs.”

     “He really bought into this white supremacist thing. He was very big into Nazism. He really had a fondness for Adolf Hitler,” said Derek Weimer, who taught Fields as a junior and senior.

     The day got deadlier just before 5 p.m., when two Virginia State Police troopers died after their helicopter crashed while they were on patrol near the clashes. They were identified as Lt. H. Jay Cullen, 48, and Trooper-Pilot Berke M.M. Bates, 40.

     While President Donald Trump issued his condolences to the families of Heyer and the troopers, he issued a controversial statement on the violence, admonishing “hatred, bigotry and violence, on many sides,” rather than singling out the white nationalists who staged the rally.

     As written by Chris Cillizza in CNN, in an article entitled Donald Trump’s incredibly unpresidential statement on Charlottesville; “A group of white supremacists – screaming racial, ethnic and misogynistic epithets – rallied in Charlottesville, Virginia, on Saturday. One person was killed and 19 others were injured when a car sped into a group of counter-protesters.

     This is what the President of the United States said about it:

     “We condemn in the strongest possible terms this egregious display of hatred, bigotry and violence, on many sides. On many sides. It’s been going on for a long time in our country. Not Donald Trump, not Barack Obama. This has been going on for a long, long time.”

     It’s hard to imagine a less presidential statement in a time in which the country looks to its elected leader to stand up against intolerance and hatred.

     Picking a “worst” from Donald Trump’s statement – delivered from his Bedminster, New Jersey, golf club – isn’t easy. But, the emphasis of “on many sides” – Trump repeated that phrase twice – is, I think, the low ebb.

     Both sides don’t scream racist and anti-Semitic things at people with whom they disagree. They don’t base a belief system on the superiority of one race over others. They don’t get into fistfights with people who don’t see things their way. They don’t create chaos and leave a trail of injured behind them.

     Arguing that “both sides do it” deeply misunderstands the hate and intolerance at the core of this “Unite the Right” rally. These people are bigots. They are hate-filled. This is not just a protest where things, unfortunately, got violent. Violence sits at the heart of their warped belief system.

     Trying to fit these hate-mongers into the political/ideological spectrum – which appears to be what Trump is doing – speaks to his failure to grasp what’s at play here. This is not a “conservatives say this, liberals say that” sort of situation. We all should stand against this sort of violent intolerance and work to eradicate it from our society – whether Democrat, Republican, Independent or not political in the least.

     What Trump failed to do is what he has always promised to do: Speak blunt truths. The people gathered in Charlottesville this weekend are white supremacists, driven by hate and intolerance. Period. There is no “other side” doing similar things here.

     “Mr. President – we must call evil by its name,” tweeted Sen. Cory Gardner, R-Colorado. “These were white supremacists and this was domestic terrorism.” Tweeted Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, another fellow Republican: “Very important for the nation to hear @potus describe events in #Charlottesville for what they are, a terror attack by #whitesupremacists.”

     What Trump is doing – wittingly or unwittingly – is giving cover to the sort of beliefs (and I use that word lightly) on display in Charlottesville today.

     Chalking it all up to a violent political rhetoric that occurs on both sides and has been around for a very long time contextualizes and normalizes the behavior of people who should not be normalized. It is not everyday political rhetoric to scream epithets at people who don’t look like you or worship like you. Trump’s right that this sort of behavior has existed on American society’s fringes for a long time – but what we as a nation, led by our presidents, have always done is call it out for what it is: radical racism that has no place in our world.

     So, that’s the big one. But there are other things in Trump’s statement that are also worth calling out – most notably “not Donald Trump, not Barack Obama.”

    What Trump is doing here is pre-emptively absolving himself of blame for creating a political climate in the country in which people like these “Unite the Right” demonstrators feel emboldened enough to rally in public. Not my fault, Trump is saying. There were hate groups and hate speech under Obama too!

    With someone dead and more than two dozen people injured, this is, of course, not the time for assigning blame. Or for making political calculations. This is a time to say: We stand together against what we saw in Charlottesville today. Trump didn’t do that. Not even close.

    Then, last but not least, is what Trump said a few paragraphs after his “on many sides” comment. Here it is:

     “Our country is doing very well in so many ways. We have record – just absolute record employment. We have unemployment, the lowest it’s been in almost 17 years. We have companies pouring into our country. Foxconn and car companies, and so many others, they’re coming back to our country. We’re renegotiating trade deals to make them great for our country and great for the American worker. We have so many incredible things happening in our country. So when I watch Charlottesville, to me it’s very, very sad.”

     White nationalist Richard Spencer and his supporters clash with Virginia State Police in Lee Park after the “Unite the Right” rally was declared an unlawful gathering August 12, 2017 in Charlottesville, Virginia. Hundreds of white nationalists, neo-Nazis and members of the “alt-right” clashed with anti-facist protesters and police as they attempted to hold a rally in Lee Park, where a statue of Confederate General Robert E. Lee is slated to be removed.

    Really? A pivot to an I-am-not-getting-enough-credit-for-all-the-good-I-am-doing-in-the-country line? With scenes of hatred splashed across TV screens? With someone dead?

     This speech is not the time to tout your accomplishments. I mean “we’re renegotiating trade deals to make them great for our country”? Who thought that was a good thing to say in the same speech in which Trump, theoretically, was trying to reassure people that what we all saw in Charlottesville is not, fundamentally, who we are?

     That no one – starting and ending with the President – raised a red flag about tacking on a laundry list of accomplishments to a speech that should have simply condemned the behavior in Charlottesville and called to our better angels, is staggering, even for this White House.

     There are moments where we as a country look to our president to exemplify the best in us. They don’t happen every day. Sometimes they don’t happen every year. But, when they do happen, we need the person we elected to lead us to, you know, lead us.

     Trump did the opposite today.”

      As I wrote in my post of January 16 2021, Silence Is Complicity: No One Gets to Sit This One Out; A post in which I quote Adam Parkhomenko elicited an interesting reaction from someone, one which makes me question how the rhetoric of fascist and racist privilege creates complicity; the quote is in reference to the massive responsibility avoidance and denial on the part of the Republican lawmakers who refuse to join the call impeach our Clown of Terror, Traitor Trump, and his rabble of murderous barbarians.

     Here is the quotation; “I have a very simple message for Republicans calling for unity without accountability: the United States does not negotiate with terrorists.”

     This was the reaction; first, repetition of the very call for unity without accountability, which I would characterize as granting permission through failure to consequent behaviors, which the quote calls out; “These words are just creating more divisions!”

     Second, an attempt at silencing dissent; “Please Stop!” 

     Third, an attempt at blame shifting; “Whenever one person thinks they are right and everyone else is wrong you are the problem!”

    And Fourth, the very worst of the apologetics of historical fascism, a claim of moral equivalence; “Everyone just needs to stop all of these posts because there are good people on both sides!”

     And this last I cannot let pass, for on the last occasion of its general use this propagandistic lie and rhetorical device led directly to the Holocaust and the global devastation of total war.

     I am unclear which good people she could be referring to; the ones who were going to capture and hang or guillotine members of Congress, the ones who murdered a police officer and attempted to bomb both the Democratic and Republican offices, the white supremacist terrorists who have rallied to the cause of treason and armed sedition, or the mad tyrant who commanded them?

     To this I replied; You are wrong. Treason, terror, and the murder of police officers has no excuse. You are either with us as American patriots or against us; no one gets to sit this one out and be counted among the honorable, the moral, and the loyal.

     Silence is complicity.

     Such is the Talmudic principle, “Shtika Kehoda”, famously paraphrased by Einstein in his 1954 speech to the Chicago Decalogue Society as “If I were to remain silent, I’d be guilty of complicity”, and referenced by Eli Weisel as “the opposite of love is not only hate, it is also indifference.”

     Martin Luther King said it this way in Stride Toward Freedom: The Montgomery Story; “He who passively accepts evil is as much involved in it as he who helps to perpetrate it. He who accepts evil without protesting against it is really cooperating with it.”

     John Stuart Mill expressed a related idea in his 1867 Inaugural Address to the University of St. Andrews; “Let not anyone pacify his conscience by the delusion that he can do no harm if he takes no part, and forms no opinion. Bad men need nothing more to compass their ends, than that good men should look on and do nothing. He is not a good man who, without a protest, allows wrong to be committed in his name, and with the means he helps to supply, because he will not trouble himself to use his mind on the subject.”

     Leonardo da Vinci formulated it as resistance to tyranny, with which he was very familiar in the wars of dominion between the princes of Renaissance Italy; “Nothing strengthens authority so much as silence.”

     Silence is complicity.

      Should this concept require further clarification, please refer to the following recording and transcript of Elie Wiesel’s Millennium Lecture at the White House, on April 12 1999, hosted by President Bill Clinton and First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton; “Mr. President, Mrs. Clinton, members of Congress, Ambassador Holbrooke, Excellencies, friends: Fifty-four years ago to the day, a young Jewish boy from a small town in the Carpathian Mountains woke up, not far from Goethe’s beloved Weimar, in a place of eternal infamy called Buchenwald. He was finally free, but there was no joy in his heart. He thought there never would be again.

     Liberated a day earlier by American soldiers, he remembers their rage at what they saw. And even if he lives to be a very old man, he will always be grateful to them for that rage, and also for their compassion. Though he did not understand their language, their eyes told him what he needed to know — that they, too, would remember, and bear witness.

     And now, I stand before you, Mr. President — Commander-in-Chief of the army that freed me, and tens of thousands of others — and I am filled with a profound and abiding gratitude to the American people.

     Gratitude is a word that I cherish. Gratitude is what defines the humanity of the human being. And I am grateful to you, Hillary — or Mrs. Clinton — for what you said, and for what you are doing for children in the world, for the homeless, for the victims of injustice, the victims of destiny and society. And I thank all of you for being here.

     We are on the threshold of a new century, a new millennium. What will the legacy of this vanishing century be? How will it be remembered in the new millennium? Surely it will be judged, and judged severely, in both moral and metaphysical terms. These failures have cast a dark shadow over humanity: two World Wars, countless civil wars, the senseless chain of assassinations — Gandhi, the Kennedys, Martin Luther King, Sadat, Rabin — bloodbaths in Cambodia and Nigeria, India and Pakistan, Ireland and Rwanda, Eritrea and Ethiopia, Sarajevo and Kosovo; the inhumanity in the gulag and the tragedy of Hiroshima. And, on a different level, of course, Auschwitz and Treblinka. So much violence, so much indifference.

     What is indifference? Etymologically, the word means “no difference.” A strange and unnatural state in which the lines blur between light and darkness, dusk and dawn, crime and punishment, cruelty and compassion, good and evil.

     What are its courses and inescapable consequences? Is it a philosophy? Is there a philosophy of indifference conceivable? Can one possibly view indifference as a virtue? Is it necessary at times to practice it simply to keep one’s sanity, live normally, enjoy a fine meal and a glass of wine, as the world around us experiences harrowing upheavals?

     Of course, indifference can be tempting — more than that, seductive. It is so much easier to look away from victims. It is so much easier to avoid such rude interruptions to our work, our dreams, our hopes. It is, after all, awkward, troublesome, to be involved in another person’s pain and despair. Yet, for the person who is indifferent, his or her neighbor are of no consequence. And, therefore, their lives are meaningless. Their hidden or even visible anguish is of no interest. Indifference reduces the other to an abstraction.

     Over there, behind the black gates of Auschwitz, the most tragic of all prisoners were the “Muselmanner,” as they were called. Wrapped in their torn blankets, they would sit or lie on the ground, staring vacantly into space, unaware of who or where they were, strangers to their surroundings. They no longer felt pain, hunger, thirst. They feared nothing. They felt nothing. They were dead and did not know it.

     Rooted in our tradition, some of us felt that to be abandoned by humanity then was not the ultimate. We felt that to be abandoned by God was worse than to be punished by Him. Better an unjust God than an indifferent one. For us to be ignored by God was a harsher punishment than to be a victim of His anger. Man can live far from God — not outside God. God is wherever we are. Even in suffering? Even in suffering.

     In a way, to be indifferent to that suffering is what makes the human being inhuman. Indifference, after all, is more dangerous than anger and hatred. Anger can at times be creative. One writes a great poem, a great symphony, one does something special for the sake of humanity because one is angry at the injustice that one witnesses. But indifference is never creative. Even hatred at times may elicit a response. You fight it. You denounce it. You disarm it. Indifference elicits no response. Indifference is not a response.

     Indifference is not a beginning, it is an end. And, therefore, indifference is always the friend of the enemy, for it benefits the aggressor — never his victim, whose pain is magnified when he or she feels forgotten. The political prisoner in his cell, the hungry children, the homeless refugees — not to respond to their plight, not to relieve their solitude by offering them a spark of hope is to exile them from human memory. And in denying their humanity we betray our own.

     Indifference, then, is not only a sin, it is a punishment. And this is one of the most important lessons of this outgoing century’s wide-ranging experiments in good and evil.

     In the place that I come from, society was composed of three simple categories: the killers, the victims, and the bystanders. During the darkest of times, inside the ghettoes and death camps — and I’m glad that Mrs. Clinton mentioned that we are now commemorating that event, that period, that we are now in the Days of Remembrance — but then, we felt abandoned, forgotten. All of us did.

     And our only miserable consolation was that we believed that Auschwitz and Treblinka were closely guarded secrets; that the leaders of the free world did not know what was going on behind those black gates and barbed wire; that they had no knowledge of the war against the Jews that Hitler’s armies and their accomplices waged as part of the war against the Allies.

    If they knew, we thought, surely those leaders would have moved heaven and earth to intervene. They would have spoken out with great outrage and conviction. They would have bombed the railways leading to Birkenau, just the railways, just once.

     And now we knew, we learned, we discovered that the Pentagon knew, the State Department knew. And the illustrious occupant of the White House then, who was a great leader — and I say it with some anguish and pain, because, today is exactly 54 years marking his death — Franklin Delano Roosevelt died on April the 12th, 1945, so he is very much present to me and to us.

     No doubt, he was a great leader. He mobilized the American people and the world, going into battle, bringing hundreds and thousands of valiant and brave soldiers in America to fight fascism, to fight dictatorship, to fight Hitler. And so many of the young people fell in battle. And, nevertheless, his image in Jewish history — I must say it — his image in Jewish history is flawed.

     The depressing tale of the St. Louis is a case in point. Sixty years ago, its human cargo — maybe 1,000 Jews — was turned back to Nazi Germany. And that happened after the Kristallnacht, after the first state sponsored pogrom, with hundreds of Jewish shops destroyed, synagogues burned, thousands of people put in concentration camps. And that ship, which was already on the shores of the United States, was sent back.

     I don’t understand. Roosevelt was a good man, with a heart. He understood those who needed help. Why didn’t he allow these refugees to disembark? A thousand people — in America, a great country, the greatest democracy, the most generous of all new nations in modern history. What happened? I don’t understand. Why the indifference, on the highest level, to the suffering of the victims?

     But then, there were human beings who were sensitive to our tragedy. Those non-Jews, those Christians, that we called the “Righteous Gentiles,” whose selfless acts of heroism saved the honor of their faith. Why were they so few? Why was there a greater effort to save SS murderers after the war than to save their victims during the war?

     Why did some of America’s largest corporations continue to do business with Hitler’s Germany until 1942? It has been suggested, and it was documented, that the Wehrmacht could not have conducted its invasion of France without oil obtained from American sources. How is one to explain their indifference?

     And yet, my friends, good things have also happened in this traumatic century: the defeat of Nazism, the collapse of communism, the rebirth of Israel on its ancestral soil, the demise of apartheid, Israel’s peace treaty with Egypt, the peace accord in Ireland. And let us remember the meeting, filled with drama and emotion, between Rabin and Arafat that you, Mr. President, convened in this very place. I was here and I will never forget it.

    And then, of course, the joint decision of the United States and NATO to intervene in Kosovo and save those victims, those refugees, those who were uprooted by a man whom I believe that because of his crimes, should be charged with crimes against humanity. But this time, the world was not silent. This time, we do respond. This time, we intervene.

     Does it mean that we have learned from the past? Does it mean that society has changed? Has the human being become less indifferent and more human? Have we really learned from our experiences? Are we less insensitive to the plight of victims of ethnic cleansing and other forms of injustices in places near and far? Is today’s justified intervention in Kosovo, led by you, Mr. President, a lasting warning that never again will the deportation, the terrorization of children and their parents be allowed anywhere in the world? Will it discourage other dictators in other lands to do the same?

     What about the children? Oh, we see them on television, we read about them in the papers, and we do so with a broken heart. Their fate is always the most tragic, inevitably. When adults wage war, children perish. We see their faces, their eyes. Do we hear their pleas? Do we feel their pain, their agony? Every minute one of them dies of disease, violence, famine. Some of them — so many of them — could be saved.

     And so, once again, I think of the young Jewish boy from the Carpathian Mountains. He has accompanied the old man I have become throughout these years of quest and struggle. And together we walk towards the new millennium, carried by profound fear and extraordinary hope.

     Elie Wiesel – April 12, 1999”

Charlottesville: An American Story, Deborah Baker

24 Hours in Charlottesville: An Oral History of the Stand Against White Supremacy, Nora Neus

‘Enabling It to Happen Again’: How Charlottesville Led to the Capitol Attack/ PBS Frontline

Harbingers: What January 6 and Charlottesville Reveal About Rising Threats to American Democracy, Timothy J. Heaphy

‘Hyperbolic and false’: Trump’s portrayal of crime in Washington DC has little to do with facts, Sam Levin

Just as with Los Angeles in June, Trump’s claims about DC are rooted in false and misleading claims about crime and homelessness, experts say

D.C., Here’s What We’re Gonna Do, by the Women’s March

‘Wake up!’ Fear as Trump DC move seen as ‘giant red trial balloon’ for rest of nation

https://www.rawstory.com/amp/wake-up-fear-as-trump-dc-move-seen-as-giant-red-trial-ballon-for-rest-of-nation-2673875230?fbclid=IwY2xjawMIQNFleHRuA2FlbQIxMQABHpOxeoN9YhGeVyi4YHx5wdPd7P9oCvDMoCndDmsBeNZbhatag5fPU1G9-KBp_aem_-c661MkwU7enZHDBhZ04Yw

Trump seizes control of Washington DC police and deploys national guard

President claims US capital ‘overtaken by violent gangs and bloodthirsty criminals … and homeless people’

Donald Trump’s incredibly unpresidential statement on Charlottesville/ CNN

https://www.cnn.com/2017/08/12/politics/trump-charlottesville-statement/

Here’s What Really Happened In Charlottesville

https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/blakemontgomery/heres-what-really-happened-in-charlottesville

Charlottesville rally violence: How we got here

https://www.cnn.com/2017/08/14/us/charlottesville-rally-timeline-tick-tock

https://www.chicagotribune.com/suburbs/ct-evr-column-silence-complicity-tl-0114-20210111-veij55eprzgufbm2v4idk6mn5y-story.html

https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2021/01/republicans-are-already-rewriting-trump-years/617715/

     As written by James Greenberg in a FaceBook post:

https://www.facebook.com/james.greenberg.5

     “On August 11, Donald Trump declared “Liberation Day” in Washington, D.C.—federalizing its police, deploying the National Guard, and claiming to save a city where violent crime is at historic lows. Invoking emergency authority under Section 740 of the Home Rule Act, he replaced the city’s chain of command with loyalists, placing Attorney General Pam Bondi—alongside, in some reports, DEA Administrator Terry Cole—at the helm. Within hours, 800 National Guard troops were ordered into the city, joined by a surge of federal agents from the FBI, ICE, ATF, U.S. Marshals, Secret Service, and Homeland Security. The streets filled with uniforms and armed vehicles.

The stated reason was a familiar litany: crime, homelessness, gangs, urban decay. He pointed to a recent carjacking of a federal staffer, claimed violent gangs were in control, and promised to make the capital “safe, clean, and beautiful.” In his telling, Washington was a city in collapse. The reality is otherwise. Crime in D.C. is down: 26 percent this year, following a 35 percent drop last year—marking the lowest violent crime levels in decades [1]. The “emergency” is not in the statistics. It is in the politics.

Federal intervention in D.C. is not without precedent, but it has historically been reserved for moments of real and visible crisis: Lyndon Johnson’s use of federal troops after the 1968 riots following Martin Luther King Jr.’s assassination, or large-scale unrest during the Vietnam War protests. Even Trump’s 2020 deployment of federal forces during the George Floyd demonstrations was tied to sustained protests. By contrast, this move comes at a time of falling crime, with no citywide breakdown of order. The August 11 deployment is less about responding to danger than about staging power in the nation’s capital—a ritualized display meant to show the state’s monopoly on force, not just to D.C. residents but to the country.

In authoritarian systems, a “test city” often serves as the proving ground for tactics later applied nationwide. D.C. is an ideal choice for such a trial: a majority-Black city without voting representation in Congress, making it politically vulnerable and symbolically potent. Bondi stood beside Trump with a list of other cities—Baltimore, Chicago, Detroit—implicitly marked as next in line. The message was clear: if your local government “won’t exercise control,” the federal government will. Trump’s comment that officers would be “authorized to do whatever the hell they want” sends an unmistakable signal that constitutional protections, due process, and judicial oversight are optional.

The racial and symbolic dimensions are hard to miss. For decades, D.C. has been cast in racially coded narratives as dangerous, dirty, and crime-ridden. Federalizing its police under a false emergency reinforces these stereotypes and reasserts who is governed by force. The city’s majority-Black population, long denied full representation, is reminded that their civic voice is weaker than the armed presence on their streets.

The “clean and beautiful” rhetoric is equally revealing. In urban politics, these words often precede displacement—sweeps of homeless encampments, aggressive policing of public spaces, and redevelopment projects that push out low-income communities. Political ecology teaches that such interventions reshape the “human ecology” of a city, altering who can inhabit which spaces and under what conditions. Security narratives open the door to economic capture, clearing neighborhoods for investment under the guise of public safety.

What we saw on August 11 was not only a militarized takeover of local policing, but a rehearsal for a model of governance built on fear. It uses moral panic—in this case, a manufactured crime wave—to justify extraordinary measures. Once accepted in one place, those measures can spread. The agents on D.C.’s streets have long histories of aggressive enforcement. Expanded to multiple cities, this approach could fill detention centers and military facilities with people detained on broad “public safety” grounds.

The timing is as political as the move itself. Trump’s approval ratings are slipping, protests are growing, and the capital became the stage for a performance meant to reassert control. A massive show of force distracts from political trouble while sending a warning to opposition movements, city leaders, and anyone considering organized resistance.

If this is allowed to stand, the precedent is dangerous. Section 740 was intended for brief, extraordinary emergencies. Trump has already hinted at going further, even using active-duty military. While the law nominally limits his control of the D.C. police to 48 hours without extension, the machinery is now in place for repeated takeovers—and for the militarized policing that comes with them—to become routine.

D.C. was the opening act. The intended audience is the whole country.

Endnotes:

[1]  R Street Institute. D.C. Needs Local Policing, Not a Federal Takeover, Aug 11, 2025.”

August 12 2025 A Sacred Calling to Pursue the Truth: the Case of Salman Rushdie

       On this anniversary of the savage attack on Salman Rushdie, champion of the people in our universal right of free speech and of our Liberty in the sacred calling of writing as the pursuit of truth, we mourn and remember the crime of theocratic terror which he endured as a figure of us all, and celebrate his resilience and unconquerable will in struggle with the pain and trauma of this life disruptive event in continuing to write and publish.

      Let us follow his example in the performance of ourselves before the stage of history and the world; write, speak, teach, organize.

      This year his heroism is most especially useful to us as an example, as Israel assassinates journalists en masse and Trump represses dissent in our universities and the press in the two front war on humanity now being fought in America and Palestine by criminal regimes of tyranny and terror.

     Netanyahu and Trump have driven us right off the edge of the Abyss, and our civilization is falling.

      What difference now, between Trump, Netanyahu, and the Ayatollah whose death order set in motion the attack on Salman Rushdie?

      Or between the theocratic tyrannies of the American, Israeli, and Iranian regimes?

      Nothing at all.

       Friends, what can we do in unwinnable conditions of struggle against forces whose power cannot be matched and systems of oppression woven into the fabric of our society across millennia?

        We can refuse to submit, and this is a power which cannot be taken from us, and which confers freedom upon all who disbelieve and disobey.

       Jean Genet once offered me a maxim by which to live, paraphrasing his famous quote in Miracle of the Rose. In our last moments I had asked him; “What do I do now, with the rest of my life?”

     And he said; “Live with grandeur.”

      As I wrote in my post of August 12 2022; Salman Rushdie, Champion of the People and of our Liberty, who like the Jester of King Lear speaks truth to power to restore the balance of the world, recovers from his recent assassination attempt by a madman enacting the decades old command of a long dead tyrant.

     Herein issues of free speech and an independent press become entangled and interdependent with that of truth as an inherent value of democracy as a system which questions itself and the role of citizens as truthtellers, and with the principle of separation of church and state on which America was founded as a secular nation, and all of this engaged in revolutionary struggle against theocracy and tyranny as humankind reinvents itself yet again.

     What can we learn from this tragedy as a democratic society and the primary guarantor of our universal human rights throughout the world?

     As written by Jill Filipovic in The Guardian, in an article entitled Salman Rushdie teaches us an invaluable lesson: It is courageous and necessary to stand up against tyrants – even when those tyrants claim to have God on their side; “Salman Rushie has spent decades living under threat from religious zealots after a religious leader in Iran called for him to be put to death for the alleged blasphemy of his book The Satanic Verses. On Friday, an assailant attacked Rushdie in Chautauqua, New York, stabbing the 75-year-old author multiple times. Rushdie is now reportedly on a ventilator with serious injuries and may lose an eye, according to his agent Andrew Wylie. A 24-year-old New Jersey man named Hadi Matar is in custody.

     Even with a decades-long fatwa hanging over Rushdie, the attack is still shocking. While he spent many years in hiding after the late Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini put a fatwa on his head, and there was a $3m bounty offered for his murder, the author has, in recent years, been much more public. Initially, he tried to be reasonable: he said he regretted hurting people’s feelings (“I profoundly regret the distress that publication has occasioned to sincere followers of Islam,” he said in 1989), and he suspended the paperback release of the book to let the dust settle – a move he said later he regretted.

     Since then, Rushdie has not apologized for creating art that offended the delicate sensibilities of religious people who can’t seem to let God handle his own business. He has refused to cower in the face of so many calls to violence. His refusal to hide or take his work back also reveals the cravenness of those who have long sought to justify or downplay the threats on his life – a group that includes, shamefully, a number of self-styled liberals.

     Standing up to extremism and standing for the rights of free speech and expression, particularly in the face of threats to one’s life, is laudable and incredibly brave. The world should have rallied around Rushdie when he initially came under threat. Appallingly, it did not. Now, though, with the benefit of hindsight and the understanding of the immediate, life-threatening stakes, we can collectively change course.

     People who believe criticism, mockery, or even insult to religion should never be a crime, let alone a capital offense – decent people, in other words – should speak up for Rushdie, and against the many nations worldwide that criminalize blasphemy. As of 2019, some 40% of countries worldwide had blasphemy laws on the books. That’s not just backwards and dangerous, it’s embarrassing. Certainly any god worth worshipping is able to handle petty insults on his own – and if he believes that taunting an all-powerful and omniscient being is grounds for death, why in the world are you worshipping that guy?

     The attack on Rushdie is abhorrent, but it is not isolated. Others who have been accused of criticizing or insulting religion have also faced threats to their lives; many have been imprisoned and even sentenced to death; others have been murdered for insisting on free expression.

     Attacks on free speech run the gamut. While violence is obviously shocking and appalling, we should also reject attempts to shut down texts or other pieces of art simply because they offend someone’s beliefs. Of course every culture has its taboos. One question worth asking is whether a particular taboo is worth enforcing either legally or socially; to answer that, we have to assess the potential harm in breaking it. Social rules – and certainly legal rules – that are simply about protecting privileged people from hurt feelings or challenging ideas, and where the harm is no larger than taking offense because of one’s religious or other beliefs, should fall.

     And yet the world over, people insist on erecting them. In the US, religious conservatives have long sought to use the power of the state to shut down speech and expression they dislike, from pulling arts funding because of pieces that offend Christians to attempting to ban books because they are about queer identity and therefore “obscene” to pushing state laws that limit how teachers can discuss gender and sexual orientation. And liberals have their censorious impulses too, although, importantly, they seem inclined to rely on cultural institutions and businesses more than the state. Globally, free speech is depressingly under-supported. And as of 2015, 40% of young people in the US troublingly told researchers they were OK with the government limiting speech if that speech was offensive to minority groups.

     “Free speech is the whole thing, the whole ball game,” Rushdie told an audience at Columbia University in 1991, as he continued to live under siege. “Free speech is life itself.”

     And that includes, absolutely, the right to offend. People may think you’re a jerk; they may tell you you’re being offensive; depending on the speech or the art and the context, you may lose friends or supporters, and you may deserve it (Rushdie, for the record, did not deserve it). But no one deserves to be threatened or criminally penalized for their work or for words that simply caused offense. And frankly, we would collectively be better off if we could engage with, criticize, and even reject pieces of literature or art without calling for their removal or censorship. We would absolutely be better off if we stopped treating religion as a special category of belief for which no insult is justified, and which is deserving of special levels of deference (not to mention, in the US, vast privileges and benefits, including to discriminate, not accorded to other groups).

     Religion is a belief system. If yours cannot stand up to criticism, interrogation, and even mockery or insult – if you need to threaten or punish, up to the point of death, those who insult an idea you hold dear – it is perhaps worth asking if your beliefs are as strong as you believe they are. And this is the lesson of Salman Rushdie: it is courageous and necessary to stand up against tyrants and those who would use violence to suppress words and art – even when those tyrants claim to have God on their side.”

     Gott Mitt Uns; it is the most terrible battle cry of our history, for it authorizes permission for anything in the cause of faith. Herein the subversion of truth and the degradation of faith as terror in service to power combine as submission to authority, falsification of identity, and theft of the soul.

    Who stands between any of us and the Infinite serves neither.

    And as Voltaire teaches us in his 1765 essay Questions sur les miracles; “Those who can make you believe absurdities, can make you commit atrocities.”

     What does this idea of Voltaire’s, on which America was founded as a secular state and the embodiment of Enlightenment values, mean for us today?

     I call for the universal recognition of freedoms of information and of expression for all humankind, to research and study, debate and publish, speak and teach, any crazy damn thing at all, with the sole exception of hate speech, especially if it is inconvenient to tyrants and regardless of whether or not we agree with it, as a sacred calling to pursue the truth and for a united front in solidarity to preserve the witness of history, the independence of the press, and the transparency of all governments as institutions which must answer ultimately to their people.

     Any power or authority held by a government of any form is granted by its citizens or has been appropriated from them unjustly, and it is the highest principle of natural law as articulated in our Declaration of Independence that we may seize and reclaim it at any time it is held without our participation and co-ownership, or used against our interests.

     True democracy as a free society of equals requires the four ideals of liberty, equality, truth, and justice, and one thing more; an engaged electorate of truth tellers which will hold its representatives and the institutions of their government responsible for enacting our values. Hence the Four Primary Duties of a Citizen; question authority, expose authority, mock authority, and challenge authority.

     Like the role of a free press in the sacred calling to pursue the truth, the role of a citizen is to be a truth teller. Both serve Truth, and truth is necessary to the just balance of power between individuals which is the purpose of the state.

    As I wrote in my post of August 16 2020, Democracy, the Right of Free Speech Versus the Crime of Hate Speech, and the Principle of Open Debate;    To free ourselves of the ideas of other people; such is the essence of democracy. Conversely, the use of social force in marginalizing and silencing dissent is the definition of tyranny.

     Much talk of late has employed the term cancel culture to deflect and obscure the true issues involved with the disambiguation of free speech from hate speech and the role of open debate in a democracy; cancel culture is a figment used without sincerity to obfuscate loathsome acts of white supremacist and patriarchal sexual terror, incitement to violence and dehumanization.

     Conversely, antifascist action in defense of equality and our universal human rights such as platform denial, independent verification of claims, and forms of peer ostracism and boycott are part of the free market of ideas and have no relation to silencing and erasure used by authoritarian tyrannies of force and control to subjugate a population and repress dissent, as exemplified by the Chinese Communist Party’s recent arrest of newspaperman Jimmy Lai in their campaign against democracy and truth in Hong Kong.

     But the values issues which the phenomenon raises are interesting, as they signpost the heart of what democracy means and our responsibility to others as well as our freedom from the ideas of others.  

     Democracy is reducible to a simple idea; the abandonment of social force and control in shaping others to our own image, in the authorization of identity, in our freedom of conscience, and from the establishment and policing of boundaries of the Forbidden.

     The autonomy of individuals takes precedence over all rights of authority and the state, which exists only to secure those rights which we cannot secure for ourselves. The state protects us from the tyranny of other people’s ideas of virtue; and others from our own.

     Any society or culture requires shared values and principles, agreements about things such as freedoms of and freedoms from, whether in systems of law and justice or as standards of courtesy. Democracy is unique in that it requires  rights of free access to information and the sharing of it, and freedoms from surveillance, censorship, and lies disguised as truths, but also requires for its functioning the tradition of open debate founded with our civilization in the Forum of Athens.

     Hate speech, which seeks to harm a class of persons, is the only exception to the right of free speech as parrhesia, the sacred calling to expose injustice, and the independence of journalism as a sacred calling to seek the truth, for hate speech dehumanizes others as a criminal theft of humanity, citizenship, and identity which violates our ideals of equality and liberty; hate speech is an act of tyranny and terror which is subversive to democracy as a free society of equals.

     To make an idea about a kind of people is a hate crime and an act of violence.

    I explored the implications of parrhesia and Foucault’s extension of this classical principle as truth telling in my post of May 27 2020, On Speaking Truth to Power as a Sacred Calling;  I found myself responding with candor to a conversation today in which a friend, a fearless champion of the marginalized and the wretched of the earth, the powerless and the dispossessed, the silenced and the erased, expressed fear of retribution in calling out the police as an institution of racist state force and control, thereby illustrating the mechanism of silencing on which unjust authority depends.

     Of course this was a preface for an act of Breaking the Silence; I did say they are my friend.   

     Here is the beginning of that conversation; “Today I’m going to do something stupid.

     On my Facebook and Twitter feeds I am going to express a viewpoint that I have long held to myself. A viewpoint I believed, if ever made public, would kneecap my dreams of a political career and public service.

    Today I realized my silence was just a vestige of my own internalized oppression and respectability politics, and fuck respectability. It has never, and will never, save us. So here goes: here’s why I am a #PoliceAbolitionist”

      What followed was a brilliant and multivoiced discussion of the role of police violence in white supremacist terror, as an army of occupation whose purpose is to enforce inequality and elite hierarchies of exclusionary otherness and to subvert the institutions and values of democracy, and of the use of social force in a free society of equals. This is among the most important issues we face today and questions some of the inherent contradictions of our form of government, of which George Washington said, “Government is about force; only force.”

     But this is only indirectly the subject on which I write today; far more primary and fundamental to the institution of a free press is the function of other people’s ideas of ourselves, of normality and respectability, in the silencing of dissent.

     To our subjugation by authorized identities, I reply with the Wicked Witch; I will fuck respectability, authorized identities, and other people’s ideas of virtue  with you, and their little dog normality too.     

     Authorized identities and boundaries of the Forbidden are about power, and we must call out the instruments of unequal power as we see them. Foucault called this truthtelling, and it is a crucial part of seizure of power and ownership of identity; always there remains the struggle between the masks others make for us and those we make for ourselves.

     Against state tyranny and terror, force and control, let us deploy parrhesia and the performance of our best selves as guerilla theatre. Go ahead; frighten the horses.

    Often have I referred to this key performative role in democracy as the Jester of King Lear, whose enactments of mockery and satire, the exposure and deflation of the mighty as revolutionary seizures of power which reclaim that which we the people have lent them when it is used unjustly, are necessary to maintain the balance of interests in a society in which government is co-owned equally by its citizens and has as its overriding purpose the securement of the freedom and autonomy of individuals and of their universal human rights.

     Without citizens who refuse to be silenced and controlled by authority, democracy becomes meaningless.

     So with my arts of rhetoric and poetry as truthtelling, and with my praxis of democracy in my daily journal here at Torch of Liberty; to incite, provoke, and disturb.

     For democracy requires a participatory electorate willing to speak truth to power. 

     To all those who defy and challenge unjust authority; I will stand with you, and I ask that all of us do the same.

     As written by Margaret Atwood in The Guardian, in an article entitled If we don’t defend free speech, we live in tyranny: Salman Rushdie shows us that; “The Satanic Verses author didn’t plan to become a hero, but as he recovers from this attack, the world must stand by him.

     Along time ago – 7 December 1992, to be exact – I was backstage at a Toronto theatre, taking off a Stetson. With two other writers, Timothy Findley and Paul Quarrington, I’d been performing a medley of 1950s country and western classics, rephrased for writers – Ghost Writers in the Sky, If I Had the Wings of an Agent, and other fatuous parodies of that nature. It was a PEN Canada benefit of that era: writers dressed up and made idiots of themselves in aid of writers persecuted by governments for things they’d written.

     Just as the three of us were bemoaning how awful we’d been, there was a knock on the door. Backstage was locked down, we were told. Secret agents were talking into their sleeves. Salman Rushdie had been spirited into the country. He was about to appear on stage with Bob Rae, the premier of Ontario, the first head of government in the world to support him in public. “And you, Margaret, as past president of PEN Canada, are going to introduce him,” I was told.

     Gulp. “Oh, OK,” I said. And so I did. It was a money-where-your-mouth-is moment.

     And, with the recent attack on him, so is this.

     Rushdie exploded on to the literary scene in 1981 with his second novel, Midnight’s Children, which won the Booker prize that year. No wonder: its inventiveness, range, historical scope and verbal dexterity were breathtaking, and it opened the door to subsequent generations of writers who might previously have felt that their identities or subject matter excluded them from the movable feast that is English-language literature. He has ticked every box except the Nobel prize: he has been knighted; he is on everyone’s list of significant British writers; he has collected an impressive bouquet of prizes and honours, but, most importantly, he has touched and inspired a great many people around the globe. A huge number of writers and readers have long owed him a major debt.

     Suddenly, they owe him another one. He has long defended freedom of artistic expression against all comers; now, even should he recover from his injuries, he is a martyr to it.

     In any future monument to murdered, tortured, imprisoned and persecuted writers, Rushdie will feature large. On 12 August he was stabbed on stage by an assailant at a literary event at Chautauqua, a venerable American institution in upstate New York. Yet again “that sort of thing never happens here” has been proven false: in our present world, anything can happen anywhere. American democracy is under threat as never before: the attempted assassination of a writer is just one more symptom.

     Without doubt, this attack was directed at him because his fourth novel, The Satanic Verses, a satiric fantasy that he himself believed was dealing with the disorientation felt by immigrants from (for instance) India to Britain, got used as a tool in a political power struggle in a distant country.

     When your regime is under pressure, a little book-burning creates a popular distraction. Writers don’t have an army. They don’t have billions of dollars. They don’t have a captive voting block. They thus make cheap scapegoats. They’re so easy to blame: their medium is words, which are by nature ambiguous and subject to misinterpretation, and they themselves are often mouthy, if not downright curmudgeonly. Worse, they frequently speak truth to power. Even apart from that, their books will annoy some people. As writers themselves have frequently said, if what you’ve written is universally liked, you must be doing something wrong. But when you offend a ruler, things can get lethal, as many writers have discovered.

     In Rushdie’s case, the power that used him as a pawn was the Ayatollah Khomeini of Iran. In 1989, he issued a fatwa – a rough equivalent to the bulls of excommunication used by medieval and renaissance Catholic popes as weapons against both secular rulers and theological challengers such as Martin Luther. Khomeini also offered a large reward to anyone who would murder Rushdie. There were numerous killings and attempted assassinations, including the stabbing of the Japanese translator Hitoshi Igarashi in 1991. Rushdie himself spent many years in enforced hiding, but gradually he came out of his cocoon – the Toronto PEN event being the most significant first step – and, in the past two decades, he’d been leading a relatively normal life.

     However, he never missed an opportunity to speak out on behalf of the principles he’d been embodying all his writing life. Freedom of expression was foremost among these. Once a yawn-making liberal platitude, this concept has now become a hot-button issue, since the extreme right has attempted to kidnap it in the service of libel, lies and hatred, and the extreme left has tried to toss it out the window in the service of its version of earthly perfection. It doesn’t take a crystal ball to foresee many panel discussions on the subject, should we reach a moment in which rational debate is possible. But whatever it is, the right to freedom of expression does not include the right to defame, to lie maliciously and damagingly about provable facts, to issue death threats, or to advocate murder. These should be punished by law.

     In fact, there are no perfect artists, nor is there any perfect art. Anti-censorship folks often find themselves having to defend work they would otherwise review scathingly, but such defending is necessary, unless we are all to have our vocal cords removed.

     Long ago, a Canadian member of parliament described a ballet as “a bunch of fruits jumping around in long underwear”. Let them jump, say I! Living in a pluralistic democracy means being surrounded by a multiplicity of voices, some of which will be saying things you don’t like. Unless you’re prepared to uphold their right to speak, as Salman Rushdie has done so often, you’ll end up living in a tyranny.

     Rushdie didn’t plan to become a free-speech hero, but he is one now. Writers everywhere – those who are not state hacks or brainwashed robots – owe him a huge vote of thanks.”

    We must all read Salman Rushdie’s The Satanic Verses now, and for all of history it has become embedded into our character and psyche as part of human being, meaning, and value, a satire which is now become a story of us all.

    For The Satanic Verses, like Nietzsche’s Thus Spake Zarathustra which it references, has become a central myth of our limitless possibilities of becoming human, and a song of liberty, our defiance of force and state terror, and our  refusal to submit to authority. Here is a myth of freedom and revolutionary struggle, and this is the context in which it must now be interpreted.

     As I wrote in celebration of his birthday in my literary blog which forms a calendar of holidays on the birthdays of over 200 literary figures and summarizes all their works, sister to my political journal Torch of Liberty;

        Salman Rushdie, on his birthday June 19

        Midnight’s Children and Independence, Shame and Partition, The Satanic Verses and the founding of an alternate-world Islam (if you don’t like it you can always write your own book- there are endless possible realities to choose from), The Moor’s Last Sigh and modern multiethnic India, which was my favorite book ever during the final years of my teaching English in high school, The Ground Beneath Her Feet and the myth of Orpheus which is central to my ideology and self-construal, Fury and modern New York as a Dante-esque underworld, Shalimar the Clown and the tragedy of Kashmir, where once I sailed upon the lake of dreams, defended a Sufi shrine of mercy and free hospital against a riot and siege with a saint, his idiot servant, and an escaped criminal who had claimed sanctuary, was wooed by Beauty but instead was claimed by Vision, The Enchantress of Florence and gender based power asymmetries, The Golden House and capitalism as a system of oppression and dehumanization, even for its beneficiaries; the great novels of Salman Rushdie are rooted in a meticulously researched historicism and thematically targeted to expound on enduring social issues.

     All are brilliant, dizzying, densely layered with meaning and scholarly references, yet filled with humor and a sense of play, his characters reflections of aspects of ourselves and immediately relatable as universal human images.

     In some ways he has created a national identity of India; in others a transnational diasporic Indian identity.

    Together, the works of Salman Rushdie illuminate a hidden landscape within us, as if they form the secret Book of Man and the World that da Vinci sought throughout his life. His work shares a dense coding with the notebooks of da Vinci and the poetry of Coleridge and Keats, a love of secrets with Umberto Eco, a use of traditional sources as texts of subversion and social criticism with Margaret Atwood, and reflects the work of R.K. Narayan.

    Salman Rushdie maps a realm of human being and possibilities which is liminal, filled with transformative power, endless and boundless, visions and fables which extend a realism of character and place and connect us with each other through our universal qualities while exploring and recognizing the formative power of our differences.

Salman Rushdie speaks on universal human rights, freedom, truth, and the ownership of our stories, Interview by the New York Times

           Salman Rushdie, a reading list

 The Satanic Verses, Salman Rushdie

Joseph Anton: A Memoir, Salman Rushdie

(autobiography of his time living under a false identity in hiding from the Ayatollah’s death sentence)

Before Orthodoxy: The Satanic Verses in Early Islam, Shahab Ahmed

Christopher Hitchens in Conversation with Salman Rushdie, Christopher Hitchens, Salman Rushdie

A Satanic Affair: Salman Rushdie and the Rage of Islam, Malise Ruthven

Salman Rushdie: A Postmodern Reading of His Major Works, Sabrina Hassumani

Salman Rushdie and Indian Historiography: Writing the Nation into Being, Nicole Weick

Midnight’s Children, Salman Rushdie

(on Independence and an origin myth of modern India)

On Midnight’s Children

https://www.theguardian.com/books/2015/jun/15/100-best-novels-midnights-children-salman-rushdie-

The Moor’s Last Sigh, Salman Rushdie

(at one time my favorite book ever, a myth of India in four generations)

Victory City, Salman Rushdie

(in which we are given a mythic past in the founding of a 15h century Hindu empire, the historical Vijayanagara-Bisnaga)

Shame, Salman Rushdie

(Partition and an origin myth of Pakistan)

Shalimar the Clown, Salman Rushdie

(on Kashmir and the broken mirror of Hindu-Muslim identity)

The Golden House

(the Indian Diaspora in New York)

On The Golden House

https://www.theguardian.com/books/2017/aug/28/salman-rushdie-the-golden-house-observer-review

https://www.theguardian.com/books/2018/jun/16/salman-rushdie-the-golden-house-interview

On the Meaning of Salman Rushdie to humankind and civilization

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2022/aug/14/salman-rushdie-teaches-us-an-invaluable-lesson?CMP=share_btn_link

Two Years Eight Months and Twenty-Eight Nights, Salman Rushdie

(myth of the Djinn and the War in Heaven)

Khalifa Brothers Trilogy, Salman Rushdie

(children’s stories, but possibly the finest children’s literature since Alice in Wonderland, with maybe The Wizard of Oz a close second)

https://www.goodreads.com/series/133923-khalifa-brothers

The Ground Beneath Her Feet, Salman Rushdie

(reimagines the myth of Orpheus and Eurydice)

Quichotte, Salman Rushdie

(reimagines Don Quixote, and possibly an allegorical autobiograpy)

Languages of Truth: Essays 2003-2020, Salman Rushdie

Imaginary Homelands of Writers in Exile: Salman Rushdie, Bharati Mukherjee, and V. S. Naipaul, Cristina Emanuela Dascalu

Travelogue as a Literary Genre: A Study of the Travel Writings of Salman Rushdie, R K Narayan, Amitav Ghosh and Vikram Seth, Bushra Jafri

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2022/aug/15/salman-rushdie-free-speech-tyranny-satanic-verses?CMP=share_btn_link

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2022/aug/13/salman-rushdie-has-again-instructed-us-in-a-profound-lesson-great-literature-will-always-be-a-matter-of-life-and-death

https://www.theguardian.com/books/2022/aug/14/authors-on-the-salman-rushie-attack-a-society-cannot-survive-without-free-speech?CMP=share_btn_link

https://www.theguardian.com/news/audio/2022/aug/17/the-violent-attack-on-salman-rushdie-podcast?CMP=share_btn_link

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2022/aug/13/we-internalised-the-fatwa-against-salman-rushdie-this-horrific-attack-is-what-follows?CMP=share_btn_link

https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/salman-rushdie-satanic-verses-fatwa-iran

            References in my essay

Genet’s Palestinian Revolution

https://www.thenation.com/article/archive/genets-palestinian-revolution

Prisoner of Love, Jean Genet

Miracle of the Rose, Jean Genet

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/266034.Miracle_of_the_Rose?ref=nav_sb_ss_1_19

An Essay on Parrhesia

Discourse and Truth: The Problematization of Parrhesia, by Michel Foucault

The Trial of Socrates, by I.F. Stone

Voltaire’s Revolution: Writings from His Campaign to Free Laws from Religion,

G.K. Noyer  (Editor)

Thus Spoke Zarathustra, Friedrich Nietzsche

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/51893.Thus_Spoke_Zarathustra

Year of the Mad King: The Lear Diaries, Antony Sher

And your little dog too!

August 11 2025 Israel’s War On Truth: the Assassination Campaign Against Journalists

     Among the many atrocities, horrors, and crimes against humanity of the Gaza War and the Genocide of the Palestinians is Israel’s assassination campaign against journalists and the War On Truth; against journalism as a sacred calling in pursuit of truth. Here in the name of an abominable God a theocratic tyranny of brutal force and control seeks to maintain a mirage of national identity through erasure and silencing of dissent, of witness, remembrance, and exposure.

     Here in a land of derelict holiness where savages once tried to raise themselves above the degradation of beasts and become human by binding themselves to a Covenant that declares all men are brothers, all human souls are created equal, and that judgement of the good or evil of others does not belong to man, the state as embodied violence constructed of lies and illusions as a Wilderness of Mirrors has reversed all of this.

     There is a word for this struggle to realize the Good, and to liberate humankind from systems of oppression which dehumanize us; jihad.

     Seen through a different glass, here the idea of the human born of the Enlightenment with the universal Rights of Man and its political form democracy is driven to collapse as a world order and the first human global civilization falls, as the idea of human rights and the inherent worth of each one of us is abandoned by its guarantor states who refuse to defend it when challenged.

     Off the edge of the cliff we go, hammered by images of famine as a weapon of war as our nations send no navies to break the Israeli blockade of food and medical aid, as American death contractors fire on crowds seeking food and both our political parties during Biden and Trump Presidencies bombed the positions of the Red Sea counter blockade including ones they believed I myself was in, as American tax dollars buy the deaths of civilians including children and utterly destroyed whole cities so that Trump and Netanyahu could build a Riviera of casinos on the ashes of the dead, some 800,000 total dead in this genocidal war of imperial conquest and dominion or one third the population of Palestine by my estimation from the carnage and mass death I observed during the fighting since Black Saturday, and as the depraved Netanyahu regime and their deniable assets among the settler militias kill journalists, doctors, and aid workers first as primary targets, then isolate and annihilate everyone else.

     Exactly as did Hitler and Franco with the doctrine of Total War they designed and tested at Guernica.

     With the unity and solidarity of humankind divided and smashed by fascisms of blood, faith, and soil and national identities falsified and weaponized in service to power by those who would enslave us and who claim to speak and act in our name, ideas of good and evil become meaningless and cease to exist, and only power and its means of exchange fear remain. Such is the world and the future to which monsters and fascist tyrants like Trump and Netanyahu would condemn us all, and this we must Resist.

     Our martyrs in the cause of our humanity are numberless and largely nameless in Palestine, but we know the names of the courageous journalists who died to give them voice and memory and to bring meaning to their deaths, among these the Al Jazeera truth tellers and witnesses recently murdered en masse to silence them.

     Let us remember and celebrate those who died for the humanity of us all;   remember, and bring a Reckoning.

     For in the words of the Matadors who saved me from a police death squad and welcomed me into their ferocious brotherhood in Sao Paulo 1974, We can’t save everyone, but we can avenge.

     As written by Anas al-Sharif and published in The Guardian; “The following statement was posthumously published on Anas al-Sharif’s X account, after an attack on a tent for journalists near al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City. Seven people in total were killed including al-Sharif, the Al Jazeera correspondent Mohammed Qreiqeh, and camera operators Ibrahim Zaher, Mohammed Noufal and Moamen Aliwa, according to Al Jazeera.

     This is my will and my final message. If these words reach you, know that Israel has succeeded in killing me and silencing my voice.

     First, peace be upon you and Allah’s mercy and blessings. Allah knows I gave every effort and all my strength to be a support and a voice for my people, ever since I opened my eyes to life in the alleys and streets of the Jabaliya refugee camp. My hope was that Allah would extend my life so I could return with my family and loved ones to our original town of occupied Asqalan (al-Majdal). But Allah’s will came first, and His decree is final.

     I have lived through pain in all its details, tasted suffering and loss many times, yet I never once hesitated to convey the truth as it is, without distortion or falsification – so that Allah may bear witness against those who stayed silent, those who accepted our killing, those who choked our breath, and whose hearts were unmoved by the scattered remains of our children and women, doing nothing to stop the massacre that our people have faced for more than a year and a half.

     I entrust you with Palestine – the jewel in the crown of the Muslim world, the heartbeat of every free person in this world. I entrust you with its people, with its wronged and innocent children who never had the time to dream or live in safety and peace. Their pure bodies were crushed under thousands of tons of Israeli bombs and missiles, torn apart and scattered across the walls. I urge you not to let chains silence you, nor borders restrain you. Be bridges toward the liberation of the land and its people, until the sun of dignity and freedom rises over our stolen homeland.

     I entrust you to take care of my family. I entrust you with my beloved daughter, Sham, the light of my eyes, whom I never got the chance to watch grow up as I had dreamed. I entrust you with my dear son, Salah, whom I had wished to support and accompany through life until he grew strong enough to carry my burden and continue the mission. I entrust you with my beloved mother, whose blessed prayers brought me to where I am, whose supplications were my fortress and whose light guided my path. I pray that Allah grants her strength and rewards her on my behalf with the best of rewards.

     I also entrust you with my lifelong companion, my beloved wife, Umm Salah (Bayan), from whom the war separated me for many long days and months. Yet she remained faithful to our bond, steadfast as the trunk of an olive tree that does not bend – patient, trusting in Allah, and carrying the responsibility in my absence with all her strength and faith. I urge you to stand by them, to be their support after Allah Almighty.

     If I die, I die steadfast upon my principles. I testify before Allah that I am content with His decree, certain of meeting Him, and assured that what is with Allah is better and everlasting. O Allah, accept me among the martyrs, forgive my past and future sins, and make my blood a light that illuminates the path of freedom for my people and my family. Forgive me if I have fallen short, and pray for me with mercy, for I kept my promise and never changed or betrayed it.

     Do not forget Gaza. And do not forget me in your sincere prayers for forgiveness and acceptance.”

 ‘If these words reach you … Israel has succeeded in killing me’: the last words of a journalist killed in Gaza, Anas al-Sharif 

 ‘I risked everything’: remembering six media workers killed by Israel in Gaza

Global outrage mounts as funeral held for five journalists killed by Israel

Thousands in Tel Aviv protest against Netanyahu’s plan to escalate Gaza war

We Are Free to Change the World: Hannah Arendt, the Power of Defiant Goodwill, and the Art of Beginning Afresh

We Are Free to Change the World: Hannah Arendt’s Lessons in Love and Disobedience, Lyndsey Stonebridge

The Human Condition, Hanna Arendt

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/127227.The_Human_Condition?ref=nav_sb_ss_1_19

Arabic

١ أغسطس ٢٠٢٥: حرب إسرائيل على الحقيقة: حملة اغتيال الصحفيين

من بين الفظائع والأهوال والجرائم ضد الإنسانية العديدة التي ارتكبتها حرب غزة والإبادة الجماعية للفلسطينيين، تأتي حملة اغتيالات إسرائيل ضد الصحفيين وحرب الحقيقة؛ ضد الصحافة كرسالة مقدسة في البحث عن الحقيقة. هنا، باسم إله بغيض، يسعى طغيان ثيوقراطي قائم على القوة والسيطرة الوحشية إلى الحفاظ على سراب الهوية الوطنية من خلال محو وإسكات المعارضة، والشهادة، والذكرى، والكشف.

هنا في أرض القداسة المهجورة، حيث حاول المتوحشون ذات يوم أن يسمو بأنفسهم فوق انحطاط الوحوش وأن يصبحوا بشرًا بإلزام أنفسهم بعهد يُعلن أن جميع البشر إخوة، وأن جميع النفوس البشرية خُلقت متساوية، وأن حكم الخير أو الشر في الآخرين ليس من اختصاص الإنسان، قلبت الدولة، كتجسيد للعنف المبني على الأكاذيب والأوهام، كصحراء من المرايا، كل هذا. هناك مصطلحٌ لهذا النضال من أجل تحقيق الخير، وتحرير البشرية من أنظمة القمع التي تُجرّدنا من إنسانيتنا؛ إنه الجهاد.

وإذا نظرنا إلى الأمر من منظورٍ مختلف، نجد أن فكرة الإنسان المولود في عصر التنوير، مع حقوق الإنسان العالمية وشكله السياسي، الديمقراطية، تُقاد إلى الانهيار، مع سقوط النظام العالمي وأول حضارة إنسانية عالمية، مع تخلّي الدول الضامنة عن فكرة حقوق الإنسان والقيمة الأصيلة لكل فرد منا، رافضةً الدفاع عنها عند مواجهتها. ننزل من حافة الهاوية، وقد سحقتنا صور المجاعة كسلاح حرب حيث لا ترسل دولنا أي قوات بحرية لكسر الحصار الإسرائيلي للغذاء والمساعدات الطبية، بينما يطلق متعهدو الموت الأمريكيون النار على الحشود التي تبحث عن الطعام وكلا حزبينا السياسيين خلال رئاستي بايدن وترامب قصفوا مواقع الحصار المضاد في البحر الأحمر بما في ذلك المواقع التي اعتقدوا أنني كنت فيها، بينما تشتري دولارات دافعي الضرائب الأمريكيين موت المدنيين بمن فيهم الأطفال ودمروا مدنًا بأكملها حتى يتمكن ترامب ونتنياهو من بناء ريفييرا من الكازينوهات على رماد الموتى، حوالي 800000 قتيل إجمالي في هذه الحرب الإبادة الجماعية للغزو والسيطرة الإمبراطورية أو ثلث سكان فلسطين حسب تقديري من المذبحة والموت الجماعي الذي لاحظته خلال القتال منذ السبت الأسود، وبينما يقتل نظام نتنياهو الفاسد وأصوله التي يمكن إنكارها بين ميليشيات المستوطنين الصحفيين والأطباء وعمال الإغاثة أولاً كأهداف أساسية، ثم يعزلون ويبيدون كل من تبقى. تمامًا كما فعل هتلر وفرانكو بمبدأ الحرب الشاملة الذي صمماه واختبراه في غيرنيكا.

مع وحدة البشرية وتضامنها، المنقسمة والمحطمة بفعل فاشيات الدم والإيمان والأرض، والهويات الوطنية التي زُوّرت وتسلّحت في خدمة السلطة من قِبل أولئك الذين يريدون استعبادنا والذين يدّعون التحدث والتصرف باسمنا، تفقد مفاهيم الخير والشر معناها وتختفي، ولا يبقى سوى الخوف من القوة ووسائلها التبادلية. هكذا هو العالم والمستقبل الذي سيُديننا به جميعاً وحوش وطغاة فاشيون مثل ترامب ونتنياهو، وهذا ما يجب أن نقاومه.

شهداؤنا في سبيل إنسانيتنا لا يُحصى عددهم ولا يُذكرون في فلسطين، لكننا نعرف أسماء الصحفيين الشجعان الذين ضحوا بحياتهم من أجل منحهم صوتًا وذكرى، ولإضفاء معنى على موتهم، ومن بينهم رواة الحقيقة وشهود الجزيرة الذين قُتلوا مؤخرًا بشكل جماعي لإسكاتهم.

لنتذكر ونحتفي بمن ضحوا بحياتهم من أجل إنسانيتنا جميعًا؛ لنتذكر، ولنحاسب. فكما قال مصارعو الثيران الذين أنقذوني من فرقة موت الشرطة ورحبوا بي في أخوتهم الشرسة في ساو باولو عام 1974: “لا يمكننا إنقاذ الجميع، ولكن يمكننا الانتقام”.

Hebrew

11 באוגוסט 2025 מלחמת ישראל באמת: קמפיין ההתנקשויות בעיתונאים

בין הזוועות, הזוועות והפשעים נגד האנושות של מלחמת עזה ורצח העם של הפלסטינים נמצא קמפיין ההתנקשויות של ישראל בעיתונאים ומלחמת האמת; נגד העיתונות כמשימה קדושה במרדף אחר האמת. כאן, בשם אל מתועב, עריצות תיאוקרטית של כוח ושליטה ברוטליים מבקשת לשמור על תעתוע של זהות לאומית באמצעות מחיקה והשתקה של התנגדות, של עדות, זיכרון וחשיפה.

כאן, בארץ של קדושה נטושה, שבה פראים ניסו פעם להתעלות מעל השפלת החיות ולהפוך לבני אדם על ידי קשירת עצמם לברית המכריזה שכל בני האדם אחים, כל נשמות האדם נבראו שוות, וכי שיפוט הטוב או הרע של אחרים אינו שייך לאדם, המדינה כאלימות מגולמת הבנויה משקרים ואשליות כמדבר של מראות הפכה את כל זה.

יש מילה למאבק הזה להגשמת הטוב ולשחרור האנושות ממערכות דיכוי שמוציאות מאיתנו את האנושות; ג’יהאד.

מבעד לזכוכית אחרת, כאן הרעיון של האדם שנולד מתקופת הנאורות עם זכויות האדם האוניברסליות וצורתו הפוליטית דמוקרטיה נדחף לקריסה כאשר סדר עולמי והציוויליזציה האנושית הגלובלית הראשונה נופלת, כאשר רעיון זכויות האדם והערך הטבוע של כל אחד מאיתנו ננטשים על ידי המדינות הערבות שלו, המסרבות להגן עליו כאשר מאתגרים אותו.

אל קצה הצוק אנו גולשים, מוכים בתמונות של רעב ככלי מלחמה, בעוד שאומותינו אינן שולחות ציים לשבור את המצור הישראלי על מזון וסיוע רפואי, בעוד קבלני הרג אמריקאים יורים על המונים המחפשים מזון, ושתי המפלגות הפוליטיות שלנו בתקופת נשיאות ביידן וטראמפ הפציצו את עמדות המצור הנגדי בים סוף, כולל כאלה שהאמינו שאני עצמי נמצא בהן, בעוד כספי מס אמריקאים קונים את מותם של אזרחים, כולל ילדים, והרסו ערים שלמות לחלוטין כדי שטראמפ ונתניהו יוכלו לבנות ריביירה של בתי קזינו על אפר המתים, כ-800,000 הרוגים בסך הכל במלחמה רצחנית זו של כיבוש ושליטה אימפריאלית, או שליש מאוכלוסיית פלסטין לפי הערכתי מהטבח וההרג ההמוני שראיתי במהלך הלחימה מאז שבת השחורה, וככל שמשטר נתניהו המושחת ונכסיו הניתנים להכחשה בקרב מיליציות המתנחלים הורגים עיתונאים, רופאים ועובדי סיוע תחילה כמטרות עיקריות, ואז מבודדים ומשמידים את כל השאר.

בדיוק כפי שעשו היטלר ופרנקו עם דוקטרינת המלחמה הטוטאלית שתכננו ובדקו בגרניקה.

עם האחדות והסולידריות של האנושות, המחולקות ומרוסקות על ידי פשיזם של דם, אמונה, אדמה וזהויות לאומיות, שזויפו ומשתמשים בנשק בשירות הכוח על ידי אלו שרוצים לשעבד אותנו וטוענים לדבר ולפעול בשמנו, רעיונות של טוב ורע הופכים לחסרי משמעות וחדלים להתקיים, ורק כוח ואמצעי החליפין שלו, פחד, נותרים. כזה הוא העולם והעתיד שאליהם מפלצות ועריצים פשיסטים כמו טראמפ ונתניהו יגזרו על כולנו, ולכך עלינו להתנגד.

הקדושים המעונים שלנו למען אנושיותנו הם רבים מספור וברובם חסרי שם בפלסטין, אך אנו מכירים את שמותיהם של העיתונאים האמיצים שמתו כדי לתת להם קול וזיכרון ולהביא משמעות למותם, ביניהם דוברי האמת והעדים של אל-ג’זירה שנרצחו לאחרונה בהמוניהם כדי להשתיק אותם.

הבה נזכור ונחגוג את אלה שמתו למען האנושיות של כולנו; נזכור ונביא חשבון נפש. כי במילותיהם של המטדורים שהצילו אותי מכויית מוות משטרתית וקיבלו אותי לאחווה האכזרית שלהם בסאו פאולו 1974, אנחנו לא יכולים להציל את כולם, אבל אנחנו יכולים לנקום

August 10 2025 What Is Beauty? Case of the Sydney Sweeney Recruiting Poster For Nazi White Supremacist National Identity

     What is Beauty? Models often speak of beauty as a construction, an art. But is Beauty an illusion, or a revelation? Does it exist only when we see it, as Keats and other Idealists claim?

     When asked directly to identify my faith, especially by men with guns and badges for official forms and depending on what nation we are in and in what language the question is posed, I often reply by quoting Keats; “I am certain of nothing but of the holiness of the Heart’s affections and the truth of Imagination—What the imagination seizes as Beauty must be truth—whether it existed before or not—for I have the same Idea of all our Passions as of Love they are all in their sublime, creative of essential Beauty.” My alternative is to quote Rumi; “Let the Beauty you love be what you do.”

     For myself the dialectics of Beauty and Vision have been an endless source of wonder. Susan Sontag taught me to see Beauty in the ordinary, as deprivileging elite or high culture and a form of class war, during our conversations in 1980 after the publication of her final work, Under the Sign of Saturn. And I needed Beauty to balance the trauma of the flaws of our humanity in a broken world; something I need increasingly these past few years, as the wounds of my history become densely layered like the whorls of a seashell and I move nearer the position of Schopenhauer in the use of Beauty as light to balance darkness.

     As to my own history with visual arts, I grew up from the age of nine with inkbrush calligraphy in Chinese and Japanese, inkbrush art as part of my Zen Buddhist studies, and practiced painting landscapes from the studio book of forms Mind Landscapes: The Paintings of C. C. Wang, Jerome Silbergeld, Chi-Ch’ien Wang. For myself this was art as a practice of serenity, reflection, healing from the trauma of my momentary death from a police grenade at Bloody Thursday March 15 1969 and the vision of our myriad possible futures as I stood outside of time, and learning to experience Chaos not as a threatening force of death and loss but as the birth of the new and a measure of the adaptive range of systems.   

     During high school my enthusiasm for Surrealist art, literature, and film was bound together with glorious weekends running amok in San Francisco and Berkeley entirely on my own among the wonderlands of the hippie counterculture and the transgression of boundaries of the arts community, and with magic, dreams, fantasies, and the imagination as a ground of being beyond the limits of the flesh.

     Later at university I learned to paint using Monet’s techniques, to see through both inward and outward eyes as did he; “Man has two eyes through which he sees the world; one looks outward, the other looks inward, and it is the juxtaposition of these two images that creates the world which we see.” This was during a period in which I studied the natural world in search of universal principles and allegories of human being, meaning, and value immanent in nature and written in our flesh.

      After that I studied the art of Egon Schiele while a graduate student, whose glorious figures became windows of illumination like human bodies made of stained glass and transformed into cathedrals, and at the same time grotesque in their similarity to anatomical illustrations of cadavers, eros and thanos made ambiguous, to learn to see the Beauty of ordinary people.

      Thus my explorations of Beauty through art unfolded over my second and third decades of life, across dimensions of the inner and outer realms of experience, and in the context of my successive immersions in Zen Buddhism and Taoism, Surrealism and magic, natural sciences, and of the human in my disciplines of literature, history, psychology, and philosophy.   

      In the 1990s living in Kashmir and learning Sufi literature as I sailed upon the Lake of Dreams, I was wooed by Beauty but claimed by Vision, and mostly gave up painting for poetry. But it was a long contest between the two, and each helped the other to the extent I would advise everyone to practice both visual and literary arts.

    Learn to see the truths of things, and to create new truths in the telling.

    Sadly none of this interrogation of Beauty is the issue which has provoked public discourse regarding Sydney Sweeney’s ad for American Eagle, whose customers are teen and young adult girls; that would be the jeans/genes fascist dogwhistle pun which centers the marketing campaign.

     She has lent her images to the propaganda of Nazi ideology and the horrific history of scientific eugenics as an apologetics of racism and white supremacist terror.

     Fascism has a new recruiting poster, and its target is young women.

      This is designed and intended to create a pool of women as resources for fascist men in a political environment which is overwhelmingly polarized left female and right male among young people and isolates Republican men from possible partners and wives which is a problem for fascist recruitment, and in the long term to provide a counterforce to white replacement which is a key idea in the apologetics of racist terror.

     The American Eagle advertising campaign whose spokesmodel Sydney Sweeney registered as a Republican in Florida just before the last election isn’t about selling jeans; its about political power and selling white supremacy as a national identity.

     “My genes are blue” she says in the film, referring to the recessive trait which the Nazis bred for as a sign of racial purity. “To lighten the dark Bavarians” as Hitler said; I find it interesting that the Nazi eugenics program was designed to create and control an authorized national identity and directed specifically against my own kind of Germans rather than outsiders, whom they simply killed. In America under the Fourth Reich as in its predecessor, hierarchies of elite belonging and exclusionary otherness sift exceedingly fine.

     Hitler got the idea from America, where forced sterilizations, electroshock,   and lobotomies were widely practiced by mental hospitals and prisons to control, enforce subjugation, and commit genocide against Black citizens, just as he got the idea of concentration camps from our Indian reservation system. The concentration camps have already come home to roost in our migrant camps and prisons; I expect it won’t be very long before Eugenics returns to enforce authorized identities with the scalpel and horrific new forms of medical erasure and genocide.     

     In context I find it suspicious that Sydney Sweeney is from my own city of Spokane Washington, an area referred to by fascists as the White Redoubt, where The Base and other terrorist organizations have a number of secret militia training compounds, the Democratic Party headquarters was bombed during the 2020 election, both the mosque and synagogue and their members were tracked, harassed, threatened, and targeted, and I became a Precinct Captain of the Democratic Party several years ago and founded Lilac City Antifa in order to counter the work of Matt Shea, while he was the Republican representative in my district and my opposite number, leader of the Secessionists whom the Republicans threw out of the state legislature because he had distributed lists of the home addresses of police officers and federal agents to a number of fascist terror organizations to be assassinated at home with their families during the planned breakaway revolt against the United States. He remains an active threat among many other fascist terror threats and now leads a church whose purpose is to protest our local Planned Parenthood hospital, in addition to his other activities with fellow lunatics. And so long as such threats to our liberty and our society remain, I shall continue my work in countering them.

     Lest anyone take away a wholly negative impression of the city which my cottage Dollhouse Park overlooks, Spokane has a multigenerational history as a stronghold of Socialism and part of the original anarchist communes of the Seattle Red Coast, of the Industrial Workers of the World and the labor movement, and of settlement by Abolitionist families, all of which describes the family of my partner Dolly McKay and many others.

     With the true purpose of this attack on our society by Nazi propagandists being established, I ask you to look with me into the Abyss of white supremacist terror and its poster girl Sydney Sweeney, as I ask again; what is Beauty?

      Or as Spock’s line in Star Trek season 3 episode 5 goes; “Is there in truth no beauty?”

      As I wrote in my post of July 21 2025, I Am A Leaf On the Wind: On Beauty In A Time Of Chaos; “ I am a leaf on the wind”; now an iconic line from the telenovela Firefly and film Serenity and pervasive in popular culture, this quote has a unique meaning and history for me; some twenty years before these films I answered a question from a student during a class with this line, quoting the death poem of a kamikaze pilot.

     The question; “What are you?” was in the context of a discussion of national identity and how we construct ourselves through history, what I now refer to along with race and other forms of identity as the flags of our skin.

       I had just returned from the Siege of Beirut where Jean Genet set me on my life’s path with the Oath of the Resistance, the second of my many Last Stands, and in no way wished to align myself with identity politics or identitarian nationalism by claiming any ancestral homeland, nation, or people in the sense of die Volk as the Nazis used it, as remains true now.

     Especially in this moment wherein the spectre of fascisms of blood and soil have once again been raised from the abyssal chasms of darkness by Trump and his regime of white supremacist terror in the pogrom of ICE now ongoing throughout Vichy America.

      My solution to the question What am I was to reply “I am a leaf on the wind.” In the shadows of Beirut and becoming involved in liberation struggle and solidarity in Guatemala versus the Mayan Genocide, Central America generally, Angola and South Africa versus Apartheid, and other places, I felt a deep kinship with that kamikaze pilot. Because I am forever become a Last Stand, as I place my life in the balance with those of the powerless and the dispossessed, the silenced and the erased, all those whom Frantz Fanon dubbed The Wretched of the Earth. This is who I am and shall always be, and it is the only identity that matters.

      This remains my reply now, to any attempt to define me not by my actions but by condition of being.

       To make an idea about a kind of people is an act of violence.

        As I wrote of my last wishes in a poem entitled Final Thoughts;

      Bury me at sea, for I belong to no nation but to the world

Send me out in flames, for this is how I have lived

     Not silent but incandescent in the night

An agent of change and illumination, like fire itself.

      This is my answer to the terror of our nothingness, the flaws of our humanity, and the brokenness of the world; to embrace the darkness and live with grandeur in refusal to submit.                   

      As Genet wrote in Miracle of the Rose; ‘A man must dream a long time in order to act with grandeur, and dreaming is nursed in darkness.’

     There remains the question of how to find beauty, joy, hope, faith in our humanity, and love by which to transcend ourselves and the limits of our skin, to balance the terror and horror of our imposed conditions of revolutionary struggle under systems of oppression, to claw back something of our humanity from the darkness.   

     As I wrote in my post of May 19 2025, Beauty and Ugliness, Horror and Wonder, and the Limits of the Human: Case of the Kristi Noem Television Commerical For Homeland Security’s White Supremacist Terror; We are surprised now and again with the unlooked for juxtaposition of the beautiful, the ugly, and the strange, like a fiery chili heart in a Mexican candy on the side of wonderful surprises, or on the side of horrible surprises reaching out to hold a frightened comrade’s hand as the world shatters under artillery fire to discover its just the hand that’s left.

      Yemen that last was, as Trump ordered the bombardment of our positions in the counter blockade of Israel’s blockade of humanitarian aid to Palestine on March 19, exactly as had Biden last year. Tyranny has traded masks in our elections, but the abandonment of our principle of universal human rights has not changed, if it was ever true.

      Ansar Allah’s glorious Resistance to our dehumanization and the depravity of an America which would buy the deaths of children with our taxes and conspire with Israel in the genocide and ethnic cleansing of Palestine in order to build a Riviera of casinos on their bones as Trump and Netanyahu together plot are become a chiaroscuro which defines us all, and the limits of the human.

      I wish I could say that all things are equal to me in this regard, horror and wonder, ugliness and beauty, but its not true, or true only in moments when I am Most Sincerely Dead and my consciousness is free from the limits of our form.

      For all that I have lived in this vast wilderness of unknowns, beyond the boundaries of the Forbidden and the limits of the human, through Rashomon Gate Events which destroy and create universes and possibilities of becoming human and fracture time like a Hobgoblin’s Broken Mirror, how little have I escaped the legacies of our history and the flags of my skin.

      But the suffering of others remains greater than my own, and our duty of care for others compels me to do what I can to help, even when it is meaningless, when it is impossible, when it can change nothing. In the end this is what defines our humanity, and it is the greatest power in the universe.

      Ours is an Absurd universe, and one wherein two contradictory things can both be true, in which the terror of our nothingness is balanced with the joy of total freedom.

      While watching Benedict Cumberbatch’s beautiful Dr Strange on television, my partner Dolly and I were confronted serially by a loathsome box of evils in Kristi Noem’s advertisement for white supremacist state terror and ethnic cleansing now ongoing by the Department of Homeland Security she commands.

      Her plastic mouth simulates human speech like a possessed Barbie doll, made of lies disguised as truths, diabolisms as virtues, an artificial and illusory beauty of surfaces which masks horrors like the justifications of our concentration camps for nonwhite people and political dissidents as security.

     Security is an illusion, law serves power, order is theft, and there is no just Authority.

      And really, Kristi, you’re as dark as some Mexicans and you poisoned your lips with botox to make them look like a black girl’s in the hope that you may deceive men into thinking them yummy, and you are leading the ethnic cleansing of America through your secret armies of police white supremacist terror? Is this because you think they will come for you last?

     Because that didn’t work out so well the last time, for the Jewish veterans of World War One who were awarded the Iron Cross; despite repeated assurances of exemption by Hitler, the SS came for them in the end.

       No one controls such forces, once they are set in motion.

      Beneath the human mask of those who would enslave us and steal our souls, including all Republicans and any who voted for our Rapist In Chief, Nazi revivalist, and Russian agent Traitor Trump and his Theatre of Cruelty with all of his freaks and degenerate subhuman monstrosities of his regime of systems of oppression including theocratic patriarchal sexual terror, white supremacist terror, and amoral nihilistic capitalism in the grand strategic trinity of predation designed to transform us from persons to things that can be owned and fed as raw material into the machine of elite wealth and power and from citizens to subjects through processes of falsification, commodification, and dehumanization; beneath all of this lies the depravities and perversions of endless chasms of darkness, full of crawling things.

      This is why the stench of putrefaction trails Kristi Noem and all minions of Our Clown of Terror, slaves of Moloch the Seducer and Demon of Lies, and wafts a poisonous sweet candy scent into the labyrinth of the Wilderness of Mirrors with its endless echoes and reflections of propaganda, conspiracy theories, lies and illusions, bizarro worlds and reversals of meaning, and alternate realities which trap the unwary with their siren songs; for all such apologists of tyranny and fascisms of blood, faith, and soil are zombified and hollowed out.

       To be a Republican is to be like the Man of Worms in the Buffy the Vampire Slayer two part episode Whats My Line?, or Oogy Boogy Man in The Nightmare Before Christmas; a husk of human flesh utterly consumed by its own darkness and worn like a sock puppet by the horrors that possess it.

      And remember, folks, you can always tell a Republican’s secret name; its their act of treason plus their sex crime.   

Behold the horror of hate and white supremacist terror:      

My Bugs! Oogy Boogey Unravels, Nightmare Before Christmas

Behold the horror and ugliness of hate and white supremacist terror: 

Stills from the photoshoot

     What loathsome crawling darkness lies beneath the illusion of our flesh? Like a skinwalker, a Nazi moves among us bearing a human face as an ambush predator, with its siren songs of lies with which to ensnare us and steal our souls.

    Herein images become mirrors which capture and distort as well as reflect, for like the Gaze of Medusa they can reveal and return to us our truths, but also create and transmit new truths not of our making, with the power to transform us in both wonderful and horrible ways.

    As the scene in Is There In Truth No Beauty? goes:

“Dr. McCoy: Isn’t it suicidal to deal with something ugly enough to drive men mad? Why do you do it?

Mr. Spock: I see, Doctor McCoy, that you still subscribe to the outmoded notion, promulgated by your ancient Greeks, that what is good must also be beautiful.

Larry Marvick: And the reverse, of course, that what is beautiful is automatically expected to be good.

Captain James T. Kirk: Yes, I think most of us are attracted by beauty and repelled by ugliness – one of the last of our prejudices”

My Bugs! Oogy Boogey Unravels, Nightmare Before Christmas

The video in question, on American Eagle’s FB page

https://www.facebook.com/americaneagle/videos/1136711328284537

Born in the USA: Is American Eagle really using whiteness to sell jeans?

The invention of whiteness: the long history of a dangerous idea

https://www.theguardian.com/news/2021/apr/20/the-invention-of-whiteness-long-history-dangerous-idea

Revealed: International ‘race science’ network secretly funded by US tech boss

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/oct/16/revealed-international-race-science-network-secretly-funded-by-us-tech-boss

Sydney Sweeney’s Republican voter registration revealed

Spokane’s own Sydney Sweeney in hot water over American Eagle campaign

https://www.khq.com/news/spokane-s-own-sydney-sweeney-in-hot-water-over-american-eagle-campaign/article_468298df-ef8b-450a-af83-19f7f4f95028.html?fbclid=IwY2xjawL7mqZleHRuA2FlbQIxMQABHihrLdQF45K_KBJ2B9cFF3UnZmwzT1kcJOT7EQF7KH14dKyzq07HfOIwLzJG_aem_UnKyBCQiw7sPqYEsAa4NxQ

‘It’ll be carnage’: why Sydney Sweeney’s risky political moment may backfire

Miracle of the Rose, Jean Genet

           My Ars Poetica, a retrospective

April 11 2025 Poetry Month: Poetic Vision as Reimagination and Transformation of Our Possibilities of Becoming Human

February 9 2025 Why Do I Write, and Why Am I Writing To All of You Here, in the Nakedness of my Life, my Voice, and my Truth, as a Fallen America Begins Her Last Stand Against Fascism As a Captured State of the Fourth Reich

October 20 2024 Day Three of the Mad Hatter Festival: Madness As a Faith of Poetic Vision

                John Keats, a reading list

Reading John Keats, by Susan J. Wolfson

A Greeting of the Spirit: Selected Poetry of John Keats with Commentaries,

by Susan J. Wolfson

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/60254935-a-greeting-of-the-spirit

Odes of John Keats, by Helen Vendler

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/48257.Odes_of_John_Keats

John Keats: Poetry, Life and Landscapes, by Suzie Grogan

John Keats: A New Life, by Nicholas Roe

            Race and Eugenics, a reading list

Where science meets fiction: the dark history of eugenics

https://www.theguardian.com/science/2022/jun/19/where-science-meets-fiction-the-dark-history-of-eugenics

Control: The Dark History and Troubling Present of Eugenics by Adam Rutherford

The Nazi Connection: Eugenics, American Racism, and German National Socialism, Stefan Kühl

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1105921.The_Nazi_Connection

The science of racism, and how to fight it – podcast

https://www.theguardian.com/science/audio/2025/jul/31/summer-picks-the-science-of-racism-and-how-to-fight-it-podcast

Hitler’s American Model: The United States and the Making of Nazi Race Law,

James Q. Whitman

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/31951513-hitler-s-american-model?ref=rae_0

The Science of Racism: Everything You Need to Know but Probably Don’t―Yet,

Keon West

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/207004041-the-science-of-racism?ref=nav_sb_ss_1_9

Stamped from the Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America,

Ibram X. Kendi

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/25898216-stamped-from-the-beginning

Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents, Isabel Wilkerson

Black Bodies, White Gazes: The Continuing Significance of Race, George Yancy

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/5225988-black-bodies-white-gazes

How Race Survived US History: From Settlement and Slavery to the Obama Phenomenon, David R. Roediger

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2347849.How_Race_Survived_US_History

The Black Box: Writing the Race, Henry Louis Gates Jr.

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/145624515-the-black-box

Playing in the Dark: Whiteness and the Literary Imagination, Toni Morrison

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/37405.Playing_in_the_Dark

The History of White People, Nell Irvin Painter

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6919721-the-history-of-white-people

Black Skin, White Masks, Frantz Fanon

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/274392.Black_Skin_White_Masks

Fatal Invention: How Science, Politics, and Big Business Re-create Race in the Twenty-First Century, Dorothy Roberts

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/10055524-fatal-invention

Odd Tribes: Toward a Cultural Analysis of White People, John Hartigan Jr

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/406378.Odd_Tribes

The Invention of the White Race: Racial Oppression and Social Control, Volume 1 & 2, Theodore W. Allen

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1062945.The_Invention_of_the_White_Race

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/184135.The_Invention_of_the_White_Race

The Construction of Whiteness: An Interdisciplinary Analysis of Race Formation and the Meaning of a White Identity, Stephen Middleton, David R. Roediger, Donald M Shaffer  (Editors)

                Beauty, a reading list

On Beauty and Being Just, Elaine Scarry

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/118288.On_Beauty_and_Being_Just?ref=rae_0

European Aesthetics: A Critical Introduction from Kant to Derrida, Robert L. Wicks

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/14506460-european-aesthetics

History of Beauty, Umberto Eco

On Ugliness, Umberto Eco

The Power of Art, Simon Schama

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/19797.The_Power_of_Art?ref=nav_sb_ss_1_12

The Evolution of Beauty: How Darwin’s Forgotten Theory of Mate Choice Shapes the Animal World—And Us, Richard O. Prum

Beauty: A Very Short Introduction by Roger Scruton, Roger Scruton

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/133696347-beauty?ref=nav_sb_ss_1_49

Six Names of Beauty, Crispin Sartwell

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1955121.Six_Names_of_Beauty?ref=rae_12

But Is It Art?, Cynthia Freeland

Philosophies of Art and Beauty: Selected Readings in Aesthetics from Plato to Heidegger, Albert Hofstadter, Richard Kuhns (Editors)

The Critique of Judgement, Immanuel Kant

A Philosophical Enquiry Into the Origin of Our Ideas of the Sublime and Beautiful, Edmund Burke

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/30529.A_Philosophical_Enquiry_into_the_Origin_of_Our_Ideas_of_the_Sublime_and_Beautiful?ref=nav_sb_ss_3_96

The Ideology of the Aesthetic, Terry Eagleton

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/16946.The_Ideology_of_the_Aesthetic?ref=nav_sb_ss_1_45

The Politics of Aesthetics, Jacques Rancière, Gabriel Rockhill

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/251128.The_Politics_of_Aesthetics?ref=nav_sb_ss_1_44

The Sense of Beauty, George Santayana

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/925533.The_Sense_of_Beauty?ref=nav_sb_ss_2_38

Against Interpretation and Other Essays, Susan Sontag

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/52374.Against_Interpretation_and_Other_Essays?ref=nav_sb_ss_1_56

Tolstoy: What is Art? & Wherein is Truth in Art (Essays on Aesthetics and Literature): Exploring the Soul of Art: Tolstoy’s Essays on Truth, Beauty, and Morality, Leo Tolstoy

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/209918803-tolstoy?ref=nav_sb_ss_1_17

Aesthetic Theory, Theodor W. Adorno

The Future of the Image, Jacques Rancière

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/483100.The_Future_of_the_Image?ref=nav_sb_ss_2_43

Art as the Absolute: Art’s Relation to Metaphysics in Kant, Fichte, Schelling, Hegel and Schopenhauer, Paul Gordon

         Who can call himself an artist or a writer without Calasso’s luminous immersion in the two arts in Tiepolo Pink and La Folie Baudelaire?

Tiepolo Pink, Roberto Calasso

La Folie Baudelaire, Roberto Calasso

                 My Schools of Art

Mind Landscapes: The Paintings of C. C. Wang, Jerome Silbergeld, Chi-Ch’ien Wang

Surrealism and the Sacred: Power, Eros and the Occult in Modern Art,

Celia Rabinovitch

Egon Schiele: Eros and Passion, Klaus Albrecht Schröder, Egon Schiele

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/997905.Egon_Schiele

August 9 2025 Aloha, Lahaina: Portents of the Future We Have Chosen in the Ashes of Lahaina

      This is terrible; is this our future?

      Such were my first thoughts on seeing the photos of Lahaina become ashes; how if all our dreams and all that we have lived one day looks like this, and man become the quintessence of dust, doomed by our fear of nature and addiction to power?

     Lahaina burned in a sea of lava for a day and a night until the morning of the ninth of August 2023, consuming everything, changing everything. Nature’s wrath was an unstoppable tide, and before it we humans were revealed to be nothing.

     So fragile, we humans and our world, and ephemeral, possibly illusory; will all that we have been and dreamed one day come to such a fate as this? Will something like ourselves one day discover the ruins of our civilization, and question?

     For over twenty years, Hawaii has been an annual getaway of two to four weeks for our family during the frozen month of January, for my partner Theresa, her parents now years gone, her brothers and sister, all of whom own vacation homes in the Islands, sometimes with all her nieces and nephews, parents of siblings’ spouses, the whole of her immediate family, and Maui with its cathedrals of forest and black sand beaches was her special place of refuge. Likely all gone now, with its idyllic beach party town and arts community, and as with so much else become nothing but the ghosts of memory.

     She’s not returned since; like Beirut after the explosion for myself, its hard to face the ruins and the emptiness.

    We are leaves on the wind, we humans and our memory palaces which we enact as identity, a prochronism or history expressed in our form, our souls created over time like the shells of fantastic sea creatures, legacies we drag behind ourselves like an invisible reptilian tail. Created by ourselves and others in dynamic and recursive struggle, between the masks we make for ourselves and those made for us by others.

     This is the work of becoming human, and the first revolution in which we all must fight; the struggle for ownership of ourselves.

      If we are to be useful in birthing new ways of being human together, we must know who we are, and where we belong.               

      How if there is no living natural world into which to extend ourselves, and the signposts and anchorages of our memory and identity become phantasms of lost experience, ephemeral and transitory; do we become nothing with them and enter oblivion, forget who we are?

     A natural disaster shaped by climate change and our catastrophically failing civilization has stolen our joy and fragments of who we are in the destruction of Lahaina; so during this Festival of the Hungry Ghosts month which in 2025 begins on August 23 to September 21 I offer the ghost town of Lahaina, which echoes for me with laughter and resonates with nameless joys like a song which has escaped the limits of its form, as a home among its memories to my own Hungry Ghosts, shadows of cherished friends, lost loves, and honored nemeses.

     May we all one day return to discover each other here, beyond grief and despair in the Lahaina of our imagination forever illuminated in tropical sun, across vast seas of time, beings made not of flesh but of stories; and unlike Orpheus I will not be looking back. 

     For the dead and the ruins of fallen grandeur we can do nothing; it is the living who must be avenged, and the future that must be redeemed.

     As written by in The Guardian, in an article entitled ‘Like a bomb went off’: Maui wildfires decimate historic town of Lahaina; “Lahaina, a historic town on Maui, has been decimated, leaving residents reeling at the loss of homes, nature and human life. At least 53 people had been confirmed dead by Thursday evening. The ashy, charred landscape has been described as apocalyptic.

     Richard Olsten, a helicopter pilot for a tour company, flew over the fire site on Wednesday and said Lahaina “looked like a bomb went off”.

     “It’s horrifying. I’ve flown here 52 years and I’ve never seen anything come close to that. We had tears in our eyes, the other pilots on board and the mechanics and me,” he said, recalling even the boats in the harbor were burned.

    “We never thought we’d experience anything like this in our whole life,” he said.

     In the 1700s, Lahaina was established as the capital of the Hawaiian Kingdom. The town became one of the main ports for the North Pacific whaling fleet and later, as the whaling industry began to collapse, transitioned to a sugar plantation town.

     The downtown area and Front Street was designated a national historic landmark in 1962 and many of the buildings had been preserved and were open to the public. However the wildfire that erupted in the middle of the night brought widespread destruction to the area.

    Photos posted by the county showed a line of flames blazing across an intersection and leaping above historic buildings.

     Another Lahaina resident, Ke’eaumoku Kapu, was tying down loose objects in the wind at the cultural center he runs when his wife showed up and told him they needed to evacuate. “Things got crazy, the wind started picking up,” said Kapu, who added that they got out “in the nick of time”.

     It was not immediately known how many structures have burned or how many people have been evacuated.

     The unprecedented blazes were fanned by strong winds from Hurricane Dora. Rescuers with the US Coast Guard pulled a dozen people from the ocean water off Lahaina after they had dived in to escape smoke and flames. Burn patients have been flown to the island of Oahu, officials said.

    Another casualty of the inferno was the 150-year-old Lahaina Banyan tree, that at its peak stood at 60ft high with branches that extended across an entire city block. Though the tree appears to have survived the fire and is still standing, according to local social media commenters, it has been severely damaged by the flames.

     Governor Josh Green is expected to be back in Hawaii on Wednesday evening, after returning home from a scheduled trip. Green has been in contact with the White House and is preparing to request emergency federal assistance sometime in the next two days, once he has a better idea of the damage, his office said in a news release. Hundreds of families have been displaced and much of Lahaina has been destroyed, Green said in the statement.

     Joe Biden also released a statement in which he offered condolences to those who have lost loved ones and prayers for those left to rebuild their community.”

      Our hearts have been eaten by the voracious greed of hegemonic elites in the sacrifice of beautiful Lahaina on the altar of amoral capitalism and the dominion conferred by control of oil as a strategic resource, interdependent fronts in our ancient civilizational war against nature, and a history which in the face of impossible odds managed to claw back something of our humanity and create beauty from the ugliness of imperial-colonial conquest and exploitation, however thin and ephemeral the illusions which concealed atrocities; but neither the world nor humankind need our sorrows.

     The world and our fellow human beings need our resilience and refusal to submit to learned helplessness, abjection, and despair; this fragile earth and ark of life hurtling through the darkness and lost in the infinite meaninglessness of space needs our solidarity of action and faith in each other, our power of vision in the reimagination and transformation of systems of oppression and unequal power, our redemptive power of love to heal the flaws of our humanity and the brokenness of the world, and our hope for a better future among the infinite possibilities of becoming human.

Somewhere over the Rainbow sung by Israel “IZ” Kamakawiwoʻole

Lahaina Before the Fire

Hawaii: Maui residents escape wildfires while strong winds cause blaze to spread – video report

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/video/2023/aug/09/hawaii-maui-residents-escape-wildfires-while-strong-winds-cause-blaze-to-spread-video-report

Hundreds of buildings in historic town of Lahaina destroyed in Hawaii wildfires – video

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/video/2023/aug/10/hundreds-of-buildings-in-historic-town-of-lahaina-destroyed-in-hawaii-wildfires-video

Maui fires: Hawaii blazes fanned by Hurricane Dora – in pictures

‘It looks like a war zone’: Lahaina residents tell of wildfire ‘nightmare’

‘Like a bomb went off’: Maui wildfires decimate historic town of Lahaina

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/aug/10/lahaina-maui-wildfire-damage

                                Hawaii: a reading list

     Hawai’I seizes me with an immediacy and vividness in the context of Asian American literature and history, for it embodies both the terror of our racist and imperial-colonial history and our hopes for a better future as a diverse and inclusive United Humankind in which all human beings are truly equal. Between the systemic evils in which we are complicit and our liberation from unequal power and elite hierarchies of belonging and exclusionary otherness there lies a long path of reckoning and emergence; but first we must find a vision of who we want to become, we humans, and in Hawai’I this too we may discover.

     Hawai’I is a Cuba that never found a liberator.

     You may notice that herein I do not follow my usual rule of including only works by authors who are members of a historical people and may speak both of and for them, which in this case would limit my selection to books by native indigenous persons of Kānaka Maoli identity.

    What is a Hawaiian, or an American? In Hawaii we see an image of our possible future as a united humankind, multiethnic and transhistorical, protean, inclusive, and diverse beyond limit or categorization.

    In such a society, to claim membership is to become a member without question or qualification. To write as such a member is to negotiate the legacies of our history, which include epigenetic harms of racism and colonialism, and to reimagine and transform the limitless possibilities of becoming human.

    Here are works by people born in Hawaii, or written in Hawaii from within its many layered and interdependent communities.

     This is also true of its two great ancestor spirits, guardians and guides of the soul, who speak to us through dreams and poetic vision of our futures from a mythic past, Barack Obama and Maxine Hong Kingston. Some scholars argue that they were once living human beings like any other, who became exalted and deified in a remote age not because they were embodiments of Hegelian world-historical forces, but because they changed such forces and processes through the reimagination and transformation of poetic vision and a praxis or realized action of human values, and the nature and fate of humankind changed with them.

     May we all become such fulcrums of change, and help to dream and to realize a free society of equals.

     Hawaii speaks here with many voices, all of which belong.

                                   History and Culture

     Detours: A Decolonial Guide to Hawai’I, by Hokulani K. Aikau (Editor)

     Pacific Worlds, by Matt K. Matsuda

     Paradise of the Pacific: Approaching Hawaii, by Susanna Moore

     Shoal of Time: A History of the Hawaiian Islands, Honolulu: The First Century, by Gavan Daws

     Lost Kingdom: Hawaii’s Last Queen, the Sugar Kings and America’s First Imperial Adventure, by Julia Flynn Siler

     Unfamiliar Fishes, by Sarah Vowell

     Captive Paradise: The Story of the United States and Hawaii, by James L. Haley

      From a Native Daughter: Colonialism and Sovereignty in Hawai’I, by Haunani-Kay Trask

     Waikiki: A History of Forgetting & Remembering, by Andrea Feeser

     Volcanoes, Palm Trees, and Privilege: Essays on Hawai’I, by Liz Prato

     Blue Latitudes: Boldly Going Where Captain Cook Has Gone Before, by Tony Horwitz

     A Shark Going Inland Is My Chief: The Island Civilization of Ancient Hawai’I, On the Road of the Winds: An Archaeological History of the Pacific Islands before European Contact, Unearthing the Polynesian Past. Explorations and Adventures of an Island Archaeologist, by Patrick Vinton Kirch

     No Footprints in the Sand: A Memoir of Kalaupapa, by Henry Nalaielua, Sally-Jo Keala-O-Anuenue Bowman

     Big Happiness: The Life and Death of a Modern Hawaiian Warrior, by Mark Panek

     Waking Up in Eden: In Pursuit of an Impassioned Life on an Imperiled Island,

by Lucinda Fleeson

     My Time in Hawaii: A Polynesian Memoir by Victoria Nelson

     Hawaiian Mythology, by Martha Warren Beckwith

     Ancient Hawai’I, by Herb Kawainui Kane

     The Kumulipo: A Hawaiian Creation Chant, by Keaulumoku

     The Burning Island: Myth and History of the Hawaiian Volcano Country, by Pamela Frierson

     Kika Kila: How the Hawaiian Steel Guitar Changed the Sound of Modern Music, by John W. Troutman

     The Haumana Hula Handbook: A Manual for the Student of Hawaiian Dance,

by Mahealani Uchiyama

     Hawaiian Surfing: Traditions from the Past, by John R.K. Clark

     Waves of Resistance: Surfing and History in Twentieth-Century Hawai’I,

by Isaiah Helekunihi Walker

     Barbarian Days: A Surfing Life, by William Finnegan

     Archipelago: Portraits of Life in the World’s Most Remote Island Sanctuary,

by David Liittschwager, Susan Middleton

      Sam Choy’s Island Flavors, Sam Choy Woks the Wok: Stir Fry Cooking at Its Island Best, The Choy of Seafood: Sam Choy’s Pacific Harvest, Sam Choy’s Polynesian Kitchen: More Than 150 Authentic Dishes from One of the World’s Most Delicious and Overlooked Cuisines, by Sam Choy

Written By Outsiders Looking In, as was said of Timothy Leary by The Moody Blues

     Hotel Honolulu, by Paul Theroux

     The Curse of Lono, by Hunter S. Thompson, Steve Crist (Editor), Ralph Steadman (Illustrator)

    Travelers’ Tales Hawai‘I, By Rick & Marcie Carroll

     Six Months in the Sandwich Islands: Among Hawaii’s Palm Groves, Coral Reefs and Volcanoes, by Isabella Lucy Bird

                                     Literature

     Shark Dialogues, House of Many Gods, Kiana Davenport

     Night Is a Sharkskin Drum, by Haunani-Kay Trask

     This is Paradise: stories, Kristiana Kahakauwila

     The Heart of Being Hawaiian, by Sally-Jo Keala-O-Anuenue Bowman

     Saturday Night at the Pahala Theatre, by Lois-Ann Yamanaka

     Shadow Child, by Rahna Reiko Rizzuto

     The Tattoo, by Chris McKinney

     School for Hawaiian Girls, by Georgia Ka’Apuni McMillen

     The Descendants, by Kaui Hart Hemmings

     Sharks in the Time of Saviors, by Kawai Strong Washburn

     Diamond Head, by Cecily Wong

     Language of the Geckos and Other Stories, A Ricepaper Airplane, by Gary Pak

     Hawaii Nei: Island Plays, by Victoria Nalani Kneubuhl

     Molokai, Kaaawa: A Novel about Hawaii in the 1850s, by O.A. Bushnell

     A Little Too Much Is Enough, Makai, by Kathleen Tyau

     Jan Ken Po, by Dennis M. Ogawa

     The Folding Cliffs: A Narrative, by W.S. Merwin

     Moloka’I, Daughter of Moloka’I, Honolulu, by Alan Brennert

     Aloha Las Vegas: And Other Plays, by Edward Sakamoto

     Picture Bride, The Land Of Bliss, Cloud Moving Hands, by Cathy Song

     On the Street of Divine Love: New and Selected Poems, All-Night Lingo Tango, Babel, Holoholo: Poems, Delirium: Poems, The Alphabet of Desire, Lester Higata’s 20th Century, by Barbara Hamby

     Dreams from My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance, We Can Be Better: The Influential Speeches of Barack Obama, The Promiser: Barack Obama’s Fireside Chats, A Promised Land, The Audacity of Hope: Thoughts on Reclaiming the American Dream, by Barack Obama

The Bridge: The Life and Rise of Barack Obama, by David Remnick

     Woman Warrior, China Men, Maxine Hong Kingston

Maxine Hong Kingston’s Broken Book of Life: An Intertextual Study of the Woman Warrior and China Men, by Maureen Sabine

The Art of Parody: Maxine Hong Kingston’s Use of Chinese Sources,

by Yan Gao

Writing Tricksters: Mythic Gambols in American Ethnic Fiction,

by Jeanne Rosier Smith

     Finding Meaning: Kaona and Contemporary Hawaiian Literature, by Brandy Nālani McDougall

     The Power of the Steel-tipped Pen: Reconstructing Native Hawaiian Intellectual History, by Noenoe K. Silva

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